Ailin

The Brinia Plane had a continent spanning over a hundred million li: the Brinia Continent. Beyond it lay the endless sea and countless islands of varying sizes.

At the farthest reaches of the Endless Sea lay the edge of the Brinia Plane. Countless violent forces filled the area, as though even the elemental essence of heaven and earth had become extraordinarily unstable. The seawater churned without rest year-round. When it struck the plane's edge, it seemed to surge into a void, only to occasionally come rushing back out of that void. It was an utterly marvelous sight.

Most terrifying of all, tiny naturally formed cracks could occasionally be seen amid the surging waters at the plane's edge. They were truly dreadful.

Even Saint Domain experts of the Brinia Plane were unwilling to come to such a place.

A dozen or so li from the sea at the plane's edge floated a small island. Calling it an island was rather generous, as the area was only one or two thousand meters across.

On this "small island" stood a building resembling a humble farmhouse courtyard, where vegetables, fruit trees, and similar plants had even been planted.

Though it was not far from the plane's edge, the unstable phenomena there seemed to be restricted by some force and did not affect this place in the slightest.

Inside the courtyard, Ailin opened his eyes from meditation and let out a soft breath, his tone somewhat helpless. "Death Law really is obscure and difficult to comprehend. Unlike Water Law, it has no fixed direction for its Profound Mysteries. Feeling my way around blindly like this, who knows when I'll take this step and reach the High-God level?"

Shaking his head, Ailin stopped dwelling on it. Cultivation depended too heavily on talent. No matter how anxious he was, he could not rush such things.

It had been nearly a million years since he had transmigrated into the Coiling Dragon World, and he had gradually formed his own understanding of cultivation. Based on what he knew of the original novel from his previous life, his talent was not actually poor.

His affinity for water, in particular, was among the very best. Relying on his terrifying talent in Water Law, he became a Saint Magus of Water at eighteen and a Low God at thirty. Because he knew something of the original story, he had not rushed to comprehend every Profound Mystery. Instead, he had tried to comprehend Profound Mysteries while fusing them at the same time.

Yet he had still underestimated the difficulty of cultivation.

Although fusing Profound Mysteries earlier made it relatively easier, that did not apply to everyone.

After spending nearly two hundred years, at the age of two hundred and twenty, he had broken through to the Mid-level God realm by perfectly fusing two Profound Mysteries. However, the cultivation that followed placed enormous pressure on him.

It had not taken him long to sense the entry points for the remaining four Profound Mysteries of Water Law, yet he had never found suitable points of compatibility for fusing them.

Whether comprehending Profound Mysteries or fusing them, one needed to use the soul to perceive the elemental essence of heaven and earth, then deduce and explore step by step. The stronger the soul, the easier this process became.

However, a Mid-level God's soul had its limits. To comprehend other Profound Mysteries as a Mid-level God while also fusing all of them was unimaginably difficult. It required not only courage, but talent beyond compare.

After trying it himself, Ailin simply could not believe that anyone in this world could remain a Mid-level God while fusing Profound Mysteries, then complete the fusion of all six Profound Mysteries at the instant of breaking through to High-God level and become a Paragon.

In his view, that was merely a possibility that could theoretically exist.

Perhaps it was possible to fuse three, or even four, Profound Mysteries at the Mid-level God realm. But fusing five, or coming within a single step of fusing all six, was beyond anything he could imagine.

No wonder that, in his memories of the original novel from his previous life, when the patriarchs of the Eight Great Families mistook Linley for having reached that realm, they could not help but admire him.

In truth, if it had merely been difficult, Ailin would not have minded spending more time as a Mid-level God. After all, for even a fraction more chance to reach that legendary realm, spending additional time as a Mid-level God was nothing.

But the Coiling Dragon World was far from safe. From the moment he began cultivating, he had encountered countless dangers.

It was only after he broke through the Saint Domain and became a god, setting the record for the fastest ascent to godhood on the Brinia Continent and being hailed as its greatest genius, that things became peaceful for a time. With that title and his godhood, he had enjoyed a period of stability.

However, after he broke through to become a Mid-level God, things changed.

There were more than a dozen God-level experts on the Brinia Continent. Among them were one High-God, three Mid-level Gods, and the rest were Low Gods.

That High-God cultivated Death Law. Upon learning that Ailin had needed only two hundred years to advance from Low God to Mid-level God, he personally invited Ailin to his residence.

Naturally, Ailin would not refuse the invitation of the "strongest expert of the Brinia Continent." But only after meeting the man did Ailin, by chance, learn what he intended.

That man actually wanted to control him with a Soul Seed. Under those circumstances, Ailin could only flee.

Yet he had still underestimated that man's influence. The three Mid-level Gods of the Brinia Continent, along with the Plane Guardian, were all his "subordinates." The man had silently used Soul Seeds to control every Mid-level God on the Brinia Continent!

As a result, Ailin could not escape even by fleeing to a Divine Plane.

To avoid being controlled by a Soul Seed, Ailin could only take a risk.

He found a "crack" he had discovered back when he was in the Saint Domain, one that connected the Brinia Plane to its Plane Prison, and eventually entered the Plane Prison through it.

Unlike the Gobada Plane Prison on the Yulan Continent from his memories of his previous life, the Brinia Plane Prison had no God-level experts at all, much less existences comparable to the Seven-star Demon-level "Five Kings."

Even Saint Domain experts were few in the Brinia Plane Prison. At the very least, compared to the number of living beings in the Brinia Plane, the Plane Prison had far too few living beings.

This was a place of true, utter desolation.

If Ailin had not already become a god and been able to communicate with the Elemental Plane to draw divine power, he likely would have found it difficult to survive here. Saint Domain experts might be said to possess "eternal life," but their survival and cultivation still depended on the elemental essence of heaven and earth.

Without elemental essence, even if one could live for a very long time, it would be difficult to cultivate and make breakthroughs. That was precisely why the Plane Prison had always been the place Saint Domain experts least wished to enter.

After arriving in the Plane Prison, Ailin immediately burrowed deep underground to cultivate in seclusion. He no longer focused solely on fusing Profound Mysteries, instead devoting himself wholeheartedly to comprehending them. In only five hundred years, he broke through to the High-God realm.

That year, he was seven hundred and thirty years old.