"Who are you, and why are you using your divine sense to spy on Blackstone Tribe?"
Seeing that the newcomer was a Highgod, Coste's expression turned serious as he spoke.
Although the four of them were all Highgods, they had become Highgods by refining divine sparks.
In front of ordinary Gods, they could be considered powerful.
But among Highgods of the same level, they were the weakest.
If the visitor had already begun fusing the profound mysteries of the Laws, then even with four times the numbers, they would stand no chance.
In the worst case, they might even be killed instantly.
"My apologies. I was being discourteous."
The man clasped his fists and bowed toward Coste and the others.
"My name is Arman. I serve under Lord Oakes."
"I only learned of Blackstone Tribe through Lord Oakes."
"He instructed me to come here to seek out a certain lord and ask for his assistance."
"I would appreciate it if you could introduce me."
"Oh? You're one of Chief Oakes's subordinates?"
"In that case, we're practically family."
After learning Arman's identity, Coste and the others relaxed immediately.
They didn't doubt his words.
After all, aside from a few people within the tribe, no one else even knew that that lord existed.
Even the Gods and Demigods who had risen in recent years weren't qualified to know about him.
"Lord Oakes is the chief of Blackstone Tribe?"
Hearing Coste's words, disappointment flashed across Arman's face.
A tribe's chief was usually the strongest person in the tribe.
If Lord Oakes was the leader of Blackstone Tribe, then there likely wasn't anyone there stronger than him.
In that case, his hopes had been misplaced.
Although disappointment lingered in his heart, Arman decided that after meeting the "lord" Oakes had mentioned, he would leave.
Relying on others was worse than relying on oneself.
If he endured for another few thousand—or perhaps ten thousand—years, once he completely fused the two profound mysteries of the Earth Laws he had grasped, he would eventually free himself from the bandit group's control.
"Arman, welcome to Blackstone Tribe," Coste said.
"My name is Coste. I'm currently the captain responsible for Blackstone Castle's external defenses."
After introducing himself, Coste turned to the three others beside him.
"Yulico, Leiter, Kula—you three return to the tribe and lift the alert."
"I'll take Arman to request an audience with the lord."
"Yes, Captain Coste."
After the three departed, Coste nodded toward Arman.
"Come with me."
"But before you meet that lord, let me remind you of one thing—maintain proper respect in his presence."
"If you anger him, even if you're Chief Oakes's subordinate, the lord could kill you without hesitation. Chief Oakes wouldn't dare complain in the slightest. In fact, he might even think your death would dirty the lord's hands and kill you himself."
Arman sucked in a breath.
Following behind Coste, he couldn't help but feel puzzled.
Who exactly was this lord?
For Lord Oakes to treat him with such reverence?
With those doubts in mind, Arman followed Coste to a rather remote corner of Blackstone Tribe.
There stood only a single palace.
When they arrived at the entrance, Coste raised a finger to his lips, signaling for silence, then stood quietly before the gates.
Arman did the same.
Although he didn't understand why Coste wasn't announcing their arrival, he respected the customs of another's territory.
After breaking through the first bottleneck in the fusion of the Water Laws and the Edicts of Fate, Locke's Saint-level original body found himself unusually free.
Although his soul had memorized the posture of the Water Laws interacting with the world's fundamental rules, finding the precise opportunity to fuse that posture with the Edicts of Fate was not simple.
Instead of forcing it, Locke decided it would be better to relax his mind. Resting for a while might even improve the results of his future cultivation.
That morning, just after waking up, Locke noticed two figures waiting outside the castle.
One of them was Coste, now one of the leaders of Blackstone Tribe and already a Highgod.
The other had a very unfamiliar aura.
Locke's divine sense spread outward at once, and his voice sounded directly in Coste's mind.
"Coste. What's the matter?"
"Yes, Lord Locke."
Although he wasn't facing Locke directly, Coste still maintained a respectful posture.
"This man calls himself Arman. He says he's one of Lord Oakes's subordinates and that Lord Oakes instructed him to come to Blackstone Tribe to find you."
Standing beside Coste, Arman's heart nearly stopped.
Arman had become a Highgod through his own efforts. After learning the secret of fusing the Laws, he had spent more than three thousand years searching for the point of harmony between two profound mysteries of the Earth Laws.
By now, he had nearly fused them completely and had reached the level of a Four-Star Fiend.
Yet despite that strength, he hadn't sensed a single trace of divine sense sweeping past him earlier.
And yet Coste was clearly responding to someone who had just spoken to him through divine sense.
Just how powerful would someone's divine sense need to be for him to detect nothing at all?
"Understood."
Coste finished the silent exchange with Locke and turned toward Arman.
"Arman, Lord Locke is waiting for you in the front courtyard. Go in by yourself."
"And remember—show the utmost respect before Lord Locke."
"Understood."
Arman nodded.
There was no doubt about it. This Lord Locke possessed strength far beyond his own.
In front of such a powerful existence, showing anything less than respect would be courting death.
Taking a deep breath, Arman stepped into the castle.
After passing through several corridors, he arrived at a quiet courtyard.
In the center stood a pavilion.
Inside the pavilion sat a young man with long blue hair, dressed in a white robe patterned with blue waves. He sat calmly at a stone table.
"Arman greets Lord Locke."
The moment he saw him, Arman knew this must be the lord Oakes had sent him to find.
Without hesitation, he bowed deeply.
"Arman? Oakes sent you to see me?"
"Yes, Lord Locke."
Arman kept his head lowered, not daring to show even the slightest disrespect.
Part of it was because of Coste's earlier warning.
But another reason soon became clear to him.
The moment he lowered his head and looked away from Locke, he suddenly realized he could no longer sense Locke's presence at all.
Yet Locke was clearly sitting right in front of him.
He could hear Locke's voice perfectly well.
But his senses detected nothing—no aura, no presence of life whatsoever.
Suppressing the urge to look up again, Arman forced himself to remain still, afraid that even the slightest breach of etiquette might offend such an unfathomable existence.
"Hah. Oakes only left here a few days ago, and he's already learned how to bring me trouble."
Locke shook his head with a faint smile.
Still, he had no objection to Oakes recruiting Arman as a subordinate.
In fact, Locke encouraged his followers to build their own forces.
The stronger their factions became, the easier things would be for him.
Instead of personally handling every matter, he could simply issue instructions and let them carry things out.
"Tell me," Locke said. "What did Oakes ask me to help you with?"
"Yes, Lord Locke."
Arman carefully explained everything—how Oakes had wanted to recruit him, but because Arman had already been placed on Fiend Castle's bounty list, he couldn't serve under Oakes without bringing trouble.
"I see."
"I understand now. You may stand."
"Yes, Lord Locke."
Arman rose and stood respectfully to the side.
Locke raised a hand.
A thread of Arman's soul aura was drawn from his body and gathered into Locke's palm.
Using that trace as a guide, Locke released a drop of Sovereign's Might. His soul power spread outward and instantly located over a hundred thousand matching soul signatures.
Most of them were concentrated in the five prefectures surrounding Yemu Prefecture of the Violetthorn Continent. Beyond those areas, there were far fewer.
Clearly, Fiend Castle had only distributed Arman's bounty notices within the regions where he was most active.
After that, the matter became simple.
Following the thread of Arman's soul aura in his hand, Locke stirred the power of the Edicts of Fate.
With a single motion, he erased every one of those hundred thousand soul signatures.
From that moment onward, every bounty notice containing Arman's aura within Fiend Castle no longer carried any trace of him.
"It's… such overwhelming pressure…"
For a brief instant while Locke used the power of the Edicts of Fate, his aura flickered.
Just that tiny fragment of presence caused Arman's heart to stop for several seconds.
Cold sweat streamed down his face, yet he didn't dare move an inch.
"Lord Locke…"
At that moment, the name finally struck him.
Lord Locke.
At first, he had assumed it was merely someone with the same name.
But after sensing the aura from the man before him, Arman realized the truth.
The person sitting there was most likely the founder of Fiend Castle.
The legendary figure known throughout Hell as "the Legendary Shura."
Aside from Lord Locke himself, no one else could possess such terrifying power.
So, Lord Oakes was connected to Lord Locke?
Arman's heart burned with excitement.
Thinking about it, it made perfect sense.
Lord Oakes possessed the strength of a Five-Star Fiend despite only being a God.
Only a figure like Lord Locke could possibly cultivate such a genius.
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