However...
If he refined the Sovereign sparks in his current state, he would lose one of his greatest opportunities to become a Paragon.
Linley was unwilling to accept that.
For a time, the expression on his face changed repeatedly.
This time...
Neither Beirut nor Leylin could understand what he was thinking.
The two exchanged a glance before Beirut finally asked,
"Linley, you said it yourself—you aren't someone who can resist the temptation of Sovereign sparks."
"Then why are you still hesitating?"
"..."
Linley let out a long sigh.
"Lord Beirut, Lord Leylin..."
"I once visited the Netherworld and stayed on Mount Nether for a period of time."
"There, I became acquainted with several Paragons, and we got along very well."
"From them, I learned many things I had never known before."
"I want to reach their realm."
"I want to personally witness the magnificence of the higher Laws..."
Hearing Linley's words...
Beirut and Leylin Leylin were momentarily stunned.
Then they laughed.
So...
Linley was determined to strive for the Paragon realm.
"Hahaha!"
"Linley, I was wondering what you were struggling over."
Patting Linley's shoulder, Beirut said,
"Linley, it's true that Leylin and I want you to become a Chief Sovereign."
"That way, you can help us withstand the pressure from the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta."
"But..."
"That doesn't mean we need you to refine the Sovereign sparks and become a Sovereign immediately."
"The stronger you become..."
"The more confidence the two of us will have."
"If you truly become a Paragon..."
"Then after refining these three Sovereign sparks, you'll absolutely become an existence on the level of an Edicts Chief Sovereign."
"At that time..."
"Forget simply protecting us."
"Even if you killed the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta, the other Edicts Chief Sovereigns probably wouldn't have much to say."
"Of course..."
"If you ask me..."
"It's best to simply teach the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta a lesson."
"Our Yulan lineage has already killed one Fire Lesser Sovereign."
"If we kill another Light Chief Sovereign..."
"I'm worried Chief Sovereign Locke might conclude that we're exploiting loopholes in the Sovereign Pact."
"If that happens..."
"Even if you're extremely powerful, Linley..."
"I'm afraid you still wouldn't be Chief Sovereign Locke's opponent."
Linley understood that point as well.
He had personally learned from Mount Nether's Paragons that Chief Sovereign Locke had already completely comprehended the Laws of Space, reaching the realm of a Godking, an existence comparable to the Overgods.
Even if he himself reached the level of an Edicts Chief Sovereign...
He would still remain within the category of a Sovereign.
Chief Sovereign Locke, however...
Had already stepped into the domain of the Overgods.
The gap between a Sovereign and an Overgod...
Was even greater than the gap between a Sovereign and a Deity.
"Take these three Sovereign sparks."
"Keep them yourself."
"When you finally decide it's time..."
"Simply refine them."
"After all..."
"So long as no Sovereign personally intervenes..."
"No one in this world can take the Sovereign sparks away from you."
"All right."
After thinking it over...
Linley felt that Beirut's words made perfect sense.
Aside from himself...
He had no idea how many years Lord Beirut would have to wait before another being capable of opposing the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta appeared within the Yulan Plane.
Moreover...
Just as Lord Beirut had said...
As long as the Sovereign sparks remained in his possession, no one except a Sovereign could seize them.
Not even Lady Nanessa.
At present...
All four of Linley's divine clones had already reached the Highgod realm.
The power of his fused divine power was already ten times stronger than Sovereign's Might.
Even if he were affected by Lady Nanessa's Laws of Time...
Linley was confident he could still buy himself enough time to retrieve a Sovereign spark from his interspatial ring.
After all...
Unlike refining an ordinary divine spark...
An independent Highgod needed only to place a single drop of blood upon a Sovereign spark.
The refinement would be completed instantly.
They would immediately become a Sovereign.
As for whether any Sovereign would dare attack him...
Linley was certain they lacked that courage.
Previously...
After completing the Life Overgod Mission and obtaining an offensive Overgod artifact...
Those Sovereigns hadn't dared make a move.
Only when Lord Beirut came to retrieve him had they pursued Beirut under the pretext of attacking Beirut instead.
At that time...
If Linley had been seriously injured or even killed by the aftershocks of a battle between Sovereigns...
It would have been entirely normal.
But now...
Linley was still merely a Deity.
If those Sovereigns attacked him directly...
Chief Sovereign Locke would absolutely never let them off.
Furthermore...
After sensing that Linley had returned to the Infernal Realm still as a Deity rather than a Sovereign...
Those Sovereigns all concluded that the Overgod artifact Linley had obtained had already been given to Beirut.
Perhaps...
Beirut hadn't even given Linley a single Sovereign spark.
Without a Sovereign spark or an Overgod artifact...
Linley simply wasn't worth the risk.
Of course...
Even if Linley still possessed the Overgod artifact...
Those Sovereigns still wouldn't dare gamble.
What a joke.
Hadn't Chief Sovereign Locke personally appeared in the Yulan Plane only twenty thousand years ago to create an entirely new, powerful plane?
Did they really think they could raise a hand against Linley...
Only to avoid being immediately besieged by the other Sovereigns in the next instant?
No Sovereign wished to witness a Chief Sovereign Locke who no longer abided by the rules.
At the very least...
So long as everyone remained within the rules established by the Death Chief Sovereign and Lord Locke...
The Sovereigns didn't have to live in constant fear.
But once those rules were broken...
Chief Sovereign Locke might, with a single thought...
Replace every Sovereign in existence, turning them into examples for the next generation of Sovereigns.
No one doubted that Chief Sovereign Locke possessed such power.
The only question...
Was whether he wished to do it.
With a single thought...
He could remake heaven and earth.
Nothing illustrated that phrase more perfectly.
Thanks to Linley's completion of the Overgod Mission...
Far fewer Sovereigns continued keeping watch over the Yulan lineage.
Not long ago...
The newly ascended Sovereign of the Yulan lineage, Leylin, had revealed strength at the Paragon level, sufficient to rival an Intermediate Sovereign.
Meanwhile...
The Paragon Linley had obtained an offensive Overgod artifact.
There was no need to think about it.
Everyone assumed that the Overgod artifact now belonged to the Paragon Fire Lesser Sovereign, Leylin.
Everyone knew about the feud between the Yulan lineage and the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta.
Now...
With an offensive Overgod artifact in his possession...
Leylin's offensive power surpassed that of the Law Chief Sovereigns.
This meant that although Leylin Leylin wasn't yet a Law Chief Sovereign...
He already possessed the ability to threaten them.
Aside from the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta...
None of the remaining Law Chief Sovereigns dared guarantee they would survive a direct strike from an Overgod artifact.
As for the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta...
Only because he also possessed an offensive Overgod artifact did he not fear Leylin Leylin's.
In short...
After Linley returned to the Infernal Realm...
Life became remarkably peaceful.
No one came to disturb him.
Even those hoping to establish some connection with Linley would first communicate with the Four Divine Beasts clan's patriarchs.
Only after learning from Gislason and the others whether Linley was available would they come to pay their respects.
As for Linley's desire to devote himself entirely to cultivation without distraction...
Everyone expressed complete understanding.
After all...
Linley had ascended Mount Nether.
Although no one from Mount Nether's lineage had walked the outside world during the past several dozen calendrical eras...
That didn't prevent people from knowing that Chief Sovereign Locke of Mount Nether held Linley in extremely high regard.
In everyone's eyes...
Linley had undoubtedly obtained the cultivation method beyond the Paragon realm from Mount Nether's lineage.
Perhaps...
Before long...
Linley would become the first person outside of Locke's lineage to cultivate his way to Sovereignhood through his own efforts.
The Four Divine Beasts clan naturally became ecstatic upon hearing these speculations.
If Linley were merely a Paragon...
He could ensure that the Four Divine Beasts clan would never decline.
But if Linley became a Sovereign...
Even if the Four Divine Beasts clan could never return to its former peak...
Dominating an entire Divine Plane would still be entirely possible.
However...
After countless years...
The Four Divine Beasts clan might very well become the Baruch Clan instead.
After all...
Without the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' blood essence...
Future generations of the Four Divine Beasts clan would no longer be able to undergo the Ancestral Baptism to increase the purity of their bloodlines.
After several generations...
The bloodline ties holding the Four Divine Beasts clan together would inevitably begin to weaken.
Everyone could foresee that outcome.
Although Gislason and the others understood this...
There was nothing they could do about it.
Fortunately...
So long as they themselves remained alive...
The Four Divine Beast bloodline would continue to exist.
For them...
The current situation was already the best possible outcome.
After all...
When they first learned that their fathers and uncles had perished...
Gislason and the others had already resolved to fight to the death and perish alongside the Four Divine Beasts clan.
If Linley truly became a Sovereign...
They were even willing to allow those clansmen whose bloodlines had become diluted to become members of the Baruch Clan instead.
The Four Divine Beasts clan...
Had already been abandoned by the magical universe.
Let old relics like themselves carry the clan's final rays of glory into gradual decline.
Perhaps...
Someday in the distant future...
If new Four Divine Beasts were born within the magical universe...
Then perhaps the Four Divine Beasts clan would once again enjoy a second spring.
...
Linley's talent had never been poor to begin with.
After completing his four-element soul mutation with the help of the Soulstone...
The upper limit of his talent had increased tremendously.
In less than twenty thousand years...
Linley had already fused the Earth and Water Laws to the point where they stood only a single step away from the Paragon realm.
His Wind Laws had likewise completed the fusion of all eight Profound Mysteries.
His Fire Laws lagged somewhat behind.
At present...
He had only completed the fusion of four Fire Laws Profound Mysteries.
"It's about time."
The moment Linley sensed that he had reached the bottleneck of the Paragon realm...
He understood.
If nothing unexpected happened...
Perhaps someday in the future he would break through that final barrier and become a Paragon.
Or perhaps...
He would remain forever at this point, never reaching that realm.
If that happened...
Then he could only rely upon the immense quantity of faith energy contained within the Sovereign spark to break through the bottleneck.
Thinking of this...
Linley no longer hesitated.
He first took out the Earth Lesser Sovereign spark and forced out a drop of blood, allowing it to fall upon it.
Rumble...
In an instant...
An enormous flood of faith energy surged into Linley's mind.
His understanding of the Earth Laws Profound Mysteries deepened once again.
Finally...
Under the endless washing of that immense faith energy...
The final barrier preventing Linley from perfecting the Earth Laws shattered like a bubble.
The six Earth Laws Profound Mysteries fused together into perfect harmony.
Linley had become a Paragon.
"So..."
"This is the Paragon realm..."
Slowly opening his eyes...
The joy within Linley's gaze could no longer be concealed.
To truly become a Paragon before even reaching fifty thousand years of age...
Even compared with Chief Sovereign Locke...
Such a cultivation speed was in no way inferior.
Unless one became a Paragon...
It was impossible to understand the wonderful feeling of completely comprehending every Profound Mystery of a single Law.
Only after reaching the Paragon realm...
Did Linley truly understand just how vast the gap between a Paragon and everyone beneath that realm really was.
No wonder...
Comprehending ten percent of the Laws of Space allowed one to become a Celestial Deity comparable to a Sovereign.
While completely mastering the Laws of Space...
A Space Laws Paragon...
Allowed one to become a Godking comparable to the Overgods.
Next...
Linley didn't hesitate.
One after another...
He refined the Water Sovereign spark and the Fire Sovereign spark.
Unfortunately...
Perhaps becoming an Earth Paragon had already exhausted all of Linley's luck.
Neither the Water nor Fire Sovereign sparks allowed those two Laws to reach the Paragon realm.
Nevertheless...
Those two Sovereign sparks still increased Linley's strength enormously.
Linley was now an Earth Paragon Lesser Sovereign.
His power rivaled that of an Intermediate Sovereign.
The additional Will granted by the Water and Fire Sovereign sparks elevated him to the level of a Law Chief Sovereign.
The increase in Will resulting from his four-element soul mutation made him nearly one hundred times stronger than an ordinary Law Chief Sovereign.
His three-element fused Sovereign power further multiplied his strength another hundredfold.
Directly granting him power equal to the other three Edicts Chief Sovereigns.
In other words...
The current Linley could already be considered the sixth Edicts Chief Sovereign.
...
"Excellent..."
Within the Chief Sovereign Palace atop Mount Nether in the Netherworld...
After sensing that Linley had refined the Sovereign sparks and become an Earth Paragon...
Locke nodded in satisfaction.
Although...
Even without becoming a Paragon...
As long as Linley fused the four disparate Laws of Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire...
He would still be able to fuse the four kinds of Sovereign power into Hongmeng energy, cultivate a Hongmeng Body and a Hongmeng Spirit, and become a Hongmeng lifeform.
However...
Becoming a Paragon before becoming a Hongmeng lifeform would further improve Linley's comprehension.
That would also greatly benefit his cultivation after becoming a Hongmeng Controller.
Locke hoped to explore the path beyond the Hongmeng Controllers.
Traveling that road alone would inevitably become lonely.
Thus...
He hoped that, in the future, he would have several companions walking that path beside him.
Among them...
Qin Yu of the Linmeng Universe would undoubtedly be one.
To transform an ordinary immortal cultivation technique into a cultivation method capable of creating an entire universe...
Qin Yu's comprehension and spiritual insight unquestionably surpassed both Linley and Hongmeng.
As the first lifeform born within the Hongmeng Space...
Hongmeng had been blessed by destiny.
Possessing the Hongmeng Golden Ranking, a Hongmeng treasure...
With its assistance, Hongmeng comprehended the method of creating universes, ushering the Hongmeng Space into the Era of Universes.
As for Linley...
Judging from the original course of events...
Locke felt that, in the future, Linley would probably become the weakest among the four First-Level Hongmeng Controllers.
Therefore...
Allowing Linley to become a Paragon before becoming a Hongmeng Controller, and letting him comprehend the Laws of Space and the Laws of Time to further enhance his comprehension...
Would greatly benefit Linley's future cultivation.
(End of Chapter)
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