Death Becomes a God

As soon as the words fell, a vast, irresistible force descended upon Wuhun Mountain.

Leian's original body, wrapped in the mighty power of heaven and earth, rose into the air uncontrollably. At the same time, dense death energy began to gather, slowly forming a black crystal above him that radiated a dim gray halo.

This was a Death Lower Godhead.

The instant the godhead formed, Leian sensed its connection to his soul. Immediately afterward, the laws of heaven and earth conveyed the method for condensing a divine body.

Without the slightest hesitation, Leian controlled the Death Godhead to hover outside his body and once again chose to split his soul in two.

"Aah!"

The familiar agony struck. Every muscle in Leian's body spasmed and convulsed, yet he still could not hold back a loud howl of pain.

In just thirty years, his soul had undergone two splits. Without the protection of the laws of heaven and earth, no one could have endured it.

Shortly afterward, a spherical soul flew out from Leian's body and fused with the hovering Death Godhead.

"Hiss—hiss—"

A great amount of death divine power flowed out from the Divine Power Ocean, rapidly condensing into a divine body. Before long, a naked body identical to Leian's appeared.

Looking at this Death God Clone, Leian controlled divine power to form a gray robe over its body and sighed, "I became a god through the Death Rule in sixty years. It seems my talent in the Death Rule isn't bad either!"

Thinking this, Leian could not help feeling a little pleased with himself. At that moment, a familiar divine sense extended toward him within the range of his own perception.

"Jiadeliya?" Leian raised his brows, and the image of the goddess flashed through his mind.

On the other side, Jiadeliya seemed deeply shocked that Leian had become a god through death once more. It was several breaths before she finally sent him a message, but her tone no longer carried its usual coldness.

"Leian, congratulations. I never expected your talent in the Death Rule to be so high as well!"

Sensing the change in Jiadeliya's tone, Leian smiled leisurely and replied through divine sense, "Jiadeliya, you flatter me!"

Faced with such perfunctory modesty, even Jiadeliya's calm and detached temperament could not stop the urge to roll her eyes. She immediately withdrew her divine sense and said nothing further.

The fluctuations created by the descent of the laws of heaven and earth could not be concealed from god-level experts. At the same time, the five Lower Gods on the other four continents all turned their gazes toward the source of the law fluctuations.

When they realized that the person who had become a god still belonged to the Youquan Continent, familiar figures such as Margaret and several other Saint Realm peak experts instinctively flashed through their minds. No one guessed that it was Leian becoming a god again.

Andrew and the Elven King and Queen scarcely needed to think before setting off toward the Youquan Continent.

As for Light Pope Palmer and Dark Pope Vittel, their expressions darkened in unison, and a sharp killing intent flashed through their gloomy eyes.

On the Arctic Icecap, Wigan, the plane guardian, also awoke from cultivation. However, after glancing in the direction of the Youquan Continent, he closed his eyes again and resumed cultivating, seeming wholly unconcerned.

Within the Dark Forest, Beirut stroked his beard with an unfathomable half-smile on his face. No one knew what he was thinking.

Back at Wuhun Mountain, Leian's Destruction God Clone had already returned. He stood with his hands behind his back before the Martial God Hall, as though waiting for something.

Based on Leian's understanding of Andrew and the others, he knew they would certainly come to investigate.

Sure enough, before long, four figures descended upon Wuhun Mountain one after another. Besides Andrew and the other two, Jiadeliya had also arrived, presumably at the invitation of the Elven Goddess.

The moment they met, Andrew loudly said:

"Brother Leian, I truly never expected that the one becoming a god this time would still be you. In less than a century, you've become a god through both the Destruction Rule and the Death Rule. Even I, Andrew, have to say it—impressive, truly impressive!"

"You flatter me. I didn't expect to have some talent in the Death Rule either."

Leian laughed heartily and did not put on excessive modesty. As he spoke, he led the four of them into the Martial God Hall.

The vast hall contained no unnecessary furnishings aside from several meditation cushions. The five of them sat down one after another on the cushions.

Then the Elven King, Kyle, said:

"Leian, Andrew was still being reserved. Over the past tens of millions of years in our plane, aside from divine beasts, there have been people who became gods after cultivating for a hundred years. But they all became gods through a single path. You are the first to become a god through two Rules."

"Oh? It seems I've become the number one person of the past tens of millions of years!"

Leian's smile did not fade, and there was a hint of humor in his tone.

He could not easily refute the Elven King's praise. Among the entire plane, only the elven race had never lacked god-level experts. Although divine wars had occurred during that time and many records had been lost, Kyle's words were generally trustworthy.

The Elven Goddess, Lia, also chimed in from the side:

"Leian, there's no need to be embarrassed. Although we cannot be certain whether there were predecessors in history whose talent surpassed yours, even in a Supreme Plane, your talent would surely rank among the very best."

Leian laughed and waved his hand.

"You exaggerate, you exaggerate. I've heard that Supreme Planes are vast beyond measure and home to countless living beings. There must be innumerable people whose talent surpasses mine. I wouldn't dare compare myself to them."

This time, he was not being modest. Compared to the true geniuses Beirut had spoken of—those who became gods in ten years, Midgods in a hundred years, and Highgods in a thousand years—his talent was truly not worth mentioning.

Still, he had no intention of accepting an inferior position. Cultivation was like walking: whether one walked fast or slow was not the deciding factor. In the end, it depended on who traveled the farthest.

As this thought passed through his mind, he decisively changed the subject and took the initiative to ask the Elven Goddess about cultivating the Life Law.

"Lia, although the Death Rule and the Life Law oppose one another, there must be points where they intersect. If you and I discuss them together, perhaps we may gain some inspiration."

"Alright!"

The Elven Goddess readily agreed. In truth, after learning that Leian had become a god through the Death Rule, she had already had the same idea.

Thus, the two began discussing the cultivation of Rules.

Before long, Leian proactively brought up the Laws of Darkness as well. He said that he had once received inspiration from Demos while cultivating the Destruction Rule. With that, Jiadeliya also joined the discussion.

After the three talked for a while, Andrew and Kyle seemed to gain some insight and joined in as well.

Time slowly passed. While the Martial God Hall was lively, the two Popes used their own methods to learn that the one who had become a god was still Leian, and their expressions became incomparably ugly.

Almost at the same time, the two Popes vanished from their respective Pope Palaces.

On an unnamed island in the sea between the Chiyan Continent and the Nansen Continent, Vittel and Palmer stood with their hands behind their backs, gazing out over the ocean.

After a while, Vittel said coldly, "I told you long ago that Leian was a threat. If you had listened to me last time, we would have had far less trouble in our future plans."

Palmer remained expressionless and replied evenly, "And what would listening to you have changed? Over these past thirty years, Leian never left Wuhun Mountain. We couldn't exactly go to the Youquan Continent and kill him, could we?"

Vittel snorted and did not refute him. After a moment of silence, he suddenly said, "We both know how terrifying the God Plane is. With our talent and strength, if we lack those rewards and protection, we will likely find every step difficult once we enter the God Plane. Forget cultivation—whether we can even survive will be a problem."

As Popes, the two were connected to the God Plane and naturally understood its horrors.

Fortunately, the Light Sovereign and the Dark Sovereign required pure souls. Therefore, the two Sovereigns rewarded believers from all material planes who provided pure souls according to the size of their contributions.

Besides resources that aided cultivation, these rewards also included divine artifacts and godheads. One could imagine how tempting such things were to Vittel and the others.

In order to gather the souls they needed more quickly, the two had long set their sights on the other continents.

Two thousand years ago, they had used their connections to guide several Lower Gods out of the plane, greatly reducing the number of god-level experts today. Just when they saw hope of taking the other continents, Leian unexpectedly emerged as a new variable.

Palmer also seemed to realize that they could not continue allowing Leian to cultivate unchecked. He took the initiative to ask, "What do you intend to do?"

Vittel glanced at him and said coldly:

"After Andrew and the others leave this time, the two of us will quietly head to Wuhun Mountain. Before Jiadeliya can react, we will directly destroy Leian's two god clones. We'll each take one of the godheads.

"Then we'll find people to refine the godheads. Twenty years from now, with only Andrew and the other four, how could they possibly be our opponents?"

Palmer had already entertained the same idea before coming here. Hearing this, he immediately nodded. "Good. We'll do as you say!"