The Arrival of the Plane War

The light from the crystal ball was urgent, but it had not yet reached a critical level; otherwise, Desterie would have ignited a Sovereign Scroll immediately to summon a projection of the Sovereign.

Shaking his head, Desterie temporarily set aside the matter of searching for the Supreme God Token, prioritizing his audience with the Sovereign instead.

The Netherworld, a place where countless undead gather, is where all undead from the endless Material Planes are reincarnated to undergo cruel devouring. Only a tiny fraction survive, and an even smaller number manage to become gods and recover their memories.

Of course, the Undead Realm is merely the tip of the iceberg in the Netherworld; the Netherworld also possesses vast continents and the deep, mysterious Nether Sea.

Standing on the teleportation array of the Undead Holy Mountain, Desterie recalled the time he had come here in his early years.

After a moment of reflection, he boarded his phoenix-shaped Metal Lifeform and, amidst the awe and envy of the guards, departed at high speed, heading toward Nether Mountain.

After decades of travel, Desterie finally arrived at the foot of Nether Mountain.

The Sovereign lived on the mountain, but one did not need to climb it to meet her.

He walked straight into the Nether Hotel. In front of the hotel lay a large meadow, and in the center of the meadow was a small lake where a beautiful red-haired girl was quietly fishing. She sensed Desterie's arrival and opened her eyes. "Desterie, you are a bit slow."

"Well, I was on the Yete Continent at the time. To cross planes, I had to cross the continent first, so I was delayed."

The person before him was none other than the Death Sovereign whom Desterie served, and the strongest among the Sovereigns of Death—the Sovereign of Death.

However, because she enjoyed playing among mortals in the Nether Hotel, she forbade anyone who knew her identity from revealing or displaying it within the hotel. If anyone interfered with her fun, the punishment would be soul torture at best, or total annihilation of the soul at worst. This was the reason Desterie was able to "communicate as an equal."

At the entrance of the hotel, while not exactly bustling, people were constantly passing by. Unless they used sound transmission, all conversations had to be "encrypted."

The Sovereign of Death flicked her fishing rod, and the empty hook retracted. She stood up, turned around, and smiled. "Boring. Your expression when you first met my other avatar was much more interesting."

Desterie wore a smile. The other avatar was a clone of the Sovereign of Death; he had, of course, known the identity of the beautiful red-haired girl long ago. Thank goodness my acting was good, or I wouldn't have been able to get things done back then, he thought.

"Indeed. Back then, I struggled through those trials. Thankfully, I had your help. Although I couldn't save my parents, I at least managed to save my younger brother and niece."

Years ago, just after becoming an Asura, Desterie had come to the Netherworld to brave Nether Mountain. He successfully obtained a Nether Fruit, became an emissary of the Sovereign of Death, and begged her to help resurrect his family.

Unfortunately, from the time he left his Material Plane until he became an Asura, over ten thousand years had passed. Only those two remained alive as undead; the vast majority of his relatives' souls had long since dissipated.

"How are they doing now?" the Sovereign of Death asked casually.

"Their aptitude was lacking. After using quite a few resources to help them barely reach the Saint-level, I gave them a set of Godheads to refine. My brother consumed the Nether Fruit and can be considered a powerhouse in his own right. By now, he should be enjoying his life in the Material Plane," Desterie recalled. Seeing that the Sovereign of Death was uninterested, he asked, "I wonder, what plans do you have for calling me here?"

"You actually gave a Nether Fruit to a Highgod who refined a Godhead?" A flash of light crossed the Sovereign of Death's eyes, but after a brief moment of surprise, she immediately moved to the main topic. "Do you know that in another three hundred thousand years, a new round of the Plane War will begin?"

The Plane War? Upon hearing this term, Desterie was instantly enlightened.

Having been born only thirty million years ago, he had never experienced the Plane War, which occurred once every trillion years. Thus, he had never considered that the Sovereign might have summoned him for this reason.

However, why would a Sovereign specifically require an emissary to participate? Unless... it had to do with the "Ten-Win Streak."

If it concerned a "Ten-Win Streak" match, then this Plane War—a terrifying "meat grinder" battlefield where even Grand Perfection experts were rumored to be at risk of falling—was not a good place to be. But as a Sovereign's Emissary, if he refused the Sovereign of Death, he would likely be killed on the spot.

Unless one was a Grand Perfection, one had no qualifications to bargain with a Sovereign.

"I only just heard it from you. What is your plan?" Although he had guessed the Sovereign of Death's intentions, Desterie followed her lead.

"I want you to participate in this Plane War—the battle between the Netherworld and the Heavenly Realm. Of course, it is not just you; all of them will participate. Winning is best, and a draw is acceptable, but you must absolutely not lose. Do you understand?" the beautiful red-haired girl said, word for word.

"I understand," Desterie thought, mocking himself inwardly. If I lose, even if I am lucky enough to survive, I probably won't be able to remain a Sovereign's Emissary.

At the same time, Desterie made up his mind to complete the Supreme God Mission as soon as possible, striving to escape this situation where he was at the mercy of others.

However, the Netherworld versus the Heavenly Realm... a draw is also acceptable... this meant that as long as he prevented the Heavenly Realm from winning, the Sovereign of Death would be satisfied.

So, could this be the Heavenly Realm's first Ten-Win Streak? That would be extremely dangerous. After all, according to the fate of the Panlong world, the Heavenly Realm achieving its first Ten-Win Streak was almost a certainty.

In other words, fighting on behalf of the Netherworld carried even higher risks.

The Sovereign of Death looked satisfied. She casually took out a bottle and handed it to Desterie. "This is your reward. If you can complete the mission, I will find a way to help you bolster your strength. I recall that your defensive artifact is still missing, correct?"

Desterie nodded. He indeed lacked a Soul Defense Sovereign Artifact, and his Companion White Jade had fallen into a dormant state. Currently, soul defense had truly become his "weakness." As for the fact that he had found a Material Defense Sovereign Artifact, he had no intention of telling the Sovereign of Death for the time being.

The meaning behind the Sovereign of Death's words was clear and simple: if Desterie did not accumulate enough battle merits in this Plane War, she would find a way to help him make up the difference in exchange for a defensive Sovereign Artifact.

His divine sense probed slightly into the jade bottle; it was filled with the Sovereign Power of Destruction. It seemed the Sovereign of Death had put in the effort to select a Sovereign Power that matched his attributes.

The more effort she put in, the less one dared to take her lightly.

After bidding farewell to the Sovereign of Death, Desterie immediately rushed to the Demon Castle and began his journey to find the Black Pearl.

One hundred thousand years passed in the blink of an eye. Desterie had personally searched every Supreme Plane and Divine Plane, but in the end, he had found nothing.

But on this day, the light of the Companion White Jade began to shine brightly once more.