More importantly, the Dragon King bloodline within him, and the dragon soul that had been continuously nourished and strengthened during this time, resonated strongly in this place.
Streams of pure and ancient Dragon Clan primordial energy were flowing into his body from all directions, subtly strengthening his soul and physique.
He had sensed something before, but couldn't pinpoint the source. Now, being there in person, the feeling was even more acute.
He turned to look at the silent Gu Yuena. Her exquisite profile appeared somewhat hazy in the dim light, carrying a hint of barely perceptible worry.
Xuan Ming immediately understood.
She had known all along that the power of the Dragon Tomb was supporting him, but she had never told him.
She was worried that this gift from the entire Dragon Clan's slumbering land would put more pressure on him, making him feel that he owed the Dragon Clan too much, thus affecting his own judgment and choice of path.
She wanted him to walk his own path without any burden, and even if that strength was crucial, she was unwilling to use it as a bargaining chip in their relationship.
Only now, in order to help him condense his Godhead, have we had no choice but to bring him here.
Xuan Ming remained silent for a moment, neither pressing the matter nor pointing it out. He simply reached out and gently grasped Gu Yuena's slightly cool hand.
Gu Yuena trembled slightly, turned her head, and met his calm yet all-seeing eyes.
He didn't say thank you, nor did he make any weighty promises.
But the simple affirmation quietly dissipated much of the unease and guilt in Gu Yuena's heart.
She understood, Xuan Ming understood.
He chose to accept it, and expressed his approval in his own way.
That's enough.
"It's begun." Xuan Ming gently hugged Gu Yuena, then turned and plunged into Dragon Valley.
Godhead is the true core of a deity, the ultimate condensation of their understanding of the laws.
To possess Godhead means to possess a primordial power independent of the external system.
Even without Godhood in the Divine Realm, he is still a true god!
The divine Godhood in the Divine Realm are already saturated, and there is no room for the birth of new Godhood.
This means that if he does not want to inherit the existing Godhood and be bound by the rules of the Divine Realm, then condensing his own Godhead is the only way for him to become a true god.
Deep within the Dragon Tomb lies Dragon Valley.
Xuan Ming's figure hovered in the center of the valley where dragon bones were piled up like mountains.
He no longer suppressed his aura, and the extreme white light surged out like a tsunami, resonating with the entire Dragon Tomb like never before!
Rumble--!
The entire Dragon Tomb space seemed to be awakened! The gray sky began to churn violently, the dragon bones on the ground trembled slightly, and countless drifting dragon soul remnants let out deafening roars, transforming into tangible golden torrents that surged madly towards Xuan Ming from all directions!
These dragon soul energies contain the accumulated essence of the Dragon Clan over millennia, the primordial essence left behind after the fall of countless powerful Dragon Clan! They are violent and chaotic, yet they possess the most primal and purest power!
Xuan Ming's body seemed to have transformed into a bottomless black hole, greedily devouring the legacy accumulated by the Dragon Clan over countless years.
Nourished by the dragon soul's energy, the divine soul solidified and grew stronger at an astonishing speed, and its perception of the surrounding laws of heaven and earth became clearer than ever before.
The divine Divine Power within his body, already as vast as the sea, surged forth like boiling water, with both its quality and quantity increasing wildly!
Condensing Godhead is by no means an easy task.
This is not only an accumulation of energy, but also the ultimate test of one's will and understanding of the laws.
The most crucial step is to trigger the Godhood Tribulation!
The Godhood Tribulation is the final test imposed by the rules of heaven and earth on beings who attempt to condense Godhead and transcend the mortal realm.
The severity of a tribulation depends on the potential, accumulated experience, and level of Godhead that the person undergoing the tribulation possesses.
The higher the potential, the deeper the accumulation, and the higher the level of Godhead, the more terrifying the Godhood Tribulation will be, and the greater the risk of failing to transcend the tribulation.
However, the more successful one is, the greater the rewards from the laws of nature will be, and the higher one's future achievements will be.
With his current resources, it wouldn't be difficult for him to condense a Godhead with the potential to become First-Level Main God.
But... that's not enough!
The hidden dangers of the Dragon God's split, the hope of the Ice Dragon King's resurrection, Gu Yuena's future, and even the delicate and dangerous balance between him and the Divine Realm... all of these require power far exceeding that of an ordinary First-Level God to deal with!
What he needs is the potential to become God King; in fact, he needs to quickly acquire the actual power that the Divine Realm will take seriously and even fear!
He got to where he is today not through compromise or pleading, but through the deterrent effect of his own strength and potential!
It was the threat and temptation inherent in this power that led the Divine Realm to choose observation and assessment rather than outright annihilation.
If his subsequent performance is insufficient to support this "threat," and if his potential for Godhead power is limited to that of First-Level God, then the attitude of the Divine Realm is likely to undergo a fundamental change.
At that time, not only will the Dragon Clan's hopes be slim, but he himself, and everything he cares about, may face annihilation.
The Divine Realm, the Supreme Divine Temple.
The atmosphere, which had been somewhat chaotic due to the dispute, became unusually heavy at this moment. The gazes of the four God King seemed to pierce through layers of spatial barriers, focusing on the figure in the Dragon Tomb of the Lower Realm who was frantically devouring dragon soul energy and whose aura was rapidly increasing.
"It has begun," the God of Destruction said in a deep voice, a hint of anticipation and solemnity flashing in his dark purple eyes. "He has indeed chosen the most difficult path... to condense his own Godhead."
"Moreover, look at the immense pressure this has unleashed..." The Asura God's blood-red pupils contracted slightly, "Its scale far surpasses that of an ordinary First-Level God tribulation! This kid has quite the ambition!"
The God of Evil smirked slightly. "That's more interesting, isn't it? If he only wanted to peacefully condense a First-Level God, it would be rather dull. It seems it's time for our gift to come in handy."
The God-Given Soul Ring they bestowed upon Xuan Ming were never merely gifts of power.
They were more like contracts with "hooks," "backdoors" buried deep within his power system.
Normally, Xuan Ming's absolute control over power and indifference to the Power of Faith make it difficult for them to find an opportunity to intervene.
But at this moment, in order to condense his Godhead and break through the Godhood Tribulation, Xuan Ming took the initiative to release the suppression of all his power and fully guided and refined everything in his body, including the five seeds of law containing the will of the God King!
It's like proactively opening the door to the outside world in your very core domain!
Chapter 454 Qualified Not to Choose
"The time has come. Activate the God's Trial Mark. This is both his final test and our... final observation."
A hint of reluctance flashed in the eyes of the Goddess of Life, but it ultimately turned into determination.
For a god destined to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the Divine Realm, and for a god who attempted to interfere with the legacy of the Dragon God, there was no room for leniency; only a rigorous, almost desperate, obstruction!
The five God King exchanged a glance and nodded in unison.
The next moment, divine light shone brightly around them, and the boundless will of the God King descended upon the source of rules at the core of the Divine Realm like five pillars of light piercing through heaven and earth!
At the same time, the five God-Given Soul Ring they had previously bestowed upon Xuan Ming contained not only the origin of laws, but also the "test marks" belonging to the level of God King hidden within them, which were simultaneously activated!
Dragon Tomb, Dragon Valley.
Xuan Ming is at a crucial moment in his attempt to attain Godhead.
His divine soul was highly concentrated, and the seeds of the Five Great God Kings laws within his body, nourished by the boundless dragon soul energy, grew and strengthened at an unprecedented speed, colliding and merging with each other, attempting to fuse into one and condense into a Godhead prototype unique to him!
In that instant when mind and strength are concentrated on a single point—
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Five completely different, yet equally terrifying, wills, like five red-hot branding irons, suddenly exploded from the depths of his soul!
This was not an external attack, but rather originated from within himself!
It was the God King's Mark hidden deep within those five God-Given Soul Ring that he had already absorbed and refined that was forcibly activated by his master, who was far away in the Divine Realm!
The first trial was the ultimate slaughter and judgment! Illusions of mountains of corpses and seas of blood instantly filled his mind, and endless killing intent, like billions of steel needles, pierced the Soul Core, trying to drag him into an eternal abyss of slaughter! This was the test of the Asura God!
The second test is twisted desire and chaos! All negative emotions in the world are magnified to the extreme: greed, jealousy, rage, lust... like venomous snakes gnawing at his reason, tempting him to fall and succumb to endless Evil pleasure! This is the test of the God of Evil!
The third path is pure annihilation and destruction! A terrifying scene of all things withering and stars dying plays out in his mind. A deathly will that wants to reduce everything to nothingness frantically attacks the foundation of his existence, threatening to turn him and his will into dust! This is the test of the God of Destruction!
The fourth challenge is a seemingly gentle yet far more deadly choice and protection! Countless tragic scenes and dilemmas requiring sacrifice and decision-making emerge, interrogating his heart. The cold will that compels him to carry out "necessary evil" for the sake of "greater good" attempts to distort his true nature, making him accept some absolute rule of "good"! This is the test of the Godess of Kindness!
The fifth path is a boundless vitality and creation, yet it carries an irresistible "nourishment" and "assimilation"! It seems to want to integrate everything about him into some eternal Life cycle, to make him lose himself and become part of the laws of Life! This is the test of the Goddess of Life!
The trials of will at the level of five God King were like five invisible mountains pressing down on Xuan Ming's mind! This was far more dangerous and unpredictable than the Godhood Tribulation he was currently facing from the outside world!
Because this test stems from a part of his power, a subversion that originates from within!
This is not an attack, but something far more dangerous—the infusion of will and the interference of laws!
They wanted to forcibly infuse their God King will into Xuan Ming's nascent Godhead form!
They wanted to witness firsthand and experience for themselves whether this young man's will was truly unbreakable! Whether his path could truly accommodate, or even control, the imprint of their five God King ' wills!
If he succeeds, his Godhead will naturally carry some of the qualities and recognition of the five God King, with limitless potential, and he may even directly reach the prototype of God King!
He failed... His will will be crushed by the torrent of the five God King ' wills, his soul will shatter, all his efforts will be in vain, and even the power of the ten thousand dragons in this Dragon Tomb may backfire on him, annihilating both his body and soul!
This is the true and most brutal ultimate test behind the Sixth Trial, " The Godhood Choice "!
It's not about giving you a choice, it's about making you prove that you have the right not to choose!
They have the right to forge their own path, one that transcends their plans!
Gu Yuena, who was some distance away, immediately sensed the abnormality. She felt Xuan Ming's aura suddenly become chaotic and dangerous, as if it were simultaneously engaged in an invisible battle with several terrifying forces! Her heart leaped into her throat, but she knew that she absolutely could not interfere at this moment, or the consequences would be unimaginable!
Under the violent impact of the five God King' wills, consciousness flickered violently like a candle in a storm, as if it would be completely extinguished at any moment.
Amidst intense pain and chaos, Xuan Ming's consciousness seemed to be torn apart, plunging into a bizarre and fantastical vortex.
When he "opened his eyes" again, or rather, regained his senses, the surrounding scenery had changed drastically.
It was no longer the desolate and barren Dragon Valley of the Dragon Tomb, filled with the howling of dragon souls, but a... bright, luxurious room with a faint fragrance.
Soft light streamed through the delicate window frames, filling the air with a serene and sacred atmosphere.
"You're awake?"
A familiar yet slightly unfamiliar female voice rang in my ears.
Xuan Ming turned his head in a daze and saw a beautiful girl with golden hair and golden eyes, dressed in a long golden palace dress, standing by the bed, looking at him with complicated eyes.
Qian Renxue?
Is this... the Angel Temple?
In an instant, countless chaotic fragments of memories flooded his mind—being forcibly abducted by Golden Crocodile Douluo, the confrontation with Qian Daoliu, that suffocating pressure, and... the almost hopeless diagnosis about his Martial Soul.
Could it be... that everything I've experienced before, that magnificent yet brutally bloody journey, the establishment of the Spirit Hall Empire, the struggle with the Divine Realm, and even the current attempt to attain Godhead... was all just a long and vivid dream?
Yes, he should have died here. Because of those damned, mutually devouring Twin Martial Souls.
An indescribable sense of exhaustion and absurdity welled up inside me.
If it was all just a dream, then the despair of this reality is all the more overwhelming.
Qian Renxue looked at the confusion, bewilderment, and even a hint of... death in Xuan Ming's eyes.
A sudden tightness gripped her heart, and she began with the prepared words, "This is where I used to live. You can live here from now on too."
Xuan Ming's gaze swept across the magnificent room, his voice carrying a calm detachment born of experience. "For a cemetery, this place is a bit too bright."
Qian Renxue's breath hitched, and she suppressed her displeasure. "This isn't a cemetery, it's a place to live."
"Isn't the place where the dead live a cemetery?" Xuan Ming retorted, his tone completely calm.
"You!" Qian Renxue took a deep breath, her chest heaving slightly, clearly furious. "Did I ever say I wanted you dead?"
"Then why did you bring me here?"
"It's not an arrest," Qian Renxue turned around, her back to him, trying to create an air of mystery, "A friend of mine asked me to rescue you."
"Friend? Who?"
" Xue Qinghe," Qian Renxue said, uttering a name she had already prepared. "He contacted me, saying that you were kidnapped by Titled Douluo from the Spirit Hall, and asked me to rescue you."
And who are you?
" Qian Renxue, the Great Enshrined you just encountered was my grandfather."
Next came the meticulously prepared grand narrative about the situation on the continent, the alliance between the Spirit Hall and the Heaven Dou Empire, and the pursuit of peace and order...
She paints a picture of a future that seems beautiful but is actually full of calculations, trying to move this seemingly precocious but desperate boy with righteousness and ideals.
Xuan Ming listened quietly, watching Qian Renxue silently, his face showing no emotion.