Seven Deadly Sins Gods, Divine Punishment Tower
Before he could finish speaking, they reached the end of the bridge.
An open stone platform lay ahead. A pillar of dark red light stood at its center, and within it floated the indistinct shape of a thick cloud of bloody mist, radiating a cold, overbearing presence.
Feng Xiu released her, walked up to the pillar of light, and reached into the bloody mist.
The whole cloud suddenly contracted as he forcibly yanked it out. It condensed into a ball of dark red light in his palm, with a tiny crystal fragment wrapped inside.
Divine Slaughter's Domain, plus a Godhood Fragment left behind by Asura God.
Qian Renxue stared from behind him, taken aback. "What is that?"
Feng Xiu put the Godhood Fragment into the Dimensional Space, then turned and glanced at her.
Without saying much, he raised a hand and waved it. Violet light enveloped Qian Renxue and lifted her entire body into the air.
Qian Renxue's expression changed. "Wait, what are you doing?"
"Leaving." Feng Xiu's voice was flat.
"Back to your grandfather."
"What about you?"
Qian Renxue struggled twice in midair, but couldn't break free.
"Aren't you leaving?"
"I still have things to do," Feng Xiu said, looking at her, his tone softening a fraction.
"The Douluo Continent won't be peaceful from here on..."
Qian Renxue opened her mouth, wanting to say more, but her vision suddenly went black. It was as though she had been shoved into a whirlpool, and heaven and earth spun around her.
When she opened her eyes again, she was standing in a forest, surrounded by ordinary trees and grass. In the distance, she could just make out the shape of an official road.
Qian Renxue stood there for two breaths, a little disappointed. She lowered her head and clenched her fist, then suddenly felt a flicker of warmth in her palm.
She looked down and saw faint blood-red lines of light floating over her palm. Divine Slaughter's Domain?
She froze for a moment, then smiled.
"Thank you, Feng Ling."
With that, she turned around, got her bearings, and set off toward Spirit City.
Douluo God Realm, Asura God Temple.
Asura God sat on his divine throne, his closed eyes suddenly snapping open. His face darkened at once.
He pressed a hand to his chest, his knuckles turning white. At that moment, he could clearly feel that the strand of Divine Sense he had left in Slaughter City on the Douluo Continent had been severed.
The presence of the inheritance site had completely vanished, along with the Godhood Fragment he had sealed away there all those years ago.
"Someone has touched my inheritance."
He rose, strode out of the Asura God Temple, and headed straight for the God Realm Committee.
The other God Kings had already arrived, seemingly having guessed what had happened.
The Goddess of Life frowned, tapping her fingertips lightly on the table. The God of Destruction leaned back in his chair with his arms folded, wearing an expression that was hard to read.
"Asura, are you sure it was that member of a foreign race?" the Goddess of Life asked first.
"Who else could it be?" Asura God's tone was grave.
"And he didn't just destroy my inheritance site. He even stripped away the Godhood Fragment I sealed there."
The Godess of Kindness and the God of Evil exchanged a glance, but neither spoke.
The God of Destruction snorted, his tone openly disdainful.
"Could this fellow be trying to create his own godhood? Even if he created a God King godhood, what of it? All of us are God Kings. He's just a member of a foreign race. Does he really think he can overturn the heavens?"
He paused and sat a little straighter.
"But this fellow has been so unbridled, it's time he was taught a lesson. I've decided to send the Seven Deadly Sins Gods under my command down to the lower realm to judge this member of a foreign race. What do you all think?"
Asura God frowned.
The Seven Deadly Sins Gods were the God of Destruction's own loyal subordinates. On the surface, he was sending them down to judge a member of a foreign race, but the God Kings all knew what he had in mind behind the scenes.
The Douluo Continent was in a complete mess. Whoever went down and dealt with the Demon God Emperor could reap a huge harvest of Power of Faith.
The God of Destruction was trying to claim the greatest share of the credit.
The Godess of Kindness smiled, her tone neither warm nor cold. "Destruction, you certainly know whom to pick."
"I'm doing this to ease the Divine Realm's worries." The God of Destruction's expression didn't change.
The God of Evil tilted his head and looked at him for a moment, but didn't object either.
The Goddess of Life thought it over, then nodded.
Asura God was silent for several breaths before he too gave a hum of assent.
"Then please await my good news."
The God of Destruction's lips curved slightly upward. He rose, turned, and left to arrange for the Seven Deadly Sins Gods to descend to the lower realm.
After the God Realm Committee dispersed, Asura God returned to his own temple and sat motionless on his divine throne.
He raised a hand and drew it through the air. A mirror of light appeared, showing the direction of the Douluo Continent, but everything was shrouded in gray haze, impossible to see through.
He stared at the gray mist for a long while before suddenly speaking in a low voice. "I hope... there won't be any more unexpected developments."
Two months later, beneath the ruins of Slaughter City on the Douluo Continent.
Feng Xiu sat cross-legged on a stone platform. Most of the dark red lines of light around him had dimmed, and the fragment of Asura God's Godhood he had stripped away hovered before him, its fragments merging into the space between his brows bit by bit.
His eyes were closed, and dark violet Spiritual Power rippled outward from his body in rings. With each ripple, several more cracks appeared on the stone platform.
The last fragment.
The mostly formed Godhood between his brows turned slowly, swallowing the fragment that had merged into him bit by bit.
After an unknown length of time, Feng Xiu opened his eyes. A flash of dark violet light flickered through his pupils and vanished.
He let out a breath of turbid Qi, raised a hand to gather up every trace of the remaining light before him, then stood and rolled his neck.
The Godhood was complete.
He raised a hand and tore open a Void Rift. After one last look back at the cavern, which was on the verge of collapse, he stepped inside.
The rift closed, and silence settled once more beneath the ruins of Slaughter City.
The instant Feng Xiu emerged.
His path to ascending to godhood was blocked.
A massive tower descended from the sky. Its entire body was grayish white, its surface covered in densely packed runes, and it bore a pressure of Plane Power that made it hard to breathe.
The moment the tower descended, all the space around it was locked down. Even a Void Rift couldn't be torn open.
Feng Xiu looked up at the tower and narrowed his eyes slightly.
An aged, majestic voice came down from the top of the tower, unhurried, but with every word bearing down on him.
"Outsider, you have bestowed no blessing upon this continent, so you have no right to covet the path to godhood. You are not permitted to become a god."
"Your sins are grave. You are sentenced to fall into the Divine Punishment Tower and face judgment by the Seven Deadly Sins Gods."
Feng Xiu's expression barely changed as he listened. He gave a cold laugh.
"You? You think you can judge me?"
The Plane Master said no more. The runes on the tower suddenly lit up, and a pure Power of Law pressed down, trying to push him into the tower.
Feng Xiu stood where he was without moving. He lifted his eyelids and swept his gaze toward the top of the tower.
With that single glance.
He forcibly drove the Power of Law straight back, making the entire tower sway along with it.
When the Plane Master's voice rang out again, it was plainly tinged with surprise and doubt. "You..."
"My path is not yours to judge."
Feng Xiu stepped forward at an unhurried pace.
"A blessing? My people have never received a blessing from the gods, so what gives you the right to demand that I bless this continent?"