Locke's vantage point was, after all, higher than Lilia's.
The four elemental Laws—earth, fire, water, and wind—were merely subordinate expressions of the Laws of Space. For those with sufficiently profound insight, it was indeed possible to use the elemental Laws to stir a trace of spatial power, thereby greatly enhancing the might of their techniques.
After witnessing Lilia's use of her fishing line to disturb spatial ripples and strengthen her binding force, Locke couldn't help but form a conjecture. Reisgem's Amethyst Space was likely founded on a similar principle—leveraging the profundities of the Earth Laws to pry open a sliver of spatial authority. That alone would explain the terrifying amplification it granted Linley.
Of course, in the magical universe, the Laws of Time and Space had been concealed by Hongmeng. No ordinary being could perceive them. Only those divine beasts born from heaven and earth, favored by the world itself, possessed innate abilities capable of touching upon such hidden principles.
Locke's Water Laws had already reached Paragon. As for the Laws of Space, through the essence blood of the Black Tortoise Sovereign, he had gained a point of contact. By burning faith power, he had even grasped a trace of the profundity known as "spatial freezing."
It was precisely because of this that his mastery of the Water Laws had begun to brush against the threshold of freezing space itself.
Now, as Locke immersed his mind in the technique Lilia had just displayed, the bait on his hook suddenly shattered like foam. His fishing line drifted gently with the currents, each motion sending out faint ripples across the surface of the lake.
Then, at a certain instant, the entire lake fell utterly still.
It was as though time itself had been paused.
A few breaths later, the stillness broke with a violent surge. Water from the depths of the lake erupted skyward, rising dozens of meters before crashing back down in a thunderous cascade.
Lilia's pupils contracted.
What kind of power had Locke just used?
Paragons and Sovereigns alike possessed Willpower, a force that granted absolute dominion over their surroundings. Even space itself could be torn apart with ease, and the terrifying pull of spatial rifts meant nothing to those who wielded such power. Unless cast into the chaotic void, even standing beside a spatial tear posed no real threat to them.
What Locke had done—freezing the entire lake—could, in theory, be imitated through a divine domain or the application of Willpower.
But Lilia was certain of one thing.
Locke had used neither.
What she had sensed was purely a fluctuation of the Water Laws. And yet, that fluctuation bore an uncanny resemblance to the technique she herself had just comprehended.
If she had not gained that insight moments ago, she doubted she would have understood anything at all.
Even now, understanding did not mean she could replicate it.
Her own technique allowed her to barely graze that level of power, nothing more. And yet, she could feel it clearly—the level of that power stood far beyond that of Sovereigns.
If Locke knew what she was thinking, he would likely agree.
In this universe, Sovereigns were indeed the pinnacle. But in the greater structure of the Hongmeng cosmos, they were merely equivalent to deities. Above them existed beings who had fully comprehended the Laws of Space or Time, and even they had yet to transcend the universe itself.
Locke, as a Water Paragon, stood roughly at the level of an upper-tier deity in that broader framework.
Watching the water crash back into the lake, Locke let out a satisfied laugh.
As expected, even though the Laws of Time and Space were hidden, they were not entirely unreachable. With sufficient insight, they could still be invoked—however faintly.
More importantly, within his soul, a new affinity had taken shape.
That alone was enough to make this breakthrough worthwhile.
Of course, because those Laws were concealed, his progress would never be straightforward. Aside from deepening his existing understanding, his only other reliable path lay in studying divine beasts whose innate abilities touched upon space itself.
Measured against the standards of this universe, his current grasp of the Laws of Space had only just surpassed the stage of "domain." It was barely enough to invoke spatial fluctuations.
And yet, even this fragment was already comparable to a complete profound mystery.
Such was the disparity between the Laws of Space and the elemental Laws.
A stray thought surfaced in Locke's mind.
If his comprehension of the Laws of Space reached a certain threshold, would the universe condense a corresponding divine spark for him?
He chuckled softly and dismissed the idea.
Whether it would or not made little difference. His path forward would not change.
After all, fully comprehending the Laws of Space in the greater cosmos would elevate one to the level of a supreme existence. Even if he never transcended this universe, reaching such a height would already be enough.
—
Two million years passed in the blink of an eye.
In the Water Divine Plane, upon the Falling Snow Continent, Locke sat within a secluded valley. A drop of divine beast essence blood hovered before him as his soul power seeped into it, carefully dissecting the mysteries within.
Over these two million years, the forces he had planted across the seven divine planes and four higher planes had grown steadily.
Reynolds had broken through, becoming a Seven-Star Fiend. Rockpeak and Clifford, however, had both stagnated, remaining at the Six-Star level. Clifford had long since relinquished his position as Prefect and now stood alongside Rockpeak under Ryan's command.
As for Oakes, the soul-mutated genius Locke had personally favored, he had finally fulfilled his potential. He had become the first among Locke's subordinates to reach Asura-level strength.
In this new era, the fusion of profound mysteries was no longer a secret. Talents rose in waves across the planes. Six-Star Fiends were no longer the pinnacle they once were. Seven-Star Fiends had taken their place at the forefront, and even Asura-level experts were no longer exceedingly rare.
With Oakes' rise, Locke entrusted him with overseeing the Netherworld's operations, including the collection of divine beast data and essence blood. Every hundred thousand years, Oakes would deliver the accumulated resources from all eleven planes, while also distributing refined Sovereign power according to each faction's contributions.
Now, before Locke, a phantom serpent manifested.
It opened its jaws, releasing a streak of violet light that shot into the cliff face ahead. The attack left no visible damage, but Locke's expression shifted slightly.
"A soul toxin…"
He murmured.
This was the innate ability of the Five-Step Soul Devouring Python.
Unlike ordinary soul attacks, this ability functioned as a poison that infiltrated the soul itself. Locke, whose mastery over the soul was unparalleled in this universe, quickly grasped its nature.
The technique extracted a toxic essence from the creature's own soul, refined through the Edicts of Death. Once it invaded a target, it behaved like parasitic worms, eroding the soul from within.
Within mere breaths, it could completely destroy its victim—unless they possessed powerful soul defenses or specialized techniques to resist it.
Locke's own methods of soul attack were fundamentally different. His focus lay in deception, in misleading the senses, and in forging connections between souls. Even his most powerful technique relied on forcing his own accumulated suffering upon his opponent through resonance.
This, however, was far more direct. Brutal. Efficient.
Although he could not use this ability without the beast's essence blood, the method itself fascinated him.
The extraction. The refinement. The transformation of soul into poison.
These principles alone were enough to spark new ideas.
And for someone at Locke's level, even the smallest insight could open an entirely new path forward.
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