The golden light on the Sea God Divine Armor shone so brightly it hurt the eyes. The bluestone slabs around it silently shattered, crumbling into a carpet of dust.
Tang San paid Yu Xiaogang no mind.
He lifted his head and slowly spread his arms.
A pillar of blue-gold light erupted from his crown, blasting through the roof of Sea God Hall and spearing straight into the sky.
Rubble flew in every direction amid a deafening roar.
The pillar of light pierced the clouds.
At that moment, the sea went completely mad.
Waves hundreds of meters tall surged up around Sea God Island, forming enormous walls of water.
One ring after another of sea-blue ripples spread wildly outward in every direction, with Sea God Island at their center.
The might of the Sea God.
This pressure was not confined to Sea God Island.
It swept over the sea, crossed the coastline, and surged across the entire Douluo Continent with utterly overbearing force.
Temporary camp of the Heaven Dou Empire.
Emperor Xue Beng sat in his tent, fretting over a tattered map.
That vast divine might swept through the tent, tearing the thick canvas to shreds.
Xue Beng was forced to one knee, both hands braced hard against the ground.
Rather than anger, delight lit his face.
The scattered remnants of the army dropped their battered weapons and frantically kowtowed toward Sea God Island.
"A divine miracle! This is a divine miracle!"
"The Sea God protects us! The Heaven Dou Empire is saved!"
Several high-ranking generals trembled with excitement, tears streaming down their faces, mingling with the mud.
The morale that had already crumbled was forcibly pieced back together the instant that blue-gold pillar of light appeared.
Everyone understood. That was the power of their side.
That power was enough to crush every last bit of Spirit Hall's resistance.
Spirit City. Pope Palace.
"Crack."
The white porcelain teacup beside Bibi Dong split in two.
Tea dripped down the surface of the rosewood table.
She sprang to her feet.
An unseen gale lifted her dark purple papal robes.
Nine Soul Rings appeared beneath her feet, spinning wildly as they resisted the divine pressure rushing in from the south.
The elite Spirit Hall guards on duty inside the palace had all collapsed to the floor.
Soul Masters below the level of Titled Douluo were pinned down by the aura, unable to move. Even breathing had become a luxury.
Outside Spirit City, the common folk stared in terror at the oppressive blue light on the southern horizon.
The streets descended into chaos. Merchants abandoned their wares and fled in every direction.
Deep within the Worship Hall.
Qian Daoliu snapped his eyes open. The phantom of a Six-Winged Angel appeared behind him of its own accord, forcibly holding back the Sea God's pressure as it surged into the Worship Hall.
Qian Daoliu's fingers tapped hard against his knee.
Bibi Dong stared at the southern sky.
The once-clear horizon had now been swallowed entirely by blue light.
That was the power of a god.
No matter how much they cultivated, Soul Masters of the lower realm were still just slightly stronger ants before a god.
"Summon Hu Liena."
Those four words carried an urgency that brooked no refusal.
Before half a cup of tea had passed, the palace doors swung open.
Hu Liena strode inside.
Her five fox tails were tucked away completely behind her.
The auspicious aura of the Tribulation-Avoiding Garment formed a faint golden film around her, keeping out most of the crushing pressure.
Her steps were steady, but her heart raced.
She could feel that pressure. It belonged to a level of power far beyond human understanding.
Ye Lingling followed behind Hu Liena. Her face was pale, but she held her back straight.
The Daoist aura of Taixu Temple protected her, so she was under far less pressure than everyone else.
"Teacher."
Hu Liena stopped at the foot of the steps.
Bibi Dong turned around.
"Tang San is about to become a god."
Hu Liena's heart gave a sharp jolt.
Those words carried tremendous weight, enough to crush the entire foundation of Spirit Hall to dust.
"We don't have much time left."
Bibi Dong's voice was low, tinged with a rare weariness.
Hu Liena stepped forward.
Her mind raced through every possibility.
Once Tang San fully mastered the Sea God's Power, the first thing he would do was march on Spirit City and wipe them out root and branch.
Spirit Hall's enshrined elders and its other elders could not stop a god.
Every defensive fortification and formation would be useless before divine power.
There was nowhere left to retreat.
Someone had to be able to face him on the same level.
"Isn't Teacher inheriting the Rakshasa Godhood, too?"
Hu Liena asked urgently.
"Is your progress slower than Tang San's?"
Bibi Dong sighed.
Her long sigh echoed through the empty hall.
"The Rakshasa God's inheritance is far too perilous."
Bibi Dong's fingernails dug into her palm, leaving deep white marks.
"It is pure slaughter and evil intent. Every fusion strips away a person's reason. Divine power clashes inside the body, and the slightest misstep can sever one's meridians."
"I still need more time to complete the final fusion. If I force my way through, my inner demons will devour me completely, leaving me a walking corpse."
Bibi Dong looked toward Hu Liena.
Her gaze fell on the Tribulation-Avoiding Garment she wore. The Golden Toad patterns rose and fell gently, radiating a calming aura.
This garment could even block a portion of divine punishment.
That Celestial Master's resources were unfathomable.
"Nana."
Bibi Dong spoke.
"Among your betrothal gifts, is there anything that can speed up the fusion with a divine position?"
Hu Liena froze for a moment.
The effects of the first five of the Eighteen Betrothal Gifts flashed through her mind.
The Primordial Spirit Bead purified bloodlines.
The Fate-Suppressing Cauldron suppressed fate.
The Severing Thought Sword steadied the Divine Soul.
The Tribulation-Avoiding Garment warded off calamity.
And then...
"Yes."
Hu Liena's voice was firm.
"The Star River Map."
She raised her hand and lightly traced a line through the air with her fingertip.
"The Star River Map can draw on the power of the stars, helping me comprehend the laws of heaven and earth and speeding up the fusion of my Martial Soul and divine position. If I push the Star River Map to its limits and forcibly draw the stars down to pour into my body, I can break through the bottleneck in the shortest time."
A glimmer lit Bibi Dong's eyes.
It was the look of someone who had found a rope in the depths of despair.
"Train as quickly as you can." Bibi Dong spoke faster, each word landing with force.
"You must reach the threshold of godhood before Tang San triggers the divine tribulation. The fate of Spirit Hall rests entirely on you."
Hu Liena nodded firmly.
The Sword Mark on her wrist grew faintly warm.
She turned and headed out of the hall, her steps firmer than before.
Ye Lingling followed beside her without a word.
Back in the cultivation room in the rear courtyard.
Hu Liena sat cross-legged on a cushion.
The Star River Map unfurled above her head, pouring down the light of the Twenty-Eight Mansions.
Ye Lingling stood in the doorway, watching Hu Liena wrapped in starlight.
"Is Tang San becoming a god really that impressive?"
Ye Lingling suddenly spoke.
Hu Liena kept her eyes closed, drawing the starlight into her body.
"Very impressive. Below the divine level, everyone is an ant."
Ye Lingling pursed her lips.
"Even so, is he really more impressive than the Celestial Master?"
She said it with complete conviction.
In Ye Lingling's eyes, the man who had sent golden light raining from the heavens and casually bestowed eighteen peerless treasures was the only truth in the world.
The Sea God? She had never even heard of him.
Hu Liena did not argue.
The Golden Toad on the Tribulation-Avoiding Garment exhaled a breath of auspicious qi, forcibly smoothing the unruly stellar power of the Star River Map. It flowed along her meridians and into her dantian.
She had to become a god.
Only then could she wear the Tribulation-Avoiding Garment with her head held high. Only then could she live up to the betrothal gifts that had shaken the world.
Tiandang Mountain. Taixu Temple.
That utterly overbearing Sea God pressure swept across the continent and crashed toward the territory of Tiandang Mountain.
There was no sound.
No collision.
The instant the pressure touched the Cloud Sea surrounding Tiandang Mountain, it vanished without a trace.
The century-old Daoist aura of Taixu Temple crushed it outright.
It did not even stir a single pine needle at the foot of the mountain.
Inside the Stone Chamber.
The light of the Daoist patterns flickered on and off.
Shen Yichen opened his eyes.
A flash of violet-gold lightning flickered across his fingertips and vanished.
He raised his right hand and lightly tapped the joints of his middle and index fingers with his thumb, making two quick calculations.
The threads of energy flowing through heaven and earth were crystal clear to his Divine Soul.
High above the southern sea, an aura belonging to a god of the lower realm was swelling wildly.
A blue pillar of light shot into the heavens, trying to break the rules of this world.
Yet lurking beneath its shadow was another force of fate, bloody, even more sinister, and more savage.
The Asura God.
Shen Yichen's fingers stopped.
"The day the two gods stand together is not far off."
He spoke softly.
The last note faded into the Stone Chamber's silence without stirring a ripple.
Tang San had forced his way into godhood, leaving his foundation unstable. He relied entirely on the Asura God to patch his Divine Soul with the aura of slaughter.
A defective product like that dared call himself the Sea God.
This little lower realm had already become a chessboard for those few fellows in the Divine Realm.
Shen Yichen rose from his cushion.
His white Daoist robe fell in smooth lines along his figure, without a single wrinkle from collar to hem.
He took a step.
Space warped faintly beneath his feet.
When he appeared again, he was already at the entrance to the Seclusion Chamber.
The wooden door creaked softly as it was pushed open from within.
The mountain wind swept in, carrying the bitter, clean scent of pine needles and stirring the loose hair at his temples.
Outside the door, the branches of the Old Pine Tree swayed gently in the wind. Spirit cranes circled in the distant Cloud Sea.
Shen Yichen looked south.
His gaze pierced the clouds and crossed a thousand miles of mountains and rivers, landing precisely in the backyard of the Pope Palace in Spirit City.
A century of secluded cultivation, spent sitting in stillness, had been useless.
He was at the threshold of the Great Dao, just one step away from supreme perfection.
What he lacked was that final sliver of worldly entanglement.
He had scattered the Eighteen Betrothal Gifts precisely to stir up this stagnant pool.
Now, the waters were muddied.
The fish was about to leap through the Dragon Gate.
"My Mortal World Tribulation should truly begin now."
Shen Yichen kept his left hand behind his back.
"Hu Liena."
The three characters rolled across his lips, carrying a trace of nonchalance, yet concealing a measure of certainty.
"Don't disappoint me."
Before you continue