Raylo took a deep breath, his hand tightening around the Divine Weapon Broken Flow at his waist.

A flash of lightning tore through the clouds.

In the far distance, a colossal tree appeared at the edge of the horizon.

Its trunk had an ancient, bronze-like color, covered in deep, ravine-like grooves left by the passage of time.

How thick was it? A diameter of several hundred meters?

No, that was just Raylo’s most conservative estimate.

Its main trunk shot straight into the sky, like a pillar holding up the heavens and connecting the spine of the world.

But what was truly shocking was its height.

Four thousand meters?

Five thousand meters?

Raylo’s eyes could no longer judge it accurately.

He could only see that after the massive trunk disappeared into the clouds, it continued to extend upward as if without end.

And above that Cloud Sea was its even larger, more expansive canopy.

That canopy was like a green Continent floating independently in the sky. Countless thick branches, coiling like Giant Dragons, stretched out in all directions, covered in enormous, jade-green leaves, each the size of a house.

Sunlight pierced through the clouds and sprinkled onto that green "Continent," reflecting a gentle and sacred brilliance.

The Heaven-Reaching Divine Wood!

’Worthy of its name as the Divine Wood that props up the sky in legends. It truly does seem to reach from the earth to the heavens.’

Before this miraculous giant tree, whether it was the ten-thousand-year-old ancient trees he had seen before or the Dragon Blood Ancient Tree guarded by the Black King, they all seemed as insignificant as weeds.

Even Astra’s massive, kilometer-long draconic body no longer seemed so enormous in front of the Heaven-Reaching Divine Wood.

Astra slowly came to a halt several kilometers away from the Heaven-Reaching Divine Wood.

Its enormous eyes, like two Suns, stared quietly at the ancient, giant tree before it, which emanated an endless aura of life. For the first time, a hint of gravity appeared in its gaze.

It could feel a Catastrophe Level Power, in no way inferior to its own—and perhaps even more ancient and profound—coiled within the giant tree’s canopy.

That power was like a bottomless ocean—calm, yet containing a terrifying might capable of overturning everything.

"Prepare."

Astra’s voice rang out simultaneously in the minds of Raylo and the two dragons.

The instant its voice faded...

VMMMM!

A vast, emerald-green light, filled with Life and Natural Power, suddenly shot up from the canopy of the Heaven-Reaching Divine Wood!

Within the light, a colossal figure slowly emerged.

It was an emerald-green Giant Dragon, nearly two thousand meters long.

Its body was even larger than Astra’s, covered in translucent scales that seemed carved from the finest jade. Profound natural runes flowed across each and every scale.

Atop its head grew magnificent, branching Dragon Horns like Coral, and a pair of enormous eyes, like emerald Gemstones, stared coldly and emotionlessly at the uninvited guest, Astra.

The Jade Dragon Emperor!

It had appeared.

There were no questions, no roars.

In the eyes of this ancient Dragon Emperor, any act of entering its territory without permission was a provocation, a trampling of its majesty.

And for any provocateur, its only answer was war.

The moment it appeared, its Catastrophe Level Power erupted without reservation!

The entire world seemed to spring to life in that instant.

With the Heaven-Reaching Divine Wood as the epicenter, all the plants in the Endless Forest Sea for tens of kilometers around began to grow frantically!

Countless thick vines, like awakening pythons, burst forth from the ground.

The branches of sky-scraping trees stretched toward the heavens like a billion arms.

The Natural Elements in the air, so dense they were almost tangible, were instantly detonated!

The next second, tens of thousands of emerald-green Light Spears—formed from highly compressed, pure Power of Nature—materialized around the Jade Dragon Emperor. Their tips glinted with a terrifying sharpness capable of piercing through anything.

ROAR!

The Jade Dragon Emperor let out an earth-shattering draconic cry.

SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH SWISH!

Myriad Light Spears tore through the sky like a bursting dam, shooting toward Astra with world-destroying might!

This was the power of a veteran Catastrophe Level expert.

With a mere flick of a finger, it could manipulate the Laws and command the Power of Heaven and Earth!

Faced with a terrifying attack that could level an entire mountain range, lightning surged in Astra’s draconic eyes!

RAAAGH!

A high, clear dragon’s roar, filled with endless battle intent, erupted from Astra’s mouth!

It unleashed its full power.

As another Catastrophe Level being, it possessed the unrivaled pride of the Thunder Dragon clan!

BOOM!

An equally vast and majestic Thunderbolt Power, filled with an aura of destruction and dominance, exploded forth from Astra’s body!

Azure lightning quickly converged and intertwined before it, forming an immense, circular Shield made of pure Thunderbolt.

Countless silver-white electric serpents writhed wildly across the shield’s surface, emitting a harsh crackling sound—CRACKLE!—and radiating a terrifying aura capable of annihilating all things.

The next instant, thousands of emerald-green Light Spears of nature violently collided with the massive Shield of Thunderbolt!

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!

A terrifying cacophony of explosions, as rapid as a torrential downpour and loud enough to shatter eardrums, erupted in the sky!