DD Spiritual Sword [602-604] (Patreon)

Chapter 602: Return to the Douluo Continent Plane — Asura God, Tianlin

Having finally returned to the Douluo Continent, Qian Renxue and Chen Xin looked back at the spatial passage that had already disappeared, feeling deeply uneasy.

Although the Asura God sent them all back in the end, he himself was likely in dire straits, and the entire God Realm might even fall.

Carrying the God of Lust on his back, Chen Xin said to Qian Renxue, "Qian Renxue, go find Tianlin immediately. I infer that the reason the Asura God was able to regain mobility just now is precisely because Tianlin has successfully inherited his god position. The Evil Sword Immortal used the Evil Spirit Pearl to suppress divine seat power, so he couldn't limit someone who didn't yet have a god position."

Qian Renxue nodded. "Alright. But Xiao Tian's efficiency at accepting a god position is really something—he completed the inheritance in such a short time."

"No. One day in the God Realm equals one year in the lower plane. Although we were only in the God Realm for a few hours, several months have likely passed on the Douluo Continent. The more powerful a plane is, the slower its time flows in order to maintain stability—that's our opportunity," Chen Xin said with a smile. "With the Evil Sword Immortal in the God Realm, even if he completely takes it over and seizes the core hub, it will take him at least three to four days. By then, three to four years will have passed in the lower plane, which undoubtedly gives Tianlin more time to raise the Asura god position."

"By the way, did you do something to the God Realm passage at the end?" Chen Xin was a bit puzzled; he actually hadn't understood Qian Renxue's last maneuver.

Qian Renxue nodded confidently. "Yes, I pulled a little trick. Sigh, our plan to intercept and eliminate my mother was actually going quite well, but it was completely ruined by the God of Destruction's interference. Still, failure is failure—there's no point in assigning blame now, nor in complaining or playing the victim. What we should do is mount an effective counterattack."

"The Evil Sword Immortal was born from my parents, so I do know him to a degree, and I can roughly guess his next moves. Just watch—what I left behind will definitely make him suffer a good one."

"I'll look forward to it," Chen Xin said, not asking further. He had boundless faith in this girl's talent—perhaps in these years, she had comprehended something.

The two flew to Seven Treasures Mountain; Tianlin had already been waiting there.

Chen Xin's guess was right. Although Tianlin was quick in inheriting the god position, it couldn't have been completed in mere days; he had leveraged the time dilation between the God Realm and the lower plane.

Upon becoming a god, Tianlin immediately learned about Bibi Dong's apotheosis and the Evil Sword Immortal's rampage in the God Realm. He had intended to open the God Realm gate at once to go support.

Unfortunately, no matter what he tried, he couldn't sense the God Realm at all—it seemed the Asura God had completely severed the link between the two planes earlier.

Just as he was growing anxious, he saw Qian Renxue and Chen Xin return, overjoying him.

"Master, Sister Xue, thank goodness you're alright. I couldn't sense you on the continent earlier—you must have gone to the God Realm. What happened up there, and how did you make it back? Also, who is the person on your back, Master?" Tianlin asked urgently.

Both wore heavy expressions. Chen Xin spoke first. "I'll explain."

Chen Xin recounted the God Realm battle in full detail to Tianlin.

Tianlin finally understood why the Asura God had been so eager for him to become a god: to stop the reckless gambit of the four God Kings.

Sadly, he was still a step too late—the four God Kings carried out their plan. Fortunately, at the last moment, the Asura God made a snap decision and saved the God of Lust.

If Tianlin had guessed correctly, since the Evil Spirit Pearl corresponded to the Holy Spirit Pearl, there should also be a divine position within it—like the Holy Emperor, at the Divine Emperor level.

However, to fully inherit this divine position, the Evil Sword Immortal would need to devour the greatest evil thoughts on the Douluo Continent—the Seven Deadly Sins—which amounted to his divine assessment. The Evil God King and the Rakshasa God were incidental: consuming them made him stronger, but failing to do so didn't matter.

The Seven Deadly Sins, however, could not be missing even one; if any were absent, he would be only the strongest Supreme God King, not a Divine Emperor.

"Never thought the God Realm would face such calamity one day. Those haughty gods finally get to taste what it's like to be trampled underfoot," Gu Yuena said, holding no fondness for the God Realm and even a bit of schadenfreude.

But she knew priorities. The God Realm's disaster was only the prelude. To achieve Divine Emperor, the Evil Sword Immortal would definitely seize the God Realm hub and reopen the gate—then it would be a catastrophe for the entire continent. She warned, "Tianlin, there's still a large portion of the power the God-Demon Sword granted you that you haven't used. Use this time to complete your god-seat ascension. No matter how you slice it, the Evil Sword Immortal's strength is at the peak of the Supreme God King level. If you don't reach the same realm, you absolutely won't beat him."

Tianlin nodded. "I understand. Gu Yuena, rest assured."

He knew this wasn't the time for fear or worry—only by becoming stronger could he resolve the disaster.

"Xiao Tian, let me help you. Since you've also become a god, our Heavenly Snow power might evolve into divine power. I can definitely lend you a hand," Qian Renxue said.

Tianlin accepted Qian Renxue's offer, then turned to Chen Xin. "Alright. Master, I'll leave the God of Lust in your protection. Also, please keep an eye on the God Realm—if the passage opens again, notify us immediately. Whether or not I've completed my ascension by then, I'll come to aid you. And please inform my father-in-law's side as well. With his wisdom, he won't sit on his hands. Even if he can't help directly, he'll at least make preparations—fortify the cities and protect the people from collateral damage from god-level battles."

When immortals fight, mortals suffer—Tianlin had always remembered this saying.

"Don't worry. Leave everything to your teacher when the time comes." Chen Xin neither accepted nor refused. In his view, if Tianlin hadn't completed his ascension, coming would be courting death. He was the only hope—nothing must happen to him.

When disaster strikes, it is natural for the teacher to take the lead.

Tianlin understood the subtext. To prevent such a situation, he had to accelerate his cultivation.

Fortunately, the gods of the Douluo God Realm weren't separated from humanity by an unbridgeable gulf like in other worlds. With certain external aids, even a Titled Douluo could fight a god.

For example, high-level Martial Soul fusion techniques between two Titled Douluo, like the Netherworld White Tiger or Golden Holy Dragon.

Or like Yu Yuanzhen earlier, leveraging the Ninefold True Dragon Crown plus a multi-person fusion technique—these could temporarily reach god-level combat power and hold a region.

But this time, Tianlin underestimated Ning Fengzhi. In Ning Fengzhi's mind, the Evil Sword Immortal born from Qian Xunji's evil thoughts wasn't actually that intelligent—he was just too strong and too good at hiding, so even Ning Fengzhi's smarts were of little use. But if he had enough intelligence shared with him, when the fighting started, he was confident he could bridge the gap between man and god and teach the Evil Sword Immortal a good lesson.

Additionally, Tianlin could sense that the Asura God wasn't dead, only gravely injured. Although the divine seat had been passed to him, the authorities hadn't fully transferred, so the Asura Sword Seal remained. Tianlin could still faintly sense a bit of the Asura God's divine power.

The Evil Sword Immortal, having fully inherited Qian Xunji's wrath, hatred, and arrogance, would definitely not let the Asura God die quickly—he would prefer to torture him for ruining his plans.

Since starting the Asura inheritance, the Asura God had helped him greatly. He owed him a debt, and Tianlin was not one to leave debts unpaid. One way or another, he would rescue the Asura God.

…

That night, Tianlin and Qian Renxue went to the cliff peak of Seven Treasures Mountain, cultivating under the moonlight by merging their divine powers.

Time had not dulled their tacit understanding. Although they hadn't cultivated together for years, they blended seamlessly.

Once elevated to the divine level, the Heavenly Snow power proved extraordinary—Tianlin clearly felt the surge of power within him.

Even Qian Renxue's Angel God seat was affected. The Seraphim of originally six wings gained two additional snow-white wings; though still illusory for now, once fully condensed, she should become an Eight-Winged Angel, possessing God King-level strength. In time, she might even have hope of becoming a Twelve-Winged Holy Angel.

If a Six-Winged Angel is a First-Level God, an Eight-Winged Angel is an initial God King, a Ten-Winged Angel is a peak God King, then a Twelve-Winged Holy Angel would be a Supreme God King, transcending the five God Kings of the God Realm Committee.

However, that would be the limit of the Angel martial soul. To achieve a Divine Emperor seat like the Holy Emperor or Evil Emperor would basically be impossible.

Supreme God Kings must still obey the world's operating rules. Only Divine Emperors can break the rules; therefore, even for someone as strong as the Evil Sword Immortal, without becoming a Divine Emperor, he could only honestly open the God Realm passage to descend his true body into the human world.

After Chen Xin returned to Spirit City and relayed all the intelligence to Ning Fengzhi, Ning Fengzhi didn't panic. He stroked his chin, deep in thought.

Upon waking, the God of Lust provided another key piece of intel: for the Evil Sword Immortal to fully master the God Realm hub would take at least five days; but to master a portion and open the gate would take three days.

Hearing this, Ning Fengzhi smiled. "So even Supreme God Kings are constrained by rules? And there's an Evil Emperor assessment, Seven Deadly Sins—how interesting."

"Unfortunately, I'm not strong enough to assist Tianlin much. I can only respond to moves as they come. But if my idea is right, I might have found a way to deal with that thing."

Chapter 603: Evil Sword Immortal Enters the God Realm Hub — The Douluo Continent Unites as One

The God Realm, once suffused with sacred aura, had now become like a hell choked with foul miasma.

The entire God Realm had been occupied by the Evil Sword Immortal. No god, divine envoy, or divine servant could stand against him.

Having already devoured the Rakshasa God, the Evil God King, and the six Sin Gods, his true body's strength had reached half a step into the Divine Emperor realm. If he could devour the last God of Lust, he would immediately pass the divine examination and become a true Divine Emperor.

If a single Supreme God King could fight four or five God Kings, then a Divine Emperor could at least wipe out hundreds of Supreme God Kings—it's a realm beyond the God Realm's limit, a completely different level, even allowing one to travel to higher worlds and meet stronger beings.

Even at half a step into that realm, a heap of First- and Second-Level Gods meant nothing—numbers were meaningless to a half-step Divine Emperor.

Now, the Seven Elements and the other deities had all been defeated. Since their god positions were of completely different power systems from the Evil Emperor seat, the Evil Sword Immortal hadn't killed them; instead, he hoped to subdue them.

After all, he still bore the obsession of returning to the Sword and Fairy world to settle accounts. The previous Evil Sword Immortal's failure had taught him that no matter how strong he became, one person couldn't fight an entire world. He needed a retinue.

Once he became a Divine Emperor and fully mastered the God Realm hub, the God Realm would be completely in his grasp. He could even use his evil thoughts to interfere with divine seat inheritance in the God Realm—just like he did controlling Bibi Dong—turning all the gods into puppets.

Although the power of these gods was far inferior to that of the Sword and Fairy world, there was a benefit to lower-tier power systems: comprehending laws to become a god was easier than in higher worlds—those gods were simply weaker. After entering a higher world, as long as they weren't discovered, they could hide for a while and, using the partial laws already grasped, deepen their understanding to soon become stronger contemporary experts.

The Evil Sword Immortal arrived at the God Realm hub, where the data of all god positions in the God Realm and the method to reopen the God Realm gate were recorded.

With such massive data, even he would need a considerable amount of time to master it.

He noticed that the god positions of the Fire God, Sea God, and God of Music were undergoing inheritance—new gods would soon appear. The Asura God and Angel God were even undergoing seat elevation. Unfortunately, he couldn't stop it yet, since he hadn't seized the hub.

He also knew that as long as Tianlin lived, using evil thoughts to control these new gods would be useless. The power of the Evil Spirit Pearl could be dispelled by the Holy Spirit Pearl. Therefore, his top priority was only one thing: reopen the God Realm gate, then go to the Douluo Continent to snatch back the God of Lust and devour her, completely achieving the Divine Emperor seat.

Just then, he noticed, opposite the Angel God, a god position that had yet to be inherited.

It was the God of the Fallen Angel, with the first recorded god being Lucifer. As expected, the first Fallen Angel across many parallel worlds really was him. But in this world, he seemed to have died in the God Realm war of that era, and the god position hadn't had time to be passed on, becoming a vacant seat stored in the God Realm hub.

"God of the Fallen Angel—well, well, didn't expect such a nice gift left for me," the Evil Sword Immortal sneered.

He held Qian Xunji's soul fragments and evil thoughts in his hand. Conveniently, when he was in the human world, he had gathered quite a bit of human Seven Deadly Sins. Although in both quality and quantity they fell far short of the Seven Sin Gods, they were enough to manufacture a puppet.

Even without controlling the hub, under current rules, Bibi Dong, a First-Level God who had ascended to the God Realm, had two slots for bringing people up.

With Qian Xunji's soul in hand, the Evil Sword Immortal could take advantage of those slots, have the hub rebuild him a body, then, like the Bat King, use sin power to craft a puppet to inherit the Fallen Angel god position.

Poor Bibi Dong—those two slots were originally intended for Hu Liena and Yu Xiaogang. Even though Yu Xiaogang was dead, she could have used divine authority to resurrect and bring him up. Now one slot had been inexplicably taken by Qian Xunji, leaving only Hu Liena. Yu Xiaogang would have to remain dead.

After all, if Bibi Dong regained her senses, to her current self, Yu Xiaogang wasn't as important as her nearly-as-daughter Hu Liena.

To fully seize the God Realm hub, by the Evil Sword Immortal's estimation, would take at least five days—which would be five years in the human world. But to merely open the gate, three days would suffice—meaning three years in the human world. That would be the day the decisive battle between Tianlin and the Evil Sword Immortal's forces began.

This time still wasn't quite enough for Tianlin. Elevating a god seat wasn't the same as inheriting one. Chen Xin had spent four full years just to elevate a Second-Level God to a First-Level God. Now Tianlin had to elevate a God King to a Supreme God King. Even with talent several times greater than Chen Xin's, conservatively, it would take six years. Fortunately, with dual cultivation through the Heavenly Snow power with Qian Renxue, there was some hope.

Elsewhere, as the continent's emperor, Gu Ran was the first to receive the intel from Chen Xin and Ning Fengzhi.

He decisively summoned all powerhouses above Soul Sage across the continent. Protecting the continent was the duty of everyone—responsibility should never rest on one person alone.

Soul masters enjoyed special privileges; at times like this, they should use their martial souls to protect the people.

At Douluo Martial Soul Academy, aside from Tianlin and Huan Yin, who were striving to become gods, and Gu Ran, who as emperor needed to command all, the Emperor Battle Team gathered once again, diligently practicing the seven-in-one fusion technique. Seven Douluo-level powerhouses fusing could temporarily exert power above demi-god; they all wanted to do their part.

However, since Dugu Yan and Yu Tianheng already had the Ice-Fire Thunder Dragon fusion technique, they did not participate.

The remaining Oslo, Yu Feng, Shi Mo, Shi Mo, and even the new empress Ye Lingling did not miss out. But to unleash the full seven-in-one power, they were still short two people.

Young people should work with young people. Among the younger generation today, aside from those inheriting god positions, there were only a handful who could match the Emperor Battle Team.

Oscar, with his Mirror Sausage, could use Heaven-and-Earth Primordial Spirit Slash and Extreme Curse Reversal of Yin and Yang—effects no weaker than fusion techniques—so he did not participate.

Bai Chenxiang's talent was still a bit lacking. The two substitutes ended up being Zhu Zhuqing and Shui Bing'er.

There was no need to introduce Zhu Zhuqing—she had long since joined the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, with ample resources and having gone through the Sea God Island trials; she was now a Titled Douluo.

Shui Bing'er possessed a once-in-a-century prodigious talent. In the original work, had the Shrek Seven Monsters not eaten immortal herbs, no one aside from Tang San and Oscar would have surpassed her. In recent years, with Oscar's eighth spirit ability's boosts, she had cultivated to Soul Douluo, and with her overwhelmingly strong Ice Phoenix martial soul—now completely under her control and possessing Extreme Ice—she could contend with some Titled Douluo.

If Zhu Zhuqing were carelessly frozen and lost her speed, she really wouldn't be Shui Bing'er's match.

These two were qualified to join the new Emperor Battle Team.

United as one, everyone held in a pent-up breath. They felt they had received so much help from Tianlin that if, when he needed help the most, they could only be spectators cheering from behind, then what kind of brothers would they be?

Chapter 604: Ning Fengzhi's Final Gambit — Gathering of the Gods

On Seven Treasures Mountain, while everyone trained hard, Ning Fengzhi temporarily resigned as National Preceptor of the Douluo Empire and returned there.

His children were about to enter the great battle—how could he sit idle?

He was a support-type soul master; assisting others was his duty. This time, he returned to overcome one of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's major hurdles.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda had always claimed to be the number one support martial soul in the world, but in truth, while its support was powerful, it also had many flaws. Thus, successive sect masters strove to overcome those flaws, continually researching theoretical knowledge.

The first flaw: massive soul power consumption—the more and stronger the targets, the faster the drain. To resolve this, a past sect master created split-heart control.

The second flaw: only seven soul rings. In this generation, Ning Fengzhi and Ning Rongrong managed to break through with heavenly treasures, evolving the martial soul into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

Now the third and final flaw remained: the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda could only support those with the same life level as itself. This flaw wasn't obvious before, because even a Titled Douluo, like an ordinary person, was still human—no change in life level—so even a ten-ring Glazed Pagoda could support an Ultimate Douluo without diminished effect.

But once stepping into the divine level, life level seemed to sublimate. Even a nine-ring Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda could not cross the life-level boundary to support divine-level powerhouses.

In fact, Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda soul masters had a very chicken-rib innate talent: ring fusion. For other soul masters, it was rare and powerful; for them, it was an inherent, commonplace talent. But before the advent of heterogeneous fusion theory, it was meaningless for them.

Because the Pagoda's support was fixed. For example, the sixth ring's "sixfold enhancement" on a seven-ring Pagoda was a fixed 80% boost. Even if you used ring fusion to condense all soul power into the sixth ring, it would still be 80%. The soul skill's potency wouldn't increase, only the duration due to condensed soul power.

But the downside was greater: since you fused into one ring, you'd be giving up comprehensive boosts to offense, defense, speed, etc., which for the Pagoda was undoubtedly wasteful.

However, this wasn't completely insoluble. A former sect master had worked out a bit, even referencing the Clear Sky Sect's ring detonation. Although the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect didn't have a ring detonation method, with their theoretical knowledge, they could roughly infer the principles. Compared to ring detonation, what that sect master devised was even more extreme and too costly, so it was sealed away.

Over the years, Ning Fengzhi had delved into this path. He entered the ancestral hall of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and respectfully bowed three times to the memorial tablets of past sect masters.

"Ning Fengzhi, current sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, pays respects to father, grandfather, and all ancestors. Our junior, Jun Tianlin, is about to face an unprecedented terror. I, Ning Fengzhi, am unfilial, unable to elevate the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda to the divine realm to aid him. Today I have no choice but to unseal what our ancestors sealed away. Please forgive me."

After speaking, Ning Fengzhi opened a mechanism behind a painting on the wall. A small hidden compartment popped out behind the tablets, containing a scroll—that was what he needed.

He took the scroll, bowed again to the ancestral tablets, and withdrew.

He recalled everyone's efforts in this period. After receiving Emperor Gu Ran's decree, Golden Crocodile Douluo of Spirit Hall summoned all high-tier soul masters and allocated tasks—those who should fight would fight, those who should rescue would rescue.

The Clear Sky Sect strove to help Tianlin forge divine weapons. The geniuses of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect gathered to train hard for war.

The millions of soldiers of the two former empires were on high alert.

All major powers set aside their disputes.

This continent had probably never been so united in a thousand years.

Although Ning Fengzhi didn't know how long such peace could last—he knew well the cycle of division and unity—even without the Evil Sword Immortal, the Seven Deadly Sins in human hearts wouldn't disappear, and the empire would one day split again due to human desire.

But wasn't the purpose of rulers like them to prolong peace as much as possible? Once various mechanical soul tools were developed, he believed that one day the continent would enter the era Tianlin spoke of—peace and prosperity even without so-called emperors.

That would be for future generations to strive for. Their generation had done all they could.

Ning Fengzhi looked toward the mountaintop where Tianlin and Qian Renxue were in closed-door dual cultivation. His gaze sharpened as he said in a deep voice, "Xiao Tian, our original wish has been realized. To protect that wish, let me aid you one last time. If you don't have time to emerge, I will be the one to sabotage the Evil Sword Immortal's plan."

…

Time flew—another two-plus years passed in a blur.

The continent developed ever faster. Blueprints for soul tools that aided daily life were invented, and the people's lives visibly improved.

Yet beneath this serenity, a massive evil power stirred.

Ning Rongrong, Ma Hongjun, and Huan Yin had all become gods and returned. Ning Rongrong had even brought the Seven of the Sea God. Before sacrificing herself, Bo Saixi had sensed the approaching crisis—Sea God Island could not remain unscathed in this calamity. For the future, she decreed before death that the island must participate in the war.

Qian Renxue had also emerged; Tianlin was at the final step. She could no longer help—what remained was up to Tianlin himself.

In truth, she reaped even greater benefits from Tianlin. She had fully become an Eight-Winged Angel God and initially entered the God King level.

This rankled Ning Rongrong—she had not only become a god a step later, but upon doing so, she was immediately left far behind by Qian Renxue again.

Seven Treasures Mountain was now a gathering of gods. The God of Lust had fully recovered her injuries and cultivation; as a First-Level God, she counted as a formidable combat power.

However, this woman's temperament was indescribable. Perhaps due to the god seat, even if she didn't mean to, her every gesture brimmed with allure, like a succubus, inviting crime.

It was said that at first sight of her, Ma Hongjun nearly relapsed into his old evil-fire problem.

He hadn't suffered the loss of a wife as in the original, so even if he'd undergone a demonic flame trial, his temperament was still somewhat inferior. Fortunately, he had only Bai Chenxiang in his heart, and managed to barely keep himself in check.

The only one unaffected by the God of Lust was the sword-obsessed Chen Xin. Aside from a few family members, the only thing he cared about was the sword.

Seeing someone unaffected for the first time—and a savior at that—piqued the God of Lust's immense interest in Chen Xin.