Without the slightest hesitation, after waking Figaroa, Dunnington's hand directly pierced through Figaroa's heart. The powerful Edicts of Death instantly annihilated all vitality within Figaroa's body.
Then, Dunnington withdrew his left hand and, just like Figaroa had done back then, casually tossed Figaroa aside like discarded trash.
"Dunnington!"
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
Oakes had only just burst out from beneath Lotus Rock Island when he saw his son's heart pierced by Dunnington.
Driven into a frenzy, Oakes immediately erupted with power. Cyan Sovereign power wrapped around his body as he charged toward Dunnington.
"Oh?"
Seeing Oakes use Sovereign power, Dunnington stretched out a hand and caught Oakes's incoming fist within his palm.
BOOM…
The violent Sovereign power collided against Dunnington's willpower, blasting circular spatial cracks into the surrounding space. Gorgeous streams of chaotic spatial turbulence slashed across Oakes's body, producing trails of sparks.
Seeing this scene, Dunnington narrowed his eyes.
If Oakes had not used Sovereign power, Dunnington could still have used soul attacks to knock him unconscious.
But after using Sovereign power, unless Dunnington killed Oakes in a single move, the powerful regenerative abilities of Sovereign power meant that such injuries would hardly count as damage to Oakes at all.
As for material attacks, Oakes possessed a material defense Sovereign artifact. Even Dunnington could not break through its defenses and injure him.
Killing Figaroa already counted as revenge.
He did not want to kill Oakes and leave Teacher Locke without anyone usable under him.
Now that he saw the spatial turbulence could not injure Oakes, Dunnington had already made his decision.
Immediately, Dunnington slashed with his other hand, opening a spatial crack between himself and Oakes. Then, twisting the left hand that held Oakes's fist, he unleashed his willpower and directly hurled Oakes into the spatial turbulence.
Only after finishing all this did Dunnington slowly rise into the sky and leave Lotus Rock Island.
…
The battle within the spatial turbulence had already lost all suspense the moment Locke revealed a body as durable as a Sovereign artifact.
However, Locke still gave Chief Sovereign Wordred some face and refrained from striking his face directly.
The observing Sovereigns looked at one another, uncertain whether it was still appropriate for them to continue watching.
But if they left now, would that not appear too deliberate?
Although the Sovereigns found it difficult to immediately accept that Chief Sovereign Locke's body had reached the level of a Sovereign artifact, after thinking about it carefully, it was not entirely impossible to accept.
After all, throughout all these years, had anyone else ever possessed not merely two divine clones that both reached the Paragon level, but also achieved such breakthroughs in fused Laws beyond the Paragon level itself?
You could doubt anything—but never doubt Chief Sovereign Locke's talent!
This was the shared understanding among the Sovereigns.
Others could not accomplish such things because they were not Chief Sovereign Locke!
Among the gathered Sovereigns, all the others lamented that they were not Chief Sovereign Locke. Only the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, had eyes blazing brightly, the fervor within them almost spilling out.
Just like Locke, Orloff had also been conducting research into increasing bodily strength.
As a member of the unique Bula race, Orloff's bodily strength was naturally not weak.
Before becoming a Sovereign, even attacks at the level of a Seven Star Fiend could not break through the bodily defenses of the Bula race.
However, that was already the limit of the Bula race.
If Orloff wanted to increase his own power further, then raising his body to the level of a Sovereign artifact was undoubtedly the best choice.
After all, among the Four Chief Sovereigns of the Edicts, aside from him, the other three all possessed bodies that had reached the level of Sovereign artifacts.
Thus, even after revealing the willpower originating from his Sovereign clone, his strength still ranked at the bottom among the Four Chief Sovereigns of the Edicts.
Compared to a body as durable as a Sovereign artifact, a single portion of willpower truly lagged far behind in defensive capability.
Now that Chief Sovereign Locke had also displayed a body at the level of a Sovereign artifact, Orloff's disadvantage became even more apparent.
However, not only was Orloff not discouraged, his eyes instead burned with even greater fanaticism.
If Chief Sovereign Locke could raise his body to the level of a Sovereign artifact, then he, Orloff, might not necessarily be unable to do the same!
If his own body also reached the level of a Sovereign artifact, then his power would completely surpass both the Life Chief Sovereign, Vivia, and the Chief Sovereign of Destruction, Wordred, reaching a level comparable to the Death Chief Sovereign and Chief Sovereign Locke.
No…
Looking at Chief Sovereign Locke currently beating Wordred down before him, Orloff silently elevated Locke's standing another notch higher in his heart.
With a body as durable as a Sovereign artifact, Chief Sovereign Locke was now unquestionably the strongest Sovereign.
From Locke, Orloff had also perceived many things.
These things bore great similarities to his own research and gave Orloff many inspirations.
Orloff believed that if given a little more time, he would definitely be able to create a method to raise his own bodily strength to the level of a Sovereign artifact.
Suddenly, Locke's movements paused briefly. Seizing this opportunity, Wordred thrust his spear into Locke's body.
Although this strike failed to injure Locke, the immense force still blasted him backward.
Taking advantage of this chance, Wordred immediately retreated and warily looked toward Locke.
At the same time, the Sovereign power within his Sovereign spark rapidly healed the injuries Locke had inflicted upon him.
However, after retreating, Wordred realized that Chief Sovereign Locke had not pursued him. Instead, Locke flew toward the side.
There, a figure had been hurled out from the Netherworld into the spatial turbulence.
With a single glance, Wordred recognized the person thrown into the spatial turbulence—it was Oakes, Locke's only current Sovereign Emissary and the Commander of Locke's Sovereign Army.
It seemed that while he and Locke had been fighting, Dunnington had not been idle either.
He had even thrown the Commander of Locke's Sovereign Army into the spatial turbulence.
"Hahahaha! Chief Sovereign Locke, let us call this battle a draw!"
"Next time, you won't be so lucky!"
Although he had been at a disadvantage during the battle with Locke, seeing his own Sovereign Emissary throw Locke's Sovereign Emissary into the spatial turbulence still allowed Wordred to vent some frustration.
After leaving behind a harsh declaration, Wordred immediately withdrew, flying toward the region of spatial turbulence connected to the Infernal Realm.
He had no idea exactly what sort of havoc Dunnington had caused within Locke's Sovereign Army, but one thing was certain—if he stayed any longer, the enraged Locke might truly start aiming for his face!
Locke paid no attention to the fleeing Wordred. After finding Oakes, he casually slashed open space, tore open a crack leading into the Netherworld, and brought Oakes back with him.
…
Although Lotus Rock Island was now in complete disarray, the battle between Locke's Sovereign Army and Dunnington had only caused a limited amount of destruction to the island.
However, whether they were residents living upon Lotus Rock Island or the spectators who had watched the battle from nearby, not a single person dared approach the ruined battlefield in hopes of profiting from it.
This was the encampment of a Sovereign Army under a Sovereign's command. How suicidal would one have to be to rob the possessions of a Sovereign Army?
Had they not just witnessed that even a Paragon who had already died once still needed to find a Sovereign as backing before daring to attack a Sovereign Army?
One could say that Dunnington's single-handed challenge against Locke's Sovereign Army had fully demonstrated the might of an invincible Paragon while simultaneously further displaying the majesty of Sovereigns.
Once news of this event spread throughout the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes, all lifeforms would regard soldiers of the Sovereign Armies with the utmost seriousness.
After all, not everyone was a Paragon like Dunnington, with a Sovereign willing to support them.
After returning to the Netherworld, Locke glanced over the devastated Lotus Rock Island and shook his head.
Fortunately, Dunnington had shown restraint.
These Sovereign Army soldiers had merely been knocked unconscious. No one had died.
With a wave of his hand, Locke dispersed a cloud of Sovereign power mist, causing all the unconscious Sovereign Army soldiers to awaken.
"Lord Locke."
"We are sorry. Because our strength was insufficient, we implicated Lord Locke and tarnished your prestige."
Led by Oakes, the soldiers of the Sovereign Army all knelt before Locke and begged forgiveness.
"Enough. Rise, Oakes."
Locke shook his head.
"I am a Sovereign. Even if my prestige is tarnished, it merely means losing a bit of face."
"But you, Oakes…"
"I heard that you boldly declared that given enough time, you might not necessarily fail to reach or even surpass the Paragon level."
"So, tell me—just how much time do you need?"
"A million years? Ten million years? Or hundreds of millions of years?"
Oakes's body trembled slightly, and an embarrassed smile appeared on his face.
"Haha… well, Lord Locke…"
Indeed, reaching the Paragon level or even surpassing it had once been the expectation Lord Locke placed upon him.
Unfortunately, he had stalled midway.
He could not find the point of compatibility for the ninth Profound Mystery of the Wind Laws, nor could he discover the opportunity to fuse the Wind and Water Laws.
His strength had not improved for tens of millions of years.
The loss of his cultivation inspiration had already caused him to lose all possibility of progressing further.
Boasting before Dunnington to stimulate him was one thing, but in front of Lord Locke, Oakes still wanted to keep at least a little dignity.
"Enough, Oakes. Consider this incident a lesson for you."
"Face is earned through strength."
"In front of those who possess greater strength, your face loses its value."
"Yes, Lord Locke."
Afterward, Oakes began reorganizing the Sovereign Army.
As for Figaroa, who had been killed by Dunnington, Oakes collected his corpse into an interspatial ring.
(End of Chapter)
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