Judging solely from the disturbance caused by the spatial vortex, if the lifeform within truly completed its gestation, it would undoubtedly belong to the highest class of divine beasts—perhaps even surpass divine beasts entirely, worthy of being called a "Sovereign Beast."
If such an existence ended up being classified above the level of a Law Sovereign, then things would still be manageable. Under the overwhelming power of the Four Chief Sovereigns, even this creature would have to obey the Sovereign Pact.
But if it were classified as a Lesser Sovereign or Intermediate Sovereign, then it would inevitably become another terrifying super expert capable of killing Sovereigns of the same rank. How could the other Sovereigns not fear such a thing?
If the Lesser Sovereigns and Intermediate Sovereigns had the authority to decide, they would definitely want to shatter the spatial vortex immediately, causing the creature's gestation to fail or remain incomplete, leaving it defective in strength.
Unfortunately, because of the gap in status and power, the Four Chief Sovereigns either could not hear—or selectively chose not to hear—their opinions.
And if what was being nurtured within the spatial vortex was not a lifeform but some powerful treasure, then there was even less to discuss.
That would be an item only the Four Chief Sovereigns were qualified to possess.
Not to mention Lesser and Intermediate Sovereigns—even Law Sovereigns had no right to compete for it.
After listening to the Chief Sovereign of Death's explanation, Locke nodded slightly.
Although this spatial vortex had been caused by his own large-scale absorption of spatial power and was not nurturing any lifeform or treasure, meaning the Sovereigns' guesses would ultimately amount to nothing, their decision to wait perfectly aligned with Locke's own desires.
The longer they waited, the more spatial divine power he could condense, and the more spatial divine power the Emperor Jiang bloodline absorbed, the greater its potential would become.
…
"Boom!"
"Boom boom boom boom!"
Above Flamebone Island in the Nethersea, countless deities were locked in fierce combat.
Every second, large numbers of divine-level experts perished, their bodies falling from the sky into the Nethersea below, where endless schools of fish and shrimp fought to devour them.
It was easy to imagine that, thousands of years later, among those fish and shrimp that had consumed the flesh and blood of countless deities, countless geniuses would emerge—Saints and gods would be born in abundance.
"Algenis, accept your fate!"
"The end of the pirates has come!"
At the very top of the battlefield above Flamebone Island, Oakes and Ryan surrounded Algenis, who wielded a Sovereign artifact longsword, preventing him from attacking the soldiers of the legion beLesser.
It had already been more than two thousand years since Ryan brought the other five legions as Ryanforcements.
During those two thousand years, the pirate forces within the Nethersea had suffered devastating blows.
The first to be exterminated was naturally Mad Lord Harald, who had launched the attack against the Island.
Because of Ryan's arrival, Harald's strongest divine clone had been annihilated on Azure Peak Island.
Afterward, Ryan forced Harald's true body's location out of the pirates and directly dragged Harald's original body back to Azure Peak Island, where he was publicly executed and his head displayed as a warning.
Following that came the full-scale counterattack of Locke's Sovereign Legion against the pirate forces of the Nethersea.
In merely two thousand years, among the eleven strongest pirate factions, two Pirate Kings and five of the Seven Lords had fallen.
The number of islands under pirate control also dropped from eighteen to nine.
In the end, the remaining two Pirate Kings and two of the Seven Lords had no choice but to seek refuge under the Pirate Emperor Algenis and request his protection.
But even so, it could not stop the downfall of the pirates.
In this battle, Oakes led the entirety of Locke's Sovereign Legion into war, sweeping across six islands in succession and ultimately cornering all the pirates of the Nethersea onto Flamebone Island.
It could be said that as long as the final pirate force on Flamebone Island was destroyed, the pirate powers that had dominated the Nethersea for tens of millions of years would be completely crushed, with no possibility of recovery.
"The end of the pirates?"
Algenis glanced at the pirates below, who were being massacred into total collapse by the ten legions, and let out a cold snort.
"As long as I remain alive, the end of the pirates will never come!"
"This world has never been fair. The lifeforms born earliest—those lucky enough have already become lofty Sovereigns standing high above all others."
"And even those less fortunate have monopolized most cultivation resources, using them to harvest wealth from countless lifeforms."
"As for later generations, they have no power, no influence, no strength. Even obtaining a slightly decent treasure is enough to attract the attention of those great powers. Temptation, deception, assassination—they use every possible method."
"As long as there are people in this world unwilling to bow their heads, there will always be an endless stream of people joining my banner."
"Free pirates can never be exterminated!"
"That's a pretty stirring speech."
"Crack crack…"
Ryan rolled his wrists, the joints in his fingers producing crisp cracking sounds.
"But Algenis, the lord I follow once said something."
"A true powerhouse points his blade toward those stronger than himself."
"The weak, however, only point their blades toward those weaker than themselves."
"If your pirate crew had truly only plundered those major powers you just described—the ones monopolizing cultivation resources—then I, Ryan, would respect you and your pirates as real men."
"But Algenis, Pirate Emperor, tell me yourself. Since the day you founded the Nine Nether Pirates, how many major powers have you actually plundered?"
"The ones you preyed upon were all medium and small powers struggling to climb upward through their own efforts and the efforts of their descendants."
"You even colluded with those major powers and actively helped them wipe out other factions that might threaten their status."
"No matter how beautiful your words sound, what you've done is no different from the very powers you claim to despise."
"And as for your claim that the pirates will survive as long as you live…"
"What a coincidence. We think the same thing."
"Otherwise, why do you think I came here?"
"Exactly!"
Picking up where Ryan left off, Oakes spoke in a deep voice to Algenis.
"Algenis, this time, you won't escape. Surrender your head obediently!"
"Hmph!"
Algenis glanced at Oakes and Ryan.
He had fought both of them before.
Oakes truly deserved his reputation as one of the top ten experts of the Netherworld in the past. If not for his attack Sovereign artifact and those gray flames capable of restoring physical and soul injuries, Algenis would have been no match for him at all.
As for Ryan, although he lacked a Sovereign artifact, his terrifying physical body alLessered his material attacks to rival Algenis's own, despite the latter possessing an attack Sovereign artifact.
Only because Algenis wielded both an attack Sovereign artifact and the Bloodshadow Flame was he able to suppress Ryan slightly.
Now, with Oakes and Ryan joining forces against him, this time he truly might be doomed…
…
At the mountainside of Mount Netherworld, the Laws of Heaven and Earth surrounding Locke's original body had already dispersed.
Vast amounts of spatial power flowed from the spatial turbulence into Locke's body through his soul force, where it was refined into spatial divine power.
Afterward, that spatial divine power was absorbed by the bloodline within Locke's body, strengthening his physique.
Only after the strengthening of his body was complete did the spatial divine power begin to be stored.
For divine-level experts and Sovereigns alike, divine power and Sovereign power were stored within divine sparks and Sovereign sparks.
But Locke's original body was different.
His soul contained no divine spark.
However, Locke's soul had already reached the Nascent Soul stage and was capable of bearing the Laws of Space. Naturally, it could also store spatial divine power.
By the time Locke felt that his soul had more or less been filled with spatial divine power, ten years had already passed.
Within the spatial turbulence, although the Sovereigns' divine senses could not penetrate into the depths of the turbulence to investigate the interior of the spatial vortex, they could still observe changes in the vortex through sight.
Compared to ten years ago, the rotational speed of the spatial vortex had gradually sLessered, and the size of the vortex itself was steadily shrinking.
The Four Chief Sovereigns exchanged glances and positioned themselves in four directions around the vortex, surrounding it at the center.
In this way, even if some treasure truly emerged from within, no other Sovereign would be able to bypass them and seize it.
The other three Chief Sovereigns focused most of their attention on the spatial vortex. Only the Chief Sovereign of Death appeared somewhat distracted.
After all, unlike the others, she knew perfectly well that this spatial vortex had been caused by Locke.
There was no lifeform inside, nor was there any treasure.
By acting together with the other three Chief Sovereigns now, she was merely helping Locke conceal the truth and prevent others from suspecting that the incident had anything to do with him.
As the spatial vortex grew smaller and smaller, the gazes of all the Sovereigns concentrated upon its center.
Seeing this, Locke's thoughts stirred.
Instantly, the soul force of Locke's original body within the Netherworld violently churned the spatial turbulence once before rapidly withdrawing, retracting all of his soul force back into his body.
Back when Locke had only been at the Soul Golden Core stage, even these Sovereigns had been unable to sense his soul force, much less now that his soul realm had advanced another level into the Nascent Soul stage.
"BOOM!"
Because of Locke's actions, the spatial turbulence at the very center of the vortex suddenly became chaotic, erupting with terrifying power that blasted open a massive spatial void within the turbulence.
"Not good! That thing is trying to escape!"
The moment he saw the commotion within the spatial vortex, Orloff cried out in alarm and was the first to charge into the vortex.
With a single palm strike, Orloff shattered the spatial vortex apart, alLessering everyone to see the rapidly shrinking spatial void within.
"Don't even think about escaping!"
The Chief Sovereign of Destruction, Wordred, followed closely behind. The Sovereign artifact spear in his hand unleashed a black-red beam of destructive light that tore through the spatial turbulence and pierced into the spatial void.
"Rippp—"
That strike from the Chief Sovereign of Destruction directly tore open the spatial void, seemingly connecting the chaotic gap Locke had created to some unknown plane.
Upon seeing this, the Chief Sovereign of Life, Vivian, and the Chief Sovereign of Death both immediately stopped in place.
(End of Chapter)
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