During this period, every time Locke accumulated two hundred thousand inkstones, he would return to Nightblaze Prefecture to purchase a single amethyst crystal.
Over the span of ten years, all the bandits within a thousand-kilometer radius of Nightblaze Prefecture had been completely wiped out by Locke.
Aside from what he needed to cover basic living expenses, all the inkstones he obtained were exchanged for amethyst crystals.
Over those ten years, the number of amethyst crystals Locke had traded for exceeded forty.
After fully refining them, Locke's soul power finally reached the absolute limit of what a god could achieve.
At this point, his soul strength was in no way inferior to the divine sense of a highgod.
Its range of diffusion had also expanded to a full thousand kilometers.
With soul power of this magnitude, even if a bandit group contained a highgod, Locke could still eliminate them effortlessly.
And it was precisely because several high-god bandit leaders had been killed that the remaining bandit groups around Nightblaze Prefecture finally fled elsewhere to continue their "business."
"Heh heh, I only heard all this from others, you know."
The god named Davy was clearly enjoying everyone's flattery.
Still, before continuing, he prudently wrapped his words in layers of disclaimers, making it clear that everything he said was merely hearsay and had nothing to do with him personally.
"Yeah, yeah, we know…"
Everyone present had cultivated for thousands of years—who didn't know how to hide their own tail?
As a result, Davy's disclaimer was promptly ignored.
"Heh heh heh…"
Davy chuckled a few times, then, under the impatient glares of the others, cleared his throat and finally got to the point.
"If we're talking about this, we have to start from three years ago…"
"At the time, the merchant caravan I was traveling with ran into a fleeing Saint-level expert."
"You all know how it is—Saints wandering in the wilderness are either slaves who escaped from some tribe, or the original body of a Saint whose divine clone has already died."
"Whether it's an escaped slave or a Saint whose divine clone was destroyed, both are high-quality goods for a merchant caravan."
"So, under the caravan leader's orders, we captured that Saint."
"From him, we learned that there was a terrifying powerhouse hidden near Nightblaze Prefecture."
"The bandits called that powerhouse the Extreme Cold Demon."
"The reason for that name is simple—every bandit stronghold wiped out by the Extreme Cold Demon was turned into a solid ice mountain."
"Even high-god-level experts would find it difficult to destroy those ice mountains."
Hearing this, Locke smiled faintly.
He never would have imagined that the first time he heard the word demon in Hell, it would be used to describe himself.
As for the claim that even high gods found the ice mountains hard to destroy—that was obviously exaggerated.
At present, Locke had only completed the fusion of two Law Mysteries, giving him combat power comparable to that of a high god.
His "Divine Domain" had already been transformed into the Extreme Cold Domain. Within it, all living beings were subjected to cold on the level of a high god's attacks.
But once Locke withdrew his domain, although the frozen mountains left behind were indeed extremely solid, they were far from being something a highgod couldn't break.
"According to that Saint, under the pursuit of the Extreme Cold Demon, there are no bandit groups left within ten thousand kilometers of Nightblaze Prefecture."
"So that's how it is."
"No wonder I've been so lucky lately. Turns out all the bandits around Nightblaze Prefecture were already wiped out."
"But why would this Extreme Cold Demon be so obsessed with hunting bandits?"
"Who knows? Maybe he was hurt by bandits when he was young. Then, after growing strong, he came back for revenge."
"It can't be because he's interested in the pitiful scraps those bandits carry around, right?"
"That does sound unlikely."
"According to that Saint, he didn't even see the Extreme Cold Demon's face before he was frozen to death."
"If he hadn't been extra cautious and sent his original Saint body elsewhere in advance, he'd probably be dead already."
"Tsk tsk…"
"So, what happened to him afterward?"
"What else? He signed a slave contract with the caravan. They gave him a mid-god godhead to refine and recover his strength, and then he worked for the merchant guild."
Listening to their wild speculation, Locke chuckled inwardly.
If these people had lived in his previous life, they would definitely have been terrible students.
They were remarkably talented when it came to eliminating the correct answer.
Unfortunately for them, Locke wasn't a tragic avenger whose family had been destroyed by bandits, nor was he some morally upright saint.
He was simply a bandit who plundered other bandits—those who habitually plundered the resources of others—in order to obtain more cultivation resources for himself.
The Way of Heaven takes from those who have excess and gives to those who lack.
The Way of Man takes from those who lack to serve those who have excess.
Since he was now a "god," Locke naturally chose to follow the Way of Heaven—taking the excess of others to make up for his own "deficiencies."
Just then, his food was served.
As he ate, Locke continued to calculate quietly in his mind.
"The bandits around Nightblaze Prefecture have been stripped clean."
"If I stay here any longer, there won't be anything left to gain."
"It's time to move on."
"With my current assets, I still can't afford a metal lifeform."
"But by the time I reach the next prefecture, I'll definitely have enough inkstones to buy one."
"So next, I'll slowly make my way toward the next prefecture."
"My soul has already fully recovered, so there's no rush. I'll treat it like a journey—traveling while cultivating."
"At present, I've only comprehended three of the six Water-element Law Mysteries."
"And I've only fused two of them so far."
"The ones I haven't mastered yet include the Water Body Technique, the Wave Mystery, and the Perfect Softness Mystery…"
"Among them, the Water Body Technique is a basic mystery, the Wave Mystery is an intermediate mystery, and the Perfect Softness Mystery is an advanced mystery."
"Hm. These three are all closely related to the Essence of Water Mystery. Once I comprehend them, it should be easy to find points of resonance for fusion."
After leaving the inn, Locke made another trip to the Amethyst Castle. He sold off some items he no longer needed at a discount and bought three more amethyst crystals.
Although his soul had already reached its current limit, that didn't mean amethyst crystals were useless to him.
After all, Locke possessed extremely profound attainments in the soul.
People like him were highly sought after in both the Divine Planes and the Supreme Planes.
Because only those who had reached a certain level of mastery over the soul could refine soul-defense divine artifacts.
And just so happened—Locke was one of them.
With his current soul power, the best he could refine were mid-god-tier soul-defense divine artifacts.
(End of Chapter)
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