In the Life God Realm, in a stretch of water in the Lake of Life shrouded in thick fog and disrupted by magnetic fields, a gigantic lotus bloomed eternally, standing undefeated in the lake. At the edge of its seedpod, where each lotus seed would normally be, stood a natural hall built in the style of forests and mountains.
At that moment, Vivian and Lilith sat side by side at the far edge of the seedpod, fishing and chatting merrily.
"Eldest Sister, it's been ages since you last came to visit me." Vivian smiled as she took the fish off Lilith's hook, baited it again, and cast the line with a gentle flick. It sailed far past the enormous lotus petals, which faded from pink to white, and plunged into the middle of the lake.
"It has been a while. But your Lotus Pavilion is always a marvel, no matter when I visit. It has a charm all its own. It's nothing like Nether Mountain, with its deep, terrifying reaches that make people afraid to approach." Lilith smiled. Neither she nor Vivian used any power beyond the divine level; they were simply fishing. The only exception, perhaps, was their fishing gear, which consisted of Sovereign Artifacts painstakingly nurtured over time.
"Eldest Sister, you command respect without even trying. Only Nether Mountain could compare. As for me, you know this is the best place for me to stay." Vivian watched Lilith's fishing line.
"Even your Sovereign Emissary has become a Sovereign, and his strength has been steadily catching up. He's nearly reached the same level as us. What's more, he's very confident he can complete the Supreme God Mission." Vivian paused. "Could he have already reached an agreement with Orloff? After all, Iluka's defection after the Ten-Win Streak was enough to quell Orloff's fury. He might be able to help the two of them get in touch, too."
"No, I know him, Vivian." Lilith smiled, her tone firm. "Desterie hates traitors more than anything, and he would never betray anyone himself. As for the Supreme God Mission, he probably just wants to complete it on his own. But he also knows that if any of us gets another token, he won't stand a chance. That's why he left this opening."
Vivian gently took Lilith's hand and rested her cheek against her shoulder. "Desterie killed his first and only Sovereign Emissary for the sake of a Heaven and Earth Exotic Item. Yet that item was later confirmed to be a Supreme God Token. I can't believe there wasn't more to it.
"But since that's what you think, Eldest Sister, I won't say anything more. We'll search for the Supreme God Tokens together. If we find even one, Desterie will help us complete the mission for your sake.
"Come to think of it, Desterie really is patient—and brave. He can live quietly in a Material Plane, yet stand firm against Uthred."
Lilith patted Vivian's head like she was comforting a younger sister. There was no trace of her usual delight in watching others' troubles. "As you said, he's deeply loyal and can resist temptation. He came to Nether Mountain all those years ago to revive his family. I still remember, thirty million years ago, when he had just become a Sovereign Emissary. He obtained a Nether Fruit, but even though he had other, weaker Divine Clones of his own, he gave the fruit to his resurrected younger brother."
"The Nether Fruit..." Vivian lifted her head and looked at Lilith with deep regret.
Lilith shook her head. "Don't worry. I've never regretted what happened back then. It's incredibly difficult for a Super Divine Beast to fuse Profound Mysteries. With the chaotic, terrifying situation we faced in those days, one of us had to eat the Nether Fruit. Otherwise, we might not have made it through that crisis. Even though I can no longer become a Paragon, I'm still one of the Four Rules Sovereigns. The two of us together needn't fear anyone who dares to offend us."
Vivian's expression settled, and she rested her cheek against Lilith's shoulder again. Flecks of green light appeared on her body and slowly seeped into Lilith's. It was a healing and purification that had continued for countless years.
A hundred years later, at the edge of the Mulan Material Plane, space rifts billowed like petals across the sky, appearing and disappearing in a terrifying display.
Iluka was still lingering there, quietly watching the space rifts appear, grow, and vanish.
Suddenly, he turned to look at Desterie and Dalayer, who were walking through the air toward him. Curiosity showed in his eyes. "How unusual. I'm seeing your Death Divine Clone out on its own."
Desterie smiled calmly. "Even after spending several million years on it, I've only managed to reach the stronger end of the Six-Star Highgod level in the Laws of Death. Naturally, I don't want to go out alone."
The violence in Iluka's eyes gradually faded, and he gave a faint smile. "With Six-Star mastery of the Laws of Death and eighty percent of a Paragon's Willpower, you have no chance of beating me. You'd better bring out your Destruction Divine Clone instead."
Desterie slipped his arm around Dalayer's and curled his lips into a smile. "Iluka, you have no chance of beating my Destruction Clone!"
As he spoke, a vast amount of Sovereign Power of Destruction appeared out of nowhere, condensing into a gigantic black Sovereign's face. Its eyes lowered as it looked down at Iluka.
Iluka's gaze gradually turned cold, and the violence in his eyes flared up again.
"Calm down, Iluka! I did refine a Destruction Sovereign Spark, but Orloff didn't give it to me. I didn't take anything from you." Desterie's gigantic Sovereign projection boomed.
Iluka calmed down somewhat, though suspicion remained in his voice. "Are you telling me you just happened to find another Sovereign Spark?"
After learning the details of how Desterie had become a Sovereign, Iluka had thought the whole thing too incredible to believe.
Desterie dispelled the gigantic projection and smiled. "I fought Xingyi, the Intermediate Sovereign of Destruction, fairly and squarely. I killed him, so naturally I obtained his Sovereign Spark and became a Sovereign with two Divine Clones."
"You mean Xingyi, the Star Sovereign? He wasn't weak among the Intermediate Sovereigns, but he wouldn't have dared fight a Sovereign. Lord Desterie, you're even more mysterious than I imagined." Iluka considered this seriously.
"I'm nowhere near as mysterious as you. I'm surprised you know so much about Xingyi, too." Iluka knew a great deal, including plenty about the Sovereigns. Desterie had grown used to this by now, but still asked out of habit.
"I don't know that much." Iluka's gaze drifted upward as he fell into memory. "Xingyi's true form was a Star Beast. He wasn't as powerful as the Sovereigns of Destruction and Death, or even as powerful as the Zijing Divine Beast, who was also an Intermediate Sovereign of Destruction. But he was still quite strong. There was constant slaughter in the years after the Sovereign Sparks descended, and many Sovereigns died. A lot of the Sovereigns around today probably aren't the first owners of their Sovereign Sparks, but Xingyi was.
"For countless years, the Starry Fog Sea has never changed its name. That's because Xingyi was a Star Beast."
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