Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.
On a remote, isolated island, a massive prison was built.
Ten Thousand Beasts Prison.
This prison had been constructed several hundred years ago,
by order of the ruler of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain—
Human Emperor Gu Aotian.
Gu Aotian firmly believed in one principle:
"Those who are not of our human race must have different hearts!"
Thus, over the past several hundred years,
throughout the entire Ten Thousand Beasts Domain—and even across more than a dozen neighboring domains of various sizes—
non-human races were continuously hunted down and captured.
Among those captured:
The weak.
Those with poor bloodlines.
Those lacking talent.
Were all executed on the spot.
Only the ones with strong bloodline, extraordinarily talented non-human races were spared and imprisoned within this colossal prison.
Over the centuries, more than one hundred thousand non-human beings had been incarcerated here.
It was a place soaked in blood—
a truly terrifying land.
As for Human Emperor Gu Aotian himself—
He was an exceptionally powerful Human Emperor.
Although he had not broken through to the Eighth-Order Sacred Body, he had already achieved overwhelming dominance, defeating the rulers of more than ten surrounding domains.
He was acknowledged as the undisputed Great Domain Lord.
What was even more astonishing was the speed of his rise.
In less than a thousand years,
he had reached such terrifying strength and status.
Most humans required several thousand years just to become a Human Emperor—
And even then, they were nowhere near comparable to Gu Aotian,
who already stood at the absolute peak of the Human Emperor realm.
At this moment, before the massive gates of Ten Thousand Beasts Prison,
several guards were chatting idly.
"Tsk tsk tsk… the Human Emperor is really too cautious. Deploying such heavy defenses here—what a waste."
"Exactly. Over all these years, the only ones who ever attack are non-human races trying to rescue their kin. Too bad they're all trash."
"This era belongs to us humans! It's the era of the Immortal Emperor! Aside from the Primordial Ancient Beasts, who else could possibly contend with us? I really don't get what the Human Emperor is guarding against."
…
The guards chatted casually, thoroughly bored.
Over the past several hundred years,
there had been barely more than ten attacks on Ten Thousand Beasts Prison.
Every single one ended in utter defeat—
the attacking non-human forces were almost completely annihilated.
Not a single assault had ever broken through the prison gates.
None had even reached the interior.
After all—
surrounding Ten Thousand Beasts Prison was a ten-thousand-meter-deep abyss.
There was only one solitary bridge leading in.
Above the prison, the skies were filled with storm forces laid down by Wind Clan experts personally invited by the Human Emperor.
Anyone attempting to fly in would be torn to shreds by the violent storms.
And as for attacking via the bridge—
that was essentially a suicide route.
Most intruders wouldn't even reach the gate, let alone break it.
Even the guards atop the walls were lounging around, chatting lazily.
No one believed an attack would occur.
After all—the last assault had been eighty years ago.
But at that moment—
"Hm~?"
One guard caught a glimpse of something—
a streak of black light flashing past.
He rubbed his eyes and focused.
A black shoe sole suddenly filled his entire field of vision.
"PUH!!!"
With a scream, the guard was kicked away, flying over a thousand meters through the air.
"!"
The commotion instantly alerted everyone nearby.
Guards grabbed their weapons and turned toward the disturbance.
And then—
Before all of them—
Appeared an utterly bizarre figure.
Dressed in a black suit,
with curled eyebrows,
and a burning rolled stick clenched between his lips.
"I heard," the man said slowly,
"the cry of an innocent little girl calling for help."
It was—
Handsome Sanji.
Over the past few days,
Handsome Sanji had sprinted nonstop—
running all the way from the Imperial River Domain
to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.
Why?
The reason was simple.
"As long as a girl calls out, even if it's from the Nine Heavens above, I—Handsome Sanji—will arrive!"
Handsome Sanji roared.
"It's an intruder!"
"Kill him!"
"Attack!"
…
The surrounding guards finally reacted and rushed forward.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Handsome Sanji spun in place,
his legs whipping like a storm.
In the span of a single breath,
nearly a hundred guards were sent flying,
crashing to the ground in every direction.
"Damn it!"
"Activate Beast Transformation!"
"Everyone, attack together!"
…
These guards were clearly extremely tough. Without hesitation, each of them activated the inherited bloodline power and physical augmentation within their bodies!
In the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, humans fused the bloodlines of powerful Primordial Ancient Beasts they had hunted into themselves, gaining terrifying bloodline strength as a result.
It was said that Human Emperor Gu Aotian had fused the bloodlines of tens of thousands of Primordial Ancient Beasts—
which was precisely why he was so overwhelmingly powerful!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In the span of a single breath, nearly a hundred guards not only climbed back to their feet, but beast totems appeared all over their bodies, and their auras surged several times over!
"I don't have time to mess around with you idiots!"
Handsome Sanji didn't waste a single word.
With a flash of movement, he burst straight out of the encirclement and charged toward the deeper levels of Ten Thousand Beasts Prison!
"An intruder?!"
"How did he get inside?!"
"Stop him!"
…
At the entrance of the prison's inner building, several guards who had been chatting lazily moments ago saw Handsome Sanji charging toward them and immediately rushed forward.
"Get the hell out of my way!"
Handsome Sanji roared, kicking those guards flying aside, then slammed a heavy kick straight into the prison's inner gate.
BOOM!!!
The gate didn't budge at all!
"Hahaha! Idiot! That gate isn't just the only entrance—it's also the strongest!"
"That's right! It's made of one-meter-thick Black Grind Iron!"
"Trying to break it barehanded? Impossible!"
…
Though the guards who had been kicked away could barely get up, they still laughed smugly.
But in the very next moment—
their expressions froze.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
Handsome Sanji suddenly began spinning rapidly in place!
Intent power exploded violently, wrapping around the leg that supported his body!
With a sudden halt—his right leg turned blazing red, like fire!
"SUPER DEMON WIND LEG!!!"
Handsome Sanji roared and struck again!
BOOOOOOM!!!
Accompanied by an earth-shattering explosion,
his kick obliterated the hundred-meter-tall Black Grind Iron gate, blowing it apart!
Crash—clatter—clatter!
As fragments of the shattered gate rained down, Handsome Sanji shot forward like an arrow and rushed inside!
"!"
The moment he entered the prison interior, Handsome Sanji was stunned.
The first level of the prison was filled with massive stone pits.
Inside those pits—
boiling lava churned violently!
Several non-human prisoners were being thrown into the lava, burning alive as they let out agonized screams!
"How did the gate break?!"
"There's an intruder!"
"Quick—prepare for combat!"
…
The prison interior was completely unprepared for an invasion, and guards hurriedly began mobilizing.
"Out of my way!"
Handsome Sanji ignored them completely.
The calling voice was still coming from even deeper below, so he charged straight through, knocking down every guard in his path!
BOOM!
Suddenly, a towering figure slammed down in front of him, blocking his way.
"Kid, do you know where you are?"
The aura emanating from this figure was comparable to the Nascent Soul Realm!
This was unmistakably a Sixth-Order Sacred Body expert!
Handsome Sanji's response was immediate—his Demon Wind Leg.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Yet shockingly, Handsome Sanji's flurry of fierce attacks was blocked effortlessly with a single hand!
"This guy… is strong!"
Handsome Sanji retreated rapidly, narrowly avoiding the counterattack.
"I am Shi Dong, of the Stone Clan—
the most loyal warrior under Human Emperor Gu Aotian!"
The man spoke slowly as dark-brown, rock-like patterns surfaced across his body.
"As long as I stand here, no one will pass!"
"You—will not advance another step!"
Shi Dong said coldly.
By now, the entire prison had reacted.
Countless guards were flooding in like a tide!
Handsome Sanji knew—
He was running out of time.
If he couldn't quickly defeat this powerful enemy, once he was surrounded by endless reinforcements, even he would be dragged into a war of attrition—and that would mean certain defeat!
"Pshh—"
Handsome Sanji calmly took a drag from his cigarette and flicked it away.
"Divine Artifact—"
"NEPTUNE ARMOR!!!"
Without the slightest hesitation,
Handsome Sanji activated his strongest trump card!