Decision

Of course, far too much time had passed, and nearly all the powerful figures from that era had died. Only some of the Overgods still knew what had happened.

But Aier was different. He seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Over the past few days, Daniel Chris had combed through most of Hell's intelligence networks and contacted many of his friends, but he hadn't found a single thing about Aier.

Daniel would be lying if he said Aier's bold words hadn't angered him.

But Daniel also knew that anger and fury were, at their core, nothing more than impotent rage.

"This guy really thinks I'm an easy target?"

"I suppose I really should make some preparations..."

For people at their level, once they'd said something aloud, they would see it through, whatever the reason.

Still, Daniel Chris felt a little relieved.

As one of the 108 Prefects standing at the pinnacle of Hell, he wasn't ready to die.

Even if Aier defeated him here, he could go somewhere else and reclaim the position of Prefect.

Daniel Chris couldn't tell just how strong Aier was.

But Daniel Chris knew that he might not be able to withstand the attack Aier had shown today!

If their battlefield weren't restricted, Daniel Chris—a Wind Element expert who had fused seven Laws and Profound Mysteries—could use his speed to keep Aier at bay.

Daniel Chris wasn't confident he could defeat Aier.

But he was fairly sure he could keep himself alive.

The problem was that the Overgods had restricted the Prefect challenge to a designated area, leaving Daniel Chris unable to take advantage of his speed.

Under those circumstances, Daniel Chris didn't believe he had any chance of defeating Aier.

Aier had made his position clear: as long as Daniel paid enough, he wouldn't kill him. So Daniel Chris began considering how much wealth he'd need to offer to satisfy Aier.

"I should never have forced Assange and the others to fight Aier to the death..."

"If I hadn't, I could have used what they paid to estimate how much I'd need to offer..."

In the end, Daniel Chris shook his head and began transferring the things he needed into a new Space Ring.

As the Prefect of Liang'an Prefecture, he had too much pride to ask others how much they'd paid. He could only make his own guess.

If he lost to Aier, the contents of the Space Ring would be his guarantee of survival.

If he won, would Aier dare to take the things in the Space Ring?

"If I get the chance..."

After removing the ownership restriction from the Space Ring, a cold glint flashed in Daniel Chris's eyes.

If Aier accepted his Space Ring, he couldn't kill Daniel.

But that didn't mean Daniel couldn't kill Aier!

Against an opponent of the same level, Daniel couldn't withstand Aier's attacks—but could Aier withstand his?

He shouldn't forget that the Wind Element was the strongest of the elemental Laws when it came to single-target attacks!

Aier had no idea what Daniel Chris was thinking.

But over the next two days, Aier couldn't stop smiling.

His ten opponents for the ninety-win streak and ten opponents for the hundred-win streak had brought him more than ten billion Inkstones.

That meant Aier could buy several thousand High-God Sparks.

If Aier spent the time to refine them all, he could bring both his Wind Element and Earth Element Divine Clones to the Paragon level.

Of course, what pleased Aier even more was Daniel Chris, the Prefect of Liang'an Prefecture.

After Aier became a hundred-win streak champion, he immediately challenged the Prefect. Daniel Chris had accepted, and the two would fight in three days.

"After the Wind Element and Earth Element, I'll choose the Water Element."

After silently counting the Godheads in his Space Ring, Aier made his decision.

The Wind Element had the strongest single-target attacks, while the Earth Element had the strongest physical defense and powerful area attacks.

For Aier, it made little difference whether he refined Fire Godheads first or Water Element Godheads.

As long as he had enough Godheads, it would take him no more than five thousand years to reach the Paragon level in the Laws of the Earth.

Five thousand years after that, Aier would become the only Dual-Element Paragon in the Coiling Dragon Universe.

"Oh, no!"

Just as the vision began to take shape in Aier's mind, he suddenly remembered the task he'd given Hector Boy: to exchange the family's assets for Earth Element High-God Sparks.

But the Inkstones he had on hand were already enough to buy all the Earth Element High-God Sparks he needed to reach the Paragon level in Liang'an Prefecture.

By the time Hector Boy arrived in Liang'an Prefecture, Earth Element High-God Sparks would be useless to him.

"I miscalculated. I should've had a member of the Boy Family with a Divine Clone stay by my side..."

In the end, Aier shook his head.

His original plan had been to challenge the hundred-win streak while Eric led his merchant caravan to earn the money he needed to buy Godheads and support his cultivation.

But back then, Aier hadn't thought Eric would earn enough Inkstones for him to reach the Paragon level before he successfully challenged the Prefect.

The Boy Family's allegiance had seemed like the best way for Aier to reach the Paragon level quickly.

But he hadn't expected everything to go so much more smoothly than he'd imagined after arriving in Liang'an Prefecture.

In less than a month, he'd not only completed the hundred-win streak but had also earned more than enough Inkstones.

"Never mind. Godheads won't lose their value."

"At worst, I can have Hector Boy exchange the Earth Element High-God Sparks for High-God Sparks of other elements later."

In the end, Aier decided to use his Inkstones to buy Earth Element High-God Sparks so he could make his breakthrough as quickly as possible.

The sooner he reached the Paragon level, the sooner he'd be able to protect himself in front of an Overgod.

Otherwise, a non-Paragon could be easily killed by an Overgod's Willpower—even without the Overgod appearing in person. A projection of an Overgod's will would be enough.

In the Coiling Dragon Universe, only Willpower could counter Willpower.

Aier wasn't foolish enough to spend his Inkstones on Wind Element High-God Sparks and wait until Hector Boy arrived before continuing his breakthrough in the Earth Element.

After gathering all the Inkstones in one Space Ring, Aier removed the ownership restriction.

"Eric."

"Lord Aier."

At Aier's call, Eric appeared before him and bowed.

"Go to the Amethyst Castle and exchange all the Inkstones in this Space Ring for Earth Element High-God Sparks."

"Yes, Lord Aier."

Eric took the Space Ring and immediately carried out Aier's order.

As Aier's steward, he didn't need to consider the reasons behind his master's decision. He only needed to carry out Lord Aier's orders.

Of course, from Lord Aier's astonishing progress, Eric could also guess that it was closely related to Godheads.

However bold he might be, he could never have guessed that Aier could refine Godheads directly and absorb the Laws and Profound Mysteries within them.

After all, before the God-Slaying Rat appeared, the people of the Coiling Dragon Universe could never have imagined that this world truly contained beings who were "invincible among their peers."

Unless someone was a Paragon or possessed a Soul Defense Overgod Artifact, anyone facing a God-Slaying Rat was just a meal.

Liang'an Prefecture was in turmoil.

After thirteen days of effort, the outsider Aier had become a hundred-win streak champion with unprecedented force and challenged Daniel Chris, the Prefect of Liang'an Prefecture.

Within three days, the news had spread throughout the surrounding regions.