On this point, Oakes had no doubt whatsoever.
However, he wasn't worried in the slightest about failing to meet Lord Locke's requirements.
Only a little over three thousand years had passed out of the allotted hundred thousand. In that time, Oakes had already advanced both his wind and water divine clones to the God level.
Among them, his wind clone had fused three Profound Mysteries—Wind Element, Doppelganger, and Wind Movement—allowing him to become a God whose combat strength already rivaled that of a Highgod.
His water clone, on the other hand, lagged far behind. Aside from Essence of Water, he had only comprehended the Water Body Technique, reaching God status without discovering a fusion point between Mysteries.
Yet once he used fused divine power, Oakes' strength could already rival that of a Five-Star Fiend who had completely fused two Profound Mysteries.
And there were still ninety thousand years left.
If he managed to fuse one or two more wind Mysteries within that time, he would easily meet Lord Locke's expectations.
Even if he failed to fully fuse three or four wind Mysteries in those ninety thousand years—thus falling short of Six-Star Fiend strength—he could still choose to refine a Highgod spark and become a Highgod directly.
With fused divine power boosting him afterward, he would still possess Six-Star Fiend combat strength.
Of course, if he chose that route, his potential would end there.
"So, this… is Great Perfection. This is the power of will."
After the descent of the Laws of Heaven and Earth faded, Locke felt an indescribable sensation within his Destiny divine clone.
It felt… omnipotent.
A power that stood above both Laws and Edicts.
He casually reached out and pulled.
Rip—
The space before him was instantly torn open, revealing a massive spatial rift.
Within it, multicolored spatial turbulence surged violently, producing a terrifying suction force capable of devouring anything nearby.
Before achieving Great Perfection, Locke would have needed to expend large amounts of divine power simply to resist the pull of such a massive rift.
But now—
With a mere thought, the suction lost all effect on him.
Even more astonishingly, Locke grasped the edges of the rift with both hands and pushed them together.
The enormous spatial tear closed instantly.
"Incredible… truly incredible."
Only after becoming a Paragon could one truly understand how powerful a Paragon was.
Their invincibility wasn't just a legend.
Before a Paragon, even a Sovereign's divine clone had to keep its distance—otherwise the Sovereign's reputation would suffer.
After all—
Without being a Paragon, even the strongest Sovereign divine clone in its normal state could only reach about 800,000 combat power.
A Paragon, however, possessed 10,000,000 combat power in a normal state.
Without Sovereign artifacts or Sovereign's Power, a Sovereign's divine clone would be instantly defeated.
Locke's Destiny clone had reached Great Perfection.
This meant that Fiend Castle had fully spread across all seven continents of Hell, fulfilling Locke's "destined mandate."
Yet just as he was about to fully test his newfound strength—
A delighted smile suddenly appeared on his face.
Immediately, Locke closed his eyes.
His Saint-level true body halted the fusion experiments between the Water Laws and the Edict of Fate, directing all mental focus toward comprehending the Water Laws instead.
Fiend Castle — Tianshan Prefecture
Inside the highest chamber of Fiend Castle, Locke's water divine clone suddenly sensed a mysterious power flowing into his soul through an unknown channel.
He immediately sank his consciousness into his soul space.
"This… this is…"
"Faith power?"
Looking at the newly appeared energy inside his soul space, Locke stared in shock.
Even he hadn't expected this.
Without possessing a Sovereign spark, he was still receiving faith power simply because Fiend Castle had spread across Hell.
Before long, the faith power surged like a tide into his soul space, condensing into a liquid lake.
With a single thought, Locke began consuming the faith power to deepen his comprehension of the Water Laws.
Under this boost, the fusion level of the six Water Profound Mysteries rose rapidly.
With the vast amplification provided by faith power, something that Locke had estimated would require hundreds of thousands of years—
Reached the brink of completion in less than half an hour.
Now, only a final sliver remained.
To completely fuse the six Mysteries, one normally needed a moment of inspiration.
This spark might appear in the next second…
Or never appear for countless Trillion Years.
Even over a thousand Trillion Years later, countless geniuses would remain stuck at this final step.
Among all Sovereigns, only four would ever achieve Great Perfection.
But Locke didn't need to wait for inspiration.
Using the power of faith, the six Water Mysteries within his soul began evolving toward the state he had once observed—back when he was not yet a Highgod—when the Water Laws harmonized with heaven and earth.
Each time that state was reproduced, the fusion advanced by the tiniest margin.
Then—
Suddenly—
Locke felt the six Mysteries within him become perfectly unified.
The sensation was familiar.
He had felt the same thing when his Fate Edict reached Great Perfection.
As expected—
The Laws of Heaven and Earth descended once more.
"Hahahahaha! Hahahahaha!"
After the heavenly laws faded, Locke burst into loud laughter.
After so many years reborn in the Coiling Dragon universe, he finally felt a sense of security.
Now—
As long as a Sovereign's true body didn't appear personally—
He was invincible.
Still…
Locke shook his head, slightly dissatisfied.
Even though he had achieved dual-element soul mutation and reached Great Perfection in two paths, the two portions of willpower could not fuse together.
Perhaps only when he fully fused the Water Laws with the Edict of Fate could he test whether the willpower of the two divine clones might merge.
"Now, my goal in creating Fiend Castle has been achieved."
"And the benefits exceeded my expectations."
"In that case…"
"It's time to return the faith of Fiend Castle to those Sovereigns."
He tapped his forehead, troubled.
Even back in the material planes, Locke had never built faith-based religions.
Fiend Castle itself had only been created to allow him to reach Destiny Great Perfection.
Now that the organization had become a prize coveted by the Sovereigns, he felt rather awkward.
"Forget it."
"Since my objective is complete, I'll simply notify Sovereign Muya and let the Sovereigns divide the cake themselves."
"I won't sit at the table."
Locke took out a violet crystal.
Within it, he recorded a message stating that he would soon leave Hell and that Muya Sovereign should represent him in negotiating with the other Sovereigns regarding the management of Fiend Castle.
To prevent others from reading it, Locke sealed the message with willpower.
Only beings who also possessed willpower—Sovereigns or Paragons—could read it.
"Little White."
Locke sent a spiritual message.
Soon, Little White arrived at the highest floor of Fiend Castle.
"Lord Locke, what are your orders?"
Locke handed him the violet crystal.
"Post a mission in Fiend Castle. Have someone escort this item to Muya Continent and deliver it personally to Sovereign Muya."
"As for the reward… offer one drop of Sovereign's Power."
"Yes, Lord Locke. I'll arrange it immediately."
After storing both the crystal and Sovereign's Power in a spatial ring, Little White casually asked:
"Lord Locke… does this mission have a time limit?"
"A time limit?"
Locke shook his head.
"Not really. But the sooner the better."
"Understood."
Once Little White departed, Locke immediately began preparing to leave Hell.
"A lie is still a lie in the end."
"I never said I was a Sovereign's divine clone."
"But when Muya said it, I didn't deny it."
"In the eyes of the Sovereigns, that's the same as admitting it."
There were only seventy-seven Sovereigns in the Coiling Dragon universe.
His identity wouldn't remain hidden forever.
If those Sovereigns discovered that he wasn't a divine clone—but merely an ordinary Highgod—
They would likely become furious and attack him.
Although Locke had made an agreement with the Azure Dragon Sovereign Redding to block Sovereign attacks for him…
And the Four Divine Beasts together could withstand pressure from several Destruction Sovereigns—
That protection only lasted one hundred million years.
If the Sovereigns learned of that time limit, they would simply watch him in Hell and wait until the deadline expired.
At that point—
He might not even be able to reach a planar teleportation array.
Thinking of this, Locke transformed his body into countless water elements, merging with the surrounding water through Water Movement Technique, and sped toward Blackstone Tribe.
After becoming a Paragon, Locke's speed increased dramatically.
Although he couldn't match the Sovereigns—who could cross Hell in half a day—
Traveling from Tianshan Prefecture on Bloodpeak Continent to Blackstone Tribe on Purple Thorns Continent took him less than a month.
Once there, both Paragon divine clones merged into his Saint-level true body.
Their souls fused with his own, strengthening it further—almost as if it had undergone the refinement of the heavenly laws twice.
Then Locke divided portions of the Four Divine Beasts' blood essence and earth, wind, water, and fire Sovereign's Power to his water divine clone.
Only after that did he send the water clone away.
(End of Chapter)
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