Rather, they would have preferred Locke to use his Water divine clone to hunt down those two Lesser Water Sovereigns.
If that happened, then Locke's achievements in the short term would be limited to becoming the fifth fourth-tier Edict Sovereign, nothing more.
But if Locke didn't kill those two Lesser Water Sovereigns, everyone's wariness toward him would rise to an even greater level.
Because that would mean Locke harbored even greater ambitions.
Under such circumstances, the Sovereigns had no choice but to strengthen their vigilance over the Water Chief Sovereign spark, while hoping that a new Water Chief Sovereign would never appear.
…
"What exactly are these Sovereigns doing now?"
In the Underworld, inside the Water Palace, Death Sovereign Lilia frowned.
At this moment, Locke's Water Palace, besides the flowing currents that had always filled it, was now overlaid with a faint white radiance.
This was Fate Sovereign power.
After Locke became a Sovereign, he had upgraded his Water Palace into a true Sovereign Palace.
And ever since then, whenever Lilia came to see him, she always used her true Sovereign body.
"A divine plane with only two Lesser Sovereigns standing guard…"
Sovereigns stood high above all others, but that did not mean they had nothing to do.
The Coiling Dragon Universe was merely an auxiliary universe created by Hongmeng to stabilize the main universe.
As the first being in the Hongmeng Space to open a universe, the cosmos Hongmeng created was naturally far from perfect.
Otherwise, why would a vast and stable main universe need four subsidiary universes to support it?
If even the main universe itself required four supporting universes to remain stable, how stable could one expect an auxiliary universe to be?
Thus, just as the four subsidiary universes upheld the main universe, the Four Overgods of the Four Edicts had fused themselves into the Coiling Dragon Universe to maintain the normal operation of its laws.
But Hongmeng could not devote all of his attention to a single auxiliary universe.
So, within the Coiling Dragon Universe, he created seventy-seven Sovereign sparks, allowing the Sovereigns to assist in its management.
Hadn't each divine plane been jointly created by the Sovereigns of its respective element?
Thus, the duty of the Sovereigns was to manage the Coiling Dragon Universe according to its rules and ensure its stable operation.
As long as the universe continued functioning properly, Hongmeng had no interest in interfering with what the living beings within it did.
Although nearly half of the seventy-seven Sovereigns had fallen because of the Sovereign War, each divine plane still required at least one Intermediate Sovereign or three Lesser Sovereigns to oversee it and regulate its laws and elemental energies.
The number of Sovereigns within each divine plane directly corresponded to the number of divine-level experts that plane could sustain.
The more Sovereigns a plane had, the more divine experts it could support.
The fewer Sovereigns it had, the fewer divine experts it could bear.
This was because divine-level experts were beings who had comprehended the profound mysteries of Laws or Edicts.
Simply by residing in one place for a long time, they would gradually influence the surrounding environment and alter the local Laws.
Under such circumstances, it was the Sovereigns' duty to sort and regulate the chaotic Laws and Edicts of their native plane, reducing—or even completely erasing—the impact caused by divine-level beings.
Otherwise, once the number of divine experts became too great and their influence outpaced the Sovereigns' ability to regulate it, the result could be the collapse of the divine plane itself.
Under normal circumstances, every plane had seven Sovereigns stationed within it.
If all Sovereigns of one element were present, they almost didn't need to do anything.
Their mere existence alone was enough to completely erase the impact divine beings had on the plane.
And yet now, the Water Divine Plane had only two Lesser Water Sovereigns.
Unless those two gave up cultivation entirely and devoted all their efforts to regulating the Water Laws of the plane—
then at most within one trillion years, the Water Divine Plane would descend into collapse due to the disorder of its Laws and Edicts.
This was something all Sovereigns knew perfectly well.
What Lilia could not understand was this:
why had Fate Sovereign Orloff accepted that Intermediate Water Sovereign under his wing?
Even if he accepted the Water Sovereign's allegiance, there was no need to keep him in the Celestial Realm.
He could simply have sent him back to the Water Divine Plane to stabilize its Laws and Edicts.
"Haha, Lilia, Orloff and the others are afraid of me."
Unlike Lilia, the moment Locke used his divine sense to observe the movements of the Water Sovereigns, he immediately understood Orloff's reasoning.
"Afraid of you? Why?"
Lilia looked at Locke in confusion.
She truly could not understand Orloff's actions.
What was there to fear about Locke?
After so many years by his side, she had never once found him frightening.
On the contrary, she admired him immensely.
"Isn't it obvious?"
Locke shrugged.
"I still have my Water divine clone."
"Since they all know the situation with my Water clone, how could they possibly allow me to obtain an Intermediate Water Sovereign spark?"
"I suspect that in the future, it won't matter if no new Water Chief Sovereign appears."
"But the moment one does—and if that new Sovereign isn't a Paragon—then the other three Edict Sovereigns will probably immediately place them under protection in their own planes to prevent me from assassinating the new Water Sovereign."
"I see."
Upon hearing Locke's explanation, Lilia instantly understood.
Of course.
With Locke's current strength, if he were to obtain a Intermediate or Highgod Sovereign spark, he would immediately become a super Sovereign surpassing all others.
Naturally, the other Sovereigns did not want another being capable of killing them at any moment.
And yet they had no way to stop Locke directly.
So, this was the only way they could prevent him from growing into a threat to everyone.
Seen from this perspective, leaving those two Lesser Water Sovereigns in the Water Divine Plane likely carried another meaning as well.
They were willing to sacrifice them.
They wanted Locke to refine a Lesser spark, thereby cutting off even greater possibilities for him.
At that thought, Lilia's eyes narrowed slightly.
Orloff…
She had remembered this.
"Then what do you intend to do, Locke?"
"Do you plan to refine an Intermediate Water Sovereign spark, or wait for a new Water Chief Sovereign to appear and then kill them for their Chief Sovereign spark?"
Lilia asked.
If Locke said even a single word indicating he wanted the Intermediate Water spark, she would immediately storm the Celestial Realm herself, hold Orloff back, and let Locke kill that Intermediate Water Sovereign.
"As for living Sovereigns, forget it."
"I'm not at the point where I need to seize Sovereign sparks from living Sovereigns just to become stronger."
Locke shook his head.
Unlike the other Sovereigns, their path had already ended.
But Locke's path still stretched onward.
Whether it was the fusion of Water Laws and the Fate Edict, or the comprehension of spatial power, both could still continue to increase his strength.
Under such circumstances, the power gained from refining another Sovereign spark was not particularly tempting.
Worse, it would turn him into the public enemy of all Sovereigns.
Locke himself didn't care.
But he did not want Lilia to be treated the same way.
Death Sovereign was extraordinarily proud.
Yet that pride also required the presence of the other Sovereigns beneath her to serve as contrast.
If both Lilia and he were rejected by all Sovereigns, then even if she never said it aloud, it would still weigh on her heart.
After all, all living beings possess a herd instinct.
They naturally seek out others like themselves.
Sovereigns were like this.
Paragons were like this.
Divine beasts were the same.
Take Beirut, for example.
As a Godeater Rat, he had children of his own.
Yet when the second Godeater Rat, Bebe, appeared, it was obvious that Beirut's feelings for Bebe surpassed even those for his own offspring.
Because in Beirut's eyes, only another Godeater Rat was truly his kind.
Of course, just as Locke said, he would not touch living Sovereigns.
But if a Water Sovereign spark happened to fall into his hands by other means, he certainly would not mind becoming stronger.
"It's a pity."
"Even if I said all this aloud, the other Sovereigns probably wouldn't dare believe me."
After saying this to Lilia, Locke himself laughed.
It was true.
As long as the possibility existed, even if his words were genuine, the other Sovereigns would not dare trust them.
It wasn't that they couldn't believe him.
It was that they dared not.
They would not gamble on it.
Unless Locke swore in the name of an Overgod.
But was that possible?
The moment he made such an oath, it would become a shackle around himself.
That kind of restriction could damage his spirit and possibly cause his cultivation path to stagnate forever.
"Forget it. No point dwelling on it."
"If no new Water Sovereign is born within a trillion years, then we can reconsider the matter of the Water Divine Plane."
"Otherwise, once the Water Divine Plane collapses, even the Overgods may intervene."
Lilia still had not forgotten what had happened during the Sovereign War.
When two Sovereigns entered a material plane and caused its destruction, they violated the rules of the Coiling Dragon Universe.
The Overgod of Destruction had descended, and with a single sentence, both Sovereigns were erased.
The only question was:
if the Water Divine Plane collapsed, how many Sovereigns would die?
Would only the Water Sovereigns be punished?
Or would all Sovereigns suffer consequences?
No one knew.
Locke nodded as well.
A trillion years was still far too distant.
And besides, solving the problem of the Water Divine Plane was not particularly difficult.
At the very least, Locke already knew three methods.
The first method was the simplest—and perhaps the hardest.
That was to have Orloff release the Intermediate Water Sovereign stationed in the Celestial Realm and send him back.
Simple because it required only a single word from Orloff.
Hard because Orloff would almost certainly never agree.
He too feared that the moment that Water Sovereign left the Celestial Realm, Locke might immediately intercept and kill him.
Although for a Laws Chief Sovereign like Locke to kill an Intermediate Sovereign would technically violate the Sovereign Pact and invite pursuit from the four Edict Sovereigns—
once Locke refined a Intermediate Water spark, he would surpass all four of them and no longer fear such pursuit.
At that point, the situation would reverse.
It would no longer be the Edict Sovereigns hunting Locke.
It would be Locke hunting the Edict Sovereigns.
Orloff would never gamble on that possibility.
And if he raised the matter, Wawaya and Wordred would likely side with him.
The second method was to have a Lesser Water Sovereign go to the Water Divine Plane and assist the two current Sovereigns in regulating its Laws.
As for which Lesser Water Sovereigns still existed?
There was one.
Azure Dragon Sovereign Redding of the Four Divine Beasts.
Simple in theory, difficult in practice.
Redding was now one member of the Four Divine Beasts.
To have him stationed in the Water Divine Plane, the other three would need to agree as well.
The third method was for Locke himself to go.
After all, his Water divine clone had already been recognized by all as a Water Sovereign.
Even without a Sovereign spark, with Locke's strength, regulating the Laws of a divine plane was hardly beyond him.
Thus, after only a few remarks, neither Locke nor Lilia continued to dwell on the matter.
A trillion years.
Who could possibly know what changes the world would undergo by then?
…
Although Locke's emergence as a Sovereign feared by all had caused quite a stir among the Sovereigns, none of it had the slightest effect on divine-level experts.
The gap between the two was simply too vast.
Unless the Sovereigns themselves chose to reveal something, divine-level beings and Sovereigns might as well have been living in entirely separate dimensions.
"Roa, have you finished packing your things?"
Early in the morning, Yagonia's voice rang throughout Shadowmoon Prefecture.
"Done, done, Mother! I'll be right out!"
Figaroia immediately shouted back, then hurriedly began stuffing all his belongings into his interspatial ring.
By now, it had already been three thousand years since Locke last contacted Oakes.
Today, after finally forging the material defense Sovereign artifact Oakes wanted, Locke had sent word that he could come to Mount Nether.
After receiving Locke's message, Oakes himself hadn't reacted much—
but Yagonia immediately began directing everyone to pack whatever needed to be taken.
As for Oakes, although he personally felt many things could simply be left behind, under Yagonia's orders he had no intention of resisting.
He could only trail after her like a miserable porter, carrying everything.
(End of Chapter)
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