Chapter 593 - 546: The Reason for the Gods’ Fall

Shi Ming had some inkling as to why the god had fallen.

But the specific details were difficult to ascertain.

Through his recent battles with various false gods, and with the partial intelligence previously revealed by the Eye of Destiny, he understood that the betrayal by the Speakers of the [Pillars of Truth] was only a peripheral cause of the god’s fall. While those Speakers were powerful, they were only Pillar Stones back then. The idea of truly killing a god with the power of a Pillar Stone was pure fantasy.

Even with a backstab, it would have been difficult to inflict any real harm on the god in his prime.

The primary reason for the god’s fall was an external "Scourge."

It was an alien species from the same origin as the Colorful Insect sealed within Shi Ming’s body.

Of course, this was all just Shi Ming’s rough assessment. He still needed to verify and compare the specific details with Amonev, who was personally involved. That was the primary reason Shi Ming was asking this question.

Amonev’s thoughts drifted.

She seemed to be recalling a time long, long ago.

...

"The Star Sea is endless, and so are its civilizations. Even as they are born and die in a ceaseless cycle, new civilizations can arise upon the tombstones of the old. One hundred and twenty thousand years ago, of all the civilizations in the Star Sea, the First Civilization Cosmic Country was supreme. The god merged his Divine Country, [Star’s Home], with the territory of the First Civilization Cosmic Country. He allowed civilization to rely on his Divine Power, letting it flourish and develop rapidly in this Star Domain. From then on, he led all races, becoming a true god revered by countless species and living beings."

"The Second and Third Civilization Cosmic Countries were his subordinates."

"The other Cosmic Countries followed suit."

"Later, the Scourge invaded."

"They were an alien species, completely different from the life forms in this universe. The weak ones posed no threat and could be destroyed with a wave of the hand, but the powerful ones were bizarre, unpredictable, and difficult to deal with. The god roughly divided them into six levels, from weakest to strongest."

"Nascent, Nightmare, Calamity, Catastrophe, Scourge..."

"And the most powerful of all, the [Ancient Evils]."

"The Nascent are the weakest of the alien species, not even possessing any lethal power. A mere thought from an ordinary being could strangle them in the cradle. But a thought can be the difference between heaven and hell, and the evil thoughts of mortals can become their breeding grounds. Every Nascent can grow unnoticed and evolve to a higher level."

"Nightmares are an alien species that already possess tangible negative abilities. For ordinary beings without extraordinary powers, to be tainted by a Nightmare means their fate has stepped into a nightmare of its own."

"Calamities. At the Calamity level, the threat posed by these alien species increases a hundred, even a thousandfold. Their power is comparable to Legendary-rank beings, and they can cause true genocidal disasters among weaker races or civilizations."

"Catastrophes possess the ability to corrupt and mutate beings of the Holy Hall."

"Scourges are at the top of this alien evolutionary chain. What’s most special is that once an alien becomes a Scourge, it is extremely difficult to kill and can only be suppressed and sealed. Even for the god in his time, while defeating them was simple, truly killing them required paying a great price."

"These five types of aliens all pose different levels of threat. The strongest, the Scourges, can be counterbalanced by Nirvana-level beings at or above the rank of Sealed King. Even if they can’t be truly destroyed, they can, at great effort, be suppressed."

"The most terrifying are the Ancient Evils."

"There are four Ancient Evils in total."

"Their forms and abilities are all different. They all possess extremely high intelligence and power, with strength far surpassing that of an ordinary Pillar Stone.

"They command the Scourges and all the alien species below them, and they are known as [Slaughter Heaven], [Evil Thought Heaven], [Luxury and Lust Heaven], and [Sinful Heaven]."

"Under the command of the Ancient Evils, the alien species spread their poison throughout this world. They began from insignificance, but by the time they rose, they had become a torrent. Countless civilizations were either destroyed or corrupted. The god and his warriors fought for a thousand years until they found an opportunity and orchestrated a battle to the death with the four Ancient Evils. In the end, they utterly destroyed all four. But because he had lost too much power, he was betrayed by opportunists and usurpers. And so, the god fell. The four great divine remains and countless other corpses were scattered across the Star Sea, and his authority was carved up by the new gods."

"That is the reason for the god’s fall."

"At that time, although people like Bertutan and Herakrode were extraordinarily powerful, they didn’t even rank in the top three, or even the top five, within the First Civilization Cosmic Country. Among the [Heir of the Gods], there were plenty whose strength surpassed theirs. After the god fell, all the [Heir of the Gods] died in an instant along with the destruction of the Divine Country. The prosperous First Civilization Cosmic Country became a Death Domain, while the betrayers and usurpers became the true beneficiaries."

...

Amonev recounted everything in a calm, steady voice.

As Shi Ming listened, confirmation from the Eye of Destiny flashed in his eyes. When she mentioned the "Ancient Evils," Shi Ming deliberately focused his attention on his Sea of Spirit, examining the Colorful Insect sealed beneath the Hundred-Floor Celestial Tower.

Sure enough, the Colorful Insect showed faint signs of stirring.

It seemed to have sensed something, and restless thoughts stirred within it.

Shi Ming, who knew it inside and out, understood that this Colorful Insect was not a Scourge left over from that era. It was a product of a new age, born in the Banded Dream Realm, the ancestral land of the Star Spirit Race. It had never seen the four Ancient Evils, but its power came from the same origin. There was an esoteric, fundamental connection between them; they were of the same kin.

’Heh, dreaming that the Ancient Evils will come save you?’

’Still restless, I see.’

’You’re just asking to be squeezed dry!’

"The god fought four-on-one and won, only to be backstabbed to death by his subordinates. It’s truly a lamentable tale. Did all of those Ancient Evils really fall?"

Shi Ming asked.

Amonev thought for a moment, then nodded.

’An Ancient Evil’s power would completely overwhelm a Nirvana-level being. If even one of those things had survived, the Star Sea today would be thoroughly poisoned. It would be nothing like its current state. It would either be filled with lust and wicked desires, shrouded in terror and slaughter, corrupted beyond recognition, or turned into a paradise for sinners...’

Shi Ming suddenly recalled parts of his communication with the god’s remnant will inside the Creation Star Core, deep within the Endless Ocean. At that time, the god had warned him to walk a different path, lest he repeat the same mistakes.

He had also warned him to be wary of Calamities...

’The first warning meant that the path to godhood could not be copied. If I just repeat the path of the fallen god, I’ll eventually hit a dead end, trapped at that realm with no hope of further progress, just like the other false gods.’

’Be wary of Calamities...’

’The alien species become immortal and indestructible at the Scourge level. The god’s final warning didn’t mention false gods or any other similar challenges. Instead, he mentioned Calamities.’

’Did the Ancient Evils really all fall?’

’The truth is probably not that simple.’

...

...

...

In the time it took for this exchange, Amonev had almost fully recovered.

Unlike the original god, these new gods did not manifest their Divine Countries externally. Instead, they kept them contained within their bodies, with the entrances located on their persons. For example, the entrance to Huang Ji’s Divine Country is at her navel, Candela’s is in their heart, and the entrance to Amonev’s Divine Country, the [Sea of Falling Stars], is at the tip of a strand of her hair.

The advantage of this is that the new gods can draw upon the power within their Divine Countries at any time to recover quickly.

"My second question is, what role did you play in that betrayal?"