However, under a Sovereign's pursuit, not every Sovereign was able to successfully flee back to their own Divine Plane and obtain the protection of their ruling Sovereign.
Moreover, because the Lightning Sovereign Hurley had already been killed by the four Rule Sovereigns, the Lightning Divine Plane had now become little more than a sieve.
Other Sovereigns came and went as they pleased.
Under such circumstances, the Lightning Sovereigns no longer felt any sense of security.
In the end, one Intermediate Lightning Sovereign went to the Celestial Realm and sought refuge under Orloff, the Fate Sovereign, hoping to gain his protection.
Another Intermediate Lightning Sovereign went to the Netherworld and placed himself under Liliya, the Death Sovereign.
Of the remaining four Lightning Sovereigns, two went to the Life Divine Realm and entered Wawaya's faction.
Of the two left, one had a friend among the Water Sovereigns and thus fled to the Water Divine Plane, where he received the Water Sovereign's protection.
The final one appeared to be on his way to Hell to seek the protection of the Destruction Sovereign.
Unfortunately, he was one step too late.
With the entire Lightning Divine Plane reduced to only a single Lesser Sovereign, he was ultimately ambushed and killed by three Lesser Sovereigns.
However, perhaps due to a dispute over ownership of the Lightning Sovereign spark, after killing that Lightning Sovereign, the three allied Sovereigns immediately turned on one another.
Later, it seemed that two of them secretly reached some kind of agreement and joined forces against the third, blocking his route back to the Divine Plane.
With no other choice, that Sovereign fled into the deepest reaches of the spatial turbulence, eventually finding his native material plane and tearing through space to hide within it.
Naturally, the other two were unwilling to let him escape.
Their divine senses spread out, searching through the countless material planes in that region of the spatial turbulence.
At last, their efforts paid off.
They found the Sovereign hiding within a material plane.
Without hesitation, the two Sovereigns tore open space and entered that material plane.
Then—
something shocking happened.
The moment the two foreign Sovereigns entered, the material plane let out a mournful cry, unable to bear the presence of Sovereigns not native to it.
In an instant, heaven and earth shattered.
Mountains overturned.
Rivers reversed.
In only a few breaths, the entire material plane collapsed.
Aside from the three Sovereigns, every living being in that plane perished alongside it.
As for the destruction of the material plane, the two Lesser Sovereigns showed no reaction whatsoever.
To them, it was nothing more than the death of ants.
Just as humans would never care how many ants were scalded to death by pouring boiling water into an anthill, Sovereigns likewise did not care how many lives were lost with the destruction of a material plane.
However—
while they did not care,
someone else did.
Or rather—
an Overgod.
Just as the two Lesser Sovereigns were about to continue attacking the third Sovereign, a vast and majestic will descended.
That boundless will instantly spread throughout the entire Coiling Dragon Universe.
The moment they sensed it every Sovereign was shaken.
Merely from that will alone, they knew—
an Overgod had descended.
Netherworld — Water Palace
"How is that possible?!"
Inside the Water Palace, Liliya suddenly cried out in shock, startling Locke out of cultivation.
Dispersing the blood-red aura surrounding him, Locke turned toward her in confusion.
"What happened, Liliya?"
"An Overgod has descended."
"What?"
Even Locke was startled.
To Sovereigns like Liliya, the Overgods were manifestations of the universe's supreme laws, the very will of cosmic order itself.
They only descended when the laws of the universe had been violated.
But Locke knew more.
It was true that the Overgods of the Coiling Dragon Universe possessed no independent will and existed only to maintain cosmic law.
However—
Hongmeng, the creator of this universe, absolutely did possess will.
If he wished, he could descend through the Overgods at any moment.
"Locke, if an Overgod has descended, then someone must have violated the laws of the world. I need to go see what happened."
"Mm."
Locke nodded.
"Go."
If he claimed he was not curious, he would be lying.
If possible, he too wished to go into the spatial turbulence and witness the existence of an Overgod firsthand.
This was a level equivalent to a Godking of the main universe.
Seeing an Overgod might very well give him new insight into his own path of cultivation.
He also could not help but wonder—
what would Hongmeng think of him?
As a Hongmeng Controller, Hongmeng could perceive the fate of nearly every living being within his universe.
Only those whose destinies were uncertain were truly unknowable.
As for whether Hongmeng knew he was a transmigrator—
Locke had no doubt that he did.
After all, this was Hongmeng's universe.
What within it could possibly escape his awareness?
And besides, "transmigrator" was merely Locke's own label.
To an existence like Hongmeng, perhaps this was no more remarkable than moving from one village to another.
After all, in the Linmeng Universe, Lei Wei—the creator of the Stellar Transformations technique—had also traversed from a technological universe into a cultivation universe.
Perhaps what ordinary beings saw as an incomprehensible miracle was, to Hongmeng, simply an interaction between cosmic spaces.
Still—
those capable of experiencing such chance events were undoubtedly beings with uncertain destiny.
Perhaps such people were precisely what could bring a spark of novelty even to Hongmeng.
As for why the Overgod had descended this time, Locke already had a rough guess.
Most likely—
the Sovereigns were about to receive a new restriction.
A prohibition against destroying material planes.
Spatial Turbulence
Within the dazzling currents of spatial chaos, endless destructive energy converged.
At last, it condensed into an immense and majestic figure.
Countless material planes floated around that colossal form like grains of dust.
It was a sight so grand that it inspired instinctive fear.
Unfortunately, only Sovereigns could witness such magnificence.
After sensing the will that had swept across the entire universe, all surviving Sovereigns hurried into the spatial turbulence.
Even those who had moments ago been fighting for their lives immediately ceased combat and rushed toward the Overgod's location.
Even the four Rule Sovereigns emerged from their Higher Planes to pay their respects.
"Greetings, Overgod."
Very soon, the Sovereigns gathered before the Destruction Overgod, bowing respectfully.
Though they knew the Overgod was merely the embodiment of law and had no need for such courtesy, none dared show disrespect.
After tens of thousands of years of warfare, the original seventy-seven Sovereigns had now been reduced to only forty-eight.
Even among the Arch-Sovereign tier, losses had occurred.
Aside from Hurley, who had been killed from the very beginning by the four Rule Sovereigns, two more Chief Sovereigns had fallen.
The Water Chief Sovereign had been killed by the Four Divine Beasts' fusion innate divine ability.
The Wind Chief Sovereign Deya had escaped.
The Dark Chief Sovereign had also been slain by Augusta, the Light Chief Sovereign.
At this point, both the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns and the Light Chief Sovereign were recognized as the strongest beneath the Rule Sovereigns.
After all, other Chief Sovereigns had all fought one another, and their strengths were generally comparable.
But these two factions had actually killed Chief Sovereigns.
That placed them clearly half a tier above the others.
Meanwhile, the losses among ordinary Sovereigns were even heavier.
Only the Destruction faction had remained relatively stable thanks to Wordred's protection, aside from Violet Thorn Sovereign's husband.
The Life Divine Realm had suffered no losses at all.
Its seven Sovereigns had remained perfectly united throughout the war.
The Life faction was now clearly the most cohesive of all the Divine and Higher Planes.
Then the Destruction Overgod slowly opened his eyes.
The moment he did, every Sovereign felt their divine body tighten.
It was as though some incomprehensible, supreme existence had fixed its gaze upon them.
"The duty of Sovereigns is to assist the Overgods in maintaining the laws of this world and preserving its stability."
"Your battles destroyed a material plane and disrupted the balance of the universe."
"You shall be punished."
The moment the Destruction Overgod spoke, every Sovereign felt as though their soul had fallen into a bottomless abyss.
Many nearly slipped into eternal sleep.
Only the protection of their Sovereign sparks prevented total annihilation.
"How terrifying…"
Vivia pressed close to Liliya.
"Big sister, the Overgod is terrifying. Just hearing his voice nearly killed me…"
"Keep your voice down, Vivia," Liliya muttered.
"The Destruction Overgod is still here. Be careful he doesn't make things difficult for you."
"Huh?"
Vivia blinked.
"Aren't Overgods just manifestations of law? Why would they make things difficult for me if I didn't break any rules?"
Liliya snorted.
"You're still too naïve."
"Who told you that embodiments of law don't have preferences?"
She folded her arms and raised her chin.
"The four Higher Planes were created by the four Overgods. We who were born from them are practically their children."
"If that's the case, then the treasures we received clearly show whose children are most favored."
"And I am obviously the one most loved by the Death Overgod."
"Otherwise, why would the Death Overgod have left me so many treasures?"
"You and Wordred, on the other hand, simply aren't favored enough to receive better treasures."
Naturally, the "better treasures" she referred to were the Plane Hearts.
The other Sovereigns didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Was the Death Sovereign truly that bold—
or did she genuinely believe she was the Overgods' favorite child?
Soon, the Sovereigns noticed that two Sovereigns had not awakened.
They were the two who had caused the destruction of the material plane.
Clearly—
they had already died from the Overgod's voice alone.
The spatial turbulence swept over their lifeless bodies, carrying them away.
At once, all remaining Sovereigns fell silent.
Then a new law appeared within the souls of the remaining forty-six Sovereigns.
Any Sovereign who causes the destruction of a material plane by any means shall immediately perish for violating the laws set by the Overgods.
The moment this new restriction appeared, every Sovereign shuddered.
From now on, even battles within the spatial turbulence had to be approached with extreme caution.
If by accident a crack in space opened near a material plane and battle shockwaves spread into it—
the consequences would be fatal.
After delivering punishment and implanting the new law, the Destruction Overgod's form dispersed.
Only then did the Sovereigns finally breathe again.
Even knowing that Overgods would not target them so long as they obeyed the laws, the sheer pressure of such an existence was suffocating.
Like an ordinary mortal standing before a colossal beast thousands of meters tall—
even if the beast had no intention of eating them, the overwhelming difference in life level alone was enough to leave them trembling.
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