Lord Liujin

"No wonder I've never seen you wearing it. Let me take a look—maybe I can help repair it." Desterie shook his head, cast aside the impractical thought, and smiled at Dordoni.

"Since it doesn't actually work, I was afraid some expert might recognize it if I carried it around and bring trouble down on me. So I've kept it in my Spatial Ring and never taken it out. I'll get it now." Dordoni immediately took out a black ring and handed it to Desterie.

The moment Desterie saw the ring, it struck him as strangely familiar. When he probed it with his divine sense, his expression turned odd.

Seeing this, Dalayer hurriedly asked, "Is there something wrong with the ring?"

Desterie composed himself, glanced at Dalayer, and transmitted his voice to her. "More than four hundred years ago, I killed Xingyi with a soul attack, and his Soul Defense Sovereign Artifact was damaged. We Sovereigns naturally wouldn't care about a damaged Sovereign Artifact, so we left it drifting in the Spatial Turbulence. I never expected it to end up in the Earth Divine Plane, where Dordoni found it. Fate really is full of surprises."

"Such a coincidence really is hard to believe," Dalayer exclaimed.

Desterie then turned to Dordoni with a smile. "You can imagine that only a Sovereign could damage a Sovereign Artifact. Not even a Paragon could do it. This ring is a Soul Defense Sovereign Artifact once used by a fallen Sovereign. Since we're so fated, I'll repair the crack for you. It shouldn't take long—just a few years. I'll return it once it's fixed.

"And don't think about joining that Dodo Clan of yours anymore. Come to the Angnak Continent in the Heavenly Realm. I'll have the Prefect of Changhe Prefecture arrange things for you, Angola, and Hans!"

"Thank you, sir!" Dordoni was overjoyed. He glanced at Dorang, whose face had gone deathly pale, and hesitated for a moment, but ultimately said nothing more.

Desterie then turned to Angola. "Angola, are you willing?"

Angola looked delighted. "Thank you for your concern, sir. To be honest, I've already been planning to go to the Wind Divine Plane or one of the Four Supreme Planes. Back then, because I had outstanding talent in the earth element, I chose the Earth Divine Plane. But during a mission not long ago, my Earth Divine Clone was completely destroyed.

"After that, I had no choice but to struggle on with the Laws of Wind. The Earth Divine Plane hasn't helped me much with cultivating other laws, but fortunately, I've fused five profound mysteries of the Laws of Wind, so I've just barely managed to maintain my strength as a Seven-Star Fiend. I'd already planned to leave the Earth Divine Plane after completing this mission.

"There's a Plane Teleportation Array near Lanyu City, too."

As he spoke, Angola let out a long breath. "If I hadn't been lucky enough to run into you during this mission, I'm afraid I'd really be dead."

Angola's words disappointed Desterie. He had originally planned to nurture these promising experts, who had made a good impression on him and owed him a great debt, then recruit them as Sovereign's Emissaries once they were strong enough. But Angola's strongest clone, his Earth Divine Clone, was already dead. There was no point in taking him in and training him now.

Generally speaking, it was rare for a god to have a strong affinity for even one element. It was almost unheard of for someone to have strong talent in two. Desterie himself, for instance, had the greatest talent for the Destruction Rule. His talent for fate was clearly inferior to that, while his talents for life and death were even weaker.

Of course, as a Sovereign, Desterie wouldn't take back his word once he'd given it.

Just then, Coloid suddenly spoke up, looking at Dalayer. "May I ask if you're Lord Liujin?"

Dalayer froze. It was as if he'd awakened some extremely ancient memory. She looked at Coloid. "How do you know me?"

Liujin had been Dalayer's original name. During the years when she served as a Sovereign's Emissary, that name had once been renowned and shone brightly. Liujin City had been named after her, too.

Coloid's face lit up, and he hurriedly said, "Lord Liujin, I once saw you from afar. Back then, I was just a weak Lowgod who had recently joined the Sovereign's army. You surely never paid me any attention and wouldn't remember me."

In this era, it was difficult for Lowgods to become soldiers in a Sovereign's army. But when heaven and earth had first opened and the planes were newly formed, there had been far fewer experts, and competition wasn't as fierce. Anyone who became a god could join.

Desterie immediately saw what Coloid was getting at and teased him with a smile. "What, are you trying to use your connection with her to plead for yourself?"

Coloid took a deep breath. "I wouldn't dare deceive you, sir. That's exactly what I intended."

Just then, Desterie noticed that Coloid's scalp was tinged dark, with a strange circular pattern on it. He suddenly recalled something amusing and said, "Just because you once saw her in passing and left no impression? You're quite strong. Why not become my Sovereign's Emissary?"

A Sovereign's Emissary! Everyone looked as if they'd just been struck on the back of the head. Dorang's legs gave out, and he collapsed. Dordoni and Hans stared in shock, while Frannie had been tormented by the Soul Leech until she could no longer even scream; her soul was on the verge of collapse.

Clang! Angola immediately dropped to his knees and bowed his head. Seeing this, the others also knelt at once, bowing their heads and exposing their frail necks and the backs of their heads to the Sovereign.

Coloid opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. He opened it again, then closed it once more. Finally, to everyone's confusion, he said, "Sovereign, I value a free and unrestrained life more than I value my own life. Please forgive me, but I can't accept!"

Desterie had expected this answer, but his eyes still narrowed dangerously.

In countless years, this Coloid would encounter Linley on the Plane Battlefield, and Linley would recognize him. According to Beirut, Coloid had no Sovereign Artifact because he'd refused to become a Sovereign's Emissary. He was someone who chose to walk an unconventional path.

Refusing a Sovereign took real nerve. That was why Desterie had wanted to toy with him. But now that he'd actually been refused, he still felt murderous intent rise within him.

"Do you know what you just said?" Desterie's voice was as chilling as ten thousand years of ice, freezing everyone to the bone.

Coloid was drenched in cold sweat. His eyes darted about as he thought rapidly, seemingly racing against death. He was an Asura, yet sweat had soaked through his clothes.

Just then, a hearty voice rang out from the distance. "Coloid! Hahaha! I spotted your Ring of Pulsation from miles away. How have you been? It's been ages. Want to spar again?"

"Oh? Your friend?" Desterie gave Coloid a sidelong glance, his voice turning even colder.