Divine Artifacts: Advantages and Disadvantages

After a year of tempering, Barn returned to the Ice Prison Royal City arena.

Over this past year, he had to admit that Adele's perspective was correct. He had previously attempted to rely solely on the Circle Softness profound mystery and the Fate Law in battle, hoping to achieve a breakthrough. However, in matters of combat, if one always holds back their trump cards, they can never truly experience the gamble of life and death. Without the tempering of pressure, it was naturally impossible to seize that fleeting opportunity for a breakthrough.

This time, it should be a very strong opponent. Barn rubbed the shaft of his Mist Hidden spear with his fingertips. Recalling the enigmatic, mocking look on the arena boss's face when he registered, he already guessed that the other party would certainly not let him "slack off" like last time.

Sure enough, as a tall, upright figure walked slowly into the dueling arena, the air around Barn seemed to solidify instantly. A sharp, oppressive force surged toward him, pressing directly against his spirit.

That was a female god-level powerhouse.

In Gobada, the gender imbalance was far more severe than in Hell. In this plane prison soaked in slaughter and malice, the strong believed in the law of the jungle. If a woman lacked a powerful backer to protect her, the only way to remain independent and avoid being enslaved was to possess strength so formidable it crushed her peers.

Among the female powerhouses Barn had met over the years, Fukaloss had the Ice Prison King as her backer, Julia's father was a legion vice-commander, and even Blair was of the same clan as the Ice Prison King; they could all stand firm in Gobada. Even the temporarily fallen Adele had once been a god-level powerhouse.

Yet, the female god-level before him interpreted the "aura of the strong" to the fullest. Her short, capable hair clung to her ears, and a black hooded cloak obscured most of her face, revealing only a pair of rebellious, cold, and sharp eyes. Two thin swords, one long and one short, hung at her waist; even without being unsheathed, they exuded a bone-chilling sharpness.

At this moment, Adele's Soul Transmission came from the spectator stands: "Barn, be careful! Her name is Joanna. She specializes in both the Fire and Dark laws and is one of the few powerhouses who can settle in the Royal City with the strength of a Lowgod, only a step away from becoming a Midgod. It is said she was once enslaved by a god-level from the Evil Royal City. After breaking free from control, she fought her way to the Ice Prison Royal City. Her temperament is extremely violent, and she never leaves any room for mercy in her attacks. If you can't beat her, admit defeat immediately—don't force it!"

Barn's gaze fell upon the twin swords in Joanna's hands, his expression growing increasingly grave. No longer holding anything back, he gripped the Mist Hidden spear in his palm, and pale blue Dark Divine Power quietly swirled around it—he could clearly perceive that those two thin swords were by no means ordinary artifacts; they were at least at the Midgod artifact level.

In the original texts, artifacts were simply divided into four grades: Lowgod, Midgod, Highgod, and Sovereign Artifact. However, only those who truly stepped into the god-level could understand the nuances: how much power an artifact could unleash depended not only on its own grade but also on the degree of compatibility with the user's profound mysteries.

For a Lowgod, if they used a Midgod artifact with the same attributes and perfectly matched profound mysteries, their strength could be amplified by up to five times. However, if the artifact was completely incompatible, the amplification would be greatly reduced, perhaps only by about two times. If it were a Highgod artifact with matching attributes and profound mysteries, it could directly amplify strength by ten times; even if the attributes and compatibility were not a perfect fit, it could still provide a four to five-fold increase.

Barn and his Mist Hidden spear were a case of matching attributes but conflicting profound mysteries—he specialized in the Water Element and Water Body Technique, while the innate talent of the Mist Hidden spear leaned more toward soul attacks and concealment. Therefore, he could only unleash the spear's inherent sharpness and a portion of its water-type power, resulting in an amplification of his own attack power of only about six times.

Yet, the divine power fluctuations radiating from the two Midgod artifacts in Joanna's hands resonated perfectly with the fire and dark divine powers within her. Clearly, her profound mysteries and the artifacts' innate talents were completely compatible. This amplification would certainly be no less than that of the Mist Hidden spear in Barn's hands.

Barn understood clearly that as one's god-level realm increased, the gap caused by the quality of artifacts would gradually narrow.

Firstly, the base strength of Midgods and Highgods far exceeded that of Lowgods, and the power of artifacts was ultimately an external factor. Secondly, the higher the realm, the more comprehensive the laws one comprehended, and instances of mismatch between profound mysteries and artifact talents would become increasingly rare. Especially for Highgods, who could fully comprehend all profound mysteries of a law, as long as the artifact shared the same attribute, they could perfectly unleash all its talents.

It was precisely because of this that when all Highgods used Sovereign Artifacts of the same attribute, the amplification they could obtain was almost identical.

Seeing that Barn was prepared for battle, Joanna did not waste a single word. A cold light flashed in her eyes beneath the hood. Gripping a thin sword in each hand, she charged forward like a ghost, her speed so fast she left behind a black afterimage.

Hum—

With Joanna as the center, a thick, black shadow instantly spread out, sweeping across the entire dueling arena like a tidal wave. In the blink of an eye, the entire combat area was shrouded in pitch-black darkness. Light was completely swallowed, and sound was isolated, as if only Barn and Joanna truly existed in the world, while everything else had faded into illusory bubbles.

Barn felt his entire body stall. His Divine Domain was suppressed tightly within a few meters of his body, and his divine sense became blurred, as if he had fallen into an endless chaos, making it difficult to even track Joanna's movement trajectory.

It's the Night Veil Profound Mystery. Barn realized instantly. After all, Declan specialized in this dark-type profound mystery, and he was no stranger to it.

The Night Veil Profound Mystery was simple to enter, providing the ability to conceal one's aura and enhance movement. However, once cultivated to the later stages, it could shield the surrounding space, forming an exclusive dark domain that locked down the enemy's movement and perception, turning the opponent into a lamb waiting for slaughter.

But Barn had his own advantage—the super-strong perception brought about by his soul mutation.

Even though his divine sense was suppressed, his soul could still capture the slightest fluctuations in the darkness. Almost a second before Joanna swung her sword, Barn sensed it in advance. He turned abruptly, holding the Mist Hidden spear horizontally in front of him, the shaft glowing with a faint blue light.

"CRASH—!"

A violent collision erupted with a roar. The raging fire-type divine power, wrapped in dark energy, slammed into the Mist Hidden spear like an erupting volcano, instantly shattering the water-element shield swirling around Barn. A massive force traveled along the spear, sending Barn flying backward like a kite with a broken string. His feet carved two deep furrows into the ground, and he only managed to steady himself several meters away.

Joanna did not take the opportunity to pursue. Her figure flickered, and she hid once again in the thick night veil, as if she had never appeared. Although she had the upper hand in that strike, she had only broken through Barn's outermost water-element shield; the remaining force of the attack had been completely dissipated by the Mist Hidden spear, causing no substantial damage to Barn's body.

Hidden in the darkness, Joanna stared fixedly at Barn's figure, a judgment already forming in her mind: this newcomer specialized in the Water Element and Water Body Technique, the most common among Gobada's god-level powerhouses, and his perception was far superior to others of the same level. It would likely not be easy to succeed with a surprise attack based on concealment.

She was extremely confident in her attack power, but her defense had always been a weakness. If she fell into close-quarters combat, she would inevitably suffer. Only by relying on the suppression of the Night Veil domain to launch constant surprise attacks and wear him down could she maintain the upper hand.