"Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, don't you dare spit blood from your mouth and slander me." Tang Chen nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood in anger. His whole body trembled, and the hand gripping the handle of the Haotian Hammer made "creak creak" sounds.
I fucking didn't go to war with you because I had some tacit understanding with you—Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, do you have any shame at all?
I was still taking into consideration the contract in the Star Dou Great Forest, so I didn't turn against your Deep Sea Demonic Whale King clan.
And you, Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, also took the contract into account—or perhaps your injuries hadn't recovered—so you dove deep and left.
Yet here you are saying that I, Tang Chen, gave you advance warning and tipped you off—
That I would take Bo Saixi and her forces, while you destroy Sea God Island to complete your revenge, achieving a win-win situation.
Do you have to be this shameless? I, Tang Chen, have never seen such a thick-skinned person in my life.
Not far away, the Spirit Hall Worshippers were simply eating melon (watching the drama).
Tang Chen, in order to make Bo Saixi leave Sea God Island and stay with him,
had actually joined forces with the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King to deal with Sea God Island, funneling Sea God Island's forces into the Tang Sect founded by his great-grandson.
This way, he would have Bo Saixi, plus he'd packaged the high-level members of Sea God Island and all its resources as her dowry.
Ridiculous. Truly ridiculous.
Although no one really believed the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's words,
when it comes to eating melon, who cares about the truth?
As long as it's entertaining, that's enough, right?
Bo Saixi's expression went from clear skies to cloudy, then from cloudy to pouring rain.
Her face turned pale one moment and flushed the next.
Tang San also knew they couldn't continue like this. He organized his words and spoke up:
"Senior Bo Saixi, everything the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King said is nonsense. I, Tang San, stand upright between heaven and earth—I would never join forces with the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King."
"Moreover, I will never forget the great kindness you showed this junior."
"The attack on Sea God Island was entirely because the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King somehow learned of the news from who knows where."
"Then what about Lord Sea God? Could that also have nothing to do with you?" Bo Saixi's tone turned icy.
"Lord Sea God—Bo Saixi's matter—involves many things. I can't explain it clearly all at once. In short… can we please skip this part for now?"
"Fine. I'll see what you have to say later!"
Bo Saixi took a deep breath. With enemies watching like tigers, she knew this wasn't the time for internal strife.
"Phew—"
Seeing how Bo Saixi understood the bigger picture, Tang San couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
As expected of the woman his great-grandfather admired—she was someone who put the greater good first.
After handling Bo Saixi's side, Tang San deeply etched the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King clan—who had clearly already "earned a path to death"—into his memory for future handling.
Tang San planned to retreat. Continuing further had no meaning.
As a God King with tens of thousands of years of experience, he knew that Xue Di currently didn't want to make enemies of them either—perhaps she feared the Asura God, but that was actually perfect. As long as he, Tang San, was given time, becoming a god would be no problem.
Tang San cupped his hands toward Xue Di and said, "Lady Xue Di, this time I'll accept your favor and take the people away from the Heaven Dou Empire."
"Fine." Xue Di nodded.
"Wait a moment." Ning Fengzhi frowned slightly and spoke up.
"Sect Leader Ning, is there something else?"
"With the Star Luo army breaking through the Barak Kingdom, shouldn't you, Tang San, give Princess Xue Ke an explanation?"
"This…" Tang San was stunned for a moment before replying,
"I'll try to talk to Zhu Zhuqing about it. Since the matter here is settled and Xue Beng is already dead, the plan he spent a fortune on—cooperating with the Star Luo Empire to pin down the Heaven Dou Empire's forces—will naturally be terminated."
"If the army has already entered the Barak Kingdom, I'll do my best to use our former classmate relationship to persuade His Majesty the Star Luo Emperor to withdraw his troops."
"Then many thanks."
Ning Fengzhi nodded. His tone was calm, but anyone could see that his words didn't fully match his heart.
The great battle could finally be considered over.
Tang San took Bo Saixi and Tang Chen with him and turned to leave.
The previous Sacred Pillars and Clear Sky Sect elders had already withdrawn ahead of time, so there was no need to worry about any ambushes.
The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King felt extremely unwilling. The bastard who had injured his wife wasn't dying right in front of him.
It felt like a fishbone stuck in his throat—unbearably uncomfortable.
But the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King also knew that taking down the three of them with his own strength was impossible.
Forget on land—even in the ocean, trying to deal with Bo Saixi and Tang Chen at the same time, plus a somewhat absurdly powerful Tang San, would likely force him to turn and flee for his life.
Forget it. He couldn't afford to provoke them.
Couldn't the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King just hide?
Humans are ultimately just humans. As long as he dove into the deep sea, there would still be plenty of opportunities.
Not everyone was like Ning Rongrong, able to cultivate in the deep sea without eating or drinking for half a hundred thousand years.
Compared to the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's act of giving up, Xue Di quietly watched the three figures gradually shrinking into the distance. Several times she wanted to make a move, but in the end she held back.
Tang Chen and Tang San might involve the Asura God behind them.
Bo Saixi had an unclear relationship with Tang Chen—once she attacked, the other two would most likely intervene as well.
She was still some distance from level 130. There was no need to go all-out and end in mutual destruction right now. She was waiting for Ning Rongrong to come out of seclusion. Before going in, Ning Rongrong had come to find her and roughly said the seclusion would take no more than two years.
Compared to killing Tang San, there were more important things to do right now—repairing the Ice Palace. She had to leave a backup plan for the Far North.
The abyssal passage connected to the Abyss plane.
On the other side there was a half-step God King, plus at least one first-level god.
With the enemy's identity uncertain, that side was actually far more important.
As for Tang San, she would leave him for Ning Rongrong to deal with herself. At most it wouldn't exceed half a year before she returned. Moreover, Ning Rongrong's current strength was something even Xue Di couldn't see through clearly.
"Thank you, Lady Xue Di." Ning Fengzhi's voice broke the silence.
"No need to be polite." Xue Di smiled faintly. "Ning Rongrong has helped me a great deal as well. In the future I may need her help again. In human terms, you could call it mutual benefit."
After chatting with Ning Fengzhi for a short while, Xue Di bid farewell: "There are still matters in the Far North, so I'll take my leave first. Besides, with your current situation, you must be quite busy here as well!"
Although they had used soul tools to defend against the aftermath in advance, quite a number of people had still died.
"Very well, we won't keep you then." Ning Fengzhi nodded.
In truth, he still had a great many things to discuss with Spirit Hall's side. Now that they had gotten involved, neutrality was no longer possible.
But at the very least, he had to wait until Ning Rongrong came out of seclusion. He was also deeply worried about the abyssal passage situation.
"Wait."
Just as Xue Di was about to leave, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King blocked her path.
It wasn't just the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King and the Demon Empress—even Bi Ji had come over.
"Is there something?" Xue Di asked.
"You became a god—how did you do it?" The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's tone carried clear urgency.
"No, that won't work. We're not the same as you." Xue Di's words nearly made the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King explode. What do you mean not the same? Just because you became a god—aren't the two of us both still soul beasts in the end?
Seeing that the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King had misunderstood, Xue Di explained, "My true form is the Ice Sky Snow Girl. In essence, I'm not completely a soul beast—I belong more to the category of heavenly oddities like ice spirits."
"I obtained the divine power of the Ice God along with the complete inheritance, which is why I could cross the age limit and become a god."
"You cannot."
Xue Di's words left the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, the Demon Empress, and Bi Ji all completely silent.
"Is there really no other…"
"As long as that rule doesn't change, it's almost impossible!" Xue Di didn't let the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King continue. She interrupted her, then looked past the three of them toward the distant horizon.
Not long after Xue Di's gaze fell in that direction, a pale holy aura came from the far sky.
"They've returned—no, she has returned."
"Who?"
The three didn't understand. They followed the direction of Xue Di's gaze.
An overwhelming terrifying pressure spread over them. Even the three Limit Douluo felt immense oppression.
"The battle between the Angel and Asura has begun. I'm going to take a look. Be careful, all of you."
Her voice pulled everyone's attention back.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Xue Di's body became transparent and merged into the heavens and earth. Even the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King trio could no longer sense where Xue Di had gone.
"Is this what it means to be a god?" the Demon Empress murmured, her voice carrying a trace of longing.
(End of chapter)