Chapter 34: Darkness and Flame
Tanner saw that Sadista just grunted and said nothing. He immediately pretended to be puzzled and said, "Uncle, there's one thing I don't understand. You told us that Anras went to kill Linley and failed, that he died. But how exactly did Anras die? I don't believe that Linley could have killed Anras."
Sadista was slightly startled.
Who killed Anras?
Sadista himself wasn't entirely sure. After all, he couldn't constantly observe everything with his divine sense. It was only when Anras's lower-level god clone notified him with his divine sense that he learned of Anras's failure. Sadista wasn't clear about the process of the battle between Anras and Linley before that.
"Anras had two bodies. That wind-element lower-level god clone was killed by that divine beast rat," Sadista said. He was certain of this point. "As for his middle-level god clone..."
"Was it Linley who killed it?" Tanner asked.
"Of course not," Sadista snorted. "Although Linley recently formed his earth-element god clone, he's still a lower-level god. Even if his two god clones join forces, they can greatly weaken the binding of the 'God's Domain.' But Tanner, you should know that Anras was a powerful middle-level god!"
Tanner nodded. "Anras's 'soul attack'—even I can't withstand it."
"Among the six profound mysteries of the fire-element laws, the 'soul attack' profound mystery is the strongest," Sadista said solemnly. "Once Anras unleashed his soul attack, Linley would have been dead for sure."
No matter how powerful this Sadista was, he couldn't imagine...
That Linley actually possessed a damaged soul-defense sovereign artifact.
"So, it should have been the two middle-level gods in the mountain range who made a move," Sadista said. Although he wasn't clear about the situation at the time, he made this inference based on the comparison of strength. "Only that can explain why Linley didn't die."
"Uncle."
Tanner asked doubtfully, "Among those two middle-level gods in the mountain range, did any of them die?" In Tanner's view, with Anras's soul attack, even if two middle-level gods attacked him together, Anras should have at least killed one to take with him!
"Not a single one died," Sadista said with a cold laugh. "Those two middle-level gods should be quite strong. My divine sense also detected a mansion condensed from earth elements in that mountain range. Just from looking at that mansion, this middle-level god must have fused two profound mysteries."
Even if the earth-element profound mystery was perfected, it couldn't condense a mansion that could exist eternally like that.
"No wonder they could kill Anras without either of them dying," Tanner said with a sigh.
Then Tanner had a thought and said to Sadista, "Uncle, I know you've been in a bad mood lately. Since that's the case, why don't you go kill those two middle-level gods? First, to avenge Anras, and more importantly, to let off some steam."
"Oh?"
Sadista's heart stirred.
He was indeed feeling stifled and needed to vent.
"But Linley and Bebe are there too," Sadista said with a frown.
"What are you worried about, Uncle? As long as you don't go after Linley, you'll be in the right and thus bold! If you don't go after Linley now, I believe Lord Beirut won't make things difficult for you. He has no reason to either," Tanner said.
"Not go after Linley?" Sadista frowned. Deep in his heart, he actually wanted to kill Linley.
Tanner smiled and said, "Uncle, I know too. Once Linley returns to the 'Azure Prefecture' in the Infernal Realm, he might become a major threat to our family in the future. But Uncle, to kill this Linley, it doesn't have to be on the Yulan Plane! Once he enters the Infernal Realm, we can make our move then. The Infernal Realm is infinitely vast. Linley won't know the place or the people. Dealing with him would be a piece of cake, wouldn't it?"
"Ha, haha..." Sadista laughed.
Sadista looked at Tanner with a smile. "Tanner, I almost got stuck in a rut. Right, the Infernal Realm is infinitely vast. It won't be easy for Linley to reach the Azure Prefecture. We can absolutely make our move in the Infernal Realm." Sadista looked westward, his heart feeling light and free.
"Those two middle-level gods, I'll kill them directly!" Sadista was extremely disgusted with those two middle-level gods.
"Uncle, you can even greet Linley warmly when you see him," Tanner said with a smile. "After all, you won't kill him on the Yulan Plane, so what's there to fear? As for killing Linley in the Infernal Realm, how could Beirut possibly know what happens in other planes? Even a Sovereign couldn't do that!"
Sadista's smile grew even brighter.
"Haha, well said." Sadista patted Tanner on the shoulder. "On the Yulan Plane, I can even befriend this Linley. Anyway, if we're going to make a move, it'll be after we go to the Infernal Realm!"
"After making me feel stifled for over a month." Sadista looked westward. "Hmph, now I'll go kill those two annoying bastards, and by the way, I'll also get acquainted with Linley." With that, Sadista directly flew up.
"I'm going to be friends with Linley and Bebe." Sadista felt immensely pleased.
Sadista's entire body instantly turned into nothingness. There was no trace of Sadista in heaven and earth.
"I heard that Uncle has already fused three profound mysteries of the darkness laws. I wonder when I'll be able to do that too." Tanner sighed with emotion in his heart as he stood in the garden. Fusing two profound mysteries was already rare.
As for fusing three together, the difficulty instantly increased dozens of times.
Among upper-level gods, those who could achieve this step were extremely few.
Inside the elemental mansion in the Tongluo Mountain range.
"Linley, although the baleful aura of this Bloodviolet Godsword can affect your opponent, you don't have to force a soul attack," Raylen said to Linley, explaining. "A true attack is about applying the profound mysteries of the laws and executing them through a divine artifact."
"You can completely use the profound mysteries of speed, sound, and sonic waves through Bloodviolet," Raylen said with a smile. "Although this is a material attack, there isn't much difference between a material attack and a soul attack. If you split your enemy's head open with one sword strike, can't you also split their divine spark and kill them?"
Linley nodded thoughtfully.
"Remember, base your attacks on the profound mysteries you've comprehended. That's enough. Don't be too influenced by a divine artifact!" Raylen said. "Look. Your Blackflame Heavy Sword is only a low-level divine artifact, but the power of your 'Void Sword Wave' far exceeds the attack of your Bloodviolet Godsword."
Linley smiled.
"Raylen..." Linley was about to speak when he noticed Raylen frown. "I didn't expect him to come after all."
Raylen's figure moved, and he disappeared from the elemental mansion.
"What's going on?" Linley was puzzled in his heart.
In fact, ever since the Anras ambush incident, Raylen had set up a 'Gravity Space' in the shape of a spiderweb within the Tongluo Mountain range. The 'Gravity Space' profound mystery of the earth laws was very magical, and it was also a high-level profound mystery.
Within the Gravity Space, Raylen could instantly increase gravity by millions of times.
But Raylen didn't do that. He only let the Gravity Space cover the Tongluo Mountain range without changing the gravity, because the boundless earth itself contained gravitational force. Although Anras had set up a 'Gravity Space,' Sadista didn't notice it when he flew over, thinking it was just the natural gravity of the earth.
And once Sadista entered the Tongluo Mountain range, Raylen naturally detected him.
At this moment, on a quiet, half-slope clearing in the Tongluo Mountains, a white-robed middle-aged man was sparring with Bebe. Two afterimages kept shifting and colliding, each impact producing a metallic 'clang' sound.
The bald, burly man 'Burgess' was laughing on the sidelines. "Second brother, you're a middle-level god, yet you've spent so long without defeating Bebe. Don't embarrass yourself too much."
"I'm only using the 'Light Speed' profound mystery. If I used two profound mysteries, I would have won long ago. And Bebe's dagger is really too strange. I don't dare to take it head-on with my body," the white-robed man complained during the fight. Bebe's strength was indeed formidable.
Especially that dagger weapon.
"You're a middle-level god. Stop making excuses," Burgess laughed loudly.
"Bang!" Bebe was sent flying.
"Again." Bebe gritted his teeth, unconvinced. Suddenly, Bebe's expression changed slightly, and the faces of the Burgess brothers, who were full of smiles, also changed.
Strangely, the sunlight around this half-slope suddenly disappeared. Other places still had sunlight, but the half-slope where Bebe and the others were fell into an eerie darkness. A purple figure appeared abruptly in the darkness. It was Sadista.
"Who are you?" Burgess shouted.
Sadista's gaze first fell on Bebe, and he said with a smile, "Oh, it's Bebe. Bebe, I have some acquaintance with your grandfather Beirut. But these two have some enmity with me. You step aside for now." Sadista's attitude was very good.
Bebe was stunned. "Who is this person?" Bebe didn't know Sadista at all.
Sadista turned to look at the Burgess brothers and said coldly, "You two, prepare to die." With that, Sadista directly waved his hand—
"To want to kill my brothers? You really have some nerve." A clear, cold voice rang out. A man in a dark red robe walked over. It was Raylen. The eyes beneath his red eyebrows held a trace of anger.
Sadista was shocked when he saw the newcomer. "How is there someone else?" According to his divine sense investigation, there were only four people in the Tongluo Mountain range: Linley, Bebe, and the two middle-level gods. There was no such person in front of him.
Raylen coldly stared at Sadista.
"All of you, step back," Raylen said calmly.
Burgess, his brother, and Bebe immediately flew to the side. At this time, Linley also flew over from a distance. Linley looked in shock at the scene on the half-slope. He could only see the figures of Raylen and Sadista. Everywhere else was dark and void.
"Who is this person?" Linley asked doubtfully.
"I don't know," Burgess said. "But he came to kill us and said he had some acquaintance with Lord Beirut."
Linley looked at Bebe. Bebe also shook his head. "I don't know that person."
From the half-slope came Raylen's angry laughter. "Haha! Saying you might have come to the wrong place and then wanting to leave? How ridiculous. If I hadn't come today, wouldn't my brothers have been killed by you? No one who wants to kill my brothers has ever lived!"
Sadista's angry voice also came. "I gave you face, and you're still so arrogant. Haha... fine. Since that's the case, today I'll not only kill your brothers, but you as well. Let's see what you can do!"
"Boom!" With Sadista at the center, space began to distort. At the same time, this distorted space spread in all directions. The nearby mountain peak instantly turned to powder. The surrounding trees, flowers, and even the sunlight were all devoured by the distorted space around Sadista's body. Because the sunlight was devoured, the distorted space appeared pitch black.
This range kept expanding.
Sadista was at the center of this distorted space.
Linley was horrified in his heart. "What kind of ability is this?" The Burgess brothers were also terrified.
"You brought this on yourself," Sadista said coldly, staring at Raylen.
Raylen smiled coldly. "I didn't expect you to have some skill."
"Hmph!" Sadista snorted coldly. The 'black distorted space' that had spread to a range of several hundred meters suddenly contracted rapidly, turning into a giant black wolf about seven or eight meters tall. This wolf completely enveloped Sadista.
"Roar~" Sadista's entire body instantly turned into nothingness and merged with the black wolf.
The black wolf roared and instantly arrived in front of Raylen. At the same time, it opened its bloody maw, as if trying to devour Raylen directly. Inside this bloody maw, space continuously collapsed and recovered.
"Sizzle~" An instantly terrifying, scorching temperature spread out. Raylen's entire body directly shattered, turning into a blaze of fire. This blaze of fire "whooshed" through the black wolf's body and then condensed back into human form, becoming Raylen's figure again.
As for the black wolf, its entire body rippled like waves—
"Ah!"
The wolf collapsed and dissipated, splitting into two bodies. Both of Sadista's bodies fell from midair.
"Darkness and wind. What use are these two upper-level god sparks to me?" Raylen looked at the two upper-level god sparks in his palm. In an instant, Raylen had killed both of Sadista's god clones. The difference in strength wasn't even on the same level.
Linley and Bebe were dumbfounded.
"That person... is dead?" Linley couldn't believe it. That powerful upper-level god was finished just like that?