The Douluo Divine Realm.
The Sea God and his wife were quietly enjoying some time alone, hiding from their daughter, when the conversation happened to turn to the topic of Douluo Continent.
As they spoke, a small head peeked out from the nearby mist—a child who looked about eleven or twelve years old. Her large, beautiful eyes blinked as she watched. Her appearance bore at least a seventy percent resemblance to the Sea God, but her features were much softer, and her eyes more closely resembled those of the young woman standing beside him.
"I always hear Dad and Mom talking about Douluo Continent. It sounds like so much fun! Hehe," she said, her small figure quietly disappearing into the mist as she quickly trotted toward the center of the Divine Realm.
The towering palace shimmered with a faint golden glow under the divine light. This was the highest point in the Divine Realm, the seat of control over everything here—and it was the destination of the little girl's journey.
"Divine Realm Council ahead. Unauthorized personnel are forbidden to enter!"
However, things did not go as the little girl wished. Two divine officials stopped her at the council's gate.
"Uncle Zhou! Sister Ye!" Although stopped, the girl remained unflustered, greeting the two divine officials with a bright smile.
"Xiao Qi, we're working now. If you want to play, go find Sister Ning, okay?" The official called Sister Ye looked at the girl with a kindly expression.
Ever since Xiao Qi was born over a decade ago, the once dull Divine Realm had been turned upside down by this adorable little troublemaker. From time to time, news of Xiao Qi's mischief would spread.
Sometimes she'd ruin the God of Emotions' cooking pot while learning to cook, other times she'd trample the flowers cultivated by the Butterfly Goddess. Yet the victims rarely blamed her. On the contrary, they all liked this mischievous little spirit.
Not only was Xiao Qi well-mannered, but the "damage" she caused was usually minor. The gods actually enjoyed seeing her pranks backfire in amusing ways.
After all, life in the Divine Realm had grown unbearably boring since ascending. Xiao Qi's presence brought a bit of life and excitement.
Returning to the topic—
"My toy's inside…" Xiao Qi looked up at Sister Ye with pleading eyes. "I want to go get it…"
Xiao Qi's lie amused the goddess official. She was about to tease her when she suddenly received a telepathic message and immediately swallowed her words.
"Alright, but be careful. You can't just run wild inside the Divine Realm Council," Sister Ye said.
"Thank you, Sister Ye! Don't worry, it's not my first time going in—I won't cause trouble!"
Out of the officials' sight, Xiao Qi bounced proudly toward the center of the Divine Realm Council.
"Hehe, Sister Ye is so silly! I'll have Dad find someone else to guard the door. As for Sister Ye… she can just keep me company and play!" Xiao Qi muttered to herself.
"I wonder how Aunt Kindness and Uncle Evil went down last time…"
Xiao Qi racked her brain, trying to recall how her two elders had descended to the lower realms. Unfortunately, she was too young then, and her memories were fuzzy.
"I think it was this button…"
As the Divine Realm's passage to the lower world, operating it wasn't complicated. Only one switch controlled the spatial gate. Xiao Qi quickly found it. A strong spatial fluctuation followed, and soon a portal slowly opened.
"Success! But… is the world below really Douluo Continent?"
Staring at the portal, Xiao Qi hesitated—a rare moment of uncertainty. Passing through meant leaving the Divine Realm behind. She had never left before.
Yet, thinking of her increasingly dull life, she mustered courage and leapt boldly into the portal.
"No matter what… Sister Luck, please bless me! Let me really reach Douluo Continent!"
As the portal closed behind her, calm returned to the Divine Realm Council, as if nothing had happened.
Suddenly, a low voice rang out: "Sea God, you're not going to stop her? Just letting Xiao Qi go down like that?"
"You know Xiao Qi's situation as well as I do, Destruction. Unless we forbid her from cultivating, the Asura Origin will continuously erode her soul as long as she stays here… Letting her go to the Douluo world is actually better. There are no Asura God's followers there, and she'll receive ample faith from the Sea God's believers. Only in the lower world can Xiao Qi improve her strength while avoiding the erosion from the Asura Origin. Since she wants to go, let her."
Beside the god called Destruction, a woman dressed in green voiced her objection: "But this is only a temporary fix. Xiao Qi's soul has already fused with the Asura Origin from conception—there's no clear boundary. If not for the Sea God's Origin coexisting with the Asura Origin inside you, suppressing its erosion, Xiao Qi's soul would have long been corrupted and absorbed. Unless the Asura Origin is removed, this hidden danger will always remain…"
"I understand. Life… then let us directly sever the part of her soul corrupted by the Asura Origin!" The Sea God's eyes flickered with hesitation, but thinking of the fate if her soul were fully consumed, he steeled himself:
"Taking advantage of the slower erosion rate in the lower world, we must quickly strengthen Xiao Qi's soul. When the time comes, severing that corrupted part will remove the threat with minimal cost…"
"By then, Xiao Qi's personality will have basically formed. The lost memories from before age six won't affect her character too much. This is the best plan we can come up with."
Hearing the Sea God's words, Destruction and Life fell silent. The Divine Realm currently lacked a god skilled in soul matters, let alone one capable of extracting a God King-level Origin from the soul of a still ordinary girl like Xiao Qi. The Sea God's method was radical, but it was the best they could devise…
Only poor Xiao Qi would suffer the most.
Destruction and Life, seeing that the Sea God had made up his mind, said no more. They quietly left the Divine Realm Council, leaving the Sea God alone to guard it.
"Not good!" Suddenly, the Sea God, who had been calmly meditating, let out an urgent exclamation. He instantly focused all his consciousness on the part of the soul origin remaining within Xiao Qi.
Douluo Continent, Haotian Sect, the place of inheritance.
Within Xiao Qi's soul, the Sea God Origin that had been steadily suppressing the Asura Origin now showed signs of weakening. The Asura Origin gradually gained the upper hand, accelerating its erosion of Xiao Qi's soul.
"Damn it!" the Sea God cursed under his breath. He waved both hands fiercely. The Sea God faith accumulated over ten thousand years by the entire Haotian Sect began to converge here, used to reinforce the Sea God Origin within Xiao Qi's body.
Just as the vast reservoir of faith gathered over millennia was about to be exhausted, the Sea God, unable to tolerate the loss caused by long-distance faith transfer, prepared to draw power from other sources. At that moment, the momentum of the Asura Origin was finally suppressed again.
Staring at the unconscious Xiao Qi, the Sea God's face darkened.
This mishap was clearly his fault. While still in the Divine Realm, the Sea God Origin had relied on the faith power of the entire realm to suppress the sealed Asura Origin. Now in the lower world, even with faith accumulated over ten thousand years, it could not compare to the wealth of faith gathered from countless worlds.
This meant the Sea God Origin's ability to suppress the Asura Origin was far weaker in the lower world than it had been in the Divine Realm. Overlooking this fact nearly caused a catastrophe.
But now… without sufficient faith power, the Sea God Origin would sooner or later lose its suppressive strength over the Asura Origin again. To prolong this balance, the only way was to suppress all of Xiao Qi's soul origin to reduce the activity of the divine power origin.
However, this would force Xiao Qi into a deep slumber—contradicting the original purpose of sending her to the lower world to experience and grow.
A solution had to be found. One that could continue to maintain suppression over the Asura Origin while still allowing Xiao Qi's soul to grow...