Because that figure, clutching a tachi and radiating an aura of nothingness, stood there, silently, blocking everyone's path.
At the exact moment Huo Yuhao departed:
"Tang San!! Die for me!!!"
A shriek filled with venomous resentment and madness exploded from another direction.
The Demon Empress.
She had seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. At the moment Tang San was heavily wounded by Acheron's blade and his mind had completely crumbled due to Huo Yuhao and Xiao Wu, she did not hesitate. Through her divine throne, she sent a request for the highest level of power to the Pantheon's main system.
Weng—!!!
A majestic force, vast as a sea of stars, crossed endless dimensions and instantly descended upon her. At this moment, her divine power began to surge wildly in a way that defied all logic. Her aura even broke through its limits in a short span, infinitely approaching the realm of a Godking.
She poured this borrowed, violent power entirely into her hands. Purple-black lightning of destruction condensed at her fingertips into two blades capable of tearing through anything. Her figure appeared like a phantom behind Tang San, who was struggling to rise from the ruins. Using every ounce of her strength, she lunged ruthlessly toward the back of his heart.
This was her strongest strike for vengeance.
However...
A Godking was, after all, a Godking. Even a Godking who was heavily wounded and mentally broken.
"Get lost!!!"
Tang San spun around abruptly. His blood-red eyes, which had been completely consumed by madness, erupted with a terrifying, savage light. He didn't even look to see who the attacker was; relying purely on combat instinct, he swept out with a backhand strike of his sword.
The crimson sword-light of the Shura Blood Sword transformed into a circular wheel of death, saturated with slaughter and resentment.
Puchi—!
The Demon Empress's claws, which held all her power, were easily ground to pieces the moment they touched the sword wheel. Immediately after, the deathly wheel struck her waist with irresistible force.
Blood dyed the sky. The Demon Empress's voluptuous and enchanting body was sliced in half at the waist by this single strike. She let out a shrill scream and fell heavily to the ground like a kite with a broken string, her divine body beginning to collapse at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Had the Pantheon's power not protected her soul core at the last second, this single sword strike would have been enough to obliterate her soul and erase her from existence entirely.
The might of a Godking with dual god-seats was truly terrifying.
However, Tang San had no chance to deliver the final blow. At the same moment he struck down the Demon Empress, three attacks equally filled with killing intent descended upon him from three different directions.
One was the holy, grand, yet icy cold Holy Angelic Sword of judgment.
One was the evil, eerie Rakshasa Demonic Sickle, filled with venom and the power of devouring.
And the final one was the overbearing, sharp Golden Dragon Spear, containing ultimate strength.
The three attacks were coordinated flawlessly, perfectly sealing off all of Tang San's paths of retreat.
"What?!"
Tang San's pupils constricted. He felt three familiar powers within these attacks. He had no time to think and could only forcibly catalyze the remaining divine power in his body, holding the Shura Blood Sword before his chest to block this fatal combined strike.
Boom—!!!!!
The core region of the God Realm was reduced to utter chaos by this collision. Tang San's figure was once again blasted back pathetically, spraying divine blood. His Godking armor shattered inch by inch, and his aura withered to its absolute limit.
When he finally saw the faces of the three ambushers, the madness caused by Xiao Wu's betrayal froze on his face. It was replaced by shock and disbelief.
"Qian... Qian Renxue?! Bibi Dong?!!"
His voice became shrill and distorted from the extreme shock. The two peerless women stepping out from the light and darkness were none other than the last two deities of Spirit Hall whom he had personally defeated and killed—the Angelic God Qian Renxue and the Rakshasa God Bibi Dong.
How was it possible?! How could this be?!
Back then, he had seen with his own eyes Bibi Dong's body pierced by the Sea God's Trident, her soul extinguished. He had personally shattered Qian Renxue's god-seat, causing her to fall from godhood back to mortality. They should have been long dead, as dead as one could be. Why were they appearing here?!
Furthermore, the divine power they radiated was even more solid and powerful than during their peak in the past.
And when Tang San's gaze fell upon the third woman holding the Golden Dragon Spear, his heart felt as though it had dropped into a ten-thousand-foot-deep ice cellar.
Wang Qiu'er.
How could he not recognize her?! Back then, to pave the way for his daughter Tang Wutong's future, he had personally acted to set up a massive scheme, calculating against Wang Qiu'er step by step, intending for her to become Tang Wutong's nourishment.
In his plan, his daughter Tang Wutong should have inherited everything from Wang Qiu'er in the lower realm. But now...
Standing here was Wang Qiu'er. Not his daughter, Tang Wutong.
Thus, his daughter's fate... was already self-evident.
The plan had failed. The grand path he had paved for his daughter, which he thought was foolproof, had been completely overturned.
Xiao Wu's betrayal... the resurrection of his mortal enemies... his daughter's... disappearance...
One event after another, completely beyond his control and overturning all his perceptions, slammed ruthlessly into his heart—a heart already fragile from madness.
Crack...
It was as if something at the deepest part of his soul had shattered completely.
"Ah... ah... haha... Hahahaha!!!!"
Tang San suddenly threw his head back and laughed. The laughter was shrill, desolate, and filled with the madness of someone who had completely given up on everything. His last remaining shred of sanity was incinerated at this moment.
He had gone mad.
"Sea God Tang San... back then, when I first arrived in this world, you were the only imaginary enemy in my heart. Every moment, I was wary of your schemes and on guard against your hidden hands. I never expected that in the end, you would be driven to madness by me in such a pathetic manner."
Lu Jingming shook his head and stepped slowly out from behind Acheron. His tone held a trace of something—it was hard to say if it was pity or mockery.
"So be it. Since you have become like this, letting you live would only stain the title of Godking. Let me personally send you on your way."
He decided to act personally to give this protagonist of the old era his final dignity.
"Stop, outsider."
"No matter what Tang San has done, he is still a Godking of my God Realm. I will not allow you to be so presumptuous here."
The God of Destruction, the Goddess of Life, the God of Goodness, and the God of Evil—these four Godkings blocked Lu Jingming's path in unison. Even though the God of Destruction's ideals clashed with Tang San's and they even had personal grudges, when facing an external foe, he instinctively chose to stand on the same front. He understood the principle that if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold.
On the other side: Celestial Emperor Tian Hen, Immortal Emperor Hai Long, Zither Emperor Ye Yinzhū, God of Light Changgong Wei, Mad God Lei Xiang, God of Death Ah Dai... these powerful Godkings from other worlds were somewhat dazed after witnessing this series of magical and dizzying changes. At this moment, they very tactfully chose to take a step back and watch the situation unfold.
Just as the God of Destruction and the others were about to help Tang San and collectively fight against the outsider Lu Jingming:
Qiang—!
A cold sword-qi that seemed capable of freezing the soul and the void itself suddenly slashed out. That sword-qi left a bottomless spatial rift radiating endless frost in front of the Gods of Goodness and Evil.
A peerless woman with snow-white hair, a black blindfold over her eyes, and an aura as cold as a ten-thousand-year-old glacier appeared silently at the other end of the rift, clutching a longsword.
It was Jingliu.
She didn't say a word, but her pure sword intent had already declared her stance. You want to pass? Ask the sword in my hand first.
"Rong Nianbing, stay where you are."
On the other side, Ma Hongjun's figure transformed into a streak of fire, directly intercepting the God of Emotions, Rong Nianbing, stopping his attempt to help Tang San.
"Sigh, Tang San, you're on your own." Rong Nianbing shook his head helplessly and stopped acting. In this complex situation, even he couldn't figure things out.
At the same time, the massive rift torn in the sky above the God Realm underwent another mutation. The void shattered like a broken mirror. One after another, enormous Black Lotuses—strange, beautiful, yet filled with an aura of omen and destruction—burst forth from the broken void.
The moment these Black Lotuses appeared, they acted as if they possessed life, trapping the caught-off-guard God of Destruction and Goddess of Life tightly within their buds.
"What kind of ghost thing is this?!" The God of Destruction was shocked and furious. He frantically catalyzed his divine power of destruction, only to find that the lotuses seemed infinite; immediately after being destroyed, they were reborn.
Before they could react:
A pale, slender hand, large enough to shroud the entire God Realm, slowly reached out from the depths of the shattered void. Ignoring all the laws of the God Realm, that hand snatched the two giant Black Lotuses trapping the God of Destruction and Goddess of Life. Then, under the terrified gazes of all the deities, it slowly retracted back into the endless void and vanished.
The entire process was clean and efficient, without a hint of struggle. It was as if a passing adult had casually plucked two flowers he took a fancy to from a garden.
Lu Jingming glanced toward the direction where the giant hand vanished, a knowing smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. He recognized the person who had acted with a single glance.
The Ravager, Phantylia.
Her purpose was self-evident. Destruction and Life—the two opposing yet unified primordial laws that constituted the foundation of the universe—were undoubtedly the highest-tier supplements for her.
However, Lu Jingming didn't care. The God of Destruction and the Goddess of Life were his enemies anyway. He was happy to see Phantylia resolve these two big troubles for him. As for how strong Phantylia would become after devouring these two Godkings? He was even less afraid.
Want to come looking for trouble with me? Fine. Pass through my wives first.
The battlefield of the God Realm was now divided into several independent stages that did not interfere with one another.
The Golden Dragon King's massive, oppressive dragon form slowly dissipated in the sky, transforming back into a handsome man wearing golden armor with long golden hair dancing wildly. But at this moment, he wasn't looking at Tang San—who was confronting Lu Jingming in utter madness—nor was he paying attention to the outsiders.
His gaze was fixed ruthlessly on a peerless figure with silver hair cascading like a waterfall who had appeared silently not far away.
Gu Yuena.
The moment he saw her, a trace of indiscernible complexity flashed across the Golden Dragon King's face—a face usually marked by arrogance and brutality. Soon, that complexity was replaced by a more fervent and greedy desire.
"Haha... Hahahaha!" He suddenly laughed loudly, his laughter filled with ecstasy and overbearing determination. "I was wondering where to go looking for you. I didn't expect you to deliver yourself right to my door."
"Just as well, it saves me the effort. As long as I eat you and fuse with the other half of the origin within your body, I can once again become the complete, supreme Dragon God."
Facing the Golden Dragon King's undisguised, naked desire to devour her, Gu Yuena's face showed not a shred of fear. She simply raised the Silver Dragon Spear in her hand.
"I have the same thought."
Her cool voice rang across the battlefield. The moment her words fell, brilliant spheres of light representing Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Light, Darkness, and Space began to orbit her slowly like submissive planets.
Behind her, a phantom of a giant dragon composed of pure silver radiance, large enough to blot out the sun, let out a silent roar toward the sky, clashing violently with the Golden Dragon King's wild power in the void.
The Golden Dragon King wanted to devour her to reclaim the position of Dragon God. She, likewise, wanted to devour the Golden Dragon King. Even if she had no intention of becoming the new Dragon God, fusing with that other half of power would grant her an unprecedented, fundamental leap in strength.
More importantly...
"You, who are all alone, why do you think you can win?" A cold, mocking sneer curled the corner of Gu Yuena's mouth.
The Golden Dragon King's smile suddenly froze. He realized that, at some point, he had been completely surrounded by four figures, each radiating the terrifying aura of a Godking.