921 The terror of the Star Ring creatures, the first encounter with the Star Ring!
In the supernatural purgatory, amidst countless monsters attempting to attack Locke, a humanoid creature emerged. He wore a black military overcoat, his hands wrapped in white cloth as gauntlets. His battle-scarred body was also bound with white cloth. As he walked, his powerful magical pressure distorted the surrounding air, causing the monsters around him to scream. Those monsters who approached him collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
His magical pressure radiated throughout the supernatural purgatory, bursting forth with a starlight-like brilliance, like the color of a star, a magnificent star ring illuminating the earth.
An eagle-man plummeted from the sky to the ground.
With a 'thud,' the eagle-man crashed to the ground, looking at the newcomer in terror.
"The Demon…the Demon King…"
"The Demon King…how could he be here?"
Locke looked at the man in the black double-breasted military overcoat and cap, guessing he came from a plane in the Endless Void that was similar to Earth in his previous life, because the aesthetic design of the man's cap and overcoat resembled that of military overcoats from a certain period in Earth's previous life.
A black eagle was printed on the man's cap.
Locke sensed an unusually immense pressure emanating from the man.
The Star Ring was a magical pressure symbol that appeared only when a certain level of achievement was reached in the Endless Void. It represented an incredible level of concentrated energy, beyond the reach of ordinary living beings.
As a warning from the Endless Void to mortals, the Star Ring appeared to warn the mortal beings within it.
At the same time, it was also a symbol of honor for second-ring level lifeforms, representing their certain status in the Endless Void.
The appearance of this Star Ring caused a tremor throughout the entire Supernatural Purgatory, as if it were on alert. The Star Ring was both a warning to the world and mortals, and a mark of immense power.
It wasn't a mark unique to Star Ring Wizards; rather, it appeared on all second-ring level beings when their energy concentration reached a certain level.
This so-called 'Demon King' of the Supernatural Purgatory looked at Locke with eyes filled with a fanatical fighting desire. He pointed a finger at Locke and beckoned, seemingly challenging him to fight.
He crossed his arms, and the surrounding purgatory creatures all showed expressions of fear and unease. Clearly, under normal circumstances, a Star Ring level being wouldn't appear here so quickly.
Locke saw the Demon King staring at the travelogue in his left hand, a smirk playing on his lips as he raised his hand.
"You want this?"
The Demon King didn't speak, only silently observing the travelogue in Locke's hand, his eyes filled with an unwavering desire to possess it.
Locke suddenly felt a sense of relief. This supernatural purgatory indeed contained people killed by the legendary archaeologist wizard Maxwell. He knew that since Maxwell had approached Mount Golden Crown, he must have killed people in the vicinity.
As long as he had killed, those victims would be absorbed by the supernatural purgatory.
Although the creature before him was clearly not from the wizarding world, but from another world, that didn't matter.
As long as it was drawn here by Maxwell's causal influence, that was fine. The only problem was that it was a Star Ring level being, which was very troublesome.
Even if it wasn't a Star Ring wizard, but just a Star Ring level creature, it was still equivalent to fighting a higher level opponent.
Locke glanced at the provocation in its eyes; clearly, the opponent was confident of victory.
Locke said, "Since that's the case, then let's fight."
The Great Crying Dragon Sparrow behind him trembled, about to take flight forward, but at that moment, the Demon King with his arms crossed took a step back. A powerful Behemoth emerged in front of him. This golden, second-ring magical creature roared at Locke, its killing intent surging into a sonic wave that attacked him.
Locke looked at the Demon King. The Demon King's meaning was clear: to fight him, he needed to test Locke's worth.
Locke needed to defeat the Demon King's subordinate from purgatory to earn the chance to fight him.
Locke smiled.
The next moment, the Great Crying Dragon Sparrow trembled, and the golden Behemoth raised its massive head. The next instant, a bolt of lightning struck, and the second-ring Sea Gold Sand transformed into a Flowing Gold Fern Spear, piercing through its head and maw. The golden Behemoth let out a mournful howl and collapsed to the ground.
This golden Behemoth originally only had a little over ten thousand magic pressure, and in this purgatory, its original bloodline advantage couldn't be utilized, nor could its total magic pressure advantage be leveraged. How could it possibly compete with a wizard in a contest of wave magic?
Therefore, it was instantly killed by Locke's attack. Among those
of the same level, wizards were truly invincible.
Locke then looked at the 'Demon King' officer.
The 'Demon King' officer still had his arms crossed, and the star ring behind him resembled a burning torch after a planet shattered. Any magical creature near him with too low a magic pressure would be unable to withstand his presence and would faint simply by standing beside him.
The 'Demon King' continued to retreat, and at this moment, a female orc wielding twin swords stood before Locke.
The female orc roared at Locke, seemingly to bolster her courage.
She raised her hands and fiercely swung her twin swords at Locke, two killing waves swirling around her blades. The next moment, Locke vanished before her eyes.
"Where are you looking?"
Locke's voice appeared behind her.
At this moment, a bead of sweat trickled down the forehead of the dual-wielding orc. She whirled around to look at Locke, her two swords transforming into a series of continuous slashes, like a storm.
'So that's how it is. The Supernatural Purgatory is composed of magical fluctuations; the entire world is a world of fluctuations.'
The Great Roaring Dragon Sparrow behind Locke maintained its high-speed movement, dodging all of the opponent's attacks.
'So, in the endless, infinite battles, the creatures of this world have gradually learned the fluctuations of wizards.'
'In this way, these people become the best training grounds and punching bags for power masters. Power masters who enter the Supernatural Purgatory fight them to understand the fluctuations, absorbing the experience of these opponents in battle, thus achieving rapid transformation themselves.' '
That's why this place is a second-ring level wizard's secret realm for power masters.'
The dual-wielding orc, realizing Locke was completely outpaced and unable to reach him, roared in fury. Her twin blades flashed faster and faster, crimson killing intent surging through her body, making her attacks even faster.
"Roar~"
The dual-wielding orc was enveloped in a wave of killing intent.
Locke glanced at her.
"Foolish."
To attack him, the opponent had actually invited an excessive amount of killing intent into her body in an instant.
That is, to instantly synchronize an excessive amount of magical energy with her body—even Locke, who wasn't a power master, could see the foolishness of this action.
If a person's body synchronizes with an excessive amount of a single attribute's energy, is she still herself?
Locke looked curiously at the female orc, who seemed completely controlled by the killing intent, slashing countless times in his direction, trying to cut him down.
Meanwhile, Locke silently summoned a Tomb Spirit Ghost, intending to sneak up on the Demon King through the shadows beneath the infernal creatures' feet, then ambush him, use [History Replay] on him, and then retreat.
He had only come to obtain Maxwell's information, not to actually fight the infernal creatures here.
There was no benefit in fighting them.
He wasn't a power master.
Before the tomb spirit could even get close to the 'Demon King' level infernal creature, its body was distorted by the creature's magical pressure. Locke could only snap his fingers, canceling the spell model.
After all, with the spell model so distorted, even if the spirit could get close, it wouldn't be able to use Recall History properly, making it pointless.
"It's the Star Ring."
Locke looked at the starlight ring distorted by the massive magical pressure radiating from the creature, knowing that the radiation from the Star Ring had caused this situation.
Life forms possessing Star Rings essentially possess the gravitational pull of stars found only in the void, and this gravity can interfere with the casting of many high-precision spell models.
There was no other way.
It seemed that without breaking the Star Ring on its body, it was impossible to secretly use [Recall History] on it.
'In the void, as long as the power level reaches a certain level, it is possible to generate sufficient magic resistance. Or, as long as the level is high enough, one can increase their resistance to any power. That is to say, even if a civilization's level is relatively low, as long as it reaches a certain level of magic, it can generate specific resistances.' "
Troublesome."
A flash of ferocity crossed Locke's eyes. He used the Great Roaring Dragon Sparrow on his back to quickly traverse the flat ground, dodging the attack of the dual-wielding female orc. At the same time, he appeared beside the female orc. Then, Locke raised the Half-Summer, and in an instant, the female orc was struck by magical sparks, screamed, and her body disappeared into the magical sparks.
"These beings who fight by relying on killing intent have one major weakness: the magical fluctuations enhance their physical functions and incidentally slightly increase their physical strength, but not by much." "
In other words, their defense is limited."
Locke established a formula and found that the increase in the resonance of the opponent's magical fluctuations was almost proportional to the increase in attack power, but the increase in defense was only one-third of the increase in attack power. In other words, a power master is inherently a high-attack, low-defense, and high-agility being.
And the puppets of the power masters in this purgatory world are even more so.
If the opponent's defenses were limited, Locke looked at the being with the star ring on its back, calculating whether he could defeat it with a much lower magical pressure.
At this moment, the 'Demon King' level infernal creature crossed its arms, its fighting spirit even more pronounced, but even though Locke had already dealt with the dual-wielding female orc, it still had no intention of fighting Locke.
Locke's gaze passed over the infernal creatures and landed on the 'Demon King' prisoner in the supernatural inferno.
Locke summoned ten Great Azure Leaf Dragon Birds, which flew through the air like bluebirds, heading towards the Demon King.
He had no interest in playing this challenge game with the Demon King.
He decided to take direct action.
However, just as the ten Great Azure Leaf Dragon Birds reached mid-air, circling the Demon King and attempting to swoop down to launch a probing attack, suddenly an incredibly swift figure appeared in the air. A massive wave of killing intent enveloped his body, turning it a deep red, and his muscles bulged.
He was a human.
This person's magical pressure had reached the limit of a normal second-ring cultivator.
Upon appearing, he leaped ten times in the air, kicking ten times, and swiftly knocked down ten Great Azure Leaf Dragonbirds, forcing them all to automatically fly back into their astral rings.
"Wizard. If you want to challenge the Demon King, you'll need to get past me."
The human landed, raising his right leg so Locke could see his legs, honed through countless trials.
A terrifying aura of killing intent swirled around those legs.
The Demon King-level being took another step back, crossing his arms and signaling to Locke that he would only be qualified to challenge him after defeating this human.
Locke frowned.
He couldn't tell if the other was simply overly enthusiastic, creating this one-on-one challenge, or if he was calculating and observing Locke's strength.
He knew that Demon King-level infernal creatures possessed the ability to capture souls.
If he died here, his soul might be trapped in the supernatural inferno forever.
Locke frowned, pondering a solution.
The human warrior sneered.
"You dare challenge our king the moment you enter? You're dreaming. If you want to challenge our king, you must first defeat me, his defeated foe—Hao Ren Dabu! I was originally just a mortal from a small world, but in this purgatory, I have repeatedly returned from the brink of death. I received the guidance of the killing intent's fluctuations, and then I gained power. And now…"
His movements were faster than his words. He kicked towards Locke, the magical fluctuations overlapping on his muscular thigh, the two merging to summon boundless power.
A leg thrust towards Locke's throat, aiming to kill him instantly.
But Locke's Great Cry, like a dragon's roar, vibrated, emitting a sharp, piercing sound.
'This won't do. My magical pressure is already lower than theirs. How can I allow myself to fall into their trap step by step?'
Locke summoned a golden peach and placed it beside him.
The human warrior saw this and immediately kicked at the golden peach, but Locke activated his dragon bloodline and three-eyed tiger-cat bloodline in that instant, and also used the magic ring to convert his magic power into a surge.
The combined physical enhancements from these three abilities allowed Locke to block the kick with his left arm.
The human warrior gritted his teeth.
"What? So you can actually take that kick?"
"I thought you were just dodging because your close-combat skills were lacking."
The human warrior's pupils constricted sharply as he saw Locke reach out a hand to grab his throat. He was about to retreat when a golden fern spear pierced his chest. Locke glanced at the Demon King-level Infernal officer, who was standing with his arms crossed, coldly watching him, and said, "Let your men swarm at me. One by one is too slow."
A Tree of Prosperity appeared behind Locke, its golden branches swirling with the seasons. A fruit of spring's prosperity appeared on the tree.
Instantly, the golden peach behind him split into two.
Locke glanced at the golden peaches; victory depended on them.
The human warrior forcefully pulled the golden fern spear from his body, then looked at Locke with a defiant gaze.
Locke saw seven more ordinary second-ring level beings emerge from beside the Demon King. They likely used the power of the Fighting Infernal, as their original bodies were probably dead, and all their power would gradually be assimilated into the power of the Infernal.
The Demon King nodded to them and retreated.
These seven ordinary second-ring thugs possessed varying levels of magical pressure; some had high pressure, while others had only just entered the second ring.
Each of them glared fiercely at Locke.
"Wizard, stay here. Stay in this hell."
"With us draining your power, how can you fight the Demon King?"
"You're not a power master. Your fighting style is different from theirs. You're suppressed here just like us. You're doomed."
The human warrior also rose from the ground, enduring the severe injury to his chest. With his pain, his killing intent towards Locke grew stronger, and the fluctuations of killing intent around him increased. Then, he roared fiercely, a wave of killing intent descending upon him, resonating with his body.
He stumbled forward a few steps, then suddenly went berserk, roaring as his feet transformed into spikes as he attacked Locke. Just as Locke used the mobility advantage of the Great Roaring Dragon Sparrow to dodge to the left, he suddenly used his other leg—his left leg anticipating Locke's position—to swing it towards him.
The left leg, like a scythe, aimed for Locke's neck.
Locke frowned and could only retreat, but he noticed a second-ring orc behind him, crouching and gathering power, his fist constantly accumulating energy before unleashing a powerful punch—the Wave Fist.
A blast of energy shot towards his back.
Seeing the human warrior in front and the enormous, crimson blast behind him, Locke had no choice but to fly upwards.
In that instant, both the human warrior and the orc behind him had their pupils shrink dramatically.
The dead end was complete!
These people had fought countless battles against the Senate's power masters. Initially, they were weak; even with some power, they were nothing but chickens and dogs before the Senate's wizards, quickly wiped out.
But as time passed, they gained more and more power and experience, and thus, Demon King-level beings began to emerge. These Demon King-level beings banded together, finding a haven in the deepest part of this inferno.
In that pristine land, a group of infernal creatures, refusing to be completely eradicated by the wizards of the Senate, gradually gathered.
Over time, they even became a force to be reckoned with.
Although resource limitations prevented the birth of third-ring level beings in this purgatory, more and more demon lords embarked on the path of endlessly expanding their realms within the second ring.
These infernal creatures stared at each other, their eyes blazing with fighting spirit.
They were going to launch a counterattack against the wizards!
One day, they would break through this purgatory!
Locke was horrified to find that when he flew into the air, he was surrounded by infernal creatures on all sides, launching a siege.
Six infernal creatures were punching and kicking him, all aimed at his neck.
It was clearly a trap.
In the distance, the demon lord-level being remained expressionless, continuing to watch the battle unfold. After noticing Locke was trapped, he stirred, raising his head to reveal the beastly face beneath his military cap—he was a werewolf.
He raised his paw, seemingly wanting to collect Locke's soul.
Resources were scarce in this purgatory, making a wizard's soul extremely precious. Capturing this wizard within this purgatory would be a form of revenge against other wizards.
However, he himself didn't care about revenge.
After all, he was a battle maniac in his original world, and had even provoked a madman. He didn't care where he was, as long as he could fight.
But in this purgatory, a wizard's soul was so valuable. Obtaining it could even persuade the wizard to join them and help them increase their strength.
This was how they had accumulated power.
Some wizards in their ranks had betrayed them.
After all, once their souls were trapped here, everyone was a creature of purgatory.
And every creature of purgatory wanted to break free from this world that had imprisoned them.
Just as the demon king raised his hairy hand, about to strike, suddenly it seemed as if the world beneath his feet had collapsed, and countless tree roots burst forth from the earth.
The demon king's eyes widened instantly.
Oh no.
They had mostly fought against power-wielding wizards, not other wizards, so they hadn't noticed anything amiss when Locke summoned two tree-like magical plants.
What was the purpose of summoning trees?
Trees have numerous roots, and those roots are adept at moving underground.
At this moment, the Demon King Werewolf's feet were entangled by the roots of the two Golden Peach Trees.
He looked up and saw Locke's figure vanish in an instant, turning into countless afterimages.
The six second-ring level beings were suddenly forced to attack themselves.
At this point, the six second-ring level beings