Upon returning to the Four Divine Beasts Clan, Andrew received an unprecedented welcome. It could be said that his achievements in just one month far exceeded the expectations of the Four Divine Beasts Clan.
Although Andrew disliked such lively celebrations, he still participated. During the event, Han Yue gave him a good scolding, as she had only received news of Andrew much later. Herbert and Deenmike looked at Andrew with admiration. Since undergoing the bloodline baptism, their Water Element talents had been greatly developed, especially Deenmike, who had already grasped the second Water Profound Mystery in just a few years—a speed that was no slower than Andrew's.
After the celebration banquet, Andrew spent some time with Han Yue before going into seclusion to study the Soul -Soul-Devouring Rod of the Nether Serpent.
Andrew took the Soul-Devouring Rod out of his spatial ring and placed it on the table next to him.
"Zzz!"
The white jade table was frozen into fragments by the chilling Soul-Devouring Rod.
Andrew reached out and summoned the Soul-Devouring Rod back.
"Such domineering cold air."
He tried to penetrate the Soul-Devouring Rod with his divine sense, but failed. At the same time, Andrew sensed the power of the Soul-Devouring Rod.
"If it were an ordinary Highgod, touching the Soul-Devouring Rod would injure their soul. If it were Midgod, their soul would likely be directly absorbed by the Soul-Devouring Rod. This power is so peculiar; where does it originate?"
Andrew examined the Soul-Devouring Rod, shocked yet incredibly curious. After thinking for a moment, he had Gaiseresen send over a lot of information about the Netherworld. As families established by the Sovereign, the Four Divine Beasts Clan had influence throughout the various Divine Plane, and naturally had accumulated a wealth of information.
After carefully reviewing the information about the Nether Serpent Clan, Andrew gradually began to understand. The Nether Serpent Clan originated in an extremely dangerous place in the Netherworld, the Nether Abyss. Later, the Ancestor Nether Serpent established his family in the Nether Abyss and gradually developed into a super power in the Netherworld. According to the information, there is a power in the Nether Abyss that affects the soul, a power somewhat similar to the Soul-Devouring Rod.
"This short staff must be made from materials from the Nether Abyss. However, these materials must be extremely rare; otherwise, the Ancestor Nether Serpent wouldn't have only crafted this one short staff."
Andrew was very curious about the material of the short stick, but unfortunately, it wasn't mentioned in the information. He boldly guessed that the material must be related to the Nether Serpent. As the first Nether Serpent in the world, it wasn't impossible for the Ancestor Nether Serpent to have obtained some special treasures. It was even possible that it had nurtured itself, just as the Amethyst Divine Beast nurtured the Soul Stone, it wasn't impossible for the super Divine Beast Nether Serpent to nurture another kind of treasure.
After thinking for a moment, Andrew shot out a transparent sword aura from between his eyebrows. The sword aura entered the short stick and quickly flew out from the top, but its power was much stronger. This result startled Andrew.
"This short stick can actually enhance Soul Attack!"
To confirm this, Andrew experimented several more times, each time increasing the power of his Soul Attack through the short stick by three points.
"An artifact that enhances Soul Attack —it's never even appeared in the original book. I never expected it to be in the hands of the Nether Serpent." Andrew leaned back in his chair, a smug smile on his face. Recalling the previous battle, the Nether Serpent felt somewhat wronged by his defeat. If Andrew hadn't tricked him, even if the Nether Serpent had lost, at least he wouldn't have lost the artifact.
"This world has artifacts for physical attacks, and Soul Defense Divine Artifact, but it has never had an artifact for Soul Attack. Soul Attack are something that must be comprehended by oneself."
Andrew suddenly understood. This artifact, which enhanced Soul Attack, was already comparable in value to Sovereign Artifact. After all, for many powerful individuals, especially those at the Paragon, the usefulness of Sovereign Artifact was far less than that of this one.
However, since this artifact was obtained from the Nether Serpent, Andrew will have to put in a lot of effort to make it his own. Only by relying on his soul power to slowly expel the Nether Serpent's aura from the artifact can Andrew completely control the Soul-Devouring Rod.
Fortunately, this was not a difficult task for Andrew. His soul power was far superior to that of the Nether Serpent, making it a complete and utter crushing victory.
"I now possess Offensive Sovereign Artifact, Soul Defense Sovereign Artifact, the ' Azure Dragon Ring,' has been partially repaired. In another thousand years, this Soul Defense Sovereign Artifact will be fully repaired. If I acquire another Material Defense Sovereign Artifact, I will have a complete set of Sovereign Artifact..."
Over the past two hundred years, as Andrew's soul power has grown, the repair speed of the " Azure Dragon Ring " has gradually accelerated, especially after Andrew reached the Paragon of his soul power. In the original book, after Linley's Four-Element Soul Mutation, it only took him a few hundred years to repair the " Azure Dragon Ring ". At this time, Andrew's soul power was still different from Linley's, but the gap would become smaller and smaller in the future, and the repair speed of the ring would become faster and faster.
Of course, collecting the complete set of Sovereign Artifact is just an idea for Andrew. Once he has perfectly integrated the three elements of profound Mysteries, he will pass the Sovereign Artifact on to his family. At that time, with his physical body comparable to the Sovereign Artifact and his extremely powerful soul, the Sovereign Artifact will no longer be important to him.
Just as Andrew was researching the Soul-Devouring Rod, a huge change occurred outside the Skyrite Mountains.
Since the Nether Serpent was defeated by Andrew, the Eight Great Clans have attached unprecedented importance to Andrew. In order to prevent being ambushed, at least two family leaders are on each mission. At the same time, the Eight Great Clans are divided into four teams to sweep back and forth. Anyone who encounters members of the Four Divine Beasts Clan is immediately killed, and even intelligence personnel are not spared.
"I didn't expect the Eight Great Clans to react so strongly." Gaiseresen's face was grim after receiving reports of casualties among his family members.
Although he had anticipated this, he still underestimated the determination of the Eight Great Clans. This time, all eight patriarchs were mobilized. If he hadn't ordered the cessation of combat missions earlier, the Four Divine Beasts Clan would probably have suffered heavy losses of elders.
"Brother, these guys are despicable! Those intelligence agents posed no threat whatsoever, yet they still showed no mercy!" The White Tiger Clan Leader was furious, slamming his hand on the table. Among the Four Divine Beasts Clan, he was always in charge of intelligence, and no one knew the casualties better than him.
"Sigh." The usually strong-willed Gaiseresen sighed unexpectedly. "Fourth brother, unless we fight a decisive battle, I have no other choice. But if we lose a decisive battle, the family will probably..."
decisive battle?
The three, including the White Tiger Clan Leader, felt a chill run down their spines and fell silent.
"Perhaps we can discuss this with the clan leader," suggested the Vermilion Bird Clan Leader.
Gaiseresen shook his head. "I've already discussed it with him, but he doesn't have any good solutions either. Things have developed to this point, and we're now locked in a life-or-death struggle with the Eight Great Clans. The battle won't end unless one side falls. However, we don't have the strength to wipe out the Eight Great Clans."
"However, the Lord of the Manor also mentioned a solution that is not really a solution..." Gaiseresen changed the subject.
"What method?" the three Vermilion Bird Clan Leader asked in unison.
He hopes we can be patient for now.
"How long should we endure this?" the White Tiger Clan Leader asked.
Gaiseresen said, "Perhaps we'll have to wait until he breaks through. You all know the potential of Three-element Soul Mutation..."
"Wait for him to break through? When will that be?" Hearing this, even the composed Black Tortoise Clan Leader couldn't help but shake his head. Thinking about it, it makes sense. Even for a genius like Andrew, breaking through is not easy. He might break through in the next moment, or he might not break through for ten thousand or a million years.
The four clan leaders remained silent for a long time, but still could not reach a conclusion, and could only order a temporary reduction in their forces.
The relentless attacks from the Eight Great Clans lasted for two hundred years. Only after two hundred years did the intensity of these attacks gradually decrease, and at least the eight clan leaders no longer participated.
Over the past two centuries, the Four Divine Beasts Clan has been completely suppressed. However, their losses were mainly in the lower ranks; the elders were not lost. This was a result of Gaiseresen's continuous suppression. Faced with the frenzied attacks of the Eight Great Clans, quite a few elders from the Four Divine Beasts Clan volunteered to fight. Fortunately, Gaiseresen's prestige was high enough, and the Eight Great Clans did not set up the arena in front of their gates as they would in later generations, so those who volunteered to fight were finally appeased.
However, this situation was also very difficult for Gaiseresen. As the son of the Azure Dragon Sovereign, he longed for a great battle... But as the leader of the family, he had to consider the continuation of the entire family first.
Agitated, Gaiseresen frequently appeared near Andrew's residence.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
Gaiseresen suddenly looked up to the north, where Andrew was. He felt a strong Vibration coming from the north.
"What kind of power is this? Has he broken through?" Gaiseresen soared into the sky and headed north.
In the northeastern region of the Skyrite Mountains, on an open grassland, Andrew moved slowly, his hands moving unconsciously. With each pause, his fists slammed into the void, creating a persistent spatial black hole.
"It is this kind of power, the Mysteries of ' Shattering ' contains ' Profound Mystery of Roundness ', the power is more resilient, and the destructive power has increased several times!" With his eyes closed, Andrew smashed out thirty-six black holes, and finally woke up with a smile. Under his feet, a huge circular crater appeared.