Now that he possessed god-level combat strength—equal to that of a God King—the first thing Yao Lan thought about was eliminating the final villain of the Douluo world.
That's right. He meant Tang San!
Though Tang San is the protagonist of the Douluo series, isn't he also the ultimate antagonist?
At least in Yao Lan's eyes, Tang San is the villain now!
In the next instant, Huáng Quán's (黄泉, "Yellow Spring") eyes saw the world shift again. The void emerged into the world, and the white-haired, red-eyed Huang Quan instantly disappeared from where she stood.
At the same time, in the asteroid belt near the Douluo star, a scarlet slash flashed by in an instant. In mere moments, all surrounding asteroids were wiped out, completely erased into nothingness.
This move was surely familiar to everyone—it was Huang Quan's combat skill in the game Star Rail: "Four Phases Sever Me" (四相断我).
In the game, when she changed the environment and her state before activating the skill, it would unleash a powerful slash. Weaker enemies would be instantly annihilated, while elite monsters would take damage and be forced into combat.
But in reality, this move had evolved completely.
Now, when Huang Quan used "Four Phases Sever Me," she would immediately teleport and release a powerful slash. Weaker foes would still be killed instantly, but only those stronger than her could survive the attack.
And since this move was used with power near a God King's level, her teleport alone instantly brought her from Douluo Star to the nearby asteroid belt—where she effortlessly destroyed a swath of asteroids.
> "Not bad… but I'll have to be more careful moving forward."
Although she successfully obliterated the asteroids, they were not living beings, so she didn't expend any energy—just like in the game, using a secret skill to break crates wouldn't consume skill points.
But from now on, she needed to be cautious. If she happened to pass by a planet and accidentally slaughtered its inhabitants, that would consume her power. Who knew if she'd have enough to last until she found Tang San?
After all, the Douluo world didn't have anything like "quirky snacks" to restore energy.
As long as she used "Four Phases Sever Me," Huang Quan could travel freely through the universe without any effort. And since she knew the plot, once she located the black hole where Tang San resided, she could use the skill to instantly kill him!
Originally, she hadn't intended to do this, but Tang San's threat was just too great.
Gu Yue had already escaped her original fate because of Yao Lan's intervention. If something similar happened to Tang San and he returned early to Douluo Continent, then—given his Buddha-like dominance over the continent—Yao Lan might not be able to prevent the world from being destroyed.
So, he had to eliminate Tang San before he returned!
By tracking the remnants of divine realm energy left behind in the chaotic time-space turbulence, and continuously unleashing "Four Phases Sever Me" along the way, Tang San would have nowhere to run.
Yao Lan had thought about using the Bow of the Hunt to do it, but that method couldn't guarantee Tang San's death. After all, Tang San was still the protagonist of a franchise. What if, after dying, he reincarnated into the Fairy Continent or something?
Yao Lan had to ensure Tang San's soul was truly destroyed. Otherwise, if Tang San reincarnated and came back stronger, then what? Not that Yao Lan feared death. With the power of a Star God, once he fully matured, he would practically be immortal.
> But come on, Tang San, you can't keep coming for me like this!
Kill you once, and you resurrect stronger? What is this, some knockoff Ultraman series? Even Ultraman rotates villains. Killing the same guy over and over again is just plain boring!
And so, scarlet slashes began streaking across the cosmos, each flicker spanning an entire galaxy, chasing after the traces left behind in the time-space rift.
Though several decades had passed since the divine realm's spatial turbulence occurred, that meant nothing on a cosmic scale. A huge amount of energy still lingered in those places, making them easy for Huang Quan to trace.
Besides, this was the Douluo Universe. If she kept wandering through the stars, maybe Huang Quan could even discover some interesting alternate dimensions…
But that's a story for another time. For now, let's just let Miss Huang Quan go rampaging through the cosmos. She swears not to stop until Tang San is dead!
Yao Lan just hoped this avatar of his didn't get lost. If she couldn't find Tang San and ended up drifting into some unknown universe, that'd be seriously embarrassing.
Then again, Huang Quan's avatar could still contact the main body… so she probably wouldn't get lost… right?
Anyway, Tang San was Huang Quan's problem now. Yao Lan had another "god" to deal with next—
---
The Demon Empress!
As a major villain in the latter part of Legend of the Dragon King, the Demon Empress was no slouch. Though she lacked a divine position, she was still a level 100 True God, capable of killing Sea God Douluo Chen Xinjie with only minor injuries to herself.
She harbored extreme hatred for humanity, led the Holy Spirit Cult, and might even have cooperated with the Abyss Plane—currently the greatest threat to the continent's stability.
> "Should I find a way to take her out early?"
Anyway, because of Yao Lan's interference, the plot of Legend of the Dragon King had been thrown completely off-course. Aside from the protagonist Tang Wulin still attending East Sea Academy and possibly joining Shrek Academy in the future, everything else was unrecognizable.
He now truly understood what people meant by the Butterfly Effect.
From now on, the future of Douluo Continent would drastically diverge from the original storyline. If he kept thinking based on the old plot, he'd definitely fall into a trap.
Simply put, Yao Lan could no longer rely solely on his knowledge of the story to plan ahead. Luckily, he still had one major ace—
> "And that is... Lady Hanabi (Fireworks)!"
A red figure leapt out from beside Yao Lan. Technically, the Hanabi clone was also a part of Yao Lan's own body, but she just couldn't contain her inner joy.
After all, her Martial Soul was Aha—so when facing her true self, she felt far more joyful than when around anyone else!
Yao Lan was also gradually mastering the techniques for controlling this clone. To fully unleash the power of the Aha Hanabi clone, he had to act in line with her joyful behavior pattern.
> "Anytime, anywhere!"
> "Super Hanabi, committing crimes against the wind!"
In the blink of an eye, Hanabi's number doubled—from one to four.
The four immediately went to work: two hugged Yao Lan's arms, one clung to his neck from behind, and the last one straddled his lap and squeezed his face—making Yao Lan experience the full joy of being smothered by Lady Hanabi.
> "What's wrong? Facing a problem? My main body, don't worry—just leave it all to Lady Hanabi!"
> "Because Lady Hanabi…"
> "Will never give you up, never let you down~"
> "Never run around and desert you~"
> "Never make you cry, never say goodbye~"
> "Never tell a lie and hurt you~"
> —Praise Hanabi!