Ning Yao didn't offer much comment on Yu Xiaogang's situation. After nodding, he led the Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo duo into the Pope Hall.
Back in the Pope Hall, he no longer had any other worries.
No one disturbed Ning Yao's peace for the rest of the evening, right up until he went to bed.
The Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo duo even kept watch by his side. Though Ning Yao had already told them they could leave, they still hid in the shadows not far away.
Ning Yao naturally knew they were there, but couldn't be bothered to call them out.
But his peace didn't last long.
In the dead of night, an unfamiliar strand of spiritual power silently slipped past Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo, reaching Ning Yao's side.
In an instant, Ning Yao's eyes snapped open.
"Hmm?"
With a slight movement of his thoughts, he easily shattered that inexplicable strand of spiritual power.
At the same time, however, he sensed that there was something unusual about it.
This power was exceptionally strong.
Though it was still no threat to him, it was countless times stronger than Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo.
It didn't belong to this continent. It came from a higher plane above the Douluo Continent.
"Someone from the Divine Realm?"
Ning Yao frowned and glanced up at the ceiling.
His gaze pierced through layer after layer of barriers, reaching straight into the sky above.
In an instant, he locked onto the target and confirmed that the thing that had just disturbed his peace had indeed come from the Divine Realm.
At first, he'd been puzzled as to why the Divine Realm had inexplicably taken an interest in him, when he hadn't done anything particularly momentous.
But now he understood.
At the source, in the Divine Realm, he sensed an extremely sinister power.
Rakshasa God.
The name came to Ning Yao's mind of its own accord.
That explained everything.
It seemed Bibi Dong had made her move, and the Rakshasa God had noticed.
The Rakshasa God had probably sensed that her successor wanted to break free of her control. And after finding she couldn't influence Bibi Dong, she must have looked into the matter more closely and sent her spiritual power to Ning Yao.
But didn't the Divine Realm have a rule forbidding gods from interfering in the affairs of the lower world without permission?
If that had happened to a native of the Douluo Continent, even a Titled Douluo would probably have been done for.
Ning Yao couldn't help shaking his head. It seemed the Asura God wasn't the only one who knew the law and broke it.
This bunch of false gods—hardly any of them were decent.
Ning Yao sat up, then remained on the edge of the bed for a while longer. Nothing else happened.
He raised an eyebrow and lifted his right hand.
"You disturbed me and now think you can just leave so openly? That doesn't seem right."
He murmured a few words, resting his thumb against the tip of his middle finger. Then he flicked it lightly.
A faint green glow sprang from his fingertip. In the blink of an eye, it passed through layers of buildings and space, silently breaking through the barrier between the two planes and arriving above the Divine Realm.
At that moment, inside the Rakshasa Temple,
a woman dressed in a revealing, purple gauze gown sat on the divine throne at the center of the temple, large swaths of skin exposed.
She looked languidly at the purple crystal ball in her hand, deep in thought.
A repeated scene played over and over across its surface.
It showed the final feedback her spiritual power had sent her before it dissipated.
In the scene was a handsome man fast asleep.
He looked like an ordinary human, albeit one with a distinguished bearing.
But the moment her spiritual power had tried to approach Ning Yao and investigate him, it had suddenly been erased.
Not a trace remained. The Rakshasa God had nearly thought some God King had caught her little trick.
It had frightened her for quite some time, yet even now, no God King had come knocking.
"Could something be wrong with me?"
She frowned and muttered to herself.
But just as she was about to release even more divine power and descend to investigate what had happened, her expression suddenly froze.
The lazy look vanished from her face, replaced by shock and fear.
Just moments earlier, when she'd looked up, she had seen a green glow.
A green point of light pierced through space beneath her gaze, passed through every layer of defense around her temple, and flew straight toward her.
Her senses told her there was nothing in front of her, yet her own eyes had undeniably seen it.
Before she could react, the green point of light had already reached the space between her brows.
It touched her pale skin, bringing with it a cool sensation. Then, with ease, it pierced the barrier of divine power she had formed around herself and entered her body.
"What the hell is this?!"
The Rakshasa God sprang to her feet, her expression grave, fear flickering in her eyes.
She had never seen such a method before.
Even the Asura God couldn't breach her defenses without her noticing a thing.
But her most urgent task was to figure out what had entered her body.
Yet as she examined herself, she froze.
That rich aura of life left only one person in her mind.
"..."
"Life! I have no grudge against you. Why are you trying to harm me?!"
Her roar echoed through the great hall, and the entire Rakshasa Temple trembled with it.
At the same time, elsewhere, the Life God King—resting in her bedchamber in a long green dress—woke with a start.
"That same heart-stirring sensation again..."
Elsewhere, on the Douluo Continent,
Ning Yao kept his gaze fixed on the Rakshasa Temple. Seeing that his little trick had worked, he nodded in satisfaction.
She wanted to know what was going on with Bibi Dong, didn't she? Well, now she could find out for herself.
Since she'd come all this way, Ning Yao couldn't just let her leave empty-handed.
Still, he found it rather amusing that the Rakshasa God had mistaken him for the Goddess of Life, one of the Five Great God Kings.
But he couldn't be bothered to correct her. Let her misunderstand.
After all, he'd only come to teach the Rakshasa God a little lesson.
He really hated being disturbed in his sleep.
As for how that lesson would turn out, that would depend on the Rakshasa God's luck.
After all, strictly speaking, this was his first time taking action against that bunch of false gods in the Divine Realm.
They were all ants, of course, but still much stronger than the people of the Douluo Continent.
And the Rakshasa God's power clashed somewhat with his own.
What sort of reaction the two would produce—that was something the Rakshasa God would have to tell him herself.
From what Ning Yao sensed, the Rakshasa God had already left her temple and was heading to the Life God King's residence.
"It's no use. No one can save you."
Before you continue