Mist drifted through the ethereal space, lending the illusory surroundings an unusually vivid sense of substance.
Not far away, a lone figure stood silently amid the clouds and mist, gazing into the endless distance at something unseen.
He had long, waterfall-like aqua-blue hair, while his opulent blue robe seemed to ripple like the surface of water.
This was Tang San, the Sea God and Asura God of the Douluo Divine Realm.
“Sigh…”
Tang San let out a long sigh.
The destiny of the Douluo Continent seemed to be growing stronger and stronger, as though that rising star would soon begin to make his mark.
Since that was the case, it was time to begin making preparations.
Unfortunately, the Divine Realm could not directly interfere with the Mortal Realm.
Otherwise, he would never have needed to expend so much effort.
Especially lately, the God of Destruction had once again begun pushing for the Divine Realm Expansion Plan.
If he discovered the things Tang San had been doing behind the scenes, another confrontation would probably be unavoidable.
Just then, Tang San abruptly lost more than half of his perception of the Douluo Continent.
It seemed to have entered an elusive, almost intangible state.
“What’s going on?”
A puzzled look crossed Tang San’s face, but he did not stop.
Instead, he expanded the range of his Divine Sense.
Suddenly, he detected traces of Destruction Divine Power and Life Divine Power lingering around the Douluo Continent, along with even the faintest fluctuation of space-time.
Could those two have discovered what he was doing?
No, impossible.
If the God of Destruction had found out, his Destruction Divine Thunder would probably have struck this place already.
Or was he planning to use this opportunity to force Tang San to compromise on the Divine Realm Expansion Plan?
The God of Destruction getting involved was one thing, but the Goddess of Life had always remained neutral.
Yet now even she had joined in.
Against two God Kings, Tang San had no advantage at all.
Bringing everything out into the open would not help either.
He had been in the wrong from the beginning.
This time, he had truly been caught out…
Tang San’s eyes instantly turned bloodshot as his breathing grew heavy.
“You’ve already signed your own death warrants!”
It was fine.
Xiao Qi, Da Ming, and Er Ming were still in the Mortal Realm.
He still had the advantage.
All he needed to do now was wait…
…
A palace-like structure stood beneath the sunlight, its golden glazed tiles gleaming brilliantly.
With its golden roof and red gates, the ancient elegance of the palace naturally inspired a sense of solemnity.
Yet not far away, a blue-haired youth knelt before a gravestone, tears silently streaming down his face and soaking into his clothes.
There was only a small mound of earth here, one he had dug shovel by shovel with his own hands.
Even the gravestone had taken him a long time to find.
A line of words had been deeply carved into its surface:
The Tomb of My Beloved Mother, Huo Yun’er.
His mother had been the Duke’s personal head maid.
Having grown up alongside the current White Tiger Duke, the two gradually developed feelings for each other, and Huo Yuhao was eventually born.
Whatever Huo Yun’er’s status might have been, Huo Yuhao was still the Duke’s son.
His treatment within the estate could not be called good, but neither had it been particularly terrible at first.
His mother no longer had to work as a maid.
Her status rose through her son, and she was given a small courtyard of her own.
Everything should have continued peacefully.
But disaster soon struck.
The White Tiger Duke left to lead the Star Luo Empire’s armies in battle, leaving all affairs within the estate in the hands of the Duchess.
The Duchess already had two sons and a daughter.
Anything that might someday threaten her children’s interests fell within the scope of what she intended to suppress.
Huo Yuhao’s mother had grown up alongside the Duke and had always been deeply favored by him, making her a longtime target of the Duchess’s jealousy.
Naturally, she became the first person the Duchess moved against.
Claiming that Huo Yuhao’s mother had contracted a dangerous contagious illness, the Duchess drove mother and son out to a woodshed behind the servants’ quarters.
She also cut off every source of financial support they had.
Huo Yuhao had been only two years old at the time.
The harsh conditions gradually ruined his mother’s already frail health.
Then, just a few days ago, Huo Yun’er fell gravely ill and passed away.
“How ridiculous.
Mother, you loved Father until the very end, yet even then, Father never knew I existed.”
Before Huo Yun’er’s pregnancy had even been discovered, fierce fighting had broken out along the border, forcing Dai Hao to spend most of his time away handling military affairs.
The Duchess had taken advantage of his absence to conceal the entire matter, doing nothing more than assigning Huo Yun’er a small courtyard for appearances’ sake.
And after Dai Hao left to campaign, their life descended into this hell.
Even on her deathbed, his mother had still been clutching the Soul Tool Dai Hao had once given her, the White Tiger Dagger.
Deep hatred filled Huo Yuhao’s eyes.
“Mom, watch me from heaven.
No matter how much effort it takes, one day I’ll come back and trample everything here beneath my feet.
From now on, I’ll take your surname.
My name is Huo Yuhao!”
The instant those words left his mouth, a violent gale swept across the sky.
With a deafening crash, a bolt of purple-green lightning came down and struck Huo Yuhao directly.
At that moment, two Divine Senses, one purple and one green, followed the lightning into Huo Yuhao’s Spirit Sea Realm.
“What is this place?
Didn’t my consciousness already dissipate?”
Within Huo Yuhao’s Spirit Sea Realm stood a handsome young man with silvery-white hair and purple eyes.
Purple-black lightning infused with an aura of destruction coiled around him, giving off an intensely oppressive presence.
At the moment, however, he seemed somewhat weakened.
“Xiao Zi?”
“Xiao Lü!
Thank goodness you’re here too!
But where exactly are we?”
The one called Xiao Lü was an exceptionally beautiful and gentle woman dressed in a flowing blue-green gown.
Her emerald eyes carried the soft radiance of plants and vegetation, while her presence was gentle and ethereal.
“It seems we’re inside this child’s Spirit Sea Realm.”
As she spoke, she pointed toward Huo Yuhao, who still lay unconscious beside them.
“This child…”
The God of Destruction carefully studied Huo Yuhao.
“The God of Emotions?!”
Even though Huo Yuhao was much smaller now, the God of Destruction naturally remembered him.
Back when he had imprisoned Tang San, this was the brat who had stood against him head-on.
That endless assortment of Spirit System skills had been irritating enough.
On top of that, there had been one Spirit Soul after another, not to mention that self-created technique of his, the Three Ultimate Haodong Skills.
He had to admit, that scheming bastard Tang San had unbelievable luck.
He had practically gotten a son-in-law like this for free.
But the Huo Yuhao before him now was nothing like the one from the Divine Realm.
At this stage, he was quite simply a total weakling.
His entire body practically radiated misery.
“It seems the Space-Time Turbulence carried us into a timeline before the God of Emotions ascended to divinity.
And if I remember correctly, this is also the place where that Sea God became a god, isn’t it?”
The God of Destruction stared at the childlike Huo Yuhao as a grand plan gradually took shape in his mind.
“Such a fine successor…
heh heh heh…”
The Sea God had managed to use this brat to restrain him to a certain extent, and had even brought in the former God of Emotions to support him.
If the God of Destruction took Huo Yuhao as his disciple ahead of time, then both the future expansion of the Divine Realm and the Space-Time Turbulence could be dealt with.
Besides, this kid’s devotion in love was barely enough to rival his own.
Hmm.
This had to be fate!
Meanwhile, the Goddess of Life was sensing what was happening outside.
“Is the person buried there the God of Emotions’ mother?
Her soul doesn’t seem to have dissipated yet.”
When the God of Emotions ascended to godhood, his parents seemed to have ascended with him as well.
So what exactly was going on now?