Chapter 35: A Thousand Years
The planar war had begun, yet the Sovereigns paid it little attention.
Because what determines victory or defeat in a war is the final decisive battle.
Sovereigns have infinite lifespans; a thousand years is but a blink of an eye. Many Sovereigns were already leisurely discussing the outcome of this planar war. Meanwhile, the youngest Sovereign—Linley—was in a stage of rapid advancement.
At the edge of the Yulan Plane, a vast new divine plane was forming.
Inside this divine plane:
"Whoosh, whoosh!" Fierce winds howled, and some rocks and stones were turned to powder by the gusts.
In the nascent plane, dense divine power and elemental energy would once again condense into harder rocks, until the fierce winds could no longer shatter them.
Towering mountains scraped the clouds; boundless plains stretched endlessly.
Intense elemental energy drifted between heaven and earth. A tall figure stood amidst it all. With a single finger pointed, a cyan sun coalesced out of thin air, hanging high in the sky.
"After more than eleven hundred years, this wind-type divine plane is finally complete." Linley, with his light cyan long hair, revealed a faint smile. This eleven hundred-plus years of cultivation had allowed his wind-elemental laws to advance to the stage of fusing six profound mysteries. However, the wind-elemental laws had a total of nine profound mysteries.
Fusing six in the wind system was equivalent to fusing four profound mysteries in the earth laws.
"There are still five hundred years until the final decisive battle of the planar war. No rush!"
Linley, with his light cyan long hair, closed his eyes again and continued cultivating.
The profound mysteries of the four different laws were advancing by leaps and bounds. Linley naturally had no desire to stop now.
Year 765 of the planar war.
Hell, the Heavenly Sacrifice Mountain Range.
A blurry streak of light flickered above the Heavenly Sacrifice Mountain Range. Spatial tears continuously appeared in the sky. Moments later, the blurry light plunged into Linley's manor within the Heavenly Sacrifice Mountain Range. The light dissipated, revealing six figures—the black-robed Brelle and the other five Sovereign's envoys.
The white-robed Brelle, watching from below, finally broke into a smile: "Haha, success!"
"Perfect. The energy lost is less than ten percent," marveled the flaxen-haired Veya giantess.
The divine beast Nine-Tailed Whistling Wind Fox, Russell, also nodded repeatedly: "With the six of us working together, hmph, even if thirty Commander-level figures came, if they weren't unified, they probably wouldn't be a match for us." Six individuals wielding Sovereign artifacts, capable of such perfect coordination and unity, could unleash terrifying power.
"Fortunately, we have two water-attribute members and two darkness-attribute members," the white-robed Brelle said with a smile. "Water attribute has strong inclusivity, and I have a deep understanding of the darkness attribute. That's why the modification succeeded!"
Just then—
Linley appeared as if teleporting, materializing before the seven of them. "Sovereign!" They saw him and immediately bowed.
Linley's gaze swept over his Sovereign's envoys, and a surge of joy filled his heart. The greatest success in choosing these envoys was selecting Brelle, a grandmaster of magical formations.
"With this Reincarnation Battle Formation, I have some confidence in you on the planar battlefield," Linley said with a faint smile. "But don't get cocky. Even a Paragon has a fifty percent chance of dying in that environment. You six must still be careful!"
"Yes, Sovereign."
The Sovereign's envoys bowed.
They also understood the peril involved. Having the Reincarnation Battle Formation only increased their survival chances significantly; it was far from allowing them to dominate the battlefield.
"Since you've more or less finished your integration, I'll send you to the planar battlefield today," Linley said indifferently. "Brelle... will your light divine clone stay here or go with you?"
"In terms of combat ability, it's slightly weaker than my darkness clone," the white-robed Brelle said with a smile. "Besides, this formation is built on the six attributes: two darkness experts, two water experts, one earth expert, and one wind expert."
Linley nodded slightly.
Although the white-robed Brelle and the black-robed Brelle had different thoughts, they were ultimately the same person. The soul-defense Sovereign artifact Linley had granted could also be used by the black-robed Brelle.
After sending his six Sovereign's envoys into the planar battlefield, Linley returned to the Heavenly Sacrifice Mountain Range.
Year 893 of the planar war.
"Whoosh!" A figure shot across tens of millions of kilometers at an astonishing speed, finally plunging into the Heavenly Sacrifice Mountain Range.
Linley, sitting alone in the courtyard, suddenly looked up.
The figure descended from the sky, landing directly on Linley and merging into his body.
"Finally, all my clones are together again." A smile appeared on Linley's face.
"Linley."
Beirut and Azurefire arrived almost simultaneously. Beirut exclaimed in surprise, "Your wind divine clone has returned? Has your fusion of the four laws progressed sufficiently?" Back when Linley finished creating the wind divine plane, he immediately continued cultivating. He wouldn't have returned unless he had achieved success.
"It's almost there." Linley nodded with a faint smile. "The fusion of the four laws has reached its final bottleneck."
"Surpassing this step means perfect fusion of the four laws. But this final step is even harder than achieving Paragon in a single law," Linley said with a sigh.
Beirut and Azurefire understood.
Achieving Paragon was already incredibly difficult!
Because Linley had three Sovereign clones, his cultivation speed was astonishing, allowing him to progress until he hit this final bottleneck. However... breaking through a bottleneck has nothing to do with deduction ability or the like. Many Sovereigns are stuck at the final Paragon bottleneck, unable to break through for eons.
What about Linley?
No one knew whether Linley could break through this final bottleneck.
After all, fusing four laws was ten times stronger than being a Paragon. But naturally, the difficulty was also greater.
"Having reached the final bottleneck, my strength is nearly ten times greater than when I fought Augusta," Linley said with a smile.
"Ten times!"
Azurefire and Beirut were overjoyed.
"Hmph, that bastard Augusta." Beirut couldn't help but laugh. "Last time, he barely escaped. Now that Linley has grown ten times stronger... haha, unless Augusta reaches the Paragon level, the chances are far too low." Over countless years, Augusta had never broken through.
In truth, it was almost safe to say that Augusta had no hope of becoming a Paragon.
"Killing Augusta is not only our wish but also the hope of the Four Divine Beasts clan," Beirut said, looking at Linley with a smile.
"Beirut, don't rush." Azurefire smiled beside him. "The planar war is in its final hundred-plus years. Augusta is likely with the Sovereign of Fate. After this period, Linley can make his move."
"Perhaps in these final hundred-plus years, I might have another breakthrough," Linley said with a laugh.
"Don't daydream!" Beirut couldn't help but chuckle. "Breaking through the final bottleneck is extremely difficult. But if you do, the power of the profound mysteries themselves will increase tenfold, and you'll likely receive a bestowal of willpower. Linley, if you truly reach that level, even the four Overlords of the Edicts would be nothing to fear."
"Grandpa Beirut, breaking through is hard, but who knows? I might just do it in these hundred-plus years," Linley joked.
The difficulty was truly immense. Even as the planar war reached its 999th year, Linley still hadn't broken through.
The sky was pitch black.
"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"...
Seven figures flew out of Bloodpeak Continent, traveling side by side through the skies of Hell. After flying for a while, the seven figures became eleven. When this group passed over a certain area of the Chaotic Sea, the team expanded again, reaching seventeen!
"Sovereign!" Many figures bowed.
"Everyone, the final decisive battle of the planar war is only two days away. Let us go together," said the Overlord of Destruction, Utred, cloaked in black robes, as he swept his gaze over the crowd. His eyes paused briefly on Linley. "Let's move. We depart directly!"
With that, the Overlord of Destruction tore open a spatial rift with a single hand and charged straight into it.
The other sixteen Sovereigns followed suit.
"Linley, this time, the number of Sovereigns coming to watch the planar war might be even greater than when you were judged last time," Beirut transmitted. This time, all the Sovereigns in Hell, including Beirut and Azurefire, had set out.
Linley smiled faintly: "The Sovereign of Fate, Ove, has won once before. The seven Sovereigns of the Fate system received a bestowal of willpower once. The vast majority of Sovereigns from other systems don't want them to become too strong."
When personal interests were at stake, of course, they all came to watch.
"Linley." Suddenly, the Overlord of Destruction's voice rang out.
Linley immediately increased his flying speed slightly, moving to the front to fly side by side with the Overlord of Destruction.
"Lord Utred," Linley transmitted.
The Overlord of Destruction, Utred, glanced at Linley with his deep gray eyes, a smile appearing on his face: "Thank you for contributing six Sovereign's envoys this time."
The Overlord of Destruction, saying thank you?
"Lord, you once saved my life. This is nothing," Linley said with a smile. Back then, the Overlord of Light, Augusta, had pressured Linley to hand over nine spirit pearls, even preparing to attack. Fortunately, the Overlord of Destruction had appeared.
The Overlord of Destruction's smile widened upon hearing this.
"Oh, the planar battlefield is almost here." The Overlord of Destruction looked ahead.
The four Higher Planes and the seven Divine Planes were very close to each other. In the spatial turbulence at the center of these eleven planes lay a very small plane—the planar battlefield. Thus, tearing open any of these eleven planes and flying toward the planar battlefield took very little time.
Going through the planar passage of the Abyss would actually be a detour.
Traveling through spatial turbulence was the shortest straight-line route.
"Linley." A familiar voice sounded.
Linley turned to look. In the distance, a group of figures was approaching, led by the Overlord of Death, the red-haired, pretty young girl. This group was clearly the Sovereigns of the Netherworld faction. The Netherworld side also had fourteen Sovereigns.
"Whoosh!"
The Sovereigns charged directly into the planar battlefield. The cold wind howled.
The Netherworld and Hell factions, totaling thirty-one Sovereigns, landed on a high mountain. Moments later, nine figures flew over from the distance—the Sovereigns of the Life Higher Plane. Then, scattered groups of two or three Sovereigns approached, quickly gathering forty-nine Sovereigns.
"Now, only the Celestial Realm and the Light Divine Plane are missing," the Overlord of Death said with a charming smile, glancing at the Overlord of Destruction. "Utred, that Ove seems very confident."
"Confident? Who isn't? True victory or defeat will only be known after the war ends," the Overlord of Destruction said indifferently.
Linley, Beirut, and Azurefire stood at a corner of the mountaintop. In the eyes of many Sovereigns, Linley, Beirut, and Azurefire were the three Sovereigns of the Yulan faction, forming a unified group. Because of Linley's existence, this group was even more formidable than the Four Divine Beasts group of old.
"They're here," Linley said with a faint smile.
Azurefire and Beirut immediately turned to look. The other Sovereigns also noticed.
In the distance, a vast crowd of figures flew over, totaling twenty-two.
The Sovereign of Fate, Ove, led the way, with the Overlord of Light, Augusta, following at his side. The other Sovereigns included members from various systems.
"Hmph," the Overlord of Destruction snorted, his gaze falling on Ove.
Ove, in turn, looked back at the Overlord of Destruction.
Clearly, these two Overlords of the Edicts regarded each other as their strongest opponents.
"Linley, those two see only each other as rivals, looking down on other Sovereigns. If one day you surpass them, what do you think their expressions will be?" Beirut transmitted to Linley, a teasing smile in his tone.