Only Divine Beasts, and powerful ones at that, could possess such a robust divine body.
Of course, what made Kipling even more vigilant was that every Divine Beast possessed its own unique innate divine ability, and the power of these abilities was usually immense.
If it weren't for the fact that this fellow was merely a God, and was somewhat suppressed by his own Divine Domain as a High-level God, Kipling would truly not have been a match for this young man with the mustache.
The black-robed youth fighting Kipling was, naturally, Beirut.
Beirut had been in the Infernal Realm for over ten thousand years.
During this decade, Beirut had become a terrifying God-level Killer.
Any lone Gods or Demigods he encountered had all fallen prey to his hunts.
The Godheads of so many God-level experts had also allowed Beirut's divine body's strength to surpass that of a High-level Divine Artifact.
Currently, Beirut's Darkness Law had fully integrated four Profound Mysteries of Laws. Coupled with his current physical strength, Beirut estimated his power was close to that of a Seven-star Demon.
However, until his physical strength truly reached the level of a Lord God Artifact, or he himself reached the High-level God realm, Beirut had no intention of provoking High-level Gods.
Who knew if he might suddenly provoke an expert he couldn't handle and end up capsizing in a ditch?
For Beirut, as long as it was a Godhead, the effect of a Demigodhead and a High-level Godhead was the same to him.
His innate divine ability, "God Devour," absorbed the essence from the Godhead, not the Profound Mysteries of Laws within it.
Killing Low-level and Gods was much simpler and safer than killing High-level Gods.
But once Beirut reached High-level God, or his own physical strength reached the hardness of a Godhead, then among High-level Gods, there would be few who could make him wary.
Upon reaching High-level God, anyone who wasn't Paragon and didn't possess a Lord God Artifact for soul defense would not last a single breath in his hands.
And if his physical strength reached the hardness of a Godhead, even if Beirut wasn't a High-level God, he would be among the strongest Seven-star Devils.
However, Beirut hadn't expected that before he even considered seeking out High-level Gods, a High-level God had already set his sights on him.
This fellow named Kipling had been lurking around Beirut's hunting grounds for some time, greatly hindering Beirut's god-hunting plan. Originally, Beirut had planned to find another place to hunt gods, but he didn't expect to finally get entangled with this guy.
But...
This High-level God before him wasn't very strong.
At least, Beirut felt that if he got serious, he could quickly kill him.
However, since this was his first time fighting a High-level God, Beirut naturally wanted to properly experience the might of a High-level God.
Even with his God's Divine Domain enveloping himself, the High-level God's Divine Domain would suppress his speed and strength by nearly twenty percent.
After layering the Divine Domain of two Divine Clones, he could offset another ten percent of the suppression.
And the speed of this Wind Element High-level God, even with Beirut's suppression, was no slower than his own.
The intensity of the attacks couldn't break through his defenses.
In terms of strength, speed, offense, and defense, this High-level God was inferior to him.
He could be killed!
After some probing, Beirut had thoroughly understood the capabilities of this Kipling before him and no longer hesitated.
As Kipling attacked, Beirut completely ignored his assault, letting Kipling's long sword spark against his body. Then, he extended his left hand, directly grabbed Kipling's long sword, and punched Kipling's body, directly creating a massive crack in the Material Defense Divine Artifact he wore.
"Pfft..."
Kipling spat out a mouthful of blood, a flicker of fear flashing in his eyes.
This guy was actually playing weak to catch the strong?
That was a High-level Divine Artifact, and it was cracked by a single punch?
And he was a High-level God who had fused three Profound Mysteries of Laws!
Even his wind element was much stronger than a Four-star Devil, reaching the level of a Five-star Devil.
To have his High-level Defense Divine Artifact cracked by a single punch, with the remaining force also injuring him.
If not for this defensive artifact, would he have been finished?
Thinking of this, Kipling immediately wanted to flee.
But it was already too late!
Before Kipling could react, Beirut pulled with his left hand, using Kipling's attacking artifact, the long sword, to pull the Kipling he had just repelled back to his side. His fists struck out like phantoms.
"Boom boom boom boom boom..."
Beirut's attacks were so powerful that they created spatial rifts in the void.
"Bang bang bang!"
Under Beirut's assault, Kipling's defensive artifact shattered like glass.
After his defensive artifact was broken, Kipling didn't even last a second before he exploded into a bloody mist.
"Bang!"
With a punch that blew apart Kipling's head, Beirut reached out and grasped a cyan Godhead.
Directly swallowing this High-level Godhead, Beirut activated his innate divine ability, "God Devour," to absorb the essence from the Godhead.
A short while later, a hint of disappointment flickered in Beirut's eyes.
"As expected, there's no difference between a High-level Godhead, a Demigodhead, or a Godhead..."
"This guy should be the strongest High-level God around here. Since I've already killed him, I might as well collect the Godheads of the rest of them..."
...
Ye Mu Mansion was the prefecture closest to the Purple Jasmine Mountain Range.
After leaving the Purple Jasmine Mountain Range, Kipling and Leihong had no specific destination and didn't use Metal Life to travel. Kipling sat on Leihong's shoulder, letting Leihong carry him as they flew.
Along the way, occasional bandits would try to intercept the two, but it was always Kipling who dealt with them.
The strength of these bandits was not significant. Of course, calling them weak was only relative to Leihong and Kipling.
Anyone who reached the Saint Realm was a genius.
Those who fully comprehended a complete Law Mystery and ascended to godhood were geniuses among geniuses.
Among a million God-level experts, only one could manage to fuse Law Mysteries.
Across the Seven God Planes and Five Supreme Planes, God-level experts were countless, but every High-level God who could successfully fuse Law Mysteries was an expert at or above the Five-star Devil level.
Six-star Devils who had fused three Law Mysteries were elders in major families.
Seven-star Devils who had fused four Law Mysteries were significant figures in the Infernal Realm, representing the foundation of a major family.
Asura-level experts who had fused five Law Mysteries, even combined with those who had fused four Law Mysteries and possessed a Lord God Artifact, numbered less than ten thousand in the entire world.
Although many people reached this realm every ten trillion years, the Plane War, which occurred once every ten trillion years, also claimed many lives.
Currently, as far as Leihong knew, he had participated in dozens of Plane Wars, killed over thirty Commanders, and obtained three-piece Lord God Artifacts on no less than ten occasions.
Among these individuals, some were even referred to with titles like "Suspected Paragon," demonstrating their immense power.
Those who were Sovereign's Emissaries, killed over twenty Commanders, and collected the three-piece Lord God Artifacts numbered around thirty.
Among the Gods, besides those few at Paragon, these individuals stood at the very pinnacle of godhood.
Leihong was a top-tier Commander, currently possessing two Lord God Artifacts. Excluding these fifty individuals, Leihong's strength ranked among the top hundred out of ten thousand Commanders.
As for Kipling, he currently possessed a Material Defense Lord God Artifact and a Soul Defense Lord God Artifact. His own body, being a Zijing Divine Beast, had a physical toughness far exceeding High-level Divine Artifacts. While his comprehension of the Destruction Rule was not yet profound, it had reached the level of a High-level God.
Overall, Kipling's current strength was greater than that of a Six-star Devil, but he was still a short distance away from becoming a Seven-star Devil.
With the Material Defense Lord God Artifact and the Soul Defense Lord God Artifact on his person, even a Seven-star Devil could not harm Kipling.
Furthermore, Kipling possessed a large amount of Destruction Sovereign Power. Once he utilized this power, even a Commander would be within his reach for a fight.
Therefore, these bandits were no different from children to Kipling.
"Ah Hong, these guys are too weak. They're not providing the training effect I want."
After killing a few more bandits, Kipling frowned and said to Leihong, "Is there no one on the entire Purple Thistle Continent who can fight me?"
Before he had even left the Purple Jasmine Mountain Range, Kipling had believed that the outside world was as his mother and Leihong had described, filled with Asura Prefect-level experts, where anyone who stepped forward would possess the strength to kill him.
Yet, after nearly ten thousand years out here, the strongest person he had encountered couldn't even break through his physical body's defenses with their attacks. This was what baffled Kipling.
Which was the truth – what his mother and Ah Hong had said, or what he was witnessing?
It couldn't be that his mother was afraid he would get hurt, so she had driven all the powerful individuals away from the Purple Thistle Continent, could it?
"Hmm..."
The towering, muscular man looked at Kipling, then at the bandits Kipling had killed. He also felt that such opponents were indeed too weak for Kipling and wouldn't serve as effective training.
Where could he find suitable opponents for Kipling?
"I've got it!"
Suddenly, an image of a black Demon Castle flashed through Leihong's mind.
"Kipling, go and become a Devil!"
"There are many powerful individuals among Devils, and some of the tasks in the Demon Castle will also involve encountering strong enemies."
"If you become a Devil, you'll be able to meet many opponents."
"Really? Then let's go quickly!"
Upon hearing that becoming a Devil would allow him to meet many powerful opponents, Kipling eagerly flew onto Leihong's shoulder, urging him to take him to become a Devil.
After easily passing the Devil task assessment, Kipling and Leihong began to clear missions from city to city.
Admittedly, while the enemies encountered in these tasks were not particularly strong, many of the missions were quite interesting. Moreover, as Kipling's Devil rank increased, the enemies he faced also became progressively stronger.
This also convinced Kipling that once his Devil rank reached Seven-star, he would definitely encounter battles that would allow him to improve.
On this day, Leihong and Kipling arrived at Blue Maple City. This city was the closest on the Purple Thistle Continent to the Blood Peak Continent, and naturally, it also had no shortage of experts.
As usual, the two entered the Demon Castle within Blue Maple City to check for any missions worth undertaking.
"Eh?"
Suddenly, Kipling showed a look of confusion.
"What is it?"
Hearing Leisjing's voice, Leihong lowered his head, as if to see what could have surprised Leisjing so much.
"This."
Leisjing took out a mission order and handed it to Leihong.
Leihong took it and saw that it was a six-star demon mission.
"Mission Name: Dark Shadow
Mission Type: Extermination Mission
Mission Level: Seven-star
Mission Details: Outside Blue Maple City, a powerful individual has recently appeared, specializing in assassinating god-level experts. Tens of thousands of god-level experts have already met their demise.
According to survivors with divine clones, this expert has already killed several six-star demons.
Mission Objective: Kill this expert or drive them out of the Purple Thistle Continent."
"What's wrong?"
Seeing that it was just an ordinary demon mission, Leihong asked curiously.
"Ah Hong, I've seen this mission about seven or eight times."
Leisjing said seriously, "Ever since I became a demon in Xuanlan City, I've seen this exact same mission there."
"Someone was hunting god-level experts wantonly outside the city. After some time, people from the Demon Castle would issue demon missions, ordering demons to encircle and suppress the hunter."
"Back then, this mission was only a three-star mission."
"When I arrived at Emperor Wing City, I saw this mission again, but at that time, the mission level was only four-star."
At that time, Leisjing was solely focused on improving his demon level and seeking powerful opponents, so he naturally disdained a mere four-star mission.
"After we left Ye Mu Mansion and reached Fengyan Prefecture, I saw this mission once more. At that time, the mission level had already risen to five-star."
"After leaving Ye Mu Mansion and reaching Hongyang Prefecture, this mission had already reached six-star."
"Now, we have arrived at Blue Maple City, and the mission level has already been upgraded to seven-star."
"This fellow is not simple."
Listening to Leisjing's analysis, Leihong's expression also became serious.
"Indeed, judging from the cities where these demon missions were posted, although this 'Dark Shadow' has been active everywhere, their direction of movement has always been from Ye Mu Mansion towards the Blood Peak Continent."
"After so many years, not only have they not been killed by other demons, but they have also killed several six-star demons. Their strength seems truly extraordinary."
"What? Leisjing, do you want to go and meet him?"
Leihong understood Leisjing quite well.
"Yes, I have a premonition that this fellow will be the most powerful opponent I have ever encountered."
"Ah Hong, I want to fight him!"
Leisjing's eyes blazed with powerful fighting spirit.
"Alright, then let's take on this mission!"
Seeing the fighting spirit in Leisjing's eyes, Leihong smiled.
Judging from the details of these missions, this person named 'Dark Shadow' should have a strength around that of a seven-star demon, which was still within Leisjing's ability to handle.
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