Chapter 5: Returned! The Yulan Continent!
The bitter wind howled, sweeping across the world, carrying countless ice shards that flew wildly. In this frozen world, towering icebergs rose into the sky. After countless years of being 'carved' by the wind, the icebergs were all polished smooth, their walls so reflective that one could see their own image.
On the highest of these icebergs.
Eleven mysterious hexagonal magic arrays were spread across its surface. Not far from these arrays stood an ice hut. At that moment, an old man in a white robe, with hair and beard as white as snow, walked out. His sky-blue eyes swept across the surroundings: "In this Arctic Icefield, it's hard to even see a single person! Over the years, fewer and fewer Saint-levels have come to the Arctic Icefield. It seems I should take a trip and properly tour the Yulan Continent."
This man was Hodan, the plane overseer of the Yulan Continent plane.
Just as Hodan was about to fly away, suddenly—
Hodan couldn't help but turn his head. He saw that one of the eleven magic arrays had lit up with dazzling light. Rays of brilliance shot into the sky, shining brilliantly, appearing dreamlike and illusory. Hodan was greatly startled: "It's the Infernal Realm! Someone is returning from the Infernal Realm to the material plane of Yulan Continent?"
Hodan knew very well how astonishing the cost of a single teleportation was. Even an ordinary Seven Star Fiend would probably be reluctant to pay for one.
Back then, a group from his family, led by Sadista, had come. Among them, only 'Sadista' was a Highgod, because the teleportation cost was highest for Highgods. Moreover, when a Highgod was teleported, there were certain free quotas for Demigods and Gods.
That time, his family had spent a trillion ink stones to teleport Sadista and the others!
"I wonder what kind of figure is so wealthy and generous," Hodan thought to himself, but he couldn't help bowing respectfully. Anyone who could return from the Infernal Realm to the Yulan Continent—how could he, Hodan, dare not show respect? Although Hodan bowed, he still stared intently into the magic array. He was very curious to know who the newcomer was.
Within the hazy light, six figures gradually appeared.
The six figures solidified, and the magic array's light dissipated.
"Lin... Linley!" Hodan stared in disbelief at the six people before him.
"Hodan, it's been nearly two thousand years, and you're still the same as before," Linley said with a faint smile.
Hodan's gaze swept over the six of them, and his heart was shocked: "Among these six, there are three whose auras I can't even detect. Six people, and three are Highgods. According to the teleportation fee... that would cost a full three trillion ink stones!" Hodan was stunned by this astronomical figure. "This Linley has only been in the Infernal Realm for nearly two thousand years—how has he become so powerful?"
The eight great families, including the Reynards family, had stopped fighting with the Four Divine Beasts clan over two hundred years ago.
But Hodan was just a minor figure in the Reynards family. He was stationed on the Yulan Continent plane and was unaware of the situation in the Infernal Realm, so naturally, he didn't understand Linley's status! If he knew that Linley was an Elder of the Azure Dragon clan, Hodan would probably be even more shocked.
"Lord Linley, you are far stronger than before," Hodan said with great respect. As a Demigod, how could he dare not be respectful?
Linley turned his head to look at the boundless snowy world. The vast sky and earth were cold and silent, but Linley felt warmth in his heart. This was his hometown!
"Cendi, this is the Arctic Icefield!" Linley said, visibly excited. "The Arctic Icefield of the Yulan Continent plane. The Yulan Continent... my homeland! After nearly two thousand years, I've finally returned! I've finally returned, haha..." Linley couldn't help but laugh out loud in excitement.
Dellya's eyes also moistened, tears of joy streaming down.
"Returned. I wonder how my clan is doing, and how my brother is," Dellya said, also deeply moved.
In the Infernal Realm, the long years of nearly two thousand years had only made them miss their homeland more the longer they stayed.
"So this is Father's hometown?" Weide also looked around curiously.
"It's still far away. The Yulan Continent is to the south," Linley said with a smile. "Let's go. To the Yulan Continent. Mr. Hodan, we'll be off now." With Linley's laughter, a surge of earth divine power enveloped the group, and they flew rapidly away from the Arctic Icefield, heading toward the Yulan Continent.
Hodan watched Linley leave from afar: "Back then, I just thought Linley was a genius. I never expected that in less than two thousand years, he could return from the Infernal Realm. Terrifying, terrifying!"
Being able to return from the Infernal Realm also represented strength. How could an ordinary Highgod possess wealth of over a trillion ink stones?
Flying in the Infernal Realm was heavily restricted. When they returned to the material plane, Linley felt that their flying speed had greatly increased, more than ten times faster than in the Infernal Realm. He used earth divine power to envelop everyone, helping Ina and Weide, allowing the group to reach maximum speed.
After flying for a short while, Linley could already see the winding, long northern coastline of the Yulan Continent.
"Boss, the Yulan Continent is here!" Bebe cheered excitedly.
"So that's the Yulan Continent?" Ina also looked over curiously.
Linley and Dellya's faces both flushed slightly, clearly excited. After all, they had been separated for nearly two thousand years. Dellya turned to Linley: "Linley, where should we go first? To the Dark Forest, or to Dragonblood Castle?"
Linley sighed softly.
"It's been so many years, and I've never paid my respects to Father. Let's go to the ruins of Wushan Town," Linley said. For some reason, the place he most wanted to go was Wushan Town. Perhaps it was his roots. There, he had spent his childhood. There, he had met Grandpa Dehl. There, he had met Bebe.
"Wushan Town, yes, let's go to Wushan Town," Bebe also said.
"I was born in Wushan Town," Bebe turned back and said to Ina and Nis.
Wushan Town held great significance for both Linley and Bebe. It was where their lives began.
"Alright, let's go to Wushan Town. I want to see it," Ina cheered.
"Wushan Town is probably still overrun with magical beasts," Linley said with a sigh. "Nearly two thousand years have passed. I wonder what it looks like now." Two thousand years was an incredibly long time, enough for many, many things to happen.
"Father, I also want to see our ancestral home," Cendi said with anticipation.
"Then, let's set off."
Linley immediately led everyone, flying directly toward Wushan Town, west of the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Now that he had reached the Highgod level, his flying speed was thousands of times faster than when he was still a Saint-level. And this was a material plane with very low restrictions. Soon, Linley and the others flew over the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
"When I was young, it took me over half a year to travel from the Holy Alliance to the O'Brien Empire. But now, flying from the northern coast to here only takes the time it takes to drink a sip of wine... Oh, Wushan Town is here!" As Linley's words fell, they flew from the Magical Beast Mountain Range to the skies above Wushan Town.
But upon arriving above Wushan Town, Linley and the other six were momentarily confused.
"Uncle, you said it was overrun with magical beasts. But as we flew over from the mountain range, we saw countless villages and many people," Ina said, puzzled. "And is this Wushan Town? Why are there so many people? There must be tens of thousands living in this area alone."
"Yes, this is the former Wushan Town," Linley confirmed.
As a Highgod, how could his location be wrong?
"Look, over there is Wushan Mountain! Wushan Mountain is still there. This is Wushan Town," Linley pointed east. Indeed, there was a mountain range to the east. Although nearly two thousand years had passed, Wushan Mountain hadn't changed much. But the area west of Wushan Mountain had changed greatly because—
A very beautiful academy district had been built here, with an astonishing number of students.
This academy district, in terms of size, was much larger than the original Wushan Town.
"What's going on?" Linley was completely puzzled.
Dellya was also confused: "In the past, this area should have been overrun with magical beasts. As we flew over the Magical Beast Mountain Range and came here, we saw many villages. Look... everywhere else, there are humans. There are no magical beasts." After the 'Day of Destruction,' large areas of both the Holy Alliance and the Dark Alliance had been occupied by magical beasts.
However...
Nearly two thousand years later, this area had returned to human control.
"Two thousand years. So many things have happened," Linley said with a sigh. "Come, let's go see where my ancestral home was." With that, Linley continued flying forward.
Although Linley and the other six were flying high in the sky, the countless people below couldn't see them at all. They were flying too high, and Linley had even condensed clouds of elemental energy to cover them. As Linley flew slowly, he looked down carefully. His eyesight was excellent—
He immediately saw the building at the core of the academy district—the ancestral home!
"The ancestral home is still here?" Linley was shocked.
"Boss, the ancestral home is still intact. And it looks much better than the last time we saw it," Bebe also said in surprise.
This huge academy had new buildings everywhere else, but Linley's original ancestral home had been preserved and even renovated. Although two thousand years had passed, due to long-term maintenance and repairs, the ancestral home was completely undamaged. Linley and Bebe couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.
They had so many fond memories here.
"Let's go down," Linley said softly.
Then, with a 'whoosh,' six afterimages streaked across the sky and landed directly in the courtyard of the ancestral home. Because the speed was so fast, from the sky to the courtyard took less than the blink of an eye... Ordinary people couldn't even catch a glimpse of Linley and the others.
Inside the ancestral home.
"Everything is fine. Everything is fine." Linley stood in the front yard, carefully observing. Suddenly, he saw the reclining chair in the yard, and his eyes reddened. "This chair is still here?" Linley couldn't believe it. Looking at the chair, he recalled how his father, Hogg, used to often lie on it, reading books.
Linley took a deep breath.
He immediately recognized that the chair was a replica. The original chair, after nearly two thousand years, would have long since rotted away.
"Cendi, this was the chair your grandfather used to sit in," Linley said, pointing at the chair. "And over there... that's where I used to receive your grandfather's cultural education." Linley still remembered how he had to carefully read various books every day and then be tested by Hogg.
"Wow..." Weide widened his eyes, carefully examining every spot.
"This is where I used to sleep. Bebe also lived with me," Linley pointed to the room next door.
Bebe couldn't help but smile.
"Come, in the backyard, there's our family's ancestral hall. Bebe was born in the yard next to the ancestral hall," Linley said with a smile. Bebe also laughed: "Back then, Boss used roast chicken, wild rabbit, and the like to lure me in. Poor me, I was too naive back then."
Linley and Bebe, smiling, walked toward the backyard.
Walking through this ancestral home, Linley and Bebe both felt warmth in their hearts.
Just then—
"Hmm? Someone's coming." Linley, Bebe, and the others instantly flashed and slipped into the backyard.
"Creak!" The front door of the ancestral home opened.
An elderly man, leading dozens of youths and teenagers, walked into the house: "Everyone, this is where the greatest and most talented sculpture master, the genius who cultivated both as a warrior and a mage, the founding emperor of the Baruch Empire, the master of the sacred land 'Dragonblood Castle,' and the most legendary divine-level powerhouse, 'Linley Baruch,' spent his childhood. Be careful. Look only, don't touch."
The old man introduced: "This building is where Master Linley originally lived."
"Wow... the place where Master Linley lived! I'd love to sleep in there for a while," some teenagers whispered, their eyes shining.
"Hmph."
The old man frowned and swept his gaze over the students. "Be serious. This is Master Linley's ancestral home. During your time at the academy, you only have one chance to visit. You won't get another! Alright, now we're going to the study. That's where Master Linley studied during his childhood."