God of Life and the 'Life Duke's Territory'

"This fellow really couldn't bear to part with it." Gru said disdainfully, the Space Ring he used to retrieve the Divine Spark belonged to that Sanctuary named Qina.

Jie Ning sighed, "Just for a single Divine Spark, how many originally lofty Sanctuaries of the mainland have lost their lives in an instant."

Gru agreed, "Sanctuary time is infinite; as long as you live, there's always hope."

The people beside them exchanged a few glances, unable to resist muttering inwardly, 'Do these two really think everyone else is as gifted as they are?'

Tossing the Divine Spark in his hand a couple of times, Gru looked at Darut and asked, "Grandfather, I'll give this Divine Spark to you."

With that, he tossed the Divine Spark to Darut.

Except for Jie Ning, everyone else instantly shot jealous looks at Darut.

Darut chuckled, not standing on ceremony, "Then I'll take it."

Jie Ning and Gru sat in the center, while the others sat around them on both sides.

Gru and Jie Ning exchanged their respective insights, and the rest listened attentively.

As Jie Ning listened to Gru's understanding of fire, his own comprehension of fire magic improved significantly.

Originally, Jie Ning's plan was to break through to godhood by studying both the earth and fire elements.

Progress in the earth element had been steady, and Jie Ning was confident that in a few more years, his earth element would break through to godhood.

He never expected that his later enlightenment of the Life Rule would overtake everything, allowing him to become a god through the Life Rule first.

Thus, the comprehension of Fire Profound Mysteries had been shelved, since Jie Ning's energy was limited. The Life Rule and earth profound mysteries already consumed all his focus, and this was only barely manageable because he occasionally found similarities between the two, allowing them to promote each other's progress.

Now, after hearing Gru's explanation, Jie Ning finally gained a glimmer of insight into the fire element. Though he couldn't claim to have understood any profound mysteries, he had at least found a path forward.

Of course, after listening to Jie Ning's explanation of life, Gru also declared on the spot that he had gained a new direction of insight.

"Though life is both fragile and tenacious, powerful flames can burn away all life..."

After hearing Gru's thoughts, Jie Ning felt that his understanding leaned more toward the Destruction Rule or the Death Rule.

Of course, this was impossible for Gru, since he had chosen to become a god through his main body.

Still, it wasn't strange; after all, among the various elemental laws, traces of the four major rules were often present.

"Why didn't you choose to become a god outside the body?" Jie Ning asked in surprise after hearing Gru say he had become a god within the body.

"Why become a god outside the body?" Gru retorted. "Becoming a god outside the body requires splitting your soul, which both weakens your power and makes comprehending the laws harder."

"But it gives you an extra body," Jie Ning said, puzzled.

"What use is an extra body? If you become a god outside the body, your main body is still only at Sanctuary level." Gru was greatly confused; in his view, having an extra Sanctuary body provided no help in battle and was even a weakness.

"With a clone, even if one body runs into trouble, the other can survive," Jie Ning explained.

Gru disagreed, "I've already become a god; what trouble could arise?"

"God-level strength already stands at the peak of the mainland. If trouble really comes, a remaining Sanctuary main body wouldn't escape either."

"But having a clone to do things together would indeed be convenient—one body could cultivate while the other plays." As he spoke, Gru began to regret a little; it seemed having a clone might make life more comfortable.

Jie Ning was silent for a moment, then said, "But then the Sanctuary main body can continue to comprehend other laws. If you become a god through the main body, you cut off the possibility of becoming a god through other laws."

Hearing this, Gru looked seriously at Jie Ning. "Jie Ning, you're a true genius. I believe you can achieve what you say."

"But for me, becoming a god through fire alone is already my limit. If I split my soul by becoming a god outside the body, I'm not even confident I could go further in comprehending the fire law."

"Besides, even if it's only fire, I believe that as long as I can fully understand its mysteries, I can definitely stand at the peak."

Jie Ning had to admit Gru had a point. 'Indeed, after I split my soul, the reduction in soul power made comprehending profound mysteries noticeably more difficult.'

Even though he knew he could nourish his soul with treasures like the 'Purple Crystal' or 'Soul Golden Bead,' that was too unrealistic for him now.

Not to mention that the Purple Crystal itself was a heavenly treasure from Hell; Jie Ning even suspected that even if he went to Hell, aside from near the Purple Crystal Mountain Range, he might not find a single Purple Crystal elsewhere.

As for the Soul Golden Bead, even setting aside its inhumane raw materials, it was exclusive to those who became gods through the Death Rule. A god with a weak soul from external godhood was a gift from heaven for a Death-rule god.

After thinking for a while, Jie Ning suddenly felt fortunate that he had comprehended the Life Rule.

'Luckily, I became a god through the Life Rule first. Life is best at nurturing; my soul can slowly grow stronger through the nourishment of life force. It was a happy accident.'

Finally, Jie Ning admitted to Gru, "You're right. For us, the drawbacks of becoming a god outside the body are significant."

Gru thought Jie Ning was discouraged by his words and quickly comforted him, "Don't worry. With your talent, even if you split your soul, I believe you can grow into a powerful god-level expert."

For a moment, Jie Ning didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He agreed that ordinary people were better suited to becoming gods within the body, but that didn't mean he thought external godhood had no future.

Just then, Darut suddenly spoke up, "Then why not become a god outside the body and have the main body refine another Divine Spark?"

Gru's previously pleasant mood instantly vanished. 'That does make sense.'

"With both bodies at god-level, then no matter what..." Darut tried to continue.

'Boom~' Darut flew out again.

After exchanging insights for a while, Jie Ning returned to Tieling Town.

Since the others were fine, he needed to go back and properly digest his post-godhood realizations.

It had already been several years since the day Jie Ning became a god.

It was said that later, Gru and Duke Darut made a trip to the imperial capital, and after that, the titles of God of Fire and God of Life appeared within the Korur Empire.

After that, Jie Ning's grandfather, Dale, was suddenly enfeoffed as the new Life Duke, and his father, Chris, was also promoted to Count.

This stunned a great many people, but everyone in the know understood that the change in these two men's titles was because behind them stood a 'God of Life'—Jie Ning.

As the parties involved, the two of them naturally understood this clearly as well.

When the imperial envoy came to discuss with Dale where his dukedom would be enfeoffed, Dale specifically went to ask Jie Ning's opinion.

The Korur Empire was quite generous; aside from the area near the imperial capital and the territories of the several great dukes, the empire indicated that any location could be chosen as the new duke's territory.

After thinking it over, Jie Ning still chose the Death Desert, which he had visited before.

Though some were puzzled, this did not prevent the former Death Desert from officially being renamed the 'Life Duke's Territory'.

When the earliest recipients of this news learned of Jie Ning's decision, some found it strange, and privately, quite a few people believed this was Jie Ning's compromise toward the empire's God of War.

But the miracle that followed silenced everyone.

Under the full exertion of Jie Ning's Life Rule, the Death Desert rapidly revived with vitality, and now the Death Desert—no, the Life Duke's Territory—could be said to be some of the finest land on the entire Bana Continent.

Of course, behind this miracle was a somewhat drained Jie Ning.

The Life Duke's Territory, the Hall of Life—Jie Ning's current residence, an expansion built upon the place where Jie Ning and Arannis had once stayed in the Death Desert.

Watching Jie Ning sit cross-legged in the courtyard, Arannis's thoughts drifted back to the past.

Arannis still remembered that after he had fully exerted his divine power to restore life to the entire desert in one go, Jie Ning had staggered for a time.

She had been terrified at the time, only to learn later that it was because Jie Ning had overexerted himself, draining his divine power and leaving his body weak.

Thinking back to how Jie Ning had clearly been so weak but still put on a brave front, the corners of Arannis's mouth lifted into a smile.

Sensing the movement behind him, Jie Ning, who had been inspecting the growth of the 'Life Grass', turned back helplessly. "Lanni, what are you thinking about now?"

"I'm certainly not recalling any weak God of Life," Arannis said with a playful smile.

Now thirty years old, the years had stripped away the last of Arannis's youthful naivety, replacing it with a mature charm.

Jie Ning's heart stirred, and he used his Divine Domain to pull Arannis into his arms. "Then today, I'll show you what a fierce God of Life looks like."

The two of them vanished from the courtyard.

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