"This is my gift."
A speck of white light, though not dazzling, felt exceptionally clear. Even those outside the cave, like the Sea Princess and Chen Junting, who were blocked by the mental barrier, could clearly perceive it.
The Sea God Douluo sensed the power surging from the mermaid, Li La, through this mental barrier. It didn't just contain the origin of her soul; it was mixed with something peculiar.
"This is... a Mermaid's Blessing!?"
After searching his mind for relevant information, Chen Juntao let out a gasp of surprise.
As he spoke, a flash of white light erupted in the cave. Li La's body disintegrated, and her originally aged soul began to change.
Gradually, a young and beautiful mermaid floated in mid-air.
Ning Tian was puzzled. Even though she was well-read, the ocean was vast and full of secrets, so it was normal for her not to know about this.
She looked at the Sea Princess and asked, "Senior, what is a Mermaid's Blessing?"
The Sea Princess explained, "Our mermaid clan excels in mental power. Every member has one chance to bestow a blessing in their lifetime. If it is given to someone of our own clan, it is an expression of love. But if it is given to an outsider, the blessed person will obtain good fortune and will forever be a friend of our mermaid clan."
Hearing this, the Sea God Douluo couldn't help but look sideways in surprise.
A human and a soul beast who had never met before, yet they shared such deep emotions? How did he find this completely impossible?
Seemingly sensing Chen Juntao's gaze and understanding the implication behind it, the Sea Princess didn't explain further. She looked at her tearful youngest daughter and said something that only those in the know would understand.
"Li La... loved Li Ya the most."
At this moment, flowing light spiraled around Huo Yuhao and the Mermaid Princess, elevating each other.
Originally, Huo Yuhao's Spirit Sea was already nearing saturation after accommodating six great spirit souls.
However, during the process of merging with Mermaid Li La's spiritual origin,
Their mental powers blended together. Not only did Huo Yuhao not feel his mental power reaching its limit, but he actually felt his Spirit Sea expanding at an astonishing rate.
As time passed, Huo Yuhao's entire Spirit Sea expanded by more than a third. The seawater inside even turned into a solid state, and its color became much deeper.
At this moment, his powerful mental power diffused outward almost at will, piercing straight through the sea surface. Everything in the surrounding ocean and the entire seabed palace were completely within his perception.
"Buzzzz—"
Tian Meng, Ice Empress, Octagonal... at this moment, the six great spirit souls surrounded Huo Yuhao, simultaneously guarding Li La above, causing his aura to continuously climb.
Following that, an orange soul ring slowly rose.
It finally stopped at the eighth position—his current final slot.
This was the soul ring unique to Ferocious Beasts within the Spirit Soul system.
"Yuhao has truly grown up."
Chen Junting sighed with emotion, but a trace of imperceptible worry flashed in his eyes. Connected in mind, Ning Tian shot him a glance, and the two locked eyes in that instant.
The stronger Yuhao became, the less patient Tang San might be.
If he sensed this, perhaps...
A conspiracy was imminent.
They would have to be doubly on guard from now on.
Even before a God King, they fundamentally couldn't guard against him.
But at least, they still had other methods.
...
God Realm.
In this area rich in heavenly and earthly energy, there was an unremarkable-looking valley. Inside, a hundred flowers bloomed, and various grasses grew in an orderly fashion. Towering trees blocked the sunlight, and occasionally, a few clouds drifted across the sky, their gorgeous colors exceptionally moving.
At the mouth of the valley, a path made of gravel extended inward. Various plants grew on both sides; if placed in the lower realms, these would be considered heavenly treasures, containing massive spiritual energy.
A small courtyard sat nestled within the valley.
The buildings in this courtyard were entirely made of wood. Several children were playing inside. A beautiful, slender woman in a red dress was managing the children, while a beautiful woman in a blue dress sat nearby eating. Without exception, their faces were filled with happiness, resembling a family living in seclusion in an earthly paradise.
And in a pavilion to the side of the courtyard sat two people. On the left was a young man who looked to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. He was incredibly handsome, with long golden hair draped over his shoulders, looking casual yet brimming with charm.
Sitting opposite him was a white-haired old man. The old man looked very ordinary, but his eyes were bright and spirited.
The two sat upright, playing chess, with no fluctuations of soul power around them.
However, this game of chess seemed to have reached its endgame.
Soon, the old man furrowed his brows tightly.
It took him a long while before he finally placed a piece.
In contrast, the young man placed his pieces very quickly, maintaining a calm and composed demeanor the entire time.
Seeing his teacher hesitating, the blonde young man smiled and said, "Teacher, it seems your mind is in chaos. With such emotional fluctuations, it looks like you won't have a chance to win this game either."
The old man held his chess piece in displeasure, glaring and twitching his beard. "You brat, you never know how to let me win when we play chess. After all the hard work I put into teaching you back then, hmph!"
The blonde young man smiled and raised both hands above his head. "Alright, don't be angry. How about I make lunch today?"
The old man's eyes lit up. "Really?"
The blonde young man nodded. "Cooking is a joy for me! Besides, you were the one who taught me how to cook. How could I go back on my word?"
The old man was thoroughly satisfied and conceded defeat. "Fine, I lost. You go cook."
The blonde young man nodded and was about to stand up. "Alright, then I'll leave it to you to clean up the chessboard."
"Hey, wait a moment."
The old man waved his right hand. Without any visible gesture, all the pieces on the board naturally flew up, separating into black and white, and dropped into the chess boxes on either side. His other hand wasn't idle either, as it directly grabbed the hem of the blonde young man's clothes.
"Why are you in such a hurry to leave, you brat?"
"Teacher, I'm going to cook..."
"No rush."
The old man waved his hand. "I just said for you to cook, but we're not in a rush to eat." Saying this, he patted the chair in mid-air. "Sit down first. Let's have a chat, master and disciple."
The blonde young man had no choice but to sit back down. "Teacher, what do you want to talk about?"
"You." Extending a finger, he pointed at the blonde young man from afar. "You said my mind was in chaos, but I noticed you weren't doing so well yourself just now."
The blonde young man gave a bitter smile and immediately tried to defend himself. "Teacher, what do you mean?"
"Do we, master and disciple, still need to put on such pretenses?"
This rhetorical question left the blonde young man speechless.
"Nothing escapes your sharp eyes, old master."
"Of course." The old man stroked his beard proudly. "Spill it. Which daughter-in-law did you have a falling out with this time?"
"Is that really how you see me, Teacher?" the blonde young man said helplessly.
"No?"
"No, really no."
The blonde young man smiled bitterly and waved his hand. "Teacher, living this kind of life in the God Realm for so long... it's just boring."
Hearing this, the old man immediately understood his disciple's thoughts.
At the end of the day, he had been thinking this way for more than just a day or two.
But unfortunately, it was just a thought.
The old man stroked his beard and comforted him, "Wanting to pass on your godhood is not something that can be rushed."
"I know."
The blonde young man fiddled with a white piece in the box. "But finding someone who perfectly matches my God of Emotions godhood is too difficult. It has been over ten thousand years in the lower realm since I became a god."
Obviously, this blonde young man was none other than the God of Emotions, the 1st-Class God closest to the God King—Rong Nianbing.
"This..." Rong Nianbing's teacher gently stroked his beard, lost in thought.
Actually, what his disciple said made perfect sense.
There was no shortage of geniuses, but those with the qualifications to become gods were rare. Those who could walk the path of emotions and attract the Emotions Godhood were even rarer—perhaps one wouldn't appear in hundreds of thousands of years.
"In that case..." A flash of inspiration hit Rong Nianbing's teacher.
"What if you cultivated one yourself?"
Hearing this, Rong Nianbing's hands paused. "Cultivate one myself?"
"Correct." Rong Nianbing's teacher nodded slightly and spoke eloquently, "Since it's hard to wait, find the most top-tier genius, secretly leave your mark, and guide them onto the path of emotions. This way, once they fully mature, you can have this disciple of yours inherit your godhood. It's just that..."
These words made Rong Nianbing's eyes grow brighter and brighter.
But when the words "It's just that" came out and the teacher abruptly stopped, Rong Nianbing felt puzzled. "Just what?"
"Is my method legal and compliant?"
"Yes! Of course it is!"
This method was similar to the Sea God's Divine Examination. Why wouldn't it work?
"Hahaha—"
Rong Nianbing clapped his hands and laughed, giving a thumbs up. His tone was inevitably teasing. "Teacher, not bad! The older the fox, the craftier."
"Get lost."
The old man immediately stood up and threw a kick, cursing with a smile. "How can you talk about your own teacher like that?"
"Hahaha—"
After smiling at each other, Rong Nianbing's teacher brought up another matter. He told Rong Nianbing to consider their own hometown when selecting a suitable heir to the godhood.
But unfortunately...
"Teacher, it's not that I don't want to. It's that I really can't."
Rong Nianbing's "can't" didn't mean he lacked the ability, but rather that the people from their own hometown were truly disappointing.
Earlier, when he looked down, not a single one of them had the talent to become a god, not even in terms of hard work.
The descendants just weren't capable!
"Sigh—" Rong Nianbing's teacher sighed helplessly.
Who could be blamed for this?
Besides, he couldn't possibly let his disciple choose a mediocre genius to inherit the godhood, could he? That wouldn't be helping that person; it would be harming them. Because the path to ascending to godhood was exceptionally dangerous.
"Since it won't work, which plane do you plan to focus on?"
Hearing this question, Rong Nianbing's heart stirred.
Actually, he had set his sights on the Douluo Plane.
Because even though the God Realm controlled over a hundred subordinate planes, looking across the gods of the God Realm, most of them came from different planes. For a plane like the Douluo Plane to produce six gods in a row, with Tang San among them holding the dual godhoods of the Asura God and Sea God as a proper God King, its sheer value went without saying.
Furthermore, he heard that the Douluo Plane originally had two other 1st-Class Gods. It was just that because they had a grudge against Tang San, one died and the other's godhood was shattered. Otherwise, ten thousand years ago, the Douluo Plane would have seen eight gods ascend to the heavens, which would have undoubtedly caused an even greater shock to the God Realm.
Besides this, he seemed to vaguely know some other information.
That was, when Tang San wasn't busy a while ago, he paid excessive attention to the Douluo Plane. If he hadn't refrained from any extreme actions, the God of Destruction at the time would have suspected him of making a move against the lower realm.
Although it might be because of Xiao Qi, but...
Would Tang San let Xiao Qi descend to the lower realm for no reason?
At least in Rong Nianbing's eyes, that was impossible.
As for the rumor that "Xiao Qi ran down to the lower realm out of playfulness," Rong Nianbing didn't believe a single word of it.
How could that be?!
He was more inclined to believe that Tang San had noticed something, such as a peerless genius appearing in the Douluo Plane. After all, news had long since spread from Tang San's side that he no longer wanted to bear the burden of two great godhoods and intended to pass down the Asura Godhood to find an heir.
"I'd like to see what kind of scheme you're plotting."
If he really found an heir...
Hehe, then it just depended on whether Tang San had made his move yet.
If he hadn't, then first come, first served!
Thinking of this, a wicked smile appeared on the corner of Rong Nianbing's lips.
It was too perfect!
But when Rong Nianbing's teacher heard his disciple's plan...
"What!? You've set your sights on the Douluo Planet?!"
...
"Achoo—"
In the God Realm Committee, Tang San couldn't help but sneeze.
But this single sneeze caused his brows to furrow slightly.
You must know, he was a God King.
How could a majestic God King sneeze for no reason?
So, he swept his divine sense over his entire body and in all directions...
Unfortunately, he didn't discover anything.
"Strange..."
After muttering this, Tang San didn't take it to heart anymore. He rubbed his brow and then looked at the affairs he still had to handle, immediately feeling a headache. There was simply too much!
But there was no helping it; it was his shift right now.
However, being so busy not only left him with little time to accompany Xiao Wu, but it also meant he couldn't keep a constant eye on the Douluo Plane or pay it too much attention. He didn't even know how things had developed there.
Thinking of this, "I'll find some time to take a look first."
Thus, when Tang San cast his gaze toward the Douluo Plane, the first thing he checked was the situation of the Child of Destiny. But with just one glance, the Child of Destiny's situation already made Tang San startle!
His fortune had actually surged by a massive margin!
What on earth was going on?
Tang San had no way of knowing.
But the conclusion he could draw was that Huo Yuhao's wings were gradually maturing.
If that was the case, if he didn't make a move soon...
"It would be too late to act."
Tang San pondered for a moment. "Let's check on Xiao Qi first."
Making a direct move against Huo Yuhao was unrealistic, and the risk was too great.
But if it was Xiao Qi, it would be much simpler.
When he scanned Xiao Qi's location, his brows couldn't help but shoot up. "Why did they go to Shrek Academy? But..."
Suddenly, an idea formed in Tang San's mind.
"This is actually a good opportunity."
"...I still need to come up with a reason for Da Ming and Er Ming's side."
However, when Tang San's gaze swept over the location of the Haotian Fortress once more, his eyebrows rose again.
"Perfect."
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