The Three-Year Deadline Has Arrived!

A hidden place within the Qiangu Family's ancestral residence.

Countless metal components hovered and spun around him. The faith of the masses from across the continent flowed into his Divine Soul without end, like wisps of golden sunset clouds.

The Break Evil Dragon's essence slowly rose and fell within his chest, pitch-black dragon flames circulating as they intertwined and fused with the great path of soul tools he had studied.

Fine Divine Inscriptions emerged from the void, branding themselves upon Qian Gu Fenfeng's Divine Soul. His Divine Embryo slowly revolved, its cold metallic sheen cloaked in draconic might and bearing the prayers of countless living beings. A pressure beyond the limits of humanity spread little by little through heaven and earth...

The instant the Divine Embryo fully solidified, the entire sky abruptly changed color.

Ink-black tribulation clouds churned wildly, blotting out the sun and moon. Even the sound of the wind fell silent between heaven and earth.

Vast heavenly punishment descended from the highest heavens. Purple-gold lightning crashed down upon Qian Gu Fenfeng like colossal pillars.

"Rumble-!"

The first bolt of divine lightning struck, instantly shattering countless Soul Tool Shields.

Metal fragments flew in every direction. Lightning tore through Qian Gu Fenfeng's body, charring his flesh, yet his Divine Embryo revolved, using the destructive power of the lightning tribulation to temper his Divine Body over and over.

He did not dodge. The Coiling Dragon Staff in his hand became a barrier, guiding part of the lightning tribulation toward the core of his godhood and using heavenly punishment to hone his Divine Core.

Wave after wave of tribulation lightning followed, including both world-destroying divine lightning that ravaged the flesh and heart demon tribulations that pierced straight into the Divine Soul.

Scenes from his life surged through his sea of consciousness: his invincible youth, conflicts at the academy, meeting Qian Chenyue and Leng Yaozhu, the warmth of his elder brothers in the family... His mind remained firm and unmoving, dissolving all the heart demons' backlash within his Mechanical Divine Inscriptions.

The ninth and most terrifying bolt of dark-purple tribulation lightning tore through the heavens and crashed down upon his head. The valley floor split into spiderweb-like ravines, and dust billowed into the sky. Beneath the tribulation clouds, Qian Gu Fenfeng was drenched in blood, his clothes reduced entirely to ash. Yet within him, a brand-new mechanical godhood fully awakened.

"Hahaha... hahahahahaha! A mere false Plane Master-you have no right to judge me!"

Intermingled divine radiance shot into the sky. Dark-gold light mingled with ink-black, breaking through the tribulation clouds, and sunlight spilled over the earth once more. The clouds slowly dispersed, and Qian Gu Fenfeng slowly rose. His Divine Body was complete, and countless phantoms of Soul Tool Divine Artifacts hovered around him, Divine Inscriptions flowing across them.

Ding-

In that instant, every creature across the entire plane, whether a newborn infant or a powerhouse already standing at the continent's pinnacle, heard that faint chime from the depths of their souls.

It was illusory yet real, faint yet heavy.

Yun Ming, who had fallen into slumber, opened his eyes in bewilderment and looked into the distance as though sensing something.

At the same time, an eerie ritual prayer rang out in the minds of all living creatures:

Raise high the will to break evil,

Forge the order of machinery,

The scales of judgment have already toppled,

Justice lies buried in rusted Divine Inscriptions,

Dread laws are but a shell woven from illusion,

Beneath the greater good lies the age-old whisper of might.

Several months later, with the entire Sun Moon Federation making preparations, an unparalleled God-Sealing Ceremony was held on the enormous Heaven-Worshipping Platform before Federation Tower in Mingdu.

The Heaven-Worshipping Platform stretched boundlessly, tier upon tier of soul tool light pillars reaching into the clouds. Every faction across the continent was present.

The Federation's senior officials, the great Soul Engineer families, representatives of the sects, and countless citizens watched from afar. Leng Yaozhu wore formal attire, with Qian Chenyue standing to one side. Qiangu Dongfeng and Qiangu Qingfeng stood below the raised platform, their gazes fixed on the figure above.

Bells rang out for a thousand miles, and ceremonial music began.

Qian Gu Fenfeng slowly stepped onto the God-Sealing Platform. His divine might was restrained, yet it still made the minds of every powerhouse present tremble. High in the sky, the phantom of his godhood slowly appeared. An enormous Mechanical Divine Throne hovered in midair, the Break Evil Dragon's shadow coiling around its edges as countless rays of faith converged upon it.

He stood atop the platform. His voice was not loud, yet it carried throughout heaven and earth:

"The three-year deadline has arrived!"

"Throughout the ages, godhood has mostly been inherited from the Divine Realm. Today, I, Qian Gu Fenfeng, through the path of soul tools, fuse the essence of a true dragon, bear the faith of the masses, and establish this godhood!"

As his words fell, heaven and earth resonated.

Divine Inscriptions covered the Heaven-Worshipping Platform. Everyone across the continent could sense that brand-new divine presence. Below the platform, the crowd bowed in salute, and the ceremony's salute cannons thundered.

"Consecrate the banner for the Councilor!" Leng Yaozhu shouted.

Then a Soul Tool Prison Wagon slowly entered the grounds. A mangled, bloody figure was pinned fast to a cross. His head hung low, but his eyes remained fixed on the figure atop the platform.

A hoarse voice rang out. "Qian Gu... Fenfeng... I, Zang Xin... will be waiting for you in hell..."

Seatless!

It was none other than the Tang Sect's deputy sect master!

After the Tang Sect had been bathed in blood, its surviving members had fled to the Heaven Dou Continent, but Zang Xin's whereabouts had remained unknown.

While Qian Gu Fenfeng was in seclusion, Qian Chenyue had actually gone straight to the Blood God Legion and fought Cao Dezhi to the death.

The Blood Gods could not understand. They had devoted their entire lives to maintaining the continent's peace and stability, only to meet such an end.

Seeing the critical situation, Zang Xin had suddenly appeared, unaware that he was the very target of this expedition.

The Order Messengers lying in ambush nearby had struck without hesitation, swiftly subduing the "chief culprit."

The Blood Gods had been powerless to stop them, forced to let the Spirit Pagoda's party take the dying Zang Xin away.

Qian Gu Fenfeng looked indifferently at this utterly wicked deputy sect master of the Tang Sect. Zang Xin suddenly felt his throat gripped tight, suffocation surging over him like a tide.

"Hmph. In this life, I, Qian Gu Fenfeng, care only about the ends, never the means!"

"Boom-"

Zang Xin suddenly exploded, the blood mist filling the sky adding a touch more murderous solemnity to the ceremony.

"Time to wrap things up."

Qian Gu Fenfeng gazed at the people below the platform, rubbing those hands stained with countless lives.

His hands itched.

Far away on the Heaven Dou Continent, the Shrek Six Monsters, lying hidden and dormant, sensed that all-encompassing divine pressure from afar. Every one of them wore a grave expression.

"Justice will never be absent!"

His expression grave, Tang Wulin looked at the notebook in his hand, brimming with an evil aura. It contained the Ultimate Secret Technique he had devised by sorting through his memories of his previous life and studying the cultivation methods of countless Evil Soul Masters. His brows knitted tightly. After a moment of inner conflict, he seemed to reach some sort of decision:

"To hell with it!"

"Any cat that can catch that rat Qian Gu Fenfeng is a good cat!"

"The Heaven Dou Continent... those who achieve great things do not fuss over trifles... merely a necessary sacrifice."

The contest belonging to a new era officially began.