Chapter 33: Unwilling Bro
Things had come to this point. Bro was filled with unwillingness: "Both Hales brothers are dead. In this ambush, our side lost two Seven Star Demons. But not a single Seven Star Demon from the Four Divine Beasts clan died, and I even used a drop of Sovereign power!"
Disgrace!
If this battle record were sent back, he would definitely be looked down upon by others in the clan. The clan leader would surely be displeased as well.
"But this person... he has a Sovereign artifact." Bro looked at Pussero. Though his heart was filled with extreme rage, he could only choose to submit. After all, resisting meant death—there was no doubt about that.
"Judging by your transformation, you should be from the Ashcroft family in the Netherworld." Pussero looked down from on high and said casually, "When you go back, tell your clan leader this: this time, I'm giving your clan leader face by not killing you. But if next time you still dare to touch my friend 'Linley,' tsk tsk... haha. Think about the consequences yourselves. Just remember, don't touch Linley. As for anyone else, I couldn't care less."
Bro's heart trembled.
Emmanuel, however, couldn't help but look grim. He glanced at Pussero: "This big guy seems to have a connection with Linley, not with my family." Pussero's words made it clear...
He wouldn't interfere in the slaughter between the Eight Great Clans and the Four Divine Beasts clan.
Linley, however, was full of confusion.
"Pussero and I... we only really talked once when he broke free. When you think about it, our bond isn't that deep. Would he really fall out with the Eight Great Clans just to save me?" Linley didn't understand.
Did he really have that much charm?
It was understandable for Pussero to save him on a whim, but threatening the other clan's leader was hard to fathom.
"Yes. I will deliver the message." Bro's heart was filled with anger, but on the surface, he still bowed his head in submission. By now, Bro had completely reverted to his human form, and even the little snake on his ear no longer dared to flick its tongue.
"Get lost!" Pussero waved his hand.
Bro immediately turned into a streak of light, darting deep into the mountain forest until he vanished.
After flying about twenty or thirty miles, Bro immediately landed. His wrinkled, aged face began to twitch, and his eyes gleamed with the venomous, furious light of a snake.
"Go back? Saying I didn't kill a single Seven Star Demon, but lost two of my own?" Bro was furious.
Other elders in the family might not consider such a failed mission a big deal. But he was Bro—the family's ace! To have such a result after he personally intervened would definitely spark gossip among the other Eight Great Clans.
He couldn't afford to lose face!
When one possessed eternal life, these super experts placed extreme importance on "face."
"No. Pussero will probably leave soon. Once he's gone... I can completely turn back and launch a sneak attack." Bro's eyes lit up. Even if he didn't dare to kill Linley, he still dared to kill Emmanuel.
"Whoosh~"
Sovereign power turned invisible, spreading out for dozens of miles, covering Pussero, Linley, and Emmanuel, who were still talking.
Sovereign power could be used for material attacks and soul attacks.
Divine sense detection was essentially the spreading of mental energy.
Since Sovereign power could be used for soul attacks and soul defense, it could naturally also be used for "divine sense detection," and it was far more effective, with a much wider range! Of course, which super expert would be willing to waste Sovereign power on divine sense detection?
Using Sovereign power for detection was like the detection of a Sovereign. Naturally, Pussero, Linley, and Emmanuel were completely unaware.
"Hey, little guy, you go back first." Pussero waved dismissively at Emmanuel. "Linley and I haven't seen each other in a long time. We have some things to talk about. Hurry up. Surely you don't want to listen in on our conversation?"
Emmanuel didn't dare to say anything more.
"Linley, I'll head back first then." Emmanuel smiled at Linley and gave Pussero a slightly respectful bow. But Pussero just snorted, which made Emmanuel a bit embarrassed.
"Elder Emmanuel, be careful on the way." Linley said with a faint smile.
"Elder Linley, you should also be careful of enemies when returning alone." Emmanuel acted very friendly. With that, Emmanuel flew away.
"Alone?" Bro, observing this scene with Sovereign power, couldn't help but smile on his aged face. Then his murky yellow eyes narrowed. "Quick, the Sovereign power is almost depleted. I need to seize this last moment to kill that guy named Emmanuel."
Bro immediately turned into a streak of light and chased after him.
A single drop of Sovereign power was a liquid existence that could last for a relatively long time. Even without using Sovereign power, Bro could easily kill Emmanuel. If he used it... Emmanuel at this moment had no ability to resist.
Emmanuel was flying alone back toward the Four Divine Beasts clan. His face was gloomy.
This time, his goal of having Linley's strongest body killed had failed. That was secondary. The most important thing was... he had gained nothing and had even consumed a drop of Sovereign power.
"A drop of Sovereign power! I only had that one drop!" Emmanuel was unwilling.
Using Sovereign power should at least yield some results. But what had he gained?
"The ancestor is dead. The clan's Sovereign power reserves are dwindling. And the Sovereign power is personally kept by the clan leader. He's always had a grudge against me... how could he possibly give me another drop?"
As he flew, Emmanuel's mind kept churning.
"It's all Linley's fault. If he had used a drop of Sovereign power and killed Bro with me... if we had killed Bro, such a great achievement would have definitely earned me a drop of Sovereign power from the clan leader." Emmanuel was still indignant.
And then—
"Hmm?" Emmanuel suddenly felt a pang of unease. He turned his head. A lightning-fast black light shot directly toward him. The terrifying aura radiating from the black light made Emmanuel's face change instantly, turning pale!
"Sovereign power!" Emmanuel's eyes bulged.
"Bang!"
Emmanuel's entire body was blasted apart. A divine spark fell to the ground.
Only then did a figure emerge in midair—bald and aged. It was Elder Bro.
"Hmph. At least I killed one Seven Star Demon. Now I have something to say when I go back." Elder Bro had been unwilling before, but killing Emmanuel made him feel much better. When he reported back...
He could say that Linley hadn't died because of Pussero, and there was nothing he could do about it. At least he had killed another Seven Star Demon himself.
"Whoosh."
With a flip of his hand, Elder Bro collected the ring that had fallen to the ground. He snorted, "As expected, he still has a clone in the Heavenly Sacrifice Mountains. This ring is useless to me." With a squeeze, the ring shattered.
As for the divine spark and divine artifact on the ground, Elder Bro couldn't be bothered to take them. He didn't care about such trivial things.
"Hmm?"
Elder Bro looked down. The black light on his body was almost invisible now.
"Time to go." Seizing the last moment, Elder Bro shot eastward and vanished. Just moments after Bro left, two figures streaked across the sky and arrived—Linley and Pussero.
Linley immediately looked down carefully.
He and Pussero had been chatting when he suddenly sensed a shocking energy fluctuation and rushed over. On the ground lay Emmanuel's shattered remains, along with a divine spark and divine artifact.
"Too late." Linley said. "Emmanuel is dead." With a flip of his hand, Linley collected the divine spark and divine artifact.
"Dead is dead. What's the big deal?" Pussero said dismissively.
Linley couldn't help but smile.
Dead?
Linley felt no sadness over Emmanuel's death. Earlier, when Linley was in danger, Emmanuel had deliberately pretended not to hear his divine sense transmission and refused to act, using Bro's hand to try to kill him.
"But his death will cause me some trouble when I go back." Linley frowned. Emmanuel had connections with many people in the clan. "Hmph. We'll see. After all, it was Bro who killed him."
Sensing the lingering Sovereign power in the area, Linley guessed that Bro was the one who had acted.
"By the way, Pussero. You hadn't finished what you were saying earlier." Linley turned to Pussero with a smile.
"Oh, right. Back when I first arrived in the southern 'Muya Continent,' that's where I got my Sovereign artifact." As Pussero spoke, his eyes narrowed with obvious pride.
Muya Continent? Linley knew it was one of the five continents of the Infernal Realm.
"Linley, have you ever seen a Sovereign?" Pussero asked mysteriously.
Linley shook his head. "No. I've only seen a projection of a Sovereign, and that was just a blurry giant face made of energy."
"That's just a Sovereign's manifestation, not their true body." Pussero said proudly. "Linley, you don't know this... back when I was on the Muya Continent, I met a super expert and even sparred with him!"
"Sparred?" Linley was stunned.
"I lost at everything!"
Pussero said helplessly. "Material attack? I lost. Soul attack? I lost. Speed? I lost. Even the body strength I'm so proud of—I lost."
"You lost at everything?" Linley was shocked. He began to guess something.
"Later I found out..."
Pussero laughed. "He was a Sovereign!"
Even though Linley had guessed, hearing it still shocked him. Then he burst out laughing: "Haha, Pussero. You actually sparred with a Sovereign? Haha..."
"How was I supposed to know he was a Sovereign at first? He was hiding his strength. I just thought he was a Highgod." Pussero said helplessly. "He didn't show any Sovereign divine might at all... Later, he asked if I wanted to become his emissary and revealed his Sovereign divine might. That's when I knew he was a Sovereign."
"A Sovereign of which element?" Linley asked.
"Fire Sovereign!"
Pussero laughed. "I'm a fire-type expert. When we competed in attacks and such, we also used fire. Linley... I've realized that ever since I met you, my luck has been really good."
"The first time I met you, I broke free from billions of years of imprisonment."
"Then just a few hundred years later, I became a Sovereign's emissary."
Pussero was very proud. "This is the Sovereign artifact the Sovereign bestowed upon me. My strength was already comparable to an Infernal Realm Asura. Now with this Sovereign artifact... tsk tsk. There are very few in the entire Infernal Realm who can surpass me."
"Very few who surpass you? You mean there are still some stronger than you?" Linley laughed.
"There are a few."
Pussero said, "After all, there are still some Sovereign's emissaries in the Infernal Realm. And some particularly rare divine beasts have incredible innate talents... Actually, the strongest are the Paragon Highgods."
Linley nodded.
Paragon experts had completely fused all the profound mysteries of a single elemental law into a perfect, unified whole. Fusing five versus fusing all six might seem like just one difference... but the gap in strength was enormous.
"I've been in the Infernal Realm for so long, but I've never seen a Paragon." Linley laughed.
"I haven't either." Pussero shook his head helplessly. "According to what the Sovereign said, although Paragon Highgods are definitely weaker than Sovereigns, the number of Paragon Highgods is actually less than the number of Sovereigns..."
Linley agreed with that.
"I wonder what it's like to reach the pinnacle of Highgods by perfectly fusing all profound mysteries into a Paragon." Linley sighed inwardly.
"Linley, I still have things to do, so I'll be going now." Pussero laughed. "Don't be foolish and fight for this Four Divine Beasts clan. Keep your life safe and focus on raising your strength first." With that, Pussero flew away.
Linley smiled and watched Pussero leave.
"Time to go back." Linley glanced down at Emmanuel's remains on the ground, then flew directly toward the Heavenly Sacrifice Mountains.