Beirut Appears

Once he entered it, Arnold remained in the water. Sometimes, the captain even saw fish swim past Arnold as if they had not sensed his existence at all.

Five days had passed since Arnold submerged himself in the Magnolia River. On the morning of the sixth day, Arnold's figure slowly rose, as though he were emerging from the river itself.

Little by little, he surfaced. Once his entire body had left the water, he once again stood upon its surface as he had five days earlier.

Then, centered on Arnold, sections of water rose one after another, until they completely enveloped him and stopped.

Thus, the captain, sailors, and Pitero witnessed an astonishing sight. Upon the vast, boundless Magnolia River, a two-meter-tall column of water abruptly appeared, with Arnold standing within it.

As time passed, the cylindrical water column began to change. As if conscious, water-elemental essence gathered around it once more and slowly formed water. The column's shape gradually shifted until it ultimately became a hemisphere nearly four meters in diameter, enveloping Arnold within.

This hemispherical water column had unconsciously formed as Arnold comprehended the Water of All Things. As Arnold's soul contemplated the Water of All Things, his spiritual energy involuntarily began refining the water elemental essence between heaven and earth, forming water-elemental magical power. Furthermore, Arnold stood atop the Magnolia River, where water elemental essence was exceptionally abundant. Although Arnold's affinity for water elements was merely low-grade, because his entire being had merged into the water elemental essence and the Magnolia River contained such abundant water elemental essence, his speed in refining water-elemental magical power was remarkably fast.

The riverboat continued onward. The captain and sailors watched Arnold move alongside the vessel in silence.

Pitero was also watching Arnold. Rather than meditate, he simply stared at him.

The boundless Magnolia River stretched endlessly ahead. The sea breeze drifted and swayed, and the river water rippled in every direction, yet none of it affected Arnold, who was wrapped within the hemispherical water column.

On the fifth day after Arnold formed this hemispherical water column, within the Metallic Lifeform in the Dark Forest.

An old man dressed in a plain black robe lay in a rocking chair, leisurely reading a book made of some peculiar material. He was Beirut, the ruler of the Yulan Continent.

After reading for a while, Beirut recalled that opportunity from ten thousand years ago.

Ten thousand years ago, Beirut had been cultivating in a Miniature Plane he had personally created within the Yulan Continent when he suddenly witnessed the earth-shaking battle between the Four Divine Beasts and the Light Sovereign, Augusta. Whenever Beirut thought of how he had snatched food from the jaws of the Light Sovereign, seizing the Four Divine Beasts' corpses and four Sovereign Sparks, enraging Augusta until he stomped his feet, he felt incomparably delighted. It was the proudest achievement of his life.

As the only Devouring God Rat in countless planes at the time, once Beirut became a Highgod, he could sweep aside the vast majority of Highgods through his powerful Innate Divine Ability. Unless they were Paragons, even the most powerful Asuras would certainly die upon encountering Beirut so long as they lacked a soul-defense Sovereign Artifact.

After Beirut fused several more Profound Mysteries of Laws, even without relying on his Innate Divine Ability, his powerful body alone made him stronger than most Asuras.

Now, he, Beirut, was an exalted Sovereign, an existence towering above all Highgods. Even Paragon Highgods were no match for an Sovereign.

However, because he had become enemies with Augusta, Beirut, as a Lower Wind-type Overgod, was utterly no match for him. He could only remain within the Material Plane of the Yulan Continent, not even daring to visit the Four Higher Planes or the Seven Divine Planes. This left Beirut deeply stifled.

Although he later made a deal with the Infernal Realm's Destruction Sovereign, he could only let his Darkness Divine Clone wander about. Even so, since his Sovereign clone could not leave the Yulan Continent, Beirut was still thoroughly displeased.

And so, because he was unhappy, Beirut released his divine sense once more. Like an emperor inspecting his own territory, he immediately swept over the Magnolia Empire.

"Eh? This kid named Arnold's spiritual energy is rising rapidly. Did he enter a state of enlightenment? I'll go take a look." Somewhat surprised and with nothing better to do, Beirut headed out for a stroll.

In an instant, Beirut arrived ten meters away from Arnold. Although the captain, the other sailors, and Pitero were all staring at Arnold, none of them saw Beirut at all, as though he did not exist.

Arnold had his eyes closed, while the hemispherical water column around him continuously surged and changed.

"He's comprehending the Water Element Technique! No wonder his spiritual energy is increasing so quickly. It has already reached intermediate Ninth-level and is nearing advanced Ninth-level. If this state continues, he might even break through into the Saint Domain in a few days. Tsk, tsk. This Arnold truly has excellent talent." Beirut saw through Arnold's current condition at a glance.

A twenty-one-year-old Saint Magus was indeed considered a peerless genius on the Yulan Continent. However, Beirut had traveled through countless Material Planes and seen far too many geniuses. There were even those who became gods in ten years, so he was not particularly surprised.

"His body is filled with wind- and earth-elemental Ninth-level magical power, along with a small amount of third-level fire-elemental magical power. He presumably never cultivated water-elemental magic before. Yet at the stage of a Ninth-level Archmage, he actually comprehended the profound mystery of the Water Element Technique. That is truly impressive." Beirut praised him.

However, after watching for a while, Beirut grew bored and departed with a single flicker. From beginning to end, the people on the riverboat who were watching Arnold never noticed Beirut's existence.

Arnold had merged completely with the water elemental essence, directly comprehending a trace of the profound mystery of the Water Element Technique and falling into a state of enlightenment.

In truth, Arnold's comprehension of the Water Element Technique was rather subtle. Earlier, Arnold had developed the Earth Escape Art and Wind Escape Technique, which were actually the embryonic forms of the Earth Element Technique and Wind Element Technique. The Water Element Technique was essentially only an elemental variation of the Earth Element Technique and Wind Element Technique; overall, they were quite similar. That was why, when Arnold observed the Magnolia River, he comprehended a trace of the Water Element Technique, effectively gaining entry into it.

In the blink of an eye, another five days passed. As Arnold merged into the water elemental essence, his spiritual energy grew a hundredfold, a thousandfold. Even the most talented mages generally needed around ten years to advance from Ninth-level to the Ninth-level Peak. Breaking through again from the Ninth-level Peak would take another ten years or so. Yet Arnold's current state accelerated the growth of his spiritual energy.

At last, Arnold's spiritual energy directly reached the peak of the Ninth-level Arch Magus and could no longer increase. Yet merging with water elemental essence had, for the time being, no limit on spiritual energy growth, so long as Arnold did not awaken. Another half day passed before Arnold's spiritual energy finally crossed its limit, surpassed the Ninth-level Peak, entered the Saint Domain, and caused his soul to undergo a transformation.