In the previous battle, the Rhine Clan captured five Deity-level Saint Domain True Body. Delisha and the five council members went directly into a basement to interrogate the Saint-level.
Jason and the other five elders were responsible for sorting out the spoils of war.
The spoils belong to the clan leader and the two Highgod; the five elders naturally cannot keep them for themselves and must wait for the clan to distribute them uniformly.
"Many Interspatial Ring can't recognize their owners. I wonder if one of the bandits still retains Divine Clone, or if the bandits robbed others instead," Angela said, crushing a Interspatial Ring as she spoke.
The Rhine Clan would never allow something that could attract powerful enemies to remain in the family.
Besides the five elders, Landon was also present. Landon had been by the side during the previous battle and, as one of the pillars of the family, was also assigned to take inventory of the Interspatial Ring.
"Oh? Books on laws!" Landon took out a set of books and casually flipped through them. "Hmm, the explanation of the Profound Mysteries of the Seven Elements is very similar to the one in the family. The explanation of the Four Edicts is very interesting; the book introduces the concepts of 'network,' 'node,' and 'line.'"
The group's attention was drawn to Landon's words.
"The Four Edicts are like four huge 'nets,' and the rule that each person initially comprehends is one of the 'nodes.' The number of 'lines' connected to each node is fixed. By comprehending the rules based on a node, each time you comprehend the rule on a line, your own rule power can manifest a characteristic. If you can fully comprehend a 'line,' you will comprehend other 'nodes' and come into contact with more new 'lines.'"
This leads to a feeling that "the rules have no end" when comprehending the Four Edicts; the deeper the comprehension, the further one feels from the end; or one may reach the end of a path only to eventually circle back to the beginning of one's understanding of the rules.
Only by fully understanding all the "nodes" and traversing all the "lines" can a rule be considered "Paragon"!
"This description feels much more complete than the one in our family's book!"
"Perhaps the original owner of that family book specialized in Lightning Element, so he didn't pay much attention to the Four Edicts, and the information he collected was rather basic."
"Now that you mention it, the family's book is indeed more suitable for Saint-level to comprehend the rules, while this one is more profound, and it will be difficult for Saint-level are just entering the threshold of the rules to understand it."
The others nodded in agreement.
At this moment, the Laws of Heaven and Earth descended.
Everyone looked at Landon, who was holding a book.
A Divine Spark radiating Power of Death gathered above Landon's head, and Landon's Death Clone flew out of his body and merged with the Divine Spark.
"Congratulations on the Death Clone breaking through to the Midgod," "Congratulations!" "Landon is now the highest-ranking Midgod in the family"—the other five people offered their congratulations.
Fifty years ago, Jason and Landon fought to a draw. Knowing Jason's cultivation speed, the members of the Rhine Clan speculated that Jason had now surpassed Landon.
But now, both of Landon's clones have achieved the status of Midgod, firmly establishing themselves as the strongest Midgod in the Rhine Clan.
Landon humbly replied, "No, no, Jason's earliest Water Clone didn't even come to the Netherworld. How could I dare to claim the title of the strongest Midgod in this family?"
Landon had been depressed ever since his wife died, and Jason, not wanting to upset his "ancestor," also made excuses.
"My Water Clone is still Lowgod, far inferior to Senior Landon."
This was at Landon's request that Jason address him as "senior." After all, Jason was nominally an elder, while Landon was just an ordinary member of the family.
"You broke through while counting combat supplies? Landon, were you slacking off?!" Delisha's clear voice rang out.
"Hey, hehe, Chieftain, have you finished interrogating the prisoner?" Landon was not afraid at all. He and Delisha had known each other for tens of thousands of years, and he was one of the few people who could joke with Delisha.
"Hmm, no valuable information. It seems these bandits really stumbled upon this place by accident. The five directors are trying to get more information out of them." Delisha shrugged. "Are there any special items among the combat supplies?"
"This cultivation book is very interesting." Landon handed the book over.
Delisha glanced at it. "Tsk, not bad. I'll make a few copies and distribute them to the tribe later."
Angela continued, "The total amount of Nether Stone is less than 20 million. The rest consists of some Divine Artifact, Divine Spark, and a considerable amount of high-quality refining materials, which are in short supply for us."
This is mainly because the wealth of those two Highgod is in Delisha's hands.
(Linley initially sold a Highgod Artifact for 750,000 Inkstone.)
"Well, one million Nether Stone for each of you, and the rest will be distributed among the five directors." Delisha waved her hand, indicating that she didn't care about the wealth.
The members of the Rhine Clan have always been unclear about the purchasing power of "Nether Stone," mainly because they have never been to the city or traded with other families.
Delisha got down to business. "Just now, the five council members and I interrogated those prisoners and found that the Netherworld doesn't seem to be that dangerous. The reason our clan was attacked before was because the entire clan was too conspicuous, and the clan's middle-level strength was too weak. Now it seems that we have been too conservative for the past three hundred years, confining our clansmen to this basin, which has led to a lack of understanding of the outside world."
So we discussed leading some of our clansmen to form small teams to train in the surrounding area and gather resources—those small bandit groups composed of only mid-level and Lowgod can survive in this area, we shouldn't be inferior to them."
Delisha appeared to be seeking the opinions of the six people present.
"I think it's feasible," Landon said, taking the lead in agreeing.
The others nodded in agreement.
Delisha looked at Jason; in recent years, she had always valued Jason's opinions.
"I agree." Jason felt it was time to go out and gain some experience.
Just as Delisha said at the beginning, the previous danger was mainly because the Rhine Clan was too big a target.
If Jason had come to the Netherworld alone, followed the instructions of the guards at those teleportation points, been randomly thrown somewhere in the Netherworld, joined a tribe, slowly increased his strength, and then undergone the Fiend trials, he wouldn't have faced much danger in his journey to becoming Highgod.
Seeing that everyone agreed, Delisha nodded. "We'll discuss this further at the formal meeting. The number of team members and the team leader also need to be discussed."
"Chieftain." Rita emerged from the basement exit behind them. "Everyone, we've learned some information from the prisoners."
"What news?"
"Those bandits once occupied a cave not far to our southwest. It's very secluded and seems to be rich in resources. Perhaps we can migrate there," Rita said.
"Oh? That's interesting."