After Beirut expressed his position, the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff looked toward Linley.
This time, Linley didn't say much either.
Strictly speaking, there had never been any personal grudge between him and the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta. He had only taken over this enmity because of the favor he owed Lord Beirut. Since Lord Beirut himself had already agreed to let bygones be bygones, Linley was naturally willing to let the matter rest as well.
After all, so long as his strength remained above that of the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta, Augusta would never dare make a move against Beirut or Bluefire.
"Then let it be settled."
Thus, a battle between Chief Sovereigns—or even one at the level of the Edicts Chief Sovereigns—came to an end.
At this Sovereign Assembly, the only one who had truly suffered was probably the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta, whose face had turned ashen.
It was foreseeable that, with the existence of Chief Sovereign Linley, the Yulan branch had completely risen to prominence, becoming a force among the Sovereigns that could no longer be ignored.
Conversely, the domineering image of the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta had been shattered. In the end, he had only managed to extricate himself by relying on a favor owed by the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff.
For quite some time to come, the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta would undoubtedly have to keep his head down.
Meanwhile, those Sovereigns who wished to be on good terms with the Yulan branch secretly began spreading recordings of Augusta's battle with the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns.
No one knew which genius had edited the recording, but someone had even made a close-up of the moment the Azure Dragon Sovereign Redding sprayed Augusta in the face. The image was unbelievably clear.
During this period, the people of the Light Divine Plane discovered that the sky was constantly covered in dark clouds. Every now and then, muffled thunder could be heard, yet not a single drop of rain ever fell.
Simply looking up at those thick clouds was enough to make one feel oppressed.
It was as though, overnight, the Light Divine Plane had become the Dark Divine Plane.
...
Within the Wind Divine Plane...
Teresia spread out his hand.
Azure Wind Laws condensed into a wind blade that danced back and forth across his palm.
Wherever the wind blade passed, space shattered like glass.
As the first Paragon Sovereign to pledge allegiance to Chief Sovereign Locke, Teresia naturally knew how to use the Wind Laws at the Paragon level to come into contact with and comprehend the higher Law.
Over these years, his attainments in the Laws of Space had improved considerably.
However...
After learning that each of the four Edicts Chief Sovereigns had increased their strength by at least hundreds or even thousands of times...
Teresia felt that the progress he had made over all these years was simply too insignificant to be worth mentioning.
According to Chief Sovereign Locke...
A single Paragon Law could at most comprehend twenty-five percent of the corresponding higher Law.
The power contained within ten percent of a higher Law was already comparable to one additional portion of Will.
Teresia was a Paragon Lesser Sovereign, with strength comparable to that of an ordinary Intermediate Sovereign.
If he could fully comprehend the twenty-five percent of the higher Law accessible through the Wind Laws...
His strength would reach the level of a Law Chief Sovereign.
Unfortunately...
Although Teresia was an extraordinary genius who had cultivated the Wind Laws to the Paragon level...
His progress in the Laws of Space remained painfully slow.
Later, Teresia managed to collect the blood essence of several divine beasts that possessed space-type innate divine abilities.
Only after studying them for a very long time did he finally step through the doorway into the Laws of Space.
Now...
He had been stuck at the threshold of ten percent comprehension of the Laws of Space for a very long time.
Had Locke not spoken those words today...
Teresia would have been extremely proud of his own progress.
But after learning how much the Edicts Chief Sovereigns had advanced...
Looking back at himself, whose strength hadn't even increased tenfold over all these years...
He couldn't help feeling that he had become the weakest among all Paragons.
In truth...
Teresia's cultivation speed was already among the very best of the Paragons.
Those Paragons on Mount Nether had only progressed so smoothly in the Laws of Space because they had obtained the blood essence of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns.
Yet even they...
Had still not reached the bottleneck of ten percent comprehension.
Otherwise...
Locke wouldn't have been so generous as to bestow a drop of his own blood essence to help them become Celestials.
"All the Paragon Sovereigns have increased their strength by hundreds or thousands of times."
"With progress as small as mine, I may as well have regressed."
"I've been trapped by this bottleneck in the higher Law for over four hundred kalpas."
"With my current foundation, breaking through by myself is practically impossible."
"The only one who can help me now..."
"...is Chief Sovereign Locke!"
Thinking this, Teresia dispersed the wind blade in his hand.
He tore open a spatial rift in the Wind Divine Plane and instantly traveled through the Spatial Turbulence.
Finally, he entered through a planar teleportation array located somewhere within the Wind Divine Plane and stepped onto it...
...
After entering the Netherworld...
Teresia transformed into a streak of azure light and flew toward Mount Nether at his greatest speed.
"Lord Locke, Teresia requests an audience."
After arriving at Mount Nether, Teresia did not make any special exceptions for himself.
He descended to the ground, passed through the three layers of mist, and only then transmitted his voice toward Mount Nether.
Within the Nether Mountains of the Netherworld...
Obtaining the highest-grade Abyssal fruit granted one an audience with the Death Chief Sovereign.
Passing through the three layers of mist and reaching the foot of Mount Nether granted one an audience with Chief Sovereign Locke.
Among the Sovereigns, such information was no secret.
Although Teresia himself was a Sovereign—and even a Paragon Sovereign...
He still followed the rules established by Locke, passing through the three trials of mist before requesting an audience.
"This little fellow..."
Within the Sovereign Palace, Locke smiled and shook his head.
He had always held Teresia in high regard.
Putting everything else aside...
The fact that Teresia had, without anyone's guidance, cultivated the Laws of Space until he stood only a hair's breadth away from fully comprehending ten percent of it...
Was enough to prove how exceptional he truly was.
After hearing Teresia's request...
With a single thought, Locke opened a spatial gateway between himself and Teresia.
"Come in, Teresia."
"Yes, Lord Locke."
After first bowing respectfully to Locke, Teresia stepped through the spatial gate and entered Locke's Sovereign Palace.
"Lord Locke."
Upon entering the palace, Teresia bowed once more.
The other Sovereigns only knew that Chief Sovereign Locke was powerful.
But none of them could truly explain wherein that power lay.
Only those who had themselves reached the Paragon level knew...
Just how miraculous the cultivation path Locke had pioneered beyond Paragon truly was.
Before becoming a Paragon...
Looking upon Chief Sovereign Locke was like gazing at the moon from the bottom of a well.
After becoming a Paragon and breaking free from one's cage...
Looking upon Chief Sovereign Locke was like a speck of dust beholding the vast heavens.
And after becoming a Sovereign...
Looking upon Chief Sovereign Locke...
Was like a mayfly gazing upon the universe itself.
"Enough, Teresia. There's no need to be so formal."
"Come to think of it, it has been many years since you last came to see me."
Hearing Locke say this, Teresia smiled bitterly.
Before this Sovereign Assembly...
How could he possibly have known that the Edicts Chief Sovereigns had improved so dramatically?
Otherwise...
According to his original plan, he would only have come to Mount Nether after completely comprehending ten percent of the Laws of Space.
"Lord Locke, please don't tease me."
"For all these years, I've been trapped at a bottleneck in my cultivation of the Laws of Space."
"In the end, I could only come here in disgrace to seek your guidance."
"I hope Lord Locke won't hesitate to instruct me."
Teresia's attitude was exceedingly humble.
"No, Teresia."
"You've exceeded my expectations by quite a bit."
"The Laws of Space are a higher Law hidden within the universe."
Locke said to Teresia,
"The most difficult part of comprehending the Laws of Space is making contact with them in the first place."
"The fact that you thought of analyzing the blood essence of divine beasts possessing space-type innate divine abilities as an aid—and even achieved considerable success..."
"...has already exceeded my expectations and pleasantly surprised me."
"What you lack now..."
"...is simply the blood essence of a divine beast possessing an even stronger space-type innate divine ability."
After saying this, Locke beckoned with one hand.
A drop of crimson blood radiating an astonishing pressure appeared in his palm.
"This is a drop of the White Tiger Sovereign's Sovereign blood essence."
"It will greatly assist you in using the Wind Laws to better connect with the source of the Laws of Space."
"With your level of comprehension..."
"You will certainly be able to take another step forward in the Laws of Space."
"This..."
The moment he saw this drop of the White Tiger Sovereign's blood essence...
Teresia was instantly overjoyed.
If he could obtain this drop of Sovereign blood essence...
He was one hundred percent confident that he could break through his bottleneck and raise the enhancement provided by the Laws of Space to the level of a tenfold increase.
However...
Teresia also understood just how precious this drop of Sovereign blood essence truly was.
Had the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns still been alive...
The other Sovereigns could have traded a sufficient price for some of their blood essence.
But while the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns had lived...
Teresia had never dared make such a request.
What a joke.
Sovereign blood essence contained part of a divine beast's profound mysteries.
How could it possibly be given away casually?
Besides...
Teresia was merely a Paragon Lesser Sovereign.
The Four Divine Beast Sovereigns, however, were Chief Sovereigns.
What could he possibly offer in exchange for their blood essence?
Probably only someone like Chief Sovereign Locke...
Could propose such a trade to the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns without immediately being attacked.
Now that the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns had already fallen...
Their Sovereign blood essence had become irreplaceable.
Every drop used meant one less remaining.
Its value had therefore risen even higher.
"Lord Locke, I..."
Teresia swallowed hard.
Forcing his gaze away from the drop of Sovereign blood essence, he said,
"This treasure is simply too precious."
"I am unworthy of accepting it."
"Take it."
Locke flicked a finger.
The drop of the White Tiger Sovereign's blood essence immediately floated before Teresia.
"Perhaps to you..."
"The Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' blood essence is indeed precious."
"But to me..."
"It's nothing particularly special."
"I still have quite a lot of it."
Long before the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns died...
One of Locke's divine clones had already been waiting at the ancestral baptism ceremonies of the Four Divine Beast Clan, quietly collecting the scattered Sovereign blood essence.
It could be said that...
The amount of Four Divine Beast Sovereign blood essence in Locke's possession far exceeded the amount the Fate Chief Sovereign Orloff had painstakingly refined by slaughtering countless members of the Four Divine Beast Clan across eleven planes.
In fact...
Locke possessed dozens of times more.
Had he not consumed so much of it during his own cultivation...
He would still have four or five times more than he currently did.
After Locke elevated his own bloodline into that of a supreme divine beast with the Space attribute...
The power of space contained within his own bloodline had long surpassed that found within the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' blood essence.
Using Locke's own blood essence to cultivate the Laws of Space...
Was hundreds of times more effective than using the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns' blood essence.
It was precisely because of this...
Whenever members of Locke's own branch stood on the verge of breaking through a bottleneck...
Locke would bestow upon them a single drop of his own blood essence to help them overcome it.
That was also why so many members of Locke's branch had ultimately reached the Celestial realm, possessing strength comparable to Sovereigns.
However...
Locke's original body was currently still within the Elemental Plane.
The one remaining here was merely his water divine clone.
Therefore...
Even if he wished to give Teresia a drop of his own blood essence...
He simply couldn't.
Still...
Given Teresia's current attainments in the Laws of Space...
A single drop of the White Tiger Sovereign's blood essence would be more than enough to help him successfully break through.
"Thank you, Lord Locke."
Teresia solemnly accepted the drop of the White Tiger Sovereign's blood essence and respectfully thanked Locke.
"Lord Locke..."
"I wonder..."
"May I build a palace upon Mount Nether?"
The moment Teresia spoke these words...
He was, in effect, formally pledging allegiance to Locke.
Although he had always claimed to belong to Locke's branch...
That had only ever been his own declaration.
In reality...
He had never received official recognition from either Locke or the Death Chief Sovereign.
It was simply that neither Locke nor the Death Chief Sovereign had ever denied it...
So the other Sovereigns naturally assumed they had tacitly accepted him.
On Mount Nether...
Only Sovereigns belonging to the Mount Nether branch were qualified to build their own palaces there.
By making this request...
Teresia was asking Locke for official recognition.
He wished to formally become a Sovereign of Locke's branch.
Hearing Teresia's request...
Locke was momentarily stunned.
To be honest...
Back when the Sovereigns had learned that Locke had pioneered an entirely new cultivation path beyond Paragon...
Every one of them had wanted to learn whether Locke had also discovered a cultivation method beyond the Sovereign stage.
At that time...
It had been Teresia, as a Paragon, who stood up and argued against the other Sovereigns, declaring that only Paragons were qualified to learn the cultivation path Chief Sovereign Locke had opened beyond the Paragon realm.
Only then had the Sovereigns finally quieted down.
It was from that time onward...
That Locke had begun to appreciate Teresia somewhat.
Although his strength wasn't particularly outstanding...
His way of handling matters suited Locke's temperament very well and spared him a great deal of trouble.
According to Locke's original plans...
Once he successfully created his own universe...
Everyone on Mount Nether would have the opportunity to choose whether to enter that universe.
Now...
For Teresia to make such a request at this moment...
Could also be considered his own good fortune.
Locke immediately nodded.
"Very well."
"If that is your wish, I have no objection to you establishing a palace on Mount Nether."
"Many thanks, Lord Locke."
Receiving Locke's permission...
Teresia was overjoyed.
After respectfully bowing once more to Locke...
He withdrew from the Sovereign Palace and began searching Mount Nether for a suitable place to construct his own Sovereign Palace.
(End of Chapter)
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