Chapter 6: Entrustment
The eighteenth level of the Divine Graveyard fell silent once more as Linley opened his eyes.
Seeing that Linley had finished refining the divine sparks, Beirut, Bluefire, and Bebe couldn’t help but have smiles spread across their faces.
“Linley, how do you feel?” Beirut asked somewhat anxiously.
In all these years, Beirut had never been this nervous! But at this moment… he truly was nervous! After refining two divine sparks, would Linley’s strength be as formidable as he had imagined? This would determine whether Beirut could openly leave the Yulan Plane and venture into the higher planes and divine planes!
“I feel…” A faint smile appeared on Linley’s face. “Pretty good!”
“Pretty good?” Beirut, Bluefire, and Bebe all stared at Linley, puzzled. What exactly did Linley mean by “pretty good”? What level of power did it represent?
“Boss, are you as strong as a Sovereign now?” Bebe suddenly asked.
“This?” Linley hesitated slightly.
“Grandpa Beirut, do you know the difference in power between a Lower-level Sovereign, a Mid-level Sovereign, and a High-level Sovereign?” Linley inquired. Without understanding the distinctions between the three, he couldn’t accurately gauge his own current strength.
Beirut quickly explained, “Linley, the gap between different levels of Sovereigns is enormous! For example, a Paragon Lower-level Sovereign is slightly weaker than a Mid-level Sovereign who has fused five profound mysteries. But it’s close! Similarly, a Paragon Mid-level Sovereign’s strength is close to a Sovereign who has fused five profound mysteries, though still slightly inferior. This doesn’t take weapons or innate divine abilities into account.”
“I understand!” Linley nodded slightly.
A Paragon Lower-level Sovereign. Compared to a Mid-level Sovereign who has fused five profound mysteries.
In terms of laws and profound mysteries, this Lower-level Sovereign is over ten times stronger than the Mid-level Sovereign. Yet even so, he still can’t surpass the Mid-level Sovereign. This means the difference in Willpower is over tenfold!
And in terms of Willpower, a Paragon Lower-level Sovereign not only possesses the Sovereign’s might but also the portion of Willpower granted by the heavens upon achieving Paragon status. Even so… the Willpower still lags behind a Mid-level Sovereign by over ten times!
So…
Under normal circumstances, the amplification effect of Willpower from a Lower-level Sovereign’s divine spark is nearly a hundred times weaker than that of a Mid-level Sovereign’s.
“Based on common sense,” Beirut said with a faint smile, “Linley, you originally had the Willpower from your four-soul mutation. Now that you’ve refined two divine sparks, your soul’s Willpower has increased another level. You should now be roughly on par with a Mid-level Sovereign in terms of Willpower.”
Bluefire looked at Linley with confusion. “Linley, with your soul mutation and fusion, did the Willpower from the two divine sparks merge and stack?”
“No,” Linley shook his head. “A Sovereign’s Willpower is almost entirely contained within the divine spark. How could it merge?”
“Grandpa Beirut’s guess is correct,” Linley nodded. “After refining this Water-type divine spark, my five souls’ Willpower increased again. Based on my estimates, in terms of pure Willpower, I should be comparable to a Mid-level Sovereign.”
“And you also have fused Sovereign power,” Beirut added with a smile.
“Right, the Sovereign power from two elements can indeed fuse.”
Linley felt the surging gray-green Sovereign power within him and nodded. “This fused Sovereign power is about ten times stronger than ordinary Sovereign power! Right now, in terms of pure Willpower and strength, I should rank among the top of Mid-level Sovereigns!”
If it were anyone else, even with two Sovereign avatars, they would at most allow each avatar’s soul to gain an extra portion of Willpower.
But Linley not only gained an extra portion of Willpower, but more importantly, his Sovereign power could also fuse!
“And you have a Highgod artifact!” Bluefire said with a smile. “With a Highgod artifact, you should be able to match the six ordinary Sovereigns.”
Linley understood which six Sovereigns Bluefire was referring to. Among the eleven Sovereigns, only five possessed Highgod artifacts.
On the eighteenth level of the Divine Graveyard.
“Whoosh, whoosh—”
A gentle breeze blew. In high spirits, Beirut flicked his sleeve, and with a “creak, creak,” large amounts of bluestone shifted. The altar holding the Azure Dragon’s corpse sank once more, while a table and four stone stools rose from the bluestone clearing.
“Everyone, sit down and let’s talk slowly.” Beirut sat down first with a smile, taking out food and fine wine from his spatial ring. “In over ten thousand years, I’ve never been this happy. Haha, I never imagined that the one to free me from my predicament would be that youth from the Fenlai Kingdom. In the blink of an eye, that boy from the magic academy has become a being comparable to a Sovereign.”
“I’m amazing, right?” Bebe said smugly. “I recognized the boss right away back then and followed him.”
“Recognized him right away?” Linley teased with a laugh. “Back then, who was it that got greedy, eating roasted rabbit and roasted chicken…”
Bebe was stunned.
“Haha…” Bluefire, who was drinking beside them, couldn’t help but laugh at Bebe’s expression.
“Come, Linley, let’s have a toast. From now on, whether Bluefire and I can leave the Yulan Plane without worry depends on you.” Beirut laughed.
Linley raised his glass as well. “Don’t worry, Grandpa Beirut. But all of this is what I should do. Those two divine sparks were given to me by you. The one who freed you from your predicament is yourself. I’m the one who should be grateful.” Linley said sincerely.
Beirut shook his head with a laugh. “Haha, you’re too modest. I was originally looking for Sovereign candidates!”
“And a powerhouse who succeeded in a four-soul mutation—where else could I find such a candidate? That had nothing to do with me; it was all you. Back then, Bluefire and I were watching you closely. After the soul stone that was keeping you barely alive was depleted, we thought you wouldn’t make it. Who would have thought that things would take a turn and you’d pull through from the brink of death?” Beirut praised.
Linley didn’t argue further and just happily chatted with everyone.
“But my comprehension of the laws and profound mysteries is still too low,” Linley frowned.
In terms of laws and profound mysteries alone, Linley had only fused four types. Other Sovereigns had fused at least five.
“Don’t rush,” Bluefire said calmly. “Linley, with your talent for fusing four profound mysteries in just a few thousand years, combined with the endless faith energy, I think you’ll reach an extremely high level in a short time. But Linley, I must remind you of one thing. You should focus on developing your material attacks.”
“You mean?” Linley was somewhat surprised.
“Your body is very strong,” Bluefire sighed. “I’ve also heard from Beirut that your body is now comparable to a Sovereign artifact! You know, even among Sovereigns, very few have reached this level.”
“Oh?” Linley was surprised. “Is it very difficult for Sovereigns to strengthen their bodies? As far as I know, the Azure Dragon, the ancestor of my clan, had a body as tough as a Sovereign artifact.”
Bluefire sneered, “The Azure Dragon? Do you think ordinary Sovereigns can compare to freaks like the Four Divine Beasts?”
Linley was amused.
The Four Divine Beasts, freaks?
But this description wasn’t wrong. Not only were the Four Divine Beasts incredibly talented as individuals, but they could also combine their four innate divine abilities—that was simply too overpowered.
“Linley, look at me. I’ve become a Sovereign too. But I can only use Sovereign power to form my body; I can’t strengthen it further,” Bluefire shook his head. “Those whose bodies themselves are as strong as Sovereign artifacts are naturally extraordinary. Like the Four Divine Beasts, like Beirut, like the Sovereign of Destruction, like the Sovereign of Death. All of them are like that.”
Bebe exclaimed in surprise, “The Sovereign of Destruction and the Sovereign of Death aren’t human either?”
“They’re not human,” Beirut nodded. “The Sovereign of Death is said to be the first life born when the Netherworld was created. At the dawn of the Netherworld, when the continent had no life yet, the first life was born in the vast, boundless depths of the Netherworld Sea—a plant! That plant is the Sovereign of Death’s true form.”
“A plant? What kind of plant?” Linley was curious.
“Not entirely clear,” Beirut shook his head. “No one has been able to force the Sovereign of Death to reveal her true form. It’s said that the Netherworld Fruit Tree that lives on Nether Mountain was originally the Sovereign of Death’s companion plant.”
“Oh?” Linley suddenly understood.
Then Linley remembered the pattern on the robe worn by the Sovereign of Death—branches, vines, and silver snakes entwined. “The Netherworld Fruit Tree and the Sovereign of Death are both Sovereigns, and their true forms are plants! The two silver snakes should be creatures living on those two plants.”
“Sovereign power has limited effect in strengthening the body,” Bluefire said calmly. “Even my fused Sovereign power can’t strengthen my body.” Linley frowned.
Back then, the fused divine power formed from fusing four types of Highgod power could greatly strengthen the body, as well as enhance artifacts and divine spark weapons. But now, this fused Sovereign power was actually less effective than the fused four-element divine power.
It should be noted that the fused four-element divine power was already ten times stronger than ordinary Sovereign power.
And Linley’s current fused Sovereign power was also only ten times stronger than ordinary Sovereign power. Compared to the previous fused four-element divine power, there was no increase! Although the attack power was similar, in terms of unique effects, it was inferior to the fused divine power.
“It seems balance is the most important thing. Right now, the energy of my four avatars is unbalanced.” Linley guessed the reason.
“Linley, since your body is as strong as Beirut’s and the Four Divine Beasts’, you need to take advantage of it,” Bluefire said seriously. “If you focus on developing your material attacks, even as you are now, you can compete with an ordinary Sovereign.”
“But… I’m still no match for the Sovereign of Light,” Linley shook his head.
The Sovereign of Light also had a Highgod artifact!
“We’re not in a hurry; let’s take it slow,” Beirut said calmly. “You have a soul mutation. If you successfully fuse four different types of law profound mysteries, the power will be over ten times greater than fusing six profound mysteries of the same law. By then, you will absolutely surpass the Sovereign of Light, Augusta.”
In terms of laws and profound mysteries, Linley’s potential was far higher than that of an ordinary Sovereign.
Inside Dragonblood Castle.
Linley and Delia lay snuggled together in bed. This was the third day since Linley had become a Sovereign. Yesterday, when Linley returned to Dragonblood Castle and told Delia everything, she was stunned. She never imagined… that Linley could reach such a level.
Even now, with his Highgod artifact, Linley could match a Sovereign.
If he improved his profound mysteries, he would even have the confidence to surpass the Sovereign of Light.
“Linley, you’ve become a Sovereign. I feel like I’m dreaming,” Delia said softly, lying on Linley’s chest, her gaze drifting out the window.
“A Sovereign… but unfortunately, I couldn’t revive Grandpa Doehring this time,” Linley sighed inwardly.
Delia turned her head, looked up at Linley, and gave him an encouraging smile. “If Grandpa Doehring were alive, he would be happy for you. And besides… life and death are natural. Grandpa Doehring lived a long time. Don’t be too sad.”
“Forget it, let’s not talk about that,” Linley shook his head.
“It’s good now,” Delia said with a gentle smile. “No more bloodshed. You won’t even have to leave the Yulan Plane. We can just live peacefully, watching the sun rise and set… for a thousand years, ten thousand years!”
Linley listened and gently pulled Delia into his embrace.
Linley knew that life in the future would indeed be very peaceful.
Of course, in the midst of this peace, Linley still needed to cultivate. As time passed, he would continuously improve his strength until he could catch up to the Sovereign of Light!
“The Sovereign of Light must be defeated, even killed!” Linley silently vowed in his heart.
After all, his mother’s freedom was still controlled by the Sovereign of Light.
PS: Chapter one. The recent plot has been a bit difficult to write, and it’s been slow. Sorry…