"Could it be that I have a talent for cultivating Destruction?" Sean wondered uncertainly.
Of the Four Edicts, Life and Death had inherited forms of magic that were relatively easy to understand. They were even quite similar to the Seven Laws of the elements. Many people in the Radiant Church cultivated Life Magic.
In fact, one of the eight god-level experts in the Radiant Church cultivated the Life Law. Death Magic, on the other hand, was rather unnatural and fundamentally at odds with the Radiant Church's founding principles. Even if someone there practiced it, outsiders would never know.
As a result, it was more commonly seen in the Darkness Church and the Death Temple. What's more, if one hadn't mastered Death Magic, it could damage one's own body. Cyrus, whom Sean and Leilia had killed together, might have been weakened because Death Magic had ravaged his body so badly that he was weaker than a normal Saint-level expert.
When Sean was very young, the Radiant Church had tried to get him to cultivate Life Magic, but he hadn't succeeded. He simply didn't have the talent for it.
As for the Rules of Fate, he had never encountered them before. In theory, the Radiant Church should have had practitioners, but they were probably few, and none had reached a particularly high level.
The final one, Destruction, was relatively common. Unlike the other Edicts, talent for Destruction couldn't be tested. One had to keep comprehending it while cultivating. If one had the talent, one would gradually begin to sense it over time. Many warriors ended up cultivating Destruction.
Still, without complete Mysteries to pass down, the Four Edicts were difficult to cultivate. Unless one had truly exceptional talent in one of those fields, it was better to focus on the Seven Elemental Laws.
Now, in this miniature plane space, where the elemental concentration was dozens of times higher than in the Material Plane of the Zhongyuan Continent, Sean had finally reached the Saint-level and could sense that he might have a talent for Destruction. But when he tried to comprehend it carefully, the feeling came and went.
"Looks like my talent for Destruction is pretty average." After trying for a while, Sean was fairly sure. If he had any real talent, he would have been able to sense at least a little of it in the Miniature Plane Space.
Still, it was already quite good. Having talent in one more Law meant he had the chance to cultivate in that direction. If he could become a god independently, he'd have another life to spare. Even if he remained a Lowgod for the rest of his life, that was better than nothing.
Of course, his most important task right now was to cultivate and comprehend the Darkness Laws. He had only one Saint-level body, and his soul could comprehend only one Mystery at a time. That was unlike after becoming a god, when he would have several Divine Clones, each able to cultivate its own Laws or Edicts.
Even with the Earth Laws, which he had been best at before, he could only put them on hold for now, despite seeming to have begun grasping the Earth Element. Once he became a god independently through the Darkness Laws, he could cultivate both at once.
After enjoying a hearty meal, Sean settled down and began cultivating in earnest. Unlike the Dark Forest, this Miniature Plane Space was far safer. It lay deep beneath the ground in an uninhabited desert, so all he needed to do now was fuse the Mysteries as best he could, then strive to become a Lowgod.
The Darkness Element Profound Mystery and the Shadow Clone Profound Mystery, when combined, didn't just improve his offense and defense. They were also ideal for concealing his presence and heightened his sensitivity to the surrounding environment. These were unique abilities of the Darkness Laws.
The Four Edicts and Seven Laws each had their own strengths and weaknesses, creating a distinctive balance. In terms of physical attacks, Wind and Destruction were the strongest, while Earth and Fire were slightly weaker.
For speed, Wind and Thunder were the fastest, while Light and Fire were a little slower.
In terms of the soul, the strongest were the three Edicts of Life, Death, and Fate, followed by the Light Laws.
For defense, Water was naturally the strongest, without equal. When it came to concealment, the Darkness Laws were the best, also without equal.
Here in the Miniature Plane Space, Sean felt closer than ever to the essence of the Darkness Laws.
Three months later, when Sean opened his eyes again, he could feel that his understanding of the two Laws and his ability to fuse them had improved a little.
This truly was a cultivation paradise, useful even to Highgods. For a Saint-level cultivator, it was an incredible boon. He could even feel some of his bottlenecks beginning to give way.
After taking a day to rest, Sean resumed cultivating. He could sense that in an environment with such a high concentration of elemental Laws, the God-Eater Rat bloodline within him was maturing faster. In other words, even if he did nothing, being here would let him become a god independently sooner.
This should have been a good thing, but Sean wanted to comprehend and fuse the two Mysteries at the same pace. One of them was comprehending itself uncontrollably fast, and that had become a source of frustration.
It wasn't false modesty, but if he said this aloud, every expert trapped at the Saint-level across the planes would probably be green with envy.
Time passed slowly. In the Coiling Dragon World, it was the cheapest thing there was.
Above the Plane Sealing Magic Array Sean had manifested in the Dark Forest of the Zhongyuan Continent, several experts hovered in midair.
"What an intense Darkness Element. What exactly is this Magic Array?" asked a seemingly young expert with a frown.
"My lord, we've investigated. This is where Mr. Lurenjia was killed," another Saint-level expert replied.
"Lurenjia was already a peak Saint-level expert, and he had two divine artifacts I gave him. There are no signs of a fight here, so it seems a god-level expert from the Radiant Church did this." The young expert frowned. "But why would a god-level expert from the Radiant Church come back here? Was it because of this Darkness Magic Array? There aren't any god-level experts within the Radiant Church who cultivate the Darkness Laws, are there?"
The man who had just spoken answered, "My lord, according to what I learned from the nearby ninth-level magical beasts, the attacker wasn't a god. There was a brief chase between them, and that couldn't have happened if the attacker were a god.
"Besides, the killer arrived here several years ago and spent some time living peacefully alongside the magical beasts. And when Mr. Lurenjia was killed, a Saint-level magical beast from the Dark Forest took part as well. It was the one who trapped the Water God Sect's Saintess."
"That's rather strange." The young god-level expert was momentarily puzzled.
"Pruke, it's been nearly ten thousand years." A sudden voice behind him made Pruke jump. Anyone who could approach him without being detected could kill him with ease.
"Lord Jinhuo." Seeing who had arrived, Pruke hurriedly bowed. The newcomer was the Plane Guardian of the Zhongyuan Continent's Material Plane.
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