Douluo God Realm.
Sea God Hall.
The Golden Palace hung above a sea of clouds. No wind stirred on any side, and a pale golden film of light slowly flowed over it like a breathing veil.
The hall was silent.
Tang San sat upon his throne.
The Sea God Trident rested against the armrest, its tip pointed upward and gleaming with cold light.
His eyes were closed.
A Light Mirror, three feet square and edged with Azure Ocean Patterns, floated before him.
Tianhun Royal Academy appeared within the mirror.
The Martial Arts Arena.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong's coordination.
Spirit Eye Mental Detection, Light Goddess Butterfly Light Blades slicing through their opponents.
Two Level 23s. In a dozen seconds, everyone had fallen.
Tang San lightly tapped the armrest with one finger.
The image changed.
Quan Cangtian.
Six years old, standing opposite a level 25 Soul Ancestor.
Thin. Short.
He threw a punch.
Bright Golden Flame exploded from his fist.
The level 25 Soul Ancestor was sent flying.
He crashed into the ground.
He did not move again.
Tang San's finger stopped.
He opened his eyes.
Blue eyes, deep and still.
Like the sea's surface.
Whatever lay beneath the sea could not be seen clearly.
He looked back at the Light Mirror.
The image froze at the moment Quan Cangtian withdrew his fist.
The Bright Golden Flame had not yet dispersed.
Tang San stared at that flame.
For a long time.
"Shrek."
He spoke.
His voice was soft, as if talking to himself.
"I arranged for Shrek."
"Huo Yuhao should have gone to Shrek."
"Tianhun Royal Academy was not part of the plan."
His finger began tapping again.
Once.
Twice.
"But it won't matter much."
"Shrek and Tianhun are both in Heaven Dou City."
"They will meet sooner or later."
"Sooner or later, things will return to the proper course."
He paused.
His gaze shifted to the corner of the Light Mirror.
Quan Cangtian stood there.
Six years old.
"But this person."
Tang San's voice softened further.
"Quan Cangtian."
"Six years old, level 15."
"One punch sent a level 25 flying."
"What he used was not a Soul Skill."
"It was something... I have never seen before."
His finger stopped tapping.
A thin layer of calculation surfaced in his blue eyes.
Like fish swimming beneath ice.
"His talent is exceptional."
"Stronger than Huo Yuhao's."
"Stronger than Dai Huabin's."
"Stronger than everyone else his age."
"If someone like this cannot be brought under control, he will become a hidden danger."
The corner of his mouth moved.
It was not a smile.
It was the expression of someone who had already decided what to do.
"Bring him under control."
"Train him."
"Make him one of the Tang family."
"Have him work for me."
His gaze fell upon Quan Cangtian's face.
Within the Light Mirror, Quan Cangtian was turning to walk back to his group.
His back was tiny.
Six years old.
Tang San's fingers slowly tightened around the armrest.
"An obedient dog."
"More useful than an enemy."
The thought had only just surfaced.
When the Light Mirror shattered.
It had not been struck apart.
A gaze suddenly shot out from within the mirror.
It had no color.
No shape.
Yet Tang San felt it.
That gaze pierced through the Light Mirror, through the golden walls of Sea God Hall, through the God Realm's barrier of laws, and directly—
Landed on him.
Locked onto him.
Tang San's body stiffened.
He wanted to move.
He could not.
It was not suppression.
Something deeper made him unable to move.
Like a nail driven into his karmic thread.
Then—
Crack.
His right leg.
Broke.
The sound of shattering bone echoed through Sea God Hall.
Tang San lowered his head.
His right leg was bent at an impossible angle.
His knee faced backward.
His shinbone had pierced through the skin.
Blood.
White divine blood flowed from the wound.
Pain.
Tang San had been a God King for so many years that he had not felt pain in a very long time.
But at that moment, he felt it with perfect clarity.
Then—
It healed.
In less than a second.
The bones reset, the skin sealed, and the divine blood flowed back.
His right leg was as good as new.
As if nothing had happened.
But Tang San knew it had happened.
Because the pain remained.
Phantom pain.
More maddening than a real wound.
Tang San's hand gripped the throne's armrest tightly.
His knuckles turned white.
His mind raced wildly.
Who?
Who could do something like this?
In the God Realm?
In Sea God Hall?
On his—Sea God Tang San's territory?
The Dragon God?
Impossible. The Dragon God had split apart long ago.
The God of Destruction?
The God of Destruction did not have that ability.
The God of Destiny?
The God of Destiny's authority could not achieve such precision.
Then who was it?
Tang San opened his mouth.
"Who—"
Before he could utter even one word.
A line of words surfaced in the depths of his mind.
It was not a voice.
Not a thought.
It was words.
Six words.
They were branded into the deepest part of his divine consciousness, burned in like a mark.
Don't touch my people.
Tang San's pupils contracted sharply.
He suddenly rose to his feet.
"Who?!"
Sea God Hall was empty.
Golden pillars.
Golden dome.
Golden floor.
No one.
"Come out!"
His voice echoed through the Sea God Hall.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
No one answered.
Tang San's chest heaved violently.
He lowered his head and looked at his right leg.
It was completely intact.
But he knew that just now, it had broken.
It had truly broken.
It was not an illusion.
That power—
It was not the power of the God Realm.
It did not fall within the authority granted to any God King of the Douluo God Realm.
That precision, that overwhelming force, that penetrating power which ignored all defenses—
It was something from a higher dimension.
Tang San's hand gripped the Sea God Trident.
He gripped it tightly.
"Don't let me find you."
He spoke in a low voice.
His voice trembled.
Not from fear.
From fury.
Utter fury.
He—
Sea God Tang San.
Asura God.
Foremost among the God Kings of the God Realm.
Had had one of his legs broken.
Inside his own divine hall.
And six words had been left behind.
"Don't touch my people."
"My people?"
Tang San's mouth twitched.
"Who is your person?"
"Huo Yuhao?"
"Quan Cangtian?"
"Since when were the affairs of the God Realm for outsiders to interfere with?"
He suddenly turned around.
And looked at the Light Mirror.
The Light Mirror had already shattered.
Its fragments still floated in the air, pieces of golden light drifting down.
Tang San raised his hand.
Soul Power surged.
The fragments of the Light Mirror were supported by Soul Power, floating, spinning, and then—
Reassembling.
The Light Mirror was restored.
The image lit up again.
Tianhun Royal Academy.
Martial Arts Arena.
Quan Cangtian was walking out of the Martial Arts Arena.
Huo Yuhao followed behind him.
Wang Dong walked out as well, several steps behind.
Three people.
Tang San stared at Quan Cangtian's back.
The back of that six-year-old child.
Small.
Thin.
Yet just now, he had sent a level 25 flying with one punch.
Tang San's gaze slowly settled, the fury sinking away.
It sank to a very, very deep place.
It was not calmness.
It was wariness.
He had lived for too long.
Long enough to learn one thing—
Do not rush to touch what you cannot see through.
First, see it clearly.
"Quan Cangtian."
He murmured softly.
His voice was so low.
So low that only he could hear it.
"Who exactly are you?"
Inside the Light Mirror.
Quan Cangtian's back walked out of the Martial Arts Arena.
Sunlight fell over him.
A six-year-old child.
Golden light stretched his shadow long.
Tang San watched that shadow.
For a long time.
Then, the Light Mirror went dark.
The Sea God Hall sank into darkness once more.
Only Tang San's blue eyes shone in the dark.
Like a lamp beneath the sea.
Cold.
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