Sadius continued watching the illusionary battle projections.
He discovered that battles at the Great Perfection level helped him gain the greatest insights.
However, Great Perfection experts were exceedingly rare in the universe, and even fewer had left behind battle projections.
"This is a projection of the Violet Blood Fiend's battle."
Sadius once again saw a battle illusion involving the Violet Blood Fiend.
The Violet Blood Fiend was a dual-element soul-mutated being, of Destruction and Wind, and a top-tier Seven-Star Fiend.
"That's his Variant Fusion Profound Mystery!"
Sadius' interest was instantly piqued.
"This Violet Blood Fiend actually fused the 'Profound Mystery of Speed' from Wind with a Variant Profound Mystery of the Destruction Laws… the Violet Blood Divine Sword in his hand was unbelievably terrifying."
Sadius was captivated. In the original novel, it was only mentioned that the Violet Blood Fiend was a dual-element soul-mutated being. There had been no mention of him possessing a Variant Fusion Profound Mystery. Over the years, Sadius had tried various means to collect battle projections involving the Violet Blood Fiend.
But those projections were few and far between—he'd gained almost nothing from them.
Now, to find such a rare projection in the Redbud Sovereign's collection left Sadius overwhelmed with excitement.
"Pity I haven't trained in Wind Laws… otherwise I might have been able to learn this ultimate move of his."
He moved on to the next projection.
"This one?"
Sadius looked at the mark on the crystal orb.
"A Sovereign battle?"
"This orb's origin is extraordinary," said the Redbud Sovereign. "It was recorded countless years ago by a distant Highgod. I acquired it through great difficulty. As far as I know, there isn't a second copy of it in existence."
Sadius was instantly intrigued and began watching.
The scene was of an endless ocean. In the distant sky, two human figures stood so far away they were barely distinguishable.
Suddenly, countless terrifying black spear shadows burst forth. The world turned into chaotic darkness.
The spear shadows, like sky-devouring serpents, surged toward the distant figure.
In the blink of an eye, the spears vanished, and only a single figure remained floating above the vast ocean.
Sadius was shocked.
This attack far surpassed anything he could achieve with his World-End Sword Intent—by orders of magnitude.
Under those spear shadows, his own sword techniques seemed as insignificant as floating weeds, utterly powerless.
Yet even as he felt awe, Sadius also gained deep insight.
"My lord, could that be…the Sovereign of our Infernal Realm, Lord Uhtred?"
"You've got good eyes," the Redbud Sovereign chuckled. "Indeed, that's Lord Uhtred in action."
Uhtred was said to be one of the most talented beings in the Coiling Dragon Universe, surpassed only by Linley and Orloff.
Linley was fortunate—his soul mutation gave him affinity with four elements: Water, Wind, Fire, and Earth. Yet none of his Profound Mysteries had reached Great Perfection.
Orloff, from the Bula race, had split off all emotions and traits unhelpful for cultivation into his other half, Augusta, and thereby reached Great Perfection in the Laws of Fate.
But Uhtred was different.
He was a Divine Beast—a super Divine Beast—who had actually reached Great Perfection.
In the Coiling Dragon Universe, almost no Divine Beasts ever reached Great Perfection. Uhtred was a rare exception, showing just how terrifyingly high his talent truly was.
Sadius immediately entered a state of enlightenment.
Even just watching the illusion, he benefited tremendously from Uhtred's ultimate technique.
"Destruction Sword Dao, Power of Destruction, True Meaning of Battle…"
Sadius began fusing four Profound Mysteries of the Laws of Destruction into one.
Though not yet fully merged, the fusion was stable enough for him to use in actual combat.
The Amethyst Divine Blade appeared in his hand.
He wanted to test out this new attack.
Fortunately, the Redbud Sovereign's training room was enormous—more than enough space to swing a sword.
Sadius struck with the Sovereign artifact.
He immediately felt the technique become more harmonious. The integration of his fused mysteries improved significantly.
The Redbud Sovereign was speechless.
"I brought you here to comprehend new mysteries, not to refine old ones.," she muttered.
But seeing that Sadius was deep in enlightenment, the Redbud Sovereign chose not to interrupt.
Sadius continued training in the chamber, tirelessly swinging his sword.
This session took a long time.
Two months later, Sadius finally had a complete breakthrough.
"So that's the key!"
With a sweeping slash of his Divine Blade, countless sword shadows burst forth like a sentient storm, whirling and charging into the distance.
Thankfully, the Redbud Sovereign's estate itself was a master artifact with its own independent spatial dimension—otherwise, Sadius' sword strike would have torn the surrounding space apart.
In this moment, Sadius had fully achieved a fourfold fusion of the Laws of Destruction—and not just any fusion. This one carried enhanced power through a custom technique.
"This move…I'll name it Slaughter Storm."
With Sadius' strength soaring, the Redbud Sovereign was pleased.
Still, she wished Sadius would grasp new Profound Mysteries instead—he couldn't become a Highgod until then.
While his Destruction God clone trained in Slaughter Storm, Sadius' main body continued watching battle projections.
Two months passed.
Although he watched many projections, Sadius still hadn't grasped any new mysteries.
"Time is on my side," he muttered, continuing to observe.
Two and a Half Years Later.
The laws of the universe suddenly descended, and endless earth-element divine power flooded in.
Sadius had finally mastered all six Profound Mysteries of the Earth Laws.
He had become a Highgod of Earth.
Of course, after becoming a Highgod, his fused divine power weakened due to elemental imbalance.
But Sadius had already obtained Power of Will, so the drop in power didn't affect his overall strength much.
In fact, just relying on his Earth Laws and Power of Will, Sadius was now the equal of a typical Great Perfection Highgod.
The Redbud Sovereign was excited to see Sadius reach this milestone.
Nearby, two Lowgods kept injecting divine power into a massive amethyst crystal. Upon witnessing Sadius' breakthrough, they too began yearning to become Highgods.
But for now, their task was to keep channeling divine power.
Fortunately, the Redbud Sovereign had promised: once this matter was finished, he would have Sadius personally teach them how to fuse Variant Profound Mysteries.
Despite reaching the Highgod level in Earth, Sadius didn't notice any significant changes.
Then he returned to watching battle projections—his goal was to achieve Highgod level in the Laws of Destruction as well.
After a long time, however, he still hadn't made much progress.
"My lord…I think I need real combat. Just watching projections—I may not gain any new insights."
"You should've said so earlier! I'll spar with you."
"You're a Sovereign! How could I possibly be your match?"
"Don't forget…I have an Earth God clone."
With a wave, the Redbud Sovereign's Earth clone separated from her Sovereign body.
Sadius considered it—yes, the clone's strength would make a perfect sparring partner.
He nodded.
The two left the estate and headed deep into the Amethyst Mountains to prepare for battle.
"Sadius, be careful," the Redbud Sovereign warned.
"This clone can borrow about 90% of my Sovereign body's Power of Will. Its strength might not be fully Great Perfection, but it's at least 80% of one."
Sadius nodded. He understood that a Sovereign could channel Power of Will through their clones.
He himself had Power of Will now—but he didn't want to expose that fact yet.
So, this battle would be a challenge: fighting a near–Great Perfection Highgod clone without relying on his Power of Will.
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