Looking at the tightly shut gates of the Angel God Temple, glowing with a holy light that somehow seemed to mock the loser...
Then looking at Poseidon outside, trembling with rage, the phantom of his trident flickering in and out, as if he might fly into a fit and tear the place apart at any moment...
All the divine senses watching in secret quietly withdrew, their owners silently carrying away a jumble of complicated feelings.
They'd had their fill of today's spectacle—and then some. It had also... shattered their worldview.
But no matter what, they had gained a whole new understanding of Angel God, a woman who had once again reached a dazzling, god-shaking new height in their estimation.
No wonder she was the ruthless sort who could create her own godhood in a mortal world, then fight her way into the Divine Realm!
That nerve, those tactics, that... that sheer thickness of skin!
They admitted it: if they were in her shoes, they absolutely, absolutely couldn't bring themselves to give themselves to their own successor.
This had gone beyond being unscrupulous. She'd reached a supreme state of sacrificing herself to feed the tiger, of being willing to trick even herself to get what she wanted.
How embarrassing!
How undignified!
What about the dignity and face of a deity?
Angel God's response:
Face?
What was that?
Could it be used as divine power?
Could it get me promoted from a First-Level Main God to a God King?
If so, I might consider keeping just a tiny bit.
If not?
Hah. If that thing's gone, it's gone~
Besides...
Angel God thought of Ye Qing's young yet remarkably composed face, his clear eyes carrying a hint of slyness, and the smile at the corners of her mouth deepened.
A glint of absolute confidence flashed in her golden eyes.
Besides, as long as she could snatch up that fascinating little fellow with limitless potential, and incidentally infuriate Poseidon, that brute...
No matter how she looked at it, this was a huge win with no downside!
Just as the battle to snatch Ye Qing—one that had been enough to drop every god's jaw—between Sea God and Angel God finally came to a close...
Elsewhere, inside a temple with an entirely different atmosphere.
The Asura God Hall.
Unlike the Sea God Hall's vast grandeur or the Angel God Temple's holy radiance...
This temple was a deep, dark red throughout, as if forged from congealed blood and the bones of those who had endured countless massacres.
The hall was dim. Only around the divine throne did wisps of crimson baleful aura flow, tangible as if they could be touched.
They writhed slowly like living things, radiating a cold killing intent that made one's soul shudder.
On the divine throne at the highest point of the hall sat a towering figure.
He wore a fearsome suit of dark-red divine armor, his face hidden in the shadow of a mask.
Only his eyes were visible, like two bottomless pools of blood, radiating a terrifying authority that scorned all things and judged life and death.
He was none other than the God Realm Enforcer, one of the Five God Kings, the Asura God, who wielded slaughter, judgment, and order.
At that moment, those blood-red eyes, enough to make any deity tremble, gazed quietly through the endless barriers between the Divine Realm and the lower world, toward a corner of Spirit Hall on Douluo Continent.
His gaze fixed precisely on a small figure.
"A Seraphim Martial Soul... at the God King level?"
A low, cold voice, devoid of the slightest emotion, slowly echoed through the empty, silent Asura God Hall.
"Interesting."
"Such a pure and ultimate source of light and holiness. No wonder Sea God and Angel God, those two, are fighting so fiercely over him—even to the point that Angel God was willing to..."
Just then, it seemed he had thought of something.
His gaze appeared to pierce through Ye Qing's body, seeing the source of the Seraphim Martial Soul hidden deep in his bloodline, not yet fully awakened.
It was a light of the utmost purity, a righteousness of the utmost purity.
It seemed utterly opposed to the slaughter, destruction, and judgment he wielded—like fire and water, unable to coexist.
At the sight of it, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
"Ultimate light... may yet be turned into ultimate slaughter."
"To forge the so-called Seraphim into a Slaughter Angel, born only to judge and destroy... perhaps that isn't impossible?"
Once the thought arose, it took root and sprouted in the Asura God's cold heart like the most wicked of seeds.
He thought of the long ages he had spent in the Divine Realm, and of the frustration of being unable to find a suitable successor because of the nature of his godhood.
Since Sea God and Angel God were fighting tooth and nail over a successor, even going so far as to abandon all dignity...
Didn't that prove that the child named Ye Qing had talents and abilities so astonishing they were beyond comprehension?
And besides...
Compared to those two—one representing the ocean's embrace, the other holy salvation—
His own Asura godhood, representing absolute slaughter and judgment, might better draw out some undiscovered potential within that child!
A Seraphim transformed into a Slaughter Angel...
Just imagining it stirred a long-dormant ripple in his God King's heart, which had lain still for who knew how many tens of thousands of years.
What a stunning, powerful successor that would be!
One capable of pushing the Asura God's laws of slaughter to a peak never reached before!
At the thought, the spark of interest in the Asura God's eyes gradually turned to anticipation.
Then he slowly shifted his gaze, no longer limiting it to Douluo Continent.
Instead, he looked toward another lower world nearby.
It was a world renowned for Tang Sect Hidden Weapons and poison, where martial arts flourished side by side.
His gaze pierced the barriers between worlds and landed on a cloud-wreathed mountain peak.
There, a boy in a blue outfit, his determined gaze tinged with stubbornness, was bent intently over a worktable.
Tools danced in his hands as he carefully crafted a bizarre hidden weapon, its structure unbelievably complex and its every part brimming with a cold, murderous intent.
Sweat beaded on the boy's forehead, but his eyes shone brilliantly.
It was as if what he held was not a weapon for killing, but the world's most perfect work of art.
"Tang San..."
The Asura God silently mouthed the name.
This boy was a promising prospect he had observed for a long time.
Steadfast of heart, peerless in talent.
Especially his obsession with the way of hidden weapons and his gift for creation.
And deep within him lay an extreme longing for power and protection, which shared a subtle resonance with the Asura God's path of slaughter and judgment.
Given time, he might well become an excellent successor.
But...
The Asura God's gaze slowly shifted back and forth between Ye Qing and Tang San.
One was a peerless genius bearing a God King-level Martial Soul, who had set two First-Level Main Gods at each other's throats in a furious struggle—and even made Angel God willing to offer herself to him. He embodied the pinnacle of light and holiness.
The other was a hidden-weapon prodigy with a steadfast heart and extraordinary insight, skilled at using external tools and ingenious tricks, whose strengths leaned more toward technique and temperament.
Which was better?
Who was more compatible with the Asura godhood, which represented absolute power, absolute order, and absolute slaughter?
"Competition brings progress. Comparison reveals real gold."
The Asura God's cold voice rang out once more.
This time, it carried an indifference and amusement as if he were the master of fate itself.
"Let this god see..."
"Which of you two little fellows is truly worthy of taking up this Asura Demon Sword."
Poseidon was still beside himself with fury over Angel God's shamelessness, racking his brains for a way to turn the tables.
Angel God, meanwhile, basked in her triumph inside the temple, convinced that a small maneuver had given her the upper hand. She was already happily planning out her future divine life.
They would never have dreamed that, just as they were pulling every trick they could to compete for Ye Qing—even stepping in personally—
One of the most mysterious and most feared enforcer God Kings at the very summit of the Divine Realm had already turned his icy gaze toward the successor they treasured so dearly.
And what this biggest sneak among sneaks had in mind was no simple act of succession.
He intended to twist that ultimate light and forge it into the ultimate blade of slaughter.