The So-Called Plane Restriction

Douluo Continent was certainly wonderful.

But to him...

It was merely the starting point of a larger stage.

Although he had not, like other transmigrators, traveled to worlds such as the primordial world, high-martial worlds, or arcane worlds.

In those worlds, beings capable of destroying heaven and earth were everywhere. To them, even the universe was merely a passing sight, and planes were bubbles they could crush at will.

But heaven and earth were vast...

One day, they would surely meet.

He believed that no matter where one began...

As long as one traveled far enough.

One would eventually reach the same height.

Therefore, to him...

Even the supreme God King was merely a starting point.

Sooner or later...

Though the universe was vast, it was still only a pond.

When a fish leaped over the dragon gate and escaped this universe.

Only then would it see how vast heaven and earth truly were.

The real world was always higher up.

And all he had to do was climb upward step by step, leaving no regrets behind.

So, he had to cultivate diligently.

This was the conviction...

That supported him every time he swung his sword.

At this moment...

They had already arrived at Shrek Inner Academy.

The bluestone path beneath their feet was level and spotless. Rows of emerald bamboo and unfamiliar flowering trees lined both sides, and when the breeze passed through, the bamboo leaves rustled softly.

The buildings in the distance followed the terrain in scattered layers, with upturned eaves, gray walls, and dark tiles.

Amid their ancient simplicity...

They exuded the weighty heritage accumulated over ten thousand years.

Not far away was the shore of Sea God Lake.

The water shimmered and rippled...

Reflecting the sky and the lush greenery along the bank.

Zang Xin stopped and turned to Cao Xin.

"Little Xin, I'm going to Sea God Pavilion."

"Are you coming with me, or staying here?"

His tone was casual. Clearly, he did not insist on Cao Xin's choice and left the decision to him.

Cao Xin answered decisively.

"I'll stay here."

A place like Sea God Pavilion...

If he went in, he would only sit to the side and listen to his second dad discuss matters with Yun Ming or the other Elders.

It would be both boring and restrictive.

It was far more comfortable to stroll around the Inner Court.

"Alright."

Zang Xin said no more. He gave him a slight nod, then turned and headed toward Sea God Pavilion.

As Zang Xin left...

Cao Xin began wandering around the Inner Court as well.

Leaving everything else aside...

The Inner Court's environment was indeed much better than the Outer Court's.

The concentration of heaven and earth essence in the air was clearly more than a level higher.

Especially near Sea God Island, the power of life was even denser, making it highly suitable for Soul Masters to cultivate.

This was also why Shrek Academy had firmly held its position as the number one academy on Douluo Continent for twenty thousand years.

He walked along the lakeshore for some distance.

At this moment...

A young girl passed by him, her expression cold and indifferent.

She looked around six or seven years old and wore a simple, plain-colored dress. Her features were delicate but detached.

Her pace was neither fast nor slow, and she looked straight ahead.

As though immersed in her own world...

She paid little attention to anything around her.

A chubby little boy followed the girl with a beaming face, his round cheeks full of ingratiating and eager smiles.

"Xinglan, wait for me."

"Why are you walking so fast?"

The moment he heard that, Cao Xin understood.

So it was those two.

Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi.

He looked at the two figures walking one before the other.

Memories of these two from the original novel in his previous life swiftly surfaced in his mind.

Ye Xinglan, a genius girl with the Stargod Sword Martial Soul, possessed extraordinary talent and a cold, proud temperament.

Xu Lizhi, a Food-type Soul Master, was honest and warmhearted, and followed Ye Xinglan almost unconditionally.

Judging by how they looked right now...

This should have been the period when they had just enrolled, just as in the original novel.

It seemed the plot of the original novel had only just begun...

There was still time.

As he watched their retreating figures gradually vanish into the distance, this thought flashed through Cao Xin's mind.

Theoretically, he belonged to Shrek's faction.

After all, the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had been allies for ten thousand years. No matter how one looked at it, he naturally belonged to an extension of this faction.

But when he considered certain deeper issues...

His thoughts drifted elsewhere without his control.

Over the countless tens of thousands of years of Douluo Continent's history...

Aside from the era of Spirit Hall, when several gods had been born.

In the eras that followed...

Only Huo Yuhao and Tang Wulin, two people connected to the original protagonist Tang San, had become gods.

He always felt there was something difficult to explain here.

After all, in the original novel, Yun Ming had once said...

That because the Douluo Plane could not bear the presence of gods.

The stronger they became...

The more restrictions they faced.

Take Yun Ming, for example. After becoming a Peak Quasi-God, he had sealed away his Spirit Domain Realm spiritual power to reduce the plane's rejection of him.

His first dad, Cao Dezhi, had likewise entered the Divine Origin Realm through spiritual power and become a Peak Quasi-God.

But afterward, he had also followed Yun Ming's example and sealed part of his spiritual power, maintaining spiritual power at the peak of the Spirit Domain Realm to avoid the plane's restrictions and rejection.

Cao Dezhi had once mentioned this matter, his tone calm but carrying a trace of helplessness.

Otherwise, if they continuously maintained their full Peak Quasi-God combat strength, they would suffer severe suppression from the plane, causing their lifespans to be consumed at an accelerated rate.

This left Cao Xin thoroughly confused.

What did it mean that the Douluo Plane could not bear gods?

What did it mean that plane suppression could reduce one's lifespan?

No, then how had the first-generation Sea God and Angel God become gods?

They had created divine positions themselves and ascended to godhood within the Douluo Plane.

If the plane had such restrictions...

Forget becoming gods—they would have died long ago.

So why was the Douluo Plane suddenly unable to bear gods twenty thousand years later?

And it was not that gods could not be born.

You could break through.

But after breaking through, the plane would suppress you.

That was very interesting.

Because under normal circumstances...

If a plane entered an age of declining spiritual energy and its level fell, then one should be unable to comprehend laws and thus unable to become a god.

It should not be possible to comprehend laws...

Only to be restricted by the plane after doing so.

And that was not even mentioning...

That in the original novel, the Demon Empress had ultimately become a god.

Why had she not been affected at all?

The process by which this Holy Spirit Cult leader ascended to godhood had faced no obstruction whatsoever from the plane...

As if the Plane Restriction had no effect on her at all.

Therefore, from these clues, it was actually easy to infer that the so-called Plane Restriction could only affect Peak Quasi-Gods and could not affect true gods.

In other words, this so-called Plane Restriction had actually been created by another god to deceive all living beings.

But because the Demon Empress had become a god, their divine statuses had become equal, causing the restriction to fail.

Cao Xin slowly raised his head.

He looked toward the clear, distant sky overhead.

His gaze became deep and far-reaching, as though it could pierce through the vault of heaven and see what lay higher beyond it.

So...

Was it you?

Plane Lord Tang Hao.

The father of Sea God Tang San.