The Backup Arrives

Who was Beirut?

He was the strongest member of the Yulan Continent's magical beast forces, the first God-Devouring Rat in the world, and the caretaker of the Graveyard of the Gods...

But none of those were his most important identity.

His most important identity was that he was a Wind-style Lower Sovereign.

In the system of the Coiling Dragon World,

one reached the Saint Realm after level nine. Once someone in the Saint Realm comprehended the laws to a certain degree, they could become a god.

Gods were divided into Highgods, Mid-level gods, and Lower gods. Each level could almost completely overwhelm the one below it.

Chief Gods stood above Highgods.

But Chief Gods did not attain their status through cultivation. Instead, after becoming Highgods through independent cultivation, they refined a Sovereign Spark.

The Sovereign Sparks came from Hongmeng, the creator of the Coiling Dragon Universe.

He had created four Lower, two Mid-level, and one High-level Sovereign Spark for every attribute, for a total of seventy-seven Sovereign Sparks.

(The eleven attributes were the seven elements of light, darkness, thunder, earth, wind, water, and fire, as well as the four Rules of life, death, destruction, and fate.)

After refining a Sovereign Spark, one's divine power and spiritual power would both transform into Sovereign's Might.

This power was incredibly formidable.

Even a single drop could turn a battle between Highgods into a one-sided affair.

Chief Gods could freely draw Sovereign's Might from the Elemental Ocean.

But that wasn't their greatest power.

What truly made Chief Gods peerless was the Willpower Might contained within their Sovereign Sparks.

This power allowed a Chief God to kill a Highgod with a single thought.

Even a Lower Chief God could do this.

As for High-level Chief Gods, their strength was a hundred times that of Mid-level Chief Gods and ten thousand times that of Lower Chief Gods.

For this reason, those who refined a High-level Sovereign Spark were generally regarded as the leaders of their respective attributes and were called Overlords.

Rule Overlords were slightly stronger than Elemental Overlords, but without other advantages, they weren't enough to create a significant gap.

Above the Four Rules were the Overgods.

The four Overgods were the embodiments of the Rules, programs Hongmeng had created to coordinate and manage the Coiling Dragon Universe.

The Destruction Qi Fei had encountered was one of them.

These four Overgods were practically the only way Chief Gods could increase their power.

One way was to win ten Plane Wars and receive a Willpower Might reward.

The other was to complete an Overgod Mission and receive a Supreme Artifact from the Overgod.

Aside from those two options, there was one other thing that could allow a Lower Chief God to challenge those of a higher rank.

That was an Innate Ability.

This was a special power that only Divine Beasts—creatures that became gods automatically upon reaching adulthood—could possess.

In the past, when the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—four Lower Chief Gods—used their Innate Abilities together, they could match an Overlord.

Later, the Four Divine Beasts were targeted because of their extraordinary Innate Abilities. On top of that, they were usually so obnoxious that they had no friends.

Thus, the Overlord of Light used a Supreme Artifact to kill them in the Spatial Turbulence outside the Yulan Plane.

At the time, Beirut was still a Highgod, and he seized the opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

He used the restriction that prevented Chief Gods from entering Material Planes they hadn't originated from—for example, the Yulan Plane for the Overlord of Light.

He successfully stole the Four Divine Beasts' corpses from the Overlord of Light.

All four Lower Sovereign Sparks fell into his hands as well.

Beirut refined the Wind-style Sovereign Spark of the White Tiger and became a Wind-style Lower Chief God, but that also attracted the attention of the Overlord of Light.

If he hadn't struck a deal with the Overlord of Destruction, he would have been trapped in the Yulan Plane for the rest of his life.

Even so, Beirut's freedom of movement remained severely restricted.

What he yearned for most was for the Yulan Continent to produce a sufficiently powerful genius who would refine a Sovereign Spark and take him out of his predicament.

That was why, after reading that information, Qi Fei felt he could become a Chief God and match an Overlord.

Once he had grown strong enough, he would go to Hell and copy the Four Divine Beasts Clan's four Innate Abilities.

He would be the equivalent of the Four Divine Beasts combined.

Then, he would let Beirut discover this without making a big deal of it.

Beirut would naturally give Qi Fei the Sovereign Sparks he still had.

But the problem was that this would happen only after he had grown strong.

If Beirut noticed him now, who knew whether he would nurture him or suspect that he had obtained a treasure from an Overgod?

As countless thoughts raced through Qi Fei's mind, Beirut's brow furrowed slightly.

"Get lost."

He uttered a single word softly, yet it carried across the entire Holy Union.

All the approaching experts fled in panic.

After taking care of that, Beirut waved a hand and sent a stream of divine power into Qi Fei.

In the next instant, Qi Fei's body, which had been on the verge of falling apart, returned to normal. His depleted spiritual power was replenished as well.

"Thank you for helping me, Senior Beirut."

Qi Fei immediately sprang to his feet and bowed to Beirut in thanks.

Don't panic. The fact that he hadn't attacked right away meant there was still room to turn things around.

"No need to thank me."

Beirut forced a kindly smile.

"I presume you came because of that being from earlier, Senior?"

Before Beirut could speak, Qi Fei took the initiative.

Since Beirut had come to him, there was no escaping him, and there was no point in keeping secrets. He might as well speak first.

"That's right. Do you know who that was just now?"

Beirut asked.

When an Overgod descended into a Material Plane, it was usually because someone had completed an Overgod Mission and summoned the Overgod there.

But this little fellow wasn't even in the Saint Realm. He didn't look capable of completing a mission.

Beirut had considered reading Qi Fei's memories directly, but he was worried that some special Rule might be involved, so he hesitated.

"The information it left in my mind said it strengthened my Innate Ability as a reward for giving birth to it."

As he spoke, Qi Fei raised both hands and summoned his Life Bead.

The moment the Life Bead appeared, Beirut's gaze was drawn to it.

With his knowledge, he could naturally tell that the two strings of beads were extraordinary.

They were more like parts of his body than objects that existed independently.

Yet they also felt like artifacts, and a power that surpassed even Sovereign Artifacts seemed to lie dormant within them.

Beirut casually beckoned, drawing a wisp of aura from Qi Fei's Life Bead.

It was the aura of the Supreme God of Destruction.

Clearly, the young man before him hadn't lied. Those two strings of beads really were connected to the Supreme God of Destruction.

"What does your Innate Ability do?"

Beirut dispersed the aura in his hand and turned to ask Qi Fei.

"My Innate Ability is divided into the Physical Jewel and the Will Jewel. The Physical Jewel can transform into weapons and equipment, while the Will Jewel can copy other people's Innate Abilities."

Qi Fei answered frankly.

The moment he heard that Qi Fei could copy Innate Abilities, Beirut's expression flickered.

"Are there any restrictions on this copying?"

he asked.

"The information I received didn't say, and I don't know either."

Qi Fei continued to answer honestly.

"Then try to copy his power."

Beirut raised a hand. A small Black Mouse appeared on it.

"Okay, I'll try."

Qi Fei did his best to control his expression.

Shit, could this really be a God-Devouring Rat?

At this point in time, Linley's Bebe hadn't become a god yet, so Beirut was the only God-Devouring Rat with an Innate Ability.

In other words, if this really was a God-Devouring Rat, then this mouse was Beirut's Saint Realm True Body.

Qi Fei felt his brain tremble at the thought.

"I need to touch his head. Please make sure he doesn't resist."

Qi Fei clarified in advance, so Beirut wouldn't think he was being disrespectful.

"Don't worry. He won't resist."

Beirut answered.

Qi Fei felt even more pressure.

He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and placed his left hand on the mouse's head, then began to connect with the power of the Will Jewel.

A vast power flowed out of the mouse and into Qi Fei's Will Jewel.

In Qi Fei's first Will Jewel, the positions of the five attributes—time, space, spirit, darkness, and wind—merged together.

A little Black Mouse slowly appeared within it.

The imprinting was a success.

Qi Fei opened his eyes and gave a smile that was impossible to read.

It really was the God-Devouring Rat's signature ability: God Devouring.

Once this ability was used, an opponent who failed the test would have their God Spark devoured by the user.

The user could also use the essence gained from digesting the God Spark to create equipment or temper their own body.

It couldn't compare to the combined ability of the Four Divine Beasts, but it was still an exceptionally powerful ability.

"Senior, I succeeded."

Qi Fei told Beirut.

As he spoke, he also tried to activate the ability, proving that he hadn't been lying.

In an instant, the phantom image of a God-Devouring Rat appeared behind Qi Fei. It flickered twice, then vanished into thin air.

With Beirut's abilities, he could naturally sense the power within that phantom, even though it hadn't been fully displayed.

He was overjoyed.

If Qi Fei could even copy his Innate Ability, then copying the Four Divine Beasts' Innate Abilities would be a piece of cake.

Beirut caught Qi Fei as he fainted from exhaustion.

A drop of green water fell into his hand. In an instant, it turned into a cloud of mist and seeped into Qi Fei's body.

Although Qi Fei absorbed only a small part of the mist, his condition still recovered at incredible speed.

As he looked at the unconscious Qi Fei, the delight on Beirut's face gradually faded, replaced by complicated emotions.

After hesitating for a while, he sent a wisp of thought so faint it was almost imperceptible into Qi Fei's Soul Space.

But the moment it entered, a powerful force drove it back out.

"Just as I thought."

The Overgod's gift truly wasn't something others could covet so easily.

So, should he take a gamble?

Beirut's face twisted with indecision.

The Overgod's power was indeed formidable, but it was ultimately just a wisp of water without a source.

If he went all out, he could probably break through this sliver of defense.

But if he did, the young man would die.

And if this really was an Innate Ability rather than a Supreme Artifact, then everything would be over.

So, should he take that gamble?

After hesitating for a long time, Beirut let out a heavy sigh.

In the end, he didn't dare to take the risk.

It was the first time in the tens of thousands of years since he'd become a Chief God that he'd seen hope of standing face-to-face with the Overlord of Light.

If he lost the gamble, how long would he have to wait?

Ten thousand years? Twenty thousand? Or even longer?

A mortal had given birth to an Innate Ability, a miracle so extraordinary that it had even drawn an Overgod to descend and reward him.

How could Beirut believe such a miracle would happen a second time?

And even if it did, how could he make sure it happened on the Yulan Plane again?

So he couldn't take the risk.

Beirut sighed again and deliberately directed his Sovereign's Might to speed up Qi Fei's recovery.

Everything Beirut did was observed by Qi Fei.

In truth, Qi Fei's unconsciousness was just an excuse to enter the Shared Space.

Qi Fei had also seen how Beirut's expression had changed earlier.

Qi Fei couldn't be sure whether his performance had truly convinced Beirut.

What if Beirut didn't completely believe what he'd said and decided to search his soul to verify the truth?

Even if he believed him, what if he decided that letting Qi Fei grow on his own would make him impossible to control in the future, and instead wanted to enslave him with a Soul Contract?

What could he do then?

So, at the instant he was about to pass out from overexertion, Qi Fei hid in the Shared Space.

He hoped the Shared Space could stop Beirut from tampering with his soul.

A transmigrator's cheat should at least be a little more powerful than someone who wasn't among the top experts of this world, right?

Qi Fei could only hope so.

To his surprise, the sliver of power left behind by the Supreme God of Destruction stopped Beirut.

What he hadn't expected was that Beirut would actually give up just like that.

Only then did Qi Fei finally let down his guard a little and emerge from the Shared Space.

A short while later, Qi Fei slowly regained consciousness.

"Child, are you willing to become my disciple?"

Seeing Qi Fei awaken, Beirut asked softly.

"?"

Qi Fei had just come out of the Shared Space, and a trace of confusion crossed his face.

But a moment later, he understood.

Beirut had probably given up on attacking him and decided to train him instead.

However, unlike Linley, he had no natural connection to Beirut through Bebe, so Beirut couldn't simply give him resources outright.

That meant Beirut needed to establish some other connection with Qi Fei.

"Your disciple, Qi Fei, pays his respects to you, Teacher."

Qi Fei bowed to Beirut.

"Good."

Beirut helped Qi Fei to his feet.

"This Ring can protect your soul and conceal your aura. Just put a drop of blood on it, and you'll refine it."

He took out a Ring and handed it to Qi Fei.

In truth, this Ring was a Soul Defense Overgod Artifact.

Qi Fei's Innate Ability carried the aura of the Supreme God of Destruction. If the other Chief Gods discovered it, the consequences could be difficult to manage.

So Beirut gave him this Sovereign Artifact to conceal it.

At the same time, possessing such a Sovereign Artifact would greatly improve Qi Fei's safety.

"Thank you for the treasure, Teacher."

Qi Fei respectfully accepted the Ring.

Then he nicked his fingertip and smeared a drop of blood on the Ring.

In an instant, a cool sensation welled up from the depths of his soul, making his spirit surge.

"Get a good rest today. Starting tomorrow, I'll guide you in your cultivation."

After confirming that the Ring had taken effect, Beirut flashed away.

He still had to hurry and confirm whether the little fellow he'd just discovered really was a second God-Devouring Rat.

"Yes, Teacher."

Qi Fei bowed to Beirut.

Once Beirut had disappeared, Qi Fei collapsed straight onto the ground.

What a grueling day it had been.

But when he saw the artifact in his hand, a smile crept onto Qi Fei's lips.

Then his smile grew wider and wider, until it finally turned into uncontrollable laughter.