However, if a Deity caught within the vortex possessed a higher level of attainment in the Water Laws, they could instead make use of the vortex's pulling force to accelerate its rotation. This would cause Loran's own divine power consumption to increase along with the vortex's rotational speed.
At that point, Loran would instead become the one burdened by his own technique.
This was the drawback of not being able to completely control one's own move.
If Loran took another step forward and raised his mastery of the Profound Mystery of Water Elemental Waves once again, reaching the point where he could completely control the Flood-Covering Dragon Wave, then the true power of this technique would finally be revealed.
The speed of the vortex's rotation could change at any time. The direction of its rotation could be altered at will. He could even have one layer rotate clockwise while another rotated counterclockwise to enhance the vortex's tearing force...
There would only be things Loran couldn't imagine, not things he couldn't do.
However, in Locke's view, Loran still had a long road ahead before reaching such a realm.
Hearing Locke belittle their son like this, Lilia frowned and wanted to say something.
However, when she thought about how Locke had already begun considering the fusion of Profound Mysteries while he was still a Demigod, and how he had been the first person in all Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes to publicly reveal the secrets of the Profound Mysteries, Lilia chose to remain silent.
Fine.
Her husband was simply a heaven-defying monster.
Across the more than five trillion years of this universe's history, and even throughout countless trillions of years to come, another existence like Locke would likely never be born.
Therefore, it wasn't strange for Locke's standards to be somewhat higher.
With a cold snort, Lilia shot Locke a glance before lowering her head to continue watching Loran's battle below.
As for Little Black, who was kneeling behind them...
Well, no one paid any attention to him.
No, perhaps Loran would.
But Loran was currently fighting on the Battle Arena and had no time to spare for him.
...
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Within the divine-power vortex created by Loran's Flood-Covering Dragon Wave, Dudley struggled desperately against wave after wave of surging tides.
Each time Dudley tried to approach Loran at the center of the vortex, he would only manage a few steps before being blasted back by the crashing waves.
Of course, with Dudley's strength, it wasn't impossible for him to break through the waves.
Unfortunately, the waves within Loran's Flood-Covering Dragon Wave did not exist independently. One followed another endlessly, continuing without interruption.
Furthermore, there was the powerful tearing force generated by the ocean within the vortex.
The streams of divine water sliced at him like countless circular saws.
Even though Dudley had already activated his mid-level defensive divine artifact, he still had to remain extremely cautious under this terrifying cutting force, fearful that his defensive artifact might be breached.
"Ah..."
After remaining deadlocked for roughly the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Dudley finally gave up resisting and directly raised his right hand within the vortex.
"I concede!"
"Hm?"
Loran blinked.
He had won just like that?
He felt as though he hadn't even begun exerting himself.
However, since his opponent had already admitted defeat, Loran dispersed his divine power and canceled the Flood-Covering Dragon Wave.
Splash! Splash!
Even as the divine-power vortex dissipated, the sound of crashing waves continued to echo.
Hearing those sounds, Dudley cast a deep glance toward Loran.
It seemed that he had surrendered quickly enough.
Otherwise, once the Flood-Covering Dragon Wave truly unleashed its full power, he would likely have made a fool of himself.
"Everyone, please give a round of applause for Lord Sea Emperor!"
"He has created history in Bluewing City!"
"Lord Sea Emperor is the first supreme genius in Bluewing City's countless years of history to defeat a God while still a Demigod on the Battle Arena!"
"Let us celebrate Lord Sea Emperor for creating history!"
"Sea Emperor!"
"Sea Emperor!"
"Sea Emperor!"
Following the referee's announcement, the spectators throughout the Battle Arena began shouting Loran's title.
...
"Father, Mother, I'm back!"
Inside the inn, Loran pushed open the door with a radiant expression and greeted Locke and Lilia.
Behind him, Little Black followed with his head lowered like a frightened partridge, looking as though he wanted to completely merge into Loran's shadow.
"Oh?"
"An'an, judging from your appearance, it seems you've encountered something good. Can you tell Father about it?"
"Hehe, Father, let me tell you. Today I met several God-level opponents, but in the end, I defeated all of them..."
Locke's question seemed to hit exactly where Loran wanted it to.
For the next while, Loran vividly recounted the various battles he had experienced on the Battle Arena to Locke and Lilia.
"Very good."
Locke smiled.
"An'an, there are quite a few people who can defeat Highgods while still being Gods."
"But those who can defeat Gods while still Demigods are exceedingly rare."
Although, in Locke's eyes, his son still had many shortcomings,
when praise was deserved, Locke never hesitated to acknowledge his son's accomplishments.
"Hehehe..."
Receiving his father's praise, Loran grinned foolishly.
Smack!
Seeing her son's silly expression, Lilia slapped the back of his head and shot Locke a glare.
When they had been watching Loran fight on the Battle Arena, this fellow had been incredibly critical of every aspect of Loran's performance, saying this wasn't good and that wasn't good.
Yet now, face-to-face, he was praising their son.
Lilia genuinely couldn't figure out what Locke's true thoughts were.
However, she also felt that Locke's analysis of their son's performance had been extremely accurate.
Thus, seeing Loran acting so foolishly now, she simply couldn't bear to watch.
"An'er, don't think that just because you defeated a few Gods today, you're truly extraordinary."
"The Gods you encountered today were all very ordinary Gods. None of them were even Fiends."
"The truly powerful Gods can rival Seven-Star Fiends."
"If today's victory causes you to look down on Gods, then when you eventually meet genuine geniuses and monsters, you'll suffer greatly."
"I understand, Mother."
Loran pursed his lips.
His soaring excitement was instantly knocked back down by Lilia's slap.
Seeing this, Lilia shot Locke another glare.
She had figured him out.
This fellow wanted to establish himself as the kind and loving father in front of their son while dumping all the responsibilities of being the strict parent onto her.
Faced with Lilia's glare, Locke could only laugh awkwardly.
Compared to Lilia's strictness, Locke felt that although Loran was still young, proper praise remained very important.
Moreover, today, when Loran had stood upon the Battle Arena and loudly declared his dream of becoming the strongest Water Laws expert, Locke had seen Loran's conviction.
Unlike himself, who preferred to hide away and cultivate in seclusion, Loran enjoyed standing at the center of attention and ascending to greatness beneath the admiration of countless people.
This meant that Loran's life—no, rather, at least until he reached the peak of cultivation—would never be one spent quietly hiding in some remote corner.
Perhaps Loran would become one of the era's great trendsetters.
That was Locke's assessment of his son.
"Alright, An'an."
"Come, let Father see exactly how you defeated your opponent's today."
"Huh? Right here?"
Loran froze.
Having spent nearly a day in Bluewing City, he had already learned the differences between cities and tribes.
The laws and rules of tribes were established by their tribal leaders.
Some tribal leaders didn't even bother creating rules at all. Their philosophy was simple: those who obeyed might not prosper, but those who opposed them would definitely perish.
Of course, because Saint-level individuals arriving from Material Planes were periodically delivered to the tribes by soldiers of the Sovereign Army, tribal leaders didn't dare slaughter tribe members indiscriminately.
If Sovereign Army soldiers discovered that the population of a tribe had decreased rather than increased, the tribal leaders would face punishment, or might even be executed outright.
Cities, however, were different.
The Sovereigns had long established strict rules.
Within any city—whether large, medium, small, or even a prefectural capital—fighting was forbidden.
The only individuals permitted to use force within cities were the city guards and the Sovereign Army soldiers stationed there.
Even then, city guards and Sovereign Army soldiers could only attack after confirming that someone had already violated the law within the city.
The only place where combat was permitted was the city's Battle Arena.
Now that his father was asking him to display the techniques he had used to defeat his opponents here, wouldn't that cause trouble?
Seeing the hesitation in Loran's eyes, Locke chuckled.
"Don't worry, An'an."
"Your father's strength is probably just a tiny little bit higher than you imagine."
Locke pinched his thumb and index finger together, leaving only the slightest gap between them, and winked at Loran.
"I've already set up a barrier inside this room. As long as the barrier remains intact, not even a Sovereign will be able to sense what's happening inside."
Lilia rolled her eyes.
Locke was fooling An'an again.
But An'an's gullible reaction was so adorable and entertaining.
This definitely needed to be recorded and shown to An'an after he grew up.
Thinking this, Lilia's thoughts moved, and she instantly cast a Floating Shadow spell.
"Alright then."
Hearing his father's explanation, Loran no longer hesitated.
Although he couldn't sense any trace of the barrier his father mentioned, he assumed that his own strength was simply too weak to perceive something his father had personally arranged.
"Flood-Covering Dragon Wave!"
With a wave of his hand, Loran summoned his long spear.
As he shouted softly, a divine-power vortex instantly appeared around him, covering a radius of several dozen meters.
However, the moment he used the technique, Loran immediately sensed that something was wrong.
The Battle Arena of Bluewing City was a square one hundred meters long and one hundred meters wide.
His technique had been capable of covering the entire arena.
The room in this inn wasn't small, but it was only around forty or fifty square meters at most.
This time, when using Flood-Covering Dragon Wave, Loran had deliberately restrained its range, limiting it to only five meters around himself so that it would include his parents and Little Black.
Yet to Loran's surprise, the Flood-Covering Dragon Wave around him failed to encompass his parents or Little Black at all.
What was going on?
Had he misjudged the distance?
With doubt arising in his heart, Loran immediately increased his output, causing the vortex of the Flood-Covering Dragon Wave to expand outward.
(End of Chapter)
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