Deep within the Slaughter City lies a secret space — the Asura God Temple, the site of the Asura God's divine trials.
The Slaughter City itself is a testing ground set by the Asura God. By rights, anyone who earns the Slaughter God Domain there should be qualified to start the God's Trial. Yet, throughout history, very few have ever found the Asura Temple.
In a previous timeline, Tang Chen managed it. But in truth, obtaining the Slaughter God Domain only makes the Asura God glance your way; whether he chooses to grant the inheritance depends entirely on his will.
Now, on a long bridge leading to the Asura Temple, a dark-skinned, long-armed, short-legged figure walked steadily forward. The bridge swayed, while below boiled a thick, scalding river of blood. The entire space glowed with a strange crimson hue.
That figure was Tang San. His determined eyes fixed on the grand temple ahead. He had already spent five years inside the Slaughter City.
For Tang San, however, things weren't as difficult as they seemed. He had mastered both the secret techniques of the Clear Sky Hammer and the Tang Sect's Xuan Tian Skill, Jade Hands, and various hidden weapons. With his past life's experience, the Slaughter City was practically set to "easy mode."
In five years, Tang San had achieved a hundred consecutive victories in the Hell Arena, then braved the Hell Road, ultimately gaining the Slaughter God Domain. By his ability, he could have finished in three years, but for some reason the city's system had changed — the arena cycles grew longer, deliberately dragging him out until the fifth year.
Still, though delayed, he had finally secured the prize of the Slaughter God Domain.
Without wasting time, Tang San immediately set out for the Asura Temple, guided by his past memories.
Before him loomed the Asura Temple. Behind lay the Slaughter City.
As he stood at the threshold, Tang San glanced back toward the Slaughter City, recalling events of his past life.
The Slaughter City had indeed been set up by the Asura God as a divine trial ground. But over time, its special nature turned it into a gathering place for the continent's criminals and sinners.
In that life, once Tang San had completed the trial there, he destroyed the Slaughter City, determined that no one else should obtain the Slaughter God Domain the way he did.
It wasn't until later that he realized the city was part of the Asura God's design. Fortunately, by then he was already chosen by the Sea God, and the Asura God had granted him special favor — allowing him to inherit both gods' thrones at once.
Now, in this life, how should he treat the Slaughter City? Tang San pondered. For now, he lacked the Blood Swan Kiss, and so didn't have the power to destroy it.
But eventually, it must be destroyed!
First, he was determined to keep the Asura God's position for himself and his Tang family. No outsiders would ever be allowed to inherit it. Since he had no intention of bestowing the Slaughter God Domain on others, the Slaughter City had no reason to exist.
Second, the Slaughter City functioned as a containment place for evil soul masters. Combined with the Spirit Hall's angel soul masters' natural ability to suppress them, the continent had enjoyed an unusually long period of peace.
But this was unacceptable. Without evil soul masters running rampant, how could Tang San's Shrek Academy, Clear Sky Sect, and Tang Sect appear as saviors, winning the faith of the masses?
Tang San had his own philosophy of harvesting belief: far more "sophisticated" than the Angel God's methods, in his view. With careful manipulation, he intended to control the faith of Douluo Continent for twenty thousand years.
He despised the Angel God's faith-gathering. Though she once quelled the Evil Soul Master uprising and earned divine power from the people's worship, centuries of peace had eroded that faith.
By the time of future wars, the two empires could still muster million-strong armies — proof that devotion to the Angel God had all but vanished.
The Sea God's strategy, however, impressed Tang San more. By leaving dangerous sea beasts like the Devil Whale and Evil Orca to periodically wreak havoc, he ensured sea soul masters lived constantly on the edge of life and death.
Then, when his believers like Bo Saixi stepped in to save them, the rescued became devout for life. Millennia later, faith in the Sea God remained fervent.
"Humans are insatiable," Tang San mused. "Give them only benefits, and gratitude turns into entitlement. Eventually, they'll demand more and even curse you for not giving enough. Spirit Hall treated the people well, yet during that war, the empires still raised armies of millions against them."
Thus, the key was the "whip and candy" method: strike them with suffering, then soothe them with salvation. Endlessly repeating the cycle forged eternal gratitude.
Evil soul masters, then, were Tang San's whip. While Shrek, the Clear Sky Sect, and Tang Sect were his candy.
The evil ones would resurge again and again, spreading chaos. Then Tang San's factions would emerge, save the day, and harvest belief. The same pattern could even be applied to future invasions from the Abyssal Plane.
Therefore, the Slaughter City must eventually be destroyed. Once he became a god, Tang San vowed to seal it off permanently.
With this resolve firm in his heart, he arrived at the massive gates of the Asura Temple.
The towering doors, tens of meters high, were forged of some extraordinary material, unyielding to force.
Fortunately, Tang San knew the key. His eyes reddened, steam puffed from his nostrils, and his crimson domain spread outward. Standing at its center, he swung his overlong arms to the sides, clenched his fists, pounded his chest, and let out the savage cry of an ape.
Sensing his Slaughter God Domain, the gates absorbed its power — and slowly began to open.
The great doors opened, and inside the divine temple something seemed to be calling Tang San.
Tang San knew exactly what this meant. Using the Killing God Domain to open the gates of the Asura Temple and entering within—what awaited him was the beginning of the Asura God's trial.
"I, Tang San, already possess the Killing God Domain, and I am the youth chosen by the Asura God. In my previous life, I didn't even undergo the Asura God's trial—he cheated on my behalf and directly granted me dual godhood.
"With the examiner secretly giving me a backdoor, plus the insights I already have from my last life into the Asura God's power, this lifetime's Asura God trial can be summed up in one word—trivial!"
Thus, at this moment, Tang San walked into the Asura Temple as though entering his own home. While strolling inside, he even admired the scenery, his expression practically writing across his dark-skinned face: See? This is my future empire.
He ascended a long stairway corridor and arrived at the central main hall.
The doors to the hall opened, and Tang San stepped inside.
At the center of the vast hall, a grand Asura throne stood. Beside it, thrust into a pool of blood, was a sword without a scabbard.
On the throne sat a vague figure, bathed in blood-red light.
Tang San gazed at the figure. Though he couldn't see its features, he instinctively concluded this must be the Asura God.
With this thought, his heart relaxed. Straightening up, he walked proudly.
At that moment, a majestic voice descended from above:
"The challenger has arrived at the Asura Temple. Complete the trials within, and you shall earn qualification for the Asura God's test!"
The figure upon the Asura throne slowly rose, stepping down the dais and walking toward Tang San.
"What is the trial?" Tang San asked without thinking.
In the next instant, the figure appeared before him and slapped a palm onto his body.
Tang San's dark body instantly exploded, bursting into chunks of flesh that scattered across the floor, a red mosaic of gore.
Achievement unlocked: Smash the little brat to death!
After a while, the scattered flesh reassembled, reforming into a short-limbed, dark-skinned figure.
Tang San had been revived after one death.
Shaken, he stared at the blurred figure. Just now, he had been killed without the slightest chance to defend himself. He clearly felt every inch of his flesh being torn apart. The pain was brief, but unforgettable for a lifetime.
Once again, the majestic voice resounded from the temple:
"The Trial of Will: To temper your will and test your resolve to inherit the Asura God's position, seventy-two trials of death shall be imposed. If you can endure all seventy-two, the Asura God's test shall begin. Fail, and you will permanently lose the right to undergo the test, and your Killing God Domain will be stripped away."
Current completed Will Trials: 1
"Seventy-two… trials of death… and only after finishing them can the Asura God's test begin? If I fail, I lose everything, even the Killing God Domain…" Tang San muttered, staring blankly at the vague shadow.
The blood-soaked Asura Sword flew from the pool into the figure's hand.
A flash of sword light—Tang San suddenly felt his upper body sliding sideways, then falling to the ground.
As he fell, he saw his short legs still standing in place. Then, from the gap at his waist, blood sprayed out, and his knees buckled.
The adrenaline rush passed, replaced by searing agony. Tang San could barely breathe—he had been cut in half.
The vague figure flicked the Asura Sword, splattering Tang San's blood everywhere.
Achievement unlocked: Bisect the little brat!
Being cut in half was a drawn-out torment, for death did not come immediately.
Grinding his teeth, drenched in sweat, Tang San crawled across the floor, leaving behind a long blood trail. His innards spilled along the path.
At last, his breathing ceased.
Current completed Will Trials: 2
When Tang San revived again, the shadow of death still clung to him. Shaking, he looked at the Asura God and muttered in disbelief:
"No… this isn't right. Asura God, you shouldn't be treating me this way. In my last life, I was your precious treasure! You brought me from another world, gave me my past-life memories, and even when I chose the Sea God's test, you cheated for me, letting me inherit the Asura Godhood without trials—dual gods in one! You shouldn't… you shouldn't treat me like this!"
He panted rapidly, staring at the shadow, when suddenly he felt something forming on his forehead.
Reaching up, he touched the mark.
From above, the grand voice answered his thoughts:
"This is the Asura God's Seal. Each time you complete a trial of will, the mark deepens. When all trials are finished, the inheritance seal will be fully engraved."
So that meant after surviving seventy-two deaths, the seal would be complete. Tang San understood.
"Do you fear death? You may quit the Will Trials now—or continue. Will you go on?" the emotionless shadow asked.
"I will continue," Tang San replied firmly.
In that moment, a wooden cross appeared behind him. His body was drawn onto it, arms spread wide.
"Huh?" a surprised voice sounded.
Normally, a cross has a long vertical beam and a short horizontal one. But Tang San's arms were longer than his entire height—his short body didn't even reach two-thirds of the vertical beam, yet his arms easily stretched past the horizontal ends.
The shadow adjusted the structure—shortening the vertical beam, lengthening the horizontal—to better fit Tang San's proportions.
Four rusty nails materialized around the shadow.
"What… what are you going to do?" A wave of dread swept over Tang San.
The nails shot forward, piercing his palms and feet, pinning his dark body firmly onto the cross.
"RrraaaAAAHHHHHHHH!" Tang San let out a shrill shriek like a dying baboon.
The divine support holding his weight vanished, leaving his crucified body to sag under gravity, inflicting him with renewed waves of agony.
"RrraaaAAAHHHHHHHHH!" His wails echoed throughout the temple, a grotesque chorus.
The shadow returned to the Asura throne, planting the sword back into the blood pool, and calmly admired the little brat nailed to the cross.
There Tang San hung, crucified, suffering for three days before finally dying of blood loss.
Achievement unlocked: The little brat on the cross!
Current completed Will Trials: 3