Thank you to our new Patrons: P Tydd, joao goncalves and William Ngo! Your support means the world to me <3 We are up to Chapter 715: Coincidental Creation of a New Method on Patreon!
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Being summoned to the Divine Council by the Destruction God King right after his breakthrough left Ye Wen feeling rather exasperated.
Sure, it was understandable that he didn't personally come to fetch Ye Wen—after all, as the current leader of the god realm, he wasn't obligated to follow human customs—but at least he could've sent someone to deliver the message instead of just transmitting his voice directly. Wasn't that a bit disrespectful?
On the way, while grumbling inwardly, Ye Wen recalled that the Destruction God King's true form wasn't even human—it was something called "Destruction Condensate."
It was probably some kind of slime-like substance, judging by the sound of it. Sticky and gooey.
Come to think of it, the Life Goddess's true form was the Ancient Tree of Life. How did a tree and a slime end up together? And their divine energy attributes were completely incompatible.
Unfathomable, truly unfathomable.
Since they weren't human, they naturally didn't need to adhere to human etiquette. They were straightforward, much like spirit beasts.
Upon arriving at the Divine Council, the Destruction God King exchanged a few lukewarm congratulatory words with the other God Kings. Then, he briefed Ye Wen on some specific guidelines for the God King realm to ensure Ye Wen's cultivation wouldn't deviate.
After all, even if politically opposed, God King-level combat strength was still a precious asset to the god realm.
With this, the god realm officially returned to the era of five God Kings.
Back at the Sea God Temple—no, it should now be called the Vast Sea God Temple—Ye Wen began preparing for a banquet, first celebrating with his family.
Having broken through to God King status, Ye Wen had finally solidified his position in the god realm. He no longer needed to worry about being targeted for exposing his ambitions.
The next order of business was hosting a feast for the gods of the god realm, as promised earlier.
The majority of the god realm's deities were human gods; there didn't seem to be any beast-type gods around.
After all, the path to godhood in this universe required faith-based ascension, and the intelligence of beasts was generally a limiting factor. Even if they reached the peak of their world, without knowing the method, they couldn't ascend.
Being human gods had its advantages, though.
When attending a banquet, one was expected to bring a gift, at the very least. Hehehe~
And this was a God King's banquet! You couldn't possibly bring something unworthy to the table, or you'd lose face in the god realm forever.
Though the level of this Douluo universe was somewhat lacking, Ye Wen could still procure things like dragon liver and phoenix marrow—well, technically sub-dragon meat—and enhance them with a sprinkle of soul seasoning infused with divine energy.
These ordinary spirit beast meats were thus elevated into divine beast delicacies.
However, the cost of these dishes was laughably cheap compared to the gifts Ye Wen received. So far, he had collected five second-tier divine cores—a massive windfall.
Other rare god-level materials also filled Ye Wen's pockets. At last, he was no longer an empty-handed god.
Of course, the first-tier gods who gave up their divine cores had their reasons for offering such valuable gifts. Even if Ye Wen was a God King, they wouldn't have willingly handed over second-tier divine cores without a compelling motive.
Their request was simple: Ye Wen's insights into breaking through to God King status.
Ye Wen didn't intend to withhold the information, as every God King's breakthrough required unique opportunities. Even if he bluntly explained his process, if they couldn't grasp it themselves, it would be useless.
Ye Wen made this point clear, leaving the first-tier gods slightly disheartened.
Though Ye Wen had some guesses about their paths forward, he didn't plan to share them. After all, his future relationship with the god realm was bound to become adversarial.
After dealing with the gods of the god realm, Ye Wen turned his mischievous grin toward his wives.
Ah Yin was no longer a mere divine official. She had inherited a Harvest God core from Ye Wen and broken through to third-tier godhood.
This was a legacy from an unknown minor god who had fallen during the Dragon God era—a third-tier divine core.
Ye Wen deeply understood the potential of such a human-oriented divine core. If cultivated properly, it could easily reach first-tier godhood.
One could only say that the original owner was incredibly unlucky.
On Douluo Star, the faith system for Ah Yin's Harvest God was already well-established and gaining significant popularity. After all, food was a top priority for all living beings.
In ancient dynasties of his previous life, there was a famous saying: "The great matters of the state are sacrifice, war, and prosperity."
"Sacrifice" referred to rituals praying for favorable weather and bountiful harvests.
With this vast influx of faith energy, Ah Yin had already reached the threshold of second-tier godhood.
As for Bo Saixi, the Water God core was out of the question—it was currently in the possession of the Seven Elemental Gods, who acted collectively. Even Ma Hongjun couldn't obtain their Fire God core, let alone the Water God core.
Fortunately, the value of third-tier divine cores wasn't particularly high. With corresponding divine energy cultivation, one could quickly ascend.
Moreover, Bo Saixi's martial soul—the Sea God—was quite compatible with Ye Wen's current divine position. Using Ye Wen's divine energy, Bo Sai Xi had reached the peak of third-tier godhood.
But that was as far as she could go. Ye Wen realized it was time to accelerate his research on sharing divine positions.
Through his studies, Ye Wen discovered that since divine cores could be inherited without diminishing the original owner's strength, their existence essentially served as keys to unlocking the rules of the world.
If one could gain sufficient mastery over this path, entering the rules realm autonomously and cultivating divine energy independently—without relying solely on faith energy—they could break free from the constraints of divine positions.
However, under the constraints of the Divine Council in the god realm, one couldn't simply abandon their divine position and do as they pleased. Hence, the rule of inheriting divine positions existed.
As for Bibi Dong and the others, they already had their own divine positions, so Ye Wen didn't need to worry about them.
But after such a long period of intense cultivation, Ye Wen found himself struggling to suppress his growing desires.
After breaking through to the Vast Sea God King realm, Ye Wen gained new insights into the Vast Sea God position. The key was not to overly constrain himself but to embrace the Dao of nature, allowing things to flow naturally without imposing excessive restrictions.
The old Ye Wen had been overly calculating, obsessed with absolute control.
This mindset was fundamentally at odds with the concept of the sea—a vast, nurturing force that gave birth to all things. This contradiction was why Ye Wen had always struggled, feeling as though he would truly vanish during his attempts to merge with the Dao.
By letting go of his obsession and changing his mindset to align with the will and essence of the sea, Ye Wen found that the sensation of vanishing no longer occurred. Instead, he felt genuinely accepted by this rule.
The reason he had previously felt like he would disappear was due to incompatibility—the grand Dao itself was rejecting him, attempting to erase him.
It was akin to the body's immune response—two seemingly compatible things could still result in catastrophic consequences when forcibly combined.
Everything stemmed from subtle yet misleading similarities.
Ultimately, Ye Wen achieved enlightenment. The Dao of the sea didn't necessarily require water to exist. Couldn't the vast expanse of stars also be considered a kind of sea?
To embrace all things—that is the sea.
Such philosophical, convoluted reasoning.
No wonder the previous Sea God, with his rigid thinking, couldn't break through.
------------------------------------------------------
Support my writing journey: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow