"Li Zhexian."
Tang San looked at Li Zhexian, his voice piercing through the sea breeze:
"It has been several years since we last met. What is the state of the continent?"
Li Zhexian casually wiped the wine stains from the corner of his lips.
"Clear Sky Clan is gone."
Hearing this, Tang San's body paused almost imperceptibly. A trace of complicated emotion flickered through his eyes, before quickly returning to calm indifference.
"Very well. It saves me the trouble of doing it myself."
Having left his homeland,
he had cultivated bitterly in the deep sea.
What sustained him was not only the obsession with avenging himself on Li Zhexian,
but also his unresolved entanglement with Clear Sky Clan—
not gratitude, but pent-up resentment.
He would never forget…
how the elders of Clear Sky Clan, after suffering setbacks at Li Zhexian's hands,
had vented their anger and humiliation upon him instead.
Even if—
even if Li Zhexian had not destroyed Clear Sky Clan,
once he ascended to godhood and returned to the continent,
the sect would still have met a grim fate.
After a moment of silence,
Tang San's tone tightened slightly:
"My father…"
Li Zhexian replied calmly: "I promised your father that I would let your family reunite."
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A pillar of azure light shot skyward from Tang San's body.
The sea surged into towering waves,
echoing the monstrous killing intent erupting from him.
"Li Zhexian!"
Tang San's long blue hair whipped wildly. The Sea God's divine armor burst forth with dazzling radiance, divine might stirring rolling waves that surged outward in all directions.
"You deserve to die!"
As his words fell,
he hurled the Golden Trident in his hand.
A blazing golden arc tore through the sky, carrying his fury and divine power as it shot toward Li Zhexian.
"Li Zhexian! There are rumors that your sword can cut through anything—do you dare try taking my Golden Trident head-on?!"
Facing a strike that seemed capable of piercing the continent itself,
Li Zhexian's lips curved upward.
Under Tang San's cold sneer, he casually reached out.
Buzz!
In the next instant—
the sneer on Tang San's face froze.
His divine artifact, the Golden Trident,
was casually caught by Li Zhexian with one hand.
The trident's tip halted less than half a foot from Li Zhexian's face. Violent energy ripples exploded outward, whipping his hair wildly—yet it could not advance even an inch further.
"That's impossible!!!"
Tang San cried out in shock, disbelief written all over his face.
"My Golden Trident weighs one hundred and eight thousand pounds and contains supreme divine power—how could you possibly—"
At that moment—
Qian Daoliu enveloped the ship in Spirit Power, bringing it into a sea region where the battle was clearly visible.
Everyone happened to witness the scene of Li Zhexian gripping the trident with one hand.
Yu Tianheng, Feng Buyu, and the others did not yet understand the origin or weight of the weapon.
Qian Daoliu's pupils contracted slightly as he spoke slowly:
"This is a divine artifact—a weapon used by a god. And yet Zhexian caught it barehanded with his physical body alone."
Upon hearing this,
Yu Tianheng, Feng Buyu, and the rest sucked in a sharp breath.
"Zhexian is fighting a god?!"
"Though Tang San has not yet become a god, the weapon he wields is truly a god's artifact. Its aura is entirely different from the Angel God's Sword."
A trace of gravity quietly entered Qian Daoliu's voice as he marveled:
"If the existence behind this artifact still resides in the Divine Realm, whether it will intervene remains unknown."
"Should a god truly take action, Zhexian would be facing divine might head-on."
...
Divine Realm Plaza
"One hundred and eight thousand pounds…"
Ji Dong and the Asura God looked toward the Sea God, their gazes carrying a hint of amusement.
The Sea God's chest heaved twice. His lips pressed tightly together, but he said nothing.
"Sea God," Ji Dong suddenly asked, "in your opinion, which is stronger—your Golden Trident, or Li Zhexian's Qinglian Sword?"
"Evil God."
The Sea God frowned deeply.
"Are you deliberately humiliating me?"
He flicked his sleeve and turned away, divine might unconsciously spreading outward.
"Tang San is no match for Li Zhexian—does that mean Li Zhexian can be mentioned in the same breath as me?"
"No matter how strong he is, he has yet to ascend to the Divine Realm. His Spirit Power has not been transformed into divine power. That is an absolute gap in the level of power!"
"His sword, even if it surpasses the ultimate limit of mortal steel, how could it contend with my trident, forged from the authority with which I govern the seas?"
"I have heard that this child possesses the Qinglian Sword Song, yet I too have the Golden Thirteen Tridents that dominate the Divine Realm!"
The restrained anger in his voice was almost impossible to suppress.
After all…
The Evil God placing him—an ancient god—on equal footing with a mere lower-realm youth made him feel deeply slighted.
"The battle between Tang San and Li Zhexian is truly dull."
Asura God's deep voice sounded.
"What I wish to see is the realm Li Zhexian's sword has truly reached, and what it would be like if he were to cross blades with a real god."
"To bear the karma of Spirit Beasts, one must possess strength to match."
"Sea God, I permit you to test him."
Ji Dong glanced thoughtfully at Asura God, then nodded as well.
"I also consent."
"Hmph!"
The Sea God let out a cold snort.
"Using me as a whetstone for his sword?"
"Li Zhexian is not qualified!"
"Moreover, I am the dignified Sea God, ruler of a divine domain. How could I lower myself to strike against a youth from the lower realm?"
"Do not bring up this matter again!"
...
The Golden Trident trembled violently in Li Zhexian's hand, the diffusing divine power whipping his hair wildly.
The trident hummed unceasingly,
struggling to break free from his grip.
Li Zhexian's body shimmered with flawless, jewel-like radiance.
Beneath his flesh,
multicolored light flickered and pulsed,
dissolving all incoming divine pressure into nothingness.
"One hundred and eight thousand pounds?"
He shook his head and chuckled softly.
The Flawless Glazed Body was a supreme treasure physique; coupled with the foundation of the Dragon God, it had long transcended the mortal realm.
The weight of a divine artifact, to him, was as effortless as taking something from a pouch.
"What kind of monster is this?!" The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's blood-red pupil shrank to the size of a needle. Terror instantly drowned out its ferocity.
It had thought the Sea God's successor was already the pinnacle of strength in this age.
Never had it imagined—
that there existed someone who could catch the Sea God's divine weapon with bare hands.
Not daring to hesitate in the slightest, it sank frantically downward, moving with agility completely at odds with its colossal size, without making a sound.
Li Zhexian gazed down at the shrinking shadow beneath the sea, a glint of sharpness flashing through his eyes.
The hand holding the Golden Trident
casually flicked downward.
Buzz!
Buzz!
A piercing whistle tore through the air.
In an instant, the Golden Trident plunged into the ink-blue depths below.
The seawater seemed to offer no resistance at all.
Where the golden trident passed,
the sea split open into a true vacuum corridor.
The water on both sides was forced apart by an invisible power, unable to close again for a long time.
The next moment—
Pshhk!
The sound of flesh being pierced rang out.
"ROAR—!"
A vast, pain-filled whale cry exploded from the seabed,
shaking the entire ocean floor.
This cry was no longer violent—
only the most primal anguish and terror remained.
Thick streams of dark-red, viscous blood gushed forth.
Within a few breaths,
dozens of miles of sea were completely dyed crimson.
"Sea God's successor!"
Knowing escape was impossible, the Demon Whale King churned up towering waves and reemerged at the surface.
A dark current swept up the Golden Trident and hurled it back toward Tang San
"This man's strength is unfathomable!"
"Only if you and I join forces will there be a sliver of hope!"