After learning these secrets, how could Augusta possibly dare provoke the Water Chief Sovereign Levlenxia?
He wanted nothing more than to stay as far away from her as possible!
Of course, the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta also harbored some resentment toward the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff.
That Locke's lineage possessed a cultivation method beyond the Paragon realm was no secret among the Sovereigns.
Likewise...
It was also common knowledge that only Paragons were qualified to cultivate it.
This information had originally spread from Teresia, the Wind Paragon Lesser Sovereign.
Everyone knew what kind of person Chief Sovereign Locke was.
After those Paragons learned that Mount Nether's lineage possessed a path of cultivation beyond the Paragon realm, they went to Mount Nether seeking instruction.
Locke's lineage had never made things difficult for them.
In exchange for a single favor...
They had imparted the cultivation method to those Paragons.
Of course...
Although the path itself had been given to them, how they actually walked that path depended entirely upon their own efforts.
The blood essence of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns and Locke's own blood essence would only ever be given to members of his own lineage.
As for those Paragons who lacked divine beast blood essence, and thus had no means of allowing their perfected Laws to touch the Laws of Space concealed by Hongmeng...
Whether they could continue along that road was beyond Locke's control.
Since Chief Sovereign Locke hadn't hidden the method even from those Paragons...
As one of the Edicts Chief Sovereigns, if the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff had gone to ask Chief Sovereign Locke, he likewise should have been able to embark upon the path of comprehending the higher Laws.
Even the Life Chief Sovereign Wawaya had managed to increase her strength through the higher Laws.
Augusta was convinced that Orloff could certainly have done the same.
Unfortunately...
Although Augusta and Orloff were originally one being...
Augusta represented the discarded portion.
How could he possibly influence the actions of the original body?
Still...
No matter how angry Augusta was, he could only suppress his frustration.
...
The Sovereigns traveled at varying speeds.
Streams of multicolored light streaked through the spatial turbulence.
Even there...
It was a rare spectacle.
Very quickly...
Every Sovereign who had received Locke's transmission arrived above the Planar Battlefield.
Even Beirut and Bluefire from the Yulan Plane had come.
"Greetings, Lord Locke."
"Greetings, Lady Lilia."
"Greetings, Lord Orloff."
"Greetings, Lord Wodred."
"Greetings, Lady Wawaya..."
The nearly seventy Sovereigns first bowed respectfully toward Locke.
Only afterward did they salute the Four Edicts Chief Sovereigns.
Clearly...
In everyone's hearts, Chief Sovereign Locke's status stood above that of the Four Edicts Chief Sovereigns.
The Four Edicts Chief Sovereigns themselves acknowledged this.
After they nodded...
The remaining Sovereigns gathered together in groups according to their respective factions.
Among them...
The Light Chief Sovereign's faction was the largest.
Standing behind the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta were the Dark Chief Sovereign and the Wind Chief Sovereign Dia.
Clearly...
They had openly become Augusta's subordinates.
The Sovereigns of the Light Divine Plane, the Dark Divine Plane, and the Wind Divine Plane all stood behind their respective Chief Sovereigns.
As a result...
The Light Chief Sovereign's faction now numbered more than ten Sovereigns.
The second largest faction belonged to Locke's lineage.
Besides the four Sovereigns of Locke's lineage...
There were also the Water Chief Sovereign Levlenxia, Teresia the Wind Paragon Lesser Sovereign, one Water Intermediate Sovereign, and two Water Lesser Sovereigns.
The remaining factions numbered only four or five members each.
The smallest faction...
Was the Yulan lineage.
Even counting Linley...
There were only three of them.
Before Locke spoke...
Many Sovereigns secretly cast their gazes toward Chief Sovereign Loran.
Unfortunately...
They couldn't detect anything unusual from him.
Loran himself found all these looks rather baffling.
Only after Levlenxia transmitted through divine sense to ask whether he had already broken through to the level of an Edicts Chief Sovereign did Loran understand what everyone was thinking.
Unfortunately...
Loran simply shook his head.
Perhaps someday...
He might reach the level of an Edicts Chief Sovereign.
But for now...
He was still far from that realm.
This Sovereign Conference announcing the birth of a new Edicts Chief Sovereign had nothing to do with him.
So...
Who was this new Edicts Chief Sovereign?
Loran swept his gaze across the gathering.
Finally...
His eyes settled upon Bluefire and Linley.
Among everyone attending this Sovereign Conference...
Those two were the only unfamiliar Sovereigns.
Like the others...
Loran didn't believe that Sovereigns who had existed for countless years still possessed much room for growth.
Even the strongest Law Chief Sovereign, the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta, could only increase his strength by obtaining additional Will through ten consecutive victories in the Planar Wars.
For that very reason...
The Light Chief Sovereign Augusta had always paid the closest attention to the Planar Battlefield among all Sovereigns.
Over the years...
The Light Divine Plane had repeatedly achieved seven- and eight-victory streaks.
Now...
After finally reaching nine consecutive victories, with only several hundred thousand years remaining before their tenth...
A new Edicts Chief Sovereign had suddenly appeared halfway through.
Because of this...
Loran felt that only these two newly ascended Sovereigns could possibly be the new Edicts Chief Sovereign.
Although he had never personally met Beirut...
Loran wasn't unfamiliar with him.
Back then...
He had witnessed with his own divine sense the scene of Beirut snatching away the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' corpses from the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta.
Still...
At most, Beirut was merely a somewhat stronger Wind Lesser Sovereign.
He still fell short of the Azure Dragon Sovereign of old.
As for Bluefire's overwhelming display when he slew the Fire Lesser Sovereign Manru...
Loran hadn't paid attention.
Unlike those Sovereigns whose cultivation paths had already come to an end...
The Sovereigns of Locke's lineage usually devoted themselves entirely to cultivation, striving to improve their strength further.
Thus...
Unless some enormous disturbance erupted within the spatial turbulence...
They generally didn't spread their divine senses there.
Had Loran witnessed Bluefire Leylin's performance back then...
He would probably have already guessed that the newly ascended Edicts Chief Sovereign was Linley.
"Since everyone has arrived..."
"I won't waste everyone's time."
"I'll get straight to the point."
After speaking to the gathered Sovereigns...
Locke beckoned toward Linley.
"Linley."
"Come forward."
"Yes, Lord Locke."
After nodding toward Beirut and Bluefire...
Linley flew to Locke's side.
"H-Hey, Bluefire..."
Seeing this...
Beirut's heart skipped a beat.
Before coming here...
Both he and Bluefire Leylin had sighed that it would have been wonderful if this newly ascended Edicts Chief Sovereign belonged to the Yulan lineage.
However...
The two of them had also known that unless Linley became a Paragon...
Even after refining all three Sovereign sparks, he still couldn't reach the level of an Edicts Chief Sovereign.
Now...
Watching Chief Sovereign Locke summon Linley...
Both of their hearts trembled.
"...Perhaps..."
"Our Yulan lineage is finally going to rise!"
Even Bluefire Leylin's voice trembled with excitement.
What a joke.
After becoming a Sovereign...
Yet still being forced to remain trapped within a Material Plane, not daring to leave...
How stifling was that?
When Bluefire accepted Beirut's Sovereign spark...
He had already prepared himself for the possibility that he and Beirut would spend the rest of their lives confined to the Yulan Plane.
But...
Linley's four-element soul mutation reignited hope within both Beirut and Bluefire.
They had placed all their hopes of leaving the Yulan Plane upon Linley.
Furthermore...
Linley's good fortune in completing the Seventh Overgod Mission and obtaining an offensive Overgod artifact gave both of them even greater confidence.
Most importantly...
During that battle, Bluefire had killed Sovereign Manru, obtaining yet another Sovereign spark for Linley.
One had to remember...
Linley was a soul mutate.
Every additional Sovereign spark meant another portion of Will and another increase in the power of fused Sovereign power.
That represented a full hundredfold increase in strength.
When Linley had originally declared that he wished to strive for the Paragon realm...
Neither Beirut nor Bluefire had held much hope.
If becoming a Paragon were truly that easy...
Then throughout more than fourteen hundred calendrical eras of the magical universe, there wouldn't have been fewer than twenty Paragons in total, even counting the Sovereigns.
The reason they agreed...
Was because they believed that after Linley eventually encountered that insurmountable wall...
He would naturally choose to refine the Sovereign sparks.
After all...
From the beginning of Linley's cultivation until now...
Only around ten thousand years had passed.
Beirut and Bluefire believed that within at most a million years...
Whether or not Linley became a Paragon...
He would eventually choose to refine the Sovereign sparks and become a Sovereign.
Yet...
How much time had actually passed?
Linley had already successfully become a Paragon.
Only by refining a fourth Sovereign spark...
Or by becoming a Paragon...
Could Linley attain the strength of an Edicts Chief Sovereign.
They had left Linley the Earth, Fire, and Water Sovereign sparks.
The possibility that Linley had somehow acquired another Wind Sovereign spark during these few tens of thousands of years was virtually nonexistent.
Thus...
The only explanation was that Linley had truly become a Paragon.
Only then could his strength reach the level of an Edicts Chief Sovereign.
As Linley walked before Chief Sovereign Locke...
The gathered Sovereigns also realized that the new Edicts Chief Sovereign Locke had summoned everyone to announce wasn't Loran...
But this newly appeared Sovereign.
None of the Sovereigns present were unfamiliar with Linley.
After all...
Not only was Linley the most dazzling newly ascended Paragon of recent years...
He had also overwhelmingly defeated Bayer and the other Paragons, seized the Overgod talisman, and, having already gathered the other two Overgod mission talismans beforehand, directly summoned the Life Overgod and obtained a Life-type offensive Overgod artifact.
It could be said...
Had Linley already been a Sovereign at that time...
Some Chief Sovereigns might not have been able to resist personally intervening.
Later...
When Beirut entered the spatial turbulence to bring Linley safely back to the Yulan Plane...
One Intermediate Sovereign and three Lesser Sovereigns had indeed been unable to resist.
Under the pretext of assisting the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta...
They attempted to intercept Beirut.
Of course...
Not every Sovereign remained unconcerned after learning that Linley was the newly ascended Edicts Chief Sovereign.
At the very least...
The Intermediate Sovereign and the two Lesser Sovereigns who had previously pursued Beirut wore particularly colorful expressions.
If Linley later came looking for trouble...
Would saying that they had merely been acting on behalf of the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta really save them?
"I believe everyone has already guessed the answer."
"That's right."
"The one who has advanced to the level of an Edicts Chief Sovereign at this Sovereign Conference..."
"Is this young friend standing before me."
"Linley Baruch."
"He is not yet even one hundred thousand years old."
"Lord Locke!"
The moment Locke announced the news...
Before the assembled Sovereigns could even greet the newly ascended Edicts Chief Sovereign Linley...
The Light Chief Sovereign Augusta stepped forward.
"Oh?"
"Augusta."
"Do you have a question?"
Seeing Augusta step out...
Even Locke found it somewhat unexpected.
After all...
As the discarded portion separated from Orloff...
Arrogance, recklessness, excessive caution, and outright cowardice could all coexist within Augusta.
Before the weak...
Augusta struck with overwhelming force.
Before the strong...
He became cautious and submissive.
This could easily be seen from the difference between his attitude toward the other Chief Sovereigns and his attitude toward Levlenxia.
Thus...
The fact that Augusta still dared step forward after Locke had already declared Linley to be the new Edicts Chief Sovereign...
Made Locke regard him somewhat more highly.
"Chief Sovereign Locke..."
"I am extremely curious."
"I would like to know..."
"Where exactly did Chief Sovereign Linley obtain the Sovereign sparks he used to become a Sovereign?"
"Lord Augusta..."
"I can answer that."
Upon hearing Augusta's question...
Beirut immediately stepped forward.
If he had once still feared the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta...
That trace of fear had already vanished after learning that Linley now possessed the strength of an Edicts Chief Sovereign.
Perhaps because he had been oppressed by Augusta for so many years...
Beirut now stood tall, his face full of pride as he declared,
"The Earth Sovereign spark and Water Sovereign spark Linley refined were both given to him by me."
"And..."
"The Fire Sovereign spark was given by me."
Bluefire also stepped forward immediately after Beirut.
"Beirut..."
"Hmph!"
After snorting coldly toward Beirut...
Augusta cupped his hands toward Locke.
"Lord Locke."
"As far as I know..."
"The Sovereign sparks in Beirut's possession came from the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns."
"And the Fire Sovereign spark possessed by Sovereign Bluefire came from Sovereign Manru."
"Both the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns and Sovereign Manru were Lesser Sovereigns."
"So I would like to ask..."
"How exactly did Chief Sovereign Linley reach the level of an Edicts Chief Sovereign by refining only three Lesser Sovereign sparks?"
"I ask Lord Locke and Chief Sovereign Linley to enlighten us."
As Augusta's words fell...
The spatial turbulence suddenly became completely silent.
At the same time...
All of the Sovereigns once again carefully examined Linley.
Under normal circumstances...
Even if a Paragon refined three Lesser Sovereign sparks...
They would at most reach the level of a Law Chief Sovereign.
Yet...
There still existed a gap of more than a thousandfold between a Law Chief Sovereign and an Edicts Chief Sovereign.
Exactly how had Chief Sovereign Linley bridged that gap?
Even the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta...
Who had obtained an additional portion of Will through ten consecutive victories in the Planar Wars...
And possessed an Overgod artifact...
Had still been denied promotion to the level of an Edicts Chief Sovereign by the Destruction Chief Sovereign Wodred.
(End of Chapter)
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