The Divine Realm, the Asura God Temple.
It was a majestic hall shrouded in an endless aura of slaughter.
At its center, the Asura God sat upon the supreme divine throne, clad in dark-gold armor patterned with demonic markings.
His blood-colored eyes, which seemed capable of piercing through anything, gazed through the floating water screen before him, looking down in utter boredom upon the Douluo Continent below.
More precisely, he was observing the experimental subject he had casually snatched from another lower plane and had just fused into an infant's body.
That's right, it was our pure-as-ice, spotless-as-jade God King Tang!
Yet in the very next instant, the Asura God's expression, undisturbed as an ancient well for ten thousand years, abruptly changed.
"Hmm? This aura... how could it be?!"
The Asura God shot up from his throne, his gaze fixed on the twin pillars of red and green light soaring into the clouds on the water screen.
His eyes instantly locked onto the six-year-old child at the center of the storm-Lu Xuan.
He would never have known without looking, but one look gave him a fright.
"This is impossible! How could anyone in the lower realm possess a pure aura born of the same source as mine?!"
"And the Martial Soul he awakened is actually my Asura God Sword!"
Uncertain, the Asura God switched the image to Slaughter City, confirming that his Asura God Sword was still in the hands of Tang Chen, who was parasitized by the Nine-Headed Blood Bat.
Immediately afterward, he switched the image back.
He was certain that he had never bestowed any God-level Martial Soul upon the lower realm.
In other words, this child had been born with it!
After the Asura God's shock came wild delight.
"Perfect. Absolutely perfect!"
An unprecedentedly fervent light blazed in the Asura God's eyes.
As for the experimental soul he had snatched from another lower plane, he instantly flung it beyond the ninth heaven.
God King Tang: Wait, you dragged me here, and now you're leaving me to fend for myself? And you're giving my God King position to someone else? You've already earned yourself a path to death!
Before Lu Xuan, who had innately awakened the Asura God Sword Martial Soul, any experimental subject paled into insignificance.
This was simply the most perfect successor, tailor-made for him! Without equal!
As for Lu Xuan's other Martial Soul, the scepter brimming with life energy, he subconsciously ignored it.
After all, Life was bound to Destruction; she couldn't abandon Destruction just because a suitable successor had appeared.
"This boy is under my protection, no matter what!"
Without hesitation, the Asura God raised his right hand, forced a drop of pure divine blood from his fingertip, and infused it with his own Asura Divine Power.
It became a dark-red "divine seed."
With a flick of his finger, the divine seed instantly pierced the barrier and silently sank into Lu Xuan's brow, becoming a concealed mark.
One day in the Divine Realm was one year below.
Given his lofty position, he naturally couldn't watch the lower realm every moment.
There was also a gloomy little purple imp who came to keep an eye on him from time to time.
Only the Asura God himself knew about this divine seed, and unless Lu Xuan faced certain death or had already met the standards for him to bestow a divine trial...
Only then would this hidden divine seed reveal itself!
And the divine seed's functions didn't end there; it could also pinpoint his location at any time.
It could also unleash the Asura God's divine might to protect this designated successor whenever some blind fool of a deity set their sights on Lu Xuan.
Meanwhile, in another part of the Divine Realm.
This was an emerald paradise teeming with life, where ancient trees towered into the sky and celestial mist swirled.
Deep within the Life God Temple, a breathtakingly beautiful woman in a pale-green gown stood quietly beside the Life Spring, her eyes seeming to hold all the tenderness in the world.
She was the Goddess of Life, one of the Divine Realm's Five Great God Kings.
Although the Douluo God Realm governed countless lower planes, Douluo Star remained its foundation.
That supreme aura of life soaring into the heavens naturally caught her attention at once.
With a gentle wave of her delicate hand, an emerald illusory screen unfolded in midair, revealing Lu Xuan's figure.
"This... why on earth is this happening???"
The same astonishment and bewilderment as the Asura God's appeared on the Goddess of Life's exquisite face.
Her red lips parted slightly as she looked at the Life Scepter in Lu Xuan's left hand and the Asura God Sword in his right, unable to understand no matter how she pondered it.
But in the end, she still saw a glimmer of hope.
She had already wanted to find a successor and leave the Divine Realm with Destruction, seeking a way for her and the God of Destruction to have a child.
Now, a ready-made successor stood before her. As long as she found a suitable successor for the God of Destruction as well, all their plans could be realized.
Suddenly, an ominous premonition rose in the Goddess of Life's heart.
If the God of Destruction saw this child, he might well get the wrong idea.
She raised her slender, delicate hand, about to condense a Life God Seed and send it down to mark Lu Xuan.
But then, something unexpected happened!
"Xiao Lu!"
A deep, hoarse voice exploded beside the Goddess of Life's ear without warning.
Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrived.
The space inside the hall instantly twisted.
A raging purple-black thundercloud appeared out of thin air, transforming into the God of Destruction, who wore a black cloak and radiated an aura of destruction.
He appeared directly beside the Goddess of Life, his gaze like lightning.
The Goddess of Life's heart jolted, and a trace of panic flashed across her beautiful face.
She instinctively moved to wave away the illusory screen in midair.
"Xiao Zi, w-why did you come so suddenly? Go back first. I'll come find you in a little while."
The Goddess of Life forced herself to remain calm and tried to stand in front of the screen.
"Heh..."
His purple-black eyes, hidden beneath the shadow of his cloak, stared past the Goddess of Life's shoulder, fixed firmly on Lu Xuan within the illusory screen.
The temperature inside the hall abruptly plunged to freezing, and the terrifying aura of destruction brought even the surrounding Life Spring to a halt.
The God of Destruction looked coldly at the Goddess of Life, his voice sounding as though it had been squeezed out of the deepest hell.
"Asura's slaughter and your life can actually blend together in complete perfection within the same body. That really is no simple feat."
He stepped forward.
Purple-black lightning raged wildly around him.
His tone carried anger and bitterness suppressed to the utmost.
"If I remember correctly, neither of us ever established any inheritance on the Douluo Continent, did we? Then where did this child, whose aura is exactly like your life essence, and is even entwined with that fellow Asura's aura... come from?"
At this very moment, the God of Destruction felt that the green above his own head was even more alarmingly vivid than the dome of the Life God Temple!
"Love is a light, so green it gives you a fright!"
For some inexplicable reason, background music began playing in the God of Destruction's ears.
"No! Xiao Zi, let me explain!" The Goddess of Life was so anxious that her eyes reddened, and she grabbed the God of Destruction's sleeve.
"I only just discovered him myself! I have absolutely no idea what's going on. This really is just an accident! You have to believe me!"
"An accident? What a fine accident!"
The God of Destruction sneered and violently flicked his sleeve, shaking off the Goddess of Life's hand.
Without looking back, he instantly transformed into a raging bolt of purple-black lightning, tore through space with a thunderous crash, and vanished from the Life God Temple.
"Xiao Zi! Don't go!"
The Goddess of Life stamped her feet in anxiety, her eyes filled with grievance. What kind of mess was this?
She clearly hadn't done anything, yet such a black pot of blame had landed on her back!
Without the slightest hesitation, the Goddess of Life transformed into a streak of emerald light and chased after him toward the Destruction Temple.
She had to explain this matter clearly today, no matter what!
Before you continue