Chapter 9: Eighty Years
Having said this, Baruch laughed. "But strangely enough, my bloodline is actually very pure. During the ancestral temple baptism, it even startled those guarding warriors quite a bit. I was also received by an elder."
"Very pure bloodline?" Linley looked at Baruch.
Baruch was only a little over six thousand years old, while the Four Divine Beasts clan had existed for who knows how long. For Baruch's bloodline to be pure was indeed strange.
"Generally speaking, the earliest children of the founding ancestor—that is, the second generation of our Azure Dragon clan, and the third generation—would have very pure bloodlines and great strength. I never expected my bloodline could compare to the second generation's." Baruch didn't hide anything.
The second generation of the Azure Dragon clan were the children of the Sovereign 'Azure Dragon'. The bloodline of the Sovereign 'Azure Dragon's' children was naturally pure. As for the third generation, those with good talent could also rival the second generation.
As for further down the line...
Perhaps occasionally, in some generation, a genius would appear with an exceptionally pure Azure Dragon bloodline. This was an extremely low-probability event, and Baruch happened to be that case.
"It was precisely because of this that the elder told me about our family's matters," Baruch said.
So that's how it was.
Linley suddenly understood. He had been wondering earlier how Baruch knew about these things.
"Actually, the matters of the founding ancestor and the eight great clans aren't exactly a secret. Within the clan, anyone with a pure bloodline, high potential, or who has reached the Highgod level will know about them," Baruch said solemnly. "After all, clan warfare happens frequently."
Linley nodded. "Seeing those patrolling warriors, I could feel it."
The security of the Four Divine Beasts clan was far stricter than that of the guards protecting the Radiant Island.
"Linley, your talent is definitely better than mine," Baruch said, his eyes lighting up. "You haven't even undergone the ancestral temple baptism, yet you're already this powerful. Once you go through the baptism and comprehend the laws of water element..."
"Comprehend the laws of water element?" Linley exclaimed in surprise.
Right now, he only understood the earth, fire, and destruction aspects. He knew nothing about the laws of water element.
Baruch said seriously, "Yes. Our Azure Dragon clan is a water-element divine beast clan. If a member of our clan doesn't even understand the laws of water element, that would be a joke. Right now, you can't comprehend it because your bloodline hasn't been fully awakened. Once you enter the 'Dragon Transformation Pool' and undergo the baptism, you will naturally transform into an Azure Dragon, and at the same time, naturally reach the Demigod level in the water element aspect. You will also awaken your innate divine ability."
Linley was deeply shaken.
In the past, when Linley saw divine beasts naturally becoming gods upon reaching adulthood, he would secretly sigh at their talent.
He never expected that he could do the same.
"Transform into an Azure Dragon, possess an 'innate divine ability', and naturally become a god in the water element aspect!" Linley's heart was filled with joy. "I'm afraid that in the Infernal Realm, very few have five divine clones including the main body."
Once he underwent the ancestral temple baptism, he would have the main body, earth, fire, and water—five bodies.
He was naturally highly attuned to earth, could barely comprehend fire, and now he would gain water.
"We are the Azure Dragon clan!" Baruch said proudly. "Cultivating the laws of water element will be very fast. Look at me. Although my comprehension isn't great, in these few thousand years, I have comprehended five profound mysteries of the water element laws. I'm close to reaching the Highgod level."
Linley couldn't help but be surprised. Comprehending five profound mysteries of the water element laws in a few thousand years—that speed was already very fast.
"Heaven has indeed been generous to the Azure Dragon clan," Linley thought to himself.
"Clan leader, I haven't undergone the ancestral temple baptism yet. How can I go to receive it?" Linley quickly asked. Since the baptism could improve his strength, the sooner the better.
"Don't rush," Baruch said with a smile. "The ancestral temple baptism is held once every hundred years. Although the clan is large, roughly every hundred years, there will be some newly born clan members who can undergo the baptism."
"Oh." Linley quickly asked, "When is the next baptism?"
"The last one was twenty years ago. So, if you want to undergo the baptism, you'll need to wait another eighty years," Baruch said.
"Eighty years." Linley wasn't in a hurry.
Having spent over five hundred years in the Amethyst Mountains, Linley didn't feel the passage of time much anymore. A single meditation session, closing his eyes, and when he opened them again, eighty years might have passed.
"Linley, the stronger you become in the future, the greater your responsibilities will be. In the battles between our Four Divine Beasts clan and the eight great clans, you will definitely become a battle general of our clan. So... you must work hard now, so that you can survive on the dangerous battlefield in the future," Baruch said solemnly.
Linley nodded seriously.
Among these eight great clans, seven had moved their entire clans from other planes and pursued them here. The depth of their hatred for the Four Divine Beasts clan was unimaginable. And given the pride of the Four Divine Beasts clan, they would never stay holed up in the Celestial Sacrifice Mountains forever.
Their conflicts and battles were bound to be frequent.
Once Linley got involved in the battles between the Four Divine Beasts clan and the eight great clans, he would experience true bloodshed and storms.
"Train hard," Linley thought to himself.
---
The Celestial Sacrifice Mountains of the Azure Prefecture remained as peaceful as ever. Perhaps the armies of the Four Divine Beasts clan would march out to engage in life-and-death battles with the eight great clans, but Linley, living within the Celestial Sacrifice Mountains, was unaware of this.
In the midst of cultivation, peaceful days quickly passed by over sixty years.
On this day.
In the Celestial Sacrifice Mountains, within the large canyon where Linley and the others lived, many members of the Azure Dragon clan were either training or gathering together.
"Let's go to the Yulan branch and tease those little fellows. Are you coming?" In a corner of the canyon, six young men were gathered. One of them, a man with cyan hair, said with a smile.
"No."
"I'm not going either."
The other five all shook their heads. One of them said, "Second brother, don't go causing trouble at the Yulan branch."
"What's wrong with you guys? Why are you all so scared? The Yulan branch is nothing. Their strongest is only a Demigod. What's there to be afraid of?" The cyan-haired man said discontentedly.
"Second brother, in the past, you could go and mess with the Yulan branch without any problem. But you don't know, while you were in seclusion these past few hundred years, things have changed in the Yulan branch."
"What changes?" The cyan-haired man sneered. "Did they suddenly produce a Highgod in a few hundred years? A few hundred years ago, the entire branch only had twelve Demigods. Apart from Baruch, who was a bit faster, everyone else trained very slowly. Did Baruch become a Highgod?"
"It's not Baruch. About sixty years ago, a clan member came over, saying he was from the Yulan branch. At first glance, he looked like a Demigod, but he stood still and sent Asru flying."
The cyan-haired man was stunned. "You mean Asru?"
"Not just Asru. At first, we didn't believe Asru, so we went with Big Brother to find trouble with that guy. But... even Big Brother was easily defeated by that Linley."
"Big Brother?" The cyan-haired man was shocked. "Even Big Brother was defeated?"
"Yes, so Big Brother went into seclusion to train as well," one of the other five young men said.
The cyan-haired man finally understood. When he came out of seclusion this time, he hadn't seen his big brother and thought he had gone somewhere. It turned out he was in seclusion.
"Is this guy really that strong?" The cyan-haired man asked doubtfully. "What's his name?"
"I heard from the Yulan branch people that his name is Linley!" someone immediately answered.
"Yes, it's Linley. Those Yulan branch people are really proud now. They even say... if you want to fight the Yulan branch, you have to be able to defeat Linley first. Unfortunately, even the few Highgods in this canyon who tried were all defeated."
"So, for the past sixty years, no one has dared to bully the Yulan branch anymore."
Listening to his friends' explanations, the cyan-haired man finally understood.
In the large canyon, only some very weak branch families lived. Most branches only had a few Highgods. The total number of Highgods in the entire canyon was probably only twenty or thirty. Linley had consecutively defeated several of them.
Naturally, the canyon acknowledged the Yulan branch's status and no longer easily bullied them.
After all, if you try to bully someone and end up being bullied yourself, that's just embarrassing.
Suddenly—
A vast, boundless fluctuation descended from the sky. The special fluctuation startled even the six young men, including the cyan-haired one.
"A divine law descending?" The six were greatly surprised.
This was precisely the sign of someone becoming a god independently.
The six immediately started discussing.
"Who broke through?"
"The divine law descended on the Yulan branch's residence. It's someone from the Yulan branch."
"It's probably just a Saint breaking through to become a Demigod. Nothing to make a big fuss about," the cyan-haired man sneered.
At this moment, many people had gathered outside Linley's courtyard. Only Delia and Bebe had run inside.
"What's going on?" Baruch walked over and quickly asked.
Talosha smiled and said, "It's Linley who broke through."
"Is he about to reach the Highgod level?" Baruch immediately sent a divine sense message. Up until now, many others in the Yulan branch thought Linley was a Highgod, just hiding his aura.
"I'm not sure," Talosha shook his head. "Probably not. When Linley first arrived here, he was still comprehending the fifth profound mystery of the earth laws."
As they were talking, three people walked out of the house.
"He's out. Linley is out." The Yulan branch clan members gathered outside the house became excited.
"Everyone, disperse. It was just a breakthrough in one of my divine clones," Linley said with a faint smile, looking at the crowd of clan members. Seeing the admiration in their eyes, Linley felt very happy inside.
Since coming here, Linley naturally couldn't stand by and watch his own clan be bullied. So he had made a few moves to intimidate the other branches.
Now that the Yulan branch was no longer bullied, these clan members naturally felt grateful to Linley.
"Everyone, disperse. Don't stay here," Baruch also said with a smile.
At that, the group of clan members chatted and laughed as they left. They were still talking: "Linley is so amazing. Which divine clone do you think broke through this time?"
"Probably the destruction divine clone."
"Maybe it's the wind divine clone."
Those clan members didn't know Linley's background. They didn't even know which laws he was comprehending.
"Linley, what broke through?" Hisses walked up and asked.
"The fire divine clone," Linley said with a self-deprecating laugh. "It took until now to reach the Demigod level with this fire divine clone. My fire-element cultivation is really too slow."
Hisses, Talosha, and the others were speechless. Cultivating for less than a thousand years and reaching the Demigod level in earth, fire, and destruction—and he calls that slow?
"How's your earth laws cultivation going?" Talosha asked.
"Still working on the fifth profound mystery. I've hit a bottleneck. I don't know if I can fully comprehend this 'Profound Mystery of Strength' before the ancestral temple baptism," Linley said.
At this point, there were only a little over ten years left until the ancestral temple baptism.
Ten years was very short for a god-level expert. Linley's main body stayed with Delia, while his three divine clones were completely immersed in cultivation. Even as the day of the ancestral temple baptism approached, the 'Profound Mystery of Strength' remained stuck at the bottleneck.
On this day, eighty years had passed since Linley arrived at the Celestial Sacrifice Mountains.
Baruch walked up to Linley's house.
"Linley, the ancestral temple baptism will be held tonight. I've already submitted your name. In a little while, someone will probably come to take you to participate. Prepare well."
"I know." Linley's eyes held an unmistakable look of anticipation.
What exactly would the ancestral temple baptism be like?