"According to the rules, you are not allowed to fight in front of me. But Ignis killed within the mist—I could not see him. So, technically, he did not violate the rules."
Upon hearing this, everyone erupted in shock.
Killing within the mist isn't a violation?
Then…who dares to enter the mist?
Ignis' strength far surpassed everyone present.
If one entered the mist and was discovered by him, wouldn't that be certain death?
Yet, most people did not possess enough Divine Spark essence to fully saturate their fused divine power.
To clear this second trial, they needed to acquire sufficient Divine Spark essence—which meant entering the mist.
Everyone hesitated.
"There's no choice. I can only send in a divine clone and hope I don't run into Ignis. We can just take a longer route and enter the mist from somewhere else."
The misty region was vast. As long as they kept their distance, Ignis couldn't possibly locate them.
However, more than half the participants had already entered the misty region from locations near the central platform.
They hadn't left divine clones outside, so they had no idea Ignis had begun killing.
Within the mist, Ignis crushed the spatial ring in his hand and continued hunting Amethyst beasts.
Ignis slaughtered relentlessly along the way, and his harvest far surpassed what he'd gained previously.
He believed that if he kept this pace, all he needed was six more mutated soul beings, and he'd have all the Divine Spark essence required.
Not long after, Ignis encountered a familiar figure.
It was the Sovereign Emissary of Uhtred.
Ignis didn't give him a chance—he struck directly, beheading the man and retrieving the Divine Spark essence from his ring.
"Hmph, so much Divine Spark essence stored in his ring. In the end, it all came to me?"
Ignis realized this person had the most essence he'd seen so far.
Clearly, the man had been selfish; hoarding rather than exchanging with others.
After another bout of hunting, Ignis weighed the Divine Spark essence in his possession and estimated it was finally enough.
Only then did he fly out of the misty region.
Arriving back at the platform for the second trial, he saw only a few people present.
Most had likely gone into the mist to hunt Amethyst beasts.
Those few who remained eyed Ignis with a mix of fear and resentment.
Ignis ignored them and began refining his Divine Spark essence.
Time passed slowly.
Eventually, the two mutated souls with Destruction and Earth dual attributes were the first to fully saturate their fused divine power and advance to the third trial.
Then, one by one, more people completed the second trial.
Those Highgods who lacked sufficient Divine Spark essence reentered the misty region.
At their current pace, even a full year might not be enough for them to fully saturate their fused divine power.
Though Ignis had enough Divine Spark essence, the total volume he needed to refine was far greater than the others.
Naturally, it took him longer.
More importantly, he discovered that no matter how he refined, his divine power could only be saturated to two-thirds.
The reason was simple.
Among all the Divine Spark essence he had obtained, none were forged from a fusion of Fire and Darkness Divine Sparks.
This was Sadius' oversight. He had only considered dual-attribute soul mutates and had ordered Bebe to craft each essence with dual attributes, one of which was always Destruction.
As a result, none of the essences contained both Darkness and Fire attributes simultaneously.
Noticing the problem, Sadius immediately sent a mental message to Eunice.
Receiving the command, Eunice nodded discreetly.
"Everyone, I have the Divine Spark essences you need. We can trade—your unneeded essences for the ones you want."
This announcement felt like divine music to everyone's ears.
Ignis was the most excited of all.
He had hit a bottleneck with his refinement.
Without essences containing both Darkness and Fire, he might have been completely stuck.
He couldn't believe such a stroke of luck had come. It felt as if the Overgod himself were helping him. And in truth, Sadius was helping him.
Among these Highgod, Ignis was by far the strongest.
By all logic, he was the most likely to become an Overgod.
Within the limits of the rules, Sadius was more than willing to assist.
Many present exchanged Divine Spark essences with Eunice.
Ignis, in particular, had special needs.
Eventually, he obtained exactly what he sought.
"Ignis, do you only want dual-attribute Divine Spark essences?"
Eunice's words were a wake-up call.
"Honored Guardian, may I request triple-attribute Divine Spark essences?"
For the first time, Ignis addressed Eunice as Honored Guardian.
He wanted those triple-attribute essences badly.
"One hundred regular Divine Spark essences for a single triple-attribute one," Eunice replied calmly.
Ignis clenched his teeth and traded in all his remaining essences—
Even some that suited him—just to get the triple-attribute Divine Spark essence.
The moment he received it; he could sense its extraordinary power.
Ignis immediately sat down and began refining it.
Eunice found herself growing curious about him.
This Highgod was not just powerful—he understood how to work within the rules.
More importantly…her father had secretly opened a back door for him.
His chances of becoming an Overgod were extremely high.
All the Divine Spark essences in Eunice's spatial ring had, in fact, been quietly transferred by Sadius.
Soon, aside from Ignis, everyone else present had completed the second trial.
In truth, few competitors remained at this point.
Four had already gone on to the third trial.
Moreover, Ignis had just killed several others.
Some had entered the mist and never returned.
Now, only six people were present—including Ignis.
That meant only five others remained.
Each of them had fully saturated their divine power using Divine Spark essences and cleared the second trial successfully.
Only Ignis remained on the platform, still refining.
And there wasn't much time left before the one-year limit expired.
"Father…it seems Ignis might not complete the second trial. Do you want to lend a hand?" Eunice asked inwardly.
Though she and Sadius had no soul contract, she knew—As a part of the universal laws themselves, he would hear her thoughts.
"I've helped enough already. If he can't even pass the second trial, what right does he have to become an Overgod?"
Sadius' voice did indeed appear in her mind.
Time ticked on.
Outside the Amethyst Mountain Range, all eyes were on Ignis.
They wanted him to complete the second trial.
Why?
Because the other nine participants were all stuck in the third trial.
No one had passed it yet.
And if anyone could break through…It would be Ignis.