Amethyst Mountains.
Linley was placed within the residence of the Redbud Sovereign, where a Sovereign-level soul-defense artifact protected him.
At that time, the Amethyst Mist Sea was in turmoil. Reisgem had taken a large group of amethyst beasts out for amusement. Lyle and Diana were also taken along, leaving only Sadius' family and the Redbud Sovereign behind in the residence.
As the days passed, the Soulstone given by the Redbud Sovereign was eventually used up. Linley's soul gradually ceased crumbling but remained extremely fragile.
Then came a day when Sadius discovered something astonishing—Linley's soul was beginning to grow.
Having experienced a soul mutation himself, Sadius immediately understood what was happening—Linley's soul was undergoing a mutation.
Soul mutation was extremely painful and had an incredibly low success rate. Lina was deeply worried for her son and remained at his side, guarding him.
By now, Sadius' family had essentially made their home inside the Redbud Sovereign's residence.
Linley's soul mutation continued, but there seemed to be no signs of danger.
Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
When Reisgem returned to the residence and saw Sadius, he was a little annoyed and wanted to beat Sadius up—only to realize that he wasn't a match for Sadius anymore.
"Sadius, I brought someone over for you."
Reisgem led the red-haired Eunice into Sadius' family quarters.
Red-haired Eunice had not participated in the Fiend missions. Though she enjoyed fighting and killing, she disliked purpose-driven training. Instead, she became a little princess in Extreme City, causing all sorts of trouble there before fleeing to find Sadius and his family.
Sadius had already heard about red-haired Eunice's mischief in Extreme City. He felt a bit helpless—after all, it was his idea to have Eunice split into two beings. Whether red-haired or blue-haired Eunice, they were both his children.
"Eunice, you can't keep relying on the fact that the Shura of Extreme Limit is your biological father to make Rexus clean up your messes! I told you not to use my identity to command him, and you go ahead and use your father's instead? That's going too far," Sadius scolded, looking at the red-haired Eunice.
Red-haired Eunice pouted.
"So, I asked Rexus to demolish a few hotels—big deal! Those guys were asking for it. If there weren't laws against fighting in the city, I would've taught those hotel owners a real lesson!"
"You're grounded. No leaving until you break through," Sadius declared, helplessly issuing a confinement order.
Red-haired Eunice sighed. She had wanted to argue, but when she thought of her father's terrifying Amethyst Space, she gave up.
Better not to ask for trouble.
Days passed.
Sadius spent his time either cultivating or observing Linley's soul transformation.
With his Laws of Destruction and Earth already reaching the Highgod level, it was time to speed up progress on the Laws of Darkness.
Ever since his last viewing of the projection provided by the Redbud Sovereign, Sadius had gained significant insights into the Darkness Laws. He believed that based on those insights, he might even reach the Five-Way Fusion stage—and perhaps attempt the final Six-Way Fusion.
If he succeeded in the Six-Way Fusion, then Sadius' Darkness clone would gain a Will-type Sovereign power. Coupled with the Will from his four-way soul mutation, this Darkness clone would far surpass any of his other avatars.
Of course, the current priority was to first advance to Highgod.
Sadius was eager to find out what changes would occur upon three-way fusion Highgod power.
As for Sadius' second original body, Radius, he no longer expected any profound fusion—just becoming a Highgod alone would bring great benefits to Sadius.
Ten years passed.
Linley's soul had recovered halfway. It was believed that it wouldn't be long before he regained consciousness, thanks to the Soulstone from the Redbud Sovereign.
Now that Sadius had become a Highgod, he could create and nurture Soulstones himself.
However, the process was slow, far less efficient than the ready-made ones from the Redbud Sovereign.
So Sadius requested several small Soulstones from the Sovereign and nurtured them personally. The advantage of Sadius was that each of his four souls could nurture one Soulstone—making his production efficiency even higher than the Redbud Sovereign's.
Blood Ridge Continent, Youlan Manor.
Divine law descended from Heaven, accompanied by a terrifying surge of darkness-type divine power.
Sadius' Darkness clone had become a Highgod.
Beirut observed the scene, internally ecstatic.
A three-law-fused, soul-mutated Highgod…
Even during his time as a Midgod, Sadius could match peak Shuras.
Now, with all three fused laws reaching Highgod, his strength had advanced yet again.
He was surely now comparable to a Great Perfection expert.
"It's time…to let Sadius become a Sovereign. Whether the Yulan branch can awaken its legacy now depends on him."
Beirut soon approached the newly ascended Sadius.
"Sadius, congratulations on your breakthrough."
"I'm humbled, Uncle. The Laws of Darkness have only reached four-way fusion so far. I mainly became a Highgod early to improve my overall strength. Otherwise, I would've waited until after reaching Five-Way Fusion."
"That's already impressive! How long has it been since you became a God, and you're already a Highgod?"
Sadius chuckled sheepishly.
"Do you want another Sovereign artifact?"
"Uncle, are you talking about the Necropolis of the Gods?"
Sadius instantly understood what Beirut meant.
"Yes. The Necropolis of the Gods was entrusted to me by the great Sovereign. There are Sovereign artifacts inside."
"Uncle, to be honest, I already have a full set of Sovereign artifacts. The Redbud Sovereign asked me not to tell anyone—since that would violate the agreement among Sovereigns."
"Ahem…Well, yes, that's technically against the rules. But the Sovereign artifacts inside the Necropolis of the Gods are within bounds. No Sovereign would trouble you for acquiring those."
Sadius pretended to be tempted.
"Uncle, could you tell me what kind of Sovereign artifact is on the 18th floor of the Necropolis?"
"A material-defense Sovereign artifact," Beirut said casually.
He figured Sadius already had two legal Sovereign artifacts and would naturally want a material-defense type.
"Then never mind. Actually, I'm looking for soul-defense Sovereign artifacts—to stockpile some for my wife and children. Linley's case taught me that soul protection is too important. You can always reform the body with divine power, but once the soul is gone, that's the end. I'll just wait for the Planar Wars and kill some enemy commanders."
Beirut hadn't expected Sadius to have this kind of plan.
"Actually, soul-defense Sovereign artifacts aren't impossible to get. I could discuss it with the great Sovereign."
"Really?"
"Of course! Who do you think your uncle is? The number one under the Sovereign on the Blood Ridge Continent, and I've got good relations with the Sovereign!"
"In that case, I'll begin preparing."
Beirut secretly rejoiced.
He couldn't wait to see Sadius' reaction when he finally discovered—that Beirut himself was a Sovereign.
Although Sadius currently intended to send his Darkness clone back to the Yulan Plane, Beirut was certain that once Sadius laid eyes on the Sovereign spark, he'd immediately have his Earth clone return to the Yulan Plane.