Chapter 13: The Millennial Period
Towering trees stood tall, with thorns and brambles growing thickly. Some thick vines hung down from the branches of large trees. Ferocious magical beasts lurked within this primeval forest. The Dark Forest had existed for far too long, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves.
A man with dazzling golden long hair stepped onto the fallen leaves, producing a 'crack' sound.
"Whoosh!"
The golden-haired young man's chest heaved as he let out a long sigh.
"This mission, really..." The golden-haired youth felt helpless inside. He had received orders from Hambritt to come to this Dark Forest and pay respects to Lord Beirut.
He also knew from Hambritt...
This Beirut was a Highgod!
"I'm a mere Demigod. Lord Beirut could kill me with a flip of his hand." The golden-haired youth felt some nervousness and worry inside. "I don't know if Lord Beirut and Lord Adkins have any grudges, but even if they do, I hope they don't take it out on a small fry like me."
Linley stepped out of the dense forest and entered an open grassy area.
In front of this open grassland stood a metal castle.
"Kuchai, here to pay respects to Lord Beirut!" The golden-haired youth announced loudly in front of the metal castle, bowing respectfully at the same time.
"Is there something?" A low, hoarse voice sounded directly in the golden-haired youth's mind.
Kuchai immediately looked up. But there wasn't a single figure around, only the cold metal castle ahead. Kuchai understood that Lord Beirut didn't even deign to see him, merely communicating through divine sense. Kuchai bowed again and said, "Lord Beirut, I was fortunate enough to escape from the Gobadas Plane Prison, and I've also heard of the existence of the Necropolis of the Gods. I wonder if it's possible for me to enter the Necropolis of the Gods?"
Right.
What Adkins ordered was to send a Demigod to probe and see Beirut's attitude regarding reopening the Necropolis of the Gods.
"Enter the Necropolis of the Gods? You may!" Beirut's hoarse voice sounded.
The golden-haired youth immediately felt a surge of joy.
"However, the Necropolis of the Gods opens once every thousand years. If you wish to enter, wait until a thousand years from now." Beirut's answer immediately left Kuchai dumbfounded.
"Alright. You may leave." Beirut said indifferently.
"Lord Beirut, couldn't it be sooner?" Kuchai said respectfully.
"I said, leave!" Beirut's voice sounded again.
Kuchai felt a chill in his heart. He knew how terrifying the consequences of angering a Highgod could be. Kuchai didn't dare say anything more and immediately bowed respectfully: "Thank you, Lord Beirut." Then, Kuchai quickly left the metal castle.
Inside the metal castle.
Beirut stroked his black beard and sneered: "This Adkins, sending a Demigod to inquire. What, is it beneath him to come himself? Hmph... Fine, Adkins, I'll toy with you a bit." A hint of mockery flashed in Beirut's eyes.
Then Beirut's divine sense instantly spread out like a wave.
"To all God-level experts still remaining in the Yulan Continent, the Necropolis of the Gods opens once every thousand years. Since the Necropolis has just recently opened, if you wish to enter, wait another thousand years... Also, the number of entrants is limited. Only the strong may enter."
A playful smile appeared on his face as Beirut transmitted this message to all God-level experts across the entire Yulan Continent.
"This is getting more and more interesting." Beirut's smile was very bright.
Beirut's transmission also sounded in Adkins' mind. Adkins, who had been in a side hall of the palace frolicking with a beautiful, seductive woman, immediately stopped: "My dear, you may leave first. I'll come find you tonight."
"Yes, my lord." The golden-haired beauty withdrew with a smile.
Adkins then savored Beirut's divine sense transmission.
"Lord Adkins." The silver-haired old man also entered the side hall.
"Bernice, you're here." Adkins nodded with a smile. "You heard Beirut's transmission just now, didn't you?"
Under Adkins' command, there were originally three Midgods. Of course, now with O'Gavin added, there were four. But the one Adkins trusted most was still this 'Bernice' before him. Someone like the silver-haired short youth 'Hambritt' would be trembling with fear in front of Adkins.
But Bernice spoke with Adkins like a friend.
"According to Beirut's transmission and what we already know, the thousand-year opening is not false. A thousand years is nothing to us... Lord Adkins, let's just wait a thousand years. When the time comes, we can enter then." The silver-haired old man said.
Adkins wrinkled his handsome nose: "A thousand years, huh..."
"Waiting is fine. I feel that life in the mortal world is quite interesting anyway." Adkins said with a faint smile. "But this Beirut fellow is quite arrogant. Relying on having a Sovereign behind him, he even says the number of entrants is limited. Hmph!"
Adkins let out a disdainful snort.
He found Beirut very disagreeable, but Adkins wasn't fully confident about killing Beirut either. After all, Beirut might possess a Sovereign artifact.
"Hahaha..." The silver-haired old man laughed. "Lord Adkins, it's simply that the strong enter. As long as people are allowed in, who in the Yulan Continent is more qualified to enter than you? This limit on entrants has no effect on you at all."
Adkins smiled and nodded.
He was a Highgod.
Beirut was the manager of the Necropolis of the Gods and naturally wouldn't enter himself. Besides Beirut, was there anyone in the Yulan Continent stronger than him, Adkins?
Inside the Yulan Empire's imperial palace, in a hot bath dozens of meters long and wide.
A slender brown-haired young man lay naked in the hot bath. This hot bath was something only top nobles and important figures could enjoy. Below the bath, a large number of people kept the fire burning to maintain the water temperature.
Steam rose.
The brown-haired youth was like a spirit in the mist.
"A thousand years? I can wait. The Yulan Continent's environment is decent. At least it's not like the Gobadas Plane Prison, where there could be danger to your life at any moment." The brown-haired youth sighed.
In the Yulan Continent, whether it was the Highgod Adkins, the Midgods occupying empires and alliances, the Midgods hiding in various places, or the Demigods following behind the Midgods—all who chose to stay in the Yulan Continent were coveting the treasures in the Necropolis of the Gods.
Inside Dragonblood Castle.
Linley and the others lived a peaceful life of cultivation. Linley normally rested one day out of every seven, occasionally spending time with little Anou, or chatting with Reynolds, Dylin, and others. Of course, the rest of the time Linley was in intense training.
Living in Dragonblood Castle was his divine clone, while Linley's main body was in the micro-plane secret chamber, fully focused on cultivating 'Earth Pulse'.
Actually, there was no difference between the divine clone and the main body, since the soul was the same.
In the micro-plane secret chamber.
"The main thing is to strengthen the main body's soul. As for the divine clone, refining that Soul Gold Pearl should be enough." The Soul Gold Pearl Linley had obtained from the Grand Warlock was actually condensed from twenty million soul essences.
Linley had the divine clone's soul refine these twenty million soul essences.
As for...
The several million soul essences already refined and stored in the Bormont Ring, as well as the nearly one hundred million souls, Linley planned to use the 'Coiling Dragon Ring' to have his main body absorb them.
Bormont had originally had Kikita help refine the souls. Although Kikita was naturally skilled at refining souls, his strength was far lower than the Grand Warlock's. Even with good talent, his speed in refining souls was only comparable to the Grand Warlock's.
In just a few months, Kikita had only refined a few million souls.
Bormont would usually give Kikita a portion of souls, and when Kikita finished refining, he would give another portion. The vast majority of collected souls were stored in the Bormont Ring.
The Coiling Dragon Ring absorbed all the souls in one go, including the soul essences. Instantly...
The entire Coiling Dragon Ring was filled with endless soul essences. Large amounts of golden energy were absorbed by Linley's soul, and Linley's main body's soul grew at an astonishing rate. The stronger the soul, the faster the absorption speed.
The further along it went, the more astonishing Linley's soul's progress became.
However, the quantity was too shocking.
Nearly one hundred million soul essences!
"Back then, twenty million soul essences made my soul more than ten times stronger. Now, this one hundred million soul essences..." Linley marveled inwardly. He could clearly feel it from the speed at which he was deducing 'Earth Pulse'.
Back when he became a god, the laws of the universe descended.
Linley's soul had been enveloped by the laws of the universe at that moment. In that instant... Linley's soul underwent a transformation. This was a benefit every independent god-ascender received.
That single transformation made Linley's soul's deduction speed more than ten times faster. Absorbing the original twenty million soul essences made it more than a hundred times faster. That was why Linley had taken only three months to go from 6 Lotus to 3 Li in Earth Pulse.
Going from 32 Layers to 16 Layers took one year and three months.
As Linley absorbed these nearly one hundred million soul essences, his deduction speed continuously increased.
"With the deduction speed greatly improved, breaking through to 8 Layers should take much less time."
Linley's main body's soul was clearly several times stronger than his divine clone's soul, even though the divine clone's soul had absorbed that Soul Gold Pearl. In fact... firstly, Linley wanted to fully comprehend 'Earth Pulse' as quickly as possible. Secondly, it was the main body.
Once he became a god again, the main body's soul would split in two once more.
So naturally, the main body's soul should be as strong as possible.
In the garden of Dragonblood Castle.
Linley, Dylin, Tarossa, the War God, and others were gathered together. Not long ago, they had also heard Beirut's transmission.
"Opening in a thousand years?" Tarossa sighed. "Even Adkins is staying in the Yulan Continent, clearly targeting the Necropolis of the Gods. When it opens in a thousand years, there will definitely be many strong experts. Everyone, will you still enter in a thousand years?"
"Of course." The War God said first.
In this trip to the Necropolis of the Gods, the War God hadn't obtained a Midgod divine spark, which made him somewhat unwilling to accept it. After all, his old rival, High Priest 'Catherine', had successfully obtained a Midgod divine spark.
"Linley, Olivier, what about you two?" Tarossa looked at Linley and Olivier.
"A thousand years from now?" Linley just smiled and didn't answer.
"Maybe I'll enter, maybe I won't." Olivier answered like this.
Tarossa glared: "Olivier, what kind of answer is that? It's either enter or not. Those are the only two possibilities. You might as well not have said anything."
"What I mean is..." Olivier said seriously, "If I'm still in the Yulan Continent in a thousand years, I'll go to the Necropolis of the Gods. If I've already gone to another plane by then, naturally I won't be able to enter."
"Go to another plane?" The War God looked puzzled. "Going to another plane, you're a Demigod with no background. Do you think you can make it in a Higher Plane or a Divine Plane?"
Whether material planes or Higher Planes, they had all existed for far too long.
In the Higher Planes, there were also powerful forces, families, and even forces organized like empires. Without a background, it was better to stay in the Yulan Continent. For example, the Yulan Continent had the Necropolis of the Gods, a place many experts longed to enter.
"Linley, why don't you say whether you'll enter?" Dylin looked at Linley.
"What's the point of saying it now? A thousand years... it's too long." Linley sighed. He had been cultivating for less than a hundred years. A thousand years? Indeed, it was too long.
Dylin, Tarossa, and the War God were left speechless.
They only then remembered that Linley had only taken a few decades to reach Demigod. Comparatively speaking... a thousand years—who knew what Linley would be like in a thousand years?