Looking at Tang San, who suddenly turned hostile, the allied forces of the three races from the Tianxuan Continent were all a bit stunned.
Why did he suddenly turn against them?
The demon plane, the death plane, and the power of death had all been resolved. It was supposed to be a day of celebration.
They were all allies. Whatever issue there was, couldn't they sit down and talk it out? Why did it have to escalate into a life-and-death battle on this very day?
Even if Ya Li truly offended the Goddess of Life as Tang San claimed, did that warrant a duel to the death?
Didn't the Sea God Envoy also use the Sea God's title?
What the three-race alliance didn't know was that Tang San couldn't afford to wait any longer.
Ya Li was already on the verge of becoming a god. If she ascended to become a second-rank god, then Tang Chen and Bo Saixi would be eternally suppressed by her.
Tang Hao and Bo Saixi had already prepared to strike against Ya Li.
The moment Tang San opened his mouth, the two of them acted. The multicolored Clear Sky Hammer and the Sea God's Scepter instantly attacked Ya Li.
"Xiao San and the God Realm were swept away by the space-time turbulence. Now is the time when we most need the power of faith. For Xiao San's sake, we can't allow anyone to divert the faith power of the Tianxuan Continent.
Besides, this woman really did profane the Goddess of Life."
Tang Chen and Bo Saixi held nothing back. If Ya Li could manifest the Life Ancient Tree, the artifact of the Goddess of Life, she must have inherited part of her legacy. Anyone related to a God King was not to be underestimated.
"You are no match for me." Ya Li shook her head. On her right hand, a green glove appeared—it was the divine weapon Life's Benediction, given to her by Xia Yi.
With Life's Benediction active, Ya Li's life aura instantly multiplied in strength many times over. Even the Sky-Towering Spear she held seemed to come alive. With a single thrust, the spear reached Tang Chen in a flash.
Clang!
The Spear directly struck the multicolored Clear Sky Hammer—an artifact evolved from the former strongest tool spirit in the Douluo Plane—and shattered it into pieces.
Not just Tang Chen, even Tang San was visibly shocked.
Sure, the Sky-Towering Spear was an offensive divine weapon, but how could a healing-type soul master like Ya Li release such terrifying power?
"That god position in your body doesn't belong to you."
Ya Li didn't bother explaining how she was able to unleash such force. Her spear pierced straight into Tang Chen's body. When she pulled it out, it carried a streak of dazzling golden light.
With a flick of the spear, the golden light was thrown toward the direction of the Eternal Forest, spanning half a plane before landing directly within the body of the Eternal Venerable.
That was the god position of the Tianxuan Continent's Plane Lord.
Immediately after, Ya Li turned toward Bo Saixi and thrust again, effortlessly stripping her Life Core god position, hurling it as well into the Eternal Forest.
Poor Tang Chen and Bo Saixi—barely newly ascended gods—and now their god positions were forcibly removed.
Ya Li knew: the reason the Eternal Venerable had lost the Plane Lord and Life Core positions was due to Tang San's secret scheming. His goal was to pass those positions on to Tang Chen and Bo Saixi.
The Eternal Venerable had not been the Plane Lord of Tianxuan for many years. But presumably, during his tenure, he hadn't committed any major mistakes—at least none that Tang San could publicly criticize.
Otherwise, before Tang San and the God Realm vanished, he would have directly stripped those god positions and handed them to Tang Chen and Bo Saixi, rather than using such underhanded methods to force the Eternal Venerable into giving them up.
Now that Ya Li had returned those god positions, it was simply returning them to their rightful owner.
Besides, to her, two lowly third-rank god positions weren't worth mentioning.
Even if she no longer cultivated and had no intention of becoming a god, Leng Yaozhu would still force a first-rank god position on her eventually.
"No, impossible. How did you do it? You haven't even become a god!"
Tang Chen and Tang San were both utterly in disbelief.
They couldn't accept that a non-god like Ya Li could defeat two third-rank gods so effortlessly.
Actually, "defeat" wasn't even the right word.
Tang Chen and Bo Saixi didn't even get the chance to resist against Ya Li.
It looked as if she had casually swatted them down.
As for Tang San, he really only had one chance to strike. After wasting that on Electrolux, he was no longer a threat to Ya Li at all.
"I've already told you—I am the Goddess of Life. Why won't you believe me?" Ya Li said calmly. If she couldn't handle two newly promoted third-rank gods, then all her cultivation in Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon) and insights into Hetu and Luoshu (ancient Taoist diagrams) would be for nothing.
Not to mention, she also had the guidance of the Goddess of Life.
With Life's Benediction in hand, she could even go toe-to-toe with a second-rank god and walk away alive.
"You let Electrolux suppress you on purpose. You did it to lure us out. You knew my plan all along!"
Tang San suddenly realized. If Ya Li possessed such strength, there was no way Electrolux—something Tang San created—could truly suppress her.
"Not a bad reaction," Ya Li sneered. "Now that things have come this far, why don't you go ahead and tell me—was the Abyss Plane you brought to the Douluo Plane also part of your plan?"
"What about the Douluo Plane?"
Tang San's heart skipped a beat. When he saw the soul rings on Ya Li, he realized she was from the Douluo Plane. Such a powerful soul master—could she ruin his millennia-long plans?
"Damn that Goddess of Life—dead, yet still meddling. She left behind such a powerful successor to ruin my plans? Fine. But why didn't she talk to me first? Doesn't she know the Douluo Plane belongs to me?"
Looking at the illusory Life Ancient Tree behind Ya Li, Tang San grew more furious the more he thought. In his mind, the Goddess of Life must have left some hidden powers behind for Ya Li—otherwise, how could a quasi-god defeat Tang Chen and Bo Saixi so easily?
Did the Goddess of Life not trust his character?
Or did she suspect he had designs on the Seed of Life?
"Sealing away the Seeds of Life and Destruction and preventing your resurrection really was the right move. You lot love to act like seniors and lecture me just because you were older in the God Realm. If I had let you come back to life, who knows what kind of trouble you'd stir up.
When the God Realm returns, I'll find someone obedient to inherit the Seeds of Life and Destruction. I'll completely cut off your chances of resurrection. It's for the sake of unity in the God Realm. I had the foresight."
If Tang San had once felt a tinge of guilt about not reviving the Goddess of Life and the God of Destruction, that guilt was now completely gone.
"You don't need to worry about the Douluo Plane. Just answer me—was the Abyss Plane brought by you?"
Ya Li asked coldly.
"Haha! Let me guess—you couldn't survive in the Douluo Plane, so you fled to the Tianxuan Continent via the Demon Plane, right? I'm just a wisp of divine consciousness. You'll gain nothing by killing me. On the contrary, the measures I left behind in the Douluo Plane will surely come for revenge."
Tang San laughed wildly.
He could afford to lose a mere divine thought.
"What about them?"
Ya Li curiously turned to look at Tang Chen and Bo Saixi.
Having had their god positions forcibly stripped, both of them suffered serious backlash.
Their current state was no better than that of the Angel God from twenty thousand years ago—their cultivation had fallen below Titled Douluo, and it would be nearly impossible for them to ever break through again.
"What, you think my great-grandfather and great-grandmother are cowards afraid of death?"
Tang San replied proudly, full of righteous indignation.
If the God Realm still existed, he might've been able to help them.
But now that the God Realm had vanished, he couldn't help Tang Chen and Bo Saixi at all.
Without divine cultivation, they would die of old age before long.
No point in trying to save them.
"That's right. After all our years of planning, you snatched the fruit and won. We admit defeat.
But just as Xiao San said—we are not cowards afraid of death. If you think you can use us to threaten Xiao San, then you're sorely mistaken."Tang Chen spoke coldly, with a tone full of fearless resolve.
Ya Li ignored Tang Chen and Bo Saixi. Her gaze remained locked on Tang San the entire time.
"Manipulating people's hearts—you're a master at it. Should I call you cold-blooded, selfish, or both?"
(End of chapter)