"Who goes there?"
Locke's unrestrained probing could never escape the senses of the Sanctuary experts stationed within the Frostsnow Imperial Capital.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
With a sharp shout, one of the four Sanctuary auras within the capital shot into the sky, streaking straight toward Locke's position.
"You brazen thief! How dare you trespass into Frostsnow City? Take my spear!"
Before he even reached Locke, the man's voice thundered out. Battle-qi erupted from his body, condensing into a streak of icy light that pierced toward Locke like a frozen comet.
Fast!
Locke's mind tightened.
"That speed… a Sanctuary warrior?"
He hadn't expected that the moment he arrived at the capital, he would immediately encounter a Sanctuary expert attacking him.
Locke didn't dare take the blow head-on.
"Phantom Doppelganger!"
With a single thought, five identical figures burst from his body, scattering in different directions.
Chi!
The spear-light tore through the air, piercing the Locke that remained in place cleanly through the chest.
But in the next instant, the "Locke" that was skewered dissolved into a swirl of white mist.
Ever since Locke converted the Profound Mystery of Illusionary Fog into a battle-qi secret art, his comprehension of the mystery itself had increased drastically.
"Phantom Doppelganger"—a movement technique he created using the principles of Illusionary Fog—allowed instantaneous evasion while spawning multiple illusory doubles to bewilder the enemy.
Locke drew his longsword.
A slash flashed out.
"Phantom Slash!"
Blue sword-qi shot toward the spear-wielding Sanctuary warrior.
"Heh!"
The Sanctuary warrior roared and thrust with his spear.
Boom!
Battle-qi surged from the tip like a tidal wave. Even the surrounding air began to ripple and distort.
Spear-light and sword-qi collided. With a soft popping sound, Locke's sword-qi burst like a bubble.
But in the next second—
Thump!
The Sanctuary warrior staggered back several steps, as if struck by an unseen force.
He looked down, face twisting slightly as he noticed the deep gash torn in the front of his tunic.
The strike wasn't strong—barely at the level of an early ninth-order warrior—but the conclusion was undeniable:
He had lost that exchange.
After all, the opponent could fly in mid-air. That alone meant Locke was a genuine Sanctuary.
If that previous strike had carried Sanctuary-level power, he would have suffered a serious injury.
"Heh. I heard His Majesty Celes mention that someone secretly became a Sanctuary. I didn't believe it."
The warrior slung his spear over his back, crossed his arms, and snorted.
"But after exchanging blows with you, I'm convinced."
"I can't stand cowards like you—those who avoid proper combat."
"Just from your moves, I can tell you're the shady type."
"Listen, brat! The soldiers of our Tidal Legion are real men. We'd never accept someone like you!"
With that, the Sanctuary warrior flew off without looking back, leaving Locke hovering there in confusion.
What… was that about?
Could this be related to the reason His Majesty Celes called for him?
That must be it.
Otherwise, even if the man disliked him, no Sanctuary would pick a fight the instant Locke arrived.
Locke shook his head and flew toward the imperial palace.
Although he couldn't sense Celes directly, the emperor of the Frostsnow Empire was unquestionably inside.
"Come in, little one."
Just as Locke approached the palace and wondered whether he ought to wait for the guards' permission, Celes's voice echoed directly into his mind.
A strand of the emperor's aura swept outward, guiding him.
Whoosh!
Locke followed the aura and landed within a garden.
"Your Majesty."
He stepped forward and bowed.
The middle-aged man with long azure hair and a luxurious sky-blue robe was none other than Celes, the founder of the Frostsnow Empire and one of the only two Deities within the entire Wakanda Plane.
"You arrived faster than I expected," Celes said with a smile.
"I thought it would take you three or four years at least."
Locke's mind trembled.
Three to four years—that was the time an ordinary person would need just to travel from Pur Village to the Frostsnow capital.
If he had tried to stall or play clever, he would've made a terrible impression.
"You did well."
Celes nodded approvingly.
As a Deity, he could sense the law-aura within Locke's body.
Locke had clearly comprehended over half of a profound mystery.
For someone still in the Sanctuary realm—whose soul had yet to undergo the Divine Baptism of the heavenly laws—this was remarkable. Every increment in comprehension translated into significant strength.
For Deities, law comprehension posed two great bottlenecks:
First Bottleneck — Perceiving a Profound Mystery at all.
This was the wall that trapped countless Deities. Many would spend eternity unable to understand even a single additional profound mystery beyond the one they used to ascend.
Second Bottleneck — Achieving Major Perfection.
Once a Deity had fully comprehended one profound mystery, they gained the experience to smoothly advance any new ones up to 99% mastery.
Whether fast or slow, they would reach 99%.
But the final 0.01%…
That tiny step crushed the hopes of almost all Deities.
Just like a peak Sanctuary attempting the final step to godhood—
If you succeed, the skies open.
If you fail, everything ends.
(End of chapter)
⭐ Enjoying the story?
You can read ahead and support the translations by joining my Patreon! Your support helps me update faster and take on more projects. Thank you for reading!
Read up to 50 chapters ahead!
patreon.com/AminaSims
Bonus chapter at 50 powerstones.