Once inside the spatial turbulence, Redding and the other three stood shoulder to shoulder.
They exchanged a glance.
Then—
They activated their innate divine abilities.
"Roar—!"
"Raaagh!"
"Shriek—!"
"Howl—!"
Behind each of them appeared a colossal phantom—thousands of meters tall.
Azure Dragon.
White Tiger.
Vermilion Bird.
Black Tortoise.
Innate divine abilities:
Dragon's Roar.
Tiger's Roar.
Phoenix Cry.
Tortoise Howl.
The instant the divine beast phantoms manifested, something changed.
Each Sovereign suddenly sensed a mysterious connection between their souls and the other three abilities.
Then—
As if guided by instinctive revelation—
The White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise phantoms merged into the Azure Dragon phantom.
In that moment—
Everything froze.
The violent, radiant currents of the spatial turbulence became like a still painting.
Time.
Space.
Motion.
All stilled.
The fused Azure Dragon opened its jaws—
A beam of white light shot forward.
"Boom—"
When the beam vanished into the endless depths of spatial turbulence, motion resumed.
The spatial currents flowed once more.
Redding and the others stared at each other.
Their eyes were blazing.
As the initiators of the technique, they understood its power perfectly.
The attack was purely soul-based.
That was why the spatial turbulence appeared unharmed.
But they could feel it—
The destructive force had increased by at least ten thousand times.
More shocking still—
During the activation, the surrounding space and time had effectively frozen.
In such a state—
No one could dodge.
Even a Chief Sovereign would be forced to endure it head-on.
They even felt—
A Chief Sovereign might fall beneath this strike.
"Ha! Worth it!"
The loss of twenty drops of blood essence no longer mattered.
Compared to this power—
It was trivial.
After their exhilaration faded, Redding grew serious.
"Brothers, with this technique, we truly possess power comparable to a Chief Sovereign."
"But this move requires all four of us together."
"I propose we swear an oath in the name of the Overgod and become sworn brothers."
"Not born the same day—but willing to die the same day."
"What say you?"
Eres, Nemo, and Bowen exchanged glances.
As Lesser Sovereigns, they were revered by gods—
But before Chief Sovereigns, they had been cautious, even deferential.
Now?
They would never return to that life.
"I agree," Nemo said first.
"You initiated this, Redding. Locke came to you first. The fusion centers on you."
"I recognize you as eldest brother."
Bowen yawned lazily.
"Then I'll take fourth."
As the Black Tortoise, his body was nearly as strong as Redding's—at Sovereign-artifact level.
But he disliked fighting.
He willingly took the lowest rank.
That left Eres and Nemo.
Both were prideful.
White Tiger—embodiment of slaughter.
Vermilion Bird—fiery and explosive.
Neither wished to rank last.
Now that Bowen had withdrawn—
The tension dissolved.
Redding nodded, satisfied.
He had been observing them carefully.
If they were to bind life and death together, he needed brothers—not petty rivals.
Fortunately—
They all put the collective above ego.
"One suggestion," Redding said.
"Since our ultimate technique is the fusion of innate abilities, let the ranking between second and third be determined by whose innate ability is stronger."
Eres and Nemo agreed.
Within the spatial turbulence—
Tiger's Roar and Phoenix Cry echoed once more.
The result:
Tiger's Roar held the advantage.
Phoenix Cry was a soul attack.
But against a Sovereign artifact-level soul defense, it required time to break through.
Tiger's Roar, however, manipulated space itself.
Even material defense Sovereign artifacts could not fully negate its damage.
Thus the order was set:
Eldest Brother — Azure Dragon Redding
Second Brother — White Tiger Eres
Third Brother — Vermilion Bird Nemo
Fourth Brother — Black Tortoise Bowen
The disturbance in the spatial turbulence did not go unnoticed.
Other Water Sovereigns extended their divine senses—
But arrived too late to see the test itself.
They only witnessed the four swearing brotherhood in the name of the Overgod.
"Reckless brutes."
"Four Lesser Sovereigns think they can rival Intermediate Sovereigns—or even a Chief Sovereign?"
"Foolish."
Many Sovereigns mocked them privately.
Alliances among Lesser Sovereigns were not unheard of—
But none dared provoke suspicion from their own Chief Sovereigns.
Redding and his brothers heard everything.
In the past—
They might have endured it.
But now?
They had tasted Chief Sovereign-level power.
They laughed openly.
"Come out from the shadows if you dare!"
"One or ten—we face you together!"
"If you lack courage, keep quiet!"
"Meet us in the spatial turbulence!"
Their boldness stunned the watching Sovereigns.
Yet none stepped forward.
No one was foolish enough to test unknown depths first.
Still—
Their words raised suspicion.
"One or ten…"
Ten clearly referred to Lesser Sovereigns.
But one?
Intermediate Sovereign—or Chief Sovereign?
No one knew.
Eres spat.
"Cowards."
They had hoped for a Mid Sovereign to test their fusion strike.
None came.
"Enough," Redding said. "They are not worth our time."
The four returned.
Back in the Azure Dragon Palace—
Locke bowed deeply.
"Congratulations, Sovereigns."
"Perhaps only a single battle separates you from being acknowledged as Chief Sovereigns."
"Allow me to congratulate you in advance—the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns."
Among Sovereigns—
Status followed strength.
Even a Lesser Sovereign—
If able to display Chief Sovereign-level power—
Would be recognized as such.
And now—
The balance of the Divine Planes had shifted.
Permanently.
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