Chapter 18: ‘Punishment’
Inside the quiet side hall. Gaisreyson sat on a chair, while Linley stood to the side. Gaisreyson simply looked at Linley. Silently watching. Without saying a word, the oppressive atmosphere in the side hall made Linley feel fearful.
“The clan leader called me here, yet he won’t speak. What exactly does he want?” Linley felt anxious.
Standing in the side hall for a long time, Linley couldn’t help but speak: “Clan leader—”
Gaisreyson snapped out of his thoughts, looking at Linley. He let out a low sigh. The arrogance and coldness from the main hall were gone from his face, replaced only by sorrow and shock. Gaisreyson sighed: “Linley. Where do you come from?”
“From another plane,” Linley said.
“The Yulan Continent plane, right?” Gaisreyson said casually.
Linley was startled. How did Gaisreyson know? Had he investigated some of his information?
“Yes,” Linley nodded.
“The Yulan Continent plane, indeed.” Gaisreyson looked up. Silently, tears slid down his face and fell to the ground. With a “pa” sound, the teardrops shattered.
“The clan leader is crying?” Linley was stunned.
The clan leader of the Azure Dragon clan, this peerless expert ‘Gaisreyson’, was actually crying? Even if Gaisreyson wanted to kill him, Linley could understand. But why would Gaisreyson cry?
“Give me your Azure Dragon Ring to look at. No need to dissolve the blood contract,” Gaisreyson said with a low sigh. “Azure Dragon Ring?” Linley looked at Gaisreyson in shock. After what happened with Emanuel, he had already changed the appearance of the Coiling Dragon Ring. From the outside, no one could tell that the ring on his finger was a Sovereign artifact.
Gaisreyson frowned, looking up at Linley: “I told you, let me see the Azure Dragon Ring. Don’t worry, I won’t covet your Azure Dragon Ring. I have my own!” As he spoke, Gaisreyson extended his right hand.
Linley looked. Indeed, on the finger of that hand was a ring identical in appearance to the ‘Coiling Dragon Ring’, except its color was azure.
“Back then, Father forged two soul defense Sovereign artifacts—one for himself, and the other for me,” Gaisreyson said in a low voice. Linley stared in shock at the ring on the clan leader’s hand.
That Azure Dragon Ring was a complete soul defense Sovereign artifact.
“Clan leader, take a look.” Linley directly tossed the Coiling Dragon Ring over.
Gaisreyson’s eyes lit up, and he immediately caught the Coiling Dragon Ring. Even the right hand holding the ring trembled faintly, tears glistening in his eyes: “Father! Father!!!” Gaisreyson examined the Coiling Dragon Ring as if on a pilgrimage.
“This material, yes…” Gaisreyson stroked it.
Linley had never been able to identify the material of the Coiling Dragon Ring. He hadn’t known back on the Yulan Continent plane, and he still couldn’t determine it now.
“This Sovereign artifact is damaged, right?” Gaisreyson opened his eyes and tossed the Coiling Dragon Ring back to Linley.
“Yes,” Linley nodded.
“How severe is the damage?” Gaisreyson pressed.
“The soul defense Sovereign artifact, specifically the membrane, has a small gap on it. Just that one gap. The rest is undamaged,” Linley didn’t lie.
“Just a small gap?”
Gaisreyson frowned. “Able to kill my father and four other Sovereigns, and break a Sovereign artifact, yet only a small gap?” Many thoughts flashed through Gaisreyson’s mind. From this gap alone, he could already make a judgment about the culprit.
“It must be one of those few!”
Thinking of the enemy, Gaisreyson felt powerless. “They don’t even consider insignificant figures like us. No matter how powerful a Highgod, they’re nothing before a Sovereign.” Gaisreyson had already reached the pinnacle of Highgods.
But…
Compared to a Sovereign, he had no power to resist. Someone who could kill four Sovereigns—would they care about some Highgods?
“Clan leader, will the clan take this ring from me?” Linley asked worriedly.
Gaisreyson glanced at him and said: “Since Father chose you as the heir to this Azure Dragon Ring, possessing it is Father’s will. No one, regardless of who they are, has the right to change Father’s will!”
Linley felt relieved.
Seeing Linley, Gaisreyson couldn’t help but think of his father. Back then, the ancestor ‘Azure Dragon’ only cared about his own son and daughter. As for the later descendants of the clan, the ancestor didn’t pay them much attention.
“Clan leader, I have a doubt,” Linley couldn’t help but say.
Being recognized by Gaisreyson for the ‘Azure Dragon Ring’ was very puzzling to Linley. His Coiling Dragon Ring had changed its appearance and didn’t emit any aura from the outside. How could anyone tell it was special just by looking at it?
Was it the material?
But from the outside, without careful examination, one couldn’t notice the material’s uniqueness.
“A doubt? Speak,” Gaisreyson showed a rare smile.
“Clan leader, how did you discover that this ring of mine is the Azure Dragon Ring? I can’t figure it out,” Linley quickly asked.
“Haha…” Gaisreyson laughed. “As a Sovereign artifact, once its aura is concealed, nothing can be detected from the outside. You even changed the ring’s appearance. How could I have seen through it?”
Linley was even more confused: “Then how did you know I had the Azure Dragon Ring?”
“Because of your body,” Gaisreyson said with a smile.
“My body?” Linley was puzzled.
“Your body is extremely powerful. Even within our Azure Dragon clan, your physical strength should rank fourth,” Gaisreyson said. “Even the third-generation and fourth-generation members don’t have bodies as strong as yours.”
A strong body meant a Sovereign artifact?
Linley still didn’t understand, but his physical strength was something he was most proud of.
“Your body is so strong—did you absorb a drop of water-type Sovereign power?” Gaisreyson asked.
Linley was a bit surprised but still nodded: “Yes.”
“Linley, think about it. Our Azure Dragon clan’s ancestor is a Sovereign. Would our clan lack water-type Sovereign power?” Gaisreyson countered.
Linley had to nod. Sovereign power was to a Sovereign what divine power was to a god—naturally not precious. However, this droplet form of Sovereign power still required a lot of gaseous Sovereign power to condense.
Gaisreyson continued: “Every elder in the clan possesses a drop of water-type Sovereign power! But why are their bodies almost never as strong as yours?”
Linley was puzzled.
Right.
These elders were also descendants of the Azure Dragon clan, with Azure Dragon bloodline and Sovereign power. Why weren’t their bodies as strong as his?
Gaisreyson sighed in admiration: “Using Sovereign power to strengthen the body—this was a technique Father created after becoming a Sovereign.”
“Father was a Sovereign, yet he never forged a Sovereign artifact-level armor. Because his own body’s dragon scales had defense rivaling a Sovereign artifact,” Gaisreyson said proudly.
Linley was awestruck.
Sovereign artifacts, the legendary weapons.
Yet this ancestor ‘Azure Dragon’ was so powerful that his body was like a Sovereign artifact.
“To strengthen the body like the ancestor, there’s only one method. This method requires three conditions!” Gaisreyson said. “First, one must be a descendant of the Azure Dragon clan. Second, one must have the ancestor’s own most important ‘essence blood’. Third, one must have Sovereign power.”
“Essence blood?” Linley was surprised.
“Yes. And it must be the ancestor’s essence blood after he became a Sovereign,” Gaisreyson sighed. “This essence blood is the essence of blood. Only descendants of the Azure Dragon clan can absorb this blood essence. Only by absorbing the ancestor’s blood essence can one, like the ancestor, naturally absorb Sovereign power to strengthen the body.”
“The amount of ‘essence blood’ absorbed also determines how much Sovereign power one can absorb,” Gaisreyson said.
Linley recalled that drop of golden blood: “So that was the ancestor’s essence blood, the essence of blood!”
“Your body is so strong, so you must have absorbed a drop of blood essence. But where did your blood essence come from?” Gaisreyson continued. “When the ancestor forged the Sovereign artifact, to give it more spirituality, he dripped a drop of blood essence into it.”
“So, I determined that you obtained a Sovereign artifact. There’s no other reason,” Gaisreyson said.
Linley suddenly understood.
“The ancestor had two Sovereign artifacts: an attack Sovereign artifact and a soul defense Sovereign artifact. Since I know where the attack Sovereign artifact is, I determined that the Sovereign artifact on you could only be the soul defense Sovereign artifact—the Azure Dragon Ring.”
Listening to this explanation, many doubts Linley had over the years were cleared up.
“No wonder I couldn’t absorb the other two drops of Sovereign power,” Linley thought to himself. He had only absorbed one drop of blood essence, so he could only withstand one drop of Sovereign power for strengthening.
“Alright. Let’s go out,” Gaisreyson said.
“Yes, clan leader.” Linley felt both amused and exasperated.
So Gaisreyson had called him alone just to see the Coiling Dragon Ring and ask about its damage. As for punishment? Gaisreyson didn’t mention it at all. Linley himself didn’t understand…
Seeing Linley made Gaisreyson think of his father ‘Azure Dragon’, so naturally he wouldn’t punish him too harshly.
In the main hall.
“He’s here. The clan leader is here.” The elders immediately stopped talking and stood respectfully. Gaisreyson resumed his cold expression, walked to the seat at the head of the hall, and sat down. Linley stood below with the elders.
Linley glanced at Emanuel. Emanuel just gave him a cold smile.
“That Emanuel definitely has bad intentions. If I get the chance, I must kill him.” Having been through many storms, Linley could tell that he and Emanuel were essentially in a life-or-death conflict.
“I am clear on the course of events.” Clan leader Gaisreyson looked down at the crowd below and said.
Emanuel and the golden-haired elder were startled.
“Linley disobeyed my orders, but there were extenuating circumstances. However, I have already punished him,” Gaisreyson continued. Linley was taken aback. Punished him? It seemed like they had just talked a lot, but there was no punishment.
“But everyone knows Linley’s strength. According to clan rules, once a member reaches the Seven-Star Fiend level, they are granted the position of elder,” Gaisreyson continued.
Emanuel’s eyes turned red.
The elders in the hall turned to look at Linley.
“Elder?” Linley was still thinking about how Gaisreyson had lied about punishing him. But now, the ‘punishment’ had indeed arrived.
Clan leader ‘Gaisreyson’ waved his hand, and a neatly folded cape, a set of azure armor, and various tokens and other small items floated toward Linley. Linley was stunned. He immediately bowed: “Thank you, clan leader.”
Linley waved his hand and collected these items.
“From today onward, Linley is the thirty-sixth elder of the Elder Council!” Gaisreyson announced.
Many elders nodded to Linley in greeting.
Elder Gavi immediately sent a voice transmission: “Linley, congratulations. But for now, you should put on your clothes. The standard uniform for elders is usually worn within the clan. Of course, exceptions can be made in your own residence.”
Linley immediately performed a blood contract. A flash of light appeared on Linley’s body, and the azure armor with intricate golden patterns was now on him. The cape shimmering with various colors was also draped over his shoulders.
This attire matched everyone else in the hall.
“Alright, everyone may leave,” Gaisreyson said.
“Yes, clan leader.”
The group of elders bowed and prepared to leave.
“Fuerhan, Emanuel. You father and son, stay for a moment!” Gaisreyson suddenly said. Emanuel and the golden-haired elder looked at each other and stopped in their tracks. Linley and the others flew out.
Linley bid farewell to the elders one by one and flew toward his own residence in the great canyon.