Chapter 8: Leaving the Mountain
Almost every mage knew of the soul-contract magic array. However, there was a restriction to setting up this magic array—one had to reach the level of a seventh-rank mage to have enough soul-force to arrange it.
A pentagram-shaped, nearly transparent magic pattern floated in midair. Then, this magic array diagram flew directly toward the head of the black-striped cloud leopard. The black-striped cloud leopard offered no resistance, allowing the magic pattern to merge into its mind. In an instant, Linley and the black-striped cloud leopard both felt the soul connection between them.
It was different from the equal contract Linley had formed with Bebe.
With the equal contract, the souls of both Linley and Bebe had merged into the magic array. But this soul-contract magic array was formed from Linley’s spiritual energy. Since the black-striped cloud leopard accepted this soul contract, it naturally acknowledged Linley as its master.
“Master,” the black-striped cloud leopard said with great respect.
Linley looked at the black-striped cloud leopard. “What’s your name?” Linley knew that some high-level magical beasts had their own names. For example, the Thornback Iron-Armored Dragon he had seen in the Misty Valley back then was called Sadius.
The black-striped cloud leopard’s voice sounded in Linley’s mind. “My name is Heilu.”
“Heilu?” Linley committed this name to memory.
“Heilu, tell me, what’s the deal with the various forms you can change into?” Linley was very puzzled about this.
The black-striped cloud leopard nodded and said, “Master, because I am a dual-element magical beast of the darkness and wind systems. I also have two magic cores in my mind—one for darkness and one for wind. In my normal state, I look like I did at the beginning, with a balance of defense, speed, and attack power.”
“When I primarily use the energy from my darkness magic core, my size increases, my attack power grows, and my speed drops slightly. If I primarily use my wind magic core, I take on this wind-type form, like now. My speed increases, but my defense weakens.”
The black-striped cloud leopard ‘Heilu’ answered honestly.
Linley suddenly understood.
So the black-striped cloud leopard was a dual-element magical beast of darkness and wind. Its current form was the wind-type form. The larger form was the darkness-type form, and only the original form was the normal one.
“I initially thought this current form of Heilu’s was the normal one,” Linley chuckled inwardly.
The book Linley had read back then had introduced the black-striped cloud leopard. Linley suspected that the person who first discovered the black-striped cloud leopard had seen it in its wind-type form and thus assumed that was what it always looked like.
“Roar~~” Bebe ran over and growled softly at the black-striped cloud leopard.
The black-striped cloud leopard started conversing with him as well.
“The journey ahead will be even more interesting,” Linley said with a smile on his face.
……
With his two magical beasts, Heilu and Bebe, Linley continued his arduous training journey. Every day, Linley immersed himself in the world of swordsmanship. Regarding the use of the heavy sword, Linley would occasionally gain new insights.
Spring passed and autumn arrived.
In the blink of an eye, another year had gone by.
When the second autumn came, during the season of withering and killing, Linley sat cross-legged under an ancient tree, cultivating bitterly. The Dragonblood battle-qi surged within him, and his bloodline and heart were once again strengthened and transformed.
In his dantian, the Dragonblood battle-qi finally underwent a transformation. Linley smiled joyfully. He had finally broken through the peak of the seventh rank and reached the eighth rank, becoming an eighth-rank warrior!
As an eighth-rank warrior, once he fully dragonized, Linley could reach the peak of the ninth rank.
The peak of the ninth rank was vastly different from just entering the ninth rank.
“Back in Hesse City, I couldn’t even break through the defense of an ordinary ninth-rank magical beast. But now, even without using the Profound Truths heavy sword, I can kill an ordinary ninth-rank magical beast,” Linley said with great confidence.
A peak ninth-rank Dragonblood Warrior could definitely eliminate a peak ninth-rank magical beast.
Aside from the Saint Realm, probably no one could threaten him anymore.
“But what exactly is the higher level of the Profound Truths heavy sword technique, this so-called ‘force’?” Linley frowned. Regarding the ‘Thunderclap’ move of the ‘lifting a heavy weight as if it were light’ stage, Linley had already achieved great mastery.
Barefoot, treading on the earth.
Linley continued his arduous training journey. His mind sensed the pulses of the earth and the ethereal flow of the wind. Linley’s heart was also washed cleaner and more agile by nature.
……
Winter arrived.
In the morning, a heavy snow fell. The sky and the earth were filled with endless snowflakes. Linley stood in the heavy snow, watching the overwhelming snowfall, his heart extremely calm.
Suddenly, Linley sat cross-legged on the flat ground, placing the Profound Truths heavy sword flat on his legs. His upper body was still bare, and he still wore the tattered linen trousers.
Snowflakes fell on Linley, but Linley didn’t notice.
Time passed. The heavy snow started in the morning and continued until evening. The entire ground was covered with a thick layer of snow, a foot deep.
Bebe and Heilu, the two magical beasts, hid under a large pine tree, watching Linley from afar.
“Force.”
Linley opened his eyes, a joyful smile in them. He looked up ahead. The snow had stopped now. Although it was evening, the entire world was already brightly illuminated by the heavy snow.
“Roar~~” The roar of a magical beast came from afar.
An Ice-Cold Snow Lion was walking through the snow. It seemed to have spotted Linley and was approaching him step by step. Linley watched the Ice-Cold Snow Lion approach but showed no reaction.
“Swoosh.” The Ice-Cold Snow Lion pushed off the ground and pounced at Linley.
Linley watched the Ice-Cold Snow Lion pounce. He casually grabbed the heavy sword on his legs and swung it directly at the Ice-Cold Snow Lion.
“Boom~~~” As the Profound Truths heavy sword swung out, the space centered around the heavy sword seemed to be compressed, pressing down toward the Ice-Cold Snow Lion.
The Ice-Cold Snow Lion panicked and tried to flee. But the surrounding space had already pressed in, leaving it nowhere to escape.
Facing this heavy sword strike, it could only meet it head-on.
“Pfft!”
The heavy sword struck the Ice-Cold Snow Lion. The Ice-Cold Snow Lion’s entire body trembled violently, and then it was directly reduced to a pile of minced meat.
“Force is the force of heaven and earth. With one sword strike, I can even draw upon space to press down. Haha…” Linley laughed.
After that overwhelming heavy snowfall, Linley had finally stepped into the third level of the heavy sword technique, the ‘force’ level. However, Linley was well aware that he was only just beginning this level.
“To have comprehended the ‘force’ level so quickly, I must thank stone carving and my magical insights,” Linley thought thankfully.
Because he was a mage, Linley’s mind could sense the pulses of the earth and the flow of the wind even more clearly. His mind was perfectly attuned to nature. Coupled with his diligent training throughout this journey, which had accumulated knowledge over time, Linley had finally crossed that barrier and entered the ‘force’ level of the heavy sword technique.
In terms of power, the ‘force’ level was far more terrifying and profound than the ‘lifting a heavy weight as if it were light’ level.
*******
In the spring of 10003 on the Yulan calendar, at the northernmost edge of the Warcraft Mountain Range, it was only a few miles from the North Sea. Standing at the northern edge of the Warcraft Mountain Range, one could even see the boundless, azure North Sea.
Between the North Sea and the northern edge of the Warcraft Mountain Range, there was a passage connecting the O’Brien Empire and the Holy Alliance. On this wide road, almost every day, a large number of travelers passed by.
Whether they were merchants from the O’Brien Empire and the Holy Alliance or people with other purposes, almost everyone took this road.
However, the residents of the O’Brien Empire naturally felt a sense of pride when facing the residents of the Holy Alliance. Because the O’Brien Empire was the most powerful empire on the entire Yulan continent. Moreover, it had the ‘War God.’ In the martial O’Brien Empire, almost all residents were proud to be members of the empire.
At this moment, on this main road, a caravan of several hundred people was resting. Many were eating.
“Old Hite.”
A young man on a carriage grinned and said to a fat man beside him, “You’re going to make a killing on this deal, aren’t you?”
“Haha.” The middle-aged fat man laughed smugly. “Petri, you’re a smart young man. Keep working with us like this, and within three years, you can buy a manor in your hometown, get a few pretty maids, hire some servants, and live a happy life as a manor lord.”
“Three years? Damn, if I work another three years, I’ll probably lose my life,” the young man cursed. “Newbies like me always have to do the most dangerous jobs. Sigh… I’ll work one more year, then go back, buy a pretty woman, and live a happy life. Manor lord? That depends on whether I have the luck.”
The middle-aged fat man laughed. “You’re a newbie, so of course you have to do the dangerous stuff. But your share is also high. Oh, Petri, there’s a pretty woman in our convoy this time. We picked her up along the way.”
“You mean Miss Jenny?” The young man’s eyes lit up. “If I had a woman like that, I’d be willing to work another ten years. That figure, that aura, tsk tsk…”
“But she’s clearly a noble. That old servant of hers is no pushover,” the middle-aged fat man chuckled.
“Can’t I even think about it?” the young man said discontentedly.
The middle-aged fat man laughed. Suddenly, he stared southward, his eyes widening. “Hey, Petri? Look! Someone’s coming out of the Warcraft Mountain Range.” Petri immediately looked toward the Warcraft Mountain Range in the south.
A man wearing a simple blue warrior outfit and carrying a heavy sword on his back walked out of the Warcraft Mountain Range. His brown hair was just reaching his shoulders. Judging by his appearance, this man was nearly two meters tall.
Beside him was a black leopard about the same height as him, and on the black leopard’s back stood a black shadowrat.
“What kind of leopard is that?” Petri exclaimed in shock.
The middle-aged fat man widened his eyes and said, “Don’t make a fuss. I’ve heard that leopard-type and lion-type magical beasts are very strong. They’re usually at least sixth-rank, or even higher-level magical beasts.”
Petri immediately shut up.
At that moment, the brown-haired man was striding quickly toward the convoy. The guards in the convoy immediately went on alert. The newcomer was clearly a powerful warrior.
******
Linley was in an excellent mood. After three full years of arduous training, he had finally left the Warcraft Mountain Range.
“The North Sea, truly vast.” This was Linley’s first time seeing the ocean. The boundless, azure sea filled Linley’s heart with awe.
Seeing a convoy resting ahead, Linley hurried over.
“Hey, brother, what do you want?” A bearded mercenary guard shouted loudly. Linley smiled and said, “I want to go to the O’Brien Empire. Could you give me a ride?”
The bearded mercenary glanced at Linley, turned back to mutter a few words with a middle-aged blond man, then shouted to Linley, “Easy. Twenty gold coins, and we’ll take you.”
“Deal.” Linley was very straightforward. He reached into his pocket, took out a small pouch of gold coins, and handed twenty gold coins to the other party.
Linley had prepared this set of clothes in his space ring. With a space ring, Linley naturally had plenty of supplies.
“Hey, brother, you have this mount. Do you want to ride in a carriage, or just ride the leopard?” the bearded mercenary asked enthusiastically.
“A carriage,” Linley said.
“Alright then. Go to that carriage at the back, the flatbed one with two people on it,” the bearded mercenary said, pointing. Carriages with cabins were considered luxurious. In the convoy, most mercenaries rode on those flatbed carriages.
“Fine.” Linley was easygoing.
He walked over to the flatbed carriage. The two men sitting on the carriage chatting were immediately frightened by the ‘Heilu’ beside Linley. Leopard-type magical beasts were generally high-level.
“Ah, brother, please.” The two men were extremely polite.
Linley got on the carriage. The carriage was covered with soft straw, and on top of the straw was thick cotton cloth. Linley sat down, and Bebe jumped directly onto Linley’s shoulder.
“Brother, come, have a drink.” The older-looking of the two men warmly offered.
“Thanks.” Linley took the wineskin and took a big gulp.
“Oh, everyone get ready, time to move out~~~” A loud voice suddenly rang out. Some people who had been resting under the carriages immediately got back on.
The convoy then started moving, beginning its journey toward the O’Brien Empire…