Chapter 12: Breakthrough of the Wind
"Boye family?" Bebe's heart stirred, and he couldn't help but glance at Salomon beside him.
Although Bebe was lively by nature, he was also quite clever and sharp. Back when Linley had left Nisse behind, Salomon, for some unknown reason, had expressed gratitude to Linley and revealed his true name—Salomon & Boye!
At the time, Bebe hadn't paid it much attention.
But now, hearing this, Bebe began to grow suspicious.
"Nisse has been with me for so long, yet she never once told me what her surname was!" Bebe started to doubt. "If that's the case, then this surname must be very important. Salomon only told the boss recently that his surname was Boye..."
"Could this 'Boye' be the Boye family that old man in the green robe mentioned?"
Bebe thought to himself. At the same time, he glanced at Linley beside him. At the time Salomon had said that, only three people had heard it—Bebe, Nisse, and Linley.
"The boss has closed his eyes to train?" Bebe couldn't help but feel amused. Then he looked into the distance at Lieremont, the old man in the green robe, and the old man with the white horn. "It seems the situation is getting more serious. Will that Lieremont be greedy enough to make a move?" Bebe wondered inwardly.
Indeed, the situation was very bad for the old man with the white horn.
He hadn't expected that the man in the green robe would voluntarily bring up this matter in the end. The old man with the white horn also understood that his own strength was far inferior to Lieremont's. If Lieremont wanted to act, then—
"Even with the young master's help, we can't deal with this Lieremont," the old man with the white horn realized. "Moreover, knowing this secret, I'm afraid it's not just Lieremont who's interested, but also those three brothers, Edwards."
The three Edwards brothers had escorted them all the way without any remarkable displays.
Yet, none of them had died, which spoke volumes about their strength.
"No matter what, even if I die, I cannot expose the young master," the old man with the white horn resolved inwardly.
"Oh, you mean the Boye family?" Lieremont raised an eyebrow. "The Boye family of the Jing'an Prefecture in the Bifu Continent—that is indeed an ancient family. Even here in the Zijing Continent, I've heard of the Boye family's great name."
The old man in the green robe said, "Of course. The wealth of the Boye family, Lieremont, you can fully imagine."
The three Edwards brothers exchanged glances and secretly communicated through divine sense.
"Tsk tsk, it's very chaotic," Bebe muttered, glancing at the three Edwards brothers in the distance, then at Lieremont, and finally at the outnumbered old man with the white horn. "This old fellow is probably going to die, ten to one. Too many people are coveting this wealth."
The old man with the white horn said indignantly, "Mr. Lieremont, I hired you, and you—"
"Shut up," Lieremont said, glancing at him coldly.
The old man in the green robe smiled and said, "Lieremont, I'll be going then." With that, he turned to leave.
"Swish!"
A black sword aura suddenly pierced through the head of the old man in the green robe. His eyes were filled with shock and disbelief, and then he crashed to the ground. His remaining middle-tier god clone had also fallen!
"What?" The old man with the white horn, Edwards, and the others were all stunned.
Lieremont glanced indifferently at the old man in the green robe. "I only asked you to tell me the secret. I didn't promise to spare your life for doing so. Killing one of my employers—how could I not kill you?" Lieremont then turned to the old man with the white horn.
The old man with the white horn's face turned pale.
"Fine. Kill me if you must," the old man with the white horn said coldly, offering no resistance after witnessing Lieremont's strength. "You've killed that Mr. Wind, and I'm satisfied." He prepared himself for death, thinking silently, "Young master, now you'll have to rely on yourself."
"If I kill you, who will pay me my commission?" Lieremont retorted.
The old man with the white horn was stunned.
Then Lieremont walked away, saying indifferently, "Prepare the metallic life form. We're leaving."
"You're not killing me?" The old man with the white horn couldn't believe it.
The dozen or so surviving demons all stared at Lieremont in shock. After all, this was the vast wealth of an ancient family. Anyone who cared even a little about money would be unable to resist greed. Moreover... killing the old man with the white horn would be an easy task.
"What's wrong with this Lieremont?" The three Edwards brothers exchanged glances.
Lieremont's reaction had thwarted their plans.
"Big brother, we'll have to endure for now."
Lieremont could resist greed, but the three Edwards brothers couldn't help but covet it. That was the immense wealth of an ancient family. The Boye family's reputation was like thunder in the ears.
"Wait a moment before we leave!" Salomon suddenly called out. "This brother of mine seems to be training."
Lieremont, the three Edwards brothers, the old man with the white horn, and the other surviving demons all looked over. Linley was standing in the desert, with wind swirling faintly around him. He was indeed in a state of training, which surprised the others.
"He's training now?" Some of the surviving demons marveled. To start training right after a life-and-death struggle was quite extreme.
"Waiting for just him? Wake him up," the second of the three Edwards brothers said with a frown. He had no patience to wait here for a middle-tier god to train.
Bebe frowned upon hearing this.
"Interesting. Very interesting," Lieremont said, looking at Linley with a slight smile. "We're in no hurry. Let's wait a bit."
Since Lieremont had spoken, the three Edwards brothers said no more.
So the surviving demons temporarily stayed in the desert. After this great battle, only five high-tier god demons remained: Lieremont, the three Edwards brothers, and Salomon. As for the middle-tier god demons, including Linley and the others, thirteen had survived.
Time passed.
In the blink of an eye, three days had gone by. The demons had good patience and didn't mind the wait.
"When will the boss finish training?" Bebe looked at Linley, who was still in a meditative state, and felt anxious. "The demons aren't in a hurry now, but if it takes too long, they'll definitely get impatient. But interrupting the boss's training would have a big impact."
Bebe understood that Linley's sudden training meant he had suddenly comprehended something.
Such a state was precious. If interrupted, it would be very hard to re-enter.
"Hum~"
A peculiar fluctuation of the laws descended from the sky, enveloping Linley.
"He's broken through!" Everyone, including Lieremont, instantly opened their eyes and looked toward Linley. They all understood... the descent of the laws' fluctuation was a sign of becoming a god independently.
Linley floated up, and from within him flew out his wind-element god clone—a Linley in a light green robe.
"Hum~"
A divine spark emitting a cyan glow emerged from Linley's head, hovering above it. A large amount of wind-element energy, under the embrace of the laws, gathered toward the divine spark. The divine spark, enveloped by the 'laws,' gradually underwent a transformation.
A moment later—
The lower-tier wind-element divine spark had transformed into a middle-tier wind-element divine spark.
The fluctuation of the laws dissipated, and Linley opened his eyes.
"Uh—" Linley suddenly noticed that a large group of people were staring at him.
"Congratulations, Linley, on gaining a middle-tier god clone," Salomon said with a smile.
Lieremont also nodded slightly, looking at Linley with a hint of appreciation. "Very good. To comprehend and break through amidst a life-and-death crisis."
Lieremont admired people who could break through in such situations.
He himself loved battle and challenges. As for money? In Lieremont's view, enough was sufficient. The so-called wealth of the Boye family didn't matter to him at all. Lieremont's goal was—
To become a seven-star demon and then challenge a Asura!
To become one of the ten Asuras of hell!
The three Edwards brothers glanced at Linley and sneered. A middle-tier god—what was there to be proud of? They didn't think much of him. Then they looked at the old man with the white horn. "Hey, that kid has broken through. Time to set off."
"Alright, let's go," the old man with the white horn called out.
"Set off?" Linley felt a bit embarrassed. He had been so absorbed in training that he had made the other demons wait for him.
"Bebe, how long was I training?" Linley asked through soul communication.
"Three days, boss. You're amazing—your wind-element god clone has reached the middle-tier god level too." Bebe was delighted for Linley.
Linley breathed a sigh of relief. "Only three days." If he had trained for half a year or more and made others wait, he would have felt ashamed.
In hell, within the mountain range of the Huangjing Prefecture in the Zijing Continent.
Inego was standing beneath a waterfall, with two high-tier gods behind him.
"Unexpectedly, the Boye family still has such a descendant," Inego thought to himself. "Although this guy only entered the Boye family's door once before being kicked out... luckily, I noticed him back then."
Salomon's identity was very secret even within the Boye family.
Having only entered the family home once before being expelled, very few people knew Salomon, and even fewer knew of his connection to the Boye family.
Inego had learned of this by chance back then.
And this time... when Inego saw Salomon, he immediately understood!
"No wonder those two old fellows fled to the Zijing Continent and now want to go back," Inego thought. "But since I know now, then..."
"Young master, what now?" The two subordinates behind him looked at Inego.
Inego said coldly, "We set off now." With that, he flew rapidly eastward, and the two high-tier gods followed immediately.
The metallic life form continued to move forward. It had become much smaller now, as there were far fewer people inside.
Inside the metallic life form, in Linley and Delia's room.
"The speed profound mystery, the fusion of 'fast' and 'slow' to perfection—that sword strike combining hardness and softness is the truly ultimate, sharpest strike!" Linley understood that wind-element law experts were well-suited to using soft swords, as they could better express the profound mysteries.
Having witnessed the sword intent of the old man in the green robe and Lieremont,
Linley had gained some insights into his own sword strike.
"Eerie and sharp! This is the ultimate strike representing the speed profound mystery." Linley kept simulating it in his mind, striving to apply the 'speed profound mystery' better and achieve maximum power.
This strike would be primarily based on the speed profound mystery.
Naturally, it would be a material attack.
"Material attack, if combined with my dragonified body..." Linley felt a surge of joy. "The dragonified body is incredibly strong, and all aspects like strength and speed are elevated to an extremely high level. If I channel the power of my dragonified body through the speed profound mystery and unleash it with this Purple Blood Soft Sword, the power will definitely be even greater."
The same law profound mystery, when used by a high-tier god, is much stronger than when used by a middle-tier god, because the high-tier god's 'divine power' foundation is higher.
And Linley's dragonified body—its strength and speed were even more monstrous than an average high-tier god's. It was a body strong enough to clash head-on with divine artifacts!
As Linley pondered, his understanding of his current strongest strike became clearer and clearer.
In the blink of an eye, three months passed.
"Too bad I can't test it directly inside the metallic life form," Linley thought. His strike could easily cut through this metallic life form. If he actually did that... the old man with the white horn and the other demons would probably be furious.
"Linley." A voice suddenly sounded.
"Hmm? Salomon, it's you." Linley saw Salomon standing outside the door.
Thinking of Salomon, Linley recalled what Bebe had told him. Back then, he had been training and hadn't heard the old man in the green robe talk about the Boye family. But after returning to the metallic life form, Bebe had told him everything.
"Is this Salomon really from that Boye family?" Linley wondered.
Salomon smiled and said, "Linley, I have something I'd like to discuss with you."