416

"Divine-level spiritual power, semi-divine-level physical body, and energy that's nearly approaching the semi-divine level."

The God of Pride sized up Chen Ming, a look of interest flashing in his eyes.

"Not bad."

Due to the influence of the power of original sin, the God of Pride didn't have the best personality. As a deity, he possessed the qualities a god should have—he cared deeply about his companions and had a clear sense of right and wrong. However, he was undeniably a very proud individual. In the past, his pride had caused him to clash with other gods on numerous occasions.

It could be said that even in the entire divine realm, there were very few people whom he truly regarded highly.

Originally, the God of Pride was merely curious about what kind of human had caught the attention of the two main gods above him. However, upon seeing Chen Ming, the God of Pride felt as if his years of effort had been in vain.

If it had taken Chen Ming a hundred years to accumulate this level of power, the God of Pride would have simply nodded and acknowledged his talent.

But judging by his lifespan, the God of Pride estimated that this human before him had probably not even lived fifty years—no, perhaps not even twenty-five years.

What kind of level was this?

 This was someone who, within just twenty years of learning cultivation after becoming self-aware, had already reached this degree of power! He seemed to be constantly teetering on the edge of ascending into the divine realm.

Even for the God of Pride, who had existed as a first-level deity since the era of the Dragon God and had witnessed countless gifted beings from the lower realms ascend to the divine realm through their abilities and talent, the sight of this young man still left him with the impression that those other ascended gods had far inferior talent.

"May I ask if Senior is the God of Pride, one of the Seven Deadly Sins and a first-level god in the divine realm, as described in the message left to me by the God King of Destruction?"

"Yes, I am the God of Pride," the deity nodded and answered straightforwardly.

From his appearance, the God of Pride—who had descended into the Douluo World with most of his power sealed—looked like a man with long golden hair. He was dressed in luxurious, noble clothing, exuding an air of arrogance that seemed to look down on everything around him. He gave off the impression of being a nobleman from a prestigious family or the heir of some ancient soul master clan.

However, contrary to his appearance, the God of Pride was not as unapproachable as he seemed. In fact, for those he acknowledged, he was far easier to get along with than most people—his personality could be described as cold on the outside but warm on the inside.

Looking at Chen Ming, the God of Pride's spiritual power stirred slightly, activating the contingency left for him by the two main gods before his descent.

As the auras of Destruction and Life faintly emanated, Chen Ming could feel the two divine trials in his spiritual sea becoming more active. When he slightly released some of his energy, the auras of the Thunder God and the Damage God spilled out, resonating with the power of the God of Pride.

"The one chosen by the master was indeed you. This aura couldn't have been faked by any other deity," the God of Pride nodded but still seemed a little puzzled.

"But, why haven't you activated the two divine trials on you yet? Before descending, I looked into the cultivation system of your world. Based on your world's standards, you should be at the level of a Soul Sage. In your world, there are only two levels left after this—Soul Douluo and Title Douluo—before you reach the limit."

"Why haven't you activated the divine trials yet? Divine trials greatly transform those who have not yet become gods. The earlier they're activated, the more they can enhance your talent. According to the divine realm's rules, a nine-trial divine trial leads to godhood, eight trials lead to becoming a high priest, and seven trials are considered the limit where you can still accept divine enhancement without bearing any responsibilities."

"By all accounts, you should've activated your divine trials long ago!"

"Senior's insight is impressive. I am in awe," Chen Ming cupped his hands and explained the real reason he had yet to activate the two divine trials.

"In our Douluo World, the difficulty of leveling up is different. After becoming a Title Douluo, every level of advancement is exponentially harder than the previous ones. Advancing from Rank 94 onward is more difficult than the entire process of cultivating from a soul master to a Title Douluo."

"That's why I plan to wait until I reach the Soul Douluo level before activating the divine trials. With the help of the trials, I hope to push my strength to the limit of this world. That way, I can save a great deal of time that would otherwise be spent cultivating, and I can focus on forging my divine position."

"You're quite greedy. Trying to use the divine trials to skip the most difficult parts of the journey—maybe you should try for the God of Gluttony's divine position. I think, given the remnants of the Sin of Wrath in you and your greedy nature, you'd be quite compatible with his divine position."

"If you fail to secure a first-level divine position in the end, I'll introduce you to the God of Gluttony."

Hearing such blunt words, the God of Pride didn't hold back from teasing him.

"The main god asked me to bring something from the divine realm for you, but due to the rules of the divine realm, I can't give it to you directly. I was going to create some kind of trial for you to go through to follow the rules properly, but now it seems like that's unnecessary. Activate the two divine trials first. After completing a few assessments, I'll be able to give you the items properly."

"May I ask, Senior, what treasures you've brought?"

"I'm a first-level god, traveling all the way through the divine realm's passage to bring you something. Do you think I'd harm you?" The God of Pride rolled his eyes. However, remembering the God of Destruction's instructions to monitor whether the God of Asura was up to any tricks on Douluo Continent, he reluctantly explained.

"I brought two Life Fruits. You wouldn't have heard of them—they're rare treasures that only exist in the divine realm. Normally, when mortals consume them, their very essence of life is elevated to the level of a divine official or even a third-level god. Even for second-level and first-level gods, they provide immense benefits."

"In the divine realm, only a select few people are qualified to enjoy them. These are the supreme treasures of the Goddess of Life. They're usually consumed only by the God Kings during exclusive banquets, or they're used as rewards for meritorious gods. Newly ascended deities rarely even catch a glimpse of these treasures."

"You should count yourself lucky. This is something countless gods in the divine realm couldn't obtain even if they begged for it."

As he spoke, the God of Pride took out a fruit resembling an emerald from the pouch at his waist. The moment the fruit appeared, the life energy radiating from it nourished the surrounding land and attracted a massive convergence of spiritual energy. Standing in front of the God of Pride, Chen Ming could feel an instinctive hunger.

His body and spirit were both urging him to eat the fruit immediately. Just consuming it would bring about an extraordinary transformation.

To prevent any issues, the God of Pride merely displayed the life fruit briefly before putting it away. However, even the aura left behind by the treasure caused the surrounding spiritual energy to become unusually active.

When the God of Pride stored the fruit again, even with Chen Ming's exceptional self-control, he couldn't help but feel a sense of loss.

Because during his Sixth Soul Ring, Chen Ming had imitated part of the aura belonging to the Gods of Life and Destruction. He could clearly feel that the emerald fruit contained pure life energy—something that was incredibly rare, even among divine powers.