Asura reacted in an instant, yanking Qian Chongguang in front of him. His teeth ground together, and he lowered his voice to a furious rasp, the kind that sounded like he could swallow a man whole. Yet he didn't dare raise it, afraid that one more word might spill even more of his dirty secrets.
"If you dare utter another word of nonsense, I'll crush your divine soul right now and make sure you never reincarnate!"
But Qian Chongguang showed not the slightest fear. Instead, meeting Asura's murderous glare, he suddenly burst out laughing. Blood racked his coughs, golden divine blood trickling from the corner of his mouth and splattering across Asura's scarlet robe. He enunciated every word with deliberate clarity, raising his voice to make sure every god present heard him loud and clear:
"Nonsense? If you, my lord God King, dare do it, why not own up to it?"
"You bewitched my descendant. Qian Xunji tried to force himself on Bibi Dong so she would bear the inheritor of Angel God, then you forcibly paved the way for a dual-god inheritance. Is that true?"
"You altered the memories of Chen Jianjun, Tang Chen, and Qian Daoliu, and threw the timeline of Douluo Continent into disarray, all to clear the path for your precious heir. Is that true?"
"You even placed a restriction on the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. Anyone but the heir you chose who touches it ends up an idiot. Is that true?"
Each accusation came down like a heavy hammer, smashing into Asura's face.
His complexion turned ashen before their eyes, and the divine power around him churned so wildly it was almost out of control. Yet he couldn't refute a single word. He had done every one of those things himself, and Qian Chongguang hadn't exaggerated in the slightest.
The air around them froze completely.
Destruction God King slowly lowered the arm he'd used to hold Asura back. His brow knotted into a tight frown, and his eyes, capable of seeing the very essence of destruction, fixed on Asura in undisguised scrutiny. He spoke in a low voice, every word heavy with unquestionable authority. "Asura, are these things he said true?"
After all these years, they finally had something to hold over him.
"Well, well. You've been hiding quite a lot, Asura." Evil God King folded his arms and leaned against a white jade pillar on the Ascension Staircase. He whistled with amusement, unable to hide his grin. "I thought you spent every day guarding your Slaughter Law, deaf to everything beyond your door. Turns out you've been making quite a production of things in the lower realm. Altering memories, writing the script, personally stepping in to give your heir a cheat code—now that's a grander operation than any of us could manage."
Life Goddess let out a soft sigh. The gentle green light around her dimmed, and her brows drew together as she spoke in disapproval. "As members of the God Realm Committee, we God Kings are supposed to maintain balance across the myriad planes. The lives of the lower-realm beings have their own course. By forcibly meddling in the rise and fall of an entire plane, you've already violated the God Realm Covenant we agreed upon together."
"What's more, secretly altering mortal memories and controlling the course of other people's lives goes far beyond a 'small measure' to choose an heir." Goodness God King nodded, too, her gentle voice carrying an unusual severity. "You are the God Realm Enforcer. You're supposed to be the guardian of the rules, yet now you've taken the lead in breaking them. We absolutely cannot let this matter pass without consequence."
One by one, the four God Kings' words closed off every last avenue of escape for Asura.
He stared fixedly at Qian Chongguang, who was barely clinging to life in his grasp. Hatred churned in his blood-red eyes, almost hot enough to set his divine soul ablaze.
Only now did he finally understand.
From the moment he had forcibly dragged Qian Chongguang up to the Divine Realm—or perhaps even earlier, from the moment this fellow began shattering his plans again and again—this whole trap had already been laid.
Qian Chongguang had never intended to fight him head-on. He knew better than anyone that a newly ascended god, no matter how gifted, could never be a match for a Supreme God King who wielded the laws.
So from the start, winning hadn't been his goal. He wanted to muddy the waters.
The Light and Dark Twin Swords, knocked flying after just two moves, had been an act. His seemingly desperate struggles had been staged. Even the filthy stuff splashed on the ground, the thing that had sent Asura over the edge, had never been mere humiliation. He had calculated Asura's supreme pride, calculated that such an extreme insult would cloud his judgment, calculated that fury would make him lose control in front of everyone—and calculated that the commotion would bring the other God Kings running.
Qian Chongguang had never wanted to defeat him. He wanted to drag all of Asura's hidden dealings out into the open, where they could be laid bare before the God Realm Committee!
That bastard had planned every step from the very beginning. He'd calculated Asura's fury, his loss of composure, even his weaknesses!
"Fine... You're very good!"
"You really are something."
Asura trembled with rage. The hand clutching Qian Chongguang by the collar bulged with veins, his knuckles white from squeezing, yet he didn't dare let his killing intent stir again.
He knew perfectly well that if he crushed Qian Chongguang to death here today, it would confirm every accusation. It would look like he was killing him to cover his tracks, and Destruction and the others would never let him get away with it.
All he could do was grit his teeth and force the words out one by one. Hatred in his eyes was nearly solid. "I've lived for tens of thousands of years, and this is the first time a mere ant from the lower realm has schemed against me to this extent!"
Meeting the look that could devour him, Qian Chongguang pulled his bloodied, mangled lips into that familiar mocking smile. His breath was faint, but his voice still brimmed with provocation.
"My lord God King, you flatter me. Compared to how you treated the billions of lives across all of Douluo Continent as pieces on a board in your script, moving them around as you pleased, what does my little scheme amount to?"
Qian Chongguang caught his breath. He met Asura's near-devouring glare, then slowly swept his eyes over the four God Kings gathered around them and the silent gods holding their breath. His tone was terrifyingly calm, completely unlike that of a dying man with only half a breath left.
"Of course I know that even if I exposed all of this, the God Realm Committee would merely go through the motions and reprimand you a little. It wouldn't damage the foundation of your power as Asura God King in the slightest."
He paused, his gaze settling on Destruction God King with a knowing smile.
"Everyone knows you're recognized as the strongest fighter in the Divine Realm. If it came down to a fight to the death, even the four God Kings working together would have to pay a steep price to take you down. No one would risk a no-holds-barred fight with you over a newly ascended god like me."
At that, the entire gathering fell even quieter.
Destruction God King frowned more deeply and stepped forward. "If you see things so clearly, why do something that's tantamount to courting death? Exposing his actions might cost him his dignity, but it won't weaken him. Meanwhile, you'll be saddled with the crimes of blaspheming a God King and disrupting the order of the Divine Realm—and face the endless pursuit of a God King."
"What are you trying to gain by doing this?"