However, Beirut himself had been a divine beast born alongside the Yulan Plane at the very beginning of its existence.
Back then, though, the Yulan Plane wasn't called the Yulan Plane.
It was known as the Qingya Plane.
More than five hundred calendrical eras had passed since the Qingya Plane came into existence.
Throughout those five hundred-plus eras, Beirut himself had remained the strongest expert within the Qingya Plane.
Thus, Beirut believed that, given the current state of the Yulan Continent, it would be difficult for experts meeting his requirements to emerge naturally.
It was only then that Beirut remembered the remaining Four Divine Beast Sovereign blood essence left in his possession after giving a portion of it to the Destruction Chief Sovereign.
Beirut understood the Four Divine Beasts clan quite well.
However, he knew relatively little about the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns themselves.
Still, judging from how highly both the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta and the Destruction Chief Sovereign Wodred valued the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' blood essence, Beirut knew it must be extraordinary.
It wasn't as though Beirut had never researched the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' blood essence.
Unfortunately...
He wasn't the type of expert suited to research.
Although he consumed quite a bit of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' blood essence during his experiments, he ultimately failed to discover anything meaningful.
In the end...
The only idea he came up with was to fuse the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' blood essence with certain native lifeforms of the Yulan Plane to see whether it could improve their innate talents.
Whether magical beasts...
Or humans...
Beirut treated them equally.
Among the many experimental subjects, numerous magical beast races eventually produced Saint-level peak experts.
Among humanity...
The legend of the Four Ultimate Warriors was born.
Everything...
Continued to proceed according to its destined course...
...
"Kill!"
"Heh! What Four Divine Beasts clan? If you ask me, they should rename themselves the Four Crawling Reptiles clan!"
"Hahahaha!"
After peace returned to the Yulan Plane...
The Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes once again descended into turmoil.
During the previous struggle over the Sovereign sparks in the Yulan Plane, Gislason, the patriarch of the Four Divine Beasts clan, had led one quarter of the clan's elders there.
Unfortunately...
After more than a thousand years of conflict and two expeditions into the Necropolis of the Gods, the Four Divine Beasts clan had suffered catastrophic losses.
Out of more than five hundred experts...
Fewer than twenty returned.
Losing nearly four hundred elders of Six Star Fiend rank or above was a devastating blow to the Four Divine Beasts clan.
Of course...
What truly drove the Four Divine Beasts clan into the abyss was that forces from other planes suddenly entered the Infernal Realm at a certain point and launched a coordinated assault against them.
Caught completely off guard, countless members of the Four Divine Beasts clan below the Highgod level were slaughtered.
Many of them didn't even leave behind corpses.
For the Four Divine Beasts clan...
The Infernal Realm was their homeland.
The moment those forces entered the Infernal Realm, they had already declared their intentions—
A fight to the death.
If there had been any possibility of preserving the Four Divine Beasts clan, Gislason and the others would have been willing to make certain concessions.
But once the enemy had marched directly into the Infernal Realm with the obvious intention of exterminating the Four Divine Beasts clan...
Neither Gislason nor the others were willing to disgrace the honor and dignity left behind by the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns.
Thus...
The Four Divine Beasts clan launched an all-out war against eleven great clans, including the Reynolds clan of the Infernal Realm.
At the beginning of the war...
The elders of the Four Divine Beasts clan above the Six Star Fiend level unleashed Sovereign's Might.
Within only a thousand years...
They annihilated three of the eleven great clans besieging them.
Unfortunately...
Throughout those thousand years of fighting, the Four Divine Beasts clan's greatest weakness was once again laid bare.
Their reserves of Sovereign's Might had become critically depleted.
Forget the Six Star Fiends.
Even the Seven Star Fiend elders now carried only one or two drops of Sovereign's Might.
Under such circumstances...
The Four Divine Beasts clan was no longer a match for the remaining Eight Great Clans.
The Eight Great Clans advanced from all seven planar teleportation arrays of the Infernal Realm, surrounding the Four Divine Beasts clan from every direction and steadily driving them toward the very center of the Infernal Realm.
Their goal was simple—
Not a single member of the Four Divine Beasts clan was to escape.
This war continued for more than five thousand years.
By now...
The Four Divine Beasts clan had been driven all the way back to the heart of their territory—
The Skyrite Mountains of Indigo Prefecture.
The experts of the Eight Great Clans had completely surrounded the Skyrite Mountains.
The patriarchs of the Eight Great Clans stood at the front of their respective armies.
Every one of them was a Sovereign Emissary possessing a Sovereign artifact.
Their expressions were cold as they gazed toward the Skyrite Mountains.
After several thousand years of warfare...
The Four Divine Beasts clan had nearly been exterminated.
Naturally, the Eight Great Clans hadn't escaped unscathed either.
After all...
During the first several hundred years of the war, three clans equal to themselves had already been wiped out.
The patriarchs of those three clans had possessed strength comparable to theirs.
Yet they had still died under the siege of numerous Seven Star Fiends empowered by Sovereign's Might.
After these thousands of years of slaughter...
The Eight Great Clans retained less than one-tenth of the strength they had possessed at their peak.
The only reason they had endured until now...
Was because the Light Chief Sovereign continued supporting them from behind the scenes.
However...
After fighting the Four Divine Beasts clan for over five thousand years, even the patriarchs of the Eight Great Clans had forgotten that their original objective had merely been to help the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta collect the corpses of the Four Divine Beasts clansmen.
Now...
The hatred between the Eight Great Clans and the Four Divine Beasts clan had long surpassed the mission entrusted to them by the Light Chief Sovereign.
The two sides had become mortal enemies.
If either side had the opportunity to exterminate the other...
Neither would hesitate.
Of course...
Judging from the current situation, the Eight Great Clans still held the absolute advantage.
After all...
Every patriarch of the Eight Great Clans was a Sovereign Emissary wielding a Sovereign artifact, belonging to the second tier among Prefect-level experts.
Within the Four Divine Beasts clan...
Only the four clan patriarchs and Gaia possessed Sovereign artifacts and belonged to that same second tier.
Bru, although also a Prefect-level expert, lacked a Sovereign artifact and was therefore noticeably weaker.
"Gislason!"
Barbary, patriarch of the Barbary clan, looked toward Gislason and the others standing ready within the Skyrite Mountains and coldly shouted,
"Surrender!"
"As long as the patriarchs of your four clans commit suicide..."
"We, in our mercy, can promise to spare the remaining members of your Four Divine Beasts clan."
"Hahahahaha!"
Hovering above the Skyrite Mountains, Gislason burst into laughter.
"Barbary!"
"Do you really think our Four Divine Beasts clan needs your mercy?"
After ridiculing Barbary and the others, Gislason turned around and spread his arms toward the fewer than five hundred thousand remaining members of the Four Divine Beasts clan behind him.
"My clansmen!"
"Tell me!"
"When facing the enemies who murdered our family and friends..."
"Would you rather die in battle with the honor of the Four Divine Beasts clan..."
"Or abandon our clan's honor and live on in disgrace?"
"Fight to the death!"
"Fight to the death!"
"Fight to the death!"
More than five hundred thousand members of the Four Divine Beasts clan roared while brandishing their weapons.
Only a little over twenty thousand years had passed since the deaths of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns.
Among the more than five hundred thousand clansmen currently gathered within the Skyrite Mountains...
Aside from the younger generation born during these past twenty thousand years who had never witnessed the clan's glorious peak...
Every survivor was an unquestionable elite of the Four Divine Beasts clan.
For them...
These twenty thousand years had been twenty thousand years of falling from the summit to the bottom.
Once upon a time...
These jackals and wolves had been even more obedient than household dogs before the Four Divine Beasts clan.
Now those former dogs had become wolves...
And wanted them to surrender?
Impossible.
"Did you hear that, Barbary?"
Turning back around, Gislason curled his lips into a mocking smile.
"This..."
"Is the will of the Four Divine Beasts clan."
Hearing the thunderous cries from the Four Divine Beasts clan, the expressions of the Eight Great Clans changed slightly.
Although the Eight Great Clans possessed four or five times as many members...
In terms of spirit and morale, they truly couldn't compare.
Had they not accumulated enough hatred during these thousands of years of warfare...
And had they not possessed the support of the other seven allied clans...
None of them would have wished to fight the Four Divine Beasts clan to the death.
"Heh."
"Excellent."
"That's exactly what I wanted."
Although Barbary had been shaken somewhat by the Four Divine Beasts clan's determination to perish together with their enemies...
He actually found their reaction perfectly suited to his intentions.
Did anyone really think those earlier words urging surrender reflected his true feelings?
After fighting the Four Divine Beasts clan for thousands of years...
Many of Barbary's sons and grandsons had died at the hands of the Four Divine Beasts clan.
If possible...
He, like the patriarchs of the other seven great clans, wished to exterminate the Four Divine Beasts clan down to the very last member.
However...
The Sovereign who had bestowed Barbary with his Sovereign artifact had once instructed him that, if possible...
He should leave the Four Divine Beasts clan with at least a spark of survival.
Barbary was a Sovereign Emissary serving a Water Sovereign of the Water Divine Plane.
That "certain Water Sovereign"...
Was none other than the Intermediate Water Sovereign—
The Azure Wave Sovereign.
The Azure Wave Sovereign belonged to the oldest generation of Sovereigns.
He had personally participated in the creation of the Water Divine Plane.
Strictly speaking...
The Azure Wave Sovereign had actually been rather unfortunate.
As an Intermediate Sovereign caught between the strong and the weak, surviving the chaotic era of the past required choosing a powerful patron.
Being a Water Sovereign...
He had naturally joined the Water Chief Sovereign's camp.
Back then...
Before anyone realized the terrifying strength of the Four Edicts Chief Sovereigns, the Azure Wave Sovereign had served beneath the Water Chief Sovereign.
Later...
The Four Edicts Chief Sovereigns established their supreme authority by displaying strength hundreds or thousands of times greater than that of the other Law Chief Sovereigns.
Only then did the Azure Wave Sovereign regret declaring his allegiance so early.
At the time...
Who could have imagined that even among Sovereigns there existed beings equivalent to Paragons?
Moreover...
The Four Edicts Chief Sovereigns far surpassed even "Paragon Chief Sovereigns."
Later...
When the Death Chief Sovereign established the Sovereign Covenant, the Azure Wave Sovereign finally felt somewhat relieved.
Who could have expected...
That the Sovereign War would later erupt?
The Water Chief Sovereign was slain by the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns.
Another Intermediate Water Sovereign, having participated in the ambush against the Amethyst Sovereign and her husband, was eventually hunted down and killed by the Amethyst Sovereign herself.
To survive...
The Azure Wave Sovereign sought refuge under the seemingly more approachable Fate Chief Sovereign, Orloff.
With Orloff's protection...
He successfully survived the chaotic Sovereign War.
At the time...
The Azure Wave Sovereign believed he had finally chosen the right master.
Unfortunately...
The appearance of Chief Sovereign Locke forced the Azure Wave Sovereign to spend countless years living almost like a hostage.
During that period...
He had lived in constant terror.
After all...
The Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff repeatedly reminded him that if Chief Sovereign Locke killed him, Locke would immediately become the strongest Sovereign.
Regrettably...
Both the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff and the Azure Wave Sovereign later discovered...
They had vastly overestimated their own importance.
Chief Sovereign Locke had never shown the slightest interest in seizing anyone's Sovereign spark.
Even without refining another Sovereign spark...
Chief Sovereign Locke still became the strongest Sovereign.
Moreover...
His strength far surpassed even the Four Edicts Chief Sovereigns.
Chief Sovereign Locke's most recent display of power had convinced the other Sovereigns that he might already have completely transcended the realm of Sovereigns...
Stepping into the domain of the Overgods.
This time...
Although, following subtle hints from the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff, the Azure Wave Sovereign had ordered his Sovereign Emissary's clan to participate in the siege of the Four Divine Beasts clan...
He still remembered that the current Water Chief Sovereign was Chief Sovereign Locke's daughter-in-law.
And if the Azure Wave Sovereign remembered correctly...
Before Chief Sovereign Locke himself became a Sovereign, he seemed to have had some connection with the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns.
Therefore...
Before understanding Chief Sovereign Locke's attitude toward the Four Divine Beasts clan after the deaths of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns...
The Azure Wave Sovereign instructed his Sovereign Emissary, Barbary, to leave the Four Divine Beasts clan some room for survival.
Unfortunately...
After thousands of years of bloody warfare...
The hatred Barbary felt toward the Four Divine Beasts clan had already become bone-deep.
The words he had just spoken to Gislason...
Had been deliberate.
Had he secretly conveyed those terms in private...
Gislason, Gesser, Tia, and Feynman might truly have chosen to swear an Overgod Oath before committing suicide for the sake of preserving the Four Divine Beasts clan.
However...
To propose such terms immediately before the final battle...
Gislason could never agree.
After the deaths of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns...
The only pillars still supporting the Four Divine Beasts clan were Gislason and the other clan patriarchs.
If they displayed even the slightest hesitation before the armies...
The blow to the clan's morale would be devastating.
At the very least...
Without the determination to fight to the death, once the Eight Great Clans exterminated the Four Divine Beasts clan...
Their own casualties would be reduced by at least half.
Now...
Thanks to Gislason's response...
Barbary could also report back to his Sovereign that he had fulfilled his instructions.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
In an instant...
Overwhelming killing intent erupted from both armies.
The patriarchs of the Eight Great Clans flew out from their formation.
The patriarchs and Great Elder of the Four Divine Beasts clan likewise stepped forward to meet them.
There was no helping it.
Prefect-level experts were simply too powerful.
If opponents of equal level weren't restrained...
The ordinary clansmen of either side wouldn't be enough for them to slaughter.
(End of Chapter)
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