Ice Sharpness

Cole's threat had indeed nearly frightened Cross and Marik out of their wits.

Among Ninth-level Warriors, who did not dream of breaking through that barrier and becoming a lofty Saint-level Expert?

However, the reason the stage between the ninth level and Saint-level was called a "shackle" was that, among hundreds of Ninth-level Warriors, it was rare for even one to become Saint-level.

On the Vakanda Plane, many people reached the level of Ninth-level Warrior almost every year.

Yet Saint-level Experts appeared only once every ten or twenty years.

Sometimes, it would take thirty or fifty years for a single Saint-level Expert to emerge across the entire Wakanda Continent.

This showed just how difficult that shackle was to break through.

Cross and the others had been Ninth-level Warriors for over two hundred years.

It was precisely because they knew they had almost no chance of breaking through to Saint-level that, when they received Bolton's invitation, they joined the Tsunami Legion without hesitation, hoping to secure a better future for their descendants.

Although Lord Bolton had ultimately been killed by Lord Locke, they had still achieved their goal.

Under Lord Locke's leadership, they defeated the Temple of Light's knight order, reclaimed their territory, and became viscounts of Locke Territory.

However, while governing Locke Territory, some people from the Temple of Light secretly approached them.

It was only from those people that Cross and the other four learned that such a good opportunity existed in this world!

Of course, although the five of them were tempted, they also knew that if they did such a thing, it would be no different from betraying Grand Duke Locke.

If Grand Duke Locke had merely been an ordinary Saint-level Expert, Cross and the others probably would not have been so conflicted.

After all, once they found those people with special souls and successfully completed the sacrifice, who among them would not become Saint-level?

But as the five legion commanders of the Tsunami Legion, they had personally witnessed Lord Locke casually kill Lord Bolton, then effortlessly slay two Saint-level Experts from the Temple of Light's knight order...

There was no doubt that even among Saint-level Experts, there were ordinary ones and exceptionally powerful ones.

Cross and the others knew their own limits.

They knew that even if they became Saint-level through the Temple of Light's sacrificial method, they could not possibly become powerhouses among Saint-level Experts.

Even if their side had five Saint-level Experts, if Lord Locke hunted them down, their fate would not be much better than Lord Bolton's or those two Saint-level Experts from the Temple of Light.

It was true that they wanted to become Saint-level, gain immense power, and obtain eternal lifespans.

But that had to be built upon their survival.

What if they had only just become Saint-level when Lord Locke came straight for them the next moment? What would they do then?

Judging from the strength Lord Locke had displayed, they even doubted whether anyone in the Temple of Light, aside from the Light Pope, could stand against Lord Locke.

But how could the five of them resist such temptation?

Thus, after several years of discussion, Cross and the others reached an agreement!

They would drag Lord Locke's younger brother, Cole, into this and make him part of their plan.

They believed that, as Lord Locke's younger brother, even if Cole betrayed the Frost Snow Empire and became a Saint-level Expert of the Temple of Light, Lord Locke could not possibly kill Lord Cole.

Perhaps Lord Locke would even abandon his title in the Frost Snow Empire and, together with Lord Cole, throw himself into the embrace of the Light Lord God after Lord Cole joined the Temple of Light.

At that time, they would still be Lord Locke's subordinates.

With Lord Locke protecting them, they would also receive greater attention within the Temple of Light.

By then, perhaps the five of them might even receive a reward from the Light Pope for bringing such a powerful Saint-level Expert to the Temple of Light.

Therefore, Cross and the others were completely sincere about cooperating with Cole.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

Locke's body streaked through the sky like a meteor.

Without using battle qi or Magic Power to form a protective barrier around his body, the biting cold wind lashed against Locke's face, making him narrow his eyes.

To be honest, whether in his previous life or this one, Locke felt that he had failed in his duty as a son.

In his previous life, he had married the wrong person, burdening himself with debts and even dragging his parents down into helping him.

Even after Locke's fortunes improved and he wanted to become the pillar of the family, his parents refused his support. They told him to simply take care of his own little family, that they were not yet so old as to need their child to care for them.

After that, there was no afterward.

Because Locke had come to the Coiling Dragon Universe!

In this life, Locke had wanted to fulfill his filial duty.

But who could have imagined that a single period of secluded training would cause him to miss his final chance to see his parents?

Having lived two lives, Locke had still failed to fulfill his filial duty toward his parents. It dealt no small blow to his state of mind.

Locke's thoughts seemed to pass through his soul and affect heaven and earth.

The boundless sorrow seemed to lower even the temperature of the air around Locke by several degrees.

Strands of frost formed in Locke's hair and on his eyebrows.

Seen from the ground, Locke looked like a jet plane, trailing white mist behind him as he carved a long white streak across the sky.

"Whoosh!"

This time, Locke flew at full speed. In less than a day, he had traveled from Locke Territory, crossed Bidia Territory and half of Enbo Territory, and arrived at Pu'er Village.

Hovering above Pu'er Village, Locke looked down at the hometown where he had been born.

He was nearly a hundred years old now, and there was hardly anyone in Pu'er Village he still knew.

Yet the people here seemed no different from how they had been over ninety years ago.

After using an ability on himself that could affect others' vision, Locke slowly descended.

It had been nearly forty years since Locke left Pu'er Village.

The little wooden house Locke had built back then was now covered in vines, presenting a different sort of scenery.

However, Locke had only built it for convenience back then, using nothing but ordinary wood. After several decades, some of the timbers had completely rotted away.

The villagers of Pu'er Village had fenced off the area around the house with bamboo, preventing the village children from coming here to play and accidentally getting hurt if they caused the house to collapse.

Of course, not all the wood had completely decayed.

Tender green shoots had sprouted from some of the timbers, as though they had come to life for a second time.

In the yard before the little wooden house stood two earthen mounds, with stone tablets erected before them.

This was the final resting place of Locke's parents.