After refining a Sovereign spark, every Sovereign gained an exceptionally clear understanding of the Laws of Heaven and Earth through the spark itself.
It could be said that if they wished, every Sovereign possessed the potential to become a grandmaster of magic formations.
It was simply that, for now, no Sovereign seemed inclined to devote their attention to such matters.
In truth, that was only natural.
What interested Sovereigns was how to increase their own strength.
Magic formations worked by arranging formation nodes to create an array, thereby drawing upon the Laws of Heaven and Earth to gain a certain boost in power.
But to Sovereigns, those nodes were far too fragile. In an actual battle, the formation nodes laid down by one side would likely be destroyed the moment the clash began.
As for creating a large-scale battle formation, there simply were not enough Sovereigns to serve as its nodes…
At present, Locke had refined the Lesser Sovereign spark of Fate, raising his strength to the level of a Laws Sovereign.
At the same time, he had also realized something:
no matter how much Willpower he accumulated, it might increase his strength within the Coiling Dragon universe, but it would offer him no real help in transcending the universe itself.
This was also why Locke had little interest in Intermediate-tier or higher Water Sovereign sparks.
If fortune favored him and he obtained a Intermediate or Highgod Water Sovereign spark, he would not hesitate to refine it and strengthen himself.
But if luck was not on his side, he would not waste his time searching for one.
Rather than spending time hunting for a Water Sovereign spark, Locke would rather devote that time to further fusing the Laws of Water with the Edicts of Fate.
As long as he fully fused one more Water profound mystery, his strength would truly reach the level of a Rules Sovereign.
Thus, Locke's main body, which possessed the strongest soul power, took on the task of fusing Water Laws with Fate Edicts.
This was the most important matter for him in the short term.
As for his Fate Sovereign clone, it began creating magic formations based on the Laws of Heaven and Earth.
If he wanted to build the strongest Sovereign Army, battle formations were indispensable.
Without a master formation expert, Locke intended to cultivate one himself.
He did not ask much.
So long as these people could lead the soldiers under his command in setting up the battle formations he created, that would be enough.
Lastly, his Water divine clone continued researching the Law of Space.
Although Locke could touch the Law of Space by using the blood essence of magical beasts that possessed innate spatial abilities, even such blood essence could not withstand the consumption rate of his cultivation.
So, most of the time, when comprehending Space, Locke relied on his perfected Water Laws to pry open the superior Law above it—Space itself.
Though this method was slower, the Law of Space comprehended through his Water Laws was directly a "Water-Space" Law that could be perfectly fused with the profound mysteries of Water.
The power of this Water-Space fused Law was not the slightest bit inferior to Water-Fate.
No—if anything, at the same level of mastery, Water-Space far surpassed Water-Fate.
Although the Edicts of Fate were slightly stronger than the Laws of Water, they still fell far short of supreme Laws such as Time and Space.
Of course, what Locke referred to here was the Edicts of Fate within the Coiling Dragon universe.
In this universe, Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire were all Lesser Laws beneath Space—there was no issue with that.
After all, when Hongmeng created this magical subsidiary universe, he had used Hongmeng energy to derive Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire to open the cosmos.
Once the concept of Space existed, Time naturally came into being.
Thus the magical universe gave birth to the three forces of Light, Darkness, and Lightning.
Light, Darkness, and Lightning therefore belonged beneath the Law of Time.
Time and Space—these were the two most fundamental Laws underpinning the existence of the universe.
As for Life, Death, Destruction, and Fate, these four Edicts were not basic Laws of the cosmos, but rules that had evolved from the countless living beings born within it.
And precisely because of this, these Four Edicts held power slightly greater than the elemental Laws for all living beings in the universe.
"Light… darkness… lightning…"
Calming his mind, Locke resumed his cultivation.
Once he fully comprehended the Law of Space, the next step for further advancement would inevitably be the Law of Time.
But since he had no elemental affinity for Light, Darkness, or Lightning, the only path for him to touch Time would likely lie through magic formations.
Seen from this angle, studying the Laws of Heaven and Earth and creating magic formations was also laying the foundation for his future cultivation.
Netherworld — Mount Undead
This was one of the only two interplanar teleportation arrays in the Netherworld.
Currently stationed here was a squadron from the Skeletal Legion under the Skull Lord.
Just as in Hell, the Sovereign Army stationed at the interplanar array in the Netherworld also bore the responsibility of escorting lifeforms arriving from material planes to nearby tribes and cities.
Furthermore, if those arriving from the material planes were Deity-level or above, the soldiers of the Skeletal Legion were also required to issue them Netherworld stones.
Compared to Hell, however, the soldiers of the Netherworld's Sovereign Army were far busier.
There was no helping it.
Hell had seven interplanar teleportation arrays, so incoming lifeforms were spread across all seven, keeping the flow at each array manageable.
But the Netherworld was different.
It had only two large arrays.
The number of material-plane lifeforms arriving at each one was more than three times that of any single array in Hell.
In Hell, Sovereign Army soldiers could escort the gathered arrivals to nearby tribes or cities once every five to ten days.
In the Netherworld, they had to do so every two or three days.
Buzz—
The teleportation array lit up with white light.
The next moment, the figures of a man and a woman appeared within it.
"What dense Law aura!"
The woman gasped in surprise the moment she emerged.
"Heh, this is still the Netherworld. The density of Earth Laws here is a hundred times greater than in a material plane."
"When you eventually reach the Earth Divine Plane, you'll sense Earth elements and Earth Laws hundreds of times denser still."
Hearing their exchange, Betula's heart stirred.
From their words, it was clear that the woman was entering a higher plane from a material plane for the first time.
As for the man, he was clearly an expert who had already visited other planes before.
After briefly sensing their auras, Betula's expression tightened.
As expected—
the man was a Highgod, and the woman a God.
"Please, the two of you, this way."
Judging by their strength, this female deity likely came from a powerful background.
After all, not every force could dispatch a Highgod to escort a junior from a material plane to a higher plane.
Travel from a material plane to a divine plane or higher plane was free.
But traveling from a divine plane or higher plane back to a material plane required an exorbitant fee.
Each person required at least one trillion inkstones to use the interplanar array.
There were many forces in the divine and higher planes capable of producing that amount.
But to spend a trillion inkstones merely to pick up a junior?
Very few could afford such extravagance.
At the very least, it required a Prefect Lord–level force.
Still, regardless of their backing, Betula promptly led them down from the array.
After all, what force in the seven divine planes and four higher planes could possibly be greater than the Sovereign Army?
"May I ask—are either of you entering a higher plane from a material plane for the first time?"
Though he already knew the answer, Betula still asked according to protocol.
"I'm not. She is."
The male Highgod shook his head.
As one of the former captains of the Falling Snow Legion, Celes was already familiar with the duties of the Sovereign Army.
"Very well. Miss, according to the rules established by Lord Sovereign, all deity-level beings entering the Netherworld from a material plane for the first time are entitled to one Netherworld stone."
"This is yours."
Taking out a small gray cube roughly one cubic centimeter in size from his interspatial ring, Betula handed it to the young woman.
Then he asked, "Would the two of you like to travel to a city on your own, or would you prefer to follow our arrangements and be escorted to a tribe or city?"
"Mira, what do you think?"
After hearing Betula's question, Celes turned to Mira.
That's right—the two who had arrived in the Netherworld were none other than old acquaintances of Locke.
The male Highgod was naturally Celes, founding emperor of the Frost Empire and a Highgod of the Water element.
The female Intermediate was Locke's disciple, accepted into the Locke family after his return to the Frost Plane—
Mira Locke.
"What's the difference between the two options, Senior Celes?"
Compared to Celes, Mira Locke was still a complete newcomer to the higher planes, so whenever she encountered something she did not understand, she asked him directly.
"If we travel on our own, we'll have far more freedom and won't be bound by anything."
"But if we follow the Sovereign Army's arrangements, we'll have to remain in the assigned tribe or city for a certain minimum period before being allowed to leave."
The Sovereign Army was not a charity.
For the surrounding tribes and cities to develop, they needed fresh blood.
Thus, tribal chiefs and city lords would offer certain benefits to the Sovereign Army so that when allocating newcomers from material planes, priority would be given to assigning talented or powerful individuals to them.
Those sent to tribes or cities had to remain there for at least one hundred thousand years, contributing to the settlement before they could leave.
Otherwise, why would tribal chiefs and city lords accept such people only to suffer losses from potential turncoats?
Of course, in any divine plane or higher plane, strength reigned supreme.
If one was strong enough to defeat the tribal chief or city lord, one naturally became the new chief or lord.
For the people of the tribe, a stronger leader meant a better chance at survival, so they rarely objected to such changes.
To put it more bluntly—
they were simply too weak to influence who ruled them, and could only endure whatever changes came, hoping the next leader would bring a better life.
"I see…"
After hearing Celes's explanation, Mira shook her head at Betula.
"Then we'll travel to the city on our own."
"Very well. I wish you a safe journey."
Betula nodded, unsurprised by her choice.
After waving them off, he immediately turned to receive the next batch of arrivals emerging from the teleportation array.
"Senior Celes, then let's head out now."
"Mm. You lead the way."
"After all, you can determine Locke's location through the resonance in your bloodline. As long as we follow that direction, we'll definitely find him."
"Still, it's rather strange…"
"Why would Locke, a Water-element deity, be in the Netherworld instead of the Water Divine Plane? What exactly is that fellow up to?"
In the Frost Plane, deity-level experts were few to begin with.
After Mira became a deity, it was easy for her to learn from Celes that the one who had accepted her as a disciple all those years ago was the founder and strongest figure of the Locke family—
Locke.
Once Mira reached the level of strength her teacher had instructed, she wanted to leave the Frost Plane and come to the Netherworld in search of him.
As it happened, Celes also felt the Frost Plane no longer held much value for him, so the two came together.
Far away at Mount Nether, Locke still had no idea that Celes and Mira had already arrived in the Netherworld from the Frost Plane.
At this moment, he was receiving Oakes and his family in the Water Mansion.
Compared to before entering the Nether Mountain Range, Oakes and Yagonia had not changed much.
But Figaroia was in a far more miserable state.
Even the Highgod defensive divine artifact on his body had been shattered and would need to be reforged.
The physical injuries on his body had already been healed with divine power.
But his face was still pale, and his aura fluctuated violently.
These were clear signs of soul damage.
As for why Figaroia had ended up like this…
One had to remember that within the mist-shrouded Nether Mountain Range, aside from the family of three, there were many other gods hoping to audience the Sovereign and climb their way up through him.
To such people, everyone they saw was a potential rival.
In order to stand out before the Sovereign, anyone who encountered an opponent of similar strength would inevitably exchange a few blows.
Oakes had kept his word.
If he said he would display only strength comparable to Yagonia's, then that was exactly what he did—
showing only the power of an ordinary Highgod.
Together with Yagonia, they had gone through crises such as being kidnapped, knocked unconscious, and even being used as hostages.
The endless stream of trouble had left Figaroia utterly overwhelmed.
(End of Chapter)
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