Chapter 2: The Four Supreme Higher Planes
Lei was also stunned by Doehring Cowart's words.
"Grandpa Doehring was a Saint-level Archmage from the era of the O'Brien Empire, and even he has never seen such a complex magic array, and he's certain that this magic array is even more terrifying than forbidden magic. Then..." Linley also felt a hint of wariness in his heart.
What exactly was this mysterious magic array here for?
"Linley, carefully sense it. Sense this magic array, and also that violet longsword." Doehring Cowart said to Linley.
Linley nodded slightly, immediately attuning his mind to the wind element, sensing the aura of the mysterious magic array and the violet longsword. Closing his eyes, Linley felt a sense of heaviness from the mysterious magic array on the black circular platform, a suffocating feeling.
At the same time, the entire black circular platform, or rather the entire magic array, continuously emitted waves of natural elemental energy.
"No wonder the elemental density here is nearly a hundred times that of the outside world. So the source is this." If he hadn't clearly sensed this circular platform magic array, Linley wouldn't have been able to find the source. Because the elements at the source were constantly accumulating downward.
In reality, the elemental density in the cave was the strongest.
"Among the seven elements here—earth, fire, water, wind, darkness, light, and lightning—the dark element is the strongest. No wonder the Spiked-Back Iron-Armored Dragon and the Violet-Striped Black Bear, both dark-type magical beasts, especially like this place." Linley nodded to himself.
"That violet longsword." Linley carefully sensed the sword inserted in the center of the black circular platform's magic array. "Such a restrained aura of darkness."
Doehring Cowart stroked his beard and smiled as he looked at Linley. "Linley, I can tell you that the value of this violet longsword should not be inferior to a Saint-level magic core."
Linley looked at Doehring Cowart with confusion.
Linley knew very well. Generally, a warrior's weapon wasn't worth much; as long as some hard metal ores were used, combined with other ores, it could be forged. Even the Baruch family's heirloom treasure, the battle blade 'Slaughterer', originally cost only a few tens of thousands of gold coins to make.
Later, a certain heir of the Baruch family sold the battle blade 'Slaughterer' for 180,000 gold coins. That was partly due to the prestige of the Dragonblood Warriors.
Unfortunately, the Dragonblood Warriors hadn't appeared for many years, and the 'Dragonblood Warrior' gimmick wasn't worth much anymore. If it were during the time when Dragonblood Warriors roamed the continent, this battle blade might have been extremely valuable.
A warrior's weapon wasn't worth much, but a mage's staff—its price was terrifying.
The higher the level of the staff, the more precious the materials needed.
For example, a 'divine artifact' used by a Saint-level Archmage would use special wood for the staff, a ninth-rank magic core or Saint-level magic core as the energy source, and be supplemented with complex magic arrays carved into it to achieve the best effect.
A magic staff that could be called a 'divine artifact' would absolutely be priceless. After all, just a Saint-level magic core alone was a priceless treasure.
Of course...
A warrior's weapon wasn't worth much, but that referred to weapons from the material plane of the Yulan Continent. If a weapon originated from another plane, such as from the Four Supreme Higher Planes, then the price would be completely different.
"The aura of this violet longsword is very peculiar. If my guess is correct, it should come from 'Hell', one of the Four Supreme Higher Planes." Doehring Cowart said thoughtfully.
Linley was puzzled. "The Four Supreme Higher Planes?"
Doehring Cowart flicked his white beard and said, "Looking at the entire Yulan Continent, your current strength can barely be considered among the upper echelons of the continent. It's time to tell you some things. Linley, you should know that this world doesn't have just one plane."
Linley nodded. "I know, for example, there's also the Netherworld."
"You know very little." Doehring Cowart shook his head and said, "In reality, the vast cosmos contains countless spatial planes. Material planes are just a very ordinary yet fundamental type of plane. Among the countless planes, there are Four Supreme Higher Planes—namely, the Netherworld, Hell, the Divine Life Realm, and the Celestial Realm." Doehring Cowart explained in detail.
Linley listened carefully. This kind of information was probably only known by the top-tier experts on the Yulan Continent.
"Linley, you should know what a god is, right?" Doehring Cowart looked at Linley with a smile.
Linley nodded. "An existence beyond the Saint realm is called a god." Linley had read many books, and generally, books described power beyond the Saint realm as the power of gods. It was a power so strong it was irresistible.
"Correct. Above gods, there are 'Overgods', and above the Overgods, there are the Four Supreme Gods!" Doehring Cowart exclaimed. "These Four Supreme Gods are eternal existences, surpassing everything."
Linley heard about the existence of the 'Four Supreme Gods' for the first time.
"Are the Supreme Gods more powerful than the Radiant Lord?" Linley asked.
"Haha, the Radiant Lord?" Doehring Cowart laughed. "Whether it's the 'Radiant Lord' of the Radiant Church or the 'Sovereign of Darkness' of the Dark Church, they are just Overgods. Overgods are incredibly powerful to us, and even to ordinary gods. But they still need faith power."
"The Supreme Gods are different. The Four Supreme Gods don't need believers or faith power. Their power is world-shattering. Overgods like the Radiant Lord or the Sovereign of Darkness would probably only be qualified to be servants of the Supreme Gods, and that's if the Supreme Gods even want them." Doehring Cowart said with certainty.
Linley was shocked.
"The Netherworld, Hell, the Divine Life Realm, and the Celestial Realm—these Four Supreme Higher Planes were created by the Four Supreme Gods. And in the past, I have sensed the auras of the Four Supreme Higher Planes, so as soon as I saw this violet longsword, I was certain it should come from 'Hell'."
Doehring Cowart then looked at the violet longsword inserted in the center of the black circular platform with confusion. "I'm also a bit puzzled. How did something from the Hell plane end up here?"
"Linley, think about it. This magic array is even more powerful than forbidden magic. The violet longsword is used to assist it, and its energy level should at least match this magic array. So I suggest you... try dripping blood on it to see if you can claim this divine sword." Doehring Cowart's eyes lit up.
"Claim it?" Linley also felt a desire to take this treasure.
"Don't worry. No matter what this mysterious magic array is for, such a massive array takes a relatively long time to activate. That's enough time for you to run far away. First, drip blood to see if the sword has an owner. If it doesn't, you can take it, and it'll be fine. No one will notice." Doehring Cowart said with certainty.
A divine sword that could be claimed by 'dripping blood' was no ordinary item.
Carrying it on your person, others wouldn't be able to detect it. To others, it would look as ordinary as the 'Coiling Dragon Ring'.
"Alright." Linley circulated the 'Dragonblood Battle Qi' within his body, and the scales on his upper body and arms began to disappear.
The second form of the Dragonblood Warrior, 'Half-Dragon Transformation'.
Linley could completely control which parts of his body to dragonize. The rest of his body remained like a normal human. After biting his index finger, Linley leaped up directly, and the bleeding index finger touched the violet longsword that had existed for who knows how long.
The dusty, long-sealed violet longsword, after Linley's drop of blood landed on it, seemed to absorb the blood like a sponge. At the same time—
"Wuuuum~~" The violet longsword suddenly emitted a sword hum and began to tremble.
The dust covering its surface was completely shaken off. A strange, bloody light seemed to flow across the surface of the violet longsword, as if blood were coursing through the sword.
"An ownerless item." Seeing this, Doehring Cowart was overjoyed.
Doehring Cowart knew very well that if this divine sword had an owner, Linley wouldn't have a chance. If it didn't, then Linley would have another major asset.
"Linley, hurry, pull out the sword and get out of here immediately!" Doehring Cowart urged.
"I know."
Linley leaped up again, grabbed the violet longsword directly, and pulled it out with force. "Clang!" A crisp sword hum rang out, seemingly filled with endless joy. After that drop of blood was absorbed by the violet longsword, Linley knew.
This violet longsword was a soft sword!
By channeling battle qi, magic power, or any other force into it, the sword could become straight. It could be soft or hard!
Linley pulled out the violet longsword, and as he landed, he flicked it. The violet longsword immediately coiled around his waist like a belt.
"Bebe, let's go."
Linley grabbed his bundle with one hand and then charged directly toward the underground passage he had come from. Scales continuously covered his body. Bebe also instantly leaped onto Linley's shoulder.
Fully dragonized, Linley had the attack power of an early eighth-rank warrior, and in terms of speed, he matched an agile eighth-rank warrior.
"Seventh-rank 'Acceleration'." Linley simultaneously cast the auxiliary magic 'Acceleration' on himself.
Seventh-rank 'Acceleration' could increase a fourth-rank warrior's speed threefold. But for Linley now, his speed was already too fast. Even with 'Acceleration' assisting, it only increased his speed by nearly half.
But being able to increase it by half was already terrifying.
******
Above the Misty Valley, mist swirled. The dragons that had been circling and playing above, except for a few, mostly landed and rested on the ground. But without exception, they stayed away from that small hill.
The passage covered by the small hill was forbidden ground!
These dragons also remembered that a few days ago, a pitiful human had charged into the forbidden ground. That poor human was probably dead by now.
"Whoosh!"
A black blur suddenly shot out from the underground passage and then rushed westward at high speed.
"What was that?" Over a hundred dragons noticed this humanoid blur.
The speed of an agile eighth-rank warrior was definitely comparable to the flight speed of an eighth-rank dragon. Now, with Linley using 'Acceleration', his speed increased by half. Linley's current speed was definitely that of a ninth-rank warrior, not much slower than Bebe.
"Roar~~"
Over a hundred dragons immediately growled in anger.
A human had dared to come to the dragon territory. One by one, the dragons spread their leathery wings to chase Linley. But Linley's speed was now too fast. Even the largest fire dragon could only watch Linley's figure grow farther and farther away, soon leaving them behind and disappearing from sight.
"That doesn't look like a human." The largest fire dragon hovered in the air, puzzled.
Although it hadn't caught up to him, it had clearly seen that the figure was humanoid but covered in scales.
"A humanoid magical beast?" The fire dragon thought to itself.
...
In the underground cave, on the black circular platform, the mysterious magic array with its extremely complex magical runes began to glow faintly. Like a stream of bright silver water, it flowed through every line of the magic array. Gradually... the entire mysterious magic array lit up, becoming dazzlingly bright.
"Boom!"
A low rumbling sound rang out. The light of the mysterious magic array grew even more blinding. The rumbling sounds increased, becoming more urgent. "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"... The sounds rang out like drumbeats, and the mysterious magic array trembled continuously.
"Crack—" The black circular platform, made of unknown material, suddenly split open, forming three cracks.