NOVEL NEXT Chapter 624: The Authority of Hell! A Generous Reward!
"Let's refine these souls first," Sterl said without hesitation after the battle ended and the danger was averted.
He had witnessed clearly how Will of Hell had controlled the souls of those Hellish creatures to detach them from the Mother Body. What if Will of Hell noticed the soul puppets within his Purgatory Space and decided to snatch them away?
Although these souls had lost all will and pliability, becoming mere puppets with no chance of regaining independence, Sterl wasn't entirely confident. After all, his Stellar Barrier—the absolute defensive force—had been shattered by that strange gray mist. Given that, he couldn't be entirely sure about anything.
To avoid any future issues, it was better to refine them now.
By transforming them into soul power and storing them in the Soul Devourer Sphere, he felt it would be the safest option.
With a simple mental gesture, Sterl immediately packed all eight million soul puppets into the Soul Devourer Sphere and began the refining process.
Logically speaking, refining such a large number of souls at once should result in significant backlash. However, since these were soul puppets with no consciousness and absolute loyalty to him, there was no resistance whatsoever. Sterl found this a bit strange, as the feeling was not what he was accustomed to.
Although the soul backlash was not pleasant, avoiding this issue altogether was ideal.
Of course, his own soul strength was increasing steadily, and his endurance was improving as well, so even if there was a little backlash, it wasn't a big deal.
In less than a minute, all eight million souls had been completely refined into pure soul energy and stored within the Soul Devourer Sphere.
"The refining speed of the Soul Devourer Sphere seems to have increased quite a bit," Sterl mused, raising an eyebrow as he gazed at the pitch-black, profound Soul Devourer Sphere in his hand. Compared to when he first obtained it, there were several subtle changes in the sphere. For example, the color on the surface had become deeper, and the faint purplish mist inside had increased slightly.
"Could it be that this is a treasure with growth potential?" he wondered aloud. If so, as the number of souls refined increased, this treasure might undergo significant changes even before his cheat system could level up!
"Indeed, my decision to join the Orichalcum Kingdom was the right one after all; otherwise, I would have almost missed out on this treasure," Sterl reflected. "Such is fate—sometimes things seem to be predestined long before we even realize it."
Of course, the precondition is that you must be strong enough. Otherwise, don't even think about negotiating with the Orichalcum Kingdom. The real question is whether you can even leave alive.
Take this recent plea for help from Hell, for instance. For ordinary gods, it was an inevitable deathtrap. But for him, it had been a rare opportunity.
As the saying goes, the strong always find surprises wherever they go.
At this moment, Sterl stood in mid-air, quietly awaiting yet another surprise.
Although he hadn't completely helped Hell resolve this crisis, he had at least liberated this layer of Hell. Surely that warranted some kind of phase reward.
Moreover, Will of Hell had taken what was supposed to be his spoils. If the compensation wasn't to his liking, Sterl had no intentions of following the example of those mysterious invaders, taking every single soul for himself!
Then, as the empty void of the light gate vanished and the remaining millions of souls returned to this layer of Hell, a wave of inexplicable joy swept through both Sterl and Boris, along with the others.
This wasn't their own emotions, but rather a fluctuation from Will of Hell, affecting the emotions of all beings.
"Such joy? Well, it would be rude not to be generous," Sterl said with a faint smile, speaking calmly, though a slight anticipation flickered in his heart.
The next moment, a cascade of brilliant, multicolored light descended from the heavens, enveloping Sterl like a delicate rain shower.
Such a dazzling and beautiful scene made Sterl appear as if he were a triumphant deity returning from battle.
It stood in stark contrast to the dark, damp, and foul atmosphere of this layer of Hell.
"It's here," Sterl muttered with a slight smile, spreading his arms and quietly accepting it.
Then, bit by bit, the radiant light flowed into Sterl's body, merging with every inch of his flesh and cells.
Immediately, a surge of vitality poured out from him. The light felt like delicate little hands, gently massaging his body.
He could clearly feel his life force slowly increasing. Although the growth wasn't fast, it was solid and steady.
In addition, a strange sense of enlightenment flooded into his mind, causing Sterl to pause for a moment in surprise.
These insights weren't just random thoughts—they were the core Laws of this layer of the Venomous Swamp Hell!
They were the laws of Poison, Swamps, Curses, Mists, and Corruption—five distinct and powerful laws!
To be precise, these weren't just casual insights. It was as though a profound revelation had been directly imparted to him, like a divine teaching!
However, Sterl's comprehension ability was terrifying. Over time, through various abilities and tools, his capacity for understanding had been continually improving. Especially after the enhancement of his soul power, he had experienced a tremendous leap in his abilities!
Now, with such clear and direct teachings, Sterl quickly grasped them and was swiftly perfecting his understanding.
In one second, he had comprehended the five Laws to a rudimentary level. In three seconds, all five Laws reached the level of minor mastery. In ten seconds, all five Laws were perfected!
In just half a minute, Sterl slowly opened his eyes, and a dark, divine light flickered in his pupils.
These five Laws had already been perfected in his understanding!
In fact, he had surpassed many gods who specialized in a single Law and was now stronger than them!
With all five Laws perfected, he had successfully obtained the divine authority for these Laws. As soon as he reached the divine level, he would be able to fully master them!
Moreover, now that he had activated his ascend to godhood state, he could also receive the blessings of these five divine authorities!
In reality, these were the divine authorities reserved for the beings of this layer of Hell, or rather, the powers of the Laws of this Hell's domain.
Taking a deep breath, Sterl felt an immense sense of awe. Will of Hell was incredibly generous—perfect-level Laws and five divine authorities, all given to him in one go!? It was truly a grand gesture!
Feeling the surging power within him, with the newly mastered five Laws, his strength would become even greater!
Not only that, but each divine authority came with powerful abilities, many of which were at the platinum level. He could thoroughly study these abilities and potentially unlock combined powers, similar to FissionLaw.
Furthermore, all five of these Laws were related to Hell, darkness, and negativity, which gave him more tools to handle enemies of various attributes.
[Blessed and favored by Will of Hell, your vitality is increased by 100%. While within Hell, your regeneration speed is enhanced by 50%. All four attributes increase by 20%! ]
Meanwhile, the refining from the earlier radiant light was also gradually completed.
Sterl stretched his body slightly, feeling the overflowing vitality filling his being. It was as though he possessed endless energy. This sensation was intoxicating!
"This is really pushing me toward becoming a world boss," he couldn't help but murmur. His vitality was growing stronger and stronger, and if it continued developing at this rate, when his vitality reached its peak, wouldn't he become something akin to an immortal body that could never die?
This made him think of that mother body, which, even when directly facing a nuclear explosion, could withstand the destructive force and regenerate itself. That was truly terrifying.
However, he believed that it wouldn't be long before he reached such a level himself. Find your next read on empire
Feeling his body now, Sterl vaguely sensed that some strange transformation was occurring within him. Every cell, every inch of flesh was involved in this transformation. It was subtle, and he couldn't tell how long it would take.
But Sterl had a premonition that once this transformation was complete, it might signify a breakthrough in his regenerative abilities, crossing some sort of limit.
And this was not even the full extent of the rewards from Will of Hell.
Sterl could feel another force directly entering his soul. However, he did not sense any threat from it. On the contrary, he felt something similar to the feeling he had experienced with the Tanscendence code earlier.
Soon, the force slowly merged into Sterl's soul.
At that moment, Sterl immediately understood the true nature of this force—it was the Hell's Authority he had been waiting for!
Unlike the permissions he had previously obtained, this was the true power of Hell's authority!
If the entire Hell was likened to a massive corporation, then Will of Hell would be the sole shareholder of this corporation.
And now, this shareholder had transferred a portion of the shares to him, meaning he had now become one of the shareholders in this corporation!
In other words, he had essentially become a ruler-level existence within Hell itself!
Of course, after carefully sensing it, Sterl realized that this authority was not overwhelmingly vast. He could only command the powers within this layer of Hell.
But that was already incredibly precious!
With this authority, he could unconditionally become the King of the Fourth Layer of Hell and freely command all the forces within this layer of Hell. Even sending the Hell creatures out of the Hell to conquer the outside world and turning them into his personal army would fall within the scope of his authority!
And if these creatures died in battle, their souls would return to this layer of Hell for reincarnation, all under his control through the authority he held.
What's more, if one day Will of Hell were to fall, the one who held the Hell's authority, like him, would most likely become the new Will of Hell—the Lord of Hell!