The Wind Was Rising!

Ren Tao made his way down along the circular Ocean Trench. By then, he had switched back to human form. Its smaller size made him more agile, and after the fusion of the Evil Orca King's and the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's soul forms, it had also become his strongest form.

A layer of mist seemed to fill the depths of the Ocean Trench. Everything looked hazy, as though shadowy figures were moving within it, while mountains and rivers constantly shifted around them.

Yet his spiritual perception detected nothing there but immense waves of energy, seemingly seeping out of the seabed. They stimulated the brain, making people feel as though they were seeing hallucinations.

These waves of energy had drawn Ren Tao's attention from hundreds, even thousands of kilometers away. But for now, he could not Devour them. Mainly, a layer of space separated them; the energy source did not actually exist within the Ocean Trench. There was another point, too: this energy seemed to belong to someone.

The woman who had spoken.

Ren Tao stopped. Only after drawing closer did he realize how tyrannical this power was. With almost every step forward, the pressure on his body and mind increased exponentially.

The hallucinations slowly grew clearer, and distinct human figures began to appear. The sensation closely resembled the scenes of divine battles he had witnessed while absorbing divine power before.

"Whale King!"

Jin Hai could not help calling out, "Be careful! Any farther, and you'll be in danger!"

The several Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts behind him looked just as concerned as Jin Hai. Although they barely knew Ren Tao, they were all in the same boat now. Naturally, they did not want a comrade to fall into danger.

Ren Tao waved a hand, signaling with his eyes that he was fine and could still withstand it. He took a few more steps forward. His domain had already spread out, and the wings on his back gently stirred.

Blood-red color suffused a stretch of sea. Upon touching Ren Tao's domain, the radiating energy ripples seemed to become tangible matter. Then, as though drawn into the sea of blood, they grew indistinct. What followed was a sight that nearly made every Soul Beast's eyes pop out-

The energy ripples broke down before their very eyes. As the ripples dispersed, they drove the sea of blood into high-frequency resonance. Then wisps of smoke-like waste were expelled, leaving only glittering points of light that finally merged perfectly into the sea of blood.

At that moment, Ren Tao wanted nothing more than for the other party to release more energy. What he had absorbed looked insignificant, but it had given him a distinct thrill.

Like an unsatisfied, strapping man, he wanted to seize more.

Once again, and again, and again.

Under the influence of dopamine, Ren Tao was getting a little high.

"Did you come here specifically to wait for me, Rakshasa God?"

Although this was their first encounter, the aura he had sensed earlier and the energy he had just absorbed led Ren Tao to suspect that she was the Rakshasa God-the hidden female boss in Douluo Continent who had passed her inheritance to Bibi Dong, yet had never appeared throughout the entire book.

"Who said I was her? Don't think that acquiring a little knowledge means you've grasped the truth of the Divine Realm!"

The woman's voice sounded again, accompanied by a soft giggle. Her husky voice carried three parts allure, two parts slyness, and one part mockery.

Not the Rakshasa God? Then who was she, and why had she appeared here?

Ren Tao suddenly felt that things were not unfolding as he had imagined.

He stepped forward again. After only two steps, the scene before him changed with a crash.

The once-blurred mountains and rivers appeared clearly before his eyes, but they were nothing more than a desolate, shattered ruin. The continent had broken into chunks that floated in the water. The sky was grayish-white, with faint, dim stars seemingly on the verge of falling.

The seawater was a dull gray, without any sign of life. A woman with graying hair sat on a floating piece of land, her long hair hanging down to her feet. She was studying Ren Tao closely.

At first glance, the woman looked utterly ordinary. Her clothes were worn, her body covered in dust, and she lacked the seven divine rings a First-Level God should possess. Only her eyes stood out, glowing purplish-red. Countless complex emotions flickered through them in an instant, making them look nothing like human eyes.

They seemed to conceal all the countless emotions and sorrows of the world.

She truly was not the Rakshasa God, for the Rakshasa God was the very embodiment of evil and depravity, possessing the power to plunge people into corruption and madness.

Ren Tao had barely reached that thought when she exposed it with a single remark, as though she, too, could see into people's hearts.

"Calling the Rakshasa God the embodiment of evil and depravity is rather an exaggeration. Slaughter and evil are born together and go hand in hand. Do you really believe there is such a thing as righteous slaughter in this world? It's merely rhetoric to deceive the masses. If you believe even that, you're a little disappointing!"

Righteous slaughter... Yes, the original Douluo novel had mentioned it. The Asura God represented righteous slaughter, while the Rakshasa God represented evil slaughter.

"You're right. The Asura God is no saint either!"

Ren Tao readily agreed with her. In the modern world, penning up a huge group of people and making them slaughter one another to obtain the God of Slaughter Barrier through killing would be a full-blown fantasy version of Squid Game! The key was that he could still dump the blame on the Rakshasa God afterward. Truly brilliant!

Just what you'd expect from the Asura God King, one of the Divine Realm's five great enforcers!

He didn't have antisocial personality disorder, did he...?

"Ma'am, surely you didn't come here just to chat with me? Why not get straight to the point and tell me what you want?"

Ren Tao felt that this woman of unknown origin had started by disparaging the Asura God, yet had not attacked him. That made her very likely to be the Asura God's enemy, or at least someone who was not on especially good terms with him. In that case, perhaps they could cooperate?

"You've gone off track again. I want nothing from you. Even if I did, it would be beyond your current level of understanding. But before we get to the main subject, I might as well give you a hint. Do you think you're safe now?"

What did she mean?

As he studied the white-haired woman suspiciously, Ren Tao gradually shook off the pleasure and frivolity brought on by his recent Devouring. Little by little, he caught a scent of danger.

"You obstructed the Sea God Inheritance and drove the Sea God into a rage of humiliation. He even spent his divine sense to fight you, yet still failed to get what he wanted. Tang San is now hovering on the brink of death, and you've branded him useless besides. You think you've succeeded, that you're safe now, don't you?"

I certainly did think that.

Ren Tao said nothing. Since she could read his thoughts, why waste his breath?

"Someone said you had glimpsed the secrets of the future. I had my doubts about that. Now it seems you've merely grasped some basic knowledge."

The white-haired woman raised an eyebrow, a warning gleaming in her eyes. "There is only one Sea God's Heart. Apart from Tang San, the Sea God has no other choice. Now that you've driven him into a dead end, what would you do if you were him?"

I would...

Ren Tao's thoughts raced, and his face suddenly turned pale.

Indeed, he had overlooked this all along. Tang San was far more than merely the Sea God's successor. He possessed Divine Slaughter's Domain and was also qualified to inherit the Asura God's power. In the end, he had indeed received the inheritances of both the Asura God and the Sea God. That was how he had overwhelmed Qian Renxue, destroyed Bibi Dong, and become a future God King.

Ren Tao's original plan had been to finish matters on Sea God Island, then seek out Tang Chen and seize the Asura Sword to sabotage the Asura God's inheritance. But who said Tang San could not obtain the Asura Domain without the Asura Sword?

Taking another step back, the Sea God alone still had to consider the oversight of the Divine Realm Law Enforcement Committee. But with the Asura God, an enforcer himself, involved, they would have far more room to maneuver.

"So the situation now is that you've defeated Tang San and made the Sea God lose faith in him. Yet he clearly cannot abandon Tang San, his last lifesaving straw. That makes compromising with the Asura God and seeking his help a possibility.

"Half a successor is still better than no successor at all, wouldn't you say?"

Yes! I let my guard down!

Tang San's whereabouts were now unknown. What if, once he woke up, he found the nine trials of the Sea God Inheritance too difficult to pass and turned to embrace the Asura God instead?

What should I do?

Ren Tao's gaze sharpened as he met the white-haired woman's dazzling, ever-changing eyes. He wanted to glimpse her true intentions among those countless emotions.

The white-haired woman, too, stared intently at Ren Tao. She also wanted to know just what astonishing qualities set apart this little fellow whom others called a "wild card."

As they gazed at each other, the howl of wind arose within the shattered world that had been utterly silent.

The wind was rising!

Head down, writing away, without worrying about results!

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