Chapter 1: The Black Stone
The Amethyst Mountains were shrouded in an endless, chilly mist. Within a mountain hollow, Delia sat quietly with her eyes closed. The days passed as peacefully as ever.
"Delia, Bebe!"
Suddenly, a voice rang out.
Delia, who had been in deep meditation, was startled. She opened her eyes and turned her head. At that moment, Bebe’s worried voice also sounded: "Boss, why aren’t you cultivating? How did it go with your Earth Deity clone? Did it succeed or…?"
When Delia looked over, Linley’s main body, clad in a sky-blue robe, had already stood up.
"How did it go?" Delia walked over and asked with concern.
A warmth spread through Linley’s heart. He nodded and said, "Everything is fine. My Earth Deity clone is on its way back and will arrive shortly. Delia, Bebe, I’m sorry for making you worry during this time." Linley couldn’t help but feel a mix of amusement and exasperation.
He didn’t know whether to say his luck was good or bad.
He had only been testing the Earthwalking technique when he encountered that purple young mouse. Yet, because of that, his strength had made great progress. It was truly hard to determine whether this was a blessing or a curse.
Suddenly, heavy footsteps came from afar. It was Olivier.
"Linley, did you successfully break free? I could tell from your expression that it worked out," Olivier said with a hearty laugh.
Linley nodded slightly.
"Boss, breaking free is a great cause for celebration. Even though we might be trapped here for a long time and need to conserve the fine wine, today’s joyous occasion calls for a proper celebration!" Bebe said, flipping his hand to produce several bottles of fine wine.
Fine wine was extremely precious in the Amethyst Mountains.
In the Amethyst Mountains, a single bottle of wine might not be exchanged even for a hundred million amethysts, since collecting amethysts there was far too easy. But wine, once drunk, was gone forever. There were no materials for brewing wine within the Amethyst Mountains.
"Haha, let’s drink to our heart’s content today!" Linley said with a hearty laugh. "Even if we finish all our stored wine, it doesn’t matter!"
Bebe’s eyes widened. "Boss, even if you’re happy, you don’t have to be so wasteful!"
Olivier was also stunned. Delia looked at Linley with confusion and asked, "Linley, are you planning to quit drinking?"
"Haha…" Linley shook his head with a laugh. "No, it’s because I now have a way to take all of you out of the Amethyst Mountains."
"Leave the Amethyst Mountains?" Bebe, Delia, and Olivier were shocked.
For so many years, no one who entered the Amethyst Mountains had ever managed to leave on their own. Olivier and the others had tried before and found it impossible to escape. But now, Linley was saying this…
Delia, Bebe, and Olivier all knew Linley’s character and knew he wouldn’t lie.
But leaving the Amethyst Mountains was simply too hard to believe.
"Boss? Is what you said true?" Bebe asked again, full of doubt.
"Linley, don’t get my hopes up for nothing," Olivier said with a smile, though his eyes were fixed on Linley, carrying a hint of anticipation. If anyone else had said it, Olivier probably wouldn’t have paid attention, but this was Linley.
Linley wasn’t the type to lie!
"That terrifying gravitational force—Linley, do you have a way to deal with it?" Delia cut straight to the point. To leave the Amethyst Mountains, they first had to overcome that immense gravity, which even most high-level deities couldn’t resist enough to fly.
"Don’t worry. I said we can leave, and we will," Linley said with absolute certainty.
A trace of joy appeared on Bebe, Delia, and Olivier’s faces.
"Boss, how do we leave?" Bebe pressed.
Linley smiled faintly. "Alright, if I don’t demonstrate, you probably won’t believe me." Linley’s main body could borrow divine power from his clones. Immediately, a surge of Earth divine power swelled within him, and he began to arrange it according to his understanding.
Like ripples, the geomagnetic force extended from Linley’s feet into the earth.
"Zzzz…"
At the same time, strange fluctuations appeared on the ground within a hundred-meter radius. Linley smiled at Delia, Bebe, and Olivier. "How about that?"
"Huh?"
Delia and the others were startled. They were shocked to find that the terrifying gravitational force that had been pressing down on them in the Amethyst Mountains had disappeared by more than ninety percent. The remaining gravity, though still significant, could no longer prevent them from flying.
Delia, Bebe, and Olivier easily rose into the air.
"Linley, what’s going on?" Olivier asked in disbelief.
"Yeah!" Bebe was also full of surprise. "Garland and Jarrod both told me that even comprehending the Gravity Space technique was useless here in the Amethyst Mountains. So far, no one has been able to cancel out the gravity like you have."
Although some powerful beings could fly against the gravity, it was through sheer strength, not through profound mysteries like Linley.
"Now do you believe me?" Linley didn’t elaborate.
"I believe, I believe." Olivier’s years of gloom vanished in an instant, his face full of joy.
"Boss, what about that strange wind region?" Bebe quickly asked. That chaotic area was the real culprit that trapped so many powerful beings.
Linley smiled calmly. "No need to ask. When we leave, I’ll handle it." Linley clearly remembered that the purple young beast, Rescind, had said that with that black stone, they could pass through the strange wind region.
"This black stone—I need to study it thoroughly," Linley thought to himself.
In the cave, Linley had been in a hurry to return and hadn’t carefully examined the black stone, but even a rough observation had revealed its astonishing qualities. Especially the chilling aura within it and the shifting soul power, which captivated him.
"Of course, I still need to prepare properly and fully master the method of leaving," Linley said with a smile. "The Amethyst Mountains are also safe. In the Infernal Realm, finding a safe place to cultivate like this is extremely rare."
"Indeed, aside from the white mist limiting visibility to a hundred meters, the terrifying gravity, and the monotonous days, the Amethyst Mountains are quite safe except during the Mist Tide," Olivier agreed.
At that moment, the Earth Deity clone, which had been on its way back, emerged from the rock and merged directly into Linley’s main body. Seeing this, Delia and Bebe breathed a sigh of relief.
"Haha, Boss, let’s celebrate!" Bebe was in high spirits after hearing two pieces of good news.
After a round of celebration, Linley immersed himself in studying the black stone.
"This black stone contains both earth-element energy and soul energy. How strange," Linley mused as he carefully sensed it. Then he smiled. "Perhaps this black stone is related to amethysts." Amethysts were metallic minerals and naturally belonged to the earth element.
Yet amethysts also contained soul power, much like the black stone.
"But the soul energy in this black stone is truly chilling," Linley thought to himself.
Inside the black stone, there were 108 constantly shifting soul energy signatures. The arrangement methods formed by these 108 soul signatures filled Linley with excitement. The method he had developed so far was only an entry-level one.
But the natural shifts within the black stone progressed from shallow to deep.
Linley immediately focused and began to study the application of the Gravity Space technique. It seemed simple, but mastering it as his own was complex. It was like when he first saw the 108 spikes on the back of the purple young beast—it had taken him a long time to truly comprehend.
Now, it was just as difficult.
But Linley was completely absorbed… "I’ve lost track of time," Bebe muttered, not knowing how many times he had said this.
Delia glanced at him with a smile. "Bebe, just focus on your cultivation. It’s only been a little over twenty years—it’ll pass in a flash! Look at Olivier; he’s been in meditation and hasn’t woken up yet. If you’re this impatient, when will you ever break through?"
Bebe pouted but said nothing.
"Huh?" Bebe suddenly widened his eyes in surprise. "Boss is awake!" Delia quickly looked toward where Linley was sitting cross-legged. At that moment, Linley opened his eyes, his face full of joy. "So this is how the black stone can be used. I’ve been so foolish."
Linley looked up and urged, "Bebe, come over here."
"What for?" Bebe asked, puzzled.
"Feel my current Gravity Space," Linley said.
Bebe raised his head and walked over casually, saying nonchalantly, "Gravity Space? Bring it on! My body is tough—no matter how strong your Gravity Space is, it won’t hurt me." Bebe was full of confidence, which was exactly why Linley had called him.
"Get ready," Linley said, and immediately activated it.
"Zzzz…"
Ripple-like geomagnetic force traveled from Linley’s feet into the earth, constantly shifting and changing. The strangest part was that the black stone was also floating in Linley’s soul sea, and the fluctuations of the 108 soul forces inside it matched the geomagnetic fluctuations in the ground perfectly.
They seemed to resonate with each other.
"Haha, the gravity is strong, but I don’t care," Bebe said smugly. But suddenly, his expression changed. He clutched his head. "Boss, stop messing around! My head feels terrible!"
Linley immediately stopped.
"How did that feel?" Linley asked with a smile. He had already anticipated this.
Bebe looked at Linley in shock. "Boss, my head was spinning just now. It felt exactly like… like being in that strange wind region in the mist sea. That same feeling. My head was really uncomfortable. How did you do that?" Bebe couldn’t believe it.
"It’s the effect of a treasure I obtained," Linley explained.
In fact, in the later stages of studying the black stone, Linley had discovered this. It was only then that he understood why the purple young beast had said that with this black stone, he wouldn’t have to worry about the strange wind’s effects. Because the strange wind’s peculiar influence and the black stone’s effect on the soul were identical!
Linley suspected…
"Perhaps, in the Amethyst Mountains, there is an oversized black stone that can affect an area spanning hundreds of thousands of miles," Linley speculated.
"Linley, what are you testing?" Delia walked over as well.
Bebe turned back and grinned. "Delia, the boss’s strength has improved even more, and I can guarantee that we’ll have no problem leaving the Amethyst Mountains." Having experienced that move, Bebe was now fully confident in Linley.
Delia’s eyes lit up, and she walked over to Linley. "Linley, should we leave now?"
Linley frowned slightly. "Not yet, Delia. The Infernal Realm is full of hidden dangers. It’s better to become stronger before we leave. Right now, I’ve only fused two types of law mysteries, but I’m confident I can fuse three types relatively quickly!"
"Fuse three?" Delia and Bebe were both surprised.
Fusing two types of law mysteries was something many could do, but fusing three was extremely rare. Many six-star demons had only fused three types. As for fusing four… the seven-star demon Alikewen had only fused four types.
Every step up meant a tenfold increase in power, and the difficulty increased exponentially.
For example, Linley had fused the Pulse of the Earth and Gravity Space. To fuse a third, he would need to find points of convergence between the third mystery and both of the first two. That was just the foundation. Only then could fusion be possible. Finding those points was extremely difficult.
For Linley, finding the convergence between the Pulse of the Earth and Gravity Space had once been a dead end, until he used the Element of Earth to bridge them.
"I’m confident about fusing these three, but fusing four?" Linley thought of the Earthwalking technique. After all this time, it showed no signs of fusing with the other three mysteries. To fuse four, he would at least need the Earthwalking technique to begin fusing with all three.
If he couldn’t even find one point of convergence, how could he fuse all three?
Even ten thousand years might not be enough.
"The higher you go, the harder it gets," Linley understood in his heart.