God Realm.
"What exactly is going on?!"
Tang San slammed his palm against the armrest, making the entire temple tremble.
"Why can't I sense Xiao Qi's other fragment of Divine Sense anymore?!"
He shot to his feet, his eyes bloodshot and his breathing heavy. At that moment, none of a God King's majesty remained. His usually indifferent, composed face had twisted into something nearly grotesque.
His Divine Sense spread outward like madness, sweeping the void where the Douluo Plane lay again and again.
It was empty. There was nothing.
It was as if an invisible hand had silently wiped the entire Douluo Plane from before his eyes, leaving not a single trace behind.
His loss of composure was hardly surprising.
Not long ago, after finishing an intense battle with Xiao Wu, he had routinely used his Divine Sense to inspect the Douluo Plane.
That was when he noticed something strange. The light barrier originally meant to "protect" Douluo Continent had been forcibly torn open by some force.
Though it healed in an instant, Tang San had felt an emotion he had not experienced in a long time: apprehension.
At the same time, the child of fortune he favored had somehow lost a portion of his luck. He had intended to investigate thoroughly, but God Realm affairs were too complicated, and that old bastard, the God of Destruction, had been watching him like a hawk. He could only set the matter aside for the time being.
Yet in the blink of an eye, the fragment of Divine Sense he had painstakingly planted within the Imperial Auspicious Beast had completely lost contact with him.
To secretly hide that fragment of Divine Sense inside the Auspicious Beast's body without anyone noticing, he had gone to great lengths.
He could not descend personally, and the Auspicious Beast was guarded by the Ferocious Beast Scarlet King, so he could only secretly instruct Niu Tian and Tai Tan to act when the opportunity arose.
The operation had gone smoothly. Tai Tan lured Scarlet King away, while Niu Tian instantly knocked the Auspicious Beast unconscious. It was clean and efficient, and even Di Tian had not been alerted.
But now, that fragment of Divine Sense had completely vanished.
Tang San continuously expanded the range of his search. Again and again, the only response he received was endless nothingness.
He braced himself against a pillar in the corridor, his knuckles white from clenching, the fabric on his back already soaked through with cold sweat.
Just then, a pair of warm, soft arms wrapped around his waist from behind.
"Third Brother, what's wrong?"
Xiao Wu pressed her face against his back, her voice filled with concern.
She had just arrived and had not heard his furious words from earlier, but she saw that her Third Brother's back was drawn taut like a fully pulled bow, every vein on his neck bulging.
Tang San's body stiffened for an instant.
He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.
When he opened them again, most of the red in his eyes had faded.
He turned and pulled Xiao Wu into his arms, resting a hand on the back of her head. His movements were gentle, exactly as they had been in the mortal world.
"It's nothing. There's a minor problem in the God Realm. I can handle it."
Xiao Wu buried her face in his chest and softly murmured, "Mm," without asking further.
If her Third Brother said he could handle it, then he could handle it. She had never asked about things she did not understand.
Tang San gently patted her back, but the knuckles of his other hand, hanging at his side, had clenched white.
Of course, he could not tell Xiao Wu that he had split Xiao Qi's Divine Sense into two parts and lost one of them.
That would only make her worry needlessly about Xiao Qi, who was training in the lower realm.
After sending Xiao Wu away, Tang San stood alone in the temple and closed his eyes.
His Divine Sense spread like a tide, passing through the sea of clouds, through barriers, through endless void.
Nothing. Still nothing.
Just as he was nearing despair, an exceedingly faint presence came from the depths of the distant void.
Tang San's body jolted.
It was Xiao Qi. Her primary Divine Sense.
He leaned against the pillar and let out a long breath. The taut string in his heart loosened slightly. Xiao Qi was unharmed, and the Douluo Plane still existed. It had merely been deliberately concealed.
More importantly, he had left himself a backup plan. At a critical moment, he could forcibly descend through his connection to Xiao Qi's primary soul. Though that veil would leave him with less than one percent of his strength, he could at least protect Xiao Qi.
Tang San straightened his robes, but the wrinkles on his forehead were deeper than before.
Just who was the person who had hidden the Douluo Plane?
The doors of the Temple of Destruction were tightly shut.
Tang San stood before them for a moment, then raised his hand and knocked three times.
The doors opened. The God of Destruction sat upon his divine throne, holding a purple-black sphere of light that endlessly collapsed and expanded in his hand. He did not even raise his eyelids.
"Sea God. What are you doing here?"
Tang San sat before him. Without exchanging pleasantries, he went straight to the point.
"The Douluo Plane has vanished from my senses."
The sphere of light in the God of Destruction's hand paused slightly.
"Vanished?"
"It was hidden." Tang San spoke calmly. "I searched several times with the power of the Sea God and Asura's divine power. I couldn't find it."
The God of Destruction was silent for a long time.
Given Tang San's strength as a God King, searching repeatedly without finding anything meant only two possibilities: the plane had been completely destroyed, or it had been hidden by an existence whose standing far surpassed that of a God King.
"I originally thought it was you," Tang San said.
"Then I thought it over. It wasn't you." Tang San looked at him. "You're not that bored."
"I came to ask you something." Tang San's gaze settled on his eyes. "You command the power of destruction. The collapse of all worlds falls within your perception. When the Douluo Plane was hidden, what did you sense?"
The God of Destruction frowned. The temple remained quiet for a long time.
"Not long ago, for an instant, I sensed a change in the Douluo Plane," he said slowly. "It was extremely brief, so brief that if you had not mentioned it now, I would have thought it an illusion. But because it was a plane under your jurisdiction, I did not investigate further."
"You and I join forces," Tang San said directly. "Can we break through that concealment?"
The God of Destruction looked at him and remained silent for a long time.
The concealment of the Douluo Plane had little to do with him. If anything, it was precisely the outcome he was happy to see. He had no desire to provoke an existence far stronger than either of them over this matter.
"Sea God," he said evenly, "if someone closes a door, it means they do not want those outside to see what is inside. If you insist on pushing that door open, you must be prepared for the possibility that someone you cannot afford to provoke is standing behind it."
Tang San looked at him without speaking.
His expression was calm, but his heart had turned cold.
His daughter's Divine Sense had been sealed away, the Douluo Plane concealed, and a single palm strike had thrown the chessboard he had arranged over ten thousand years into chaos. Yet the God of Destruction—the only being in the God Realm Committee capable of joining forces with him to break the impasse—had chosen to stand by and do nothing.
God of Destruction, you have earned yourself a death sentence.
He pronounced destruction's death sentence in his heart, but his face remained as calm as ever. He rose directly and walked toward the exit.
"I demand that this week's God Realm Committee meeting be convened ahead of schedule."
The God of Destruction's expression did not change. He did not even leave his divine throne.
"As you wish."
Tang San did not pause. When he reached the door, the God of Destruction's voice came from behind him, casual and unhurried.
"Oh, right. Why hasn't Xiao Qi come here to play lately? I haven't heard her laughter in a long time."
Tang San's steps paused for an instant.
"She went to train in the Douluo Plane."
The God of Destruction was silent for a moment.
Then he rose from his divine throne.
"The God Realm Committee meeting. I'll go with you."