[Tang Chen asked me, "Qian Daoliu, do you think there are really living gods in this world?"]
[I didn't answer, because I knew what he wanted to hear wasn't an answer, but confirmation.]
[At last, we set foot on Sea God Island.]
[As the Angel God's representative in the mortal world, I sensed the presence of divine power from the Sea God as soon as I approached Sea God Island.]
[But I wasn't alarmed, because we had come to Sea God Island mainly to explore, not to invade.]
[At present, the strongest people in the world were level ninety-nine Peerless Douluo. Tang Chen and I had come to visit together, so even if Sea God Island really intended to act against us, we had enough confidence in our strength to deal with it.]
[Although our visit didn't go very smoothly, Tang Chen and I made it onto Sea God Island in the end.]
[Sea God Island had five lords, known as Sacred Pillars, and all of them were Titled Douluo. But as for their strength, they were weak, nowhere near a match for our Spirit Hall.]
[It was the high priestess, Bo Saixi, who caught Tang Chen's interest and mine. She was not only a god's representative, but also a level ninety-nine Peerless Douluo.]
[Tang Chen and I had been invincible on the continent for too long. Naturally, the sight of worthy prey stirred our hunting instincts, and we challenged her.]
[Bo Saixi accepted immediately, because she, too, wanted to see how strong the Peerless Douluo of the continent were.]
[And so, the three of us fought a great battle for three days and three nights, causing mountains to collapse and tsunamis to rise. In the end, Bo Saixi relied on the advantage of her surroundings to defeat Tang Chen and me in turn.]
[Both Tang Chen and I accepted that outcome.]
[After all, she was the Sea God's guardian. On the sea, with its power bolstering her, Bo Saixi was invincible.]
[Well, by then Tang Chen had also realized what was special about Bo Saixi and me. We were both gods' representatives, and we had both attained our present strength under the shelter of the gods.]
[I couldn't help marveling that Tang Chen's talent truly was extraordinary!]
[I was invincible in the sky thanks to a god's protection; Bo Saixi was invincible in the ocean thanks to a god's protection as well. Tang Chen alone was invincible on land through his own strength.]
"As expected of Ancestor Tang Chen!"
Tang Xiao, the Clear Sky Sect's master, spoke excitedly as he watched the Heavenly Screen.
Although this was Qian Daoliu's monologue, it brought Ancestor Tang Chen's talent into relief.
After so many years in seclusion, the disciples had inevitably grown somewhat dissatisfied.
Some even believed that their sect's claim to be the number one sect under heaven was a lie, that it had become utterly afraid of Spirit Hall and still refused to emerge from seclusion.
Now, the Heavenly Screen was a perfect opportunity to show the disciples their ancestor's glory.
Meanwhile, Tang Hao, who was still searching the Star Dou Great Forest for a suitable Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast for Su Ming, also stopped what he was doing.
"Sea God Island... It's been such a long time since I last heard that name," Tang Hao couldn't help remarking.
Back then, he and his elder brother Tang Xiao had gone to Sea God Island under the pretext of delivering a letter. Upon landing, they had come into conflict with the Sea Soul Masters and had ultimately been captured alive by a Titled Douluo.
After reading their ancestor's letter, the high priestess had briefly asked a few questions about how their grandfather was doing, then let them leave.
[Later, during those days, Tang Chen and I both fell in love with Bo Saixi, without either of us knowing the other felt the same.]
[By then, both Tang Chen's wife and mine had long since passed away. Having met someone we loved, we naturally pursued her.]
[I lost this contest called love.]
[Bo Saixi fell in love with Tang Chen, so she rejected me by saying that she would accept the feelings of whoever reached level one hundred.]
[As guardians of gods, we both knew perfectly well that the path to becoming a god at level one hundred had long been severed.]
[So, with those words, Bo Saixi was making her feelings clear to Tang Chen.]
[Unfortunately, Tang Chen failed to grasp what Bo Saixi meant. Taking her words at face value, he left Sea God Island after declaring, "I won't return until I become a god."]
[At first, that was what I thought about Tang Chen too.]
[But later, I suddenly understood that it wasn't that Tang Chen had failed to understand.]
[Rather, Tang Chen's pride wouldn't allow him to express his feelings to the woman he loved before he had achieved the goal she had set.]
"It's the legendary love triangle! I never expected even Peerless Douluo to have romantic troubles like this."
"This Tang Chen was too proud. Why didn't he just accept her feelings?"
"Exactly. Becoming a god-if it were really that easy, the Clear Sky Sect would have united the entire continent long ago."
"..."
The melodramatic love story between peerless experts was, in some respects, even more popular than the great secrets revealed earlier.
Inside Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong let out a cold laugh. "That old bastard really is no good."
In her current state, she despised everyone she looked at, especially those in Spirit Hall who stood with the Qian Family.
Naturally, she saw Qian Daoliu as a hypocritical old bastard.
Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo stood on either side like statues, pretending not to hear.
The Heaven Dou Empire, the crown prince's residence.
Qian Renxue stared at the Heavenly Screen in surprise. "I never thought Grandpa once had feelings like that..."
As his granddaughter, she couldn't really comment.
[Later still, Tang Chen and I both left Sea God Island and returned to the Douluo Continent.]
[I naturally continued to oversee Spirit Hall, while Tang Chen first returned to his sect. Everything seemed to have gone back to the way it was before we had ever visited Sea God Island.]
[But I knew in my heart that everything had changed. Tang Chen now had a brand-new goal: to become a god and be with Bo Saixi.]
[Because of my feelings for Bo Saixi, I didn't want to see Tang Chen become a god. Once he did, Bo Saixi would be with him.]
[But because of the bond we had shared over many years as both enemies and friends, I also hoped Tang Chen would become a god. I hoped that the man most worthy of becoming a god in the whole world would see what lay at level one hundred, where one became a god, in my stead.]
[Then, one day, Tang Chen invited me to the Clear Sky Sect for a talk.]
[Naturally, I went to visit him.]
[On a mountain cliff, we fought another great battle. In that fight, I was once again a hair's breadth behind him.]
[As a result, I promised Tang Chen that from then on, no one in Spirit Hall below his level would ever set foot on that mountain peak until I could defeat him.]
[Of course, I knew why Tang Chen had asked me to make that promise. He wanted to leave a protective talisman for his descendants. It seemed Tang Chen had made up his mind to leave the sect and search for his own path to godhood.]
[All I could do was offer him my best wishes, and hope Tang Chen would become a god soon!]
[Then I, too, could witness that legendary realm of the gods! After all, it was a realm I could never reach in my lifetime.]