The Destruction of Seven Divine Realms

By the Lake of Life in the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Space rippled faintly, and Di Tian's imposing figure silently emerged. His black dragon mask had already been removed, and though a trace of weariness showed on his face, there was even more satisfaction and caution following his successful display of power.

"Hahaha! Big Brother, that was so satisfying!" Bear Lord's thunderous laughter exploded first. His enormous body emerged from the woods as he pounded his chest hard, his face brimming with excitement and pride. "Did you see it? That old bastard Chen Xinjie frozen in midair, unable to move? And that face of Qian Gu Dongfeng's, like he'd swallowed a whole nest of ironclad hedgehogs and didn't dare spit them out! Hahaha!"

Crimson King trotted over, his three heads swaying as he carried several smoking, visibly damaged high-grade soul tool recording devices. His tone carried a hint of heartache. "We captured a few incomplete fragments of the law-level fluctuations from the final strikes of the heavenly tribulation. The energy level was terrifying... but it cost us five of the latest Skywatcher Type III models. Bi Ji is cleaning up the rest behind us."

Bi Ji arrived shortly afterward, her emerald-green skirt brushing across the scorched earth and bringing with it a fresh aura of life. She held a relatively intact recording core in her hands. Concern and lingering fear filled her gentle face. "Di Tian, are you all right? That final claw from the Golden Dragon King's phantom made my heart tremble even through the recorder. And the method you used to imprison Chen Xinjie... that seemed to be more than just spatial power?"

Di Tian waved his hand, indicating that he was unharmed. He said gravely, "Just a little trickery. I borrowed the chaotic laws of that 'blessing' and could only sustain it for a few seconds. If they had seen through it, or if they had all rushed me at once, I could only have retreated." He looked toward Zi Ji and Myriad Demon King. "How were your observations?"

Zi Ji brushed back her long purple hair and analyzed calmly, "Humans will not give up surveillance. Building a 'wall'—a physical or soul tool barrier to cordon off the area—is inevitable, and that will save us the trouble. A high wall can keep out most curious civilians and low-level soul masters. Combined with our own Myriad Phenomena jammers, the core region can truly become our 'laboratory' and 'private preserve.' The vacuum period after the Spirit Pagoda withdraws is the perfect time for us to accelerate the preparations."

A shrewd smile appeared on Myriad Demon King's aged face, and the surrounding trees seemed to whisper along with him. "Zi Ji is right. They build the wall, and we 'help' reinforce it while conveniently burying our little gadgets deeper. Still, Di Tian, that final move truly frightened them. For a while, those old fellows will not dare act rashly. They'll focus on observation and negotiation. We can take this opportunity to push forward the Film and Television Project spinoffs, along with several collaborations involving the Deep Space Dragon Domain."

Di Tian nodded. "Mm. Over the next few days, have the children on the outskirts keep themselves in check. Before the monitoring stations withdraw, do not leave them any evidence. The real contest is not decided in a moment like this." He gazed in the direction of Eastsea City, his eyes profound. "Our 'director' and 'screenwriter' should have watched this 'live performance' as well."

Eastsea City, in a hidden living room behind Rain Spirit Grilled Fish Shop.

The soul tool television was broadcasting an emergency news segment. The footage was shaky, clearly filmed secretly from far away, yet it still showed imposing figures shooting into the sky from the direction of the Star Dou Great Forest, turning into streaks of light that rapidly vanished beyond the horizon. At their head were Skycrossing Douluo Yun Ming, Vast Sea Douluo Chen Xinjie, Spirit Pagoda Master Qian Gu Dongfeng, Tang Sect Vice Sect Master Zang Xin, and others. Even through the screen, one could feel the gravity, disbelief, and faint lingering terror surrounding their departure.

The host's voice trembled with excitement. "...Unbelievable! The continent's foremost experts gathered in the Star Dou Great Forest and are suspected to have contacted Beast God Di Tian following his tribulation! Judging from the speed and direction of the honored figures' departure, no conflict appears to have occurred, but the atmosphere was exceptionally tense! Footage risked by our frontline reporters shows that the tribulation clouds above the Star Dou core region have dispersed, but the remaining energy is extraordinarily terrifying. Large-scale scorching and spatial distortions have appeared along the forest's outskirts! Spirit Pagoda headquarters has just released a brief statement, saying it is 'evaluating the basis for a new dialogue with the soul beast leader.' Tang Sect and Shrek Academy have yet to respond... Just what realm has Beast God Di Tian reached? Will the continent's entire balance change because of this? We will continue following the story!"

Click. Huo Yuhao turned off the television, and the room fell silent. He leaned against the couch, his face still somewhat pale, but his eyes were astonishingly bright as his fingers lightly tapped his knee.

"Xiaoling," he suddenly said, a faint smile playing on his lips, "what do you think would happen if we took that final scene the news did not capture, but we recorded—the moment Di Tian stood proudly in the eye of the storm, with the Nine-Colored Tribulation Clouds and the golden dragon claw behind him, gazing down with his hands behind his back—and made it into the ultimate boss entrance CG in a game? Or an animated illustration for a limited summon character?"

Demon Spirit was rapidly recording the encrypted data streams transmitted from the Star Dou Great Forest on a soul tool tablet. Hearing him, she immediately raised her head, her eyes curving into crescents. "That would be amazing, Brother Yuhao! That shot was practically designed for a 'Divine Descent'! Its impact would be perfect! Then..." She blinked mischievously. "In the game's story, we could arrange for the God of Emotions, or a 'Child of Destiny' controlled by players, to endure countless hardships before finally 'defeating' an Uncle Di Tian like that in some epic dungeon... Hehe, the power of faith would come pouring in! I've even thought of the name already. The expansion will be called Dragon God Trial: Calamity of the Black Sun!"

Huo Yuhao laughed and shook his head. This girl's enthusiasm for "harvesting faith" was always so intense. After pondering for a moment, he said, "This material is indeed rare. But the execution has to be meticulous. We need to highlight Di Tian's strength and majesty, while also ensuring players do not feel that the God of Emotions won too easily. That would weaken the sense of authenticity and awe. Faith requires worship, longing, and emotional resonance, not merely the thrill of 'defeating someone powerful.'"

He calculated the timing. "Based on Zi Ji's business projections and Spirit Pagoda's efficiency, it will take at least half a year for the new isolation wall to be built and public opinion to settle initially. Half a year is enough for us to polish this 'major game event.'" He paused, recalling the changes in Di Tian after absorbing the Golden Dragon Origin. "Besides Di Tian, Zi Ji also possesses a pure dragon bloodline... She specializes in darkness and strength. If she could receive a portion of suitable blessings, she might reach her bottleneck faster. But the order of those blessings and the risks..."

Just as Huo Yuhao sank into thought, a sudden change occurred!

An extremely faint yet incomparably familiar spiritual fluctuation, carrying the vast rhythm of the sea and a sacred aura, suddenly echoed directly in the depths of his soul. It came in broken fragments, like a candle flame that could go out at any moment.

"Yu... hao..."

Huo Yuhao's pupils contracted sharply. It was Poseidon Tang San's voice! But why was it so weak, fragmented, and filled with indescribable exhaustion and... foreboding?

"Xiaoling! Maximum-grade shielding! Now!!" Huo Yuhao shouted sharply. At the same time, he immediately closed his eyes and immersed all his consciousness into his sea of spirit.

Demon Spirit reacted with astonishing speed. She did not even ask why. Her petite body instantly transformed into a wisp of green smoke and rushed toward the hidden soul tool nodes throughout the room. The next instant, a low hum arose. Layers of invisible composite barriers, capable of blocking all detection below the divine level, rose at maximum output and enveloped the entire room and even the depths underground, as though they had temporarily been "erased" from the world.

Within his sea of spirit, Huo Yuhao saw a scene that shook him to the core.

Tang San's phantom floated there, but his appearance was utterly ruined! His once brilliant azure Sea God divine armor was dim and covered in cracks, as though it had been corroded by some terrifying power. His divine body was wrapped in decaying gray mist and fractures of the Void that did not belong to the Douluo system. What radiated from him was no longer the ocean's aura of embracing all things, but a sorrowful struggle that was nearly extinguished.

"F-Father-in-law! What happened to you?!" Huo Yuhao's voice trembled. He could not imagine what sort of disaster could force someone as powerful as Poseidon Tang San into such a state!

"Yuhao... listen... to me... there isn't much time..." Tang San's phantom grew increasingly transparent, and his voice was as weak as scraps carried on the wind. "After you and Wulin fell into the lower realm... we had only just stabilized the Divine Realm... begun repairs... less than a quarter of an hour later... the Space-Time Turbulence... arrived..."

As Tang San spoke with difficulty, a shattered and terrifying scene was forcibly poured into Huo Yuhao's consciousness.

The Douluo Divine Realm, whose foundation had already been damaged when the Golden Dragon King madly absorbed its origin, was as fragile as a paper boat in a storm before the violent, immense Space-Time Turbulence. The Divine Realm barrier groaned under unbearable strain. Vast portions of the divine domain began to collapse and vanish. The scale and power of that turbulence surpassed anything ever recorded!

"The Divine Realm... ravaged by the Golden Dragon King... simply could not... survive turbulence... of that scale..." Tang San's voice was full of bitterness and lingering fear. "No wonder... you forcibly descended... yet your divine spark was not sealed... At the instant the turbulence struck... the Divine Realm Core... could barely protect itself... How could it have had... any strength left... to carry out... the lower-realm seal..."

Huo Yuhao suddenly understood. So that was it! This was the only accidental "fortune" amid that calamity.

"Destruction... and Life..." Tang San continued. With great difficulty, he condensed two faint yet inherently noble halos in his hand, one purple and one green. They were the marks of the Destruction Godhood and Life Godhood, but both had become masterless! "They... used Creation Power... once again... This time... it was a true... sacrifice... Their Divine Cores burned... exhausting everything... forcibly compressing... the Divine Realm... on the verge of collapse... then transforming its remaining power... into a final 'shelter'..."

In the scene, purple and green light intertwined into a net, wrapping around the rapidly shrinking Divine Realm Core and resisting the tearing force of the turbulence. The radiance was tragic and dazzling, and then... it gradually faded.

Huo Yuhao's throat tightened. He wanted to say something, but Tang San stopped him with a look.

"We... were swept away... blown toward... an unknown... black hole region... There... we encountered... survivors... from other Divine Realms..." Behind Tang San, countless tiny points of light appeared like stars. Each represented a godhood, though most were dim. They symbolized the surviving divine power gathered from many Divine Realms. "We fought... fought for a path to survival... it was brutal... but our... Douluo Divine Realm... endured until the end... gained... the leading position... and escaped..."

Behind that brief description lay a divine war and flight of unimaginable tragedy. Huo Yuhao did not dare think too deeply about it.

However, Tang San's tone suddenly became more urgent, more terrified. "But... The Void... The Void... found us!!"

"What?!" Huo Yuhao's soul shook violently. He noticed that among the points of light Tang San had displayed, representing the different Divine Realms, several especially bright key-shaped phantoms containing unique law auras were trembling violently. Then, one after another—they shattered and went dark!

"The keys... authorities... of the six Divine Realms..." Tang San's voice was filled with despair. "Yuhao... do you understand... what this means... Those six Divine Realms... that met us, fought us, and finally allied with us... their sparks... may all have... been taken by the Void..."

A chill exploded from the depths of Huo Yuhao's soul and swept through his entire body. Six Divine Realms... completely destroyed?! What kind of enemy was that?!

"Yuhao... the companions of the Great God Circle... entrusted their inheritance cores... and part of their followers... to us... They... paid with self-destruction... to temporarily... drive back the Void... winning us... a sliver of life..." Tang San's phantom began collapsing like a sand sculpture, but he struggled to preserve the final transmission of information. "But... we cannot escape... the tracking mark... has already..."

"But... it doesn't matter!" Tang San's voice suddenly rose, carrying a final trace of resolve and hope. "These... cores... preserve... the most fundamental divine spark imprints... and civilization sparks... As long as... the Douluo Plane still exists... as long as... the inheritance continues... we... still have... hope of returning!"

He looked deeply at Huo Yuhao, as if he wished to carve all his entrustments into Huo Yuhao's soul. "Yuhao... I leave them to you... Wulin... Douluo Continent... and... these... hopes..."

Before his words had even faded, the key phantoms representing the final inheritances of the different Divine Realms abruptly detached from Tang San's fading phantom. They transformed into seven-colored streams of light and plunged irresistibly into the depths of Huo Yuhao's sea of spirit. They did not merge with Huo Yuhao's shattered God of Emotions divine spark. Instead, they formed a complex and sturdy new sealing system, layered upon itself, temporarily reinforcing and suppressing the unstable Triangular Divine Core Seal within him that could backlash at any time. A burden of protection as heavy as a galaxy descended upon him.

"E-Eight years? B-But according to reason... only eight days should have passed in the Divine Realm..." Huo Yuhao finally asked the enormous question in his heart. Why had eight years passed in the lower realm while the Divine Realm seemed to have endured an age of upheaval?

"No... Yuhao..." Tang San's phantom had already faded like a wisp of smoke. "The Douluo Divine Realm... had long since departed... its native plane... Time... at the edge of a black hole... while fleeing the Void... follows no fixed law... We drifted and fought... in that region... perhaps for one or two months... Outside... perhaps only one or two days passed... But the Void's corruption... accelerates... all... 'wear'..."

At last, with immense longing and even greater worry, he looked toward the Void as if he could pierce through planes and see the child who had grown up in Aolai City. "Yuhao... take care of... Wulin... take care of... the Douluo Plane... If... if the Void's tendrils... truly... find you... remember..."

Tang San used the last of his strength to stare at Huo Yuhao. He spoke each word slowly, filled with endless reluctance and resolve.

"Run! Do not look back! Take the sparks... and run!"

As the final syllable fell, Tang San's phantom shattered inch by inch in silence like a broken reflection in water. It became the finest specks of light and dispersed within Huo Yuhao's sea of spirit, leaving not even the slightest trace behind. It was as though that transmission, which had crossed endless danger and carried destruction and hope, had never occurred.

Only the heavy sealing system newly embedded in his mind, those cold yet precious keys bearing the sparks of Divine Realms, and the immense shadow cast over the entire plane by the words "the Void" silently told him everything.

Huo Yuhao slowly opened his eyes. His face was even paler than before, and fine beads of cold sweat had appeared at his temples. He looked at Demon Spirit, who stood anxiously beside him with concern in her eyes. His lips moved a few times, but he discovered that he had temporarily lost his voice.

Outside the window, Eastsea City's lights had just begun to glow. The night market buzzed with life as people discussed the anomalies in the Star Dou Great Forest, the departure of powerful figures, and future prices. It was ordinary and lively. No one knew that, just moments ago, a warning from the edge of destruction and a burden concerning the survival of the entire plane had quietly fallen upon the shoulders of a severely wounded god.

The mountain storm was coming, and the wind had already filled the tower. Yet the greatest storm might not arise from conflicts within the continent, but from the vast, cold depths of space—the unknown and terrifying existence known as the Void.