"Who?"
The instant he heard the voice, alarm bells rang in Prequeil's mind, and he retreated ten thousand miles in a flash.
In the next moment, four figures appeared where Prequeil had just been. At their head was an ordinary-looking young man with black hair.
Three people followed behind him: an eerie-looking young man, a burly red-haired man, and a middle-aged man with bushy eyebrows.
"Trying to run? Where do you think you're going?"
Pusiluo roared. His figure became a streak of crimson light, and he instantly caught up with Balseze, who was trying to escape.
"My lord, save me!"
Sensing death looming over him, Balseze immediately cried out.
The red-haired brute was so fast that Balseze couldn't dodge him. He was definitely no match for him.
"You're so annoying!"
Pusiluo didn't want to hear him yammering, so he smashed a fist straight into Balseze. A divine spark immediately fell.
Prequeil's expression remained blank. Although his longtime subordinate had been killed, he showed not the slightest reaction.
"To kill a Six-Star Light Hunter in one move, he must be at least a Seven-Star Light Hunter. And these three all seem to follow that young man. The only people a Seven-Star Light Hunter would follow are commanders."
Prequeil's mind raced, and in an instant, he reached his conclusion.
He hadn't sensed Huosi's arrival at all. Now that he looked closely, he realized Huosi was a Midgod?
At that thought, Prequeil's expression grew extremely solemn.
No matter how he looked at him, the black-haired young man seemed to be only a Midgod.
But how was that possible? It was obvious that these four people were led by him.
Someone followed by three Highgods—and one of them, the red-haired brute, was at least a Seven-Star Light Hunter—couldn't possibly be a Midgod. Therefore, the black-haired young man had to be a commander.
If so, there was only one possibility: he was exceptionally skilled in soul cultivation, allowing him to conceal his aura perfectly.
But there weren't many people whose soul cultivation was so advanced that Prequeil couldn't detect their true strength. So, who exactly was this man?
"I am Prequeil, commander of the Third Legion of the Radiant Sovereign's army in the Light Divine Realm and lord of Macallan Prefecture. May I ask who you are?"
Prequeil spoke with a somber expression, hoping to talk things over first.
Judging by what had just happened, the other man had to be a powerful commander as well. Unless absolutely necessary, Prequeil didn't want to antagonize one.
Still, even if the other man was a commander, he had killed Prequeil's subordinate right in front of him. That was as good as slapping him in the face.
So he could ask who the man was, but he didn't need to be overly polite. If the other man wasn't a fool, he would introduce himself.
"I have no reason to tell you."
Huosi replied calmly, with no intention of giving his name.
"You dare to show me such contempt!"
Prequeil instantly flew into a rage. Who was he? He was a commander in the Radiant Plane.
This man had killed his subordinate right in front of him and then dared to treat him with such contempt. Did he think Prequeil had no temper?
"I wouldn't call it contempt. I'm simply stating a fact."
Huosi shook his head slightly. He had never planned to let this man leave, so why should he care about his attitude?
Huosi had sparred with Leilin many times and had a rough idea of an Asura's strength. Unless someone was a Paragon Asura, they weren't worth taking seriously.
The man before him seemed fairly strong, but not strong enough to command Huosi's attention.
"Fine, then die!"
Prequeil swore furiously, and a golden longsword appeared in his right hand.
This man dared to show him such contempt? Then Prequeil would teach him that underestimating someone came at a price.
"My lord, may I give it a try?"
A hint of battle lust appeared in Leilin's eyes as he looked at Huosi.
"Sure. Go ahead!"
Huosi nodded, unconcerned. He had confidence in Leilin's strength.
"You're asking for death!"
Prequeil grew even angrier. This man wasn't going to fight himself and was sending a subordinate instead. Was the subordinate supposed to be an Asura too?
Ridiculous! Apart from Paragons and Sovereigns, who could have an Asura as a subordinate?
"Descent of Holy Light!"
Prequeil shouted. His golden sword beams instantly split into millions of streaks and converged on Leilin.
"Interesting. Ten Thousand Fires Burning the Heavens!"
Leilin went all out from the very first move. Blue-green flames surged like a gigantic wave, devouring the entire sky in an instant.
"What?"
Prequeil was startled and hurriedly put some distance between them.
Leilin gave him no chance to escape, pursuing him at once. Fire-law attacks were powerful, and Leilin excelled at close combat. Naturally, he wasn't going to let Prequeil get away.
Golden and blue-green lights flashed across the sky. The two exchanged blows back and forth, fighting over a hundred rounds in the blink of an eye.
"Try this move!"
Two seemingly ordinary flames appeared in Leilin's hands, then merged together.
"Don't think that's enough to beat me!"
Prequeil roared. Golden markings instantly covered his body.
"That's a Divine Beast's innate ability?"
Leilin paused for a moment, but his hands never slowed.
The flames shot toward the golden markings. In an instant, red light enveloped the area. When the scorching heat faded, Prequeil looked at Leilin in astonishment.
The attack had indeed been blocked, but it had put him under considerable pressure.
"This man isn't a Seven-Star Light Hunter at all. He's a genuine commander-level powerhouse!"
"How can that be? If he's a commander, then who exactly is the man he calls 'my lord'?"
Prequeil's mind raced, and he felt utterly overwhelmed.
His physical talent and mastery of the laws meant he wasn't afraid of Leilin. But Leilin wasn't the real problem here.
"A commander calling someone else 'my lord'... Could he be a Paragon High-God?"
Prequeil felt bitter inside. He had actually provoked a Paragon.
The man didn't look like one of the famous figures in the Divine Planes, but who else could have a commander for a subordinate besides a Paragon?
After all, Prequeil was a commander himself. The only people who could conceal their auras from him so perfectly, disguising themselves as Midgods, were a handful of Asuras skilled at masking their soul auras—or Paragons.
If this man were merely an Asura skilled at masking his soul aura, he wouldn't have acted so arrogantly after Prequeil gave his name and status.
Only a Paragon High-God could remain utterly unmoved after hearing who Prequeil was, because they simply didn't care.
A Paragon High-God was someone even the Sovereigns respected—the truly invincible among the gods.
"Um, that was all a misunderstanding."
At that thought, Prequeil hurriedly retreated a short distance and cupped his hands toward Leilin.
"Looks like this fight should end here."
Seeing his reaction, Leilin guessed that Prequeil wouldn't keep fighting. Their sparring had probably gone on long enough.
"My lord, I offended you. Please spare my life for the sake of the Radiant Sovereign!"
Prequeil turned to Huosi and tried to beg for mercy.
"Oh? You can speak on behalf of the Radiant Sovereign?"
Huosi mocked him, his tone making it clear he didn't believe a word of it.
The Sovereigns stood far above everyone else. For them to interfere in the affairs of the gods usually required one of their children or a Paragon to be involved.
As for commanders in the Sovereigns' armies, the Sovereigns wouldn't care if any number of them died.
"My lord, I..."
Prequeil's mind raced as he tried to find a way out.
"Looks like you have no standing to speak for the Sovereign. In that case, let's end this."
Huosi spoke calmly, then waved a hand. A gigantic warship appeared out of the void.
"Is this really all right?"
Inside the warship, Beirut wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
He'd never imagined he would be brought to a battlefield where he'd face off against a Highgod. It was a lot of pressure for him.
After joining Lord Huosi's team, Beirut had watched him launch a new project: research into the Divine Beast Bloodline.
As a Super Divine Beast, Beirut was both a supplier of samples and a researcher. He'd been incredibly busy.
The God-Eater Rat's blood essence had greatly influenced the project, and Huosi's armor had absorbed some of it as well.
Beirut had lost some of his blood essence and was weak for a while.
Of course, there had been plenty of benefits too. Lord Huosi gave him a large number of divine sparks to eat as he pleased, and Beirut felt that his body had grown much stronger.
Over the past hundreds of thousands of years, Lord Huosi had discovered many things in his blood essence, things that astonished even Beirut, the Divine Beast himself.
Now, based on the God-Eater Rat's bloodline, Lord Huosi had developed an Interstellar Warship capable of using Beirut's Innate Divine Ability.
The warship could refine divine-spark essence to strengthen its defenses. It could even expend energy to unleash its ultimate weapon, the God-Eater Cannon!
When Beirut saw this weapon, he was stunned. Could the Innate Divine Ability of a Super Divine Beast really be replicated?
If that was possible, could Super Divine Beasts still be called Super Divine Beasts in the future?
For this battle, Lord Huosi had brought out the God-Eater Interstellar Warship.
Honestly, could this thing deal with a Highgod? Beirut had no idea. He hadn't even reached the Highgod level himself! But since Lord Huosi wanted to test it, he would just do as instructed.
"Fire the God-Eater Cannon!"
Beirut had no time to think. He pressed the button, and terrifying energy erupted in an instant.
Prequeil's consciousness blurred. Then he knew nothing more.
"That Innate Divine Ability is seriously monstrous."
Watching the divine spark get devoured by the warship, Adkins couldn't help shivering.
Now he finally understood why Lord Huosi valued Beirut so much. That ability was practically inhuman!
Well, Beirut really wasn't human. He was a God-Eater Rat.
Over the years, as Pusiluo and Leilin had gradually surpassed him, Adkins had gone from being the strongest under Lord Huosi to the third strongest.
Now Beirut wasn't far from breaking through to Highgod. Adkins might not be able to hold on to his third-place position much longer.
It wouldn't be long before Beirut broke through to Highgod and surpassed them all.
Before you continue