After hearing the Sovereign of Death, the Sovereign of Destruction fell silent and said no more.
Utrade's figure was hidden beneath his black robe, making his expression impossible to read. However, those who knew him well could tell that he was not in a good mood.
The Four Divine Beasts had always been regarded by the Sovereign of Destruction as his personal property. The main reason he had kept them alive until now was that they could be used sustainably.
Once the Four Divine Beasts were dead, their essence blood could only be extracted from their bodies, and the supply was limited. Every drop used was one less. But as long as the Four Divine Beasts were alive, one or two drops of essence blood could be extracted from them periodically, and they would recover over the long years.
The Sovereign of Destruction's current research did not require a large amount of essence blood all at once. And since he had some reservations about what the other three Rule Sovereigns might think, he had no plans to touch the Four Divine Beasts for the time being.
What he had not expected was that the Four Divine Beasts would end up in Hope's hands after he let his guard down for just a moment. This left him with mixed feelings.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
After the Four Rule Sovereigns arrived, streaks of light kept flashing across the horizon as the other Sovereigns arrived one after another. Palhouse came alongside Meige, the Sovereign of Fire. After landing, the two went straight to stand behind Hope, making their position clear. With that, all twelve Sovereign-level powerhouses from the Divine Planes had gathered.
"Everyone, all the Sovereigns have been informed about this matter. Next, we need to hold a Sovereign Conference to discuss it."
The Sovereign of Death spoke first. Her voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable authority.
None of the Sovereigns objected. Oufu simply waved his hand, and a massive Metal Lifeform appeared. Its doors slowly opened.
Soon, the other Sovereigns arrived one after another. The Water Sovereigns, who were closest, entered the Metal Lifeform first and followed behind Palhouse without a word. Then the rest of the Sovereigns arrived in turn. Once every Sovereign had arrived, the Metal Lifeform slowly rose into the air and set off.
"All right, everyone's here. Let's briefly go over what happened."
Oufu spoke first, wearing a genial smile. Then he waved his right hand, and a round table and seventy chairs rose into view.
"Everyone, this Sovereign Conference has been called because the Four Divine Beasts came to the Water Elemental Plane and fought the Sovereign of Water, Hope."
Oufu gently stroked his white beard and spoke in a mild tone, dropping a bombshell right away.
As soon as Oufu finished speaking, the Sovereigns below erupted into an uproar. Apart from the Water Sovereigns, who already knew, the rest exchanged bewildered glances, their expressions strange. Some were shocked, some afraid, and some relished the misfortune.
Only Zijing Sovereign's heart tightened. She glanced at the Sovereign of Water seated above and immediately realized that Reding and the other three were likely doomed. She sighed inwardly.
"Hope, everyone has already guessed what happened, but can you confirm whether Reding and the other three's Sovereign Sparks and corpses are in your hands?"
Utrade asked in a heavy tone that revealed nothing of his feelings.
"That's right. Reding and the others' Sovereign Sparks and essence blood are in my hands now."
Hope nodded slightly, unconcerned by Utrade's question. This was exactly what he had expected.
"Utrade, although Reding and the others were Sovereigns of your Hell, they attacked Hope and were killed in return. That doesn't violate the Sovereign Covenant. Their essence blood and Sovereign Sparks naturally count as Hope's spoils of war."
The Sovereign of Death lightly gathered her red hair and spoke with a hint of schadenfreude.
"I understand. Reding and the others brought this on themselves. I was only asking whether Hope would be willing to trade the essence blood with me. I'd owe him a favor."
Utrade frowned slightly, but continued.
He was determined to get the Four Divine Beasts' essence blood. Now that it was in Hope's hands, he needed to consider how to obtain it.
"I don't plan to trade it for now. I'm interested in the Four Divine Beasts' essence blood myself. Perhaps I'll consider a trade after studying it for a while."
Hope shook his head and answered vaguely. He neither outright refused nor agreed.
Utrade glanced at Hope, nodded, and said no more.
"Hope, whatever you do, don't give Utrade the Four Divine Beasts' essence blood. If he tries to take it by force, you can come to Vivia and me."
Seeing this, the Sovereign of Death immediately sent Hope a message. In her view, it was better for the essence blood to stay in Hope's hands.
"Don't worry. I know."
Hope did not object. He certainly would not give the essence blood to the Sovereign of Destruction. As for the favor the Sovereign of Destruction owed him, Hope considered it meaningless.
Given Hope's strength, the only ones who could possibly kill him now were the Four Rule Sovereigns. A favor from the Sovereign of Destruction would be of no use to him. He was not Beirut. Beirut had been hunted by the Chief Sovereign of Light and needed the Sovereign of Destruction's protection, which was why he had handed over half of the essence blood.
For Hope, holding on to the Four Divine Beasts' essence blood would let him keep the Sovereign of Destruction's Space-Time Disorder in check. Space-Time Disorder could, in turn, temporarily prevent Oufu from perfecting Transcending Reincarnation, maintaining the balance among the Four Rule Sovereigns. At least for now, Hope had no intention of trading it away.
Originally, the Sovereign of Death was not a Paragon, and the Sovereign of Life was not a Super Divine Beast, so they were already at a disadvantage compared to the Sovereign of Destruction and Oufu. If the Sovereign of Destruction grew stronger still, the situation could get out of hand.
"All right, Utrade. If you want to trade for the essence blood, you can approach Hope privately later. This time, we're here to discuss the deaths of Reding and the other three."
Oufu spoke with a smile, then looked toward the other Sovereigns and raised his voice.
"Reding and the other three provoked the Sovereign of Water of their own accord. Their deaths were their own fault. I believe Hope did not violate the Sovereign Covenant."
"I have no objections!"
The Sovereign of Death shrugged, unconcerned.
"Agreed!"
Utrade nodded, choosing not to make an issue of it.
"Then this matter is settled. Everyone may leave. I'd also like to remind you all: the Sovereign Covenant exists to protect ordinary Sovereigns, but that doesn't mean ordinary Sovereigns can provoke a Sovereign. Bear that in mind."
The Sovereign of Life stood up. Her tone carried a touch more authority as she surveyed all the Sovereigns present.
The Sovereigns rose and bowed in assent, then left one after another, each returning to their own circle to discuss what had happened.
Bloodridge Sovereign Pashi stayed by Zijing Sovereign's side and offered her a few words of comfort. Then they flew off together toward Hell.
"Hope, you should come visit my Floating Continent sometime."
Oufu said goodbye to Hope with a genial smile, then left with Augusta.
"Hope, what I said still stands. Or, if there's something else you want, anything I can provide is open for discussion."
After speaking, Utrade turned into a streak of black light and sped away.
"Hope, remember what I told you. If anything comes up, you can come to me anytime."
The Sovereign of Death spoke softly, then left with the Sovereign of Life, flying toward the horizon.
"All right, you can all head back too. I'll be away for a while."
Hope glanced at the remaining Water Sovereigns, gave Palhouse a few instructions, then turned into a streak of blue light and vanished over the horizon.
After the Water-elemental light descended onto the spatial teleportation array, Hope's figure remained hidden within its glow. He turned his hand over, took out a blue Sovereign Token, and called out:
"Qingya Plane!"
Regarding the comment that a Paragon Sovereign was a hundred times stronger than a Five-Fusion Sovereign, there is a problem with that calculation. If a Paragon Sovereign were a hundred times stronger than a non-Paragon Sovereign, then the Sovereign of Destruction should be a hundred times stronger than the Sovereign of Death. Both are Sovereigns, Super Divine Beasts, and possess Sovereign Artifacts, physical attacks, and Supreme Attack Artifacts. The only difference is that one is a Paragon.
But if the Sovereign of Destruction were a hundred times stronger than the Sovereign of Death, the gap would be far too great. The Sovereign of Destruction could easily kill the Sovereign of Death, and she wouldn't deserve to stand alongside him. Yet in the original work, the Sovereign of Destruction only surpassed her after developing Space-Time Disorder. So it is unreasonable to assume that he is a hundred times stronger than the Sovereign of Death. Therefore, in this book's setting, the Sovereign of Death is only one step away from becoming a Paragon, and their Mysteries are nearly equal. The Sovereign of Destruction is stronger than the Sovereign of Death by one additional Paragon's Willpower, making him only ten times as strong. This keeps the balance among the Four Rule Sovereigns reasonable.
The original work never said that the Heart of the Netherworld increased one's strength. It would also be unreasonable for only the Netherworld to increase one's strength among the Four Supreme Planes, so that idea is not adopted. The Sovereign of Death never said that she and the Sovereign of Life had a Combined Innate Divine Ability, either. She only said that the outcome would be uncertain if they joined forces. Besides, the Sovereign of Life is not a Super Divine Beast, so it would be unreasonable for her to have a Combined Innate Divine Ability.
Based on this, in this book's setting, both a newly achieved Five-Fusion and a peak Five-Fusion that is only one step away from being a Paragon count as Five-Fusions. Most veteran Sovereigns are peak Five-Fusions. The gap between a non-Paragon Sovereign and a Paragon Sovereign is nowhere near a hundredfold. And since the Divine Beast Bloodlines of veteran Sovereigns also enhance their bodies to some extent, Palhouse's strength is on par with that of the other Sovereigns, though not on Huerlei's level.