Meeting

"Who goes there?"

Locke's brazen probing could not escape the notice of the Saint-level Experts stationed in the Frost Snow Imperial Capital.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

After a loud shout, one of the four Saint-level auras immediately flew out from the Imperial Capital and rapidly headed toward Locke.

"You bold thief, how dare you trespass into the Frost Snow Imperial Capital? Take my spear!"

Before even reaching Locke, the man shouted loudly. Dense battle qi erupted from his body, transforming into a streak of cold light that shot toward Locke.

"So fast. Is this... a Saint-level warrior?"

Feeling the attacker's speed, Locke was startled.

He had not expected to encounter an attack from a Saint-level Expert the moment he arrived at the Frost Snow Imperial Capital.

Facing this Saint-level warrior's attack, Locke did not dare be careless.

"Phantom Clone!"

With a thought, five identical figures leaped out from Locke's body and swiftly scattered in every direction.

"Sshk!"

The spear light tore through the sky and directly pierced through the chest of the Locke who remained where he was.

But in the next instant, the Locke whose chest had been pierced instantly dissolved into a cloud of white mist.

As Locke turned the Profound Mystery of Illusionary Fog into a Battle Qi Manual, his comprehension of the Profound Mystery of Illusionary Fog gradually deepened as well.

Phantom Clone was a combat movement technique Locke had created based on the characteristics of the Profound Mystery of Illusionary Fog. It allowed him to instantly evade an enemy's attacks while creating several clones to confuse them.

Then, Locke drew the longsword at his waist and swung a sword qi at the enemy who had pierced his clone.

"Phantom Slash!"

Locke's battle qi condensed into a blue sword qi that slashed toward the spear-wielding Saint-level warrior.

"Hey!"

The spear-wielding Saint-level warrior shouted and thrust his spear at the sword qi Locke had released.

"Boom!"

Surging battle qi erupted from the tip of the Saint-level warrior's spear, directly causing the surrounding air to distort slightly.

The spear light and sword qi collided. With a soft pop, the sword qi Locke had released was pierced apart by the spear light as though it were a bubble.

Yet in the next instant, the Saint-level warrior seemed to have been struck by an attack and was knocked back several steps in midair.

Looking at the large tear in the clothing over his chest, the Saint-level warrior's expression shifted several times.

Although the sword qi that had struck him just now was not particularly powerful, possessing only about the strength of an early-stage ninth-rank warrior, he could be said to have lost this exchange.

After all, anyone capable of flying through the sky was undoubtedly a Saint-level Expert.

If that attack had not possessed ninth-rank power but Saint-level might, he would certainly have been seriously injured.

"Hehe, I heard His Majesty Ceres say that someone had secretly broken through to the Saint-level, but I didn't quite believe it."

The Saint-level warrior slung his spear across his back, folded his arms, and said to Locke, "But after exchanging that move with you, I believe it."

"What I hate most are cowards like you who avoid battle."

"I can tell from your moves that you're up to no good."

"Kid, every soldier of our Tsunami Legion is a real man. We will never let you join."

After saying that, the Saint-level warrior flew away without looking back, leaving Locke standing there in confusion.

What was that guy talking about?

Could it have something to do with His Majesty Ceres summoning me here?

This thought flashed through Locke's mind.

That seemed to be the only possible explanation.

Otherwise, even if this man disliked him, he would not have challenged a newly advanced Saint-level Expert to a fight the moment he arrived.

Shaking his head, Locke swiftly flew toward the palace.

Although he could not sense His Majesty Ceres's aura, as the emperor of the Frost Snow Empire, His Majesty Ceres would certainly be within the palace.

"Come straight in, little fellow."

Just as Locke approached the palace and wondered whether he should stop and wait for the palace guards to announce him, Ceres's voice sounded beside his ear.

Moreover, Ceres released a thread of his aura, allowing Locke to sense his location.

"Whoosh!"

Following the guidance of that aura, Locke swiftly flew into the palace and descended into a garden.

"Your Majesty."

After landing, Locke stepped forward two paces and bowed slightly to the middle-aged man before him.

This man with long blue hair and a luxurious sky-blue robe was Ceres, one of only two God-level Experts in the entire Vakanda Plane and the founder of the Frost Snow Empire.

"You arrived faster than I expected."

"I thought it would take you at least three or four years to get here."

"Since Your Majesty summoned me, how could I dare delay?"

Hearing Ceres's words, Locke was startled.

Three or four years was practically the time it would take an ordinary person to travel from Pu'er Village to the Frost Snow Empire's Imperial Capital.

It seemed that if he had tried to play clever tricks and delay, this Majesty's impression of him would not have been very favorable.

"You are not bad."

Ceres was very satisfied with Locke's attitude.

As a God-level Expert, Ceres could sense the aura of laws around Locke.

Locke had almost comprehended more than half of a certain Profound Mystery of Laws.

At the Saint-level, because Soul Power had yet to be tempered by the Law of Heaven and Earth and undergo a transformation, it was extremely difficult to comprehend Profound Mysteries of Laws.

Every bit of progress in a Profound Mystery of Laws greatly increased a Saint-level Expert's strength.

However, if one became a god independently and one's soul received the baptism of the laws of heaven and earth, the difficulty of comprehending Profound Mysteries of Laws would decrease greatly.

God-level Experts faced only two barriers in comprehending laws.

The first barrier was comprehending a Profound Mystery of Laws.

This barrier was the greatest obstacle preventing God-level Experts from increasing their strength.

Many God-level Experts could only comprehend the Profound Mystery of Laws they had grasped when becoming gods for their entire lives. They had not the slightest insight into other Profound Mysteries of Laws of the same element.

The second barrier was the completion of a Profound Mystery of Laws.

Once a God-level Expert comprehended even a trace of a Profound Mystery of Laws, because they had the experience of fully comprehending one such mystery, they would encounter no bottlenecks before fully comprehending the newly grasped one.

At most, the speed of their progress would differ.

Those with strong aptitude could comprehend ninety-nine percent of that Profound Mystery of Laws in merely several decades.

Those with poor aptitude might need hundreds of thousands of years to comprehend ninety-nine percent of a single Profound Mystery of Laws.

But regardless of whether they were fast or slow, they could comprehend the Profound Mysteries of Laws they grasped to ninety-nine percent.

Yet that final trace of a Profound Mystery of Laws was enough to drive most God-level Experts to despair.

Like many experts at the Saint Domain Limit, if they could take that step, the world would open before them.

If they could not cross it, then all was lost!