Tang San also had to admit that he had indeed underestimated the God of Destruction this time.
The momentary panic flashed through his mind just now, but fortunately, he managed to steady his composure in time.
He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, pressing down the surging emotions.
Then, when he spoke, his tone carried a just-right apologetic posture, saying, "I violated the regulations of the Divine Realm, and this matter is indeed my fault."
First, he admitted his mistake with a correct attitude, but then his tone shifted abruptly, carrying a sense of helplessness as if he had been driven to a desperate situation and had no other choice.
"However, as I just said, dispatching the two divine officials Niu Tian and Tai Tan to the Lower Realm was also a helpless move."
He suddenly cast his gaze toward the Goddess of Life, then slowly swept his eyes around the surrounding divinities, his tone deepening a few fractions: "Some of you should already know that my daughter, Xiao Qi, sneaked off to the Lower Realm."
"I sent the two divine officials down simply to protect her."
"They have always stayed within the Clear Sky Sect, never going out, and have not interfered in any affairs on the continent."
Hearing this, the God of Destruction narrowed his eyes slightly.
He truly did not expect Tang San to come up with such an excuse, and in his heart, he had to secretly praise that this old fox's adaptability was indeed formidable.
However, this time, before he could retort, the Goddess of Life took the lead and asked, "Since that is the case, why don't you bring Xiao Qi back to the Divine Realm?"
As soon as these words were spoken, many divinities nodded in agreement one after another.
Compared to dispatching divine officials to lurk in the Lower Realm, bringing his daughter back to the Divine Realm was the proper course of action.
Facing the question from the Goddess of Life, a bitter smile appropriately surfaced on Tang San's face: "The affairs of the Divine Realm are complicated and cumbersome, plus one day in the Divine Realm is a year in the Lower Realm. Once I get busy, there is simply no time to go to the Lower Realm and bring Xiao Qi back."
His tone was managed just right, as if he were devoting his all to the Divine Realm, to the point that he couldn't even spare attention for his own daughter.
Then he added another sentence: "Besides, even if she were brought back, with her naughty temperament, she would probably just sneak away to the Lower Realm again."
"I figured it would be better to let her play to her heart's content in the Lower Realm, and whenever she wants to return to the Divine Realm, she can just come back anytime."
These words sounded reasonable and logical, every single word exuding the consideration and tolerance of a loving father.
If someone who did not know the inside story heard this, they would probably really think that Tang San was a competent God King who worked so hard for the Divine Realm that he had no time to tend to his family.
However, the God of Destruction, who knew what Tang San had actually done, could no longer suppress the anger in his heart.
He suddenly let out a cold hum, his voice echoing in the hall like a thunderclap, and then he shouted sternly: "Tang San! You are truly shameless!"
Although the God of Destruction usually looked gloomy and sinister, not resembling an upright figure at all, deep down in his bones he was a genuine, upright gentleman.
He acted with integrity and disdained to play those roundabout tricks.
Therefore, even though he was furious to the extreme at this moment, he did not say anything too harsh, only using the three words "shameless".
But for these three words to be spoken publicly from the mouth of a God King, the weight was already heavy enough.
The breath of all the divinities present hitched; within the Divine Realm, everyone usually addressed each other by their divine titles. A situation like the God of Destruction directly calling the Sea God by his real name already meant that he was truly flying into a rage.
No matter how the God of Destruction and the Sea God had argued or confronted each other previously, they had never torn off masks publicly to this extent like today.
At this moment, all the spirits clearly felt that the atmosphere in the hall had become a bit more solemn.
The God of Destruction abruptly stood up, his palms pressing against the round table in front of him, his entire body leaning slightly forward, looking down at Tang San.
Unconcealed anger surged within those scarlet eyes, and his voice was low yet carried a weight sufficient to suppress the commotion of the entire audience: "Do you really think I don't know what Xiao Qi's current situation is?"
Hearing this, Tang San's heart tightened abruptly, and he secretly cried out that it was bad.
He wanted to speak, but found that his voice seemed to be blocked in his throat by something, and for a moment he actually didn't know what to say.
That composure and calmness were peeling away from his face bit by bit, revealing underneath that face that was finally beginning to waver.
The God of Destruction did not give him a chance to defend himself, directly waving his sleeve, and a light and shadow unfolded above the main hall like an unfurled scroll.
Within the light and shadow was a young girl who looked to be seventeen or eighteen years old.
She had long powder-blue hair, an exquisite and pure face, carrying a trace of childishness that had not yet completely faded, while faintly showing the appearance of a young girl just growing up.
This face bore some similarity to Tang San, and the outline between her brows and eyes vaguely carried the shadow of Xiao Wu, allowing one to confirm her identity at a glance.
With just a glance, many divinities present recognized her; this was definitely the grown-up appearance of Tang San's daughter, Tang Wutong.
At this moment, the big powder-blue eyes of the girl in the light and shadow held tears, and her voice carried a trace of irrepressible sorrow.
"I only found out today that I lost my previous memories because my Soul is missing."
"I don't even know who my parents are, not a single impression do I have."
"You said all this was done for me by my father, then where on earth is he..."
That crying voice echoed in the main hall, like a blunt knife cutting into the eardrums of the divinities stroke by stroke.
The girl's voice tinged with tears moved the divinities, and the words spoken from her mouth made the divinities even more puzzled.
Looking at Tang San's face which could finally no longer maintain calmness, the God of Destruction said in a cold voice: "Is this what you call 'can return to the Divine Realm anytime'?"
"Right now, Wutong doesn't even know who her own parents are!"
The texture of this light and shadow, the vibration of the voice, the transmission of emotions—all of these were incomparably real and could not be faked.
The divinities present naturally could also discern that the footage produced by the God of Destruction was not fabricated; that was the scene truly happening in the Lower Realm.
The entire main hall was silent for a split second, and then a voice carrying astonishment and anxiety broke the silence: "Third Brother! What on earth is going on here? How could Xiao Qi forget even us?!"
Everyone looked toward the source of the sound; the speaker was a woman in the front row who had already stood up at this moment.
She was wearing a pink long dress, her jet-black long hair combed into a scorpion braid hanging down to her ankles, her face still carrying the bright vitality of a young girl, but at this moment that pretty face was written full of incredulous shock.
The person who spoke was precisely Tang San's wife, Xiao Wu. She originally had no qualification to attend today's meeting; the God of Destruction had specially invited her here, with the purpose of letting her see Tang San's true face with her own eyes at this moment.
Looking at Xiao Wu's expression at this moment, Tang San only felt it was extremely terrible, and things seemed to have completely drifted out of his control.
He opened his mouth to explain: "Xiao Wu, don't worry, Xiao Qi is fine..."
At this time, the God of Destruction unceremoniously interrupted him: "You say she's fine? Wutong's Soul was torn apart by your own hands! She doesn't even know whose daughter she is right now, and furthermore, if her Soul cannot be completed within two years, do you dare say she won't face mortal danger?!"
These questioning words were like a heavy hammer, smashing fiercely into Tang San's heart, but right now he could not give a negative answer.
The gazes of the divinities fell uniformly on Tang San, carrying shock, bewilderment, and a gradually coalescing scrutiny.
Tearing apart his own daughter's Soul, is this really something that the Sea God Tang San would do?!
But if he hadn't done this, why was he speechless at this moment?
This was no longer just violating the regulations of the Divine Realm; this had even touched upon something more fundamental and even harder for people to accept.
That was the bottom line of morality; that was something neither a normal person nor a Divinity could possibly do!
Xiao Wu stood in place, her gaze staring fixedly at Tang San, the shock in her eyes transforming bit by bit into some deeper emotion, one that even she herself could not tell what it truly was.
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A/N:
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.