"Break!"
Jing suddenly increased her output of soul power.
The "Power of the Blazing Sun" bestowed by the Heavenly Curtain contained the light and heat of the Cosmic Origin—the purest form of destruction and new life.
Crack.
A crisp shattering sound rang out.
Before the horrified eyes of the red robe man, a crack appeared in the Blood Red Light Shield that bore the will of the Asura God.
Then came a second crack, followed by a third.
"No... That's impossible! This is Asura God's—"
He had not even finished screaming.
Jing's palm had already utterly shattered the Blood Red Light Shield. Carrying heat capable of destroying everything, it pressed directly onto the crown of his head.
There was no suspense.
Under the burning of the True Solar Fire, the red robe man's body instantly turned into a wisp of green smoke.
His soul, his sins, and his so-called luck were all completely erased in that instant.
Only a patch of black ash remained on the ground.
The blood red sword shadow extending from the Void Crack seemed enraged by a mortal's provocation. It let out a sharp hum and tried to attack Jing.
Jing abruptly raised her head.
Her platinum blonde short hair whipped wildly in the energy storm.
Those golden eyes locked firmly onto the being behind the Void Crack across endless space-time.
"Get lost!"
A furious roar erupted.
Countless golden Mirror Shards gathered in the air, transforming into an enormous light beam that forcibly blasted the Void Crack to pieces.
The blood light faded.
Everything returned to calm.
Jing stood amid the ruins, her golden armor gleaming brilliantly like an invincible War Goddess.
She slowly turned around to face the void, as though she were staring through the screen at every person watching the Heavenly Curtain.
Or perhaps she was watching the lofty God Realm.
"I remember your aura."
Jing held out her hand. Her fingertips were stained with a trace of Asura Divine Power that had yet to dissipate, and she casually crushed it.
"You so-called deities hiding in the gutter."
"Wash your necks and wait."
"The day I enter the God Realm, I will cut off your head and use it to honor the lost souls of this wilderness!"
Through the Heavenly Curtain's Live Broadcast, those words instantly spread to every corner of Douluo Continent.
The entire world was in uproar.
Heaven Dou City, Imperial Palace Secret Chamber.
Bang!
Another precious rosewood table was smashed into powder.
Tang San abruptly rose to his feet, his chest heaving violently. His once-gloomy eyes were now filled with horror.
His hands trembled slightly.
Not from anger, but from a shudder rising from the depth of the soul.
That red light just now...
There was no way he could be mistaken.
He had spent so long in the City of Slaughter that he was all too familiar with that aura.
That was the Asura God's power!
It was the power of the God Realm's strongest Enforcer, as well as the God Position Tang San most desired to inherit!
Could that red robe man have been another Chess Piece placed by the Asura God?
Or perhaps some kind of Alternative?
But that was not the important part.
The important part was that the woman named Jing had shattered the Asura God's protection head-on!
"How is that possible..."
Tang San stared fixedly at the golden figure on the Heavenly Curtain, grinding his teeth.
"How could a mortal body possibly contend with Divine Power?"
"That Li Xin... What kind of monsters are the people under him?"
An unprecedented sense of danger enveloped Tang San.
He had originally believed that as long as he inherited the Sea God Position, or went further and sought the Asura God Position, he would become invincible on this continent.
But now, Jing, who ranked ninth, dared to declare before the entire world that she would kill the Asura God.
And she had truly succeeded in forcibly killing the person the Asura God wanted to protect.
That strength, that bearing, filled Tang San with a deep sense of helplessness.
After resolving the trouble at the Graveyard of the Fallen, Jing did not linger for even a moment.
She did not even spare another glance at the commoners worshipping her.
Golden light flashed, and her entire body became a streak of light as she sped toward Chang'an City in the east.
Someone she cared about was there.
Chang'an City, top floor of Taibai Restaurant.
This was Li Xin's private Forbidden Land. Aside from those closest to him, no one was permitted to set foot here.
The room was furnished with utmost luxury, yet it did not lack elegance.
A faint dragon's saliva incense lingered in the air, soothing all worries with a single breath.
Li Xin lounged lazily against a soft couch covered in snow-white fox fur, idly playing with a crystal-clear jade cup in his hand.
His incomparably handsome face carried an air of casual indifference.
Beside him, an exquisitely beautiful young girl in a maple red skirt knelt on the carpet.
She was Gongsun Li.
At this moment, she had shed the valiant air she displayed on the battlefield, revealing all the sweetness and tender charm of a young woman.
Her distinctive rabbit ears drooped slightly, trembling gently with her movements.
She held a plate of peeled grapes and carefully fed them to Li Xin.
"Master, Sister Jing is so amazing."
Gongsun Li looked at Jing, who was rapidly returning on the Heavenly Curtain. Her large eyes were filled with admiration, and her voice was soft enough to seem as though water could be squeezed from it.
Li Xin opened his mouth and took the grape, then lightly bit her slender finger in passing.
"Ah..."
Gongsun Li let out a soft cry like a kitten's, and two rosy clouds instantly colored her cheeks.
She tried to pull her hand back, but Li Xin grabbed her wrist.
With a slight tug from Li Xin, he pulled her warm, soft, fragrant body into his embrace.
His palm slowly slid down along the long Jade Leg extending beneath the young girl's skirt.
The sensation was smooth and warm, like the finest White Jade.
Gongsun Li's legs were considered unparalleled in Chang'an City.
Their lines were balanced, firm and strong, yet they did not lack feminine softness.
Especially those jade feet, whose toes were now curling shyly. Set off by red straps, they looked particularly alluring.
Li Xin's fingers gently stroked her ankle, feeling the skin that trembled faintly from her tension and shyness.
That perfectly measured teasing made Gongsun Li's breathing grow a little more rapid, while a glistening moisture welled within her beautiful eyes.
"Jing is indeed impressive."
Li Xin swallowed the grape and looked toward the Heavenly Curtain, which had not yet closed. A trace of amusement flashed through his eyes.
"I just didn't expect that old Asura's hand to stretch so far."
Li Xin naturally recognized that blood red sword shadow from earlier.
It was a Divine Thought Clone of the Asura God.
It seemed that aside from Tang San, the so-called "chosen son of fate," the Asura God had also cast a wide net across Douluo Continent, raising quite a few candidates like poisonous insects.
That Red Robe Fatty was probably one of the alternative vessels as well, used to gather evil thoughts or serve as some sort of medium for descent.
"Master, was that... a God?"
Gongsun Li curled up in Li Xin's arms, allowing his hand to misbehave on her leg as she asked worriedly.
"Will Sister Jing anger the deities in the sky by doing that?"
Although Li Xin had always stressed that there was no need to fear deities, in the minds of Douluo Continent's natives, gods were still inviolable beings.
Hearing that, Li Xin chuckled.
He released Gongsun Li's ankle and instead pinched one of her fluffy rabbit ears.
"Deities?"
Li Xin's voice carried an arrogance that came from deep within his bones.
"They are merely Corpse Guardians clinging to life on faith."
"So what if they are angered?"
He stood and walked to the window, clasping his hands behind his back. His gaze seemed to pierce the heavens and stare directly at the illusory God Realm Committee.
"Jing did very well."
"Since that Asura God does not want to handle this with dignity, then we will help him retain some dignity."
"If those old fools in the God Realm dare to make trouble over this..."
An overbearing aura that looked down upon the world suddenly erupted from Li Xin's body. It was the absolute confidence of a God King Level expert.
"Then I do not mind starting a god war ahead of schedule."
"I'll take the opportunity to destroy that so-called Asura God, then burn those rundown palaces of the God Realm to the ground."
He said it lightly, as though he were merely talking about crushing an ant.
Behind him, Gongsun Li looked at Li Xin's tall, straight back, and the adoration in her eyes nearly overflowed.
This was her Master.
This was the king of Chang'an City.
Before this man, even the gods in the heavens had to bow their heads.
"Master is the best!"
Gongsun Li jumped down from the couch and ran behind Li Xin on those long legs that made one's blood race. She tightly wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.
Her cheek pressed against his broad back, feeling the powerful beat of his heart.
"Wherever Master goes, Ali will follow."
"Even if we charge into the God Realm, Ali will dance for Master and lift his spirits!"
Li Xin turned around. Looking at this silly lass whose eyes held only him, the coldness in his gaze faded and was replaced with gentleness.
"Don't worry."
"As long as I am here, the sky will not fall."
"As for Tang San..."
Li Xin looked in the direction of Heaven Dou City, a cold curve rising at the corner of his lips.
"If he knows what is good for him, then so be it. If he does not, it is time to send him to reunite with his teachers and classmates."
Just then.
The scene on the Heavenly Curtain changed once more.
The ranking of the next powerful expert was about to begin.
And the powerful figures across the continent were still savoring Jing's earth-shattering strike and her declaration that had intimidated the gods.
The offerings on Sea God Island and in Spirit Hall, especially, were deeply shaken.
Because more than anyone else, they understood what that red light represented.
This world was truly about to change.
God Realm, Asura God Temple.
The once Deathly Stillness hall was now trembling violently.
It was the wrath of a Supreme Deity being unleashed.
A scarlet storm of Divine Power raged through the hall, grinding countless decorations left behind from that ancient god war into dust.
"Bastard!"
An angry roar echoed through the empty hall.
The blood pool at the center of the hall boiled like scalding water. Countless Vengeful Souls wailed within it, but they were firmly suppressed by an even more terrifying killing intent.
The Asura God sat high upon a Divine Throne built from piled bones, his dark red Demonic Pattern Armor radiating a suffocating pressure.
Just moments ago, he had sensed that a strand of Divine Sense he had sent into the lower realm had been forcibly erased.
It had not merely been erased.
It was an outrageously arrogant provocation, as though someone had slapped him viciously across the face through endless void.
"Mortals..."
The Asura God's eyes, burning with bloody flames, stared fixedly toward the lower realm.
He wanted to see exactly who had the audacity to do this.
He wanted even more to personally bring down divine punishment and crush that presumptuous ant, along with that entire plane.
However.
When his divine sense tried to penetrate the Realm Barrier, it struck an invisible barrier.
It was not Douluo Continent's original laws of the world.
Rather, it was a force even more ancient, more mysterious, and impossible even for him to decipher.
The Heavenly Curtain.
That damned ranking list that had suddenly appeared above Douluo Continent.
It was like an absolute prohibition, completely cutting off the God Realm's ability to spy upon the lower realm.
Asura God's fingers dug fiercely into the armrest of his Divine Throne, the hard God Bone crumbling to powder beneath them.
He was now like a blind man with his eyes covered.
He clearly knew someone was challenging his authority, yet he could not even see their face.
"Good. Very good."
"Since this tattered curtain is blocking me, This Seat will use another method."
The killing intent in Asura God's eyes receded, replaced by something even deeper and more sinister.
He raised a hand, and a dark red rune condensed in his palm.
Since his main body could not descend and his divine sense could not peer through, he would contact the most crucial Chess Piece he had long ago placed in the lower realm.
Heaven Dou City, a Secret Chamber within the Imperial Palace.
The air was thick with suffocating oppression.
Tang San slumped on the floor, his clothes already soaked through with cold sweat.
The images from the Heavenly Curtain just moments ago had nearly shattered his Dao Heart.
Even Asura God's protection had been destroyed.
That woman named Jing was so powerful it was simply unreasonable.
And Li Xin, standing behind Jing—just how terrifying was he?
A deep sense of helplessness coiled around his heart like a venomous snake.
Just then.
Beside the Sea God's Trident mark between Tang San's brows, an eerie red light suddenly lit up.
The red light instantly overwhelmed the Sea God's Azure, carrying a dense bloody smell as it burrowed into his mind.
"Tang San."
A majestic yet frigid voice exploded within the depth of the soul.
Tang San shuddered all over. As though he had seized his final lifesaving straw, he abruptly dropped to his knees.
"Lord Asura God!"
Even his voice trembled, not only from reverence, but because he had seen hope.
"You saw everything that just happened in the lower realm?"
Asura God's voice carried no emotional fluctuation, yet it made Tang San's scalp go numb.
Tang San swallowed hard and hurriedly replied,
"I saw it... My lord, the Red Robe Emissary was killed."
"A pack of useless fools."
Asura God snorted coldly, making blood pour from Tang San's seven orifices.
"This Seat's senses are currently blocked by that damned Heavenly Curtain. I cannot see the exact situation."
"Tell This Seat, who did it?"
Tang San abruptly raised his head, and a venomous gleam flashed through his bloodshot eyes.
The opportunity had come.
This was the perfect chance to kill with a borrowed blade!
No matter how strong Li Xin was, could he possibly be stronger than a true God King?
Tang San took a deep breath and steadied his emotions, making his voice sound full of grief and indignation.
"Reporting to you, my lord, it was... it was people from the Great Tang Empire!"
"That Li Xin relied on his great strength and simply did not take you seriously."
"The woman who acted just now was named Jing. She is Li Xin's subordinate."
"Before they acted, they even openly insulted you, saying... saying that you were a rat in the gutter, a Corpse Guardian..."
Before you continue