Nether Ghost

At the instant the arena administrator announced the start of the challenge, the black-robed man called Nether Ghost reached out toward Lins.

"Soul Gripping Hand!"

Dense black divine power condensed into a massive black palm before the black-robed man and blasted toward Roy.

Wherever the black palm passed, space seemed as though it had been eroded by the years, giving off a faint aura of decay.

Black cracks appeared behind the black palm one after another.

It was space, eroded by the years, unable to withstand the pressure of Spatial Turbulence, causing it to shatter and burst open with countless cracks.

"Death Edicts?"

The Coiling Dragon World had Seven Laws and Four Great Rules.

The Seven Laws were Earth Wind Water Fire Light Dark Lightning.

The Four Great Rules were Death, Life, Destruction, and Destiny.

Laws were tangible elements that truly existed within the world.

Rules, on the other hand, had no concrete elements. They were simply the eternal, unchanging rules by which the world operated.

At the same level, experts of the Rules were half a step stronger than experts of the Laws.

Even the Lord Gods were the same. Even without Supreme Treasures, the Four Great Rule Sovereigns were stronger than the Law Sovereigns.

The Coiling Dragon Universe had only existed for nearly two Yanjì. None of the Rule Sovereigns had yet achieved Ten Consecutive Victories to gain additional Willpower, and the Overgod had yet to issue missions or bestow Supreme Treasures. The gap in strength between the Lord Gods had not yet become as enormous as it would be more than a thousand Yanjì later.

Yet the Four Great Rule Sovereigns still firmly suppressed the more than forty existing Lord Gods, relying on their overwhelming strength.

Of course, that was also because none of the current Law Sovereigns had reached Grand Perfection.

Among the Four Great Rule Sovereigns, Life Sovereign Vivian and Destruction Sovereign Utred were both Grand Perfection Sovereigns. Although the Death Sovereign was not at Grand Perfection, they possessed the Netherworld Heart, the supreme treasure of the Netherworld, and were no weaker than a Grand Perfection Sovereign. Only Destiny Sovereign Colihua was somewhat weaker.

To be honest, Roy had only learned while he was with the Four Divine Beast Family, through chatting with the Patriarch of the Vermillion Bird Clan, that the current Destiny Sovereign was not yet Off. However, Augusta was already the Light Sovereign.

The moment Roy heard that, he knew that the first Destiny Sovereign had definitely been killed by Augusta, who had then given the Destiny High Lord Godhead to Off.

That was why Off later said he owed Augusta an enormous favor, while the other three Rule Sovereigns offered no rebuttal. Clearly, they knew that the current Destiny Sovereign Colihua had been slain by Augusta.

Giving away a Lord Godhead—and a Sovereign Ruler Level Lord Godhead at that—was indeed an immense favor when one did not know Augusta and Off were the same person.

Roy was certain that Augusta would make his move against Destiny Sovereign Colihua before long.

Because the Death Sovereign had once said that, around one quadrillion years after the birth of heaven and earth, Destruction Sovereign Utred and Destiny Sovereign Off had fought a battle. In other words, their battle would take place during this Yanjì. (The original stated one trillion years; this was changed to one quadrillion years to match what came later.)

However, Augusta, the Light Sovereign, was currently still far weaker than Destiny Sovereign Colihua. How had he killed the Destiny Sovereign?

No, it might not have been Augusta.

A thought flashed through Roy's mind.

From the birth of heaven and earth until Linley became a Lord God, three Sovereigns had fallen.

There was only one possible battle that could cause even Sovereigns to fall: the first War of Faith among the Lord Gods!

And the spark that ignited that War of Faith was very likely the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods becoming Grand Perfection Low-level Lord Gods after gathering vast amounts of Power of Faith.

"Hiss..."

At that thought, Roy's heart trembled.

Roy hurriedly cast aside those thoughts and focused on preparing for battle.

As the first expert Roy had encountered who cultivated the Death Rules, Roy naturally did not dare to be careless.

The Death Rules excelled most at Soul Attacks.

Thus, Roy naturally responded with a technique centered on Soul Attack.

Using Life Force as its foundation, he unleashed Chains of Heaven, a technique that fused the four Law Profound Mysteries of Earth Pulse, Earth Element, and Earth Travel Technique.

"Chains of Heaven!"

"Clatter..."

Roy spread his hands, and countless golden chains shot forth from the ground and sky. Locked onto their target by Roy's Spiritual Sense, the chains weaved across the Blood Battle Stage and tightly bound Nether Ghost's Soul Gripping Hand.

Then Roy clenched his left hand.

With a bang, Nether Ghost's Soul Gripping Hand was directly crushed apart by the chains of Chains of Heaven.

That was not all. The chains filling the sky also shot swiftly toward Nether Ghost, as though intending to bind him as well.

Faced with the chains filling the sky—especially after seeing his signature technique bound and crushed—Nether Ghost clearly had no desire to end up like his Soul Gripping Hand. He immediately stretched out his right hand, and a bone sword more than a meter long appeared in his grasp.

The bone sword was wreathed in dense deathly aura. As Nether Ghost swung it, thin black lines appeared in the space around the blade.

They were traces left by space being sliced apart.

"Ode to Death!"

"Ding ding ding ding, ding ding ding..."

A crisp, rhythmic sound suddenly rang from Nether Ghost's bone sword. As he swung it, it seemed to play a mournful dirge.

Under the influence of those sounds, once the chains of Roy's Chains of Heaven approached Nether Ghost, they seemed to sink into a swamp, their speed greatly reduced.

"Clang clang clang clang clang!"

Every chain attacking Nether Ghost was cleaved apart by him.

Not only that, after being cut by Nether Ghost's sword, the chains actually began to decay.

Roy was not surprised by this.

In the end, Chains of Heaven was merely a Seven-star Demon Level technique that fused four Law Profound Mysteries.

Nether Ghost's Ode to Death was likewise a Seven-star Demon Level technique, while the bone sword in his hand was clearly an exceptionally powerful offensive divine artifact.

It could increase Nether Ghost's strength by at least more than twofold.

As Nether Ghost transformed into a shadowy phantom, black Space Rifts appeared wherever the phantom passed, swallowing the decayed, severed chains into Spatial Turbulence one by one.

Seeing that Chains of Heaven could do nothing to Nether Ghost, Roy raised his index finger with one hand. Vast power of Law Profound Mysteries surged behind him, transforming into ripples of gold.

Weapons emerged one after another from the golden ripples—saber, spear, sword, halberd, clubs, blades, daggers, whips, rods, wheels, and spikes. There was everything one could want.

This technique was based on Earth Element and fused Earth Travel Technique, Earth Pulse, and the Profound Mystery of Strength.

"Gate of Babylon!"

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

Roy swept his right hand down fiercely. The next instant, the weapons emerging from the ripples became streaks of golden light that shot toward Nether Ghost.

"Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom..."

Compared to the chains of Chains of Heaven, the weapons formed from Law Profound Mysteries, without Life Force, were much easier to destroy.

However, having fused the Earth Pulse Profound Mystery and the Profound Mystery of Strength, these weapons possessed attack power a notch greater than the chains.

Between Roy and Nether Ghost, weapon after weapon shot from Gate of Babylon and pierced through space. Countless fist-sized cylindrical Space Rifts threw the surrounding airflow into chaos. Through the dense cylindrical Space Rifts, one could vaguely see the dazzling, multicolored Spatial Turbulence within.

Locked on by Spiritual Sense, even if Nether Ghost's shadowy phantom flickered through the sky, the flying weapons would find him and pursue him relentlessly.

Today is May Day. Wishing everyone a happy Labor Day.