Only after Loran had completely fused three Profound Mysteries and found himself making no progress for a long time on the compatibility point of the fourth did he finally understand the helplessness those people felt.
After barely remaining at the God stage for one hundred thousand years, Loran ultimately chose to comprehend the remaining three Water Laws Profound Mysteries to a high level and advance to Highgod.
Now, Loran was already a Prefect-level expert who had completely fused five Profound Mysteries. However, how long it would take before he could find the compatibility point for the sixth Water Laws Profound Mystery remained unknown.
Failing to find the compatibility point for the sixth Profound Mystery meant that Loran had yet to obtain the ticket to the Paragon realm.
Across the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes, there were close to three thousand Prefect-level experts.
Yet among these more than three thousand Prefect-level experts, fewer than twenty had begun fusing six Profound Mysteries.
Although these people had obtained the qualifications to challenge the Paragon realm, they were all blocked by the final heavenly chasm.
After endless years of tempering, those twenty-odd individuals were only a hair's breadth away from completely fusing an entire set of Laws.
But that final sliver was also an obstacle they would never overcome in their lifetimes.
Every expert with ambitions toward the Paragon realm hoped to receive guidance from a Paragon.
They desperately wished for a senior who had already completely comprehended an entire set of Laws to point out the next direction for their cultivation.
This was evident simply from the enormous number of Water Laws experts gathered in the Netherworld.
Whenever Sovereign Locke had something worth celebrating, he would project congratulatory messages across the skies of the Netherworld.
The words of those messages were all condensed from Sovereign Locke's perfected Water Laws. Every lifeform cultivating the Water Laws would gain significant enlightenment upon witnessing that external manifestation of perfected Water Laws.
It was precisely because of this that among the twenty-plus Prefect-level experts who were only a step away from becoming Paragons, five cultivated Water Laws, accounting for one-fifth of the total.
Because of this, Sovereign Locke's prestige among the Sovereigns far exceeded that of ordinary Sovereigns.
Teresia was a supreme genius determined to challenge the Paragon realm.
But Teresia also knew that compared to Sovereign Locke, who already stood at the absolute pinnacle of Laws and Profound Mysteries, he was still far inferior.
Especially now, when he had yet to even find the compatibility point for his seventh Wind Laws Profound Mystery, Teresia desperately wished to receive guidance from a Paragon senior.
"Uh, you could say that."
Loran shifted awkwardly.
"I was traveling in the Infernal Realm before, and from one of Father's subordinates, I heard that Father had been paying close attention to you. So, I came to the Wind Divine Plane to see what kind of person you really were."
"And now it seems you truly are more talented than me. You deserve Father's attention."
"Hahaha!"
"Lord Loran, then I have some questions I wish to ask Sovereign Locke. Since Lord Locke is also paying attention to me, would it be possible for you to introduce me to him?"
"Well..."
Loran hesitated.
Although it had indeed been a long time since he had seen his parents, he had secretly slipped out of the Netherworld with his divine clone.
His parents had forbidden him from leaving the Netherworld, and Loran knew that they were only concerned for his safety.
Although there were virtually no people in the world who dared act against the children of a Sovereign, Loran had inherited his father Locke's teachings and never placed his life in the hands of others.
Therefore, he had only allowed this Water divine clone to leave the Netherworld after completely fusing five Profound Mysteries and reaching the Prefect level.
Bringing Teresia to see his father would mean exposing the fact that his divine clone had secretly left the Netherworld.
If that happened, then until he became a Paragon, he probably wouldn't be allowed to leave the Netherworld again.
For someone like Loran, who loved battling powerful experts, such a restriction would be no different from torture.
"Lord Loran."
Seeing Loran's hesitation, Teresia mistakenly thought that Loran wanted something from him.
Immediately, he promised:
"Lord Loran, as long as you bring me to meet Lord Locke once and resolve the doubts in my heart, I can owe you a favor—or rather, grant you one request."
Teresia believed that at the very least, he would become a Prefect-level expert. A favor from him should be extremely valuable.
Of course, Teresia also knew that Loran himself was already a Prefect-level expert and could handle many matters personally.
Anything that required Loran to invoke the favor owed by him would undoubtedly be a major issue.
But for the sake of obtaining guidance from Lord Locke, Teresia didn't mind inviting some trouble upon himself.
After all, if he truly became a Paragon in the future, then aside from Sovereigns, there would be almost nothing capable of troubling him.
Just like Dunnington, who currently resided within the Infernal Realm.
Although Dunnington rarely appeared in public, which expert across the Seven Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes didn't know of his existence?
No matter what kind of trouble it was, Dunnington likely wouldn't even need to act personally. He only needed to reveal a hint of his intentions, and countless people would scramble to help him, all for the chance to leave an impression on him.
If one successfully completed a task for Dunnington, then in the future, should they encounter danger, merely mentioning that fact would likely allow them to pass through the crisis safely.
After all, Dunnington had established his unrivaled prestige by wiping out an entire Sovereign Army.
As long as Sovereigns did not act, Dunnington was the number one person beneath the Sovereigns.
Teresia also wished to become such an existence.
For that goal, he was willing to pay any price.
"No, you've misunderstood."
Hearing Teresia's words, Loran shook his head.
"My hesitation isn't because I want something from you."
"Father has paid attention to you before. If I brought you to meet him, Father would probably be very happy as well."
"It's just..."
"Hehe..."
At this point, Loran looked somewhat embarrassed.
"Teresia, you know that my parents are very concerned about my safety, so before I become a Paragon, they don't want me leaving the Netherworld..."
"I see..."
Hearing this explanation, Teresia immediately understood.
Loran had secretly slipped out.
If he followed Loran back, then once the truth was exposed, Loran would inevitably suffer some punishment.
He might even be forcibly confined.
Although Teresia was proud, he didn't believe himself worthy of asking Loran to risk being punished by his parents just to bring him to meet Sovereign Locke.
Just as disappointment appeared within Teresia's heart, Loran's next words filled him with joy.
"Teresia, if you really want to meet my father, then it isn't impossible."
"But you met me while traveling through the Netherworld. It wasn't me who met you after coming to the Wind Divine Plane. Understand?"
"Hahaha, Lord Loran, many thanks!"
Hidden nearby, Locke simply watched as Loran and Teresia fabricated the story of how they had met before flying toward the location of the Wind Divine Plane's interplanar teleportation array.
"This Loran..."
After the two left, Locke's Water divine clone revealed itself and shook his head with a smile while watching their departing figures.
However, the time had almost arrived.
No matter what it was—even perfected Laws and Profound Mysteries—the first encounter always brought the greatest enlightenment.
Just like Lilia.
When she first saw the Water Palace created from Locke's perfected Water Laws, she directly completed the fusion of four Water Laws Profound Mysteries and stepped into the fifth.
Although she saw it frequently afterward, she never again achieved progress as great as that first time.
Now, Loran's experience and accumulation were already sufficient.
Once he and Teresia arrived at Mount Nether and saw his Water Palace, he would inevitably begin the fusion of the sixth Water Laws Profound Mystery.
However, even then, Locke couldn't guarantee whether Loran would ultimately become a Paragon.
Since Teresia was already coming to the Netherworld to seek an audience with him, there was no need for Locke to continue wasting effort observing Teresia.
After dispersing this Laws clone, Locke's consciousness returned to the Netherworld.
Opening his eyes, Locke raised his head and glanced toward the Sovereign Palace at the summit of Mount Nether.
Although he was also a Sovereign, there wasn't much difference between Locke and the other Sovereigns.
If he wanted to know something, he had to spread out his divine sense to investigate.
But Locke's most important pursuits were cultivation and refining his own bloodline. He rarely spread out his divine sense.
Moreover, he believed that with the Death Chief Sovereign watching over things, Loran's safety didn't require his concern.
Loran's little tricks could never escape the notice of the Death Chief Sovereign, who possessed the Heart of the Netherworld.
Since Loran had been permitted to leave the Netherworld under the Death Chief Sovereign's tacit approval, it clearly meant that she believed he already possessed sufficient ability to protect himself.
And that was indeed the case.
In terms of cultivation, Loran was already a Prefect-level expert. Only those twenty-odd experts who stood one step away from becoming Paragons were stronger than him.
However, since they had not completed the final fusion, such experts were only around twice as strong as ordinary Prefect-level experts who had completely fused five Profound Mysteries.
In an actual battle, they would hold some advantage, but not enough to kill someone of the same level.
Unless they possessed Sovereign artifacts.
At present, although Loran only possessed a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact, his divine-spark spear and divine-spark armor possessed hardness comparable to Sovereign artifacts. Aside from weaker power, they were practically equivalent to a complete set of three Sovereign artifacts.
Without using Sovereign power, the fused divine power generated from his Water and Death divine clones further increased his strength.
Taking everything into account, the strength of Loran's Water divine clone actually surpassed even Oakes by a bit.
He could almost be considered the strongest beneath Paragons.
Clearly, Lilia shared Locke's view and believed that the current Loran possessed the qualifications to travel through the other Divine and Higher Planes, which was why she had silently approved his departure.
(End of Chapter)
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