DD Spiritual Sword [599-601] (Patreon)

Chapter 599: The Five Supreme God-Kings and the Seven Sin God-Kings

"Strength God, please step aside. Tianlin said if Evil Sword Immortal encounters the Seven Deadly Sins, it will cause a catastrophe. We must stop him." To Qian Renxue, not returning to the mortal realm didn't matter—she already carried Qian Daoliu's remnant soul.

Everyone else she cared about—Tianlin and his parents—would soon be brought up by Tianlin anyway. She could just wait here. But to slink back into the Angel Temple with her tail between her legs?

Absolutely impossible.

"Hmph, Qian Renxue, no need to waste words on him. Since he won't move, we'll beat him first. Path of the Sword—Annihilation." Chen Xin didn't bother speaking further; he swung the Seven Kill Sword, sending out a blade of sword qi.

Now that the Seven Kill Sword had ascended to an artifact, the power of the Path of the Sword—Annihilation was incomparable to before.

The Strength God didn't dare be careless and brought out his own divine weapon.

This generation's Strength God didn't use a earth-boundless ring set like Zhou Weiqing's, but the Annihilation Godblade—a step stronger even than the Seven Kill Divine Sword.

Blade qi and sword qi collided. If these two first-rank divine powers clashed in the lower realm, countless lives might perish. Fortunately, this was the God Realm, whose planar stability far surpassed Douluo Continent.

Chen Xin and the Strength God were both shaken back—it seemed a stalemate.

A trace of surprise flashed in the Strength God's eyes. He clearly felt that in divine power and cultivation, he, at the peak of First-Rank God, far surpassed Chen Xin, who had just stepped into that rank. Yet he couldn't gain the upper hand—he was even slightly suppressed. After all, Chen Xin's strike was casual and without killing intent, while he himself had been fully prepared.

Sword God—worthy of a being who could rival first-rank gods even as a second-rank. Now at first rank, his offensive power was likely unmatched below God-King.

"Hmph, Sword God… just as we feared—hard to handle, daring to defy even the joint order of our five God-Kings."

God of Destruction, spoke coldly. If he weren't occupied, he would have personally punished Chen Xin.

"Tch!" Evil Sword Immortal was also displeased. These two lingering pests, choosing this moment to cause trouble—trying to ruin his plan.

Luckily, the God-Kings' greed was too great. They had even stationed another first-rank god to stall them. While the Strength God was no match for Qian Renxue and Chen Xin together, with his cultivation he could delay them for a while without issue.

That window was enough for Evil Sword Immortal to complete his plan.

The Evil Spirit Pearl's glow grew dimmer and dimmer, about to be completely drained.

The five God-Kings all felt their power rising rapidly—especially the Evil God-King. His attribute aligned most with the Evil Spirit Pearl; he was nearly breaking the God-King limit. One more step, and he'd reach the realm of the Dragon God of old: Supreme God-King.

Destruction and Asura were a bit behind him, but not by much. Breaking through to Supreme God-King was only a matter of time.

Goodness and Life were slower; they couldn't directly absorb the power. The evil energy entering their bodies had to be purified before it could strengthen them.

Behind the Seven Sins, the seven rings of light that signified first-rank gods now had an impossible eighth ring—and even a ninth flickered faintly. They, too, were about to break through to God-King.

Destruction was overjoyed. They were about to succeed. With five Supreme God-Kings plus seven ordinary God-Kings, the expansion of the God Realm would be unstoppable. Even the spatial storms the Committee feared after expansion would be nothing before five Supreme God-Kings.

"My ideal is about to be realized. From now on, I can become a Supreme God-King of the pantheon—no, perhaps go one step further, to a God-Emperor even the Dragon God never reached."

Watching the triumphant Destruction God-King, Evil Sword Immortal sneered inwardly. Let you dream a little—so the greater the hope, the deeper the despair.

Boom!
With a loud blast, a God-King broke through—the Evil God-King. He surpassed the God-King limit and became a Supreme God-King.

Next came Destruction, Asura, Life, and Goodness, each breaking through in turn.

Finally, the Seven Sin Gods and the former Rakshasa God advanced as well, becoming the Sin God-Kings and the Rakshasa God-King.

The Evil Spirit Pearl began to fracture, crumbling into powder. The God Realm Committee's plan appeared to have gone perfectly. With the pearl's destruction, Evil Sword Immortal would surely be doomed as well.

Qian Renxue, Chen Xin, and the Strength God stopped fighting, staring blankly. Even for them, when had they ever witnessed so many God-Kings—let alone the legendary Supreme realm once said to be held only by the Dragon God?

"Hahaha, this is wonderful. With this power, I'm confident we can expand our God Realm a thousandfold." The God of Destruction laughed.

"Mm. With this, even second-rank gods can be allowed to bring a couple of loved ones to the God Realm, preventing the tragic separation of gods and mortals."

The Goddess of Life was delighted. She didn't crave power; she rejoiced for the realm's bright future.

The Evil God-King clapped Asura on the shoulder. "Asura, I told you not to worry. Look—we all broke through, the Evil Spirit Pearl is ash, and everything went to plan."

"Yes, it seems I was overthinking it." Asura nodded. He hadn't expected things to go so smoothly, though he still felt a nagging unease he couldn't place.

Only the Goddess of Goodness, most sensitive to evil, sensed something wrong. The five God-Kings were still within the Original Sin Grand Array. She immediately questioned, "Seven Sins, the Evil Spirit Pearl has been refined. Why haven't you withdrawn the formation?"

The Goddess of Lust, one of the Seven Sins, said helplessly, "Your Majesty, I want to, but my divine power feels snagged. I can't pull it back."

The other Sin Gods were the same; trying to withdraw their power, they found it out of control. Not only could they not retract it, the array spun even more furiously.

"What's going on? The Sin Array is your trump card—why can't you control it?" Destruction barked. He knew exactly how proficient they were with the formation.

"Heh. Because the one controlling it now is me." At the array's center, Bibi Dong, who'd kept her head bowed, lifted her eyes and smiled wickedly.

"First, congratulations to the five God-Kings on advancing to Supreme God-Kings. Does that power satisfy you? But that power was borrowed from me. Time to pay it back."

"What… what do you mean?" For the first time, the five high-seated God-Kings felt fear at Bibi Dong's chilling smile.

Suddenly, something changed on all five of them—the immense power of Supreme God-Kings began to drain away.

Chapter 600: Devour Everything—The Terrifying Evil Sword Immortal

"M-My power—what's happening to my power?" The Evil God-King tried to stabilize his divine power, but it was useless. The rate of loss only accelerated.

The others were the same—Supreme God-King… God-King… First-Rank God.

In no time, all had fallen to first-rank, weaker than before. And the drain didn't stop, as if it wouldn't end until they were sucked dry.

For some reason, they couldn't mobilize their divine power at all.

"Hehe. Make a deal with a demon, and you bear the consequences," Evil Sword Immortal said.

The five God-Kings were like greedy mortals tempted by a demon, craving demonic power.

But borrow from a demon and it's like loan-sharking—you not only repay, you repay with interest.

Only now did the gods notice black beams coursing through the Sin Array. They recognized the energy—it was the power of the Evil Spirit Pearl.

So the pearl hadn't dissipated. It had dispersed its power throughout the array, then forcibly seized control of the formation from the Seven Sins.

The five God-Kings, the Rakshasa God, and the Seven Sins had absorbed too much of the pearl's power. Now that energy within them was being controlled by the pearl; it wasn't theirs to command. They couldn't even force their way out of the formation.

"This guy plans to use the Sin Array to refine us instead. That Evil Spirit Pearl isn't some super or supreme artifact—it's far beyond even that!" Asura finally grasped Evil Sword Immortal's plan—too late.

An artifact that could restrain five Supreme God-Kings couldn't be merely supreme.

"Correct. In truth, Jun Tianlin's Demon-Supressing Sword and the complete Demon Sword are supreme artifacts. The fully unleashed Evil Spirit Pearl stands above them. It surpasses 'supreme,' but your God Realm has no term for artifacts beyond that. Allow me. If mine were a righteous divine weapon, it would be a Creation Artifact. Alas, it represents ultimate evil, so let's call it a World-Destroying Artifact." Evil Sword Immortal spoke as if it were obvious.

"Beyond supreme, named Creation or Destruction… fitting. But I won't let you succeed." Asura roared, manifesting an energy-formed Asura Demon Sword to slash at Bibi Dong.

But now his strength had fallen below second rank, and he couldn't mobilize divine power. The sword in his hand was false. No matter his swordsmanship, it was useless. Bibi Dong simply raised a hand and flung him away.

"Why bother? Sit still and let me drain you—an easy death. Why struggle?" Evil Sword Immortal said impatiently.

The other four God-Kings were shaken. Breaking the array from outside was impossible.

Just then, three decent powers rattled the formation—Qian Renxue, Chen Xin, and the Strength God.

A first-rank god wasn't a fool. With the five God-Kings' power plummeting like this, if he still blocked the other two, his brains must have been eaten by Luo Sanpao.

Unfortunately, three first-rank gods alone couldn't shake one of the God Realm's three great arrays.

"Stop! Strength God, you can't break this. Go find the Seven Element Gods. Only the Elemental Divine Punishment Descent, another of the three grand arrays, can break the Sin Array." Even now, the calmest was the Goddess of Goodness. She had absorbed the least energy from the pearl and so was being drained slowest.

As the highest God-King who had governed for ages, her judgment was beyond doubt.

"Yes!" The Strength God obeyed and flew toward the Seven Elements' domain. Only he could do this—Qian Renxue and Chen Xin were new to the realm.

"Going for the Seven Elements? Those seven together are a bit troublesome," Evil Sword Immortal muttered, though unbothered. By the time they arrived, he could drain the five God-Kings and the Seven Sins, plus the Rakshasa.

Then, even the Elemental Grand Array would be helpless. They would all die.

He poured more power from the pearl. The Seven Sin Gods' seven rings of light, once signifying first-rank gods, had dimmed to a flicker of a single ring; at this point they couldn't beat a third-rank god.

"I can't… Evil Sword Immortal, please spare me. Have you forgotten? Back on Douluo Continent, I helped you. I was bewitched this time and made a terrible choice. If you spare me, I'll leave the God Realm at once and never appear before you again. I've already passed on my god position."

Seeing the situation, the Rakshasa God switched sides yet again.

Normally, Destruction would have blasted him to ash with a bolt of annihilation. But now Destruction couldn't muster any power.

"Rakshasa—worthy avatar of evil thoughts: greedy and craven. You lack none of the negative emotions." The Evil Spirit Pearl gathered again, and a handsome, devilish man emerged—Evil Sword Immortal's true body. Aside from appearing before Xue Bing, this was his first time appearing openly.

He had the confidence now. After draining the Seven Sins and the five God-Kings, he was fully formed, beyond Supreme God-King and about to step into God-Emperor.

"Yes, my lord, I am despicable. Killing me is pointless. Please spare me." The Rakshasa God pleaded again.

"Rakshasa, you're not only evil—you're stupid. Don't you know your kind is my favorite food?" Evil Sword Immortal pinched his head. A surge of power shattered the body; the soul became a blood mist.

He opened his mouth and inhaled the mist, then licked his lips. "Tasty. Pity there wasn't more."

"Who's next?" His gaze swept around. "Of course, you Seven Sins. Your flavor entices me most."

"But I still need you to maintain the formation, so you're the main course. Before that, a dessert."

He looked to the Evil God-King.

"Damn it!" The Evil God-King ground his teeth, furious and humiliated. Since the dawn of the God Realm he had been a highest God-King; today he had become a lamb to the slaughter.

The Seven Element Gods hadn't arrived; Qian Renxue and Chen Xin couldn't break the array. All hope seemed lost.

At that moment, as Asura raged, he suddenly felt a loosening. His power hadn't returned, but somehow he could use it.

"I can use my power? Does that mean…? Good. Evil Sword Immortal, you won't succeed now." Though not fully certain, Asura wouldn't waste the chance. He knew his current strength couldn't threaten Evil Sword Immortal, but that seemingly perfect plan had a fatal flaw.

Chapter 601: Asura's Counterattack and Last Charge

Regaining the ability to circulate power, Asura did not act rashly. He waited silently.

Evil Sword Immortal's attention was entirely on the Evil God-King; he didn't notice Asura.

When Evil Sword Immortal drew closest to his target, Asura suddenly struck—in the opposite direction.

"Asura—Judgment!"

His target wasn't Evil Sword Immortal, but the Goddess of Lust, one of the Seven Sins.

The plan's greatest flaw: the Seven Sins within the array were being drained by him and growing weaker. If someone inside shattered one corner of the formation, the array would break.

Though Asura had been drained below second rank, the Goddess of Lust had always been the weakest of the Seven Sins, and now she was as feeble as a divine messenger.

Boom!
Asura's sudden strike caught everyone off guard. Lust was blasted away, her divine power scattered by Asura's judgment. Luckily, he lacked the Asura Sword and—for certain reasons—his Judgment couldn't exert the full authority of an arbiter god. Otherwise, Lust would already be dead.

"Hehe, just the right force. Thanks to you, Tianlin," Asura sighed.

The reason he could suddenly move was that his god position had vanished—meaning Tianlin had completed the inheritance and become the new Asura God. The evil energy he'd absorbed from the pearl had been used to reinforce the god position; the backlash was actually the god position's own recoil.

Once the god position disappeared, he could move. Without it, however, Asura's Judgment lacked power; otherwise Lust would have died. But that was exactly what he wanted. If Lust died, her god position would return to the God Realm's core to await a new heir, and Evil Sword Immortal could absorb it there.

The only solution was to flee—let Evil Sword Immortal fail to capture Lust. With a missing corner, the Seven Sins couldn't perfect him. Asura could see Evil Sword Immortal was also inheriting a god position—beyond Supreme God-King.

If that god position came from the Evil Spirit Pearl, it should be "Evil Emperor."

"What? How?" Evil Sword Immortal hadn't expected Asura's sudden move. He never imagined Asura could still use power while under the pearl's control.

With Lust's power scattered, the Sin Array collapsed.

It was like Tianlin's Demon-Supressing Domain suppressing the Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo's Dual Polarizing Domain—he could force suppression, but if the opponent had no energy left, his domain couldn't keep the enemy's field running. No flour, no bread.

That was why Asura chose Lust as his target.

He flashed forward, grabbed Lust by the shoulder, and hurled her toward Qian Renxue and Chen Xin. "Take the Goddess of Lust and run. The farther the better. Do not let Evil Sword Immortal absorb her."

Evil Sword Immortal's eyes blazed with hate. He hadn't expected Asura to see the flaw. Without fully absorbing the Seven Sins, his Evil Emperor position couldn't be perfected.

"Don't even think about it!" he roared, charging at Qian Renxue. Though not fully invested as Evil Emperor, his combat power was at least Supreme God-King level.

At such speed, Qian Renxue couldn't react.

"Seven Elements—Divine Punishment Descent!" At the crucial moment, the Strength God arrived with the Seven Element Gods.

As one of the realm's three great arrays, even Evil Sword Immortal couldn't break it quickly. But as a Supreme God-King with the pearl, Asura knew it wouldn't kill him—only delay him.

"This is my final gigt—Gate of the God Realm, open!" Asura invoked his authority one last time, opening the passage from the God Realm to Douluo Continent.

"Angel God, Sword God—take the Goddess of Lust back to Douluo at once. Tianlin has inherited my position. He's the only hope against Evil Sword Immortal. I'll fully seal the passage after. Even if he slaughters us all, he'll need time to seize the core and reopen it. In that time, you must help Tianlin elevate his god position. I believe you can."

"And, young lady—you wish to save your mother, no? I sensed her soul, trapped in an absolute darkness. Do not try to dissolve it with your holy light—you cannot. That power far exceeds yours. There is another way: use true darkness to devour that darkness." Asura said.

"True darkness?" Qian Renxue didn't understand.

Asura had no time to explain. "Go. If you don't understand, ask Tianlin—he will. Remember: you must reach Supreme God-King, or you cannot stand against Evil Sword Immortal."

"Understood, Senior Asura. I'll relay your words to Tianlin word for word."

Chen Xin was more decisive than Qian Renxue.

Matters of the heart wouldn't save the world. At the critical moment, he should cut cleanly. He hoisted the Goddess of Lust and sped with Qian Renxue toward the passage.

Qian Renxue hesitated no more. But just before leaving the God Realm, she turned back, released divine power, and sent nine light swords from her body. The nine swords circled the Heaven Gate of the realm several times, not attacking, then slowly dissipated.

Most wouldn't understand, but Asura was shocked. "Angel God—could that be…?"

Tongue-tied, he still recognized it. Qian Renxue nodded confidently, confirming his guess, then turned and left.

Asura burst out laughing. "Hah! A prodigy indeed. Qian Renxue, to think you have such potential. Given time, you could reach Supreme God-King on your own. With you and Tianlin, I can rest easy. Evil Sword Immortal will surely be defeated!"

Seeing them gone, Asura completely sealed and locked the passage.

Now, no one could open the path from the God Realm to Douluo, unless they fully seized the realm's core.

Watching Lust taken away, Evil Sword Immortal's fury made the entire realm tremble. "Damn you, Asura! You dare let them take what is mine? I won't spare you!"

"Come, then." Asura turned, unafraid.

He now understood the Dragon God a little. Back then, to ensure his race's future, the Dragon God had agreed with him and died by his hand on purpose—entrusting everything to the Silver Dragon King, the Dragon God's good half. Once she became a new Dragon God, or nurtured one, soul beasts could return to the realm.

Today was the same. For the God Realm and countless lower worlds, he entrusted everything to Tianlin and Qian Renxue, even at the cost of his life.

Evil Sword Immortal furiously battered the Elemental Array. The Seven Elements held on, but they knew they couldn't last.

Before long, the array shattered. Ignoring them, Evil Sword Immortal lunged straight at Asura.

The Evil Spirit Pearl became a sword. One stroke—Evil Sword Slash—pierced Asura through.