Chapter 25: Stepping into the Eighth Layer
Even if his body were chopped into seven or eight pieces, he could recover in just one or two seconds.
Such regenerative ability made the eyes of the surrounding experts light up. This treasure was extremely important for Saint-level experts.
"That's only for Saint-level experts. For God-level experts, this thing is worthless." The Six-Eyed Golden Lion laughed.
Desri also nodded and said, "God-level experts possess a divine spark. Their divine body is also formed by condensing divine power. Even if severely injured, as long as their soul isn't scattered, even if their body turns to nothingness, they can use divine power to condense it again." The gap between the Saint Domain and the Divine Domain was enormous.
Linley and his group sighed inwardly.
Divine Domain!
No matter how powerful Linley was now, he had no power to fight back in front of a Divine Domain expert. That single step of difference blocked countless Saint-level experts.
"Big brother," the other Six-Eyed Golden Lion said. "Even if someone merges this Life Source Pearl into their body and their soul remains intact, they can still be killed. Have you forgotten what father said that time?"
The leading Six-Eyed Golden Lion suddenly understood and said, "Oh, you mean if the body is completely burned to ashes?"
Linley, Desri, Fain, and the others looked at the Six-Eyed Golden Lion with confusion. The leading Six-Eyed Golden Lion explained to Linley's group, "The ability of the Life Source Pearl is to restore the body. That means at least a small part of your body must remain for it to repair the damaged parts. If your body turns to nothingness, you naturally die."
"Oh, I see." Linley and the others understood.
"But Linley..." the Six-Eyed Golden Lion looked at Linley. "With this Life Source Pearl, don't be overconfident. In the countless planes, there are many ways to turn an opponent's body directly into nothingness. Both fire-element and water-element practitioners have such abilities."
"I know."
Linley said with a faint smile, "The laws of the elements are as vast as the ocean. Right now, we only know a drop or two of water."
"Your physical defense is strong, and you have the Life Source Pearl. Now you need to focus on soul attacks and defenses," the Six-Eyed Golden Lion said, seemingly very concerned about Linley, advising him. "In terms of the soul, there are countless strange attacks and techniques. If you're not careful, you might fall."
Linley nodded.
Indeed, the soul was profound.
For example, the Undying Saint Magus Sesslar could easily control other undead and search others' souls.
For example, Beirut could even read the memories of Saint-level experts like Rudy and Dillon without them noticing. Such methods were astonishing. Controlling Saint-level experts was probably simple for them.
"Back when I was attacked by the Light Pope Heiting's 'Great Prophecy,' my soul defense nearly collapsed. I need to be more careful in this area in the future," Linley thought to himself.
Heiting, among the countless Saint-level experts from other planes, was only average. There were many who were more skilled in soul attacks than him. Linley's soul defense was actually inferior to Saint-level experts like Rosalie and Desri.
At least experts like Desri wouldn't be so embarrassed when facing Heiting.
"In terms of the soul, there are many methods like seduction, hypnosis, freezing, and destruction—some forceful, some gentle," Desri sighed. "The more you study it, the more you realize its vastness. The War God once said that the High Priestess could probably make us sink into an illusion with just a glance, and we would eventually believe we were dead, and in reality, our souls would truly scatter."
"Huh?" Linley was shocked.
The High Priestess was that terrifying?
Rosalie chuckled and said, "There's no helping it. After becoming a god, the most fragile thing is the soul. Whether it's a lesser god, a middle god, or a higher god, they all devote themselves to studying the mysteries of the soul. After all, they don't want to die either."
Fain smiled and said, "Linley, you should first bind the Life Source Pearl with blood, or else we'll keep eyeing it jealously."
Linley smiled and directly dripped a drop of blood.
Then the transparent Life Source Pearl, emitting a faint green glow, merged directly into Linley's body. Linley clearly felt that his internal organs, muscles, and bones were filled with boundless vitality. Even if they were broken or damaged, they would be repaired in an extremely short time.
Linley's group didn't rush into the eighth layer. Instead, they prepared in the seventh layer first. After all, once they entered the eighth layer, who knew what terrifying creatures they might encounter.
In the distance, Tully was constantly testing his blade techniques.
He had only obtained the Blood Shadow Crescent Blade not long ago and was still exploring the power of this divine artifact. Meanwhile, Olivia, Desri, and the others were sitting cross-legged, meditating.
"I've been at the ninth-rank Grand Magus level for so long, but I still haven't broken through," Linley thought to himself as he sat cross-legged on the desert sand. But he also knew that he couldn't rush this. The more anxious he was, the harder it was to break through.
Bebe was curled up on Linley's lap, sleeping comfortably.
"Bebe," Linley called out. Wharton was his brother, and Bebe was also his brother. When it came to family, Linley had a strong desire to protect them.
"Huh? Boss?" Bebe lifted his little head and looked at Linley.
Linley lowered his voice and said, "Bebe, the Necropolis of the Gods gets more dangerous with each layer. I can't imagine what we'll encounter in the eighth layer or what will happen! But Bebe, it's best if you don't go to the eighth layer."
"Boss?" Bebe's small eyes widened.
"Bebe, is your defense better than the Flame Sovereign's? Is your attack stronger than his? Bebe... you're still in your growth stage. You don't need to take such risks," Linley said. He wasn't afraid for himself, but he was worried about Bebe.
"If you go, Boss, I can go too," Bebe said stubbornly.
Linley shook his head and said, "No. I have the Life Source Pearl, so I'll be much safer. Most importantly, I feel like something in the Necropolis of the Gods is waiting for me, calling to me." Especially now that he was inside the Necropolis, Linley could feel that call more clearly.
It was a call that made his soul tremble.
Whether it was for cultivation, to uncover the secrets of the Four Supreme Warriors, or to answer the call of his soul, Linley didn't want to back down.
"Boss, I want to go with you," Bebe said, staring at Linley with his small eyes. "What's a little danger? Boss, what are you afraid of? Back then, when we went to the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, we were so weak, but we survived under the claws of the Spiked-Back Adamantine Dragon. We survived the pursuit of the Radiant Church. Back then, when we were weak, we weren't afraid. Now that we're stronger, we're afraid instead?"
"You have to know that I, Bebe, am very powerful!" Bebe stood upright, puffing out his little chest.
Linley couldn't help but laugh, but his heart was deeply moved.
At the same time, Linley seemed to recall his youth, when he and Bebe had ventured into the Misty Valley together.
"Haha, alright. Life and death—we'll face them together," Linley said with a laugh, picking up Bebe. Bebe also laughed.
They stayed in the seventh layer for seven days. Now, Linley's group was standing in front of the passage. Desri, Rosalie, and the other Saint Magi had cast defensive spells on themselves. Linley had also transformed into his Dragonblood Warrior form. Everyone was ready.
"Everyone, be careful. Now... let's go!" Desri said.
Immediately, the eleven experts entered the passage of the black pyramid one after another. The passage was shrouded in black light. After walking for a while, Linley's group entered the eighth layer.
"It looks like the third layer," Linley said, looking around.
The eighth layer of the Necropolis of the Gods had a thick layer of ice covering the ground. It was a world of ice, with countless icebergs in the distance reflecting dazzling light. The only sound was the howling of the bitter cold wind, blowing ice shards everywhere.
Desri, Linley, Fain, Bebe, the three Six-Eyed Golden Lions, and the other experts all cautiously looked around.
"Find the passage," Desri said softly as he flew up.
The eleven experts flew up simultaneously and began quietly searching for the passage to the ninth layer. Of course, they were very careful while flying, afraid of alerting any creatures in the eighth layer. But they flew for a long time...
"Strange. This eighth layer is odd," Rosalie said in confusion. "We've been searching for so long, but why haven't we found a single creature?"
Indeed.
Whether in the sixth or seventh layer, they had encountered creatures as soon as they entered. For example, the Crimson Rock Demon in the sixth layer and the ordinary offspring—Longwu—in the seventh layer were very easy to find.
But in this eighth layer, Linley and the others had flown at least a thousand miles without encountering a single creature.
"This eighth layer is a bit eerie," Fain said, also looking around.
The three Six-Eyed Golden Lions were also cautious, carefully observing everything around them, trying to find some clues.
Linley looked around and lowered his voice, saying, "No matter what creature is in this eighth layer, if we can reach the ninth layer without alerting it, that would be best. Let's find the passage first." The others nodded in agreement.
If they could avoid fighting, that would be ideal.
Everyone began searching for the passage cautiously.
Linley and the others were worried about encountering a creature in the eighth layer later on. But...
"Whoosh, whoosh..." In the eighth layer, Linley and the others only heard the howling of the wind. There wasn't a single creature. After flying for nearly an hour, they finally spotted a passage staircase faintly shrouded in black light. It was the passage to the ninth layer.
Linley, Desri, Olivia, Fain, and the other experts looked at each other, their eyes filled with surprise.
"We're really lucky this time. We found the passage without encountering a single creature," Rosalie said softly with a smile.
The others also nodded with smiles.
"Let's go to the ninth layer," Fain said excitedly, about to enter.
None of the eleven experts noticed that on the smooth surface of an ordinary-looking iceberg next to the passage staircase, a black crack suddenly appeared. Then... the crack split open, revealing a vertical eye that was three to four meters tall!
A golden eye!
"Boom!" The iceberg shattered, and from inside it emerged a giant humanoid figure made of ice. The only part of this giant figure that wasn't made of ice was the vertical golden eye on its face: "Humans, you killed Rashabel? Very impressive."
The giant ice man's voice boomed like thunder through the eighth layer.
At the same time...
Just as Fain was about to step toward the passage, he suddenly noticed that the entrance to the ninth layer had been frozen over. The thick ice was several meters deep.
Linley, Fain, Desri, and the others almost simultaneously noticed the giant ice man that had suddenly appeared beside them. They all retreated rapidly.
"What kind of creature is this?" Linley looked at the giant ice man. Where its eyes should have been, there was no pair of human-like eyes, but a single vertical golden eye. Linley only glanced at the golden eye, but he felt as if his soul had been struck by a heavy blow, leaving him dizzy.
"You killed Rashabel. I'm very happy. As a reward... among the eleven of you, I'll kill six. The other five can return to the seventh layer alive," the giant ice man said in a gentle voice, like a kind old man. Linley, Fain, Desri, and the others all trembled inwardly.
"Evil eye? Be careful. Don't look at its eye," the Six-Eyed Golden Lion said in a low voice.
Linley had already regained his clarity.
"Evil eye?" the giant ice man laughed. "No, you shouldn't call me an evil eye. To be precise, I am the king of the evil eye race from the Ice Blue Plane. You can call me the Evil Eye King." The giant ice man said loudly.
Then the vertical golden eye looked down at the group below: "To kill six. Hmm, let's start with these two humans."
In an instant, the golden eye shot out two nearly transparent gray rays in rapid succession. The speed of these gray rays was terrifying. The worst part was that Linley and Olivia hadn't dared to look at the golden eye, so they only noticed the gray rays when they were close.
It was already too late!
"Pfft!" "Pfft!"
The two gray rays shot into Linley and Olivia's bodies respectively.