Days in the Amethyst Mountains, Part Two

The vortex in the cave was still sucking relentlessly, its ferocious suction sweeping through the entire pit.

"To make ripples appear in the Infernal Realm's space, I have to unleash my 'Annihilation' at full power, and even then I can barely manage it. Yet the suction from this cave alone forms a vortex of spatial ripples. This suction..." Pash felt a chill of fear as he spoke to Rhodes beside him.

After speaking, he turned to glance at Lei Jialie again.

Lei Jialie did not seem to have changed at all, but upon closer inspection, his "chin" seemed to have risen a little higher than before!

Rhodes also keenly noticed this, and inwardly smiled in understanding. So he's an Amethyst Beast with a proud, prickly streak. Judging by how he speaks and acts, he's someone worth befriending. Haha!

Rhodes's guiding principle had always been to make plenty of friends and make his enemies thoroughly dead. Once someone was confirmed as an enemy, he would bring out his trump cards and kill the bastard outright.

If he did not kill them now, what if they suddenly became a Sovereign someday? Wouldn't he be finished? Even if he were a Sovereign too, what if they became an Elemental Sovereign? So if he had made an irreconcilable enemy of someone, he would kindly ask them to die!

Rhodes had no intention of actually waiting until a Sovereign came seeking revenge on him. Of course, as long as things had not reached the point of irreconcilable hostility, he was fairly easy to talk to. If you spoke to him calmly, he would speak to you properly too.

"Huh? The sucking sound stopped." Rhodes looked toward Lei Jialie. After all, although this place had received a passing mention in the original story, how could that compare to the knowledge of its owner?

The enormous pit was very quiet and looked quite ordinary. Without witnessing the earlier scene, no one would have suspected the danger within it.

"Lei Jialie, is it no longer danger-" Before Pash could finish speaking...

"Rumble!" Without warning, a terrifying howl rang out, like the roar of a fearsome beast. At the same time, countless densely packed purple lights erupted from the cave, amethysts scattering and shooting furiously in every direction.

Some shot straight into the sky, while others streaked diagonally toward the horizon. Countless purple lights vanished into the white mist above.

However, quite a few amethysts shot out at a slant, skimming the mouth of the cave. Their angle was too shallow, and they struck the pit walls directly. With sounds like clashing metal, large numbers of amethysts collided with those embedded in the walls, rebounded, and finally fell into the pit.

Moments later-

A thick layer of amethysts covered the bottom of the pit.

"Lei Jialie, could the amethysts Rhodes obtained in the Mist Sea have flown out of this cave?" Although Pash phrased it as a question, his tone was full of certainty.

"You're right, Pash. The amethysts in the Mist Sea did indeed fly out of here. This cycle of amethyst eruptions and suction has continued ever since the world first came into being."

After a brief pause, he continued, "You've seen the force of the suction. Midgods simply can't resist it. The force of the eruption is extremely powerful too, enough to riddle a Midgod with holes easily, so you two need to be careful!"

Lei Jialie's tone was full of gravity, as though he feared the two of them would still fail to take it seriously and charge straight in to gather amethysts.

Seeing that Lei Jialie seemed about to offer more warnings, Rhodes said, "Don't worry, Lei Jialie. We both saw it. With power like that, we certainly won't risk our lives testing it."

"Mm. As long as you understand. This cavern has three phases: 'eruption,' 'pause,' and 'suction.' Of the three, the eruption lasts the longest, suction falls in the middle, and the pause is the shortest. The length of each pause varies, with no pattern."

Rhodes and Pash both nodded slightly.

They had both witnessed it. The eruption did indeed last the longest, while the pause lasted only a few seconds.

Lei Jialie continued, "Actually, collecting amethysts is very simple. During that brief pause, just use a giant elemental hand to scoop up a handful."

Pash immediately understood.

Right. For example, he could use "destruction essence" to form a long hand and grab a handful. Even if it were suddenly sucked in, the loss would be minimal.

More than a hundred years passed in a flash, and the friendship between the four deepened with each passing day. Rhodes had sparred with both Lei Jialie and Zijing. When Lei Jialie brought out his full strength, he could fight Rhodes to a standstill. The Amethyst Sacred Beast's innate divine ability somewhat countered Rhodes's own innate divine ability by restricting his speed. In their comprehension of profound mysteries, the two were evenly matched, neither able to gain the upper hand. Against Zijing, however, Rhodes held the advantage throughout and had an easy time of it.

Pash thoroughly let himself loose. Even if he did not fight every day, he sparred with Rhodes and Lei Jialie every few days, and naturally, Zijing was not left out either. Pash was slightly weaker than Lei Jialie and roughly equal to Zijing, though once he used his innate divine ability, he won more often than not.

During those hundred-odd years, the greatest improvement Rhodes and Pash made was actually to their souls.

In the Amethyst Mountains, the one thing never in short supply was amethyst!

Simply by searching diligently on the ground in the Amethyst Mountains, they could gather eight or ten thousand amethysts in a day. If they went to the "pit," the hollow at its bottom was covered in amethysts during the pauses. Using giant elemental hands alone, they could scoop up a million in half a day.

Pash and Rhodes stayed beside the pit for an entire month, gathering over a hundred million amethysts. After that, they did not return once during the next hundred years.

Pash refined amethysts relatively slowly, but Rhodes was different.

After refining amethysts over such a long period to strengthen his soul, Rhodes's soul was now far stronger than it had been over a hundred years ago. After all, his soul had been growing throughout those hundred-odd years.

Even if it had not reached the limit for a Midgod, it was probably not far off.

The strengthening of his soul had also taken Rhodes's comprehension of the Wind Profound Mysteries to another level. Not only had he found the point of compatibility between the "Profundity of Sound Waves" and the "Sound Profound Mystery," leaving him only to spend time slowly fusing the two, but he had also fully mastered the newly comprehended Windwalk Technique and found its point of compatibility with the "Speed Profound Mystery." If the fusion went smoothly, he would have another clone with the strength of a Six-Star Demon.

With my Wind Divine Clone growing stronger, I can put the next step of my plan on the agenda too.

The greatest pity was his Lightning Element profound mysteries. He had only fully comprehended the Profound Mysteries of Thunder, without finding a point of compatibility with his previous three profound mysteries. He could only advance gradually, step by step. Even Rhodes could not say when he would be able to fuse four profound mysteries.

Even with the Thunder Crystal in hand, he could not guarantee how quickly he could fuse four profound mysteries. If Rhodes had chosen only to comprehend profound mysteries without fusing them, then with the Thunder Crystal, he would certainly have become a Highgod by now.

Rhodes also told the amethyst couple about the secret of fusing profound mysteries, while mentioning that it was his own conjecture. He advised everyone not to break through to Highgod for the time being, fearing that fusing profound mysteries would become even harder after that breakthrough. It would be best to take advantage of their time as Midgods to comprehend and fuse them simultaneously.

Lei Jialie accepted Rhodes's explanation and decided not to break through to Highgod for now. As it turned out, over these years, both Pash's and Lei Jialie's Destruction Divine Clones had already approached the Highgod level. Moreover, the fusion of profound mysteries within the Four Edicts was not particularly clear-cut and depended entirely on individual comprehension, unlike the Elemental Laws, where each profound mystery was so clearly defined.

But comprehending and fusing a little more as a Midgod would still be easier than fusing them as a Highgod.

Under the flutter of Rhodes's little wings, fate was quietly changing.

It was another fine day with the blood-red sun shining high overhead. In the same familiar spot, the four sat around a table.

"Old Lei, living here without a care in the world really is wonderful. Every day, we just strengthen our souls, or have a few fights and drink some fine wine. It's truly comfortable. You seem to have been going out quite often lately. Has something gone wrong in the Alliance?" Rhodes asked.

Lei Jialie paused at the question, then said, "There are more and more Midgods in the Infernal Realm, so naturally, more and more come looking for trouble. When the Alliance's elders can't handle them, I have to deal with them myself. Oh, right, I heard something the last time I went out. Highgods have already appeared on the Central Continent."

"Highgods? Do you think the few of us are weaker than Highgods?" Pash wore a look of disdain. Highgods who had broken through so quickly probably had not fused many profound mysteries, and their strength would only be so-so. Naturally, his expression was scornful.

At the edge of the Infernal Realm, unbeknownst to Rhodes and the others...

"Rumble..."

The laws of the world operated, and vast quantities of worldly essence surged. Under the influence of an inexplicable force, boundless matter streamed from the void toward the outermost edge of the Infernal Realm.

PS: Here's the second chapter. These two chapters total over five thousand characters, and I'm still writing. More bonus updates, more bonus updates! Brothers with votes to spare, please cast your monthly votes and recommendation votes. Feel free to bookmark and invest. Wishing you all a happy National Day and smooth sailing in everything.