The Fourth Sovereign Assembly came to an end amid a relaxed atmosphere.
Compared to before, Sovereigns of every rank now felt a far greater sense of security than they had over the past several million years.
It had to be said—Locke's emergence had caused the Sovereigns to begin, of their own accord, upholding the various Sovereign rules.
After all, even Sovereigns did not enjoy living in constant unease.
Within the spatial turbulence, the Death Sovereign and Locke walked side by side.
"Locke, compared to before, you've changed a lot."
The Death Sovereign gazed at Locke's face, memories flashing through her mind—of their first meeting, and of Locke presiding over the Sovereign Assembly.
Without realizing it, Locke had grown to such a level.
"Have I?"
"I don't really feel like I've changed that much."
"Though… perhaps it's because I'm stronger now. There are fewer people who can make me feel fear. And with you, Lilia, the strongest Sovereign, standing behind me… I suppose I've become a bit more unrestrained in how I handle things."
"Then Locke, now that you're acting as the Water Sovereign, are you going to move out of the Netherworld Mountain and live in the Water Divine Plane?"
The Death Sovereign tilted her head, hands clasped behind her back, idly kicking at the surrounding spatial turbulence, shattering it with the tip of her shoe.
"What are you talking about, Lilia?"
"As acting Water Sovereign, I only need my Fate divine clone to oversee the Water Divine Plane."
"My Water divine clone and my main body will naturally remain here in Netherworld Mountain."
"After all, the Water Divine Plane isn't my home."
"Hehe…"
…
Time, as always, did not pause for anyone's sighs.
Matters among Sovereigns had little direct impact on ordinary Deities.
However, in recent years, even Deities had begun to notice that the Sovereign Legions across the various Divine Planes had grown more active.
In the past, Sovereign Legions were stationed mainly within cities, maintaining order alongside city guards.
Now, however, some of their soldiers could be seen in tribes as well, protecting them from bandit raids.
Additionally, long-time residents of the Divine Planes noticed subtle changes—the elemental density seemed to be increasing slightly, and their perception of the Laws had become clearer.
This was the effect of Sovereigns regulating the Laws within their respective planes.
While these changes were not enough to allow beings to break through their limits, they did increase cultivation speed, giving individuals more time to grow, to experience the world, and to raise their chances of eventually surpassing their bottlenecks.
Because Divine Planes started with weaker foundations, their Law proportions were lower, making short-term improvements in elemental density more noticeable.
The Higher Planes, however, were different.
The Destruction Sovereign, Life Sovereign, and Fate Sovereign were all Great Perfection experts. What was difficult for ordinary Sovereigns—regulating Laws—was, for them, as simple as letting their perfected Laws "take a stroll."
Even so, increasing the proportion of Laws in the Higher Planes remained an extremely long-term endeavor.
For this reason, some powerful Law cultivators from the Four Higher Planes had begun traveling to the Seven Divine Planes to train, making the latter far more lively than before.
…
Netherworld, Netherworld Mountain Range.
In recent years, the Death Sovereign's Legion had reached full capacity. Under the leadership of Christina and Mira Locke, they had returned to their original encampment.
As for Locke's Sovereign Legion, it had only filled nine divisions so far.
Among them, there were only seven division commanders, and not a single vice commander.
There was no helping it—Locke's standards for his Sovereign Legion were simply too high.
Even at its current size, aside from lacking leadership positions, Locke's legion could already rival two or three full Sovereign Legions.
If fully staffed, it was entirely possible that a single vice commander leading ten divisions could easily sweep through other Sovereign Legions.
Within the Water Estate halfway up Netherworld Mountain, Oakes bowed as he presented the divine beast blood essences and natural treasures gathered from other planes.
"My apologies, Lord Locke."
"Among this batch of natural treasures, there is still no trace of the Black Demon Cloak or Bloodshadow Flame."
"No need to look so troubled, Oakes."
Locke accepted the spatial ring. With a sweep of his divine sense, he sorted and stored the contents.
"Items like these… if they were so easy to find, that would be the real surprise."
"However, based on the changes we saw in Mira, we can infer that the remaining two treasures must also grant extraordinary abilities to their users."
"Next, instruct those forces to pay attention to newly rising experts. Look for individuals who display unusually strong defenses or attack power far beyond their level. Keep a close watch—there may be clues there."
Oakes was startled.
That's right—when collecting natural treasures, everyone had overlooked something.
Ordinary, useless treasures would naturally be sold.
But truly valuable ones? Their owners would hide them, never revealing them.
Just like Lady Mira—if she hadn't said anything, who would have known she possessed a treasure that enhanced Law affinity?
Compared to searching for the treasures themselves, finding their holders was the correct approach.
"I understand, Lord Locke."
"I'll issue orders immediately. We'll monitor newly emerging experts across the planes. If anyone shows signs of possessing the Black Demon Cloak or Bloodshadow Flame, I'll report it at once."
"Good."
Locke nodded, then added, "Be careful yourself, Oakes. The Black Demon Cloak isn't too concerning—it's at most comparable to a material defense Sovereign artifact."
"But Bloodshadow Flame… it may have some unique properties. If you encounter it, use Sovereign power immediately to subdue it. Don't let yourself be caught off guard."
"Yes, Lord Locke."
After giving his instructions, Locke suddenly recalled something.
"Oakes, what about the matter I asked you to investigate last time?"
"Lord Locke, aside from us, there are indeed other forces collecting natural treasures."
"However, our follow-up investigations show that these forces don't appear to have Sovereign backing. They seem to be gathering treasures purely to sell them at high prices."
"Some of the items we acquired this time were obtained from them."
"I see…"
"Regardless of whether they have Sovereign backing, keep a close watch on them."
"Yes, Lord Locke."
After Oakes departed, Locke began reviewing this batch of materials.
As for the natural treasures—none of them were useful to Deities.
With a thought, Locke unleashed his Law power, instantly destroying them all.
"Nothing…"
Though he had expected this, a trace of disappointment still appeared on his face.
Overgod artifacts were indestructible—even Sovereigns could not destroy them.
Since these items could be destroyed, they were clearly not Overgod talismans.
Based on current information, Locke still could not determine whether the other three Rule Sovereigns had already obtained their respective Overgod talismans.
Among the Sovereigns, Lilia was unquestionably the strongest.
Even if Orloff revealed the additional willpower from the Light Sovereign Augusta, he still would not be her match.
However, if the other three all obtained their Overgod talismans and completed their Overgod missions, gaining Overgod artifacts, Lilia's advantage would vanish completely.
Overgod artifacts were the true ultimate weapons of the Coiling Dragon universe.
For a Sovereign, obtaining one was like a Deity obtaining a Sovereign artifact—it drastically enhanced a specific aspect of their power.
A single Overgod artifact could amplify a Sovereign's attack or defense by a hundredfold.
Only an Overgod artifact could contend with another Overgod artifact.
That was no exaggeration.
At the last Sovereign Assembly, Locke had essentially fallen out with the other three Rule Sovereigns.
Especially Orloff—after being rebuked by Locke, he had retaliated by attempting to elevate Locke's status.
Still, Life Sovereign Vivian's stance had surprised Locke.
He hadn't expected her to side with him.
But considering her relationship with Death Sovereign Lilia, it wasn't entirely unexpected.
Shaking his head, Locke set aside thoughts of the natural treasures.
The first four Overgod missions were likely predetermined by Hongmeng, intended to equip the four Rule Sovereigns with overwhelming power to maintain the stability of the universe.
Only the final three missions would be open to other Sovereigns.
Collecting the Overgod talismans of the other Rule Sovereigns to delay their progress had always been just a minor move in Locke's plans.
If it worked, all the better. If not, it was no great loss.
Turning his attention to another spatial ring, Locke focused on the divine beast blood essences.
This… was his true foundation.
Sweeping through them with his divine sense, Locke quickly filtered out over thirty drops that contained innate spatial abilities from among the hundreds of thousands of samples.
(End of Chapter)
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