Douluo Continent: Reborn as Yuhao, they all have ulterior motives.

Chapter 439 The Torture of Desire (Part 2)

"Huh? Just how much good stuff does this kid have? And why did a scythe suddenly appear?"

Watching Gu Yuena put away the Life-Giving Greatsword and the Twin Swords from afar, and then pull out a strangely shaped scythe from somewhere, Rong Nianbing couldn't help but frown.

Although he had never seen it before, just by feeling the overwhelming aura of original sin, he knew that this super artifact must also have come from Huo Yuhao.

No way, so you have your own amazing weapon, and you're still after my measly little thing?!

The thought that he still didn't have a decent super artifact, while this kid just casually pulled one out, made Rong Nianbing feel extremely unhappy.

Especially after recalling that he had recently given away his most treasured Ice and Fire Twin Blades, a sense of regret inexplicably arose in his heart.

Who could have imagined this?

Originally, I couldn't bear to see the other person so poor, so I kindly offered to help him. I never expected that this kid was actually richer than me in private!

That's an amazing artifact!

Although he could use certain special means to temporarily fuse his artifacts to achieve the same quality, this method was ultimately only a temporary solution.

Forget it, I can't think about it anymore, the more I think about it, the more my heart aches.

Dispelling all her grievances, Rong Nianbing looked at the scythe in Gu Yuena's hand with a resentful expression, wanting to see what effect this divine weapon had.

But soon, he was so shocked by what he saw that he felt a chill run down his spine.

With a howling hurricane, the Golden Dragon King, completely driven to madness, suddenly spread its golden wings and its enormous body shot out of the giant crater like a cannonball, rushing towards Gu Yuena in the sky.

What awaited him was Gu Yuena's expressionless scythe.

The sharp scythe easily sliced ​​through the void before it, and its tip landed precisely on one of the Golden Dragon King's scales.

Then, unsurprisingly, it broke through the defenses and pierced into flesh and blood.

But unlike before, this time it was Gu Yuena, who had just gained the upper hand and knocked the Golden Dragon King down from the sky, who was sent flying in this collision.

Because she retrieved the Greatsword of Life, she also lost some of the power boost from wielding the Scythe of Sin, resulting in a significant weakening of her power, which was originally comparable to that of the Golden Dragon King.

However, Gu Yuena seemed to have anticipated the current situation. She first summoned the silver wings on her back to help her stabilize herself in the air, and then quickly raised her right hand to straighten her left forearm, which had been bent into a strange arc during the collision.

Immediately afterwards, as a flash of turquoise light containing rich life energy passed by, the fractured arm was restored to its original state in an instant.

Just as Gu Yuena was about to step forward and confront the Golden Dragon King again, a malevolent thought from Huo Yuhao suddenly interrupted her.

Through the telepathic connection granted by the Martial Soul Fusion Skill, she and Qiu'er were able to clearly sense each other's sudden surge of killing intent.

However, in just a moment, the two realized what had happened to Huo Yuhao.

Just as when the body's metabolic function is not strong enough, eating too much at once will result in incomplete digestion, the evil thoughts that were just devoured from the Golden Dragon King have clearly exceeded the scope that the Scythe of Sin can filter.

Because it was impossible to completely convert this evil thought into energy, it indirectly fed back to Huo Yuhao, the host, and affected him.

Compare this to Ma Hongjun, who was also consumed by desire before.

If the other party's consciousness only contained a portion of negative desires, and therefore had almost negligible influence on Huo Yuhao, then it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the Golden Dragon King's consciousness was entirely composed of negative emotions.

As a being that embodies all the evil thoughts of the Dragon God in his previous life, the amount of evil thoughts contained in his consciousness is absolutely enormous beyond everyone's imagination. It is undoubtedly a pipe dream to think that the Scythe of Sin can completely filter it with its current quality.

Fortunately, while this undertaking was extremely risky, it also brought unimaginably rich rewards.

Huo Yuhao could clearly feel that the power fed back by the Scythe of Sin from that one collision was almost equal to all that he had plundered from Ma Hongjun.

Keep in mind, this was just a small wound on the Golden Dragon King!

It is conceivable how terrifying his cultivation and spiritual power would be elevated once all of the Golden Dragon King's evil intentions were stripped away.

Of course, this is on the premise that Huo Yuhao can withstand it.

Are you alright?

Hearing Gu Yuena's concerned voice, Huo Yuhao suppressed the evil thoughts in his heart and responded with a somewhat complicated tone.

"It's okay, let's continue. If possible, slow down the pace a little; I need some time to adjust."

"it is good."

Gu Yuena didn't think much of it and looked at the Golden Dragon King again, her eyes calm and still.

Through the clash just now, she has gained a clear understanding of the strength of both sides.

Without wielding the Greatsword of Life, she was indeed weaker than the Golden Dragon King who had ignited the Flame of Life, but this was clearly not enough for him to secure the final victory.

The outcome of this battle was already decided the moment it began. With Huo Yuhao's power of creation, she had no chance of losing.

What follows is nothing more than a tedious and boring process.

However, this so-called tedium was only for Gu Yuena and the others. For Rong Nianbing, who was watching from the sidelines, it was undoubtedly a fierce battle that was enough to refresh his understanding.

Although Gu Yuena used many abilities during the battle with the Golden Dragon King, whether it was her own elemental fusion, Huo Yuhao's ultimate ice, soul impact, or even the power of destruction, the one that truly left a deep impression on him was the scythe that he had been very concerned about from the very beginning.

It seems to have no effect on enhancing the holder's power or elemental control. Apart from its sharper blade and its uniquely shaped, exquisitely crafted appearance, it seems to have no other distinguishing features.

But this very scythe, in his presence, used extremely absurd and bizarre methods to slowly and deliberately torment the Golden Dragon King's emotions.

That's right.

Lingchi (death by a thousand cuts)

This was the only word left in Rong Nianbing's mind after witnessing this battle whose outcome was already predetermined.

Every time it hit, the scythe only left a tiny wound on the Golden Dragon King's massive body, and sometimes it couldn't even break through the dragon scales' defense.

But as the battle continued and his wounds gradually accumulated, he noticed that the emotions in the Golden Dragon King's eyes seemed to be fading.

Whether it was madness or rage, it was all disappearing little by little.

At first, he mistakenly thought that the scythe had the magical ability to soothe emotions. Considering the aura of the God of Emotions that he had sensed from Huo Yuhao before, it was not surprising.

But gradually, he realized something was wrong.

That's not about calming emotions, but rather about extracting and stripping away.

It seemed that the scythe was only slashing at the Golden Dragon King's body, but in reality, each strike was carving away a small piece of the ethereal thing called "emotion" from the opponent's consciousness, or rather, soul.

But what shocked him was not just that. Most importantly, he discovered that the quality of the scythe seemed to be evolving in this way!

At first, it required both hands to hold the weapon and swing it with all one's might to barely break through the Golden Dragon King's defenses, but later, one could easily and effortlessly slice through the extremely hard dragon scales with just one hand.

In the end, Gu Yuena even had to deliberately restrain the power of her swings to avoid accidentally disemboweling the Golden Dragon King with her scythe.

As for the Golden Dragon King?

This guy was like someone who had undergone a frontal lobe removal surgery. He went from being extremely frenzied and violent to becoming numb step by step, and finally stood there motionless with empty eyes.

It no longer makes any sound, nor responds to anything from the outside world.

Although it still had the breath of life, it gave people the feeling that it was dead beyond dead.

This is the change that Rong Nianbing witnessed in just over ten minutes.

Perhaps because they were both gods of emotions, he had a similar understanding of this ability to strip away emotions as Huo Yuhao, and he inexplicably felt a sense of fear towards the scythe.

Just like Huo Yuhao back then, he was also very clear about how terrifying this artifact was to a person, or a being with self-awareness.

Especially for gods who possess eternal life, this is an ending that is even more unacceptable than death.

In this way, Gu Yuena defeated the Golden Dragon King in an incredibly bizarre and extremely brutal yet almost overwhelming manner.

Won the victory.

As the battle drew to a close, a vibrant green light, full of life, shone from her body once more, rapidly healing the injuries she had sustained during the fight due to the Golden Dragon King's resistance.

Although she gained the power of Huo Yuhao and Qiu'er through the Martial Soul Fusion Skill, the Golden Dragon King, as the other half of the Dragon God, was clearly not someone to be trifled with.

Especially after the opponent ignited the flame of life, if it weren't for the scythe of sin gradually eroding their desire to resist, this battle would not only have continued for quite some time, but its difficulty would have increased several levels.

Fortunately, it's all over now.

And in the process, she gained more than she could have imagined.

—A living Golden Dragon King who has completely lost the ability to resist and has been stripped of all negative emotions.

This not only means that she can absorb the opponent's power at any time without any risk, making up for her own deficiencies in physical fitness and strength, but also, most importantly...

That means she has finally gained the qualifications to take another step forward and truly become a Dragon God.

However, all of this came at a price...

After checking the Golden Dragon King's condition again and confirming that he had no chance of resisting, Gu Yuena finally put away her scythe and dispelled the Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

As the two beams of light separated from her, they transformed into the likenesses of Huo Yuhao and Qiu'er beside her, and her physical features quickly began to revert to her original appearance of silver hair and purple eyes.

In the blink of an eye, she had returned to her original state from three meters away.

But at this moment, Gu Yuena had no time to pay attention to anything else; instead, she looked at Huo Yuhao immediately.

"How are you?"

"I'm...I'm fine."

Huo Yuhao shook his head, panting. His azure eyes had turned a scarlet color similar to that of the Golden Dragon King, and the muscles on his face were twisting and twitching in the process.

Although he was trying his best to suppress it, the surging evil in his heart still made him look gloomy and ferocious.

It was as if countless crazy voices were roaring and howling in my ears, and incoherent babbling echoed in my mind, no matter what I did, I couldn't shake it off.

"How could it be so exaggerated?"

Seeing Huo Yuhao's appearance, Qiu'er couldn't help but change her expression: "If the Dragon God back then had so many negative emotions, he probably would have gone mad like the Golden Dragon King long ago, right?"

"The evil thoughts of the Dragon God are not the only thing on the Golden Dragon King."

Huo Yuhao weakly forced a smile and said with a bitter laugh the information he had gleaned from those delirious ramblings.

"His malice actually stemmed from all the dragons who died fighting alongside the Dragon God."

「!?」

Gu Yuena was startled. Recalling Huo Yuhao's previous reaction, her face darkened.

"You already knew this from the very beginning, didn't you? Why, why did you make me continue!?"

No wonder the Golden Dragon King harbored such terrifying resentment; no wonder he went mad.

She originally thought that the Golden Dragon King only contained the evil thoughts of the Dragon God. She estimated that with Huo Yuhao's willpower, although it would be somewhat painful, at least there wouldn't be any problems.

But now that she knows the truth, she doesn't think that way anymore.

Indeed, absorbing the evil thoughts of the entire dragon race would bring Huo Yuhao a greater boost, but one must be alive to withstand it!

This guy probably guessed that if she knew these things, she would never continue to use the Scythe of Sin in battle, so he deliberately concealed the information!

"To bear the disgrace of the nation is to be the master of the state. To bear the misfortune of the nation is to be the king of the world. These are things that must be experienced."

"The more I absorb, the easier it will be for you to become a Dragon God in the future, right?"

Seeing that Gu Yuena was unusually angry, Huo Yuhao took her hand and smiled, pretending to be relaxed.

"I've received so much help from you along the way, and now that I finally have the ability to help you, I have to do something for you. Otherwise, wouldn't I be letting you down after all your investment?"

"."

Gu Yuena opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

For no apparent reason, she suddenly recalled a day more than ten years ago in the Star Dou Great Forest.

At that time, she had just woken up from her deep sleep and found herself standing under the shade of a tree, listening to the young man she was meeting for the first time spouting nonsense. She listened to this guy, who was clearly human, claiming that he wanted to change the situation of soul beasts.

She remembers that the reason the boy gave back then was almost exactly the same as it is now: a simple "I want to do something for them."

"...You really haven't changed at all, Huo Yuhao."

She lowered her eyes, concealing the turbulent emotions in her heart, and couldn't help but sigh softly.

"So many years have passed, and you still love to act foolishly and never learn to be smart. I was really hoping that you would change, but now it seems that it was all just wishful thinking on my part."

"Really? I feel like I've changed a lot. Is it just your imagination?"

Huo Yuhao couldn't help but laugh, but as he laughed, he fell silent.

After a long while, he spoke again, offering a soft explanation.

"No matter how things change, some attitudes will never change. In a man's life, there will always be one or two things that require him to be foolish and to do some irrational things without thinking."

As if intrigued by this statement, Gu Yuena raised her eyebrows and asked a question out of curiosity.

"Then why are you doing these irrational things?"

"Hmm"

As if he was having some difficulty speaking, Huo Yuhao scratched his hair, his face showing embarrassment.

"Perhaps it's to play the hero in front of his woman?"

".childish."

Without prior arrangement, Qiu'er and Gu Yuena gave their evaluations in unison.

Huo Yuhao's face fell, and he was about to say something when Gu Yuena suddenly pulled him into her arms.

Then, he heard the other person's almost whispered words in his ear.

"We have to win."

Don't worry.

Huo Yuhao said softly, "I'm not that easy to die."

Although he is not yet able to completely eliminate the Golden Dragon King's evil intentions, he should be able to remain unaffected by them for the time being.

If he can achieve godhood based on the seven original sins as he envisioned, he will be able to control the Scythe of Sin more precisely, allowing it to devour the evil thoughts from the Golden Dragon King within him.

For him, when this idea first came to mind many years ago, all of this might have seemed somewhat unattainable.

But now, he is just one final step away from succeeding.

Long before Rong Nianbing descended to the mortal realm, he had already condensed the ninth soul ring of the Spirit Eye and the Ice Emperor Martial Soul, allowing his cultivation level to leap from the bottleneck of level ninety to level ninety-eight.

But that wasn't all. He then immediately condensed his third soul core, pushing himself from level 98 to the level 99 bottleneck.

Despite the near-death experience he went through when condensing his third soul core in his previous life, with his powerful physique now enhanced by the power of creation and destruction, this threshold that almost cost him his life is no longer a challenge.

Almost effortlessly, he reached the Limit Douluo realm, only one step away from becoming a god.

However, it is precisely this last step that has been the problem that has been troubling him.

To achieve godhood using the seven deadly sins is an incredibly difficult task.

Based on his past life's experience, even though Huo Yuhao's physical attributes had surpassed those of an ordinary God-King, he had no confidence whatsoever that he could fuse with and control the seven original sins.

Just as the God of Destruction said.

That was a power that even the King of Gods could not bear.

It was precisely because he understood this that he chose to exchange his own body and the physical form left behind by the Goddess of Life after her death for a gift that Huo Yuhao could not refuse, as a condition for him to protect the divine realm.

The combination of the Gold of Life and the Ancestor of the Dragon has already given Huo Yuhao a physique comparable to that of a God-King. If he were to use the bodies of the God of Destruction and the Goddess of Life for another round of body tempering, his physical attributes would undoubtedly be further enhanced, far exceeding the level of a God-King.

Only in this way could his body have the opportunity to fully contain and control the origins of the seven original sins.

"Next, I will go to the realm of the gods to prepare for becoming a god."

As he spoke, Huo Yuhao pointed at the Golden Dragon King: "He's in your hands now. If he encounters any danger, contact me immediately through your mental power, and I'll come right away."

"Don't you need me to come with you?"

"No need. Let those whose cultivation is stuck at level 99 come with me to the God Realm. You should stay here and try to become a Dragon God."

Huo Yuhao said, "Now that the two Tang Sans are missing, what we need to do is to increase our strength as much as possible to prevent any possible accidents. Moreover, by preparing for both possibilities, if one of them fails, the other can help cover for us."

The Dragon God's combat power is self-evident, and may even be much stronger than when he forcibly fused with the origins of the seven original sins in his previous life. With such a powerful being, even if he fails to become a god, Gu Yuena will have enough power to deal with Tang San.

".I see."

Seeing Gu Yuena nod in agreement, Huo Yuhao turned his head to look at the blonde girl beside him.

"Qiu'er, please inform Ye Guyi and Dong'er that we need to leave immediately without delay."

(End of this chapter)