"Oh, right, Liliya—about how long does it take for the Netherfruit Tree to bear fruit?"
After contacting Oakes and receiving his reply, Locke turned to the Death Sovereign and asked.
"The Netherfruit?"
The moment he brought it up, Liliya instantly understood what he meant.
Back when the Sovereigns first established their Sovereign Armies, it had taken quite a bit of effort.
At the time, however, Highgods were still regarded as absolute powerhouses throughout the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes, so even Demigods were recruited.
Many members of the Sovereign Armies had only broken through after joining.
But things were different now.
As a newly ascended Sovereign, if Locke wanted to build his own Sovereign Army, there was no way he could recruit even Demigods.
Nowadays, nearly every Sovereign Army began at the God level.
If Locke's army still had to pad its numbers with Demigods, he would absolutely become a laughingstock among the other Sovereigns.
Moreover, every current Sovereign Army commander was an Asura Prefecture Lord–level expert.
Liliya had already met several of Locke's subordinates.
Among them, only Oakes, the Prefecture Lord of Shadowmoon, was truly impressive.
The others were just about qualified to serve as regular members of a Sovereign Army.
They still fell far short of the standard required for a Sovereign emissary.
But knowing Locke's sentimental nature, it was entirely possible he would make all of them his emissaries anyway.
If he was asking about Netherfruit, it had to be for them.
"The fruiting cycle of the Netherfruit Tree depends on how much energy is nurtured within the fruit."
"If it's merely a Netherfruit capable of allowing a Saint-level expert to become a Deity, then it can produce tens of thousands every ten million years."
"If it's a Netherfruit capable of letting someone fuse two profound mysteries, then it yields several thousand every hundred million years."
"One that lets someone fuse three profound mysteries—one hundred fruits every one billion years."
"One that allows the fusion of four profound mysteries—five fruits every ten billion years."
"And the strongest kind I can currently nurture…"
"A Netherfruit that allows someone to fuse five profound mysteries…"
"…takes roughly one hundred billion years to produce a single fruit."
"A hundred billion years for one?"
Locke sucked in a breath.
That was far longer than he had expected.
But then something occurred to him, and he blinked as he looked at Liliya.
If he remembered correctly, when he and Liliya first arrived at Mount Nether a few million years ago, it had coincided with her companion creatures Ivina and Jin secretly eating Netherfruit at the Seven-Star Fiend level.
But according to what she had just said, a fruit capable of fusing four profound mysteries required ten billion years.
The Coiling Dragon universe itself likely hadn't even existed that long yet.
So how had the Nether Sovereign managed to produce two such fruits?
Sure enough, right after saying that, Liliya changed her tone.
"Well, of course—that's under normal conditions."
"If I consume a large amount of Sovereign power and faith energy, the nurturing time can be shortened by up to ten thousand times."
Ten thousand times shorter.
That meant a fruit that normally took ten billion years could be completed in just one million years.
So that was it.
Even with a ten-thousand-fold acceleration, a Netherfruit at the Asura level still required ten million years.
At that thought, Locke sighed.
Ten million years…
Still, it wasn't impossible to wait.
He immediately said,
"Liliya, do you have enough faith energy to spare?"
"If not, I can transfer the faith energy stored within my Sovereign spark to you."
"You know all my Laws are already perfected. Faith energy doesn't do much for me anymore."
"But Netherfruit…"
"…that can be of tremendous use."
"I need two Netherfruits."
"Mm, alright."
"I'll have Nether begin nurturing them at full capacity right away."
"At most, in twenty million years, I'll give you two Netherfruits capable of fusing five profound mysteries."
This was the first time Locke had directly asked something of her.
Liliya was instantly brimming with motivation.
"There's no need to rush that much, Liliya."
Naturally, Locke could feel her sincerity.
But there was no way he would allow those around her to suffer inconvenience solely for his sake.
"When the first Netherfruit is ready, give it to Christina first."
"As the commander of your Sovereign Army, it wouldn't be good if her strength remained too weak."
Christina was the commander of the Death Sovereign's Nether Army.
By herself, she only possessed strength at the Seven-Star Fiend level.
With the support of a Sovereign artifact, she could barely step into the Asura tier.
"You know Oakes under my command already has Asura-level strength."
"Once I formally make him my emissary and grant him a Sovereign artifact, there won't be many people stronger than him."
"That's true."
After a moment of thought, Liliya nodded.
That was indeed the case.
Although Locke had only just formally become a Sovereign, Oakes under his command was already no weaker than the commanders of other Sovereign Armies.
With Oakes around, Locke truly didn't need to rush when it came to top-tier experts.
Instead, it was her side that needed attention.
Even with all her support, Christina's position as commander—secured largely through the might of a Sovereign artifact—had drawn quite a bit of criticism.
After settling those matters, Liliya set down her teacup, rose to her feet, and stretched.
"Alright then, Locke. Come with me now."
"Hm? Where to?"
Locke blinked in confusion.
"The spatial turbulence, of course."
Riiip!
With a single tear of her hand, the Death Sovereign ripped open space inside the Water Estate and stepped directly into the spatial turbulence.
At the same time, her voice drifted back.
"As a newly ascended Sovereign—especially one at the level of a Chief Sovereign—Locke, you need to attend the Sovereign Assembly and let the other Sovereigns know your rank."
"Otherwise, if some weaker Sovereign unknowingly offends you and gets killed…"
"…wouldn't that be an awfully unjust death?"
Hearing that, Locke froze for a moment.
He hadn't expected his first meeting with the other Sovereigns to come so much earlier than anticipated.
He wondered what expressions those old acquaintances would wear when they saw him again.
At that thought, he smiled faintly.
After putting away the teacups and teapot into his interspatial ring, Locke casually tore open space and stepped into the spatial turbulence.
This was his first time entering it.
The moment he found himself within that multicolored, chaotic expanse, he could feel it—
the bloodline within him, and the spatial power flowing through it, seemed almost… joyful.
At the end of the day, although Hongmeng had concealed the Laws of Space and Time within the Coiling Dragon universe, the concentration of spatial power within the countless layers of spatial turbulence was denser than even the Laws permeating the Higher Planes.
One could even say that this endless spatial turbulence was practically Locke's personal Supreme Plane of Space.
Even though the spatial Laws themselves still couldn't be directly sensed here, it would tremendously accelerate his absorption of spatial power and the completion of the Dijiang Bloodline.
With the ability to freely enter the spatial turbulence, Locke no longer needed to take an interplanar teleportation array every time he fused a new divine beast bloodline just to speed up the process.
The moment Locke entered the turbulence, the Death Sovereign's divine sense spread across the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes.
Soon, Sovereigns who received her summons tore open space one after another and gathered within the spatial turbulence.
Compared to the first Sovereign Assembly, there were far fewer Sovereigns this time.
Moreover, the number emerging from each Divine Plane was no longer uniform.
During the first assembly, aside from the Four Divine Beasts emerging from Hell, most Sovereigns had appeared from their respective elemental planes.
Even their standing positions had been arranged behind the Chief Sovereign of their own element.
But this time, several Sovereigns did not emerge from their original planes at all.
When they took their places, they stood instead within the camps of the Four Edict Sovereigns, rather than beneath the Chief Sovereigns of their own element.
It couldn't be helped.
The last Sovereign war had made them witness the absolute disparity in strength.
Only the Four Edict Sovereigns had a 100% guarantee of protecting the Sovereigns within their domains.
As for the Laws Chief Sovereigns—
many of them could barely protect themselves.
"We greet the Four Sovereigns."
"We greet the Four Sovereigns."
After the Sovereigns settled into their respective groups and bowed to the Four Edict Sovereigns, their gazes all shifted toward Locke.
After all, the only unfamiliar face at this assembly was a single newly ascended Sovereign.
Naturally, everyone could guess that this gathering had been called because of him.
Of course, it wasn't entirely true that Locke was unfamiliar to all of them.
At the very least, the six remaining Destruction Sovereigns of Hell, as well as the Four Divine Beasts, all knew him.
"It's you? Locke?"
The Four Divine Beasts spoke before the others from Hell could.
Particularly Azure Dragon Sovereign Redding.
The bitterness in his tone was unmistakable to every Sovereign present.
"Ah, yes. It's me."
"Four Sovereigns, it's been a long time."
Although Locke had no idea why Redding seemed to hate him so intensely, he couldn't care less now.
He greeted the four of them with a smile.
Aside from Redding, the other three Sovereigns nodded to him in a friendly manner.
"And to the Sovereigns of Hell—hello again."
The five Destruction Sovereigns of Hell all smiled and nodded back.
Only Bloodridge Sovereign Pashi turned pale.
When had this bastard become a Sovereign?
Of course, he wasn't the only one wondering that.
The other Destruction Sovereigns were equally puzzled.
At the previous Sovereign Assembly, Locke had not appeared.
That had confirmed he was not yet a Sovereign.
Yet now, after such a short span of time, he had already ascended.
And unlike the others, the Destruction Sovereigns knew more about him.
Before becoming a Sovereign, Locke had already possessed Will without being anyone's divine clone.
That could only mean one thing.
He had been a Paragon.
Still…
They carefully sensed the aura around him.
A Fate Sovereign.
During the last Sovereign war, the Fate Sovereigns had lost three Demigods and one God.
So, had Locke refined a God Sovereign spark?
Or merely a Demigod one?
The other Sovereigns, meanwhile, found it strange that Locke seemed acquainted with so many from Hell.
"Alright. Since everyone is here, let today's assembly begin."
As always, it was the Death Sovereign who spoke first.
"After over a hundred thousand years of peace, we finally welcome a new Sovereign."
"Sovereign Locke, please introduce yourself to everyone."
"Yes, Sovereign."
After bowing slightly to the Death Sovereign, Locke stepped forward into the center of the gathering.
"Sovereigns, this is our first meeting."
"My name is Locke."
"As you can all see, I am a newly ascended Lesser Fate Sovereign."
At those words, the Destruction Sovereign Wordred frowned.
"Death Sovereign."
"A mere newly ascended Lesser Sovereign doesn't warrant convening a Sovereign Assembly."
Though by rule any of the Four Edict Sovereigns had the authority to convene one at will, using such an assembly for a mere Demigod Sovereign undeniably lowered its prestige.
The Death Sovereign arched a brow.
"What is it, Wordred?"
"Locke hasn't even finished speaking, and you're already jumping out so eagerly?"
"Feeling the need to loosen your bones a little?"
"Hmph."
Wordred snorted coldly and said no more.
But his gaze remained fixed on Locke.
"Locke, was it?"
"I hope what you say next is worthy of the Death Sovereign calling an assembly specifically for you."
"Otherwise…"
He didn't need to finish.
Everyone present understood.
A Sovereign disliked by an Edict Sovereign would quickly become a target for many others seeking favor.
"What an honor."
Locke smiled as though he hadn't heard the threat at all.
But what he said next stunned every Sovereign present.
"When I refined this Fate Sovereign spark and became a Sovereign, the Death Sovereign personally came to find me."
"She said she wanted to bring me here so all Sovereigns could become acquainted with me."
"I thought that was a good idea."
"After all, now that I know the Sovereign accords exist…"
"…if another Sovereign, unaware of my existence, were to offend me and end up being killed by me…"
"…wouldn't that be an awfully unjust death?"
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