A Million Years

At this point, there was no point in continuing the fight. Repeating the battle wouldn't help Lincoln make any further progress.

The fight was over, and the watching Sovereigns gathered around them. Tadai, a burly Intermediate Sovereign, smiled. "That was a fantastic battle. We all cultivate the Laws of Wind, but the way you two, Teresia and Lincoln, apply them is far beyond anything we can manage. Especially you, Lincoln—your ingenious techniques are even more impressive than Teresia's, and he's a Paragon."

"Indeed," Miror agreed with a sigh. "Paragons are extraordinarily skilled at developing and using techniques. But Lincoln, you haven't reached Paragon, and you still managed to create a technique on the spot to counter Teresia's move. That's incredibly difficult. By the way, Lincoln, what's that instrument called? I've never seen one before."

Miror and Tadai were both Intermediate Sovereigns. They weren't afraid of a Paragon Low Sovereign, nor did they feel the need to hold back around Teresia, so they said whatever came to mind.

"It's a xiao. After becoming a Sovereign, I went to the Heavenly Realm and bought a trillion-year-old piece of Wind-Tear Bamboo to make it. I nurtured it into a Sovereign Artifact for my own use. Since I was the one using it, I wanted to make it myself, so it would suit me." Miror's question drew Lincoln's gaze to the newly completed Sovereign Artifact. Over the past ten thousand years, he had nurtured more than twenty Sovereign Artifacts, most of them for himself, replacing his old ones. And, hoping to master the Mysteries related to sound sooner, he had specifically chosen to make a musical instrument.

A Sovereign needed ten thousand years to nurture one Sovereign Artifact, but nurturing several at once still took only ten thousand years, no matter how many there were. After all, Lincoln had already reached Darkness Element Grand Perfection and couldn't advance any further. He might as well craft some Sovereign Artifacts to suit his needs.

"A xiao. Its sound is indeed lovely," Tadai said with a smile.

Seeing Teresia's expression grow darker and darker, Lincoln tried to smooth things over. "Honestly, there's no need to praise me. I've made some progress, but I still haven't truly reached Paragon. And Teresia hasn't even used his strongest move yet. Who knows whether my 'Azure Sea Tide Jade Flute Technique' could have withstood it?"

Sorry, Old Xie. I'm borrowing a name.

"Exactly. If you haven't reached Paragon, then you haven't reached Paragon. It's unpleasant to insist on comparing them," Diya finally scoffed.

Once Diya had spoken, Miror and Tadai fell silent. Everyone knew what was bothering him. Why provoke him?

Teresia had been about to laugh and say a few words in reply, but Diya's sudden comment left him unsure what to make of it, so he said nothing.

Lincoln couldn't control what Diya thought. Since everything was settled, he cheerfully said goodbye to the Wind Sovereigns and hurried back to the Chainis Plane. His Wind Divine Clone would continue traveling through the Material Planes in search of a breakthrough, while his Sovereign self would remain in his homeland, responding to whatever the future might bring by staying the course.

Bamo, the Fire Element Paragon; Palhouse, the Water Element Paragon; and Clark, the Earth Grand Perfection, were all traveling through the Material Planes and nowhere to be found. Lincoln had no intention of using his Sovereign authority to track them down. Sometimes it was better not to be too deliberate. Time was eternal, after all.

Time flew by. While Aier and his various Divine Clones traveled through countless Material Planes, Lincoln's Sovereign self remained in his home plane. Before long, nearly a million years had passed.

One day, the teleportation array in the Chainis Material Plane suddenly lit up.

The Chainis Material Plane was the home plane of a Sovereign, so its ownership had naturally been changed. It was now managed by the Bian Army under Lincoln. "Managed" mostly meant providing good service. Under Brock's arrangements, the current Plane Guardian was a Six-Star Night Demon named Frodo. In fact, every guardian for the past million years had been a Six-Star Night Demon.

"Someone from the Fire Divine Plane?" Frodo perked up. He had heard from the previous wardens that the people who visited the Chainis Plane were all exceptionally powerful, and had to be treated with care.

Legend had it that someone living in this Material Plane was a person even their Legion Commander had to treat with extreme caution. The Legion Commander had Asura-level strength, and was a powerful Asura at that. Even when dealing with the children of Sovereigns, he didn't have to show them any respect as long as he didn't take their lives. So just how extraordinary was Lord Lincoln, who lived in this Material Plane? Was he merely rumored to be a Paragon, or was he truly one? As for the possibility that he was a Sovereign, Frodo didn't dare even consider it.

As he wondered, two people appeared in the teleportation array. Both were Highgods. One was a burly man three meters tall, while the other looked like an ordinary human. But judging by their auras, both were powerful fire-element cultivators.

"Hm, they've changed the guardian again?" the three-meter-tall man said gruffly. "I've told Brock time and again not to keep changing the Plane Warden. There's no need to send a Highgod, either. Just find someone clever and obedient. These Highgods are all cultivation fanatics. How could they understand what it takes to manage this plane properly?"

Anyone who spoke so casually about Legion Commander Brock had to be an Asura-level powerhouse! Frodo realized this and became even more respectful.

"Brother Pusluo, the Legion Commander just wants to serve Lord Lincoln well. You simply have different ideas," said the Highgod following behind the burly man with a smile. "In the end, the most important thing is that Lord Lincoln doesn't find fault with whoever's in charge. Still, was it really appropriate to bring me along to pay my respects to him?"

"Whether it was appropriate or not, we'll find out when we get there," Pusluo teased. "But Lord Lincoln has a good temper. He usually doesn't blame us. Come on. The next time I see Brock, I'm going to have another talk with him about the Plane Warden. Since Lord Lincoln lives here, the guardian's strength doesn't matter at all!"

As he spoke, fire-element divine power surged around Pusluo. He took the Highgod with him and flew straight toward the Azure Sea, never once acknowledging Frodo.

"So that's Lord Pusluo?" Frodo was astonished. "Isn't he fighting for the Sovereign across the Material Planes and spreading the faith? Why would he come here?"

Ever since Lincoln took over the Bian Continent, the Bian Army had been busy. In addition to guarding the continent, they had sent wave after wave of people to the Material Planes, stirring up a small commotion over the struggle for Faith Power. It was only a small commotion because countless years had passed, and those old fossils had long since reached their limits. They cared far less about Faith Power now. Otherwise, so many "heretical" faiths wouldn't have appeared. They were simply watching Lincoln tinker away on his own. Besides, there were countless Material Planes, and the small-scale measures Lincoln had taken were insignificant against the tide of faith.

Only if Lincoln kept it up for tens or hundreds of billions of years would he make a significant difference to Faith Power. But would he have that kind of patience?

Some Sovereigns even secretly mocked him, thinking he was indulging in wishful thinking. After all, there were more than seventy Sovereigns, but how many of them were Paragons?

Out of gratitude for his freedom, Pusluo had devoted himself wholeheartedly to spreading the faith. He had been extremely busy all these years, and was quite well known within the Sovereign Legion.