Chapter 39: Circular Void Split

Chapter 39: Circular Void Split

At the edge of the Divine Sacrifice Mountain Range, beside the Grand Canyon.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...

With each violent tremor of the ground, many residents within the Grand Canyon clearly felt the vibrations. They were puzzled. Quite a few people headed toward the source of the shaking. When they arrived, they saw—

Linley was punching the air, striking toward the ground again and again.

Although his fists never touched the ground, the shockwaves still transmitted to the earth, causing intense tremors.

"It's Elder Linley!"

The clan members, who had been somewhat annoyed, dared not say a word when they saw it was Linley training.

"Not right." Linley shook his head and threw another punch.

His fist seemed incredibly slow, yet it gave the impression of a mountain being pushed forward. The moment his fist stopped, the space around it rippled outward.

Frowning, Linley adjusted his attack once more.

When testing techniques, Linley didn't need to Dragonform. After all, once he transformed, the power of each punch would be too terrifying. He was completely immersed in comprehending his moves, constantly experimenting. Countless attack patterns flashed through his mind, only to be rejected time and again.

He kept refining...

"Chieftain, Elder Linley has been striking the ground repeatedly at the edge of the Grand Canyon for a month now, as if testing some technique." A black-robed man reported respectfully.

Chieftain 'Gaisreisen' couldn't help but smile. "Oh? Striking the ground? Seems like he's testing a material attack technique. With such a powerful body, it's about time he developed a formidable material attack."

Using one's strengths was the wise choice.

With a strong body, it was natural to focus efforts there.

"Let me see what he's comprehended." Gaisreisen immediately left his residence.

For the past five hundred years, Gaisreisen had been worrying about the Four Divine Beasts clan's affairs, leaving him in a foul mood. Going out to take a look now was also a way to clear his mind.

Gaisreisen flew swiftly and soon arrived above the Grand Canyon.

"Hmm~"

Gaisreisen could clearly sense the faint vibrations in the air.

"Not bad, it seems." Gaisreisen flew over rapidly, directly arriving above Linley's training spot. Linley was completely absorbed in his repeated breakthroughs and realizations, utterly unaware of anyone's arrival.

Linley struck out with his right fist again—

Like a massive millstone slowly turning, yet lightning-fast in reality. As his fist shot out, clearly visible ripples spread outward.

"Oh?" Gaisreisen's eyes narrowed.

"Not right... not right..." Linley shook his head.

Each rejection brought a new understanding of the attack technique. With new understanding came another breakthrough. When he spotted flaws and rejected them... he could pursue even greater power. Rejection after rejection, breakthrough after breakthrough...

Gradually, surprise appeared on Gaisreisen's face.

"How strange—why has the ground stopped shaking?" Accustomed to the constant tremors, the clan members in the Grand Canyon were startled when the ground fell silent. Many once again headed toward Linley's training spot.

"Has Elder Linley stopped training?"

A group of clan members arrived, only to find Linley still punching continuously.

"Everyone, retreat." A low voice echoed in the minds of the onlookers. "Don't disturb Elder Linley."

Startled, the clan members noticed a figure standing in the distance—it was Chieftain 'Gaisreisen'. However, these ordinary clan members had never seen the Chieftain before.

"That person... seems to be some kind of expert."

Not daring to disturb Linley, the clan members withdrew again.

Gaisreisen turned to look at Linley, a faint smile on his face.

Linley threw each punch, and around the edges of his fist, numerous spatial ripples appeared. Strangely, these ripples overlapped without spreading outward.

It was as if the spatial ripples were restraining each other.

"Break!"

After three full months of training and silence, Linley suddenly let out a low shout. He threw a punch, and a mass of spatial ripples appeared around his fist's edge before finally annihilating.

"Finally done!" Joy flashed across Linley's face. With a 'hissing' sound, dragon scales tore through his clothes and emerged on his skin. Fierce spikes also sprouted...

Dragonform!

"Let's see how my strongest material attack performs." Linley wanted to test the power of his ultimate strike.

"Hm?" Linley suddenly turned his head to look behind him. There stood Gaisreisen, watching him with a smile. Startled, Linley quickly said, "Chieftain!"

"Haha, go ahead and test your strongest attack first." Gaisreisen laughed. "With your Dragonform body's strength, I'm quite curious to see how powerful this move will be."

"Yes, Chieftain." Unable to resist the itch, Linley immediately prepared to try it out.

Linley's right fist, covered in dragon scales, shot out violently. The moment it struck, a rumbling sound of spatial rupture filled the air. Wherever his right arm swept past, space trembled violently.

Fist out, like a dragon emerging from its cave!

As the punch landed, a large number of spatial ripples appeared around the edge of his scale-covered fist. These ripples directly shook the space at the fist's edge, forming a semicircle like a bubble—

Explosion!

"Boom!"

A heart-shaking sound. The space at the edge of his fist directly burst apart, revealing a massive black hole. Through the hole, one could clearly see the raging spatial turbulence.

In an instant, the spatial hole vanished.

"Haha! Good! Very good!!!" Gaisreisen's laughter rang out.

Linley was also overjoyed. Although he had developed this technique in human form, he couldn't be sure of its power in Dragonform just by imagining it. Now he saw—it exceeded expectations.

"Linley, what do you call this move?" Gaisreisen laughed heartily.

Linley pondered briefly, then said, "This technique combines the Profound Mysteries of Strength and the Profound Mysteries of the Earth's Pulse. I call it 'Circular Void Split'!" To shatter space with a single punch—one could imagine its terrifying power.

"Come, spar with me." Gaisreisen laughed.

"Chieftain?" Linley was stunned.

"Hurry up!" Gaisreisen frowned. "What, do you think you can beat me?" As he spoke, Gaisreisen's body also manifested cyan-golden dragon scales, the same color as Linley's, though without the spikes on his surface.

Linley smiled. "Since the Chieftain is in the mood, I'll happily spar with you." Linley was brimming with confidence.

"Linley, my body alone is stronger than yours. You'll need to go all out." Gaisreisen laughed.

Linley grinned and immediately activated 'Blackstone Space'. A hazy, earthy yellow light instantly spread downward. Even Chieftain 'Gaisreisen' felt his body tremble and couldn't help cursing, "Kid, you really—"

Before he could finish, Linley shot forward.

"Chieftain!" Linley laughed as his right fist arrived like a thunderbolt.

"Hmph!" With a low grunt, Gaisreisen's cyan hair flowing, he also threw a right punch.

"Boom!"

With the force of tens of millions of jun, the two scale-covered iron fists collided. Space tore and burst apart like paper. Gaisreisen's right fist trembled uncontrollably as he retreated, a trace of blood appearing on his knuckles.

"Good kid!" Gaisreisen's eyes lit up. "It seems relying on brute force alone won't cut it."

Linley looked at the seemingly frenzied Chieftain, inwardly shocked. "The Chieftain's body is indeed strong. I used my strongest punch, and he only used brute force." Of course, the result of using brute force was that the dragon scales on his fist had shattered from the impact.

From this punch, Linley clearly felt that Chieftain 'Gaisreisen', hailed as the strongest body in the Azure Dragon clan, was indeed worthy of the title.

Right. Back then, when Gaisreisen grabbed him, he couldn't resist at all.

"What technique is this?" Linley watched in surprise as Chieftain 'Gaisreisen' began to cover his entire body with a layer of ice crystals, even his fists encased in ice.

Gaisreisen, shrouded in ice, refracted dazzling light under the sky's radiance.

"Kid, I'll only use half my strength." Gaisreisen laughed as he shot toward Linley. Even trapped in 'Blackstone Space', his powerful body still allowed astonishing speed.

Linley didn't retreat but charged forward to meet him.

As he neared Gaisreisen, Linley felt an intense chill. The cold was so fierce it startled him.

"Boom!"

Neither dodged; both met fist with fist. Where their fists collided, space directly collapsed. Linley couldn't help but fly backward.

"Haha..." The Chieftain immediately pursued.

"Swoosh!" Linley swiftly dodged.

"Kid, don't run!" the Chieftain shouted.

Within 'Blackstone Space', although the Chieftain was still fast, he was slightly slower than Dragonformed Linley. Using his speed to evade, Linley occasionally landed a fierce punch or kick.

"Smack!"

"Boom!"

"Bang!"

One earth-shaking explosion after another drew many people from the Grand Canyon to gather. Linley and the Chieftain's battle left them dumbfounded—every punch shattered space.

If such a blow landed on a person, who could withstand it?

Finally, Linley and Gaisreisen stopped.

"Haha, Linley, your material attack is at least on par with Bru's." Gaisreisen was very satisfied.

Linley, however, noticed that during their exchange, the Chieftain had used only half his strength, yet he could match him. "Chieftain, your body is far stronger than mine. Why is your attack..."

Linley was puzzled. The Chieftain's understanding of profound mysteries shouldn't be lacking.

"That's the difference in laws." Gaisreisen sighed helplessly. "I primarily cultivate the 'Water Elemental Laws'. The Water Elemental Laws excel in defense but don't amplify power much."

Linley nodded.

Among the Water Elemental Laws, only the 'Profound Mystery of Ice' provided some amplification to strength.

"Compared to the White Tiger clan's Chieftain, my body is no weaker than his. But in terms of power attacks, he far surpasses me because he cultivates the Earth Laws." Gaisreisen said.

Linley smiled.

The Earth Laws had a dedicated 'Profound Mystery of Strength'. Cultivating the Earth Laws was very effective for unleashing physical power.

Each elemental law had its own unique characteristics.

The four supreme rules also differed from one another.

The Water Elemental Laws emphasized defense—both soul defense and material defense were extremely strong. But in attack, they were weaker. Conversely, the Fire Elemental Laws were slightly weaker in defense but excelled in offense.

The 'Rules of Fate' specialized in soul matters but lacked in material aspects.

Perfection was hard to achieve.

"Your fist's power is already formidable. It poses a threat even to me." Gaisreisen praised. "With your escape abilities, you're now a significant danger to your enemies."

Linley understood that when he and the Chieftain exchanged blows, his 'Circular Void Split' neutralized most of the Chieftain's power, leaving only a fraction to impact his fist. Otherwise, the Chieftain's punch could have shattered his fist.

Similarly...

Each of Linley's punches required the Chieftain to use the Profound Mystery of Strength to offset part of the power. Otherwise, like at the start, his dragon scales would shatter and blood would seep out.

"Even with the Chieftain's terrifying defense getting injured, how could an ordinary Seven Star Demon withstand it?" Linley smiled.

In the past, Linley had 'Blackstone Space' and strong escape abilities, but his attack was far inferior to a Seven Star Demon's. Now, however, things were different. Even if Elder Bro encountered Linley again, it wouldn't be easy for him to win.

Deep within the Divine Sacrifice Mountain Range.

Linley, Delia, and Bebe stood at the edge of a cliff. Above the cliff hovered a large, black phoenix-shaped metallic lifeform.

"Delia, since coming to the clan, I haven't had a chance to take you out properly. This time, I'll make it up to you." Linley held Delia's hand. They had agreed long ago that once he fused these profound mysteries, they would go out together.

A blissful smile appeared on Delia's face. "Right, this is the first time... It doesn't feel real yet. It's been nearly six hundred years since we joined the clan. I wonder how Sasha and Taylor are doing."

"Taylor?" Linley thought of his son and daughter.

But Linley also felt wise about his decision back then. The Infernal Realm was indeed too dangerous. Wharton, Taylor, and the others could enjoy a peaceful life in the Yulan Continent.

"Elder Linley." A gentle voice sounded.

Linley turned to look. The visitor was the Azure Dragon clan's elder, 'Tevila'. Elder Tevila was good-natured but had never entered the Blood Battle Valley—not due to lack of strength, but because he was content to keep his head down.

Linley had a good impression of Tevila. At least he wasn't as insidious as Emanuel or Furhan.

"Elder Tevila, are you escorting us this time?" Linley asked with a smile.

"That's right." Tevila's eyes crinkled as he smiled.

"I'll have to trouble you this time, Elder Tevila. I'm planning to visit Mil City as well." Linley smiled.

Tevila's face lit up with surprise. "Elder Linley, you're coming too? Haha, that's wonderful! With you and me together, even if we encounter danger on the way, we won't have to worry."

Linley nodded with a smile.

"Oh, Elder Tevila, Elder Linley, you're both here." A familiar voice sounded. Linley turned to see Furhan approaching. Furhan raised a golden eyebrow and said with a smile, "So, Elder Tevila is the escort this time?"

Tevila nodded. "Yes. Elder Linley also happens to be heading to Mil City."

"Oh." Furhan nodded. "Well, Elder Tevila, Elder Linley, be careful on the road. But I think with the two of you, nothing can go wrong."

"Elder Tevila, let's go." Linley couldn't be bothered with Furhan.

For some reason, Linley always felt Furhan's gaze made him uncomfortable.

Elder Tevila nodded to Furhan in farewell, then followed Linley toward the metallic lifeform in the sky, entering it. Several figures in midair flew into the metallic lifeform one after another.

Furhan stood on the cliff, looking up at the metallic lifeform until it flew away.

"Hmph, this Linley is still so arrogant?" Furhan's face darkened, his heart filled with rage.

He had always found Linley irritating. In his eyes, the clan's third and second generations were the noblest. The ancestor's Dragonblood Ring, even if not used by his mother, should have been his.

What was Linley?

His son Emanuel's strongest divine clone was finished, with no future prospects. He wanted to deal with Linley, but the four Chieftains had exempted Linley from external missions.

Furhan held a fire in his heart, with no outlet. The longer it festered, the more unbearable it became.

"Going to Mil City, huh?" Furhan's gaze turned cold. "Fine. Let the Eight Great Clans deal with you. If you die, you can take a few of their people with you—no waste at all. It's just a pity... that others will be buried with you."