Landing on Sea God Island

At the eastern coast, dawn had just broken, whitening the horizon. The sea lay mirror-smooth, reflecting drifting rosy clouds. Waves gently lapped against the reefs with a low, steady roar, as if heaven and earth were breathing. In the distance, an island floating above the emerald waters appeared and vanished like a mirage, like a divine miracle descending upon the world. Seven Sea God Pillars stood majestically around the island like seven silent guardians. Ancient runes were engraved upon them, each pattern flowing with a faint golden light that resonated with the waves and emitted a deep hum.

This was Sea God Island, one of the three great sacred lands of the Douluo Continent.

Today, a grand occasion unseen on Sea God Island for a century was about to begin: the final trial of Sea God's Nine Trials, the inheritance of the divine seat. Before the Sea God Palace, Tang San sat cross-legged with his eyes closed in concentration. Nine Spirit Rings slowly revolved around him. His Blue Silver Emperor martial soul coiled around him like vines, while the phantom of the Clear Sky Hammer rose and fell behind his back. His Spiritual Sense had already resonated deeply with Sea God's Light. Ripples spread across the sea, as if the entire island trembled in anticipation of his awakening.

Sea God Douluo Bo Saixi stood atop a high platform, her silver hair cascading like a waterfall. Her deep gaze rested on the horizon. She suddenly sighed. "He... is almost here."

Before her words had faded, the sea suddenly churned, and a figure came walking over the waves.

He had neither boat nor raft, crossing the water in nothing but straw sandals as though walking on solid ground. With every step, a ring of ripples spread across the surface, and green shoots quietly sprouted within them, as if the power of life had revived the deathly sea. He carried the Shennong Hoe over his shoulder. Its ancient body bore the marks of countless years, and droplets falling from its tip condensed into crystalline lotus flowers beneath the sunlight before dropping into the sea as specks of fluorescence.

"Who... is that?" a Sea Soul Master cried out, his pupils contracting sharply.

"He has no Sea God's Light, yet he can walk through the waves. Could he be... a God-bestowed person?"

The newcomer was none other than Yang Jun.

He had traveled south from the Extreme North Snowfield, crossed the vast sea for more than a month, and passed through storms, Soul Beast hunts, and Undercurrent Vortices, breaking through them all with Solitary Cultivation Power. He had borrowed no force and relied on no sect. With only a hoe and a single conviction, he had forced his way into this divine domain.

"You are not a participant in the trials. Why have you trespassed upon Sea God Island?" a Red Cardinal shouted harshly. Sea God's Light gathered in his palm and formed a spear of light aimed directly at Yang Jun.

Yang Jun raised his head. His gaze was like a plow, piercing through the spear of light and striking straight at the other man's soul. "I did not come for the trials, nor did I come to become a god. I came only to witness whether a true god is truly just."

The moment those words were spoken, the sea fell silent. Even the wind seemed to stop.

Before the Sea God Palace, Tang San slowly opened his eyes. Golden light flowed within them as his Spiritual Sense spread like a tidal wave. Looking at Yang Jun, he smiled faintly. "You came. I sensed your presence all the way from the far north, crossing snow alone, breaking wind and waves. You did not come for me, but for the 'way.'"

Yang Jun nodded and climbed the palace steps with steady strides. Each step left behind a shallow plow mark, as if he were writing an ancient oath upon the earth.

"You are already close to the divine seat, but I still have one question for you—" His voice was not loud, yet it rang like thunder in every ear. "Do you seek godhood to protect others, or for power?"

The entire crowd erupted in uproar.

Bo Saixi frowned slightly. "Mortal, do not blaspheme against the gods. How can you question the Sea God's divine seat?"

Yet Yang Jun did not retreat even half a step. His eyes blazed. "If a god is unjust, then he is unworthy of being a god. I till the fields so mortals can eat. I break tribulations so the weak may have a road to walk. And you, Tang San—if, after becoming a god, you protect only your friends and family while ignoring all living beings, then this divine seat would be better given to someone who understands 'protection' more deeply."

Tang San fell silent.

The sea wind howled, whipping his robes with a sharp flutter. After a long while, he suddenly burst into laughter, his voice shaking the heavens. "Good! What a fine Mortal's Question! I, Tang San, swear in the name of the Sea God: if I become a god, I will keep all living beings in my heart. I will not distort justice for personal feelings, nor oppress others with power. If I break this oath, may my divine seat scatter and my soul be destroyed!"

As the oath fell, the Sea God Palace shook violently. Nine beams of divine light descended from the sky like nine golden dragons spiraling downward, enveloping Tang San. A golden pillar of light rose from the sea and pierced the clouds. The final trial of Sea God's Nine Trials—the inheritance of the divine seat—had officially begun.

At that moment, the heavens changed abruptly.

Black clouds blotted out the sunlight in an instant, and a pitch-black rift tore open in the sky, as though heaven and earth had been ripped apart. Countless shadows poured out from within—it was Spirit Hall's God Level enshrined masters! At their head stood Qian Daoliu's younger brother, Qian Xunji, a rank ninety-nine Limit Douluo. He possessed the Six-Winged Angel martial soul. Though his divine light was incomplete, he had already taken half a step into godhood. Golden radiance swirled around him as if a heavenly god had descended.

"Tang San, today is the day you die!" Qian Xunji laughed wildly, his voice like thunder. "How can the Sea God's inheritance be touched by a Blue Silver Grass bastard like you? Today, in the name of the angel, I will slay this false god!"

Everyone on Sea God Island was shocked. Bo Saixi immediately ordered them to meet the enemy, but the opposing side had superior numbers and consisted entirely of elites. Several Titled Douluo had even joined forces to form an array, and the battle instantly fell into a disadvantage.

At that moment, Yang Jun stepped forward and slammed the Shennong Hoe into the ground.

Boom—!

The ground split open as Ice Thunder Power erupted. Countless vines burst from the earth and coiled like enormous dragons, trapping every enemy Soul Master. The Shennong Hoe swung, turning lightning into a plow that carved a deep trench between friend and foe. Wherever the plow marks passed, the earth cracked, the sea surged backward, and even space itself seemed to have been torn open.

"You... who are you?" Qian Xunji cried in shock as his Six-Winged Angel martial soul spread open, its golden light surging.

"My name is Yang Jun, merely a Solitary Cultivator." His voice was calm, his gaze icy. "Leave now, and I may spare your life. If you insist on acting recklessly, then today—this will be your burial ground."

Qian Xunji laughed in fury. "A mere mortal dares speak such madness?"

Before his words had finished, Yang Jun had already moved.

The Shennong Hoe drew a radiant arc as ice thunder merged with the power of earth. A strike of Ploughing Heaven crashed forth. Heaven and earth changed color, and the waves rolled backward. Qian Xunji's Six-Winged Angel martial soul was forcibly driven back three steps! Its golden light shattered, its wings trembled, and blood dripped from his fingertips.

"This... is impossible!" Qian Xunji exclaimed in horror. "He has no Spirit Ring, yet possesses divine power?! Could he... be the reincarnation of the ancient Ploughing God?"

At that moment, Tang San completed the final trial. Sea God's Light descended upon him, and the divine seat arrived.

He stood within divine radiance, gold and blue interweaving around his body as though the Sea God himself had descended. He looked at Yang Jun and said solemnly, "Yang Jun, thank you. You protected me through my Divine Tribulation with the body of a mortal. I will remember this debt."

Yang Jun shook his head. "I do not need your thanks. I only hope that after becoming a god, you will not forget the oath you made today."

Tang San nodded solemnly. "I, Tang San, swear in the name of the Sea God: I will protect all living beings and never betray the Solitary Cultivator's Question."

As the oath fell, the sea calmed, the dark clouds scattered, sunlight poured down, and Sea God Island was restored to light.

Yang Jun smiled. That smile was like a spring breeze crossing a snowfield, warm and resolute. He turned and walked away over the waves, his figure gradually fading into the end of the emerald sea.

Behind him, divine light shot into the sky and the waves churned, yet his back was like a speck of dust, vanishing into the boundless ocean.

Bo Saixi watched his departing figure and sighed softly. "He is not a god, yet he has the heart of one. He does not contend for a divine seat, yet he is already close to the way. Perhaps... the true god has never been the one seated upon the divine throne."

Several days later, in the Extreme North Snowfield.

Yu Xiaogang stood before the newly built Solitary Cultivation Hall. The hall was made of stone and wood, simple yet solemn. Within it stood an unnamed stone stele inscribed with two words—Ploughing God. Before the stele, an everlasting lamp burned day and night. Its oil was condensed from Soul Power, and its blue flame resembled lightning at the tip of a plow.

He raised his head toward the sky and murmured through the snowstorm, "Yang Jun, I will walk the road you chose as well. The future of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon lies not in revenge, nor in bloodlines, but in—protection."

Amid the wind and snow, a seed broke through the snow. Its tender green shoot stood against the wind like hope.

Across the continent, more and more mortals began worshipping Statues of the Solitary Cultivator in their fields—an image of a farmer holding the Shennong Hoe, lightning dripping from its plow tip and lotus flowers blooming beneath his feet. Folk tales said that he broke gods with his hoe and questioned heaven with his way. He was the true one who opened a path for all living beings—the Ploughing God.

A child once asked, "Did he really exist?"

An old man stroked his beard and replied, "He is not in the divine halls or the history books, but in every seed that breaks through the soil and every inch of land turned by the plow. He is the awakened one among mortals, the first light on the Douluo Continent—one that tills for all living beings."