Sea God Island.
"Ah—!"
Tang San's scream burst out, shaking even the stone steps outside Sea God Hall.
He dropped to his knees, clutching his head with both hands. The veins at his temples bulged one by one, and his eyes were so bloodshot they looked ready to drip blood.
The blue-and-gold divine light on his Sea God Divine Armor flickered wildly, bright one moment and dim the next, as though it might go out at any second.
"My... my fortune..."
Tang San gasped for breath, his voice trembling beyond control.
The feeling of having it forcibly torn away was worse than breaking a bone.
It wasn't physical pain.
It was as if someone had grabbed him by the root of his life and was slowly dragging it out, inch by inch.
He could feel the most important thing he possessed slipping away.
Not Soul Power. Not divine power. Something more fundamental.
It was the greatest support that had carried him this far, the confidence that let him turn the tables from the brink of despair and survive countless deadly crises.
Now, someone was forcibly wrenching it out of him!
Spirit City.
Hu Liena swayed on the steps, then quickly steadied herself.
Ever since the Fortune-Swallowing Pendant had fused with her palm, the torrent of fortune inside her had not stopped.
The Fate-Suppressing Cauldron held down one end, while the Fortune-Swallowing Pendant opened its mouth to devour. Though a vast expanse of mountains and seas lay between them, it still dragged the golden river above Tang San's head straight over.
It was too much.
Far too much.
Hu Liena had thought she would only have to bear a portion of it at most. But the instant that fortune surged into her, she knew she had underestimated it.
It wasn't a wisp, nor a clump. It poured into her fate like a river bursting its banks.
Her meridians burned.
Her blood burned.
Even her Divine Soul shuddered.
She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth, first steadying her breathing.
She couldn't panic.
She had to stay calm most of all at a moment like this.
The betrothal gifts Shen Yichen had sent were never meant to harm her. Since the Fortune-Swallowing Pendant had already acknowledged her as its master, this fortune would surely become her own.
She had to take it in.
She had to.
"Nana!"
Bibi Dong took half a step forward and raised her hand, then stopped.
Hu Liena's aura was climbing wildly.
Level 89.
Level 90!
The threshold that had stopped countless Soul Masters for their entire lives offered not the slightest resistance against the torrent of fortune. It was smashed through in an instant.
Her Soul Rings appeared of their own accord. Golden light flared beneath her feet, and the might of a Titled Douluo swept out with a roar, making even the stone steps outside the Pope Palace tremble.
The square fell utterly silent.
She had become a Titled Douluo.
Just like that.
But it wasn't over.
Behind Hu Liena, the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox Martial Soul manifested on its own.
Her five fox tails snapped taut, and silver-white light burst from their roots all the way to their tips.
Her spine tingled. It felt as though something were forcing its way out of her bloodline.
The next moment—
A sixth tail unfurled with a swish!
Right after it, a seventh burst forth!
Seven tails!
Bibi Dong's eyelid twitched, and her hand clenched inside her sleeve.
She had known these betrothal gifts would propel Hu Liena to incredible heights, but leaping straight from five tails to seven had still exceeded her expectations.
This was no mere surge in cultivation.
Even the very nature of her Martial Soul was rising with it.
Hu Liena opened her eyes, golden light swirling in her fox pupils.
Even she was shaken by the change.
There was so much power inside her, so much that she almost felt she could tear open the space before her with a wave of her hand.
But what struck her more than the power was how smoothly everything seemed to flow.
After fortune entered her body, everything fell into place.
Her Soul Power flowed smoothly, her meridians circulated without a hitch, and even the path to godhood that had once been so unclear seemed to have been paved a little further ahead.
This was fortune.
At last, she understood why Tang San had always seemed to ride the wind on his way up.
It wasn't all his own doing. Heaven had been pushing him forward.
And now, Heaven was pushing her.
"It's still rising..."
Ye Lingling stood behind her, her voice barely above a whisper.
She could see it most clearly. The pale golden aura around Hu Liena was swelling higher and higher, layer after layer.
The might she had gained upon becoming a Titled Douluo hadn't even stabilized before surging up another level.
Ninety-two.
Ninety-four.
Ninety-six.
With every step higher, the faces of those in the square turned a shade paler.
This speed of cultivation couldn't be described as merely absurd.
"She's almost at the top..." Chrysanthemum Douluo murmured.
The next instant—
Boom!
Hu Liena's aura shuddered once more.
All nine Soul Rings lit up together. Her seven fox tails spread fully behind her, light rippling at their tips. The might of a Peak Douluo surged out from her, blasting every loose stone beside the steps into the air.
Level 99.
Peak Douluo!
Hu Liena herself froze for a moment.
It was too fast.
So fast that her mind had gone blank.
Three months ago, she had been stuck just short of Level 69.
Now she stood at the very peak of the Titled Douluo, only half a step away from the divine threshold.
That half-step was a chasm most people could never reach in their entire lives.
Now, she could step forward and cross it.
Hu Liena raised her hand and slowly curled her palm, feeling the Soul Power filling her to the brim. Her heart pounded fiercely.
She knew full well that she hadn't cultivated all this by herself. Shen Yichen had used six layers of betrothal gifts to force her all the way to the top.
As the thought settled, she instinctively touched the Fortune-Swallowing Pendant at her waist.
The jade pendant was warm, and the black-and-gold energies in Pixiu's mouth continued to turn slowly.
Suddenly, she wanted to laugh.
Tang San was probably going mad by now.
Sea God Island.
Tang San was indeed close to madness.
The golden river of fortune had finally narrowed.
It hadn't stopped.
It had simply been drained almost dry.
He slumped on the stone steps, his face as pale as paper. His chest rose and fell heavily, and his gaze had gone vacant.
The Sea God Divine Armor was still on him, but its once brilliant blue-and-gold radiance had clearly dimmed.
He knew what he had lost.
A lot.
Far too much.
His strength hadn't fallen outright, but its foundation had been shaken.
His talent, opportunities, future—the things that had belonged to a "child of fortune"—had been mostly plucked away by the Fortune-Swallowing Pendant along the chain of suppression imposed by the Fate-Suppressing Cauldron.
"My... everything I had is gone..."
Tang San stared at the sky, his voice weak. It sounded as if he were speaking to Yu Xiaogang, yet also as if he were speaking to himself.
He couldn't accept it.
He was so unwilling that even his fingers trembled.
But no amount of resentment could fend off that emptiness.
His body felt hollow, and his fate felt hollower still.
That feeling he'd once had—that even if he fell into despair, there would always be a glimmer of life waiting for him—was gone for good.
That was what chilled him most.
He hadn't merely suffered one defeat.
Someone had taken away the confidence that let him turn the tables.
Yu Xiaogang crouched beside him. His lips moved for a long time, but he couldn't squeeze out a single useful word of comfort.
He could see it too: things had already gone so wrong that words like "persevere" and "endure" could no longer paper over the truth.
A huge part of Tang San had truly been drained away.
After several long moments of silence,
Tang San suddenly moved.
He clenched his fist little by little, driving his nails into his flesh until blood seeped into his palm.
The emptiness in his eyes slowly faded, replaced by something even more deranged.
He wouldn't accept it.
He couldn't.
He'd already lost so many times. If he admitted defeat once more, he'd truly be finished.
"I won't give up..."
His voice was faint, almost weightless.
Yu Xiaogang had just started to speak when Tang San raised his head.
The bloodshot veins in his eyes hadn't faded, but a stubborn obsession forced its way through them.
"I still have the Asura God."
One sentence.
Then another.
As if he were breathing life back into himself.
"He'll definitely help me!"
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