Chapter 220: The Situation

Mid-stage Divine level—Black Silver was still okay, but Hei Yao was well aware that he first met this boy on that hillside in Dark Moon City. Back then, the boy only possessed the strength of early-stage quasi-divine level. The fact that he had leaped straight to early-stage Divine level upon their second meeting due to the God-Annihilating Thunder Tribulation was truly astonishing. Just a few months?
Three months—rising to mid-stage Divine level in such a short time! What kind of concept was that? It meant Rod had accomplished in three months what would normally take ordinary people ten or even a hundred years, or what even magical beasts would need over a century to achieve. It meant Rod had reached a level that most people could hardly attain in their entire lives by the time of their first meeting.
A freak—other than that word, he really couldn’t think of anything else to describe this young man. It reminded him of that freak-like individual from a hundred years ago within the Source of Darkness. Even that person’s astonishing cultivation speed seemed somewhat insignificant in comparison to this young man! A faint smile appeared on Hei Yao’s lips. He really wanted to see what would happen when these two geniuses met. Unfortunately, it seemed unlikely, as that person was now in a place he wasn’t qualified to enter.
“Miss, it seems you made the right choice. A golden dragon isn’t meant to stay in a pond—it transforms into a dragon the moment it encounters storms. It’s time for those old folks to shut up!” Taking a deep breath and staring at Rod intently, Hei Yao murmured to himself.
“Cough, cough, cough… It’s just luck, nothing more. Senior Melon’s guidance also played a huge role!” Rod said, his scalp tingling under the stares of those who regarded him like a monster.
“It’s about strength, not luck. Why don’t others have this luck? There’s no need to be modest. If it’s yours, it’s yours—no need to be polite! What, Sognar? Jealous? How about I train you for a while? I guarantee you’ll make great progress too!” Melon said generously, his face filled with a smile, clearly excited and proud, as he had contributed to this success. He didn’t forget to tease Sognar as well.

“Hmph, keep it for yourself. Only you think you can teach others. If even you don’t know, how could anyone else know about Sognar? With your skills! Never mind. Rod’s achievements today are thanks to himself, not your teaching. Your advice is worthless. I still look down on you. If it were really that effective, you wouldn’t still be at this mediocre level. I bet you’ve already reached the Yang Xuan realm, or maybe even the Xuan Huang realm!” Sognar retorted rudely, curling his lips.

Yin Huang, Yang Xuan, and Xuan Huang realms—hearing these terms, Rod felt a bit confused but also somewhat enlightened. It seemed the terms Yin Yang Xuan Huang were just general labels; upon closer inspection, there should be these three realms indeed.

In this new world, the more Rod learned, the more excited and passionate he became. His journey was still long. In that case, Melon was only at the Yin Huang realm.

Yet even at this Yin Huang realm, he already possessed such immense power. It was hard to imagine what the Yang Xuan realm would be like, or what it would be like to reach the Xuan Huang realm. Perhaps one could move mountains and fill seas, control the weather at will!

A person at that realm would be a god—like a deity in this world, commanding countless lives! He wondered if such a person even existed.

“Hehe, don’t be jealous. Even I’m better than you. I wonder who’s still at the godly level, not ashamed of it. They reached godhood years ago and spent a thousand years in the Dragon Clan’s sacred land. Now they’re just at a lower stage. How shameless!” Melon sneered, seemingly determined to rival Sognar with mocking remarks.

“You… Hmph, I slept there for a thousand years! Do you really think it’s great for cultivation? I bet you’d die within three days without sleep if you went in! If I really started cultivating now, with you, I could take you out with one hand!” Sognar shouted angrily, as if avoiding a sensitive point.

If it weren’t for the clan rules, he would have already revealed the truth. To others, it might seem like a great place for cultivation, but it was only suitable for a very small number of people. Did they really think anyone could cultivate there? Once inside, they had to sleep and rest most of the time unless it was necessary to fight in the void space!

Cultivation? That was a luxury. Did they really think it was a good place? Try being sealed in one place for a thousand years. If you didn’t go mad, you’d be lucky.

“Stop it, just make things up!” With a rolled eye, clearly despising Sognar’s answer, Melon continued to press him. “Alright, enough nonsense. Let’s go back and talk later!” Seeing the mess around them, as Sognar grew furious and ready to lash out, Lilith spoke up, pulling back Sognar who was about to rush out. “Alright, the Void Space isn’t as simple as you think. Otherwise, the Dragon Clan would have already conquered everything!” The white-haired youth, Heigin, also spoke with a smile. Though he didn’t know the exact details, he could guess it—just like their Black Phoenix Clan’s sacred land, the Nether Mountain Range, where those who wanted something could get it. Over thousands of years, only a few people had succeeded. The young lady was the first in five or six thousand years. Otherwise, why would their Black Phoenix Clan allow the Purple-Winged Thunder Eagles to act so arrogantly? But such days would end soon. The young lady was about to emerge from seclusion. By then, the Purple-Winged Thunder Eagles? Hmph, they’d die in a very ugly way. Sognar kept a cold expression as Lilith pulled him along, occasionally exchanging words with Melon. Melon, of course, wouldn’t back down at all. If not for Rod constantly calming them down, who knows how many times they would have fought. Amidst all the arguing, the group quickly arrived at the mansion where the Dragon Clan was staying. This time, members of the Black Phoenix Clan also lived in the mansion. Since that alliance, although the Demon Clan hadn’t shown enough sincerity, the Black Phoenix Clan and the Dragon Clan were different—they shared common enemies, interests, goals, and dangers. Under such circumstances, the two clans were completely tied together. Their bond was almost as deep as heart-to-heart friendship. Just like this time, members of both clans stayed together in Wuyou City, making sure others knew of their alliance, likely to intimidate the aggressive war faction of the Demon Clan and those from the Mi Jiao Clan. As for the Purple-Winged Thunder Eagles? It seemed they had become more subdued after Rod gave them a severe lesson. Disdained by others, if not for the terms of their original alliance, the war faction of the Demon Clan and the Mi Jiao Clan would have ignored them and left them to fend for themselves. On the other hand, it was also because both clans had little interest in this competition—since it didn’t concern them, they sent only a few members to go through the motions.

Upon entering the mansion, Rod finally got a glimpse of what true grandeur and opulence looked like. The splendor of this place was beyond even description—luminous pearls, magical cores of monstrous beasts, gold and silver—it was like a mountain of wealth. Even the worst of those cores belonged to quasi-divine-level monsters. Rod felt ashamed inwardly; the dragons truly were generous. There was probably only one mansion like this in all of the Dark Source, a world away from the underworld of Dark Moon City.

After taking his seat, Sognar finally calmed down and stopped arguing with Melon, perhaps realizing he was still far inferior to him in verbal sparring.

Throughout the journey, Melon had been smiling, while Sognar was almost boiling with anger, highlighting the huge gap between them.

“The competition starts in two days, and teams will be formed tomorrow. Hehe, kid, work hard and don’t disappoint me!” Since he couldn’t win in arguments, Sognar cleverly shifted the topic to Rod, instantly drawing everyone’s attention.

“All the spots have been arranged. This competition still uses a single-elimination format, so every match is crucial. There are sixteen spots in total, with the last two going to the Netherworld. This time, the competition will be fiercer than ever, especially with the addition of the Purple-Winged Thunder Eagles and the Nash family. Both families benefited from the main combat faction and each got one spot. The Purple-Winged Thunder Eagles are said to send a divinely perfected warrior, while the Nash family sends their patriarch personally, at the late divinity stage, reportedly having reached the peak of that stage recently! There’s also the Fields family. The members of these three families have grudges against you—be careful around them and don’t show mercy!” Aida warned anxiously.

“Also, out of the sixteen competitors, twelve are at the late divinity stage, and only four are at the mid-divinity stage. Three of those mid-level fighters are at the peak of their stage. So, you…” Aida said with a wry smile, looking at Rod. It went without saying that in terms of strength, Rod was at a clear disadvantage.

“What’s there to fear? What did he do when he was at the early quasi-divinity stage? And what about when he was at the early divinity stage? That old Nash guy was tortured to the point of being a living dead man—hehe, what’s difficult about that?” Recalling the past, Sognar spoke without concern, filled with inexplicable confidence in Rod.

“A living dead man?” Thinking of how strange he felt when he saw Old Nash today and what Melon had said about the demon, Rod grew puzzled.

“It’s just the Nash family’s secret weapon. Only members of the demon race can do this; they’re like puppets with the most basic level of thinking, almost no ability to think independently. The demon will take hold of their hearts, and their bodies will be filled with demonic energy, allowing them to control others! It’s as if they’ve been refined. The Nash family is really skilled—they actually succeeded in refining an old man to the quasi-Yin Yellow realm. Haha, I wonder what the people in their family will think when they see this old man—the former clan leader!” Hearing this, even Lilith couldn’t help but laugh.