Qian Renxue's fingers tightened around her teacup, turning faintly white.
Her gaze shifted back and forth between the Golden List's image and her revered teacher before her.
They were so alike.
Not only in the way they drank tea.
Even the air of detachment—as if the world and all its myriad things were beneath notice—was a perfect match.
"Master—"
Qian Renxue's heart began to race against her will.
A wild thought took root in her mind, only to be firmly suppressed by reason.
Qian Ye set down his teacup.
The porcelain clinked crisply against the table.
"Watch the show if you like."
His tone was calm, utterly unruffled.
"Don't let your imagination run wild."
"There are so many people alike in this world. He's merely an idle fellow who happens to be drinking tea."
At his words, Qian Renxue took a deep breath.
She suppressed the stirrings in her heart.
That was right.
The Ancestor had lived ten thousand years ago and had long since vanished into the river of time.
Though her teacher was mysterious and possessed boundless strength, he was still a man of the present.
Perhaps they simply shared certain habits, being peerless powerhouses alike.
The scene on the Golden List did not pause for the world's speculation.
Before everyone's eyes, the white-robed figure did something utterly astonishing.
He raised his hand.
In his palm, there was no dazzling radiance of divine power.
There was only a sword.
No.
It could hardly even be called a sword.
It was nothing more than a piece of ordinary iron.
It was covered in rust and devoid of any spiritual quality, like something casually picked out of a scrap heap at a roadside blacksmith's shop.
Compared with the Angel Holy Sword from before, which had blazed with boundless light and symbolized supreme authority, it was like heaven and earth.
And yet—
The white-robed figure gently stroked the rusty Iron Sword as if it were a priceless treasure.
In the next instant—
He made a decision that sent the entire Divine Realm trembling.
The vast, ocean-like power of a God King surged wildly within him.
Not to attack an enemy.
But to—
Pour it all out!
All his divine power, all his comprehension of the laws, even his supreme Godhood—
He forcefully stripped it all from himself!
Rumble!
In the Golden List's image, the heavens collapsed and the Great Dao wailed.
It was the Godhood crying.
It was the laws trying to hold him back.
But the man did not hesitate in the slightest.
He poured every last bit of the God King's origin—enough to drive countless people mad—into the Angel Holy Sword that had once symbolized his glory.
As his divine power ebbed away, the golden armor on his body shattered piece by piece and vanished into nothingness.
His dazzling golden hair gradually lost its luster, turning as black as ink.
His divine aura faded.
In its place was the aura of a mortal.
He fell from his lofty divine altar, becoming once more—
a mortal.
Only the rusty Iron Sword in his hand let out a clear, ringing sword cry the moment his divine power was spent.
It was a cry of new life.
[Abandon the Godhood, gather mortal iron.] [With this ruined body, temper the sword in my hand.] [All for the sake of—seeking the Dao!]
Several lines of large text appeared beside the image.
The entire Douluo Continent was left utterly dumbfounded.
Everyone stared with mouths agape, unable to close them for a long time.
A madman!
A complete and utter madman!
For the so-called "seeking the Dao," he had actually crippled himself and given up his God King's throne just to cultivate with a broken Iron Sword?
It was the biggest joke under heaven!
Shrek Camp.
The oppressive atmosphere that had hung over the camp vanished in an instant, replaced by bursts of incredulous laughter.
Ma Hongjun pointed at the sky, laughing so hard he doubled over.
"Hahaha! I'm dying!"
"I thought he'd be some earth-shattering big shot. Turns out he's an idiot with a hole in his head!"
"He had a perfectly good God King's throne, but instead he went off to play with some rusty sword?"
"So this is what they call a peerless expert?"
Oscar shook his head as well, his eyes full of scorn.
"There's often only a hair's breadth between genius and madness."
"Looks like the First Generation Angel God practiced himself stupid."
"He destroyed his own defenses and dug his own grave."
"No wonder Spirit Hall declined. With an ancestor whose head wasn't screwed on straight, how could his descendants turn out any better?"
Dai Mubai let out a long breath, too.
The fear he had felt beneath the pressure of a God King vanished without a trace.
What was there to fear from a god who had already crippled himself?
"Xiao San."
Dai Mubai turned to Tang San, seated at the head of the room, confidence returning to his eyes.
"Looks like we were worrying over nothing."
"That guy's a cautionary tale."
"There's no real threat here."
Tang San smiled, too.
It was a faint, contemptuous smile.
The envy and anger stirred by the words "God King" had now turned into a profound sense of superiority.
"Foolish."
Tang San uttered two words.
He stroked the Asura Magic Sword in his hand, feeling its surging power of slaughter.
"Power is power, and a Godhood is the laws."
"To abandon the laws in pursuit of some illusory Dao?"
"Someone like that is destined to become nothing more than dust in history."
"If it were me, I'd use that God King's power to rule the Divine Realm and control everything. Why would I do something as idiotic as cutting off both my own arms?"
Tang San's heart settled.
Since the First Generation Angel God had already crippled himself, the threat he left behind was nothing to worry about.
As for Qian Renxue—
Tang San looked up at the Golden List.
In the image, as the man departed, the Angel Holy Sword, infused with the God King's origin, fell from the sky and lodged itself in Martial Soul Mountain.
So that was it.
Everyone understood.
This was why the Angel Holy Sword ranked third on the Super Divine Artifacts List.
Because it was more than just a sword.
It was also an enormous vessel.
Sealed within it were a God King's lifelong cultivation and Godhood!
Whoever possessed this sword would have a reservoir of divine power they could draw upon at any time!
Greed.
Countless greedy eyes stared fixedly at the image on the Golden List.
If they could get their hands on that sword—
Wouldn't they be able to ascend to the heavens in a single step?
Just as countless thoughts raced through the minds of the people—
The Golden List trembled, and golden light blazed.
The reward for third place had finally arrived!
[Ranking complete.] [Current wielder of the Angel Holy Sword: Qian Renxue.] [Reward: Divine power infusion, Angel Godhood restoration!] [Special reward: One chance to comprehend the Ancestor's sword intent!]
Two beams of golden light instantly pierced through the void, ignoring the distance between places and entering the Angel Temple at Jialing Pass.
Boom!
An exceptionally pure, sacred energy erupted in the quiet chamber.
Qian Renxue's whole body shuddered.
The Soul Power within her began to surge at a terrifying rate!
Even her Angel Godhood, which had been flawed due to an incomplete inheritance, was perfectly restored in that moment.
The Six-Winged Angel phantom behind her became more tangible, golden light flowing across its wings with an inviolable holiness.
In just a few breaths—
Qian Renxue's aura underwent a tremendous transformation.
She slowly opened her eyes.
In her golden gaze, two flames seemed to be burning.
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