With Simon's current strength, even ordinary Saint Realm limits posed no threat to him. Even if he could not win, escaping would be easy. After all, once Linley comprehended the Speed Profound Truth, even a million Abyss Blade Demons would be nothing more than fish on a chopping block.
Although Simon had only just grasped the Speed Profound Truth, his top speed already far surpassed that of ordinary Saint Realm experts.
Before long, the two stopped in a wilderness on the outskirts of the city.
Since this was merely a spar, neither Simon nor Anthony used their ultimate moves.
Once they were ready, Anthony gave Simon a reminder. Then his entire body merged completely with the darkness, and his aura vanished from Simon's senses.
"These veteran Saint Realm limits truly cannot be underestimated." Simon looked at Anthony, who seemed to have completely merged with the darkness, and sighed. At the same time, he pushed his Battle Qi shield to its limit to protect his entire body and spread all his soul power across a thousand-meter radius. Any disturbance within that range would be enough for Simon to react.
When facing assassin-type cultivators, remaining still, defending with all one's strength, and waiting for a chance to counterattack was an excellent choice.
To be safe, Simon chose to respond that way as well.
Seeing that Simon had not lost his composure, Anthony silently nodded in the darkness.
Suddenly, an almost imperceptible fluctuation of Battle Qi came from behind Simon.
Anthony had made his move. Though his aura had been concealed to the utmost degree in the eyes of others, Simon still caught it.
Simon turned, and the Wind-Annihilation Longsword in his hand became a blur as it met Anthony's short dagger.
In an instant, violent Battle Qi swept through the surroundings, reducing all the trees and grass within a hundred meters to dust.
Anthony also emerged from the darkness.
"I admire you, Brother Simon. You blocked my prized Shadow Strike so casually."
Anthony spoke with emotion after revealing himself.
"What are you saying, Brother Anthony? If you had not held back at the last moment and deliberately revealed a trace of your aura, I would not have blocked it so easily."
But Anthony, who had been hiding in the darkness all along, naturally knew that Simon had detected the fluctuation caused before he attacked. He had merely released his aura along with the situation.
Both of them tacitly understood the outcome. After all, this was only a spar. Neither had revealed his trump card.
Yet based on the strength they had displayed so far, it was obvious that both had been impressed by the other.
Anyone capable of casually blocking Shadow Strike was enough to make Anthony take him seriously.
Likewise, Simon would not underestimate someone who had cultivated the Shadow Clone Technique of the Laws of Darkness to the point where he could conceal nearly all his aura.
Anthony truly deserved his status as the Guardian Saint of the Charles Empire. As expected, not a single Saint Realm limit was easy to deal with.
Simon also knew that the Shadow Clone Technique was not only capable of concealing one's aura. It could also create different clones, similar to the Clone Technique within the Law of Wind, though the two differed as well.
The Clone Technique of the Wind Element merely created clones to confuse opponents, while the clones created by the Shadow Clone Technique of the Laws of Darkness could switch places with one another, making them far more troublesome in actual combat.
Anthony had not created any clones during their spar. It truly had only been a spar.
Naturally, Simon had likewise displayed only enough strength to deal with him, keeping the exchange friendly.
By nature, Simon was not a bloodthirsty person. When the other party clearly bore no ill will, he would not secretly strike to kill.
After one round of sparring, the two quickly grew closer. Anthony in particular was straightforward by nature, without the gloomy demeanor one might expect from a cultivator of the Laws of Darkness. Simon greatly appreciated that.
Chapter 8: Becoming a Wind God
When Anthony learned that Simon was not yet a hundred years old, he raised his estimation of Simon several more levels. He especially liked Simon's personality.
Thus, the two returned to the small courtyard and continued drinking, chatting about everything under the sun.
When one was happy, time passed quickly. Before they knew it, a pale glow of dawn appeared on the horizon.
Simon was also delighted to have made a friend whose temperament suited him so well on his journey to Icewind Canyon.
Once it was fully light, Simon expressed his intention to leave. Anthony did not try to keep him, for there would be plenty of opportunities in the future. After reaching the Saint Realm, time became the least important thing; cultivation was what mattered most.
Moreover, Simon's strength was currently rising at a tremendous pace.
Anthony was also happy to see his newly made friend grow ever stronger.
The two agreed to visit one another whenever they had time.
Simon then flew toward Icewind Canyon once more.
During the flight, Simon reviewed his exchange with Anthony and realized that his use of soul power was indeed still lacking. Anthony's raw soul strength was probably only a tenth of Simon's, yet his exquisite stealth techniques had still been able to deceive him.
Although everyone had their own specialty, Simon would have to place greater importance on matters related to the soul in the future.
Otherwise, he could easily suffer when encountering opponents who were exceptionally skilled in that area.
Elodi was a warning example. Simon decided that after becoming a god, he would spend time studying it in depth.
For now, the most important thing was to comprehend and fuse the Profundity of Speed and the Profound Mystery of Slowness within the Law of Wind to the threshold of godhood and become a god as soon as possible.
After spending over a month in total, Simon finally arrived at Icewind Canyon at dusk.
"The power of nature truly inspires awe." Simon looked at the enormous canyon before him and sighed.
Icewind Canyon had existed since the earliest records of human history. Its age could no longer be verified.
Throughout its long history, it had attracted wave after wave of Ascetics who came to cultivate, as well as adventurers who hunted magical beasts.
Countless lives had been buried here, and countless experts had been born here.
Icewind Canyon was immense, stretching hundreds of thousands of li in length and depth, with an average height of several thousand meters. It was like a vast world of ice and snow.
Legend had it that beyond the end of the canyon lay the endless Ice Plain, and beyond the Ice Plain was the Plane Membrane, outside which endless Spatial Turbulence raged.
The canyon covered more than ten million square li in total, nearly one-third the size of the Gale Empire.
Even with Simon's current speed, exploring it all would take quite some time.
The temperature around the canyon's outskirts remained below freezing year-round. The inner regions were so cold that only powerful warriors could endure them for long. As for the core region, it was said that only Saint Realm experts could set foot there.
Many Water Attribute and Wind Attribute magical beasts lived here, and there were even traces of Saint Realm magical beasts in the core region.
The outer regions mostly contained low-level magical beasts such as Wind Wolves, Snow Wolves, and Snow Rabbits.
As Simon admired the magnificent scenery around him, wind and snow filled the sky and rushed into his face. The howling cold wind carried shards of ice that danced wildly through the air.
Simon felt as though even his soul had been cleansed.
"As expected, this is a holy land for Water and Wind cultivators to cultivate in seclusion. Not only is the concentration of these two elemental essences higher than outside, even the fluctuations of the laws seem clearer."
Simon felt that he had come to the right place and traveled deeper inside.
Under the coverage of his soul power, Simon avoided the Ascetics and adventurers cultivating here, as well as any Saint Realm magical beasts that might be present. It was not that he feared those magical beasts, but he had come here to cultivate and did not wish to create unnecessary trouble for the time being.
After carefully scouting the way, he avoided the territory of the Saint Realm magical beast, the Ice Phoenix. The Ice Phoenix was a unique Water Attribute magical beast of the Rayast Continent. Upon reaching adulthood, it possessed Saint Realm Peak strength. It was enormous, several hundred meters long, and resembled the phoenixes of Simon's previous life.
However, Simon had no desire to approach it for a spar or challenge at the moment. After carefully going around it, he spent several more hours reaching the deepest part of Icewind Canyon.
Feeling the extreme cold here, even Simon had to circulate Battle Qi across his body's surface and form a Battle Qi shield that blocked the temperature.
"It really is too cold. Even a Level 9 Warrior would probably be frozen into an ice block within a few minutes here."
Simon spent some time finding a concealed cliff. After carefully inspecting the area and ensuring that no other Saint Realm magical beasts were within a thousand li, he swung his longsword and carved out a cave.
The cave extended deep into the mountain. Even Simon's soul power could not penetrate inside from outside, so it was fairly safe.
Simon did not like being disturbed while cultivating, and this cave suited him perfectly.
After making some simple arrangements, Simon sat cross-legged on an ice bed and began his secluded cultivation.
Within Simon's Soul Ocean, countless flashes of inspiration arose and vanished. Strands of soul power simulated and deduced the Profundity of Speed. Tens of millions of results appeared every second. After verification, he kept the correct ones and discarded the wrong ones, then used the same method to deduce the Profound Mystery of Slowness.
After comparing and fusing the portions he had comprehended, he deduced and comprehended them once again.
In this way, he alternated between comprehension and fusion, comprehending a little and fusing a little.
Simon devoted himself wholeheartedly to comprehending the Law of Wind. As for the Laws of Water, he temporarily stopped studying them.
Because Simon felt that the Wind Element was nearly at the point of godhood.
Up to this point, Simon had not encountered any major obstacles while comprehending and fusing Profound Mysteries. The original work had clearly stated that fusing the Profundity of Speed and the Profound Mystery of Slowness involved no major bottleneck before becoming a Midgod. The only major bottleneck beforehand was making the Profundity of Speed and the Profound Mystery of Slowness compatible and entering the Speed Profound Truth.
The threshold for becoming a Wind Element Lowgod was fusing the Profundity of Speed and the Profound Mystery of Slowness by ten percent. Thus, if a Wind Element expert comprehended those two Profound Mysteries, then fortunately made them compatible and embarked on the path of Fusion Laws, theoretically, he would only need to completely fuse those two Profound Mysteries to become a Midgod, rather than fully comprehend all three Wind Element Profound Mysteries.
Therefore, once a Wind Element expert had entered the Speed Profound Truth, becoming a Lowgod involved no major bottleneck.
The only difficulty was occasionally encountering minor obstacles, but under the deduction of Simon's powerful soul power, those minor obstacles were quickly overcome.
Cultivation knew neither day nor night. In the blink of an eye, ten years passed.
Immersed in the Ocean of Laws, Simon was completely unaware of the passage of time.
One day, Simon opened his eyes as if sensing something.
Simon could now clearly feel that the fusion of the Profundity of Speed and the Profound Mystery of Slowness had reached a threshold. The Divine Realm was right before him. Once he broke through, he would become a Lowgod.
"I've been in this world for so long. Am I finally going to become a god?"
Simon closed his eyes again and focused all his mind on breaking through.
Streams of inspiration surged forth without end. Simon continuously verified them until, at a certain moment, a flash of insight appeared. As though enlightenment had descended upon him, Simon successfully fused the Profundity of Speed and the Profound Mystery of Slowness to ten percent.
He had successfully crossed the boundary separating the Saint Realm from the Divine Realm.
Immediately afterward, a vast force that shook the soul descended and completely enveloped Simon.
The space around Simon twisted, seemingly isolating him from the surrounding area.
Simon himself rose uncontrollably into the air.
Feeling this vast, boundless, ancient, and peculiar force, Simon felt like an ant, utterly incapable of resistance.
In truth, there was no need to resist. Simon knew that this was the Laws of Heaven and Earth judging his ascension to godhood.
Then, a peculiar force entered Simon's mind directly. Under its embrace, all of Simon's secrets seemed to have nowhere to hide.
"Sizzle, sizzle~~"
Above Simon's head, a power containing the aura of "laws" began to gather. At the same time, the wind elemental essence within the cave frantically converged upon it, eventually condensing into a single point.
A moment later, a black crystal radiating pale cyan light floated above Simon's head. It was precisely a Wind Attribute Lowgod Godhead!
The instant the Godhead formed, Simon's soul formed a connection with it.
After all, this Godhead had formed according to Simon's soul aura and was completely compatible with him.
If one became a god by refining a Godhead, it would not be fully compatible with one's soul. Naturally, future cultivation would become extraordinarily difficult.
Simon looked up at the Godhead radiating pale cyan light, and excitement surged within his heart.
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