A meeting of two gods

The Divine Realm.

The Asura God sat before a massive stone desk, lost in prolonged contemplation.

One day in the Divine Realm was one year on the Douluo Continent, so in the time he had spent staring into space, many things had already happened.

Ren Tao had burst onto the scene, devoured the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, then defeated Tang San, and immediately afterward devoured the Human-Faced Sea Anemone, blazing with golden light above the sea. All of this seemed to have happened only moments ago.

The Asura God's eyes appeared unfocused, but countless images flashed through them: Slaughter City's destruction, the King of Slaughter's departure... Tang San's arrival on Sea God Island, followed by the Sea God Trial, which should have proceeded smoothly, suddenly running aground. These events formed a strange chain, pointing toward an unknown outcome.

It sent a sudden shiver through the Asura God.

Finally, the images in his eyes settled on the moment Ren Tao had broken through to the second stage and leaped out of the sea, pointing one finger at the heavens and another at the earth.

The divine rings behind the Asura God slowly revolved, releasing immense power. He sought to pierce the barrier of light and analyze the changes in Ren Tao, but an invisible force blocked him, leaving him unable to see beyond what was visible to the naked eye.

"So what exactly happened?"

The Asura God murmured to himself, his fingers unconsciously tapping the desk with a series of clacks.

"Asura God, so this is where you are!"

Accompanied by heavy footsteps, a tall, imposing blue figure walked in.

This was the Sea God. Like the Asura God, he was enveloped in light, only one was blue and the other red. The Asura God also had two more divine rings than the Sea God, representing the insurmountable gulf between a God King and a First-Level God.

"I've been waiting here for you all along. I didn't expect you to take so long!"

The Asura God neither moved nor changed his gaze. With one hand propping up his cheek, he looked like a sculpture.

Yes, The Thinker.

The Sea God looked away from the Asura God in disgust. His eyes seemed to lose focus as he, too, began replaying images. These also featured Ren Tao, though at a slightly different point in time. What flashed through his eyes was the scene of Ren Tao shattering and re-forming. "You don't know what happened in the Douluo Ocean yet, do you? The Evil Orca King..."

"Defeated your divine sense. That's hardly news. Surely you don't need to rush over to report it to me?"

The Asura God spoke flatly, his tone laced with mockery and derision.

The Sea God faltered. "He devoured the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King. On the path of devouring, he's gone even further than the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King. Are you going to stand by and do nothing?"

"I'm investigating."

The Asura God finally turned his head toward the Sea God. "Just what secret was hidden within the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King?"

As he spoke, he raised a hand to stop the Sea God from answering. "I'm not asking you that. What I mean is, who else knows the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's secret?... Let me finish first! When the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King died, another force awakened in the depths. Did you know that? Just answer the last question!"

Whew.

The Sea God drew a breath, then slowly let it out.

"If even you, the Asura God King, don't know, how would I? I can only answer your first question."

"Mm."

The Asura God was not at all surprised by the Sea God's reaction. He had never expected an answer from him anyway. Rather than hearing an answer, he preferred seeing the Sea God's ignorance on display.

"So the question now is, who exactly is helping the Evil Orca King? Right... what did he say his name was again?"

"Ren Tao!"

The Sea God had known the Asura God for over fifty years by the Divine Realm's reckoning, and naturally knew exactly what he was like. "Enough with the irrelevant nonsense. What are we going to do about Tang San?"

"Tang San? What does he have to do with me?"

The Asura God waved a hand and said dismissively, "I concern myself with important matters. Can't you handle your own succession?"

"Don't think I don't know you've had designs on Tang San for ages! He came out of Slaughter City with Divine Slaughter's Domain. Besides, Tang Chen is half-dead, and Hu Liena is unfit for any great responsibility. Who would believe Tang San isn't your chosen successor?"

The Sea God grew agitated. Coming to the Asura God today had already cost him some dignity, and then he had endured one sneer after another. Holding out this long had pushed him to his limit.

"Given your relationship with the Rakshasa God, your original intention was to use Tang San to counter Bibi Dong, wasn't it?"

"Heh, heh!"

Faced with the Sea God's aggressive questioning, the Asura God neither admitted nor denied it. He merely sneered repeatedly, the contempt in his voice more unmistakable than ever.

"So that's all you can see... Tang San's future is far more than a simple matter of becoming your successor or mine. I once thought he was a wild card, too. I was even willing to fight you over him to make him a God King. But as you've seen, Ren Tao has him pinned down so hard he can't lift his head. Do you still think this is merely a matter of a successor between the two of us?"

"A wild card? What... do you mean?"

The Sea God was a little stunned. Though the Asura God was cruel, cold-blooded, and ruthless, he rarely adopted such a serious attitude. From what the Sea God knew of him, those words had certainly not been empty alarmism.

So what secret was there that I didn't know about?

"Forget it!"

The Asura God waved his hand again. "This was never a level you could involve yourself in anyway. If you say it's about a successor, then it's about a successor. What do you want to do?"

The Sea God: ...

You're talking in circles and contradicting yourself. Do you actually have any idea what you're doing?

"Tang San isn't all that capable, but he's my only successor, after all. Look, he's your successor too. With someone grinding him underfoot, none of us looks good, do we?"

"Hmm..."

The Asura God's gaze flickered. After a brief moment of thought, he swiftly made his decision.

"The issue now isn't the successor. It's whether Ren Tao can be allowed to live. But neither of us can descend to the lower realm, so why not have your High Priest kill him?"

"Heh, heh!"

Without a moment's thought, the Sea God returned two sneers. "I'd like to, but the Sea God's Nine Trials have already begun, and the Enforcers are watching. You want Ren Tao eliminated, yet you expect me to take all the blame and lose face alone, just like when you schemed against the Rakshasa God? In your dreams!"

"Oh, so that won't work either!"

Despite the Sea God's angry retort, the Asura God seemed entirely unconcerned and once again made a show of pondering.

Just then, the space around them suddenly shook.

It was not particularly violent, but it certainly could not be called slight either. It was like the aftershock of an earthquake somewhere else. The stone desk rocked from side to side, and the hand propping up the Asura God's chin slammed straight onto its surface.

"Ha!"

The Sea God laughed aloud, but abruptly stopped. "What? Why is it him again?"

At that moment, Ren Tao, down in the Ring Sea trench, had begun devouring the energy being released. What he did not know was that as the energy crossed through space, it triggered violent tremors, countless times stronger than those they had sensed on the seabed.

The ruined world where the White-Haired Woman had originally resided also began to shatter and disintegrate. By the time her divine sense shot out, that world had already turned entirely to dust.

"Who is it?"

The Asura God slapped the stone desk and rose. "Blocking perception again! Someone is clearly smuggling energy over for Ren Tao to absorb. Who exactly is sabotaging my plan?"

Your... plan?

Though the Sea God was equally baffled by what had happened in the lower realm, he keenly picked up a few clues in the Asura God's words.

So the Asura God took this matter even more seriously than I did?

"This Ren Tao must die!"

The Asura God's voice turned cold, and the light in his eyes flickered rapidly. "Put the succession on hold for now. With Tang San's current strength, even inheriting both powers won't make him a match for Ren Tao. Rushing things will only cause greater losses. The only safe course is to eliminate Ren Tao first, then proceed with the succession."

"Whatever you say!"

The Sea God shrugged. "As for eliminating Ren Tao... how do you intend to do it? Let me make this clear now: I certainly won't stand idly by, but we split all responsibility equally, at most!"

"I understand. This matter has far-reaching implications, and too many parties need to be coordinated. If it goes wrong, it could change the course of history. Give me time to think it through!"

The Asura God waved forcefully, signaling for the Sea God to get lost.

The Sea God left. As soon as he was outside the Asura God's room, he began gesturing in the air, tracing a glowing message with his fingers. Once formed, the words quickly vanished.

On Sea God Island, High Priest Bo Saixi and Tang San, who was sitting in a dark chamber, received a message almost simultaneously:

"Due to outside interference, the difficulty of the Sea God's Fourth Trial has increased. The trial's deadline is therefore extended to five years. In addition, Tang San must raise his strength to that of a Titled Douluo before undertaking the mission to kill the Evil Orca King!"

That settled it!

While the Sea God basked in his own cleverness, elsewhere, the Asura God, shrouded in red light, ground his teeth, his expression turning hideously savage.

"Five years to inherit the dual god position-that was the schedule already set. Who exactly is working against me? Rakshasa God, is it you?"

It was the second day of the residential compound's lockdown, and I felt very calm.

I missed the seaside and imagined lying on the beach, basking in the sun.

I really wanted to write a dreamlike voyage at sea for the male lead, but that would have nothing to do with the main theme.

Still, I could put it in a side story later!