"All Sovereigns, in the name of Sovereign Locke, I hereby convene the Fourth Sovereign Assembly. Please gather in the spatial turbulence outside the Water Divine Plane."
Locke's voice, carried through his divine sense, instantly rang in the ears of every Sovereign across the Seven Divine Planes and the Four Higher Planes.
"Hmph!"
In the Light Divine Plane, the Light Sovereign Augusta snorted coldly upon hearing Locke's transmission.
"A mere Laws Sovereign, and he dares to convene a Sovereign Assembly…"
Augusta's expression twisted slightly as he gritted his teeth.
"That fellow Locke—does he really think he's already comparable to the Four Edict Sovereigns?"
Toward Locke, Augusta harbored deep jealousy.
They were both Sovereigns with divine clones. Yet Locke had reached Paragon in two elements, while Augusta had been stuck on the Light Laws for countless years without any progress.
Even so, Augusta normally dared not show the slightest hint of it.
The move Locke's water divine clone used—freezing Sovereign Snowfall outright—had frightened Augusta greatly.
If Locke's water clone possessed such a terrifying technique, then his Fate Sovereign clone must surely have equally powerful trump cards.
If he truly provoked Locke and Locke chose to act, even Fate Sovereign Orloff might not be able to step in easily.
After all, if Locke were pushed too far, he could simply kill a Water Sovereign at will and elevate his own power to rival—or even surpass—the Four Edict Sovereigns.
But that was the future.
For now, Locke still belonged—on the surface—to the second tier among Sovereigns.
Augusta sneered inwardly, convinced that no Sovereign would attend this assembly called under Locke's name.
Yet what shocked him was that before he could even sense Sovereigns from other planes moving, the other Light Sovereigns in the Light Divine Plane had already torn open space and entered the spatial turbulence, heading toward the Water Divine Plane.
"Damn it… these people…"
As more and more Sovereigns entered the spatial turbulence, Augusta hesitated for a moment before finally tearing open space himself and following.
No matter how jealous he was, he had to admit—
Among all Sovereigns beneath the Four Edict Sovereigns, the only one qualified to convene a Sovereign Assembly was Locke.
Not only did Locke possess the potential to rival—or surpass—the Four Edict Sovereigns in the future, but even now, all Sovereigns felt a deep sense of awe toward someone who had reached Paragon three times.
It was the instinctive reverence of the mediocre toward the truly exceptional.
Moreover, Sovereigns had perfect memory.
Locke might not care who came—but he would certainly remember who did not.
What surprised all Sovereigns was this—
They had assumed that the Four Edict Sovereigns would not attend Locke's assembly.
At most, the Death Sovereign might appear due to her relationship with him.
Yet unexpectedly, the first to respond was the Life Sovereign, Vivian—followed by the Death Sovereign.
Soon after, Fate Sovereign Orloff and Destruction Sovereign Wordred also tore open space from the Higher Planes and arrived in the spatial turbulence outside the Water Divine Plane.
"Locke, what exactly is the purpose of this assembly you've called?"
Upon arriving before Locke, Destruction Sovereign Wordred questioned him coldly.
"Let me make one thing clear—if I do not approve of what you propose here, I will not acknowledge any rules established at this assembly."
Hearing Wordred challenge Locke, the other Sovereigns immediately distanced themselves from the center where the Four Edict Sovereigns and Locke stood.
After all, if a battle broke out, even the aftershocks could severely injure—or kill—them.
"Suit yourself."
At this moment, anger burned within Locke.
Thus, he replied bluntly:
"However, if you violate the rules I establish today, then I don't mind replacing the Destruction Sovereign altogether."
"Boom!"
A terrifying pressure erupted from Wordred, his killing intent shattering the surrounding spatial turbulence.
The gathered Sovereigns were stunned.
They never expected Locke to say something so outrageous.
Replace the Destruction Sovereign?
That implied that even Wordred could be killed—and his Sovereign spark used to create a new Destruction Sovereign.
Not just Wordred—even Vivian and Orloff were shocked.
Locke hadn't yet refined a Water Sovereign spark.
Did that mean his fusion of different laws had reached another breakthrough?
"Enough, Locke, Wordred!"
Just as Wordred was about to make a move, the Death Sovereign stepped forward, separating the two.
"If you want to fight, do it after this assembly."
"For now—Locke, since you called this meeting, state your purpose."
"We Four Edict Sovereigns will decide whether your proposals should be recognized."
Internally, the Death Sovereign was uneasy.
Others might not know—but she did.
Locke's fourth water mystery had not yet fully fused with the Fate Laws.
His strength may have increased somewhat over the years—but only by a few times, not by orders of magnitude.
In this state, he was no match for Wordred.
If Locke fell out with Wordred, he would instantly become the target of the other Edict Sovereigns.
And from her earlier conversation with Vivian, she knew—
Vivian stood on the same side as Wordred and Orloff.
Although she was the strongest among the four, both Vivian and Wordred possessed bodies at the level of Sovereign artifacts.
Either of them alone could hold her back.
And Orloff…
He could kill Locke in a short time.
Unless Locke hid within the Netherworld for a long period and only emerged after breaking through—
But if that happened, another Sovereign War would be inevitable.
And this time, it would be far more devastating than the first.
The Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes could collapse from the deaths of too many Sovereigns.
They would all become sinners of the Coiling Dragon universe.
"Hmph!"
Wordred snorted, but did not act further.
Clearly, he accepted this arrangement.
"Locke, begin."
"Mm."
Locke nodded, then swept his gaze across the assembled Sovereigns.
Each Sovereign who met his eyes could feel the anger within him.
Taking a deep breath, Locke calmed himself.
"I believe all of you are aware of what happened recently."
"Because of a moment of anger, I toyed with Sovereign Snowfall and asked Destruction Sovereign Wordred to elevate him to the level of a Intermediate Sovereign."
"Then, as the thousand-year deadline approached, Snowfall—unable to master my technique 'World Freeze'—feared his inadequacy and fled to a material plane."
"What followed, all of you witnessed."
"Because only Sovereign Frost remained in the Water Divine Plane, the laws became unstable. The proportion of water laws plummeted, and the plane neared destruction."
"At that critical moment, the Azure Dragon Sovereign Redding entered the Water Divine Plane and worked with Frost to stabilize it."
Locke's gaze shifted.
"And you—Intermediate Water Sovereign Bibo—what were you doing?"
Bibo, a divine beast born in the Celestial Realm, stood behind Orloff.
Under Locke's gaze, his face turned pale, instinctively shrinking into Orloff's shadow.
"Th-this…"
"Locke," Orloff said calmly, "Bibo was visiting my palace at the time, discussing cultivation matters with me. He did not notice the situation."
"Yes, yes!" Bibo quickly nodded. "I was discussing cultivation with Lord Orloff…"
In Bibo's view, with Orloff backing him, Locke would surely let the matter drop.
But Locke's next words stunned everyone.
"Heh… Fate Sovereign, Orloff."
Locke sneered.
"Are you treating me as a fool—or yourself?"
"No Sovereign could fail to notice the crisis of the Water Divine Plane."
"And you, Orloff—one of the Four Edict Sovereigns—chose to ignore it."
"You detained the Water Intermediate Sovereign in the Celestial Realm and prevented him from saving the Water Divine Plane…"
"You are unworthy of being the Fate Sovereign!"
The entire spatial turbulence fell silent.
Locke had just openly rebuked Orloff.
First Wordred—now Orloff.
Was Locke declaring war on all the Edict Sovereigns?
Though Orloff had separated his negative emotions into Augusta, that did not mean he wouldn't feel anger.
At this moment, his gentle smile vanished, replaced by a terrifying aura.
"Why? Did I hit a nerve?"
Locke sneered again.
"Orloff, don't think I don't know your intentions."
"You confined Bibo because you feared I would kill him, refine the Water Intermediate Sovereign spark, and become invincible among all Sovereigns!"
The moment those words fell—
Every Sovereign stared at Locke as if he were mad.
Everyone understood this truth.
Even Snowfall and Frost had known they were bait.
If Locke wanted power, killing a Water Sovereign was the simplest path.
Refining a Lesser Water Sovereign spark would boost his strength nearly a hundredfold—bringing him to the level of Wordred and Vivian, second only to the Death Sovereign.
This was the limit the three Edict Sovereigns were willing to tolerate.
But such matters were never spoken aloud.
Once exposed—it was open conflict.
At once, Wordred's hand gripped a dark violet spear—his attack Sovereign artifact.
Orloff's hand glowed white, forming a longsword.
Vivian glanced at Locke, hesitated… but ultimately made no move.
(End of Chapter)
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