As Guan Yue--the current Pavilion Master of the War God Hall and the Yuetian Douluo--stepped onto Sui Yuan's massive Dharma artifact tower, his gaze swept across the crowd and instantly locked onto the Shrek team. Leading them were none other than the Light-Dark Douluo Long Yeyue and Yali. The only one missing was his senior brother, the Sky-Reaching Douluo Yun Ming.
He immediately sent a message via spiritual consciousness, his voice tinged with urgency, "Brother Yun? This matter concerns the Sea God Pavilion and the position of the Sea God. Why are you the one leading the team?"
Long Yeyue maintained her usual aged yet aloof demeanor. She completely ignored Guan Yue's inquiry, merely shaking her head slightly without saying a word.
In truth, the very instant Skadi crushed the Sea God's divine sense, the Ancient Golden Tree at the center of Sea God Island had suffered a sudden, violent upheaval. As if sensing some kind of crisis, it instantly caused the entire Sea God Pavilion to light up with a radiant golden glow. The Sea God's Light poured out voluntarily, yet the originally majestic and heart-stopping aura of life rapidly withered at that exact moment.
The ten Pavilion Elder recuperating inside the Sea God Pavilion instantly transformed into ten streaks of light and shot out. Among them, a man of gentle elegance who concealed an endless aura of intimidation was the first to rush toward the canopy of the Ancient Golden Tree--it was none other than Yun Ming, the Sky-Reaching Douluo, publicly recognized as the number one expert on the continent.
Shrek had a legacy spanning tens of thousands of years. After the death of each Sea God Pavilion Master, they would dedicate their entire cultivation and body to the Ancient Golden Tree. This allowed successive Pavilion Master to obtain the ability to converse directly with the tree spirit of the Ancient Golden Tree, enabling them to sense its spiritual fluctuations. Whenever a major event occurred on the plane, the Ancient Golden Tree would experience a sudden disturbance. Years ago, when the Titan Clan faced the erosion of the Demonic Plane, it was through the Ancient Golden Tree that Yun Ming had sensed the crisis of this hidden clan ahead of time.
Yun Ming was the first to press his palm against the Ancient Golden Tree trunk, his mind instantly merging into it. In the next second, he heard the tree spirit's aged voice filled with extreme anxiety, its tone carrying an unquestionable command, "Yun Ming! Sea God Island is being besieged by millions of Sea Soul Beasts. Someone is trying to devour the Seven Sacred Pillars to ascend and become a god. Go stop them quickly! Go stop them quickly!"
Relying on his extraordinary cultivation and Divine Origin Realm spiritual power, Yun Ming, who sat firmly at the peak of all past Sea God Pavilion Master, instantly noticed that something was amiss. The spiritual essence of the Ancient Golden Tree was originally a collection of light and life, constructed by laws such as kindness, order, and life. It possessed form but no substance, spirit but no shape, and had never been able to produce clear spoken language.
This was precisely why only the Sea God Pavilion Master could converse with the Ancient Golden Tree--the essence of their dialogue was communicating with the Core of Life of the Douluo Continent. One needed to sense the life of the ancient tree year-round and understand the subtle changes in the aura of the laws to interpret its meaning. It was a long process of "the unity of heaven and man," absolutely not such straightforward commands.
What alarmed him even more was that with the help of the blank divinity within his body, Yun Ming could see the "laws" that ordinary people could not touch. The Ancient Golden Tree was supposed to be a pure golden-yellow spiritual essence, but upon closer inspection, several extremely faint strands of aqua-blue could be seen quietly wandering through it.
"You are not the Ancient Golden Tree spirit?" The moment the thought arose, several streaks of seven-colored light suddenly surged out from the golden-yellow spiritual essence of the Ancient Golden Tree, before it returned to its original appearance.
Yun Ming's consciousness slowly withdrew from the core of the ancient tree. Before leaving, his gaze swept seemingly casually over the surrounding flow of aura and the Ancient Golden Tree itself, a hint of solemnity hidden in the depths of his eyes.
"Brother Yun, what happened?" Yali and the other Pavilion Elder quickly flew to his side, asking urgently.
Yun Ming exited the state of the unity of heaven and man, his eyes narrowing slightly as he stared at his right hand that had just touched the ancient tree. His five fingers first closed slightly, then slowly clenched into a fist. In the next second, he summoned his martial soul, the Sky-Reaching Spear, and his Four-Word Battle Armor "Sky-Reaching" instantly covered his entire body. A wisp of divinity gleaming with a blank color slowly floated above his head.
"Sea God Island is in trouble, I must head there immediately." Yun Ming left only these words before his figure instantly vanished from the spot, not bringing along Yali, who usually went everywhere with him as a pair.
Although the several Pavilion Elder were somewhat puzzled, they were not overly worried--Yun Ming was, after all, the strongest expert on the continent today. In terms of sheer combat power, no one could match him, so there was no need to worry about his safety. Instead, they found the words "Sea God Island" somewhat intriguing. Although the establishment of the Sea God Pavilion originated from the Sea God Tang San--this founder of Shrek had not only left behind the Ancient Golden Tree but had also allowed the academy to firmly sit at the peak of the continent because of it, which was why the academy established the Sea God Pavilion in commemoration.
Over the tens of thousands of years, the Sea God's Light of the Ancient Golden Tree had protected Shrek through countless crises. However, in modern times, Four-Word Battle Armor had been born, and the soul Pavilion Master system kept breaking through. Above the Limit Douluo, three major realms had been derived: Quasi-Demigod, Demigod, and False God. The profound mysteries of the Sea God's Light had long been thoroughly researched. The power of the Ancient Golden Tree was actually formed by the unreserved dedication of countless Pavilion Elder and Shrek students before their deaths, rather than some so-called "divine protection."
These Pavilion Elder knew this full well in their hearts, yet they still retained the name "Sea God Pavilion" as a sign of respect to Tang San. As for Sea God Island? They hadn't interacted for tens of thousands of years, and their friendship had long faded. However, since it concerned Tang San, it was enough for Yun Ming to go alone.
Just as the Pavilion Elder were preparing to return to their respective places, a light bird carrying several bells suddenly flew toward the direction of Sea God Island.
After Yun Ming left, an emergency meeting was immediately convened within the Sea God Pavilion. Since it concerned becoming a god, all the Pavilion Elder were present without exception--now that the Divine Realm had long disappeared, any opportunity to become a god was enough to tug at the heartstrings of all top-tier experts.
The higher one's cultivation, the more one feared death, and the harder it was to part with power and authority; the longer one