The Thoughts of the Main Gods, Returning to the Qingya Plane

Upon hearing the words of the Sovereign of Death, the Sovereign of Destruction fell silent and did not speak again.

At this moment, Utrade's figure was hidden beneath a black robe, making it impossible to see his expression, though those familiar with him knew that he was not in a good mood.

The Four Divine Beasts had always been regarded by the Sovereign of Destruction as his own private property; the only reason he hadn't killed them until now was primarily out of consideration for sustainable utilization.

The essence blood of the fallen Four Divine Beasts could only be extracted from their physical bodies, and the quantity was limited—every drop used was one less available. However, living Four Divine Beasts could have a drop or two of essence blood extracted periodically, and then recover over the course of long, drawn-out years.

The current research of the Sovereign of Destruction did not require a massive, one-time investment of essence blood, and coupled with his slight reservations regarding the thoughts of the other three Rule Sovereigns, he had not intended to move against the Four Divine Beasts for the time being.

What he hadn't expected, however, was that with just a momentary lapse in attention, the Four Divine Beasts had already fallen into the hands of Hope, which left him feeling somewhat conflicted.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

After the four Rule Sovereigns arrived, streaks of light continuously flashed across the horizon as the other Sovereigns descended one after another. Palhouse followed beside the Fire Sovereign Meige, and after landing, he stood directly behind Hope, effectively declaring his stance. With this, all twelve Sovereign-level powerhouses of the Elemental Planes had gathered.

"Everyone, this matter has been notified to all Sovereigns. Next, we need to convene a Sovereign meeting to discuss it."

The Sovereign of Death spoke first; her voice was not loud, yet it carried an unquestionable pressure.

None of the many Sovereigns objected. Oufu even waved his hand, and a massive metallic lifeform appeared, its gates slowly opening.

Soon, the other Sovereigns descended one after another. The nearby Water Sovereigns were the first to enter the metallic lifeform, following behind Palhouse in silence. Immediately after, the remaining Sovereigns all descended, and once every Sovereign had arrived, the metallic lifeform slowly ascended and began to move forward.

"Alright, everyone is here, so let me briefly explain the situation."

Oufu spoke first, wearing a warm smile, and then with a wave of his right hand, a round table and seventy seats rose simultaneously.

"Everyone, this Sovereign meeting was convened because the Four Divine Beasts went to the Water Elemental Plane to fight the Sovereign of Water, Hope."

Oufu gently stroked his white beard, speaking in a gentle tone as he dropped a bombshell.

After Oufu's words fell, the Sovereigns below erupted in an instant. Aside from the Water Sovereigns who already knew, the other Sovereigns looked at one another with strange expressions—some were shocked, some fearful, and others gloated.

Only Zijing Sovereign felt a tightening in her heart. She glanced at the Sovereign of Water sitting above and immediately realized that Reding and the others were likely doomed, causing her to sigh inwardly.

"Hope, although everyone has already guessed, can you clarify? The Godheads and corpses of Reding and the other three are already in your hands, aren't they?"

Utrade spoke in a dull tone, making it impossible to tell if he was angry or pleased.

"That is correct. The Godheads and essence blood of Reding and the others are now in my possession."

Hope nodded slightly, unbothered by Utrade's inquiry; this was, after all, an expected outcome.

"Utrade, although Reding and the others were Sovereigns of your Hell, they were killed in retaliation after attacking Hope. This does not violate the Sovereign Covenant, so their essence blood and Godheads naturally count as Hope's spoils of war."

The Sovereign of Death gently smoothed her long red hair, her tone carrying a hint of schadenfreude.

"I understand. Reding and the others brought this upon themselves. I was merely asking if Hope would be willing to trade the essence blood with me; consider it me owing him a favor."

Utrade frowned slightly, but continued to speak nonetheless.

He was determined to obtain the essence blood of the Four Divine Beasts. Now that the blood was in Hope's hands, he needed to consider how to acquire it.

"I do not intend to trade for the time being. I am also interested in the essence blood of the Four Divine Beasts. Perhaps I will consider a trade after researching it for a period."

Hope shook his head and spoke vaguely, neither refusing outright nor agreeing.

Utrade glanced at Hope, nodded, and said nothing more.

"Hope, do not give the essence blood of the Four Divine Beasts to Utrade under any circumstances. If he tries to seize it, you can come find me and Vivia."

Seeing this, the Sovereign of Death sent a voice transmission directly to Hope. In her view, it was better for the essence blood to remain in Hope's hands.

"Rest assured, I know."

Hope did not object. Naturally, he would not give the essence blood to the Sovereign of Destruction, and as for the favor of the Sovereign of Destruction, Hope found it meaningless.

Given Hope's strength, the only ones who could potentially kill him now were the four Rule Sovereigns. The favor of the Sovereign of Destruction was of no use to him. He was not Beirut; Beirut had been hunted by the Chief Sovereign of Light and needed the protection of the Sovereign of Destruction, which was why he had handed over half of the essence blood.

For Hope, holding onto the essence blood of the Four Divine Beasts allowed him to suppress the Space-Time Disorder of the Sovereign of Destruction, and the Space-Time Disorder could temporarily prevent Oufu from perfecting Transcending Reincarnation, thereby maintaining the balance among the four Rule Sovereigns. At the very least, he did not intend to trade it away right now.

Originally, because the Sovereign of Death was not a Great Perfection and the Sovereign of Life was not a Super Divine Beast, they were already slightly inferior to the Sovereign of Destruction and his peer. If the Sovereign of Destruction were further strengthened, the situation would become somewhat uncontrollable.

"Alright, Utrade, if you want to trade for the essence blood, you can approach Hope privately in the future. This time, we are here to discuss the fall of Reding and the other three."

Oufu spoke with a smile, then looked at the other Sovereigns and said loudly:

"Reding and the other three took the initiative to provoke the Sovereign of Water and were killed; it was their own doing. I believe Hope has not violated the Sovereign Covenant."

"I have no objections!"

The Sovereign of Death shrugged and spoke with complete indifference.

"Agreed!"

Utrade nodded and did not make an issue of it.

"Then, this matter ends here. Everyone may disperse. At the same time, I remind everyone: although the Sovereign Covenant exists to protect ordinary Sovereigns, it does not mean that ordinary Sovereigns can provoke Sovereigns. Everyone, take heed."

The Sovereign of Life stood up, her tone carrying a bit more dominance as she swept her gaze across all the Sovereigns present.

The many Sovereigns rose and bowed in acknowledgment, then left one after another, returning to their own small groups to discuss the matter.

The Bloodridge Sovereign Pashi followed beside Zijing Sovereign, offering a few words of comfort before they flew off together in the direction of Hell.

"Hope, feel free to come sit at my Floating Continent sometime."

Oufu said his goodbyes to Hope with a chuckle, then took Augusta and departed.

"Hope, what I just said still stands. Or, if there is anything else you want, as long as it is within my power, we can discuss it."

After Utrade finished speaking, he transformed into a streak of black light and sped away.

"Hope, remember what I said. If you have any questions, you can come find me at any time."

The Sovereign of Death spoke softly, then took the Sovereign of Life by the hand and flew off toward the horizon.

"Alright, you all should head back as well. I will be leaving for a while."

Hope swept his gaze over the remaining Water-element Sovereigns, gave a few instructions to Palhouse, and then transformed into a blue beam of light, vanishing into the horizon.

Above the spatial teleportation array, after the blue light descended, Hope's figure remained hidden within the halo. He flipped his hand to reveal a blue Sovereign Token and spoke:

"Qingya Plane!"

Regarding the mention that a Sovereign who is a Perfection is a hundred times stronger than a Sovereign who is not, there is a certain issue with this calculation. If a Perfection Sovereign were truly a hundred times stronger than a non-Perfection Sovereign, then the Sovereign of Destruction should be a hundred times stronger than the Sovereign of Death. Both of them are Sovereign-level Super Divine Beasts with Sovereign Artifacts and Supreme Attack Artifacts; the only difference is the Perfection status.

However, if the Sovereign of Destruction were a hundred times stronger than the Sovereign of Death, the gap would be too vast. The Sovereign of Destruction could easily kill the Sovereign of Death, and the Sovereign of Death would not be worthy of being ranked alongside him. Yet, in the original work, the Sovereign of Destruction only surpassed her after researching Space-Time Disorder. Asserting that the Sovereign of Destruction is a hundred times stronger than the Sovereign of Death is unreasonable. Therefore, in this book, it is established that the Sovereign of Death is only one step away from Perfection, and the profound mysteries mastered by both sides are nearly identical. The Sovereign of Destruction's strength is only greater than the Sovereign of Death's by the Willpower of one Perfection, which can only be considered ten times that of the Sovereign of Death. Only in this way is the balance between the four Rule Sovereigns reasonable.

The original work never mentioned that the Heart of the Netherworld increases combat power, and it would be unreasonable for only the Netherworld among the four Supreme Planes to provide such a boost, so this is not adopted. The Sovereign of Death also never said that she and the Sovereign of Life possess a combined innate divine ability; she only said that their joint efforts would lead to an unknown outcome. Furthermore, the Sovereign of Life is not a Super Divine Beast, so it is unreasonable for them to have a combined innate divine ability.

Based on this, the setting of this book is that both those who have just entered the five-fusion stage and those at the peak of the five-fusion stage who are only one step away from Perfection are all considered five-fusion. Most veteran Sovereigns are peak five-fusion. There is not a hundredfold gap between non-Perfection Sovereigns and Perfection Sovereigns. Additionally, the divine beast bloodlines of veteran Sovereigns provide some enhancement to their physical bodies. Therefore, Palhouse's strength is comparable to other Sovereigns and does not reach the level of Huerlei.