After reflecting for a while, Roger continued reading.
In the following pages, Charles broadly described his experiences comprehending each branch, his insights into cultivation, and the usual applications of every branch.
After firmly committing all of this to memory, Roger turned to the other books and began reading them.
Over the next few days.
Roger did not cultivate. Instead, he focused on reading the many books Charles had left behind, committing all their knowledge to memory.
A long while later.
Roger closed the final book, a faint gleam flashing in his deep eyes.
"Charles truly lived up to his standing as a Highgod. His understanding of the Death Edict was far deeper than mine. Most importantly, he laid out the complete Death Edict before me."
Although Roger had made no progress in his cultivation over these past few days, what he had learned would be immensely useful to his future cultivation.
"All right, I've mastered the fundamentals. It's time to start cultivating in earnest."
His Death God Divine Clone, dressed in a gray robe, closed his eyes. Following the sensations within his consciousness, he began exploring and advancing through the ocean of the Death Edict.
Roger's saint domain true body continued meditating and drawing in divine power.
With sufficient energy nourishing it, the Jade Disc Fragment had indeed begun growing and evolving at an extremely slow pace.
The change was minuscule, however. Even after several days of continuous nourishment, it had grown by only an imperceptible amount.
Still, any change was a good thing, and Roger had always had plenty of patience.
And so.
His two bodies divided the work between them.
Roger entered a long period of secluded cultivation.
A year passed in the blink of an eye.
Roger's Death God Divine Clone opened his eyes, unable to conceal the delight within them. "I've finally gained an initial understanding of the Soul Refining branch!"
After a year of deduction and contemplation, Roger had finally grasped the basics of this branch.
"Thankfully, I had Charles's cultivation insights to refer to. If I'd relied entirely on myself, who knows how long I would have been stuck before grasping the basics?"
"Of course, the Jade Disc Fragment deserves plenty of credit too."
Roger directed a sliver of his attention into the depths of his consciousness.
After a year of nourishment from soul power and divine power, the Jade Disc Fragment was now about one percent larger than before.
One percent might not have seemed like much.
But the special energy supplied by the Jade Disc Fragment had once again begun nourishing and transforming Roger's souls.
Both the soul of his true body and the soul of his death clone.
Under this mysterious energy, both were constantly evolving, gradually improving Roger's aptitude and comprehension.
This was also why Roger had fully grasped the basics of the Soul Refining branch in just one short year.
"I've made progress in my cultivation. It's time to tell Hagson and have him find some Sanctuary Souls for me to experiment with."
Roger left his secluded cultivation chamber.
After greeting Allen, he headed straight for Hagson's residence.
Over the past year.
Allen had practically become Roger's chief steward, overseeing several hundred people and over a thousand Fire Rhinos. He was living a very comfortable life.
Usually, he only needed to delegate the work, then he could enjoy life at leisure or focus on cultivating.
Some Sanctuaries, hoping to be assigned better areas for growing Fire Cloud Trees and to take fewer turns performing various duties, had begun flattering Allen and offering him all sorts of benefits.
Allen had thus gotten a taste of power, and his life grew more comfortable by the day.
Several minutes later.
Roger stopped in front of Hagson's residence.
Seeing Roger, Hagson's deputy, Cloya, hurried to inform Hagson.
A moment later.
Hagson's hearty voice rang out. "Haha, Brother Roger, what brings you here today?"
Whoosh!
Hagson appeared before Roger like a gust of wind.
"I recently made a breakthrough in my cultivation, so I came specifically to see you, Brother."
Roger smiled, his handsome face brimming with confidence.
"Oh?" Hagson was delighted to hear this. "Come, Brother, let's go inside and discuss it."
"So, Brother Roger, you grasped the basics of the Soul Refining branch in just one year? What a genius!"
Hagson looked at Roger with eyes full of envy.
He had read all the books Charles had left behind, so naturally, he knew a great deal about the Death Edict.
He also knew what grasping the basics of the Soul Refining branch meant.
Refining soul essence to strengthen one's own soul was an exclusive specialty of Death Edict cultivators.
Once someone mastered this skill, they could go wherever they pleased throughout the Netherworld!
Even if they were only a Lowgod, even if they had only just grasped the basics of this branch!
"You flatter me, Brother Hagson. Luck played a part in my grasping the basics so quickly," Roger said modestly. "By the way, this is a Soul Crystal Ball. Sorry for the trouble, Brother, but I'll have to leave gathering Sanctuary Souls to you."
Accepting the fist-sized crystal ball, Hagson beamed. "You're too modest, Brother Roger. In cultivation, luck is also part of strength. As for a little matter like collecting souls, just leave it to me."
The Netherworld lacked all sorts of things.
But Sanctuary-level life was certainly not one of them!
As long as they had reached the Sanctuary level, whether they were humans, magical beasts, or other special life forms.
Their souls were all resources!
It was just that few people cultivated the Death Edict, and even fewer also cultivated the Soul Refining branch.
That left the Sanctuaries in the Netherworld's wilderness with a little room to survive.
But once a Death Edict cultivator capable of refining soul essence appeared in their region.
Those Sanctuaries' nightmare would begin.
After chatting with Hagson a little longer, Roger returned to his own residence to continue cultivating.
Hagson immediately dispatched his subordinates into the wilderness to collect Sanctuary Souls.
As for the Sanctuaries in his own tribe, they were all valuable workers. Hagson could not bear to kill them.
Besides, the Sanctuaries in the wilderness were like chives. Cut down one crop, and another would grow back before long.
Just ten days later.
Hagson arrived at Roger's residence with the crystal ball filled with soul essence.
Clearly, Hagson attached great importance to this matter, since he had even delivered it in person.
Accepting the crystal ball filled with dense golden mist.
Roger's face also broke into a smile.
Judging by the density of the mist inside the crystal ball, it held at least twenty or thirty thousand Sanctuary Souls...
So many Sanctuary Souls.
If Roger had gone to collect them alone, he could not have hoped to finish without spending several months at it.
It was easy for a god to kill Sanctuaries, but the Netherworld's restrictive force was immense, limiting a Lowgod's speed.
Those Sanctuaries would not simply stand there and let themselves be killed, either.
Thus, collecting large numbers of Sanctuary Souls was still quite troublesome.
But that only applied to a lone Lowgod.
For Hagson, who controlled the Fire Rhino Tribe, mobilizing his subordinates made it easy to fill a Soul Crystal Ball in just ten days.
"Thanks, Brother Hagson."
Roger accepted the crystal ball and sent his soul power into it, immediately confirming that these were all high-quality Sanctuary Souls.
"Refining soul essence is quite troublesome. Come back to collect it in three months, Brother Hagson."
"Only three months?" Hagson was overjoyed. "Brother Roger, you really are exceptionally gifted. Then I'll return in three months. If you need help with anything, just tell me."
"All right, Brother. If I really need help, I won't hesitate to ask."
Before you continue