Desterie's projection clone spoke with two Rule Overlords in the Spatial Turbulence. Meanwhile, inside the Mulan Plane, Desterie was examining the Companion White Jade.
At that moment, the jade pendant's light had dimmed more than ever before. After making some calculations, Desterie let out a long sigh. "Using 'Foresight' on myself and condensing Starlight to protect my body only takes a hundred thousand years to recharge. I never expected that pulling other people into that Strange Torrent that seemed to be the River of Fate would consume so much energy and slow its recovery so drastically. At this rate, it'll take around ten trillion years for the White Jade to recover enough to use Foresight again. Ten Plane Wars will have passed by then!
"Luckily, 'Foresight' and 'Soul Protection' have separate charges. Otherwise, I'd have to keep lying low even longer. And when I just used the 'Gate of Spirituality,' I felt something strange..."
Desterie closed his eyes and recalled the feeling once more. His expression gradually turned certain. "My Willpower and Sovereign's Might, and Xingyi's Willpower and Sovereign's Might, canceled each other out in a strange way. If Xingyi's Willpower or Sovereign's Might had been even a little stronger than mine, I don't think I could've stripped away his consciousness. That was an unbelievably fortunate kill. No wonder it's called 'Strong Luck.'"
All Sovereigns had the same Sovereign's Might, so Desterie wasn't worried about that. The only exception would be a fusion Sovereign, but the odds of that were simply too low. Few could be as lucky as him and refine two or more Sovereign Sparks—and they would also have to be Soul Mutators.
Willpower was another matter. Before, he couldn't have killed any Sovereign at the Intermediate level or higher who had multiple Sovereign clones, become a Paragon, or won a Ten-Win Streak. But now, after refining an additional Sovereign Spark, he had one more share of Paragon Willpower than other Intermediate Sovereigns. Aside from High Sovereigns, he could easily kill even Karin, the Fate Intermediate Sovereign who had earned the Ten-Win Streak reward.
He just had to wait ten trillion years.
"Mm, it's been ten thousand years. It's time to let my Sovereign clone go out and get some fresh air." With all the pressure gone, Desterie felt refreshed.
Hell was a sea dotted with vast expanses of blood-red water. As far as the eye could see, slaughter never ceased.
If Hell was the most chaotic and blood-soaked place among the Four Supreme Planes, then the Sea of Chaos was the most chaotic and blood-soaked place in all of Hell.
It was also the birthplace and home of Uthred, the Sovereign of Destruction.
Deep in the Sea of Chaos, Uthred's palace lay in ruins, its shattered walls bearing the scars of battle.
Uthred had sent away almost all the Sovereigns, leaving only the Four Divine Beasts and Zijing behind.
He glared at the Four Divine Beasts, his face dark with displeasure and his voice heavy with disappointment. "Leiding, I've treated you four well enough. Over the years, I've supported and helped you countless times. I never expected that after obtaining the Supreme God Mirror, you'd have no intention of telling me. If Desterie hadn't caused such a commotion today, I'm afraid I'd have remained in the dark until the mission was complete."
Leiding's face reddened. He was angry at Desterie and ashamed of Uthred's words, but he still stared straight at Uthred. "My lord, we intended to hand it over to you once we'd completed the mission!"
Zijing couldn't help stifling a laugh. Uthred, meanwhile, was so exasperated that he laughed outright. "Look, even Zijing is laughing. Who would believe you?
"Leiding, what use do you have for a Supreme Artifact? Your Combined Innate Divine Ability is a soul attack. An Offensive Supreme Artifact would only increase your material attack tenfold, so you can't use it at all. As for a defensive Supreme Artifact, the four of you are always together. Who would use it, and who wouldn't? And would you need protection from material or soul attacks?"
Nemo was so anxious to speak that he blurted out, "Give it to our eldest brother!"
Uthred let out another long breath and shook his head. "Fine, give it to Leiding. Then what if I attack you? Or if I attack Ers and Bowen? Against a truly powerful opponent, one defensive Supreme Artifact won't save all four of your lives!"
Silence fell. After a long while, Bowen cautiously began, "My lord, actually, we have a theory... Perhaps we can drive a wedge between the Sovereign of Death and Desterie, or even bring the Sovereign of Death and the Sovereign of Life over to our side."
"Hm?" Uthred's eyes lit up, and he immediately fixed his gaze on Bowen. Zijing did the same.
Bowen proceeded to lay out his theory: Orloff had lent Desterie a Soul Protection Supreme Artifact and planned to join forces with him to kill the Four Divine Beasts and the Sovereign of Death.
But Bowen failed to notice that, as he spoke, Zijing's expression grew more and more grave, while the anger hidden in Uthred's eyes kept rising. So he continued with even greater enthusiasm. "My lord, if you explain the implications clearly to the Sovereign of Death, she'll surely fly into a rage and help you kill Desterie, foiling Orloff's scheme!"
"Bang!" Uthred finally lost his temper and slammed his right hand down on the armrest, smashing it to pieces. "Absurd!"
"Indeed, it's utterly unreasonable!" Ers chimed in reflexively, then looked up and suddenly realized that Uthred's furious gaze was fixed on the four of them.
"You think I haven't embarrassed myself enough? And now you want me to give Lilith this ridiculous analysis?"
The Four Divine Beasts hadn't expected Uthred to react with such fury. Seeing his wrath, Bowen hurried to explain, "My lord, this is no wild fantasy. To be frank, our Combined Innate Divine Ability is absolutely powerful enough to kill an ordinary Overlord. Yet Desterie, an ordinary life-form and an ordinary Intermediate Sovereign, managed to withstand our soul attack. Aside from a Supreme Artifact, we can't think of any other way he could've defended himself!
"And the Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, lending him a Soul Protection Supreme Artifact must mean he's plotting something big!"
At that inopportune moment, Zijing spoke up. "Bowen, according to your theory, Xingyi's material attack was ten times stronger than that of an ordinary Intermediate Sovereign. Desterie is just an ordinary life-form and an ordinary Intermediate Sovereign. How could he have withstood it? But the facts are right there: not only did he withstand the attack, he even killed Xingyi.
"By your reasoning, did some other Overlord lend him a Material Defense Supreme Artifact? Oh, wait—that won't work. I forgot, no Material Defense Supreme Artifact has ever been created."
Zijing was naturally displeased. Because of the trouble caused by the Four Divine Beasts and Desterie, not only had an Intermediate Sovereign lost his life, but she had also been forced to give up a Soul Stone. The one small consolation was that the Soul Stone had at least earned her a favor from the Sovereign of Destruction.
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