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Above Douluo Planet, within the cosmos.
Since the time of the Dragon God's madness and the failed attempt to upgrade the divine star, the divine realm had long fallen from its former glory.
What was once a Douluo divine realm overseen by over forty God Kings now only had five remaining: the God Kings of Goodness, Evil, Life, Destruction, and Asura.
Though the Asura God King was a latecomer, his strength was no less than that of the veteran God Kings. It was he who single-handedly severed the Dragon God into the Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King.
At this moment, within the Asura Shrine—
As the god governing slaughter, the shrine's style was dominated by blood-red hues. If an ordinary mortal were to step inside, they would immediately be driven mad by the faint, mournful wails echoing in the air.
The Asura God, clad in fearsome armor, was currently displeased as he stared at the ground.
On the ground, images of the City of Slaughter—the inheritance site of the Asura divine seat—were being projected.
Although he had learned some time ago that his once highly anticipated divine heir had been sabotaged by that old woman Rakshasa, her actions were entirely within the rules of the divine realm. As the Law Enforcement God, with numerous God Kings watching him, he had no way to seek personal revenge.
"Damn Rakshasa, ruining my plans. If only I could find an opportunity, I'd dispose of her just like I did that foolish Angel woman."
But even if Tang Chen failed, it wasn't a big deal. At worst, it would just annoy him. The Asura God consoled himself.
Still, the Hao Tian Hammer lineage truly produced remarkable talents.
In the nearly thousand years before Tang Chen, there had only been five individuals who successfully completed the trials of the City of Slaughter.
Yet, in just a few decades, this Hao Tian lineage had produced two candidates for the divine seat.
For the past millennium, the Asura God hadn't intended to pass on his divine seat. The so-called "Killing Gods" he selected were merely managers of the City of Slaughter, serving as his High Priests to ensure order while providing him with faith energy.
However, as time passed, the Asura God realized he had reached the limit of his divine seat's potential.
Now, the Asura divine seat held little value for him. But according to the rules of the divine realm, he couldn't simply abandon his post and run away—he had to find a qualified successor.
Tang Chen had been a good candidate. He had completed the first eight trials of the Asura Nine Trials and even forged the super divine artifact, the Asura Demon Sword.
If there had been a Craftsman God position in the divine realm, Tang Chen would have been more than qualified for it.
"What a pity—he's a man of thin fortune, just one step away," the Asura God lamented.
A slight lapse in attention, combined with the time flow discrepancy, had allowed the Rakshasa God to exploit a loophole and cripple his heir. It was indeed infuriating.
Fortunately, there were two candidates in this era. However, after carefully observing Tang Hao's qualifications, the Asura God shook his head.
"All brute strength and insufficient skill—a mediocre individual who got lucky. How could I possibly hand over the fruits of my hard work to such a waste?"
Though the Asura God wanted to escape, he wasn't desperate enough to settle for anyone.
Thus, Tang Hao was rejected.
But as a powerful God King who had sat on the Asura divine seat for countless millennia, how could the Asura God not have a backup plan?
The region governed by the Douluo divine realm in this universe was but a drop in the ocean, overseeing barely a hundred life-bearing planets.
During a mission near the edge of a temporal rift, the Asura God stumbled upon a wandering soul.
That soul was Tang San.
At the Asura God's level, peering into the soul of a mere mortal was child's play.
"What an extraordinary world—ordinary mortals wielding such immense power," the Asura God remarked in awe.
At the time, he sensed that this soul would prove useful in the future and decided to keep it.
As expected, Tang San's soul eventually came in handy.
Though this insignificant mortal was ruthless and self-serving in his pursuit of goals, the Asura God saw himself in him. Hadn't he once been the same, doing whatever it took to grow stronger? A little selfishness wasn't a flaw—it was a quality necessary for the weak to become strong.
The rules of Douluo had long been distorted by the gods. Humans now suppressed the development of soul beasts using their advantages, as mutual hatred had already taken root.
Even without outright hostility toward the soul beasts, the gods didn't want them to grow strong enough to cause trouble later. Thus, humans were established as a counterbalance to the soul beasts.
In the era when the Asura God first emerged, the concept of martial souls didn't exist.
Back then, both humans and soul beasts cultivated soul power, though without the numerous restrictions seen today. This led to the rise of the Soul Tool Civilization, where humanity strove tirelessly for self-improvement.
However, this civilization, born from the study of universal truths, caused humans to lose their faith in the divine. The remaining gods in the divine realm were deeply displeased and unleashed an apocalypse.
Without question, the old civilization was utterly destroyed. The surviving humans were granted a new cultivation concept—martial souls.
To subtly guide humans into accelerating the suppression and hunting of soul beasts, the gods categorized martial souls into two types: those representing ancient soul tools (Weapon Martial Souls) and those representing soul beasts (Animal and Plant Martial Souls). Miscellaneous elements were also mixed in.
Though the early humans were weak, the surviving offensive soul tools allowed them to withstand the first wave of battles against soul beasts. Observing the newly formed martial souls and the spirit rings left behind by slain soul beasts, the first generation of soul masters was born. Though ignorance claimed many lives, the era of soul masters began.
Compared to the mentally taxing soul tools, martial soul cultivation was simpler. Without a central authority, humanity instinctively gravitated toward martial soul cultivation.
The gods subtly influenced humanity's subconscious with divine power, establishing the supremacy of martial souls.
Once humans understood the new rule of hunting spirit rings, they began to fight each other relentlessly, leading to the creation of increasingly exaggerated cultivation ranks.
This was why titles like "Emperor" or "King" in the Douluo Continent were so devalued—they reflected humanity's arrogance.
Over time, the strongest humans of the new era finally emerged: the Sea God and the Angel God.
The pinnacle rank of Title Douluo was established during that time, and the dual empires of Heaven Dou and Star Luo stood side by side for over two thousand years, continuing to this day.
Though the Asura God ascended through Douluo, he still held little sway among the other four God Kings. To make matters worse, he was saddled with the thankless task of enforcing laws across various planes, which irked him greatly but left him with no choice.
Though Tang Hao, his "small account," had failed, the Asura God confidently glanced at Tang San's soul in his possession. This "tiny account" would undoubtedly become the strongest vessel to inherit his divine seat.
After all, the Hao Tian lineage had consecutively produced two divine seat candidates.
Thus, the Asura God didn't bother searching for another martial soul as Tang San's starting point.
However, while Tang San's father was settled, his mother remained an issue.
The top-tier bloodlines of the Douluo Continent had remained unchanged for over two thousand years, but none satisfied the Asura God.
Setting aside the Hao Tian Hammer, the fact that the top-tier Beast Martial Soul was merely a sub-dragon spoke volumes.
Finally, the Asura God turned his gaze toward the soul beasts.
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