In the past, beneath the heavenly screen.
Little Wu Wei huddled in the corner of an alley, staring up at his future self on the heavenly screen. His eyes went wide as he watched himself pin the Angel God and the Rakshasa God to the ground and brazenly declare that he would make them his maids.
"Holy crap, you really dared to do it!"
He rubbed his eyes, making sure he had seen it right.
On the heavenly screen, the black-haired young man gripped the Rakshasa God's wrist with one hand and pinned down the Angel God's shoulder with the other. His grin was roguish and begging for a punch.
"Those are the Angel God and the Rakshasa God..."
Little Wu Wei murmured to himself, his voice full of envy.
Having the Angel God and the Rakshasa God serve him tea and pour him water was something he didn't even dare imagine doing now.
Yet his future self was about to pull it off.
But after a short while, little Wu Wei's face fell.
The Divine Realm could definitely see what the heavenly screen was showing, too.
The Angel God and the Rakshasa God themselves were still in the Divine Realm. Could they stand watching their future selves being pinned to the ground by a mortal and threatened into becoming his maids?
Little Wu Wei shuddered.
He was certain those two wanted nothing more than to strangle him in his cradle.
"I'm done for, I'm done for..."
He was only six now. His Martial Soul had just awakened, and his Soul Power was only level five.
Those two were gods. Even if they couldn't descend to the lower realm in person, they could casually send a message to Spirit Hall, and a level ninety-nine Peerless Douluo like Qian Daoliu could slap him into a pulp.
But on second thought, little Wu Wei quickly calmed down.
The heavenly screen had shown the reason divine punishment descended in the future.
The condition for triggering divine punishment was repeated interference in the lower realm by gods.
In other words, the Divine Realm now knew better than anyone that the reason they were all reduced to zero and thrown into the lower realm in the future was that some gods couldn't keep their hands to themselves.
That was why all the gods of the future Divine Realm had been punished.
Under those circumstances, would the Angel God and the Rakshasa God dare defy the wind and commit the same offense?
They wouldn't.
Even if they hated him so much their teeth itched, they wouldn't dare make a move against him at such a critical moment.
And even if they did dare, the other gods wouldn't allow it.
"So the Angel God and the Rakshasa God won't touch me."
Little Wu Wei's eyes lit up.
His only remaining trouble was Spirit Hall.
After seeing his future self desecrate the Angel God, Qian Daoliu definitely wouldn't let the matter rest.
She was the object of worship the Qian Family had revered for generations. Little Wu Wei didn't dare bet that Qian Daoliu could swallow even that.
Then there was Bibi Dong.
No matter what she truly thought of the Rakshasa God,
She had to put on a show of it in public.
The Rakshasa God's Godhood Inheritance wasn't over yet. If she dared ignore the person who had desecrated the Rakshasa God, she would be left crying if the Rakshasa God became displeased and withdrew the divine trials later.
So Spirit Hall would definitely make a move.
"Good thing I got out fast!"
Little Wu Wei muttered smugly.
After the heavenly screen had exposed his attribute card, he had slipped out of the junior Soul Master Academy at the first opportunity.
"I'll change my name."
"Then find somewhere to lay low."
Little Wu Wei remembered what his future self had looked like on the heavenly screen, and it was quite different from how he looked now.
His future self had harder facial lines, sharper features, and a tall build. He was only six now, with a round face and big eyes. He looked like a completely ordinary child.
As long as he didn't call himself "Wu Wei," who would recognize him?
Having made up his mind, little Wu Wei turned and disappeared deeper into the alley.
Meanwhile, the heavenly screen's view had shifted entirely to Jialing Pass.
Atop Jialing Pass, the Spirit Hall Empire's flags snapped in the wind. But beneath them, the defenders were pale, their hands trembling around their weapons.
Outside the pass, the Heaven Dou Empire's army covered the earth and filled the horizon. Cavalry stood in front, infantry behind, and siege engines were packed into a long line. Horn blasts rose in waves, each louder than the last, while war drums thundered loud enough to shake the heavens.
Inside Jialing Pass's council hall, the oppressive atmosphere was suffocating.
Bibi Dong sat upright in the chief seat.
She wore papal robes and a purple-gold crown. Her face was cold and striking, her phoenix eyes slightly narrowed, and no expression could be read on it.
The Spirit Hall Empire's core figures filled the seats on both sides below her.
Several worshippers, the elders of each hall, and the sect masters who had thrown their lot in with Spirit Hall.
"Have you all gone mute?" Bibi Dong spoke softly, but her voice was clear and cold, like ice beads falling onto a jade plate. "Weren't you all shouting that the Spirit Hall Empire would last for ten thousand generations? Why aren't you shouting now?"
No one dared answer.
"Report-"
A messenger rushed into the hall and dropped to one knee, panting. "The Heaven Dou Empire's army has advanced to within five li of the walls! Their vanguard is setting up scaling ladders and battering rams!"
Bibi Dong didn't even lift an eyelid.
"Golden Crocodile." She called softly.
Golden Crocodile Douluo sat in the first seat on the left. Hearing her, he immediately rose and bowed. "Your Majesty."
"How many troops at Jialing Pass can still fight?"
"Your Majesty, there are two hundred thousand defenders, but..." Golden Crocodile Douluo paused. "They are all ordinary soldiers. Not one is a Soul Master."
Another silence fell over the hall.
"Two hundred thousand against a million." The corners of Bibi Dong's mouth twitched slightly, whether in a smile or a sneer, no one could tell. "The Heaven Dou Empire certainly knows how to pick its moment."
She rose to her feet.
Cold light flickered in her phoenix eyes beneath her purple-gold crown. Even with her cultivation reduced to zero, the authority and presence she had acquired from years of ruling the Spirit Hall Empire still bore down on everyone present, leaving them afraid to raise their heads.
"Pass down my orders."
Everyone pricked up their ears.
"We evacuate through the north gate." Bibi Dong's voice was crisp and decisive. "Everyone is to be ready within a quarter of an hour and retreat with me to Spirit City."
"Your Majesty!" A cardinal shot to his feet, his face full of unwillingness. "Jialing Pass is the gateway to the Spirit Hall Empire. Once it falls, the Heaven Dou Empire's army can march straight in and bear down on Spirit City! We..."
Bibi Dong glanced at him.
Just one glance.
The cardinal swallowed the rest of his words as though someone had seized him by the throat.
Soon, everyone had gone to prepare for the retreat.
"Damn it!"
Bibi Dong came to the top of the wall and looked out at the Heaven Dou army beyond the pass, her face full of unwillingness and fury.
She had been so close, so close.
She had already killed Tang San. All she had needed to do was accept the Heaven Dou Empire's surrender, then turn around and deal with the Star Luo Empire, and she could have united the continent.
Then divine punishment descended.
Now, instead, the positions of attacker and defender had been reversed.
The Spirit Hall Empire had been powerful before, powerful enough to crush both the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire.
But that was because the Spirit Hall Empire had possessed an overwhelming advantage in the number of Soul Masters. Now, under divine punishment, all Soul Masters had temporarily become ordinary people.
As they were now, they were worse than mortal soldiers. At least mortal soldiers knew how to fight a war.
A Soul Master who had lost Soul Power and Soul Skills was trash.
Bibi Dong understood this perfectly, which was why she had decided to retreat.
To hold Jialing Pass would be to sit and wait for death.
In the past.
Seeing Bibi Dong's fury and unwillingness on the heavenly screen, everyone outside Spirit Hall was delighted.
That included everyone from Shrek Academy.
But when the heavenly screen's view shifted to the rear of the Heaven Dou Empire's army, their smiles soon vanished.
Because they saw Tang San still lying there.