Book 20, The Crown’s Riddle – Chapter 17, Too Hot to Handle

Within the metallic lifeform. Because of Bebe’s words, Linley used his divine sense to investigate the nine soul pearls within his interspatial ring. But what Linley saw was something he had never even imagined...those nine soul pearls had actually fused with that tattered crown. That crown was currently glowing with a faint aura that swirled around it. It was no longer broken and tattered looking.

Seeing this, a look of astonishment appeared on Linley’s face.

“Boss, what is it?” Bebe, seeing this, couldn’t help but ask.

“Nothing.” Linley hurriedly reclaimed his equanimity and laughed, while at the same time he spoke spiritually with Bebe. “Bebe, those nine soul pearls are connected to something very important. That Sovereign who came earlier came for the sake of those nine soul pearls. From now onwards, no matter what, don’t discuss those nine soul pearls with anyone. Even after we return to the Skyrite Mountains, don’t discuss it.”

Bebe had endured countless trials by Linley’s side. He knew a grave situation when he saw one, and he hurriedly spoke back through their spiritual bond, “Don’t worry, Boss.”

“Olivier, Diana, Deia.” Linley looked towards Olivier’s group of three, then said through divine sense, “From today onwards, you must completely forget about those nine soul pearls. Understand? If you ever mention them, you will definitely cause a storm of blood. I will probably suffer for it, while you, as people with some inside knowledge, will probably be seized and questioned.”

Linley didn’t even dare imagine how many people would suffer once they became connected to the nine soul pearls.

Aside from Molde, only Olivier’s family of three and Bebe knew that Linley had acquired the nine soul pearls. Once this news leaked out, Olivier, Bebe, and the other two would definitely be pursued.

“The nine soul pearls?” Olivier didn’t ask anything further as he sent back, “Don’t worry. We’ll act as though we never saw anything.”

“Don’t worry, Uncle Linley.” Deia said as well.

Olivier and Diana were both Highgods. They knew how important this matter was. Deia was an adult now as well, and as he saw it, for someone like Linley, an invincible Paragon, to say such a thing meant that this definitely was a serious matter.

“Molde should be dead now, so as long as you don’t tell anyone, in the future, there shouldn’t be any major issues. Even if there are, at most it would involve me.” Linley sent. He understood that although that Sovereign of Wind, Teresia, had departed, that didn’t mean the other Sovereigns wouldn’t suspect anything.

Linley frowned while pondering to himself. “Molde most likely didn’t just spread this news to just one or two Sovereigns. It took me less than a year to go from the Skymount Prefecture to Indigo Prefecture. The Bloodridge Sovereign and that Sovereign of Wind were both fast, but most likely the other Sovereigns haven’t received this information yet. But shortly afterwards, they will learn it. They will come looking for me...”

As long as he had to deal with it by himself, it would be fine.

He was a Soul Mutate Highgod with the power of Will. Sovereigns wouldn’t be able to hypnotize him.

But Olivier, Deia, and the others...they were different. It was best to separate them from this matter early on.

Skyrite Mountains. Linley’s residence.

Reynolds was seated on the ground. He was lying against a tree, holding a book in his hands, while Yale and George were seated facing each other.

“Third Bro is too studious when it comes to training. As soon as he returned, he immediately went into closed-door training. Not even his original body is resting. Given his current level, why is he training so frantically?” Reynolds sat there on the ground, his gaze on his book while he mumbled aloud. “His original body and his four divine clones...he should leave at least one of them to accompany his bros in chatting. He can tell us about his journey, but he didn’t even chat with us. He went straight into closed-door training.”

George shook his head, giving Reynolds, seated on the ground, a sideways glance. He laughed, “Fourth Bro, can it be that you believe that if Third Bro was as lazy as you, he would have been able to reach his current level? No matter how talented you are, you still have to work hard.”

“I understand.” Reynolds replied, and then he suddenly saw the distant Bebe. He hurriedly called out towards him, “Hey, Bebe, c’mere.”

“I’m busy. I’ll come later.” Bebe quickly ran away.

Bebe flew down the stairs, and as he did, the corridor grew cold and dark.

Soon, Bebe arrived at a private room.

“Creaaaak.” The stone door was pushed open. Linley was there, seated in the meditative position within that stone room, his long hair hanging loosely. Linley opened his eyes and glanced at Bebe, then laughed and nodded. “Bebe, sit.”

The stone door was shut.

Bebe looked at Linley, puzzled. “Boss, something you need?”

“Bebe.” Linley spoke to him through their spiritual link. “Previously, you asked me about the nine soul pearls, right? I’ll tell you now, but our conversation must be through our spiritual link. This is because...I can’t be sure if there is currently a Sovereign using his divine sense to monitor me!”

Linley was unable to detect the divine sense of a Sovereign, which was why, to be safe, Linley didn’t dare to bring out the crown a single time.

“But of course, it is still early on. Most likely, most Sovereigns don’t know about this. Thus, the chance that we are currently being investigated is quite low. Nonetheless, to be safe, we need to be vigilant.” After having experienced that last trial, Linley didn’t want to rely on luck alone.

“It seems this is a serious problem.” Bebe’s eyes lit up as he sent back.

“It is indeed quite serious. Those nine soul pearls are an Overgod talisman. That’s something even Sovereigns want. But, I can’t hand it over, because once I hand over those nine soul pearls, the Sovereigns will definitely keep asking me for an ‘Overgod decree’. Handing them over would just cause a disaster! Right now, the most important thing is to hide those nine soul pearls.”

Linley had pondered over this for a long time. Although he had quite a few good ideas, in the end, he chose one which required Bebe’s help.

“Boss, tell me.” Bebe sent back.

Linley said aloud, “Bebe, you need to eat divine sparks, right? This interspatial ring has more than enough within.” As he spoke, he took out an interspatial ring and gave it to Bebe. While he said those things aloud, he simultaneously said mentally through divine sense, “Bebe, the Overgod talisman is inside this ring. I can’t open it up. What you need to do is to swallow the ring. You should now be able to make godspark weapons, right? Hide this ring inside of a godspark weapon and fuse it into it. I trust you are able to do this.”

“Don’t worry, Boss. I am currently making a godspark artifact.” Bebe was completely confident.

When Bebe had just become a Highgod, he wasn’t able to forge godspark weapons.

But it had been more than a thousand years. After having eaten so many divine sparks, Bebe already had the power to forge godspark weapons.

“In a bit, I’ll swallow this ring into my stomach, but I won’t digest it. I’ll cover it with a godspark weapon. Heh heh, a godspark weapon...even Sovereigns aren’t able to see through them and see what is inside them. Even if a Sovereign comes to investigate us, how would the Sovereign end up suspecting my godspark weapons?” Bebe was completely confident.

“Even if he wanted to search, he would probably search me first.” Linley sent back with a faint smile.

Items like Overgod talismans, to Deities, were quite dangerous.

Because of the trick Molde had played, Linley didn’t dare to hand over the nine soul pearls at all. If he didn’t hand it over, it wouldn’t be so bad; most likely, the Sovereigns would believe that Molde was trying to harm Linley. But if he handed them over...it would be strange if the Sovereigns didn’t then demand Linley hand over the Overgod decree as well. If Linley handed over the ‘tattered crown’, the Sovereigns probably would go mad and most likely suspect Linley to be in possession of all three items.

By then, Linley would be at the heart of a vortex of battles between Sovereigns.

“If they aren’t able to find it on me, the Sovereigns will probably give up. Unless a Sovereign was absolutely certain that the Overgod talisman exists...only then would they frantically search for it.” Linley was very confident, because based on the information, he could tell...that the Sovereigns didn’t know whether or not the news about the Overgod talismans was true or not.

Perhaps the Overgods hadn’t even issued a mission.

Linley’s predictions were correct. This matter wasn’t finished. Molde was dead, but the 100 soldiers he had sent out didn’t know that. They still hastened to places throughout the Infernal Realm.

The Starmist Sea was fairly close to the Bloodridge Continent.

Starmist Sea. Deep within the sea.

A nine storied tower. The farther down one went, the more space it took up. This nine storied tower that was located deep within the Starmist Sea took up a hundred kilometers, and was nearly five thousand meters high. The nine storied tower was completely, pitch-black, but the outside layer was faintly glowing with light, keeping the water of the sea at bay.

Within the nine storied tower, at the main gates. Two horned warriors were there, standing guard.

Within the tower. The first floor. Within the eastern hall.

At the front of the hall, there was a throne glowing with illusory light. The figure atop the throne seemed so blurry, but the awe-inspiring, heart-shaking aura which manifested from this man caused a violet-robed man at the back of hall to kneel in terror, not even daring to raise his head.

“Sovereign.” The violet-robed man knelt down before the throne. “Your subordinate just received this news, and then I rushed over here, not even daring to look back.”

“Sovereign.” The violet-robed man knelt there on the floor of the hall. “Your subordinate received some news. There is word regarding an Overgod talisman.”

“Overgod talisman?”

A deep, hoarse voice echoed forth.

Instantly, that black piece of paper flew towards the figure seated upon the throne, pausing momentarily before the throne. And then, the piece of paper began to burn before transforming into ashes

“It was actually an ordinary piece of paper that contained this news? Laughable.” The hoarse voice rang out. “Where did you hear this news from?

“Sovereign, a Highgod delivered it to us. When I saw it, I immediately found that Highgod and began to interrogate him. At first, the Highgod insisted that he gained it by accident and wanted to offer it to me. But I didn’t believe it and intensified the questioning. In the end, I learned that this news came from Lord Prefect ‘Molde’ of Skymount Prefecture, of the Bloodridge Continent. He was the one who sent this person here. I didn’t dare to ponder this, and instead immediately came to report it to you.”

“A Lord Prefect of the Bloodridge Prefecture?”

The Sovereign, seated on his throne, pondered silently for a moment. “You did very well. Alright, then, you can leave now.”

“Yes, Sovereign.” After hearing the words, ‘you did very well’, the violet-robed man’s eyes flashed with delight as he immediately left.

“This news didn’t come on an Overgod decree. The chances that this is real is rather low, but for the Lord Prefect to dare act in such a way, perhaps...there really might be a chance.” That blurry figure immediately vanished, disappearing from the throne.

The bloody sunlight shone down upon the Skyrite Mountains.

The carvings of the Four Divine Beasts clan within the Skyrite Mountains all appeared so eye-catching. There were people visible everywhere throughout the mountains.

“Whoosh!”

A blurry human figure suddenly appeared before the Skyrite Mountains, seeming to have just teleported here. This man was dressed in a dark violet robe, which had stars embroidered atop of it. His long, deep violet hair hanged loosely to his shoulders. His features were almost devilishly handsome, but there was a very fine, small horn in his forehead.

This new arrival swept the Skyrite Mountains with his gaze, then revealed a hint of a smile. “Those four divine beasts died. I didn’t imagine that their progeny would produce a Paragon.”

And then, with another movement, he once more disappeared.

In the air above Linley’s estate. That dark-violet robed man once more appeared out of nowhere.

“Who is this?” Reynolds, upon seeing someone suddenly appear out of nowhere in the air above him, was badly startled.

The guards surrounding this empty space were all stunned as well. Before they even noticed it, someone had appeared above them. In addition, there had been quite a few people staring into the skies. The person seemed to have teleported here, as he had appeared immediately.

“Who is this?” Yale sent mentally, stunned. “I...I can’t see him clearly. He seems to be completely wrapped in a layer of fog.”

“I can’t tell either.” Bebe also mumbled, astonished.

This figure descended, landing on the ground. He calmly released his aura, making it so that everyone nearby did not dare to approach him.

“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” Two figures charged out from the main hall.

“Greetings, Sovereign.” The two figures simultaneously bowed.

“Linley...Beirut...” The newcomer glanced at him with his violet pupils. “Let’s chat inside the room.” As he spoke, his body flickered, then vanished from that location. His speed was countless times faster than that of a Highgod Paragon.

Linley and Beirut exchanged a glance.

“Linley, your predictions were quite accurate.” Beirut sent with a laugh.

“It was easy to understand. Only, I didn’t imagine that someone would come so fast.” Linley sent with a sigh. “Lord Beirut, which Sovereign is this?”

“The Starmist Sovereign! He’s the one who controls the Starmist Sea. In terms of power, amongst the seven Sovereigns of Destruction, he is only weaker than the Chief Sovereign of Destruction. He is far more powerful than that Sovereign of Wind who came last time. Come, let’s go inside.” Beirut sent, and then Linley and Beirut immediately stepped into the main hall.