"How... how was this possible?"
"That Li Bai's aura had clearly only been at the Titled Douluo level just now."
"How did changing his outfit allow his strength to directly cross that threshold and reach the level of a Demi-God... no, even infinitely close to God Level?!"
Bibi Dong stared fixedly at the Heavenly Curtain.
First there had been Jing, who had shattered Divine Sense with a single strike.
Now there was Li Bai, whose sword aura stretched thirty thousand li after transforming.
And that so-called Great Tang Empire...
Where had so many monsters come from?!
Those wildly different yet absurdly powerful "skins"—what exactly were they?
God-Bestowed Soul Bones?
Or some divine artifacts from an even higher dimension?
An intense sense of crisis enveloped Bibi Dong's heart.
The Spirit Hall she had managed for decades suddenly seemed rather laughable before these true monsters.
Heaven Dou City, within a dark Secret Chamber.
"Bastard!!"
Bang!
Tang San punched the mirror before him, shattering the crimson eyes version of himself reflected within.
Blood streamed through the gaps between his fingers, yet he felt no pain whatsoever.
His chest heaved violently, and the Jealousy Fire in his eyes nearly burned away his reason.
Why?!
Why could this inexplicable group of people receive such gifts from the Heavenly Curtain?!
That Li Bai was nothing more than an ordinary man who drank and played with swords.
Why did he get to possess such a gorgeous, powerful form?
That white hair, that phoenix, that world-destroying sword aura...
That glory should have belonged to Tang San!
He possessed Twin Martial Souls. He was the dual inheritor of the Sea God and Asura God. He was the chosen one!
But look at what he had become.
Neither human nor ghost.
In order to gain power, he had been forced to accept the Asura God's bloody, slaughter-filled transformation, turning himself into an evil ghost that had crawled out of hell.
And Li Bai?
He had merely made the ranking, yet he could become so carefree, so divine.
That enormous disparity completely shattered Tang San's mentality.
"Heavenly Curtain... you are unfair!"
Tang San gritted his teeth, forcing the words through the gaps between them, his voice thick with venomous resentment.
"I, Tang San, am destined to become a God King. Why did you not bestow such a form upon me?"
"Was my Blue Silver Emperor not noble enough?"
"Was my Clear Sky Hammer not domineering enough?"
He lowered his head and looked at the dark red hammer in his hand.
The Asura Demonic Mark he had once considered majestic now looked so tacky, so ugly before Li Bai's elegant Phoenix Seeks Mate.
Like a rural blacksmith standing before a peerless noble young master.
"Damn it... damn Great Tang!"
"Once I become a God..."
"I will tear all your flashy nonsense to pieces!"
Tang San clutched his hair tightly, his face twisting.
The Asura Divine Power within him began to run wild due to his violent emotional fluctuations, making him let out another pained howl.
Yet the greed in his eyes only grew thicker.
If...
If he killed these people, could he seize those forms for himself?
Even if he could not take them, he still had to destroy them!
He would never allow anyone in this world to outshine Tang San!
The next instant, the golden ripples on the Heavenly Curtain did not settle for long because of Li Bai's world-shocking sword strike.
The Phoenix Phantoms that had filled the sky slowly faded away.
In their place came an incomparably rich Ink Fragrance.
This scent was not the ordinary pine ink smell.
It carried the noble spirit of scholarship, mixed with the domineering air of commanding the realm.
Large golden characters in Ancient Seal Script slowly emerged upon the scroll.
Every stroke seemed carved by blades and axes, carrying a force that pierced deep into wood.
[Martial Soul Ranking Seventh Place]
[Affiliated power: Great Tang Empire]
[Name: Shangguan Wan'er]
[Martial Soul: Ink Rhyme Immortal Brush]
Great Tang Empire, deep within the Imperial Palace.
Inside the Imperial Study, mountains of memorials crowded the broad agarwood desk.
A slender yet upright figure was bent over the desk, writing rapidly.
The fingers holding the brush were clearly jointed, fair and strong.
The brush tip traveled across the rice paper, its strokes soaring like dragons and dancing like phoenixes as it marked approvals and corrections.
Every command she issued concerned the operation of this vast empire.
Shangguan Wan'er stopped writing.
She raised her head. Her phoenix eyes, always filled with calmness and reason, now gazed through the window lattice toward the Heavenly Curtain.
Not from surprise.
But from an examination of an established fact.
"Seventh place, then."
Shangguan Wan'er murmured softly.
Her voice was cool and clear, like a secluded mountain spring striking shattered jade.
There was not much joy in it.
To her, making the Martial Soul Ranking had always been within expectations.
If she could not even make this list, how could she have the face to assist at Your Majesty's side and share her burden of ruling the realm?
"Since it has been given, I'll accept it."
Shangguan Wan'er casually closed a memorial she had just finished reviewing concerning the Northern Frontier's grain and fodder allocation.
Her movements flowed as smoothly as clouds and water, without the slightest hesitation.
She straightened her Official Robe and slowly rose.
She was not like others, excitedly waving her hands about.
She simply stood there quietly with her hands behind her back, waiting for the glory that belonged to her to descend.
Such was the bearing of a Great Tang female official.
Even if Mount Tai collapsed before her, her expression would not change; even if elk sprang up beside her, her gaze would not waver.
At the same time.
At the gates of Chang'an City.
An exceedingly sharp figure appeared out of thin air.
The space around her experienced a fleeting displacement and severance because of her arrival.
The sound of a mirror surface shattering gave off a faint crisp ring in the air.
Jing.
She had returned.
Her capable bodysuit outlined her perfect figure to the fullest, but the Killing Aura surrounding her made nearby passersby not dare to look directly at her.
She had just shattered a strand of Divine Sense outside the city that had attempted to spy on Chang'an.
That Titled Douluo who did not know his place had not even seen her shadow clearly before endless Mirror Shards sliced him into fragments.
Jing raised her head and glanced at the scene being calculated on the Heavenly Curtain.
"Wan'er made the ranking too."
Her expression remained calm, but her steps did not slow.
With a flash of her figure, she crossed half of Chang'an City and arrived directly at the royal estate filled with peonies.
Yang Guifei was lazily reclining on a noble consort's couch.
She held the pipa named "Eternal Regret" in her arms, her slender jade fingers idly plucking at its strings.
The zither music drifted softly, yet carried a hint of carelessness.
When Jing appeared before her out of thin air, Yang Guifei did not even bother to raise her eyelids much.
"You're back?"
Yang Guifei's voice was utterly languid, carrying a charm that seeped into one's very bones.
Jing nodded, her cold star-like eyes sweeping over the surroundings.
She did not find that man anywhere.
"Where is Master?"
Jing asked.
Her tone was not particularly polite, but Yang Guifei had clearly long grown accustomed to her icy disposition.
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