"Buzz—"
Just as Xu Cheng was watching the heated battle unfolding on the arena below...
A figure quietly appeared behind him.
"Destruction? What brings you here, old man?" Xu Cheng showed a faint smile, didn't turn around, and spoke with a completely calm tone.
"Tang San has descended to the lower realm," Destruction said gravely.
"Isn't that fairly normal?" Xu Cheng's smile didn't change.
"He brought the Nine-Colored Goddess with him."
"…"
Xu Cheng's expression finally shifted. He turned his head to look at the serious Destruction. "What are you implying, old man?"
"That divine sense he sent down is a split from his true body, carrying the power of a God King. It's extremely malleable. If he intended to admit defeat, he wouldn't have brought the Nine-Colored Goddess with him," Destruction said solemnly.
"I see." Xu Cheng gave a light nod.
His gaze flicked back toward the field. Coincidentally, it was the Clear Sky School engaging in a one-on-one challenge match against a traditional soul master sect. A disciple of the Clear Sky School was showing off, knocking down one opponent after another, not even needing to use his soul rings.
A body at the level of an eight-ring Soul Douluo—against most Soul Sects, Soul Kings, or even Soul Emperors—was nearly untouchable. Even if the latter went all out, they would struggle to break through.
"Buzz—"
That disciple rested his Clear Sky Hammer on his shoulder, smirking playfully. "Next!"
Xu Cheng retracted his gaze.
He was a bit relieved that A'Xiao had added his name to the contestant list.
After all, even A'Xiao might have trouble handling Tang San now.
"It's good you understand. Life also asked me to look after you more. Don't end up falling into Tang San's hands. Also, the two new members of the Divine Realm Committee are quite curious about you. I keep mentioning you, but they've never seen you in person," Destruction said, his tone easing up. He looked Xu Cheng over and patted his shoulder. "You've grown stronger again. I feel like in half a year, you could ascend to godhood."
"Oh right."
Destruction hesitated for a moment.
"That thing you mentioned before... is it true?"
"It is." Xu Cheng gave a slight nod.
"So Tang San's intuition was correct?" Destruction's expression became a bit awkward.
After all, admitting that would basically label him the villain of the Divine Realm and make Tang San the righteous one.
The Divine Realm had already experienced spatial turbulence once—a million years ago. That event destroyed nearly one-third of the Divine Realm. The gods worked tirelessly for countless years to stabilize it. But Xu Cheng predicted that this round of turbulence would be five times worse than before!
If things truly went south, the entire Divine Realm could get swept away.
Because the Divine Realm is enclosed by a thin membrane that wraps around all the subordinate realms. If that membrane gets torn apart by the turbulence, all gods will be endangered. By Divine Law, gods are forbidden from staying too long in the mortal world. If the barrier is destroyed, they'll be stuck there, turning into wandering spirits.
There are 108 pillars of thought-force to temporarily hold the boundary, but still...
"Not quite," Xu Cheng shrugged.
"He just got lucky. That so-called instinct of his was just a convenient excuse to stop your expansion of the Divine Realm."
"Good," Destruction let out a long sigh of relief.
Previously, Xu Cheng had advised him not to expand the Divine Realm yet—at least not until he became a god or strong enough to withstand spatial storms. That advice had left Destruction deeply worried.
Now that he heard it was just a fluke on Tang San's part, he felt much better.
Xu Cheng shook his head, a little helplessly.
"That's all you came to tell me?"
"There's more. The seal on the Golden Dragon King is weakening," Destruction took a deep breath, his expression grave.
That was the most primal clone of the Dragon God—one of the Divine Realm's greatest ticking time bombs.
Tang San knew about this too, but the news was strictly contained among the five members of the Divine Realm Committee. No one else in the realm knew.
"Weakening?" Xu Cheng froze.
In the original story, as the embodiment of the Dragon God's evil intent, that sly bastard was the only one in the Divine Realm to detect the spatial turbulence early. As a result, he secretly absorbed divine power, strengthened himself, and prepared to break the divine restrictions when the time came.
Logically, he shouldn't be rushing this much.
He'd waited so many years—what's a few more days?
Wait a second.
Xu Cheng suddenly thought of something.
"When exactly did it start?"
"A few days ago? No—it happened just now. I noticed it only minutes ago and came straight here," Destruction shook his head.
"…"
Xu Cheng seemed to understand something.
Time in the Divine Realm, when converted... would place "just now" roughly a few days ago in the human world. That night he and Gu Yuena... ahem.
Looks like the big brother-in-law is in a bit of a rush.
"Did something happen?" Destruction asked, his expression serious.
"Nope." Xu Cheng replied vaguely.
"You should head back now. Send my regards to the Goddess of Life."
Since inheriting the Destruction God position, he would naturally have to leave the Divine Realm eventually, and Life—as his partner—would leave with him. The vacant positions would then need to be filled.
As for who would replace them...
He had a feeling the Goddess of Life seemed quite interested in Xiao Hongchen.
Thinking of this, Xu Cheng's mouth twitched.
Destruction and Life were technically "opposites" but also "complementary"—just like Good and Evil. Typically, gods of this type were a couple. But damn it, A'Xiao was his buddy. Hopefully nothing weird happens there.
Then again...
Xiao Hongchen did seem like a great fit.
A metal lifeform with top-tier talent.
Divine Realm.
The Goddess of Life gazed at the Divine Forbidden Zone, her brows furrowed slightly at the faintly shifting seal, a worried expression flickering as she looked off into the distance.
The Golden Dragon King's power wasn't just "God King level." If it were that simple, the five of them working together could've suppressed it already.
But the two young people beside her—Lie Yan and Ji Dong—had just inherited the divine positions of Good and Evil. Though they possessed God King strength, they lacked years of experience and could only be considered the weakest among the God King ranks. At the moment, the Divine Realm was at its lowest point in terms of power.
"Buzz—"
With a vibrating hum, a rift in space opened next to her.
Destruction appeared.
"Where did you go?" Life asked with concern.
"Went to the mortal realm to see him," Destruction said with emotion.
"The Golden Dragon King…"
"It's fine. The divine seal is still holding. It can't break through yet. But I think I know why it's acting up," Destruction smirked.
Well obviously—his sister got laid. Who wouldn't be pissed?
"Oh right. You've taken an interest in that kid, Xiao Hongchen?" Destruction suddenly turned and asked.
"Xiao Hongchen?" the Goddess of Life looked momentarily confused.
"The one with the metallic martial soul. He's recently evolved to the Life stage. He really does suit your divine role, but…" Destruction hesitated. "He's also Xu Cheng's sworn brother. That might be a bit awkward…"
Hearing this, Ji Dong and Lie Yan looked amused, their faces full of gossip.
"Pfft, hahahahaha…"
The Goddess of Life burst into laughter.
"How could that be? I'm just curious about him. Evolving into a metal lifeform certainly shows his incredible talent, but what really interests me are the girls—his sister, Meng Hongchen, and Zhang Lexuan… I like both of those girls quite a lot."