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"Hmm?" Gu Yuena's delicate body trembled slightly, and she suddenly stopped, a hint of surprise flashing in her silver-purple eyes!
A warm and magnificent emerald green pillar of light descended from the sky, completely enveloping her! Within the light pillar, pure life energy, like sweet rain, poured into her body, nourishing her origin, which had been damaged by the splitting of the Dragon God back then, and repairing those subtle but stubborn hidden injuries!
She could even clearly feel that her recovery progress, which had been stagnant for a long time, was improving at a visible speed! Although the increase was not huge, the feeling of her origin being nourished and her foundation being stabilized was incredibly real!
"This is… the Goddess of Life's origin divine force?" Gu Yuena felt the changes happening within her, a complex expression appearing on her beautiful face. She hadn't expected the God Realm Committee to reward her in this way.
Xuan Ming also stopped, looking at Gu Yuena, who was enveloped in the emerald green divine light, and feeling the vast and gentle aura of life, a hint of understanding flashed in his ice-blue eyes, which then turned into a trace of speechlessness.
They truly were a bunch of peeping Toms; he had just spoken, and in a blink of an eye, the delayed reward had fallen.
The emerald green divine light lasted for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before slowly dissipating.
Gu Yuena slowly opened her eyes, her silver-purple eyes becoming deeper and brighter, and her aura seemed a bit more harmonious and restrained. Although still far from her peak, this twenty percent restoration of her origin was an extremely precious gift to her.
[Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena, assisted in completing the first and second Seagod Nine Trials, reward delayed.]
[First Trial Reward: Origin injury recovery of ten percent.]
[Second Trial Reward: Origin injury recovery of ten percent.]
Authoritative and ancient information streams simultaneously imprinted into the minds of Gu Yuena and Xuan Ming.
"How do you feel?" Xuan Ming asked.
"Much better," Gu Yuena said.
The Goddess of Life's divine force restored her divine core origin as well. Although it was only twenty percent, its effect on her was a gift that she might not have been able to self-recover in tens of thousands of years.
Although the existence of the heart of the dragon god allowed her to forcefully use divine-level power, it was ultimately too strained, and now, she possessed stable divine-level power.
If her injuries were fully recovered, she would be able to directly return to her former half-step God King level.
By then… The closer they got to the continent, the more obvious the tense atmosphere in the air became.
On the originally calm shipping lanes, occasionally, ships flying the flag of the Spirit Empire could be seen patrolling, the atmosphere Severe.
The once prosperous port cities now appeared somewhat desolate, and people's faces showed unease and fear.
Continuing to fly inland, the situation became even more grim.
Between the vast fields, burned village ruins could often be seen, with the smoke not yet fully dispersed.
On the official roads, displaced refugees, dragging their families and carrying their belongings, with hunger and fear on their faces, migrated towards places they believed to be safe.
And in some remote mountainous areas, bandit activities became extremely rampant, even daring to openly attack small Spirit Master teams and merchant caravans. Chaos and disorder were spreading.
Even more striking were the Spirit Masters belonging to the Spirit Empire, who were stationed in various places to maintain order.
Many of them, wearing brand new Spirit Hall uniforms, swaggered through towns and villages, collecting heavy taxes, oppressing common people, and even, under the guise of suppressing bandits or investigating rebels, engaged in extortion, plundering, and acting extremely arrogant and overbearing.
It was as if overnight, having gained power, they became superior beings, trampling the former order and morality underfoot.
"It seems that after the establishment of the Spirit Empire, the forces below have become a bit too inflated," Gu Yuena said, looking at a village below where Spirit Hall Spirit Masters were forcibly requisitioning supplies. Her silver-purple eyes remained calm; she seemed to have long been accustomed to human disputes and ugliness, and she didn't care.
The only things she cared about were Xuan Ming and the future of the dragon race.
Xuan Ming was expressionless, he just slowly raised his right hand, and the sky immediately changed color. Hundreds of destructive lightning bolts suddenly descended, instantly turning the "heroes of chaos" he saw into ashes.
Xuan Ming withdrew his hand, and the anomaly in the sky instantly subsided, as if the world-destroying lightning had never appeared. The arrogant Spirit Empire Spirit Masters below, along with their evil deeds, all turned into charred ashes, which scattered without a trace with the wind.
The surviving villagers looked up at the sky in terror, watching the two figures like gods and demons, and knelt on the ground, muttering, not knowing whether they were praying or giving thanks.
Xuan Ming did not look down again, and said to Gu Yuena indifferently: "Let's go."
The two once again turned into streaks of light, speeding towards Spirit City, leaving behind only a desolate village and bewildered survivors.
Gu Yuena glanced at Xuan Ming's cold profile. She could feel that Xuan Ming's mood at this moment was not as calm as he appeared.
That chaos and injustice seemed to have touched something within him that he preferred not to mention.
The closer they got to Spirit City, the more intense the atmosphere of killing and tension became.
The towering city walls seemed even more formidable than before, and the number of patrolling soldiers and Spirit Masters had significantly increased. The air seemed to be filled with a sense of oppression, as if a storm was brewing.
The gate checks were strict, and people entering and exiting all had a cautious look on their faces.
When Xuan Ming and Gu Yuena's undisguised powerful aura, and the golden, eye-catching Sea God Trident on Xuan Ming's shoulder appeared above Spirit City, the entire Spirit City seemed to hit a pause button.
Countless gazes of horror were cast towards the sky, and the Spirit Hall Spirit Masters who recognized Xuan Ming's identity changed their expressions even more drastically.
"It's… it's him! He's back!"
"What is that on his shoulder? Such a terrifying aura!"
"Quickly report to Supreme Pontiff Bibi Dong!"
The city defense army's huge crossbows instinctively lifted, but then, feeling the suffocating aura like an abyss, they trembled and lowered them. No one dared to attack this being.
Xuan Ming ignored the commotion and alert below, his gaze directly fixed on the majestic Supreme Pontiff Palace.
He could clearly feel a familiar yet somewhat evil, chaotic, and oppressive powerful aura lingering there.
That aura was deeper than before, and also more… unstable.
He did not choose to enter through the city gate, but instead casually flicked his arm, throwing the Sea God Trident like a javelin towards the square in front of the Supreme Pontiff Palace!
Boom—!!!
A golden stream of light tore through the air, carrying a piercing whistle, and accurately plunged into the center of the square directly in front of the Supreme Pontiff Palace's main gate!
The immense impact caused the entire Spirit City to tremble. Centered on the trident's landing point, the hard stone ground instantly became covered with spiderweb-like cracks, extending for hundreds of meters!
That divine weapon, symbolizing the authority of the Sea God, now stood like a giant warning sign, exuding a heart-pounding pressure, deeply embedded in the ground, its shaft still slightly trembling, emitting a low hum.
This throw was simple, crude, yet carried unparalleled deterrent power!
The entire square instantly fell silent!
All the guards and Spirit Masters stared dumbfounded at the golden trident so close by, feeling the heavy pressure that assaulted them, making even breathing difficult.
Xuan Ming and Gu Yuena's figures then slowly descended beside the trident.
The moment Xuan Ming and Gu Yuena landed, the heavy gate of the Supreme Pontiff Palace slammed open!
A majestic aura, mixed with majesty, evil, and oppression, surged out first, followed by a noble and peerless purple figure, surrounded by a group of Cardinals, slowly walking out. It was Bibi Dong, now the Empress of the Spirit Empire.
Almost simultaneously, several powerful auras also soared from the direction of the Elder Palace. Led by Yue Guan and Gui Mei, the Elders of the Elder Palace also appeared, landing on the other side of the square, looking solemnly at Xuan Ming, Gu Yuena, and the Sea God Trident embedded in the ground.
The Elders, excluding Yue Guan and Gui Mei, were not clear about the specific relationship between Xuan Ming and Bibi Dong. Xuan Ming's current action, which could almost be seen as crashing the party, made them nervous.
Both the golden trident, which exuded vast majesty, and Xuan Ming, brought them immense threat!
Had Bibi Dong and Xuan Ming fallen out?
Bibi Dong's gaze first fell on Xuan Ming, a hint of extremely complex emotions flashing in her purple eyes: concern, anger, and an indescribable flutter.
But when her gaze swept over Gu Yuena, who stood beside Xuan Ming with an ethereal temperament and beauty no less than her own, the image of that night involuntarily resurfaced in her mind, and that flutter was instantly replaced by a cold chill.
Little hussy!
Finally, her gaze settled on the Sea God Trident, her pupils slightly contracting.
"What is the meaning of this? You come back and crash my party?"
"This thing is too heavy, I can't carry it anymore," Xuan Ming said.
"…"
The air instantly fell silent, everyone confused by Xuan Ming's fresh and unconventional explanation.
Can't you be a little more perfunctory?
"Heavy?" Bibi Dong raised an eyebrow slightly, walked slowly forward, came to the Sea God Trident, and directly reached out to grasp the divine weapon.
She pulled hard!
It didn't budge!
"…"
On Bibi Dong's beautiful face, a trace of surprise and disbelief flashed quickly.
Although she was not a power-type Spirit Master, she was a ninety-ninth-level super Douluo. Even without being serious, her physical strength was comparable to that of an ordinary power-type Titled Douluo, yet even so, she couldn't budge this trident in the slightest?
A hint of defiance flashed in her purple eyes, her spirit power surged, and she pulled again with force!
However, the Sea God Trident remained as if rooted, firmly embedded in the earth, without even a slight tremor.
The square was completely silent, everyone holding their breath.
Supreme Pontiff Bibi Dong actually… couldn't lift this weapon?
Xuan Ming looked at Bibi Dong's slightly flushed cheeks and tightly pursed lips, and added in an unhurried tone: "I told you, it's very heavy."
On the way here, to test his current strength, he had Gu Yuena help him add some weight to the Sea God Trident.
Now, this thing weighed 1.08 million jin, which is 540 tons.
The weight of 540 tons concentrated in this one weapon meant that to lift it, what was needed was not simply 540 tons of strength, but 540 tons of wrist and grip strength!
Let alone Bibi Dong, even if the power-type Tang Chen came, he wouldn't be able to lift this thing.
Currently, among humans who could lift this thing, besides him, there were only Gu Yuena, Ditian, and also Xiong Jun and Ziji.
To put it bluntly, this was not something humans could lift.
Bibi Dong took a deep breath, suppressing the shock and a hint of inexplicable annoyance in her heart, and released her hand.
Gu Yuena saw Bibi Dong's embarrassment, stepped forward, grasped the Sea God Trident, pulled it with force, and lifted it up.
Then, a flash of silver-white light passed, repairing the damaged plaza.
Gu Yuena looked at Bibi Dong and said softly, "I'm sorry, I made it too heavy. Don't be angry, it's not his fault."
"…" Bibi Dong.
"…" Xuan Ming.