Extracting Soul Fragments, Allen Becomes a Highgod

"Yes, I named it the Netherlo Ring," Roger said with a smile.

"Master, can we use it just by dripping blood on it to bind it?" Shelly asked eagerly.

She was considerably weaker than Mia, so having a Netherlo Ring to protect her would make her much safer.

"No. Binding a Soul Defense Divine Artifact is a little more troublesome. Its creator has to help." Roger motioned for Mia to come over.

Roger then controlled the Netherlo Ring, turning it into an ethereal streak of light that plunged straight into Mia's soul ocean. He severed his own connection to the Netherlo Ring, then guided Mia's soul power to bind with it.

Roger's control over souls was exquisitely precise. The entire process flowed smoothly, and before long, Mia's soul was fully bound to the Netherlo Ring.

Shelly was next.

Once he had helped both women bind their Netherlo Rings,

the two excited women pulled Roger into another in-depth discussion of life.

Several days later.

Roger appeared on the mountaintop.

"Mia, take Shelly and your subordinates out to capture some Sanctuary beings. Ideally, find ones who have reached the limit of their comprehension of a profound mystery or a branch of an edict. I'm going to begin studying souls in greater depth, and I may extract some soul fragments along the way. I'll give you the ones related to the Death Edict as references, and Shelly can have those related to the Destruction Edict."

"Yes, Master."

Mia and Shelly exchanged a delighted glance and agreed. They hurried off with the subordinates under their respective commands to search for beings who had reached the Sanctuary limit.

Netherlo City.

"Allen, leave a deputy here, then bring a group of men to the Undead Sacred Mountain. I have something good for you."

Inside the city lord's manor, Roger spoke as he looked at Allen.

"Something good?" Allen's eyes lit up.

Over the years, after Netherlo City's operations had settled into a steady rhythm, he had gradually delegated the less important matters to his subordinates.

That freed up most of his time for cultivation.

It wasn't as though he had made no progress over the past three thousand years.

His progress had simply been rather mediocre...

The laws of the earth had six profound mysteries.

Allen had fully mastered only three of them. His comprehension of the other three had remained stuck at the introductory level...

"What is it? Can it help me break through to Highgod quickly?" Allen's eyes shone.

"Haha, no need to ask. Just come over. I guarantee you won't be disappointed."

"All right! I'll get everything ready and head over right away!"

Several years later.

Inside a secluded chamber.

Roger looked at the Sanctuary souls filling two crystal balls.

Every one of these souls belonged to a Sanctuary being whose comprehension of a particular profound mystery or branch of an edict had reached the peak, or even the limit.

They were much harder to find than ordinary Sanctuary souls.

And so, even after several years,

Mia and Shelly had only found this many despite mobilizing large numbers of subordinates.

"Let's begin. Time to see which laws these Sanctuary beings comprehended."

Roger extended a strand of soul power and selected a soul at random. He delved into the area that held its comprehension of the laws, then used his practiced, precise soul-control techniques to gradually separate that portion of the soul.

A Sanctuary soul generally held very little comprehension of laws or edicts. Assembling a soul fragment whose comprehension was only one step away from full mastery was extremely difficult.

Fortunately, extracting these soul fragments also gave Roger an opportunity to deepen his understanding of souls.

Although Roger had now reached the Asura level, he still had an extraordinarily long way to go before becoming a Paragon.

To become a Paragon, he needed not only diligent daily cultivation but also a vast accumulation of understanding.

Dissecting souls allowed Roger to delve ever deeper into the Death Edict.

This, too, could be considered an unconventional form of cultivation.

Once he had extracted the first soul fragment, Roger grew increasingly proficient as he continued.

Gradually,

large numbers of souls were transformed in Roger's hands into fragments containing comprehension, or strands of soul essence.

Several decades later.

Roger emerged from the secluded chamber.

He now held several dozen soul fragments...

Among the seven elemental laws, the laws of wind had nine profound mysteries, while each of the others had six.

That made forty-five profound mysteries in total.

Beings who cultivated elemental laws were also the most numerous in the Netherworld.

As such, Roger had assembled forty-five soul fragments containing comprehension at the limit without too much trouble.

As for the four edicts, far fewer beings cultivated them, but with a sufficiently large pool to draw from, Roger had still managed to assemble twenty-four soul fragments.

Each fragment contained comprehension at the limit of a particular branch of an edict.

In other words,

a newly advanced Sanctuary being could reach the Sanctuary limit in a very short time simply by using any one of these soul fragments!

Just like Bebe in the original story, all they would need to do was break through the bottleneck.

But that step was often the hardest.

Without sufficient talent, they might remain stuck there forever.

Berut's three children were an example.

Given how fiercely Berut protected his own, he must have collected soul fragments related to the earth, fire, and water elements for his three children to use, hoping they would cultivate independently to Highgod and then inherit the three unused Sovereign Sparks.

Unfortunately,

even by the time Linley burst onto the scene, none of Berut's three children had achieved anything in those three elemental laws.

Bebe, on the other hand, had cultivated at a good pace and broken through to Highgod without taking very long.

With these thoughts in mind, Roger summoned Allen, Mia, and Shelly through his consciousness.

Inside the castle's great hall.

Allen looked at the dazzling, thumb-sized crystal before him, along with three translucent soul fragments.

"Roger, is this the Soul Defense Divine Artifact you mentioned before? And what are these soul-like fragments...?"

Allen asked curiously.

"This crystal is indeed a Soul Defense Divine Artifact. I named it the Netherlo Ring, and I'll help you bind it shortly. As for these soul fragments, I extracted the comprehension of laws from souls at the Sanctuary peak and combined it into fragments containing comprehension at the limit."

Roger smiled and said, "So, Allen, all you need to do is merge these three soul fragments of the laws of the earth into your own soul, and your comprehension of those three profound mysteries will immediately reach the limit."

"Once you break through each bottleneck, you'll become a Highgod-and one who reached that level through independent cultivation."

"Whoa! Something this good actually exists!"

Allen's eyes gleamed after hearing the explanation. "Roger, your level has gotten so high that I can't even begin to understand it anymore."

Allen was filled with emotion.

Just a few thousand years ago, they had both been mere Sanctuary beings at the very bottom.

How had Roger reached such heights in so little time?

Still, despite his amazement,

Allen was truly happy about Roger's achievements.

Most importantly, no matter how far his brother advanced in cultivation, he had never forgotten him.

That moved Allen deeply.

"Mia, Shelly, take these soul fragments to study and use as references. They might help with your cultivation as well."

Roger set aside several soul fragments and handed them to Mia and Shelly.

"Yes, Master!"

Both women were equally thrilled to receive them.

Strictly speaking, these soul fragments were even more precious than Soul Defense Divine Artifacts.

After all, anyone who reached the Asura level in matters of the soul could forge a Soul Defense Divine Artifact as long as they had heavenly soul crystal.

There were therefore quite a few experts capable of forging them, and they were not limited to those who cultivated the Death Edict.

Extracting soul fragments, however, was a technique exclusive to supreme experts in the Death Edict.

In the Netherworld of today,

whether a second person could accomplish it was still unknown.