Chapter 304. Tang Hao, the King of Slaughter.
"Then why didn't you take my Asura Godhood?" the Asura God asked angrily, glaring at Qian Xunji.
Qian Xunji laughed. "Do you really think I'm stupid? Taking your godhood would be doing you a favor, wouldn't it?"
"For someone like you whose fruition and karma are synchronized, losing your karma would allow you to leave the God Realm and pursue a higher realm. Asura old dog, do you think I'd let you be happy?" Qian Xunji said.
"I want to strip you of your godhood, but I don't want you to go off and enjoy yourself with this divine power," Qian Xunji sneered. "Therefore, before I permanently cripple your cultivation and destroy all possibilities of your rebuilding, I will keep the Asura Godhood on you forever, preventing you from ever breaking through."
"Qian Xunji, you deserve to die!" the Asura God said through gritted teeth.
The Asura God's response was Qian Xunji slamming his face into the ground and grinding it mercilessly!
"Asura God, you are now merely my prisoner. When you were powerful, you could control my fate at will, deciding my life and death. But now you are weak, and your life and death are entirely in my hands," Qian Xunji said.
"Then kill me," the Asura God said.
"You are not worthy to influence my decision, Asura dog. Your life and death are entirely in my hands, Qian Xunji's. I can make you live if I want you to live, and I can make you die if I want you to die. But I don't want to kill you now; this is your fate." With that, Qian Xunji grabbed the Asura God, drew his sword, and severed all four of the Asura God's limbs, including his fifth. The bloodied body fell to the ground. The Asura God, being a tough man, endured the pain without letting out a groan.
"Qian Xunji, I am, after all, a God-King of a realm. The victor is king, the loser is villain. You can kill me or torture me as you please. Is this the behavior a god should exhibit to humiliate me like this?" the Asura God questioned.
Qian Xunji sneered, "God King, forget your former identity as God King. Asura, you are now just a plaything in my hands. I can humiliate and torture you as I please, and what can you do about it!"
Qian Xunji extracted the Asura Godhead from the Asura God's body and mobilized the Asura God's power to restore the Asura Inheritance Land to its original state, even setting up an exit.
Seeing this, the God of Asura felt a pang of unease and quickly asked, "Qian Xunji, what are you trying to do?"
After tidying up the God of Asura's inheritance site, Qian Xunji glanced at the God of Asura and sneered, "You lowly dog, Asura, you said before that my trip to the City of Slaughter wasn't aimed at Tang San, but at you. That's not entirely true. My purpose in coming to the City of Slaughter is not only to deal with you, this old bastard who dared to provoke the Spirit Hall, but also to kill that rat-like Tang San."
"No, Qian Xunji, this has nothing to do with Tang San. This was all my scheme. All the blame lies with me. It has nothing to do with Tang San; he's innocent. You can't do this," the God of Asura argued to Tang San.
Currently, his struggle with Qian Xunji has reached a dead end. He considers the safety of his precious child extremely important, a mission entrusted to him by Miao. He is willing to sacrifice his own life to ensure the child's survival. As for passing the Asura God position to Tang San, the Asura God dares not even consider it. He cannot imagine what it would be like for Tang San to inherit the Asura God's divine personality, which is dominated by Qian Xunji.
"Tang San is innocent! This is the biggest joke I've ever heard!" Qian Xunji laughed loudly, saying, "Want me to list a few sins Tang San has committed?"
"No, impossible! The successor I chose is pure and virtuous, possessing all the virtues of morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor. How could he have committed a crime? It must be a trumped-up charge!" Before Qian Xunji could even list Tang San's crimes, the Asura God had already defended him.
"The existence of this bastard is a mistake. Every breath he takes is a crime against this world!" Qian Xunji said, grabbing the Asura God's neck.
The Asura God, choked and struggling to breathe, managed to say, "You...you're...fabricating a charge!"
"That's right, it doesn't need to be. The strong establish all laws, the strong decide everyone's fate. If I say he's guilty, he's guilty; if I say he's innocent, he's innocent. Isn't that what you taught you, Asura dog?" Qian Xunji sneered.
"No, that's not what I meant, Qian Xunji. This has nothing to do with Tang San. Please release Tang San." The Asura God's voice held a slight pleading tone.
Death was something the Asura God had long since abandoned, but he didn't want his precious treasure to be harmed.
Qian Xunji glanced disdainfully at the Asura God and said, "Release Tang San? That's impossible. You and Tang San both want to kill me. Since you won't let me, Qian Xunji, live, then I'm sorry, I have no choice but to ask you to die as well. Of course, this process of dying will be a bit long."
After restoring the temple, Qian Xunji used his divine power to retrieve the divine trials the Asura God had left for Tang San.
The content of the Nine Trials.
The first test involved possessing the Killing God Domain, allowing Tang San to easily pass the second test: swimming across a blood river. The so-called Blood Sea, according to Qian Xunji, was essentially a harmless river, practically a freebie.
The third to fifth tests were slightly more difficult.
The sixth test required Tang Chen to suppress his strength to the same level as Tang San and endure for six minutes.
Upon seeing this test, Qian Xunji was speechless. That lackey of the Sea God had no shame! He made Tang San endure for a few minutes under Poseidon's full power, and now he added the added burden of Tang Chen suppressing his strength. The seventh test involved drawing his sword; the eighth test involved defeating a 200,000-year-old blood-red nine-headed bat king; and the ninth test required Tang Chen to sacrifice himself to become a god.
Seeing the instructions left for Tang San by the Asura God, Qian Xunji couldn't help but laugh.
"That's it?"
He patted the Asura God's head and said, "I say, why did you go through all this trouble? Just give the godhood to Tang San directly."
The Asura God blushed and said, "As the God of Law Enforcement in the God Realm, how can I choose a successor so casually?"
Qian Xunji smiled meaningfully. In the original story, the Asura God even gave his godhood directly to Tang San, who possessed the Sea God's position, during the assessment.
However, there was no point in mocking the Asura God by mentioning the original plot.
Qian Xunji had the power to control the Asura God's position, and changing the content of the divine test was a piece of cake for him.
"What do you want to do?" The Asura God was furious when he saw the content of the first divine test written by Qian Xunji.
"I want to give your precious darling an unforgettable divine test experience." Qian Xunji said playfully.
Qian Xunji beat the Asura God black and blue, then dragged the Asura God, who was like a dead dog, away from the Asura God's inheritance site and into the Time Meditation Chamber.
In the meditation room, the Sea God was cultivating his divine power when he saw Qian Xunji enter carrying a bloodstained human staff. He took one look and couldn't help but gasp.
The Asura God was bound by a terrifying chain, his limbs severed, and given Qian Xunji's nature, he would most likely have been castrated as well.
Seeing the Asura God's wretched state, the Sea God was utterly despairing.
He had submitted to Qian Xunji with a sliver of hope for freedom: that the God-Kings of the Divine Realm Committee would judge Qian Xunji's sins and execute him.
Once Qian Xunji was dead, he would regain his freedom. Three years had passed; the Sea God would return, and Poseidon would kneel before him.
But he never expected that instead of salvation from the Divine Realm Committee, he would find the Asura God fallen into Qian Xunji's hands.
The Asura God also saw the Sea God. He had been wondering where the Sea God had been lately; had he fallen into the clutches of that treacherous Qian Xunji?
But now, his own wretched state was even worse than the Sea God's.
"You dog slave, what are you looking at? Get back to cultivating! If you don't reach the first level of godhood within ten years, I'll make you wish you were dead!" Qian Xunji roared at the Sea God.
"Yes, sir!" The Sea God shrank back in fear and focused intently on cultivating for Qian Xunji.
Qian Xunji turned his gaze to the Asura God and said, "God King Asura God, I believe you already possess enough divine power."
"What do you want to do?" Asura God looked at Qian Xunji in horror and asked.
Qian Xunji pressed his palm against the Asura God's forehead, silently contacting the system in his mind:
System, convert the Asura God's cultivation level for me.
[Dear host, I'm sorry, the Asura God bound by the God-Binding Lock can only be considered your prisoner, not your property, therefore the conversion cannot be completed.]
Hearing the system's explanation, Qian Xunji was immediately disappointed.
The Slave God Seal and the God-Binding Lock each have their advantages and disadvantages.
After the Slave God Seal was implanted in the Sea God, the Sea God would be Qian Xunji's slave for life, the drawback being that he couldn't harm the God King.
The Binding God Lock's advantage was that it could deal with the God King Shura who was causing trouble behind the scenes, but it wasn't as thoroughly enslaved as the Slave God Seal.
Thinking about how Shura God possessed God King cultivation but couldn't transform it, Qian Xunji lost interest and went directly to check on Tang San and the others' progress.
While Qian Xunji was fighting Shura God, Tang Chen's Shura Demon Sword flew away.
On their way to the City of Slaughter, Tang San and his group saw the Asura Demon Sword depart. Tang Hao asked, "Grandpa, why did the Asura Demon Sword fly away?" Tang Chen replied, "I think this demon sword probably sensed Tang San's arrival and returned to their place of inheritance."
Then, Tang Chen said to Titan, who was carrying him, "Faster! I can sense my god welcoming Little San!"
Tang Hao sternly told Titan, "Did you hear me? Speed up!"
Titan obsequiously replied, "Yes, yes, yes."
With that, Titan carried Tang Chen and increased their speed. After several days of travel, the group finally arrived in the City of Slaughter.
Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar were here for the first time.
Their eyes held curiosity, but also a hint of horror.
The air was thick with the stench of blood, and rotting corpses littered the ground. The stench and putridity permeated the entire City of Slaughter.
After losing the King of Slaughter, the place became even more chaotic, with warlords and gangs rising up everywhere, all vying for the throne of the City of Slaughter.
Here, the evil within human nature was unleashed to its fullest extent.
Having deeply experienced the City of Slaughter, Dai Mubai sighed, "Tang San, it seems you were right about what you did back then. A place like the City of Slaughter shouldn't exist; everyone here deserves to die."
Tang San said, "It's a pity I don't have the Snow Swan Kiss, otherwise, when I left..."
"Children, you're wrong," Tang Hao said. "Nearly ten thousand Soul Masters are gathered in the City of Slaughter. None of the Soul Masters who survived are simple; they represent an extraordinary force."
Hearing Tang Hao's words, Tang San's eyes lit up. He asked, "Dad, you mean to arm these nearly ten thousand Soul Masters, take them out of the City of Slaughter, and unleash their power to destroy the Spirit Hall, right?"
Tang Hao nodded.
Tang San pondered the feasibility of this plan and found it indeed feasible. The Soul Masters in the City of Slaughter were not delicate flowers in a greenhouse; once they left, each one would be incredibly ferocious, and their numbers would be enormous. Their addition would significantly narrow the power gap between them and the Spirit Hall.
As for the trouble these Soul Masters from the City of Slaughter would bring to the continent after leaving, Tang San no longer considered that. In his view, while the Soul Masters of the City of Slaughter were indeed evil, compared to the evil of the Spirit Hall, they were insignificant. He would use the evil of the City of Slaughter to destroy the evil of the Spirit Hall, using evil to fight evil, which, in a sense, already benefited the people of Douluo Continent. He absolutely could not allow the irresponsibility of the people of Douluo Continent to allow the Spirit Hall to continue its rampage; Tang San had a duty to end the tyranny of the Spirit Hall, by any means necessary.
Thinking of this, Tang San said, "Daddy, I think this plan is feasible. We should unite all forces to destroy the Spirit Hall. The City of Slaughter is a force not to be underestimated."
"Master, you are truly brilliant. You can even come up with such a genius idea. This old servant admires you," Titan said.
Tang Chen nodded, praising, "Hao'er, you're quite clever. You even thought of using the evil soul masters of the Slaughter City to deal with the Spirit Hall. However, a plan must be acted upon as soon as possible. I, as the King of Slaughter, have fallen, and the power in the entire Slaughter City is vacant. The various forces within the Slaughter City will fight fiercely for this position. By the time they decide who is the King of Slaughter, the power within the Slaughter City will be lucky to be half of what it is now."
"Therefore—" Tang Hao summoned the Clear Sky Hammer and said, "We can't let these people continue to fight amongst themselves. The power of the Slaughter City cannot be used for internal strife; it must be used to deal with the Spirit Hall. Grandpa, since you have lost the position of King of Slaughter, then I, Tang Hao, will take over as King of Slaughter."
(End of Chapter)