As the terrifying lightning between heaven and earth grew ever denser, even its color began to transform. At that moment, the Soul Devouring Carving Knife was like a bird in a cage, enveloped in endless lightning.
Xu Zhengyang could clearly sense the Soul Devouring Carving Knife's presence weakening. As long as this continued, its curse would definitely be erased completely, and then he could obtain the gold of life he wanted.
But just then, the pitch-black skull began to change. A phantom flew out of the Soul Devouring Carving Knife. Judging by its appearance, it resembled an extremely powerful Soul Master, its eyes unusually sinister and filled with bloodlust and evil.
Xu Zhengyang was only a Grand Soul Master at present. Even with his mental-type External Soul Bone, a single glance left him feeling as though his entire soul had been crushed, as though he were facing a peerless fierce beast.
Most strikingly, this figure did not retreat in the slightest before the blazing heavenly lightning. It pointed its right hand toward the sky, and what seemed to be a terrifying blade of light shot upward, as though it would slice the entire sky open.
Xu Zhengyang's eyes filled with astonishment and fear. This strike looked simple, but it far surpassed the attacks of any powerhouse he had ever witnessed, far beyond his understanding.
Before the black figure's strike, the entire mass of dark clouds seemed about to be cleaved apart. Even the lightning filling the sky showed faint signs of weakening.
At that critical moment, a terrifying thunderclap suddenly rang out, like a bolt from a clear sky, like power drawn from the very origin of this world.
Immediately afterward, the lightning filling the sky rapidly gathered once more. This time, it did not form bolts of lightning, but something resembling a purplish-red giant.
The instant this giant opened its eyes, heaven and earth seemed to lose their color, accompanied by an utterly emotionless voice.
"How dare you!"
Xu Zhengyang felt as though that voice had pierced his soul, as though he were an ant facing a god.
Then the purplish-red giant formed from endless lightning extended a massive hand and forcibly reached for the Soul Devouring Carving Knife and the figure that had flown out of it, like a heavenly tribulation descending.
With a single strike, the Soul Devouring Carving Knife was instantly submerged in endless lightning. Its blade lost its luster in that instant, and the ancient patterns upon it were destroyed at once. The body of the knife, originally as hard as iron, actually began to melt.
Xu Zhengyang was delighted as well. After all the thought and effort he had put into this, the curse on the Soul Devouring Carving Knife was finally about to be destroyed. He could finally obtain this piece of gold of life.
Seeing the gold of life about to melt, Xu Zhengyang could no longer concern himself with anything else. He swiftly summoned his Martial Soul, the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, and forcibly planted it where the molten gold of life was about to drip.
The instant the gold of life touched the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, it rapidly merged into it. Even as a terrifying sensation of scorching heat and lightning poured into his body, Xu Zhengyang stubbornly held on.
But just then, the black phantom, now extremely weak, actually used its last strength to break through the lightning surrounding it. It turned into a black shadow and burrowed into the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear as well.
What Xu Zhengyang did not notice was that, amid this terrifying lightning, within that final surge of lightning like a natural catastrophe, the laws of heaven and earth seemed to have been split open in an instant. A black presence seemed to seize upon that fissure between heaven and earth and forcibly burrow into Xu Zhengyang's Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear as well. A faint voice even rang out.
"Oh? Gold of life, and this familiar presence of darkness."
After the lightning, gold of life, black shadow, and black presence all burrowed into the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, Xu Zhengyang felt as though a terrifying force surged through him. An ultimate bolt of lightning struck his body in an instant. Ugh, his entire being seemed to suffer a blow in that instant, his soul seemingly crushed, as though he were facing death at that very moment.
Clinging to the last shred of his will to survive, Xu Zhengyang threw all caution aside and swallowed every medicine he had prepared beforehand. Immediately afterward, he lost consciousness.
At that moment, Xu Zhengyang's entire body looked as though it had been struck by lightning, and also as though it had suffered an attack from some strange power. He looked utterly dreadful. Not only was his whole body charred black, but lightning continued to strike him without pause.
After Xu Zhengyang lost consciousness, the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear Martial Soul he had summoned gradually returned to his body. Even those two black presences actually merged into his body as well.
Having lost its target, the humanoid figure formed from purplish-red lightning in the sky gradually began to disappear. But before it vanished, its gaze turned toward Xu Zhengyang. Even its originally unruffled eyes seemed to gain a trace of surprise, along with a trace of scrutiny.
The whole of Azure Thunder Mountain gradually returned to tranquility, slowly returning to how it had looked when Xu Zhengyang first arrived. All that remained were Xu Zhengyang lying on the ground and the golden granules beside him that emanated the presence of life.
In the God Realm, within an extraordinarily tall and imposing divine temple.
A blue-haired young man who was cultivating suddenly opened his eyes, his body radiating an extraordinarily terrifying divine might.
His eyes shone with a soul-seizing light. Everything was like an ant in his eyes, yet at this moment, a trace of puzzlement actually appeared within them.
"Strange. I could clearly sense the birth of the child of destiny, and even sense a trace of connection between the child of destiny and Wutong. Why do I suddenly feel as though I can't quite see through the future? Could some unforeseen change have arisen in the future?"
Just then, worry appeared in the eyes of a very beautiful pink figure beside him.
"Third Brother, has something happened? Is something wrong with our daughter?"
The blue-haired young man shook his head. "Everything is normal with our daughter. Even everything on Douluo Star is normal. But I feel a faint unease, as though something is slipping out of my control."
The pink figure said, "Third Brother, I'm starting to miss our daughter. Couldn't we let her grow up in the God Realm? Why did we have to send her to the Douluo Continent?"
The blue-haired young man sighed. "Xiao Wu, you should understand. Although the God Realm looks peaceful now, dark currents are surging beneath the surface. I was thinking of our daughter's safety."
"Besides, I calculated long ago that the child of destiny would be born in the Douluo World, and that this child of destiny's fate would intersect with Wutong's. That was why I sent Wutong to the Douluo Continent."
The pink figure still seemed reluctant to part with her. "But I'm starting to miss our daughter. I'm worried about her safety, and I also regret not being able to watch her grow up."
The blue-haired young man said, "Don't worry, Xiao Wu. You'll be able to see our daughter again very soon. And barring any unforeseen circumstances, our daughter should bring us an enormous surprise, one that could even change the balance of the world in the future."