A beam of blue-gold light like a heavenly spear pierced the sky and rained down on Chen Yi. In that instant, Chen Yi's pupils shrank to the size of a needlepoint.
"Has this remnant of the Sea God gone insane?!"
The thought flashed through his mind. For a god to directly kill someone from the lower realm—especially a successor to another god's legacy like him—was a blatant violation of the ironclad laws of the Divine Realm, an act that could easily ignite a war among the gods.
Bo Saixi, gasping for breath, watched as the Sea God's phantom finally surged into motion. Her injured, twisted face was lit with manic fanaticism as she screamed, expending her last ounce of strength:
"Sea God... you are invincible! Destroy the blasphemer!"
Yet, just as that terrifying trident was about to touch Chen Yi's head, an ancient taboo slumbering within him awakened completely. For thousands of years, it had lain suppressed, but now a violently destructive yet infinitely regenerating purple-gold lightning erupted from every pore of his body like a long-dormant volcano.
The blinding purple-gold lightning soared into the sky, shaking the firmament. Clouds above boiled and whirled like scalded water, rupturing to reveal a vast expanse of star-lit sky.
It was as if some unfathomable, godly power, brimming with the might of heaven and earth, had spread forth without hesitation, instantly eclipsing the trident's radiant glow.
As everyone around was left speechless, the purple-gold lightning condensed midair into a colossal phantom that stretched into infinity, appearing directly behind Chen Yi and enveloping him completely.
At the moment the image of Thunder God appeared, its lightning-formed eyes swept a bored glance at the blue-gold trident bearing down.
There was no earth-shaking boom, no eruption of furious energy. The Sea God's strike, deadly enough to kill any ordinary cultivator with ease, vanished in an instant—silent and without even causing a ripple—as soon as it touched the realm of thunder surrounding the Thunder God's apparition.
Just then, a faint spark flashed in Thunder God's phantom eyes.
"ZZZ—"
A bolt of purple-gold lightning, condensed to the extreme and shot from its gaze, struck the Sea God's phantom—who was preparing another attack with her trident—squarely.
"Ahh!!"
The phantom, born from the Sea God's lingering resentment, let out a shrill scream. Immediately, the specter of divine power and grudge started disappearing rapidly from the point of impact.
Within moments, the once-majestic Sea God's phantom vanished completely, erased between heaven and earth.
Even the trident's radiant aura, freshly restored, faded just as quickly, falling from the sky with a dull thud—its sacred light lost, embedding crookedly among the ruins.
Below, Bo Saixi's passionate expression turned to utter shock, and for a long moment, she stared silently at the spot where the Sea God's phantom had vanished. Her lips trembled; she was unable to speak.
…
Divine Realm.
Sea God—realizing that the resentment he'd nurtured for so long was erased by Thunder God's apparition—felt no anger. Instead, a wave of relief left her sweaty with anxiety.
"Thank goodness... the child is safe." He was still unsettled, knowing that had Chen Yi truly been slain by his wrath, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Elemental Gods were famed for defending their own. Moreover, Chen Yi was tied to both the God of Destruction and the Goddess of Life. Had something truly happened, he would have been torn apart by the furious Seven Elemental Gods, and even the God King might not have been able to save him.
"Who gave you the right to kill? You nearly got me killed too!"
The Sea God, back in the Divine Realm, vented with a roar, shifting all blame onto the fleeting remnants of the wrathful spirit—now dispersed.
Yet before he could catch his breath, a bone-deep sense of being hunted by a primal beast seized her soul. His body froze, and his gaze unconsciously turned to the Douluo Continent.
In the next split second, his soul almost escaped his body in terror.
Because—the phantom of the Thunder God, which should have dissipated, remained. Those endless lightning-filled eyes pierced the barrier between divine and mortal realms, locking onto the Sea God's gaze with pinpoint accuracy.
…
High above Spirit City, the Thunder God's gigantic, thundering head shifted ever so slightly, as if actually staring at some point in the Divine Realm.
And then—Thunder God took a step forward.
"Snap—"
Underneath their feet, space filled with deep, pitch-black cracks, shattering amid a deafening roar and revealing the void beyond—roiling with destructive turbulence.
"Bring me the mace."
A majestic voice echoed from the Thunder God's phantom. It wasn't loud, but it rang clear high above Spirit City, faintly piercing through the fabric of space itself.
Below, the Thunder God's mace—held by the Grand Elder—let out a joyful hum and, in an instant, transformed into a streak of purple-gold light, landing in the Thunder God's palm.
The moment Thunder God's phantom gripped the mace, it seemed to swell with a true soul—growing immensely in size as destructive and creative light rippled over its surface.
The next moment, Thunder God's lightning-charged eyes locked on the retreating figure, and, suddenly raising his right arm, he brought the mace down—straight into the void before him, where it vanished.
…
In the Divine Realm, the Sea God sensed the Thunder God's move and bolted, fleeing at full divine speed as a beam of blue-gold light heading for the council center.
Even if this was just a remnant—an echo of a God King's power and will—it was impossible for even a first-tier god like her to withstand.
"Damn it! How is it so fast?! How can it cross realms and lock on to me?!"
Terror and confusion clouded his mind as he pushed his escape speed to the utmost limit.
Yet, after countless years in the storm of time and space, Thunder God's mastery over dimensional force had reached an unfathomable level.
Without warning, the space ahead of the Sea God was torn open by an immense purple-gold hand.
From the tear, a gigantic hand—wielding the Thunder God's mace and brimming with absolute divine might—reached out, seizing upon the Sea God.
"No—!!!"
The Sea God roared in despair, his eyes instantly bloodshot.
There was no escape from this blow.
Desperate, he summoned all her divine power. Clenching both hands, Sea God Trident—purely condensed from his remaining powers—took form in his grip.
Facing annihilation, he bellowed, raising his trident thirteen times one after the other. Each swing, backed by his deepest understanding of the sea's essence and all of his godly might, was his absolute trump card.
"Thirteen Halberds as One!"
Thirteen shadows of his trident overlapped and merged in an instant, turning into a furious blue-gold torrent that surged upward and clashed violently with the descending Thunder God's mace.
This—the ultimate move of Sea God. Even without his artifact, it was usually enough to force back any ordinary first-tier god.
"Rumble—rumble—"
The blue-gold Descent of the Sea God and the purple-gold Thunder God's mace collided at the very edge of the Divine Realm, illuminating all with dazzling divine brilliance.
But the deadlock lasted but a breath.
The blue-gold torrent rapidly shrank under the overwhelming might of the colossal mace. Though its radiance faded a little, the mace's descending speed never faltered.
"No!"
Sea God's eyes widened in terror, his heart freezing. Without his true trident to back his ultimate skills, he stood no chance against the wrath of a God King.
As the purple-gold mace shattered Sea God's Descent, about to stab into his body, an edge of madness flickered in his eyes. Suddenly, he grit his teeth, reversed his right hand, and summoned a golden heart radiating a gentle yet powerful divine aura.
"Explode!"
Twisting his face in anger, he hurled the Angel's Heart at the descending Thunder God's mace, focusing all remaining unstable divinity within.
"Boom! Dong!"
At the instant of contact, the golden heart detonated—releasing mingled divine energy and fragments. This self-destruction briefly halted the mace's fall.
Grasping the chance, the Sea God incinerated the last of his power, turning into a near-invisible blue-gold strand—fleeing with all his might toward the Divine Council, rapidly disappearing into the distance.
But just as he obstructed the blow, an insistent bolt of purple-gold lightning, focused to the extreme, arced out from the Thunder God's mace, following the explosion's path and striking the Sea God's body directly!
"Ahhh!!!"
Lightning instantly invaded his body, scorching his soul and shaking even his divine status.
…
Meanwhile, Thunder God's phantom arm and mace slowly drew back from the rift, reforming as they reappeared. At the same time, a feeble scream echoed through eternity, then faded into nothingness.
Thunder God's phantom lowered his head, gazed thunderously at Chen Yi, then, after a while, began to fade, disintegrating into bolts of lightning that returned to Chen Yi's body.
Only when Thunder God's phantom completely vanished did time seemingly resume its flow.
The room fell into absolute silence.
After a moment, Qian Daoliu finally let out a long, deep breath—like he was expelling all the shock and pressure pent up inside. He stared first at Chen Yi, then at the spot where Thunder God's phantom had faded, his eyes filled with complicated emotions that finally turned into a heartfelt sigh of praise:
"What a Thunder God... truly terrifying."
If even the servant of angels spoke thus, it illustrated the sheer magnitude of what they'd witnessed. The Grand Elder and Chu Shanhe, too, began to recover from their shock, nodding unconsciously—speechless for a time.
But this deathly silence was soon shattered by a shrill, hysterical scream.
"Impossible! The Sea God... the Sea God cannot lose! He can't lose to a mere shadow, never!!"
"This can't be! Absolutely not!!"
It was Bo Saixi. The god she had served all her life, her pillar of faith, had just been thoroughly defeated by another god before her eyes—perhaps even suffering heavy losses in his true form. It was enough to shatter all spiritual support she had left.
Her remaining eye bulged wide, and—as if in frantic denial—she screamed madly.
Qian Daoliu's gaze suddenly turned sharp, killing intent now aimed at the wounded woman.
"Whether he won or lost... regardless, you—"
His voice was cold as millennium ice. He raised his Angelic Sword and pointed the golden blade at Bo Saixi.
"You will not see it."
Before she could finish speaking, golden sword light flashed from the blade—instantly slicing through her neck.
Bo Saixi's scream abruptly stopped. Her wild, ocean-blue eyes froze wide, her head slowly slid off her shoulders, and rolled aside. The final look on her face was a mixture of disbelief and the utter void of faith-shattered despair.
The High Priestess of Seagod Island—formerly famed among all soul masters—had fallen.
"BO SAIXI—!!!"
From the depths of a distant pit, Tang Chen, barely conscious, watched in agony as his beloved was decapitated by a single swing—and let out a sorrowful cry.
The grand elder, who'd been waiting for this chance, hesitated no longer, ignoring Tang Chen's anguish. He focused his spirit power, and with a palm strike straight to the wounded man's chest—
"Bang!"
Already on the verge of collapse, Tang Chen's body finally gave way, erupting in a bloody mist of flesh and light.
Amid the swirling mist and colored energy, seven beams of powerful energy slowly rose, each radiating a different aura—seven high-quality soul bones, left behind in Tang Chen's corpse!
The most eye-catching was a crimson soul ring, hovering above the soul bone, emblazoned with three dazzling golden patterns.
The soul ring and bone of the Blood Red Nine-Headed Bat King had finally revealed themselves.
…