Chapter 31: Pulse of the Earth
The laws of the universe descended.
Even BeBe and the white-robed middle-aged man, who had been sparring not far away, were drawn over. BeBe flashed through the mountain forest like lightning, arriving in the valley. He stared at Linley suspended in midair, his eyes filled with joy: "Boss, have you finally comprehended the Pulse of the Earth?"
"Big brother, what's going on? He... he just broke through like that?" The white-robed middle-aged man flew over. He was also very surprised.
The bald, burly man 'Burgess' looked somewhat dazed and said, "I just knocked him down. I don't know what triggered him, but he actually comprehended it. Tell me, isn't this... really discouraging?"
"No wonder Third Brother praised him." The white-robed middle-aged man also looked at Linley.
As if by teleportation, a person suddenly appeared on the ground in the valley. It was the red-browed Reylin. BeBe glanced at Reylin in surprise: "This master of Bronze Mountain is too powerful. But Grandpa said that no matter how strong an expert is, they can't teleport. I wonder what method Reylin used."
Reylin smiled as he looked at Linley floating in the air and nodded with satisfaction.
Space twisted faintly.
"Crackle~" Endless earth elements rapidly gathered above Linley. That peculiar power enveloped Linley's soul, as if it thoroughly understood everything within it. The earth elements above gathered faster and faster.
In an instant—
"Boom!" The gathered earth elements dispersed. At the original center of the gathering floated a black crystal emitting a faint, earthy yellow glow.
The divine spark had formed, naturally connecting with Linley's soul.
"An earth-attribute divine spark." Linley felt a surge of joy in his heart. He had already experienced this process before.
"Finally, I've become a god in both earth and wind." Linley couldn't help but feel a bit excited. But at the same time, Reylin's image appeared in his mind. "I really have to thank this master of Bronze Mountain for breaking through the bottleneck so quickly this time."
"Time to condense the divine body?" Linley sensed the message from the laws of the universe.
Without hesitation, Linley controlled the earth-attribute divine spark to float outside his body. A hint of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "I have to split my soul again. From today on, I'll have another body. At the same time, I can cultivate other laws. But the pain of splitting the soul..."
"Ah!" Linley's entire body muscles spasmed and twitched. The intense pain of splitting his soul caused his face to instantly turn pale, devoid of any color.
"This Linley still wants to cultivate other laws." Reylin sighed in admiration. "He actually chose to split his soul again." Reylin was well aware of the pain of soul splitting. Tearing one's soul in two would make even the strongest expert cry out uncontrollably.
Fortunately, this was the moment of becoming a god, when the soul was protected by the laws of the universe.
Splitting the soul now wouldn't cause harm. Under normal circumstances, even a slight tremor, if too violent, could truly scatter the soul, leading to its complete destruction.
A sword-shaped fragment of soul flew out from Linley's body and merged with the floating earth-attribute divine spark.
"A sword-shaped soul?" Reylin's eyes lit up. "He has the potential to cultivate the laws of Destruction."
Meanwhile, Linley once again sensed that vast, peculiar plane—the Elemental Sea Plane.
A gray, hazy space filled with a boundless elemental sea. The tides rose and fell. The earthy yellow tide was entirely liquid elements, and deeper within lay purer and purer earth divine power. Linley strained to explore the deeper divine power.
With the 'earth-attribute divine spark' as its core, the earth divine power directly condensed into an independent divine body, identical in appearance to Linley.
"The laws of the universe always form an independent divine body." Linley immediately controlled the earth divine power to form a yellow robe on the surface of his earth-element divine clone. With a thought, his wind-element divine clone also flew out from his main body.
The earth-element divine clone and the wind-element divine clone, both divine clones, surrounded the main body.
Then, both divine clones merged back into the main body.
In Linley's soul sea, the yellow-robed Linley and the light cyan-robed Linley both sat cross-legged, floating on the surface of the soul sea. Above these two divine clones floated a seven-colored, sword-shaped soul, but its size was much smaller than before.
In the valley of Bronze Mountain, Linley landed on the ground. Opening his eyes, he saw Reylin, his two brothers, and BeBe.
"Boss." BeBe's eyes were full of joy. He grinned widely and gave a thumbs-up. "It's only been half a year since we came to Bronze Mountain, and you've really become a god in the laws of earth. By the way, Boss, did you comprehend the 'Essence of Earth' or the 'Pulse of the Earth'?"
"It was the Pulse of the Earth!" Linley said with a smile.
"Linley, congratulations." The master of Bronze Mountain, 'Reylin', said with a faint smile.
Linley looked at Reylin, his expression immediately turning serious. He bowed respectfully and said gratefully, "Mr. Reylin, I am very grateful for the help from you three. If it weren't for you, I don't know how long it would have taken me to break through this bottleneck."
"No need to thank us. If anything, we three brothers should be thanking you." Reylin said.
"Huh?" Linley was stunned.
Thank him? Why would Reylin thank him?
The bald, burly man 'Burgess' laughed heartily and said, "Haha, Linley, if it weren't for you and those two other demigods, we three brothers would probably still be in the Gebados Plane Prison right now."
Linley and BeBe suddenly understood.
"So, Reylin really is from the Gebados Plane Prison." Linley thought to himself.
"Boss, that sword strike from Olivieri did have some benefits after all." BeBe laughed.
But Reylin looked at Linley and said calmly, "Linley, you've just stepped into the demigod level in the laws of earth. Although you've comprehended the 'Pulse of the Earth', for experts, comprehending a law is one thing, but applying it is the most important."
Linley nodded in agreement.
Indeed, when he first became a wind-element demigod, it took him a long time of research to comprehend the 'Whisper of the Wind'.
"BeBe, it's best if you don't disturb Linley right now. Let him quietly feel the 'Pulse of the Earth' so he can better apply it and unleash more powerful attacks." Reylin turned to BeBe instead.
"I know." BeBe quickly nodded.
After comprehending a law, one should also learn how to apply it as soon as possible.
"Linley, cultivate well. In a while, you should be able to hold your own against my big brother." Reylin said.
"How is that possible?" Linley said with a self-deprecating laugh. "I'm just a demigod."
"But you have two divine clones." Reylin smiled.
"So what use is that?" Linley asked, puzzled. "The 'Domain' of a god is too restrictive. I can only barely resist a little."
Reylin laughed. "You don't even know that?"
"Huh?" Linley was confused.
"Linley, both of your divine clones are fused into your main body. Each divine spark can unleash a 'Domain'. Both of your divine sparks can unleash a 'Domain'. When the two 'Domains' overlap, the restriction you feel will be much weaker." Reylin explained.
Linley was stunned.
Back then, Beirut had said that a demigod was no match for a god in a one-on-one fight.
But in reality, someone like Linley had two divine clones fighting together.
"When two 'Domains' overlap, they might not completely cancel out a god's 'Domain', but the restriction will be much weaker. Then, with your techniques and profound mysteries, you might have a chance to hold your own against my big brother." Reylin said.
Linley felt a surge of excitement in his heart.
So having more divine clones had this effect.
Since Linley needed to quietly comprehend the attack methods of the 'Pulse of the Earth', he naturally wouldn't spar with the bald, burly man 'Burgess' anymore. To avoid disturbing Linley's cultivation, BeBe and the white-robed middle-aged man went to a farther place to spar.
Only Linley remained in the valley.
"The forbidden spell 'Pulsing Guardian' controls the 'pulsing force' contained within the earth." Once cast, that forbidden spell formed a seemingly transparent protective shield. It was formed by the 'pulsing force' contained within the earth.
In the past, Linley didn't understand how this pulsing force was formed.
"This pulsing force is completely different from ordinary elements. It's a new type of power. Now it seems... it just needs to be transformed." Having fully comprehended the 'Pulse of the Earth', Linley's mind suddenly became clear. "When applying the 'Pulse of the Earth', besides vibrational wave attacks, there should also be attacks using this pulsing force."
Linley stepped on the ground, divine power surging within his body.
A peculiar pulsing force traveled from Linley's feet into the ground, then through the earth, directly into the deep pool ahead.
"Boom!" The water in the pool shot up into the sky.
"This kind of attack is silent and stealthy." A hint of a smile appeared on Linley's lips. "If I study it a bit more, this move should become even more powerful."
Within the quiet mansion in the O'Brien Empire.
"This Linley is actually cultivating alone?" Sadista released his divine sense, spreading it over Bronze Mountain, and naturally discovered Linley, who was in the midst of cultivation. "This Linley is really impressive. He's reached the demigod level in the laws of earth as well."
Sadista's eyes gleamed coldly.
The greater Linley's potential, the more Sadista wanted to kill him.
"I absolutely cannot let Linley go to the Infernal Realm and return to the 'Azure Prefecture'." Sadista was very clear on this point. "That Bronze Mountain only has two gods. If Anras is fast enough, he can still kill Linley in a very short time."
Sadista had some confidence in Anras.
Because Anras cultivated the 'Laws of Fire', which was famous for its offensive power.
"Anras—" Sadista directly transmitted a message to Anras via divine sense.
The sky was overcast today, and the wind was strong.
A figure streaked through the air at high speed. It was Anras, clad in a dark red robe. Anras looked south. "I've waited so long, and finally, the opportunity has come." Sadista had just transmitted the map of Linley's location into his mind via divine sense.
Anras was very clear about Linley's location.
A faint red light flickered in Anras's eyes.
Soon, Bronze Mountain appeared within Anras's field of vision. Anras's expression grew even colder. He was very familiar with the terrain of Bronze Mountain. He easily swooped down, weaving through the mountain forest, heading straight for the valley where Linley was cultivating.
Inside the mansion formed from condensed earth elements.
"That arrogant fellow, probing with his divine sense over and over, definitely has ill intentions." Reylin smiled faintly. Sadista had probed with his divine sense many times, thinking no one would notice. But he didn't know that Reylin was fully aware.
"The person sent this time should be his subordinate." Reylin was completely unconcerned.
"A god. It'll also let me see how strong Linley has become, and whether he can withstand it." In the end, Reylin moved and directly disappeared from the courtyard. In reality, Anras had flown toward the valley first, and was closer.
But...
Reylin arrived first.
In the valley where Linley was cultivating, Linley was deeply immersed in his training when he suddenly felt the ground tremble slightly.
"Huh?" Linley stopped cultivating in confusion.
"What's going on?" Linley didn't notice anything wrong.
But Linley didn't know that a stone had suddenly appeared in a corner of the valley. This stone faintly emitted an earth-element aura. "I'd better stay and watch, or if this Linley dies, things will really get troublesome. Oh, that god has arrived."