In year 4500 of the Yulan Calendar, Rhodes, who had long kept his Divine Sense spread across the continent, made a discovery. He found a young man named Baruch, whose physical strength alone had already reached the level of an Eighth-level Warrior.
As the Yulan Calendar drew ever closer to the relevant dates, Rhodes reckoned this Baruch was the one who founded the Baruch Clan in the original story.
After all, year 4560 in the original story was when Baruch fought a frost dragon and a black dragon outside Linnan City, ultimately slaying both beneath its walls.
Judging by the timeline, this probably really was the man. After all, none of the other people named Baruch had reached the level of an Eighth-level Warrior through physical strength alone.
The greatest coincidence was that there were three others on the continent who had also reached the level of an Eighth-level Warrior through their bodies alone. Their names were Hayd, Amanda, and Bolei.
Such a coincidence also made Rhodes feel that these four were probably the Four Ultimate Warriors. They had reached the eighth level with nothing but human bodies, without any bloodline involved.
Having identified the candidates for the Four Ultimate Warriors, Rhodes no longer hesitated. One day, he simply knocked all four unconscious and brought them to the eighteenth floor of the Sovereign Cemetery.
He began his experiment to artificially create the Four Ultimate Warriors. In truth, calling it an experiment was inaccurate. Rhodes could guarantee that all four would successfully fuse with the bloodlines, without the slightest risk or mishap.
Even without Lei Ding's countless years of bloodline research, Rhodes's own earlier research alone would have allowed him to replace the blood of all four with ease.
Not to mention that Rhodes had his Microcosm as a cheat. If