Chapter 664: The Birth of the River of Darkness

The River of Darkness…
As soon as Donald uttered those words, a slight tremor spread throughout the multiverse, affecting the entire cosmic space. This indicated that the name “River of Darkness” had been recognized by the multiverse.
Ignatius and Donald exchanged glances, both showing joy in their eyes. Especially Donald, as this was indeed something he had intended to do.
“The name fits so perfectly—it seems as if the multiverse itself crafted it!”
Hearing Ignatius’s exclamation, Donald thought even more deeply.
“The ways of fate are unpredictable; even gods cannot guess them easily. Perhaps such a being was destined to be born in the multiverse, and it’s just us who bring it to life!”
Without saying more, Donald channeled power into his hand, bringing the miniature river of light into existence.
However, this time it wasn’t as easy as before. He had spent years understanding the laws of time, though not to mastery. With the support of the power of time from the Book of Truth, he was able to create it under these conditions.
As for fate, it was much more difficult. Donald had only recently obtained the Book of Fate, and he had only grasped a superficial understanding of its principles through this advanced artifact. Thus, the miniature river of light he created couldn’t be coordinated properly. His plan was for the forces of the two laws to rotate in a spiral pattern; if one weakened significantly, the balance would be disrupted, leading to overall collapse.
Seeing Donald struggling, the Lord of Elves immediately channeled the fate laws he had understood and added them to the mixture. Soon, the miniature river began to take shape.
“Whoosh… whoosh…”
A river less than a foot long could produce sounds resembling those of a vast river.
“It’s done!”
Donald felt a surge of excitement. The next step was to connect this river to the source of the universe.
In other places, finding the source of the universe would be extremely difficult. But Hell, a lower-dimensional realm recognized by the universe from its inception, was different. Its emergence had split a portion of the universe, infusing it with evil forces. So, Donald only needed to trace back to the origin of these forces to easily connect with the source of the universe.

The cold, colorless stream originated from the starting point of the hellish realm and slowly spread through space. Soon, the waters of the River of Darkness permeated the entire hell, following an unseen path from its edge to the first layer of the abyss. It continued to move downward while also spreading upward toward the edge of the underworld, clearly aiming to penetrate the endless abyss and even the entire lower realm!

“I never expected that a mere hellish realm could give rise to such a powerful existence as one that gives birth to the multiverse!”

Even beings like the Elven Lord were astonished.

Donald immediately separated a part of his will, imprinting his soul’s mark upon it to fully take control of the original consciousness of this River of Darkness. This entity could grow into a being second only to the Will of the Abyss, and it contained laws related to time and fate, which would greatly assist him in understanding these two realms.

The appearance of the River of Darkness caused shock among the creatures of hell. Sinful souls that had fallen from the underworld were seen plunging directly into its waters. All impurities and filth within these fallen souls were purified by the forces of time and fate. The purified souls were returned to the multiverse, while the remaining debris became part of hell’s power, fostering the development of its creatures and the expansion of its realm!

This was absolute purification of souls. Anything labeled “absolute” could turn even beneficial things into harmful ones, and harmful things into beneficial ones. Thus, even ordinary people or true gods who came into contact with the waters of the River of Darkness would have their memories and emotions erased from their souls, leaving them as “pure” soul entities.

This went beyond ordinary purification—it became a complete erasure of everything!

The birth of the River of Darkness immediately caught the attention of powerful beings across the multiverse, especially the Will of the Abyss, which reacted most strongly. For the abyss, this was an unforgivable act—someone had stolen its plans and sought to ascend to supremacy!

It was like a true god having his divine position stolen by a mortal—how could he not rage?

Even the upper heavens, separated by entire layers of the middle material realm, could clearly hear the furious roars emanating from the abyss.

“The abyss is angry!” Donald said to Ignatius with a smile.

The Elven Lord also felt pleased.

“The Bottomless Abyss has developed at an astonishing pace over the years. The gods have only focused on fighting among themselves, ignoring this formidable enemy. By the time they realized it, the Abyss had grown to an uncontrollable level of strength. Your actions in draining its power will surely gain the approval of the gods, boosting your prestige and status in the Pantheon greatly!”
After saying this, Ignatius observed the expansion rate of the River of Darkness as well as the reactions of the Abyss and the Underworld. Once he confirmed everything was under control, he prepared to return to his own kingdom.
Before leaving, he made a request of Donald.
“I see that the power of fate you used just now, though not yet fully mastered, is extremely pure. Clearly, it was aided by some external force. I was wondering if I could borrow it for a few days to study—it would be of great benefit to my prophetic role as it evolves into the realm of fate!”
Without hesitation, Donald took out the high-tier artifact, the Book of Fate, and handed it to the Elven Lord.
Upon seeing the Book of Fate, Ignatius exclaimed, “So this is the high-tier artifact of the Babylonian pantheon! No wonder it felt so familiar to me! I suppose you obtained this Book of Fate from the ruins of the Babylonian kingdom!”
Donald nodded. “That’s right!”
Seeing Donald’s trust in him, Ignatius felt both moved and gratified. After closing his eyes in meditation for a moment, a flickering light appeared in his hands. He then shouted at Donald, “Bring out your Fury of Nature!”
Knowing Ignatius must have a reason for asking, Donald immediately took out his first personal artifact, Fury of Nature.
Ignatius then threw the light from his hand, and it rushed into Fury of Nature like a dragon returning to its lair. In just a short while, the divine light of this artifact spear shone brightly, with an additional colorless divine radiance added to its original emerald glow.

After finishing these tasks, Ignatius said with a smile, “This Book of Fate is far more important to me than ordinary high-grade artifacts. Although I once held the power of fate, KunugNeil’s power lies in locking in or erasing fate, while the Book of Fate is used to change and create fate—they are two sides of the same coin. If they could be combined, that would be true ultimate power over fate. Since I’ve received help from your Book of Fate, this represents an incomplete version of that power as I understand it. As my repayment to you, it may not compare to a complete high-grade artifact, but it can greatly enhance your control over fate. As for the complete version, I’ll give it to you once I retrieve KunugNeil in the future!”
Donald was overjoyed upon hearing this.
“Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!”
As a former Norse god-king and now the ruler of the elves, the divine authority granted by a powerful being like Ignatius was invaluable. Though incomplete, it was exactly the power he needed at the moment.
Donald had already thought of this, but he was afraid Ignatius would assume he wanted to compete with him for divine authority over fate, so he hadn’t dared to ask. Unexpectedly, he got everything effortlessly this time. Ignatius was willing to grant him a portion of his own authority, allowing Donald to master all the powers related to fate by understanding the authority within the artifact—this was undoubtedly selfless help.
“It’s worth it that I lent out the Book of Fate. Ignatius’s return in kind comes at just the right time!”
Holding the Spear of Wrath of Nature, Donald thought to himself.
Ignatius also had his own reasons for helping Donald.
He would soon set out to leave the multiverse in search of the other part of his power. Once he did, who held divine authority over fate in this multiverse would hardly affect him. Moreover, once he reunited with the other part of his power, he could achieve the path of the Supreme God. By then, the cosmic barriers and spatial storms would no longer be obstacles, and even if he returned to the multiverse, he wouldn’t have any conflicts with anyone regarding fate.
He then explained, “You need not worry about any conflicts between our divine authorities. Each universe has its own laws. Once I leave this multiverse, the divine authority over fate here will disperse again, waiting for a new god to take control. So you can start understanding it right now. Once I regain my position as the Supreme God, there will be even less reason to worry.”

Donald asked doubtfully, “Why? Aren’t you afraid that I might also push the fate deity to the level of a supreme god?”
Ignatius burst into laughter and said, “You grew up in the Pangu pantheon world—haven’t you heard of the concept of the Three Thousand Paths?”
Seeing that Donald still didn’t understand, Ignatius patiently explained, “According to the theories of those powerful cultivators outside the gods in the Pangu pantheon, the laws of each universe, or ‘Paths,’ are fixed and unchanging, with a fixed number and uniqueness. Only a true god or a powerful being can master them—this is where deity conflicts arise!”
Donald nodded after hearing this; he found such reasoning more understandable.
Ignatius continued, “A universe can achieve a half-step supreme god status and the divine domain associated with it. In the multiverse, these are called the Supreme Laws and the Primordial Laws, while in the Pangu pantheon they are known as the Three Thousand Paths. Among these, the latter make up the majority and are the laws that allow one to become an upper god or even reach a half-step supreme god status. There are less than fifty of the former, each of which can lead to becoming a supreme supreme god. The Pangu pantheon refers to them as innate sages and acquired sages, also known as the Immortal Great Luo Golden Immortals!”