After a thousand slaps, Niu Tian's rugged face had swollen until his eyes were squeezed shut. His massive body swayed, and it was hard to tell whether he'd passed out from rage or from the beating. Then he crashed heavily to the ground...
"..."
After pressing down a little harder with his foot and knocking Tai Tan unconscious too, Baili Du let out a long breath. In a good mood, he looked up at the snow-filled sky, as though he could see through it to the man who believed he had everything under control from behind the scenes.
"This is just the beginning. Wait for me in the Divine Realm, my dear father-in-law..."
He quickly composed himself and headed toward Haotian Castle.
He'd gone to all that trouble to come here. It would be a shame not to have a look around.
After all, someone had witnessed everything from a corner on the third floor of Haotian Castle.
She was also an important guest whom Baili Du had gone out of his way to "protect."
A cold smile tugged at his lips. He flashed to the third floor of Haotian Castle.
"Clack, clack, clack..."
Baili Du appeared at the top of the stairs and slowly walked toward the little girl huddled in the corner, each step radiating pressure. His shadow gradually fell over her.
The clacking of his soles against the floor made the girl tremble in terror. On instinct, she held something up in front of herself. Tears streaked her delicate face, but the blue-gold trident symbol on her forehead remained completely still.
"Y-you... don't come any closer... Don't come any closer... Daddy, save me... Mommy, save me..."
To a certain kind and loving father, the truth he needed to conceal was more important than his daughter's life.
Baili Du crouched down. Even hunched over, his tall, slender frame dwarfed the child.
He gazed indifferently at the person who, in the script Tang San called Peerless Tang Sect, would eventually become his "wife." He felt nothing.
Even a shattered mirror was hard to put back together. How much less could a heart, already wounded beyond repair, be mended?
A patchwork freak? A woman with dissociative identity disorder? A daddy's girl?
All of those seemed to describe her.
Wang Dong? Wang Dong'er? Tang Wutong? Xiao Qi?
To be honest, even he, her former husband, didn't know what he should call her. But one thing he did know was that Wang Qiu'er was absolutely not a part of Tang Wutong!
[After reading the bonus story for Douluo World, I got the impression that Qiu'er somehow beat Princess Tang. I originally wanted to set it up that way too, but it'd be hard to handle Snow Empress and Liya, so for now, Princess Tang will remain Princess Tang, while Qiu'er, who belongs to God King Yuhao, will be revived.]
He didn't want to have anything more to do with this woman, nor did he want his counterpart in this era to become entangled with her.
He knew she was nothing more than a tool, but sorry—if Tang Wutong still shamelessly clung to this era's Huo Yuhao, he couldn't say what he might do.
For now, he still had principles. He wouldn't stoop so low as to pick on a little girl.
He gave a scornful laugh, his voice dripping with mockery, and patted the little girl's face without the slightest pity.
"Miss Tang Wutong, what makes you think that I, the mighty God King Huo Yuhao, would be unworthy of a mere Second-Level God like you?"
Naturally, she couldn't understand what he was saying. She let out a shriek, then fainted against her will.
"..."
Expressionless, he looked down at the unconscious girl, then swept his gaze across the third floor of Haotian Castle.
Tang San had left behind quite a few good things here: the Sea God Pillar, used to gather the Power of Faith and condense Divine-Bestowed Soul Rings; the entrance to the Sea God Inheritance Space; Asura God's Evil-Sealing Array... If he'd put this much thought into the Tang Sect, it wouldn't have ended up in its current state.
After thinking it over, he decided it was best to destroy everything completely.
Without hesitation, Baili Du stamped down on the floor of the third level of Haotian Castle.
"Boom!"
In an instant, he stomped the entire third floor of Haotian Castle to pieces.
Looking at the ruins, Baili Du's lips curled in satisfaction.
"!!! Mm..."
Before he could enjoy the moment, a sharp pain in his lower abdomen spread through his whole body. Even after being tormented by Tang San countless times and growing somewhat accustomed to pain, he couldn't help crouching down and panting heavily.
His original spatial-attribute Third Soul Core had been a pure silver, but ever since he escaped from the Samsara Hurricane and the Space-Time Turbulence, it seemed to have been tainted by the power of the Space-Time Turbulence, turning the same silvery gray.
Baili Du had a feeling that this thing was the reason he was still alive...
But the power it contained was terrifying! It came from the Space-Time Turbulence that had formed after the God Star, which had been on the verge of taking shape, exploded. Even though only a portion of that power was inside him, it was still more than a mere God King like him could endure.
"Pant, pant..."
Frowning deeply, he mobilized his divine sense and reinforced the seal on his Third Soul Core.
It looked like he'd have to get to the Divine Realm soon. He probably couldn't hold out for four years... As the thought crossed his mind, he couldn't help recalling the root cause of all this.
He didn't really care that the Great God Circle and the Dragon God Realm had been destroyed. What truly struck him as strange was why they had been destroyed.
Actually, Tang San and Lan Xuanyu had had good reason to believe they could establish a God Star. Even the opposite number of the Creation God, the God of Heavenly Punishment, had become the God of Heaven Guard and joined the Great God Circle. Surely the laws of the universe could at least show the Creation God's brother some respect, couldn't they?
But why had that Titan of Finality blown up the God of Heaven Guard along with everyone else? What was the Titan of Finality's true origin?
And why... was he the only one still alive?
Perhaps it had something to do with how he'd fled right from the start instead of choosing to fight like the other God Kings. But Baili Du felt that if someone could punch a Supreme God King like the Dragon God to pieces, then even if a mere Emotion God King ran as far as he could, he shouldn't have been able to escape the attack's range...
Yet somehow, he alone had survived... Lan Xuanyu didn't count. He'd only grabbed him on a whim.
To be honest, even now, he didn't understand why that tragedy had happened. He only had a vague feeling that it might have something to do with the Tang Family.
It was just a guess. Perhaps even the laws of the universe had nearly lost patience with what the Tang Family had done, so they unleashed an enemy no one could resist and wiped out the Great God Circle and the Dragon God Realm in one fell swoop.
As for why he was still alive, perhaps it was the last chance the laws of the universe had given him—a chance for someone who didn't bear the surname Tang to save everything.
He shook his head and stood up. For now, he could only take things one step at a time. He had a feeling that even if he completely defeated Tang San in this era, that wouldn't be the end of it.
Tang San in the Divine Realm would probably discover what had happened to Haotian Castle soon. Clutching his stomach, Baili Du casually tore open the Gate of the Dead and entered the Undead Plane.
Once he was here, even if Tang San used the God Realm Hub to search every inch of Douluo Continent, he'd never find him.
Before you continue