Detestable

Uchiha Zhuang drew the Flowing Light Red Dragon Tachi and pointed it at Persia. "Oh! Is this your answer? The woman you care about will die, you know! Or are you one of those beasts too!" Her tone grew colder as she slowly approached Uchiha Zhuang. "If I use natural energy to release you, can you guarantee that we will leave here alive?" "This naive little girl can, but you—you must stay behind to keep me company!" Uchiha Zhuang understood that there was no room for negotiation; he had no choice but to defeat her.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!" He took the initiative, but without any visible movement, Persia simply shifted a distance to the side, dodging the fireball. She then extended her right hand, and the calm, mirror-like surface of the pool suddenly rippled as several water whips lashed out toward Uchiha Zhuang. Dozens of water whips struck at him, but he dodged and weaved through the high-speed attacks. After a series of misses, Uchiha Zhuang flicked his wrist, sending a dozen Shuriken flying toward Persia, interspersed with Explosion Pills. Persia's offensive stalled; she extended her left hand, and a water shield slowly formed to protect her, rendering the Shuriken and Explosion Pills useless against its surface. Uchiha Zhuang's eyes narrowed—the opponent was not using chakra, but pure natural energy. The "divine power" she spoke of was likely just natural energy! The woman attacked again, transforming a massive amount of water into sharp cones that surged toward Uchiha Zhuang. He threw several kunai mixed with Explosive Kunai at Persia, then shouted, "Water Style: Water Formation Wall!" to block all the spikes. Facing the explosive tags, the woman lacked experience and still relied on a water shield for defense. However, the explosive tags ignited and detonated at the ends of the kunai, and the powerful shockwave struck her, sending her tumbling over a dozen times before she came to a stop. As the dust settled, Uchiha Zhuang stared from afar at her motionless body.

While Uchiha Zhuang stood guard with his blade, he failed to notice two thin water ropes silently rising from the pool. They crept toward his heels, bound his ankles, and instantly hoisted him into the air. Uchiha Zhuang suffered a major setback; caught off guard and suspended without any leverage, he felt dizzy and disoriented as he swung back and forth. The woman on the ground slowly rose; though covered in dirt and grime, she was unharmed. She paced toward Uchiha Zhuang, a look of immense triumph on her face. "I am a god. Even though you possess a vast amount of natural energy, you are nothing more than a slightly larger ant. Do not attempt to struggle any further." The woman controlled Uchiha Zhuang, leading him toward the altar while teasing him: "Guess what is at the bottom of this pool? Tee-hee, if you guess right, I'll tell you! Haha, you can't guess, can you? Heh heh, it's all corpses! Heh heh, hundreds of thousands of corpses! Ee-hee, you would never imagine how hungry this pool is; it swallowed them all, and it's still not enough! Hahaha!" The deranged woman danced with glee.

"Was it my arrival that awakened you? Or have you been waiting for me all along?" "I sensed your unique scent! I was awakened by your aura at the foot of God Peak. I only want to absorb you immediately and become a god once more." After speaking, Persia began to weave hand seals, pacing out a formation. Uchiha Zhuang hurriedly summoned the shop interface. Looking at the rewards obtained from the successful organization creation mission, he took out the mysterious reward: "Immortal-Binding Rope." It could dissolve all abilities of beings from the natural, mystical, and mythological realms and automatically bind them. Yes, he hadn't been certain when encountering the eyeball monster swarm, but now he could confirm she belonged to the category of beings the Immortal-Binding Rope could subdue. A golden rope shot out from Uchiha Zhuang with a "whoosh," heading straight for the woman. She reacted quickly, sensing the danger the moment the golden rope appeared, and began to teleport in segments. However, the golden Immortal-Binding Rope pursued her relentlessly, eventually forcing the woman to dive into the pool and swim toward the depths. The rope circled the surface once before plunging into the water, its golden glow gradually fading into the murky depths. Uchiha Zhuang released his control and landed on his feet, but the moment he touched the ground, his ankles burned with intense pain. Lifting his pant legs, he saw his ankles were bruised black and purple with streaks of blood red. It was the corrosion from the pool water—hiss! He hadn't expected the calm water to be so terrifying. It was fortunate he hadn't fallen in.

Sitting on the ground, Uchiha Zhuang took out the Nano Healer and carefully scanned and irradiated his ankles; under the continuous treatment, the symptoms began to subside. Just then, a loud explosion erupted from the water, followed by a spray of droplets. Uchiha Zhuang quickly used Fire Style to evaporate the surrounding water. As the steam dissipated, he saw that the Immortal-Binding Rope had firmly bound the woman, who had fallen unconscious. Uchiha Zhuang looked at the dimmed golden glow and felt a slight pang of heartache—this was a divine artifact, after all, and it had been somewhat corroded. But thinking that if he hadn't been willing to use it, his life might have ended here, he felt relieved.

Approaching Persia slowly, Uchiha Zhuang poked her with his tachi, but there was no reaction. He then held a kunai in a reverse grip with one hand and lifted Persia with the other, channeling natural energy into her. A moment later, Persia slowly regained consciousness. Her pure eyes looked up at Uchiha Zhuang, watery and seemingly on the verge of tears. Uchiha Zhuang held Persia and patted her back, letting her cry. After a while, Uchiha Zhuang asked softly: "Woman, what are you still pretending for?!" The sobbing girl in his arms trembled, paused, and finally looked up at Uchiha Zhuang, saying with a gaze full of spring breeze: "You're mean, can't you just hold me a little longer?" Uchiha Zhuang remained silent, only watching her. The woman seemed to notice Uchiha Zhuang's ankles and said in surprise, "You healed so quickly? You really are extraordinary, Zhuang-kun. Why don't you loosen this rope a little? I can use my divine power to heal you, okay?" He remained silent, staring straight at her. The woman began to roar, twisting hysterically and thrashing in Uchiha Zhuang's arms. But having lost her divine power, she was now like a frail girl, and to Uchiha Zhuang, her strength felt as soft as a massage.

After a bout of petulant thrashing, the woman finally stopped, panting. She stared at Uchiha Zhuang, her large eyes filled with unwillingness. The two stared at each other for a long time, and then the woman closed her eyes and said: "Come on. Now that I have lost my divine power, you can do whatever you want to me. Just like those beasts did." Uchiha Zhuang felt her body trembling slightly; she was actually very afraid inside, using madness and cruelty to cover the wounds in her soul.

He untied the woman's hands and feet. "There is no hatred in your eyes. In fact, you have already forgiven them, haven't you?" The woman kept her eyes closed and remained silent. "As the deity guarding the Balaxia civilization, I believe your power is truly immeasurable. Protecting God Peak and resisting the aftermath of the Divine Tree's upheaval wouldn't have been too difficult, would it?" The woman opened her eyes, glanced at him, and closed them again. "What you are angry about is your people—your believers who were weak and ignorant in the face of disaster, foolishly abandoning their faith and turning to enslave it, even defiling it, right?" The woman's slightly trembling body revealed the turmoil in her heart. "You are angry that you were treated like a dirty rag and enslaved; you are angry at their distrust; you are angry at their mutual slaughter. Yet, you don't have much resentment toward their desire to conceive offspring through you. After all, you are their god, and you only exist because of them, don't you?" "But they are still unforgivable. You don't need to argue anymore. Balaxia has already perished. I destroyed the things that betrayed me with my own hands; I destroyed everything I had with my own hands." As the woman spoke, her voice grew thinner and thinner. "I think that after your revenge, as your divine power gradually faded, your body became increasingly broken until it dissipated. What supports you now is more of your obsession and spirit! Your attachment to the homeland that gave you birth and was destroyed, even if it was a homeland you slaughtered. After all, what Balaxia did to you has already happened, and the revenge you wanted to take on Balaxia has already been achieved. The emptiness and resentment left in your memories are meaningless!"