Chapter 613: Heavenly Mandate

Li Mochen returned to America only two days later, after finishing all the loose ends.

It was mainly the demiplane of Skadi, the disguise of the time rift, and the cloning of the two giants' bodies that consumed a great deal of his time. Loki had promised to help him cover up the truth of the two giants' deaths for a period of time in the future, but if the flaws were too great, even the God of Mischief might not be able to conceal them.

Li Mochen had originally not intended to bother with this; he only needed to avoid detection during the operation and then keep it hidden for about ten days, allowing himself to initially master the powers of Skadi and Typhon.

However, the existence of the dark source substance forced Li Mochen to extend this time to at least half a year. Therefore, Typhon's seal site had to be tidied up. And Skadi's side also required some attention to avoid being linked and then traced.

When Li Mochen brought a large pile of materials to Anthony's magic tower in Manhattan, the latter was startled.

Li Mochen had brought back too many things, including a pair of Viking battle axes from Skadi, a hunter's 'small' knife, a 'war shield' made from branches of the World Tree, and leather armor made from the hide and scales of an Eternal Dragon. Also included were Skadi's eyes, heart, and skeleton.

Then from Typhon's side, there were twenty-four 'Time-Fate Secret Locks' that needed slight modification before use, forty-seven spear blanks forged from various mythical metals, Typhon's eyes, a pair of wings, a skeleton, six hearts, and two hundred snake eyes.

"My god!"

Anthony's expression was greedy: "Where did he get so much mythical metal? This is enough to forge forty-seven 'Heavenly Mandate Swords', no! They would be stronger than the Heavenly Mandate Sword."

Li Mochen asked the nearby 'Precision Industry and Metallurgy God' Schroeder: "Is there any way to salvage these spear blanks? I want to use them to forge my sword."

Schroeder took a few of them in his hand and carefully sensed them for a moment. But instead of answering directly, he looked at his main god with a questioning gaze.

Anthony smiled: "It's still possible. The materials used for these forty-seven spears are similar; we can melt them together into a stronger alloy. However, it is actually more suitable for lightning, fire, and time. I don't know what was mixed in, but they all possess powerful lightning, fire, and time powers. But I'll need payment, Andre."

Li Mochen knew what was mixed in—a bit of lightning fire and time source substance.

The amount of source substance was not large; Typhon probably only intended to make an imitation of the 'Lightning Fire Spear' to break his own seal, never aiming to match the original.

He pondered briefly: "I only need forty of them; the remaining seven are for you."

Li Mochen planned to use thirty-six of them as the main swords of the 'Zhou Tian Star Dou Divine Sword', paired with three hundred and sixty sub-swords, a full set of three hundred and ninety-six swords, to evolve the myriad stars. The remaining four would be spares for future replacements.

"OK! Deal. And these weapons?"

Anthony pointed to the weapons left by the mountain giant Skadi: "What do you plan to do with them?"

"Melt the Viking battle axes, combine them with Typhon's eyes and the hundred snake eyes, and make me a new sniper rifle—"

The previous 'Dragon's Might' had lost its lethality against enemies like Skadi and Ares.

Although it was made from the horn of the Dragon of Destruction, the Primordial Dragon Bahamut, both Skadi and Ares were beings of the same level as Bahamut.

"There will be plenty of leftover materials. Also, that hunter's knife—after you melt and adjust the alloy ratio, give it to me as soon as possible. I only give you three days."

Li Mochen planned to use this 'small' knife as material to reforged his spare sword 'Divine Order Sword'. The remnants of the two Viking battle axes could be used to strengthen the 'Six Yao Immortal Sword'.

Considering that he might soon face a battle with the God King Odin, Li Mochen indeed had little time left.

"The payment is Skadi's World Tree war shield and Typhon's wings."

As for Skadi's eyes and skeleton, and the other materials left by Typhon, their uses had been predetermined.

"Fair enough!"

Anthony rubbed his chin: "But that means I'll be busy for you for the next few years. I'm afraid I won't be able to cooperate with you in certain occasions by personally fighting. I still have to deal with Hephaestus of Olympus and Vili of the Aesir."

Li Mochen's eyes flickered: "You can announce your joining my pantheon."

Anthony chuckled: "I have no objection to that, Amo, as long as you can help me deal with my enemies."

He didn't mind submitting to Li Mochen, and he knew they were destined to stick together.

Moreover, the design and production of the Type III 'Mechanical War God' would take time—at least two years. That meant he would only have the ability to contend with Hephaestus and Vili after two years.

In Anthony's view, his friend had already gathered very powerful forces around him.

"Then it's settled!"

Li Mochen's expression relaxed slightly: "I suggest you temporarily move your magic tower to Atlanta; my power there is stronger."

Now the situation he faced was even worse. After obtaining that part of the dark source substance, he was surrounded by enemies on all sides. Li Mochen didn't think he currently had the ability to get Nyx to agree to a trade with him.

Once that thing was exposed, it was more likely that the Night Goddess would join forces with her two daughters to destroy him directly.

"Alright, I actually had the same intention."

Anthony nodded, then looked at Li Mochen with some suspicion: "I don't know why, but I suddenly feel you've changed a lot compared to before. Have you become stronger again?"

"You noticed? I'm a little stronger."

Li Mochen smiled back: "How to put it? Now, even without using the power of fate, I am confident in defeating Ares."

But the truth was that the change in his aura was related to the stolen 'Typhon's' heavenly mandate.

Li Mochen split it in two: three-quarters he took upon himself, and the remaining quarter he transferred to the Moon Rabbit.

He could gain part of Typhon's luck, but he would also bear many of its future karmic consequences.

Afterward, Li Mochen hurried back to his 'Fate Manor' magic tower. Hyperion's promised items had indeed arrived: three Wish Stones and that tiny bit of metal source substance.

The latter was really just a tiny bit—if measured by weight, it was less than a gram. Yet Li Mochen was very surprised; he knew its function: it could completely repair the hidden damage to the 'Heavenly Mandate Sword' from the battle with Typhon and strengthen its material quality by more than three times.

Unfortunately, the material of the 'Scarlet Dragon Armor' was not entirely made of metal. Adding this bit of metal source substance rashly might cause internal imbalance.

Otherwise, Li Mochen would have chosen to strengthen the 'Scarlet Dragon Armor' instead of the 'Heavenly Mandate Sword'.

The three Wish Stones were distributed immediately. Li Mochen had already used one, but Angela had not. Also for Roberta and the Moon Rabbit—the former was the combat power Li Mochen relied on most at present.

And once the magical artifact made from Typhon's skeleton was successfully forged, the latter's strength would surpass Roberta's.

After all, the Moon Rabbit had followed him for decades. Her accumulation in the Dao was far beyond what Roberta and Hazel could match. She was more comprehensive and had broader prospects.

The ability of the Sky Roar to analyze others' essence blood also gave the Moon Rabbit an unparalleled growth rate.

However, when Li Mochen's clone sent the Wish Stone to Angela, she informed him of news that, while not surprising, had significant implications.

"Lilith and Cain are secretly rebelling along with the blood clans? This was told to you by Odyssey Ventrue?"

Li Mochen's eyes narrowed, and he fell into deep thought.

Lilith and Cain harbored only resentment towards him, never any loyalty. Li Mochen had long known this.

The couple now served him only because they had been defeated in battle on the day of their awakening due to underestimation and were bound by a contract, forced to serve him.

But as they gradually regained their strength, they had never given up on breaking free from his control. This couple, who possessed the strength of powerful gods at their peak, would never be willing to become his servants.

Especially Lilith—even the Lord of Light could not tame her.

Only Odyssey Ventrue's tip-off surprised him slightly; he had thought the Ventrue patriarch hated him to the bone.

"I guess they have, to some extent, broken free from your restraints and have already committed acts of betrayal against you."

Angela frowned slightly: "Odyssey Ventrue reported to me in a very secretive environment; he didn't even dare to put it in writing, which shows he fears that couple. If you hadn't transferred the Ventrue family members to me to help manage the underworld, he probably wouldn't have had the chance to tell me this, nor could he have directly contacted you."

Li Mochen glanced sideways at the two blood coffins outside the Fate Manor magic tower, and a cold gleam appeared in his eyes.

Indeed, the true bodies of these two bloodline progenitors were no longer inside the coffins.

Li Mochen sneered: "You don't need to worry about this; I'll handle it, Angie. Don't worry too much. In our Eastern saying, this is just a minor ailment. The only thing you need to do now is expand your underworld and master the ultimate soul and dream as soon as possible. Our time is getting tighter."

Angela's expression was somewhat unusual as she looked at the Wish Stone in her hand.

"How to put it? Half a year ago, I would have said it's very difficult, and I could only do my best. But recently, for some reason, my inspiration has been especially sharp, especially in understanding and comprehending dreams, death, and the soul. It's as if guided by fate; I can always easily find the broadest and most suitable path forward. I originally thought I would hit my head bloody against those high walls. In short, it's been very smooth. Now with this Wish Stone, I think I can manage—"

She had also wondered if this was due to her husband's control over 'fate'. But how could the authority of fate have such power?

Li Mochen thought, of course Angela was smooth. So far, the merit he had consumed for his wife had reached five million strands, just to elevate Angela's main divine authority to a level where she could contend with those powerful underworld kings.

To achieve this goal, he would later invest another ten million strands of merit. It was fortunate that Angela's own comprehension was extraordinary, and the cost-effectiveness of merit investment was excellent; otherwise, this number would have multiplied several times.

"I believe in you! But you must be careful; our enemies are always watching us. Don't give them an opportunity."

Li Mochen withdrew this thread of divine thought from his clone and looked at the huge, golden, cauldron-like object before him.

This was his alchemy workshop, and the object before him was a smelting furnace he had built using various top-tier techniques and personally arranged with magical arrays.

Although its overall level was slightly inferior to the one on Kunlun Mountain in the East, it combined the strengths of both Eastern and Western traditions.

Its advantage lay in energy supply: a total of two hundred and sixteen magical energy pools allowed the smith using it to expend energy without restraint.

Additionally, it could summon the power of the stars to temper the objects inside. Hence, Li Mochen named it the 'Secret Core Star Furnace'.

At this moment, Li Mochen's Heavenly Mandate Sword was suspended inside the furnace. Adding that bit of metal source substance would strengthen it to a level comparable to the 'Holy Lance of Longinus'.

But before that, Li Mochen had to complete a necessary preliminary step: he needed to perfect the arrays within the Heavenly Mandate Sword.

The improvement in the sword's material quality would give the Heavenly Mandate Sword greater carrying capacity. However, if it were only a material upgrade, it would merely make the sword harder and sharper, which wouldn't help him much.

With a flick of his sleeve, Li Mochen projected a huge array diagram before his eyes.

Fortunately, the Heavenly Mandate Sword was forged by Li Mochen himself, so he was thoroughly familiar with its internal arrays. Moreover, his attainments in runic magic had reached a very profound level.

But this was not enough for Li Mochen to complete the upgrade of the Heavenly Mandate Sword in an extremely short time.

So the next moment, the magnificent 'Divine Fortune Purple Gold Tower' appeared behind Li Mochen.

The merit缠绕 on this tower had now reached as high as eighty million strands!

Li Mochen regretted that such a vast amount of merit had not condensed into a single strand of purple merit energy, but the sheer quantity was enough for his next stage needs.

"I wish! Within one hour, perfect the 'Heavenly Mandate Sword' array diagram, divine grade seventeen!"

Thus, the colorful spiritual light on the 'Divine Fortune Purple Gold Tower' diminished by two million strands in an instant.