Chapter 18: Guidance
In the dim, cold underground chamber.
A faint, eerie green light flickered within the secret chamber. A blurry figure, completely shrouded in darkness, sat cross-legged in the center of the chamber. Before him floated a crystal ball the size of a human head, emitting a ghostly green glow.
Inside the crystal ball, a large amount of mist swirled. In the center of the mist, there were also some silver droplets.
The faint light cast by the crystal ball could vaguely illuminate the old, weathered face of the mysterious figure. His aged face looked like a layer of wrinkled, dried skin plastered over his skull, as thin as a skeleton. Only his cold, green-glowing eyes seemed exceptionally icy.
Like a poisoned blade, they sent chills down one's spine.
"Hmm?" The old man's eyes suddenly flared with green light.
A long time passed...
"What's going on? When did the Eighteen Northern Duchies become Lord Beirut's forbidden ground?" the withered old man muttered. "It seems Lord Beirut is trying to establish his authority. Better not provoke him. Whoever does will likely become the chicken killed to scare the monkeys."
"But... it's a pity about one of my silver-robed guards."
"Still, if this refinement succeeds, losing all nine would be worth it." The withered old man stared at the crystal ball before him, as greedy as a venomous snake that had spotted its prey.
Across the entire Yulan continent, countless powerhouses—whether newly ascended Saint-level experts, those who had escaped from the Gebados plane prison, or even Deity-level experts—felt a chill in their hearts upon hearing that voice laden with a warning tone.
Beirut!
The king of the Yulan continent. The war of destruction ten thousand years ago had already cemented his position.
O'Brien Empire, Martial God Mountain.
"That should be Lord Beirut's voice," Fain said with a frown. "The day before Master set out for the Necropolis of the Gods, Lord Beirut had already sent word to Master, forbidding him from causing destruction in the Dark Forest and the Eighteen Northern Duchies."
Linley nodded slightly.
Over five years ago, Beirut had only sent messages to Linley, the Martial God, and the High Priest. Before leaving, the Martial God naturally had to give Fain thorough instructions.
"That intense energy fluctuation just now," Linley estimated, "was probably caused by Lord Beirut killing a powerful figure who was slaughtering wantonly in the Eighteen Northern Duchies." Linley was also shocked by Lord Beirut's decisiveness.
Clearly, Lord Beirut would show no mercy.
"By the way, Linley," Fain suddenly said, his eyes lighting up. "Slaughtering wantonly in the Eighteen Northern Duchies? Why would a Saint-level expert do that? Could it be..."
Linley's heart stirred as well. "You mean... the culprit behind the dead cities? The silver-robed expert?"
Fain nodded. "If that's the case, then the culprit has already been killed?"
Linley pondered for a moment. "Fain, your guess might be right, but it could also be wrong. The person Lord Beirut killed during that intense energy fluctuation might not be the silver-robed expert. Even if it is, it's hard to say whether there's only one such silver-robed expert."
"Linley, you mean..." Fain couldn't help but be surprised.
In Fain's mind, he had always believed there was a single culprit, subconsciously thinking it was a Saint-level expert with a special purpose. He had never considered that there might be a group of silver-robed experts.
But Linley thought differently.
Knowing that a "mysterious religion" existed within the Baruch Empire and inferring the presence of a Deity-level expert, Linley began to suspect... that the experts appearing on the Yulan continent this time were not just Saint-level powerhouses but also Deity-level ones.
Such audacious acts of creating dead cities were likely ordered by a Deity-level expert, and the subordinates carrying them out were probably more than one.
"Fain," Linley said, feeling uneasy at the thought of a Deity-level expert behind the scenes, "speculating here won't help us find the culprit. Let's go to the Dark Forest together and ask around."
"Go to the Dark Forest?" Fain was startled.
He felt a bit intimidated by the Dark Forest. Even the Martial God had to look up to Lord Beirut. As a Saint-level expert, Fain naturally felt some fear at the thought of meeting Beirut.
"It's fine. Come with me," Linley said with some confidence.
Leaving aside his relationship with Bebe, Beirut's three sons—Harry, Hart, and Harvey—had a good relationship with Linley. Linley was just going to ask some questions. He believed... it should work out.
"Alright, I'll go with you." Fain nodded.
With that, Fain gave some instructions to the disciples of the Martial God School, and the two of them flew directly off Martial God Mountain, disappearing into the dark night sky. Fain was best at speed, and Linley, having comprehended the "Profound Truths of Velocity," had reached an astonishing level of speed.
Soon, the two arrived at the Dark Forest.
At the core of the Dark Forest, the living metal castle sat. Seeing this metal castle from midair, Linley felt a chill in his heart. This massive metal lifeform, Linley estimated, was far more powerful than the Matriarch "Lashabell."
Linley and Fain landed in front of the metal castle.
In the night, the metal castle sat quietly, with no sound coming from within.
Fain and Linley exchanged glances.
"What now? Should we call out?" Fain said with a bitter smile. "Or go inside? I've heard that without Deity-level strength, stepping into the metal castle will trigger an attack from it."
"Don't worry." Linley smiled.
A moment later—
"Swoosh!" A black streak shot out from the metal castle and landed on Linley.
"Boss, I missed you so much! You only came today!" Bebe raised his little head, his jet-black eyes fixed on Linley, filled with joy. Clearly, after nearly six years apart, Bebe had missed Linley a lot.
Linley smiled and hugged Bebe. Being with Bebe always made him feel at ease.
Just like when Grandpa Doehring was by his side, he never felt panicked.
"Bebe, I missed you too. By the way, is Lord Beirut here?" Linley asked.
"Grandpa Beirut?" Bebe shook his little head. "I don't know. Grandpa Beirut hasn't been in the castle lately. He said he was going out for a few days, to another plane. He'll be back in a few days."
"Not here? Gone to another plane?" Linley and Fain exchanged glances.
If Grandpa Beirut wasn't in the metal castle and had gone to another plane, then who had handled the matter in the Eighteen Northern Duchies? Who had sent that telepathic message?
At the same time, they both marveled inwardly.
"Going to another plane and coming back in a few days... Lord Beirut treats leaving the plane like it's a casual trip?" Linley sighed. He knew from the plane guardian "Hodan" that leaving the plane and trying to return came at a great cost.
Look at his ancestors, the Blood Dragon Warrior family's predecessors—none of them had returned.
From this, one could see how difficult it was to return.
But Lord Beirut? He treated leaving the plane as if it were a joke.
"Linley, are you looking for my father?" A voice rang out, and a purple-gold streak shot out, hovering before Linley and Fain. It was one of the three Purple-Gold Rat Kings.
Linley could only force a smile at the Purple-Gold Rat King.
Unfortunately, the three Purple-Gold Rat Kings looked identical to Linley, even their auras were similar. Linley couldn't tell which one this was.
"I'm Harry," the Purple-Gold Rat King Harry said directly, understanding the situation. "Linley, I know why you're here."
"Oh?" Linley was surprised. He hadn't even said anything yet.
Harry grinned and said directly, "The O'Brien Empire and the Baruch Empire both had a city's population wiped out. You two coming here together must be about this matter. Well, just now, the same thing happened in the Eighteen Northern Duchies, but it had just started when we killed that guy."
"We?" Linley's heart stirred.
Who did Harry's "we" refer to?
Fain quickly asked, "May I ask, Harry, are there more than one silver-robed expert doing the killing? Why are they doing this?"
"Oh, so you know about the silver-robed men?" Harry was a bit surprised, then nodded his little head. "Yes, there were nine silver-robed experts doing the killing. As for why they did it, they were actually ordered by a Deity-level expert."
Harry clearly knew a lot.
Linley's heart sank.
Sure enough, this matter involved a Deity-level expert. Linley and Fain both began to worry. Deity-level and Saint-level were two different concepts—one was heaven, the other earth. Although Linley could easily kill a large group of Saint-level experts, he was no match for a Deity-level expert.
"What... what do we do now?" Fain was at a loss.
The Martial God was still in the Necropolis of the Gods. How could Fain, a Saint-level expert, go head-to-head with a Deity-level expert?
"Oh, don't worry about that. One of the nine silver-robed men just died. The other eight are mostly scattered, though two are together. Right now, they're in the Baruch Empire," Harry said.
"What?" Linley immediately felt a sense of urgency.
Two silver-robed men in his empire? What were they planning to do?
"Hehe, yes, I reckon they'll massacre another city soon," Harry chuckled. Harry didn't care much about the massacres, as he was a magical beast. In his eyes, humans were a different race. A whole city of humans being wiped out didn't affect him at all.
Linley tensed up. "Harry, which city are they in?"
"Linley, you're going to deal with them?" Fain grew worried. "That won't do. Didn't you hear Harry? There's a Deity-level expert backing them."
Bebe chimed in cheerfully, "Don't worry. I know about this too. The Deity-level expert controlling the nine silver-robed men is already severely injured and won't act lightly. Most importantly, that Deity-level expert is busy with something very important right now and won't have time to come after you."
Harry also nodded his little head. "Yes, go kill those two silver-robed men. What's there to fear? Even if you kill them, that Deity-level expert won't know it was you."
Linley and Fain both smiled.
That's right. If they killed the silver-robed men quietly, without causing a big commotion, and the Deity-level expert didn't catch them in the act, how would he ever know it was them?
"Alright, Harry, where are those two silver-robed men now?" Linley pressed.
"Hehe, this is going to be fun." Harry grinned, revealing his neat, white teeth. "Don't worry, you two. Follow me, and I'll take you there." With that, Harry turned into a purple-gold streak and flew south.
"Hurry up and follow!" Harry's voice echoed through the forest.
Linley and Fain immediately took off after him, with Bebe naturally hopping excitedly onto Linley's shoulder.
"How does Harry know so much?" Linley had many doubts. "And Bebe said Lord Beirut had already left the Yulan plane, but then who sent that voice just now? Harry and the others seem to know everything about the Deity-level expert and the silver-robed men."
Then he thought back to his wedding day, when he and Delia had received a gift of a Demigod divine spark.
And the Necropolis of the Gods was also under Lord Beirut's control.
"Lord Beirut and the Beirut family... are becoming more and more mysterious," Linley thought silently as he watched Harry fly ahead excitedly. Then he smiled. "Why worry about all that? Even if Lord Beirut is mysterious, at least he's an ally, not an enemy!"