The Abyss Dweller

Ancient sirens, considered to be among the beasts, descended into the deepest parts of the sea during the time of the gods' departure, managing to survive.

In the divine scriptures, ancient sirens are regarded as another lineage of the beasts, and the sea-dwelling variants are believed to be their descendants.

For every cultivator, ancient sirens emerging from the ocean depths are formidable foes capable of bringing calamity to the human world.

The eastern coast of the Holy Tianyin Kingdom borders the sea, so it always maintains a fleet to guard against ancient sirens. However, this time, an ancient siren appeared in the western country of Xitu.

As a result, Xitu had to call for aid, and Poldo was one of those who responded.

At least one ancient siren has already been slain, its spine extracted and becoming the foundation for Poldo's ritual.

Different professions have varied techniques for ritual crafting. Cultivators rely solely on their spiritual power and adherence to doctrine to gradually condense their faith without needing other materials.

Knights need to integrate their life force into their environment and solidify it through legends, similarly not requiring many materials.

However, sorcerers do require materials. For instance, Anthony constructed the Reflection Tower, expanding the central clock tower's reflection. The amount of resources invested to create it is unknown, like the source fire Adam saw during his semi-solidification, which required vast resources to condense.

In contrast, healers, who need the most resources early on, ironically require fewer materials when condensing the universal cauldron, as its purpose is to transform various materials to achieve a state of having all resources.

However, the healer profession has significant flaws, with very few reaching the stage of condensing the universal cauldron.

Poldo, having forsaken his faith, chose the path of a sorcerer, or something akin to it. His ritual foundation was this extracted spine, which he named the Sword Pointing to the Gods.

"A sword needs to be forged, which requires a target to temper it," Jin understood clearly. "That's why he chose the old man, Shaya."

The ideal state of the Sword Pointing to the Gods is as a deicidal weapon, formed by slaying a god's incarnation.

The concept of a deicidal weapon has always existed, but true deicidal weapons are almost unheard of. Ordinary practitioners rarely even see a god, let alone achieve deicide.

Besides, even if one could see a god, would they dare to act?

Since he couldn't attack a god, Poldo had to settle for the next best thing: targeting the servants of the gods. Choosing the strongest cultivator as the target and killing them would serve as the ritual's forging ceremony.

If successful, this ritual would transform the sword into a Blade of Sin, gathering immense sinful power.

Holy power restrains sin, just as sin restrains holy power. Completing the Sword Pointing to the Gods would allow Poldo to fundamentally alter his base, transforming holy power into pure sin, making him a beast on par with the ancient sirens.

Despite the ancient siren being killed by the church, it was only due to a large force and the siren's lesser intelligence.

It's generally believed that the beasts' power surpasses that of humans, but human mastery of power has evolved far beyond the beasts'.

The ancestor of sorcerers, Yi, didn't even have a clear meditation method.

Her father was the third son, and there's a significant difference between the third son and the third person's son. Sometimes the third son can be as powerful as the second son, potentially referring to a human or even a divine offspring.

Yi, a descendant of the third son and a recognized human ancestor, had near-divine powers. To save a dead fetus, she sacrificed her own life.

In today's world, even sorcerers with less power than Yi can accomplish what she did through various spells without such sacrifices.

From ancient times to now, professional knowledge has undergone countless updates. The ancient sirens' way of surviving in the abyss meant that despite their great power, they still couldn't match humans.

But if humans could gain the ancient sirens' power, the outcome might be different, potentially bringing true calamity to humanity.

Poldo, holding the large spine by the end, aimed the tailbone, like a sword tip, at Shaya. The spine seemed like a living snake, constantly writhing, but its head remained fixed.

Sin radiated from the spine, polluting the sacred ground, and even threatened to pierce the chief cultivator.

"It seems Poldo has backing," Jin observed. Although Poldo appeared young again, he wasn't yet a different species.

This meant he had forsaken his faith but was still, fundamentally, a "man" in the traditional sense, untainted by sin.

"With a human body, wielding an ancient siren's spine to kill a god's servant, using their blood to spread sin, and completing the ritual's foundation while transforming his own species."

"This kind of scheme isn't something he could come up with alone."

Jin's assessment was accurate. It wasn't difficult to restore a cultivator's youth after they renounced their faith, nor to maintain their combat power. The challenge lay in holding an ancient siren's spine, such a sinister object, while retaining one's humanity.

This wasn't something a former church cultivator could manage alone; it required an organization backing Poldo.

"Interesting. The people who created and then took the Saint's Crown—are they the same group?" Jin grinned, casually picking his nose.

He was just a lone, trapped werewolf in Roya, concerned only with mentoring the wolf pup Nesser. Other matters were beyond his concern.

Jin turned to look at Adam meditating, his eyes full of satisfaction. Finding such an excellent heir at this time was truly a blessing.

On the other side, the battle continued despite Jin's thoughts.

The chief cultivator couldn't use his divine state. If he did, he would truly join the divine, unleashing power that might not kill Poldo but would surely end himself.

But that didn't mean he was powerless.

Standing on holy ground, white flowers bloomed under his feet as his aged body took a trembling step forward.

The holy ground, existing in the spatial crevice, began to retract rapidly, condensing a massive amount of holy power and sealing the crevice shut.

Like hands clasped in prayer.

In front of the building, Shaya stood gasping for breath, his cane fallen aside. Between his hands, a gentle light flowed—what was once a spatial crevice now forcibly compressed with holy power.

"It's useless, Shaya," Poldo's voice emanated from between Shaya's hands, as if the now smaller spine wrapped around him, its spines piercing his body. Even in this holy ground, it created an unfathomable abyss.

"We are all already dwellers of the abyss. Your faith has flaws. In this abyss, no one finds salvation, including you."

"No, you just need to learn to let go." Shaya's old face softened into a smile. As he released his grip, the compressed holy power exploded uncontrollably.

The abyssal crevice created by the spine was torn apart by the holy power, burying Poldo within it.

Obsessed with his inner darkness, Poldo refused to acknowledge that the extreme holy power might not harm his still-human form. Instead, he stubbornly used the spine to create an abyss, proclaiming they were abyss dwellers.

Shaya understood this clearly and never denied it. Even now, the abyss within him remained dark, filled with the resentment and pain accumulated since childhood.

Humans are not gods and possess their own darkness. It's when one fixates on the darkness and sees only the darkness that they truly fall into the abyss.

Shaya still stood in the abyss, but he had found his redemption.

"Just keep your head up, Poldo."