"The Four Divine Beasts were originally four sacred beasts born in the four Supreme Planes. The Azure Dragon was born in Hell, the Vermilion Bird in the Life Divine Realm, the White Tiger in the Heavenly Realm, and the Black Tortoise in the Underworld. Later, they came together and became inseparable friends. That was why they were called the Four Divine Beasts." Lincoln spoke at length. If the Four Divine Beasts' main base had truly always been Blue Prefecture on Blood Peak Continent, then given their way of doing things, even someone as mild-tempered as Pashi would never have put up with it. And after the Four Divine Beasts fell, he certainly wouldn't have helped their clan just because Beirut asked him to.
Blue Prefecture was simply a place Beirut had chosen later to shelter the Four Divine Beasts Clan. The Destruction Chief Sovereign had protected Beirut, so Beirut chose Hell—and happened to settle in Blue Prefecture.
"Later, the Four Divine Beasts became Chief Gods and each moved part of their clan to the Water Divine Plane, Fire Divine Plane, Wind Divine Plane, and Earth Divine Plane. Of course, because the Four Divine Beasts were so close, their clans remained on good terms despite living in different places. They were just domineering toward outsiders."
"Today, the Four Divine Beasts Clan is spread across the four Supreme Planes and the Seven Divine Planes. They're simply less active in the Light, Darkness, and Thunder Divine Planes."
Controlling the Metal Lifeform only required a slight division of attention, so Lincoln could not only chat while doing something else, but also keep pondering just how deep the conflict between Valeria and Leiding ran.
For the Four Divine Beasts to establish their position as Chief Sovereigns, killing an Intermediate Chief God wouldn't be enough. They would have to kill a Chief Sovereign.
In Linley's era, the Death Chief Sovereign had said that three Chief Sovereigns had died in the past. She hadn't meant Chief Sovereign-level experts, but High-Level Chief Gods.
Zijing had also explained that since the world was born, the only High-Level Chief Gods to be replaced were those of the Light and Thunder Elements.
The Four Divine Beasts couldn't have killed one of the Four Rule Sovereigns. And Augusta, Hullei, and Diya had all lived until Linley's era, so it was almost impossible that they had been the ones killed.
Lincoln had once had the good fortune to meet Palhouse when he was younger. They hadn't fought; they'd merely met once. But now, Lincoln had no intention of devouring Palhouse. After all, his Water Divine Clone's soul and Willpower were still a step weaker, making his chances of success low. Besides, adding just one more Paragon clone wouldn't make much difference to his peak fighting strength.
"Athos," Lincoln examined him. "A divine beast named Milotic?"
Lincoln could understand the Four Divine Beasts' concerns. For one thing, their Innate Divine Ability could only be used a few times in a short period—two or three times at most. For another, their weakness was too obvious: if one of them was isolated or ambushed and taken out, all four would be crippled.
Athos's already pale face turned ghostly white from his injuries. As if recalling some terrible memories, he stared at Lincoln in terror.
"Divine beast Milotic?" Aier exclaimed in surprise. She looked the famous handsome man of the Water Divine Plane up and down. "So the boss really wasn't lying to me."
"You've got a good temperament," Lincoln said with a smile. "I told you I came to help you, and I'll keep my word. But is there some problem with your clan?"
Of the four, the Water Chief Sovereign was the most likely candidate. After all, the Water Chief Sovereign in Linley's era had no idea that Orf and Uterede had once fought.
The reason sacred beasts were called sacred beasts was that, as they grew older, they could naturally comprehend a particular Mystery. For example, Lincoln himself had Devour Mystery in the Laws of Darkness and Vitality in the Laws of Earth.
The remaining Chief Sovereigns were Valeria, Chief Sovereign of Water; Mike, Chief Sovereign of Fire; Joseph, Earth Chief Sovereign; and Dark, Darkness Chief Sovereign.
If the clan could produce a true Chief Sovereign, they could finally live without fear.
Clownfish were incredibly numerous, so the Milotic faced no danger of extinction.
"That's right. They capture us, gather us in one place, then drain all our Quintessence Blood and refine our bodies into it!" Athos grew more and more indignant.
Ever since entering the Metal Lifeform, Athos had been restless. It was hard to remain calm in the presence of a Chief God.
But there was one thing Lincoln couldn't be sure of. If the Four Divine Beasts really had managed to kill a Chief Sovereign, why hadn't a member of their clan refined the Sovereign Spark?
Could some lucky outsider have happened upon the Sovereign Spark of the Chief Sovereign they'd killed?
Seeing Aier staring without blinking, Lincoln irritably formed a screen in front of her with the Metal Lifeform, blocking her view completely.
Lincoln chatted with Aier off and on. Only after a while did he turn his attention to Athos.
"Unfortunately, I didn't achieve the other goal of this trip to the Water Divine Plane. Who knows how long Palhouse will be gone on his travels?"
"Since you know the name Milotic, Chief God, you may have heard of us. We're born extremely weak, unintelligent Saint-level magical beasts. Out of ten thousand Clownfish, only one can awaken its bloodline and become a sacred beast, a Milotic." Athos clenched his fists tighter with every sentence.
"The chance of awakening that bloodline is very low. But given the enormous number of Clownfish, there shouldn't be so few Milotic," Lincoln said with a frown.
"So your innate Mystery is Mysteries of Fog Illusion. No wonder you're so good at using it," Lincoln said, suddenly understanding.
Aier smiled openly. "I am good-looking. Are you saying you're jealous?"
"Didn't you get enough of looking when you challenged the Prefecture Lord just now?"
As long as they hadn't chosen Dark, Lincoln thought. He was fairly sure it wasn't Dark. Killing a Chief God wasn't just about making a show of force; the Sovereign Spark mattered more. And the darkness talent of the Four Divine Beasts' descendants—well, it was appalling.
Athos took a deep breath and forced himself to focus on Lincoln. He managed to hold his gaze for a moment before remembering what Lincoln had said. He dropped to his knees again. "Athos begs the Chief God to save the Milotic clan!"
"Yes, our foundation is Mysteries of Fog Illusion. Ten years is a short time, but in the Divine Plane, it feels terribly long. Every Milotic is captured by the Azure Dragon Army within a few years of being born..." Athos gritted his teeth.
"Even if he's good-looking, doesn't that make him fair game for anyone?" Lincoln retorted. "He's a fish, after all—a fish anyone can carve up."
"It is very low. And because our intelligence is so poor before awakening, we can't become gods right away. We need ten years to comprehend the Mist Illusion Profound Mystery."
"The Azure Dragon Army?" Lincoln tapped the table, lost in thought.
"How could they do that? That's terrible!" Aier said, her face full of indignation.
Lincoln felt some sympathy, but he wasn't particularly shocked. Across the four Supreme Planes, the Seven Divine Planes, and countless Material Planes, cruel and brutal things happened all the time. Countless lives like the Milotic were controlled, enslaved, or treated as raw materials. Just consider the many Soul Gold Beads found in the cities of the Divine Planes. Each one required the souls of twenty million ordinary people to refine. Where did those souls come from?
But the Azure Dragon Army capturing Milotic was interesting. Thinking about it, all the Clownfish were kept scattered throughout the Azure Dragon Sea Region. Who besides Leiding could command the Azure Dragon Army and do something like this?
Perhaps the source of the Four Divine Beasts Clan's Ancestral Hall Baptism was connected to the Milotic. No wonder Leiding had suddenly said something like that before leaving. With a special talent like the Milotic's, even if the Azure Dragon didn't covet it, some other powerful being would.
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