In the Netherworld, within Locke's Water Residence, Locke—seated upon his divine throne—slowly opened his eyes.
A faint pale-white glimmer flickered through his gaze.
After more than two hundred thousand years of cultivation, the "Dijiang bloodline" within his body had once again fully absorbed another innate bloodline of a spatial divine beast.
He flexed his hand slightly, then clenched his fist. A faint smile curved at the corner of his lips.
His physique had grown stronger again.
Recalling how his perfected water-element laws had played a crucial role while he was stabilizing the chaotic laws of the Water Divine Plane, Locke couldn't help but wonder—if he extended that same process beyond a single divine plane and applied it across the entire universe…
Would the water-element laws of the entire Coiling Dragon universe eventually become complete, transforming into a "Supreme Water Law"?
However, if that day truly came, then perhaps he himself would become like the four Overgods—fusing into the water-element laws and becoming the Overgod of Water for the entire universe.
There was no doubt that such a transformation would greatly stabilize the Coiling Dragon universe.
But at the same time, Locke would lose all freedom, forever bound within the universe, unable to transcend it.
He shook his head, discarding the thought of becoming an Overgod.
For the countless beings within the Coiling Dragon universe, becoming an Overgod might be the ultimate pursuit.
But for Locke, once he fully comprehended the Profound Mysteries of space and stepped into the realm of a God King, becoming something equivalent to an Overgod would come naturally. There was no need to bind himself to the water-element laws of this universe.
Moreover, Locke had never forgotten—if one wished to transcend the Coiling Dragon universe, relying solely on the water-element laws was impossible.
Even mastering space laws or time laws individually would not suffice.
Only by fusing space and time into spacetime laws, then using those laws to evolve a world—and empowering oneself with the strength of that world—could one enter the Hongmeng Space, withstand the erosion of Hongmeng energy, inscribe one's name upon the Hongmeng Golden List, and become a Hongmeng Controller.
"Oh? You're done cultivating?"
Locke raised his head and saw Lilia walking in through the entrance of the Water Residence.
She held a fishing rod in her right hand and a fish basket in her left. Combined with the floating bridge and lake outside, she looked like a spirit stepping out of a painting—graceful and serene, enough to lift anyone's mood.
"Yes, for now I've reached a stopping point," Locke replied with a smile.
Each time his bloodline fully devoured another spatial divine beast's innate essence, his comprehension of the spatial laws would become exceptionally clear.
Thus, whenever he was on the verge of completing such a fusion, Locke would enter seclusion, dedicating all his focus to comprehending the spatial laws.
Over the years, Locke estimated that his understanding of the Profound Mysteries of space had reached roughly one-tenth—perhaps even slightly beyond.
"By the way, Locke," Lilia said, "Oakes came by some time ago. But since you were in seclusion, I had him leave."
"Now that you're done cultivating, do you want to summon him and ask what it was about?"
When it came to matters concerning Oakes, Lilia had never overstepped.
She knew that Oakes was aware of her relationship with Locke. If something truly required a Sovereign's involvement and Locke was unavailable, Oakes would speak to her.
Otherwise, if Oakes said nothing, then either the matter wasn't urgent—or it involved secrets that shouldn't be disclosed.
Lilia knew all of Locke's secrets clearly, and she understood just how much upheaval those secrets could cause if revealed.
Because of that, rather than faulting Oakes for his discretion, she actually appreciated it.
"No need," Locke said. "I'll just send a divine sense message and ask him directly."
Although both of Locke's divine clones were currently elsewhere, his Saint-level original body—having completed the fusion of different laws—had undergone the tempering of the Laws of the Universe and now possessed willpower approaching half that of a Paragon.
While such willpower wasn't enough to spread his divine sense across the entire Netherworld, reaching the encampment of the Sovereign's army within the Nether Mountain Range was effortless.
…
Within the Nether Mountain Range, Oakes rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
He had never expected that his son—after nearly a million years—would suddenly awaken to love and develop feelings for someone.
If it were anyone ordinary, Oakes would have been delighted. He would have encouraged his son to pursue his happiness and supported him regardless of the woman's background.
But this time…
That background was far beyond what he could handle.
"Sigh…"
Oakes let out a long sigh.
This matter was already beyond his ability to manage.
He could only hope that Figaroa would exercise restraint and not provoke the other party.
Otherwise—even he might not be able to save his son.
"Oakes."
Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed in his mind.
"Lord Locke!"
Startled, Oakes straightened immediately and responded respectfully.
"Lord Locke, have you come out of seclusion?"
He spoke with utmost reverence.
Although he knew Locke was still at the mid-slope of Nether Mountain, Locke's divine sense had clearly reached him.
Anything he said now would be heard.
Oakes's respect for Locke didn't stem solely from the fact that Locke had taken him in and guided his cultivation when he was still weak.
More than that, it came from Locke's attitude toward cultivation.
Since reaching a bottleneck, Oakes himself hadn't truly cultivated for millions of years.
But Locke?
From the moment Oakes met him until now, Locke had never once stopped cultivating.
Even now, as a Sovereign, Locke still frequently entered seclusion.
And the things Locke had created were gradually reshaping the entire world.
For example—the Fiend Castle of the Infernal Realm.
It was the first major organization across the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes to publicly reveal the secrets of fusing the Profound Mysteries of Laws.
Because of that revelation, the overall strength of gods across all planes had increased more than tenfold.
As for true geniuses—their upper limits had been elevated by hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of times.
And then there were the magic formations now widely studied by the soldiers of Locke's Sovereign army…
Oakes was certain—once Locke's army revealed itself, it would completely reshape the world's power structure.
From then on, countless factions would scramble to cultivate or recruit formation masters at any cost, just to gain access to formation-based battle systems.
And these were only the things made public.
As for what Locke hadn't revealed, Oakes knew at least two things.
The first—people like himself: soul mutants.
Oakes had heard Locke briefly describe just how high a soul mutant's potential could reach.
Unfortunately, although he had been fortunate enough to become one, he hadn't been able to walk that grand path.
Even in fusing the Profound Mysteries of a single law, he had failed to reach the end. As for fusing different laws, he hadn't even come close.
The second—related to divine beast essence blood.
The first he knew for certain. The second was speculation.
But he was confident that Locke's research into divine beast essence blood had reached an unimaginable level.
Otherwise, Locke wouldn't have invested so much time and effort into having him collect it.
As for whether Locke hid even more secrets…
Oakes strongly suspected he did.
After all, before Locke had even revealed that he was a Sovereign, he had already spoken casually about killing Water and Fate Sovereigns.
Even the Blood Peak Sovereign, Pash, hadn't been taken seriously by him.
When Ryan and the others arrived in the Infernal Realm, Pash's emissary, Reynold, had publicly announced cooperation with them.
From that alone, it was obvious—the Blood Peak Sovereign had likely been "taught a lesson," just as Locke had said.
"Mm. I heard from the Death Sovereign that you came looking for me while I was in seclusion. What is it?" Locke's voice sounded again in his mind.
"It's like this, Lord Locke," Oakes replied respectfully.
"The one seeking you is Lady Mira."
"Over thirty thousand years ago, Lady Mira completed the fusion of five Profound Mysteries of the Earth Laws…"
"According to her, the Soul-Extinguishing Pearl no longer has much effect on her. She wishes to offer it to you."
"However, due to the lightning barrier around Nether Mountain, she couldn't approach, so she asked me to relay the message."
"I see."
"Since I've come out of seclusion, bring Mira here."
"Yes, Lord Locke."
…
"So? Was it something important?"
Setting aside her fishing rod and basket, Lilia sat beside Locke and asked.
"Yes."
Locke nodded.
"Mira has made a breakthrough in her cultivation, so she wants to offer me the Soul-Extinguishing Pearl."
Then, after a brief pause, Locke looked at Lilia.
"Lilia, what do you think of Mira?"
Lilia immediately understood.
"You want me to take Mira as a Sovereign's Emissary?"
"Mm."
Locke didn't hide his thoughts.
"With the help of the Soul-Extinguishing Pearl, Mira has already fused five Profound Mysteries and reached the level of an Asura Lord."
"If she becomes your emissary, you'll gain a capable subordinate."
Although Lilia was the Death Sovereign, she rarely involved herself in management.
As a result, among her forces, only Christina—who had barely reached the level of an Asura Lord with the help of a Sovereign artifact—could truly be considered notable.
Ina and Jin had once held promise in Lilia's eyes.
But unfortunately, in their pursuit of power, they had stolen the Netherfruit of the Nether Sovereign, permanently limiting themselves to the Seven-Star Fiend level.
(End of Chapter)
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