I Am Hades, Lord of the Underworld!

The Holy War!

Why was the interval set at 243 years?

The reason is actually quite simple. It was a rule originally set by Hades in the story. For the Mythical World, every 243 years, the purest of bodies would be born. To Hades, only the purest bodies could contain his soul; other human forms could not.

This was Hades' way of overcoming limitations in the original story. Hades, unable to recover his origin and with many divine artifacts stolen by Zeus, found his divine power restricted at the peak of a Chief God, unable to advance further.

In the original story, Hades devised a method to break his limitations by absorbing the purest essence of these bodies, step by step. Whether this could be successful was uncertain.

To be precise, there was hope, but the probability of success was minuscule—understandably so. Regardless, these pure bodies were indeed valuable.

For Hades, although these pure bodies were of no direct use to him, when thrown into the magic stars, they could enhance and refine the stars' essence. It was like a miraculous elixir, similar to how consuming the flesh of the monk Tang Sanzang was believed to grant immortality in Chinese mythology.

The most crucial element was the pure souls. In the vastness of the Mythical World, a pure soul and body are born every 243 years. In contrast, a small world would only ever produce one pure soul and body, reflecting the difference in their fundamental essence. A pure soul is the perfect follower.

High-level followers could become angels, and each pure soul had the potential to transform into an angel. For a god, the benefits of this transformation were obvious.

Especially for Hades, who possessed the Statue of Faith. Transforming these pure souls into angels and combining them with the Statue of Faith for purification provided immense benefits.

Hades assessed the situation. He sent all the pure bodies, now crystallized, into the magic stars to be devoured by the stars' essence. Then, with a sweep of divine power, the pure souls transformed into beautiful angels, placed in the Elysium to provide him with faith.

Then.

Just as Hades was about to leave, he sensed a different divine power emerging. He continued deeper into Tian Kui Star, where seven crystal coffins lay. Each coffin contained a beautiful witch, each distinct in form and appearance, yet all radiating a peculiar beauty.

Why call them witches? Simply because, despite their beauty, some had snake heads with human bodies, others were a fusion of human and spider, and some had eight or nine arms. They looked far from human.

"Witches," Hades murmured after a brief inspection, "The seven witches corresponding to the seven deadly sins."

After a moment of contemplation, Hades raised his hand. A surge of divine power flowed out, merging with the seven Sin Crests he controlled.

Soon.

When the crystal coffins opened, the seven witches emerged and bowed respectfully, "Greetings, Lord Hades!"

Hades nodded coldly and said, "Master the Sin Crests well. You will be responsible for controlling the Seven-headed, Ten-horned Scarlet Dragon in the future."

"Understood!" 

The seven Sinful Witches bowed their heads in respect.

With a gesture, Hades sent them into the Underworld. When he returned to the surface world, he would place them in the Underworld Prison to closely control the Seven-headed, Ten-horned Scarlet Dragon.

Though Hades had subdued the Scarlet Dragon perfectly, this control was not without flaws. Any powerful god could easily break it.

Seeing these seven Sinful Witches gave Hades an idea. The witches, inherently aligned with the seven deadly sins, would not have been brought back by the magic stars otherwise.

Thus, Hades considered another approach. By nurturing the seven Sinful Witches to become his subordinate gods, wielding their divine hearts under his command, they would be completely under his control.

In this scenario, having the witches master the Sin Crests and control the Scarlet Dragon, possibly even integrating with it to become part of the World-Ending Dragon, seemed feasible. This experimental approach appeared promising.

Since there were no apparent issues, Hades didn't dwell on it further. This development was just another step in building his foundation, while the true focus remained on further enhancing his own power.

"The feedback from the World Tree has arrived," Hades sensed the special divine power's fluctuations as he concluded his exploration of Tian Kui Star.

He knew the feedback from the World Tree had come.

For gods, the creation of a divine kingdom is one of three paths of cultivation, inherently forming a perfect cycle between the god and their kingdom, mutually enhancing each other.

For Hades, the cycle involved himself, the World Tree, and the Underworld. As the World Tree took root and sprouted, and the Underworld neared completion, the feedback from the World Tree had arrived.

In an instant!

A boundless divine power, resembling a black energy pillar, materialized and poured into Hades' body. The immense power made Hades feel as if he was being torn apart.

The sheer magnitude of this divine power, endlessly vast, accelerated and enhanced his mastery of laws. The cultivation of gods, through any method, ultimately revolves around refining their mastery of laws.

Hades' inability to advance further was simple. Without his origin, his laws were too numerous and complex—hundreds, possibly more. He couldn't manage them all.

By recovering his origin, he could integrate all these laws into his foundational law. At that point, breakthroughs and cultivation would become straightforward.

Currently, Hades' cultivation was incredibly challenging, yet the overwhelming divine power was so vast that it forcefully elevated his mastery of all laws to the level of a Chief God.

Thus...

Naturally, Hades broke through, shattering the seal on his origin and stepping into the realm of the Chief God!

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