At a time like this, issuing Fiend Castle expansion missions and mobilizing idle high-tier Fiends to lead expansion teams into new cities was beneficial to both the Fiend Castle and the Fiends themselves.
From this alone, Little White's foresight and long-term vision surpassed theirs.
The six Highgods accepted the order wholeheartedly and left the meeting room, sending messages to Redmaple City and Namu City as instructed.
It did not take long for the news—transmitted through divine clones—to reach Rockpeak and Ryan.
Ryan gave it little thought and agreed immediately.
Rockpeak, however, studied the message in his hand and slowly nodded.
"So, this was Lord Locke's arrangement…"
"As expected, my vision cannot compare to Lord Locke's."
Back when Locke had sent Rockpeak and Ryan to establish new Fiend Castles, Rockpeak had already considered a troubling question.
If the Fiend Castle expanded like this, would the newly established branches still remain under Locke's control?
He and Ryan were unquestionable—they had chosen to follow Locke and would stand beside him.
But what about the others?
Would they truly be of one heart?
Take the City Lords of Redmaple City and Namu City, for example. They had never even met Lord Locke. Would they genuinely follow him?
Yet now, the expansion mission issued from Baccarly City revealed a deeper layer of the plan.
Indeed, the founders of new Fiend Castles might not submit themselves directly to Locke.
But Locke had never intended to control every Fiend personally.
The Fiend Castle was an institution—one that issued missions and distributed rewards, much like the Amethyst Castle.
If Locke required something, he merely needed to post a mission. There would be no shortage of Fiends willing to serve.
Moreover, because these Fiends were not bound by personal allegiance, they remained free individuals. Locke did not need to sustain them. They would sustain themselves through missions, continuously growing stronger in the process.
Having understood this, Rockpeak no longer harbored doubts about Locke's expansion strategy.
Still, the Fiend Castle's top-tier combat strength remained somewhat lacking.
If they wished to spread the Fiend Castle across even more cities at greater speed, he and Ryan would need to shoulder more of the burden.
Of course, in battling City Lords while establishing new branches, Rockpeak could clearly sense his comprehension of the Destruction Edicts deepening.
He had a feeling—if he encountered an opponent of equal strength and fought to the limit, his power might surge dramatically.
As for Ryan, his fusion of the Laws progressed smoothly.
At the very least, until the two Laws he was fusing reached complete integration, he would face little in the way of bottlenecks.
In fact, Rockpeak suspected Ryan's current strength might already surpass his own.
"Finally… I've found it!"
"The convergence point of all six Water Laws!"
On this day, Locke's Water divine clone opened his eyes.
After years of pairing the six Water Laws—two at a time, three at a time, four at a time, five at a time—he had finally discovered the singular convergence point where all six aligned.
"It's time to advance to Highgod."
This closed-door cultivation had been the longest since Locke entered the Infernal Realm.
Nearly three hundred years.
Given Locke's Law affinity—ten thousand times that of an ordinary God—those three centuries equated to three million years of cultivation for others.
His harvest was naturally extraordinary.
His Saint original body and Water divine clone focused fully on completing the final strands of the remaining four Laws.
One week later, he brought the Essence of Water to completion.
One month later, Waterbody was perfected.
Six months later, Circular Softness was completed—and he fully fused three Laws.
Three years later, all six Water Laws were completely comprehended.
He stepped into the final divine realm—
Highgod.
Heaven and earth trembled as the Laws descended.
After undergoing the baptism of the world's Laws, the strength of Locke's Water divine clone's soul surged once more.
The depth to which he could descend into the Sea of Divine Power spoke for itself.
At two hundred and ninety meters beneath the surface, Highgod divine power flooded his body.
Its intensity was nine times that of an ordinary Highgod.
When he opened his eyes, a satisfied smile curved his lips.
Three fully fused Laws placed him firmly at Six-Star Fiend level.
Add ninefold Highgod divine power—
Add five Laws on the verge of complete fusion—
His true combat power had already surpassed Six-Star Fiends and reached the realm of Seven-Star Fiends.
Among those below the level of the Sovereigns, this was nearly the apex.
Perhaps the Sovereigns, empowered by immense faith, had already completely fused five Laws and were striving toward the Great Perfection of six.
But beneath them—
Who could rival him?
"Little White."
Locke's divine sense spread, instantly contacting his subordinate.
"Lord Locke?"
Little White was overjoyed.
He had already sensed the descent of the Laws above the Fiend Castle.
He knew Lord Locke had achieved a tremendous breakthrough.
Yet only upon entering the cultivation chamber did he realize how vast that breakthrough truly was.
Standing before Locke, he felt as though the divine power pressure alone could annihilate him.
Ninefold Highgod divine power…
Even without Law fusion, that alone would rival a Four-Star Fiend.
"Lord Locke."
Little White bowed deeply.
"From this day onward," Locke said calmly, "the Fiend Castle will no longer prioritize medium and small cities."
"Send word to all Fiends ranked Five-Star and above."
"Our next objective is the Prefecture Capital."
"In ten years, I will go to the capital of Nightblaze Prefecture and challenge the Prefecture Lord."
"When I become Prefecture Lord, Nightblaze Prefecture will be the first Prefecture Capital officially entered by the Fiend Castle."
"Tell all Five-Star Fiends and above to prepare."
"Yes, Lord Locke!"
Three hundred years had passed.
Fiend Castles now spanned thousands of cities.
At the very least, within Nightblaze Prefecture's territory, nearly every city knew of this rising power.
Many factions had even sent members to join the Fiend Castle in order to obtain firsthand intelligence.
From the information returned, the factions gradually mapped their own strength to the Fiend ranking system.
And the more they learned, the more unfathomable the Fiend Castle seemed.
The ranking system was too precise.
Each level differed by roughly tenfold.
Without genuine high-level insight, such clarity would be impossible.
Ordinary Highgods were merely middle tier within the Fiend Castle.
Demigods and Gods were hardly worth mentioning.
Among Highgods:
Those who refined divine sparks were defined as Three-Star Fiends.
Four-Star Fiends were ten times stronger—usually City Lords.
Five-Star Fiends were rare among City Lords—perhaps one in a hundred.
Currently, thirteen Five-Star Fiends were registered within the Fiend Castle.
Six-Star Fiends and above had yet to appear publicly.
But everyone suspected that was only because the true upper echelon had not yet revealed itself.
Then—
On this day—
Every city with a Fiend Castle erupted into upheaval.
Because the Fiend Castle had just released a major announcement.
And those who saw it immediately transmitted the news back to their respective factions.
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