Chapter 354: The Bound

Sua stepped into that gate of light and arrived before the Sacred Tree.

It was just that the most fundamental reason for His birth came from the influence of the "Mother Tree of Desire," so even under the suppression of Chumen, the Corruption originating from the Oldest One within Him still caused Him unbearable pain.

As He took the first step, mad blood-red light surged over Sua's body; this blood-red light truly erupted from blood and flesh, instantly leaving Sua riddled with holes.

This could kill Him directly; this was one of the... contingencies the "Mother Tree of Desire" had left on Him.

"Roar!" The "Divine Sin" let out an angry roar, actually tearing a piece of flesh and a rib from His own chest.

He threw this piece of flesh aside casually, completely ignoring the gushing blood, and continued to walk forward.

After taking another step, He reached out and grabbed at His chest; this time, He directly tore out His own heart.

This heart was very strange and unique; the distribution of the blood vessels on it looked like a rose, exquisitely beautiful beyond words.

This was the second contingency of the "Mother Tree of Desire," which would self-detonate when necessary, then shatter Sua completely.

He advanced another step, then reached out and tore out a section of His own spine...

Seawater condensed from Dream Phosphor fell onto Sua's head and flowed down slowly.

"A dead knot must be untied by death," Chumen replied.

This seawater naturally could not wash away Sua's sins, but it could wash away the final traces left on Sua by the "Mother Tree of Desire."

His philosophy had caused disaster for a thousand years; the indulgent philosophy of the Indulgence Faction all came from His hands. For over a thousand years, the number of cases of loss of control among Indulgence Faction members had been at least ten times that of the Temperance Faction.

The starlit seawater flowed over Sua's body, which had lost its flesh and was supported only by Characteristics.

This was Corruption at the level of the Oldest One, which must be countered with power at the level of the Oldest One; in essence, this was even a form of covering the Corruption.

Sua did not know how many steps He had taken, but by the time He reached the "Sacred Tree," He had basically dismantled His entire body.

Various pieces of flesh, internal organs, and bones were discarded on the road He walked toward the "Sacred Tree," extremely bloody and cruel, yet it also seemed to have a certain strange sense of holiness.

But even more terrifying was the slaughter caused by His followers after they indulged their own desires; over the past millennium, this had become a terrifying blood debt, and a portion of this had to be counted on Him.

At this moment, He stood under the "Sacred Tree" in the image of a Dream Angel; Dream Phosphor spilled down, suppressing all the resisting power of the "Mother Tree of Desire," and incidentally stabilizing the state of the "Bound God."

He had once committed boundless slaughter; every person who made up the "Sacred Tree" had died by His orders, and all the deceased members of the Temperance Faction were also because of His madness.

"My sins cannot be redeemed."

Sua, who was almost only supported by the "Divine Sin" and the remaining Characteristics, arrived before Chumen and said this sentence.

Sua directly crushed His own heart, and invisible flowing light returned to His body.

"Please, Dream Angel, grant me Baptism and blessing," Sua knelt on one knee before Chumen and requested with His head lowered.

"Granted," Chumen nodded lightly, reached out to scoop up a handful of seawater from the Dream Sea, and poured it over Sua's head.

This was a path of atonement.

"Thank you, Dream Angel," Sua thanked Him, and Chumen accepted it calmly.

Sua stood up and walked toward the "Sacred Tree." He looked at the hands extending from the flower and the head that was now vaguely visible, "Father..."

His body disintegrated at this moment, returning to the state of the purest Characteristics. His spirit body also dissipated and turned into flowing light, surging into the Sacred Tree along with that mass of pure Characteristics.

Crack!

The flower wrapping the "Bound God" developed cracks visible to the naked eye, and they spread across the entire Sacred Tree at an extremely fast speed.

At this moment, the entire world had some kind of extremely subtle reaction.

Many ordinary people stopped what they were doing, feeling a comfort of body and mind; they forgot many troubles in their lives and felt happiness and joy at this moment.

It was just that this process only lasted for a very short time. The next moment, many ordinary people who were naturally high in Spirituality felt that their souls were bound, which was very uncomfortable.

As for those true Beyonders, most of them entered a state of closure, imprisoned within their own bodies, enjoying boundless loneliness.

"So what if you enjoy it?"

Chumen sensed everything happening in the world and remarked to Tuorzina inside the Sacred Tree.

The initial peace and joy came from the surprise and delight of finally being freed after being trapped for a thousand years, while the subsequent feeling of being bound and closed off came from the "Bound."

After Sua turned into Characteristics and merged into Tuorzina's body, terrifying Dream Phosphor erupted from within the "Sacred Tree."

Hmm, one of the "Divine Sin" Characteristics of the "Bound God" came from Chumen and had long since been marinated in the Dream Sea.

Then, this Dream Light washed away all Corruption. The Characteristics within this King of Angels, who had already completed the godhood ritual, underwent a final sublimation; now, He was the true Sequence 0 "Bound."

Crack!

The "Sacred Tree" collapsed completely. A glimmer of light erupted from the "Sacred Tree," but this glimmer did not even shine for two seconds before it was retracted.

A mummy appeared before Chumen's eyes.

He seemed the same as when Chumen had seen Him thousands of years ago, only His aura had changed slightly, becoming more magnificent and more restrained.

"How is it?" Chumen asked Tuorzina, who had become a True God.

"The effect... of the ritual... is very good," came the same hoarse voice as always.

"Heh," Chumen chuckled. Using the direct subordinate of the Oldest One as a cage to imprison oneself, and then escaping to achieve godhood—this was almost the top-tier configuration for the "Bound" ritual. Anything higher would probably be being sealed in "Sefirah Castle" by the "Mysteries" or suppressed in the "Chaos Sea" by "God."

"This... for you..." The mummy slowly raised both hands and tapped lightly; a badge representing the "Bound" flew toward Chumen.

This was the Authority of the "Bound." Now, for Tuorzina, this was the only thing worth showing.

Chumen took it casually and examined it curiously, "Does this have any special features?"

If not, he would throw it to the bottom of his chest.

"Except for myself, nothing else can ever bind me."

This time, the emotion in Tuorzina's voice became high-spirited, filled with the joy of a thousands-year-old wish finally being realized, so His voice was no longer hoarse, and He knew how to speak coherently.

"The 'Bound' Pathway becoming Sequence 0 means having already experienced the most miserable bonds and punishments in the universe; naturally, there are no more obstacles."

"But conversely, the 'Bound' can also inflict the deepest Curses and the most tragic punishments upon others."

Chumen toyed with the Authority of the "Bound," his understanding of it gradually deepening.

(End of chapter)