Five-Star Fiend, Hodan

When they arrived at Silvermoon City, Hodan and the other examinees stepped out of the Metal Lifeform.

However, when it came time to part ways, Hodan waved his hand and distributed the extra wrist guards he had on him to those who hadn't managed to obtain one during the examination.

Those who received the wrist guards were stunned for a moment, and by the time they reacted, Hodan had already headed toward the Fiend Castle.

He paid no mind to those showering him with thanks; if he lacked the ability, so be it, but since he had the power, Hodan didn't mind helping them change their fate. This was also beneficial for his own cultivation of the Fate Law.

Furthermore, Hodan truly didn't care for the wealth spent on those wrist guards. Among the Space Rings Hodan had harvested, aside from one belonging to a leader that he couldn't open, the other two leaders had provided him with nearly 30 billion Inkstone, another with about 27 billion, plus over a dozen High-God sparks and various other items.

Including the wealth from the other Mid-Gods, Hodan had harvested nearly 60 billion in wealth during this Fiend examination. As for the Space Ring belonging to the leader who still had a divine clone, Hodan simply crushed it; if he couldn't get it, he would let it be destroyed in the spatial turbulence.

This was the accumulation of the Wind Valley Bandits over the years, but now it had all fallen into Hodan's hands.

Therefore, Hodan no longer cared for such petty wealth, unless it was an astronomical sum, because these Inkstones could be used to refine Chief Sovereign power.

Fiend Castle, first-floor lobby.

"Trouble helping me submit my Fiend examination mission!" Hodan stood before the counter and greeted the service staff calmly, then handed over the bandits' wrist guards.

After the service staff counted and inspected them, they asked Hodan to sit on the sofa over there and wait for the other participants to return.

At the same time, those who had gone on the mission with Hodan also returned. Seeing Hodan, they couldn't help but thank him profusely, drawing frequent glances from the staff inside the Fiend Castle, to which Hodan only nodded in response.

Hodan knew that given his rate of progress, there would be basically no intersection between them after this. He had only given them a little help; whether they could change their own fate depended on themselves.

Just as Hodan had to seize his own fate.

A moment later—

"Those who went to Howling Wind Valley for the Fiend examination, come to the second floor," a handsome young man with long black hair suddenly walked down from the second floor of the Fiend Castle and announced in a loud voice.

Hodan and the dozens of others immediately stepped onto the second-floor lobby of the Fiend Castle. This second-floor lobby was much smaller than the first, and it contained many rooms. Hodan and the others were led by the black-haired youth into a black room.

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

"This is the Fiend Badge, and this is the Vice Fiend Badge. You must drip blood on both to bind them to yourself." The black-robed man responsible for issuing the Fiend Badges instructed.

When all this was done, Hodan had successfully become a One-Star Fiend.

Returning to the first-floor lobby of the Fiend Castle, Hodan said to the staff member in charge of rank-up missions: "I am accepting the Five-Star mission for Howling Wind Valley." As he spoke, he tossed three corpses out of his Space Ring—they were the divine bodies of the three leaders of the Howling Wind Valley.

Hodan had looked at the Five-Star mission for Howling Wind Valley, which was to wipe out the Wind Valley Bandits. These three leaders' corpses were enough to prove his strength, and the mere existence of these three bodies showed that the entire Wind Valley Bandit group had been scattered. After all, their leaders had been killed; how could the Mid-Gods under them sustain such a massive bandit group?

With the bandit group gone, the mission to wipe them out was naturally completed.

The staff member was stunned. This guy had just become a One-Star Fiend, and in the blink of an eye, he was turning in a Five-Star Fiend promotion mission. Could the staff member be anything but stunned?

Subsequently, the staff member earnestly verified the three corpses. Since the Fiend Castle had issued this mission, they naturally had information on these bandits. After confirming repeatedly that these three corpses were indeed those of the Wind Valley Bandit leaders, the staff member respectfully upgraded the rank of Hodan's Fiend Badge.

Whether it was a One-Star Fiend or the most terrifying Seven-Star Fiend, they looked the same on the surface. Only through special methods could their rank be determined, but there were records kept within the Fiend Castle, making it much easier for Fiends to recognize each other.

Taking the Fiend Badge handed over by the service staff, Hodan accepted it and, following the requirements, wore it on his chest before leaving the Fiend Castle.

Hodan returned home to properly consolidate his gains and, incidentally, reflect on his techniques. As a Five-Star Fiend powerhouse aspiring to reach the peak, Hodan knew his combat experience was thin. That he could complete this Fiend examination mission so smoothly was due to his inherent strength as a Five-Star Fiend, as well as some combat experience he had inherited.

More importantly, it was by relying on the advantage of his equipment that Hodan was able to run rampant among those bandits. If Hodan had relied solely on his Five-Star Fiend strength, he might have actually flipped his car in battle.

But isn't equipment also a part of one's strength? Otherwise, why would those Commander-level powerhouses fight selflessly on the Plane Battlefield? Aside from wanting to break through, they were mostly pursuing Sovereign artifacts.

However, relying on these alone was not enough to reach the peak. Which peak powerhouse hadn't been forged through mountains of corpses and seas of blood? A peak powerhouse must not only have peak cultivation but also the combat experience and mindset befitting a powerhouse.

This was precisely what Hodan was currently severely lacking, and he also lacked a trump card that could maximize his strength. A trump card could not only maximize one's power, but a good one could even allow one to fight above their rank.

Linley had relied on the trump card of Blackstone Prison to rival Seven-Star Fiends while only a Mid-God. Although this was related to his reinforcement by divine beast blood essence and Chief Sovereign power, it also reflected from the side how much a trump card could enhance a god's combat power.

Hodan also had his own ideas regarding a trump card, but he hadn't had a major breakthrough yet. Hodan's idea was to create a trump card suitable for himself based on the sharpness and soul-corroding nature of Zhengdu, while also factoring in that his soul was significantly stronger than his cultivation level.

Hodan wanted to incorporate the characteristics of Zhengdu into his own trump card, so that even without the Zhengdu blade, his strength would not decline. This required Hodan to explore slowly.

It was just as Huoxie had said back then: when your strength is sufficiently powerful, it makes little difference whether you have a blade in your hand or not.

And what was the fastest way to grow and create? It was undoubtedly creating one's own trump card in actual combat based on real-world situations.

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

Accepting missions was done upstairs; One-Star to Three-Star Fiends accepted missions on the second floor, while Four-Star to Six-Star Fiends went to the third floor. Thus, Hodan walked to the third floor without hesitation.

Low-star Fiend missions could not provide any help for the creation of Hodan's trump card. Hodan's current goal was to take on missions corresponding to his own level—Five-Star or even Six-Star Fiend missions.

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