After finishing the outer defenses, Locke walked to the pavilion in front of the small house.
"I say… this lake should have living creatures."
The moment he spoke, a subtle strand of Fate divine power spread outward from his body.
Soon after, fish, shrimp, and various aquatic life began appearing in the lake.
"Not bad."
Feeling the new soul auras within the water, Locke nodded in satisfaction.
This was the result of his Fate divine clone's recent insights into the Edicts of Fate.
Although he did not know how it compared to Orloff's Great Prophecy, Locke had already begun to grasp how to give Fate magic the effect of words becoming reality.
Locke extended both hands.
Immediately, a fishing rod made of ice formed in his grasp.
A thin stream of water condensed into a long fishing line, threaded through a hook of ice, and Locke casually cast it into the lake.
On the hook hung a small green worm, wriggling faintly.
Of course, it was fake.
It was merely an illusion Locke had placed on the hook.
Yet this illusory worm emitted the exact same aura, movements, and even scent as a real one.
Because the faith power in Locke's soul space was currently insufficient to accelerate his analysis of Sovereign essence blood, his Water divine clone had begun researching illusion techniques again during this waiting period.
After developing Heavenly Dance of the Jewel Ring and Eye of Hell, Locke's next illusion technique was inspired by a villain's ability from an anime in his previous life.
Kyoka Suigetsu.
In Locke's view, Kyoka Suigetsu represented the ultimate form of illusion.
Its ability allowed one to perfectly control the opponent's five senses.
A simple fly could be made to appear as a towering dragon—
complete with dragon's pressure, dragon's aura, and dragon's presence.
When every one of your five senses tells you it's a dragon…
Would you still doubt what you're seeing?
Locke's goal was to refine illusion to the point where falsehood could deceive the heavens themselves.
To reach that level, Kyoka Suigetsu was a necessary step.
Only once his illusions could fully deceive living beings, making them incapable of distinguishing truth from falsehood, could he move to the next stage:
Understanding the perception of the universe's laws themselves.
Only then could he deceive the laws of the world, achieving the legendary state of:
Turning illusion into reality.
If even living beings could see through the illusion…
How could it possibly deceive the heavens?
Locke focused on the wriggling worm on the hook.
His soul power gradually seeped into it.
He began constructing the worm's internal structures, layer by layer.
Muscles.
Skin.
Biological patterns.
Every detail increased the worm's sense of reality.
Elsewhere – Radiance City
"Hello. We would like to apply to become Fiends. What do we need to do?"
Inside Radiance City, Oakes brought Yagonia to the Fiend Castle.
Following the guidance of the purple crystal signboards, they reached the Fiend registration desk and asked the staff member.
After accepting Locke's mission, Oakes had discussed things with Gaspar and Korst.
Both of them had already become Highgods, and they were fully capable of protecting Blackstone Tribe.
Even if they encountered danger they couldn't handle, they could still seek help from Lord Locke.
Because of that, Oakes decided to leave the tribe with Yagonia.
There were two reasons.
First, they wanted to become Fiends and issue a bounty task to track down the people who had ambushed the Blackstone Tribe's former chief five thousand years ago.
They wanted revenge for Yagonia's father.
Second, now that they possessed great power, Oakes wanted to travel with Yagonia and see the lands of Hell, experiencing a different kind of life.
He still remembered that when Yagonia's father had been alive, she had not been the gentle and obedient woman she was now.
Back then she had been mischievous and lively.
She had always dreamed of exploring Hell after becoming powerful.
But reality had crushed that dream.
The tribe's chief had been assassinated.
All the tribe's gods except Oakes had died.
And because Oakes had chosen the path of external godhood, he lacked the inkstones needed to purchase treasures to restore his soul.
His cultivation had stagnated for hundreds of years.
He had even been nearly killed by a soul attack ambush.
Yet misfortune often carried hidden blessings.
They had met Lord Locke.
Under Locke's guidance, Oakes now possessed Five-Star Fiend-level strength, and Yagonia had refined a divine spark to become a Highgod.
Now they finally had the strength to explore Hell.
Their first stop:
Radiance City, the closest major city to Blackstone Tribe.
"Oh? You wish to register as Fiends?"
The staff member glanced at Oakes and Yagonia before immediately smiling warmly.
"Please come this way."
The other applicants who had been ignored didn't mind.
After all, one of the two was a Highgod.
For Demigods and Gods, becoming a Fiend required submitting an application and completing a Fiend Castle test mission.
But Highgods didn't need such procedures.
They could immediately receive a Three-Star Fiend badge.
This was the privilege of strength.
Under the staff member's guidance, both Oakes and Yagonia confirmed their Highgod strength and received Three-Star Fiend badges.
They were now officially Fiends.
When the surrounding crowd saw Oakes's badge, they looked at him with envy.
Ever since Fiend Castle had spread across Hell, the secret of fusing Profound Mysteries was no longer hidden.
Everyone knew that someone who became a Three-Star Fiend while still a God must either be:
A genius who had already begun fusing Profound MysteriesOr a powerful special lifeform
Either way, once they reached Highgod level, they would almost certainly become Four-Star Fiends or higher.
Seeing the admiration around them, Yagonia's face showed clear pride.
Look.
That's my husband.
With their Fiend badges, the two walked to the mission board.
After paying a deposit, they posted a bounty task:
Find the bandits who ambushed the Blackstone Tribe chief five thousand years ago.
The mission was quickly posted in the Fiend Castle Hall.
However, no one immediately accepted it.
Oakes and Yagonia weren't disappointed.
After all, five thousand years had already passed.
Unless someone had personally witnessed the attackers, the only way to uncover the truth would be if their accomplices betrayed them.
There was also another possibility.
Those bandits might have already died themselves.
After all,
Those who walk along the river too often eventually slip into the water.
Standing before the mission board, Oakes searched through the available tasks.
Locke had asked him to deliver the purple crystal to the Fiend Ryan.
But Oakes didn't know Ryan's current location.
However, everyone knew that Locke had promised a drop of Sovereign's Might as a reward.
Because Lord Bai had been killed by a Sovereign, the Sovereign's Might was currently held by Lord Prefect Ismail of Tianshan Prefecture.
When Ryan eventually returned to claim it, he would definitely go there.
Therefore, if Oakes reached Tianshan Prefecture before Ryan, he could complete Locke's mission.
But traveling from Indigo Prefecture on Amethyst Continent to Tianshan Prefecture on Bloodpeak Continent would take at least three hundred years on foot.
Oakes didn't have enough inkstones to buy a metal lifeform.
So, he searched for an escort mission that could carry him there faster.
Eventually he chose one.
Escort Mission
Mission Type: Escort
Difficulty: Three-Star to Five-Star
Objective: Escort the Charles Merchant Guild from Radiance City (Yemu Prefecture) to Nine Rivers City (Blood River Prefecture)
Reward: 3,000 – 80,000 inkstones
Time Limit: 5 days
Oakes chose this mission because the merchant guild owned a metal lifeform.
Without one, the journey would take ten years.
With one, it could be reduced to three years.
With a high-grade metal lifeform, possibly one and a half years.
The negotiation went smoothly.
Oakes and Yagonia became escorts for the Charles Merchant Guild.
Two Four-Star Fiends also accepted the mission.
Their pay was four times higher than that of the Three-Star Fiends.
Unfortunately for the guild, no Five-Star Fiend accepted the task before the five-day deadline.
That wasn't surprising.
Although the secret of fusing Profound Mysteries had spread through Hell, most people were still experimenting.
Strength had not yet surged across the population.
Three- and Four-Star Fiends could already serve as city lords.
Five-Star Fiends were typically major city lords or vice lords.
Why would someone of that status work as a bodyguard for a few tens of thousands of inkstones?
Before departure, the guild master Brue Charles addressed the eight escorts.
"Thank you all for protecting our guild."
"Although we were unable to recruit a Five-Star Fiend, we do have two Four-Star Fiends among you."
"I hope everyone will follow their command during this mission."
"Please do not act independently."
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