Chapter 2: Arriving at Azure Blue Prefecture
From the Yulan Continent to the Infernal Realm. Bebe had always been by his side, and Linley knew very well how hard Bebe trained. Logically speaking, it should have been impossible for Bebe to have mastered four profound mysteries.
But Bebe had succeeded.
This was a fact! A fact everyone had witnessed.
"Bebe, how did you train?" Dilin was also incredulous.
"How could it be that fast?" Even the usually calm Oliver was shocked. They all stared at Bebe, clearly eager to know how he had cultivated so quickly, wondering if they could learn from his example.
Bebe grinned smugly.
"I told you earlier, but you didn't believe me," Bebe said resentfully.
"We believe you now. But how did you do it?" Tarosa pressed. Even for a genius, cultivation required a process. Linley seized every moment to train. His talent had been evident on the Yulan Continent, and he had improved step by step. Everyone had seen it.
But Bebe? No one could believe his cultivation speed matched Linley's.
"I am Bebe!" Bebe looked around at the group, proudly. "If you don't believe me, it's because... it has something to do with Grandpa Beirut. I won't say more."
"Lord Beirut?" Tarosa and Dilin were puzzled.
Cultivation was a personal matter. No matter how powerful Beirut was, he wasn't by Bebe's side. How could he help Bebe?
"You were all so smug earlier. Hmph, I won't tell you. Think about it yourselves. I'll tell my boss." Bebe turned to Linley, winked, and laughed. He sent a soul transmission: "Boss, surprised?"
"Very surprised," Linley replied, unable to fathom how Bebe had cultivated so quickly.
Bebe smiled mysteriously and sent another soul transmission: "Boss, remember when Grandpa Beirut said he spent a great price to get treasures to help me break through faster? He said if I cultivated slowly, it would take twenty years to comprehend the Darkness profound mystery and reach Demigod. But if it were you, under the same conditions, you'd probably succeed in a year."
Linley immediately recalled this.
Beirut had indeed said that.
At the time, Linley hadn't entered the Infernal Realm and didn't have a clear understanding of Beirut's power. But after arriving in the Infernal Realm, Linley realized how strong Beirut was. The divine artifact Beirut made for Bebe, combined with a bead, had unleashed an attack capable of destroying Ali Quinn's artifact—a Seven Star Fiend's weapon!
"If Lord Beirut himself wanted to kill a Seven Star Fiend, it would probably be even easier," Linley mused. He also remembered that the lord of Hantise Castle, Moors, had said very few in the Infernal Realm could forge soul defense artifacts.
"But Lord Beirut forged a soul defense artifact for Bebe."
Linley thought to himself, "Divine artifacts are rare and priceless in the Infernal Realm. Even after selling some, Lord Beirut would have immense wealth. And he's also an Overgod emissary!"
Having been in the Infernal Realm for so long, Linley had never heard of anyone being an Overgod emissary!
To be chosen by an Overgod, one had to be a peak-level Highgod.
"Lord Beirut said he spent a great price to obtain those treasures. For someone of his power to admit it was a great price, what kind of treasure could it be?" Linley understood that even trillions of inkstones meant nothing to Beirut.
A single divine artifact was worth far more.
What treasure could make Beirut admit to paying a 'great price'?
The more Linley thought about it, the more curious he became.
"Bebe, what exactly was that treasure? The one that cost your Grandpa Beirut a great price and made you cultivate so fast?" Linley asked via soul transmission.
Bebe laughed: "Boss, that treasure is 'stripped soul fragments'!"
"Stripped soul fragments?" Linley was confused.
"Yeah. Grandpa Beirut knew I couldn't be bothered to cultivate slowly, so he came up with this method. He went to the Infernal Realm, paid a great price, and asked a big shot to strip the souls of many Saint-level peak experts! He completely stripped the soul fragments related to 'laws and profound mysteries'."
Linley was stunned.
Stripping souls?
Back on the Yulan Continent, Linley had seen the necromancer Sesler perform 'soul search', which involved probing the soul. But that only retrieved partial memories; it couldn't clearly sense someone else's soul.
"Grandpa Beirut said soul stripping is very difficult! And since the souls of Deities are fused with their divine sparks, they can't be stripped. Only Saint-level souls can be stripped!" Bebe continued via divine sense transmission. "To completely strip the part of a Saint-level peak expert's soul that comprehends profound mysteries—there are very few in the entire Infernal Realm who can do it. Grandpa Beirut said he couldn't do it himself; he paid a great price to ask a powerful friend for help."
Linley was secretly shocked.
In places like Black Sand Castle or Violet Thorn Castle, Linley had never heard of 'stripped soul fragments' being sold. Such items were priceless, likely only obtainable by big shots like Beirut.
"When I reached adulthood and naturally became a god, comprehending 'Shadow Doppelganger Art', Grandpa asked his friend to help and got four 'stripped soul fragments' for me. They covered the other four profound mysteries of the Darkness laws."
Bebe transmitted helplessly: "Grandpa Beirut said that most Saint-level peak experts comprehend common profound mysteries like 'Darkness Element'. Profound mysteries like 'Devour' or 'Evil' are rare."
"Grandpa's friend put in a lot of effort, carefully stripping the souls. Stripping a complete set of profound mysteries from a soul is extremely difficult. In the end, they managed to get these four, and I fused with them," Bebe transmitted.
Linley was dumbfounded.
The soul is a very peculiar thing. Even soul attacks are difficult.
To completely strip the part of a person's soul related to 'profound mysteries'—just thinking about it was unbelievable.
"To achieve that level, one must have an incredible understanding of the soul," Linley thought in disbelief.
Beirut himself could forge soul defense artifacts, which showed his mastery of the soul was already extremely high. Yet even he couldn't do it and had to pay a great price to ask someone else.
This showed how difficult soul stripping was.
"This friend of Lord Beirut's is also formidable," Linley sighed.
Deity-level souls couldn't be stripped; only Saint-level peak souls could.
"To get these stripped soul fragments, who knows how many Saint-level peak experts were killed," Linley lamented. But he also understood that in the Infernal Realm, the strong ruled. Many tribes raised Saint-level magical beasts, slaughtered them, and sold their body parts to city inns.
In the Infernal Realm, Saint-level beings were like wild rabbits in human society—slaughtered at will.
"Alas, Saint-level peak experts have cultivated a certain profound mystery to the bottleneck, just one step away from perfection," Bebe sighed. "So, for these four profound mysteries, I comprehended them to the bottleneck, but the final breakthrough still depends on myself!"
"On the Yulan Continent, it took twenty years to break through in 'Darkness Element'."
"After arriving in the Infernal Realm, over the past seven hundred years, occasional epiphanies helped me break through 'Devour' and 'Evil'. Now I've fully comprehended four, and the fifth is at the bottleneck. As for the sixth... I'm completely in the dark."
Linley now fully understood.
Bebe was a divine beast. Upon reaching adulthood, he naturally comprehended one profound mystery and became a god—that was the first, 'Shadow Doppelganger Art'.
Later, Lord Beirut, knowing Bebe had no patience but not wanting him to fuse with a divine spark, paid a great price to get these four stripped soul fragments. After fusing with them, Bebe naturally reached the 'bottleneck' for all four profound mysteries.
With one epiphany, he mastered one.
No hard training needed.
"No wonder, no wonder," Linley sighed twice.
It was infuriating! He trained day and night, while Bebe played around and suddenly had an epiphany, mastering a profound mystery with ease.
But Linley was still happy for Bebe.
"Lord Beirut really takes care of Bebe to the utmost," Linley marveled.
Beirut held a high position, and Bebe was the second Godeater Rat in his family. Naturally, Beirut doted on him immensely. For Bebe, he didn't hesitate to travel to the Infernal Realm to ask a friend for help.
From this, Linley could sense Beirut's powerful connections.
"Soul stripping is hard, meticulous work. That big shot was willing to do it for Lord Beirut," Linley realized the extent of Beirut's influence.
The metallic lifeform flew straight toward Azure Blue Prefecture. The secret of Bebe's fast cultivation was later only told to Linley and Delia. No one else knew. Clearly, in Bebe's heart, Linley and Delia were the closest.
After entering Bloodpeak Continent, the metallic lifeform had been flying for over three years.
"Boss, look! Swordstone Mountain!" Bebe pointed east through the transparent window.
Linley looked carefully. In the distance to the east, there was an extremely tall mountain that seemed to pierce the sky. The upper half of the mountain resembled a heavy sword. At the high point of the sword-shaped mountain, clouds and mist swirled.
"Swordstone Mountain! We've finally reached Azure Blue Prefecture!" Delia exclaimed joyfully.
Swordstone Mountain was an important landmark for Azure Blue Prefecture on the map.
At this moment, Linley felt his blood surging: "Finally, finally! Azure Blue Prefecture!"
The place he had dreamed of.
Back on the Yulan Continent, Linley had heard of Azure Blue Prefecture. He knew that his ancestors, the elders of the Baruch clan, had come here.
Linley had ultimately entered the Infernal Realm without hesitation!
From Violet Thorn Continent, he had traveled through numerous trials: the battle at the Desert Ancient Castle, the battle at the Volcanic Mountain Range, the breakthrough at Violet Thorn Mountains, the dangers of Leilo Island... Finally, he had crossed the Misty Sea of Stars, arrived at Bloodpeak Continent, and reached Azure Blue Prefecture!
"Azure Blue Prefecture!"
Linley took a deep breath. He couldn't wait to meet the elders of his Baruch clan.
"Boss, we don't know the exact address of the Four Divine Beasts clan," Bebe said.
"That's simple," Linley said with a smile. "We'll go to the nearest city, Fance City. The Four Divine Beasts clan should be very famous in Azure Blue Prefecture. Finding their residence will be easy."
The metallic lifeform flew directly toward the nearest city, Fance City, the first city Linley would reach in Azure Blue Prefecture.
After a few days of flight.
Linley was leisurely drinking and chatting with the others in the hall. He was happy to be about to meet his clan's elders. For this last leg of the journey, Linley had taken a rare break from training.
"Boom!" A powerful vibration spread through the air, reaching Linley's metallic lifeform.
The metallic lifeform trembled.
"Such a strong fluctuation."
"What's going on?" Linley and the others stood up, looking outside through the window.
The metallic lifeform flew very fast. Soon, Linley and the others saw a shocking scene—
In the distant sky, nearly a hundred Highgods were fleeing in panic, being hunted by three white-robed men!
"Haha, you can't escape!" The white-robed men laughed loudly.
The three white-robed men all had long golden hair and golden eyebrows, as handsome as the elves Linley had seen. As their figures flickered, Highgod after Highgod fell from the sky.
Those Highgods were terrified!
"Run!" With a furious shout, the surviving dozens of Highgods scattered in all directions.
"You can't escape," a cold voice said.
One of the white-robed men, his long golden hair flowing, grew a pair of ten-meter-long golden wings from his back. These huge golden wings emitted a hazy golden light, and a sacred aura spread out.
This golden-winged white-robed man was bathed in golden light, handsome and holy.
"I sentence you to death!"
The white-robed man said softly.
A translucent golden ripple spread in all directions. No matter how fast the fleeing Highgods ran, they couldn't outpace the attack.
Instantly, the dozens of fleeing Highgods fell from the sky, leaving only their leader, who stared at the three white-robed men in shock and anger.
"So strong." Linley, Tarosa, and the others were shocked.
"He cultivates the 'Edicts of Fate'," Tarosa said in a low voice. "Judging by his strength, that white-robed man is at least a Six Star Fiend, if not a Seven Star Fiend."
"The Edicts of Fate?"
Linley rarely saw experts who cultivated the Edicts of Fate in the Infernal Realm, because most of them went to the 'Celestial Realm', one of the four higher planes. Even when he did see them, they were usually not very strong.
"A Highgod cultivating the Edicts of Fate," Linley thought in surprise.
A roar came from the sky.
"Why? We've never provoked your Bolin family. Why are you so ruthless, killing us all?" The surviving leader, knowing he couldn't escape, roared in fury.
The three white-robed men were faintly emitting golden light.
"Why? Aren't you working for the Four Divine Beasts clan?" One of them sneered.
"The Four Divine Beasts clan?" The surviving leader was stunned.
"Anyone who works for the Four Divine Beasts clan must die!" The one with the golden wings said, pointing his right finger. A beam of golden light shot out.
The leader couldn't dodge. The golden light entered his body, and he fell from the sky.
The golden-winged white-robed man glanced at Linley's metallic lifeform in the distance, then snorted indifferently: "Let's go." The three white-robed men turned into three beams of golden light and vanished into the horizon in an instant.
"Anyone who works for the Four Divine Beasts clan must die?" In the metallic lifeform, Linley was momentarily stunned.