"Ashura? Isn't he the one whose name gave rise to the title 'Shura' because of his unmatched power?"
The many Sovereigns looked toward this person—and only then did they fully realize the truth.
Uhtred's trump card was actually him.
Before Sadius' emergence as a tri-element soul mutation, there had been only one such individual in all of existence. That person…was Ignis.
Ignis had existed since the very birth of the universe—a supreme powerhouse belonging to an extraordinarily rare race known as the Ashura Clan.
He was born with innate affinities in Destruction, Lightning, and Fire.
Even more miraculously, he had succeeded in achieving a tri-element soul mutation.
Though not a Paragon, his strength far surpassed that of even peak-level Shuras.
(Note: Without taking Sovereign artifacts into account, the gap between a Shura-level expert and a Paragon is a thousandfold.)
At one point, he even participated in the battle for Sovereign sparks. Unfortunately, he did not succeed in acquiring one. Few received a spark through strength and most through luck.
But even so—Before Dennington achieved Paragon status, Ignis had long been hailed as the number one beneath the Sovereigns.
A testament to the terrifying power he possessed.
More importantly, in the Infernal Realm, the reason Shura-level experts emerged from City Lords was because of Ignis.
Through sheer, nearly unmatched combat prowess, he had left his indelible mark upon Infernal Realm. The only ones who remember this are the Sovereigns minus a few ancient existences.
Now that he had arrived, the gathered Sovereigns all felt: this man would be the fiercest rival in the trial.
After all, this was a tri-element soul mutate—his divine power alone was ten times greater than that of any dual-element soul mutation expert.
Not to mention, he had been cultivating since the beginning of time itself. Even if he hadn't become a Paragon, he was essentially invincible below Paragon level.
"Is everyone here?" the Redbud Sovereign asked again.
All present nodded.
The Redbud Sovereign then activated the soul contract she shared with Sadius, transmitting a message directly to him. What she didn't know was that Sadius left the contract intact as a favor to her. To give her a sense of security.
"My Lord, all the soul mutated candidates participating in this trial have arrived."
In the next moment, the elemental essence across Heaven and Earth surged—
A massive golden figure materialized in the sky.
"The trial for the successor of the Destruction Overgod has begun. Anyone who possesses an Overgod Mark may enter the Amethyst Mountains to participate in the trial."
With a wave of Sadius' hand—
Golden marks of light flew out, merging into the bodies of each soul mutated candidate present.
But not everyone received a mark.
That was because a few of the candidates had refined Highgod sparks to become Highgods.
Some had even refined Destruction-type Highgod sparks to fake a divine clone and pose as soul mutated candidates.
Naturally, the Sovereigns present saw through all of this.
The Sovereigns supporting these individuals could only sigh in silence.
One by one, the soul mutation experts entered the mist-shrouded Amethyst Mountains. Even the Chief Sovereigns could not peer into its interior—
Clearly, this was Sadius' doing.
"Everyone, the Supreme Overgod knows you all wish to monitor the trial. The outer eight family castles around the mountain have been vacated. There are 12 castles and in each castle are projection crystals capable of observing the trial in real time. Each Chief Sovereign may choose one castle and bring their own Sovereign subordinates to watch from within."
These projection crystals were personally designed by Sadius—far more advanced than typical illusions, capable of instantaneous and delay-free transmission.
"Our thanks to the Supreme Overgod," someone offered politely.
The eleven Chief Sovereigns present each led the other Sovereigns from their planes to separate castles.
Only three individuals—Redbud, Bluefire, and Beirut—did not follow any Chief Sovereign superior.
The trio went together to the twelfth castle.
By then, Sadius was already lounging inside—sipping fine wine and observing the trial play out.
"Zijing, Uncle, Lord Leylin, please have a seat," Sadius said casually, conjuring three reclining chairs out of thin air.
Redbud gave Sadius an inward eye-roll.
Beirut was called "Uncle," Bluefire "Lord," but her? Just "Zijing?."
If she'd known, she would've just let Sadius call her "Big Sister" back then.
Now, even that opportunity was lost.
The three reclined on the chairs and watched the trial unfold.
"Sadius," Beirut asked, "if we already know Ignis is far stronger than the others, what's the point of the trial? Why not just appoint him as the Destruction Overgod?"
"Uncle," Sadius replied, "becoming an Overgod isn't that easy. I only succeeded because I was the first to receive the universal favor. After me, anyone else has to be acknowledged by the Laws of the universe. Otherwise, even a Chief Sovereign–level soul mutate can't become the next Destruction Sovereign."
Now the others understood.
What he did not say was by universal favor he meant Hongmeng. While Sadius technically pioneered Aether, Hongmeng still had to adjust the Coiling Dragon universe to a new cosmos to stabilise it. Otherwise its elevation in status would have disrupted the current ecosystem and existence would crumble.
A favor may be too stretched of a word. It was more like mutual benefit.
"With Ignis' strength," Redbud said, "he could easily kill off the other candidates and participate in the trial alone. His chances would be highest that way."
"That's why, in the early stages of the trial, none of the participants will encounter each other," Sadius explained.
"Eventually, though, they will meet—and then it'll be a battle to the death. This trial will last a long time—perhaps even until the next Planar War begins."
"If I recall correctly," Beirut said, "in the past nine Planar Wars, the Fate Sovereign's Celestial Realm won every time?"
"Sigh…yes," someone else answered.
"If the Celestial Realm defeats the Infernal Realm again this time, the Fate Sovereign's faction will gain another boost of Willpower. Even mid-level Sovereigns under the Fate Laws could rival a Chief Sovereign after that."
In other words—among the three Sovereign factions, Fate would dominate the others.
Previously, Orloff led the Fate faction to ten consecutive Planar War victories.
As a result, all the other Fate-aligned Sovereigns had banded tightly around Orloff.
This time, the Fate faction was expected to go all out.
Plus, Orloff had a close relationship with Augusta, meaning he could borrow many of Augusta's twelve-winged angels.
In this coming Planar War, all non-Fate-aligned Sovereigns would likely join forces.
But even then…their chances of victory were slim.
"Uncle," Sadius turned to Beirut, "I remember your boys are all Highgods now, right? Why not let them go out and experience the world?"
Beirut smiled.
"Perfect timing. Those three brats should get some real-world training. I kept them in the Yulan Plane all this time, afraid Augusta would seek revenge. But now it's time for them to spread their wings."
"I also recently took in a Sovereign Emissary named Boslo," Sadius recalled.
"He should be interested in the Planar War too."
Suddenly, Sadius thought of Lomio.
That fellow had also made significant improvements in strength over the years.
"Uncle, didn't you once want to recruit Lomio as your own Sovereign Emissary? Isn't this the perfect chance?"
"Haha, excellent, excellent."
"There's still a thousand years before the Planar War begins," Sadius said.
"Given the training speed of Linley and Olivier, they should both reach Highgod status by then. Once they do, I'll send them to the battlefield as well."
Of course, Sadius was aware of another key figure in this upcoming war—Bresle.
In the original novel, if Linley hadn't recruited Bresle of the Bula Race as his Sovereign Emissary, it would've been nearly impossible for the Infernal Realm to win this war.
Naturally, Sadius said nothing of this—Doing so would count as revealing fate's secrets.
And now that Sadius was a Sovereign himself, he was part of the Laws—He could no longer interfere in such matters so casually.