Luo Tian & Lu Han

On an island somewhere on the Douluo Continent, one young man suddenly hugged another young man from behind as he sat fishing.

"I like you. I've liked you since the first moment I saw you—I just never realized it. I love you, Luo Tian."

"Me too," Luo Tian replied with a smile.

"What brought you here to fish with me today? Don't you hate the sea?"

"My father found me."

"What? What does he want?" Luo Tian asked angrily.

"My father said he promised Mu Yuntian's daughter that I would marry her!"

"Is... is that so?" Luo Tian's hand holding the fishing rod began to tremble slightly. He was terrified that Lu Han would leave him.

"I didn't agree to it. He isn't my father anymore, so I have no reason to listen to him."

"Is that so?" Luo Tian finally felt relieved.

Suddenly, an overwhelming pressure crushed the entire island three meters lower!

"Luo Tian, you bastard! Get the hell out here!" A majestic voice reached Luo Tian and Lu Han's ears. It belonged to Lu Han's father, Lu Liangtian.

"This is bad! Luo Tian, what do we do? My father came himself—he's a Level 99 Limit Douluo!" Lu Han said anxiously. Luo Tian placed a hand over Lu Han's and stroked it. "Don't worry. As long as you don't leave me, no one can separate us."

"Let's go. It isn't good for you to keep being threatened by your father." Luo Tian took Lu Han's hand and walked toward the source of the voice. Looking at their clasped hands, Lu Han felt warmth fill his heart.

"Lu Liangtian, you really haven't changed. Are you trying to tear us apart again?"

Luo Tian spoke to Lu Liangtian, who stood in midair.

"A mere junior dares act so presumptuously?! I came today to take my son home to get married!"

"Hahaha, Lu Liangtian, if Han'er hadn't pleaded for you back then, do you think you would still be alive today?"

"Luo Tian, do you still remember the Tang Sect?"

"The Tang Sect? Who on the Douluo Continent doesn't know of the Tang Sect founded by Tang San?"

"No, no, no. I mean the Tang Sect that once took you in. Do you remember it?"

"What are you talking about? I don't understand!"

"You're still pretending? Will you remember something when you see him?"

A man with two pairs of wings on his back and a halo above his head stepped out from behind Lu Liangtian and came before Luo Tian.

"You are?!"

That was right. Although Luo Tian had only caught a glimpse of him before his reincarnation, he recognized him. He was one of the people from Heaven!

"Sinner Luo Tian, you defied jurisdiction and unlawfully entered another world, committing a grave crime. Under the Otherworld Clauses, sinner Luo Tian shall lose the chance to reincarnate as a human and shall forever be livestock, slaughtered at the will of others. From this moment on, you have the right to remain silent, though you may also make futile resistance!"

Those imposing, inviolable words appeared directly in Luo Tian's mind. Not only Luo Tian, but Lu Han and Lu Liangtian, who were present, heard them as well.

"Do you think I'm easy to bully?! Release all martial souls!" In an instant, countless Soul Rings appeared around Luo Tian. Some were ten years old, some were hundreds of millions of years old—there were Soul Rings of every age, stretching beyond sight.

In an instant, the pressure nearly caused Lu Liangtian's blood and energy to explode. The man from Heaven made no move, yet Lu Liangtian returned to normal. Luo Tian's control was precise enough that Lu Han was completely unharmed.

"Combination Skill, Divine God's Finger!" An index finger covered in runes slowly descended from the sky.

"Luo Tian! You dare! You dare insult a god! Luo Tian, die!" This time, he spoke aloud. As someone who served the gods, he could never tolerate the existence of anyone who insulted them!

The instant he spoke those words, the single finger dissipated.

"Luo Tian, let me tell you something. The system you use now is nothing but trash! It is merely an invention created by that freak. The martial souls you obtained are only unfinished products! If they were real, you could easily erase me."

Those words appeared directly in Luo Tian's mind again. Once they vanished, the system's notification sounded.

"Ding—Host, I have watched your growth and your story all these years. I'm very happy. Goodbye."

"System! System! System!" Luo Tian cried out in anguish. It had been with him for twenty-three years, and he had already regarded it as family.

"Stop shouting. The system you speak of is only a program. Lu Liangtian, this fellow named Luo Tian is now so weak that anyone can kill him. I can't be bothered to wait for him to die slowly of old age. Come over and kill him yourself."

"..." Lu Liangtian looked at Luo Tian coldly.

Lu Liangtian said, "Luo Tian, have you ever considered the consequences?"

"I... I'm not powerless to resist!" Luo Tian stood up and immediately threw a punch at the angel, but before it could reach him, a long sword pierced through Luo Tian's hand.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Luo Tian roared.

"Father, stop!" Lu Han stood in front of Luo Tian and begged Lu Liangtian.

Slap!

A crisp, resounding slap echoed through the ears of Luo Tian, Lu Han, Lu Liangtian, and the man from Heaven.

"You still have the nerve to call me Father? Don't make me laugh! If you refuse the wedding, then I no longer have a son like you!"

Silence—an utterly terrifying silence. At last, the sound of waves crashing against the shore broke it.

"Father, I've listened to you ever since I was young, but not this time! Father, have you ever experienced loving someone? Love is a poison that drives people mad!"

Because Lu Liangtian's marriage had been a political one, had he never loved anyone?

"Lu Han, I'll ask you one last time. Will you marry her or not? If you refuse, then he will die!"

Luo Tian's gaze was resolute. He believed Lu Han would refuse, even if it meant his own death.

But reality was cruel.

"I agree, Father. Please spare Luo Tian." Lu Liangtian burst into laughter upon hearing those words.

"Good son, let's go!"

Luo Tian struggled to run after them, wanting to catch up, but—

"Ahhhhhhh!"

"Tch, honestly. He actually didn't kill you! If it weren't for some reason, you would have died long ago!" As he spoke, he stomped Luo Tian's wrist apart.

Although Lu Han stood behind Lu Liangtian, it was as though all light had vanished from his eyes.

"Do you know?! Because of you, my brother died?! Because of that lousy system he invented!"

As he spoke, he stomped on and broke both of Luo Tian's legs. But Luo Tian ignored his words and desperately crawled toward the direction Lu Han had flown away in.

Luo Tian recalled everything he had shared with Lu Han, from their meeting, to getting to know each other, to falling in love.

"Fine, you like crawling so much, do you? Then I'll let you crawl to your heart's content!"

He stomped and broke both of Luo Tian's arms as well. Like a worm, Luo Tian inched forward little by little, enduring the pain as he crawled onward.