Book 21, The Peak – Chapter 28, Beginning to Act
A month later. The Higher Plane of the Infernal Realm. Bloodridge Continent, Indigo Prefecture, the Skyrite Mountains.
“Haha...” A three year old toddler was happily running about on the grass. Hogg and Lina were seated to one side, accompanying the toddler in playing about.
Linley, Wharton, and Bebe sat together, watching this scene.
“Big Brother...look at Father. Ever since Mother returned, Father’s been much happier.” Wharton laughed as he spoke. “In the past, although Father would occasionally be happy when seeing us, he would always be thinking of Mother, and he would then seem so dispirited. He’s fine now.”
“He is.” Linley smiled and let out an emotional sigh.
His mother, Lina, had been back for a month now. During this period of time, the relationship between Linley’s father and mother had advanced considerably.
However, Lina clearly found it much harder to accept Linley and Wharton. Although she often smiled when meeting Linley and Wharton, and had grown a bit closer to them, the way she treated Linley and Wharton clearly could not be compared with the way she treated Hogg. Perhaps it was because, when Lina had died, Linley had only been a four year old child, while Wharton had been a mere newborn.
Lina’s subconscious didn’t have any memories of the adult Linley or Wharton.
“After a bit of time, Father will take Mother back to the Yulan Plane. At that point in time, when she sees Mt. Wushan and our old home, perhaps Mother will start to remember.” Wharton said.
Because of Linley’s unique stature within the Yulan Plane, their ancestral estate had been kept in very good condition.
“When the time comes, I will return alongside Father and Mother.” Linley laughed calmly. “I am also going to begin establishing my divine plane of wind.”
“Boss, I want to go as well.” Bebe said hurriedly. “I want to see you set up your divine wind of plane as well, Boss.”
“I’m only sending my wind-type Sovereign clone over, and not my other clones.” Linley said with a laugh.
Right at this moment, Linley suddenly raised his head as he thought to himself, “Eh? Boson came?”
Linley’s divine sense had discovered that the Bloodridge Sovereign was hastening towards him.
“Wait here for now. I need to go back to my residence.” Linley said, and then with a flicker, he arrived within the residence he used for training. Linley’s residence was a place where not even maids could enter without permission.
Liniley sat down next to a stone table for a few moments, and a blood-robed figure descended from the skies. It was the Bloodridge Sovereign, Boson.
“Boson, please sit.” Linley said with a laugh.
“Linley, this is my second time coming to your place in just one or two months.” The Bloodridge Sovereign laughed. “Right, last time, I chatted with you a bit regarding the tenth Planar War. You seemed to have encountered some problems back then. Have those been resolved?” During their last chat, Linley’s face had suddenly turned so ugly, and he had completely lost his composure. Naturally, the Bloodridge Sovereign had noticed.
This was why he had stopped chatting with Linley and had instead immediately left.
“Apologies. Last time, I did indeed encounter some problems.” Linley laughed, then stretched his hand out and personally poured some wine for himself and the Bloodridge Sovereign. “However, everything has now been resolved.”
“It is good that it has been resolved.” The Bloodridge Sovereign laughed. “Linley, when will you begin to search for Emissaries?”
“Boson, it appears you care about this matter quite a bit.” Linley tipped his cup slightly towards the Bloodridge Sovereign, who let out a resigned laugh and raised his own cup. The two immediately drowned their cups, and then the Bloodridge Sovereign said helplessly, “I’m not the one who cares. This is an assignment which the Chief Sovereign of Destruction has given me. He knows that we are on fairly close terms.”
Linley nodded slightly.
“In addition, virtually all the other Sovereigns already have Emissaries. Those Emissaries were carefully selected by their Sovereigns, who aren’t willing to just throw them away to their deaths. Even if the Sovereigns were willing, the Emissaries probably wouldn’t be.” The Bloodridge Sovereign explained.
Emissaries wouldn’t necessarily follow every single order of a Sovereign.
If a Sovereign sent an Emissary out to die, could it be that the Emissary would actually accept?
“So what, I’m supposed to send MY Emissaries out to die?” Linley rebutted.
“Linley.” The Bloodridge Sovereign said hurriedly. “That’s not what we mean. You should go casually pick out some Emissary candidates, then tell them that if they want to be your Emissary, they have to be tested; tested in the Planar Battlefield. You will first give them a Sovereign artifact! If they survive, they will become a true Emissary. If they die...then in the future, you can find other Emissaries.”
The Bloodridge Sovereign let out a laugh. “As I see it, there will be quite a few people who are willing to risk their lives for the chance to become a Sovereign’s Emissary.”
“You people...you really are sending them to their deaths, you know.” Linley truly wanted to curse.
“They are naturally going of their own free will.” The Bloodridge Sovereign laughed smugly. “We aren’t forcing them to go.”
True, they weren’t being forced.
Those people who were already Emissaries naturally wouldn’t go risk their lives for the sake of a bit of Sovereign’s Might.
But it was much more likely for those who had not yet become Emissaries to be willing to risk themselves for the sake of becoming an Emissary and receiving a Sovereign artifact.
The Deities who dared to roam about the Higher Planes and the Divine Planes were mostly an adventuresome lot to begin with. When it was necessary, they would be willing to give the dice a roll. Success meant they would have a Sovereign artifact and become an Emissary, gaining status that was even higher than an Asura’s. They would become one of the most elite Deities in existence. Failure? Naturally, they would perish.
“The other Sovereigns already have Emissaries; they don’t have any spare spots on the roster. But you do, and you have six of them.” The Bloodridge Sovereign let out a sigh. “There will be very, very few commander-level experts who will enter this Planar War! Thus, six Emissaries will be akin to the edge of the blade, the vanguard for the armies! As long as they aren’t so stupid as to just fight head on, the six of them will be extremely useful.”
Linley nodded slightly as well.
Commander-level experts would naturally be of tremendous use in the Planar Wars. But the most useful of all would be Paragons!
“Why don’t you go find a few Paragons? Paragons are even more effective.” Linley said.
“In the past, the Paragons were fearless, but this time...Linley, think about it. Every single person who enters will have Sovereign’s Might.” The Bloodridge Sovereign couldn’t help but laugh. “A group attack, with every single person using Sovereign’s Might at full power...even a Paragon would be in mortal danger. Tell me, what can Sovereigns use to persuade those Paragons to enter? Unless they are provided with something sufficiently alluring, they won’t possibly enter.”
Linley had to nod in acknowledgment.
It was true that Sovereigns didn’t have enough they could use to entice Paragons to enter. Sovereign artifacts? They were limited to bestowing a single Sovereign artifact to their Emissaries. Aside from Sovereign artifacts, what else could attract the interest of a Paragon?
“Paragons, when facing an entire army of Highgods who all use Sovereign’s Might, will probably have a 50% chance of death.” The Bloodridge Sovereign said. “As for commanders, even if they are careful, the chance that they will die in such a terrible situation is probably greater than 90%. If they are so stupid as to try and fight head on, they will definitely perish.”
The Bloodridge Sovereign let out a resigned laugh. “Thus, please invite a few Emissaries to enter the Planar War. If this time, we are successful, I imagine that the Chief Sovereign of Destruction will be grateful to you.”
Linley understood that although the Bloodridge Sovereign had nominally come to chat with him, in reality, he was here carrying out the orders of the Chief Sovereign of Destruction.
“Alright. I agree.” Linley nodded.
For the Chief Sovereign of Destruction to owe him a debt was a good thing.
As for Emissaries?
Although this was extremely dangerous for them, it was also an opportunity. The only question was, would they have the skill to survive it.
“Haha, that’s more like it.” The Bloodridge Sovereign was quite pleased. “Right. When will you head out?”
“Head out? No rush. I’m still thinking about it. Where should I go to find Emissaries?” Linley said helplessly. “Even if I send my divine sense out to cover the entire Infernal Realm, I’m only able to tell the difference between Demigods, Gods, and Highgods. There’s no way for me to tell how many profound mysteries a person has fused.”
The bloodridge Sovereign let out a laugh. “I have two methods. I don’t know which one you will prefer.”
“Speak.” Linley’s eyes lit up.
“The first is to go to a Fiend Castle and acquire data on all Seven Star Fiends. Since it is the Chief Sovereign of Destruction who stands behind the Fiend Castle, it will be very easy for you to acquire all the information you want on the various Seven Star Fiends.” The Bloodridge Sovereign said with a laugh.
Linley nodded slightly, but at the same time, he sighed in his heart. So it was the Chief Sovereign of Destruction who stood as the backer for the Fiend Castles? No wonder it was spread throughout the Infernal Realm.
“And the second method?” Linley asked with a laugh.
“Linley, all of the Sovereigns have their own domains of authority.” The Bloodridge Sovereign laughed. “For example, my domain is the Bloodridge Continent! The Redbud Continent belongs to the Redbud Sovereign. The seven Sovereigns of Light, in the Divine Light Plane, each have seven areas which they have authority over.”
Linley suddenly began to understand.
“Per the same principles, the seven Sovereigns of Wind, the seven Sovereigns of Earth, and the seven Sovereigns of Water all have their own territories.” The Bloodridge Sovereign laughed. “The domain you rule over in the Divine Wind Plane is the domain which that Teresia, who you killed, ruled over. The same goes for the Divine Earth Plane and the Divine Water Plane.”
“The Lord Prefects and other similarly ranked individuals in each domain, along with the soldiers of that domain, will all obey your commands.” The Bloodridge Sovereign laughed calmly. “You can simply go to one of your domains, then easily learn which experts reside within the bounds of your domains.”
“My domains? Three of them?”
Linley couldn’t help but laugh.
“Sovereigns might die, but the domains do not change, nor will the Lord Prefects. For example, even if someone killed me, Boson, once the next Sovereign of Destruction arose, that person would still be in charge of the Bloodridge continent. All of the Lord Prefects of the Bloodridge Continent, as well as the Bloodridge Army, would obey that person’s orders.” The Bloodridge Sovereign explained.
“Oh...” Linley began to laugh. “I choose the second method! I’ll simultaneously choose Emissaries as well as familiarize myself with my territory.”
This sort of system was very natural. The battles between Sovereigns thus wouldn’t affect the boundaries of each domain.
“Linley, I know that you have only recently become a Sovereign, and so you don’t have many Sovereign artifacts. I have a few here; three weapon-type Sovereign artifacts, three defensive Sovereign artifacts, and three soul-protecting Sovereign artifacts.” The Bloodridge Sovereign casually waved his hand, and nine Sovereign artifacts appeared, hovering in midair.
The defensive Sovereign artifacts were all in the form of armor, while the Sovereign weapons were divided into axe, longsword, and warblade; these three commonly seen artifacts.
As for the soul-protecting Sovereign artifacts, they were divided into a ring, an earring, and a necklace.
“You have quite a few.” Linley couldn’t help but chuckle.
The Bloodridge Sovereign said disdainfully, “Sovereign artifacts, to Sovereigns, are in plentiful supply. They are to us what divine artifacts are to Deities; how many divine artifacts exist in the Infernal Realm, do you think?”
Linley had to nod in acknowledgment. In the Infernal Realm, divine artifacts were commonplace tools that could be seen everywhere. Even divine sparks were numerous beyond measure, to say nothing of divine artifacts.
“Our fear is that too many Sovereign artifacts would lead to a disaster, which is why the Sovereigns originally created the agreement that each Emissary would only be given a single Sovereign artifact. Similarly, you would only be able to, at most, give a son, a daughter, a wife, or a husband a single Sovereign artifact. Aside from Emissaries and close family, Sovereign artifacts cannot be handed out to anyone else.” The Bloodridge Sovereign said.
Linley memorized this as well.
Half a month later, Linley’s wind-type Sovereign clone returned to the Yulan Plane along with his father and mother. The two of them naturally went to Wushan Township, while Linley’s wind-type Sovereign clone tore through the walls of space and entered chaotic space, right outside the Yulan Plane, beginning to establish his own divine plane of wind.
Only by increasing his insights in the profound mysteries of the Laws of the Wind would Linley find it easier to learn how to travel on the path of fusing four types of Laws.
His wind-type Sovereign clone was establishing a divine plane, while his water Sovereign clone, and divine fire clone remained on guard in the Infernal Realm while accompanying his wife, Delia.
As for Linley’s original body and his earth-type Sovereign clone, they left the Infernal Realm.
“Rumble...”
A blurry light flashed as Linley and Bebe activated the teleportation array.
“Boss, this time, as we go searching for Emissaries, you need to leave two slots to me and let me make the choice! Heh he, I want to try out the process of choosing Emissaries and see how it feels.” Bebe sent.
“No problem.” Linley laughed.
The blurry light which had shot into the heavens slowly vanished. Linley and Bebe had already arrived in another plane.
“We are at the Divine Wind Plane.” Bebe’s eyes lit up as he sent, “Come, Boss, let’s go check out your territory.”