In an instant, a strange power surged into Sean's body. It wasn't magic, battle qi, or even energy, yet both his body and soul seemed to have changed.
"My physical strength!" Sean suddenly felt a massive increase in his bodily strength. It wasn't an increase in his warrior level, just pure strength. His battle qi was still at level 8, but he felt that even without using it, he was far stronger than before.
That was the advantage of a powerful body. Magical beasts were like that: some beasts could withstand a full-power blow from a human of the same level with their bodies alone. The advantage was enormous, and that wasn't even counting the increase in strength.
Humans could rarely defeat magical beasts of the same level. Only after reaching the Saint-level, when one's understanding of the Mysteries had a major influence on strength, did it become common for Saint-level humans to kill or even subdue Saint-level magical beasts.
As for his soul, Sean also sensed a layer of gray energy within it, though he could only feel it. It was no use to him for now.
"I wonder how strong my body is now." Sean was curious.
The God-Eater Rat's greatest advantage was its ability to devour divine sparks and strengthen its body after reaching the god level. But even before that, at the Saint-level and below, its body was already extremely powerful.
In the original story, when Bebe avenged his parents, the Saint-level opponent's attacks couldn't even break through his defenses. Bebe completely overpowered him. Only someone at the peak of the Saint-level might have been able to suppress him.
But they were still in the cave, hiding from danger. Sean didn't dare test himself recklessly. Killing the Saint-level Death Mage earlier had been a fluke brought about by a series of coincidences. Otherwise, even if they had faced the most ordinary Saint-level warrior, the two of them probably wouldn't have won, despite having divine artifacts.
The arrival of the God-Eater Rat Bloodline had caused no disturbance. Leilia, in the adjoining cave, had no idea what changes had taken place. He was still in seclusion, trying to break through to level 9.
Sean didn't disturb him and continued his own seclusion. Besides practicing magic, seclusion also gave him a chance to try sensing the Laws of the world. He was only level 9, but it was worth a try. In the original story, Linley had grasped a tiny bit of the Earth Pulse at level 9.
However, now that he had the God-Eater Rat Bloodline, there was no rush, because...
The moment Sean began meditating, his mindscape was completely different from before. Previously, he could sense only the earth-yellow Earth Element. Now, in addition to the Earth Element, he could also sense the black-glowing Darkness Element and the blue-green-glowing Wind Element!
After manifesting a Divine Beast Bloodline, one retained the outward appearance of a human, but inherited all the divine beast's other abilities, including its Innate Divine Ability and its innate talent for elemental Laws or Edicts.
The God-Eater Rat was a divine beast with a Darkness Attribute, and it also possessed an innate talent for Wind Element magic. In the original story, Beirut had reached an extremely high level of mastery in both the Darkness and Wind Element Laws. By chance, he eventually refined a Low-level Wind Sovereign Spark, while the Prefect of Youlan Prefecture in Hell was his Darkness Divine Clone.
Most importantly, the God-Eater Rat was a divine beast that would naturally become a god upon reaching adulthood. As long as Sean kept lying low, he could become a god through the Darkness Laws in a few decades or perhaps a century, even without cultivating. The Mystery he would grasp would be Shadow Clone, which was a little more advanced than the Darkness Element Profound Mystery.
"And this, too." Sean took a Black Crystal from his Spatial Ring. It was the Saint-level magical beast's core he had manifested earlier. Back in Shengyue City, he hadn't been able to do anything with it, but now things were different.
The crystal wasn't very big, and Sean swallowed it in one gulp. Now that he had a divine beast's traits, he could devour the cores of other magical beasts to increase his strength before reaching the god level.
Time flew by, and another half-year passed in the blink of an eye. Sean's strength had improved by leaps and bounds. His magical power in Earth Element magic had increased, but there had been no qualitative change. He was still completely baffled by the Laws' Mysteries, though he had become proficient at using various Earth Element spells. He wondered whether, after reaching the Saint-level, this foundation might help him grasp the Mysteries of Earth.
As for his warrior level, he had successfully reached level 9. And as his body grew stronger and stronger, Sean felt that he might be better suited to fighting as a close-combat warrior.
The biggest surprise was the innate talent for Darkness and Wind Element magic that came with the God-Eater Rat Bloodline. In just half a year, he had learned to cast level 9 Darkness spells and level 7 Wind spells. His progress was far faster than Bebe's in the original story. He wasn't sure whether it was because he had already been level 9 when he manifested the bloodline or for some other reason, but either way, he was progressing rapidly.
With the Purple Blood God Sword, an offensive Highgod Artifact, and the Coiling Dragon Ring in his possession, Sean now felt that he could hold his own if he encountered Celsus again. Of course, that was mainly thanks to the physical strength granted by the God-Eater Rat's innate abilities.
"Sean!" Leilia's voice came from outside the cave, rousing Sean from meditation. He used his mind to move the rocks at the entrance, opening a narrow doorway.
Leilia cautiously checked their surroundings before entering. The rocks returned to their original positions behind him.
"Well? Did you find out anything out there?" Sean asked as he came out.
The two of them had been in seclusion here for quite some time. Leilia had also been healing. The damage caused by Death magic had been extremely difficult to deal with, and he had only fully recovered recently. Before then, they hadn't been able to travel far; running into people from the Darkness Church on the way would have spelled trouble.
After Leilia recovered, the two of them discussed the matter and decided to go out and gather information.
If the Radiant Church had won, they could return to Shengyue City. If it had lost, they would have to make preparations soon. They couldn't stay in the cave forever. It was only about ten thousand miles from Shengyue City, and when the war first broke out, the Darkness Church had been short on manpower and had needed to commit its forces to battle. But if it later took control of Shengyue City and the surrounding territory, the longer they stayed hidden here, the greater the risk of being discovered.
Even though Sean knew that if he kept lying low, he could become a god in a few decades, he still had to leave. It wasn't just the danger before reaching the Saint-level. When the Laws of the world descended as he became a god, they might draw that middle-level god to him, putting him in danger. A God-Eater Rat at the Lowgod level couldn't use its Innate Divine Ability against a middle-level god.
"I couldn't find out exactly what happened." Leilia's face was grim. "But I know this: Shengyue City was slaughtered!"
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