He'd been led in circles by this clone! First, it had publicly humiliated him with mortal filth, making him lose his mind and disgrace himself in front of everyone. Then, before all the Divine Realm's highest-ranking officials, this clone had exposed every scandal involving his interference in the lower realm. Finally, it had told him that from beginning to end, he'd been raging at a mere clone?
This was fucking worse than being killed!
The dignity of a God King, accumulated over tens of thousands of years, had been ground beneath the feet of this ant from the lower realm today until not a shred of face remained.
He was practically begging for death!
"Of course."
Qian Chongguang's smile grew wider, as if he hadn't seen the murderous look in Asura God's eyes. "Did you really think I'd be stupid enough to send my true body right under your nose, Your Majesty the God King, and let you do as you pleased with me?"
"The moment I realized you were manipulating everything on Douluo Continent, and that you might forcibly trigger the power of ascension in me, this whole plan was already in motion."
His voice gradually turned cold, each word striking Asura God squarely in the heart. "You thought that forcibly dragging me to the Divine Realm would stop me from continuing to disrupt your plans in the lower realm, and put me under your control? The exact opposite. You personally created the perfect opportunity for me."
"Though you snuffed out the phenomenon of my ascension, your fury and loss of composure drew the four God Kings and every high-ranking official here. That fixed the entire Divine Realm's attention on the Ascension Staircase—and helped me pin everyone's focus on this clone."
"My true body had already quietly headed for Angel Temple, the gateway into the Divine Realm, just before you triggered the power of ascension. I went to reclaim what should have belonged to the Angel Clan all along, something that had lain dormant for tens of thousands of years—the Angel God Position!"
He raised a hand and pointed toward the still-dazzling golden pillar of light in the east, his smile brimming with certainty. "The light you see now proves that my true body has successfully inherited the Angel God Position and resonated with the Divine Realm's Angel Temple."
The gods were utterly stunned.
They finally understood that Qian Chongguang's goal from the very beginning had never been to fight Asura God to the death here.
Publicly exposing Asura God's scandals had been meant to keep the four God Kings occupied, preventing them from interfering with the Angel God Position's inheritance for the time being. Using filthy things to enrage Asura God had been meant to make him lose his mind completely, leaving him unable to think of anything else. Even getting knocked to the ground with two moves and being hauled up and beaten by Asura God had all been an act!
From beginning to end, he'd used this clone to put on a grand show, buying his true body time to inherit the Angel God Position!
And every one of them, including the five Supreme God Kings, had been nothing but extras in this performance, led around by the nose!
Asura God was so furious his vision went black. A mouthful of God King's source blood nearly erupted from him.
He'd lived for tens of thousands of years, governed the Divine Realm's laws, and witnessed countless schemes and deceptions, yet never once had anyone calculated against him so completely, so humiliatingly!
He abruptly raised a hand. Scarlet divine power coalesced into a giant palm capable of shattering mountains, ready to slam down on Qian Chongguang's clone. Even if it was only a clone, he'd crush it to vent his fury!
But at that moment, Qian Chongguang's clone suddenly smiled. His body gradually turned transparent, like a reflection in water, and began to slowly fade away.
"Don't rush, Asura God King."
His voice, laced with one last taunt, echoed across the Ascension Staircase for a long time.
"This performance has only just begun. We haven't even reached the climax."
"Next, you'll get to face an Angel God unlike any other."
As soon as the words fell, the clone and the Light and Dark Twin Swords in his hands turned into countless golden specks of light and vanished into the air.
All that remained was the wreckage strewn across the ground, a group of gods staring at one another with expressions of every kind, and Asura God standing in place, divine power trembling wildly around him, so furious he could barely contain himself—with nothing left to vent it on.
The golden pillar of light in the east still shone brilliantly, illuminating the entire sky above the Divine Realm.
The golden light from the vanishing clone had yet to fade completely, but the atmosphere on the Ascension Staircase had already frozen like ice that had endured for ten thousand years.
The other four God Kings all turned at once, their gazes falling on Asura God's livid face and the divine power still surging uncontrollably around him.
Destruction God King was the first to speak. His deep voice carried undisguised exasperation as he let out a heavy sigh. "Asura, oh, Asura. What am I supposed to do with you? You've lived for tens of thousands of years and governed the Divine Realm's laws all this time, yet a kid who just came up from the lower realm led you around by the nose. You couldn't even tell his true body from his clone?"
"Led around by the nose is putting it mildly." Evil God King folded his arms, unable to hide the smile tugging at his lips, and chimed in, "With one clone, he stripped the Divine Realm's strongest fighter bare and dragged all of us here to be extras. Honestly, this newly ascended Angel God is something else. His cunning and scheming are leagues beyond those little guys in the lower realm who only know how to fight."
Goodness Goddess furrowed her brow slightly, her gentle voice tinged with helplessness. "What's done is done. There's no point in saying more. Asura, I think you should stop here and not go looking for trouble with him again. You'll just have to accept this loss. He's inherited the Angel God Position and is now a legitimate First-Level God. If you retaliate against him in secret, it would go against both reason and the rules of the Divine Realm."
"Accept it?"
Those two words were like sparks thrown into a pan of oil. Asura God turned abruptly, his blood-red pupils roiling with fury capable of burning everything to ash. His voice trembled. "He destroyed my plans of tens of thousands of years, exposed my secrets in front of everyone, humiliated me with mortal filth, and played me for a fool this whole time—and you expect me to accept it?!"
His clenched fists crackled, his knuckles turning white. The aura of slaughter around him nearly solidified into a sea of blood. "If I don't grind that brat's bones to dust, send his divine soul into the Ninefold Netherworld to suffer eternally, and make sure he never gets reborn, then I don't deserve to be Asura God or govern the Divine Realm's laws!"
Just as Asura God's fury was about to erupt once more, a sudden change took place!
In the direction of Angel Temple in the east, the golden pillar of light that pierced heaven and earth suddenly transformed beyond recognition.
Within the divine radiance, once purely sacred and blazing with light and justice, a power of the exact opposite nature surged up—a pure darkness, bone-chilling cold, carrying the annihilation and sinister force of devouring all things. Yet it intertwined perfectly with the brilliant golden light, without the slightest rejection, forming instead a strange and mighty balance.
Light and darkness, sacredness and evil—two forces that should have been locked in a fight to the death now twisted together above Angel Temple, forming a two-toned pillar of light that tore through the heavens!
"What's going on?!"
"How can there be such a dense aura of darkness within the power of light? Is this really the Angel God's power?"
"Could this be another move by the newly ascended Angel God? What is he trying to do?!"