The Merits of Divine Artifacts

Barn returned to the Colosseum in Ice Prison Royal City after a year of reflection.

Over the past year, he had to admit that Adele had been right. He had previously tried to fight using only the Profound Mystery of Circle Softness and the Fate Law, hoping to achieve a breakthrough that way. But when it came to combat, holding back one's trump card meant never truly experiencing a life-or-death struggle. Without pressure to temper him, he naturally couldn't seize that fleeting opportunity for a breakthrough.

"This time, I should be up against someone strong." Barn's fingers brushed the shaft of the Mist Hidden spear. Remembering the arena owner's knowing, half-amused look when he'd signed up earlier, he had already guessed that his opponent wouldn't let him "slack off" like last time.

Sure enough, as a tall figure entered the dueling arena at an unhurried pace, the air around Barn seemed to freeze. A fierce pressure surged toward him, striking straight at his mind.

She was a female Godlevel.

In Gobada, the gender imbalance was far more severe than in Hell. In this plane prison steeped in slaughter and bloodlust, the strong believed in the law of the jungle. If a woman had no powerful patron to protect her, then to avoid being enslaved and survive on her own, she had no choice but to possess strength that utterly outclassed her peers.

Among the powerful women Barn had encountered over the years, Fukaloss had the Ice Prison King backing her, Julia's father was a legion deputy commander, and even Blair was kin to the Ice Prison King. All of them could hold their own in Gobada. Even Adele, who had fallen on hard times for the moment, had once been a Godlevel powerhouse.

The woman before him embodied the aura of a strong fighter to the fullest. Her neat, short hair brushed her ears, and a black hooded cloak obscured most of her face, leaving only a pair of proud, icy eyes visible. A long, slender sword and a shorter one hung at her waist. Though neither had been drawn, both gleamed with a bone-chilling edge.

Just then, Adele's Soul Transmission came from the stands. "Barn, be careful! Her name is Joanna. She specializes in both the Fire and Dark Laws, and she's one of the few Lowgods powerful enough to settle in the Royal City. She's only one step away from becoming a Midgod. They say a Godlevel from Evil Royal City once enslaved her. After breaking free, she risked her life to flee to Ice Prison Royal City. She's extremely vicious and never holds back. If you can't beat her, surrender immediately. Don't try to tough it out!"

Barn's gaze fell on the twin swords in Joanna's hands, and his expression grew more serious. He no longer held anything back. The Mist Hidden spear appeared in his grasp, pale blue Water Element Divine Power quietly coiling around it. He could clearly sense that the two slender swords were no ordinary Divine Artifacts. They were at least Midgod Artifacts.

In the original work, Divine Artifacts were simply divided into four grades: Lowgod, Midgod, Highgod, and Sovereign Artifacts. But only after truly reaching godhood could one understand the intricacies: the power a Divine Artifact could unleash depended not only on its grade, but also on how well its innate properties matched the user's understanding of the Profound Mysteries.

For a Lowgod, using a Midgod Artifact with a matching attribute and a perfect fit for their Profound Mysteries could increase their strength by as much as five times. But if the artifact was a poor match, the boost would be greatly reduced, perhaps to only about twice their strength. A Highgod Artifact with a matching attribute and compatible Profound Mysteries could increase their strength tenfold. Even if neither the attribute nor the compatibility was a good fit, it could still provide a four- or fivefold boost.

Barn and the Mist Hidden spear were a case of matching attributes but conflicting Profound Mysteries. He specialized in Water Element and the Water Body Technique, while the Mist Hidden spear's innate nature leaned toward Soul Attacks and concealment. As a result, he could only draw on the spear's sharpness and some of its Water Element power, increasing his attack strength by only about six times.

But the Divine Power fluctuations radiating from Joanna's two Midgod Artifacts resonated perfectly with the Fire and Dark Divine Power inside her. Clearly, her Profound Mysteries were a perfect match for the artifacts' innate properties. The boost they gave her would surely be little less than what Barn's Mist Hidden spear gave him.

Barn knew that as one's Godlevel grew, the gap caused by the quality of one's Divine Artifact would gradually narrow.

First, Midgods and Highgods had far greater base strength than Lowgods, and the power of a Divine Artifact was ultimately an external aid. Second, the higher one's level, the more completely one understood the Laws, so mismatches between one's Profound Mysteries and an artifact's innate properties became less common. Highgods in particular could fully understand every Profound Mystery within a single Law. As long as the artifact had the same attribute, they could bring out all its innate abilities perfectly.

For that reason, all Highgods gained almost the same boost when using a Sovereign Artifact with a matching attribute.

Seeing that Barn was ready to fight, Joanna didn't waste a word. A cold gleam flashed beneath her hood. With a slender sword in each hand, she shot toward him like a phantom, moving so fast she left behind a black afterimage.

Humm—

Centered on Joanna, a dense black shadow spread in an instant, sweeping across the entire dueling arena like a tide. In the blink of an eye, darkness engulfed the whole Colosseum, swallowing all light and shutting out all sound. It seemed as though only Barn and Joanna truly existed in the world, while everything else was reduced to an illusory bubble.

Barn felt his body stiffen. His God's Domain was suppressed to within a few meters of him, and his spiritual perception grew hazy. It was as if he had fallen into an endless chaos, unable even to track Joanna's movements.

"It's the Profound Mystery of Night Veil." Barn understood at once. Declan specialized in this Dark Profound Mystery, so it was familiar to him.

The Profound Mystery of Night Veil was easy to learn. At first, it concealed one's presence and increased one's speed. But once cultivated to a high level, it could block out the surrounding space and form a domain of darkness, restricting an enemy's movement and perception until they became a sitting duck.

But Barn had an advantage of his own: the extraordinary perception granted by his Soul Mutation.

Even with his spiritual perception suppressed, his soul could still detect the tiniest disturbances in the darkness. Almost a second before Joanna swung her sword, Barn sensed her coming and spun around, raising the Mist Hidden spear to block. A faint blue glow shimmered along its shaft.

Crash—!

A tremendous collision rang out. Violent Fire Divine Power, wrapped in darkness, crashed into the Mist Hidden spear like an erupting volcano. It shattered the Water Element shield around Barn in an instant. A tremendous force traveled down the shaft, sending him flying backward like a kite with its string cut. His feet gouged two deep furrows in the ground before he managed to steady himself several meters away.

Joanna didn't pursue him. Her figure flickered and vanished into the dense Night Veil once more, as if she had never appeared. Though she had gained the upper hand with that strike, she had only broken through Barn's outermost Water Element shield. The Mist Hidden spear had deflected all the remaining force, leaving his body unharmed.

Hidden in the darkness, Joanna kept her eyes fixed on Barn and had already reached a conclusion. The newcomer specialized in Water Element and the Water Body Technique, the most common combination among Godlevels in Gobada, and his perception was far beyond that of an ordinary fighter at the same level. It wouldn't be easy to land a surprise blow by hiding.

She was extremely confident in her attack power, but defense had always been her weak point. She would be at a disadvantage if the fight turned into a close-range struggle. Her only option was to rely on the suppression of her Night Veil domain, striking repeatedly to wear him down and maintain the upper hand.