Therefore, it wasn't inappropriate for Rena to call Beirut "that little fellow."
Well, of course, how much of that was due to personal grudges was something no one else knew.
At the very least, neither Locke, Loran, Veer, nor Grant felt there was anything wrong with what she had said.
By the time Beirut had begun making a name for himself throughout the Seven Divine Planes and the Four Higher Planes, Grant had already been a Sovereign for many years.
Because of the divine spark weapons Beirut used, several Sovereigns of Locke's lineage had paid some attention to him.
Before Beirut, the only person in the entire Magic Universe capable of refining divine spark essence had been Lord Father himself.
When Beirut first appeared in the Seven Divine Planes and the Four Higher Planes, some Sovereigns had even believed he was a descendant of Locke's lineage.
After all, within the Magic Universe, only members of Locke's lineage were known to be able to wield divine spark weapons.
However, after Beirut used his innate divine ability and revealed his true form, that speculation naturally disappeared.
All the Sovereigns knew that although Chief Sovereign Locke had originally been an ordinary human from a Material Plane, after researching countless divine beasts, he had ultimately unraveled the mysteries of divine beasts and gradually transformed his own bloodline into that of the first-generation divine beast, Dijiang, raising the strength of his body to the level of a Sovereign artifact.
Strictly speaking, Chief Sovereign Locke was no longer human, but rather the divine beast Dijiang.
Naturally, Locke's descendants were also descendants of that divine beast.
Even if someone's bloodline underwent atavism, they would only revert to the divine beast Dijiang, not to some mouse-type magical beast.
In other words, Beirut, the Godeater Rat, was not a descendant of Locke's lineage. He was simply another divine beast who possessed an ability similar to Locke's—one that allowed him to refine divine spark essence.
Locke extended his right hand.
A ball of crimson blood appeared in his palm.
Then, under the power of his Sovereign will, the blood dispersed into fine crimson mist and flowed through the spatial rift into the corpse of Azure Dragon Sovereign Redding on the other side.
Very soon, the entire mass of blood had completely fused into the Azure Dragon Sovereign's body under Locke's control.
"Father, what are you doing?"
Although Loran and the others were puzzled by Locke's actions, he waited until Locke had finished before asking.
"I'm replenishing the Azure Dragon Sovereign's divine beast blood essence."
Hearing Locke's answer, Loran smiled bitterly.
"Father, I know you're replenishing his blood essence."
"What I want to ask is... why?"
"Hm?"
Locke raised his head and saw the confusion in Loran's eyes.
He then looked around the Sovereign Palace and saw the same puzzled expressions on Veer's, Grant's, and Rena's faces.
Only the Death Chief Sovereign remained unmoved.
To Lilia, whatever Locke did was perfectly reasonable.
They all knew that Lord Father had always collected the Four Divine Beasts' Sovereign blood essence.
After all, when cultivating the Space Laws, they themselves had used quite a bit of the Four Divine Beasts' Sovereign blood essence.
Naturally, whenever they were attempting to break through major bottlenecks, what they used instead was Locke's own Sovereign blood essence.
Only Locke's Sovereign blood essence could allow them to break through those major bottlenecks.
Although the Four Divine Beasts' Sovereign blood essence was no longer of much use to them now, that didn't mean it wouldn't be useful to future descendants of Locke's lineage.
Judging from the current situation, with the deaths of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns, aside from the corpses in Beirut's possession, the Four Divine Beasts' Sovereign blood essence in Locke's hands had become a nonrenewable resource.
Every drop used meant one less remaining.
There was no longer any source from which it could be replenished.
Seeing that all his descendants were confused, Locke waved his hand and closed the spatial passage connecting to the Yulan Plane.
Only then did he begin explaining.
"Before I became a Sovereign, I once reached an agreement with the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns. They protected me for a period of time."
"Although it was a transaction between us, there's no denying that their protection bought me the most crucial period of time for my growth."
"Now that the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns have met with disaster, the Four Divine Beasts Clan will inevitably suffer heavy losses, perhaps even face extinction."
"By replenishing some of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' blood essence, I may be able to leave their descendants with a glimmer of hope."
"I see."
Although Loran, Veer, Grant, and even Rena had no idea how replenishing some of Azure Dragon Sovereign Redding's blood essence could provide the Four Divine Beasts Clan with a chance of survival, they all understood one thing.
Lord Father's realm was far beyond anything they could comprehend.
The reason they couldn't understand his actions was simply because the gap between them and him was too great.
After all, they had heard Mother mention before that Father had already surpassed the level of a Sovereign and reached the realm of the Overgods.
Yet even so, Father still continued cultivating.
It seemed that even the highest realm within this universe—the Overgod—was not his limit.
If Locke knew what his descendants were thinking, he would probably only smile.
No matter what, the Overgods of the Magic Universe were merely comparable to Godkings.
Their upper limit was roughly equivalent to an invincible Godking who had comprehended Time Stop.
However, during the hundreds of Epochs Locke had spent cultivating within the Elemental Plane, he had already completely comprehended the Laws of Time and stepped into the realm of a Celestial Exalt.
A Celestial Exalt represented the ultimate limit that living beings within a first-grade universe of the Hongmeng Space could achieve.
It stood an entire realm above the Overgods of the Magic Universe.
Of course, just as there was an enormous gulf between Sovereigns and non-Sovereigns, and between Overgods and Sovereigns, there was likewise an immense chasm between Celestial Exalts and invincible Godkings.
One could say that before a Celestial Exalt, even an invincible Godking was nothing more than an ant that could be crushed with a casual squeeze.
It was precisely because he had completely comprehended the Laws of Time that Locke had begun attempting within the Elemental Plane to fuse the Laws of Time and the Laws of Space into the Space-Time Laws.
"My children."
After dealing with the matter of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns, Locke swept his gaze across everyone within the Sovereign Palace before smiling.
"Within the next trillion years, the final few hundred thousand years of this trillion-year cycle may very well become the most exciting era in the entire history of the Magic Universe."
"During this trillion-year period, a living being may rise from insignificance and ultimately reach—or even surpass—my level."
"If you're interested, you may treat it as a test of your own judgment and see whether you can correctly identify that individual."
"However..."
"You should also understand that on the path of cultivation, interference from the outside world may have a considerable impact on one's growth."
"So you're free to discuss it among yourselves, but don't personally interfere with the development of other living beings."
Locke spoke solemnly.
"You must understand that every decision you make may alter the course of someone else's entire life."
"It may lead them toward something better."
"Or something worse..."
"Even though your father has already reached Paragon in the Edicts of Fate, I still wouldn't dare claim that I can see through everyone's destiny."
"It's just like with all of you."
"After laying your foundations, I immediately sent you away from Mount Nether to experience the outside world on your own."
"I did so precisely because I feared that my influence would prevent you from reaching the limits of your own potential..."
Hearing Locke's words, Loran, Ver, Grant, and Rena all nodded.
Indeed, although they were descendants of Sovereigns, Locke had only accompanied them for a relatively short period while they were still weak.
Afterward, he had allowed them to venture out into the world on their own.
Having experienced countless adventures throughout the Seven Divine Planes and the Four Higher Planes, they all understood that those experiences could never have been gained by remaining safely within Mount Nether.
And if they had missed even some of those experiences, would they still have been able to achieve what they had today?
The answer surfaced almost instantly.
To come into contact with the higher Laws above the Elemental Laws or the Edicts, one first had to cultivate the Laws or Edicts to Paragon.
Only by relying on Paragon-level Laws, together with divine beast blood essence related to Time or Space, could one touch upon the Laws of Space, the Laws of Time, and the Laws of Reincarnation.
Only after becoming a Paragon did one possess the possibility of taking another step forward.
Without becoming a Paragon, one wasn't even qualified to come into contact with the higher Laws.
Of course, this didn't mean that reaching Paragon guaranteed any comprehension of the higher Laws.
It merely meant that becoming a Paragon was the threshold required to begin touching them.
...
The Four Divine Beast Sovereigns...
Had fallen.
The news gradually spread throughout the Seven Divine Planes and the Four Higher Planes.
In truth, by now, nearly ten thousand years had already passed since the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns had died.
However, because Augusta had indeed killed the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns but had also ended up with a face full of Azure Dragon Sovereign Redding's urine, losing all dignity in the process, the other Sovereigns found it rather awkward to discuss the matter.
Since the Sovereigns themselves kept silent, naturally their Sovereign Emissaries and Sovereign Armies knew nothing about it.
For a Sovereign, disappearing for several thousand, several tens of thousands, or even several hundred thousand years was nothing unusual.
But for the Four Divine Beasts Clan, things were different.
Every thousand years, the Four Divine Beasts Clan held an Ancestral Baptism.
Clan members under a thousand years old who had yet to undergo the ritual would receive the baptism, strengthening the purity of their bloodlines.
As a result, the Four Divine Beasts Clan consumed an enormous amount of Sovereign blood essence.
Almost every hundred thousand years, the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns would personally appear and leave behind the Sovereign blood essence they had condensed for the clan leaders.
Naturally, because Locke had once harvested the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' blood essence rather aggressively, the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns had worried that if they delayed too long, their descendants might not have enough Sovereign blood essence for the Ancestral Baptism.
As a result, most of the time they delivered Sovereign blood essence and Sovereign power every seventy to eighty thousand years instead.
However, this time, more than a hundred thousand years had passed without the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns delivering any Sovereign blood essence or Sovereign power.
Even so, the clan members didn't think much of it.
They simply couldn't imagine that their ancestors might actually have fallen.
Nevertheless, the fact that the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns were more than twenty thousand years late had already begun affecting the clan.
Most importantly...
The clan's reserve of Sovereign power had gradually begun running low.
Many members of the Four Divine Beasts Clan scattered throughout the Seven Divine Planes and the Four Higher Planes found their stockpiles of Sovereign power dwindling.
Until fresh supplies arrived, they all felt noticeably less confident.
There was no helping it.
Although the Four Divine Beasts Clan possessed countless members, and nearly all of them had undergone the Ancestral Baptism to raise their minimum potential...
The clan could only guarantee their lower limit.
It couldn't guarantee their upper limit.
Over countless years, members of the Four Divine Beasts Clan had spread throughout the Seven Divine Planes and the Four Higher Planes, seizing enormous resources and suppressing numerous local clans.
Without Sovereign power, however, they immediately reverted to their true strength.
The power of every single clansman fell by several hundredfold.
Even so, thanks to the overwhelming prestige the Four Divine Beasts Clan had accumulated over countless years, although many local powers had noticed that the clan no longer used Sovereign power so freely in battle as before, none of them truly dared provoke the Four Divine Beasts Clan.
Then one day...
Within the Water Divine Plane, a member of the Four Divine Beasts Clan took a fancy to a woman and forcibly abducted her.
What he didn't know...
Was that the woman was the wife of the young clan leader of the Babari Clan.
How could the Babari Clan possibly accept such humiliation?
The Babari Clan Leader, Babari, was a Sovereign Emissary serving one of the Water Sovereigns.
Possessing an offensive Sovereign artifact, his strength ranked among the top ten experts of the entire Water Divine Plane.
Furthermore, unlike the other native clans of the Water Divine Plane, the Babari Clan had maintained a long-standing partnership with Locke's lineage.
The resources they obtained during the trading sessions held by Locke's lineage every ten million years had elevated the Babari Clan into the second strongest clan after the Four Divine Beasts Clan.
Faced with such humiliation from a member of the Four Divine Beasts Clan...
How could the young clan leader of the Babari Clan possibly endure it?
In less than ten days...
He led the clan's experts directly into the territory occupied by that Four Divine Beasts clansman and annihilated every member of the Four Divine Beasts Clan stationed there.
In truth...
At first, the young clan leader had never intended to wipe out that Four Divine Beasts stronghold.
However...
Once the battle began, the experts of the Babari Clan suddenly discovered that after using only a few drops of Sovereign power, the members of the Four Divine Beasts Clan stationed there had completely exhausted their reserves.
Without the enhancement of Sovereign power...
They were slaughtered wholesale by the Babari Clan's experts.
Even the Babari Clan experts themselves had not expected such a development.
However...
Since they had already taken action, there was naturally no reason for them to show mercy simply because the members of the Four Divine Beasts Clan had suddenly become weaker.
Thus...
For the first time in history...
One of the Four Divine Beasts Clan's strongholds within the Seven Divine Planes and the Four Higher Planes was completely destroyed.
Although the Four Divine Beasts Clan might have been lacking in many areas...
The unity among its members was exceptionally strong.
As soon as they learned that one of their strongholds had been wiped out...
The members of the Four Divine Beasts Clan throughout the Water Divine Plane immediately sharpened their blades and launched an assault on the Babari Clan, determined to avenge their fallen clansmen.
(End of Chapter)
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