Divine Realm Calamity Begins II

"Clever little one." For the first time, the Golden Dragon King's gaze fell upon Huo Yuhao. A hint of amusement flickered in its heterochromatic dragon eyes. "Huo Yuhao, God of Emotions? I've read your records. A human who stepped into godhood—very interesting. What a pity... today, you will fall here."

It raised both claws and made a tearing motion toward the sky.

The sky of the Divine Realm was truly torn apart.

It was not a spatial rift, but the more fundamental "dimensional barrier" being violently ripped open. What lay beyond the fissure was not the Void, but a surging sea of Dark Gold energy—the entirety of the Golden Dragon King's power, accumulated over countless years of sealing, unleashed all at once.

The sea of energy poured down and transformed into nine colossal Dark Gold dragons, each with an aura no weaker than a peak First-Level God.

"Enjoy the dragon horde." The Golden Dragon King's voice carried cruel delight. "And I... have proper business to attend to."

Its target was clear—the Divine Realm Nursery Hall.

All the Divine Realm's newborn god descendants slept there, including Tang Wulin, who had only recently been born.

"Don't even think about it!" Tang San, the God of Destruction, and the Goddess of Life attacked simultaneously.

Poseidon's Trident became a towering blue-gold pillar of light, the God of Destruction's divine lightning condensed into a world-ending spear, and the light of life wove itself into a restraining net. Three God King-level attacks sealed off every route ahead of the Golden Dragon King.

The Golden Dragon King finally stopped.

It turned and looked at the three God Kings. For the first time, something that could be called an "expression" appeared on its dragon face—a complex look mixed with mockery, pity, and boredom.

"You..." It sighed, and the sound echoed throughout the Divine Realm. "You never understand the situation."

"It is not that I am going to kill that child."

"It is that I am going to... become that child."

The moment those words fell, the Golden Dragon King did something no god could understand—it began to shrink.

From a colossal creature thousands of meters long, it compressed to a hundred meters, ten meters, one meter... until it finally became a Dark Gold crystal the size of a fist. Dragon-scale patterns covered its surface, while a heart slowly pulsed within.

"That is its Divine Core!" Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes saw through its essence. "It is going to abandon its body and directly merge into Tang Wulin's body in the form of its Divine Core!"

"Stop it!" Tang San's pupils constricted. Poseidon's Trident changed direction and stabbed toward the Divine Core.

Too late.

The Divine Core turned into a streak of Dark Gold light, ignoring all spatial barriers as it instantly pierced through three layers of combined defenses and shot toward the Nursery Hall.

One second later.

A baby's bright cry rang out from the direction of the Nursery Hall.

But that cry... carried the echo of a dragon's roar.

"It's over." The God of Destruction's face was as pale as paper.

The Golden Dragon King's Divine Core had already entered Tang Wulin's body. If they killed Tang Wulin now, the Divine Core would immediately seek another host with the Dragon God's bloodline. If they did not kill him, the Golden Dragon King's will would gradually erode the infant's soul, eventually completing possession.

No matter what they chose, they had lost.

"There is still a way." The Goddess of Life suddenly grasped the God of Destruction's hand. Their gazes met in the air, and they reached an understanding in an instant. "That ancient plan."

"Are you sure?" The God of Destruction's voice trembled.

"This is the only method that can severely damage the Divine Core without harming the infant's original soul." The Goddess of Life smiled, gentle yet resolute. "And besides... we were one from the beginning, weren't we?"

The two of them simultaneously ignited the origins of their Divine Godhoods.

The God of Destruction's violet-black power and the Goddess of Life's emerald-green power began to blend. It was not a simple addition, but a deeper "fusion"—the two divine powers began transforming and completing one another the instant they touched, eventually forming a chaotic gray-white energy.

That energy contained both ultimate destruction and ultimate vitality.

"In the name of destruction."

"In the name of life."

"Here, we merge—"

"Let the light of creation reappear!"

The gray-white energy shot into the heavens and condensed into a vague figure in the sky. It had no facial features, no gendered traits, only a mass of light constantly shifting form. Yet the aura radiating from it made the entire Divine Realm tremble.

That was... a projection of the Creator God's remaining will.

Though it possessed only one hundred-millionth of the true Creator God's power, its rank was high enough.

High enough to ignore the Golden Dragon King's suppression of laws.

"Creator's Judgment." The vague figure spoke in an androgynous voice and raised its right hand.

In its palm, gray-white light condensed into a sword.

The sword's body was transparent, and within it, countless worlds could be seen being born and dying. It was the embryonic form of the Sword of Three Realms' Judgment—with destruction and life as its blade, the will of creation as its hilt, judging its target on the level of existence itself.

The sword tip was not aimed at the Nursery Hall, but at the Dark Gold Divine Core within the infant's chest.

"Sever."

The sword fell.

There was no sound, no eruption of light.

Yet every god "felt" that strike—not with their eyes, but through their Divine Godhoods. What that sword severed was not matter, but "connection." It cut off the Golden Dragon King Divine Core's link to the Dragon God's origin, cut off its channels to external energy, and temporarily reduced it from "indestructible" to "damageable."

Within the Nursery Hall, the Dark Gold Divine Core shuddered violently, and the first crack appeared on its surface.

Then came the second, the third...

"Aaaaaah—!"

The Golden Dragon King's miserable roar came from within the Divine Core. It was not a howl of physical pain, but a scream born from the shaking of its very foundation of existence. That Genesis Sword Strike had cut away more than thirty percent of its essence, and what remained was in an extremely unstable state.

But it was not dead yet.

At the final moment, the Divine Core retaliated—not by attacking the projection of creation, which would have been pointless. It chose the weakest point present.

Huo Yuhao.

A thin Dark Gold line shot out from the Divine Core, moving so quickly it surpassed the very concept of time. Huo Yuhao did not even have time to react before it pierced his chest—not physically, but directly into the core of his Divine Godhood.

"Pfft—!"

Huo Yuhao spat out a mouthful of golden divine blood, and the light in his Spirit Eyes instantly dimmed by more than half. He felt his Divine Godhood collapsing—not slowly weakening, but literally "shattering." In its final desperate counterattack, the Golden Dragon King had injected part of the Dragon God's violent will into his Divine Godhood. Two incompatible supreme laws clashed madly within his soul.

At most, thirty seconds remained before his Divine Godhood completely exploded.

"Yuhao!" Tang San appeared beside Huo Yuhao in an instant. Sea God power poured into Huo Yuhao's body, trying to stabilize the collapse.

But it was useless.

The conflict between the Dragon God's will and the God of Emotions' Divine Godhood existed at the level of essence. External force could only delay it, not stop it.

"Father-in-law..." Huo Yuhao coughed up another mouthful of blood, mixed with fragments of his Divine Godhood. "I can't make it... but Wulin..."

He looked toward the Nursery Hall.

There, the infant's cries were growing weaker and weaker. Though the Dark Gold Divine Core had been severely damaged, the possession process had not stopped. At most ten minutes remained before the Golden Dragon King completed its erosion of Tang Wulin's soul.

There was not enough time.

There was not enough time.

Tang San closed his eyes.

One second later, he opened them, and only resolve remained in his gaze.

"There is one way." His voice was terrifyingly calm. "But I need authorization from all of you."

He looked at the fading projection of creation, at the barely sustained God of Destruction and Goddess of Life, and at every First-Level God around them still able to move.

"I will invoke the Divine Realm Core's highest authority and open the 'Eternal Sanctuary Passage'—not time-space travel, but one-way dimensional demotion. We will send Yuhao and Wulin to the lower realm, to Douluo Continent, using the laws of that plane to suppress the Golden Dragon King's activity while isolating the Dragon God's will from continuously eroding Yuhao's Divine Godhood."

"But the price is..." the Goddess of Life weakly continued, "those sent to the lower realm will have their Divine Godhoods temporarily sealed, their memories may be damaged, and their strength will fall to mortal levels. Furthermore, once the passage opens, it cannot be used again for a hundred years. During that time, the Divine Realm will lose its ability to directly intervene in the lower realm."

"And," the God of Destruction added, "the Golden Dragon King's Divine Core will go with them. Though it was severely damaged by the Genesis Sword Strike, it still has the potential to grow. In the lower realm, it may awaken in another form..."

"I know." Tang San interrupted them. "But this is the only way to save both of them. In the Divine Realm, Yuhao's Divine Godhood will not last even a minute, and Wulin cannot resist possession either. In the lower realm, they will still have time—time to find a solution, time to grow strong enough to fight the Golden Dragon King."

He looked at Huo Yuhao. "Are you willing? To walk the path of cultivation again in a mortal body, carrying the Dragon God's will that could explode at any moment, while protecting an infant targeted by the Golden Dragon King?"

Huo Yuhao smiled, though blood continued to spill from the corner of his mouth.

"Father-in-law, that question... is unnecessary."

Tang San nodded.

He raised Poseidon's Trident, not toward an enemy, but toward the sky of the Divine Realm.

"In the name of the Divine Realm's law enforcer—"

"I request activation of the 'Eternal Sanctuary' protocol."

"Targets: Huo Yuhao, God of Emotions; Tang Wulin, god descendant."

"Dimensional demotion destination: Douluo Continent plane."

"Reason for request: to evade an irresistible divine calamity and preserve the Core Flame of civilization."

The Divine Realm Core was silent for three breaths.

Then, the energy of the entire Divine Realm began gathering in Tang San's hand. It was not the trident absorbing energy; the Divine Realm itself was answering its law enforcer's request—transforming the planar power accumulated over tens of thousands of years into a one-time dimensional passage.

The sky split open a second time.

This was not Dark Gold corruption, but pure blue-white radiance. Within that light, a staircase formed from countless law runes slowly descended. Its end vanished into nothingness, connecting to some distant lower-realm plane.

"The passage can only last ten breaths." Tang San's voice trembled. Maintaining a passage of this scale was difficult even for a God King. "Go!"

Using his final strength, Huo Yuhao caught the infant flying out from the Nursery Hall—the child's eyes were closed, faint Dark Gold dragon-scale patterns visible upon his chest, but his breathing was steady. He seemed not to have suffered too much harm.

He stepped onto the staircase.

With every step, the divine light around his body dimmed a little more. The sealing of his Divine Godhood had begun. The authority and memories belonging to the God of Emotions receded like a tide, leaving behind only an indestructible fragment of his truest spirit.

At the eighth step, he turned back for one final look.

He saw Tang San nodding at him. He saw the weak figures of the Goddess of Life and the God of Destruction supporting one another. He saw the Divine Realm devastated beneath the Golden Dragon King's domain corruption.

Then he turned around and took the ninth step.

The moment the tenth step landed, the passage closed.

The blue-white radiance faded, and the Divine Realm's sky returned to its damaged but normal state. Only two people were gone—a severely wounded god and a cursed infant.

And one Dark Gold Divine Core lurking within the infant's body, waiting to awaken.

Tang San stood where he was, silent for a long time.

"They'll be all right, won't they?" the Goddess of Life asked softly.

"They have to be." Tang San clenched Poseidon's Trident until his knuckles turned white. "Because the passage will not open again for a hundred years. For these hundred years... they can only rely on themselves."

He looked toward the lower realm, his gaze piercing through layer after layer of dimensions, as though he could see that plane called Douluo Continent.

"Yuhao, Wulin..."

"Live."