"Is that so? My mindset has always been excellent."
Lilia didn't accept Locke's praise.
After all, she was the dignified Chief Sovereign of Death—how could she let a mere Paragon evaluate her?
And yet… the slight upward curve of her lips betrayed her.
Before long, the fishing rod in her hand twitched.
Her eyes sharpened instantly as she lifted it—pulling up a fish about a foot long.
"…Hm?"
She reached out, unhooked the fish, and froze for a moment.
If she remembered correctly, every time she had come here over the past tens of thousands of years, Locke had been fishing.
But she had never once seen him catch anything.
What kind of technique was this?
After a moment's thought, she tossed the fish back into the lake, baited the hook again, and cast her line.
This time, she focused.
Her soul power spread out, flowing along the rod, down the line, and into the bait—sinking into the lake as she observed everything beneath the surface.
Just as a fish approached to bite—
Her expression changed, and she quickly lifted the rod, startling it away.
Opening her eyes, she glanced at Locke's rod—steady, unmoving, without the slightest ripple.
Only then did realization strike her.
Catching fish… was easy.
Not catching them—that was difficult.
No wonder Locke had said she had some insight.
If she could sit here as he did—fishing for tens of thousands of years without a single fish taking the bait—
Then even if she couldn't fuse the six profound mysteries of the Water Laws, her mastery over them would rise by several levels.
At that thought, Lilia shot Locke an annoyed glare.
With such a method of cultivation, he had said nothing—letting her waste tens of thousands of years staring at that water palace.
Of course, she also knew…
Cultivation was deeply subjective.
Some things, once understood, became obvious.
If not, even if the answer was placed right in front of you, it would remain meaningless.
Like now.
The "perfect answer" to the Water Laws had always been before her—in that water palace.
Each time she looked at it, she could sense its flawless unity, feel a vague hint of understanding…
But nothing concrete ever came of it.
And yet—
Locke had been fishing in front of her all along.
Only now did she finally grasp the truth behind it.
"Hmph."
She snorted, but didn't thank him.
Instead, she refocused, once again probing the lake through her fishing rod.
This time, she tried to use her understanding of the Water Laws to protect the bait, preventing the creatures below from devouring it.
Locke, through his soul perception, could vaguely sense what she was attempting.
But he didn't dare explain.
If Lilia realized that his fishing had never been meant to guide her—but was instead part of his own illusion training—
He had no doubt she'd lose her temper and come at him with her Sovereign body.
And that…
Would not end well for him.
Sighing inwardly, Locke adjusted his own technique.
The illusory green worm on his hook began to sway—not randomly, but in perfect response to the water currents created by the fish.
Each subtle movement allowed it to slip past their bites again and again.
Sensing the disturbance in the water around Locke's line, Lilia extended her perception toward it.
And then—
She felt it.
The rhythm of the water.
In that instant, the lake seemed to come alive.
The movement of the fish.
The stirring of the wind.
The ripples spreading across the surface.
All of it carried a hidden mystery.
And Locke's fishing line—
Sat at the center of it all.
Every tiny fluctuation created ripples.
And those ripples, in turn, guided the movements of everything within the lake.
To the fish, it seemed that with a single bite, they could swallow the bait.
But they didn't realize—
Their own movements were being influenced.
Each ripple they created fed back into the system, subtly shifting the bait.
Again and again, by the smallest of margins, their attacks failed.
In that moment—
Lilia entered enlightenment once more.
"...Tsk."
Locke clicked his tongue.
As expected of someone favored by fate.
In such a short time, she had already entered enlightenment twice in his presence.
Could it be…
That Lilia might truly become the first Sovereign with a Paragon-level divine clone?
The thought flickered through his mind—
Before he dismissed it.
It didn't matter.
Even if she became a Water Paragon, it wouldn't affect him much.
"I see now—I understand!"
This time, her enlightenment didn't last long.
The moment it ended, Lilia raised her fishing rod—
And swung it toward Locke.
"Take this!"
With a sharp cry, she unleashed the technique she had just comprehended.
This time, her enlightenment hadn't deepened her understanding of the Water Laws themselves—
But rather her application of them.
Inspired by Locke's fishing, she had created her own ultimate technique.
Every god used Laws differently.
But only techniques that could amplify one's strength by several times—or possessed unique effects—were worthy of being called a trump card.
Like Reisgem's Amethyst Space.
Or Linley's Blackstone Prison, which once allowed him to leap across entire tiers of power.
Now—
Lilia had created her own.
She was certain of it.
With this technique alone, she could defeat her past self instantly.
And so—
She wanted to see just how far she still was from Locke.
The fishing line sliced through the air in an intricate, elegant arc.
It spiraled around Locke, emitting waves of subtle energy.
The surrounding space began to distort—
As if the very fabric of the world were being drawn inward, compressing toward him.
"...This move?"
Locke raised an eyebrow.
It felt… familiar.
And then he remembered.
Much later—far in the future—
Lilia would use a similar technique in front of Linley.
A single line.
Controlling space.
Instantly subduing a Seven-Star Fiend.
Even without his influence, she would have eventually created this move.
But now—
Its power was far greater.
As the pressure closed in around him, Locke simply shifted his thoughts.
A chilling aura spread from his body.
Crack—crack—crack—
The distorted space froze instantly.
The fishing line shattered into fragments of ice.
Lilia staggered back several steps.
"W-What… was that?"
Her eyes were filled with shock.
Even after creating a stronger trump card, she still couldn't force Locke to take her seriously.
But more than that—
She couldn't understand what he had just done.
She knew Locke was a Water Paragon.
And yes—he had used Water Laws.
But that level of cold…
It was as if even space itself had been frozen.
Could Water Laws really do that?
Locke glanced at her and smiled faintly.
"Of course it's the Water Laws."
"You've grasped how to use water to influence space."
"So why shouldn't I be able to use water to freeze it?"
Lilia paused.
Then slowly, she nodded.
It made sense.
Her own insight had come from him.
If she could touch upon such principles—
Then Locke, whose mastery far surpassed hers, reaching an even higher level wasn't strange.
Of course—
Locke was lying.
That freezing power wasn't purely Water Laws.
It also contained a trace of the Laws of Space, drawn from the essence blood of the Black Tortoise Sovereign.
Strictly speaking—
What he had used was a fusion of Water and Space.
That was why Lilia had sensed something… off.
But she couldn't pinpoint it.
Locke no longer paid her any attention.
Instead, his thoughts sank into the technique she had just used.
Unlike him, Lilia had no knowledge of the Laws of Space.
And yet—
She had managed to use the Water Laws to leverage spatial fluctuations.
Even for Locke—
That was incredibly valuable.
If he could master the same principle—
Then his path toward comprehending the Laws of Space would gain yet another route.
And that…
Was far more interesting than anything else.
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