Chapter 240: Matters of the Asura (Part 2)
By now, the Asura God had reached a level where distinctions between human and beast were trivial. If he wished, he could assume the form of a spirit beast himself. Among the Five God Kings, not all even originated as humans; the God Kings of Life and Destruction were personified forms of cosmic forces. Thus, the Silver Dragon King's fears went ignored her worry about the gods hunting her down after all this time was meaningless to the Asura God.
The gods had long chosen to subdue the spirit beasts only to prevent any resurgence of the ancient rulers. Besides, the last true dragon, the Silver Dragon King, was hiding in Douluo, with the Golden Dragon King locked away and posing no threat. Even if she regained her strength, the five God Kings were more than enough to handle her. Destroying her would be foolish; so long as she was confined to Douluo, there was no risk of upsetting the balance. After all, the Dragon God's split into two beings Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King had been so bizarre that none dared test further, lest their intervention worsen things. This was why the Golden Dragon King remained imprisoned rather than eliminated.
However, the Asura God faced another problem: there were few worthy female spirit beasts left on the Douluo Continent due to the intervention of the spirit beast Di Tian. And those that did exist were not up to his standards. Frustrated, he had instead focused on a special case the Thunder Hell Prison Vine, a unique creature born from the blood of the fallen Thunder God.
The Thunder Hell Prison Vine had an innate ability to absorb lightning to enhance its strength. But as it grew stronger, it also became unstable, often self destructing. This was why no Thunder Hell Prison Vine had ever reached 100,000 years and transformed. However, with the Asura God's intervention, these limitations were surmountable. Driven by his ambition, he guided the Thunder Hell Prison Vine to an impressive 200,000 years of cultivation, stabilizing it with his divine power and subtly shaping its consciousness.
Thus, Ah Yin was born.
Through subtle influences and minor interventions, Ah Yin's life path eventually crossed with Tang Hao's, and the two fell in love. The Asura God was pleased with this result. True, Ah Yin's immature form made her more vulnerable to being hunted by the Spirit Hall, but if Tang Hao his chosen candidate couldn't even handle that, perhaps he wasn't worth the investment after all.
At the mention of the Spirit Hall, his expression turned grim. "That foolish Angel, the one who created this troublesome faction on Douluo… How quaint that her influence has endured. I underestimated her strength who would have thought she'd survive and even entrust her divine essence to Poseidon?"
This realization troubled the Asura God, though not by much. While gods rarely interacted in the celestial realm, Poseidon had been unusually sociable, with strong connections across the realm and a reputation for trustworthiness. This explained why the Angel God had trusted him to pass on her divine essence. Ironically, fate had led Poseidon to partner with the Asura God to orchestrate a downfall for the Angel God a betrayal that sealed her demise.
And so, the era of Tang San began.
Returning to the present, the Asura God observed Tang Hao with cautious optimism. "While he isn't quite the prodigy Tang Chen was, he has potential. Don't disappoint me." With a faint smile, he guided Tang San's soul into Ah Yin's womb, substituting it for the original life force intended to be Tang Hao and Ah Yin's child. As for that initial soul, he dismissed it without a thought. Lives were mere numbers to him a god who embodied death itself.
But his satisfaction was short lived.
"What? What on earth…? Incompetent fool!" He hurled his chalice across his blood soaked chamber, fuming with frustration. In a moment of carelessness, Tang Hao had revealed Ah Yin's existence during Tang San's birth, foolishly challenging Qian Xunji and two Titled Douluo. Though Tang Hao ultimately triumphed, it was a pyrrhic victory. Throughout the brutal fight, the Asura God had to subtly protect Tang San's frail body from the shockwaves. Left unchecked, the newborn would have perished from the violence surrounding his birth.
This ongoing interference soon attracted the scrutiny of the other God Kings. The Asura God, though powerful enough to untether himself from the Asura mantle, had to tread carefully. The remaining God Kings were seasoned veterans who would be quick to confront any violation of divine protocol. Begrudgingly, he justified his actions by claiming Tang Hao as his candidate for the god position, which aligned with the celestial rules, allowing him to brush off their suspicions.
But he was far from reassured. Every time he checked on Tang Hao, he grew increasingly agitated. "He's only a child! How could you…? Are you even human? Even as the God of Asura, I wouldn't stoop so low. At least I'd grant him a swift death! Torturing him like this…" he fumed.
In the brief days he hadn't monitored Tang Hao, that barbarian had thought it reasonable to feed boiling porridge to his newborn son, scalding him to the point of blistering. "Is he blind?" The Asura God began to wonder if he had designed Hell's trials too leniently if a fool like Tang Hao had passed them.
What further aggravated him was that Tang San, despite his high innate soul power and twin martial spirits, had already regressed under Tang Hao's abusive care. The Asura God's heart ached to see the potential of his chosen successor wasted, but for now, his hands were tied. Reluctantly, he watched, unable to intervene as Tang San's soul power diminished with each passing year.
Fortunately, Tang San's will was formidable. Unlike the other natives, his soul harbored techniques from his past life that, even in his weakened state, allowed him to cultivate secretly.
This brought some solace to the Asura God. "Hard work can make up for incompetence, I suppose…"
But with each day he endured, his frustration only grew. "Enough! I refuse to let this fool ruin my successor!" he snarled, seething with resolve.
Through the Killing God Domain concealed within Tang Hao's Clear Sky Hammer, the Asura God subtly implanted a suggestion in Tang Hao's mind. In past generations, his candidates had reached the Slaughter City with the strength of a Soul Saint or higher. This time, the Asura God decided to hasten the process, pushing Tang Hao to bring Tang San to the Slaughter City as soon as he attained Soul Elder rank.
The Slaughter City restricted soul skills but not soul power itself, a challenge for many but hardly a concern for someone with Tang San's advanced techniques and mastery of hidden weapons. The Asura God had faith that these skills, rare even in Douluo, would help Tang San endure the trials there.
In a matter of years, Tang San neared his hundredth victory in the Slaughter City arena, but the Asura God found himself facing an unexpected dilemma: how to transfer the god trials from Tang Chen to Tang San without violating the divine rules.
Bound by celestial law, he could not kill Tang Chen outright, especially since the curse of madness cast on him had originated from the Rakshasa God. Any intervention risked exposing the Asura God's intentions, triggering a confrontation with her.
The situation left the Asura God caught in a dilemma: how could he break free from this quagmire?
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