Trial of destruction

Deep within the Shen Family estate, the cultivation room was tightly sealed. There was neither moon nor stars tonight, and the entire Ming Capital was submerged in thick, ink-like darkness.

Shen Yue stood inside with his hands behind his back, draped only in a worn, dark gray robe. His eyes, which had seen countless battles, remained fixed on the sliver of light leaking through the crack in the stone door.

Purple light.

Shen Nanxun sat cross-legged in the center, four soul rings rising and falling steadily around his body.

Level fifty, Soul King.

The moment he broke through, the roar of soul power echoed throughout the cultivation room, shattering the barrier between the Soul Ancestor and Soul King realms.

But immediately after, the spiritual energy enveloping him began to change color rapidly, shifting from milky white to light gray, then to ink black. Finally, a halo of pure, deep purple-black energy completely replaced the original spiritual energy, settling heavily around his body.

A deathly pressure that towered over all things gradually spread outward.

Shen Nanxun was entirely wrapped in dark purple energy, which seemed to be constantly devouring his physical body.

Furthermore, that purple-black energy was surging out from him like ink dropped into water, spreading in all directions with the cultivation room as the center.

At this rate, it would take less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea for this aura to shroud the entire Shen Family estate. By then, it wouldn't just be a matter of whether his clansmen could withstand it; once this energy leaked out, wouldn't all those prying eyes in the Ming Capital turn their attention here?

Shen Yue had no time to overthink. He took a deep breath, lifted his right foot, and slammed it down.

The stomp looked light, but crimson-gold soul power erupted from beneath his feet, and nine soul rings lit up in unison. They rotated as they rose, finally converging above his head into a ten-zhang-tall crimson-gold phantom.

It was an ancient dragon rhino, crimson-gold from head to toe, with a single horn pointing toward the sky, hooves treading on fire, and its entire body entwined with lava-like soul power patterns. The Crimson Gold Rock Dragon Rhino, Shen Yue's martial soul—a top-tier beast martial soul capable of both defense and offense.

Nine rings, Titled Douluo.

"Rock Dragon Domain, activate!"

Shen Yue let out a low shout and pressed his hands together. Crimson-gold light spread out from him, and in the blink of an eye, it erected a massive hemispherical barrier, sealing the entire Shen Family estate tightly. The surface of the barrier was covered in fine dragon scale patterns, which pulsed slightly, inhaling and exhaling the surrounding soul power.

The Rock Dragon Domain was a natal domain Shen Yue had only comprehended after stepping into the Titled Douluo realm. Within this domain, he was the absolute master.

Aura, energy, and fluctuations were all locked inside; nothing could be detected from the outside. Conversely, external probes could not penetrate this barrier built from the ultimate earth and fire dual-attribute soul power.

This was his trump card, one he rarely revealed. Most of the direct descendants of the Shen Family didn't even know their patriarch possessed such a technique.

But there was no time to worry about that now.

Once the domain was opened, the purple-black aura spreading outward slammed into an invisible wall and was forcibly contained within the estate.

Na'er, who had been in the courtyard, also sensed that something was wrong. Her small face turned pale, and she rushed toward the cultivation room.

God of Destruction.

The supreme Deity in the God Realm who held dominion over ruin. At the very moment Shen Nanxun broke through to become a Soul King, this third Soul Spirit was completely unsealed.

His consciousness had already been pulled into a dark purple plane.

The moment he entered, the entire secret realm suddenly froze.

The raging pressure of annihilation was forcibly suppressed by an invisible force, and the restless divine power calmed instantly as if a pause button had been pressed. Every movement in heaven and earth came to a complete standstill.

A voice of extreme majesty exploded directly within his sea of consciousness.

Indifferent, without a ripple.

"The divine seed, dormant for a thousand years, has broken its seal through the shackles of the mortal fiftieth level, awakening my origin of destruction."

"A mortal body, bearing the power of a Deity. Your Dao heart is unsettled, your obsessions are unclear, and you cannot yet distinguish good from evil."

"Without tempering, there is no divinity. Without trials, you are not worthy of wielding annihilation."

Shen Nanxun's heart tightened.

He understood instantly.

The power of the God of Destruction was too overbearing.

It held dominion over the end of all things, capable of destroying heaven and earth, shattering Deities, and extinguishing all life.

This level of power could not be easily grasped by just any soul master who achieved a breakthrough. If one's heart was crooked or their Dao heart was not firm, they could never control it. They would only be consumed by the origin of destruction, becoming a runaway beast that knew only slaughter and ruin, bringing endless catastrophe to the world.

That vast, divine voice resonated once more, each word striking his sea of consciousness with absolute clarity.

"I now initiate the Three Trials of Destruction."

"The First Trial: Severing Delusions—sever your own obsessions and desires, and shed the shackles of the mortal heart."

"The Second Trial: Extinguishing Emptiness—shatter all illusory realms, uphold your original heart of good and evil, and do not be consumed by the power of annihilation."

"The Third Trial: Inheriting the Dao—comprehend the true meaning of destruction. Ruin is not slaughter; only through the end can there be a new beginning."

"Only by passing all three trials can you truly control the origin of destruction, unlock the full potential of your god-level martial soul, walk the path of the gods, and inherit my power."

As the words faded, the scene before Shen Nanxun changed instantly.

Before him lay a boundless, pitch-black, and desolate Divine Domain of Annihilation.

The heavens and earth were devoid of light.

All things were dead and silent.

There were only broken stars floating in the sky and shattered mountains and rivers; everywhere he looked, there was only ruin and decay.

This was the trial ground belonging exclusively to the God of Destruction.

An invisible god-level restraint descended upon him, temporarily sealing the fluctuations of his soul power. Only the source of destruction, newly awakened, still circulated faintly within his body, as if waiting for something.

Level fifty Soul King.

For an ordinary soul master, this was a new starting point for a leap in combat power.

For Shen Nanxun, this was the beginning of transcending the mortal to enter the divine.

He stood in the center of the pitch-black divine domain, surrounded by shattered stars and broken mountains and rivers.

The moment the pitch-black, desolate Divine Domain of Annihilation pressed down, Shen Nanxun's entire body sank.

It was not gravity; it was the suppression of his Dao heart.

His body remained that of a level fifty Soul King, and his soul power was still there, yet his own strength seemed completely sealed.

In his ears, the indifferent divine voice of the God of Destruction fell into his sea of consciousness once more:

"First trial, Severing Delusions.

All mortals have attachments—attachments to emotion, to fame, to humiliation, to unwillingness.

If a god harbors attachments, they are the roots of a demon.

Enter the illusion and sever all the false obsessions of your life.

If you succeed, your divinity remains.

If you fail, you shall be swallowed by your delusions, becoming a puppet of destruction forever, losing your true self."

As the voice faded, the entire darkness suddenly shattered.

Blinding, warm light poured into his vision with a roar.

The next instant, the Divine Domain of Annihilation beneath Shen Nanxun's feet shifted completely, and the scene reset.

Everything had returned to the year he was six, when he awakened his martial soul.

"Shen Nanxun, innate soul power level two, no martial soul!"

This simple statement undoubtedly pronounced a death sentence on his path as a soul master.

The murmurs of those around him came one after another.

"Is the Vice Legion Commander Shen's younger brother's talent really that poor?"

"Hush, keep your voice down. I heard he was picked up; it's normal for him not to have the Shen Family's talent."

Shen Nanxun clutched his head, finally managing to see his current situation: tender arms, and a body devoid of any power.

Level two soul power, weak to the extreme.

This time, he had not awakened those god-level Soul Spirits; how was he to strike back against all this skepticism?