Any Dominator might have been slightly weaker than them in strength, but the gap in speed was not great. Escaping would not have been difficult.
Especially Lota. This guy was no weakling.
Moreover, the two had known each other for a very, very long time. When no outsiders were present, neither could be bothered to hide anything.
"Won't you invite me in for a seat?"
Without waiting for Lota to speak, the Death Overlord spoke with a smile.
Lota said nothing more and entered Shadow Castle with the Death Overlord.
Inside the main hall of Shadow Castle.
A new "throne" appeared beside Lota's throne. The Death Overlord sat on it casually and lazily, freely surveying the hall.
"Ilitana pays respects to the Death Overlord."
Ilitana's voice rang out.
She was originally a Death System Lower Sovereign God, one of the Underworld Lineage Overgods. However, she had always followed Lota.
This was not unusual among Overgods.
The followers of the Dominators of the various systems were not limited to Overgods of the same system. Nor would every Overgod of a given system follow that system's Dominator.
For example, although the Darkness System Overgods of the Dark God Realm all obeyed Lota's orders, the Dominator they secretly followed might not necessarily be Lota.
"Enough. There's no need for such formality."
The Death Overlord was not surprised at all upon hearing Ilitana's voice. She did not even ask Ilitana to show herself.
Aside from Ilitana herself, the reason was Lota.
Among all Overgods, Ilitana could be considered a rather special existence.
Overgods stood above all others. Calling them the rulers of Heaven and Earth would not have been an exaggeration. Even Lower Sovereign Gods were the same.
Lower Sovereign Gods and Mid-level Overlords might follow a certain Dominator, but they were only followers. Most of the time, Overgods of different ranks remained in their own territories, and even when they interacted, the relationship would not be so unequal.
Thus, in the eyes of countless living beings across the Divine Planes, the status of all Overgods was nearly the same.
But Ilitana was different from the others.
Even after becoming an Overgod, she had never taken human form. She had always followed Lota, and not merely as an ordinary follower—she had become Lota's weapon.
One had to know that even her symbiotic fruit tree, the Netherworld Fruit Tree, could not do what Ilitana did.
It could be said that quite a few Dominators envied Lota for having Ilitana.
Setting everything else aside, Ilitana herself was already no small boost to Lota's strength.
"Lota, are you preparing to make a move against Leiding and the others?"
The Death Overlord did not beat around the bush. Her eyes fixed intensely on Lota as she asked through Voice Transmission.
Lota's expression did not change. "Just a minor punishment."
He had never intended to conceal it. He had even wanted to reveal some of his strength.
"Heh, who are you trying to fool?"
The Death Overlord curled her lips, but she did not expose Lota. Instead, she said to herself, "Quite a few people are watching Leiding and the others. Are you confident?"
"Augusta?"
Lota ignored the Death Overlord's teasing and asked a question.
Although the battle between the Four Divine Beast Family and the Fallen God Angels had been rather intense, it had merely erupted quickly.
The ones truly locked in fierce conflict with the Four Divine Beast Family were the Augusta Family of the Light God Realm. Augusta was no generous fellow, and the Augusta Family had naturally inherited Augusta's personality—domineering, arrogant, and no less high-profile than the Four Divine Beast Family.
This had caused discord between Augusta and the Four Divine Beasts.
Had Lota not suddenly intervened, Augusta and the Four Divine Beasts would inevitably have fought.
Hearing Lota's words, the Death Overlord shook her head. Her tone turned somewhat solemn as she continued through Voice Transmission, "No. Uthred."
"The Destruction Overlord?"
Lota raised his brows, though he was not particularly surprised.
Uthred, the Destruction Overlord, was also a terrifying fellow. Ofu had been able to conduct research for countless years because of his talent, having given all personality traits unfavorable to research to Augusta.
But Uthred was different. He relied entirely on his own perseverance.
From this perspective, no one could compare to Uthred.
Lota believed that in order to improve his strength, Uthred would absolutely stop at nothing.
Looking through the "Earth Memory," after the Four Divine Beasts fell, Beirut had benefited the most. A High God had received the largest share of the spoils left behind by the Four Divine Beasts.
However, Beirut had obtained it purely through opportunity and defying-the-heavens luck.
Aside from Beirut, Uthred had gained the most. With only a few words, he had obtained half of the Four Divine Beasts' Essence Blood from Beirut.
Afterward, in less than twenty thousand years, he had developed "Time-Space Distortion."
Twenty thousand years?
To Lota, that timeframe was a joke.
Forget twenty thousand years—even researching it within twenty trillion years would have required defying-the-heavens luck.
After all, Lota himself had researched Talent Divine Powers. Even with Ilitana's cooperation, it had taken him an unknown amount of time to understand the principles behind Ilitana's Talent Divine Power.
Therefore, Lota could be certain that Uthred had secretly researched the Four Divine Beasts' Talent Divine Powers for an unknown number of trillions of years.
By now, he had most likely made an extremely crucial breakthrough.
Only with that possibility could Uthred have developed Time-Space Distortion merely twenty thousand years after obtaining the Four Divine Beasts' Essence Blood.
It was precisely because he was certain of this that Lota had always suspected the fall of the Four Divine Beasts in the "future" storyline was inseparably connected to Uthred.
Ofu's personality might not have allowed him to kill the Four Divine Beasts to improve his strength, but Uthred was absolutely capable of it.
However, Lota had never found any trace of Uthred in this matter.
This guy was also very cautious.
Now that the Death Overlord had mentioned Uthred, she had clearly guessed or discovered something as well.
None of the Four Great Rule Rulers were simple.
"Correct."
The Death Overlord nodded, a smile appearing on her face. "You aren't surprised at all. Interesting. Hahaha, it seems Uthred will not find it easy to succeed."
Lota said nothing.
The Death Overlord chuckled and did not offer any further warning. Instead, she directly sent a Voice Transmission. "Leiding and Bowen's Sovereign Sparks."
Hearing the Death Overlord's Voice Transmission, Lota raised his brows. "Two Sovereign Sparks?"
He knew the Death Overlord had come for Sovereign Sparks. This was also something he owed her.
Ilitana's Death Lower Sovereign God Spark had been seized after he became the Dark Overlord. However, seizing a Sovereign Spark at that time had not been easy.
After all, the other Dominators could not possibly watch someone else refine an additional Sovereign Spark.
This was also one of the main reasons why the Lower Sovereign Gods and Mid-level Overlords of that time had survived.
But in order to increase their strength, some Dominators had secretly joined forces after the Sovereign God War, hunting Overgods to deal with other Dominators.
Lota had joined forces with the Death Overlord then and seized this Death Lower Sovereign God Spark.
According to their agreement, this Death Lower Sovereign God Spark had ultimately gone to Lota. But it had not been free—the next Sovereign Spark between them was to belong to the Death Overlord.
Moreover, they were to prioritize seizing a Water Element Sovereign Spark.
However, the other Overgods had been too vigilant, and the two had never successfully obtained one.
Until the Sovereign God Agreement was established, and Overgods stopped attacking one another.
From then on, Lota owed the Death Overlord a special "favor." Whenever he obtained an additional Sovereign Spark, the Death Overlord had the right of first claim.
But that was only for one Sovereign Spark.
Hearing Lota's question, the Death Overlord's expression turned serious as she said directly, "For Bowen's Sovereign Spark, I'll owe you a favor."
Clearly, using their prior agreement, the Death Overlord had chosen the Water Element Sovereign Spark first. Bowen's Earth Element Sovereign Spark was not intended for herself.
"Hehehe."
Lota chuckled. "A favor in exchange for a Sovereign Spark?"
Sovereign Sparks were the most precious things in Heaven and Earth, without exception. In Lota's eyes, even a favor from the Death Overlord could not compare to a Sovereign Spark.
Especially now that it was no longer the Beginning of Heaven and Earth, obtaining a Sovereign Spark was far too difficult.
The Death Overlord clearly understood this as well. "I'll personally help you hold back Uthred. You don't think Uthred will simply stand by after you succeed, do you?"
Whether it was Lota or the Death Overlord, neither considered the possibility that Lota might fail.
Lota merely smiled and shook his head.
Seeing this, the Death Overlord's delicate brows furrowed slightly. She then continued, "Aside from that, I'll do everything in my power to help you complete the next Supreme God Mission!"
Clearly, the Death Overlord knew Lota would not agree so easily. This guy's heart was black too.
Supreme God Mission.
Hearing the Death Overlord's promise, Lota's thoughts stirred.
According to the "future" storyline, the Supreme God Mission was indeed about to begin. Regardless of whether the storyline would change, even if it did not, completing the Supreme God Mission would not be easy.
But with a certain degree of "foreknowledge," this Supreme God Mission was his best chance to complete one.
If the Death Overlord could help with all her strength, it would indeed be valuable support.
Seeing Lota lost in thought, the Death Overlord did not urge him.
After a moment, Lota looked up at the Death Overlord. His gaze was calm as he said directly, "One favor, the Supreme God Mission, and ten Undead Crystals in addition to that."
The "Earth Memory" described few treasures, but in truth, Heaven and Earth contained many treasures.
Undead Crystals were one of them. In terms of preciousness, they were not inferior to Zijing's Soul Stone in the slightest.
"Lota, don't go too far."
Upon hearing Lota's demand, the Death Overlord's face darkened slightly.
Undead Crystals were the Heart of the Underworld. They slowly formed over countless years under the Heaven and Earth Rule after absorbing innumerable special undead. Every one of them was priceless.
Furthermore, each time an Undead Crystal formed, she had to expend a great deal of effort.
Lota merely smiled at the Death Overlord's expression. "It's an equal exchange. Is a Sovereign Spark not worth this much?"
"Three! Not one more."
The Death Overlord exhaled, too lazy to waste words with Lota. She said directly, "If you agree, then that's it. If you don't, then we'll each rely on our own abilities."
Seeing the Death Overlord's reaction, Lota stopped "provoking" her and smiled. "Fine, then three."
In truth, Lota knew very well how important Undead Crystals were to the Death Overlord. Three already exceeded his expectations.
The Death Overlord left the Dark God Realm directly, her expression displeased.
Lota stood in the main hall, his expression returning to normal.
"Dominator."
Ilitana's voice rang out, with a slight fluctuation of emotion. "These Undead Crystals..."
Undead Crystals were supreme treasures. For beings of the Death System in particular, they were incomparable treasures.
"Let's make one final attempt."
Lota's voice carried no emotion. "This is also our only chance."
He had demanded the Undead Crystals for Ilitana.
Lota's feelings toward this vine that had followed him for countless years were somewhat complicated. Especially because she had once used her own essence blood to help him research Talent Divine Powers, greatly increasing his strength.
Hearing Lota's words, Ilitana fell silent for a moment before speaking. "Alright."
Before you continue