Chapter 48: Everyone's Schemes
"Yes, Patriarch!"
Elder Garvey and Elder Fuerhan did not dare to hesitate either. They immediately left, rushing to the Blood Battle Valley. The entire hall suddenly fell silent. Even Weidi had fallen asleep in Posuo's arms.
"Weidi, give me the child," Linley said.
Posuo quickly handed the child to Linley. Holding his son, Linley looked at the unconscious Delia beside him, his heart aching with sorrow.
"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" Several more elders arrived. They were about to speak, but Gesresen immediately sent a divine sense transmission, shouting, "Don't make a sound. Linley's wife was attacked by an expert from the Edric clan of the Eight Great Clans. Those of you who consider yourselves skilled in the soul arts, go take a look and see if she can be saved."
"You've come?" Linley was pleasantly surprised to see these elders.
"Hurry and see if Delia can still be saved." Linley, now seeing anyone, wanted them to try.
The several elders exchanged glances and walked over to Delia's side. The silver-haired elder said, "Then I'll try first." As the Second Elder, he indeed had extremely high achievements in the soul arts.
"Posuo." Gesresen beckoned Posuo aside. "The Lord's..."
"Now is not the time to discuss this," Posuo said with a frown.
Gesresen was startled, then glanced at Linley and nodded to Posuo. "I understand. By the way, what exactly happened? On the road, there were you, Vitela, and Linley. How did Delia end up like this? Tell me the details."
As the Patriarch, Gesresen also sensed something was wrong.
"Hmph, isn't it all because of the affairs between your Four Divine Beasts clan and the Eight Great Clans?" Posuo snorted softly. Clearly, he was very dissatisfied. In Posuo's view, Linley was implicated because of the Four Divine Beasts clan.
Then Posuo began to narrate carefully: "At that time, Linley and I took the metallic lifeform to leave Miluo City..." Posuo described everything clearly from beginning to end.
Meanwhile, the several elders standing beside Delia took turns using their soul power to enter Delia's mind, probing her condition.
"How is it?" Linley held Weidi, looking at these elders. He felt his heart pounding incessantly.
"No good." The silver-haired elder shook his head and sighed. "These green light spots are too stubborn. They keep devouring. But in the process of devouring and transforming, these green light spots have also become part of the soul. Acting purely recklessly, killing and destroying these green light spots would only cause Delia to die immediately! Treating Delia is extremely, extremely difficult!" Saying "extremely" twice, the silver-haired elder fell silent.
Linley quickly looked at the other elders.
The other elders just shook their heads.
"Linley, don't panic. Among our Four Divine Beasts clan, the most skilled in the soul arts is the Vermillion Bird clan. They possess the ability to be reborn from the flames. Perhaps... they might have a way to save Delia," the silver-haired elder said.
"That's right, rebirth from the flames!" A glimmer of hope immediately arose in Linley's heart.
At that moment, Linley felt a violent fluctuation in space. He turned his head to look, only to see figures flying down from the high sky. At first glance, there were dozens of them.
"Big brother!" A deep voice rang out. It was the Patriarch of the Black Tortoise clan.
The Patriarchs of the other three clans, along with various elders, all came rushing over. Because of Gesresen's summons, a large crowd swarmed into the hall, all looking toward Linley and Delia.
"Posuo." Those people also noticed Posuo.
"Go take a look at Linley's wife," Posuo said.
"What happened to Linley's wife?" The Vermillion Bird Patriarch quickly asked.
Holding his son, Linley stood up and looked at the bustling crowd before him. These were all elite members of the Four Divine Beasts clan. He immediately said, "My wife was attacked by a soul attack from an elder of the Edric clan. Everyone, please take a look. I hope someone can find a way to save my wife."
These elders noticed Linley's expression and gaze, sensing that he was utterly heartbroken.
"Everyone, take turns to check. Maybe someone will have a solution," Gesresen quickly said.
Currently, the total number of elders in the Four Divine Beasts clan was about seventy or eighty. Over fifty had already arrived. Clearly, more than half of the elders had come. First, the three Patriarchs took turns examining Delia's condition.
Then, one elder after another used their soul power to probe Delia's situation.
Seeing such a large group of people, Linley felt a slight boost in confidence: "With so many people, just as I can cultivate other laws, there might be elders in the clan who cultivate the laws of life. Perhaps someone can save Delia. And there's also the Vermillion Bird Patriarch. The Vermillion Bird clan has the ability to be reborn from the flames. If they can save themselves, maybe they can save others too."
Holding his son, Linley watched the elders one by one with hope.
Like a drowning man grasping at floating logs.
Seeing Linley like this, Posuo recalled the first time he met Linley. Back then, even in dire straits, Linley had never been so distraught. "Sigh..." Posuo sighed inwardly.
Soon, all the elders had finished their examinations. Many of them were quite knowledgeable about the soul arts, but they all frowned and shook their heads. Watching the expressions on the elders' faces, especially when they shook their heads and sighed, Linley felt a sharp pain in his heart.
"How is it?" Linley's voice was hoarse, but his eyes were fixed on the Vermillion Bird Patriarch.
The Vermillion Bird Patriarch turned to look at the others. "Everyone, does anyone have a solution? Fourth brother, you're very skilled in the soul arts. Do you have a way?"
"It's too bizarre. I've never seen this kind of attack before," the sturdy, brown-haired man said with a frown. "To save this Delia, we must follow the same devouring process, treating her step by step. Gradually reverse the devouring, transforming the green light spots into soul energy. And... during the treatment, there can't be a single mistake. If the energy affects the soul, the soul might collapse. Difficult, difficult, very difficult!"
Hearing this, Linley's heart sank.
"Vermillion Bird Patriarch, what about you?" Linley quickly looked at her.
The Vermillion Bird Patriarch said, "Linley, I'm truly sorry. Our Vermillion Bird clan can save ourselves... but even saving ourselves comes at a great cost. As for saving others, we simply don't have that ability."
Linley looked at the elders one by one.
But all the elders shook their heads and sighed. No one had a solution.
"To achieve a gradual reversal and devour those green light spots is too difficult..." The sturdy, brown-haired man shook his head. "In my opinion, throughout the entire Infernal Realm, aside from a handful of people who cultivate other laws and rules, no one can do it. Only some super experts who cultivate the laws of life can accomplish this."
It wasn't necessarily that only super experts of the laws of life could do it.
Those who cultivated the laws of fate or the laws of death might also be able to save her. But the requirements for them were higher. They had to reach the pinnacle, achieving near-perfection in the soul arts.
For those cultivating the laws of life, the requirements were lower. Generally, reaching the level of that elven elder would be sufficient.
"Is there no one among you who cultivates the laws of life?" Linley asked unwillingly.
The White Tiger Patriarch nodded. "There are, but to reach the level of the attacker... just being able to unleash such an attack shows that the attacker's achievements in the soul arts are already astonishing."
"Ah!" The Vermillion Bird Patriarch exclaimed. "There's one more person in my clan who cultivates the laws of life. He has achieved great success in the laws of life."
Linley immediately looked at her.
Gesresen, Posuo, and the large group all looked at her as well.
The Vermillion Bird Patriarch confidently said, "His name is Kaistel. He's not an elder but a Six-Star Demon. However, his achievements in the laws of life are indeed very high. Whether Kaistel can save Delia, I'm not sure... but he also has a teacher named Afangasas. Afangasas is not from our Four Divine Beasts clan. Afangasas is a super expert who cultivates the laws of life. Last time, I heard Kaistel mention that his teacher is in the Youlan Prefecture! If Kaistel can't save Delia, Afangasas definitely can!"
Linley's eyes lit up.
Suddenly, two experts in the laws of life had appeared.
"Hurry and summon Kaistel here," the Vermillion Bird Patriarch ordered one of her subordinates.
"Yes, Patriarch." That elder immediately sped out.
Posuo walked over with a smile. "Haha... Linley, I told you, once you arrived at the Four Divine Beasts clan, there would definitely be a way to save Delia. If this Kaistel can't do it, his teacher definitely can. You can rest assured."
Linley felt that the world, which had lost its color, was suddenly filled with color and hope again!
Linley looked down at Delia and whispered, "Delia, hold on. There are now two experts in the laws of life. They will definitely save you. Definitely."
He looked at his son in his arms again, and Linley's heart was now filled with hope. "Everything will be fine."
Among the crowd of elders, Fuerhan was watching Linley's expression, sneering inwardly: "You're really lucky. You didn't die. But it's good that your wife is like this, making you heartbroken... It's really satisfying to watch!"
"Linley." A deep voice rang out. Gesresen walked over. "This time, shortly after you left Miluo City, the enemy had eight elders ambush you. And at the start, three of them immediately used Sovereign power... This was clearly a premeditated ambush. How did the enemy know your whereabouts so precisely?"
Linley looked up at Gesresen.
"Patriarch, what are you implying?" Linley's heart stirred.
"You took a metallic lifeform to Miluo City over a year ago. During that year, three batches of metallic lifeforms returned, but the Eight Great Clans never attacked. The moment you left Miluo City, they attacked. Clearly, they knew your movements, allowing them to set up their forces," Gesresen said. "How did the enemy know your movements so clearly?"
Linley couldn't help but nod.
"Maybe someone in your clan tipped them off," Posuo snorted coldly. "Otherwise, how could the enemy have found Linley so easily?"
"Posuo." Gesresen couldn't help but frown and shout.
Hearing this, Fuerhan's pupils involuntarily contracted. At that moment, Linley suddenly turned his head and looked at Fuerhan. Their eyes met. Fuerhan was startled: "Is Linley suspecting me?"
"If someone tipped them off, it's probably those father and son," Linley thought to himself.
In the clan, the only ones who had conflicts with him were that father and son.
Just then, two figures rushed in from outside. Linley quickly turned his head to look, his gaze instantly locking onto a handsome, black-haired youth. The youth walked directly to the Vermillion Bird Patriarch and respectfully said, "Patriarch!"
"Hurry and take a look at Elder Linley's wife. See if she can be treated," the Vermillion Bird Patriarch said.
"Yes." The black-haired youth first nodded slightly to Linley, then looked at Delia. After a moment, he closed his eyes in thought.
Linley watched this scene nervously.
Then, the black-haired youth's eyes snapped open, and he urgently looked at Linley. "Elder Linley, your wife's condition is extremely dire. I'm afraid no one in our clan can save her."
"But you have a teacher..." Linley said urgently.
"My teacher should be able to save her. However, although my teacher is within the Youlan Prefecture, from the Tianji Mountains to my teacher's location and back, even for a Seven-Star Demon traveling at full speed, it would take at least half a year. I'm worried... at this rate of devouring, your wife won't last until then!"