Chapter 206: The Emerald Tablet Obtained
The pillar of Blood Lust was an existence known by believers as the “Mother God.” She was the creator of all flesh creatures in the world, governing flesh, desire, sensory pleasure, and the propagation of all things. She was the most primordial and mysterious of the twelve pillars. Countless legends existed about her, yet few truly understood her essence.
“Are you enemies with the pillar of Blood Lust?” Li Wen asked cautiously.
The divine avatar, resembling a young girl, gently shook her head, her platinum-like hair drifting in the void. “Hate? No, that’s too shallow.” Her voice suddenly deepened. “I am merely fulfilling a promise—a promise made before my fall.”
A promise? Li Wen lowered her head, speechless. For an ancient offspring, a deity from before her demise, to make a promise, it must be to an existence of equal standing, meaning a pillar deity.
The young girl suddenly raised her hand and tapped the void with her fingertip. In an instant, the scene on the whiteboard before Li Wen changed abruptly: mountains of flesh piled up stood on a scarlet land, and a giant scarlet flesh tree was rooted there. Billions of egg sacs hung from its canopy, each containing a deformed and twisted life form. These lives squirmed and struggled within the eggs, but were unable to break free.
“See?” the young girl’s voice carried an indescribable complex emotion. “This is her creation workshop. Every newborn life is destined to experience endless pain and torment—born into desire, embraced by hunger, and consumed in pleasure. ‘And pain is the essence of it all.'”
The scene suddenly switched. Li Wen saw an altar made of piled corpses, with a woman in a blood-colored robe kneeling at its center. She held a beating heart in her hands, and blood dripped down her pale arms, forming eerie runes on the altar.
“She is trying to create perfect life, and her apostles are preparing for her incarnation. That will be a calamity for you all,” the young girl continued.
Li Wen stared at the beating heart in the scene. The runes sketched by the blood reminded her of a forbidden ritual she had encountered and even attempted in her past life. The figure of the woman on the altar was blurry, only the hands holding the heart were extraordinarily clear—dark red blood vessels snaked beneath the pale skin, as if living creatures were moving within.
“Do you want me to stop this ritual?” she asked the deity, hearing her own voice echo in the void.
The young girl withdrew her finger, and the scene dissipated like mist. “No, that’s meaningless.” Her platinum eyes reflected Li Wen’s tense face. “The incarnation ritual of Blood Lust has already begun, just as raindrops falling to the earth cannot return to the clouds.”
The sea of time suddenly surged, and countless memory shards floated up from its depths. Li Wen saw the phantoms of twelve towering pillars, one of which was seeping scarlet liquid. These liquids fell into the void, transforming into a sky-covering blood rain.
“And she must complete her incarnation. Only then will she be at her weakest, like a mother after giving birth. That is the only chance to kill her.” It was only within the dreams of this deceased god that such a calm plotting and discussion could take place on how to kill a pillar deity.
“What I want you to do is very simple.” The young girl’s voice suddenly came close to Li Wen’s ear, crisp like a child’s. “Blood Lust is the Lord of Life. Any life born from her hands cannot harm her, nor can it escape her control. But you are different, you are special… Take this with you. When the scarlet rain falls, you will use it.”
She did not explain further, merely tearing off a corner from the whiteboard and handing it to Li Wen. It was not paper, but a halo as thin as a cicada’s wing, embroidered with twisted symbols in gold thread. When Li Wen took it, she found it slowly melting in her palm.
The moment the halo seeped into Li Wen’s palm, a burning sensation spread throughout her body along her veins. She looked down at her palm, faint golden patterns flowing beneath her skin, moving like living creatures, and finally condensing into a sun-shaped mark on her wrist.
“This is…”
“A mark.” The young girl retracted her hand, the sleeve of her white robe falling, covering her slender wrist. “When the scarlet rain falls, it will guide you to where you need to go—of course, if you break your promise, it will kill you completely, and even a pillar deity cannot save you.”
Li Wen rubbed the mark on her wrist. It felt warm but not scorching.
“Then the Emerald Tablet…” She stared intently at the deity.
The young girl did not answer, merely looking down at the whiteboard. Her pale fingers gently traced the birch surface, and the originally blurry lines suddenly became clearer—they intertwined and coiled, finally forming the outline of an emerald gemstone slab. The surface of the slab was covered with densely packed runes, each line emitting a faint golden light.
Li Wen held her breath, watching her reach into the whiteboard, as easily as dipping into water. When she withdrew her hand, she held a gemstone slab of pure emerald. It was more ancient than she imagined, with obvious signs of wear on its edges. The runes on its surface drifted freely in the void, as if possessed of life.
“Take it.” The young girl handed the gemstone slab over, her platinum eyes reflecting Li Wen’s tense face. “This is the Emerald Tablet you seek.”
Li Wen reached out and took it. The moment her fingertip touched the gemstone slab, a strange warm current surged into her body from her fingertips. She instinctively gripped the slab, feeling the immense power contained within—it was the ultimate secret of creation and formation, the manifestation of the most essential authority of the pillars. She could feel the “Primordial Codex of Ending” stirring, almost breaking free from her control—like a starved pet. Yet, even so, Li Wen suppressed this urge.
[The Emerald Tablet]
[Supreme Divine Artifact – ?????]
[This is a copy of the “Book of Formation.” The Great Sage Hermes inscribed thirteen lines of cryptic truths on the emerald tablet, containing the ultimate secrets of creation and formation, equivalent to the original text itself.]
[Do not use!]
After confirming it was indeed the Emerald Tablet, Li Wen breathed a sigh of relief. She looked up at the “Sun of Rebirth” and found it gazing at a spot in the void, its platinum pupils reflecting shattered starlight. Cracks were appearing on its childlike face, and brilliant golden light pierced through these cracks, a shocking sight.
Before Li Wen could ask, the deity shook her head, stopping her. “The transaction is complete.” Her voice suddenly became ethereal. “Remember your promise.”
Before her words faded, the surrounding darkness suddenly began to collapse. Li Wen felt a strong wave of dizziness, and the scene before her blurred rapidly like a fading oil painting. Before completely losing consciousness, the last thing she saw was the receding figure of the young girl—her white robe slowly dissipating in the sea of time, like a wisp of morning mist dissolving in the dawn.
