Four Divine Beasts vs Hope

In the Water Elemental Plane, within the Cangming Sea, the Cangming Tower was shrouded in a layer of milky-white mist at the center of the sea.

"Hmm? Have they arrived?"

Hope, who had been sitting in meditation, suddenly opened his eyes. A faint blue gleam flashed through his pupils as he looked toward the direction of the Azure Dragon Continent.

Over there, four streaks of brilliant, flowing light—water-blue, pale cyan, earthy-yellow, and crimson—formed a four-colored radiance, charging straight toward the Cangming Sea.

"Reding, you four... coming to my Water Elemental Plane, are you here for me?"

Hope let out a cold snort. His figure vanished instantly, transforming into an ice-blue beam of light that pierced the heavens. In the blink of an eye, he ascended a million meters into the sky, overlooking the entire sea as his voice instantly echoed throughout the Water Elemental Plane.

At this moment, the entire Water Elemental Plane trembled. The lower-tier Sovereign of Water closest to Hope was the first to sense something, quickly spreading his divine sense across the entire plane.

"My god, the Four Divine Beasts... what are they planning to do?"

"Could it be that they intend to fight the Sovereign?"

The remaining four Sovereigns in the Water Elemental Plane quickly noticed the situation, their expressions shifting constantly.

"Have we been discovered?"

Above the Azure Dragon Continent, Reding heard Hope's challenge and felt the divine senses of the many water-element Sovereigns, causing him to frown.

"Big Brother, what should we do?"

Lius, the White Tiger Sovereign, quickly turned to look at Reding, signaling with his pale-white eyes.

"Travel in our true forms! Charge over at maximum speed!"

Reding only hesitated for a split second before making his decision. Things had reached the point where the arrow was already on the string and had to be fired; there was no turning back. The only way forward was to fight.

"Sss-sss~~"

The bodies of the four shifted abruptly. The Azure Dragon, radiating a blue, ghostly light, instantly revealed its true form. The White Tiger appeared to the left of the Azure Dragon with a ferocious expression, its white, needle-like fur emitting a silver halo.

A crimson halo transformed into a rain of light, the Vermilion Bird's wings were shrouded in flames, and upon the Black Tortoise's shell, a jade-green halo radiated earthy-yellow ripples.

"Sss-sss~~"

As the Four Divine Beasts transformed into their true divine beast forms, their immense physical power instantly tore through the space of the Water Elemental Plane. Their speed increased dramatically, and in almost an instant, they arrived above the Cangming Sea.

"It seems that so many years of arrogance have made you four lose sight of who you really are."

A layer of ice-blue battle armor emerged on Hope's body. With a movement of his right hand, a long sword shimmering with blue-white light suddenly appeared, and a pressure that enveloped the entire world slowly descended.

"Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!"

Four phantoms of the divine beasts descended with the sound of tearing air, leaving four trails in the void like shooting stars. The Sovereign powers of earth, wind, water, and fire resembled four colorful galaxies, forming a sea of stars in the sky.

"You actually didn't run!"

The Azure Dragon's eyes flashed with a scarlet hue. It spat out an ice-blue breath, looked at Hope's figure, and spoke slowly, its voice resonating through heaven and earth with a strange, eerie vibration.

As the sound waves spread, life on the countless islands surrounding the Cangming Sea felt a pressure from deep within their bloodlines, and the various divine beasts swimming in the ocean could not help but tremble.

"Let me run? Are you four even worthy?"

Hope narrowed his eyes, a mocking curve appearing on his lips as he responded indifferently.

The Four Divine Beasts were said to be comparable to Sovereigns, but that was merely a comparison. The massive gap between a lower-tier Sovereign and a Sovereign could not be bridged simply by relying on innate divine abilities. Hope had never truly taken the Four Divine Beasts seriously.

As Hope's voice rang out, a gentle white halo expanded, covering the entire sea in an instant and directly cutting off Reding's voice. The ordinary lifeforms of the Water Elemental Plane felt the pressure lift instantly, and they looked up at the sky in shock and uncertainty.

"Since you are seeking your own death, we will accept your Sovereign spark!"

Lius, the White Tiger Sovereign, reverted to his human form. His silver-white tiger robe seemed to be one with his body, and a blood-red character for "King" appeared on his forehead.

In Lius's view, his four brothers had prepared for many years, accumulating enough blood essence to use their innate divine abilities twice in succession. This was enough to stand firm among the Sovereigns.

Among the many Sovereigns, aside from Oufu, the Sovereign of Fate who possessed a supreme artifact for soul defense, and Utrade, the Sovereign of Destruction who was both a super divine beast and a Paragon, even the other two Rule Sovereigns could not withstand two of their innate divine abilities head-on. Hope, the Sovereign of Water, was not enough.

"Roar!"

The White Tiger let out a roar, his hands transforming into white claws as dozens of hundred-meter-long wind blades instantly slashed toward Hope.

"Boring!"

Hope merely raised his left hand indifferently. A mass of pale-blue water shield instantly emerged from his body, and a layer of soft mist turned into a massive black hole, directly swallowing Lius's divine power before forming a hundred-meter-long vortex that charged toward the Four Divine Beasts at high speed.

"Form up!"

Reding narrowed his eyes and spoke with a solemn expression. At the same time, he moved to block the path in front of the other three. A hissing sound erupted from his body as strands of cyan water currents swirled around him.

Although they spoke words of contempt, the Four Divine Beasts never truly underestimated a Sovereign in their hearts. After all, most Sovereigns were the strongest eleven Sovereigns who had existed since the beginning of the world, representing the truly invincible existence between heaven and earth.

Hope, the Sovereign of Water, had even achieved ten consecutive victories in the Water Elemental Plane millions of years ago, gaining an extra portion of Willpower. Against such an opponent, they had to be extremely cautious.

"Roar!"

"Ang!"

"Ao!"

"Sss!"

As the four roared in their divine beast forms, a golden light pattern suddenly descended from the sky, enveloping all four of them. A massive golden sphere took shape, and peculiar patterns emerged on its surface—if one looked closely, they were all specialized magic array markings.

The Four Divine Beasts' combined ultimate technique—Four Elements Water-Style Azure Dragon Defense!

Lius and the other two stood side by side behind Reding, their Sovereign Power surging forth from within their bodies. Combined with their divine beast bloodlines, it poured into the patterns of the magic array from three directions like a fountain. Standing at the center of the magic array, a flash of icy blue light flickered through Reding's eyes.

"BOOM~~"

As Reding raised his arms, the golden sphere of light abruptly transformed into an icy blue, while faint, shimmering phantoms of cyan dragon scales emerged upon its surface. In a trance, it was as if the four had merged into one, becoming a Sovereign of the Water-Style Azure Dragon.

This was one of the fruits of the Four Divine Beasts' many years of research: a joint ultimate technique. Unlike innate divine abilities, these were four perfected techniques centered around a magic array that utilized the bloodline connections between the four of them.

Each ultimate technique took either the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, or Black Tortoise as its core, with the other three providing support. Once the magic array was integrated, they could be used for offense, defense, speed, or recovery. While their power could not compare to innate divine abilities, they were not inferior to those of ordinary Sovereigns.

The ultimate technique that Reding and his companions were currently executing was precisely one of these four—the Four Elements Water-Style Azure Dragon Defense from the Four Divine Beasts' joint ultimate techniques. In terms of defensive power alone, Reding believed that even a Sovereign could not break through it at will.

"Sss-sss~~"

As the icy blue vortex swept onto the sphere of light, a terrifying storm instantly expanded. Large swathes of space shattered amidst the hissing sounds, and the sphere of light manifested by the Four Divine Beasts surged directly into the Spatial Turbulence.

"A defensive ultimate technique executed using a magic array?"

Hope let out a soft sound of surprise before returning to his calm state. He observed the magic array carefully, pondering whether it was possible to apply it to transcendence. He did not rush to use an ultimate technique, but instead gripped his blue-and-white longsword, which shimmered with a halo of light, and transformed into a stream of emerald water as he charged into the Spatial Turbulence.