Depriving Tang San of his Fortune, Nana Ascends Directly to Level Ninety-Nine

Sea God Island.

"Ah--!"

Tang San's agonizing scream erupted suddenly, shaking even the stone steps outside the Sea God Hall.

He collapsed onto his knees, clutching his head tightly with both hands. The veins on his forehead bulged, and his eyes were so bloodshot they seemed ready to drip blood.

The blue-gold divine light of the Sea God Divine Armor flickered frantically, dimming and brightening as if it might extinguish at any moment.

"My... my fortune..."

Tang San gasped for air, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

The sensation of being forcibly stripped was more brutal than having his bones shattered.

It was not physical pain.

It was as if his very life essence had been grabbed by someone and was being pulled out, inch by inch.

He could feel his most vital possession slipping away.

It was not soul power, nor divine power, but something far more fundamental.

It was the greatest reliance he had possessed throughout his journey, the foundation that allowed him to turn the tables in desperate situations and survive countless death traps.

Now, that foundation was being forcibly extracted!

Martial Soul City.

Hu Liena stood on the steps, her figure swaying for a moment before she steadied herself.

Ever since the Fortune-Swallowing Pendant merged into her palm, the torrent of fortune within her body had not ceased.

With the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron anchoring the other end, the Fortune-Swallowing Pendant opened its maw to devour. Despite the thousands of miles of mountains and seas between them, it still managed to tear the golden river of fortune from above Tang San's head and pull it over.

It was too much.

Truly too much.

Hu Liena had originally thought she would only be receiving a portion, but the moment that fortune surged in, she realized she had underestimated it.

It was not a wisp, nor a cluster; it was like a dam bursting, pouring directly into her destiny.

Her meridians burned.

Her bloodline burned.

Even her Divine Soul was trembling.

She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, focusing on steadying her breathing.

She could not lose her composure.

Especially at a time like this, she could not afford to falter.

The betrothal gift Shen Yichen had sent down would never harm her. Since the Fortune-Swallowing Pendant had already acknowledged her as its master, this fortune must be something she could assimilate as her own.

She had to catch it.

She must catch it.

"Nana!"

Bibi Dong took half a step forward, her hand raised, but she stopped herself.

The aura emanating from Hu Liena was skyrocketing.

Level 89.

Level 90!

That threshold which blocked countless soul masters for a lifetime failed to provide even the slightest resistance against this torrent of fortune; it was shattered instantly.

Her soul rings manifested automatically, and as a golden light pulsed beneath her feet, the pressure of a Titled Douluo erupted, causing even the stone steps outside the Pope Palace to tremble.

The plaza fell into dead silence.

She had reached the Titled Douluo realm.

Just like that, she had reached it.

But it was not over yet.

Behind Hu Liena, her Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox martial soul manifested on its own.

The original five fox tails stiffened abruptly, and a silvery-white light exploded from the base of the tails all the way to the tips.

She felt a numbness in her spine, as if something was being forcibly pushed out from within her bloodline.

The next moment.

The sixth fox tail unfurled with a "swish"!

Immediately following, the seventh one also burst forth!

Seven tails!

Bibi Dong's eyelids twitched, her hand clenching tightly within her sleeve.

She had long known these betrothal gifts would propel Hu Liena to an incredible height, but jumping straight from five tails to seven still exceeded her estimations.

This was no longer a simple surge in cultivation.

It was the very essence of her Martial Soul ascending.

Hu Liena opened her eyes, golden light swirling within her fox pupils.

Even she was shaken by this transformation.

The power within her body was so full, so overflowing, that she had the illusion she could tear through the space before her with a single wave of her hand.

Yet, what concerned her more than the power was the sense of "smoothness."

Once the fortune entered her body, everything became seamless.

Her soul power circulated smoothly, her meridians flowed smoothly, and even the path to godhood—once blurry—seemed to have been paved out for a stretch.

This was fortune.

She finally understood why Tang San had seemed to walk on the wind throughout his journey.

It wasn't entirely his own doing; it was the heavens pushing him.

And now, the heavens were pushing her.

"It's still rising..."

Ye Lingling stood behind her, her voice barely a whisper.

She had the most direct view. The pale golden aura surrounding Hu Liena was surging upward in wave after wave.

The pressure from just breaking through to Title Douluo hadn't even stabilized before it surged upward again.

Ninety-two.

Ninety-four.

Ninety-six.

With every step upward, the faces of those in the plaza turned a shade paler.

This cultivation speed could no longer be described as merely outrageous.

"She's reaching the limit..." Chrysanthemum Douluo muttered.

The next instant.

BOOM!

The aura within Hu Liena's body shook once more.

Nine soul rings lit up in unison, and seven fox tails fully unfurled behind her. Light shimmered at the tips of her tails as the pressure of a peak Title Douluo rippled out from her, instantly blasting away the gravel on both sides of the steps.

Level ninety-nine.

Peak Douluo!

Hu Liena herself was stunned for a moment.

It was too fast.

So fast that her mind went blank.

Three months ago, she was still stuck at the threshold of level sixty-nine.

Now, she stood at the very pinnacle of Title Douluo, only half a step away from touching the threshold of godhood.

That half-step was a chasm that countless people could never reach in a lifetime.

Now, she could step over it whenever she pleased.

Hu Liena raised her hand, curling her palm slightly as she felt the soul power within her, filled to the absolute brim. Her heart hammered against her ribs.

She knew clearly that this wasn't something she had cultivated alone; it was Shen Yichen, who had used six layers of betrothal gifts to forcefully push her up here.

As the thought crossed her mind, she subconsciously touched the Fortune-Swallowing Pendant at her waist.

The jade was warm, and the black and gold energy within the Pixiu's mouth continued to rotate slowly.

She suddenly felt like laughing.

Tang San must be going insane by now.

Sea God Island.

Tang San was indeed going insane.

That golden river of fortune had finally begun to thin.

It hadn't stopped.

It was just nearly drained dry.

He collapsed onto the stone steps, his face as pale as paper, his chest heaving violently, his eyes vacant.

The Sea God Divine Armor was still on his body, but that layer of originally brilliant blue-gold divine light had clearly dimmed by a significant margin.

He knew what he had lost.

A lot.

Too much.

His power hadn't dropped directly, but the roots had loosened.

His talent, his opportunities, his future—those things that originally belonged to the "Child of Luck"—had been snatched away by that luck-devouring pendant, channeled through the suppression chain of the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron.

"Mine... everything of mine is gone..."

Tang San stared at the sky, his voice hollow, as if he were speaking to Yu Xiaogang, or perhaps to himself.

He was unwilling to accept this.

So unwilling that his fingers were trembling.

But no matter how unwilling he was, he couldn't stop that sense of emptiness.

Empty in his body, and even emptier in his destiny.

That feeling from the past—that "even if I fall into a desperate situation, there is always a glimmer of hope waiting for me"—was completely gone.

This was what chilled him to the bone.

He hadn't just suffered a simple setback.

Someone had taken away his very foundation for a "comeback."

Yu Xiaogang crouched to the side, wanting to offer comfort, but after moving his lips for a long time, he couldn't squeeze out a single useful word.

He could also see that things had turned so bad that they couldn't be glossed over with words like "perseverance" or "forbearance."

Tang San had truly been hollowed out.

After several breaths of silence, Tang San suddenly moved.

He clenched his fists bit by bit, his nails digging into his flesh until blood seeped from his palms.

The emptiness in his eyes slowly dissipated, replaced by something even more frantic.

He wouldn't accept it.

He couldn't accept it.

Having lost so many times, if he accepted it once more, he would truly be finished.

"I will not admit defeat..."

His voice was very soft, so soft it drifted away.

Just as Yu Xiaogang was about to speak, Tang San raised his head.

The bloodshot veins in his eyes hadn't faded, but a stubborn obsession was forcefully pushing through them.

"I still have the Asura God."

One sentence.

Then another.

As if he were sustaining his own life.

"He will definitely help me!"