"You'd already noticed me?"
The Goddess of Life spoke first, her voice gentle.
But there was not the slightest concession in her eyes. She stared straight at Lu Ren, as though she wanted to see right through this white-haired, blue-eyed young man, inside and out.
"Not that early."
Lu Ren smiled, his expression showing little wariness. Instead, he had the calm openness of someone who had long been waiting here. "Compared to how long you've been waiting for me in the shadows, I've been slow enough on the uptake."
As he spoke, Lu Ren raised a hand in an inviting gesture. "Since you're here, why not come closer to talk? My place isn't much, but the view is good. You can see most of the Divine Realm."
The Goddess of Life did not move, merely shaking her head gently. "You're the first person to turn the Divine Realm's frontier into something resembling a battlefield in the mortal world."
"And the first to force Destruction to join forces with Tang San."
"When you put it that way, I sound like the root of all evil."
Lu Ren lowered his hand and stopped pressing the invitation. Instead, he walked over to a half-collapsed rock and sat down casually.
He drew up one leg and rested his arm on his knee, traces of his presence from his attempt to break through still lingering around him.
"But we both know I didn't set up this situation alone."
"Your husband pressed me at every turn, while Tang San fanned the flames behind the scenes."
"I simply didn't want to lie down and wait to die."
"So you turned the entire Divine Realm into a vessel for breeding venomous creatures."
The Goddess of Life's voice remained soft, but her tone had taken on unmistakable force.
"Those