Dragon Blood Castle was heavily guarded, with patrol teams constantly making their rounds. The weakest among them had reached the ninth rank, and Saint-level experts could be seen everywhere.
Yet when Gaisersen and the three others descended, none of the guards noticed a thing.
In the western garden of Dragon Blood Castle, within a quiet courtyard…
"Rustle~~~" The leaves swayed with the breeze. Beneath a thick, sturdy tree, Olivia sat cross-legged in meditation, his grey robe draped around him, his eyes fixed on the space before him. A qi sword hovered in front of him, flickering and shifting ceaselessly as it demonstrated one attack after another.
Faintly, streams of black and white qi coiled around it.
Suddenly—
Olivia looked up to find four figures standing shoulder to shoulder not far away.
"Clan Leader." Olivia started in surprise and hurriedly rose to his feet.
"Olivia, we've merely come to ask you something," Gaisersen said with a smile. "Do you know where Lin Lei is right now?" Earlier, Gaisersen and the other three had descended from above, sweeping across Dragon Blood Continent with their divine senses. They had spotted many familiar faces, but the first person they had come looking for was Olivia.
"Lin Lei? He must have gone to the Dragon Blood Continent," Olivia guessed.
"My Lords." A voice suddenly rang out.
Gaisersen and the other three turned to look. A maidservant had entered through the courtyard gate, and she bowed respectfully. "The Castle Lord has asked me to invite the four of you to the rear garden."
"The Castle Lord?" Gaisersen and the other three were taken aback.
"The Castle Lord is Lin Lei," Olivia quickly explained. Over the countless years of Dragon Blood Castle, though those in power had changed many times over, the position of Castle Lord had always belonged to Lin Lei alone.
The Vermilion Bird clan leader's beautiful eyes lit up, a flash of shock crossing her face. "Lin Lei—he's here in Dragon Blood Castle?"
"It seems the Ruler of Destruction's news was true after all." The White Tiger clan leader, robed in white, took a deep breath as he spoke.
Lin Lei was in Dragon Blood Castle, and yet they had been unable to detect him with their divine senses. He had definitely surpassed the realm of 'gods'—the only possibility was that he had become a Sovereign!
The four clan leaders of the Four Divine Beast families followed the maidservant toward the rear garden. Their hearts were a tangle of complex emotions and anxiety. After all, Lin Lei's status was entirely different now. A Sovereign and a god—two completely different tiers. The Sovereigns stood high above, looking down upon countless beings across myriad planes as they fought and slaughtered.
Events like plane wars were merely games among the Sovereigns.
When a god faced a Sovereign, even one at Perfection felt utterly powerless.
"Four clan leaders, please come in." A clear, composed voice drifted from the rear garden.
"That's Lin Lei."
Gaisersen and the other three exchanged glances and stepped into the rear garden. The garden was quite expansive, and after entering, they scanned their surroundings before spotting Lin Lei in the distant center, on a wide patch of grass. He was drinking fine wine with Dilia, chatting and laughing.
Noticing the four of them enter, Lin Lei glanced over and smiled faintly. "Four clan leaders, please have a seat."
Ever since his four clones had undergone soul mutation, Lin Lei's standing within the Four Divine Beast families had already surpassed that of the four clan leaders. And now, Lin Lei was even more elevated—he was a Sovereign.
"He's right in front of me, yet it feels as though there's nothing but emptiness before me," Gaisersen transmitted to the other three. "It's just like when we met Father. They haven't deployed any Sovereign pressure—they've completely suppressed their auras." At this point, Gaisersen had no more doubts.
"A Sovereign! He really is a Sovereign!"
The other three clan leaders' eyes gleamed.
Gaisersen looked at Lin Lei and immediately bowed. "Sovereign, we—"
In Gaisersen's view, his relationship with Lin Lei was not particularly close. For one, Lin Lei had only joined the Four Divine Beast families midway. For another, the families had once attempted to seize Lin Lei's Coiling Dragon Ring. Though relations had later improved, that was only due to Lin Lei's strength and Belute's status.
And now Lin Lei was a Sovereign…
Between a god and a Sovereign lay the vastness of heaven and earth—an insurmountable chasm. Naturally, they had to show proper respect.
"Four clan leaders, there's no need to address me as 'Sovereign,'" Lin Lei interrupted with a faint smile. "Just call me Lin Lei, as you always have."
The four exchanged glances.
"I'm curious—how did you learn that I'd become a Sovereign?" Lin Lei asked with a casual smile. His ascension to Sovereign had occurred in the Yulan Plane. How had word reached the Underworld?
The Vermilion Bird clan leader beside him smiled radiantly and gave a slight bow of respect. "Lin Lei, the news of your becoming a Sovereign actually came from the Ruler of Destruction. At first, we didn't dare believe it. After discussing it among the four of us, we decided to come to the Yulan Plane and see for ourselves. Now it seems it was true after all."
Though Lin Lei was chatting and laughing with them, the four clan leaders couldn't help but feel the pressure. No matter how much Lin Lei restrained his aura, a part of their minds constantly reminded them—Lin Lei was a Sovereign.
"The Ruler of Destruction?" Lin Lei's brow furrowed.
"How would the Ruler of Destruction know about it?" Dilia asked, puzzled.
"He shouldn't know. After all, it happened in the Yulan Plane," Lin Lei said, frowning. "There's one other possibility—Grandpa Belute may have communicated with the Ruler of Destruction." Belute had a good relationship with the Ruler of Destruction, and Belute still maintained a clone in the Underworld.
But doubts still lingered in Lin Lei's heart. "What is the Ruler of Destruction's standing? Even if he had somehow learned of it, why would he tell the Four Divine Beast families?"
Lin Lei turned to look directly at Gaisersen. "Clan Leader, why did the Ruler of Destruction tell you all of this?"
"The Ruler of Destruction's energy clone descended upon my Heavenly Sacrifice Mountain Range," Gaisersen explained. "Moreover, he made a request—to borrow one hundred Highgods from our Four Divine Beast families. He said they would be returned after a period of time. As thanks for lending him our people, he offered to grant us some of his Sovereign's power and also gave us a piece of advice, saying that if we wished to learn the cause of the four ancestors' deaths, we should ask you, Lin Lei."
Lin Lei was stunned.
The cause of the four ancestors' deaths?
The burly "Black Tortoise clan leader" spoke in a deep, resonant voice. "We immediately asked why we should ask Lin Lei, and the Ruler of Destruction said you had attained Sovereign-level strength."