After his rebirth, Poseidon had been secluded in cultivation to restore his divine power.
He emerged today specifically to watch the mecha battle between Xia Yi and Tang Wulin.
According to Tang Hao, Xia Yi didn't belong to the Douluo Plane at all—he was an alien demon from another realm who had illegally crossed over.
The reason Leng Yaozhu and her sister had risen so rapidly was because they had obtained cultivation methods from other planes through Xia Yi.
Poseidon was also curious: just how capable was this so-called alien demon, Xia Yi?
He had no idea until he saw it with his own eyes—then he was utterly shocked. Xia Yi's control over the ice element today was already on par with Poseidon himself at his peak.
In other words, even if he were at the height of his power as the Sea God—but with his power suppressed to the Soul Sage level—and disregarding physical strength and other factors, just based on control alone, Xia Yi could rival him with that one ice-type soul skill.
This forced Poseidon to abandon any thoughts of directly confronting Xia Yi and his group head-on.
"How is that possible? Even Dong'er couldn't defeat him? Aren't you a first-rank god?" Long Yeyue exclaimed in disbelief at Poseidon's words.
So, before the Divine Realm returns, would she really be unable to bring down Leng Yaozhu from her pedestal?
"You saw the match this afternoon too—it was just one soul skill, and yet it was used to such an extent. That all-encompassing ice and snow field was even more formidable than the domain of the former northern ruler, Snow Empress. And that final sword strike—it surpassed the Empress' Imperial Sword in many aspects," Poseidon said gravely. The Ice Sea bordered the extreme north, and before he became a god, he had challenged the Snow Empress there and fought her.
He had a certain level of understanding of the Snow Empress.
The Snow Empress… it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her the pinnacle of the ice element on the Douluo Plane.
Yet Xia Yi had actually surpassed her.
How could he not be shocked?
After all, Xia Yi had achieved that with just one soul skill.
Whereas the Snow Empress had relied on multiple skills to produce the same effect.
"Is Xia Yi really that powerful?" Even Chen Xinjie found it hard to believe now.
Poseidon thought for a moment, then slowly said, "We'll have to see how things unfold. If I regain my divine position while Xia Yi and Leng Yaozhu haven't become gods yet—or if they've only become lower-tier gods—and the Silver Dragon King hasn't fully recovered, then I'll step forward and set things right. But if they've gained the strength of first-rank gods, then we'll need to flee the Douluo Plane and seek out others like me who have passed on their divine positions and are either waiting for the next reincarnation or wandering the universe. If we gather enough strength, we'll strike back at the Douluo Plane. If not, then we'll have to wait for the Divine Realm to return."
"Is that really our only choice?" Long Yeyue asked, still unwilling to accept it.
"Whether it's the full recovery of the Silver Dragon King or Xia Yi becoming a first-rank god—those are things we can't possibly counter. If that happens, the best option is to hide and develop in secret, and call for reinforcements," Poseidon explained.
"Develop in secret? What makes you think your secret development could surpass theirs done openly?" Long Yeyue asked bitterly.
"What then—are you suggesting we throw our lives away?" Poseidon responded impatiently.
"How do you know it's a death sentence if we don't at least try?" Long Yeyue gritted her teeth.
"Then stay and fight when the time comes. Or better yet, go and fight Leng Yaozhu right now," Poseidon snapped and turned to leave, done with the conversation.
"Looks like I overestimated you. Not every Sea God can control the big picture like Grandpa did. As fellow Sea Gods, you're nothing compared to him. If it were Grandpa, he would never retreat." Long Yeyue looked at Poseidon with deep disappointment, sneering inwardly. "Back then, when Grandpa had only just become a god, he faced the two gods of the Spirit Hall alone—and he never backed down. He was the first Sea God, and he knew no fear!"
"Those years you were the Sea God, how many people in the Douluo Plane even knew you? Only Grandpa truly spread the faith of the Sea God across every corner of the Douluo Plane."
Hearing that Poseidon was planning to flee and hand the Douluo Plane over to Leng Yaozhu, Long Yeyue instantly lost all hope in him.
The more she looked at him, the more displeased she felt, and she increasingly believed that this first Sea God was nothing compared to her grandfather Tang San.
Seeing her upset, Chen Xinjie quickly tried to comfort her. "Yueyue, don't be mad. You and I both know how hard it is to become a god. It's not going to be easy for Xia Yi or Leng Yaozhu. Ancestor was different—he was guaranteed to ascend. Right now, Leng Yaozhu is still just an Ultimate Douluo. Maybe by the time our ancestor recovers his peak power, she'll still be at the same level."
"I don't need your comfort. Wulin, let's go. I'll take you to cultivate." Long Yeyue snorted coldly at Chen Xinjie, grabbed Tang Wulin's hand, and left.
Because she was disgusted with Poseidon, even Chen Xinjie, his descendant, now annoyed her by association.
Meanwhile, Xia Yi had no idea that because of the mecha battle, his stand-in—the Heart of the Ice God—not only shattered Tang Wulin's confidence, but also made the former self-made god Poseidon consider running away.
Actually, it wasn't really a stand-in.
In mecha battles, other than being forbidden from using battle armor, all other soul master abilities were allowed.
Including soul spirits.
Tang Wulin used his soul spirit too.
Xia Yi's soul spirit just happened to be stronger.
The Heart of the Ice God couldn't even be described as a million-year soul spirit—she should be considered a god-level soul spirit.
A hundred-year soul spirit grants two soul rings, a thousand-year grants three, and a ten-thousand-year grants four.
But when the Heart of the Ice God became Xia Yi's soul spirit, she already showed up as a million-year soul spirit.
Yet she only granted Xia Yi one soul ring.
In fact, if one wanted to be strict, it could be argued that she didn't grant him a ring at all.
She was merely forced to bind with Xia Yi's third soul ring, causing it to evolve into a platinum-colored million-year level soul ring.
Xia Yi was barely a half-transformed soul beast himself—he could generate his own third soul ring.
He didn't need a soul spirit.
And his later rings weren't connected to the Heart of the Ice God either.
Even his third soul skill wasn't given by her.
Absolute Zero came from the evolution of his martial soul.
While she was technically his soul spirit, the Heart of the Ice God was very different from the usual kind.
Ordinary soul spirits, once bonded, are heavily restricted—many of their abilities can only be used through the host's soul rings.
Skills not bound to a ring can no longer be used.
But the Heart of the Ice God was different. Even though she had become Xia Yi's soul spirit, she wasn't restrained by him.
All her abilities could be channeled through Xia Yi's third soul skill.
Perhaps it was because their relationship was less like that of master and spirit and more like partners.
Or perhaps Xia Yi's third soul skill was just that inclusive.
Her techniques also belonged to the realm of Absolute Zero.
So everything could be released.
That's why Xia Yi had the confidence to hand over full control of the mecha to her in battle.
If Xia Yi had soul power on par with Gu Yue or the Crimson Mother—if he too were a Soul Douluo—then even as a stand-in, the Heart of the Ice God could have gone head-to-head with Gu Yue or the Crimson Mother, who were also Soul Douluo, for quite some time.
However, the Crimson Mother would never reveal too much of her power just for a Star Dou Battle Network match.
Xia Yi and Gu Yue didn't care about the so-called championship, and she cared even less.
She was only participating in the tournament to blend in and appear ordinary.