# Chapter 1: Returning Home
Deep below, led by Beirut, numerous powerful experts flew toward the spatial rift.
"The Necropolis of the Gods..." Linley turned his head to look back.
Even though he had already flown dozens of miles, the Necropolis of the Gods, which was a full twenty thousand meters tall, still appeared so conspicuous. On the wall facing Linley was the carving of a winding, wingless dragon. Seeing this massive dragon carving, Linley's heart naturally welled up with a familiar feeling.
"No matter what is calling to me from within that Necropolis of the Gods, I can't just go and throw my life away. Because at home, there are still Delia, Taylor, Sasha, and the others." Linley couldn't help but think of his wife and children, and a warmth filled his heart.
...
The South Sea was vast and boundless. Although the sea breeze wasn't strong at the moment, the surface of the sea still gently surged. The blazing midday sun shone down on the water, causing a brilliant, colorful luster to ripple across it.
"Gurgle, gurgle~~~"
The waves suddenly and eerily parted. Beirut, dressed in a black robe, was the first to fly out from beneath the water. Following him, the five Deity-level experts—the War God 'O'Brien', the High Priest, Dylin, Hise, and Tarossa—flew out one after another. Finally came the nearly thirty Saint-level experts who had survived the Necropolis of the Gods.
"Whoosh!" Flying out of the sea, Linley greedily took a deep breath.
"This is the aura of the Yulan Continent." Linley looked up at the blazing sun, a smile involuntarily appearing on his face.
"The feeling of returning home is truly wonderful," Linley said silently in his heart.
It wasn't just Linley. Even Barker, Olivier, Fain, Desri, and the others all had smiles on their faces. The Yulan Continent plane was the plane that had nurtured them. On this plane, their souls felt extremely comfortable.
"Lord Beirut, I'll see you off here," Tarossa said respectfully from the side.
Beirut turned his head to glance at him and nodded. "Alright. But Tarossa, you should know my rules. I believe you won't violate them again." Beirut cast a cold glance at Tarossa, who immediately forced a smile onto his face.
"Lord Beirut, please rest assured. The Tarossa of today is not the Tarossa of ten thousand years ago," Tarossa said respectfully.
"Mm. Let's go." Beirut gave the order calmly.
Immediately, the other experts followed Beirut, flying rapidly northward. Only Tarossa remained, looking around at the boundless ocean. He murmured, "I've finally returned..." Then, with a splash, Tarossa dove straight into the seabed.
...
Linley and the group of experts were still flying northward over the ocean.
"Lord Linley. This time, when we returned to the Yulan Continent from the Necropolis of the Gods, it was Tarossa who opened the spatial rift. It seems that opening that spatial rift requires the strength of a Demigod," Barker said quietly to Linley.
Linley nodded.
"That should be the case. But since Tarossa spared your life, we owe him a debt of gratitude."
"Mm." Barker nodded. "It's just that I still don't understand why he did it."
Linley smiled. "Alright, don't think about it. Just being alive is something to be happy about. But it's really quite strange. I truly never expected that the divine beast 'Basilisk' was also from our Yulan Continent plane, and even a magical beast from the South Sea."
"Linley." Hise, who was flying ahead, slowed down a bit to fly alongside Linley. He smiled and said in a low voice, "Are you talking about Tarossa? That Tarossa was incredibly famous ten thousand years ago. Back then, he was known as the 'King of the South Sea'. In those days, only Dylin could compare to him. Of course, Lord Beirut doesn't count."
"Oh?" Linley was secretly astonished.
This Basilisk was indeed extraordinary.
"Linley, thank you for this," Hise continued.
"Lord Hise, what for?" Linley was startled. Hise lowered his voice and said, "Thank you for saving Rosalie's life. Ah, that woman Rosalie is too stubborn. She insisted on going to the Necropolis of the Gods herself. If it weren't for you, this time..."
Linley finally understood what Hise meant.
Hise then sighed helplessly. "Unfortunately, if we Deity-level experts enter the Necropolis of the Gods, we have to start from the twelfth floor. It would be very difficult to get a Demigod divine spark for Rosalie."
"Start from the twelfth floor?" Linley was a bit surprised.
"Yes. After all, those Saint-level creatures pose no threat to us at all," Hise said with a faint smile. "Oh, we've reached the Blazing Desert. We've entered the Yulan Continent."
Linley also saw the endless Blazing Desert.
"We've reached the Yulan Continent. Everyone, go your separate ways," Beirut said.
"Yes, Lord Beirut." All the experts respectfully acknowledged the order. Immediately, the experts scattered. The magical beast experts among them either flew toward the Dark Forest or toward the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. The human experts also flew off in various directions. As for Beirut, he was alone. With a flicker of his form, he vanished from everyone's sight.
"What astonishing speed," Linley's heart trembled.
Even though his strength had greatly increased, compared to Beirut, it was still the difference between heaven and earth.
"Oh, time to go home!" Bebe, who was on Linley's shoulder, was incredibly excited. Linley and Barker both had broad smiles on their faces, clearly thinking of their homeland.
They flew over the Blazing Desert, then crossed the Rhine Empire and the Rohault Empire. As empires in the southern and central parts of the continent, the 'Rhine Empire' and 'Rohault Empire' still had relatively warm weather at this time. The leaves were green, and the plants were growing lush and thick.
After passing through these two empires, Linley and his group finally flew into the territory of the Baruch Empire.
The Baruch Empire was located in the northern part of the continent. Although it wasn't as perpetually cold as the eighteen northern duchies, it was still much colder than the south. Although it was already March, many of the large trees below had only just begun to sprout. In some areas, there was even still snow on the rooftops.
After parting ways with Desri and the others, there weren't many people continuing to fly north.
"Ten years. The former Chaos Territory has turned into this." Flying at high speed, looking at the countless cities on the boundless land below, Linley felt a surge of pride.
Ten years ago, the twelve-year-old Baruch Empire had only just recovered from the war and had just begun its construction. Now, the Baruch Empire's population had increased greatly, and its cities were beautifully built, fully comparable to the former Sacred Alliance.
An ancient castle came into view below.
A thin layer of snow still covered the roof tiles of the castle. Many guards were patrolling the battlements. This castle was the legendary 'Dragonblood Castle' of the Baruch Empire. It had been built after the magic crystal mine had been fully excavated, and it was where Linley's family lived.
"Linley, I'll take my leave here. If you ever want to find me in the future, you can go to the Arctic Icefield," Olivier said, bowing.
"Certainly." Linley smiled and nodded.
Immediately, Olivier led the few surviving experts from the Arctic Icefield and flew rapidly northward. Linley, Barker, and Bebe, on the other hand, dove straight down toward the 'Dragonblood Castle' below.
*******
Dragonblood Castle was the residence of Linley, the spiritual pillar of the Baruch Empire on the Yulan Continent. Legend had it that this Dragonblood Castle was often guarded by dragons. Furthermore, the guards of Dragonblood Castle were the finest warriors of the Baruch Empire.
Three streaks of light dove down from high altitude at tremendous speed, and their powerful auras naturally spread out, enveloping the entire Dragonblood Castle.
"Lord Linley?" The familiar aura immediately alerted the many experts in Dragonblood Castle. Whether it was Sessle, Gates, or Linley's son Taylor, they all ran toward the back garden of Dragonblood Castle.
Because Linley and the others were landing right there in the back garden.
The snow from yesterday hadn't completely melted yet. Piles of snow could still be seen among the flower bushes.
"Linley is back?" Hillman and the steward Hiri, who were sunbathing in the back garden, immediately looked into the distance. Linley, dressed in a sky-blue robe, and Barker, in a brown robe, stood side by side. On Linley's shoulder stood the adorable Bebe.
"Uncle Hillman. Grandpa Hiri." Linley immediately went to greet them.
"Good. Good." The steward Hiri was extremely excited. "Ten years. A full ten years. Linley, I thought this old man would never live to see you return." Steward Hiri had served the Baruch family for several generations and was now over a hundred years old.
After all, by age, Linley was actually over fifty years old.
However, compared to those Saint-level experts who had trained for thousands of years, Linley could only be considered a youngster.
"Lord Linley! Ah, big brother!" Gates and Ankh, two burly men, rushed in, their expressions filled with excitement.
"Father!" A deep voice rang out.
A robust young man, still covered in sweat and simply draped in a robe, rushed in. This young man was also about two meters tall. As soon as he ran in, he looked around excitedly, and his gaze immediately locked onto Linley.
"Father." The robust young man immediately ran toward Linley.
Looking at the robust young man before him, who vaguely resembled Linley by about seventy percent but was even stronger, Linley immediately recognized him. Overjoyed, he said, "Taylor?"
"Father, it's been ten years." Taylor directly hugged Linley.
When Linley had left home back then, Taylor was only twelve years old, just a boy. Ten years had passed, and Taylor was now twenty-two. If he stood next to Linley, someone might even think they were brothers.
After all, Linley's appearance had hardly changed.
"Father, you look almost exactly the same as you did ten years ago." Taylor's eyes were a little red with emotion. After all, to Taylor, who was only twenty-two years old, ten years was indeed a long time.
Linley patted Taylor's head and smiled. He felt a trace of guilt toward Taylor in his heart. Youth was an important stage of growth, but he hadn't had the time to spend with his son.
"Where's your sister Sasha?" Linley asked.
Taylor shook his head. "Sister isn't home. She went to the imperial capital. She'll probably be back in a few days."
"And your mother?" Linley also noticed that Delia hadn't come out.
Just then, a beautiful young woman carrying a baby walked out. When the beautiful young woman saw Linley, there was a hint of reverence in her eyes. Linley looked at her with confusion. "Taylor, she is?"
"Jenny, come here." Taylor immediately called out.
The beautiful young woman walked over and said a little nervously, "Father!"
"Father?" Linley was a bit stunned.
Taylor immediately grinned. "Father, come, take a look at your precious grandson. He was just born three months ago." Taylor immediately took the baby from the young woman's arms and held him out in front of Linley. "Father, look. Isn't he adorable?"
"Grandson?" Linley was dumbfounded.
He had been away for ten years. Not only had his son grown up, but he had also produced a grandson for him.
"Haha... Boss, your expression is hilarious!" Bebe burst out laughing. The others also laughed, though they didn't dare to laugh as exaggeratedly as Bebe.
Linley couldn't help but smack Taylor on the head. "Taylor, you little rascal. Your father hasn't even come back yet, and you're already married and have a child." Linley didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But looking at the baby in front of him, with his tender, delicate skin and a pair of clear, innocent, jet-black eyes that were staring at Linley with curiosity, Linley fell in love with this adorable grandson at first sight.
Linley immediately reached out and carefully took the baby. He was so careful that even when he had taken three divine sparks from the eleventh floor of the Necropolis of the Gods, he hadn't been this cautious.
"Oh, be good~~" Holding his grandson, Linley couldn't help but smile.
Taylor and his wife 'Jenny' looked at each other and smiled. Jenny quietly whispered in Taylor's ear, "Taylor, didn't you say that Father once tore apart a Hellfire Phoenix? He doesn't seem as scary as the legends say."
Taylor looked at his father, 'Linley'. At this moment, Linley was holding the baby as if he were his most precious treasure.
"Taylor, have you named the child?" Linley looked up at Taylor.
"Yes. His name is Anou!" Taylor said.
"Anou?" Linley looked down at Anou's clear, black pearl-like eyes and whispered softly, "Anou... Anou..." Having a grandson for the first time, this feeling filled Linley's heart with a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.