Lord of the Mists: Book 8 of the Coiling Dragon Saga

by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi

  “After risking my life, I had become a Sovereign, and also acquired three more Sovereign sparks,” Beirut said with a sigh.

  “Grandpa… you really are formidable.” Bebe’s eyes were filled with admiration.

  Linley sighed in amazement as well. If he himself had seen that scene, would he have dared to ‘steal food from the mouth of the tiger’, to steal from the Chief Sovereign of Light? This truly required courage. However, it also required enough power! After all, ordinary Highgods were completely incapable of pulling in the corpses of the divine beasts from chaotic space.

  “But of course, this also caused… the Chief Sovereign of Light to hate me to the core. He wanted to force me to hand over the other three divine sparks, but I paid him no heed.” Beirut laughed calmly. “I could tell that the Chief Sovereign of Light had the sort of temper where he would definitely avenge any slight. Since I had already offended him, I might as well offend him to the end.”

  Linley nodded slightly as well.

  “Not long afterwards, I intentionally spread the word that a Necropolis of the Gods had been created, and that within it were the Sovereign artifacts the four divine beasts had left behind after dying! If one wanted to fight over them? They were to come to the Yulan Plane.” Beirut laughed. “After a Sovereign dies, if someone was to take away the Sovereign artifacts that they left behind, there would be no other Sovereigns who would come to take them back.”

  Linley nodded slightly.

  There were multiple ways to acquiring Sovereign artifacts. One was to accumulate enough military merits in a Planar War. Another was to become a Sovereign’s Emissary and be gifted by the Sovereign. Still another was to acquire a relic Sovereign artifact of a deceased Sovereign. For example, this was where Linley’s Coiling Dragon ring had come from.

  Only, the chances of a Sovereign dying were simply too low.

  In addition, generally speaking, only Sovereigns were able to kill other Sovereigns. They would collect those Sovereign artifacts and not let them just be taken away.

  “Sovereign artifacts proved to be too enticing. After the news spread, quite a few people hastened to my Yulan Plane, such as some Seven Star Fiends of the Infernal Realm. Even a Twelve Wing Angel of the Divine Light Realm came, as well as powerful figures of the various planes. A major battle thus began here at the Yulan Plane.” Beirut laughed. “But of course, everything was under my control.”

  Linley laughed.

  Beirut had been a Sovereign by then. No matter how fiercely those Highgods had struggled, how could they escape Beirut’s control?

  “During that battle, I showed just a bit of my power and let my fame and reputation spread out. Immediately, some Sovereigns paid attention to me.” Beirut laughed. “Originally, when I had seized the corpses of the Four Divine Beasts, Augusta didn’t announce it to everyone. Thus, many Sovereigns had no idea. After I became famous, some Sovereigns sent their planar projection clones to speak with me, and thus learned of this affair. And so… the Chief Sovereign of Destruction made a request of me.”

  “What was the Chief Sovereign of Destruction’s request? Did he want the Sovereign sparks?” Bebe said.

  “No. He requested the ‘blood essence’ that could be refined from the blood of the Four Divine Beasts. The source of a divine beast’s power comes from their blood and lineage. The Chief Sovereign of Destruction probably wanted to develop something from the blood essence of the Four Divine Beasts.” Beirut sighed. “After all, in all of recorded history, only the Four Divine Beasts were able to fuse their innate divine abilities together.”

  “I gave half of the blood essence of the Four Divine Beasts to the Chief Sovereign of Destruction. The Chief Sovereign of Destruction, in turn, promised me that so long as my divine clone didn’t go to the Divine Light Plane, he would guarantee that the Chief Sovereign of Light wouldn’t dare to kill my divine clone,” Beirut said.

  Linley and the others now understood.

  “So that’s how it is. No wonder the Chief Sovereign of Light didn’t dare to act against you in the Infernal Realm, Grandpa,” Bebe said.

  “Although he is powerful, he isn’t a match for the Chief Sovereign of Destruction.” Beirut laughed. “After all, the Chief Sovereigns of the Four Edicts are simply too powerful. The Chief Sovereign of Life is a very friendly person, but his power is unfathomable. The Chief Sovereign of Death lives a life of leisure in the Abyssal Mountain, and has never fully revealed her power. The Chief Sovereign of Destruction’s hiding abilities are quite deep; I have no idea if he developed anything from the blood essence of the Four Divine Beasts or not. As for the Chief Sovereign of Fate, he never gets involved in worldly affairs and always remains within the Celestial Realm.”

  Linley sighed to himself. This exchange with the Chief Sovereign of Destruction had been quite favorable for him.

  All the Chief Sovereign of Destruction had to do was to go threaten the Chief Sovereign of Light, and thus he was able to acquire half of the blood essence of the Four Divine Beasts.

  It must be understood… that just by using a single drop of blood essence from the Azure Dragon, Linley’s body was able to become incredibly powerful. One could imagine how much energy was contained within the blood essence of a divine beast.

  “The blood essence of a divine beast is the essence of its power. I was quite curious regarding the blood essence of the Four Divine Beasts, and so I ran a few tests as well. I tested placing a drop of blood essence in the body of an ordinary human to see what would happen. The results of the first experiments were that the humans were unable to endure it, and their bodies collapsed. They died. Afterwards, however, I grew experienced. I finally succeeded!”

  Beirut began to laugh. “And so, the very first generation of the Four Supreme Warriors was born.”

  Linley was completely awestruck.

  “The Four Supreme Warriors?” Linley looked at Beirut, stunned. “They were the results of your experiments?”

  “Grandpa, you…” Bebe was completely stunned as well.

  “What, is it very strange?” Beirut laughed calmly. “Actually, if I didn’t interfere in the lives of Baruch, Armand, Hyde, and Prey, they would have become cannon fodder on the battlefield, and wouldn’t have had any accomplishments. After my experiments, they became the Supreme Warriors and thus gained great fame in the continent.”

  Linley now understand. As Beirut had seen it, for a Sovereign to choose mortals for experiments, and especially experiments involving the blood essence of the Four Divine Beasts… this was an honor for the mortals.

  “No wonder the Four Supreme Warriors had suddenly appeared in the Yulan Plane. In addition, nobody was able to find out any reason behind this.” Linley sighed to himself.

  “Strictly speaking, Baruch and the rest of the four should be considered of the same generation as ‘Gislason’ of the Four Divine Beasts clan.” Beirut laughed. “To be honest, I still felt grateful towards the Four Divine Beasts. After all, it was because of them that I was able to become a Sovereign.”

  “Thus, the divine clone that I sent to the Infernal Realm stayed at Indigo Prefecture! The Bloodridge Sovereign knew my true status, and so I asked him to help me by announcing to everyone else that I was his Emissary. This made it easier for me to show up and protect the Four Divine Beasts clan.” Beirut laughed. “If I was merely a Sovereign’s Emissary, how could I have gotten the Bloodridge Sovereign to appear with but a few words, then have him make the eight great clans retreat?”

  Linley was sighing.

  When Beirut had summoned the Bloodridge Sovereign, the Bloodridge Sovereign had appeared and rebuked the eight great clans, making them retreat. Linley had sighed in amazement back then about how much face Beirut had, to be able to do this! So in reality… it wasn’t that the Bloodridge Sovereign was giving his Emissary face. Rather, it was because Beirut himself was a Sovereign. Naturally, Sovereigns would give other Sovereigns face!

  “I also had three Sovereign sparks. Naturally, I woul
d have to choose three people to inherit it. However, I couldn’t just randomly choose them. I had to test them and to select them carefully… Bluefire thus became my first choice.” Beirut then sighed. “In reality, I wanted for Harry and my other two children to become Sovereigns. But the Sovereign sparks were only of earth, fire, and water, after all. Thus, they had to train to the Highgod level on their own in these three Laws in order to fuse the Sovereign sparks.”

  “You have to become a Deity on your own in order to fuse with a Sovereign spark?” Linley said in surprise.

  “Right. If you don’t rely on yourself and instead rely on fusing with a divine spark, then your foundation will be weak and unstable. Your divine spark and your soul will not be perfectly fused, and so it will be impossible for you to then fuse with a Sovereign spark.” Beirut shook his head. “Those children of mine were only talented in darkness and wind; I tried everything I could, but they still weren’t able to succeed in those three elements.”

  Linley nodded slightly.

  “Afterwards, because Bebe appeared, and especially because of your rapid advancements, Linley, and how astonishingly fast you rose in power, I chose you as one of my potential candidates…” Beirut turned to look towards Linley.

  52

  SOVEREIGN LINLEY

  “One of the candidates…”

  So Beirut had been keeping an eye on all of his adventures through the Infernal Realm, and had been constantly evaluating him.

  “Although I became a Sovereign, I, like any ordinary mortal, wish to be able to give the Sovereign sparks to those people who are close to me. My three children and Bebe… they clearly wouldn’t possibly have any accomplishments in earth, fire, and water. Because of Bebe, it was natural for me to entrust you with my hopes as well. But I also understood that amongst Sovereigns of the same rank, if there was too great a difference in one’s insights into the profound mysteries, that wouldn’t work either. Linley, back then, your comprehension of the profound mysteries of the Laws was simply at too low a level.” Beirut sighed. “After all, even the weakest of Sovereigns has fused five types of profound mysteries! I’m that sort, myself. But of course, the vast majority has fused just five profound mysteries!”

  “The weakest have fused five?” Linley was a bit startled.

  “Grandpa,” Bebe said, surprised, “You once said that many Sovereigns were amongst the very first batch of Highgods that rose shortly after the creation of the universe, who were lucky enough to seize a Sovereign spark. Their innate talent isn’t necessarily high; how could they have fused five profound mysteries?”

  It must be understood that for many experts, fusing three or even four profound mysteries was their limit, and they wouldn’t be able to make any further breakthroughs.

  “Haha…” Beirut began to laugh, then he looked mysteriously at Linley. “As for why even the less talented Sovereigns are able to fuse five profound mysteries… after you become a Sovereign, you will understand.”

  “After I become a Sovereign?” Linley’s heart trembled.

  “Although after you become a Sovereign, your future accomplishments will be significant…” Beirut shook his head. “The stronger you are as a Deity, the better. Back then, you had only fused three profound mysteries. You only relied on the ‘Soulstone’ and the powerful body given to you by your Azure Dragon lineage to defeat Seven Star Fiends.”

  “The candidates that I considered generally had fused at least five profound mysteries.” Beirut shook his head and said, “For example, Bluefire. He was the most powerful of them. He had even reached a final bottleneck, and was just one step away from becoming a Paragon.”

  Linley sighed in his heart.

  Beirut had been keeping watch over a group of people. If he was being completely impartial, Linley wouldn’t even be qualified to become a potential candidate.

  “But of course, because of Bebe, I still hoped that you would become a Sovereign.” Beirut laughed.

  This was the nature of human relationships. Who wouldn’t hope for the possibility of giving nice things to their closest family and friends?

  “However, your improvement speed is indeed fast. Your trip through the Netherworld… made me evaluate you even more seriously.” Beirut smiled. “In fact, I even asked Bluefire to have his original body and his divine earth clone follow you in secret that entire time, protecting you if necessary.”

  “Follow in secret?” Linley and Bebe looked at Bluefire in shock.

  Bluefire had been tracking him, but they hadn’t realized at all.

  “Linley, I was quite surprised, because you were actually able to fuse a fourth profound mystery in the Planar Battlefield! You developed your new supreme technique, ‘Microcosm’.” Beirut laughed. “That technique of yours, especially when combined with the special way of using the Redbud Sovereign’s ‘Amethyst Space’, had already surpassed the techniques of most experts who had fused five types of profound mysteries.”

  “In two thousand short years, you had fused four profound mysteries. This sort of speed, even across the entire universe, definitely qualified you as a genius.” Beirut laughed happily. “I was certain that if you continued to train like this, you would absolutely be able to fuse five profound mysteries.”

  “And so, then and there, I decided that you would be the candidate to become the Sovereign of Earth,” Beirut said.

  Linley let out a moved sigh.

  “No wonder,” Bebe mumbled. “No wonder back then, Mr. Leylin appeared.”

  “Right. My assignment, by that point, was essentially complete.” Bluefire laughed, and then he looked at Linley. “The Demigod who had received tutelage from me back at Mount Copper Gong had, in two thousand short years, reached such heights, and was going to be, in the future, my comrade, the Sovereign of Earth. This truly was incredible. Who would have imagined… that shortly after I left, a major problem occurred. I was terrified as well. After all, my Sovereign clone couldn’t leave the Yulan Plane, while my original body wasn’t able to make it in time, even though I hurried back to save you. I was truly worried that you would be killed by Magnus, just like that.”

  Beirut let out an emotional sigh as well. “Bluefire told me that you had suffered an attack from Magnus, and that you were a hair away from death. I was very worried as well. Worried that you would die.”

  “But who would have imagined that this became your chance to transform!” Beirut’s eyes were shining. “You had four divine clones, yet were able to successfully mutate your soul. This let you become a supreme expert who surpassed the Paragons! Haha… Linley, you, as a Soul Mutate, are even more qualified than Bluefire and myself!”

  The more powerful a person was, the more powerful they would naturally become upon becoming a Sovereign!

  “Linley, look…” Beirut waved his hand, and a black stone box appeared.

  Linley immediately recognized that this black stone box was the box that had been removed from that giant sealing formation.

  “You should have already guessed what is inside.” Beirut smiled as he opened the box. He tossed aside the lid, and instantly, two auras of light shot out in every direction, and a heart-shaking aura drifted out from the light. Linley and Bebe couldn’t help but stare raptly towards it.

  Within the box was a pair of gems that appeared similar to divine sparks.

  The gems seemed to be made of a semi-translucent gray glass. At first glance, it seemed like some sort of jewels. These two gems were emanating two different types of light; one was a deep, weighty, earthen yellow color. The other was a soft, slick azure-green color. In addition, the aura and majesty contained within them made even Linley and Bebe’s hearts tremble.

  “These are Sovereign sparks!” Linley was absolutely certain.

  Beirut let out a very emotional sigh. “These two Sovereign sparks are the water-type Sovereign spark that came from the Azure Dragon’s corpse, and the earth-type Sovereign spark that came from the Black Tortoise’s corpse! I have already safeguarded thes
e two Sovereign sparks for more than ten thousand years. I was worried that on one of my business trips outside of the Yulan Plane, I might be attacked and killed by the Chief Sovereign of Light. What, then, would happen to these Sovereign sparks? And so I decided that even if I died, I wouldn’t let Augusta acquire them. Thus, I created that seal.”

  Linley secretly nodded.

  A seal that only Sovereigns could break, and yet was kept in a material plane. The Chief Sovereign of Light truly did have no hope of opening it.

  “Alas. How wonderful would it have been if we had a darkness-type Sovereign spark,” Bebe rubbed his jaw twice and mumbled.

  Beirut laughed as he glanced at Bebe. “Do you think Sovereign sparks are so easily acquired? Alright, Linley. Let me tell you this. If you want to become a Sovereign, there is only one way, and one way alone; fuse with a Sovereign spark! Regarding Sovereign sparks… ever since the creation of the universe countless years ago, 77 Sovereign sparks naturally descended. Only by training to the Highgod level through your own power can you fuse a Sovereign spark.”

  Linley nodded slightly. Becoming a Sovereign was indeed something which pure effort alone could not accomplish.

  “The reason why Sovereigns are so powerful is because of their Sovereign spark. Highgod Paragons, and you, a Soul Mutate, have fused the power of your Will into your souls, yes?” Beirut laughed.

  “Right.” Linley nodded.

  “Sovereigns are different. Virtually all of the power of their Will is in the Sovereign spark,” Beirut said. “When fusing a Sovereign spark, the boundless Will power held within the Sovereign spark will transform your soul. Because the souls of your other divine clones are part of you, they, too, will receive a partial transformation. But that’s secondary; compared to the Will within the Sovereign spark, the power of the Will of the souls of your clones will be less than ten thousandth!”