Chapter 8: The Plea
Dragonblood Castle was heavily guarded, with teams of patrols moving about. The weakest among them were at the ninth rank, and Saint-level experts could be seen everywhere.
Yet the guards had no awareness whatsoever of the arrival of the four—Gatesredson and the others.
In the western garden of Dragonblood Castle, within a quiet courtyard.
"Rustle, rustle." The leaves swayed with the wind. Beneath a thick, sturdy tree, a figure in a gray robe, Olivia, sat cross-legged in meditation, his gaze fixed before him. A sword of energy hovered in front of him, constantly shifting and flashing, demonstrating one attack after another.
Faintly, black and white energies coiled around it.
Suddenly—
Olivia looked up and found four people standing side by side not far away.
"Patriarch." Olivia was startled and quickly stood up.
"Olivia, we’ve only come to ask you something." Gatesredson said with a faint smile. "Do you know where Linley is now?" Earlier, the four of them had swooped down, scanning the Dragonblood Continent with their divine senses. They had also spotted many familiar faces, but they came to find Olivia first.
"Linley? He should be on the Dragonblood Continent," Olivia guessed.
"Four lords." Suddenly, a voice rang out.
The four of them turned their heads. At the entrance of the courtyard, a maidservant walked in. She said respectfully, "The castle lord has asked me to invite the four lords to the rear garden."
"Castle lord?" The four were taken aback.
"The castle lord is Linley," Olivia quickly explained. Over countless years in Dragonblood Castle, though the rulers had changed repeatedly, the position of castle lord had always belonged to Linley.
The Vermillion Bird Patriarch’s beautiful eyes lit up, and she said with some shock, "Linley? He’s in Dragonblood Castle?"
"It seems the news from the Overlord of Destruction is indeed correct," said the White Tiger Patriarch in his white robe, taking a deep breath.
Linley was in Dragonblood Castle, yet their divine senses couldn’t detect him. He had definitely surpassed the level of a god—the only possibility was that he had become a Sovereign.
The four patriarchs of the Four Divine Beasts Clan followed the maidservant toward the rear garden. Their hearts were complicated and uneasy. After all, Linley’s status was different now. A Sovereign and a god were on two completely different levels. Sovereigns stood high above, looking down on the countless planes and the endless struggles and battles of the multitudes.
Even events like the Plane Wars were merely games to the Sovereigns.
When a god faced a Sovereign, even a Paragon felt a sense of helplessness.
"Four patriarchs, please come in." A clear voice came from the rear garden.
"It’s Linley."
The four exchanged glances and stepped into the rear garden. The garden was quite spacious. After entering and looking around, they finally spotted Linley on the grass in the distant center of the garden. Linley was sitting with Delia, drinking fine wine and chatting with smiles.
Noticing their arrival, Linley turned his head, glanced at them, and said with a faint smile, "Four patriarchs, please have a seat."
Back when his four clones had undergone soul mutation, Linley’s status in the Four Divine Beasts Clan had already surpassed that of the four patriarchs. Now, Linley was even more exalted as a Sovereign.
"Though he’s right in front of me, I feel as if there’s nothing but emptiness ahead," Gatesredson transmitted to the other three. "It’s like when we saw Father back then. They aren’t using Sovereign’s pressure but have completely restrained their auras." At this point, Gatesredson no longer had any doubts.
"A Sovereign, truly a Sovereign!"
The eyes of the other three patriarchs lit up.
Gatesredson looked at Linley and immediately bowed respectfully: "Sovereign, we…"
In Gatesredson’s view, his relationship with Linley wasn’t particularly close. For one, Linley had joined the Four Divine Beasts Clan midway. For another, the clan had once tried to seize Linley’s Coiling Dragon Ring early on. Though relations had improved later, that was only because of Linley’s strength and Beirut’s identity.
And now Linley was a Sovereign…
The gap between a god and a Sovereign was like the difference between heaven and earth, an insurmountable chasm. Naturally, they had to show respect.
"Four patriarchs, there’s no need to call me Sovereign." Linley interrupted, smiling faintly. "Just call me Linley, as before."
"This…" The four exchanged glances.
"I’m curious. How did you find out I became a Sovereign?" Linley asked with a light smile. He had become a Sovereign on the Yulan Plane—how had news reached the Infernal Realm?
The Vermillion Bird Patriarch gave a bright smile and slightly inclined her head in respect: "Linley, the news of you becoming a Sovereign was actually told to us by the Overlord of Destruction. We didn’t dare believe it at first, but after discussing it among ourselves, we decided to come to the Yulan Plane to verify. Now it seems it’s indeed true."
Though Linley chatted with them casually, the four patriarchs couldn’t help feeling pressured.
After all, no matter how much Linley restrained his aura, the four patriarchs were subconsciously reminded—Linley was a Sovereign.
"The Overlord of Destruction?" Linley frowned.
"How did the Overlord of Destruction know?" Delia asked from beside him, puzzled.
"Theoretically, he shouldn’t have known. This all happened on the Yulan Plane," Linley said, frowning. "There’s another possibility: Grandpa Beirut might have communicated with the Overlord of Destruction." Beirut had a good relationship with the Overlord of Destruction, and he also had a clone staying in the Infernal Realm.
But Linley was still puzzled: "With the Overlord of Destruction’s status, even if he knew, why would he tell the Four Divine Beasts Clan?"
Linley turned his gaze to Gatesredson: "Patriarch, why did the Overlord of Destruction tell you this?"
"A projection of the Overlord of Destruction descended upon our Celestial Sacrifice Mountain Range," Gatesredson explained. "He proposed borrowing a hundred Highgods from our Four Divine Beasts Clan, to be returned after some time. In return for lending him our clan members, he said he would give us some Sovereign’s Might and also advised us that if we wanted to know the cause of death of our four ancestors, we should ask you, Linley."
Linley was taken aback.
The cause of death of the four ancestors?
The burly Black Tortoise Patriarch boomed from the side: "We asked him why we should ask Linley. The Overlord of Destruction then said that you had reached the strength of a Sovereign."
"I see." Linley nodded slightly.
"What did he borrow people for?" Linley pressed.
"Not clear," Gatesredson said, staring at Linley as he got straight to the point. "Linley, we came this time, first, to verify whether you truly are a Sovereign, and second, to learn… the true cause of death of our four ancestors! Linley, since you are a member of the clan, please tell us."
The four patriarchs looked at Linley expectantly.
Because the fall of the Four Divine Beasts had led to the decline of their clan, the Four Divine Beasts Clan had dreamed of knowing the real reason for their ancestors’ deaths.
Linley frowned, hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "Alright, I’ll tell you. Back then, the four ancestors fought against the Sovereign of Light for some reason."
"The Sovereign of Light?" The eyes of the four lit up.
"The battle between Sovereigns had too wide a range of impact. They eventually fought all the way into the spatial turbulence. The four ancestors fled while fighting, and the Sovereign of Light pursued them. Then, the four ancestors unleashed their ultimate move—the combined divine ability. But the Sovereign of Light endured it and didn’t die. Their strongest move failed, and the four ancestors lost their will to fight. However, the Sovereign of Light took the opportunity, using a Highgod Artifact, to kill them one after another, relying on his speed." Linley spoke calmly, but the four patriarchs trembled slightly as they listened.
"The Sovereign of Light!!!" Gatesredson’s eyes even glistened with tears.
"How could the Sovereign of Light withstand it?" the Vermillion Bird Patriarch shook her head repeatedly. "Impossible. When my mother was alive, she said that their ultimate move could be withstood by only a handful of Sovereigns, and the Sovereign of Light wasn’t among them."
"But the fact is, the Sovereign of Light did withstand it," Linley said with a sigh.
Gatesredson and the others couldn’t accept it. After all, the Four Divine Beasts were their parents.
"Linley…" Gatesredson hesitated for a moment, then spoke.
"Hmm?" Linley looked at him.
Gatesredson glanced at the other three, then turned back to Linley: "Linley, I… I want to ask, the Sovereign spark you used to become a Sovereign—was it one of our four ancestors’?" To become a Sovereign, there was only one path—refining a Sovereign spark. And there were only seventy-seven fixed Sovereign sparks.
When one Sovereign died, a new Sovereign would be born.
Linley glanced at the four of them.
"Yes," Linley nodded.
"How did the Sovereign spark…" the Vermillion Bird Patriarch began but hesitated halfway. "Shouldn’t those four Sovereign sparks have been obtained by the Sovereign of Light? How did you get them? There should be four sparks. You used one, and there are still…" Gatesredson also looked at Linley.
Linley smiled faintly.
He could guess that these four patriarchs probably wanted to obtain the Sovereign sparks as well. Perhaps, in their eyes, the four Sovereign sparks were heirlooms of their parents and should belong to them. But they couldn’t bring themselves to say it, nor did they have the courage to speak such words.
Linley, however, didn’t see it that way.
The seventy-seven Sovereign sparks had descended from the heavens when the planes were born. Anyone capable could seize them. The Four Divine Beasts had obtained theirs through their own abilities back then. And Beirut had also risked his life to seize these four Sovereign sparks.
"If those Sovereign sparks had fallen into the hands of the Sovereign of Light, how could they have come to me?" Linley said calmly. "To tell you the truth, these four Sovereign sparks were seized by Beirut at the risk of his life back then. And now, all four have been refined."
"Beirut?" The four were shocked.
"He snatched them from the Sovereign of Light?" the Vermillion Bird Patriarch asked in astonishment.
Though they said this, hearing that all four Sovereign sparks had been refined, the four patriarchs felt some disappointment in their hearts. But they didn’t dare say anything.
"You don’t need to doubt that," Linley said with a faint smile.
"Linley." Gatesredson said solemnly, "We have one more request to make of you."
"Speak," Linley said, glancing at him.
Gatesredson took a deep breath and said earnestly, "Linley, the four ancestors are the founders of our Four Divine Beasts Clan. Their deaths cannot be met with silence and pretense. The four ancestors were killed by the Sovereign of Light! We hope that you, Linley—if, I say if—if there is ever a possibility, a hope in the future, we ask that you avenge our four ancestors!"
"Linley," the Vermillion Bird Patriarch quickly added, "We know this request is a bit excessive, but we only ask that you help when there is hope."
"We beg you," the burly Black Tortoise Patriarch also stared at Linley.
Linley looked at the four patriarchs before him and could feel the earnest plea in their hearts.
"I promise you," Linley nodded solemnly. "If there is a chance, I will not hold back."
"Thank you," the four said gratefully.
"You’ve traveled a long way and must be tired. Rest here for now. We’ll talk more at the banquet later," Linley said with a faint smile.
"Very well." The four didn’t press further and, under the guidance of a distant maidservant, left the rear garden.
Linley turned to Delia beside him: "Delia, you should step aside too. I have matters to discuss with Beirut and the others."
"Alright." Delia nodded with a smile and left the rear garden.
A moment later, two figures descended from the sky and landed beside Linley. They were Beirut and Qinghuo. The three of them sat down around the table.
"Haha, the four patriarchs of the Four Divine Beasts Clan have come?" Beirut said with a laugh. "They’ve found out you’re a Sovereign, haven’t they?"
"They have. The Overlord of Destruction told them," Linley said.
"The Overlord of Destruction?" Qinghuo looked puzzled.
"Yes, and oddly enough, the Overlord of Destruction went to the Four Divine Beasts Clan to borrow a hundred Highgods. I don’t know what for," Linley said.
Beirut frowned upon hearing this, then mused, "I suspect the Overlord of Destruction’s experiment has reached its final stage."