Starting with the awakened Poison God: I choose the Master Thief.

Chu Ci shook his head outside, and then the system notification sounded one after another.

[Ding, an avatar of the target has been detected. The Divine Poison has entered its body through its tracing-the-root property.]

really!

Chu Ci pursed his lips.

It's normal for a Saint-level being to leave behind clones to save their life, but even for such a being, it would take a very long time to regenerate a body that is almost identical to the original, so the number of clones would definitely not be large, and most would only have one or two.

Beside Chu Ci, as he used the divine poison, Beresa suddenly noticed something, her eyes sparkling as she stared at Chu Ci.

"The power of rules? I can't be mistaken, can I?! He actually possesses the power of rules within him! But he clearly... well, this guy could kill even a god when he was weaker than this, so compared to that, it's not surprising at all, hmm! I'm not surprised at all!"

Soon, under the relentless corrosive effects of the divine poison and the blood-robed man's deliberate lack of resistance, his physical body died completely in less than half a minute.

Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away in the city of Olin, in an underground place surrounded by pools of blood, lies another clone of the Blood-Robed Man. His strength is almost identical to that of the original, and he has spent hundreds of years nurturing him.

The blood pools around him were also prepared in advance to provide energy for this clone when it awakens.

"Huh? Where am I?"

The blood-robed man sitting cross-legged in the middle slowly opened his eyes. In less than a second, he suddenly realized what was happening and raised his hand to look at himself in horror.

"Wait a minute! This is the clone I hid in Olin City. In other words, it wasn't an illusion at all! A demigod-level expert really did descend!"

"No, we must report this to Lord Moon. The plan has already been..."

Meanwhile, Chu Ci, far away at the exit of Ji Yue Ming Ting, had completely activated the divine poison hidden within the blood-robed man's clone.

[Ding! Divine Poison activated. Target's HP -5%, -5%, -5%...]

Hmm~ That's really convenient. This way, whether it's your real body or your clone, as long as you mess with me, I'll catch you all in one fell swoop!

Hahahaha!!!

"Um... Chu Ci, your smile is so wicked."

Bereza, standing to the side, looked at him with some disdain and reminded him.

"Oh? Cough cough, sorry, I was just thinking about something happy, I hope you don't find it funny."

Chu Ci quickly coughed with a serious expression, then returned to his original state.

But just then, the system notification sounded again.

[Ding, the target forcibly used the power of the Blood Rules to resist. The level of comprehension was detected to be 50%, granting immunity to 2% of the damage dealt per second by the Divine Poison.]

[Note: Based on the current analysis of the Divine Poison's power, if the opponent fully masters a rule, they will randomly be exempt from one Divine Poison trait, and simultaneously be exempt from 4% of the damage dealt by Divine Poison per second. Players are advised to take note.]

As the system notification appeared, Chu Ci also sensed that the divine poison in the distance seemed to have been temporarily suppressed by something. Although it was not completely ineffective, it was indeed weakened.

What's going on? What does "forced use" mean? Is this some kind of rule cancellation? Why hasn't this happened before?

Chu Ci frowned, completely baffled.

[Ding, Reminder: For Saint-level beings, possessing the power to invoke rules naturally allows them to attempt to incorporate those rules into their bodies and completely control them. This is an essential path to advancement to demigod status. However, this method carries significant risks, and if comprehension is not 100%, failure is almost certain, with a high probability of physical and spiritual backlash from the rules. During this period, however, their physical body can temporarily experience a substantial increase in strength, making it one of the Saint-level beings' life-risking tactics.]

So that's how it is. In other words, that guy is now risking his life to try to get rid of the divine poison, but unfortunately, it seems to be of little use, only delaying the time of his death.

[Ding, the target is dead. The divine poison has dissipated automatically.]

Huh? How could he suddenly die?! It didn't even take 20 seconds.

Chu Ci looked at the system prompt and was a little confused.

"Oh right, forcibly accepting the rules will cause a backlash to the body and soul. That must be why he died so quickly." Chu Ci suddenly realized.

"To be honest, I didn't seem to understand much about the Saint-level before. I only knew that they could manipulate the power of rules. But if this power can already threaten the Divine Poison, I think I should find some time to brush up on my knowledge so I can prepare in advance."

"Hey! What are you spacing out for!"

A melodious voice pulled him back from his thoughts. Looking down, he saw Beresa looking at him with a puzzled expression.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Would you like me to treat you?"

Looking at her, a glint of light flashed in Chu Ci's eyes.

Oh yeah! How could I forget about him!

……

"Huh? You mean what's the connection between Saint Rank and the power of rules? How come you don't even know that???" Beresa asked in surprise.

It seems that in her view, this was something that Chu Ci absolutely needed to know, just like one plus one equals two.

. . .

Okay, okay, I know I'm terrible, alright?

Despite the criticism, Chu Ci still looked at Beresa with hopeful eyes.

"Um... okay, okay, stop looking at me like that, alright? I'll talk, okay? Sigh, I'm really scared of you."

With a sigh, Bellesa's expression instantly turned serious as she looked at Chu Ci.

"You should know that Saint-level powerhouses can comprehend and invoke rules, and if they want to advance further or even become demigods, they must try to integrate the rules into their own bodies. We call this—building the basic world within the body."

As he spoke, four slender branches stretched out from the void, forming four large characters in front of the Chu Ci.

Fire, wind, water, earth.

Beresa pointed to them and continued.

"The basic rules for constructing the inner world are these four. Comprehending one of them and successfully incorporating it into oneself is called the perfection of the [Earth Saint Realm]. This is also the first realm recognized by Saint-level powerhouses. The general idea is to lay a good foundation for the world."

"If one comprehends and successfully incorporates two of them, it is called the [Heavenly Saint Realm] at its peak."

"If three rules are reached, it is called the [World Saint Realm], which means that the world is about to be completed."

"As for this last one, it is called the [Saint Origin Realm]."

"Water without a source all originates from mortals. Once the four fundamental rules are fully incorporated into oneself, the basic form of the world is established, at which point one can break through to the Saint rank and enter the realm of demigod!"

"This is also why demigods are so powerful. After all, they have an entire world providing energy support. Although they are not true gods, they are practically immortal."

It turned out to be the case.

Chu Ci quickly took out his notebook and wrote it down. At that moment, he suddenly had a question.

"But that doesn't make sense either. The power of rules wielded by that blood-robed man is clearly not any of the elements of fire, earth, water, or wind. Even so, can he still be called a Saint of the Earth Realm?"

Snapped!

No sooner had he finished speaking than a crisp sound came from above his head.

"Ouch! It hurts! It hurts!"

A branch retracted from the void, and Beresha looked at him with a helpless expression.

"Who told you that you can't be called a Saint if you don't comprehend the four basic rules? The reason I mention these four rules is because they have the highest probability of being used to build a world, and are the easiest to succeed with."

"It is indeed easy to become a demigod through such a shortcut, but the strength is also pitifully weak. You might be able to bully those Saint-level beings, but you might not be able to defeat other demigods, or even some Saint Origin Realm beings who have comprehended many rules."

"Moreover, you should know that once the inner world is formed, it will form a subtle balance chain. At this time, no matter what kind of rule is added to it, it may disrupt the previous balance and cause all efforts to be in vain."

"In mild cases, the body might collapse and one's cultivation level might regress to the Saint rank; in severe cases, the only outcome would be the annihilation of the soul and the dissipation of the soul."

Gollum~

Chu Ci swallowed silently.

That sounds a bit scary, I'll write it down!

"In other words, the Saint Origin Realm is not limited to condensing only four rules, but at least four. If one constructs a world, the more rules one has, the stronger one will be when becoming a demigod. Am I right?" Chu Ci asked.

Beresa paused for a moment, thought for a while, and then slowly nodded.