The other divine fragment had been within Tang Wulin's body all along—or rather, it had existed from the start but had never been activated.
However, as Tang Wulin inherited the Sea God position and awakened his bloodline and past memories, this fragment of Tang San's consciousness was also activated. What Tang San hadn't expected, though, was that Tang Wulin would allow this fragment to burn itself out, unleashing power beyond his current level to escape their predicament.
This approach was simply—stupid!!!
At this moment, Tang San's heart burned with rage. For someone with an intense need for control, having that control stripped away was the greatest torment.
He, the pure and untainted God King Tang San, possessed countless ultimate techniques, each capable of unleashing earth-shattering power when fully mastered!
Even mastering the art of hidden weapons to perfection could slay gods. Yet, his unfilial son had chosen the most foolish method—burning his divine fragment—to forcibly break through the spatial barrier!?
Though the burning of this fragment of a God King-level divine consciousness didn't reach God King-level power, it still reached Tier-1 god-level strength. Tang San had taught Tang Wulin techniques like Guanyin's Tears or the Haotian Sect's Great Sumer Hammer and explosive ring techniques. Tang Wulin hadn't used any of them! With enough time, those techniques could have achieved similar results.
But his unfilial son had chosen the simplest, most brute-force method! How could Tang San, the wise and glorious God King, possibly accept this?
What Tang San didn't realize, however, was that this was entirely his own fault.
After achieving the Sea God position, Tang Wulin had modeled himself after Tang San during his prime. However, during the era of divine battles, Tang San had completely abandoned the ultimate techniques of the Haotian Sect. Even Tang San's strongest hidden weapon technique, Guanyin's Tears, had only been used before his ascension to wound Qian Renxue—it wasn't particularly legendary.
Thus, the Thirteen Techniques of the Sea God were mythologized in Tang Wulin's mind.
And since the separated divine fragment of Tang San—a perfect replica of his consciousness—hadn't objected, it indicated that even Tang San himself believed this to be true.
Unfortunately, the separated divine fragment couldn't fully synchronize with the main body's memories. Otherwise, upon learning that the other divine fragment had been destroyed, it would have done everything possible to ensure its own survival.
But alas, reality had no room for "what ifs."
---
On the other side, the eight who had narrowly escaped began recuperating their injuries in their respective locations.
Though they were all battered and bruised, none of them had suffered attacks that exceeded their divine rank, leaving behind unhealable wounds. With the help of divine energy—the universal energy—they quickly recovered their bodies.
Once fully healed, Tang Wulin immediately began contacting the others and assigning their respective objectives.
Just dealing with Electrolux alone had proven so troublesome, and now the group's remaining divine energy reserves were less than half. Their top priority now was to quickly seize territory and rebuild their faith base; otherwise, once Huo Yu'er and the others emerged, their chances of victory would diminish even further.
If they were going to act, they needed to go big.
The lands of the former Dou Ling Empire were completely out of consideration—it was the site of their first defeat and currently had the smallest population.
The former Tian Hun region ranked second.
After all, the most prosperous regions of the Douluo Continent had traditionally been the Sun Moon and Star Luo regions.
Now, with the establishment of Tian Xing City, many ambitious individuals from the Tian Hun region had migrated there for opportunities, causing the population to gradually shift toward Tian Xing City. Those unable to make ends meet there often moved on to the Sun Moon or Star Luo regions.
If they wanted to quickly amass large amounts of faith energy, Tang Wulin and the others had to choose between the Star Luo and Sun Moon regions.
Without much hesitation, Tang Wulin directly chose the Star Luo region.
The reason was simple: this area had historically been part of the Douluo Continent, and as the inheritor of Tang San, the Sea God from ten thousand years ago, he naturally enjoyed a legendary reputation here. This would allow him to gain recognition and faith more easily and quickly.
The Sun Moon Empire, on the other hand, had never produced a god, making it a blank slate in terms of faith. However, due to the rampant influence of the Holy Spirit Sect, the people there were now indifferent—or even hostile—toward so-called divine matters.
Still, thanks to the exploits of the Tian Xing Knights, some people in the Sun Moon region had begun to spontaneously worship the members of the Tian Xing Knights.
Even so, Tang Wulin had no intention of sparing the Sun Moon region in the future.
After all, the so-called gods of Douluo were ultimately human beings, and human desire for resources was insatiable.
However, when Tang Wulin's group finally sprang into action, they were stunned.
After battling Ye Wen and Electrolux, a full day and night had passed. That amount of time was far from sufficient for the people in the Star Luo region or Tian Xing City to complete their migration.
But Ye Wen had already anticipated this.
They were all gods, after all—who didn't know what the others wanted?
As a result, the major cities across the Douluo Continent were instantly emptied. The populace fled to rural areas, dispersing into smaller groups—a strategy of encircling the cities from the countryside.
Want faith? Fine! But they'd have to slowly gather the people back.
If Tang Wulin's group didn't want to be hated, they had no choice but to adopt a conciliatory approach, gradually spreading their stories and gaining faith from the people. However, if they resorted to violent methods, regardless of whether Tang Wulin was the righteous Sea God, he would ultimately be branded as an evil god.
As reports poured in from Da Ming, Er Ming, and the others, Tang Wulin's expression darkened.
"Ye Wen, you cunning God of Wisdom. Did you see through our plans from the very beginning and use this unbreakable stratagem to hinder our progress, buying time for your disciples to ascend to godhood?"
At this moment, Tang Wulin felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness.
Conspiracies and tricks were one thing—they could always be countered with enough thought and raw power.
But this was different. It was a grand, righteous strategy that forced their enemies to confront them head-on or painstakingly dismantle it over time.
By now, Tang Wulin had no way out. He could only gather followers, one by one, wherever he could.
However, the flaws of their disorganized structure began to surface.
The former nobles, accustomed to issuing commands with arrogance and condescension, were ill-suited to politely recounting Tang Wulin's epic deeds to the commoners they had once looked down upon. Unintentionally, they earned the animosity of the people in the Star Luo region.
When Tang Wulin received this news, he had been resting and recuperating, his previously calm and handsome face instantly contorting with bulging veins.
After a long pause, Tang Wulin finally muttered three words:
"Damn—this—shit!!!"
In the end, Tang Wulin decided to use the most primal method against these stubborn remnants of the old aristocracy: bloody suppression, to show them who was truly in charge of the Sea God Alliance!
With that, the brain-dead nobles finally fell in line.
------------------------------------------------------
400+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)