The Sea God Courting Death

Perhaps this little fellow named Jiang Lan had an extraordinary background.

But Asura did not care.

The Sea God merely wanted to run away and explore the universe. Asura knew that perfectly well.

If that person had not met with trouble back then, he would have run off long ago instead of staying here every day to watch what was happening in other worlds.

The thought of it made Asura furious.

He truly could not understand why that Rakshasa God woman had it out for him.

Back then, they had been good friends, and they had even chosen the same place for their inheritances.

Yet at some point, the Rakshasa God had begun targeting him relentlessly.

The more Asura thought about it, the angrier he became. He raised his cup and took another swig before turning his gaze back to the scene in the lower realm.

In the scene, Bo Saixi was explaining the basics of soul masters to Jiang Lan. Jiang Lan sat in a chair taller than he was, his two little legs dangling in midair as the orange flippers on his penguin onesie swayed back and forth.

He hugged Doro in his arms and held a dried fish in one hand, nibbling on it as he listened. His cheeks were puffed out like a hamster's.

Asura looked at that chubby little face and thought of the Sea God's eminently punchable face.

"They look alike. Too alike," Asura muttered. "If that isn't his illegitimate child, I'll eat the Asura God Sword."

Then a possibility suddenly occurred to him.

Could the Rakshasa God's hatred for him be related to this sort of thing too?

For example, perhaps the Sea God had offended the Rakshasa God as well, but she could not defeat the Sea God, so she settled the score with him, the Sea God's good friend?

"..."

Asura found this reasoning extremely plausible.

Given the way that Rakshasa God woman's mind worked, she was absolutely capable of something like that.

"Big Brother, I'm here."

Just then, the Sea God's voice rang out.

Asura's hand, which held the wine cup, paused.

He turned and saw the Sea God striding in, dressed in an ostentatious blue divine robe and wearing an expression that clearly said, "I have incredible news to tell you."

The moment Asura saw his face, Jiang Lan's chubby little face surfaced in his mind.

They looked alike.

Too alike.

Especially those eyes—the careless air with which they looked at everything was practically cast from the same mold.

Before, whenever he looked at the Sea God's face, he had merely thought it was punchable. Now that he knew this guy had left an illegitimate child in the lower realm, it was not merely punchable anymore.

It was punchable and irresponsible.

"You came at just the right time." Asura set down his wine cup, his tone icy. "I was just thinking about you."

The Sea God did not notice anything wrong with Asura's tone at all. He plopped down across from him, picked up Asura's wine jug, and took a gulp straight from it.

"Thinking about me? What about me? Were you thinking about that big project I told you about last time? Let me tell you, that project, I—"

"Your illegitimate child."

"Pfft—!"

The divine brew the Sea God had just poured into his mouth sprayed out in a perfect arc, nearly splashing onto Asura's robe.

Without expression, Asura shifted aside and avoided the rain of divine brew.

The Sea God coughed violently for a long while, his face turning red before he finally recovered.

"What illegitimate child?!" The Sea God's voice cracked. "When did I ever have an illegitimate child?!"

"The one in the lower realm." Asura folded his arms, his tone as certain as if he were stating that one plus one equaled two. "That little fatty in the penguin outfit, Jiang Lan."

The Sea God's eyes widened. His mouth opened and closed, then closed and opened again. He looked like a fish that had been slapped onto shore.

"That isn't my illegitimate child!" The Sea God finally found his voice, his volume a full octave higher than usual. "What illegitimate child? He's the inheritor I chose!"

Asura raised a brow. Three words were written all over his face.

I don't believe you.

"Look at his face. It's carved from the same mold as yours." Asura calmly laid out the evidence. "Especially those eyes. That punchable look in them is exactly the same as yours."

Sea God: "..."

The Sea God took a deep breath and told himself to stay calm. He simply could not beat Asura.

"There's no point explaining it to me." Asura waved a hand, wearing an expression of I understand, I understand it all. "Men, leaving a child behind in the lower realm is perfectly normal. I get it. But you really were too heartless. You left your seed behind and ran, abandoning the mother and child on Sea God Island while you lived it up in the Divine Realm—"

"I already told you, he isn't my illegitimate child!" The Sea God shot to his feet in agitation, the sleeve of his divine robe nearly knocking over the wine jug on the table. "He's the inheritor I chose! A legitimate one! One who received a Divine Examination through official channels!"

Asura fell silent for two seconds before speaking slowly. "You bestowed a Divine Examination on a six-year-old child?"

Sea God: "..."

"The child had only just awakened his martial soul, and you already bestowed a Divine Examination on him?"

Sea God: "..."

"He hadn't even reached the threshold of his first examination, and you were already eagerly sending down a Divine-bestowed Soul Ring?"

The Sea God's lips began to twitch.

"I've known you for tens of thousands of years. Since when have you ever been this generous to an inheritor?" Asura leaned forward slightly, his gaze sharp as a blade.

"...How did you treat Bo Saixi back then, and how are you treating this boy now? Don't you know that yourself?"

The Sea God opened his mouth, only to realize that he had no answer.

When he had sent Jiang Lan the Divine-bestowed Soul Ring, he truly had not thought much about it. He had simply found the child interesting, cute, and somewhat similar to himself, so he had casually given it to him.

Now that Asura had analyzed it like this, even he felt that his actions did seem rather suspicious.

But he could swear to the heavens that Jiang Lan truly was not his illegitimate child!

"I was... I was cherishing talent!" The Sea God stubbornly defended himself, craning his neck. "It's rare to find such a good prospect. What's wrong with giving him a few more resources? What kind of look is that? What sort of person do you take me for?!"

Asura raised his wine cup and slowly took a sip, then looked at the Sea God with an expression that said, Go on. Keep making it up. I'm listening.

The Sea God felt his skin crawl under that stare, yet he could not come up with a single rebuttal. He could only sit back down with an angry plop, pick up his own wine cup, and drain it in one gulp.

"By the way, Big Brother, if you put it that way, then wouldn't that Tang San be your illegitimate child?" the Sea God suddenly said, as though he had thought of something.

The instant those words left his mouth, the atmosphere in the entire divine hall froze.

Asura's hand holding the wine cup remained suspended in midair, as though someone had pressed pause.

He slowly turned his head and stared at the Sea God with an exceedingly dangerous look. The meaning in his eyes was clear.

Have you grown tired of living?

"What did you say?" Asura's voice was terrifyingly calm—so calm that the hairs on the Sea God's back stood on end.