Roger knew little about winning people over.
But he understood the principle that everyone came and went in pursuit of profit.
For these god-level experts,
empty promises and talk of rules meant nothing.
Only tangible Soul Gold Beads and his own formidable strength could truly be relied upon.
Roger did not expect these people to be particularly loyal.
Nor did he need them to be.
He only needed them to collect enough Sanctuary souls.
As for encountering truly powerful enemies, he would fight if he could and flee if he could not...
For truly loyal subordinates, Roger intended to wait until he became a Highgod, when condensing Soul Seeds would no longer affect his combat ability or cultivation. Only then would he consider enslaving the souls of a few subordinates with decent strength and potential.
Only soul slaves could give him complete peace of mind.
And so,
the Nether Luo Tribe was established.
Roger merged the former Fire Rhino Tribe, Black Wolf Tribe, and Night Wind Tribe.
The tribe now had four Midgods, over thirty Lowgods, and tens of thousands of Sanctuary beings.
Though this force amounted to nothing in the vast Netherworld,
it was the strongest power within several million li...
Moreover,
Roger planned to expand further later on.
He would absorb all the surrounding small tribes.
Of course, that would have to wait until Roger became a Highgod.
For the time being,
his current territory was large enough.
Over the next ten-odd years,
the Nether Luo Tribe grew steadily and methodically.
New Lowgods emerged one after another.
Of course, all of them became gods by refining Godheads.
The previous battles had left so many Godheads available that wasting them was out of the question.
With so many Sanctuary beings in the tribe, selecting candidates to refine them was easy.
Roger also chose some loyal Sanctuary beings and gave them Lowgod Godheads to refine.
Hagson, Beverly, Croya, and the others likewise selected loyal Sanctuary beings to refine Godheads.
As a result,
the total number of Lowgods in the Nether Luo Tribe surged to nearly fifty.
With so many Lowgods,
Roger organized them into four squads.
He personally commanded one squad.
The other three squads were placed under Hagson, Beverly, and Croya.
Their mission was simple.
Hunt down and capture Sanctuary beings!
Across the vast area spanning several million li,
there were plenty of Sanctuary lifeforms.
After all, the Netherworld was rich in elemental energy, and its native lifeforms naturally grew to the Sanctuary level not long after birth.
So there was no need to worry about capturing all the Sanctuary beings.
Inside the secret chamber,
Roger looked at the jade bottle containing a hundred Soul Gold Beads before him, along with the dozens of crystal balls filled with Sanctuary souls on the stone table.
"Sure enough, after combining the strength of three tribes, collecting Sanctuary souls became much faster."
Over these ten-odd years,
aside from cultivating, Roger had been refining Soul Gold Beads.
This had also given Roger the beginnings of a deeper understanding of the "Soul Refining" branch.
There was indeed a vast difference between edicts and laws.
The "Soul Refining" branch Roger had previously mastered was actually only the first layer of a thousand-layer cake.
Beneath it lay a second layer, a third...
Yet as Roger deepened his understanding, he also discovered some interesting things.
For example, within the second layer of the edict, the "Soul Refining" branch seemed to contain aspects of several other branches.
Roger would have to deduce and comprehend these branches himself.
For now, however, Roger's priority was to comprehend the other branches of the Death Edict, quickly reach the Highgod level, and then study the Death Edict in greater depth.
Meanwhile,
Roger was also close to a breakthrough in the Laws of Wind.
The Wind Elemental Profound Mysteries had reached a bottleneck several years ago, but he had remained stuck ever since...
"It's been years, and I still haven't mastered even the simplest Wind Elemental Profound Mysteries. It seems my talent for the Laws of Wind really is quite ordinary."
Roger felt somewhat helpless.
Over the years, he had made good progress with the Death Edict and had now begun comprehending its fourth branch, "Soul Defense."
Though he was still some distance from mastering it, it had greatly strengthened Roger's soul defense. Combined with a soul stronger than that of an average Highgod, he no longer had much to worry about in that regard.
"The Death Edict is certainly good, with plenty of unique strengths when it comes to the soul, but it's a little lacking in speed."
Over the years, Roger had also discovered the characteristics of the Death Edict.
Its capabilities regarding the soul were beyond reproach-truly comprehensive.
But it was somewhat lacking in physical aspects, especially speed, falling far short of Roger's expectations.
Its physical defense was not entirely satisfactory either.
That was why Roger hoped to achieve a breakthrough in the Laws of Wind. Once he comprehended their "Speed" profound mystery, he could greatly compensate for his weakness in speed.
Within the ocean of the Laws of Wind,
the consciousness of Roger's true body roamed.
He constantly deduced and deepened his understanding.
Yet he made no progress whatsoever with the Wind Elemental Profound Mysteries, which had long since reached a bottleneck.
Left with no other choice, Roger turned to the "Fast" profound mystery, which he had only recently begun comprehending.
Who would have thought?
Comprehending the Fast Profound Mystery went remarkably smoothly instead!
Delighted, Roger immediately focused all his attention on comprehending it.
Yet his good fortune did not end there.
While comprehending the Fast Profound Mystery, Roger also gained an initial understanding of the "Slow Profound Mystery."
Now,
Roger's true body began devoting itself fully to comprehending these two profound mysteries while trying to find the point where they aligned.
As for supplying the Jade Disc Fragment with divine power and soul power, his Death God Divine Clone only needed to devote half its consciousness to the task.
Several years later,
"Whew... I finally found the point where these 'Fast' and 'Slow' profound mysteries align."
Roger opened his eyes. "Now I just have to fuse them step by step. Hopefully, I'll be able to become a god without a hitch."
Ten years later,
"So this is the Speed Profound Mystery..."
Inside the secret chamber,
Roger's Saint Domain True Body rose into the air against his will.
Just a moment earlier, Roger had fused the Profound Mysteries of Fast and Slow to a critical point.
Instinctively, Roger knew he had comprehended one-tenth of the Speed Profound Mystery.
Sure enough,
the familiar Laws of Heaven and Earth descended a moment later.
Buzz-!
Once again, Roger chose External Godhood.
After the painful splitting of his soul,
Roger's Wind Divine Clone quickly took shape.
At that point, the Laws of Heaven and Earth completely dispersed.
Whoosh...
With a thought,
a set of cyan robes immediately appeared on his Wind Divine Clone.
Roger's true body and Death God Divine Clone walked over.
Then all three bodies merged together without the slightest resistance.
After leaving the secret chamber,
Roger conducted a few tests.
Sure enough, the Laws of Wind excelled at speed.
Especially the Speed Profound Mystery.
It made his Wind Divine Clone, which was only a Lowgod, slightly faster than his Midgod-level Death God Divine Clone...
"Once I master the Speed Profound Mystery, or break through in the Wind Elemental Profound Mysteries and bring my Wind Divine Clone to the Midgod level, I'll be able to completely eliminate my weakness in speed."
Roger withdrew his Wind Divine Clone into his body and had it continue deducing and comprehending.
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