Seeing the dazed, foolish look on Hurley's face, the Destruction Sovereign, Wodred, frowned and lashed out with a kick.
Bang—
That single kick sent Hurley flying from one side of the spatial turbulence all the way to the side nearest the Celestial Realm.
The blow shattered his divine body, and Hurley coughed up a huge mouthful of blood.
However, under the powerful restorative effects of Sovereign power, his body rapidly regenerated.
Only the defensive Sovereign artifact he had been wearing had already been completely destroyed by Wodred's kick.
This was not to say that Wodred was incapable of killing Hurley with a single strike.
Among Sovereigns, when the gap in power was tenfold, victory and defeat would be decided very quickly.
When the gap reached a hundredfold, one could instantly kill the other.
Compared to the other Law Chief Sovereigns, Hurley possessed one extra portion of willpower.
But Wodred had already reached Paragon in the Laws of Destruction, and his body had likewise reached the level of a Sovereign artifact.
Taken together, his overall power exceeded Hurley's by several hundred times.
For Wodred, killing Hurley, the Lightning Chief Sovereign, was a matter of a single thought.
However, the one Hurley had offended was the Death Sovereign.
Wodred had no intention of killing Hurley himself only to become the Death Sovereign's punching bag afterward.
At this moment, the Death Sovereign, the Life Sovereign, and the Destruction Sovereign had all arrived in the spatial turbulence outside the Celestial Realm.
The Fate Sovereign, Orloff, also tore through space from the Celestial Realm and appeared in the spatial turbulence, standing on one side alongside the other three Rule Sovereigns.
"Hurley, you've got quite the nerve."
"You actually dared make use of me."
"While I was drawing all the Sovereigns' attention to the Celestial Realm, you secretly went off to hunt another Sovereign."
"Well then."
"How do you wish to die?"
However, faced with the Death Sovereign's interrogation, Hurley did not answer.
Instead, he kept denying the strength of the three Rule Sovereigns.
"Impossible… impossible…"
"There's no way you should be this strong."
"The information contained within the Sovereign spark cannot be wrong. Every Sovereign receives the same amount of willpower."
"Even if Rule Sovereigns are stronger, it should only be because Rules are slightly stronger than Laws."
Then suddenly, his eyes lit up.
"I understand now!"
"The reason you're all this strong is because each of you has also refined at least three additional Sovereign clones, isn't that, right?!"
"Otherwise, how could you possibly be so much stronger than me?!"
By the end, Hurley had become convinced that the Rule Sovereigns possessed multiple Sovereign clones, and that was why their power so vastly surpassed that of the Law Sovereigns.
For a moment, even the Sovereigns watching through divine sense could not help but entertain the same thought.
That was right.
The information within the Sovereign sparks could not be false.
Then how could the Rule Sovereigns be this much stronger than Hurley, who already possessed an additional portion of willpower?
And it wasn't just one of them.
It was three Rule Sovereigns.
Though Orloff had yet to make a move, everyone suspected his strength could not be much inferior to the other three.
At the same time, some began to wonder—
had Orloff revealed that secret because he himself did not possess as many Sovereign clones, and thus felt dissatisfied?
Was that perhaps the true reason the Death Sovereign had come storming into the Celestial Realm?
"Hmph. Truly ignorant."
Hearing Hurley's conjecture, the Death Sovereign swept her gaze across the spatial turbulence.
"All Sovereigns of the other elements—I know that many of you likely share the same doubts as this fool."
"In that case, by the authority of the Death Sovereign, I hereby convene the First Sovereign Assembly."
"All Sovereigns are to arrive here within half an hour."
"Any who do not attend shall be deemed to have relinquished their status as Sovereigns."
The moment those words rang out, every Sovereign was shaken.
Everyone had already witnessed just how overbearing the Death Sovereign was in less than an hour's time.
No one dared test her patience.
At once, streaks of light shot forth from the various Divine Planes and Higher Planes.
Infernal Realm — Skyrite Mountains
"Big brother, should we attend this Sovereign Assembly?"
The White Tiger Sovereign, Räs, asked solemnly.
Azure Dragon Sovereign Redding nodded.
"Of course."
"How could we miss something this significant?"
After witnessing the power displayed by the three Rule Sovereigns, the Four Divine Beasts had greatly curbed their former arrogance.
Yes, their fused innate divine ability was formidable.
So formidable that it allowed four Lesser Sovereigns to rival Chief Sovereigns.
But no matter how proud they were, they did not believe their fusion attack could defeat those three Rule Sovereigns.
The gap was simply too great.
Moreover, Redding also wanted to see what exactly the Death Sovereign intended to announce at this first assembly.
Since the Four Divine Beasts always followed Redding's lead, the others naturally agreed.
The four brothers tore through the space of the Infernal Realm and headed toward the Celestial Realm alongside the other Sovereigns of Hell.
"It seems everyone has arrived."
Although the Death Sovereign had given them half an hour, no Sovereign dared delay.
All had rushed over immediately after hearing her command.
Each elemental Sovereign naturally gathered behind their own Chief Sovereign.
Only two groups stood apart.
One was the Lightning Sovereigns.
Their Chief Sovereign now looked like a dead dog lying between the four Rule Sovereigns.
Even with a hundred times their courage, they would not dare stand behind Hurley.
The other group was the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns.
Though they were deeply wary of the three Rule Sovereigns' strength, they would never abandon the greatest trump card of their four brothers acting together.
They had not forgotten—
only when united were they strongest.
"Hurley, raise your head and take a good look."
"Among all the Sovereigns gathered here, aside from the Earth Lesser Sovereign you killed, which of them are clones of us Rule Sovereigns?"
Only then did everyone understand why the Death Sovereign had summoned all Sovereigns to this assembly.
It was to shatter Hurley's earlier claim that the Rule Sovereigns were only so strong because they possessed additional Sovereign clones.
Among the seventy-six Sovereigns present, although many were meeting for the first time, Sovereigns from the same plane were at least somewhat familiar with one another.
And in the Coiling Dragon universe, one's soul aura cannot be altered.
It was the perfect proof of identity.
No two among the seventy-six present possessed identical soul auras.
That alone was enough to destroy Hurley's earlier argument.
"How… how can this be?"
Hurley checked again and again.
But no matter how unwilling he was to accept it, the truth remained—
all seventy-six Sovereigns were independent individuals.
None were clones of the Rule Sovereigns.
"Hmph."
"Do not use your narrow vision to judge us Rule Sovereigns."
The expression on Hurley's face clearly pleased the Death Sovereign.
Tilting her chin upward, she swept her gaze across the assembled Sovereigns.
"As Sovereigns, you should already know that the Profound Mysteries of the Laws can be fused."
"Then have you never considered what kind of transformation occurs when one completely fuses an entire set of Laws… or fully comprehends an entire Rule?"
"I shall tell you now."
"For a Sovereign, completely fusing one element's Laws not only increases the power of the six Profound Mysteries tenfold…"
"…it also grants an additional portion of willpower that exceeds even that of an extra Sovereign clone by twenty percent."
"In other words—"
"Once one completely fuses a Law, or fully comprehends a Rule, one's power increases by one hundredfold."
"I call this realm…"
"Paragon."
The moment the word was spoken, all the Sovereigns were stirred.
If it had been some treasure, none of them would dare contend with the four Rule Sovereigns.
But comprehension of Laws?
Every one of them had already fused their Laws to the final step.
They all believed they needed only one final opportunity to break through.
Seeing the expressions in their eyes, the Death Sovereign let out a faint sneer.
How laughable.
Even she herself had never had the opportunity to become a Paragon.
What wishful thinking were these people indulging in?
At that moment, Hurley suddenly lifted his head.
"No… that's not right!"
"I already possess one additional portion of willpower."
"My power is already ten times greater than the other Chief Sovereigns."
"Even if you truly are Paragons, it should still be impossible for you to kill me in one strike!"
He clung desperately to this final point.
The Death Sovereign nodded slightly.
"Ordinarily, a Paragon Chief Sovereign indeed would not be able to kill you in one blow."
"But whether it is I, the Life Sovereign, or the Destruction Sovereign…"
"…our physical bodies have all reached the level of Sovereign artifacts."
"The increase this grants in close combat strength is far beyond tenfold."
"What exactly do you think you have to fight us with?"
At these words, even the watching Sovereigns fell silent.
Only now did they truly understand.
It was not merely Paragon-level mastery.
It was also Sovereign-artifact-level bodies.
That was the true reason Hurley had been utterly crushed.
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