Lord of the Mists

by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi

  “Eh?”

  Linley and Bebe’s faces turned grave. They couldn’t help but stare upwards, and upon doing so, Linley couldn’t help but narrow his eyes. “What an eye-piercing brilliance.” That figure in midair seemed like a scorching white sun. The light emanating from his entire body was simply too brilliant, forcing others to narrow their eyes.

  A powerful aura emanated forth from the dazzling ‘sun’.

  Linley took a close look. Only then was he able to tell that there was a human figure within the ‘sun’. This person had long golden hair, golden eyebrows, and a pure white face that was devoid of any hair, aside from the golden eyebrows that drooped down past his ears. A loose golden robe embroidered with gold covered his entire body, but it only enhanced his powerful physique.

  The eyes of the man seemed like two miniature suns. They were eye-piercingly brilliant, and made others feel as though they couldn’t stare directly at this man.

  “A Sovereign?” Linley instantly came to this conclusion. “Light-type aura. It seems this is a Sovereign of Light. Why has a Sovereign of Light come?” Linley didn’t understand.

  “Greetings, Sovereign,” Linley bowed and said.

  “Greetings, Sovereign.” Bebe immediately bowed as well.

  The Chief Sovereign of Light gave an emotionless downwards glance at Linley and Bebe. His gaze was calm, like that of an emperor staring down at lesser creatures. After some time, the Chief Sovereign of Light finally spoke. “Are you Linley?”

  “Yes.” Linley looked very respectful, but his heart was filled with confused thoughts.

  Why has this Sovereign come? Could it have been for the Overgod talisman? Or was it for the sake of Chegwin? When faced with this situation, Linley instantly began to think of many possible responses. Although he came up with quite a few, Linley still felt nervous and uneasy. After all, with the Sovereign here in person, if the Sovereign wanted him dead, he only had to wave his hand.

  After he had arrived, the Chief Sovereign of Light had set up his Godrealm, making it so that Linley and Bebe were placed in a region separated from the outside world. Nobody in the outside world could see what happened here.

  “This is… a Sovereign?”

  The Lord Prefect, ‘Beirut’, turned to look towards the air above Linley and Bebe. His face couldn’t help but change. “Why did a Sovereign of Light come to my place?” Beirut hesitated slightly, then gritted his teeth and flew at high speed towards Linley and Bebe. He feared Sovereigns of Light, but he cared deeply about Linley and Bebe. He couldn’t just stay uninvolved!

  Linley was currently speaking with the Chief Sovereign of Light, who hovered there in the air.

  “This did indeed happen! Because of what had happened, many of the Sovereigns of the Infernal Realm paid attention to this matter, but clearly, this information was falsely made. I have no nine soul pearls, nor do I have an Overgod decree.” Linley raised his head and looked at the Chief Sovereign of Light as he spoke calmly.

  The Chief Sovereign of Light’s glowing gaze expanded, making it so that Linley couldn’t help but feel his eyes hurt as he stared upwards.

  “Linley, I give you one chance. Hand over the nine soul pearls. Otherwise, die!” the Chief Sovereign of Light said calmly.

  Linley felt shocked. “Why is this Sovereign of Light so certain that I hold the nine soul pearls? No; only Bebe, Olivier’s family, and Molde knows this for sure. Molde died long ago, and Olivier has returned to the Yulan continent. There shouldn’t be any problems.”

  “Sovereign, I truly don’t understand.” Linley raised his head, pretending to speak in anger. “Last time, the Sovereign of Wind also questioned me in this manner, but the results were clear; that news was fake. Most likely, there might not even be an Overgod mission. Why, Sovereign, must you insist that I have the nine soul pearls?”

  Right at this moment, a violent ripple emanated from the surrounding area. Someone was passing through the Sovereign’s Godrealm, entering within.

  “Hrm?” The Chief Sovereign of Light turned to look.

  “Whoosh!” A figure flew in at high speed. When Linley looked closely, he saw that it was Beirut!

  “Grandpa.” Bebe was overjoyed.

  The Chief Sovereign of Light looked down at the figure before him. Upon seeing Beirut, his face couldn’t help but sink. With a cold snort, he said, “Beirut. You actually dare come see me?”

  Beirut, hearing this voice, couldn’t help but feel startled. Upon raising his head, his face changed and he called out in shock, “Chief Sovereign of Light!”

  “Chief Sovereign of Light?” Linley was secretly startled.

  Based on the information Linley had available, there were eleven Chief Sovereigns, with the four Chief Sovereigns of the four Edicts being the most powerful. Second only to those four Chief Sovereigns of the Edicts was this Chief Sovereign of Light!

  “Chief Sovereign of Light, why have you come to my place?” Beirut said in a low voice.

  “Why?” The Chief Sovereign of Light’s gaze turned very cold when he looked at Beirut. “This friend of yours, ‘Linley’, claims that he does not have the nine soul pearls, and that the information regarding the Overgod mission is false as well. Unfortunately… I now know very well that your friend is lying!”

  Beirut stood next to Linley.

  “Lying?” Linley said solemnly. “Chief Sovereign, even though you have the exalted status of Chief Sovereign, you can’t just casually besmirch my reputation.”

  “Besmirch?”

  The Chief Sovereign of Light waved his hand, and a green piece of paper appeared within it. Afterwards, the Chief Sovereign of Light used divine power, causing rays of power to shoot out from that green paper that then formed into lines of words and pictures which hung there in midair. It was a power akin to a ‘scryer recording’; this was just a simple usage of power.

  Linley, Bebe, and Beirut all looked at the words and images in midair.

  “Overgod decree?” Beirut was stunned.

  “That… that’s the Overgod decree?” Linley was startled.

  The words described the Overgod mission very carefully, and the contents of it were identical to the contents of the paper that Molde had sent out.

  “Linley, I acquired this Overgod decree, which is proof that the information is true. It seems that information wasn’t just wildly made up. As I see it, you had best no longer dissemble. Just hand it over,” the Chief Sovereign of Light looked down at the three of them and spoke in a cold voice.

  “Boss, that’s the Overgod decree. This is going to be trouble,” Bebe said hurriedly.

  Linley just raised his head and said, “Chief Sovereign, I congratulate you very sincerely for acquiring the Overgod decree! It seems the Overgod mission is a real one. But I must say… just because the Overgod mission is real, does that have to mean that the nine soul pearls and the Overgod decree are all truly in my hands? But clearly, the Overgod decree is in your hands, Chief Sovereign.”

  “Stop lying. I have no interest in hearing your lies. Will you or won’t you hand it over? If you don’t, then don’t blame me for acting,” the Chief Sovereign of Light gave his final warning.

  “Mr. Augusta,” a voice rang out.

  The Chief Sovereign of Light swept his gaze across. Within his Godrealm, a figure slowly began to materialize. This man had long, blood-red hair, and was dressed in a blood-colored robe. Linley, seeing this, felt secretly delighted. “The Bloodridge Sovereign!”

  “Boson?” The Chief Sovereign of Light frowned.

  “Mr. Augusta.” The Bloodridge Sovereign smiled. “I already heard the news. Everything was caused by false information. But not long ago, it was already determined that the Overgod mission wasn’t necessarily real, and that the news that Linley was in possession of the nine soul pearls was also false.”

  The Chief Sovereign of Light gave him a cold glance, then waved his hand and made the green paper face the Bloodridge Sovereign.r />
  The Bloodridge Sovereign gave it a glance, seeing the words on it. He couldn’t help but feel shocked. “This is the Overgod decree?”

  “Is it still false? Clearly, the information is real. I imagine that this sort of news wouldn’t be randomly made up. Linley definitely has the nine soul pearls.” The Chief Sovereign of Light stared coldly towards Linley. “Linley, I’ve already told you that you have only two choices. Hand it over or die. You decide.”

  The Chief Sovereign of Light completely ignored the Bloodridge Sovereign’s presence!

  “Chief Sovereign.”

  Linley raised his head and said, “I told you that I don’t have the nine soul pearls, yet you refuse to believe me. And so you will kill me? But I have to tell you something; I have other divine clones in other places. Even if you kill me, you won’t be able to open my interspatial ring. Thus, even if I have the nine soul pearls and you kill me, you still won’t be able to acquire it. What’s more, I don’t have them!”

  “Divine clones?” The Chief Sovereign of Light frowned. “Where?”

  “A material plane,” Linley said honestly.

  “My Yulan Plane.” Beirut smiled.

  “Hmph.” The Chief Sovereign of Light gave Beirut a cold glance.

  “Excellent. You actually hid your divine clones in a material plane. You are quite clever,” the Chief Sovereign of Light said coldly. “You claim that you don’t have the nine soul pearls. Remove the binding you have over your interspatial ring and let me investigate it. Do you dare?”

  “If you search it and don’t find it, will you leave, Chief Sovereign?” Linley asked.

  “Don’t waste my time.” The Chief Sovereign of Light’s face sank.

  “Fine. Since you, Chief Sovereign of Light, insist on searching my interspatial ring just based on your suspicions… then I, Linley, will today let you inspect it.” With but a thought, Linley divided his body into two, simultaneously retrieving two interspatial rings. After removing the bindings, Linley raised his head to look at the Chief Sovereign, then laughed calmly, “I imagine, Chief Sovereign, you know that I currently only have these two divine clones present. You can go ahead and investigate these interspatial rings.”

  Linley then tossed them towards the air, towards the Chief Sovereign of Light.

  32

  I’D RATHER DIE! A CHANGE OF EVENTS

  Linley had so straightforwardly handed over his interspatial rings that the Chief Sovereign of Light was rather suspicious. “Can it be that it truly is as I suspected; Linley had taken the nine soul pearls back to the Yulan Plane?” When he had heard Linley say that Linley’s divine clones were not present and had returned to the Yulan Plane, the Chief Sovereign of Light had a bad feeling.

  But the Chief Sovereign of Light still bound the rings with blood and inspected them both. “There really is nothing here!”

  “Chief Sovereign, are the nine soul pearls that you seek within?” Linley said in a clear voice, his head raised.

  “Hmph.”

  After removing his binding, the Chief Sovereign of Light casually tossed the two interspatial rings to Linley. Right at this moment, energy once more began to tremble and swirl about in the surrounding area as a blurry figure appeared, then solidified. Clearly, yet another Sovereign had created an energy clone.

  The Sovereigns of the Infernal Realm were scattered everywhere. For them to arrive in a short period of time was unlikely. Still, given that their divine sense covered the entire region, the Sovereigns could form energy clones at any time.

  “Augusta.” The newcomer was dressed in a long, silver robe. He stared at Augusta with his violet eyes.

  “Shinji.” The Chief Sovereign of Light glanced at him.

  Upon seeing this person, Linley felt his heart rise. “The Starmist Sovereign!” Linley had seen this person before; this was the Sovereign who controlled the Infernal Realm’s Starmist Sea.

  “What a lively place this is. Even you came, Augusta. Shinji, Boson!” a warm voice rang out as a blurry violet energy began to solidify then transform into a human figure. It was a beautiful woman dressed in loose, faint violet robes. A familiar aura emanating from her caused Linley to have a thought.

  “This aura seems so similar to Reisgem’s,” Linley mused to himself.

  “Linley, long time no see. After you left the Amethyst Mountains, a mere few thousand years passed, but you’ve had such accomplishments.” The beautiful woman smiled as she looked at Linley. Her eyes seemed to contain some sort of astonishing charisma that could move a person’s soul.

  “Sovereign.” This time, when Linley bowed, it was with true sincerity and true respect. The Redbud Sovereign had indeed helped him greatly.

  “Haha… there really are quite a few people here. Are all of you here for the Overgod mission?” a clear voice rang out, and fiery energy solidified in the air, then condensed into a slightly plump man. His fiery red hair was casually mussed, and fire could be seen faintly flickering and swirling around him. In the center of his forehead, there was the seal of a golden flame.

  “Oh, so many have arrived already.” A black energy condensed.

  One Sovereign energy clone after another appeared in midair. Linley could only recognize just three or four of them; he didn’t recognize the vast majority of them.

  “So many Sovereigns.” Beirut had a hint of a smile on his face as he sent to Linley, “Linley, for so many Sovereigns to simultaneously appear is something that might not be seen in a trillion years.”

  “There are indeed many Sovereigns here.” Linley swept them with his gaze. In the air above him, more than fifteen Sovereigns had appeared!

  Logically speaking, there should only be seven Destruction-type Sovereigns in the Infernal Realm, but fifteen had appeared. A Sovereign of Fire. Of Water. Of Light. Of Earth… indeed, it was quite lively. With the majestic presences of so many Sovereigns present, even Linley felt some pressure.

  “I feel miserable,” Bebe sent to Linley.

  “Try and endure it.” Linley himself could do nothing.

  The Sovereigns began to chat amongst themselves.

  “Mr. Augusta, you have the Overgod decree?” the Sovereign with the golden flame seal on his forehead said hurriedly. The various Sovereigns were all staring at the Chief Sovereign of Light.

  The Chief Sovereign of Light let out a calm laugh. He didn’t try to hide it. Waving his hand, that green paper appeared, hovering above his palm. “This is the Overgod decree. There’s no need to hide the information within.” The Chief Sovereign of Light forthrightly allowed all of the Sovereigns to view the green paper. “Clearly, the news that spread in the Infernal Realm in the past was real!”

  The group of Sovereigns hovered there in midair, chatting amongst themselves.

  An Overgod mission! Although some Sovereigns didn’t dare dream of completing it, others wanted to give it a try! Even if the ones who didn’t dare make an attempt still cared greatly about this matter. After becoming Sovereigns, they no longer had many pursuits. Overgod missions were ones they cared about greatly.

  “Chief Sovereign, you’ve already inspected my interspatial ring. Now, Chief Sovereign, do you still doubt my words?” Linley said clearly.

  “Inspected? Hmph. Only two of your divine clones are present. Others remain hiding in the Yulan Plane. If you aren’t afraid of Sovereigns inspecting you, why have your divine clones hide there?” The Chief Sovereign of Light clearly wasn’t going to let Linley off that easily.

  “Linley’s divine clones went to the Yulan Plane?” quite a few Sovereigns immediately called out in surprise.

  “Perhaps the information in the Overgod decree really is true. Then Linley might truly be holding the nine soul pearls.” This was what some Sovereigns began to believe.

  Linley looked at the group of Sovereigns in the air above him, then turned his gaze to the Chief Sovereign of Light. “Chief Sovereign, the Yulan Plane is my homeland. What’s the problem with m
e returning to my homeland? Can it be that after I successfully became a Paragon, I can’t even go home?”

  “You can. Of course you can,” the Chief Sovereign of Light said coldly. “Then would you dare have your other divine clones emerge from the Yulan Plane and come to the Infernal Realm?” As the Chief Sovereign of Light viewed it, there was no way Linley would let someone else carry a treasure like an Overgod talisman. Nine out of ten, Linley carried it on one of his interspatial rings.

  Linley stared at the Chief Sovereign of Light, then shook his head. “I will not.”

  Hearing Linley’s words, the Chief Sovereign of Light couldn’t help but laugh coldly. “Oh. It seems that the nine soul pearls truly are on your other divine clones.”

  “Linley doesn’t dare let his divine clones return to the Infernal Realm? It seems there really is something amiss.”

  That group of lofty Sovereigns watched and laughed calmly as this unfolded. They couldn’t be bothered to interfere. As for the Bloodridge Sovereign and the Redbud Sovereign, they just watched silently, not saying a word.

  “Chief Sovereign.” Linley laughed calmly. “You are an exalted Chief Sovereign, but just on the basis of a manufactured rumor, you were ready to attack me. Indeed, the Overgod mission might be real. But the information claimed that the ‘nine soul pearls’ and the ‘Overgod decree’ were on me, whereas now, the Overgod decree is in your hands, Chief Sovereign!”

  The group of Sovereigns turned to look at the Chief Sovereign of Light, as though they were watching a diverting play.

  “The Overgod decree is useless to you. It’s understandable for you to toss it aside,” the Chief Sovereign of Light said calmly. “Linley, you will bring your divine clones here. Otherwise…”

  “Otherwise what?” Beirut spoke out. Beirut raised his head to look at the Chief Sovereign of Light. “Almighty Chief Sovereign, what, are you planning to threaten a Deity?”

  The Chief Sovereign of Light lowered his head, giving Beirut an icy look. Beirut continued to smile.