THE GOD EATER

With a chuckle, the guardian said, ”If you didn’t already have a Divine Mountain, I would have said you had no chance of becoming the Domain King when there are competitors like Black Chain, Tepid Scholar, Heavenly Eye, and Martial Will to deal with.”

”Since you have a Divine Mountain and a Divine Spark, what you need to do now is never lose them. Establish your Divine Mountain, recruit other Dao Lords and Demigods, grow your Divine Mountain, fight for control of the Domain with other Divine Mountains, and be the first to advance to the next rank.”

”That last part is very important. It is also where you’re lagging behind the most. You are a one-star celestial, meaning you only have one active godhead and Supreme Metac. Black Chain is already a six-star celestial, so he is much closer to the end than you are.”

”Wait a minute. Black Chain is a six-star celestial. I thought he only had five pathways?” Loki asked in confusion.

The guardian didn’t reply. Instead, they chuckled meaningfully.

By this time, the roots were done taking what they needed from Loki. So they began retracting from his body, shriveling and shrinking along the way.

As for the black egg, it turned golden. But now it was turning black again.

”It is about time,” the guardian said in anticipation. ”Prepare to bear witness to a great and rare phenomenon.”

Loki had seen this before, but he still made sure to act surprised. His eyes widened by the appropriate amount, and he exclaimed when he needed to do so.

His mind within the spark of power was still the one doing the thinking and sending safe thoughts over to the mind within the Devouring Supreme Metac. But instead of sending only the thoughts for replies, he also sent thoughts for emotions and background emotions.

The way he acted, surprised and clueless, was so good that the guardian couldn’t find any fault with him, even though they were suspicious of him.

At the end, the guardian told him about how the Sea of Worlds was a breeding ground for their Gemini race and offered to help him in exchange for an unconditional favor that he had to reciprocate. Then they left with his son.

As he watched the black armored knight leave with the equally black wolf man, Loki thought to himself suspiciously, ’What is with the guardian and that unconditional favor of theirs? I didn’t even ask them to help me this time. But they still had me swear to do anything they ask for if they help me.’

’I have a feeling that they already have something in mind that they want me to do. The favor is just a way for them to make me do it.’

While he was thinking about their conversation, he was also running away. He picked the opposite direction that Black Chain came from in the previous timeline and ran there with all of his might.

When he reached the edge of a landmass, he would jump onto the next one. Then continue running without looking back.

After a while, he added the 272 units of divinity into his Divine Speed attribute for a boost. He didn’t stop for anything, unless it was for a piece of shiny celestial gold and some divine crystal.

While he was busy running for his life, the guardian went to visit every Dao Lord. The guardian visited them from whom they thought was the weakest up to the strongest.

Even though Loki was the one with the highest potential in the Sea of Worlds, he was also the weakest one. As for who the strongest Dao Lord was, it was the spider-monkey.

Since the spider-monkey was the strongest Dao Lord, he was the last to be visited by the guardian. When the guardian found him, Black Chain was still looking for Loki.

”Where’s that miscreant?” Black Chain asked in frustration. ”He shouldn’t have gone far.”

”It is a pity that I don’t have a pathway for tracking. It would have made finding prey like this so much easier.”

But then a voice asked him, ”If I give you a pathway for tracking that is a Major Dao or Minor Dao, will you be willing to give up one of your godheads for it?”

The sudden appearance of the voice drew his attention, making him turn in the direction of the source of the voice. When he looked at who was speaking, he saw a black armored knight approaching him rapidly.

The sight of the guardian made him become solemn. He immediately restrained his emotions and thoughts. He also became serious as if he was preparing to fight a great enemy.

After preparing his mind, he answered the question, ”With my condition, I only want a Grand Dao or a Cosmic Dao. So no, I won’t give up any more godheads for a Minor Dao or a Major Dao.”

The guardian nodded and said, ”That’s what I expected to hear. It is a decision borne out of pragmatism.”

”You’re not wrong to want more power. After all, the difference between a Cosmic Dao and a Grand Dao will only continue to grow bigger the more you advance. However, you can forget about getting another Cosmic Dao for the moment.”

’Who does he think he is to pass judgement on my plan?’ Black Chain thought to himself in dissatisfaction.

He didn’t plan to have this thought at all. In fact, he had previously restrained his mind from thinking about something that could offend the guardian.

Unfortunately, his innate pride took the better of him, pushing the thought into his mind. The only thing he could do now was remove the thought from his mind and hope the guardian didn’t notice.

Then he said respectfully, ”Why do you think so, my lord?”

The guardian ignored his true thoughts and said, ”It is simple, because you do not have a Divine Spark. Without a Divine Spark, you can’t have more than one Cosmic Dao.”

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