Whether it was erasing the soul aura from every bounty notice stored in Fiend Castle, observing events billions of kilometers away through a projection technique, or even launching an attack across that same unimaginable distance…
Were such feats truly something a god could accomplish?
Could it be that the Locke living quietly in Blackstone Tribe was actually a Sovereign?
The thought ignited a burning excitement in Oakes's heart.
Serving a god and serving a Sovereign were two completely different things.
Moreover, Locke had personally praised Oakes's potential, saying he might one day surpass even a Shura.
With that in mind, Oakes was no longer surprised that Amane had not been taken in by Locke.
Perhaps in Oakes's eyes, Amane was a capable warrior worth recruiting.
But in Locke's eyes, he might still fall short.
After all, the requirement Locke had set for Oakes was clear—reach the strength of a Six-Star Fiend within ten thousand years.
Otherwise, Locke would personally kill him.
From that alone, it was obvious that to even catch Locke's attention, one had to at least possess the potential to become a Prefecture Lord.
By that logic, the Fiend named Ryan, whom Locke had specifically mentioned, must also be extraordinary.
With that thought, Oakes turned to Amane.
"Amane, I won't hide anything from you."
"I came to Tian Mountain Prefecture to carry out a task given to me by Lord Locke."
"I need to deliver something to Fiend Ryan."
"The problem is, I don't know when Ryan will return to Tian Mountain Prefecture to meet Lord Ismael, the Prefecture Lord, and collect the Sovereign's Might."
"So, I'm giving you a task."
"Yes, Lord Oakes."
Amane lowered his head respectfully, showing no surprise.
Clearly, he had already guessed that Oakes was serving under Lord Locke.
"I need you to keep watch on both Fiend Castle and the Prefecture Lord's residence."
"If Ryan appears at either location, inform me immediately."
"Yes, Lord Oakes."
After Amane left the room, Oakes looked at Yagonia with a trace of guilt in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Nia."
"I wanted to spend some time exploring Tian Mountain Prefecture with you, but…"
"Oakes, I understand."
Yagonia smiled and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head against his chest.
"As Lord Locke's subordinate, you must grow stronger."
"Only then can you stand out among those serving under him."
"Go focus on your training."
"There's no need to feel troubled."
"When you become stronger, we'll be able to travel even farther and see even more of this world."
"…Alright."
"Hmm. I didn't expect you to be this leisurely."
In the Netherworld, a cool voice suddenly echoed beside Locke's ear.
Opening his eyes, Locke wasn't surprised to see Lilia walking toward him along the floating bridge.
He had known from the beginning.
Within the entirety of Mount Nether, only Lilia could pass through his fog barrier and find him.
The Chief Sovereign of Death was busy comprehending the Edicts of Death.
The Nether Sovereign disliked movement and preferred sleeping.
The strongest divine beasts on Mount Nether—Inawei and Jin—had merely gained power by secretly eating Netherfruit.
With their strength, they likely couldn't even break through the outer layers of Locke's fog, much less reach the lake and trigger the Eighteen Layers of Hell illusion.
Judging from Lilia's calm pace, the soul attacks hidden within the mist had absolutely no effect on her.
That didn't surprise Locke.
After all, the amount of Laws and soul power that ambient elements could carry was extremely limited.
For ordinary gods, the fog surrounding Locke's residence was the most dangerous place on Mount Nether.
But for someone like Lilia, who possessed Sovereign will, the power hidden in the fog was meaningless.
Only Sovereign will could counter Sovereign will.
The fog Locke had created did not contain such power.
Nor could it.
"You call this leisurely?"
Locke glanced at Lilia but didn't bother arguing.
To an outside observer, he appeared to be doing nothing more than fishing.
But who would guess that this, too, was part of his cultivation?
Still, Locke didn't bother explaining.
If she thought he was relaxing, then so be it.
Better to grow stronger quietly.
"No gunfire, no attention."
"You seem pretty relaxed yourself," Locke replied.
"Otherwise, you wouldn't have come here."
"Haha. That's where you're wrong."
"I didn't come here to see you."
Lilia found this style of conversation strangely refreshing.
After becoming a Sovereign, she had rarely interacted with anyone as an equal.
Aside from Vivia, this was the first time she had felt such a sense of balance while speaking with a god.
Of course, she knew the reason.
Locke was only speaking this freely because this particular clone of hers posed no threat to him.
If she had arrived with her Sovereign body, he would immediately turn cautious.
Still, that honesty made Locke feel genuine.
Even though both of her bodies shared the same consciousness, Locke treated them as entirely separate individuals.
If the one before him was weaker than him, he spoke casually.
If the one before him was stronger, he would act accordingly.
It was simple. Direct.
"Oh?"
"If you're not here to see me, what did you come here for?"
Even Locke sometimes grew bored from endless cultivation.
Having Lilia drop by for a little conversation wasn't unwelcome.
"I came to see that."
Lilia pointed toward the water palace Locke had constructed from pure Water Laws.
Technically, she wasn't lying.
After her recent enlightenment and fusion of five profound mysteries, her affinity for the Water Laws had actually dropped another step.
The enlightenment had improved her understanding somewhat, but it still wasn't enough to offset the loss of natural affinity that came with fully merging the profound mysteries she had already grasped.
Recently, her cultivation of the Water Laws had stagnated.
So, she had come here to gain inspiration.
Of course, with her pride, she would never directly ask Locke for guidance.
But observing his water palace was essentially the same thing.
The structure itself revealed traces of Locke's Law comprehension.
Standing before the palace, Lilia reached out and touched its walls and pillars.
Her eyes filled with fascination.
"It's beautiful."
"I never imagined perfectly fused Laws could possess such elegance."
"Every time I see it, it's breathtaking."
Indeed, Locke had already fused every profound mystery of the Water Laws into a single unified Law of Water.
The deeper one's understanding of the Water Laws, the more one could sense the mysteries hidden within it.
Seeing Lilia mesmerized by the structure filled with his Law comprehension, Locke couldn't help but smile slightly.
So, what if she was a Sovereign?
Without reaching Paragon, how could she truly appreciate the beauty of Paragon Laws?
Becoming a Paragon was not as simple as seeing a perfect set of Laws.
If it were that easy, Augusta, the Chief Sovereign of Light's clone under Orloff, would have become a Light Paragon long before Linley killed him.
From the birth of the Coiling Dragon universe to Linley's eventual transcendence, nearly two thousand epochs had passed.
One epoch was sixty trillion years.
Over a thousand epochs meant countless quadrillions of years.
Yet in all that time, fewer than twenty Paragons had ever appeared.
The difficulty of reaching that realm was almost unimaginable.
Even if Locke placed the perfect structure of the Water Laws directly before Lilia, she might at best glimpse the path toward fusing six profound mysteries.
But reaching Paragon through that alone?
Impossible.
Every Paragon Highgod was the result of opportunity, luck, and destiny aligning perfectly.
Even if a Paragon restarted cultivation from scratch, there was no guarantee they would reach Paragon again.
At best, they could ensure they reached the threshold where all profound mysteries were nearly fused.
The final step depended entirely on fate.
Ignoring Lilia once more, Locke returned his attention to cultivating his illusion technique.
Kyoka Suigetsu.
In a few million years, the War of Faith would begin.
If he wanted to seize a Sovereign spark, he would inevitably have to participate in that colossal war.
If he succeeded and became a Sovereign, then his future opponent would no longer be Lilia herself…
But her Sovereign body.
The Water Sovereign spark.
Or the Fate Sovereign spark.
In this coming war, Locke had set himself one goal.
He had to obtain at least one of them.
Only then could he cultivate safely within the Coiling Dragon universe.
And to achieve that—
He still needed to become stronger.
Ripples spread across the lake.
On Locke's fishing hook, the illusory green worm continued to wriggle.
Compared to decades earlier, it had become far more realistic.
Fish swimming through the lake would often dart toward it and bite.
Yet every time their mouths passed straight through the illusion.
They could not grasp it.
Locke's illusion was still incomplete.
For now, the worm created by Kyoka Suigetsu could deceive the senses of the creatures in the lake…
But it could not yet control them.
The next step was to refine its realism further.
When the fish attacked it, they needed to feel the impact, the bite, the taste of blood, the sensation of fullness.
Once Locke reached that stage, Kyoka Suigetsu would be considered successfully initiated.
Whether it could deceive the heavens themselves was uncertain.
But deceiving the living beings within heaven and earth?
That would already be more than enough.
⭐ Enjoying the story?
You can read ahead and support the translations by joining my Patreon! Your support helps me update faster and take on more projects. Thank you for reading!
Read up to 50 chapters ahead!
patreon.com/AminaSims
Next Bonus Chapter at 450 powerstones.