Heaven and Earth Trembled, and Teleportation Gates Appeared!

Roger gazed in satisfaction at this novel perspective.

It was as though Roger had gained several extra pairs of "eyes" tens of thousands of miles away.

"With these marks, getting things done will be much easier from now on." After watching a little longer, Roger withdrew his attention, leaving only a sliver of consciousness to keep watch.

I've been in the Netherworld for a hundred thousand years. With the Jade Disc's help, I've finally reached the Paragon realm, but when will the Teleportation Arrays appear...?

Roger now considered himself strong enough. All he needed was for the teleportation gates to appear!

As long as he could reach Hell.

He would be able to learn how the Four Divine Beasts were doing.

If he could successfully enslave the Four Divine Beasts, Roger would have at least four Sovereign Sparks in hand during the great upheaval to come!

With careful planning, he might even secure more Sovereign Sparks!

According to the original story, the Four Divine Beasts were destined to obtain the four Lower Sovereign Sparks of earth, fire, water, and wind. I now have clones of those four elements as well, so as long as I successfully enslave them, I'll be guaranteed four Sovereign Sparks.

Roger calculated inwardly.

But taking the Four Divine Beasts' Sovereign Sparks outright wouldn't be worthwhile. After all, once they become Sovereigns, their Fusion Innate Divine Ability will grow even stronger, enough to threaten even Sovereign-level powerhouses.

The best option would be to seize other Sovereign Sparks instead. Ideally, my death clone would obtain a death-attribute Sovereign Spark too. That would be perfect.

Likewise, according to their destined course, Lilith should be able to seize a High-level Sovereign Spark. Could I find a way to get my hands on hers?

Roger suddenly remembered the traces of Lilith he had found deep in the Nether Sea.

But nearly a hundred thousand years had passed since then.

There was no telling where in the Netherworld Lilith and her companions were now.

"Right, Nether Mountain!"

After becoming the Sovereign of Death, Lilith spent most of her time living on Nether Mountain.

In that case.

Could Lilith already be on Nether Mountain now?

At that thought.

Roger suddenly could no longer sit still.

Through the marks in Mia and the others' soul oceans, he sent orders for them to return immediately.

This was another useful feature of the Tracking Mark. Once successfully imprinted, it could not be removed by anyone whose mastery of the soul was below Roger's.

When necessary, Roger could also transmit messages through the mark.

It was an incredibly powerful function, allowing Roger to disregard distance entirely.

But Mia and the other two were already Roger's soul slaves, so he did not have to worry about the secret getting out.

Nor would they find it particularly strange to hear Roger's voice suddenly ring out in their minds.

In their eyes, Roger was already someone capable of creating miracles.

Several days later.

Mia and the other two returned.

Roger instructed them to continue guarding Bloodstone Castle and keep a close watch on the Undead Sacred Mountain.

Then, leaving his wind divine clone behind, Roger departed and flew toward Nether Mountain.

As it was the First Mountain of the Netherworld.

The intelligence network Roger had established over the years naturally knew Nether Mountain's location.

Traveling there from the Undead Sacred Mountain.

At Roger's current speed, it would take roughly two years.

A round trip would take four.

He had spent nearly a hundred thousand years at the Undead Sacred Mountain without the Teleportation Arrays appearing. Roger did not believe they would appear in a mere four years...

And even if they did, it would not matter. Roger had left behind his wind clone, currently his strongest clone apart from his death clone. If the Teleportation Arrays truly appeared during that time.

Then Roger's wind clone would be able to head to Hell immediately.

With the Soul Defense Divine Artifact Roger had reforged.

His wind clone's weakness in soul defense had been remedied. Combined with a top-grade Highgod Artifact suit of armor made from the scales of numerous divine beasts, as well as his own mastery of the laws.

His wind clone, who had reached the very limits of an Asura, was more than capable of roaming Hell.

Of course.

It would be ideal if the Teleportation Arrays appeared only after Roger returned from Nether Mountain.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~

Enveloped in the power of his will, Roger flew at incredible speed.

The scenery of the boundless land below raced backward.

His powerful divine sense also remained spread over his surroundings. Occasionally, when he encountered an interesting creature along the way, Roger would stop to observe it.

But since he was hurrying to his destination, Roger did not deliberately search. Along the way, he happened upon only two rather unusual divine beasts.

Roger casually planted Tracking Marks on them, then let them leave.

These Tracking Marks not only allowed remote communication, but could also release a portion of his soul power to form Soul Leeches.

Whenever Roger wished, he could use Soul Control on their souls.

In the blink of an eye.

Two years passed.

Roger, who had been traveling at top speed all this time, suddenly perked up.

Within his field of vision.

An immense, majestic mountain finally appeared.

A mountain a million meters tall!

"Nether Mountain!" Roger smiled in satisfaction. "I'm finally almost there. I wonder if I'll find Lilith here."

Whoosh~

The aura around Roger surged.

A moment later.

Roger disguised his soul aura as that of an ordinary Midgod who cultivated the death edict. This was to keep himself inconspicuous. If he truly encountered Lilith, he would be able to plant a Tracking Mark without her noticing.

Moreover, Roger had tested it. Anyone who had not reached the Paragon realm would be unable to see through his disguise.

Given Roger's current mastery as a death Paragon, there might not yet be anyone in the Netherworld who could see through it.

As his aura changed to that of a Midgod, Roger greatly reduced his speed as well, flying toward Nether Mountain at an ordinary Midgod's pace.

Several days later.

Roger stood at the foot of Nether Mountain.

"Tsk, tsk. It certainly deserves to be called the First Mountain of the Netherworld. Nether Mountain really is spectacular."

Even Roger.

Was awed by the sight before him.

A mountain a million meters tall.

Standing at its foot, he could not take in its full extent at all.

All he could see was the enormous mountainside piercing the clouds.

Moreover, the entire mountain was shrouded in mists of different colors.

White mist enveloped the lower half.

Gray mist shrouded the upper half.

And purple mist covered the summit.

The three colors of mist were sharply separated, creating a truly wondrous sight.

But the most wondrous sight of all was the Heaven and Earth Chains!

Like a waterfall, chains of lightning hung down from the very summit of Nether Mountain, reaching all the way to its foot.

Hundreds of millions of lightning chains, each as thick as an ordinary person's waist, hung down over the outer surface of the mist.

There were gaps of roughly one or two meters between neighboring lightning chains.

At this wondrous sight.

Roger could not help clicking his tongue in admiration.

After observing for a while, Roger casually picked up a stone from the ground and threw it toward a gap between the chains.

Hiss-!

A translucent membrane actually appeared in the seemingly clear gap, and countless snakes of lightning emerged across it, instantly reducing the stone to nothing.

"Tsk, tsk. Just as expected, I'll have to wait until the night of the full moon, when the mist thins, before I can enter safely."

Roger was in no hurry. By his calculations, the full moon was still three days away.

He intended to use that time to make a circuit of the mountain's foot.

He wanted to take a good look and see whether Nether Mountain had any other unusual features during this period when heaven and earth had only just formed.

He acted on the thought at once.

Still disguised as an ordinary Midgod, Roger began circling the foot of the mountain.

Suddenly.

Hum-!

A vast, timeless fluctuation descended.

This fluctuation was far stronger than those produced when Roger had become a god or reached the Paragon realm.

Far stronger, in fact!

Roger estimated that every living creature in the Netherworld could clearly sense it.

"Could the Teleportation Arrays have appeared?"

His wind clone, who had remained at the Undead Sacred Mountain, immediately rushed out of the castle.

Sure enough.

At the center of the Undead Sacred Mountain's summit.

Three enormous Teleportation Arrays slowly materialized...