Chapter 428: Divine Essence Incorporation

Not only the Wolf King, but everyone at this moment was deeply awed. Even if they knew of the tremendous benefits, did they really have the fate to obtain them?
Yet, it seemed no one realized that this “feast” of black lightning was one only Rod could enjoy—the intimate fusion that came from the infusion of a Divine King’s essence. Ordinary divine essences did not bring such lightning strikes; at most, they caused ordinary physical transformations, akin to refining one’s physique with golden light.
Boom… Boom…
The crackling thunder made everyone in Dark Moon City tremble. Even the strongest warriors of the Dark Source quivered under this might, and the entire continent’s powerhouses were shaken. Was this the arrival of a Divine King’s essence? Who could it be? Who was being tested at this moment? Everyone’s gaze turned toward Dark Moon City with complex emotions.
Meanwhile, Rod, inside the lightning, had entered a strange state. With his formidable recovery ability, all he needed to do was hold on to his soul and mental strength, using his unyielding will to endure the pain. This was another process of refining and strengthening his physical body—things he was well aware of. Only a strong body could sustain a powerful soul, withstand immense forces, enable one to reach greater heights, and endure a domineering divine essence.
Though the pain was unbearable, Rod managed to persevere. Over the years, he had gone through countless hardships and struggles—only he knew exactly what he had endured in the flames of the Nether Hell. That’s why he could hold on now.
After what seemed like an eternity, under everyone’s watchful eyes, the lightning gradually subsided. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief and stretched their necks to see Rod’s condition.
A blinding golden light flashed, forcing people to close their eyes. When they opened them again to adjust to the light, they were shocked.
Rod was floating mysteriously in mid-air, his body covered in golden light interwoven with black rays, with lightning crackling around him. Yet, he was unharmed, completely intact! It was absolutely astonishing.
His eyes were tightly closed, showing no signs of injury. How was that possible? Doubt arose in everyone’s hearts, but they had no choice but to accept the reality before them.

One crisis after another arose, and finally, that majestic gate in the sky emitted a dazzling light. A mass of light, carrying an aura of infinite dignity, slowly descended toward Rod.
“The Divine Essence!” The Wolf King and a few others who knew the truth couldn’t help but exclaim in shock. The Divine Essence—the Divine Essence of a God-King! How could it not arouse envy?
The golden Divine Essence slowly descended and eventually settled atop Rod’s head. It rotated several times before disappearing into his body.
This time, there were no earth-shattering changes. Everything was eerily quiet, as if nothing had happened. Before anyone realized it, the Divine Essence had been fully infused into Rod. He had passed Heaven’s trial and the trial of the Gate of Gods and Demons, becoming the new God-King, the ruler of all gods. Though for now, he was still alone.
At this moment, Rod paid no mind to what others outside thought. The lightning vanished, his body suddenly felt lighter, and he drew all his mental energy back into his body to observe. To his astonishment, his blood now carried a faint golden hue—pure gold, like that of gold itself. His blood had changed, meaning his lineage had changed! Was this real?
There was no time to think further. With the Divine Essence infused, he quickly turned his attention to his dantian.
At that moment, the dantian was filled with brilliant light. His combat energy, after being transformed, had turned purple-gold—a dignified and noble color. There were no visible changes in the dantian; it remained shrouded in mist, with the core of combat energy still spinning. But now, there were also purple-gold tokens, each the size of the combat energy core, resembling square tokens. Those were the Divine Essences—the Divine Essences of God-Kings. They exuded an aura of majesty that made one want to worship them.
Rod felt an indescribable closeness to them, as if they were connected to his bloodline. From the information he had received before, he knew the functions of the Divine Essence: it was not only a symbol of his identity and a token to rule the gods but also a powerful weapon, an extremely formidable magic artifact. Its functions were self-evident. More importantly, with it, Rod’s bloodline could merge with his own body, opening up endless possibilities for his future achievements, like a gate waiting for him to step through. Its benefits were countless—in short, it was an unparalleled treasure. Rod was overjoyed; all his hardships had not been in vain.
Only after confirming that everything was fine with the Divine Essence did Rod finally breathe a sigh of relief.

He then looked at other parts of his body. After the infusion of the divine essence, the benefits of the previous golden light transformation became fully apparent. Without further ado, his physical strength had far surpassed what it was before. Rod could even conclude that his current strength had reached its peak! Yet, with the divine essence of a God King, he still had room for further growth.

At present, even an ordinary god-level warrior, even if standing there to attack him, might not be able to kill him.

His bloodline had changed, his body had become stronger, his bones had transformed, and even his most vulnerable internal organs had not been spared! The more Rod looked, the happier he became, almost jumping for joy.

Of course, what excited him the most was his armor. After undergoing purification, the armor finally regained its former glory. Only then did Rod understand its true origin—it was a God King’s armor from a million years ago, acquired by the previous God King hundreds of thousands of years ago. Unfortunately, he failed to activate it, causing it to decline and scatter across the continent and the corners of the Source of Darkness. Who would have thought it would eventually be gathered by him and restored to its former glory? The defensive power of this armor was beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

After checking everything, Rod nodded in satisfaction and slowly opened his eyes.

In an instant, a beam of golden light flashed in his eyes, seemingly illuminating the entire night sky. It was awe-inspiring, causing those who felt its gaze to tremble involuntarily.

A gentle breeze blew, and all the primal elements fell silent. The clouds above the sky dispersed, restoring clear weather. The Gate of Gods and Demons slowly closed. All elements gathered around Rod, worshipping him as their center. All living beings knelt on the ground, paying homage to the return of their king.

This was the moment when gods and demons returned and all things worshipped. Rod was being worshipped at this moment. Those in the distance, still in shock, felt an invisible pressure forcing them to kneel and prostrate themselves before Rod.

Further away, in Cities of Carefree Joy, Water Veil City, Ice City, the Netherworld, and among the powerful beings on the continent, they too involuntarily bowed in worship toward Dark Moon City—this was the effect of divine authority.

After a while, the pressure vanished, and they finally regained their composure from the shock. Rod reined in his aura and returned to a calm state, but anyone could sense a trace of dignity emanating from his body—the dignity of a king.

“Big brother!” Seeing that Rod was unharmed, Lucy, who had been waiting anxiously, cheered and rushed toward him, followed by Ada. The two rushed into Rod’s arms like little birds, clinging tightly to him and refusing to let go, which made Rod feel a bit awkward.
“Hahaha… Rod, you kid, you’ve really grown strong now!” Sognar also came over and said with emotion.
Lilith remained smiling the whole time, gazing at Rod gently, like a virtuous wife—calm and dignified.
After that, the Wolf King and others congratulated him. Everyone offered heartfelt congratulations, their gazes toward Rod filled with respect. At this moment, Rod’s strength seemed to have been refined, as he had directly reached the later stage of the Yangxuan Realm—something everyone could sense.
“Clean up the battlefield and end the fight!” After returning their greetings, Rod gave simple orders. With the ancient sword destroyed and the main faction defeated, there was no need to continue the battle. All members of the main faction surrendered. What followed was simple—so simple that no orders were needed; everyone knew what to do: take the captives into the city and keep them under guard!
It wasn’t time to celebrate victory yet; there were still many tasks ahead. At least, cleaning up the battlefield would take a considerable amount of time, and there was much work for everyone to do.
Under Ada’s arrangement, and with the coordination of the Wolf King and the Dragon Clan’s Grand Elder, everything began to proceed in an orderly manner.
However, just as everyone thought everything was over, sudden changes occurred in the sky, leading to an unexpected scene.
The sky, which had just cleared of clouds, once again became overcast with dark clouds. The vanished Gate of Gods and Demons reappeared before everyone’s eyes. It began to tremble, as if struggling with something!
“What’s going on?” Everyone, who had just relaxed, suddenly changed expressions, filled with confusion.
“The Gate of Gods and Demons is having problems!” the Wolf King said gravely, his brows tightly furrowed, clearly worried. At that moment, a secret passed down through the Wolf Clan flashed through his mind—a secret that perhaps only the Wolf Clan members would ever know.
Because everyone seemed to have overlooked a very important point!
It wasn’t just the four great families that had inherited secrets; there was also the Wolf Clan. Though they had always been unremarkable in the past, they had also had glorious moments, such as the glory that existed when the Wolf King appeared a thousand years ago.
But the fate of the Wolf Clan didn’t seem good. Every time a glorious moment came, it meant something major was about to happen in the world.

Such cycles continued for hundreds of thousands of years. Perhaps no one knew better than they did the course of the war between gods and demons.
In the Wolf Clan’s records, there was a little-known secret—the secret regarding the Gate of Gods and Demons.
Boom! In the next moment, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating the entire night sky. In an instant, the tightly closed Gate of Gods and Demons seemed to be struck by some force, splitting open and beginning to struggle violently.
Three blue-black beams of light rushed out through that crack from the Gate of Gods and Demons and vanished from everyone’s sight in an instant, flying across the sky and landing deep within the Source of Darkness.
“Let’s clean up the battlefield first; we’ll discuss this when we return!” The Wolf King frowned deeply as he spoke to the others, his tone carrying an indescribable gravity that made Rod and the others realize the severity of the situation.