Vivian sighed and shook her head helplessly. "I knew it. You said you were returning something, but really, you came to mooch off me. I have plenty of Sovereign Artifacts, though they're all life-attributed. For Deity-level beings, it doesn't matter whether the attributes match. But you should take the time to carefully nurture the Sovereign Artifact you'll use yourself. Don't treat it carelessly. You can have this Main God Token, too. You haven't made one yet, have you? It wouldn't do for a dignified Sovereign to have to pay to use a teleportation array."
A Sovereign Artifact had to be nurtured for at least ten thousand years by a Sovereign using Sovereign's Might and Willpower. To Deity-level beings, the effect was the same regardless of the artifact's materials, how it was made, or how long it had been nurtured. But for a Sovereign, those things made a great deal of difference. A Main God Token was really just a simplified Sovereign Artifact that hadn't been fully nurtured. It was so sturdy that Deity-level beings couldn't imitate or destroy it, but it couldn't truly be used as a Sovereign Artifact, either. At most, it was an indestructible brick.
Vivian took out a spatial ring and put the Main God Token and Sovereign Artifact inside, along with more than a hundred other Sovereign Artifacts of all kinds. "But I should warn you: under the Sovereign Pact, a Sovereign may give only one Sovereign Artifact to each relative or Sovereign Envoy. Don't give out too many, or people will use it against you. Also, to prevent Sovereigns from fighting endlessly, Sovereigns of different ranks aren't allowed to fight one another. Rank here doesn't mean the rank of their Sovereign Spark, but their actual strength. For example, although the Four Divine Beasts are Low-Sovereigns, they once joined forces to kill an Intermediate Sovereign. So they can't attack ordinary Intermediate Sovereigns or any weaker Sovereigns. If they break this rule, the Four Rule Sovereigns will hunt them down together!"
Hearing about the Four Divine Beasts, Lincoln couldn't help thinking about Augusta. Now that he no longer had a Supreme Artifact, would he still end up clashing with them? Thinking of the friction between the Four Divine Beasts Clan and himself over the years, Lincoln shook his head. Then again, although the Four Divine Beasts were domineering and overbearing, the real reason they had died was that Orf wanted to study their Quintessence Blood and learn their Fusion Innate Divine Ability. The attack from the Supreme God Sword had only been a minor factor. What had truly mattered was Orf's Soul Defense Supreme Artifact, which had rendered the Four Divine Beasts' attacks useless.
"As for the Sovereign's Might of the various elements, I've never made a point of collecting it. These are just the ones I had left over from last time. You can have them." As she spoke, Vivian put in six flasks and two barrels. "These two barrels contain Life Sovereign Power and Death Sovereign Power, respectively. That should be enough, right?"
Vivian's slightly teasing, probing tone made Lincoln quickly reply, "That's plenty, plenty. I won't need as much as last time. I just want to keep some in reserve." He took Vivian's spatial ring and handed her one of his own, which contained exactly one hundred thousand drops of Dark Sovereign Power.
Lincoln was glad he had chosen to become the Life Sovereign's Sovereign Envoy—and that she had accepted him. For one thing, the Life Sovereign had considerable influence. For another, she had a gentle temperament. Of course, Lincoln didn't mistake her for a pushover. When he had first decided to pledge himself to a Sovereign, the Four Rule Sovereigns had naturally been his top choices. But Orf was a research fanatic. He seemed like a good person on the surface, but would do anything for his research. Lincoln was a special Super Divine Beast himself, so he didn't want to take that risk. The Death Chief Sovereign was a thrill-seeker; one wrong word around her could get him killed on the spot. In the original story, her companion serpent had begged her to avenge its children, but she had remained unmoved. Their countless years of affection meant less to her than a bit of amusement. She wasn't someone Lincoln could trust. Lincoln had considered the Destruction Chief Sovereign, too. She was bold and brash, but kept her word and was powerful. Still, after weighing his options, he'd decided to seek out the Life Sovereign first and become her Sovereign Envoy.
After Lincoln took his leave, Vivian walked to a broad leaf and gazed into the distance. She pondered for a moment, then called upon Sovereign's Might and flew toward the teleportation array at Moonlight Mountain.
In the Underworld, on Nether Mountain, the Heaven and Earth Chains hung down like waterfalls. Countless lightning chains, each as thick as a man's waist, covered the surface of the three-colored clouds, gathering enough energy to destroy a Seven-Star Fiend. At the summit, a red-haired girl was idly watching the Deity-level experts struggling in the three-colored clouds when she suddenly felt Sovereign's Might sweep over her. After discerning its source, she returned to her palace, ordered her maidservants to open the gates, and waited for her guest.
"Don't bother with the formalities," Vivian said with a smile. "Go on out. Eldest Sister and I have some private matters to discuss."
After Iwina left, Vivian sat down beside the red-haired girl. The girl smiled. "What brings you here today?"
Before long, a dignified, beautiful woman strolled over and softly greeted the red-haired girl. "Eldest Sister, it's been a long time."
When the maidservant Iwina saw her, she immediately fell to her knees. "Greetings, Life Sovereign!"
Vivian interrupted her and explained the whole story from beginning to end. Only then did the red-haired girl understand. She smiled thoughtfully. "He really is a lucky fellow. But it's strange that the Dark Mid-level Sovereign Spark Augusta had kept would appear in a Material Plane. Perhaps only Augusta knows why. In any case, that fellow ended up with quite a bargain."
"One of my Sovereign Envoys has become a Sovereign!"
Sovereigns had endless time and immense strength, and it was difficult for them to make further progress in their cultivation. Most of them were bored. Even when they gathered, they usually had little to talk about. They generally met only when something interesting happened.
"Become a Sovereign?" The red-haired girl was astonished. "Which of your Envoys pleased you so much that you gave him a Sovereign Spark?"
The red-haired girl was even more surprised. "Could Augusta have—?"
"I didn't give it to him. It was that Dark Mid-level Sovereign Spark."
"Still, from what you've told me, Augusta didn't give him his Sovereign Spark. Although he's an Intermediate Sovereign and has a body on the level of a Sovereign Artifact, he isn't a Paragon. Augusta will definitely go after him." As for Lincoln's claim that he had grasped a hint of inspiration, neither Vivian nor the red-haired girl took it seriously. Breaking through the Paragon bottleneck was no easy feat.
Vivian smiled, too. "That's right, Eldest Sister. The previous owner of that Sovereign Spark, Aikes, was a true Paragon Sovereign, but Augusta and Dark still schemed together to kill him. Lincoln is still a little short of Aikes's level. But he was clever enough to leave his Sovereign Clone in the Material Plane. He didn't even come to see me in person—he sent a Divine Clone."
The red-haired girl suddenly sounded wistful. "Aikes... Even counting him, only five Sovereigns have ever become Paragons."
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