Infernal Realm, Amethyst Mountain Range.
At this moment, Sadius had reached the critical juncture in his comprehension of the Edicts of Destruction.
As a powerful surge of the Laws of the Universe descended, the Destruction Divine Spark within Sadius flew out of his body, accepting the baptism of Heaven and Earth.
From this moment forward, Sadius had become a Highgod of both the Destruction and Earth Edicts.
As the Divine Spark returned to his body, the Highgod power of Destruction and the Highgod power of Earth began to fuse inside him—and unexpectedly, it also triggered the latent Amethyst Essence stored within his body.
The fusion of these three forces gave birth to an immensely powerful aura.
Sadius did not hesitate and immediately unleashed this fused power.
The energy contained:
The black hue of Destruction Elemental Power, the earthy yellow of Earth Elemental Power, and the purple light of Amethyst Essence.
But none of those colors were the most important. What mattered most was—within this divine power, a trace of radiant gold emerged.
That's right.
A never-before-seen golden energy had appeared in the midst of Sadius' fused divine power. Though extremely faint, it was incredibly dazzling.
With the appearance of this golden energy, Sadius instantly understood why he had been so certain he could solve the problem of the Redbud Sovereign being assimilated by the Amethyst Essence.
From this trace of golden light, Sadius sensed a sacred and indescribable power.
What exactly was this golden energy?
Sadius didn't know. But what he did know was that his dual-fused Highgod power, now imbued with gold, had already reached the level of a Sovereign's power.
He couldn't help but take a deep breath.
If dual-fused Highgod power was already comparable to Sovereign power, then what would quad-fused Highgod power become? Would it utterly surpass an Overgod?
More importantly, Sadius could feel the presence of soul power within this fused divine energy.
This meant that his fused Godpower wasn't just Godpower—it was also Soulforce and Will Power, which was a defining characteristic of true Sovereign power. It would seem Sovereign power is a fundamental fusion of a higher soul energy and Will. It makes sense that Will is linked to a qualitative change in one's soul, hence why quadruple soul mutates automatically get Will.
While soul mutates under the quadruple fusion were "special" and their soul essence improved exponentially, it still was not a fundamental enough change to generate Will or rather trigger changes in Heaven and Earth to grant Will.
"I did not expect this…if this 'feeling' and my sense of the Golden Energy is correct, it would seem that when one's soul fundamentally changes in quality, instead of Heaven and Earth 'granting' Will, one's soul resonates with Heaven and Earth and generates will.
It only appears as 'granting' of Will because no one in this universe can perceive beyond the heavenly veil. At least that's what I think based on my 'outside' knowledge of this universe."
"Perhaps…once I become a Highgod in all four Edicts, this fused divine energy might even condense into something like Sovereign energy that can be shared or used…"
"…How does this explain Will Power granted by the Planar Wars and at the Great Perfection?"
Sadius was in deep thought trying to understand the inner workings of Hongmeng's universe.
The machinations of the universe were so complex that Sadius almost stopped thinking about them and thought he'd gradually comprehend them as he grew stronger.
Now that he had broken through to the Highgod level, Sadius returned to the Redbud Sovereign's residence, entering the cultivation chamber.
"Milord, I'm ready."
"Good. Then let's begin the contract."
The Redbud Sovereign raised a hand and cast a Soul Equality Contract spell.
A strange magical formation shot out from the enormous amethyst crystal nearby, flying toward Sadius' forehead. As soon as the formation touched him, it shrank rapidly and entered deep into his soul.
Sadius felt the incredible Soulforce embedded within the formation—it was the soul imprint of the Redbud Sovereign.
The Sovereign's soul imprint quickly merged with Sadius' soul.
The next moment, Sadius felt an inexplicable connection forming between his soul and that of the Redbud Sovereign.
Almost instantly as if Sadius received a boost in soulforce, he realized the answer to the question he had about granting Will. The Great Perfection Highgods got Will because the highest level of rule comprehension does fundamentally change one's soul in quality, though not in nature like a soul mutate, while Will Power granted by winning the Planar Wars was the only "true" gift from the universe itself.
It's likely the reason geniuses like Orloff and Uhtred did not realize this. They never actually experienced a change in soul nature, only in quality. When they became Paragons and Sovereigns their soul quality changed but not their nature and the Planar War simply stacked on top of these. Plus Heaven and Earth constantly descended granting an elevation of life status from Saint to Highgod, which was already beyond the comprehension of anyone in this universe, so why would they think Will is any different?
Despite these thoughts, Sadius' soul did not actually change, the contact gave him a temporary superficial boost that allowed quicker thinking.
As the contract finished embedding itself in their souls the Sovereign sensed a brand-new connection—one she had never experienced before.
"Milord, the Soul Equality Contract is complete. Now you'll understand why I insisted on signing it," Sadius said.
Though it was a contract of equality, the Sovereign was still a Sovereign; Sadius would never treat her as a peer in reality.
"Alright. Begin—I want to see what's going on."
Sadius walked up to the massive amethyst crystal.
"Lyle, Diana. You two no longer need to continue pouring in energy."
The two looked visibly relieved.
For so many years, the two had taken turns resisting the amethyst assimilation of the Sovereign's true body. But as mere Lesser Gods, their efforts were weak—they could only slow the process.
Over time, the Sovereign's physical body had grown more and more illusory. If she wasn't rescued soon, she would have completely transformed into amethyst.
"Understood, Milord."
The two retreated.
Sadius placed his palm on the massive amethyst crystal and injected his fused divine power into it.
Through the soul connection between him and the Sovereign, his power quickly entered the Sovereign's true body inside the crystal.
When the golden energy flowed into her, both of the Sovereign's clones—her Sovereign and Earth clones—immediately sensed a summoning from the true body.
They flew directly into the giant amethyst.
This was astonishing.
Back when the Sovereign was being assimilated, her true body had forcibly ejected her clones. But now, she was drawing them back in.
It meant she could now truly be saved.
The Sovereign's clones transformed into a phantom and flew into the crystal—similar to Doehring they became soul form, but would immediately gain a new body made up for Divine power.
In the next moment, from within the giant amethyst, a terrifying Sovereign-level surge of destructive power erupted. The entire amethyst mass began to melt and was subsequently absorbed by the Sovereign inside.
In just a few breaths, her true body reappeared—no longer crystallized.
All of the amethyst was absorbed back into her.
Her Divine Beast-like body suddenly opened its eyes—and within them, a radiant streak of gold flashed.
That golden light hadn't existed before.
It had only formed after Sadius' fused divine power entered her body, using her Sovereign-level Destruction and Earth powers along with the Amethyst Essence to nourish and awaken the golden power.
The Sovereign casually raised a hand.
A golden burst of Sovereign power emerged.
That golden Sovereign power, as it was expelled, gradually returned to black.
The Sovereign was ecstatic.
"Sadius, this fused divine power of yours is absolutely extraordinary! It boosts my Sovereign Destruction power by tenfold for a short time!"
Even though the boost was temporary, as long as she was willing to spend some Sovereign power, she could sustain it.
As a Sovereign, she possessed endless reserves of Sovereign power.
In other words, her current combat strength had increased tenfold, effectively giving her the power of an extra clone.
What she did not know was that while she as an Amethyst Divine Beast was made up of the same fusion of laws, her soul was not. When the soul mutates infused their energy into her it "infected" her soul. Any other being would have experienced excruciating pain in their soul before stopping as to not injure themselves, but she was technically a being made up of different fused laws—only in body. It meant her soul had some level of resonance but not enough; hence why she started turning into a complete amethyst.
In essence she would have turned into a complete fused body without a soul; thus being no different from an amethyst essence core.
At this point, the Redbud Sovereign finally understood why Sadius insisted on a soul contract—because only a soul contract would allow her to access the golden divine power he left within her.
Of course, a master-servant contract would have worked too—but only if Sadius were the master and she the servant.
Sadius hadn't taken advantage of her, and for that, she was sincerely grateful.
Just then, the Redbud Sovereign's expanded Sovereign consciousness sensed something.
"Sadius, something's wrong!"
Sadius hadn't yet reacted.
"Your son, Linley—he's gravely injured! His soul is extremely weak!"
Sadius felt as if lightning exploded in his mind.
Linley…is in danger?
How was that possible?
He remembered clearly—when he left Perfect Essence City, Linley had only been a Lesser God. Even after a few hundred years, at most he should've only become a Midgod. How could his soul be wounded?
He had even given all of them full sets of Highgod defensive artifacts, and each person a drop of Sovereign power.
Even against an average Seven-Star Fiend, they should've been able to escape!
"Milord, what happened?! I must go find Linley and the others!"
Sadius was frantic and ready to set out.
"I'll take you. I'm much faster than you."
As an Sovereign, her speed far surpassed Sadius.'
From her divine sense spread across her estate, she had just sensed from Ziyang Prefecture that Linley was critically injured.
Considering that Sadius had saved her life, and they now shared a soul bond, she naturally wouldn't stand by.
With that, the Redbud Sovereign brought Sadius with her, flying directly toward Ziyang Prefecture.