As Roy had said, the first body tempering yielded the best results.
The subsequent ten times might only be comparable to the first.
Any further, and it might take a hundred times to achieve such an effect.
It didn't take long. Roy helped Aldrich complete this round of divine body tempering, increasing Aldrich's divine body's strength a little more.
"Hehehe, um, Lord Roy."
Feeling his strength had improved again, Aldrich looked at Roy. "Do you have any tasks for me right now? No matter how difficult, I promise to handle it perfectly!"
"This..."
Roy hesitated. He didn't seem to have any tasks at the moment.
When he first took Aldrich in, it was with the idea that if someone were to seal the plane teleportation array again, he would have a trump card and wouldn't be so passive.
Now that Aldrich was so enthusiastic about tasks after being drawn in by his Nebula Array, would refusing it dampen his spirits?
However, what else did he need Aldrich to do?
Roy's gaze shifted, and suddenly, he looked at Tina standing beside him, his eyes lighting up.
Right, how could I have forgotten about this?
"Tina, with your current strength, it's about time you went out for some experience."
"How about this, Aldrich, my second task for you is to protect Tina."
"Of course, this protection only applies when she's in mortal danger."
"As long as Tina's strength reaches the level of an Asura Prefect, I'll consider the task complete. How about it?"
"Ah?"
Aldrich glanced at Tina, his gaze carrying an unreadable meaning.
But clearly, neither Roy nor Tina were fools; they understood Aldrich's look.
He was disdainful of Tina's low strength, not wanting to waste his time.
"Hey, you scoundrel..."
This was the first time in so many years that Tina had been looked down upon. She was about to attack Aldrich, but Roy stopped her.
"Alright Tina, Aldrich is a powerhouse comparable to a Paragon expert. In his presence, you really don't have the standing to be taken seriously right now."
"Hmph!"
Hearing Roy's words, Tina's pupils constricted. She finally snorted coldly, turning away with her arms crossed.
Even Tina knew how special the status of a Paragon expert was.
They were invincible beneath the Lord Gods, without the restrictions of a Lord God's pact, practically "minor Lord Gods."
"Alright, Aldrich, don't be like that. Tina is my disciple. She's only been cultivating for less than eighty thousand years, and her strength has already reached the Seven-star Devil level."
"In at most a million years, Tina will become an expert at the Asura Prefect level."
"In the future, Tina's achievements will surely not be below yours."
"Moreover, if you complete this one task, I'll give you three opportunities for body tempering. How about that?"
"Deal!"
This time, Aldrich agreed readily.
It was just unknown whether it was Tina's future achievements not being below his or the three body tempering opportunities that made him agree so readily!
...
It had to be said, Roy's decision to have Aldrich clear out the bandits in the Infernal Realm had indeed yielded excellent results.
Intelligence from the Four Divine Beast Family indicated that since Aldrich began his bandit clearing operations, the casualties among the Four Divine Beast Family members had decreased by nearly three hundred thousand compared to the previous hundred thousand years.
This figure shocked the high-ranking members of the Four Divine Beast Family.
They never expected that in a span of one hundred thousand years, thirty thousand of their clan members would die at the hands of bandits.
Perhaps before, the family's population growth rate was roughly equal to the death rate, so no one thought there was a problem.
But once all the bandits were cleared by Aldrich, the total population increase of the Four Divine Beast Family over the past hundred thousand years finally drew everyone's attention.
Following this, Gaisleith personally issued an order for family members across the various God Planes to count their clan members. Only then did they discover a peculiar issue.
That was, for over a billion years, the total population of the Four Divine Beast Family had not increased.
Then, when Gaisleith inquired about the reasons for this from the family members in each plane, the cause was discovered.
It turned out that in every God Plane, the Four Divine Beast Family had friction with the indigenous families of the other planes.
For instance, in the Earth God Plane, it was unknown which prodigal son from the family had molested the young lady of the indigenous "Deen Family" of the Earth God Plane. Since then, the two sides had opened battlefields in many places within the Earth God Plane, and the conflict continued to this day.
In the Wind Element God Plane, the Four Divine Beast Family was provoked by a family called "Wenna Family" for some unknown reason, and the two sides had also been engaged in countless years of conflict.
In the Water Element God Plane, the Four Divine Beast Family had fallen out with the Babari Family. Almost all their clan members at the Five-star Devil level and below would engage in combat whenever they encountered each other.
In the Fire Element God Plane, the "Saintnal Family" had also been entangled with the Four Divine Beast Family for countless years.
In the Light God Plane, the now-established "Augusta" family began vying with the Four Divine Beast Family for the title of the foremost family in the plane. Their conflict had already lasted for over a hundred quintillion years.
In the Darkness God Plane, ever since the Four Divine Beast Family entered, their battles with the "Bartholomew Family" had never ceased.
In the Lightning Element God Plane, the "Ramsden" family harbored a deep hatred for the Four Divine Beast Family, and their conflicts had been ongoing without interruption.
Within the Life God Realm, the Four Divine Beast Family also had friction with a family called the "Edric Family." They engaged in fierce battles in secret, with a considerable number of Four Divine Beast Family members dying each year.
In the Netherworld, the Four Divine Beast Family also found themselves at odds with the "Ashcroft Family," engaging in desperate battles at the Blood Battle Stage on Lotus Rock Island and Blazing Flame Island in the Nine Nether Region.
In the Heavenly Realm, the rivalry between the "Bolin Family" and the Four Divine Beast Family was common knowledge.
Even in the Four Divine Beast Family's stronghold, the Infernal Realm, the Prefect of Sky Mountain Mansion, Molde, who was an emissary of Blood Peak Lord God Pash, showed no favor to the Four Divine Beast Family. Skirmishes between the Prefect's army from Sky Mountain Mansion and members of the Four Divine Beast Family frequently occurred at the border between Sky Mountain Mansion and Azure Mansion.
Every member of the Four Divine Beast Family in each plane believed they could fend off the attacks from these families. Furthermore, since their battles were still limited to Five-star Devils, it indicated that the opposing sides still had some restraint, so none of them had reported the issues to the family headquarters in the Infernal Realm.
It wasn't until Gaisleith inquired that they all recounted their disputes with the native families of their respective planes.
This revelation indeed startled Gaisleith.
The Four Divine Beast Family was in conflict with native families in eleven planes, and these disputes had been ongoing for so many years?
The most significant issue was that, according to the intelligence gathered by the Four Divine Beast Family, the native families in these planes were either descendants of Lord Gods or their patriarchs were Sovereign's Emissaries. Consequently, these families were generally not lacking in Sovereign Power, which eliminated the advantage the Four Divine Beast Family members usually had in terms of power, leading to heavy casualties.
If the Four Divine Beast Family's sheer scale wasn't so immense, with the number of newly grown members every ten thousand years roughly equaling the number of casualties, they might have been wiped out long ago.
Faced with the situation encountered by the Four Divine Beast Family, he dared not make any decisions and could only seek answers from the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods.
...
"Heh heh, this is what happens when a tiger doesn't show its might – they think we're sick cats!"
Upon seeing this intelligence report, the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods were furious.
They were quite familiar with some of the individuals mentioned in the report.
For instance, Babari, the patriarch of the Babari Family, was a Sovereign's Emissary of Manlu, the Fire Element Lord God.
Saintnal, the patriarch of the Saintnal Family, was a Sovereign's Emissary of Potel, the Fire Element Lord God.
Ramsden, the patriarch of the Ramsden Family, was a Sovereign's Emissary of Hulley, the Lightning Sovereign.
The Augusta Family, moreover, was composed of the descendants of Augusta, the Light Sovereign.
Potel, the patriarch of the Bolin Family, was an emissary of Karl, the Destiny Lord God.
These Lord Gods were, more or less, at odds with the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods. Therefore, the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods absolutely did not believe that the attacks by the Sovereign's Emissary families targeting the Four Divine Beast Family were without the instigation of their respective Lord Gods.
"Attack! Hit them back hard!"
White Tiger Sovereign Us roared in fury, waving his hand. A vast amount of Sovereign Power appeared like flowing water, which he stored in his spatial ring.
The other three Lord Gods also wore expressions of rage.
Immediately, the three of them directly absorbed a large amount of Sovereign Power from the elemental ocean through their Lord Godheads and handed it over to Gaisleith.
"Gaisleith, go tell our clansmen in the other planes that when you encounter members of these families, beat them to death. We'll provide all the Sovereign Power you need!"
"Rest assured, if the Lord Gods behind them dare to do anything outrageous, we wouldn't mind having a few more Lord Gods in our Four Divine Beast Family!"
These words, spoken by Azure Dragon Sovereign Leding, greatly reassured Gaisleith.
As long as their four elders were present, the Four Divine Beast Family would never lose!
After Gaisleith departed, the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods remained in the Lord God Palace, still seething with anger.
Aside from the Lord God behind the Sovereign's Emissary in the Lightning Element God Plane, who was Hulley, the Lightning Sovereign, the Lord Gods behind the other families were all Low-level Lord Gods.
They could not simply kill those Low-level Lord Gods over minor disputes between Gods, as this would violate the Lord God Covenant.
Matters between Gods are handled by Gods.
Matters between Lord Gods are handled by Lord Gods!
This was the first clause of the Lord God Covenant.
"We can't do anything about the other Lord Gods, but regarding the Lightning Sovereign..."
"The Four Great Rule Sovereigns do not interfere in disputes between Lord Gods of the same level."
"We'll head to the Lightning Element Plane now and lie in wait for the Lightning Sovereign!"
"Alright, I've long disliked that fellow. He bullied Fifth Brother even before he became a Lord God. This time, we'll send him on his way!"
"Indeed!"
...
For the next tens of millions of years, after leaving behind a sufficient amount of Sovereign Power for their respective families, the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods departed the Infernal Realm and journeyed to the Lightning Element God Plane to ambush the Lightning Sovereign Hulley.
Unfortunately, their actions were discovered by Hulley beforehand, and he escaped the Lightning Element God Plane one step ahead.
The speed of Law Sovereigns was a hundred times faster than that of the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods.
Furthermore, the attack range of the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods' fused innate divine ability was only a million miles. As long as the Lightning Sovereign Hulley maintained a distance of over a million miles from the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods, they were powerless against him.
"Hulley, you coward! You have the guts to let your emissary antagonize our Four Divine Beast Family, so why don't you have the guts to stop running!"
Since the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods couldn't catch Hulley, they resorted to curses, hoping to provoke him into returning.
Unfortunately, Hulley wasn't buying their act.
"Heh, if you Four Divine Beasts are so brave, then split up!"
"Hey, you're being unreasonable."
"You're a Law Sovereign, and we four brothers are also Law Sovereigns when we're together. You facing us four brothers alone doesn't violate the Sovereign's agreement."
"But if we four brothers split up, we're just Mid-level Lord Gods. Aren't you ashamed, a Law Sovereign, trying to bully four Mid-level Lord Gods!"
The chase and verbal spat between the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods and the Lightning Sovereign were not hidden at all, and they quickly attracted the attention of many Lord Gods.
Upon hearing the reason for the conflict between the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods and the Lightning Sovereign Hulley, some Lord Gods secretly broke out in a cold sweat.
Fortunately, they were only Lower-level Lord Gods. According to the agreements between Lord Gods, whether the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods were Mid-level Lord Gods or Law Sovereigns, they could not attack Lower-level Lord Gods.
And so, in the Spiritual Sense of the gathered Lord Gods, the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods and the Lightning Sovereign fled while trading insults, neither side doing as the other suggested.
The Lightning Sovereign Hulley knew he couldn't withstand the fused innate divine ability of the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods, so he absolutely refused to let them get within ten million miles of him.
Meanwhile, the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods didn't dare to split up to intercept the Lightning Sovereign Hulley. Their fused innate divine ability formation posed a fatal threat to a Law Sovereign, but once separated, they would be utterly thrashed by the Law Sovereign.
It was no help; separated, the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods were merely durable punching bags in front of a Law Sovereign.
After chasing the Lightning Sovereign Hulley for thousands of years with no success, the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods, in their frustration, had no choice but to return to the Lightning Element God Plane and cause massive destruction in Hulley's Lord God Palace, hoping to provoke him out.
But to their regret, even though Hulley entered the Lightning Element God Plane as well, watching their antics from ten million miles away, he refused to approach them even half a step.
Not only that, but Hulley, using his speed advantage, took the opportunity to supply his emissary Ramsden with vast amounts of Sovereign Power, enraging the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods to no end, yet they were still powerless against the Lightning Sovereign Hulley.
This farce between the Four Divine Beast Lord Gods and the Lightning Sovereign Hulley lasted for tens of millions of years. In the end, it was the Destiny Sovereign Off who intervened, stating that their actions were damaging the dignity of Lord Gods and ordering both sides to cease their conflict, thus ending the farce.
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