Thinking of this, Hodan couldn't help sighing. After all that effort, he'd accomplished nothing. He couldn't claim the Sovereign Artifact for himself by dripping blood on it. Was he supposed to take it out and use it as a bomb? Hodan shook his head, dismissing the impractical idea.
As for taking it back to his clan and letting the clan chief deal with it, Hodan wouldn't even consider that.
First, he had no way to explain where the Sovereign Artifact had come from. And if he really took it back to the clan, that would mean he'd exposed himself, bringing a terrible disaster down on the Renars Clan. Beirut hadn't specifically targeted the Eight Great Clans; he'd merely helped the Four Divine Beasts Clan withstand their pressure. Otherwise, the Eight Great Clans would have been reduced to ashes long ago.
Now Hodan had actually dared to cause trouble on his own turf. Was he tired of living?
Second, the clan might see the Azure Dragon Ring and send even more powerful experts over. His clan chief might even come in person. After all, no god could resist the temptation of a Sovereign Artifact. Just look at Reisgyn. Even as the son of the Zijing Chief Sovereign, he'd still fought on the Plane Battlefield for a Sovereign Artifact.
But Yulan Continent was a death pit, and the Renars Clan was a pillar of his family. Hodan couldn't let his clan chief enter this death pit and drag his family into the vortex of destruction.
Still, Hodan couldn't bear to leave the thing here. Even if he couldn't use it, he couldn't leave it here to strengthen the enemy. After all, Linley had the bloodline of the Four Divine Beasts and was naturally at odds with the Eight Great Clans.
Should he take the ring away? Or cast it into the Spatial Turbulence?
Hodan didn't have any ill will toward Linley. For one thing, Linley hadn't even been born yet. Could you feel hostile toward someone who didn't exist? For another, Linley's values matched the mainstream views of Hodan's previous life. After all, Hodan had grown up in a peaceful environment too.
For a while, Hodan stood there, uncertain, holding the Coiling Dragon Ring.
Another option was to find a Saint-level expert, have him refine a Godhead, then have him claim the ring by dripping blood on it and use up the attacks stored inside. That would work, but it couldn't be done on Yulan Continent.
Hodan stared at the Sovereign Artifact in his hand, hesitating. Then a sudden flash of inspiration struck him.
He had a Fate God Clone! What could be more in keeping with the essence of Fate than observing whether the protagonist followed the predetermined script of his life? Linley was a Person of Uncertain Fate in the Coiling Dragon World. Observing the course of his life and growth would surely be the best way to directly experience the wonders of Fate.
At the thought, Hodan's soul felt clear and open, and his comprehension of Fate began to improve rapidly.
As his comprehension surged, the bottlenecks separating his Fate God Clone from the Lowgod and Mid-God realms broke.
A strange fluctuation of the Laws of the World descended, landing directly inside the small bamboo house where Hodan was. Such things happened all the time in Hell, so no one would pay them any attention.
Hodan's eyes were closed when, all at once, the Lowgod Godhead of Fate emerged from his head as if it were weightless, then floated above him. Countless blue-green specks of light swirled around the Godhead. Under the control of the Laws of the World, it slowly began to transform...from a Lowgod Godhead into a Mid-God Godhead!
The blue-green specks of light faded away. The Godhead, glowing blue-green, now radiated a far more powerful aura.
"Vmmm—"
The blue-green Godhead spun rapidly, then merged into Hodan's body.
A moment later, Hodan opened his eyes. A flash of divine light flickered in them, and the small bamboo house suddenly lit up.
At that moment, Hodan's Fate God Clone had entered the Mid-God realm! His clone in Hell had finally gained a measure of self-protection.
The breakthrough of his Fate God Clone filled Hodan with joy, and he became even more certain that he'd made the right decision. He no longer cared whether Linley would become his enemy someday. As a transmigrator, Hodan was confident that even Hongmeng couldn't see through his fate. After all, Hongmeng's omnipotence was limited to the Coiling Dragon Universe.
As an outsider soul, Hodan was also a Fate Undetermined in the Coiling Dragon World, just like Lei Wei in Stellar Transformations.
Over all those countless eras, Hongmeng had encountered so many Fate Undetermined beings. One era lasted six hundred quadrillion years, and yet he still hadn't seen a single life-form grow to his level.
Hongmeng cared only about beings on his own level. He wouldn't care about a few mere Fate Undetermined beings, much less their struggles against one another. If they died, they were simply failures. Had anyone ever cared about a failure?
Hodan had a far better starting point than Linley. If he was still afraid to compete with Linley, he might as well find somewhere safe to hide. What could he say then about reaching the peak and finding his way home? And if Linley became his enemy someday, there was nothing more to say. He'd just fight. They were on different sides, each pursuing the interests of his own clan or himself. There was nothing to discuss.
If Linley dared to stand in the way of his journey home, Hodan wouldn't hesitate to send him on his way.
With that thought, Hodan stopped hesitating. He returned the Coiling Dragon Ring to the patch of grass where he'd originally found it, and put the Soul Seed back in its original place. He wanted to see whether Linley would find the Coiling Dragon Ring and follow the same path as in the original story.
As for the Soul Seed, its task was done once it was back in the Coiling Dragon Ring. Hodan would find an excuse to dismiss him, then arrange for him to die far from home in an accident. He'd take care of the man's family, since he'd helped Hodan make his breakthrough. But he couldn't let Beirut realize that Hodan had been plotting to get the Coiling Dragon Ring, so he'd have to make sure the man never spoke again.
Next, Hodan would carry out another plan: the Purple Blood Soft Sword. He had to finish it during the Yulan Festival. Afterward, all his Divine Clones would devote themselves to cultivation, striving to gain Highgod strength as soon as possible.
The Purple Blood Soft Sword was easy to locate. It was in Mist Valley.
Mist Valley lay deep within the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Mist swirled around the valley, which was also home to a special plant called Blue Heart Grass.
"Blue Heart Grass has emerald-green leaves with a faint blue sheen. It feels cool to the touch, and when you tear a leaf, it releases emerald-green liquid that tastes refreshing."
There was a great deal of Blue Heart Grass in Mist Valley, growing in a large, easy-to-spot patch. The dense elemental energy in the valley also attracted many magical beasts. Hodan swept the area with his divine sense and found Mist Valley. Before entering, he concealed his aura and hid himself from view.
High-level magical beasts were as intelligent as humans. Hodan didn't want them to see him and force him to kill them all, causing unnecessary complications and drawing Beirut's attention. After all, this was an impassable point in the seal of the Plane Prison.
This might not be much use against those above the god level, but ordinary mortals below the god level absolutely couldn't detect Hodan. Besides, he was a Mid-God.
As he passed the Blue Heart Grass, Hodan picked up a handful out of curiosity and tried some. It really was cool on the tongue, just as the original story had said. But that was all; it had no other effect on a god.
Hodan headed toward the spot with the densest elemental energy, where it was nearly a hundred times denser than outside. The Purple Blood Soft Sword was there. If he remembered correctly, a peak ninth-level Spined Iron-Armored Dragon lived there.
As Hodan approached, he spotted a gigantic magical beast, ten meters long and nearly three meters tall.
Its entire body was covered in black scales, packed tightly together in neat rows. Each scale was only the size of a palm, but gathered together in such dense masses, they gave it an eerie appearance that made Hodan's scalp tingle.
Especially along its spine, where sharp spikes thirty centimeters long ran from the base of its tail all the way to its forehead. It was the peak ninth-level Spined Iron-Armored Dragon. Its unusual appearance made Hodan feel as if he were looking straight at Godzilla.
To avoid any mishaps, Hodan sent out a soul attack and knocked it unconscious.
Then Hodan probed the cave ceiling with his divine sense. A huge black circular platform was set into the roof, with parts of its surface still covered by stone. The rocks in the ceiling completely concealed the platform. Otherwise, the magical beasts would surely have gone to investigate it. After all, high-level magical beasts were as intelligent as humans.
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