Chapter 56: Demonic Crystal Core
"Where there is wind, the sword can appear!"
Upon hearing this, McCansey was deeply shaken. If he had heard these words before his battle with Linley, he would have thought the other was boasting. But he had already experienced it—that terrifying speed of sword drawing was ten or even a hundred times faster than his own.
He couldn't contend with it. He could only use his battle-qi shield to defend.
Being forced to such an extent, McCansey accepted his loss wholeheartedly.
"Linley, you say 'melting into the wind.' This... I still cannot understand." McCansey frowned.
Linley didn't hide anything and said with a smile, "McCansey, you must understand that wind is formless and shapeless by nature. It can be as swift as thunder or as slow as stillness. My Wind Mystery is actually just a small part of what I've comprehended from the laws of wind elements."
"The laws," McCansey said, his eyes filled with reverence. "That is the supreme."
The various elemental laws were truly too profound. In truth, one only needed to comprehend enough of them for the soul to fully contact the 'Elemental World,' thereby obtaining a divine spark and stepping into the divine realm.
As for Linley now, he was merely at the edge of the laws.
Both the 'Earth Mystery' and the 'Wind Mystery' were just a single ladle of water from the boundless ocean of the laws.
"Melting into the wind, my sword can appear anywhere the wind exists. But this method places extremely high demands on the material of the sword itself. Because in that near-teleportation-like shuttling, the sword itself endures immense pressure." Linley smirked. "If this technique had no material requirements, wouldn't I be able to teleport myself?"
Linley could indeed merge himself into the wind, but his own body simply couldn't withstand the near-teleportation speed of movement.
"Haha, teleportation! Even divine-level experts can't do that, right?" McCansey sighed in admiration.
No matter how powerful an expert was, even someone like the War God, they could at most move as fast as lightning. Teleportation was impossible. Although the term 'teleportation' existed, it was merely spread by weaker individuals who witnessed Saint-level experts in battle.
Saint-level experts moved too fast. Ordinary people, seeing a Saint-level expert appear here one moment and there the next, mistakenly thought it was teleportation.
In truth, teleportation simply didn't exist.
Perhaps it did, but at the very least, experts at the level of the War God couldn't achieve it.
"McCansey, what about that attack of yours? Earlier, I couldn't sense your presence at all. I felt as if countless spear shadows around me were all real." Linley looked at McCansey with confusion.
Exchanges between Saint-level experts truly promoted each other's progress. Linley certainly wouldn't let pride stop him from asking.
McCansey laughed. "Actually, this attack method of mine is quite common. Most Saint-level peak experts do the same."
"Oh?" Linley looked at McCansey in surprise.
"Back when the War God fought the High Priest, many experts witnessed the terror of the Divine Domain. Afterward, many Saint-level experts wanted to create an attack that could achieve the effect of the Divine Domain. In truth, my earlier attack is a kind of 'Pseudo-Domain' technique." McCansey said with a self-deprecating smile.
Linley continued to look at McCansey.
What Linley wanted was the principle behind this attack.
"Actually, this attack is extremely extravagant," McCansey sighed. "For example, I walk the path of comprehending the 'Fire Elemental Laws.'"
All Saint-level experts walked the path of comprehending the laws, just comprehending different things.
"This 'Pseudo-Domain' technique involves instantly unleashing all accumulated battle-qi while simultaneously detonating all surrounding fire elements. This creates a sea of flames within a hundred-meter radius in an instant. Because my battle-qi merges with the fire elements, the entire sea of flames carries my aura. That's why you couldn't distinguish my true body."
"I can control the surroundings to form various attacks while hiding my true body within. Earlier, I used battle-qi to form one attack while I myself launched a sneak attack from behind."
"But my control isn't refined enough. I can only control battle-qi and elements to form a single attack. If I could make all the other spear shadows materialize into real attacks, you'd be in serious trouble." McCansey laughed.
Linley began to understand.
The principle of this technique was simple; the difficulty lay in controlling the elements.
For example, 'Force' was merely a borrowing of the world's momentum, but 'Pseudo-Domain' was entirely different—it was complete control! Generally, controlling the elements within a space was something Saint-level experts couldn't do. That was something only divine-level experts could achieve.
But Saint-level experts were clever. They would unleash a massive amount of battle-qi, perfectly fusing it with the elements, using the battle-qi to indirectly control the elements. Although it consumed a huge amount of battle-qi, it barely formed a 'Pseudo-Domain.'
Even so, controlling the elements was far inferior to the 'Divine Domain.'
Linley had personally experienced it. The Assassin King 'Sissey,' relying on his Divine Domain, had instantly immobilized both Linley and the Saint-level peak expert Stedler, making them unable to move.
That level of elemental control was terrifyingly strong.
In comparison, the 'Pseudo-Domain' was much weaker.
"This Pseudo-Domain has its advantages. Although it consumes a massive amount of battle-qi, as long as one's realm is high enough, it can form thousands of attacks in an instant. It can also conceal the true body's location. Its power surpasses my 'Wind Ripple,' but its only weakness is the excessive consumption of battle-qi—too wasteful."
But in an instant, Linley shook his head.
"This is merely a clever attack created by borrowing from the 'Divine Domain.' Although it tests one's control over elements, it contributes almost nothing to the comprehension of the laws themselves." Linley believed in his heart that this was a deviant path, not the correct one.
The various elemental laws—earth, fire, water, wind, and so on—were like a perfect building. Each brick and tile of that building was a mystery of the laws. A single law was composed of many such mysteries.
Linley had comprehended one and created the vibration wave attack. This should be considered a relatively high-level mystery among the many mysteries of the Earth Elemental Laws.
*******
After the battle, both Linley and McCansey had torn clothes—Linley's pants were especially ragged. After changing clothes, they chatted and laughed as they left.
"Squeak~~" Bebe, perched on Linley's shoulder, bared his teeth at McCansey beside him, as if mocking him for losing.
"This little thing is really..." McCansey chuckled helplessly.
Linley also laughed. Bebe had been instructed by Linley not to reveal his Saint-level abilities in front of outsiders. Unless absolutely necessary, Bebe was a trump card Linley would only show at critical moments.
Under the bright moonlight, the two Saint-level experts chatted and laughed as they walked toward the provincial capital, Basil.
......
The next morning, despite McCansey's earnest attempts to keep him, Linley decided to set out for the imperial capital. Unable to stop him, McCansey accompanied him for a hundred miles. By evening, the group arrived at the Yulan River's bank.
McCansey had already arranged for a three-story riverboat to be prepared at the Yulan River dock.
"Brother McCansey, no need to see me off any further."
Linley's relationship with McCansey was now very good. This McCansey had accompanied him for a hundred miles all the way to the Yulan River bank. How could Linley not be grateful for such treatment?
"Brother Linley, I truly wish I could spend a few more months with you. But since you're eager to reunite with your brother, I won't keep you any longer." McCansey said solemnly, "Brother Linley, take care on your journey."
Under McCansey's gaze, Linley and his group boarded the riverboat. Then, following the surging Yulan River, they sailed downstream directly southward.
The Yulan River was extremely wide, its waters vast and mighty.
This riverboat was much better than the one Linley had rented last time, and the crew's skill was far superior. Although they were also traveling downstream, this time the boat moved noticeably faster.
"So this is the Yulan River. It's truly enormous." The five Barker brothers stood at the railing, gazing at the surging river with bright eyes.
The Barker brothers came from the eighteen northern duchies. They were accustomed to snowy, icy landscapes but had never seen such a massive river.
Rebecca and Lena were also very excited, chatting with Jenny about the Yulan River.
Meanwhile, Bebe and Hei Lu, the two magical beasts, were communicating in low growls.
Linley knew that ever since Bebe reached the Saint level, Hei Lu had been even more cowed in Bebe's presence. Hei Lu, after all, was a peak-level nine magical beast and had been proud in the past. But now, Bebe had completely crushed his spirit.
"Hei Lu, come with me."
Linley glanced at Hei Lu and walked directly to the second floor of the riverboat. Bebe and Hei Lu immediately followed. The second floor was empty of others.
"Boss, why did you call Hei Lu over?" Bebe asked aloud. When outsiders were present, Bebe didn't dare speak. Now, of course, he wanted to talk freely. Bebe actually enjoyed speaking human language.
Hei Lu's cold, dark eyes also looked at Linley with confusion.
He didn't know why his master had called him.
"Hei Lu, back then, didn't you and Bebe both want that dark-element Saint-level demonic crystal core?" Linley said with a smile.
As soon as Linley said this, the clever Hei Lu guessed what Linley intended to do. His eyes immediately lit up.
"Boss, you're going to give the Saint-level demonic crystal core to Hei Lu?" Bebe also guessed.
"What, do you object?" Linley looked at Bebe.
Bebe happily shook his little head, glanced at Hei Lu, who was looking at him pitifully, and giggled, "Of course not. Hei Lu, though sometimes a bit arrogant, isn't bad. He'll follow me from now on. I'm a Saint-level magical beast now; if he's too weak, I'd lose face too."
Linley couldn't help but laugh at that.
"Alright. Hei Lu, after you eat this Saint-level demonic crystal core, go to your room. I won't let anyone disturb you." Linley flipped his hand and took out the dark-element Saint-level demonic crystal core he had obtained years ago.
Recalling his younger self, watching the Spiked-backed Iron-armored Dragon and the Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear fight in terror, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Time flowed like water. Now, he probably had the strength to contend with both the Spiked-backed Iron-armored Dragon and the Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear at the same time.
"Bebe, you go to Hei Lu's room too. Stay by his side and watch. If anything important happens during Hei Lu's breakthrough, tell me immediately." Linley was also worried that Hei Lu might encounter problems while consuming the Saint-level demonic crystal core.
"Got it, Boss." Bebe puffed out his chest and accepted the order.
Linley tossed the dark-element Saint-level demonic crystal core to Hei Lu. Hei Lu opened his mouth, caught it in his jaws, and looked at Linley gratefully. With Hei Lu's intelligence, he fully understood the value of a Saint-level demonic crystal core. Consuming it for a breakthrough wasn't a hundred percent certain; failure was still possible.
Yet Linley had still given it to him.
"I hope Hei Lu doesn't disappoint me." Watching Hei Lu and Bebe enter the private room, Linley sighed inwardly. Then he walked back to the deck to admire the surging waters of the Yulan River.
The riverboat continued speeding along the Yulan River's course, while the Black-striped Cloud Leopard 'Hei Lu' began his sprint toward the Saint level.