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Xu Yuan's counter-question undeniably brought everything out into the open.
"Isn't it better to cultivate properly? You are already a deity with eternal life," Xu Yuan sighed and shook his head.
In other worlds, cultivators under the pressure of limited lifespans might gradually become obsessed, resorting to any means necessary to advance to the next level. However, in the Douluo universe, deities inherently possessed eternal life, making such desperation unnecessary.
Of course, Xu Yuan himself wasn't a saint either.
He didn't intend to speak up for those destroyed by Tang San.
However, since Tang San's schemes affected him directly, he had to step in.
The Sacred Heart Plane was still intact, not completely declining. The Tree of Life endured, supported by countless strong individuals expanding its territory and nurturing it back to health.
But the Dragon Plane suffered far more.
Not just these two planes, even Douluo Planet was thrown into chaos by Tang San.
For six thousand years, the Abyss invasion raged on, allowing both sides to deplete countless talented soul masters and opportunities from Douluo Planet.
That generation capable of resisting the Abyss invasion must have been at their peak, gathering all the fortune of Douluo. Instead of exploring godhood, they were utterly worn down by the Abyss.
In the following six millennia, nearly every generation of strong individuals was tied up by the Abyss.
It was only in this era that a large number of quasi-deities accumulated, with Cao Dezhi alone guarding the Blood God Legion while other quasi-deities cultivated peacefully.
Tang Wulin's expression kept changing.
Not only was Old Tang's identity exposed, but he also didn't know when Xu Yuan found out about Old Tang's presence within him.
Even during the time in the Dragon Valley, Old Tang merely used Tang Wulin's body to exert power.
Beside Tang Wulin, a divine consciousness gradually coalesced into a shadow.
Old Tang looked at Xu Yuan with a grave expression.
Knowing his identity yet still maintaining such an attitude clearly indicated that this leader of Shrek Academy's Seven Monsters had strayed.
To show such disrespect towards the soul figure of the first generation of Shrek's Seven Monsters.
Did he not think that without him, could Shrek Academy have thrived for twenty thousand years? Without Shrek, how could you stand here today?
Moreover, Xu Yuan's appearance here today obviously aimed to stop Wulin from further cultivation, halting his breakthrough, and essentially aiming for Wulin's life.
After all, if he couldn't break through, Tang Wulin might die in the next seal at any moment.
In other words, Xu Yuan's appearance here today was to take Tang Wulin's life!
This Xu Yuan had earned his death sentence.
Old Tang decided that even if it meant exhausting the last seal's power, he would eliminate Xu Yuan today.
Fortunately, they were now in the Dragon Plane where Shrek wouldn't possibly know what happened here.
"Before Wulin came, I had him make some preparations. Now, we have the ability to seal off the Dragon Plane. This is the best opportunity to deal with Xu Yuan!"
Old Tang narrowed his eyes, already revealing murderous intent.
Xu Yuan sensed the killing intent.
He looked at Old Tang's shadow, knowing this guy harbored murderous thoughts towards him.
"So, I've earned my death sentence, have I?"
"Wulin, enter the true form of the Golden Dragon King immediately to stall him for a while. I'll seal off the channel of the Dragon Plane first."
Upon hearing Old Tang's telepathic message, Tang Wulin's eyes widened as he looked at Old Tang.
Was he going to kill Xu Yuan here?
Otherwise, why seal the channel?
However, Old Tang was his father, and he trusted him.
Immediately, Tang Wulin's golden dragon form began to change.
Only then did Xu Yuan realize that this golden dragon form wasn't the true form of the Golden Dragon King but rather a posture formed by entwining Blue Silver Emperor vines.
It was akin to a wooden puppet technique.
Most of the power still stemmed from the bloodline of the Golden Dragon King. The thick Blue Silver Emperor vines transformed into robust snake-like forms, entwining around his body.
By activating the bloodline power of the Golden Dragon King, the dragon composed of Blue Silver Emperor vines surrounding him gained immense power.
"This guy still used the solution I provided earlier." Xu Yuan sneered.
During the early days at Shrek, Tang Wulin had consulted Xu Yuan several times.
Xu Yuan had also informed Tang Wulin about the theory of the wooden puppet technique.
The golden vines on the golden dragon gradually loosened, revealing Tang Wulin's figure.
Around Tang Wulin, his bloodline power surged, and the golden blood energy surrounded him like flames.
The circulation of blood energy felt familiar to Xu Yuan.
These were methods he once used to harness blood energy; somehow, Tang Wulin replicated them.
Regardless, the activation of blood energy was more thorough now.
A dragon's majesty spread across the heavens and earth.
Compared to before, the dragon majesty Tang Wulin emitted now had materialized, truly possessing the mad and domineering aura of the Golden Dragon King.
Little Jia's presence, resembling a small continent, suddenly erupted with a heaven-and-earth-shaking force.
Under the pressure of the Golden Dragon King, he could only enter this state to resist.
As for Xu Yuan, he was completely unaffected by the dragon majesty.
With Xu Yuan's willpower at his current level, he could effortlessly unleash similar pressure.
"Why are you forcing me, Xu Yuan!"
Tang Wulin roared in anger, his eyes full of madness.
The will of the Golden Dragon King seemed ready to consume him, its mad aura becoming increasingly terrifying.
This was the mad mode developed by Old Tang for Tang Wulin.
In mad mode, the power of the Golden Dragon King could be maximized, and Tang Wulin only needed to control his instincts in battle. Ensuring the will of the Golden Dragon King didn't cause needless destruction, instead channeling all madness into combat.
As long as Old Tang and the Sea God Trident were present, they could use the Sea God's light to purify his will and suppress the power of the Golden Dragon King.
A massive, bloodthirsty golden dragon hovered in mid-air, surrounded by eight golden halos!
Eight halos meant that Tang Wulin had fused sixteen seals.
There were eighteen seals in total, and he had already fused sixteen. Fusing each of the remaining two seals would undoubtedly be as difficult as ascending to heaven.
No wonder he needed to return to the Dragon Plane, devour its essence, and attempt to ascend to godhood.
Among the sixteen seals, they had started involving the most fundamental power of the Golden Dragon King. At this point, the aura Tang Wulin emitted surpassed the True God level, hinting at the Super God level.
However, even with Super God-level strength, it was entirely insufficient against Xu Yuan.
Old Tang hadn't even managed to seal the channel when he witnessed a scene that filled him with shock and fury.
Xu Yuan casually waved his hand, and an unseen force appeared, condensing into runes in the sky. The runes interwove, forming a thick chain that firmly bound Tang Wulin.
The golden dragon roared.
One by one, halos radiated golden brilliance.
"Golden Dragon Body!"
"Golden Dragon Rampage Domain!"
"Golden Dragon Shockwave!"
All three blood-energy soul skills were unleashed simultaneously, condensing blood energy around him, exploding violently but leaving no impact on the chains.
Old Tang's expression turned heavy.
From the moment the chains appeared, even the emergence of spirit energy, he sensed trouble.
That force exceeded the Super God level, surpassing even the main god level.
Under Xu Yuan's rune chains, the power of the golden dragon was restrained, suppressed, and even sealed.
Seven Forbidden Techniques, sealing all techniques.
Now, with the sealing power erupting within the chains, the golden dragon gradually shrank, the blood energy began to wane, and Tang Wulin's true form emerged.
Even the soul power he subsequently released was entirely sealed.
"Alas, why bother?" Old Tang sighed and said to Xu Yuan, "You were classmates, fellow members of Shrek's Seven Monsters. You—"
"Old man, I can't be bothered to explain to you. You're not worthy of listening!"
Xu Yuan snorted coldly and summoned the Hunyuan Spear into his hand with a wave.
"I am the Sea God. You, a junior, show such disrespect. If I had known then, I should have struck down your unruly self long ago!"
Old Tang was enraged.
He pointed at Xu Yuan, his face flushed red, even though it was merely a body of condensed divine consciousness.
Xu Yuan's tone showed complete disregard for him, the Sea God.
"You aren't any elder. What Shrek owed you has long been repaid. What Douluo Planet owed you has been repaid over these six thousand years."
"No, that's wrong. Douluo Planet never owed you anything, neither the world of soul masters nor Douluo Planet itself."
"Twenty thousand years ago, you solidified the noble class among soul masters, hindering the first major development of the soul master world. Ten thousand years ago, you pushed the newly deified Huo Yuhao to the god realm, leaving the Spirit Pagoda without guidance and causing its degeneration. This intensified the conflict between human soul masters and soul beasts, nearly leading to the extinction of land-based soul beasts."
History is history, truth is truth.
The same events, explained differently, carry different meanings.
At this moment, although Xu Yuan recounted the same historical events, the truth had completely changed.
"You stole the fortune of the soul beast race and siphoned the fortune of the soul master world to your Tang Sect."
"Neither the soul beast race nor the soul master world ever owed you. Instead, they were dragged down by you. And not only that, you introduced the Abyss. After the disappearance of the god realm, you used the Abyss to wear down the power of Douluo Planet, preventing it from autonomously advancing to a god-level plane."
"Tang San, you've committed countless evils. You're the true abomination!"
Xu Yuan shouted and thrust out the Hunyuan Spear.
The spear radiance was incredibly brilliant, rotating between black and white, containing the powers of the five elements, stellar forces, and essence-energy-spirit.
Old Tang gritted his teeth and summoned the Sea God Trident.
He mobilized all his strength, swinging the Sea God Trident.
"White clouds drift endlessly through the ages!"
Instantly, countless illusory tridents appeared in the air.
The spear radiance exploded, collapsing these illusions and revealing Old Tang's true form.
Xu Yuan instantly teleported, appearing in front of Old Tang and thrusting his spear fiercely.
This spear carried anger, and as it struck, tangible spear shadows manifested around him.
Old Tang swung the trident, divine power surging.
"The Thirteen Styles of the Sea God, Third Style, One Goes Without Return."
Clang!
The trident collided with the Hunyuan Spear.
The collision between the two transcendent divine artifacts shattered space.
"Little Jia!" Xu Yuan called out.
Upon hearing this, Little Jia immediately mobilized the power of heaven and earth to stabilize this space.
Layer upon layer of spear shadows appeared, Xu Yuan's power seemingly inexhaustible.
Under his relentless pressure, Old Tang kept retreating.
After all, he was merely a divine consciousness.
His divine power was limited and couldn't possibly contend with Xu Yuan.
"How could your power increase so rapidly!"
"Like you, living so long and barely stabilizing your God King power by devouring the essences of various planes, how could trash like you understand my talent!"
Xu Yuan laughed and wielded the Hunyuan Spear like a staff.
The spear shaft brutally smashed onto Old Tang's shadow, nearly causing his divine consciousness to collapse.
Turning around, another spear sweep came.
Old Tang bit his teeth, unwilling to endure the humiliation, and threw the Sea God Trident toward Tang Wulin's direction, immediately dispersing this divine consciousness body.
He abandoned the divine power sustaining this body completely.
But it didn't matter.
Though this divine power was painstakingly accumulated by him and Tang Wulin for emergencies, it was negligible compared to the final seal within Tang Wulin's body.
On Tang Wulin's forehead, a golden trident mark emerged.
A powerful surge of divine power erupted.
Tang Wulin felt something inside him shatter.
It was the third chance to act.
His eyes were filled with confusion.
This was his last chance to meet his father. Would it be lost forever today?
During the journey to the Dragon Valley, his father acted for the first time.
Half a year ago, Gu Yuena, who claimed to be the Silver Dragon King from the Spirit Pagoda, challenged him. On the brink of death, his father acted for the second time.
Now, the final chance was forced out by Xu Yuan.
Recalling carefully, all three instances were provoked by these two individuals!
Tang Wulin looked at Xu Yuan, his eyes filled with intense reluctance.
Why?
Why, despite possessing the power of the Golden Dragon King, have I always been inferior to this Xu Yuan!
Is it because my innate soul power was only at level three?
One step behind, always behind?
On Tang Wulin's forehead, within the golden trident mark, a pure blue-gold divine power burst forth.
A new Sea God shadow was condensed.
Unlike the previous Old Tang, this Sea God shadow seemed to originate from the main body?
Xu Yuan squinted his eyes.
"The main body's consciousness?"
Interesting.
Despite being dragged into a black hole, he could still intervene here across such a vast distance. Did Tang San still refuse to admit that he had long planned this?
The Sea God shadow seemed to be receiving information. After a moment, his eyes cleared.
Looking at Xu Yuan with a gaze of judgment.
"Xu Yuan, Shrek produced a scoundrel like you. Today, I personally settle this."
"Hmph, sure enough, you left a trump card, such a powerful one, but remained silent in the face of the Abyss." Xu Yuan sneered angrily.
Back during the great battle in the Underworld, he wanted to curse this hypocritical Sea God.
He clearly left the third seal.
With this power, if he had acted back then, the Abyssal Sage King and Yan Long could have definitely been dealt with.
Yun Ming, Xu Yuan, plus Tang Hao, who was reluctantly forced to act, and this stubbornly uncooperative Tang San.
The four of them could have individually killed the Abyssal Sage King while leaving Yan Long, without disrupting the relationship between the two planes.
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