"So tell me..."
"If I spread the news that the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns fell in the Yulan Plane, and that even their Sovereign sparks were left behind there..."
"...what do you think the Four Divine Beasts Clan will do?"
"Oh?"
Orloff raised an eyebrow and looked at Augusta in surprise.
As the existence he had discarded, Orloff's "tolerance" toward Augusta had always been one of superiority.
In other words...
Orloff had never truly thought highly of Augusta.
Now, however, Augusta had come up with such a scheme, and it genuinely made Orloff look at him in a new light.
Although the news of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' deaths had already spread throughout the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes over three thousand years ago...
No one knew where they had fallen, nor exactly how they had died.
If it became known that the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns had perished within a Material Plane...
Then every Highgod possessing earth, wind, water, or fire divine clones throughout the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes would attempt to enter the Yulan Plane to seize the Sovereign sparks left behind after the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' deaths.
As for the Four Divine Beasts Clan...
That went without saying.
The Four Divine Beast Sovereigns were their ancestors.
Even if they had no intention of competing for the Sovereign sparks left behind by the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns...
They would still want to reclaim their ancestors' bodies and bury them properly.
Under such circumstances...
The Four Divine Beasts Clan would undoubtedly dispatch experts to participate in the struggle over the Sovereign sparks in the Yulan Plane.
By then...
The experts entering the Yulan Plane would naturally stand in opposition to the Four Divine Beasts Clan.
After all...
To a certain extent, what they sought to seize was the "inheritance" left behind by the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns.
As such...
The experts the Four Divine Beasts Clan sent into the Yulan Plane would almost certainly be hunted down by the experts from the other planes who coveted the Sovereign sparks.
Of course...
Deep within Augusta's heart lay an even more profound scheme.
His divine sense had already swept across the Yulan Plane.
Thus, Augusta knew that apart from Beirut, only Beirut's three sons had reached the God level.
Presumably...
If Beirut's sons had already become Highgods and possessed matching affinities, then the Yulan Plane would not have produced only a single Sovereign.
By drawing so many Deities into the Yulan Plane...
If Beirut, as a Sovereign, killed those Deities while they fought over the Sovereign sparks...
Then he would violate the Sovereign Pact.
When that happened...
Chief Sovereign Locke would inevitably take action against him.
As long as Beirut was no longer in the Yulan Plane...
The Light Chief Sovereign Augusta would have countless ways to retrieve both the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' corpses and their Sovereign sparks.
...
"Hey, have you heard?"
"Hm? Judging by your expression... don't tell me there's some huge news again?"
"Heh, huge? It's more than huge."
"This news is earth-shattering."
Inside the small tavern, the two intelligence brokers continued putting on their performance.
Of course...
Perhaps because the news itself was too shocking...
Even their voices trembled.
The hands they used to pick up food with their chopsticks failed every single time to deliver the food to their mouths.
"More than three thousand years ago..."
"The news that the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns had fallen spread throughout the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes."
"Sigh, old brother, how is that earth-shattering? That's ancient news from thousands of years ago."
"Heh. By itself, of course it isn't."
"But what if..."
"...the news of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' deaths has now been confirmed?"
"What?"
"How was it confirmed?"
The man deliberately glanced around before leaning close to the other's ear.
Then, in a voice quiet enough for everyone in the tavern to hear, he whispered,
"How was it confirmed?"
"Naturally because someone found the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' corpses."
"I heard from my brother-in-law's father-in-law's son's grandaunt, whose youngest son serves in a Sovereign Army..."
"...that someone discovered the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' corpses in the Yulan Plane."
"And supposedly..."
"...their Sovereign sparks are still there."
"What?!"
"The Sovereign sparks?"
Throughout countless taverns, inns, brothels, and other bustling establishments across the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes...
News that the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' corpses—and their Sovereign sparks—had appeared in the Yulan Plane spread at astonishing speed.
Every expert who heard the news...
Didn't even bother verifying whether it was true.
Instead, they immediately flew toward the nearest interplanar teleportation array.
At a time like this...
Even hesitating for a single moment would be disrespectful to the Sovereign sparks.
Those were Sovereign sparks!
Any being who had cultivated to Highgod on their own...
After obtaining a Sovereign spark matching their element and refining it...
Could become a lofty Sovereign!
But just how precious were Sovereign sparks?
Across the entire universe...
There existed only seventy-seven Sovereign sparks.
At the birth of the universe...
Some fortunate beings had obtained Sovereign sparks and become the very first Sovereigns.
Afterward...
The Sovereigns joined forces to create the Seven Divine Planes, giving the countless living beings of the Magic Universe seven new places to reside.
During the First Sovereign War...
Nearly half of the Sovereigns fell, and their Sovereign sparks were randomly scattered throughout spatial turbulence.
Every Sovereign spark represented exactly one Sovereign's position.
Among the current sixty-odd Sovereigns...
Nearly twenty had only become Sovereigns after obtaining the Sovereign sparks of those fallen Sovereigns.
Now...
The sudden appearance of four additional Sovereign sparks...
How could the experts of the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes not be excited?
Those hidden reclusive experts...
Were the first to rush toward the interplanar teleportation arrays.
The Prefects and Commanders of every plane also immediately arranged for people to challenge the Arena of War.
Their goal was to produce Hundred-Battle victors as quickly as possible.
Once those victors intentionally lost to a Prefect's challenger, regained their freedom...
They too immediately flew toward the interplanar teleportation arrays.
One could say...
Thanks to the news deliberately spread by Augusta...
The calm waters beneath the surface of the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes had already begun to ripple.
Only waiting...
For the moment they erupted within the Yulan Plane.
...
"Big brother..."
"What should we do?"
Within the Azure Dragon Hall of the Skyrite Mountains...
The Clan Leaders of the Four Divine Beasts Clan gathered once again.
Unlike the previous meetings...
This time...
The faces of Gislason, Gais, Tia, and Feman all displayed both fear and anticipation.
As the unquestioned overlord faction of the Infernal Realm...
There was no way the Four Divine Beasts Clan could remain ignorant of the news that the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' corpses and Sovereign sparks had appeared within the Yulan Plane.
And precisely because they knew...
They felt fear.
Because...
The one who had killed the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns...
Was the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta!
Even Tia had only learned the truth behind the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' deaths from the Amethyst Sovereign.
But even the Amethyst Sovereign...
Out of fear of Augusta...
Had not dared tell Tia how the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns had died.
Nor had she dared reveal where they had ultimately fallen.
Now...
The location of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' corpses had suddenly been exposed.
Without Augusta's involvement...
The Gislason brothers simply didn't believe such a thing was possible.
Yet...
Even though they knew this matter was connected to the Light Chief Sovereign...
Given their position...
They simply couldn't understand what Augusta was trying to accomplish.
However...
They knew one thing.
For the Four Divine Beasts Clan...
This was both a catastrophe...
...and an unprecedented opportunity.
"What else can we do?"
Hearing Gais's question, Gislason replied solemnly,
"If we had never known where Father and the others' remains were, that would have been one thing."
"But now that we know their bodies are in the Yulan Plane..."
"If we don't bring our fathers' remains home..."
"...how could we still call ourselves worthy descendants?"
"Indeed."
Feman nodded.
"The other experts heading to the Yulan Plane are all going there for the Sovereign sparks left behind by Father and the others."
"But we're different."
"Besides Father's Sovereign sparks..."
"Their remains themselves are also something we absolutely must reclaim."
"Furthermore..."
"Perhaps before Father and the others died, they made arrangements beneficial to the Four Divine Beasts Clan."
"Therefore..."
"To increase their own chances of obtaining the Sovereign sparks..."
"Those people will certainly eliminate us first, preventing us from obtaining the Sovereign sparks through whatever arrangements Father and the others may have left behind."
"During this journey to the Yulan Plane..."
"To exclude our clan..."
"Almost every expert there will be an enemy of the Four Divine Beasts Clan."
Gais and Tia both fell silent.
In truth...
It wasn't only the others who thought this way.
Even the Gislason brothers themselves had entertained the same thoughts after learning that their fathers had fallen within a Material Plane.
They knew their fathers had been killed by the Light Chief Sovereign.
Therefore...
Under normal circumstances, the Sovereign sparks on their fathers' bodies should already have been taken by Augusta.
Yet now...
More than thirteen thousand years after their deaths...
News had suddenly emerged that both their fathers' corpses and Sovereign sparks remained within the Yulan Plane...
How could the four brothers not harbor hopes?
Although they didn't know how their fathers had entered the Yulan Plane...
They did know one thing.
Only within a Material Plane...
Could Deities possibly obtain Sovereign sparks and become new Sovereigns.
If news of the Sovereign sparks had appeared within the Seven Divine Planes or Four Higher Planes...
Then before a compatible Highgod could refine them...
The Sovereigns themselves would likely have already taken them away.
"So..."
"This expedition to the Yulan Plane..."
"I'll personally lead it."
"No!"
The moment Gislason declared he would lead the expedition, Gais immediately objected.
"Big brother..."
"You're the Clan Leader of the Four Divine Beasts Clan."
"Ever since Father and the others fell..."
"Only you can continue leading the Four Divine Beasts Clan."
"The Four Divine Beasts Clan can survive without us..."
"But it cannot survive without you."
"That's right."
Tia and Feman hurriedly agreed.
Compared to their eldest brother Gislason...
Simply managing the affairs of their own respective clans was already more than enough to give them headaches.
If anything happened to Gislason...
Then without question...
Even if the Four Divine Beasts Clan didn't immediately collapse...
It would certainly decline rapidly.
"My brothers."
Seeing all three of them oppose his decision, Gislason stood.
A suit of azure armor appeared around his body.
It was the material-defense Sovereign artifact bestowed upon him by the Azure Dragon Sovereign Redding—
The Azure Dragon Armor.
"I possess the material-defense Sovereign artifact bestowed by Father."
"Even if I encounter a Paragon..."
"At worst, I'll merely be exiled into spatial turbulence."
"This expedition to the Yulan Plane..."
"Our primary objective is naturally to seize the Sovereign sparks left behind by Father and the others."
"But there will be countless experts participating."
"Since none of them are natives of the Yulan Plane..."
"Whoever obtains a Sovereign spark must first leave the Yulan Plane before refining it."
"Otherwise..."
"A Sovereign who doesn't belong to that Material Plane would cause the Material Plane to collapse..."
"...completely destroying every living being within it."
"So..."
"Obtaining a Sovereign spark at the beginning doesn't mean you'll become a Sovereign."
"Only by surviving the countless attempts to intercept and kill you..."
"...and safely leaving the Yulan Plane..."
"...can you refine the Sovereign spark in peace and ascend to the position of Sovereign."
"If anyone from our clan obtains a Sovereign spark during this expedition..."
"You must hand it over to me immediately."
"Only I..."
"With a material-defense Sovereign artifact..."
"...can survive the attacks of so many Asura Prefect-level experts."
"Of course..."
"If Father and the others left us no contingency plan..."
"And we have no opportunity to seize the Sovereign sparks..."
"Then we will devote all our strength to reclaiming their remains."
...
Netherworld.
The summit of Mount Nether.
Having learned of the deaths of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns...
Locke knew that Linley's legendary life would bloom in all its brilliance within the next five hundred thousand years.
Thus...
During this period, Locke no longer immersed himself in cultivation.
He feared that if he became absorbed in it...
He might miss Linley's growth.
Meanwhile...
Lilia, the Death Chief Sovereign, who had already fully comprehended twenty-five percent of the Samsara Laws attainable through the Edicts of Death...
Spent this time accompanying Locke as they watched the upheaval spreading throughout the world.
In Lilia's opinion...
The extermination of the Four Divine Beasts Clan by the various forces of the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes was in no way inferior to the War of Faith.
After all...
During the War of Faith...
The Sovereign Armies of the eleven planes fought one another.
Although the scale was enormous...
Because the Sovereigns behind them controlled the conflict...
Much of it had merely been for show.
Only after the Sovereign War...
When Sovereigns began to fall...
Did the Sovereign Armies that had lost their Sovereigns become prey for other factions, with most eventually disappearing.
The campaign against the Four Divine Beasts Clan instigated by the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta...
Was an outright massacre...
One in which the forces of an entire plane joined together to slaughter a single clan.
Of course...
The forces Augusta selected to exterminate the Four Divine Beasts Clan were all the second strongest clans within their respective planes, second only to the Four Divine Beasts Clan itself.
The eight great clans that had once traded with Locke—exchanging Sovereign power for divine beast blood essence and natural treasures—
Had all become the absolute main force in this campaign to exterminate the Four Divine Beasts Clan.
(End of Chapter)
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