After the meeting, all the Sovereigns dispersed. Each one intended to spread their religion, and use the faith energy to speed up their fusion of the profound mysteries.
“Hurley, wait a moment,” Akasha called out.
Hurley, who had flown out of Moirai’s palace, halted and look back. “Yes?”
“Are you willing to come to my Infernal Realm?” Akasha asked. “Don’t be in a rush to refuse. When Xulei killed that Intermediate Lightning Sovereign, he didn’t immediately refine it. He must have not have given up on refining your Sovereign spark.”
Hurley’s expression turned ugly. No one wanted someone constantly thinking about killing them, but he wasn’t willing to give up his territory in the Life Realm either. He could use his projection to command his forces, but if he left for a long time, then other Sovereigns would come to take his territory.
Returning and fighting the invading Sovereigns wasn’t a problem. The problem would be if Xulei appeared before he became strong enough. If that was the case, what was the point of Akasha sheltering him? Did he have to ask Akasha to tag along? He couldn’t lower himself to do such a thing.
“I don’t mind if you transfer your forces to the Infernal Realm,” Akasha said. “The Chief Sovereign of Light, Magec, offended me. I’m afraid he won’t be willing to say in the Infernal Realm. So you can take his territory, although it might not be as big as the Life Realm.”
“Thank you for your consideration, Mister Akasha,” Hurley. “I need some time to think it over.”
“Then I’ll wait for your reply,” Akasha said. He flew toward one of the teleportation arrays and teleported to the Infernal Realm.
In truth, he also felt a hint of urgency. From their clash, Akasha could tell that Xulei’s body hadn’t reached the level of a Sovereign artifact, so Akasha still had confidence to fight Xulei if he fused with a third Sovereign spark. Still, that was only surviving. He had no confidence in killing Xulei.
For the first time since becoming a Sovereign, Akasha felt a sense of urgency. He needed to become a Paragon as soon as possible. Before he could settle down and cultivate, he received three visitors.
Akasha looked at the three Sovereigns in front of him. They were a woman with strands of crystalline hair, wearing a black and red dress, a man covered in an earthen yellow aura and wearing black and yellow robes, and a man with blood-red hair and tattoo on his face.
“Reisbud, Boson, and…“ Akasha said, looking at the new Sovereign of Earth. If he guessed correctly, he was Reisbud’s partner, and Reisgem’s father.
The black and yellow-robed man stepped forward and bowed slightly. “I’m Gemul, my lord.”
A playful smile appeared on Akasha’s face as his gaze flickered to Reisbud. “You’re quite the lucky fellow. You should know that there is nothing more valuable than a Sovereign spark in this world.”
“I have to thank two people for my current status, Reisbud and my lord,” Gemul said, arousing Akasha’s interest.
Reisbud took this moment to step forward. “Had it not been for my lord’s attack, I would not have had the chance to kill the weakened Enki.”
‘Enki? Was that the former Earth Sovereign’s name?’ Akasha thought. He shook his head. “Although your flattery amuses me, it’s still your own efforts that allowed you to grab a Sovereign spark. However, I don’t think you would visit with Boson if that’s all you wanted to do.”
Reisbud, Gemul, and Boson all shared a look. All three kneeled down on the ground. “Please allow us to become your followers.”
“Oh?” Akasha thought about it and figured out why they sought to join him. During the Sovereigns gathering, the rule that prevented Sovereigns from hunting other Sovereigns did not come into existence. If Reisbud was willing to kill Enki to make Gemul a Sovereign, what about the other Sovereigns?
Not to mention many Sovereigns possessed clones, like Hurley and Xulei. In fact, Akasha also had the same thought. If he could kill Magec and grab his Sovereign spark, he would do it without a second thought. As time passed, the power between the ranks of Sovereign would only increase. Compared to the High Sovereigns, Intermediate and Lesser Sovereigns would become fish on a chopping block, helpless.
Tap
Tap
Tap
Akasha’s finger continuously tapped the armrest. He wasn’t opposed to the idea. Even if he left most of the day-to-day operations to his subjects, he would still need to make an appearance sometimes. They were still deities in the end, and if he could offload his matter to the three, he would could focus wholeheartedly on becoming a Paragon.
“Alright,” Akasha said. “From now on, you three will follow me and I will protect you in turn.”
Reisbud, Gemul, and Boson all showed excited smiles as they thanked Akasha.
If he told them to leave now, it would be fine, but since they were now his subordinates, he should give them some benefits to secure their loyalty. Akasha’s Sovereign power expanded and covered the entire Infernal Realm, alerting all the Sovereigns living inside.
“From now on, the Redbud and Bloodridge Continents are under my control. Those that dare to covet them will face my wrath!”
Akasha then looked at the three of them. Reisbud and Gemul already controlled the Redbud Continent, but Boson had been kicked out of his continent. “Boson, you shall govern the Bloodridge Continent in my stead.”
“Thank you, Lord Akasha!” Reisbud, Gemul, and Boson said. Although Akasha claimed their territory, it was only nominally. They were still the overlords of their territory in reality, and this claim by Akasha was actually a shield for them.
“Okay, you can leave now,” Akasha said. “If I need anything done, Plato, the commander of the Chaotic Sea Army, will contact you guys.”
“My lord, I would like to offer you a treasure,” Reisbud suddenly said, attracting Akasha’s interest.
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Suddenly, he had a thought. As he expected, Reisbud took out a stone that resembled the spikes on her back. “My lord, this is a soulstone, something I can only produce. It can nourish the soul, but it probably isn’t useful for my lord. However, it has a unique method that uses one hundred and eight strands of energy.”
Akasha accepted the soulstone. He had almost forgotten about it. He originally thought it was only useful for those that train in the Elemental Law of Earth, but he had forgotten that Reisbud was a Sovereign of Destruction. Naturally, there will be a useful application for those who train in the Edict of Destruction.
“You have heart,” Akasha said. “You can directly message me if anything comes up.”
Reisbud thanked Akasha again before leaving with the other two.
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Currently, the Infernal Realm had been divided into four territories: the Chaotic Sea controlled by Akasha; the Redbud Continent, Karol Continent, and parts of the Starmist Sea controlled the Sovereigns of Destruction, the Bloodridge Continent, Muja Continent, and parts of the Starmist Sea controlled by Pazuzu. Magec originally ruled the Bief Continent and Jadefloat Continent, but he never came back.
Pazuzu frowned upon hearing Akasha’s words. He even thought of killing anyone who dared to enter the Bloodridge Continent and rule it. However, he knew he didn’t have the strength to defeat Akasha, so he could only swallow his anger.
Originally, he planned on settling down and focus on fusing the Laws of the Wind, but now, it seemed that he had to swallow Magec’s former territories. Unfortunately, for him, Hurley came and took over those two continents. Now, Pazuzu had become the weakest of the three High Sovereigns living in the Infernal Realm.
Aside from the three that followed Akasha and Hurley, Pazuzu wasn’t the only one with problems. Lerna, the Intermediate Sovereign Destruction, had major problems. “Spineless fools.”
Unlike the three other Sovereigns of Destruction that allied together to protect the Karol Continent, Lerna controlled his territory in the Starmist Sea by himself. He looked down on those who abandoned their pride to become someone else’s servants, and he also looked down on those who huddled together for warmth. In his eyes, all of them were weaklings.
However, Lerna also knew that he might one day become such a weakling. After experiencing the gap between a High Sovereign and Intermediate Sovereign, Lerna wanted to kill a High Sovereign and refine their Sovereign spark. He didn’t want just two Sovereign clones, but nine!
Lerna was also a supreme divine beast, the only one in the world. He called himself the Ninegod Hydra. The Ninegod Hydra possessed a terrifying poison that could destroy divine power, but no divine abilities, so why was it a supreme divine beast?
Because the Ninegod Hydra possessed the talent to form nine divine clones. Each time the Ninegod Hydra became a demigod, it would lose one of its head. That head would form a new saint clone that would merge with a divine spark to become demigod. As long as the divine clone merged with the other clones, his body would still have nine heads.
The only problem with this innate ability was that fusing profound mysteries was nearly impossible. Luckily, he didn’t have the same restriction in training in the four edicts.
“Once I get a few more Sovereign clones, I’ll be the strongest person in the entire universe,” Lerna muttered with ambition gleaming from his eyes.
Lerna had always wanted to enact his plan, but killing other Sovereigns was too hard. One of the reasons the elemental Sovereigns sought refuge in Pazuzu and Magec was because of Lerna, who always wanted to kill them. He even missed the best chance, directly after Akasha chased Magec away.
He wanted nothing more than to attack the other elemental Sovereigns before they could fuse more profound mysteries, but Akasha forbid any fighting in the Infernal Realm. He could invite them into the chaotic space, but no one was stupid. The Lesser Sovereigns wouldn’t give him the chance, and he didn’t possess the strength to kill an Intermediate Sovereign. And if he dared to break Akasha’s rule, Akasha would likely punish or even kill him.
Lerna’s nine heads snorted and tucked themselves under his body. For now, he should focus on comprehending the Edict of Destruction. Since he didn’t have a chance now, he would wait. After refining one Lesser Sovereign Spark, he would become ten times stronger, giving him the confidence to kill Intermediate Sovereigns.
As long as he had enough Sovereign clones, he would stand at the top of the universe.
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Inside a gigantic palace on the Skyrite Mountains, four divine beasts stood in a circle. They were the Azure Dragon, Black Tortoise, Vermillion Bird, and White Tiger.
“Elder Brother, how much longer do we have to endure?” Laius, the White Tiger, asked.
“Patience, Fourth Brother,” Redding, the Azure Dragon, said. “It won’t be too late to take action after all our bodies have finished strengthening.”
“You can’t blame Fourth Brother,” Nimo, the Vermillion Bird, said. “That Boson is only a Lesser Sovereign, yet he can command the continent our Skyrite Mountains are on. It’s infuriating.”
Nimo looked down on Boson, a Lesser Sovereign, despite also being a Lesser Sovereign. However, none of the other three disagreed. In their eyes, they were indeed above Lesser Sovereigns. They had already investigated clearly, and many of the Sovereigns couldn’t strengthen their body to become comparable to a Sovereign artifact.
Based on their body strength alone, Intermediate Sovereigns could not kill them easily. More importantly, they had a trump card. It allowed them to kill a highgod when they were still demigods.
“Hmpf, I say we teach that Akasha a lesson,” Laius said. “If we can kill Akasha, won’t the four of us be known as Grand Sovereigns?”
“That’s a good idea,” Nimo said. Her red eyes glittered like rubies.
“Third Sister, Fourth Brother, don’t underestimate Akasha,” Bowen, the Black Tortoise said. “Although our trump card is powerful, we can’t guarantee its power at the Sovereign level. The difference between a Lesser Sovereign and High Sovereign is a hundred times greater than the difference between a demigod and a highgod. Not to mention that Akasha is the High Sovereign of Destruction. He is more powerful than an elemental High Sovereign.”
“Second Brother is right, I was too impulsive,” Nimo said.
Laius knew Bowen’s words made sense, but he was too proud to admit. So he only snorted and looked away.
“As Bowen said, we shouldn’t underestimate the other Sovereign’s power,” Redding said. “Let’s do a small test first. We should attack an Intermediate Sovereign as a test.”
“Let’s kill that bastard, Lerna,” Laius said without a second thought.
Redding’s eyes sharpened. “He’s a suitable target. Sovereigns of the edicts have higher strength than their elemental peers, and we won’t offend Akasha if we attack him. More importantly, we have a grudge!”
Before Akasha forbid fighting in the Infernal Realm, Lerna constantly targeted the four of them because they were the only ones that didn’t follow a High Sovereign, and they were Lesser Sovereigns. The first battle nearly caused one of them to die.
How could they not settle this enmity?
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The Four Higher Realms entered an age of peace. The wars between the Sovereigns halted, and many deities were born and prospered. However, that was only temporary.
Every Sovereign began dispatching deities into the material planes in order to gather faith energy for themselves. Due to the abundance of material planes, no Sovereigns’ forces had clashed yet. Instead, focusing on grabbing the unclaimed material planes. The only exception was the material planes that believed in Xulei.
To the Sovereigns’ anger, all of the highgod spreading Xulei’s religion carried Sovereign’s Might, and not just ordinary Sovereign’s Might, but Fusion Sovereign’s Might. Between experts of the same strength, those that used Fusion Sovereign’s Might could unleash power five times greater than experts using ordinary Sovereign’s Might.
Fusion Sovereign’s Might was ten times stronger than Sovereign’s Might, but it also made it harder to control, thus the reduction in strength.
Still, the experts under Xulei could not withstand the continuous onslaught from the experts dispatched by all the Sovereigns. Not to mention that they had no easy way to replenish all the spent Sovereign’s Might. The Sovereigns would not easily hand out Sovereign’s Might in this war of faith, but after a second meeting, everyone agreed that giving Sovereign’s Might to the soldiers attacking Xulei’s material planes was acceptable.
As the war of faith continued, the Sovereigns paid attention to the rising experts, looking to accept emissaries.