Of course, this was not because Locke had run into a bottleneck with the Profound Mysteries of the Essence of Water or the Profound Mystery of Ice-Edge.
He had a very clear feeling—if he so wished, he could take that step immediately, fully comprehend both the Essence of Water and Ice-Edge Profound Mysteries, and advance into the realm of a god.
But Locke's ambitions went far beyond merely becoming a God.
At present, his Ice-Edge Profound Mystery was already just a hair's breadth away from complete fusion with his Profound Mystery of Illusionary fog.
Because of that, Locke wanted to find the point of harmony between the Essence of Water, Ice-Edge, and Illusionary Fog Profound Mysteries before making his breakthrough.
At the very least, he hoped to completely fuse Ice-Edge and Illusionary Fog before stepping into the God realm.
That way, even if his divine rank was only that of a God, the might born from the fusion of two Profound Mysteries would allow him to possess combat strength on par with an Highgod.
By then, while he wouldn't dare claim he could roam freely through Hell, he would at least have the qualifications to walk its lands.
The next time he encountered bandit raids, he would no longer be as passive as before.
What's more, those bandits might even bring him some unexpected surprises—
Just like the purple crystal he'd obtained from that previous group of raiders.
Five years later…
Buzz…
The Laws of Heaven and Earth descended.
Under the overwhelming pressure of those laws, Locke's soul was once more baptized, its strength surging by a tremendous margin.
At the same time, the Profound Mysteries he had comprehended were condensed by the world's rules into his divine spark, causing it to undergo a profound transformation.
This was the metamorphosis—from a Demigod divine spark to a God divine spark!
Without the slightest hesitation, Locke's soul power followed the guidance of his divine spark and plunged into the Sea of Divine Power.
As expected, after advancing to Godhood, the Demigod divine power within the top hundred meters of the sea posed no obstacle whatsoever. His soul power passed straight through, diving beyond the hundred-meter mark.
This was where God-level divine power resided.
Back when he had first become a Demigod, Locke had deliberately absorbed divine power from depths greater than ten meters, forging divine power twice as strong as that of ordinary Demigods.
Now that he was a God, there was no way he would allow his divine power to be inferior to others.
Without a moment's delay, the Flame of Emotion ignited, pushing his soul power to erupt with even greater might.
Just as he had decades ago, Locke's soul power transformed into a spinning drill, plunging rapidly downward through the Sea of Divine Power.
Flames trailing behind the drill erupted again and again with sharp explosions, accelerating its descent.
One hundred ten meters.
One hundred twenty meters.
One hundred thirty meters.
One hundred forty meters…
Only when he reached a depth of one hundred fifty meters did Locke finally sense that he had reached his current limit.
He did not hesitate. Through the connection of his divine spark, he began absorbing God divine power, replacing the Demigod divine power he had possessed before.
After many years, Locke once again experienced the sensation of absorbing divine power in a geyser-like surge.
Without the assistance of the Laws of Heaven and Earth, the speed at which living beings absorbed divine power was, frankly speaking, pitiful.
Even with Locke's soul strength, it would still take at least a hundred years to accumulate enough divine power for a full restoration of his divine body.
That said, if it was merely combat and his divine body wasn't damaged, the consumption of divine power wasn't particularly severe.
Roughly speaking, even the fiercest battles would need to be fought continuously for several years before exhausting the amount of divine power required for a single divine body restoration.
As the Laws of Heaven and Earth gradually dispersed, it signified that Locke had truly become a God.
"It seems the fluctuations caused by my breakthrough this time have attracted some interesting fellows."
With a wave of his hand, he dispelled the camouflage at the cave entrance. Locke stepped out of his dwelling, rose into the sky, and stood in midair with his arms folded, calmly waiting for the uninvited guests to arrive.
After advancing to Godhood, the range of his divine sense underwent a qualitative leap.
Compared to the mere hundred meters he could sense as a Demigod it was now a thousand times greater.
In other words, simply by spreading his divine sense, Locke could perceive everything within a ten-kilometer radius.
Of course, in Hell, such a detection range was nothing special.
A god's flying speed exceeded three thousand meters per second.
Even if danger were detected, it would only amount to learning of it thirty seconds in advance.
Highgods were even faster, surpassing five thousand meters per second. If a god were caught in their sights, this distance would be nowhere near enough to escape.
However, Locke's soul power had undergone an enormous enhancement.
After refining eight pieces of purple crystal, the range of his soul power had already surpassed that of divine sense, reaching a spread of four hundred eighty meters.
Now, after becoming a God and having his soul baptized once more by the Laws of Heaven and Earth, the spread of his soul power had expanded to a staggering eighty kilometers.
Though it was nowhere near the tens of thousands of kilometers that Highgods could casually cover, compared to ordinary Gods, it was nearly ten times stronger.
Within the range of his soul power, Locke could clearly sense that most beings who had detected the descent of the Laws of Heaven and Earth were rushing toward his current location.
There are no good people in Hell.
Every living being struggles for its own future.
In such an environment, aside from those closest to you, no one can be trusted.
Because every being you encounter seems eager to turn you into nourishment for their own advancement—to plunder everything you have in order to elevate themselves…
This was especially true when fluctuations of the Laws of Heaven and Earth appeared in the wilderness.
Such fluctuations meant someone had become a god or advanced in rank.
In most cases, those who broke through in the wild were divine beasts advancing from the Saint realm to godhood.
And such divine beasts were extremely popular.
After all, with nothing more than a prepared soul contract, one could gain a god-tier subordinate with decent talent—one who would never betray them.
If fortune smiled upon you and that divine beast later broke through to become an Upper-God, the profit would be enormous.
A divine beast that had just advanced to godhood could sell for no less than five million inkstones in the Violet Thorn Castle.
One had to know that in this era—where an ordinary Highgod could already carve out a domain—a Highgod divine spark was worth only around twenty million inkstones.
The price of divine beasts reached nearly a quarter of that, which spoke volumes about how fervently they were coveted.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Locke didn't have to wait long.
Just over a minute later, four figures streaked toward him from three different directions.
Within his perception, all four of them were Gods!
(End of Chapter
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