Tang San murmured to himself, "Time to begin." Then he turned and headed toward his daughter Tang Wutong's bedchamber.
Tap, tap, tap. Tang San approached the bedchamber step by step, his steady footsteps carrying an oppressive weight. Along the way, every low-ranking divine official who heard those unmistakable footsteps broke into a sweat, hastily kneeling toward the direction of the sound.
These divine officials knew perfectly well that, before Tang San, they were nothing but dispensable ants he could replace at a whim. God King Tang San could treat useful or irreplaceable people with courtesy and respect, but he always dealt with small fry like them with an iron fist. If anything about them displeased him, these low-ranking divine officials would have courted death, and he could kill them with a flick of his hand.
After countless low-ranking divine officials paid with their lives, the survivors had worked out how to stay alive. Only once Tang San's figure had vanished completely from sight did these divine officials finally dare breathe a sigh of relief.
"Xiao Qi," Tang San called as soon as he stepped into Tang Wutong's bedchamber.
"Daddy! Daddy!" A pretty, adorable little girl with the same blue hair rushed over cheering and threw her arms around Tang San's leg.
Tang San crouched and picked Tang Wutong up, asking with a smile, "Xiao Qi, did you miss Daddy?"
"Yes!" Tang Wutong wrapped her arms around his neck and tilted her head, asking in return, "Daddy, why did you come to see Xiao Qi all by yourself? Why didn't Mommy come with you?"
What Tang San intended to do today was confidential and could not bear the light of day; he had even come secretly behind his wife Xiao Wu's back. He gave a light cough to hide his embarrassment and said, "Your mommy is busy. She can't come over right now."
"Mhm, I understand." Tang Wutong smiled and tightened her arms around Tang San's neck.
Then Tang San's expression grew solemn, and he told Tang Wutong, "Xiao Qi, there's something Daddy must tell you today."
Tang Wutong looked at him curiously. "Daddy, what is it? Tell me."
"Did you know? Your mommy is actually just an ordinary hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast with limited talent, which directly limited your talent as well." Tang San wore a look of bitter anguish. "Xiao Qi, with your talent, the most you could become in the Divine Realm is a Second-Level God. You might even sink to being a Third-Level God."
In truth, he had long since regretted it. Why had he insisted on falling for Xiao Wu, that hundred-thousand-year-old rabbit? Qian Renxue, Ning Rongrong, Shui Bing'er-which of them did not have outstanding talent and looks? With his abilities, helping them become gods would have been no problem at all. Yet now that Xiao Wu had become the sheath for the Asura God Sword, he was the one who could not do without her.
"It's all right, Daddy. Xiao Qi doesn't care about those things," Tang Wutong said obediently, terrified of displeasing Tang San. "As long as I can stay with Daddy and Mommy, that's enough."
"Xiao Qi, Daddy has a plan that will improve your talent and find you a gifted young man for a husband."
"What plan?" Tang Wutong's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly asked. She wanted to improve herself too, and did not want to disappoint her parents.
Tang San gently drew Tang Wutong into his embrace, leaned close to her ear, and laid out his plan word by word.
After hearing it, Tang Wutong's pupils abruptly contracted, and she hurriedly said, "Daddy, you can't do this! You want your daughter's body to approach that Huo Yuhao on its own initiative and even share a room with him? How am I supposed to face anyone afterward? You also want me to put half my soul into a Soul Beast, then guide that Soul Beast to her death so I can seize her bloodline? Daddy, don't do this. Grandma and Mommy both underwent Soul Beast Transformation. Even if we've become human, our whole family still has Soul Beast blood flowing through our veins. We can't do this. It's too cruel to Soul Beasts. Besides, by the time I finish the task you give me, my body and soul will have lived apart for so many years that they'll already have their own experiences and thoughts. If you forcibly merge them again then, will I still be me? I'm afraid I'll just become a stitched-together monster!"
Seeing that his daughter not only failed to support his plan but dared oppose him, Tang San's face instantly darkened. "Xiao Qi, Daddy has made up his mind. I came to inform you, not discuss it with you."
Tang Wutong gritted her teeth and said firmly, "Daddy, please think this through! No matter what, I don't agree!"
"You dare defy me?" Tang San's gaze turned cold, his tone carrying an unquestionable pressure.
"I'm going to find Mommy!" With that, Tang Wutong turned and ran outside.
"Hmph!" Tang San snorted coldly and raised his hand in a grasping motion. In an instant, Tang Wutong seemed to have all her strength drained away and toppled stiffly to the floor.
Tang San opened his hand, and Tang Wutong's complete soul floated above his palm. Tang Wutong was now utterly panicked, trembling all over in fear. She had never imagined that her own father could be so ruthless, so decisive, leaving no room whatsoever.
Tang Wutong's soul cried in a trembling voice, "Daddy, don't do this..."
Looking at his daughter's soul in his palm, Tang San said coldly, "I already told you this had to be done, yet you still dared refuse. You really don't know your place. Forget it. You are, after all, my daughter. Don't worry, Daddy won't do anything to you. The original plan remains unchanged. I'm just afraid you'll act up, so I'll seal your memories first. Once you finish your task and the two halves of your soul become one again, your memories will naturally return."
As his words fell, he gripped Tang Wutong's soul with both hands. Ignoring her piercing screams, he used his mighty Divine Power to tear her soul forcibly in half. Then he sealed away every memory in both halves of her soul and casually waved his hand, sending one half back into Tang Wutong's body.
Holding the other half of her soul in his palm, Tang San looked toward the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest in the Douluo Plane and soon locked onto his target: a Soul Beast covered in golden fur, shaped like a lion, with a vertical-pupiled eye on her head. She was none other than the Douluo Continent's Emperor Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
Having located his target, Tang San casually tossed out that half-soul fragment. Empowered by his mighty Divine Power, the soul fragment passed through the Divine Realm's barrier, flew across the endless void, and descended straight onto the Douluo Continent, entering the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's body with unerring precision.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion had been playing freely in the Star Dou Great Forest when a sudden chill entered her body. She could not help shivering, and then, inexplicably, a whole jumble of strange thoughts appeared in her mind. She herself could not understand what was happening.
Next, Tang San looked at the body that held only half a soul. Without the slightest hesitation, he used Divine Power to forcibly tear open a planar passage leading to the Clear Sky Sect on the Douluo Continent.
He picked up Tang Wutong, who had long since fallen into a deep coma from the severe damage to her soul, and threw her inside without hesitation. Then he issued further instructions to Da Ming and Er Ming, who had already descended to the lower realm to wait. Only after completing all this did Tang San finally feel at ease.
Once again, Tang San walked out of Tang Wutong's bedchamber with the steady stride unique to the Asura God. Seeing the God King emerge, the divine officials attending outside hurriedly knelt in salute.
But this time, they were wrong. Whether Tang San killed someone depended not only on whether he thought they had courted death, but also on whether he was in a good mood.
Looking at the divine officials kneeling before him, Tang San recalled Tang Wutong's defiance just now and immediately roared in anger, "How have you been attending to my daughter? You've spoiled her so badly that she dares disobey me!"
Before his words had even finished, he kicked the nearest divine official. That official had no chance to react and was blasted apart by the kick. Immediately afterward, Tang San threw a punch, smashing another divine official to pieces. The remaining divine officials tried to flee, but the gap between their strength and Tang San's was far too great. In mere moments, every last one of them had been slaughtered.
After killing all these divine officials, Tang San seemed to be in a much better mood. He clapped his hands, turned, and left, as though everything that had happened here had nothing whatsoever to do with him.