Rhodes shook his head, feeling that he was overthinking things. Who knew how many hundreds of millions of years remained before the original story's timeline? There was little point in considering these things now.
After all, transcending the Coiling Dragon Universe depended on fate. One needed not only to happen to possess divine clones of four elements, but also to undergo soul mutation. Transcending was truly difficult beyond measure.
In the original story, soul mutations involving two elements were relatively common, but what about three? There seemed to be only one in the Infernal Realm, and the story never said who it was. Given enough time to grind away and fully fuse the edicts of all three elements, their power would be no weaker than a Sovereign's.
But without willpower, even someone with tremendous offensive power was no match for a Sovereign. There were so few experts with soul mutations that most had probably been wiped out by Sovereigns early on. When they were weak, they were ignored; once they became too powerful, they were killed immediately.
"Fuck."
At that thought, Rhodes could not help cursing inwardly.
One only had to look at the Demon Alliance. In the future, there was only the Fiend Castle. Where were the Demon Alliance and the Demon King? However, since the Fiend Castle had not disappeared, it was also possible that the Demon King had survived.
It was not impossible that he had simply failed to seize a Sovereign Spark and fled into a Material Plane to hide. After all, having offended the experts of the entire Infernal Realm, if he failed to obtain a Sovereign Spark and still refused to flee, would he stay behind to await death or enslavement?
As for whether the Demon King would wage war on the other Supreme Planes in this age before Sovereigns appeared, that was hard to say.
"In such a brilliant world, before the Sovereigns appear, there will surely be a place for me, Rhodes!"
Rhodes already possessed the strength of a Seven-Star Demon before finishing the fusion of four profound mysteries. After spending these five hundred years in the Star Mist Sea and the Skyrite Mountains creating ultimate techniques, his lightning magnetism profound mystery had gradually begun to fuse with the lightning element, and he had also found a point of convergence with the profound mystery of judgment.
Given another thousand years or so, Rhodes was confident that, with the Thunder Crystal, he could also find a point of convergence between the lightning magnetism profound mystery and the lightning speed profound mysteries and complete their fusion.
Once Rhodes completed the fusion of four profound mysteries, together with his innate divine ability and willpower, he would not dare claim to rival a Paragon, but he would certainly be an Asura.
Previously, Rhodes had always thought he could stay ahead of the deities of the Coiling Dragon Universe. Only through his travels over these years had he discovered that if he had fortuitous encounters, others did too. If he comprehended profound mysteries quickly, there were geniuses who comprehended them even faster.
Whether they were people who appeared in the original story or those who left behind legends, none were weak, and their talent needed no further mention.
The Demon King alone had previously beaten Rhodes into a sorry state. If not for his speed, it was hard to say whether he would still be alive now.
Lei Jialie, Zijing, Pash, the Demon King, and the others flashed before his eyes. They were all figures destined to dominate their own regions in the future.
I, Rhodes, have never been inferior to anyone in my life. Before the Sovereign Sparks appear, this can be considered the fairest age. Let us compete!
After giving himself some encouragement, Rhodes's heart once again filled with enthusiasm for cultivation, and he continued comprehending and fusing profound mysteries.
"Pash, Lei Ding, let's stop here. I have something to discuss with Lei Ding and the others," Rhodes called out, stopping the five who were fighting.
The five figures immediately stopped fighting and flew down.
"Big brother, what did you want to discuss with the four of us?"
"I want to talk about your future paths. You should have noticed that I'm a Midgod just like you, but my strength exceeds yours by thousands or tens of thousands of times. What I want to say concerns this. I noticed several times before that you wanted to ask me something. I imagine it was this, right? This is a good opportunity to explain it to you in detail."
When Azure Dragon and the others heard Rhodes's words, the divine light in their eyes flared, and they looked at him with delight.
No one understood Rhodes's strength better than they did. Despite being a Midgod like them, he could suppress all four of them in an instant. During these years of drinking together, Lei Ding had wanted to ask several times, but seeing that Rhodes showed no intention of talking about it, he had held back each time.
Everyone had secrets, and sometimes one could not keep pressing for answers. In the end, Lei Ding had never asked. He had not expected the pleasant surprise to come so quickly, with Rhodes actually bringing it up himself.
"Big brother, if this involves your secrets, you don't have to..."
"Haha, that's thoughtful of you, Lei Ding. It's fine. What I'm about to say isn't some great secret, merely an unspoken secret among the top experts of the various factions. Even if I don't tell you now, you'll discover it yourselves in a few tens of thousands of years."
Rhodes smiled and explained to Lei Ding and the others. Hearing Lei Ding's words, Rhodes also felt that their dispositions were actually quite decent. Their future overbearing behavior might have come from the younger members of their clans rather than the four Sovereigns themselves.
"Then sorry for the trouble, big brother," Lei Ding and the other three said in unison.
"Haha, no trouble. Most elemental laws consist of six profound mysteries, while the wind element has nine. Once you comprehend them all, you become a Highgod. But profound mysteries can be fused. For example, the wind element has the profound mysteries of music and sound waves, which can be fused into the sound profound mystery. Two lesser profound mysteries can fuse into an intermediate profound mystery."
"As for why I've remained a Midgod, it's entirely so I can fuse more profound mysteries. As for why I'm staying a Midgod to fuse them, let your second brother explain how difficult it is for Highgods to fuse profound mysteries."
Pash looked helplessly at Rhodes and took over.
"Ahem. Fusing profound mysteries after becoming a Highgod is ten thousand times harder than doing so as a Midgod. After all, you have to comprehend an elemental law completely before you can become a Highgod. Once you've mastered it, trying to fuse it becomes difficult. A fully mastered profound mystery is like a circle without any openings. A profound mystery you haven't fully mastered is a circle with a gap, making it easier to find a point of convergence and then fuse them."
"Yes, that's more or less what it means. After all, these laws can't be described in words. What you comprehend will depend on you individually." Pash spread his hands, then casually picked up a jar of fine wine and poured it into his mouth.
"Yes, that's basically it. In any case, fusing them after becoming a Highgod is extremely difficult. Now it depends on your choice: advance to Highgod first, or remain Midgods a little longer."
Just as Rhodes was about to stop speaking, he continued.
"I almost forgot. There's one more thing I need to tell you. The four of you have used your innate divine abilities quite often in my Thunder Prison over these five hundred years. I've noticed that your four innate divine abilities are very closely related. When Pash and I were in the Amethyst Alliance, Lei Jialie and his wife could fuse their innate divine abilities. The four of you can look into that too."
Having finished speaking, Rhodes waited for the Four Divine Beasts to consider it at their own pace. After all, this concerned their future strength, and he could not rashly decide for them.
Lei Ding and the other three all fell silent. After all, this concerned the paths the four of them would take in the future, as well as their own innate divine abilities.
"Big brother, how long would it take for the four of us to reach your current strength?"
Lei Ding asked.
"Hard to say. A few thousand years, or perhaps a few tens of thousands. Sometimes fusing profound mysteries depends on luck," Rhodes said. Of course, that assumed they did not have a wondrous object like the Thunder Crystal. Otherwise, it would be hard to say how long fusing profound mysteries would take.
"Big brother, how many times stronger could a fusion divine ability be?"
"Judging by the power of Lei Jialie and his wife's fusion divine ability, yours would amplify your power at least a thousandfold, perhaps even ten thousandfold." Rhodes could hardly tell the four of them that, as Lower Sovereigns, they could kill a Law Sovereign with their fusion divine ability.
Time slowly passed amid the four's silence, and they began communicating with one another. As for the fusion divine ability, Lei Ding had already noticed a hint of it, but had never thought along those lines. Only now that Rhodes had pointed it out did he understand.
Just as the four were still struggling to decide, Pash's expression changed drastically.
"Rhodes, that Aksu from the Light Alliance has brought people here."
Hearing this, Rhodes instantly swept out his soul power, enhanced by willpower. He indeed sensed a large force approaching. Fortunately, they were far fewer than the deities of the Amethyst Alliance, which had unified an entire continent.
"They haven't come with good intentions. We probably killed too many before, and now they've come for revenge. The four of you, be careful when fighting. Don't get caught up in the Highgods' attacks. Don't worry about anything else. Today, the Light Alliance can be declared gone."
A ruthless glint flashed through Rhodes's eyes as he rose from his stone chair. Previously, his wind divine clone had been the one fighting the Light Alliance, while his lightning divine clone had been comprehending his latest ultimate technique. He had only just finished comprehending it, yet someone had already delivered themselves to his door for him to practice on.
What good people!!!
P.S. Invest with confidence, and don't hesitate to bookmark. Thanks to all the big brothers who voted to support me. If you have votes, please keep them coming. My deepest thanks.
Before you continue