"Why did it go quiet all of a sudden?"
"Was he stunned by my words?" Ming Hui thought to himself, still maintaining his illusion with closed eyes.
All that planning and careful wording over the past few days finally paid off—he was quite satisfied with himself.
Still, he didn't intend to open his eyes right away. It wasn't every day he got the chance to act this cool; he had to hold the moment longer.
If the teacher doesn't speak, I won't open my eyes!
But just then, he noticed a faint golden glow emerging within his spirit skill perception range. A warmth washed over his body, indescribably comfortable.
"Did Teacher enhance the soul tool with some special effect?" Ming Hui was startled.
"What's going on!?" the others in the square were also shocked by the sudden golden light that had appeared and then descended upon Junior Brother Ming Hui.
A second later—
"This is a response from the gods, a divine sign!" an elderly villager cried out in astonishment, immediately falling to his knees.
Crash! Following that lead, the square was quickly filled with kneeling figures—mostly elder villagers from the base of the mountain.
Their hearts brimmed with hope.
Hope that their children would have smooth paths ahead. Hope that those who had yet to awaken their martial souls would manifest spirit power—and hopefully with high innate power.
These elders wore sincere, devout expressions as they prayed from the depths of their hearts.
"..." The younger generation glanced at their elders, then followed suit without hesitation.
If the elders were kneeling, how could the younger ones not? There was no shame in it!
Besides, judging from the situation, it seemed the two gods really did exist—and were watching. Why not take the chance to make a wish?
On this point, the kids were in full agreement.
"Tonight I'll confess to Xiao Fang—God of Destruction, Goddess of Life, please bless me so I can win her heart!"
"Honorable God of Destruction, if I ever get the chance to go out and train, I swear I'll do my best to eliminate evil soul masters and cleanse the continent. I don't ask for great power, just a smoother cultivation journey."
"Hopefully all the way to Title Douluo!"
"Please, Goddess of Life, let me successfully awaken my martial soul a second time!"
"Goddess, grant me a boyfriend!"
"..." All silently made their wishes in their hearts.
Ahem. Poison Undying lightly coughed, then respectfully dropped to one knee. He raised his right fist to his chest and bowed his head slightly to show respect.
He revered heaven, earth, and the gods—but the only ones he would ever kneel to on both knees were his parents who had given him life and raised him.
The other senior officials saw this and quickly followed suit.
"A divine sign? Was that golden light something Teacher arranged? That was slick!" Ming Hui was tempted to open his eyes.
But he held back—Teacher hadn't called for him yet!
Still, he couldn't resist using his true martial soul to discreetly peer ahead. Through his mental domain's perspective, he saw the square filled with kneeling people.
Faint wisps of pale yellow smoke-like energy rose from the tops of their heads into the sky—some stronger, some weaker.
"They're all kneeling to the twin gods? Could that rising mist be the so-called power of faith?" Ming Hui guessed internally.
"Then I definitely can't cancel the simulation soul skill or dispel the twin god illusions." He pretended not to notice and kept maintaining the illusion.
At that moment, the golden light in the sky had already faded. But far away in the Divine Realm, under the towering Tree of Life glowing faintly with gold—
"???" The Goddess of Life, sipping tea at a stone table, suddenly froze and looked up at the canopy.
The God of Destruction sitting across from her also paused, instinctively raising his head.
From their divine sight, they saw threads of light falling from above and connecting to them.
"This is... thought power formed by faith?" A trace of surprise flashed in the Goddess of Life's eyes as she murmured.
The next second, the divine couple exchanged a look, their expressions puzzled.
As innate gods, they had no established worship or inheritance in the mortal realm—so where was this faith coming from?
"We'll know if we look." The God of Destruction frowned slightly, raising a hand to draw one thread of faith energy into his palm and extended his divine sense.
The Goddess of Life did the same.
"Honorable God of Destruction... Honorable Goddess of Life..." Prayers echoed in their ears.
The couple selectively ignored the content of the prayers, instead following the trail of divine sense back to its source.
In a flash, their awareness passed through the Divine Realm hub and entered the passageway.
"There are two sources."
They soon reached the Douluo Plane and identified two origin points for the faith energy.
They immediately arrived above the place with the highest concentration—and highest quality—of faith.
"???" Gazing down at the massive Tree of Life in the square, and at the two familiar figures standing beneath it, the divine couple was stunned.
The God of Destruction was the first to recover. Frowning, he wasted no time and directly injected his divine sense into the weakest villager's mind to scan their memory.
Then he froze again—his gaze shifted instinctively to the child standing in the center: Ming Hui.
His eyes flickered with confusion and a strange emotion.
"Xiao Zi, find anything?" the Goddess of Life transmitted mentally.
She disliked probing others' memories—it was disrespectful to life. But her husband acted swiftly, often focused only on results. She couldn't stop him even if she wanted to. Fortunately, this time he only gathered information without harming anyone.
The God of Destruction said nothing. His divine sense extended again, descending into the Qing family grounds, reading another person's memory.
He quickly returned, transmitting all gathered information to his wife.
Including the scene when Ming Hui awakened his martial soul.
"He actually saw us in a dream?" The Goddess of Life was slightly surprised, then contemplative.
"Could he be a reincarnated old god?"
"Xiao Zi, this child saw us during a life-and-death crisis in a dream. It feels like a past memory was reawakened under extreme stress. The clarity—and the fact that he thought of us first—suggests deep past familiarity."
"And subconscious trust in us."
"This concerns the Divine Realm. It must be investigated." The God of Destruction's tone was calm but firm as he activated his divine sense once more.
"Xiao Zi, don't!" the Goddess of Life hurriedly stopped him.
"This child is currently sustaining a simulated soul skill, already under mental strain from maintaining it for some time. Your divine sense carries the aura of destruction—it could harm him. Let me do it."
The God of Destruction looked at Ming Hui, then nodded slightly.
Without delay, the Goddess of Life sent her divine sense into Ming Hui's forehead—and immediately felt a powerful force resisting her.
Startled, she withdrew at once and looked at her husband.
"There's a seal of time-space energy beneath his spiritual sea, guarding his soul."
"I can't gauge its full strength, but it's definitely at the divine level. Forcing our way in could cause irreversible damage."
"Xiao Zi, whether or not this child is a reincarnated old god we once knew, we cannot harm him."
"Also, I didn't sense any divine position aura on him."
Time-space energy... The God of Destruction couldn't help but recall the Eternal Ice Crystal that had injured Tang San back in the Divine Realm.
If Tang San hadn't been wearing the pseudo-supreme Shura God armor and quickly channeled Shura divine power, he would've been frozen even longer. Time-space energy at the level of Eternal Gold was no joke—not even for him. It would take time to fully dissolve.
Physical wounds were manageable; lingering internal damage was harder to treat. Tang San was still stuck slacking in the Divine Realm because of that.
"Could it be that the Eternal Gold's spiritual will fell to this realm after self-detonation and merged with a mortal body to be reborn?" the God of Destruction pondered aloud.
"That's impossible!" The Goddess of Life shook her head, better versed in life laws. "Spiritual will is not the same as a soul."
"The timeline is far too short."