The son Tang Hao was proud of—the son who became the king of gods and earned the respect of countless people... Green Hat. Yet now, the God King had been reduced to a laughingstock, caught in a scandalous situation, a great humiliation. Indescribable emotions—monstrous rage, shame, heartache—all swirled together like a volcano inside his chest, nearly overwhelming his reason. He could barely breathe; it was as if the blood in his veins had frozen.
In contrast, even though Ah Yin had been equally struck by lightning, her feminine intuition allowed her to forcibly recover her wits after the initial shock.
"Impossible."
She shook her head vigorously. Her normally gentle and beautiful cheeks were now twisted with anger, yet her gaze remained resolute.
"This is a trick. Xiao Wu would never betray Xiao San. What's your goal? Why slander her and try to shake us using such despicable means?!"
Ah Yin turned, her blue eyes fixed on Lu Jingming, and for the first time, she did not try to hide the cold, murderous intent that burst forth. She could not believe Xiao Wu would change her heart; the only explanation was that the man before her had used some method to create an illusion she could not understand, intending to break their defenses.
"Can't stand to look?"
Lu Jingming watched her shielding posture—like a lioness protecting her cubs—and shook his head. His smile remained gentle.
"Ah Yin, you should know that ordinary illusions cannot fool the perception of gods. This is not an illusion. It's because of you... You simply don't want to accept the truth."
He spread his hands.
"I'm not lying."
He truly was not lying. This was a real image extracted by Hatsune Miku from the spatial records of Huo Yuhao's residence. As the planetary soul of this world, Hatsune Miku could reproduce any event that happened on Star Dou Planet. After all, she recorded all the "memories" of this world.
If he wished, Hatsune Miku could have even exposed even more intimate or compromising images between Huo Yuhao and Xiao Wu. But he still retained some scruples—his tastes weren't that bad. He liked fun, but not to excess.
"No need to say more."
Ah Yin's voice was icy. She knew that if they continued to follow Lu Jingming's tempo, their spirits would be completely broken.
"We'll uncover the truth ourselves. But I will not forgive you for humiliating my daughter-in-law this way!"
Before the words left her mouth, Ah Yin moved. Her long blue hair billowed without wind, and the sacred power of the Clear Sky Emperor erupted without restraint. Instantly, countless bright blue-gold vines grew overwhelmingly from the void behind her, each exuding a powerful breath of life like awakened dragons, sweeping toward Lu Jingming like a tsunami.
"Hehe, what a clever woman."
Lu Jingming laughed as he gazed at the blue and silver vines that covered the sky and sun. He could tell that Ah Yin's strike was not just an outlet for her anger, but also a real battle—forcing Tang Hao and the others out of their emotional mire before their minds were completely destroyed. Very clever. Yet no matter how clever a woman is, if she falls in love, she'll still act foolishly.
Lu Jingming recalled Ah Yin's past: she had transformed into a human and fought desperately for love, fell for Tang Hao, but was eventually discovered by the Spirit Hall and forced into sacrifice. If her son Tang San hadn't been strong enough to change his own fate, could Ah Yin have survived until now? In the end, she too was a slave to love.
"Hao, don't believe him! As for Xiao Wu, wait until we rescue Mubai and Zhuqing, then verify it yourself."
Ah Yin attacked with all her might, using her divine thoughts to awaken Tang Hao from the brink of shock and rage. Her cry was like a clear spring, pulling the three of them out of their daze.
Tang Hao's bloodshot eyes shifted, regaining focus. Ning Rongrong and Oscar also regained their senses, guilt and dread flickering across their faces.
Just moments ago, they had really—there was a moment when they doubted Xiao Wu. They thought she had betrayed Tang San. But thinking carefully, even knowing Xiao Wu, this was impossible. She would rather die than betray Tang San.
Unless... she wasn't acting of her own will—perhaps she was controlled or had lost her memory.
With this realization, all their shock and doubts were instantly overwhelmed by rage at Lu Jingming.
"Sorry, Ah Yin..."
Tang Hao spoke in a hoarse voice and shook his head, as if trying to banish the dazzling images from his mind. Lifting his Clear Sky Hammer, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Lu Jingming. All his humiliation and anger condensed into a pure, destructive killing intent.
"Whatever your scheme is, you'll have to get past my hammer first!"
With a roar, he turned into a crimson streak, passing through Ah Yin's blue-silver vines. The Clear Sky Hammer in his hand blazed with unprecedented brilliance as it smashed toward Lu Jingming.
"Nine Treasures, Glazed Tile Pagoda!"
Ning Rongrong also shouted, her pagoda swirling in her palm as nine radiant divine lights shot out, landing on Ah Yin's vines and Tang Hao's body.
"Nine Treasures Divine Light: Strength Amplify, Divine Power Amplify!"
With the divine blessing, Ah Yin's blue-silver vines became tougher and thicker, their strangling force doubling. The Clear Sky Hammer exploded with terrifying divine fluctuations, strong enough to tear space apart.
Facing this thunderous assault from three gods, Lu Jingming shook his head helplessly.
"Ah, but this is my domain."
His tone carried regret, as if lamenting that they had underestimated the power of his Haiyuan City.
As soon as he spoke, a cold, brilliant moonlight suddenly fell from the peak of the ninth heaven. The moonlight carried an absolute, static law. Where the silver light shone, space itself seemed to freeze instantly. The overwhelming blue-silver vines halted abruptly the moment they touched the moonlight, coated in crystalline frost and frozen mid-air—a magnificent, yet eerie still life.
A beautiful figure, dressed in a gown of moonlight, her black hair cascading like a waterfall, appeared silently before Lu Jingming. Surrounded by cold moonlight, her expression was apathetic—like a goddess ruling the cold night.
It was Zhang Lexuan.
After experiencing the Holy Grail War and obtaining the moon god position condensed by the Holy Grail, she began her retreat. Lu Jingming had also given her a precious portion of the Primordial Chaos Energy extracted from the Herta in the black hole.
The Primordial Chaos Energy, born at the origin of the universe, holds the most original laws of creation and destruction—its value to the gods far surpasses most artifacts, enough to make even a God King jealous. Using the moon god as her foundation and the chaos energy as her catalyst and power source, Zhang Lexuan's cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds. She didn't need to accumulate faith and comprehend the law slowly like traditional gods. The chaos energy directly made up for all her shortcomings, allowing her to fully fuse her divine position and open her stigmata space in a short time, becoming a true god.
Lu Jingming himself hadn't used this chaos energy. Zhang Lexuan, Xu Jiujiu, and Meng Hongchen had slightly less innate talent and potential than Firefly, Castorice, and others—so they needed this external force to break their shackles and catch up with the top-tier powers. Now, with Zhang Lexuan's appearance, the world saw that Haiyuan City had another true god.
The Moon Goddess, Zhang Lexuan, froze Ah Yin's overwhelming blue-silver vines in midair with her cold moon power. At that moment, Tang Hao's Clear Sky Hammer, burning with monstrous rage, was already upon Lu Jingming.
Yet the collision was not as expected.
A dazzling, awe-inspiring blue-gold divine light pierced the darkness like the first ray of dawn, appearing precisely in the hammer's path.
Clang——!!!
A soul-tearing, ear-splitting clash of metal erupted. It was a lance, adorned in radiant gold, with intricate dragon patterns carved along its length. Its sharpness seemed to condense all the world's piercing power. The tip landed precisely at the center of the hammer's surface, which felt as heavy as a mountain.
For a moment, time seemed to freeze.
Tang Hao felt an incomparable, penetrating divine force rebound wildly from his hammer's surface. That power contained not only the majesty and weight of the sea, but also the overwhelming, dominating will of a dragon. All his rage and power was suddenly suppressed and rendered motionless in an instant.
A terrifying shockwave concentrated at the point of collision, spreading out in visible rings that tore a massive hole through the clouds.
Tang Hao grunted, his sturdy body flung back dozens of meters before he barely managed to stabilize himself. He looked down at his Clear Sky Hammer—on its indestructible surface was a tiny white point, needle-sharp, of endless depth, and the surrounding structure warped slightly under the erosion of divine power.
Stunned, he looked up.
Before him floated a beautiful woman, clad in a blue and gold Sea God robe, holding a golden dragon lance, quietly shielding Lu Jingming. She was tall, her long blond hair flowing like a waterfall, radiating under divine light. Her face was exquisite but icy and proud, untouchable to strangers. Her golden eyes seemed to pierce all illusions, filled with imperial majesty and divine indifference.
In the Holy Grail War, the Holy Grail had finally condensed two new, independent divine positions: the Sea God and the Moon Goddess. He had passed these two positions on to Wang Qiu'er and Zhang Lexuan, respectively. Now, Zhang Lexuan had become a god, and so had Wang Qiu'er.
Like Zhang Lexuan, Wang Qiu'er had received the precious chaos energy from Lu Jingming. Wang Qiu'er's foundation was stronger than Zhang Lexuan's—she was originally the Emperor Beast born from the fortune of Star Dou Great Forest, commanding the faith of countless soul beasts. Later, with Lu Jingming's help, she fully fused with the soul fragment of Tang Wutong, who carried the bloodline of Sea God Tang San. This not only completed her own soul's last puzzle but also granted her a high-level God King bloodline.
With so many advantages, her potential far surpassed Zhang Lexuan's. Although her cultivation was initially lower, she refined the chaos energy even faster. If Lu Jingming had not worried about Zhang Lexuan, and had not helped her temper her meridians and soul, Zhang Lexuan might have been left behind by Wang Qiu'er.
At this moment, as Tang Hao and Ah Yin gazed at the beautiful face nearly identical to Tang Wutong's, their expressions of anger and solemn vigilance instantly turned into indescribable, intense emotion.
"Xiao Qi?!" (TL: This is Tang Wutong's nickname in the God Realm.)
Tang Hao called out, his voice mixed with surprise and a trace of ecstasy. Ah Yin covered her mouth, tears welling up. That face, the familiar feeling from deep within their bloodlines—it was clear, the woman before them was their deceased granddaughter, Tang Wutong.
"Xiao Qi, you… you're alive? Good, good..."
Ah Yin's voice trembled with excitement, and she wanted desperately to run forward. But what greeted her was only Wang Qiu'er's cold, emotionless gaze.
"You've mistaken me for someone else."
Wang Qiu'er's voice was icy, indifferent as ten thousand years of mysterious ice. Ah Yin's excitement and joy froze instantly.
"Tang Wutong is dead. I killed her."
She looked at Tang Hao and Ah Yin's frozen faces, her heart unmoved, but a hint of disgust rising.
What she hated most was others connecting her with the name Tang Wutong. In some sense, she really was Tang Wutong—but she would never identify with that name. She truly was, and always would be, the Emperor Beast of Star Dou Great Forest, Wang Qiu'er. The existence known as Tang Wutong had already died by her own hand the moment she chose to fully fuse those memories.
"What did you say?"
Tang Hao's joy froze, turning to shock and... a trace of sorrow. Yet, after all, he had experienced countless battles. He suppressed the storm in his heart and fixed his gaze on the blue and gold divine robe and the golden dragon lance in Wang Qiu'er's hand.