Within the great hall, all outsiders had been dismissed.
The Stellar Sovereign sat in the seat of honor, her cold purple eyes settling on Lin Lei. "Lin Lei, as far as I know, you came into possession of the Supreme God's token — the Nine Spirit Pearls — as well as the Supreme God's Edict, which describes all three tokens. These Supreme God's tokens and the Edict are useless to you, so you might as well hand them over directly. Of course, I won't take them for nothing."
"My apologies, Sovereign." Lin Lei bowed slightly. "I do not possess the Supreme God's tokens or the Supreme God's Edict."
"BOOM~~~"
A wave of cold, lightless black radiated from the Stellar Sovereign's body, instantly flooding the entire hall. Lin Lei felt his body shudder, his legs nearly going weak. It was just like when he had been a child, encountering the level-nine magic beast, the Black Dragon, for the first time.
The gap between a god and a Sovereign was simply too vast!
"Sovereign," Berut spoke quickly from the side. "Surely you know that the Wind Sovereign and the Blood Peak Sovereign have already approached Lin Lei? Lin Lei has already sworn an oath in the name of the Supreme Gods. Moreover, the Blood Peak Sovereign himself has confirmed that this entire matter was nothing more than a trap — a frame-up against Lin Lei."
"Pash and the others have been here too?" The Stellar Sovereign's gaze shifted to Berut.
"Yes, Sovereign." Berut quickly explained. "This rumor was spread by the Lord of the Heavenly Mountain Prefecture, Moerde. Before that, Lin Lei had killed Moerde's strongest divine clone. Unable to seek revenge, Moerde must have come up with this scheme. Otherwise, how could the timing be so perfect — the very moment Lin Lei killed his strongest divine clone, he suddenly 'learned' about the Supreme God's token?"
"Moerde..." The Stellar Sovereign knew that the rumor had indeed originated from that person called Moerde. "Is he courting death?" A note of anger crept into her low voice.
"This Moerde was probably looking to drag Lin Lei down with him, even at the cost of his own life," Berut said. "Losing his strongest divine clone meant nothing to Moerde. But Lin Lei is a Perfection-stage Highgod. The gap in their standing is enormous. Moerde trading his remaining scrap of a life for Lin Lei's — it's perfectly understandable."
"Where is Moerde now?" the Stellar Sovereign asked coldly.
"He has already been executed by the Blood Peak Sovereign," Berut explained. "Both the Wind Sovereign, Lady Teresia, and the Blood Peak Sovereign were furious. Lin Lei himself had wanted to hunt Moerde down, but since Moerde was the Blood Peak Sovereign's envoy, the Blood Peak Sovereign dealt with him personally."
The Stellar Sovereign fell silent, her gaze sweeping over to Lin Lei.
Being stared at by a Sovereign, Lin Lei felt immense pressure bearing down on him.
Suddenly —
The Stellar Sovereign frowned, looking toward the hall's entrance, where a hazy figure was coalescing into shape — and then took on the form of the Blood Peak Sovereign.
"Pash, you've come?" the Stellar Sovereign spoke.
The Blood Peak Sovereign smiled and gave a slight bow before walking over. "Of course I've come. You're in my territory — how could I not greet you? Xingyi, it seems the Supreme God's tokens really are quite the prize. Back then, Teresia chased after Lin Lei as well, forcing him to hand them over. Lin Lei had no choice but to swear an oath in the name of the Supreme Gods."
With that, the Blood Peak Sovereign sat down to one side.
The Blood Peak Sovereign smiled at Lin Lei and Berut. "Don't be nervous. The Stellar Sovereign isn't some lunatic like Teresia."
"Enough," the Stellar Sovereign shot the Blood Peak Sovereign a glance. "Since this Lin Lei has already sworn a Supreme God's oath... and with you all vouching for him, I'll believe what you say. But Pash — your envoy, Moerde, dared to fabricate such a rumor. Where there's smoke, there's fire. The Supreme Gods have probably actually issued a task."
The Blood Peak Sovereign nodded. "That may be so. But if they truly issued a task, we should at least have seen one of the three tokens. The most important thing is the Supreme God's Edict — it details the task requirements. The message on that piece of paper was clearly altered. Because even if a task were issued, it would never state that a particular token is in someone's possession."
The Stellar Sovereign nodded.
Suddenly —
"BOOM~~~" The Stellar Sovereign's terrifying divine sense instantly spread outward...
"Xingyi, why are you spreading your divine sense across all of Hell?" the Blood Peak Sovereign asked in surprise.
Lin Lei's heart trembled at the words. Cover all of Hell? The range of one's divine sense depended on the strength of one's soul power and the potency of one's will. Lin Lei could only cover eight million miles, and that was only because his soul power was exceptionally strong. But the Sovereigns? They could cover all of Hell.
The gulf between a Sovereign's power and his own willpower was beyond imagination.
No wonder once a Sovereign's true body arrived, even a Perfection-stage Highgod was doomed. Unless the Perfection-stage Highgod fled from the very start — never meeting the Sovereign's true body, escaping to a material plane as quickly as possible.
"This matter naturally needs to be discussed with all the Sovereigns of Hell," the Stellar Sovereign said calmly. "Otherwise, after a few decades or centuries, they'll all come knocking. And whether this rumor is true or false remains uncertain."
Lin Lei's heart skipped a beat. All the Sovereigns of Hell?
Far away on the Redbud Continent, on the Jadefloat Continent to the east, across the vast Sea of Chaos...
The Sovereigns standing at the pinnacle connected through their divine senses.
"Xingyi, you're contacting everyone — what for?" From the distant and vast Sea of Chaos, the most powerful existence there spoke, its voice resonating in the minds of every Sovereign in Hell.
"Sovereign Lord, I'm contacting everyone because a rumor about the Supreme God's tokens has begun spreading in Hell. Before long, you'll all hear about it. So I might as well inform you all now, and we can discuss this matter." The Stellar Sovereign's voice also echoed in the minds of the other Sovereigns.
The Sovereigns' divine senses could each cover an entire plane. They didn't need to gather in person to communicate.
"Supreme God's tokens?" A voice of delight came from a Sovereign on the Muya Continent.
"The Supreme Gods have issued another task?"
"What task is it?"