"The Ancestor of Clear Sky, Tang Skybreaker!"
Wu Ling looked startled. Then, he tilted his head and asked with a face full of confusion, "Who?"
Seeing Wu Ling's reaction, Tang Skybreaker said hatefully, "So the people of later generations have truly forgotten me? Damn the Sea God. Damn the Asura God!"
Wu Ling had only been pretending to look relaxed, but when he heard Tang Skybreaker mention the Sea God and the Asura God, his expression gradually turned serious.
"Mister Tang, do you have some grudge against the Asura God?"
Tang Skybreaker looked at Wu Ling with hatred in his eyes. Wu Ling could sense that the hatred was not aimed at him, but at the Asura God.
"You know the Asura God too, brat? What relationship do you have with him?"
Wu Ling smiled and explained, "To be honest, I have a little feud with the Asura God, or rather, with the Asura God's successor. Because of family reasons, that successor and I did not get along. So I crippled him directly."
At the same time, Wu Ling thought to himself, And that person is also a descendant of yours, Ancestor of Clear Sky. I wonder what you would think if you knew that several of your descendants across the generations have been tied to the Asura God.
Tang Skybreaker looked at Wu Ling with some suspicion. Anyone capable of becoming the Asura God's successor had to possess exceptional strength and talent. Defeating, even crippling, such a person should have been something worth bragging about. Yet from this young man's tone, it sounded like he had done something completely trivial.
But after thinking about it, Tang Skybreaker accepted it. This young man had entered this place alone. Although he only had seven Spirit Rings, his real strength could rival a Titled Sage. Defeating one successor of the Asura God was indeed not a big deal for him.
As for whether Wu Ling was lying, Tang Skybreaker did not care. He could not sense that hated aura on Wu Ling, and that was enough. If what Wu Ling said was true, then in a certain sense, the two of them stood on the same side.
"Hmph. The Asura God is a petty villain, pettier than a needle point. Since you crippled his successor, your future will not be pleasant... just like mine back then."
When he said this, the hatred and rage in the old man's eyes almost condensed into substance. Wu Ling believed that if someone gave him a Sharingan right now, he might open a Mangekyo on the spot.
More importantly, Wu Ling sensed the scent of gossip.
He immediately took two delicate stools from his storage ring. Then a bag of sunflower seeds and a pot of old wine appeared as well.
Wu Ling crouched on the stool like an auntie gossiping at the village entrance, cracking seeds with one hand and holding wine with the other.
"Come, come. You have a story, and I have wine. If you are willing to talk, I am willing to listen."
Tang Skybreaker froze. He could not understand how Wu Ling, who had carried the bearing of a genius only moments ago, had suddenly turned into this.
After a while, however, he slowly tried sitting down. He took a small sip of wine, ate a few sunflower seeds, and his eyes lit up. Before long, the two of them had fought over and finished an entire pot of wine and a whole bag of seeds.
Then Wu Ling took out another bag of seeds and another pot of wine.
This time, Tang Skybreaker first sipped his wine slowly. Then he cracked seeds while telling the story of what had happened back then.
"My name is Tang Skybreaker. I was an orphan. My Martial Soul was originally only a black, unimpressive sickle. After that... forget it. Many things happened, but those matters are not worth mentioning. The final result was that I died."
As he spoke, his face gradually filled with reminiscence.
"I died, but I did not die completely. On the verge of death, I sensed the soul."
Wu Ling's expression became somewhat subtle. Tang Skybreaker's experience reminded him of someone: Ghost, who had likewise experienced a Martial Soul mutation and revival after death.
Then, Tang Skybreaker continued. Just as Wu Ling expected, his Martial Soul had mutated.
"My Martial Soul changed. It went from a little sickle into a large, pitch-black, exquisitely shaped scythe. My aptitude also rose rapidly.
"Originally, I wanted to name my Martial Soul the Death God's Scythe, but after thinking it over, I felt that name might be too high-profile. So I changed it to the Nine Nether Scythe."
The Ancestor of Clear Sky had a scythe for a Martial Soul, but his descendants had hammers. He hates the Asura God too. Do not tell me the Asura God cuckolded him somehow.
When this thought crossed Wu Ling's mind, even the way he looked at Tang Skybreaker carried sympathy.
Tang Skybreaker was an old fox who had lived for who knew how many years. How could he fail to notice Wu Ling's gaze? His face immediately darkened. But Wu Ling was the only living person he had been able to talk to in all these years, and Tang Skybreaker still needed him to release his built-up desire for conversation. So after draining a cup of wine in one gulp, Tang Skybreaker ignored Wu Ling's look and continued.
"In short, many more things happened after that. When I finally looked back, I realized that I had already become number one in the world. No one could withstand a single swing of my scythe.
"It was at that time that those two appeared.
"One was a man, and one was a woman. The man held a golden trident and came from the sea. The woman held a sword of blazing sun and emerged from a hidden clan.
"I was already invincible under heaven, and yet I had once again met opponents equal to me. I cannot describe how excited I was.
"After that, the three of us sparred with one another. Our bond also gradually deepened. But because of our age and the passing years, even I cannot say how much of that bond was true and how much was false. Since every battle ended with me holding a slight advantage, I became the eldest among the three of us.
"After who knows how many years, our strength had already surpassed level ninety-nine Titled Sage. We were only one step away from creating our own divine seats. Back then, we had even decided on our divine positions.
"The two of them chose to become the Sea God and the Angel God. As for me, I was known as Death God.
"All three of our divine positions were originally first-class gods. But in mine, I saw hope of going one step further. While I was gradually becoming a god, I suddenly realized something. Gods can die too.
"From that moment on, I had an idea. I would not only become the god who governed human death. I would become the god who governed the death of gods."
Hearing such a grand ambition, Wu Ling immediately played along.
"Wow, amazing. But judging by how you look now, you failed, right? And because of the Asura God."
With a crack, the sunflower seeds in Tang Skybreaker's hand were crushed into powder. He ground out each word through clenched teeth.
"Yes. It was the Asura God. And the Sea God. If not for those two, how could I have fallen to this state?"