Even an upper god like Celes had been dispatched to collect faith power.
To maximize the gathering of faith, the Sovereigns had even conscripted demigods into their armies, sending their soldiers—except for a few left behind to maintain order within their domains—into the material planes to collect faith.
From this, it could be inferred that the current Divine and Supreme Planes weren't yet overflowing with powerful beings.
Moreover, except for a few prodigious existences, secrets like Law Mystery Fusion were not yet widely known.
The overall strength of divine beings in the Divine and Supreme Planes was several notches weaker than it would be countless years later.
Watching the demigods of the Violet Bramble Legion around the teleportation array, Locke suddenly felt that he could give it a try.
At this moment, while the others who had just been teleported from the material plane avoided the squad, Locke stepped out from the crowd and walked toward the Violet Bramble Legion soldiers.
Swish!
"Stop!"
Locke's action naturally caught the attention of the Violet Bramble soldiers.
Yet, for soldiers of a Sovereign's army, a demigod like Locke—who had independently cultivated into a god after entering a Supreme Plane from the material plane—might warrant some attention, but was not considered a real threat.
After all, the backing of a Sovereign army soldier was the Sovereign's themselves.
As Locke approached the squad, a lower god sprang forward from among them, drawing a long sword and slicing a line in the air between Locke and themselves.
"Cross this line, and you die!"
The move immediately drew the attention of those nearby.
Previously, only the people around Locke had been watching him, but now even others stationed to receive beings freshly transferred from the material plane looked over.
Locke did not defy the threat and stopped before the line.
From his spatial ring, Locke pulled out the identity token Celes had given him.
Similar to the tokens worn by the Violet Bramble Legion soldiers, Locke's token was blue with a snowflake mark, representing the Falling Snow Legion under Phiros, the Water Sovereign.
The Violet Bramble soldiers' tokens were purple with the violet bramble emblem, representing the Violet Bramble Legion under the Violet Bramble Sovereign.
Every token in a Sovereign's army carried a trace of their Sovereign's divine authority.
They were easy to distinguish.
"My lords, I have a senior currently serving in the Falling Snow Legion of the Water Divine Plane. I beg your indulgence to allow me to inquire about some information."
"Falling Snow Legion?"
Seeing the token in Locke's hand, the expressions of the soldiers relaxed considerably.
When joining a Sovereign army, the first thing a soldier had to do was memorize the names of all seventy-seven Sovereign legions.
A Sovereign army existed to serve the Sovereign's.
Its soldiers could be strict with others, but if they caused trouble for another Sovereign's army in service of their own Sovereign, the consequences would be severe.
Philo and the Violet Bramble Sovereign had no conflicts, so when interests did not clash, they did not mind giving Locke some courtesy.
The god level squad leader rose and approached Locke.
"Ah, a comrade from the Falling Snow Legion. My apologies for our rudeness."
"No, captain, there's a misunderstanding. I merely have a senior serving in the Falling Snow Legion—I have not joined the legion myself."
Locke hurriedly denied the misunderstanding.
While having a Sovereign army token could earn some courtesy from the Violet Bramble soldiers, it would also complicate his subsequent actions.
"It's all the same," the god said with a smile, showing no disrespect.
In fact, he became even more courteous toward Locke.
A token symbolized a soldier's affiliation.
Typically, checking the token was the only way to verify a soldier's army membership, but this applied only to lower and mid-tier soldiers.
When a divine being was strong enough to be recognized within the army, known by most members, a token became unnecessary.
Simply appearing would be enough for anyone to acknowledge their status.
At that point, it was no longer that they needed the Sovereign army—the army needed them to maintain its strength.
Such beings were at least Highgods.
And among Highgods, only the truly powerful reached this status.
In such cases, their tokens could be given to juniors they favored as a protective measure in the outside world.
To this god level squad leader, Locke's token indicated that he had at least one Highgod senior behind him.
Though Locke and the squad leader had a slight misunderstanding due to differing perspectives, the outcome was consistent:
Locke indeed had a Highgod "senior" backing him.
Only, the leader's assumptions differed slightly.
Although Celes was an Highgod of the Falling Snow Legion, possibly holding a significant position before being dispatched to the material plane to collect faith, it was clear that Celes was not particularly favored in the legion.
Or, there might be a "rival" in the legion who forced Celes to leave the Divine Plane and retreat to the material plane.
If Locke followed Celes' advice to join the Falling Snow Legion, he might face a choice:
Either inherit Celes' connections and enter the legion as Celes' successor—gaining support from soldiers loyal to Celes, but risking attacks from Celes' rival.
Or betray Celes, expose his whereabouts to Celes' rival, and join the rival's faction—making his position in the legion uncertain.
Perhaps giving Locke the token was itself a test from Celes.
(End of Chapter)
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