God of Storms

Over the course of three days in the Douluo Divine Realm, Gu Xingyun underwent the excruciating pain of his spirit bones being ripped from his body to become the truly divine Thunder Armor. Once he had succeeded, the God of Storms appeared to him.

"Gu Xingyun, you have completed all requirements. Now, I grant you the position of God of Storms."

The Lightning Spear glowed. The Thunder Armor changed his clothes to purple with gold metal across the shoulders and down his sides. A swirling purple and gold halo appeared at his back. Soon all of Gu Xingyun's spirit rings turned red with purple and gold wisps swirled within, having become top-tier rings.

His predecessor nodded in satisfaction. "The God of Storms position has been passed successfully. Gu Xingyun, take of the mission of the God of Storms, and fight for justice."

Gu Xingyun bowed his head. "I will. I will fight for peace on the Continent and avenge my beloved."

With that, he turned and broke out of the Douluo Divine Realm. When he descended upon Liuying Gorge, everyone looked up. The other Tyrants flew up.

"Xingyun, you've done it!"

He nodded slowly. "I've become the God of Storms. I will avenge Xiao Shen."

A feminine figure came up besides the now former God of Storms. "Your successor is powerful. Once their Seniors and they rise to the Douluo Divine Realm, it will have its strongest Gods yet."

"Is that why you stole the Goddess of Nine Stars' soul from her body?"

The woman hmphed. "What? My position has very specific requirements, you know that."

"You're not the Goddess of Love, do you really think this match-making will work?"

"Don't worry, I have my ways."

<><><>

Elsewhere, waves sloshed. A body sat in the lotus position on a rock in the center of this vast body of water. There was no wind, no breathing, no sound at all. Until...

"Ru Shenqi."

The body on the rock did not move at all. Their eyes remained closed.

"Ru Shenqi."

The person's eyebrows scrunched.

"Ru Shenqi."

Finally, a pair of greyish eyes opened. The young woman looked down sadly.

"Ru Shenqi, you sacrificed your life as a God and as a Head Flamen so that your beloved could become a God. That is truly commendable."

"Benefactor, why can't I see anything?"

"Because out there, you're still dead. In here, in your mind's sea, you've been returned to the mortal state you were born in. You were born blind, and so you cannot see."

"Then, Benefactor, might Xiao Shen ask who you are?"

"I am Yi Xiangli(1), Quasi-God King of the Douluo Divine Realm."

Ru Shenqi thought about it. I don't know of any Yi Xiangli.

"If I'm dead, then how am I speaking with you?"

"Because I brought your soul to your mind's sea. Here, we can converse."

"My soul? You can control my soul?"

"Yes. I am the Goddess of Souls after all."

The waves crashed up against the rock.

"Then, what do you want from me?"

"You clearly care for the world. Therefore, I want you to return to it. I want you to take up the duty of helping the pained souls finally be at peace."

Ru Shenqi frowned. "You want me to become the Goddess of Souls."

"Yes. Don't you want to return to your friends and beloved?"

"I've already given up that life. Goddess Yi, please just let me reincarnate."

"If you're willing to reincarnate as the Goddess of Souls, then I'll leave you be."

This stubborn Goddess. I don't want another God position. I just want everyone to be safe.

"Then help them be safe by returning. You don't know the power of this God seat, do you young one?"

Ru Shenqi shook her head.

"You once had the Death God Domain. This will be familiar to you then. Darkness clouds the sky. Misery clouds the mind. Realm of Sorrowful Souls!"

She heard the despondent cries of the dead in her ears. Her hands came up, clutching at her head, trying to block out the noise.

"Fifth divine skill, Abyssal Souls!"

The souls danced around her. She could feel their ghostly touch and shuddered in fear. Water splashed on her body, but she didn't feel it at all.

"Second divine skill, Cry of the Dead."

A pounding pressure built up in Ru Shenqi's head. Even sadder cries echoed.

"Stop, please stop! Just make it stop!"

Finally, the cries died down before fading completely. Ru Shenqi panted. Just then Yi Xiangli materialized in front of her, hovering over the water. Her soft pastel yellow hair hung down her back as the skirt of her icy blue and wrought silver dress. Silver eyeshadow lined her lids, highlighting her stormy grey eyes. Her eight icy blue divine rings appeared.

She explained, "Only someone who has died, thus experiencing what it's like to become a soul, can inherit the God of Souls God seat."

Ru Shenqi curled her nose. "I don't want to be a God again."

"But do you want to live and save your friends?"

Her eyebrows scrunched. "Save them?"

Yi Xiangli waved her hand appearing over Liuying Gorge, invisible. Ru Shenqi's soul accompanied her. They looked out over the blood-soaked ground and the countless corpses. The Shrek Six Tyrants were greatly injured, and even the Shrek Seven Devils were worn down. The Golden Generation stood on the balcony of Liuying Fortress, perfectly fine. Sensing this sorry sight, Ru Shenqi whimpered.

"If you want to save them, you need to be revived. The only Godhood that can revive you now is the God of Souls God seat. Ru Shenqi, it's time for you to make your choice."

Her bottom lip quivered. "I- I'll do it. I accept the God of Souls God seat."

Yi Xiangli smirked. She waved her hand and a bright icy blue light fell over Ru Shenqi. Soon, the darkness disappeared as her vision was returned to her. She turned to the Quasi-God King next to her, nodding in thanks. Yi Xiangli pointed at her previous body, causing it to spontaneously disappear. Taking Ru Shenqi's soul back to the Douluo Divine Realm with her, she began the process to merge the two once again. After four hours, bright icy blue light exploded from the young God.

This time, her hair was a shiny jet black and her skin was deathly white. When she opened her shimmering silver-rimmed eyes, they were icy blue, hinting at light grey. Her long sleeve, floor length dress was white with swirls of icy blue and silver around the bosom and collar. All ten fingernails were a dazzling icy blue with silver sparkles. The Penta Divine Pearl Diadem glowed brilliantly on her forehead.

"Go, child. Your friends need you now more than ever."

Ru Shenqi nodded and teleported away. She reappeared at Liuying Gorge, choosing to remain invisible for the moment. Taking in the scene below her, she saw that her friends and teachers were all still greatly worn out. Ning Rongrong's Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda was dimming along with all of the other Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagodas. Oscar was depleting his spirit power faster than he could replenish it, distributing as many sausages as he could. Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing got knocked out of their Hell White Tiger. Ma Hongjun's fire was not as explosive as it usually was. Despite being Gods, Gu Xingyun and Ming Yong were wearing down. Bai Shanxin and Shu Jiaxiang's speeds were drastically slower. Fang Youyou's face was blanched from having fully healed the maximum number of spirit masters that he could. The royal armies were much worse off.

Spirit Empire really has gone to far this time!

A bone-chilling iciness suddenly blanketed Liuying Gorge. Tang San, Gu Xingyun, and Hu Liena all shared the same though. The feeling of intent to kill from Slaughter City!

A portal broke open. Swirls of silver and icy blue wisps danced around the edge of it. Ru Shenqi had teleported back to the Douluo Divine Realm to be able to make a very dramatic entrance. She emerged, much to the surprise of her friends, Seniors, and teachers. Her cold gaze fell on the three standing on the balcony of Liuying Fortress.

"Spirit Empire," her voice echoed, dripping with ice. "Your time is up. You have caused so much unrest and death that the souls of the departed are crying out to me. Pleading for me to help them pass on peacefully. And yet, they were murdered brutally. They cannot pass on peacefully."

"Xiao Shen!" the Shrek Six Tyrants cried.

Hu Liena gaped. "Another Tang San. Another God resurrected. Another miracle of the Douluo Divine Realm."

Ru Shenqi threw out her hand and said, "Darkness clouds the sky. Misery clouds the mind. Realm of Sorrowful Souls!"

Everyone on the battlefield suddenly heard the wailings of the deceased. Many clutched at their heads, trying to block out the misery. Tang San looked up at his Junior and frowned. Hu Liena knew this domain was even stronger than the Demon Hell evolved skill of the Death God Domain. This was a true divine domain.

Ru Shenqi's eight red spirit rings lit up. Then, the divine rings descended one-by-one until there was a total of eight icy blue spirit rings with silver streaks in them. Cries of alarm went up from both sides.

Eight divine rings, Hu Liena thought miserably. Just who's God seat did Xiao Shen take?

"Second divine skill, Cry of the Dead!"

She applied the same pounding pressure she had experienced to everyone else's head. Soldiers and weaker spirit masters fell to their knees. Stronger ones who had enough mental power left weren't as affected, but they still felt a headache coming on.

"Supreme Pontiff Hu Liena, if you retreat now, I won't release the souls of the dead on your troops. But if you insist of fighting any more today, then don't blame me for being rude."

Taking the chance, Hu Liena yelled, "Fall back!"

Spirit Empire crawled back into its fortress, locking its doors and windows, holing up like a bear ready for hibernation. Ru Shenqi descended to the ground, and her friends came running over.

"Xiao Shen!" They barreled into her but immediately noticed how ice cold her body was. "Xiao Shen, are you alright?"

Before she could answer, Tang San and the other Devils approached with the Golden Iron Triangle. He said, "Xiao Shen, it seems you've been chosen by another God. And a powerful God at that. You already have eight divine rings."

"It's not a coexistence like what you have, Sect Leader. The Goddess of Nine Stars position has been destroyed."

"You wanted it to be, didn't you?"

She nodded. "It's too much tyrannical power for any one person to have. Even me. So, I decided to burn the Inheritance and prevent the God seat from being passed down ever again."

"Then who's God seat do you have now, Xiao Shen?" Flender asked as he pushed up his glasses.

Her gaze turned cold as she shook her head. "I didn't want to be revived. I didn't want to be a God. I didn't want to live this life again and would have rather just reincarnated. But this Goddess insisted. She used your situation to persuade me into coming back. Seeing all of you in such a plight, how could I not agree to inherit her God seat?"

"Then which God are you now?" Gu Xingyun pressed.

She sighed and replied, "I am the Goddess of Souls."

~~~

1. 易香力 - given name comprised of 香 "Fragrant/Aromatic" and 力 "Power/Strength"