"Lady Nanessa is truly incredible!"
"I even used my innate divine ability, Dragon Roar, and it still had no effect at all..."
Linley shook his body slightly, and divine power surged through him, instantly erasing the charred marks left behind by the lightning strikes and restoring his appearance.
Looking at Nanessa as she slowly descended from the sky, Linley felt that Lady Nanessa was perhaps an invincible existence among Paragons.
Of course, this "invincible" didn't refer to the power of her attacks.
Rather...
Her speed was simply too terrifying.
Whether it was her attack speed, defensive reactions, or dodging speed, they all far surpassed the level of an ordinary Paragon.
Linley had never personally witnessed a Sovereign make a move.
He had only once seen, through a scryer recording, a Sovereign projection do absolutely nothing, while a powerful Seven Star Fiend standing before it died silently.
Back then, Linley hadn't understood what had happened.
Now, after obtaining Will, he understood.
The Sovereign had used the projection to directly annihilate that Seven Star Fiend's soul through Will.
Only Will could resist Will.
Linley believed that, empowered by Will one and a half times stronger than an ordinary Paragon's, every aspect of his abilities surpassed other Paragons by dozens of times.
Yet even so...
His speed was still insignificant before Nanessa.
"So long as they aren't Sovereigns..."
"A Paragon who can't move within spatial turbulence simply has no way of dealing with Lady Nanessa's speed."
"Even someone like me, whose offensive power is this great, could only be exiled into spatial turbulence."
"As long as someone's speed is inferior to Lady Nanessa's..."
"They have absolutely no ability to resist her."
Only by truly crossing hands with Nanessa could one understand how powerful she really was.
A hundredfold difference in the flow of time was enough to make Nanessa the strongest being beneath the Sovereigns.
Even the other Paragons on Mount Nether who had begun comprehending the Laws of Space...
So long as they hadn't completely comprehended ten percent of the Laws of Space and become Sovereigns...
Would likewise be banished into spatial turbulence by Nanessa.
Linley didn't know what kind of astonishing performance Lady Nanessa could display against a Sovereign.
But he did know one thing.
At least among Paragons...
Lady Nanessa was invincible.
Over the following days, Linley also sparred with several other Paragons residing on Mount Nether, winning some matches and losing others.
Of course...
Whether sparring against Nanessa or the other Paragons, Linley never used fused divine power.
On one hand...
His Water divine clone remained in the Skyrite Mountains accompanying Dylin.
At most, he could only use three-element fused divine power.
The increase granted by three-element fused divine power was roughly comparable to using Sovereign's Might of different elements.
Even if Linley used fused divine power...
Once the Paragons activated Sovereign's Might, there would hardly be any noticeable difference.
Furthermore...
Linley didn't believe that even using four-element fused divine power would allow him to defeat Nanessa.
It was still the same issue.
At the Paragon level...
Anyone slower than Lady Nanessa simply posed no threat to her whatsoever.
These sparring sessions greatly broadened Linley's horizons.
Only then did he learn that beyond the Paragon realm...
There was actually a path leading directly to Sovereignhood.
Because of the strength Linley possessed, the Paragons of Locke's lineage never suspected that he wasn't truly a Paragon.
Thus...
During their conversations, they didn't avoid discussing the difficulties they had encountered while cultivating the Laws of Space.
In their eyes...
Since Chief Sovereign Locke valued Linley so highly, Linley would inevitably become one of them in the future.
Perhaps...
Given Linley's talent, he might even reach the Celestial Deity realm before they did.
Faced with these seniors' teasing, Linley could only smile bitterly inwardly.
They truly thought too highly of him.
Although...
After his soul mutation, the tremendous increase in soul power had greatly improved his affinity with the elements and the Laws.
Linley was certain that it wouldn't be long before the four Earth Laws Profound Mysteries he possessed and all seven Wind Laws Profound Mysteries were completely fused.
Given enough time...
Completely fusing all five Earth Laws Profound Mysteries...
All eight Wind Laws Profound Mysteries...
And more than three Water and Fire Laws Profound Mysteries...
Wouldn't be difficult either.
However...
Whether he could ultimately become a true Paragon...
Linley had no confidence whatsoever.
Without becoming a Paragon...
One couldn't use perfected elemental Laws to touch the higher Law above them—
The Laws of Space.
...
As the first Planar War came to an end...
News that Linley had become a Paragon spread through the survivors of the Planar Battlefield by word of mouth.
Very quickly...
The news spread throughout the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes.
"Hiss..."
"It's fortunate that, back in the Skyrite Mountains, we signed a ceasefire agreement with the Four Divine Beasts clan in the name of the Sovereigns..."
Within the Fate Divine Plane...
The patriarchs of the Eight Great Clans gathered once more.
However...
Unlike their previous high spirits...
Each of them now wore expressions of relief.
"That's right."
Bolelyn glanced toward Barbary.
"It's fortunate we didn't violate the agreement and continue attacking the Four Divine Beasts clan after learning that Linley hadn't yet become a Paragon."
"Otherwise..."
"The ones who would have been annihilated now would have been our Eight Great Clans."
"Hmph."
Barbary snorted coldly but said nothing.
Indeed...
After learning that Linley hadn't broken through to the Paragon realm, Barbary had proposed taking advantage of the opportunity to exterminate the Four Divine Beasts clan.
In the end...
The other patriarchs had rejected his proposal.
Now...
It seemed fortunate that they hadn't acted.
Perhaps...
During that final decisive battle against the Four Divine Beasts clan, although Linley hadn't become a Paragon after reaching the Highgod realm...
He must already have been only a single step away.
Otherwise...
There was no way he could have broken through within only a few hundred years after entering the Planar Battlefield.
Had they truly continued hunting the Four Divine Beasts clan...
Perhaps one of them would have become the stepping stone that pushed Linley into the Paragon realm.
If that had happened...
Their Eight Great Clans would likely have followed the fate of the previous four exterminated clans.
The phrase the invincible Paragon wasn't merely empty words.
Although every one of them was a Sovereign Emissary possessing a Sovereign artifact...
Even if they used Sovereign's Might...
They would still be nothing more than ants that a Paragon could casually swat to death.
"According to all the information we've gathered..."
"It appears Lord Linley has no intention of violating the agreement or exterminating our Eight Great Clans."
At this point...
No matter how displeased they were with Linley, every patriarch had no choice but to respectfully address him as Lord Linley.
Such was the status of a Paragon among Deities.
To Deities...
Sovereigns were too distant.
Moreover...
The Sovereign agreements prohibited them from interfering in the affairs of Deities.
Therefore...
The deterrence of a Paragon far exceeded that of a Sovereign.
Countless people wished to establish ties with a Paragon.
Indeed...
Linley had honored the agreement.
Even after truly becoming a Paragon, he hadn't come looking for trouble with the Eight Great Clans.
However...
There was never any shortage of opportunists in this world.
Once those people learned that Linley had become a Paragon...
And also learned about the feud between the Four Divine Beasts clan and the Eight Great Clans...
Then, in order to establish a relationship with Linley, they would undoubtedly target the Eight Great Clans.
Some might even take the heads of the eight patriarchs as gifts to present themselves before Lord Linley.
Thus...
The moment they learned of Linley's breakthrough, the eight patriarchs immediately gathered within the Bolelyn clan of the Celestial Realm to discuss countermeasures.
Indeed...
Each of them was a Sovereign Emissary possessing a Sovereign artifact.
Within their respective planes, they all ranked among the foremost experts.
However...
Before experts possessing all three Sovereign artifacts—or those suspected of being Paragons...
Although they weren't as insignificant as ants...
Neither were they towering trees capable of sheltering themselves.
"So..."
"Does anyone have any good ideas?"
The eight patriarchs looked at one another.
No one spoke.
They had all lived for more than a thousand calendrical eras.
Each was as cunning as an old fox.
Who didn't know the others?
"Very well..."
In the end, it was Edric of the Life Realm who sighed and spoke first.
"Everyone..."
"I believe that if our Eight Great Clans wish to survive this crisis and continue existing..."
"There is only one path left."
"We must unite completely."
"We must become a single clan composed of the Eight Great Clans, just like the Four Divine Beasts clan."
"Only then will outsiders fear us to some extent."
"Otherwise..."
"Not only will we ourselves become stepping stones for others seeking an audience with Lord Linley..."
"But even our clansmen will likely meet miserable ends."
The moment these words were spoken...
The other patriarchs immediately voiced their agreement.
"That's right."
"Edric makes sense."
"It doesn't matter if we die."
"But we can't drag our clans into it."
For a moment...
It sounded as though merging their clans into one was entirely for the sake of protecting their descendants.
In truth...
Having lived for countless years...
None of them truly cared about descendants separated from them by who knew how many generations.
Claiming to be acting "for the sake of the clansmen" was merely an excuse.
Without that excuse...
How would outsiders view their decision to merge the Eight Great Clans into one?
After living for so many years...
They still cared about preserving a little face.
...
In complete contrast to the Eight Great Clans...
The Four Divine Beasts clan erupted into celebration after hearing that Linley had become a Paragon.
Everyone's spirits soared.
Meanwhile...
Gaisarson and the other senior members of the Four Divine Beasts clan finally breathed sighs of relief.
They knew...
From this day onward, the Four Divine Beasts clan had finally survived its ordeal.
They could rest easy.
Ever since the deaths of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns...
The clan had finally obtained another pillar capable of supporting the entire family.
However...
A Paragon was ultimately not a Sovereign.
Without an endless supply of Sovereign's Might...
The Four Divine Beasts clan could never return to the glorious prosperity it had enjoyed hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Furthermore...
Without the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' blood essence...
Once the clan exhausted its remaining reserves...
The Four Divine Beasts clan would gradually become an ordinary clan.
In a certain sense...
This could also be considered the complete extinction of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' bloodline.
It fulfilled the agreement Azure Dragon Chief Sovereign Redding had once made with Locke in the name of the Overgods.
...
Within the Yulan Plane...
After hearing from Leylin that Linley had successfully undergone a four-element soul mutation...
Beirut smiled so broadly that he could hardly close his mouth.
He finally understood why Chief Sovereign Locke had sent Nanessa to protect an ordinary peak Saint-level expert whose body had already perished, even arranging for him to be taken to the Netherworld after burning his soul.
So...
Everything had been because of Linley.
Although Beirut had no idea how Chief Sovereign Locke had known so long in advance that Linley would eventually complete a four-element soul mutation...
He had the distinct feeling that Chief Sovereign Locke had been absolutely certain it would happen.
Otherwise...
There was no way Lord Locke would have first saved Doehring Cowart...
Only to later send Linley and Bebe into the Planar Battlefield.
Of course...
For Beirut, Linley's four-element soul mutation carried even greater significance.
He finally possessed the confidence to oppose the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta.
At present...
Beirut still possessed two Sovereign sparks—
One of Earth.
One of Water.
Given the current strength of Linley's Will...
After refining one Sovereign spark, he would already rival an ordinary Paragon Lesser Sovereign.
If he refined both Sovereign sparks...
Combined with the fusion of two kinds of Sovereign power...
Linley could reach a level comparable to an ordinary Law Chief Sovereign.
As a Law Chief Sovereign...
Linley would finally possess the qualifications to stand on equal footing with the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta.
More importantly...
Linley had already obtained the Overgod Talisman for the Seventh Overgod Mission.
He also possessed two of the three Overgod Mission talismans.
If Linley acquired the final talisman...
He would receive an Overgod artifact from the Overgod.
At that point...
The only remaining gap between Linley and the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta would be the additional Will Augusta had received from the Light Divine Plane's ten consecutive Planar Battlefield victories.
A mere tenfold difference in strength...
Would no longer allow the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta to completely overwhelm Linley.
Furthermore...
If Linley also possessed an offensive Overgod artifact...
Even Augusta would have to exercise great caution in battle.
Without a defensive Overgod artifact...
Being struck by an Overgod artifact would leave Augusta severely wounded.
He might even be killed outright.
Of course...
What mattered even more was that Beirut knew Linley wasn't truly a Paragon.
With the immense soul power granted by his four-element soul mutation...
The possibility of Linley eventually becoming a genuine Paragon certainly existed.
As long as Linley could complete the fusion of all six Earth Laws Profound Mysteries and reach the same level Leylin had previously attained...
Then after refining a Sovereign spark...
There was a very high probability that he would directly become a Paragon.
At that time...
Linley's strength would reach the standard the Destruction Chief Sovereign Wodred had described as that of an Edicts Chief Sovereign.
His power would instead surpass that of the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta by another tenfold.
It was precisely for this reason that, after Linley returned from the Netherworld, Beirut didn't immediately have him refine the Sovereign sparks and become a dual-element Sovereign.
Instead...
He instructed Linley to focus his cultivation on his Earth divine clone and Water divine clone.
(End of Chapter)
⭐ Enjoying the story?
You can read ahead and support the translations by joining my Patreon! Your support helps me update faster and take on more projects. Thank you for reading!
Read up to 50 chapters ahead!
patreon.com/AminaSims
Next Bonus Chapter at 4000 Powerstones