Vast and ethereal, the sea of clouds rose and fell, streaked with countless auspicious rays.
At the center of the God Realm, silent for eternity, Sea God's Palace stood quietly above the endless azure sea of clouds.
The palace was magnificent and sacred, its glazed divine tiles reflecting eternal heavenly light.
Four towering divine pillars suppressed the laws of the four seas, making it one of the most majestic and tranquil sacred grounds in the entire God Realm.
Inside the palace, Tang San sat upright upon the Sea God's throne. His blue-gold divine robes were solemn and luxurious, while the supreme divine might of two gods united swirled around him.
As one of the five great Divine Kings of the God Realm, wielding the authority of the Sea God and bearing Asura's judgment, he had long stood at the pinnacle of this world, looking down upon all heavens and realms.
At that moment, his brows were slightly furrowed, his fingertips lightly tapping the armrest as he pondered in silence.
Ever since his daughter, Tang Wutong, had followed Li Changsheng to the lower realm for training, a lingering concern had remained in his heart.
Especially since Li Changsheng possessed the origins of both the God of Destruction and the Goddess of Life. His identity was exceptional, and his future held far too many uncertainties.
Tang San had been carefully considering how to instruct Tang Wutong to gradually draw close to him, feign intimacy, skillfully maneuver around him, and seize an opportunity to coax and lure Li Changsheng back to the God Realm, firmly controlling this divine offspring of boundless potential and bringing all uncertainty under his control.
Sea God's Palace had remained solemn for ten thousand years. Never had anyone dared act recklessly here.
But just as Tang San was immersed in his calculations—
Boom!
A heaven-shaking roar suddenly erupted!
The massive main doors of Sea God's Palace, engraved with endless divine runes, were violently smashed apart by a single kick from outside!
A raging gale of divine power, carrying biting divine might, swept through the entire hall as fragments of shattered divine runes danced through the air!
The hall's tranquility was instantly torn apart completely!
Tang San's eyes darkened at once, and fury surged within him.
He was one of the God Realm's supreme Divine Kings, blessed with two divine positions. His combat power stood above all others in the God Realm, and he was an existence revered by the heavens and worshiped by countless gods.
Sea God's Palace was his face, the symbol of his divine authority!
Since he had assumed his divine position, no one had ever dared cause trouble in Sea God's Palace, nor had anyone dared challenge his majesty.
Yet today, someone had kicked his palace doors to pieces. It was no different from slapping him across the face in public!
When had one of the five great Divine Kings ever suffered such humiliation?
Asura's killing intent stirred faintly around Tang San, and a cold gleam flashed through his eyes. Anger had already risen within him as he prepared to stand and berate the intruder.
But in the next instant, all his fury froze in his eyes, and he was completely stunned.
The figure who entered through the broken doors was beyond all his expectations.
It was not the God of Destruction, who had always been arrogant and domineering and often argued with him.
Nor was it the lively and charming Xiao Wu.
And it was not any of the other gods of the God Realm.
The person walking toward him was none other than the Goddess of Life, who had always been gentle as water, kind and compassionate, mild and tolerant throughout countless ages!
The Goddess of Life of old presided over all life in the world and held all creation in her heart.
Her temperament was gentle and serene. She treated others generously, and her eyes and brows always carried a tender smile capable of healing all beings. She was universally acknowledged as the gentlest Divine King in the God Realm, one with the least hostility.
But at that moment, she had shed all the gentleness of ten thousand years.
There was not the slightest warmth on that peerlessly beautiful, flawless face, capable of toppling the heavens themselves. There was only bone-piercing frost, with coldness covering her brows and eyes.
A terrifying pressure on the verge of violent fury coiled around her. Her surging life divine power transformed into a piercing gale, making the laws throughout the hall tremble.
Her sacred compassion was gone, leaving behind only towering rage!
Not far behind her, the black-robed God of Destruction stood rooted in place. His eyes were wide, his entire body rigid, and he was completely dumbfounded, unable to recover for a long while.
He stared blankly at his wife's resolute, icy back, his mind utterly empty.
That kick just now—overbearing, fierce, forcibly breaking through the doors and shattering the palace gates that had stood for ten thousand years...
Had that truly been his wife, whose nature was gentle, who never lost her temper, and who even felt pity when flowers and grass were damaged?
What the hell!
The God of Destruction instinctively swallowed, his throat dry as unprecedented fear rose within his heart.
At that moment, as he looked at the Goddess of Life's back, his gaze was filled with utter unfamiliarity.
After countless ages as husband and wife, it felt as though he had only truly met his wife for the first time today.
The gentle and kind Goddess of Life was actually this terrifying once she became angry!
After a brief instant of deathly silence, Tang San forcibly suppressed the astonishment and fury in his heart.
He slowly rose from his divine throne, reining in the might of his two gods. Confusion and gravity filled his voice as he spoke in a low tone:
"Life, what do you mean by this?"
Breaking through the doors in rage and disturbing the divine palace was no small matter!
Especially when it was the Goddess of Life.
The Goddess of Life walked forward slowly, her cold footsteps falling amid the shattered palace doors.
With every step she took, the life laws of the God Realm around them violently churned.
She stared directly at Tang San. Without any unnecessary preamble, her voice was cold and flat, devoid of emotion as every word became a demand for an answer:
"Shrek Academy is one of your forces, isn't it?"
The abrupt question made Tang San pause in slight surprise.
Shrek Academy?
The name was familiar yet distant, vaguely branded deep within his memories. Separated by endless years, it left him momentarily dazed.
He frowned slightly and carefully traced back through the river of his memories.
By now, he was a Divine King who governed the God Realm's order, transcending the mundane world. Looking down upon the cycle of the lower realms, he had long since left the realm of mortals behind.
The sects, academies, factional conflicts, and disputes of the lower realm were nothing more than ants fighting to him now, fleeting smoke before his eyes.
He had long ascended to the God Realm and attained supreme status. If he were still entangled with a Soul Master Academy in the lower realm, it would only lower the lofty standing of his dual identity as the Sea God and Asura God.
After a brief moment of confusion, Tang San finally remembered.
Oh.
It was the academy where he had trained in his youth while in the lower realm.
Having understood the connection, his expression remained calm. With a hint of distant indifference in his voice, he said lightly, "Why bring that up all of a sudden? I have long had nothing to do with Shrek Academy. I am not familiar with it."
The God of Destruction, who had been standing beside them in a daze and watching the drama unfold, was completely bewildered. He could not help voicing his confusion:
"How are you not familiar with it?"
"If I remember correctly, when you trained in the lower realm, made your name, rose step by step to the top, your foundation was Shrek Academy! That was where you first became famous in your youth!"
Faced with the God of Destruction's questioning, Tang San appeared composed and did not conceal anything. He merely nodded lightly in acknowledgment.
Then his tone became even more detached as he drew a clear line between everything in a single statement:
"That's right."
"But that was the Tang San of the past, and those were my past ties with Shrek in the lower realm."
"But you also know that countless ages have passed. The lower realm has long changed beyond recognition, and all its people and affairs are no longer the same."
"The person standing before you now is Tang San, Divine King of the God Realm, not the young Soul Master who once struggled to survive in the lower realm."
"Ten thousand years of worldly rise and fall, the changing of mortal powers—all of it has long had nothing to do with me. Could those old ties truly be forcibly connected to who I am now?"
With those words, he thoroughly severed the boundary between gods and mortals, cleanly and decisively, without the slightest ripple.
Once his words fell—
The Goddess of Life, whose anger had been surging, and the God of Destruction, who had been full of doubts, were both left speechless.
The vast Sea God's Palace once more fell into deathly silence.
Before you continue