As the sky screen's announcement of the rewards rang through heaven and earth, it stirred up a storm of towering waves across the entire Douluo Continent.
Countless eyes turned toward the heavens.
From lofty and powerful Soul Masters to ordinary people living across the continent, everyone was waiting to see what would happen next on the sky screen.
After all, the one receiving the rewards this time was no ordinary Soul Master, but White Impermanence Yue Guan, who had already entered the God King realm!
A God King Level expert alone was enough to shake the entire continent.
What was more, behind Yue Guan stood a faction that had never truly revealed the full extent of its strength before-the Underworld!
The thought of that unfathomable faction filled everyone with awe.
Meanwhile, in the Divine Realm, Tang San's expression had grown exceptionally dark.
He gazed at the white-robed figure on the sky screen, a mourning staff in his hand, and it was as though he could already see his own future.
It was a darkness that filled him with despair.
The gods of the Underworld descended, Spirit Hall rose again, and the Divine Realm, which had once stood high above all living beings, gradually lost its hold over the Douluo Continent.
If all of this truly came to pass, what would become of everything he, Tang San, had painstakingly built?
No!
He could never let that happen!
"I will never let it happen!"
Tang San abruptly clenched his fists, a ruthless glint flashing in his eyes.
At this point, he could no longer concern himself with maintaining his usual composure.
The Underworld's existence had already become a serious threat to his position.
If he allowed it to continue growing, how much say would he, the ruler of the Divine Realm, still have once the Underworld truly began meddling in the affairs of the Douluo Continent?
Not to mention that Bibi Dong, Qian Daoliu, and those who had once been his enemies were now all members of the Underworld.
Once they returned to the mortal world, Spirit Hall would surely become his most troublesome enemy!
At that thought, Tang San's gaze returned to the sky screen.
More than Yue Guan's own strength, what concerned him now were the rewards the sky screen had given him.
[Soul Power Level increased by one level!] [Heaven-given Martial Soul!] [The right to travel freely to and from Douluo Star!] [Physical body reconstruction!]
These rewards seemed simple, but the more Tang San thought about them, the more he felt something was amiss.
"A one-level increase in Soul Power Level is normal enough, but the heaven-given Martial Soul and physical body reconstruction... what exactly do they mean?"
Tang San murmured under his breath, his brows tightly furrowed.
With his current breadth of knowledge, he could naturally tell that these rewards were far from as simple as they appeared.
That was especially true of the final two.
Did the heaven-given Martial Soul mean that gods of the Underworld could also possess Martial Souls?
One had to remember that Martial Souls were the foundation of the Douluo Continent's Soul Master cultivation system.
If even gods could obtain Martial Souls out of thin air and use them to master new powers, how much would the Underworld's strength swell?
The reconstruction of Yue Guan's physical body made Tang San's heart sink even further.
Could it be that the gods of the Underworld had not possessed physical bodies in the true sense before?
If so, in what form did they exist within the Underworld?
What concerned him most, however, was the so-called right to travel freely to and from Douluo Star.
"Could it be... that the gods of the Underworld can't leave the Underworld and go to the Douluo Continent whenever they please?"
As soon as the thought surfaced, Tang San felt as though he had grasped something crucial.
If that were true, then no matter how powerful the Underworld had been before, it might have been subject to some kind of restriction.
And the sky screen's reward of the right to travel freely to and from Douluo Star meant precisely that this restriction was being broken!
The apprehension in Tang San's eyes deepened.
Memories from his previous life were helping him piece together the Underworld's true nature, bit by bit.
Unfortunately, the clearer those legends in his memory became, the stronger his unease grew.
For he was beginning to realize that the faction he faced might not be one he could afford to provoke lightly.
"This time, we're in serious trouble..."
Tang San spoke quietly, his expression grim.
The Shrek members beside him naturally noticed his reaction as well.
Looking at the sky screen, Dai Mubai couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.
"It's incredible. Who could have imagined that Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan would grow to this extent!"
Zhu Zhuqing nodded slightly, a hint of shock appearing on her aloof, composed face.
Though Yue Guan had once been quite strong, he had ultimately been no more than a Titled Douluo on the Douluo Continent.
But now, he had become a lofty God King.
Such a change was almost impossible to imagine.
"This isn't ordinary growth."
Ma Hongjun smacked his lips, a self-deprecating note in his voice.
"The sky screen already said it: he's a full-fledged God King Level expert! Even if you put all of us together, I'm afraid we wouldn't be enough for him to crush with one finger."
Though his words were somewhat grating, they were not without reason.
After all, the gap between a God King and an ordinary god was not something numbers could easily make up for.
What was more, Yue Guan himself possessed extremely uncanny abilities.
That seemingly ordinary mourning staff could even strike an evil soul into oblivion.
No one could say for certain whether this divine weapon of the Underworld would prove just as fearsome against the gods of the Divine Realm.
Oscar and Ning Rongrong exchanged a glance, both looking somewhat downcast.
They knew very well that with the sky screen's rewards bestowed upon him, Yue Guan's strength would only climb to another level.
As members of the Divine Realm, they had little confidence in their ability to handle what was coming.
If the Underworld truly chose to become the Divine Realm's enemy, the Shrek Seven Devils alone could do nothing to change matters.
They needed allies.
They even needed the entire Divine Realm to stand on the same front!
As everyone was lost in their own thoughts, Xiao Wu suddenly walked over to Tang San.
Seeing her Third Brother gradually recover from his despondency, she gently took his hand, her voice firm.
"Third Brother, you don't need to worry."
"No matter how powerful that White Impermanence Yue Guan is, we can't give up so easily."
"Don't forget, you're a God King, and we have the entire Divine Realm behind us!"
Xiao Wu's words were like a lamp lit in the darkness.
Tang San's eyes stirred, and his taut expression began to change.
That's right!
He was not fighting alone.
Powerful as the Underworld was, the Divine Realm had many gods of its own.
If he could join forces with the other God Kings and assemble a force capable of standing against the Underworld, then even if Yue Guan returned to the Douluo Continent, he might not be able to do as he pleased.
"Xiao Wu, you mean... unite the entire Divine Realm?"
Tang San spoke slowly, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
Without hesitation, Xiao Wu nodded emphatically.
"That's right!"
"Since the Underworld may become our enemy, we should prepare in advance instead of waiting until they come knocking at our door to think about how to respond!"
Hearing this, Tang San finally calmed down completely.
He looked toward the Divine Realm's palace in the distance, already considering how to join forces with the other God Kings.
What he didn't know, however, was that while he sought to win allies, the other God Kings had long since turned their attention to the sky screen.
The Destruction God King and the Life God King stood side by side.
Neither had taken their eyes off the white-robed figure.
The moment he heard the sky screen announce the rewards, a strange glint appeared in the Destruction God King's eyes.
"Interesting."
"An increase in Soul Power, a heaven-given Martial Soul, a reconstructed physical body, and the right to travel freely to and from Douluo Star..."
He murmured the rewards under his breath, the corners of his mouth slowly rising.
"It seems the heavens over the Douluo Continent really are about to change this time."
The Destruction God King could hardly be said to have any fondness for the Underworld.
More precisely, he would not readily accept any faction that could threaten the Divine Realm's rule.
But he also knew that Tang San was now closely tied to the Divine Realm.
Regardless of how he had viewed Tang San in the past, the two were at least on the same side when facing an outside threat.
"I wonder just how strong Yue Guan will become after receiving these rewards."
The Destruction God King narrowed his eyes.
"If the Underworld really is preparing to interfere with the Douluo Continent, Tang San will have plenty to keep him busy."
The Life God King beside him, however, was in no hurry to draw a conclusion.
She studied the sky screen, her voice curious.
"It's still too early to discuss these things."
"Rather than guess what the Underworld will do next, we should see just how much the power the sky screen has bestowed on Yue Guan can change."
As her words fell, the sky screen suddenly blazed with dazzling light.
Boundless golden divine radiance pierced the void, becoming a pillar of light that spanned heaven and earth and descended straight into the depths of the Underworld!
Inside Fengdu Grand Hall, the solemn atmosphere changed in an instant.
Countless Underworld Yin Gods looked up.
Even Chen Yuan, the Great Emperor of Fengdu, seated high in the hall, turned his gaze toward the descending divine light.
The next moment, White Impermanence Yue Guan suddenly moved.
Without the slightest hesitation, he became a streak of white light and shot out of Fengdu Grand Hall, welcoming the reward descending from the heavens!
The golden divine radiance crashed down.
Vast power enveloped Yue Guan in an instant.
His presence climbed higher and higher, and his Soul Power, which had already reached the God King level, rose to a new height once more!
Immediately afterward, a strange power of origin emerged from the depths of the light.
It was the heaven-given Martial Soul bestowed upon him by the sky screen!
As the mysterious power gathered, the illusory image of a Martial Soul unique to Yue Guan gradually appeared behind him.
The image mingled with his own presence, as though it had always been part of his power.
His mourning staff lay across his palm, and his white robes snapped in the wind.
The tall hat on his head, bearing the words "Fortune at First Sight," stood out all the more clearly in the golden divine radiance.
At this moment, Yue Guan had not only gained new power; it was as though he had completely fused his divine position, Martial Soul, and divine office in the Underworld into one.
Immediately afterward, a second power descended.
Physical body reconstruction!
His illusory body as a Yin God began to solidify under the wash of the sky screen's power.
Bones, flesh, and meridians-everything was rebuilt within the divine light.
A surging breath of life spread from Yue Guan's body.
His body was finally no longer illusory; it had true flesh and blood and warmth!
For an ordinary god, this change might not have amounted to much.
But for Yue Guan, it meant that he could finally set foot in the mortal world and walk once more upon the Douluo Continent he had once known so well!
And at this moment, the final reward also took full effect.
Free passage to and from Douluo Star!
From this point on, the boundary between Douluo Star and the Underworld could no longer stand in his way.
Yue Guan slowly lowered his head, looking at his now-solid hands and feeling the power surging endlessly through his body.
An irrepressible smile gradually spread across his once somewhat delicate face.
How many years had it been!
Ever since entering the Underworld and becoming White Impermanence, he had never again been able to truly walk upon the land of the mortal world as he had in life.
Now, all of that had finally changed.
He had regained a physical body, gained even greater power, and could finally return to the place that haunted his dreams!
Yue Guan raised his head, his white robes snapping in the divine wind.
"I, White Impermanence Yue Guan, have returned!"
That long cry seemed to pierce the boundary between the Underworld and the mortal world.
Inside Fengdu Grand Hall, the Yin Gods all smiled.
Qian Daoliu, the former Great Enshrined of Spirit Hall, was staring fixedly at the scene on the sky screen.
When he saw Yue Guan regain his physical body and heard those familiar, stirring words, his eyes instantly grew moist.
Tears rolled down his aged face.
He had waited far too long for this day.
How glorious had Spirit Hall once been?
But as calamity followed calamity, Spirit Hall fell apart, and its former glory seemed to have become a distant, unreachable past.
Qian Daoliu was reborn in the Underworld and watched it all happen before his eyes.
Now, the existence of the Underworld had given him hope once more.
And Yue Guan's return to the Douluo world was like the first spark kindling that hope!
"This is wonderful..."
Qian Daoliu's voice trembled slightly, his eyes filled with excitement and barely concealed anticipation.
He raised his head and gazed at the heavens above, as though he could already see the day when Spirit Hall would once again stand atop the continent.
"My Spirit Hall... can finally rise again!"