Return to Liang'an Prefecture, Montero and Augusta

With a wave of the Sovereign of Death's hand, a Spatial Ring appeared alongside the Sovereign Artifact. Ren accepted the ring with some confusion, dripped his blood to claim ownership, and took a look inside. He was stunned for a moment, then felt relieved.

Inside the Spatial Ring were eleven bottles of identical size, each filled with Sovereign Power. A rough estimate suggested there were no fewer than fifty drops in each. Although the Sovereign of Death could only personally produce Sovereign Power of Death, Sovereigns could easily exchange for other types, so they were never in short supply.

"Since you have become my emissary, no one can use their status to pressure you, and that includes Reding and his lot. Keep this safe. If they dare to make a move against you, use it directly." As the Sovereign of Death spoke, she waved her hand again, and several parchment sheets inscribed with magic runes flew toward Ren.

"Many thanks, Sovereign!"

Ren bowed slightly to express his gratitude. While these things might mean little to the Sovereign of Death, it did not stop him from showing his appreciation.

"Very well, you may head down the mountain. If anything comes up, you can find me at the Nether Hotel at any time, or simply use the parchment to summon me." The Sovereign of Death waved her hand, speaking with a casual air.

"Then, Sovereign, I shall take my leave." Ren nodded, not lingering any longer, and turned to walk down Nether Mountain.

After Ren left, the Sovereign of Death leaned back against her throne and let out a happy laugh.

"I wonder what kind of expression Uterede will have when he finds out about this? Ren is, after all, a Prefect in his Hell!" The Sovereign of Death seemed to imagine an amusing scene, the curve of her lips deepening.

As fellow Sovereigns of the four rules, the relationship between the Sovereign of Death and the Destruction Overlord was subtle. They were not exactly enemies, but they were not on the best of terms either, and comparing themselves to one another was a common occurrence.

Dannington, the only confirmed Paragon Highgod of the Death rule, had become an emissary for the Destruction Overlord. That incident had made the Sovereign of Death feel quite embarrassed in front of the Destruction Overlord, and for many years, she had wanted to secure a Paragon emissary of her own, but she had never succeeded.

But today, Ren had arrived—a super powerhouse who had lived in Hell, grown into a Paragon and an Asura, and left Hell to find her in the Netherworld to become her emissary. If the Destruction Overlord knew about this, his expression would likely be very interesting. After all, although Ren cultivated the Wind Law Profound Mysteries, he was, strictly speaking, a man of Hell.

"Come to think of it, I should thank Reding and his group!" The Sovereign of Death shifted her posture and muttered to herself. Of course, it was just talk; if the four of them truly intended to lower themselves to attack Ren, she would let those four worms know that the people of a Rule Sovereign were not to be touched.

While Ren was traveling on Nether Mountain, Hell, Liang'an Prefecture, and indeed the entire Bifu Continent, had fallen into a state of boiling unrest.

The news that the Four Divine Beasts Clan had dispatched nine Asuras and dozens of Seven-Star Demons to Bifu Continent to surround and kill the Liang'an Prefect, Ren, had spread rapidly.

The Four Divine Beasts Clan had not covered anything up; they had even intentionally pushed the spread of the news. At the same time, they arranged for word to be spread that if Ren came to surrender himself, they would only kill him and spare those around him. If he resisted, they would certainly capture him and find someone who cultivated the Death rule to make his life worse than death.

Above the Suo'aiya River in Bifu Continent, over a dozen metallic lifeforms whistled past, their aura extremely powerful. From their appearance, it was easy to tell that this was a team from the Four Divine Beasts Clan. Any bandit tribe watched this group with a mix of fear and envy.

At the very front of the metallic lifeforms, inside a cyan dragon-shaped metallic lifeform over a hundred meters long, a cold man with long, disheveled hair and a cyan robe sat in the main seat.

Beside him, his younger sister, who also had flowing cyan hair and wore a silver mask, along with three other younger siblings, waited quietly, looking at the person responsible for reporting below.

"Patriarch, the news has been spread. However, Ren has not responded. For now, it seems he has gone into hiding." A blue-robed youth knelt on the ground and answered respectfully.

"Hmm, I see. You may step down." Gaiseresen nodded slightly and waved his hand casually.

Not long ago, Gaiseresen and his sister had used a teleportation array to reach Bifu Continent and had quickly found the clan's team. At this moment, the Four Divine Beasts Clan had nine Asura-level powerhouses; even if they wanted to sweep across Bifu Continent, it was not impossible—at least, that was what they believed.

"Big brother, it seems that this man named Ren intends to refuse our 'kindness.' Since that is the case, should we increase our speed to prevent him from escaping?" The White Tiger patriarch, Gus, spoke boisterously, his tone showing that he did not hold Ren in any regard at all.

"No rush. Even if that Ren runs, it is useless. Our clan has members in all divine planes. As long as we want to find him, how long can he run? Besides, constant flight while being hunted by us, dying in despair—that is also a form of punishment for him, and a deterrent to others."

Gaiseresen shook his head slightly. After the incident with Venna and Ren, he had reflected on whether he, as patriarch, had been too benevolent over the years, which had led to these incidents happening one after another.

Thus, Gaiseresen concluded that from now on, he must use even more thunderous methods to let people in all planes see the strength of the Four Divine Beasts Clan and the consequences of offending them. Ren was the perfect example to use.

If Ren intended to run, the clan would hunt him to the ends of the earth, letting him experience the feeling that running anywhere was useless. Being captured in despair, Ren's final experience would become the Four Divine Beasts Clan's signature for deterring the divine planes, ensuring that no one would dare provoke the Four Divine Beasts Clan in the future.

At the very least, Gaiseresen felt that this decision was correct. It would allow those foolish people who wanted to provoke the Four Divine Beasts Clan to see their methods. As patriarch, in a situation where the fathers were not intervening, this was what he should do.

In Liang'an Prefecture, at Tamojin Lake, the mountains and lake that were originally golden had been enveloped in cyan energy while Ren was cultivating. Now, the entire lake appeared as a translucent cyan, and from a distance, it had a faint, natural emerald green hue.

At this moment, a middle-aged man in a gray robe was riding a metallic lifeform, floating not far from Tamojin Lake.

If anyone from the Fiend Castle saw him, they would immediately recognize that this person was none other than the Seven-Star Demon Belfield, a subordinate of the former Liang'an Prefect, Alfred.

However, today, this "powerhouse" Belfield did not have the slightest air of a powerhouse; instead, he stood respectfully behind a blond youth.

The blond youth sat by the window, holding a glass of specially crafted wine. His white eyebrows were tinged with a hint of gold, and his entire person exuded a lazy aura; he looked like nothing more than an ordinary youth.

Yet, Belfield did not dare to show the slightest disrespect, because he had once seen this person in the records of the Fiend Castle. He was an existence who had participated in the Plane Wars and possessed strength even more terrifying than the former Prefect, Alfred.

Not only that, but the youth's identity was the most terrifying part, for he came from the Radiant Divine Realm, and even from the so-called number one family of the divine planes: the Augusta Clan. He was a third-generation member of this powerful Sovereign family and a top-tier Asura powerhouse.

The blond youth's name was Montero Augusta.