Chapter 28: The Secret
Back then, Gan Mengting had tried to forcibly take Olivia away, and Linley refused. Thus, Gan Mengting and Linley engaged in a great battle. At that time, relying on the ‘Blackstone Space,’ Linley had managed to slay Gan Mengting’s strongest earth-wind divine clone. Who would have thought that Gan Mengting also had a water divine clone lurking in hiding?
Gan Mengting naturally harbored a deep, bone-deep hatred for Linley.
Linley still clearly remembered Gan Mengting’s roar before his death: “You can’t kill me. If you kill me, the Commander will definitely kill you!” At that time, Gan Mengting had threatened him with the so-called ‘Commander.’
“He went to find the Commander? And now he’s run here. Could it be that the Commander is right here?” Linley frowned slightly.
This mysterious undersea castle—the Hantisi Castle. The white-haired old man who had received them once said: ‘Opening the secret chamber is a very important matter. We need to apply to the Castle Lord.’
“Castle Lord?” Linley pondered. “That Uralai’s subordinates already have strength comparable to a Six-Star Demon. What about Uralai himself? And what about the strength of this castle’s Castle Lord?”
“The ‘Commander’ that Gan Mengting mentioned…”
“The Castle Lord?”
In just an instant, Linley thought of a possibility.
The moment this possibility occurred to him, a chill surged straight into his mind, causing his entire body to tremble involuntarily. His face instantly turned pale: “Could it be…”
“I’ve walked right into the tiger’s den. Am I here to die?” Linley thought to himself.
Judging from the number of experts on Luoluo Island and the number of experts revealed in this undersea Hantisi Castle, the Castle Lord of Hantisi Castle was definitely a peerless powerhouse with astonishing strength!
In the Infernal Realm, whatever status one held, one had to have strength to match it. Otherwise, no one would submit!
“Hmm?” Luomiu, walking alongside Linley, was a peerless expert himself and naturally noticed that Linley’s state was off. He glanced at Linley with confusion. What could make Linley lose his composure like this?
Fortunately, the person leading the way ahead didn’t turn around and didn’t notice.
“Two lords, the guest residential area is almost here,” the black-armored, red-caped warrior said with a smile. This remark also snapped Linley out of his thoughts. Linley immediately adjusted his mindset.
After all, things hadn’t reached the worst point yet. Even if this Castle Lord was the ‘Commander,’ the other party hadn’t seen him before.
“Take it one step at a time,” Linley thought to himself.
This undersea Hantisi Castle was like a small city, with crisscrossing internal passages divided into many areas. The general guests all stayed in the same area. In this area stood rows of two-story buildings of similar design.
These small buildings were all constructed from a kind of beige-yellow rock, which, within the black castle, gave one a sense of ease.
“Lord Luomiu, you will stay at Number 26. Lord Linley, you will stay at Number 27,” the black-armored, red-caped guard said respectfully. “Someone will deliver meals to you shortly. As for when you will enter the secret chamber, there’s no need for you two lords to worry. Someone will notify you when the time comes.”
Luomiu frowned: “Are we just supposed to wait here idly?”
Linley also felt a bit uncomfortable.
“Rest assured, two lords. According to past customs, at the quickest, you will be invited to the secret chamber in half a day. At the slowest, at most three days,” the guard said with a smile.
“Hmph,” Luomiu nodded indifferently.
At most three days—Luomiu didn’t mind, but Linley did!
“You may go,” Linley dismissed the guard, but he was worried inside. The longer he stayed in this Hantisi Castle, the more dangerous it became. After all, Gan Mengting was inside this castle.
“Linley, I’m going back to my room. If something comes up, you can come find me,” Luomiu said, not waiting for Linley’s reply before turning and entering his own room.
This Luomiu was inherently aloof. It was only because he had witnessed Linley’s skills that he had been eager to spar with Linley, which was why he was being so polite. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have said so much to Linley!
Linley, preoccupied with thoughts of Gan Mengting, had no mind for anything else and turned back to his room.
He sat cross-legged on the stone bed, looking out the window.
“I originally came to watch the battle projections of experts. Who would have thought I’d run into Gan Mengting?” Linley sighed inwardly. Just then, footsteps sounded outside, followed by a knock on the door.
“Come in,” Linley said indifferently.
The door opened. Soon, two golden-haired beauties in bright yellow long dresses entered Linley’s room, each carrying a large tray of food.
“Put it on the table,” Linley said indifferently.
“Yes, my lord.” The two maids were very respectful, gently setting down the fine food and delicacies. But Linley suddenly looked up at them: “The people who came with me—have their tests ended?”
One of the maids replied respectfully: “Yes, my lord. The tests have ended. Two of the six lords have already returned to Luoluo Island. The other four are now staying here, not far from you.”
“Oh,” Linley understood.
Two of the six, like Dillan, had been rejected and deemed unqualified to enter the secret chamber.
“You may go,” Linley ordered.
The two maids bowed and withdrew. Linley didn’t touch the food laid out before him. He had no appetite for enjoying a meal right now.
“If it’s a blessing, it’s not a curse; if it’s a curse, you can’t avoid it.” Linley then closed his eyes and sat cross-legged in stillness.
Inside Hantisi Castle, the white-haired, white-bearded old man ‘Uralai,’ clad in red armor and a red cape, was now walking down a heavily guarded path within the castle.
“Whoosh!” A door engraved with mysterious magical runes opened, revealing a narrow corridor.
Uralai continued forward.
The two guards at the door immediately closed it again. The walls on both sides of this corridor were adorned with carvings—some of thousands of troops in battle, others of two figures fighting in the air…
At the end of the corridor was an empty hall.
On one side of the hall was a large fireplace. Uralai walked to the edge of the fireplace and triggered a mechanism, revealing a wide passage built entirely of blood-red ore. The entire blood-red passage exuded a deathly stillness that made one’s heart tremble.
Uralai took a deep breath before stepping into this wide secret passage.
The passage wasn’t long. At its end was a massive door, ten meters high and six meters wide, primarily blood-red with black edges. The entire door faintly emitted a red glow. Uralai dared not advance any further.
“Teacher!” Uralai said in a low voice.
“Hmm, how did the tests go?” A low, gentle voice came from within the door.
Uralai replied respectfully: “Teacher, nothing unexpected. Among the other six, there were no particularly promising individuals. However, the two you were paying attention to should be very strong. That Luomiu—I personally watched his battle in the arena. He’s definitely at the Seven-Star Demon level. As for the Red Robe Elder Linley, the fact that he easily defeated the Red Robe Elder ‘Paslow’ speaks for itself.”
“Hmm,” the voice inside responded.
Uralai hesitated for a moment before speaking: “Teacher, that Linley is a member of the Four Divine Beasts clan.”
“The Four Divine Beasts clan?” The low voice suddenly laughed. “Haha… if it were ten thousand years ago, I would have cared. But the Four Divine Beasts clan of today—they wouldn’t dare provoke me! No need to worry. Still, having a drop of Sovereign’s power means this Linley must be an important figure in the Four Divine Beasts clan. Unfortunately, this is the present, not ten thousand years ago.”
“Tomorrow, bring Linley and Luomiu here. Let Luomiu in first, then Linley,” the low voice instructed.
“Yes, teacher,” Uralai said respectfully. After waiting a moment and hearing no further orders, he said, “Then this disciple will take his leave.”
“Go on.”
Uralai immediately withdrew respectfully. He wasn’t worried about his teacher at all. Sovereign’s power? Having a drop of Sovereign’s power was indeed formidable. But his teacher was the pinnacle existence beneath the Sovereigns.
Not just a drop of Sovereign’s power.
Even Lord Aiken of the Purple Thorn Continent, who could refine Sovereign’s power through Inkstone—a pinnacle existence himself—his teacher didn’t care!
“Sovereign’s power, in different hands, has different effects,” Uralai clearly remembered his teacher once saying.
At that moment, Linley was sitting quietly with his eyes closed. Outside the window, people occasionally passed by on the street—mostly maids and guards, and occasionally other guests staying here. Every time someone passed—
Linley would open his eyes!
“That Gan Mengting is a guest. He should be staying in this area too!” Linley thought to himself. “From his conversation with the guard captain, it’s clear Gan Mengting has been waiting for an audience with the so-called ‘Lord.’”
Time passed silently.
Although it was impossible to tell day from night outside from within the undersea castle, Linley knew clearly when the sun rose and set. It was now night. Suddenly, footsteps sounded on the street outside the window.
Linley opened his eyes as usual and looked carefully out the window.
A figure flashed past the window.
Linley’s eyes lit up instantly: “It’s him!” Even though he had only seen a glimpse, Linley clearly recognized the person—it was Gan Mengting. With a thought, a figure appeared in the room—one of Linley’s Death God Puppets.
“Whoosh!” The Death God Puppet instantly moved outside the door and looked down the street.
The Death God Puppet wasn’t a living being; it only carried a trace of Linley’s consciousness. Standing at the door, it watched Gan Mengting in the distance without being detected. If Linley himself had stared at Gan Mengting, Gan Mengting might have noticed.
After all, the Death God Puppet wasn’t alive—it was like an object. Who would pay attention to an object just sitting there?
“I didn’t expect Gan Mengting to be staying there,” Linley thought, seeing through the Death God Puppet that Gan Mengting had entered a two-story building about eight hundred meters from his own quarters.
That made sense. Gan Mengting had arrived over a month earlier, so he was likely staying deeper inside.
A flicker of killing intent flashed through Linley’s eyes.
“Gan Mengting hasn’t had a chance to see that ‘Lord’ yet. It’s better to eliminate this threat early!”
Leaving Gan Mengting alive would be dangerous for himself and for Olivia. Better to get rid of him now. The patrols in the guest residential area of Hantisi Castle weren’t very strict. And even if they were, it wouldn’t matter much.
“Whoosh!” The Death God Puppet was directly stored back into the spatial ring. Linley himself instantly rose and merged into the ground—
Earth Travel Technique!
Linley didn’t dare emit any aura. Using the Earth Travel Technique, he arrived beneath the back window of the two-story building. But just as he got there, he heard Gan Mengting cursing and grumbling inside the room.
“Hmph, a bunch of bastards. Now that they know my wind divine clone was destroyed, every one of them looks down on me. I said so many nice things, but they all keep putting me off. I bet the Lord doesn’t even know I’m here!”
Gan Mengting was full of rage, venting in his room.
Coming here, he had wanted to see the Commander. But having lost his wind divine clone and with his strength greatly diminished, his old friends all looked down on him. He had to grovel and get the cold shoulder—how could that feel good?
“Damn it! It’s all Linley’s fault!” Gan Mengting would never forget Linley, the one who had destroyed his strongest wind divine clone.
“Once the Commander finds out there’s a soul-variant demigod here, he’ll definitely act. That Linley will die without a doubt!” Gan Mengting gritted his teeth. “Better yet, let the Commander control Linley with a ‘Soul Seed,’ making him live without freedom for tens of millions of years before someone kills him!”
Outside the wall, Linley heard Gan Mengting’s ‘curse’ and felt a chill run down his spine.
“Controlled by a Soul Seed?” Linley clearly remembered that back in the Yulan Continent, his old brother ‘Yale’ had once been controlled by a Soul Seed. Those controlled by a Soul Seed retained all their memories but were completely loyal to their master.
“Controlled by a Soul Seed?”
A flash of lightning seemed to strike Linley’s mind, and he instantly thought of a possibility.
“Why is Luoluo Island so generous, letting the Hundred-Victory Arena experts come to the secret chamber to watch their family’s treasured battle projections?”
“Why does Luoluo Island let the Red Robe Elders come to the secret chamber?”
“This Gan Mengting was looking for promising experts for the Commander. What does the Commander want those high-potential experts for? To train them himself? How can he ensure their loyalty?”
“And why are so many Seven-Star Demons willing to serve the Bagshaw family? Why are the other Seven-Star Demons loyal to the Bagshaw family?”
“And why did Talosha and Dillan, when Sekra was about to kill Hise, unbelievably choose the Bagshaw family’s side? And the two of them had also been here!”
Linley’s face instantly turned deathly pale!