Ye Xuan laughed heartily. In his eyes, Tang San was nothing more than a clown. According to the original trajectory, Tang San was destined to be the greatest obstacle on Qian Renxue’s path to godhood, with the Shura God and the Sea God constantly pulling strings behind the scenes. Qian Renxue would have ultimately ended up with her divine spark shattered and her Dao heart ruined.
But unfortunately for them, with Ye Xuan around, none of that was destined to happen. To Ye Xuan, even the Shura God and the Sea God were merely slightly more powerful mortals.
Ascending to godhood at level one hundred... Heh. Ye Xuan recalled how, six years ago, after slaughtering his way through the entirety of Slaughter City, he had rejected the inheritance of the Shura God’s throne. Four years ago, he had crossed the ocean on a single reed, only to turn down the inheritance of the Sea God’s throne as well. Two years ago, he traveled to the Far North, subjugated the three great kings of the region, and kept them as spirit beasts, nourishing them within his Double Pupil. He then captured the Dream Ice Silkworm hiding in the Far North, extinguished its soul, absorbed its mental energy into his Double Pupil, and fed its flesh and blood essence to his Supreme Bone. Later, he slew the million-year Spirit Beast, the Deep Sea Whale King, keeping its spirit within his Double Pupil and draining its essence to further nourish his Supreme Bone.
One year ago, Ye Xuan attempted to ascend to godhood. On that day, the heavens trembled; the Douluo God Realm could not withstand Ye Xuan’s divine spark and was on the verge of collapse. The gods wailed, and the God Kings were paralyzed with fear. The Goddess of Life locked onto his aura, tracked him down, and knelt, begging him not to ascend—at the very least, not within the Douluo God Realm. The realm was simply too fragile to contain his existence. In a single breath, Ye Xuan had absorbed half the spiritual energy of the Douluo God Realm and its subordinate planes, pushing the realm to the brink of disintegration. He sensed that even if he drained the Douluo God Realm dry, he would not achieve a true divine throne; rather, forcing an ascension there would only stifle his future development. It would be like carrying a millstone around his neck.
Ultimately, Ye Xuan decided to play along, doing the Goddess of Life a favor by abandoning the ascension.
Following this, the God Realm held an emergency meeting to discuss how to handle the "Ye Xuan problem." One third-rate god proposed that since Ye Xuan had caused so much trouble and had not yet ascended, why not simply annihilate him to prevent future calamity? Moreover, he surely harbored immense secrets.
On the day he had attempted his ascension, his eyes manifested a divine anomaly—a vision of a Golden Crow so brilliant that every sun in the Douluo universe dimmed. To the people in the lower realms, it appeared as a bizarre solar eclipse. Beneath that Great Sun illusion, countless phantoms, far more terrifying than any God King, had prostrated themselves like loyal subjects before their monarch. Then, a bone in Ye Xuan’s back erupted with dazzling light, manifesting visions of ten ancient, ferocious beasts: a fish of unimaginable size swimming through the void, which transformed into a gargantuan bird whose wingbeats seemed capable of shattering the entire universe; a strange, ravenous beast that seemed able to consume all of existence; and the lingering phantoms of True Dragons and True Phoenixes. These were the Ten Archaic Evils.
Ye Xuan’s aura at that moment had been terrifying to the extreme. Even the great God Kings couldn't help but feel an urge to worship, as if Ye Xuan were a natural-born supreme being, an eternal God Emperor.
The third-rate god had argued, "No matter how terrifying he is, he hasn't ascended yet. As long as he hasn't ascended, he is still human. Alone, what could he possibly do against our entire God Realm?"
Many gods were swayed, feeling a surge of greed. If they could obtain the secrets hidden within Ye Xuan, perhaps the entire Douluo God Realm could ascend to a higher plane. Tempted by such immense profit, many soon began to chime in.
"He's right. No matter how strong he is, he's just a mortal."
"Since he hasn't ascended, we have nothing to fear."
"Perhaps his aura is just a facade, and his actual combat strength is weak?"
"Could our entire God Realm really be unable to take down one man?"
The chorus of agreement grew, but the wiser, veteran gods noticed the Goddess of Life’s increasingly icy expression and lowered their heads in silence.
When the discussion concluded, the Goddess of Life finally spoke. "Are you all finished? I insist you say what is truly on your minds."
"Respected Goddess of Life, everything we have stated is our most honest opinion!"
"Very well. Since you are finished, you may set off on your final journey."
As her words fell, screams erupted among the gods. Countless third-rate and second-rate gods withered away, their divine sparks shattering as they perished.
"Goddess of Life! What is the meaning of this!" a god roared.
The Goddess of Life remained expressionless, watching coldly as they withered. She gave a faint, chilling laugh. "Nothing at all. But tell me, were you unaware that the God Realm is already fractured? The only reason we are still standing here is that the very man you wished to kill is currently using his demigod body to hold the entire God Realm up with his own hands?"
In an instant, every god was seized by terror. Those who had wavered but stayed silent were now overcome with relief. As for the gods who were rapidly withering, they finally died with understanding; their deaths were not unjust—it was a matter of taking the right side. It was a decision made by the God Kings collectively to provide an answer to that man.
Once all who had spoken out against Ye Xuan were dead, a young voice echoed from below the God Realm: "Hey, why is your God Realm so fragile? Tell me how to fix it; holding it up like this is really exhausting..."
The gods were silent. *Is that even something a human would say?*
Yet, they couldn't help but feel a lingering resentment. Those who had just died truly deserved it. If the God Realm had actually gone to war with this monster, the outcome would have been obvious. Ye Xuan wouldn't even have to do anything—he could simply let go, and the God Realm would naturally collapse. Without the support of the God Realm, they would be nothing more than powerful humans.
The God Realm reached a consensus: they would ask Ye Xuan to become the new God King. Some even secretly hoped that if he wasn't satisfied with that, they would offer him the title of God Emperor, which stood above the God King—after all, they couldn't beat him anyway.
But Ye Xuan refused.
"Ever since my Double Pupil and Supreme Bone bloodlines awakened, my cultivation has skyrocketed like a rocket. Power comes so easily that I find life meaningless now," Ye Xuan said. "Oh, and by the way, I find your God Realm rather dull."
He turned to the Goddess of Life. "Tell me, don't you get bored staying in the God Realm all the time? Next time, let me take you down to the mortal world for a drink?"
The Goddess of Life was speechless. She suddenly felt that having such a powerful demigod around might not be so bad—he did seem quite interesting. She smiled. "If the Heavenly Venerate invites me, I would certainly be willing. However, the God Realm has rules; we deities cannot descend to the mortal world at will or interfere with the lower realms."
"Heavenly Venerate? I like that name. From now on, call me that." Ye Xuan smiled kindly at the Goddess of Life, then suddenly barked in anger, "But the rules of your God Realm are utter nonsense!" He pointed at the Shura God and the Sea God. "These two have definitely snuck down to the mortal realm! And they interfered blatantly!"
The Shura God and the Sea God froze. *Wait, brother, are you insane?* They desperately wanted to defend themselves, but they dared not. Besides, they *had* actually done that. *Damn it.*
Ye Xuan said magnanimously, "Goddess of Life, I like you, so let's hang out sometime. As for the rules of the God Realm, tell anyone who disagrees to come find me!" He glared at the other gods with a warning look. "Oh, and I only invited the Goddess of Life. The rest of you had better follow the rules of the God Realm to the letter! If I catch anyone else descending to the mortal world..."
A malicious smile spread across his face. "Heh. You will face the consequences!"
He was being shamelessly double-standard, and he didn't care. If you don't like it, come and fight!
The Goddess of Life nodded in agreement, then asked, "Heavenly Venerate, since you are unwilling to be the God King, what do you plan to do next?"
Ye Xuan smiled lightly. "Didn't I say? Power comes too easily. It leaves me feeling empty and hollow. My state of mind hasn't caught up, and I feel a bit of the loneliness that comes with being invincible..."
The gods were speechless. *Please, just speak like a normal person!*
"So, I have decided to take a stroll through the mortal world, soak in the human atmosphere, and find some amusement along the way..." Ye Xuan’s eyes glinted with mischief. "Compared to the boring God Realm, the lower world is much better. It’s full of life, and there are many interesting toys to play with, hehe..."
After that, Ye Xuan returned to Spirit Hall. His legends were everywhere on the continent, but from the day he returned to Spirit Hall, he appeared as nothing more than an ordinary genius—simply the youngest Title Douluo ever to exist.