The only possible explanation was that Locke's attainment in the soul far surpassed even what Celes had imagined.
In the Coiling Dragon universe, there were people who could use soul attacks—and whose soul attacks were powerful—yet their actual understanding of the soul might not be particularly deep.
But for someone who possessed truly profound mastery over the soul, their soul attacks were without exception terrifyingly strong.
That strength might not manifest as an overwhelming, brute-force suppression. Instead, it could take on another form—something subtle, eerie, and deeply unsettling.
Locke clearly remembered that throughout Linley's entire life, he had encountered only a handful of individuals with extremely high attainments in the soul.
The ones that left an impression could be counted on one hand—two or three at most.
The first was an enemy Linley encountered back on the Yulan Plane: a god-level powerhouse who had escaped from the Planar Prison—the Great Wizard.
That Great Wizard could refine ordinary people's souls into soul essences and enslave the souls of others. His soul attacks were so vicious that, if Linley hadn't possessed the damaged soul-defense Sovereign artifact—the Coiling Dragon Ring—he would likely have been killed in that battle.
The second was the elven elder who grievously injured Delia, forcing even Beirut to expend a drop of the Life Sovereign's divine power to save her.
As for the third—Moss, the three-element soul mutant—that was a special case and didn't need further discussion.
Celes was certain of one thing: once Locke became a Highgod, relying solely on his soul attainments—and a soul that had been tempered by the Laws of Heaven and Earth three times over—Locke would stand among the strongest of Highgods.
At the very least, if they were in the same realm, Celes had no confidence whatsoever that he could defend against Locke's soul attacks.
"Tsk, tsk… keeping someone like him in the Wakanda Plane is really a waste of talent," Celes muttered to himself.
"How about bringing him along to the Water Divine Plane and having him join under Lord Phiros?"
"With Locke's level of soul mastery, he'd surely gain Lord Phiros's favor very quickly."
"And when that happens… maybe I could climb another step higher within the Sovereign's army."
…
Naturally, Locke had no idea what plans Celes was forming after realizing the depth of his soul attainments.
At this moment, Locke had already returned to cultivation.
Perhaps because Celes had been bothering him so frequently lately, the sense of impending danger in Locke's heart had eased considerably.
After all, Celes was the only Highgod in the Wakanda Plane.
Even the Pope of the Light Temple was merely a Demigod.
With Celes's protection, Locke felt that even if his ascension to godhood took a little longer, it wouldn't be a serious issue.
With that mindset, Locke shifted the focus of his cultivation to comprehending the Profound Mystery of Ice—Edge.
Beyond that, the rest of his time was devoted to fusing the Profound Mystery of Illusionary fog with the Profound Mystery of Ice—Edge.
This wasn't a matter of confusing priorities.
In fact, as a transmigrator who knew this universe, Locke understood very well that once Profound Mysteries of the Laws were fused, his strength would experience a tremendous leap.
However—
His current comprehension of Ice—Edge had only reached about twenty percent.
Under such circumstances, during the fusion process of the two Profound Mysteries, newly gained insights into Ice—Edge would often cause the degree of fusion to decrease instead of increase.
This was because the newly comprehended aspects of the Law hadn't yet achieved sufficient compatibility with Mist—Illusion. The fusion between the two Profound Mysteries was, quite simply, imperfect.
In Locke's view, if he wanted the degree of fusion to rise without ever falling back, there was only one way—completely master both Profound Mysteries first.
Of course, by the time one reached that stage, merely finding a point of compatibility between two Profound Mysteries would already be enough to stump ninety-nine point nine nine nine percent of all god-level beings.
To comprehend a Profound Mystery to great completion meant fully understanding it—perfect, seamless, and whole.
At that point, attempting to fuse two such perfectly integrated Profound Mysteries was so difficult that it left one daunted before even trying.
Before reaching great completion, however, Profound Mysteries were more like irregular shapes. Between different Laws, one could use those uneven edges and corners to gradually search for points of overlap and compatibility.
Doing so reduced the difficulty of fusion by more than tenfold.
The trade-off was that, since none of the Profound Mysteries had yet been fully mastered, any new insight gained would temporarily lower the existing degree of fusion. Only after a period of adjustment and refinement could it be raised again.
Naturally, the Profound Mysteries of the Laws between heaven and earth were fundamentally the same.
Yet once living beings fully comprehended them—making them something truly their own—those Laws began to carry individual characteristics.
Each person's understanding of the Laws was different, and so too were their methods of fusion.
What suited you might be completely unsuitable for someone else.
Thus, up to now, in the entire universe, aside from a few gods who had accidentally fused one or two Profound Mysteries, perhaps only the Sovereigns truly understood the secrets behind Law fusion.
Of course, with the overwhelming might of the Sovereigns, they hardly cared how many Profound Mysteries god-level beings managed to fuse.
It was likely that before long, news of Profound Mystery fusion would spread throughout the Seven Divine Planes and the Four Supreme Planes.
When that time came, the gods of those realms would face a brand-new reshuffling.
Those with extraordinary talent, those who completed fusion first, and those who fused the greatest number of Profound Mysteries would become the true trendsetters—the ones riding the waves of change across the Seven Divine Planes and the Four Supreme Planes.
…
Time, of course, did not halt its flow for anyone's preferences.
While Locke remained in seclusion, the beings of the Wakanda Plane continued living their lives as usual.
For the common folk at the bottom, nothing seemed to have changed at all.
After all, no matter how the outside world shifted, they still lived the same days—days they had been repeating for decades.
But for the noble classes of the Light Temple and the Frostsnow Empire, these decades were the most miserable they had ever endured.
The assassination of the Light Temple's newly advanced Saint within the grand cathedral had sent ripples that were still spreading across the entire Wakanda Plane.
The fact that the Pope of the Light Temple couldn't even protect a Saint under his own command left the nobles of the Frostsnow Empire terrified to act rashly.
They no longer dared to search for people with pure souls. And even if, by some stroke of luck, they did find one, they wouldn't dare bring them to the Light Temple to conduct the sacrificial ritual.
After all, so many years had passed, yet no one had ever seen the Pope of the Light Temple capture the murderer who killed Gasco.
Everyone remembered what had happened decades ago.
Back then, it was precisely because the Frostsnow Empire lacked newly advanced Saints to fight on behalf of the Light Temple that they had killed the Saint whom the Light Temple intended to use to form a knightly order.
(End of Chapter)
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