Four Divine Beast Family Elder

"Weak? Hahahaha!"

Upon hearing Ailin's words, Bens suddenly burst into laughter, instantly drawing everyone's attention. "Ailin, you... very good!"

Ailin also watched him, wanting to see what other tricks he had. After all, compared to his previous opponents, this was the strongest person he had encountered on the Blood Battle Stage—no, since he had begun cultivating.

"I originally hadn't planned to reveal this, but you disrupted my plans."

There was a trace of fury in Bens's voice. "Since that's the case, I have no need to hide anything anymore. Ailin, prepare to die!"

He had completely given up on defeating Ailin while concealing his true strength. As for the position of City Lord, he could simply wait another ten thousand years.

As Bens's words fell, his ordinary appearance suddenly began to change. Cyan-green scales emerged from thin air across his body, sharp spikes tore through his clothes, and even his head transformed. At the same time, a thick, long tail extended behind him.

Almost instantly, the human-looking Bens transformed into a nearly three-meter-tall cyan-green Dragonman.

The abrupt transformation shocked the Blood Battle Stage spectators even more. How could they fail to realize that Bens had been concealing his strength all along?!

"This Bens..."

Ek could not help rising to his feet. Looking at Bens, who had completely transformed into a Dragonman, he did not know how to express his shock.

The strength Bens had displayed before was already among the very best of Six-star Demons. Now that he had transformed, his strength would surely rise further. Could this fellow also be a Seven-star Demon expert?!

This is...

The white-haired elder from the City Lord's Mansion narrowed his eyes at once, staring fixedly at the transformed Bens.

Whether it was Bens or Ailin, both had clearly exceeded their previous estimates.

This matter had to be reported to the City Lord.

"A Dragonman?"

Ailin watched Bens transform, somewhat surprised.

He had known that Bens likely possessed a Divine Beast Bloodline, but possessing a Divine Beast Bloodline and being able to transform were two entirely different concepts.

Among the God-level Lifeforms of the Divine Planes, quite a few likely possessed Divine Beast or other special bloodlines. Yet at most, such bloodlines merely enhanced their physical talents somewhat. Very few could fully unleash the power of their bloodlines.

Since Bens could transform, he was clearly someone capable of utilizing his bloodline abilities.

"Now this is getting interesting."

A slight smile curved Ailin's lips.

A Seven-star Demon was at least worth taking seriously. Moreover, this was his first time encountering the Dragonman race. The Brinia Plane had dragons, but no Dragonmen.

"Dragonman?"

Bens's voice had changed as well, carrying a peculiar deep quality. "Heh, I am no Dragonman. Let me introduce myself again. I am Bensgodo! A Four Divine Beast Family Elder!"

"Whoosh~~~"

As soon as Bensgodo's words fell, the area around the Blood Battle Stage erupted into commotion.

"A Four Divine Beast Family Elder?!"

"A member of the Azure Dragon Family?"

"Bensgodo?!"

"..."

Even Mid-level Gods and Low Gods knew of the Four Divine Beast Family.

In the Netherworld, the Four Divine Beast Family was also a superpower. It was said to be a family with an Overgod. Furthermore, every Four Divine Beast Family Elder possessed the strength of a Seven-star Demon.

"The Four Divine Beast Family..."

Ek muttered under his breath. This sudden turn of events had far exceeded his expectations. An ordinary Blood Battle Stage challenge had actually drawn out a Four Divine Beast Family Elder?

Though he was not particularly strong, the Four Divine Beast Family was renowned even to him.

"Bensgodo!"

The white-haired elder from the City Lord's Mansion rose to his feet as well, the gravity in his eyes growing even deeper.

Even when he had learned that both men were Seven-star Demons, he had not taken matters this seriously. But the identity of a Four Divine Beast Family Elder was not something he could afford to overlook. Though he was merely Blood Nether City's steward, he handled virtually all of the city's affairs. The City Lord did not manage such matters personally.

Having governed Blood Nether City for countless years, he was highly sensitive to all manner of developments.

Why would a Four Divine Beast Family Elder suddenly conceal his identity and come challenge the Blood Battle Stage?

Thinking of this, the white-haired elder immediately said to an attendant beside him, "Report this matter to the City Lord. Be sure to clearly explain that a Four Divine Beast Family Elder has appeared."

"Yes."

The attendant beside him hurriedly acknowledged. He had a Divine Clone at the City Lord's Mansion precisely so that any situation could be reported to the City Lord at the first possible moment.

Only after the white-haired elder had sent the report back did he turn his attention to the arena again.

"A Four Divine Beast Family Elder? From the Azure Dragon Clan?"

Ailin was genuinely surprised upon hearing Bensgodo's introduction.

After all, he possessed memories of the original work and was fairly familiar with the Four Divine Beast Family. When he had chatted with the Plane Guardian Hamdan on the Brinia Plane before, they had also spoken of the Four Divine Beast Family. He only knew that the present Four Divine Beast Family was still the foremost family across countless planes.

That merely proved that this was not the era of the original plot. Beyond that, nothing could be certain.

He had not expected to encounter a member of the Four Divine Beast Family so soon after arriving in the Netherworld—and an Elder at that.

Even an ordinary Dragonman who could fuse three Profound Mysteries in human form would become stronger after transforming. Members of the Four Divine Beast Family were even more so. In particular, these Four Divine Beast Family members possessed Innate Divine Abilities, which were also part of their strength. Thus, even if they had only fused three Profound Mysteries, they absolutely possessed the strength of Seven-star Demons.

Moreover, because of the uniqueness of their Innate Divine Abilities, most Four Divine Beast Family Elders were not weak even among Seven-star Demons.

In truth, in the Divine Planes, most Seven-star Demons had not reached the level of fusing four Profound Mysteries.

Titles such as Demon and Devil were merely classifications of strength, not fixed standards based on the number of fused Profound Mysteries. Take Heimosi, for example. Even though he was merely a High-God with zero fused Profound Mysteries, his strength rivaled that of a Seven-star Demon. That was because of his talent.

Though other lifeforms did not possess talents equal to Heimosi's, most had some ultimate techniques of their own. Thus, fusing three Profound Mysteries, coupled with a decent ultimate technique, was generally enough to make one a Seven-star Demon.

That was the situation for most Seven-star Demons in the Divine Planes.

The same was true of Asuras. Most Asuras had merely fused four Profound Mysteries, and with their own talents or ultimate techniques, that was enough to earn them the title of Asura. God-level beings who had fused five Profound Mysteries had essentially entered the ranks of peak Asuras.

Of course, there were differences even among peak Asuras.

Ailin's current level was merely that he had completed the fusion of five Profound Mysteries and had just begun attempting to fuse the sixth. In the original work, Linley had encountered someone named Kluid on the Plane Battlefield who cultivated the Earth Law. Kluid's situation had been similar to Ailin's current one.

They still had some gap compared to those who stood one step away from becoming Paragons.

Likewise, many peak Asuras possessed special bloodlines of their own. Even at the same level of comprehension of Profound Mysteries, they would be stronger than Asuras like Ailin and Kluid, who had reached this level purely through their comprehension of Profound Mysteries.

Therefore, the strongest peak Asuras should be lifeforms with special bloodlines and talents who had also comprehended their Profound Mysteries to the level of being one step away from Paragon. Someone like Mosi of Miluo Island was an Asura of the greatest strength beneath the Paragon level.

Even if Ailin could later catch up to Mosi in his comprehension of Profound Mysteries, the difference in bloodline and talent meant he would still have almost no chance of defeating Mosi. Remaining undefeated would already be impressive; he might not even be able to gain the upper hand.