Chapter 104: Reaching the Divine Level

“You’re about to reach the divine level? Isn’t it only been a month since you entered the later stage of the sacred level?” Lilith couldn’t help but ask, looking at Rod in confusion. They had just reached the later stage of the sacred level not long ago, and within a few days they went to see Sognar. That meant it had been just over a month so far. Could he already have reached the supreme state of the later stage? If so, his cultivation speed was truly terrifying.
“Damn it, didn’t you just enter the sacred level today? How fast!” Sognar also couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.
Rod had only been in this forest for a little over a year. Sognar didn’t know about the few months he spent cultivating on the outskirts. The first time he met Rod, he could clearly sense that the guy was only at the beginning stage of the sacred level and had just entered it. A few months later, when they met again, he had reached the middle stage of the sacred level. That was still acceptable. But the third time he saw Rod, a month ago, he had only reached the later stage of the sacred level. Now, he had already reached the supreme state? Completing three levels in one year—such speed was simply unbelievable. Even compared to that monster in the Source of Darkness, his speed was no less astonishing.
As the two spoke, Xuanfeng, who was standing nearby, stared at Rod as if he were a monster, without waiting for Rod to react. He had already been amazed that someone his age could reach such a level. Now, after hearing Lilith and Sognar’s words, his mind was in turmoil. Completing the cultivation of the sacred level in one year—such speed!
Thinking of this, a helpless wry smile appeared on Xuanfeng’s lips. Such an abnormal speed meant this guy was definitely not human. It reminded him of that monster in the Source of Darkness. Back then, his cultivation speed had shocked the entire Source of Darkness. But upon reflection, it seemed his speed wasn’t even as fast as this young man’s.
“One year? Heh, interesting. Not bad, really not bad!” The old man known as Gary, who was listening, also saw a huge change in his gaze toward Rod. A gleam of admiration flashed in his eyes as he spoke in praise.
His words made the others sigh in admiration. Saying “not bad” twice in a row showed just how much he approved of Rod. Few people could earn such praise from him.

“Senior… could you…?” With a bitter smile, Rod looked at the old man, unable to express his distress. Whether intentionally or not, this man had been emitting a powerful aura since his appearance, and Rod had suffered greatly under such pressure. He inwardly groaned and couldn’t help but make a request of him. Not only Rod but also Sognar beside him looked extremely troubled.

“Hehe, I’m getting old and almost forgot. But since I’ve seen you now, it’s as if I’m repaying a favor to the man I was back then. You’re almost at the divine level, right? You still lack a bit of pressure, huh? Let me give you a hand!” Hearing Rod’s words, the old man seemed to realize something, smiled awkwardly, then spoke seriously.

As soon as he finished speaking, his expression turned solemn, and an even more powerful pressure than before surged forth like a tsunami. In an instant, an invisible force, like waves, kept pouring in, making the entire land seem to tremble. Sensing this, Lilith and the others changed their expressions, quickly retreating far back and using all their strength to resist this pressure.

As for Rod, he couldn’t take another step. He stood frozen in place, sweat pouring down his forehead like rain, drenching his entire body in moments. Gritting his teeth, his face turned pale. Even under twenty thousand times gravity, things were already extremely difficult, and now this pressure enveloped him completely, turning everything upside down.

He could feel his heart nearly stopping under such extreme pressure, his blood seemingly freezing and ceasing to flow. He felt dizzy, his whole body trembling from the pain. A sense of suffocation spread throughout his body, making it hard to breathe!

At this moment, Rod felt as if he was being pressed down by an invisible giant hand, as if carrying a mountain on his back, making it impossible to stand.

“Damn old guy, what exactly do you want?” Faced with this situation, Rod couldn’t help but feel nervous and cursed inwardly. His martial aura was on the verge of collapsing under such pressure, ready to be destroyed at any moment.

“Don’t get distracted. Sit cross-legged and enter a meditative state to condense your martial aura core. Hurry up!” Just as Rod was cursing, the old man’s stern voice came through.

“Kid, hurry up! This is a rare opportunity!” Lilith in the distance also watched the situation anxiously, clearly aware of what was happening at that moment. Understanding the old man’s intentions, she hurriedly shouted.

If indeed, as Lord Gary said, Rod had reached the supreme level of the Sacred Realm and was already on the verge of ascending to the Divine Realm, then this was definitely the best chance! None of them could help Rod overcome this final hurdle—only the old man could, as he had reached that level. His intention was obvious: to use his own momentum to help Rod compress his internal combat energy and achieve his goal. He wanted Rod to turn pressure into motivation, thereby breaking through to the Divine Realm in one go.

While Lilith and the others watched anxiously, Rod was equally tense. Hearing the old man’s words, he roughly guessed his intentions and dared not disobey. He quickly sat in seiza position and entered a state of cultivation.

Under the immense gravity and pressure, his combat energy temporarily stopped flowing. He immersed his consciousness deep within his body, forcing the combat energy to move slowly, completing cycles through his meridians before flowing into his dantian.

At the same time, the elements around him were drawn in at a terrifying speed, forming a natural vortex of elements that raged around him.

Watching this scene, the people around him looked extremely serious. Success or failure hinged on this attempt. If successful, he would surely enter the Divine Realm, greatly increasing the chances of success for this mission. If failed, at the least he would have to maintain his current level and wait for the next chance—though no one knew when that might be, perhaps in a few days, or maybe thirty to fifty days, or even three to five years. In the worst case, he might remain at that level forever, with no further progress. Such situations had happened before. So everyone was hoping Rod could persevere!

Unaware of the concerns outside, Rod focused all his consciousness inside his body, gradually gathering his combat energy and guiding it toward his dantian.

As more combat energy flowed in, it quickly reached saturation in his dantian. When it reached a critical point, Rod knew the opportunity had arrived. Success or failure depended on this attempt—failure meant death.

Gritting his teeth, he began compressing the fighting energy expanding within his dantian, while more fighting energy kept flowing in from the outside. Under 20,000 times gravity and the pressure from that old man, Rod could feel the speed of the fighting energy slowing down and gradually solidifying. Everything seemed to be going extremely smoothly, but when the fighting energy reached a certain limit, difficulties began to emerge. Compressing it into a solid the size of a single core was undoubtedly extremely difficult. Sweat poured down his forehead, and his body started trembling uncontrollably. The strain on his meridians and dantian from compressing the fighting energy was unimaginable—the tearing sensation was beyond what ordinary people could endure. After a long time, still with no progress at all, Rod grew increasingly anxious. Gritting his teeth again, he took out several dark and fire-type magical beast cores he had collected recently. With two types of fighting energy existing in his body, he needed to replenish more than just one element. Since external elements were not enough to complete the compression process, he had to rely on external forces! In fact, Rod didn’t know that anyone attempting to reach this level needed pure magical beast cores—after all, the energy absorbed always carried some kind of restriction. Many who failed to realize this ended up failing at this hurdle, which was why there were so few god-tier powerhouses. “Is this kid a dual-element fighting energy practitioner?” Seeing Rod’s actions and him beginning to absorb two types of energy, Gary was stunned. A look of shock appeared on his face as he spoke in a deep voice. He hadn’t expected it to be the case. After realizing this, his expression turned grave instantly. Compared to a single-element fighting energy practitioner, the difficulty of breaking through as a dual-element practitioner increased exponentially. There were very few successful examples. Reaching the saint level was already extremely rare, let alone the god level. The old man, who had lived for nearly ten thousand years, had only seen one person reach this level. And that person, once reaching the god level, displayed unparalleled strength, being virtually invincible in the god tier—proving just how powerful dual-element practitioners could be.

“Dark martial energy and fire martial energy? Opposites of yin and yang—can they be combined?” After sensing the attributes of the two types of martial energy, the old man frowned deeply, filled with doubt, and his mood became extremely heavy. Dark martial energy is characterized by consumption and coldness, while fire martial energy is marked by brutality and warmth; these two energies are completely incompatible, and the chances of them merging are slim.