The Wind Divine Plane, White Tiger Continent.
Jason is currently in "White Tiger City" in the center of the White Tiger Continent, which is also the garrison of the White Tiger Army under the Sovereign of the continent.
Different Sovereign govern their continents in different ways. The White Tiger Sovereign Laius previously carved out a separate area in the center of the continent and established "White Tiger City" to house his White Tiger Army.
With the fall of the Sovereign, the continent lost its order. The twenty-one prefectures began to be no longer bound by the White Tiger Army, forming alliances of varying sizes within the White Tiger Continent. Some even directly pledged allegiance to other Sovereign. The White Tiger Army's power was compressed into three prefectures surrounding White Tiger City.
It wasn't until Jason arrived and Beirut descended as a projection of the Sovereign in the form of a "black human face" that the panicked White Tiger Army regained its backbone.
Beirut did not rename the White Tiger Army, and for the time being, all government affairs were handled according to the rules set by the Sovereign Laius. As for any inappropriate policies, Jason was entrusted to make adjustments as appropriate.
Jason didn't rush things; he simply had the White Tiger Army spread the news of the new Sovereign's birth. In his view, those lords were all shrewd people who had lived for millions of years; they knew how to deal with Sovereign. He figured he could deal with the stubborn ones later.
Jason is currently training his own subordinates. After all, the White Tiger Army is the army of the Sovereign, and the legion commander is someone else. It would be more prudent for him to establish his own power base and get things done.
Otherwise, if the White Tiger Army Commander forms cliques and engages in corruption, Jason, alone, can only watch helplessly.
Jason has already sent his subordinates from the Yulan Continent to take the "Wind Hunter" exam. As the Sovereign's Emissary, Jason was exceptionally granted the Seven-Star Wind Hunter badge by the White Tiger Army commander, but his subordinates will have to rely on their own efforts.
This matter can't be rushed, and Jason isn't in a hurry either.
A slender girl with white hair and red eyes flew from afar and landed in front of Jason's courtyard in White Tiger City.
The courtyard gate opened automatically, and the girl walked in. She saw a row of Deity-level lying unconscious on the ground, each with a different appearance, and a row of servants standing beside them. Jason, on the other hand, sat upright in a chair, observing the two rows of "experimental subjects" in front of him.
Upon witnessing this bizarre scene, the girl exhaled almost imperceptibly.
"Commander Xia Yue, is there something you need from me?" Jason had a servant bring out a chair and gestured for the other man to sit down.
"Jason, please don't be so distant, just call me Xia Yue." The girl said as she walked over, "Recently, a kind of recording crystal has been circulating among the powerful figures of various continents, and it seems to be about you."
Jason smiled calmly, "It is an honor to be noticed by such powerful figures. However, isn't the speed of this spread a bit too fast? It's only been less than three hundred years since I posted it."
"I think the spread was too slow. It took three hundred years for such a precious record to reach the White Tiger Continent." The white-haired girl, Xia Yue, probed indirectly, "That's a secret even the Sovereign cherish. You really just released it like that?"
Jason didn't deny it. "It seems Miss Xia Yue knows some of the Sovereign."
Seeing that Jason didn't intend to elaborate, Xia Yue didn't press further. "I only know one, the Sovereign the Black Sand Continent in the Dark God Plane, Lady Freya. Back then, she had a good relationship with the Azure Dragon Sovereign, and I was fortunate enough to meet her."
"It seems that it's true that Freya had an ambiguous relationship with the Azure Dragon Sovereign." The Azure Dragon Patriarch, Gaiseresen, had previously told Jason about this when he was drunk, "Miss Xia Yue truly lives up to her reputation as the White Tiger Sovereign's confidante."
"Just say I'm his mistress. I don't think it's anything shameful, and there's no need to hide it," Xia Yue said calmly.
Xia Yue is the commander of the White Tiger Army and also the lover of the White Tiger Sovereign. This is not a secret among the powerful figures of the White Tiger Continent.
The rank of the commander of the army under the Sovereign is slightly lower than that of the Sovereign's Emissary, but slightly higher than that of the general lord. Normally, they are all trusted confidants of the Sovereign, but they will not be given the Sovereign Artifact. They just have an ample supply of the Sovereign’s Might.
Xia Yue's strength is relatively low among the "Windlord," which is the "Asura" level in the Wind Divine Plane. She was able to serve as the legion commander only because of her lover relationship with the White Tiger Sovereign.
This was a mutually agreeable matter between the two, and it wouldn't be considered a scandal for someone at the Deity-level.
Unfortunately, the White Tiger Sovereign fell, causing Xia Yue to lose her backer. Because of her weak strength, in less than 20,000 years, the White Tiger Army lost more than 80% of its dominance over the White Tiger Continent, and many people within the army were no longer under her control.
It wasn't until Jason arrived and Beirut's projection appeared that the White Tiger Army could finally hold their heads high again.
Xia Yue pointed to the Deity-level in front of her, some standing and some unconscious. "I used to wonder why Jason had captured so many bandits, turns out he's researching Soul Mutation."
"The mainland is in chaos right now, so it's a good thing to suppress the bandits. As for my research, it's just a side project. It would be such a waste to just kill so many test subjects."
Just then, a faint blue and crimson light emanated from the Deity-level who had fainted. "It seems that Lady Xia Yue is my lucky star. I have lost more than 10,000 Deity-level and have not been able to break through for more than 100 years, but you have a successful one as soon as you arrive."
Xia Yue looked at the unconscious Midgod, then glanced at the Highgod standing behind him who looked exactly like him. Clearly, these were different avatars of the same person, and their obedience was likely due to Jason controlling them with his Soul Seed.
"The two unconscious clones converged in fire and wind elemental attributes, while the Life Clone that hadn't suffered soul trauma showed no reaction." Xia Yue pondered for a moment, "Jason's experiment verifies whether the attributes of the Soul Mutation correspond to the soul itself or to the attributes of the clones involved in the Soul Mutation."
Jason nodded. "Two-element Soul Mutation has a near-certain death rate, while Three-element Soul Mutation is unheard of in the entire Wind Divine Plane. Reducing the number of attributes involved in Soul Mutation effectively lowers the mortality rate."
As they spoke, the soul of the Midgod who had just begun to react rapidly weakened and died in an instant; seeing this, Jason pointed at the Highgod avatar behind him, who shuddered and went limp, clearly killed by Jason as well.
Xia Yue wasn't a soft-hearted person, and those captured by Jason were all bandits who deserved to die. "According to the test subject's reaction, the attributes of the Soul Mutation correspond to the attributes of the clones involved in the Soul Mutation. Even if the soul has other affinities, they will be rejected?"
Jason nodded in agreement. "It's possible that the Divine Spark suppresses the talents of other attributes in the soul, preventing them from participating in Soul Mutation. There are too few successful samples yet, so we can't draw conclusions hastily."
"But even if this theory is correct, the success rate of Two-element Soul Mutation is still almost zero. What practical significance does it have?" Xia Yue asked.
"Research on Soul Mutation must start from scratch. Before you can run, you have to learn to walk first," Jason said calmly.
Jason changed the subject. "What does Commander Xia Yue want with me about?"
Several prefectural lords have requested a meeting with Your Excellency to discuss revising the mainland's "laws."
The Higher Planes and the Divine Plane also have "laws," but unlike the Material Plane, these "laws" are only to be obeyed by the administrators under the Sovereign —that is, the lords of the prefectures, the lords of the cities, the continental guards, and the subordinate members of various departments. The idle Deity-level on the continent are not bound by the laws.
According to Jason's understanding, this law is the "Continental Development Plan," which includes various aspects such as tax rates, jurisdictional divisions, staffing levels, foreign policy, and currency issuance.
Because Deity-level have extremely long lifespans, these things, once established, will generally not change for millions of years, hence the term "laws".
"No." Jason refused decisively, explaining, "Amending the laws requires the approval of the Sovereign. Although my lord mentioned amending the laws when he visited before, the specific time for the amendment can only be carried out after I have fully understood the situation on the continent, summarized the laws that need to be amended, and reported to the Sovereign. Until then, we must abide by the laws previously set by the White Tiger Sovereign."
"If they, as the lords of the prefecture, want to change the laws, am I obliged to do the same? Where does that leave my lord?"
Xia Yue seemed to have anticipated this. "Then I will reply to them accordingly. Also, several lords would like to invite Jason to a banquet—"
"No, let's wait until the mainland is completely under the Sovereign. There are still many stubborn forces secretly opposing our Lord."
While it is possible for the lords of the city to form alliances for self-protection and create various forces, over the past ten thousand years, many forces have established their own independent entities or even directly pledged allegiance to other Sovereign within the plane, disregarding the previous decrees of the White Tiger Sovereign.
Jason wasn't in a hurry, and Beirut didn't seem anxious either.
After all, the current avatar of the Beirut Divine Clone is still holed up in the Yulan Continent and dares not come out. As for the Power of Faith, the Divine Plane does not contribute much Power of Faith to begin with, and most of them are shallow believers, which is more like "reverence" than faith.
The Power of Faith provided by this type of belief is very weak. Even with the numerous beings on the White Tiger Continent, the combined Power of Faith is far less than that provided by the devout faith of countless Material Plane.
Jason seized the opportunity to inquire, "Lord Xia Yue, I have a question regarding the Power of Faith —since I arrived on the White Tiger Continent, a vast Power of Faith has entered my mind, but I cannot trace its source."
Xia Yue smiled and said, "This is your reward for managing the continent on behalf of the Sovereign. In the eyes of the beings of the White Tiger Continent, you are the messenger of the Sovereign. If you were placed in the church in the Material Plane, you would be like the Sovereign's 'angel'. Naturally, there are many people who 'believe' in you."
Of course, in reality, very few of the Saint-level and Deity-level on the White Tiger Continent possess true faith; they mostly "revere" it. Your strength is indeed worthy of such reverence. Although the Power of Faith provided by each individual is extremely small, it still far exceeds the amount of Power of Faith provided by a church within a single Material Plane.
"That's how it is." Jason nodded. "I'm just sharing in the Power of Faith. Is that alright?"
"No, as long as the Sovereign doesn't mention it, normally they won't pursue it. In fact, I also received a portion of my lord's Power of Faith." Xia Yue shook her head and said, "The Sovereign's Power of Faith mainly comes from the Material Plane. Those Saint-level are not even at the Saint Realm level have far stronger faith than us Deity-level and Saint-level beings. In addition, the Material Plane is vast in number, and the Power of Faith it provides accounts for more than 90% of the Sovereign 'Power of Faith."
The Power of Faith we receive is considerable for us, but insignificant to the Sovereign.
Clearly, as the lover of the White Tiger Sovereign, Xia Yue knew many details about the Sovereign.
"I see, then I'm relieved."