At the edge of the sky, it blazed—An incredibly intense milky-white radiance condensed into a golden-red hue.
A mushroom cloud far more powerful than the one that destroyed Shrek Academy suddenly bloomed on the horizon.
Tang Hao, leveraging the power of heaven and earth to form a colossal body, absorbed the full might of the Eternal Heaven's attack.
On the continent, a series of natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions erupted one after another.
This was Tang Hao utilizing his authority as the Plane's Lord to transfer the damage meant for him from the Eternal Heaven onto the entire Douluo Plane.
Even so, Tang Hao still suffered significant injuries.
Though burning with rage, he had to forcibly suppress his fury—the task his son Tang San had entrusted to him was not yet complete.
He did not pursue the fleeing Abyssal Sage King. Instead, he activated his authority as Plane's Lord and swept through every corner of Mingdu City with his second-tier divine-level spiritual power in a carpet-search.
Nothing. Though the Blood River God-Slaying Array had clearly collapsed and vanished, Di Tian's presence seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
"Could it be… did Xiao San give the wrong coordinates? Did Di Tian trick him?"
There was undisguised shock in Tang Hao's muttering.
Ever since Tang San's rise, he and Ah Yin had followed in his steps, ascending to godhood themselves, and had almost never seen their son make a mistake.
But there was no time to ponder this. Tang Hao's divine sense surged outward, enveloping the entire Douluo Plane.
As time passed, Tang Hao grew increasingly anxious.
His divine sense scanned the Extreme North, the Star Dou Forest, the Tang Sect's Heaven Dou City branch…
He had considered destroying soul beast habitats to force Di Tian out—but there simply wasn't enough time.
Even with the authority of Plane's Lord and sweeping the entire Douluo Plane, Di Tian was nowhere to be found.
Overflowing with rage and anxiety, Tang Hao sought out the Demon Empress.
With the Abyssal Sage King in retreat and the Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult nearly wiped out, only the Demon Empress might know where Di Tian truly was.
Reluctantly, in a state of urgent fury, he spent precious time interrogating her.
A crushing spiritual pressure descended as a divine voice thundered, piercing into the Demon Empress's hiding place:
"Wretched creature—where is Di Tian? Speak!
If not, I will annihilate your soul and deny you reincarnation forever!"
At that moment, with the Abyssal Sage King fleeing, control of the body had returned to the Demon Empress.
Facing Tang Hao's earth-shaking spiritual oppression, she glared back, her eyes full of killing intent.
The fact that she had not gone to the second Blood River God-Slaying Array where Di Tian was said enough.
Besides, this was the father of the man who had killed her husband—there was no way she would betray Di Tian.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Behind her floated a divine artifact—the Fear Bell, entirely purple-gold in color. It chimed continuously, and each divine sound helped the Demon Empress resist Tang Hao's pressure.
With its help, she could barely move.
Her beautifully cold lips curled into a mocking smirk. She reached out her delicate hand, made a fist, and flicked her middle finger.
"Hmph-teh~"
Accompanied by a universal gesture of "friendship," the mocking tone rang out in harmony.
Tang Hao, already in a foul mood, had veins bulging on his forehead.
With a crunching sound, he flung the divine artifact Clear Sky Hammer from his hand.
Unfortunately, the strike did not hit the Demon Empress.
Suddenly, the second Blood River God-Slaying Array materialized, enveloping her.
BOOM—
The array forcefully resisted Tang Hao's blow, but cracks began to appear—it wavered, teetering on collapse.
"Mercy? No... this is just inviting the enemy into the trap."
Seeing Di Tian voluntarily reveal himself, Tang Hao was ecstatic.
His next strike channeled the power of heaven and earth from the Douluo Plane and slammed down toward the array.
Yet this hammer strike felt like it hit cotton.
There was no resistance like before—it simply sunk in.
When Tang Hao tried to retrieve the Clear Sky Hammer, it was already too late.
A massive black dragon claw grabbed the hammerhead, and an irresistible force pulled it forward.
In the sky, even Tang Hao's massive divine avatar couldn't resist and was dragged entirely into the second Blood River God-Slaying Array.
"Mercy? No... this was always a trap to lure you in."
Di Tian's voice echoed in Tang Hao's ears—he was now fully enclosed within the sealed array.
What lay before him was a black dragon three thousand meters long with golden eyes, filling the underground world conjured by the array.
An overwhelming and savage dragon might pressed down on Tang Hao.
Accompanying it was the fully-formed Divine Position of Beast God.
Compared to Tang Hao's peak second-tier divine power—represented by six divine rings—Di Tian's divine position shone even more brilliantly: eight divine rings, representing the apex of first-tier deities.
Normally, a newly-formed Beast God divine position shouldn't rival long-established ones like the Sea God or the God of Emotions.
But thanks to the Sea God's legacy and the super artifact Dragon God Core, Di Tian had a solid foundation.
The core, which was previously semi-merged with his heart, fully integrated at the moment of divine ascension.
Now, a powerful heart beat like a drum—its regenerative power circulated true Dragon God blood endlessly.
Under the strict bloodline hierarchy of the dragon race, Di Tian's lineage was now no weaker than that of the Golden or Silver Dragons.
With the divine position of Beast God fully formed, and eight divine rings indicating supreme power, Tang Hao had lost his final chance to kill Di Tian.
"You… you…" Tang Hao stammered under the immense dragon pressure, unable to speak clearly.
He now understood what "luring the enemy in" meant—
As the Plane's Lord, a fully-powered first-tier god could kill him, but he could transfer the damage to the plane itself.
Killing him on the Douluo Plane would cause irreparable damage.
But inside the Blood River God-Slaying Array, controlled entirely by a first-tier god like Di Tian, his connection to the plane was severed.
That was the core of Di Tian's trap.
What Tang Hao couldn't understand was how Di Tian ascended to godhood so quickly. Had he taken just a little longer, Tang Hao might've turned the tide.
But now, no one would answer his doubts.
Between a fully empowered Di Tian and a half-injured Tang Hao, the outcome was clear.
CRACK!
With a single blow, Di Tian shattered Tang Hao's second-tier divine position. All the released pure energy was absorbed by Di Tian to help rebuild the God Realm in the future.
The destruction of the divine position also stripped Tang Hao of his most refined divine power, causing him to fall from godhood.
Turning to the Demon Empress, Di Tian said calmly:
"Would you like to take some interest from him first?"
(End of Chapter)