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After the Star Luo Empire stabilized, the Evil-Eyed Holy King began teaching the couple the method to ascend to godhood by condensing a divine position.
According to their agreement, once the couple ascended to godhood, they would bring the Evil-Eyed Holy King with them to achieve divinity as well.
Faced with the temptation of immense power and eternal life, the couple immediately agreed without hesitation.
In return, the Evil-Eyed Holy King promised that after achieving godhood, He would leave their bodies and not follow them to the divine realm. Instead, He would venture into the vast cosmos to seek a new life elsewhere.
Though the Evil-Eyed Holy King was aware that newly ascended gods were vulnerable in the universe, He also knew that entering the divine realm as a lone beast would lead to ostracismāor even assassinationāat the hands of others.
Rather than face such a fate, it was better to start anew.
However, reality dealt the Evil-Eyed Holy King a harsh blow. His plans were grand, but the results were far from ideal.
During that era, a genius beyond human comprehension emerged:
The founder of the Spirit Hall, the Angel God.
Aside from capturing evil soul masters, the Spirit Hall also bore the responsibility of preventing soul beasts from harming the human world.
At some point, the Angel God sensed something unusual about the founding emperor and empress of the Star Luo Empire.
When the Angel God confronted them, the Star Luo emperor repeatedly explained that the Evil-Eyed Holy King had no intention of harming human society. However, the Angel God remained steadfast in his belief that non-humans could never be trusted. Convinced the emperor was being deceived, the Angel God forcibly sealed the Evil-Eyed Holy King away.
Yes, sealedānot killed.
Even though the Evil-Eyed Holy King's status had diminished, He was still a divine beast who had once achieved godhood. The Angel God, who had yet to ascend, was incapable of slaying Him.
At the time, the Angel God considered the fragile state of the human world. With the two great empires not yet fully stabilized, killing the Star Luo emperor would invite criticism, tarnish his reputation, and disrupt the order of the human world, potentially causing chaos. Thus, he refrained from delivering the final blow.
From the perspective of human morality, humans and soul beasts were natural enemies. The Angel God's actions were seen as entirely justified, leaving the Star Luo emperor no choice but to swallow this bitter pill.
However, in his later years, the Star Luo emperor came to regret his decision.
The couple chosen by the Evil-Eyed Holy King were undoubtedly extraordinary talents. By all rights, they should have had the opportunity to ascend to godhood, especially since the Evil-Eyed Holy King had openly shared the method to condense a divine positionāa sure path to deification.
But breaking a contract with a god was no simple matter.
Moreover, the Evil-Eyed Holy King had transformed into a bloodline to aid the couple's cultivation.
Both eventually reached level 99, but due to the Evil-Eyed Holy King's curse, they were unable to condense their divine positions even until death.
As time passed, the Angel God ascended to godhood but became bound by the restrictions of the divine realm, unable to interfere freely any longer.
The Evil-Eyed Holy King quietly worked to unravel the seal left behind by the Angel God. Even after breaking free, He did not rush to cause trouble. Over time, the Spirit Hall completely forgot about the presence of the Evil-Eyed Holy King hidden within the bloodline of the Star Luo imperial family.
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After a slight display of the Evil-Eyed Holy King's power, the Star Luo imperial family fell into madness.
Gradually, in an effort to select more exceptional descendants and restore their ancestors' glory, the tradition of fratricidal combat among the Star Luo imperial family began.
(Author's note: In the novel, the infighting among the Star Luo imperial family seems overly simplistic. Even siblings who lose the chance to compete for the throne might still fight if their branch possesses enough strength. Therefore, this setting is not rigorous. Here, I've incorporated the manga's explanation: the infighting among the Star Luo imperial family is aimed at awakening the power of the Evil-Eyed Holy King.)
But finding someone with the potential to ascend to godhood is no easy task.
Despite controlling half of the Douluo Continent, over two thousand years, only a handful of descendants from the Star Luo imperial family were deemed worthy of receiving the Evil-Eyed Holy King's essence. Nevertheless, this continued to drive the Star Luo imperial family into relentless fratricidal conflict.
However, as power eroded their principles, the nature of this royal struggle gradually changed.
By the time of Dai Mubai's generation, the two brothers possessed similar talent, but Dai Weisi was six years older than Dai Mubai.
In this version, where cultivation growth rates are relatively uniform before reaching the transformative rank of Soul Sage, a six-year age gap could result in a ten-level difference in cultivation.
With their martial souls being roughly equal, and without any external advantages, the outcome of this battle for the throne was predetermined from the start. Thus, the Evil-Eyed Holy King paid no attention to either brother.
After all, though these two were talented, they were merely average geniuses.
If, as in the original story, Dai Mubai had consumed the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum and reached level 44 during the Advanced Soul Master Tournamentāclosing the gap to just four levels despite a six-year cultivation disadvantageāall while maintaining an unbroken foundation, the Evil-Eyed Holy King might have taken an interest and bestowed his power.
Unfortunately, Tang San was targeted by Ye Wen and thus had no access to the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well, let alone the means to increase his cultivation without side effects.
Meanwhile, Yu Xiaogang, overwhelmed by Ning Rongrong's departure, focused on addressing the power gap during the Advanced Soul Master Tournament and neglected the training of the remaining members of Shrek's Seven Monsters.
Thus, Dai Mubai, who had once again fallen into complacency, naturally failed to catch the Evil-Eyed Holy King's attention.
Originally, the Evil-Eyed Holy King had no intention of paying attention to this generation.
But the commotion caused by Ye Wen's martial soul evolution went unnoticed by ordinary beings. For the Evil-Eyed Holy King, however, it was like a thunderclap exploding beside His ears, jolting Him awake from His slumber!
Though most soul beasts lack complex thoughts, as a being residing within the bloodline of the Star Luo imperial family, the Evil-Eyed Holy King had witnessed countless human schemes over the past two thousand years.
Once arrogant, believing He could carve out a new world for tiger-kind through sheer strength, the current Evil-Eyed Holy King recognized His own weakness. He now sought the support of a powerful existence to lift Him up.
Though He had never directly encountered the Dragon God, as a being born in the era of the Dragon God, He was highly sensitive to the dense aura of dragon bloodlines.
In this era, where true dragon bloodlines were scarce, the Silver Dragon King aura emanating from Ye Wen was like a beacon in the darkness!
Thus, the Evil-Eyed Holy King conceived a bold idea:
He would support a promising individual, align Himself with them, and ascend to godhood through their strength!
Compared to other soul beasts, dragon-kind possessed unparalleled advantages. High-purity dragon bloodlines often resulted in soul beasts being born as thousand-year or even ten-thousand-year soul beasts with ease. Achieving godhood was even simpler when supported by the Dragon God in the past.
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