The Sea God's Divine Soul's voice echoed across the altar, level and steady, as though he were reading out a decree settled long ago.
"Tang San has reached the final stage of Sea God's Nine Trials.
I need you to sacrifice yourself.
Your Divine Soul shares its origin with Sea God Island. Only with your sacrifice can he skip the final tempering and become a god directly."
Bo Saixi did not answer at once.
She slowly turned her head and looked at Tang San. He had opened his eyes and was looking back at her.
There was little emotion in that look, only a silent calm that seemed almost rehearsed.
Bo Saixi withdrew her gaze and looked back at the Sea God's Divine Soul.
She had guarded this island for most of her life and waited just as long for the Sea God's successor to arrive.
Now he was here, and it was time for her to do what she must.
She nodded gently without a word. The corner of her mouth lifted ever so slightly, whether in relief or self-mockery, she could not have said.
She turned and walked toward Tang San. He rose to meet her.
They stood face-to-face. Neither spoke.
Bo Saixi raised a hand and placed it against Tang San's chest.
Her body began to glow. From her fingertips to the ends of her hair, she dissolved layer by layer into blue-gold motes of light, like ice melting beneath the spring sun, utterly soundless.
The motes did not scatter. They flowed through her palm and into Tang San's body.
Tang San shuddered. Sea God's Power, extraordinarily pure and dense, poured into him, as if the heart of Sea God Island itself had been thrust into his chest.
His aura began to surge.
From the beginning of