Severely Damaged Angel God Position

The Sea God's expression changed several times before he finally lowered his head in dejection. He knew that, at this point, any further excuses would be futile.

Kindness God King had already discovered the truth. If he still dared to evade responsibility, the consequences would be far beyond what he could bear.

He turned and walked into the depths of the divine hall. A moment later, he emerged holding a fist-sized crystal sphere suffused with a milky white glow.

Within the crystal sphere, six faint phantoms of pure white wings could be seen slowly rotating. It was the vessel of the Angel God's Divine Trial.

Kindness God King accepted the crystal sphere and probed it with her divine power. After a brief inspection, her face darkened like the bottom of a pot.

Just as she had expected, the Angel God's Divine Trial indeed contained traces of the Sea God's divine power.

And it was more than mere traces. The Sea God's divine power had already seeped into the deepest structure of the Divine Trial, becoming entangled with the Angel God's divine power and forming a subtle symbiotic relationship.

What did that mean? It meant that if a soul master accepted this corrupted Divine Trial, they would be unknowingly influenced by the Sea God's divine power during the process of inheriting the Angel God's position.

At best, the inheritance of the god position would be incomplete. At worst, the Sea God might even secretly control the inheritor of the Angel God through their divine power connection, interfering with the Angel God's legacy.

What enraged Kindness God King even more was that such an infiltration of divine power could not have been accomplished overnight.

Kindness God King's head buzzed. She had entrusted the Angel God's Divine Trial to the Sea God out of respect for their shared origins, and out of trust in the Sea God's character.

Yet the Sea God had exploited that trust to commit such despicable acts in secret, stealing the authority of a fallen compatriot and defiling the Angel God's legacy.

This was no ordinary dereliction of duty. It was naked betrayal, a trampling of the trust Kindness God King had placed in him, and the utmost disrespect toward the fallen Angel God.

Kindness God King slowly raised her head, her gaze falling upon the Sea God like a blade. Her voice was no longer calm, but carried an anger suppressed to its limit. Every word seemed to be squeezed out through clenched teeth.

"Poseidon, I entrusted the Angel God's Divine Trial to you because the Angel God came from the same Douluo Continent as you, and because the two of you were good friends.

"After she fell, I thought you would remember your old friendship, properly seek out an inheritor for her, and pass down her god position."

She paused, her fingers tightening slightly around the crystal sphere as her tone grew colder. "But what did you do? You stole her authority, corrupted her Divine Trial, and claimed the legacy she left for her inheritor as your own. You keep calling yourself her friend, yet behind her back, you were digging up her grave. You truly deserve to die!"

Tang San had not yet become a god. If Tang San had already ascended and Kindness God King had met him, she would surely have used his favorite saying: "You truly have a death wish!"

The moment Kindness God King's words fell, an incomparably vast pressure of a God King erupted from her body. The entire divine hall shook violently beneath that pressure. The crystal coral on the walls cracked inch by inch, while the luminous pearls in the ceiling trembled as though they might fall at any moment.

Poseidon's legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed to his knees. His face was pale as paper, his entire body shaking like a leaf. He did not even have the courage to raise his head and meet Kindness God King's eyes.

"Kindness God King, spare me!" His voice carried a sob. "I... I was merely led astray by greed for a moment. I..."

"Enough." Kindness God King coldly cut him off. She withdrew her pressure and carefully stored the Angel God's Divine Trial in her storage equipment. "I will report your crimes to the God Realm Council, and the five God Kings will deliberate on your punishment together.

"Until then, stay obediently inside your divine hall. Without an order from the God Realm Council, you are not to take a single step outside."

With that, she did not spare the kneeling Sea God another glance. She turned and swept away with a flick of her sleeve.

Milky white divine light flashed at the entrance of the divine hall and vanished in an instant, taking Kindness God King with it. Poseidon was left kneeling alone on the cold crystal floor, his face shifting between green and white, his eyes filled with regret and fear.

He knew he was finished.

Stealing the authority of a fallen deity was among the gravest crimes in the God Realm.

What was more, he had stolen the authority of a god under Kindness God King's command, and had been caught red-handed by Kindness God King herself.

Even if he was on good terms with Asura God, and Asura God spoke on his behalf, he would certainly not escape severe punishment.

And all of this had begun with the greed he had felt upon receiving the Angel God's Divine Trial.

When he had first taken over the Angel God's Divine Trial, he had only intended to casually find an inheritor for her and be done with it.

But when he truly came into contact with the authority of purification sealed within the Angel God's Divine Trial, a thought began to grow uncontrollably within him. If he could refine part of the Angel God's authority, his divine power would surely rise to a new level. Perhaps he might even have a chance to challenge the supreme position of God King.

Thus, he began secretly stealing the Angel God's authority, little by little integrating the power of purification into his own divine power.

Over the years, he had acted with extreme caution and had never been discovered.

He had even tampered with the Angel God's Divine Trial to ensure that any future inheritor who accepted it would be influenced by his divine power and unable to escape his control.

He had thought his scheme flawless, never expecting Kindness God King to suddenly come to demand the Divine Trial, much less that his momentary guilt would expose his actions.

Years of planning had turned to foam in a single day.

The Sea God slumped onto the ground, staring in the direction where Kindness God King had disappeared, his eyes full of despair.

Meanwhile, Kindness God King had already returned to her own divine hall.

Seated upon her divine throne, she held the Angel God's Divine Trial in her palm and carefully examined every detail that had been corrupted by the Sea God's divine power.

The more she examined it, the uglier her expression became.

The Sea God's infiltration was even more severe than she had imagined. Centuries of theft had left the Angel God's Divine Trial riddled with holes.

Nearly seventy percent of the authority of purification had been siphoned away, and the internal structure of the Divine Trial had become exceedingly unstable due to the erosion of the Sea God's divine power.

Such a Divine Trial could no longer be passed down normally. At most, its inheritor could inherit sixty to seventy percent of the Angel God's strength, placing them only in the middle to lower ranks among first-class gods. One had to know that the Angel God's original strength had been very close to that of a half-step God King.

Kindness God King remained silent for a moment before finally letting out a long sigh.

She raised her other hand and pressed her palm against the Divine Trial. Vast divine power of kindness slowly flowed into it as she began, bit by bit, to strip away the Sea God's divine power and repair the damage to the Divine Trial.

This was an exceedingly delicate and lengthy process. Even for a God King like her, it would require an enormous amount of time and effort.

Yet Kindness God King did not hesitate in the slightest. The Angel God was a deity under her command, and it was she who had entrusted the Angel God's Divine Trial to the Sea God. Now that such a thing had happened, she could not shirk responsibility.

No matter what, she had to restore the Angel God's Divine Trial to its original state and find the Angel God an inheritor truly worthy of this legacy.

This was her responsibility as a God King, and also her atonement for her own failure.