Chapter 23: Pulse Guard
The duke's estate was very quiet. Sesler was cultivating in his own room, while Wharton and his brother were training in the spacious practice field in the back courtyard. Rebecca and her sister, Jenny, along with the Seventh Princess Nina, were also together, the women chatting idly.
"Whew."
After finishing his training, showering, and changing into dry clothes, Wharton walked contentedly through the earl's estate. He had never felt such happiness in his days.
His elder brother was with him, and he had married Nina. Grandpa Hillman and the others were also living a quiet and comfortable noble life.
"Father, Mother, if you were still alive, you would surely be very happy." Wharton was deeply satisfied, and equally grateful to his elder brother, Linley, who had brought all this about.
Linley was the pillar of their family.
If not for Linley, would the Emperor have given him Nina? If not for Linley, he would only be considered an average figure in the Imperial Capital. At most, he might earn the title of a genius.
Wharton saw Grandpa Hillman in the distance, lying on a recliner, leisurely drinking fruit wine.
"Grandpa Hillman, where's my brother?" Wharton walked over and asked.
The steward Hillman looked up and laughed. "Ah, Wharton. Master Linley went out early this morning."
"Still not back?" Wharton nodded.
"Your brother is outside. What are you worried about? Your brother is a Saint-level expert. Young Master Wharton, you need to work hard too." The steward Hillman said cheerfully.
"Mm." Wharton nodded.
"Grandpa Hillman, next month is the great battle between Olivier and the Purgatory Sword Saint. Will you go watch?" Wharton asked with a smile.
"Of course. How could I miss a battle between Saint-level powerhouses?" The steward Hillman's eyes lit up. "The Purgatory Sword Saint is the strongest among the Saints. Their duel will surely be spectacular."
A look of longing also appeared in Wharton's eyes.
"One day, I will be just like Big Brother, Olivier, and Haydson." Wharton silently made up his mind in his heart.
At that moment, footsteps sounded in the distance.
Linley's figure appeared at the courtyard entrance. Seeing his elder brother, Wharton felt a warmth in his heart and immediately went to greet him. "Brother, why are you only back now? Buck and the others and I have all finished training. Dinner will start soon."
"I went out to see some people." Linley smiled.
Linley did not tell his younger brother about going to the Martial God Mountain. In Linley's view, there were some things on this continent that it was better not to let his brother know for now. He could tell him when Wharton reached the Saint realm.
*******
In an independent courtyard within the earl's estate, Linley resided. Although the estate's practice field was large, Buck's five brothers, Wharton, and the others needed a lot of space to train there. So Linley trained in his own courtyard.
"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" The breeze blew gently, causing the lush branches and leaves in the courtyard to dance. Linley's hair also fluttered with the wind from time to time.
Linley held the Black Heavy Sword, its tip touching the ground.
"The vibration wave of the Earth Essence, I can currently transform up to 128 layers." Back in the five years at Cloud Peak Town, during the fourth year, Linley had reached the Hundred Layers Wave realm.
From the initial Three Layers Wave to Ten Layers Wave, and then to Hundred Layers Wave, Linley's progress had been very fast.
But after passing the Hundred Layers Wave, Linley's rate of increase began to slow down. Even now, Linley had only reached...
With each new insight, he could only increase it by one or two layers.
"I wonder what the limit actually is?" Linley immediately sat down cross-legged.
"Thump!" "Thump!"
The pulse of the earth echoed in Linley's mind. The peculiar rhythm seemed to possess a magical melody, capable of making one involuntarily immerse themselves in it.
Linley's muscles also began to expand and contract, vibrating slightly. Naturally, a whirlwind formed around his body. During his seated cultivation, he had discovered that when his muscles vibrated in sync with the earth's pulse, the efficiency of absorbing earth elemental energy increased, and his physical fitness improved much faster.
"Ah!"
Linley suddenly stood up, his eyes shining brightly, startlingly so.
"Earth Pulse, Earth Pulse..." Linley's mind recalled the scene when the Purgatory Sword Saint 'Haydson' had blocked him and Olivier.
The earthy-yellow waves of air around Haydson's body had struck him like layers of force, forcing him to retreat.
"At the time, I felt that Haydson's defense seemed very familiar, but I couldn't figure it out then, and I didn't have time to think. But now it seems..."
At this moment, Linley felt a sense of clarity, like seeing the moon after the clouds parted.
"Earth Pulse is not just a vibration wave. It can be transformed into the intangible, and it can also be transmitted through battle qi." It was just a thin membrane. Once he pierced through it, he understood.
"Pulse Defense, haha... Among the forbidden spells of the earth system, there is 'Pulse Guard'. It seems to be the same principle. But this is for protecting myself."
The cyan-black battle qi around Linley's body surged.
"No."
Linley closed his eyes, attuning his mind to the earth's pulse, while constantly adjusting the rhythmic changes of his Dragonblood Battle Qi. Understanding the principle was one thing, but putting it into practice was not so simple.
Linley stood in the courtyard, the cyan-black waves of air rolling around him like clouds and mist.
...
Actually, the principle was simple. For example, a piece of paper is certainly easy to tear. But if you cut that paper into six strips and braid them like a braid, that paper rope can even lift objects weighing dozens or even hundreds of jin.
The same material, just by cutting and braiding, its tensile strength becomes significantly different.
The same goes for battle qi defense.
With the same amount of battle qi, just by controlling it with different profound mysteries, the defensive power can increase dozens or even hundreds of times. And this 'Earth Pulse' is just such a unique method.
Among the Laws of the Earth, Earth Pulse is only one path.
Linley's understanding of the Earth Pulse aspect had long reached a relatively high level. Now, by transforming it to comprehend Pulse Defense, since he already understood the theory, putting it into practice would only take some time.
...
"Brother, time to eat." Wharton strode over, followed by Buck's five brothers. They had all just finished training and showered.
But when they pushed open the courtyard gate, they saw—
Cyan-black battle qi swirled around Linley like clouds and mist, his figure appearing faint and blurry within the cyan-black waves.
"Brother?"
"Milord?"
Wharton and Buck's five brothers exchanged glances. Training was one thing, but one should also rest normally every day.
"Don't disturb Boss." Bebe, lying in the courtyard, said.
"It's dinner time. Big Brother should rest too." Wharton said, and he began to approach Linley. Bebe and the nearby Hei Lu exchanged a look but did not stop him.
Linley had long instructed Bebe and the others not to come close, or they would be injured by the backlash.
"This kid needs to learn his lesson." Bebe thought to himself.
Wharton didn't think much of it. The battle qi near Linley's body was dense, but farther away from him, it was quite thin. How could Wharton care about that bit of battle qi?
But the moment he touched the edge of the cyan-black waves, he felt a strange, wave-like force impact him.
"Bang!"
Wharton was sent flying. He only felt as if he had been struck dozens of times in an instant, each impact feeling like being hit by a meteor.
"Wharton!" Gates was the first to catch him.
"Wharton, are you alright?" Gates asked.
"I'm fine." Wharton clutched his chest, tasting blood in his throat. He looked incredulously towards Linley. "Big Brother's battle qi is released externally. I only touched the outermost edge, and I still received such a strong attack?"
Wharton couldn't imagine how powerful it would be in the inner circle, where the battle qi was densest.
"Wharton, it seems Milord hasn't stopped cultivating. He must be at a critical point in his training. We shouldn't disturb him." Buck said seriously.
Wharton nodded. "I'll order the servants to guard the courtyard gate and not allow anyone to disturb him."
"No need. Hei Lu and I will watch over it." Bebe said nonchalantly. "You all go. Don't come to disturb Boss until he stops himself."
Wharton and Buck's five brothers looked at each other and then left.
Meanwhile, Wharton and Buck's five brothers instructed the others not to disturb Linley's cultivation. At the dinner table, Jenny, Nina, and the others were surprised by Linley's diligence in training.
"Training so hard he skips dinner? Big guy, Big Brother is so dedicated." Nina muttered.
...
But who would have thought? The next day, Linley was still cultivating there. The third day, the same... And so, time passed day by day.
In the blink of an eye, over ten days had passed, and it was now May.
"In a few days, it's the great battle between Olivier and Haydson. I hope my brother doesn't get so absorbed in his training that he misses this battle." Wharton said to Buck's five brothers beside him.
Wharton and Buck's five brothers stood outside the courtyard gate.
Every day after finishing their own training, they would come to check on Linley. Linley seemed almost unchanged from before, the cyan-black battle qi still swirling around him. However, compared to ten days ago, the range covered by the cyan-black battle qi had actually shrunk considerably.
"I wonder what Big Brother is cultivating." Wharton couldn't understand it at all.
Buck's five brothers also shook their heads. Their understanding of profound mysteries was not much better than Wharton's. How could they comprehend this kind of elemental law insight?
"Whoosh!" The sound of exhaling rang out.
Wharton and Buck's five brothers, who had already turned to leave, immediately turned back. Indeed, the cyan-black battle qi had been drawn back into Linley's body. Linley was stretching with a smile.
"Wharton, you're here too." Linley said with a laugh.
"Big Brother, you've finally finished cultivating!" Wharton exclaimed in surprise.
"Oh, right. Wharton, how long did I take?" Linley asked with a smile.
"Almost fifteen days! Today is already May 1st. In just two or three days, it will be May 4th. That night is the battle between Olivier and Haydson." Wharton emphasized.
"Fifteen days?"
Linley was slightly surprised. Immersed in the Earth Pulse, constantly adjusting and modifying the 'Pulse Defense', he had hardly felt the passage of time.
He hadn't expected that a single session of closing and opening his eyes would take fifteen days.
"Although I had already understood part of the Earth Pulse and grasped the principle of Pulse Defense, it still took me a full fifteen days to be able to apply it."
Linley was still quite satisfied.
His previous 'Battle Qi Shield' was merely the most foolish and simplest method of use. With this 'Pulse Defense', using the same amount of battle qi, the power increased by dozens of times.
"It seems my defense is different from Haydson's."
Before creating it, Linley thought it would be the same. But after creating it, he discovered... Haydson's defense was merely a simple application of Earth Pulse. Haydson's understanding of Earth Pulse was definitely not as deep as his own.
Yet, Haydson's defense was terrifying.
Because Pulse Defense was just an incidental part of Haydson's defense. What he truly relied on should be another profound mystery he had comprehended from the 'Laws of the Earth'.
"I wonder how my pure Pulse Defense compares to Haydson's defense." Linley mused inwardly.
"Brother, what are you thinking? Let's go to dinner." Wharton called out.
"Alright."
Linley looked at Bebe and Hei Lu beside him. "Bebe, Hei Lu, let's go." Linley guessed that Bebe and Hei Lu had also stayed here with him for these fifteen days.
"I thought Boss had forgotten about us." Bebe jumped onto Linley's shoulder, stood upright, and pouted. "But Boss, even though we didn't leave the courtyard for these ten-odd days, the servants still brought us food. Ah, but tonight there won't be any delivery. I, Bebe, will have to personally go over to eat."
Linley, Wharton, and Buck's five brothers couldn't help but laugh.