Luo Ao had no idea that Korno's death had already put another Deity-level expert in the Dark Church on high alert. He was now wholly absorbed in fusing two profound mysteries of the Elemental Laws of Fire.
The hardest part of fusing these two profound mysteries was taking the first step. That first step was the key, and it mattered most.
Only with a beginning was there hope for what followed.
During the Divine Fire Trial on Starflame Mountain back then, Luo Ao had taken that crucial first step through a fortunate coincidence. Though working out what followed was difficult too, at least there was a trail to follow.
Unfortunately, the Divine Fire Trial on Starflame Mountain only opened once every three thousand years. Otherwise, Luo Ao really would have wanted to enter the Divine Fire Sea again.
After becoming a deity through fire, he could now sense more easily that this boundlessly vast world was filled everywhere with endless fire elements. Every particle of fire element felt so familiar to him.
With Luo Ao at their center, endless fire elements gathered like weary birds returning to their nests, merging with him.
As time continued to pass, his progress in fusing the two profound mysteries steadily increased.
Whoosh, whoosh...
Within a mass of scorching firelight, a blurred human figure was faintly visible. It was Luo Ao, his entire body transformed into a humanoid flame.
At that moment, he had become completely indistinguishable from the fire elements. As long as he wished, any part of his body could turn into fiercely burning flames of extreme heat at any time.
"Flames, combustion, extreme temperatures..." While continuously fusing Fire Element and the Fire Body Technique, Luo Ao gradually gained many new insights in other areas as well.
"No wonder everyone says comprehending the elemental profound mystery helps with understanding other profound mysteries of the same element..." At their core, all the profound mysteries of elemental Laws arose from the inherent characteristics of that element.
After gaining a sufficiently deep understanding of Fire Element, Luo Ao was now gradually comprehending more than one new profound mystery of the Elemental Laws of Fire.
"The combustion property of flames and this property of extreme heat actually belong to different profound mysteries." Luo Ao was somewhat surprised.
He had comprehended these two properties almost simultaneously, and to him, they seemed virtually inseparable. Yet he could clearly sense that comprehending them felt almost identical to the fusion of profound mysteries he was currently undertaking.
Clearly, these two profound mysteries should originally have been separate. But while comprehending them, Luo Ao had naturally taken the first step toward fusing them as well. That was very good news indeed.
"I've only just gained an initial understanding of these two profound mysteries. Their fusion probably hasn't even reached one percent, and these two profound mysteries themselves are intermediate-level or even high-level profound mysteries. Fusing them will probably be far harder than fusing my current two."
Luo Ao understood one thing very clearly: profound mysteries themselves differed in level. The difficulty of comprehending and fusing high-level profound mysteries was far beyond that of low-level profound mysteries. Of course, once high-level profound mysteries were fused, the increase in strength would naturally be greater as well.
Rather than rushing to divide his attention and work out the fusion of these new profound mysteries, Luo Ao settled his mind and continued fusing the most fundamental ones, Fire Element and the Fire Body Technique.
The Elemental Laws of Fire had six profound mysteries in total. The two he was currently trying to fuse were both low-level profound mysteries, making them the easiest to fuse. Even the bottleneck probably would not last too long.
The Shadow Courtyard.
This was a mysterious place unknown to the people of the Boya Continent. Even many of the continent's Deity-level experts knew nothing of Shadow's existence. Only a handful, including Gu'en, knew this organization existed.
At that moment, Gu'en, with his thick, heavy brown eyebrows, arrived in a shadowed courtyard.
"Miss Alpha, that is what happened. Sorry for the trouble, but please relay this to Mr. Xide." Gu'en simply could not set his mind at ease about that mysterious expert. After much hesitation, he had still come here.
"Sir Gu'en, I will relay this to Lord Shadow as soon as possible. Please head back." Within the shadowed courtyard, Gu'en kept his head lowered and could only faintly make out the blurred back of this blonde beauty. He dared not say anything more, merely nodding before taking his leave.
"Killing Korno just after breaking through? Perhaps Lord Shadow might be interested in this." Alpha murmured softly. How she had determined that the one who acted was the newly ascended deity who had only recently broken through, however, was unknown.
The Triel Mountains.
This was a place where vast numbers of adventurers came to explore and temper themselves. Today, it welcomed another new adventuring party.
"Xide, can't you take this a little more seriously?" The speaker was an exceptionally beautiful young swordswoman.
Her face was beautiful, and her eyes were an extremely rare bright silver. A concentrated air of valor lingered between her brows, and coupled with her dashing golden updo, she was a truly pleasing sight.
"Yes, yes, Lady Nicole. I'll be sure to take things seriously from now on." The young man with short black hair being scolded immediately raised his hands and nodded earnestly in agreement.
"Hmph, you! If you keep slacking off like this, we'll suggest that Lady Nicole kick you out of the party." Once Nicole had walked away, the other members of the adventuring party immediately gathered around him one after another.
They eyed the short-haired young man like tigers watching their prey, threatening and intimidating him with displeased expressions. Yet the young man named Xide could only agree with a wry smile.
"We really are lucky to have joined Lady Nicole's adventuring party."
"That's right. Lady Nicole is beautiful, kindhearted, and strong. And I heard she's the daughter of a great noble family..."
Most of the experts who joined this adventuring party had probably come for Miss Nicole's charm.
Looking at her from a distance, Miss Nicole truly was dazzling and captivating.
The stunning swordswoman wore a close-fitting azure swordsman's outfit that perfectly hugged her tall figure, while its golden patterns and embellishments made her look even nobler and more elegant.
"Miss Nicole really is extraordinarily charming."
After everyone had moved farther away, Xide trailed at the very rear, gazing at Miss Nicole's back from afar with appreciation on his face. As she walked, the way her swaying azure cape fluttered gently in the wind seemed quite beautiful too.
"Hey, you brat, what are you spacing out about now? Hurry up and keep up!"
"Sorry, I'm coming..."
There was not the slightest trace of resentment on Xide's face. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy these warm, pleasant days.
Yet none of them could have known that this fellow being scolded by a group of ordinary adventurers was a supreme expert who stood at the pinnacle of the entire continent!
Mingling among all kinds of people and experiencing different ways of life was another kind of pleasure for Xide.
The endless life of slaughter in the Infernal Realm had already left him weary enough. Here in the Material Plane that was his homeland, he truly did not want to adopt that cold, murderous demeanor again. Simply being an unremarkable adventurer like this seemed quite nice too.
Besides, in this sort of life, he could always encounter all kinds of women with their own unique charms. Even if nothing truly happened, the encounters and meetings themselves were enough to lift his spirits.
Late at night, everything was pitch-black.
A peculiar cool breeze blew past, making the adventurers camping nearby shiver involuntarily.
"Hmm?" Upon sensing this unusual presence, Xide, who had behaved like an ordinary newbie adventurer during the day, quietly slipped out of his tent and came to a secluded spot.
"Is something the matter, Alpha?" A cold voice came from the darkness. Xide had already changed into another outfit. Standing within a world of darkness and shadows, he seemed like a supreme sovereign of the night.
"Lord Shadow, this is what happened..." The blonde beauty respectfully lowered her head and quickly recounted the earlier events to Lord Shadow.
"I see. You may withdraw. I am already aware of this matter." The cold male voice sounded again. Alpha froze briefly, then nodded and vanished into the darkness.