Challenging the Great Perfection

Desterie chatted for a moment, then said, "My Sovereign of Fate avatar is preparing to go into seclusion. It's better to let my Destruction avatar accompany you all for some fun."

Afterward, Desterie's Sovereign of Fate avatar found his palace with practiced ease and went inside to begin his seclusion.

At this moment, Iluka said with some emotion, "Are you planning to use the torrent of faith to push toward the perfection of the Laws of Fate?"

Desterie laughed, "You actually know about this? Well, that's true, you were a close friend of Sovereign Komodo, so it's no surprise you'd know."

Iluka did not answer this time, only letting out a deep sigh.

Seeing the topic become somewhat heavy, the young girl hurriedly asked, "Uncle Desterie, who is this beautiful sister?"

Who would have thought that as soon as she finished asking, she would be flicked on the forehead by Desterie, who scolded, "No sense of propriety! What 'sister'? Call her Aunt!"

The speaker had an intention, and the listener took it to heart; the corners of Dalayer's mouth couldn't help but curl upward as she said, "It's fine, it doesn't matter what she calls me."

The young girl's eyes widened. Her pupils darted around, and she retreated to hide behind Nawi, "Uncle Nawi, Uncle Desterie, this ten-thousand-year-old bachelor has actually had a breakthrough!"

Bang! Bang! Bang--! This was met with several consecutive forehead flicks from Desterie.

Iluka suddenly walked in front of Desterie, "You just said that your Laws of Destruction are also only a step away from perfection... Since you have refined a Chief God Spark, your Destruction avatar should have also gained Willpower. Let's have a fight!"

Desterie laughed, "You even know that a divine avatar can gain Willpower? It just so happens I have the urge to fight as well. Let me see exactly how large the gap is between me and a Paragon!"

Heavenly Realm, Xingdou Mountain, residence of the Sovereign of Fate.

Orloff frowned with his eyes closed, sitting upright in the main seat, having no heart to even conduct research for the time being.

The other five Sovereigns of Fate sat in rows to his left and right, the atmosphere equally oppressive and silent.

Boteer and Manlu sat at the very end, not daring to even breathe loudly.

"Manlu, what exactly is going on? Why on earth would that Iluka do such a thing!" Karin, a middle-stage Sovereign of Fate, asked sternly.

Manlu was instantly flustered, "I really don't know! If I had known it would turn out like this, even if you gave me ten times the courage, I wouldn't have let Iluka participate in the war. No! I would have killed him directly!"

Orloff rubbed his temples, a rare sight, "Don't blame Manlu. This matter... I was careless. You don't need to press the issue any further."

Since the Sovereign of Fate had spoken, the other Sovereigns could not say anything more.

"The Sovereign will not pursue the matter of Manlu, but what about Boteer? He swore that he had invited the Magic Sound Asura to participate in the Plane War, yet we haven't even seen a shadow of her."

Boteer hurriedly defended himself, "Lord Orloff, fellow Sovereigns, I just went to investigate this matter. I discovered that the Magic Sound Asura did indeed register for entry in the Life Divine Realm, and there were commanders and soldiers who saw her on the Plane Battlefield. However, ever since Iluka entered the Plane Battlefield, she has never been seen again."

Boteer wasn't sure if Iluka was responsible, but he had to find a scapegoat now.

"It's this Iluka again!" Another Sovereign of Fate slammed his hand against the armrest of his chair, furious.

A guaranteed victory with ten consecutive wins, with a portion of Willpower within reach—plus the previous time—a middle-stage Sovereign of Fate could rival a Sovereign, and a low-stage Sovereign could rival a middle-stage one. How could these Sovereigns of Fate not be furious?

After a moment of silence, Orloff suddenly said, "That new Sovereign named Desterie, has he not come to the Heavenly Realm yet?"

Boteer hurriedly said, "My Lord, my people just reported that Desterie did not come to the Heavenly Realm, but he also did not stay in the Netherworld. He took Iluka back to his home material plane. He..."

"I know!" Orloff interrupted Boteer, "I am asking if he has come to the Heavenly Realm after returning to the material plane."

It was the first time Boteer had been interrupted by Orloff, and he felt uneasy, but he hurriedly replied, "As far as I know, he has not left."

Sovereign Karin said angrily, "Since he still dares to shield Iluka, is he planning to hide in the material plane for the rest of his life and never come out?!"

Listening to these meaningless outbursts and answers, Orloff frowned and shook his head, unable to help but feel a sense of helplessness at their uselessness, and said, "You may all disperse. There is no need to discuss this matter further today."

After everyone had dispersed, Orloff gazed at the sky and muttered to himself, "Iluka..., it was actually you."

Mulan Plane, in a sparsely populated sea area.

Desterie and Iluka stood facing each other in the air, looking at each other from a distance. Below them was the undulating, deep seawater.

Iluka held a long white sword in his hand, while Desterie had temporarily taken back the heavy sword he had just gifted to Dalayer.

There was no helping it; Desterie had been a Sovereign for too short a time, his foundation was too thin, and he was stretched for resources.

"A very fitting match. We both cultivate the Laws of Destruction, yet you hold a Light-attribute Sovereign artifact, and I hold a Death-attribute one," Desterie laughed.

Iluka shook his head, "I still have a full set of defensive Sovereign artifacts; it can't be considered equal."

Desterie's expression changed, and he said, "Speaking of which, Dalayer just told me that the commander badges in her spatial ring were basically all given to her by you. You..., what was your purpose?"

Iluka laughed, "What else could it be? I killed too many commanders from the Heavenly Realm camp and didn't want the badges to go to waste, so I gifted them to the messenger of an old acquaintance."

"You know that's not what I meant," Desterie also shook his head, "Your motive for participating in this Plane War is very puzzling. You have lived in seclusion for so many years and possess a full set of Sovereign artifacts; there was no need for you to wade into these muddy waters. Your participation in this Plane War seems as if you were intentionally sabotaging the Sovereigns of Fate.

The time Dalayer and I met you, I suspect that even without the connection to Komodo, you wouldn't have killed us, would you?"

Iluka shook his head again, "If you're going to act, you have to do it thoroughly. Although I didn't let you go every single time, I couldn't pretend not to see you every time either. If I hadn't seen Komodo's Sovereign token, you might not have survived that day."

As he spoke, Iluka raised his Sovereign artifact sword, "Lord Sovereign, don't ask anymore. I have nothing to say about this matter. You should know that I am not afraid of death. If you don't want to fight, we can stop here."

Desterie's fighting spirit flared, "Good, then let's have a satisfying fight!"

"Boom--", the two collided violently, emitting a roar that echoed across the ocean. Within a radius of ten thousand miles, space cracks of all sizes appeared in the sky and sea.

A battle of "Paragons"—truly terrifying!

Half a day later, in the sky and on the surface of the sea, black lotuses and black jagged edges formed by high-stage Destruction divine power floated everywhere. They were constantly dissipating, while simultaneously creating terrifying yet tiny space cracks.