"Finally, I became a god!"
Mist Illusion
Looking at the godhead that completely belonged to him, Simon revealed a satisfied expression.
Then, a ripple came from his soul.
"Are the Laws of Heaven and Earth asking me whether to keep the godhead inside or outside my body?"
As a dual-element Soul Mutator, of course he had to become a god outside his body. If he accidentally kept it inside, wouldn't that be the end of him...
Without hesitation, Simon controlled the godhead to float at his side.
"Ah!"
Simon involuntarily let out an agonized scream. The intense pain made every muscle in his body twitch and spasm.
At that moment, deep within Simon's mind, the sword-shaped soul floating in the Soul Ocean was enveloped by the Laws of Heaven and Earth and suddenly split into two with a bang.
The pain of a soul splitting far surpassed the pain of physical torment.
At that moment, Simon completely stopped thinking and could only scream instinctively.
Before long, Simon's screams ceased.
At this moment, the soul in Simon's mind had become two smaller sword-shaped souls.
One sword-shaped soul remained deep within Simon's mind, while the other flew toward the godhead and directly merged into it.
Immediately afterward, Simon felt unprecedented weakness. Even though he was a Soul Mutator and his soul was naturally ten times stronger than others', he still fell into a weakened state after his soul split in two. His condition was merely slightly better than most.
Through his connection with the godhead, Simon extended his soul into the Elemental Ocean.
Feeling the vast, boundless Elemental Ocean, Simon's heart was filled with awe.
"Rumble~~"
Ten meters beneath the surface of the Elemental Ocean, a large amount of divine power suddenly vanished into thin air. Following a special passage formed by the Laws of Heaven and Earth, it directly descended into the cave where Simon had been cultivating. Then, centered around the Wind Element godhead fused with the sword-shaped soul, it began condensing a Divine Body.
Clearly, starting from the head and extending downward, a naked Divine Body nearly identical to Simon's main body began to form.
With a thought, Simon immediately controlled the Wind Divine Power within the body to condense into a pale green robe around its surface.
At that moment, the special force representing the Laws of Heaven and Earth vanished from thin air, and the cave returned to tranquility.
"It's over."
A delighted smile appeared on Simon's face as he controlled the Wind Element Divine Clone to merge into his main body.
After focusing his mind and sensing it for a moment.
"Sure enough, the Wind Element Divine Clone can sense the fluctuations of the Law of Wind more clearly."
Becoming a Lowgod in the Wind Element not only meant Simon's bitter cultivation over this period had finally borne fruit, but also meant that he had finally gained a foothold in this world.
After all, under normal circumstances, a Lowgod was already enough to protect oneself on a Material Plane. Even upon reaching a Supreme Plane, one could still be considered somebody and would at least find a tribe willing to take them in.
Unlike a Saint Realm expert, who could not even be considered a person and could only wander exposed through the wilderness, reduced to someone else's food or materials, completely at the mercy of fate.
Just as Simon became a god, the Laws of Heaven and Earth fluctuations caused by his ascension drew the attention of Edward, the founding emperor of the Gale Empire.
Edward, who had been cultivating in a secret chamber, opened his eyes.
"Oh? More than a thousand years have passed. Who has become a god again? Andrew, the peak Saint Realm expert of the southern Flower Empire? Or Solo? Andreck? Or perhaps some other secluded cultivator from my Gale Empire? Forget it. Someone who has only just become a god cannot stir up any waves. Breaking through my current bottleneck is more important."
Edward then closed his eyes and continued cultivating, hoping to break through to the Midgod level as soon as possible and rise above the founding emperors of the other great empires in one stroke.
Unaware that his ascension had drawn the attention of the legendary founding emperor of the Gale Empire, Simon was still immersed in the joy of becoming a god.
After calming his excitement, Simon spread out his Divine Sense, easily covering tens of thousands of square kilometers. Apart from discovering several Saint Realm magical beasts, he did not detect any other gods, at least no Lowgods.
After confirming that the area was generally safe, Simon took out the fine wine and food he had stored in his Spatial Ring, sat on an ice bed, and began enjoying them.
"More than fifty years have passed since my birth, and I, Simon, have finally become a god."
Feeling the surging divine power within his body, he spread out his Godhead Domain.
Simon finally understood why there was such an insurmountable gap between the Saint Realm and gods.
It was not merely a difference in laws. Divine Bodies, souls, and Godhead Domains all ensured that even the strongest Saint Realm expert could not defeat the weakest Lowgod, even a Lowgod who had refined a godhead.
"This is a difference in the essence of life."
Simon extended his consciousness into his Soul Ocean.
The sword-shaped souls of his main body and Divine Clone floated above the Soul Ocean. Even after splitting in two, the souls of both the Divine Clone and main body were still more than ten times stronger than before. After all, this was an evolution in the essence of life.
However, compared to experts of the same level, Simon was still in a weakened period. He estimated that it would take around ten years to restore his soul to its peak condition. If he had treasures such as Soul Golden Beads, the recovery time could be greatly shortened.
After celebrating briefly, Simon still quickly packed up his belongings and left the cave for safety's sake.
As pale green divine power flowed around him, Simon transformed into a clear breeze and vanished from the spot.
Having become a god through fusing the Profound Mystery of Speed and Profound Mystery of Slow, Simon was now far faster than he had been in the Saint Realm. By activating Wind Divine Power and using the Speed Profound Truth, he crossed several thousand kilometers in only a few seconds.
After spending some time finding another secluded valley, Simon discovered that it was a full hundred thousand kilometers from the previous cliff. After sweeping the surroundings with his Divine Sense and ensuring it was safe, he excavated another hidden cave and resumed his secluded cultivation.
This time, his cultivation mainly focused on meditating to recover from the damage caused by splitting his soul.
"Without treasures like Soul Golden Beads, recovering soul power really is difficult." As Simon continued meditating, his soul power grew stronger day by day.
As his soul power became increasingly powerful, his recovery speed also grew faster. One day, nine years later, Simon opened his eyes. Countless stars seemed to glitter within his bright gaze. "I've finally restored my soul completely to its peak state."
Spreading his Divine Sense with all his strength, Simon could now easily cover an area hundreds of thousands of kilometers across, equivalent to the size of an entire province.
This range of Divine Sense had already reached the limit of an ordinary Midgod.
After all, Soul Mutation could increase one's foundation tenfold, while an ordinary Midgod was merely ten times stronger than an ordinary Lowgod in every basic attribute. The tenfold enhancement brought by dual-element Soul Mutation happened to offset that difference.
Now, Simon only needed to cultivate the Water Element to the Lowgod level. Once he fused the divine powers of both elements, together with the coordination of his two Godhead Domains, he would be able to contend against Midgods. If he achieved a breakthrough in Fused Profound Mysteries, he might even defeat Midgods who had refined godheads!
The future was bright!
During these nine years of soul recovery, Simon's main body had not been idle in his spare time. It had been fully deducing and comprehending the Laws of Water. After all, only after becoming a god in both elements could he truly bring out the advantages of being a Soul Mutator.
The baptism of the Laws of Heaven and Earth after becoming a god had also raised the soul of Simon's Saint Realm main body to a level equal to that of his Wind Element Divine Clone. Because of Soul Mutation, it was even slightly stronger.
This greatly increased Simon's speed in comprehending the Water Element Essence. While fully comprehending the Water Element Essence, he had unexpectedly gained an initial grasp of the Water Element's Mist Illusion. This was truly an unexpected delight. After all, comprehending Mist Illusion meant Simon finally possessed a soul-based technique worth showing off.
Thus, Simon spent several more months successfully harmonizing the Water Element Essence with Mist Illusion, then continued comprehending and fusing them at the same time.
Water Element Ascension, Ultimate Move Complete
Twenty years passed in the blink of an eye.
As a middle-tier Water Element Profound Mystery, Mist Illusion was much more difficult to comprehend and fuse. Yet with Simon's powerful soul and endless inspiration, he had now fused more than half of the Water Element Essence and Mist Illusion.
However, as time passed, even though Simon deliberately slowed his comprehension of the Profound Mystery of Water Element Essence in the hope of matching its progress with Mist Illusion, he could no longer suppress the Water Element Essence's advancement.
Therefore, Simon decisively chose to first cultivate the Profound Mystery of Water Element Essence to completion, become a god in the Water Element, and then slowly continue fusing Mist Illusion.
The advantage of this was that once he became a Water Element god, Simon would possess two Divine Clones and could fuse their divine powers, fully displaying the advantages of a Soul Mutator and truly rivaling a Midgod.
Since the Water Element Essence and Mist Illusion had already been more than half fused, even if the Profound Mystery of Water Element Essence reached completion first, it would not affect the subsequent fusion. It would only take more time afterward.
After changing his strategy, Simon focused entirely on comprehending the Water Element Essence.
Half a year later, the familiar Laws of Heaven and Earth descended once again, and Simon once more chose to split his soul.
A moment later, the Laws of Heaven and Earth dispersed, and the Water Element Divine Clone was formed.
Inside a secret chamber of the Gale Empire, founding emperor Edward opened his eyes again.
"How strange. Why have so many people become gods recently? It seems that after I finish cultivating, I should find some time to go out and take a look. I might otherwise remain in the dark if something major happens."
He then entered seclusion once again.
Edward was now close to becoming a Midgod. Unless something happened that could overturn the empire, he was unwilling to move even a single step.
Inside the cave, Simon's main body appeared as he gazed joyfully at the Wind Element Divine Clone wearing a pale green robe and the Water Element Divine Clone wearing a deep blue robe.
From this moment onward, Simon, possessing two Lowgod Divine Clones, had truly established a firm foothold on the Material Plane.
Above Simon's Soul Ocean, three cyan-blue sword-shaped souls were arranged in a triangular formation. Directly below them stood three corresponding figures.
They were Simon's main body, the Wind Element Divine Clone, and the Water Element Divine Clone.
"After fusing divine power, its might in every aspect is indeed ten times stronger than the power produced by a single divine power. Moreover, this fused divine power can nourish and strengthen my main body. Although the degree of strengthening cannot compare with a Divine Clone formed entirely from fused divine power, it is still several times greater than before."
Simon's expression was filled with delight.
Simon then divided off a portion of his consciousness and took out the Wind-Annihilation Longsword along with several other longswords.
When leaving home, Simon had asked his family to prepare several additional longswords for him. They had been forged using the combined resources of the entire family, and precious Cyan Nightmare Stone had likewise been added to them, bringing their hardness to the limit below the god level.
Now, Simon only needed to continuously nurture them with divine power and soul energy to transform them into true Lowgod Artifacts.
Then, Simon's main body and Water Element Divine Clone began recovering their soul power while nurturing the weapons. Simon estimated that within a little over ten years, he would be able to elevate all these longswords into true Lowgod Artifacts.
Yet while nurturing the weapons, Simon also played a small trick.
For the weapons he used normally, Simon nurtured them with pure Wind Divine Power or Water Element divine power. However, for the Wind-Annihilation Longsword, his trump card, Simon nurtured it with fused divine power.
Several years passed in the blink of an eye.
After preliminary testing, Simon confirmed that an artifact nurtured with fused divine power was indeed a level stronger than one nurtured with a single type of divine power, whether in sharpness or toughness. It had basically reached the level of a Midgod Artifact.
However, when he activated the fused artifact with all his strength, it emitted an aura completely different from ordinary artifacts. Upon discovering this, Simon immediately decided not to use the fused artifact normally. He would only employ it when his life was at stake, or use it as a regular weapon only when he could completely conceal that aura.
The Wind-Annihilation Longsword could be considered one of Simon's minor trump cards. The other ordinary artifacts were meant to conceal his identity as a Soul Mutator as much as possible when he ventured into the Supreme Planes in the future.
After all, he would certainly encounter all kinds of powerful experts on the Supreme Planes. To be safe, he should avoid exposing himself until his strength rivaled an Asura. Otherwise, he might inevitably encounter an expert like Mosi, who enjoyed enslaving others through soul control.
While nurturing his weapons, Simon's Wind Element Divine Clone and Water Element Divine Clone also continued cultivating.
The Wind Element Divine Clone attempted to fully comprehend and fuse the Speed Profound Truth. If successful, the Wind Element could break through to the Midgod level, but judging from the current situation, the difficulty was considerable.
As the Profound Mystery of Speed and Profound Mystery of Slow continued to fuse, the difficulty of comprehending and merging them grew greater the further he progressed. Recently, progress had become particularly slow, and true completion remained far away.
Simon had no better solution for this. He could only deduce and comprehend them as much as possible.
At times, he switched his approach to comprehend the Profound Mystery of Wind Element, while also trying to find the point of harmony between the Profound Mystery of Wind Element and the Profound Mystery of Speed and Profound Mystery of Slow.
As for the Water Element, its progress followed a steady course. For every bit of Mist Illusion Simon comprehended, he fused a corresponding bit with the Water Element Essence. So far, he had not encountered any major obstacles, and the progress of his comprehension and fusion was advancing steadily.
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