On a giant island in the Chaotic Sea, a battalion of deities wearing black armor with gold accents guarded two teleportation arrays countless times more complicated than the four teleportation arrays on each material plane. One of the soldiers closest to the magic circle looked at his captain, who was sitting down with his eyes closed.

“The captain is still so hardworking,” a soldier with black hair said with admiration. “He’s already a six-star fiend, yet he’s still grasping every moment to train.”

“You think everyone’s like you?” another soldier, this time with green hair, walked up and asked. “You’ve been in the Infernal Realms for hundreds of millions of years, and train in the Edict of Destruction, the captain, only started fusing the profound mysteries ten millions years ago, yet he already surpassed you.”

The black-haired soldier didn’t show any anger. “Some people only need a little advice to rise. How can we compare to a genius like the captain?”

Both he and the black-haired soldier were five-star fiends. He fused three profound mysteries of wind. In the other elemental laws, he would have become a six-star fiend, but the Law of Wind contained nine profound mysteries, and he only fused three low-level mysteries, so he was still a five-star fiend.

True, he was a top-tier five-star fiend, but so what? He wanted to fuse a fourth profound mystery, but the initial integration stumped him for tens of millions of years.

The green-haired soldier snorted, but didn’t deny the first soldier’s words. He felt one of the two teleportation arrays emit a misty light, causing him and the other soldiers to turn their head over. “It’s been a while since someone ascended from the material plane. Hopefully, it’s someone worth recruiting.”

If they recruited a talented deity into the Chaotic Sea Army, they would receive bonuses for their salary.

When the light died down, it revealed a bipedal insectoid standing at two meters tall with green chitinous shell. It has a head, thorax, and abdomen. Its head resembled a reptile with three blunt horns despite its insectoid nature. Its arms end in two long, white scythes. Two pairs of cream-color wings extend from its back.

“Not bad. It’s actually a demigod this time. And one that trains in the Elemental Law of Wind,” the green-haired soldier said.

As soon as the green-haired soldier walked up, the green insectoid brandishes its scythes. The green-haired soldier snorted and released his godrealm. “Don’t bother, I’m a highgod, while you’re just a puny demigod. You better stop that aggressive attitude of yours in the Infernal Realms. Otherwise, you might offend people stronger than you. Not everyone is as kind as me.”

After the godrealm disappeared, the insectoid lowered its scythes, but his eyes never left the green-haired soldier. The green hair soldier didn’t care. “Tell me, do you know about the fusion of profound mysteries?”

Even on the chitinous face, the insectoid demigod couldn’t hide his shock. A raspy voice asked, “You know about the fusion of profound mysteries?”

The green-hair soldier’s eyes lit up. “It seems like you’re quite the genius. Did the plane guardian tell you about it?”

“Plane guardian?”

The green-haired soldier became even happier. “Haha, it seems like you discovered by yourself, even better!”

“A plane guardian is a member of a Sovereigns’ army dispatched to watch over the material plane. Speaking of which,” the green-haired soldier glanced toward an ordinary soldier. “Go and prepare a plane guardian for this guy’s plane.

The ordered soldier nodded and flew off toward the nearby castle. Once a new plane guardian was selected, he would be teleported into the material plane, not only to watch over the plane but also spread the Extinction Sovereign’s religion.

The green-haired soldier looked back at the insectoid. “What’s your name?”

The insectoid demigod hesitated for a moment, but answered honestly in the end. “My name is Stryke.”

The soldier tapped a ring on his hand, and a green book appeared in his hand. The ring was an artifact known as an interspatial ring. As long as the user bound it with blood, they could store almost anything inside. The material used to make it was a special rock discovered in a material plane too harsh to support life.

The highgod who discovered the rock and created the first interspatial ring was rewarded with a drop of Sovereign’s Might. Since then, many plane guardians have sought to discover materials unique to their material planes. Few have succeeded.

“This book contains an introduction to all the profound mysteries in the Elemental Law of Wind. Go a head and read it.” The soldier chucked the book toward the insectoid demigod.

Stryke reached out to grab it, but stopped. Instead, green divine power flowed off its body and grabbed the book. The demigod glanced at the humanoid soldiers guarding the teleportation array and closed his eyes.

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Slowly, the insectoid body changed. As a divine beast, it had a onetime chance to choose an alternate form, but never used it, having never needed it, unlike now. After the transformation ended, a green-haired woman a little under two meters tall wearing green armored stood in the insectoid’s place. Her features were sharp, as if it had been sculpted from a block of marble using the sharpest blades.

The black-haired soldier who had been watching from the side couldn’t help but shout, “You’re a woman?!”

For most deities, external appearance no longer mattered. Instead, they sensed auras, and females usually exuded a different aura from males, but Stryke’s aura was just too sharp for them to link to a woman.

Stryke glared at the black-haired soldier. If she couldn’t sense him, she would have already attacked him. She looked away and found a place to sit before opening the book. Immediately, Stryke forgot about her previous unhappiness as she became immersed in the knowledge contained within.

The green-haired soldier didn’t bother Stryke. The stronger Stryke was, the more bonus he would receive.

A few years later, the soldiers stared at Stryke. Even the six-star fiend captain opened his eyes and stared at the demigod, because the Natural Laws descended.

The green book had fallen from Stryke’s hand and a green gem formed above her head. Stryke and the green gem merged into one, and she became a god. When the Natural Laws left, Stryke opened her eyes.

“Not bad,” the green-haired soldier said, looking at Stryke. “You’ve become a god. Tell me, which mysteries have you comprehended and fused?”

Stryke looked at the green-haired soldier with gratefulness. If she hadn’t been gifted the book by the green-haired soldier and given a clear direction, it would have taken her much longer to become a god. “I’ve comprehended the Profound Mystery of Dimensional Attack, Profound Mystery of Wind Walking, Profound Mystery of Fast, and Essence of Wind. So far, I’ve only fused the Essence of Wind with the Profound Mystery of Dimensional Attack.”

Originally, the green-haired soldier looked at Stryke as if she was a junior, but no longer. Even though she only fused two mysteries, the Profound Mystery of Dimensional Attack was a high-level mystery. It was comparable to or even exceeded the fusion of three low-level mysteries. If Stryke was a highgod, she would be a five-star fiend like him.

“You’ve just become a god. Do you want to test your newfound power?” the green-haired soldier asked.

Stryke’s eyes lit up. “Please.”

Not long later, Stryke and the green-haired soldier stood across from each other a hundred thousand kilometers away from the teleportation array. Stryke had already returned to her true form, while the green-haired soldier held a saber in his hand.

After many years, many divine beasts abandoned their method of combat and used weapons like those of weaker races. They had no choice. Among the divine beasts, only a few species’ body could become comparable to a highgod artifact. If they didn’t use highgod artifacts, they would be at a disadvantage.

As the stronger one, the green-haired soldier allowed Stryke to initiate the battle. Stryke didn’t think the green-haired soldier was looking down on her. He was, after all, a highgod, while she was a mere god.

Wind-type divine power coated both of her scythes, and she charged forward. The green-haired soldier’s eyes widened when Stryke closed the thousand meters in an instant. Even though deities who trained in the Laws of Wind specialized in material attacks and speed, her speed was above the norm. The green-haired soldier estimated that his top speed was slower than the other party.

Still, that was only in speed. He slammed his spear toward her. At the moment of the collision, the green-haired soldier felt a slight numbness in his hands. The next moment, he knocked Stryke into the distance, but he could see a slight gash on his spear.

‘A high-level divine beast!’ the green-haired soldier thought. Fiend Palace had released a bestiary regarding all the known divine beasts of the universe. Divine Beasts like Suanni Lions could only be considered low-level divine beasts, and even Ba Serpents were mid-level divine beasts. For Stryke, who possessed both attack and speed comparable to a highgod as a god, he directly classified her as a high-level divine beast.

However, to be sure, the green-haired soldier still tested Stryke. In terms of power, she eclipsed ordinary highgods, barely reaching the level of a five-star fiend. However, she was also immature. Stryke displayed the power of her fused mysteries through her scythes, and coupled with her innate speed, that was enough against common enemies, but against someone like the experienced green-haired soldier, her defense and soul defense were too lacking. She needed to develop more techniques based on the fusion of mysteries.

After a few more exchanges, the green-haired knocked Stryke into the ground, and cracks littered her exoskeleton. A surge of green divine power later, the cracks started to disappear at a slow but noticeable rate.

She sighed. The difference between a highgod and a god is still so large.

“You don’t have to be discouraged,” the green-haired soldier said. “Your current strength is enough to sweep ordinary highgods. However, you are still a god, so you have to be careful about soul attacks.”

The cracks in her shell haven’t disappeared yet, but Stryke changed into her human form. “Thank you, Mister…?”

“Kaze. Your strength will soon reach my level, there’s no need to add mister to my name,” Kaze said. “You are a divine beast, do you have a divine ability?”

Stryke furrowed her brows. Although she was grateful to Kaze, it didn’t mean that she would tell him everything. Kaze also saw this, and he understood. “If you don’t want to, it’s fine to not tell me. However, if you report your information to fiend castle, you receive a large amount of inkstones.”

Kaze held a black stone the size of a nail between his fingers for Stryke to see. “This is an inkstone, the currency of the Infernal Realm."

He chucked it toward Stryke. “Consider it a gift from me. I’ll throw in this ring, too.”

Stryke caught the inkstone and observed it. She could sense a faint aura in the stone that made her heart palpitate. She then dripped her blood onto the ring and bound it. Inside, she sensed a pile of inkstones.

“Do you have a name that you call your species?”

Unlike the other question, Stryke didn’t have any hesitation answering this one. “I’m a Windreaper Mantis.”

“Windreaper Mantis, a fine name,” Kaze said. “Do you have any thoughts of joining the Chaotic Sea Army? With your current strength, you can instantly become a squad leader like me.”