Skyrite Mountains were filled with hazy, gray mist.
The full moon hung high, and an eerie purplish-red light shone over the entire mountain range, carrying an oppressive killing aura unique to the Infernal Realm.
As the Infernal Realm, one of the Four Overgod Planes, it birthed countless innate living beings. Even among countless planes, the Skyrite Mountains belonged to the top tier of mountain ranges.
"I've done it, I finally did it! Hahaha!"
A slightly frantic voice rang out, followed by an incomparably high-pitched Dragon Roar.
"A hundred years, achieving godhood, I've finally taken this step!" Redding's tone was somewhat frantic yet carried a hint of lingering emotion.
Drip-drop!
A crisp sound of dripping water rang out. An inspiration welled up from the soul, and a cold, emotionless yet somewhat majestic voice sounded in Redding's mind.
Please choose: External Godhood, or Internal Godhood?
"External Godhood!"
Without any hesitation, Redding immediately responded to that voice, "External Godhood!"
As Redding made his choice, the Laws of the Universe descended swiftly. Azure light instantly engulfed Redding, covering his thousand-meter-long dragon body while misty water vapor gathered around him.
A crystal emitting azure light slowly took shape beside Redding. Driven by the convergence of the Laws of the Universe, Water Element divine power rapidly sculpted Redding's Divine Clone.
The next moment, a string of heart-rending screams rang out.
The Laws of the Universe were like a brute pair of hands, tearing Redding's soul into two portions. The larger portion remained within the Saint Domain True Body, while the smaller portion fused with the newly condensed Divine Spark to form a new Divine Clone.
A sharp pain shot through his mind, causing Redding's body to twist uncontrollably in midair. Viewed from above, he looked like a rapidly writhing maggot, comical yet somewhat terrifying.
Hisss!
It hurt, it hurt too much.
Shaking his gigantic dragon head, Redding felt as though his brain had turned into a complete mess of paste. If not for the memories of his past life and knowing the benefits of External Godhood, Redding would never have tried External Godhood even if it killed him.
Even with mental preparation, the agony of External Godhood felt as though Redding had truly shed a layer of skin.
The Laws of the Universe came quickly and left just as fast. From the condensation of Redding's Divine Spark to the formation of the Divine Clone, it took only a few fleeting breaths.
An elegant black-haired youth appeared before Redding's true body.
A head of lustrous, dark hair hung loose behind him, and he wore a simple white robe.
Redding's Saint Domain True Body opened its mouth slightly, carefully sizing up this Divine Clone of his.
With a thought, Redding's Saint Domain True Body instantly turned into an azure ray, merging into the Divine Clone.
Raising his hand with five fingers lightly clenched, Redding earnestly exercised his Divine Clone. "I haven't been a human for a hundred years, it really takes some getting used to."
Just as Redding was working hard to adapt to his new body, a deep tiger roar came from the distance.
A completely snow-white tiger padded over on all fours in Redding's direction.
Its four limbs moved like the wind, and its tiger tail whipped behind it like a steel lash.
The future White Tiger Sovereign, Laius, was at this time still only a Saint Domain white tiger who had not yet achieved godhood.
"Roar!"
Although Laius's Saint Domain physical body was not as long as Redding's, it still approached a thousand meters in length. Seen from afar, it looked like a miniature mountain range.
As the second of the Four Divine Beasts, and one of the Super Divine Beasts most skilled in speed, the white tiger Laius had rushed over the very moment he sensed the commotion at Redding's location.
Even Vermilion Bird Nemo, who traveled by flying, fell slightly short of Laius in speed.
"Roar!" Having just arrived, Laius roared at Redding, speaking in human language, "Who are you!"
The Skyrite Mountains were a massive mountain range across the entire continent, so naturally they birthed more than just the Four Divine Beasts.
As the most pugnacious of the Four Divine Beasts, Laius had also sparred with other divine beasts over the past century.
Yet humanoid creatures like Redding's Divine Clone were something Laius was seeing for the first time.
Feeling the God Level aura emanating from Redding, Laius tensed his muscles while his throat continually emitted low roars, releasing the pressure belonging to a top divine beast white tiger toward Redding without reservation.
However, Laius was currently still only in the Saint Domain without even condensing a Divine Spark. To Redding, who had already achieved godhood, this bit of pressure could not even count as an itch, let alone pose any threat to him.
The corners of Redding's mouth curved slightly as his God's Domain expanded.
Visible azure light radiated from Redding, and misty water vapor, guided by Redding's Water Element divine power, gathered from all around toward him.
With a light chuckle, Redding snapped his fingers in Laius's direction.
Snap! A crisp sound of knuckles colliding.
Laius instantly felt as though he had plunged into a quagmire, feeling as if invisible fluid surrounded him from all directions, constantly binding and squeezing him.
Though water was soft, Laius felt it weighed a thousand pounds. No matter how he urged the wind elements in the water to transform into wind blades for attack, the water elements within Redding's God's Domain remained utterly unmoving, still tightly wrapping Laius within.
The wind blades glided past the currents, unable to move even a few meters before the layers of water within the domain dissolved them, scattering them into nothingness.
"Roar!" With all his fur standing on end, Laius felt the pressure within the water growing heavier and heavier, and the wind elements inside his body depleting at an extreme rate. If he could not find a way to break free soon, it would not be long before Laius was completely trapped and killed within this mass of water.
Just as Laius found himself entirely helpless, a crisp cry and the roar of an exotic beast echoed each other in the distance.
A crimson firebird blazing with flames flapped its wings, alongside an exotic beast with a dragon head and turtle body resembling a dragon-turtle, rushing toward Laius's location one after the other.
The crimson firebird spread its wings, their span reaching a hundred meters. Yet beside the Dragon Turtle, whose body was the size of a hill, she looked rather petite.
The firebird and the Dragon Turtle were none other than Vermilion Bird Nemo and Black Tortoise Bowen, two of the Four Divine Beasts.
Sensing the commotion as the Laws of the Universe descended upon Redding on his path to godhood, Nemo and Bowen immediately rushed in his direction.
Nemo was some distance away, and Bowen was not as skilled at speed as Laius. By the time the two arrived, Redding had already trapped Laius completely.
"Second Brother!" Vermilion Bird Nemo let out a sharp cry and beat her wings. Violent fire element gathered, and fireballs formed one after another in an instant.
Vermilion Bird Nemo flapped her wings, sending the fireballs raining down on the water that had trapped Laius.
Puff! Puff!
The barrage of fireballs struck the water Redding had condensed, then went out like duds.
The fireballs Nemo had spent energy condensing did not damage Redding's water in the slightest. They were swallowed up completely beneath its surface.
Having easily dealt with Nemo's attack, Redding raised an eyebrow and sensed the divine power within him draining away.
The Divine Clone had just condensed, and its divine body had gathered enough divine power as the Laws of the Universe descended.
If the divine power within him was like a bowl of water, then the amount Redding had just used to trap Laius and fend off Nemo's attack was no more than a single drop-almost negligible.