The years that followed passed quietly for Locke.
Thanks to the thirteen percent share of faith power from Fiend Castle, he accumulated a steady supply of faith energy.
Every thousand years or so, once enough had gathered, Locke would either use it to deepen his understanding of fusing different Laws, or refine the Sovereign blood essence of the Black Tortoise to further comprehend the Laws of Space.
Thus, ten thousand years slipped by in the blink of an eye.
"Everyone, we're almost at Blackstone Tribe."
Inside the metal lifeform, Oakes smiled as he spoke to the three men seated across from him.
"Haha! It's been ten thousand years since I last saw Lord Locke," one of them said with a laugh. "I wonder what instructions he'll give us this time."
The speaker was Clifford, the Prefecture Lord of Sea Cloud Prefecture.
More than twelve thousand years ago, he had sworn allegiance to Locke shortly before Locke fought Muya's lightning divine clone.
Unfortunately, since then Locke had seemingly forgotten about him.
Despite never being summoned, Clifford had not given up.
He had worked hard to build relationships with Ryan and Rockpeak, the earliest followers to swear loyalty to Locke.
And when he learned, they were preparing to visit Locke, he immediately decided to accompany them.
"I just hope our strength hasn't disappointed Lord Locke," Ryan said quietly.
Compared to Clifford's excitement, both Ryan and Rockpeak felt a far heavier pressure.
In the past ten thousand years, Ryan still hadn't found the point of harmony needed to fuse a fourth profound mystery.
Although he stood among the very strongest Six-Star Fiends, failing to reach Seven-Star Fiend meant he still wasn't considered a true top expert in Hell.
Of course, Ryan was being overly modest.
In the current era, the only people capable of reaching Seven-Star Fiend strength were the Sovereign Emissaries who wielded Sovereign artifacts.
Without the boost from those artifacts, many of them would be no stronger than Ryan—some might even be weaker.
As for Rockpeak, the past ten thousand years of relentless combat had pushed his understanding of the Edicts of Destruction to a new level.
His strength had also reached the Six-Star Fiend tier.
However, he still fell somewhat short compared to Ryan.
At best, he was roughly equal to Clifford.
Seeing three of Hell's most powerful Six-Star Fiends worried about disappointing Locke made Oakes feel nervous as well.
Over the past ten thousand years, he had fused yet another profound mystery of the Wind Laws.
Out of the five wind mysteries he had fused, four—Elemental Wind, Sound, Doppelganger, and Wind Movement—belonged to related branches. Because of that structure, his strength was roughly equivalent to someone who had fused three ordinary profound mysteries.
With the use of fused divine power, Oakes could now reach the strength of a Six-Star Fiend, successfully meeting Locke's requirement.
However, since he could not reveal the secret of his soul mutation, the strength he displayed publicly was only that of a Five-Star Fiend.
Even so, none of the three Six-Star Fiends underestimated him.
After all, Oakes had already possessed Five-Star Fiend strength when he was only a God.
Once he became a Highgod, he would almost certainly rival them.
In fact, if Oakes fused one or two more wind mysteries and then broke through to Highgod, he might replicate Locke's feat—reaching Seven-Star Fiend strength immediately upon becoming a Highgod.
There was no doubt about it.
Oakes truly deserved the title of genius personally recognized by Lord Locke.
In terms of potential, he far surpassed them.
"We're here."
Ten thousand years was not a long time in Hell.
Blackstone Tribe had changed little since Oakes left.
The metal lifeform descended outside the tribe.
After everyone stepped out, Yagonia waved her hand, shrinking the metal lifeform into a tiny object and storing it in her interspatial ring.
Sensing their arrival, five Highgods flew out from the tribe.
They had intended to question these unfamiliar Highgods—but the moment they recognized Oakes and Yagonia, excitement filled their faces.
"It's Lord Oakes! Lady Yagonia!"
"Hurry! Spread the word—Lord Oakes and Lady Yagonia have returned!"
At Korst's command, one of the Highgods immediately flew back into the tribe to deliver the news.
For the ordinary people of Blackstone Tribe, Locke's existence was unknown.
But they knew one thing clearly.
Everything had changed since Lord Oakes became the tribe's leader.
Under his leadership, Blackstone Tribe had grown into a powerful settlement with five Highgods, more than ten Gods, and over thirty Demigods.
In truth, the tribe had enough inkstones to purchase even more divine sparks.
But everyone understood that becoming a god by refining a divine spark meant sacrificing one's future.
Once the tribe possessed sufficient strength to defend itself, they stopped purchasing divine sparks and instead encouraged their Saint-level warriors to break through on their own.
After all, Oakes had told them:
Hell was a world ruled by strength.
Refining divine sparks might allow them to protect the tribe for now.
But tens of thousands—or hundreds of thousands—of years later, only those who became gods through their own efforts would have a truly boundless future.
Those who had refined divine sparks were sacrifices.
They existed to protect the Saints until the next generation grew strong.
One day, the next generation would protect them in return.
Of course, that was the ideal.
In reality, during these ten thousand years, the only people who had naturally ascended to godhood in Blackstone Tribe were Saints sent there by the Sovereign Army from material planes.
Not a single original Saint of the tribe had managed to break through.
"Oakes! You're finally back!"
"Korst! Gaspar! I'm back."
Oakes stepped forward and embraced them both tightly.
After releasing them, he patted their shoulders.
"Thanks to the two of you all these years. Otherwise…"
"Oakes, what are you saying?"
Gaspar shook his head.
"If it weren't for you, Blackstone Tribe probably wouldn't even exist anymore."
"By the way… who are these people?"
"Haha, my mistake. Let me introduce everyone."
Oakes gestured toward the three men beside him.
"Lord Ryan, Lord Rockpeak, and Lord Clifford."
"These two—Gaspar and Korst—are my brothers. If not for them, Niya and I wouldn't have been able to travel freely all these years."
Then he turned back.
"Gaspar, Korst—these three are renowned experts throughout Hell."
"Lord Ryan, Lord Rockpeak, and Lord Clifford are all Six-Star Fiends of Fiend Castle."
"And Lord Clifford is the Prefecture Lord of Sea Cloud Prefecture."
Oakes did not introduce Amane.
After all, Amane was only his subordinate.
Introducing him alongside the three Six-Star Fiends would have been disrespectful.
Korst, however, already recognized Amane.
Back then, he had still been known as Arman.
"Six-Star Fiends…"
Gaspar and Korst inhaled sharply and hurriedly bowed.
These were experts who stood at the very peak of Hell.
And Oakes was now casually traveling alongside them?
"Lord Ryan, Lord Rockpeak, Lord Clifford."
"It's an honor."
Although the three Six-Star Fiends normally wouldn't spare a second glance at Highgods who had refined divine sparks, Oakes had called them his sworn brothers.
Out of respect for him, they responded with friendly smiles.
Gaspar and Korst were so excited their faces nearly froze from grinning.
After all, Six-Star Fiends were legendary figures throughout Hell.
Aside from the 108 Prefecture Lords, very few people could ever reach that level.
One reason was that few people truly possessed the strength required.
Another was that the Seven-Star Fiends responsible for evaluations were all Sovereign Emissaries.
Without them present, Fiend Castle would not promote anyone to Six-Star Fiend—even if they possessed the strength.
It was one of the rules left behind by Lord Locke himself.
"Oakes, everyone in the tribe is thrilled you've returned," Gaspar said eagerly. "They want to hold a celebration banquet. What do you think?"
"About that…"
Before Oakes could answer, Yagonia spoke first.
"Gaspar, Korst. The banquet can wait."
"We need to meet Lord Locke first and see if he has any instructions."
As she spoke, she gently squeezed Oakes's hand.
Instantly, he understood.
If only the two of them had returned, a celebration would have been fine.
But this time, three Six-Star Fiends had arrived with them.
They were all followers of Lord Locke.
If they attended a banquet before paying their respects, it would be terribly improper.
"Right, right!"
Gaspar and Korst immediately understood.
Three Six-Star Fiends visiting Blackstone Tribe certainly wasn't for Oakes's sake.
The only reason could be Lord Locke.
"We'll go calm everyone down," Gaspar said quickly.
After they left, Oakes smiled at Yagonia.
When it came to social matters, she handled things far better than he did.
"Gentlemen," Oakes said respectfully, "let's go meet Lord Locke."
"Of course. Lead the way."
At that moment, the expressions on Ryan, Rockpeak, and Clifford's faces turned solemn.
They were about to meet Lord Locke.
None of them wanted to show the slightest disrespect.
Especially now that they had begun to suspect the truth of Locke's true identity.
Their steps carried far more caution than before.
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