Taking Up the Post

Hodan still had over 300,000 Inkstones on him, but he felt his Saint-level clone still needed time to grow, so he didn't waste his wealth on luxuries just yet. He spent quite a while wandering around Silvermoon City, checking out over a dozen inns and lodging houses, before finally settling on one that was elegant and quiet.

The price for one year of lodging was 300 Inkstones.

Hodan paid 300,000 Inkstones upfront to reserve the room for a thousand years. He believed that his Saint-level clone would surely achieve something in his cultivation within a millennium; at the very worst, he still had a set of Thunder-element Godheads, so he had a certain amount of capital to fall back on.

After paying the fees and receiving a black token, Hodan entered his quarters. Pushing open the courtyard gate, he was greeted by an elegant yard featuring a small pond and a garden. Behind it stood a three-story bamboo building that felt exceptionally serene. Hodan was a person who enjoyed quiet, so he felt pleased, thinking the 300,000 Inkstones were well spent.

Hodan looked up at the sky; it was only dusk, and the blood-red sun was setting. All cities in Hell had a curfew, and he figured those observers were likely still lurking outside, so he didn't go out. Once the curfew hit, those observers would know he had checked into an inn.

The innkeeper wouldn't casually leak the information of their guests; after all, innkeepers in Hell maintained that level of professional integrity. Furthermore, this was Sovereign territory. Unless one was a Grand Perfection, no one dared to cause trouble inside the city, so they would naturally give up on their plans.

Hodan calmed his mind, taking this opportunity to absorb the Soul Golden Beads to quickly push his soul to its limit and accelerate his cultivation.

Hodan held a Soul Golden Bead in his hand, touching it with his divine soul to guide the power within, beginning to absorb the soul essence to strengthen his own soul.

As expected of a Soul Golden Bead, there was no need for focused control. His soul absorbed the essence directly, and the feeling of his soul growing under the constant nourishment of the essence made Hodan feel extremely comfortable.

Moreover, while absorbing the Soul Golden Bead, Hodan discovered that his soul was actually shaped like a blade, indicating he had a talent for cultivating the Destruction Rules. In truth, it made sense; thunder was one of the most destructive forces in the world. Since Hodan could cultivate into a Mid-God of the Thunder element, he naturally possessed some talent for the Destruction Rules. It was hard to say exactly how much, but it still made Hodan very happy, as it meant he had another path to becoming stronger.

Because Hodan had experienced an epiphany regarding the Fate Rule, the upper limit of his Saint-level clone's soul power had increased. Therefore, he prioritized replenishing his Saint-level clone's soul power, as the Saint-level clone held infinite possibilities and was the foundation of Hodan's strength.

However, the Saint-level clone reached its limit after absorbing only about 20 beads and could not absorb any more. After all, Hodan had previously filled the Saint-level clone's soul to the brim. Although he had an epiphany regarding the Fate Rule, he hadn't become a God yet, so the increase in his upper limit was limited.

The Thunder-element Mid-God clone, however, absorbed all the remaining Soul Golden Beads and even the previous stock, only then reaching a state of fullness. The surge in his divine soul made Hodan feel light and airy for a moment. He knew this was an illusion brought on by the rapid expansion of his soul, and the feeling would vanish once he adapted to it after some time.

Hodan calmed down to savor the gains from this surge in soul power, discovering that his understanding of the laws and rules—both for his Thunder-element God clone and his Saint-level original body—had become much clearer. In particular, he could vaguely sense several profound mysteries in the Thunder element that he hadn't cultivated yet. With this intuition, Hodan believed he would soon be able to get started on them.

After a night of absorption and cultivation, Hodan didn't feel tired at all; instead, he felt refreshed. Cultivation was truly addictive.

After a night of rest, Hodan left the Thunder-element Godhead set and his life-saving items with his Saint-level original body, instructing it to stay in Hell and cultivate well. He only took the set of artifacts belonging to his Thunder-element God clone and the sword-shaped Highgod sword.

In any case, besides Beirut and his family, there was no one in the Yulan Continent who could threaten Hodan. At the current stage, the strongest in the Yulan Continent were only four Lowgods. If not for Beirut's family, Hodan could practically walk sideways in the Yulan Continent, and ruling as a king would be no problem at all.

After all, the purpose of a Plane Overseer was to guard the plane and prevent powerful individuals from destroying the Material Plane. Generally speaking, the Plane Overseer was the strongest person in that plane. Of course, there were cases where experts born in a Material Plane returned to live in seclusion after training in the Higher God Planes, but such instances were extremely rare.

After all, those who could manage to return to a Material Plane were basically Seven-Star Fiends. People who had seen so much of the world were like those accustomed to living in a metropolis; they might return to the countryside for a short stay, but it was unlikely anyone would be willing to stay there for long.

Moreover, only the Higher God Planes offered the possibility of further advancement. Staying in a Material Plane, where would one find experts to spar with? Every expert capable of becoming a Seven-Star Fiend wanted to reach the peak and see the scenery from the top.

After a night of curfew, he believed the lurkers outside had disappeared. After all, they didn't know how long Hodan would stay. A single stay could last up to a year, and a God's seclusion could last for centuries. With that much time, they might as well find new prey.

However, to avoid trouble, Hodan still donned his black concealing robe. After all, it was better to be safe than sorry. Hodan walked around Silvermoon City in his robe and discovered that, indeed, no one was watching him anymore.

As the city closest to the Plane Teleportation Array, the Renars Clan also had personnel stationed in Silvermoon City.

Hodan found a tavern with a Thunder Serpent emblem on it, which was the crest of the Renars Clan.

After showing his family emblem to the person in charge and revealing his soul aura, he waited for the person to confirm his identity.

He asked him to send word to Elder Muli of the clan that he was safe. After all, Elder Muli had previously helped him intercept Jiawei of the Four Divine Beasts Clan, allowing Hodan to escape. Muli didn't know Hodan's current situation.

In terms of both reason and sentiment, Hodan felt he should let Elder Muli, who cared about him, know he was safe.

As for why Hodan didn't choose to cultivate peacefully at the clan's base, as a transmigrator, Hodan had his own secrets. These secrets absolutely could not be known by others—at least, not until he could protect himself.

Hodan feared that he might inadvertently display anomalies different from his previous self, making others realize something was wrong. Although he didn't know if "soul possession" existed in this world, soul control certainly did. The Renars Clan would never stand idly by if they saw their own clansman being soul-controlled, especially since Elder Muli had a very close relationship with him.

Therefore, Hodan chose to rent a place for himself in Silvermoon City. This was the best way to protect his secrets, which was beneficial for both Hodan and the Renars Clan.

Afterward, Hodan left the city and flew toward the Plane Teleportation Array. The world was vast, and his strength as a Mid-God was still too weak; it took Hodan three days to cover the 10,000-mile journey, and that was with him focusing solely on traveling. Fortunately, there were no bandits in the vicinity, otherwise, there would have been more complications.

Three days later, Hodan finally arrived at the teleportation array. Perhaps it was Lord Black Sand's peculiar taste, but the teleportation array was located on a cliff that had been sculpted into the shape of smoke. From a distance, it looked like a plume of black smoke rushing into the sky, and atop it sat an ancient castle constructed entirely of black ore.

The ancient castle seemed as if it had existed since time immemorial, yet the interior of the black castle always emitted a faint, dreamlike glow. This Lord Black Sand must have had a special preference for the color black; after all, everything Hodan saw related to him was black.

In the center of the black castle, the open ground was paved with bright silver, ancient stone material, making it extremely flat. On it sat two side-by-side giant magic arrays, each a hundred meters in diameter, making them particularly conspicuous.

These giant magic arrays were the destination of Hodan's trip—the Plane Teleportation Arrays. Hodan needed to use one of them to teleport to the Yulan Continent Material Plane, while the other was for teleporting to other Divine Planes or Higher God Planes.

As Hodan flew over, a large number of patrolling Black Annihilation Heaven soldiers spotted him early on.

"Stop right there," a Black Annihilation Heaven soldier shouted loudly.

Hodan immediately descended. The leader of the Black Annihilation soldiers, who had short, needle-like golden hair, swept a cold, sharp gaze toward Hodan and barked, "What business do you have coming to Black Annihilation Heaven?"

"I am here to take the teleportation channel to assume my post in a Material Plane," Hodan said politely, finishing by taking out his Plane Overseer Token.

The expression of the golden-haired, burly man softened. "So you're a fellow Overseer. What should I call you, brother? Which plane are you heading to for your post?"

It was no wonder the man's expression changed; after all, Plane Overseers and the Sovereign's Army both belonged to the Sovereign's system, just different departments. However, being an Overseer was a lucrative position; you couldn't get in without some connections.

After all, who wouldn't want a job where you could rule as a king in a Material Plane while safely earning Inkstones? Of course, that excluded those special planes with powerful experts.

"Oh, you're too kind, brother. My name is Hodan," Hodan replied. "And what should I call you?"

Hodan also wanted to build a good relationship with these people; after all, they were all in the same system, and he would have to return here when he came back to Hell. As a Plane Overseer, he had one chance every year to send supplies to his clone in the Material Plane or swap clones, so it never hurt to be on good terms with everyone.

Many Gods thought that teleporting from a Material Plane to a Higher God Plane was random, but in fact, it could be fixed-point. The secret lay in the Overseer Token in Hodan's hand. The token was engraved with a miniature magic array that could connect to one of the teleportation arrays in the four Higher God Planes, though it could only connect to one.

This was also for the sake of convenience in management; after all, each of the four Higher God Planes, such as Hell, had over a dozen teleportation arrays, and they spanned vast continents. You never knew which array you would be randomly teleported to. Without this Overseer Token, if you were unlucky, you might not be able to return to your original starting point even after hundreds or thousands of attempts.

This also took into account the issue of a God settling down in a city near a teleportation array. Housing prices in the Higher God Planes were so expensive; there was no reason to make someone abandon their home just for a job.