The Overbearing Nature of the Four Divine Beasts Clan, Hope and Pashi

"I didn't want to kill him, but I have to say, the people of the Four Divine Beasts Clan are truly a bunch of overbearing lunatics."

Ninisha rubbed her brow with a headache, then briefly recounted the sequence of events.

"Sigh, if I had known about this, I should have acted with you."

After hearing Ninisha's account, Dili sighed helplessly. As a Sovereign's legion commander of the Water Divine Plane, she had dealt with the Four Divine Beasts Clan of the Azure Dragon Continent and had, of course, witnessed firsthand just how overbearing they could be.

If it had been her, she likely would have endured it and handed the Five-Colored Blood Crystal over to Emmanuel immediately; that way, the matter would naturally have passed.

Although it would be humiliating for a powerhouse at the level of a Prefecture Lord and a Sovereign's envoy to bow to a Seven-Star Fiend, given the Four Divine Beasts Clan's overbearing nature and tendency to shield their own, this was the only way to avoid offending them.

Ninisha, after all, came from the Thunder Divine Plane, where the influence of the Four Divine Beasts Clan was weak. Consequently, Ninisha did not know much about their style of conduct and had not agreed to Emmanuel's demands right away.

In the end, the moment Ninisha first refused Emmanuel, she was destined to offend the Four Divine Beasts Clan; even if she had let Emmanuel and Kedun go in the end, the result would not have changed at all.

"Dili, you don't need to worry too much. I don't have a clan behind me, and the Laws of Thunder excel in speed; it won't be that easy for the Four Divine Beasts Clan to kill me."

Seeing that Dili's expression was not very good, Ninisha spoke up to comfort her.

"Sigh, Ninisha, you don't understand the Four Divine Beasts Clan. They are just a bunch of shameless lunatics..."

Dili's mouth twitched as she gave a bitter smile, then she began to recount the past history of the Four Divine Beasts Clan to Ninisha.

The fundamental reason why the Four Divine Beasts Clan was feared by countless people in the Divine Planes was that the Four Divine Beasts Sovereign were shameless. Whenever the clan encountered a problem they couldn't solve, they never minded lowering their status to take action personally.

In the past, there had been Prefecture Lord-level powerhouses who, after being bullied by the Four Divine Beasts Clan, could not help but strike back. One such powerhouse, who cultivated the profound mysteries of the Laws of Darkness, relied on his ability to hide his aura to assassinate members of the Four Divine Beasts Clan. He had even escaped after being besieged by Gaislesen and others several times.

Then, the Azure Dragon Sovereign Reding took action and killed him with a single thought, leaving countless lives in the Divine Planes trembling with fear.

"This... the Four Divine Beasts Sovereign actually act like this?"

Ninisha's brows furrowed instantly, and she fell into deep thought.

Ninisha realized that she had underestimated the level of shamelessness of the Four Divine Beasts Clan and the Four Divine Beasts Sovereign, and she had fallen into an extremely dangerous situation.

She had originally thought that the worst that could happen for her actions was being besieged by members of the Four Divine Beasts Clan. Although the clan had multiple Shura-level experts that she could not confront head-on, with her strength and speed, she could still protect herself and escape.

But if the Four Divine Beasts Sovereign took action, everything would be meaningless. After all, Sovereigns and gods could already be considered two different types of life forms.

"Ninisha, why don't you ask the Sovereign for help? I'm afraid only the Sovereign can protect you in this matter."

Dili remained silent for a long while before finally offering her suggestion and expressing her stance.

Although Dili herself felt that this proposal was perhaps a bit absurd—a Sovereign's envoy was, after all, just a servant—how could a Sovereign possibly become enemies with another Sovereign for their sake?

"This... a Sovereign's envoy is just an envoy. Will the Sovereign help me?"

Ninisha hesitated, her brows furrowed as she spoke.

"You have to try. The Sovereign seems to value you highly; perhaps he might help. Don't worry, if the situation reaches the worst-case scenario, I will be with you and fight the Four Divine Beasts Clan to the death! The two of us can surely take one or two of them down."

A flash of firm killing intent appeared in Dili's blue eyes, her tone carrying a hint of resolution.

In truth, according to Dili's previous personality, she should have turned and left. After all, this matter had nothing to do with her, and continuing to act with Ninisha might only bring trouble upon herself.

However, this time, after thinking it over, Dili decided to take a gamble. On one hand, she had also suffered from the Four Divine Beasts' arrogance over the years and held a grudge, wanting to fight them.

Of course, the most important thing was that the Sovereign of Water seemed to value Miss Ninisha highly, so it was not impossible to obtain protection. What if the Sovereign really stepped in?

Most importantly, she had had contact with Palhouse and Bayer and understood the Sovereign of Water's eye for choosing envoys. Although she didn't know how the Sovereign of Water had discerned it, Dili guessed that Ninisha might have the potential to break through to become a Paragon.

If she, Dili, stood firmly by Ninisha's side now, she would surely earn Ninisha's gratitude. Once Ninisha broke through to become a Paragon, she would inevitably receive the Sovereign's protection, and the Four Divine Beasts Clan would be unable to do anything to her.

By then, she, Dili, would have obtained the favor of a Paragon Highgod who served as a Sovereign's envoy, so she decided to take the gamble.

"I understand, Dili. Thank you."

Ninisha was silent for a moment, took a deep breath, and nodded slowly. She took a piece of parchment from her interspatial ring, and the special magic runes began to burn instantly.

On the other side, Bloodridge Continent, Lianyun Mountain Range.

Deep within the mountain range, there was a lake spanning a thousand miles, and in the center of the lake stood a beautiful island.

The island was home to a large number of beautiful plants and birds, looking like a paradise on earth.

On the island, inside a primitive conical palace, two figures sat opposite each other in front of a rustic stone table.

One of them was the nominal master of the Bloodridge Continent, one of the Seven Sovereigns of Hell, the Bloodridge Sovereign, Pashi.

The black-haired, short-haired young man with sword-like brows and star-like eyes sitting opposite him was naturally Hope, who had left the Zijing Continent. Between the two of them was a stone table and a chessboard.

"My Lord, please!"

Pashi gently moved a chess piece, then looked at Hope with a smile, his expression appearing very relaxed.

"I have to say, Pashi, your strength is as formidable as ever."

Hope looked at the situation on the chessboard, constantly deducing the next moves in his mind, and then spoke with emotion.

"My Lord's strength is not bad either, and it is getting stronger and stronger. I have played chess with many Sovereigns, and your strength is the greatest among those I know."

Pashi toyed with the chess piece in his hand and spoke in a light tone, though his heart was not as calm as he appeared.

Pashi was not deliberately flattering anyone. As a well-known "nice guy" Sovereign with broad interests, the Bloodridge Sovereign Pashi had played chess with many Sovereigns. Most Sovereigns could not win a single game against him, and only a few could occasionally win once.

Among these few people, the Sovereign of Destruction counted as one, Teresia counted as one, and the Sovereign of Water, Hope, also counted as one. Moreover, he won more often than the Sovereign of Destruction, so the Bloodridge Sovereign had long suspected that the Sovereign of Water, Lord Hope, had likely already become a Paragon.

However, Pashi had never told anyone, including the Sovereign of Destruction, even though he was technically a Sovereign under the Sovereign of Destruction's command.

Pashi's public image had always been that of a harmless, easygoing fellow who had no desire to grow stronger and only enjoyed life; he had no wants or needs other than playing chess, offended no one, and even when the Four Divine Beasts made the Bloodridge Continent their lair, he had not shown the slightest dissatisfaction.

Yet, as a Sovereign who had lived since the dawn of the world, how could he truly be a harmless pushover? Pashi simply knew what he wanted and possessed self-awareness, never vying for Supreme God missions, heavenly treasures, or anything else that Sovereigns might fight over.

"Hm? Ninisha is looking for me already?"

Just as Hope was preparing to place his next piece, he suddenly sensed a summons. He raised an eyebrow and looked up toward the direction of the Zijing Continent with a hint of surprise.

"My Lord?"

Seeing this, the Bloodridge Sovereign Pashi, who was sitting opposite Hope, asked cautiously and tentatively.

"Wait for me a moment."

After saying this, Hope set down the chess piece in his hand, and a moment later, a projection avatar condensed and took form on the Zijing Continent.