Four Divine Beasts

"Plane War?" Croken froze. He had participated in one when he was young, but the danger had been too great, and he had never joined another.

Why was this powerhouse, one of the top five in the Heavenly Realm, so concerned about the Plane War—and why had he come looking for Croken out of the blue?

"When I was still a Seven-Star Fate Master, I foolishly joined one, not knowing how high the heavens were. By the grace of the Overgod, I survived that deadly ordeal. I never participated in another after that." Croken fell into his memories, then asked, "Lord Desterie, are you curious about how the Plane War works?"

"Badges, military merits, the Galaxy Channel—I know all about them." Desterie shook his head. Dalayer was also a veteran who had participated in the Plane War, and she had told him many stories about the early wars.

But those wars had taken place too long ago. There had been few experts, and their combat, defense, and trap-setting methods were outdated, so the accounts offered little value as a reference. Desterie had also learned a little about the Plane Wars of Linley's era from the original story.

"To be honest, Prefect Croken, I heard that several Sovereigns have personally arranged for their Sovereign Emissaries to take part in this Plane War.

"That struck me as strange. The Plane War has been conducted this way for countless years, and the Sovereigns have never cared about who wins. We've all assumed the Plane War is a way for the Sovereigns to reduce the number of experts in the various Divine Realms.

"If so, why send Sovereign Emissaries into the war?

"Prefect, has your Sovereign made any arrangements?"

Desterie pretended not to know what he already knew. His question explained why he had come, while also letting him probe the Heavenly Realm's plans. Though he had little hope of learning anything—the Sovereigns would hardly tell an ordinary god about such matters.

Croken gave the answer Desterie had expected. He knew nothing about it. In fact, he hadn't yet received orders to take part in the Plane War.

That made sense. Nearly two hundred thousand years remained, plenty of time for the Sovereigns to make their arrangements. If they were lucky, they might be like Linley, hastily recruiting a few Sovereign Emissaries and forming a Samsara Battle Formation that could decide the outcome.

After staying as guests for several hundred years, Desterie and Dalayer left Tianluo Prefecture and set off once more to travel through the various Planes.

Desterie thought it would be best to find the last Supreme God Token before the Plane War began, so they could be better prepared to face that Sovereign Spark that would appear and vanish in an instant.

About ten thousand years after Desterie left, Croken was listening to his subordinates report on the major events in Tianluo Prefecture over the past ten thousand years when a vast amount of Fate Sovereign Power suddenly appeared out of thin air. It gathered in the sky, forming a gigantic Sovereign face that radiated immense power.

The instant the Sovereign's Might appeared, Croken rushed into the courtyard and dropped to his knees, his back straight. "Croken pays his respects to the Sovereign!"

The Sovereign's face was dark with anger as he said, "Croken, immediately drive every member of the Four Divine Beasts Clan off Angnak Continent. Anyone who dares to stay will be killed!"

"Sovereign, but the Four Divine Beasts Clan..." Croken faltered. He was indeed the Sovereign's emissary, but the Four Divine Beasts Clan were the Sovereign's descendants!

"What, are you afraid of those four stinking worms too?" The Sovereign's voice boomed. His power and fury made Croken tremble.

"I'll carry out the task!" Seeing the Sovereign's anger, Croken hurriedly kowtowed.

"Hmph!" The Sovereign's voice echoed through the courtyard. "Also, a new Plane War will begin in a little over a hundred thousand years. The first battle will be between the Heavenly Realm and the Netherworld. You will represent the Heavenly Realm. Make sure it wins!"

The Plane War? Croken's eyes widened. Desterie had been right!

"Heh. Once the Plane War is over, let's see what you four worms can do to oppose me!" The Sovereign's face still seemed to seethe with anger. He blurted that out, then saw Croken's blank expression and raised his voice. "Croken, do you understand?"

Croken hurriedly called back his assent.

At the same time, in Hell, on Blood Peak Continent, at the Tianji Mountain Range.

As the birthplace of the Azure Dragon Chief God, the Tianji Mountain Range held great significance for the Four Divine Beasts Clan. It was their true place of origin.

Deep in the Tianji Mountain Range, inside a magnificent hall, three men and a woman sat around a round table. The woman, whose red robes blazed like fire, snapped, "Big Brother, Angnak has provoked us time and again. We shouldn't keep yielding to him. Otherwise, people will think the Four Divine Beasts are weak and easy to bully!"

"Second Sister, don't be rash. There's no harm in bearing with it for now." The speaker was a young man in white. "Killing Angnak wouldn't be difficult, but once we do, the Sovereign Agreement will classify the four of us as an Overlord-level group. After that, hunting an Upper Sovereign will be even harder!"

The middle-aged man in green spoke up as well. "That's right, little sister. The four of us may be blessed with extraordinary talents, but we've had terrible luck. All we got back then were these few Lower Sovereign Sparks. Fortunately, our Innate Divine Abilities can combine. Based on our estimates of the Combined Innate Divine Ability's power, we have no chance against the Four Rules Sovereigns. We can only target ordinary Overlords.

"So we need to plan even more carefully, lest we waste our opportunity on a middle or lower Sovereign.

"Besides, the Fate Sovereign Spark is almost useless to our Four Divine Beasts Clan. Our clan's children have abysmal talent in the Fate Rule."

The man in yellow, who had remained silent until then, spoke too. "Big Brother, Third Brother is right. Even if we had one of the clan's children refine Angnak's Destiny Intermediate God Spark, he could rely on Faith Power to comprehend the Fate Rule to the Asura level. That would put him on about the same level as any one of us—not useful at all.

"What we need is an individual with Overlord-level strength. That would give us more confidence when facing an Overlord and help us avoid the risk of being caught alone."

"Hmph, you all make fair points, but Angnak has gone too far. I won't rest easy until he's dead. Why don't you tell me how the plan against Polk, the Water Overlord, is going?" The woman in red remained furious.

"Polk, the Water Overlord, is a coward. I've provoked him several times, and he still hasn't reacted. Do you think one of the other Overlords might be a better target?" The man in green sighed, then asked for their opinions.

"We've been fighting the Water Overlord for a long time. If we rashly provoke another Overlord now, might they join forces against us?" The man in white offered a different view. "We still have a chance against one Overlord, but if we have to face two at once, even Big Brother might not be able to hold them off. After all, although our Innate Divine Ability can be used twice in quick succession, we can't use it on two people at the same time."