Not long after all of Sadius' divine clones became Highgods—Linley finally awakened.
Groggy and dazed, Linley slowly opened his eyes and saw a group of people standing before him.
"Mother, Father, Aunt Liya, Big Brother, Eunice…"
Looking at everyone before him, Linley gradually began to recall what had happened.
"Mother, are you all alright? Was that Lirmons killed?"
"Linley!" Lina immediately threw her arms around her son, so emotional that she was nearly in tears.
"Mother, what's wrong?" Linley's memory was still stuck at the time of that Fiend mission.
"Linley, you've been unconscious for over twenty years now," Luoshen said.
"What?" Linley was bewildered, finding it unbelievable.
"It's good that you're alright. How do you feel?" Sadius could already tell that Linley had undergone a four-element soul mutation, though at the moment he was only a Midgod. His weakest divine clone, of the fire element, had only recently become divine.
"Father, I feel like everything around me has changed somehow."
"That's because you've now become a four-element soul mutate," Sadius said with a smile.
"A soul mutate?" Linley was visibly excited. His father was a rare three-element soul mutate—and yet, somehow, he himself had become a truly unique—a four-element soul mutate!
Of course, Linley had no idea that Sadius had also become a four-element soul mutate.
Unable to contain himself, Linley demonstrated his divine power, then attempted to fuse the energies together.
As expected, the fusion was successful.
Three types of Midgod divine power fused into one. Linley looked at the resulting dark green divine energy and then infused it with his fire-element Lowgod divine power.
The divine energy became a deeper, more profound color, though Linley could feel that its overall strength seemed to decrease.
That was because the fire-element energy was of a lower level—Lowgod rather than Midgod.
"Three-element fused divine power… Its might already exceeds ordinary Highgod power by more than tenfold!"
"Alright. Check to see if there are any other changes and if there are lingering issues. Everyone's still very worried about you," Sadius said.
Linley nodded.
"Father, I feel… a strange sensation. A feeling of control—over matter, even space itself. I feel like…I could shatter space with a single punch." Linley tried striking with full force.
However, the space around him remained unchanged.
Linley frowned. Had he misjudged the sensation?
"Haha. This is the interior of the Redbud Lord's Sovereign artifact. Your Power of Will can't shatter the space here."
"Power of Will?" Everyone present was confused.
At that moment, the Redbud Lord stepped inside.
"Sadius, I thought you were attacking my estate—turns out Linley has awakened."
The Redbud Lord looked at Linley. "The first-ever four-element soul mutate in all of existence…and you've even developed the Power of Will? Your whole family is full of monsters!" Her words weren't meant as mockery but rather deep admiration.
"Milord, would you please explain what Power of Will is to Linley?" someone asked.
"Power of Will represents the will of the Laws of the universe. Typically, only Paragon Highgods or Sovereigns possess it. Since it embodies the universe's will, naturally it can command the world and shatter space with ease."
Linley took a deep breath. Was his power already on par with Paragons?
"Don't get too cocky," the Redbud Lord said. "Your cultivation is still too low. You're only a Midgod. Even if your fused divine power is stronger than a Highgod's, your level of profound mystery fusion is far too shallow. Without mastering high level fusions, you wouldn't even be able to defeat a Shura. Of course, while you may not be able to beat a Shura, you do have the potential to banish one into spatial turbulence—assuming you can catch them."
From her words, Linley came to understand his current power—and that he still had a long way to go.
"Sadius, in some sense, your son is already more formidable than you. You'd better train harder and become a Paragon soon," she teased.
Naturally, Sadius didn't reveal to the Redbud Lord that he himself had already awakened the Power of Will.
Of course, Sadius' Power of Will was not as refined or powerful as Linley's.
Linley's soul mutation covered Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind, and granted him an estimated 1.6 units of Power of Will.
Sadius, with his mutation of Darkness, Earth, Destruction, and Water, possessed only 1 unit of Power of Will.
In terms of Power of Will alone, Linley clearly had the advantage.
Still, whether different elemental fusions led to differences in the quality of Power of Will remained unknown.
"Sadius, I want to take Linley as my Sovereign Emissary. Would you and your son agree?" The Redbud Lord couldn't help but be tempted—this was a four-element soul mutate who even possessed Power of Will.
"Milord, Linley is only a Midgod for now. Let him decide after he becomes a Highgod. What do you think?" Sadius replied.
Linley nodded in agreement. With Power of Will, he wasn't afraid even without a defensive Sovereign artifact. As for the power of a Sovereign, his father had it too. There was no need to rely on the Redbud Lord.
Becoming a Redbud Sovereign's Emissary would be of little benefit—only binding obligations. Naturally, Linley wasn't interested.
Besides, Sadius had other plans and wouldn't let the Redbud Lord bind Linley's future.
"Milord, my uncle Beirut invited me to return to the Yulan Plane. The Necropolis of the Gods is about to open."
"Beirut?" the Redbud Lord muttered, recalling something.
She was well aware that Beirut was also a Redbud Sovereign—and had several Sovereign sparks in hand.
She coveted those sparks, of course. Unfortunately, Beirut was protected by Uhtred, so there was no chance of taking them by force.
The Redbud Lord thought to herself: "If only I could get another Sovereign spark…wouldn't my strength increase tenfold again? I might even obtain the strength of a Chief Sovereign!"
Of course, even if she became a ranked Chief Sovereign, she would still be no match for the Four Supreme Sovereigns—each of whom wielded Overgod Artifacts.
Still, she thought, that would make her far more powerful than most ordinary Sovereigns.
The Redbud Lord also realized that Sadius had become a Highgod—and a soul mutate at that. Beirut must be planning to pass him the Sovereign spark of Earth.
"Go on. You may find an unexpected surprise. You'll know when you get there."
Blood Ridge Continent – Skyrite Mountains
Sadius descended upon the land and retrieved Radius. It was time to be honest with Beirut. Otherwise, Beirut wouldn't hand over both Sovereign sparks.
Sadius knew that his chances of transcendence were slim.
In that case, he would help Linley transcend instead.
Once Linley transcended, Sadius might also gain the opportunity to leave the Coiling Dragon universe and visit the Linmeng universe he would eventually create.
Sadius brought Radius and rejoined Beirut on Blood Ridge Continent.
"Sadius, why did you bring Radius along this time?" Beirut asked, surprised.
"Uncle, I'm bringing him back to the Yulan Plane first. I'll explain everything once we return."
Beirut could sense that Sadius was hiding something, but since he promised to explain back in the Yulan Plane, Beirut didn't press further. After all, the divine sense from Sovereigns in the Infernal Realm could be observing them at any time.
Meanwhile, Sadius' true body also departed from the Amethyst Mountains, heading toward Mirror Moon Cliff.