Linhu City in Jinyang Prefecture was where the Prefect's residence stood.
Desterie flew straight there at an unhurried pace, entering the residence before heading directly to the study in the inner quarters.
No one besides him was allowed to fly within the residence. So when the attendants saw someone flying, they recognized the familiar figure and aura and knew their lord had returned.
Taking out Kurado's Spatial Ring, Desterie rubbed it between his fingers and praised, "Kurado's Fate Rule is pretty impressive. It actually gave my Fate Divine Clone another insight. Still, this bit of insight probably isn't enough to help me break through the barrier to Paragon."
He dripped a drop of blood onto it and successfully bound it to himself.
This didn't surprise Desterie. Even though External Godhood was possible, not many people across the Supreme Planes and divine planes had multiple Divine Clones. Among those who did, two Divine Clones were by far the most common; three were rare, and four rarer still.
Desterie himself belonged to the "rarer still" category.
He had all five types of Sovereign—Life, Death, Fate, Destruction, and the Rules—and not a single Law.
He sent his divine sense into Kurado's Spatial Ring. The first thing that caught his eye was a vast quantity of Heavenly Realm currency—Cloud Stones. He estimated there were around five hundred billion. But to Desterie, Cloud Stones were just a number, so he quickly moved on.
There were also several well-crafted Highgod Artifacts, both offensive and defensive, including an unowned Soul Defense Divine Artifact.
But they were still of little use to Desterie, adding to his stockpile and nothing more. After all, as an Asura who cultivated the Fate Rule, he had crafted plenty of Soul Defense Divine Artifacts himself. He had long since given some to his loved ones and helped them refine the artifacts.
Soul Gold Beads, Battle Projections, and a great many Godheads of every element and rank...
Desterie grew bored of rummaging through the ring and was about to toss it into storage when he noticed a jade bottle. Its stopper had been sealed using a special method. Beside it lay an unnamed book and a Black Token.
He took out all three items and examined the jade bottle first. It took some effort to open, but when he finally did, he found a drop of pure white liquid floating inside, radiating waves of power. He couldn't help but laugh. "Kurado must have been stronger than I thought. He actually got his hands on a drop of Fate Sovereign Power. What a pity he didn't get to use it before I cut him down. It's mine now."
Though he was a Sovereign's emissary, Desterie wasn't exactly rich in Sovereign's Might.
Next, he picked up the book and flipped through it casually. His expression soon turned serious. "He recorded every detail of his insights into cultivating the Fate Rule. His understanding is still inferior to mine, but if I read this carefully, it might give me some inspiration."
Finally, Desterie picked up the token. It was pitch-black and seemed to swallow light and block the eye. One side bore the character for "kill," against a background filled with an astonishing variety of creatures. The other side bore the character for "annihilate," with mountains, rivers, terrain, and a vast starry sky depicted behind it.
There was a circular hole at the bottom of the token, clearly missing something. One corner at the top had also been chipped away.
"What is this?" Desterie wondered.
Just then, the glowing Longevity White Jade slowly revolving within Desterie's Soul Space began to throb, as if breathing. It was responding to the token from afar.
Desterie stared at the token in his hand in surprise. After all these years, something had finally made the Companion White Jade react again!
That's right: the Longevity White Jade in Desterie's Soul Space had been in his mouth when he was born, and he had carried it with him ever since.
It had accompanied him as he became a warrior, then reached Saint-level, and finally became a god. After that, the piece of jade had moved into Desterie's Soul Space of its own accord, where it continued to shine and serve him.
After entering his Soul Space, the jade had gained three new abilities. As for its old one, Desterie suspected it had mostly been something like "heaven's protection."
The three abilities were Foresight, Strong Luck, and Soul Protection.
As its name suggested, Soul Protection safeguarded the soul. When Desterie suffered a powerful soul attack, the jade's glow would instantly form an indestructible barrier, stopping any soul attack, whether direct or strange and elusive. However, after defending once, the jade needed a day to recover before it could be used again.
Based on Desterie's firsthand experience over the past thirty million years, the defense's strength had nothing to do with how well the profound mysteries were fused; it depended only on the level of energy.
When Desterie had been a Lowgod, it had blocked every soul attack from a Lowgod. The same held true when he became a Midgod, and nothing had gone wrong during his time as a Highgod, either.
But he wasn't sure whether the defense would still work against a Paragon. After all, Willpower was a kind of authority capable of turning the impossible into the miraculous.
So Desterie hadn't worried at all about Kurado's Death-Certain Spear. Even if he failed to block it himself, the jade would.
In that respect, the Companion White Jade could be called a cut-down version of a Soul Defense Sovereign Artifact.
Strong Luck was far more peculiar. Desterie had to activate it himself. Whenever he found himself in a situation or at a moment where luck mattered greatly, he could trigger the Companion White Jade's Strong Luck ability and receive the treatment of a "Child of the Plane" or "Child of Fate." Put simply, the stones he kicked while walking might be Sovereign Artifacts, and the dew dripping by the roadside might be Sovereign's Might. If he had to choose between life and death, he would definitely live, and a lottery ticket would guarantee him the grand prize.
Strong Luck didn't consume the jade's own power. It consumed Desterie's luck instead: one day of strong luck meant a hundred years of bad luck.
So after using Strong Luck, Desterie would usually find somewhere safe and seclude himself for a hundred years. During that time, he'd probably choke on water and trip while walking on level ground.
The final ability, Foresight, was just as mysterious. Desterie couldn't activate it directly. First, the Companion White Jade had to sense a ripple in the future; then Desterie could choose whether to activate it.
These "ripples in the future" were capricious. They might be triggered by some event or object, or they might appear without any warning at all. They made no sense and were impossible to predict.
The previous time, one had appeared without warning and eventually led Desterie to find an unowned Material Defense Sovereign Artifact.
This time, it had clearly appeared in response to the Black Token he had just obtained.
However, Foresight consumed a tremendous amount of the jade's energy. Once used, it couldn't be used again for a hundred thousand years, and even Soul Protection would stop working. The reward was substantial, but so was the cost.
Still, how could he ignore a warning from fate?
Before you continue