Especially after learning that Loran would be participating in this Fiend examination, Cowell had his daughter Carlene register at the Fiend Castle as well, hoping to benefit from Loran's good fortune.
Having served as a captain of the city guards in Bluewing City for so long, Cowell knew very well how high the mortality rate among Fiends was.
Powerful Fiends were one thing, but Fiends below Three Star level simply couldn't withstand much adversity. A slight mishap during a mission could result in massive casualties.
Even Cowell himself felt that if he became a Fiend, he probably wouldn't survive for very long.
Over these five trillion years, many of the city guards under Cowell had broken through to the God or Highgod level and, filled with ambition, had gone off to become Fiends.
Yet in all those five trillion years, not a single one had returned to Bluewing City.
Nor had Cowell ever heard any news of them again.
Clearly, all those subordinates who had left the city guards to seek their fortunes had ultimately become dust within the Netherworld.
Because of this, although his daughter Carlene had always wanted to register at the Fiend Castle and become a Fiend, Cowell had repeatedly stopped her.
He was afraid that one day Carlene would disappear from his life just like those former subordinates.
However, with Loran participating in the same Fiend mission, Cowell considered it the safest Fiend examination possible.
Big Brother and Sister-in-law would never allow Loran to encounter even the slightest danger.
As long as he instructed Carlene a few more times before departure and told her not to stray too far from Loran, there would absolutely be no danger to her life.
"Time's up."
Inside a metallic lifeform, Locke calculated the date and stretched out his hand.
Immediately, the congratulatory words in the Netherworld sky that had been formed from Water Laws flowed toward him like hundreds of rivers returning to the sea. They condensed in his palm and formed a yellow scroll.
Back then, the marriage proclamation between Locke and the Death Chief Sovereign had illuminated the sky of the Netherworld for three hundred years.
This time, with Loran's birth, Locke naturally wouldn't allow the projection to remain longer than their marriage announcement.
Holding the scroll in his hand, Locke left his room and arrived at the central hall of the metallic lifeform.
Counting carefully, today happened to be Loran's hundredth birthday.
It was time to give him this birthday present.
In the material planes, such an age would already encompass the entire lifespan of most ordinary people.
But for Loran, his appearance hadn't changed at all over the decades. He still looked like the same six- or seven-year-old child.
Of course, over these past decades, Loran had managed to gain a modest reputation in the Netherworld.
Compared to decades ago, the divine power fluctuations surrounding him had now reached the God level.
However, the most eye-catching thing about him was still the Three Star Fiend badge hanging from his chest.
After the Fiend Castle created by Locke had spread throughout the Infernal Realm, the Sovereigns of the Seven Divine Planes and the other three Higher Planes all turned their attention toward this excellent tool for harvesting the faith of Deities.
They copied Locke's Fiend Castle system, only changing the names according to their own planes and establishing intermediary castles that spread across their realms.
Thus, Fiend badges and Fiend badges in the Netherworld followed the same star system.
One to Five Star Fiends had one to five stars on their badges.
Six Star Fiends were represented by a crescent moon.
Seven Star Fiends were represented by a blazing sun.
As for Prefects, they had already surpassed the scope of the Fiend Castle's classification.
When Locke first established the Fiend Castle, Prefects had no badges.
Instead, every Prefect had to receive the recognition of an older generation Prefect and be bestowed a title.
At that time, "Prefect" represented the strongest experts within a plane.
Even Prefecture Lords stood beneath them.
One could say that each Prefect's title itself served as their badge.
As time passed, the newer generation of Prefects and the older generation alike almost all emerged through struggles over Prefecture Lord positions.
Most Prefecture Lords were experts who had fused five Profound Mysteries, or those comparable to such experts.
Thus, "Prefect-level" gradually became synonymous with the same tier of strength.
Although Loran was currently only a God, the Three Star Fiend badge hanging on his chest made it clear that he had already achieved his first breakthrough in the fusion of Profound Mysteries.
Only Gods who had completely fused two Profound Mysteries possessed power comparable to Highgods and qualified to receive a Three Star Fiend badge from the Fiend Castle.
Beside Loran stood Little Black, who had grown considerably.
Now, his appearance resembled that of an honest eighteen- or nineteen-year-old youth. The divine aura surrounding him had clearly reached the Highgod level.
The Fiend badge hanging on his chest was naturally also a Three Star badge.
Among Highgod Three Star Fiends, apart from those who deliberately concealed their strength, nearly all were Highgods who had reached that level by refining divine sparks and possessed no further potential for advancement.
In merely a few decades, Little Black had advanced from a Demigod to a Highgod. Naturally, he hadn't achieved this through cultivation alone.
Standing beside Loran and Little Black was a young girl in the prime of her youth.
This was Cowell's daughter, Carlene.
Over the decades, Carlene's strength had hardly changed.
Compared to years ago, however, a two-star Fiend badge now hung from her chest.
"Father."
"Master."
"Uncle."
Locke's arrival was naturally noticed by the three of them.
Over these years in Bluewing City, Cowell might not have improved much in other areas, but his ability to judge people had grown considerably.
After reflecting upon the years spent in the material plane, Cowell realized that Big Brother Locke never minded his relatives relying on his protection to cultivate and grow stronger.
What Locke despised were relatives who belittled themselves and were consumed by meaningless desires.
Back then, Cowell himself had been unable to resist the temptation of reaching the Saint-level. Together with the five viscounts under Locke Territory, he had rounded up those with "pure souls" sought by the Radiant Church, which had caused Locke to grow disgusted with him.
Having learned from his own mistakes, Cowell naturally wouldn't allow his daughter to repeat them.
Facts proved that his education had been very successful.
Although Carlene's strength hadn't improved much over the years, her relationship with Loran had grown increasingly close.
Perhaps they weren't quite like real siblings, but the difference wasn't great.
Regarding this, neither Locke nor Lilia had any intention of interfering with Loran.
They were merely his parents.
When Loran was young, they could protect him—and even continue protecting him forever.
However, Loran had his own life to live.
Neither Locke nor Lilia would impose their own preferences and force him to become a certain kind of person.
If they held any expectations for him, it was perhaps only the hope that he would cultivate his way to becoming a Paragon.
As for everything else, they could guide him, but the final choice would always belong to Loran himself.
"Mm, stand up."
"Loran, today is your hundredth birthday. This is the gift Father prepared for you."
After allowing Little Black and Carlene to rise, Locke handed the scroll in his hand to Loran.
"What is this?"
Loran took the scroll and asked curiously.
"Haha, drip a drop of blood onto it and bind it first. Then you'll know what it is."
"You should know that your father spent an entire hundred years preparing this gift for you."
Upon hearing Locke's words, Loran's eyes lit up.
Although he hadn't seen his father fight over the years and still didn't know what level of Deity his father truly was, the two divine artifacts his father had given him remained, in Loran's opinion, the strongest divine artifacts in existence.
When he had still been a Demigod, after nurturing his spear and armor into Demigod-level divine artifacts, they had remained completely undamaged even when colliding with Highgod divine artifacts.
After becoming a God and nurturing them into God-level divine artifacts, even Highgod divine artifacts would be damaged when struck by his spear.
And attacks from ordinary Highgods couldn't even break his defensive divine artifact.
Now his father had given him another scroll requiring blood recognition...
Could it be...
Excitement filled Loran's heart as he summoned his black divine-spark spear.
Running his fingertip across the spearhead, a drop of blood emerged and fell onto the scroll.
Rumble!
In an instant, Loran felt the scroll transform into powerful soul energy that surged into his soul, constructing a thick, transparent barrier around it.
Feeling the sense of security deep within his soul, Loran opened his eyes and threw himself into Locke's embrace.
"Thank you, Father! I love this gift the most!"
Within the Coiling Dragon universe, divine artifacts were divided into three categories:
Attack divine artifacts.
Material defense divine artifacts.
Soul defense divine artifacts.
The spear and armor Loran previously possessed belonged to the first two categories.
The scroll he had obtained today filled the final gap—a soul defense divine artifact.
Loran had no concrete understanding of how powerful his father truly was.
But the strength of the divine artifacts forged by his father had already been proven by the countless Highgod experts who had fallen before him over the years.
Now, with the soul defense divine artifact bestowed by Locke, Loran no longer possessed any weaknesses.
"Oh? You haven't even seen my gift yet, and you're already saying Father's gift is your favorite?"
"In that case, it seems I won't be able to give away what I'm holding."
Just as Loran was acting spoiled in Locke's arms, Lilia's voice caused him to shiver.
He immediately jumped away from Locke.
"W-Where?"
"Mother, you must have misheard!"
"I never said Father's gift was my favorite."
"If I have to choose, then I like Mother's gift the most!"
"Hmph. That's more like it."
Hearing Loran's words, Lilia raised her eyebrows triumphantly at Locke as though she had won.
(End of Chapter)
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