The Netherworld.
Within the Divine Domain.
Xu Qingjia gazed at the words appearing in the Book of Life and Death, his expression shifting from silence to contemplation.
Hadn't spring already passed?
Or did dragons go into heat the same way humans did?
Early that morning.
"You brat, Xu! Where are you trying to send my grandson?!"
Amid Elder Shen's furious roars, Xu Ye and Shen Xi learned what had happened. Their darling son had quietly done something earth-shattering.
Extending lifespans through the power of faith.
It was simply an unheard-of ability.
"A god who rules over the world of the dead," Shen Xi murmured.
It did seem reasonable that such a being could extend people's lives.
"Qingjia really pulled off something huge without making a sound," Xu Ye said with feeling.
An extended lifespan was an enormous temptation even to people in their prime like them, let alone those old men with little time left. Who wouldn't want more years to live? Who wouldn't want eternal life? How could a mere century or two suffice to enjoy all the pleasures of this world?
Throughout history, how many rulers had ever been able to resist the temptation of eternal life?
At the very least, none of the old fellows they knew could.
Xu Ye and Shen Xi exchanged a glance, each seeing the amusement in the other's eyes.
The Federation's old fellows would surely treasure their son now. But who could have imagined that the Yanluo Heavenly Son they regarded as a tool to extend their lives was actually a real, genuine god?
A smile played at the corner of Xu Ye's mouth. "Now the entire Federation is working for our son."
There was no need to guess. Those old fellows who had little time left yet held the Federation's highest authority would spare no effort collecting faith for the Yanluo Heavenly Son to prolong their lives.
An information gap mattered enormously.
After all, the most recent appearance of a god dated back ten thousand years. As early as several thousand years ago, human powerhouses who reached the Quasi-God realm had already been unable to sense the Divine Realm's existence. Several thousand years was far, far too long for humanity-so long that many human powerhouses had even begun questioning whether the gods of legend truly existed.
"Indeed," Shen Xi said with a sigh.
"Sun Moon needs a god," Xu Ye said, gazing at the dawn on the horizon.
Ten thousand years ago had been the Spirit Ice Douluo's era, a legend written by his own hand. Yet it had also brought the Sun Moon Empire unprecedented humiliation.
A single divine decree had forced them to withdraw their troops.
A single divine decree had subjected Sun Moon to a century of humiliation at Heaven Dou's hands.
Damn that Sea God Tang San!
That was a humiliation the descendants of Sun Moon could never forget.
Time passed.
Something major had happened in Mingdu recently.
The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy had shot up the trending searches and remained there for a long time.
There was only one reason: a popular new photo spot had appeared outside the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's gates-"The kneeling Sea God Pavilion Elder Cai Yue'er."
Shrek's influence was certainly powerful, but its ability to stir up trouble was even stronger, and even more people wanted to see it made a laughingstock.
Long Yeyue, the Light and Darkness Douluo and the most senior figure at Shrek Academy, had rushed to Mingdu that very day.
According to a rumor spread by some unnamed Titled Douluo, the auras of three Limit Douluos had erupted in the skies outside Mingdu that day. Afterward, two representatives of the Federation-the Sun Douluo, one of the Federal Parliament's deputy speakers, and Yu Guanzhi, commander of the Central Legion-had held a "little extended meeting" with Shrek Elder Long Yeyue, the Light and Darkness Douluo, keeping her outside Mingdu for three whole days.
Word had it that the Light and Darkness Douluo Long Yeyue had looked quite unhappy at the time. Perhaps she had left home in such a hurry that she forgot to turn off the gas stove.
This clash between the Federation and Shrek became a hot topic online.
"Don't forget, back then His Excellency the Skyreach Douluo stormed Mingdu and took the Holy Spirit Douluo away."
"As long as His Excellency the Skyreach Douluo steps in, the Federation will have to meekly yield, however reluctant it is."
"The commenter above is obviously Shrek's dog. The reports back then said Yun Ming fought a mysterious organization, not the Federation itself."
"Counterterrorism only needs a list of names; suppressing a rebellion only needs coordinates. If Shrek is that capable, why hasn't the Federation been renamed the Shrek Federation?"
Yet even after Cai Yue'er's three-day "sentence" ended, Yun Ming still had not appeared. Following the shattering of its invincible golden image and a Sea God Pavilion Elder kneeling in public, Shrek's glory suffered yet another heavy blow.
Elsewhere.
Shrek City.
Inside a teahouse.
A handsome, refined young man sat facing a white-haired old man with a prominent nose and deep-set eyes, both sipping their tea. In appearance, they looked like grandfather and grandson, but in bearing, neither yielded to the other. They were none other than the two men universally acknowledged as the world's strongest and second strongest: Yun Ming, the Skyreach Douluo, and Chen Xinjie, the Vast Sea Douluo.
As the Sea God Pavilion Master, Yun Ming, the Skyreach Douluo, would undoubtedly defend Shrek's glory, regardless of right or wrong. Shrek could never be wrong. Their Shrek was always righteous, always correct. This conviction was deeply engraved in the mind of every person at Shrek.
"Elder Chen." Yun Ming rose. His refined, tranquil eyes resembled an ocean brewing a storm as he gazed toward Mingdu. "The three days are over. It's time I returned to Shrek to handle affairs."
"If you wager, you must accept your loss. Even children understand that," Chen Xinjie said slowly. "No one forced Cai Yue'er to make that bet with the Shen Family's girl."
"I know," Yun Ming said. Yet beneath his even voice lay an unquestionable dominance. "But certain things Shrek has lost ought to be reclaimed personally by the Sea God Pavilion Master."
"Things Shrek has lost?" Chen Xinjie looked at Yun Ming with his aged, fathomless eyes. "Aren't those things Shrek forcibly seized from the Federation over all these years?"
"Yun Ming, you're not a god! You cannot truly pit yourself alone against an entire nation. The Federation's dissatisfaction with Shrek has already reached a breaking point. For Shrek Academy to yield once in a while would be good for both you and Shrek City."
A mere academy, yet it repeatedly insisted on forcing a federation larger than an empire to bow its head.
"How will we know whether it can be done without trying?"
Yun Ming's pride remained unchanged from those earlier years. He was that peerless genius who had single-handedly subdued an entire era. His gaze pointed toward Mingdu like a sword. "Shrek's glory will not be desecrated."
Elsewhere.
At that same moment, in Mingdu.
Inside a cultivation chamber.
The spacious room resembled an indoor basketball court, its walls made of a special silvery metal and brimming with a futuristic technological
feel. The power of the stars collected elsewhere during the night filled the entire room. The noble-looking young boy seated cross-legged within it suddenly opened his dark eyes.
Xu Qingjia stirred the two wisps of true spirit within the Book of Life and Death. "Black and White Impermanence."
Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo appeared before him and knelt on one knee. "Greetings, my lord."
"Cai Yue'er is on the move." Xu Qingjia directed his will toward Cai Yue'er's page in the Book of Life and Death. Reading her remarks about how she would skin his entire family and tear out their tendons, he remained calm, as though merely dealing with some trivial matter.
"Eliminate this threat. Disguise yourselves as Evil Soul Masters and extract her soul. Let them bite at each other like dogs."
"Yes!"