Becoming a God

"It's been nearly ten thousand years. I never expected your Darkness Church to make such a commotion on the Zhongyuan Continent," Jinhuo said with a faint smile.

"Lord Jinhuo, the Radiant Church has ruled the Zhongyuan Continent for over a million years. Now that we have greater strength, it's only right that we take their place," Pruke hurriedly replied. "Did you come here because of this?"

Though the Darkness Church now had a Middlegod, they had lived for millions of years as Lowgods and knew that even gods of the same rank could differ greatly in strength.

Generally, the gap between Lowgods wasn't too extreme. But Middlegods were another matter entirely. The strongest among them could easily kill ordinary Middlegods.

Countless millennia ago, Pruke had witnessed Jinhuo effortlessly subdue a Middlegod on the Zhongyuan Material Plane. Compared to Lord Jinhuo, Pruke was nothing—and even the Middlegod of the Darkness Church would have to bow his head.

If Jinhuo intervened in the conflict between the Darkness Church and the Radiant Church, it would be a severe blow to them.

"Mm. I don't want to get involved in your affairs. I came for the same reason as always: to look for experts who are about to reach Saint-level," Jinhuo said, waving a hand. "But after arriving, I also noticed this Magic Array here."

"I can't make heads or tails of this Magic Array. Do you know what it is, Lord Jinhuo?" Pruke asked.

"I don't. Magic Arrays are even more complex than Mysteries, and I don't understand them either." Jinhuo paused, then continued, "But I can be sure that this Magic Array must have come from Hell, one of the Higher Planes. Though it gathers dark elements, its core must once have been a treasure containing the Destruction Law."

"A Magic Array from Hell? How could something like that suddenly appear here?" Pruke asked in surprise. "I just confirmed that the dark elements here also began increasing suddenly a few years ago. There hadn't been anything unusual before that."

"I know. I arrived here even earlier than you, and I've investigated everything I could. A human Saint-level from this place might have something to do with it," Jinhuo said.

"But I don't know what he looks like or what his soul aura is, so there's no way to find him. The only thing I know is that he cultivates the Darkness Laws. He should be from your Darkness Church, right?"

"Probably not. He killed six Saint-level experts from our Darkness Church, including Lurenjia. Lord Jinhuo, Lurenjia was widely regarded as the Saint-level expert most likely to become a god in our church over the past ten thousand years. Anyone who could kill them must be only one step away from godhood," Pruke answered.

"In that case, this person must be another Saint-level who rose to prominence within the past ten thousand years. He'll soon become a god, too. Never mind—I'll look for him after the Laws of Heaven and Earth descend," Jinhuo said after a moment's thought.

Every ten thousand years, he came to the Zhongyuan Continent, the East Sea, and the South Sea to look for Saint-level experts on the verge of advancement. But if the Laws of Heaven and Earth descended and a new Lowgod was born, he would make a separate trip.

In other words, there might be many Saint-levels on the Zhongyuan Plane he didn't know about, but he knew every god.

"What about this Magic Array?" Pruke asked again. A place of this size, suitable for cultivating dark magic, was of great significance to the Darkness Church.

It had originally been within the territory they controlled. But now that the matter involved the Plane Overseer, who was invincible within the plane, the entire Darkness Church wouldn't dare overstep in the slightest.

"I know what you're thinking, but I can't give you this Magic Array," Jinhuo said, shaking his head. "This isn't a Magic Array that gathers dark elements. The dark elements gathering here are merely a trace of energy leaking out as the array operates."

"Leaking energy?" Pruke asked in astonishment. "If that's just a trace of energy leaking out, what does the array itself do?"

Even for him, a Lowgod who cultivated the Darkness Laws, gathering energy like this would take a considerable effort, and he couldn't maintain it for long.

"You may leave," Jinhuo said to the several Saint-levels beside Pruke.

"Yes." The Saint-levels of the Darkness Church didn't dare say another word. They all withdrew.

"This Magic Array is used to seal a Plane Prison," Jinhuo said.

"A Plane Prison? Is this a weak point in space?" Pruke asked in surprise.

He knew about the Plane Prison, of course. During the million years after he became a god, Jinhuo had thrown many gods and Saint-levels into it.

They said it was a terribly harsh place. Saint-levels and gods sent there wouldn't necessarily die, but they would never get out again.

"That's the problem. The space of the Plane Prison corresponding to this Magic Array isn't weak; it's an entirely normal region. But because of this array, a Spatial Passage to the Zhongyuan Plane has opened there," Jinhuo said with a frown.

"Lord Jinhuo, are you worried that people from the Plane Prison might come out?" Pruke asked.

"Yes. If it were a normal weak point in the plane, I, as the Plane Overseer, would have special means to reinforce the seal. But this appeared out of nowhere."

"And I don't understand this Magic Array, so I have no way to deal with it. If the people inside discover it and come out, we'll be in trouble."

"Lord Jinhuo, with you here, what is there to worry about?" Pruke said with a smile.

"There are quite a few Middlegods in the Plane Prison," Jinhuo said after a brief silence.

"Quite a few?" Pruke exclaimed. "Isn't the Plane Prison unsuitable for cultivation?"

"It is unsuitable for cultivation. But countless billions of years ago, before I came to the Zhongyuan Plane as its overseer, countless people had already been imprisoned there. Over all these countless billions of years, who knows how many more have been sent there?"

"Most of them died, but quite a few broke through to Middlegod. They just couldn't break through the plane seal from the inside, so they had to remain there. Now, though, this is a way out."

"But you don't need to worry too much. A long time ago, I spoke with some of them. Most of them simply want to go to the Higher Planes."

"Thank you for the warning, Lord Jinhuo." Pruke's expression darkened. The Darkness Church had finally gained a Middlegod and was just about ready to unite the Zhongyuan Continent and claim all its Power of Faith.

Yet this strange Magic Array had appeared at just that moment. If a large number of Middlegods emerged from the Plane Prison, even one or two of them trying to seize the church's territory would be a catastrophe.

"So do as you see fit from now on. You may leave," Jinhuo said, waving a hand.

"Yes." Pruke said nothing more. He flew over to the Saint-levels from earlier, and together they headed south.

"How could a Magic Array from Hell suddenly appear here? And an array of this kind should have unleashed earth-shaking power when it was set up. How could there have been no sign of it at all?" Jinhuo wondered, deeply puzzled.

As a Middlegod sent from the Higher Planes to a Material Plane, he might have been insignificant in the Higher Planes, but in a Material Plane he could still reign supreme. He didn't even take the Middlegods in the Plane Prison seriously.

But the appearance of such a Magic Array here was far too strange. The only explanation was that a peak Uppergod had been hiding on the Zhongyuan Plane for a very long time.

Sean, in the Miniature Plane Prison, knew nothing about what was happening outside. All he could think about now was breaking through to godhood as soon as possible.

Eight years later, a powerful force descended from the heavens within the Miniature Plane Space, enveloping Sean.

The Laws of Heaven and Earth were descending as he became a god.