Chapter 21: The Great Elder
The Blood Battle Valley was deep, quiet, and secluded.
Three figures descended rapidly and landed on the ground.
Linley looked around. The Blood Battle Valley was sparsely populated. Glancing ahead, he could only clearly see a towering stone stele, while the buildings shrouded in thin mist were indistinct and impossible to discern clearly.
"There are many patrolling Four Divine Beasts clan warriors on the cliff walls, but few people inside the Blood Battle Valley. That makes sense—after all, entering here requires at least being a Six Star Demon." Linley was still carefully observing the Blood Battle Valley, while Emanuel and Folehan strode forward.
Just as they started walking, Emanuel turned his head to look at Linley: "Linley. You've never been here before, have you?"
"No, I haven't." Linley had no good feelings toward this Emanuel.
"Whoosh~" Suddenly, a gust of cold wind howled past. Linley felt a chill run through his body and couldn't help but think in surprise: "The wind in this Blood Battle Valley is actually this cold."
Folehan couldn't help but laugh: "Linley, the Blood Battle Valley is the core of the Heavenly Sacrifice Mountain Range and the most yin-cold place here. The cold wind in the valley—if a Lower God came down, they'd be instantly frozen by it. But for you, Linley, this bit of cold wind naturally means nothing."
"Elder Folehan, let's just go inside first."
Linley couldn't be bothered to say more to the father and son before him, so he immediately advanced deeper into the valley. The ground in the Blood Battle Valley was covered with many smooth stones and weeds, though the center was paved with a neat stone path.
At the very front of the Blood Battle Valley, a tall stone stele stood on one side of the path.
On the stele, two large dark-red characters, 'Blood Battle,' were written in a bold, flowing script. As Linley looked at these two characters, he felt a bloody, murderous aura rush toward him, and he couldn't help but feel his own killing intent rise.
"Folehan. Emanuel. So it's you two this time. Haha..." A hearty laugh rang out. Linley followed the sound and saw a friendly, middle-aged man walking over with a smile. This man had a full beard, but it was neatly trimmed, giving him a very refreshing appearance.
Linley looked at the newcomer.
"Solhaus!" Folehan smiled and walked over, embracing the bearded man. "Long time no see."
"It has been a long time." The man named 'Solhaus' also nodded with a smile to Emanuel, then looked at Linley, saying with slight confusion, "I knew three Elders were coming this time, but I've never seen this one before... Oh, I get it!"
Solhaus had a look of sudden realization and smiled at Linley: "I've heard in the Blood Battle Valley that our Azure Dragon clan has gained a new Elder."
"I'm Solhaus. Elder Linley, right?" Solhaus extended his hand with a smile.
"Yes, Elder Solhaus, hello." Linley smiled and shook his hand.
Linley had some good feelings toward Solhaus. But toward Folehan and Emanuel, father and son, Linley felt a deep dislike from the bottom of his heart. Both Emanuel and Folehan gave him a sense of sinister ruthlessness, and Emanuel's actions had confirmed his judgment.
"Warm welcome to the three of you. Come, follow me to see the Great Elder." Solhaus said with a smile.
"Mother?" Folehan's eyes lit up.
Linley glanced at the expressions of Folehan and Emanuel. The two were clearly looking forward to meeting the Great Elder. This Great Elder and the Patriarch, 'Galesrein,' were biological siblings, and her strength was second only to the Patriarch in the clan.
"Linley. Our clan hasn't had a new Elder in a long time." Solhaus said warmly. "I also heard about your sparring match with Emanuel—very impressive. When you go out to fight for the clan in the future, you must bring honor to our Azure Dragon clan."
"I will." Linley nodded with a smile.
Seeing that Solhaus kept talking to Linley, Folehan interrupted: "Solhaus, how is the battle situation between our Four Divine Beasts clan and those eight great families?"
"How could it be?" Solhaus shook his head with a sigh. "Those eight great families are basically using their own people to wear us down. The eight of them combined have more Seven Star Demons than we do. If we keep fighting like this... I estimate that in another ten to twenty thousand years, the total number of Seven Star Demons in our Four Divine Beasts clan won't even reach ten."
Linley was shocked.
"Ten to twenty thousand years? We'll lose that many?" Linley couldn't help but ask. "Right now, our Four Divine Beasts clan has nearly a hundred Seven Star Demons, right?"
The Azure Dragon clan alone had thirty-six. The four clans combined should have over a hundred Seven Star Demons. In just ten to twenty thousand years, they would die down to only ten?
"Linley, I heard you just returned to the clan not long ago." Solhaus said helplessly. "You're not very familiar with the situation. But I believe that at the Elder assembly, you'll learn about our losses over the past thousand years."
Linley nodded.
In the past thousand years, they had killed two Seven Star Demons from the enemy side, but their own two Seven Star Demons had also suffered severe losses.
"Just our Azure Dragon clan alone lost two Seven Star Demons in a thousand years. Of course, Kivess used his true body to refine a divine spark and recovered his strength, but he no longer has any chance to improve."
Solhaus continued, "In a thousand years, the Four Divine Beasts clan as a whole loses at least five or six, and in brutal years, losing over ten Elders is normal. Calculate it—how many do we lose in ten thousand years?"
Linley did the math and was startled.
In ten thousand years, at the very least, seventy or eighty Elders would be finished.
"That's why I say, at this rate, in ten to twenty thousand years, our clan won't have many Seven Star Demons left." Solhaus said bitterly. "There's no helping it. Even if the eight great families wipe out all our Elders, they'd probably still have more than half of their Seven Star Demons left!"
Linley nodded.
When he first came to the Azure Dragon clan, Linley had heard that any one of the eight great families was no weaker than the Azure Dragon clan. Combined, the eight families had far more Seven Star Demons than the Four Divine Beasts clan.
"Linley, do you know how many Elders our clan had before the ancestors died?" Solhaus asked.
"How many?" Linley pressed.
"Over sixty. And that's just our Azure Dragon clan alone." Solhaus said. Linley couldn't help but marvel inwardly: "No wonder they say the Four Divine Beasts clan could dominate all planes. Not only did they have strong backing, but their own strength was astonishing."
"But when we retreated, enemies from all sides kept pursuing us. Linley, you should know that only a few families chased us to the Infernal Realm. In the original plane, we had far more enemies." Solhaus said helplessly.
This Four Divine Beasts clan had made too many enemies.
Even now, the ones still pursuing them were eight great families. Back when their influence spanned all planes, the number of enemies the Four Divine Beasts clan had was probably far greater than now.
"All we can do now is fight." Folehan said solemnly.
"Right. We can only fight!" Solhaus also said. "If we cower in the Heavenly Sacrifice Mountain Range without even daring to resist, the great families of the Infernal Realm would probably laugh us to death. Our Four Divine Beasts clan can't afford that shame!"
As they spoke, Linley and the others walked through the Blood Battle Valley.
The buildings inside the Blood Battle Valley were arranged in an orderly manner, like soldiers lined up, scattered in various places. Along the way, Linley could also see groups of two or three experts. The warriors of the Blood Battle Valley were at least Six Star Demons.
Linley couldn't help but marvel.
"This is the foundation of a great clan. And this is after its decline." Linley marveled, while also being shaken by the brutal slaughter between the Four Divine Beasts clan and the eight great families.
"The Azure Dragon Hall is here!" Solhaus said.
Linley looked up. Ahead was a building thirty meters tall, entirely dark red in color, with only the spire at the very top faintly emitting a cyan glow. There were four such buildings in the Blood Battle Valley.
"The Great Elder is on the fifth floor of the Azure Dragon Hall. The main hall on the first floor is where we usually gather." Solhaus said.
He led Linley, Emanuel, and Folehan directly to the fifth floor. There wasn't a single maid or servant inside the Azure Dragon Hall. The hall on the fifth floor was relatively empty.
"Where is the Great Elder?" Linley looked around the hall in confusion.
Linley sensed something and looked toward the side of the hall. A tall figure, completely shrouded in a black robe, walked out. She had flowing, emerald-green hair that reached her hips, and her face was covered by a silver mask with a strange light flowing across it.
As this person entered the hall, Solhaus and the others instinctively fell silent.
"Is she the Great Elder?" Linley studied this person carefully.
"Whoosh!" The robe fluttered as the mysterious woman sat down in the main seat of the hall. Her sharp, cold gaze swept over the few people, pausing slightly on Linley before a clear, cold voice rang out: "All of you, sit down."
"Yes, Great Elder." The four of them said respectfully.
Linley glanced at Folehan in confusion. It was said that Folehan was the Great Elder's son, so why did he also call her 'Great Elder'? Though puzzled, Linley still sat down alongside Folehan and the others.
"Linley." The Great Elder suddenly spoke, looking at Linley.
"Great Elder." Linley bowed slightly.
"I heard that you defeated Emanuel and then became an Elder." The Great Elder said coldly.
"Yes." Linley quickly replied, while thinking to himself, "What does this Great Elder mean? Is she warning me? After all, Emanuel is her grandson." Though uncertain, Linley remained calm.
"I know that you and Emanuel have a grudge against each other, but I hope you can unite and work together." The Great Elder said.
Linley was startled and couldn't help but look at Emanuel. At that moment, Emanuel also looked at Linley.
"Work together with him?" Linley felt this was a huge joke.
The Great Elder's voice was as sharp as clashing steel: "Since our father fell, our Four Divine Beasts clan has faced an unprecedented crisis. Even now, gathered in the Azure Prefecture, we still face constant provocations."
"But we are the Four Divine Beasts clan! A clan that cannot be insulted!"
"Though we could cower in the Heavenly Sacrifice Mountain Range, our proud clansmen refuse to submit. One Elder after another leads the clan's elite to fight the enemy. Anyone who dares to provoke our clan will be punished!"
"Our Four Divine Beasts clan has fewer experts than the eight great families, so we must unite."
The Great Elder's gaze swept over the three of them. "I don't care what grievances you, Linley, and Emanuel have. From today onward, no acts of mutual destruction are allowed between you two. If such a thing happens... I will be the first to kill you both."
"Yes, Great Elder."
Linley and Emanuel both responded loudly.
"Our Azure Dragon Hall currently has twenty squads under its command. Three squads have lost their captains: the Thirteenth Squad, the Fifteenth Squad, and the Nineteenth Squad." The Great Elder said coldly. "Now I will make the assignments. Linley—"
Linley stepped forward.
"From today onward, you will be the captain of the Thirteenth Squad of the Blood Battle Valley of our Four Divine Beasts clan!"
"Yes." Linley respectfully accepted the order.
The Great Elder's gaze shifted to Folehan, her voice as icy as ever: "Folehan, from today onward, you will be the captain of the Fifteenth Squad of the Blood Battle Valley of our Four Divine Beasts clan!"
"Yes." Folehan also stepped forward and respectfully accepted the order.
"Emanuel, from today onward, you will be the captain of the Nineteenth Squad of the Blood Battle Valley of our Four Divine Beasts clan!"
Emanuel also stepped forward and accepted the order.
"Very good." The Great Elder nodded slightly, then looked at Solhaus. "Solhaus, take Linley to the Thirteenth Squad's location now. After that, come back here... I have a task for you."
"A task?" Solhaus's eyes lit up.
"First, take Linley to his place." The Great Elder ordered.
"Yes." Solhaus immediately turned to look at Linley. Linley nodded and followed Solhaus out. As he left, he heard the Great Elder's voice: "Folehan, Emanuel. Stay here. I have something to discuss with you."
Then, Linley and Solhaus left the Azure Dragon Hall.