Time rewinds just a little.
Tang San, Tang Chen, and Bo Saixi—the three of them left Heaven Dou City.
Along the way, the three remained very quiet.
Finally, Bo Saixi could no longer hold back and broke the silence.
"Tang San, shouldn't you explain what you said earlier?"
As the Great Priestess of Sea God, she had a natural faith in Sea God. Both emotionally and logically, she needed to know the circumstances of Sea God's fall. If it weren't for the fact that the Tang San before her was related to Tang Chen—as his great-grandson—she would have already fought him regardless of the consequences.
"Sigh! Senior Bo Saixi, this junior truly had no choice!" Tang San's originally rather handsome face showed a vicissitude that didn't match his youthful body.
"Sea God… let's still call him Sea God for now."
"He is not as magnificent as you imagine. In truth, he is just a selfish and self-serving person."
"Tang San!"
Good grief—even after Sea God has likely fallen, you still have to keep stepping on him?
Do you really think I, Bo Saixi, am so easy to talk to?
"I have no intention of slandering the object of Senior's faith. This Sea God truly does not deserve your respect—frankly, he is not even as good as the Rakshasa God from Zhu Zhuqing's divine trial."
Bo Saixi said nothing. She only stared at Tang San with cold eyes, clearly conveying: if you don't explain everything clearly today, you're going to regret it.
"Do Senior Grandfather and Senior Bo Saixi know about the final trial of the Nine Tests?"
The moment Tang San mentioned this, Bo Saixi and Tang Chen exchanged a glance and both fell silent. Clearly, as divine servants, both of them knew about this matter.
Tang Chen spoke up: "The final test of the divine trial requires that I and Bo Saixi—as divine servants—sacrifice ourselves to ignite the divine fire for the inheritor of the divine trial. That is, for your final test, Tang San, either Bo Saixi or I must die."
"You shouldn't have known about this." Tang Chen looked puzzled. "After you kill the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, for the ninth test I can take Bo Saixi's place and help you ignite the divine fire."
"Because you also possess part of the Asura God's divine trial, this broken body of mine can still be of assistance."
"Don't be fooled by how much better my body feels now—there isn't actually much lifespan left."
"Tang Chen!" Bo Saixi's expression changed slightly.
"Don't be sad. Tang San is my great-grandson. Paving the way for him is exactly what an elder like me should do."
"If it were you doing it instead, that would make me feel even more selfish!" Tang Chen shook his head. "I believe Qian Daoliu was in much the same situation—except his final sacrifice was for his own granddaughter."
"Back then, I was able to surpass Qian Daoliu by a step. I believe my great-grandson will also be stronger than his granddaughter."
"That should be enough to bring this matter to a close."
"It's actually quite laughable," Tang Chen said with a sigh full of emotion. "Qian Daoliu and I were once close friends. Back then we even teamed up to go to Sea God Island together. Who could have thought that today we would reach a point of irreconcilable hatred?"
Such a blood feud could no longer be resolved.
Qian Daoliu's son Qian Xunji died at the hands of Tang Hao. And his own grandson Tang Hao died at the hands of Bibi Dong. Moreover, his son had been forced to commit suicide back when he chose to retire.
"Sigh! Times have changed—none of us are the people we once were."
"Tang Chen…" Bo Saixi opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but the words reached her lips and she didn't know how to begin.
"Actually, there is no need for this." Tang San's voice interrupted the two people's melancholy. "The divine trial does not necessarily require a divine servant to ignite the divine fire. If the god is willing to put in the effort, it is completely unnecessary."
"In Zhu Zhuqing's Rakshasa divine trial, the Rakshasa God had already left power behind to help her ignite the divine fire."
"Tang San, you mean…"
Tang Chen and Bo Saixi snapped back to attention and looked at Tang San in unison.
"What I'm trying to say is exactly this: Sea God would rather let Senior Bo Saixi sacrifice herself than expend even a little extra effort. You clearly gave so much for him—is a god like that really worth your faith?"
"As far as I know, even though the Rakshasa God of Zhu Zhuqing's trial has already left the Divine Realm, before departing he still made arrangements for everything—including bestowing the legacy needed to ignite the divine fire and become a god."
"Even the Rakshasa God could do it—why couldn't Sea God?"
"He simply didn't want to." Tang San concealed the part Zhu Zhuqing had told him: that the Rakshasa God had stripped Bibi Dong's divine rank and used the accompanying power of ascending to the god position to give it to Zhu Zhuqing, allowing her to become a god without anyone needing to sacrifice themselves.
Of course, Tang San could never explain every detail of this matter.
In any case, the point was simple: Sea God was stingy.
Look at how generous the Rakshasa God was.
As for the original world, where Bibi Dong took decades to become a god—
That was Bibi Dong. Perhaps the Rakshasa God had never truly approved of her to begin with. Plus she had offended the Asura God. If anyone was going to have trouble, it would naturally be her.
In short, the underlying message of every word was this: Sea God could not compare to the Rakshasa God—he was not nearly as magnanimous.
At present, even if Sea God wasn't dead, he was no different from dead. He simply couldn't open the gates of the Divine Realm.
As long as Tang San had time to fully refine the Sea God divine rank, would he still be afraid of not finding him?
With the divine rank in hand, and Bo Saixi already his servant, how could she possibly continue to have faith in a minor deity like Bo Saixi who hides away in some remote corner?
"Perhaps Lord Sea God had some deeper intention," Bo Saixi said. Although she didn't know whether Tang San's words were true or false, it was certain that no one had sacrificed themselves for Zhu Zhuqing.
No one wants to die—especially not a Limit Douluo like Bo Saixi.
In the original story, if Tang San hadn't been Tang Chen's great-grandson,
she might have already killed him long ago.
Bo Saixi had more than once shown killing intent toward Tang San.
God King Tang San clearly knew about this.
Back during the divine trial, Bo Saixi had intentionally or unintentionally hinted to him about it. He could confirm that Bo Saixi was not a fanatic believer of Sea God Bo Saixi. What's more, with Tang Chen assisting from the side, she could be won over.
"That's right. Little San is correct."
Tang Chen also didn't want Bo Saixi to risk her life fighting Tang San for the sake of Sea God.
"Sigh… let's just take it as that then!" Bo Saixi let out a long sigh. Sea God Island was already gone. If Sea God hadn't met with disaster, how could he allow his earthly lair to be destroyed without coming to help?
Tang San briefly "fabricated" an account to Bo Saixi of how Sea God had come into conflict with him.
In simple terms: Sea God lusted after Tang San's body and wanted to use it to re-ascend to dual god positions and break through to God King. In the end, he was heroically counter-killed by Tang San, and so on and so forth.
"I truly feel apologetic about the matter concerning Sea God. Honestly, I didn't know how to bring it up with Senior."
"After all, Sea God Bo Saixi holds a very important place in your heart."
"Forget it. It's all in the past." Bo Saixi waved her hand. She still needed time to digest what Tang San had said.
As for whether it was true or false, Bo Saixi no longer wanted to pursue it.
In the end, he was still Tang Chen's great-grandson.
"Tang San, let me ask you this: when you become a god, how will you ignite the divine fire? If it doesn't require me or your great-grandfather to sacrifice ourselves, then you…"
"Mm. I obtained a lot of things from Sea God's memories. It's a bit complicated to explain."
"But please believe me—I will make sure that you and Great-Grandfather can be together forever."
"What nonsense is this child spouting." Tang Chen actually blushed. Nothing was set in stone yet. "We'll talk after you become a god! I know my own condition clearly—there isn't much time left. Little San, you'd better hurry!"
"Mm, Little San understands." Tang San nodded seriously. In his heart he secretly wiped sweat. Finally pulling Bo Saixi over wasn't easy.
After thinking for a moment, Tang San answered Tang Chen: "Great-Grandfather, according to the plan Zhu Zhuqing and I made, judging from Ning Fengzhi's expression earlier, the Star Luo army should have already broken into the Barak Kingdom."
"Attacking the Barak Kingdom?" Tang Chen and Bo Saixi both frowned tightly. They completely didn't understand why Tang San and Zhu Zhuqing would do something so thankless and exhausting.
(End of chapter)