The battle outside the orchard remained brutal.
But as that vast Law of the Heavens and Earth descended, several gods fighting in the sky released their divine senses at once, trying to determine which Sanctuary had broken through to godhood amid the chaos.
When they realized it was Gideon, the Earth Violent Bear of the Ice Blade Squad, who had successfully become a god—and that more than thirty Sanctuary warriors from Azure Fire Royal City had been killed in an instant—the fire-element Midgod Jasper's expression changed drastically. He roared, "Retreat! We're leaving!"
Before his words had even faded, a surge of crimson Divine Power swept around him, and he fled with his three god-level subordinates.
Once everything had settled, Haywood, an earth-element Midgod, returned to the center of the orchard. Seeing that the fruit on the trees was unharmed, he let out a long breath of relief.
Nominally, he was the owner of this orchard, but every year he had to hand over a hundred fruits on time. Only the rest belonged to him.
As a Midgod who had refined a Godhead, he wasn't strong enough to enter the core of the Royal City. He could only occupy a place where the elements were somewhat denser by watching over this small resource site.
"Thank you all for helping me defend the orchard. I, Haywood, keep my promises. Here are three Divine Artifacts as your reward for this battle."
He brought out three Divine Artifacts, but they were all ordinary attack-type Lowgod Artifacts, and not one of them was earth-elemental.
Gideon frowned slightly but said nothing.
Julia secretly used Soul Transmission to speak to Fukaloss. "Miss, when Gideon became a god earlier, I promised to reward the other two squads in exchange for their not stopping him."
Fukaloss glanced at her, then met Gideon's eyes to confirm. She cleared her throat and smiled at the other two squads.
"Everyone, my subordinate's successful breakthrough was thanks to your protection. I'll give you one Divine Artifact, along with a dark-element Divine Artifact. You can divide them between yourselves."
She took out the black iron hook they had seized earlier and handed it to them.
The two squads were overjoyed and thanked her repeatedly. "Miss Fukaloss, you're so generous! We won't stand on ceremony! Congratulations on breaking through to godhood, Brother Gideon!"
There were still seventy years left in their garrison duty, so the three squads each returned to their posts.
"As expected of the person I had my eye on. You became a god so quickly!"
Fukaloss dropped the aloof air she maintained in public and smiled brightly.
Gideon scratched his head and chuckled sheepishly. "I have you all to thank for protecting me while I was breaking through, especially Julia and Barn."
Julia replied coolly, "You can repay us when there's a chance."
Barn nodded as well. "We're all on the same side. No need to be polite."
Blair took out the battle-axe he had received earlier. "This is an earth-element Lowgod Artifact. You can have it. It doesn't suit me very well."
"How can I accept that?" Gideon hurriedly tried to refuse.
Fukaloss waved a hand with a smile. "There's no need for you to be so modest."
She took out the blood-red greatsword and solemnly handed it to Gideon. "This Blood Sword is the reward I promised to whoever became a god first. Its quality is already close to that of a Divine Artifact. Even though it hasn't fully transformed yet, it certainly won't hold back your fighting strength."
Gideon accepted it solemnly and bowed. "Thank you, Miss!"
Fukaloss looked around at everyone, her tone encouraging.
"Once our mission is over, we'll celebrate properly. You all need to work hard too. Don't let Gideon get too far ahead of you!"
"Yes, Miss!"
Perhaps because their losses in the previous battle had been so severe, Azure Fire Royal City didn't send any more gods to attack this resource site over the next several decades.
At that time, Barn happened to be on his turn guarding the underground post, while Fukaloss's Water Clone was cultivating nearby, continuously radiating water-element Divine Power.
Bathed in this god-level aura, Barn's deductions concerning the Water Profound Mysteries became much clearer.
But Gobada was, after all, a prison plane, and its environment was unbelievably harsh.
Even with a god nearby providing Divine Power, Barn's pace of comprehending the laws remained slow.
He had already begun fusing Water Element with the Water Body Technique, but even after several decades, he still hadn't managed to take that final step into godhood.
After all, in the original story, Linley had become a god just a few years after fusing Earth Element with Earth Pulse. Of course, that was because Linley's comprehension of Earth Pulse had already reached an extremely profound level.
Three years before their garrison duty was due to end—
More than sixty years after Barn had begun fusing his two Profound Mysteries, that long-absent, majestic Law of the Heavens and Earth finally descended with a thunderous roar.
"I finally did it."
Barn looked up at the water-element Godhead slowly taking shape above him and let out a heavy sigh of relief.
"You broke through?!"
Declan rushed over at once and stared at the Godhead in astonishment.
Fukaloss gently raised a hand and gestured for silence.
As everyone watched, Barn's Spear-shaped Soul flew out of his mind. Amid a painful howl, it split in two, becoming two smaller spears.
One returned to his original body, while the other slowly fused with the water-element Godhead above his head.
Vast amounts of water-element Divine Power surged into the naked body, which looked exactly like Barn, quickly giving it form.
None of those present were pure humans, so they felt no need for awkwardness. They simply watched in silence.
A pale-blue robe of Divine Power formed over him on its own. Barn closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the ocean of water-elemental energy connected to the Godhead.
Passing through the surface layer of elemental liquid, he touched pure water-element Divine Power for the first time.
His consciousness continued to sink, meeting ever greater resistance, until it could go no deeper.
"Ten meters..." Barn understood. "In the original story, Linley also sank to a depth of ten meters when he first became a Lowgod. Could it be that Lowgods who become gods by fusing Profound Mysteries can only initially reach ten meters into the elemental ocean?"
He sensed it carefully. The Divine Power at a depth of ten meters was twice as pure and potent as that near the surface!
With a slight stir of his consciousness, the Godhead began absorbing Divine Power on its own.
A trickle of pure Divine Power flowed slowly from the Godhead into his body through a special channel.
But the absorption was nowhere near as smooth as when the Law of the Heavens and Earth had instantly forged his body.
"Lowgods really do absorb Divine Power slowly on their own," Barn thought. "But now that I have endless life, there's no need to rush. Still, Gobada is too dangerous. I need to store up more Divine Power in case of emergencies."
He tried to sense the Fate Law through his Water Clone, but found that the clone's perception of that mysterious power of fate was extremely indistinct.
Yet when he moved his Water Clone, he could freely wield the Fate Law he had already comprehended.
Barn understood at once. For an ordinary god, once the soul fused with the Godhead, the soul was completely enveloped by pure water-element Divine Power. With no other mixed elemental forces around, it could naturally cultivate only a single Law and would find it difficult to touch other attributes.
But he was a Soul Mutator! The nature of his soul didn't change. Even though the soul of his Water Clone was enveloped by the Godhead and could no longer comprehend new powers of fate, it could still wield the Fate Law he had already mastered!
That was what made Soul Mutation so special.
Barn opened his eyes to find familiar faces gathered around him.
Fukaloss was the first to raise her hand high and laugh brightly. "Congratulations to our Ice Blade Squad! Our third member has become a god!"
Declan, Julia, Blair, and Gideon joined in:
"Woo—congratulations, Barn!"
A group of gods and Sanctuary warriors had gathered in that crude, dim underground outpost. In the most casual, lighthearted way,
they witnessed the moment Barn truly stepped into the ranks of the gods.
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