"Huo Yuhao, do you regret it? If you hand over the fragments and the Golden Dragon King's Divine Core and surrender all your providence to me, you can continue to be my good son-in-law.
"I can also forgive you and let you continue living with my daughter." Tang San's voice rang out again, with a hint of temptation in his tone.
"No regrets!" Huo Yuhao jerked his head up. Though utterly weakened, he braced himself and said, "I may be untalented, but I still know that kindness must be repaid and that one must respect one's teacher and honor the Dao. Since childhood, I had no family but my mother. Then my teacher appeared at my side and made my life less difficult. He protected me time and again, taught me necromancy, and sought opportunities for me. Without my teachers, I would not be who I am today.
"I once swore to help my teacher collect the fragments of his divine consciousness, but I seemed to forget all about it, as if all of a sudden. I was already being foolish. If I made that mistake again, I, Huo Yuhao, would have no face left to live in this world." As he spoke, he began coughing violently, and the blood he coughed up spattered his robes, making him look even more wretched.
Just then, Tang Wutong's figure slowly appeared in everyone's sight. Her steps were light, like a blossoming lotus drifting across the water. Yet this reunion, which should have been full of warmth, now seemed like a huge, absurd farce. Only, Huo Yuhao was clearly not the winner of this farce.
"Are you really Dong'er?" Huo Yuhao looked at Tang Wutong and suddenly asked the question.
Even Tang Wutong had not expected that.
"Yuhao, what are you saying? I'm Dong'er. How could you ask a question like that?" Tang Wutong said softly. She slowly walked up to Huo Yuhao, a gentle smile on her face, though a trace of nearly imperceptible complexity showed in her eyes. "Yuhao, what's wrong with you? Why oppose Father? Why kidnap my younger brother? Why betray us?" Her voice was gentle, yet it pierced Huo Yuhao's heart like a sharp knife.
"But why can't I see even a trace of them in you?" Huo Yuhao said weakly, his eyes full of disappointment as he gave a bitter smile. He stared fixedly at Tang Wutong, trying to find traces of his two familiar lovers in her face, but all he saw was a stranger.
When had it begun? In the Divine Realm, or on the Douluo Continent? With two torn souls joined as one and mixed with different powers, were they really still the same women they had been at the beginning? The ones he loved were Dong'er and Qiu'er.
Just then, a flash of golden light streaked past, and a long spear pierced Huo Yuhao's chest like lightning. It was the Golden Dragon Spear. Only someone with the Golden Dragon Martial Soul could wield it; anyone else who touched it would have their life force madly drained.
Though Huo Yuhao had become a god and possessed Wang Qiu'er's power of destiny, this sudden strike was impossible to guard against. His eyes widened, filled with shock and disbelief. He had never imagined that this deadly spear would plunge into his body without warning.
The Golden Dragon Spear was a divine artifact, which meant that even a god could fall beneath it. Bright red blood flowed from the corner of Huo Yuhao's mouth and from his chest, pooling beneath him. On top of the grievous wounds the Sea God Trident had already inflicted, Huo Yuhao's life should have been extinguished, yet he still had one breath left.
"No, you're not Dong'er, and you're not Qiu'er either." Huo Yuhao stared at Tang Wutong in disbelief. He finally understood, and had fully emerged from that hollow dream. Tears surged from the corners of his eyes like a flood bursting through a dam, and the heart-rending pain within him far outweighed the pain in his body.
"I should have known long ago. But I didn't dare think about it. You're not Dong'er, and you're not Qiu'er either. Then who are you now?" he demanded, his voice choked with tears and full of despair. His eyes shimmered with tears, their corners reddening, as he gave vent to all the pain in his heart.
Silence reigned all around them. Everyone else remained quiet. Huo Yun'er closed her eyes and flung herself into Dai Hao's arms in grief, her body trembling slightly. Dai Mubai watched it all silently and said no more.
Only Sea God Tang San gave a cold smile, a trace of smugness in it. He stood there like a ruler who controlled everything, staring fixedly at Huo Yuhao. He was very satisfied with this outcome, except that he had yet to obtain the core. But if Huo Yuhao died, perhaps there would still be a way to obtain his providence.
Tang Wutong's expression suddenly turned cold. "I am the goddess Tang Wutong. I always have been. Wang Dong'er was merely a part of me. We were destined to be together, Yuhao. This is all fate's arrangement. Stop defying it." Her voice was icy, without a trace of emotion.
Huo Yuhao's face contorted, and his once-floating blue hair turned dull gray. "Destined? Was it really destiny, or was it your father's scheme? What a fine scheme, to even abandon his own daughter! Hahahaha!" He laughed wildly, his laughter filled with grief and indignation. None of his usual reason remained in his eyes. At this moment, no sorrow was greater than a dead heart.
Everything was false. Then what was real? Huo Yuhao's heart was completely consumed by anger. But soon, a trace of resolve flashed in his eyes, and his divine power of emotion surged through his body like a rushing tide. Once again, he set his battered divine soul ablaze, recklessly expending the life force consumed by its burning, like a moth flying into a flame.
Flames kindled by the divine power throughout his body blazed fiercely, as though they would set the whole world alight. He drove his power and unleashed a palm strike mighty enough to shake heaven and earth. This strike was for the innocent, kind Wang Dong'er of the past, and for Qiu'er, who had loved him just as deeply.
In an instant, Huo Yuhao's figure appeared behind Tang Wutong like a phantom. Only then did Tang San react. His expression changed drastically, and a flicker of panic crossed his eyes. He wanted to save her, but it was too late.
The strike, gathering all of Huo Yuhao's power of emotion and carrying boundless grief, indignation, and despair, slammed into Tang Wutong. With a muffled boom, her body was sent flying. Her divine soul shattered instantly under the impact of that immense force, and she fell stiffly to the ground, breathless and dead on the spot.
No one had expected Huo Yuhao's palm strike to be so powerful, its might comparable to a god king's full-strength attack.
Huo Yuhao had reached his limit. "Let me personally finish you with the divine skill I created for you: Haodong Palm."
Seeing his daughter struck dead by Huo Yuhao's palm, Tang San immediately let out an enraged roar. "Huo Yuhao, I want you dead!" Blood Qi poured from his body like a surging tide, killing intent spilling in every direction and enveloping the entire Divine Realm in an instant. That towering blood Qi was like a bloody slaughterhouse, making people shudder. "I'll tear you to pieces to avenge my daughter!"