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**Chapter 171: The Despairing Deep Sea Demonic Whale King**
"Impossible!"
"You're lying to me! You're trying to interfere with my will!"
Hearing Neptune speak the truth of the world that drove soul beasts to despair, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King roared. A rampant aura surged around him, and his massive body suddenly thrashed violently in the great sea. His enormous tail instantly whipped up and lashed out toward Neptune in the sky.
A streak of blue-purple light shot forth, spreading into a fan shape as it enveloped Neptune. Wherever this massive energy passed, the air was forcibly torn apart. Around the blue-purple, fan-shaped radiance, a layer of tiny black lightning appeared. This time, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale did not rely on the power of the great sea, but unleashed a pure attack using the energy from within its own body.
Neptune naturally could no longer casually ignore it. Holding the Sea God Trident, another ray of the Sea God's Light illuminated it. He then fiercely flung the Sea God Trident out, and using his body as the center, he drew a massive circle in the sky with it.
A golden ring of light was outlined in mid-air. It directly met the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's attack, and the energy flung from the whale's tail violently collided with the drawn circle.
In an instant, the light in mid-air abruptly dimmed. This time, not a single sound erupted. The sky was terrifyingly silent. The previous energy almost completely vanished at the same moment, not even a trace remained.
After neutralizing this strike from the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, Neptune spoke, "Lying to you? In your heart, you know whether what I've said is true or false. You just can't accept reality."
"..."
The moment these words were uttered, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's rampant aura abruptly faltered as if a raw nerve had been struck. Clearly, Neptune was right; he simply couldn't accept reality. Any intelligent being would likely be unable to accept that their entire life was pre-arranged. No matter how futile their struggles, the ultimate outcome would be to become a human's soul ring—a mere stepping stone for others.
How could the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King accept this? How could he possibly bring himself to?
Damn it! I've cultivated painstakingly for who knows how many tens of thousands of years, constantly enduring heavenly lightning strikes and countless pains. Just as I was about to reach completion, about to achieve godhood... someone suddenly tells you to forget about it, that achieving godhood is impossible. You'll never achieve godhood in this life. In fact, if you did, you'd die an even more miserable death!
Who could easily accept such a cruel reality?
"Since you've reached your current realm, you must have long felt that unbreakable barrier, haven't you? Moreover, the taste of enduring a heavenly tribulation every time you break through the hundred-thousand-year limit isn't pleasant, is it?" Neptune, holding the Sea God Trident, calmly looked down at the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King. "To be honest, I quite admire you. The heavenly tribulations arranged by the God Realm for soul beasts are fundamentally designed to beat them to death. The fact that you survived ten heavenly tribulations to reach your current level means you truly possess extraordinary talent. If this were the era when beasts could still achieve godhood, your accomplishments would have made you a first-level god at the very least. Unfortunately, you were born in the wrong era."
"An era when beasts could still achieve godhood?!"
The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King keenly picked up on this crucial piece of information.
"From what you're saying, soul beasts used to be able to achieve godhood?" To hear the secrets regarding soul beasts achieving godhood, the surging aura around his body gradually calmed. Clearly, he had no intention of attacking for the time being.
"Of course, they could achieve godhood."
Neptune gave an affirmative answer. In order to subdue this old whale, he didn't mind revealing these things that were common knowledge among gods. In any case, once it knew, it would only feel more despair and completely abandon the thought of achieving godhood on its own. Then, he could seize the opportunity to threaten and entice it. Wouldn't the trial be completed then?
"The reason for all of this starts with the God Realm... How much do you know about it?" he suddenly asked. If the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King didn't even know about the God Realm, then he would have to start from the beginning.
"I only know that after becoming a god-level expert, one can ascend to the God Realm. The Sea God from ten thousand years ago ascended to the God Realm," the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King stated what he knew.
"Good, that makes things easier."
Neptune nodded and continued, "The God Realm, as the name suggests, is the world where god-level experts live. It governs numerous subordinate lesser worlds. For example, the Douluo Continent we're on is one of those many lesser worlds."
"And on these many lesser worlds, as long as one cultivates to the god-level, they must ascend to the God Realm after a certain period. They are not allowed to linger in the lesser worlds. Gods also cannot casually descend to the mortal realm. This is an ironclad rule of the God Realm!"
"So that's how it is. No wonder that kid Poseidon never came back to visit after achieving godhood and ascending to the God Realm all those years ago. It was because of the God Realm's rules. It seems the God Realm isn't as free as one might imagine," the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King said in realization.
'It's more than just 'not free'; it's practically a prison!' Neptune scoffed inwardly.
"Ahem, now for the important part!"
He coughed lightly before continuing, "A long, long time ago, in the lesser worlds subordinate to the God Realm, both humans and beasts could actually cultivate to achieve godhood. Moreover, there were no heavenly tribulations specifically targeting beasts. Beasts even had their own divine promotion hierarchy..."
"Then why has it become this hellish state now?!" the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King couldn't help but interrupt agitatedly.
No heavenly tribulations and their own divine promotion hierarchy... What kind of paradise was that?! Compared to the soul beasts of the past, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King felt like he was living in utter misery.
"However, all of this changed significantly after a Beast God named Dragon God ascended to the God Realm!" Neptune didn't mind his interruption and continued.
"In the God Realm at that time, the divine beasts who had achieved godhood were always subjugated by the other gods. But divine beasts capable of achieving godhood possessed wisdom and intellect no different from humans. How could they willingly remain subordinate to them?"
"Thus, the divine beasts, led by the Dragon God, launched a war that swept through the God Realm!"
"Ultimately, the divine beast faction suffered a complete defeat! All the divine beasts were slain!"
"And the victorious gods, to prevent future rebellions, set down a rule for the subordinate worlds: beasts shall never achieve godhood!"
"So this is... the reason why soul beasts cannot achieve godhood!"
The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King was now completely stunned. His mind was profoundly shocked, and he was so struck by this cruel reality that he was beginning to withdraw into himself.
But Neptune wasn't willing to let him off, delivering the finishing blow, "So, do you understand?"
"Even if you were to seize the Sea God's divinity from me and forcibly achieve godhood, all that would await you is utter annihilation!"
"Because the gods of the God Realm above would never tolerate the emergence of a divine beast!"
"In your situation, the moment you achieved godhood, the God Realm would dispatch Enforcers to obliterate your soul. The best possible outcome would be having your consciousness purged and being enslaved as true livestock."
(end of chapter)
"Impossible!"
"You're lying to me! You're trying to interfere with my will!"
Hearing Neptune speak the truth of the world that drove soul beasts to despair, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King roared. A rampant aura surged around him, and his massive body suddenly thrashed violently in the great sea. His enormous tail instantly whipped up and lashed out toward Neptune in the sky.
A streak of blue-purple light shot forth, spreading into a fan shape as it enveloped Neptune. Wherever this massive energy passed, the air was forcibly torn apart. Around the blue-purple, fan-shaped radiance, a layer of tiny black lightning appeared. This time, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale did not rely on the power of the great sea, but unleashed a pure attack using the energy from within its own body.
Neptune naturally could no longer casually ignore it. Holding the Sea God Trident, another ray of the Sea God's Light illuminated it. He then fiercely flung the Sea God Trident out, and using his body as the center, he drew a massive circle in the sky with it.
A golden ring of light was outlined in mid-air. It directly met the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's attack, and the energy flung from the whale's tail violently collided with the drawn circle.
In an instant, the light in mid-air abruptly dimmed. This time, not a single sound erupted. The sky was terrifyingly silent. The previous energy almost completely vanished at the same moment, not even a trace remained.
After neutralizing this strike from the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, Neptune spoke, "Lying to you? In your heart, you know whether what I've said is true or false. You just can't accept reality."
"..."
The moment these words were uttered, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's rampant aura abruptly faltered as if a raw nerve had been struck. Clearly, Neptune was right; he simply couldn't accept reality. Any intelligent being would likely be unable to accept that their entire life was pre-arranged. No matter how futile their struggles, the ultimate outcome would be to become a human's soul ring—a mere stepping stone for others.
How could the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King accept this? How could he possibly bring himself to?
Damn it! I've cultivated painstakingly for who knows how many tens of thousands of years, constantly enduring heavenly lightning strikes and countless pains. Just as I was about to reach completion, about to achieve godhood... someone suddenly tells you to forget about it, that achieving godhood is impossible. You'll never achieve godhood in this life. In fact, if you did, you'd die an even more miserable death!
Who could easily accept such a cruel reality?
"Since you've reached your current realm, you must have long felt that unbreakable barrier, haven't you? Moreover, the taste of enduring a heavenly tribulation every time you break through the hundred-thousand-year limit isn't pleasant, is it?" Neptune, holding the Sea God Trident, calmly looked down at the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King. "To be honest, I quite admire you. The heavenly tribulations arranged by the God Realm for soul beasts are fundamentally designed to beat them to death. The fact that you survived ten heavenly tribulations to reach your current level means you truly possess extraordinary talent. If this were the era when beasts could still achieve godhood, your accomplishments would have made you a first-level god at the very least. Unfortunately, you were born in the wrong era."
"An era when beasts could still achieve godhood?!"
The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King keenly picked up on this crucial piece of information.
"From what you're saying, soul beasts used to be able to achieve godhood?" To hear the secrets regarding soul beasts achieving godhood, the surging aura around his body gradually calmed. Clearly, he had no intention of attacking for the time being.
"Of course, they could achieve godhood."
Neptune gave an affirmative answer. In order to subdue this old whale, he didn't mind revealing these things that were common knowledge among gods. In any case, once it knew, it would only feel more despair and completely abandon the thought of achieving godhood on its own. Then, he could seize the opportunity to threaten and entice it. Wouldn't the trial be completed then?
"The reason for all of this starts with the God Realm... How much do you know about it?" he suddenly asked. If the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King didn't even know about the God Realm, then he would have to start from the beginning.
"I only know that after becoming a god-level expert, one can ascend to the God Realm. The Sea God from ten thousand years ago ascended to the God Realm," the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King stated what he knew.
"Good, that makes things easier."
Neptune nodded and continued, "The God Realm, as the name suggests, is the world where god-level experts live. It governs numerous subordinate lesser worlds. For example, the Douluo Continent we're on is one of those many lesser worlds."
"And on these many lesser worlds, as long as one cultivates to the god-level, they must ascend to the God Realm after a certain period. They are not allowed to linger in the lesser worlds. Gods also cannot casually descend to the mortal realm. This is an ironclad rule of the God Realm!"
"So that's how it is. No wonder that kid Poseidon never came back to visit after achieving godhood and ascending to the God Realm all those years ago. It was because of the God Realm's rules. It seems the God Realm isn't as free as one might imagine," the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King said in realization.
'It's more than just 'not free'; it's practically a prison!' Neptune scoffed inwardly.
"Ahem, now for the important part!"
He coughed lightly before continuing, "A long, long time ago, in the lesser worlds subordinate to the God Realm, both humans and beasts could actually cultivate to achieve godhood. Moreover, there were no heavenly tribulations specifically targeting beasts. Beasts even had their own divine promotion hierarchy..."
"Then why has it become this hellish state now?!" the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King couldn't help but interrupt agitatedly.
No heavenly tribulations and their own divine promotion hierarchy... What kind of paradise was that?! Compared to the soul beasts of the past, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King felt like he was living in utter misery.
"However, all of this changed significantly after a Beast God named Dragon God ascended to the God Realm!" Neptune didn't mind his interruption and continued.
"In the God Realm at that time, the divine beasts who had achieved godhood were always subjugated by the other gods. But divine beasts capable of achieving godhood possessed wisdom and intellect no different from humans. How could they willingly remain subordinate to them?"
"Thus, the divine beasts, led by the Dragon God, launched a war that swept through the God Realm!"
"Ultimately, the divine beast faction suffered a complete defeat! All the divine beasts were slain!"
"And the victorious gods, to prevent future rebellions, set down a rule for the subordinate worlds: beasts shall never achieve godhood!"
"So this is... the reason why soul beasts cannot achieve godhood!"
The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King was now completely stunned. His mind was profoundly shocked, and he was so struck by this cruel reality that he was beginning to withdraw into himself.
But Neptune wasn't willing to let him off, delivering the finishing blow, "So, do you understand?"
"Even if you were to seize the Sea God's divinity from me and forcibly achieve godhood, all that would await you is utter annihilation!"
"Because the gods of the God Realm above would never tolerate the emergence of a divine beast!"
"In your situation, the moment you achieved godhood, the God Realm would dispatch Enforcers to obliterate your soul. The best possible outcome would be having your consciousness purged and being enslaved as true livestock."
(end of chapter)
