Chapter 29: Can’t Escape!
“A trap!”
Linley felt a chill run down his spine.
“What a massive lie!” Linley shuddered involuntarily.
A hundred consecutive victories among Demigods, God-level, and Highgods—generally, those who could achieve such a feat were highly talented. There were some special cases! And they still had to undergo an evaluation at the Handi Sai Castle. If they were deemed to have great potential, they would likely be kept; otherwise, they would be expelled.
“Those who are kept all have potential.”
“No! If that’s the case, how do you explain Dylin?” Based on this series of events, Linley had already concluded that Dylin and Tarossa, who had originally chosen the Bagshaw clan’s side, were also under control.
A possibility immediately sprang to Linley’s mind—
“Not only are those who pass the inspection subjected to soul control. Even those who fail are probably controlled as well, just arranged through subordinates.” Linley understood—among those who achieved a hundred consecutive victories, was any one of them weak?
The more people, the better, naturally.
Thinking from the perspective of the Handi Sai Castle Lord, Linley instantly understood: “The so-called inspection is probably for grading. It determines the target’s strength level and which strong expert needs to be sent to control them.” The stronger the target, the harder it was to implant a soul seed.
For someone like Lomio, a Seven Star Fiend, controlling him was even more difficult.
“Lomio and I weren’t inspected at all. That means… it’s likely that the Castle Lord, the ‘Commander’ himself, will deal with us personally.” Thinking of this, Linley couldn’t help but tremble. Looking at the Luola Island, there were quite a few Red-robed Elders.
In this Handi Sai Castle, there were also quite a few Six Star Fiends and Seven Star Fiends.
“If even Seven Star Fiends can be easily controlled, then what level is the Commander’s strength?” Linley frowned. The Castle Lord’s ability to control Seven Star Fiends indicated one thing—this Castle Lord was extremely powerful in the soul aspect.
And what Linley feared most—
Was an expert skilled in soul attacks!
“If I encounter this Castle Lord, I probably won’t even have the strength to resist. Should I use Sovereign power?” Linley immediately thought of the ‘Annihilating Sovereign power’ that the clan leader ‘Borkeve’ possessed. “This Castle Lord is clearly the true big shot of the Bagshaw clan. Even Borkeve has Sovereign power—how could this Castle Lord not have it?”
“For Luola Island to stand firm in the Infernal Realm, this Castle Lord’s strength is definitely not something I can contend with.”
Linley immediately made a judgment—
“Escape!”
He had to escape!
Linley turned his head to glance at the window. Gammont was currently resting inside the room. Now, Gammont only had his Water-type divine clone left. It would be very easy for Linley to kill him.
“I can’t kill him! If I do, it will draw attention, and they’ll definitely keep a close watch on me. It’ll be hard for me to leave.” Having figured all this out, how could Linley wait here to die?
It was better to flee early!
“You’re lucky.” Linley glanced at the window, then immediately used Earth Travel to merge into the ground.
Having deduced this information, Linley himself felt a shock. Based on what he knew now… this inference was ninety-nine percent true! Regardless of whether the battle projections of experts were real, even if they were, he couldn’t stay!
Being controlled by a soul seed was worse than death!
On the city wall, nearly forty meters high, a large number of black-armored soldiers patrolled. Occasionally, black-armored soldiers with red capes could be seen among them. The security was stricter than any place Linley had ever seen.
The black-armored soldiers were all silent, not daring to make a sound.
However, the black-armored soldiers with red capes occasionally chatted, seeming quite relaxed.
“Whenever a hundred-consecutive-victory fighter is brought in, we all have to come and patrol together.” These two soldiers with red capes walked and chatted as they went.
“Actually, we’re just here to catch anyone who tries to escape. The real surveillance… isn’t done by people like us. It’s that thing.” One of the red-caped soldiers pointed to the castle’s core.
“You mean the Elemental Heart?”
“Of course. This Water Elemental Heart holds back the endless seawater. If anyone dares to step outside the boundary, the Water Elemental Heart will easily detect it. Then we just make a move.” These patrolling soldiers were all very relaxed.
Sneaking out secretly was impossible!
Forcibly escaping? That depended on whether one had the strength. If someone did, these patrolling soldiers would just be throwing their lives away.
Suddenly—
The towering city wall lit up with a seven-colored light, which trembled twice. All the patrolling soldiers were immediately alerted.
“Someone’s trying to escape!”
Dozens of nearby soldiers in black armor and red capes flew directly toward the source of the disturbance. They clearly saw a figure emerge from the point of impact—
Linley, dressed in a red robe!
“Heavens, the city wall stretching for dozens of miles actually has a giant magic array? And it seems to contain energy from all elements?” Linley looked at the seven-colored light patterns flickering on the surface of the towering wall before him, his mouth feeling bitter.
He couldn’t escape.
At this moment, a large number of black-armored soldiers were staring at him, and many strong experts in red capes were also hovering overhead.
“A Red-robed Elder?” These red-caped experts were startled, and then one of them said in a booming voice, “Daring to flee? Hmph!”
Linley looked at the group of red-caped soldiers before him. During the inspection earlier, he had seen one of them make a move, roughly at the level of a Six Star Fiend. “A group of Six Star Fiends?” Linley smiled bitterly in his heart.
Forcibly escaping was out of the question.
“I am Linley, a Red-robed Elder of the Bagshaw clan! I have an urgent matter and need to return immediately. I didn’t want to disturb you. Now, step aside and let me go back to Luola Island first.” Linley said loudly.
The leader of the red-caped soldiers said coldly, “Oh, Elder Linley? The rule of Handi Sai Castle is that unless we receive orders, no outsider is allowed to leave.”
“I have an urgent matter!” Linley said angrily.
“Please wait a moment, Elder Linley,” one of the red-caped soldiers said. “If you insist on leaving, don’t blame us.” In truth, these red-caped soldiers, seeing that he was a Red-robed Elder of the Bagshaw clan, didn’t want to fight.
Because a Red-robed Elder was a Seven Star Fiend.
If a battle broke out, their group might win through numbers, but it would be a costly victory.
Linley was troubled: “Neither soft nor hard approaches work. If I force my way through, I’ll probably have a horde of strong experts from the entire castle coming at me.”
“Linley, why are you in such a hurry to leave?” A familiar voice sounded. Linley turned to look. An old man with white hair, wearing red armor and a red cape, was flying over. It was the strong expert named ‘Yulai’.
Yulai smiled at Linley: “Linley, you haven’t been to the First Secret Chamber yet.”
“Mr. Yulai,” Linley quickly said, “I have no choice. I just received a soul transmission from my servant. It’s truly an urgent matter, and I have to leave. As for the First Secret Chamber, how about I come back tomorrow?”
“Oh?” Yulai frowned.
“That’s fine,” Yulai said with a smile. “Since you really have an important matter…”
Linley’s heart was in his throat.
“I can’t force you to stay. However, I’ve already reported your arrival to the Castle Lord, and I don’t have the authority to let you leave on my own. How about this: wait here for a moment while I go report to the Castle Lord. I believe he won’t make things difficult for you.” Yulai smiled.
“Then I’ll trouble you, Mr. Yulai,” Linley said.
Yulai smiled faintly and flew off.
Linley’s expression darkened: “Going to get the Castle Lord? This is getting troublesome!” He glanced around. Dozens of red-caped experts were watching him, especially on the city wall, along with a large number of black-armored soldiers.
“How does this Handi Sai Castle have so many experts?” Linley thought helplessly.
In the former Diyi City, Six Star Fiends were rare, and Seven Star Fiends were almost never seen, hidden throughout the Infernal Realm. But here in Handi Sai Castle, there were a bunch of Six Star Fiends, quite a few Seven Star Fiends, and even a seemingly stronger ‘Castle Lord’.
A moment later—
“Huh?” Linley’s expression changed.
In the distance, led by Yulai, three strong experts in red armor and red capes flew side by side, accompanied by the black-robed expert ‘Lomio’!
“Red armor, red cape? The other two have the same status as Yulai, probably to prevent me from escaping. But why bring Lomio along?” Linley was puzzled. Lomio, however, had a rare smile on his face.
“Mr. Yulai, any news?” Linley called out.
Yulai, the other two, and Lomio landed together. Yulai said with a smile, “Good news, good news! The Castle Lord is really thinking of you, Linley.”
Linley was stunned. Had he guessed wrong? Was the Castle Lord kindly letting him leave?
“The Castle Lord knows you have an urgent matter, so he agreed to let you and Lomio go to the First Secret Chamber right now! Going to the First Secret Chamber and using divine sense to observe the projections is very fast,” Yulai said with a smile.
Linley’s expression froze.
“You had time to wait for me here, Linley. Surely you have time to quickly observe the projections in the First Secret Chamber, right?” Yulai smiled. The other two strong experts in red armor and red capes also stared at Linley with smiles.
But their stares made Linley’s hair stand on end.
“Alright, I’ll go observe first,” Linley had to agree.
Yulai immediately smiled. The three of them led Linley and Lomio toward the core of Handi Sai Castle. The paths were crisscrossed, and patrols were everywhere. An outsider would probably find it impossible to move a step. But following Yulai, Linley had no trouble.
“Lomio, you should thank Linley. If not for him, you probably wouldn’t have gone to the Secret Chamber until tomorrow,” Yulai said with a laugh.
Lomio, however, had a rare smile on his face. The prospect of watching projections of countless powerful experts battling was clearly lifting his spirits.
“Linley, the Castle Lord made a special exception for you. That’s quite rare,” Yulai said to Linley.
“Yes, I must thank the Castle Lord properly,” Linley said aloud, but inwardly he was cursing. The Castle Lord had no good intentions toward him. As they walked, Linley also paid attention to his surroundings.
But the closer they got to the core, the stricter the patrols became. And he was surrounded by three strong experts.
Escape?
Difficult!
“Whoosh!” The door carved with mysterious magical patterns opened, revealing a carpeted corridor. Both sides of the corridor were lined with numerous reliefs. Linley and the others followed the corridor to the end.
Linley had no interest in admiring the reliefs.
At the end of the corridor was a hall. Yulai walked to a fireplace on one side of the hall and opened a mysterious, wide passage. The passage, made entirely of blood-red ore, exuded a chilling death aura.
“How mysterious,” Linley frowned.
Lomio also frowned. A silver-haired woman beside Yulai said lightly, “The place where the projections are stored naturally needs to be hidden. Just follow us.” With that, she entered first.
Linley and Lomio naturally followed. Yulai and the other person brought up the rear.
At the end of the underground passage, in front of a blood-red door with black patterned edges, they stopped.
“Teacher, Lomio and Linley are here,” Yulai said respectfully. The other two also bowed.
Lomio raised an eyebrow: “There’s someone inside?”
“Such an important place naturally has a guard,” Yulai explained with a smile. Linley squinted, thinking to himself, “So this so-called ‘teacher’ is the Castle Lord.”
“Good. Let Lomio enter the Secret Chamber and observe first,” a low, gentle voice came from inside the door. The large door then opened a crack, just enough for one person to enter.
“Lomio, go in,” Yulai and the other two looked at Lomio.
Confident in his own strength, Lomio was about to step inside. Linley sighed inwardly and sent a soul transmission: “Lomio, be careful. The person inside this Secret Chamber might make a move against you. Watch out for soul attacks.”
Lomio glanced at Linley in surprise, then smiled but still entered.
“Whether it’s true or not, thanks! If someone does make a move, I’d be happy,” Lomio’s voice echoed in Linley’s mind as he stepped through the door.
“Boom!” The large door closed again.