Quiet Years

After that Fiend Mission, Hodan not only gained two drops of Sovereign's Might, but also a tremendous opportunity: the Blood Essence of a Destruction Giant. It transformed his bloodline into the one-of-a-kind Destruction Giant bloodline and gave him all of the Destruction Giant's abilities.

Who would care about Renars's weak Thunder Serpent bloodline now? Even Renars himself would surely give up his own bloodline without hesitation and choose to fuse with the Destruction Giant's Blood Essence.

After all, what god-level being wouldn't want a body on the level of a Sovereign Artifact and an endless supply of Sovereign's Might?

From that moment on, Hodan's path to the peak would be clear and smooth. He wouldn't even need to cultivate; a thousand years later, his bloodline abilities alone would make him an Asura-level powerhouse, capable of using Sovereign's Might.

Cultivating diligently could speed up a Destruction Giant's growth to maturity. But Hodan didn't want to become like the Destruction Giant had been before, with nothing to strive for. Hodan sought to become a Paragon. And that wasn't some distant goal—just consider what lay ahead.

To deal with the Four Divine Beasts Clan, he needed Paragon-level strength. Being comparable to a Paragon wasn't enough; without Willpower, he wouldn't even qualify to face a Chief Sovereign. The Four Divine Beasts Clan was currently under Beirut's protection, and Beirut was a Chief Sovereign.

This journey had given Hodan a deeper understanding of the Fate Rule. Without even realizing it, his comprehension of the Fate Rule had reached the peak of the Six-Star level, just a little short of breaking through to Seven-Star. This was a true Six-Star peak, not one achieved through the amplification of secret techniques and equipment like Zhengdu—though equipment was part of one's strength too.

All in all, he was no weakling among the Seven-Star Fiends now. It was true what they said: crises were catalysts for growth—provided you survived them. Hodan had survived, and now he was reaping the rewards of his increased strength.

After digesting his insights, Hodan recalled how the Destruction Giant had died in the Spatial Turbulence, caught in the aftershocks of a battle between two beings. That battle had shattered an enormous plane. It had clearly been a clash between Chief Sovereigns in the Spatial Turbulence.

Even a Paragon couldn't fight in the Spatial Turbulence. A Paragon Highgod would be helpless against its currents.

The violent currents of the Spatial Turbulence battered anything caught within them. Even a Paragon could only drift along with the flow.

Only Chief Sovereigns could hold their positions and fight in the Spatial Turbulence. And according to the records, only one Chief Sovereign had ever been killed by an Overgod for destroying a Material Plane: Zijing Chief Sovereign's husband. After that incident, the Overgod established a rule forbidding Chief Sovereigns from entering Material Planes, on the grounds that "the energy of Chief Sovereigns is too powerful for Material Planes to withstand."

Only beings born in a particular Material Plane could enter it after becoming Chief Sovereigns.

"So you died at the hands of Zijing Chief Sovereign's husband. I remember Zijing Chief Sovereign is protecting the Four Divine Beasts Clan too, isn't she?" Hodan murmured.

"If I get the chance, I'll avenge you," Hodan vowed silently. After absorbing the Blood Essence, he had effectively been reborn as a Destruction Giant, and his path to the peak had been cleared. This had not only saved him time, but also made his goal easier to reach. Time was what Hodan lacked most.

Of course, that was for the future. Right now, Hodan was an ant who wasn't even a Paragon, and he wasn't qualified to think about taking on a Chief Sovereign. But he had set his sights on that goal. After all, the road home was full of obstacles, and sooner or later he would have to face an opponent on the level of a Chief Sovereign.

Hodan put everything away, then vanished from the mountain range in a streak of light.

After returning to Silvermoon City, Hodan turned in the Six-Star Fiend Mission for the Thick Earth Tribe and became a Six-Star Fiend. But how could he complete a Six-Star Fiend Mission when the Thick Earth Tribe no longer existed?

The mission he had accepted was to destroy the Black Water Tribe. Even if the Thick Earth Tribe was gone, hadn't the Black Water Tribe still been destroyed? Once the Fiend Castle confirmed that the Black Water Tribe had been destroyed, Hodan would be considered to have completed the Fiend Mission. Whether the person who posted it still existed was irrelevant. After all, missions to destroy a tribe could only be posted after the fee had been paid in advance.

From that day on, Hodan had no intention of taking on any more Fiend Missions. Now that he was a Six-Star Fiend, he wouldn't take another unless he could reach Seven-Star.

All Hodan wanted now was to cultivate in peace. Before that, though, his original body still had to make a trip to the Yulan Continent, where it would fuse with his Thunder Element Divine Clone. That way, the Thunder Element Divine Clone could inherit the Destruction Giant's abilities and talents. Otherwise, only his original body would have top-tier Thunder Element talent, while the Thunder Element Divine Clone would remain as weak as before.

Hodan's original body also needed to focus entirely on comprehending the Life Law, so it could fuse with the Thunder Element Divine Clone first. Besides, the Thunder Element Divine Clone would find it much easier and faster to comprehend and fuse the Thunder Element Mysteries.

To make sure the journey was safe, Hodan first had his Fate God Clone fuse with his original body and make some predictions. He only set out after confirming there was no danger.

At the Black Annihilation Heaven plane teleportation array, Hodan exchanged a few pleasantries with Peg's squad before teleporting to the Yulan Continent.

After a flash of light, Hodan appeared on the Yulan Continent, prompting Beirut to scan him once again. Hodan ignored him completely and immediately fused his Thunder Element Divine Clone into his original body. He sat down where he was and began cultivating. A month later, once the transformation of his Thunder Element Divine Clone was complete, his original body returned to Black Annihilation Heaven in Hell through the Plane Teleportation Array.

After his original body returned to his residence in Silvermoon City under the escort of his Fate God Clone, Hodan finally allowed himself to relax and quiet his mind.

Though he had only crossed over a few years ago, and had only completed a handful of Fiend Missions, he had spent most of his time traveling, and every mission had been perilous.

He had gained tremendously each time, but "dancing on the edge of a knife" was the perfect way to describe his life. Under such relentless strain, Hodan's strength had grown, but his spirit had become utterly exhausted.

...In the quiet, the days passed one by one.

Before he knew it, twelve years had passed since he crossed over into the Coiling Dragon World. Each of his Divine Clones cultivated in an orderly fashion. Ever since the Thunder Element Divine Clone inherited the Destruction Giant's talent, its cultivation aptitude had skyrocketed.

It had now fully fused the Thunder Element and Swiftness Profound Mysteries, and had completely comprehended the Violent Profound Mystery as well. It was currently searching for a way to harmonize the Violent Profound Mystery with the other two Mysteries it had already fused.

Over the past few years, the Destruction God Clone had steadily cultivated its way to Mid-God. Destruction Giants truly were the darlings of both Destruction and the Thunder Element.

Once they applied themselves to cultivation, their progress was astonishing. In only three short years, the Destruction Rules had advanced from the Lowgod level at birth to Mid-God, and the clone had already made substantial progress at that level. It was likely not far from becoming a Highgod. Hodan was now a growing Destruction Giant, and in a few dozen years, he would likely reach the mature stage as a Highgod.

By then, even as a blank slate, the Destruction God Clone would have Seven-Star Fiend strength thanks to its powerful divine body. And Destruction Giants certainly weren't short on Sovereign's Might.

The Fate God Clone was still at the Six-Star level, while the Death Rule was still at the Lowgod level. But things were indeed as Hodan had suspected: the Four Rules were linked in a special way. Although he had only cultivated three rule clones so far, they were already faintly connected. It was just that without the Life God Clone, they couldn't form a complete cycle.

For now, both the Fate God Clone and Death God Clone could benefit from the divine body enhancement granted by the Destruction Giant bloodline through his original body.

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