From Nanessa's actions and tone, Beirut caught a glimpse of the ultimate secret behind Locke's lineage.
However, even if Beirut knew these things, without reaching the Paragon realm, he simply couldn't comprehend the Laws of Space or the Laws of Time.
Shaking his head, Beirut didn't dwell on it any further.
Without becoming a Paragon, one was ultimately destined to have no connection with Locke's lineage.
After leaving the battle plane, Beirut paid much closer attention to Linley than before.
On one hand, he was deeply concerned about Bebe's growth.
Unlike divine beasts born directly from the heavens and earth, Bebe had awakened through an ancestral bloodline reversion. Therefore, he still had to grow from the lowest stages.
A Godeater Rat only truly displayed the power of a divine beast after reaching the Deity level.
Although at that stage its innate divine ability could only instantly kill Demigods, it would also gain the ability to devour divine sparks and absorb their essence to strengthen its body.
If Bebe had enough Demigod divine sparks available, then even while only a Demigod, it wouldn't be impossible for him to strengthen his body to a level comparable to a divine spark.
Of course, for a Godeater Rat, its greatest offensive power still came from its innate divine ability.
As long as Bebe reached the Highgod realm, then unless his opponent possessed a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact or was a Paragon, no matter how powerful a Prefect was, they would be nothing more than prey before Bebe!
For now, all Beirut needed to do was ensure that Bebe didn't encounter any life-threatening danger before becoming a Deity.
Although Linley had the Lightning Paragon Nanessa protecting him from the shadows, Nanessa's mission wasn't to protect Linley and Bebe. Beirut couldn't be certain that she would intervene if the two encountered danger.
And just as Beirut expected, Linley encountered numerous dangers throughout his growth, yet Nanessa never once intervened.
After all, before Nanessa came to the Yulan Plane, Locke had already given her clear instructions.
The only time she was permitted to act was when Doehring Cowart burned his soul to cast the forbidden spell Heavenfall. At that moment, she was to retrieve Doehring Cowart's soul and bring it back to the Netherworld.
...
"Grandpa Doehring..."
Seeing the elderly man with white hair, white robes, and a white beard suddenly appear before him, the heavily wounded Linley suddenly felt a deep unease.
At a time like this...
Grandpa Doehring had emerged from the Coiling Dragon Ring...
"Linley, from here on..."
"You'll have to walk your own path."
Doehring Cowart gently stroked Linley's head with a loving smile.
"Grandpa Doehring..."
Looking at that affectionate smile, Linley suddenly felt his heart tighten.
It was as though...
He was about to lose Grandpa Doehring forever.
After bidding farewell to Linley, Doehring Cowart's soul immediately flew into the sky.
Spreading his arms wide, an immense surge of spiritual energy erupted from his soul.
Under normal circumstances, only someone whose spiritual energy had reached the Saint-level could see Doehring Cowart's soul.
But at this moment, the tremendous spiritual power released by Doehring Cowart allowed everyone present to see his figure.
"Who is that?"
The six Special Executors surrounding Linley looked at Doehring Cowart, who had suddenly appeared before them. Every instinct screamed danger.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless Earth elemental essences frantically gathered toward Doehring Cowart under the spiritual power unleashed by his burning soul.
Bound by his control, they condensed into six enormous yellow meteors high in the sky.
"This is bad!"
"That's the soul of a Saint-level expert!"
"He's burning his soul to cast a forbidden spell!"
"Everyone, run!"
When they saw the six gigantic meteors forming overhead, the Special Executors of the Radiant Church finally understood what the suddenly appearing soul intended to do.
Unfortunately...
They realized it far too late!
"Heavenfall!"
With Doehring Cowart's loud shout, the six enormous meteors, now fully formed, tore through space.
Locking onto the six Radiant Church Executors besieging Linley, they crashed down toward them.
"Run!"
Faced with such terrifying might, how could the six Radiant Church Executors continue attacking Linley?
Each of them exploded with the fastest speed they had ever achieved in their lives, desperately trying to escape the forbidden spell's area of effect.
Unfortunately...
Since Doehring Cowart had already chosen to burn his soul, there was no way he would leave behind any future trouble for Linley.
Very quickly, the six meteors accelerated sharply.
As they plummeted, the enormous stones ignited from friction with the air, becoming like a fusion of Earth- and Fire-style magic before crashing violently into the ground.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Six colossal pillars of blazing fire erupted.
In an instant, the surrounding earth surged like waves beneath the attack of the forbidden spell, completely destroying everything nearby.
The only place left untouched was the ten-meter radius surrounding Linley and Bebe.
"Linley..."
"...goodbye."
"Remember..."
"You must live on..."
After leaving Linley with those final words, Doehring Cowart's soul grew increasingly transparent.
Then...
A streak of blue light flashed.
His soul finally dispersed like smoke.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Across the ruined battlefield, only Linley's grief-stricken roar remained.
...
"No wonder Lord Locke instructed me to prepare so many treasures capable of restoring soul power..."
Wrapped in lightning, Nanessa flew toward the Yulan Plane's interplanar teleportation array at her maximum speed.
Protected within both of her palms was a transparent soul that was on the verge of disappearing.
With a thought, a golden Soul Pearl appeared beside the soul before instantly merging into Doehring Cowart's soul.
Soul Pearls were treasures in extremely short supply throughout the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes.
For Deities whose souls had been injured—or who possessed multiple divine clones—they were the finest treasures available for restoring soul power.
This was because once a Soul Pearl came into contact with a soul, it required no refinement whatsoever and would automatically merge into it.
With the assistance of that Soul Pearl, Doehring Cowart's soul rapidly recovered.
At the same time, Doehring Cowart also realized his current situation.
Although he wasn't dead...
He had been captured by a Deity.
Don't ask how Doehring Cowart knew the person holding him was a Deity.
The answer was simple.
While flying with the other party, he couldn't see the scenery outside at all.
Everything had been stretched into long streaks.
Furthermore...
Doehring Cowart also realized that his current condition remained extremely dangerous.
To save Linley, he had burned his soul in exchange for enough power to cast the Earth-style forbidden spell.
Although Nanessa had rescued him before his soul was completely consumed and had even used a Soul Pearl to restore his soul...
Soul burning itself was irreversible.
Although his soul had been restored by the Soul Pearl, it was still burning continuously.
"My Lady..."
Doehring Cowart had just opened his mouth to speak.
However, at Nanessa's flying speed, which had already far surpassed the speed of sound, even Doehring Cowart himself couldn't hear the words he spoke.
Although he couldn't hear himself...
Nanessa did.
"Is something wrong, Doehring Cowart?"
Sensing that another portion of Doehring Cowart's soul had burned away, Nanessa took out another Soul Pearl from her interspatial ring and restored his soul once more.
"Hiss..."
Doehring Cowart drew in a sharp breath.
At this moment, he felt as though he were caught between ice and fire.
On one hand, he endured the agony of his soul burning.
On the other, the restoration provided by the Soul Pearl filled him with indescribable comfort.
"Doehring Cowart thanks you for saving my life, my Lady."
Feeling that the soul power contained within the Soul Pearl would allow him to continue burning for a while longer, Doehring Cowart's soul bowed respectfully toward Nanessa.
"However, my Lady..."
"I've already burned my soul. My death is only a matter of time."
"I'm afraid I have no way to repay this kindness."
Doehring Cowart wasn't an ungrateful person.
But he also knew that in his current state, there was simply no way he could repay the favor of a Deity.
In fact, he even suspected that even if someone sold him, they still couldn't afford even a single one of the pearls she had used to restore his soul.
In a sense...
Doehring Cowart's intuition wasn't wrong.
Saint-level experts were considered important figures within Material Planes.
But throughout the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes...
Saint-level experts ranked below even livestock.
They possessed virtually no rights whatsoever.
Even a Demigod divine spark capable of allowing a Saint to become a Deity cost only one thousand inkstones.
A Soul Pearl, however, cost at least one hundred thousand inkstones.
The two simply couldn't be compared.
"Repay me?"
Nanessa glanced at the tiny Doehring Cowart resting in her palms.
"Don't worry."
"I only came to save you under Lord Sovereign's orders."
"The reward I deserve will naturally be given to me by Lord Sovereign."
"As for whether you'll survive much longer..."
"That depends on whatever arrangements Lord Sovereign has for you."
With the soul-restoring treasures currently in Nanessa's possession, maintaining Doehring Cowart's soul in its current state for some time wasn't difficult.
However...
She also knew that if the burning of Doehring Cowart's soul couldn't be stopped, then any investment made in him would become a bottomless pit.
Even Chief Sovereign Locke couldn't continue extending Doehring Cowart's life indefinitely.
After all...
Once soul burning began, it only intensified over time until the soul was completely consumed.
Just like Doehring Cowart now.
Earlier, a single Soul Pearl could sustain his burning soul for almost ten breaths.
Now...
It could only sustain him for nine and a half breaths.
Once the amount of soul burned away during each breath exceeded the maximum amount a Soul Pearl could restore...
Then nothing in this universe would be able to preserve Doehring Cowart's soul any longer.
"Sovereign?"
Doehring Cowart was startled.
As a peak Saint-level expert, he knew that beings called Deities existed beyond the Saint-level.
The reason he had become the Imperial Court's Chief Magus of the Pouant Empire was because he knew the empire possessed a resident Deity.
He had hoped to receive that Deity's guidance and learn the cultivation path beyond the peak Saint-level.
And now...
From the Deity who had saved him...
He had heard of an even greater existence.
A Sovereign.
Merely hearing the title, Doehring Cowart understood that a Sovereign was unquestionably an existence standing above all Deities.
A mere Saint-level expert like himself was no more than an ant before a Deity.
Before a Sovereign...
He was even less significant than dust.
How could someone like him possibly deserve to have a Sovereign pay the price to save him?
None of his ancestors had ever been a Sovereign...
While Doehring Cowart was wondering whether one of his distant ancestors might somehow have been a Sovereign, Nanessa had already arrived at the Yulan Plane's interplanar teleportation array.
Without waiting for the Plane Guardian, she directly drew upon a strand of Sovereign's Might within her body and activated the teleportation array herself.
"So Nanessa has completed the task Lord Locke entrusted to her?"
Nanessa flew at full speed, even employing the Laws of Time.
Naturally, Beirut noticed someone moving through the Yulan Plane at such terrifying speed.
Spreading out his divine sense, he quickly discovered Doehring Cowart's soul cradled within Nanessa's palms.
He wasn't surprised in the slightest.
Because of Bebe, Beirut frequently paid attention to Linley.
Judging from Nanessa's movements over the past several years, it was obvious that the one she had been protecting wasn't anyone in Hogg Town.
Nor was it Linley.
Nor Bebe.
After eliminating every impossible possibility...
Only one answer remained.
Among the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns...
The White Tiger Sovereign, Vermilion Bird Sovereign, and Black Tortoise Sovereign had all been killed by the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta's Overgod artifact.
Their Sovereign artifacts had been completely destroyed.
Only the Azure Dragon Sovereign had died from Augusta's soul attack.
As a result, among his Sovereign artifacts, only his soul-protecting Sovereign artifact had been damaged.
When Beirut had collected the corpses of the Four Divine Beast Sovereigns, he had noticed that the Azure Dragon Sovereign's damaged soul-protecting Sovereign artifact was missing.
However, having already become a Sovereign himself by then, Beirut hadn't cared in the slightest about a damaged Sovereign artifact.
If it was gone, then it was gone.
Later, when one of the Dragonblood Warrior descendants found that Sovereign artifact and successfully bound it, Beirut had admittedly been somewhat surprised.
At the same time, however...
It somehow felt only natural.
As for Doehring Cowart, the ring spirit within the Coiling Dragon Ring, Beirut knew a little about him as well.
After all, it was because the Deity who had protected the Pouant Empire had been thrown into the Planar Prison by Beirut that the empire had ultimately become unable to suppress the kingdoms beneath it and eventually collapsed.
Doehring Cowart's death could be considered one of the omens of the Pouant Empire's downfall.
"But..."
"What is so special about Doehring Cowart?"
"Why would Chief Sovereign Locke dispatch a Paragon solely to protect and rescue him?"
(End of Chapter)
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