Aiken, a Soul Mutator! (Part One)

The black iron staff continued hurtling forward under its own momentum, but without its master's power and the enhancement of his Profound Mysteries of the Laws, the blow no longer posed much of a threat to Rog.

He had survived!

In the space ahead of Rog's mangled body, Nuoti, who had been so arrogant just moments ago, had vanished without a trace. Only an earth-yellow Godspark remained, spinning where it had survived the black light.

"What's that?" Rog used Divine Power to repair his divine body as he looked back, ten thousand meters up into the sky. A tall, thin figure gradually came into focus. It was a tall, somewhat gaunt middle-aged man in a close-fitting golden warrior's robe, with a gentle smile on his face.

Whoosh! In an instant, the man in the golden warrior's robe seemed to tear through space. One breath ago, he had been ten thousand meters away; the next, he was already in front of Rog!

What kind of speed is that? Teleportation? Rog's eyes widened. His own level was no longer particularly low, but he hadn't been able to see the man's movement at all.

Rog felt that even if he cultivated the Lightning Law to the Asura level, he couldn't possibly move that fast.

It definitely wasn't teleportation, but at that speed, it was almost no different. Rog was in awe of the tall, thin middle-aged man's strength. He was definitely far stronger than an Asura. A single attack from ten thousand meters away had reduced Nuoti, who was using Sovereign's Might, to dust. What kind of strength is that?

Could he be a Paragon?!

"Hmm? Good luck. I've finally found it." The mysterious tall, thin middle-aged man seemed to have come here looking for something, and saving Rog might have been something he did in passing. But what treasure could Nuoti have that would attract an expert like this? Sovereign's Might?

Countless thoughts flashed through Rog's mind, but he remained entirely respectful. "Thank you for saving me, my lord. I, Rog, am forever grateful. If you have need of me in the future, I will not refuse." Whatever the reason, the man had indeed saved his life, and had clearly done so intentionally. Otherwise, even an instant later, Rog would have said goodbye to this world for good.

"Heh, there's no need to take it so seriously. I just saw a promising talent and couldn't bear to watch you die so young." The tall, thin middle-aged man seemed to be in an excellent mood. "My name is Aiken. You should have heard of me." He turned back and smiled at Rog, but the name left Rog frozen on the spot!

Aiken? That Aiken of the Zijing Continent?

Aiken's strength was absolutely among the very best on the Zijing Continent. Some suspected he had reached the Paragon level.

He had once been an Asura, but had later stepped down of his own accord and let another Seven-Star Fiend succeed him. No one thought Aiken lacked strength. Everyone knew how terrifying he was! Though he was no longer an Asura, his strength definitely surpassed that of the vast majority of Asuras.

"Are you Lord Aiken, the strongest person beneath the Sovereigns on the Zijing Continent, the one suspected of being a Paragon?" Rog's eyes widened. Could he really be a Paragon?

"The strongest person beneath the Sovereigns on the Zijing Continent? As I am now, I can still live up to that title, I suppose. As for being a Paragon? Although I'm not one, there's essentially no difference between a Paragon and me." Aiken was in high spirits as he said this. Then he looked at Rog.

"There's no need to wonder. I do have this strength because, like you, I'm a Soul Mutator. My mutation simply involves fate and light." Aiken revealed his identity as a Soul Mutator.

But Rog was even more puzzled. Even with a three-element mutation, fusing three different Profound Mysteries would only make one comparable to an Asura, and Aiken only had a two-element mutation. There was clearly more to Aiken's strength than that. He had reduced Nuoti, whose strength had just been comparable to an Asura's, to dust with a single blow. That was definitely the combat strength of a Paragon.

"The strength I have really does come mainly from the advantage of my Soul Mutation.

"When I was still an Asura in the Infernal Realm, my level of mastery over the Profound Mysteries was actually much the same as the other Asuras'. If we all used Sovereign's Might and fought with everything we had, there was no telling who would win. Some Peak Asuras in particular could even suppress me once they used Sovereign's Might." Aiken continued. Rog understood at once. In a normal fight, Aiken's Fused Divine Power gave him a tenfold advantage for nothing, making him stronger than other Asuras, but that was only when none of them used Sovereign's Might.

His mastery of the Profound Mysteries remained what it was. Once everyone used Sovereign's Might, the advantage his Divine Power gave him vanished completely. Peak Asuras who were only a step away from becoming Paragons could especially keep Aiken on the defensive once they used Sovereign's Might.

"Then how far has your understanding of the Laws progressed now, my lord?" Rog had noticed Aiken's earlier wording, and its implication was self-evident: Aiken had made great progress in the Profound Mysteries of the Laws since then, allowing him to match a Paragon, though he was not a Paragon in the usual sense.

That had undoubtedly aroused Luo Ao's curiosity. He too was a Person with a Two-element Soul Mutation. If he could learn the reason...

"After I first learned of the advantages Soul Mutators had, I deliberately set out to fuse these two Laws. Before long, I succeeded in fusing one Profound Mystery from each. Together with the advantage of my Fused Divine Power, that made me nearly a hundred times stronger than someone else who had fused two Profound Mysteries." Rog watched Aiken's expression as he recalled the past.

"But I still wasn't satisfied. First, I cultivated the Edicts of Fate to a level comparable to the fusion of two Profound Mysteries. Then I fused two Profound Mysteries of the Laws of Light with each other, and after that, I fused the two together. This fusion was harder than I had imagined, but fortunately, I succeeded in the end," Aiken recalled.

"After that fusion succeeded, my level of mastery over the Profound Mysteries was comparable to that of other Asuras. The complementary properties of my two Laws even left me with almost no weaknesses, and most Asuras were no match for me. So I went to challenge a Prefect and succeeded in the final battle. I was full of pride and satisfaction then, until I witnessed how terrifying a Paragon was. Only then did I come to my senses." At this point, Aiken seemed about to say more but stopped. It looked as though something had definitely happened in the meantime.

"After that, I stepped down as an Asura and spent hundreds of millions of years cultivating in seclusion. First, I cultivated the Edicts of Fate to the level of three Profound Mysteries. Then I fused three Profound Mysteries of the Laws of Light. Finally, I fused the two together." Rog's pupils contracted at Aiken's words. He already had a guess!

"The fusion this time was far too difficult. I even thought it was impossible to succeed. Later..." Aiken suddenly paused. "Later, I finally succeeded in fusing the two. Once I succeeded, I underwent a special qualitative transformation that only Paragons experience. It was this transformation that gave me the confidence to say I could match a Paragon."

Aiken deliberately kept him in suspense, without mentioning what the "special qualitative transformation" was. But Rog understood: it was the Willpower that only Paragons and Sovereigns possessed. With Willpower, Sovereigns were so powerful, and Paragons could be called invincible among gods. And now, there was an exception like Aiken as well.

"Having cultivated to this point, I've finally reached the peak of godhood. Unfortunately..." Aiken said no more, merely letting out a helpless sigh. Though he now possessed Willpower, he could never be a match for a Sovereign.

"Lord Aiken, have you fought other Paragons?" Rog paid no attention to Aiken's sigh. He was more curious about Aiken's true strength.

"I once fought a Darkness Paragon. I used Light Divine Power alone and disguised myself as a Light Paragon. That battle ended in a draw." Aiken still wore his gentle smile. Since he had undergone that transformation, he would naturally have sought out other Paragon High-Gods to test himself against them.

Lord Aiken seems to be good at hiding his strength, too. His third-stage fusion of different Profound Mysteries should actually be comparable to fusing seven Profound Mysteries of the same element. With his own portion of Willpower on top of that, he should be ten times stronger than a Paragon, yet he said it was a draw.

"Lord Aiken has hidden himself very deeply. When he sparred with another Paragon, he even disguised himself as an unfamiliar Light Paragon. I doubt even the Darkness Paragon who fought him knows his true identity." Rog couldn't help shaking his head. But Aiken had even told him a secret like that. Is there something special about me?