Back to the Holy See

"I only became a god recently," Sean said with a faint smile.

"Congratulations, my lord," Ram replied obediently.

Godhood—he had dreamed of becoming a god, but it was simply too difficult. Even the Saint-level magical beasts in the Dark Forest, the kind that could kill him with a single blow and had lived for tens of thousands of years, had never managed to become gods.

He never would have imagined that the human he had followed for only a few years would become a god just like that.

But when he thought about it, it made sense. When he had first met Sean, he had been subdued with a single move.

If Ram hadn't happened to be cultivating the same Mystery that Sean wanted to cultivate, he probably would have been killed back then.

During the few years he had cultivated alongside Sean, he had seen with his own eyes how quickly Sean grasped the Mysteries. It wasn't all that surprising that he had become a god now.

He just didn't know whether Sean, who had already been so powerful when they first met, had achieved even greater mastery of other Mysteries.

"Mm." Sean nodded, then smiled and asked, "Ram, do you want to become a god?"

"Become a god?" Ram's voice immediately began to tremble.

"This is a Lowgod Spark with the Darkness Attribute. As long as you refine it, you'll become a god." A godhead radiating the Darkness Attribute suddenly appeared in Sean's right hand.

These were among the Lowgod Sparks he had manifested earlier from the original Coiling Dragon novel. Quite a few of them had the Darkness Attribute.

Although Lowgod Sparks were nowhere near enough for Sean to refine, he had thought it over and decided to keep several dozen anyway, so he could have another helper by his side in the future.

But they were only suitable for people who had no chance of becoming gods on their own.

There were still some Lowgods on the Zhongyuan Continent. Once he dealt with that Midgod who cultivated the Laws of Death, obtaining Lowgod Sparks would be easy.

At present, the only Saint-level being he knew who was suitable for refining a Godhead was this Black Tiger, Ram.

"Lord Sean, you're giving me this Godhead?" Ram still couldn't quite believe it.

A Godhead! It was an unparalleled treasure on the Zhongyuan Continent. If an unclaimed Godhead appeared, countless Saint-level experts would go mad and fight to the death over it. Even the gods wouldn't pass it up.

"Yes. But first, I need to tell you that refining a Godhead has some drawbacks," Sean said.

"Drawbacks?" Ram had no idea what he meant.

"Every one of us gods has a Godhead inside us. The Mysteries we comprehend are contained within it. When a Saint-level expert refines a Godhead, they can comprehend the Mysteries contained inside and gradually understand them, eventually becoming a god." Sean explained calmly:

"But since you didn't comprehend them yourself, even though you'll become a god, your understanding of the Mysteries won't match that of someone who became a god independently and received a Godhead from the world. Naturally, your strength won't match theirs, either.

"Also, once you refine a Godhead, your soul won't be compatible with it. After that, it will be almost impossible for you to cultivate your way to Midgod or even Highgod. You'll have to keep refining Godheads. There's basically no other way!"

"I choose to refine the Godhead, Lord Sean." Ram answered almost without hesitation:

"I've been a Saint-level expert for a hundred thousand years. I made some progress during the first ten thousand, but after that I've been stuck, without the slightest improvement. It's not just me. Most Saint-level humans and magical beasts on the Zhongyuan Continent are the same, even those in the ocean.

"Out of all the Saint-level experts, only one in ten thousand can become a god. I don't know how many Saint-level experts have been killed or forced to give up and go to the Higher Planes.

"There are so many Saint-level experts stronger than me, and they still can't become gods. I have even less hope. Besides, even if I really became a god independently after countless millennia, I probably wouldn't have the chance to cultivate to Midgod.

"Lord Sean, a genius like you can't understand the pain we feel."

"Fine. I only wanted to let you know. Since you've made up your mind, go ahead and refine it." Sean tossed the Godhead over.

In truth, unless someone was a genius among geniuses like Linley or Olivier, with absolute confidence in himself, ninety-nine percent of Saint-level experts would likely choose to become gods by refining a Godhead.

Becoming a god independently through cultivation was far too difficult. Saint-level experts were already the top geniuses of their era, but in a Material Plane as vast as this one, there were only a handful of gods.

Most of the supreme geniuses in the Material Plane stopped at the Saint-level. Whether they could become gods independently, or even reach Midgod or Highgod, depended entirely on luck and the very highest level of talent.

The process was also extremely dangerous. According to the original novel, across countless billions of years there had only been twenty or thirty Paragons, though many others must have had the potential to reach that level.

Most of them had simply perished on the road to becoming Paragons or reaching the peak of Asura strength.

For Saint-level experts in the Material Plane, choosing to refine a Godhead wasn't wrong. They might never become gods independently, and even if they had the ability, they might not live long enough to do so.

Not to mention, even if they really did become gods independently, without a powerful organization or stronger friends to protect them, the Godhead inside them would become the treasure everyone wanted most.

After receiving the Godhead, Ram hurriedly forced a drop of blood from his paw and let it fall onto the Godhead.

"Do you know what Mysteries it contains?" Sean asked. If the Mysteries were the same ones Ram was cultivating, he could become a god quickly.

However, even a Sovereign had no way of knowing what Mysteries a Godhead contained. Only the person who refined it could find out.

Ram sensed it and said, "My lord, it's neither the Shadow Clone Profound Mystery nor the Darkness Element Profound Mystery. I don't know what it is, but it feels similar to the fear-inducing mind magic used in human dark magic."

"Oh, then it might be the Evil Profound Mystery. Good. That's a High-level Mystery, and once you comprehend it, you might be able to help me too," Sean said with a hearty laugh.

A god who had refined a Godhead wasn't much of a fighter. Their main use was making it convenient to assign them various tasks. But if Ram could comprehend the Evil Profound Mystery, then even if he didn't understand exactly how it worked, it might still help Sean, who knew nothing about it.

"It's my honor to serve you, Lord Sean," Ram said hurriedly.

Although he knew he was about to become a god, he had guessed that even as a god, he would still be far weaker than Lord Sean.

"Mm. Let's go to the Radiant Church!" Sean said.

"All right, Lord Sean," Ram replied.

To avoid being discovered by the Midgod from the Darkness Church, Sean deliberately took a wide detour and headed for the southeastern corner of the Zhongyuan Continent. The Radiant Church had now been driven there by the Darkness Church. If they retreated any farther, they would reach the South Sea.

As they approached the Radiant Church's new headquarters, Sean sensed tremendous energy fluctuations in the distance.

They were definitely the fluctuations of gods fighting, and there were quite a few of them.