Chapter 17: The Mysterious Religion
Looking at the three men before him—Wharton, Gates, and Sessler—Linley actually felt a hint of worry in his heart.
After all, before he had gone into seclusion to train, he had explicitly stated that this closed-door cultivation was extremely important and that they should not disturb him unless it was a critical matter. Yet even so, Wharton and the others had still come to fetch him, which clearly indicated that the situation was very grave.
"Could it be that the latent crisis of this continental war has revealed itself?" Linley's heart was uneasy. He still remembered Lord Beirut's warning.
Wharton, Gates, and Sessler exchanged glances. After a brief moment of silence, Sessler looked at Linley and spoke: "Lord Linley, you've been in seclusion for over five years now. In these five-plus years, with the start of the war, many things have happened on the Yulan continent. It's hard to explain in a short time. Let's go out first, and then we can talk slowly."
Linley nodded slightly.
As they walked from underground back to the surface, Wharton quietly asked, "Big brother, have you reached the Deity level?"
Gates and Sessler also immediately looked at Linley.
After all, Linley had originally estimated that he could become a god within ten years, and now nearly six years had passed.
"Still a bit short," Linley said with a faint smile, shaking his head. "If you hadn't interrupted my training, I estimate it would take about another half year to be just about there." Linley felt a strong desire to become a god. Having cultivated the Profound Truths of Velocity to this point, he could clearly sense...
The Deity level was so close, within reach.
Only the final thread of breakthrough remained. Because the Profound Truths of Velocity were formed by the fusion and mutual confirmation of the two realms of 'Fast' and 'Slow,' reaching the pinnacle of either the 'Fast' or 'Slow' realm alone would allow one to become a Demigod. But if the Profound Truths of Velocity were truly perfected, Linley would become a Midgod.
Cultivating the Profound Truths of Velocity only presented a bottleneck before becoming a Midgod.
But becoming a Demigod would not encounter any bottleneck.
People like Desri, Fain, Rosalie, and Tulily were all stuck at the final step, because the profound mysteries they comprehended were relatively low-level among the elemental laws. In the infinite universe and countless planes, most Saint-level experts comprehended relatively low-level profound mysteries.
Linley's ability to comprehend the Profound Truths of Velocity also involved a bit of luck.
Although he was about half a year away from becoming a god, since Wharton and the others had come to fetch him, Linley naturally had to come out. After all, between cultivation and family, family was still the most important. If his loved ones and friends were in trouble, how could Linley ignore them and continue cultivating to become a god without a care?
In the main hall of Dragonblood Castle.
A large group of people had gathered there. Linley sat quietly in the main seat, carefully listening to Wharton's account of the many events that had occurred over the past five-plus years.
"A large number of extraordinary Saint-level experts have emerged?" Linley felt puzzled upon hearing Wharton describe how some terrifyingly powerful experts had appeared during the war. "From what Wharton says, the strength of these experts mostly surpasses that of Saint-level ultimate warriors, and some can even compare to Desri and Tulily."
Linley could make this judgment easily.
Under normal circumstances, Saint-level ultimate warriors should be considered the second-tier of Saint-level experts, just below Saint-level limits. They were on the same level as the deceased Haines and Osenno.
"Moving as fast as a Saint-level Thunder Dragon and defeating it in one blow." Linley was also shocked by the strength of the two Saint-level experts of the Luo Empire now.
"A large number of experts comparable to Desri and Rutherford have appeared. This..." Linley was puzzled.
Over these five years, the group of mysterious Saint-level experts that had emerged were all very strong.
It seemed like every one of them possessed the strength of a Saint-level limit.
"No." Linley frowned. "These experts definitely didn't exist in the past. If they had, they wouldn't have escaped the notice of the War God and the others." Linley was very certain of this. But since they didn't exist in the past, then...
Clearly, these experts should have arrived on the Yulan continent plane within the past five-plus years.
"Experts from other planes?" Linley was shocked by his own deduction.
"That shouldn't be right either." Linley immediately dismissed the thought. "So what if they're from other planes? Does it mean that every expert from another plane must reach the Saint-level limit?"
The Yulan continent plane was also an 'other plane' from the perspective of other planes.
It was reasonable for experts from other planes to be strong, but it shouldn't be that... all of them were this strong!
"Big brother, there's also something else. During this period, a mysterious religion has appeared in our Baruch Empire. The god they worship is called 'Muba'," Wharton said with a frown. "Big brother, you said early on that no other religions are allowed within our empire's borders. We've tried hard to suppress and eliminate this religion, but it hasn't worked." Wharton shook his head.
Hearing this, Linley's expression changed.
A mysterious religion?
Who needed faith power? The answer was without a doubt—
A god!
"Go on," Linley immediately looked at Wharton. "How can you not be able to eliminate the religion?"
Wharton nodded and continued, "First, this mysterious religion has hidden experts within it. Second... this religion does have some real skill. It can even produce divine miracles! Because of these miracles, many people within our empire have truly come to believe in and have faith in this god 'Muba'."
"Divine miracles?"
Linley's face turned pale.
"What's wrong, big brother?" Wharton, Gates, Ankh, and a large group of others looked at Linley with confusion.
Because Linley was training to become a god, he had once discussed many matters about gods in detail with Desri and others. He clearly knew... that faith power was very beneficial to gods. For example, the War God, within the borders of the O'Brien Empire, only allowed the people to believe in the War God.
All other religions were absolutely forbidden.
As for divine miracles...
Only gods, by utilizing the profound mysteries of the laws, could perform them.
"An unknown religion can produce divine miracles, so..." Linley's heart trembled. "The branch of this religion within our Baruch Empire has a Deity-level expert backing it!"
"Wharton, Sini." Linley immediately gave orders. "Listen to me. It's fine to continue suppressing this religion, but remember, don't increase the intensity of the suppression. Don't force this religion into a conflict with our empire. At least... we can't force them now."
The entire group in the hall was somewhat puzzled.
After all, aside from Linley, how long had Wharton, Gates, and the others been at the Saint level? Even Sessler, though he had some experience, it was only worldly experience and some knowledge of necromancy. His understanding of the Deity level was far inferior to Linley's.
"Every one of you, remember this clearly!" Linley said solemnly.
"Yes." Wharton, Sini, and the others still answered affirmatively. They would not disobey Linley's orders.
Only then did Linley breathe a sigh of relief. The other party was undoubtedly a Deity-level expert!
After all, if one hadn't reached the Deity level, faith power was completely useless.
Since it was a Deity-level expert, Linley naturally didn't want to offend them.
Even if Linley himself reached the Deity level, he wouldn't want to easily oppose them. After all, he would be a newly ascended Demigod, and he had no idea how long the other party had been at the Deity level.
"Big brother, there's also a horrifying incident that happened recently in our Baruch Empire. It occurred in Blue Lion City..." Wharton began to describe in detail the 'Dead City' incident, along with the scene of the residents' deaths and some suspicious points.
Linley listened and became puzzled, but he also grew more serious.
The residents of an entire city, almost all dead in a single night.
This matter was even more hair-raising than a wartime massacre. After all, it was too eerie.
The entire hall was helpless. After all, there were no clues. And now, there were too many mysterious experts on the Yulan continent. They had no way to deal with it. At this moment, Linley also felt completely in the dark, not knowing how to investigate the murderer.
"You said earlier that this kind of thing also happened within the O'Brien Empire?" Linley suddenly asked.
"Yes, just over a month ago," Wharton replied.
Linley nodded slightly. "Alright then. You all stay in the castle. I'll go to Mount Wushan in the O'Brien Empire." After all, the Dead City incident had just happened in his own empire, while the O'Brien Empire had already experienced it over a month ago.
Moreover, in terms of Saint-level experts, the War God's school was stronger.
A month had passed. The War God's school might have some clues.
"Big brother, aren't you going to eat with us?" Wharton and the others were surprised. Linley had just come out of seclusion and hadn't even had a meal with everyone before heading to Mount Wushan. He was too busy.
"No." Linley had already made up his mind.
Once this matter was resolved, he would go back into seclusion to train. After all, Linley was only that little bit away from the Deity level.
At that moment, the sky was dim. A blurry, indistinct phantom shot out of Dragonblood Castle, flew into the sky, and disappeared at the western horizon.
"So Lord Beirut's words were not false. There is indeed a latent crisis on the Yulan continent." Linley felt a bit anxious. The Deity-level expert represented by the mysterious religion, a Deity-level expert suddenly appearing on a plane—how could Linley not be wary?
This meant that the main players in this crisis were probably Deity-level experts.
If one hadn't reached the Deity level, they probably wouldn't even have the ability to get involved or resist.
"Once this matter is resolved, I must immediately focus on training and reach the Deity level as soon as possible." Thinking about the Dead City incident, Linley grew even more worried. He had a feeling... that this eerie Dead City incident hid some terrifying secrets.
Facing the strong wind, Linley flew at extreme speed.
"It seems the Yulan continent is about to welcome an unprecedented storm." Linley's figure then streaked across the sky like a beam of light.
Mount Wushan.
Linley's arrival naturally received a personal reception from the current temporary leader of Mount Wushan, 'Fain'. The two of them directly began conversing in a reception hall on Mount Wushan. Fain had trained hard for over five years but still hadn't broken through to the Deity level.
"Linley, have you come about the Dead City incident?" Fain spoke first.
"Yes, Fain. Do you have any clues?" Linley immediately pressed.
Fain couldn't help but show a bitter smile. Over the past month, the Dead City incident within the O'Brien Empire had troubled him enough. When the same thing happened in the Baruch Empire, he, who was paying attention to such matters, naturally learned of it quickly.
"There is a clue," Fain said helplessly. "This was done by a mysterious expert, killing one by one at high speed, killing almost everyone in the city in a single night."
"Oh?" Linley was startled. "Killing one by one?"
To kill a hundred thousand people, for a Saint-level expert, it was indeed very fast. If they pushed their speed to the limit, perhaps just passing through an area would kill the people there. Covering several hundred meters per second and killing dozens of people was not difficult for a Saint-level expert.
Killing a hundred thousand people would only take an hour or two.
For an expert like Linley, the speed would probably be even faster.
"What was he doing that for?" Linley didn't understand.
A Saint-level expert had such strength, but what benefit was there in killing ordinary people? Not only was there no benefit, but once discovered... it would certainly arouse the disgust and hostility of other Saint-level experts, and they might even take action against him!
"I don't know either," Fain said, shaking his head. "Actually, discovering this clue was a bit of luck. My eighth junior brother was flying outside when he happened to find a mysterious silver-robed expert killing people in a small city. He immediately attacked in anger... but unfortunately, that silver-robed expert didn't engage in battle and directly fled. That silver-robed man was very fast, and my eighth junior brother couldn't catch up. However, that silver-robed man had already killed several thousand people at that point. The appearance of those thousands of dead was exactly the same as those who died in the Dead City incident."
Linley nodded slightly.
The eighth junior brother, ranked so high, was clearly a powerful expert who had trained for thousands of years in the War God's school.
"Hmm?"
Linley and Fain almost simultaneously looked toward the northeast. A terrifying energy fluctuation was coming from that direction. Although the intense energy fluctuation had weakened to the point of being almost imperceptible after traveling over ten thousand miles, how strong were Linley and Fain?
They could detect Saint-level experts fighting within a few thousand miles.
Now, this energy fluctuation, terrifying to the extreme, how could they not notice? To them, this terrifying energy fluctuation was like a sun in the pitch-black night.
"What's happening?" Fain exclaimed in surprise.
But as soon as he spoke, both his and Linley's expressions froze.
"Any Saint-level or Deity-level expert who engages in mass slaughter in the Northern Territories' eighteen duchies, or disturbs the peace of the Dark Forest, shall be... killed without mercy!" A hoarse voice resounded almost instantly in the minds of all Saint-level and Deity-level experts on the Yulan continent.
All the experts were instantly stunned and shocked.