Chapter 29: The Training of the Elements
Of the three people in this mansion, aside from the bald, burly man ‘Burgess’, the other two appeared relatively amiable. However, one middle-aged man was particularly striking. He had long black hair, but his eyebrows were a vivid crimson.
“Third brother. The two people you wanted to see are here.” The bald, burly man said as he walked over. The crimson-browed middle-aged man looked at Linley and Bebe, his gaze lingering on Bebe for a moment before he smiled. “You two. Sit down first.”
As he spoke, he pointed to the stools not far away.
“Thank you, sir.” Linley and Bebe said politely, then sat down opposite the crimson-browed middle-aged man.
“Big brother, second brother. You two go ahead and attend to your business. I’ll have a private chat with these two little fellows.” The crimson-browed middle-aged man said.
The bald, burly man and the other middle-aged man clearly obeyed their third brother’s words. They both nodded and left first. The crimson-browed middle-aged man then looked at Linley and Bebe, smiling. “You may call me Mr. Raylin. You two came to see me; speak your minds.”
Mr. Raylin?
Linley and Bebe were inwardly surprised: “Huh? Isn’t the name of the Bronze Cauldron Mountain’s master usually not told to others?”
“Mr. Raylin?” Bebe exclaimed in surprise.
“What’s wrong?” Raylin looked at Bebe, puzzled.
“I, my boss is named Linley.” Bebe said, quite taken aback.
“Linley?” Mr. Raylin was stunned for a moment before he caught on.
Linley hadn’t realized the issue before, but now he did. ‘Linley’ and ‘Raylin’—weren’t they just the two characters swapped around?
“You’re really called Linley?” This ‘Lord’ Raylin was very surprised. Linley nodded with a smile. “Yes, Mr. Raylin. My full name is Linley Baruch.”
Mr. Raylin calmed down as well, laughing heartily. “Haha… what a coincidence. I’m the opposite of you. Raylin is my family name. My full name is Zacharias Raylin. It seems we do share a bit of fate.”
“Yes.” Linley also felt it was quite coincidental.
After this exchange, Linley no longer felt constrained in front of Lord Raylin.
“Mr. Raylin, I’ve come this time because of a matter related to my training.” Linley said.
“Those who come to see me are almost always here about training.” Raylin said with a grin. “But let me be clear upfront. I can only guide you a little. I’m only proficient in the Laws of Fire and the Laws of the Earth. As for other elemental laws, I can probably only offer a sentence or two.”
Linley smiled.
The Laws of the Earth?
Actually, seeing the mansion, Linley already knew that the master of Bronze Cauldron Mountain definitely cultivated the Laws of the Earth.
“Go ahead.” Raylin said with a smile.
Linley then explained the bottleneck that was troubling him. “Mr. Raylin, I’m currently training in the ‘Pulsating Earth’ of the Laws of the Earth. However, I’ve already trained and fused it to the ‘Second Pulse of the Earth’, but I simply cannot achieve the final fusion and unification.”
“You’re training in ‘Pulsating Earth’?” The master of Bronze Cauldron Mountain, ‘Raylin’, raised his crimson eyebrows slightly. “It seems you have good talent.”
“But since you’ve hit a bottleneck, I can’t help you break through it.” Raylin said with a smile.
Linley couldn’t help but be stunned. Hadn’t two experts achieved godhood through the guidance of this ‘master of Bronze Cauldron Mountain’?
“You can’t help?” Bebe said. “But you’ve helped others before, haven’t you?”
Raylin laughed. “Rumors just get more and more exaggerated. Bottlenecks like this can’t be helped by outsiders. At most, I can give you some pointers.” Linley’s eyes lit up. If this person could guide him, and he could gain some insight, then naturally it would work out.
“Linley. You want to comprehend ‘Pulsating Earth’, so let’s set that aside for now. Let’s first talk about the six profound mysteries contained within the ‘Laws of the Earth’.” Raylin said with a faint smile.
“Six profound mysteries?” Linley was somewhat surprised.
Linley had heard from Beirut that Beirut hypothesized that one elemental law contained nine profound mysteries.
“Yes. The Laws of the Earth contain a total of six profound mysteries.” Raylin said with a faint smile. “I’m not sure about the others, but at least among the four elemental laws of Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind, the three elemental laws of Earth, Fire, and Water each contain six profound mysteries. The Wind elemental law has a bit more, containing nine profound mysteries.”
Raylin spoke with confidence, making people involuntarily believe him.
Linley nodded slightly.
“Among the six profound mysteries contained in the Laws of the Earth, the most basic one is the ‘Profound Mystery of the Earth Element’.” Raylin said.
“The ‘Profound Mystery of the Earth Element’?” Linley frowned.
This element was everywhere; it should be the most common. The law itself was the elemental law, so how could there be a ‘Profound Mystery of the Earth Element’ among the profound mysteries?
“Linley.” Raylin spoke up. He couldn’t help but smile when he mentioned Linley’s name. “You should know that in ordinary magic, there are things like the Earth Golem, the Earth Guardian, and the Earth Guardian Saint Armor, right?”
Linley nodded.
Back when Linley was young, above Niao Shan Town, when those two Saint-level experts were fighting, the Saint-level magician had once cast the forbidden spell ‘Earth Guardian’.
“Whether it’s the Earth Golem, the Earth Guardian, ordinary meteorites, or the Earth Guardian Saint Armor, they are all… formed by controlling the earth element through magical power within the body. Linley, am I right?” Raylin looked at Linley with a smile.
Linley had spent a lot of effort studying magic, so he naturally understood.
He immediately nodded.
“Whether it’s the Earth Guardian or the Earth Guardian Saint Armor, they are all preliminary applications of the ‘Profound Mystery of the Earth Element’.”
Raylin spoke eloquently. “The Earth Element can change into countless forms. You can control it to form human shapes, magical beast shapes, or even armor shapes. This ‘Profound Mystery of the Earth Element’, at its later stages, is a deeper application of the element. For example… this mansion of mine!”
Raylin pointed at the mansion. “Linley, look at this mansion. In terms of hardness, it’s comparable to ‘Black Jade’, and it can exist permanently! Tell me, how did I achieve this?”
“This?” Linley had been puzzled about this before.
Now, Linley somewhat understood. This mansion in front of him was probably something that could be achieved by fully mastering the ‘Profound Mystery of the Earth Element’.
“Linley. A powerhouse of the Laws of the Earth should have the strongest defense.” Raylin’s eyes, beneath his crimson brows, blazed brightly. “Among them, defending against physical attacks relies on this ‘Profound Mystery of the Earth Element’, while defending against spiritual attacks relies on ‘Pulsating Earth’.”
Linley nodded in agreement.
He himself used his spiritual energy to form a ‘pulsating defense’.
“The Laws of the Earth have six profound mysteries. If you want to comprehend the others, it’s best to first master this most basic ‘Profound Mystery of the Earth Element’. It is the foundation!”
Raylin advised. “This ‘Profound Mystery of the Earth Element’ is about gaining a better understanding of the element. When your understanding of the element deepens and your perception becomes stronger, then comprehending other profound mysteries of the law will become much easier.”
Linley was beginning to understand.
“The unification of ‘Pulsating Earth’ is very difficult, and I can’t provide any shortcuts. But I think, if you calmly focus on comprehending the ‘Profound Mystery of the Earth Element’, it might be beneficial for your breakthrough in ‘Pulsating Earth’.” Raylin said with a smile.
“Thank you, Mr. Raylin.” Linley felt grateful in his heart.
“Everything still depends on yourself.” Raylin said with a smile. “Well then, Linley, watch carefully.”
Raylin looked at the sky, and suddenly the elemental energy in the air gathered rapidly.
Linley also looked up.
The violent earth element gathered swiftly, even producing a faint rumbling sound. Above Bronze Cauldron Mountain, a large patch of earth-yellow clouds appeared. Then, these earth-yellow clouds transformed into an earth-yellow python, a full hundred meters long.
“Sizzle sizzle~” The python seemed real, occasionally baring its fangs.
Such a giant python circling in the sky truly made Linley’s heart tremble.
“Is this the result of fully mastering the Profound Mystery of the Earth Element?” Linley thought to himself.
“Now, watch closely.” Raylin said in a low voice.
Linley immediately focused his attention and also released his divine sense to carefully observe every movement of the giant python. The hundred-meter-long python circling in the sky suddenly swung its tail in anger. The thick, long tail lashed out like a whip.
“Humm~”
The python’s tail lashed out fiercely, and clearly visible spatial ripples appeared.
The disturbance from these spatial ripples was enormous. Each ripple produced spatial cracks. Instantly… above Bronze Cauldron Mountain, wave-like spatial cracks appeared one after another, then disappeared one after another. As the spatial ripples spread outward, their intensity naturally weakened.
Even so, some large trees affected by these spatial ripples were instantly reduced to powder.
“This? This is Pulsating Earth?” Linley was shocked.
“This is the fully mastered ‘Pulsating Earth’.” Raylin looked at Linley with a smile.
“Can ‘Pulsating Earth’ also be executed by a creature condensed from the element?” Linley was very surprised.
“Why not?” Raylin said with a faint smile. “This time, I even separated the two profound mysteries of ‘Pulsating Earth’ and ‘Profound Mystery of the Earth Element’ to execute them. If the two were fused together and unleashed in one move… I’m afraid this Bronze Cauldron Mountain would no longer exist.”
Linley was horrified in his heart.
He also knew that the profound mysteries of the elemental laws could be fused with each other.
“So powerful.” Bebe beside him exclaimed in admiration. Then he looked at Raylin with confusion. “Mr. Raylin, you just said that among the four elemental laws of Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind, only the Wind elemental law contains nine profound mysteries, while the other three only have six. Doesn’t that mean training in the Wind elemental law would be very difficult?”
“No.”
Raylin sighed. “The number differs, but the difficulty isn’t much different. For example, ‘Pulsating Earth’ and ‘Gravity Space’ within the Laws of the Earth are extremely difficult. Mastering each one requires effort, some opportunities, and occasional moments of enlightenment.”
“Linley. First, train in this ‘Profound Mystery of the Earth Element’. Perhaps it will bring you some surprises.” Raylin said with a smile.
Linley nodded slightly.
Linley also understood that this ‘Profound Mystery of the Earth Element’ was relatively easy to get started with. After all, past magic mostly involved controlling the element.
“Mr. Raylin, may I come to seek your guidance again in the future?” Linley inquired.
“Naturally. As long as I’m still at Bronze Cauldron Mountain, you can come find me.” Raylin said.
Linley, however, caught the implication in Raylin’s words. “Mr. Raylin, are you planning to leave this place?”
Raylin nodded and sighed. “Indeed. Before long, I will indeed be leaving here.” After speaking, Raylin seemed to recall something, sighed, and didn’t say more.
Afterward, Linley and Bebe settled down within Bronze Cauldron Mountain. Occasionally, they would communicate with the people at Dragonblood Castle through their divine sense, while usually, they would cultivate in seclusion here. As Linley trained in the ‘Profound Mystery of the Earth Element’, he gradually began to discover the benefits of cultivating this ‘Profound Mystery of the Earth Element’.
Inside a quiet courtyard.
Sadista once again spread his divine sense, probing Linley’s situation. He couldn’t help but frown, a trace of anger in his eyes. “This Linley is still staying with that Soul Devouring Rat. Hmph. There are actually two Demigods in this mountain range?”
With Sadista’s strength, it was easy for him to discover those two Demigods.
“Just Demigods.” Sadista didn’t care at all. “But it seems I still need to wait for an opportunity.”
Sadista’s patience was very good. Without absolute certainty, he wouldn’t let Anras make a move. After all, his primary goal this time was still the treasures in the Necropolis of the Gods.
But strangely enough…
The master of Bronze Cauldron Mountain, ‘Raylin’, also lived on Bronze Cauldron Mountain with his two brothers. However, Sadista only discovered those two Demigods and didn’t find the third person, ‘Raylin’, at all.