Chapter 293. Tang Chen, a Broken-Spine Dog.
Poseidon's expression froze, her pupils slightly contracting.
Qian Daoliu was filled with shock.
Tang Chen, Tang Hao, and Tang Xiao all wore expressions of disbelief.
Only the Haotian Sect disciples below continued their celebration. Then, in their eyes, something changed.
The Haotian Hammer didn't fall; instead, it was neatly sliced open like a cream cake suspended in the sky.
Slices appeared before everyone's eyes.
First, slices, then pieces, then tiny pieces, all shattered into a wisp of soul mist that drifted into the sky.
Tang Chen, that incomparably domineering and world-conquering Haotian Hammer, had vanished from the world in such a bizarre way. Tang Chen was still in a daze, but Tang Hao was the first to react, his face showing a look of collapse and disbelief.
"No, this is impossible!
My grandfather is invincible, his Clear Sky Hammer is unparalleled! How could this be?" Tang Xiao echoed, becoming a broken record.
The Clear Sky Sect disciples below, witnessing this scene, were shocked, devastated, and filled with despair.
They had been oppressed by the Spirit Hall for so many years. Now, with Ancestor Tang Chen back, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief and continue to lead the sect under his leadership, defying the Spirit Hall and proclaiming to the Soul Master world, "Our Clear Sky Sect has returned!"
However, while Tang Chen brought them hope, An Chongdao brought them despair.
Those involved are often blinded, while bystanders see clearly. Poseidon shouted to Tang Chen, "Brother Chen, behind you!"
By the time Tang Chen heard this, it was too late.
An Chongdao appeared behind him, a sharp sword slicing through his waist.
The next moment, An Zhongdao appeared not far away.
Blood slid down her sword, yet not a single drop stained it.
*Pfft*
—blood gushed from Tang Chen's waist.
"Oh my god, my waist!"
Tang Chen clutched his severed waist, using his soul power to stop the bleeding, staring intently at An Zhongdao.
"You clearly had a chance to kill me just now, but chose to humiliate me in this way? An Zhongdao, is it? You'll regret this."
Tang Chen directly drew the Asura Sword, divine power surging within it, once again elevating his cultivation level.
Bloodlust spread across the Asura Sword, converging with Tang Chen's Killing God Domain, which in the next moment barely reached the level of the Asura Domain. Behind
Tang Chen, a majestic Asura phantom could be seen appearing within the blood-red domain.
Tang Chen looked at Poseidon with deep affection and said, "Thank you for reminding me, Poseidon. You let me know that I still have a place in your heart, and that's the answer I wanted today."
"I was lucky, but also unlucky. Back then, I received the Nine Trials of the Asura God. Just as I was about to complete the trials and ascend to the Asura God's position, I was parasitized by the Crimson Nine-Headed Bat King. For decades, I lived in a daze, finally awakened by the Asura God, but I lost my qualification for the divine trials and could only become a high-ranking priest." Tang Chen explained to Poseidon.
Poseidon said, "It's okay, Brother Chen..."
She wanted to say more, but was immediately warned by the Sea God.
Tang Chen, wielding the Demon Sword, charged towards An Zhongdao. An Zhongdao felt the familiar divine power within the Demon Sword.
Remembering the Asura God and the poison that had plagued the Douluo Continent for tens of thousands of years, he fearlessly met the attack.
Between the two, swords flashed and shadows danced. Initially, Tang Chen, lacking swordsmanship, was no match for An Zhongdao. It wasn't until the Asura Demon Shadow possessed Tang Chen that the situation gradually turned around.
In the God Realm—while the Asura God was manipulating Tang Chen—the God of Destruction patted the Asura God's shoulder.
"Asura, you're interfering with the order of Douluo Continent again. Can you even handle being the God of Law Enforcement? If not, just step aside," the God of Destruction said with disgust.
The Asura God's face turned green. "Destruction, I'm doing this to relieve the God Realm's burdens! Look for yourself! What is this!"
With that, the Asura God showed the God of Destruction the Mystic Mirror.
The God of Destruction looked into the Mystic Mirror at the woman being manipulated by the Asura God in a fight. As for Tang Chen, it goes without saying that the Asura God was fighting for him. For this high-ranking official, the Asura God spared no expense, even using his divine power to fight for him, transforming Tang Chen from a swordsmanship novice into a swordsmanship master overnight.
Even so, judging from their exchange, the two were evenly matched. However, the God of Destruction could immediately see that Tang Chen's victory was clearly due to the sheer amount of divine power exerted by the God of Asura.
In terms of swordsmanship, the opponent's was pure, while Tang Chen, who was fighting on behalf of the God of Asura, although possessing strong swordsmanship skills, was somewhat lacking against An Zhongdao, and could only compensate for the difference with greater divine power.
"Interesting," the God of Destruction mused, stroking his chin. "I never imagined there were mountains beyond mountains, and people beyond people. Even your killing sword, God of Asura, can be outmatched by human power."
"If this were in your era, you might not have become a god," Destruction chuckled.
The God of Asura retorted, "My swordsmanship is different from hers. Besides, I was letting her win. Tang Chen was fighting on my behalf; that good-for-nothing Tang Chen has never even practiced swordsmanship!"
"Alright, alright, you're right," Destruction said.
"Alright, that's not what I meant. Destruction, didn't you see? This woman has completely deviated from the path of Soul Master cultivation, specializing in sword cultivation. If her swordsmanship spreads across the continent, it will have a huge impact on our plans," the Asura God said earnestly.
The God of Destruction said, "Isn't this a good thing? After she ascends to godhood and ascends to the God Realm, we'll have a powerful assistant when we expand the God Realm."
"Expand the God Realm? Destruction, are you still thinking about that pointless expansion of godhood?" the God of Asura said. "Expanding the God Realm offers absolutely no benefit to the God Realm. On the contrary, it brings uncertainty. We should strictly control the number of godhoods. Godhood should be held by those with virtue. I strongly oppose your proposal."
In the God of Asura's view, the five great God-Kings of the God Realm are equivalent to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and each godhood represents the power of the God Realm. Having five people share power with these gods is already sufficient. Destruction, are you out of your mind to think about expanding godhood?
Expansion my foot! Wouldn't it be better to let those mortal reptiles on the surface of the plane obediently contribute their faith to our God Realm? And give them the opportunity to ascend to godhood? Do they deserve it?
In the entire Douluo Star, apart from my precious darling and the few people around her, no one else is worthy of becoming a god.
Of course, the God of Asura couldn't say it so directly.
The expansion of the divine realm is divided into two factions: one seeks to expand its territory, while the other aims to expand both its territory and the divine realm itself. The Asura God represents the former, advocating for the expansion of the divine realm's territory while maintaining its existing structure, bringing other planets and planes beyond Douluo Star under its rule. This expansion, with more faith and a wider territory, means existing gods will receive a larger share of the spoils.
The God of Destruction also desires expansion, but he wants it to create more new gods, ensuring more people can ascend from the continent to godhood.
Currently, the divine realm is divided into two factions: Destruction and Life form one, while Asura, the Sea God, and other gods form the other. The Gods of Good and Evil have not explicitly stated their stance.
The Asura God and others, who oppose the expansion, naturally conceal their selfish motives, often using the righteous cause of the divine realm to hinder and interfere with the expansion efforts of Destruction, Life, and other gods.
Of course, the God of Asura intended to step down. Out of concern for the future of the God Realm and for the future of Douluo Star and many other planes, he decided to find a great treasure for the God Realm to inherit his ambitions and stop the God of Destruction's ambitious plans. Thus, the great treasure was born.
However, the great treasure's life did not develop as the God of Asura had envisioned. Because of that damned Spirit Hall, this pawn didn't serve as a tool for the great treasure's experience; instead, it constantly bullied him. This was intolerable to the God of Asura. He wished he could descend to the mortal realm directly, destroy the Spirit Hall, and slaughter its excessively powerful figures like An Zhongdao, Lin Mengtong, Hua Qiang, and Qian Xunji, so that the Spirit Hall's strength would be slightly greater than the great treasure's, ensuring that the Spirit Hall could both bring the great treasure some hardship and training, and that the great treasure would also have the power to retaliate against the Spirit Hall.
Only in this way can our precious child be tempered and grow, go to the God Realm, and carry the banner of the God of Destruction to stop the shameless, evil God of Destruction's insane and ambitious expansion plan for the God Realm, thus securing benefits for the future of Douluo Star and the God Realm.
However, ever since the God of Destruction discovered the God of Destruction's interference in Douluo Continent, he has been watching him closely, trying to find incriminating evidence against the God of Destruction and remove him from his seat on the God Realm Committee.
He is not afraid of being removed, but he wants to reserve this position for our precious child!
For the sake of our precious child's future, the God of Destruction cannot relinquish this position.
But seeing our precious child repeatedly suppressed by those damned ants of the Spirit Hall, the God of Destruction is anxious!
"Destruction, is that what I meant? I meant that now that humanity has found other paths besides the path of Soul Masters, will they challenge the gods of our God Realm? This is a threat that must be eliminated," the God of Destruction said.
"A threat?" the God of Destruction said. "I don't see it as a threat. Humans have their own natural order of things. As gods, it's best not to interfere too much. Take back your divine power, or I will definitely impeach you in the central government of the divine realm."
"Let the gods of the divine realm see how you, as the god of law enforcement, are breaking the law!"
"Destruction." The God of Asura was furious, but since Destruction was determined to die, the God of Asura had no choice but to take back the extra divine power from Tang Chen to save face.
Before leaving, the God of Asura looked at Qian Xunji and An Zhongdao with red eyes.
"If you dare to harm my precious treasure, I, the God of Asura, will risk being impeached by the God of Destruction to make your Spirit Hall disappear from the mortal world."
Originally, with the divine power added to him, Tang Chen regained his incomparably domineering and arrogant demeanor, fighting An Zhongdao to a standstill, almost evenly matched.
Then, suddenly, Tang Chen felt a surge of power leak from his body.
Before Tang Chen could even comprehend what was happening, An Zhongdao's fierce sword energy swept over like a storm.
That single strike severed Tang Chen's hand holding the Asura Demon Sword. Finally, An Zhongdao kicked Tang Chen from the sky to the ground, cracking his spine with his foot. "
Ugh, ahh The former pride of the Clear Sky Sect, the Twin Stars of Clear Sky, were forced to fall from the sky due to the gravitational pull of Douluo Star, their knees slamming heavily to the ground, utterly powerless.
"Daddy, Uncle, Grandpa," Tang San cried, his eyes red and his breath ragged, looking at the three men. He wished he could summon the Clear Sky Hammer and smash the heads of his enemies from the Spirit Hall. Tang Chen was indeed like a broken-backed dog; his spine was broken, and his lower body was paralyzed, only able to stand with the support of one hand.
Tang Chen's miserable state was a visual shock to the Clear Sky Sect, a shock akin to the collapse of a faith.
In the past, they had been oppressed by the Spirit Hall, forced to cower in their reserve, living a life of solitude, slowly being physically annihilated by the Spirit Hall.
But the light in their eyes had not faded. For years, they had endured humiliation and hardship because they held onto a hope—that as long as their ancestor Tang Chen returned, everything would be alright.
But Tang Chen, the patriarch, had returned, now lying on the ground like a broken-backed dog.
Tang Chen glared venomously at An Zhongdao. Paralyzed from the waist down, he looked like a broken-backed dog in front of everyone in the Haotian Sect. This was worse than being killed by An Zhongdao. Tang Chen shouted at An Zhongdao, "Kill me! Kill me now!"
However, to Tang Chen's disappointment, after breaking Tang Chen's spine, An Zhongdao made no further move, but slowly sheathed his sword.
Clearly, An Zhongdao only obeyed Qian Xunji's orders.
"Hey, you bunch of rats, didn't I tell you not to get out of the Clear Sky Sect? But I'll give you a chance. Whether the Clear Sky Sect can escape today depends on whether someone is willing to sacrifice themselves." Qian Xunji chuckled evilly at the dazed Poseidon,
"Hehehe, Poseidon, you don't want anything to happen to Tang Chen and the Clear Sky Sect, do you?"
A fair world enlightened everyone, except for Tang San, who held up the umbrella.
(End of Chapter)