Book 21, The Peak – Chapter 32, Gathering Point
Linley swept the two with his gaze, ascertaining their identities.
Of the two, one was dressed in a fiery long robe and had long, fiery red hair, with an amiable look on his face. This was a Lesser Sovereign of Fire, Borte [Bo’tie’er]. As for the other, this man appeared rather muscular, and was comparable to Linley in height. He was dressed in a long, gray robe, and had tousled, short hair. This was the Lesser Sovereign of Earth, Manlu.
“Borte, Manlu.” Linley laughed calmly. “What a coincidence it is, to run into the two of you here. Why have you two come here?”
The two Lesser Sovereigns, Borte and Manlu, exchanged a glance, and then Borte smiled very modestly and sent, “Lord Linley, to tell the truth, Manlu and I have come to search for an Emissary. This Bresle was one of the individuals we had decided on long ago. We came for the sake of letting him become our Emissary. Lord Linley, please assist us in this.”
Not every Sovereign had filled up every slot for their Emissaries. For example, Bluefire only had a single Emissary; Phusro. His second Emissary had yet to be selected.
Because of this upcoming Planar War, the few Sovereigns who had open Emissary slots began to recruit and fill up their slot.
“Hmph.” Linley’s face couldn’t help but sink.
Borte and Manlu couldn’t help but tremble slightly in their hearts. Linley was, after all, someone who surpassed the Chief Sovereign of Lightning and Chief Sovereign of Light, a terrifying power. Only the four Chief Sovereigns of the Edicts surpassed Linley. The two of them, mere Lesser Sovereigns...how could they compare to Linley?
“Borte, I told you to forget it, but you? You insisted on coming.” Manlu couldn’t help but send.
“Don’t worry. As long as we are respectful, Linley wouldn’t dare act against us. If he does, he would be violating the Pact.” The Lesser Sovereign of Fire, Borte, sent back. And then, he smiled towards Linley and said, “Lord Linley, in the Divine Earth Plane, there are many people aside from Bresle who have strong defense. You can easily choose another person.”
Linley swept a cold glance past Borte and Manlu.
Before Linley had said anything, the nearby Bebe grew angry and barked, “My Boss has chosen an Emissary. What makes you think you have the right to take him away?”
“Shut your mouth.” Manlu couldn’t help but bark angrily as he gaze Bebe a cold glance.
The two feared Linley, but they didn’t hold a mere Highgod like Bebe in any regard. In the eyes of a Sovereign...a Highgod like Bebe was but an ant. And now, this ant actually dared to angrily lecture them? How could this be permitted? If it weren’t for the fact that Linley was right there, the two probably would’ve killed Bebe right away.”
“As I see it, it’s the two of you who need to shut your mouths.” Linley growled.
Borte and Manlu’s faces changed slightly.
“Lord Linley, how about, we let Bresle choose for himself. What do you say?” Borte said shamelessly, and then, ignoring Linley’s reaction, he turned to look towards Bresle. Smiling, he said, “Bresle, if you are willing to become an Emissary under my command, I can gift you a Sovereign artifact.”
Bresle was completely puzzled.
“What is going on today? Why are Sovereigns fighting over the chance to make me their Emissary?” Bresle was confused.
Not just him; even Linley was puzzled.
“What is wrong with these two?” Linley didn’t understand. “He’s just an Emissary. There are quite a few Seven Star-level experts in the Divine Earth Plane. They can go find someone else. Why irritate me for the sake of this Bresle? What has caused them to act like this?”
Because of his puzzlement, Linley didn’t immediately shoo off these two Sovereigns. He wanted to figure out exactly what was going on with them.
“I...” Bresle hesitated slightly.
Becoming Linley’s Emissary involved an exceedingly dangerous trial.
But this Sovereign who had just appeared didn’t mention any trial. Naturally, Bresle hesitated.
“Borte. Can it be that you aren’t intending to send him into the Planar Battlefield?” Linley said coldly.
The Sovereign of Fire, Borte, let out a casual laugh. “If one wishes to become an Emissary, one naturally must be tested.”
Bresle couldn’t help but glance at this Sovereign of Fire, Borte. He mused to himself, “This Sovereign of Fire didn’t mention this earlier. Most likely, he would only inform me about it after I agreed. His actions aren’t very honorable.” Not hesitating at all, Bresle said respectfully, “Apologies. I’ve already accepted this Sovereign’s offer.”
Linley laughed.
Borte and Manlu exchanged a glance.
“I want to see what else these two have to say for themselves.” Linley was now truly interested. What caused these two to insist on fight with Linley over Bresle, to the point of even offending him?
Just for an Emissary? Linley didn’t believe it.
They shouldn’t be willing to offend a powerful Chief Sovereign-level expert, even if it meant losing out on an Emissary.
Were these Sovereigns fools? Was something wrong with their heads? That wasn’t likely either.
Then...what was the real reason?
“Lord Linley.” Borte bowed slightly, then sent, “It was Lord Orloff, the Chief Sovereign of Fate, who ordered us to make this Bresle our Emissary. The two of us are simply following orders. There was nothing we could do. Please help us out a bit, Lord Linley.”
Linley was stunned.
The Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff?
Linley knew that each of the four Chief Sovereigns of the Edicts had a group of Sovereigns under their control. For example, the Chief Sovereign of Destruction had quite a few Sovereigns he protected, many of whom trained in the Elemental Laws, who had entered the Infernal Realm and stood on his side.
The Sovereigns all knew, after all, that the four Chief Sovereigns of the Edicts were the most powerful, and thus they naturally knew it was necessary to follow one of them.
The Chief Sovereign of Fate was unfathomably powerful, and so there were quite a few Sovereigns who obeyed his orders. The two Sovereigns before Linley were amongst them! In fact, even the Chief Sovereign of Light, Augusta, could be considered someone on the side of the Chief Sovereign of Fate, although he couldn’t be said to be completely subordinate to him.
“Haha, Lord Orloff already has his army of Twelve-Winged Angels. Why would he care about an Emissary or two?” Linley sent back with a calm laugh.
“We aren’t able to comprehend Lord Orloff’s plans.” Borte and Manlu were both very respectful. Borte sent back, “Lord Orloff gave us the order to come here and have someone called ‘Bresle’ become his Emissary. Although Lord Orloff didn’t tell us that we absolutely had to accomplish this mission, we can’t disappoint him, right? Thus...we would like to ask you, Lord Linley, to help out.”
Linley now began to understand. However, there was still one thing he was puzzled on. “Orloff is the Chief Sovereign of Fate! He is such a high, lofty figure that even the Chief Sovereign of Destruction isn’t able to do anything to him. Why, then, would he remember a mere Highgod, Bresle?”
“Lord Linley...” Borte said again.
“Apologies. I’ve already accepted this Bresle as my Emissary; this is akin to giving Bresle a promise. As a Sovereign, once I’ve given my word, how can I simply take it back?” Linley gave the two a calm glance. “The two of you had best leave and depart.”
Borte and Manlu couldn’t help but frown slightly.
“Lord Linley, this is someone the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Lord Orloff, chose personally. If you do this, once Lord Orloff knows...” Borte said fearlessly.
Linley’s face sank.
Threats?
His gaze turned icy cold. He looked at the two, and he only said two words: “F*ck off!”
Borte and Manlu’s faces changes dramatically. No longer daring to say a word, they bowed slightly, then immediately flew away, fleeing at high speed.
“To use the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, to threaten me?” Linley shook his head mentally. These two Sovereigns were trying to bluff him with threats. Linley knew what type of person Orloff was; he wasn’t the sort to avenge every enmity. Sometimes, a superior might a very good person, but because of the frivolous actions of his subordinates, have his own reputation tarnished.
There was indeed a great difference between Lesser Sovereigns and Chief Sovereigns.
Only, because of the Pact of Sovereigns, unless there was a grievance between them, the Chief Sovereigns were not to attack Lesser Sovereigns.
Borte and Manlu had already flown very far away.
“Linley is too wild and arrogant.” Borte couldn’t help but send. “We even lowered ourselves to beg him for help, and even told him that this was for the Chief Sovereign of Fate. He actually still refuses to give any face at all.”
“Borte, today, you went a bit too far as well. Linley is at the Chief Sovereign-level, after all.” Manlu sent back.
Borte snickered as he sent back, “Chief Sovereign-level? He’s just a punk who got tremendously lucky, and somehow in less than ten thousand years, reached that level. That’s only because he fused three Sovereign sparks and has an Overgod weapon. And, Manlu, you don’t need to be afraid of him. As long as we don’t make a huge mistake, would he dare act against us?”
Borte had a bad impression of Linley.
Linley had suddenly risen to prominence. First, as a Lesser Sovereign, he had fought the Chief Sovereign of Wind, Diya, to a standstill. And then, he had actually destroyed a Sovereign clone of the Chief Sovereign of Lightning, then heavily injured the Chief Sovereign of Light.
Linley’s rise to prominence was simply too fast. Naturally, this would arouse the jealousy of quite a few Sovereigns. Borte was one of them.
“Enough of that. You would only dare to imagine offending him, but would you dare to actually do it?” Manlu couldn’t help but laugh and ask him this question.
Borte cringed.
Would he dare? Absolutely not!
“Let’s go back to the Celestial Realm. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to fulfill Lord Orloff’s commands.” Manlu said helplessly. “However, Lord Orloff didn’t make it a forceful imperative. It isn’t a big deal for us to fail to accomplish the order.”
After the two Sovereigns left, Linley looked towards Bresle, then laughed calmly. “Since you asked it of me, I shall bestow upon you a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact. From today onwards, you will become the sixth Emissary under my control.” Linley waved his hand, and a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact, in the form of a ring, appeared.”
“Thank you, Sovereign!” Bresle fell to his knees, excited, as he accepted the Sovereign artifact.
Linley glanced at Bresle, then at his other five Emissaries. Laughing, he said, “From today onwards, the six of you will remain together. Train well and learn to coordinate with each other! If the six of you join forces within the Planar Battlefield, as long as you are cautious, you still have a good chance of surviving.”
“Yes, Sovereign.”
The six bowed.
“Although some of you have one or two drops of Sovereign’s Might, that isn’t going to be nearly enough in the Planar War.” Linley waved his hand, and six small black jade flasks appeared. Within these six flasks were large amounts of Sovereign’s Might. Two were water-type Sovereign’s Might, one was earth-type Sovereign’s Might, one was wind-type Sovereign’s Might, one was light-type Sovereign’s Might, while the final one was darkness-type Sovereign’s Might.
As a Sovereign, it was naturally quite easy for Linley to collect this Sovereign’s Might.
“These bottles each contain a hundred drops of Sovereign’s. More than enough for you to use within the Planar Wars.” Linley willed the six jade flasks to fly towards the six people.
The six accepted the bottles, utterly delighted.
“Thank you, Sovereign!” The six all knelt down in gratitude.
“Alright. Arise, all of you.” Linley swept the six with his gaze. He knew that after the six entered the Planar Battlefield, they wouldn’t be able to leave. How many would survive this upcoming Planar War? “Remember. In this Planar War, you absolutely must not try to push yourself too far. Learn to hide, to endure. Staying alive is the most important thing; killing the enemies is secondary!”
“Yes, Sovereign.” The six Emissaries couldn’t help but feel a hint of gratitude.
“Prepare to head out.” Linley turned to stare into the distance.
“Five centuries. In less than a hundred years, the Planar Wars will begin.” Bebe stretched lazily. “Ahhhhh. Whew. Finally goin’ back.”
Linley smiled slightly.
Right at this moment...
“Sovereign, can we wait a moment?” The sixth Emissary, Bresle, bowed rather awkwardly.
“What is it?” Linley looked at him.
Linley was rather curious about this Bresle. He was a seemingly ordinary Seven Star Fiend-level expert. What made it so that the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, would remember him?
Bresle said hurriedly, “My divine darkness clone is somewhere else. You are of the Infernal Realm, Sovereign. If I can survive the Planar War, in the future, I naturally will want to remain in the Infernal Realm! Thus, my divine darkness clone is also preparing to head to the Infernal Relam.”
“Divine darkness clone?” Linley was rather puzzled.
It was quite rare for someone to simultaneously train in both the Laws of Light and the Laws of Darkness. Olivier was one such person, while Bresle was another.