"When your understanding of the Laws of Heaven and Earth reaches a higher level, and you're able to create a magic formation that channels those laws into yourself, then within that formation, your power will receive an enormous boost—enough to increase your strength by dozens of times."
The moment he heard that, Figaroia's eyes lit up.
"Lord Locke, I want to learn that. Please teach me!"
"Aren't I already teaching you?"
Locke smiled faintly.
"Watch carefully."
With a flick of his finger, Locke instantly shattered one of the small stones on the ground.
Bang!
The image before Locke and Figaroia shattered like glass, and the rows of trees from before reappeared.
"The most important thing in a magic formation is the node that draws upon the Laws of Heaven and Earth."
"The moment a node is destroyed, the entire formation collapses."
"If you want to learn how to set up a magic formation, the first thing you need to do is understand the laws that govern the world…"
Buzz…
On a mountainside somewhere in the Netherworld, the Laws of Heaven and Earth descended.
The disturbance immediately threw the nearby magical beasts into chaos.
Any Saint-level magical beast capable of surviving in a Divine Plane or a Higher Plane was cunning to the extreme.
When the Laws of Heaven and Earth descended, it could only mean one thing—
someone had become a god, or a god had advanced.
Either way, it was bad news for them.
Celes floated in the air, standing guard for Mila.
At this moment, even he looked at her with undisguised astonishment.
Even Celes had never expected that Mila—who had spent several million years in the material plane comprehending only three Profound Mysteries of the Laws of Earth—would, after arriving in the Netherworld, fully comprehend the remaining three in less than ten thousand years and break through to the Highgod level.
But when he thought about the way Mila had cultivated in the material plane over those millions of years, Celes quickly felt that this was only natural.
This was simply the result of long years of accumulation finally erupting all at once.
After all, this was a ruthless genius who had forcibly fused three Profound Mysteries of Earth while still in a material plane.
Once the Laws of Heaven and Earth dispersed, Celes descended and said with a sigh of admiration,
"Congratulations, Mila. Your strength now is no weaker than mine."
During the millions of years he had remained in the Frostsnow Plane, intercepting the plane's faith energy, Celes had successfully fused three Profound Mysteries of Water, giving him the strength of a Six-Star Demon.
Anyone who could cultivate to Highgod not long after the world's creation naturally possessed terrifying talent.
Rather than saying Celes was merely strong, it would be more accurate to say that anyone capable of independently cultivating to the Highgod realm was monstrously gifted.
After all, from Saint to Highgod, one had to overcome twelve major bottlenecks—six mysteries from comprehension to mastery.
The untalented would have long since fallen at the God stage.
If Celes had not been exceptional, he could never have become one of the captains of the Falling Snow Legion.
After being schemed against and trapped in a material plane, Celes no longer held much reverence for the Sovereign of Frostsnow.
Since he knew just how much Sovereigns valued faith energy, he had turned the Frostsnow Plane into his own private garden, using all manner of methods to deceive the Frostsnow Sovereign and secretly siphon faith energy for his cultivation, eventually reaching his current level.
Even so, Celes had already realized that relying solely on the Frostsnow Plane's faith energy was no longer enough for him to continue improving.
The fusion of his third Profound Mystery of Water had only succeeded because of a sudden moment of enlightenment.
That was also why, after learning that Mila wished to come to the Netherworld to search for Locke, he had abandoned the Frostsnow Plane and accompanied her here.
In Celes's mind, Locke's current strength had to far surpass his own.
If he could place himself under Locke's command, perhaps Locke might offer him some guidance and help him advance further.
As for Mila, Locke had already warned her back in the material plane of the dangers of the Higher Planes.
Having Senior Celes accompany her would make the journey far safer, so naturally she had no objections.
However, shortly after arriving in the Netherworld, Mila had consecutively comprehended the remaining three Profound Mysteries of Earth.
Both of them understood that the first period after entering a Divine Plane or Higher Plane was the best possible time for cultivation.
With Laws and elemental affinity at least a hundred times clearer, newcomers could improve at the fastest pace.
Once the body and soul became accustomed to this level of clarity, the cultivation speed would inevitably drop sharply.
Thus, both Celes and Mila had agreed that Mila should focus entirely on cultivation during this period before continuing their journey.
Before becoming a Highgod, Mila had already been a Five-Star Demon who had fused three Profound Mysteries of Earth.
Now that she had broken through to Highgod, her strength had increased tenfold.
Celes saying that she had caught up to him was hardly an exaggeration.
"Senior Celes, you flatter me. There's still a huge gap between us."
"All right, Mila. You don't need to be so modest in front of me."
Celes shook his head.
"Strong is strong. Weak is weak."
"You don't need to treat me with so much respect just because I'm of the same generation as your teacher."
"I still remember when your teacher was weak. He used to treat me with the same kind of exaggerated courtesy."
"Later, when he became stronger than me, he kept acting just as respectfully, and somehow it always felt like he was teasing me… but I couldn't point out anything wrong with it."
A faint smile tugged at Mila's lips.
Based on her understanding of her teacher, that absolutely sounded like something he would do.
"Let's go look for Teacher, Senior Celes."
"Now that I've advanced to Highgod, the resonance in my bloodline has become much stronger."
"According to the bloodline's guidance, it should be in this direction."
"Mm. Then let's go."
Two streaks of light—one blue, one yellow—cut across the sky, flying in the direction indicated by the resonance in Mila Locke's bloodline.
Three hundred years later, Celes and Mila arrived at a small city.
"Mila… are you sure the bloodline resonance is correct?"
Looking at the city before them, Celes asked doubtfully.
Given what he knew of Locke, back when Locke had been weak, he had indeed been the type to hide himself.
But in Celes's estimation, Locke's current strength had to be at least at the Seven-Star Demon level—possibly even at the level of a Prefect.
That was already practically the peak of the Netherworld.
How could someone like that still be hiding in a place like this?
"Yes. The resonance in my bloodline definitely points to this city."
"Then let's go down and see what exactly is going on with that guy."
Three hours later, inside a tavern in Bluewing City, Mila, Celes, and Colwell sat around a table, staring at one another in silence.
"Hey, Mila."
"Didn't you say no elders from the Locke family entered the Higher Planes before you?"
"Then why did your bloodline secret art lead us not to Locke, but to this…"
At this point, Celes turned toward the middle-aged man seated beside him.
"Colwell."
"You may call me Colwell, Your Majesty Celes."
"Right. Colwell?"
"Hm?"
Celes froze for a moment, then turned to him in surprise.
"Did you just call me Your Majesty?"
"You're from the Frostsnow Plane too?"
"Ah… it's already been several million years."
Celes's expression darkened.
"Colwell, was it?"
"I never once heard of any Saint-level expert named Colwell leaving the Frostsnow Plane through a planar teleportation array."
After letting out a sigh, Colwell smiled.
"Haha. Back then, when I knew Your Majesty Celes, someone as insignificant as me probably wouldn't have caught your notice."
"And I'm afraid you misunderstand."
"I didn't leave the Frostsnow Plane through a teleportation array."
"To be more precise…"
"The me from back then had already died."
As he listened to the conversation between Celes and Mila—and after using his own bloodline technique to sense the connection in Mila's bloodline as well—Colwell had already pieced together what had happened.
Colwell still remembered that after Big Brother Locke had asked the Sovereign to restore his memories, Locke had once mentioned taking in a descendant of the Locke family as a disciple after returning to the Frostsnow Plane.
Now it seemed that this young woman named Mila was that very disciple.
"Allow me to introduce myself properly."
"My name is Colwell."
"Though perhaps the name you're more familiar with…"
"…is the one I used back in the Frostsnow Plane."
"At that time, my name was Cole."
"Cole?"
Celes frowned.
There had been no shortage of people sharing names in the Frostsnow Plane, but he truly had no memory of any Saint named Cole.
Mila, however, was the exact opposite.
The moment she heard the name, she murmured it to herself a few times before suddenly jolting in shock.
"Cole… could it be…?"
"Are you Teacher Locke's younger brother—"
"The true founding ancestor of the Locke family, Cole?"
Celes froze as well.
Then his memory abruptly returned.
Back then, Locke really had had a younger brother.
That fellow had even once gone to great lengths searching for people with pure souls, hoping to use sacrifices through the Radiant Church to break through to the Saint level.
"So, it's you!"
Once he remembered who Cole was, doubt filled Celes's eyes.
"That's not right."
"I remember you never became a Saint in the end."
"So how are you a Highgod now?"
Mila nodded as well.
"That's right."
"If I remember correctly, according to our family records, First Ancestor Cole never broke through to Rank Nine in his entire life."
"He passed away at the age of only two hundred and eighty-seven."
The moment Mila finished speaking, both she and Celes went blank.
What was going on?
A man who had died millions of years ago was now sitting right in front of them, alive and well.
What kind of absurd situation was this?
"Yes. I did die in my two hundreds."
"But I was rather fortunate."
"After death, my soul entered the Undead Realm, and eventually I became a Saint-level peak expert there."
"After that, Big Brother asked the Sovereign to bring me back from the Undead Realm and restore the memories of my previous life."
"And finally…"
"He gave me two choices."
"He asked whether I wanted to return to the Frostsnow Plane…"
"…or remain here in the Netherworld."
(End of Chapter)
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