For that very reason, Wodred had no intention of refusing the requests of the Sovereigns under his command.
"Yes, Lord Wodred."
The Blood Peak Sovereign, Pash, gave a wry smile. "To be honest, aside from the share of faith I receive from the Fiend Castle, I've had almost no other source of faith energy in recent years."
His words were not without merit.
When mortals offered faith without a specific target, ninety-nine percent of it would naturally be absorbed by the Sovereigns' divine sparks.
As for the Sovereigns of Destruction, the faith they gathered mostly came from those who believed only in their own strength—those who placed power above all else.
But ever since the planar wars began, from the material planes all the way up to the Divine Planes, countless lives had been swept into the conflicts incited by the Seven Elemental Sovereigns' followers.
Under such circumstances, the vast majority of faith was harvested by the Elemental Sovereigns.
Any who dared show irreverence toward the Sovereigns were branded as heretics and eliminated without mercy.
As a result, those who trusted only in themselves—who sought to claim power as their own—had no chance to grow.
Or rather, during their growth, they were inevitably forced by the environment to conform.
In such a world, it was only natural that the Destruction Sovereigns would receive less and less faith.
If they wanted more Sovereign power, there was only one path left—
war.
If mortals would not willingly offer their faith to destruction, then they would be made to experience it.
Slaughter. Ruin. Terror.
Through destruction itself, these emotions would forcefully give rise to faith, which would then flow into the Sovereigns' divine sparks.
"Hmm?"
Just as Wodred was about to speak, a voice suddenly sounded in his mind—it was a message from the Fate High Sovereign, Orloff.
Without hesitation, Wodred closed his eyes and extended his divine sense into the spatial turbulence.
There, the divine senses of the other three High Sovereigns had already gathered.
"Well now, it's been a long time, Wawaya… and Wodred."
The Death Sovereign's voice carried a trace of amusement as she greeted the Life High Sovereign and the Destruction High Sovereign.
The three of them were all the first lifeforms born within their respective Higher Planes.
Among them, the Death Sovereign, Lilia, had been the earliest to come into existence.
After becoming a god, she had even left the Underworld to travel through the other three Higher Planes.
Back then, wielding the Underworld's Core, she had beaten nearly every powerhouse across the Four Higher Planes into submission.
Even Wodred and Wawaya had not been exceptions.
The difference was—
while Wodred remained unwilling to accept it, Wawaya had reacted very differently.
After being defeated once, she harbored no resentment at all. Instead, she had simply acknowledged Lilia as her "big sister."
"Big sister."
"Hmph."
Wodred snorted coldly in response before turning his attention to the Fate High Sovereign.
Among the four High Sovereigns of the Edicts, the Lords of Destruction, Life, and Death were all the first beings of their respective planes.
Only the Fate High Sovereign, Orloff, had begun as an ordinary human.
Even their appearances differed.
While the other three maintained youthful forms, Orloff appeared as an elderly man with white hair and a gentle expression.
"So, you're the Fate High Sovereign?"
Wodred's gaze was sharp.
"As one of the rulers of the Four Higher Planes, you should possess strength far beyond the other Law Sovereigns."
"Let me make this clear—if you fail to demonstrate the power befitting a High Sovereign of the Edicts, I won't acknowledge you as our equal."
"The Destruction Sovereign speaks reasonably."
Wawaya nodded lightly.
"One's position should match one's strength."
Faced with their blunt skepticism, Orloff merely smiled, unperturbed.
"Enough, Wodred."
Lilia waved a hand, cutting him off before he could press further.
"Orloff, was it? You gathered the three of us—what is this about?"
"Yes."
Orloff inclined his head slightly.
"With the wars in the Divine Planes, the Sovereigns there have harvested immense amounts of faith energy."
"The other Sovereigns under my command… wish to do the same."
"So, I thought to gather everyone and ask—should we initiate a war between the Higher Planes as well?"
"Oh?"
Wodred let out a cold laugh, a hint of disdain in his eyes.
For some reason, he found Orloff's gentle demeanor deeply irritating.
"Perfect timing," he said. "Those fools in the Infernal Realm have been eyeing faith energy as well."
"In that case—let Hell wage war against the Celestial Realm."
With two High Sovereigns already in agreement, Lilia turned to Wawaya.
"What do you think, Wawaya?"
"I'll follow big sister's lead."
"Then it's settled."
Lilia's tone was casual, as though discussing something trivial.
"Hell against the Celestial Realm. As for the Underworld…"
She smiled faintly.
"We'll take on the Life Divine Realm."
"And since the Underworld only has two interplanar teleportation arrays, it would put you at a disadvantage if you invaded us."
"So instead, we'll send our forces to you. That should make things fairer."
"Very well."
Orloff nodded.
"Then… let the war begin."
With the decision made, war erupted across the Four Higher Planes.
Hell struck first.
Of its seven Sovereign Legions, two remained behind to guard the seven teleportation arrays, while the remaining five launched a direct invasion into the Celestial Realm.
Fortunately, the Celestial Realm had prepared in advance.
Fierce battles broke out immediately at the teleportation arrays.
At the same time, four Sovereign Legions from the Underworld surged into the Life Divine Realm.
In an instant, war engulfed nearly the entire cosmos.
Of the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes, only the Earth Divine Plane had yet to be drawn into the conflict.
But even the Sovereigns of the Earth Divine Plane had no intention of missing out on such an opportunity.
Their seven Sovereign Legions were divided accordingly—
two joined the Wind Divine Plane against the Lightning Divine Plane,
two reinforced the Water Divine Plane,
and the remaining three supported the Light Divine Plane.
At this point, in pursuit of greater faith—
nearly every material plane, every Divine Plane, and every Higher Plane had been dragged into the flames of war.
"…Sigh. Beneath the Sovereigns, all are ants."
Inside the Water Estate, after hearing the truth of the war from Lilia, Locke shook his head.
The soldiers fighting on the frontlines could never have imagined—
that the true purpose of this war was to harvest faith through their actions.
Slaughter. Destruction. Death. Salvation.
Every intense emotion born from living beings would ultimately transform into faith energy, flowing into the Sovereigns' divine sparks.
"Yeah… beneath the Sovereigns, all are—"
Lilia began to echo him, but suddenly caught herself.
"No, no, Locke, I didn't mean you! I—"
"It's fine. I understand."
Locke smiled.
"Beneath the Sovereigns, all are ants… except Paragons."
"After all, Sovereigns are common. Paragons are not."
He gestured lightly.
"Look at the world now—there are seventy-seven Sovereigns."
"But as for Paragons? I haven't seen a second one."
Of course, that was something he would only say in front of Lilia.
From what he knew, millions of years after the creation of the world, Wodred and Orloff had fought a great battle, each displaying the strength of a Paragon of the Edicts.
Now, more than eight million years had passed since the Divine Planes were formed.
In roughly another million years, the Faith War would come to an end, and the two would clash again before all Sovereigns—
establishing the supremacy of the Four High Sovereigns of the Edicts.
That era… was already approaching.
Which meant—
the other three High Sovereigns were likely already at that level.
Or, at the very least, they would reach it within the next million years.
With that thought, Locke glanced at Lilia.
As the first lifeform born in the Four Higher Planes, she was favored by the heavens.
Hongmeng had even created the Underworld's Core as her bound treasure, granting her dominion over the entire Underworld.
And perhaps precisely because of that favor—
the balance among the Four High Sovereigns had been adjusted.
The other three had all been granted the "destiny" to reach Paragon.
Only Lilia… had not.
After all, with her treasures alone, her strength was already comparable to the others.
If she were to become a Paragon as well—
what chance would remain for anyone else?
Or perhaps…
from the moment she was born, Hongmeng had already foreseen her fate.
And knowing she lacked that destiny, he had instead given her overwhelming protection.
"Yeah, that makes sense."
Lilia nodded, accepting Locke's reasoning without question.
Sovereigns could be created simply by obtaining a Sovereign spark.
But Paragons?
Even with countless years of faith energy, not a single Sovereign had declared themselves one.
And even if someone had—
Lilia did not believe they could compare to Locke.
After all, Locke's Paragon-level mastery had been achieved through his own efforts—not through the assistance of a Sovereign spark.
Moreover, his attainments in both soul and body were extraordinary.
His "Soul Core" level soul… and the yet-to-be-completed Dijiang bloodline—
these were things no ordinary Sovereign could rival.
Even she… could not.
If Locke knew how highly she regarded him, he might have felt a trace of embarrassment.
After all, while much of his strength was indeed his own—
his breakthrough to Paragon had ultimately relied on the vast surge of faith he harvested when the Fiend Castle spread across Hell.
Without that, who knew how long it would have taken?
As for his Fate divine clone—
it had benefited from a destiny tied to the creation of the Fiend Castle itself.
Without that, his understanding of the Edict of Fate would never have reached such heights.
In truth, every step of his cultivation had been interconnected—
each link reinforcing the next.
If even one part had gone differently, his path would have diverged entirely.
At the very least, without reaching Paragon in the Water Laws, neither spatial comprehension nor the creation of a spatial divine beast bloodline would even have been within his consideration.
Instead, he would likely be focused on seizing a Water or Fate Sovereign spark after the fall of the Sovereigns.
Fifty thousand years later—
As Locke sat fishing, his body suddenly trembled.
A faint connection…
to the space of the Coiling Dragon universe itself—
had formed.
A smile spread across his face.
The third strand of spatial innate bloodline had finally been fully absorbed.
His body had grown stronger—
and his sensitivity to space had increased dramatically.
He raised his right hand and slowly clenched it into a fist.
As he did, the surrounding space warped slightly.
In a Higher Plane, only those at least as strong as Five-Star Fiends—or those wielding powerful Highgod-level artifacts—could distort space.
Yet Locke, relying solely on a body barely comparable to a Demigod-level artifact, without using divine power or profound mysteries—
had caused space itself to ripple.
This was the result of his increasing affinity with the spatial laws.
Though the laws of space and time were hidden within the Coiling Dragon universe, they still existed.
And now—
with even this faint connection—
his control over space had become far smoother than before.
"So, this is… the power of space?"
Beside him, Lilia tossed aside her fishing rod and stepped closer, bending slightly to observe the distortion around his fist.
She extended a finger and gently touched the warped space.
The moment her fingertip entered, the distortion collapsed instantly.
"Too weak."
Locke laughed.
"Well, of course."
"I've only fused three bloodlines so far. And my understanding of the spatial laws is still shallow."
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