With the Celestial Master's Betrothal Gifts, Hu Liena Takes Off!

The golden light on the Sea God Divine Armor shone with blinding intensity. The bluestone slabs nearby shattered silently, crumbling into a layer of dust.

Tang San ignored Yu Xiaogang.

He tilted his head back and slowly spread his arms.

A pillar of blue-gold light erupted from the crown of his head, piercing straight through the dome of the Sea God Hall and stabbing into the firmament.

Debris flew in all directions accompanied by a deafening roar.

The pillar of light tore through the clouds.

At this moment, the ocean fell into a state of absolute madness.

Sea waves hundreds of feet high rose around Sea God Island, forming a massive wall of water.

Circle after circle of sea-blue ripples spread frantically in all directions, with Sea God Island as the center.

The might of the Sea God.

This pressure was not confined to Sea God Island.

It swept across the surface of the sea, crossed the coastline, and surged toward the entire Douluo Continent with an incredibly overbearing posture.

Heaven Dou Empire temporary camp.

Emperor Xue Beng sat in his tent, fretting over a fragmented map.

That vast divine might swept over the tent, tearing the heavy canvas directly apart.

Xue Beng was forced to one knee, his hands pressing hard against the ground.

Instead of anger, he felt joy.

The surrounding remnants of the defeated army dropped their scrap metal weapons and began kowtowing frantically toward the direction of Sea God Island.

"A miracle! This is a miracle!"

"The Sea God protects us! Our Heaven Dou Empire is saved!"

Several high-ranking generals trembled with excitement, tears streaming down their faces, mixing with the mud.

The morale that had already collapsed was forcibly pieced back together and reshaped the instant that blue-gold pillar of light ignited.

Everyone understood that this was the power of their camp.

This power was enough to crush all resistance from Martial Soul Hall.

Martial Soul City. Pope Palace.

"Crack."

The white porcelain teacup beside Bibi Dong split into two halves.

Tea dripped down the sandalwood tabletop.

She rose abruptly.

Her dark purple imperial robes were lifted by an invisible wave of air.

Nine soul rings manifested uncontrollably beneath her feet, spinning frantically to resist the god-level pressure bearing down from the south.

The elite guards of Martial Soul Hall on duty inside the palace collapsed to the floor.

Any soul master below the Title Douluo rank was pinned to the ground by this aura, unable to move. Even breathing became a luxury.

Outside Martial Soul City, the commoners watched the oppressive blue light in the southern sky in terror.

The streets were in chaos as merchants abandoned their goods and fled in all directions.

Deep within the Worship Hall.

Qian Daoliu suddenly opened his eyes. The phantom of the Six-Winged Angel manifested behind him automatically, forcibly pushing out the Sea God's pressure that had flooded into the Worship Hall.

Qian Daoliu's fingers tapped forcefully against his knees.

Bibi Dong stared at the southern sky.

The horizon, which had been clear, was now completely swallowed by blue light.

That was the power of a god.

No matter how much a soul master of the lower realm cultivated, they were merely slightly stronger ants in the face of a god.

"Summon Hu Liena."

The four words carried an irresistible urgency.

In less than half a cup of tea, the palace doors were pushed open.

Hu Liena walked in quickly.

Her five fox tails were tucked away cleanly behind her.

The auspicious aura of the Tribulation-Avoiding Garment formed a thin, pale-gold film around her, insulating her from most of the pressure outside.

She walked steadily, but her heart was beating rapidly.

She felt that pressure. It was a level of power that completely transcended human cognition.

Ye Lingling followed behind Hu Liena, her face somewhat pale, yet her spine remained straight.

She was protected by the Daoist aura of Taixu Temple, so the suppression she felt was far less than that of the others.

"Teacher."

Hu Liena came to a halt 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 twitch.

These few words carried too much weight—enough to smash the entire foundation of Martial Soul Hall into dust.

"There is not much time left for us."

Bibi Dong's voice was very low, revealing a rare sense of exhaustion.

Hu Liena took a step forward.

Her mind was racing with frantic calculations.

Once Tang San fully mastered the power of the Sea God, his first move would undoubtedly be to march on Martial Soul City and root out the threat once and for all.

The titled Douluo and elders of Martial Soul Hall could not stop a god.

All defensive fortifications and formations were mere decorations in the face of divine power.

There was nowhere left to retreat.

Someone had to be able to face him on the same level.

"Isn't Teacher also inheriting the position of the Rakshasa God?"

Hu Liena spoke urgently:

"Is the progress slower than Tang San's?"

Bibi Dong sighed.

The long, drawn-out sigh echoed through the vast hall.

"The inheritance of the Rakshasa God is too perilous."

Bibi Dong's fingernails dug into the flesh of her palms, leaving deep white marks.

"It is pure malice and thoughts of slaughter. Every time I merge with it, it strips away my reason. The divine power clashes within my body; the slightest carelessness would result in my meridians being shattered."

"I still need some time to complete the final fusion. If I force the breakthrough, I will be completely consumed by inner demons and become a walking corpse."

Bibi Dong looked at Hu Liena.

Her gaze landed on the Tribulation-Avoiding Garment worn by Hu Liena. The Golden Toad patterns rose and fell slowly, exuding an aura of stability.

This garment could even block three parts of a divine punishment.

The background of that Celestial Master was unfathomable.

"Nana."

Bibi Dong spoke.

"Among those Eighteen Betrothal Gifts of yours, are there any treasures that can accelerate the fusion of a divine position?"

Hu Liena was stunned for a moment.

The effects of the first five of the Eighteen Betrothal Gifts flashed rapidly through her mind.

The Primordial Spirit Bead purified bloodlines.

The Fate-Suppressing Cauldron suppressed destiny.

The Severing Thought Sword stabilized the divine soul.

The Tribulation-Avoiding Garment resisted calamities.

And there was...

"Yes."

Hu Liena's tone was certain.

"The Star River Map."

She raised her hand, her fingertips tracing a light arc in mid-air.

"The Star River Map can channel the power of the stars, helping me comprehend the laws of heaven and earth and accelerating the fusion speed between my martial soul and the divine position. As long as I push the Star River Map to its limit and forcibly draw the power of the heavens into my body, I can break through the barrier in the shortest possible time."

A glimmer of light ignited in the depths of Bibi Dong's eyes.

It was the reaction of someone grabbing a rope in a desperate situation.

"Seize the time to cultivate." Bibi Dong's speech accelerated, every word landing with solid impact.

"You must reach the threshold of godhood before Tang San triggers his divine tribulation. The survival of Martial Soul Hall rests entirely upon you."

Hu Liena nodded heavily.

The Sword Mark on her wrist grew slightly warm.

She turned and walked toward the outside of the hall, her steps more resolute than when she had arrived.

Ye Lingling followed by her side, not saying a word.

They returned to the backyard cultivation room.

Hu Liena sat cross-legged on a prayer mat.

The Star River Map unfolded above her head, and the light of the Twenty-Eight Mansions poured down.

Ye Lingling stood at the doorway, watching Hu Liena being enveloped by the starlight.

"Is Tang San becoming a god really that impressive?"

Ye Lingling suddenly spoke up.

Hu Liena kept her eyes closed, guiding the starlight into her body.

"Very impressive. Below the god level, all are ants."

Ye Lingling curled her lips.

"No matter how impressive, can he be more impressive than Celestial Master?"

She said this with righteous confidence.

In Ye Lingling's eyes, the man who could make golden light descend from the sky and casually bestow eighteen peerless treasures was the only truth in this world.

Sea God? She had never even heard of him.

Hu Liena did not refute this.

The Golden Toad of the Tribulation-Avoiding Garment spat out a breath of auspicious energy, forcibly smoothing out the violent stellar power of the Star River Map as it surged through her meridians into her dantian.

She had to become a god.

Only by becoming a god could she wear this Tribulation-Avoiding Garment with dignity. Only then could she live up to that betrothal gift which had shocked the world.

Tiandang Mountain. Taixu Temple.

That extremely arrogant pressure of the Sea God swept across the continent, crashing toward the territory of Tiandang Mountain.

There was no sound.

There was no collision.

The moment the pressure touched the sea of clouds on the outskirts of Tiandang Mountain, it vanished completely.

It was crushed directly by the century-old Dao aura of Taixu Temple.

It did not even stir a single pine needle at the foot of the mountain.

Inside the Stone Chamber.

The light of the Dao patterns flickered on and off.

Shen Yichen opened his eyes.

Purple-gold lightning flashed across his fingertips and vanished.

He raised his right hand, his thumb lightly calculating across the joints of his middle and index fingers.

The flow of energy between heaven and earth was laid bare in his divine sense.

Above the southern seas, an aura belonging to a deity of the lower realm was expanding wildly.

A blue pillar of energy shot straight into the sky, attempting to break the rules of this world.

And in the shadow of this blue pillar, another, even colder and more tyrannical blood-colored fortune lay hidden.

Asura God.

Shen Yichen's fingers stopped.

"The day of the dual gods standing together is not far off."

He spoke in a soft voice.

The tail end of his words dissipated into the silence of the Stone Chamber, causing no ripples.

Tang San was forcing his way to godhood, his foundation floating and unstable. He relied entirely on the Asura God to stitch his soul together with killing intent from behind the scenes.

Such a defective product dared to style himself the Sea God.

This tiny lower realm had already been treated as a chessboard by those fellows in the God Realm.

Shen Yichen stood up from the prayer mat.

His white Daoist robe draped down along his frame, without a single wrinkle from the collar to the cuffs.

He took a step.

Space twisted slightly beneath his feet.

When he appeared again, he was already at the entrance of the Seclusion Chamber.

The wooden door let out a soft creak as it was pushed open from the inside.

The mountain wind carried the bitter scent of pine needles, ruffling the stray hairs at his temples.

Outside the door, the branches of an old pine tree swayed slightly in the breeze. A spirit crane circled in the sea of clouds in the distance.

Shen Yichen looked toward the south.

His gaze pierced through the clouds and spanned a thousand miles of mountains and rivers, landing precisely in the backyard of the Pope Palace in Martial Soul City.

This century of seclusion had been a futile, stagnant sit.

His realm, a half-step from the Great Dao, was only one step away from the supreme Grand Perfection.

What he lacked was this final tether to the Mortal World Tribulation.

He had scattered the Eighteen Betrothal Gifts for the sole purpose of stirring these stagnant waters.

Now, the water was muddied.

The fish was ready to leap over the Dragon Gate.

My Mortal World Tribulation should truly begin now.

Shen Yichen kept his left hand behind his back.

"Hu Liena."

The three syllables rolled off his tongue, carrying a hint of nonchalance, yet concealing a touch of certainty.

"Do not disappoint me."