Chapter 16: No Mercy!
Above the Heavenly Sacrifice Mountain Range. A long robe fluttered loudly. A tall figure instantly tore through the sky, arriving at the highest point of the ‘Dragon Path’. This was the location of the ‘Dragon Head’ within the ‘Dragon Path’. A large castle stood there.
Azure hair drifted. His stern face was as if carved by a knife. This newcomer directly descended before the castle gates.
The patrolling warriors at the castle gates immediately saw the newcomer and respectfully bowed: “Patriarch!”
The newcomer was none other than the Patriarch of the Azure Dragon Clan, the strongest of the Azure Dragon Clan – Gaisrein Sordin! As the son of the Sovereign ‘Azure Dragon’, Gaisrein’s strength was unfathomable.
“Hmm, why aren’t the elders in the castle?” Gaisrein frowned. He instantly determined that no elders were inside the castle.
“The elders have gone to the Death Valley to watch the life-and-death battle,” a patrolling warrior immediately replied.
“Life-and-death battle?” The Patriarch ‘Gaisrein’ frowned. “A single life-and-death battle draws so many elders? What’s going on?”
“It’s Elder Emmanuel, who is to have a life-and-death battle with a middle-stage god named Linley,” the patrolling warrior said.
“Linley? A middle-stage god?” Gaisrein was baffled. “A dignified elder having a life-and-death battle with a middle-stage god. Hmph.” With a cold snort, the Patriarch ‘Gaisrein’ transformed into a streak of light and flew rapidly toward the Death Valley.
At this moment, the scene within the Death Valley was quite peculiar.
The battle had begun, yet Elder Emmanuel, who seemingly held a clear advantage, hesitated. He did not strike. Emmanuel’s heart was filled with terror, regret, and unwillingness!
“It’s him, it’s actually him!!!”
Emmanuel was furious. “He has the Azure Dragon Ring, so his soul defense must be strong. But his body…” Emmanuel had originally planned to win through ‘material attacks’. He had been confident, believing his body was indeed strong. But after watching that floating image…
Emmanuel knew clearly that Linley’s body was even more formidable than his!
Who would have thought that Linley was actually the powerful expert who had appeared on Luoluo Island.
“Emmanuel, what’s wrong? Want me to make the first move?” Linley said coldly with a sneer.
Instantly, the entire Death Valley buzzed with discussion. The patrolling warriors, in particular, were puzzled—why wasn’t Emmanuel making a move?
“Linley…” Emmanuel tried to say something.
“Since the elder is being courteous, I’ll strike first then,” Linley said coldly. Immediately, his speed exploded, and he transformed into a blur that streaked across the sky. Emmanuel let out a sudden roar—
“Boom~” A massive amount of waves suddenly appeared between heaven and earth. Endless waves surged directly toward Linley. In an instant, the waves turned into mist, enveloping Linley. For a moment, Linley couldn’t see the battlefield situation with his eyes.
“Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!”
Sharp ice arrows emerged abruptly from the mist. One by one, the ice arrows spun, all following curved trajectories. Countless ice arrows spun and shot toward Linley, converging together, tearing through the sky—
Cracks appeared in the air.
“As expected of an elder,” Linley thought to himself.
Linley didn’t dodge. He stood directly in midair, like a god.
Waves of Earth divine power spread outward from Linley, and a hazy, earthy-yellow light radiated outward. A massive spherical light shield, fully five hundred meters in diameter, enveloped Emmanuel before he could dodge.
Blackstone Space!
The terrifying gravitational force acted on the countless ice arrows, slightly altering their trajectories. This slight change caused the arrows to lose their aim, breaking their unified effect.
“Clang!” “Clang!” “Clang!”…
Only eight ice arrows struck Linley’s body, making a crisp sound like metal striking metal, and all of them shattered. The dragon scales on Linley’s body only bore a few white marks.
“What!” Emmanuel’s face changed drastically.
Even though he had been somewhat prepared, he was still shocked by Linley’s defense.
“Damn it!” Feeling the endless gravitational pull on his body, Emmanuel immediately tried to escape. But in an instant, the gravitational force, which had been pulling downward, suddenly shifted direction toward Linley.
“Trying to run?” Linley let out an angry laugh and lunged at Emmanuel.
After resisting the gravitational force, Emmanuel’s speed was naturally no match for Linley’s.
“How did it come to this?” The thousands of patrolling warriors were completely dumbfounded. In their eyes, the one-sided life-and-death battle was indeed one-sided—but the one on top was that ‘middle-stage god’.
“This Linley, how is he?” They stared in disbelief.
“Linley isn’t a middle-stage god. Definitely not.”
Not only were the patrolling warriors stunned, but the elders watching from the sidelines also had a clear picture after seeing Linley transform.
“Emmanuel is in for it this time!”
“He’s kicked an iron plate.”
The elders remained silent. After all, Emmanuel was in a life-and-death battle, so they couldn’t interfere.
“Bastard.” Emmanuel, trapped in the gravitational zone, felt as uncomfortable as a mortal stuck in a swamp. And Linley’s figure was rapidly closing in. Emmanuel didn’t dare engage Linley in close combat.
“Ahhh~”
Emmanuel went berserk, roaring wildly.
“Crackle~” Strange, massive chunks of ice materialized out of thin air. A large, thick ice wall formed in front of Emmanuel, its surface gleaming brightly. These thick ice walls were also affected by the gravitational force—
They flew rapidly toward Linley!
Not only were the ice walls pulled by gravity, but Emmanuel himself deliberately propelled them toward Linley.
In an instant, the ice wall reached Linley.
“Break!” Linley muttered, his right fist carrying boundless power. Utilizing the Earth Laws’ ‘Profound Mystery of Strength’, he slammed it into a single point on the ice wall.
“Boom!” The entire ice wall trembled slightly, then directly shattered into ice fragments.
As Linley passed through the ice fragments to continue his pursuit, Emmanuel had already fled to the edge of the gravitational zone. At that moment, Emmanuel didn’t run further. Instead, he turned back and let out a low roar—
Suddenly, a phantom of an azure dragon appeared behind Emmanuel. The cold eyes of the azure dragon phantom stared directly at Linley, and then it let out a low chant.
Divine Ability – Dragon’s Roar!
“Not good.” Linley’s expression changed.
A hazy green light instantly washed over Linley. He only felt a slight dizziness in his head, then immediately regained clarity. But Linley noticed—both Emmanuel and the distant spectators seemed to be moving faster.
“Time?” Linley immediately realized.
In that instant, the flow of time in the area where Linley stood had slowed. While ten seconds passed for others, only one second passed for Linley. This allowed Emmanuel to escape Linley’s gravitational zone.
“Finally out.” Emmanuel directly flew to a distant part of the Death Valley.
“Emmanuel, you can’t escape.” Linley’s figure shot after him.
“Stop!” Emmanuel suddenly shouted.
Linley paused, then stopped, sneering: “Emmanuel, what? Have something to say?”
“I admit you have strength. I concede. Let this life-and-death battle end here,” Emmanuel transmitted via divine sense. “I misjudged you. I didn’t realize you were an expert. Let’s just drop this matter.”
“Drop it?” Linley prepared to lunge again.
“Linley, I won’t take the Azure Dragon Ring anymore,” Emmanuel quickly added. “I thought you were a middle-stage god. Now I know… the Azure Dragon Ring on you can still unleash great power. I won’t seize it.”
Linley sneered inwardly.
When he thought Linley was weak, he wanted to kill him. Now he was backing down. And without a doubt, the only outsider who knew Linley possessed the Coiling Dragon Ring was Emmanuel. Killing Emmanuel would ensure no one else knew.
Kill!
“I concede!” Emmanuel’s voice rang out across the Death Valley.
“Hmm?” Linley was taken aback.
Emmanuel had actually lost face and directly conceded in a life-and-death battle. “Doesn’t Emmanuel know that a life-and-death battle only ends in two ways: one dies, or the victor spares the loser’s life?”
Conceding in a life-and-death battle was useless!
“Concede?” The many patrolling warriors were shocked, and the elders were also stunned. Delia and Bebe, however, grew excited.
“Linley, since Emmanuel has conceded, just spare him this once,” an elder said loudly. Even he couldn’t break the rules of a life-and-death battle. Only Linley could choose to spare Emmanuel.
“Right, Linley. He’s conceded. Let it go,” the other elders chimed in.
By now, in their hearts, they regarded Linley as a powerhouse on their level.
Though humiliated, Emmanuel knew clearly: “Linley’s body is this strong, and his soul defense has a Sovereign artifact. Even a damaged Sovereign artifact isn’t something I can break.”
Emmanuel saw no hope of victory.
He didn’t want to die!
“Spare?” A cold light flashed in Linley’s dark golden eyes. Suddenly, a terrifying roar sounded as Linley’s figure shot across the sky, charging at the distant Emmanuel without mercy.
“You forced me into a life-and-death battle, and now you want me to spare you? Dream on!” Linley’s furious shout echoed through the Death Valley.
Emmanuel immediately dodged and fled, but he didn’t leave the Death Valley. If he truly violated the rules by escaping, the entire Azure Dragon Clan would hunt him down, and he would die for sure.
So, he could only dodge within the Death Valley.
Linley gave chase.
“You can’t escape.” Linley seized an opportunity and activated ‘Blackstone Space’ again, directly trapping Emmanuel inside. Emmanuel’s speed plummeted, and Linley charged in with a cold sneer.
Just then—
“Whoosh!” Emmanuel flung a white light from his hand.
“Crackle~” Where the white light passed, space split open.
Linley didn’t dodge. He directly slapped at it. “Boom!” Linley only felt his right palm go completely numb. Dragon scales shattered, and blood seeped out. The white light also shattered completely.
Even so, Linley didn’t slow down.
“Linley, you can’t kill me!” Emmanuel panicked, but within the gravitational zone, his speed was far inferior to Linley’s.
“Die!” Linley closed in.
“Stop!” An angry shout rang out. Linley felt the shout drill directly into his mind, causing a slight dizziness. He couldn’t help but look up. Above—
A man in a blue robe embroidered with intricate patterns descended from the sky, his blue hair flowing freely.
His gaze was like lightning, staring downward.
“Patriarch!” Emmanuel was overjoyed. He wouldn’t die.
“Patriarch!” The elders, seeing the newcomer, immediately bowed respectfully.
“Patriarch!” The thousands of patrolling warriors bowed with great reverence.
Linley’s heart trembled: “The Patriarch?” But seeing Emmanuel, who had relaxed in relief not far ahead, a murderous intent surged within Linley: “This Emmanuel cannot be left alive!” Linley shot forward in a flash.
Emmanuel’s expression changed drastically: “Linley, you—” He hadn’t expected Linley to dare defy the Patriarch’s command.
But he didn’t know…
Linley had only joined the Azure Dragon Clan for less than a hundred years. He didn’t have a clear understanding of the Patriarch and felt little fear. Unlike Emmanuel and the other elders, who saw the Patriarch as the invincible strongest.
The Patriarch’s command was not to be disobeyed.
Linley’s right dragon claw descended mercilessly toward Emmanuel. Within the gravitational zone, Emmanuel couldn’t dodge.
“Clang!” Suddenly, another dragon claw appeared, colliding with Linley’s scale-covered right hand. Linley only felt his right hand shake violently, and his fingers went completely numb. The dragon claw flipped over and grabbed Linley’s right hand.
Linley looked up. It was the Patriarch!
“Wasn’t he over there just now? How is he so fast?” Linley couldn’t believe the Patriarch’s speed had reached such a level.
“I said stop, yet you still attacked? What audacity!” The Patriarch’s gaze was cold as he looked down at Linley. The Patriarch’s scale-covered right hand gripped Linley, and Linley found himself unable to resist.
For the first time…
Linley encountered an opponent who completely surpassed him in body and strength!
The strongest of the Azure Dragon Clan—Patriarch ‘Gaisrein Sordin’!