"Oh? You want me to give you a reason?"
Hearing Reding's words, Hope furrowed his brow, his tone turning icy in an instant.
"Reding, how dare you question a Sovereign?"
A trace of frost flashed across Palhouse's face, and his voice rose sharply.
"That's not what I meant. I was only asking, since quite a few members of the Four Divine Beasts Clan have died."
Seeing this, Reding raised his brows slightly. His tone softened a little, but he continued speaking.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
The next moment, three streams of Sovereign's Might coalesced out of thin air, taking the form of three figures who appeared behind Reding.
"Sovereign, you hold the exalted rank of Sovereign, yet your Paragon Emissary attacked members of the Four Divine Beasts Clan for no reason. Surely there should be an explanation? If our people offended you first, the four of us can discipline them and apologize to you."
The White Tiger Sovereign Lius stood behind Reding in a white robe. Tiger-stripe-like ripples flickered in his eyes as he spoke calmly. Though he spoke of apologizing, there wasn't a trace of respect in his gaze.
"You..."
Palhouse furrowed his brows and clenched his fists, his bones creaking. He was about to say something when Hope raised a hand to stop him.
"You want an explanation, is that it?"
Hope stopped Palhouse, his blue eyes sweeping over the Four Divine Beasts.
Reding and the other three didn't answer. They simply watched Hope with calm expressions.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
The next instant, two beams of light flashed from Hope's eyes. Emmanuel and Fuerhan, who were hiding behind the others, immediately lost their lives without even realizing what had happened.
"You!"
The White Tiger Sovereign Lius flew into a rage, glaring at Hope as if he might attack at any moment. But Reding put his right hand in front of him.
"Members of your Four Divine Beasts Clan dared to steal something my emissary had offered me. They deserved to die!"
Hope met the Four Divine Beasts' fiery glares and spoke without a care.
As one of the oldest Sovereigns in the world, Hope had cards of his own. The only ones he had to be wary of were the Four Rules Sovereigns. The Four Divine Beasts didn't measure up.
"Fine. Offending a Sovereign is a capital crime. Now that Emmanuel and Fuerhan are dead, can we let this matter end here?"
Reding fell silent for a moment before forcing the words out through clenched teeth. His voice rose, and his expression turned cold, but he still held back the impulsive Lius.
The four of them weren't afraid of an ordinary Law Sovereign, but this was Hell, the Sovereign of Destruction's territory. And Palhouse also had the strength of a Sovereign. They weren't confident they could take on both of them at once.
"Keep your people in line. Otherwise, one day, the Four Divine Beasts Clan might disappear."
After speaking, Hope swept his hand through the air. Sovereign's Might carried Ninisha and Dili away, and they vanished in an instant.
The Water Elemental Plane, the Cangming Sea.
"Whoosh!"
Ninisha and Dili felt themselves wrapped in an irresistible force. By the time they recovered, they had already arrived.
"Dili, take Ninisha downstairs."
Hope settled slowly onto the throne at the top of the room and spoke in an indifferent tone.
"Yes, Sovereign!"
Dili and Ninisha rose together, bowed, and left the room.
"Sovereign, it looks like Reding and the others won't let this go easily."
Palhouse stood some distance below him, his voice tinged with concern.
"Of course they won't. But it remains to be seen who's the hunter and who's the prey."
Hope looked toward the distant sky, confidence filling his expression.
"Father!"
Only after Hope left did Gaia come to her senses. Her eyes bloodshot, she looked toward Reding.
Just moments ago, her only son, Fuerhan, had died, along with her only grandson, Emmanuel. They had died right in front of her beloved father, and no one had been able to stop it.
"Go back!"
Reding's expression was dark as he forced the words out through clenched teeth.
As Sovereign's Might surged, the Four Divine Beasts soon returned with their people to the Skyrite Mountains, landing directly inside the hall.
"Father! Why did you let the Sovereign of Water go? He's only a Law Sovereign..."
Tears filled Gaia's eyes as she looked at Reding, bewilderment and deep grievance in her expression.
"Gaia! That's enough!"
Gaislesen was the first to react, quickly reprimanding her. Then he cautiously glanced at Reding. His father's brow was furrowed, but he didn't seem angry, and Gaislesen relaxed a little.
Although Reding was their father, he was also a lofty Sovereign. His children could enjoy the privileges that came with being his children, but they couldn't casually question his decisions.
"Father, I'm sorry!"
Gaia calmed down somewhat at once. She dropped to her knees with a thud, her voice trembling.
"This matter is more complicated than you think."
Reding glanced at Gaia's red eyes and sighed inwardly. He offered the brief explanation.
"All right, big brother. The children are only acting this way because they're upset. Don't hold it against them."
Seeing this, the Vermilion Bird Sovereign Nimo tugged lightly at the Azure Dragon Sovereign's sleeve and spoke up.
"All right, children. Tell us what happened."
The Black Tortoise Sovereign Bowen changed the subject, turning to the children below and deliberately leaving Gaia's defiance of Reding behind.
"Father, this is what happened..."
The Black Tortoise Clan Leader Morei stepped forward and briefly recounted the whole incident.
"Bang!"
Halfway through Morei's account, the Black Tortoise Sovereign Bowen's eyes suddenly widened, and an earthen-yellow beam of light shot from them.
"Did you just say it was a blood-red Heaven and Earth Wonder containing five different colors—the Five-Colored Blood Crystal?"
Bowen's voice rose several notches. Reding and the other two immediately fixed their eyes on Morei, their gazes so sharp they seemed able to see right through him.
"Yes, it was the Five-Colored Blood Crystal..."
Morei suddenly felt as if he were sitting on pins and needles, at a loss for what to do.
"That Five-Colored Blood Crystal..."
Reding stopped Bowen from continuing and asked many more questions in detail. After a long while, he waved a hand to dismiss Morei and the others. They left without lingering, and soon only the Four Divine Beasts Sovereigns remained in the hall.
"Big brother, that Five-Colored Blood Crystal is probably what we've been searching for. It's in Hope's hands now. What do we do?"
The White Tiger Sovereign Lius spoke first. The markings on his forehead turned blood-red, their imposing presence all the more striking against his white skin.
"It looks like we'll have to change our plans. Our next target is Hope, the Sovereign of Water!"
The Azure Dragon Sovereign Reding kept his eyes shut. Then he suddenly opened them, and a cold killing intent burst forth.
"Big brother, are we going to fight Hope and Palhouse at the same time?"
The Black Tortoise Sovereign Bowen sounded worried, pouring some cold water on the furious group.
"If Palhouse is with him, we don't have a good enough chance. But if they're separated, then even with the extra Willpower from a ten-win streak, Hope—who isn't a Paragon Sovereign—won't be able to withstand two uses of our Innate Divine Ability!"
A blue gleam flashed in Reding's eyes. He made no attempt to hide the killing intent in his voice.
"Ever since his ten-win streak in the Water Elemental Plane, Hope seems to have grown far too self-confident. Since he dared to provoke us, we'll make him understand that even a Sovereign must pay the price for crossing us!"
The White Tiger Sovereign Lius revealed a murderous aura as well. He wasn't worried at all about the battle to come.
In the Four Divine Beasts' view, Hope had gained an extra measure of Willpower from his ten consecutive victories in the Plane War, but after years of research, they had learned to use their Innate Divine Ability twice. Hope wasn't a Paragon Sovereign and had no Divine Beast Bloodline, so his soul defense couldn't possibly withstand it.
"Hope, I'm looking forward to seeing the look on your face when the time comes!"
Reding gazed into the void, as if he could stare straight through to Hope in the Water Elemental Plane.