After they finished discussing the name of their faction, they still had to discuss the various issues involved in establishing it. Rhodes had no interest in these matters and merely outlined the Sovereign Legions of later ages, leaving the rest for Pash and Lei Ding to discuss. Lei Ding and the others were very enthusiastic about it.
They truly deserved their later reputation as the foremost clan. If they had had no intention of developing their clan, the Four Divine Beasts Clan could never have become the foremost clan.
Even the clan of Augusta, the Light Sovereign, fell slightly short of theirs. That alone showed how imposing the Four Divine Beasts were.
Time passed as they waited. Rhodes was still thinking about the expert behind Aksu, unaware that a familiar face was also flying toward the Skyrite Mountains at tremendous speed.
In the meantime, after Aksu's Light God Clone died, Rhodes summoned the five Highgods who had survived the battle to pledge allegiance to the Hall of the Gods under the Overgod's witness. Unexpectedly, it did not work. After a moment's thought, Rhodes understood. Aksu probably still had another Divine Clone alive, so they would have to wait for now. As long as he did not have the five deal with the Light Alliance or Aksu, there would be no problem with anything else.
One was then assigned to Pash, while the remaining four were placed under the Four Divine Beasts.
Rhodes said that when the opportunity arose, he would subdue a few more Highgods and then establish a force under the Thunder God.
At their instructions, the five Highgods began subduing the Deities around the Skyrite Mountains, bringing Midgods and Lowgods alike under their command. When they encountered a Highgod whom one of them could not handle, several would join forces. If they still could not deal with the target, they would send word back to the Skyrite Mountains. Highgods were either killed or subdued, while Midgods and Lowgods could only submit. Under the deterrence of the five Highgods, they could not even choose death.
They had just begun discussing the Four Divine Beasts' Innate Divine Abilities, and Rhodes had barely gotten half a sentence out when a voice rang out, sounding incomparably solemn and majestic.
"Was it you who captured Aksu?" The force behind Aksu had arrived.
The Light King had not brought Aksu's Divine Clone along on his journey, so he still did not know Aksu was dead. When Aksu reported to the Light King, he had not yet gone out to fight his decisive battle with Pash.
By the time Aksu came out, Light King Atez had already entered the Teleportation Array.
Rhodes also looked gravely at the young man with golden hair and a moon-white robe. He sensed an immense threat from this man, a threat to his life, and could not help taking him seriously.
After sweeping the area twice with his soul power, he found no other Deities. This man really had come alone. Rhodes frowned at the thought, unsure whether the man underestimated him too much or was simply brimming with confidence.
"Be careful, all of you. This man is no weaker than I am. Pash, look after Lei Ding and the others in a moment. I'm afraid I won't be able to spare them any attention." Having confirmed that there were no other Deities, Rhodes sent a voice transmission to Pash and the others.
"All right. Be careful, big brother," his brothers all urged.
"Aksu is already dead. I've been waiting here for you for some time. Are you the expert from another plane backing him?"
Hearing Rhodes's words, Atezi thought to himself, Aksu really was useless. He couldn't even hold out until I arrived.
"I am Atezi, leader of the Light Alliance of the Celestial Realm. If you submit to me, I can forgive you for killing my subordinate."
Atezi's words made Rhodes want to laugh. Rhodes recalled those enemies who had spoken so arrogantly in the past. Few of them seemed to still be alive.
"Why don't you join me instead? I'll grant you the position of God of Light under my command. Are you willing?" Refusing to yield in the slightest, Rhodes turned the offer back on Atezi.
"You're courting death!" Atezi's face began to flush with anger at Rhodes's words.
I gave you a chance to serve me, yet you refuse to appreciate it and insult me instead. You're truly courting death.
At this disagreement, he immediately turned into light and charged at Rhodes, attacking at a speed no slower than Rhodes's lightning. Unfortunately for him, speed was Rhodes's greatest strength, and Rhodes easily evaded Atezi's attack.
Without giving Atezi time to react, Rhodes threw a punch straight at him. His lightning-wreathed fist smashed toward Atezi at a speed even greater than Atezi's own.
Atezi sensed the threat from this punch with the power of a Seven-Star Demon. He increased his speed as well, but still failed to evade Rhodes's fist and was punched into the mountainside.
A moment later, Atezi burst out of the mountainside.
"Good. I underestimated you. Now I'm getting serious. Die, you trash!"
Countless figures materialized in an instant, all attacking Rhodes. His soul power swept over them, but he could not distinguish real from false. Every figure's aura was genuine.
They surged toward Rhodes, blotting out the sky.
"Heavenly Tribulation Thunder Region!" Rhodes released an invisible domain, its pressure shattering the countless figures one after another.
By the time only one remained, Atezi was already right in front of him.
"Die!" A Light Sword thrust straight at Rhodes's head.
A longsword suffused with purple light blocked the incoming Light Sword. It was Rhodes's Tribulation-Breaking Divine Sword. The two divine swords met tip to tip in a clash of equals. Fortunately, both were made of extraordinary materials, and neither snapped nor shattered.
What a pity Calamity Breaker isn't a Highgod Artifact. Otherwise... Rhodes sighed inwardly. Midgod Artifacts were indeed inferior to Highgod Artifacts. That was an indisputable fact.
Driving Atezi back with a sword strike, Rhodes began exploiting his advantage in speed. a Magnetic Force Field enveloped Atezi, restricting his speed as Rhodes began to suppress him.
Atezi refused to be outdone. White light flooded his entire body, and the Magnetic Force Field formed from Rhodes's Lightning Magnetism Profound Mystery began to weaken until it disappeared, leaving Atezi completely unaffected.
"Purification. You think a little trick like this can stop me? Keep dreaming."
His comprehension of the Profound Mysteries of the Laws of Light is so deep. This Atezi is definitely no ordinary man. Rhodes could not help drawing a sharp breath, genuinely startled. Although his own ultimate technique was still newly developed, seeing its magnetic field dismantled so easily was shocking.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Their swords clashed and slashed against each other incessantly. Relying on his speed, Rhodes held a slight upper hand, but his advantage was not great. He could sense that Atezi had yet to unleash his full strength, as though he were waiting for something.
After another clash, Rhodes put some distance between himself and Atezi and took full control of the Heavenly Tribulation Thunder Prison. Countless bolts of lightning finished gathering above Atezi and, in the blink of an eye, all struck down at him with immeasurable power.
Seeing that the lightning had turned black, Atezi also sensed the threat. He transformed into a ray of light and began evading the descending Thunder. As he moved rapidly, he was still affected by the Magnetic Force Field to some extent. After all, dissolving the field took time.
In the end, he was struck by lightning imbued with Lightning Speed. Black lightning from the sky engulfed Atez, who had transformed into a ball of light.
With no intention of holding back, Rhodes discharged all the lightning gathered in the sky at once. As the lightning dispersed, the figure within the ball of light emerged. Needless to say, his long golden hair was gone, and his entire body was charred black.
Yet Atezi's entire body was recovering at an extremely rapid rate. After all, the Laws of Light excelled at healing, and their offensive power was far from weak.
In the blink of an eye, Atezi, who had just been struck by lightning, had returned to his previous state. He did not appear badly injured.
"Good. You've caught my interest. Unfortunately, your power is still a little lacking. Only if it were dozens of times stronger could it truly hurt me. As you are now, you're not capable of that."
As his words fell, his single figure instantly became ten thousand. Every figure was covered in white light, completely unaffected by the magnetic space, and they closed in around Rhodes.
"Humanoid Heavenly Tribulation!" Rhodes also controlled Thunder to continue attacking Atezi. While Atezi had been recovering, Rhodes had stirred his divine power once more, turning it into lightning again and giving it humanoid form through the fusion of Profound Mysteries.
Although there were fewer of them than Atezi's clones, each humanoid bolt of lightning could instantly kill one of his clones. After all, the clones were merely formed from light essence, and their power was limited. They might easily handle other Highgods, but this move fell a little short against Rhodes, who could also shape lightning into humanoid forms.
As Atezi's clones decreased in number, each one grew increasingly powerful, as though the fewer clones there were, the stronger each became.
Divine power poured continuously into the lightning figures. Even when Atezi's clones destroyed them, they could recover extremely quickly. Once again, their techniques proved evenly matched. Both were consuming enormous amounts of divine power, and what they drew from the Elemental Sea could no longer keep pace with their expenditure. They began drawing on their stored divine power. This was true for Atezi, and even more so for Rhodes, who was currently a Midgod.
Hiss!
Two clones disappeared simultaneously, and Rhodes stopped maintaining the Heavenly Tribulation Thunder Prison. After all, as an ultimate technique meant for attacking groups, it was not easy to use against an expert of the same level. It consumed too much of his power and was unsuitable.
Standing opposite Rhodes, Atezi was utterly confident. The man before him was weaker than he was. Although defeating him would not be easy, the greatest threat to Atezi remained the Demon King of the Infernal Realm.
Last time, if his Fate Divine Clone had not intervened, his Light God Clone would probably have met his end at the Demon King's hands.
PS: The first chapter. Starting today, there will be at least two chapters a day for one week. Those of you who haven't added this book to your collections, please do so, and feel free to invest in it. Thanks to everyone who votes for the author every day.
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