Chapter 665: The Path of the Supreme God

“Primordial sages and acquired sages actually possess similar strengths; both are immortal and indestructible. However, an acquired sage—someone who is just one step short of a supreme god—can be suppressed, even deprived of the great path they rely on. Only a primordial sage, that is, a supreme god, is truly an eternal being free from all disasters and destruction. Such beings are unique. Once one attains the great path, that is, masters the powers of a supreme god, that path becomes occupied. Unless the original holder gives it up willingly, no one else can comprehend it. At most, they can only become a higher god, subject to the powers of that supreme god, unable to reach the level of a half-supreme god by accessing that path!”
“For example, due to that great battle, my strength was divided in two. Although I later used prophetic power as my divine authority and barely achieved the strength of a half-supreme god, even after years of accumulation sufficient to break through to the level of a supreme god, I still couldn’t overcome the barrier because prophetic power is a branch of fate. I must recover the other half of my strength to make such a breakthrough!”
Originally, Donald only knew a little about realms beyond higher gods from the records in the Book of Truth, like seeing through fog—only a general outline, with no details. Now, through the Elven Lord’s explanation combining theories from two universes, he suddenly understood everything clearly, gaining a clear vision of his path forward.
According to Ignatius, there are several paths one can choose for their supreme divine authority, all with great prospects. But it’s essential to determine which one follows the laws of a primordial great path, which follows the laws of an acquired great path, and which among the primordial paths can lead to becoming a supreme god.
Especially since even if one only reaches the level of a higher god through a primordial path, their realm and power will still far exceed those of an acquired great path deity of the same rank.
If a naive deity chooses the laws of an acquired great path, they can at most become a higher god. This is the advantage of having predecessors to guide them, allowing them to avoid many detours.
“So how can I distinguish which path is a primordial great path and which is an acquired great path?”

After hearing Donald’s question, the Lord of Elves also shook his head and said, “I’m not entirely sure how to divide them. I only know that time, fate, and destruction are the three laws within the Primordial Paths that can enable one to become a supreme god. As for prophecy, luck, fear, light, darkness, and the rest, they are laws at a lower level within the Primordial Paths that can only lead one to half the power of a supreme god! You must figure out the specifics on your own. If you can’t determine it in advance, you won’t be able to know until you successfully embrace a Primordial Path and attain the power of a supreme god or even half that.”

Donald couldn’t help but sigh bitterly upon hearing this. Time and fate were both confirmed to be Primordial Path laws that could lead to becoming a supreme god, yet he had never considered them as paths to achieve godhood. Among the law domains he knew, he had initially favored the domains of nature and balance. Later, he mastered some laws of order and one law of creation—destruction and creation being two sides of the same coin. Since destruction was clearly a Primordial Path that could lead to godhood, creation could undoubtedly also grant supreme godly power. Moreover, just by looking at the immense power of the Creator, one could see how extraordinary this law domain was!

As for the domain of order, Donald believed it had a greater than 80% chance of being a Primordial Path, as it was on par with the law of time and was one of the four fundamental laws. The remaining 20% was due to uncertainty about whether there were differences between universes. Balance and nature were both among the eight supreme divine paths, so achieving half the power of a supreme god was almost certain—meaning they were at least at the lower level of the Primordial Paths.

Thus, he currently had four paths to pursue: nature, balance, order, and creation. As for time and fate, his mastery of these two domains was far inferior to the previous three. He wouldn’t consider them for now, unless the other paths proved unworkable and he had to start over.

Having learned more about the path to becoming a supreme god, Donald felt this journey had been worthwhile. Even if he hadn’t created the River of Darkness and only gained partial control over the laws of fate along with these insights into the mysteries of godhood, it was already worth more than a high-tier divine artifact!

After seeing Ignatius off, Donald put aside his thoughts on the path to godhood for the time being, as his mastery of the law of divinity had unexpectedly surpassed his previous level, allowing him to reach the status of a mid-tier god.

It turned out that although Donald did not actively draw power from the River of Death, he deepened his understanding of time, fate, and purification through the creation of such a magnificent entity as the River of Death. Coupled with the shock from the words spoken by the Elven Lord earlier, his divine rank naturally surpassed that of a lower god and rose to that of an intermediate god. Since this was an unconscious breakthrough, his divine essence automatically chose the natural authority he knew best as its primary divine function. However, Donald wasn’t overly concerned about this. At least before becoming a higher god, it would be very difficult for other gods to change his primary divine function. But for him, who possessed two divine artifacts— the Codex of Gods and the Book of Fate—that controlled many divine powers, it was relatively easy! Only after becoming a higher god would his path be fully determined, and without great determination, it would be impossible to start over. Moreover, becoming an intermediate god only applied to his aspect as a Law God, meaning that natural authority became his primary divine function as a Law God. Did this mean he had two chances to choose? However, due to his extremely unique situation and the lack of precedents, Donald did not yet elevate his aspect as a Faith God to an intermediate god; he needed more research to decide. As for the impact of the River of Death on the multiverse, since it was currently only in the lower layers, he only needed to consider the Abyss and the Netherworld. Hell, being entirely under his and Astymos’ control, didn’t require attention. Outside Hell, the River of Death faced strong resistance from the will of the Abyss, causing its progress to be extremely slow—about ten times slower than in Hell. Almost every inch it advanced encountered significant resistance. Yet, thanks to the powerful purifying ability granted by the laws of time and fate, even the will of the Abyss couldn’t fully stop its advance. In just three days, the main stream of the River of Death had covered nearly one-tenth of the area of the First Layer of the Abyss, the Plain of Endless Abysses. At this rate, traversing the entire plain would not be a problem. But the deeper it flowed, the greater the resistance it faced, requiring more time to break through the power of the Abyss. Fortunately, with the help of demons and other creatures falling into the river from time to time, it continued to flow downward despite the difficulties.