"I don't need to descend to Douluo Star. I'll stand right here in space and use Destruction Divine Thunder to blast that crumbling ball into cosmic dust!"
"I'll turn that woman and her Spring and Autumn Dream into space junk together!"
As he watched the God of Destruction storm away,
the Asura God did not stop him. Instead, he nodded in satisfaction.
Striking directly from outside while Gu Yuena was refining the planet and could not divide her attention was indeed the safest approach.
Half an hour later.
In space, ripples spread through the void.
The God of Destruction stood proudly in space, scepter in hand.
He sneered and slowly raised his Destruction Scepter.
Purple-black divine lightning gathered wildly in space, radiating destructive fluctuations powerful enough to erase everything.
"Disappear."
He lowered his head, sweeping his gaze over Douluo Star below, preparing to lock onto the planet's core.
But in the very next instant, the smile froze on his face.
His eyes widened, and he even pushed his divine sense to its limit.
A second later, the God of Destruction felt his scalp prickle.
Where was the azure Douluo Star below?
What he saw was a planet encircled by the body of an enormous creature.
The God of Destruction swallowed with difficulty. Following the patterns on those dark gold objects, he stiffly drew his gaze back, little by little.
As his view widened, his entire body began trembling uncontrollably.
Until he finally saw the whole picture.
A dark gold dragon, its length beyond any numerical measure, lay quietly coiled amid the cosmic stars.
And Douluo Star, which their Divine Realm regarded as the foundation of the lower realm,
was now pitifully wedged into a gap between the coils of this dragon's body.
It was like a little mud pellet the dragon had casually tucked into its arms while sleeping!
"Th-this..."
The God of Destruction's mouth hung open, but he could not even make a sound.
He finally understood the cracks and swelling he had seen on Douluo Star's surface in the Divine Realm's Star Map.
It was not Gu Yuena refining the planet at all!
Rather, this terrifying beast coiled around Douluo Star's surface had shifted its sleeping position slightly in its dreams.
Merely tightening its body a little had nearly squeezed the entire Douluo Star apart on the spot!
"Asura, you idiot..."
The God of Destruction unleashed a furious torrent of curses inwardly.
You call this an illusion?
What fucking illusion has a single scale hundreds of times bigger than the entire Douluo Continent?!
Staring at the beast stretching across the starry sky before him, the God of Destruction let the scepter slip straight from his hand.
The Destruction Divine Thunder he was so proud of was not even worth a fart before this monster's breathing.
Run!
Without the slightest hesitation, that was the only thought left in the God of Destruction's mind.
I have to get back and tell the others!
After all, this looked like a Soul Beast even stronger than the Dragon God!
The God of Destruction could not even spare the time to retrieve the scepter he had dropped in space.
He bit through the tip of his tongue and directly burned his origin divine power.
His hands tore frantically at the space before him, forcibly ripping open a spatial rift leading to the Divine Realm.
He did not want to spend another second in this damned place.
Yet just as he stepped halfway into the rift,
the dragon coiled around the planet seemed to feel an itch in its nose and instinctively exhaled a small breath in its sleep.
"Whoosh!"
There were no Soul Power fluctuations, nor any enhancement from divine power.
It was nothing but a purely physical air current.
Yet in the cosmos, this current instantly became a terrifying, visible storm among the stars!
"Boom!"
The very edge of the storm merely grazed the God of Destruction's back.
"Pfft!"
The God of Destruction spewed a great mouthful of golden divine blood.
His Super Divine Artifact armor, reputed to withstand any divine punishment, did not last even half a second before exploding into fragments.
With a wretched scream, he was hurled straight into the spatial rift by the air current.
At the same time.
In the great hall of the God Realm Committee.
The Asura God and the Sea God were sitting at a table with a game board before them.
"Judging by the time, Destruction should have already wiped that planet out," the Sea God said casually, placing a piece.
The Asura God lifted his teacup and blew on the steam.
"Gu Yuena is too naive."
"She thought she could frighten the Divine Realm off by conjuring up some intimidating illusion?"
"Before absolute power, all those flashy tricks of misdirection are nothing but..."
Before he could finish,
the space above the hall suddenly collapsed without warning.
"Bang!"
A blood-soaked figure with disheveled hair came hurtling out of the spatial rift and slammed into the Divine Realm's white jade floor, smashing a large crater into it.
The teacup slipped straight from the Asura God's hand and shattered on the floor.
The Sea God sprang to his feet, even overturning the game board.
"Destruction?!"
The two stared at the pitiful figure on the floor, utterly dumbfounded.
This was the mighty God of Destruction!
One of the Divine Realm's five Supreme God Kings!
How had a trip to the lower realm to dispose of the gravely wounded, dying Gu Yuena left him in such a state?
"Did Gu Yuena set up some Ancient Killing Array in the lower realm? Were you ambushed?" the Asura God asked in shock, striding forward.
At the words "Gu Yuena" and "ambushed,"
the God of Destruction abruptly raised his head from where he lay in the crater.
His bloodstained face was filled with unprecedented terror and fury.
"Ambushed, my ass!"
The God of Destruction shoved aside the Asura God's outstretched hand and roared hysterically.
"There was no killing array! And it wasn't an illusion!"
"Asura, you blind idiot!"
"That was a living dragon!"
"A dragon coiled around the entire Douluo Star like it was a toy!"
The Asura God and the Sea God both froze at those words.
Their minds went blank in an instant.
What did he mean, coiled around Douluo Star like it was a toy?
The God of Destruction panted heavily, golden blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.
He had no time to explain and abruptly seized the Asura God by the collar.
"Seal the passages!"
"Hurry up and destroy every passage leading to the lower realm!"
"If we wake that monster down there, forget Douluo Star-our entire Divine Realm will become its snack!"
Hearing the God of Destruction's hysterical roars,
inside the hall,
the Asura God and the Sea God exchanged a glance, their brows knitting even tighter.
"Destruction, calm down," the Asura God said coldly, a trace of displeasure in his voice.
"A dragon coiled around a planet like it was a toy? Did Gu Yuena ambush you with some spiritual Divine Artifact and make you hallucinate?"
"Bullshit!"
The God of Destruction scrambled up from the floor in fury.
"I saw it with my own eyes! That thing merely breathed out, and it blew my Super Divine Artifact armor to pieces!"
Just then, footsteps sounded outside the hall.
"What happened?"
The Goddess of Life hurried in with the God King of Goodness and the Evil God King.
The Goddess of Life's expression changed as well when she saw the blood-soaked God of Destruction.
She hastily raised her hand, sending a mass of rich green life light directly into his body.
But a moment later, the Goddess of Life suddenly frowned.
"How could this be?"
"There's not even the slightest trace of divine power remaining in Destruction's internal injuries."
"These wounds... were purely ruptured by a physical air current of incomprehensible strength."
At this, the Asura God narrowed his eyes as well.
"A physical air current?"
"That explains it." A sneer curled the Asura God's lips, his expression suggesting he had seen through the entire truth.
"Destruction, can't that brain of yours think about anything besides fighting and killing?"
"Think carefully."
"If a creature as large as you described really existed in this universe, how terrifying would its mass be?"
"The gravity of that physical body alone would be enough to draw in all the surrounding galaxies and crush them to powder."
"How could a fragile lower-realm plane like Douluo Star possibly remain wedged against its body unharmed?"
Hearing the Asura God's clear, orderly analysis, the Evil God King beside him nodded as well.
"Exactly."
"By ordinary logic, a creature that defies the laws of heaven and earth like that could not possibly exist in the universe."
"The moment it appeared, it would collapse completely under its own gravity."
"Destruction, what you saw was definitely an illusion."
Listening to his colleagues' analysis, the God of Destruction nearly went mad.
"Illusion, my ass!"
"That breath nearly blew me to death on the spot, and you're telling me it was an illusion?!"
The Sea God smiled as well, stepping forward to pat the God of Destruction on the shoulder.
"Destruction, you're usually too hot-tempered, and your divine sense isn't sharp enough. It's only natural that you'd fall for a trick."
"Back during the Dragon God War, the Dragon God was cut in two, and the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena took the Dragon God's Heart away with her."
"In my view, Gu Yuena must have known she was doomed, so, like a cornered dog leaping over a wall, she sacrificed the Dragon God's Heart."
"She set up an Ancient-Level Spiritual Domain in the space outside Douluo Star!"
"The dragon you saw was merely a manifestation of the origin power remaining in the Dragon God's Heart."
The more the Sea God spoke, the more flawless he felt his reasoning was, his eyes brimming with the light of wisdom.
"As for the physical air current that injured you,"
"presumably, Gu Yuena detonated the array core of that spiritual domain, compressing all the Heaven and Earth Essence together to deliver a thunderous blow."
The Asura God picked up the thread with a cold snort.
"The Sea God is quite right."
"Gu Yuena went to such painstaking lengths to create this grand spectacle for one reason alone."
"To scare the guts out of you!"
"She wanted to use your words to make our Divine Realm seal the passages of its own accord."
"As long as we truly become frightened, seal the passages, and dare not descend to the lower realm, she can safely recover her strength underground."
"Destruction, you almost became a link in her plan."
Listening to these colleagues take turns offering their "meticulous analysis,"
the God of Destruction stood frozen.
He recalled the scene he had just witnessed in space.
Was that boundlessly vast dark gold body truly an illusion?
Was it really a spiritual domain Gu Yuena had created with the Dragon God's Heart?
"But... that pressure felt too real..." The God of Destruction gritted his teeth. Though his voice still held firm, he had already begun to waver inwardly.
After all, Asura God and the others had a point. What creature could grow larger than a planet? That simply defied the natural laws of the universe.
"Because that was the Dragon God's origin power! Of course it was real!"
Asura God flicked the red cape behind him, a trace of arrogant killing intent flashing through his eyes.
"Gu Yuena's petty tricks could only fool a brute like you."
"Since she dared to use the Dragon God's Heart to stage an empty-fort bluff and try to scare us off..."
"Then today, we might as well turn her scheme against her and go straight in to lay bare everything she's hiding!"
Asura God turned around, his gaze sweeping over the other four God Kings present.
"Everyone."
"Gu Yuena is already an arrow at the end of its flight. She's even resorted to tricks like this to bluff us."
"To guard against any surprises and avoid whatever desperate last resort she might still have..."
"Today, all Five Great God Kings will descend to the lower realm together!"
"I'd like to see whether this so-called 'starry-sky dragon' illusion of hers can withstand a joint strike from us five Supreme God Kings!"
At those words...
The Evil God King and the God King of Goodness exchanged a glance, then both nodded.
"It's time to deal with the remnants of the Dragon Clan once and for all."
"If we don't erase her completely, she'll always be a hidden danger."
Watching his brimmingly confident colleagues, the God of Destruction felt a powerful unease rise in his heart for no apparent reason.
But he had just fled back in terror. If he refused to go now, he would never be able to hold his head up in the Divine Realm again.
"Fine! Let's go, then!"
The God of Destruction gritted his teeth. Light flashed in his hand as he condensed another, spare Destruction Scepter.
"If it really is an illusion, I'll damn well rip out Gu Yuena's tendons and flay her alive today!"
Half an hour later.
The Divine Realm Central Hub.
Asura God stood at the very front, holding the Asura Blood Sword.
Behind him, the God of Destruction, the Goddess of Life, the Evil God King, and the God King of Goodness stood side by side.
All five Supreme God Kings had gathered!
Apart from the Dragon God War back then, the Divine Realm had never assembled such a terrifying force.
With these five joining forces, even leveling the entire lower-realm plane would take no more than a lift of their hands.
"Open the passage!"
With Asura God's thunderous shout...
The Five Great God Kings unleashed their divine power simultaneously.
Boom!
The formation within the Divine Realm Central Hub spun into a frenzy, forcibly tearing open an enormous, broad spatial passage large enough for several gods to descend at once.
The other end of the passage connected directly to the starry expanse outside Douluo Star.
"Let's go."
Asura God gave a cold laugh and strode into the passage first, carrying the Asura Blood Sword.
The other God Kings followed close behind without the slightest hesitation.
In the darkness of space.
Space twisted violently.
Five figures radiating overwhelming divine might slowly emerged from the void.
They were none other than the Five Great God Kings of the Divine Realm.
"This is the location of that illusion formation you mentioned?"
Asura God glanced at the empty starry expanse around them, the corner of his mouth curling in mockery.
"There isn't even a ripple of divine power. It seems maintaining this formation has already exhausted Gu Yuena's strength."
Yet the God of Destruction, standing behind him, did not answer.
Because the instant the God of Destruction emerged, he sensed a silence even more terrifying than before.
It was an absolute stillness in which even cosmic dust had ceased to drift.
"Asura..."
The God of Destruction swallowed, his voice trembling like rusty gears grinding against each other.
"You... look down."
At that, Asura God frowned as well, his face full of disdain.