Nidhogg

Qian Daoliu folded away his six wings and slowly flew down.

Snow Empress returned to Lin Xiao's side and gently took his hand, the corners of her lips lifting as she gave a happy little hum that only the two of them could hear.

"Now you know how strong I am~"

Qian Daoliu cupped his hands beside them. "Young Master Lin Xiao, let us go inside to discuss the details."

"Spirit Hall and the Worship Hall are very curious about Soul Spirit technology."

Lin Xiao nodded and gestured for him to go ahead.

Back in Zhang Lexuan's office, Qian Daoliu took a sip of tea, his eyes involuntarily narrowing for a moment.

"Excellent tea. I have rarely tasted tea so rich yet mingled with such a delicate fragrance.

"And especially this lingering sweetness-it comes slowly, but so pleasantly."

Lin Xiao nodded. He did not know much about tea; even the last time he had drunk tea with Snow Empress, he had only been pretending.

But the tea leaves they were drinking now were not the ones Snow Empress had dug out of a Soul Tool in the Snow Empress Palace.

These were a batch of spirit tea over a hundred years old that he had specifically asked Bi Ji to find in the Star Dou Great Forest.

The finest jar contained tea that was already ten thousand years old.

After all, this was business, and everyone in Douluo seemed to love tea more than the last.

Only Ice Empress suited his tastes, hugging her Coca-Cola and guzzling it every day.

"Great Enshrined Qian Daoliu, have you reached a decision?"

Seeing that the time was about right, Lin Xiao asked his question.

Qian Daoliu, who had first learned of the matter through Qian Renxue's letter and then returned to Zhang Lexuan's office to receive the complete information, nodded slightly.

"I understand now. Spirit Hall is willing to cooperate with you, my young friend Lin Xiao... hmm... may I call you that?"

"But I also have some questions. I am not sure whether I should ask them."

Lin Xiao lowered his head and tapped the table twice.

"What questions do you have, Great Enshrined?"

Qian Daoliu let out a long breath.

"My young friend Lin Xiao, although this Soul Spirit technology is enough to transform an entire era, it should not exist in this era."

His gaze sharpened in an instant.

"It defies far too much... so I need proof.

"Not only proof that this technology truly exists.

"But also..."

Qian Daoliu did not finish, but Lin Xiao understood.

As the Angel God's Great Enshrined, he had naturally begun to suspect a god's involvement.

One could even say he was almost certain and merely needed Lin Xiao to admit it himself.

After all, Lin Xiao had already played the riddler with Qian Renxue once, and Snow Empress had revealed a trace of divine power during her fight with him.

More than half the Soul Masters in Spirit Hall and across the entire Douluo Continent worshipped the Angel God.

This concerned their faith...

Qian Daoliu was worried that Lin Xiao would compete with the Angel God for faith.

As the Great Enshrined, this was a line he could not yield on.

What Qian Daoliu did not know, however, was that the Angel God had died who knew how many years ago.

That faith really no longer served much purpose.

But Lin Xiao was different. This continent would eventually be united, and the person to unite it could only be him.

Still, apart from a god, Lin Xiao had no better explanation with which to fob him off.

Qian Daoliu and the entire Worship Hall counted among the few factions in Douluo I that were both powerful and relatively sane.

At the same time, Spirit Hall's centuries of heritage meant better administration, easier subjugation, and greater authority.

Killing them all was certainly an option, but the gains would not justify it.

He enjoyed stirring up trouble; he was not an idiot.

Thus, he prepared to invoke the Ice God and supplement that with a little common knowledge about the Divine Realm.

He would tell him of the Angel God's death.

Just as he shook his head and was about to speak,

a faint, elusive call arose within him, and he felt a burning heat on his forehead.

He released a thread of spiritual power to inspect it.

It was a longsword glowing blood-red.

It seemed to have been etched into his forehead.

"Asura Blood Sword!"

Why would the Asura God approach me? And isn't this mark for his inheritance?

Lin Xiao looked at Snow Empress, only to meet a somewhat puzzled gaze.

"Great Enshrined, please wait a moment."

He strode outside, slowly extending his spiritual power deeper to sense the blood sword.

At that moment in the Divine Realm, the Asura God knelt atop the table in the God Realm Committee, his face bruised and swollen and his entire body covered in blood.

His face was filled with forced submission.

Those four shameless fighters had beaten him relentlessly until he gave in.

He had even wanted to ignite his Divine Consciousness Fire and blow himself up along with them.

Had he known, he would never have pulled this stunt just to get some amusement out of Tang San.

He should have simply let him do whatever he wanted.

All for one little pet, he had ended up like this.

He looked at the Sea God grinning wickedly beside the other four God Kings.

He curled his lip.

Just then, he sensed a response from his Asura Blood Sword.

He immediately activated his divine power.

Seeing this, the other four God Kings each released a thread of their own divine power.

Four massive strands of divine power squeezed into the tiny Asura Blood Sword mark.

They nearly crushed Asura's own divine power.

Lin Xiao arrived in a separate space.

Before him stood the Asura God's avatar, doing his best to squeeze out a gentle smile.

He wanted to drive away the unpleasantness of his beating.

He could not let Lin Xiao notice it.

"Hello there, young Lin Xiao. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Asura God, one of the Five Great God Kings of the Divine Realm, in charge of enforcement."

"Would you like to become my successor? As long as you agree, I will immediately grant you the asura nine trials."

The moment he finished speaking, orange and black divine power suddenly surged up beside him, delivering a slap from either side.

The phantom forms of Goodness and Evil appeared.

"Don't listen to Asura barking. If we hadn't overlooked him, how would he ever have had the chance to give you his mark?"

"But since he hasn't bestowed his God Trials yet, this will be easy!"

The God King of Goodness smiled.

"I am the God King of Goodness, and beside me is the Evil God King. We are husband and wife.

"We are also among the Five Great God Kings of the Divine Realm.

"You have a Divine Position Prototype within you. Have you noticed it yourself?"

"Since it is a Divine Position Prototype, and one that has never been shaped,"

"it naturally holds limitless possibilities.

"Your Martial Soul even touches upon karma, as your sixth Soul Skill does.

"Although your sixth Soul Skill has yet to unleash its full capabilities,

"merely being able to alter the process is enough to prove your talent and your body's capacity to withstand it.

"So the two of us have come up with a bold plan.

"After all, your Martial Soul possesses two conflicting attributes.

"Thus, we intend to bestow both our divine seats upon you.

"They will merge into your Divine Position Prototype, creating the most powerful new Human God in the history of the Divine Realm."

"That is far better than a single Asura divine seat from that scruffy old bird.

"As long as you agree, this Asura mark can become our Scale of Good and Evil in the very next second."

In the next instant, before Asura could launch into a tirade,

two great lights, one green and one purple, transformed into two more figures.

They were the Life God King and the Destruction God King.

The God of Destruction was no longer dressed in his usual cloak; he had deliberately made himself look like a young boy.

A tear glistened in Life's eyes.

"I am the God of Destruction, likewise one of the Five Great God Kings of the Divine Realm. This is my wife, Xiao Lu, the Life God King.

"Your Martial Soul itself has an immense affinity with my wife's true form, the Life Ancient Tree.

"At the same time, its destructive power is also extraordinarily strong.

"Compared with Goodness and Evil, our divine seats suit you far better.

"After all, the conflicting elements within your Martial Soul are precisely the same as ours.

"Even your chances of inheriting them would be higher.

"Moreover, our divine seats already have a definite fused form.

"That is the God of Creation. Just the name alone sounds far more impressive than Goodness and Evil.

"Its strength far surpasses that of an ordinary God King, too.

"Why not consider us?

"And on a more personal note, because our divine powers conflict,

"Xiao Lu and I have never been able to have a child of our own.

"If you can inherit our divine seats,

"Xiao Lu and I will finally be able to retire in peace in the Divine Realm.

"When we have a child, I'll let you play with him however you like!"

The Goddess of Life gave a perfectly timed sniffle, making the performance all the more convincing.

Her pitiful, heart-tugging appearance gave Evil goosebumps.

He had never imagined that the usually gentle, guileless Goddess of Life,

all because she now had a chance to truly become husband and wife with the God of Destruction,

could become this calculating!

A blue light flickered faintly beside them.

"Hello, I am the Sea God..."

Before Poseidon could finish, five Super Divine Artifacts were thrust straight into his face.

"Well, Lin Xiao, God Kings, I'm just here to make myself known. Asura tricked me, but I want to make the best of that mistake. I saw that you have a grudge against Tang San, so I plan to give Tang San a special set of sea god nine trials.

"If he really passes, I'll give him a divine seat that is nothing but an empty title, so you can beat him up for fun every day.

"If he fails, I'll secretly swap it for the God of Wild Dogs' divine seat and let him inherit that.

"Then you'll have a little pet to walk in the Divine Realm...

"I only hope that if you find a suitable successor for me, you'll let me know."

Seeing how meek and honest Poseidon was, the God Kings nodded in satisfaction.

"Good!"

Meanwhile, Tang San sneezed again, wondering whether he had caught a cold.

He was already a Soul Master, yet he had sneezed twice in such a short time.

He had no idea that a grand spectacle awaited his arrival.

Nor did he know that a dog's leash had already been fastened firmly around his neck.

His death sentence had been pronounced.

Huo Yuhao: Good!

At that moment, Lin Xiao, who had been watching the God Kings argue from the side, quietly raised his hand.

"Um, may I say a couple of things?"

"First, what do you mean when you say my sixth Soul Skill cannot fully perform its functions?"

The God Kings turned their attention back to Lin Xiao.

The God King of Goodness nodded and answered his question.

"Because you are too weak right now. Once you reach what this world calls Titled Douluo,

"you will be able to alter the cause.

"Once you reach the divine level,

"you will be able to alter the effect.

"Instead of merely altering the process as you do now.

"Although, with that little snow maiden around, even now, if you wanted to kill a Limit Douluo, you could kill them with a single shot and merely suffer some backlash.

"But that still falls short of what karma deserves.

"Karma, chaos, yin and yang-these are powers feared by the entire universe."

Lin Xiao nodded to show he understood.

"Well, I'm not a child anymore either. Can I skip choosing and inherit all your divine seats?"

Goodness and Evil raised their eyebrows, somewhat surprised by that answer.

"It's not impossible, actually, but the key is this."

"Under the so-called cultivation system of this Douluo Continent, you only have one martial soul.

Most likely, you can only inherit one divine seat.

If that martial soul has multiple forms,

then you might be able to inherit several divine seats, but they must be of the same rank. And once you use them simultaneously, you could suffer a backlash or even die.

The losses would far outweigh the gains.

The reason we're offering to let you inherit both our divine seats now is that you can control the mutually exclusive attributes within your martial soul and already possess a Divine Position Prototype.

But if you inherit all five of our divine seats at once,

leaving aside the fact that all five of us are God Kings, and whether that immense divine power would outright ruin your Divine Position Prototype,

there's also the use and control of each kind of divine power, their conflicts and reconciliation.

That would be difficult to the extreme.

Even we can't manage it.

How could you?"

Lin Xiao summoned Gungnir. The God King of Goodness's repeated emphasis on conflicting attributes suddenly made him realize something was amiss.

With some doubts in mind, he slowly asked,

"Although my martial soul looks like a tree branch, it really is a power attack system martial soul, and it's very sharp."

"And I absorbed a Ten Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring from the Emerald Swan clan. Does that count as conflicting attributes?"

Goodness and Evil took a close look at Gungnir.

It radiated rich life force, yet within it was an unmistakable, indestructible sharpness.

The two could indeed be considered opposites.

Healing and harm.

Was there anything wrong with that?

Before they could be certain, however, they saw the God of Destruction furrow his brow.

He felt a clear chain of reasoning forming in his mind.

"No, this rich vitality and powerful sense of sharpness can indeed be called opposites.

But you'd have to force the connection to call them conflicting.

Besides, these are characteristics of the martial soul. What do they have to do with its attributes?

They're both plant martial souls, yet some can heal and others can kill. If their child developed a mutated martial soul that combined the two, would that count as a conflict too?

What we sensed at first was clearly a conflict between the martial soul's attributes!

What's more, what I sensed was destruction, not this so-called sharpness."

Only then did the God Kings realize something was wrong.

Old Evil and Goodness rubbed their eyes, then tapped their heads.

For some reason, their first reaction had actually been to think there was nothing wrong. It was as though their brains had rusted over.

The God of Destruction, on the other hand, had spotted the problem.

They all released their divine power, hoping to see right through Gungnir.

Yet they could sense nothing.

There was only the sharpness it exuded as a spear and the vitality it possessed as a branch of the World Tree.

"How strange. What's going on?"

The Evil God King voiced his confusion.

"If Asura couldn't remember back in the Divine Realm, we could say he was in a hurry, or that his brain wasn't very good to begin with. We could even say it was just his clumsy excuse."

"But why would the two of us make this kind of mistake? It feels perfectly natural, yet when I think it through, something feels wrong, as though someone deliberately misled us."

The God of Destruction nodded as well.

"Now that you mention it, you're right. Why has my thinking suddenly become so clear?"

As the God of Destruction, his thinking had always been somewhat extreme, even a little chaotic.

It was still within the bounds of normality, though-just a touch unhinged.

But now he had laid out that reasoning fluently without even thinking, which struck him as strange too.

Since when was I this capable? Goodness and Evil, always full of crafty ideas and quick on their feet mentally, have actually become dull-witted, while Xiao Lu and Asura haven't noticed a thing.

Could it be because I can sense destruction?

Lin Xiao was stunned too. What else was there about his martial soul that he didn't know?

The ultimate power of destruction...

An attribute that conflicted with this branch of the World Tree.

Something that could interfere with Goodness and Evil's judgment.

Yet make Destruction's thinking clearer.

A figure gradually loomed larger and larger in his mind.

"No way. It couldn't be Him, could it?"