In the City of Light, the Highgod who had just narrowly escaped execution at the hands of Augusta had been resigned to his death.
He had never expected that his fate would be reversed—that another Sovereign would step in and oppose the Lord of Light on his behalf.
While the Sovereigns were still in conference, he had decisively jumped onto the teleportation array, threatening the mid-level God guarding it to activate a portal leading to the material plane, allowing him to flee back to his home plane.
Just as he returned to his native plane, a voice echoed in his mind.
"Alright, you may return to the Overgod Plane of Aether. As long as you don't provoke any Sovereigns, they won't act against you."
The Highgod was stunned. Who could this be? Even after returning to the material plane, someone could still send him divine sense transmissions?
"Linus thanks Your Excellency for your assistance. I think I'd rather just stay in the material plane. The divine planes don't hold much appeal. It's better for me to remain here and be emperor of my own empire."
Before being imprisoned in the Planar Prison, Linus had been the ruler of a mighty empire. Now a peak-level Highgod, he had initially hoped to make a name for himself in the Overgod Plane.
But as soon as he arrived, he was immediately hunted by a Sovereign.
"It's better to just continue chasing my emperor dreams here in my homeland," he mused.
After all, even reaching the Great Perfection stage was still no match for a Sovereign.
"Do you think hiding in the material plane makes you completely safe? Augusta, the Lord of Light, is notoriously vengeful. While he himself cannot enter the material plane, his subordinates—Great Perfection Sovereign emissaries—can. Do you think you can resist someone at the Great Perfection level? And besides, the Sovereign sparks of the Overgod Plane of Aether have yet to descend. Are you not tempted to try?"
The first half of that statement left Linus feeling like death was inevitable. But upon hearing the latter half, his heart involuntarily thudded with excitement.
A Sovereign spark…who wouldn't be moved?
He was no ignorant native cultivator. He was quite knowledgeable about the Four Higher Planes and the Seven Divine Planes.
He understood that those lofty Sovereigns hadn't all cultivated their way into power—many had simply been lucky enough to acquire a Sovereign spark at the dawn of creation and were thus granted the status of Sovereign.
He also knew that the only path to becoming a Sovereign was to refine a Sovereign spark.
"Your Excellency…are you the Overgod, Sadius?" Linus finally asked.
He had already guessed the identity of the voice, but he wasn't fully certain and wanted confirmation.
"Who I am isn't important. What's important is—do you want to become a Sovereign?"
Linus's heart pounded furiously. This was definitely the Overgod!
"Yes, my lord! I want to become a Sovereign!" Linus made his decision without hesitation.
"Good. Then return to the Overgod Plane of Aether and build your own power base. Remember, if you want to become a Sovereign of the Aether system, you must first become a Highgod through independent cultivation in the laws of Aether."
Sadius had selected Linus precisely because of his innate affinity with the laws of Aether.
The seven Sovereigns of the Aether system could not possibly serve under other Sovereigns. After all, the Sovereign sparks of the Aether system carried even more willpower than those of the Four Edicts.
As an Overgod, Sadius couldn't directly decide the ownership of the seven Sovereign sparks. All he could do was increase others' chances of obtaining them.
The previously born Three-Legged Golden Crow had been Sadius' chosen candidate for a Sovereign of Aether, which is why he'd had Bebe personally train it.
Now, Linus was his pick to become a mid-level Sovereign of Aether. Whether or not he had the fate to seize the spark was up to Linus himself.
Sadius said no more, wary of revealing too much.
After all, his true intention was to incite a Sovereign war—to shake up the entire hierarchy of Sovereigns in existence.
Linus once again returned to the Overgod Plane of Aether, but this time, he did not teleport to the City of Light. Instead, he arrived at the teleportation zone overseen by the Sovereign of Fate, Orloff.
As soon as Linus appeared, someone quickly recognized him.
After all, news of an Highgod who had escaped from under Augusta's nose had spread far and wide.
But no one really knew who he was.
The only person who had once imprisoned Linus in a Planar Prison—a Planar Warden—had already been killed by Linus.
So many were quite curious about this mysterious Highgod.
Soon, Augusta learned that this person had returned to the Overgod Plane.
He immediately withdrew to the Light Sovereign Plane.
As the Lord of Light, attacking a Highgod without cause would invite trouble from other Sovereigns—especially the Redbud Sovereign, who was now determined to protect Linus. Augusta couldn't make a move personally.
However, dealing with a mere commander-level Highgod was well within his means.
"This time, I'll dispatch six Five-Fusion Twelve-Winged Angelic Warriors. I'll make sure he dies a miserable death!"
Augusta didn't immediately seek Magnus's help. Deploying a Great Perfection-level expert meant owing a major favor.
The six Twelve-Winged Angelic Warriors with Five Profound Mysteries were Augusta's most precious resources.
Since Augusta himself had only reached the Five-Fusion level in the Light Laws, his Twelve-Winged Angels could only execute Four-Fusion or Five-Fusion techniques.
If Augusta were to one day break through to the Great Perfection level, the high-level Angel Rebirth Pool under his command might be able to produce Twelve-Winged Angels capable of executing Six-Fusion techniques.
Of course, even if a Twelve-Winged Angel had a Six-Fusion ultimate technique, it would still lack willpower. After all, they were merely humanoid weapons, their strength only about ten times greater than ordinary commander-class experts.
After returning to the Overgod Plane of Aether, Linus immediately left the vicinity of the teleportation array.
That area was heavily guarded by the armies of Sovereigns. He certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to try establishing his power base there.
Soon, he gathered some useful information.
Most Gods who arrived from the material plane were being thrown into the frontlines. The territories of different Sovereigns constantly clashed, as each vied to claim more land.
After all, the seven Sovereign sparks of the Aether system would appear randomly in the future. The more land one owned, the greater the chance of a spark manifesting within one's domain.
The Sovereign stationed closest would then be the first to arrive and seize the spark on their own turf.
All the Sovereigns tacitly acknowledged this system.
This time, the arrival of the Sovereign sparks would not be like the beginning of creation.
Back then, when there were no Sovereigns, anyone lucky enough to obtain a Sovereign spark would become one.
But this time was different. Over sixty Sovereigns were already guarding the Overgod Plane of Aether. Once a Sovereign spark descended, they would immediately descend on the site—leaving ordinary Gods no chance to refine the spark at all.
Sadius intended to disrupt these unspoken rules among the Sovereigns.
And Linus…was his first chess piece.