Netherlo City

Although Charles's cultivation experience had all but ceased to offer any guidance.

Roger was not disappointed.

After all, Charles had only recently become a Highgod, and his understanding was limited to begin with. It was enough that his experience had proved useful earlier.

Gathering his thoughts, Roger continued his meditation.

With his comprehension enhanced once again by the Jade Disc, Roger found meditation remarkably easy. Vast amounts of insight filled his mind at every moment.

Now, his problem was deciding which aspect to focus on first...

Of the death edict's six major branches, nearly all his current insights concerned the fusion of two branches. Roger was now wrestling with which pair to study first.

My physical attacks and speed are covered by the Laws of Wind, and my physical defense by the water law. My soul attacks could still use improvement, though. I'll focus on the soul attack branch and study its fusion with the others to make the most of my advantage in soul attacks.

Once Roger made his decision, the direction of his cultivation became clear.

Combined with a soul ten times stronger than an ordinary Highgod's and his exceptional comprehension, his cultivation progress surged.

Time passed.

In the blink of an eye, more than a hundred years had gone by.

During this time, aside from occasionally emerging to inspect the construction of Netherlo City, Roger spent almost all his time in secluded cultivation.

This brought him considerable progress in the death edict.

Roger had now comprehended the fusion of the soul attack branch with each of the other five major branches. His level of understanding was roughly comparable to that of a Five-Star Fiend.

His ultimate soul attack, Soul Annihilation Blade, had also undergone several improvements. It was now more than a hundred times as powerful as it had been when he was a Midgod.

This gave Roger the confidence to hold his own among Highgods.

After reaching this stage, Roger continued to use the soul attack branch as his core as he explored fusions involving three branches.

Once he succeeded, his level of understanding would fully reach that of a Six-Star Fiend.

In the present Netherworld, such strength was more than enough to dominate a region.

Of course.

Roger's ambitions went far beyond that.

While his death clone cultivated diligently, his other clones were not idle either.

Over the years.

Roger's wind clone had fully comprehended the profound mystery of dimension and found the points where it aligned with the profound mysteries of wind essence, fast, and slow.

With that, Roger could attempt to fuse them.

As for the water law, after fully fusing water essence with the Profound Mystery of Roundness, Roger had completely comprehended the profound mystery of Mist Illusion. Having found its points of alignment with the first two mysteries, he had also begun working on a three-mystery fusion.

Meanwhile, his original body continued supplying divine power and soul power to the Jade Disc Fragment deep within his consciousness, allowing it to keep growing.

Over the years.

The Jade Disc's growth had become slower and slower.

But as long as it continued evolving, Roger's comprehension and talent could continue improving as well.

Time flew.

In the blink of an eye, another hundred-odd years passed.

One day, a knock sounded at the door of the secluded chamber.

At the same time, Mia's voice sounded in Roger's soul. "Master, the main structures of Netherlo City's inner city are now complete. When will you have time to come out and take a look? Also, more than a dozen tribes want to join us. That needs your decision too."

As Roger's soul servant, Mia could communicate with him through Soul Transmission, provided they were within range.

However, Mia was still a Midgod. Even after using a large number of Soul Gold Beads to strengthen her soul to its limit, the distance at which she could initiate contact with Roger was only nine hundred-odd meters-not even a thousand.

The distance at which Roger could initiate contact was much greater.

"All right."

Roger briefly straightened his dust-covered gray robe and walked out of the chamber.

Mia was waiting outside.

"Master, your aura seems to have grown stronger again."

Mia spoke with admiration.

Over the years, Roger had occasionally guided her, and her own talent for cultivation was quite good.

She had now fully comprehended five major branches, with only the final soul space branch left to master.

Once she comprehended it, Mia would become a Highgod. Her innate divine ability alone would then be enough for her to establish herself in any Higher Plane.

That was the advantage of being a supreme divine beast.

Though Roger was envious, he knew this was determined at birth. Envy would do him no good.

Besides, even if he could not use an innate divine ability himself, having a subordinate who could amounted to the same thing...

"Mia, how much longer will it take you to become a Highgod?" Roger asked.

Once Mia broke through, Roger would have a powerful trump card when he took her traveling through the Netherworld.

"I don't know. I might break through in a hundred years, or I might be stuck at this bottleneck for hundreds or even thousands of years..."

"It's fine. Just let it happen naturally."

Roger was not surprised.

A bottleneck could be overcome in an instant, or it could leave someone trapped in agonizing frustration.

Even Mia's considerable talent did not exempt her.

Rather than heading straight to the council hall, Roger first took Mia on a flight over the inner city, taking in the city's overall appearance.

Only afterward did he send someone to tell Allen to gather everyone for a meeting.

He entered the council hall of the grand, imposing manor.

Allen had already gathered all the tribe's deity-level experts.

In addition.

There were more than a dozen unfamiliar Midgods.

These Midgods included both men and women, and their auras varied in strength.

Roger sat at the head of the hall and gestured for everyone else to sit.

"I just took a brief tour of the inner city. You've done very well! Thank you for all your hard work over the years. Allen, collect a hundred Soul Gold Beads from Mia afterward and distribute them according to everyone's contributions."

"Yes, City Lord!"

Allen replied with a smile.

In front of others, Allen now always addressed Roger as City Lord.

Only in private did the two address each other by name.

Allen had insisted on this himself.

When Hagson and the others heard that so many Soul Gold Beads would be distributed, their eyes lit up.

Over the years.

Although they had all received quite a few Soul Gold Beads, and their souls were now several times stronger than at the beginning.

No one would ever complain that their soul was too strong.

Though their souls were stronger than those of ordinary Midgods, they were still far from being strengthened to the limit.

Thus, Soul Gold Beads remained highly enticing.

Especially when their understanding of the laws was still a long way from the Highgod level.

Over the next few minutes, Roger first acknowledged Allen and the others' contributions to the city's construction over the years, then outlined his plans for its future expansion.

Only then did he turn his gaze toward the dozen-odd Midgods, instantly enveloping them in the formidable pressure of his divine sense.

When Roger looked their way, a handsome young man with the strongest aura among them stepped forward:

"Honored City Lord Roger, my name is Starr. I am the chief of the Star Tribe, and I also represent the thirteen other tribes here today."

"We have come to place ourselves under your command, City Lord Roger. Would you be willing to accept us, my lord?"

Under the pressure Roger emitted, Starr initially spoke fluently.

By the end, however, he was drenched in sweat as he struggled to finish speaking.