Moreover, the universe Locke wished to create would have Laws that differed greatly from those of the Hongmeng Universe.
In both the Hongmeng Universe and the Linmeng Universe, the living beings within those universes could attain immortality with relative ease. So long as they didn't encounter danger, they could live as long as the universe itself.
This was indeed highly beneficial during the early stages of a universe's development.
However, once the number of living beings reached a certain scale, that vast population instead became a burden upon the universe.
The problem was that those who had already attained immortality would never die unless they encountered danger.
Thus, within the magical universe, Hongmeng held a Planar War once every trillion years in order to reduce the number of living beings in the universe.
The Heavenly Exalt Mountain battle that occurred every sixty million years within the Linmeng Universe served the same purpose.
However, unlike the magical universe...
The Linmeng Universe had only recently been created.
Therefore, besides reducing the number of living beings, the Heavenly Exalt Mountain battle also served to select new Heavenly Exalts.
Locke didn't like this kind of slaughter carried out solely to reduce the population.
Therefore, if he were to create a universe in the future, he would certainly raise the threshold for attaining "immortality."
Within the magical universe, people like Oakes could enjoy endless lifespans.
But if they entered the universe Locke intended to create, they would inevitably die after exhausting their natural lifespan.
Shaking his head, Locke suppressed these thoughts regarding the Laws governing his future universe and continued following the events unfolding within the Yulan Plane.
...
"Zarachias Leylin..."
Within the metallic castle deep inside the Forest of Darkness, Beirut lightly tapped his finger against the table.
After the seal on the Planar Prison had been broken, some of the experts whom Beirut had imprisoned there long ago escaped.
Unexpectedly, during these five thousand years, the Planar Prison had actually produced someone who truly caught Beirut's attention.
Zarachias Leylin.
Beirut remembered that this man had only been thrown into the Planar Prison because Beirut had vented his anger over Zarachias' two elder brothers.
At the time...
Zarachias Leylin had only been at the Saint-level.
Yet in just over five thousand years, he had cultivated from the Saint-level all the way to the Highgod realm.
Not only that...
He possessed both Fire and Earth Highgod divine clones.
Among them, his Earth divine clone had already fused five Profound Mysteries.
As for his Fire divine clone...
It had already fused all six Fire Laws Profound Mysteries, lacking only the final step before achieving complete fusion and becoming a Fire Paragon.
"If I were to give the Fire Lesser Sovereign spark to Zarachias Leylin..."
"Then with the assistance of the immense faith energy contained within the Sovereign spark, there is a very high probability that he could become a Paragon."
"In that case, he would possess strength comparable to an Intermediate Sovereign."
"And if I gave him an additional Earth Sovereign spark..."
"He would still remain about ten times weaker than a Law Chief Sovereign..."
"So..."
"Should I give these two Sovereign sparks to Zarachias Leylin?"
At this moment, Beirut was extremely conflicted.
In the past, the requirements he had set for the three Sovereign sparks hidden within the Necropolis of the Gods were very simple.
The candidate had to possess Earth, Fire, and Water divine clones.
In addition...
One of those divine clones had to possess the potential to become a Paragon.
Only then could Beirut obtain the protection of an expert at the level of a Law Chief Sovereign, allowing him to leave the Yulan Plane and roam freely through the Divine Planes like the other Sovereigns.
However...
Beirut also knew that while finding someone with three divine clones wasn't difficult...
Finding someone with the potential to become a Paragon was an event that occurred perhaps only once in countless trillions of years.
If he missed Zarachias Leylin...
He had no confidence that he would ever encounter another person with Paragon potential.
Furthermore...
That individual would also have to possess the Earth, Fire, and Water elements.
The odds became infinitely smaller.
"Forget it..."
"I'll designate Zarachias Leylin as a backup candidate for now."
"As for the remaining Water Sovereign spark..."
Beirut spread out his divine sense toward Linley.
As a Dragonblood Warrior nurtured using the Azure Dragon Sovereign's Sovereign blood essence, Linley currently possessed affinities for the Earth, Wind, and Fire elements.
Furthermore, as a Dragonblood Warrior, he was naturally destined to possess Water affinity as well.
It simply hadn't fully manifested yet because his bloodline had yet to awaken completely.
From this perspective...
Linley was also a suitable backup candidate for a Sovereign spark.
However...
At present, although Linley was undoubtedly a genius, he still fell far short of Beirut's expectations.
In Beirut's opinion...
Linley's potential was even somewhat inferior to Olivier's after his dual-element soul mutation.
After all...
Once Olivier became a Deity, the fusion of his two types of divine power would increase his strength tenfold.
He would naturally be ten times stronger than ordinary Deities.
Moreover...
With the soul strength produced by Olivier's soul mutation, he could easily fuse two different sets of Profound Mysteries.
In other words...
As soon as Olivier reached the Highgod realm, he would possess at least the strength of a Six Star Fiend.
Unfortunately...
Olivier wasn't a soul mutate of the Earth, Fire, and Water elements.
Otherwise...
He would undoubtedly have been the ideal candidate for Beirut's Sovereign sparks.
To this day...
Chief Sovereign Locke remained the only dual-element soul mutate Sovereign.
If Olivier became a dual-element Sovereign, then by relying upon his fused Sovereign's Might and the Will provided by two Sovereign divine clones, he would, just like a Paragon, possess strength comparable to an Intermediate Sovereign despite only being a Lesser Sovereign.
Moreover...
Unlike a Paragon...
Both of Olivier's Sovereign divine clones would each possess the strength of an Intermediate Sovereign.
If one of those divine clones were also to become a Paragon...
He would possess strength comparable to a Law Chief Sovereign.
Unfortunately...
Beirut didn't possess Light or Darkness Sovereign sparks.
Thus...
No matter how great Olivier's potential was, it meant nothing to Beirut.
Besides...
Even if Beirut possessed a Darkness Sovereign spark, he would naturally refine it with his own Darkness divine clone.
How could he possibly give it to someone else first?
Nevertheless...
Although Olivier's potential exceeded Linley's somewhat, Beirut still devoted far more attention to Linley.
On one hand...
His own junior, Bebe, was Linley's bonded magical beast and remained by Linley's side almost constantly.
Watching Linley was effectively the same as watching Bebe.
On the other hand...
Beirut still remembered that several years ago, the Lightning Paragon Nanessa had personally taken Doehring Cowart's soul back to the Netherworld.
Although he didn't know why Lord Locke had rescued the dying Doehring Cowart...
Beirut absolutely didn't believe Lord Locke merely wanted to observe what soul burning looked like.
Given Lord Locke's strength and status...
If he wished to witness soul burning, countless people would willingly arrange such a demonstration for him.
They could even ensure that every expert who burned their soul did so voluntarily.
Although Beirut didn't know why Lord Locke had saved Doehring Cowart...
He knew one thing with certainty.
Even though Doehring Cowart had burned his soul, Lord Locke undoubtedly possessed the means to save him.
Regardless of what had attracted Lord Locke's attention...
The fact itself proved that Doehring Cowart possessed something unique.
The mere fact that Lord Locke had dispatched Nanessa to secretly protect him for more than ten years was enough to demonstrate how highly he valued Doehring Cowart.
Given the relationship between Doehring Cowart and Linley...
Perhaps in the future, Linley might also establish some connection with Lord Locke.
If Beirut were someday killed by the Light Chief Sovereign Augusta...
Then through Linley's relationship with Lord Locke, Bebe might receive some protection from Lord Locke and survive.
At the very least...
The Godeater Rat bloodline wouldn't become extinct within this world.
...
The cyan streak of light gradually faded.
A metallic lifeform shaped like an Azure Dragon came to a halt outside Greenleaf Castle in the Netherworld.
Two figures flew out from within the metallic lifeform.
One of them had long brown hair, wore a blue robe, and possessed a handsome face carrying a trace of youthful confidence.
The other was a black-haired youth with short hair.
His hands were tucked into his pockets, his expression full of confidence and arrogance.
These two were naturally Linley and Bebe, who had already resolved the Four Divine Beasts clan crisis before traveling to the Netherworld.
Linley's experiences after entering the Infernal Realm hadn't differed greatly from what Locke already knew.
Within the Purgatory Mountain Range, he encountered the Seven Star Fiend Alquet and Pusro.
Through a series of maneuvers by Pusro, Alquet ultimately died while Pusro regained his freedom, allowing Linley to gain the friendship of someone as powerful as a Prefect.
Within the Amethyst Mountains, Linley received Reisgem's assistance.
There, he obtained the Soulstone and learned Reisgem's ultimate technique, which Linley named Blackstone Prison.
As a result, his strength increased tremendously.
After arriving at the Skyrite Mountains, he participated in the Four Divine Beasts clan's Ancestral Baptism.
There, his Water elemental affinity awakened, allowing his Water divine clone to become a Deity.
During the war between the Four Divine Beasts clan and the Eight Great Clans, Linley displayed strength comparable to a Seven Star Fiend despite only being a God.
This led the Eight Great Clans to mistakenly believe that Linley had already fused five Profound Mysteries and intended to challenge the Paragon realm immediately after becoming a Highgod.
It was precisely because of this assumption that the Eight Great Clans launched repeated assassination attempts, hoping to eliminate Linley before he could fully mature.
Unfortunately...
Every one of their attempts ended in failure.
Furthermore, after witnessing Linley break through to the Highgod realm directly on the battlefield, they mistakenly believed he had already become a Paragon.
As a result, they ceased hostilities and proposed a truce with the Four Divine Beasts clan.
Naturally...
The Eight Great Clans could also have gambled that Linley hadn't actually become a Paragon.
However...
Even if Linley wasn't a Paragon, after becoming a Highgod he unquestionably possessed strength at the level of a Prefect.
With the balance of power between both sides already equal, the Four Divine Beasts clan gaining another expert at the Prefect level would spell disaster for every clan member below the Prefect level within the Eight Great Clans.
Even if the war continued...
The first side unable to endure would inevitably be the Eight Great Clans.
As for the Four Divine Beasts clan...
Although they still harbored bone-deep hatred toward the Eight Great Clans after the truce proposal...
They ultimately had no choice but to accept it.
There was no helping it.
Although Linley belonged to the Four Divine Beasts clan...
He had grown up within a Material Plane and hadn't received much support from the clan.
Under such circumstances, Gislason and the others weren't willing to gamble that Linley would continue fighting the Eight Great Clans to the bitter end for the clan's sake.
After all...
Based on everything they knew about Linley, he wasn't someone who delighted in battle.
Rather...
Unless absolutely necessary, Linley preferred quietly cultivating while spending time with his family and friends.
Precisely because of this, when the Eight Great Clans showed weakness, Gislason and the others simply accepted the opportunity and ended the war.
Without Linley...
The Four Divine Beasts clan would once again be at a disadvantage against the Eight Great Clans.
Whether either side wished to admit it or not...
Linley had already become the individual capable of determining the outcome of the conflict between both factions.
And this result happened to suit Linley perfectly.
He didn't want Doehring to continue worrying about him either.
Now that everything had settled down, and after learning from Grandpa Beirut that the souls of those who died before becoming Deities entered the Necropolis of the Undead—and that the Death Chief Sovereign possessed the ability to identify who those undead had been during life and restore their memories...
Linley and Bebe traveled together to the Netherworld.
As for why they came specifically to Mount Nether...
The reason was simple.
Mount Nether was simply too famous throughout the Netherworld.
It was the one place universally acknowledged as the residence of a Sovereign.
Rather than trying their luck elsewhere...
They might as well come directly to Mount Nether.
Moreover...
Grandpa Beirut had also told them that if they came to Mount Nether...
They might receive a pleasant surprise.
"Boss..."
"Why do you think all these Sovereigns like covering the areas around where they live with mist?"
The moment he stepped out of the metallic lifeform, Bebe noticed the dense mist surrounding the Mount Nether region and asked Linley curiously.
Linley paused for a moment after hearing the question.
They had already visited three places where Sovereigns resided.
The first was the Amethyst Mountains, home of the Amethyst Sovereign.
It was there that Linley learned Reisgem's technique and greatly increased his strength.
Even now...
Linley had only completely fused three Earth Laws Profound Mysteries.
Yet relying on Blackstone Prison, he could display the combat power of a Prefect despite possessing only the foundation of a Six Star Fiend.
The second place was the Starmist Sea, which they passed through on their journey toward the Bloodridge Continent.
That was the residence of the Starmist Sovereign, Starscream.
The third was the Mount Nether region before them.
All three places were concealed beneath thick mist.s
Moreover...
Each of those mists possessed the same ability to confuse the souls of living beings.
"Even if you ask me..."
"I have no idea."
Linley smiled helplessly and shook his head.
"I'm not a Sovereign."
"Alright."
"Let's find a place to stay first, then ask around about how we can meet Lord Sovereign."
"Sounds good."
Bebe nodded.
The two descended together and walked toward Greenleaf Castle.
After Linley's strength broke through, both he and Bebe had far fewer concerns whenever they traveled together.
The strength Linley displayed was genuinely at the Prefect level.
Although he currently belonged to the weaker end of experts at that level...
As long as he didn't encounter someone possessing two Sovereign artifacts or an expert suspected of being a Paragon...
He could still hold out for a while.
(End of Chapter)
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