A space rupture that stretched across nearly half the continent suddenly appeared high above the Douluo Continent. Immediately afterward, over a thousand figures slowly stepped out from the fissure.
Leading the group was, of course, Fang Chang. But this time, he had descended in person, with his true body. Behind him followed Di Tian, Bibi Dong, and many others. There were at least three god-kings among them, and the number of first- and second-level deities was uncountable.
Such a massive divine army had nearly emptied half of the Divine Realm's forces. For a lower plane, the threat this represented was self-evident.
At that moment, across the Douluo Continent—be it humans or soul beasts—everyone instinctively looked up toward the rift in the sky.
With the appearance of the gods, the entire continent fell into a frenzy never seen before. Some prostrated themselves from afar, bowing to the gods who had descended into the mortal world.
Others were filled with unease. So many gods descending—whether it was a blessing or a curse, no one could say. But one thing was certain: the balance of power on the continent was bound to change.
Fang Chang's clone, still on Seagod Island, quickly returned to his main body. Then, leading the gods, he descended first to Seagod Island.
"I remember this place," Bibi Dong said as she glanced around, recalling the scenery.
Back when she had been the Pope of Spirit Hall, she had once visited this island. At that time, it was the territory of the sea soul masters, but now, everything had changed.
In truth, before their arrival, Fang Chang had already thoroughly surveyed the island. Now, without hesitation, he led the group straight toward the island's deepest area.
"We're here. This is the place." He pointed ahead, toward a patch of scorched ground where a strange-looking altar stood.
The altar had a diameter of about five or six meters, with three tiers. The highest tier rose a little over a meter from the ground.
As soon as Fang Chang led the gods onto the altar, Gu Yue gasped, covering her mouth in astonishment. "Yes! It's definitely her. This is the mark of the Goddess of Life."
She pointed with her slender jade finger toward a rune in the center of the altar, about half a meter in length and width. A rare hint of joy appeared on her face.
"This should be the place where they revived Tang San," Fang Chang guessed aloud. "Gu Yue, can you tell what method they used?"
After inheriting the position of the Goddess of Life, Gu Yue had received much of the goddess's legacy.
However, since the former Goddess of Life hadn't truly fallen, and the Tree of Life was still in her possession, Gu Yue's divine status was incomplete.
"Yes." Gu Yue nodded, examining the altar. "This is a divine summoning ritual. It can summon the divine soul of a god who perished in this world and call them back."
"This method can revive certain deities, but there are many restrictions. The altar must be built in the plane where the god fell, and it can't be too long after their death."
"Even then, the chance of success is very low. The fact that woman succeeded even once was already quite impressive."
Upon hearing this, Fang Chang let out a breath of relief. If only the Seagod had been revived, it was still manageable. But if they had also brought back the God of Shura and other deities from back then, that would've been bad news for them.
"Can you track the Goddess of Life's location through this altar?" Fang Chang continued to ask.
Since the two of them now shared the same divine power source, and remnants of the Goddess of Life's aura remained here, there might be a way to trace her.
"I'll try." Gu Yue placed one hand on the altar, letting her divine power flow out. It spread through the altar, turning into an invisible wave that radiated in all directions.
After a long while, she shook her head. "No, too much time has passed. The residual energy on this altar is too faint. I can't trace them."
Fang Chang wasn't surprised. He hadn't expected it to go smoothly in the first place.
"However," Gu Yue added, "while probing just now, I sensed a place in this plane with the same type of divine energy as this."
"Where?"
"Lake of Life." Her voice was calm as she uttered the name, but a ripple stirred in her heart.
She had lived in the Lake of Life for tens of thousands of years. In a sense, it was her home.
Now, someone had taken it, and they were likely enemies—this thought only made her angrier.
Di Tian, who stood beside her, also showed a clear change in expression. They had only been gone for a short time, and yet the Lake of Life had already undergone such a transformation.
"Let's go—head to the Lake of Life," Fang Chang immediately commanded.
The group of divine beings teleported almost instantly, arriving at the center of Star Dou Great Forest, beside the verdant lake teeming with vitality.
As they watched the mutant slimes continuously crawl out of the lake, Gu Yue's eyelids twitched. "These soul beasts are strange."
"They were likely modified by the Goddess of Life and given certain special abilities."
Fang Chang nodded. He had noticed the changes in these slimes when he first arrived on the continent. Back then, they'd troubled him quite a bit, but due to various complications, he had temporarily left the matter alone.
He then explained what he had learned about the slimes' special abilities to the gods, who were instantly shocked.
"They can fuse with other soul beasts and inherit their skills and abilities? That's a natural counter to the Spider Clan!"
"If they fuse with a member of the Spider Clan who has devouring abilities, that would be terrifying."
Most of the deities here were from the Spider Clan, whose rise across the planes had largely depended on their devouring powers.
Now these slimes clearly showed similar potential.
"This must be the work of the Goddess of Life," Gu Yue said, frowning. "Slimes may have had such a potential trait all along, but due to their weakness, no one paid attention."
"She used her divine power to amplify this trait, resulting in their mutation."
"Then she modified the Lake of Life, using its vitality to make these mutant slimes multiply endlessly…"
As she spoke, she paused, a chill running through her heart.
"She probably planned to raise a race here, one strong enough to rival us, and then use them against us."
"She's using the same path we once walked—to strike back at us. That's… truly sinister!"
Fang Chang had already suspected as much. He just hadn't linked it to the Goddess of Life because he wasn't familiar with her divine authority.
Now that Gu Yue had said it, everything became clear.
While they were evaluating the Lake of Life, the lake itself began to churn violently, as if something was about to emerge from its depths.