Chapter 19: The Hierarchy of Profound Mysteries
“Uh…” Bebe suddenly stopped, staring blankly at Linley’s shoulder.
Linley also laughed. “Are you still thinking about standing on my shoulder?” In the past, Bebe had often stood on Linley’s shoulder, but now he had already transformed into a human form.
At this moment, although Bebe wasn’t very tall, only about one meter seventy or so, he could no longer stand on Linley’s shoulder like before.
Linley, however, carefully examined Bebe after his transformation into human form. Bebe’s features were quite delicate, but his eyes were just as mischievous as before. Bebe grinned slyly, then touched his short crew cut, raising his head and saying, “Boss, how’s my hairstyle? I thought about it for a long time before I became a god.”
Linley didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“While flying here from the Dark Forest, I picked up a little something along the way,” Bebe said mysteriously.
“Oh?” Linley looked at Bebe. Bebe flipped his hand, and a tattered straw hat appeared in it. He skillfully flipped it again and put it on his head, grinning with great satisfaction. “Boss, doesn’t this straw hat suit me perfectly?”
Seeing Bebe like this, Linley couldn’t help but laugh. “It suits you, it suits you!”
Bebe said seriously to Linley, “Boss, let’s go talk somewhere else. Let’s not disturb them!”
“Disturb them?” Linley was a bit puzzled, but he immediately caught on. He turned his head to look at the War God and the High Priest beside him. The War God and the High Priest clearly didn’t know whether to laugh or scold either. Seeing Bebe like this, they couldn’t bring themselves to say anything harsh.
“Sorry,” Linley quickly apologized.
“Take this little guy away quickly,” the High Priest said, not knowing whether to laugh or scold.
“Alright, let’s go,” Linley said hastily. “Well, you two continue.” As he spoke, Linley led Bebe to leave the back garden, but Bebe turned his head and shouted to the High Priest and the War God, “My boss says you two should continue!”
Linley could only glare at Bebe speechlessly.
The two walked side by side inside Dragonblood Castle.
“Boss, I’ve become a god too. You might not be a match for me now,” Bebe said smugly.
Linley laughed. “The stronger you are, Bebe, the better. If you’re even stronger than me, that’s even better.” Linley suddenly thought of the divine beast’s innate abilities and asked, “Bebe, you’re the second Rat of Divine Devouring in countless planes. So, what’s your innate ability?”
“If anyone else asked, I definitely wouldn’t tell,” Bebe said. “But since you’re asking, Boss, I’ll give you a little hint. Think about the words ‘Divine Devouring.’”
After giving that hint, Bebe didn’t say anything more.
“Divine Devouring?” Linley was puzzled. Could it be about devouring divine-level experts? It probably wasn’t that simple.
“Oh, right, Boss. Grandpa Beirut, along with Harry and the other two, will be coming soon. I just couldn’t wait and came ahead,” Bebe said. Linley was a bit surprised. “Lord Beirut, along with Harry and the other two, are coming too?”
…
Sure enough, that evening, Beirut arrived at Dragonblood Castle with his three sons.
In the study.
“Bebe, you and Harry and the other two go out first,” Beirut said with a faint smile. Bebe, Harry, and the other two obediently left. Only Beirut and Linley remained in the study. Linley looked at Beirut, feeling a bit puzzled. “Beirut wants to talk to me alone. What does he want to discuss?”
Despite his doubts, Linley remained very respectful.
“Sit down first,” Beirut said, sitting down and pointing to the chair beside him. Linley sat down as instructed.
Beirut stroked his beard and said with a sigh of relief, “Bebe has finally reached the divine level now. I can breathe a little easier. Linley, Bebe is very attached to you. He didn’t even want to follow me. I hope you’ll take good care of him in the future.”
“That goes without saying,” Linley nodded.
Even if Beirut hadn’t said it, Linley would do his utmost to take care of Bebe. Linley could never forget that time in the Misty Valley when Bebe blocked the fatal blow of the Spiked-Back Iron-Armored Dragon for him. Bebe had saved him more than once. Linley wouldn’t forget that.
“Linley, you’ve stepped into the divine realm, but you must have many questions about the world of gods,” Beirut said with a smile. “Even O’Brien and Catherine—how many divine-level experts have they actually fought?”
Linley was inwardly delighted.
He knew far too little about the world of gods. Even in battle and cultivation, he felt somewhat lost, like a blind man. Without guidance, it was truly frustrating.
“I know you cultivate the laws of wind and earth,” Beirut said with a faint smile. “Let me start with that aspect. First, you should know that each elemental law contains many profound mysteries.”
This was common knowledge, so Linley naturally understood.
“However, the power of the various profound mysteries within an elemental law is not the same,” Beirut said with emotion. “Among these elemental laws, there are low-level profound mysteries, mid-level profound mysteries, and high-level profound mysteries! Yet these mysteries of varying levels can all lead one to godhood!”
Linley nodded.
“Linley, in the laws of the earth, you should be cultivating the profound mystery of ‘Earth Pulse,’ right?” Beirut looked at Linley.
“Yes,” Linley replied without surprise. It would be strange if Beirut didn’t know this.
Beirut smiled and said, “Under normal circumstances, the higher-level profound mysteries are usually only comprehended by mid-level gods or high-level gods. Many mid-level gods of the earth element haven’t even grasped ‘Earth Pulse.’ Yet you, a low-level god, are already comprehending it.”
Linley frowned deeply.
Beirut chuckled and said, “Let me put it this way. Suppose the laws of the earth contain nine profound mysteries. Of course, I’m just assuming nine, since I don’t cultivate the earth laws myself.”
“Nine?” Linley was a bit surprised.
Based on his understanding, the elemental laws were vast and boundless, containing many profound mysteries. How could Beirut assume only nine? Since he dared to make such an assumption, it was clear that the actual number of profound mysteries wasn’t large.
“Don’t think nine is a small number.”
Beirut noticed Linley’s confusion and laughed. “A person’s life experiences and talents determine what they excel at. For example, you, Linley, are most sensitive to and have the clearest perception of ‘Earth Pulse’ within the earth laws.”
“So, this profound mystery of the earth will be the first one you cultivate, and you’ll progress very quickly. But what about something like ‘Gravity Space’ within the earth laws? Could you comprehend and cultivate that?” Beirut asked with a smile.
Linley was completely at a loss.
Gravity Space? When he tried to perceive the earth laws, he had no clue at all. How could he cultivate it?
“Here’s the issue of efficiency. Cultivating the earth laws will be easy for you, but cultivating other profound mysteries won’t be as simple. For example, with nine profound mysteries, the first might take you a thousand years. But the second might take a hundred thousand years. The third might take a million or ten million years, and so on. To fully comprehend all nine is extremely difficult. That’s why high-level gods are so rare.”
Linley understood.
It was like in the mortal world: some people were skilled in alchemy, while others were good at socializing. Making someone good at socializing learn alchemy would naturally be very difficult.
Linley found it relatively easy to comprehend ‘Earth Pulse.’
However, other profound mysteries of the earth element weren’t so simple for him to grasp. For instance, back then, Hadeson could take a single step and cover dozens of meters, as if teleporting.
Linley knew it wasn’t teleportation.
But to this day, Linley couldn’t understand how Hadeson managed to cover dozens of meters in one step.
“Hadeson could comprehend that, but I find it hard. I can comprehend Earth Pulse, but he can’t,” Linley thought, understanding Beirut’s meaning. Comprehending the laws depended on talent, life experiences, and occasional moments of enlightenment.
Many factors determined the process of cultivation.
“As for the rules of becoming a god,”
Beirut smiled and said, “Let’s take the wind element laws you cultivate as an example. Suppose the wind element laws also have nine profound mysteries. If you master any one of them to perfection, you become a low-level god.” Linley was clear on this point.
“What about becoming a mid-level god? For instance, Linley, if you cultivate the profound mysteries of ‘Speed’ and ‘Slowness’ and master both to perfection, you still won’t become a mid-level god. At that point, you have two ways to become a mid-level god.”
“The first is to cultivate another profound mystery. That is, if you master three profound mysteries to perfection, you become a mid-level god.”
“The second method is to fuse the two profound mysteries of ‘Speed’ and ‘Slowness’ into one. Once you succeed in fusing them, you become a mid-level god,” Beirut explained. He paused, knowing Linley might have some doubts.
“The Heavenly Laws determine whether you meet the conditions to become a mid-level god based on your level of comprehension of an elemental law.”
Beirut sighed and said, “In reality, suppose the wind element laws have nine profound mysteries. If you comprehend all nine, are you complete?”
“Comprehending all nine should make you a high-level god, right?” Linley said.
“Yes, you would be a high-level god, that’s true,” Beirut nodded. “But you wouldn’t be complete. Anyway, I won’t say more now. It’s too early to discuss this.”
Linley smiled and nodded.
“When divine-level experts fight, the differences between levels are significant. A mid-level god can usually kill a low-level god. Of course, there are exceptions,” Beirut said. At this, Linley’s eyes lit up.
Beirut explained, “The divine spark of a mid-level god makes their ‘God’s Domain’ stronger than yours. Within their God’s Domain, your speed will be greatly reduced. Second, the divine power within a mid-level god is purer. These two factors alone almost determine the outcome of a battle.”
Linley nodded.
When he was within O’Gavin’s God’s Domain, he had felt his movement speed greatly reduced. Originally, Linley was much faster than the two black-robed experts, but within the God’s Domain, he became slower than them.
“So, when a low-level god fights a mid-level god,” Beirut explained with a smile, “the first option is to ambush them. Before they activate their God’s Domain, deliver a powerful strike to kill the mid-level god.”
“Kill them with an ambush?” Linley asked doubtfully. “It can’t be that easy to kill a mid-level god, can it?”
“That’s right,” Beirut said. “Even with an ambush, the moment you get close, they’ll react. In that situation, to kill them, you need one thing—the profound mystery you’ve comprehended must be far stronger than theirs!”
“Because your divine power is less pure, you have to rely on your weapon and the profound mysteries to surpass them!” Beirut explained.
Linley understood.
So what if they were a mid-level god?
Suppose a mid-level god had comprehended three profound mysteries, all of which were low-level. The power of any one of them wouldn’t be too strong. A mid-level god could only rely on their ‘God’s Domain’ and purer divine power to kill a low-level god.
“Of course, even if that mid-level god has only comprehended low-level profound mysteries, once they fuse those low-level mysteries, you have no chance,” Beirut said with emotion. “The power of two fused low-level profound mysteries is definitely not weaker than a high-level profound mystery!”
Linley nodded.
The fusion of the profound mysteries of ‘Speed’ and ‘Slowness’ into the mystery of velocity, once perfected, wouldn’t be weaker than ‘Earth Pulse.’
“In other words, only the most exceptional low-level god can defeat the weakest mid-level god,” Beirut concluded. “Of course, if the divine artifact is exceptionally powerful, or under special conditions, it’s still possible to win.”