"Victory crowns the king; defeat condemns the loser. The winner takes all—that's all there is to it."
Chen Junting was the first to step into the Hall of Offerings. He looked up. Without divine power to sustain it, the central statue of the Angel God stood broken—like the Venus de Milo with severed arms or a holy angel with clipped wings.
Within Chen Junting's Sea of Consciousness, Bao Jun watched silently—and felt an indescribable rush of satisfaction, as if the last of his lingering bitterness had finally dissolved.
"If the place is in ruins like this… what exactly are we supposed to look for?"
Gu Tianchen searched the area but found nothing in the vast hall besides the damaged angelic statue.
"Anything related to the First Angel God," Chen Junting replied.
He already had a rough idea of how to create a divine title from the original story. Although Electrolux had guided him on gathering faith, the actual process of ascension still required experimentation based on the unique rules of the Douluo God Realm. Thus, the experiences of the earliest deities could offer invaluable insight.
Yet no ancient texts recorded such details—so Chen Junting had turned his attention to divine ruins like this one.
"As the legacy site of the Angel God, this place can't possibly be just this hall," Chen Junting said, surveying the layout. "Historical records say that after Qian Renxue's divine title was shattered, she locked herself inside the Hall of Offerings and never stepped out again until her death. And after she died, she must have been buried alongside her mother, Bibi Dong. To protect her mother's resting place from disturbance, she would've chosen a hidden chamber within the hall for their joint tomb."
"So… where is that place?"
The moment Gu Tianchen asked, both men instinctively turned their gaze toward the broken Angel statue.
Suspecting a hidden chamber beneath it, Chen Junting first probed with his spiritual sense—but found nothing. Doubtful, he then activated his Eyes of Fate.
Only then did he confirm: a secret chamber did exist beneath the statue. But opening it required either a soul power level above 95—or the power of an angel to move the statue aside.
Fortunately, back in the Giant Sword Mountain secret realm, Electrolux had gathered the lingering remnants of Angel God energy. Using that concealed reserve, Chen Junting had secretly leveraged its power to shift the statue.
Gu Tianchen, of course, remained completely unaware of this.
"I never imagined there'd be a hidden chamber down here."
As they entered, they found themselves in a long corridor. Along both walls were murals and inscriptions—but most had been deliberately destroyed, their contents impossible to restore through ordinary means.
"Who the hell would do something so despicable?"
Gu Tianchen stared at the ruined murals, his eyes filled with regret. At key moments where intriguing details seemed to emerge—only to be abruptly severed—his frustration and anger were palpable.
"Truly a pity."
From the few surviving fragments, Chen Junting could roughly reconstruct the story: this was the history of the Angel God.
But not Qian Renxue.
This was the First Angel God—Qian Lingyun!
"Master, is there any way to restore these murals?"
When in doubt, ask Master Electrolux.
Diving his consciousness into his Sea of Mind, Chen Junting found Electrolux wearing an expression caught between amusement and exasperation.
"This old man isn't omnipotent. These murals were physically obliterated—how could I possibly restore them?"
"But…"
The instant that word left Electrolux's lips, Chen Junting leaned in eagerly.
"Master—but what?"
"I can't do it… but this might."
With a wave of his hand, Electrolux summoned the Angelic Holy Sword—forged entirely from Angel God energy—which materialized before Chen Junting.
Meanwhile, outside…
While Gu Tianchen was still frowning at the ruined murals, Chen Junting's Eye of Fate flared open again. Angelic energy surged through them like a homesick wanderer finally returning after ages—and burst forth into the corridor with irrepressible eagerness.
In an instant, the entire passage blazed with light!
The once-dim corridor became brilliantly illuminated!
"Ha! I knew you were hiding something from me earlier!"
Hearing Gu Tianchen's half-accusing, half-teasing comment, Chen Junting immediately understood what he meant.
He shot back a look that pretended to be apologetic—but was clearly unrepentant.
"Alright, alright—let's drop it. What matters now is restoring these murals. Look."
Before his words even finished echoing, the surging angelic energy fragmented into countless luminous particles, gently sinking into the broken murals. Then, resonating with the remnants, two shimmering golden projections—like spectral tapestries—materialized before them.
The murals' original content was now fully revealed.
"So this is the First Angel God…"
They both watched intently. Though the murals likely contained embellishments, the core truth probably remained intact.
After viewing them, both gained a rough understanding of Qian Lingyun's past.
In summary: Qian Lingyun possessed a mutated martial soul, which she herself named Two-Winged Angel. Through relentless effort, upon breaking through to Level 90, her martial soul evolved into a Six-Winged Angel (Seraphim).
To Chen Junting, the rest of the mural clearly tied into how Qian Lingyun ascended through faith—and thus, into the very essence of self-created divinity.
It recounted how she was born into nobility during a chaotic era—when the two great empires and countless kingdoms waged endless wars. The continent burned in conflict, and many soul masters turned to evil. Even soul beasts seized the chaos to wreak havoc and weaken humanity.
In that turbulent world, Qian Lingyun vowed from childhood to bring peace and stability to all soul masters. By the time she reached Soul Saint, the seeds of what would become the Spirit Hall were already sown. When she attained Title Douluo, the organization ignited across the continent like wildfire.
Throughout this, Qian Lingyun punished the wicked, suppressed rogue soul beasts, quelled wars, and established justice. The Spirit Hall thus became a sacred haven for countless soul masters.
Through the faith of both commoners and soul masters across Douluo Continent—who saw her as a sun of salvation—Qian Lingyun, guided by her ideal of redeeming the mortal world, forged her own Angel God title.
"So the key to self-creating a divine title isn't just accumulating enough faith," Chen Junting mused aloud after reading. "It also requires a clear, concrete principle—or rather…"
His thoughts stalled at the final piece.
"It's the Divine Core," Electrolux interjected.
"Or, the divine title itself. A self-created godhood fueled by faith must be anchored in a foundational principle. The divine title then serves as the vessel to channel and contain that gathered faith. In other words—the principle you embody before ascension becomes your authority after becoming a god."
Ah—now it makes sense!
Chen Junting's eyes lit up in realization.
No wonder Qian Renxue, whose Six-Winged Angel had no intrinsic connection to the sun, still wielded partial solar authority upon ascension.
It wasn't from the martial soul itself—but from Qian Lingyun's original ideal: to redeem the mortal world like the sun itself.
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