Inside a dimly lit room...
A powerful golden divine force surged out from a miniature statue like a tidal wave, its momentum vast and relentless, before being drawn into a massive black vortex hovering in midair.
The thoroughly transformed, purified power flowed ceaselessly toward the seated figure.
The brilliant divine radiance condensed into an illusory silhouette, and a wisp of divinity slowly materialized.
"Through analyzing divine power, I've gradually obtained partial information about divinity as well?"
Leilin mused to himself. In truth, from a
A complete divine domain represented the full Power of Rules!
And the so-called progression — from divinity, to Divine Fire, and finally to becoming a True God — was in essence nothing but a continuous deepening of one's comprehension of the Rules, until one had fully mastered the Power of Rules.
"However... the
For the natives of the World of Gods, obtaining divinity and making the qualitative leap in life was exceedingly difficult. Unless one was fortunate enough to earn a god's favor or stumble upon a divine artifact containing the power of divinity, it was virtually impossible.
But for Wizards who had already grasped the essence of the Rules, as long as they had sufficient raw materials, crafting divinity was not particularly difficult.
"To put it bluntly, divine power is the raw material for crafting divinity. But for other gods, the conversion cost is far too great — so great that even they can't bear to spend it..."
Leilin gazed at the sculpture in his hand. The divine power within it was now nearly exhausted.
"Even if all the divine power previously stored could significantly boost my attributes across the board, it still couldn't condense a single thread of genuine divinity!"
Leilin murmured in contemplation. After fully absorbing all the divine power from the statue, his strength had merely increased by a small margin. His understanding of
By his estimation, he would need at least the full divine power of a god's avatar to condense the divinity he required.
"Kill a god's avatar?" Leilin stroked his chin and began carefully considering the feasibility of this.
The Material Plane rejected the descent of gods' true forms. Once they sent down avatars, those would be at most high-tier Legends or Saints — roughly equivalent to fifth or sixth-level Wizards. Moreover, they would have lost their sanctity and could be slain.
Of course, even the weakest god's avatar was far beyond what Leilin could hope to handle right now.
"Cyric, the God of Murder — I now have a thorough understanding of his divine power..."
Leilin pondered: "The one who commands the divine domains of murder, slaughter, conspiracy, and death has already entered the realm of Greater Divinity. Even his avatars would be among the very peak..."
However, in Leilin's eyes, the only aspects of Cyric's Power of Rules that truly caught his interest were the two domains of Slaughter and
Slaughter! Death! Both of these divine domains were immensely powerful — they were Cyric's very core, and the foundation that supported his Greater Divinity!
To condense and transform divinity from these two domains would require a vast, almost oceanic amount of divine power.
"Even though he's gone mad, this is still far too difficult... Perhaps I should switch targets..."
Since Leilin first set out on his path, he had only truly provoked two gods:
Because the path he had chosen conflicted with these two deities, a falling-out was inevitable.
"Malar is only a Lesser God, and his avatars would be easier to deal with. I have no interest in the divinity of the Hunt, but transforming it into the divinity of Slaughter would be quite useful..."
Converting similar divine powers was something only gods of Medium Divinity or above could accomplish in the World of Gods. But for Wizards, any seventh-level Rule Wizard or higher could achieve the same — a result of their deeper comprehension of the Rules.
Given Leilin's current nature, the domains of Goodness and Beauty had absolutely nothing to do with him. Not only would his soul be utterly incompatible, they might even pollute his path toward becoming an eighth-level Wizard.
Thus, his choices were extremely narrow.
And later, through his research into ancient Rule Wizards such as the Twisted Shadow, he had gained an even deeper understanding of his own path.
"My path... must inevitably trend toward the 'Evil' at the very essence of the world, ultimately walking the road of a villain to the very end?"
Leilin rubbed his chin. "Going by the novels of my previous life, villains never end up well in the end. That's rather... interesting..."
"However... the power of a devil inevitably brings slaughter and death, which is an excellent match..."
A sinister smile briefly flickered at the corner of Leilin's lips.
For the sake of eternity and transcendence, he feared no accumulation of sin, let alone the wielding of related powers of Evil.
*Bang!* Just then, the miniature sculpture in his hand suddenly shattered — through his tireless absorption over this period, the divine power stored within had finally been completely depleted.
"Already used up?" Leilin slightly closed his eyes. Cells throughout his body greedily absorbed this purified, transformed power, and even his genetic code underwent significant improvement.
[Ding! Host has ingested purified power. Effect similar to Advanced Divine Grace! Strength +1! Agility +2! Constitution +1! Spirit +1!]
[Host's Spiritual Power has broken through.
[Host's Arcanist level has increased! Obtained: one 8th-level Spell Slot, one 7th-level Spell Slot, one 6th-level Spell Slot, one 5th-level Spell Slot!]
At this moment, the Chip's mechanical notification sounded as well.
Now, all of his attributes exceeded 15. A feeling of overwhelming power erupted throughout Leilin's body, making every cell cheer and celebrate, as though some kind of shackles had been broken.
[Ding! All of Host's attributes have exceeded 15! Talent Perk — Initial Perfect Body has been upgraded to Intermediate!] The Chip's notification continued to pop up.
Then, the description of the Perfect Body perk was immediately updated: [Intermediate Perfect Body: Host's genes have been further optimized. Perfect Body level increased. Supernatural creature traits enhanced. Obtained: Intermediate Poison Resistance, Intermediate Fire Resistance, Intermediate Cold Resistance, Intermediate Corrosion Resistance! Tolerance for various abnormal environments greatly increased!]
And Leilin's attribute panel became: [Leilin Farell | Age: 22 | Race: Human | Level 17 Arcanist | Strength: 15 | Agility: 15 | Constitution: 15 | Spirit: 17 | Arcane Energy: 170 | Condition: Healthy | Talents: Robust, Erudite, Intermediate Perfect Body | Perks: Arcane Energy Sensing, Arcane Amplification] [Spell Slots: 8th-level (1), 7th-level (3), 6th-level (6), 5th-level (???), 4th-level (???), 3rd-level (???), 2nd-level (???), 1st-level (???), 0th-level (???)]
[
"All the divine power, combined with the recent demon potions, has brought me to this level?"
Leilin nodded, a look of satisfaction in his eyes.
The increase in his [Arcanist] level had reduced the cost of casting various spells. Aside from 9th-level spells, which still required some price, the advancement had also granted him 8th-level Spell Slots — a very respectable improvement.
"And... Intermediate Perfect Body?"
Leilin considered. The progression of Perfect Body was clearly a transformation toward a higher life form. Once he advanced to [Legend], there would surely be talent perks like [Advanced Perfect Body] or even [Legendary Perfect Body].
"Even those veteran Legendary powerhouses would likely need long ages of tempering and continuous attribute growth to reach the threshold of [Legendary Perfect Body]. But at my current rate of progress, once I advance to Legend, relying on the [Perfect Body] talent, I can instantly catch up to the accumulated efforts of those Legendary powerhouses over decades..."
"Moreover... a powerful vessel is also preparation for bearing powerful strength!"
Leilin had a premonition that once his Perfect Body reached the Legendary level, it would bring tremendous benefits to his digestion of divinity and to future steps such as igniting the Divine Fire and ascending to godhood.
"Right now, whether it's the remnant evil god forces in the
The Farell Family had already become the dominant force in the Outer Seas, yet they still lacked a power sufficient to suppress all challengers!
Only by reaching Legend as quickly as possible could he face the backlash from Cyric's Church without fear, forge the Outer Seas into an impenetrable fortress, and establish a solid foundation for his future apotheosis.
"My rate of advancement is already extremely fast. To continue progressing now, the only way forward is through the faith of those Outer Seas natives..."