Boom! Boom! Boom! The longsword and saber collided again and again. The two figures kept separating before crashing back together, their weapons clashing fiercely.
Clang! Rhodes held his longsword horizontally above his head, blocking Di'ers's heavy, powerful slash and preventing the saber from pressing any farther down.
Rhodes exerted force through his arm, and the two figures separated once more.
Time slowly passed, and their battle grew increasingly fierce.
An enormous elemental light sword swept across heaven and earth. As their weapons collided yet again, the two separated once more.
"Next, I'll be using my ultimate move. If you have any moves of your own, bring them out!" Di'ers told Rhodes. After that fierce exchange at close quarters, Di'ers understood that this was an expert whose physical strength and divine power were no weaker than his own-whose divine power was even stronger. It seemed he would have to use the ultimate move he had only recently created.
Watching Di'ers gather divine power across from him, Rhodes understood that his opponent was probably about to go all out.
"This strike probably won't be easy to take!" Sensing the violently fluctuating aura of divine power, Rhodes began gathering the Profound Mysteries he had comprehended according to the idea in his mind.
Rhodes had originally wanted to trade a few barbs with Di'ers, but he no longer intended to keep talking. He would defeat this man first!
The divine sword in Rhodes's hand blazed with dazzling purple light. Lightning elements shot into the clouds, seeming to strip the blood-red sun of its color in an instant.
"What is this?" When had Di'ers ever seen an ultimate move with such tremendous momentum?
In the blink of an eye, the boundless lightning began to shrink. As it contracted, streaks of thunder and lightning appeared around the longsword. The lightning elements that had seemed to pierce heaven and earth shrank to the size of the longsword in Rhodes's hand in an instant.
The compressed lightning elements resembled a solid light sword, with streaks of lightning still coiling around it.
Having become a god through comprehending lightning elements, Rhodes naturally did not know any flashy ultimate moves. The method he could think of to complement the elemental Profound Mysteries he had comprehended was compression: compressing the elements into a nearly solid state.
Leaving aside whether it could contend with a divine artifact after being compressed, Rhodes could at least make the thing explode!
All this happened in a flash. Seeing that Rhodes was ready, Di'ers let out a loud shout and swung his saber straight toward him.
At the same time, Rhodes sent the fully compressed Thunderbolt Divine Sword charging toward Di'ers, yet saw no sign of Di'ers's attack.
After Di'ers swung his saber, no Material Attack came slashing out, nor did any soul attack appear. Just as Rhodes was wondering about this, he suddenly sensed waves of danger from overhead.
"So this attack comes straight from the sky?" Rhodes looked up and saw a bolt of lightning striking directly toward him. He swiftly swung his divine sword at Di'ers's strange Material Attack.
The moment the Tribulation-Breaking Divine Sword struck the lightning, an illusory bolt of lightning shot straight into Rhodes's mind with the speed of thunder that left no time to cover one's ears.
Sensing Di'ers's soul attack, Rhodes had thought it would do him no harm. Yet the soul attack passed straight through the innate clear light and purple light, enveloping his entire soul space, though it did not cause him any injury for the moment.
Just as Rhodes was wondering whether this soul attack had no effect at all, he suddenly felt as though all of heaven and earth were passing judgment upon him, and he briefly stopped thinking. In the very next instant, his Willpower activated automatically, breaking apart the soul attack enveloping his soul space.
Rhodes understood now. It was not that this soul attack lacked offensive power; rather, it was a kind of controlling ability that could briefly rob someone of their senses. Once someone stopped thinking and lost control of their physical body, wouldn't they become a living target, left at another's mercy?
Although it seemed as though a long time had passed within his soul space, in the outside world, Rhodes had merely raised his longsword to block the Material Attack, then lost his senses for an instant before recovering.
Rhodes looked at Di'ers, who had not rushed over during his brief lapse, and understood that this man probably did not want to form a mortal feud with him. At that thought, Rhodes no longer intended to strike to kill, but the battle still had to continue.
After all, asking questions after winning would bring different results from asking after a draw.
"Di'ers, I admit that your soul attack is extremely powerful, like the awesome will of heaven itself. But I still have one more move. If you can withstand it, I'll turn around and leave immediately!"
With a swish, the Tribulation-Breaking Divine Sword floated before Rhodes. As lightning elements gathered, it shone a purple so deep it was nearly black, its hazy purplish-black glow illuminating him.
Watching Rhodes, Di'ers understood that the moment to decide victory had arrived. This move would surely determine the outcome.
Hmph, it looks the same as last time because I've only comprehended one Profound Mystery, the Lightning Element Profound Truth. So, sorry, Di'ers-have a taste of how treacherous the world can be! Rhodes then began drawing upon his Willpower.
Di'ers sucked in a sharp breath. At that instant, he sensed the presence of death. What's the point of fighting now? We were evenly matched just a moment ago, and suddenly his aura has grown several times stronger. This... Di'ers cursed inwardly.
Watching Di'ers, who had been gathering divine power with all his strength just a moment earlier, suddenly withdraw his saber into his body, Rhodes looked at him in complete bewilderment. What was he trying to do?
"I'm done fighting. I concede." Di'ers's senses as a Divine Beast kept warning him that if he did not concede now, it would be too late. Even though he sensed no killing intent from his opponent, he would definitely be severely injured after this strike.
Had he not sensed that Rhodes harbored no killing intent, Di'ers would not have conceded so readily.
"I am Di'ers. May I ask your name?"
As far as Di'ers was concerned, there was no shame in lowering his head for the moment when he was weaker. He could keep working hard to comprehend the laws and fight again once he was confident. What if refusing to bow over a momentary dispute left him without any future chance to study the laws?
Moreover, their earlier exchanges had told him that his opponent was also a super Divine Beast. His divine body was no weaker than Di'ers's, and even surpassed his in strength. He had an Innate Divine Ability himself; could his opponent possibly have none? Could face be more important than life?
One must never underestimate the intelligence of the first Divine Beasts born between heaven and earth. In the original story, hadn't only the Fate Sovereign fallen? Of the other three Edict Sovereigns and seven Elemental Sovereigns, which had not lived from the dawn of heaven and earth until countless hundreds of millions of years later?
"My name is Rhodes. I've just left the place where I was cultivating in seclusion, and I'd like to ask you about the current situation in the Infernal Realm." Rhodes dispersed the lightning elements and put away his longsword.
"Rhodes, why don't we go into the castle, and I'll tell you about the surrounding area? How does that sound?" Di'ers looked at Rhodes after speaking. Seeing him nod, he immediately flew toward the castle ten thousand meters away.
As time passed, Rhodes's expression kept changing.
It turned out that the Infernal Realm was still expanding rapidly.
At the edges of the Infernal Realm, boundless soil was condensing under the influence of a powerful force. The continent of the Infernal Realm was expanding at tremendous speed every moment.
Then there were the five forces of roughly comparable size surrounding the Ten Thousandfold Thunder Prison, which happened to encircle this place. They had formed individual alliances, or were forces established by members of the same Divine Beast race.
Most of the Deities here cultivated the Laws of Lightning. One reason was to use the environment to comprehend the laws; another was that the thunderstrike stone produced in the Thunder Region was the finest choice for forging lightning-element divine artifacts.
Thus, the five forces were both rivals and allies. They divided the Thunder Region among themselves, refusing to let other forces intervene and claim a share, while also wanting to expand their own territories. After all, in an age before Sovereigns had been born, there was no such thing as Inkstones, and all transactions followed the rules of barter.
Nor could they venture deep into the Thunder Prison. A Lowgod had once lost his divine clone before reaching ten thousand meters inside, so they could only search carefully around the outskirts.
Divine Sparks, divine artifacts, and materials were all of paramount importance and could serve as bargaining chips.
"Di'ers, are there any Midgods nearby at present?" Rhodes looked at Di'ers and asked the question he had wanted to ask all along.
After thinking for a moment, Di'ers said, "Some time ago, I heard people from other forces say that, far away in the Sea of Chaos, a Deity once appeared who easily killed more than ten Lowgods. But I don't know whether that person was a Midgod."
Hearing the familiar name "Sea of Chaos," Rhodes could not help drawing in a sharp breath.
Could it be Watrod from the original story? His lair seemed to be in the Sea of Chaos. It really might be him. I can't think of anyone else for now.
He looked at Di'ers again. "Apart from that uncertain one, are there any other Midgods?"
Di'ers thought for a moment before telling Rhodes, "At present, Chris Ding, who occupies the largest territory in the center of the Infernal Realm and calls himself the 'Demon King,' is definitely a Midgod. There are also several experts under him who are suspected to be Midgods."
The Demon King? Could the Fiend Castle of later ages have been founded by this man? It really might have been. After all, I haven't heard of any Sovereign with the title of Demon King.
Thinking over the information he had learned from Di'ers, Rhodes realized that he had somewhat underestimated the heroes of the world. Even with Willpower, who could guarantee that figures such as the Demon King and Watrod were ordinary Midgods rather than Midgods who had fused Profound Mysteries?
Even if these people did not become Sovereigns in the future, they would stand at the very pinnacle of the Deities.
In the original story, Linley had possessed combat strength comparable to a Seven-Star Demon even as a Midgod.
At this thought, Rhodes could not help silently reminding himself, I can't be too arrogant. Some divine abilities in the Coiling Dragon Universe are utterly unreasonable, and the gap between fused and unfused Profound Mysteries is enormous. I can't lump them all together.
But Rhodes did not underestimate himself either. If he unleashed his full battle power in conjunction with his Innate Divine Ability, who lived and who died would still have to be decided in battle.
Thinking of the second Innate Divine Ability he had awakened upon becoming a god, who would dare claim certain victory without a fight?
It seemed he really could not go it alone now. Rhodes asked Di'ers for more information about the surrounding forces, large and small.
Di'ers could see it clearly too. The Rhodes before him was probably considering establishing his own force. After all, going it alone would not work now.
For nearly a thousand years, the Infernal Realm had remained in chaos. Only its present center showed some signs of stability, thanks to the Demon King's forceful suppression. But beyond the bounds of his territory, everything was just as chaotic as ever.
Deities and Saint-level beings, great and small, all huddled together for warmth.
Since life first arose in the Infernal Realm, there had been no unified order. The only rule was that the strong reigned supreme and the weak were prey to the strong.
Amid the endless struggles, exceptionally gifted experts had risen one after another and established forces of their own. The Demon King was one of the kings who stood at the very pinnacle among those many experts.
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