Chapter 427: Baptism of the Divine Body

At this moment, Rod was also reminded to sit in seiza position, waiting for the most critical moment to arrive. It seemed as though heaven was conveying a message to him, but Rod could not decipher it immediately, unable to understand its meaning.

As time passed, the golden light that had persisted for nearly two hours gradually faded away. Slowly, it returned to the sky along that beam of white light, drawn back into the majestic gate. In an instant, the darkness of the night diminished significantly.

At this moment, it seemed that everyone in Dark Moon City had forgotten about the fierce battle. They all stepped outside their homes and stood on the streets, quietly gazing at the sky. This miraculous sight left them in awe. They still did not realize what they were witnessing—nor did they know they were witnessing the birth of a miracle, a phenomenon that occurred only once every hundreds of thousands or even millions of years. They saw the opening of the Gate of Gods and Demons, the arrival of a new era, and the birth of a divine king. If they had realized this, their attitudes would surely have been completely different.

“Dad, what’s that? It’s so beautiful!” a child asked innocently, looking at the open gate in the sky with excitement and confusion.

The parents beside him were at a loss for words, not knowing how to respond, and could only stammer out some frightening excuses.

Of course, this was what was said to children. For adults, it was completely different. Some began to discuss loudly, none of them knowing what was really going on. They just stared at each other, filled with shock and confusion.

Outside the city, the situation was not much better. Aside from a few who knew the truth, the rest were equally puzzled. The battlefield fell silent once again, and those who had been captured became quiet, all their attention fixed on the figure in the center.

Although the golden light had disappeared, Rod still sat in seiza position, showing no signs of opening his eyes. A faint golden glow covered his body, making him appear as majestic as a warrior god from the heavens. All his wounds had healed somehow, leaving him looking perfectly fine. Especially his armor, which had once seemed simple and plain, now shone brilliantly, as if awakened by the pull of the golden light, sparkling like stars.

Finally, after several minutes passed, the golden light covering Rod’s body began to gradually fade away until it completely disappeared, merging into his body. At that moment, Rod fully regained consciousness, a faint smile on his lips.
“So that’s how it is!” he sighed, murmuring to himself in a voice only he could hear.
After some time, Rod finally processed the information he had received: the battle between heaven and earth, the opening of the Divine Gate, the return of gods and demons, all things worshipping them, the unity of heaven and earth, the gods and demons returning to their places, the rise of chaos in the world, and heroes vying for power! This sentence appeared in his mind—it was the information implanted in him during the golden light baptism.
Of course, there was more than that; countless complex pieces of information filled his mind, causing some confusion. Yet Rod had grasped the main points: the advanced civilization tens of thousands of years ago, the sudden war between gods and demons, their downfall, and the subsequent decline, known as the Primitive Age! All the mysteries that had puzzled people for generations were resolved for Rod at this moment. Moreover, he understood that such situations had repeated throughout history across countless eras and cycles, and the present was just a small part of it.
Knowing this, Rod felt even heavier-hearted. Extremes eventually lead to their opposites—a truth that has always held true. With current prosperity came the approaching decline. This era was both the best and the worst. How long could it last? No one knew. Even the longest-lasting era in history had lasted only over five hundred thousand years. How long could theirs last?
However, perhaps this was not something he could consider alone. It required the joint efforts of everyone. All he could do was slow down the approach of the decline.
With a long sigh, Rod looked at the gate in the sky. The golden gate was majestic, emitting a sacred aura that made one feel compelled to kneel. This must be the Gate of Gods and Demons. Divine statuses and demonic positions originated from here. Anyone who entered the divine realm would undergo its baptism. But he was somewhat different.

God King? At this thought, Rod felt mixed emotions. How could he have become a God King so inexplicably? It seemed he was drifting further and further from his original plans. He had intended to retire and live a peaceful life, but now he found the burden on his shoulders growing heavier. The title of God King and the associated divine essence required bearing too much responsibility. If possible, he would have preferred not to take it, but fate wouldn’t give him a choice.

More importantly, right now he was nothing but a lone commander, with not a single subordinate. Among the countless gods and their 360 divine essences, all were vacant, waiting for their masters. He still had to wait for a long time. Of course, this was much better than the demons, whose situation was even more tragic—there wasn’t even a Demon King yet, making their plight even worse than his. Thinking of this, Rod found it somewhat amusing; it seemed they were faced with an incredibly difficult situation—a situation of utter despair.

It seemed that saying “the greater your power, the greater your responsibility” was indeed true.

But on the other hand, Rod hoped that the time before the gods and demons returned would be as long as possible. Because once they all returned, the 360 gods under the leadership of the God King would, along with hundreds of demon gods, repeat the cycle of history once again, engaging in a life-and-death struggle. The outcome of that struggle would be the destruction of both sides!

Rod helplessly realized this was something he couldn’t prevent. After the gods and demons returned, whether he wanted to or not, he would be drawn into such battles due to the timing. There was no way to escape.

With mixed feelings and sensing the concern from those around him, Rod felt a warmth in his heart. He didn’t rush to open his eyes to greet them. There was still one last thing left unfinished: implanting the divine essence.

Inside his body, after modification, a space had formed within his dantian—right where the nebula used to be. Next to the core of his combat energy, there was now a vacancy, meant to hold the God King’s divine essence.

After a long wait, finally, with a thunderous shock, the final step was taken.

Black lightning filled the sky, mesmerizing everyone. It formed black dragons the size of human arms, descending from the heavens, targeting Rod, pouring all their power upon him.

“Big brother…” Lucy, Aida, and the others watching from afar cried out in shock. No one could have imagined such a scene would occur.

They knew all too well what black lightning meant. The power of purple lightning was already terrifying, not to mention white lightning, which even those at the Yang Xuan realm found hard to withstand. Let alone the even more powerful black lightning—what about the legendary lightning?

But they were tightly held by the Wolf King and could do nothing, only watch from afar with worry and prayer. They all knew this might be the final step in infusing the divine essence. At that moment, thousands of lightning bolts descended from the sky in unison, their intensity stunning—people stood frozen, speechless. Was this the might of heaven? Could humans endure it? Could Rod survive such a barrage of lightning?

At that instant, everyone’s heart was filled with doubt. They all guessed and waited for the final outcome, their attention fixed on the figure enveloped in lightning in the center of the scene.

A black light instantly swallowed Rod whole. The interweaving black rays produced crackling sounds, while thunder roared in the sky, casting darkness over the entire world. Perhaps only Rod himself could truly understand the agony of that moment—surrounded by fierce lightning that not only attacked his body but also his soul and mental strength, making it nearly unbearable. If not for his exceptionally strong physique, his mental strength having reached a terrifying level through continuous trials, and his soul having been hardened to the extreme with the help of Xuanyuan through the trials of the Netherfire, Rod might have already turned to ashes by now.

Even so, he continued to endure these extreme trials. Fortunately, his body had been transformed by the golden light before, granting it an astonishing recovery speed—comparable to the destructive force itself. Any damage was repaired instantly; exposed bones were immediately covered by new flesh.

The blood was golden, which surprised Rod greatly. It seemed he still didn’t realize how much his body had been transformed at that moment.

With such incredible recovery power, everything seemed much simpler. All Rod had to do was persevere, protect his soul and mental strength, and let his body handle the rest of the recovery.

“This…” Outside, the Wolf King, who had endured the lightning for over ten minutes, could finally bear it no longer. He swallowed hard and managed to utter a syllable with difficulty. It was astonishing—completely astonishing! He didn’t know what to say anymore! Could anyone really withstand such lightning? How long could he hold on if he were in Rod’s position? Putting himself in Rod’s shoes, the Wolf King realized that he himself couldn’t last even a minute, let alone over ten minutes, and there was no sign of it ending! With this thought, cold sweat covered his forehead, and his expression changed—from complexity, envy, and a hint of jealousy to admiration.
Indeed, one must have the right strength to do the right things. Many things cannot be obtained through envy; only with the necessary strength can one possess the ability, otherwise it’s useless even if given to you.