Tianfeng was the strongest person in the entire Heavenly Wind Tribe.
Of course, that did not include Leijia, who was concealing his strength.
Sensing the auras radiating from the Heavenly Wind Tribe's three Highgods, Leijia felt that if he went all out, he could probably blast all three of their Divine Clones apart in fewer than twenty moves.
In fact, the Heavenly Wind Tribe's three Highgods truly were not very strong.
The Heavenly Wind chief had completely fused two Profound Mysteries of the Laws. Ordinarily, someone who had done so would be a Five-Star Fiend, but the Wind Element had nine Profound Mysteries. Except for the few who fused higher-level Profound Mysteries, their strength was a little below that of a Five-Star Fiend.
Of the other two Highgods, one had not yet begun fusing Profound Mysteries, while the other was not even halfway through fusing two.
That was precisely why the Blazing Mountain Tribe, whose power had grown greatly, had set its sights on the Heavenly Wind Tribe. There was no other reason: it was too weak.
In the Overgod Planes, weakness was the original sin.
The Heavenly Wind Tribe's chief looked at Leijia with eyes full of hope. In recent years, the number of Highgods in the Blazing Mountain Tribe had increased, and its strength had soared. Under its relentless encroachment, the Heavenly Wind Tribe's Highgods had begun to consider backing down.
Now that Leijia had broken through to the Highgod level, the Heavenly Wind chief saw a glimmer of hope-hope of resisting the Blazing Mountain Tribe.
A day later, an enormous residence rose from the ground in the core area of the Heavenly Wind Tribe.
More than a dozen Earth Element Midgods worked together to build it, completing an elegant little courtyard in less than an hour.
Leijia clicked his tongue at the speed. If they had worked construction in his previous life with that kind of efficiency, wouldn't they have made a fortune?
Standing before the residence, Leijia surveyed his new home.
To secure Leijia's loyalty, the Heavenly Wind Tribe's chief had publicly declared him a deputy chief after his breakthrough to the Highgod level. His status was second only to the chief's and equal to that of the other two Highgod deputy chiefs, and he could freely mobilize the tribe's God Level members and resources.
Of course, as Leijia saw it, those rewards were almost entirely useless.
After all, God Level experts had endless lifespans, and aside from providing pleasures, the entire Heavenly Wind Tribe could offer Leijia next to nothing.
In terms of strength, Leijia alone could take on the entire tribe.
As for resources, the Sovereign era had yet to begin, so people mostly traded with Divine Sparks or bartered. Unless he could find something like the Netherworld Fruit that could increase his strength, ordinary items were truly useless to him, aside from taking up space in his interspatial ring.
Even so, when the Heavenly Wind Tribe's chief extended the invitation, Leijia accepted.
There was only one reason: people!
The first thing Leijia did after becoming a deputy chief was summon all the Divine Beasts in the tribe. Whether they were Midgods, Lowgods, or even underage Saint Domain experts, Leijia turned none away as long as they were Divine Beasts. He did not even overlook those with Divine Beast Bloodlines.
There was only one reason for summoning so many Divine Beasts.
To study Divine Beast Bloodlines.
As everyone knew, a Divine Beast's Innate Divine Ability came from its bloodline. Once they became gods, Divine Beasts could naturally use their Innate Divine Abilities. With the help of their bloodlines, unleashing one was as easy as eating or drinking.
Of all the Innate Divine Abilities, the most peculiar was the Four Divine Beasts' Fusion Innate Divine Ability.
Leijia still remembered clearly from his previous life that the Innate Divine Ability the four Lower Sovereigns of the Four Divine Beasts used together was feared even by Sovereign-level experts. With that very move, the four of them, despite being Lower Sovereigns, had stood as equals with other Sovereign-level experts.
Since his rebirth, Redding had attached the greatest importance to only two things: obtaining Sovereign Sparks for the Four Divine Beasts, and their Combined Innate Divine Ability.
Neither could be dispensed with. Both were pillars upon which the Four Divine Beasts depended for survival, and the foundation that would determine whether the four siblings could have a voice among the Sovereign-level experts.
But after becoming gods, Redding discovered that the four siblings could not use their Combined Innate Divine Ability. From the time they broke through from Lowgods to Midgods, they had tried thousands of times, yet the Four Divine Beasts simply could not use the Innate Divine Ability Redding remembered.
Their inability to use the Innate Divine Ability alarmed Redding.
After all, in his plans, the Fusion Innate Divine Ability was the basis on which he could support the Four Divine Beasts in standing at the Sovereign level.
Without the Fusion Innate Divine Ability, unless the Four Divine Beasts obtained High-level Sovereign Sparks, they would be four oversized fat sheep, forever at the mercy of their respective Sovereigns.
If they could seize Mid-level Sovereign Sparks, things would be better. Working together and relying on their respective Innate Divine Abilities, the four could just barely preserve their lives against an ordinary Sovereign.
But if they obtained Lower Sovereign Sparks, they would be fish on a chopping board in a Sovereign's eyes.
Unless the Four Divine Beasts willingly pledged themselves to a powerful Sovereign, let alone Sovereign-level experts, there were plenty of Mid-level Sovereigns who would set their sights on them.
Unwilling to place the future of the four siblings in any Sovereign's hands, Redding chose to study Innate Divine Abilities.
In the Infernal Realm, Redding led the Four Divine Beasts in studying how to fuse their respective Innate Divine Abilities. Meanwhile, Leijia built up a force in the Life Divine Realm and searched for an opportunity to seize Sovereign Sparks, while using Divine Beast Bloodlines to study Innate Divine Abilities and assist the Four Divine Beasts' research into their Fusion Innate Divine Ability.
The Heavenly Wind chief did not stop Leijia from summoning the Divine Beasts in the tribe.
As the Heavenly Wind chief saw it, with the Blazing Mountain Tribe watching them covetously, Leijia's value as a Highgod was far greater than that of the Divine Beasts he had summoned.
Leijia was only asking them to use their Innate Divine Abilities a few times and drawing a few drops of their essence blood. Even if he had slaughtered all the Divine Beasts below the Midgod level in one go, the Heavenly Wind chief would not have said a word.
In his view, as long as Leijia was willing to stay in the Heavenly Wind Tribe, any request could be granted, unless he did something that weakened the tribe.
With the Heavenly Wind chief's full support, Leijia was naturally free to throw himself into researching Divine Beast Innate Divine Abilities and bloodlines.
As for the Divine Beasts Leijia had summoned to draw blood from, they had no objections either.
It was only a few drops of essence blood. As long as too much was not drawn at once, they could recover after resting for a while.
If they lost the tribe's protection and were killed by God Level experts outside the tribe, having their Divine Sparks dug out and their Divine Beast bodies stripped to the bone and marrow was only to be expected.
If a Soul Seed were planted in them and they were enslaved, that would be a fate worse than death.
While Leijia was summoning Divine Beasts to study their Innate Divine Abilities, at the Blazing Mountain Tribe...
In the center of the Blazing Mountain Tribe, a Fire Element Midgod pushed open the gate to a roughly styled courtyard and entered.
"Chief." As soon as he entered, the Fire Element Highgod bowed to the towering figure sitting cross-legged in the courtyard.
Whoosh!
The Blazing Mountain Tribe's chief slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air through his mouth and nose. The bulging muscles in his lean, powerful limbs gradually relaxed, and the restless fire elemental energy around him gradually settled as well.
Seeing the Blazing Mountain chief's condition, the Midgod brightened. "Congratulations, Chief! Your strength has improved again!"
The Lieshan chief waved a hand and frowned, his thick brows drawing together. "Get to the point," he said gruffly. "Less flattery."