Chapter 17: A Hot Potato
Inside the metallic lifeform, because of Bebe’s words, Linley’s divine sense probed the spatial ring to check on the nine spirit pearls. But Linley never expected… what he saw was the nine spirit pearls perfectly fitted together with the dilapidated crown. At this moment, the crown was surrounded by a faint halo of light. How could it still look like the broken, shabby thing from before?
Seeing this scene, Linley’s face still revealed a look of shock.
“Boss, what’s wrong?” Bebe saw this and asked, puzzled.
“Nothing.” Linley quickly maintained a calm expression and smiled, while simultaneously communicating with Bebe through soul transmission: “Bebe, those nine spirit pearls are a huge deal. The Sovereign who just came was here for those nine spirit pearls. From now on, you absolutely must not mention the nine spirit pearls to anyone. Even when we return to the Sacred Mountain of the Four Deities, you can’t talk about this.”
Bebe had been through many storms with Linley and knew the gravity of the situation. He immediately replied through soul transmission: “Don’t worry, Boss.”
“Olivia, Dina, Daya.” Linley looked at the three of them and also sent a divine sense message: “From today onward, you must forget all about those nine spirit pearls. Understand? If this matter gets out, it will definitely cause a bloody storm. I might suffer for it, and you who know the truth will probably be captured and interrogated as well.”
Linley didn’t dare imagine how many people would be unlucky if the nine spirit pearls were involved.
Aside from Morde, the only ones who knew Linley had obtained the nine spirit pearls were Olivia’s family of three and Bebe. At the very least, if the news leaked, Olivia, Bebe, and the other four would definitely be in trouble.
“Nine spirit pearls?” Olivia didn’t press further and transmitted back: “Don’t worry. We’ll just pretend we never saw those nine spirit pearls.”
“Rest assured, Uncle Linley.” Daya also said.
Olivia and Dina were both Highgods and knew the seriousness of the matter. Daya was also an adult now. In his eyes, if even Linley, who had reached Paragon and was considered invincible, said this, then the situation must be extremely severe.
“Morde should be dead by now. As long as you don’t speak, there shouldn’t be any major trouble in the future. Even if something happens, it will at most involve only me.” Linley transmitted. He also understood. Although the Wind Sovereign Telesia had left this time, it didn’t mean the other Sovereigns wouldn’t be suspicious.
Linley frowned, pondering to himself: “Morde sent out the message. He probably didn’t just send it to one or two Sovereigns. It took me less than a year to travel from the Sky Mountain Prefecture to the Azure Blue Prefecture. The Bloodpeak Sovereign and that Wind Sovereign were the fastest. The other Sovereigns probably haven’t received the news yet, but it won’t be long before they find out and come looking for me…”
Dealing with them alone would be fine.
He was a soul-variant Highgod with the power of will. It was impossible for a Sovereign to use soul manipulation on him.
But Olivia, Daya, and the others were different. It was better to distance them from this matter as soon as possible.
Reynolds sat on the ground, leaning against a large tree, holding a book in his hands. Yale and George were sitting opposite each other.
“Third Bro is too focused on training. He just got back and immediately went into seclusion. He didn’t even let his main body rest. He’s already at this level, why is he still pushing himself so hard?” Reynolds sat on the ground, his eyes on the book, but he muttered under his breath, “Main body, four clones. He could leave one body to chat with us brothers for a bit, talk about this trip. But he won’t even talk about it and just went into seclusion.”
George turned his head, glanced at Reynolds on the ground, and laughed: “Fourth Bro, do you think that if you were as lazy as you are, Third Bro could have reached his current level? No matter how talented, you still need to be diligent.”
“I know.” Reynolds responded. Suddenly, he saw Bebe not far away and quickly called out, “Bebe, come here.”
“I have something to do. I’ll come later.” Bebe directly ran away quickly.
Bebe went down the stairs, and the passage became dim.
Soon, Bebe arrived in front of a secret chamber.
“Creak…” The stone door was pushed open. Inside the stone chamber, Linley, with his long hair loose, was sitting cross-legged in meditation. Linley opened his eyes, glanced at Bebe, smiled, and nodded: “Bebe, sit down.”
The stone door closed again.
Bebe looked at Linley with confusion: “Boss, is something up?”
“Bebe.” Linley transmitted through soul communication, “Earlier, you asked me what was going on with the nine spirit pearls. I’ll tell you, but we have to communicate through soul transmission now. Because… I don’t know if, at this moment, some Sovereign is using their divine sense to spy on me!”
Linley couldn’t detect a Sovereign’s divine sense probing, so for safety, he didn’t dare take out the crown even for a moment.
“Of course, it’s still early. Many Sovereigns probably don’t know yet. So the chance of them spying on my actions is low. But to be safe, we must be vigilant.” Having gone through the previous tribulation, Linley no longer had any thoughts of relying on luck.
“This seems really serious.” Bebe’s eyes lit up as he transmitted.
“It is serious. The nine spirit pearls are the Sovereign’s Edict. That’s something even Sovereigns want. But I can’t hand them over now, because once I do, the Sovereigns will definitely demand the Sovereign’s Decree from me, which will only cause more trouble! The most important thing now is to hide the nine spirit pearls.”
Linley had thought for a long time. Although he had several ideas, he ultimately decided to have Bebe help.
“Boss, tell me.” Bebe transmitted.
Linley said aloud: “Bebe, didn’t you want to devour divine sparks? There are plenty of divine sparks in this spatial ring.” As he spoke, Linley handed a spatial ring to Bebe. While saying that, he simultaneously transmitted through divine sense: “Bebe, the Sovereign’s Edict is inside the ring. You must not open the ring. What you need to do is swallow this ring into your stomach. You should now be able to create divine spark weapons. Hide this ring inside the inner layer of a divine spark weapon, fusing it completely. I believe you can do this.”
“Don’t worry, Boss. I’m currently in the process of making a divine spark weapon.” Bebe was full of confidence.
When Bebe had just reached Highgod, he couldn’t make divine spark weapons yet.
But after over a thousand years and devouring so many divine sparks, Bebe now had the ability to create divine spark weapons.
“I’ll swallow this ring in a bit. I won’t refine it. I’ll just directly encase it inside the divine spark weapon. Hehe, a divine spark weapon—even a Sovereign can’t penetrate its surface to see inside. Then, even if a Sovereign comes to investigate, how could they suspect my divine spark weapon?” Bebe was also full of confidence.
“If they want to investigate, they’ll probably check me first.” Linley transmitted with a faint smile.
Items like the Sovereign’s Edict were dangerous goods for gods.
But because of Morde’s move, Linley didn’t dare hand over the nine spirit pearls. If he didn’t hand them over, the Sovereigns would probably think Morde was framing Linley. But if he did hand them over, the Sovereigns would definitely demand the Sovereign’s Decree from him. If Linley brought out the dilapidated crown, the Sovereigns would probably go even crazier, suspecting that the third item was also with Linley.
By then, Linley would become the center of a power struggle among many Sovereigns.
“If they can’t find anything on me, the Sovereigns will generally give up. Unless a Sovereign truly believes the Sovereign’s Edict exists, they might investigate frantically.” Linley was also confident, because based on the current information… the news of the Sovereign’s Edict might not even be known to the Sovereigns as fact.
Perhaps the Overgod hadn’t issued any mission at all.
Linley’s prediction was correct. This matter wasn’t over yet. Morde was dead, but the 100 soldiers he had dispatched didn’t know that. They were still heading to various parts of the Infernal Realm.
The Starry Sea of Mist was closest to the Bloodpeak Continent.
Deep within the Starry Sea of Mist.
A nine-story pagoda, wider at the bottom, occupied an area of a hundred miles. Its height was nearly five thousand meters. The nine-story pagoda was pitch black all over, but its surface emitted a faint halo, pushing the seawater away.
At the bottom gate of the nine-story pagoda, two burly one-horned warriors stood guard. They looked blurry, but the terrifying pressure radiating from them caused a purple-robed figure kneeling below the hall to tremble in fear, not daring to lift his head.
“Sovereign.” The purple-robed figure knelt in the hall, “Your subordinate has received a piece of news, concerning the Sovereign’s Edict.” As he spoke, he raised both hands, holding up a piece of paper.
“The Sovereign’s Edict?”
A deep, hoarse voice sounded.
Immediately, the black paper floated toward the throne. It paused in front of the throne for a moment, then spontaneously combusted, turning to ashes.
“The message was carried on ordinary paper. Ridiculous.” The hoarse voice sounded, “Where did you get this news?”
“Sovereign, it was presented by a Highgod. As soon as your subordinate saw the news, I immediately found that Highgod and interrogated him. At first, he said he had obtained it by chance and was offering it to me. But your subordinate didn’t believe him and intensified the interrogation. Finally, I learned that the news was sent by Morde, the Prefect of the Sky Mountain Prefecture on the Bloodpeak Continent. I didn’t dare think too much and immediately came to report to you, Sovereign.”
“A prefect from the Bloodpeak Continent?”
The Sovereign on the throne pondered for a moment. “You did well. Alright, you may withdraw.”
“Yes, Sovereign.” Hearing the words “you did well,” the purple-robed figure’s eyes showed joy, and he immediately left.
“The message wasn’t carried on the Sovereign’s Decree. The credibility of this news is low. However, for a prefect to dare do this, perhaps there is a slight possibility.” The blurry figure immediately dissipated, disappearing from the throne.
On the Sacred Mountain of the Four Deities, the four divine beast statues were dazzling. Figures could be seen everywhere on the mountain.
“Whoosh!”
A blurry figure, as if teleporting, appeared in front of the Sacred Mountain. This person wore a dark purple robe embroidered with dots of stars. His deep purple hair was draped over his shoulders. His face was handsome to the point of being demonic, and on his forehead was a short, thin purple horn.
The newcomer swept his gaze over the Sacred Mountain, a smile appearing on his face: “The Four Divine Beasts are dead. I didn’t expect that among their descendants, a Paragon would emerge.”
Then, with a flicker, he disappeared again.
Above Linley’s mansion, the figure in the dark purple robe appeared out of thin air.
“Who is this?” Reynolds was startled when he caught a glimpse of the person suddenly appearing in the sky.
Many people in the mansion’s open space were shocked. Before they could even notice, someone had appeared above them. Many people in the mansion were already looking at the sky, and the figure seemed to have teleported, appearing instantly.
“Who is he?” Yale transmitted in shock, “I… I can’t see his face clearly. It’s like he’s shrouded in a layer of mist.”
“I can’t see clearly either.” Bebe muttered in shock.
The figure descended and landed in the open space. The faint aura he emitted made those around him dare not approach.
“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” Two figures rushed out from the hall.
“Greetings, Sovereign.” The two figures bowed simultaneously.
“Linley… Beirut…” The newcomer’s violet pupils swept over them. “Let’s talk inside.” With that, the figure flickered and disappeared from the open space. His speed was countless times faster than a Paragon Highgod.
Linley and Beirut exchanged a glance.
“Linley, your prediction was spot on.” Beirut transmitted with a smile.
“It was easy to deduce. I just didn’t expect them to come so quickly.” Linley transmitted with a sigh. “Lord Beirut, who is this Sovereign?”
“This is the Starry Sovereign! He also controls the Starry Sea of Mist. In terms of strength, among the seven Sovereigns of the Edict of Destruction, he is second only to the Overlord of Destruction. He is much stronger than the Wind Sovereign from last time. Come, let’s go inside.” Beirut transmitted. Immediately, Linley and Beirut entered the hall.
PS: Chapter one is here. Continuing to write chapter two.