Devouring Abyss: Ji

The steel graveyard in District Seven glowed purple beneath the blood moon. Today, the scavengers were telling stories of a collapse on the eastern trash hill that had exposed an old-era subway tunnel.

“An unexplored area three hundred meters down...” The boy ran his fingers, wrapped in electrical tape, over a radiation detector. The needle on the dial jumped wildly. This depth should have been a death zone, but a sudden pain flared in his left eye. Ever since the purple aurora three days ago, he had been able to see purple streams of energy drifting through the air.

At that moment, the deadly energy known as “Erosion” was flowing toward the depths of the fissure, as if drawn by something.

When Su Ye pried up a titanium alloy panel covered in bio-slime, a bronze light made his right eye water. Half of a rusted sword blade was embedded in a pile of nuclear batteries. The two ancient characters “Xuanyuan” were faintly visible on its guard. The strangest thing was that this artifact, at least a thousand years old, was regularly contracting and expanding, just like... it was breathing.

“After ninety-seven thousand cycles, I have finally found someone who can awaken Them.”

The moment the voice rang out in his mind, the divine favor chip at the back of Su Ye's neck began to burn. By the time he regained consciousness, the entire trash hill had been consumed by purple flames, and the broken sword had turned into bronze liquid that seeped into his left arm. The roar of engines from the Temple Guard squadron sounded in the distance. The boy had no idea that what he had just absorbed was the power to slay gods, sealed with the life of the First Human Emperor.