"The sixth betrothal gift... is finally coming."
Bibi Dong lifted her head, her voice low.
On the steps before the Pope Palace, Hu Liena stood beside her, fingers already clenched around her sleeve. She had only just recovered from the previous Divine Punishment. The Tribulation-Avoiding Garment clung to her body, the Golden Toad patterns slowly rising and falling as it sent waves of soothing warmth through her. Even so, her heart was still pounding hard.
It wasn't fear.
It was tension, anticipation, and a flutter she couldn't quite put into words.
The sky had changed again.
It wasn't the golden clouds that had blanketed the heavens last time, nor the suffocating purple-black Tribulation Cloud that had descended with the Divine Punishment.
This time, the clouds above Spirit City seemed to have been forcibly torn apart by some tremendous force, then kneaded back together, stacked, and solidified.
Amid the roiling layers of the Cloud Sea, a colossal phantom slowly began to take shape.
First came the head.
Then the horns.
Then the gaping maw.
It was a Pixiu.
So huge it covered half the sky, its neck craned upward and its fangs bared. Black and gold energies churned in its mouth, as if it could swallow the entire world in one bite.
Before it had even fully formed, the spiritual energy around Spirit City was already in disarray.
It wasn't flowing. It was being dragged.
Dragged upward by that gaping mouth, so forcefully that even the air tightened.
One Soul Master after another in the plaza lifted their heads.
No one spoke.
Last time, the Tribulation-Avoiding Garment had swallowed the Divine Punishment, shattering everyone's understanding of the world.
Now the sixth betrothal gift had arrived, and with an entrance like this, who would dare treat it as an ordinary treasure?
Hu Liena stared at the Pixiu phantom in the sky. Her eyelid twitched.
What would it be this time?
Each of the first five betrothal gifts had been more ruthless than the last.
The Primordial Pearl had transformed her foundation, the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron had suppressed Tang San's fortune, the Severing Thought Sword had protected her Divine Soul, the Star River Map had advanced her cultivation, and the Tribulation-Avoiding Garment had swallowed the Divine Punishment outright.
Five items, five different approaches. Not one of them played by the rules.
She had thought that after surviving the Divine Punishment, she would at least be able to calm down a little.
But she couldn't.
The further things went, the more she wanted to know what else Shen Yichen had prepared for her.
And the more she wanted to know just how far that man would go to protect her.
"Teacher."
Hu Liena spoke, her throat a little tight.
"What will it be this time...?"
Bibi Dong didn't turn around.
She only watched the slowly forming Pixiu, her hand gradually tightening inside her sleeve.
"Judging by this phenomenon, it probably has something to do with fortune."
After saying this, her gaze darkened.
They already had the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron.
Now another object connected to the Pixiu was coming.
Hu Liena might not immediately see the deeper meaning, but Bibi Dong could.
She understood perfectly well—Shen Yichen wasn't simply giving her treasures. He was laying out a plan.
Suppress Tang San, raise Hu Liena. One pressing down, the other lifting up, every move striking a vital point.
If this sixth betrothal gift really was what she suspected...
Then Tang San would probably go mad.
Hu Liena said nothing more.
She had thought of Tang San, too.
Thinking of the man who had forcibly become a god and yet was still pinned down by the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron, she suddenly felt a strange premonition.
This betrothal gift probably wasn't as simple as "helping her grow stronger."
It was probably aimed straight at Tang San.
Sea God Island.
"No... No more..."
Tang San clutched his head, half-kneeling on the stone steps outside Sea God Hall. His voice was hoarse, as if fire had scorched it raw.
He had already become a god.
The Sea God Divine Armor covered him, blue-gold light swirling around his body. The Trident stood beside him, its prongs trembling faintly, ready to unleash a tsunami that would sweep across ten thousand miles of ocean.
But at that moment, he didn't look like a god at all.
He looked more like a gambler on the verge of madness.
He had sensed the disturbance in the sky.
The disturbance in heaven and earth coming from Spirit City couldn't be suppressed, even across ten thousand miles of ocean.
The instant that aura appeared, his mind went "buzz," and even his temples began to throb.
It was happening again.
Shen Yichen was sending another betrothal gift.
The thought had barely crossed his mind when a suffocating heaviness clogged his chest.
The first five gifts had already driven him to this point.
The Fate-Suppressing Cauldron kept pressing down on his fortune. Even after he had become the Sea God, the cauldron still hung steadily above his fate, weighing so heavily that even his divine throne felt burdened.
And now the sixth was coming—
Were they going to let him live or not?!
Tang San jerked his head up and looked toward the mainland.
The Sea God's Divine Sense spread out.
He saw it.
Above Spirit City, the clouds churned, and a colossal Pixiu phantom was slowly taking shape.
Its mouth gaped toward heaven and earth, black and gold energies spiraling within. The longer he looked, the more his scalp prickled.
Tang San's face went white.
He didn't understand exactly what the thing was.
But he had a feeling.
A very bad feeling.
That thing... was coming for him.
"No... Don't send any more..."
Tang San pressed a hand to his forehead, his knuckles turning white. His voice trembled with despair.
"Please... don't send any more!"
If anyone else had heard him say that, their eyeballs would have nearly fallen out.
Sea God Tang San.
The new god of the Douluo Continent.
And now, across ten thousand miles of ocean, he was begging a Celestial Master he had never even met: "Please, don't send any more."
But Tang San couldn't spare a thought for his pride.
Because in the next instant, the Pixiu phantom's head turned.
Not toward Spirit City.
Not toward the Pope Palace.
It turned with uncanny precision toward Sea God Island.
Tang San's back stiffened.
It was over.
The moment that thought exploded in his mind, the heavy suppression deep within his fate jolted violently.
It was as if something had resonated with the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron.
Then a fiercer, more domineering force of devouring surged out of the void and sank its teeth straight into his pillar of fortune.
Tang San's vision went black, and his body lurched violently.
"Ah—!"
The scream was wrenched from his throat.
It wasn't an illusion.
It wasn't in his head.
His fortune was truly draining away.
And this wasn't like before, when the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron had worn it down bit by bit. This was ten times faster! Dozens of times faster! It was pouring out like water through a broken floodgate!
Tang San could even "see" his fortune being pulled away.
A golden pillar that should have shot into the heavens was now clamped in the grip of that invisible maw, torn away in great swathes.
Golden light peeled away from above his head, turning into wisps of invisible destiny that crossed ten thousand miles of mountains and seas, racing straight toward Spirit City.
"My fortune..."
Tang San's lips trembled.
"My fortune!!!"
He suddenly reached up to grab at the top of his head, as if he could seize what was slipping away and pull it back.
But he couldn't catch it. He couldn't catch anything.
It was fate, opportunity, the foundation of his divine throne, the "heaven's mandate" he had fought tooth and nail to obtain.
And now, it was all leaking away.
And there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Yu Xiaogang rushed out of the hall. His expression changed when he saw Tang San like this.
"San'er!"
He crouched down and reached to help him.
The moment he touched Tang San's shoulder, Tang San flung him away.
"Don't touch me!"
The words came out as a roar.
Tang San's eyes were bloodshot, the veins at his temples bulging. Even the blue-gold light of his Sea God Divine Armor was convulsing violently.
He stared fixedly toward the mainland, grinding his teeth so hard they clicked. Blood even seeped from the corner of his mouth.
Why?
Why was this happening again?!
He had already become a god!
Why could that Celestial Master drive him to this state without even showing his face, relying on just a few betrothal gifts?!
Why?!
Yu Xiaogang froze at the shout, his hand suspended in midair, unable to say a word.
He had seen the phenomenon in the sky, too.
He had also seen that something was wrong with Tang San.
But he had no idea what to do.
A struggle over fortune on the divine level was beyond the reach of a theoretical grandmaster like him.
There was only one thing he could understand right now—Tang San was being drained dry.
And the drain was merciless.
Before you continue