"An Asura who cultivates the Lightning Law?"
Ren sat in a chair in the City Lord's Mansion, carefully examining the information.
The Liang'an Prefecture Lord, Alfred, was a veteran powerhouse who had been famous for hundreds of millions of years. His true form was a divine beast, the Purple Thunder War Eagle.
Although he couldn't compare to super divine beasts like the God-Eater Rat or Amethyst Divine Beast, he was naturally skilled in the Lightning Law. His Divine Beast Bloodline greatly enhanced his physical strength, and his Innate Divine Ability, Purple Thunder Sonic Wave, could directly stun the soul.
Moreover, as a veteran Asura, Alfred had once visited the Planar Battlefield. Although he hadn't obtained a Sovereign Artifact, the fact that he'd made it out alive was proof enough of his strength.
It was said that Alfred's material attacks were extremely powerful. Once he unleashed his ultimate move, Purple Thunder World Destruction, even other Asura powerhouses wouldn't dare meet it head-on and could only avoid its sharp edge.
"Skilled in material attacks? That's rather similar to me. Fighting him might help me."
Ren injected his Divine Sense into the Floating Projection and carefully watched Alfred's battle. He now had a general grasp of his opponent's strength.
The Four Edicts and Seven Laws each had their own strengths. When it came to the soul, the Laws of Fate, Life, and Death were superior. Life excelled at healing, Death at control, while Fate was unpredictable.
As for physical defense, the Water Law and Earth Law were more suited to it. The Lightning Law, like the Wind Law, excelled at physical attacks and speed.
This kind of clash suited Ren perfectly. Perhaps he could use the battle to find a way to refine his ultimate move—or even make further progress in his insights.
"It's time to go take a look." After a long while, Ren put away the information and the Floating Projection. With a flicker, he vanished from the mansion.
Liang'an City lay in the heart of Liang'an Prefecture. It was the largest city in the prefecture, bar none, because its master was the Liang'an Prefecture Lord, an Asura powerhouse of Hell.
The Tuoqike Mountain Range was a mineral-rich range northeast of Liang'an City. It stretched for more than a million miles and consisted of hundreds of peaks of varying sizes. The entire range was a golden yellow.
At its foot, countless gods carried out the mining operations in an orderly fashion. The area was controlled and mined by numerous tribes, large and small, who traded with Fiend Castles or forged divine artifacts for sale.
With profits so immense, conflicts between the tribes broke out from time to time. Even Highgods risked being killed.
At that moment, a gigantic Metal Lifeform was gliding leisurely above the mountain range.
The Metal Lifeform was a long, blue-green shape more than a hundred meters in length. From afar, it resembled a mighty Azure Dragon. Inside, a bald man in a red robe sat with his eyes closed, savoring a glass of specially made red wine.
"Elder Emmanuel, we should reach Liang'an City in about five days."
A middle-aged man with blue hair walked up to the bald elder and spoke respectfully.
"Oh? Liang'an City?"
At this, the bald man slowly opened his eyes and looked at the middle-aged man with an indifferent expression.
Within the Four Divine Beasts Clan, the distinctive red robe marked him as an elder of the Azure Dragon Clan. He was a Seven-Star Demon, and the bald elder was Emmanuel, a fourth-generation member of the Azure Dragon Clan.
The Four Divine Beasts Clan's influence spanned the Four Higher Planes and Seven Divine Planes, and Hell was the location of its Ancestral Land. As a result, the clan maintained bases on every continent.
However, most of the elders preferred to stay in seclusion and cultivate at the Ancestral Land in the Heavenly Sacrifice Mountain Range. And since Hell was the Four Divine Beasts Clan's home base, only one or two Seven-Star Demons were stationed on each of the other continents.
As clan elders, they had to take some of the younger members out on inspection tours every so often.
This let the younger members see that the clan still valued them. It also served to intimidate the troublemakers on the other continents and remind them of the Four Divine Beasts Clan's power.
Emmanuel was the Four Divine Beasts Clan's resident elder on Bifu Continent. Unlike the other elders who cultivated in seclusion, he enjoyed these occasions. Back at the clan's Ancestral Land, he was just an ordinary elder, but on other continents he could revel in being surrounded by attendants and doing as he pleased.
"Elder, do you think that once we reach Liang'an City, you might let the clan's younger members witness your strength? Perhaps by winning a Hundred-Battle Victory in the city?"
Seeing that Emmanuel seemed to be in a good mood, the middle-aged man glanced toward the younger members aboard the Metal Lifeform and ventured the question.
The Four Divine Beasts Clan was enormous. Although most of its members had ordinary talent, it occasionally produced younger members with promising gifts.
When elders took these youngsters out, they would demonstrate the combat prowess of a Seven-Star Demon for them. It was practically tradition, which was why the middle-aged man had made the request.
"Oh? A Hundred-Battle Victory in the arena? I haven't competed in one for a while. All right. I'll let the younger generation see what an elder can do."
Emmanuel spoke casually, as if winning a Hundred-Battle Victory would be effortless.
"Thank you, Elder!" The middle-aged man was delighted and immediately bowed in gratitude.
"Bring the little ones out," Emmanuel said, waving his hand dismissively.
Soon, more than a dozen younger members of the Four Divine Beasts Clan were led before Emmanuel by the middle-aged man.
The dozen or so youngsters belonged to different branches of the clan. Among them were blue-haired boys and red-haired girls, each with a different expression. But they all shared one thing: their faces were full of admiration for Emmanuel.
"Listen carefully. A Hundred-Battle Victory in the arena is a symbol of honor. Nearly every elder in the clan has achieved one, and today I'll show you what it looks like. Pay close attention. This is a rare opportunity."
Emmanuel basked in their admiring gazes, speaking with a hint of a lecturing tone.
"Elder, with your strength, you can surely defeat all your opponents with ease and win a Hundred-Battle Victory, right?"
A blue-haired boy from the Azure Dragon Clan asked, his voice full of admiration.
"Of course. A mere Hundred-Battle Victory is nothing to me. Just watch."
Emmanuel snorted softly and glanced at the boy who'd asked the question, answering without a care. A Hundred-Battle Victory was difficult for ordinary gods, but it posed little challenge to a Seven-Star Demon.
The greatest obstacle was reaching fifty consecutive victories. At that point, one of the Prefect's subordinates would usually appear to stop the challenger.
Winning a Hundred-Battle Victory earned one the right to challenge the Prefect. Even though most people gave up that challenge, the Hundred-Battle Victory itself was an immense honor.
That was why most Prefects arranged for one of their subordinates to face challengers after they reached fifty consecutive wins. They wanted to prevent some lucky fighter with especially weak opponents from sneaking through. Of course, this wouldn't be a problem for Emmanuel, a Seven-Star Demon.
"Whoosh!"
Just as Emmanuel was basking in the admiring gazes around him, a rushing sound tore through the sky, cutting him off and instantly drawing everyone's attention.
"What's that? A super powerhouse?" A red-haired girl from the Vermilion Bird Clan looked out the window, her small mouth falling open as she cried out in surprise.
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