The salty, fishy sea breeze blew against Leijia's face. His long silver hair streamed behind him, and he wore a black robe as he flew into the distance, holding a simple sea chart made from the hide of some unknown Divine Beast.
His nostrils twitched as he suppressed his discomfort at the fishy smell around him. "It's been ten years. How have I still not seen a single island?"
Nearly three hundred years had passed since he left Crimson Island. Leijia was none other than Redding, who had obtained the soul-altering wonder on Crimson Island.
Knowing full well not to put all his eggs in one basket, Redding had not taken the Heaven and Earth Wonder that changed his soul aura with him when he left Crimson Island. Instead, he had sent his Lightning Element and Life Element Divine Clones out alone under the alias Leijia, taking the Heaven and Earth Wonder with them.
Leijia was Redding's alternate identity.
Although this Divine Clone of Redding's was not as powerful as his Water Element Divine Clone, it had already completely fused two Profound Mysteries of the Edicts and had fused most of a third.
With the addition of his Life Divine Clone, which was about to break through to the Highgod level, there was still something of a gap compared to his Water Element Divine Clone, but in the current four Divine Planes, there was almost no risk unless he ran into one of the few top experts.
Redding planned to have Leijia establish a foothold in the other Overgod Planes and make preparations early, before the Sovereign Sparks appeared. With luck, he could seize an additional Sovereign Spark. With one Sovereign Clone in the open and the other in the shadows, supporting each other, Redding would have a backup plan in case another Sovereign plotted against him.
After flying over the sea for another ten days or so, Leijia finally realized he had gone the wrong way.
Holding a Midgod in one hand, Leijia asked in a booming voice tinged with anger, "You mean I'm not in the Star Mist Sea anymore? I've ended up in the outer sea?"
With Leijia's hand around his throat, the Midgod spoke with difficulty. "Y-yes, my lord. This is indeed the outer sea you mentioned."
The Infernal Realm consisted of five continents and two seas. The five continents formed a ring, and the sea enclosed by them was called the Star Mist Sea, because islands dotted it like stars and mist covered most of its waters.
Beyond the five continents was a more expansive sea, home to more God Level experts and even greater chaos. It was called the Chaotic Sea.
After leaving Crimson Island, Leijia had originally intended to find the nearest Planar Teleportation Array and venture to another Overgod Plane.
But the sea was unlike land. Apart from a few islands, nearly everything in sight was the same expanse of water, with no way to tell one place from another. A slight deviation could leave one tens of thousands of miles from the destination by the time the mistake was discovered.
To reach the nearest teleportation array as quickly as possible, Leijia had flown at full speed for over a hundred years. By the time he realized something was wrong, he had already passed from the Star Mist Sea into the Chaotic Sea.
Watching Leijia's expression grow darker, the Midgod whose throat Redding was gripping forced out, "My lord, I've told you everything I have to say. Could you let me go?"
The Midgod was sick with regret. A few days ago, he had spotted Leijia flying over the sea and sensed the aura of a Midgod coming from him. He had enlisted two other Midgods to rob Leijia, thinking they had picked an easy target, only to run headlong into a steel plate.
Leijia had easily dealt with two of the Midgods. When the last one tried to flee, Leijia had seized him by the throat.
Leijia snorted and tightened his grip slightly. "Where are the nearest island and teleportation array? Do you have a sea chart on you?"
Feeling the pressure on his throat steadily increase, the Midgod struggled to speak. "I do, my... lord. I have a sea chart. The nearest island is on it; it should take about a month to fly there. As for the teleportation array you mentioned, I don't know."
Silver light flashed, and a beast-hide sea chart appeared in the Midgod's hand.
Leijia took the chart and slowly released his grip on the Midgod's throat. "Get lost."
The Midgod, as though granted a pardon, did not dare linger for a moment. With a splash, he plunged into the sea below and dove toward the seabed, terrified that some displeasure might make Leijia stop him again.
Ignoring the Midgod diving toward the seabed, Leijia took the sea chart and flew toward the nearest island marked on it.
One month later, Black Reef Island.
After landing, Redding immediately released his divine sense and swept it across the island.
Unlike Crimson Island, Black Reef Island was a small island in the Chaotic Sea with few God Level experts living there permanently. Instead, it served as a marketplace where God Level experts gathered at irregular intervals.
Though called an island, Black Reef Island was not very large, only the size of a village from Leijia's previous life. The entire island was made of black reefs, making it extremely difficult for plants to grow.
According to the markings on the sea chart, God Level experts gathered on the island approximately once every six months. By his reckoning, the next gathering should be sometime within the coming month.
Leijia landed on the island and surveyed his surroundings. Black Reef Island was small, and his divine sense easily covered the entire place. Apart from Redding, there were only bare reefs, with no other living beings.
Leijia found a relatively flat spot on the island and sat down, beginning to comprehend the points of compatibility between the Profound Mysteries of the Lightning Law.
According to the customs of Black Reef Island, no matter how unlucky Leijia was, God Level experts would come ashore to trade within a year.
Rather than wander aimlessly around the Chaotic Sea, he might as well wait for the God Level experts to trade on Black Reef Island and see if he could learn where a teleportation array was.
In the blink of an eye, several months passed. A few God Level experts landed on Black Reef Island, and one of the Midgods noticed Leijia cultivating on a reef.
Before he could do anything, the Midgod leading them raised a hand to stop him. "Don't stir up trouble."
The Midgod nodded slightly, then turned and sat down cross-legged elsewhere.
The other God Level experts also spread out, though none of them went very far from the others.
While cultivating, Leijia lifted his eyelids slightly and glanced toward the God Level experts without betraying any reaction. Though he was cultivating, his awareness had not slackened in the slightest; he had noticed them as soon as they landed.
Two cultivated the Wind Element, one the Earth Element, and three the Water Element. Two were Midgods, and the rest were Lowgods. Judging by the fluctuations of their divine power, the strongest had only comprehended four Profound Mysteries of the Laws and showed no sign of having fused any. Unless he ran into an expert exceptionally skilled at concealing their strength, they posed little threat.
Ignoring them, Leijia looked them over briefly before returning to his cultivation.
Another month passed. During that time, God Level experts arrived on Black Reef Island every day, sometimes as few as four or five, sometimes as many as a dozen or twenty.
The vast majority were Lowgods, with a small number of Midgods and not a single Highgod.
This was actually the norm in the Infernal Realm at present. Highgods were not exceedingly rare, but they were by no means common.
However, Redding and his siblings had all displayed the strength of Midgods, and with the Highgod Pash among them, their forces were so powerful that no one would dare attack them without several Highgods joining forces.
Fighting only high-level opponents had given Leijia the false impression that Highgods were numerous in the Infernal Realm.
In truth, a gathering of as many Highgods as Crimson Island had already made it a major power in its own right. Ordinary islands might not even have one or two Highgods stationed there.
At a gathering like the one on Black Reef Island, having no Highgods at all was the norm.