Scheming

Meanwhile, the Blood Peak Sovereign's attitude toward him had also made Aier realize that a Paragon's status was even higher than he'd imagined.

Of course, even knowing this, Aier wouldn't let it go to his head.

A Paragon's status came not only from their strength, but also from the Sovereigns' recognition.

Just because the Sovereigns treated him as an equal didn't mean he could truly consider himself their equal in status.

Status was one thing; strength was another.

The Sovereigns admired his mastery of the Laws and Profound Mysteries, and thus thought more highly of him. But that didn't change the fact that a Paragon stood no chance of fighting back against a Sovereign.

If you really angered a Sovereign, just see whether he'd kill you on the spot.

In Aier's view, perhaps Paragons were so rare because some didn't want to face the threat posed by the Sovereigns in the Divine and Supreme Planes, and so went to live in the Material Planes instead.

If the Sovereigns ruled over the Seven Divine Planes and the Four Supreme Planes, then in the Material Planes, even Sovereigns had to bow their heads to Paragons.

The only exception was when the Material Plane a Paragon lived in was a Sovereign's home plane.

Otherwise, Paragons were invincible in the Material Planes.

After all, a Sovereign had once entered a Material Plane to hunt down a divine being. The plane collapsed, and the Overgod killed the Sovereign for it.

The surviving Sovereigns wouldn't dare enter a Material Plane that wasn't their home plane if they didn't want to die.

With only a Sovereign projection or an elemental clone, a Sovereign could do no more than suffer a Paragon's humiliation in a Material Plane.

Take Beirut, for example. In the future, he would seize the Four Divine Beasts Overgods' corpses from the Radiant Sovereign Augusta. Before he refined White Tiger Sovereign Lieus's Wind Element Lesser Sovereign Spark, however, he was still threatened by Augusta.

But as soon as he refined the Wind Element Lesser Sovereign Spark and became a Sovereign, he scattered Augusta's projected clone without giving him the slightest face.

Aier's true body was currently in the Qingya Plane. Even if a Sovereign killed his Earth Element Divine Clone, he could use his true body to refine an Earth Element Godhead and restore it.

But he would get only one such chance.

Thus, Aier thought that even if he eventually had Paragon Divine Clones in Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire, he would only let one of them travel through the Divine and Supreme Planes.

If two of his Divine Clones were killed, his plan to return Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire to their origins and reverse them into Hongmeng Energy would fail, and he would lose the chance to transcend the Coiling Dragon Universe.

"Buzz—"

The Laws of Heaven and Earth descended. The soul of Aier's true body was tempered once more by the Laws, further strengthening his soul.

At the same time, his Wind Element Divine Clone gained a portion of Willpower.

"As expected, being a Dual-Element Paragon isn't enough for the Laws of Heaven and Earth to grant me additional Willpower."

Aier opened his eyes and thought to himself.

Although there had yet to be a Dual-Element Paragon in the Coiling Dragon Universe, Aier felt that becoming a Paragon with multiple Divine Clones was like Soul Mutation. Linley had undergone Four-Element Soul Mutation, which was why he had gained Willpower.

Aier estimated that he, too, would have to become a Paragon in all four elements before he could gain additional Willpower.

In truth, Aier didn't care much about whether he would gain additional Willpower.

After all, even without Willpower, he was invincible in the Material Planes.

Gaining an extra portion of Willpower wouldn't make much difference to him.

His greatest ambition was to fuse the Sovereign's Might of Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire into Hongmeng Energy.

Of course, if he really did gain additional Willpower, he wouldn't mind.

If the future remained unchanged, the Four Divine Beasts Overgods' Sovereign Sparks and bodies that Beirut seized from the Radiant Sovereign would all end up in Aier's possession.

By then, never mind the Radiant Sovereign Augusta—even the Fate Chief Sovereign Ao Fu wouldn't be beyond Aier's reach.

"Lord Aier, have you finished your seclusion?"

When Aier stepped out of the cultivation chamber, an old man bowed and greeted him.

"Mm."

Aier nodded slightly, without saying anything more.

He walked out of the palace and looked around. Countless buildings, large and small, spread outward in orderly fashion from his home.

If not for the lack of city walls, the place could easily have been called a large city.

More than ten thousand years ago, Aier had caused quite a stir in the Qingya Plane.

At first, only a handful of humans followed him.

After he finished traveling around the Qingya Plane and decided to settle on Qingya Continent, more and more humans gathered around him from all over the world, hoping to gain his protection.

Though Aier never intervened, the few divine-level experts in the Qingya Plane had learned from the Plane Overseer, Miles Reynolds, that Aier was an immensely powerful expert who had returned from a Divine Plane.

They were lucky if Aier didn't come looking for trouble. How would they dare provoke him?

When he was in a good mood, Aier would teach some of his followers a thing or two about cultivation.

Over the past ten thousand years, quite a few exceptionally talented people had reached the Saint Realm and become the new protectors of humanity.

It could be said that Aier's arrival had hastened the conflict between humans and beastmen.

Perhaps the day humans produced a divine-level expert would be the day they challenged the beastmen for control of the Qingya Plane.

The old man who called himself Aier's "servant" was himself a Saint Realm expert.

After putting a Water Element Lesser Godhead into his Equipment Slot, Aier looked toward the Magic Beast Forest.

"Beirut..."

Aier had once wondered whether he could take Beirut's place and snatch the Four Divine Beasts Overgods' corpses from the Radiant Sovereign Augusta.

But in the end, he had given up on the idea.

Aier didn't know how long it would be until the Four Divine Beasts Overgods died. He couldn't—and simply didn't have the energy to—keep watch over the Spatial Turbulence beyond the Qingya Plane.

Besides, Beirut only had Wind Element and Darkness Element Divine Clones.

Even if Beirut got the Four Divine Beasts Overgods' corpses, he could only refine a Wind Element Lesser Sovereign Spark.

Aier only needed to make sure Beirut knew he existed, knew he was a Paragon, and knew he had Earth, Water, and Fire Element Divine Clones.

Then, when Beirut grew tired of being confined to the Qingya Plane under the Radiant Sovereign's thumb, he would naturally seek Aier out.

A Lesser Sovereign who was a Paragon could match an Intermediate Sovereign in strength.

Refining one Sovereign Spark granted an additional portion of Willpower. Having refined three Sovereign Sparks, Aier was powerful enough to rival a Law Chief Sovereign.

And with a body as strong as a Sovereign Artifact, he could even reach the level of the Four Rule Chief Sovereigns.