"Greetings, Lord Locke!"
After entering the Water Manor and seeing Locke, Oakes and the other two immediately bowed respectfully to him.
"Mm, rise."
After the three stood up, Locke looked toward Rockpeak and asked:
"Rockpeak, a thousand years ago, I already asked what kind of Sovereign artifact you wanted."
"Now, have you made the preparations necessary to receive the Sovereign artifact I bestow and become a Sovereign Emissary under my command?"
"To be able to serve Lord Locke is Rockpeak's honor."
"As long as Lord Locke does not disdain Rockpeak's meager strength and is willing to trust me, Rockpeak is willing to brave boiling oil and raging flames for Lord Locke without hesitation!"
Although, a thousand years ago, when Locke asked him that question, Rockpeak had already guessed as much—
Now that he truly received Lord Locke's recognition and was being bestowed a Sovereign artifact, Rockpeak was still extremely excited.
"Sovereign Emissary?"
At the side, after hearing Locke's words, both Oakes and Ryan were somewhat surprised as well.
As the Commander and Vice Commander of Lord Locke's Sovereign Army, the two of them knew that although Lord Locke had become a Sovereign more than three trillion years ago, Lord Locke had only ever possessed a single Sovereign Emissary—Oakes.
From this alone, one could see just how high Lord Locke's standards for Sovereign Emissaries truly were.
Although they did not know why Rockpeak had gained Lord Locke's favor to the point that Lord Locke was willing to accept Rockpeak as a Sovereign Emissary and bestow a Sovereign artifact upon him—
Oakes and Ryan were still very happy for Rockpeak.
"Congratulations, Rockpeak."
Oakes extended his hand toward Rockpeak.
After obtaining a Sovereign artifact, Rockpeak's attack power would receive an enormous increase.
Although, for Oakes, who possessed a material defense Sovereign artifact, whether Rockpeak possessed a Sovereign artifact or not did not mean much—
Rockpeak, after becoming a Sovereign Emissary, was already a notch stronger than him in terms of offense.
At the same time, from the corner of his eye, Oakes glanced at Ryan, who was congratulating Rockpeak.
As Lord Locke's Sovereign Emissary, Oakes understood Locke to a certain degree.
Previously, Lord Locke's requirements for Sovereign Emissaries had been extremely high. If he himself had not been a "soul mutant," it would have been impossible for him to become Lord Locke's first Sovereign Emissary.
Now that Lord Locke had accepted Rockpeak as a Sovereign Emissary, it meant that Lord Locke had lowered his requirements for accepting Sovereign Emissaries.
In that case, Ryan, who had come here alongside him, naturally had a high probability of becoming Lord Locke's third Sovereign Emissary as well.
"Rockpeak, this is the Sovereign artifact I forged for you over the past thousand years. Try it and see whether it suits your hand."
Locke beckoned with his hand, and immediately, a black spear-type Sovereign artifact appeared in Locke's grasp, radiating an extremely sharp aura.
As Locke tossed it toward Rockpeak, the spear tip even sliced open a thin black line in the space of the Netherworld during its flight.
Rockpeak grabbed it in one hand and forced out a drop of blood to bind it.
Then, with a surge of destruction divine power, he instantly blasted a massive spatial hole open within Locke's Water Manor.
Multicolored spatial turbulence churned within the spatial hole, seemingly intending to crush everything inside it to pieces.
A faint blue glow radiated throughout Locke's Water Manor. The Water Manor, constructed from Paragon-level Laws of Water, remained completely unmoved beneath the washing force of the spatial turbulence.
"So powerful!"
Just using destruction divine power alone already produced such a terrifying increase. If he used the Edicts of Destruction as well, just how great would the amplification become?
At this moment, where was the previous dejection Rockpeak carried after being defeated by other Sovereign Emissaries?
Rather than that, the vicious aura now erupting from Rockpeak's body became even more compatible with his Edicts of Destruction, making Rockpeak feel as though he might even be able to advance another step within the Edicts of Destruction.
"Thank you, Lord Locke. This spear-type Sovereign artifact fits my hand extremely well."
These words were not empty flattery from Rockpeak.
When Locke forged this Sovereign artifact, what he referenced was precisely the spear Rockpeak had once used when he was still a city lord.
Seeing Rockpeak recover his spirit, Locke nodded slightly.
If, after obtaining a Sovereign artifact, Rockpeak still remained as dispirited and lacking in drive as before, then Locke naturally would have needed to consider finding another Prefect-level expert to take over Rockpeak's duties and have Rockpeak retreat to a secondary position.
"Ryan, what thoughts do you have regarding Sovereign artifacts?"
After bestowing the Sovereign artifact upon Rockpeak, Locke looked toward Ryan and asked him.
"Eh? I can too, Lord Locke?"
After hearing Locke's question, Ryan asked in surprise.
Meanwhile, understanding flashed through Oakes' eyes.
Sure enough, just as he had expected.
Once Lord Locke loosened his standards for recruiting Sovereign Emissaries, then given Lord Locke's sentimental personality, Rockpeak and Ryan naturally possessed the greatest opportunities.
Now that Rockpeak had already received a Sovereign artifact bestowed by Lord Locke and become Lord Locke's second Sovereign Emissary, how could Ryan possibly be left behind?
One should know that purely in terms of strength, Ryan was much stronger than Rockpeak.
Without using fused divine power, even Oakes himself was somewhat inferior to Ryan.
The only reason Ryan had remained here all this time was because he had followed Lord Locke early on.
Otherwise, with Ryan's level of strength, countless Sovereigns would have wanted to recruit him as their own Sovereign Emissary.
"Why wouldn't you be able to?"
Locke asked in return.
Seeing the confusion still on Ryan's face, Locke sighed.
"You three, do you know why I previously only accepted Oakes alone as a Sovereign Emissary?"
Oakes and the other two shook their heads.
Between Sovereigns and Deities lay a massive gulf.
If Sovereigns did not take the initiative to mention such matters, then Deities fundamentally had no way of knowing the affairs between Sovereigns.
Although Sovereigns had existed for over three trillion years, in the hearts of most lifeforms, Sovereigns remained merely a vague concept.
They did not even know the classifications between Sovereigns.
More than ninety-nine percent of lifeforms, from birth until death, never once saw a Sovereign.
Even witnessing a Sovereign projection was enough for them to boast about for their entire lives.
The closest contact most lifeforms had with Sovereigns—or rather, the greatest proof they possessed that Sovereigns truly existed—was the existence of the Sovereign Armies.
"That is because between Sovereigns, there exists the Sovereign Pact that restrains Sovereigns."
"Lesser Sovereigns may only possess two Sovereign Emissaries."
"Intermediate Sovereigns may possess four Sovereign Emissaries."
"Law Chief Sovereigns may possess at most six Sovereign Emissaries."
"As for Rule Chief Sovereigns, they may possess eight Sovereign Emissaries under their command."
After hearing Locke explain this, Ryan's eyes widened.
"Lord Locke, could it be that you've advanced from a Lesser Sovereign to an Intermediate Sovereign?"
Hearing Ryan say this, not only Locke, but even Oakes and Rockpeak could not help but look at Ryan as though he were an idiot.
One had to remember that even before Lord Locke became a Sovereign, he had already been able to force Blood Peak Sovereign Pash to yield, not daring to pursue the matter of Ryan killing a captain of his Sovereign Army.
Even Blood Peak Sovereign Pash's Sovereign Emissary, Reynalds, had protected the forces of Ryan and Rockpeak.
And besides, was Ryan stupid?
Had he forgotten that when the other Sovereigns addressed Lord Locke, they all referred to Locke as "Lord Chief Sovereign"?
In other words, Lord Locke was at minimum a Law Chief Sovereign-level Sovereign.
"Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Being stared at by Oakes and Rockpeak like this left Ryan somewhat bewildered.
"Ryan, the rank of a Sovereign is tied to the rank of their Sovereign spark."
"A Sovereign who fuses with a certain rank of Sovereign spark will, in most cases, become a Sovereign of that same rank."
"However, if a Sovereign is themselves a Paragon, and their personal strength exceeds Sovereigns of the same rank by a hundredfold, then they will be acknowledged as a Sovereign one level higher."
"My situation is rather special. Although I fused with a Lesser Sovereign spark, by relying upon the advantages of fused Laws, I currently stand on the same level as the four Rule Chief Sovereigns."
"In other words, I possess eight Sovereign Emissary slots."
"Previously, my standards were rather high. I believed that my Sovereign Emissaries should either be Paragons or soul mutants like myself."
"However, over these past three trillion years, only a single Paragon—Dunnington—has appeared. As for soul mutants…"
At this point, Locke shook his head.
Over these three trillion years, it wasn't as though Locke had never encountered soul mutants.
But in the end, none of them managed to grow successfully.
"You all know that over these years, Rockpeak has been collecting divine beast blood essence and natural treasures for me."
"A thousand years ago, I noticed something wrong with Rockpeak's emotions. Only after asking did I learn that he had been bullied outside."
"So, I abandoned my insistence on only accepting Paragons and soul mutants as Sovereign Emissaries and bestowed a Sovereign artifact upon Rockpeak."
"The same applies to you, Ryan."
"The reason I gathered all of you together this time is because I want you all to stand behind Rockpeak."
"Since those few forces dared to attack Rockpeak, then there is no need for them to continue existing."
"What? Rockpeak was bullied?"
After hearing Locke's words, Oakes and Ryan were both stunned.
Immediately afterward, Ryan exploded in rage.
Before following Locke, Ryan and Rockpeak had already been companions. Their strengths were similar, and their personalities compatible. Calling them brothers who had faced life and death together would not be excessive.
Even later, after Ryan's strength surpassed Rockpeak's, the relationship between the two never changed in the slightest.
Now that he heard Rockpeak had been bullied, how could Ryan tolerate it?
"Lord Locke, I want an offensive Sovereign artifact!"
At this moment, Ryan's emotions were boiling over.
When choosing a Sovereign artifact, Ryan directly chose an offensive Sovereign artifact capable of increasing his attack power.
"Very well."
Locke did not comment on Ryan's choice.
Although, for Locke, the practicality of a material defense Sovereign artifact was fundamentally incomparable to that of an offensive Sovereign artifact.
This point had already been proven countless times by the various dynasties of Locke's first life.
You could possess blades and swords.
But if you dared to privately possess armor and other defensive military equipment, then you were guilty of rebellion—a capital offense punishable by execution.
However, Ryan was not a child.
Adults needed to take responsibility for their own choices.
Furthermore, within the Coiling Dragon universe, everyone's thinking seemed to lean toward offense.
Among the nearly one hundred Sovereign Emissaries, fewer than ten had chosen material defense Sovereign artifacts.
(End of Chapter)
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