I stood before the ancient cave, its entrance wide open like a mouth waiting to swallow me whole. The air was heavy, thick as if it had been in this place for eternity. I didn't walk here. I didn't even know how I got here.
One moment my eyes were closed, and the next, I was standing in front of this place. It felt like I had been summoned by something I know nothing of, something terrifying.
This cave looked unbelievably old, older than anything I've ever seen but somehow, but still standing tall and strong . I stepped inside, and immediately noticed the huge chains, rusted, broken chains. And the deeper I walked, the thicker they became. Each link was massive—big enough to crush a mountain. Whatever had once been held by these chains… it was something the world wanted to forget I thought.
But something was pulling me forward. And I couldn't help but think, "If I'm not meant to be here… then how did I get here" and that thought gave me a little determination to advance further.
The deeper I went, the more the cave felt like it would collapse. Cracks ran across the ceiling and walls, jagged and deep—but still, it stood strong. Like it had resisted the wear of time for countless ages.
Old black chains lay scattered across the ground. As I walked further in, every step echoed loudly. The chains, at first, looked like normal rusted iron. But then… they started to feel alive. The deeper I went, the more they pulsed with dark energy. They breathed. They whispered. it felt like they are trying to tell a story.
And then… I reached the heart of the cave.
What I saw nearly stopped my heart.
A massive figure was chained at the very center. Chains pierced through his body, binding him tightly. But even so, he looked alive. More than alive—he radiated power. Terrifying power. His muscles strained against the restraints, and a dark aura leaked from him like mist. The chains stabbed through his flesh, but he didn't even flinch.
Then, he looked at me.
No, it wasn't just a look. It was like he saw through me right into my soul.
I froze. I didn't say a word. My heart was pounding like a war drum. I'd never seen anything so terrifying in my life. But at the same time… there was something else. Something strange.
His face.
It wasn't monstrous but it was young. Youthful, like a man in his early twenties. And beautiful. Beyond beautiful. No, divine.
There are old stories, whispered in forgotten places, about beauty that doesn't belong to heaven.
His skin shimmered like moonlight soaked in obsidian__smooth, cold, and yet… inviting. His hair flowed like black silk in an invisible wind, each strand alive, moving with shadow. And his eyes__Violet, silver, crimson, they swirled like galaxies on fire. Looking into them felt like falling into every desire you've ever tried to bury.
Then he smiled and I swear, heaven flinched.
It wasn't a warm smile. It was the smile of someone who knows. Everything.
His voice was soft, rich, seductive. Like velvet soaked in venom. Every word he spoke hung in the air, thick and intoxicating. He didn't radiate warmth or cold—he radiated hunger. A pull, like gravity. He was every forbidden thought made flesh.
A man crafted by desire itself.
His beauty wasn't terrifying because it was perfect. It was terrifying because it made you question your own purity.
Not his face.
Not his body.
But the way he made he can even make the innocence want to fall.
But beneath that beauty… was danger. The dark energy coming off him was chilling, enough to make your soul tremble.
Still, I didn't look away. I didn't speak.
And again, he smiled. That same smile.
"My name is Az'rethul. Do you know why you're here?" He said. His voice wasn't just sound—it invaded your soul. It melted you from the inside out.
I didn't answer.
He spoke again. "You stand in the place where gods fell," he said. "Long ago, they waged war over a treasure... something unimaginable. But not even they understood the truth. Not even I did until it was too late."
He paused and for a moment, I heard sorrow in his voice. Bitterness, too.
"We didn't realize the price. To awaken the treasure, the blood of gods was needed. We fought ourselves for something that is out to devour us. But it never truly belonged to any of us. It drank our blood and it also the reason why I was chained."
His eyes narrowed, voice sharp now.
"I didn't send my true body… I thought I was ahead of everything. But I was wrong. I was bound. I've lost track of how long I've been here. My main currently in a deep slumber, waiting for his other part of me to return. I am one of the last gods… who survived."
"Why are you telling me this?" I finally asked.
"Because you're already here. You came to me," he said. "You answered the call. Now… what is it you seek?"
I took a breath, deep and steady.
"Revenge. And the power to carry it out."
His eyes lit up. He grinned. It wasn't a kind smile.
"Good," he said. "But remember—revenge comes at a cost."
"I don't care about any cost," I answered.
He leaned in. "And what will you offer for such power?" His eyes were deep—piercing straight through me.
"Anything."
"The power, I'll give you," he said slowly, "but it comes with a price "A countdown". You must act fast. If you fail… not even I know what will become of you."
"I accept."
He paused, eyes narrowing. "Your blood… it's potent. I can feel it. I need it—for a ritual."
I stepped back, startled. But before I could speak, he raised a hand.
"You misunderstand. I don't need it for myself. Just a drop. Cut your finger."
He handed me a spear. I obeyed. As soon as my blood dripped, it floated toward him. He opened his mouth—and drank it. His face twisted in ecstasy, eyes closed, lost in time. A faint smile crept across his lips.
Then he opened his eyes again.
Something had changed.
He grinned. "Then take this."
A single drop of his blood floated toward me—dark, thick, glowing with impossible energy. As it entered my chest, I screamed inside. My body tore itself apart—then began rebuilding.
Far away, in the outside world…
Lin Wei lay unconscious, dark blood hovering above his chest. The drop sank into him—and everything began to change. His body was wrapped in a cocoon of spiritual energy. Impurities leaked out from his skin—more than ever before, fouler than anything he'd released before.
Nearby plants withered and died. Energy from every direction was being sucked into the transformation. Beast cores rolled out of his storage ring, one by one disintegrating into dust as their essence was drawn in. Precious herbs followed. Spirit stones cracked, their energy pulled into him.
His aura kept rising. Animals who came near were devoured, their very essence consumed.
This was the effect of fusing the Devil's Blood with the Blood of Eden. Even his ancient Primordial Godblood began to stir.
Energy rushed in from everywhere—even from beneath the ground, from mines that hadn't even been discovered yet from inside the cage that he followed to come out here that he was now.
His transformation shook the heavens. Clouds formed, thunder roared, as if the sky itself had declared war.
He was undergoing a heavenly tribulation.
The heavens sensed destruction—and moved to eliminate it. Thunder slammed down at the cocoon surrounding Lin Wei. Inside, his body melted—literally dissolving into particles.
But every bolt of lightning that struck didn't kill him.
They fed him.
The bloodlines inside him used the thunder's power to temper his body—to complete his evolution.
And something else awoke.
A bloodline hidden so deep that even Lin Wei didn't know it existed. All of his bloodlines were merging… forming something completely new.
Thunder struck again, and again—growing more powerful, changing colors, changing shape. But nothing could stop his evolution now. Not even the Heavenly dao.
They came to destroy him.