Tynodsen's face darkened as he heard the mental transmission from the Black Cloud Fiend.
It seemed today there was no avoiding a life-or-death struggle.
"Sadius, today you will die without a doubt!"
As he spoke, a curved blade appeared in Tynodsen's hand.
It looked like an ordinary Highgod artifact.
But only he knew—this artifact had been coated with a terrifying soul poison.
Even an ordinary Deity… so long as their skin was cut by this weapon, the poison would invade their soul, making them instantly lose consciousness.
Tynodsen charged forward.
Sadius, however, did not draw any weapon.
Instead, he once again unleashed his Amethyst Space—108 crystalline spikes shot forth from his body.
In the next instant, Tynodsen was enveloped by the Amethyst Space.
Within that space, it was divided into cell-like cages, and Tynodsen was immediately confined in one of them.
From outside, no one could perceive what happened within the Amethyst Space. Even divine sense probing was disrupted by the Soulstone.
Inside the space, Tynodsen tried to rush out, only to find he couldn't move at all.
"This Sadius… he's not just a Six-Star Fiend!"
Suddenly he understood.
No wonder this man dared to challenge the Black Cloud Fiend.
Which meant this person absolutely could not be just a Midgod.
No, he must be a Highgod!
And pretending to be a Midgod was merely a ploy to lull the Black Cloud Fiend into underestimating him and accepting the challenge.
While Tynodsen was desperately thinking of how to escape—A long crystalline spine appeared before him.
"Amethyst?"
Could… amethyst even be used as a weapon?
Tynodsen didn't know.
Who would waste amethyst like that?
He slashed at it with all his strength, but it did nothing.
Another amethyst spine flew over—directly piercing through Tynodsen's head.
A Divine Spark fell.
Sadius casually collected it.
Then he withdrew the Amethyst Space; all the spines returned to his body.
In the next moment—
Sadius suddenly felt a strange power surge into his body, traveling through him, rushing toward his sea of consciousness.
Then that eerie energy began to spread.
On his body, the Coiling Dragon ring faintly glimmered.
Most of the soul poison dissolved instantly—only a tiny trace of bizarre energy managed to slip through a gap.
But that trace of energy couldn't harm Sadius at all; it was easily neutralized by his threefold soul mutation.
In reality, Sadius paused midair for a moment before regaining his clarity.
"Looks like even retracting the spines isn't always good—I'll have to watch for any poison on them."
After becoming an Amethyst Divine Beast, Sadius' spines were not something to be wasted.
They were condensed from Amethyst Origin itself.
From an outsider's perspective, it just looked like Sadius had taken some damage in the fight.
Back in Black Cloud City, Tynodsen's other clone wore an ugly expression.
His strongest divine clone had fallen.
Who knew how many tens of thousands of years of cultivation it would take to rebuild himself to a Six-Star Fiend's level again?
And now that he'd failed, the Black Cloud Fiend would surely be extremely disappointed.
From now on, his status in Black Cloud City would plummet.
"Milord, this Sadius is definitely not a Midgod. He's likely a Seven-Star Fiend skilled at concealing his aura!"
Tynodsen sent a mental transmission to the Black Cloud Fiend.
The Black Cloud Fiend hesitated when he heard it.
A Seven-Star Fiend who could hide his true strength…
That likely meant his power wasn't below his own.
If he fought outside the city, even if he could win, he'd definitely suffer heavy injuries.
But just as the Black Cloud Fiend was wavering—
A loud taunt echoed from outside the city.
"Black Cloud Fiend! You dared to challenge the Extreme Intent Fiend before, but now you don't dare accept another's challenge? Then you're nothing more than a coward. You might as well change your name to 'Scared Turtle Fiend'!"
The Black Cloud Fiend's face turned cold.
If he didn't respond now, the entire Infernal Realm would spread the story of him being a cowardly Fiend.
No.
Today, he must kill this Sadius!
"Courting death!"
The Black Cloud Fiend flew out of the city.
Soon, Sadius saw a figure approaching.
"So you're the one challenging me?"
Sadius looked him over.
From appearance alone, he was identical to the Black Cloud Fiend seen in the floating-image projections.
"As entrusted by the Extreme Intent Fiend before his death, I'm here to challenge you—a battle of life and death!"
"Hmph! A loser who died still dreams of revenge? Kid, don't say I didn't warn you—A trillion years ago, I followed the Lord of Ziyang Prefecture into Purgatory!"
So he'd been to Purgatory.
So what?
The Black Cloud Fiend flipped his hand, revealing a single black droplet filled with terrifying destructive aura.
Destruction Sovereign's power!
"If you surrender now, it's still not too late. Considering your talent, I could even recommend you to the Prefecture Lord. If you truly have Seven-Star Fiend strength, it's not impossible for you to become a city lord."
"Even if you use Sovereign's power, I'll still challenge you today."
"To deal with you, I won't even need Sovereign's power. I'm just showing you… you have no chance to win."
The Black Cloud Fiend was full of arrogance.
"You talk too much."
Sadius immediately opened the Amethyst Space.
But the Black Cloud Fiend showed no fear.
A massive Warhammer appeared in his hands.
As the Amethyst Space descended, he swung the hammer against it.
The space trembled—cracks even appeared!
This Black Cloud Fiend's strength was no joke.
He could even crack the sturdy space of Infernal Realm itself.
Just relying on the Amethyst Space, which fused only two profound mysteries, Sadius clearly couldn't overpower him.
Without hesitation, Sadius drew his Amethyst Divine Sword.
The aura of a Sovereign artifact was completely different from an ordinary artifact. Any powerful Deity would recognize it at a glance.
"You have… a Sovereign artifact!"
The Black Cloud Fiend instantly became alert.
How could Sadius have a Sovereign artifact?
Normally, there were only three ways someone could have one:
Becoming a Sovereign's Emissary. Naturally, a Sovereign would bestow such a weapon.
Being a Sovereign's child, who would naturally be given one for protection.
Joining the Planar Wars held every trillion years, earning massive military merits to be rewarded with a Sovereign artifact—though this was by far the hardest way.
So who exactly was this Sadius?
A Sovereign's Emissary?
A Sovereign's child?
Or… a commander from Purgatory?
But wait—there was one more possibility.
He could have picked it up, from a fallen Sovereign whose artifact was left behind.
But the Black Cloud Fiend didn't dare gamble.
"Sadius, who exactly are you? A Sovereign's child? Or a Sovereign's Emissary?"
The Black Cloud Fiend gripped the droplet of Sovereign's power tightly, ready to trigger it at any moment—not to fight, but to flee.
Meanwhile, his divine clone at Ziyang Prefecture had already gone to report to the Prefecture Lord.
"You'll never get the chance to know who I really am."
Sadius raised his sword and struck!
The Black Cloud Fiend immediately refined the Sovereign's power.
Sovereign artifact and Warhammer collided—Infernal Realm's space cracked with massive fissures.
"So… you have a Sovereign artifact but no Sovereign's power."
The Black Cloud Fiend grew delighted.
Seeing Sadius not using Sovereign's power, he assumed Sadius didn't have any.
Normally, if a Seven-Star Fiend used a matching Sovereign power, their strength would multiply nearly a hundredfold.
But with only a Sovereign artifact and no Sovereign's power? The increase couldn't possibly be that high.
Nor would his defenses—physical or soul—reach the same terrifying level.
Confidence returned to the Black Cloud Fiend.
Sadius definitely wasn't a Sovereign's Emissary.
And certainly not a Sovereign's child.
He didn't even have Sovereign's power.
Which meant there was only one possibility—this guy had simply gotten lucky and picked up a fallen Sovereign's artifact.
A Sovereign artifact!
If he killed this so-called Sadius, the Sovereign artifact would be his!
The Black Cloud Fiend's heart burned with greed.
Among Seven-Star Fiends, his strength was already top tier.
If he obtained a Sovereign artifact, even the Ziyang Prefecture Lord wouldn't necessarily be his match.
After all, even the Ziyang Prefecture Lord didn't have a Sovereign artifact!
(There were 108 prefectures in Infernal Realm. Even combined, the number of Destruction Sovereign emissaries was only a dozen or two. Add those who earned Sovereign artifacts in Planar Wars… and less than half of all Prefecture Lords actually possessed Sovereign artifacts. Most only had Sovereign's power.)
So yes—today, he had to kill Sadius!
The terrifying Warhammer swept out, carrying the force of Destruction Sovereign power.
Sadius didn't hesitate either—he unleashed Oblivion Sword Intent with his Amethyst Divine Sword!
The fusion of Midgod-level divine power, a Sovereign artifact, and hybrid fused profound mysteries meant Sadius' attack was not inferior to the Black Cloud Fiend's.
The Heaven and Earth trembled as their battle raged.
And this was without Sadius even using Sovereign's power.
The Black Cloud Fiend's eyes widened.
"A… threefold soul mutation? Impossible!"
As far as he knew, throughout countless years there had been only one case of a threefold soul mutation.
The more they fought, the fiercer it became.
Inside Black Cloud City, countless spectators were stunned.
"So this is… the level of battle between Seven-Star Fiends?"
Many Deities used floating-image spells to record this scene.
Clearly, after today, the name Sadius would spread throughout all of Infernal Realm.
But panic was rising in the Black Cloud Fiend's heart.
He only had one droplet of Destruction Sovereign power.
Once it was consumed, he'd be forced back to his normal state—and then he was no match for Sadius.
"Sadius! The Extreme Intent Fiend is already dead. Why fight me for a dead man? If you insist, then I'll drag you down to the grave with me!"
"Drag me down with you? Do you have that ability?"
Sadius no longer used the Oblivion Sword Intent.
It was too suppressive—it completely overwhelmed his opponent.
Instead, Sadius deliberately switched styles—using the Earth-Annihilating Slash.
He wanted to temper his fusion of Oblivion Sword Intent with the Earth Pulse profound mystery.
Even before becoming a Deity, Sadius had already found their compatibility point, but all these years he hadn't fully merged them.
The same with the Darkness profound mystery and Earth Pulse.
They'd been compatible since before his Divinity, but still weren't completely fused.
He'd always wanted a true battle to perfect his hybrid fusions.
So Sadius changed his attacks.
But the Earth-Annihilating Slash was slightly inferior, since the two mysteries weren't fully fused.
The Black Cloud Fiend saw this and rejoiced, thinking Sadius' spiritual energy could no longer support the previous technique.
He pressed the attack harder.
The Warhammer crashed down, radiating terrifying destructive force.
Sadius' Earth-Annihilating Slash was indeed at a disadvantage.
After all, his dual profound mysteries were not yet fully merged.
The Black Cloud Fiend's attacks were peculiar—pure Destruction rules, yet they carried the heaviness of the Earth laws.
Actually, this wasn't strange.
For example, within the Earth laws, the Power of Life had a subtle similarity to the Rules of Life.
"I should thank you—for helping me grasp the true essence of the Earth-Annihilating Slash."
Sadius' aura surged.
His Oblivion Sword Intent and Earth Pulse's compatibility kept deepening.
Indeed—only in battle was the best way to sharpen one's strength!
The Black Cloud Fiend realized with horror—He was being used as a training dummy.
He already knew he wasn't Sadius' match.
But Sadius wouldn't give him the chance to admit defeat.
There was only one choice left—flee.
Even if it meant disgrace, it was better than death.
At that moment, his divine clone had already reported to the Ziyang Prefecture Lord.
"Lord, that's the situation. This Sadius is too arrogant. He doesn't have Sovereign's power—his Sovereign artifact definitely wasn't granted by a Sovereign."
"Describe that artifact."
"It's a sword-shaped Sovereign artifact, completely translucent, like carved crystal, with a violet hue."
BANG!
A giant palm strike obliterated the Black Cloud Fiend's clone instantly.
"Hmph! Fool! You couldn't even recognize the obvious Redbud Sovereign artifact?!"
The Ziyang Prefecture Lord was furious.
Others might not know the true identity of the Redbud Continent's Sovereign.
But he did.
And he was one of the Prefecture Lords secretly allied with the Eight Families.
Just recently, their Seven-Star Fiend scouts had reported—a Sovereign's Emissary had emerged from the Amethyst Mountains.
He had assumed the person would head straight to Blood Ridge Continent…
Who would've thought they'd go south to Black Cloud City?
And instead of welcoming him properly, the Black Cloud City Lord actually provoked him?
He was simply tired of living!
"This Sadius is the Emissary of the Redbud Sovereign. I absolutely cannot offend him. But now it's too late to rush there myself. Have the nearby Prefecture troops greet him on my behalf."
The Ziyang Prefecture Lord immediately sent transmissions, asking whose divine clones were near Black Cloud City.
Back outside Black Cloud City—
The Black Cloud Fiend suddenly panicked.
His divine clone had been killed.
By the Ziyang Prefecture Lord!
What was going on?!
Could it be…
Sadius was truly someone untouchable?!
"Escape! Must escape!"
So long as he could make it into the city, he'd be safe.
Inside the city, no one could kill—it was a rule decreed by the Sovereigns themselves.
Not even a Great Perfection could violate it.
The Black Cloud Fiend immediately burned the last of his Sovereign power to retreat.
But Sadius would never give him the chance.
The Amethyst Space unfolded once again.
After all, he was now an Amethyst Divine Beast.
The Amethyst Space was his innate divine ability—even with only two fused mysteries, it was far stronger than Linley's two-way fusion back in the original timeline.
A powerful gravitational force struck.
The Black Cloud Fiend's speed slowed drastically.
"Earth-Annihilating Slash!"
The Amethyst Divine Sword descended—And the Black Cloud Fiend's body was cleaved cleanly in half.
A Seven-Star Fiend… had fallen.
Inside the city, everyone gasped in shock.
This battle was simply too spectacular.
Those with higher insight knew—the Black Cloud Fiend had even used Sovereign's power, yet the fight still surpassed the normal level of Seven-Star Fiends.
High above, Sadius sheathed the Amethyst Divine Sword.
Through this battle, his Earth-Annihilating Slash had reached the final step of fusion.
Soon, he'd fully merge it.
As for the other hybrid mysteries—Darkness + Earth Pulse, and Earth Element + Destruction mysteries—they still had far to go.
But it was only a matter of time.
Right now, he had three goals:
Advance the Darkness laws to Midgod level.
Fully merge all four Earth-element profound mysteries.
Achieve complete threefold hybrid fusion.
Among them, advancing the Darkness laws to Midgod would be the easiest.
Sadius picked up the Black Cloud Fiend's Divine Spark.
Then he pricked his finger to bind the opponent's spatial ring.
He half-expected it to fail if the Fiend had another surviving clone.
But unexpectedly, it succeeded immediately.
So, the Black Cloud Fiend was truly, completely dead.
He had avenged the Extreme Intent Fiend.
Just then, several Prefecture soldiers—Highgods—flew over.
—
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