At this moment, the Pope of Light's face was slightly twisted.
Why?
He had served Lord Augusta for tens of thousands of years before finally raising his soul strength to the point where he could dive more than ten meters into the Sea of Divine Power.
This guy had only just ascended to godhood—so why did he possess divine power on par with his own, even a full twice as strong as that of an ordinary lower-tier god?
This fellow… might actually pose a threat to him!
With that thought, the Pope of Light finally cast aside his earlier contempt for the newly ascended Locke.
If the gap in divine power had been erased, then the difference in their strength must now lie in law profundities—and divine artifacts!
At that, the Pope of Light's thoughts stirred. The longspear in his hand flared with golden divine power as he thrust it straight at Locke.
"Boom!"
Under that single thrust, Locke felt as though the entire world had turned against him—rejecting him, suppressing him. Heaven and earth alike transformed into a cage, imprisoning him within.
The Momentum of Heaven and Earth!
Yet compared to the Momentum of Heaven and Earth wielded by those at the Sanctuary level, a god's version was something from an entirely different dimension.
At the Sanctuary level, the Momentum of Heaven and Earth was formed by fusing one's soul with the profundities of the laws of heaven and earth, borrowing the might of those laws.
But for a Demigod, the laws that had been fully comprehended were already integrated into the self.
The god was heaven and earth.
Every gesture could overturn mountains and seas.
This attack from the Pope of Light fused his comprehended law profundities with his Divine Domain, turning everything within the domain into a world that actively opposed his enemy.
"So this is how gods fight?"
Sensing the Pope of Light's overwhelming presence, Locke's eyes lit up.
Sure enough, while the cultivation of law profundities could be done in seclusion, to truly unleash their full power, one needed battle.
Without the Pope of Light's personal demonstration, Locke would never have realized that law profundities could be applied in such a manner.
Of course, understanding it was one thing—replicating it on the spot was another.
But even so, Locke was now a Demigod as well.
He, too, possessed his own Momentum of Heaven and Earth!
"Boom!"
With a thought, Locke fused his divine power with the Profundity of the Laws of Mist and Illusion, instantly tearing apart the Pope of Light's Momentum of Heaven and Earth.
His figure then became half-real, half-illusory as he slashed out with his sword. Countless white sword shadows poured forth like a torrential downpour, meeting the Pope's thrust head-on!
"Boom boom boom boom boom boom—!"
White sword shadows collided with the golden spear, explosions ringing out in rapid succession.
Under the relentless barrage, the brilliance of the Pope's thrust steadily weakened, while Locke's sword shadows continued without end.
Clearly, if this continued, the Pope of Light's attack would be broken.
However, the Pope of Light immediately saw through it. Locke's move relied on one thing alone—endless follow-up.
But techniques like that, no matter how persistent, were not difficult to counter.
In the next instant, divine power erupted from the Pope of Light. Golden radiance blazed from the spear in his hand. Locke's sword shadows struck the spear with ringing clangs, yet failed to halt its advance.
"Clang!"
Seeing the sword shadows prove ineffective, Locke did not waste his divine power further. Instead, he poured it all into the longsword in his hand and slashed directly at the spear thrusting toward him.
"Boom!"
"Bang!"
Sword and spear collided—and after holding for a single instant, Locke's longsword shattered completely.
Locke's expression changed.
"Chi—"
Even though he retreated with all his might, the Pope of Light's spear still pierced through his left chest, leaving a gaping hole.
Fortunately, a god's divine avatar was formed entirely from divine power.
As long as the soul was not destroyed, even decapitation could be repaired by consuming divine power to restore the divine body.
Otherwise, if such an injury had been inflicted on his true body, it would have been grievous—even if not fatal.
Drawing on the divine power within his divine spark, Locke fully recovered the wounds of this divine avatar within a few breaths.
However, the divine power consumed in healing was far greater than what he had expended during the fight itself.
Staring at his chest, Locke's expression darkened.
"A divine artifact?"
From that exchange, Locke was certain that the gap between him and the Pope of Light—in terms of divine power and law profundities—was nowhere near large enough for him to be overwhelmed in a single blow.
Yet his attack had been shattered almost instantly.
The only explanation was the disparity between their weapons.
His own longsword was nothing more than a construct condensed from water elements—a mere imitation.
The weapon in the Pope of Light's hand was thousands of times stronger than anything Locke could form from elemental condensation.
Under such a gap, it was no wonder he had been caught off guard and stabbed through the chest.
"Correct. The weapon I wield—Rising Sun—is a high-grade offensive divine artifact."
Having gained the upper hand in the opening exchange, the Pope of Light now had a clearer grasp of Locke's strength.
Because of his superior divine power, Locke was about twice as strong as an ordinary newly ascended Demigod.
Of course, if he were to face Demigods who had ascended through comprehending advanced law profundities, Locke would still fall short.
The difference between high-grade and low-grade law profundities was not something that could be bridged by merely doubling one's divine power.
If a lower-tier god who had comprehended high-grade law profundities also created a powerful ultimate technique, it wouldn't even be impossible for them to contend with a mid-tier god who had refined a divine spark.
Even so, in front of him, Locke was still far too inexperienced.
"Locke, I told you long ago—time is not a gap that can be erased so easily!"
"You've only just entered the Divine Realm, empty-handed."
"And I have served the Lord of Light for over ten thousand years."
"The weapon in my hand is a high-grade offensive divine artifact."
"The armor on my body is a high-grade defensive divine artifact!"
"What do you have that makes you worthy of my regard?"
Lowering his hand from his left chest—
Though the wound had already been healed with divine power, Locke, having only just ascended to godhood, was clearly still unaccustomed to a divine body with no true vital points.
"This… was indeed my oversight."
Achieving godhood had almost made Locke believe he was the protagonist of the Coiling Dragon universe.
Fortunately, the Pope of Light had shaken him awake from that swelling arrogance.
The true protagonist of the Coiling Dragon universe was Linley!
At best, Locke was merely someone who knew the "fates" of certain individuals within a particular period of that universe.
When preparing to test the Pope of Light, he had actually forgotten that besides law profundities, gods also possessed divine artifacts!
Divine artifacts were weapons frequently used by gods, nurtured over time by divine power.
A god who wielded a divine artifact was, at the very least, twice as strong as one without!
(End of Chapter)
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