Qian Renxue (38)

"Part of it is true," Bibi Dong said, not denying it. "Thirteen thousand years ago, a rift formed within the God Realm over how to handle its relationship with the Abyss. Some Deities believed that while the power of the Abyss was dangerous, it could also be guided and used. We—including him, Edwin, the God of the Forest, my teacher, and several others—formed a secret group in an attempt to study the essence of the Abyss and find a way to control it."

"And then you played with fire and burned yourselves," Edwin said, his face twisting, both laughing and crying. "The Abyss was never something that could be controlled. It was like the most cunning parasite. Once it found a crack, it would burrow in like mad until it hollowed its host out from within. Our experiment went out of control. Abyssal energy leaked and polluted a region of the God Realm. To cover it up, we had no choice but to completely banish that region and everything in it—including hundreds of innocent divine officials. That was the embryonic form of the God Tomb."

A chill ran through Tang Wulin. "So the God Tomb was originally part of the God Realm?"

"It was a prison, a tomb, and a place of exile," Edwin replied, his tone carrying a sick excitement. "Most of the gods who participated in the plan back then were executed in the purge that followed. My teacher, the Goddess of Life, personally stripped me of my Divine Position and shattered my Divine Soul, fusing each fragment into a Soul Devouring Tree. As for my body, it became nourishment for this forest. But do you know what the most interesting part is? She didn't kill me. She let me live, made me 'immortal' in this way, feeling