Healing

A single strike, and it was done!

Hodan was overjoyed. With Taier gone, killing the remaining Five-Star Fiends would be far easier.

"Leader!" Seeing Taier struck down, the remaining men's faces changed drastically, their will to fight vanishing instantly.

The only reason they had banded together to attack Hodan was for the sake of Taier and the promise of wealth. Now that the strongest among them, the Seven-Star Fiend Taier, had died at Hodan's hands, they knew they were no match for him. Each of them unleashed their most powerful attacks toward Hodan, and for a moment, the entire sky was filled with multicolored energy blasts.

Following that barrage of attacks, the bandits scattered and fled in different directions.

"Die!" Hodan flew at high speed to Clisi's side and slammed a fist into his head, causing it to explode instantly.

Although he had suffered heavy injuries and the other fiends might be out of reach, Hodan would never let Clisi go. A man like that would continue to seek revenge whenever the opportunity arose.

While Hodan did not fear Clisi's retaliation, failing to pull up the weeds by the roots was a major taboo when dealing with enemies, and Hodan would not make such a mistake. He chose to prioritize killing Clisi above all else.

"Boom!"

After killing Clisi, a terrifying aura erupted from Hodan's entire body. A hazy, illusory long blade appeared on his skin, and Hodan himself seemed to become the core of this blade, with sharp divine power coiling around him incessantly.

For those who dared to raise a hand against him, Hodan would never allow them to leave alive.

The sharpness continued to condense; this was the first time Hodan had fully unleashed the edge of Zhengdu.

"Chi chi!"

The sharpness was so intense that even as Hodan stood motionless, the very space around him began to tear.

Everyone who witnessed this scene felt their expressions change wildly. It was clear that Hodan was about to unleash a major technique. The bandits who had been watching from the sidelines desperately pushed their divine power to its limits, trying to flee from this dangerous area; they cursed themselves for being so slow.

"He's gone mad! Run..." The bandits and robbers watching from afar felt their hearts turn cold, calling out to their companions to leave immediately to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

It was the first time any of them had seen such a terrifying battle, and it left a deep impression on them. Some even felt they had gained a sudden insight or realization.

"Hum~!"

Within a thousand-meter radius of Hodan, countless sharp long blades manifested out of thin air, each blade of light seemingly slicing through the sky. The scene was reminiscent of Li Xiaoyao from the Legend of Sword and Fairy using the Sword God technique. The only difference was that what Hodan summoned was blade energy.

As the countless blade lights swept past, small cracks appeared in space itself. The entire area rippled like the surface of disturbed water, and more than a dozen corpses fell from the sky; some even burst apart mid-fall.

"Pfft!"

Hodan held his sword horizontally across his chest, standing proudly in the air. After maintaining this posture for a dozen breaths, he spat out a mouthful of blood, his face turning pale as he retracted his aura.

Sensing that his Fate God Clone was completely drained of divine power, Hodan couldn't help but smile bitterly. After such a massive battle, there wasn't a shred of fate divine power left in his clone. If even one more Five-Star Fiend—no, just a single High-God—were to appear, it would be enough to cause Hodan's downfall.

Hodan waved his hand to collect the dozen or so Space Rings, then looked toward the Black Mountain Range ahead. After a moment of thought, he flew toward the mountains. After traveling about a few hundred miles, he discovered the vast expanse of this mountain range. In these ancient mountains, trees a thousand meters tall that required dozens of people to encircle were everywhere, and the ground was overgrown with weeds and all sorts of strange plants.

Everywhere revealed its ancient history. Such a sparsely populated place with lush vegetation was perfect for Hodan to hide and heal his wounds.

Hodan found a cave, blocked the entrance, and took out the cloaks capable of isolating divine sense, attaching them to the inner walls of the cave. Thus, Hodan temporarily settled into the mountain range.

"I really overdid it this time." Hodan sat cross-legged on the ground, his divine sense reaching through his Godhead into the ocean of fate divine power, absorbing it bit by bit: "This was truly the most intense battle of my life, and the injuries I sustained are the worst as well."

This was all thanks to the equipment from Brother Huoxie. If not for the defensive divine artifact given by him, those Five-Star Fiend-level bandits could have killed him with a single combined attack.

Or, if they had used a soul attack to daze him for even a moment, Taier could have killed him instantly. After all, this material defensive divine artifact was not a Chief Sovereign artifact; it could not protect his entire body.

Taier was a wind-element Seven-Star Fiend expert. Although his attack power was at the bottom of the Seven-Star tier and not much stronger than his own, his speed was top-tier. If he hadn't risked his life to withstand the bandits' combined attack and seized the opportunity to kill Taier, he, Hodan, would be the one dead.

Hodan was incredibly grateful for his plan at this moment. If he hadn't sought the Purple Blood Soft Sword, he wouldn't have met Silvermoon. He certainly wouldn't have met Huoxie through Silvermoon, nor would he have been the catalyst for Huoxie reaching the Paragon realm, which in turn earned him Huoxie's friendship and subsequent gifts.

Each step was interlinked. If even one step had been missing, Hodan would be a corpse right now, or still struggling to survive in the Yulan Continent.

Reflecting on this, Hodan's comprehension of the Fate Law took a step forward in a moment of realization.

But now was not the time to contemplate the Fate Law. The most urgent priority was to heal his wounds and recover his divine power. Otherwise, if a High-God bandit were to appear now, they could kill the severely injured and drained Hodan right where he sat.

One had to know that the equipment Hodan was currently wearing was worth a fortune, enough to make even a Seven-Star Fiend turn green with envy. How could those bandits let a fat sheep like Hodan go?

Hodan hurriedly took out healing pills and Golden Clarity Wine from his Space Ring. He needed to restore his state as quickly as possible; after all, this was the Black Mountain Range, home to countless bandits. Only by recovering his strength could he guarantee his absolute safety.

Time flowed by slowly.

Hodan's original body comprehended the Death Rule, his Fate God Clone was recovering with all its might, his Thunder God Clone was fully focused on fusing his profound mysteries, and his Destruction God Clone was simultaneously absorbing Soul Golden Beads while contemplating the Destruction Rules.

Three months later.

In the vast Black Mountain Range, where countless robbers and bandits roamed, the ripples of that massive battle involving Hodan were still spreading throughout the mountains.

"Sigh, I haven't made a single score all year." A man with long brown hair flew in mid-air, gazing out toward the edge of the mountains, cursing under his breath: "People in Hell are just too cowardly. Not a single one dares to travel alone. Forget it, I'm heading back."

The brown-haired man flew over the mountains, heading straight for his lair.

"I heard there was a battle at the Seven-Star Fiend level in our mountains three months ago. If I could have watched from the sidelines, I might have been able to break through to a High-God." Thinking of this, the brown-haired man felt depressed and somewhat unwilling: "That guy Borton had such good luck. He hit the jackpot, not only obtaining a High-God Godhead, ensuring he could become a High-God, but also getting dozens of High-God artifacts. He bought a mansion in Silvermoon City in one go."

Borton was a Mid-God who used to live in this mountain range with him. His strength had been far worse than his own, but that was in the past. The current Borton might already be a High-God, and a very wealthy one at that.

Thinking of Borton's mansion, worth over a hundred million Inkstones, and his large group of beautiful concubines, the brown-haired man felt a sense of jealousy and resentment.

If he hadn't gone to Silvermoon City that day, that fortune would have been his!

A High-God Godhead and over a dozen high-quality High-God artifacts—what a massive fortune that was. It was enough to make anyone green with envy.

At the same time, Borton had settled down in Silvermoon City. He didn't need to live in fear every day like him. He could enjoy life, refine his Godhead to become a High-God, or cultivate to become one on his own. He had naturally become a member of the upper class in Hell.

In short, Borton's fate had taken a completely different path because of that one encounter, and that was what made him so envious, jealous, and hateful.

"Hmm? I remember there being a cave around here somewhere." The brown-haired man, who had spent years roaming this area, was intimately familiar with the local geography; after all, his life depended on it.

The brown-haired man suddenly dissipated like a gust of wind, only to instantly rematerialize on a large tree below, quietly peering toward the cave where Hodan was hiding.

Recalling the massive battle from earlier, the brown-haired man couldn't help but reveal an excited grin: "Could that injured powerhouse be hiding in there to heal?"

Given the siege by a Five-Star Fiend and a Seven-Star Fiend, and considering how intense the battle had been, the brown-haired man didn't believe Hodan could have escaped unscathed; he had to be severely wounded.

The brown-haired man wore a cruel smile: "I never expected that powerhouse to be so heavily injured that he didn't even manage to leave the Black Mountain Range. To think I would run into such a stroke of luck? Let him become the stepping stone for my rise to power. Don't blame me for your death; this is Hell."

The brown-haired man leaped up, appearing before the cave entrance. A longsword materialized in his hand, and without a moment's hesitation, he unleashed his ultimate technique toward the cave.

"Boom!" The giant boulder blocking the entrance turned to dust under the brown-haired man's attack, but the momentum of the strike did not diminish, shooting into the depths of the cave like a laser beam.

Having done all this, an excited smile appeared on the brown-haired man's face, the look of an angler about to reel in a massive catch.

However, to the brown-haired man's surprise, his attack did not result in an explosion; instead, it was dissolved as if it had vanished into the sea.

At this moment, Hodan's figure stepped slowly out from the swirling dust, his expression calm and composed. Seeing Hodan emerge from the cave completely unharmed, the brown-haired man's heart skipped a beat. Realizing something was wrong, he prepared to flee.

But how could Hodan possibly give him such an opportunity? If one dared to strike at him, one had to be prepared for death. A cyan-green light shot from Hodan's eyes, moving at incredible speed as it darted into the brown-haired man's body and surged into his mind, directly devouring his soul.

Before the brown-haired man could even begin his escape, his eyes turned dull and gray, clearly devoid of any life force, and his body plummeted to the ground with a heavy thud.