"And that Light Pope as well…"
Recalling what the Light Pope had revealed during the battle, Celes narrowed his eyes.
He had never imagined that the Light Pope—who used to be so meek and deferential before him—would actually possess such a precious upper-tier divine artifact.
And not just one.
Two of them.
Of course, now only one remained.
But still…
Locke will probably suffer a setback soon enough, Celes thought.
…
Celes' guess was correct.
At this very moment, Locke was feeling thoroughly frustrated.
He stared at the Rising Sun Spear in his hand and let out a quiet sigh.
No matter what he tried—whether it was binding it with his blood or refining it with divine power—the spear gave him no response whatsoever.
"Could it be that divine artifacts are like spatial rings," Locke muttered, "that if the original owner isn't dead, they simply can't be refined by someone else?"
As the thought surfaced, another followed closely behind.
"Then… should I just go and kill the Light Pope?"
But the idea was dismissed almost as soon as it appeared.
Although Locke could gain the upper hand in battle through the technique Celestial Dance Treasure Wheel, he knew very well that without being able to unleash the true might of a divine artifact, it was impossible for him to kill a Light Pope protected by an upper-tier divine artifact.
That said, even if Locke himself couldn't draw out the spear's full power, relying solely on the sheer hardness of an upper-tier divine artifact—and its ability to nearly tear apart the space of the material plane—was still enough to significantly boost his attacks.
Putting the Rising Sun Spear away into his spatial ring, Locke resumed his cultivation.
No matter how powerful they were, divine artifacts were still external tools.
Only one's comprehension of the profound mysteries of the laws constituted true personal strength.
With that in mind, Locke prepared to continue comprehending the laws.
Especially the Ice Edge profound mystery.
His Fog Illusion profound mystery had already reached completion. If he could deepen his understanding of Ice Sharpness further, his progress toward fusing the two profound mysteries would accelerate.
After all, once a god had fully mastered one profound mystery, they already possessed experience in comprehending a complete law. As long as another profound mystery was grasped at an introductory level, they could rely on that prior experience to push it all the way to the Saint-tier limit.
However, Locke's cultivation did not last long.
"My soul power is simply too weak right now."
Opening his eyes, Locke frowned.
He was now personally experiencing the drawbacks of having his soul split in two.
Using profound mysteries he had already fully comprehended was fine—those had already condensed into his divine spark and required little consumption.
But to comprehend new profound mysteries, he still needed to enter the state of unity between heaven and man, immersing himself in the laws of heaven and earth.
After becoming a god, Locke's affinity for the laws had increased dramatically.
In terms of cultivation experience, it felt as though his current speed was more than ten times faster than before he ascended to godhood.
However, comprehending profound mysteries in the state of unity between heaven and man consumed a tremendous amount of soul power.
With his current frail soul strength, Locke simply couldn't sustain that state long enough to properly comprehend other profound mysteries.
"…Should I go to Hell?"
The thought flashed through his mind.
If he wanted to improve his cultivation efficiency, the most effective method was undoubtedly to absorb soul essence, strengthening his soul and giving himself enough soul power to comprehend the laws of heaven and earth.
Otherwise, at his current pace, Locke estimated that it would take at least a thousand years to bring a second profound mystery to completion.
And from birth until now, he was not even three hundred years old.
After pondering for a while, a streak of blue light flew out from Locke's body, condensing into a water-element divine clone clad in blue robes.
Without hesitation, the water-element clone took the spatial ring Locke handed over and flew straight toward the imperial capital of the Frostsnow Empire.
…
"Just come in directly, Locke."
As Locke hovered outside the imperial capital, preparing to enter through the city gates, Celes' voice echoed in his ears.
Without delay, Locke shot forward with a whoosh, stirring up a fierce gust of wind as he flew straight into Celes' palace and landed before him.
"Locke greets His Majesty Celes."
Locke bowed slightly in greeting.
Although he had already become a god, the gap in strength between a lower god and an upper god was at least a hundredfold.
Such a disparity meant that Locke had no choice but to maintain proper respect before Celes.
Moreover, the feeling of facing Celes before and after becoming a god was entirely different.
Before his ascension, Locke only knew that Celes was a godly being, someone before whom he was less than an ant.
But after becoming a god himself, Locke could clearly sense the immense pressure of divine power emanating from Celes.
It was the pressure brought by upper-tier divine power, more than a hundred times stronger than lower-tier divine power.
Since they both wielded water-element divine power, Locke's perception was especially sharp.
Standing before Celes, Locke felt like a mortal standing at the mouth of a volcano on the brink of eruption—one wrong moment, and he could be completely engulfed.
At the same time, Locke realized that the Celes before him was not a divine clone, but Celes' true body.
Celes had achieved godhood within his physical body.
As for how Locke knew—
The answer lay in something as simple as hair color.
Divine clones formed through external ascension used divine power to condense their bodies, and as a result, their hair and eyebrows always took on the color of their respective elements, varying only in shade depending on personal preference.
Fire-element clones had red hair.
Earth-element clones had yellow hair.
Wind-element clones had green hair.
Water-element clones had blue hair.
This was determined by divine power itself.
Yet Celes' hair was unmistakably brown.
And still, the divine pressure Locke sensed from him was clearly that of water-element divine power.
From this alone, Locke could conclude that Celes had ascended through internal godhood, which was why his hair was not blue.
"Locke, congratulations on becoming a Demigod," Celes said.
"As far as I know, after one's soul is tempered by the laws of heaven and earth during ascension, the speed of comprehending profound mysteries increases by several dozen times compared to the Saint realm."
"Instead of comprehending the laws in Locke Territory, you came to see me. What brings you here?"
"Your Majesty Celes," Locke replied, straightening up. "I came to consult you on a few matters."
He did not beat around the bush and stated his purpose directly.
"Oh?" Celes said with a slight nod, resting his chin on his hand. "Go ahead."
"As long as it's something I know, I'll tell you."
Celes held Locke in very high regard and did not mind clearing up some of his doubts.
…
(End of Chapter)
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