Super Moves

Five-Star Fiend mission: The head of Kro, the bandit leader of the Black Mountain Range, or proof of his death. Reward: 5 billion Inkstones. Number of takers: 1 (1). Deadline: three years. (Note: This mission is extremely dangerous. It is recommended only for those with the strength of a Six-Star Fiend.)

Hodan accepted the extermination mission.

After leaving Silvermoon City, Hodan took a Metal Lifeform out of his spatial ring. It transformed into a golden dragon about a hundred meters long. Since it was a Metal Lifeform, it could change into all sorts of shapes.

Dragons were the eternal totem of the Zhonghua Family. Even in a distant otherworld, Hodan would never forget the totem carved into his bloodline.

Metal Lifeforms were the pinnacle of alchemy, and the most common means of transportation across the Four Supreme Planes and Seven Divine Planes.

"Remarkable. This Metal Lifeform is only at the Highgod level, yet it flies even faster than my Highgod Divine Clone." Hodan controlled the Metal Lifeform, marveling inwardly.

The Highgod-level Metal Lifeform in Hodan's possession could fly more than ten times faster than he could. If he pushed it to its limits, it could go even faster.

Hell was so vast that Metal Lifeforms could greatly reduce the time gods spent traveling.

Since he wanted to draw the bandits' attention, Hodan put away his Fiend Badge and kept the Metal Lifeform's speed at about that of a Mid-God. He also disguised his soul aura to resemble a Mid-God's. That would make it easier to lure them out.

This was the first time Hodan had truly ventured into Hell alone. He took out a map to study it, and couldn't help marveling at the vastness of Hell.

Hell was so immense it was practically boundless. A Highgod might never visit another continent in his entire life. Only Six-Star and Seven-Star Fiends would venture across Hell.

"Without a map, it'd be easy to lose my way." Hodan frowned slightly. Fortunately, the map he had was a gift from Silvermoon.

It showed each continent, the Chaotic Sea, the Starry Fog Sea, and a number of notable landmarks and geographical features in detail.

Even so, Hodan didn't dare let his guard down. Sometimes, a centimeter on the map represented hundreds of millions of miles. Hell was simply too vast. A prefecture could span over a billion miles, while a city was only several thousand or ten thousand miles across—a mere dot on the map.

"Ha ha ha! You little punks, look what I found! A Mid-God actually dares to fly around so brazenly in a Metal Lifeform? Could anything make us happier?" A defiant laugh rang out throughout the Metal Lifeform.

Hodan's divine sense swept ahead. Dozens of gods were hovering in the air. At their head was a man in a green robe with green hair. Judging by his aura, he was a wind-element Highgod. It was hard to tell how many Mysteries he had fused, but probably not many. The powerful wouldn't come to this impoverished place to be bandits, and he had only a handful of followers.

The others all had the auras of Mid-Gods. None of them gave Hodan a sense of danger with their soulsense, so he knew these bandits were nothing special.

"There's actually a Highgod among these bandits." Hodan looked at the green-robed youth. "No wonder they say you can't get rich without a windfall. Being a bandit is a quick way to amass wealth, and even Highgods aren't above it."

Hodan flew out of the Metal Lifeform, which turned into a streak of light and was drawn into his spatial ring.

"You've got guts, kid. I'll give you that—flying alone through our Bonela Mountain Range in a Metal Lifeform as a Mid-God. Leave us your money, and we'll let you live. Consider it a lesson, so you'll understand how cruel Hell can be!" The green-robed youth laughed loudly, and the other bandits roared with laughter.

In their eyes, Hodan was a rookie who had just started exploring Hell. He might have just been transported here from a Material Plane, completely unaware of the dangers in Hell. Otherwise, why would he fly around alone in a Metal Lifeform without even being a Highgod?

Mid-Gods usually traveled in groups. Even Highgods who had refined divine sparks traveled in groups of three or five to avoid bandit attacks. Hodan was the first person they'd seen dare to fly around alone in a Metal Lifeform as a Mid-God.

Clearly, Hodan's disguise had worked. The bandits hadn't realized he was a Highgod, much less that he was far stronger than they were.

"No wonder so few Mid-Gods dare to venture through Hell. Most only dare to move around near cities. There are simply too many bandits in this cruel place. An ordinary Mid-God might not even survive three days out here." Zhengdu appeared in Hodan's hand. A flash of blade light swept across them, and dozens of pairs of eyes instantly went lifeless as their owners plummeted from the sky.

One strike had killed dozens!

There wasn't a single wound on their bodies. Hodan had instantly unleashed Zhengdu's sharpness and fused it with a soul attack. The blade's edge had shattered their soul defenses, allowing the soul attack to strike directly at the depths of their souls. That was how he had killed them without leaving a mark on their bodies.

The moment Hodan struck, his Highgod aura was revealed.

"A Highgod? You're a Highgod?" The green-robed youth cried out in terror. He realized he'd picked a fight with someone far beyond him. Hodan had disguised his soul aura as that of a Mid-God, and even though the youth was a Highgod himself, he hadn't noticed. What was more, Hodan had killed everyone but him with a single move. He was undoubtedly a powerful Highgod.

At the very least, he had the strength of a peak Five-Star Fiend, perhaps even a Six-Star Fiend.

The green-robed youth was a Highgod, after all. And Hodan's ultimate move was still in its early stages, so the youth had managed to withstand that area attack.

Hodan took the opportunity to test and refine his ultimate move several more times. At last, after another test, he swung his blade and instantly destroyed the green-robed youth's soul, killing him. The wind-element Highgod was merely an ordinary Highgod who hadn't fused any Mysteries. He couldn't withstand Hodan's attack at all.

"Not many people in Hell cultivate other Divine Clones." Hodan looked calmly at the dozens of divine bodies lying on the ground. Not one of them had another Divine Clone, or a Divine Clone elsewhere.

Don't be fooled by Linley having four clones in the original story. Hodan himself now had two Divine Clones, but in truth, most people in Hell and the other Supreme Planes had just one Divine Clone and one Saint Domain True Body. That was the reality of the world. People with talent in multiple elements who could cultivate to godhood in each were still rare.

Even Beirut and Oufu, two major figures, had only two Divine Clones. That showed how rare talent in multiple elements was.

Beirut could even ask Dannington, a Death Paragon, to help him separate soul fragments, yet he still had only two Divine Clones. That alone showed how rare gods with talent in multiple elements were.

Hodan waved a hand, and the spatial ring on the green-robed youth's body flew into his grasp. He dripped a drop of blood onto it, and the blood sank into the ring.

There was only a little over a hundred million Inkstones inside. It seemed this gang of bandits wasn't doing all that well.

"But I've already created the rudiments of this ultimate move. I should be able to complete it soon." Hodan smiled.

After that, Hodan spent his days studying his ultimate move while traveling in the Metal Lifeform. As he tested it again and again, he realized that too much energy escaped when he unleashed Zhengdu's sharpness.

So he kept concentrating Zhengdu's sharpness, gradually focusing it on the blade's edge, then even its tip. Once all of Zhengdu's sharpness had been focused on the blade's edge, it could even emit a buzzing sound.

Hodan knew this meant Zhengdu had reached the peak of sharpness.

After six long months of flying, Hodan finally reached the Black Mountain Range. The journey had taken so long because, even with the map to guide him, he'd lost his way three times in those six months. He'd also encountered bandits hundreds of times, and thousands upon thousands had fallen beneath Hogg's blade.

Those encounters had provided Hodan with test subjects as he developed his ultimate move.

Finally, when Hodan felt it was about ready, he began putting the finishing touches on his ultimate move.

That day, Hodan's afterimages flashed across the sky above a mountain range, while even the energy radiating from him wreaked havoc on the mountains.

"Ch-ch!"

Fate Divine Power churned around Hodan's body. Countless ways of structuring it appeared in his mind, and the Fate Divine Power around him shifted and rearranged itself accordingly.

After half a year of work, Hodan had finally created an ultimate move that satisfied him.

As Hodan unleashed his full power, Zhengdu buzzed without pause, and a misty blue-green haze appeared around the blade. This wasn't energy escaping from it. It was a soul attack meant to disorient an enemy's soul. Once the enemy's soul was disoriented, the blade's sharpness would pierce through both body and soul.

This single strike of Hodan's contained both a physical attack and a soul attack. But with his current strength, he could only maintain the power of one type of attack at a time, though he could switch between them instantly.

With this ultimate move, Hodan could firmly claim the rank of Six-Star Fiend despite being at the peak of Five-Star Fiend strength.

A move perfectly suited to its creator could greatly amplify his strength. That was why Hodan had spared no effort in developing an ultimate move of his own.

"But to unleash this ultimate move's true power, I'd need the strength of a Seven-Star Fiend. Otherwise, I can only choose between sharpness and attack power, and can't use both at once."