For beings above the Saint Domain, time was the least valuable thing. Less than a month remained of the six years Bowen had mentioned, yet Redding still showed no sign of coming out of seclusion.
"Laius, get the hell out here!"
A thunderous rumble rolled across the sky above the Skyrite Mountains.
A tiger's roar answered him. "You're courting death!"
Deep in the Skyrite Mountains, a streak of azure light shot up from the ground. Wind Divine Power blazed around Laius, who had gained insight into the Profound Mysteries, as he flew toward the voice.
Laius unleashed his pressure without restraint. At the same time, he took a divine artifact horse-slaying saber from his spatial ring and swung it casually, sending a sharp wind blade infused with divine power slashing toward the voice.
Whoosh!
Before Laius's wind blade could strike the figure, a dark, obscure presence swallowed his attack whole.
Laius also got a clear look at the figure.
"Tristan, you defeated wretch! You were lucky to escape more than five hundred years ago, and now you dare come courting death again!"
The Four Divine Beasts had been born in the Skyrite Mountains, but the Skyrite Mountains were among the Infernal Realm's foremost mountain ranges. Naturally, they could not have given birth to the Four Divine Beasts alone.
Tristan was a Divine Beast born in the Skyrite Mountains, but his bloodline was not as powerful as those of the Four Divine Beasts.
If the Four Divine Beasts were placed in the Super Divine Beast tier, Tristan was a high-tier Divine Beast. His strength was fairly impressive, but it fell somewhat short against darlings of heaven and earth like the Four Divine Beasts.
Feeling the pressure coming from Laius, Tristan immediately laughed. "Laius, after all these years, why are you still stuck at the Midgod level?"
As he spoke, Tristan spread out his God's Domain, and his pressure poured toward Laius like a tide.
"A Highgod?" Feeling Tristan's pressure, Laius was taken aback. He froze for a few seconds before collecting himself.
Catching the surprise that flashed through Laius's eyes, Tristan laughed wildly. "Laius, are you surprised?"
"More than five hundred years ago, you were a Midgod, and I, Tristan, was a Midgod too. I couldn't even withstand a hundred of your moves, and I nearly died to your Innate Divine Ability."
"Who would have thought? Who would have thought! Now I'm a Highgod, and you, Laius, are still just a Midgod! Ha ha, ha ha ha ha... cough, cough!"
Tristan laughed like a madman, and a tear could even be seen in his eye.
Laius merely watched him in silence, without saying a word.
After laughing for a while, Tristan looked at the calm expression on Laius's face and clutched his aching stomach. "Laius, I'm actually rather grateful to you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have left the Skyrite Mountains. If I hadn't gone beyond the Skyrite Mountains, I wouldn't have encountered that opportunity, and I wouldn't have the strength I possess today."
As he spoke, a smile curled at the corner of Tristan's mouth, revealing two sharp canines. "So, to repay you, I've decided to kill you and dig out your Divine Spark!"
The moment the words left his mouth, Tristan sprang into action. He leaped forward and vanished in an instant before Laius's eyes.
The next second, Tristan appeared without warning behind Laius, to his right.
Tristan turned his wrist, and the divine artifact claws fastened to it snapped out, raking viciously toward Laius's shoulder.
Rip!
The claws tore through Laius's robes, but when they touched his skin, they seemed to strike a tough, elastic membrane.
Before Tristan's claws could pierce any deeper, Laius's attack arrived.
Twisting at the waist and back, Laius swept his saber upward. The horse-slaying saber in his hand slashed out at an exceptionally tricky angle, cleaving toward Tristan's head.
Laius's saber appeared to move slowly, but it was actually incomparably fast. He had completely mastered the fast and slow aspects of the Laws of Wind.
Aside from lacking the support of Highgod Power, this strike's might was already no weaker than that of an ordinary Highgod.
Dodge!
Tristan did not hesitate for a moment in the face of Laius's attack. When Laius drove him out of the Skyrite Mountains, he had already experienced how fierce Laius's attacks were.
Besides, this attack was even fiercer than those of the past. Tristan had a premonition that if he took the blow head-on, he might fall.
With a light tap of his toes, Tristan vanished at once.
Laius's attack swept past Tristan's divine body.
But this time, Laius saw it clearly. Tristan had slipped into a shadow.
Laius spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and spread out his God's Domain, sensing his surroundings. "These Laws of Darkness really are troublesome."
Of the Seven Laws, the Laws of Darkness were the most bizarre, excelling at concealing oneself in darkness and delivering a fatal blow to an opponent.
Laius dared not be careless. If Tristan caught him off guard, he could inflict tremendous damage on him, or even kill him.
In that last attack, if Tristan had not been unaware of the defenses of Laius's divine body, that swipe might have directly taken Laius out of the fight.
But although Tristan's attacks were powerful, his own defense was his weak point. Laius planned inwardly that as soon as he found another chance to attack, he would use his Innate Divine Ability to send Tristan on his way.
Hidden in the darkness, Tristan also thought to himself how close it had been. If he had not swallowed that strange stone at the bottom of that mysterious lake and luckily broken through to become a Highgod, Laius might have killed him with a single strike.
Even though Laius was only at the Midgod level, Tristan still sensed a tremendous threat from him.
"You really can't underestimate anyone!" Tristan raised a hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead and searched from within the shadows for his next chance to attack.
Floating in the air, Laius gradually calmed down. He knew the undulations from his fight with Tristan just now must have attracted Bowen and Nemo's attention.
As long as he held out for a little while, even if he could not defeat Tristan, Vermilion Bird Nemo and Black Tortoise Bowen would arrive. Then it would be three against one, and Tristan would find it hard to escape even if he had wings.
So Laius was in no hurry. If this dragged on, Tristan would expose an opening himself.
Tristan, hiding in the shadows, naturally knew he was the one in a greater hurry.
He racked his brains but could not understand why, even though he had clearly broken through to become a Highgod, killing a Midgod like Laius was still so difficult.
I couldn't beat Laius before I became a Highgod, and now that I'm a Highgod, I still can't beat him. Didn't I become a Highgod for nothing?
At that moment, only one word filled Tristan's mind: Absurd!
But Tristan also knew he did not have much time left. The Four Divine Beasts always acted together, and he had only caught them off guard this time. Once the Four Divine Beasts reacted, all four would gang up on him.
Even though all four had the strength of Midgods, Tristan had felt the power behind Laius's strike just now. He knew that if this dragged on, his Divine Spark might be beaten right out of him.
At that thought, Tristan immediately stopped hesitating. He leaped out of the shadows, the divine artifact claws on his wrist reaching for Laius.
With that powerful burst of speed, Tristan's claws were already close to Laius's chest before Laius could react.
A smile curled at the corner of Tristan's mouth. He could almost see victory already. If this blow landed, he would definitely kill Laius.
Taking in Tristan's expression, Laius smiled. "You finally fell for it!"