The Laws of the Universe descended with astonishing speed, then dissipated just as quickly.
In a little over ten breaths, Bowen completed his transformation from the Saint Domain to God Level.
The light of the Laws of the Universe enveloping Bowen faded. Black Tortoise Bowen's Saint Domain original body, which was as large as a small mountain, vanished. In its place stood a lean, muscular man with short brown hair, wearing a short-sleeved shirt the color of ephedra.
The muscular man radiated the heavy presence unique to the Earth Elemental System. He was Bowen's Earth Element Divine Clone.
"Big brother." Having just formed his Divine Clone, Bowen landed and walked toward Redding with a smile.
Redding smiled as he went to meet Bowen, then asked the question Laius and Nemo most wanted answered. "What does it feel like to become a god?"
Bowen raised a hand, clenched it into a fist, and thumped his Earth Divine Clone's sturdy chest. "Incredible. Big brother, you were right. Until you become a god, you're ultimately nothing but an ant. I feel a hundred times stronger than I was before, and I've awakened an Innate Divine Ability too."
As he spoke, Black Tortoise Bowen instantly unleashed his Innate Divine Ability. Behind his Divine Clone, an illusory image of a Black Tortoise materialized into a solid form.
At once, Redding sensed Bowen's defenses surge. That presence was as heavy as a mountain, and Redding felt that even if he attacked with all his strength, he would be unable to shake Bowen in the slightest before the Innate Divine Ability ended.
"Good, good, good!" Seeing Bowen use his Innate Divine Ability, Redding praised him repeatedly.
Each of the Four Divine Beasts' Innate Divine Abilities had its own strengths. Black Tortoise Bowen excelled at defense, while Vermilion Bird Nemo's Innate Divine Ability, once she became a god, could attack the soul and possessed the power of rebirth.
White Tiger Laius's Innate Divine Ability, Tiger Roar, could unleash an exceptionally powerful physical attack and even tear through space. As for Redding's Dragon Roar, it possessed some ability to attack the soul and could even affect time.
With Black Tortoise Bowen having become a god, and feeling his mountain-like presence, Laius and Nemo could no longer sit still. They urged Redding to explain the Profound Mysteries of the laws.
Redding was the eldest of the Four Divine Beasts, and Laius and the others thought it only natural that he had become a god first. But Bowen, the youngest, had beaten Laius and Nemo to become the second god among them, and that left them somewhat embarrassed.
Redding merely smiled at Laius and Nemo's eagerness and said nothing more.
Pressure was what drove progress. A little competition was good; how else could they grow stronger quickly?
Although the Four Divine Beasts were Super Divine Beasts with formidable innate talent, it wasn't as though anyone's bloodline was weak at the dawn of the universe.
The Sovereign of Destruction of the Infernal Realm, the Amethyst Sovereign, the Sovereign of Death of the Netherworld, the Life Sovereign of the Life Divine Realm...
Which of them had less innate talent than the Four Divine Beasts? Redding knew full well that unless they improved their strength quickly, the four siblings would have little advantage when the Sovereign Sparks appeared.
Redding's goal was for all Four Divine Beasts to obtain Mid-level Sovereign Sparks at the very least. If they were only Lower Sovereigns as in his previous life, even if their Fusion Innate Divine Ability allowed them to reach the Sovereign tier, other Sovereigns might still set their sights on them.
Cultivation made the years slip by unnoticed. In the blink of an eye, a thousand years had passed.
In the Skyrite Mountains, a thousand years had passed since Black Tortoise Bowen became a god.
Less than a hundred days after Bowen became a god, Nemo and Laius followed. They had both been just one step away from becoming gods, and Redding's explanations had sped up the process.
Over the course of more than a thousand years, the Four Divine Beasts had made rapid progress in their cultivation. Redding's Water Element Divine Clone had broken through to the Midgod level, and he had also become a god in the Lightning and Life Elements one after the other.
Besides reaching the Midgod level in the Wind Element, White Tiger Laius had also reached the Lowgod level in the Destruction Element.
Besides his Midgod Earth Elemental System clone, Black Tortoise Bowen had also reached the Lowgod level in the Death Element.
Vermilion Bird Nemo had overtaken the others despite her later start. Not only had she reached the Midgod level in the Fire Element, but she also had two Lowgod Divine Clones, one of the Life Element and one of the Light Element.
Above the Skyrite Mountains, Black Tortoise Bowen wore black armor and held a pitch-black octagonal hammer. He radiated a presence as heavy as a mountain.
Across from Bowen, Laius held a three-meter-long horse-slaying saber, his cyan robes fluttering in the wind.
Several hundred meters away, Nemo, wearing a long red dress with her long crimson hair tied back in a high ponytail, watched Laius and Bowen fight as she contemplated the Profound Mysteries of the Laws of the Fire Element.
With the horse-slaying saber in hand, Laius attacked with incredible speed. Every swing carried the extreme speed of the Wind Element's Profound Mysteries, moving too fast for the naked eye to follow.
Six razor-sharp wind blades came straight at Bowen. He tightened his grip on his octagonal hammer and channeled Earth Element Divine Power into its handle, then swung his arm, bringing the massive hammer down on the blades.
Bang!
The face of the hammer struck Laius's attack, and the sharp wind blades burst apart instantly under the immense force Bowen poured into the blow.
A series of piercing explosions rang out as Bowen smashed Laius's wind blades to pieces. Fine fragments of Wind Divine Power fell through the air like a gentle drizzle.
His attack having missed, Laius jerked his shoulders, and a powerful thrust from behind propelled him toward Bowen. He raised his horse-slaying saber high and chopped at Bowen's face.
Clang!
Metal rang out sharply as Bowen swung his hammer straight at Laius. The saber's edge struck the hammer's face, and Laius was sent flying in a perfect arc.
After tumbling several times through the air, Laius steadied himself and smiled at Bowen. "Little brother, that's some strength you've got. You're almost done fusing Pulsation of the Earth with the Laws of Strength, aren't you?"
Bowen nodded and chuckled good-naturedly. "Almost. I reckon I can finish fusing them within ten years."
Hearing Bowen's certainty, Laius sighed and said helplessly, "The other six of the Seven Elemental Laws each have six Profound Mysteries, so why do the Laws of Wind have to have nine?"
Laius had reason to feel helpless. The more laws an element had, the more time it took to comprehend them.
To become a Highgod, one had to fully comprehend all the Profound Mysteries of an element. The Earth Element had six, so one only needed to comprehend six, but the Laws of Wind had a full nine, and all nine had to be comprehended.
If Bowen fully fused two Profound Mysteries of the Earth Elemental System, Laius would have to fully fuse three of the Laws of Wind for their power to be equal.
Sensing Laius's helplessness, Bowen offered him some comfort. "Second brother, the Wind Element may have a lot of laws, but they're troublesome to comprehend."
Laius immediately rolled his eyes. "Little brother, if I could get through your Innate Divine Ability, there are times I'd really want to beat you up. Great comforting words. Don't try to comfort me next time."
The Black Tortoise's Innate Divine Ability was best suited to defense, while the White Tiger's was best suited to attack. As a result, their sparring matches usually ended in a draw, with neither able to do anything to the other.
Bowen smiled without answering. Annoyed, Laius changed the subject. "By the way, why hasn't big brother come out of seclusion yet? I'm tired of staying in the Skyrite Mountains. Didn't we say we'd go out and look around once he came out...?"
Bowen shook his head and counted on his fingers. "Soon. It'll be a full hundred years in another six. Big brother said that even if he didn't make a breakthrough in seclusion, he'd come out within a hundred years."
For Super Divine Beasts like them who had become gods, six years was no longer than a nap.