The First Venerable waved his hand, and a small spherical orb the size of a human fist floated before him.
Although it appeared ordinary, it was one of the forsaken god's personal creations. The orb contained an independent world specifically refined for transcendent beings to spar without restraint. Within that separate space, they could unleash their full strength without endangering the forsaken realm.
Without another word, the First Venerable transformed into a beam of light and entered the orb.
Elisa glanced toward Solanky before turning to the newly accepted disciples of the Beast Emperor.
"Watch carefully," she said calmly. "This will likely be the only time your leader openly demonstrates her true abilities."
The disciples immediately straightened their posture.
The next instant, Elisa also transformed into a beam of light and entered the spherical world.
Watching her disappear, Solanky frowned slightly.
He had absolute confidence in the First Venerable's strength.
After all, he was the right-hand man of the forsaken god, a veteran who had survived countless wars and possessed experience beyond imagination.
Elisa, on the other hand...
Although she had been one of Solanky's earliest creations, he remembered almost nothing about the process of bringing her into existence.
It was as though a higher existence had temporarily taken control of him during her creation, leaving behind only fragmented memories.
...
Inside the independent world, the two figures faced one another in silence.
Elisa made no attempt to transform into her dragon form.
Instead, she calmly formed hand seals with her left hand.
Immediately, the world's energies surged toward her.
A thin protective layer of condensed energy coated her skin, while the remaining power condensed into an elegant suit of armor. At the same time, a long whip materialized in her hand.
The First Venerable's eyes narrowed in surprise.
Throughout the entire forsaken realm, he had believed himself to be the only one capable of manipulating the world's energies with such precision.
Now...
Someone else had accomplished the very same feat.
Without hesitation, he mirrored her actions.
The surrounding energies converged around him, forming an imposing suit of armor while a massive broadsword appeared in his grasp.
Neither spoke another word.
They vanished simultaneously.
To everyone observing from outside, they became little more than streaks of light.
Only the generals, the venerable ones, and beings possessing extraordinary observational techniques could barely follow their movements.
Within a single instant, their weapons clashed thousands of times.
Every collision sent violent waves through the independent world.
The surrounding energies became increasingly chaotic, as though the world's natural balance itself was beginning to collapse.
Among all the spectators, the generals and venerable ones were the most astonished.
They understood better than anyone how difficult it was to disturb the world's energies through combat alone.
Yet these two...
Every exchange shook the very foundation of the independent space.
It was no longer a contest of strength.
It was a clash between two absolute experts who had reached the pinnacle of law comprehension beneath the forsaken god.
Their talent...
Their understanding...
Their fortune...
All had reached unbelievable heights.
Even Solanky found himself genuinely surprised.
Elisa was matching the First Venerable blow for blow while remaining in her humanoid form.
He knew better than anyone that her dragon form was considerably stronger.
Eventually, the two combatants separated.
They silently evaluated one another.
The First Venerable smiled.
"Excellent."
"It has been an incredibly long time since someone matched my comprehension of the laws during battle."
His eyes became noticeably sharper.
"But enough warming up."
"Let us fight seriously."
"This time..."
"Neither of us will hold anything back."
As soon as he finished speaking, his body expanded dramatically.
Within moments, he stood over a million kilometers tall.
A magnificent suit of battle armor appeared around him, radiating an overwhelming pressure capable of suppressing heaven and earth.
This...
...was the very armor he had worn during the ancient war against the Levians.
Seeing this, Elisa merely smirked.
Her body erupted with dazzling light.
An instant later, she transformed into her true dragon form.
Rather than revealing her largest possible size, she adjusted her body to approximately two million kilometers in length.
Every scale covering her body bore mysterious engravings that shimmered with ancient brilliance.
The First Venerable laughed heartily.
His fighting spirit surged to its peak.
Without hesitation, he charged forward, raising his massive broadsword before unleashing a devastating slash.
The surrounding space split apart beneath its pressure.
This time...
Elisa abandoned her calm demeanor.
She entered her beastly battle state.
Crimson-black flames ignited around her gigantic claws.
The terrifying fire burned through space itself as though reality were nothing more than fragile parchment.
Without retreating...
Without hesitation...
She swung her claws directly toward the incoming sword.
The watching transcendent beings collectively held their breath.
They all remembered that very sword.
Long ago, it had slain a transcendent Levian general with a single strike.
They believed that even the legendary Beast Ancestor would suffer injuries if she challenged it head-on.
Yet Elisa showed no intention of avoiding the attack.
Instead...
She met it directly.
Her burning claws tore through space before colliding with the First Venerable's sword.
Boom!
The impact surpassed the limits of the independent world.
The spatial laws stabilizing the spherical realm shattered instantly.
Outside the orb, countless cracks rapidly spread across its surface.
Inside...
The First Venerable was forced backward more than a dozen steps.
Elisa, however, remained completely motionless.
Not even a single inch of her enormous body moved.
Silence fell across the forsaken realm.
Every spectator understood exactly what they had witnessed.
A new absolute powerhouse had been born.
An existence standing directly beneath the level of the forsaken god.
The battle continued.
Sword and claw collided repeatedly.
As time passed, Elisa's speed continued increasing.
Her movements became so fast and unpredictable that even the First Venerable gradually found them difficult to follow.
Eventually, he raised a hand.
The spar had reached its conclusion.
The First Venerable laughed freely.
His battle armor disappeared.
Moments later, his broadsword also vanished.
"I thank you."
"You have broadened my horizons."
"It has been ages since someone forced me to fight with everything I possessed."
Together, they exited the independent world.
The First Venerable waved his hand once more.
The cracked spherical orb shrank before returning to his palm.
Its damaged surface had already repaired itself completely.
He respectfully clasped his hands toward Elisa.
Only now did he truly understand the forsaken god's prophecy.
If the legendary Beast Ancestor ever became hostile...
She genuinely possessed the power to eliminate half the transcendent beings of the forsaken realm before escaping successfully.
Quietly, the First Venerable inspected his broadsword with a strand of consciousness.
A fine crack had appeared along its blade.
His expression remained calm, but inwardly he was astonished.
He estimated that after only three more direct exchanges, the weapon would have suffered irreversible damage.
More importantly...
He had clearly realized another fact.
Elisa was significantly faster than he was.
Had the battle continued much longer, that weakness would have become obvious to everyone watching.
Recognizing the situation, he had wisely chosen to end the spar while both retained their dignity.
After a brief silence, the First Venerable extended an invitation.
He invited Elisa to join the courtroom and participate in governing the forsaken realm, now that she had become the acknowledged leader of all beasts and special lifeforms.
Elisa politely declined.
"I still have much to do."
"I must first rebuild and reorganize the ancestral beast region."
"Only after that will I consider accepting other responsibilities."
The First Venerable nodded in understanding.
Without another word, he disappeared.
He intended to reflect upon everything he had gained from their battle.
At his cultivation level, meaningful opponents had become exceedingly rare.
His spar with Elisa had opened new paths of comprehension.
Perhaps...
It might even help him break through to an even higher realm.
Before leaving completely, he retrieved a transcendent grass and began repairing and strengthening his damaged sword.
Meanwhile, the Beast Emperor's disciples could barely contain their excitement.
Their former master had once been powerful enough to defeat the Second Venerable.
Yet even he had never been capable of overcoming the First Venerable.
Now, the being standing before them had fought him to a standstill without ever falling into a disadvantage.
How could they not feel proud?
Elisa turned toward Solanky.
Using voice transmission, she asked playfully,
"Wasn't I impressive?"
Solanky smiled wryly.
"I don't think you fought seriously."
His eyes narrowed.
"And honestly..."
"How are you this powerful?"
"You only just reached the entity level."
Elisa giggled.
"We'll talk about that later."
Her gaze shifted toward the countless beasts waiting below.
"For now..."
"I need a place where I can build a realm for them."
With a casual wave of her hand, every beast and special lifeform disappeared instantly.
A vast floating cloud materialized behind Elisa and Solanky.
She stepped onto it before taking her place at its front.
The cloud responded to her will alone.
It surged across the horizon at astonishing speed before disappearing into the distance.
Long after she had left...
The transcendent beings and peak-stage entities remained rooted where they stood.
None of them had fully recovered from witnessing the First Venerable fight an opponent on equal footing.
The message was unmistakable.
They were no longer qualified to demand respect from Elisa.
If anything...
They would now have to earn hers.
One after another, they departed.
Old rivalries were quietly set aside.
Every one of them shared the same goal.
To remain on good terms with the newly born Beast Ancestor.