Beasts and Innate Divine Abilities

Hodan smiled as Zhengdu's edge flared to life, and he and Wot fell into a fierce battle. Wot's cultivation was higher, and he had more combat experience, but the edge of Zhengdu was too sharp. Wot didn't dare risk touching it, and Hodan occasionally unleashed his ultimate move, Present World Delusion. It combined physical and soul attacks, leaving Wot struggling to keep up.

On the other side, Henry was the complete opposite. He had actually transformed into his true form: the divine beast Underworld Tiger. With his innate divine ability, Death Kingdom, and his mastery of the Darkness Laws, he slaughtered the five Five-Star Fiends, leaving them in disarray. It looked like the battle would be over soon.

Wot saw that the battle on Adam's side was growing more and more intense, and Adam was about to fall beneath Alex's attacks. No longer holding back, Wot prepared to unleash his full strength.

"Roar!"

A furious roar rang across the heavens and earth. A giant ape wreathed in crimson light hovered in the sky, and Hodan clearly saw Wot standing at its center.

Hodan was startled. The divine beast Heaven-Dominating Ape? Then he saw the giant ape vanish, leaving behind a crimson mist. The mist spread out before rapidly contracting toward Wot.

Innate Divine Ability—Heaven-Shaking Might.

This innate divine ability could instantly multiply its user's attack power tenfold. Its sole drawback was that it left the user weakened for a long time afterward. Wot's strength would then fall to that of a newly advanced Six-Star Fiend.

Wot had already been stronger than Hodan, who had relied on his ultimate move and Zhengdu to contend with him. Now Wot's attack power had surged more than tenfold. How was anyone supposed to fight that?

Wot's attack power instantly reached the peak of a Seven-Star Fiend. He only had the strength for one blow, but even Asura would suffer if he took a hit like that head-on.

His soul issued frantic warnings: if he took Wot's attack head-on, even his Material Defense Artifact wouldn't prevent him from being badly injured. And getting badly injured on a battlefield like this could only end one way.

But Hodan wasn't about to retreat so easily. He wanted to grow stronger in the face of danger. Even if he couldn't win, he would fight first. He pushed Present World Delusion to its limit, preparing to risk everything and test his full strength.

Wot didn't bother with flashy techniques. He simply overwhelmed Hodan with brute force. Combining Heaven-Shaking Might with the explosive power of fire, he swung his greatsword again and again, sending hundreds of sword-shadows streaking out. Each one cleaved a crack in space. The sword-shadows bloomed like a lotus, sealing off the space around Hodan completely. With nowhere to escape, he could only brace himself.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

Several explosions rang out almost simultaneously. Hodan was blasted into the air. At his current strength, taking a peak Seven-Star Fiend's attack head-on was indeed extremely difficult.

Hodan slammed into the mountain below, sinking deep into its surface.

In an instant, he got back to his feet. His face was pale, and blood poured from his mouth. He had been about to charge back in, but then he reconsidered. Alex had only used them as cannon fodder, and Hodan had already made Wot expend a great deal of divine power. There was no need to risk his life for Alex. Besides, Alex seemed to have plenty of trump cards of his own. Hodan turned into a streak of light and vanished from Wot's sight.

Wot had also entered a weakened state after using his innate divine ability, and was now recovering. He watched Hodan fly away and knew he couldn't catch up. So he joined Henry, who had just finished off the Five-Star Fiends, and the two of them went to help Adam and the others.

Adam was struggling desperately against Alex. He was no match for Alex, but he had to hold him off so his brothers could wipe out the demons Alex had hired. Only then could the three of them fight Alex together.

Their battlefield had shifted to the sky above a mountain range not far from the Black Water Tribe. The wind howled, and the trees below were uprooted and sent whirling through the air, completely engulfing the two combatants.

"Bang!"

Alex's Gravity Space was terrifying. The two men inside kept launching physical attacks, but Alex's blows, infused with the Earth Pulse Profound Mystery, shattered the trees and rocks around them. All the rocks and trees turned to dust. More terrifying still, countless trees and rocks below them exploded one after another, reducing the entire mountain to dust. The Black Water Tribe was suddenly shrouded in flying dirt.

Adam roared and unleashed his strongest physical attack within Alex's Gravity Space. He could sense that his brothers had already finished off the demons and were coming to help.

Wot and Henry's arrival gave Adam hope that they might defeat Alex.

"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"

At last, the three of them joined forces and broke through the Gravity Space. They hovered side by side, facing the imposing Alex.

Alex's expression remained unchanged. He said coolly, "Wot, you truly live up to your name as the Heaven-Dominating Ape. And Henry, you're worthy of being called the Underworld Tiger. With your divine beast forms and terrifying innate divine abilities, I assume you've already killed those demons."

Wot naturally didn't bother correcting him by saying that Hodan had escaped. He roared, "Alex, we know you're powerful, but the three of us together won't let you take the Black Water Tribe. I advise you to leave at once."

Though Wot had defeated Hodan, that didn't mean Hodan had left. He had waited until Wot joined the battle against Alex. When the four of them focused on each other, Hodan quietly concealed himself in a thick forest and used the Fate Rule to hide his presence.

Hodan felt there was more to Alex's attack on the Black Water Tribe than met the eye. Even if he wanted to amass wealth, there was no need to fight two Six-Star Fiends and a Seven-Star Fiend. Hell was vast; Alex could simply have chosen another place.

Without a blood feud or some valuable stake, Fiends of the same rank would never start a war. And the wealth of a Seven-Star Fiend's tribe clearly wasn't enough to justify a battle on this scale.

After all, gathering wealth took time, and most of a tribe's wealth would be held by its Seven-Star Fiend. Even if Alex occupied the tribe, it would still take years to amass the wealth of a Seven-Star Fiend.

Besides, what did a Seven-Star Fiend need so much wealth for? Did Alex have the means or connections to extract Sovereign's Might from Inkstone?

Hodan sensed something suspicious was going on and decided to stay and see if he could profit from the conflict. Fortune favored the bold. With his current strength, he could still escape if he couldn't win, and the name Huoxie might come in handy, too.

With Hodan's current mastery of the Fate Rule, and the fact that the others were locked in battle, none of them had noticed him hiding nearby.

The two sides were evenly matched, and Hodan waited for them to wear each other down, hoping for a chance to profit. Whatever else might be said, the wealth of a Seven-Star Fiend's tribe would tempt another Seven-Star Fiend too. Otherwise, he wouldn't have posted a war mission for Six-Star Fiends to attack the Black Water Tribe.

Hodan now had more than a hundred billion Inkstones, but no one ever thought they had too much money. Sometimes money really could move heaven and earth. If it couldn't, then you simply didn't have enough. With enough Inkstones, even Sovereign's Might could be bought.

As for missions? What were those? In this world, strength was the only measure that mattered. If you were strong, no one dared disrespect you. Even if they resented you in their hearts, they still had to greet you with a smile.

Seeing that Alex remained unmoved, Adam and the other two exchanged glances, then flew toward him in unison.

All three drew their weapons at nearly the same time and charged at Alex, who was just ahead of them. The three Six- and Seven-Star Fiends wore murderous expressions and held nothing back.

Wot and Henry even ignored the increased backlash that came from using their innate divine abilities repeatedly in a short time, transforming into their divine beast forms once more.

"Heaven-Shaking Might!"

"Death Kingdom!"

Alex instantly sensed the terrifying aura of the three men and dared not underestimate them. He immediately turned into a streak of lightning and shot backward.

He wanted to avoid the brunt of their attack first. Once their innate divine abilities wore off and they fell into a weakened state, he would be able to slaughter the three of them as he pleased.