"Asura, I've got my eye on you."
Upon a lofty divine throne, a god shrouded in unobservable, indescribable black-red mist opened his divine eyes, filled with the will of destruction, and cast his gaze toward the god seated upon the crimson throne opposite him.
Three other beings with varying auras, strange and indescribable, stood beside them. They were presumably gods of the same rank.
They sat scattered around a massive spherical structure radiating starlike brilliance, each occupying a divine throne that symbolized his authority, facing one another in opposition.
"Do as you please."
Tang San withdrew his gaze from the Plane Instrument, which was entirely obscured by mist and emitted an enigmatic glow, and calmly met the other man's eyes with his crimson killing gaze.
Unexpectedly, no one immediately made a move. The three gods at the side turned their gazes toward the God of Destruction.
"I want the Douluo Plane."
Rather than flying into a rage and demanding harsh punishment, or using this opportunity to further push his expansion proposal, as expected.
After witnessing the deeds of that mortal walking alone upon the Path to Ascension, the Destruction God King felt that those matters could wait a little longer.
"Don't be so quick to refuse. Although it's your jurisdiction, that World Will has clearly already made a deal with him. Are you sure you want to block a new god's path?"
Though he found it fucking disgusting, the Destruction God King, as long as the Asura God remained the God Realm Enforcer and no complete replacement had emerged, did not want the order of the God Realm to fall into turmoil.
Every God King had his own divine domain under his jurisdiction. The Douluo Plane was where Tang San had become a god, so it naturally fell under his control. It was only after the God of Craftsmanship, who had merely been passing through in search of an heir, reported the disgusting things he had done there that he learned this conservative faction bastard was practically a leftover from the previous Asura God, specifically left behind to disgust him.
Never mind that Tang San had taken the lead in doing something as sensitive as possession, or that he had blocked another's path to godhood. Just the fact that a God King had failed twice to kill a mortal, only to be threatened with his own mother afterward—he had somehow turned a simple cross-realm assassination into this mess, and had even been blacklisted by the very place where he became a god.
Through the God Realm Committee's Plane Instrument, the other four God Kings learned the entire story from beginning to end. Their feelings were difficult to put into words.
How had this generation's Asura God managed to combine conservative rigidity and extreme stubbornness, while discarding all the good parts and keeping only the worst?
If you hadn't blocked his path to godhood, then once he became a god, wouldn't he naturally become one of your subordinate gods? The first-generation gods were indeed all monstrous geniuses who were difficult to suppress, and this one was even more monstrous than most. But what was with directly bombarding your own land of faith?
Fine, you could say you hadn't expected the God of Craftsmanship, so fiercely protective of his own, to directly expose your divine name. But what was the point of holding back at the end? If his mother's Divine Thought Crystal had been captured, would any of this have happened if you hadn't arranged that possession?
And if you were going to hold back, then why cut down his cultivation?
Was this what you understood by balancing kindness and intimidation? By divine majesty being unfathomable?
You did cut down his cultivation, but now he wasn't following the Traditional Soul Master system of your Douluo Realm anymore!
Did you think your own ideas as an outsider represented the ideas of every outsider?
"The place where one becomes a god shall not be given to others."
The God Realm Enforcer began citing God Realm regulations.
"Tch, you just don't want to hand over the Douluo Plane."
The Destruction God King was somewhat disdainful. The God Realm had protection clauses for new gods, one of which stipulated that the place where one became a god automatically belonged to the most recent god to ascend there, unless he voluntarily relinquished it.
Knowing that the God of Slaughter before him had finally made the belated decision to eliminate all future troubles caused by his actions, a strange, mocking smile appeared at the corner of the Destruction God King's lips.
"Destroying a plane's Realm Wall without authorization is against the law, Asura Enforcer."
"I veto all proposals related to destroying the Douluo Plane's Realm Wall."
"Seconded."
"I second it as well. This is indeed a consequence you should bear."
The three God Kings who had been watching the show and slacking off at the side also stated their positions. Forcibly destroying a Realm Wall could, at best, lower the world's energy level, and at worst, cause the world to collapse. In any case, it was no good thing.
"So, Asura, you can only wait for the Energy Tide of the Realm Wall."
Looking at the silent, cold-faced Asura God King, the Destruction God King continued,
"When that time comes, you can fight him outside the realm, and we won't interfere. After all, it's your own karma. But if you forcibly violate this fundamental rule, don't blame me for stopping you."
"Seconded." The Life God King agreed with this and supported the Destruction God King.
"Abstain."
"Abstain."
The God Kings of Kindness and Evil chose to abstain. As for possibly taking action against another God King, they preferred to see how things developed before taking a stance.
A full cycle of the Realm Wall's Energy Tide generally took around thirty natural days in the God Realm.
Because the God Realm possessed an enormous energy density and terrifying mass, the flow of time and space there was relatively slow. Movement required an excessively vast amount of energy, causing everything to appear sluggish on a macroscopic scale. In relation to lower planes, one day in the God Realm equaled one year below.
It was worth noting that a natural day in the God Realm could not be measured by the mortal concept of twenty-four hours. Gods had always dictated the rules; mortals had never been heard of defining the conduct of gods.
"Fine."
After tossing out that icy reply, Tang San turned and left. Thirty years was all it would take. Perhaps that man would have already become a god by then, but Tang San was a God King! Of course, if his family suffered harm, there was no reason he could not strike out in fury.
"Heh."
The Destruction God King gave a strange laugh, then took his leave from the meeting without even waiting for the Life God King.
"Let's go, God of Craftsmanship."
The Destruction God King smiled as he looked at the God of Bronze and Weapons waiting for him outside the God Realm Committee.
"Let's upgrade our equipment. In thirty days, we'll have a match with that Tang San."
Ever since the God of Craftsmanship had introduced Chen Fu to him, Destruction had never intended to let Chen Fu truly fight Tang San one-on-one.
It was merely a matter of maximizing benefits. That mortal's deeds had made the Destruction God King feel that it was better to use his brain a little more.
Compared to most God Kings, who had bulldozed their way through everything, Chen Fu—who constantly considered balance—had given him considerable inspiration.
Cleaning up after the God Realm Enforcer Tang San required a price, and besides, the God of Craftsmanship, a popular figure in the God Realm and someone else's Divine Trial examiner, was waiting right outside.
If you wanted to get something done within a group, you first had to propose something relevant and reasonable, yet difficult for the other side to accept. That way, whether they rejected it or not, you could generally achieve your most basic objective.
Tang San's disappointing refusal to hand over the Douluo Plane had indirectly brought those two slacking God Kings into the matter, securing those thirty days of preparation time.
Those thirty days were not just for Chen Fu. The true protagonist was Destruction himself. He intended to freeload a set of equipment from the God of Craftsmanship.
And the God of Craftsmanship, whose beloved candidate had just received a Divine Trial only for it to be smashed apart, was surely full of rage and would definitely give him the best equipment.
So, a brain really was a good thing. Unfortunately, many people did not have one. Fortunately, he had grown one now.
He only hoped that when Tang San saw that the person he had been waiting for was Destruction, clad in a full set of divine equipment, he would not be too shocked.
Sigh, these gods had lived in comfort for too long and lost their drive to improve. Especially those two slacking God Kings. They had slacked off for so long that they were practically losing their brains.
Perhaps this was that long-awaited feeling of youth...
"Thirty years?"
Chen Fu, following behind Di Tian, murmured softly to himself. The World Will had just informed him that the estimated time for the Energy Tide had been calculated—around twenty-nine to thirty years.
"What are you talking about?"
Di Tian, who had been slowly leading the way ahead, turned back upon hearing this and looked at the human who made him angrier the more he interacted with him.
Not far behind him, the members of the caravan—whom Chen Fu had already instructed to develop a sense of ownership—were now walking around in something of a daze.
Nine Treasures: On surpassing your ancestors from scratch without ever needing to build a foundation.
"Just a time frame. It's nothing. Take me to meet our core team."
Chen Fu shook his head, indicating that it was nothing, and told Di Tian to pick up the pace. He wanted to finish dealing with these non-technological matters as soon as possible, then continue developing his new Soul Master System.
"Come on. They've been waiting for a long time."
Thanks to [Rain Comes, South Wind Rises] for the 100 tip, thanks to [Cold Frost] for the 200 tip, thanks to [Call Me A-Da] for the 100 tip, and thanks to [Foolish Dao Transformer] for the 100 tip (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ
Thanks to all my good brothers for the monthly votes and recommendation votes (σ′▽‵)′▽‵)σ
Yesterday, I sorted through the plot and nearly forgot some details. It was terrifying. Once you forget them, it becomes easy to write yourself into a frenzy without basic logic, and the story can collapse.
So I thought it through again yesterday and found that it hadn't collapsed. I had merely overlooked a few important details, so the later plot could still progress according to the main thread I had in mind.
Although there are no volume divisions, the first volume is tentatively titled: Path to Ascension.
A new volume begins below, tentatively titled: Conquest of Refining God. Gods are forged through blood and fire, and this journey is not one undertaken by a single person.
So, good brothers, let me pad out a few chapters and lay the groundwork properly. Chen's usual style is coming again, and I hope everyone can accept it.
Before you continue