Token

For all the years he had cultivated Destruction Battle Qi, Leian had constantly pondered what destruction truly was.

By its literal meaning, destruction was the ultimate and complete ruin. It sounded simple enough, but how exactly could it be achieved? He had always been hazy on the details, knowing that it was so but not why.

But now, after witnessing the all-erasing "Black Light" unleashed by Demos, he suddenly found a direction.

Judging purely by its outward manifestation, that "Black Light" erased everything. It undoubtedly counted as a form of destruction, though in terms of Laws and Profound Mysteries, it most likely stemmed from the "Devour" profound mystery of the Laws of Darkness.

Yet in truth, the profound mysteries of different laws could sometimes be interconnected. Just as Linley had observed Liermons's battle and gained insight into the Laws of Wind, or observed the endless cycle of the Laws of Water and comprehended the Power of Life within the Laws of Earth.

Although Leian had not comprehended a specific Destruction Rule from the profound mystery of "Devour," he had found a direction for comprehending the Destruction Rule.

In the Coiling Dragon World, all things were formed from the elements of the various systems. What, then, was complete destruction?

Naturally, it was reducing all things back to their elemental state!

If you smashed a stone into powder, that was merely the simplest form of destruction. If you decomposed it into Earth Elements, then you had taken another step forward on the path of destruction.

But was breaking something down into elemental form the ultimate destruction?

Certainly not. The ultimate should be nothingness!

Still, knowing was easy while doing was hard. Just as after Linley comprehended the 256 layers of vibrations in Pulse of the Earth, he knew that the path ahead was to merge those 256 layers back into one. Yet accomplishing that had taken decades.

The same was true for Leian.

But what mattered was that Leian had found his direction.

Meanwhile, Margaret knew Demos's abilities very well. Thus, the instant the black flames surged, she immediately retreated at high speed. Even so, she had only barely escaped the range covered by the black halo.

Her condition was not good. Her black robe had long since vanished, revealing a tight-fitting black combat outfit beneath, while half of the longsword in her hand had disappeared as well.

"Demos, you win!"

After glancing at the broken sword in her hand, Margaret calmly conceded defeat. Then she rose into the air, clearly intending to leave.

Yet by sheer coincidence, the direction she chose happened to be where Leian stood. When she reached the air above him, she stopped without any warning.

Leian was still immersed in the excitement of his sudden enlightenment. Seeing this, his heart jolted. This woman isn't going to kill me to silence me just because she can't accept losing, is she?

At that moment, Margaret lowered her head and asked, "Are you Leian from Qingshi Town?"

As she spoke, her gaze lingered briefly on the Phantom Magic Monkey behind Leian, and an inexplicable glint flashed through her eyes.

Leian did not notice the change in Margaret's expression, but he was startled that she had called him by name.

After a brief silence, he nodded. "That's me!"

She was a Saint Realm expert, and also the Goddess of Dark Night's eldest disciple. As a ninth-rank warrior, he had no ability to resist her no matter what. He should first see what she intended.

"With your level of attainment, entering the Saint Realm will not be difficult. Catch!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Margaret suddenly tossed something out.

Leian's heart stirred. Watching the black shadow fly toward him, he stretched out his right hand and caught it. Looking closely, he found that it was a palm-sized black token.

There were no words on the token, only the emblem of the Church of the Goddess of Dark Night.

"What is this?"

Leian raised his head in confusion. Just as he was about to ask what the token was for, she had already soared away, swiftly vanishing into the horizon.

At that moment, a familiar voice suddenly rang out from afar:

"Leian!"

Following the voice, Leian discovered that the caller was actually an acquaintance.

"Derrick, I didn't expect you to come here too!"

Leian greeted him with a smile. The newcomer was Derrick, an eighth-rank warrior Leian had met by chance two years ago. It seemed Derrick had also been among the spectators.

Moreover, after two years apart, Derrick's aura had grown much stronger. He looked not far from becoming a ninth-rank warrior. That made him something of a genius, didn't it?

Leian thought silently.

Derrick moved incredibly fast. Before he even reached Leian, he began shouting, "Quick! The Goddess Token! Let me see it!"

Hearing this, Leian instantly realized that the token in his hand was the "Goddess Token" Derrick had mentioned. Their relationship was fairly good, and he was not worried that Derrick had any ulterior motive, so he tossed the token to him as requested.

Derrick caught it in one hand, cradling it in his palm as he stroked it and clicked his tongue in admiration, as though he were holding some extraordinary treasure.

"The Goddess Token! I never thought I, Derrick, would live to see one with my own eyes!"

Seeing Derrick's infatuated expression, Leian could not help finding it amusing. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "From the look of you, it seems you know what this token does?"

"You don't know?" Derrick looked up in astonishment, seemingly unable to believe it.

Leian shook his head. He had previously lived in the remote Qingshi Town, where information was scarce and there was no Church of the Goddess of Dark Night. Since the token in his hand was obviously connected to the Goddess of Dark Night, was it not perfectly normal that he did not know?

Although he had later arrived in the imperial capital, Maple Leaf City, he had not stayed long before coming to the Youquan Mountain Range. Naturally, he knew less than a veteran eighth-rank warrior like Derrick.

Derrick looked Leian up and down. After pondering for a while, he sighed. "It seems you're a commoner-born genius!"

Leian merely smiled and said nothing. As for being called a genius, he could take it or leave it; he had no interest in such things. But the word "commoner" was not wrong. For instance, his family did not even have a surname.

Generally speaking, only nobles had surnames. Commoners did not, unless their ancestors had once been wealthy and influential.

Of course, given Leian's current achievements, if he had descendants in the future, they could directly use "Leian" as their surname.

Derrick seemed to see that Leian was not particularly interested in the empty title of genius, so he did not dwell on it and instead began explaining the token's origins.

According to him, the token did not actually have any specific name. It was simply issued by disciples of the Goddess of Dark Night, so people usually called it a "Goddess Token."

It had only one purpose: to serve as proof of qualification.

Possessing a Goddess Token meant possessing the qualification to compete for the position of the Goddess's Named Disciple!

Under normal circumstances, those qualified to receive a token were Saint Realm experts, and they were not particularly old. Most were geniuses who had entered the Saint Realm before the age of fifty.

There had been people like Leian who received a token while still a ninth-rank warrior, but they were exceedingly rare.

That was why even someone as proud as Derrick sincerely acknowledged Leian as a "genius."

"If I remember correctly, there are only fifteen years left until the next Goddess's Named Disciple Tournament. Leian, you don't have much time left."

As Derrick spoke, he handed the token back, his expression seeming somewhat regretful.

The Goddess's Named Disciple Tournament was held once every hundred years. Under such circumstances, the younger one was, the more disadvantaged one would be.

In Derrick's eyes, even if Leian successfully broke through within fifteen years, he would only have just entered the Saint Realm. Compared with those Saint Realm experts in their eighties and nineties, his strength would surely be lacking.

But was that truly the case for Leian?

Leian smiled but said nothing.

Fifteen years?

Fifteen years was not a short time. If he was lucky, he might even become a god by then!