Within the Life Divine Plane, the Life Sovereign Wawaya let out a soft sigh.
Just as she had expected.
After news of her elder sister marrying Sovereign Locke spread, both the Destruction Sovereign Wordred and the Fate Sovereign Orloff contacted her in succession, expressing their desire for closer cooperation.
In concrete terms, this meant that if Locke and the Death Sovereign ever left the Netherworld, at least two of them must keep constant watch on the pair's movements.
As for the third, they would remain vigilant over the Intermediate Water Sovereigns, in case Locke's water divine clone launched a sudden attack.
After all, Locke's water divine clone had already demonstrated techniques capable of threatening Intermediate Sovereigns. None of them dared gamble that the Azure Wave Sovereign could withstand such an assault.
Wawaya did not refuse their proposal.
However, her agreement did not mean she had truly taken a stance against the Death Sovereign.
During her previous conversation with her elder sister in the spatial turbulence, although the Death Sovereign's words had been somewhat blunt, Wawaya still agreed with her judgment.
With Locke's overwhelming talent—far beyond theirs—he indeed had the right to disdain Sovereign sparks.
What worried Wawaya was that if she refused to ally with Wordred and Orloff, then under the pressure Locke represented, they might decide to eliminate him outright.
Given their strength, if it were not within the Netherworld, her elder sister would not be able to protect Locke.
Wawaya did not particularly care about Locke himself.
But she cared deeply about her elder sister's feelings.
By joining their alliance and agreeing to obstruct Locke from obtaining additional Sovereign sparks, she was, in truth, buying time.
After all, her elder sister had said that within a hundred million years at most, Locke would achieve another breakthrough in fusing different Laws. By then, his strength would rival theirs completely.
At that point, no matter how unwilling Wordred and Orloff might be, they would have no choice but to accept reality.
…
"Buzz—"
At the Undead Sacred Mountain—the Netherworld's only two interplanar teleportation arrays—
A white light flared, and hundreds of powerful figures appeared.
Before the guards of the Sovereign Army stationed there could even greet them, these figures burst forth with divine power, transforming into streaks of blue light and vanishing.
The guards were already accustomed to such scenes.
Ever since Sovereign Locke's grand wedding three years ago, auspicious phenomena had filled the skies of the Netherworld.
These auspicious signs took the shapes of dragons, phoenixes, and luan birds, forming characters that were imprinted across the heavens.
This was Locke projecting the marriage contract between himself and the Death Sovereign across the entire Netherworld.
Any living being who looked up could see the celestial script declaring their union.
Among the Netherworld's inhabitants, at least one in ten would gain some form of insight upon gazing at these heavenly characters.
As for the others, they could only watch in envy.
Because those who gained enlightenment all shared one trait—
They possessed affinity with the Laws of Water.
From the phenomena surrounding these individuals, it became clear to all—
Among the two Sovereigns who had wed, one must be an extraordinarily powerful Water Sovereign.
Their mastery of the Laws of Water was so profound that even a mere marriage contract could resonate with the Laws themselves, revealing their countless transformations and mysteries in a direct, comprehensible form.
In just three short years, the Netherworld had become a sacred land for all practitioners of the Laws of Water.
Any being with Water affinity who gazed upon the characters—formed from countless water elemental essences—would gain some degree of enlightenment.
Some Saint-level beings with exceptional affinity directly ascended to godhood.
Around ten percent of gods possessing water divine clones made breakthroughs in their comprehension.
Some grasped new Profound Mysteries, others perfected existing ones.
The most fortunate advanced further in the fusion of Laws, their strength increasing more than tenfold.
In merely three years, both the number and strength of Water-element gods in the Netherworld had increased by at least three times.
Thus, water-element experts from the Seven Divine Planes and the other three Higher Planes flocked to the Netherworld, hoping to glean deeper insights from these celestial inscriptions formed by auspicious energy.
Across the Netherworld, palatial residences rose beside mountains, rivers, and cavernous cliffs.
Within them, beings would periodically look up at the sky, then close their eyes in contemplation.
With the influx of so many water-element experts, even the temperaments of the Netherworld's inhabitants had become more restrained.
No one could tell how powerful those silently contemplating the heavens truly were.
Those who had previously disturbed such practitioners and were hunted down by countless water-element experts had already served as grim warnings.
…
A hundred years later—
At the summit of the Netherworld Mountains, Locke raised his right hand toward the sky.
Instantly, the auspicious energies that had filled the heavens for a century converged toward him.
In the end, they condensed into a jade-green scroll within his grasp.
Judging by the aura emanating from it, its power was no less than that of the lightning-emitting Sovereign artifact atop the palace at the mountain's peak.
This was the true form of the "marriage contract" that had been projected across the Netherworld.
As proof of his union with Lilia, Locke naturally wished for this contract to remain with them forever.
Thus, he had refined it directly into a Sovereign artifact.
By classification, it was a soul-defense Sovereign artifact.
However, as it was crafted by Locke, its wielder could also draw upon the soul energy within it to unleash powerful soul attacks.
In the Coiling Dragon universe, weapons used by gods and Sovereigns were not fundamentally different in material.
The distinction lay in the nurturing—when infused with vast amounts of Sovereign power, a divine artifact could transcend into a Sovereign artifact.
Soul-defense Sovereign artifacts were somewhat special.
In addition to Sovereign power, their effectiveness depended on the strength of the soul energy they contained.
As the only soul-mutate among Sovereigns, Locke was confident that no one could rival him in raw soul strength.
Moreover, to further enhance it, he had projected the marriage contract across the entire Netherworld, allowing water-element experts from all planes to study it, harvesting a century's worth of faith from countless practitioners to strengthen its soul-defense capabilities.
Looking at the azure scroll in his hand, Locke revealed a satisfied smile.
This artifact was undoubtedly the most powerful soul-defense Sovereign artifact in the Coiling Dragon universe.
At the very least, Locke was certain that no Sovereign could break through its defense.
Not even the Four Divine Beasts' fused innate ability.
"Here."
He handed the marriage contract to the Death Sovereign.
Without ceremony, she refined it immediately.
Though she already possessed a formidable soul-defense Sovereign artifact, this one was five times stronger.
"Locke, you truly know how to surprise people."
When she sensed that the scroll not only formed an impenetrable soul barrier but also contained immense soul power that could be unleashed offensively, she was astonished.
For the first time, she realized—
Soul artifacts could also be divided into offensive and defensive types.
Just because Sovereigns could not forge soul-attack artifacts did not mean such artifacts did not exist.
"This marriage contract… ushers in a new era of soul artifacts."
Her voice carried genuine admiration.
In the Coiling Dragon universe, soul attacks were among the most formidable techniques.
But they came at a cost—immense consumption of soul energy.
Even experts proficient in soul attacks could not use them recklessly.
Excessive depletion would weaken their overall state.
Moreover, soul battles were the most dangerous of all.
When two soul-attack users clashed, it was often a matter of life and death in an instant.
Unlike the body, which could be healed with divine power, damage to the soul could only be repaired with soul energy.
Recovery alone could take thousands or even tens of thousands of years.
This was why treasures containing soul energy were always so valuable.
And now—
Locke could forge soul-attack Sovereign artifacts.
Given enough time, he could produce them in large numbers…
And considering the strength of his soul attacks…
Even the Death Sovereign could not help but marvel.
As expected of the man she had chosen—just when she thought she understood him, he would reveal something even more astonishing.
"Hah, you're praising me too much, Lilia."
Hearing her words, Locke simply shook his head with a faint smile.
(End of Chapter)
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