An Yi: What's the Point of Becoming a God? Isn't It Better to Be a Local Emperor in the Mortal World?

After lunch.

In the Saintess Hall's small garden, An Yi sat in a pavilion, drinking tea as he reviewed the Soul Tool knowledge in his mind.

Bibi Dong sat across from him, staring at him for quite a while before she finally couldn't hold back.

"An Yi."

"Hmm?"

"How do you know so much?" Bibi Dong frowned slightly.

"You said before that you worked it all out yourself, but how old are you? And your understanding of Soul Master cultivation has gone beyond anything that can be explained by simply accumulating experience."

"Did the people on Sea God Island teach you?"

An Yi picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said unhurriedly:

"If I said I figured it out without a teacher, you wouldn't believe me."

"So let's just say Sea God Island taught me."

Bibi Dong: "..."

"If Sea God Island really knew these things, they would have been far stronger than they were back then."

Sea God Island was indeed powerful. In terms of its strongest experts alone, Bo Saixi could stand shoulder to shoulder with Qian Daoliu.

But if Sea God Island had truly mastered the theories An Yi had described and applied them to Soul Master cultivation and Soul Tool manufacturing, its overall strength could never have remained at the level it had reached back then.

"Then how do you want me to answer?" An Yi set down his teacup and spread his hands helplessly. "Are you suggesting Yu Xiaogang taught me?"

Bibi Dong's expression froze, and her face instantly turned cold.

An Yi knew when to stop. He waved a hand. "All right, don't worry about how I know all this. Isn't it enough that I do?"

Bibi Dong fell silent for a moment. "But if the Sea God's Light can help cultivation so much, and you haven't actually made that kind of Soul Tool yet, why did you come back?"

"Wouldn't it have been better to stay on Sea God Island and keep cultivating?"

An Yi gave her an odd look. "Wait, you don't really think anyone can just go into the Sea God's Light, do you?"

"I was able to cultivate in there for the past ten-odd years because Bo Saixi saw that I was talented and sweet-tongued, so she made a special exception for me."

"But now I'm eighteen. According to Sea God Island's rules, once you turn eighteen, you have to take the Sacred Pillar Trial. If you fail, you're forcibly expelled from the island. If you pass, you're tied to Sea God Island for the rest of your life and have to obediently guard it."

The corner of Bibi Dong's eye twitched sharply. "So... you ran away?"

An Yi leaned closer, looking at her with a grin. "What, are you angry? Blaming me because I said I came running back entirely for you?"

Bibi Dong shoved his approaching face away, turned her head, and said coldly:

"Get lost!"

An Yi raised an eyebrow and explained with a perfectly serious expression, "You have to believe me. A big part of the reason I left Sea God Island was that I didn't want to be some island guardian, but more than that, it really was because I wanted to come back and find you."

"Otherwise, I actually have a way to obtain the Sea God Inheritance."

"I'm just not very interested in it. I was planning to find a chance to get the token and give it to Bo Saixi."

Bibi Dong turned back, her face full of confusion. "You have a way to obtain the Sea God Inheritance?"

"Of course." An Yi nodded. "My talent is sufficient. Bo Saixi herself admitted as much."

"Otherwise, I wouldn't have held that special position on Sea God Island, practically below one person and above ten thousand. A lot of people on the island actually think I might inherit the Sea God's position someday. Even if I don't become a god, I'm a shoo-in to become Sea God Island's future high priest."

"You could say that all I'm missing is a token for the assessment, and I can get my hands on that token too, as long as I put some thought into it."

The more Bibi Dong heard, the more absurd it sounded. "If that's the case, why didn't you go get it? Why did you come running to Spirit City instead?"

An Yi spread both hands. "That thing is called the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, and it's currently in the hands of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family. I'm just a little Soul Saint right now. Am I supposed to charge into the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace and snatch it?"

"The Heaven Dou Imperial Family may not have a Titled Douluo holding the fort, but they still have plenty of Soul Douluo. Not to mention, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, one of the Upper Three Sects, is right next door, with two Titled Douluo ready to provide support at any time."

"Besides, the imperial palace is huge. How would I know where they've hidden it? Getting my hands on it would take quite a bit of effort."

At that, An Yi leaned back in his chair, his tone growing somewhat listless. "Besides, I'm not very interested in becoming a god."

Bibi Dong was speechless. She rolled her eyes, too tired to listen to any more of his boasting.

An Yi sat up straight, his expression growing a little more serious. "I mean it. What's the use of becoming a god? All you do is move somewhere else to live. Mortals live in the mortal world, and gods live in the gods' world. It sounds like a cut above, but what difference does it really make to me?"

"I'm confident I can reach the pinnacle of the mortal world, but I don't know the first thing about the Divine Realm."

"If I really inherited the Sea God's position and went to the Divine Realm, who the hell would I be there? I'd have a whole bunch of high-and-mighty ancestors ordering me around again. Would I have to have water in my brain to go there and be somebody's grandson?"

"Isn't it better to be a local emperor in the mortal world?"

"In a few more years, once I'm invincible under heaven, I can do whatever I want. No one will be able to control me."

"But if I go and inherit the Sea God's position, I'll have to get used to the rules in the Divine Realm all over again. What if there are a bunch of gods above me who are stronger than I am, pointing fingers at me every day? What would I have become a god for?"

An Yi curled his lip. "I don't want to be anybody's grandson."

"So, for now, I'm not very interested in becoming a god. Even if I do become one someday, it'll have to be the kind of god who can still do as he pleases."

"Otherwise, isn't it better to stay carefree and at ease in the mortal world?"

Bibi Dong was speechless. "You're just a little Soul Saint right now, and you're already talking about the pinnacle of the mortal world? Aren't you thinking a little too far ahead?"

An Yi raised an eyebrow. "What, do you think I can't reach it?"

Bibi Dong opened her mouth, wanting to fire back at him, but when the words reached her lips, she just couldn't get them out.

This guy had reached the Soul Saint realm at eighteen, and he had Twin Martial Souls.

A level ninety-nine Peerless Douluo might be a realm other Soul Masters could never reach in their entire lives, but for An Yi, it really might not be all that far away.

What was more, his current Martial Soul was far more powerful than the "sun" and "moon" she had seen in Vast Sea City back then. It even gave off an indescribably dangerous aura.

At that thought, Bibi Dong couldn't help feeling a little glum.

They both had Twin Martial Souls, and this guy was clearly so much younger than she was. How could he be so infuriating?

An Yi didn't linger on the subject. He took out the drawings he had made that morning from his Storage Soul Tool and spread them out on the stone table.

"All right, we can talk about the future later. For now, let's get this thing made."

An Yi pointed to the Soul Guidance Cultivation Armor design on the drawing. "If we can make this thing, both of us can use it."

Bibi Dong looked puzzled. "You can use it yourself? Can't you apply your Tidal Gravity directly to yourself?"

An Yi sighed helplessly. "Big sister, do you think all those years I spent training on Sea God Island were for nothing?"

"I spent ten years climbing stairs under the pressure of the Sea God's Light. My body and spiritual power are now even stronger than those of most Titled Douluo. How else do you think I got a hundred-thousand-year Seventh Soul Ring?"

"At my current level, the Tidal Gravity I generate doesn't have much effect on my own body anymore. Of course, it doesn't have much effect on a Soul Douluo at your level either. It simply can't help cultivation by pushing us to our limits."