Deep inside the Shen Family manor, the cultivation chamber was sealed tight. There were no stars or moon tonight, and all of Ming Capital lay submerged in pitch-black darkness.
Shen Yue stood inside with his hands clasped behind his back, wearing only an old, dark-gray robe. His battle-hardened eyes never left the sliver of light seeping through the stone door.
Purple light.
Shen Nanxun sat cross-legged at the center, four Soul Rings calmly rising and falling around him.
Level fifty, a Soul King.
The moment he broke through, his Soul Power roared through the entire cultivation chamber, shattering the barrier between Soul Ancestor and Soul King.
But immediately afterward, the spiritual energy surrounding him began changing at a rapid pace. Milky white turned pale gray, then pale gray became ink-black. At last, a ring of pure, utterly concentrated purple-black energy completely replaced the spiritual energy, settling heavily around his body.
A deathly pressure that seemed to tower above all things slowly spread.
Shen Nanxun was entirely enveloped in dark purple energy, which seemed to be steadily devouring his flesh.
And that purple-black energy was surging outward from him, spreading in all directions from the cultivation chamber like ink dripping into water.
At this rate, the entire Shen Family estate would be shrouded in that aura before even a quarter of an hour had passed. Never mind whether his own clansmen could withstand it—if even a trace of that aura leaked out, wouldn't every pair of eyes in Ming Capital turn their way?
Shen Yue had no time to think. He drew a deep breath, then abruptly lifted his right foot and stamped it down.
The stomp looked feather-light, but crimson-gold Soul Power exploded beneath his foot. All nine Soul Rings lit up at once, revolving as they rose one by one. At last, they gathered above his head into a ten-zhang-tall crimson-gold phantom.
It was an ancient dragon rhino, crimson gold from head to tail, with a single horn pointing skyward and flames beneath its four hooves. Soul Power patterns like molten rock coiled around its entire body. The Crimson Gold Rock Dragon Rhino was Shen Yue's Martial Soul, a top-tier Beast Martial Soul that could both endure and strike.
Nine rings: a Titled Douluo.
"Rock Dragon Domain, open!"
Shen Yue gave a low shout and brought his hands together. Crimson-gold light spread out from him in a flash, forming an enormous hemispherical barrier in the blink of an eye that sealed the entire Shen Family estate tight. The barrier's surface was covered in fine dragon-scale patterns, each one faintly opening and closing as it drew in and released the surrounding Soul Power.
The Rock Dragon Domain was Shen Yue's innate domain, comprehended only after he became a Titled Douluo. Within this domain, everything was his to command.
Aura, energy, fluctuations—everything was locked inside. The outside world couldn't detect a damn thing. Conversely, no probing from outside could pierce the barrier, forged from Soul Power with the utmost earth-and-fire attributes.
It was his ultimate trump card, one he never revealed under ordinary circumstances. Most of the Shen Family's direct descendants didn't even know their old patriarch had such a trick up his sleeve.
But now, there was no time to worry about that.
As soon as the domain opened, the purple-black aura surging outward slammed into an invisible wall and was forcibly stopped within the estate.
Na'er, who had been in the courtyard, also sensed something was wrong. Her little face went pale as she sprinted toward the cultivation chamber.
The God of Destruction.
The supreme Deity who wielded annihilation in the Divine Realm had completely unsealed this third Soul Spirit at the very moment Shen Nanxun broke through to Soul King.
And Shen Nanxun's consciousness had already been drawn into a dark purple plane.
The instant he entered, the entire secret realm abruptly froze.
The raging pressure of annihilation was forcibly suppressed by an invisible force, and the restless divine power instantly quieted, as if someone had pressed pause. Every movement in heaven and earth came to a standstill.
A voice of absolute authority boomed directly in his sea of consciousness.
Detached, utterly emotionless.
"A divine seed dormant for a thousand years has broken its seal by borrowing the mortal realm's level-fifty bottleneck, awakening my Source of Destruction."
"A mortal body bears divine power. Your Dao heart is unsettled, your convictions unclear, and good and evil indistinguishable."
"Without tempering, divinity cannot be forged. Without trials, you are unworthy to wield annihilation."
Shen Nanxun's heart tightened.
He understood at once.
The God of Destruction's power was far too domineering.
It commanded the end of all things. It could destroy heaven and earth, shatter Deities, and annihilate all living things.
Power of this level was not something just any Soul Master could wield after a breakthrough. With an impure heart and an unsteady Dao, one could never control it. The Source of Destruction would only turn on the wielder's mind, leaving them a mindless Ferocious Beast driven by slaughter and ruin, bringing endless calamity upon the world.
That vast, ancient divine voice sounded again, each word striking his sea of consciousness, crystal clear.
"I now open the Three Trials of Destruction."
"First Trial: Severing Delusions—sever your own obsessions and selfish desires, and cast off the shackles of your mortal heart."
"Second Trial: Destroying the Illusory—shatter every false illusion, hold fast to your own sense of good and evil, and do not fall prey to the Power of Annihilation."
"Third Trial: Bearing the Dao—comprehend the true meaning of destruction. Annihilation is not slaughter; only through endings can new life emerge."
"Only by passing all three trials may you truly control the Source of Destruction and unlock the full form of your divine Martial Soul. Set foot upon the divine path and inherit my power."
The voice faded.
The scene before Shen Nanxun changed in an instant.
Before him stretched the boundless, barren Divine Domain of Annihilation.
No light shone in heaven or earth.
All things lay dead and silent.
Only shattered stars and broken mountains and rivers floated across the sky. Everywhere he looked, all he saw was ruin and decay.
This was the exclusive trial ground of the God of Destruction.
An invisible divine restraint settled over him, temporarily sealing the fluctuations of Soul Power around him. Only the newly awakened Source of Destruction still circulated faintly within his body, as if waiting for something.
Level-fifty Soul King.
For an ordinary Soul Master, this was the new starting point of a leap in combat strength.
For Shen Nanxun, it was the beginning of his ascent beyond mortality and into godhood.
He stood at the center of the pitch-black divine domain, surrounded by shattered stars and broken mountains and rivers.
The instant the barren, pitch-black Divine Domain of Annihilation pressed down, Shen Nanxun's whole body felt heavy.
It wasn't gravity, but pressure upon his Dao heart.
His body remained that of a level-fifty Soul King, and his Soul Power was still there, but his own strength seemed to have been completely sealed.
In his ears, the God of Destruction's detached voice fell into his sea of consciousness once more:
"First Trial: Severing Delusions.
Every mortal has attachments—to love, fame, humiliation, and grievances they cannot let go.
If a god harbors attachments, they become the root of a demon.
Enter the illusion and sever every delusion and obsession you have held throughout your life.
If you succeed, your divinity will remain.
If you fail, your delusions will devour you. From then on, you will be a puppet of destruction, forever losing your true self."
As the voice faded, the entire darkness abruptly shattered.
Blinding, warm light flooded his vision.
In the next instant, the Divine Domain of Annihilation beneath Shen Nanxun's feet was completely replaced, and the scene reset.
Everything had returned to the year he was six and awakened his Martial Soul.
"Shen Nanxun, Innate Soul Power level two, no Martial Soul!"
Those simple words had all but pronounced his path as a Soul Master dead.
A flurry of murmurs rose around him.
"Is Deputy Legion Commander Shen's little brother really that untalented?"
"Shh, keep your voice down. I heard he was adopted. It's normal that he doesn't have the Shen Family's talent."
Shen Nanxun clutched his head and finally managed to make out his situation. His arms were childishly slender, and his body had not an ounce of strength.
Two levels of Soul Power, feeble to the extreme.
This time, he had not awakened those divine Soul Spirits. How was he supposed to answer all the doubts now?
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