Chapter 41: Sudden Change
This astonishing elemental fluctuation was clearly detectable even by magic beginners. From divine-level experts down to magic apprentices, countless people were shocked by the elemental disturbance covering such an astonishing range. Even a hundred forbidden spells being cast simultaneously wouldn't produce such a staggering elemental fluctuation.
"Grandpa Beirut, what exactly is going on?" Bebe asked curiously.
Linley also looked toward Beirut. Beirut chuckled and said, "You know Qinghuo, the king of the Gebados Plane Prison, right? He's the one behind all this. And now he's preparing to rebuild his homeland—that shattered, sunken continent—from scratch."
"What?" Linley and Bebe were both stunned.
Build a continent?
"This Qinghuo is simply insane," Beirut remarked with a sigh. "Although he's a Highgod, the amount of divine power and mental energy required to build a continent would be astronomical. A massive landmass isn't just some ordinary small island."
"Can a continent really be built?" Bebe couldn't believe it.
Beirut nodded. "Qinghuo has two Highgod avatars, and his comprehension of the profound mysteries of the laws is terrifyingly deep. With his strength, building a continent in a material plane isn't impossible. But still, I think this guy is a bit too crazy."
"Crazy?" Linley couldn't help but look southward.
Building a continent—what an astonishing sight that would be. Only an expert of Qinghuo's level could even attempt such a feat. In the distant south, the boundless ocean seemed to be boiling, "gurgling" as steam rose. This boiling region stretched over ten thousand miles wide. At its center, blazing magma could be seen shooting into the sky.
Above the erupting magma, the violent fire elements even caused space to distort. Within the twisted space, a single figure could be seen.
This figure in a dark red robe hovered over the ocean like a god—it was Qinghuo, also known as Lailin.
Dozens of miles away from Lailin, the bald, burly man Burgess and his companion looked at each other. The white-robed middle-aged man sighed, "Big brother, Third Brother is truly crazy. Using the undersea volcano as a center, he's triggered such a massive range of magma from the ocean floor in one go. Absolutely insane."
"And it's a good thing Third Brother's comprehension of the fire-element laws has nearly reached perfection. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to do this so easily."
Lailin was famous precisely because of his mastery of the fire-element laws. The name "Qinghuo" itself proved his achievements in that field. His fire-element Highgod avatar was far stronger than his earth-element Highgod avatar.
It wasn't that his earth-element was weak—it was that his fire-element was too strong!
Endless magma erupted from the ocean floor, occasionally breaking the surface. The magma that emerged above sea level was merely a tiny fraction of the infinite magma below.
Most of the magma erupting from the seabed solidified into rock underwater.
The range of magma Lailin had triggered from the ocean floor spanned hundreds of thousands of miles. By guiding and controlling the magma, he caused vast amounts of it to gather within that ten-thousand-mile region. As it cooled in the seawater and solidified into rock, the water depth in that area became very shallow.
In some places, the rock had already risen above sea level. In most areas, the depth was only a few hundred meters.
In the deep southern sea, this was almost inconceivable. Yet Qinghuo had made it happen.
"Now Third Brother is going to have some trouble," the bald, burly man Burgess said, gazing at Lailin's distant figure. "Controlling massive amounts of earth to gather and form a continent... Third Brother isn't as skilled in the earth-element laws as he is in the fire-element laws."
The white-robed middle-aged man nodded. Both of them watched Lailin from afar.
Lailin let out a long breath, then stretched out his hands—
"Whoosh!" The endless earth elements in the world were all under his control. The rocks and soil across hundreds of thousands of miles of seabed were all directed, continuously gathering toward the nearly ten-thousand-mile-wide region formed by the cooled magma.
The sudden massive extraction of earth elements created a vacuum across hundreds of thousands of miles.
"Boom!" Earth elements from other regions surged in violently, causing space to twist and tremble from the impact. The elemental collision even created an elemental tide.
The ocean across hundreds of thousands of miles churned violently, and countless marine creatures suffered undeserved calamities. In fact, the eruption of magma from the seabed had already boiled many creatures alive.
"Too slow!"
At this rate, forming a continent would take ten days to half a month.
Lailin frowned, his fiery red brows nearly touching. "It seems it's not that simple!" In an instant, Lailin's body split in two. One of his avatars, clad in a golden-yellow robe, silently disintegrated and vanished into the world. Immediately, the speed at which soil and rock were transported across hundreds of thousands of miles increased severalfold.
"My earth-element divine avatar has accumulated divine power for countless years. It's probably going to be completely drained this time," Lailin's fire-element divine avatar, still in his dark red robe, murmured to himself.
Lailin had been feeling uneasy ever since returning to the Yulan continent. After all, his homeland had been completely destroyed—the continent shattered and sunk. He had chosen the original site of his homeland as the location, triggering the deep magma flows. At least the seabed there was relatively shallow, making the task slightly easier.
Building a continent was nothing like constructing an elemental mansion. They were entirely different concepts.
Inside the imperial palace of the O'Brien Empire.
Adkins looked southward, his brows deeply furrowed. Bernice stood respectfully beside him.
"Lord Qinghuo truly has some boldness," Adkins remarked.
Bernice said in a low voice, "Building a continent like this consumes an astonishing amount of divine power and mental energy."
Adkins sneered, "It consumes a lot of divine power and mental energy, yes. But in building a continent, his earth-element divine avatar plays the main role. That means his strongest fire-element divine avatar won't suffer any significant loss."
"Qinghuo... he's too strong!"
Adkins tilted his head back and fell silent for a long time.
Bernice sighed inwardly. "Young master is too competitive. He can't stand being beneath anyone. But in the Gebados Plane Prison, he was far inferior to the five kings. If he goes to a higher plane with even more experts, it's even less likely he'll become a top figure. The treasures of the Necropolis of the Gods... are young master's only hope."
Bernice knew very well that Adkins would never give up.
Adkins suddenly turned around. "Bernice, I don't want to wait any longer."
"Lord Adkins? You..." Bernice was startled. He knew what Adkins meant.
Adkins' gaze was sharp as a blade. "Now is the perfect opportunity. Qinghuo is completely focused on building that continent and has no energy to pay attention to us. Go immediately and summon Ogwen and the other two."
"Yes!" Bernice took a deep breath, then immediately spread his divine sense and issued orders to Ogwen and the others.
Outwardly calm, Adkins was inwardly excited.
"The day that decides my fate!" Adkins thought to himself.
Soon, Ogwen, Hambritt, and Gatenby arrived. The three immediately knelt on one knee respectfully. "Lord Adkins."
"All of you, come with me to the Dark Forest," Adkins ordered.
Ogwen and the others exchanged glances, utterly confused. They had just been shocked by the elemental fluctuations shaking heaven and earth, and now they were summoned without explanation and ordered to go to the Dark Forest. Suppressing their doubts, they could only follow Adkins and Bernice as they flew toward the Dark Forest.
Linley was still with Beirut.
"You say you want Bebe to comprehend the profound mysteries of the laws?" Linley looked at Beirut in surprise. Beirut had just said he wanted Bebe to stay in the metallic castle and comprehend the profound mysteries of the laws, only allowing him to leave once he had fully mastered one.
Bebe immediately pulled a long face. "Grandpa Beirut, comprehending the profound mysteries of the laws takes time. Why do you have to lock me in the metallic castle? Let me comprehend them out here. Who knows how long it'll take before I succeed?"
"Don't worry. I'm only asking you to comprehend the simplest dark-element profound mystery. And to help you, I've acquired a treasure for you. It cost your grandfather a great deal to get it," Beirut said.
Linley was startled. It sounded like there was a treasure that could help with cultivating laws. "A treasure? How precious is it?" Bebe's eyes lit up.
"Don't ask too many questions," Beirut said seriously. "Just stay here and don't disappoint your grandfather."
Linley also tried to comfort and persuade Bebe. In the end, Bebe agreed, partly out of curiosity about the treasure. After all, Bebe knew how wealthy his grandfather was. If even Beirut said it cost a great deal, this treasure must be extraordinary.
"Hmm?" Beirut frowned slightly.
"Harry!" Beirut called out. A figure immediately appeared in the living room—it was Harry, one of the three Violet-Gold Rat Kings. Beirut instructed, "Harry, stay here and watch over Bebe. Don't let him run around. I need to step out for a moment."
"Yes, Father," Harry said respectfully.
"Linley, come with me," Beirut said with a smile. Linley nodded.
After saying goodbye to Bebe, Linley flew out of the metallic castle alongside Beirut. As they flew side by side, Linley felt a bit puzzled. "Lord Beirut suddenly wants to go out. What for? Huh? They are—"
Linley spotted several figures flying toward them from a distance. The leader was unmistakably Adkins!
"Ogwen!" Linley also caught sight of Ogwen behind Adkins. "Hmph. If I get the chance, I'll kill him." Linley had always harbored a deep grudge against Ogwen. Back then, Sini's son, wife, and everyone else in the imperial palace had been slaughtered. He had never had the chance to take revenge.
"Ah, Mr. Beirut." Adkins immediately put on a smile. "Oh, Linley, you're here too." Adkins' smile was very bright.
"Linley, you go back first," Beirut said.
Linley bowed, then gave a slight bow to Adkins as well before flying south alone. As he flew, he couldn't help but look back in confusion. "Lord Beirut came out suddenly—probably because he knew Adkins was coming. What could they be discussing?"
Above the Dark Forest, Beirut in his black robe and Adkins in his golden robe stood facing each other in midair. Adkins looked like a youth, while Beirut resembled an old man. The contrast between old and young was quite interesting.
"Mr. Beirut, let's talk inside your place," Adkins said.
"No need. Here is fine," Beirut said with a faint smile.
Adkins' face was full of smiles. "That works too." Adkins immediately activated his divine domain to prevent Ogwen and the others from overhearing. "Mr. Beirut, didn't you say last time that you would wait a thousand years before opening the Necropolis of the Gods?"
"That's right," Beirut said, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
Adkins smiled warmly. "I also know that you opened the Necropolis of the Gods twice in a row—once for the Saint-level and once for the God-level—with only about a month in between. I assume the timing of the opening is entirely up to you, Mr. Beirut?"
"That's correct. The great Sovereigns haven't set a fixed time. I decide when to open it," Beirut said.
Adkins' smile grew even brighter. "That's wonderful! Mr. Beirut, how about we open the Necropolis of the Gods early?"
"Early?" Beirut looked at Adkins in surprise.
"Yes, for example... tomorrow! What do you think, Lord Beirut?" Adkins looked at Beirut expectantly, a hint of eagerness in his eyes.
"Oh, that." Beirut pondered for a moment, while Adkins waited anxiously beside him. Beirut finally nodded slightly. "It's not impossible. Opening it tomorrow would work."
PS: Two chapters for today. Brothers, can you guess what tomorrow's chapter will be about? If you can, I, Tomato, will definitely give you a thumbs up...