Coiling Dragon Book 11 – The Necropolis of the Gods

Book 11 – The Necropolis of the Gods

Chapter 1: Founding of an Empire

Beirut!

Linley and Bebe exchanged a glance. Linley still remembered how Bebe had told him that not long after he was born, when he still hadn’t been able to open his eyes, a very warm, intimate voice had told to him…he was of the Beirut clan.

“Lord Beirut?” Bebe spoke. “Fine. I’ll go with you.”

Linley looked at Bebe. Bebe’s normally adorable eyes were now very solemn, and held within them a hint…of excitement! Bebe had never known anything about his parentage, and when he had been able to open his eyes, he hadn’t found any rat-type magical beasts nearby.

Bebe had always wondered if that warm, intimate voice had been his mother’s. Unfortunately, Bebe had never seen her. The only clue he had was those three syllables; ‘Bei-Lu-Te’, Beirut.

The Violet-Gold Rat King, Harry, laughed. “Don’t be like this. My lord father has invited Bebe to go over to meet him. It definitely isn’t for any bad reasons.” As he spoke, he looked at Bebe. “Bebe, let’s go.” The other two Violet-Gold Rat Kings also looked at Bebe.

Bebe immediately flew into the air.

“This trip of Bebe’s to the Forest of Darkness will take a bit of time, most likely. Don’t be in too much of a rush.” The third of the Violet-Gold Rat Kings, Harvey, said.

Linley nodded, then said to Bebe, “Bebe, if anything major happens, immediately let me know.” Linley and Bebe could speak at a very long distance through their spiritual connection. Generally speaking, while Bebe was in the Forest of Darkness, he could still spiritually communicate with Linley.

“Got it, Boss.” Bebe cracked a smile. 

Linley smiled encouragingly back at him.

The mystery of his parentage was something that had weighed on Bebe’s mind his entire life. Now that he had a chance of solving it, Bebe wouldn’t hesitate at all.

…..

Plumes of snow circled down onto the earth. The discussion in the royal palace was extremely animated.

“So the mysterious King of the Forest of Darkness is named Lord Beirut.” Rebecca held her hands over her heart, breathing excitedly. The five ultimate powers of the Yulan continent, the five Deities, were indeed figures of awe. The power of Deities was far greater than that of the Saints.

For example, Stehle hadn’t been able to resist even a finger- flick from Cesar. 

“Father.”  Taylor’s pure eyes were filled with energy as he looked at Linley. “Is that Beirut really powerful? Even more powerful than you, Father?”

Linley and Wharton both laughed.

In the eyes of his children, Linley was invincible.

“Lord Beirut…” Linley looked towards the north, as though seeing that expert who stood atop the entire Yulan continent from within his lair in the Forest of Darkness. “According to what those three Violet-Gold Rat Kings said, Lord Beirut is most likely the most terrifyingly powerful Deity in the Yulan continent.”

Linley patted Taylor’s head and said lovingly, “Taylor, your father doesn’t have the strength to challenge him yet.”

“Then  Father  will  definitely  surpass  him  in  the  future.” Taylor spoke with absolute certainty. “My father is the greatest genius in the Yulan continent, and the most powerful Dragonblood Warrior in history.”

“Haha…” Linley didn’t respond. He only laughed.

Linley  looked  at  Wharton,  then  instructed,  “Wharton, tomorrow, I plan to go to the private underground room and begin training. The founding of the Baruch Empire, I won’t get involved in.” The so-called private underground room was the pocket dimensional room in the core of the magicite mines.

“Big  brother,  you  won’t  participate?”  Wharton  was  very shocked.

The founding of an Empire was a major event.

“Forget  it.”  Linley  looked  at  Delia.  Delia’s  mageforce  and spiritual energy had been increasing at an unbelievable rate. After reaching the ninth rank as an Arch Magus, her rate of improvement had only been increasing. This sort of improvement rate was simply astonishing to Linley. 

It seemed as though to Delia, there was no such thing as a bottleneck.

“Delia,  I  expect  when  the  Empire  is  founded,  the  Yulan Empire will definitely send envoys over. Your parents or other people might come over as well. You should stay at the palace and wait for them.”

“Fine.”  Delia  couldn’t  help  but  think  of  how  her  parents looked.

She had left her clan only twelve years ago. The clan and Delia had reconciled long ago. Only, because the distance between the two was so vast, they rarely had a chance to meet.

This time, with the Baruch Empire being founded, her parents would most likely come.

Linley continued with his instructions. “Delia, the private underground room is over ten meters wide. I’ve already divided it into two layers. After you are finished, you can come find me. At that time, I’ll help you enter the private underground room. You and I can train together. I expect that in a few years, you’ll be able to reach the level of Grand Magus Saint, even before I do.” Linley sighed as he spoke.

Delia’s eyes held a hint of excitement in them.

Each time Linley went into seclusion for training, he would disappear for who-knows how long. Delia naturally wanted to be with Linley during that time.

“Right. I’ll definitely come looking for you at that time.” Delia hurriedly said.

The next day, Linley flew directly to the magicite mine. After the battle, the magicite miners had began to quite orderly but quite frantically resume the excavations. In a short month, sixty or seventy percent of the gems in the magicite mine had been excavated, and only a small number of deposits were left. But of course, various major buildings were constructed around the ‘door’.

Linley walked into the tunnels, opened a stone door, and then arrived at the mysterious dimensional door. Linley’s body immediately became covered with a layer of deep azure battle- qi, which spun about him rhythmically. Linley immediately stepped inside.

“Crackle crackle.”

Terrifying knife-like blasts of energy tore at Linley, but Linley’s Pulseguard Defense was fully able to defend against them.

Stepping into the pocket dimension, Linley felt his heart become at ease. Earth, fire, water, wind. All the elemental essences seemed so close. Even the Throbbing Pulse of the Earth became so clear to him. Raising his head…he saw that translucent membrane, and saw the multicolored chaotic space outside of it. “I’ve already reached the level of 256 layers for a long time. I hope  this  time,  I  can  make  a  true  breakthrough.”   Linley immediately sat down cross-legged, beginning to meditate and to attune.

Last time, Linley had an insight, but he had only learned that from the 256 layers, he now needed to consolidate them all into a single vibrational wave. Only then would the Profound Truths of the Earth be perfected. But as to how that would be accomplished, Linley was still very uncertain.

Within that pocket dimension, the flow of time couldn’t be noticed at all.

Linley began to train in seclusion.

Yulan calendar, year 10022, December 28th. In two more days, it would be the Yulan Festival. This would be a very historically special Yulan festival, because…on this Yulan Festival, the Baruch Empire would be formally founded. Baruch City was a hubbub of activity. Outsiders had filled Baruch City to the brim.

Ten guards were escorting a simple, unadorned carriage on the streets of Baruch City. Just by looking at those warriors of the fifth rank and higher, one would know that the people inside the carriage were no ordinary people indeed. A long time later, the carriage arrived at a hotel.

The guards immediately halted the horse.

“Madame,  we  are  at  the  hotel.”  The  carriage  driver  said respectfully into the carriage.

“Understood.” A calm voice from within the carriage. A jade- white hand pulled open the carriage curtains, then stepped out. This noble lady wore violet clothes, covered by a black cloak. If Linley had been here, he would definitely recognize her…

Alice! 

It had been almost twenty three years since the Apocalypse Day.

Back then, Alice had been very young. After twenty three years, she had now acquired the natural grace and elegance of a noble lady.

“Twenty three years.” Alice looked at the city, her heart filled with emotion. She knew the name of this city; Baruch City. This city had been founded based on the name of Linley’s clan. The fifth great empire of the Yulan continent would be formally founded in two days.

The name was also the Baruch Empire.

“Linley Baruch.” Alice murmured Linley’s name.

That year when she and Kalan had met with danger in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, Linley had suddenly descended from the skies and saved her. That year, Linley was nothing more than a youth with potential, while she was a beautiful, carefree young girl. Kalan was the successor to a major noble clan.

Twenty three years later.

Linley had already reached a height which she couldn’t hope to approach.

Alice felt gratitude from the depths of her heart towards Linley. On the Apocalypse Day, it was Linley who had entrusted her to Director Maia, who for Linley’s sake had taken care of her and Rowling the entire time they were fleeing. Director Maia had been very kind to the two girls.

Afterwards, Alice and Rowling had become the adopted daughters Director Maia.

And then, Alice had begun helping him take care of the matters of the Proulx Gallery. Rowling wasn’t good at management, but by contrast…Alice was very talented at managing the various Galleries, and so Director Maia slowly gave more and more authority to her. This time, it was Director Maia who had sent her to come to Baruch City.

The reason was…she was going to start up a new Proulx Gallery, here in Baruch City!

Generally speaking, all of the enormous cities had a Proulx Gallery present. In the future, Baruch City would become the center of the Baruch Empire (the Anarchic Lands). Naturally, they had to have a Proulx Gallery here.

“Madame?” A nearby guard reminded gently. “It is snowing outside.”

“Oh.”

Only now did Alice return to the present. With a calm laugh, she said, “Let’s go.” Alice, escorted by her guards, entered the hotel. The guards behind Alice were very respectful to her. They knew that Alice’s husband had died years ago, on the Apocalypse Day. 

They actually were all puzzled…

Why was it that Alice had never remarried?

Yulan calendar, year 10023. January 1st. The Baruch Empire was founded.

On this day, the envoys of each nation came, and Baruch City was full of festivities. However…at the same time, some of the experts hidden in seclusion throughout the Yulan continent were beginning to stir.

They had begun to receive orders from the various Deity- level experts.

O’Brien Empire. Outside the imperial capital. War God Mountain. “Welcome back, Master.”  Over twenty Saints were standing there respectfully, while the War God, O’Brien, landed atop the mountain, his scarlet red hair flowing like knives.

The War God O’Brien nodded slightly, then began to issue orders. “Castro.”

Castro immediately took one step forward, awaiting the War God’s order. The War God said calmly, “Immediately head to the Anarchic Lands. Inform Linley that he is to come assemble with us next year on March 3rd at War God Mountain.”

“Yes, Master.” Castro said immediately.

“Lanke.”  The  War  God  spoke  again.  His  disciple,  Lanke, immediately took one step forward. The War God ordered, “Head to that little island in the North Sea where Kefande [Ke’fan’de] lives. Inform Kefande as well that no matter what, next year on March 3rd, he must come assemble with us at my War God Mountain.”

“Yes, Master.” Lanke immediately assented. 

The War God spoke yet again. “Kenyon.” Kenyon also took a step forward. The War God continued, “You head to…”

He issued orders to twelve disciples in a row, then immediately ordered ten other disciples to stay behind. These ten disciples were the most powerful of the War God’s personally taught disciples, and they included his very first disciple, Fain.

“The ten of you, make your preparations. I don’t want you to end up like your Third Brother.” The War God said calmly.

“Yes, Master!”

The ten of them responded respectfully. They knew what their master was referring to.

“If you are afraid to die, you can choose to give up instead. There are many Saints who would be willing to accept this opportunity.” The War God said calmly, then glanced at his ten disciples. Seeing the look on their faces, the War God nodded with satisfaction, then left.

……

In an underground hall, Castro sat down. He had flown for a long time, first to Baruch City, then to here under Barker’s guidance. Castro had thought that Linley was still living at Mt. Blackraven.

“Castro, wait a moment. Let me go notify Linley.”  Barker smiled as he spoke.

“Fine.” Castro was very polite.

Barker then left the hall, and in three steps, headed towards that mysterious door. Castro quite orderly sat there, not daring to investigate with his spiritual energy. After all, Barker was a Saint as well. He would easily detect any spiritual energy probing. Barker arrived at the door.

With one step, Barker entered the pocket dimension.

Chapter 2: Breakthrough

The pocket dimension room was divided into two layers; a central layer, and a lower layer. The central layer was the original layer. Linley was currently on this layer. As for the lower layer, this was for Delia to train in.

Delia finished her training session and opened her eyes.

She stared at the chaotic space outside the membrane. The first time she had seen it, Delia had felt shocked. But now, she was used to it.

Raising her head, she looked up through the opening and saw Linley seated cross-legged in a meditative trance. Seeing Linley, Delia instantly felt her heart grow peaceful, and a calm smile appeared on her face as well. She immediately closed her eyes, then continued to muse on the profundities of magic within her sea of consciousness.

“Thrum!” “Thrum!” The unique rhythms of the earth were sometimes like thunder, while other times like the crashing of waves. It contained boundless mysteries within it. Linley could clearly sense these two hundred and fifty six layers of waves reverberating within his consciousness.

The profoundness of the Throbbing Pulse of the World was hidden within these 256 layered waves.

However, the Throbbing Pulse of the World, born from nature itself, actually contained all of its secrets within a single vibrational pulse as well.

Linley had bitterly trained for nearly twenty years. Only then had he managed to train from the first layered wave to the 256th layered wave.

“256  layered  waves  can  just  barely  express  the  profound mysteries of the earth. To reduce the number of waves, but to increase the profundities of the Throbbing Pulse of the World…” Linley was constantly considering this, one idea after another flashing past his mind. 

None of them were correct!

Wrong!

Wrong!

All wrong!

Countless transformations and training methods appeared in his mind, but Linley rejected them all. Linley’s mind was currently in a state of focusing on nothing else besides considering, demonstrating, and then rejecting one training method after another. Perhaps some could let Linley improve in power, but Linley knew that none of them were the correct path.

“Wrong. Wrong.” Linley’s forehead was beaded with sweat, but Linley didn’t notice at all. He didn’t know how much time had passed, or how many possibilities he had rejected.

Suddenly…

The meditating Linley’s eyebrows suddenly twitched, and then Linley suddenly rose to his feet. With a flip of his hand, the adamantine heavy sword appeared. His eyes still closed, Linley began to brandish about the adamantine heavy sword, but he wasn’t completely utilizing the Profound Truths of the Earth.

“Thrum!” A vibration which seemed to have shaken Linley’s mind to its core.

“Right. That’s how it is.”  Linley suddenly opened his eyes, which were filled with joy.

In that moment, Linley had managed to successfully fuse the profound truths contained within the first layer and the second layer into a single layer. “Combining two layers into one layer…” Linley’s eyes were filled with wild joy. “Right. One step at a time. I can’t possibly combine all 256 layered waves into a single wave all at once. First, I’ll combine two at a time. I’ll combine them all separately.”

The first wave and the second wave became one.

The third wave and the fourth wave would become one.

The 255th wave and the 256th wave would become one.

The end result would be that he would be able to exert the power of the 256 layered waves of the Profound Truths of the Earth into just 128 layered waves!

Analyzing and combining them separately would be far easier. In addition, Linley had already succeeded in merging the first wave with the second wave.

“Right. This has to be right.” Linley was very confident in his chosen path. After all, the end result of this ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’ was combining the 256 layers of waves into a single wave. Thus…any two waves should be fuse-able as well. Only, it would still be difficult.

With the successful test case of fusing the first and the second waves, however, Linley now had confidence in this method.

Each and every single wave contained with it a different aspect of the profound mysteries. Every single fusion attempt required Linley to spend an enormous amount of time and effort guessing, testing, and evaluating.

“Lord Linley!”  As Linley was pondering his next move, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

Linley opened his eyes. It was Barker. In the room below, Delia awakened as well, and she leapt onto the central level. After all, the distance between the two was only two or so meters. Given Delia’s current level of power, she could easily leap that distance. “Barker, why are you here?” Delia grinned at him.

Linley allowed his mind to temporarily rest for a while. He had thought for a long time and tested for a long time. By now, Linley had already successfully fused the third and the fourth waves. What Linley now needed to do was to continue…until he fused the 255th and the 256th waves.

At that time, the 256 Layered Waves of the Profound Truths of the Earth would be simplified to the 128 Layered Waves of the Profound Truths of the Earth. Linley expected that his power would instantly rise multiple times.

“It is already so hard to fuse two waves into one. To continue down this path and further fuse the 128 waves into 64 waves will most likely be far more difficult.”

This sort of fusion, to describe it in a rather crude way, was like fitting something into a box. If you had four boxes, and you wanted to put the items in two of the boxes into one box, although it would be hard, it was doable. One could put the items in those four boxes into just two of the boxes.

But if you then wanted to squeeze the items in those two boxes into just one of the boxes…it would be at least ten times harder than what you had done previously!

This sort of difficulty rise was exponential!

This wasn’t something you could accomplish just by thinking about it. It required an extremely high level of comprehension regarding the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’ and repeated attempts and repeated tests.

“Barker, what happened?” Linley asked.

“Lord Linley, Castro of the War God’s College is currently outside. He came at the orders of the War God to find you.” Barker immediately said. Hearing the words ‘War God’, Linley couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, then immediately stood up. “Come, let’s go outside and take a look.” Resting his hand on Delia’s shoulders, Linley immediately covered both his body and Delia’s with that layer of deep azure battle-qi, circulating it according to that unique rhythm.

“Crackle crackle.”

As they walked past the door, Linley took a few turns, and then arrived at the underground meeting hall. Castro was currently there waiting quietly with eyes closed. Hearing Linley’s footsteps, Castro immediately opened his eyes and stood up.

As soon as he saw Linley, Castro immediately revealed a smile on his face, while he was secretly shocked. “Linley is far more reserved and disciplined than he was last time at the imperial capital. No wonder Senior Apprentice said that Linley was on par with him now.”

“Castro, we haven’t met in years. Please, sit.” Linley smiled as he sat down. Castro’s smile grew wider. “It has been years indeed. These past few years, I haven’t changed much, but you, Linley. Not only has your personal power improved dramatically, you’ve even gotten married and had children. I saw your two children in Baruch City. That Taylor was especially cute.”

Hearing others praise his children, Linley naturally felt quite happy.

Delia laughed as well. “Mr. Castro, what is the purpose of this visit?”

Castro laughed as well. “This time, I have come at the order of Master. I have come to deliver some news to Linley.”

“What news?” Linley was puzzled.

“Next year, March 3rd, Linley, you must make haste to War God Mountain.” Castro instructed. Linley, Barker, and Delia glanced at each other, their hearts puzzled. Linley spoke. “Castro, can you tell me why the War God is asking me to head to War God Mountain next year, on March 3rd? What is this about?”

“Umm…” Castro hesitated a moment.

“Is there a secret involved?” Linley guessed.

Castro nodded. Linley’s heart suddenly moved. The War God had previously told Linley that within the Yulan continent, there was something known as the Necropolis of the Gods, and this Necropolis of the Gods had many precious treasures left behind by fallen Deities, such as…divine sparks!

“Can you speak more clearly?”  Linley asked, and then he explained, “Barker is also a Saint-level expert, and my wife is an Arch Magus of the ninth rank. She’ll reach the Grand Magus Saint level soon. There’s no need to hide anything.”

“Then…fine.” Castro   paused,   then   nodded.   “This   time,   Master   has instructed you to go to him, most likely in order to prepare to head to the Necropolis of the Gods together. The reason I say this is because before I came, Master had a special conversation with ten of my more senior fellow apprentices, most of whom

have been training for more than three thousand years.”

“The  Necropolis  of  the  Gods?”  Delia  and  Barker  let  out surprised cries.

Delia had heard Linley speak of the Necropolis of the Gods before. They were husband and wife, after all. Linley never held anything back from Delia.

“Are you saying that those ten personal disciples of the War God’s College will be heading to the Necropolis of the Gods?” Linley asked.

“You’ll know next year, so there’s no need for me to hide anything. Our War God’s College is indeed sending ten personal  disciples  over.”   Castro’s  face  grew  solemn.  “But Linley, entering the Necropolis of the Gods is extremely dangerous. Just because you are strong, doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily survive.”

“Oh?” Linley frowned, a bit puzzled.

Castro explained, “Master only chose his ten most powerful disciples. You should have guessed this. The Necropolis of the Gods is a place which will easily kill most Saints who go there. Only upon reaching a certain level would one have hope of surviving.”

“But if you are strong but have terrible luck, then you still might lose your life.” Castro laughed bitterly. “In the history of the War God’s College, several experts died in there, such as our Third Brother. In the past, his level of power was equal to that of the Senior Apprentice, but he still died in the Necropolis of the Gods.”

Linley nodded slightly. The people of the War God’s College had undoubtedly entered the Necropolis of the Gods multiple times. They were fairly experienced.

“Very dangerous?”  Delia asked, feeling a bit worried. She knew that Linley would most likely enter the Necropolis of the Gods.

Castro nodded seriously. “It is. Master has said that if one rashly charges about in the Necropolis of the Gods, even someone like Master will fall, much less a Saint. Thus, in the Necropolis of the Gods, one needs strength, one needs caution, and of course…one needs a bit of luck.”

Castro suddenly laughed. “But you don’t need to worry. I only heard of these things from my other fellow apprentices. I’m not too clear myself. It probably isn’t too dangerous. After all, the Senior Apprentice has been in the Necropolis of the Gods four times now, but he’s still alive, right?”

Delia was gripping Linley’s hands, afraid. Feeling the warmth coming from Delia’s hand, Linley felt a warm sensation in his heart as well. He immediately consoled her, “Delia, it is fine. I specialize in defense, and I’m also very fast. In addition…the path of training isn’t a path for constantly cowering and hiding.”

Linley’s heart was filled with anticipation towards the Necropolis of the Gods.

Five thousand years ago, when the experts from other planes descended here, the Four Supreme Warriors had suddenly been born…what was the reason for this?

“Alright.” Delia obediently assented.

“Castro, can I go?”  Barker’s voice suddenly rang out. “The first Undying Warrior, the founder of the Armand clan, also experienced those sudden, transformative upheavals five thousand years ago. I, too, wish to enter the Necropolis of the Gods.” “This…will be very difficult.”  Castro shook his head. “Each time, there are a fixed number of slots available for one to enter the Necropolis of the Gods. Master has a limited number of slots. The ten fellow apprentices, twelve other experts training in seclusion who are relying on Master…twenty two in total.”

Linley said comfortingly towards Barker, “Barker, don’t be impatient. I’ll ask when the time comes.”

Castro  laughed,  then  rose  to  his  feet.  “Linley,  since  I’ve delivered the message, I’ll go back now.” Seeing Linley was about to try and convince him to stay longer, Castro hurriedly said, “No need. Master is still waiting for me to go back and report on this mission.”

“Then I won’t force you to stay. We’ll meet again next year, at War God Mountain.” Linley stood up to send the guest away.

After Castro left, Linley, Barker, and Delia all began discussing the Necropolis of the Gods. “I absolutely must go to the Necropolis of the Gods. If I can obtain a divine spark, even if I don’t use it, I can give it to Wharton  or  to  Delia.  That  would  be  wonderful.”   Linley laughed  calmly.  “Even  if  I  cannot  acquire  a  divine  spark, perhaps I’ll be able to acquire some other precious treasures. And I have this strange feeling…that the Necropolis of the Gods is a place I must go to.”

Linley had the feeling that something there was calling to him.

“Hrm? Bebe’s finally back.” Linley’s eyes lit up. Bebe had gone to the Forest of Darkness to understand his heritage. So what was his heritage, exactly?

Chapter 3: Bebe’s Heritage

In the air above the boundless Forest of Darkness, a black shadow was streaking through the skies at high speed, disappearing into the horizon.

Bebe’s little eyes were filled with grief and rage.

“I will make them die!” Bebe ground his fangs, but first, Bebe flew in the direction to where Linley was training in seclusion.

“Swish!” It was a bright day. Although there were soldiers on guard, a blurred shadow suddenly flashed past them, entering the underground tunnels. Those soldiers didn’t even notice that a magical beast had entered the hidden area.

Within the main hall of the underground tunnels.

Barker had already left. Linley and Delia weren’t in a hurry to return to their training, as they quietly waited for Bebe to arrive first. 

“Boss.”  Sobs in his voice, Bebe threw himself into Linley’s arms.

“What is it, Bebe?” Linley and Delia both felt shocked.

In Linley’s arms, Bebe raised his little head, staring at Linley with his emotional eyes. “Boss, my father and mother are both dead already. Wuuuuuu.” Bebe had been wondering about them this entire time, but alas, this was the result.

“What  happened?  Speak  clearly.”   Linley  said  hurriedly. “Don’t cry.”

Linley could sense that Bebe seemed to still have the mental age of a youngster. He was far from being an adult of whatever race he was.

Bebe nodded. “I already met Grandpa Beirut. Grandpa Beirut told me that my father was a Stoneater Rat, and my mother was a Shadowmouse. They were both very powerful, both at the ninth rank. But they were killed by someone. That person killed my parents.”

“Who killed them?” Linley was puzzled.

“The Stellar Sword Saint, Dillon. And the earth-style Grand Magus Saint, Rudi.” Bebe ground his fangs as he spoke.

Linley was stunned.

He immediately thought back to the battle between Saints which occurred at Wushan township when he was eight. Linley clearly remembered hearing those two Saints angrily shout at each other. The Warrior Saint was Dillon! And the Grand Magus Saint was Rudi.

“They killed your parents?” Linley pondered for a moment.

Because of that battle, Linley had actually been injured in the head as he was protecting his little brother Wharton. Blood had flowed onto the Coiling Dragon ring, thus allowing Grandpa Doehring to come out of the Coiling Dragon ring. Only then had he embarked on the path of a magus. After training for nearly half a year, he had discovered Bebe within one of the abandoned courtyards of his residence.

“Half a year…right. Given Bebe’s growing speed, half a year after being born, he probably would’ve developed from an infant size to the size he was when I first saw him.”

In terms of time or location, it all fit.

Linley had been puzzled at the time. Why had two Saints come to do battle at Wushan township? Now, it seemed, the truth was it had something to do with Bebe’s parents.

“Why did they kill your parents?” Linley asked.

Bebe didn’t answer directly. “Boss, the Forest of Darkness is the lair for all rat-type magical beasts. Although the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts has many rat-type magical beasts, it can’t compare to the number in the Forest of Darkness.” Linley nodded inwardly when he heard this. Rat-type magical beasts were highly adept at reproducing in large numbers.

Wherever magical beasts congregated, there would be rat swarms as well.

“Although it doesn’t have that many, there’s still over ten million  of  them.”  Bebe  said.  Even  just  a  part  of  the  total number in the Forest of Darkness reached the hundreds of millions, while the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts only had ten million. The difference was plain to see.

Bebe continued, “In the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, there aren’t any Saint-level rats. The leader of those ten million rats were my parents, a Stoneater Rat and a Shadowmouse of the ninth rank.”

Linley and Delia both understood.

It made sense for there to be roughly a single pair of rats of the ninth rank, amongst a swarm of ten million. 

“The Stellar Sword Saint Dillon and that Grand Magus Saint Rudi both wanted to tame magical beasts for themselves. The Stellar Sword Saint Dillon discovered my parents, and thus wanted to tame them. After all, taming them meant taming a swarm of ten million rats.” Bebe’s eyes were burning with hate.

Linley, on the other hand, understood how Dillon had felt.

A rat swarm of ten million rats could match an army of millions of soldiers in power. Although a Black Dragon of the ninth rank was technically equal in rank to a Stoneater Rat or a Shadowmouse of the ninth rank, most likely most experts would rather choose the Stoneater Rat or the Shadowmouse as their tamed companions.

“Unfortunately, my mother was pregnant at the time.” Bebe ground his fangs. “Rat Kings are very proud. My father, relying on his tough defense, went to block the Stellar Sword Saint Dillon and allow my mother to flee.” The defense of Stoneater Rats was quite terrifying. One of the ninth rank would be hard for even an average Saint to kill.

“My father was a Rat King. Naturally, the Stellar Sword Saint wanted to tame him, and so my father and him began to fight. But my father refused to submit, and kept on fighting with him…but in the end, my father was killed by the Stellar Sword Saint.” Bebe sobbed.

One could imagine how arrogant and proud a Rat King who commanded a rat swarm was.

He had delayed as long as he could, to allow Bebe’s mother time to flee.

“Shadowmice are famous for their speed. My mother was a Shadowmouse of the ninth rank, and she was very fast. Even though she was pregnant, she managed to flee out of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts while my father fought with Dillon and fled to the west, eventually arriving at Wushan township.” Linley now understood.

“My mother was perhaps afraid that I would be attacked, so she utilized the mageforce in her body to give birth to me prematurely.”  Bebe’s eyes were welling with tears. “Grandpa Beirut said that when we ‘Godeater Rats’ were born in the normal course of things, I should have had the power of a magical beast of the sixth or seventh rank upon being born.”

Linley was puzzled.

Godeater Rat?

What type of race was this? Was this Bebe’s race?

But seeing the mental state Bebe was in, Linley didn’t interrupt him, saving the question for later.

“After giving birth to me prematurely, my mother’s body was internally wounded. In that sort of situation, my mother instructed me to stay in that ruined courtyard and not to run around. As an infant, nobody knew anything about me, so I was to just eat rocks there and quietly grow up.”

“My mother told me that she was of the Beirut clan, and that I was also a member of the Beirut clan.”

Bebe was torn between rage and grief. “For the sake of not letting me come to harm, she left me there, then continued to flee to the west. But unfortunately…at that time, she ran into the Grand Magus Saint, Rudi. Rudi naturally chased after my mother as well, planning to take her as his own magical beast companion.”

Linley could completely imagine what that scene had been like.

“My mother was a Shadowmouse of the ninth rank, but having just given birth to me, her power had dropped dramatically. She ran east as fast as she could, but at that time, Dillon arrived as well. Dillon, being a warrior, was able to rely on certain speed techniques to seize my mother.”  Bebe grew agitated and angry. “And then, that Dillon and Rudi, for the sake of fighting over who the Shadowmouse of the ninth rank belonged to, began to battle.”

Linley completely understood now.

The Stellar Sword Saint, Dillon, had captured the Shadowmouse, but Rudi had wanted to take it from him. The two Saints battled in the eastern skies above Wushan township, which had been a catastrophe to the people of Wushan township. Even Wharton had nearly been crushed to death, but fortunately, Linley had protected him.

And Linley had been fortunate enough to have the Coiling Dragon ring be blood-bound to him as a result.

“Right.” Linley still recalled how, in his youth, he had heard the Stellar Sword Saint, Dillon, shout angrily, “Rudi, if I can’t have it, then you won’t either!”

And then, Dillon’s hands had suddenly glowed with light, and the sound of a terrifying explosion had rocked the world. 

“Right. Shadowmice are physically small. In battle, they can enlarge themselves slightly, but normally, they are like Bebe, roughly twenty centimeters or so, the size of a palm.” Linley knew the complete truth now.

At the time, Bebe’s mother had been in Dillon’s palm. But at that time, Dillon was over a kilometer away from Linley. Linley couldn’t even make out Dillon’s figure, much less what Dillon was holding in his hands.

Shadowmice were famed for their speed and their attack, but their defense wasn’t all that powerful, far weaker than Stoneater Rats.

When the Saint-level Dillon had exploded forth his battle-qi, a Shadowmouse of the ninth rank who had been weakened dramatically by childbirth had of course been easily killed.

“So the truth comes out!” Linley understood everything now. He knew why those two Saints had come to the eastern skies of Wushan township to do battle. At the time, when Dillon had angrily shouted, “Rudi, if I can’t  have  it,  you  can’t  either!”  He  was  referring  to  Bebe’s mother.

Half a year after that battle…

Linley had encountered Bebe.

And then, the legendary adventures of Linley and Bebe had begun.

“No wonder. No wonder.”  Linley now also understood why Bebe said his enemies were Rudi and Dillon. If it wasn’t for Dillon, Bebe’s father wouldn’t have died. And if it hadn’t been for Rudi…perhaps Bebe’s mother wouldn’t have been forced to her death as well.

Linley looked at Bebe. Bebe’s eyes were filled with tears. He furiously said, “Those two bastards, I’ll definitely kill them!”

“Hrm?” Linley suddenly was filled with all sorts of questions.

Bebe’s father was a Stoneater Rat of the ninth rank, while his mother was a Shadowmouse of the ninth rank. Why was Bebe so powerful? Bebe didn’t seem like a Stoneater Rat or a Shadowmouse. He had easily reached an extremely high level of power, and he was continuing to grow stronger.

In addition…

Only Dillon and Rudi should have known what happened back then, as well as Bebe’s dead parents.

But how was it that upon returning from the Forest of Darkness, Bebe knew all this? How did that Deity in the Forest of Darkness know all of these things? Could it be that the spiritual power of the Deity was so great that it could even stretch over ten thousand kilometers, from the Forest of Darkness to Wushan township? 

Even if it could…

Could it be that a Deity was able to maintain such a dispersal of spiritual power for so long? If he had discovered this at that time, why hadn’t he saved Bebe’s parents?

“Bebe, how did you learn this?”  Linley immediately asked.

Delia was looking at Bebe in puzzlement as well.

“Grandpa Beirut told me.” Bebe replied.

Linley asked questioningly, “This Lord Beirut…even though he is a Deity, he shouldn’t have the ability to look into the past. How did he know about this? And it seems he knows all the details.”

Bebe explained, “Boss, it’s like this. After Grandpa Beirut discovered me, he sent the Violet-Gold Rat Kings to the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. First, they questioned the members of the rat swarm, and then Grandpa Beirut personally scanned the memories of Dillon and Rudi.”

“What?!” Linley and Delia both let out cries of shock.

Memory?!

A Grand Magus Saint like Zassler was able to read memories, true, but after doing so, the affected person’s soul would be destroyed and he would die. However…the Stellar Sword Saint, Dillon, was perfectly well and alive. He had even been beaten by Olivier years later.

In addition, if Dillon and Rudi had died, that would have been a major event. Linley definitely would’ve heard about this.

“Grandpa Beirut is very powerful.” Bebe explained. “He said that anyone not at the Deity level wouldn’t be able to hide any of memories in front of him. Even Saints would have their memories read without them knowing about it at all.” Linley didn’t dare believe it.

This…this was too terrifying!

Even Saints wouldn’t be able to notice? Linley absolutely refused to believe a Demigod was capable of such a power.

“Grandpa Beirut is the number one expert of the entire Yulan continent plane.” Bebe explained. “The absolute, unquestioned number one expert. Even the War God and the High Priest have to listen to Grandpa. Even that Planar Overseer, Hodan, doesn’t dare to offend Grandpa Beirut.”

“Grandpa Beirut is the true King of the plane of the Yulan continent.” Bebe continued.

Linley and Delia exchanged a glance. Linley suddenly remembered the words that the three Violet-Gold Rat Kings had said to Bebe when they had invited him to come with them. They had also said the same thing. Lord Beirut was the King of the Yulan continent! 

“Grandpa Beirut was the very first Godeater Rat in all the planes of the multiverse! Even the very name, ‘Godeater Rat’ was  chosen  by  Grandpa  Beirut  himself.”  Bebe  said  proudly. “And I, in the countless planes of the multiverse, I am the second Godeater Rat!”

Chapter 4: Deity Level Magical Beast

“Godeater Rat?” Linley and Delia glanced at each other.

The number one expert of the Yulan continent, Beirut, was actually a ‘Godeater Rat’. Just from the name, Linley knew that this had to be an extremely terrifying type of creature. ‘Godeater’. How would a common magical beast dare to name himself something like this? Linley gazed questioningly at Bebe.

Delia asked questioningly as well. “Bebe, your father and mother were magical beasts of the ninth rank, right? This… what is going on?”

“Boss, this is somewhat like your Dragonblood Warrior clan, but of course there are differences.”  Bebe explained in detail. “After  Grandpa  Beirut  was  born,  because  he  was  the  only Godeater Rat in existence, him and Grandma Carolina [Ka’lai’luo’na] had three children. Harry, Hart, and Harvey, the three Violet-Gold Rat Kings.”

Linley memorized the name, ‘Carolina’. 

“Because Grandma Carolina herself wasn’t a Godeater Rat, the children she had with Grandpa Beirut naturally weren’t pure Godeater Rats either. Thus, their level became lower. Normally, Violet-Gold Rat Kings, upon reaching the age of maturity, would be Saint-level magical beasts.” Bebe explained.

“Their  level  became  lower?”  Linley  asked.  “Bebe,  so  you mean to say…?”

Delia was very smart as well. She also knew what Bebe was implying.

His eyes filled with arrogance, he said, “Right, Godeater Rats are Deity-level magical Beasts! Even without engaging in any training at all, just through natural growth…upon reaching adulthood, Godeater Rats will naturally reach the Deity-level!”

“Deity-level magical beast?” Linley was stunned.

This was too monstrous! 

Even more monstrous than the Four Supreme Warriors. The Four Supreme Warriors could reach the peak of the Saint-level so long as they trained, true. And Saint-level magical beasts, upon reaching adulthood, would reach the Saint-level as well.

But Deity-level magical beasts would become Deities upon reaching adulthood!

“This  is  too  unfair  to  other  races.  How  can  other  races possibly contend?” Linley sighed repeatedly in his heart. They really lived up to the name of ‘Godeater Rats’. They reached the Deity-level at adulthood? They really were blessed by the heavens.

Bebe shook his head. “Grandpa Beirut said that there is no way Deity-level magical beasts can form an entire race. Generally speaking, each Deity-level magical beast is the only one of its kind! Because Grandpa Beirut was the only one of his kind, he couldn’t possibly find another female Godeater Rat to be his wife.” “His  children’s  bloodline  was  impure.  They  could  only become Saint-level Violet-Gold Rat Kings.”

“And all three of the Violet-Gold Rat Kings were male, so their children’s bloodline was even less pure, only able to reach the level of magical beast of the ninth rank. In the Forest of Darkness, however, there are quite a few female rats of the ninth rank. As they mated, many of their children would naturally be able to reach the ninth rank as well. My mother was also a member of the Beirut clan, only she came ten generations after Harry, Hart, and Harvey.”  Bebe didn’t seem to speak of Harry and the other two as his ancestors.

Indeed, in reality, Harry and the others were many generations above Bebe. But Bebe himself was a Godeater Rat. Aside from Beirut, the only Godeater Rat in existence.

Linley nodded.

“As  for  me  being  a  Godeater  Rat,”  Bebe  said  innocently, “According to what Grandpa Beirut said, my mother carried a bit of the Beirut lineage to begin with, and then mated with a Stoneater Rat of the ninth rank. Perhaps there was some sort of mutation or throwback.”

“After all, many rats of the ninth rank had mated with each other, but it seems as though aside from myself, none of them have become Godeater Rats.” Bebe said innocently. “Not just in the Yulan continent, mind. In all of the countless planes which Grandpa Beirut has gone to.”

“Countless planes?” Linley and Delia exchanged glances.

Lord Beirut was simply too terrifying.

Based on his conversation with Hodan, Linley knew that it was extremely hard for one to return upon departing to the Higher Planes. But from what Bebe was telling him, it sounded as though Beirut had not only left the Yulan continent, he had also gone to many other planes.

“No wonder he is reputed to be the King of the Yulan continent, and why even the War God and the High Priest must obey his orders.”  Linley secretly thought to himself. “What level of expert is he? A full God? Or perhaps even…a Highgod?”

Advancing from the Demigod level to the God level was something which the High Priest had been unable to accomplish despite training for ten thousand years. One could imagine how hard it was.

As for advancing from being a full God to a Highgod, the difficult was even greater.

“The chances of being born as a Deity-level magical beast is far lower than even that of becoming a Supreme Warrior.” Linley sighed. “Although Supreme Warriors only occur rarely in our lineage, they’ll still occasionally be born. But Godeater Rats…in all the planes your Grandpa Beirut has visited, he has seen no Godeater Rats aside from you and Lord Beirut himself.”

Linley and Delia both sighed.

Deity-level magical beasts were far rarer than Saint-level magical beasts. 

But it made sense. If Deity-level magical beasts reproduced so easily, then no other races would be able to survive.

“Each Deity-level magical beast is generally the only one of its kind, such as that King of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, Dylin. He’s also a Deity-level magical beast.” Bebe said.

“Dylin?” Linley and Delia couldn’t help but grow curious.

To this very day, Linley didn’t know that it was he himself who had released Dylin.

Bebe nodded. “Dylin is also a Deity-level magical beast. He is known as the ‘Suanni Lion’, and is also known as the ‘Heaven Devouring Beast’”.

One was named ‘Godeater Rat’, the other a ‘Heaven Devouring Beast’. These names were all too terrifying. ”Grandpa Beirut said that Dylin is very powerful, and can easily swallow an entire mountain or an entire city with a single gulp.”  Bebe sighed. “But just like us Godeater Rats, he isn’t able to find another ‘Heaven Devouring Beast’. He has children of his own. He originally had five of them, and all of them, like Violet-Gold Rat Kings, are peak Saint-level magical beasts.”

Linley and Delia both understood.

The children of Deity-level magical beasts were impure in blood, and so their strength was lower. But despite their strength being lower, they were still the cream of the crop amongst Saint-level magical beasts.

“Those five children are known as the ‘Six-Eyed Golden Ni- Lions’. Their bodies are very similar to lions, but their bodies are as enormous as titanic dragons, and they have six eyes and a pair of massive wings.”  Bebe sighed. “Although those Six- Eyed Golden Ni-Lions aren’t as terrifying as the Deity-level ‘Heaven Devouring Beast’, they still can store an enormous amount of things in their stomachs. Despite being the size of a dragon, they can easily swallow over a hundred giant dragons.” Linley and Delia were secretly shocked.

Although the descendants of Deity-level magical beasts couldn’t compare to their ancestors, they still couldn’t be underestimated.

When Linley had drawn forth Bloodviolet and released Dylin and his three children, he didn’t know…that those three children were the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions. Afterwards, those three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions really had swallowed over a hundred giant dragons into their stomachs in the blink of an eye, there in the Foggy Gulch.

Clearly, this was something they inherited from their father.

“Six-Eyed Golden Lions are Saint-level magical beasts, but their children are only magical beasts of the ninth rank. Boss, you should know about them. Guardian Ni-Lions, of the ninth rank.”

Linley immediately nodded. 

Guardian Ni-Lions, ninth ranked magical beasts with extremely powerful attacks and which looked very similar to normal lions, only their body was the size of a dragon.

“Guardian  Ni-Lions  are  extremely  rare.  They  might  mate with tiger-type magical beasts or lion-type magical beasts. Thus, their own descendants would be the likes of Goldmane Mastiffs or Blue-eyed Tiger Mastiffs, two magical beast races of the  eighth  rank.”  Bebe  clearly  was  very  familiar  with  the mutations and changes of these various magical beast races.

Linley now understood.

At the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, the first time Linley had activated the baleful aura of Bloodviolet, he had slaughtered an entire clan of Goldmane Mastiffs.

“I didn’t expect that the magical beast races have such interesting history.” Delia was quite intrigued as she listened. “If you follow their ancestry, it would seem as though Goldmane Mastiffs and Blue-eyed Tiger Mastiffs can trace their heritage back to this Deity-level magical beast, the ‘Suanni Lion’.”

“Are you saying that Dylin, long ago, had come to the Yulan continent   before?”    Linley   suddenly   realized   what   the implications were.

In the past, the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts had no Deity-level experts.

In other words, at least within the past thousand years, Dylin had not been present. But if Dylin had never been in the Yulan continent, how could it be said that Guardian Ni-Lions, Goldmane Mastiffs, and Blue-eyed Tiger Mastiffs were his descendants?

“Right. According to what Grandpa Beirut said, ten thousand years  ago,  Dylin  had  come  to  our  Yulan  continent.”   Bebe explained.   “These   Goldmane   Mastiffs,   Blue-eyed   Tiger Mastiffs, and Guardian Ni-Lions can all be considered his descendants.” Bebe laughed as well. Actually, it was the same for him. Didn’t the large number of descendants of the Godeater Rat eventually devolve into Stoneater Rats and Shadowmice?

“But according to what Grandpa Beirut said, in the past, Dylin had five children. It seemed as though two of them died in the Gebados Prison. Only three are left now.” Bebe said.

Linley nodded slightly.

Linley didn’t know much about the history of the Yulan continent, especially from five thousand years ago. And this… this was ten thousand years ago. There were very few books containing records regarding what happened ten thousand years ago. What had happened back then? Nobody really knew.

After all, most books started from the founding of the Yulan calendar and Empire. Most started from Yulan calendar, year one.

“Bebe, doesn’t this mean that in the future, you will easily reach the Deity-level?”  Linley laughed as he looked at Bebe, and Bebe’s eyes shone with a rare flash of pride, but then his eyes quickly dimmed. “No matter how powerful I am, my parents are still dead.”

Bebe  looked  at  Linley,  then  said  seriously,  “Boss,  keep training. I’m going to make a trip.” As he spoke, he immediately flew out.

“Bebe, where are you going?” Linley immediately asked.

“I’m going to kill those two bastards.”  Bebe’s voice echoed within the hall, but Bebe himself had disappeared.

Linley let out a sigh.

Linley wouldn’t say anything about Bebe going to kill Rudi and Dylin. After all, he too would seek revenge on someone who had killed his parents. “Now all is made clear.”  Linley sighed in his heart. In the past, the War God had treated him so kindly, and even helping him out in the matter of his little brother’s marriage. When the Baruch Kingdom was founded, even Rosarie of the Frost Goddess Shrine had come, and even the High Priest had sent his disciples over.

Linley didn’t have a relationship with any of those hidden powers, but they all sent people.

“They weren’t giving me face. They were giving Bebe face. They were giving face to the King of the Yulan continent.” Linley knew very well that no matter how strong he was, and how powerful his ancestors had been, and even if his Dragonblood Warrior ancestors had become Deities in the Infernal Realm…so what? What impact would any of those things have on the War God and the High Priest, here in the Yulan continent?

As the saying goes, Heaven is far above you, and the Emperor is far away. What happened nearby was what mattered. In the plane of the Yulan continent, even the War God, High Priest, Dylin, and the others all had to listen to Beirut. Bebe had said that even the Planar Overseer from the Infernal Realm, ‘Hodan’, had to be obedient and orderly in front of Lord Beirut.

One could imagine how much authority Lord Beirut had.

“What’s his is his. As for myself, I need to work hard.” Linley didn’t want to rely on anyone else.

“Come, Delia. Let’s return to the training room.”  Holding Delia by the hand, Linley smiled as he spoke. Delia smiled as well, and the two left the hall, quickly returning to that planar door. They returned to the life of training which belonged to them.

But even as he began training again, Linley still felt questions in his mind.

Hodan was the Planar Overseer who had come from the Infernal Realm, and he definitely had to have a powerful source of support and backing from the Higher Plane of the Infernal Realm. Why was it that even Hodan had to obedient in front of Lord Beirut? What level of expert was this Lord Beirut, exactly?

A full God? Or perhaps a Highgod?

Linley didn’t even dare to consider the possibility that he was a Sovereign. For example, there were only seven Sovereigns of Darkness. In all the countless planes of the multiverse, there were only seven of them! Only when one died would another be born. In trillions of years, there might not be a single new Sovereign throughout the multiverse. And what’s more, in the Higher Planes, there was another bit of common knowledge…

Sovereigns were not able to enter common, materials planes. Their power alone would cause any material planes to rip apart and collapse!

Chapter 5: Bebe’s Revenge

Moller township, despite being just a township, had status that was almost on par with most prefectural cities, because the thousands of residents of Moller township all belonged to one clan. This clan, centuries ago, was a very ordinary one, but after producing the earth-style Grand Magus Saint, Rudi, the entire clan’s status had skyrocketed.

However…

Right now, the central building in the township had collapsed, and the corpse of an enormous Black Dragon of the ninth rank lay there, coiled in the middle of the debris. A hole had been drilled through the head of this Black Dragon. Right now, all the residents of this township were staring with terror at the scene playing out in mid-air.

The, to them, incomparably exalted Grand Magus Saint, Rudi, was being absolutely trampled by a black rat-type creature, without any chance of fighting back. Rudi’s clothes were tattered, and his Sacred Earthguard Armor had been ripped apart early on by eighteen successive lightning-fast claw attacks from Bebe. Bebe’s raw attack power was actually a bit higher than even that of Linley’s, and in twelve years, he had gained some insights into the Laws as well.

Those eighteen successive claws was the technique which Bebe was most skilled at.

Even something as powerful as a Saint-level Earthguard Armor had been broken through.

“If you want to kill me, then kill me. Why are you doing this? Did Linley order you to come?”  Rudi roared with fury and grief. He had heard that Linley possessed a Saint-level rat-type magical beast with black fur. He didn’t expect that he and Linley actually had enmity between them!

But the only reply he got was another claw. “Ah!”  Rudi’s entire body spasmed in agony, and yet another large chunk of flesh and blood was ripped from his body. Even his face had Bebe’s claw marks on it. 

Bebe’s attacks were very precise. He wasn’t trying to kill Rudi at all.

“You ask me why?” Bebe’s beady little black eyes were blazing with unquenchable flames of rage. “Do you still remember, thirty years ago, you and Dillon fighting over that Shadowmouse of the ninth rank?”

Rudi immediately thought back to that past event. This entire time, he had been quite unhappy about it. Dillon had actually killed that Shadowmouse of the ninth rank. Rudi instantly understood…that this Saint-level magical beast had surely come to avenge that Shadowmouse.

“The one who killed the Shadowmouse wasn’t me, it was Dillon.” Rudi hurriedly said. He suddenly felt that he had a chance at life.

In front of Bebe, Rudi didn’t have any ability to fight back at all. As soon as Bebe saw Rudi begin to chant a magic spell or the nearby elemental essence begin to move, Bebe would immediately give him a slap with the paw on the mouth. And given Bebe’s power, even if he was able to successfully launch a Saint-level spell, it might still be unable to harm Bebe.

“Indeed, you didn’t personally kill them, but if it wasn’t for you, my mother probably would’ve been able to flee early on!”

“Ah!”   Rudi  let  out  a  miserable  cry.  His  right  arm  had suddenly been sliced off by those sharp claws, and the severed arm fell down from the skies.

“If it wasn’t for you, would Dillon have directly killed my mother?”

Yet another claw and yet another miserable cry. Rudi’s left arm fell down from the skies as well. The mighty, dignified Grand Magus Saint, Rudi, had been devastated to such a degree. Rudi was totally bereft. In front of Bebe, he had no ability to resist at all.

“High Priest, why haven’t you come?!”  Rudi was growing more and more worried. In the minds of the Saints of the Yulan Empire, the High Priest was their leader, and here, it was much like how…the Saints of Radiant Church simply didn’t dare to cause trouble within the boundaries of the O’Brien Empire.

The other Saints also didn’t dare to cause trouble in the Yulan Empire, much less in a township so near the imperial capital.

“You…prepare to die.” Bebe said calmly.

“The High Priest will definitely avenge me!!!”  Rudi shouted fiercely, and then a final claw welcomed him. This claw ripped him apart from the skull, creating a massive hole in it. Rudi’s eyes immediately grew dim, and his armless corpse fell down from the skies. “Bang!” It smashed into the rubble, kicking up a cloud of dust.

In mid-air, Bebe stared down below.

The civilians down below didn’t dare to make a sound. The current Bebe had none of his usual adorableness or playfulness. All he had was the ferocious cruelty inherent to all magical beasts.

“Swish!”  A  black  blur  slashed  across  the  skies,  and  Bebe disappeared into the air.

The corpse of Rudi, lying in the rubble, had its eyes bulging in disbelief. Even as he died, he had hoped the High Priest would avenge him…but alas, the High Priest wouldn’t appear for his sake. Unless, of course, the High Priest was tired of living.

There wasn’t much of a difference. The Saint-level expert, Dillon, was like an infant in front of Bebe, easily trampled. Dillon hadn’t been able to take more than three attacks from the early-stage Saint Olivier. In front of the current Bebe, he couldn’t even block a single attack.

In mid-air.

Four Bebes surrounded him in four sides, transforming into four black blurs. They were playing a game of kickball, literally kicking the body of the Saint-level expert, Dillon, all over the place.

“Bang!” Dillon felt his waist receive another vicious kick, and then with a ‘crunch’, his bones shattered. Dillon’s body was then kicked towards another direction. Dillon immediately activated the battle-qi in his body, wanting to fly and flee.

But yet another black blur appeared in front of him. Yet another!

“Ah!”  A piece of bloody flesh was ripped out of him, and Dillon’s body couldn’t help but spasm in pain. He ground his teeth, then flew to another direction.

However, yet another black blur was there to welcome him!

No matter how wildly Dillon tried to flee, given Bebe’s terrifying speed and his Shadowshape Doppelganger Technique, Dillon wasn’t able to escape. Shadowshape Doppelganger Technique! Four doppelgangers were trampling him in four different directions.

“Why?! I’ve never offended Linley!” Dillon howled with grief and anger. Seeing the black-furred Saint-level rat, Dillon knew that the magical beast in front of him was Linley’s magical beast. In the past, Bebe had defeated even Haydson.

After twelve years of growth, how could the current Bebe be someone Dillon could deal with?

“My Boss?” Bebe’s eyes flashed with the fires of rage. “Who told you to go to the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts to kill my parents?!”

“Kill your parents?” Dillon was confused. “Have I ever killed a powerful rat-type magical beast?”

But then with another claw, Dillon was kicked flying yet again. He felt his head grow dizzy. At Bebe’s speed, he was able to kick Dillon dozens of times in a single second. By now, Dillon had been kicked over a thousand times. 

Fortunately, he was at the Saint-rank, and thus could preserve his life.

“Who told you to kill my mother in front of Rudi!”  With a ‘bang’ sound, yet another claw struck him.

“In front of Rudi? Ah! Thirty years ago…the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts…”

Dillon understood everything now. He remembered what happened that year at the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. So this mysterious rat was the child of those two rats of the ninth rank.”

“Swish!” Yet another claw to his face.

Right now, Dillon’s clothes were splattered with blood and sticking to his body. He didn’t have a single place of undamaged flesh. After having been kicked around thousands of times, and with a piece of flesh being taken away with each kick, Dillon currently…

Had half of his bones broken and visible to plain sight, along with his bright red flesh and blood. It was a terrifying sight.

Even one of his eyes had been torn out.

“Kill me!”  “Kill me!”  “Kill me!”  Dillon was no longer even recognizably human. He could only mumble words out, without being able to resist at all. But Bebe’s eyes didn’t have an ounce of pity in them. Suddenly, the four Bebes became one!

Bebe appeared in the air directly above Dillon.

“Whap!”  A  final,  vicious  claw  delivered  to  Dillon’s  skull. Dillon’s skull immediately shattered apart, and Dillon’s no longer recognizable corpse plummeted to the ground, his shattered bones flying everywhere upon impact. After that final claw, Bebe just stood there in mid-air, stunned.

Bebe had always been carefree and had followed and played around with Linley since he was young. He liked to eat and drink…but in his heart, he had always wondered about his parentage. Where I am from? Who is my father? Who is my mother?

The higher class a magical beast was, the more intelligent it was.

And Bebe was a Godeater Rat. His emotional intelligence was even greater than that of humans.

Thirty three years.

In the end, he found his parents had both died! “Father. Mother. Bebe misses you both. Bebe doesn’t know what it means to have a father, or what it feels like to have a mother.”   Bebe’s  eyes  became  covered  with  a  misty  layer. “Today, Bebe has avenged you both.”

Two teardrops fell down from Bebe’s face.

“Bebe’s name was chosen by the Boss. Although Bebe doesn’t have you, Bebe still has the Boss. The Boss’s embrace is very comfortable. Maybe…your embrace would have been like being by the Boss’s side.”  Bebe was quiet for a long time, there in mid-air.

The thirty plus years he had spent by Linley’s side had resulted in Bebe, without question, considering Linley as his one and only family member.

Beirut…although Bebe addressed him as Grandpa Beirut, they had only met not too long ago.

“Whoosh.”  A wind arose. Bebe’s body disappeared into the eastern horizon. 

Deep in the magicite mines. In front of the dimensional door.

“Swiiiiish.” Bebe easily passed through that door. The attacks of the dimensional door chopped on Bebe’s body like sabres, but they didn’t even break a single strand of Bebe’s fur.

Linley, who had been seated in quiet meditation, opened his eyes. Before he even said a word, Bebe immediately threw himself into Linley’s embrace. “Boss.” Bebe’s eyes were already red.

Linley   hugged   Bebe.   “Bebe,   it’s   fine.   Don’t   be   too heartbroken.”

“Okay.” Bebe nodded.

Both Linley and Bebe had lost their parents. They had grown up together, and the two were as close as true brothers to each other. Linley was like the big brother, while Bebe was the little brother. 

Yulan calendar, year 10024, March 2nd. Outside the imperial capital of the O’Brien Empire. War God Mountain.

Yet another ray of light streaked across the skies and entered War God Mountain. A normally quiet courtyard within War God Mountain already had an entire group of people assembled. This courtyard was the place where the War God usually stayed when he wasn’t behind closed doors engaging in training. In the empty space within the quiet courtyard, there were around ten people, all of whom were chatting idly amongst each other.

All of these people were exceedingly powerful. Not one of them was weaker than Haydson had been.

“Bowditch [Bao’di’qi] has come as well.” Someone spoke out.

A skinny man with long silver hair flew down from the skies. Bowditch was yet another person who, in the past, had shaken the Yulan continent with his fame. But that was three thousand years ago. These days, Bowditch lived a quiet life of training in the Arctic Icecaps.

“Bowditch, you came as well!”  One of the ten people in the empty space, a grim-looking man with white-flecked hair spoke.

“Olivier, if you can come, why can’t I?” Bowditch’s voice was very cold as well. His gaze was focused on Olivier. Currently, Olivier only had a single sword on his back, a translucent sword that emanated extreme cold.

During his bitter training in the Arctic Icecaps, Olivier had fought several times against Bowditch as well. The first time they had fought, Olivier had lost. But eight years later, when they fought again, the two were on par.

Soon, one expert after another arrived.

“Kefande,  you  arrived  very  late,  this  time.”   Seeing  the experts continue to arrive, many people immediately laughed and greeted them. 

These experts, having trained in seclusion for thousands of years, almost all knew each other. They all belonged to the War God’s side. By nightfall, twenty of them had arrived. According to their plans, there should be a total of twenty two.

Ten from the War God’s College. Twelve other experts.

“Our  Senior  Apprentice  has  arrived.”   Someone  suddenly said. A thin man with short jade hair whose back was ramrod- straight and who had a sharp aura walked out. His blue robes fluttered in the wind. He was the Senior Apprentice of the War God’s College…Fain!

Five Prime Saints. Fain was one of them!

As Fain arrived, a group of people immediately went to welcome him. All of them greeted him very familiarly. The only one Fain hadn’t met before was Olivier.

“Hrm? Where’s Linley?” Fain spoke. “He isn’t here yet?” Twenty one of them had arrived. The only one missing was Linley!

Chapter 6: Everyone Assembled

By the time the other experts had already assembled at War God Mountain, Linley hadn’t actually had the chance to head out yet!

Linley had been secluded in meditation for over a year now. The magicite mine had been emptied long ago, and right now, there was a massive, multi-kilometer underground castle built here. The master of the castle was Linley. Every day, many people who worshipped Linley would come to the outside of this castle and stare at it in awe.

Beneath the Castle, within the pocket dimension room.

Outside the pocket dimension room was the terrifying anarchic space. Cracks in reality could be seen everywhere, while Linley still sat there in the meditative position, quietly training.

“Thrum!” “Thrum!” Each beat of the Throbbing Pulse of the Earth thrummed in Linley’s heart, and also echoed like thunder in his mind. Linley’s understanding of the profound truths of the Throbbing Pulse of the Earth had deepened, step by step, from within the boundless sea which was the Laws.

The 256 waves of the Throbbing Pulse of the World was currently in the process of transforming into the 128 waves.

“Success.”  After an unknown period of time, Linley opened his eyes, revealing a hint of joy. “After pondering for so long, I’ve finally managed to fuse the 256 waves into 128 waves. The power has multiplied several times over.”

Although the number of waves had decreased, the power had increased dramatically.

The power of the current 128 waves, compared to the original 128 layered waves, was untold times more powerful. After all, the current 128 waves embodied all of the profundities of the Throbbing Pulse of the World. But if one was able to fuse them all into a single wave which contained all of the profundities, then the power of that attack… That would be the Deity-level.

“Continue.” Without hesitating at all, Linley once more sank himself into his reverie, constantly mentally testing his ideas again and again. This time, however, the difficulty level was clearly much higher. He had to spend over ten times the effort to fuse two waves into one.

Within the main hall of this underground castle, there was a large group of people. Wharton, his wife, Barker and his brothers, Taylor, Sasha, and a group of children. These children also included the children of the Barker brothers. Everyone here was waiting for Linley.

“Why hasn’t Father come out yet?”  Taylor said, somewhat frantic. Taylor was 1.7 meters tall now. He had grown very rapidly during this year.

Wharton laughed calmly. “Taylor, don’t be in a rush. Your Uncle Bebe has already gone to go call him. He should arrive soon.” Today was March 2nd. The War God had ordered him to arrive at War God Mountain before March 3rd. Linley had to head there tonight at the very latest.

“Barker, you are going to go as well?” Zassler, seated nearby, suddenly spoke out.

Barker nodded slightly.

Zassler’s eyes flashed with a green light. “Honestly speaking, I want to investigate this legendary Necropolis of the Gods. Unfortunately…I’ve only just recently reached the Saint-level. My  self-protective  ability  is  far  too  limited.”   Zassler  was somewhat unwilling to accept this. All of these experts desired to reach the peak of training, after all.

Nobody feared a bit of danger. If they didn’t all have iron will, how could they have possibly trained to the Saint level?

“He’s coming.” Zassler was the first to notice Linley’s arrival. Everyone looked towards the side door of the hall, because they knew that Linley would be coming from the hidden training room, which was linked by the side door. Indeed… soon afterwards, Linley, with Bebe on his shoulders, walked out while holding Delia’s hand, entering the main hall.

Linley was shocked upon seeing the living room. Why were there so many people here?

“Boss, have a good meeting with the others. It’ll be ten years before you see them again.” Bebe’s voice rang out.

“Ten years?” Linley felt incomparably shocked. He wondered to himself, “Isn’t it just a trip into the Necropolis of the Gods? Entering a necropolis, then coming out…a month would be too long. Why would it need ten years?”  Linley looked at Bebe, puzzled. Everyone in the main hall looked at Bebe in confusion as well.

Bebe said with absolute certainty, “The Necropolis of the Gods opens once every thousand years. Each time, one must remain inside for ten years, and only after ten years can one leave…but of course, if you die inside it, there’s nothing for it.” “Bebe must have received this information from that one in the Forest of Darkness. It can’t be false.”  Linley understood this, but he still couldn’t help but frown.

Suddenly, Linley felt pressure against his hand. Linley turned his head and looked at the nearby Delia, and saw the look of longing in her eyes.

“Sorry.” Linley said softly.

This trip to the Necropolis of the Gods symbolized that he would be apart from Delia for ten years.

“I’m  fine.  Don’t  worry  about  me.”  Delia  consoled  Linley. “We’ll have a long time together in the future. But Linley, you have to be careful.” Delia didn’t try to stop Linley from going to the Necropolis of the Gods, because Delia knew…

In Linley’s heart, he had the goal of reaching the peak of training. 

A place like the Necropolis of the Gods was a place where countless experts desired to enter but didn’t have the chance to. How could Linley give up such a precious opportunity?

“Thank you.” Linley’s heart swelled with gratitude.

“Spend some time with the kids.”  Delia said gently. Linley turned his head and looked at his two children; Taylor and Sasha. “You are so big now. By the time I come out of the Necropolis of the Gods, you’ll be in your twenties.”

Knowing that he would be leaving for a long time, Linley spent a good amount of time with his son and daughter.

When dusk arrived.

“Taylor, Sasha. Go back.” Linley patted his two kids on their heads. “Okay.” Taylor and Sasha both nodded obediently.

The nearby Barker looked at Linley. “Lord Linley, please help me  on  that  matter.”   Hearing  this,  Linley  nodded.  Barker wanted to go to the Necropolis of the Gods as well, but the number of names was limited. Linley had to go ask before knowing what the answer was.

“Delia.” Linley exchanged gazes with Delia.

“Be careful.” Delia said softly.

Linley nodded slightly. The two kissed gently, and then Linley and Bebe flew away, leaving the castle and heading towards War God Mountain in the west.

The wild wind howled as Linley and Bebe transformed into two rays of brilliant light, flying past the horizon. “Bebe, why must one stay ten years at the Necropolis of the Gods?” While flying, Linley asked Bebe the question.

Bebe shook his head. “I don’t know either. This is based on what Grandpa Beirut told me. Oh, right…Barker wants to go to the Necropolis of the Gods? If you aren’t able to get it for him, I can go ask Grandpa Beirut. Grandpa Beirut would definitely agree.”

“No rush. Let’s ask the War God first.” Linley said.

Linley suddenly had a suspicion. Bebe was going to the Necropolis of the Gods along with him, and Lord Beirut had agreed to it? Linley couldn’t help but ask, “Bebe, isn’t your Grandpa Beirut worried about your safety? Why is he letting you go to the Necropolis of the Gods?”

Bebe pursed his lips. “Grandpa Beirut said that in the past, he himself had experienced countless dangers before reaching his current accomplishments. He wants me to be trained and tempered. As for the Necropolis of the Gods, as long as my luck isn’t absolutely horrendous, staying alive should be fine.” Linley nodded.

After all, weren’t Desri and Fain doing perfectly fine?

“Here we are.” Linley could already see the distant War God Mountain. The two immediately flew down.

“So many experts.” Linley immediately noticed those twenty one experts. If he didn’t transform, many of those below were on par with Linley, and even the weakest of them wasn’t much weaker than him. “But in my Dragonformed state, only Fain can do battle with me.”

In terms of understanding, he was still inferior to Fain.

But Dragonblood Warriors simply had too much of an innate advantage. There was nothing that could be done about it. Or for example, Bebe…as a Godeater Rat, his innate advantages were even greater than that of the Dragonblood Warriors. 

“So noisy.”  Linley noticed those twenty one warriors were currently in the midst of sparring matches. Suddenly, a loud, clear laugh could be heard. “Haha, Linley, you finally arrived. You are the last one to arrive.”

Linley immediately landed.

At this time, it was night. The empty area had quite a few chairs and tables. The experts were chatting, drinking, and even sparring, for those who had the interest. It was quite rare for these ultimate experts to have a chance to meet like this.

“Sorry, I came late.”  Linley was a bit embarrassed, and he hurriedly greeted everyone.

Fain laughed as he walked over. “It’s fine. Master hasn’t come to receive us either. He won’t be here to meet us until tomorrow morning. Tonight, we’ll just assemble here and have a good time.” “So he is Linley?”

Many of the experts who were drinking cast their gazes towards Linley.

These people had all been training in seclusion for thousands of years. Generally speaking, they didn’t care about newcomers, but…Linley had simply become too outstandingly famous. Especially with Linley being a Dragonblood Warrior, one of the Supreme Warriors. None of the people present dared to look down on him.

“Everyone.” Fain smiled as he stood up, and everyone turned to look at Fain.

Even the experts sparring in the air landed. Fain laughed calmly. “Most people here haven’t met Linley yet. Weren’t we discussing him just this afternoon? Right, Clay [Ke’lei], weren’t you shouting nonstop about how you wanted to check out the power of the Dragonblood Warriors for yourself?” “Check out the power of the Dragonblood Warriors?” Linley couldn’t help but reveal a hint of a smile on his lips.

“Pity that it’s a Dragonblood Warrior, not an Undying Warrior.” A loud, clear voice rang out, and a bulky, powerful- looking man with short gold hair stood up. He wore a sleeveless shirt, and his terrifying muscles made his shirt look as though it was about to split apart.

The golden-haired man looked at Linley and laughed. “Linley, let me introduce myself. I’m Clay. Normally, I train on an island in the North Sea. I’ve heard of the fame of the Dragonblood Warriors long ago, and I’ve been itching to have a go. I would like to have a spar with you, Linley. I wonder…”

“Sure.” Linley smiled as he spoke.

“Wonderful.” Clay’s eyes lit up, and his muscles immediately began to tremble. With a sudden ‘boom’, his shirt exploded into tatters, and his body suddenly seemed to have turned to metal and shone with a metallic light. Fain said to Linley, “This Clay also trains in the Laws of the Earth, but in terms of defense, he is more than ten times more powerful than Haydson.”

Linley smiled. “I know.”

“Clay’s body looks like it is made from metal. It seems similar to the ‘Sacred Earthguard Armor’, which is made from diamonds at the Saint-level.”  Linley mused. For a warrior’s defense to reach such a terrifying level, he indeed had to be an exceptional expert.

With a flip of his hand, Linley withdrew Bloodviolet.

“Linley, go ahead and transform.”  The golden-haired Clay said loudly.

Linley shook his head. “No need for now.” Clay seemed a bit unhappy. He snorted. “Linley, you really are quite confident.”  As he spoke, Clay charged into the air. This was War God Mountain. They didn’t dare to damage the War God Mountain when they sparred, so naturally they all flew into the air and sparred there.

In an instant, Linley appeared in mid-air as well, his speed clearly a level higher than Clay’s.

“Haha…come!” In mid-air, Clay let out an excited roar, and then he transformed into a blur and charged at Linley. He suddenly struck out with his right fist, and it was as though it had pierced through reality, carrying a terrifying howling sound as it attacked Linley.

Where this fist passed, space itself rippled.

“Hrm?” Linley’s face changed. Linley had been preparing to use the ‘Rippling Wind’ attack, but seeing the power of this fist, Linley immediately was forced to change his attack. Retreating backwards, Linley slashed out with Bloodviolet, and it also seemed to pass through reality. Wherever Bloodviolet passed by, space itself seemed to congeal and slow, then fold in on itself. Atop Bloodviolet was a frozen spatial edge, and clear ripples appeared around it as well.

Profound Truths of the Wind – Tempos of the Wind, level two!

“Bang!”

Bloodviolet collided head-on with the fist of the shiny metallic man.

“Booom.” That terrifying force passed straight through Bloodviolet and attacked Linley. The battle-qi around Linley’s body roiled. Only the Pulseguard Defense guarding his body managed to protect him from this terrifying force. Clay himself was knocked backwards as well. His fist had a hint of blood on it, but he wasn’t harmed at all. “What  terrifying  defense.  In  terms  of  defense  alone,  he should  be  on  par  with  an  Undying  Warrior.”   Linley  was secretly shocked.

“Linley, I admit defeat.”  Clay’s voice rang out. “This Linley really is a monster. He’s so powerful even without transforming. Once he transforms, I won’t have the power to fight back at all.” As he muttered to himself, Clay flew straight back down.

Chapter 7: The Metallic Castle

“This  Clay  wasn’t  injured  at  all,  but  he  admitted  defeat.” Linley chuckled, then stored Bloodviolet back into his interspatial ring, then landed as well.

By now, everyone present had a clearer understanding of Linley’s power. Clay was one of the more powerful experts present, and there were only a few present who were mightier than him. These experts knew very well…that Clay’s most powerful attack was his punches.

His body’s defense was slightly weaker than his fist’s power.

Linley’s sword had actually drawn a hint of blood from Clay’s fist. If it had landed on Clay’s body, it would have at least resulted in some bloodloss.

“Linley, I haven’t seen you in thirteen years, but your power has reached such a level.” Fain’s eyes also had a hint of battle- lust in them. From the battle just then, Fain could tell that Linley now had a fairly high level of understanding of the Laws. Paired with his natural gifts as a Dragonblood Warrior, Linley should now be able to have a proper duel with him. Fain, as well, wanted to have a sparring match with Linley.

“Everyone wants to fight with my Boss. Why don’t you guys fight  with  me?”  Bebe  sensed  Fain’s  desire  to  do  battle  and immediately flew in front of Fain.

Fain looked at Bebe, startled, and then he seemed to have remembered something. He hurriedly said, “Oh, Bebe, right?” Fain no longer mentioned anything about sparring. Instead, he pulled Linley and Bebe to join him in laughter, wine, and idle conversation.

…………

Midnight. The mountain wind blew gently. The night wind of early spring was very cold, but of course, these experts didn’t mind at all. They continued to chat and laugh. “Olivier’s aura has completely changed from before.” Linley glanced sideways at the distant Olivier. Olivier was one of the twenty two experts as well. “In the past, Olivier would still talk and laugh, but now, he seems to have become much colder, and his eyes have become sharper as well.”

The current Olivier was like a precious sword that had been unsheathed, extremely sharp and fierce.

This caused the experts around him to voluntarily draw away from him. Clearly, these people weren’t very close to Olivier.

“Linley.  This  time,  you  and  Olivier  are  the  only  new participants in our squad. Although Olivier’s power is weaker than yours, he is still a hair more powerful than Clay.” Fain sighed in approval. “His attack power is quite astonishing.”

“Oh?” Linley was surprised.

Linley knew very well how powerful Olivier was. “In the past, Olivier had even lost to Haydson. Although I heard that twelve years later, he killed Haydson with a single sword, it’s only been twelve years. How has he improved so astonishingly fast?”

The main reason Linley’s own power had increased was because he had broken through to the Saint level, so as a peak Dragonblood Warrior his strength had increased by more than tenfold. And, of course, he had gained deeper levels of understanding as well.

But Olivier’s battle-qi had reached the peak of the Saint-level long ago. His only improvement would have been in his understanding of the Laws. How had he risen in power so quickly?

“Although Olivier’s sword isn’t very fast, it combines two different types of Laws, both light and dark. When he strikes… even Clay is unable to take the blow.” Fain sighed in approval. “For one sword blow to contain two opposing types of Laws…I have never seen this in all my life. Even Master repeatedly sighed in praise.”

“What?!” Linley couldn’t believe it. 

Linley stared disbelievingly at the distant Olivier, his heart filled with shock. “A single sword containing both types of Laws at the same time? How can two different Laws be used at the same time?” For example, Linley’s Profound Truths of the Earth was just that, and his Profound Truths of the Wind was just that.

To fuse the Profound Truths of the Earth and the Profound Truths of the Wind? Impossible!

After all, these were two different types of Laws.

“It is true. When Olivier attacks with his sword, darkness and light co-exist…and thus, Haydson was chopped directly in half by this sword.” Fain sighed in praise.

Linley nodded slightly.

Linley had to acknowledge of this attack by Olivier. In terms of Laws alone, it had already surpassed Linley’s ‘Tempos of the Wind’ attack.

“I wonder now the power of his sword would match up against my ‘Throbbing Pulse of the Earth’.” Linley was still very confident. He had already transformed the 256 layers of the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the Earth’ to 128 layers of waves, and the power of the attack had multiplied several times over. More importantly…

Relying on his inborn gifts as a Dragonblood Warrior, Linley’s battle-qi, physical strength, and defense were all ten times that of Olivier’s.

The difference in their base abilities was simply too great.

This was the reason why Fain and Desri considered Linley as someone on the same level as them.

…. While making conversation and jesting throughout this night, Linley came to get to know these experts. The only ones that Linley got to know well, however, were Clay, Bowditch, and three of the personally trained disciples of the War God’s College. The rest, he only memorized their names and their

appearances.

Dawn.

The red sun peeked out from the eastern mountains, slowly casting its light down upon War God Mountain. The twenty two experts hadn’t slept at all last night, but none of them felt uncomfortable at all. At their level, they had long since transcended the need to sleep.

“Creaaak.”  The  door  to  the  quiet  little  courtyard  finally opened.

Twenty two experts simultaneously rose to their feet, looking respectfully towards the person who walked into the courtyard. The man had a head full of long, scarlet red hair, and his gaze flashed with dagger-like light. His powerful, dominating aura made even these twenty two experts feel afraid to breathe.

This man was the War God, O’Brien!

The War God swept the group with his gaze, pausing for a moment on Bebe, who was on Linley’s shoulders, then said calmly, “Since all of you have come, then follow me.”  After speaking, the War God immediately flew into the air.

“The War God is blunt enough.”  Linley couldn’t help but chuckle in his heart.

But on the surface, Linley was like the others, quite obediently flying into the air and following the War God to fly towards the east. These twenty two people flew in a particular order, and in the very forefront of the group were Fain and Linley.

Everyone had a sense of how powerful everyone else was. The strongest were in front. The weakest were in the back.

“Fain, are we going to the Forest of Darkness?” Linley looked in front of him, at the heroic figure flying at their forefront. They were heading in the direction of the Forest of Darkness. He couldn’t help but query Fain quietly.

“Right.” Fain spoke very quietly as well. “Each time we head to the Necropolis of the Gods, the experts of the Yulan continent will first gather at the Forest of Darkness. After all, only Lord Beirut is capable of opening the passageway to the Necropolis of the Gods.”

“Oh.” Linley secretly nodded in understanding. “It seems it is very difficult to open the gateway to the Necropolis of the Gods. Even the War God isn’t able to do it.”

“Bebe, right?” A powerful, incisive voice.

Linley and Fain were both frightened. The Lord War God had actually appeared next to Linley and spoken. The frightening thing was, the War God actually had a hint of a warm smile on his face. Fain had almost never seen his master smile.

“That’s me.” Bebe looked at the War God.

The War God looked at Bebe carefully, then nodded. “Lord Beirut was actually willing to let you enter the Necropolis of the Gods.”

“What’s there to be afraid of? If the Boss goes, how can I not go?” Bebe raised his head proudly.

The War God let out a calm laugh and didn’t say anything else.

“Lord War God.” Linley spoke.

The War God looked at Linley, waiting for Linley to continue. Linley instantly said, “Lord War God, I have a good friend, Barker. He also wishes to go to the Necropolis of the Gods. I wonder if…”

“Lord Beirut only gave me the authority to bring twenty two people.”  The  War  God  said  calmly.  “If  you  want  to  bring someone else into the Necropolis of the Gods, just have Bebe tell Lord Beirut. After all, Lord Beirut is the final decider of who will be allowed into the Necropolis of the Gods.”

After speaking, the War God flew back to the front.

Linley let out a secret sigh of relief. “Deities. Even when they are chatting and smiling, they have such an enormous, pressuring aura.” Just then, Linley had the feeling that it was hard for him to breathe, just like when he was young and had seen the Velocidragon for the first time. He had felt that sort of terror which came from the bottom of his heart.”

“This must be what Divine Presence is all about.” Linley said to himself.

….. 

The group continued to fly towards the deepest parts of the Forest of Darkness at high speed. Soon, Linley’s group, under the direction of the War God, arrived at the heart of the Forest of Darkness. This was the first time Linley had gone so deep into the Forest of Darkness.

“The legendary Lord Beirut. What will he be like?”  Linley was extremely curious.

Soon, a black, metallic castle appeared before them in the Forest of Darkness. This castle’s size was approximately on par with Linley’s underground castle, with just an area of several square kilometers. Only, this castle was pitch black, and was made from some sort of strange black metal.

“Everyone, stay in the area outside this castle for now. Do not go in without authorization.” The War God said calmly, but then he himself flew into the castle.

There were already quite a few experts milling around the black metal castle. 

“Many of these people are Grand Magus Saints. They should have been brought here by the High Priest.” Fain landed from the skies while explaining to Linley, and Linley nodded slightly. The experts of the Yulan continent mostly belonged to a particular Deity’s side.

“None of you are to go in without authorization. This metal castle will automatically attack any invaders.” Fain said loudly.

Actually, aside from Linley and Olivier who were coming here for the first time, everyone else here knew this.

“Automatically attack invaders?” Linley was quite surprised, but Bebe snickered quietly. “Boss, this metal castle is actually a metallic life form. It has intelligence.”

Linley was secretly shocked.

This ‘King of the Forest of Darkness’ was truly incredible. Even his castle had lifeforce of its own. This was the first time Linley had encountered such a curious lifeform as well.

“Boss, wait here for now. Didn’t you want to discuss Barker’s matter? I’ll go ask Grandpa Beirut.” Bebe said.

Linley nodded slightly.

With a flicker of his body, Bebe immediately entered that pitch black castle. Seeing Bebe go in, many of the experts outside the castle were quite surprised. They all knew…any invaders would be attacked. But just then, Bebe hadn’t been attacked at all!

“Linley, you came.”  He heard the sound of laughter. Linley turned his head and looked.

He saw Desri, Hayward, and Higginson walk over towards him, and Linley immediately went to greet them. “Mr. Desri, where is your wife? She didn’t come?” “She’s a bit too weak.” Desri laughed. “But I must say, I truly must congratulate you, for you to possess a magical beast such as Bebe. Twenty three years ago, Lord Beirut personally communicated to several of us mentally, and we were all curious as to what fortunate youngster managed to acquire

Bebe as his magical beast companion.”

Linley understood why.

Soon after Bebe had been born, Lord Beirut had probably discovered Bebe’s existence by some coincidence. Thus, he had immediately mentally contacted the War God, the High Priest, Desri, Rosarie, and the other Prime Saints, asking them to look after the two of them a bit.

Lord Beirut certainly must have been paying close attention to Bebe this entire time.

“Those ‘several of us’  included myself, Rosarie, Tulily, and Rutherford. Only the four of us answer directly to Lord Beirut’s commands.”  Desri  explained.  “In  the  Yulan  continent,  the Saints in training are divided into three camps. Lord Beirut’s, the War God’s, and the High Priest’s.” Linley now understood.

Although the Yulan continent had five Deities, Dylin and Cesar had only appeared in recent years, and they didn’t have many Saints subordinate to them.

“Lord Cesar has arrived as well.” Desri suddenly said.

Linley raised his head and saw Cesar, dressed in a long, loose robe, a lazy smile on his face, fly into the metallic castle.

“All of you, stay here, don’t go in. Otherwise, if you die, don’t blame me.” A calm, cold voice rang out. Linley and the others couldn’t help but turn to look, and they saw a devilish young man who wore a dark golden robe issuing instructions to the magical beasts who had followed him here. And then, he entered the metallic castle as well.

“It’s Dylin!” Linley had personally seen Dylin once, when he was in Fenlai City. 

Behind Dylin were three ‘kittens’ and six Saint-level magical beasts that had transformed to a size roughly equivalent to a normal human’s. Linley inspected them carefully. Indeed, these three ‘kittens’ had a pair of wings on their backs, and on their face, above their two eyes, there were another two pairs of shut eyes.

Six eyes, two wings.

“Saint-level magical beasts, Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions. The children of Dylin.” Linley secretly said to himself.

Right at this moment, one of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions looked towards Linley. Suddenly…all six of its eyes opened, and he grinned at Linley. “Linley, right? Thank you!”

Chapter 8: Three Corridors

“Thank me?” Linley was startled.

This was the first time he had ever met these Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions. Why did this Ni-Lion immediately thank him upon seeing him?

What was the reason?

“Unfortunately, you were born just a little too late. If you had been born three thousand years earlier, then Fourth Brother and  Fifth  Brother  wouldn’t  have  had  to  die.”  The  Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion murmured these two additional words, and the two Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions next to him also glanced at Linley. And then, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions flew to the other side, along with the other six Saint-level magical beasts.

Desri   laughed   towards   Linley.   “Linley,   you   have   a relationship with these three brothers?” “No relationship at all.” Linley said.

Desri didn’t say anything, but from the look on his face, it was clear that Desri didn’t believe him.

“In the past, there were very few magical beasts who would enter the Necropolis of the Gods. Only a few of the powerful Saint-level magical beasts of the Forest of Darkness would enter. Now that Dylin has appeared, even the magical beasts of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts are able to enter the Necropolis of the Gods.” Desri sighed.

Linley glanced at the group.

Those six Saint level magical beasts which had come alongside the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions were no ordinary beasts.

“It seems as though four of them were amongst the number of Saint-level magical beasts that had attacked Fenlai City. Or perhaps they are of the same race only.” Linley could immediately recognize four of them; the Bloody-eyed Maned Lion, the Tyrant Wyrm, the Savage Worldbear, and the Violet- Eyed Goldfur Ape.

It was the Violet-Eyed Goldfur Ape who had squashed Kalan to death with one foot.

Only, he couldn’t be sure if the Violet-Eyed Goldfur Ape in front of him was the same Violet-Eyed Goldfur Ape which had attacked Fenlai City.

So many experts had gathered here. Human experts, and magical beasts as well. All of the powerful experts hidden away in the Yulan continent had come out today, and everyone present, humans and beasts alike, were chatting in quiet voices to each other. At this moment, humans and magical beasts were two races that were equal to each other.

“Swish!” A black shadow flew out from the metallic castle. It was Bebe.

All the humans and magical beasts present turned to stare at Bebe. In the past, aside from those three children of Lord Beirut as well as those Deities, not a single Saint-level expert had been qualified to enter this metallic castle.

“Boss, it’s all taken care of.” Bebe’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind. “Let Barker come.”

Linley laughed. In front of that mysterious Beirut, it seemed Bebe’s words were quite effective.

“Haeru,  go  inform  Barker  and  bring  Barker  here.”  Linley immediately spiritually communicated with his Blackcloud Panther, Haeru, and Haeru’s voice sounded out in Linley’s mind as well. “Yes, Master.”

After roughly an hour.

Barker, under Haeru’s guidance, flew here.

“So many people.” Barker looked at the experts present, and he couldn’t help but be shocked. All combined, humans and magical beasts, there were over eighty Saints here today. These experts all possessed astonishing strength. If he didn’t transform…Barker would be the weakest of them.

But of course, after transforming, Barker would be above average.

In this group, the highest tier belonged to the Desri, Fain, the other Five Prime Saints, and Linley.

The sun rose to the zenith of the sky. The Saints clustered in the empty space around the metallic castle were quite patient, and they all waited quietly. Suddenly, four shadows flew out from within the living castle. There was the War God with his absolutely dominating aura, the graceful High Priest, the devilish Dylin, and the lazy Cesar.

The four mighty Deities landed in front of the castle.

Everyone, humans and magical beasts alike, listened respectfully for their orders. 

The High Priest, face covered by that green mask and long hair flowing gracefully, was the first to speak. “In this group, there are those of you who have gone to the Necropolis of the Gods before, and those who have not. But this trip is not like the previous trips, which is why we must remind you of a few

things.”

The High Priest’s voice was very gentle, yet very neutral. From the sound of it alone, it was hard to determine whether the voice belonged to a man or a woman.

“Different  from  the  past?”  Linley  smiled  calmly.  He  had never gone there a single time before, so no matter what the past had been like, it didn’t affect him at all.

All the humans and magical beasts present listened carefully to the High Priest’s reminders.

“Those who have gone to the Necropolis of the Gods know that there are, in total, three tunnels that lead to the Necropolis of the Gods. One is here at the Forest of Darkness. One is on an island in the North Seas. And the third is in the watery depths of the South Sea.” The voice of the High Priest remained very gentle.

The faces of the more experienced people, like Desri and Fain, began to change.

“Three thousand years ago, the entrance to the Necropolis of the Gods was from the South Seas entrance. Two thousand years ago, the entrance was from the Forest of Darkness. One thousand years ago, it was from the island in the North Sea. Every three thousand years a cycle. This time, you will be entering the Necropolis of the Gods from the South Sea.” The High Priest’s voice entered the ears of every man and magical beast.

Linley was surprised.

“This Necropolis of the Gods actually has three tunnels?” Linley began to wonder. “But these three tunnels are extremely far apart from each other. North Sea, Forest of Darkness, South Sea…they are tens of thousands of kilometers apart. What’s going on?” Although he was puzzled, Linley knew that this wasn’t the time to ask. He could only continue to listen patiently.

The High Priest’s voice seemed to contain a hint of laughter in it. “So you should know which tunnel will be used now. Those ten of you with previous experience should also know how dangerous this trip will be. Alright. Desri, come explain to everyone.”

“Remember. Anyone who wants to give up can do so. But tonight, the remainder of us will head out together.” The High Priest’s voice remained soft.

Dylin’s cold laughter rang out. “If you are afraid, then don’t go. There’s nothing embarrassing about it. It isn’t too late to give up now. If you give up later, after arriving there, and decide to flee at that point, that would be really shameful.” The four Deities walked to one side, waiting for midnight to come.

Desri walked to the front of the group. Desri’s face looked extremely dark and downcast. Linley had never seen the suave Desri have such an ugly look on his face before.

“Those   of   you   who   experienced   the   opening   of   the Necropolis of the Gods two thousand years ago or a thousand years ago, listen carefully.” Desri’s voice was very cold. “There isn’t just one Necropolis of the Gods, nor is there just two. There are three. The three different tunnels lead to three different Necropolises!”

“Three?” Many people were shocked.

Even Linley felt shocked, and he focused his energy on listening to what Desri had to say.

“Although the Necropolises of the Gods which are reached through the tunnels in the Forest of Darkness and the North Sea’s island are dangerous, the danger isn’t that great. Generally speaking, as long as you are cautious and prudent, you won’t be in any risk. But the Necropolis of the Gods which is reached through the South Sea is extremely, extremely dangerous.”  Desri said in a low voice, “In fact, I even believe that of the eighty or so experts present, even if we are extremely careful, we would be lucky to have a third of us survive.”

“A third?” Many of the Saints let out startled calls.

Many of them had gone to the Necropolis of the Gods before, but on the past two visits to the Necropolis of the Gods, only a quarter of them or so had died. But from what Desri was saying…it seemed two thirds of them were likely to die on this trip.

“And that assumes you are being extremely careful. If you get greedy…I expect that perhaps we might be lucky to see ten survivors out of our eighty people present.” Desri looked at the people in front of him. “Remember this. If you die, that’s no big deal. But don’t drag down others with you.”

After finishing speaking, Desri returned to stand next to Hayward and Higginson.

The atmosphere was extremely depressed. 

“What is there to be afraid of? The more dangerous it is, the greater a chance of finding a divine spark or a divine artifact.” A voice rang out from the group.

“Make it out alive first.” Fain’s cold voice rang out.

Fain’s face was also exceedingly ugly to behold right now.

Desri, Higginson, and Hayward were all silent.

Linley  walked  towards  them,  then  asked  softly,  “Desri, what’s wrong? This trip to the Necropolis of the Gods will be very special?”

Desri looked at Linley, then sighed and said, “Linley, do you remember your first trip to our village? At that time, when Hayward was sparring with you, you asked why he, a Grand Magus Saint, didn’t have a magical beast companion.” “I remember.” Linley nodded.

When Hayward had been sparring with him, Linley had been under the impression that a Grand Magus Saint who sparred with him without a magical beast companion would definitely be defeated. But then, Hayward had shown him the error of his ways by demonstrating how a Grand Magus Saint fought.

“At that time, you said that his magical beast had died in order to save him. That was more than two thousand years ago.  In  addition,  a  good  friend  of  yours  had  died  as  well.” Linley responded.

“Right.” Desri nodded. “And the event I spoke of us was our journey into the Necropolis of the Gods three thousand years ago.”

Linley nodded.

“Hayward’s magical beast was an Electrobolt Panther, very useful for staying alive in the Necropolis of the Gods. I begged Lord Beirut for another slot in order to let that magical beast come as well. However, on that trip…on just the outer perimeter of the sixth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods, our third brother and that magical beast both died. As for the three of us, we were on the fifth layer and didn’t dare to enter the sixth layer. Just like that…we stayed there in the fifth layer for

five years, waiting until the exit tunnel appeared.” Desri’s face was very bitter.

Linley’s mind was stirred.

The fifth layer? Sixth layer?

Although he didn’t know anything about the Necropolis of the Gods, from the sound of it, it was divided into many layers. And this ‘sixth floor’ was an extremely dangerous one.

The night descended. Not a single Saint left. If they were afraid of an unknown danger…then they truly would have quite weak-willed.

A black shadow suddenly appeared in front of the group, then slowly solidified. This person wore a very simple black robe. His black hair was loose and unbound, and his beard was so long that it reached down to his chest. He looked just like an old man.

“Lord  Beirut.”  The  High  Priest,  Cesar,  the  War  God,  and Dylin all immediately rose and said respectfully.

All of the Saints immediately rose and bowed respectfully, regardless of whether it was their first, second, or third time meeting Beirut. The atmosphere was such that neither the High Priest nor the War God, much less the Saints, dared to even breathe.

Beirut had a pair of little eyes, but they were quite lively, like two brilliant stars. His face seemed to have a perpetual hint of a smile on it.

“Bebe, come over here.” Beirut looked at Bebe, then beamed at him.

Bebe immediately jumped into Beirut’s arms. Everyone present looked at Bebe. 

“Grandpa Beirut, let’s go. I’ve waited here so long.” Bebe didn’t seem to feel any pressure from Beirut’s presence at all, and Beirut nodded indulgently, then flew towards the south with Bebe in his arms. “Let’s go.” Beirut’s slightly gravelly voice rang out.

At this moment, the four Deities and the eighty-plus human and magical beast Saints all flew into the air as well.

While flying, many people looked at Linley. Clearly, the close relationship between Bebe and Beirut had caused them to pay attention to Linley as well. But those people only knew…that Bebe was Linley’s magical beast. Many people had come to a decision…

Even if they didn’t make friends with Linley, they couldn’t offend him.

After all, in front of Lord Beirut, even the likes of the War God and the other three Deities acted as though they were children, afraid to even breathe loudly. One could completely understand how, in Lord Beirut’s heart, the status of Bebe was far greater than that of the likes of the War God.

“This War God truly is formidable. He expressed goodwill towards me so early on, during my little brother’s wedding.” Linley laughed secretly to himself. “Lord Beirut has a relationship with Bebe, Bebe has a relationship with me, and I have a relationship with Wharton…there are two layers of separation here!”

But the War God had even gotten involved in Wharton’s affairs, directly ordering that Emperor Johann to allow Wharton to become Nina’s husband.

One could completely imagine how much respect and dread the War God felt towards Lord Beirut.

…….

The oceans took up an enormous amount of territory in the Yulan plane. The North Sea was already enormous, but the South Sea was simply shocking. Linley had once heard Hodan say that at the end of the South Sea, one would see the wild, chaotic space.

Late night. The endless waters of the sea seemed dark and heavy.

“Right here.”  Beirut declared as he stood there in mid-air above the sea.

“In the depths of the ocean here, you’ll find the entrance to the tunnel to the Necropolis of the Gods. That tunnel is roughly twenty thousand meters away from the surface of the sea.” Beirut laughed calmly. “I trust the water pressure of the deep sea won’t have any effect on you. If you can’t even withstand a tiny little bit of deep sea water pressure, then it is best if you give up right away.”

As he spoke, Beirut himself was the first to dive into the water.

Wherever his body passed, the deep ocean water itself naturally split apart around him, creating a corridor.

Chapter 9: The Necropolis’ Sculptures

“Rumble, rumble.”  The sea roiled, and then four pathways into the sea appeared, and the High Priest, the War God, and the others all dove into the sea as well.

The eighty-plus human and magical beast experts didn’t hesitate at all, hurriedly entering the water.

“This deep sea is quite interesting.”  Linley’s battle-qi was swirling around him. With his Pulseguard Defense, he was able to easily offset the outside water pressure. As for Linley himself, he curiously stared at the various scenes here, deep in the ocean. This was Linley’s first trip into the seas.

In the deepest part of the ocean, it was silent and pitch-black. The only things that could be seen were a few creatures that naturally radiated light.

Fain and Linley flew down together. Fain glanced at Linley, then his voice rang out in Linley’s mind. “Linley, in this vast expanse of land here in the South Seas, there are actually a great many magical beast, such as Aquatic Dragons, Dragon Turtles, Nine-Headed Serpents, Titanic Octopi…all of these are Saint-level magical beasts.”  Fain naturally had the ability to engage in spirit-projecting communication.

Linley secretly nodded.

The South Seas were far larger than the Yulan continent in size. It would be unnatural if they didn’t contain a large amount of magical beasts in them.

“But even if the magical beasts of the depth drew near, upon seeing us, they would be so frightened they would immediately flee.” Fain smiled calmly as he mentally spoke to Linley.

Linley chuckled as well.

The group continued to fly deeper into the dark, silent depths of the sea, while at the same time, they enjoyed the sight of these rarely-viewed sceneries. Occasionally, an enormous magic beast would appear, but upon discovering that so many experts were descending, it would invariably be so frightened that it wouldn’t even dare to move. 

The farther down they went, the greater the pressure was.

At the end, the pressure was so great, it was as though a small mountain was weighing down upon them. Fortunately, all of these people were amongst the most powerful Saints in the world, and thus they could take it. They would either cast magic spells, or use protective barriers of battle-qi. The rainbow of colors surrounding them was quite resplendent to behold.

“We’re at the sea floor.” The experts all came to a halt at the sea floor.

There were some life forms such as corals down here, which radiated a bit of light. The bottom of the sea was covered with rows upon rows of coral reefs, while the ground was not level, sometimes convex while other times concave. It could rise up to a height of hundreds of meters, and sink down so deeply that the bottom couldn’t be seen.

“Almost there.” Fain said mentally to Linley. 

Linley nodded slightly.

Everyone continued to follow the leaders at the bottom of the sea. After travelling for several kilometers, they arrived at an enormous, pitch-black boulder. This pitch-black boulder stood by itself in the middle of a gorge, and in the water above the boulder, there was a translucent ‘door’ which was emitting strange ripples.

“Here we are.” The gravelly voice rang out in everyone’s ears.

Everyone stopped in front of this pitch-black boulder.

“Hrm? This ‘door’ seems quite similar to the ‘door’ of my pocket  dimension.  Only,  it’s  twice  the  size.”   Linley  was intrigued.

Lord Beirut’s voice could be heard in each person’s ears. “This  interspatial  door  is  the  tunnel  which  leads  to  the Necropolis of the Gods. Normally, this interspatial door is shut and covered by a layer of invisible force.” As he spoke, Beirut’s body suddenly emitted a ray of black light.

This ray of black light struck directly against the interspatial door.

“Rumble…”  The quiet sea floor suddenly began to shudder, and the previously translucent ‘door’ suddenly emanated with a blinding, dazzling light, as though a membrane had suddenly covered and sealed it.

But a few seconds later, it burst apart like a popped bubble.

“Pop!” With a very soft sound, the membrane collapsed.

“Follow  me.  All  in  at  the  same  time.”  Beirut  flew  to  the interspatial door, and with one step, crossed through to the other side. As he did, Beirut completely disappeared from the line of sight from the people present. The High Priest, War God, Dylin, and Cesar didn’t hesitate at all. They immediately entered the interspatial door as well, disappearing from line of sight.

“So the Necropolis of the Gods is actually another plane.” Linley now understood. “Only, the plane of the Necropolis of the Gods is connected to the Yulan continent’s plane.”

This was much like his pocket dimension. The hidden location of the Necropolis of the Gods was also linked up with the Yulan continent.

All of the experts present entered the interspatial door together, and Linley and Fain entered as well.

“What a strange vibration.” Linley could clearly sense that the moment he stepped across the interspatial door, he had a strange feeling, as though he were a person swimming in the water who suddenly stepped onto dry land. It was as though the entire environment had changed.”

The many experts had arrived at a different plane. 

They were all still at the bottom of the sea. Only, it was the bottom of the sea of a different plane.

“What a strange feeling.”  Linley had a sense of being ill at- ease upon entering this new dimension.

Fain drew near Linley and said to him spiritually, “Linley, in this plane, even my spiritual energy can only encompass ten or so meters. In addition, this plane is filled with countless experts. We can’t fall behind the others, as if we do, if we are surrounded by those countless magical beasts, we will die for certain.”

Linley was secretly shocked.

The group of people followed Beirut forward. Beirut wasn’t the slightest bit nervous, leading them flying for over ten kilometers. “That mountain-sized building over there is the Necropolis of the Gods.” Fain drew near Linley yet again and spoke to him spiritually. Linley stared at that distant, massive structure. He couldn’t help but feel his heart shake. “This Necropolis of the Gods really is astonishingly large.”

Linley was certain that this Necropolis of the Gods was over a hundred kilometers away from them, but Linley could nonetheless make it out clearly.

“The  Necropolis  of  the  Gods  is  nearly  twenty  thousand meters tall, and each of the four sides of its base is over ten thousand meters long.” Fain spoke to Linley spiritually. He was very familiar with this Necropolis of the Gods.

“How was such an enormous edifice built?” Linley couldn’t help but sigh nonstop with praise.

Given their flying speed, the distance of a hundred kilometers was quickly reached. Once they drew near it, Linley began to sigh in amazement yet again. The reason he sighed in amazement…was because although the Necropolis of the Gods was primarily cuboid, the top of it still tapered off into narrow edges.

The Necropolis of the Gods had four sides, and the side facing Linley had a massive carving on it.

“Dragon?”

Staring at this twenty thousand meter high, ten thousand meter, massive carving, Linley saw that it was of an enormous, winding dragon. This dragon was different from the dragons of the Yulan continent’s plane, because this dragon didn’t have wings. And yet, the sculpture of the dragon gave off an aura of majesty which made others want to bow towards it.

“The  four  sides  of  the  Necropolis  have  four  different carvings.” Beirut’s voice rang out in everyone’s ears. “This side is of a massive dragon. It truly is the carving of a dragon. The opposite side is the massive carving of a white tiger. On the other two sides are massive sculptures of a phoenix and of a dragon-turtle.” A massive dragon…a white tiger…a phoenix…and a dragon- turtle?

“Why does this Necropolis of the Gods have these four sculptures here?” Linley was puzzled.

Beirut patted Bebe, still in his arms. At this point, Bebe jumped off and scampered onto Linley’s shoulders. Beirut then laughed  calmly  and  said,  “These  four  massive  sculptures represent four different parts of the Necropolis of the Gods. As for the side of the massive dragon, beneath it, there are a large number of smaller sculptures.”

Linley and the others saw it as well.

The massive sculpture of the dragon took up roughly 70%-80% of the entire area, while the other sculptures, all combined, only took up 10%. The rest was just blank.

“These sculptures…”  Linley carefully inspected the smaller sculptures below the massive dragon. All of them, amazingly enough, were in the form of a dragon or serpent-type magical beasts. There was a certain rhythm and sequence to them as well.

“Judging from these small sculptures…” Beirut looked at the smaller  sculptures  as  well.  “This  time,  it  seems  that  the guardian of the first eleven layers of the Necropolis of the Gods will be the divine beast, the ‘Ba-Serpent’.”

“The divine beast, ‘Ba-Serpent’?”

The eighty-plus experts of the Yulan continent’s plane were all very confused, but they all knew one thing…since it was termed as a ‘divine beast’, this ‘Ba-Serpent’ clearly had already reached the Deity-level. How would the Saints here possibly break past it?

“Ba-Serpent? Lord Beirut, but…how will they even stand a chance?” Dylin spoke.

Lord  Beirut  glanced  at  him,  then  laughed  calmly.  “This divine beast, ‘Ba-Serpent’, reached adulthood tens of thousands of years ago. From what I understand, it has already reached the level of being a full God. Let’s not discuss the Saints for now; even if the four of you went in, once you got into a fight with the Ba-Serpent, you would definitely die.”

The faces of the eighty-plus experts changed.

“Last time, the leader of the upper eleven floors was only a Two-Headed Vile Dragon from the Infernal Realm. I didn’t expect that this time, it would actually be the divine beast, ‘Ba- Serpent’. And a God level one at that.” Fain’s face was extremely sour.

Linley understood this as well.

This Necropolis of the Gods was for the group of Saints to enter. Even if the Deities entered, they wouldn’t enter alongside them. Given the power of Saints, upon encountering a full God, they would definitely die. There was no question about this whatsoever.

Lord Beirut laughed calmly. “Don’t worry. The path before you isn’t a path of certain death. First, let me explain some basics regarding the Necropolis of the Gods to you. The Necropolis of the Gods has a total of eighteen layers! The top ten layers definitely do not have divine sparks. From the eleventh layer onwards, there will definitely be corpses of Deities as well as divine sparks to be found.”

Many of the experts who had never been here before immediately had looks of joy on their face.

Hearing that there were divine sparks on the eleventh floor, many people immediately made the decision that they absolutely had to break through to the eleventh floor. Once they found a divine spark, they would become a Deity. The prerequisite, of course…was that they find the divine spark of a Demigod.

“The part of the Necropolis of the Gods which you are about to enter into has the divine beast, ‘Ba-Serpent’, as the leader of the top eleven floors. As for the twelfth floor and beyond…even Deities which enter it have a very high chance of death.” Lord Beirut laughed calmly, and the people who had unconsciously contemplating giving the twelfth floor a try immediately gave up the notion. Beirut looked at the people present. “As for the Ba-Serpent, he might be on the first floor, or he might be on the eleventh floor. Regardless…he is definitely within one of the eleven floors.”

Linley couldn’t help but feel nervous.

“If we run into the Ba-Serpent, doesn’t that mean we are doomed?” Linley worried.

Beirut seemed to know what Linley was thinking. He explained, “Regarding the Ba-Serpent…the Ba-Serpent is fond of sleeping, and when asleep, a Ba-Serpent generally will not wake up, unless there is a huge commotion of some sort. If you encounter the sleeping Ba-Serpent on your floor, you’d best not wake him up, as otherwise, you would definitely die.”

Everyone present was secretly cursing in their heart.

Who would be idiotic enough to wake up the Ba-Serpent? But everyone knew as well that if the leader of these first eleven floors was the Ba-Serpent, then there would definitely be other barriers as well.

“The Ba-Serpent is fond of sleeping, but if the Ba-Serpent just so happens to be awake when your group enters…all you can do is blame your own terrible luck.” Lord Beirut explained.

The faces of all the experts present changed.

If they encountered the divine beast ‘Ba-Serpent’ while it was awake, most likely not a single one of them would be able to escape.

“Haha…” Lord Beirut laughed loudly. “All I can do is wish you good luck. Remember. The first eleven floors has more than just the divine beast, ‘Ba-Serpent’. It also has all sorts of other monsters, or undead creatures, or aberrations from other planes. There are quite a few creatures within that are much more powerful than even the most powerful of you.”

The faces of Fain and Desri were extremely solemn. 

They knew this very well, because last time, they had suffered as a result of it.

“Remember.  Be  careful  and  be  vigilant.  Don’t  be  greedy.” Lord Beirut said. “If you die inside, I won’t be able to rescue you from outside either.”

As he spoke, Beirut’s hands flashed with two rays of black light which struck the bottom of the wall. Instantly, two gateways appeared there at the bottom of the massive wall. “Human Saints will enter through the left gateway, while magical beast Saints will enter through the right gateway. If you survive the first four floors, then…you’ll meet again on the fifth floor.”

Linley immediately understood.

The insides of the Necropolis of the Gods were very complex, and these two tunnels led to different paths through the first four floors. Only on the fifth floor would it all merge together. “All of you, go inside now.” Beirut laughed calmly. “Remember. If you are afraid, you can just hide on the first floor, which has the least danger, and wait ten years. In ten year’s time, every single floor will have portals to the outside world appear, at which point you will be able to leave.”

Ten years!

Nobody hesitated. The human Saints and the magical beast Saints all separated into their own groups.

“Bebe, be careful.” Linley said mentally.

“Boss, you be careful too.”  Bebe couldn’t bear to part from Linley either.

Chapter 10: Moving Cautiously

After the human experts and the magical beasts experts entered the Necropolis of the Gods, the High Priest finally spoke.

“Lord Beirut?” The High Priest looked at Beirut. “If that Bebe encounters the divine beast, ‘Ba-Serpent’, what then?”

Perhaps Beirut didn’t give a damn about the lives of the others, but he definitely cared about Bebe. And, in the Necropolis of the Gods, even Beirut wouldn’t be able to save them. The High Priest was confused…why did Beirut dare to do such a thing!

Beirut  laughed.  “It’s  fine.  Bebe  won’t  encounter  the  Ba- Serpent. Because…he took the right tunnel.”

“Lord Beirut, what are you saying?” Cesar’s face changed. Beirut laughed calmly and nodded. “Just now, when I opened the tunnels, I did a quick investigation. The Ba-Serpent is in the area of the left tunnel, and it is beneath the fifth floor… thus, I had the magical beast Saints enter the right tunnel.”

The High Priest, War God, Dylin, and Cesar all sighed secretly.

“Then Linley…” Cesar said in a quiet voice.

Beirut said calmly, “I hope his luck is good. I can’t always protect them. They made the decision for themselves to enter the Necropolis of the Gods. Enough. Let’s go. We’ll come again in ten years.” Beirut immediately turned and flew out from the tunnel they came in from.

The High Priest, the War God, and the others all hurried after him.

….. The dark, gloomy tunnel was ‘lit’ by black light. The group of experts entered the tunnel. The waters of the deep sea weren’t able to enter this tunnel at all. Fain and Linley walked side by side.

“Linley,  remember.  If  you  encounter  anything  dangerous, the safest thing you can do is retreat to a lower floor.” Fain was giving Linley the benefit of his experience. “Every single layer here has a large amount of terrifying creatures or undead, but they remain on their own floor.”

Linley nodded slightly.

“Also. No matter what, do not release your spiritual energy in the  Necropolis  of  the  Gods.”   Fain  said  solemnly.  “If  your spiritual energy draws the attention of some creatures, they will quickly discover your presence.”

“I know.” In a dangerous place like this, actively releasing his spiritual energy was telling all the creatures and undead of this floor his location. That was as good as looking for death. Linley said questioningly, “Fain, the Necropolis of the Gods is built with so many types of creatures on each floor…I have the feeling that someone built it on purpose.”  It was simply too bizarre. After all, if many Deities had died here, it should have been a chaotic place.

But instead, it looked indeed like an enormous necropolis.

“From what Master said, Lord Beirut had told him once before that this Necropolis of the Gods is actually nothing more than a Sovereign’s game.” Fain laughed bitterly.

“A Sovereign’s game?” Linley was stunned.

But then, Linley immediately understood. “That Hodan had said that in the Higher Planes, there are trillions upon trillions of Deities, but there are only seven of each type of Sovereign. Sovereigns sit on high, far above the Deities. One must have sent his subordinates to construct a necropolis for the corpses of many dead gods, and then intentionally allow Saint-level experts or perhaps Deity-level experts to enter here and seek treasure.” Linley felt a sense of helplessness. 

Sovereigns were far and above their level.

All of them, including the High Priest, the War God, and the other Demigods were nothing more than a tiny chess piece in this game to the Sovereign.

“Perhaps the Sovereign would actually find some amusement in watching us fight for our lives.” Fain sighed.

Linley understood. The Sovereigns were far above them, looking down and watching as they struggled, much like how when he was young, him and the other children watched the ants on the ground.

All of them, including the High Priest and the War God, were nothing more than ‘ants’ in the eyes of the Sovereigns. Perhaps even the seemingly powerful Beirut, in the eyes of the high Sovereigns, was nothing more than a rather large ant. “Regardless, the chance we have here to seize a divine spark is far greater than the chance we would have in the Higher Planes.” Fain sighed deeply.

Linley sighed deeply as well.

It was time to prepare to fight.

“If I can get a divine spark, even if I don’t use it, I can give it to Delia.” Linley deeply treasured Delia. He had left and would be gone for ten years, but she hadn’t said a single word of complaint. He truly felt lucky to have been able to marry such a wife, who always thought about him first and foremost.

“Everyone, we’ve reached the end of the tunnel.”  A callous middle-aged man who wore a turban on his head said loudly. “If we continue forward, we will be at the first floor. Remember. Don’t be too greedy. You dying isn’t a big deal, but don’t drag down others with you.”

After speaking, the turban-wearing man walked out of the tunnel. 

This person was one of the Five Prime Saints, the number one expert of the great plains of the far east, the War Saint Tulily.

Behind him, one Saint after another exited the tunnel.

“Who knows what will be on the first floor. We better not encounter that terrifying Deity-level ‘Ba-Serpent’ magical beast on the very first floor.” Linley stared at the pitch-black end of the tunnel, then stepped through it. Instantly, the world spun and the environment changed.

“Whooooooooooooosh.” A wild wind was blowing desolately, and yellow sand was flying everywhere.

This was an extremely desolate desert world, and the wild wind blasted the yellow sand everywhere, causing the entire world to seem blurry. The heat waves here caused the air itself to distort as well. “There’s magical beasts over there.” Linley could clearly tell that off in the distance, there was a ferocious, three-horned magical beast that was hundreds of meters tall, which was currently roaring with anger. Its entire body was covered with a metallic shine, and its fierce fangs were dripping with some sort  of  liquid.  “This  magical  beast  appears  to  be  quite formidable.”

Linley was secretly surprised, and he immediately transformed into his Dragonblood Warrior form.

In a place like this, he didn’t dare to be incautious.

“Hrm?” Linley suddenly realized that a great deal of sand was being blown by the wind through the body of that ‘ferocious magical beast’. Soon, the ferocious magical beast disappeared from view.

“Mirage?” Linley began to understand.

Many of the Saints were inspecting their surroundings carefully upon entering this place, and then quickly were beginning to fly in search of the passageway to the second floor.

“Where’s Barker?” Linley hadn’t discovered Barker yet. “This damn place. There’s sand everywhere, the air is distorted, and mirages constantly appear. I can’t even see anyone clearly.” Linley secretly cursed. Aside from a few of the nearer Saints, whom he could make out clearly, he couldn’t see any of the other Saints at all.

Linley didn’t waste any more time thinking, and he immediately flew out as well.

“Linley.” Suddenly, someone drew near Linley.

Linley looked at him. This was the fifth personal disciple of the War God, Eddins [Yi’deng’si]. Eddins reminded him, “Linley, remember, this damn place is filled with mirages that are hard to tell apart from reality. They are truly irritating. Don’t stay in one place. What you need to do is run everywhere and search for that gateway to the second floor. If you stay in this place and waste too much time, it’s possible that trouble will find you.” After speaking, Eddins immediately flew away by himself at high speed.

The scorching waves of gas caused the air itself to distort.

Soon, Linley could no longer see Eddins any longer.

“I   can   only   do   what   Eddins   recommended.”    Linley immediately began flying everywhere, searching for that gateway to the second floor. The most common life form here in this desert was an enormous cactus. As for creatures…he didn’t even see one.

Linley flew in the air while carefully inspecting all of his surroundings, searching for that gateway.

“Swish!” A flash of light suddenly shot out from beneath the yellow sands, shooting directly towards Linley. Linley’s iron- whip-like draconic tail struck at it lightning fast, and with a ‘whap’ sound, the ray of light was immediately shattered and broken.

 Immediately afterwards, six skeletons whose entire bodies were covered with a diamond aura emerged from the yellow sand at high speed.

“Draconian, obediently give us your corpse, and we’ll give you a clean death.” One of the six Saint-level undead spoke out, his eyes-sockets filled with two lively balls of fire. The six Saint-level skeletons surrounded Linley, their weapons at the ready.

Linley looked at the six Saint-level undead.

“Draconian?” Linley glanced at them out of the corner of his eyes. “You think I am…” Halfway through Linley’s words, the various weapons in the hands of these Saint-level undead, such as a skeletal sickle and a skeletal spear, simultaneously struck out at Linley.

The air immediately howled piercingly. The combination attack of these six Saint-level undead couldn’t be looked down upon. But suddenly, countless flashes of violet light appeared, and with a metallic clanging sound, the six Saint-level undead found themselves being knocked backwards.

“Oh? They didn’t die?”  Linley noticed that these six Saint- level skeletons only had some superficial scars on their skeletal bodies, but hadn’t collapsed. Although the ‘Rippling Wind’ technique’s attacks were extremely fast and could produce countless strikes, its raw attack force truly wasn’t very high.

The devilish purple light flashed yet again.

The six Saint-level skeletons didn’t hesitate at all. With a howl, they immediately tunneled back down into the sand.

“Crunch!” “Crunch!” “Crunch!”

Three of the Saint-level skeletons were broken in half by a chop, while the other three Saint-level skeletons managed to hide within the depths of the yellow sands. “They fled rather quickly.” Linley flew forward at high speed.

After Linley left, those three bisected skeletons suddenly moved, immediately grabbing their other, severed half. To undead, as long as the fire of their spirits hadn’t been extinguished, they themselves wouldn’t die either. They absolutely could reconnect any of their broken or severed body parts.

“Rustle.”  Suddenly, multiple Saint-level skeletons came up from the sand, surrounding and slaughtering those three heavily-injured Saint-level skeletons, and then devouring the spiritual flame of the three.

“That  Draconian  was  terrifying.”   One  of  the  Saint-level skeletons raised his head, staring into the distance. “I wonder how long it will be before we collect enough corpses.”  And then, those Saint-level skeletons immediately burrowed back down into the ground.

Much as Linley had expected, as long as the divine beast, ‘Ba- Serpent’, wasn’t on this first floor, then this first floor held the least amount of danger, here in the Necropolis of the Gods. Linley disposed of a few Saint-level skeletons that had rashly tried to kill him before finally finding the stairs to the second floor.

He climbed up the stairs.

The second floor of the Necropolis of the Gods was a jungle world. Dense foliage and brambles were everywhere, making it very hard to see any dangers that might be present here.

“There  are  no  illusions  here,  but  I  need  to  be  wary  of ambushes.”    Linley’s   battle-qi   had   already   formed   his Pulseguard Defense, and he held Bloodviolet at the ready, heading into this jungle world at high speed. But suddenly, Linley came to a halt and stared into the distance.

A human Saint had appeared, not too far away.

“Him?” Linley let out a secret sigh of relief. Although Linley didn’t know the names of many of the human Saints, Linley still memorized what they looked like. 

Linley began to fly again, but the trees of this jungle world reached all the way to the top of this level, and they were so dense that they completely blocked one’s field of vision.

Linley didn’t notice that a green little snake the size of a finger was coiled on the leaf of a tree. Its coloration was identical to that of the leaf, and Linley, flying through the jungle at such a high speed, didn’t notice it at all. But that green little snake’s eyes were filled with an icy glare as it stared below at Linley.

“Swoosh!”

As fast as lightning, the little green snake the size of a finger shot out towards Linley, biting towards Linley’s neck.

“Hrm?” Linley’s face instantly changed. His Pulseguard Defense had actually been instantly penetrated 70% of the way through. The power of this attack was truly too terrifying. If a slightly weaker expert had encountered this little green snake, he probably would have died immediately. 

“Swish!”  The devilish purple light flashed, and spacetime suddenly froze, then began to fold on itself. Even as the little green snake was crying out, Bloodviolet chopped down on its body.

Profound Truths of the Wind – Tempos of the Wind, level two!

“Whap!”   The  little  green  snake  was  chopped  in  two. Afterwards, the two halves suddenly expanded in size, immediately transforming into an enormous green serpent that was over a hundred meters long and as thick as a water barrel. The corpse of the giant serpent fell to the ground.

Linley took a deep breath. “Saint-level snake-type magical beast, but of a type which doesn’t exist in the Yulan continent.” Linley glanced down at the corpse on the ground. “It’s a good thing that I Dragonformed, resulting in my battle-qi increasing significantly. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to take that hit.” Only now did Linley realize why both Beirut and Fain had said that one had to be absolutely cautious here.

“Someone’s there?” Linley suddenly turned around to look.

He saw a massive, three-meter tall monster fly over at high speed, but when he saw it, Linley laughed. This was the transformed Undying Warrior, Barker.

“Lord Linley.” Barker flew over to him.

“Earlier, I saw you from afar on the first level, but by the time I flew over, I couldn’t find you.” Barker arrived next to Linley and said resignedly.

Chapter 11: Plant Lifeforms

“Not  so  loud.”   Linley  was  extremely  cautious.  “See  that massive green snake corpse down below?”

Barker glanced down, then nodded. Linley said solemnly, “This massive green snake had transformed to the size of a finger and had hidden itself on a tree leaf. It suddenly ambushed me. If I had been too arrogant and hadn’t been in Dragonform already, my Pulseguard Defense in human form definitely wouldn’t have been able to take it, and I probably would’ve lost my life.”

“That bad?” Barker couldn’t help but say in shock.

Linley’s face was extremely grave. Staring at the surroundings, he said in a suppressed voice, “According to what Desri said, these three tunnels in the Yulan continent all lead to three different Necropolis of the Gods, and this is the most dangerous one. In the past, Desri and the others had hidden on the fifth floor and waited there until the ten years were up.” Barker clearly was rather shocked. “And to think I wanted to go to the eleventh floor.”

“The eleventh floor? Desri didn’t even dare to go to the sixth floor, and you want to go to the eleventh floor?” Linley looked seriously at Barker. “Barker, don’t think that just because your defense is high that you can be rash. This damnable place has all sorts of creatures from different planes. There might be one that is perfectly suited for countering your abilities. If you aren’t careful, your life would be gone.”

“Do you remember what Desri said? If we are just the slightest bit avaricious, we would be lucky to see ten of us survive, out of the eighty plus total.” Linley glanced at Barker. “If only ten were to survive, I expect that five of them would be the Five Prime Saints, as well as the others who had already come here. As for me, if I’m not careful, I might die here.”

Hearing Linley’s words, Barker immediately grew much more cautious.

After all, in terms of who would be able to survive, those who had come before naturally had a higher chance of survival. In addition, amongst the eighty plus experts, there were the likes of the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions and the terrifying magical beasts of the Forest of Darkness. When factoring in the human experts as well, there were definitely more than ten people who were as strong or stronger than Barker.

“Let’s go.” Linley whispered.

“Right.” Barker immediately followed Linley. The two of them travelled very carefully, Bloodviolet and the greataxe in their respective hands, prepared to do battle at all times.

This actually made many of the powerful creatures in the forest decide not to attack them.

“Lord Linley, in this place, there are far too many thistles and far too much foliage. We can’t even clearly tell which direction we are going in.” After flying for a long time, both of them grew impatient. From the outside, the Necropolis of the Gods had seemed to only be ten thousand meters long, but inside, the space had expanded so dramatically. Linley and the others could only stare in amazement at this.

“Don’t worry. Be calm. Search calmly.” Linley whispered.

Suddenly…“Ah!!!”  A fierce, agonized scream could be heard from afar, and ravaged pieces of leaves blasted out from afar as well.

Linley and Barker glanced at each other, then quietly moved towards the direction of the battle. Soon, the two discovered an astonishing sight; an enormous flower was wrapped itself around and ‘biting’ a Saint, like a massive mouth trying to devour something. The insides of the flower were quivering; clearly, the Saint inside was trying to fight back.

But in just a few moments, the insides of the flower regained its normal calm.

That Saint had died already. “Man-eating?” Linley couldn’t help but frown.

In the Forest of Darkness, upon seeing that living, metallic castle, Linley had come to understand…that it wasn’t just humans and magical beasts which had life force. Even metals or plants could have intelligence, and sometimes were even more terrifying than humans.

“Lord?” Barker said in a hushed voice.

Linley gestured at him with his eyes. At this moment, Linley, too, had noticed…that some vines and thorns were slowly moving.

“These rattan vines are alive. Most likely, there’s some plant lifeform that wishes to kill us.” Linley quirked his lips. Against plant-type creatures, using the adamantine heavy sword probably wouldn’t be very effective. After all, even if one demolished half of the plant, the other half would still be alive.

But if one used a sharp, quick weapon such as Bloodviolet, the effect would be much better. 

“Rustle…”   Suddenly,  from  afar,  a  rattan  vine  dozens  of meters long suddenly shot out directly towards Linley and Barker, while at the same time, the vines wrapped around the various trees also left them, moving to surround Linley.

The vines in the grass also shot out.

In an instant…hundreds of rattan vines, thin or thick, covered the skies, attacking from above, from below, and from around them. Even the rattan vines in the mud snapped out. Linley and Barker had suddenly found themselves trapped within a prison of countless vines.

The countless rattan vines formed a giant, ten-meter wide green rattan sphere.

Linley and Barker were within that giant sphere.

“This will be troublesome.”  Linley tried to use his arms to push apart the rattan vines that were wrapped around him, but the rattan vines were extremely soft and pliable. They only bulged outward slightly. Raw strength alone simply wasn’t capable of breaking through this rattan vine cage. In addition, Linley had the sense that countless sharp needles were piercing out at his entire body from those rattan vines.

Although his ‘Pulseguard Defense’ was able to take it, his battle-qi was beginning to deplete at a rapid pace.

“Lord, I’m unable to break free.” Barker was frantic as well. He wanted to wield his greataxe, but the large number of rattan vines surrounding his arms made it impossible for him to wield it. The elasticity and endurance of those vines was simply terrifying. “Lord, what should we do?”

Barker was frantic.

Although he was powerful, the life force of these enormous rattan vines was even greater.

Suddenly… “Haha, the two of you, accept your death. After killing the two of you, I will kill three more, and then I’ll have enough corpses. Once I offer the corpses to his Lordship, I will also become a Deity. Don’t resist. You aren’t able to resist. The strength of you humans can’t possibly match mine.”  A thin,

wild voice echoed from within this rattan cage.

“Enough corpses?” Linley was shocked.

He was beginning to understand why all of these creatures in the Necropolis of the Gods wanted to kill them.

“Die.” That thin, sharp voice rang out again.

Linley sensed a terrifying force coming at him through the rattan vines. Every single one of the vines was exceedingly strong, and right now, hundreds or perhaps a thousand of them were exerting force at the same time. Even Linley and Barker felt themselves to be under tremendous pressure. The large number of vines coiling around Linley had caused his arms, legs, and draconic tail to be bound. Even when using all of his raw strength, he was only able to move slightly.

“You want to kill the two of us?” Linley laughed coldly, and then with a flick of his wrist…

A devilish purple light immediately flashed. Under the attack of the ‘Tempos of the Wind’, wherever Bloodviolet passed by, rattan vines immediately split apart. Linley’s Bloodviolet sword quickly transformed into a blur, and countless vines split apart. A desolate, miserable cry could be heard.

Those remaining, unbroken vines quickly fled at high speed.

Soon, those undamaged vines disappeared, while the shattered vines lay there on the floor, but continued to twitch as though they were living tentacles.

“Hrmph.” Linley stared at his surroundings. Linley was searching for the core of that plant life-form. And soon, Linley discovered some tiny tracks, but as he did, Linley could only shake his head and sigh. “This fellow’s main body is actually hidden under the ground. Killing him will be troublesome.”

Barker still felt some fear. “Lord Linley, if I were by myself and encountered this rattan life form, what could I have done? Bloodviolet is small and easy to use with but a flick of the wrist, but my greataxe is different. If I had to wield it with just my wrist, the attack power would have been weak and I wouldn’t be able to break apart those rattan vines.”

Linley nodded slightly.

Barker had huge strength and strong defense, and his greataxe was used for powerful chopping blows. But just then, with his entire body wrapped around by vines and his arms unable to move, it would have been very hard for him to break through the vines.

“Against this sort of plant life-forms, brute strength is far inferior to sharp weapons.” Linley glanced at Barker. 

“The main problem is that your understanding of the Laws is not very high. Even empty-handed, I could use the ‘Tempos of the Wind’ technique and use the edge of my hand to chop apart those rattan vines. Using the ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’ would also be sufficient to disintegrate those rattans.”  Linley reminded Barker, “In the Yulan continent, it is fine for you to

rely on your great strength and your mighty defense, but if you are to encounter any creatures with strange powers, you would really be in trouble.”

“Right.” Barker firmly took this lesson to heart.

“Let’s go.” Linley said.

But after the two had flown only a few dozen meters away, Linley suddenly turned and charged towards the ground as fast as a thunderbolt. He smashed down with his right hand like a heavy mace and delivered a vicious blow to the ground. The entire world seemed to tremble slightly. Profound Truths of the Earth – Throbbing Pulse of the World, 128 Layered Waves

This was Linley’s current limit, and it was far more powerful than his previous 256 layered waves.

“Ah!” A miserable cry could be heard from underground.

“Hrmph. You are fortunate to not die.” Linley quickly flew up again. “Barker, let’s go.”

When the rattan vines had fled, Linley had actually been able to more or less calculate the general location of the rattan life- form beneath the ground. But this was just a general area. As Linley saw it…this rattan life-form’s main body was undoubtedly huge.

Linley predicted where it probably was, and then delivered the ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’ into the center of that area. “Although I am not able to attack the heart of the creature, I should still be able to attack the general location it is in.” Linley had thought to himself. Indeed, as he had predicted, although he hadn’t struck the creature’s core and the rattan life-form had been lucky enough to survive, Linley still had caused it great harm.

Soon after their battle against the rattan life-form, Linley and Barker found where the second gateway was hidden. It was a set of stair surrounded by a large amount of vegetation. Linley and Barker climbed directly up the stairs, finally arriving at the entrance to the third floor.

“Be  careful.  Every  single  floor  potentially  has  the  divine beast, ‘Ba-Serpent’, within it. You cannot be too rash.” Linley reminded Barker.

“I know. If we discover the Ba-Serpent, I won’t even say a word.” Barker nodded.

Linley and Barker then headed directly into the third floor. Upon entering it, Linley and Barker both couldn’t help but shiver. It was too cold. This sort of cold, Linley and Barker had never felt before.

This was a world of ice.

Icebergs dotted the landscape like mountain ranges, and a large amount of white energy was flowing everywhere. When that white energy drew near them, Linley and Barker couldn’t help but shiver yet again.

“How can it be so cold?” Linley was secretly shocked. “I have both my Pulseguard Defense and my draconic scales, but I still feel cold. This is monstrous.”

But although both Linley and Barker thought this, they didn’t dare to make a sound. Before fully ascertaining whether or not this floor contained the divine beast, ‘Ba-Serpent’, the two wouldn’t dare to make any noise at all. Linley and Barker flew carefully.

Suddenly… “It is Eddins.”  Linley saw the Saint from not too far away. Right now, Eddins was currently flying carefully with two other Saints.

When Linley and Barker drew near them, Eddins seemed to have noticed Linley as well, and he hurriedly gestured at Linley with his eyes.

“What is it?” Linley was secretly surprised.

Eddins’ glance clearly conveyed that he was worried, while at the same time, he pointed in a certain direction.

Linley immediately looked towards the direction which Eddins was pointing at, and he saw what looked like a serpentine creature, covered with green scales. It was over ten meters thick, and as for length…Linley was only able to see a few dozen meters of its length. The rest of it was blocked off by the various icebergs. “Could that be the Ba-Serpent?” Linley’s heart shook.

Barker was astonished as well. He shared a glance with Linley, and they both flew cautiously and quietly. It wasn’t just them; Eddins and the other two Saints didn’t dare to make any noise at all either, afraid that they might awaken the terrifying divine beast, the Ba-Serpent.

After flying for a while, Linley was able to see the main part of the Ba-Serpent’s body.

The body of the Ba-Serpent was actually wrapped around a mountain-like iceberg, and one couldn’t see the end of its body. But the part wrapped around the iceberg alone had to be thousands of meters long. This was the physically largest magical beast which Linley had ever witnessed in his life. Normal magical beasts were at most a hundred meters long or so.

But the visible portion of this Ba-Serpent was already thousands of meters long. “Could it be that it is over ten thousand meters long?” Linley, Barker, and the others continued to fly about in search of the next gateway. Linley saw that from behind, more experts had entered the third floor as well. “I hope these people won’t awaken the Ba-Serpent. If we get dragged down by them somehow, that would be disastrous.”

There were now quite a few experts on the third floor. If a single one of them made noise, all of them would be doomed.

“The head of the Ba-Serpent.” Linley saw from afar a massive serpentine head, at least twenty meters high. The Ba-Serpent’s eyes were closed. Its breathing wasn’t very loud, but in the silent atmosphere of the third floor, Linley and the others could make it out very clearly.

When the Ba-Serpent was asleep, it would constantly emit puffs of black gas from its mouth. The black gas scattered towards the surrounding area like the wind, and whenever the black gas touched the nearby icebergs, the icebergs would immediately crumble into ground ice dust.

Chapter 12: The Ba-Serpent Awakens?

On the third floor of the Necropolis of the Gods, all the Saints were moving with the utmost of caution, not daring to make a single sound for fear of startling awake this slumbering, terrifying creature…the Ba-Serpent. In the entire third floor, the only sound was the soft, quiet snores of the slumbering Ba- Serpent.

“Whoosh. Hiss. Whoosh. Hiss.”

With each breath the Ba-Serpent took, scattered pieces of ice nearby were drawn into its mouth. Whenever it exhaled, black gas came flowing out.

“Fortunately, there are no other creatures on this third floor aside from the Ba-Serpent.” Linley cast a glance at the distant Ba-Serpent.

The ten-kilometer long scale-covered body of the Ba-Serpent, wrapped around that massive iceberg, had a massive head that was the height of a building with six or seven floors. From its closed eyelids came flashes of metallic, steel-like light. The feeling those dim flashes of light gave off alone made many Saints feel terror in their hearts.

After searching for a long time.

“Where is the passageway to the fourth floor?”  Linley was growing somewhat impatient.

Not just Linley. The other experts on the third floor were growing frantic as well. If they were forced to stay on the first or second floor for ten days or a month, they wouldn’t be too afraid, but this was the third floor. Even a few hours were difficult to bear.

If anyone made any loud sounds, this Ba-Serpent would definitely wake up.

Even if it didn’t wake up from noise, the Ba-Serpent might wake up on its own. If they just so happened to be here while the Ba-Serpent was awake, then the Saints wouldn’t even have the chance to cry before dying. 

“There are more and more people arriving on the third floor now.  There’s  over  thirty,  I  wager.”  Linley  turned  back  and glanced. Those experts that had been on the first or second floor were all all making their way to the third floor now. Nobody in the third floor had found the fourth floor entrance yet.

Naturally, the population in the third floor was continuing to increase.

“Whoosh.”

Although the Ba-Serpent’s breathing wasn’t very loud, it still struck at each person’s heart like a hammer.

“Desri, Tulily, and Fain came in first, but I haven’t seen them yet.”  Linley carefully moved past a flow of black gas, which brushed against a nearby iceberg. The iceberg immediately transformed into powder. The black gas which the Ba-Serpent exhaled was not to be touched.

“Desri and the others are experienced. Most likely, they have already found the entrance and have gone to the fourth floor already.”  Linley understood that while he had been searching for the gateway in the first floor, Desri and Fain probably had already begun moving up into the higher floors.

There was nothing for it. They had the benefit of experience.

A person drew near. It was Eddins. Linley looked questioningly at Eddins.

Eddins used a finger to point towards another direction, then a second direction, indicating that several of them would search in the first direction, while Linley and Barker were to search in the other direction.

Linley nodded. Eddins smiled, and then flew in the first direction with the other two Saints. Linley and Barker exchanged a glance, knowing what the other was thinking. They flew in the second direction. What mattered right now was finding that gateway!

Time passed, one minute at a time, one second at a time.

The experts in the third floor became more and more in number. From what Linley understood, by now, there were around forty of them. After all, there were only sixty or so human Saints, while the magical beasts numbered nearly twenty. Desri and Fain had already entered the fourth floor.

But if they continued to waste time like this, then the number of people here would naturally grow larger and larger.

“Eddins.” Linley looked to the distant Eddins.

Eddins and the other two shook their heads. Clearly, they hadn’t found the gateway. Linley also shook his head. Him and Barker had yet to find it either. 

Quite a few of the Saints who knew each other were exchanging messages through meaningful looks. Clearly, none of them had found the gateway. As time went on…Linley, Eddins, and the others grew more and more nervous. But this large group of people still couldn’t find the gateway.

“Impossible.”  Linley  frowned.  “This  third  floor  is  rather large, but with so many experts flying around searching for it, it’s impossible that we can’t find it.”

“The only possible explanation is…”

Linley looked towards the Ba-Serpent. “The passageway is next to the Ba-Serpent’s body!”

Ever since arriving at the third floor, every single Saint, upon seeing the Ba-Serpent, immediately moved away from it in terror. None of them dared to go near it. First, the Ba-Serpent was too terrifying. And second…the Ba-Serpent was surrounded by a large amount of black gas. The power of that black gas was simply too great. Even those extremely tough icebergs crumbled into dust upon touching it.

Nobody dared to go near the Ba-Serpent!

“But precisely because no one dares to go near it, that’s why there’s  a  chance  the  gateway  is  there.”  Linley  nudged  the nearby Barker, who looked questioningly at Linley.

Linley pointed towards the Ba-Serpent, then gave Barker a meaningful look before flying directly towards the Ba-Serpent. Barker didn’t hesitate either, immediately following behind Linley. Soon, the two arrived close to the Ba-Serpent’s body.

Many Saints saw Linley and Barker do this, and they frantically tried to signal them with their eyes, telling them to stay farther away.

It wasn’t because these Saints felt worried about them. It was because they feared that Linley and Barker would awaken the Ba-Serpent, and cause the deaths of all the Saints present! 

“Now that we are fairly close to the Ba-Serpent, let’s begin flying alongside its body and try our best to search for the gateway.” Linley pulled Barker, not letting him go any closer to the Ba-Serpent, and then the two of them began to fly around the Ba-Serpent’s massive body, trying to search for that opening.

They started from the safest area, near the tail of the serpent.

Saints were very intelligent. Seeing Linley and Barker do this, many Saints suddenly understood. They, too, now guessed…that perhaps the opening was next to the Ba- Serpent’s body. Immediately, many other Saints drew near and began to carefully search as well.

“Rumble…”

The Ba-Serpent moved. Its enormous body actually moved. “The  Ba-Serpent  woke  up!”  Linley’s  face  instantly  turned ugly to behold. Barker’s face, as well, immediately turned pale, without a hint of color. The Saints that had been in the process of searching close to the Ba-Serpent’s massive body, in virtually the same instant, disappeared like locusts, flashing away from

the Ba-Serpent’s vicinity.

Without hesitating at all…

Linley and Barker flew back at high speed to the entrance to the second floor. After all, right now, there was only two ways to escape. One was to return to the second floor through the gateway to the second floor. The other method was to immediately go to the fourth floor.

“But…”

Nobody knew where the fourth floor’s gateway was. Without any other options, they had to return to the second floor as fast as possible!

“Quick, quick!” Linley was frantic. “We’re out of time!” At this moment, Linley’s mind suddenly flashed back to Delia, who was still waiting for him back at the Yulan continent, as well as his two children, Taylor and Sasha. Linley wasn’t the only one frightened; the other Saints were frightened as well.

But…

“Wait a second.” Linley suddenly halted.

He had once more heard that sound of snoring, the sound of the Ba-Serpent’s snoring. After Linley halted, Barker flew a short while, realized Linley wasn’t flying, and turned back.

“The Ba-Serpent didn’t wake up.” Linley was surprised.

Linley wasn’t the only one to discover this. Many of the other fleeing Saints had discovered this as well. All of them began to fly back. If the Ba-Serpent really had woken up, how could it possibly have let them cross that long distance from its body to the opening as easily as that?

Seeing that the Ba-Serpent was still slumbering, many Saints didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.

Linley and Barker exchanged a glance, both grinning.

“So it just rolled over in its sleep.” Linley could tell that the position of the Ba-Serpent’s body had moved slightly.

Many Saints hesitated only a short while before once more drawing near the Ba-Serpent and once more searching carefully around it. In just a short period of time, a Saint discovered the location of the gateway. Linley and Barker could both clearly see seven Saints standing there in mid-air, staring at a location next to the Ba-Serpent’s head.

“Could it be there?” Linley and Barker both flew over. Indeed…

The Ba-Serpent’s head was facing the cliff of that giant iceberg. The black breath of the Ba-Serpent was rapidly crumbling the cliff of the giant iceberg, revealing a passageway within it. The stairs were easy to spot.

“So  it  is  here.  How  terrible.”  Linley  and  Barker  shared  a glance. They both had a terrible feeling.

Just then, before the Ba-Serpent had turned over, the head of the Ba-Serpent had been resting against the other side. If they had found the tunnel then, they’d have to go close to the Ba- Serpent’s head, true, but it would be towards the back of the head. Linley and the others still would have been able to soundlessly sneak past.

But now…

The Ba-Serpent’s head was directly facing that passageway, and with each breath, that black gas blew towards the stairs. In addition, a large amount of black gas was still circulating around in that area.

It would be very hard to reach the passageway to the fourth floor!

“Right now, there’s only two ways we can enter the fourth floor.” Linley frowned. “The first is to rely on speed to dodge past the black gas and charge straight through to the stairs and enter the fourth floor quickly. The second method is…” Linley raised his head.

This iceberg was enormous.

Clearly, the stairs were continuing to the top.

Linley expected that stairs ended somewhere in the middle of the iceberg mountain. They could drill a hole down through the iceberg mountain and directly reach the insides of the iceberg mountain, then look for the entrance to the fourth floor. 

“But drilling through the mountain would definitely create noise.” Linley was rather worried.

Just as Linley was hesitating, two black shadows suddenly charged towards the black-energy shrouded entrance. Those two black shadows were very fast and agile. Despite the density of the black gas…one of the shadows was touched by the black gas, but the other made it onto the stairs.

“Shadowshape  Doppelganger  Technique!”   Linley  said  to himself.

Just then, that person had relied on the Shadowshape Doppelganger Technique to risk his life and pass through the black gas blocking the stairs.

“Can’t keep wasting time like this. If we keep wasting time, the Ba-Serpent will have breathed even more times and the black gas surrounding the tunnel will become even denser. Once it totally blocks off the entrance, then there won’t be any chance to go in at all.” Linley ground his teeth. 

He glanced at the nearby Barker, who nodded back at Linley.

All of the forty-plus experts present understood that they couldn’t waste any more time. The more time they wasted, the less of a chance they would have.

“Whoosh!”   A  flash  of  light  suddenly  sped  towards  the entrance at high speed. With but a flash, the person entered the tunnel. Yet another Saint had passed through and entered the fourth floor.

Although the black gas was very dense and seemingly dangerous, all of the Saints present had their own consummate techniques, and thus still had a high chance of making it past.

After two had made it past, the forty-plus remaining Saints all felt their confidence increase. Yet another Saints transformed into a blur and streaked towards the tunnel entrance. Linley recognized this Saint; it was the War God’s disciple, Eddins. Eddins was extremely fast, but suddenly, with a ‘puff’, Eddins was suddenly caught in a pincer by two flows of black gas. There was no way for him to dodge at all.

Instantly…

The terrified Eddins opened his mouth, as though he wanted to let out a scream of pain, but he didn’t even have the chance to make a sound. The black gas surrounded him, and then he crumbled into tiny pieces. Not even his soul was left.

“Eddins, he…” Linley’s heart contracted violently. This black gas was too terrifying.

The faces of the forty-plus other Saints instantly turned pale. This black gas was too terrifying. Although they had guessed at how strong it was, they hadn’t imagined that just by touching it, even someone with Eddins’ power wouldn’t be able to withstand it for half a second. Even his soul had been destroyed. The mood was gloomier than ever before. On the third floor, only the Ba-Serpent’s slumbering snores could be heard.

Chapter 13: True Awakening! The Impending Calamity!

What to do?

All of the Saints were pondering this question. The situation was clear. That black gas couldn’t be touched at all. Touching it meant death.

“Even Eddins wasn’t able to withstand it for even a moment. Perhaps even I wouldn’t be able to hold on for a second.” Linley knew very well that this divine beast, the ‘Ba-Serpent’, was a full God-level Deity. The gas it breathed out carried just the slightest hint of its power, but the power of a God, even just a hint of it…wasn’t something these Saints could withstand.

Suddenly…

Three people simultaneously charged towards the gateway to the second floor. Clearly, they wanted to return to the second floor. “Gave up?” Linley glanced at them.

These people were returning to the second floor. Clearly, they were giving up this opportunity and preparing to stay on the second floor for the ten full years. After ten years, they would leave the Necropolis of the Gods.

“Giving up means giving up all of the treasures of the Necropolis of the Gods as well, but they will at least have their lives.” Linley wasn’t able to determine if these people made the right choice or the wrong choice, but Linley himself didn’t wish to give up. Until the last moment came, he wouldn’t give up.

Seeing the three leave, another five of the forty people present left as well, returning to the second floor.

Only thirty or so people were now left on the third floor.

“Swish.” A shadow flashed past, paying no mind to the black gas as it charged in. Clearly, this Saint was extremely nimble. He quite agilely dodged past the gas, and in the twinkling of an eye, ascended the stairs. Yet another expert had entered the fourth floor.

But the next person, his face grim, who had charged out was suddenly surrounded by that randomly flowing black gas.

“Whooosh.” The Ba-Serpent’s breathing continued unabated.

The middle-aged man was transformed into crumbled bits, not even his soul remaining.

All of the experts remaining had very solemn looks on their faces. They had a look of determination in their eyes. Yet another Saint charged down, but this one’s luck was very bad. It just so happened that several waves of black gas joined together and blocked off the entire passageway.

He could only watch as the black gas surrounded him. Yet another man had died. “The longer we wait, the more black gas there will be in the passageway. There’s no pattern to the movements of the black gas. If I fly over just when the black gas is sealing off the gateway, then I’ll be finished.”  Linley knew that this was no longer a matter of speed or agility. It was also a matter of luck.

Linley glanced the nearby Barker.

The two shared a look, then nodded.

It was time to prepare to go down.

“Whoooosh.” “Hisssss.”

The Ba-Serpent continued to snore, and that sound was a sound which seemed to ring throughout this third floor. The atmosphere surrounding of the thirty remaining Saints, by contrast, seemed extremely grim and terrible. If one was unlucky, one’s soul would be destroyed and wouldn’t even have the chance to become a departed spirit in the Netherworld. “Swoosh!”  The next person was that burly man Linley had sparred with, Clay. Clay moved like a bolt of lightning, going in an arced line towards the tunnel entrance. Clay was extremely lucky; he dodged all of the flows of black gas and strode onto the stairway.

Clay had a hint of a smile on his face. He glanced back at the other Saints, then went up.

“This is the moment.” Linley noticed that the black gas had revealed a fairly large opening, and immediately prepared to charge. But there was someone who was even faster than Linley, and charged down before Linley did, forcing Linley to come to a halt.

Indeed, because the opening was fairly large, that Saint had managed to seize the opportunity to charge through.

Just as that Saint was letting out a sigh of relief, he suddenly felt enormous pain. Lowering his head, he saw that an extremely thin current of black gas had wrapped around his right foot, and that his right foot had already transformed into powder. 

At the same time…

Stretching up from his right foot, his entire right leg instantly disintegrated. By the time this Saint reacted to what was going on, his entire body below his chest had disintegrated.

The feeling of his soul suffering extreme anguish caused this Saint to let out an uncontrollable scream of pain.

“Ah!!!”  A piercing, agonized howl pierced through the calm of the third floor.

The pain he felt was so great that it was worse than being cut by ten million knives. The Saint didn’t want to make any noise, but he simply couldn’t endure it. He had never suffered pain like this before…

The faces of all the Saints present instantly changed. No blood could be seen in their faces. 

They were finished!

“Flee!” Someone let out a sudden, angry roar. By now, it no longer made a difference if they made any noise at all.

The thirty-plus Saints were like a flock of terrified sheep as they wildly began to flee at their maximum speed.

But with a terrifying rumbling sound, the ten-kilometer long body of the Ba-Serpent suddenly began to move, and as it did, the massive, tough iceberg mountain exploded into tiny pieces.

The entire iceberg mountain shattered apart, revealing the passageway that had been hidden within it. The exit of that passageway….was like a little window hanging in mid-air.

The exploding iceberg mountain carried with it an irresistible amount of force in the shards it sprayed everywhere. Many of the Saints were struck by the ice and knocked flying backwards while they vomited blood. Each piece of ice contained within it a terrifying amount of force.

“Terrible.”  Linley felt that he was like a soldier who was dodging an endless rain of arrows. Large pieces of crushed ice transformed into countless streaks of light, blasting in each directions.

“Barker.” Linley’s face suddenly changed greatly.

Barker’s dodging abilities weren’t comparable to Linley’s. He finally was struck by a large piece of ice.

The ice itself wasn’t frightening. What was frightening was the enormous power with which it had been hurled out.

“Bang.” The piece of ice shattered apart, knocking Barker backwards. Barker spat out a large mouthful of blood. “Lord, flee, hurry!” A weak voice escaped from Barker’s mouth. The apocalypse had descended upon the third floor.

The previously slumbering Ba-Serpent’s metallic eyelids opened. His dark, enormous eyes which had a hint of blue in them swept the surrounding area with a glance.

The Ba-Serpent had awoken!

Just a casual movement of its body had contained such terrifying force. If the Ba-Serpent had truly been trying to kill these Saints just then, would any of them have been able to flee?

“You want to go in?” The Ba-Serpent raised its head, staring at entrance to the fourth floor which was located above it.

At this moment, someone was charging towards the entrance at high speed. Clearly…this person was trying to enter the fourth floor. If Linley raised his head to look, he would have seen that this was the Prodigy Sword Saint, Olivier. But he had been noticed by the Ba-Serpent. 

“Swish!”

The Ba-Serpent’s eyes emitted two rays of dark blue light. Given the speed of these two rays of dark light, Olivier definitely would die.

But suddenly, Olivier’s body was surrounded on one side by a cover of black battle-qi, and on the other side by a cover of white battle-qi. His speed suddenly tripled, and with a ‘hiss’ sound, his two severed legs fell down from the sky.

But Olivier himself flew into the fourth floor.

Those two rays of dark light originally should have pierced into Olivier’s chest, but Olivier’s sudden increase in speed caused these two rays of dark light to only strike his legs. Two holes had appeared in his legs, which had quickly began to grow at an appalling speed.

But Olivier was very decisive. 

He had cut off his own two legs!

If that Saint who had his foot brushed by black gas had known how powerful the black gas was and had immediately severed his leg, he might have been able to preserve his life.

“None of you will escape.”  The Ba-Serpent rose up, staring around itself.

Right now, there were two Saints who had already reached the exit to the second floor, but just as they were about to enter, for no reason whatsoever, their bodies suddenly turned into ice, and then, like cracked ice, suddenly shattered into dozens of pieces.

The other experts on the third floor now felt true despair.

“That bastard dragged our entire group down.” Linley felt his heart tremble. 

Terror!

Right, Linley was currently terrified!

The Ba-Serpent hadn’t even moved, but two Saints who had already reached the entrance to the second floor had suddenly died. What technique had the Ba-Serpent used? Linley didn’t know. And this not knowing was what was so terrifying.

“Perhaps in the next instant, I will be suddenly frozen as well.”

“I don’t even know where Barker is right now.” Linley’s heart was filled with bitterness.

Linley suddenly gritted his teeth.

No time to worry about anything else. Even if he died, he’d die trying. 

Linley’s hands were currently wielding Bloodviolet and the adamantine heavy sword. Linley raised his head to stare at the entrance up high. At this moment, Linley was only a few thousand meters away from the entrance to the fourth floor. This sort of distance, Linley could cross in the blink of an eye.

“Swish!”  A human form shot towards the entrance to the fourth floor at high speed.

But in mid-air, the Ba-Serpent’s eyes once more shot out with those two rays of dark light, piercing through the man’s head. Yet another Saint died.

“Everyone, together…”  A Saint didn’t even have the chance to finish his words before, just like that, he died.

The Ba-Serpent’s eyes stared with amusement at the dead person. The Ba-Serpent wasn’t in a hurry to kill those people. He had just taken a long nap. Now that he was awakened, it would be somewhat diverting for him to play with these ants in front of him. 

“Swish!” “Swish!”

Several human forms charged towards the skies. One of them was the Dragonformed Linley.

From the Ba-Serpent’s eyes, each eye shot out four rays of dark light in succession. A total of eight rays of dark light suddenly shot out at the eight people, Linley included. The others were unable to do what Olivier had done and suddenly triple their speed.

One human figure after another died in mid-air.

One of the rays of blue light was striking towards Linley’s head. Linley felt a sort of dread in his heart. Without question…once he was struck by the blue light, he would definitely die. In the last instant, Linley suddenly brandished Bloodviolet. “Clang!”  Linley moved like a flash of lightning, scurrying into the fourth floor’s entrance.

Of the eight people present, seven died, one survived.

“Eh?” The Ba-Serpent raised his head in a surprise glance, and then murmured softly, “Intriguing. I didn’t expect to find so many wonderful surprises amongst this group of humans. One of them was capable of simultaneously using the Laws of Darkness and Light, while this one…actually has such an incredibly precious divine artifact.”

……

This was a world of snow, endless snow.

Linley stood in the middle of the blizzard, panting. Even now, his heart was still gripped by fear. Just then…Linley had seen the cold, remorseless eyes of the Ba-Serpent as it had shot out those rays of dark light. The little bit of power he had gained from his understanding of the Laws, in front of such an attack, was nothing but a joke! 

What to do?

“It saved my life.” Linley looked at the Bloodviolet sword in his hands. This was truly a divine artifact.

Although the adamantine heavy sword was very tough, it still couldn’t be described as a divine artifact. Thus, in the last moment, Linley had chosen to use Bloodviolet to block that ray of dark light. Bloodviolet hadn’t disappointed Linley. When that ray of dark blue light had struck Bloodviolet, it only made Bloodviolet tremble once; it didn’t damage Bloodviolet at all.

“The ray of dark blue light didn’t possess any impact force.

What it only had was a strange devouring force.”

Linley stared carefully at Bloodviolet. It was the same as it had always been. Linley knew that Bloodviolet was no ordinary weapon…because from that day when he had first activated its baleful aura, Linley had discovered those large amounts of corpses, many of which emanated an aura that surpassed that of living Saint-level magical beasts. 

This was the weapon of a Deity. As to whether Bloodviolet’s former owner was a Demigod, a full God, or a Highgod, Linley had no idea.

But Linley believed that for this divine artifact shouldn’t be damaged so easily by the God-level Ba-Serpent’s attack.

Linley had bet his life on it, and he had betted correctly. He had survived.

“But Barker…”  Linley looked back at the nearby entrance. Below the entrance was the third floor, and Barker was still there. Linley, however, wasn’t able to do anything. In front of the Ba-Serpent, he had no ability resist whatsoever.

“I didn’t expect that you would survive as well.” A cold voice rang out from nearby.

Linley turned to look. 

Olivier was currently sitting on the snowy ground, his twin leg stumps surrounded by an aura of white light. At the same time, they were quickly regrowing. By now, they had already regenerated to the knees.

Chapter 14: The World of Snow

Olivier’s face was currently very pale. Just then, he had used all the power available to him, but the price of tripling his speed was not a low one. And with the loss of both his legs… Olivier was currently in very bad shape.

“Why aren’t you leaving?” Olivier raised his head, staring at Linley.

Linley just stood there, in no hurry to leave. He could tell that at present, Olivier’s strength had dropped dramatically. With his legs gone, Olivier’s movement ability in any battle with enemies would drop greatly as well. Although he could fly…flying while lacking two legs would make one’s agility drop by half.

“Thank you.” After a long silence, Olivier said these two words. And then, he focused on healing his wounds.

Linley’s heart was in great pain right now. He turned back to look at the third floor. “Barker…if Barker truly died, then if in the future, his wife Leena, their two kids, Gates, and the other brothers ask me…” Linley felt helpless.

In front of the divine beast, Ba-Serpent, he had been lucky to even stay alive.

There was no way Linley could have saved Barker at all.

“I hope that Barker’s luck was as good as mine. Perhaps he will enter the fourth floor, or flee back to the second floor.” Linley stood there without moving, partially to help Olivier protect against any creatures from attacking him, and partially because he wanted to wait…

Wait to see if Barker would come out into the fourth floor as well.

After a long while… “I’m done.” Olivier stood up and glanced at Linley, not saying anything else. He immediately transformed into a blur as he flew high into the sky.

Linley stood there for another half hour. In the end, he finally let out a long sigh before flying into the air as well.

The frozen ground was blanketed with white snow, and it was also dotted with many large, proudly standing trees. The snow covered these trees with a layer of silver decoration. After flying for a while, Linley saw a familiar face. It was Clay, who had sparred with him at War God Mountain.

“Linley.”  Clay laughed as he flew over. “I thought that you had already…below…”

“I just entered the fourth floor. The person after you let out a scream of pain, and the Ba-Serpent woke up.” Linley shook his head. “I was only lucky, but my good friend Barker…”

Clay said consolingly, “Don’t be too sad. Soon after I entered the fourth floor, I discovered Olivier with his legs severed. From him, I learned that the Ba-Serpent had woken up. I thought that all of you had been killed by the Ba-Serpent. It’s already very lucky that you survived. Your friend would feel happy for you as well.”

Linley nodded.

The two flew side by side, and Clay cautioned, “Stop thinking about your friend. This fourth floor is extremely dangerous as well. If you are distracted and die as a result of it, that would be a terrible waste.”

Linley suddenly came to himself. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head a few times. “Got it.”

“Fain told me that in the past, they had retreated to the fifth floor. This Necropolis of the Gods has eighteen floors in total. In the top eleven floors, every five floors represents one ‘layer’. The first four floors aren’t too dangerous, while the fifth floor is  actually  the  least  dangerous  of  the  entire  layer.”   Clay explained. Clay had been alive for much longer than Linley. He knew many more things as well.

“Oh? The fifth floor is the safest of the first five floors?” Linley was surprised.

“Right. From what Fain told me, according to the War God, every five floors is a layer. The danger from the first to the fifth floor is fairly average, while the sixth to the tenth floors are extremely dangerous. Even Fain could die at any time.”  Clay reminded.

Linley nodded. In the future, he would be extremely careful.

“The sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth layers are all extremely dangerous. Compared to these four floors, the tenth floor is actually less dangerous by comparison.” Clay laughed.

Linley memorized these words. This was all information which Fain had no doubt received from the War God. The War God had definitely passed through the first ten floors. Naturally, he knew the situation in these floors.

“Five floors a layer, with the fifth floor being the safest floor of the first layer, while the tenth floor is the safest floor of the second layer.” Linley suddenly had a strange feeling. “It seems as though the safe level is to allow everyone some time to prepare.”

Clearly, the sixth floor would suddenly rise greatly in difficulty and danger.

The eleventh floor was a place where there were corpses of Deities and divine sparks. As long as one wasn’t a fool, one would understand…the eleventh floor was most likely far more dangerous than the earlier floors.

While flying past the snowy landscape, Clay laughed, “Only in the first five floors can we rely on our personal strength to fight through those various life forms. Once we reach the sixth floor…we will have to rely on our intelligence, our strength, and our luck, all combined.” Linley nodded.

In the past, Desri and Fain had been so frightened that they didn’t dare to enter the sixth floor. They had hidden in the fifth floor until the ten years were up.

“Whooosh.”

There was a pile of snow below. Suddenly, a creature erupted from beneath the snow, flashing at Clay like a white flash of lightning. Clay’s body instantly turned metallic, then with a furious roar, his right fist directly down towards that attacking creature.

“Bang!”

The fist slammed directly against a furry palm. Clay was sent flying backwards at high speed, while that furry creature also landed hard against the ground.

“Such    enormous    power.”     Clay    inwardly    sighed    in amazement.

Linley looked down with surprise as well at that furry creature. Linley had sparred with Clay before, and he knew how physically powerful Clay was. “Clay is ten times as powerful as Haydson was, and his defense is comparable to Barker’s. But he was only on par with this creature.”

The creature below suddenly stood up like a human would.

“A bear?” Linley stared with shock at the creature below and spoke out.

That seemingly bear-like magical beast was covered with white fur, but he had a black ring of fur lining his eyes, as though someone had punched his eyes and made them swell. Actually, that made this furry magical beast seem very adorable. 

“I’m not a stupid bear. I’m a Snowy Panda-Cat.” That furry magical beast rebuked.

“Swoosh!”  At this moment, the Snowy Panda-Cat suddenly rose up again, this time charging straight at Linley…like a flash of white light, the Snowy Panda-Cat arrived in front of Linley. Linley couldn’t help but be shocked by its speed.

“Whap!”

Linley’s draconic tail, glittering with metallic light, struck against the Snowy Panda-Cat. The sudden attack by the draconic tail was extremely fast, not giving the Snowy Panda- Cat any chance to respond at all.

“Bang.” The Snowy Panda-Cat slammed into the snowy ground again, while at the same time, a hint of blood appeared atop its pure white fur over its chest. The Snowy Bear stared at Linley, then at Clay, before finally bending over on all fours, then scampering away. He had fled!

Linley and Clay both couldn’t help but laugh.

“This  Snowy  Panda-Cat  is  really  amusing.  After  a  simple exchange  of  blows,  he  immediately  fled.”   But  Linley  was shocked by the power of the Snowy Panda-Cat. Its strength wasn’t one whit inferior to the Worldbear, but its speed was far greater.

No wonder why it was called the Snowy Panda-Cat, and had the word ‘cat’ in its name.

“Haha…if I had to fight this Snowy Panda-Cat by myself, it would really be troublesome. The Snowy Panda-Cat’s speed seems to be faster than mine.” Clay chuckled bitterly. “Linley, I have the feeling that at most, I’ll be able to rest on the fifth floor. The sixth floor, I probably won’t be able to break through.”

“Enough. Let’s first find the tunnel.”  Linley flew alongside Clay, searching for the tunnel. 

The Snowy Panda-Cats on this fourth floor were very strange. Aside from a few of the Snowy Panda-Cats that would suddenly attack, most of the Snowy Panda-Cats didn’t attack them at all. Instead, most of them were just rolled up into a ball and sleeping on the snow. At first, Linley and Clay had been worried, but afterwards, they felt more relaxed.

“Listen up, the two of you.” Suddenly, an ancient voice rang out.

Linley and Clay, in mid-flight, started, then immediately turning to look at location from which the voice rang out from.

Beneath them was a Snowy Panda-Cat that was only one meter tall that was staring calmly at Linley and Clay. Although the Snowy Panda-Cats were much smaller than Worldbears, they were usually two or three meters tall at their full height. But this Snowy Panda-Cat was only a meter tall.

“This  Snowy  Panda-Cat  is  extremely  dangerous.”   Linley immediately became guarded. This Snowy Panda-Cat, although physically small, gave Linley a sense of danger, not too far from the feeling which the War God and the others gave him.

The ancient voice of the Snowy Panda-Cat rang out again. “I am the clan leader of this clan of Snowy Panda-Cats.”

Linley and Clay exchanged glances. Snowy Panda-Cats had clan leaders?

“Remember. On this fourth floor, as long as my children do not attack you, you are not to attack them either. If you kill any of them, then don’t blame me for acting viciously against you.” With a flip of the Snowy Panda-Cat’s hand, a bamboo flute suddenly appeared.

Right. A bamboo flute.

“Is  he  going  to  play  the  flute?”   Linley  had  never  seen someone who was able to injure someone else by playing the flute. 

But Linley and Clay both felt that this old fellow in front of them posed an enormous threat. They didn’t dare to say anything, and so Clay hurriedly said, “Don’t worry. Just then, when that Snowy Panda-Cat attacked us, we didn’t go full force against it either. As long as your citizens don’t attack us, we

definitely won’t attack your children either.”

“The passageway to the fifth level is over there, next to that giant tree. The passageway is inside the giant tree.” The leader of the Snowy Panda-Cats pointed towards the distant tree.

Linley and Clay immediately began to fly in that direction.

Seeing Linley and Clay leave, the leader of the Snowy Panda- Cats let out a long sigh. His clan of Snowy Panda-Cats had been placed here on the fourth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods, which was like being placed in a prison. As the leader of this clan of Snowy Panda-Cats, he wasn’t able to do anything about that. Given his current level of strength, it wouldn’t be too hard for him to kill many outsiders and then exchange their corpses for the divine spark of a Demigod. But he didn’t want to do this. The reason was, only he had the power to threaten and frighten experts on Linley’s level.

“If I become a Deity and leave, then these children will die soon afterwards as well.” The Snowy Panda-Cat leader let out a long sigh.

He, too, was a Prime Saint, only a single step away from becoming a Deity. But the power of this leader of the Snowy Panda-Cats was greater than that of the Five Prime Saints. This was because the profound truths he had gained insight into were different from that of others. It was much like how Linley…trained in the Throbbing Pulse of the World. In terms of attack power, it surpassed the insights which most others had gained.

The profound truths this leader of the Snowy Panda-Cats had gained insight into was one of the rarest types of profound truths of the Elemental Laws of the Wind. The fifth floor. The world of fire.

Linley and Clay, immediately upon arriving in this floor, felt themselves being attacked by waves of heat. This center of this fifth floor was a volcano, while the surrounding area was filled with desolate lava flows. It was an empty land…one could see off into the distance easily.

But the temperature of the lava flows here was very high.

“Boss!” A black shadow suddenly flew over at high speed.

“Bebe.”  Linley could clearly feel that it was Bebe who was flying over. Bebe leaped directly into Linley’s arms, his eyes turning misty. “Boss, I arrived at the fifth floor long ago. I’ve been waiting for you here the entire time. Desri and the others said that you encountered the Ba-Serpent on the third floor. I’ve been worried about you the entire time, Boss.”

Linley couldn’t help but think back to what happened on the third floor, his heart once more filled with fear. 

“Fortunately, nothing happened. Wonderful.” Bebe’s face was all smiles.

Bebe’s experience had been much easier than Linley’s. He hadn’t encountered the Ba-Serpent, and the attacks of the undead and the other creatures simply didn’t pose any threat to Bebe at all.

“Hey, Boss, where’s Barker? Isn’t Barker with you?”  Bebe suddenly wondered.

Linley’s face froze. The look on his face couldn’t help but become somewhat ugly, and his eyes had a hint of pain in them.

Bebe was intelligent. Seeing Linley’s reaction, Bebe was able to guess what happened. “Boss, Barker, he…could it be on the third floor…?” Linley let out a sigh. “Right. On the third floor, the Ba-Serpent woke up. We didn’t have the ability to fight back at all. I was lucky and managed to rely on Bloodviolet to flee to the fourth floor. As for Barker…” Linley’s voice grew low, and in the end, he wasn’t able to continue.

Chapter 15: Eight Years in the Necropolis

Waves of heat permeated the fifth floor. It was hard to even see people in the distance, due to the distorted air.

“Linley, hurry on over!” A familiar voice rang out from afar. Linley couldn’t help but turn to look towards the voice. The distant figure was very blurry, but Linley was still able to tell that the person standing in the distance was the Senior Apprentice of the War God’s College, ‘Fain’.

Although Linley was very dispirited, his will was still very firm.

In a place like the Necropolis of the Gods, unless you chose to give up, your only choice was to harden your faith in yourself and continue, one step at a time.

“Bebe,  let’s  head  on  over.”  Linley  said  calmly,  and  Bebe immediately jumped onto Linley’s shoulders. Transforming into a blur, Linley quickly arrived at the place where the many experts had gathered. Not only Fain was there. Desri, Rosarie, Tulily, and Rutherford were there as well. All five of the Prime Saints were together.

Aside from the five of them, there were three of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions as well.

“Now that the two of you are here, everyone is present.” Desri said with a calm laugh.

Linley couldn’t help but feel puzzled. What did that mean?

Everyone was now present?

“Linley, come, sit.” Fain gestured. “I heard that in the lower floors, the Ba-Serpent woke up. That truly is a calamity. Fortunately, you survived. Now, let’s discuss the matter of ascending to the sixth floor.”

Linley came to a rest, sitting down cross-legged. To Linley’s scales, the waves of blazing heat coming from below didn’t pose much of a threat.

“You aren’t going to discuss things with those people?” Bebe pointed in confusion to another group of men and magical beasts off in the distance.

Over thirty experts had survived and made it to the fifth floor. Amongst them were over ten magical beasts, with a similar number in men. Originally, there had been sixty human experts of the eighty plus experts present, but thirty or so had died on the third floor, and several had most likely died on the first and second floor as well. The ten or so remaining people were probably hiding on the second floor, not daring to enter the third floor again.

“Them?” The severe-looking Tulily said calmly, “If they get involved, they’ll only disturb us.”

Linley immediately understood. Glancing at the distant Olivier   and   Hayward,   he   thought   to   himself,   “Tulily’s intentions are very clear. Only these ten experts are the cream of the crop. Bebe and I aren’t any weaker than them. As for those three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, their power is also unfathomable. As for Olivier, Hayward, the disciples of the War God’s College, and the various magical beast experts…they are at least a level lower in power.”

In a place like this, the top tier experts naturally would form a unit.

Those twenty plus slightly weaker experts formed into a second unit.

Although the second unit contained people like Desri’s good friends, ‘Hayward’ and ‘Higginson’, along with several fellow disciples of Fain’s, and two of Tulily’s apprentices, there was nothing that could be done.

“Linley, Bebe, Cleo [Ke’li’ao] and your two brothers, you five probably aren’t that familiar with the sixth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods. Let me explain.”  Desri said solemnly. “Bebe, you saw just a while ago that the only creatures here on the fifth floor are a few ‘Magma Demons’. In terms of power, they are only comparable to the likes of Hayward.” “Magma Demons?” Linley was puzzled.

He had never seen any Magma Demons. Desri looked at Linley.  “Linley,  you  didn’t  come  in  time.  Those  Magma Demons are formed from lava, and are roughly comparable to a human in size and shape. They are extremely strong and possess great defense, but they are a bit slow. Their power…is most likely comparable to your good friend Barker, although their defense is perhaps a bit weaker than Barker’s.”

Linley now had a clear understanding of these creatures.

“The fifth floor is the weakest floor of the first five. Those Magma  Demons  have  already  been  destroyed  by  us.”  Desri continued. “This fifth floor is a floor for us to prepare and rest. But soon, we will be entering the sixth floor…”

Linley, Bebe, and the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions were listening carefully. On the sixth floor, the danger level would rise dramatically, far beyond that of the fifth floor.

“The sixth floor is a world filled with lava and rocks. There is a powerful creature there; the Flame Tyrant.”

Flame Tyrant?

“To be precise, this Flame Tyrant is hundreds of meters tall, and his body is composed of countless tough boulders. His strength is boundless, and his defense has also reached a terrifying level.” Desri’s face was solemn. “Most importantly of all, he wields a Bloodlust Greataxe. If any of us are hit by that greataxe, we will most likely die.”

Linley’s heart twitched.

As long as one was hit, one would die. That was too terrifying. “And that’s not all. Aside from the Flame Tyrant, the sixth floor also has hundreds of Magma Demons.” Desri’s face grew even  more  solemn.  “One  or  two  Magma  Demons  aren’t  a problem, but hundreds of Magma Demons are extremely dangerous.”

Linley felt himself at a loss for words.

“Hundreds  of  Magma  Demons.  Isn’t  that  equivalent  to hundreds of Undying Warriors?” Linley was inwardly shocked. “Although these Magma Demons have slightly weaker defense than an Undying Warrior, there are hundreds of them. That is simply terrifying.”

Desri continued, “These large numbers of Magma Demons all obey the orders of the Flame Tyrant. Actually, I have a feeling…that the Flame Tyrant is an evolved form of the Magma Demons. Think about it. They are all formed from lava rocks, except the Flame Tyrant is as massive as a mountain, while Magma Demons are the size of a human.”

The nearby Rutherford laughed coldly. “A Flame Tyrant is essentially a Magma Demon magnified hundreds of times over. Its strength and attack power is also hundreds of times that of a Magma Demon.”

Linley and Bebe looked at each other.

“Boss, those Magma Demons really were strong, on par with Barker. If the Flame Tyrant’s power is hundreds of times greater than the Magma Demons’…”  Bebe’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind. Linley maintained his silence.

Linley now had a clear understanding of what the sixth floor was like.

The sixth floor’s adversary was a Flame Tyrant who commanded hundreds of Magma Demons. The Flame Tyrant itself was like a mountain, and had the power to smash a mountain to dust with a single punch. Nobody could withstand that sort of power.

Desri was silent for a long time. After Linley and the others had fully absorbed this news, Desri continued, “None of us are a match for the Flame Tyrant by ourselves. Only if we join forces and work together will we be able to charge into the sixth floor.”

Linley nodded slightly.

“Three thousand years ago, we did battle against the Flame Tyrant.” Desri said.

The eyes of Linley, Bebe, and the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni- Lions lit up. Only with experience could one form a good strategy on how to deal with the Flame Tyrant.

“In truth, last time, it was Fain and Tulily who attacked the Flame Tyrant. As for the rest of us, we were sent fleeing by a swarm of Magma Demons.” Desri added. Three thousand years ago, he hadn’t even had the chance to touch the Flame Tyrant.

Fain spoke. “Of the five of us, Tulily possesses the strongest attack.” No one disputed this.

Linley couldn’t help but look at this person, the number one expert of the great plains of the far east, the man known as the ‘War  Saint’,  Tulily.  Tulily  said  calmly,  “The  defense  of  the Flame Tyrant is the most terrifying defense I have ever seen. But three thousand years ago, our power was weaker than it is right now.”

The others all nodded.

After three thousand years, the five of them had become Prime Saints. Their power had improved dramatically compared to three thousand years ago.

“Once we enter the sixth floor, the seven of you need to help me, Rutherford, and Rosarie clear a path. The three of us, joining forces, should be able to deal with that Flame Tyrant.” Tulily said. Rutherford and Rosarie both nodded.

Desri explained to Linley, Bebe, and the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, “This is a powerful attack which the three of them have developed together after researching for a long time. Most likely, this is the most powerful attack we are capable of.”

“Alright. I’ll help clear a path.” Linley nodded.

Since Tulily was publicly acknowledged as the Prime Saint with the greatest attack, and had two others helping him, the power of their combined attack definitely would not be weak.

“Now, what we need to do is…” Desri laughed calmly. “Train here and prepare on the fifth floor!”

Fain laughed as well. “We’ll first train for eight years, then head off to the sixth floor.”

“What?” Linley was somewhat astonished. They only had ten years in the Necropolis of the Gods, but they were going to spend eight of them here on the fifth floor? But Linley quickly understood. He had learned from Clay that the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth floors were extremely dangerous. In these four floors, they probably wouldn’t even have the chance to rest.

To go past these four floors, if they were successful, most likely they would only need ten days or half a month.

“Prepare  well.  Each  of  the  following  floors,  if  we  aren’t careful, will be the death of us. If you are afraid, you can also stay here on the fifth floor and wait for the ten years to be up.” Tulily stood up as he spoke calmly, and then flew by himself off into the distance to begin his meditations.

Not just Linley and the other nine experts. Even Olivier, Hayward, and the other twenty experts knew how terrifying the sixth floor was, and so nobody was in a hurry to enter. All of them focused on seizing every available moment to train. Perhaps in this short period of time, they might make some breakthrough.

Waves of heat distorted the air. Embers could be seen everywhere. 

The experts in the fifth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods began to train and meditate.

Linley stared at the distant figures, all made blurry by the waves of heat. Olivier, the human experts, the magical beast experts…these thirty plus people were the most elite group of experts in the Yulan continent. Right now, all of them were training quietly.

Linley and Bebe glanced at each other, their minds linked.

The man and his magical beast began to train.

“Thrum!” “Thrum!” “Thrum!” “Thrum!” …..

The Throbbing Pulse of the World was omnipresent. Even though Linley was in the Necropolis of the Gods, Linley could still clearly feel that mysterious, profound throbbing pulse of the world. Every single pulse contained extremely profound mysteries. Linley began to meditate and attune himself to it, while at the same time, quickly mentally experimenting the ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’ over and over. 

One year. Two years. Three years.

Many of the experts would train for a year or half a year, and then get up and test out the attacks they had developed or improved. Just like that, time continued to move forward.

In the past, Linley had needed only a year to condense the 256 waves of the Throbbing Pulse of the World into 128 waves, but he needed five full years to make it a bit past halfway on his attempt to further condense the 128 waves into 64 waves.

This was all as Linley had predicted. The Throbbing Pulse of the World became harder and harder to fuse in the later stages.

In the blink of an eye, eight years had passed.

The fifth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods was as it had been in the past, with waves of heat distorting the air. Many experts had finished their training long ago. After all, many of them had been training for thousands of years. A few years now was only enough to further perfect some of their existing attacks and condition themselves.

“Why is Linley still training? We’re waiting on him now.” Rutherford couldn’t help but frown as he stared at the distant Linley, still in the meditative position.

By now, the Five Prime Saints, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni- Lions, and Bebe had stopped training. Bebe had actually reached the level of transforming into eight doppelgangers using the ‘Shadowshape Doppelganger Technique’. In their unit, the only one left was Linley, who was still totally immersed in his training.

“Don’t be impatient. My Boss has already reached the critical juncture point. Once he makes this breakthrough, his power will multiply several times over.”  Bebe stood next to Linley, staring coldly at the people in front of him as he spoke.

“A breakthrough that will allow him to increase his power several  times  over?”   Desri,  Tulily,  and  the  other  experts couldn’t help but feel astonished. 

They had already reached the level of being Prime Saints, and had reached the end of the path of training they had chosen. Unless they made the true, final breakthrough and reached the Demigod level, it was very hard for them to improve at all. At their current levels of insight, it was impossible for their power to multiple by several times over, unless they truly became a Deity.

“Whew.” Linley let out a long breath, then opened his eyes, a smile on his face.

After spending eight years, Linley had finally, fully mastered the 64 layered waves of the Throbbing Pulse of the World, and the attack of his ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’ had once again multiplied several times over.

Linley looked at the people standing there, and he instantly understood. He couldn’t help but let out a calm laugh, then said, “Apologies. I’ve made you wait for a long time. Shall we head out now?”

Chapter 16: The Flame Tyrant

The thirty plus experts came together in front of the corridor from the fifth floor to the sixth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods.

Linley could tell that Olivier’s aura seemed to have changed. In his heart, he couldn’t help but feel astonished. “This Olivier, could it be that he has made another breakthrough?”  As the Prodigy Sword Saint, Olivier had needed only twelve years to reach a level where even Haydson was no match for him, rising to the level of being just beneath the Five Prime Saints.

This rate of improvement was very terrifying.

Now that another eight years had passed, it would be strange if Olivier hadn’t improved, actually.

Desri looked at Hayward and the twenty other experts, then said loudly, “You should know the situation on the sixth floor. The ten of us will be responsible for dealing with the Flame Tyrant. As for the rest of you, your responsibilities will be lighter. As long as you can stay alive, go search for the exit to the seventh floor.”

The other twenty experts nodded.

Their task was far easier. Even if Desri hadn’t instructed them to do so, they would’ve still gone in search of the exit.

“Enough. Let’s head out.” Desri said in a bright voice.

And then, Desri and the rest of the Five Prime Saints, Linley, Bebe, Cleo and his sibling Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, took the lead, stepping into the stairway and heading out towards the sixth floor. Behind them, the twenty remaining experts followed closely.

Linley and Bebe exchanged glances.

They were both very confident. Compared to eight years ago, Linley not only had improved in his ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’, his spiritual energy had improved as well. In fact, Linley had the feeling that he was about to make a breakthrough and reach the rank of Grand Magus Saint.

Battle-qi refining, after all, only needed a bit of spiritual energy to control it.

But eight years of training had caused Linley’s battle-qi to reach the maximum possible amount a Saint-level Dragonblood Warrior could reach.

“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” ….

The ten most powerful Saints of the Yulan continent transformed into shadowy flashes. In the blink of an eye, they simultaneously entered the sixth floor…the world of the Flame Tyrant!

“Hot!”  As  soon  as  he  entered  the  sixth  floor,  Linley  felt greater heat than he had ever felt before. Right now, Linley and the other nine experts were standing atop glowing red rocks. This entire sixth floor was colored red by lava and molten rock.

“Drip, drip…” Scarlet flows of lava streamed like rivers throughout the sixth floor, occasionally releasing bubbles of gas. In the area around the lava rivers were glowing red rocks. Normal creatures would not be able to survive in a place like this.

The other twenty experts entered the sixth floor as well.

“Quick, search for the exit.”  Desri instructed mentally. The twenty plus experts didn’t say anything, immediately flying away.

Desri glanced at Linley, Tulily, and the others. Without needing to speak, all of them began to fly together. Tulily, Rosarie, and Rutherford flew in the center, while the other seven experts surrounded them. Tulily and the others were already beginning their preparations. They might encounter the Flame Tyrant at any time.

“If we can avoid even meeting the Flame Tyrant before we enter the seventh floor, that would be good.” Linley secretly thought to himself, while at the same time he carefully inspected his surroundings, searching for the passageway that would lead them to the seventh floor.

Suddenly, within one of the rivers of lava, a stone popped out. The strange thing was…this stone had eyes and a mouth. The stone suddenly flew out from within the magma river. It was actually the head of one of the Magma Demons.

That Magma Demon roared, “Humans!”

“Not good.” The faces of Linley and the others instantly changed.

“Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!” …. From within the river of lava, suddenly one Magma Demon after another appeared. The bodies of the Magma Demons were pure scarlet, and wrapped by faint wreathes of flame. They were roughly 2.5 meters tall, and wielded stone axes, warhammers, and other heavy weapons.

In the blink of an eye, Linley saw three hundred Magma Demons appear within the area of their group.

“The sixth floor is extremely large. If all the Magma Demons in the nearby areas are as numerous as they are here, then there are definitely over a thousand of them.”  Linley thought inwardly, while at the same time, the experts began to fly at high speed while maintain high alert, ready to attack at any moment.

“Oh,  humans  have  come?”  A  rumbling,  thunderous  voice rang out within the sixth floor.

The rocky ground of the sixth floor began to shake, and even the lava flows began to bubble and rise up in waves, as a massive figure arose from within the middle of a lava river. It was simply enormous. As it stood up, even the level of the lava river itself dropped dramatically.

“It really is like a mountain.” Linley saw that distant, enormous creature: The Flame Tyrant!

The Flame Tyrant’s entire body was formed from tough, unyielding boulders, with fire surrounding its entire body. With such an enormous body, its physical strength alone was no doubt at a terrifying level.

“Everyone, be careful.”  The faces of the ten experts were solemn.

The Flame Tyrant glanced at them with a contemptuous look, then laughed wildly. “The likes of you would dream about entering the seventh floor? In your dreams. Today, all of you will die! Children, come kill these outsiders along with me!” The Flame Tyrant’s voice was extraordinary loud, and his words echoed like the thunder in every part of this world. As the Flame Tyrant spoke, he suddenly summoned a dark red greataxe into his hand.

The axehead of this greataxe alone was over a hundred meters wide. In the hands of the Flame Tyrant, however, this Bloodlust Greataxe was nothing more than a small hatchet, and he twirled it with grace and ease.

“Kill!”

Having received the order, the large amount of Magma Demons hovering in mid-air simultaneously let out howls of rage as they charged towards Linley’s group. Even Olivier and the other twenty-plus Saints came under attack from the Magma Demons as well.

“Charge through them.” Tulily ordered.

The ten major experts didn’t hesitate at all, charging straight towards the Flame Tyrant. Halfway there, over a hundred Magma Demons surrounded them. 

Earlier on the fifth floor, it was Desri, Bebe, and a group of experts killing several Magma Demons. But now, it was over a hundred Magma Demons attacking them.

“Have to block them.” The outer layer of seven experts knew this very well. Facing the attacking Magma Demons, Linley fought empty-handed.

“F*ck off.” Linley directly punched towards one of them.

“Haha…” The Magma Demon laughed loudly as it sent a fist smashing towards Linley. Linley used his draconic scales and the outer layer of ‘Pulseguard Defense’ to accept this punch, taking the heavy blow of the Magma Demon’s stony fist head on.

Linley’s body trembled slightly, but the Magma Demon’s body trembled, then exploded into shards of rock.

“What terrifying strength!” Linley was inwardly shocked. 

If he were to take those blows at full strength, he wouldn’t have been able to repel it so lightly. Just then, he had primarily used his Pulseguard Defense to ameliorate 90% of the power of the enemy’s attack. How could the 10%, upon encountering Linley’s draconic scales, possibly harm Linley?

Against the Magma Demons, Linley only utilized the 256 layered waves of the Throbbing Pulse of the World.

“Boom!”  Every  single  Magma  Demon  which  attempted  to attack Fain were smashed flying away by Fain’s lightning-fast fists. Fain’s speed was simply too fast. Those Magma Demons couldn’t touch him at all. But Magma Demons were extremely durable, and Fain’s attacks were only able to heavily injure them.

It wasn’t that Fain wasn’t powerful; it was that Fain didn’t dare to use his full force. He had to conserve his energy.

Each of the Magma Demons which attacked Desri, upon drawing near him, suddenly toppled down from the skies for seemingly no reason at all.

Desri was originally a Grand Magus Saint of light-style magic. He was currently a Prime Saint, and his spiritual attacks were at a terrifying level. Although these Magma Demons possessed tremendous physical attack and defense, Desri’s spiritual attack just so happened to strike at their weakness.

“Slash!”     The   three   Six-Eyed   Golden   Ni-Lions   very forthrightly smashed the Magma Demons with their dancing paws, sending rocks everywhere and heavily injuring those Magma Demons, with many dying.

At times, when the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions wished, they would suddenly open their mouths and directly swallow the Magma Demons into their stomachs.

But Bebe…Bebe was terrifying. His speed was comparable to Fain’s, and those Magma Demons weren’t able to touch Bebe at all. But even the most casual claw swipe from Bebe would heavily injure the Magma Demons. “Boss, these Magma Demons are really tough to deal with. Their bodies are too hard.” Bebe’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind.

“Of course they are hard.” Linley understood.

He had once tried to be like Bebe, and to use his speed to dodge the enemy’s attack, and then use pure force to strike against the bodies of the Magma Demons. But the defense of the Magma Demons was simply too great; Linley’s pure strength-based attacks were only able to injure the Magma Demons.

“Bang!”   Yet  another  fist  from  Linley  shook  yet  another Magma Demon in front of him into powder.

“Different profound truths clearly result in different levels of power for attacks.” Linley couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. “My Profound Truths of the Earth, despite not having reached the limit, in terms of power, is far more powerful than the Profound Truths of the Wind.” Even Prime Saints could have fairly large differences in power. For example, that leader of the Snowy Panda-Cats, who had mastered an extremely powerful and profound truth of the Elemental Laws of the Wind. As for Desri and Fain, the profound truths they had gained insight into could only be considered ones with fairly low attack power amongst the manifold Elemental Laws.

“Boom!” “Boom!” ….

Every single one of the Magma Demons attacking Linley was reduced to powder. This sight caused many of the other Saints to feel astonished. Based just on pure physical attacks, at most they might be able to break the Magma Demons into small pieces of rocks, but they couldn’t possibly reduce them into powder.

“The Flame Tyrant is here.” Desri called out softly.

“You little rascal. You’ll be the first to die.” The Flame Tyrant stared angrily at Linley. Then, like a thunderbolt, it leapt off the rocky ground, making the rocky ground tremble and crack as it delivered a mighty chop with the Bloodlust Greataxe in its hands.

Clearly, Linley’s ‘military exploits’ had been seen by the Flame Tyrant.

“Rosarie.” Tulily growled.

Rosarie, Tulily, and Rutherford, who had been prepared this entire time, finally unleashed their attack. Suddenly, countless amounts of ice and frost descended in an area of many kilometers, and even the rivers of lava were chilled to become rocks.

The fires covering the body of the Flame Tyrant were extinguished, and the scarlet red stones on his body turned a much dimmer red as well, as countless amounts of frost and ice covered his body.

The Flame Tyrant’s attacking motion suddenly came to a halt, as though he had been frozen. 

Water-style forbidden-level spell: Absolute Zero!

Under the attack of this Absolute Zero spell, generally speaking, when it was used, that terrifying drop in temperature alone would cause the opponent to freeze, then shatter into countless pieces. Even the opponent’s soul would be frozen, then shatter.

But the target of this spell was the Flame Tyrant. This forbidden-level spell, ‘Absolute Zero’, was only capable of affecting his soul and making him temporarily dizzied. In addition, encased in countless amounts of ice, his weakness, his power dropped as well.

“Swish!”  Immediately  afterwards,  Rutherford  transformed into a ray of light, charging straight towards the Flame Tyrant.

Rutherford, the number one Saint of the Arctic Icecaps, who had been training there for thousands of years, had reached a level of perfection in terms of utilizing the forces of glacial ice. Rutherford’s palms suddenly glowed with a faint blue light, and he smashed them hard against the body of the Flame Tyrant.

The strange thing was…

The countless amounts of ice and frost that had been layering the body of the Flame Tyrant suddenly sank deep into the Flame Tyrant’s body. “Crunch!”  The enormous body of the Flame Tyrant actually began to be covered with countless tiny cracks.

The body of the Flame Tyrant was extremely hot, but after being covered by the opposite-element spell, ‘Absolute Zero’, and then with Rutherford forcing that energy deep into its body, the incomparably tough rocky body of the Flame Tyrant began to crack on a wide scale from the sudden change in temperature.

“Bastard.” The Flame Tyrant finally recovered from his state of dizziness. Realizing the situation he was in, he couldn’t help but roar in anger. “Die!” Tulily had already reached the Flame Tyrant’s body.

Dark black light surrounded Tulily’s fists, and the entire area around them was filled with countless cracks in spacetime. Tulily’s fists seemed to carry the strength of the heavens themselves, as he smashed viciously against the body of the Flame Tyrant. The already cracked body, suddenly…

“BOOOM!”

Countless rocks were sent flying everywhere by that terrifyingly powerful explosion. The Flame Tyrant had exploded into countless rocky fragments.

“Success.”  Tulily, Rosarie, and Rutherford all let out a long sigh.

This was the ultimate attack of the three of them. First they pooled their energy together to cause the Flame Tyrant’s soul to be attacked, while at the same time counteracting the heat of the Flame Tyrant’s body with the Absolute Zero spell. Then, Rutherford would control the frost and the ice to make it go deep into the Flame Tyrant’s body.

Fire and ice were polar opposites, and the sudden clash between them would cause the rocks which made up its body to crack. This caused the defensive power of the Flame Tyrant to drop by ninety percent. With only ten percent of its defense remaining, it had naturally shattered when facing Tulily’s most powerful attack.

“If they didn’t work together, that terrifying defensive power of the Flame Tyrant probably would allow it to take Tulily’s full power attack without much impact.” Linley said to himself.

Now that the Flame Tyrant was dead, everyone naturally felt much more relaxed. It would be fairly easy to deal with the remaining Magma Demons.

“Let’s  hurry  up  and  find  the  exit.”  Desri  said.  Everyone nodded, feeling much more relaxed. However…

What nobody noticed was that during that wild explosion earlier, when countless rocks had been blasted in every direction, there was a seemingly translucent, fist-sized rock that had also been shot out far away. This translucent rock, in the distance, began to spin.

“Rumble…”

The entire rocky ground was beginning to shake.

“What is going on?” Tulily, Rutherford, Linley, and the others felt shocked.

“Crunch!”  Large amounts of cracks appeared in the ground of the sixth floor, and then one enormous rock after another flew up, as well as a large amount of the rocks in the lava rivers. Over billions of enormous boulders flew up. Linley and the others watched with gaping mouths and stunned gazes.

“Not good.” Everyone had the sense that something bad was happening.

However…nobody knew what the problem was. All ten experts were on guard, carefully inspecting their surroundings. But on the sixth floor, one rock after another continued to rise into the air.

“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” “Whoosh!”

All of the giant rocks, as though listening to some command, shot out to one location at the same time. With a terrifying series of sonic booms, trillions of boulders instantly clustered around one location, and that location was the place where the translucent rock was floating.

Countless boulders surrounded that translucent rock. In the blink of an eye…

Yet another Flame Tyrant appeared!

The faces of the ten experts changed dramatically.

“That translucent rock.” The ten experts seemed to see, just then, those countless boulders clustering around the nucleus. Desri’s face sank down. “That was the core of the Flame Tyrant. Without destroying that translucent rock, we can’t kill the Flame Tyrant. He can just make himself be reborn.”

“You have truly made me angry.”

The mountain-like Flame Tyrant’s body was once again wreathed in flames, and his eyes were filled with fiery rage as well. Wielding its Bloodlust Greataxe, he bellowed with fury, “You detestable humans want to enter the seventh floor? In your dreams! All of you will die!” The mighty bellow of the Flame Tyrant echoed throughout the sixth floor!

Chapter 17: The Tunnel’s Location

On the sixth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods, the mountain-like Flame Tyrant strode forward on the rocky terrain, wielding that Bloodlust Greataxe in his hand, twin eyes blazing with rage while also howling furiously. Instantly, all of the lava flows in the sixth floor began to bubble and rise up.

Linley and the rest of the ten major experts, hovering in mid- air, had a bad feeling.

“What should we do?” Rosarie asked quietly.

The others were all silent.

“We lost the best opportunity that we had. To kill the Flame Tyrant a second time will be very difficult.” Tulily’s gaze was totally  focused  on  the  distant  Flame  Tyrant.  “Rutherford, Rosarie, all we can do is to try again and see if we can succeed.”

Rutherford and Rosarie all nodded slightly. 

“Children.’  The Flame Tyrant roared furiously. “All of you, attack. Kill them alongside me.” As he spoke, the Flame Tyrant transformed into a fiery blur, carrying a terrifying howling sound with him as he charged forward. Although the Flame Tyrant was physically large, his speed was also extremely fast.

The ten major experts reacted in perfect unison.

“First retreat backwards. Buy Rosarie and the others some time.”  Desri’s voice rang out in the minds of the other nine experts.

Forbidden-level spells, especially large-scale ones, needed a good period of time. The ten major experts flew backwards at high speed like ten meteors. All of them were extremely fast, not slower than the Flame Tyrant at all.

“Hrmph!” The Flame Tyrant’s furious snort could be heard. “Groooowl…” A thickly dense crowd of Magma Demons began to surround them, coming from all corners.

“Can’t allow ourselves to get corralled by these Magma Demons. Once our speed drops and the Flame Tyrant catches up, we’ll be in terrible shape.”  Fain’s voice rang out in the minds of the various experts. All of the experts present understood this logic. Instantly, the seven major experts on the outside perimeter began to utilize their special skills.

They had to protect the three inside their perimeter and make sure they weren’t affected.

“Strange.” Linley flew at high speed, but found out that not a single one of the Magma Demons dared approach him.

“The Magma Demons are all afraid to go near Linley.” Desri, Fain, and the others, upon seeing this, didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. All they could do was to work hard to force each of the Magma Demons back. Against the other magical beast experts, or against the likes of Fain and Desri, the Magma Demons would at most be heavily injured. All the Magma Demons needed to do was rest and heal for a while, and they would be fine. But against Linley…as long as Linley’s fist hit them, those Magma Demon’s bodies would transform into powder, and they would become deader than dead.

“Linley, protect Rosarie!”  Desri’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind.

“Understood.” Linley flew closer towards Rosarie.

Instantly, none of the Magma Demons dared to attack Rosarie either. Any that did attempt to attack Rosarie, Linley would suddenly flash next to and swing a fist at. Linley’s fist… was death to any Magma Demons it touched.

“Kill   that   human   female.”    The   Flame   Tyrant   roared frantically. The Flame Tyrant knew how powerful Rosarie was. The Flame Tyrant was a fire-type creature, while Rosarie just so happened to be his nemesis…although Desri was also a Grand Master Saint, to the likes of the Flame Tyrant, the threat he posed was far weaker than that of Rosarie.

“Roaaar!” “Roaaar!” “Roaaar!” …

Instantly, a large number of the Magma Demons ground their teeth and, no longer paying Linley any more mind, roared with fury as they all charged towards Rosarie.

“Wonderful, they are coming.”  Linley let out a loud laugh, sweeping his dark golden gaze across the many Magma Demons, and then he transformed into a gust of wind. Not only did his twin fists dance about, even his two legs whirled about in a dance of death like blades. Anything struck by Linley’s legs were also instantly reduced to powder.

“Rumble…” The temperature suddenly dropped precipitously. The previously boiling lava rivers suddenly congealed, transforming into flat rock. Even the scarlet red coloration of the rocks turned to a dark black color. Countless amounts of frost and ice descended down from the heavens within an area

of several kilometers around the Flame Tyrant.

Water-style forbidden-level magic: Absolute Zero!

“Roaaaaar!”  The  Flame  Tyrant’s  entire  body  was  covered with frost and ice as well, but then, letting out a loud bellow, its body, which had already turned a dark grey rocky color, suddenly once more slowly began to turn red. As for that layer of ice and frost covering it, it slowly began to thaw and melt.

Seeing this, everyone had a bad feeling.

“His  soul  wasn’t  affected.”   Rosarie’s  face  changed.  The forbidden-level magic, ‘Absolute Zero’, also had a secondary soul-affecting attacking. Earlier, the first time they used it, the Flame Tyrant had felt dizzy due to the attack on his soul. But this time, the Flame Tyrant wasn’t impacted at all. 

“Whoosh!”

An invisible burst of energy erupted from Desri, striking towards the Flame Tyrant at astonishing speed. Instantly, it entered the Flame Tyrant’s body. The light-style Grand Magus Saint, Desri, was highly skilled at spiritual attacks.

The bellows of the Flame Tyrant halted.

“Good!” The eyes of Fain, Tulily, and the other experts lit up.

“Rutherford.” Tulily growled.

A lightning-quick flash. Rutherford’s face was rather fierce, and his palms were completely covered with blue light. Anyone near Rutherford wouldn’t be able to sense a hint of cold at all, because Rutherford had already reached an extremely high level of control over the freezing power of the Elemental Laws of Water. 

But at this moment, below the Flame Tyrant, dozens of Magma Demons suddenly appeared, which simultaneously charged towards Rutherford, attempting to block him.

Like a flash of blue lightning, Rutherford dodged past more than half the Magma Demons, and then landed successive blows with his palms against two of them. Those two Magma Demons instantly charged into blocks of ice, and with a ‘crunch’ sound, the two Magma Demons instantly shattered into icy flakes.

“Die.” Rutherford had already reached the Flame Tyrant, and he was about to strike down with his twin palms.

“Whoosh!”  The motionless Flame Tyrant’s enormous body suddenly retreated at high speed, while at the same time, the Bloodlust Greataxe in his hand, gleaming with bloody aura, cast a dazzling, devilish flash of light as it chopped down towards Rutherford’s head. The speed of this chop was extremely fast, and had reached a simply astonishing speed. Although the flying speed of the Flame Tyrant was lower than Rutherford’s, the speed at which he wielded the Bloodlust Greataxe was terrifyingly fast.

“Careful!” Linley, Desri, Fain, and the others grew worried.

“Ah!” Rutherford raised his head and saw the freezing light of that hundred-meter long axehead chop down at him. He was terrified, his heart shaking. He didn’t have the chance to run or flee, so all he could do was let out a furious roar, slamming his blue, glowing hands upwards in an attempt to block.

Using his palms against the Bloodlust Greataxe!

The two were simply incomparable.

“Clang!”  A metallic sound could be heard, and Rutherford’s body was sent flying backwards like a meteor. But this time, the Flame Tyrant wasn’t in a hurry to continue charging after him. He just stood there, laughing loudly. “Rutherford.”   Tulily  and  the  others  immediately  went forward to catch him.

Rutherford’s face was extremely pale. His arms were gone beneath the elbows, but the strange thing was, they weren’t just cut off; they had completely disappeared. His shoulders and his clothes were torn and stained with blood.

“Don’t touch that axe. That axe is very strange and very frightening.” Rutherford said, his entire body still trembling.

Desri immediately stretched out his hands and shot out a glittering, starlight-like ray of light, covering Rutherford’s entire body. Rutherford’s wounds began to regenerate at an astonishing speed, and even those two disappeared arms began to rapidly regrow.

“Haha, amusing, amusing.” The Flame Tyrant actually began to laugh loudly.

“The Flame Tyrant is toying with us.” Desri frowned. 

Linley glanced at the Flame Tyrant as well. The Flame Tyrant truly was toying with them. Perhaps just then, its earlier rage was just an act.

In particular, Linley was certain of one thing: “Just then, when the Flame Tyrant was struck by Desri’s spiritual attack, it should have been faking its reaction. Otherwise, it would be too much of a coincidence for him to have suddenly recovered and attacked Rutherford at the critical moment. He wouldn’t have been to seize the opportunity so perfectly, preventing Rutherford from even being able to flee.”

“Haha…” The Flame Tyrant’s thunderous sound shook the world of the fifth floor. “Amusing. Truly amusing. Are you very surprised?”

“Indeed, the first time you attacked me, you had the chance to kill me. However, that was me being over-confident.”  The Flame Tyrant stared at the distant group of humans hovering in mid-air. “Spiritual attacks? In terms of spirits, mine is incomparably powerful. In addition, I have ‘Bloodlust’.” The Flame Tyrant looked at the greataxe in his hand. “This is a true divine artifact. By relying on ‘Bloodlust’, I can enter a bloodlusted state. In this state, your spiritual attacks cannot harm me at all.”

Desri and Linley exchanged a glance.

“Terrible.” Everyone felt the situation was grim.

“Originally, I could’ve perhaps spared one or two of you. But now…” The Flame Tyrant’s body began to faintly emit a bloodthirsty  red  light.  “All  of  you  will  die.”  As  he  finished speaking, the Flame Tyrant’s body began to emit a ‘crunch’ ‘crunch’ series of sounds.

The Flame Tyrant’s body was shrinking!

The originally hundreds of meters tall Flame Tyrant, wreathed by flames and red light, soon… Transformed from being hundreds of meters in size to only a few dozen meters tall.

Currently, the Flame Tyrant’s body was completely covered with a layer of red light, and its aura had become even more terrifying.

“It has been a long time since I have been in my battle-form.” The Flame Tyrant’s Bloodlust Greataxe shrank by more than half as well. It truly was a divine artifact.

“Everyone,  be  careful.”  The  ten  experts  all  felt  that  this matter had just become very dangerous. For now, they weren’t sure how to deal with this Flame Tyrant.

“Swish!”

The Flame Tyrant’s body flickered, transforming into a devilish, bloody red streak of light which cut through the air, so fast that he was comparable to Fain. In terms of speed, Fain, Bebe, and Desri had the fastest speed amongst the ten, while the others were a level lower in speed. 

The devilish red light surged towards Tulily.

Tulily couldn’t dodge in time.

“Break!” Tulily’s face was extremely ferocious. He let out an angry roar, smashing out with his twin fists.

“Clang!”

Tulily’s twin arms immediately exploded apart, and he himself was smashed backwards like a meteor. Blood splattered everywhere from that vicious collision. Tulily, the Prime Saint with the greatest attack power of the five, was knocked by a single blow into a state where his life or death was unknown.

At this time, Linley and the rest of the nine remaining experts fled to a distant location. Desri’s body had transformed into a beam of light. He moved extremely fast, and discovered Higginson and the others. “Have you discovered the exit yet?”  Higginson and the other twenty plus experts had been searching for the exit to the seventh floor this entire time.

“Can’t find it.” Higginson was both frantic and helpless.

“The exit? Haha…” A greataxe flashed past Desri’s group, and Desri immediately grabbed Higginson and dodged in a flash.

Blood flew everywhere, and a magical beast as well as two human Saints were instantly bisected. Their corpses fell from the skies. The corpse of the magical beast fell onto the rocky ground, while the other two corpses fell directly into the river of lava.

The distant Fain’s face changed. “Sixth Brother!”

“You won’t be able to find the tunnel.”  The Flame Tyrant, hovering in mid-air and wrapped by that red light, was laughing loudly. “The exit to the seventh floor is actually in the center of the sixth floor, but I have over a thousand of my children protecting it, and they have already fully blocked it off. If you want to enter the seventh floor, you have to kill over a thousand of my children.”

Linley and the other experts felt their hearts tremble.

“Over a thousand.” Linley and Bebe exchanged glances.

“Boss, even if I were the one to charge over, at most I’d be able to kill ten before the Flame Tyrant reached the exit again.” Bebe also realized how bad the situation was.

This Flame Tyrant’s speed was comparable to Bebe and Fain, but his attack…even the most powerful of them, Tulily, was far from being his match. If they kept fighting like this, not a single one of the experts present would survive.

“How can there be so many Magma Demons?” Linley glanced at Desri. From what Desri had said, in total, there should only be a thousand Magma Demons here on the sixth floor. Desri glanced at Linley. “Linley, three thousand years ago, we were beaten back as soon as we entered the sixth floor. A thousand was just our estimate.”

Linley was speechless.

“Desri, give me a hand.” Linley suddenly took a deep breath and said softly to the nearby Desri.

“Hrm?” Desri looked at Linley with surprise.

“This is my most powerful attack. If it doesn’t work…then let’s try to come up with a way to flee from the sixth floor.” With a flip of his hands, Linley retrieved his adamantine heavy sword.

Chapter 18: The Fate-Determining Strike

“Most powerful attack?” Desri’s eyes lit up, and he mentally said, “How confident are you?”

“Right now, 70% confident.”  Linley said. “The prerequisite being I have to get near him.”

Linley stared at the distant Flame Tyrant. The Flame Tyrant, upon entering his battle-form, had shrunk dramatically in size, and even the rocks making up his body had changed. One could imagine how dramatically the power of the Flame Tyrant’s defense and speed had risen.

Right now, the Flame Tyrant truly was terrifying!

But to Linley, this sort of rocky defense was useless against him. “If the Flame Tyrant didn’t shrink in size and was still hundreds of meters tall, then the rocks making up his body alone would be nearly a hundred meters thick. My ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’, after traveling a hundred meters, would probably have dropped in power to a fairly low level. It would be hard to destroy that gemstone core. But now…

Linley was quite confident in his heart.

“Now that it is only a few dozen meters tall, the translucent rock should be fairly close to the outside layer of its stone body, perhaps not even ten meters away.

The closer the distance was, the less weakened the waves of the Profound Truths of the Earth would be. At such a close distance, Linley was quite confident in himself. “If I can’t even kill him in a situation like this, then that Flame Tyrant should be a Deity-level creature.”

Desri glanced at Linley, his eyes filled with surprise and delight. But right at that moment…

The Flame Tyrant, which had been chatting with them just now, charged at them once again. He bellowed wildly, “Haha… puny humans, none of you will survive. All of you will die!” As he spoke, he chopped out with his axe yet again.

An expert who hadn’t managed to dodge in time was chopped directly into two halves.

“Clay!” Linley’s face changed.

Clay was a very open and valiant man, with extremely powerful defense. His weakness was his speed…but no matter how tough his defense was, it still couldn’t withstand a single blow from the Flame Tyrant.

“Hurry.” Desri, Fain, Rutherford…and Linley all retreated at high speed alongside the other major experts, pulling away from the murdering, bellowing Flame Tyrant. As they flew, Desri hurriedly spoke mentally to the others.

“Rosarie,  Rutherford,  Fain,  Bebe,  Cleo  and  brothers.  The three of you, listen up. Linley has 70% confidence in being able to kill that Flame Tyrant, but of course, he first has to be able to get close to its body.” Desri’s voice rang out in the minds of all the other experts.

While flying at high speed, Rosarie, Rutherford, and Fain all immediately looked at Linley.

Linley nodded.

“Good. I have the energy to just barely be able to force myself to cast one more ‘Absolute Zero’.” Rosarie spoke back mentally as well. Rosarie was also a Grand Magus Saint. Generally speaking, a Grand Magus Saint would only be able to cast a single wide-effect forbidden-level spell, and even if they had some sort of precious treasure, they would at most be able to cast two. 

But Rosarie was capable of casting three, even in an environment such as the sixth floor.

And clearly, the power of her spells had been modified and improved. First of all, the area of the ‘Absolute Zero’ spell had been reduced greatly; it wasn’t like how the books had written about it, with an area of dozens of square kilometers. But in terms of single-target damage, it clearly was far more powerful as well.

“We  three  brothers  will  defend  Linley  as  he  heads  over towards the Flame Tyrant’s body.” One of the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions said.

Linley and Fain stared in surprise at the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions.

“You’ll be able to take one of his hits?” The experts present were all a bit worried. The eldest of the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion, Cleo, snorted. “Don’t worry. In the past, we three brothers, alongside with our father, encountered even more dangerous situations when we were in the Gebados Prison. Although the three of us haven’t gained insight into other things, we have gained quite a bit of insight into life-saving measures.”

In the Gebados Planar Prison, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni- Lions had continuously struggled to stay alive.

For them to be able to survive in that sort of environment was partially due to the protection of their father, Dylin, but their own power was one of the main reasons as well.

“I can also cast one more forbidden-level spell. I hope it will be able to affect the Flame Tyrant.” Desri said.

“Boss. I…” Bebe was frantic.

“Bebe,  no  need.”  Linley  knew  Bebe’s  situation  very  well. Bebe’s defense was extremely tough, but whether or not Bebe would be able to take a hit from the Flame Tyrant was something Linley wasn’t certain about. After all, Bebe hadn’t been alive for long enough. Although Godeater Rats had their own amazing powers, he hadn’t gained insight into most of them yet.

While flying at high speed, Desri was occasionally looking back and keeping an eye on the Flame Tyrant.

But suddenly, Desri’s face changed, and he let out a fierce, grief-stricken cry. “Hayward!!!”

A devilish blood red hatched cut a swathing blur through the air, and the fleeing fire-style Grand Magus Saint, Hayward, was chopped directly into two, with the chopped section disappearing into nothingness. Hayward’s two chopped halves fell down from the air, collapsing into the lava river.

“No fun.” The Flame Tyrant turned to stare at Linley and the others. “It’s more interesting dealing with you people. You sure can run.” The Flame Tyrant’s body, dozens of meters high, transformed into a red blur, charging straight towards Linley’s group. As the Flame Tyrant charged towards them, it laughed loudly and wildly, “Haha, no matter how you run, you’ll still die. Haha…”

Only eleven or twelve of the experts in the group of twenty- plus experts which Olivier and Hayward had been in were still alive.

In a short period of time, more than ten had perished.

“Whew.” Olivier was hiding next to a boulder, and he secretly let out a relieved sigh. “This Flame Tyrant…” Olivier stared at that distant, terrifying red blur and he couldn’t help but shake his head toward himself. He was famous for his powerful attacks, but this Flame Tyrant was his bane.

And right now, the Flame Tyrant was currently chasing after Linley’s group. “Haha,  fleeing  is  usel-”  The  Flame  Tyrant  was  laughing loudly, but he only finished half his words.

Suddenly, Rosarie turned around. Her long jade hair fluttering, she stared coldly at the distant Flame Tyrant as she extended her hands and pointed towards it.

Countless amounts of snow and frost began to descend from nowhere.

The extremely hot environment instantly transformed into a world of ice and snow, and the lava once again congealed. The flames around the Flame Tyrant’s body were extinguished, and a layer of ice and frost covered it. Only, the Flame Tyrant’s body continued to be covered by that layer of red light.

Water-style, forbidden-level magic: Absolute Zero!

“This  technique  yet  again.”   The  Flame  Tyrant  bellowed angrily. “This technique is useless against me!” Although this spell wasn’t very effective, the Flame Tyrant truly hated it. 

As a fire-type creature, the Flame Tyrant truly hated ice and snow. What he liked best was sleeping in the middle of hot lava.

The nine major experts halted in mid-air, with Rosarie and Desri in the center. After Rosarie finished casting her spell, Desri, who had been mumbling a spell this entire time, pointed one hand at the distant Flame Tyrant, and a holy aura suddenly descended.

The sound of holy chanting could be heard, and dream-like dots of white light suddenly surrounded the Flame Tyrant.

An Angel that was dozens of meters tall suddenly appeared out of nowhere, but its body was hazy and indistinct, as though it were an illusion. Behind the Angel were three sets of wings. The sudden appearance of this massive Angel caused the Flame Tyrant to be even more enraged.

Light-style forbidden-level magic: Angelic Descent. This Angel wasn’t a true Angel; rather, it was a manifestation of light-style energy, much like the earth-style forbidden-level spell, ‘World Protector’. It wasn’t a true life form. This sort of creature was very hard to deal with, because it was formed from pure energy. It didn’t have any true vital points. The only thing that could be done was to cause it to use up all of its energy.

“F*ck off.” The Flame Tyrant swung his greataxe straight at it.

This one blow from the greataxe caused the illusionary Six- Winged Angel’s body to shudder, and a good amount of its energy disappeared.

“What  a  ferocious  axe.”  Desri’s  face  changed,  and  with  a sudden thought…

The illusory Six-Winged Angel suddenly charged down, not giving the Flame Tyrant any chance to dodge. All six of its wings were spread, and it suddenly clutched tightly around the Flame Tyrant, preventing the Flame Tyrant from moving while its six wings wrapped around the Flame Tyrant as well. 

“Explode!” Desri softly spat out this single word.

“Bang!”

Even the rocky ground of the sixth floor shuddered, and a storm of energy blasted in every direction, breaking apart large amounts of stone. But right in the middle of that energy storm…

“Let’s go.”  Linley and the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions transformed into four blurs, charging forward.

“Linley, let us deal with the attack of the Flame Tyrant. All you need to worry about is taking and killing him.” The three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions seemed very reliable and confident.

“Don’t worry.” Linley held Bloodviolet in one hand and the adamantine heavy sword in the other. The Flame Tyrant’s body wasn’t too badly damaged, but suffering two forbidden-level spell attacks in a row had made the Flame Tyrant very angry. Bellowing madly, he charged forward once again, but as he did, the Flame Tyrant suddenly discovered that four blurs were already by his side.

“Detestable.”  The furious Flame Tyrant brandished his axe, chopping down.

The Bloodlust Greataxe glowed with that blood red light as it descended, but the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions’ bodies suddenly emitted a black substance, like some sort of form- fitting armor. The strangest part of it was…atop the black armor, there was a layer of dim, multicolored barrier.

“Bang!”

The three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions didn’t dodge at all, receiving the attack of that Bloodlust Greataxe head-on as one unit. The translucent, multicolored barrier around their bodies caved downwards as the three brothers received the blow of the Bloodlust Greataxe, while Linley transformed into a black rainbow as he charged next to the Flame Tyrant. 

While charging, Linley struck out with the adamantine heavy sword in his hand.

“Hrmph.” The Flame Tyrant didn’t fear Linley’s attack in the slightest. In his battle-form, his defense was several times greater than it had been originally. He didn’t fear any Saint- level human experts at all. What he did care about was these three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions.

The adamantine heavy sword moved with grace, but it was as fast as lightning, and it struck directly against the chest of the Flame Tyrant.

“Clink!” A very gentle, soft sound.

The previously confident Flame Tyrant suddenly froze. A strange vibration seemed to completely ignore the defense of his rocky body, and in fact actually caused the countless stones which made up its body to begin to vibrate, as it made its way to his inner core. When the vibrational waves reached the translucent gemstone which was his core…

The power of Linley’s full-force strike suddenly exploded. The fierce, profound power of the earth’s vibrational waves caused that translucent gemstone to instantly begin to crack, and then…

“BOOM!”

The translucent stone completely shattered into countless fragments!

Profound Truths of the Earth – Throbbing Pulse of the World, 64 Layered Waves!

Linley’s most powerful attack!

“Rumble…”  The Flame Tyrant stared at Linley in disbelief. The fire that had been wrapped around his body was extinguished, and the fire that lit his eyes grew dim as well. His enormous body transformed into countless boulders which began to fall from the sky.

With the translucent stone shattered, the Flame Tyrant’s body itself began to crumble.

“Success!” Desri called out, wildly overjoyed.

“Haha, Boss, success!” Even Bebe began to shout in joy.

As for the extremely ashen-faced Rosarie, even she revealed a hint of excitement as she smiled. Rutherford and Fain also stared at the distant Linley, hovering in mid-air. It was Linley who had finally killed the Flame Tyrant and rescued everyone.

“The King…the King is dead!” The dozens of nearby Magma Demons, seeing this, were completely stupefied. The ‘King’ whom they all felt to be invincible had been trampling these humans just a few moments ago, but now…he was dead!

“This axe is so strange.” One of the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni- Lions flew directly downwards. The Bloodlust Greataxe had already shrunk to the size of a human palm, and it had fallen by the side of a lava river. The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion grabbed the axe, then flew back up.

“Linley, this divine artifact is yours.”  The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion offered the dark red hatchet to Linley.

Chapter 19: Three Divine Artifacts

Linley looked at the dark red hatchet.

“Not long ago, this hatchet was over a hundred meters long, but now, it is so tiny.” Linley, in his heart, valued this axe very highly. “Most importantly, that Flame Tyrant was only a Prime Saint level expert, and yet in his hands, this axe was capable of such tremendous power.”

Linley thought of his own Bloodviolet sword.

“Both of them are divine artifacts, but in my hands, Bloodviolet is only capable of unleashing a portion of its power.”

Linley understood that his own Bloodviolet was perhaps an even more terrifying weapon, but at the Saint-level, he simply wasn’t capable of fully unleashing the power of Bloodviolet. It was much the same with the ‘Coiling Dragon’ ring. The current Linley couldn’t actively utilize the Coiling Dragon ring at all. 

The more powerful an artifact was, the greater the requirements were for activating it.

However…this divine artifact axe was something which even Saints could use. To a Saint, this axe was a better weapon.

“Linley,  take  it.  You  made  the  greatest  contributions  in killing the Flame Tyrant.” Desri flew over as well.

Linley suddenly thought of Barker, and said, “Then I won’t hesitate.”  At  the  same  time,  Linley  accepted  the  dark  red hatchet, storing it into his interspatial ring. “I hope Barker survived. If he truly…well, I’ll gift this axe to Gates and the others.”

Linley still felt guilt in his heart towards Barker.

“The  Flame  Tyrant  is  finally  dead.  But  Hayward  and  the others…” Desri felt extremely miserable right now. Higginson, Olivier, and the rest of the twelve remaining experts flew over from afar. There had originally been over twenty of them. But now, only a few were left.

“Big brother.” Higginson was in great pain as well.

Desri and Higginson looked at each other, agony in their eyes. But they understood…ever since they chose to come to the Necropolis of the Gods, they set on a path where they could not blame others if they died. Actually, Hayward had already lived for thousands of years. Dying now wasn’t a big deal.

After all, these people had already experienced many things in life.

Olivier looked at Linley, a hint of a resigned smile on his lips. “This Linley saved me yet again.” Olivier was a very arrogant person and he hated owing others. But Linley had saved him twice now.

“Linley, your attack is very unique.”  Rutherford sighed in amazement. “That Flame Tyrant had incredible defense, but your attack seemed to completely ignore it.” Linley didn’t try to hide anything. “This is an attack which I have gained insight into which can ignore the target’s defense.”

“What a bizarre, shocking attack.” Fain sighed in amazement as well.

The nearby experts all felt their heart shudder. Linley was a Dragonblood Warrior, and thus his natural talent was at the absolute peak of what humans could reach. But now, Linley’s understanding of the Laws had reached such a terrifying level as well. Linley was more powerful than others in both aspects.

With those aspects combined, it could be said that his attack power was the greatest amongst the Saints of the Yulan continent!

“The number one Saint-level expert of the Yulan continent… that is you!” Desri sighed approvingly as he looked at Linley. “I only possess powerful offense and decent defense. In terms of speed, I cannot compare to you and Fain, Desri.”  Linley replied honestly. The understandings he had gained in the Elemental Laws of the Wind were still very far from the level of mastery.

“Right. How is Tulily?” Rosarie, looking much better now, suddenly said. “Let’s go see if he is still alive.”

“Right.” Fain and Desri nodded as well.

Tulily was the Prime Saint with the most powerful attack of the group, after all. If they wanted to make it further into the Necropolis of the Gods, they couldn’t lack someone like him. Linley and the others immediately flew towards the place where Tulily’s body had collapsed and landed next to him.

Moments later…

Next to the boiling hot river of lava, his body covered with blood, Tulily was currently seated cross-legged on a stone. His arms were completely shattered, and even one of his legs had been partially torn off. There was a large amount of fresh blood on his chest.

“Tulily.” Desri flew over. “You are lucky to be alive.”

Tulily, seeing Desri fly over, revealed a bitter smile on his face. “I was almost finished just then. Desri, give me a hand… your powers in utilizing healing energy is the best amongst all Saints.”    Desri   immediately   stretched   his   hand   out   and immediately released healing magic.

At Desri’s level, he was capable of instacasting light-style magic of the ninth rank.

But Olivier, despite also training in the Laws of Light, was a warrior, after all. His healing abilities were far inferior to Desri’s.

Rosarie, Rutherford, and Fain all landed as well. Tulily looked at the four of them, then said in surprise, “Desri, how can you all be so leisurely? Can it be that you killed the Flame Tyrant? What method did you use to kill him?” Tulily was extremely surprised. He had personally witnessed the terrible might of the Flame Tyrant.

“It was Linley who killed him.” Rosarie said, while pointing at the distant Linley, who was still in mid-air.

Tulily raised his head and glanced at Linley. “Linley?”

“Right. All by himself, he landed one sword against the body of the Flame Tyrant, and then the Flame Tyrant died.”  Desri sighed in praise. “In terms of attack power, Linley has to now be ranked number one amongst the Saints of the Yulan continent.”

Soon, Tulily’s injuries were completely healed.

“That exit to the seventh floor is in the center, where the Magma Demons are clustering.”  The most powerful group of Saints in the Yulan continent flew directly towards the center of the sixth floor. 

Indeed, there were a large number of Magma Demons clustering here.

“That Draconian is coming. Flee, quick!”  Seeing Linley, the many Magma Demons were so terrified that they immediately fled.

“Yet again, they call me a Draconian!” Linley shook his head and sighed, while Bebe snickered, “Boss, those fellows have no experience. They don’t know what a Dragonblood Warrior is. They only know about the relatively common ‘Draconian’ race which lives in the other realms. Compared to your Dragonblood Warrior lineage, Boss, those Draconians are far weaker.”

As they spoke, the many experts landed.

There was no need to fight. Linley’s prestige from being the slayer of the Flame Tyrant had caused the many Magma Demons scurrying everywhere in terror. “The   exit!”    The   experts   immediately   saw   the   nearby stairway. They were now in the heart of the volcano, and the stairways here emanated with a black aura. This was the exit to the seventh floor.

“Hey, what’s that?” Bebe flew over.

Next to stairway, there were two weapons there. One of the two weapons was a blood red scimitar, while the other one was a magistaff. The magistaff was topped with a large gemstone, and the powerful energy coursing through it filled Linley with awe.

“Two divine artifacts.” Desri said in astonishment, and Fain and Tulily were both shocked and delighted as well.

“Two divine artifacts?” Linley was somewhat surprised.

But then, Linley instantly understood. Lord Beirut had previously said that only on the eleventh floor of the Necropolis of the Gods would divine sparks appear, and that the first ten floors wouldn’t have any divine sparks. However, the first ten floors might have divine artifacts.”

“This is the Necropolis of the Gods. Many Deities have died here. It is normal that they left behind some divine artifacts.” Linley knew very well that divine artifacts weren’t nearly as valuable as divine sparks.

The sixth floor was so hard to defeat that for there to be a total of three divine artifacts here wasn’t too strange, actually.

“There are two more divine artifacts here. How should we divide them?” Bebe stood next to the divine artifacts and said in a loud voice.

“This…”

Everyone was silent. Many people turned to look at Linley. On the sixth floor, the person who had truly rendered the greatest merit was Linley. But of course, Rosarie and the Six- Eyed Golden Ni-Lions had contributed as well. In terms of dividing up the divine artifacts, only people who had contributed should be awarded the divine artifacts.

Linley didn’t say anything.

He had already taken one of them. If he took too many, others would feel unhappy as well.

“Everyone, let me take this scimitar. I won’t take any of the other divine artifacts that appear in the higher floors. In addition, consider this as me, Tulily, owing all of you a favor.” Tulily said with sincerity. “This scimitar truly is the type of weapon which I like the most.”

Scimitar.

The warriors of the great plains to the far east commonly used scimitars, and Tulily himself had reached an extremely high level of skill in using them. 

Only…at Tulily’s level, ordinary ‘good’ weapons weren’t as effective as Tulily’s fists. However, divine artifacts were different. Divine artifacts were usually wielded by Deities, and from this, one could imagine how powerful they were.

“Linley, what do you say?” Fain and Desri looked at Linley.

Tulily also looked hopefully towards Linley. Truthfully speaking, Tulily rarely was so nervous, but he truly was worried right now that Linley would refuse. If Linley didn’t agree, there was nothing he could do…after all, on the sixth floor, Linley had essentially saved his life.

“I have no objections.” Linley smiled as he spoke.

Although Tulily was at a very high level of enlightenment, he still felt a strong surge of excitement in his heart.

“Linley, thank you.” Tulily said solemnly towards Linley. 

Tulily wasn’t a very good talker, but these two words, ‘thank you’, included boundless gratitude.

With Linley having no objection, Rosarie naturally had no objection either. As for the others…none of them were qualified to object. Tulily immediately grabbed the blood scimitar. “With this scimitar, my power will multiply several times over.” Tulily was boundlessly excited.

“Alright, the scimitar has been distributed. The magistaff?” Bebe pointed at the magistaff.

“Boss, Delia needs a magistaff, right?” Bebe said.

Rosarie, a Grand Magus Saint, had wanted to claim this divine artifact of a magistaff for herself, but hearing Bebe’s words, she no longer could speak.

Linley was paying attention to the look on Rosarie’s face. 

“There will be divine artifacts on the seventh and the eighth floors as well. And it’s hard to say whether Delia will need a divine artifact or not.” Linley said mentally to Bebe. He wasn’t a person who couldn’t see the big picture. He immediately laughed and said, “It is better if we make immediate use of this divine artifact. That way, we have a better chance of surviving

in the higher floors.”

Linley looked at Rosarie and Desri. “Rosarie, Desri, the two of you are Grand Magus Saints. You two decide who this divine artifact will go to.”

“Rosarie, you take it” Desri immediately said.

On the sixth floor, the various experts would prepare for roughly a month, and Rosarie and Tulily grew accustomed to their new divine artifacts as well. The first group of ten major experts all remained here on the sixth floor, while only three of the experts in the second group remained. The others had all given up and returned to the fifth floor. One of the three experts remaining in the second group was Olivier.

Higginson had given up. Clearly, Hayward’s death had negatively impacted him quite a bit. After all, the upcoming seventh, eighth, and ninth floors would not be any less dangerous than the sixth floor.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

Next to the flowing river of lava, Desri spoke out. “Let’s go!”

Linley, Tulily, Rosarie, Fain, Rutherford, Olivier, and the others all rose to their feet. Everyone had reached their peak condition over the course of this month.

Including Olivier’s group of three, the thirteen experts continued up into the stairway to the next floor.

Necropolis of the Gods, floor seven! 

“Whew!”

As soon as the thirteen experts of the Yulan continent entered the seventh floor, they felt a breeze.

“How comfortable.” Linley’s lips had a hint of a smile about them. Compared to the scorching hot environment of the sixth floor, the environment of the seventh floor was much better.

The seventh floor was a desert world, but Linley and the others had entered an oasis amongst the desert. This oasis was extremely large, at least ten square kilometers in size. The thirteen experts carefully inspected their surroundings, all of them on their guard.

“There’s water in the distance.”  Bebe saw the lake in the middle of the oasis, and couldn’t help but feel excited.

“Hey? What’s going on with the plants in this place? Why is the grass here so sharp?” Desri frowned as he spoke. 

Suddenly…

The ‘oasis’ suddenly moved, and tens of thousands of tendrils of vegetation rose into the sky, as this ‘oasis’ of ten square kilometers in size suddenly enveloped all of the experts within. Linley, as well, was suddenly trapped in this prison of countless blades of grass and leaves.

“Not good.” Linley’s face changed dramatically, and a devilish flash of violet light suddenly flashed out in his hand.

“Ah!” A miserable scream split the air from afar.

In the blink of an eye, another expert had been heavily injured or killed. Who knew which of the thirteen it was?

Chapter 20: The Magical Beasts in Action

The thick, dense grass had completely surrounded Linley in an airtight seal, and the surrounding grass and leaves were gurgling. The grass tendrils were wildly squeezing down, and in the blink of an eye, the pressure was so great that Linley’s face began to change color.

“The strength of this pressure alone would instantly crush most Saints into meat pulp.” Linley said to himself.

“This plant life form is dozens of times more formidable than the plant life form on the second floor!” Linley didn’t dare to waste any time.

“Break!” Bloodviolet in his hands flashed…

Wherever Bloodviolet passed by, spacetime froze and then folded over itself, and a spatial blade appeared at the blade of the weapon. Although the grass tendrils were tens of times more durable than the vines of the plant life form of the second floor, in front of Bloodviolet, they were still chopped open as easily as pieces of cloth.

“Bang!”

The shattered pieces of grass and tendrils exploded everywhere, and Linley shot out of the prison of dense grass like an arrow.

“Boss,  I’m  fine!”  A  tunnel  suddenly  appeared  in  another distant ball of grass, and then Bebe, his entire body covered with black light, flew out at high speed.

“Bebe, what technique is this?” Linley felt joy in his heart.

“I’m a Deity-level magical beast, the ‘Godeater Rat’.”  Bebe raised his little head proudly, but then Bebe noticed the scene not too far away…a large amount of grass had formed a massive ball, clearly surrounding a person, and within that massive ball of grass, a faint hint of white light could be seen. “Boss, Desri’s not looking so good.” Bebe instantly recognized that it was Desri who was radiating that white light.

Linley had noticed as well. Without hesitating at all, he immediately flew over there while sending out his spiritual energy to scout the situation inside. He clearly saw that inside…Desri’s body was covered with a faintly glowing armor of light that was protecting his entire body, while many white arrows of light were attacking the grass surrounding him wildly.

Unfortunately, the grass tendrils were simply too durable.

“Swish!” Bloodviolet flew out and multiple rays of violet light flashed past the grass, chopping them apart.

Desri escaped from his prison. Upon seeing it was Linley, he immediately  said,  “Thanks.  That  grass  monster  really  was tough. Even my instacast spells of the ninth rank weren’t able to break through it. Without your help, it really would have been problematic.” A red light suddenly flashed by, and grass flew everywhere. Tulily, wielding that divine artifact, the blood red scimitar, flew out and into the skies. With this scimitar, Tulily was like a tiger who had been given wings. Tulily even roared angrily, “Who is it? Don’t skulk around. If you have any ability, come and fight us openly.”

“Bang!” Yet another ball of grass exploded, and Rutherford, his entire body covered with blue light, escaped from his imprisonment as well.

One expert after another escaped.

However, at present, Olivier’s situation was quite dire.

Just now, surrounded and crushed by those countless tendrils of grass, Olivier didn’t have the chance to react at all. And he suddenly discovered…

All of the blades of grass crushing him suddenly began to grind against him at high speed. These grass tendrils all had extremely sharp edges, and this constant high speed grinding… made these grass tendrils constantly slice against his body like sharp fangs, or a sawtooth which a farmer might use to plow the earth.

In the blink of an eye, Olivier’s body was sliced open.

“Hrmph.” Olivier’s eyes turned cold.

“Swish!” A brilliant light flashed, and shattered bits of grass flew everywhere.

His long, flowing hair colored both black and white, and with that black icy sword in his hands, Olivier flew into the air. Only, Olivier’s body had a hint of blood on it. Olivier was secretly shocked. “What a fierce saw.”

The thirteen experts floated there in mid-air. Desri looked around him, then let out a sigh of relief. “Fortunately, no one died.” Olivier glanced at a nearby Saint. This human Saint’s waist already  had  a  huge  wound  around  the  waist.  “Karossa [Ka’luo’sa], that really was quite dangerous. You almost lost your  life.”  That  man  named  Karossa  let  out  an  exhausted breath as well. “Very nearly. That creature’s ‘teeth’ were simply too fierce. If I had been slightly slower in reacting, those grass tendrils probably would have plunged into my body.”

“Plunged into your body?”  Linley and Fain, upon hearing this, couldn’t help but feel shocked.

If the grass tendrils were to enter one’s body, most likely they would ravage the internal organs almost instantly.

“Don’t  move.”   Desri  flew  to  one  of  the  human  experts, executing healing magic on him.

This Karossa was one of the three experts in the second group.

The three experts in that second group consisted of two humans, Karossa and Olivier, and one magical beast, a Blackscale Scorpion King. Blackscale Scorpions were generally beasts of the ninth rank, but this Blackscale Scorpion King had trained to the peak Saint level, which was quite incredible and rare.

“I hate encountering these plant life forms.” Linley lowered his head, studying the area around him.

The area below was covered in sand. The previous ‘oasis’ had already completely disappeared, leaving behind only some tendrils of shattered grass. Linley had earlier witnessed with his own eyes those undamaged tendrils of grass sink down into the sand and disappear.

“Let’s go.”  Desri said. “If that plant creature doesn’t bother us again, let’s not waste the time to deal with it either. The most important thing right now is to find the entrance to the eighth floor.”

“Let’s go.” Linley and the others all nodded. The thirteen experts didn’t pay any more attention to that plant creature, quickly flying away and beginning their search in the boundless desert.

“Yet  another  oasis  up  ahead.”  Fain  frowned  and  shouted loudly.

Linley took a close look. Indeed, in the distance, there was a hazy hint of green. Upon flying a bit closer to it, everyone could clearly see that it was indeed a massive oasis. After the previous experience, however, nobody would be incautious again.

“Let’s not get too close.” Rosarie shook her head. “Let’s stay farther away from it. That monster is very hard to deal with.”

Everyone agreed, and the group intentionally made their way around the oasis. But after Linley’s group flew away in another direction, that green oasis actually sank down into the sand, while the sand itself began to tremble slightly. The direction the vibrations in the sand were heading (at high speed) was, quite coincidentally, the direction in which Linley’s group were flying.

“Hrm?” The Blackscale Scorpion King, at the very back of the line, glanced downwards and then immediately shouted in warning,  “Everyone,  be  careful.  That  monster  is  currently hurrying towards us at high speed from below the sand.”

In the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, magical beasts would often launch ambushes from below. As a Saint-level magical beast, the Blackscale Scorpion was quite familiar with this type of attack.

“That really does seem to be the case.”  Linley, Fain, Tulily, and the others all halted in mid-air, staring below.

If one looked carefully, one would be able to see…that on the surface of the sand, there were one or two barely noticeable tendrils of grass. This sort of plant creature could use all of the grass as its ‘eyes’. Wherever the grass could see, it could see as well. 

“What should we do?” Linley, Desri, and the others looked at each other.

To kill this plant creature was very troublesome, but how could they just allow it to follow in such a sinister manner?

“Swoosh!” “Swoosh!”

Like two sharp arrows, two long tendrils of green grass suddenly shot out from beneath the sand, wrapping themselves around Desri’s legs in almost the same instant. These two tendrils of grass were as thick as a man’s arm, and there were a large number of smaller blades of grass on top of them as well.

In an instant, they surrounded Desri.

“Swish!” They suddenly pulled downwards, hard. The two tendrils of grass had shot out at simply too fast a pace. Shooting out, wrapping around, pulling down. In the blink of an eye, Desri was pulled down. Desri let out a furious roar, while at the same time, sending a wild Mindstorm towards the below area.

“Not good.” The faces of Linley and the others changed, and they immediately chased downwards as well.

“Thud…” Desri was pulled directly into the sand, and in the blink of an eye, he disappeared from everyone’s field of vision. The surface of the sand looked so ordinary, as though nothing had happened.

“Go down!” Bebe shouted loudly.

Bebe, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, the Blackscale Scorpion didn’t hesitate at all. The five magical beasts shrank in size rapidly while charging down into the desert. It was very troublesome to dig when one was physically large. Compared to magical beasts, human experts definitely weren’t as fast when they tunneled through the ground. 

Fain, Rosarie, Tulily, and the rest of the seven waited there in mid-air, not knowing what to do.

“Right now, we can only place our hopes on Bebe and the others.  Hopefully,  they’ll  be  able  to  rescue  Desri.”   Linley himself wasn’t able to do anything.

If he entered the sand, first of all, his digging speed would be lowered by half, and he simply wouldn’t be able to chase down the plant creature.

“That grass monster’s tendrils are simply too fast. They move like an expert wielding a sword.”  Tulily was frowning. “In a flash, they wrapped around Desri’s legs. In addition, just then, Desri utilized a spiritual attack, but it seemed to not have any effect.”

“It’s impossible for it to have any effect.”  Linley shook his head. “That monster’s body was as large as the oasis itself, ten square kilometers. Just now, only its tendrils were revealed. Its main body is most likely many kilometers away from us. Desri wasn’t certain where the monster’s body was. For him to just wildly cast his spiritual energy without knowing where to aim…it would be impressive if he was able to harm it at all.”

Olivier let out a cold sneer. “That Desri was looking to be killed.”

“Why would you say such a thing?”  Fain and the others looked unhappily at Olivier.

Olivier glanced at them, then said calmly, “The Necropolis of the Gods has countless creatures here, and the techniques one would use against humans aren’t necessarily suitable. This Desri is just a Grand Magus Saint. When faced with a sudden attack, at most he would be able to instacast a spell. But how powerful could the spells he is capable of instacasting be? Against these sorts of monsters, those spells don’t pose a threat at all. And yet, he still came to the Necropolis of the Gods. Isn’t that looking to be killed?”

“What sort of talk is this?” Rosarie was somewhat unhappy. “Grand Magus Saints are poor at close combat, but upon reaching the Deity-level and upon gaining their divine body, they will naturally have their deficiencies in close combat addressed.” Fain said.

But Linley actually felt that Olivier’s words made some sense. Grand Magus Saints were indeed weak when facing sudden attacks.

“So?” Olivier said calmly, “After becoming a Deity, one will indeed be transformed and gain a divine body! Divine bodies are extremely powerful and suited for close combat.”

Olivier laughed mockingly, “But then, why wait until becoming a Deity? Can’t a Grand Magus Saint, upon reaching the Saint-level, spend a little bit of time and effort on his close combat skills. To the likes of Desri, a few hundred years is nothing much.”

“To have a Grand Magus Saint become a Warrior Saint as well? Do you think it’s as easy as that?”  Fain frowned as he spoke. 

“Enough.” Linley said. “Enough talk. Everyone has their own opinions.”

Linley’s face suddenly had a look of delight on it. “Excellent, that creature has been dragged out.”

“Dragged  out?”   Everyone  was  surprised  and  delighted, immediately looking downwards.

The sand below began to rumble, and then rose up. Finally, with a ‘boom’ sound, sand exploded everywhere, and the first one to fly out was Desri. Desri’s body was covered with bloodstains, and his face was rather pale. Upon seeing Linley and the others, he still let out a chuckle. “That was really dangerous.”

“Boss, we’re coming.” Bebe’s voice rang out.

And then, Bebe also emerged from the sands, while in Bebe’s claws there was a thick tendril of grass, the thickness of a man’s arm. Using the thick tendril of grass, he actually dragged out the monster from below, and an enormous creature appeared in front of everyone.

This was a creature at least ten stories high, and its entire body was covered by thick, earthen yellow tendrils of grass roots, at least the size of a house.

The grass roots surrounding the monster’s body were only a hundred meters long at most. Clearly, all of the longer grass tendrils had already been broken off. Bebe dragged the monster up, while below came the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni- Lions and the Blackscale Scorpion.

“This fellow still wants to flee? Jeeze…”  Bebe, holding that tendril in his hands, easily spun the massive creature a few times in mid-air, as though it were a giant windmill. “Boss, I thought it would be very powerful, but I didn’t expect it to be as soft as a persimmon. Boss, how do you want to deal with this monster? Your call.”

The Blackscale Scorpion flew over as well. “This fellow really was nothing special. It only knew those two or three attacks. When we drew near it, it was finished.”

Chapter 21: The Queen Mother, ‘Lachapalle’

“Don’t kill me.” A gravelly, terrified voice rang out.

The monster, which had been spun around like a windmill, suddenly came to a halt. Bebe dangled it there by one of its tendrils and shouted at it, “What, are you afraid now? Too late! Boss, we’re going to kill this monster anyhow. Lemme just take care of it now.”

Linley nodded slightly, and Desri and the others didn’t say anything. Just then, this monster clearly wanted to kill Desri. How would they so easily spare it?

“Halt!” The huge maw of the monster howled fiercely.

Bebe chortled twice, looking at the monster. “Halt? Are you afraid to die?”

“Bebe, stop wasting your breath on it.” Linley spoke. 

“You  can’t  kill  me.  If  you  kill  me,  you  will  all  die!”  The monster roared in its gravelly voice.

Linley, Desri, Fain, and the others all looked at each other, and then glanced with amusement at this already captured plant life form. Fain laughed loudly, “If we kill you, we’ll all die? Go on and tell us, how will you kill us?”

Only now did the monster let out a sigh of relief. Seeing the attitude of these people, it came to a decision, and it sounded out with its hoarse voice, “If you kill me, I myself will not be able to seek revenge. But…you need to understand that in this seventh floor of the Necropolis of the Gods, I’m not the only one of my kind here, right?”

Linley frowned.

On the sixth floor, they had encountered the Flame Tyrant, and many people had died there. Killing the Flame Tyrant had been an extremely dangerous task. The danger of this seventh floor shouldn’t be lower than that of the sixth. It wouldn’t be as simple as just disposing of this plant creature.

“Speak.” Fain frowned as he barked at it.

The experts all looked at the monster.

“On the seventh floor of the Necropolis of the Gods, I am only an ordinary creature. The truly powerful creature here is the  Queen  Mother!”   The  monster’s  voice  had  a  hint  of arrogance in it. “I urge you to let me go. If you kill me, the Queen Mother will definitely slaughter you all.”

“The Queen Mother?” Linley frowned in puzzlement.

One of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions explained to the other people present, “In the other planes, there are some special life forms that are divided into a ‘mother’ component and ‘child’ components. Those ‘child’ components are given birth to by the ‘mother’ component, and the power of the ‘mother’ is hundreds of times that of the ‘children’. Actually, the Hornet- type magical beasts are a good example of this. Each clan has just one ‘Queen Mother’, and the other magical beasts are all her children.

“Mother  component?  Child  component?  Queen  Mother?” Linley and the others were all secretly surprised.

If this was the case, then the power of the Queen Mother would be far greater than that of its children.

“Right. The relationship between myself and the Queen Mother is the relationship between a ‘mother component’ and a ‘child component’.” The monster immediately said. “You had best release me. If you kill me, the Queen Mother will definitely sense it, and at that time…you will have incurred the Queen Mother’s wrath. You will definitely die.”

The monster seemed very self confident.

The power of the Queen Mother wasn’t something which it, a ‘child component’, could compare with. “What should we do?” Desri looked at Linley and asked him.

Amongst this group, Linley’s status had slowly risen, especially after his performance in the sixth floor. After all, his power was clearly greater than that of everyone else. In addition, Tulily and the others had been assisted by Linley.

“To kill, or not to kill.” Linley hesitated a bit as well.

He couldn’t tell if this creature was telling the truth or not.

“Whoosh!”  A  sudden  gust  of  wind.  One  of  the  Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions charged at the monster, while at the same time, its body dramatically increased to the size of a titanic dragon. Its scaly, gold-fur covered sharp claws also reached several meters in thickness, and its thick, massive claws ripped viciously down at the creature.

The monster couldn’t help but want to let out a scream of terror. The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion’s six eyes simultaneously sent out rays of black light, and as soon as the six rays of light enveloped the monster, the monster was no longer able to move.

“Bang!”

The sharp claws, carrying a faint, space-ripping power, slashed down on the monster’s body, pausing only slightly while cutting through it. And then, like a vase being shattered into pieces, the monster’s body exploded into four or five fragments, with green liquid flowing forth.

Although describing it took some time, in truth, this happened in the blink of an eye. The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion had killed the monster in a twinkling.

“Why did you kill him?” Rosarie’s eyes, flashing with a faint green light, stared at the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion. She asked coldly, “Aren’t you afraid of drawing the attention of the Queen Mother?” “If you don’t want to be killed by the Queen Mother, then follow  me.”   The  Six-Eyed  Golden  Ni-Lion  didn’t  explain anything, immediately flying towards a certain direction. The other two Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions immediately followed. Linley, Desri, and the others were puzzled, but they still followed and flew behind them.

After flying for roughly a hundred kilometers, the three Six- Eyed Golden Ni-Lions came to a stop.

“What is going on?” Linley asked.

“We killed him, so the Queen Mother would probably chase after us.” Rutherford said with a frown.

The leader of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions laughed, revealing its fangs as it grinned. “You people are really stupid. That monster said a few words, and you really believed it? Just one or two words made you afraid to kill it?” The other two Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions had laughter in their eyes as well. The three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions had been alongside Dylin for countless years, and the amount of experience they had, the likes of Linley and the others could not possibly match.

“What? Can it be that what the monster was saying about it being a ‘child’ component and there being a Queen Mother on the seventh floor was a lie?” Fain asked.

“No, that part should be true.” The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion nodded its great head. “That sort of plant life form, we three brothers have encountered before in the Gebados Planar Prison. Plant type creatures generally do have Queen Mother’s, and the power of the Queen Mother is indeed hundreds of times greater than that of its children.”

“And yet you still killed it?” Karossa frowned.

Linley was puzzled as well.

The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion snorted. “You don’t even understand this? This Queen Mother can give birth to hundreds on thousands of child components. To the Queen Mother, its children are nothing more than little soldiers. Have you ever seen an Emperor who immediately went to seek revenge for the sake of the death of a single soldier?”

The Blackscale Scorpion also rumbled, “Amongst the hornet- type magical beasts, the deaths of ordinary soldiers is indeed paid little attention to by the Queen Mother’s.”

“That’s just the first reason. The second reason is, it would be good if the Queen Mother chases after us.”  The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion said.

“Hrm?”

Everyone was puzzled. Why was it good for the Queen Mother to chase after them?

The  other  Six-Eyed  Golden  Ni-Lion  said,  “Remember  the sixth floor? At first, the Flame Tyrant was next to the corridor, but after leaving, it ordered the thousand-plus Magma Demons to block up the tunnel. Same logic. Their responsibility is to prevent us from leaving. I expect that the Queen Mother should be next to the exit to the eighth floor.”

“Right.” Fain nodded. This logic was very simple. Only, the experts present hadn’t thought of it.

“Would killing one of her ‘child’ components make the Queen Mother leave the tunnel? What a joke. If she truly left, we would actually be able to seize the opportunity to find the tunnel and immediately enter the eighth floor.” The Six-Eyed Golden  Ni-Lion  licked  its  lips.  “Let’s  keep  looking  for  the tunnel. However, while searching for the tunnel, it’s best to be careful. You cannot compare the ‘child’ monster to its Queen Mother.”

All of them knew this to be true, and they immediately went to look for the monster.

None of them dared to be rash. After all, the Queen Mother was here, somewhere. “The creator of this Necropolis of the Gods has really spent quite  a  bit  of  effort.”  Linley,  while  flying  in  search  of  the tunnel, had to sigh inwardly with praise. Linley had never seen the likes of the Flame Tyrant or these plant creatures.

“But if it truly was developed by a Sovereign, then perhaps he would only need to have his subordinates go search for these strange, unique races and bring them here.”

Linley sighed in his heart.

They continued searching. This desert world was extremely vast, and each time, before flying too far, they would see some oases from afar. They weren’t afraid, and they would immediately fly over to see if there were any tunnels near the oases. If the oases transformed into a monster to attack them, then…the five magical beasts would immediately go kill the monster.

After a long time. The wind blew across the desert world, whirling the sand high in the air, some dunes rising while other places sinking down. Along with the gust of wind, ‘rustle, rustle’, a large amount of sand rolled about, revealing a black rocky wall.

“Look. That seems to be the exit.” Fain pointed excitedly off into the distance, and everyone saw it as well.

Everyone here had excellent vision. That black rock wall, in the yellow desert, stood out very much.

“That  is  definitely  the  tunnel.”   Linley  and  the  others immediately flew over.

“Whoooosh.”  Linley summoned a gust of wild wind which immediately landed against the stone wall, blowing the sand on it off into the distance, instantly revealing the full edifice that had been covered by the sand.

This was a black, pyramid-like structure. Beneath the black pyramid, there was a ten meter tall set of stairs, and the faint black glow let everyone here know…that they had found the right place. This sort of black glowing stairway was the symbol of the exit.

“Rumble…”  Suddenly, countless vines and tendrils of grass erupted from around the tunnel beneath the black pyramid.

In virtually the blink of an eye, the entire black pyramid was covered by countless rattans and grass tendrils, and even the exit tunnel was completely sealed off airtight. With the black pyramid at the center, within an area of a hundred square kilometers, countless rattans and grass vines rose up towards the sky.

Linley and the others felt their hearts tremble, and they immediately flew back and flew higher.

“Haha…” A clear voice rang out from below, and then from within the countless vines and grass tendrils, an enormous green light charged upwards into the sky, then came to a halt in mid-air. The green female creature stood there in mid-air. She was fully ten meters tall, but her body was covered with countless intersecting vines and tendrils of grass. At the same time, in the area around her body, there were countless vines and roots that were nearly a thousand meters long.

Her tendrils and vines were clearly different from those of the ‘child’ components. This was because the countless tendrils and vines around her were so green that they seemed nearly translucent.

It was as though they weren’t plants, but were a type of soft, translucent gem-like material. It was an extremely strange thing.

“It’s been so long since an outsider has come.”  The green female laughed as she spoke. “This period of time has been so boring. Mm…humans. Oh, what beautiful bodies. I like human bodies. Oh. Before that. Let me introduce myself first.”

The green female creature swept everyone with her gaze. “I am Lachapelle. You can address me as the Queen Mother.” “As  we  thought.”   Linley  and  the  others  grew  still  more cautious.

Linley and the others carefully inspected this ‘Lachapelle’. Lachapelle’s tendrils were a soft green color, like a gemstones. Just from appearance alone, they were far larger than the tendrils of the ‘child’ components as well.

“Lachapelle.” One of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions said in its loud voice. “I trust you have encountered other outsiders here before as well, and won’t necessarily want to make trouble for us. I hope you can allow us into the tunnel, as otherwise…if we fight all out against you, I think you won’t have a good time of it either.”

The Queen Mother, Lachapelle, stared at the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions. “Oh, threatening me. How intriguing. Then let me see if you have that level of ability!” While she was still speaking, suddenly…

“Swish!” The Queen Mother, Lachapelle, suddenly charged into the sky, shortening the distance between her and Linley.

“Retreat.” Linley and the others immediately retreated back at high speed, not hesitating at all.

But the countless rattans and tendrils of the Queen Mother, Lachapelle, shot out like sharp arrows at the same time. As Linley was retreating, he hadn’t paid attention to his back, but he suddenly realized…that the thousands of tendrils and rattans which Queen Mother Lachapelle had shot out weren’t attacking in a wild, unorganized way.

These rattans were actually attacking in accordance with some sort of strange profoundness.

“Spatial freezing?”  Linley discovered, to his astonishment, that it was as though space had suddenly frozen. But of course, it hadn’t truly frozen; only, Linley and the others felt as though they had fallen into a pit of mud, and even flying became extremely arduous. 

“Swish!”

Suddenly, the countless tendrils instantly surrounded Rutherford and Karossa. Rutherford and Karossa were a bit slower in terms of flying speed compared to the others, and thus were directly surrounded by the countless vines.

The countless vines and rattans immediately began to contract…

“Squelch.”

Countless amounts of blood leaked out from the cracks between the constricting rattans and vines, and then they were quickly absorbed into the rattans and vines.

“Rutherford and Karossa are dead.” The faces of the fleeing Linley and the other fleeing experts changed dramatically. Even someone as powerful as Rutherford, one of the Five Prime Saints, had instantly been killed after being surrounded, without even being able to resist.

The countless constricting vines and rattans once more began to dance, but not even the bones of Rutherford and Karossa remained.

“Mmm. So tasty.” The dark green eyes of the Queen Mother, Lachapelle, still stared at the distant, hurriedly fleeing Linley and the others.

Chapter 22: Regrowth

The Queen Mother, Lachapelle, had the face of an angel, but her actions were that of a devil’s.

“Children, keep a tight watch on this exit. As long as a single one of you remains alive, you cannot permit them to enter.” The voice of the Queen Mother, Lachapelle, shook the heavens, and instantly, a large number of noises could be heard in the ground below the sand.

Countless tendrils and vines erupted forth from beneath the sand, and the black pyramid structure was covered by three layers on the inside and three layers on the outside by the tendrils.

Lachapelle’s lips curved upwards slightly, and then with a ‘swish’, the air around her suddenly began to tremble.

The Queen Mother, Lachapelle, transformed into a streak of green light, chasing after Linley’s group at high speed. It had to be said that Lachapelle’s speed was simply too fast. In but a short while, Linley’s group discovered that Lachapelle was behind them in hot pursuit.

“Quick, quick.” Each person in Linley’s group were exerting themselves to fly at their utmost speeds.

“Rutherford and Karossa, two powerful experts, were killed and devoured in the blink of an eye. The power of this Queen Mother is simply terrifying.”  Linley felt his heart clench as well. Before, when Bebe had captured that ‘child’ component plant, although it had also been able to surround everyone, not a single person had died.

In particular, the likes of Linley and Fain hadn’t even been injured.

The difference between the ‘child’ and the ‘mother’ was simply too great.

“Boss, be careful.” Bebe’s voice suddenly rang out in Linley’s consciousness, and Linley immediately looked backwards. He saw a green, semi-translucent tendril the thickness of an arm shoot towards him through space at high speed like a sharp arrow.

Linley’s speed was only considered below average amongst the eleven remaining experts.

“Break!”     Linley   delivered   a   backhanded   chop   with Bloodviolet, and Bloodviolet carried with it its devilish violet flashes of light, causing space to suddenly distort as it chopped down against the semi-translucent tendrils.

Profound Truths of the Wind – Tempos of the Wind, level two!

Linley had a feeling…much like how, when he was young, he had tried to use a hatchet to chop down a tree.

“Bang.” Bloodviolet sank into the tendril, but Linley’s full strength blow had only been able to cut 80% of the way through this arm-thick tendril. At the same time, Linley suddenly sensed a tightness around his waist. That tendril had already wrapped itself around Linley. 

“It didn’t break?” Linley was amazed.

Linley knew exactly how powerful this full force sword attack of his was. But a single tendril of this Queen Mother, Lachapelle, had reached such a terrifying level. Linley didn’t think anything else, and immediately the Bloodviolet flexible sword in his hand began to tremble.

Profound Truths of the Wind – Rippling Wind!

In almost an instant, the Bloodviolet sword that had already sank into the tendril trembled more than ten thousand times, sawing straight through the remaining 20% of the tendril.

But as Linley was chopping off this first tendril, his speed was impacted, and instantly, hundreds of tendrils swept towards Linley, seeking to surround him. Linley’s face instantly turned absolutely pale. “A single tendril was already so hard to break, but hundreds…” Those hundreds of tendrils surrounded around Linley in the blink of an eye, and those people who were fleeing ahead of them felt their hearts tremble.

This had happened once already, not too long ago. Rutherford and Karossa had been surrounded by these tendrils, and the result was…not even their bones were left. Linley was the expert with the most powerful attack in this group. If even Linley were to die, what could the rest of them do?

“Boss!”  Bebe  called  out  in  terror,  and  at  the  same  time, ignoring the danger, he immediately turned and charged back towards Linley.

“Swish.” Bebe transformed into a black ray of light as he flew at high speed.

In the same instant those hundreds of tendrils surrounded him, in Linley’s other hand suddenly appeared the adamantine heavy sword. Linly now had the adamantine heavy sword in his right hand and Bloodviolet in his left. The adamantine heavy sword floated down with seeming grace, but in truth, it had shot out as fast as lightning.

Profound Truths of the Earth – Throbbing Pulse of the World, 64 Layered Waves!

The time had come for him to go all out.

“Break for me!!!” Linley’s face was extremely ferocious.

Linley was entirely surrounded by tendrils, and in the space in front of him alone, there were dozens of tendrils blocking him from going forward, trapping him within their net.

The dozens of tendrils struck by the adamantine heavy sword all shuddered, but the soft, pliable, yet tough tendrils were extremely resilient against vibrational forces. Despite Linley attacking at full strength with his Throbbing Pulse of the World – 64 Layered Waves, only ten or so tendrils in the path of the adamantine heavy sword transformed into splinters, while the other ten tendrils remained. 

“Swish!”

A devilish violet light chopped out, and the dozens of tendrils in front, almost as though they had become brittle, were chopped through by Bloodviolet.

“Swoosh!”  Linley immediately seized the opportunity to fly out from the hole he had created.

“Boss.” Bebe immediately flew over. “Quick, onto my back.”

Bebe had transformed his size to become larger, and without hesitating at all, Linley directly leapt onto Bebe’s back, and Bebe’s speed immediately increased dramatically. Bebe, Desri, and Fain were the fastest in the group, and now that Bebe was moving at maximum speed, he quickly escaped the tendrils behind them.

“Whew.” Only now did Linley let out a long sigh. 

Just then, the feeling of being surrounded by hundreds of tendrils really was akin to the feeling of the end coming.

For the sake of chasing after Linley, the Queen Mother, Lachapelle, had lost ground on the others. In addition, after witnessing Linley’s dangerous situation, the others had learned to be smarter.

“Quick, Olivier, onto my back.” A Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion shouted, while the other Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion barked the same to the nearby Rosarie. Amongst these experts, the fastest were Bebe, Fain, and Desri, and after them were the three Six- Eyed Golden Ni-Lion, Tulily, and the Blackscale Scorpion.

As for Linley, Olivier, and Rosarie, they were slightly slower.

Both Olivier who trained in the Elemental Laws of Light and Linley who trained in the Elemental Laws of the Wind were all extremely fast. In addition, Olivier combined both darkness and light, while Linley was a Dragonblood Warrior…but compared to the likes of Bebe, Fain, Tulily, and the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, the two were still slower.

“This Blackscale Scorpion is really fast as well.”  One of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion said casually while flying.

The Blackscale Scorpion was of a race that normally was of the ninth rank. It was already quite incredible for this Blackscale Scorpion to reach the peak Saint stage. For his speed to be so fast as well…truly was amazing.

The eleven experts fled at high speed, and in the end, the Queen Mother, Lachapelle, finally gave up.

“Just now, that human youngster’s sword was quite strange.” The Queen Mother Lachapelle stared as Linley’s group disappeared beyond the horizons. “With but a single sword, he broke over ten of my tendrils, but the most amazing thing is… although the other dozens of tendrils his sword passed by didn’t shatter, they were damaged so severely that they only had a tenth of their usual strength.” “Whew. Let’s take a rest.” Desri said.

The eleven experts didn’t dare land on the desert, and so they halted in mid-air. Clearly, that Lachapelle had truly terrified this group of people.

“This Queen Mother is simply too much of a monster.” Fain said with a frown. “Even Rutherford and Karossa were killed in an instant, and just then, when she chased after us, I felt extremely nervous.”

Everyone was resting right now.

When they were fleeing earlier, they hadn’t dared to be the slightest bit incautious.

“Linley, I saw that Queen Mother attack you. What do you think?” Tulily looked at Linley.

Linley’s face was rather ugly to look at. 

That scene earlier had been way too dangerous. Linley shook his head and said solemnly, “This Queen Mother is far more dangerous than the Flame Tyrant. When I attacked it with Bloodviolet just now, my full force blow wasn’t able to break through that tendril. This…you must understand, there were thousands on thousands of these tendrils.”

“It didn’t break under your full force blow?” The faces of all the experts changed.

Everyone knew how strong the Dragonblood Warriors were. Despite combining that with the Profound Truths of the Wind, Linley still hadn’t been able to break through the tendril with a single blow. One could imagine how tough that tendril was.

“Afterwards, when the tendrils surrounded you, Linley, we were all very worried. How did you manage to break out? Given the toughness of those tendrils, it must have been extremely difficult.” Desri asked, and all the nearby experts looked at Linley. Right now, experience was very important.

Rutherford and Karossa, who had also been surrounded by the Queen Mother’s tendrils, were both dead. Only Linley had escaped.

“My escape was an extremely risky one.”  Linley admitted it openly. “A large number of tendrils had surrounded me, and in that sort of situation, I had to go all out.” Linley’s face had a hint of bitter laughter on it. “So I immediately used the adamantine heavy sword, combining both swords in my attack.”

“I first used the adamantine heavy sword to utilize the Profound Truths of the Earth, the same blow which killed the Flame Tyrant.” Linley shook his head. “My most powerful sword blow was only enough to destroy ten or so tendrils.”

“But the strange thing was…when I followed it up with Bloodviolet, I was instantly able to easily break through dozens of tendrils, and then I seized the opportunity to charge out.” Linley said. 

Earlier, when Linley had first used only Bloodviolet to chop at that tendril, he hadn’t been able to break through it despite striking with full force. But this time, he was able to chop through dozens.

“How is that possible?” The others were puzzled as well.

Linley hadn’t had any time to consider this question while they were fleeing, but now, Linley suddenly understood after thinking about it. “Right. The Profound Truths of the Earth rely on vibrational waves to attack the enemy. The ten or so tendrils in front of me were directly vibrated into little pieces. Most likely, the dozens of tendrils behind them, although not completely destroyed, should have been badly damaged internally.”

With its internal components damaged, the tendrils naturally were no longer very tough.

Following with another full strength blow from Bloodviolet, it wasn’t too difficult to break through those dozens of damaged tendrils.

“Enough about that. What we need to think about is…how we should deal with the Queen Mother. If we don’t eliminate the Queen Mother, it most likely won’t permit us to enter the exit and go to the eighth floor.” Desri said with a frown.

The experts all nodded.

“What should we do?” All of them frowned in thought.

One of the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions spoke. “Based on what I know, once the tendrils or vines of a plant creature are destroyed, it will be very hard for them to regrow them. The higher class the plant creature is, the tougher and more resilient their tendrils will be, but similarly, the tougher it will be to regrow them.”

“Therefore, what we can do is to divide into multiple attacks, eliminating a few tendrils with each attack. In the end…once the Queen Mother no longer has any tendrils left, won’t we be able to slaughter it as we please?” Hearing the words of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion, Linley, Fain, and the others all nodded.

If everyone joined forces and used forbidden-level spells and their ultimate attacks at the same time, they should be able to destroy a few tendrils. Once the Queen Mother, Lachapelle, chased after them, they would flee. But then they would attack her, again and again…

To reduce the number of tendrils the Queen Mother have was something they were capable of.

Slowly, one step at a time, they would still have a chance of success.

“Can’t be done.” Bebe shook his head.

The entire group of experts looked at Bebe, confused. Bebe shook his head and said, “Earlier, when I went to rescue the Boss, I saw exactly what happened. After the Boss broke through those tendrils and fled onto my back, those tendrils were regrown, and the speed of the regrowth was very fast. In a short period of time, they were completely recovered.

“How is that possible?” The three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions couldn’t believe it.

“Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”  A Six-Eyed Golden Ni- Lion shook his head.

“But this is what I, Bebe, personally witnessed. How can it be false?”  Bebe rebutted. “In addition, how could I possibly lie about something like this?”

The three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions fell silent. They all believed…that in a critical moment such as this, Bebe wouldn’t possibly lie. But the three brothers had encountered this sort of plant creature in the past, and they knew some things about this type of creature.

“No matter what the reason is, the fact of the matter is that this Queen Mother’s tendrils have the ability to regrow.” Desri said solemnly. “We need to come up with a method on how to kill the Queen Mother.”

Everyone stayed silent.

The tendrils were so tough that even Linley’s full force blow with Bloodviolet couldn’t break through. The worst part was… this Queen Mother’s tendrils could regrow themselves.

What to do?

The deaths of Rutherford and Karossa were still fresh in the minds of every single expert.

Chapter 23: Fast, Slow?

The Queen Mother, Lachapelle, possessed tremendous power. In the air above the boundless desert of the seventh floor of the Necropolis of the Gods, the wind blew the sand as Desri, Linley, Fain, and the other human experts, along with Bebe and the other magical beast experts, stood there in mid- air. All of them were seriously pondering their next steps.

“If we don’t have any hope at all, I recommend…giving up.” Desri forced the words out.

The other experts all looked towards Desri.

“Give  up,  just  like  that?”   Fain’s  eyes  had  a  hint  of unwillingness.

They had waited a thousand years for this opportunity, and they had even passed the sixth floor. He was indeed rather unwilling to give up this opportunity now. “We have no hope at all.”  Desri shook his head. “A single tendril of Queen Mother Lachapelle’s is already so durable, and she has thousands on thousands of them. More importantly, even if you break those tendrils, they’ll naturally regrow.”

Desri looked around him. “Everyone, you tell me, must we insist on going to our deaths?”

Linley and Bebe exchanged glances.

“Boss, let’s give up.” Bebe said mentally to Linley. “There’s no rush for us. At worst, in another hundred years, when the two of us have become stronger, I’ll ask my Grandpa Beirut to just open another tunnel to the Necropolis of the Gods, just for us.”

Bebe felt it was hopeless as well.

Linley couldn’t help but think back to the terrifying scene of those countless, densely packed tendrils surrounding him, especially the feeling of him being surrounded by them. That sort of dangerous feeling truly was heart-shaking. 

But just at that moment, those three Six-Eyed Golden Ni- Lions glanced at each other, and one of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni- Lions said solemnly, “No, we aren’t entirely hopeless. We still have a bit of hope.”

“Oh?”

The levitating experts all stared in surprise towards those Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions.

“We  still  have  hope?  You  say  we  still  have  hope?  What hope?” Fain immediately asked.

That Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion nodded. “We three brothers have an ultimate attack. Through our ‘Six Eyes’, we can emit six rays of light to cover our opponent. It will paralyze the opponent and completely prevent them from moving.”

“Paralyze  them?  Prevent  them  from  moving?”  Linley  was greatly shocked. 

This ultimate attack was simply too monstrous. Didn’t it essentially mean that it would force the opponent to just stand there and be beaten?

Everyone present, even the perpetually silent Olivier and the Blackscale Scorpion, had their eyes filled with amazement.

“Right. I remember, now.” Rosarie said with surprised joy. “I remember that when we first arrived at the seventh floor and Bebe and the others entered the sands and seized that ‘child’ monster, it was one of you three brothers who killed the monster. When you killed it, your six eyes emanated a ray of black light that surrounded the monster, paralyzing it and forcing it to allow you to kill it.”

Linley and the others remembered that as well.

“If that’s the case, then we’ll win for sure.”  The Blackscale Scorpion  rumbled.  “Let  that  Queen  Mother,  Lachapalle,  be paralyzed, and then destroy her soul. Once her soul is destroyed, the Queen Mother will definitely die.” “It isn’t as easy as that.” The leader of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions shook his head. “Our technique isn’t undefeatable. The way you are interpreting it, we would be able to immediately freeze any opponent we encounter and then kill them. Wouldn’t that make us invincible? This technique depends on the power of the opponent.”

Linley and the others nodded.

Right. If the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions used this technique against a Deity, most likely that Deity would just kill them with a flip of the hand.

“This technique of ours is naturally highly effective against that ‘child’  monster, of course.”  The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion said seriously. “But the power of the Queen Mother, Lachapalle, is hundreds of times stronger than her children. When she lets loose, her power is astonishingly great. To paralyze her will be very hard.”

The other two Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions nodded as well. 

Linley and the others all understood this.

It was like a giant metal cage. It could be used to imprison a horse or a cow, but if you used the same metal cage, could you possibly use it to trap an enormous dragon that was thousands of times stronger than the horse or the cow?

“However, although the Queen Mother Lachapalle is strong, she isn’t at the Deity-level. If we three brothers join forces and use this technique together, most likely…we would be able to paralyze Queen Mother Lachapalle for around a second.”  The leader of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions said.

Linley and the others felt joy in their hearts.

A second? Although it seemed like a short period of time, to experts such as Linley, a second was enough to allow one to exchange tens or hundreds of blows. “But of course, that’s just an estimate. After all, without having actually fought her, we don’t know how long we can paralyze her for either.” The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion said.

Everyone understood, but they also knew…that these three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion, working together, would definitely be able to cause the Queen Mother to be paralyzed for a moment.

“Everyone, who amongst us feels confident in being able to kill  the  Queen  Mother  in  an  instant?”   Desri  immediately looked at the others.

The three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions would be able to let them one of the experts have a single instant of an opportunity. Now, the question was who had the best chance of success.

“Sadly, we don’t have a wind-style Grand Magus Saint.” Rosarie shook her head and sighed. In terms of the most powerful single-target attack, the title had to go to wind-style Grand Magus Saints. Once the ‘Dimensional Edge’ came out, even space itself would be cut through. It would have definitely been capable of cutting the Queen Mother into two parts. 

All the experts present were silent.

“Linley, how about you?” Fain looked at Linley.

Linley maintained his silence.

The Queen Mother, Lachapalle, was surrounded by a dense cluster of tendrils. How long the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions would be able to paralyze her for was unknown. If, as soon as he drew near the Queen Mother’s body, she escaped from the ‘paralysis’, then he would definitely be surrounded by countless tendrils again.

He wouldn’t even have a chance to run.

After all, even the adamantine heavy sword and Bloodviolet combined could only break through roughly a hundred tendrils each time. “Boss.” Bebe shook his head towards Linley.

The chance of success was too low.

“Whoever kills the Queen Mother shall be the one to take possession of the divine artifact of the seventh floor, if there is one. I think no one here will object.” Desri looked at everyone.

Everyone nodded.

“We  still  have  two  years  before  the  ten  year  time  limit.” Linley said solemnly. “There’s no need for us to rush. Let’s spend some time to think about it.”

All the experts nodded. Unless they had at least some degree of confidence, they wouldn’t choose to throw their lives away.

….. The boundless desert.

Linley hovered there in mid-air, his eyes shut as he attuned himself to the blowing of the wind. With regards to the Elemental Laws of the Wind, Linley had already had gained some new insights into both the ‘Fast’ aspect and the ‘Slow’ aspect. At this moment, he was attuning to himself to the Elemental Laws, and so he naturally was attuned to these two aspects as well.

His mind became one with the wind elemental essences.

“Hrm?” Linley’s consciousness suddenly had an image appear within it.

When the Queen Mother, Lachapalle, had attacked the first time, those tens of thousands of tendrils had suddenly shot out at high speed. At that time, Linley and the other experts had all sensed that the surrounding space had suddenly frozen, and felt as though they were wallowing in cement or through a pool. “At that time, the Queen Mother’s tendrils were moving in accordance to a strange, profound mystery. It somehow achieved the effect of causing space to freeze.”  Linley’s mind suddenly had a thought.

Spatial freezing was in truth, a fairly high level interpretation of the ‘Slow’ aspect. Linley still had some distance to go from his current level of ‘slowing’ space to truly ‘freezing’ space.

“The Queen Mother’s tendrils were all extremely fast. Even Rutherford wasn’t able to flee.” Linley was puzzled. “But when those tendrils shot out, they were so fast that space itself became blurred. It should be the ‘spatial folding’ interpretation of the ‘Fast’ aspect. But why was it that all of those tendrils combined were able to create the effect of ‘spatial freezing’?”

Linley was puzzled.

At the same time, Linley unconsciously began to replay the sight of those countless tendrils shooting out, carefully searching for the profound mysteries within. 

After a long time, Linley, still standing in mid-air, opened his eyes. With a flip of his hand, he retrieved Bloodviolet. His hand thrust it outwards, and instantly…

Thousands of Bloodviolets appeared in front of Linley, and the sword blurs caused space itself to begin to blur. This attack was the combination of Linley’s understanding of ‘Spatial Folding’ and ‘Rippling Wind’ attacks, with the ‘Rippling Wind’ capable of producing ten million sword attacks.

“Not right.”

Linley frowned.

“If I want every single sword attack to be like those tendrils, those ten million sword blurs used simultaneously should be able to create the special effect of ‘Spatial Freezing’.”  Linley once again struck out with Bloodviolet.

Right. 

Right now, Linley was currently trying to utilize the ‘Rippling Wind’ technique to instantly create ten million swords, imitating the attack of Queen Mother Lachapalle.

Again. Again.

“Swish.”

Bloodviolet once again transformed into ten million swords in the air, and the several meters covered by violet sword flashes suddenly began to congeal. The ten million sword attacks were all like the countless surrounding tendrils, and then, at the same time, they all converged on one point. A sound could be heard…

“Bang!” A tear in space appeared.

Linley’s eyes lit up. “Right.  ‘Spatial  Freezing’.”  Linley’s  face  finally  revealed  a hint of excitement.

“Finally.  Success.”  Fortunately,  Bloodviolet  was  capable  of twisting and curving. That was the only reason why he could test the attacks time and time again and completely learn and imitate the attack of Queen Mother Lachapalle. Only, the attack Queen Mother Lachapalle utilized had the thousands of tendrils surround the opponent.

But with Linley’s attacks, the ten million swords came together at one point, converging all of their attacks.

“In the past, the ‘Rippling Wind’ attack could continuously send out many attacking swords, but once it transformed into ten million swords, because of wind friction, the countless swords couldn’t converge on one spot simultaneously.” Linley had been frustrated over this in the past.

When his sword struck out, it naturally had to follow the flows of the wind in order to suddenly produce ten million swords. 

But to have the ten million swords converge on one spot required the swords to go against the natural force of the wind. As the saying goes, ‘a millimeter of difference, a thousand kilometers of distance’. To go against the natural force of the wind meant that one simply couldn’t instantly create ten million swords.

“But by using this unique cadence when creating all those swords, I can do it.” Linley was very surprised.

Those ten million swords came out at once, but they didn’t do so wildly and randomly, just following the wind wherever it went. They seemed to travel through a circular arc, creating a strange centrifugal force as all of the swords converged on a single point.

“How unique.”  Linley couldn’t help but inwardly sigh with amazement.

But Linley was also extremely happy. “Although each individual sword of those ten million swords aren’t very powerful, when all those swords combine into one, the power of the attack would be thousands of times greater.” Linley was extremely excited. When ten million swords combined into one, the sharpness and the speed of Bloodviolet would come into full play.

Profound Truths of the Wind – Myriad Swords Converge!

This was yet another breakthrough in the Profound Truths of the Wind.

In terms of attack power, it was even much more powerful than the ‘Tempos of the Wind’.

“Only, this is a single target attack, only useful against one target.”   Linley  knew  very  well  that  when  those  countless swords combined, wherever the sword passed, all obstacles would be chopped to dust.

There was no need to wonder about it. The combined strength of those ten million swords combining would definitely cause the power of this attack to reach an awesome height.

In addition, this attack also contained the strange ‘Spatial Freezing’ effect.

“Why is it that the ‘Fast’ aspect can produce the ‘Spatial Freezing’  effect  of  the  ‘Slow’  aspect?”  Although  Linley  had successfully developed this attack, he still was puzzled.

The ‘Fast’ and ‘Slow’ aspects of the Elemental Laws of the Wind were two totally opposite aspects. But it seemed that they were somehow linked together as well.

“If I can’t figure it out, then I won’t think about it.” Linley was in an extremely jubilant mood. “The most powerful attack of the Profound Truths of the Wind is totally capable of destroying all obstructions. With this attack, there’s no need to fear the obstruction of any tendrils.”

Linley’s heart was filled with confidence. 

Three days later.

Having already engraved this most powerful attack of the Profound Truths of the Wind into his heart, Linley immediately headed off with the other experts towards the Queen Mother, Lachapalle. This time, the others would all support him with their own attacks, while Linley himself would deliver the final attack.

After flying for quite a while.

“That vast oasis is up ahead. It should be the location of where the many ‘children’ components of Queen Mother Lachapalle have gathered.” Desri pointed off into the distance.

The place where the black pyramid had been was now surrounded by an extremely green sea, formed by those many ‘oases’. “Haha…and here I thought all of you were so frightened, you had fled to the sixth floor. I didn’t expect you would dare to return.” The clear voice shook the air above the green sea, and in the air above that green sea, a green, glowing human- formed aberration surrounded by thousands of tendrils was hovering.”

It was the Queen Mother, Lachapalle.

Chapter 24, Myriad Swords Converge, the Pearl of Life!

The Queen Mother, Lachapelle, hovered there in mid-air like a queen, the thousands of nearly translucent green tendrils swiveling around her devilish body.

Meanwhile, below her…

Countless tendrils and vines rose up into the air, waving wildly. Rumbling growls could be heard from beneath the sands. A large number of ‘children’ components under the control of Queen Mother Lachapelle were covering the black pyramid, completely blocking it off.

Linley glanced at the nearby Rosarie and Desri. These two Grand Magus Saints had already begun to mumble the words to their spells, and were about to complete them.

Rosarie’s long, jade-green hair suddenly rose upwards as a wild surge of water-type elemental essence blasted forth from her. Countless amounts of frost and ice descended, and the temperature suddenly reached an extremely low point. Even the countless waving tendrils and vines below them were suddenly frozen.

Water-style forbidden-level magic: Absolute Zero.

At the same instant, a surge of invisible, ripple-like energy blasted out from Desri, shooting directly towards the mid-air Queen Mother Lachapalle. The Queen Mother Lachapalle’s body only trembled slightly, and she wasn’t much affected.

“Crunch. Bang.”

Many tendrils shattered from the cold.

The body of Queen Mother Lachapalle was covered with a layer of frost as well.

“This  is  the  attack  you  have  planned?”   Queen  Mother Lachapalle laughed wildly. “In terms of spiritual energy, how can the likes of you compare to me? As for water-style magic… haha, that’s even more laughable. I, Lachapalle, am a practitioner of the Elemental Laws of Water and Wind.”

“So powerful!” Linley’s group sighed in their hearts.

Plant type creatures which had large bodies generally also had enormously powerful souls to match. The Queen Mother’s real body was actually even more terrifyingly enormous, but as she trained, she had naturally begun to shrink it in size, but her soul had only grown more and more powerful.

Both sides were peak Saints.

But human Saints were far inferior to this sort of terrifying plant creature.

The Queen Mother Lachapalle’s words had just come out…

“Pew!” Eighteen rays of black light shot out from the eyes of the three siblings, the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions. Those eighteen rays of light instantly covered Queen Mother Lachapalle. It was as though her enormous body and tendrils had suddenly been covered with a layer of black skin.

The eyes of Queen Mother Lachapalle instantly widened, and her delicate face instantly changed and contorted.

She…couldn’t move!

“Swoosh!” Working in perfect concert, as those eighteen rays of light had shot out, Linley had already flown straight to the Queen Mother at high speed.

“Groooowl!”

“Kill him!” ……..

Countless ‘child’ components from beneath the sand roared deafeningly, wanting to watch as their Queen Mother annihilated these humans. But in that moment, none of them had noticed…that their Queen Mother could no longer move.

Bloodviolet in one hand, and the adamantine heavy sword in the other, the Dragonformed Linley stared straight at the distant Queen Mother Lachapalle with his dark gold eyes. At his highest speed, he charged towards her. Linley had already entered the range of the countless tendrils and vines of Queen Mother Lachapalle.

Linley’s lips quirked upwards.

The wild wind howled as Linley instantly crossed hundreds of meters, reaching a distance of less than a hundred meters away from Lachapalle. To Linley, a hundred meters was but the blink of an eye…but when experts fought, that blink of an eye was what determined victory. “Rooooar!” A furious roar escaped the lips of Queen Mother Lachapalle.

Countless tendrils, and those vines surrounding the Queen Mother’s body, shot directly towards Linley. The Queen Mother’s eyes were filled with boundless rage, and she swore to herself that she was going to kill all of the humans in front of her, starting with the one closest.

The Queen Mother had broken free of the ‘paralysis’.

“Not good.” The faces of Desri, Rosarie, and the others all changed.

Bebe’s beady little eyes suddenly had a red light flash through them, while at the same time his body became covered with a layer of pitch-black light. Bebe transformed into a black ray of light, ignoring the deadly danger as he charged over. “Boss.” Bebe was extremely worried.

An enormous number of tendrils snaked towards him. 

Linley himself was very calm. He had prepared for this eventuality long ago.

Bloodviolet, in his hand, suddenly transformed into ten million devilish flashes of violet light. Everywhere the flashes appeared, blurry folds in space could be seen, while at the same time, the violet flashes of light all bizarrely coiled and snaked their way forward in a very peculiar pattern as they stabbed towards one spot.

Spatial Freezing!

The large number of tendrils charging towards him suddenly dropped dramatically in speed, as though they were travelling through mud.

As for Linley’s ten million sword flashes, they actually converged on one spot, uniting into one indistinct, heart- stopping violet light. This violet light was like a comet charging straight ahead, utterly unblockable. “Bang!” The violet sword light charged forwards, and those tough, half-translucent tendrils instantly crumbled and shattered, with countless tendril parts sent flying everywhere.

Profound Truths of the Wind – Myriad Swords Converge!

The most powerful sword attack which Linley could muster through using the Profound Truths of the Wind!

Linley instantly scurried out from the space that had been shattered by his ‘Myriad Swords Converge’ attack, while the Queen Mother, Lachapalle, stared in astonishment. “How is that possible?” Her tendrils were far more powerful than those of the ‘child’ components’.

So many tendrils had surrounded the human, but the human had instantly broken through.

“Die.”   Having  breached  the  cage  of  tendrils,  Linley  had already reached the air above Queen Mother Lachapalle’s head, and the adamantine heavy sword in Linley’s hand came chopping down. 

Lachapalle immediately dove down at high speed.

But how could her body’s movement speed compare with a weapon’s? Queen Mother Lachapalle also controlled her tendrils to block, but…it was too late.

“Bang!”   Linley’s  adamantine  heavy  sword  collided  with Lachapalle’s head.

The adamantine heavy sword only lightly touched Lachapalle’s head, and Lachapalle’s massive body suddenly began to tremble, and then a green liquid began to flow out from her mouth and her eyes. Those wildly waving tendrils had already begun to droop down lifelessly.

Linley’s other hand didn’t just rest; he once again utilized the ‘Myriad Swords Converge’ attack.

The devilish flash of ten million swords, moving in that strange cadence, once more appeared, and space once more froze. Those ten million swords converged on a single location, forming a blurry, violet sword flash, which pierced directly towards Queen Mother Lachapalle’s head.

“Bang!”

Starting from the head, the Queen mother’s entire body collapsed and transformed into green colored debris. Only after her body burst apart did Linley realize that actually, her internals had already been shaken by the ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’ into something as soft as mud. But when the Queen Mother’s body fully collapsed, Linley found to his surprise… that within the body of this Queen Mother, there was a very small, yet glittering, green-glowing translucent pearl.

With a flip of his hand, Linley grabbed the translucent pearl. As for Queen Mother Lachapalle, the remaining half of her body and a large number of tendrils collapsed lifelessly from mid-air, falling downwards and smashing into the countless vines below.

The wildly waving tendrils of the ‘green sea’ below suddenly halted. 

None of these plant creatures could dare believe it. Their mighty ‘Queen Mother’ had been killed in mid-air by this warrior who looked like a Draconian.

Their invincible Queen Mother…had died!

“Listen up.” Linley shouted coldly towards the people below. “All of you better scram. Otherwise…I’ll kill all of you, just like how I just killed your Queen Mother.” Linley swept the ground coldly with his gaze.

“Rustle, rustle…”

Countless tendrils and vines frantically sank into the sand, and the ‘green sea’ that had occupied an extremely wide expanse of space suddenly transformed into desert again. As for those plant creatures, they all fled at high speed in terror. Even their Queen Mother who was hundreds of times more powerful than them had died. How could they, mere ‘child’ components, compete?

The black pyramid, which had been covered by countless vines and rattans, now revealed its true appearance once again.

“Boss, you scared me to death.”  Bebe was now by Linley’s side, and he had re-absorbed that layer of black light back into his body.

Linley couldn’t help but hug Bebe.

Although Bebe was emotionally immature, sometimes naughty and mischievous, while at other times as bloodthirsty as any magical beast, he was willing to give up his life for Linley’s sake. The two had grown up together, and their lives were like one. Their affection for each other was so deep…that with their souls interlinked, they could physically sense it.

“I’m fine. Without a degree of certainty, would I, your Boss, dare act in such a way?” Linley snickered. At this time, Desri and the others flew over as well. After the sudden reversal in fortune they had just witnessed, they now all had incandescent smiles on their faces.

“Linley, when you demonstrated that attack of yours in front of us earlier, I didn’t have much confidence.”  Fain laughed. “But after seeing it just now, I now know how powerful that sword of yours is. No matter how powerful one’s defense is, one still won’t be able to take that sword of yours.”

When Linley had demonstrated it, he was only demonstrating it into the air. How could Fain and the others clearly see how powerful it was?

“Everyone, let’s hurry up and see if can find if there are any divine artifacts here on the seventh floor.” Desri said to everyone.  “We  agreed  early  on  that  the  person  to  kill  the Queen Mother would take possession of the divine artifacts, if there are any. Linley risked his life to kill her…and so he should get the divine artifact. Everyone, search carefully.”

Linley hurriedly said, “No need to go to so much trouble…” “You just stay here. We’ll help you look.” One of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions said. They had underestimated the strength and power of the Queen Mother. Even when the three brothers had joined forces and executed their forbidden technique, they had only been able to paralyze the Queen Mother for an

instant.

Linley had made the greatest contribution to killing the Queen Mother. Everyone hurriedly began to help search for the divine artifact, and even Olivier voluntarily flew down to the ground. All of the experts began to carefully search.

As for Linley, he flew to the exit platform next to the black pyramid.

This was because last time, on the sixth floor, this was where the divine artifacts had been placed. But this time, it was different.

“Nothing there?” Linley shook his head. He had searched for quite some time by the stairs, but he hadn’t found anything. 

The experts searched carefully in a circle with an area of a square kilometer. In the end, they all returned to the black pyramid.

“Did you find anything?” Desri asked.

The others all shook their heads.

Desri frowned. “Strange. On the sixth floor, including the hatchet the Flame Tyrant had, there were a total of three divine artifacts. The Queen Mother Lachapalle of the seventh floor was at a higher level of power than the Flame Tyrant. But we weren’t even able to find a single divine artifact.”

Linley was puzzled as well.

“This  shouldn’t  be  the  case.”  Fain  was  confused  as  well. “Where is that divine artifact?” “Oh, right.” Rosarie’s eyes lit up. “On the sixth floor, the Flame Tyrant himself was wielding that greataxe. Were there any divine artifacts on Lachapalle’s body? Linley, did you see anything?”

“On her body?” Linley started.

And then, Linley instantly thought of the round pearl he had already absorbed into his interspatial ring. He immediately retrieved it with a flip of his hand. “Right. When I killed the Queen mother and her body collapsed, I found a seemingly unusual pearl inside her body, and so I grabbed it. Take a look. What is this?”

Linley didn’t think that this round pearl was a divine artifact.

As he saw it….it should be something similar to a magical beast’s magicite core, the essence of the Queen Mother.

“Pearl of Life.” Upon seeing the round pearl in Linley’s hand, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions let out simultaneous cries of shock.

Linley, Desri, and the others all stared at the three Six-Eyed Golden Lions in puzzlement. One of them immediately explained,  “This  Pearl  of  Life  is  a  type  of  spiritual  pearl treasure which we once saw in the past when we were with Father. Now we understand…why that Queen Mother ‘Lachapalle’ was able to instantly regrow her damaged tendrils.”

“If the Pearl of Life enters one’s body, then the boundless life energy contained within the Pearl of Life will be provided to the user. Even if one’s body is chopped into eight pieces, it will return to normal in a flash, needing just one or two seconds. In other words…as long as your soul isn’t destroyed, then you will never die.”  The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion said excitedly, “To Saint-level experts, this Pearl of Life is more precious than any divine artifact!”

Chapter 25, Entering the Eighth Floor

Even after one’s body was chopped into seven or eight pieces, it would still recover in one or two seconds.

Such a regenerative ability made the eyes of the surrounding experts all light up. To Saints, this sort of treasure was incomparably valuable.

“But it’s only of use to Saints. To Deities, toys like this are totally worthless.” The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion laughed.

Desri nodded as well. “Deities possess a divine spark, and their divine bodies are formed from divine energy. Even if they are badly wounded, as long as their souls aren’t destroyed, their body can be reborn even if reduced to nothingness.” The difference between Saints and Deities was enormous.

Linley and the others couldn’t help but sigh deep in their hearts. The Deity-level!

Even someone as powerful as Linley, in front of a Deity, wouldn’t be able to fight back at all. A single step…but one which blocked countless Saints.

“Big brother.” The other Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion said, “Even if a person puts this Pearl of Life into their body, and their soul is undamaged, they can still be killed. Have you forgotten what father said?”

The leader of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions nodded. “Oh, you are talking about the body being entirely destroyed?”

Linley, Desri, Fain, and the others all looked at the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion in confusion. The leading Six-Eyed Golden Ni- Lion explained to Linley and the others, “The energy of this Pearl of Life can regenerate the body. In other words, you have to at least have a small part of the body left. Only then can the rest of your body be reborn from that part. If your entire body is destroyed, then you will die, of course.” “Oh, so that’s what you mean.”  Linley and the others now understood.

“But Linley…” The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion looked at Linley. “With the Pearl of Life, don’t end up being too arrogant. In the countless planes, there are many techniques that can used to utterly destroy an opponent’s body. Opponents who train in Elemental Laws of Fire and the Elemental Laws of Water all can accomplish such a thing.”

“I know.”

Linley laughed calmly. “The Elemental Laws are as vast as the ocean. I only know one or two drops of water in that ocean.”

“Your body is very tough, and you have a Pearl of Life. What you need to do is to focus your time improving your spiritual attacks and spiritual defenses.”  The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion seemed to take great interest in Linley’s well-being. “There’s all sorts of spiritual-type attacks, and they number beyond counting. If you are incautious just a single time, then you’ll be done for.” Linley nodded.

The soul was indeed a profound, abstruse thing.

For example, the Grand Magus Necromancer, Zassler, could easily command the undead, and even question the souls of others.

For example, Beirut, who was at such a level that even Saints such as Rudi and Dillon had their memories scanned, without them knowing a thing. A technique like this…was absolutely astonishing and unheard of. For experts such as him, directly controlling Saints would probably be extremely easy.

“In the past, when the Holy Emperor Heidens used his ‘Oracular Magic’ to attack me, my soul’s defense nearly collapsed. In the future, I need to be careful of this.”  Linley said to himself. Heidens, if placed amongst the countless ranks of Saints in the myriad other planes, was nothing more than average. There were far too many Saints who were more talented than him in spiritual attacks. Linley’s spiritual defensive power was actually inferior to even the likes of Saints such as Rosarie and Desri.

As least experts like Desri, when facing Heidens, wouldn’t have been nearly trounced so easily.

“Soul-based  attacks  include  charms,  hypnotism,  paralysis, destruction, and all sorts of other techniques. There are forceful  ones,  and  there  are  soft  ones.”  Desri  sighed.  “The more one studies this, the more one realizes how boundless and deep it is. In the past, the War God had said that the High Priest, with but a glance, could let us sink into an illusion, and if in the illusion we think that we have died, in real life, we really will have died and our soul will dissipate.”

“Oh?” Linley was greatly shocked.

The High Priest was this terrifying? 

Rosarie chortled, “What can you do. After becoming a Deity, the weakest aspect one has is the spirit. Demigods, Gods, Highgods…all of them will spend their effort on studying the profound mysteries contained within the soul. After all, they don’t want to die.”

Fain laughed. “Linley, you had best bind this Pearl of Life with blood. Otherwise, we’ll all grow covetous as we stare at it.”

Chuckling, Linley immediately blood-bound it.

Immediately, this translucent Pearl of Life, glowing with a hazy green light, entered Linley’s body. Linley could clearly sense that his heart, his muscles, and his bones were all filled with boundless life force. Even if part of his body was severed, he would still quickly be able to heal.

Linley’s group was in no rush to go to the eighth floor. They first rested and made preparations here on the seventh floor. After all, once they entered the eighth floor, who knows what sort of terrifying creatures they would find there?

Off in the distance, Tulily was constantly training with using his scimitar.

It hadn’t been long since he had this Bloodshadow scimitar, and so he was now constantly testing how to best utilize its power. As for Olivier, Desri, and the others, they all sat off to the side, meditating quietly.

“I’ve been at the rank of Arch Magus of the ninth rank for so long, yet I still haven’t made a breakthrough.”  Seated in the meditative posture on the sand, Linley sighed to himself. But he understood that something like this couldn’t be rushed. The more you tried to rush it, the harder it would be to break through.

Bebe was curled up on Linley’s leg, sleeping comfortably.

“Bebe.”  Linley spoke. Wharton was his little brother. And Bebe…was also his little brother. Towards his family, Linley always had a protective instinct.

“Yeah, Boss?” Bebe raised his little head to stare at Linley.

Linley said softly, “Bebe, each layer of the Necropolis of the Gods grows more and more dangerous. I can no longer imagine what we will encounter when we go to the eighth floor, or what will happen! But Bebe, it’s best if you don’t go to the eighth floor.”

“Boss?” Bebe’s eyes instantly turned round.

“Bebe, is your defense stronger than the Flame Tyrant’s? Is your attack superior to his? Bebe…you are still growing. There’s  no  need  for  you  to  risk  yourself  like  this.”  Linley himself wasn’t afraid, but he was somewhat worried for Bebe.

“Boss, if you go, I go.” Bebe was very stubborn. Linley shook his head. “That isn’t it. I have the Pearl of Life. It’s much safer for me. More importantly, I feel as though there is something in this Necropolis of the Gods which is waiting for me, which is calling to me.” Especially after actually entering the Necropolis of the Gods, Linley could even more clearly sense that calling sensation.

It was a call which set his soul a’strumming.

Whether it was because of his desire to train himself, or because it had to do with discovering the profound secrets of the Four Supreme Warriors, or because of the call to his soul, Linley didn’t want to retreat.

“Boss, I’ll go with you.” Bebe stared at Linley with his little eyes. “It’s just a bit of danger. What are you afraid of, Boss. In the past, when we were in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, we were so weak, but we even managed to survive the attack of the Armored Razorback Wyrm. When the Radiant Church pursued and tried to kill us, we still made it through. Back then, we were very weak, but we still weren’t afraid. Now that we are strong, are we going to start being afraid?” “You better understand that I, Bebe, am really badass now!” Bebe stood up straight, intentionally puffing his little chest out.

Linley couldn’t help but laugh, but at the same time, he felt a surge of gratitude.

In addition, Linley couldn’t help but think back to his memories of his youth, when he and Bebe together ventured into the Foggy Gulch.

“Haha,  fine.  Whether  we  live  or  we  die,  we’ll  do  it  all together.” Linley laughed as he hugged Bebe, and Bebe laughed as well.

They stayed at the seventh floor for seven days. Linley’s group came to the entrance to the eighth floor. The Grand Magus Saints, Desri and Rosalie, had already prepared defensive spells for themselves, while Linley had transformed into his Dragonblood Warrior form. Everyone was ready now.

“Everyone, be careful. Now…let’s head out!” Desri said. 

Immediately, the eleven experts entered the tunnel into the black pyramid one by one. This tunnel was completely covered with black light. After walking for but a short while, Linley’s group arrived at the eighth floor.

“It is so similar to the third floor.” Linley stared at his surroundings.

The eighth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods had an extremely thick layer of ice as its ground. This was a world of ice. From afar, there were enormous glaciers and icebergs which gleamed with dazzling light. Only the cold, desolate wind howled across the landscape, blowing a few pieces of ice here and there.

Desri, Linley, Fain, Bebe, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, and the other experts all carefully inspected their surroundings.

“Search for the exit.” Desri said softly while flying up. The eleven experts began to fly together, beginning to stealthily search for the exit to the ninth floor. But of course, as they flew, they were very cautious, afraid of finding living creatures here on the eighth floor. But after flying for a long time…

“Hey…this  eighth  floor  is  strange.”  Rosarie  was  puzzled. “We’ve been searching for such a long time. Why haven’t we seen a single living thing?”

Indeed.

In both the sixth and the seventh floor, as soon as they stepped in, they discovered living creatures, such as the ‘Magma Demons’ of the sixth floor, or the ‘child’ plants of the seventh floor. They were very easily discovered.

But here on the eighth floor, Linley and the others had flown for at least a thousand kilometers, but hadn’t seen a single living thing. “This eighth floor is quite bizarre.”  Fain was staring at his surroundings as well.

The three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions were also on their guard, constantly scanning the area, hoping to find any hints or clues.

Staring at the surrounding area, Linley lowered his voice to a whisper. “No matter what sort of creature this eighth floor has, it would be best if we could enter the ninth floor without disturbing  it.  Let’s  look  for  the  exit  first.”   The  others  all nodded in agreement.

If they could avoid a battle, that would be for the best.

Everyone continued to carefully search for the tunnel

Linley and the others were still worried that they might encounter the creatures of the eighth floor later, but…. “Whooooosh.” On the eighth floor, Linley and the group only heard the howling cold wind, and didn’t see any living creature at all. After flying for nearly an hour, they finally discovered the stairways, covered with black light. This was the exit to the ninth floor.

Linley, Desri, Olivier, Fain, and the other experts all exchanged glances, surprise and joy in their eyes.

“We really are lucky this time. We didn’t encounter a single creature before finding the exit.” Rosarie laughed softly.

The others laughed and nodded as well.

“Let’s  go.  We’re  going  to  the  ninth  floor.”   Fain  said, somewhat excited. He immediately moved towards it.

But what none of the eleven experts had noticed was that on the slick, gleaming surface of a seemingly normal iceberg nearby the stairs, there was a black pattern. Suddenly…the black pattern exploded forth, revealing an eye that was at least three or four meters tall! 

A golden eye!

“Bang!” The iceberg shattered apart with a boom, and from within it appeared a giant formed from ice. The only part of the giant that wasn’t formed from ice was that single, glowing golden  eye.  “Humans,  you  killed  Lachapalle?  That  is  truly excellent.”

This gigantic ice-man’s voice seemed to shake the eighth floor like thunder.

At the same time…

Fain, who had just walked towards the exit, suddenly discovered that the tunnel to the ninth floor became sealed by ice out of nowhere. The layer of ice was many meters thick.

Linley, Fain, Desri, and the others all simultaneously discovered this gigantic ice-man who had suddenly appeared, and they quickly flew back. 

“What sort of creature is this?” Linley looked at the place on the face of the gigantic ice-man where its eyes should be, but unlike humans who had two eyes, this creature only had that single, golden glowing eye. Linley only cast a single glance towards the gold eye, but as he did, he felt as though his soul had suddenly suffered a powerful blow, and he instantly felt dizzy.

“You killed Lachapalle. I’m very happy about that. As your reward…I will only kill six of the eleven of you. The other five will be permitted to return to the seventh floor with your lives.” The gigantic ice-man’s voice was very gentle, as though he were a kindly old man.

Linley, Fain, Desri, and the others felt their hearts tremble.

“A  Beholder?  Careful,  don’t  look  at  its  eye.”   A  Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion growled.

Linley had recovered to his normal mental state by now. “Beholder?”    The   gigantic   ice-man   laughed.   “No.   You shouldn’t refer to me as a Beholder. To be more precise…I am the ruler of the race of Beholders from the Bintelan [Bing’te’lan] plane. You can refer to me as the Beholder King.” The gigantic ice-man said brightly.

And then, its glowing golden eye stared down at the group of people below. “So I’m going to kill six of you. Um. I’ll start with you two humans first.”

As he spoke, the golden eye suddenly emitted two rays of nearly translucent gray light. The two rays of light were simply too fast, and the worst part of it was, neither Linley nor Olivier had dared to look at its golden eye. They only realized what had happened when the gray light had almost reached them.

It was too late!

“Pew!” “Pew!”

The two rays of gray light sank into the bodies of Linley and Olivier.

Chapter 26, The Beholder King

Cold!

As the gray ray of light struck him, a bone-piercing cold spread to every part of Linley’s body. Linley felt as though his entire body had turned numb with cold, and then, that ray of gray light directly went from Linley’s body to his mind, attacking his soul.

The waters of his sea of consciousness slowly surged about, with that seven-colored gem that was his soul floating in the middle of it, with a faint blue light permeating that sea of consciousness as well as dimly covering the seven-colored gem.

The gray light dispersed, wrapping itself around the boundless sea of consciousness. The surging sea of consciousness suddenly came to a halt, and not even the protective blue light resisted even slightly.

The entire sea of consciousness, as well as that seven-colored gem, were completely covered with a layer of gray light. 

The soul came to a halt.

The light in Linley’s eyes grew dim, and a robotic, numb look appeared in them. Right now, Linley’s soul had stopped moving, and naturally his mind had came to a halt as well.

His soul had been frozen!

“Rumble…”  Linley’s body began to quickly be covered by a hard layer of ice. In the blink of an eye, Linley’s entire body was completely sealed off by ice that was multiple meters thick, transforming into a large ice cube. As for Olivier…he, too, had changed into an ice cube.

Desri and Fain stared, speechless.

The Beholder King had a hint of laughter in his voice. Staring at the distant Desri, Fain, and the others, he said, “I know that one of you is definitely in possession of the Pearl of Life, but sadly, the Pearl of Life is useless against me. First I’ll freeze them, and then later, I’ll torture them to death. Mm, alright, time to deal with four more.”

The Beholder King’s voice was very gentle, but Desri and the others felt their hearts tremble.

They knew how powerful Linley was, but Linley hadn’t been able to resist at all in the face of this ‘Beholder King’. Actually, when the Necropolis of the Gods was first constructed and filled, all of the life forms that were qualified to be placed on the seventh and eighth floors were some of the most powerful Saint-level creatures which existed in the countless planes of the multiverse.

Different types of life forms naturally had different levels of power.

For example, the Beholder was extremely talented at dealing against souls.

“Huh?” The golden eye of the Beholder King suddenly swiveled to stare at Olivier, who had been frozen into an ice cube.

“BOOM!” Countless shards of ice exploded in all directions.

His long, black-and-white hair flowing gracefully, Olivier charged out of the ice cube with that mystic icesword in his hands. The Beholder King stared at Olivier in astonishment. “What a strange soul. How is it possible for your soul to be offensive in nature?”

This was his greatest secret! This was the reason why, after his duel with Haydson, his power had suddenly grown so dramatically! And why he was now capable of simultaneously using the Elemental Laws of Darkness and Light!

Olivier didn’t say a thing. He transformed into a ray of light as he charged towards Linley.

Before Olivier arrived, Bebe had already charged to Linley. The Beholder King’s attention was totally focused on Olivier, and not even Bebe, who had transformed into a black blur as he had flown towards Linley, tried to stop Olivier. Bebe’s heart was frantic with fear. “Boss, Boss, wake up, wake up!”

Bebe’s voice was transmitted to Linley’s consciousness.

Bebe and Linley’s souls were linked, and the reason why they could mentally talk to each other was that their souls were talking to each other.

Linley’s consciousness, which had been completely frozen, shook slightly, but the gray light quickly expanded in intensity, and the sea of consciousness once more returned to its previous calm, not moving at all.

“Slash!”  Bebe slashed open the ice cube with one claw, the terrifying force of that blow turning the piece of torn-off ice to powder.  “Boss,  Boss,  wake  up!  Wake  up!”   Bebe  wildly, frantically tried to wake Linley up by calling to him mentally. The frozen soul was completely separated from the outside world. Even if his body was destroyed, Linley wouldn’t feel a thing.

Only this sort of mental communication which a pre-existing soul bond permitted was able to ignore the separation.

Linley’s sea of consciousness once more shook, and the gray light covering his sea of consciousness once more lit up, but clearly, the intensity of that light was growing dimmer and dimmer. This power which was suppressing the sea of consciousness clearly was constantly consuming energy.

“Keep on spiritually communicating with Linley. If you keep it up, you should be able to wake him up.” Olivier said to Bebe. “Hurry up and leave.”

Bebe, carrying ‘Linley’, transformed into a ray of light, fleeing at high speed while constantly calling out to Linley mentally. Finally, in Linley’s mind, his sea of consciousness trembled yet again, and that thin layer of gray light, already stretched to the limit, totally collapsed. 

“Uh, what happened?” Linley was now totally awake.

He discovered, to his astonishment, that he was currently being carried by an enlarged Bebe, who was flying at high speed.

“Boss, wake up, wake up!”  Bebe was still constantly calling out to him, his eyes filled with tears.

“Bebe.” Linley spoke back mentally, while now flying on his own.

Bebe started, and then his little eyes were filled with surprise and joy.

“What just happened?”  Linley was completely lost. He only remembered being struck by that ray of gray light, and then his body turned cold. After that, he remembered nothing. After waking up, he found that he was being carried by Bebe, who was fleeing at high speed. 

“Bang!” From afar came a terrifying explosive sound.

Many pieces of ice shot out like meteors, howling through the air as they moved at high speed. Linley and Bebe easily dodged past them while turning to stare into the distance. It wasn’t just Linley who had turned to look; even Desri, Fain, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, and the other fleeing experts all turned to stare as well.

When they did, looks of surprised joy appeared on their faces.

The enormous icy body of the Beholder King had exploded. Clearly, Olivier had shattered it with his sword. Right now, Olivier was currently wielding his longsword in his hand as he stood there in mid-air, his eyes shut.

“Excellent.” Linley sighed in praise. “Olivier, careful.” A Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion shouted loudly. “The actual body of the Beholder King is that eye. That body of ice is only formed from energy.”

“Haha…”

That glowing golden eye, floating in mid-air, somehow spoke in a strange voice. “Right. The magical beast speaks correctly. The body of ice is nothing more than something I casually created. Haha, I’ve been in the Necropolis of the Gods for a long time, and I’ve killed quite a few experts, but I’ve never encountered anyone with a soul as unique as yours. Interesting, interesting.”

Olivier’s eyes remained shut, and a large amount of extremely sparse black energy was emanating in all directions from him.

He was relying on this dark energy to cover the area and allow him to know the location of the Beholder King. After all, Olivier didn’t dare to stare directly into that golden eye. The closer one was to the golden eye, the more dangerous it would be to stare into it. 

For the likes of Linley who had already fled kilometers away, no matter how good their vision was, they would only be able to hazily make out a golden spot of light. They wouldn’t be affected.

“Swish!”  Black energy covered half of Olivier’s body, while light-style energy covered his other half. His long black-and- white hair rustled as his battle-qi expanded. Olivier, eyes shut, shot out towards the golden eye like an arrow.

The mystic icesword in his hands chopped down with as much force and vigor as ever. Wherever his longsword passed by, countless patterns in space appeared.

“Swish.” A dream-like flash of light.

The golden eye suddenly disappeared, reappearing a hundred meters away. Its speed was so fast that it was even faster than the likes of Bebe, Fain, and Desri by a good amount. The enormous golden eye somehow spoke. “Haha, you want to kill me? In your dreams!” At the same time, a wild, explosive burst of icy energy suddenly began to flow towards the golden eye, instantly forming a ferocious icy whirlpool around it.

The golden eye was at the heart of this enormous whirlpool.

Seeing the scene playing out in the distance, Desri, Linley, and the other experts gathered together.

“Everyone, be careful. Don’t get hit by that gray light.” Desri looked at everyone in the circle. “Everyone, what should we do?”

Upon seeing how fast that golden eye could move, all the experts present understood that in terms of speed, none of them could match this Beholder King.

“There’s one final method.” A Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion said. “We three brothers can do the same thing as we did in the seventh floor. We’ll simultaneously attack and paralyze that Beholder King. I trust that the Beholder King’s countering abilities won’t be as strong as that of the Queen Mother, Lachapalle.” Everyone’s eyes lit up.

“Although you can paralyze it, even if the Beholder King can’t move, he can still emit those rays of gray light.” Linley said with a frown.

“It’s fine. While paralyzing it, we can attack the eye.”  Fain said. “Perhaps we’ll be able to kill this Beholder King.”

“No. I strongly recommend that we not try to kill the Beholder King. It’s better if we enter the ninth floor instead.” The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion argued against it.

“Why?” Desri didn’t understand, so he asked.

The other Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion said, “Based on what we know, Beholders are extremely proficient at attacking. Aside from the spiritual attack this one just used against Linley and Olivier, they possess other attacks as well, such as ‘mind control’ as well as other, physical attacks.” Everyone’s hearts shook.

“Cleo and the other two will paralyze the Beholder King, and I will attack it.” The Blackscale Scorpion, which had been silent up until now, suddenly spoke up. “All of you rush into the ninth floor.”

Everyone stared in astonishment at the Blackscale Scorpion.

“Don’t worry. I have a degree of confidence.” The Blackscale Scorpion was actually very confident.

“Haha…do you think I am only capable of freezing your soul?”  From the distance, loud laughter could be heard. The wild whirlpool had already come to a halt, and now an icy giant which was only ten meters tall had appeared, a single golden eye located within the giant’s body.

The ice was translucent. One could clearly see that enormous golden eye within the body of the ice giant. 

“Let’s head out.” The leader of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions said.

Immediately, those ten experts flew back at high speed. At this moment, the Beholder King’s interest was all focused on Olivier. In all his years, the Beholder King had never encountered a soul as interesting as Olivier’s. As someone extremely knowledgeable in souls, he naturally wanted to take Olivier alive, dominate Olivier’s soul, and then carefully examine him.

“Swoosh.” The ice giant charged towards Olivier in a flash.

Olivier’s eyes were still closed. He flew back at high speed, while at the same time, chopping out with the black icy sword in his hand.

“Clang!” The ice giant directly blocked with his left arm. At the same time, his right fist smashed viciously towards Olivier. Unable to retract his sword in time, Olivier was smashed flying backwards. “Bang!” He struck a distant iceberg, which immediately cracked. Olivier rolled away, then stood up.

“What a tough arm. It is dozens of times tougher than it was earlier.” Olivier felt shock in his heart.

This ice giant, after its body had been smashed apart and then reformed, was tremendously more defensive now, despite having shrunk from its earlier size of a mountain to now just ten meters. Olivier’s full force blow only managed to cut halfway through the arm of the ice giant.

Just as the Beholder King was about to continue charging towards Olivier, he suddenly saw a black shadow scurry towards the exit. He couldn’t help but feel a sudden burst of anger.

“Swish.” A ray of gray light directly shot out from the golden eye in the body of the ice giant. The black blur seemed to have already predicted what was going to happen, and it immediately dodged, then smashed into the ice-covered exit. The tough ice was shattered by the force of the collision. “Boss, everyone, quick!”  A sound rang out from within the exit.

“Aaaaaaaaargh!”  The Beholder King was enraged. He didn’t expect that those intruders who had fled would actually dare to return. He now noticed that the group of experts including Desri, Fain, Linley, and the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions were flying at high speed towards the exit.

“Die!”

The Beholder King exploded with fury, and its single golden eye suddenly emanated a golden ray of light the thickness of an arm. This dazzling ray of golden light split the air in an instant, shooting directly towards the human in front, ‘Desri’. But the Blackscale Scorpion next to Desri suddenly pointed its scorpion tail directly at the single golden eye of the Beholder King.

“Pew!” A thin, finger-thick ray of black light shot out at high speed from the scorpion tail, travelling even faster than the ray of golden light. In an instant, it arrived at the body of the ice giant. The furious Beholder King actually didn’t dodge. No. It wasn’t that he didn’t dodge. It was…

The Beholder King’s body was now already covered by a layer of black light. At present, just like Queen Mother Lachapalle, he was completely paralyzed and couldn’t move at all.

The ultimate attack of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions: Imprisonment!

“Pew!”  The ray of light shot out by the scorpion tail of the Blackscale Scorpion easily penetrated the ice, striking directly into the enormous golden eye in the center of the giant.

“Aaaaaaaah!” The Beholder King let out an agonized scream, and that layer of black light covering its body actually began to tremble. “Swoosh!” “Swoosh!”

Linley, Desri, Fain, and the other experts seized this opportunity to rocket straight into the exit. Even Olivier had seized the opportunity to charge towards the exit at high speed.

Chapter 27, A Hospitable Host

This scorpion tail attack by Blackscale Scorpion was simply too insidious. Even someone as tough as the Beholder King felt its soul tremble, causing it to howl in agony. “Aaaaaaah!”  He wildly attacked his surroundings, and the icebergs nearby were smashed and sent flying everywhere.

At the same time, a hint of blood flowed down from its single golden eye.

“We have a chance.” The Blackscale Scorpion was overjoyed.

“Quick, let’s go.” The three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, which knew exactly what a Beholder King was, roared furiously.

“I will kill you all!” The Beholder King howled with rage, and his bloody golden eye suddenly blasted out with more than ten rays of red light. While fleeing towards the exit, one of the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions directly grabbed the Blackscale Scorpion and dragged him towards the exit. The four magical beasts were the last to enter the exit. After they charged into the ninth floor, they could hear a thundering sound on the eighth floor.

“We finally made it into the ninth floor.”

Linley, Desri, Fain, and the others had already arrived in the ninth floor before them, and were waiting for the three Six- Eyed Golden Ni-Lions and the Blackscale Scorpion to enter. The eleven experts reunited, everyone looked at each other, a hint of a smile on their faces.

“Although we didn’t acquire any divine artifacts, all of us made it safely through to the ninth floor. This is already a very lucky thing.” Fain chuckled.

“Whew. That was really quite frightening.” For once, Rosarie revealed her true thoughts. “Fortunately, the Beholder King’s attention was focused on Olivier, giving us a chance to charge in.” “Right. The Beholder King hadn’t actually begun to use his real power at all. ‘Soul Freezer’ is only one of his most basic attacks. Someone capable of becoming a ‘king’ amongst Beholders has immeasurably great power. We were all very lucky.” A Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion sighed as well.

Although the final attack by the Blackscale Scorpion was powerful, it was at most capable of injuring the Beholder King, not killing him.

“We are lucky. Lucky to have had Olivier.” Desri grinned as he looked at Olivier.

Everyone couldn’t help but look at Olivier as well.

Olivier still maintained his silence. Amongst these experts, Olivier really did not speak very often.

“Olivier, how is it that you were fine after having suffered the ‘Soul  Freezer’   attack?”   A  Six-Eyed  Golden  Ni-Lion  asked curiously.

Olivier hesitated a moment, then said just a few words. “I do not know either.”

They didn’t ask him any further. Regardless of whether he was telling the truth or not, it wouldn’t be polite to press him.

“Everyone, be careful. This ninth floor’s danger level is most likely no lower than that of the eighth floor’s.”  Desri spoke. “We can’t always hope to be as lucky as we were just now.”

Linley’s group nodded.

Nobody minded the fact that they had been unable to gain the divine artifact of the eighth floor.

Actually, compared to divine artifacts, the true goal of the people here was divine sparks. But divine sparks would only appear on the eleventh floor. As for the twelfth floor, Linley didn’t even dare to think about it. According to what Beirut had said, only upon reaching the Deity-level did one have the ability to protect one’s self in the twelfth floor.

Everyone’s true goal was to make it to the eleventh floor soon, without suffering any more casualties.

“This ninth floor seems to be quite mysterious.” Linley stared at the environment of the ninth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods.

Linley and the others saw a turbid blue ocean beneath them, with roiling blue waves stretching off into the endless horizons. Here, in the ninth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods, aside from the endless sea, there was only a secluded little green island not too far away.

“Everyone, be careful. After we pass through this floor, we’ll be able to rest and prepare to enter the eleventh floor. This floor is the most difficult barrier to reaching the eleventh floor.” Tulily said solemnly. Everyone stared carefully at the surrounding area.

Although this was only the ninth floor, and the tenth floor would come after this, Linley’s group knew that every five floors made up a ‘level’ of difficulty, and the tenth floor would be much less dangerous than the sixth through ninth floors.

Nobody considered the tenth floor to be hard to pass through. They only treated it as a place to rest and prepare.

It was much like how the fifth floor hadn’t been a hard place to pass through.

“There’s nothing but the endless oceans around us.” Rosarie frowned. “There’s no tall constructions. I expect there’s only one possible location for the exit to the tenth floor. That place.” Rosarie pointed at the distant island.

“The tunnel to the tenth floor should be on that island.” Linley nodded to himself. After all, aside from the island, there was nothing here besides the sea. If the exit was placed in the endless depths of the ocean, how long would it take them to even just search for it? Linley believed that the almighty Sovereign who designed this Necropolis of the Gods wouldn’t do such a thing.

“Let’s head out.” Desri spoke.

The eleven experts simultaneously flew towards the distant island, all of them extremely cautious. If they could pass through this ninth floor, then…entering the eleventh floor and acquiring a divine spark would be only a stone’s throw away. Nobody wanted to fail on this floor.

The island was very quiet. Linley and the rest of the eleven experts landed on the beach.

“Splash, splash.”

The ocean waves gently rolled into the edges of the beach. The waves would occasionally cover the beach, and occasionally retreat back into the sea. The ocean breeze blew gently, rustling the tall trees, flowers, and grass of the island.

“What a peaceful place.” Rosarie revealed a smile on her face.

“It is quite pretty.” Linley’s group couldn’t sense any danger here on the ninth floor at all.

“Go find the exit.” Fain laughed.

The eleven experts moved towards the interior of the island, beginning to search carefully for the exit to the tenth floor within this place. This island was quite beautiful, and there was even a small mountain in the center of the island. After a long time, the eleven experts climbed onto the mountain.

“We’ve visited all the other places on the island. The exit should be in the mountain.” Linley raised his head to stare at the winding mountain trail. The mountain trail was quite meandering, but Linley’s group moved very fast, passing through the mountain and the trees like a breezy wind. Soon, they reached the top of the mountain, but as the eleven experts descended upon the top of the mountain, they were all stunned.

In the center of this island, atop the mountain, next to a dwarf tree, there was a wooden house.

In front of the wooden house, there was a stone table and a stone chair.

A handsome, pale-skinned young man dressed in clothes made from leaves and wearing a straw hat was currently sitting on the stone chair. He was enjoying a cup of tea. This scene was very peaceful, but Linley’s group all felt a sense of danger in their hearts. Someone had suddenly appeared here in the ninth floor.

Without question! This pale-skinned youngster wearing a straw hat was the creature blocking them here in the ninth floor.

“Humans,    magical    beasts…and    a    Draconian?”     The youngster’s blue eyes glanced at the eleven experts, and his lips curved upwards in a slight, graceful smile. “Let me introduce myself first. My name is Louis [Lu’yi]. Don’t be too nervous, everyone. I don’t have any ill intentions towards you. You can all sit down and have a chat with me. There are stone seats over there.”

Not too far away, there really were a row of stone seats, but the stone seats were all covered with a layer of dust.

“Who is this youngster?” Linley felt curious.

“Are the seats too dirty?” The youngster waved his hand, and a gentle gust of wind arose, lifting up those stone seats, then depositing them in front of Linley’s group. The dust on all of the seats had been blown away. The youngster revealed a brilliant smile. “Now you can all sit.” “What game is this youngster playing?” Linley and the others felt confused.

Ever since they had entered the Necropolis of the Gods, Linley and his gang had never encountered as strange as this.

Linley’s group exchanged glances.

“Is there perhaps some problem with the seats?” Linley used his spiritual energy to sense them, but the stone seats seemed to be nothing more than ordinary stone seats.

“Sit.”  The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions immediately leapt over and crouched on the stone seats.

Linley, Desri, and the others sat down as well.

“Everyone, let’s act according to the situation. If this strange youngster uses some tricks against us, we definitely won’t hold back against him.” Desri said mentally to the other experts. 

The eleven experts were in total accord.

The straw hat wearing youngster, Louis, seemed extremely happy. Louis’ clear gaze swept Linley’s group, a hint of mist actually appearing in his eyes. “Ever since I was captured and put here in the Necropolis of the Gods, it has been a very, very long time since I have had the chance to speak with other living creatures.”

“This place is so quiet, it might as well be a graveyard!”

Louis’ eyes had a hint of hatred in them. “Nobody else here. No people to talk with. Even the ocean…doesn’t have so much as a single fish. A dead sea! A lifeless, dead sea! No birds on the island and no animals either! No life at all! Just like a graveyard!”

“Fortunately, you finally came.” Louis’ face revealed a hint of a smile. The eleven experts all felt rather shocked.

“What is this youngster intending?”

Louis’ laughed loudly. “I know well why you have all come to the Necropolis of the Gods. Don’t overanalyze it. I can tell you right now that I am the obstacle you must overcome on the ninth floor. But I am different from the other guardians. I won’t kill you.”

Linley and the other ten experts felt puzzled.

Won’t kill?

“But the pre-requisite is that you not try to enter the tenth floor.” Louis added.

Louis smiled as he spoke. “I hope you can stay here and chat with me. You won’t enter the tenth floor, and I won’t attack you. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? When the time comes, you will naturally be allowed to leave the Necropolis of the Gods.

Stay and chat with him?

Linley and the other experts somewhat understood. This youngster actually had a plan like this.

Linley’s group was still fairly happy at meeting this sort of obstacle on the ninth floor. At least the opponent wasn’t like the Flame Tyrant, constantly chasing after and trying to kill them. However, to have them all stay here and accompany the youngster wearing a straw hat and wait for the ten year period to come to an end…

This was indeed something Linley’s group couldn’t accept.

“How about this. I’ll stay here and chat with the youngster, while the rest of you enter the tenth floor. Perhaps this youngster will agree.” Desri suddenly mentally transmitted to the other ten experts. Clearly, Desri had decided to sacrifice his own chances. After all, for this youngster to be put here on the ninth floor meant that his power was definitely not as simple as he appeared to be.

Linley, Fain, and Bebe all looked at Desri.

“Louis.”  The Blackscale Scorpion, who had been silent this entire time, suddenly spoke. “If I was willing to stay here and keep you company until the ten years are up, would you allow my ten other friends to enter the tenth floor?”

The sudden words of the Blackscale Scorpion caused Linley’s group to be extremely surprised.

“Cannot.”  The youngster frowned. “I hope you won’t force me to act. You won’t enter the tenth floor, and I won’t kill you, but if you attempt to enter, then I will be forced to choose to kill you all.”

“Hrm?” Linley and the others frowned. “I’ve  discovered  the  exit  staircase.”   Rosarie’s  surprised, excited voice rang out in the minds of Linley, Fain, and the other experts. “The exit staircase to the tenth floor is within the woods behind that wooden house. From my location, I can see three steps of the staircase and that black glow.”

“The staircase to the exit?”  Linley and the others all felt surprise and joy in their hearts.

Hearing that the location of the staircase had been discovered, they couldn’t help but occasionally glance in that direction as well.

“Oh, you finally noticed the exit?”  The youngster smiled. “What is your decision? Will you fight with me, or will you spend a few peaceful days here alongside me?”

“Swish.”

Linley, Fain, and the others all rose at the same time. Smiling, Desri said, “Louis, we don’t want to fight you. We hope you can let us pass.”

The straw-hat wearing youngster, Louis, continued to smile.

But the rage that had lain silent in his heart for thousands of years was already beginning to rise. He secretly cursed to himself  in  anger,  “These  lowly  humans  really  don’t  know what’s good for them. I wanted to trick them into staying here, then secretly steal their souls. But now, it seems…”

Linley and the rest of the eleven experts were on their guard, ready to act at any time.

“Bang!”  The  ‘body’  of  Louis  suddenly  exploded,  sending grass and straw everywhere.

A silver light blasted out from Louis’ exploding body, immediately striking towards the person nearest to him, Tulily.

Chapter 28, Thorium Devil

Seeing this ray of silver light shoot towards him, Tulily’s face turned cold, and his right hand, grasping the hilt of his scimitar, moved.

A bloody scimitar flash split the air.

“Bang!” The bloody scimitar shadow collided with the silver light, and with an fierce, angry howl, the silver light retreated at high speed, smashing straight through the ‘wooden house’, which collapsed. The ray of silver light only came to a halt at the exit to the tenth floor.

“What is this?” Linley and the others could now clearly see what the silver light actually was.

The silver light was far from them, but it was formed into a glob of silver-colored liquid ball. And then, the silver liquid’s body suddenly transformed into the figure of a person. Only, his body naturally formed a set of silver battle armor atop of it. “A Thorium Devil!” The three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions felt shock in their hearts.

This transformed ‘Louis’ glanced coldly at Tulily. Snorting coldly, he said, “I didn’t expect that a human who was only at the Saint-level would be able to develop a ‘Destruction’ type attack.”

“Destruction-type attack…” Linley understood.

The reason why Tulily had been acknowledged as the Prime Saint with the most powerful attack was because…Tulily trained in ‘Destruction’-type attacks.

In the countless planes, the most exalted and most powerful existences were that of the four Overgods who had created the Four Higher Planes. The four Overgods included the Overgod of Life, the Overgod of Fate, and the Overgod of Death, each of which had passed down their own special techniques and training methods. These were, respectively, Life Magic, Oracular Magic, and Necromantic Magic.

As for the fourth Overgod, the Overgod of Destruction?

The Overgod of Destruction hadn’t passed down any training methods. The way of Destruction…was one of constant slaughter and constantly attuning to the nature of Destruction. It inherently had to rely on one’s own ability to understand it, and there was no path which one could be guided towards. It wasn’t like understanding the other Laws, which were regulated into various systems.

Although Tulily had gained insights in the ‘Way of Destruction’, he had only understood the tiniest bit of it.

The voice of a Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion rang out in the minds of Linley and the others. “Everyone, be careful. This monster is an extremely dangerous creature from the Demonic Realm of Darkness known as the ‘Thorium Devil’.” “Thorium Devil?”  Linley’s heart shook as soon as he heard the name.

He had never heard of a ‘Thorium Devil’, but Linley knew that there was an extremely rare material that was used in blacksmithing; Thorium. Thorium was exceedingly precious, because it was highly elastic and capable of alloying and bonding together with a vast variety of different materials.

“Since this monster is known as the ‘Thorium Devil’, could it be that his body is formed out of thorium?” Linley stared carefully at the flowing silver liquid.

“The body of the Thorium Devil is made out of thorium. In addition, it should be thorium of a fairly high class. Thorium is highly elastic, allowing Thorium Devils to easily transform into all sorts of shapes, and they bond easily with other materials as well…earth, fire, water, and wind Law attacks, unless ridiculously strong, are completely incapable of harming him.” The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions transmitted this information to the others. “In the seven paths of earth, fire, wind, water, lightning, light, and darkness, these seven basic, common paths, only ‘lightning’ is capable of harming him. But of course…the techniques stemming from the four Overgods, being Oracular Magic, Necromantic Magic, Life Magic, and the Way of Destruction, are also able to harm him.”

The faces of Linley and the others changed.

They understood that nothing was absolute.

If one’s attack power in earth, fire, water, or wind-type Elemental Law attack was high enough, it would still be able to kill to kill this Thorium Devil.

But…

Would Linley’s attack cause the Thorium Devil to reach its endurance limit?

“His endurance limit?”  Linley wasn’t confident. Just based on the liquid body of the opponent alone, Linley understood something. “Most likely, the purely physical ‘Myriad Swords Converge’ attack is completely useless against it, but the Profound Truths of the Earth might have some effect.”

Faced against this Thorium Devil he had never encountered before, Linley didn’t feel much confidence either.

“Fain, Tulily, this time, we’ll have to rely on you two.” Desri’s voice rang out in the minds of Fain and Tulily. Actually, this entire time, the others were exchanging glances with each other. Everyone knew what the other was thinking.

This battle rested on Fain and Tulily’s shoulders.

“No matter what, don’t let this Thorium Devil surround you with his body. Once he does, the situation would probably be even more dangerous than Queen Mother Lachapalle surrounding you with her tendrils.”  The Six-Eyed Golden Ni- Lions reminded mentally.

In terms of age, as the ancestors of Goldmane Mastiffs, Blue- eyed Tiger Mastiffs, and Guardian Ni-Lions, these three Six- Eyed Golden Ni-Lions were comparable to the High Priest. In terms of experience…the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, having entered the Gebados Planar Prison, knew much more than even the War God or the High Priest about the various powerful, mystical creatures from the many planes of the multiverse.

“Leave it to us.”  Fain and Tulily transformed into blurred bolts of lightning!

“All of you, die.”  The Thorium Devil, ‘Louis’, smiled coldly. His body suddenly transformed into an extremely large cloth, which transformed to become over a hundred meters long and wrapped down towards Linley and the other experts.

The bolt of lightning that was Tulily struck out with his scimitar.

The bloody scimitar once more flashed into the sky, but the thorium cloth suddenly split open, and Tulily’s attack passed through the opening.

“Bang!” Fain’s sword struck out. 

This sword attack of his actually gave birth to a large amount of coiling lightning serpents, which swirled around the sword as it pierced towards the thorium cloth. The thorium cloth once more used the same technique, tearing a hole into itself, wanting to dodge Fain’s sword in such a manner.

The sword missed, but the large amount of lightning serpents coiling around it, as though they were alive, shot out wildly in every direction at high speed.

The many suddenly attacking serpents were simply too fast. The Thorium Devil didn’t manage to dodge in time, and a large number of lightning serpents struck the cloth.

“Bang!”

“Ah!” A pain-filled growl rang out, and many holes appeared where the lightning serpents had struck. But the Thorium Devil’s ‘cloth’ body quickly repaired itself, and the thorium cloth descended towards Linley and the others. Linley was wielding his adamantine heavy sword.

“This  is  the  right  moment.”   Linley’s  dark  golden  eyes suddenly flashed with an explosive light, and the adamantine heavy sword in his hand, seemingly slow but actually fast, gracefully swung towards the Thorium Devil.

The Thorium Devil didn’t try to dodge. The Thorium Devil had no fear of earth-type attacks at all.

Linley’s adamantine heavy sword landed against the thorium cloth, and a powerful vibration directly transmitted into it from the adamantine heavy sword. In an instant, it charged towards the center of the thorium cloth. The attacks of the Profound Truth of the Earth were all straight line attacks.

In the past, when Linley had dueled Haydson at Mt. Tujiao, the strike of his sword had actually tunneled a hole directly through the mountain.

“Hrm?” Linley’s face suddenly changed. 

Indeed…the Profound Truths of the Earth was not very effective against this sort of flexible ‘liquid’ which could transform freely.

“Haha, what an unusual attack. Even my body felt a bit of a tremor…aaah!”  The ‘cloth’  Thorium Devil suddenly let out a pained scream, and the cloth suddenly retracted at high speed, instantly returning to the exit and transforming into human form.

The Thorium Devil stared with astonishment at the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions.

Just then, it hadn’t been just Linley who had attacked the ‘cloth’. Even Bebe and the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions had attacked as well.

“All of you train in the Way of Destruction as well?”  The Thorium Devil found it very hard to believe this, because the Way of Destruction could not be taught, only learned on one’s own. Others would be able to at most provide some general guidance. Amongst Saints, one would rarely see even a single practitioner of the Way of Destruction out of a hundred Saints.

But in these eleven experts, it wasn’t just Tulily who trained in the Way of Destruction; even those three six-eyed creatures did so as well.

“What,  are  we  not  allowed?”  The  leader  of  the  Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions stared at the Thorium Devil.

Linley and the others had never known what type of attack the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions utilized; from start to finish, the only technique they had seen the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions use was ‘Imprisonment’. Only now did they learn…that the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions were actually the same as Tulily, practitioners of the Way of Destruction.

The Thorium Devil raised its head and let out a wild howl.

“Rumble…” The distant, boundless sea suddenly rose up, and countless amounts of sea water began to flow towards the little island. The sea water suddenly began to rise, covering and surrounding the entire island, and then…

Countless amounts of sea water came crashing down from the skies above.

“What in the world?!”  Desri, Linley, Bebe, and the others couldn’t understand it at all.

“Not  good.  Tulily,  attack  together.”   The  three  Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions simultaneously transformed into three blurs.

Tulily transformed into a blur as well, and the man and the three magical beasts, all four of them experts in the Way of Destruction, simultaneously launched their most powerful attacks towards the Thorium Devil. The Six-Eyed Golden Ni- Lions had a set of black battle-armor on their bodies, and the sharp claws of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion emanated auras of destruction from their claws, with the auras alone creating rips in the air. 

Tulily’s scimitar remained in its sheath, not yet coming out.

“Hrmph.” The Thorium Devil sneered coldly, then suddenly increased in size a hundredfold, becoming a thorium giant that was hundreds of meters tall.

The three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions increased in size as well, tearing down at the Thorium Devil with claws the size of a house. The powerful destructive energy tore at the body of the Thorium Devil, causing several massive holes to appear on its gigantic form.

A bloody scimitar flash, over a hundred meters long, directly chopped the thorium giant into two halves.

“A  pity.  It’s  useless.”  The  Thorium  Devil’s  body  instantly reformed.

“That’s  not  right.  How  could  the  thorium  making  up  his body not be reduced at all?” The three Six-Eyed Golden Ni- Lions were greatly shocked. Destruction-type attacks were capable of badly injuring the essence of a Thorium Devil. With a few consecutive strikes, it was capable of causing a Thorium Devil to perish.

But…

The combination attack by the three brothers and Tulily hadn’t resulted in the Thorium Devil weakening at all.

“Haha, in the past, I might have feared you. However, I now have a Pearl of Life.” The Thorium Devil, Louis, raised his head to the skies, laughing loudly. And then, he opened his mouth, swallowing the vast amount of seawater hanging in the air above them directly into his stomach.

The Thorium Devil itself was only the size of a normal human. His transformation into a giant that was hundreds of meters high was actually just a layer of thorium with a hollow inside. The vast amount of seawater swallowed by the Thorium Devil actually began to fuse with it, becoming one with it.

“Beat it!” The Thorium Devil waved his arm.

His arm actually transformed into a bladed edge, attacking so quickly that not even the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion was able to dodge, and the Ni-Lion was sent flying. The layer of black armor on the body of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion was now shining, but it had successfully blocked this attack. Despite that, the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion still had a hint of blood at the corner of their mouths.

“Not good.” Another Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion called out. “Quick, run.”

Thorium Devils had extremely powerful bonding abilities. It could bond with water, with earth, with metals, all of which would produce different results. In the middle of this boundless ocean world, the Thorium Devil was extremely powerful in his current state. But as everyone was fleeing, a single person charged towards the Thorium Devil instead.

It was Fain.

Fain transformed into a bolt of lightning, charging towards the Thorium Devil. How could the Thorium Devil, which like the Queen Mother had a Pearl of Life, care about the pesky little fellow?

“Fain.” The frantically fleeing group suddenly came to a halt, turning their heads to stare.

A shocking sight appeared before them. When Fain’s sword struck out, the entire world seemed to be filled with a boundless thundering noise, and hundreds on thousands of enormous dragons formed from lightning bolts suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Those countless thunderbolt dragons bellowed with anger, wrapping themselves around that Thorium Devil.

“F*ck off!” The Thorium Devil was livid. 

“Bang!”   The  hundreds  of  thunderbolt  dragons  suddenly exploded at the same time.

“Crackle crackle.”  Countless bolts of lightning flew directly into the body of the Thorium Devil, and the thorium which made up the Thorium Devil’s body, under the penetrating attack of the lightning, quickly began to deplete.

The Thorium Devil’s body began to shudder, while at the same time, he emitted an agonized screech. In but the blink of an eye, his entire body disintegrated, with only a nearly- translucent ball falling down from the air.

Fain, hovering in mid-air, suddenly collapsed as well, powerless.

“Fain.” Linley and the others immediately flew forward to catch Fain, while Desri immediately snatched the Pearl of Life. Desri then immediately flew towards Fain’s side. “Fain, are you alright? Quick, take this Pearl of Life into your body.” Fain’s face was extremely pale, but he still managed to squeeze out a laugh. “Desri, do you remember in the past how you told me how powerful your forbidden-level spells were? This technique of mine, ‘Lightning Dragons Descend’, is even more powerful than the forbidden-level lightning-style spell, ‘Kiloton Thunderclap’, right?”

“Powerful. Powerful.” Desri nodded repeatedly.

Soon, the color of Fain’s face began to improve. He laughed as he insulted, “That Thorium Devil truly was an idiot. My lightning-style was his nemesis to begin with, and he actually chose to fuse with water? Water only heightens the power of lightning. Didn’t he know that? He was asking to die.”

Chapter 29, Abyssal Blade Demon

“Haha…” In the air above the island, the experts all began to laugh loudly.

Desri laughed and mocked, “Fain, that Thorium Devil, Louis, possessed a Pearl of Life. He thought you would only be able to injure him at most. Of course he didn’t mind you…but the power of your ultimate attack, a Saint level warrior, actually exceeded forbidden-level spells.”

“Thus, that poor fellow died, just like that.” Tulily began to laugh as well.

The experts were all extremely happy to have killed that Thorium Devil. That meant they could easily enter the tenth floor, which definitely wouldn’t be too dangerous. After dealing with the creatures of the tenth floor, they would be able to quietly prepare to enter the eleventh floor.

Once they succeeded…the divine spark would be theirs! “With this Pearl of Life, our chances for success on the eleventh floor will have increased.” Fain looked at the Pearl of Life in his hands, delighted. He immediately bound it with blood, and the Pearl of Life absorbed that drop of blood like a sponge, then directly merged with Fain’s body.

Feeling the swirling life energy in his body, Fain felt extremely confident.

“Does everyone want to rest? Or shall we head directly to the tenth floor.” Desri glanced at everyone else.

“No need to rest. The only one injured in our battle with the Thorium Devil was Fain.” Tulily laughed.

Everyone looked at Fain, who laughed and said, “Just then, the injury I sustained was fairly heavy, but I’m already in good shape now. Let’s go. It is just the tenth floor. It won’t be too dangerous.”

In truth, right now, Fain wasn’t in perfect condition. 

Although the ‘Pearl of Life’ had already returned his body to peak condition, after executing the ‘Lightning Dragons Descend’ technique, a great deal of spiritual energy had been consumed, which this Pearl of Life could not replenish.

However, Fain didn’t mind. They were only going to the tenth floor, after all.

Before entering the tenth floor, everyone carefully searched the area to see if any other divine artifacts were present. But the result of their search was that…success on the ninth floor’s only reward was this Pearl of Life. To Saint-level combatants, the importance of a Pearl of Life was indeed greater than an ordinary divine artifact’s.

The tenth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods. Eleven experts appeared in the middle of the air of the tenth floor.

“The environment’s not bad.” Linley laughed as he glanced at the surrounding area. “After dealing with the creatures of the tenth floor, we can have a good rest and make some preparations. Whether or not we’ll be able to get a divine spark will depend on how we perform on the eleventh floor.” Desri chortled.

The group of experts all scanned their surroundings.

This was a beautiful grassland, covered with a boundless sea of green grass, with occasionally a few wild flowers growing in clusters. The clear, fresh air also was quite comfortable to everyone.

“Where are the creatures of the tenth floor?”  Rosarie was searching intently.

“Don’t bother searching.”  A Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion said. “Let’s go search for the exit to the eleventh floor. Perhaps the creature will be there. Let’s find the exit, then dispose of the creature. Everyone will be able to have a good rest then and prepare for the final battle. Success or failure…it all rides on this.” The experts all nodded, and then began carefully searching this great grassland.

This grassland actually wasn’t completely flat, and actually had some rolling hills. Those depressions might be hiding a powerful creature, or perhaps the exit. If they didn’t fly close while inspecting, they wouldn’t be able to find it.

“Look.”  Bebe cried out in surprise and joy. “There’s a stone pillar up front, and it seems there is an exit beneath the pillar.”

The experts immediately flew over.

The stone pillar was roughly three meters in diameter and twenty meters tall. It seemed very ancient and plain. No one could guess how long it had been there for. It was carved with many mystic runes. Beneath the pillar, there was an entrance to a tunnel, and from the outside, one could see a set of stairs that glowed with a dark aura.

“Right here.” The experts felt their hearts calm down. 

Having found this tunnel, if they continued through it, they would arrive at the eleventh floor.

“Swish…”

Suddenly, a brilliant light flashed across the grasslands, flying out at high speed. This flash of light charged towards the nearest person, Fain. The eleven experts had never relaxed their vigilance, and upon seeing that flash, everyone knew what it was: The creature on the tenth floor had finally arrived.

“Hrmph.” When this flash of light reached a few meters from Fain, Fain immediately flew backwards like a bolt of lightning.

Fain’s speed was the fastest amongst these eleven experts, with only Desri and Bebe a match for him.

However… “Clang.” Weapons intersected.

Fain was knocked flying backwards, doing a somersault in mid-air as he landed on the ground. His face was slightly pale, and there was a hint of blood at the corner of his mouth. Only, the ‘Pearl of Life’ in his body activated, almost instantly restoring his body to peak condition.

“What is that?” Linley and the other experts were next to Fain.

The eleven experts all stared at the creature which had suddenly appeared.

This creature’s entire body seemed to reflect its surroundings. Its body was entirely formed from metal, but this metal…seemed to be like steel that had been reforged a hundred times over. Like a sharp blade, it reflected its surroundings like a mirror, except it was slightly more blurry than a mirror. It was human in shape, two meters tall, completely made out of metal.

On its forehead, there was a single horn that looked like a sharp knife. His shoulders also had sharp knives atop it, and his arms and legs were all sharp blades, and both the front and back sides of his arms had sharpened edges. Without question, a kick of this creature’s legs or a swipe of its arms would be like a broadsword striking down. Even its hands and its fingers were sharp, edged blades.

On its back, there was one blade after another running down its spine as well.

“Its entire body is made of blades. Leg, hand, arm, the top of his  head…even  his  back  has  a  blade.”   Bebe  sighed  in amazement.

“Absolutely a war machine.” Tulily spoke as well.

Fain said in a low voice, “Everyone, be careful. This blade- covered monstrosity is extremely fast, a match for me. When that blade of his chopped down against me, the power of the blow was definitely enough to badly injure us. Linley, most likely even your defense would find it hard to take that blow.”

Everyone understood.

Fain was extremely powerful, but he was still knocked flying by that blade, with a hint of blood appearing in his mouth.

“Although the tenth floor is simple, that’s still only comparison   to   the   sixth   through   ninth   floors.”    Linley understood. “Although this monster is powerful, compared to the Queen Mother, the Flame Tyrant, the Beholder King, and the Thorium Devil, it is much weaker.”

Although it seemed like the Thorium Devil had been killed easily, if it weren’t for the fact that Fain had been the perfect counter to it, the Thorium Devil, capable of fusing with the earth, with fire, with water, or with the wind and gain different powers, definitely wasn’t something the likes of Linley were able to destroy. This monster in front of them seemed fairly powerful.

But in truth, any one of the eleven experts, if going all out, could dispose of it.

“Grrr….” The bladed monstrosity in front of them growled softly, staring death at Linley’s group, but perhaps he could sense that the power of these eleven experts combined was far beyond what he could overcome. Thus, he didn’t dare to attack rashly.

“This  is  an  Abyssal  Blade  Demon.”  One  of  the  Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions said.

“Abyssal Blade Demon?”  Linley and the others all looked at the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion in confusion.

The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion nodded. “In the countless planes, the Four Higher Planes and the Seven Divine Realms are the most powerful eleven planes. Aside from these eleven dimensions, there are some other unique planes as well, which aren’t weaker than them in power. For example…the Abyss!” “The  Abyssal  Plane  is  reputed  to  be  the  most  chaotic, anarchic plane in all of the multiverse, and the plane with the most  warfare  and  slaughter.”  The  Six-Eyed  Golden  Ni-Lion sighed.

Linley was secretly surprised as he heard this.

The most chaotic? With the most slaughter? He could completely imagine how terrifying this ‘Abyss’ was.

“Abyssal Blade Demons are one of the creatures which the Abyss has given birth to.” The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion said. “Abyssal Blade Demons, in the Abyss, are the lowest level of life form, much like ants in the Yulan continent. They are extremely weak and powerless.”

Linley and these other experts all maintained their silence.

This Abyssal Blade Demons was no weaker than them. 

But in the legendary Abyss, it was the weakest type of creature.

“Generally speaking, only Deities dare to travel to the Abyss from other planes. Saint-level Abyssal Blade Demons naturally are the weakest creatures there.” The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion said. “Abyssal Blade Demons are mostly born for slaughter.”

Linley’s group secretly nodded.

They all saw how the body of this Abyssal Blade Demon in front of them was constructed. Wasn’t it indeed created for slaughter? Every single part of its body could transform into a murderous weapon.

“Abyssal Blade Demons are as fast as lightning, and possess incomparably powerful attacks. Their body, being made from special metals, have quite impressive defense as well. Naturally…if we fight at full strength, we can still kill this Abyssal Blade Demon.” The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion said. The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion spoke in quite a casual manner, clearly not worried about this Abyssal Blade Demon in front of them at all.

The Abyssal Blade Demon looked cautiously at the group of experts in front of it, and then…

“Swish.”

The Abyssal Blade Demon actually fled. But just as the Abyssal Blade Demon fled, Bebe moved. A flashing light was speeding across the grasslands, with Bebe behind in hot pursuit. The two actually had comparable speed, but then the Abyssal Blade Demon suddenly charged underground.

“Shkreeeeeeeeee!”

Bebe excitedly dug into the ground as well. “It shouldn’t be hard for Bebe to dispose of this Abyssal Blade Demon, given his power.”  Linley was still quite confident in Bebe’s abilities.

The Shadowshape Doppelganger Technique alone would guarantee his survival, and in addition, Bebe had definitely received some tutelage while at Beirut’s side.

“The Abyss…” Tulily said in a soft voice. “If in my lifetime, I were to have the chance to experience the Abyss, I would die happy.”

Desri and the others looked at Tulily, chuckling.

“No rush. If we are to leave immediately, we’d still only be able to go to the Four Higher Planes for now.” Desri said. “In addition, I expect that the passage from one plane to another is most likely extremely difficult. I imagine the battles in the Higher Planes would already be enough to satisfy you.”

Tulily nodded slightly. 

Desri, Tulily, Linly, and all the others understood.

In their ordinary, material plane, as Saints, they were indeed the most powerful creatures in existence. But upon arriving in the Higher Planes, Saints would be the lowest rung in the ladder, and after them would be the Demigods….who most likely were nothing more than average.

Thus, they held back and were in no rush to go to the Higher Planes.

“Boom!”    A   massive   earthquake   erupted   underground, causing the ground to split open, creating a massive crevice. The experts all stared down through the massive crevice.

Linley laughed. “The Abyssal Blade Demon died.”

Bebe flew out from within that crevice, dragging with him a metallic corpse that had been ripped in half. It was the Abyssal Blade Demon. 

“This Abyssal Blade Demon’s attack truly is powerful.” Bebe sighed in amazement. “Most likely if I had been hit by him, even I would have been injured.”

The experts were all secretly amazed.

Bebe was a Godeater Rat. Although he was still in his growth period, his defense was already extremely, astonishingly high. If even Bebe said such a thing…then one could imagine how powerful the Abyssal Blade Demon’s attack truly was.

“The blades on the back of the Abyssal Blade Demon are fine weapons.”  A Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion sighed in praise. “The Abyssal Blade Demon’s body naturally generates powerful blades from its essence, but the most powerful blade is the one on its back.”

“Right. That blade is extremely sharp.” Bebe pulled out and tossed that blade to everyone. This rather beautiful, graceful killing weapon lay there on the ground, and the surrounding grass was actually torn apart, just by the sharp aura emanating from this killing weapon. The sharpness of the weapon was comparable to low level divine artifacts. It truly was incredible.

“Who wants this blade?” Bebe said. “I don’t need it. My claws are fiercer.” Bebe waved his little paws.

Linley and Olivier didn’t say anything. They already had their own weapons. Desri and Rosarie were Grand Magus Saints and didn’t need it either. Fain was a sword expert, not a blade expert. As for the magical beasts…their sharp claws were not suited for holding swords.

Although this blade was very precious and comparable to a weak divine artifact, and could be gifted to family or friends even if one didn’t use it for one’s self, Linley, Fain, Rosarie, and the others who already had acquired a divine artifact wouldn’t take it.

“Haha…” Desri laughed. “Nobody wants it? I don’t have any weapons on me, so I might as well take this blade. I’ve learned a few close combat skills before as well.”

Desri picked up the blade.

Chapter 30, Grand Magus Saint

Holding this sharp blade, Desri experimentally waved it a few times, causing saber energy to crisscross.

“The blade’s a good one. Only, my arm strength isn’t good enough.” Desri sighed.

Without any battle-qi, if one was physically strong enough, like the Four Supreme Warriors, one could still reach astonishing levels of power just by wielding weapons with physical strength. Actually, the Abyssal Blade Demon had relied on pure power alone in wielding the blade.

“What’s the rush?” Fain laughed. “Desri, after you become a Deity and your divine body forms, the strength of your body will be divine power. You’ll be able to put this weapon to good use then, right?”

“Haha, right.” Desri laughed as well. Actually, everyone still knew that there was still an obstacle before becoming a Deity.

The eleventh floor!

The difficulty level from the first to the fifth floor hadn’t been too high, but the sixth floor had the Flame Tyrant, with the danger level rising exponentially. Every five floors represented a difficulty level…clearly, this eleventh floor’s danger level would be far greater than that of the sixth through tenth floors. The Flame Tyrant, the Queen Mother, and the other creatures had already been so terrifying. What would appear on the eleventh floor?

Everyone felt somber when considering this, but at the same time, they all knew that this eleventh floor had corpses of Deities, and had divine sparks!

“The eleventh floor…”  Linley looked towards that distant, ancient pillar, with the staircase beneath it so noticeably covered in that black aura. “According to what Lord Beirut said, the guardians of the eleventh floor should still be Saints.” Clearly, the Sovereign who controlled the Necropolis of the Gods still allowed for a chance of success.

Linley understood, however, that from the twelfth floor onwards, only Deities would be able to proceed.

“I expect that from the twelfth floor onwards, the guardians will all be Deity-level creatures.”  Linley didn’t even dare to think about proceeding to the twelfth floor. His power was not bad, true, but in front of a Deity, he couldn’t fight back at all.

Possessing a divine spark and gaining a divine body was a fundamental transformation in one’s level of existence.

“Everyone  understands,”   Desri  said  in  a  sonorous  voice, staring  at  the  assembled  experts,  “That  of  the  eighty  plus experts who originally came in, only eleven of us have made it to the tenth floor.”

Everyone nodded. 

The other seventy plus experts had either died or retreated.

Only they had come to the tenth floor.

“This is also the first time in my life I’ve been so close to a divine spark. I know that the eleventh floor up above has divine sparks.” Desri felt his emotions stirring. He had striven for so many years, after all. “But everyone must also understand that the eleventh floor will definitely be extremely dangerous. Compared to the Flame Tyrant, the Queen Mother, the Beholder King, and the Thorium Devil, it will be even more dangerous!”

All of the experts felt their hearts tremble as though having heard a thunderclap.

“Perhaps some of us will die on the eleventh floor.”  Desri’s voice became low. “However, I myself am not afraid of death. I’ve already lived for thousands of years, and experienced everything I need to experience. If I die on the road to ascending to godhood, I won’t regret my death.” The eyes of all the experts were blazing with light.

Desri, Rosarie, Fain, Tulily, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni- Lions, the Blackscale Scorpion…they had all struggled to become Deities for thousands of years. Life, death…they had long ago stopped worrying about these things.

Of the Five Prime Saints, Rutherford had died.

Nobody felt too saddened by Rutherford’s death. Because everyone understood…perhaps soon afterwards, they themselves would also die on the path to godhood.

In this group of eleven experts, Linley, Bebe, and Olivier were all very young, comparatively. None of them had even passed their first century. Compared to Desri and the other experts, there were many differences between them. Thus, mentally, their understanding of life and death was perhaps different from that of Desri and the other experts. “Everyone, let’s make our preparations. This time, we will rest on the tenth floor for a year and a half. A year and a half later, we will enter the eleventh floor.” Desri said.

All the experts felt a surge of excitement, and they silently nodded.

They had entered the Necropolis of the Gods eight years ago now. After training for another year and a half, they would only be a few months away from the ten year time limit. On the eleventh floor, the question of whether or not they would be able to obtain a divine spark would be resolved in perhaps just a single day.

Everyone separated, finding a place to quietly train and meditate.

“Boss.” Bebe looked at Linley.

Linley looked at Bebe as well. They each understood what the other was thinking. 

“Train well.”

To Linley, Bebe, and Olivier, it was still possible to make new breakthroughs in a year and a half, and have their strength rise further. As to the other eight experts…unless some lucky accident happened, it would be truly difficult for them to make any more breakthroughs.

………….

On the boundless prairie, within a grassy area, a gentle wind blew across Linley’s long hair.

Linley’s eyes were closed, and he was quietly seated in the meditative position.

“The Profound Truths of the Earth…the further along this path I go, the greater the level of difficulty. I already have reached the level of ’64 Fused Layers’ of the Throbbing Pulse of the World. If I want to be able to reach the level of ’32 Fused Layers’, it would probably take more time than it did last time. Last time it took me eight years to make a breakthrough…I only  have  a  scant  year  and  a  half.”   Linley  had  made  his decision. “I had better analyze the ‘Profound Truths of the Wind’ instead.”

Right now, the most important thing was to raise his strength and make a breakthrough as soon as possible, so as to have a greater chance on the eleventh floor.

“Attuning my soul to nature will naturally cause my spiritual energy to rise. That way, I’ll be able to train both my spiritual energy and the ‘Profound Truths of the Wind’ at the same time.” Linley found a balance.

And then, Linley stilled his mind.

He ‘forgot’ his identity and sense of self.

Linley’s spiritual energy had become totally attuned to nature. Within Linley’s consciousness, he could clearly sense all the movements of the wind as it blew across the prairie, while at the same time, the stances of the ‘Rippling Wind’, ‘Tempos of the Wind’, and ‘Myriad Swords Converge’ appeared in his mind.

Linley meditated on the ‘Fast’ and ‘Slow’ aspects of the Elemental Laws of the Wind.

At the same time, he meditated on the various sword techniques, and countless sword images flashed through his mind.

Sword-shadows flashing like the wind, formless and shapeless!

In this state of silent pondering, Linley continued to heighten his understanding of the Elemental Laws of the Wind at a slow pace, rising one step at a time. In his consciousness, the sword techniques flashing through his mind became more profound and more natural. His soul was one with nature, and his spiritual energy slowly improved as well.

………. 

Time flowed onwards. On the prairie of the tenth floor of the Necropolis of the gods, the experts were all either seated cross- legged while meditating, or practicing one stance after another. Every person was making preparations for the eleventh floor.

Bebe was lying on the ground, his body covered with a faint black aura.

Linley’s hair had slowly grown longer as well.

In the blink of an eye, more than a year passed, and only two months were left before the appointed time.

“Desri.”  Fain was seated alongside Desri on the grass. They had already trained to their limits long ago. If they made any more breakthroughs, they would become Deities. And thus, there was no point for them to intentionally try and force any breakthroughs, so they just casually talked and joked with each other. “Do you remember that battle, five thousand years ago?” “Of  course  I  do,”  Desri  sighed.  “That  battle  where  those experts from the other planes descended…one Saint after another fell. The battles in that scorching hot desert, in the air above the South Sea…they were so brutal.”

Fain nodded slightly as well.

Back then, Fain and Desri had already reached the Saint- level, but they were minor figures at the Saint-level. Back then, they were comparable to the likes of the Stellar Sword Saint, Dillon. They were only early-stage Saints, and they would have died if they participated in the battles between the experts who had descended from the other planes.

“Countless Saints, and even quite a few Deities. Saint against Saint. Deity against Deity. One of the Deities charged into a group  of  Saints,  causing  massive  casualties.”   Desri  sighed. “From that day onwards, I made up my mind that one day, I would become a Deity.”

The presence of a Deity was like a prison! In front of a Deity’s power, Saints were far too weak. 

“Five thousand years now.” Desri sighed. “On this road, how many friends have I lost? Hayward died. That year, Kerrilan [Kai’li’lan] died. Rutherford died as well…”

Fain nodded.

Countless experts had worked hard throughout the years to become Deities. To them, becoming Saints wasn’t difficult. But becoming Deities…the difficulty level was simply too great.

“Fain.”  Desri looked at him. “We have already reached the final step. This is also the closest we’ve come, in five thousand years, to becoming Deities.”

Fain nodded slightly, and said solemnly, “Success or failure depends on this final journey.”

“Hrm?” Fain and Desri simultaneously turned to look at Linley. They glanced at each other, their eyes filled with shock. To Desri and the other experts, Linley and Olivier were both absolute geniuses. What took others thousands of years to accomplish, they were capable of accomplishing in under a century.

As for Linley, he was even more shocking to them than Olivier.

He had a strong foundation, and he had powerful insights into the Laws. And now…

“It seems…he has finally broken through to the Grand Magus Saint  level.”   Desri  sighed.  In  the  past,  he  himself  had experienced this breakthrough.

……

Linley could currently sense his soul throbbing. In his consciousness, that sea of spiritual energy was bellowing, and that seven-colored soul-gem was vibrating, as though it was changing somehow. “I’m finally going to break through.” Linley’s mind was filled with excitement.

From the ninth rank to the peak of the ninth rank had taken ten years, but from the peak of the ninth rank to breakthrough had taken ten more years!

“Rumble…”      His    spiritual    energy    was    constantly transforming, and the amount of space his sea of spiritual energy was shrinking as well. But the power of his spiritual energy was actually increasing. And more importantly…that soul-gem was beginning to transform.

A slow transformation.

The amount of spiritual energy had shrank to a tenth of what it had previously been, but the purity of that spiritual energy and the amount of control he had over it skyrocketed.

“The soul-gem?” Linley heart was swayed. Actually, the path of training was one where one’s level of existence was constantly rising…and the most basic underpinning of life was the soul! Naturally, the soul itself would constantly transform. ‘Grand Magus Saints’ primarily focused on training spiritual energy, and upon reaching the ‘Grand Magus Saint’ level, the soul would also transform and reach a new level.

A slow transformation.

“How long will this spiritual transformation continue before concluding?” Linley didn’t want to waste any time.

He knew that the day on which they would enter the eleventh floor was coming sooner and sooner. His spiritual transformation was occurring automatically. After paying attention to his spiritual transformation for a few days, he no longer waited, and instead focused his mind on attuning to the Elemental Laws of the Wind and analyzing all sorts of sword techniques.

All sorts of sword stances continuously flashed through his mind. 

While attuning, Linley found that as his soul transformed, his efficiency and effectiveness in analyzing the Laws and his sword techniques was becoming greater and greater.

“Hrm?” Linley felt his soul shudder. “Success!”

Linley carefully inspected his soul. Within his consciousness, above that sea of spiritual energy which had become dozens of times more pure, there was a hovering sword that was surrounded by faint azure light. Right. A sword!

“Sword?” Linley was surprised.

“My soul transformed into the shape of a sword?” Linley had not expected this.

Actually, the form one’s soul would take wasn’t set in stone. For example, the departed souls of the Netherworld might have souls shaped like a giant blaze, which was known as the ‘Soul of Fire’. The soul of the ‘Flame Tyrant’ which Linley had killed was that translucent rock.

A Deity-level combatant might have a soul that was a blade- shape, or even a ball-shape.

This would depend on every person’s training path.

“Reaching the Grand Magus Saint level truly is different.” Linley’s spiritual energy easily swept out from his body. In this strange plane, in the past, Linley’s spiritual energy could only encompass around ten meters, but now, it could encompass hundreds of meters.

Linley opened his eyes.

“Congratulations,  Linley.”   Fain,  Rosarie,  Desri,  and  the others were by his side. Even Bebe was grinning directly at Linley. “Boss, you reached the Grand Magus Saint level? Haha, why don’t you show off the legendary ‘Dimensional Edge’ spell. I haven’t seen it yet.”  Bebe was extremely excited. He was very happy for Linley having reached the Grand Magus Saint level.

Linley was now capable of utilizing forbidden-level spells of both the earth-style and the wind-style.

“Dimensional  Edge?”   Linley  was  filled  with  anticipation towards this legendary spell, reputed to be the most powerful single target forbidden-level spell. He immediately began to chant the words to the spell. He had learned the words long ago, but this was his first time using it.

Moments later…

Countless amounts of wind elemental essences swirled around Linley, and the wind in the area around him seemed to have come to a halt.

A three or four meter long, semi-translucent, azure blade of wind appeared, and like a flash of lightning, it shot out from Linley off into the distance. The speed of this spell was so fast…that most likely even Bebe and Fain wouldn’t be able to dodge in time. The most terrifying part of it was, wherever this blade of wind passed, with a ‘screeeeeech’ sound, tears in space appeared.

Like a piece of cloth being torn apart, a huge rip in space appeared, but of course it instantly repaired itself afterwards.

After flying for hundreds of meters, the ‘Dimensional Edge’ finally disappeared.

“Tearing apart space…what can possibly withstand an attack like this? In addition, after sending out this ‘Dimensional Edge’, I can actually slightly control the path it travels in by using my spiritual energy.” Linley was wildly overjoyed.

Chapter 31, Necropolis of the Gods, the Eleventh Floor!

Atop the prairie, the experts all clearly saw the ‘rip’ in space appearing. Although they had heard of how astonishingly powerful the ‘Dimensional Edge’ spell was, personally witnessing the ‘rip in space’ created by the ‘Dimensional Edge’ still left them feeling awed.

“The  Dimensional  Edge  spell  really  does  live  up  to  its reputation of being the most powerful single-target forbidden- level spell.” Fain sighed in shock. “Even me…if a Grand Magus Saint ambushed me with this spell, if we weren’t too distant from each other, I would probably be unable to dodge in time.”

The ‘Dimensional Edge’ spell could be considered to have reached a pinnacle in single-target attacks for the wind-style.

Its speed had reached the absolute limit, and its attack power had reached the limit as well. “This  is  why  I  generally  will  always  be  rather  cautious around wind-style Grand Magus Saints, especially if they have any grudge against me.”  Desri laughed. “Generally speaking, whenever I sense a large amount of wind elemental essence gathering close to me, I’ll immediately run and hide as far away as I can.”

“Haha…” All the experts began to laugh loudly.

“Desri, you are afraid as well?”  Fain laughed loudly as he said.

For Linley to finally break through to become a Grand Magus Saint was something which caused Desri, Fain, and the other experts to feel surprise and joy. Linley’s power would increase greatly, which gave their group a higher chance of obtaining a divine spark on the eleventh floor.

“Enough. There’s two more months from now until the year and a half we agreed on is up. Let’s all rest for the final two months.” Desri said clearly. The experts all nodded, then separated again.

Right now, Bebe was with Linley.

“Boss, you finally reached the Grand Magus Saint level. This is wonderful.” Bebe was so happy that he was jumping up and down, waving his little claws happily in the air, his little eyes squinting in delight.

“Although I’ve become a Grand Magus Saint, that only means my chance of surviving the eleventh floor is now a little bit higher.” Linley sighed. “Look at how much the difficulty level rose from the first level of five floors to the second level of five floors. This eleventh floor…”

Bebe nodded his head as well.

The eleventh floor would probably be ten or a hundred times as dangerous as the sixth floor, where the Flame Tyrant had been! Would they be successful?

Actually, neither Linley nor Desri, or indeed any of the others, felt confident. But Desri’s group had struggled towards the goal of becoming a Deity for thousands of years, and now that they were so close to reaching their goal, they naturally wouldn’t easily give up.

“In the last two months, we’ll have to prepare well.”

Having reached the Grand Magus Saint level and especially after his soul had changed, Linley felt that his very existence had just transformed to a new stage. Actually, Bebe could also sense it…right now, Linley, standing in front of him, was like a sharp blade that was pointing towards the sky. Utterly unblockable.

…………

Two months later. Beneath that ancient pillar. Outside the exit. The eleven experts had gathered.

Deep blue draconic scales covering his entire body, Linley was in Dragonform. At the same time, a diamond-like sparkling armor covered Linley’s entire body, including even his draconic tail. This was the protective spell of earth-style Saints….the Sacred Earthguard Armor.

Around the diamond Sacred Earthguard Armor, there was a layer of deep azure-black battle-qi covering Linley’s entire body, forming a thin membrane. This was the ‘Pulseguard Defense’.

The defenses of the Dragonblood Warrior, the Saint-level ‘Sacred Earthguard Armor’, and the ‘Pulseguard Defense’… with these three layers of defenses reinforcing each other, Linley’s current defensive power was most likely so great that not even Bebe could match him.

Desri and Rosarie were covered with their respective Elemental Saint Armors as well, while Fain, Olivier, Tulily and the others were covered with a layer of battle-qi. Everyone had fully prepared themselves. Even Bebe’s body had a dim black aura around it.

“The goal we have been striving towards for five thousand years…it all comes down to this.” Desri’s eyes were glowing.

The eyes of Fain, Tuilily, Rosarie, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, and the Blackscale Scorpion were also extremely resolute and firm.

“On the eleventh floor, the danger we encounter will definitely be ten times or a hundred times greater than in the lower floors. Any one, two, or more of us can die!” Desri swept everyone with his gaze. He said solemnly, “But those who survive and are successful, whether man or magical beast, must definitely help the dead resolve their affairs, be it debts or grudges, in the normal world.”

All of the experts nodded silently.

In the eleventh floor, nobody could afford to play the part of a lone hero. They all had to work together to have the slightest hope of success.

Fain swept every single person with his gaze. In a low voice, he said, “No matter what, I hope that at least one of us eleven will  become  a  Deity.”  What  Fain  feared  the  most  was…all eleven of them would perish here on the eleventh floor.

“It isn’t a hope. It is a certainty. An absolute certainty that we will succeed!” Tulily’s eyes were extremely fierce.

“Let’s go.” Desri turned his gaze towards the exit, staring at it.

“Let’s go!”

The eyes of the eleven experts were extremely firm. Together, they entered the darkly glowing exit, heading to the eleventh floor.

Necropolis of the Gods. The eleventh floor! 

The light of a setting sun was casting its glow upon this entire world. This was a world of metal, and the vast, endless earth was covered with all sorts of metal constructs. Massive metal mountains and metal valleys could be seen everywhere, and the wind howled here as though it were knives.

Suddenly….

The eleven experts of the Yulan continent appeared at the eleventh floor.

“How   desolate.   How   bizarre.”    Rosarie   stared   at   the surrounding area as she mentally spoke into their minds. According to their agreement, after entering the eleventh floor, unless it was absolutely necessarily, nobody was to speak, so as to avoid disturbing any terrifyingly powerful creatures here. This ability to speak mentally with the soul was one which Linley could now manage as well.

After one had enough spiritual energy, all one needed to do was learn the trick to it. 

“Everyone, be careful. When we encountered the ‘Beholder King’ on the eighth floor, it was also extremely quiet there at first. Nobody can afford to be incautious. Now, let’s go hunting for  divine  sparks.”  Linley,  now  acknowledged  as  the  most powerful of these eleven experts, led the way in front.

The other experts followed behind Linley. Desri, Rosarie, and Olivier were in the center, as their defense was the weakest.

Linley had three layers of defenses, while his body had the Pearl of Life.

His soul had risen in power, and he possessed the spells of a Grand Magus Saint. Linley was indeed now the most powerful person here.

“Everything here is metal. I don’t sense any life at all.” After flying for a long time, Linley was beginning to frown. But Linley didn’t dare to let his guard down. He focused all of his attention on maintaining his vigilance, carefully inspecting the area to see if there were any corpses of Deities here, or divine sparks. At the same time, he had to be very careful to see if there were any powerful creatures present, hiding in a

hard-to-spot location.

The creatures here could be as large as a mountain or as small as a fist.

The eleven experts were careful enough for twelve people.

“There’s a valley up ahead. It seems to have a special aura about it.” Desri’s voice rang out in everyone’s mind.

Linley also noticed that distant valley, which seemed to have some sort of unique aura emanating from within it. In addition, that aura made one’s heart shake and feel a sense of pressure.

“Could that be the aura of a divine spark?”  Linley’s voice rang out in their minds. 

Everyone’s eyes lit up. Something capable of making their hearts shake and make them feel pressure…that just might be a divine spark indeed. After all, nobody here had ever seen a divine spark, but they had all sensed a Deity’s divine presence before.

“It might be a divine spark, but it might also be…the creature guarding the eleventh floor.” Rosarie’s face was solemn, and her voice rang out in everyone’s mind.

“Guardian?”

Linley and the others felt their hearts quiver. Logically speaking, the difficulty level of this eleventh floor should be ten times or a hundred times greater than that of the sixth and seventh floors. The Flame Tyrant and the Queen Mother had already been so powerful…then how powerful would the creatures on this eleventh floor be?

“Everyone, let’s decide. Should we enter the valley or not?” Linley asked the experts. 

“Enter.” A Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion said. “If we’re even afraid of this, then even if we find a divine spark inside, there’ll probably be no one bold enough to take it.”

The experts exchanged glances.

Right. If they were so timid as to avoid every unique aura they sensed, how could they possibly find a divine spark?

“Enter.” Fain said mentally, and all of the experts turned to stare towards the valley.

The eleven experts, with Linley in front, crept towards that distant metallic valley. This metallic valley was over a hundred meters wide. As Linley and the rest of the eleven experts flew to the air above the metallic valley, they could even more clearly sense that heart-shaking aura.

“This valley is covered by a faint red fog.” Linley frowned. 

Looking down into the immeasurably deep valley and that faint red fog, he saw that the fog was roiling about. It gave Linley a feeling…as though there was an enormous creature beneath the fog, and the fog was its exhaled breath.

Exchanging glances with everyone, Linley mentally spoke to them. “Let’s go down.”

The eleven experts all fearlessly flew downwards. The deeper into the valley they went, the more Linley and the other experts could sense that heart-racing aura. In a short period of time, they entered the area near that red fog, and the eleven experts flew towards the direction of the source of that aura.

“Whooosh.”

Their flying speed was very fast. It only took them a few seconds to go from the air above the valley to the valley below, but those few seconds, to these eleven experts, had been unbearable. The eleven experts landed on the valley floor. The fog was fairly faint, not too thick, and one could see within a radius of a hundred meters.

“What’s that?” Linley could vaguely see that there was a body lying on an enormous, flat rock, off in the distance. The heart- racing aura was coming from that body.

“A Deity’s corpse.”  Desri excitedly transmitted mentally to them.

Linley felt his heart clench hard. Even Fain and Tulily’s breathing became slightly heavier. Without hesitating at all, all of the experts quietly crept towards that giant flat rock.

“Haha…” Suddenly, loud, wild laughter shook the entire valley, and it seemed as though that wild laugh was coming from the giant flat rock which had a boulder resting on it.

All eleven experts, Linley included, felt their hearts suddenly shudder violently. 

“Not good.” Linley knew that the situation had just turned grim,  and  he  immediately  transmitted  mentally,  “Retreat, quick, retreat!”

Not just Linley. This was the reaction of the other ten experts as well. They flew into the skies as fast as lightning. Their speed was extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, they flew out of the faint red fog, but then, Linley and the other ten experts stopped in their tracks.

They stopped there, within the valley, not daring to fly up.

Because above them…

Bodies made entirely out of metal. Arms, legs, and forehead made of swords. These creatures appeared, a low-level type of creature born from the Abyss and made for slaughter…Abyssal Blade Demons!

It was Abyssal Blade Demons! 

Linley and the others had encountered an Abyssal Blade Demon on the tenth floor. Although they were extremely fast and powerful, their defense was only average…any one of Linley’s group, when going all out, could have killed that Abyssal Blade Demon.

But right now, Linley, Fain, Desri, and the others all felt a sense of hopelessness in their hearts.

They were clustered as densely together as ants. At least ten thousand Abyssal Blade Demons hovered in the air above the valley, blocking out even the light of the skies. When the Abyssal Blade Demon of the tenth floor had chopped down, Fain, despite using a weapon to block, had still been made to vomit blood by the impact.

In terms of raw offensive power, they were comparable to Tulily.

“Haha…it’s  been  so  long  since  we’ve  encountered  any invaders. Children, kill them for me.” Within the endless sea of Abyssal Blade Demons, a small, skinny red Abyssal Blade Demon let out a wild shout.

“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” “Whoosh!”

Howling a piercing howl, the countless Abyssal Blade Demons charged downwards from the sky. Each of them wielded those long blades with both hands. Linley and the others knew exactly how sharp those long blades were. Those were weapons on par with low level divine artifacts.

“Go down.” Desri breathed raggedly.

Without hesitating at all, Linley and the other experts immediately charged back down.

“Swish…” The faint red mist was suddenly sucked away into a different part of the valley at high speed. In the blink of an eye, Linley and the others saw what was going on. The faint red fog had been drawn in by another distant, small, skinny, blood-red Abyssal Blade Demon into his chest. 

There was a blood-red Abyssal Blade Demon above them, and there was another one within the valley as well.

“There’s a huge amount of Abyssal Blade Demons below us as well.” Rosarie’s voice rang out in everyone’s minds.

The valley actually had tunnels within it, and two of the tunnels were currently filled with endless amounts of Abyssal Blade Demons which were flying out of it. The air above them was flooded with countless Abyssal Blade Demons, but beneath them, there were tunnels filled with them as well.

Chapter 32, The Blood Stained Underground

Everyone knew exactly how powerful the Abyssal Blade Demons were. One or two of them, they didn’t need to fear. But if one or two hundred of them attacked and fought with Linley’s group head on, most likely more than half of Linley’s group would die. But now, the Abyssal Blade Demons were clustered so densely that they were in the tens of thousands.

There was no choice!

Flee!

“Execute plan number two. Into the tunnels.” Linley’s voice rang out in everyone’s mind.

“Swish…”   The  Blackscale  Scorpion’s  long  scorpion  tail suddenly spun, then easily drilled straight through the side of the metallic mountain. At an astonishing speed, the Blackscale Scorpion chopped a tunnel through the mountain, and Desri, Rosarie, and the others immediately charged inside. 

Linley, Fain, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, Bebe, and Olivier were in the rearguard.

Every one of the Abyssal Blade Demons possessed lightning- fast speed, and they came down like a plague of locusts.

“Kill them.”  Linley wielded the adamantine heavy sword in one hand and Bloodviolet in the other.

At this moment, with countless Abyssal Blade Demons charging at them, every person, be it Linley, Fain, the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, Bebe, or Olivier, was coming under terrifying attack. Olivier was the first amongst them to be forced backwards.

Olivier, wielding that mystic icesword, was covered with a half-black, half-white aura which glowed at the same time. The mystic icesword clashed against an incoming blade of an Abyssal Blade Demon. As it did, Olivier’s body trembled, then a cold light flashed in his eyes as the mystic icesword suddenly snaked out and attacked again. 

“Slash…”  The mystic icesword, covered in black and white light, managed to sever the head of that Abyssal Blade Demon.

But immediately afterwards, three more Abyssal Blade Demons simultaneously chopped towards Olivier. Olivier’s face changed, and he retreated at high speed, but in terms of speed, these Abyssal Blade Demons were on par with Fain and Bebe. Olivier could only rely on his mystic ice longsword to frantically block each blade.

“Bang!”  Two blades in a row collided against his battle-qi barrier.

Olivier’s barrier of battle-qi was directly smashed apart. Enduring the pain, Olivier relied on the counter-force from the two blows to scurry into the tunnel the Blackscale Scorpion had made. But despite that, nearly half of his waist had been chopped into.

If he had been just a bit slower, his entire body would have been chopped in two. 

“Bang!”  Immediately  after  that,  Fain  was  the  next  to  be forced flee into the tunnel by the attacks of a large number of Abyssal Blade Demons. Fain was sent flying backwards by the combined attacks of four Abyssal Blade Demons, and his body was actually chopped into three different parts, but Fain’s

‘head’ flew at high speed into the tunnel and fled.

At the same time, Fain’s body began to rebuild itself at an astonishing speed.

“Linley,  be  careful.  If  you  can’t  hold  on,  then  flee!”  Fain mentally transmitted to him while fleeing.

Linley could already sense how terrifyingly powerful these Abyssal Blade Demons were. In but one exchange, after he killed four Abyssal Blade Demons in a row, his Pulseguard Defense and his Sacred Earthguard Armor had been destroyed by a large number of wildly chopping blows from the Abyssal Blade Demons. His draconic scales were shattered, and blood was spewing out.

The Pearl of Life in his body began to activate. “Rumble…” The draconic scales repaired themselves, and the ‘Pulseguard Defense’ on Linley’s body once more formed.

“Shkreeeeeeee!”

Bebe was transformed into eight different doppelgangers, wildly attacking the opponents. There were at least ten Abyssal Blade Demons who had died to his claws, but the Abyssal Blade Demons were very smart as well. Instantly, dozens of them simultaneously attacked all eight doppelgangers, with each of them suffering from the attacks of three or four Abyssal Blade Demons.

Bebe’s body was immediately sent flying backwards, as he retreated with a hint of blood on his fur.

“Bang!” A group of Abyssal Blade Demons pounced towards Bebe. 

“Bebe, retreat!” Linley shouted loudly.

“Swoosh.”  Bebe didn’t waste any time, also fleeing into the tunnel. As he fled inside, his body was matted with blood and his fur had been chopped into. Seeing this sight, Linley’s heart ached. After all, Bebe didn’t have a Pearl of Life!

The bodies of the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions were covered with black battle-armor, and thus they were able to hold on for an even longer period of time than Bebe.

“Linley, we can’t hold. Retreat, hurry!”

The three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions were also forced back by large amounts of blade chops from the Abyssal Blade Demons, and they fled into the tunnel, their bodies also matted with blood. With each member of the rearguard having retreated into the tunnel, their defensive perimeter was naturally shrinking. With the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions gone, Linley immediately retreated into the tunnel entrance as well.

“Kill him!” Countless Abyssal Blade Demons howled, raising their sharp long blades and chopping towards Linley.

“Not good.” At the same time, more than ten Abyssal Blade Demons were chopping towards Linley from every which way. Above, below, in front, on each side…more than ten Abyssal Blade Demons in total, with each blade possessing lightning- fast speed. Too fast!

Linley’s Bloodviolet sword and adamantine heavy sword were only able to kill two of the Abyssal Blade Demons, while the other ten or so blades landed on Linley’s body simultaneously!

“Bang!”  The Pulseguard Defense, which was already at the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World – 64 Fused Waves’ immediately collapsed. “Not good.” Just the momentum force from those ten blows had sent Linley flying backwards, while at the same time shattering the draconic scales on Linley’s body, sending blood everywhere. The green light of the Pearl of Life was constantly flashing, however, and Linley’s body replenished at an

astonishing rate.

“Can’t hold any longer. The others should have been able to flee a good distance by now.”

Linley scurried into a tunnel as well.

“Grrrrrrrrrr!”  The  many  Abyssal  Blade  Demons  roared  as they charged towards the tunnel as well. At the same time, a large number of Abyssal Blade Demons clustered outside the valley also charged towards the tunnel.

“Pursue them!” Countless Abyssal Blade Demons roared with anger.

Linley turned to glance, and saw the bloodthirsty, wild look in the eyes of those Abyssal Blade Demons. 

“Rumble…” Instantly, earth elemental energy wildly began to gather, and a large number of giant stones formed behind Linley, instantly sealing off the tunnel in its entirety. As Linley continued to fly, countless boulders continued to appear out of nowhere behind him.

Earth-style instacast spell of the eighth rank: Rubble Rain.

“Although the Blackscale Scorpion’s tunneling speed is the fastest out of all of us, this world is a world of metal, and even the ground is made of metal. His tunneling speed is definitely inferior to his flying speed. All we can do right now is to try and hang on.”

Linley continued flying while sealing off the tunnel behind him.

“Swish!”  From  behind,  a  large  number  of  Abyssal  Blade Demons were still flying forward. These Abyssal Blade Demons didn’t pay any attention to the boulders Linley was using to stop up the tunnel, just using their heads to ram straight through them. The sharp blades atop their forehead instantly split the boulders apart, and they continued to pursue at high speed.

However, although they were able to easily destroy the boulders, their speed was still affected.

Linley hurried towards the experts up ahead. After all, in terms of flying speed, they were moving much faster than the Blackscale Scorpion. Desri, Fain, and the others were flying shoulder to shoulder, while the Blackscale Scorpion was ahead of them, tunneling through.

“What should we do?” Linley asked frantically.

At this time, there was a large number of Abyssal Blade Demons in hot pursuit.

“In terms of speed, underground, we’re traveling more quickly than the Abyssal Blade Demons, so we should be able to shake them off. After shaking them off, let’s go look for the divine  spark.”  Desri  said.  This  was  the  decision  which  the various experts had agreed on.

Even now, they didn’t want to give up.

When they had drawn near that Deity’s corpse just now, they had used their spiritual energy to search it. That Deity’s corpse had been split open by the head long ago, and the divine spark had been taken. The corpse was nothing more than a tool used to attract their attention!

While Linley’s group continued to make their way underground at high speed, in the air above them, countless Abyssal Blade Demons were densely clustered, with three blood-red Abyssal Blade Demons leading them.

“It’s about time. Children, ten every ten kilometers. Head out now.” The leading blood-red Abyssal Blade Demon said loudly.

Flying at high speed, the Abyssal Blade Demons formed into squads of ten, and one squad of Abyssal Blade Demons after another dove directly underground, easily driving through the metallic floor and beginning to tunnel underground. A squad was inserted every ten kilometers, and of course, in the air coming down, they flew far faster than Linley’s squad tunneled.

“They want to flee from underground?” The physically small leader, that blood-red Abyssal Blade Demon, laughed coldly.

“Hrmph. We have over a million citizens. Within ten thousand square kilometers, we will set up a heaven- encompassing  web.  How  can  they  possibly  flee?”   Another blood-red Abyssal Blade Demon said.

The  third  Abyssal  Blade  Demon  laughed  loudly.  “I’ve arranged a tribe of over ten thousand Abyssal Blade Demons to guard the entrance back to the tenth floor. No matter where they run, they will die!”

If Linley’s group knew that this eleventh floor had over a million Abyssal Blade Demons, they probably would have given up long ago 

But they didn’t know!

In the valley, there were actually only a hundred Abyssal Blade Demons who had managed to fight with Linley, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, Fain, Bebe, and Olivier. The others hadn’t been able to squeeze in, due to space limitations.

But despite that, Linley’s group had been forced into a sorry state.

The eleven experts tunneled at high speed as the scorpion’s tail of the Blackscale Scorpion continued to spin at high speed, easily opening the path for them. The speed at which he did this…was far faster than the speed at which those Abyssal Blade Demons behind them were splitting aside those stone boulders.

“It seems we should be able to throw the Abyssal Blade Demons off after all.” Fain grew slightly calmer. “Not good.” Linley suddenly raised his head. Not just Linley; Desri, Fain, and the others raised their head as well.

In but an instant…

“Rumble…” The metal above them collapsed, and nearly ten Abyssal Blade Demons charged out towards them. These Abyssal Blade Demons discovered Linley’s group, and immediately let out excited, high-pitched roars. “Roaaaaaaaaaar!”

The sound of that roar caused the metallic ground to rumble, spreading through the area. The sound waves travelled much faster through the metal than through the air.

Underground, a large number of Abyssal Blade Demons were searching at high speed.

“There.”    A   large   number   of   Abyssal   Blade   Demons simultaneously flew towards the location where the sound came from, and some even predicted where Linley’s group would head next, heading there to block them. 

“Clang!”  The  adamantine  heavy  sword  struck  against  the body of an Abyssal Blade Demon, shaking it into tiny pieces, but Linley felt pain in his waist, as he had been chopped by a blade. With a furious roar, Linley swung his sword with a backhanded blow. Although the draconic scales on his body

were destroyed time and time again, each time they instantly healed.

Bellowing, Linley forced the charging Abyssal Blade Demons to retreat, one after another.

Right now, Linley’s group of experts was suffering the constant attacks of a large number of Abyssal Blade Demons who were assaulting them from every direction. Linley was the only one blocking from his side, but despite that, all of the experts in Linley’s group were in a sorry state.

“Bang.” Fain and Olivier were smashed against a nearby stone.

“Back to the tenth floor!” Desri said in agony. 

Fain, Rosarie, Tulily, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions and even Linley were stunned. The goal they had for five thousand years, were they to give it up now? But more and more Abyssal Blade Demons were pouring in, and they were almost unable to hold on.

After all, the battle was attracting more and more Abyssal Blade Demons to head in this direction.

And worst of all, aside from Linley and Fain who could instantly heal, the others had to rely on Desri’s healing spells, but healing spells, in this sort of high-speed battle, were simply too slow.

With a vicious backhand blow, Fain killed another Abyssal Blade Demon, and then roared in pain, “Back!”

“Back.” Tulily growled as well.

Nobody was willing. Their hearts were unwilling! 

But more and more Abyssal Blade Demons were coming. They truly weren’t able to hold on any longer. If it wasn’t for Linley, who was able to take on a third of the Abyssal Blade Demons by himself, they probably would have been doomed long ago. Despite that…right now, they were like a tiny little ship in the howling sea.

They could capsize at any moment!

They had no choice!

“Back to the tenth floor.” The Blackscale Scorpion immediately began to change the direction in which he tunneled.

“Quick, don’t waste time. If we delay, there will be even more Abyssal Blade Demons. I can’t take much more.”  Linley only felt as though countless blades were flashing in front of him. Growling, Linley stabbed out with Bloodviolet while swinging with his adamantine heavy sword, but despite that, he was still knocked flying by the chopping blows, with blood once more matting his entire body, and even his white bones showing through.

Green light swirled around him, and Linley’s body quickly recovered.

“You won’t be able to flee.” A cold voice rang out as a blood- red Abyssal Blade Demon suddenly dove into the tunnels.

“Not good.” As soon as Linley saw this blood-red Abyssal Blade Demon, he knew that the situation had just gone from bad to worse.

“The first one to die will be you.”  Wielding that blood-red long blade in his two hands, the red Abyssal Blade Demon stared coldly at Linley. The other Abyssal Blade Demon all respectively parted for him, instead wildly attacking Fain, Tulily, and the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions.

Chapter 33, Life and Death

From time to time, Desri would use his spiritual energy to attack.

This battle was simply too intense!

“Slash…”

Space itself seemed to be sliced through, as the blood-red long blade transformed into a bloody saber-flash, piercing through the space between the red Abyssal Blade Demon and Linley, arriving in front of Linley in an instant.

With the adamantine heavy sword in one hand, and Bloodviolet in the other, the Dragonblood Warrior, Linley, let out an angry snort, and the adamantine heavy sword in his hand struck out gracefully, seemingly slow but actually fast, clanging against that blood-red long blade. ‘Clang’. Linley felt as though a mountain had smashed against him. “Slash!” He couldn’t suppress the blood that bubbled up, and blood burst forth from his lips.

Even the draconic scales on the right hand wielding the adamantine heavy sword had been shattered from the vibration, but moments later, Linley’s injury healed at an astonishing rate. Linley himself didn’t pay attention to a minor wound like this.

“Hrm?” Linley was staring at the blood-red Abyssal Blade Demon, waiting to see what the result would be.

The attack he had used just now was the one he had used to kill the Flame Tyrant, the most powerful blow of the Profound Truths of the Earth.

The body of the red Abyssal Blade Demon quivered like a steel wire, and with that quiver, a hint of golden blood appeared at the corner of its mouth.

“You  really  are  powerful.”  The  red  Abyssal  Blade  Demon stared coldly at Linley. 

Linley was secretly shocked. “No wonder he is the leader of the Abyssal Blade Demons. His body is far more powerful than the bodies of those ordinary Abyssal Blade Demons. Despite taking my full strength blow, his body wasn’t shattered to pieces. The bodies of metal creatures are indeed far tougher than the bodies of humans.”

“Growl….” The red Abyssal Blade Demon’s eyes were filled with flames, and it tightened its two-handed grip on its blood- red long blade.

Within the tunnel, both suddenly flew towards the other at high speed.

“No matter what, I have to kill him this time.”  Linley had made up his mind.

The wind suddenly emitted an ear-piercing, desolate howl. Linley and the red Abyssal Blade Demon once more clashed, and this time, Linley used Bloodviolet as his primary attack. In the blink of an eye, ten million devilish violet sword flashes appeared, arcing through the air like the countless tendrils of the Queen Mother.

Space itself suddenly froze, and the red Abyssal Blade Demon also felt that its own flying speed had just dropped dramatically.

“Hrmph.” A hint of bloodlust appeared in Linley’s eyes.

He immediately activated the baleful aura within Bloodviolet with his now extremely pure spiritual energy. This was the first time Linley had utilized the baleful aura of Bloodviolet after reaching the Grand Magus Saint level, and this time, the baleful aura was more explosive and fiercer than ever before! A blood red air, almost physical in substance, suddenly attacked the red Abyssal Blade Demon.

“Ah!”

The red Abyssal Blade Demon suddenly had the feeling as though he were facing one of the most powerful fiends of the distant Abyss, and the terror that he felt sprang from his very soul, causing his originally mighty blade blow to hesitate slightly.

“Wait, not right.” Unfortunately, the baleful aura was just a remnant of its owner which had been left in Bloodviolet. Bloodviolet’s original owner didn’t himself appear. The red Abyssal Blade Demon quickly recovered, but by the time he did, he saw a pair of bloodthirsty eyes and a single flash of violet sword light.

“Die!”

Those ten million sword flashes had already combined into a single violet sword flash. The Abyssal Blade Demon, earlier affected by the baleful aura, had raised his blade to block, but the sword flash had already arrived before his eyes.

“Slash!”

The sword light flashed through the neck of the red Abyssal Blade Demon, and as it did…a metallic head was sent flying away, its eyes filled with awe and disbelief. And then, the lifeless corpse of the red Abyssal Blade Demon fell to the ground.

No matter how powerful the Abyssal Blade Demon was, it wasn’t a Deity, and it didn’t possess a Pearl of Life. With its head gone, it died within seconds.

The attacks of the surrounding Abyssal Blade Demons suddenly came to a halt.

All of the Abyssal Blade Demons stared in disbelief at the scene. Fain, Desri, Olivier, and the others, who had been in dire straits from the sudden attack of the Abyssal Blade Demons, also felt astonished. They, too, had discovered…that Linley had killed that red Abyssal Blade Demon.

“Quick,  flee.”   Linley’s  voice  rang  out  in  the  minds  of everyone.

Fain, Desri, and the others immediately recovered and hurriedly fled through the tunnels. 

Up in the air above, countless Abyssal Blade Demons flew about, while in the middle of that horde was two small, skinny red Abyssal Blade Demons. The two leaders had already received the news from their subordinates.

“Schuler  [Shu’lei]  actually  died.”   The  red  Abyssal  Blade Demon on the left said in disbelief.

“It was the Draconian.” A cold light flashed through the eyes of the red Abyssal Blade Demon on the right. “Earlier in the valley, the Draconian already made a big impression on me. His body should have a Pearl of Life in it. He was heavily injured by our children several times, but in an instant, he recovered.”

“The  main  problem  is  that  they  are  underground.  That makes  things  troublesome.”  The  left  Abyssal  Blade  Demon shook his head.

“Underground,  there  is  no  line  of  sight  at  all,  and  the spiritual energy of our children can only stretch for a few meters. In a fierce battle such as this, that sort of radius is useless.”  The right Abyssal Blade Demon said. “In addition, there’s only so much space in the tunnels. At mostly, only ten or so of our children can engage in battle against them at once.”

Although an enormous number of Abyssal Blade Demons had also gone underground, their line of sight was obstructed, and in addition, Linley’s side was moving at high speed. There were only so many Abyssal Blade Demons that could attack them at once.

“Let  the  children  of  one  tribe  entangle  them,  while  we constantly keep an eye on their movements.” The right Abyssal Blade Demon said coldly. “Whether it is to find a divine spark or to return to the tenth floor, they have to eventually leave the underground area. As soon as they do…”

The eyes of the left Abyssal Blade Demon also flashed with a cold look.

“Quick, quick.” Linley’s group of experts were frantic. 

In the tunnels, every so often, a nearby wall would suddenly be pierced through, with a large amount of Abyssal Blade Demons pouring through afterwards.

“Fortunately   we   are   underground.   If   we   were   above ground…”

If countless Abyssal Blade Demons charged at them together from all directions…Linley shuddered, just thinking about that terrifying scene. At the entrance to the valley, the combined of attacks of just around ten Abyssal Blade Demons had knocked Linley flying with their chops. If he hadn’t had a Pearl of Life, Linley probably would’ve died long ago.

Although Linley’s spiritual energy could only encompass a very small area here, upon reaching the Saint level, their mental imaging abilities were extremely powerful. For example, Linley was able to mentally replay the ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’ and further refine it. In the minds of Linley’s group of experts, the location of the exit to the tenth floor was clearly marked, and they also knew exactly where they are and what direction they were flying so quickly in. 

Thus, travelling underground area, it wouldn’t be too hard to return to that exit. Even if they were off, they wouldn’t be off by more than a thousand meters or so.

“Everyone, hold on for a bit longer. We’re almost at the exit.” The Blackscale Scorpion’s voice rang out in their minds.

All the experts felt a surge of energy, and they all strenuously resisted the constantly charging Abyssal Blade Demons. All of the experts put their strength on full display, and any who was heavily injured would immediately retreat to Desri’s side to be healed, allowing other experts to replace them momentarily.

Linley also had the feeling…

That the density of attacks from the Abyssal Blade Demons had reached a stable level. In addition, everyone’s teamwork had reached an extremely high level as well. “Slash.” The three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions were once more sent retreating by the wild attacks of the Abyssal Blade Demons. Fain, Tulily, and Bebe immediately filled the gap, while Desri immediately began to heal the wounds of those three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions. Fortunately, this sort of healing spell was of the ninth level, and thus to someone like Desri who could instacast them, it was not too troublesome.

“We’ve arrived at the exit to the tenth floor.” Desri’s excited voice rang out in everyone’s mind.

The Blackscale Scorpion’s tunneling direction suddenly shifted upwards as well, and the Abyssal Blade Demons attacking them suddenly dropped in number as well.

“Most likely, many Abyssal Blade Demons are still moving to block  us  off  in  the  direction  we  were  previously  heading.” Tulily also noticed that only two or three Abyssal Blade Demons would occasionally appear and attack.

“Everyone, don’t let down your guard.”  Linley immediately instructed. 

“The three of us, plus Linley and Fain, will charge up first. The other experts will follow from behind.” The voice of one of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions rang out in everyone’s mind as well. In terms of defense, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions were extremely powerful, while Linley and Fain both had Pearls of Life.

Nobody disagreed.

“Swoosh.”  Charging upwards at high speed, Linley and the others spread out their spiritual energy.

“There are no Abyssal Blade Demons in the twenty to thirty meters above us.”  Desri’s voice rang out. They were already very close to ground level. Underground, spiritual energy penetrated a much lower distance than above ground.

“Head up.” Nobody hesitated at all at a time like this. Linley and Fain led the upwards charge, with the three Six- Eyed Golden Ni-Lions behind them. The other experts formed the third unit and the fourth unit.

“Boom.” “Boom.” …..

Linley’s group of five erupted from the ground. Based on their current surroundings, they could immediately tell that they were only two hundred meters away from the exit. However, although Linley, Fain, and the other experts were able to locate the exit…

Everyone felt misery in their hearts.

The path to the exit was blocked off by multiple layers of Abyssal Blade Demons; ten inner layers, and ten outer layers. Nearly ten thousand Abyssal Blade Demons were clustered there. With all those Abyssal Blade Demons there, how was Linley’s group going to break through their guard and flee into the exit?

The worst part of it was… In the air above them, hovering like a storm of locusts, there were countless Abyssal Blade Demons, covering the skies like an endless horde.

“How many Abyssal Blade Demons? A hundred thousand?

Even more?”

Linley, Fain, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions…everyone felt their hearts clench tightly.

“Rumble…”

The countless Abyssal Blade Demons, upon seeing Linley’s group, were like mosquitoes that had seen blood. They all charged over wildly at the same time. The sudden attack of nearly a million Abyssal Blade Demons was simply a terrifying, apocalyptic scene. Even nearby space itself seemed to rumble.

They were only a hundred meters away. 

Instantly, those countless Abyssal Blade Demons arrived in front of Linley’s group.

“Back down, quick, quick, quick!!!” Fain’s terrified voice rang out in the minds of the other ten experts. Even Bebe, Rosarie, and Tulily, who had just left the underground, were scared silly by this sight. Almost in unison…

They scurried back underground!

“Bang!”

The rumbling sound of nearly a million Abyssal Blade Demons running across the ground shook the world. Some ran in a straight line, while some charged downwards, but all of them simultaneously delivered vicious blows towards Linley’s group!

“Bang!” A terrifying explosive force, and the area for several square kilometers around them exploded, with countless pieces of metal blasting everywhere. In the blink of an eye, a giant crater hundreds of meters deep was born, and in the center of the metallic crater, a large number of tunnels could now be seen.

Linley, Fain, and the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions had been the first to go above ground, and so they were the last to flee back underground. How far could they have gotten? In addition, this combined attack from countless Abyssal Blade Demons, which had all struck out at virtually the same time, had caused the energy of their blows to strike downwards like a single mighty ripple which smashed against the ground.

The ‘rearguard’ of Linley, Fain, and the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions had to welcome this powerful attack.

Linley just barely managed to raised his adamantine heavy sword and Bloodviolet to block.

“Bang!” Linley almost instantly felt a large number of saber flashes chop against his body. His ‘Pulseguard Defense’ and his draconic scales almost instantly exploded, and even Linley’s adamantine heavy sword and Bloodviolet sword were struck so hard that they flew backwards and struck against Linley.

“Ah!!!”

His entire body suddenly seemed shorter…because as Linley looked down, he saw that his legs had been smashed into bits.

“Flee, flee!” Linley only knew that they had to flee.

The terrifying scene of those countless Abyssal Blade Demons charging towards them had already caused Linley’s group’s willpower to collapse. Linley noticed that next to him, beneath his chest Fain’s entire body was gone, including both arms. Even his longsword was gone.

“Second brother!” A desolate howl rang out. Flee!

Flee!

They fled wildly through the tunnels. After a long time had passed, they finally came to a halt, because there no longer were any Abyssal Blade Demons in pursuit of them.

Fain’s body was quickly repairing itself, but it had only repaired up to his legs thus far. Fain’s entire body was wracked in pain. And wasn’t Linley in much the same situation? However, compared to the others, the two of them were already very lucky.

Of the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, only two were left, and both of them were heavily injured, their bodies matted with blood.

“Second  brother  did  it  to  save  us.”   The  eldest  Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion, Cleo, growled. The three siblings weren’t like Linley and Fain, who had ‘Pearls of Life’. At the critical moment, the second of those three siblings had suddenly expanded his body to protect his two brothers.

The remaining ten experts looked at each other, and within their eyes, there was a hint of bitterness, pain, and…despair!

What should they do now?

Chapter 34, Death?

Everyone’s minds were still filled with that earlier scene of ‘annihilation’. Those countless Abyssal Blade Demons charging down towards them…Linley’s group had been completely stunned. Their minds were completely blank. Terror, disbelief…they had the feeling that they were about to go crazy.

“How could there be so many Abyssal Blade Demons here?” Linley shook his head, unable to accept it.

Tulily shook his head and sighed as well. “Most likely, even if the departed Flame Tyrant or Queen Mother were present, in the face of the joined attacks of those countless Abyssal Blade Demons, they would also be chopped into mincemeat. Simply too frightening…truly frightening.”

“With so many Abyssal Blade Demons on the eleventh floor, who can possibly acquire a divine spark?” Olivier had an ugly look on his face.

“Perhaps the Sovereign who created this Necropolis of the Gods is just playing a trick on people.” The Six-Eyed Golden Ni- Lion, Cleo, was filled with rage and grief. Of the five brothers, two had died in the Gebados Planar Prison, and now yet another had died, leaving only two of them behind.

“No. There’s still a chance of success.” Desri shook his head and sighed. “The Elemental Laws contain boundless profound mysteries. The aspects of the Laws that we have gained insight into are fairly low level ones. However, the aspect which Linley, for example, used to attack and kill the Flame Tyrant is one of the higher level ones. If someone, for example, reached an extremely high level of understanding in the ‘Lightspeed’ aspect of the Elemental Laws of the Light, he would be far faster than all of those Abyssal Blade Demons. In that case… most likely, he would have a chance of acquiring a divine spark.”

Although both Olivier and Desri were very fast, they didn’t have very deep understandings with regards to ‘Lightspeed’.

“Let’s not discuss this for now. More importantly, we need to figure out what exactly we are going to do. Does anyone have any ideas?” Desri swept the experts with his gaze. “What can we do? It’d be wonderful if we could even return to the tenth floor.” Rosarie sighed. “This is the most dangerous of the Necropolis of the Gods. Three thousand years a cycle, right? There’s two other giant Necropolis of the Gods. Those two won’t be as dangerous as this one.”

Desri, Fain, and Tulily all nodded.

Three major tunnels, all headed to different Necropolis of the Gods. This one was the most dangerous of them all.

“The more danger, the more treasure.”  Tulily sighed. “In those other two Necropolis of the Gods, we didn’t get a single true divine artifact at all. But here…we even procured two Pearls of Life. I trust there is definitely more than just one divine spark on this eleventh floor as well.”

The other experts all secretly nodded.

The greater the danger, the greater the rewards would generally be. 

But…

If the danger was so great that they didn’t have any hope at all, no matter how many divine sparks this place had, what good would it be?

“How about let’s just hide here. We’ll hide for a few months and wait for the ten years to be up?” The Blackscale Scorpion spoke.

Linley’s eyes lit up as well.

A person had to know their own limits. When Linley had seen those countless Abyssal Blade Demons, he had already given up on procuring a divine spark on this eleventh floor. After all…there were simply too many Abyssal Blade Demons.

“It probably wouldn’t work.”  Olivier shook his head. “Place your ears against the metal walls and listen.” Linley immediately pressed his ear against the metallic wall, and a very faint vibration could be sensed coming over constantly.

Everyone’s hearts sank.

“There should an extremely high number of Abyssal Blade Demons coming our way from the underground,” the third of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, Clervaux [Ke’lai’wo], said. “Although they aren’t moving very fast, they are moving very methodically. When those Abyssal Blade Demons surround us…”

“We can’t stay here much longer.” Tulily spoke.

Linley looked at Bebe, coiling in his arms, and his eyes hardened. Staring at the others, he said, “We have no other choices. We probably won’t even be able to spend another day down here before the countless Abyssal Blade Demons surround us.” “The only option we have is to return to the tenth floor.” Linley said firmly.

“But how? Linley, you saw yourself just now how those countless Abyssal Blade Demons fully surrounded that exit.”

Linley took a deep breath. “There is one way.”

All of the experts looked at Linley.

“We’ll take a roundabout underground path, and then move towards the exit. When the time comes, all of you help hold them off while I prepare the ‘Dimensional Edge’ spell, and kill all of the Abyssal Blade Demons barring our way to the exit.

The experts all looked at Linley. They didn’t think that this idea of Linley’s had a high chance of success.

How many Abyssal Blade Demons could a single Dimensional Edge spell kill? 

“The Dimensional Edge spell will cut out a clear path from me to the exit. This path will soon be blocked by other Abyssal Blade Demons, so what we need to do is to pass through the pathway and rush to the tenth floor before the other Abyssal Blade Demons block us again!” Linley said.

All the experts were silent.

To use the Dimensional Edge to cut a pathway, and then instantly charge to the tenth floor.

If they were even slightly too slow, they would be surrounded and killed by the enormous numbers of Abyssal Blade Demons around them!

They had to seize that moment!

“We  have  no  other  options.”   Linley  stared  at  the  other experts. 

Right now, the vibrations coming from the metallic tunnel walls were growing stronger. Clearly, the many Abyssal Blade Demons were drawing closer and closer to them.

“I agree. Let’s give it a shot. At least we have a chance.” Tulily was the first to speak.

Rosarie, Desri, and Fain exchanged a glance, then nodded slightly. The two remaining Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, the Blackscale Scorpion, and Olivier all nodded in agreement. As for Bebe…he didn’t voice any objections either.

“The most important thing right now is, when we return to the surface, we can’t let those Abyssal Blade Demons discover us. When we get near the surface, I will begin to chant the words to the spell, at which point, I won’t be able to spare any attention to dealing with those Abyssal Blade Demons.” Linley said.

“Don’t worry. You focus on your ‘Dimensional Edge’ spell. If Abyssal Blade Demons come, even if we have to die, we’ll make sure we block them.” Desri said.

The eyes of the experts were all filled with firm resolve.

They had to seize their last shot at survival!

“Let’s head out.” Linley said.

The Blackscale Scorpion immediately led the way. This time, the experts didn’t dare to travel in a straight line, and instead made a winding path as they slowly drew near. Whether it was due to good luck or something else, they didn’t encounter their first Abyssal Blade Demon until they were over halfway there.”

“Slash.” With a single swipe of his claw, Bebe tore the head of the Abyssal Blade Demon asunder, not even giving it a chance to cry out in alarm.

“Everyone, be careful. Right now, we are only five hundred meters or so from the exit. The closer we get, the greater the density  of  Abyssal  Blade  Demons  will  be.”  Desri  reminded everyone. Right now everyone was surrounding Linley, who was already beginning to chant the words to the spell.

“Not good.” Roughly three hundred meters away from their target, the Blackscale Scorpion suddenly halted.

“These Abyssal Blade Demons have dug out an enormous hole around the exit.” The Blackscale Scorpion’s voice rang out in the experts’ minds. All of the experts felt their hearts tremble. Linley’s face changed as well, and he immediately stopped chanting the spell.

“Such a huge pit. If we were to charge past it, we would need to travel hundreds of meters before reaching the exit. Most likely, we would be killed before making it to the exit.”

The ten experts all felt stunned.

In the air above the ground, countless Abyssal Blade Demons lay waiting, with those two red Abyssal Blade Demons also waiting. Only three hundred thousand Abyssal Blade Demons were underground searching for Linley, with the greater half of the Abyssal Blade Demons aboveground.

Naturally, they would be surrounding the area of the enormous hole around the exit.

The exit to the tenth floor was originally on ground level, but because of the giant hole dug by the creatures in the metallic ground, the exit was now like a window that was suspended in mid-air. That faint black aura surrounded those steps.

Not a single one of the Abyssal Blade Demons dared to pass through that exit.

Roughly ten thousand of the Abyssal Blade Demons were currently surrounding the tunnel, forming a watertight seal around it. It seemed as though Linley’s group shouldn’t be able to charge to the exit at all.

“Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!” …. But suddenly, ten blurs in a row suddenly streaked out into the hole, each of them moving extremely fast and agilely. Linley’s group had no other choice. They had to risk everything and go all out, and hope that they would be able to seize that faint hope at life and charge back to the tenth floor!

The large numbers of Abyssal Blade Demons simultaneously discovered Linley’s group of experts.

“Kill!” The Abyssal Blade Demons reacted very fast.

But they still needed a bit of time before reacting, and in that bit of time, Linley’s group had flown two or three hundred meters. They were only a few dozen meters away from the exit now, but those few dozen meters were clogged with countless Abyssal Blade Demons.

Finished with the words to his spell, Linley pointed out with one hand.

Tempestuous wind elemental essence coalesced around Linley, and the wind for several kilometers around came to a sudden halt. Linley had a vicious look on his face. Through the ‘Coiling Dragon’ ring, Linley forcefully summoned a large amount of the surrounding wind elemental essence and utilized all of the mageforce in his body, creating a terrifying, faint-azure colored Dimensional Edge that was twenty meters wide!

This was ten times the width of an ordinary Dimensional Edge spell.

“Chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.”

The Dimensional Edge flew out like a giant spinning blade, and wherever it passed, giant rips appeared in space.

“Die.”  Through the Coiling Dragon ring, Linley utilized his spiritual energy to control the direction of the Dimensional Edge spell. Right now, Linley could clearly sense the countless revolving wind particles within his Dimensional Edge. These particles, some moving fast while others moving slow, created this ‘Dimensional Edge’. “Aaaaah!” “Aaaaah!” Countless screams of terror rang out.

Wherever this enormous Dimensional Edge passed, the blocking Abyssal Blade Demons there were chopped into pieces.

Linley tried to forcibly slow the movement of the Dimensional Edge spell to have it ‘block’ in front of them, but…the Dimensional Edge was simply too fast. Even with Linley controlling it, by the time the Dimensional Edge spell passed through the exit and to the other side, Linley’s group was still roughly ten meters or so from the exit.

Right, just ten meters!

The exit was right in front of their eyes, and all of the Abyssal Blade Demons that had been blocking them were now dead.

But…they still had ten meters to go! Because the Dimensional Edge spell was twenty meters wide, the Abyssal Blade Demons on each of the two sides were still at least ten meters away, and these Abyssal Blade Demons weren’t able to dodge at all. However…large amounts of Abyssal Blade Demons were charging down from above. The Dimensional Blade spell, after all, was a flat, two dimensional spell.

Many of the Abyssal Blade Demons were extremely close to Linley’s group.

“Quick!”

Everyone in Linley’s group moved frantically, but countless Abyssal Blade Demons above them were bursting down upon them like a flood. Judging from the distance, Linley could tell that if these Abyssal Blade Demons were permitted to charge down, only three of them would be able to flee.

Fain, Bebe, and Desri, who were located in the very front.

The others wouldn’t have a chance to flee at all. 

Tulily, the two Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, the Blackscale Scorpion, Olivier…right now they had all gone mad, but their eyes had a hint of despair. So close…but not enough time!

“Hurry!”

Fain suddenly roared, transforming into a bolt of lightning as he wildly charged towards the Abyssal Blade Demons above them, hoping to block the countless Abyssal Blade Demons for just a moment. But in the blink of an eye, Fain was knocked back down by countless blows from the Abyssal Blade Demons.

“Ah!!!!” Olivier let out a furious howl.

An enormous, illusionary sword made from a fusion of black and white light suddenly appeared, killing four Abyssal Blade Demons in a single swoop. And then, Olivier fell to the ground, his face utterly ashen. Right now, only Desri and Bebe had entered the exit. The others didn’t make it in time. “Are we going to die?”

Whether it was Olivier, the Blackscale Scorpion, Tulily, Rosarie, or the two Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions…

Their eyes were all filled with despair!

But just at this moment of utter despair…

“Hurry and leave!”  A furious roar rang out in the minds of the experts.

A devilish violet light flashed, and countless violet sword flashes filled the air like countless vipers, spinning and twirling, covering the area directly above them like a barrier, holding the many Abyssal Blade Demons above them at bay. The strange thing was…

Something astonishing had happened to the Abyssal Blade Demons above them. Their speed had suddenly dramatically lessened.

Linley’s entire body was now covered with that faint red baleful aura.

He had once again activated the baleful aura within Bloodviolet.

“Linley!”

Olivier, Tulily, Rosarie, the two Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, and the others all felt shocked, but seeing a chance at life, they all madly rushed into the tunnel. But just as Olivier and the others entered the exit…

Linley hadn’t had a chance to enter the exit. From all directions, the countless Abyssal Blade Demons had fully sealed off the exit once again. Linley was able to block those above them, but he hadn’t been able to block those below and from the other four directions. The exit was blocked!

Nowhere to flee!

“Boss! Boss!!!!!!”  A black shadow suddenly flashed out from the exit, charging back into the eleventh floor. A fierce, desolate voice rang out, “Bebe, leave!” Linley roared, his voice thundering in Bebe’s consciousness. As soon as Bebe had exited the gateway, he had been knocked back by countless blade blows.

As for Linley, those countless Abyssal Blade Demons surrounded him like a horde of locusts. Linley was entirely surrounded by Abyssal Blade Demons in every direction, and even the sun had been blocked out by them.

Chapter 35, Fleeing For His Life

“Kill  him!”  The  two  red  Abyssal  Blade  Demons  bellowed from afar.

“Kill!”

Countless Abyssal Blade Demons roared, and like houseflies smelling the stench of blood, they wildly charged forward. Instantly, with Linley at the center of them, the world all around Linley was filled with countless Abyssal Blade Demons.

The light red baleful aura that had already taken visible shape completely surrounded Linley, and his eyes had turned blood red and was filled with savage madness.

“F*ck off!” Linley howled angrily.

Instantly, a large number of boulders appeared out of nowhere in every direction around Linley, as well as the gaps between the numerous Abyssal Blade Demons. 

The Abyssal Blade Demons had to fly, and thus couldn’t be too close to each other. In order to be able to wield their blades and to fly, each maintained a distance of approximately two or three meters from each other.

And now…

Linley’s instacasted boulders blocked off all of the available space for hundreds of meters around him.

“Where’s  the  Draconian?”   The  countless  Abyssal  Blade Demons had been able to see Linley from the cracks, but now, with so many giant boulders around them, virtually none of them could see Linley any longer.

The countless Abyssal Blade Demons and boulders formed a solid sphere, with Linley in the center.

“Not good.” Those two red Abyssal Blade Demons, seeing this, had a bad feeling. 

The spiritual energy of Abyssal Blade Demons could only stretch out a few meters, which was of no use to them at all. And now with their lines of vision blocked, they didn’t dare to wave their weapons wildly, for fear of killing their own people.

After all…

This ‘solid sphere’, aside from countless boulders, also had many Abyssal Blade Demons within it. But there was only a single Linley.

“Kill….”

In the same instant that Linley instacast those giant boulders, dozens of Abyssal Blade Demons next to him struck out towards Linley at the same instant. These Abyssal Blade Demons which were located close to Linley still knew where he was, and they didn’t hesitate at all.

Dozens of blades came chopping down. 

“Die!”

Linley’s eyes were filled with boundless rage, and with an angry roar, he swept out with Bloodviolet as fast as lightning as he charged downwards. But no matter how fast he was, around ten blades still chopped down on Linley’s body in an instant.

“Bang!” Linley’s ‘Pulseguard Defense’ instantly crumbled.

The ‘Sacred Earthguard Armor’ which he had prepared before charging out of the ground also crumbled in an instant.

“Slash!” Three blades struck down on his draconic scales at the same time, slashing into Linley’s body, and even digging deep into Linley’s bones, but this heart-piercing pain didn’t even make Linley frown.

“Hrmph.” The deep azure Dragonblood battle-qi in his body exploding, he directly knocked off those three blades. 

“Bang!”

Like a meteor striking the ground, Linley charged down at high speed with that faint red baleful aura surrounding him, making him look like a fiendish god. Any Abyssal Blade Demons which wanted to block him, Linley, not trying to kill them, would immediately sweep out with a sword blow, then rely on the counterforce to dodge.

The strange thing was, less than a second later…Linley managed to descend from the center of this ‘solid sphere’ and charge down, entering the ground again.

Although this description of how Linley instacast giant boulders to block the countless attacking Abyssal Blade Demons and then charged downwards took a long time to describe, in truth, this all took a total of less than a second. In that short period of time…Linley managed to charge underground. “That detestable Draconian.” Seeing this, a red Abyssal Blade Demon sneered coldly.

The other red Abyssal Blade Demon’s eyes were also filled with a killing urge. “This Draconian is simply too vile. In but an instant, he used his magic…to create an ‘underground’ environment in mid-air, causing the vast majority of our children to be unable to see him.”

The two Abyssal Blade Demons knew that things had just gotten complicated.

Ten Abyssal Blade Demons wouldn’t be enough to kill Linley, but after he entered the underground area, what should they do?

“We only have one method.”  The leading red Abyssal Blade Demon stared at the ground. “It will indeed be very hard to get close to him and attack him. What we can do is…have over ten thousand Abyssal Blade Demons simultaneously strike that Draconian from afar with energy blade strikes.” The other red Abyssal Blade Demon’s eyes lit up. “Right. There’s no need to get close to him. When ten thousand of our Abyssal Blade Demons simultaneously strike him from afar with energy blades, although the power of the attack will be less than half of a close quarters blow, the combined attack of ten thousand of our Abyssal Blade Demons will be enough to render him into mincemeat.”

When Linley and Fain had emerged from the ground the first time, nearly a million Abyssal Blade Demons had simultaneously brandished their blades and chopped down with energy blows covering an area of multiple kilometers, creating an enormous crater of many kilometers across. In addition…even Fain had lost his entire body below his chest, while Linley’s legs had been shattered. And, that second of the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions had to sacrifice his life to save his big brother and third brother.

It must be understood that less than 0.1% of the power of the combined blows of those million Abyssal Blade Demons actually landed on the bodies of Linley’s group.

But despite that, Fain and Linley had nearly died. Fortunately, Fain and Linley had dove underground headfirst.

“Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!”

Hundreds of thousands of Abyssal Blade Demons dove underground like sharp arrows, beginning to hunt for Linley. Wiser for their previous experience, these Abyssal Blade Demons definitely would not allow Linley to flee alive.

On the tenth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods.

“Stop bothering me!” Bebe howled angrily.

Right now, Bebe’s fur was split open and his flesh was cut into, with blood matting the surrounding grass. The nearby Desri wanted to heal him, but Bebe instead yelled at him.

Desri stood there on the grass, then turned to look at the other experts. The Blackscale Scorpion, the two Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, Rosarie, Tulily, Olivier…they were all silent, exceedingly downcast.

“My life was rescued by Linley.” Tulily growled.

Just then, Linley had somehow managed to suddenly hold off the Abyssal Blade Demons coming from above for an instant, allowing Rosarie, Olivier, and Tulily to escape. Otherwise, they would have died.

Although Linley had also saved them on the sixth floor when he killed the Flame Tyrant, this time was different. After all, no matter what, Linley would have killed the Flame Tyrant, even if it wasn’t for their sake. Saving them was just par for the course.

Tulily and the others hadn’t felt too grateful.

But this time was different. Although Linley himself hadn’t been able to flee, he could have done nothing at all and allowed Tulily, Olivier, and the others to die alongside him. But Linley didn’t do that!

“Boss.” Bebe’s eyes were watery. Right now, he was nervously sensing Linley’s soul.

The tenth floor and the eleventh floor were actually two different little dimensions, and Bebe was therefore unable to spiritually speak to Linley. However, as long as Linley didn’t die, Bebe could sense Linley’s existence.

“Boss,  you  have  to  survive.”  Bebe’s  heart  was  trembling. “Hold on, hold on…”

Bebe knew very well that Linley was being surrounded and attacked by countless Abyssal Blade Demons. As Bebe saw it, if Linley was able to survive more than ten seconds, then Linley probably would have fled to the underground. Upon reaching the underground, given Linley’s ability, it should be possible for him to survive for a few remaining months. “I know about the grudge which exists between Linley and the Radiant Church.” Rosarie said in a low voice. After the day of Linley’s wedding, Cesar had ended up staying with Rosarie for a few days, and from Cesar, Rosarie had learned much regarding Linley’s parentage and other details.

“Even  if  Linley  dies,  I  will  definitely  help  him  get  his revenge.”

“And I.” Tulily said. “My life was saved by Linley. Only after destroying the Radiant Church will I feel a bit better.”

“We two brothers will go as well.” The Six-Eyed Golden Ni- Lion, Cleo, growled. “That Linley…in the past, he released us and our father, which was already a great kindness. This time…he saved us two brothers. We definitely have to repay his kindness.”

In the past, when Linley had pulled out Bloodviolet, he had released Dylin. Dylin himself had only found out later from Beirut. “Count me in for assisting Linley in his revenge.”  Olivier suddenly said.

“You pack of bastards!”  Bebe bellowed angrily. The nearby experts all couldn’t help but turn to stare at Bebe in surprise.

Bebe furiously glared at them. “Stop farting. Avenge my Boss? The Boss will avenge himself! The Boss will definitely leave the Necropolis of the Gods alive. All of you, stop saying he’s going to die. The Boss won’t die!”

“Won’t die?”

Fain, Tulily, Cleo, and the other experts, despite feeling grateful towards Linley, knew exactly what perilous straits Linley had been in on the eleventh floor.

When surrounded by those countless attacking Abyssal Blade Demons, how could he possibly flee and survive? “My Boss and I are spiritually linked,” Bebe said furiously. “I, Bebe, don’t know much, but I do know that the Boss is still alive. My soul can still sense his existence. Quite some time has passed, but the Boss is still alive…I believe that he will definitely survive!”

The experts all immediately understood.

Bebe was Linley’s magical beast companion. Bebe could sense whether Linley lived or died.

“Still alive?”  Desri and the others felt surprise and joy in their hearts.

Although they didn’t understand how Linley had escaped from those countless besieging Abyssal Blade Demons, at least he was still alive for now.

“Only a few months are left to the ten year period. I hope Linley can hold on.” Desri murmured to himself secretly. Not just him; the other experts were all silently praying for Linley. 

They all knew…

That to be able to hold on against the attack of a million Abyssal Blade Demons on the eleventh floor for months… Linley’s chances of life were still quite slim!

On the eleventh floor of the Necropolis of the Gods.

The metallic underground was filled with countless tunnels, all formed by those hundreds of thousands of Abyssal Blade Demons which were wildly scurrying everywhere in search of Linley.

“Roaaaar.” An Abyssal Blade Demon bellowed.

Instantly, a large number of Abyssal Blade Demons frantically surged towards that area, but they only saw a dark-red figure flash by like lightning from the tunnel, only leaving behind some bloodstains and some shattered draconic scales. 

Three hours.

He had been fleeing for three full hours. Ever since he had fled into the underground, countless Abyssal Blade Demons had been chasing him underground. At first, the Abyssal Blade Demons didn’t know where Linley was, and so for the first hour, Linley’s underground flight had been fairly easy.

But after being discovered time and time again…

In his area of flight, more and more Abyssal Blade Demons had arrived, making it harder and harder for him to flee.

During the second hour, Linley had been badly injured and lost a great deal of blood.

By the third hour, Linley had nearly died on two separate occasions. “What to do? What to do?” Linley flew at high speed. Whenever he saw a figure from afar, Linley would quickly go into another tunnel, or dig his own.

“These Abyssal Blade Demons are getting more and more experienced.” Linley was feeling frantic.

At this moment, a large number of Abyssal Blade Demons were standing guard at designated choke points. Although there were many tunnels underground, with large numbers of Abyssal Blade Demons standing guard at designated locations, Linley often had to create his own tunnels.

But whenever Linley created his own tunnels, he would create many powerful tremors in the metal.

This vibration would cause the garrison Abyssal Blade Demons to immediately know where Linley’s general location was.

“Just then…” Linley thought back to what had happened just five minutes ago. More than a thousand Abyssal Blade Demons had struck at him with distant energy blades. Fortunately, Linley had fled quickly, and only a few dozen energy blades had struck him, but nonetheless, Linley had nearly lost his life.

“If this continues, there will be even more Abyssal Blade Demons  surrounding  me.  I  can’t  let  this  continue.”  Linley knew how bad the situation was.

“Grooooowl.” Yet another roar was suddenly heard.

An Abyssal Blade Demon had flown out from another tunnel at high speed and discovered Linley.

“Growl!” “Growl!” “Growl!”

Dozens of growls rang out, and countless Abyssal Blade Demons began to charge wildly towards Linley’s general location. “Not good.” Linley’s face instantly turned pale. Compared to five minutes ago, the situation now was even more dangerous, and even more Abyssal Blade Demons were coming!

Chapter 36, One Against a Million

“Swish!”

Like a ray of light, Linley flashed towards the tunnel, his speed rising to his limit.

But in terms of speed, the Abyssal Blade Demons which were on par with Desri and Bebe were a level higher than Linley, and they began to draw near.

His eyes utterly bloodshot, as though blazing with flame, Linley was already beginning to chant the words to a spell.

“Swoosh!” Linley’s flying direction suddenly changed.

He actually turned and flew directly into a different tunnel heading downwards. Actually, there were quite a few Abyssal Blade Demons chasing after him from below as well. As Linley moved downwards, in virtually the blink of an eye, the Abyssal Blade Demons below moving upwards were now moving towards Linley.

“Roaaaaar!”  The Abyssal Blade Demons below immediately began to roar loudly.

The group of Abyssal Blade Demons that were still heading along Linley’s previous trajectory immediately turned and headed down, but Linley continued to draw near those hundred or so Abyssal Blade Demons below him. Those hundred Abyssal Blade Demons simultaneously launched lightning-fast waves of blade energy, while Linley’s eyes flashed with a cold light.

Countless wind elemental essences suddenly coalesced around him.

“Die.”

“Riiiiiip.” Suddenly, a four or five meter wide, light blue ‘Dimensional Edge’ appeared out of nowhere in front of Linley, flying downwards towards those Abyssal Blade Demons charging towards him.

Seeing the Dimensional Edge, the Abyssal Blade Demons all tried to dodge in terror.

Unfortunately, the Dimensional Edge was simply too fast.

“Riiiiiiip.” Their metallic bodies were chopped into pieces. Under the control of Linley’s spiritual energy, the ‘Dimensional Edge’ moved in an arc, instantly chopping dozens of Abyssal Blade Demons into metallic pieces, while the others were dodging in terror.

“Whoosh!”

Seizing the opportunity, Linley immediately charged downwards through the corridor which the Dimensional Edge had just cut. The Dimensional Edge was only effective against a small number of Abyssal Blade Demons. Once the Abyssal Blade Demons numbered in the thousands, how many of them could the Dimensional Edge possibly kill? This was the reason why Linley had chosen to suddenly fly downwards.

His sudden change in direction had also allowed him to temporarily pull away from the Abyssal Blade Demons behind him.

“I can flee for a while, but I can’t flee forever.” Linley, while fleeing downwards, was trying to think of a way to escape and survive. “It would be wonderful if I could instacast the ‘Dimensional Edge’. No matter how many Abyssal Blade Demons there were, I would be able to kill them all.” Linley suddenly had this wild fantasy.

Instacast a ‘Dimensional Edge’?

It was nothing more than a dream. Linley knew that it wasn’t realistic. “Hrm?” Linley, while scurrying downwards, suddenly had a thought. “Dimensional Edge?”

Actually, Linley didn’t know too much about the underlying fundamentals regarding this forbidden-level spell, ‘Dimensional Edge’. He only knew how to use his mageforce to gather elemental essence and then form the ‘Dimensional Edge’. But suddenly, Linley thought back to the scene of him executing the ‘Dimensional Edge’.

This Dimensional Edge, accurately speaking, was the ‘Wind Blade’ spell taken to the utmost limits.

When using his spiritual energy to slightly control the direction the ‘Dimensional Edge’ spell moved in, he noticed that within the ‘Dimensional Edge’, there were countless gusts of wind moving, either quickly or slowly, in accordance with a strange rhythm, and somehow forming this terrifying dimensional-cutting power.

“Either fast…or slow?” Linley hadn’t considered this before, but now, he suddenly discovered  something  suspicious.  “The  Dimensional  Edge should be the faster the better. Why is it that it also includes seemingly slow gusts of air inside it as well?”

“Not right.” Linley thought hard.

The countless gusts of wind within the Dimensional Edge actually weren’t slow; only, they applied the ‘Slow’ aspect and seemed slow but were actually fast. Different wind blades of different aspects formed a whole, the ‘Dimensional Edge’. What was the rationale behind this?

“The  ‘Fast’  aspect?  The  ‘Slow’  aspect?  The  Dimensional Edge…”

Linley’s mind couldn’t help but think back to the scene of him utilizing the ‘Tempos of the Wind’. This was a technique which had Bloodviolet simultaneously generate both the ‘Fast’ and the ‘Slow’ aspects of the wind. These two opposite aspects, when combined, caused space itself to vibrate, resulting in Bloodviolet being able to create a spatial edge. 

Linley once again thought back to the scene of him utilizing ‘Myriad Swords Converge’.

When developing this technique, Linley was puzzled. Why was it that when ten million swords of the ‘Fast’ aspect combined into one, it would create the effect of ‘Spatial Freezing’? Why was it that the ‘Fast’ aspect and the ‘Slow’ aspect were mutually interchangeable? At the time, Linley didn’t understand the reasoning behind it, but by mimicking the attack of the Queen Mother, he was able to develop this attack.

In truth, Linley still didn’t understand the profound mysteries behind why the ten million swords he generated using the ‘Fast’ aspect could combine and form the space- freezing attack of ‘Myriad Swords Converge’.

“Dimensional Edge…Tempos of the Wind…Myriad Swords Converge…” Linley’s mind quickly sketched through one scene after another. The foggy cloud covering one of the profound mysteries of the Elemental Laws of the Wind was currently slowly dissipating in Linley’s mind. 

Linley was beginning to understand.

It was as though he had touched something, but didn’t quite understand it.

Linley didn’t even notice that behind him, two Abyssal Blade Demons were drawing closer and closer. Right now, Linley was totally immersed in that special state. The two Abyssal Blade Demons also felt puzzled. Normally…even before drawing close to Linley, Linley would come up with an idea to flee.

But this time…

Linley was flying in a straight line, not changing direction at all. The Abyssal Blade Demons flew faster than Linley! In a straight line, they would naturally be able to catch up.

“Swish!”   An  ear-piercing,  desolate  howl  suddenly  scared Linley awake as two blades chopped down at him. 

Linley’s back was instantly matted in cold sweat, and he immediately lashed out with Bloodviolet. Linley hadn’t noticed at all that this attack wasn’t the ‘Tempos of the Wind’, nor was it ‘Myriad Swords Converge’. It was a seemingly very ordinary sword attack.

“Slash!” It was like cutting through tofu.

Linley’s Bloodviolet flashed through the two Abyssal Blade Demons like lightning, both of whom were immediately cut into two.

“This…?”  Linley was shocked. Although these two Abyssal Blade Demons weren’t the best of their race, even if Linley had used ‘Tempos of the Wind’, he would still have to use a full strength blow in order to chop the Abyssal Blade Demons into two pieces. But just then…he had very easily bisected the two Abyssal Blade Demons.

“Just  then…”  Linley  couldn’t  help  but  think  back  to  that sword attack he had unconsciously used just then. 

“Ah!” Linley’s eyes suddenly turned round.

That fog that had still covered his mind, preventing it from seeing into the mysteries of the Elemental Laws of the Wind, suddenly disappeared like mist disappearing under the light of the sun. He suddenly understood.

“Tempos    of    the    Wind?    Myriad    Swords    Converge? Dimensional Edge?”  Linley began to laugh loudly. “The ‘Fast’ aspect? The ‘Slow’ aspect? ‘Fast’ and ‘Slow’ being opposite aspects? Haha…wrong, all wrong. The ‘Fast’ aspect and the ‘Slow’  aspect are the same, the same!!!”  Linley’s entire body began to shake from excitement.

A gust of wind would seemingly blow slowly, but then in the blink of an eye move a thousand meters.

“Spatial Folding? Spatial Chaos? Spatial Pausing? Spatial Freezing?” Linley’s laughter reached the utmost level in joy. “The Draconian!”  A large number of Abyssal Blade Demons had discovered Linley.

“Kill!”  Roaring furiously, the many Abyssal Blade Demons simultaneously struck out, chopping down with energy blades towards Linley. The criss-crossing waves of energy chopped apart even the ground. Although many of them didn’t land on Linley, a few of them did indeed concentrate on Linley’s body.

“Boom!”  Wherever the energy blades passed, the metallic ground and tunnel were turned into smithereens.

“He’s dead for sure!”

“Huh?” Suddenly, the Abyssal Blade Demons were shocked.

Linley, who had been thousands of meters away, had suddenly appeared in front of them in two casual flashes. They only saw a strange, devilish flash of violet light, and then their heads went flying off. “The  ‘Fast’  aspect,  the  ‘Slow’  aspect…haha…they  are  all wrong paths of understanding!”  Linley laughed loudly. With each casual strike of his sword, he easily killed the Abyssal Blade Demons, and with a simple flicker of his body, he easily threw off the Abyssal Blade Demons and moved far away. In terms of speed, he was now three times as fast as the Abyssal Blade Demons!

He was simply too fast!

Even if the two red Abyssal Blade Demons came over, they wouldn’t be more than half of Linley’s current speed.

“In the past, I thought that if I could reach the limit of the ‘Fast’ aspect, I would become a Deity. If I reached the peak of the ‘Slow’ aspect, I should also be able to become a Deity. Yes, I can become a Deity, but doing so in that way is taking a wrong path.” Linley’s heart was filled with joy, as though he had suddenly completed a massive project. “Once the ‘Fast’ aspect and the ‘Slow’ aspect each reach their utmost limits, they will merge together…” “Both ‘Fast’ and ‘Slow’, these two major aspects, they are all part of the Elemental Laws of the Wind’s…”

“Profound Truths of Velocity!”

Bloodviolet flashed out casually in Linley’s hands. At first, it seemed to be moving extremely slowly, but at second glance, it was actually as fast as lightning. From different viewpoints, one would see two completely different effects. In addition, at the edge of Bloodviolet, there was a faint blue spatial edge that seemed similar to the ‘Dimensional Edge’.

With a casual sword blow, space itself began to ripple, and extremely minute cracks in space appeared.

Any casual blow from Linley now had part of the power of the ‘Dimensional Edge’.

Linley’s form quickly appeared in multiple areas, and wherever that devilish violet light flashed, the heads of the Abyssal Blade Demons went flying. 

“This technique shall be called…Profound Truths of Velocity

– Dimensional Decapitator!”

“Swish!” Linley’s body suddenly scurried out of the ground.

“Haha, he came out. Children, kill!” Those two red Abyssal Blade Demons immediately gave the order in excitement. Countless howling sounds could be heard as the hundreds of thousands of Abyssal Blade Demons charged downwards like a horde of locusts, sending out energy blades towards Linley at nearly the same instant.

But Linley’s body had already appeared in the center of their group.

Like a gust of Wind, Linley flickered here and there, and wherever he appeared, the heads of the Abyssal Blade Demons would go flying. In front of Linley, these Abyssal Blade Demons had no ability to fight back at all. Miserable screams and terrified howls sounded out constantly, and golden blood splashed in every direction.

In a very short period of time, nearly a hundred thousand Abyssal Blade Demons had died. All the remaining Abyssal Blade Demons were terrified. At first, they still had willpower, but now they had none left at all.

“Im…impossible.” The two red Abyssal Blade Demons called out in terror.

And then, a gentle gust of wind blew towards them. The head of one of the two red Abyssal Blade Demons went flying, while Linley’s Bloodviolet sword appeared at the neck of the second red Abyssal Blade Demon. His dark golden eyes stared calmly at the red Abyssal Blade Demon. In a calm voice, he said, “What, you still want to fight?”

“Mercy, lord.”  The red Abyssal Blade Demon immediately knelt down in terror. With their leader kneeling, the countless Abyssal Blade Demons whom Linley had utterly terrified all knelt down as well.

The eleventh floor of the Necropolis of the Gods. Across this wide expanse of land, countless corpses lay fallen, while countless living Abyssal Blade Demons knelt there on the ground, so terrified that they didn’t even have the courage to raise their heads. That terrifying slaughter just now had truly destroyed their courage.

The countless Abyssal Blade Demons remained kneeling. The wide expanse of land was stained with golden blood. Only Linley remained standing.

“Sadly, I haven’t understood enough regarding the ‘Fast’ and the ‘Slow’ aspects.” Linley thought back to the profound truth he had just gained insight into. “Although I’ve fused two major aspects into one and developed the ‘Profound Truths of Velocity’ of the Elemental Laws of the Wind, I’m still one step away from becoming a Deity.” Right now, Linley could sense that he was at the precipice of the Deity-level.

Actually, both the ‘Fast’ and the ‘Slow’ aspects, when trained to their utmost, could allow someone to become a Demigod. And then, after the two aspects were totally fused into the ‘Profound Truths of Velocity’, which was then trained to the limit, one would become a full God.

These two aspects were seemingly polar opposites. To fuse them wasn’t something one could mentally envision; it had to come from a spark of insight.

The higher one’s level of understanding was in the two aspects, the harder it would be to fuse them. It was as if one had travelled a long distance on two roads heading in different directions. The farther one travelled on each road, the harder it would be to combine them.

Linley hadn’t reached a very high level of understanding in these two aspects yet, and so it was actually a bit easier for him to find that spark of insight to fuse them. 

In the past, when developing his ‘Tempos of the Wind’, Linley had begun to understand how to allow these two aspects to work together. Upon developing the ‘Myriad Swords Converge’, he once more advanced. After casting the ‘Dimensional Edge’ spell, he suddenly had that insight, reaping

the benefits of his accumulated experience and coming to understand the true ‘Profound Truths of Velocity’.

Thus, his movement speed instantly increased threefold or fourfold, and he was able to develop an even more powerful sword technique; the ‘Dimensional Decapitator’!

“Do you know where the divine spark is?” Linley lowered his head to glance at the kneeling, quivering red Abyssal Blade Demon.

“I know, I know.” The red Abyssal Blade Demon was terrified that Linley would kill him.

“Lead the way.” Linley said.

Chapter 37, Divine Spark

The metallic ground flashed with cold light. Countless Abyssal Blade Demons knelt on that ground respectfully in terror, while in mid-air, their leader, the red Abyssal Blade Demon, respectfully led Linley, and the two transformed into rays of light towards the direction of the divine spark.

There were, in total, three Necropolis of the Gods which were connected to the Yulan continent.

This Necropolis of the Gods connected to the underground tunnel at the bottom of the South Sea was the most dangerous one and the largest one. On this eleventh floor of the Necropolis of the Gods, ever since it had been constructed, not a single Saint-level expert had been successful in acquiring the treasures hidden within the floor. Linley was the first!

The wind blew, stirring Linley’s long hair.

Linley was already back in human form, casually draping a long robe over his body. The wind rustled through it, occasionally revealing his bare chest. 

“After  having  gained  insight  into  the  Profound  Truths  of Velocity, whether or not I Dragonform no longer makes much of a difference.” Linley was wielding Bloodviolet in his hands. Bloodviolet’s ‘Dimensional Decapitator’ ability could be described as a ‘miniature Dimensional Edge’. Any Saints who

touched it would die.

The red Abyssal Blade Demon led the way nervously.

Suddenly, the red Abyssal Blade Demon halted.

“Are we there?” Linley asked.

The red Abyssal Blade Demon pointed off into the distance and said respectfully, “Lord, the treasure of the eleventh floor of the Necropolis of the Gods is atop the mountain peak over there.”

Linley gazed in the direction of the Abyssal Blade Demon’s finger. Off in the distance, there was indeed a small metallic mountain, but this mountain was covered with a large number of Abyssal Blade Demons, and even in the air above it, there were many Abyssal Blade Demons hovering.

“Hrm, what’s this?” Linley frowned.

Terrified, the red Abyssal Blade Demon hastened to explain. “Lord, in the past, we were afraid that intruders would run wild and arrive here. Therefore, we arranged several tens of thousands of Abyssal Blade Demons to be stationed here and watch over this important treasury location.”

“It seems you were quite thorough.” Linley laughed calmly.

The red Abyssal Blade Demon said hurriedly, “Lord, don’t worry. I’ll immediately order them to stand down.” As he spoke, the red Abyssal Blade Demon immediately flew towards that mountain.

On the third level of the Necropolis of the Gods. A cold wind was blowing. Aside from a few corpses of Saints, the only one remaining here was the still-slumbering Ba- Serpent.  “Whooosh!”  “Hiss!”  ….  Each  time  the  Ba-Serpent exhaled, that black energy came out. The only sound in the third floor was that familiar snoring.

All of a sudden, the Ba-Serpent’s enormous body, wrapped around that giant iceberg, suddenly vanished.

“Unexpectedly, a human succeeded?” A devilish young man a slender body and devilish, flowing green hair stood there in mid-air. He wore a patterned blue robe over his body, and the patterns on the blue robe, on close inspection, appeared to be those of a snake’s skin.

“He succeeded. That means I’m more or less free as well. There’s no need for me to remain here on these eleven floors any longer.” He revealed a smile on his face. “Unfortunately, I still have to wait for Lord Beirut to come over. I’ll have to at least wait for a few more months. After having been here for so long though, a few more days won’t matter.”

………… A large number of Abyssal Blade Demons were beating a hasty retreat, allowing Linley to fly to the peak of the mountain.

“Whoosh.”   A  heart-stopping  aura  surged  towards  him. Linley’s eyes lit up, and he stared carefully at that mountain peak. There was a heap of precious treasures placed atop the flat, enormous stone on top of the mountain. The most attractive of them, however, was naturally those three divine sparks, which emanated a divine aura.

Aside from the three divine sparks, the enormous flat stone also had a series of divine artifacts. Ten of them!

“Three  divine  sparks,  ten  divine  artifacts!  The  almighty Sovereign is truly quite generous.”  Linley felt his heart rate speed up. After all, countless Saints had dreamed about acquiring just a single divine spark, but now, three of them were placed in front of him. Not worrying about anything else, Linley immediately walked over to the flat boulder to carefully inspect those three divine sparks.

Those three divine sparks were the same color. All of them were black. Only, within the hearts of the three divine sparks, two of them emanated a faint light; one of them emanated a faint blue light, while the other one emanated an earthen yellow light. As for the last one, it didn’t emanate any light at all. Instead, it had a strange, hidden aura emanating forth from it.

“One is earth-style, while the other is wind-style. The last one  is  Destruction-style.”  Linley  frowned.  “And  the  divine sparks here on the eleventh floor should all be Demigod sparks.”

“What is going on?” Linley’s heart was filled with suspicion.

“Could it be that the controller of this Necropolis of the Gods knew that the person acquiring the treasures would be someone who trained in the profound truths of these two Elemental Laws of the Wind and the Earth?” Linley knew very well that this destruction-style divine spark actually belonged to the ‘Way of Destruction’.

Linley, being a practitioner of the sword, could also train in this Way.

“Three divine sparks, and I’m capable of using any of them. How could there be such a coincidence? Precisely three of them!” Linley stared at the three divine sparks in front of him, a strong sense of suspicion in his mind.

Linley turned his head and stared around him.

He suddenly had a feeling as though everything going on in the Necropolis of the Gods was being watched by the Sovereign from on high.

“Perhaps…” Linley looked at the three divine sparks. “These three divine sparks were only placed here after I gained insight into the ‘Profound Truths of Velocity’. Perhaps an ultimate expert stealthily placed them here afterwards.” Linley couldn’t help but suspect this. After all, this was simply too great a coincidence.

Exactly three divine sparks?

Why weren’t they lightning-style, or light-style, or fire-style?

They all suited Linley’s nature and elements.

“I should feel proud to have been looked after by this sort of ultimate expert.” Linley self-mocked silently. Linley no longer pondered this question. No matter what, he was currently just a person who had only reached the doorstep to becoming a Deity, and was only a Prime Saint, not yet a god.

There were many secrets and mysteries which he was not yet qualified to be a part of yet.

“I can already dimly sense the Deity-level. Most likely, once I go back and train, in a few dozen years, I will reach the Deity- level.” Linley, after becoming aware of the ‘Profound Truths of Velocity’, could already faintly sense his current level of understanding. 

Linley had heard the War God speak of this before as well.

Becoming a Deity by one’s self was hundreds of times more difficult than fusing a divine spark. Linley stretched out his hand, immediately grasping those three divine sparks, then drawing them into his interspatial ring. “Even if I personally don’t use these three divine sparks, I can give them to Delia and Wharton to use.”

Given Delia and Wharton’s levels of talent, it would be extremely difficult for them to become Deities on their own.

Just by looking at how Fain and Desri had been stuck at the doorway to Deity-hood for thousands of years, one could imagine how hard it was.

Linley himself was fortunate enough that after developing the ‘Tempos of the Wind’, he encountered the Queen Mother’s attack and by mimicking it, developed the ‘Myriad Swords Converge’. Afterwards, due to reaching the Grand Magus Saint level, he was able to clearly sense the mysteries hidden within the ‘Dimensional Edge’.

With this chain of three events…

In addition, Linley only had some insights in the ‘Fast’ and ‘Slow’, and they weren’t at a very high level yet.

In terms of power, the ‘Profound Truths of Velocity’ were actually a level higher than the ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’. The ‘Profound Truths of Velocity’ could be said to be one of the highest, most profound mysteries of the Elemental Laws of the Wind.

“I wonder how Delia, Taylor, Sasha, and Wharton are doing.” Linley couldn’t help but think of his family. “And I don’t know how  Barker…”  Linley,  in  his  heart,  was  still  worried  about whether Barker was alive or not.

Linley sighed in his heart. And then, Linley looked at the ten divine artifacts. These ten divine artifacts included saber, sword, and spear-type weapons, a black book, a mysterious crystal ball, and…a set of battle-armor. Deity-level battle armor.

“Battle armor?” Linley felt joy in his heart.

Linley didn’t care too much about the other divine artifacts; after all, he already had the adamantine heavy sword and Bloodviolet. The black book and crystal ball were most likely darkness-style or Necromantic-style divine artifacts. Linley wouldn’t be able to use them well.

Linley immediately stored these ten divine artifacts into his interspatial ring.

“These  divine  artifacts  would  be  useful  as  gifts  to  Delia, Taylor,  Sasha,  and  the  others.”  Linley  laughed  as  he  stared around the mountain peak. “It seems there aren’t any other treasures  here.  Oh,  right…this.”   Linley  stared  at  the  flat boulder where the divine artifacts had been stored. “A rich person certainly behaves generously. Even this boulder used to hold these divine artifacts is a treasure.” Linley stored the giant boulder into his interspatial ring as well.

This enormous flat boulder was actually something he had read about in the books. ‘Bloodstone’.

Bloodstones were almost as valuable as adamantine ore. It was a type of treasure from other planes. Whether made into magus tools or weapons, it was an extremely good type of material. If one used materials such as bloodstones and adamantine to forge a weapon, one could make a divine artifact.

Linley’s adamantine heavy sword, although a good weapon, wasn’t actually a divine artifact.

With a smile, Linley descended from the air, flying away from the mountain.

The distant red Abyssal Blade Demon waited nervously. Linley hadn’t ordered him to leave, so he didn’t dare to leave on his own, for fear that Linley would kill him in anger.

“Congratulations,  Lord.”   The  red  Abyssal  Blade  Demon, seeing Linley fly over, immediately said respectfully.

Linley glanced at the red Abyssal Blade Demon, then noticed that blood-red blade on its back. Reaching out with his hand, Linley pointed to the warblade on the red Abyssal Blade Demon’s back. “Right. Your blade, as well as the warblades from the other two red Abyssal Blade Demons. Bring them to me.”

“Huh?” The red Abyssal Blade Demon stared at Linley in shock.

“Didn’t you hear me?” Linley frowned.

“Lord, this…this warblade was naturally created from my body. It took me hundreds of thousands of year. This…”  The red Abyssal Blade Demon was somewhat unwilling. These Abyssal Blade Demons were made of blades, but the most powerful blade was the one on their backs. That was the place where their essence was concentrated, and that blade was incomparably hard and powerful. Originally, when Linley’s group had encountered that ordinary Abyssal Blade Demon on

the tenth floor, the sharpness of its blade was already approaching that of a divine artifact.

The blades of the red Abyssal Blade Demons were definitely at the divine artifact level.

After developing the ‘Dimensional Decapitator’ and slaughtering the Abyssal Blade Demons, he had discovered… that his Dimensional Decapitator was completely unable to damage the warblades of the Abyssal Blade Demons. One could imagine how sharp and tough they were.

“Hrm?” Linley frowned, staring coldly at the red Abyssal Blade Demon.

Life or blade. Which one was more important? This question didn’t need to be asked. 

“Right, Lord. I’ll immediately send people to obtain the other two  warblades.”   The  red  Abyssal  Blade  Demon,  terrified, immediately pulled out the blade from his back, respectfully offering it to Linley.”

“Right. Bring me a thousand warblades from the ordinary Abyssal Blade Demons as well.” Linley said casually.

Although the red Abyssal Blade Demon was astonished, he didn’t dare to say anything. After all, Linley had killed a hundred thousand Abyssal Blade Demons. A thousand warblades wasn’t much. Only, he secretly said to himself, this expert in front of him was perhaps a bit too…a bit too ‘that’. He was already so powerful, but he still wanted so many warblades.

“Although I don’t need it, I can give it to the descendants of the clan.” Linley said to himself secretly.

Even the warblades of ordinary Abyssal Blade Demons were comparable to the adamantine heavy blade in preciousness. This sort of warblade would definitely be considered an extremely valuable weapon on the Yulan continent.

“Unfortunately, my interspatial ring isn’t big enough.” Linley secretly said to himself.

If it was larger, Linley would perhaps take even more, but a thousand warblades was already enough.

After storing the thousand warblades and the three red warblades into his interspatial ring, with countless Abyssal Blade Demons kneeling towards him, Linley returned to the tenth exit.

Chapter 38, Desiring a Divine Spark?

On the tenth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods.

“Bebe, how is Linley currently?” Desri asked softly.

“The  Boss  is  still  alive  and  kicking.”  Bebe’s  wounds  had already been more than half-healed, but he was still focused entirely on sensing Linley’s existence, terrified that Linley might die.

As for Tulily and Rosarie and the others, all of the experts were waiting quietly off to one side. Only from Bebe would they learn that Linley was still alive.

Tulily could sense how depressing the mood amongst the experts was. In order to change the mood, he said, “Olivier, the power of that sword attack you displayed on the eleventh floor really was quite formidable. You were able to kill four of those Abyssal Blade Demons with a single blow.” “I  remember  that  sword  attack  as  well.”   The  Blackscale Scorpion said.

“I don’t think any of the rest of us can accomplish that.” Tulily said.

When the experts had been trying to flee back to the tenth floor, Olivier, in desperation, had unleashed his most powerful sword attack, and when that black-and-white illusionary sword had chopped out, it had immediately chopped four of the Abyssal Blade Demons to death.

These Abyssal Blade Demons were formed from tough metal, even if their defenses weren’t as strong as their attacks. To kill four Abyssal Blade Demons with a single sword blow was too hard. Even Linley had to utilize either the Profound Truths of the Earth or the ‘Tempos of the Wind’ to kill a single Abyssal Blade Demon. An ordinary sword blow wouldn’t be able to chop the Abyssal Blade Demons into two parts.

But of course, after gaining insight into the ‘Dimensional Decapitator’, Linley’s sword blows could easily kill five or six Abyssal Blade Demons per hit. 

For Olivier to have been able to kill four of the Abyssal Blade Demons was a sight which truly stunned everyone present. After all, Tulily and the others couldn’t accomplish this.

“This attack is my last resort, desperation ultimate attack. After utilizing it, my spiritual energy is all but wiped out.” Olivier said.

“Despite that, it’s still very powerful. Even going all out, my attacks aren’t as powerful.” Tulily laughed self-mockingly.

The various experts all sighed in amazement at Olivier’s rate of progress. When they had just entered the Necropolis of the Gods, Olivier could only be considered a memory of the second group, but after the past ten years, Olivier’s strength had increased dramatically and his attacks had reached such a tremendous level of power.

Olivier didn’t explain any further. The only reason he had his current level of achievements was because the near-death experience he previously had.

“In the past, when we encountered that Beholder King, we knew that you had some differences compared to us.”  Desri sighed as well.

Now that everyone was chatting, the atmosphere on the tenth floor improved a bit. None of them noticed, however, that Bebe’s lowered head suddenly rose up, staring in astonishment towards that distant stone pillar.

“Boss!” A cry of surprised joy rang out.

“Swish!” A black blur charged over.

“What?!”  Desri,  Tulily,  Olivier,  and  the  other  experts  all turned to stare towards the exit to the eleventh floor in astonishment. They saw a youngster dressed in a sky-blue robe, exchanging grins with a black Shadowmouse. Linley had returned!

“Boss.”

“Bebe.”  Linley was currently holding Bebe in his arms, and the man and the magical beast laughed, staring at each other.

“Wonderful, Boss. I missed you terribly. I was afraid you wouldn’t  make  it  back,  Boss.”  Bebe’s  beady  little  eyes  were turning misty. The past three or four hours had been a type of torture for Bebe. He was afraid that Linley really would die.

At this time, Desri, Fain, Olivier, Rosarie, Tulily, the two Six- Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, and the Blackscale Scorpion immediately hurried over. They, too, felt both astonishment and joy that Linley was able to return to the tenth floor!

“Linley, you managed to escape?”  Fain said with surprised joy. “I really didn’t expect that despite being pursued by a million Abyssal Blade Demons, you were still able to return to the tenth floor, Linley.”  Desri’s face was covered in smiles as he spoke. “I thought that you were trying to delay underground as long as you could, and hold the Abyssal Blade Demons off until the ten year period was up.”

“Think about how awesome my Boss is!”  Bebe immediately began to grow boastful. He stood up high on Linley’s shoulders, his little paws folded proudly over his chest.

Linley laughed, “Do you think I didn’t want to try and delay and hold them off? But those Abyssal Blade Demons were simply too clever. They set up enormous numbers of choke points in the center area, and whenever I was discovered, they would immediately have large numbers of Abyssal Blade Demons attack me simultaneously. After holding on for three hours, I simply couldn’t hold on any further.”

“Then  Linley,  how  did  you  return?”  Fain  and  the  others stared at Linley in confusion. Fain and the other experts simply couldn’t imagine how, under the pursuit and assault of the Abyssal Blade Demons, Linley had managed to flee to the tenth floor.

“Luckily enough, at the critical moment, I suddenly had a breakthrough, and my speed rapidly increased, allowing me to easily throw off those Abyssal Blade Demons. After killing a few of those Abyssal Blade Demons, I managed to acquire the divine spark of the eleventh floor, and then I returned home safely.” Linley said these words quite calmly.

But everyone, including Bebe, was stunned.

“You retrieved the divine spark?” Fain, Desri, Rosarie, Tulily, and the other experts stared, their eyes round and shocked. Even Olivier, who stood silently behind the others, stared at Linley with hard-to-disguise amazement.

Divine spark…

The treasure which Fain and the others had dreamed about acquiring. Upon acquiring the divine spark of a Demigod, they would become Deities.

The difference between a Saint and a Deity was as great as that of the earth and the heavens.

“Linley, congratulations.”  Desri was the first to recover. All he could do was say congratulations.

The other experts forced out smiles and congratulated Linley as well. Right now, Desri and the others felt hard-to-repress envy in their hearts! After all, they had worked for simply too long to acquire a divine spark. Now that Linley had it, there was nothing they could say, as Linley had risked his life to acquire it.

But in their hearts, they still felt a hint of envy.

In fact, their envy made it so that they couldn’t help but think about ‘killing Linley and stealing his divine spark’, but as soon as that idea came to their minds, it immediately was tossed aside. 

After all, they weren’t despicable people like that.

In this group, aside from Bebe, only a single person didn’t feel much envy. That person was Olivier.

“Linley, I expect you will become the sixth Deity of our Yulan continent.”  Olivier’s face revealed a hint of a smile. “Linley, you are more powerful than me right now, but…in a few more years, I will definitely challenge you.”

Olivier felt extremely confident in himself.

He was weaker than Linley, but that was just for now!

“Challenge?” Linley looked at Olivier, nodding and laughing, “Wonderful, I’ll accompany you any time you choose.”

After Linley returned to the tenth floor, the experts all comfortably awaited the conclusion of the ten year time period, and they all went to find places to rest and relax on the grass. As for Linley, he naturally was with Bebe.

“Boss, tell me, how many divine sparks were there on the eleventh floor? I expect there was more than just one.”  Bebe whispered.

Linley smiled. “Three.”

Bebe’s little eyes instantly turned as round as the moon, and then he grinned so wide, his little mouth nearly split open. “Wow, wonderful, three divine sparks! Boss, what element were those divine sparks?”  Bebe hurriedly asked. “Are they compatible with you, Boss? I hope those three divine sparks aren’t of fire, lightning, or something like that.”

“One  is  earth-style,  one  is  wind-style,  one  is  Destruction- style.”  Linley  raised  his  head  and  looked  up  meaningfully. “They are extremely compatible with me!”

Bebe was shocked as well. “How could there be such a coincidence?” “How should I know?” Linley chuckled, then shook his head and sighed. “Unfortunately, I am too weak and don’t have the power to go up to the twelfth floor or higher.”

“Huh?” Bebe stared at his Boss in confusion. “Boss, why do you want to go even higher? The twelfth floor is only suitable for Deities to challenge. If we go, that’s as good as throwing away our lives.”  Bebe also knew…that from the twelfth floor onwards, the guardians of each floor were all Deities.

Without the power of a Deity, entering was certain death.

“Bebe, before we entered the eleventh floor, I told you that there is something in the Necropolis of the Gods which is calling to me.” Linley sighed, while Bebe cocked his little head.

“Ever since I arrived here in the Necropolis of the Gods, I had the feeling…that whatever is calling to me is coming from above. When I entered the tenth floor, I still felt that whatever was calling me was calling from above. At that time, I thought that perhaps it was in the eleventh floor.” Linley shook his head. “But after I entered the eleventh floor, I realized that I was wrong. The presence which was calling to me was still higher. Perhaps it is on the twelfth floor, or perhaps the thirteenth…it might even be as high as the eighteenth. Who knows? After all, I’m not strong enough to go

higher.”

Bebe nodded slightly.

After Linley had been on the tenth floor for roughly a month, Desri came to Linley’s area. He was hesitating slightly, unable to speak.

“Desri, what is it?” Linley asked in confusion.

Desri seemed rather embarrassed. He let out two dry laughs, took a deep breath, then whispered, “Linley, I would like to know…how many divine sparks did you find on the eleventh floor?” Linley’s heart moved. This Desri, it seemed, had some desire towards his divine sparks. However, Linley could understand why.

“Three.” Linley didn’t try to hide it.

Desri’s eyes lit up. “Can I ask what elements they were?”

“Desri, why are you asking?”  The nearby Bebe said angrily. “These divine sparks, my Boss only acquired after risking his life. Don’t forget that if the Boss hadn’t used his ‘Dimensional Edge’ to open up a pathway and then blocked all of those Abyssal Blade Demons, none of you would have survived.”

Desri looked rather awkward.

Linley glanced at Bebe, then smiled towards Desri. “There’s no reason for me not to speak of it. They are of the earth-style, the wind-style, and the Destruction-style.” “Oh?” Desri nodded.

“Linley, there’s something I need to tell you.” Desri looked at Linley. “First of all, you don’t necessarily have to fuse with a divine spark of your own element. For example, you are totally capable of fusing with a fire-style divine spark. But of course… the speed would be very slow. To absorb a divine spark, the only requirement is that a person be at the Saint-level, which would allow his soul to be able to fuse with the divine spark.”

Linley nodded slightly.

“In addition, every Saint can only fuse a single spark.” Desri explained.

“This, I know.” Linley nodded.

Desri hesitated, but in the end, still forced out a smile and said, “Linley, you only need a single divine spark for yourself. If…and I’m only saying if…if you were willing, would you be willing to…one of your divine sparks…”  At this point, Desri didn’t know what to say. 

What should he say? Ask Linley to sell it?

What could he, Desri, possibly exchange for a divine spark?

Ask Linley to gift it to him?

Desri couldn’t even force out the words to ask. The only reason why he had come and so shamelessly discussed this was Linley was because he simply had too great of a desire to become a Deity. Even if the element was different and his rate of fusion was slow, and his future rate of understanding the Laws would be impeded…he didn’t care.

“Aside from Olivier and those two Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, the other experts all have this wish.”  Linley secretly said to himself.

Over the past few months, almost all of the other experts had secretly come over to talk with Linley. 

Even if Linley himself didn’t need the divine sparks, he still valued them highly. It must be understood…that a single divine spark represented a Demigod! He could give these three divine sparks to Gates and his brothers, or to his own brother Wharton, and let them become Deities!”

“Let me delay for now.” Linley secretly said to himself.

The experts only hinted at their interest. After all, their lives had been saved by Linley, and Linley had only managed to acquire these divine sparks after a extremely dangerous experience.

“Rumble…”

Suddenly, the entire Necropolis of the Gods began to shake.

“What’s  going  on?”  Linley  and  Bebe  immediately  turned their heads to stare about them. 

Instantly, they saw that off in the distance, an exit covered by a black aura had appeared out of nowhere. From within that black exit, a person walked out. He had long black hair, a long black beard, and wore a long black robe. It was the number one expert of the Yulan continent. Beirut.

Linley, Desri, Tulily…all the experts immediately stood up.

Beirut glanced at the experts, and then said, “The ten years are up. Everyone can now leave the Necropolis of the Gods.” And then, he turned his gaze to Linley, a hint of a smile on his lips. “Haha…Linley, I must congratulate you.”

Chapter 39, The Predictions of Beirut

“Grandpa Beirut, you already know what happened?”  Bebe instantly rushed over to him.

Beirut beamed as he hugged Bebe, nodding. “I manage the Necropolis of the Gods on behalf of the almighty Sovereign. Of course I know what happened within the Necropolis of the Gods.” Beirut cast Linley an amused, meaningful glance.

Linley suddenly understood.

Perhaps…

It was Beirut who had placed those three divine sparks there for him. If the person to successfully overcome the challenges of the eleventh floor had been Olivier, perhaps the divine sparks would have become of ‘light-style’, ‘darkness-style’, and ‘Destruction-style’ instead.

But of course, this was just Linley’s hypothesis. 

“Linley.”  Beirut laughed calmly as he looked at Linley. “I trust you have already had a dim sense of the Deity-level. You should be at the precipice now, yes?”

Linley nodded, secretly saying to himself, “It seems that Beirut knows everything which happened within the Necropolis of the Gods. Beirut…he should be the ‘housekeeper’ for the Sovereign, in charge of managing this Necropolis of the Gods.” Linley understood.

The Necropolis of the Gods was nothing more than a game to the Sovereign, so he could send any one of his subordinates down to manage it.

Only, any one of the subordinates of a Sovereign was someone far and above Linley’s level.

“If my prediction is correct, within ten years, you should reach the Deity-level.” Beirut said. Linley’s ‘Profound Truths of Velocity’ included both the ‘Fast’ and the ‘Slow’ aspects. If Linley were to fully master the ‘Profound Truths of Velocity’, then he would have fully mastered and fused those two major aspects into one, and he would have risen to the full God level.

“Ten  years?”   Linley  murmured  to  himself,  then  nodded slightly.

This speed was roughly on par with what he had anticipated.

The nearby Desri, Fain, and other experts all looked at Linley in shock. They all knew what Beirut was saying. Linley, not by relying on a divine spark, and only by relying on his own insights, would be able to reach the Deity-level, and it would be within ten years.

Even if Linley had been training since the day he was born, he would have been training for around half a century.

Ten more years would only be sixty plus years. In sixty years, he would have reached the Deity-level by his own efforts! 

“But Linley, you’d best not slacken off. The potential of that young fellow, Olivier, is perhaps even a bit higher than yours.” Beirut laughed calmly, turning to look at Olivier.

These words instantly stunned Desri, Tulily, and the other experts. If Linley was powerful, fine. After all, in the Necropolis of the Gods, based on his performance…Linley was clearly more powerful than them, and he had single-handedly procured divine sparks on the eleventh floor. They admitted inferiority to him.

But Olivier…

Linley was rather surprised as well.

“Lord Beirut.” Olivier paid his respects.

Beirut smiled and nodded. “Your luck wasn’t bad. You were able to fuse both light and darkness without your soul being destroyed…I’ve wandered through countless planes, but situations like yours are rare, incredibly rare! Even I am rather envious of what you have become.”

Olivier’s face changed slightly. Although Beirut hadn’t said it openly, Olivier could tell that this Beirut knew his secret!

“Could it be that this Beirut is capable of inspecting my soul?” Olivier was somewhat astonished. He didn’t know…that Beirut was so powerful that he could even easily riffle through someone’s memories without them knowing about it. Compared to that, how trifling a matter would it be for him to inspect Olivier’s soul?

Linley looked towards Olivier as well.

“This Olivier…when we encountered the Beholder King and were hit by the Beholder King’s attack, I became utterly helpless, but Olivier was able to break the Beholder King’s technique.”   Bebe  had  later  told  Linley  about  what  had happened. At the time, the Beholder King had been quite surprised by Olivier’s soul as well.

“Based  on  your  current  rate  of  improvement,  if  my prediction is correct, in ten years if you are fast, fifty years if you are slow, you should reach the Deity-level as well.” Beirut said with a calm laugh.

“No wonder Olivier was so confident to say that after training for a few years, he would come challenge me.” Linley had a hint of anticipation in his heart as well. Previously, he hadn’t paid much attention to Olivier’s words, as he now possessed the ‘Profound Truths of Velocity’. He had only replied out of politeness.

But now, Linley rather looked forward to it.

Desri, Fain, Rosarie, and the other experts felt their hearts clench.

What a difference! 

They had trained for thousands of years, but compared to Linley and Olivier, the difference between them was simply too great.

“Lord Beirut, might you tell us how long we need until we can  reach  the  Deity-level?”  Desri  said  respectfully.  Rosarie, Tulily…even the two Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions and the Blackscale Scorpion all looked towards Beirut with anticipation. They wanted to hear Beirut’s judgment.

Given Beirut’s power, it was very easy for him to judge the level of understanding a Saint was at.

“You?” Beirut glanced at them. “For you to reach the Deity- level, hrm, if you are fast, just one or two days…”

The eyes of Tulily, Desri, and the other experts all lit up.

“But if you are slow, it could take you trillions of years.” Beirut finished, causing Tulily and the others to be utterly stunned. These experts deeply desired to become Deities. This was their reason for existence, the goal they had pursued for thousands of years, which they had never reached.

Beirut shook his head and laughed. “You young fellows… there is such a thing as ‘genius’, and both Linley and Olivier can be considered geniuses. In addition, the ‘Profound Truths’ which they are training in are more powerful than yours.” Beirut said with a lecturing air.

Desri, Fain, and the other experts who had trained for thousands of years all listened obediently, as though they were children listening to a lecture.

“Your vision is too narrow and limited. You must understand…these countless dimensions possess countless material planes, but your gaze is limited to just the Yulan continent. Genius? Amongst the geniuses I have seen, one of them reached the Deity-level ten years after being born, but I’ve also met those who have trained for tens of millions of years while being trapped at the Saint-level.”

Linley and Olivier were both stunned. 

Reach the Deity-level ten years after birth? This was simply monstrous. Could it be some sort of divine beast race? But even a divine beast such as Bebe would take nearly a hundred years to grow into maturity.

“Linley, Olivier.”  Beirut looked at the two of them. “The Yulan continent has existed for countless years, and the experts it has produced are numerous beyond measure. But of course, in the past hundred thousand years, the two of you can be considered to be the two most talented.”

Linley and Olivier didn’t display a hint of self-satisfaction.

“But if we look at the countless planes of the multiverse, there are simply far too many people who are greater geniuses than you two.” Beirut sighed. “There are some geniuses whom even I can only stare at in dumbfounded awe.”

Linley and Olivier both nodded slightly. At their current level, they had a greater vision than before. “In addition, there are some races that are exceedingly powerful, such as those races you encountered in the Necropolis of the Gods. The Beholder race, or that Lachapalle… and so on. These races are naturally powerful. There is nothing which  the  boundless  multiverse  does  not  contain.”   Beirut turned to look at Desri and the other experts.

Desri and the other experts had a rather unpleasant feeling in their hearts.

“After becoming powerful, don’t grow complacent. As for Fain and the rest of you, don’t underestimate yourselves. After all, in the Yulan continent, you are already at the top of the mountain. In the countless planes, there are even people who have trained for tens of millions of years without being able to reach the Deity-level. There are plenty of people far inferior to you.”

Desri, Fain, and the other experts could only laugh bitterly in their hearts.

There were many people they were superior to, but also many they were inferior to. 

“The most important thing is having self-confidence.” Beirut said seriously. “Actually, I’ve discovered that in your hearts, you’ve all begun to doubt yourselves. You’ve become worried over having been at the Prime Saint level for so long, and thus you entrusted your hopes to getting a divine spark?”

“Wrong!”

Beirut shook his head. “If even you yourselves doubt yourselves and don’t have strong faith in yourselves, how can you possibly break through to the Deity-level?”

Desri, Fain, and the other experts all felt their hearts tremble.

Indeed, they had all entrusted their hopes to finding a divine spark, and deep in their hearts, they had begun to doubt their own ability. “But Linley and Olivier are different. They believe in themselves, believe that they will be able to train to the highest levels, and so they truly have continued to advance, making one breakthrough after another.” Beirut sighed appreciatively.

This was indeed the truth. Linley’s heart had always been focused on reaching the limits of training, never doubting his own ability. As for Olivier, when he had first left the O’Brien Empire and arrived in the Arctic Icecap, despite being so weak, he had dared to say that he would challenge Rutherford.

Even now, after Linley had returned from the eleventh with divine cores, he still dared to say that in the future, he would challenge Linley.

Self-confidence!

Linley and Olivier were both filled with self-confidence, and they were both extremely hard working as well.

If a person constantly doubted themselves, it would be simply too hard to make a breakthrough. 

“Thank  you,  Lord  Beirut.”   Desri  and  the  other  experts seemed to understand a bit.

Beirut said calmly, “After having experienced countless life and death experiences in the Necropolis of the Gods, can it be that you’ve gained not even a shred of insight? This sort of place, where one is constantly at the border between life and death, can easily allow someone’s potential to be unleashed and a breakthrough to be made. Unfortunately, none of you had truly believed in yourselves.”

“Enough. Everyone leave the Necropolis of the Gods.” Beirut said.

Linley and the other experts followed Beirut out from the exit he had created, leaving the tenth floor.

Outside of the Necropolis of the Gods was the bottom of the sea. As soon as Linley and the others came out, they discovered that there was one black exit after another leading from the second, fifth, and tenth floors of the Necropolis of the Gods. Clearly…these three levels had Saints present.

“Hrm? War God, High Priest, Dylin, Cesar…” Linley instantly noticed the four great Deities standing off in the distance.

At this moment, there was a large group of experts outside the Necropolis of the Gods, such as Higginson and the others. Aside from Linley and the other nine who had remained on the tenth floor, there were nearly twenty or so other experts who had stayed on the second and fifth floors. One of them was a familiar figure…

“Barker!” Linley’s eyes instantly turned round, and a look of wild joy appeared on his face.

“Lord Linley!”  Barker saw Linley as well, and immediately flew over with surprise and joy. Linley excitedly gave Barker a bear-hug. If Barker truly had died, then on the return trip back home, Linley truly would have found it hard to face Gates and the others, as well as Barker’s wife and son.

“Barker, you didn’t die!”  Bebe flew over to Barker as well with a surprised howl.

Barker began to laugh as well.

Outside the Necropolis of the Gods, the experts who knew each other began to engage in conversation, such as the personal disciples of the War God who had been hiding on the second or fifth floor. All of the lucky survivors were here.

“Barker,  how  did  you  manage  to  escape  from  the  third floor?” Linley immediately asked.

Barker shook his head. “I was very baffled as well. When the Ba-Serpent woke up, he slaughtered many of the Saints, and I didn’t know if you, Lord Linley, had even managed to flee or not. I couldn’t see anything clearly.” Linley nodded slightly.

“Only, after slaughtering all of the Saints on the third floor, the Ba-Serpent gave me a whack with his tail.”

Linley’s heart trembled. Although Barker was still alive and perfectly well, that scene was simply terrifying to even contemplate. How could Barker not have died after being struck by the tail of the divine beast, Ba-Serpent?

“The  strange  thing  was,  when  the  tail  of  the  Ba-Serpent struck me, it sent me flying back an extremely great distance, and I was totally paralyzed, as though an invisible rope was wrapped around me. When I landed…I found that, as if by coincidence, I fell into the exit to the second floor.” Barker, even while telling the story, seemed to find it unbelievable as well.

Linley and Bebe immediately stared, mouths gaping. “Hey there, guys.”  A playful voice rang out, and a devilish, green-haired youngster suddenly appeared next to Linley and the others.

Linley, Barker, and Bebe immediately looked in astonishment at this nearby green-haired youngster. The three of them had only noticed his presence after he had spoken.

“Linley, right?” The devilish green-haired man laughed. “Not bad. You were actually able to successfully get the divine sparks on the eleventh floor. You rock, kiddo.” As he spoke, he patted Linley on his head. Linley wanted to dodge, but he found that his body couldn’t move at all.”

“Godrealm!” Linley was shocked.

Aside from the War God and the rest of the four, there was another Deity-level expert?

“Tarosse  [Da’luo’sha],  get  over  here.”   The  distant  Beirut called out. 

The devilish green-haired youth immediately ran over quite obediently, laughing, “Lord Beirut, let’s go back to the Yulan continent. It’s been so long since I’ve gone back. I really do miss home.”

All of the experts looked at the devilish green-haired youth in puzzlement. Who was he?

Beirut glanced at the surrounding experts. Calmly, he said, “Let me introduce you. This person is named Tarosse, and quite a few of you have met him before. He was the guardian of the first eleven floors of the Necropolis of the Gods, that slumbering divine beast, the ‘Ba-Serpent’.”

“Ba-Serpent?” Many of the experts were shocked, and when they looked at Tarosse, their eyes were now filled with respect and fear, while deep in their hearts, they secretly felt hatred as well.

After all, many experts had been slaughtered by Tarosse. “I know the four of you. I knew Catherine from way back. We’re old friends. Oh, this one is O’Brien, and this one is Cesar, right?” Tarosse chortled.

O’Brien and Cesar didn’t dare to say much. After all, Tarosse was a full God!

Linley could tell that this Tarosse should be only now meeting O’Brien and Cesar for the first time, but had met Catherine in the past.

“Whoaaaaah. Dylin. My dear friend! Your luck is excellent. You actually managed to escape from the Gebados Prison. The happiest part of me getting out of there is having a chance to see you. C’mere, we two buddies need to have a nice reunion.” As he spoke, ‘Tarosse’ went over to give Dylin a hug.

Dylin, with a frown, moved next to Beirut.

Right now, Dylin was not in a good mood, because his second son had died. These lower eleven floors were under the control of Tarosse. However, he knew that Tarosse wasn’t able to break the rules. He was able to turn a blind eye to some things, but if he were to intentionally rescue someone on a certain floor, that was not permissible. Even a Highgod would fall if he violated the rules of the Sovereign.

“Tarosse,   enough.”    Beirut   said   calmly,   and   Tarosse immediately no longer dared to make another sound, standing obediently behind Beirut. Only, he turned his head to wink at Barker. Barker now understood…that the ‘Tarosse’ in front of him was the Ba-Serpent.

The Ba-Serpent who had spared his life!

“Everyone,  prepare  to  head  out  and  return  to  the  Yulan continent.” Beirut said calmly.

“Yes, Lord Beirut.” All of the experts said in unison.

Under Beirut’s leadership, Tarosse and the rest of the five Deities as well as the thirty Saints headed back together, journeying back towards the Yulan continent. 

On this day, it was Yulan calendar’s year 10034, March 4th. Exactly ten years had passed since Linley and the others had arrived!