Five-Star Fiend, Hodan

When they reached Silvermoon City, Hodan and the other candidates disembarked from the Metal Lifeform.

As they parted ways, Hodan waved his hand and distributed the extra bracers he had to those who had failed to obtain one during the test.

Those who received a bracer froze for a moment. By the time they came to their senses, Hodan had already headed for Fiend Castle.

He paid no mind to their profuse thanks. If they lacked the ability, that was one thing, but if they had the potential, Hodan didn't mind helping them change their fate a little. It would also benefit his cultivation of the Fate Rule.

Besides, Hodan really didn't care about the small fortune he had spent on the bracers. Among the Space Rings he had collected, one of the three leaders' rings had been impossible to open, but the other two had yielded fortunes of nearly thirty billion Inkstones and around twenty-seven billion Inkstones, respectively. He had also found more than ten High Godheads and various other items.

Including the wealth taken from the other Mid-Gods, Hodan had gained nearly sixty billion in total from this Fiend test. As for the leader's Space Ring that still contained a Divine Clone, Hodan had crushed it outright. If he couldn't get what was inside, he might as well let it be destroyed in the Spatial Turbulence.

This was the wealth the Wind Valley Bandits had amassed over the years, but now it all belonged to Hodan.

So Hodan no longer cared about small sums like these. Only an astonishing fortune could interest him, since Inkstones and other such stones could be refined into Sovereign's Might.

The first-floor hall of Fiend Castle.

"Sorry to trouble you, but I'd like to turn in a Fiend Mission!" Hodan stood at the counter and greeted the attendant calmly. Then he handed over the bandits' bracers.

After checking them carefully, the attendant asked Hodan to take a seat on the sofa and wait for the other participants to return.

The others who had gone on the mission with Hodan also returned. When they saw him, they couldn't help thanking him repeatedly, drawing frequent glances from the attendants in Fiend Castle. Hodan merely nodded in response.

Hodan knew that, given how quickly he was progressing, he and these people would probably have little to do with each other after this. He had only given them a little help; whether they could change their fate was up to them.

Just as Hodan had to seize control of his own fate.

A moment later—

"Those who went to Howling Wind Valley for the Fiend test, please come up to the second floor," a handsome young man with long black hair called out as he descended from the second floor of Fiend Castle.

Hodan and the dozens of others immediately went up to the second-floor hall. It was much smaller than the first floor and contained many rooms. The young man, whose hair was black with golden highlights, led them into a black room.

After asking Hodan's name and taking his soul aura, the man brought out two badges.

"This is a Fiend Badge, and this is a Vice Fiend Badge. Drip your blood on both to bind them to yourself," the black-robed man instructed as he handed them over.

Once he had done so, Hodan officially became a One-Star Fiend.

Back in the first-floor hall, Hodan told the staff member handling rank-up missions, "I'll take the Five-Star Mission in Howling Wind Valley." As he spoke, he tossed three corpses out of his Space Ring. They were unmistakably the divine bodies of Howling Wind Valley's three leaders.

Hodan had checked the Five-Star Mission in Howling Wind Valley. It was to wipe out the Wind Valley Bandits. The three leaders' corpses were enough to prove his strength, and they also showed that the entire bandit group had been broken up. After all, their leaders had been killed. How could the Mid-Gods under them possibly keep such a huge bandit gang going?

With the bandit gang gone, the mission to wipe it out was naturally complete.

The staff member was stunned. This fellow had only just become a One-Star Fiend, yet in the blink of an eye he was turning in a Five-Star Fiend rank-up mission. How could the staff member not be shocked?

The staff member then carefully examined the three corpses. Since Fiend Castle had issued the mission, it naturally had information about the bandits. After confirming again and again that the corpses were indeed those of the Wind Valley Bandits' leaders, he respectfully upgraded Hodan's Fiend Badge.

Whether one was a One-Star Fiend or the most fearsome Seven-Star Fiend, the badges looked the same on the surface. Only a special method could reveal their rank. However, Fiend Castle kept records, so it was much easier for fiends to recognize one another's rank.

Hodan took the Fiend Badge handed to him by the attendant, put it on his chest as instructed, and left Fiend Castle.

Back home, Hodan carefully consolidated what he had gained and thought over his techniques. As a Five-Star Fiend who aspired to reach the peak, he knew his combat experience was thin. The reason he had completed this Fiend Mission so smoothly was that he already possessed the strength of a Five-Star Fiend, and he had also inherited some combat experience.

More importantly, he had been able to dominate the bandits thanks to his superior equipment. If he had relied solely on his Five-Star Fiend strength, he might well have lost during the battle.

But wasn't equipment part of one's strength? Otherwise, why would those Commanders fight so desperately on the Plane Battlefield? They wanted to break through, of course, but even more than that, they sought Sovereign Artifacts.

Still, relying on those things wasn't enough to reach the peak. Which peak expert hadn't been forged through slaughter amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood? A peak expert needed not only peak cultivation, but also combat experience and a mindset worthy of the strong.

Those were exactly what Hodan lacked most at the moment. He also lacked a signature move that could bring out the full extent of his strength. A signature move could maximize one's power, and a good one could even let someone fight above their level.

Linley had been able to contend with Seven-Star Fiends while still a Mid-God thanks to his signature move, Blackstone Prison. Although that was partly because Divine Beast Essence Blood, Sovereign's Might, and other factors had strengthened him, it still showed how much a signature move could improve a god's combat strength.

Hodan already had an idea for his own signature move, but he hadn't made much progress yet. His plan was to draw on Zhengdu's sharpness and soul-corroding effect, then combine them with the fact that his soul was clearly stronger than his cultivation level, to create a signature move suited to him.

Hodan wanted to incorporate Zhengdu's special qualities into his signature move. That way, even without the Zhengdu Blade, his strength wouldn't diminish. He would have to explore the idea gradually.

It was just as Huoxie had said back then: when your strength was powerful enough, it wouldn't make much difference whether you had a blade in your hand or not.

And what was the fastest way to grow and create? Undoubtedly, it was to develop your own signature move through actual combat, adapting it to the circumstances.

So the next morning, Hodan appeared at Fiend Castle again.

Missions were accepted upstairs. One-Star through Three-Star Fiends took missions on the second floor, while Four-Star through Six-Star Fiends went to the third floor. So Hodan headed straight up to the third floor without hesitation.

Low-star Fiend Missions wouldn't help Hodan develop his signature move. His target now was a Fiend Mission suited to his rank—Five-Star, or even Six-Star.

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