If what Lilith had given Zhou Yi was a small surprise, then what Zhou Yi gave her in return was nothing short of a tremendous shock.
What he gave her was something she had never imagined. The sheer psychological impact, so far beyond her expectations, left Lilith feeling completely dazed.
It was like a woman who had already prepared herself to marry a man with nothing, only to discover that he came with a villa, luxury cars, a yacht, and shares in seven or eight publicly listed companies. It was simply unbelievable.
Although she could still sense the mark Zhou Yi had left within this half of Heaven, both the authority over Heaven and the divine power it generated had been transferred entirely into her hands. Zhou Yi remained only its nominal owner, while Lilith had become its true master.
The situation completely caught Lilith off guard. It even gave her the strange feeling that the story had veered entirely away from the script she had written in her mind.
Could this be a conspiracy?
The witch within her immediately became suspicious. Yet no matter how carefully she examined it, she could not find even the slightest trace of a trap.
Zhou Yi had laid everything Heaven possessed completely bare before her, holding nothing back. Even the mark he had left behind was displayed openly and honestly.
Such behavior left Lilith deeply uncomfortable.
Extremely uncomfortable.
"What exactly do you mean by this?"
Unable to suppress her confusion any longer, Lilith finally voiced the question weighing on her mind.
"I simply gave something useful to the person who actually needs it. As far as I'm concerned, this thing isn't much help to me. It would be better if it could still serve some purpose in your hands."
"Besides..."
"I'd like something from you in return."
As he answered Lilith's question, Zhou Yi also revealed his true objective.
The moment she heard that, Lilith immediately became cautious.
She had no idea what Zhou Yi intended to ask for, but if he was willing to trade something as valuable as Heaven, then what he wanted was obviously no ordinary item.
She carefully tested him.
"You gave away Heaven just to exchange it for a single thing?"
"What exactly do you want?"
"Half of Michael's soul."
Michael.
The six-winged Seraph—the highest-ranking angel on the side of the Divine.
Unlike ordinary mid-level angels, he possessed not only his own consciousness and emotions but also genuine divine authority. Within Jehovah's pantheon, Seraphim were essentially no different from the gods of other pantheons.
It was only because Jehovah's religion was monotheistic that Michael could only bear the title of angel instead of god.
That was merely a matter of status and did nothing to diminish Michael's position.
For that very reason, Michael's soul was fundamentally different from the souls of ordinary angels.
The other angels were merely God's tools.
Michael, however, was a god without the title of one.
That was also why Lilith had never taken Michael's soul into the Crimson Sea to be reborn and transformed.
She simply didn't possess enough divine power to recreate Michael's body.
Nor was she confident she could control him and make him completely loyal.
If he were reincarnated, Michael would still be Michael.
With his memories and emotions intact, he would never become one of those utterly loyal Night Demons or Lightbringers.
He would remain himself.
From the moment Zhou Yi destroyed Michael and secretly collected his soul, Lilith had never considered transforming him.
Her plan had always been to devour him, obtaining new Authorities and divine power from his soul.
But now that idea was clearly impossible.
Since Zhou Yi had spoken first, there was no way she could secretly keep Michael's soul for herself.
Reluctant though she was, Lilith still handed Michael's soul over.
Compared to Heaven itself, a single Michael was insignificant.
A woman as intelligent as Lilith naturally knew how to weigh the benefits.
"You have a way to control him?"
Even after placing Michael's soul into Zhou Yi's hands, Lilith couldn't let go of the question lingering in her mind.
She wanted to know exactly what Zhou Yi intended to do with the soul—and whether she might somehow benefit from it herself.
Although she had already decided to become the Bright King's partner, that agreement had yet to be fulfilled.
Until the day it truly became reality, Lilith would continue looking out for her own interests.
She was not the sort of foolish woman who lost all reason for love.
Until the Bright King truly became her king and everything unfolded according to their agreement, she intended to extract every possible advantage she could from their alliance.
"I have no way to control him."
"And I don't need to."
As he answered Lilith, Zhou Yi gripped Michael's soul in his hand.
Then, using the crudest method imaginable, he forcefully poured divine power into it.
Destructive divine flames surged into the soul.
With astonishing ease, Michael's soul was split cleanly into two halves.
And with that...
Michael's very existence was completely destroyed.
A soul was not an apple that could simply be cut apart.
The instant Zhou Yi infused it with divine fire, Michael had already been utterly annihilated.
What remained were nothing more than his divine essence and the shattered remnants of his divine status.
But those were precisely what Zhou Yi wanted.
He had no need for a Michael who harbored his own thoughts and ambitions.
What he wanted was Michael's power.
With the power inherited from Michael, he could cultivate attendants absolutely loyal to himself.
Wasn't that far better than keeping a single Michael?
Naturally, that was only Zhou Yi's way of thinking.
Lilith saw things very differently.
Watching his almost wantonly destructive actions, she cried out almost instantly.
"What are you doing?"
"Don't you realize you'll destroy him like this?"
She tried to stop him.
But she was already too late.
Zhou Yi had moved far too quickly.
By the time Lilith shouted, he had already tossed one half of the divine essence toward her.
"Of course I know."
"That's exactly what I intended."
"He's just an angel."
"Compared to his true value, I'd rather use him as nourishment to cultivate genuinely loyal subordinates."
"This... is what you wanted?"
Lilith accepted that half of the divine essence, unable to comprehend his thinking.
She felt she simply couldn't keep up with Zhou Yi anymore.
Destroying an existence equivalent to a high-ranking god...
Just to cultivate a subordinate?
Was that really something a normal deity would do?
If you devoured this soul, you might gain one or two new Authorities.
You might even elevate your own divine status.
If you reincarnated him instead, you would obtain a subordinate comparable to a god.
The value of such a subordinate would far exceed that of these tens of thousands of Night Demons and Lightbringers combined.
Yet Zhou Yi had chosen neither option.
Instead, he adopted a method Lilith utterly despised.
He destroyed the most valuable part of the soul, taking only its divine essence and shattered divine status.
In Lilith's eyes, it was no different from slaughtering the goose that laid golden eggs just to obtain a single egg before it was even laid.
It was unbelievably foolish.
How long would it take for this subordinate to grow strong enough?
How long would it take to repair that shattered divine status and become another Michael?
Lilith didn't even need to think about it.
The answer would undoubtedly be a length of time so vast it inspired only despair.
But no matter how angry or upset she was, it no longer mattered.
Zhou Yi had already done it.
And without the slightest hesitation, he immediately spent that divine essence.
He reached behind him, pulled Selene closer, and directly forced Michael's half of the divine essence into her body.
As a vampire only slightly stronger than an ordinary human, Selene naturally had no ability to absorb such immense power.
The instant Michael's overwhelming divinity was violently forced into her body, she felt as though every cell in her body was on the verge of exploding.
Not only her cells—
Even her intangible soul felt as though it had been stretched to its breaking point.
Every cell boiled.
Every nerve trembled.
Even her soul was overwhelmed by an indescribable sensation.
Faced with such unbearable agony, Selene completely lost the composure expected of a Death Dealer.
Throwing back her head, baring her fangs, she screamed.
Under normal circumstances, she would have been unable to withstand such overwhelming power and would have been completely destroyed by the divine essence itself.
But with Zhou Yi standing beside her, such a thing was impossible.
"Hold on, Selene."
"I'm here."
"You'll be fine."
After softly reassuring her, Zhou Yi immediately invoked his Authority over Life.
Using his vastly greater divine power, he intervened directly within Selene's body.
Naturally, this intensified her suffering.
But at the same time, it continuously repaired the damage caused by the divine essence, allowing her body to gradually adapt to its power and removing any possibility of danger.
Very soon, the infusion was complete.
The violent divine power rampaging within Selene was completely suppressed by Zhou Yi.
By all rights, this should have been good news.
Selene, however, didn't think so.
Although only a brief moment had passed, to her it had felt as though centuries had gone by.
The unbearable agony had nearly driven her insane.
The simultaneous torture of body and soul had drenched her in sweat until she looked as though she had been pulled from water.
The most ridiculous part was that she still had no idea why she had been forced to endure such suffering.
She was just about to question Zhou Yi.
But the moment she looked up, she saw the fury burning in Lilith's eyes—
—and the undisguised envy in the eyes of the former Chairman of the Dark Council standing beside her.
Recalling the conversation between the two gods just moments earlier, she suddenly understood.
She had just been infused with the power of a god...
Meaning she had become someone who might one day ascend to godhood herself.
The realization struck Selene like a bolt of lightning, leaving her completely dazed.
How...
How could that possibly be?
She wasn't the only one who found it unbelievable.
Lilith did as well.
Fixing Zhou Yi with an angry glare, she lowered her voice and demanded,
"Your Majesty, Bright King, I require an explanation."
"According to our agreement, I am to become your Divine Queen."
"So tell me—what exactly was the meaning of what you just did?"
"Is this mortal truly so worthy of your favor that you would bestow upon her such an enormous blessing?"
Lilith was jealous.
Not because of love.
Nothing so wonderful yet existed between them.
She was jealous because of her own interests.
In her eyes, she was destined to become Zhou Yi's other half.
She was the one who should one day possess everything that belonged to him.
Yet what Zhou Yi had just done was almost the same as openly showing favor to another woman right in front of her.
It directly infringed upon her interests.
And that...
...was something Lilith absolutely could not tolerate.