Jialing Pass, the Angel Temple.
Inside the quiet room.
Qian Renxue was already in tears.
They were tears of excitement.
And tears of pride.
Never before had she felt so proud of the Angel Clan's blood flowing through her veins.
So her Ancestor had been such a great figure!
So the Spirit Hall had been founded not for power, but to protect this continent!
"Grandpa, did you see?"
"This is the glory of our Angel Clan!"
Qian Renxue shouted in her heart.
She turned and looked at Qian Ye, who was sitting beside the tea table.
Qian Ye was still drinking tea.
His expression was far too calm.
So calm that it was as if he were watching a boring shadow play.
"Teacher."
Qian Renxue wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, her voice filled with barely restrained admiration.
"Did you see? That was the First Generation Angel God!"
"He was so strong!"
"With power like that, even Tang San as he is now wouldn't stand a chance!"
Qian Ye set down his teacup.
He glanced up at the scene on the Golden List.
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
"Strong?"
Qian Ye spoke indifferently.
"He killed a few worthless ants. Is that really worth making such a fuss over?"
Qian Renxue froze.
Evil Soul Masters—worthless ants?
Every one of the Evil Soul Masters in the scene had an aura at least on the level of a Titled Douluo. Some were even stronger.
Beneath her Ancestor's sword, they had indeed been no more than ants.
But that didn't mean they were weak!
"Master, your standards are too high."
Qian Renxue gave a bitter smile.
"To me, that realm is an utterly unreachable dream."
As she spoke, a trace of doubt flashed in Qian Renxue's eyes.
"But since the First Generation Ancestor was so powerful, why does the Angel Godhood seem to have weakened so much by the time it was passed down to the present?"
"And besides—"
She looked at Qian Ye, that question surfacing in her heart once more.
Her master seemed to know everything about the Angel God's lineage.
Even when he had just witnessed the First Generation Angel God's divine might, there hadn't been the slightest hint of awe in his eyes.
That wasn't normal.
Unless—
Was her master stronger than the First Generation Angel God?
Or had her master known the First Generation Angel God?
"Master, did you know the First Generation Angel God?"
Qian Renxue asked cautiously.
Qian Ye tapped his fingertips lightly on the table.
"I did."
He replied casually.
"He was just an arrogant youngster."
What?!
Qian Renxue's eyes widened.
He had even given up his godhood?
What did that mean?
Before she could ask more, the Golden List in the sky changed once again!
New words boomed in everyone's hearts like a clap of thunder!
[Evaluation: A God King's weapon, slaying evil and piercing delusions!]
[Special Note: Though this sword is powerful, it bears one regret.]
[Its former wielder once stood atop the Divine Realm and felt the constraints of godhood, the cage of heaven and earth.]
[Thus, he severed his own godhood and cast the sword aside!]
[Therefore, though this sword possesses the might of a God King, it has lost its true master, and its power is no longer what it once was!]
Boom!
Those words were a hundred times more shocking than the scene that had come before!
Severed his own godhood?!
Cast the sword aside?!
Was he insane?!
That was a God King's godhood!
Countless Soul Masters spent their entire lives unable even to approach the realm of Titled Douluo.
Tang San had endured countless brushes with death for the sake of godhood, even going so far as to sacrifice his beloved and his friends.
But the First Generation Angel God had actually found godhood a shackle?
He had thrown it away?
What an astonishing spirit!
What incredible arrogance!
"Threw—it away?"
At the Shrek camp.
Tang San's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
He felt as though his entire worldview had shattered.
The godhood he treasured above all else was trash in someone else's eyes?
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
"Godhood is the embodiment of the laws of heaven and earth. It grants endless life and power. How could anyone willingly give it up?"
"This has to be fake! The Golden List is just trying to mislead us!"
Tang San roared hysterically.
He refused to believe it.
Because if it was true, then it meant that the ultimate goal he had pursued was nothing more than something someone else had already discarded.
The gulf between them was more painful than death.
Star Dou Great Forest.
Gu Yuena shot to her feet.
For the first time, genuine shock appeared on her stunning face.
"Severed his own godhood—"
"To break free of the cage?"
"He really went that far?"
Gu Yuena drew a deep breath, her chest rising and falling sharply.
As the Silver Dragon King, she knew just how strict the Divine Realm's rules were.
Godhood was both power and a shackle.
Once a person became a god, they were subject to the God Realm Committee and bound by the laws of heaven and earth.
Transcending those limits was harder than reaching the heavens.
In the past, the Dragon God had started a war, in a sense, to break free of those restraints.
But the Dragon God had failed.
And this human—
"Could he truly have transcended?"
Gu Yuena looked toward Jialing Pass, wariness deepening in her eyes.
If that man was truly still alive,
then the threat he posed to this world was probably greater than that of the entire Divine Realm combined!
The Angel Temple, quiet room.
A deathly silence settled over the room.
Qian Renxue stared blankly at the words on the Golden List, her mind empty.
Severed his own godhood.
Those four words kept echoing in her mind.
She had always believed that becoming a god was the final destination.
The supreme glory.
But now her Ancestor was telling her it was merely a shackle?
"How could this be—"
Qian Renxue murmured.
She felt her faith collapse in that moment, yet it was as if she had glimpsed a wider sky rising beyond the ruins.
She instinctively looked toward Qian Ye.
Qian Ye was holding his teacup, gently blowing away the floating tea leaves on the surface.
His expression was still as calm as ever.
There was even a trace of—inevitability.
As though this earth-shattering matter was as ordinary to him as eating or drinking.
"Master—"
Qian Renxue's voice sounded a little hoarse.
"You said earlier that the Ancestor was an obsessive, and that he wanted to break free of his restraints—"
"Did you know about this all along?"
Qian Ye took a sip of tea and moistened his throat.
"What does it matter if I did?"
He set down his teacup and looked at Qian Renxue's bewildered, lovely face.
"Xiao Xue."
It was the first time he had addressed her so affectionately.
Qian Renxue shuddered.
"Godhood is nothing more than a vessel for power."
"When you're strong enough, all things in heaven and earth can become your sword. Why rely on something external?"
"That fellow threw away his godhood because he realized it was limiting his sword."
Qian Ye stood and walked to the window, his hands clasped behind his back.
At that moment, his silhouette seemed to overlap strangely with that of the First Generation Angel God in the Golden List scene.
"Remember this."
"You stand in that position. It isn't that the position made you."
"If you can't even understand that, then you'll only ever be a second-rate god."
Before you continue