Chapter 122: The Final Preparations

After leaving the Nether Mountain and reaching its foot, Xiao En told Parhaus and Dannington about the negotiations he had previously had with the Lord of Death.

"Faith power? Lord God‑level?" Parhaus's eyes lit up.

He comes from a material plane; in his early days at a lower god level he had also tried to use faith power for cultivation, and it had some effect then.

But as his strength grew, the difficulty of cultivation increased exponentially, so even obtaining the faith power of a single material plane had little effect.

Yet as a peak Asura‑level master, he also knows that Lord God‑level faith power is immensely strong, drawn from countless billions of material planes, a number almost incalculable.

Xiao En shook his head and laughed, "The Lord God will help, dispatching countless Lord God soldiers to many material planes to spread your name; for a long time ahead, the faith power you receive will far exceed that of a single material plane.

But compared with what the Lord God obtains, it probably doesn't even reach a ten‑thousandth of that; the gap is too vast."

As a Lord God, Xiao En naturally knows how powerful and terrifying the faith power inherent in the Lord God nature is; even though no one between heaven and earth currently knows he is a Lord God, he still has acquired a massive amount of faith power.

This is a grant from the laws of heaven and earth; one can imagine the war of faith power billions upon billions of years ago, when the Lord Gods acted voluntarily, and how strong each Lord God's faith power must have been.

Dannington smiled coolly and said proudly, "No matter how strong the Lord God's faith power is, only a handful reach the Great Perfection."

As a Great Perfection, Dannington naturally only admires Great Perfection Lord Gods like Xiao En, the Lord of Destruction, the Lord of Life, and the Lord of Destiny; it even seems that aside from Xiao En, several of the other Great Perfection Lord Gods achieved their status by breaking through the Lord God nature—though this makes them stronger than non‑Great Perfection Lord Gods, they still cannot match the Great Perfection Ascended Deities.

Parhaus looked at Dannington and said oddly, "Dannington, watch your tone; this is the Underworld, and the Lord God's consciousness could notice us at any moment."

"Haha, you're right, Dannington, say less," Xiao En said with a smile, reminding him.

"Hmm, okay." Dannington acknowledged his misstep, then looked at Xiao En: "Sir, what shall we do next?"

Xiao En thought for a moment and said, "Parhaus, you should continue seeking your own opportunity; even if faith power appears later, you can't just seclude yourself and wait—you still need to battle various masters."

Faith power aids cultivation, but how much it helps varies from person to person.

Parhaus said, "I understand. I'm preparing to venture into the Nether Sea, and if that fails, the Sea of Chaos; after all, I've already fought many masters on water‑type divine planes."

"That works; there are still plenty of water‑type masters in the Nether Sea and the Sea of Chaos," Xiao En nodded and said, "Dannington, what about you? Want to go together?"

Dannington shook his head and said, "No need, I'll continue following Sir Xiao En."

He has already reached Great Perfection, with no further realm breakthroughs; what's left are ultimate techniques, which aren't urgent, and being with a death‑Great Perfection Lord God like Xiao En may give a better chance to develop such techniques.

"Fine, having a Great Perfection nearby is indeed great," Parhaus laughed.

He is indeed Xiao En's disciple, but his attributes differ; Xiao En could teach him in the early days, but not now.

After pondering briefly, Xiao En said, "Parhaus, after a few hundred billion years, if you still haven't broken through the final step, I'll take you to find a water‑type Great Perfection Ascended Deity~~; perhaps there you'll have a chance."

In fact, all chances to break through to Great Perfection are vanishingly slim; all the Lord Gods that could be found have been, yet ultimately only a handful become Great Perfection.

Parhaus instantly rejoiced, "Thank you, Master."

After the three chatted a bit more, Parhaus stood up to take his leave, flying toward the Nether Sea; once he was far away, Dannington asked, "Sir, where are we going?"

Xiao En's Lord God identity could of course not be disclosed on a divine plane, so calling him "Sir" as before was most appropriate.

Xiao En thought and said, "According to the Lord God covenant, I can recruit a total of four Lord God emissaries: one for me, one for Parhaus later, which leaves two slots for suitable emissaries."

"Looking for Lord God emissaries? Interesting, what kind?" Dannington asked with a smile.

Xiao En said, "On a plane battlefield, survival is paramount, whether from my perspective or the emissary's; therefore we should choose those with strong physical defense and weak soul, or the opposite. After a defensive Lord God artifact compensates, their survival rate rises considerably."

This point actually follows the same logic as Lin Lei's choice of a Lord God emissary in the original work, using a Lord God artifact to offset flaws.

However, in the original, Lin Lei selected only peak Seven‑Star Demons, which was somewhat wasteful; if it weren't for Brelle's perversion, such choices would have offered little help in a plane‑wide decisive battle.

Dannington thought and said, "Then we either seek divine beasts with strong bodies but weak souls, or we look for strong individuals whose soul Arcane attainment is extremely high."

"Right, those two types are the most suitable," Xiao En nodded;

Either like Lei Hong from the original, whose physical defense is extreme; combined with a soul‑defense Lord God artifact, even when surrounded by multiple masters wielding physical‑attack Lord God artifacts, he can fight for a long time;

Or like Okalorwell, who has refined Life, Death, and Destiny to the extreme; paired with a physical‑defense Lord God artifact, unless he is besieged by numerous peak Asura masters adept at souls, he is virtually invincible.

And these two types, in a ten‑victory grand battle, if handled cautiously, have a considerably higher chance of survival.

Dannington recalled, "Over the years I've heard of such individuals, but the latter are far more common; the former, those god‑defying divine beasts, are few and have mostly been taken as Lord God emissaries, such as the black Moss of the Earth divine plane."

"Haha, black Moss is still too god‑defying; such a find is rare," Xiao En chuckled, "Then let's look for ordinary races with strong soul Arcane. As long as they can attack from a distance through plane channels, they're safe and deal decent damage."

Lord Gods usually choose emissaries that are reasonably Arcane divine beasts—strong‑bodied and highly defensive—whereas ordinary races, even if their Arcane cultivation is just one step shy of Great Perfection, lack special abilities; however, their numbers far exceed those of powerful divine beasts, making them the best current choice.

Dannington said, "Then let's first go to the Life Divine Realm; the soul defense of the Life Rule is stronger and better fits our requirements."

"Alright, let's go," Xiao En agreed.

The Death, Destiny, and Life rules all achieve extremely high soul accomplishments, yet each leans toward a particular direction; among them, the Life Rule's soul defense is somewhat stronger than the other two.

In the ensuing several hundred billion years, Xiao En and Dannington roamed together through the Life Divine Realm, the Celestial Realm, and several other planes, traveling while searching for suitable candidates to become Lord God emissaries;

Time was ample, so there was no rush; eventually they found two individuals: one a super‑strong practitioner of the Destiny Rule, an ordinary race with extremely high Arcane level, whose acquisition of a physical‑defense Lord God artifact made him nearly impossible to kill; the other a peculiar divine tree in the Life Divine Realm that became a god, naturally possessing strong material defense and having cultivated Arcane to the Five‑Fusion level, whose combined defense matched that of the Lord God artifact.

Qingyuan Material Plane:

"You two should stay on this plane, study together how to cooperate, so that during a plane‑wide decisive battle you can increase your chances of survival," the dark silhouette of Xiao En, seated above the great hall, said calmly.

Both are powerful, but once they enter a ten‑victory grand battle, even a Great Perfection without dual‑defense Lord God artifacts could fall, so extreme caution is required; without sense, entering would be almost certain death.

"Yes, Lord God," the two Lord God emissaries said after kneeling.

They found the Lord God's request for them to remain on the material plane odd, but it's only a few hundred billion years; compared with the Lord God artifacts and the massive Lord God power they gain, it's nothing.

Time is infinite; wherever they are, it's essentially the same.

Xiao En waved his hand and said, "Then you may go down."

"Understood," the two replied and left.

Standing nearby, Dannington added, "Lord God, the preparations are nearly complete. I've tried here, seeding over thirty Seven‑Star Demons that cultivate wind or Earth rules; when they all wield Lord God power, that's almost my limit—adding more would actually affect my soul."

"Hmm, that's enough. In the great battle, don't rush to act; first let those seeded beings be mostly exhausted, which won't affect your strength, then strike. Also, don't unleash Great Perfection power at the start—wait for the right moment to catch the opponent off guard, preferably wiping out a wave of Twelve‑Winged Angelic Gods first, as those angels are the most troublesome," Xiao En reminded.

A Great Perfection participant unknown to anyone differs from veteran Great Perfection participants; start cautiously, then explode at the right moment—if the opponent hasn't prepared against Great Perfection defense, a Great Perfection‑level attack will cause devastating damage.

Dannington nodded, then looked at the Lord God artifact in his hand and said, "Unfortunately, I couldn't find a physical‑attack Lord God artifact of the Death Rule; otherwise the damage would be greater, and I prefer using a sword rather than a blade."

The physical‑attack Lord God artifact he holds also belongs to Uriel; having borrowed the soul‑defense Lord God artifact, the physical one came along as well. Though this long blade is of dark attribute and doesn't suit Dannington well, it's still far stronger than having none.

Xiao En also lamented, "Indeed, the former Lord God emissary of Fister is nowhere to be found; I've searched across many material planes without success. He was probably killed long ago; the time elapsed is immense."

Since the last Supreme Deity mission, an estimated hundred million trillion years have passed; back then, finding Uriel was already a stroke of great luck for him, thanks to the soul pearl.

Dan Ningdun asked again: "So for now, what else can we prepare?"

"Not much left; we've done everything we can," Shawn shook his head and said, "I've already asked Buleile to see if he can devise some magic circles that require only a few people to cooperate, to see if they can boost the power. We'll go check it together later."

Dan Ningdun said, "Alright, Buleile truly is a genius in magical warfare; some of his abilities even impress me."

Although it is Great Perfection, that is merely an achievement in the mysterious realm; the application of energy in this world is not limited to laws and rules, and magic circles are also among them;

On the Divine Plane, many great cities, major families, and tribal interiors contain numerous magic circles, and when combined, their power is very strong.

The two soon arrived at a corner of the northern Qingyuan Continent, where three sides are bounded by sea and the scenery is elegant; beside Buleile, there are dozens of masters cultivating wind element and Earth Law, constantly intertwining their hands, and space is easily torn.

Strangely, the wind element and Earth Law are gradually merging.

"Buleile?" Shawn said with a smile.

Buleile turned his head, saw the two, and said, "Mr. Shawn, Dan Ningdun? Why have you come?"

Shawn replied, "We came to see your results. They look good; the techniques of these people seem stronger when combined."

Buleile nodded and said, "Yes, I have studied for a hundred billion years, using various magic circles, and finally merged some techniques of the wind element and Earth Law, but the scale is very low; I can only say the power increased by twenty to thirty percent. It still requires extensive cooperative practice and may not succeed."

"A twenty‑to‑thirty percent boost is already good," Shawn praised.

This is not a few individuals' secret move, but a group's; with enough numbers, the overall strength rises by twenty to thirty percent, equivalent to having that many more people.

The reason the Twelve‑Winged Angels are formidable is their excellent coordination; six angels together can match a regular Asura, and with sufficient numbers, aside from Great Perfection, no one can stand against them.

Buleile added, "Mr. Shawn, I have also noticed a strange phenomenon: the wind element and Earth Law are hard to merge, but if there are some masters of water and fire elements in between, and we use matching magic circles, not only does the difficulty of merging drop significantly, but the power also increases considerably."

"Earth, water, fire, wind?" Shawn's mind sparked, and he asked, "Does that mean I need to find enough masters of the four elements?"

Buleile shook his head and said, "That isn't necessary; the main combat power remains the wind element and Earth Law. Water and fire only need a few practitioners, and that will yield the strongest force."

Dan Ningdun asked in confusion, "Why does adding water and fire increase the power?"

"I don't know that," Buleile replied, "I've studied it for a long time and still can't figure it out."

Shawn said, "That's not important; we can study it later, there's plenty of time. Right now we still need to find a way to boost combat power;

Buleile, write down the method of this combat mode clearly. I'm preparing to go to the Underworld and have the Lord God's prepared experts start practicing this method."

Now, everything that needed preparation is ready; in a short time, he can't think of any other way to increase the Underworld's combat power. Raising the strength of the team he soul‑seeds would be a good method;

Once these people are safer, he can soul‑seed even more individuals.

Most importantly, time is running out; some matters must be settled with the Death Overlord, after all the plane showdown can affect him as well.

PS: Seeking monthly tickets

(End of chapter)