Making a Name

Having transformed into a bolt of lightning, Rhodes kept accelerating. Without using his innate divine ability, Heaven and Earth Extreme Speed, he grew faster and faster, until all that could be seen was a flash of lightning. Only after it streaked past could a peal of thunder be heard.

Any creature in Rhodes's flight path would fall into a daze after seeing that flash.

As it turned out, Rhodes had employed the Lightning Speed Profound Mystery during his flight, along with the Profound Mysteries of Thunder he had comprehended while flying. These were intermediate profound mysteries within the Laws of Lightning that specialized in attacking the soul, whereas the Profound Mystery of Judgment could be said to place equal emphasis on Material Attack and soul attacks.

The Profound Mysteries of Thunder contained no Material Attack whatsoever, only incomparably incisive soul attacks. Even though Rhodes had yet to master them completely, after finding a point of convergence with the Profound Mystery of Lightning Speed, their power could not be underestimated.

If anyone wanted to ambush Rhodes, then good luck to him!

Otherwise, the moment he saw Rhodes would be the moment of his death.

After more than a decade of flying, Rhodes had long since left his own territory. Since he was no longer within his territory, he certainly had no fear of injuring anyone by accident. You're not one of my people. What does your getting hurt have to do with me, right?

With that very attitude, Rhodes kept increasing his lightning speed. As he grew faster and faster after transforming into lightning, he happened to comprehend the Profound Mysteries of Thunder and, with the help of the Thunder Crystal, directly found their point of convergence with the Speed Profound Mystery.

This made Rhodes all the more certain. I was simply born unsuited to secluded training.

Rhodes glanced at the two Midgod Divine Sparks and the dozen or so Lowgod Divine Sparks in his interspatial ring, along with the corpses of two Divine Beasts he could not identify, and silently clicked his tongue. I only flew over your heads, yet you attacked me and even cursed at me. Could I put up with that? Of course not. Couldn't we just get along peacefully and speak politely? You were both deities, so why were your tempers still so fierce?

If those two Midgods could come back to life, they would certainly curse him. "You call that flying? You were robbing and murdering people! Wherever you flew, anyone behind you with a slightly weaker cultivation died on the spot. Oh, you're so high-minded, so magnificent, so polite!"

At his speed, Rhodes was rapidly approaching the Star Mist Sea. He estimated that another ten years or so of flying should bring him there.

Flying on his own every day, Rhodes sometimes returned to the ground to rest and recuperate, or encountered deities who interested him. As long as they were not deities who tried to kill him from the outset, he mainly sparred with them and never lost. This also caused his reputation as the Lord of the Thunder Region to spread rapidly across the mainland.

His reputation had vaguely begun to rival that of the Demon King of the Central Mainland. However, the Central Mainland was too distant, and news did not travel easily, so in the end, no conclusion was reached as to who was stronger.

Perhaps only on some future day, when Rhodes set foot on the Central Mainland and fought the Demon King, could a victor truly be determined.

Rhodes's conspicuous flight along the way greatly bolstered the prestige of the Thunder Region's forces, and deities constantly headed toward the Thunder Region. Sometimes, when one was not strong enough, following a powerful individual or a formidable force was the right choice.

After all, even ants could devour an elephant, couldn't they?

Rhodes felt terribly bored. There was no phone to play with, no news, and no entertainment. No wonder everyone went to the Planar Battlefield. Endless time truly was the deadliest thing.

Fortunately, comprehending profound mysteries and making breakthroughs could bring Rhodes a little joy. It also led him to make a decision deep in his heart: he could not spend this lifetime alone again.

Time seemed to keep moving, yet it also seemed never to have changed. When time could no longer leave a mark on someone, it could only become a unit of measurement.-Notes by Rhodes, the Lightning Sovereign.

A bolt of lightning descended at the edge of the Star Mist Sea. After all these years of traveling such a long distance, Rhodes had finally reached the Star Mist Sea, and another twenty years had passed.

Now Rhodes sorely missed the Metal Lifeforms from the original story. One could sit inside them, cultivate, and rest, needing only divine sense to control them, yet now there was not even a trace of one to be seen.

Truly, one could not have both the fish and the bear's paw. Being born early came with its own troubles.

Looking out over the boundless Star Mist Sea, Rhodes recalled that a Sovereign seemed to have appeared in the original story whose territory was the Star Mist Sea. "I think the name was Xingyi. I can't remember whether that was an intermediate or lesser Destruction-Element Sovereign. I wonder if I'll run into that Sovereign," Rhodes murmured to himself.

Then he transformed into a bolt of lightning and flew out over the Star Mist Sea.

As Rhodes ventured deeper into the Star Mist Sea, islands large and small began to appear, but he discovered no life. Rhodes thought, Perhaps this is still the coastal region, and most of the living creatures have gone to the mainland.

At that thought, he increased his speed further and flew in a straight line. Rhodes only wanted to leave this boring place as quickly as possible. The Amethyst Mountains should be a good place.

All that could be seen was a streak of purple light flying ever faster through the boundless fog, continuing ceaselessly in a certain direction.

Time slowly passed as Rhodes flew. Now, apart from occasional rests, Rhodes flew almost without stopping. He only wanted to leave this boring Star Mist Sea as quickly as possible.

That day, Rhodes spotted a medium-sized island ahead. He had no intention of stopping, but as he flew directly over the island, he suddenly felt a divine sense sweep over him. He immediately released his own divine sense to scan the island below.

A Divine Sense transmission reached Rhodes's ears. "Brother passing by, would you come down for a chat?"

Rhodes stopped above the island and looked down at a young man with a head of red hair. Long red hair and red robes-regardless of anything else, the sight of red could at least remind Rhodes of that splash of red from his previous life, and goodwill immediately welled up in his heart.

Sometimes, fate was simply that wondrous beyond words.

Regardless, Rhodes still maintained the necessary caution. After all, sometimes one could know a person's face without knowing his heart. But since the host here had invited him, and he had already stopped, there was no reason he could not go down for a chat. He ought to show a fellow Midgod that much courtesy. If the man harbored ulterior motives, couldn't he gain another Midgod Divine Spark? At present, when there were no Highgods, Midgod Divine Sparks were exceedingly precious.

Or perhaps Rhodes, who had spent thirty years alone apart from the occasional encounter with someone to spar with, simply wanted someone to talk to!

The young man who had been sitting beside a stone table stood up and gestured. "Please." Then he sat back down, as though demonstrating that he meant no harm.

Seeing this, Rhodes, bold in his skill, sat straight down on a stool beside the stone table.

"What should I call you?" the young man in blood-red clothing asked first.

"Rhodes." After answering, Rhodes asked the young man the same question.

The young man smiled and answered, "Monty Pash. Just call me Pash." He added, "I'm heading to the mainland ahead as well. Brother, are you also heading to that mainland?"

At that moment, Rhodes was still pondering the man's name and failed to catch the latter half of Pash's words. He asked, "Sorry, your name sounds a little familiar, but I can't recall it. I was distracted for a moment and didn't hear what you said." The young man in blood-red clothing was good-tempered and repeated himself.

"Yes, I am indeed heading to the mainland ahead. Why did you call me down just now?" Rhodes asked directly.

"It's nothing important. I've simply been flying alone through the Mist Sea for too long and felt bored. Just as I was about to reach the mainland ahead, I happened to encounter a fellow Midgod, so I wanted to see whether you would stop for a while." At this point, the red-robed young man smiled and waved his hand. An object resembling a wine jar from Rhodes's previous life appeared on the stone table before them, along with two wine cups.

"This is a fine wine I happened to obtain in the endless Mist Sea. My friend, would you share a cup with me?" Having said this, Pash picked up the wine jar, poured wine into a cup, then lifted it and drained it in one gulp. After finishing, he looked at Rhodes and blinked, as though saying, Look, I've already finished mine.

Rhodes, meanwhile, was utterly bewildered. He called me down just to treat me to wine?

He then picked up the jar and poured wine into his cup. Looking at the green liquid inside, he could smell its aura of life from far away. He drained it in one gulp, and the instant the wine entered his mouth, Willpower enveloped it as it entered his divine body.

With his Willpower suppressing it, Rhodes believed that even gut-ravaging poison would pose no danger to him.

Seeing Rhodes finish a cup in one gulp, Pash said happily, "I often encounter deities in the Mist Sea. When I call out to them, some simply pretend not to hear, while others come down but don't dare drink this fine wine. I never expected you to trust me so much on our first meeting, brother. For this moment, let's have another cup."

Having said this, Pash picked up the wine jar and began pouring wine for Rhodes, then filled his own cup. Once it was full, he raised it and drained it in one gulp.

Without another word, Rhodes also raised his cup and drank, using his Willpower to suppress the wine as soon as it entered his mouth. He very much wanted to see just what this man's purpose was.

PS: If there are more monthly votes and recommendation votes, I'll post extra updates. Every time I see the numbers rise, I get incredibly excited, because it means you brothers approve of me. Thank you all for your bookmarks and votes. If there are any problems, point them out anytime. Brothers who want a cameo, remember to leave a comment with your character and abilities.