Chapter 11: The Order Is Given
Hijinkson stood in midair, looking at Linley with confusion. Linley had actually just started cultivating right there without any hesitation.
"Impressive, truly impressive." Hijinkson sighed in admiration, then flew over to the side where Desri and the others were. Desri's group looked at Linley with admiration in their eyes. They all sat down, and Hayward chuckled, "Big brother, this Linley truly lives up to his reputation as a genius. Even while sparring with Hijinkson, who cultivates the Laws of Light, he was able to comprehend something."
This group of Desri's were all pinnacle experts of the Saint realm.
Seeing Linley like this, they knew he must have comprehended something important to start cultivating directly.
"Uncle." Reynolds saw Linley like this and hurried over. "What's wrong with Linley? Is he injured?"
"Haha..." Desri's group all burst into laughter. Miller laughed, "Reynolds, Linley is fine. But how long this cultivation session of his will last is hard to say. For us to suddenly have a breakthrough in understanding is extremely rare."
Only then did Reynolds feel relieved.
...
At this moment, scenes began to automatically play out in Linley's mind. A figure holding a longsword appeared in the void of his consciousness. This figure once again thrust out the same sword strike Hijinkson had used earlier. Hijinkson's sword strike was like a dream—
The sword thrust out, light pierced through, space twisted...
The overlapping, blurry shadows of space, the terrifying piercing power, seemed unstoppable.
"What is it? What is it?" Linley kept asking himself, replaying that sword strike over and over in his mind. When he saw that strike, he had a feeling that he had grasped something.
But it was very vague!
He replayed it again and again, thinking seriously.
Suddenly—
It was as if a bolt of lightning flashed through Linley's mind. His heart trembled, and the hazy fog was finally lifted. He finally understood why he had felt that spark of comprehension: "Yes, it's wind, it's wind! It's 'speed'!"
A surge of wild joy welled up in Linley's heart.
Back when Linley saw Miller use that sword technique representing the 'slow' aspect of the Laws of Wind, Linley had understood the path beneath the 'slow' aspect. Linley knew that the power of his own 'Rhythm of the Wind' could continue to increase.
Because the 'Rhythm of the Wind' was like the Profound Truths of the Earth.
The more vibration waves, the stronger the Profound Truths of the Earth.
By the same logic, the 'Rhythm of the Wind' was formed by combining the two aspects of 'slow' and 'fast', creating opposing vibrations that produced an attack of spatial blades. The deeper the comprehension of the 'slow' aspect, the deeper the comprehension of the 'fast' aspect... this would also make the combined spatial blades stronger, and the 'Rhythm of the Wind' more powerful.
Linley's comprehension of the 'slow' aspect had been steadily progressing after his sparring match with Miller.
But his comprehension of the 'fast' aspect had stagnated.
What was the path of the 'fast' aspect of the Laws of Wind?
And today, upon seeing Hijinkson's 'Illusory Void Sword', Linley clearly saw the path he needed to take next: "Among the various elemental laws, when it comes to speed, only the Laws of Wind and the Laws of Light have the advantage. Hijinkson is fast, so fast that space becomes chaotic in an instant. And the 'slow' aspect of the Laws of Wind can be so slow that space begins to freeze. Yes... the 'fast' aspect of the Laws of Wind should also be able to achieve instantaneous spatial chaos and overlap."
Linley already had some foundation in his comprehension of the 'fast' aspect of the 'Laws of Wind'. He had often pondered it in recent days.
Now, with a clear goal in mind... Linley's mind began to rapidly simulate the path of cultivation. It was like having a starting point and knowing the destination. What he had to do now was to figure out this path and walk along it to reach that endpoint.
Linley simulated various possibilities in his mind, and his understanding of the 'fast' aspect of the Wind Element gradually deepened. When he couldn't determine the correctness of a simulation, he would stand up and use the 'Violet Blood Softsword' to test it in reality.
Cultivation was so tedious and rigorous, requiring occasional flashes of insight.
Just like the sudden spark of inspiration earlier, he had finally seen the general path, knew the general route. Now, with comprehension, research, and repeated testing... it was just a matter of time. With enough time, he would definitely reach the same level.
...
To comprehend the path of the 'fast' aspect of the Laws of Wind from a single sword strike of the Laws of Light—such insight was far beyond what ordinary people could achieve. At this moment, Desri and his group had no idea what Linley had actually comprehended.
"It's been half a month now, and Third Brother is still..." Reynolds looked anxiously at Linley, who was sitting cross-legged in meditation in the distance.
Beside him, Monica laughed, "Brother Reynolds, last night, I saw Linley suddenly stand up and seem to demonstrate some sword technique. But his sword shadow was so hazy. As soon as that purple sword shadow appeared, the wind picked up around him, and the speed was too fast to see the changes clearly."
"If Third Brother keeps this up, I don't know how long he'll be cultivating." Reynolds said with some worry.
"Sister Monica, look." Monica suddenly pointed excitedly towards Linley. Reynolds looked over... and saw Linley standing up, smiling at Reynolds as he walked over. "Fourth Brother, what, do I have a flower growing on my face?"
At that moment, a black shadow shot over and jumped onto Linley's shoulder.
"Bebe." Linley affectionately rubbed Bebe's head.
Bebe pouted and complained, "Boss, it's been half a month. You sure can sleep."
"Sleep?" Linley was speechless.
He knew that while he was cultivating, Bebe must have been incredibly bored. But Linley was in a very good mood... his comprehension of the 'fast' aspect of the Wind Element had taken another step forward. Linley also knew that to reach the power of Hijinkson's sword strike in this aspect, he estimated it would take about ten years of effort.
As for reaching Miller's level in the 'slow' aspect, he estimated it would take three to four years.
It was obvious... 'Miller' was far inferior to 'Hijinkson' in terms of realm. Linley was very pleased. Gaining insights through sparring was truly fast.
If he were alone in the deep mountains, cultivating without any direction, he might be lucky and find the path in ten or a hundred years. If unlucky, it could take hundreds or even thousands of years to find the way.
That was the nature of cultivation. Those who comprehended quickly cultivated quickly. Those who comprehended slowly cultivated slowly. After all, once they reached the Saint realm, everyone's battle qi had long since reached the Saint realm's limit. Everyone was comprehending the laws... like Olivier. Upon first entering the Saint realm, he defeated Tieron.
There was no helping it. Who told Tieron to have almost no comprehension of the elemental laws?
*******
In the northern part of the Chaos Plains, a large-scale war had erupted.
According to the plan of Linley, Sesslar, and the others, about seven or eight days after Linley had set out for the mysterious mountain village, Barker and his group began leading their troops to attack a duchy to the south that belonged to the Radiant Church. This duchy was called the Sheli Duchy.
The army of the Sheli Duchy was far inferior in quality to Linley's forces. The people under Linley's rule were from the vicinity of the Dark Forest, fierce and strong in combat. Especially with the addition of the five Barker brothers charging into battle—
It was devastating!
The strongest experts in the Sheli Duchy were only three rank eight warriors, not even a single rank nine. What could such a duchy do to stop Linley's advance?
The five Barker brothers, like five war gods, led their fierce army as they swept through. Wherever they passed, everything was conquered. In just four days, one prefectural city and five small cities within the Sheli Duchy were all captured. Linley's sphere of influence expanded greatly.
Gates, Black Shark, and Anko were staying in the prefectural city of the Sheli Duchy.
"It's like there's no resistance at all." Gates said boisterously. "Too weak, too weak. There isn't even anyone who can slow us down for a moment." Indeed, even if they encountered strong resistance, with the individual combat power of Gates and the others, who could stop them?
Furthermore, the Saint-level magical beast, the Blackstriped Cloud Leopard 'Blackscale', was always on standby, ready to strike at any moment.
"Andrew." Anko suddenly turned to look at a silver-haired man behind him. The silver-haired man immediately listened respectfully for Anko's orders. Anko inquired, "How is the reorganization of the Sheli Duchy's army going? And what about the people in this duchy?"
To govern a country, one needed people. Barker and the others were merely generals.
"My lords." Andrew said respectfully, "The army reorganization is complete. We have also inserted many soldiers from cities like Blacksoil City into the ranks."
Barker and the others were a bit uneasy about these surrendered troops. They did their best to break up the old formations, making the officers and soldiers unfamiliar with each other. They also killed some people and inserted their own men.
"The people of the Sheli Duchy have been under the influence of the Radiant Church for a long time. Many of them believe in the Radiant Church." Andrew said with concern. "I believe that if the Radiant Church's people come to attack us, these people might even rebel. But there are too many of them, and there's nothing we can do."
"Rebel?"
Black Shark said confidently, "What's there to fear? Under the threat of death, what waves can those ordinary people stir up?"
"Andrew, the Sheli Duchy has just come under our control, and the people's hearts are unstable. We'll have to trouble you to handle things." Anko instructed. Andrew respectfully acknowledged the order.
"Alright, you may withdraw now." Anko said with a smile. Then, only Anko, Black Shark, and Gates remained in the room.
Anko looked at his two brothers. "The orders from Sesslar and the others have arrived. We are to stop attacking for now. Prepare for the formal establishment of the duchy in half a month. Now, the people under our rule number over ten million."
Black Shark and Gates smiled.
"I didn't expect the Radiant Church to not resist at all. It seems they don't want a head-on clash with us." Gates laughed. "According to our original plan, we'll just play dumb. After we formally establish the duchy and announce it to the public, we'll continue attacking the Radiant Church's territory."
The weakness of the Radiant Church indeed made Black Shark, Gates, and the others think that the other side didn't want to fight them.
******
Back in that dimly lit room, the golden-haired man arrived once again.
"Lord Inquisitor." The golden-haired man stood respectfully, awaiting orders.
Usenno, sitting at the desk, had a piercing gaze. He said coldly, "Now that Linley's side has just conquered the Sheli Duchy, they will definitely need some time to digest it. They will probably think we don't want to fight them."
The golden-haired man looked up at Usenno, excited. "Are we going to attack?"
"If we don't attack, fine. But if we do, we must annihilate Linley's side completely." Usenno's voice was icy. "This Linley poses a great threat to our Church. If we let him develop, the consequences will be endless. Now they dare to provoke us by attacking the Sheli Duchy. It's clear... they want to fight the Radiant Church."
"Since they want to fight, we must kill all the experts on Linley's side." His voice grew even colder, and a strange purple light flickered in his pupils.
The golden-haired man grew excited, but then asked doubtfully, "Lord Inquisitor, are we going to use our Saint-level forces? Won't that cause dissatisfaction from the Dark Church, the O'Brien Empire, and the others?"
"Don't worry about that." Usenno said coldly. "If we let Linley develop like this, then our Church's thousands of years of accumulation in the Chaos Plains might be destroyed in one fell swoop. And this Linley cannot be allowed to develop any further. His rate of growth is too terrifying. Right now... I am confident I can kill him. But if this continues..."
Usenno looked at the golden-haired man. "Alright, follow the original plan and begin preparations for the operation."
"Yes, Lord Inquisitor." The golden-haired man acknowledged the order.
"Tomorrow at midnight, the nine Saint-level angels will set out immediately... I will also have to meet this Linley and that rat-type magical beast." Usenno was full of confidence. His strength was on par with the Radiant Pope, a whole level above Hedderson.
Killing Linley, he had enough confidence.