Chapter 34: Lifting the Cauldron
Linley’s sudden departure left the group in Dragonblood Castle feeling somewhat uneasy.
“Father, could Uncle be going to…?” Sini said softly.
Although Sini didn’t finish, everyone in the hall understood. They suspected that the large-scale appearance of dead cities in the O’Brien Empire was the work of a Deity-level powerhouse. If Linley confronted this Deity-level expert, what would the outcome be?
“I know my brother’s temper,” Wharton said, frowning. “Although he doesn’t like to meddle, if it’s his responsibility, he will definitely step forward.”
Yes. Linley’s responsibility!
Everyone in the hall, including Delia, nodded slightly.
At present, the human Deity-level experts on the Yulan continent, aside from those who had gone to the Necropolis of the Gods, were only Linley and Desri. Looking across the Yulan continent, Linley and Desri were the two pinnacle Deity-level experts of human society.
For Linley and Desri, the Yulan continent plane was their root!
Their homeland!
When Deity-level experts from other planes descended upon their homeland and wantonly slaughtered humans, Linley and Desri had to step forward as Deity-level experts. If even they chose to play it safe and hide away… then wouldn’t the humans of the Yulan continent be left to the mercy of those experts who had escaped from the Gebados plane, to be slaughtered at will?
“At this moment, we can only rely on Lord Linley and Lord Desri,” Sini said softly.
Before Deity-level experts, even Saint-level experts had to bow their heads. Only Linley and Desri, who were also Deities, had the power to resist.
Inside the quiet mountain village where Desri lived.
Linley’s sudden arrival naturally received a warm welcome from Desri and his group. Reynold also hadn’t seen Linley for a while and wanted to chat, but this time, Linley had important matters. The others didn’t dare disturb them, leaving only Linley and Desri to talk in depth.
Inside the mountain cave dwelling.
Spring water dripped with a clear sound. Linley and Desri sat facing each other.
The two of them were now the strongest human experts on the Yulan continent plane.
“What?!!!” Desri suddenly stood up. Linley’s opening words had startled him.
Linley’s face was solemn as he nodded. “Yes. Many cities in the entire O’Brien Empire have had their residents slaughtered clean. You should know about the dead city incidents. They also happened in my Baruch Empire. But this time, there are too many cities. In this short period, the death toll has reached one hundred million!”
Desri’s eyes were filled with shock. “One hundred million people! Even if someone killed them one by one, how long would that take?”
One hundred million!
It sounded easy. A small town usually had only about ten thousand people. That was equivalent to ten thousand towns.
“Linley, what do you think we should do?” Desri looked at Linley.
Linley stood up. His eyes seemed to burn with flames, and his voice rose with intensity. “What should we do? Desri, no matter how the major empires of the Yulan continent fight among themselves, that’s a war within the Yulan continent plane! It’s an internal matter!”
“The Yulan continent is our root! I absolutely will not allow those Deity-level experts from other planes to massacre here wantonly. What do they take us for? A slaughterhouse?”
Linley’s heart was filled with anger.
He stared at Desri. “Desri, are you planning to hide away?”
Desri’s gaze also sharpened. “Linley, what kind of talk is that? Now that O’Brien and the others have gone to the Necropolis of the Gods, we’re the only two Deity-level experts in human society on the Yulan continent. Do you think I would back down?”
“Now that one hundred million have been slaughtered, how many more will be killed next time? One hundred million? One billion? The entire Yulan continent has only a few billion people. In a few decades, the whole continent might become empty,” Desri said seriously. “Linley, living longer isn’t always better. There are some things we must step up for.”
“The Yulan continent is my root. I will naturally step forward.”
Desri spoke firmly.
A smile appeared on Linley’s face. Desri smiled too.
At that moment, both experts understood each other’s hearts.
Death wasn’t really scary. What was scary was dying like a withered weed, fading away without any value.
Walking the path of elemental laws and stepping into the Divine Realm required Linley and Desri to have extremely resolute hearts. Once they decided on something, they would do it even if it meant death. If a person stooped to the point where their homeland became a slaughterhouse for others and they remained indifferent, then living was worse than dying.
The afterglow of the setting sun stretched the shadows of the refugees on the desolate road long. Their tattered clothes, thin and dirty faces, and eyes filled with both fear and hope for the future—they all struggled northward.
High in the sky.
Linley and Desri, flying side by side at extreme speed, suddenly stopped. They had now entered the territory of the O’Brien Empire.
“Let’s go down and ask these refugees. They might give us a better understanding of the situation,” Desri said. Since flying into the O’Brien Empire, neither Linley nor Desri had smiled. Their expressions were grim.
The O’Brien Empire at this moment was too chaotic.
With a gust of wind, Linley and Desri appeared among the wild grass beside the desolate road. They stepped out onto the path. On this main road, there were many refugees, and no one paid much attention to Linley and Desri.
“How much suffering have they endured?” Desri sighed softly as he looked at the refugees’ dim, fearful eyes.
Linley felt the same.
Suddenly, Linley’s gaze fell on a tall young man in the distance. The young man had a determined look and carried an old silver-haired woman on his back. Among the hundreds of people Linley saw, only this young man had a slightly extraordinary aura. Linley could also tell at a glance that the young man was a fifth-rank warrior.
Linley walked over, and Desri followed.
Seeing Linley and Desri approach, the young man immediately looked at them warily. “Two lords, may I ask…?” This tall young man was somewhat knowledgeable and could sense that the two before him were not ordinary people.
“Brother, I’d like to ask what happened that forced you to flee?” Linley’s tone was very gentle.
Hearing this, the young man was a bit suspicious. “Many residents of the O’Brien Empire have been slaughtered. Two lords, every refugee knows this, right? Why are you asking me?”
“I also know that many residents have been slaughtered, and in large numbers. I’m just puzzled—such a massive slaughter couldn’t have been done in a day or two. Why did it take until so many had died before you started fleeing?”
Linley had been very curious about this.
One hundred million people.
Even a Saint-level expert, killing hundreds of thousands a day, would take several months. News of the dead cities should have spread quickly. How could it allow a slaughter of one hundred million before causing a large-scale exodus?
When he had asked Sini earlier, Sini and the others hadn’t had time to investigate deeply.
The tall young man let out a bitter smile. “Two lords, if you asked ordinary people, they probably wouldn’t know.” He sighed deeply. Linley and Desri’s eyes lit up.
Clearly, this young man knew some secrets.
“Please tell us,” Desri said.
The young man had no idea that the two before him were Deity-level experts. Helplessly, with pain in his eyes, he said, “This isn’t really a big secret. Many people in our Barrow Legion knew about it.”
The Barrow Legion?
Linley and Desri, as cultivators, wouldn’t pay attention to an empire’s legion.
“About three months ago, our Barrow Legion, with three hundred thousand men in ten divisions, was split into many units by battalion. We were deployed to various key transport routes in the southern part of the empire. Our orders were to not allow anyone to pass through our stationed areas. Anyone attempting to pass was to be killed on sight.”
Linley and Desri were shocked.
They were beginning to understand.
Why it took a slaughter of one hundred million to cause an uprising.
“At first, we didn’t understand. We did encounter people trying to pass through our checkpoint, and they mentioned dead cities. But we were soldiers, and following orders was paramount. When they tried to pass, we killed them on the spot.”
“Killing the first two didn’t bother us. But later, there was an incident… involving our battalion commander. The person trying to flee turned out to be the battalion commander’s brother. Because of the commander, we didn’t kill him immediately. But then he told us that people in many cities in the southern part of the empire had been completely slaughtered. The commander’s hometown—only his brother had survived. He had been hunting in the mountains that day and escaped the disaster.”
The tall young man’s voice trembled as he spoke.
“By that day, we had been guarding the checkpoint for over two months,” the young man said bitterly. “Our entire battalion was stunned. The commander immediately sent people to check the inner cities. The result… you already know.”
The young man shook his head. “We tried to notify other battalions, but later we found out that the first to discover this secret wasn’t our battalion, but another one.”
Linley and Desri understood.
When a Saint-level expert slaughtered a city, their spiritual energy would cover it, and usually no one escaped. Those who managed to survive were typically people who had stayed overnight in the wilderness. When they returned to the city, they would discover the truth.
So, very few people survived this disaster.
Moreover, there were many routes to other places. A legion had many battalions guarding various checkpoints, and each checkpoint might encounter only two or three survivors. But most of those survivors were killed outright.
After all, following orders came first.
“When we learned all this, every brother in our legion rebelled. Fathers, brothers, wives, children—all dead. Hometowns wiped out. Damn it, why would we still serve as soldiers?” The young man was furious. “Compared to my brothers, I was luckier. My hometown wasn’t in the south, so my family survived this disaster.”
The young man looked back at the old woman on his back, a hint of care in his eyes.
“Thank you,” Linley said sincerely.
At that moment, Linley and Desri felt a chill in their hearts. They could infer the process of what had happened.
The slaughter of many cities was likely accompanied by Saint-level experts flying in the sky outside the cities, killing survivors. The number of survivors who could actually reach the military checkpoints was extremely rare. But even so, such a thing couldn’t be hidden forever.
“From what this young man said, the slaughter seems to have lasted over two months,” Linley judged.
Linley and Desri exchanged glances. They quietly stepped into the wild grass beside the road, then vanished with a flicker, reappearing high in the sky and speeding southward. Both had a clear goal.
“First, find the Saint-level experts in the O’Brien Empire,” Linley said firmly. Such a large-scale event would definitely be known to the Saint-level experts within the empire.
In fact…
It was likely carried out by Saint-level experts.
After all, having a Deity-level expert slaughter cities one by one—Linley guessed a Deity wouldn’t do that. A Deity would probably control and command some Saint-level experts to do the dirty work. What they needed to do now was to get information about that Deity from the Saint-level experts.
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.