Judging Poseidon

Poseidon knelt on the cold floor of the hall, his face pale as paper, fine beads of sweat gathering on his forehead.

This divine trial had been personally convened by the usually mild-tempered Kindness God King.

When the gods received the notice, most of them had no idea what had happened. It was not until Kindness God King rose from her throne and publicly read out Poseidon's crimes that they learned the truth.

"Sea God Poseidon, while entrusted with safeguarding the Angel God's Divine Trial, secretly stole the Angel God's authority of purification and contaminated the Angel God's Divine Trial with his own divine power, damaging the Angel God's inheritance. His actions gravely violated the laws of the Divine Realm, desecrated the dignity of a fallen deity, and betrayed this God King's trust."

Kindness God King's voice echoed through the hall, calm yet icy. Every word was like a frost-wrapped blade falling upon the Sea God.

The expressions of the gods changed.

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

After a deity fell, their authority and divine position were meant to be sealed intact within their Divine Trial, awaiting inheritance by the next successor.

This had been an unshakable rule of the Divine Realm for countless years. Any act daring to lay hands on a fallen deity's authority was a challenge to the order of the entire Divine Realm.

What was more, the Sea God had stolen the Angel God's authority. The Angel God was a deity under Kindness God King's command, and out of trust, Kindness God King had entrusted the Angel God's Divine Trial to the Sea God. What he had done was no different from slapping Kindness God King across the face.

After reading out the Sea God's crimes, Kindness God King paused briefly. Her cold gaze swept over the Sea God kneeling on the ground before she raised her head and looked around at the gods present, delivering her proposed sentence word by word.

"The Sea God's crime is unforgivable. I propose stripping him of his divine position and casting him down to the lower realm!"

The entire hall was stunned.

Stripping one of their divine position and casting them down to the lower realm was the harshest punishment in the Divine Realm, second only to the destruction of one's divine soul.

Since the founding of the Divine Realm, only a handful of deities had received such a sentence.

The gods knew that Kindness God King was truly enraged this time, but they had not expected her fury to run this deep.

"This must not happen!" As soon as Kindness God King finished speaking, Asura God hurriedly spoke up in objection.

"Kindness, the Sea God is at fault, but his crime does not warrant such punishment." Asura God spoke in a deep voice, staring directly at Kindness God King. "Since his ascension, he has guarded the seas of many worlds under the Divine Realm and made no small number of contributions.

Though he has committed a grave error this time, considering his past merits, he should not receive such an extreme penalty. Destruction, Life, what do you think?"

Asura God turned his gaze toward the other two God Kings.

Destruction God King reclined upon his throne, no emotion visible in his dark purple eyes.

With his arms folded across his chest, he remained silent for a moment before slowly shaking his head. "This matter has nothing to do with me. I will offer no opinion."

Destruction God King's stance was clear. He would not involve himself in this matter; this was what he and Evil God King had agreed upon.

Upon hearing this, Life God King, who had always been kind to others, tilted her head slightly. A trace of reluctance flashed through her gentle emerald eyes.

After pondering for a moment, she softly followed Asura God's lead. "I also do not think such a severe punishment is necessary. Poseidon is, after all, a first-class deity. Even if he has not earned merit over these years, he has at least endured hardship. To strip him of his divine position and cast him down to the lower realm over a single mistake would be overly harsh."

Life God King's voice was as gentle as water, carrying a power that soothed the heart.

Though she was pleading for the Sea God, her tone was mild and gave no impression that she was openly opposing Kindness God King.

Seeing that everyone had voiced their opinions, Evil God King, who had remained silent all this time, finally spoke.

He cleared his throat, his gaze moving between the God Kings before finally settling on the Sea God kneeling on the ground.

"Ahem. It seems everyone has differing opinions on how Poseidon should be punished."

Evil God King's voice was not loud, yet it carried an authority that could not be ignored. He slowly rose from his throne, clasped his hands behind his back, and paced to the center of the hall, stopping beside the Sea God.

"How about this? Let me say something fair. I think Asura and Life are right. Stripping him of his divine position and casting him down to the lower realm is indeed somewhat excessive. After all, Poseidon has made some contributions managing the seas of the lower planes over the years."

Hope flashed in the Sea God's eyes. He hurriedly looked up at Evil God King, his lips moving as though he wished to offer some words of gratitude.

However, Evil God King did not look at him at all and continued, "But he cannot be let off lightly, either. Stealing the authority of a fallen deity crosses the Divine Realm's bottom line. If everyone acted as he did, would there still be any order in the Divine Realm?"

He paused, sweeping his gaze across the gods present before slowly stating his proposed sentence. "First, reclaim the Angel God's authority of purification and return it to its rightful owner.

"Second, this God King will personally abolish all the divine power cultivation the Sea God accumulated since taking charge of the Angel God's Divine Trial. Since he committed this crime out of greed for the Angel God's authority, then he must surrender everything he gained during that time.

"Finally, sentence the Sea God to guard the Forbidden Divine Land. Unless he passes down his divine position, he may never leave for all eternity."

After Evil God King finished speaking, he clapped his hands, seemingly quite satisfied with his own proposal.

He turned to Kindness God King, his signature wicked smile curling at the corner of his lips. "Kindness, what do you think?"

The hall fell silent.

The gods exchanged looks, each quietly weighing the severity of Evil God King's proposal.

Reclaiming the authority of purification was only proper. Abolishing the divine power he had cultivated over the years was severe, but it was indeed far lighter than stripping him of his divine position and casting him down to the lower realm.

As for guarding the Forbidden Divine Land, it was the place where the Golden Dragon King was sealed, located in the most remote and desolate region of the Divine Realm, untouched by anyone year-round. Sending the Sea God there to stand guard was effectively exile.

This proposal both gave Kindness God King an explanation and preserved the Sea God's divine position. It was a compromise all sides could accept.

Asura God secretly breathed a sigh of relief and was about to voice his agreement when Kindness God King said coldly, "Not enough."

All the gods turned their eyes toward Kindness God King. She remained seated upon her throne, her face as dark as water. The eyes that usually held a gentle smile were now frosty cold, and the oppressive aura surrounding her seemed to lower the temperature of the entire hall.

"Add one hundred lashes." Kindness God King spoke each word distinctly. Her voice was not loud, yet it exploded through the hall like thunder. "Evil, lend me your super divine artifact when the time comes. I will whip him myself."

The hall erupted in uproar. The gods clearly had not expected Kindness God King to make such a demand.

One hundred lashes might not sound like much, but Kindness God King was borrowing Evil God King's super divine artifact. That most likely meant she would use the Judgment Whip condensed from the power of judgment within the Judgment Scales.

Evil God King's super divine artifact, the Judgment Scales, possessed the power to judge the sins of all living beings, pass sentence on the faults of gods, and determine the rights and wrongs of karma.

The Judgment Whip formed from its power of judgment was not something one could easily endure.

One hundred lashes might even cause the Sea God to fall from the first-class divine rank.

It was clear that Kindness God King had truly been enraged this time.

She did not merely want the Sea God punished. She wanted to personally carry out that punishment, so that he would remember this lesson and every deity present would see clearly what awaited anyone who crossed her bottom line.