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*****
The Divine Realm fell into a dead silence.
Su Wen, this newly ascended God-level expert--a God-level who had broken through from the subordinate plane, the Douluo Plane--had actually challenged the God of Destruction?
Above the God-level, there was the True God-level, the Super God-level, and even the Half-step God King and Quasi-God King levels. Only above those lay the level equivalent to a God King.
Yet Su Wen wanted to skip so many realms to challenge the God of Destruction?
Even without using the power of the Divine Realm Core, the God of Destruction wasn't someone a mere God-level could challenge, right?
The gods found it utterly absurd.
However, looking at the God of Magma who was currently suppressed by Su Wen, they fell silent again.
The God of Magma, a second-class god, surpassed the Super God-level in terms of cosmic rankings when boosted by his divine seat.
Su Wen could suppress him with ease, something many first-class gods here couldn't even achieve.
Could it be that he truly possessed such strength?
But how was that even possible?
Su Wen had only just broken through to the God-level, yet he already possessed such monstrous strength. How on earth did he do it?
Some gods looked toward the Sea God and the others standing behind Su Wen.
These gods supported Su Wen, silently standing behind him. Upon closer inspection, one could feel the aura of their divine seats on Su Wen, meaning he had undergone the trials of these very gods.
Just how many gods' trials had he taken?
With so many trials, it was no wonder such a freak had been created.
By breaking through to the God-level via the cosmic path, he gained the power to easily suppress a second-class god enhanced by a divine seat.
"Very well. It seems you believe you have the strength to fight me."
The God of Destruction understood Su Wen's underlying intention.
Su Wen wanted to use a battle with him to pressure the deities of the Divine Realm.
As long as he proved he had God King-level strength and the ability to suppress the crowd of gods, he would be qualified to enforce the reforms he had just mentioned.
But what made him think a mere God-level could see through the mysteries of a God King?
"Do you know why a God King stands at the absolute pinnacle of the universe? Do you know why the transition to a God King is a qualitative leap?"
The God of Destruction laughed out of sheer fury, his anger at Su Wen's provocation boiling over.
Even if he knew Su Wen was doing this for the sake of the Divine Realm and to smoothly implement his reforms, as a God King, his majesty could not be insulted.
"A God King?"
Su Wen shook his head.
"For now, you aren't even worthy of calling yourself a God King."
A true God King should at least cultivate the path they represent to its absolute limit.
Destruction?
The God of Destruction fell short of this mark. With a heart harboring soft and compromising policies, how could he carry out destruction to the very end?
It could only be said that the God of Destruction's ability to reach the God King level was entirely thanks to the support of the Douluo Divine Realm's source origin.
He himself was transformed from the source of destruction within the Douluo Divine Realm, which ultimately coalesced into the divine seat of the God of Destruction. The Goddess of Life had been nurtured alongside him at the same time; opposing yet interdependent, they together achieved the status of the God King level.
However, this was due to the immense strength of the Douluo Divine Realm's source origin, not because the God of Destruction himself had met the standard as its wielder.
Faced with such "humiliation" from Su Wen, the God of Destruction could no longer sit still.
"Su Wen, how dare you!"
"Presumptuous!"
A purple divine energy enveloped the God of Destruction's body.
Streaks of purplish-black divine lightning crackled into existence under the influence of his divine power, and with a thunderous roar, a bolt of lightning crashed down.
Su Wen remained perfectly calm. Facing this bolt of lightning, he chose to withstand it directly with his physical body.
When the lightning struck him, it failed to instantly obliterate his body.
For one, Su Wen himself mastered the Profound Meaning of Destruction, allowing him to neutralize a portion of the God of Destruction's divine skills. For another, Su Wen also wielded the power of creation, and had even condensed the prototype of a Creation God's divine seat.
No matter how the power of destruction tried to penetrate him, his body consistently held it at bay. Furthermore, the power of creation repaired any damaged areas, making his body grow even stronger.
The God of Destruction's expression shifted slightly.
Forcing his way through the Divine Lightning of Nirvanic Destruction with just his physical body?
Had this Su Wen already grown to such a terrifying degree?
How on earth did he cultivate?
At this moment, even the God of Destruction couldn't help but wonder, utterly unable to comprehend how the Sea God had raised such a freak.
"Hmph!"
The God of Destruction gave a cold snort. Done with testing the waters, he directly unleashed a torrential barrage of Divine Lightning of Nirvanic Destruction that blanketed the sky.
The various deities retreated one after another, backing away by thousands of miles to leave ample room for the two to battle.
The Divine Lightning of Nirvanic Destruction enveloped the surrounding void, its aura of destruction permeating every corner of the Divine Realm as the God of Destruction initially unveiled his true might.
"The power of the God of Destruction is still too terrifying. How many years has it been since he last went all out?"
Many ancient deities hadn't witnessed the God of Destruction going all out in countless years.
The power of destruction flooded every corner of the Divine Realm as if to annihilate everything, sending tremors through the entire realm.
Su Wen's expression remained unchanged.
Above his head, the prototype of a divine seat radiated a dazzling, brilliant light.
The prototype of the Creation God's divine seat.
The moment Su Wen summoned this prototype, the expressions of all the gods changed drastically.
"How is this possible?!"
How could anyone condense such a divine seat?
What did he do?
How did he condense it?
Creation.
He comprehended the power of creation. Could it be that what he wielded was also the power of creation?
If that were the case, it would explain why he could suppress the God of Magma so easily.
However, no matter how high the essence of creation was, this prototype condensed by Su Wen was, at most, at the level of a first-class god, right?
Whether it could even reach the first-class god level depended entirely on whether it absorbed enough energy during its final solidification process.
Could such a flimsy prototype withstand the full-force barrage of the God of Destruction's Divine Lightning of Nirvanic Destruction?
In the next instant,
Su Wen showed them exactly whether it could be withstood.
The essence of the Creation God's divine seat prototype was indeed too fragile, but it merely served as a conduit.
The one truly enduring the Divine Lightning of Nirvanic Destruction was Su Wen himself.
The core of creation lay in the alternation between creation and destruction--absorbing destruction and transforming it into creation.
After converting the power of the Divine Lightning of Nirvanic Destruction, Su Wen channeled it into his own miniature world.
Inside the miniature world, streaks of divine lightning struck down, giving birth to all things.
Endless Divine Lightning of Creation rained down upon the various minor worlds, infusing them with vital lifeforce.
Nurtured by this lifeforce, signs of life seemed to begin coalescing.
As the master of this world, Su Wen used his own will to guide its evolution.
The human race.
Everything within the miniature world transpired in a split second. Su Wen didn't dare to divide his focus too much; after nudging its evolution with his thoughts, he quickly withdrew his interference.
He was even unwilling to draw upon the power of the miniature world, lest he disrupt its ongoing evolution.
And without the miniature world--
Su Wen's aura erupted.
His divine power began to siphon the energy of the universe.
With his prior experience with the Three Talents Grand Dao Array, Su Wen could now effortlessly mobilize the universe's power using his three great soul cores--representing essence, qi, and spirit--as a foundation.
For a higher-dimensional lifeform, the difficulty of accomplishing this was indeed on a completely different level.
"This is more than twice as easy as last time."
It wasn't just easy; Su Wen no longer felt any deep-seated fear, sensing that the probability of being assimilated by the Grand Dao of the universe was far lower.
This was the nature of a God-level lifeform. They had begun to evolve into universal laws themselves, no longer remaining pure flesh and blood. Moreover, when Su Wen forged his divine body, the levels of power and laws involved were exceptionally high--having already reached the tier of Profound Meanings--exerting a severe degree of warping upon the universe.
Thus, it was difficult for the universe to assimilate him.
Borrowing the power of the cosmos, Su Wen's strength surged exponentially.
With a wave of his right hand, Su Wen's Heavenly Book martial soul shifted, transforming into a long spear.
As the spear settled into his grip, an infinite amount of power empowered it.
Now that he had broken through to the God-level, his martial soul naturally attained the rank of a divine tool. In his hands, the aura of the spear transformed from the Heavenly Book was far beyond that of any ordinary divine tool.
"God of Destruction, show me your full strength," Su Wen said in a deep voice.
"Su Wen, you are far too arrogant!" the God of Destruction growled.
A staff appeared in his right hand.
It was not the Staff of Destruction.
Though infuriated by Su Wen's provocation, the God of Destruction had not lost his head to anger; he had no intention of deploying the Staff of Destruction.
The Staff of Destruction was a sublime divine tool of the Divine Realm, representing the very intent of destruction, and its defining trait was absolute annihilation.
While a sublime divine tool was an extension of his own power, it did not fall under the standard power of a God King. Refraining from using it now was also a chance he granted Su Wen to prove his God King-level capabilities.
The staff condensed in his hand was merely a projection of the Staff of Destruction, roughly on the same tier as the spear formed by Su Wen's Heavenly Book.
With the staff in hand, the God of Destruction concentrated his divine energy, compressing the aura of destruction into his right hand.
A massive black orb of lightning materialized in his palm. Along the outer edges of the orb lay a layer of blue-purple halo. The black lightning orb contained a storm of annihilation, its destructive intent honed to the absolute limit.
The restrained aura of destruction completely fused into the black lightning orb. The more it was contained, the more it caused one's heart to palpitate with sheer terror.
Watching from a vast distance, the numerous gods trembled with fear, already feeling that this was a power they could never hope to oppose.
This level of power completely eclipsed anything they could withstand.
The gap between a God King and those below the God King level was a separation of two entirely different concepts.
In the cosmos, a God King was the benchmark for a Divine Realm.
If a Divine Realm existed, there would inevitably be a God King.
By the same token, only with a God King-level existence would one have the qualifications to establish a Divine Realm.
Just like the Crimson Domain, which lacked the qualifications to create a Divine Realm because they didn't even possess a true God King or touch upon the power of a God King. How could they possibly forge a Divine Realm of their own?
The God of Destruction gave a cold snort.
The black lightning orb in his hand had completely solidified, and he hurled it directly at Su Wen.
Su Wen's pupils contracted.
Facing the black lightning orb head-on, even he felt his heart leap with anxiety.
Was this the true power of a God King?
Su Wen knew perfectly well that he himself had not attained the God King level.
He was acutely aware of this.
However, he had seen through the essence of a God King.
A god was simply someone who gradually warped the laws of the universe step by step, whereas the God King level involved fusing and weaving one's various Profound Meanings into a cohesive whole.
To put it in terms of the fantasy concepts Su Wen was familiar with, it was taking the various insights into laws and seamlessly weaving them together to form one's own Dao.
Upon reaching the God King level, all power began to originate from within oneself.
Even if a God King lost their divine seat, they remained a God King.
The divine seat held little significance to them anymore.
This was a God King.
A God King's mastery over their own power had reached the stage of systematic codification, forming an independent system where their strength was no longer entirely derived from the outside world.
Consequently, the effects and damage their power could inflict struck directly at the core essence of reality.
As the black lightning orb filled with the power of destruction fell, Su Wen felt a sensation of genuine annihilation.
Yet, he harbored no fear.
Having seen through the essence of a God King, Su Wen naturally possessed a countermeasure.
The black lightning orb exploded, unleashing endless destructive thunderbolts that turned the Divine Realm into a purplish-black ocean in an instant.
"Hahaha, this brat was far too conceited!"
"He actually tried to forcefully take the God of Destruction's world-ending strike head-on!"
"Hmph, arrogance always demands a price."
"To think he actually harbored the illusion of changing the rules of the Divine Realm? It seems breaking through to the God-level made him grow way too big for his boots."
This was for the best. A freakish existence who harbored hostility toward retired gods like them was better off dead.
"Now, the crucial issue is that the Douluo Plane has already produced a God-level. How should we handle this?"
Should they suppress the Spirit Masters within the Douluo Plane, preventing them from continuing their cultivation and breaking through to the God-level?
That seemed like a fine choice.
The Divine Realm already maintained a blockade against spirit beasts.
Although the Divine Realm itself didn't fully understand why spirit beasts faced a tribulation whenever they tried to break through the one-million-year mark to achieve godhood, over time, the number of Divine Beasts in the Divine Realm dwindled. Eventually, they were reduced to mere mounts for human gods, stripped of their status, and human deities began actively restricting the growth of spirit beasts.
The spirit beasts' bloodlines had encountered an issue, the root cause of which the human deities did not know, but what if they recovered one day?
Thus, to ensure human deities maintained total control over the Divine Realm, they laid down a new rule: spirit beasts would face a major tribulation every hundred thousand years.
At this moment, they were debating whether they should impose an identical restriction on all human Spirit Masters, forbidding them from achieving godhood.
Before the ocean of destruction could even dissipate, a faint, leisurely voice echoed across the Divine Realm.
"I'm not even dead yet, and you're already in such a rush to deal with the Douluo Plane?"
What?!
The deities were left in absolute shock. Turning their gazes toward the absolute center of the ocean of destructive lightning, where the thunderbolts were gradually fading, a figure slowly materialized.
Su Wen!
He was still alive!
Furthermore, although his aura was erratic, he had sustained no fatal wounds, and his source origin remained completely unharmed.
The God of Destruction stared at this scene in sheer disbelief.
How had Su Wen managed to endure it?
Could he have truly reached the God King level?
The God of Destruction was both bewildered and astounded.
"I believe my strength has been adequately demonstrated. As a member of Douluo Star beneath the Douluo Divine Realm, I am fundamentally a part of this Divine Realm. Now that my strength has reached the God King level, I should be qualified to join the Divine Realm Committee, correct? As a new member, I ought to be entitled to establish some new rules as well, shouldn't I?"
Su Wen swept his gaze over the gods who had been shouting the loudest moments ago.
"What do you all think?"
Su Wen wore a gentle expression, yet it carried an incredibly dense, palpable killing intent.
If they were unwilling to reform, they would die.
"Very well, it seems everyone is in complete agreement with the reforms."
"I also hope everyone can understand that I am doing this for the sake of the Divine Realm's development. Only by having stronger subordinate planes can the Divine Realm gather more power of faith, thereby growing faster and better."