The Strange Zijing

Listening to Zijing's sarcastic tone, Bowen's words faltered, and he found himself unable to refute. Even Leiding couldn't muster a timely rebuttal. Instead, Ers, who usually didn't excel at thinking, answered swiftly, "Perhaps Orloff and Uthred's method of strengthening their bodies is just a smokescreen. Uthred has long since obtained a Sovereign Artifact body through Orloff's help, but he's been keeping it under wraps all along."

"Enough, all of you stop!" Uthred closed his eyes, his temper flaring. "Bowen, you say Orloff plans to set up Lilith. I can't rule out that possibility—for the sake of research, he'd sacrifice anything, and I absolutely believe he'd discard Angnak to achieve his goals. But to claim he'd lend a Supreme Artifact to Lilith's envoy for this? Absolutely impossible!

What's more, I'm telling you, only a Sovereign can make a Supreme Artifact recognize them as master. We saw with our own eyes Uthred refining the Sovereign Spark, and we saw you all use your combined innate divine ability against him. During that time, what opportunity did he have to hide from all of us and refine and bind a Supreme Artifact?

You're all so ignorant, so delusional, without even grasping others' true strength and circumstances—no wonder you keep losing to Uthred!

Drop this matter now, including your plans to hunt down a Rule Overlord. For the time being, suspend them. There are plenty of Overlords keeping an eye on you right now!"

Uthred issued a strict prohibition, but Leiding still tried to argue, "Milord, we never intended to hunt—"

"Do you really think I'm blind to what you've been up to in the Water Divine Plane? Now, not just me, even Polk himself has caught on to your intentions. Add to that your exposure of your innate divine ability's power, and even if you risk making a move, you don't have much certainty!

Enough, all four of you go back. From now on, make a big show of it and devote yourselves wholeheartedly to collecting the remaining Supreme God Tokens! At the very least, if I can't complete the Supreme God Mission, I won't let them have the chance either!"

Seeing Uthred's thunderous rage, the Four Divine Beasts dared not say another word and withdrew dejectedly, leaving Zijing the Sovereign inside to continue their private discussion.

After the Four Divine Beasts left, the atmosphere relaxed considerably. Zijing asked, "Milord, do you have further plans for the Soul Stone?"

Uthred nodded wearily. "Zijing, I didn't expect you to actually lose a Soul Stone. Rest assured, the favor I owe you still stands. However, I hope you won't leave Hell for the next few years. Uthred dared to slap my face, relying on his strong defenses to trick and kill Xingyi, then refine the Destruction Sovereign Spark. I'd like to see if he dares to come to Hell to demand the Soul Stone from me—and whether his defenses can withstand my attacks!"

Zijing gave a slight nod in acknowledgment but still looked concerned. "The Four Divine Beasts have never harbored any disloyalty toward you, Milord. It's just that everyone has a desire to grow stronger. I hope you can forgive them this time. Today's battle was witnessed by all the Sovereigns, including the other three Rule Overlords. If you, as a Rule Overlord, make a move against Uthred, wouldn't that risk violating the agreement?"

Uthred nodded. "Indeed. And if he keeps a Sovereign avatar stationed in a Material Plane with a Supreme God Token, even if I kill one of his avatars, I can't get the token. But Zijing, if I don't kill him once, my mind won't be at ease. Would Orloff and the others really go that far against me for his sake?

My only worry is that he won't dare to come.

As for forgiving the Four Divine Beasts, I truly don't understand your dynamic with them. If I were to punish them, would they still be alive now? Go back and rest easy."

Above the Sea of Chaos, the Four Divine Beasts hovered in the air, winds howling around them. Black Tortoise Sovereign Bowen looked worriedly at his elder brother Leiding, at a loss. "Big brother, I'm sorry."

Leiding smiled bitterly. "It's fine. You meant well for me back then. I just didn't expect things to end up discovered by her. It's only natural that she no longer wants to be close to us."

Bowen's face showed guilt. "If it weren't for me, our stronghold in Hell might have moved to Zijing Continent instead. Though the Tianji Mountain Range is fine and is where you were born, if we could have had warmth and comfort by our side and taken over the Amethyst Mountain Range, there'd be no need to impose on Pash here."

Nemo, hot-tempered as always, cut Bowen off directly. "Big brother, Bowen, what time is it now? Do you still have the leisure to worry about Zijing? We've been taking losses left and right lately—losing the bait and the catch along with it. Now even Uthred has a big problem with us. At this rate, we'll be isolated and helpless before we even get our hands on a High Sovereign Spark.

I say we follow Uthred's advice and find the other Supreme God Tokens for him as soon as possible. That way, we can atone for our mistakes and maintain our relationship with him. Otherwise, the day Uthred comes knocking at our door, our combined innate divine ability will be useless against him, physical attacks won't break his defenses, and we won't be able to block his attacks—then we'll truly be at the end of our rope."

White Tiger also spoke with regret and anger. "That Angnak had to go and court death. I never thought killing him would spawn an Uthred, a million times more troublesome and annoying than Angnak! And Zijing—doesn't she care about the old bonds at all? At a time like this, she's still kicking us while we're down!"

"Instead of blaming heaven and others and accusing me of kicking you while you're down, why not look at your own faults! All these years, have you worked hard at cultivation? Have you kept yourselves in your proper place? If you hadn't been stirring up trouble every day, you wouldn't have such bad relations with everyone. If you could have kept yourselves in check, you wouldn't have secretly hidden the Supreme God Mirror, letting others seize the initiative and making every step you take a struggle." Zijing burst out of the seawater, rising to hover level with Leiding and the other three. Her tone was gentle, but her words were sharp and her gaze icy.

"Zijing, how much longer are you going to hold a grudge over what happened back then? Don't forget, at the very least, big brother helped you rescue Resjing when he was still in gestation. Otherwise, you'd be alone and isolated right now!" Nemo, unable to stand Zijing's relentless nagging, shot back bluntly.

Zijing smiled and looked up at the towering Azure Dragon Sovereign Leiding, a trace of tenderness flickering in her eyes. "I naturally remember Leiding's kindness. But that doesn't mean certain people and certain things can be treated as if they never happened. I'm going back. You all take care of yourselves."

Nemo watched Zijing's retreating figure, his anger flaring uncontrollably, his hair instantly igniting into a riot of colors. "So what if she's an Intermediate Sovereign? Next time she pulls that, I'll make her taste the power of our combined innate divine ability! We've already killed one Destruction Intermediate Sovereign—one more won't make a difference."

Leiding sighed helplessly but didn't try to dissuade him. Ers and Bowen shook their heads with suppressed smiles. Their second sister had said that many times before, but as long as their big brother still had feelings for Zijing, it would never happen—they were four in one, sharing honor and disgrace, life and death together.