"Die."
After hearing Little White's confession, Pax Sovereign grew even more furious. With a mere thought, his willpower shattered Little White's soul, killing him instantly.
Having obtained the information he wanted, Pax dismissed the Sovereign projection.
Only then did the gods of Tianshan Prefecture slowly rise to their feet.
Their gazes fell upon Little White's corpse.
Some looked on with contempt. Others with burning greed.
The contempt came from the fact that Little White—Lord Locke's most trusted subordinate—had ruined an important task over nothing more than a single drop of Sovereign's Power, even provoking a Sovereign to descend personally and question them.
The greed came from something else entirely.
Moments earlier, everyone had heard that Locke had offered one drop of Sovereign's Power as the reward for delivering the violet crystal to Muya Sovereign.
And Little White had embezzled that reward.
Which meant that inside the spatial ring on his corpse…
There should be a drop of Sovereign's Power.
That was the same reward the Prefect Lords had worked for a thousand years constructing Fiend Castles to earn.
Yet now—
There was one lying right before them.
Who wouldn't be tempted?
At that moment, Ismail, the Prefect Lord of Tianshan Prefecture, stepped forward.
"Everyone," he said calmly, sweeping his gaze across the crowd.
"I know you all want the drop of Sovereign's Power on Lord White's body."
"But don't forget—"
"That drop was meant as a reward from Lord Locke for the Fiend who delivers the crystal to Muya Sovereign."
"If you take it, ask yourselves first whether you can withstand the wrath of Lord Locke and Muya Sovereign."
The feverish greed instantly cooled.
In its place came relief.
Fortunately, none of them had acted yet.
As Ismail said—
Before Locke and Muya, let alone one drop of Sovereign's Power—even ten or a hundred drops wouldn't save their lives.
Little White himself was proof.
Before a Sovereign, possessing Sovereign's Power meant nothing. One thought was enough to kill you.
And Locke?
How many enemies had he defeated who were empowered by Sovereign's Power?
From Bella Kurus, the Prefect of Bloodriver Prefecture…
To the later battle for the title of "Legendary Shura," where he defeated five Seven-Star Fiends empowered by Sovereign's Power, even casting one of them into spatial turbulence.
What strength did they possess compared to that?
Even if they used Sovereign's Power themselves…
Wouldn't Locke kill them with a single strike?
Ismail walked forward and removed the spatial ring from Little White's corpse.
"As the manager of Tianshan Prefecture's Fiend Castle," he announced, "I will temporarily safeguard this drop of Sovereign's Power."
"As everyone heard earlier, Lord White said that over a hundred years ago, a Fiend accepted the mission and delivered the crystal toward Muya Continent."
"When that Fiend returns after completing the task, I will hand over this drop of Sovereign's Power as the reward."
"You are all free to supervise me on this matter."
"Also—if anyone has information about that Fiend, please report it to me."
"A hundred years ago?"
Some Fiends began recalling fragments of memory.
"Wait—I remember something. Over a hundred years ago, Lord Ryan had contact with Lord White."
"Now that you mention it, I remember too. A thousand years ago, Lord White issued a mission to pass a message to Lord Ryan."
"That explains it."
"Lord Ryan and Lord Rockpeak were among the earliest followers of Lord Locke. If Lord Locke needed someone trustworthy to deliver the crystal, they would definitely be the first choices."
"Heh. And you actually believe that story?"
Someone immediately scoffed.
"If Lord Locke offered Sovereign's Power as a reward, obviously the mission was meant to be posted publicly through Fiend Castle."
"That guy only handed it to Ryan because he wanted to pocket the reward himself."
"I bet he even told Ryan something like 'This is Lord Locke's special trust in you' to trick him."
Hearing that, the Fiends' resentment toward Little White deepened.
A mission rewarded with Sovereign's Power!
Over the years, only Lord Locke had ever issued such missions.
If they had been the ones to accept it—
Would they now possess Sovereign's Power as well?
A mission like that, simply claiming it was a delivery to a Sovereign, would never attract robbers.
It was practically free Sovereign's Power.
Muya Continent
After receiving Pax's report, the Destruction Sovereigns of Hell fell silent.
Based on the timeline Little White provided, they quickly deduced something:
The moment Locke had prepared the violet crystal was almost exactly when Fiend Castle finished spreading across Hell.
Which meant—
The moment Locke harvested the first wave of faith power, he had already arranged everything.
The only reason they had waited so long was because of one insignificant person's greed.
"So," Muya said slowly, breaking the silence.
"Do we wait for the Fiend to deliver the item?"
"Or do we find him ourselves and retrieve the violet crystal directly?"
Although none of the Sovereigns had personally visited Fiend Castle, they knew how it worked.
Its mission boards and markers were all created by refining fragments of soul power sealed within violet crystals, allowing them to carry specific information.
Naturally, the crystal Locke sent must also contain a message intended for Muya.
What puzzled them was this—
Why didn't Locke simply contact them directly?
Why go through such a roundabout method?
"Well," one Sovereign finally said, "we've already waited a thousand years."
"A little longer won't matter."
"Fine."
"When the item arrives, I'll notify all of you."
Blackstone Tribe
"I see…"
Locke listened quietly as Oakes reported the latest events in Hell.
Naturally, he learned about Little White as well.
Even he hadn't expected that before the Sovereigns acted against Fiend Castle, Little White's greed would delay matters—allowing Locke to absorb over a thousand extra years of faith power.
Still, Locke understood something clearly.
If his true identity were ever exposed, this incident would become a stain on the Sovereigns' reputations.
They had been fooled again and again by a mere god.
Every time they thought of Locke, they would be reminded of it.
There were only two ways to erase such a stain.
The first was simple:
Erase Locke entirely.
Destroy his existence and seal away the history.
The second was more complicated:
Locke would have to become a Sovereign stronger than them.
Then the narrative would change.
Fiend Castle would no longer be a humiliation.
Instead, it would become a joint enterprise between Locke and the Destruction Sovereigns.
At that moment, Locke felt immensely relieved that he had the foresight to send his water divine clone to the Netherworld.
As for Little White's death—
Locke felt regret, but not grief.
Little White hadn't exactly betrayed him.
But he had overstepped.
He had borrowed Locke's name to command Ryan.
And that crossed a line.
Since ancient times, there were two things that could never be lent to another:
One's name, and one's authority.
In order to conceal the Sovereign's Power he had stolen, Little White had used Locke's name to give orders.
That alone violated Locke's deepest taboo.
Even if the Sovereign hadn't killed him—
Locke would have.
After all, Little White had served him for many years. Everyone in Fiend Castle knew he was Locke's subordinate, and many matters were handled through him.
In many ways—
Little White represented Locke.
If Little White ever developed ambitions of his own, he could easily damage Locke's reputation.
At the very least, Locke would forever bear the blame of poor judgment.
Locke shook his head, pushing the matter aside.
But the incident served as a reminder.
The Sovereigns of Hell had already memorized his soul aura.
Locke didn't know when their divine senses might sweep across Hell again.
So whenever possible, he avoided acting personally, lest his aura be exposed.
However, Little White's actions revealed another issue.
From now on, if Locke wanted to issue orders—
He should either give them personally…
Or use something that clearly represented his will.
Otherwise, one Little White could become many Little Whites.
Suddenly, Locke remembered the message he had sealed for Muya.
"That's it."
Violet crystals.
The soul power sealed within them made them perfect messengers of authority.
By imprinting commands inside a crystal, he could simply hand them to his subordinates.
From what he knew, only he had the ability to refine violet crystals this way and embed different messages.
The Sovereigns could probably do it too.
But they wouldn't bother imitating his system just to issue orders.
And if they did—
Locke's subordinates would likely consider it an honor beyond measure.
Locke chuckled and shook his head.
Separating his divine clones across different locations was another layer of insurance.
Even if his water divine clone were killed by a Sovereign, his Saint-level true body could refine a divine spark and recover his strength.
Of course, the water clone's power would inevitably drop.
After all, the willpower granted by the Laws of Heaven and Earth upon reaching Great Perfection might not appear again if he simply refined a Water divine spark later.
Even with perfect mastery of the Water Laws, Locke wasn't sure whether the heavens would grant him willpower a second time.
"Let's wait and see."
"The First Sovereign War shouldn't be too far away."
"If I obtain either the Destiny Sovereign spark or the Water Sovereign spark, my current predicament will be solved."
After all—
Locke had already reached Great Perfection in both Destiny and Water.
Even if he refined merely a Lesser Sovereign spark, his strength would still reach the level of an Intermediate-Sovereign.
(End of Chapter)
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