Within the God Realm, an oppressive divine aura descended upon the Temple of Destruction.
"Lin Mu, don't think I'm unaware that you secretly descended to the mortal realm!"
The God of Evil stood outside the temple, pointing accusingly at Lin Mu.
"You have openly disregarded the laws of the God Realm!"
As one of the five God Kings, the God of Evil possessed tremendous authority. Together with the Goddess of Kindness, he had governed the God Realm for countless years. Their combined influence had once been comparable to that of the former God of Destruction and Goddess of Life.
When the original God of Destruction and Goddess of Life relinquished their divine positions, the God of Evil had initially been pleased.
From his perspective, their retirement benefited him and the Goddess of Kindness. Lin Mu and Ye Lingling were newly ascended God Kings who had yet to fully master their divine positions. He had assumed that the two newcomers would require many years before they could stand on equal footing with the older God Kings.
However, the God of Evil had celebrated far too soon.
Ten thousand years ago, when Lin Mu first inherited the position of the God of Destruction, his combat strength had already reached the God King level. Even at that time, he had been confident that he could confront the God of Evil without being placed at a disadvantage.
Gods generally possessed overwhelming divine power and superior physical attributes. Lin Mu, however, possessed not only tremendous raw strength but also exceptional combat techniques, spatial abilities, divine tools, and battle experience.
Their first sparring match had severely damaged the God of Evil's confidence.
It had also shown him how frightening Lin Mu's potential truly was.
Even then, the God of Evil had understood that Lin Mu would inevitably surpass the former God of Destruction and become the strongest being in the God Realm.
That prediction had long since become reality.
After ten thousand years of cultivation, Lin Mu's strength had surpassed the ordinary limits of a God King. Even the God of Evil could no longer accurately determine the depth of his power.
At first, the God of Evil had not considered this a problem.
The stronger Lin Mu became, the safer the God Realm should have been. A powerful God King could defend it against external enemies and stabilize the countless mortal planes under its protection.
Unfortunately, Lin Mu's conduct had gradually become increasingly difficult for him to tolerate.
Lin Mu had cultivated numerous soul beasts, allowing many of them to obtain divine bodies and remain in the God Realm as divine beasts. He had also descended to the mortal realm several times without seeking the approval of the Divine Realm Committee.
As the current God of Destruction, Lin Mu was expected to uphold the laws of the God Realm.
Instead, he repeatedly ignored those laws whenever they conflicted with his intentions.
If this continued, the God of Evil feared that Lin Mu would eventually become another Dragon God—an overwhelmingly powerful ruler capable of treating the entire God Realm as his personal domain.
"Evil, you're making a mountain out of a molehill."
Lin Mu stood calmly before the Temple of Destruction, showing no concern despite the God King confronting him.
"My descent caused no harm to the God Realm. Furthermore, I went to the Douluo Continent to prevent future instability. My actions ultimately benefited both the mortal realm and the God Realm."
He did not believe that he had done anything wrong.
The God Realm appeared peaceful, stable, and immensely powerful, but Lin Mu knew that such security was partly an illusion.
Unlike a physical planet, the God Realm was a higher-dimensional plane maintained through divine power and universal laws. If it encountered a sufficiently powerful Space-Time Turbulence, even the entire realm could be swept away or destroyed.
Lin Mu was confident that he could protect his family and closest followers if such a disaster occurred.
However, protecting every god and preserving the entire God Realm would be far more difficult.
That was one reason he refused to blindly obey rules created by people who believed the God Realm would remain secure forever.
The God of Evil's expression darkened.
To him, Lin Mu was still a junior who had entered the God Realm far later than he had. Yet that junior now spoke as though the established laws and authority of the Divine Realm Committee were beneath his consideration.
"Hmph!"
The God of Evil's divine power surged.
"Lin Mu, I will give you two choices. Swear that you will never descend to the mortal realm or violate the laws of the God Realm again."
He paused, his gaze becoming colder.
"Otherwise, relinquish the position of the God of Destruction. Once you retire, you may go wherever you please."
The God of Evil could no longer allow Lin Mu to continue treating the God Realm as his personal territory.
For a moment, silence fell over the Temple of Destruction.
Then Lin Mu laughed.
His smile was faint, but his eyes became dangerously sharp.
"Evil, have I been too polite to you?"
His calm voice carried clearly through the surrounding space.
"Or have you convinced yourself that I wouldn't dare attack you?"
In Lin Mu's eyes, the God of Evil was simply creating trouble because he had nothing better to do.
Instead of improving his own strength or preparing the God Realm for future disasters, he had come to interfere in matters that had caused no actual harm.
Lin Mu also remembered what the God of Evil had done in the original timeline. He had selected a successor but remained reluctant to surrender his divine position and ultra divine tool completely.
Such behavior had always seemed contradictory to Lin Mu.
The God of Evil's face turned grim.
"Lin Mu, only ten thousand years have passed since your ascension. Do you truly believe you have already surpassed the Dragon God?"
The moment he finished speaking, the God of Evil raised one finger.
Chaotic black mist surged from the void.
The mist gathered above him, forming an enormous balance scale that seemed large enough to span the stars.
It was the God of Evil's ultra divine tool—the Trial Scale.
Two pans hung from the ends of the immense beam.
The pan on the left resembled a bottomless abyss. Countless sins and fragments of chaotic evil light churned within it.
The pan on the right was cold and silent, carrying the merciless power of judgment.
Golden and black divine light coiled around the Trial Scale. Ancient runes flowed across its beam, and every movement caused the surrounding space to tremble and fracture.
The central pointer slowly turned toward Lin Mu.
The left pan descended beneath the accumulated weight of sin, while the right released the power of divine judgment.
A terrifying torrent erupted from the Trial Scale.
It belonged completely to neither light nor darkness, neither kindness nor evil. It existed only to measure imbalance and impose punishment upon the one being judged.
Wherever the torrent passed, divine laws trembled.
Space folded beneath its weight, spiritual consciousness was suppressed, and even divine power seemed to be stripped from the surrounding environment.
The Trial Scale intended to judge Lin Mu through the very laws governing the God Realm.
Lin Mu remained motionless as the attack approached.
"So you even brought out the Trial Scale."
Instead of becoming alarmed, his smile deepened.
Since the God of Evil had attacked first and immediately used an ultra divine tool, Lin Mu no longer needed to show excessive restraint.
"Shifting Scenery."
Silver spatial light flashed across the battlefield.
Before the God of Evil could react, the Temple of Destruction vanished from around him.
The environment changed instantly.
The two God Kings now stood outside the Temple of Evil.
Lin Mu had transferred not only himself and his opponent but also the Trial Scale's enormous attack across the God Realm.
Since a battle was unavoidable, he had no intention of allowing its aftermath to damage his own home.
The God of Evil stared at his surroundings in disbelief.
"What a sinister ability!"
His expression changed drastically.
Even the Trial Scale had been unable to prevent Lin Mu from forcibly moving him and the entire battlefield through space.
However, the God of Evil had no time to worry about the safety of his temple.
He poured his divine power into the Trial Scale without reservation.
The enormous balance stabilized.
At the center of its beam, a dark eye slowly opened.
The Eye of Judgment gazed down upon Lin Mu.
An unimaginably cold light emerged from its pupil, seemingly capable of piercing through every concealment and exposing all sins committed by its target.
The two pans became perfectly balanced.
The moment that balance was achieved, the Trial Scale's true power erupted.
Any imbalance was a transgression.
Any deviation would be judged.
The ultimate power of punishment descended from the scale and merged with the earlier torrent. The resulting wave of chaotic judgment surged toward Lin Mu, threatening to erase everything that opposed the balance between kindness and evil.
Lin Mu had already anticipated the attack.
His body disappeared.
The torrent of judgment passed through the place where he had been standing and tore apart the distant grounds of the Temple of Evil.
The God of Evil immediately spread his divine consciousness in every direction.
However, before he could locate his opponent, Lin Mu appeared directly behind him.
A layer of dark red light covered Lin Mu's body.
The Asura Armor had already been summoned, and its form had evolved into the more powerful Hell-Faced Asura.
The armor resembled something that had emerged from the deepest level of purgatory. Dark red flames moved along its surface, while its fearsome mask released a suffocating aura of slaughter and destruction.
Lin Mu pressed the activation control on the summoner at his waist.
A deep mechanical sound echoed through the fractured space.
Every trace of destruction and Asura power within the armor converged into his weapon.
The Asura Purgatory Halberd appeared in his hands.
Its blade released a dark crimson radiance, and the surrounding divine laws began collapsing before Lin Mu had even swung it.
The God of Evil turned around, but it was already too late.
Lin Mu raised the halberd.
"God and Demon Annihilation Slash!"
The blade descended.
A dark red energy slash tore through the void.
It did not merely cut through physical matter. Divine power, spiritual consciousness, space, and even the laws within its path were annihilated.
The torrent released by the Trial Scale was split apart.
The enormous wave of judgment separated down the middle before disintegrating into countless fragments of divine light.
The slash continued forward without losing momentum.
The Temple of Evil was cleaved in two.
Its defensive formations shattered one after another, and a vast fissure stretched through the surrounding divine territory.
The God of Evil managed to avoid being struck directly by the center of the attack.
Even so, the residual force tore through his defenses.
His divine light collapsed, blood sprayed from his mouth, and his body was thrown across the ruined courtyard.
He struck the ground heavily and slid to a stop among the remains of his temple.
The Trial Scale trembled violently above him before its light dimmed.
For several moments, the God of Evil could not rise.
"How can he be this powerful?"
He stared at Lin Mu in disbelief.
The strength contained within that single attack had already reached the level once possessed by the Dragon God.
It might even have surpassed it.
Only now did the God of Evil understand that Lin Mu had been restraining himself during every previous confrontation.
The difference between them was no longer something that could be overcome through experience or the use of an ultra divine tool.
Lin Mu stood within the shattered space, holding the Asura Purgatory Halberd in one hand.
His armor remained undamaged.
Even his breathing had not changed.
Several powerful auras rapidly approached the battlefield.
Tang San arrived first, followed closely by Ye Lingling and the Goddess of Kindness.
All three stopped when they saw the state of the Temple of Evil.
The once-majestic palace had been divided into two ruined halves. Divine formations flickered weakly throughout the wreckage, while the God of Evil lay injured beneath the dimmed Trial Scale.
Tang San's expression became particularly solemn.
He had sparred with Lin Mu many times over the past ten thousand years. Although he knew that his master had never used his full strength, he had not realized how much Lin Mu had been holding back.
If Lin Mu had used the God and Demon Annihilation Slash during one of their spars, Tang San doubted that he could have endured more than a few attacks.
Perhaps he would not have survived even one.
Ye Lingling examined the surrounding destruction before looking toward Lin Mu.
She immediately understood that he had transferred the battle here specifically to prevent the Temple of Destruction from being damaged.
The Goddess of Kindness rushed to the God of Evil's side.
She released gentle white divine light and used it to stabilize his injuries.
Lin Mu dismissed the Asura Purgatory Halberd, but he did not remove the Hell-Faced Asura Armor.
His gaze settled on the Goddess of Kindness.
"Kindness, if you don't want the God of Evil to perish, make sure he behaves himself."
Lin Mu's voice remained calm.
"I showed mercy this time. If he interferes in my affairs again without justification, I will not hold back."
The Goddess of Kindness pursed her lips.
She looked at the badly injured God of Evil and then at the enormous slash that had divided their temple.
She knew that Lin Mu was telling the truth.
Had his attack landed directly, the God of Evil's divine body and spiritual consciousness might have been completely annihilated.
"Lin Mu, thank you for showing mercy," she said quietly.
Hearing his wife plead on his behalf, the God of Evil felt an intense sense of humiliation.
However, he could not refute her.
He had issued the ultimatum.
He had also been the first to attack with an ultra divine tool.
More importantly, he had lost completely.
Lin Mu was not merely stronger than him. Lin Mu also had Ye Lingling, a God King, as his wife and Tang San, another God King, as his disciple.
Qian Renxue, Gu Yuena, the Seven Original Sin Gods, and Lin Mu's nine divine soul spirits also stood behind him.
Neither the God of Evil nor the Goddess of Kindness possessed the strength to challenge such a faction.
From that day onward, no one within the God Realm dared question Lin Mu's authority again.
The Divine Realm Committee continued to exist, and the other God Kings retained their positions. However, everyone understood who truly possessed the final say whenever a major conflict arose.
Lin Mu had effectively unified the God Realm beneath his rule.
He did not use that authority to interfere with every minor matter or force the gods to worship him.
Most of the God Realm's administration remained in the hands of Ye Lingling and Qian Renxue, while the various gods continued managing their respective territories.
Lin Mu intervened only when a decision threatened the stability of the God Realm, the mortal planes, or the people under his protection.
The long years that followed were comparatively peaceful.
Lin Mu continued cultivating, seeking power beyond even the limits of the God King level. However, he no longer devoted all his time to pursuing strength.
He traveled with his wives, accompanied them within the God Realm, and occasionally returned to the mortal realm when he grew tired of the unchanging divine scenery.
Ye Lingling eventually fulfilled her long-held wish of having a child.
Qian Renxue and Ah Yin also remained beside Lin Mu, while Gu Yuena continued working toward a future in which humans and soul beasts could coexist without one race driving the other toward destruction.
Tang San remained the second-strongest being in the God Realm and continued challenging his master whenever he believed he had made progress.
Although he never defeated Lin Mu, each battle allowed him to advance further along his own path.
Tang Wutong frequently visited the Temple of Destruction as well.
Lin Mu occasionally guided her cultivation, though she was often more interested in convincing him to take her on another journey through the mortal realm.
The God of Evil never again arrived outside the Temple of Destruction to issue an ultimatum.
Whenever the memory of their battle resurfaced, the enormous scar left across the rebuilt Temple of Evil was enough to remind him of the consequences.
Thus, after experiencing countless battles, altering the destiny of the Douluo Continent, and rising above the strongest gods of the Divine Realm, Lin Mu finally reached the summit.
The God Realm entered a new era beneath his protection.
And Lin Mu's long journey finally came to an end.
[Douluo Dalu: Tang San Is My Disciple - The End]