Those who obtained the highest-grade Netherfruit would be received by the Death Chief Sovereign, Lilia. Whether they could make a request or become one of her Sovereign Emissaries depended entirely upon her mood.
As for Deities who passed through the three layers of mist...
They would be received personally by Locke.
Naturally, Locke already knew what Linley sought.
With Locke's current cultivation, he had already reached the level of a Celestial Exalt. He had completely comprehended the Laws of Space, the Laws of Time, and the Laws of Reincarnation.
For him...
Finding Hogg, Yale, and the others within the Necropolis of the Undead and restoring their memories was trivial.
Even reversing time to restore them directly to the state they had been in before death and resurrecting them outright wasn't beyond his capabilities.
Therefore, after seeing Linley successfully pass through the third layer of mist he had created, Locke wasted no time.
With a casual wave of his hand...
Linley was instantly transported into the Chief Sovereign Palace.
Linley had only just emerged from the third layer of mist.
The aura of Sovereign's Might surrounding his body hadn't even dissipated when the waterfall of lightning chains before him suddenly transformed into a magnificent and elegant palace hall.
At the far end of the hall stood a lofty platform supported by ninety-nine steps.
Upon that platform rested a divine throne.
Feeling the tremendous pressure emanating from the figure seated upon it, beads of cold sweat formed on Linley's forehead despite the Sovereign's Might still surrounding him.
"What terrifying pressure..."
Linley naturally realized that appearing here must have been the work of Lord Sovereign.
Without any hesitation, he immediately knelt on one knee.
"Linley Baruch greets Lord Sovereign."
With Locke's current soul attainments, he understood Linley's condition with a single glance.
That left him somewhat speechless.
As expected...
The current Linley was still too inexperienced.
Locke's cultivation had already surpassed the limits of the magical universe.
Ordinarily, he had to completely restrain every trace of his aura.
Otherwise...
The pressure of a peak Celestial Exalt alone would be enough to shatter the magical universe's spatial fabric and inflict catastrophic damage upon it.
Thus...
The overwhelming pressure Linley believed he was sensing from the divine throne was actually nothing more than his own imagination frightening him.
Well...
To be fair, part of the reason was that Linley's soul had already been affected by the Eye of Hell.
Its influence had amplified his spiritual perception, making the pressure he sensed inside the Chief Sovereign Palace seem far greater than it actually was.
"Linley Baruch."
"Ever since I created the three layers of mist surrounding Mount Nether..."
"Every single person who has successfully passed through the third layer has been a Paragon."
"And you..."
"...are the only one who has accomplished it without being a Paragon."
"Hm?"
Hearing Lord Sovereign's words, Linley's heart skipped a beat.
After becoming a Highgod, Linley naturally learned that the reason the Eight Great Clans had signed a ceasefire agreement with the Four Divine Beasts clan was because they mistakenly believed he had already become a Paragon.
Of course...
Linley himself wasn't a Paragon.
But that didn't mean he didn't know what a Paragon was.
A Paragon was an expert who had reached the absolute end of a single set of Laws, completely fusing every Profound Mystery within it.
As for just how powerful a Paragon truly was...
Linley didn't know.
He could only estimate based upon what he already understood.
Every additional fused Profound Mystery increased one's strength tenfold.
Therefore...
A Paragon had to be at least ten times stronger than an ordinary Prefect.
Previously, Linley had thought that perhaps the gap between himself and a Paragon wasn't all that enormous.
But after experiencing Mount Nether's third layer of mist...
He finally understood just how weak he still was.
Without a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact...
There was absolutely no way he could have passed through the third layer.
Only now did Linley realize that possessing Paragon-level strength was actually the prerequisite for passing through the third layer of mist.
"However..."
"Although you relied upon certain tricks..."
"Passing is still passing."
"As your reward for successfully crossing the third layer of mist..."
"You may make one request of me."
"Yes, Lord Sovereign."
Hearing Locke's promise, the enormous weight hanging over Linley's heart finally lifted.
Just moments ago...
He had feared that because he wasn't actually a Paragon, Lord Sovereign wouldn't recognize his success in passing through the third layer.
Strictly speaking...
That concern wasn't unfounded.
His success had depended upon several indispensable factors.
The chain left behind by Reisgem and the others.
The damaged soul-protecting Sovereign artifact.
And Sovereign's Might.
Without the chain...
Linley would never have maintained the correct direction after losing his sense of orientation.
Without the soul-protecting Sovereign artifact...
He couldn't possibly have endured inside the mist for so long.
Without Sovereign's Might...
He couldn't have regained enough awareness at the final moment to overcome the effects upon his soul and finally pass through the third layer, reaching the foot of Mount Nether.
If Lord Sovereign had refused to acknowledge this method...
Then Linley would have had no choice but to wait for an unknown amount of time until Netherfruit was scattered again, joining countless Deities in the struggle for the highest-grade Netherfruit simply to obtain another audience.
Fortunately...
Lord Sovereign had acknowledged his success.
"Lord Sovereign."
"I ask that you help me retrieve Teacher Doehring, my parents, and several of my sworn brothers from the Necropolis of the Undead..."
"...and restore the memories they possessed before death."
Keeping his head lowered, Linley finally voiced the wish that had brought him here.
Locke stroked his chin.
Just as expected...
The only thing Linley truly desired was the resurrection of his family and friends.
Whether it was for Locke or Lilia...
Such a matter required almost no effort at all.
However...
If Locke simply resurrected all of them so easily...
Would Linley still go to the Planar Battlefield?
The answer was obvious.
No.
If his family was whole and all of his loved ones remained by his side...
Why would Linley risk his own life fighting in the Planar Battlefield before he had even had the chance to enjoy that happiness?
Moreover...
The current Linley already understood that he himself was the greatest guarantee of everyone else's peaceful lives.
If anything happened to him...
Given the strength of his parents, relatives, and friends, they simply wouldn't be able to survive safely within the Infernal Realm.
The Four Divine Beasts clan had been powerful enough, hadn't it?
Including himself, they had possessed seven experts at the level of a Prefect.
Five of them even possessed Sovereign artifacts.
Yet despite all that...
The clan had still nearly been destroyed by the Eight Great Clans.
Had Grandpa Beirut not intervened...
And had Linley himself not risen to power...
The Four Divine Beasts clan's ancestral homeland, the Skyrite Mountains, might already have become nothing more than ruins.
The Four Divine Beasts clan itself would have become history.
"Linley."
"Lord Sovereign."
"Your request..."
"...puts me in a rather difficult position."
"What?"
Linley raised his head in astonishment and looked toward the figure seated upon the divine throne.
"Lord Sovereign..."
"Please explain."
"Linley."
"Since the birth of heaven and earth, many people have known that the souls of beings below the Deity level enter the Necropolis of the Undead after death."
"Once those people become sufficiently powerful..."
"They, too, come to the Netherworld and request that the Death Chief Sovereign retrieve their loved ones from the Necropolis of the Undead and restore their memories."
"Furthermore..."
"Because undead creatures within the Necropolis of the Undead constantly slaughter one another..."
"Even the Sovereigns cannot guarantee whether the person being sought has already perished there."
"Thus..."
"Over countless years, the Sovereigns gradually reached a consensus."
"One request..."
"...allows a Sovereign to retrieve only a single individual from the Necropolis of the Undead and restore that person's memories."
"And as long as the Sovereign has made the attempt..."
"If the target has already died within the Necropolis of the Undead..."
"The request is still considered fulfilled."
After hearing Locke's explanation, Linley's face turned pale.
Everything Lord Sovereign had said...
He understood completely.
Precisely because he understood...
He felt even worse.
Because it meant...
He had to choose the one person he cared about most.
Just as expected...
"Linley."
"As the only person to pass through Mount Nether's three layers of mist without being a Paragon..."
"I can grant you one special privilege."
"If the very first person you ask me to retrieve has already died within the Necropolis of the Undead..."
"I will search for a second person on your behalf."
"But..."
"If you expect a single request to make me retrieve and resurrect all of those people..."
"That is impossible."
"Now..."
"Think carefully."
"Decide whom you wish to revive first."
"Only then will I enter the Necropolis of the Undead and bring that person back."
Linley pursed his lips.
His mind filled with the faces of everyone he wished to save.
Every single one of them mattered to him.
He wanted to abandon none of them.
Taking a deep breath, Linley finally asked,
"Lord Sovereign..."
"Is there truly no way..."
"...to revive all of my family and friends at once?"
Locke slowly shook his head.
"Linley."
"You must understand."
"Even as a Sovereign..."
"I must still abide by the rules agreed upon among the Sovereigns."
"Otherwise..."
"If those rules were broken..."
"Then whenever a Sovereign became enraged, the lives of countless billions of beings would become nothing more than sacrifices used to vent that anger."
"That would benefit neither this world..."
"...nor the Deities living within it."
"..."
Linley fell silent.
He knew Locke was right.
The strength of a Sovereign and that of ordinary Deities existed on entirely different levels.
If Sovereigns were no longer bound by rules...
Then the lives and deaths of all Deities would depend solely upon a Sovereign's passing whim.
What kind of world would that become?
"Then..."
"Lord Sovereign..."
"If I pass through the third layer of mist several more times..."
"Could I obtain several more requests?"
"Pfft..."
"Hahaha..."
Locke couldn't help laughing.
"Linley."
"Have you misunderstood something?"
"The tests established by the Sovereigns..."
"Exist merely to leave a glimmer of hope for Deities."
"But if Deities treated those tests as an endlessly repeatable method for fulfilling wishes..."
"Tell me..."
"What do you think the Sovereigns would do?"
The moment Linley asked the question...
He already knew the answer.
Just as Lord Locke had said...
The trials established by the Sovereigns existed only to leave hope for all Deities.
If a Paragon repeatedly cleared the trial, receiving another wish each time...
Then who would actually be the Sovereign?
The true Sovereign...
Or the Paragon endlessly farming wishes?
Did he really think Sovereigns were wish-granting machines?
Therefore...
Even though Paragons possessed the ability to pass many of the Sovereigns' trials...
None of them actually did so.
On one hand...
Paragons were extremely proud.
Most of them didn't think much of the Sovereigns.
They would never lower themselves to beg a Sovereign for favors.
On the other hand...
As long as Sovereigns themselves weren't involved, a Paragon's reputation as "invincible" wasn't merely empty talk.
Throughout the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes...
The deterrent value of a Paragon actually exceeded that of the Sovereigns in many situations.
After all...
Sovereigns were restrained by the Sovereign Pact.
Ordinarily, they couldn't attack beings below the Sovereign level without cause.
Paragons had no such restrictions.
If a Paragon became enraged...
Massacring every living being within an entire Prefecture wouldn't be difficult.
Without another expert of the same level to restrain them...
Paragons acted almost without limits.
Under such circumstances...
They possessed very few "wishes."
Or perhaps they did have wishes...
But they weren't wishes ordinary Sovereigns could fulfill.
For example...
A Sovereign spark.
Or...
A method allowing one to continue cultivating beyond the Paragon realm and become a Sovereign.
It was precisely for this reason that Mount Nether in the Netherworld was a place every Paragon would eventually visit.
As for those Paragons who had independently cultivated to that level without joining Locke's lineage...
Locke held them in high regard.
Therefore...
Whenever such Paragons came, Locke never concealed anything from them.
He openly informed them of the existence of the Higher Laws.
However...
That was the limit of the assistance he offered.
Without Locke's blood essence...
Those Paragons could make almost no meaningful progress in cultivating the Laws of Time or the Laws of Space.
Perhaps...
Through chance inspiration, they might create powerful techniques capable of invoking fragments of the Laws of Space or the Laws of Time.
But actually entering the path of cultivating those Higher Laws remained extraordinarily unlikely.
Unless...
They somehow managed to obtain the Sovereign blood essence of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns.
Of course...
If a Paragon devoted himself to researching divine beast Sovereign blood essence...
And possessed talent comparable to Locke or the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff—capable of reproducing a divine beast's innate divine ability from its blood essence...
Then perhaps they might gain enlightenment from the blood essence of divine beasts possessing Space- or Time-based innate divine abilities, finally taking the first step into cultivating the Higher Laws.
A trace of despair flashed through Linley's eyes.
At present...
He knew only two methods of obtaining an audience with a Sovereign.
The first...
Was passing through the three layers of mist.
He had already accomplished that.
The second...
Was obtaining a Netherfruit.
But even if he succeeded in obtaining the highest-grade Netherfruit...
It would merely grant him one additional wish.
At most...
He could revive one more person from the list.
"Lord Sovereign."
"I wish to use this one request..."
"...to ask you for guidance."
"Please tell me..."
"How can I resurrect all of my family and friends at once?"
Linley lowered his other knee as well, prostrating himself completely before Locke as he voiced his request.
"Oh?"
Locke's eyebrows rose slightly.
Originally...
His intention had been to reveal certain things that would guide Linley toward the Planar Battlefield...
The place where Linley would undergo the most important transformation of his life.
(End of Chapter)
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