"Divine punishment descends? Everyone's level gets reset to zero?"
Flender slammed the table and stood up, his expression as if he were listening to a tall tale. "What nonsense is this kid spouting? How could something like that possibly happen?!"
"Divine punishment..."
Yu Xiaogang frowned, trying to calm himself enough to analyze it. "As the name suggests, divine punishment should be a punishment sent down by a god. But why would a god punish the lower realm?"
"Teacher, do you mean gods really exist?"
Tang San couldn't help asking.
"According to legend, they do."
Yu Xiaogang pondered. "But even a god couldn't reset everyone's level to zero, could they?"
Flender had also calmed down. He pushed his crooked glasses back into place. "Exactly. This kid called Wu Wei must be crazy. 'Everyone's level reset to zero'? That's ridiculous."
At the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Fengzhi finally recovered from his shock and immediately turned to Bone Douluo and Sword Douluo. "Uncle Gu, Uncle Jian, do you think this 'divine punishment' Wu Wei mentioned is credible?"
Bone Douluo Gu Rong pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head. "I've lived my whole life and never heard of any divine punishment descending upon the world. But that kid is no ordinary person. We'll know if we keep watching."
"Exactly." Sword Douluo Chen Xin nodded as well, his voice calm and composed. "We only need to keep watching to know whether it's true or false. There's no use panicking now."
At Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong reacted most fiercely.
"Divine punishment? Levels reset to zero?"
She sprang up from the Pope's throne, a cold gleam shooting from her eyes. "Utter nonsense! I have never heard of a god capable of doing such a thing. Besides..."
She sneered, her voice carrying both mockery and nervousness. "If everyone's level really is reset to zero, wouldn't everything I've worked so hard to build over the years go to waste? Why would a god do this? There's no reason!"
"I'd like to see whether this so-called 'divine punishment' is real or not!"
On Sea God Island, Bo Saixi stood atop Sea God Mountain, gazing at the figure of the young man on the sky screen, her eyes deep and grave.
"Divine punishment... levels reset to zero..." she murmured softly. "If this is true, it would be nothing short of a disaster!"
In the Star Dou Great Forest, the Titan Giant Ape Er Ming pounded the ground wildly. "Hahaha, good, good, good! If all the humans' levels are reset to zero, no one will be able to hurt our Soul Beast Clan anymore!"
Er Ming thought only humans would suffer divine punishment!
The Sky Azure Bull Python Da Ming, however, remained silent. His enormous eyes were fixed on the sky screen, and a faint, ominous premonition stirred in his heart.
If the divine punishment punished everyone, would it spare the Soul Beast Clan?
And what would happen to Sister Xiao Wu?
Would Sister Xiao Wu count as a human or a Soul Beast?
Just then-
The scene on the sky screen suddenly changed.
[Ding~ Divine Punishment of Equality for All Beings... descends!]
Hum-
An invisible ripple spread out from the sky screen. Although it was only an image, everyone beneath the screen could feel the terrifying pressure from the future.
In the image, the entire Douluo Planet was shrouded in a mysterious force, and everyone collapsed to the ground at that moment.
Wu Wei, the nineteen-year-old Soul Douluo standing on the mountaintop, also shuddered under that force.
His level began to drop.
"Level 84... level 83... level 82..."
The numbers on Wu Wei's attribute panel on the sky screen clearly showed the change in his cultivation. His level fell so fast that the drop was visible to the naked eye. In almost the space of a breath, he fell from level 84 to level 80.
"No! That's impossible!"
Flender cried out in shock.
"He really is losing levels!"
Yu Xiaogang was stunned as well, all color draining from his face. "And he's losing them so fast! What kind of power is this? Why would a god do this?"
But Wu Wei on the sky screen showed neither pain nor fear.
Instead, he spread his arms and looked up at the sky, the corners of his mouth even curling up slightly.
"Hahahaha-"
His laughter rang out from the sky screen, echoing through every corner of the Douluo Continent.
Level 79... level 75... level 70...
His laughter grew louder and wilder.
"Come on! Come at me even harder!"
Level 65... level 58... level 49...
Level 40... level 31... level 22...
Level 10... level 5...
Finally, Wu Wei's level fell all the way to zero.
His terrifying Soul Power, the seven black and one red Soul Rings he was so proud of, and the level 84 Soul Douluo cultivation he had attained at the age of nineteen-all of it vanished into nothing.
On the sky screen, the young man fell to his knees, trembling all over. His head was lowered, hiding his expression, but his shoulders shook violently.
Everyone wondered: Was he crying? Was he in despair?
Then he raised his head.
He was smiling.
Laughing at the top of his lungs.
"Hahahahahaha-"
"Good! Wonderful!"
"Equality for all beings! Equality for all beings! Hahahaha-"
Everyone beneath the sky screen stared in bewilderment.
"He... has he gone mad?" Dai Mubai's mouth hung open. He couldn't make any sense of what he was seeing.
"A nineteen-year-old Soul Douluo! A Soul Ring Configuration of seven black and one red! All gone, just like that!" Oscar's eyes widened too, his voice full of disbelief and regret. "Wouldn't you go mad in his place?"
"I... if it were me, I'd probably go mad too..." Ma Hongjun swallowed, fear written all over his face.
"Wait, that happens thirteen years from now. Doesn't that mean our Soul Power Levels will all be reset to zero then too?"
Oscar was the first to realize it and immediately cried out.
"..."
At Oscar's words, everyone else at Shrek fell silent.
They had just seen Wu Wei go mad, and their attention had been drawn to him for the moment. Now that Oscar had brought it up, they remembered.
The sky screen was showing events thirteen years in the future. That meant their levels would all be reset to zero as well, just like Wu Wei's.
"How could this happen? The divine punishment is actually real!"
"What should we do?"
"Should we keep cultivating?"
"Everyone's levels will be reset to zero in the future anyway, so is there any point in cultivating now?"
Ma Hongjun clutched his head and wailed.
The others' faces were just as grim, filled with fear and helplessness.
If everyone's Soul Power Level really was destined to be reset to zero in the future, then whether they cultivated or not seemed to make no difference.
"Bastards, how could you say something so pessimistic?"
"What if the events on the sky screen don't happen in the future after all?"
"Wouldn't the decision you make today bring misery down on your own head?"
"And even if the events on the sky screen do happen in the future, there are still thirteen years left. For those thirteen years, do you want to be a genius who keeps shining, or a good-for-nothing?"
Yu Xiaogang shouted angrily, berating Ma Hongjun and the others.
At the same time, countless others were dumbstruck to see that the descent of the divine punishment really did happen.