Chapter 5: The World-Destroying War Ten Thousand Years Ago
“The choice is entirely up to you.” Delin said solemnly.
The choice made at the moment of becoming a god alone would also determine future development and achievements.
Linley barely hesitated, his heart leaning toward the second option. Having walked the path of comprehending both the wind and earth elements, giving up either one would leave him deeply unwilling.
“Lord Delin, if I follow the second option—for example, if I first become a god in the wind element, then at the moment of becoming a god, the divine spark remains outside my body. The world will naturally condense a divine body based on that divine spark. My soul will also split in two. In truth, the main body and the clone are almost identical in terms of the soul, right?”
“Correct.” Delin nodded.
“Then I want to ask: if my clone becomes a god, what about my main body? Does its strength improve?” Linley placed great importance on this point.
If his clone became a god but his main body remained at the Saint level, wouldn’t that be a major weakness?
“There is some improvement in strength. Your main body can borrow divine power from the clone.” Delin shook his head and continued, “Unfortunately, it’s only borrowing divine power. Although you can borrow a large amount of divine power, without a divine spark in the main body, the ‘divine power’ that isn’t matched with a divine spark is far weaker than that of a true god.”
Beside him, Hise laughed and said, “Linley, you should know that some Saint-level experts in religious orders can sometimes borrow divine power.”
Linley nodded slightly.
Hise continued, “You’ll be just like them, only able to borrow divine power from your divine clone. Of course… you don’t need to offer sacrifices or anything; you can borrow a large amount. But without a divine spark to match it, the power is much weaker.”
“I understand.” Linley nodded.
He was well aware of the importance of a divine spark. Without a divine spark in the main body, having only divine power meant he couldn’t even use a ‘Divine Domain.’
“Without a divine spark, the main body is weaker, but it’s not without protection. Since the main body and the clone are essentially one, you can completely merge the clone into your body.” Delin smiled and continued, “You can still exert the full strength of your divine clone.”
Linley shook his head inwardly.
Merging the divine clone with the main body to exert the clone’s strength? That didn’t actually increase his overall power.
“In that case, strength doesn’t increase; it only provides better protection for the main body. In truth, the only benefit of this second option is that it allows you to cultivate other elemental laws. The real drawback is the splitting of the soul!”
Delin looked at Linley seriously and said, “Linley, the soul is the most important part of life. It’s extremely difficult to strengthen and transform the soul. Suddenly splitting it in half means the soul itself is halved. This will affect both your cultivation speed and your resistance to others’ attacks.”
“I understand. You have to give something to gain something. You can’t just expect benefits without paying a price.” Linley was quite clear-headed about this.
“Good that you understand.” Delin nodded.
But Linley felt puzzled inside: “What’s going on with Delin today? He’s explaining all these details about becoming a god so clearly. That doesn’t really match his personality?” Linley sensed something unusual about Delin today.
The War God ‘O’Brien’ then spoke in a booming voice: “Linley, remember what we just discussed. The Holy Island of the Radiant Church is yours to handle.”
“Don’t worry.” A fierce glint flashed in Linley’s eyes.
Destroy the Radiant Church?
How many years had he been waiting for this?
“Alright. You may leave now.” The War God said calmly.
Linley, Desri, Fain, and Tulily immediately stood up, bowed respectfully, and then left the War God’s quiet courtyard.
Walking along the serene paths of War God Mountain.
“Linley, congratulations. The fact that the teachers treated you so kindly today shows they already see you as one of their own.” Fain suddenly spoke.
Linley was momentarily stunned. He could fully sense the bitterness in the hearts of the three experts beside him. After thousands of years of bitter cultivation, they still hadn’t broken through.
“Fain, I believe you all will break through soon as well.”
Desri smiled and nodded: “Yes, we’ll break through soon. Fain, Tulily… have you forgotten what Lord Beirut said? For us, a breakthrough could come within a single day. The most important thing is to have confidence in ourselves.”
“Right, we will break through.” Tulily and Fain’s eyes lit up as they nodded.
If they could break through on their own, why seek a divine spark?
But breaking through on one’s own was incredibly difficult.
“Linley, when do we set off to destroy the Holy Island of the Radiant Church?” Desri asked.
Linley thought for a moment: “Let’s settle this sooner rather than later.” Just thinking about dealing with the Radiant Church made Linley’s blood boil and his body surge with strength. “Let’s go back today. Tomorrow, gather everyone and prepare. The day after tomorrow, the eighth, gather at my Dragonblood Castle in the morning. We’ll set off together and attack the Holy Island of Light.”
“Alright, we’ll set off together on the morning of the eighth.” Tulily and Desri both nodded.
Fain also laughed: “Linley, you’re moving so fast. I guess I’ll have to speed up too and eliminate the Dark Church as soon as possible.”
“Haha, Fain, we’ll be off then.” Linley said.
With that, Linley, Desri, and Tulily soared into the air and flew directly eastward.
Linley’s Dragonblood Castle was in the northern region of the Baruch Empire, while Desri’s residence was in the southern region. Tulily was even farther away, in the far eastern grasslands. The three flew together for a short distance before parting ways.
“Whoosh~~” The strong wind blew, making their robes flap loudly.
They sped through the clouds and mist, racing toward Dragonblood Castle.
“Linley, wait a moment.” Suddenly a voice sounded, and a blurry figure appeared beside Linley.
It was the eerie young man in dark gold robes, with a vertical scar on his forehead—the divine-level expert ‘Delin.’
“Lord Delin.” Linley was somewhat surprised.
Delin, who had a sinister aura about him, now wore a sincere smile: “Linley, you’re flying quite fast. It seems you’ve made great progress in the Necropolis of the Gods this time.”
Linley was baffled.
Flying fast?
He was just flying normally back to Dragonblood Castle, not at full speed. What did he mean by flying fast?
“Why is Delin praising me for no reason?” Linley guessed that Delin probably had something to ask.
“Lord Delin, is there something you need?” Linley took the initiative to ask.
Delin took a deep breath: “Linley, to be honest… I was born tens of thousands of years ago and experienced that terrifying world-destroying war ten thousand years ago, as well as the War of the Gods over five thousand years ago. I always protected my five children. But over five thousand years ago, my children and I were banished to the Gobadas Plane Prison…”
Linley’s heart trembled upon hearing this.
“I know about the other-plane experts descending over five thousand years ago, but what was this ‘world-destroying war’ ten thousand years ago?” Linley had never heard of such a war. From Delin’s tone, it seemed that war ten thousand years ago was even more terrifying than the one over five thousand years ago.
Seeing Linley’s expression, Delin understood.
“You’re puzzled about the world-destroying war?” Delin smiled.
Now that he needed a favor, he was happy to share these secrets with Linley.
Linley nodded.
“That world-destroying war was on a much larger scale than the battle over five thousand years ago. In fact, our plane once had five continents!” Delin explained in detail.
“Five continents?” Linley had never heard of this.
Nor was it recorded in any history books about other continents.
Delin continued: “Each continent was very far apart. The Yulan Continent was the northernmost of the five. The other four were originally within the range of the Southern Sea. Because the continents were millions of miles apart, even ordinary people at the time didn’t know about the existence of the other continents.”
“That world-destroying war…”
Delin sighed, “That was a true war—a battle that could destroy heaven and earth. Waves surged to the sky, space shattered. Even though the fighting was in the ocean, it affected the continents. The four southern continents shattered and sank one after another. Divine-level experts fell one by one… The scale was unimaginably larger than the battle over five thousand years ago.”
Linley’s heart trembled.
A battle that caused four continents to sink? What level of experts were fighting?
“It was also after that war that Lord Beirut formally established his rule over the Yulan Continent.” Delin sighed. “Linley, back then, I was already a lower-level god, but I could only hide on the Yulan Continent and didn’t dare to join the battle.”
Linley could fully imagine the scene.
“I’ve heard that the divine sparks and divine corpses in the Necropolis of the Gods were left from that world-destroying war.” Delin sighed. “Of course, that’s just hearsay. I’m not sure.”
Linley nodded slightly. After all, Delin had hidden himself and didn’t participate.
“Over five thousand years ago, my children and I were banished to the Gobadas Plane Prison. That place… was like a nightmare.” Delin’s voice was low. “Two of my five children died there. Fortunately, we finally escaped back to the Yulan Continent.”
Even now, Delin hadn’t told Linley that his escape was due to Linley.
“And this time, another one of my children has died.”
Delin’s eyes held an undeniable grief: “Becoming a god is truly too difficult. My children are only Six-Eyed Golden Lions. Breaking through their own limits to reach the divine level is extremely hard. Perhaps Desri, Fain, and the others might comprehend and break through. But for magical beasts… the difficulty is far greater than for humans.”
“So, Linley, I beg you to transfer one divine spark to me.” Delin looked at Linley earnestly.
Linley understood Delin’s thoughts.
“Of course, I won’t let you suffer too much. But I definitely don’t have treasures as precious as a divine spark. However, I do have divine artifacts. I can trade them with you. How about three divine artifacts? Or I could even give you my own divine artifact gloves.” Delin said quickly.
Delin loved his children deeply, as shown by how he had always protected them even in the Gobadas Plane Prison. Originally, he didn’t allow the three Six-Eyed Golden Lions to enter the Necropolis of the Gods, but Crio and his brothers all longed to become gods, and Delin couldn’t stop them. But this time, one died in the Necropolis. Knowing Linley had obtained three divine sparks, Delin decided to swallow his pride and ask.
A divine spark was far more valuable than a divine artifact. Even trading four divine artifacts for one divine spark would put Linley at a loss. The probability of successfully clearing the eleventh floor as a Saint-level was extremely low. Linley succeeded and obtained three divine sparks. He might never have such an opportunity again.
“Alright, I agree.” Linley nodded.
Delin was overjoyed. He immediately flipped his hand and produced three divine artifacts, all of the sword or blade type. At the same time, a pair of dark gold divine artifact gloves appeared in his hands. In terms of value, the gloves were the most precious.
“Here’s the divine spark.” Linley flipped his hand and produced a destructive-type divine spark. He chose this for the Six-Eyed Golden Lions, as they also cultivated the path of destruction.
Seeing the divine spark, Delin’s heart trembled.
This was a divine spark!
If he himself entered the Necropolis of the Gods, he would have to start from the twelfth floor. Obtaining a divine spark would be extremely difficult.
“Thank you, thank you.” Even someone with Delin’s temperament was so moved that he said “thank you” twice in a row. “Wait a moment. I’ll unbind the divine artifact gloves.”
“Lord Delin, there’s no need for the divine artifacts.” Linley spoke up.
He didn’t lack sword or blade divine artifacts. Having two or three more would be useless. As for the gloves, Linley used a sword, so they wouldn’t be of much use.
“What? No need?” Delin was stunned.
“No need.” Linley smiled and nodded. “If Lord Delin is willing, and if I ever need your help in the future, it would be enough if you could assist me.”
Delin truly was reluctant to part with the divine artifact gloves, but he was a proud man. Receiving a divine spark from Linley without giving anything in return made him uneasy. Delin grew anxious: “How can this be? No…”
Looking at Linley before him, Delin felt an overwhelming sense of indebtedness.
How could he compensate this person?