Chapter 727
Ren Xue
“Part of it is true.” Bibi Dong did not deny it. “Thirteen thousand years ago, there was a disagreement within the divine realm about how to deal with the relationship with the Abyss. Some gods believed that although the power of the Abyss was dangerous, it could also be guided and utilized. We—including him, the forest god Edwin, my teacher, and several others—formed a secret group to try to study the nature of the Abyss and find a way to control it.”
“And then you played with fire and got burned.” Edwin’s face twisted, a mixture of laughter and tears. “The Abyss is never something that can be controlled. It’s like the most cunning parasite; once it finds a crack, it will frantically burrow in until it hollows out its host from the inside. Our experiment went out of control; the abyssal aura leaked out and polluted an area of the divine realm. To cover it up, we had to completely banish that area along with everything in it—including hundreds of innocent priests. That was the prototype of the Divine Tomb.”
Tang Wulin felt a chill: "So the Tomb of the Gods was originally part of the God Realm?"
“It’s a prison, a graveyard, and a place of exile,” Edwin continued, his tone tinged with a morbid excitement. “Most of the gods who participated in the plan were executed in the subsequent reckoning. My teacher, the Goddess of Life, personally stripped me of my divine position, shattered my soul, and each piece merged into a Soul-Eating Tree. My body became nourishment for this forest. But you know what? The most interesting thing is that she didn’t kill me. She let me live, to achieve ‘immortality’ in this way, feeling countless souls screaming, wailing, and rotting in my consciousness day after day.”
He paused, then looked at Bibi Dong: "And you, Rakshasa, you escaped a calamity. Because you had a good teacher who took most of the blame for you, imprisoning herself deep within the Divine Tomb. So you were only stripped of some of your divine power and exiled to the mortal realm. Thirteen thousand years have passed, and now you've returned. What do you intend to do? Save her? Or... complete the plan we didn't finish back then?"
Bibi Dong remained silent for a long time before finally speaking: "I'm just here to take back what rightfully belongs to me."
"Divine position? Power? Or... the truth?" Edwin laughed. "Rakshasa, you are still so naive. Do you think your teacher was really just taking the blame for you? Do you think she imprisoned herself here out of guilt? No, no, no, she is here to protect a secret, a secret about the divine realm, about the abyss, about the origin of all this."
"What secret?" Qian Renxue couldn't help but ask.
Edwin turned to her, a flicker of amazement in his eyes: "Oh, what pure light... an angel? No, more ancient, more sacred... interesting. You are the daughter of Rakshasa? How ironic, the darkest god has begotten the most luminous successor. Little girl, you want to know the secret? Then come to me, and let me 'tell' you properly..."
Before she finished speaking, countless dark vines suddenly burst forth from the ground, rushing straight at Qian Renxue!
"Watch out!" Tang Wulin swept his spear out, the golden spear light severing a large swathe of vines. But there were simply too many vines, and they regenerated immediately after being cut, with even more vines surging in from all directions.
Dai Chengfeng unleashed his Wind Domain, countless wind blades slicing the approaching vines into pieces. But the vines were endless; they even began to entangle the wind blades, devouring the divine power within them.
“It’s no use.” Edwin’s voice came from all directions. “Within the Tree King’s domain, all divine power will be devoured and transformed, becoming my nourishment. The more you struggle, the stronger I become.”
Bibi Dong finally made a move.
She didn't attack the vines, but walked straight towards the trunk of the tree king. Wherever she went, the vines parted automatically, as if afraid to approach her.
“You’re still as foolish as ever, Edwin,” Bibi Dong’s voice was icy. “Thirteen thousand years have passed, and you haven’t improved at all. Do you think I would dare to return unprepared?”
She extended her right hand, palm up. A purplish-black mark appeared on her palm, emanating a pure, chilling aura of death.
The smile on Edwin's face froze the moment he saw the mark. "The Mark of the Underworld... How could you have it..." His voice betrayed fear for the first time.
“It was given to me by my teacher,” Bibi Dong said calmly. “Back then, she took away not only her own sins, but also the key that could restrain you. Edwin, I’m giving you two choices. First, open the passage and let us pass through. I promise that if there’s an opportunity in the future, I will find a way to free you from this eternal torment. Second, I will use the Seal of the Underworld God to completely annihilate the last fragment of your soul, so that you can truly and completely die.”
The vines' attack stopped.
The entire open space fell into a deathly silence. The millions of human faces on the trunk of the Tree King all fell silent, leaving only Edwin's face, his expression twisted, his eyes flashing with anger, fear, and resentment, before finally settling into deep weariness.
"Liberation..." he murmured. "For thirteen thousand years, my consciousness has been devoured by countless souls every day. I have thought about dying, about disappearing completely, but the Tree King's instinct makes me want to live, making me keep devouring more souls to maintain this damned existence... Liberation, how easy is that?"
“But at least it’s a glimmer of hope,” Bibi Dong said. “Back then, when you followed your teacher, didn’t you also believe that she could create a better divine realm? Although we failed, at least your teacher never gave up. She’s still there, in the deepest part of the divine tomb, guarding that secret, waiting for the person who can change everything.”
Edwin remained silent for a long time.
Then he smiled, a smile that carried a hint of relief.
“Alright, Rakshasa, you’ve convinced me. After all, you and your teacher are the only ones who still ‘remember’ me in these ten thousand years.” He took a deep breath—though trees don’t need to breathe at all. “I can open the passage, but on one condition.”
"explain."
“Take this with you.” A vine sprouted from the ground, its tip wrapped around a jet-black fruit with vein-like veins pulsating on its surface. “This is my ‘seed,’ containing the last fragment of my pure soul. If you ever see your teacher, give her the seed and tell her… I never hated her. I just… longed to see that new world.”
Bibi Dong took the seed; it was cold to the touch, yet she could feel the faint but tenacious life force within it.
"I will," she solemnly promised.
Edwin nodded, and then, millions of faces on the tree trunk opened their eyes simultaneously, chanting an ancient, obscure incantation in unison. The tree king's trunk split open from the middle, revealing a downward, bottomless staircase.
"This secret passage leads to the core area of the tomb, bypassing the most dangerous parts of the forest. But what lies at the end, I don't know. I haven't 'seen' such a deep place in a very, very long time." Edwin's voice began to weaken, clearly indicating that opening this passage had taken a tremendous toll. (End of Chapter)