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*****
Setting aside the fact that Ye Lan possessed the "Divine Gaze Unbearable" soul skill—a state of infinite golden body—the sheer disparity in their life levels made it impossible for him to be restrained. How could a mere ant hope to halt the movements of a soaring dragon?
In the next heartbeat, the colossal finger closed the distance. To the Douluo Divine Realm, it looked as if a drop of blue water was about to collide with the index finger of the "Blue Silver Life Mecha."
To the astonishment of the masses, nothing within the Divine Realm shifted. The air, the clouds, the oceans, and the mountains remained undisturbed, as if the finger were a mere illusion, just as Tang Hao had claimed. Had it been otherwise, the sheer scale of the Mecha's movements would have spelled extinction for every living being in the realm. The wind pressure alone from a single finger would have been enough to overturn the soil of the entire Douluo Planet to a depth of a thousand meters.
Countless people rejoiced, believing they had been spared by divine mercy. However, near Sea God Island, the survivors quickly realized exactly what the "God" had done. Everything in the Divine Realm remained pristine—except for God-King Tang San and the Sea God Temple beneath him.
The faithful followers of the Sea God watched in horror as their God-King was suppressed within the realm by a single finger that blotted out the sun. Once the strike concluded, Ye Lan shrank back to his human size, landing atop what remained of the temple.
The believers looked down, trembling. Beneath Sea God Island lay a crater tens of thousands of meters wide. It could no longer be called a pit; it was an abyss, its depths filled with churning, boiling magma. Seeing the "God" return to human form, the followers instantly cast their faith in the Sea God to the winds. From this moment on, they would be Ye Lan's most fanatical zealots.
"God! Almighty God! We have captured the heretic!"
Several former believers had already bound Tang Hao to a pile of withered wood. It would take only a single spark to turn the former "Father" into ash.
Ye Lan looked at the mob and said indifferently, "It is not yet time. I will deal with Tang Hao myself."
"As you command! We obey the Divine Will!" The crowd bowed their heads low, prostrating themselves in worship.
Ye Lan sensed his "Ethereal" state and marveled at the utility of the Kunpeng Divine Body. Had he not maintained this state, the entirety of Douluo Planet—and perhaps the solar system itself—would have been swallowed by collapsing spatial rifts.
His finger had utilized the "Ethereal" property, which was why the planet sustained no collateral damage. The only part of the finger that manifested as physical matter was the section that struck Tang San; the rest remained phased within the Blue Silver Space. Furthermore, the finger hadn't even physically touched Tang San. Its mere presence caused the surrounding space to detonate, and the resulting blast had instantly neutralized the God-King.
The most terrifying part was that this was the result of Ye Lan holding back. Otherwise, Tang San would have been erased from existence entirely.
As the unconscious Tang San drifted in a brief moment of forced peace, his throat was suddenly seized by an invisible force, like a shackle of destiny.
"Gah...!" Tang San gasped, his pupils dilated and his face ashen. He had lost. He had lost so utterly.
His grandmother's hopes, his father's expectations—all gone. His greatest trump card, the Dual Godhoods—even after absorbing the power of Ye Lan's own faith—were nothing more than a clown's performance in front of the true power.
The transparent hand dragged the God-King from the core of the planet back to the surface of the sea.
The new followers cheered, "Wonderful! The bastard Tang San has been caught!"
"A false god is just a false god! He is nothing before the True God!"
Tang Hao's mouth hung open, the last spark of hope dying in his eyes. Everything he had relied on—the motivation that kept him living—was a joke. Even after his son reached Godhood, he was still a plaything to Ye Lan.
Tang San's face turned a bruised purple. He stared at Ye Lan with pure despair. "Ye Lan! Why don't you just kill me? Why give me hope at all? If you are this powerful, why go to these lengths to target me?"
Looking at the broken father and son, Ye Lan spoke calmly. "Tang Hao, I told you I would give you the most desperate death possible. Your precious Tang San, the so-called Dual God-King... he gave you quite a bit of hope, didn't he? Before I arrived, were you already fantasizing about the Tang family ruling Douluo, the Clear Sky School dominating the world, and father and son ascending together?"
Their pupils shrank. They realized that their entire struggle had been nothing more than entertainment for Ye Lan. Even Tang San's ascension had been part of his calculations.
"How does it feel, Tang Hao, Tang San? One moment in heaven, the next in hell. Nothing is more delicious to me than dragging your dreams into the abyss." Ye Lan closed his eyes and took a deep breath, savoring the aura of pure despair radiating from them.
Tang Hao began to shake. Regret finally washed over him—regret for killing Ye Lan's parents. In his time as a cripple, he had remembered the faces of those he killed; Ye Lan looked so much like his mother. If he hadn't been greedy for Ah Yin's spirit bone and ring, he wouldn't have made an enemy of Spirit Hall, and he wouldn't have killed Ye Lan's parents. Everything was his own doing.
Tang San's face was deathly pale. He realized his "achievement" was a gift. "Did you... did you purposely let me absorb that faith energy?"
Ye Lan replied, "I didn't expect you to be so useless that you couldn't even fully inherit the positions. I figured I'd throw you a bone."
"What do you want?! Do you just want to toy with me like a cat with a mouse? You madman!" Tang San roared.
"I have no interest in playing with an ant after strengthening it. Remember what I called you from the start, Tang San. Do not forget your identity."
"What do you mean? What are you trying to say?" Tang San's skin crawled.
"I called you a bastard, didn't I? Did you think that was just an insult? Are you not a hybrid?"
Tang San realized what he was implying and screamed, "Impossible! I would rather blow myself up than let you have your way!"
"You think you can escape me? You want to self-detonate? Have you forgotten about my little maid, Xiao Wu? If you blow yourself up, it will be very difficult for me to be kind to her. She is quite delicate, and if you annoy me, I can't guarantee what I'll do to her."
Tang San felt all strength leave his body. "How do you know? Why... why must you use her to threaten me?"
"Hahaha, how does it feel? Your beloved grandmother sacrificed herself for you, and yet here we are. Xiao Wu is your last pillar of faith, isn't she? Even though your behavior with her in the illusion made me find her a bit distasteful, it was just an illusion, after all. Now, sacrifice yourself. Live on for your Xiao Wu, or she will have no reason to exist anymore."
Tang Hao finally understood why Ye Lan wanted Tang San to become a Dual God-King. As a hybrid of human and spirit beast, Tang San would drop spirit rings and bones upon death. He could sacrifice himself just like a spirit beast. With his current status, he could provide Ye Lan with unprecedented Dual God-King level rings and bones.
"Little San! No!" Tang Hao howled, tears streaming down his face.
Tang San looked back at his father. "Father... we lost. There is no hope left. For Xiao Wu... I am willing to do this. Ye Lan, I concede. My family owes you. Please... treat Xiao Wu well."
Ye Lan laughed loudly. "Fine! As for the bone positions, don't mess up the conversion."
"What positions do you want?" Tang San asked, his voice hollow.
"External Spirit Bone—God-King Shura level Right Boot Bone. External Spirit Bone—God-King Sea God level Left Boot Bone."
"You... you...!" Tang San was so enraged his soul nearly flickered out.
"Did you think you were worthy of being a main bone? You are only fit to be stepped on by me for the rest of my life."
Tang San spat out a mouthful of divine blood, nearly dying from sheer fury. But he was the fish on the chopping block. For Xiao Wu's future "happiness," he chose to endure the humiliation.
"No—!" Tang Hao screamed in futile agony.
Tang San's body began to glow with blood-red and golden light, transforming into two massive currents of energy flowing toward Ye Lan. Initially, Tang San planned to seize the opportunity to possess Ye Lan's body. But once he entered Ye Lan's sea of consciousness, he saw the truth. The gap between their souls was the gap between a mortal and a Creator God. His divine soul was a mere speck of dust.
Sensing the hostility, Ye Lan remarked, "You didn't cherish the chance for a quick end. Since you want it this way, I'll show you true despair."
With a thought, Tang San's soul was peeled back like an onion. His strength plummeted as Ye Lan split the soul into two masses: one massive and one tiny. The large mass contained the divine energy, while the small one was the essence—the True Spirit. For someone with the mental power of tens of billions of Creator Gods, this was as simple as swatting a fly with a cannon.
"Ye Lan! What are you doing?"
"Letting you face reality. Your divine blood, power, and bones will become my rings and bones. As for this mass of energy, I will convert it into a Shura Soul Spirit and a Sea God Soul Spirit for my descendants. A spirit master having a God-King level ring should be interesting. As the father of my future children, my family isn't wealthy; this is the best I can do for them."
Tang San cursed him with every foul word he knew.
"As for this little piece? Divine souls are immortal in the Divine Realm, you know." Ye Lan then expelled the True Spirit from his body. Just as Tang San thought he might escape, a divine flame ignited beneath his feet. Whenever his soul was about to be burned away, a wisp of celestial essence would replenish it, keeping the fire—and the pain—alive.
"AAAHHHHH!" The soul-form Tang San shrieked in agony.
The crowd cheered, celebrating the divine punishment of the "Evil God" Tang San.
"As the price for offending me, you shall burn in divine fire for eternity to wash away your sins," Ye Lan explained. He then looked at the former Sea God worshipers. "Establish the Temple of Atonement here. Any believer seeking my forgiveness may light the flames to burn the traitor Tang San."
"We obey the Divine Will!" the masses shouted in unison.
Tang San's soul shook violently. This was soul-level agony, far worse than anything physical. Even Ye Lan had barely endured similar pain during his early cultivation. Realizing he was facing an eternal hell, Tang San's soul radiated pure malice.
"Tsk, such resentment," Ye Lan mocked. "If I didn't know you were the 'pure and noble' Tang San, I'd think you were a vengeful ghost."
Tang San used the last of his will to roar, "Ye Lan! Don't think you've won! Douluo Planet has become the Divine Realm! It will eventually be destroyed by the Will of the Universe and the Space-Time Turbulence! I acknowledge your strength, but your friends and family will all die in that chaos! When that time comes, I will finally be free!"
Ye Lan waved his hand dismissively. "Then I look forward to seeing the Divine Realm fall. It seems the fire isn't enough to keep you quiet. Perhaps you should also spend every moment reliving Bo Saixi's humiliation and Xiao Wu's betrayal."
In an instant, the memories flashed through Tang San's mind: Bo Saixi kneeling to kiss Ye Lan's boots, and Xiao Wu surrendering herself completely to his enemy.
Every time Tang San's soul neared exhaustion, the world itself seemed to aid Ye Lan, providing the celestial energy needed to keep the torture going. Tang San was trapped in a loop of eternal burning and the endless heartbreak of his most painful day.
(End of Chapter)