With a face calm and heartbeat steady, he looked just like a cat toying with a mouse.
At this very moment, Tang San's divine sense clenched his fist so hard that it made cracking sounds.
He was a God King, the God among Gods — when had he ever been humiliated by a mere "person" like this?!
Although burning with fury, his chest practically ablaze, he still forcefully suppressed his anger and shouted:
"Di Tian, what are you trying to do?!"
Between the two of them lay a vast and boundless ocean.
But whether in speech or gaze, for them, it was as if they were only inches apart.
The so-called great distance posed not even the slightest obstacle.
Seeing that Tang San had finally reacted, Di Tian also retracted his mocking smile.
He spoke calmly:
"I wish to learn from Qian Renxue, who hunted you down twenty thousand years ago — and give you a chance."
"A chance… to kill me."
With that, he flicked his hand downwards.
The Golden Dragon King's divine core flew out.
Its dazzling golden brilliance flashed and vanished in an instant.
The core embedded itself into the earth — golden light burst out from the cracks, golden lotuses bloomed endlessly from the ground.
A golden ancient vine tree shot up from the earth, coiling like a dragon.
Di Tian, floating midair, descended and sat cross-legged upon the vine dragon.
One leg folded, the other hanging loosely.
"Tang San, with my current strength, it will only take one year to completely devour the Golden Dragon King's bloodline and restore the Dragon God to the world."
"That means — you have one year to kill me."
"Of course, if you fail within this year, then our revenge against the Divine Realm shall begin."
"By then, your divine sense as a God King, your son, that pawn of the Douluo God Realm — all shall be used as sacrifices for our war banners."
"Go now, little pawn of the Divine Realm. Tell your true self that the blade of revenge will come."
Finishing his chilling speech, Di Tian truly closed his eyes, beginning the devouring of the Golden Dragon King's bloodline — his return to the realm of the Dragon God.
What Tang San saw through his divine sense was golden light completely enveloping Di Tian — he could no longer even see him.
At this point, Tang San's expression was extremely grim.
The cards were now all on the table.
Di Tian already knew that he could contact the Douluo Divine Realm.
And Tang San now also fully understood that Di Tian had not only remained unscathed — he had completely absorbed the Silver Dragon King's bloodline, achieving God King status.
Di Tian's so-called "chance to kill him" was merely a blatant and cunning scheme — just a setup to push Tang San toward a certain path.
Just like twenty thousand years ago, when Qian Renxue chased him across the seas.
Yet the result back then was Tang San returning with both the Sea God and Asura God positions, two divine thrones in one body.
A counterattack against overwhelming odds, ultimately defeating the Rakshasa God and Angel God in unison.
To defeat — no, to kill — Di Tian now, even with Tang San's unmatched intellect, he could think of only one solution:
That is, to combine the power of five Divine Kings, and unleash the Super Divine Skill: The Three Realms Judgment Sword, just as they did when they slew the Dragon God and the Golden Dragon King.
But to activate the Three Realms Judgment Sword required incredibly harsh conditions.
Even a non-full-powered version would still require:
Asura God as the main body,
Two supporting Divine Kings, and
Two Divine King-origin divine seeds as fuel.
Just like when it was previously used in the Douluo Divine Realm to kill the Golden Dragon King:
Tang San as the core, supported by the new Evil God King Ji Dong and Kindness God King Lie Yan,
Using the destruction and life god positions' origin seeds as sacrificial fuel — only then could the sword be unleashed.
Di Tian's plan, most likely, was to lure Tang San into contacting the Douluo Divine Realm, and having him send back the Destruction God and Life God origin seeds to the lower plane to find successors.
Then Di Tian would strike and steal them.
This would strengthen Di Tian's side while simultaneously weakening the Divine Realm.
After all, the Destruction God King (Zi) and Life God King (Lu) had sacrificed themselves to form the power of creation that spread across all planes governed by the Douluo God Realm.
The vacancy left by those two Divine Kings had become an indisputable, well-known fact.
But did Tang San have a choice?
He had no choice!
Whether it was Di Tian's revenge starting in a year, or his divine sense and Tang Wulin being made sacrificial offerings, Tang San would not accept it.
If Di Tian fully devoured the Golden Dragon King's bloodline and ascended to the Dragon God level — all would be lost.
The previous Evil God King and Kindness God King, after passing on their divine positions, went down to the lower planes to fall in love.
Indulgent romance was one thing — but they didn't fully relinquish their power either, even taking away two of the five Supreme Divine Artifacts:
The Judgment Scale, and
The Heart of Kindness.
Without those, the new Evil God King Ji Dong and Kindness God King Lie Yan were severely underpowered.
In front of the other three Divine Kings, they were nothing but weaklings.
When Destruction God (Zi) and Life God (Lu) reincarnated, they also took two artifacts:
The Destruction Scepter, and
The Ancient Tree of Life.
With only the current strength of the Douluo God Realm — if they faced Di Tian in the starry seas, they would surely lose more than they'd win.
God of Emotion Huo Yuhao, God of Destruction Zhou Weiqing, and the previous God of Emotion Rong Nianbing — though powerful, and only a step away from becoming God Kings — were still lacking that one critical opportunity.
As the saying goes: A tiny miss leads to a great loss.
Against a being like the Dragon God — they didn't stand a chance.
Whether it was to save Wulin's life, or to kill this crisis in the cradle before Di Tian ascends to godhood…
They needed the Destruction and Life God Kings to make their final contributions.
Those two kings had already sacrificed themselves once when the God Realm faced a time-space storm.
Surely their reincarnated spirits would agree with Tang San's decision.
With that thought, the fear Di Tian had just instilled in him vanished completely.
His son Tang Wulin would inherit the Destruction God position.
He would then find a loyal and gifted individual to inherit the Life God position.
With those two supporting him, and the divine origin powers delivered by Ji Dong and Lie Yan as fuel...
Unleashing the Three Realms Judgment Sword to slay Di Tian — was absolutely achievable.
Staring into the distance at Di Tian, who was absorbing the Golden Dragon King's bloodline, Tang San said coldly:
"Di Tian, oh Di Tian, you greedy dragon — in the end, your own greed will devour you."
"I hope when the Three Realms Judgment Sword splits you in two, you don't regret it."
However, the many issues and complications involved — all of which must be resolved within a year — still made Tang San feel the task ahead was truly thorny.
For instance, with the Divine Realm's central energy almost completely depleted…
Where could he draw the energy from to send the Destruction and Life divine seeds back to the Douluo Plane?
(End of Chapter)