The sea-blue figure—the divine consciousness avatar of Seagod Tang San—slowly turned around.
When his majestic gaze fell upon his daughter's tear-streaked and battered appearance, it instantly transformed into an unutterable pain, pity, and towering fury.
He reached out a hand, and a gentle yet vast divine power, like the softest ocean wave, lightly supported the tottering Tang Wutong, drawing her to his side.
The warm, golden-blue divine light, like the safest harbor, completely enveloped her, sheltering her from all external storms.
"Xiao Qi, my darling daughter..."
Tang San's voice remained calm, yet it was gentler than ever, carrying a reassuring divine fluctuation that softly soothed Tang Wutong's emotional breakdown.
"Don't cry. Papa is here. It's alright, everything is over. With Papa here, no one can ever harm you again, not even a little."
He extended a hand, ethereal yet warm, and very gently stroked his daughter's hair, his movements cautious, as if touching an infinitely precious, fragile object.
"You've suffered. It's Papa's fault. Papa came too late..."
His voice was filled with self-reproach and tender affection.
Although Tang San favored males, Tang Wutong was still his biological daughter, and of course, he would feel anger and self-reproach when his beloved daughter was wronged.
Looking at his daughter's tear-streaked, deeply aggrieved look, and sensing the weakness and fear emanating from her soul, a chilling thread of icy rage surged beneath Tang San's originally loving eyes.
He slowly raised his head, his gaze first sweeping over the devastated, hellish ruins of Ming Dou below, then glancing at the endlessly battling Grand Lord of Annihilation and the Immortal Vessel General high in the sky. Finally, his gaze, laden with divine might and icy killing intent, abruptly fixed on the figure not far ahead—
That figure, encircled by black and red destructive lightning, possessing vast divine prestige, and a magnificent yet powerful stance.
He distinctly sensed the residual aura of the Titan Giant Ape, Er Ming, on this figure, a bloody scent mixed with grief and unwillingness.
He also saw the massive, lifeless corpse of the giant ape in the distance.
In an instant, the truth was laid bare.
"Was it you?"
Tang San's voice was no longer gentle but became utterly calm, yet beneath this tranquility lay terrifying wrath and killing intent.
"You killed Er Ming, and bullied my daughter..."
"No matter who you are, what fortuitous encounters you possess, or where you come from... today, you must pay the price of complete annihilation, body and soul."
However, just as Tang San gathered his divine power, preparing to utterly erase this audacious, unforgivable wretch of a mortal, along with his soul, from existence with the might of a thunderbolt, his gaze suddenly froze.
He stared intently at the surging, astonishingly high-quality black and red divine power surrounding Lu Jingming, and the black and red divine ring slowly rotating behind him, which contained the twin laws of lightning and death and possessed a perfectly complex structure.
As one of the Five Great God Kings of the God Realm, wielding two divine seats, his perception of divine power was incredibly keen.
That power was definitely not the attribute of any known deity in the God Realm, nor was it a pseudo-divine power simulated by divine artifacts, formations, or special cultivation methods.
It was the genuine, complete, and utterly pure power of a Divine Seat recognized by the laws of the universe.
Moreover, its rank was so high, and its law origin so powerful, that it even caused a moment of inexplicable dread in him, a God King.
"This... This is... a Divine Seat?!"
Tang San's pupils contracted violently and uncontrollably, and for the first time, his face showed profound shock and bewilderment.
"How is this possible?! How could the Douluo Continent spontaneously give birth to a new Divine Seat?! This is absolutely impossible!"
It must be noted that it was because he, at the God Realm Committee, had single-handedly and firmly rejected the God of Destruction's proposal to expand the God Realm and increase the number of Divine Seats, under the guise of maintaining God Realm stability, that the lower realm had no divine seat legacy, and thus the birth of new divine seats was prevented. For ten thousand years, no one on the Douluo Continent had been able to break through the limit and achieve godhood.
Logically speaking, the path to godhood in this realm had been personally severed by him.
It was absolutely impossible and should never have been possible for a new Divine Seat, independent of the God Realm system, to appear.
Not to mention one so powerful, so complete, a Divine Seat that seemed capable of rivaling his Seagod and Asura God Divine Seats.
This scene, which subverted his cognition, even temporarily suppressed his rage to avenge his daughter, plunging him into tremendous shock and confusion.
He knew Lu Jingming, after all, Tang Wutong's awakening was his doing, and this divine consciousness avatar possessed that memory.
But he could never have anticipated that in such a short time, this mortal, who was supposed to be a chess piece, would leap to possess the power to slay the Titan Giant Ape and, even more bizarrely, gain a complete Divine Seat whose origin even he could not see through, yet was incredibly powerful.
This had completely and thoroughly exceeded his expectations and escaped his control.
With this thought, the shock in Tang San's eyes was rapidly replaced by an ice-cold killing intent.
Regardless of whether this child killed Er Ming or bullied Xiao Qi, his mere existence with a power that shouldn't be, capable of disrupting his ten-thousand-year plan, meant he absolutely could not be allowed to live.
The Douluo Continent must remain under his absolute control. No variable outside of his plan, capable of threatening him, was permitted.
Lu Jingming must die!
Lu Jingming naturally felt the undisguised, ice-cold killing intent from Tang San's divine consciousness avatar.
He felt no surprise about this; rather, there was a sense of "as expected."
Just as he had always regarded this high-and-mighty Seagod and Asura God as a hypothetical enemy and ultimate obstacle, once the opponent perceived the potential and threat he embodied—enough to overthrow his ten-thousand-year layout—the two sides were destined for an irreconcilable, life-or-death confrontation.
The core conflict between them lay in the struggle for the future dominance of the Douluo Continent. Their stances were fundamentally opposed, with absolutely no possibility of compromise, unless one side completely surrendered.
Thanks to his foreknowledge, Lu Jingming knew Tang San's nature and ambition well. There was no chance of Tang San submitting to anyone, so he never entertained any unrealistic fantasies, such as subduing him or coexisting peacefully.
His goal had been clear and unwavering from the start.
And Tang San, even as a God King, initially could not see through Lu Jingming's true trump cards or the extent of his "cheat."
In his initial perception, Lu Jingming might have been just another "Son of Destiny" like Huo Yuhao, endowed with the plane's providence. His original intention was to domesticate him and utilize him.
But when Lu Jingming displayed that complete and powerful Divine Seat, whose power level and completeness of law entirely surpassed Tang San's expectations and control, the situation instantly slipped to an irreversible point.
Peace? It had become the most ridiculous of luxuries.
Not to mention the blood feud of the Titan Giant Ape, Er Ming, lying between them.
"No need for words, Seagod Tang San, come and fight!"
Lu Jingming's voice was cold, imbued with the majesty of lightning, directly cutting through the frozen killing intent and shock in the air.
He had no interest in wasting words with a mere wisp of Tang San's divine consciousness avatar.
In his view, even Tang San's original body in the God Realm had been calculated against and left in a sorry state. A mere divine consciousness avatar was nothing more than a whetstone to temper his newly acquired divine power and verify the might of his Divine Seat.
"A thousand birds cry, fierce thunder weeps, when the white night dawns, the battle's blood will not cease!"
The battle invocation was chanted, the words becoming reality.
In an instant, the black and red destructive lightning surrounding Lu Jingming boiled violently as if it had come alive.
Billions of tiny bolts of lightning truly emitted the sharp, high-pitched cries of thousands of electric birds, a sharp rhythm filled with destruction that made space hum.
He transformed into an intensely brilliant, dark-red bolt of lightning that tore through the sky, its speed so fast it seemed to transcend the flow of time.
Wherever it passed, long, black fissures that struggled to heal were violently ripped open in space, carrying a terrifying, all-out momentum as it preemptively launched an attack against the sea-blue deity.
On the other side, Seagod Tang San's brow suddenly furrowed.
It wasn't because of Lu Jingming's offensive, but because before the opponent's divine power fully erupted, he keenly sensed a faint, yet incomparably familiar, soul-stirring aura in the distance.
That aura was incredibly similar to Xiao Wu's!
But before he could investigate carefully, the dark-red destructive lightning was already upon him.
The Law of Lightning it contained actually carried an essence of 'all things returning to nothingness,' pure and overbearing, making even this divine consciousness avatar feel a trace of threat.
Faced with this fierce attack, which far surpassed the mortal realm and had already stepped into the divine level, Tang San, though suspicious due to that familiar aura, had no choice but to temporarily suppress all distracting thoughts.
He let out a cold snort. The arrogance of a God King prevented him from taking this newly risen deity seriously, but he did not underestimate him tactically.
"The power of a wretch dares to shake the heavens? Boundless Ocean!"
A golden light flashed in Tang San's hand, and the phantom of endless tides seemed to surge and converge behind him. The vast divine power condensed into the tangible Seagod's Light, seemingly poised to transform into a monstrous wave, thoroughly annihilating the presumptuous lightning.
The divine war instantly erupted!
Facing Lu Jingming's lightning surprise attack, imbued with the essence of all things returning to nothingness, a chilling light flashed in Seagod Tang San's eyes.
He did not move, but merely slowly raised his right hand, pushing his palm forward.
"Vast Sea Protective Barrier."
In a flash, the phantom of an endless azure ocean appeared out of thin air before him, the waves surging, thick and boundless.
This was not ordinary water, but an absolute defensive barrier formed by the highly compressed and condensed purest Seagod divine power. It seemed gentle but actually contained the law of the Seagod: ultimate softness, ultimate resilience, and the power to neutralize all force.
Boom—!!!
The dark-red destructive lightning fiercely collided with the azure Seagod Barrier.
A terrifying energy shockwave suddenly erupted in an annular shape, tearing more black fissures into the surrounding space. The debris of the Ming Dou ruins below was crushed another layer by the stray shockwave.
Lu Jingming's strike, which was powerful enough to slay an ordinary divine official, was steadily blocked by the seemingly soft seawater barrier.
The black and red lightning frantically eroded the blue divine power, making a fierce "sizzle" sound, yet it could not advance an inch.
"Is that all?"
Tang San's voice was flat, carrying a trace of the high-and-mighty critique of a God King.
"You possess a Divine Seat but do not understand the finesse of divine power utilization. Crude and unsophisticated."
However, before he finished speaking, Lu Jingming's figure abruptly retreated a distance, utilizing the force of the collision.
He hovered in the air, the lightning surrounding him not only failing to weaken but instead flowing with a more mysterious and profound trajectory.
"Crude?"
Lu Jingming's lightning-composed hair fluttered wildly, and a flicker of mockery crossed his lightning-infused eyes.
"Then let me show you what true technique is."
Seagod Tang San, having been a god for countless years, was still using Tang Sect unique skills and the Golden Thirteen Halberds created by the previous Seagod, without any personal insights or creations.
One could say that circumstances created this Seagod. In terms of talent, countless individuals were stronger than the un-deified Tang San.
Whether it was the few Limit Douluo of this era, or Yun Ming and others ten thousand years later, purely in terms of talent, they surpassed the non-deified Tang San.
Tang San was merely born early, seizing the opportunity while monopolizing the Divine Seat legacy. Otherwise, the Douluo Continent would not have been his to manipulate at will.
And this person, who lacked creative spirit and only relied on past glory, called Lu Jingming's technique crude.
This was what Lu Jingming found hilarious. He was only initially mastering his divine power and had not adapted yet. Did Seagod Tang San truly think he was a muscle-bound brute?
No more words were needed. Lu Jingming abruptly formed a complex hand seal before his chest. The surging destructive lightning surrounding him, as if summoned, frantically converged toward him.
The massive black and red lightning divine ring behind him suddenly illuminated, radiating boundless light.
"Eight Thunder Suppressions!"
A command imbued with divine might echoed through the heavens and earth.
The thunderous profound meaning, imitated from another world, displayed its terrifying power for the first time, driven by the Divine Seat's might in this realm.
"First Suppression: Thunder Cry Roar!"
Lu Jingming opened his mouth, not to speak, but to unleash a thunderous sound wave, condensed to the extreme and deep black, like the roar of a giant beast, instantly blasting out.
This sonic thunder cannon disregarded the obstruction of space, directly penetrated Tang San's Vast Sea Protective Barrier, and struck his divine consciousness source.
Tang San's divine consciousness avatar trembled slightly, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes. Clearly, he had not expected the opponent's attack to be able to target his divine consciousness directly.
"Second Suppression: Shocking Thunder Palm!"
Before Tang San could react, Lu Jingming slapped out with his right palm.
A massive lightning palm print, formed by billions of leaping black and red electric snakes, appeared out of nowhere. Within the palm print, countless lightning prisons seemed to be born and destroyed, carrying the overbearing will to startle the soul and dispel all evil, as it fiercely struck Tang San.
Where the palm passed, even light was swallowed and distorted.
Tang San frowned slightly. He pointed a finger, and an extremely condensed phantom of the Golden Trident shot out, colliding with the Shocking Thunder Palm Print, both annihilating in a burst of blinding light.
"Third Suppression: Storm Thunder Bolt!"
Lu Jingming pulled his hands apart. Countless long, dark-red bolts, entirely composed of highly compressed destructive lightning, instantly filled the sky, pouring down on Tang San like a torrential rain.
Each bolt contained the triple characteristics of penetration, explosion, and annihilation, its power horrifying.
The Seagod's Light around Tang San flowed, transforming into numerous spinning water tornados, shattering and deflecting most of the thunder bolts.
But a few stragglers still penetrated the defense, exploding into blinding flashes of lightning on his surrounding divine power barrier. Though they did not wound him fundamentally, they made his figure shake a few times.
"Fourth Suppression: Heavenly Thunder Strike!"
The dark-red thunderclouds in the sky, which had gathered due to the plane's repulsion, now seemed to be under Lu Jingming's control.
A terrifying heavenly thunderbolt, thick as a mountain, a mixture of black, red, and purple, and radiating the aura of ultimate destruction, suddenly crashed down like the sword of divine punishment.
Targeting Tang San directly, this strike had already drawn upon a portion of the might of heaven and earth.
Tang San finally lost his composure. He raised his hand, and the phantom of the Seagod Trident's actual body solidified somewhat. A dazzling golden-blue light pillar met the Heavenly Thunder Strike.
Rumble—!!!
A terrifying explosion roared in the sky. The light briefly blinded all living beings within a radius of several hundred kilometers.
"Fifth Strike: God Whip of Thunder!"
Before the afterglow of the explosion had completely dissipated, Lu Jingming had, at some point, condensed a black and red lightning whip, hundreds of meters long and composed of countless lightning bolts, in his hand.
The whip cracked, tearing space, and with an extremely tricky angle, bypassed the Trident's defense, fiercely lashing toward Tang San's side.
Snap!
A crisp cracking sound rang out.
Tang San's surrounding divine power barrier violently fluctuated, actually being whipped to the point of flickering. He himself was shaken back several steps by the terrifying immense force and the Laws of Lightning and Death contained in the whip.
Though not truly injured, being repelled by someone he considered an ant was a supreme humiliation for Seagod Tang San.
His face completely darkened, the killing intent in his eyes nearly turning tangible.
"Very well... you have successfully enraged me."
Tang San's voice was as cold as ten thousand years of ice.
"Let me show you what the might of a God King truly is."
The Seagod Trident phantom in his hand erupted with unprecedented, dazzling divine light. All the oceans on the Douluo Star seemed to respond to it, letting out a booming roar.
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