"Oh?"
Saintnar's words caused the other seven patriarchs present to pause in surprise.
None of those capable of becoming Prefect-level experts were fools.
The twelve great clans from the Twelve Planes—including the Infernal Realm—had besieged the Four Divine Beasts clan for more than five thousand years.
During that time, four great clans had been destroyed by the Four Divine Beasts clan.
By now, it was impossible for any Prefect-level expert not to know of the blood feud between the Eight Great Clans and the Four Divine Beasts clan.
And now...
Someone actually intended to stop them from wiping out the Four Divine Beasts clan?
That's right.
The new Prefect of Indigo Prefecture hadn't attempted to hide his intentions in the slightest.
He had rapidly achieved one hundred consecutive victories through the Duel Platform, defeated the previous Prefect of Indigo Prefecture, and immediately afterward announced that battles involving more than one hundred participants were forbidden anywhere within Indigo Prefecture.
Anyone who violated this rule would be regarded as challenging the new Prefect and would personally be attacked by him.
The target of that decree was obvious.
It was aimed directly at them.
Nor did they believe that the new Prefect was ignorant of who they were.
Every patriarch of the Eight Great Clans was a Sovereign Emissary who possessed a Sovereign artifact.
Yet the other party still dared to openly send people to deliver a warning to the Eight Great Clans.
That alone proved he didn't fear them.
One could even say...
He simply didn't regard the Eight Great Clans as worthy of concern.
"Have you discovered this new Prefect's background?"
"I've already sent people to investigate."
Saintnar nodded.
Over the past several years, they had devoted almost all of their attention to exterminating the Four Divine Beasts clan.
Even though they knew Indigo Prefecture had a new Prefect, they hadn't paid it much attention.
After all...
To Sovereign Emissaries like themselves who possessed Sovereign artifacts, ordinary Prefects were hardly worth taking seriously.
Yet this new Prefect clearly knew both their identities and their strength, and still forcefully demanded that the Eight Great Clans obey the rules he established within Indigo Prefecture.
Without question...
His background had to be extraordinary.
"Patriarch!"
At that moment, one of Saintnar's clansmen entered the command tent and respectfully handed him the intelligence they had gathered concerning the new Prefect of Indigo Prefecture.
"This is..."
The moment Saintnar saw the report in his hands, his expression changed dramatically.
"Everyone..."
"It seems our plans for the final battle against the Four Divine Beasts clan will have to be reconsidered."
"Hm?"
Saintnar's words caused the other seven patriarchs to freeze.
A moment later...
Their expressions changed as well.
Clearly...
They had all guessed something.
"Let me see."
Barbary stood up from his seat, walked over to Saintnar, and took the intelligence report from his hands.
"It's actually him!"
The instant Barbary read the name written upon the report, his expression changed drastically.
The other patriarchs no longer cared about appearances.
Spreading their divine senses, they quickly saw the name recorded in the report.
"Beirut?"
"It's actually him?"
Reynolds couldn't help exclaiming.
Had this happened twenty thousand years ago...
Since Beirut had spent so little time traveling through the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes, the patriarchs of the Eight Great Clans might not have immediately remembered who he was.
But several thousand years ago...
After the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns were confirmed to have fallen within the Yulan Plane, the Sovereigns placed their Sovereign sparks inside the Necropolis of the Gods, allowing countless experts from the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes to compete for them.
And Beirut...
Had been the expert entrusted by the Sovereigns to guard the Necropolis of the Gods.
As the surviving experts departed from the Yulan Plane...
Information concerning Beirut—both old and new—spread throughout the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes.
A Godeater Rat.
His innate divine ability, Godslayer, directly targeted a Deity's divine spark.
Without a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact...
Or sufficient Will...
Whoever was struck would die.
Furthermore...
Beirut could devour divine sparks, using their essence to strengthen his body until its toughness rivaled that of a divine spark itself.
He could also forge divine spark weapons from divine spark essence, weapons whose hardness rivaled Sovereign artifacts.
Every one of these pieces of information demonstrated Beirut's terrifying strength.
Below the level of a Paragon...
Beirut was invincible.
Even against a Paragon...
He might not necessarily be at a disadvantage.
Everyone estimated Beirut's strength to be, at the very least, "suspected Paragon," and at most only a hair's breadth away from becoming a true Paragon.
As far as Prefect-level experts lacking soul-protecting Sovereign artifacts were concerned...
Beirut's deterrence exceeded even that of a Paragon.
After all...
With Sovereign artifacts and Sovereign's Might, a Sovereign Emissary could at least exchange a move or two with a Paragon.
But against Beirut...
Even if you activated Sovereign's Might...
Once he used Godslayer, anyone without a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact simply died.
There wasn't even a chance to escape.
"Damn it!"
Venna slammed his palm onto the table before him, reducing it to powder as he cursed.
Venna was the Sovereign Emissary of the Wind Lesser Sovereign Tempest from the Wind Divine Plane.
Before becoming Tempest's Sovereign Emissary...
The Venna clan had been one of the families responsible for gathering divine beast blood essence and heavenly treasures for Locke.
Using the rewards they received from Locke in exchange for those treasures and blood essences...
The Venna clan gradually rose to become the foremost family of the Wind Divine Plane over countless years.
It was because of that achievement that Venna entered the Tempest Sovereign's sight and eventually became his Sovereign Emissary.
Even later...
When branches of the Four Divine Beasts clan spread throughout the Wind Divine Plane, their impact upon the Venna clan remained relatively limited.
However...
As Tempest's Sovereign Emissary, when the Sovereign required the corpses of Four Divine Beasts clansmen...
Venna had no choice but to participate in this war.
Unless the Sovereign ordered them to stop...
They didn't dare stop on their own.
But now...
What exactly did Beirut intend by doing this?
Didn't he know that the one who wished to destroy the Four Divine Beasts clan was the great Sovereign?
No...
Since Beirut had been entrusted with guarding the Necropolis of the Gods by the Sovereigns, he naturally represented the Sovereigns' will.
In other words...
Everything Beirut did had undoubtedly been authorized by the Sovereigns.
The Eight Great Clans...
And the Four Divine Beasts clan...
Had unfortunately become mere tools in the struggles between Sovereigns.
As things currently stood...
They knew nothing of the contests taking place among the Sovereigns.
But within the realm of Deities...
They had no choice but to obey Beirut's rules.
Otherwise...
If Beirut personally came knocking...
Not one of the eight patriarchs would survive.
They were all ancient monsters who had lived for countless hundreds of millions of years.
They had witnessed the rise and fall of innumerable powers.
As long as they remained alive...
Their clans would eventually recover and flourish once again.
But if they died...
Their clans would inevitably be devoured by the countless powers coveting their wealth and territory.
The four clans destroyed during these past five thousand years served as the perfect example.
Those four clans were said to have been exterminated by the Four Divine Beasts clan.
In reality...
The Four Divine Beasts clan had merely killed their patriarchs.
Once those clans lost their Prefect-level leaders...
They naturally became enormous prizes in the eyes of other forces.
Even the Eight Great Clans had obtained considerable benefits from dividing up those four clans.
As for the infamy...
The Four Divine Beasts clan had conveniently taken the blame.
Naturally, the Four Divine Beasts clan knew perfectly well what had happened to those four clans after their patriarchs died.
As for the slander spread by the clans that swallowed them...
The Four Divine Beasts clan simply couldn't be bothered.
They neither admitted it...
Nor cared enough to deny it.
"Pass the order down."
"From now on, every battle we fight against the Four Divine Beasts clan within Indigo Prefecture must be conducted in small-unit engagements."
"No force may exceed one hundred members."
"Yes, Patriarch."
The actions of the Eight Great Clans were soon noticed by the Four Divine Beasts clan.
And Gaisarson, who had personally witnessed Beirut's power within the Yulan Plane, naturally understood that Lord Beirut's actions already constituted a form of protection for the Four Divine Beasts clan.
Naturally...
He had no intention of violating Lord Beirut's rules.
Thus...
The war between the Eight Great Clans and the Four Divine Beasts clan entered an entirely new phase.
...
Roar!
The phantom of an Azure Dragon appeared behind the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff, letting out a thunderous dragon's roar.
Immediately afterward...
The flow of time in the space before him slowed dramatically.
Leaves falling from a nearby tree drifted downward dozens of times slower than normal.
Screech—!
Next...
The phantom of the Vermilion Bird appeared.
Invisible ripples spread outward.
Roar!
Howl!
The phantoms of the White Tiger and Black Tortoise also roared.
Spatial cracks spread across the space before the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff.
Several breaths later...
The phantoms of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns gradually faded away behind him.
Having personally experienced the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' innate divine abilities...
Orloff paid no attention whatsoever to Augusta, who stood beside him utterly dumbfounded.
Instead...
He remained immersed in his own thoughts.
"This..."
"So something like this is actually possible?"
Although Augusta had long known that Orloff wished to collect the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' blood essence in order to study their fused innate divine ability...
He had never believed Orloff would actually succeed.
Innate divine abilities were blessings unique to divine beasts born by the world itself.
Although the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff had created the Golden Body of Samsara...
That achievement had only come after studying countless special lifeforms.
Back then...
Was it because Orloff didn't wish to research divine beasts?
Of course not.
As Orloff's divine clone...
How could Augusta not know the truth?
Back then...
Among the Four Edicts Chief Sovereigns, the other three had never concealed either their Paragon-level strength or their bodies that rivaled Sovereign artifacts.
At that time...
Even after gaining an additional portion of Will from Augusta...
Orloff's apparent strength still remained slightly inferior to that of the other three Edicts Chief Sovereigns.
Although possessing a body as tough as a Sovereign artifact only increased a Sovereign's offensive power tenfold...
Its improvement to defense approached a hundredfold.
A single portion of Will, meanwhile...
Only increased every aspect of a Sovereign's strength by tenfold.
In terms of defense...
It was far inferior to possessing a Sovereign-artifact-grade body.
Therefore...
At that time, Orloff's goal was to strengthen his own body until it reached the level of a Sovereign artifact.
Within this world...
Only certain powerful divine beasts and special lifeforms possessed bodies of such toughness.
Compared to divine beasts...
Special lifeforms generally possessed even stronger bodies, despite lacking innate divine abilities.
Researching special lifeforms was also much easier than researching divine beasts.
For precisely that reason...
Orloff ultimately chose to study special lifeforms and developed the Golden Body of Samsara by imitating their physiques.
Locke, meanwhile...
Gathered the blood essence of every divine beast possessing spatial innate divine abilities and ultimately created the bloodline of the spatial divine beast Dijiang.
But now...
Only five thousand years after obtaining the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' blood essence...
The Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff had successfully deciphered the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' innate divine abilities.
That alone completely broadened the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta's horizons.
So...
Even someone who wasn't a divine beast...
Could still wield a divine beast's innate divine ability through the Sovereign blood essence of that divine beast.
At that thought...
Augusta's eyes suddenly lit up.
If Orloff truly managed to recreate the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' fused innate divine ability...
Wouldn't that allow him to step into the ranks of the Edicts Chief Sovereigns?
After all...
Augusta had personally faced the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' fused innate divine ability.
He knew it could unleash power increased by ten thousandfold.
If Orloff mastered it...
Then Augusta would effectively master it as well.
When the next Sovereigns' Conference arrived...
If the Destruction Chief Sovereign once again opposed his attempt to become one of the Edicts Chief Sovereigns...
He would simply defeat him with that technique and seize his place.
Unlike the optimistic Augusta, who was already imagining the future...
Orloff himself wasn't nearly so confident.
It was true.
Over these five thousand years...
Relying upon his unparalleled talent, Orloff had deciphered the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' innate divine abilities through their Sovereign blood essence.
However...
Fusing those four innate divine abilities together...
Was far from an easy task.
To truly recreate the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' fused innate divine ability...
He would not only require a much deeper understanding of those abilities...
He would also need a far greater quantity of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' blood essence for experimentation.
Otherwise...
Everything remained nothing more than empty speculation.
"Augusta..."
...
"Lord Locke."
Within the dim Sovereign's Palace...
The Lightning Paragon Nanessa knelt on one knee before the throne, respectfully greeting Locke.
Anyone capable of completely fusing a single Law and becoming a Paragon possessed immense pride.
Even many Sovereigns who hadn't reached the Paragon level weren't held in particularly high regard by Paragons.
Naturally...
Nanessa was no exception.
However...
In this world...
Paragons might look down upon any Sovereign...
But none of them dared look down upon Chief Sovereign Locke.
After all...
Chief Sovereign Locke had forcefully opened up the path of cultivation beyond the Paragon realm, accomplishing what should have been impossible.
Moreover...
The Sovereigns of Locke's lineage had already proven that this path could lead directly to the realm of Sovereigns.
(End of Chapter)
⭐ Enjoying the story?
You can read ahead and support the translations by joining my Patreon! Your support helps me update faster and take on more projects. Thank you for reading!
Read up to 50 chapters ahead!
patreon.com/AminaSims
Next Bonus Chapter at 3700 Powerstones