Divine Realm.
After Chen Junting and Ning Tian were transferred out of the bottom of the Sun and Moon Lake, Ning Rongrong turned her head to seek Oscar's advice.
"Xiao Ao, what kind of reward do you think would be appropriate?"
"My thoughts?" Oscar raised an eyebrow slightly. "How about a divine throne?"
"Divine throne!? You mean..." At this point, Ning Rongrong pointed at herself, looking astonished; the implication was obviously, "The divine throne you're talking about is my Nine-Color Goddess throne?"
However, before Oscar could respond, Ning Rongrong pursed her lips. "If I pass down my divine throne, what about your God of Food divine throne?"
Clearly, she was reluctant to pass down her own divine throne. After all, she had only been a god for less than ten thousand years; converted to Divine Realm time, it was merely over twenty years. Although it was boring, in a sense, she hadn't enjoyed it enough yet.
Hearing this, Oscar instantly realized that his ambiguous words had caused his wife to misunderstand. So, with a somewhat helpless tone, he reached out his index finger and tapped Ning Rongrong's glabella, saying, "Of course not your divine throne. Where is your mind wandering off to?"
"Then what are you talking about?"
Oscar used his eyes to gesture toward the Qiankun Wenqing Valley on the light screen and asked, "What about the God of Love's divine throne?"
The God of Love's divine throne—that could work!
Hearing this proposal, Ning Rongrong's eyes instantly lit up. Although she was a bit reluctant to admit it, from a practical standpoint, this junior of her sect indeed had talent that surpassed her own.
One had to know, this junior didn't have the aura of any other deity on her, which meant she hadn't participated in a Divine Trial like herself; her entire cultivation was achieved purely through her own hard work.
As for the Qiluo Tulip... come on, just ignore that.
Of course, giving a divine throne inheritance as a reward for passing a trial was actually not allowed by the rules. However, the rules not allowing it didn't mean the two of them couldn't exploit a loophole.
"Xiao Ao, not bad! Your brain really works well." Ning Rongrong laughed while giving Oscar an elbow nudge.
The praise from his wife also made Oscar extremely proud. "Of course. Among the Seven Devils, other than Xiao San, our couple is the smartest. Rongrong, you rank third, and I rank second."
"However..." The two-word transition interrupted Oscar's smugness. Ning Rongrong said, "We still forgot one thing."
"I didn't forget." Oscar smiled and shook his head. "You want to say that the God of Love's divine throne isn't in our hands, right."
"That's right. The God of Love's divine throne is in Brother San's hands. We made a promise, but we still don't know if Brother San is willing or not."
"Xiao San will agree." Oscar was quite confident regarding Ning Rongrong's worries.
"Actually, you and I both know the current situation in the Divine Realm. The new God of Kindness and God of Evil in the Divine Realm Committee are still too immature; they have a voice, but it seems unimportant, while the Goddess of Life is basically neutral. So in the end, the entire Divine Realm right now is just a contest between Xiao San and the God of Destruction."
"Over the past twenty-some years in the Divine Realm, the two have already produced quite a few conflicts due to differing opinions. If this continues, the contradictions between them will sooner or later completely erupt."
Having analyzed this far, Oscar's expression also turned serious. "So you see, when the conflict between Xiao San and the God of Destruction completely erupts, the forces of both sides will inevitably clash. Although Xiao San's side has deities, plus the remaining six of us, we are still no match for the forces under the God of Destruction."
Actually, Oscar's words made sense.
How long had it been since Tang San and his batch of the Shrek Seven Devils came to the Divine Realm? It had only been about ten thousand days in the Divine Realm.
The management of connections and the subordinate deities were mostly the old foundation left by the previous Sea God and previous Asura God. But whether it was because the previous Sea God and Asura God were incompetent, they could be said to have zero powerful deities.
Conversely, what about the God of Destruction? Good lord, the Seven Deadly Sins Gods. Seven 1-st Class Deities, and these seven could even join forces.
What's more, the God of Destruction and the Goddess of Life were husband and wife!
Although the Goddess of Life stood neutral right now, when the conflict and contradictions truly erupted, as a wife, the Goddess of Life would definitely stand more on her husband's side.
At that time, facing two veteran God Kings and their subordinate deities, how would Tang San and the others fight?
Fight with their heads?!
It was precisely because of this point that Tang San had been constantly suppressing his conflicts with the God of Destruction now. It was also the reason why, even in the original timeline, after nearly another ten thousand years passed in the mortal realm, Tang San didn't want to make a move against the God of Destruction unless it was absolutely necessary.
To put it bluntly, it wasn't that he didn't want to seize power, but rather that his chances of winning weren't high.
"...So you see, precisely because of this situation, Xiao San needs helpers the most. The God of Love is a 1-st Class Deity, and the girl who is about to receive the inheritance is from the Douluo Continent, grew up under the influence of Shrek Academy, and is a disciple of our Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect! To sum it up in four words—she has an impeccable background and absolute loyalty!"
"If she smoothly inherits the God of Love's divine throne, then Xiao San's side will securely have the combat power of a 1-st Class God. Moreover, look at that kid; he also has the potential to become a 1-st Class God."
"As long as he can gain the favor of a 1-st Class God..."
Smack—
Oscar clapped his hands together, then spread them out.
He didn't say the rest of his words, but he had also said everything. Anyway, in his view, Xiao San wouldn't reject this proposal.
"Alright!" Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up. "Then that's the reward."
However, right at this moment, a sudden mutation occurred within the light screen.
"Zizi—" The light screen suddenly became a mess of snowy white, as if a television was gradually losing its signal.
This sudden change caused Oscar and Ning Rongrong's expressions to drastically shift, and they immediately made a move.
But the next second, "Hua—" The light screen instantly collapsed, turning into spots of light and dissipating into nothingness.
"Not good!" At this moment, Ning Rongrong's face turned ugly.
"What exactly happened?" Seeing this, Oscar hurriedly asked.
But Ning Rongrong's next answer also made his expression stiffen.
"The Qiankun Wenqing Valley is no longer under my control now."
"What!?" Oscar's pupils suddenly constricted.
But very soon, he calmed down.
"How many possibilities could lead to this situation?"
"Two... no, three." Ning Rongrong paused slightly, giving her answer.
"The first is that the Douluo Planet has lost contact with us." This answer made Oscar shake his head repeatedly.
"The second is that Brother San forcefully seized control of the Qiankun Wenqing Valley using the God of Love's divine throne. But this possibility is very small; unless under special circumstances, Brother San would absolutely discuss it with us."
"That's right." Oscar nodded and asked, "What about the third?"
"The third is that the God of Love's consciousness has revived."
...
In the center of what seemed like an illusory ocean, a majestic palace stood, appearing both illusory and real under the soft halo.
At this moment, Tang San, as the Sea God, stood quietly on the shore of the illusory ocean, gazing at the sea surface below, letting the waves roll, though it was unknown what he was looking at.
The ocean and the god formed a harmonious picture.
Until...
"Brother San." A coquettish call rang out.
A figure skipped out from the castle behind him, like a child, happily jumping to Tang San's side, naturally and gently linking his arm with practiced ease.
And this person was none other than Tang San's wife, Xiao Wu.
Then, she smoothly grabbed the end of her long scorpion braid, gently rested her head on Tang San's shoulder, and brought the tail of the scorpion braid to Tang San's nose to tease him.
Tickle, tickle, and then she asked delicately, "Does it itch? Does it itch?"
"Xiao Wu, you..." A trace of helpless, doting smile revealed on Tang San's originally calm face. "Xiao Qi has grown up, yet you're still like a little girl, so mischievous."
Xiao Wu pouted in dissatisfaction. "This is the one hundred and eighth time you've said that to me."
"Oh?" Tang San smiled. "Have I said it that many times?"
"Yes, you've said it that many times." Letting Tang San pull her into his embrace, Xiao Wu also let her scorpion braid hang down into the seemingly illusory ocean, creating tiny ripples.
"Brother San, you said Xiao Qi has been in the lower realm for so long, she must have grown up a lot. Since she's grown up, she won't be as fun to play with as when she was little, so should the two of us have another child?"
"Fun?" Tang San tapped Xiao Wu's glabella. "You use Xiao Qi for fun."
"Can't I?" Xiao Wu acted coquettishly, but the light of motherly love flashed in her eyes. Clearly, her words belied her true feelings.
However, hearing Xiao Wu's rhetorical question, Tang San showed a noncommittal attitude. Immediately after, he changed the subject.
"Xiao Wu, do you want to see Xiao Qi?"
"Of course I do!" Hearing this, Xiao Wu instantly got excited.
Having carried Xiao Qi for ten months and given birth to her, and with about twenty years having passed in the mortal realm, it would be a lie to say she didn't miss or care about her.
"I wonder how Xiao Qi is doing right now?"
"Xiao Qi is doing quite well right now." Immediately, Tang San informed her of what he hadn't mentioned to Xiao Wu before. "I passed the Sea God's divine throne down to Xiao Qi; she has now brought ten companions to the Sea God Family's residence."
Hearing this, Xiao Wu's eyes instantly lit up. "Just like we did back then."
"Exactly."
"But Brother San..." At this moment, Xiao Wu suddenly reacted to the first half of Tang San's words. "Are you really going to pass the Sea God's divine throne to Xiao Qi?"
"Of course." There was no ripple in Tang San's eyes, making it impossible to tell if it was true or false. "After all, she is my daughter; it doesn't hurt to pass the Sea God's divine throne to her. Anyway, holding dual divine thrones is somewhat of a burden to me in a sense."
"But Xiao Qi is very lazy, can she handle it?" Thinking of this, a flash of worry crossed Xiao Wu's eyes.
"What do you mean can she handle it or not." Tang San patted Xiao Wu's shoulder, comforting her. "Trust Xiao Qi. Besides, if she really falls short, we can also do what the God of Fire did back then and swap a Second-Tier God's divine throne to Xiao Qi. For example, the Butterfly God, that works out perfectly."
"Phew—that's a relief." Xiao Wu clearly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Brother San, remember to take good care of Xiao Qi."
"Do you even need to say that? I am her father."
But right at this moment, "Hmm?" Tang San's expression suddenly changed. Amidst Xiao Wu's inquiry of "Brother San, what's wrong?", he released the hand wrapped around Xiao Wu's waist and flipped his right palm.
Immediately after, a heart-shaped crystal that was overall pink and had two patterns of a golden sun and a silver moon appeared in Tang San's palm.
At this very moment, this crystal was flickering with a halo.
Seeing this, Xiao Wu instantly recognized the origin of the crystal. "Brother San, this God of Love's divine throne..."
Tang San's expression returned to calm, at least on the surface appearing unperturbed. "The God of Love's divine throne has temporarily escaped my control, which means the consciousness the God of Love left in the lower realm has selected her inheritor, and it also means something has happened at the Qiankun Wenqing Valley."
Flipping his palm, he put away the God of Love's divine throne and said, "Xiao Wu, I need to go find Xiao Ao and Rongrong."
"Brother San, I'll go with you."
...
As for the current Qiankun Wenqing Valley...
In front of Chen Junting and Ning Tian, above the waters of the Sun and Moon Lake, a beautiful, charming woman appeared above the lake surface, yet her body was entirely illusory.
And according to her self-introduction, this figure was precisely the consciousness and remnant soul left in the Qiankun Wenqing Valley after the God of Love's fall.
This also meant that her inheritance had been activated.
As for when the God of Love appeared...
Just now, when Chen Junting and Ning Tian were released from the bottom of the Sun and Moon Lake by Ning Rongrong and Oscar and returned to the shore of the Sun and Moon Lake, the rings on their hands, which had originally restrained their glow, suddenly erupted with a dazzling pink radiance, no longer understated and plain.
This sudden change instantly made the two widen their eyes. Chen Junting also immediately guessed: *The inheritance has been activated!*
Naturally, Ning Tian had the same thought.
"So then, the two trials just now..."
"In a certain sense, they should be considered entrance exams." Chen Junting gave the answer he believed.
And speaking in metaphors, their mutation of the Yearning Heartbreak Red because of love was getting a ticket, and whether they were qualified to enter the door was the relatively fixed trial of the Qiankun Wenqing Valley. This kind of trial should appear regardless of whether there was another deity controlling the Qiankun Wenqing Valley or not.
The difference lay in whether the questioner was the mechanical consciousness left behind by the God of Love, or the deity controlling the Qiankun Wenqing Valley behind the scenes.
At least he felt his explanation was pretty close to the truth.
And after the two rings bloomed with brilliance, two red lights shot into the Sun and Moon Lake respectively. The light from Chen Junting's ring submerged into the golden sun, and the light from Ning Tian's ring submerged into the silver moon.
The next second, the lake surface stirred with waves.
Immediately after, the lake surface seemed to come alive; the golden sun and silver moon spun, continuously drawing the mist around the Qiankun Wenqing Valley into the intersection point of the golden sun and silver moon.
Then, a pink pillar of light, enveloped in gold and silver, shot into the sky, and an aura that instinctively made one think of "love" permeated the valley.
When the light pillar dissipated, the illusory figure of the God of Love appeared above the surface of the Sun and Moon Lake, and everything calmed down completely.
Thus, the current scene came to be.
At this moment, the God of Love swept her gaze over Chen Junting, finally landing on Ning Tian. Her originally hollow eyes now flickered with spiritual light.
But this look... should probably be described as envy, right?
"Congratulations."
A majestic yet gentle voice rang out; although it was somewhat contradictory, no one cared about that anymore.
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