Within the Blue Gold Divine Kingdom of Sunset Forest.
The lashing continued.
Tang Hao was drenched in blood, yet he gritted his teeth tightly. His venomous gaze pierced through the countless whip shadows and locked onto Gu Nian.
"Hahaha..."
He suddenly laughed, his voice hoarse and crazed.
"Did you see that? Rank 8 on the Golden Ranking! That's me, Tang Hao!"
"Even if you kill me now, you can't change that fact! The reward will arrive soon!"
He panted heavily, the flames of vengeance burning in his eyes.
"Once I receive the reward and am Transformed... everything you've done to me today, one day, I will definitely..."
"Your one day?"
Gu Nian's calm voice interrupted him.
"You have no one day left."
Before his words had even faded, Gu Nian slowly raised his right hand.
As his hand rose, the radiance of the entire Blue Gold Divine Kingdom seemed to gather in his palm.
The golden whip shadows filling the sky instantly froze, then turned into specks of light and vanished into the air.
An aura even more terrifying and majestic than before, carrying the weight of judgment, enveloped heaven and earth.
"Ninth Soul Skill, God King Judgment."
Buzz—!
A Blue Gold Light Pillar of ultimate purity shot skyward from Gu Nian's palm, then poured down like a heavenly waterfall, completely engulfing Tang Hao.
Outside, Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan could see only a blinding sheet of blue light. They could no longer make out what was happening within.
Yet Tang Hao, standing at the center of that light, felt as though he had fallen into a boundless abyss.
There was no lashing here, no pain of the flesh.
There were only his sealed memories, mercilessly pried open and displayed before his eyes one scene at a time.
In the vision appeared his younger self, along with his equally heroic and extraordinary elder brother, Tang Xiao.
And there was Ah Yin, the woman with long blue hair and a gentleness like water.
He saw how he had used petty cleverness and schemes to win Ah Yin's favor in his competition with his brother.
That affection had been mixed with far too much competitiveness and vanity.
The scene shifted.
Ignoring the objections of his brother and father, he had insisted on bringing Ah Yin, whose identity was sensitive, back to the Clear Sky Sect.
He claimed it was to give Ah Yin a proper status, but in truth, he wanted to proclaim his ownership before the entire sect and satisfy his ridiculous vanity.
He had even naively believed that, once Spirit Hall came knocking, the entire Clear Sky Sect would shield him, allowing him to rest easy.
He wanted the sect to bear the consequences of his personal choices.
As a result, the Old Sect Master—his father—had been angered to death by him.
The entire Clear Sky Sect had been forced to seal its gates and cut itself off from the world because of his recklessness.
Tang Hao's soul was trembling.
Those past events he had deliberately forgotten or embellished to himself were now laid bare in all their bloody ugliness, leaving him ashamed beyond measure.
The judgment was not over.
The final scene froze upon a twilight he could never forget for the rest of his life.
Spirit Hall's Pope, Qian Xunji, had come for him and Ah Yin, who had only just given birth, accompanied by two Titled Douluo.
He saw the hesitation and cowardice in his own eyes when facing powerful enemies.
He had not chosen to fight to the death at once. Instead, he had chosen to let Ah Yin—a mother who had just delivered a child and was at her weakest—step forward on her own.
He had naively believed that this would preserve his wife and child.
It was precisely this decision that had driven Ah Yin into a dead end.
In the end, it led to that tragic sacrifice.
"No... it wasn't like that..."
Within Tang Hao's mental world, his will roared madly.
"I loved Ah Yin! I did it to protect her!"
Yet the light of judgment mercilessly illuminated the deepest truth within his heart.
Selfishness, vanity, cowardice, shirking responsibility...
His so-called love had, from beginning to end, been built upon his own desires.
The obsession he had taken pride in all his life, the reason he had been willing to pay any price to resurrect Ah Yin, was completely shattered at this moment.
His faith collapsed.
Within the God King Judgment's pillar of light, Tang Hao's faith had already collapsed.
But he was not freed.
Or rather, this judgment had never been meant to free him.
Above the Sky Screen, light and shadows flowed. The scenes within that pillar of judgment were displayed without reservation before every living being across the entire continent.
The world saw it.
After Ah Yin's sacrifice, they saw how the once high-spirited Clear Sky Douluo had become a slovenly drunkard who spent every day with alcohol.
In Holy Soul Village, inside the dilapidated Blacksmith Shop.
The young Tang San, dressed in worn-out clothes that did not fit him, stood on tiptoe and laboriously cooked a pot of thin porridge.
Meanwhile, his father Tang Hao lay dead drunk on the bed, muttering curses incoherently. Over the smallest matters, he would blame and neglect the young child.
That so-called fatherly love had been as thin as a wisp of smoke during those years.
He had given up on himself, blamed heaven and earth, and vented all his faults and incompetence upon a child who needed care.
The scene shifted again.
Tang Hao left Holy Soul Village and began wandering the continent.
He was no longer the man madly devoted to love. He had become a ruthless avenger.
He hunted down Spirit Hall members. Regardless of their status and without asking about causes or circumstances, anyone from Spirit Hall was placed on his kill list.
His methods were vicious and despicable: sneak attacks, Poison, nothing was beneath him.
This was no longer revenge. It was pure displaced rage and venting.
He blamed all the failures of his life on Spirit Hall as a whole, using others' blood to numb the cowardice and regret in his heart.
At last, the scene froze on the recent past.
Tang Hao stood atop a mountain peak, gazing toward Sunset Forest with greed flashing in his eyes.
He had learned of the existence of Gu Nian, the Blue Silver God King, and learned of that true body which surpassed the Blue Silver Emperor.
He had harbored crooked intentions.
What he wanted was not to seek help, nor was it cooperation.
It was... to seize it!
He wanted to kill Gu Nian and take his God King Origin to resurrect his wife, Ah Yin.
For this, he was willing to pay any price.
At this point, the visions ended.
Beneath the Sky Screen, the entire continent erupted in uproar, then immediately fell into a strange silence.
This was... the Clear Sky Douluo?
This was that legendary man who stood tall between heaven and earth?
Sunset Forest.
The pillar of judgment slowly dispersed.
Thud!
A dull sound rang out.
Tang Hao dropped heavily to both knees. His proud head hung low, his forehead touching the dust-covered ground.
His entire body trembled, not from pain, but from a shudder deep within his soul.
Under God King Judgment, he had seen his entire life clearly.
That so-called deep affection had been nothing but possessiveness.
That so-called revenge had been nothing but impotent fury.
That so-called obsession had been nothing but an excuse to escape reality.
His sins were grave.
Before Gu Nian, as towering and majestic as a Deity, he was as insignificant as an ant—one filthy ant, unworthy of living in this world.
He gave up all resistance. He had even lost the courage to raise his head.
Before you continue