Chapter 37: For the Family!
The high-level god ‘Sadista’ had died, yet the Yulan continent plane continued on as before, ordinary residents living peaceful lives. Only the god-level experts at the very peak of the pyramid, from the terrifying energy fluctuations in the west not long ago, sensed a message: The Yulan continent was about to see major upheaval.
Anras was dead. Sadista had gone west and never returned.
Now, in the Luo’ao Empire, this batch of god-level experts that Sadista had brought naturally took Sadista’s nephew ‘Tanner’ and another middle-level god ‘Niv’ as their leaders. Neither Tanner nor Niv could be completely certain whether Sadista was alive or dead.
This made them very anxious.
In the Luo’ao Empire, within that quiet mansion. The scorching summer sunlight bathed the entire estate. In a courtyard at Tanner’s residence, a silver-haired man in a black short-sleeved shirt, his robust physique accentuated, strode in with large steps: “Tanner, come out!”
The door opened. Tanner walked out: “Niv, what’s the matter?”
“You still have the mood to rest?” Niv was somewhat angry.
“What do you expect me to do?” Tanner was also very troubled. Back then, it was his suggestion that Sadista go kill those two middle-level gods to vent some frustration. After all, Sadista had been scowling all day, making Tanner and the others feel uncomfortable and oppressed.
But who would have thought that his uncle ‘Sadista’ would never return?
“Three days ago, those astonishing energy fluctuations in the west. You felt them too,” Niv said solemnly.
Tanner nodded: “Yes, I felt them. That was indeed uncle’s aura. But Niv, what does that prove?”
“What does it prove?” Niv sneered. “Tanner, don’t keep dreaming. The matter is already very clear. Such powerful energy fluctuations… I believe Lord Sadista wouldn’t be bored enough to vent randomly. He must have engaged in a great battle.”
Niv continued: “You told me that day too. Lord Sadista went west to kill those two middle-level gods. Are those two middle-level gods dead?”
Tanner was stunned, hesitating for a moment: “I… I don’t know.”
“You don’t know? Simple. Just release your divine sense and cover that mountain range. I believe you can easily judge whether those two middle-level gods are dead or not,” Niv said coldly. “Tanner, stop playing dumb.”
Tanner’s face changed color slightly.
“I already checked with my divine sense,” Niv said, taking a deep breath. “Those two middle-level gods are not dead. Tanner, Lord Sadista went to kill those two middle-level gods, there was such a huge commotion, yet the two middle-level gods didn’t die. And Lord Sadista left three days ago and hasn’t returned. Isn’t the result obvious enough?”
“Maybe… uncle went somewhere for an important matter,” Tanner said bitterly.
Tanner was unwilling to believe his uncle was dead.
Their family was very large, passed down through hundreds of millions of years. Naturally, it was divided into many branches. In Tanner’s branch, Sadista was the pillar. If Sadista were truly dead, Tanner could fully predict how difficult his position in the family would become.
Niv also understood Tanner’s thoughts.
“Tanner, no matter what, we must face reality,” Niv said solemnly. “This is the Yulan continent plane, not the Hell Plane. On the Yulan continent, even if Lord Sadista encountered something that kept him busy, he would have used divine sense telepathy to tell us. Divine sense telepathy only takes an instant.”
“But no. We didn’t receive Lord Sadista’s telepathic message.”
Niv’s expression was stern. “I don’t want to admit it, but I have to say it. The family’s plan has failed. The Necropolis of the Gods… at least this group of us has no hope at all. Without the strength of a high-level god, it’s fundamentally impossible to obtain the heavy treasure the family needs.”
Tanner nodded as well.
Didn’t he understand this perfectly?
“Uncle… might really be dead,” Tanner nodded bitterly. Then he stared at Niv. “But Niv, so what if uncle is dead? Are you going to…”
“Exactly!”
Niv’s aura became sharp. “Tanner, the family’s current status was achieved by countless ancestors risking their lives over hundreds of millions of years. You and I, our talents aren’t that high. Why can we, as family members, receive divine spark nurturing and easily reach the middle-level god stage? It’s because the family bestowed it upon us!”
Tanner was silent.
“The Azure Dragon Mansion is our greatest enemy! They are too powerful. The Four Divine Beasts Clan under the Azure Dragon Mansion is even more formidable. And that Linley, you know about him. He’s been cultivating for less than a hundred years, yet he has already cultivated two divine clones!”
Niv sneered coldly. “In the Four Divine Beasts Clan, without undergoing the baptism, to reach such a level… I’ve never heard of such a genius. And Tanner, Linley cultivates the earth element, not water! Do you understand what that means?”
Tanner nodded.
“Once he undergoes the baptism of the Four Divine Beasts Ancestral Shrine, then I believe that within ten thousand years, the Azure Dragon Mansion will absolutely produce a peerless high-level god expert. By then, I can’t imagine how many people from our family will die at his hands,” Niv said sharply. “And right now, he’s only a low-level god, hasn’t undergone the Four Divine Beasts Ancestral Shrine baptism!”
“If not now, when will we kill him?”
Niv’s gaze was icy. “I know that Linley has some background on the Yulan continent plane. But so what if he has background? I would rather die myself than let him live.” Niv had become a middle-level god by refining a divine spark. He knew… that although he was stronger than Linley now, in terms of potential, he was far inferior.
“Niv!” Tanner took a deep breath and shook his head. “I advise you not to go kill Linley now.”
“What did you say!” Niv’s anger surged.
Tanner sighed: “Don’t rush. We really don’t need to kill him on the Yulan continent plane. When he goes to the Hell Plane, we can kill him then, it won’t be too late.”
“Nonsense!” Niv said. “First, when will Linley go to the Hell Plane? If he grows to the high-level god stage on the Yulan continent plane and obtains a Sovereign artifact in the Necropolis of the Gods, then goes to the Hell Plane… is it possible for us to kill him?”
Tanner was choked.
“Also, when Linley arrives in the Hell Plane, he’ll be teleported to any random teleportation point. It’s impossible to determine. Our family only has some influence in our own region. Do you really think… we can chase him all over the Hell Plane? Do you know how vast the Hell Plane is?” Niv stared at Tanner.
Tanner had nothing to say.
Back then, Sadista’s primary goal was the Necropolis of the Gods’ heavy treasure, so he chose to temporarily abandon the pursuit of Linley. In reality, chasing Linley in the Hell Plane was impractical. The Hell Plane, as a higher plane, was vast beyond the Yulan continent plane by countless times.
In the Hell Plane, there were many forces more powerful than their family and the Azure Dragon Mansion!
“Tanner, have you forgotten the great battles with the Azure Dragon Mansion, one after another? The figures of our ancestors falling one by one?” Niv stared at Tanner. “Alright, I’ll set off for the Magical Beast Mountain Range immediately. I know that even if I kill Linley this time, I might be killed in revenge by the figures behind him.”
“But if I can kill Linley, I’ll die with my eyes closed. Tanner, you’re in charge of everything here. I’m leaving.” Niv turned and walked away.
Since he couldn’t obtain the Necropolis of the Gods’ heavy treasure, killing Linley would mean this group hadn’t come in vain.
“Niv…” Tanner didn’t want to watch Niv go to his death. Killing Linley… Niv would also be killed in revenge by the people behind Linley.
“For the Raynalds!” Niv’s voice came, and his figure was already in midair, becoming a black dot on the western horizon.
Tanner stood stunned, then his gaze also became firm. He whispered softly: “For the Raynalds!”
“Someone come,” Tanner called out. Soon, a low-level god came over. Tanner gave detailed instructions. “Remember, you must tell Lord Hodan this news. Go now.”
“Yes, my lord.”
That low-level god immediately flew away from the mansion, heading straight for the Arctic Icefield.
In the Magical Beast Mountain Range, within a canyon beneath a cliff, weeds grew lushly, and spring water flowed. Figures of seventh-level magical beasts ‘Thunder-Winged Pegasi’ could be seen everywhere. The Thunder-Winged Pegasi leisurely displayed their graceful forms, sometimes flying in midair, sometimes landing by the spring to lower their heads and drink.
Suddenly, a figure appeared here. A large number of Thunder-Winged Pegasi were so frightened they didn’t dare move.
“Go on, do what you were doing.”
The silver-haired Niv looked around, sending a divine sense message into each Thunder-Winged Pegasus’s mind. Then Niv sat down cross-legged, and at the same time, his divine sense spread out. Niv only stretched the length of his divine sense to cover the entire Magical Beast Mountain Range.
As for the height, it was probably only about ten miles.
Such an area was less than one-thousandth of the Yulan continent’s landmass. Covering such a region with divine sense consumed mental energy that, for a middle-level god like Niv, was completely bearable. At least the replenishment could keep up with the consumption.
“This Linley is still there. If he wants to return to Dragonblood Castle, he has to fly over the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Once he passes by, I’ll find him.” Niv didn’t think further and just waited here like a hunter by a tree stump.
Niv didn’t dare to directly attack Copper Gong Mountain. After all, Anras and Sadista had both failed. Waiting here like this actually gave him a much higher chance of success.
Linley was peacefully cultivating at Copper Gong Mountain. Having one of the Five Kings, ‘Greenfire’ Raylin, as his guide was a rare opportunity. And Linley also knew… that this ‘Greenfire’ Raylin wouldn’t stay at Copper Gong Mountain for long. He would eventually leave.
“Linley, the earth element mystery is the simplest type of mystery. If you focus entirely on cultivation, you can succeed in one or two years,” Raylin said with a faint smile. “But if you wait until the ‘Earth Element’ mystery is perfected before fusing the ‘Pulse of the Earth’ and ‘Earth Element’ mysteries, it will probably take thousands or tens of thousands of years. This time is hard to determine. Perhaps, you might not even be able to fuse them in a longer time.”
“Fusing is much harder than comprehending a single mystery,” Raylin said solemnly.
Linley nodded slightly.
“So, the best method is… during your comprehension of the ‘Earth Element’ mystery, you should start trying to fuse them, gradually. Don’t try to finish comprehending the ‘Earth Element’ mystery quickly. Instead, try to make the degree of fusion match the degree of comprehension.”
Raylin smiled. “Maybe this will take you decades or even a hundred years to fully comprehend the ‘Earth Element’ mystery. But in this way, when the ‘Earth Element’ mystery is perfected, the ‘Pulse of the Earth’ and ‘Earth Element’ will already be fused successfully.”
“I understand this principle.”
Linley already had experience fusing the ‘Fast’ and ‘Slow’ mysteries of the wind element laws. In fact, fusing during the comprehension process was the least difficult.
If both mysteries were perfected first, then fusing them would be very difficult.
If he waited until all mysteries were perfected before fusing, the various mysteries he had comprehended would also affect each other, making fusion even harder.
Linley cultivated at Copper Gong Mountain for another three years. In those three years, although the ‘Earth Element’ mystery remained at the minor accomplishment stage from three years ago, Linley finally began to fuse the ‘Pulse of the Earth’ and ‘Earth Element’ mysteries, taking the first step.
Many people couldn’t even take the first step in fusing two mysteries. This first step was like a key, the most important part.
With a beginning, there was hope for success.
“The power after fusion is indeed formidable.”
Although Linley had only fused a little, he found that the same power of his ‘Void Sword Wave’ had increased by fifty percent. “This is just the beginning. I wonder how much the power of my ‘Void Sword Wave’ will increase when both mysteries are fully perfected.”