After all, his half-step God King cultivation was a forbidden power won by burning his soul's origin and forcibly transforming the laws of light and darkness. It couldn't last long. What was more, he had repeatedly invoked the Seven Deadly Sins, the power of the elements, and the laws of emotion that he had comprehended. Every time he did, he recklessly consumed what little Life Origin he had left.
He was like a meteor burning at its brightest, blazing forth in the most dazzling way with his final light, destined to head into oblivion at the very moment he shone most brilliantly.
And all five God Kings present had seen this perfectly clearly.
Destruction God King halted his pursuit. Watching Qian Chongguang still beating people in the distance, a complicated look flickered in his eyes. He spoke in a grave voice: "He won't last much longer. The backlash from forbidden power is immense. Using it so recklessly, he'll last a hundred breaths at most before the power devours him completely, destroying his soul and spirit."
Asura God's hand clenched around the Asura Demon Sword, veins standing out. In his blood-red eyes, murderous intent mingled with complicated emotions. He hated Qian Chongguang so much his teeth ached, yet watching this man burn up his very life just to topple the order of their Divine Realm, he felt a trace of apprehension rise in his heart—one he refused to admit even to himself.
A hundred breaths.
This frenzied battle, which had swept across the entire Divine Realm, had only a hundred breaths left.
As soon as Destruction God King finished speaking, the green light of life around Life Goddess abruptly tightened. Her face grew grave. "He's already on the verge of total exhaustion. The closer someone gets to that point, the more likely they are to do something that leaves both sides dead. A half-step God King who burns his divine soul to self-destruct could turn half the Divine Realm into scorched earth. We must prepare in advance."
Goodness Goddess showed no hesitation. With a lift of her hand, a diamond-shaped crystal engraved with the patterns of the laws of the heavens, its surface glimmering with nine-colored light, slowly floated out from between her brows. The instant it appeared, the turbulent space throughout the Divine Realm stabilized. The spatial rifts torn open by the battle even began to heal at a visible pace.
"The God Realm Hub Core!" the First-Level Gods on the outskirts cried out in shock.
This crystal was the Divine Realm's most precious core treasure. It controlled the spatial laws and energy circulation throughout the entire Divine Realm and served as the central authority of the God Realm Committee. Ordinarily, the God Kings took turns overseeing it; at that moment, it was in Goodness Goddess's hands.
Goodness Goddess brushed her fingertips across the God Realm Hub. Gentle yet resolute divine power flowed into it, and nine-colored light spread across the sky. "I've activated the Hub Core and locked down the spatial barriers in this area. Even if he really does self-destruct, the Hub can neutralize over ninety percent of the impact and minimize the damage."
The five God Kings all breathed a sigh of relief. Qian Chongguang's relentless string of moves had thrown them into such disarray that they had nearly forgotten about this treasure, which anchored the very foundations of the Divine Realm. With the Hub Core, at least they no longer had to worry about him destroying the Divine Realm with a final self-detonation.
But none of them expected that, just as the divine light from the God Realm Hub blanketed the world, Qian Chongguang would suddenly stop chasing and beating the First-Level Gods.
He slowly turned around, his twelve wings of light and darkness beating gently. The cracks in his divine body still oozed divine blood, and his aura grew ever fainter, yet his eyes still shone brilliantly. The familiar smile on his lips made the gods' scalps crawl.
"That's about enough." Qian Chongguang's voice was hoarse from burning his divine soul, but it carried clearly to every god's ears. "I've caused enough of a ruckus, and settled most of the score. Now it's time to reveal my last hidden card."
"He still has another hidden card?!"
At those words, all five God Kings stiffened. The relief vanished from their faces, leaving only shock and despair. They were completely dumbfounded.
First, he had publicly humiliated them with the filth of the mortal world. Then his clone had inherited the Angel God Position under their noses. After that, he had broken through to half-step God King with light and darkness in one body, then single-handedly stood against the five God Kings and clashed head-on with the two great realm-guarding formations. They had thought that was the full extent of this madman's trump cards. And now he still had one last hidden card?!
"Qian Chongguang! What are you trying to do?!" Destruction Divine Power tightened around Destruction God King as he shouted, "You've already burned through most of your origin. Don't tell me you really plan to drag the entire Divine Realm down with you?!"
"Kid, let's talk this out!" Evil God King had dropped all his usual flippancy and hurriedly tried to reason with him. "We really can sit down and discuss what happened before! The God Realm Committee will give you justice over Asura's interference in the lower realm. There's no need to make this worse!"
Even Asura God, who was usually as hard as iron, merely gripped the Asura Demon Sword tighter and stopped making threats. He was genuinely afraid. Every one of this madman's hidden cards had turned the Divine Realm upside down. He couldn't imagine what even more outrageous thing the man might have up his sleeve.
Seeing the five God Kings abandon their earlier arrogance and try to dissuade him one after another, Qian Chongguang suddenly laughed aloud. His laughter held a touch of relief, and a touch of mockery.
"Relax. I have no interest in dragging your broken Divine Realm down with me." He looked across the five God Kings and spoke each word distinctly. "I really am about to die, and I know that once I'm gone, you'll reach your hands into the lower realm again, treating Douluo Continent like your backyard and toying with the fate of its mortals."
"But I won't give you that chance."
As he spoke, Qian Chongguang's twelve wings of light and darkness spread wide. All the divine power left in his origin erupted without restraint! He didn't attack the five God Kings. Instead, he hurled all his strength toward the interplanar passage connecting the Divine Realm and Douluo Continent!
"With the last of my Angel God authority, and all the power of my burning divine soul, I'll seal every passage connecting Douluo Continent to the Divine Realm!"
"At the same time, I'll send a hundred or so favored children of heaven to that continent."
He laid out his plan without a care, his tone as casual as if he were remarking on the fine weather. But to the five God Kings, his words struck like thunder from the highest heavens, leaving their minds utterly blank. They stood there in a daze.
After a brief, deathly silence, a bone-deep chill shot from the soles of the five God Kings' feet to the crowns of their heads!
The first thing that came to mind wasn't ordinary mortal prodigies. It was the remnants of consciousness belonging to fallen powerhouses who might have come from higher dimensions!
They had lived for a million years and governed the Divine Realm for just as long. They knew the laws of the myriad universes all too well.
The Douluo Universe seemed to be an independent, great world, but in truth it was merely a small world tucked away in a corner of the myriad worlds. After powerhouses from higher dimensions fell, a wisp of their consciousness or a trace of their origin would often drift through the boundless universe...