Hearing Locke say this, Lilia felt somewhat tempted.
Although her Nether Sovereign clone could produce Netherfruits that allowed one to reach the level of fusing five Profound Mysteries of Laws, such fruits typically took trillions of years to form.
Perhaps in the future, Lilia would never lack subordinates at the Asura Lord level.
If she took a liking to someone, granting them a Netherfruit would instantly elevate them to that tier.
But for now, a reliable and trustworthy Asura Lord–level subordinate was still very appealing.
Those who relied on Netherfruits to reach the Asura Lord level might possess that level of power, but the gap in talent remained.
Such artificially elevated Asura Lords lacked their own signature techniques, relying entirely on the power of fused laws to fight.
In contrast, those who personally fused five Profound Mysteries of Laws naturally created powerful ultimate techniques during that process.
Thus, they would at least possess techniques capable of amplifying their strength severalfold.
"What about you?" Lilia asked, looking at Locke.
As far as she knew, Locke currently only had one truly notable subordinate—Oakes.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked her for two Netherfruits in the past.
"I have higher standards for my Sovereign's Emissaries," Locke said.
"Mira is good, but she doesn't yet meet my requirements."
Locke had long made plans regarding his emissaries.
The number of Sovereign's Emissary positions was limited.
Even with his two Sovereign clones—one a Laws Sovereign, the other an Intermediate Sovereign—he only had a total of ten emissary slots.
He had no intention of wasting such precious positions on ordinary individuals.
"Alright then. If Mira has no objections, I'll take her as my emissary."
"However, Locke—even as my emissary, Mira will at most serve as a deputy commander of the Sovereign's army."
"The position of commander is reserved for Christina."
"Mm."
Locke nodded. Christina had followed Lilia since her early days. After Lilia became the Death Sovereign, it was Christina who helped her establish the Sovereign's army.
She was also the first subordinate Lilia had granted a Sovereign artifact to, formally making her a Sovereign's Emissary.
As for the Netherfruit capable of allowing one to fuse five Profound Mysteries, the very first one had already been reserved by Lilia for Christina.
…
After receiving Locke's instructions, Oakes stepped out of his tent and headed toward the Sixth Battalion of the Sovereign's army.
At present, Locke's Sovereign army had grown to over eighty thousand members, with nine fully staffed battalions.
However, there were only six battalion commanders.
The first three battalions were led by Seven-Star Fiends.
The Fourth Battalion was led by Five-Star Fiend Figaroa.
The Fifth Battalion was led by Six-Star Fiend Celes.
These two were the only non–Seven-Star Fiends who had become battalion commanders through mastery of magic formation battle arrays.
The Sixth Battalion's commander was Mira Locke.
Over the years, the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Battalions had undoubtedly been the liveliest.
Rumor had it that Figaroa, commander of the Fourth Battalion, was pursuing Mira, commander of the Sixth.
However, every carefully prepared gift, confession, and date attempt by Figaroa had been sabotaged by Celes, the Fifth Battalion commander—without a single success.
As a result, the Fourth and Fifth Battalions frequently clashed, often erupting into large-scale battles right at the Sixth Battalion's camp.
Sure enough, before Oakes even arrived at the Sixth Battalion's camp, he could already sense the auras of more than ten thousand gods colliding.
"Boom!"
A powerful aura erupted from Celes' forces.
A thousand Highgods were instantly used as nodes in his magic formation, drawing upon the Laws of the Universe to activate it.
"Heh, Figaroa, do you see the gap between us now?"
"I can deploy my formation instantly. If I hadn't held back out of consideration for our shared affiliation in the Sovereign's army, I could have crushed your forces in a single moment."
"Hmph!"
Figaroa snorted coldly, but didn't refute him.
Indeed, compared to Celes' complete control over a thousand-man formation, Figaroa's ten-thousand-man formation took significantly longer to set up.
After about five or six breaths, Figaroa's formation finally took shape.
"Boom!"
A vast aura surged from his formation.
In terms of sheer presence, Figaroa's formation far surpassed Celes' thousand-man array.
"Celes, all you're doing is running your mouth."
"We're part of the Sovereign's army. In the future, we'll be facing the armies of other Sovereigns."
"Battles between armies aren't about who forms their array faster—they're about whose formation is stronger!"
"Heh. Your brain might not be the sharpest, but I do agree with that statement."
"But we've fought so many times—when have you ever beaten me?"
"Arrogant!"
With a furious shout, Figaroa launched an attack through his formation.
"Boom!"
The combined attacks of ten thousand Highgods were unified by his formation into a torrent of laws, tearing through the sky as it surged toward Celes.
"Petty tricks, yet you dare show them off?"
Celes responded in kind.
"Slash!"
The attacks of a thousand Highgods condensed into a thousand-meter-long blade of laws, cleaving toward the incoming torrent.
"Boom!"
Celes' formation was forced backward by the impact.
However, his blade still split Figaroa's torrent apart, leaving black spatial rifts stretching thousands of meters behind him.
"Haah!"
With a thought, Celes accelerated his formation, weaving around Figaroa's like a phantom, unleashing wave after wave of sword energy.
Figaroa, however, remained steady, countering each strike with torrents of laws.
In terms of raw power, Figaroa's formation—ten times larger—held a clear advantage.
Even without perfect control, his casual attacks were four to five times stronger than Celes', already reaching the level of an Asura Lord.
Meanwhile, Celes, commanding a thousand Highgods, could unleash power surpassing ordinary Seven-Star Fiends under the amplification of the formation.
More importantly, he had complete control, allowing his formation to move with the agility of a true Seven-Star Fiend.
He dodged when possible and countered with his strongest attacks when necessary.
Though this drained divine power rapidly, it prevented his formation from collapsing under a single blow.
At the same time, he continuously harassed Figaroa, forcing him to divert attention to defense.
Of course, due to the disparity in strength, Celes' attacks posed limited threat.
But if ignored, their cumulative effect would eventually break Figaroa's formation.
After countless battles, both understood each other's strengths and weaknesses thoroughly.
Among the Sovereign's army, no one knew their formations better than they did each other's.
After an hour, Celes withdrew due to excessive divine power consumption.
His formation dispersed, and a thousand Highgods fell from the sky.
Immediately, another thousand from his battalion rose up, forming a fresh formation under his command.
Figaroa's formation was over five times stronger—but lacked mobility.
Thus, the battle became one of attrition.
With ten full companies under his command, Celes could rotate his troops ten times.
In essence, Figaroa was being worn down through a battle of endurance.
Arriving at the Sixth Battalion, Oakes merely glanced at the ongoing battle before heading straight to the commander's tent.
"Lord Oakes."
"Lady Mira."
Mira was already waiting outside.
Originally, she had intended to stop the fight—but upon seeing Oakes, she no longer bothered.
Based on experience, the battle would last two or three days at most before Figaroa withdrew due to depleted divine power.
"Lord Oakes, what brings you here?" Mira asked.
"Lord Locke has come out of seclusion," Oakes replied.
"I just received his divine message. He wants you to go to Nether Mountain."
"Teacher Locke is summoning me?"
Mira immediately stood.
"Then I'll head there right away."
"The two outside—I'll leave them to you, Lord Oakes."
Although she neither understood nor accepted Figaroa's feelings, she knew their conflicts stemmed from her.
Normally, she would stay nearby to intervene if necessary.
But now, Locke's summons took priority.
"With me here, nothing will go wrong," Oakes assured her.
Mira nodded and flew toward Nether Mountain.
"Come directly to me."
As she passed through the mist, Locke's voice echoed in her mind.
She ascended, and at the mountainside, a gateway formed within the chains of lightning.
The mist parted, revealing a path.
Mira descended, kneeling before Locke and Lilia.
"Mira greets Teacher Locke, greets Sovereign."
"Rise, Mira."
"Yes, Teacher."
After standing, she removed a necklace from her neck and presented it respectfully.
"Teacher, I have completed the fusion of five Profound Mysteries of the Earth Laws. The Soul-Extinguishing Pearl is no longer of use to me. I ask that you take it back."
This was the very treasure she had intended to return the last time they met.
Back then, Locke had refused, as it was still useful to her cultivation.
(End of Chapter)
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