An Unexpected Development

With the recruitment drive over, Blade City welcomed a rare period of peace.

In the blink of an eye, a hundred years passed.

Not long after everyone went their separate ways, Korur and Mosang took part in the Demon Assessment. By now, both had advanced to become Two-star Demons.

As for Jie Ning and the other two, they remained immersed in secluded cultivation.

Kala worked hard to digest the insights he had gained some time ago...

Dinar pondered deeply over how to fuse the two Mysteries he had comprehended...

As for Jie Ning, integrating the Power of Life Mystery into the Earth Element and Earth-walking Technique Mysteries was as natural as a fish taking to water. He completely immersed himself in his insights and had even successfully fused a portion of the Power Profound Mystery with the Earth Element Profound Mystery.

Beside the Plane Teleportation Array on the Bana Continent.

Over these hundred years, Jie Ning's Earth God Avatar had worked hard to improve its strength. His true body and Life God Avatar had not been idle either.

Jie Ning's true body carefully studied the patterns of the Teleportation Array, verifying them one by one against his own ideas. From time to time, a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

Avoiding the area around the Teleportation Array, Jie Ning would occasionally go somewhere far away and carve strange patterns into the ground, testing something. Peculiar ripples would occasionally spread out.

The strength of his two Divine Avatars had also increased tremendously.

The Life God Avatar personally took part in nurturing a Divine Beast. This brought Jie Ning considerable gains, allowing him to thoroughly fuse his insights in the three directions of "the growth of life," "the soul of life," and "the end of life." At the same time, he gained some new understanding of life.

What meaning did life have for the world? Why was life a law? Perhaps life was not merely one's own life, but the life of the world as well...

The Death God Avatar naturally did not fall behind. After years of studying undead creatures and life, he also made an enormous breakthrough and had successfully advanced to become a Middle-God.

At this moment, his Life God Avatar and Death God Avatar were each comprehending the mysteries of their respective laws atop two distant mountains.

As the two avatars comprehended different laws, the two mountains developed entirely different environments.

The mountain where the Life God Avatar resided was covered in lush greenery and dense vegetation. Even at its foot, grass flourished and wildflowers bloomed. Streams babbled through the mountain, clear enough to reveal their bottoms, while fish swam freely in the water. All kinds of small animals occasionally darted through the forest, startling flocks of birds into flight. The rhythm of life was perfectly expressed on this mountain, even giving one the feeling that the entire world itself possessed life.

In contrast, the mountain where the Death God Avatar resided was bare, with jagged rocks and not a blade of grass in sight. The entire peak was shrouded in silence. Merely looking at it gave one a lonely, fearful sensation. From time to time, undead creatures such as puppets and zombies flickered through the mountains. Occasionally, aged creatures seemed drawn by something, walking into the mountain of their own accord before vanishing into the mist.

Jie Ning let out a breath. His brow felt swollen as he stared at the obscure and incomprehensible Teleportation Array before him, unable to suppress a sense of discouragement.

I still overestimated myself. Although I gained something, I can at most be said to understand a few corners of the overall Teleportation Array.

In this special period, judging from the Blade Army's situation, even in a Material Plane, one would need at least the strength of a Six-star Demon to have any degree of safety guaranteed.

A Seven-star Demon like the Army Lord, as the leader, probably would not easily enter a Material Plane. But the chances of Five-star and Six-star Demons under him entering a Material Plane are quite high.

At my current pace, my Earth God Avatar is already close to completely fusing the Earth Element, Earth-walking Technique, and Power of Life Mysteries.

If that happens, my Earth God Avatar should at least be about as strong as Beile, perhaps possessing strength around that of a Five-star Demon. Jie Ning assessed the improvement in his strength and evaluated himself based on the power Beile had displayed.

But it still isn't enough... Jie Ning looked toward the Teleportation Array.

Jie Ning calculated silently.

Among my three Divine Avatars, the strongest now are my Earth God Avatar and Life God Avatar, while my Death God Avatar can only be considered an ordinary Middle-God.

It had to be said that cultivation in a Supreme Plane was indeed much easier than in a Material Plane. If not for his discoveries regarding Divine Beasts, Jie Ning believed the progress of his Life God Avatar would never have caught up to his Earth God Avatar.

Barring any surprises, the growth rate of his earth-element Divine Avatar would far surpass that of the two Divine Avatars left behind in the Material Plane.

Perhaps, Jie Ning thought, I should send another Divine Avatar to a Supreme Plane.

It has now basically been confirmed that ordinary God-level beings have no way to travel from a Supreme Plane to a Material Plane.

That would eliminate threats from the Supreme Planes.

As for the Bana Continent itself, Jie Ning pondered, the only God-level beings at present are me, Gru, Dikas, Duke Darut, who refined a Divine Spark, and Dinar's Water Element Divine Avatar.

That lazy old turtle Dikas is more likely to sleep than cause trouble. Dikas was the Divine Beast who had once given Korur and Mosang a Divine Spark. His true form was a Xuan Turtle, and he spent all year sleeping at the bottom of the ocean.

Jie Ning had once visited him. To make Jie Ning leave sooner, Dikas had even given him a Divine Spark, leaving Jie Ning both amused and helpless.

There is even less need to worry about the other three. Thinking of the personalities of Gru, Dinar, and Darut, Jie Ning shook his head.

I have already explored the Bana Continent Plane Prison. There are currently no God-level beings imprisoned inside, and the prison is clearly weak enough that any God-level being can directly tear open a rift at the weak points between the Plane Prison and the Bana Continent, returning to the Bana Continent.

If I truly want to use it as a prison, I may need to add some Magic Arrays to those weak points in space later. Jie Ning thought that having a prison was not necessarily a bad thing.

After considering the matter carefully, Jie Ning gradually made up his mind to send his Life God Avatar to the Life Supreme Plane.

Suddenly...

"Hm?"

"Someone became a god again?"

Jie Ning looked toward the source of the fluctuations in Heaven and Earth, delight instantly appearing on his face. "That direction... I wonder whether it's Arannis or Serina."

Arannis had long reached the Saint Realm Limit and had always been only one final step away from becoming a god.

Serina, meanwhile, was the Divine Beast Jie Ning had personally created back then. She was now Jie Ning's adopted daughter, and as a Divine Beast, becoming a Low-God would not be difficult for her.

"Time passes so quickly." To Jie Ning, the events of those days still felt like yesterday.

Fifty years earlier.

Jie Ning's Life God Avatar watched in confusion as the Wind Element Cluster atop the Tree of Light's crown gradually dispersed.

A baby girl appeared where it had been, supported by air currents formed from Wind Elements.

Gradually, the Wind Elements around her began to dissipate, and Jie Ning could sense that her aura had stabilized.

Jie Ning picked up the baby girl and used divine power to form clothes, wrapping her in them.

Looking at the infant in his arms, he saw that she was basically no different from an ordinary human baby. The only exception was her pointed ears, which marked her as an Elf.

"Little Light, are you sure she has been fully nurtured?" Jie Ning found it strange. "Do Divine Beasts nurtured by Heaven and Earth also go through infancy?"

The Tree of Light was utterly bewildered. "Lord Jie Ning... according to my senses, she truly has been 'born' from me."

"I'm sorry, Lord Jie Ning. I don't know whether it is normal for her to be like this." The Tree of Light's tone carried a trace of apology.

At that moment, Arannis, who had been standing nearby, also walked over and curiously looked at the child in Jie Ning's arms. "Jie Ning, is this the Divine Beast the Tree of Light has been nurturing all this time?"

"I suppose so?" Jie Ning looked at the child in his arms, unsure whether to laugh or cry.

Arannis was full of disbelief. A god and an infant... the contrast was far too jarring.

But in an instant, Arannis became interested again. "Jie Ning, why don't we make this little one our daughter?"

"Anton has grown up too."

Anton was the only son of Jie Ning and Arannis. He was now also a Saint Realm expert.

"A daughter?"

"That does seem rather nice." Jie Ning was tempted.

"Then from now on, your name will be Serina. Serina Darut." Jie Ning looked at the little one in his arms.

Little Serina seemed to sense something and giggled at Jie Ning.

Jie Ning hurried to the scene. By now, the law fluctuations were nearing their end.

Looking at the two figures floating in the sky, Jie Ning's smile could not be contained.

Arannis and Serina slowly descended and looked toward Jie Ning.

"Jie Ning, I became a god." Arannis excitedly threw herself into Jie Ning's arms.

"Congratulations, Lannie." Holding Arannis, Jie Ning lowered his head and congratulated her.

"And congratulations to you too, Serina." Jie Ning did not forget to congratulate his daughter as well.

"Father, I still have a long way to go." Serina's tone was firm, but the joy in her eyes was clearly impossible to conceal.

After a long while, everyone calmed down.

Serina suddenly looked solemnly at Jie Ning. "Father, I want to go find Brother Anton."

At the mention of Anton's name, Arannis suddenly pinched Jie Ning.

"If you hadn't kept telling Anton that Serina was the little wife you found for him..."

"That boy would not have been too embarrassed to stay after losing to Serina once, then run away from home." Arannis complained to Jie Ning.

Jie Ning felt somewhat guilty as well. "Wasn't I only trying to motivate him?"

"When Serina was just born, he was already in the Saint Realm."

"He spent every day hanging around that old bachelor Haba. How could I not give him some stimulation?"

"Who knew that although he never said anything, he actually took it seriously?"

Serina's face reddened slightly as she tried to continue speaking...

At that very moment, Jie Ning's expression changed dramatically.

The Teleportation Array on the Bana Continent began to glow.

Sensing the disturbance, Jie Ning's two Divine Avatars opened their eyes at the same time, their expressions incomparably grim.

Writing this chapter felt incredibly awkward.

After reading the comments, I suddenly had several ideas, but they conflicted with one another. After deleting and revising for ages, I barely managed to write a chapter.

I probably won't be able to write another chapter today. I'll use the remaining time to sort out the plot.