Chapter 7: Heavy Casualties
The spring water churned as Linley was at the bottom of the pool.
This hot spring pool was not deep; the deepest part was only about two meters. Linley pressed himself flat against the pool floor. The water was clear, and through it, he could vaguely make out the scene outside.
"Who are these people? Why are the warriors of the Radiant Church outside so easily defeated?" Linley was filled with confusion. The Radiant Church warriors guarding outside were at least fifth-rank warriors. Every one of them possessed battle qi.
Couldn't these warriors use a "battle qi shield" to block that black mist?
Linley couldn't figure it out, so he didn't dare to immediately surface and resist the black mist.
"Linley, that black mist should be the relatively common 'Corrosive Poison Mist' among dark magic. A battle qi shield can definitely block it." Doehring Cowart's voice rang out in Linley's mind.
"But those Radiant Church warriors..."
"They probably also fell victim to some mind-confusing magic and didn't have time to use their battle qi to block the corrosive poison mist." Doehring Cowart speculated.
"Gurgle, gurgle..."
A stream of air emanated from Linley's body and spread outward—it was the wind-style magic, "Probing Wind." Linley could fully sense all movements outside.
"Hurry, kill Linley at all costs, and don't waste time." The leader of the black-robed men said coldly.
The other five black-robed men nodded and quickly approached the pool.
Just then—
"Boom!"
Linley shot out of the water like an arrow, sending water splashing everywhere. He descended from above like a fierce tiger pouncing down a mountain, his hand forming a claw as he viciously struck at one of the black-robed men's heads.
"Hmph." The black-robed man slightly sidestepped, preparing to block Linley's claw with his left arm while thrusting his short blade rapidly.
A cruel smile appeared on Linley's face.
A layer of azure-black dragonblood battle qi surfaced on Linley's claw-like right hand. The thin layer of dragonblood battle qi, combined with the surrounding black corrosive poison mist, made it inconspicuous... Most importantly, black spikes emerged from Linley's fingertips.
"Pfft!" Linley's right hand easily pierced through the black-robed man's left shoulder blade. Then, Linley twisted his hand violently.
"Boom!"
The black-robed man's entire left chest burst open, blood splattering everywhere. He died on the spot, unable to close his eyes even in death, because his blade had struck Linley without causing any injury.
"Earth-style seventh-rank, but with a jade armor. How could a jade armor be easily broken?" Linley thought to himself. "Besides, beneath the jade armor, my skin can instantly transform into the 'Dragonblood Warrior' form."
Now, Linley's Dragonblood Warrior form had just reached the eighth-rank warrior level.
Linley's "Dragonization" state also inherited the Spiked Back Iron-Armored Dragon's strength—high defense. Linley's black scales were far stronger than jade armor. Based on the power of the black-robed assassin's strike, he was likely a seventh-rank expert.
Unfortunately, a seventh-rank expert's defense couldn't withstand Linley's fingertips, which had turned into spikes. Those were the dragon claws after Dragonization. Linley had only partially Dragonized earlier.
"How is this possible?" The other four black-robed men were stunned.
According to their intelligence, Linley was a seventh-rank dual-element magician, with much weaker warrior abilities. They never expected a seventh-rank assassin to be killed in a single exchange.
"Intelligence was wrong!" The black-robed leader cursed inwardly.
Linley nodded inwardly: "It seems that partially Dragonizing my body can catch enemies off guard and make them suffer a heavy loss."
"You bastards of the Dark Church!"
A furious roar came from afar, rapidly charging toward the spring garden. Linley knew that the rest of the knight squad protecting him had arrived. Only a dozen had been killed earlier; there were actually over a hundred in total.
The black-robed leader's face changed.
"At all costs, kill Linley." The black-robed leader shouted.
Then, he led the other four black-robed men to surround Linley. The black short blades in their hands flickered with black light as they poured almost all their power into their weapons.
A life-or-death attack!
Seventh-rank warriors, right?
Linley watched the five black-robed men surround him but didn't dodge. He lightly touched his waist, and suddenly—
A dazzling purple light flashed.
Linley leaped backward rapidly, while four of the five black-robed men froze in place. The leader, however, retreated quickly.
"Pfft!"
The four black-robed men were cut in half at the waist. Intestines spilled onto the ground, and blood sprayed everywhere.
"So fast. So sharp." The black-robed leader stared at Linley in shock.
Killing four seventh-rank warriors with one strike—this power was indeed terrifying.
Linley knew very well that the divine sword "Purple Blood" was sharp, but its sharpness alone couldn't break through the defense of a seventh-rank magical beast. If a seventh-rank warrior used battle qi to protect themselves, Linley could at most severely injure them, not kill them.
But just now, these four black-robed men had attacked with all their strength!
They hadn't expected Linley to have a sword.
"To increase Purple Blood's attack power, I can only inject dragonblood battle qi. But injecting dragonblood battle qi makes it slower than infusing wind-style magic power." Linley evaluated the trade-offs at that moment.
He had just killed four people with one strike.
It relied on astonishing speed—speed that left no time to react!
But relying solely on speed and the divine sword's sharpness could only kill sixth-rank warriors and severely injure seventh-rank ones. Unless, like these four assassins, the seventh-rank warrior ignored their own safety and used almost all their battle qi for offense instead of defense.
"But this leader wasn't seriously injured." Linley looked at the black-robed leader.
The black-robed leader's strength should have surpassed the seventh rank.
Infusing wind-style magic power made "Purple Blood" faster and its trajectory more erratic, but it didn't increase single-target attack power. Infusing dragonblood battle qi increased "Purple Blood's" attack power but didn't make it faster.
"Scum!"
Angry shouts came from outside the spring garden gate. Clearly, the Radiant Church knights had seen their fallen comrades and were enraged.
"Linley, you're stronger than we imagined. But since you've sided with the Radiant Church, then..." The black-robed leader didn't care about the people outside and continued speaking softly.
The black-robed leader's voice had a very peculiar rhythm. Linley didn't notice at first, but halfway through the speech, he felt his mind waver and his concentration slip.
"You must die!"
The black-robed leader's short blade instantly reached Linley.
"Linley!" Doehring Cowart's shout rang out in Linley's mind, snapping him awake.
"Crack!"
The black-robed leader stared blankly at his waist. Half of it had been bitten off, with red muscles still quivering and blood gushing out. He felt his strength fading and his life rapidly slipping away.
"This shadowrat..."
The black-robed leader stared dumbly at the black shadowrat beside Linley.
A shadowrat was only a third- or fourth-rank magical beast. For a leader with eighth-rank warrior strength, a shadowrat couldn't harm him at all. So he hadn't paid it any attention.
But...
Just now, the shadowrat had darted from the side, its mouth expanding rapidly, and bitten into his waist.
"Yes, Your Holiness." Gilmore, dressed in a red robe, bowed respectfully.
"Hmm?" The Radiant Pope raised his eyelids and looked at Gilmore.
Under the Radiant Pope's gaze, it felt like being crushed by a massive boulder. Gilmore said respectfully, "Your Holiness, just now, the Dark Church attempted to assassinate Linley. However, thanks to Linley's considerable warrior strength, he killed all the enemies and only suffered minor injuries."
"Killed them all?"
The Radiant Pope's emerald-green eyes fixed on Gilmore as he said lightly, "Gilmore, the Dark Church knew Linley was a seventh-rank dual-element magician. Would they send people without sufficient certainty?"
"Your Holiness, this batch of assassins was very strong. The leader was likely skilled in mind-confusing dark magic." Gilmore quickly replied.
The Radiant Pope didn't say much, just glanced at Gilmore with a faint smile.
"Gilmore, you want..."
Gilmore nodded and said, "Yes, Linley is an important cultivation target for our Radiant Church. Most importantly, Linley not only has great talent but is also extremely hardworking. I believe that in another fifty years, Linley could become a Saint-level powerhouse. And in another hundred years, he could become one of the strongest figures on the entire Yulan continent."
"One must plan ahead to avoid future troubles."
The Radiant Church and the Dark Church both had extremely long histories, existing since the Yulan Empire unified the entire Yulan continent.
The reason they had persisted was their understanding of cultivating talent!
Continuous development, increasing followers, and nurturing talent.
Linley might not be strong now, but in a hundred years? He might become a figure comparable to the Radiant Pope. A hundred years was nothing to a Saint-level powerhouse.
"So, I want Linley to receive better guidance and greater protection. That is, I want Linley to train under Lord 'Luoye'." Gilmore said.
"Luoye?"
The Radiant Pope paused for a moment, then nodded. "Very well, but first go and ask for his opinion. I can't make decisions for Luoye."
"Yes, Your Holiness."
Gilmore then withdrew.
The Radiant Pope's emerald-green eyes glanced at Gilmore, then turned to the sky outside the window. "Killed all the assassins? Baruch... Baruch, hmm, it seems the Baruch family is one of the four ultimate warrior families—the Dragonblood Warrior family."