Chapter 15: The Choice
Bebe watched the purple-robed figure’s retreating direction with unwillingness, but unfortunately, even this purple-robed man’s normal speed surpassed his. Once he used divine power, he was far faster than Bebe. Bebe could only watch helplessly as the other left. If it weren’t for the difference in speed, Bebe wouldn’t have had to use his innate divine ability from two to three hundred meters away.
“You got lucky!”
Bebe immediately looked around warily, then shot toward Linley like an arrow.
“Boss, are you okay?” Bebe asked worriedly.
Linley had already opened his eyes. Glancing around, he said, “The commotion just now might have attracted others. Bebe, let’s leave here first!” Among the group of commanders in the planar battlefield, Linley could only be considered low-level, and Bebe was at most mid-level. The two of them didn’t have the strength to openly face any opponent!
“Whoosh!” The two turned into afterimages and vanished from the spot instantly.
Only moments after they left, a figure shrouded in a black robe appeared in midair. It paused briefly, looked around, and then left.
In the planar battlefield, anyone daring to fly in midair was among the top-ranked commanders, confident in facing any opponent. After all, being in the air made them easily visible to others on the ground. Linley and Bebe always moved along the ground.
Inside a hidden cave, Linley and Bebe both breathed a sigh of relief.
“Bebe, you didn’t catch that guy?” Linley said with a smile.
“No! That bastard hid so far away from the start. Even when you released your Blackstone Space, he still escaped quickly. My ‘Divine Ability’ didn’t have time to reach him,” Bebe said angrily. “That guy’s a real jerk, hiding so far to ambush us, not even daring to come close!”
Linley shook his head and said, “This is the planar battlefield, not a one-on-one fight. Everyone has different strategies! Besides, those joining the planar war aren’t just from the Dark Divine Plane and the Light Divine Plane. Super experts from other planes also aid one side or the other. So… the experts here come from the four highest planes and the seven divine planes. This is the most terrifying battlefield. The other side being cautious is only right!”
Bebe also felt the pressure.
Where else but the planar battlefield could gather these peak experts, using every means to kill each other?
“I wonder how many commanders are here,” Bebe muttered.
“I think the Dark Divine Plane and the Light Divine Plane each have about twenty to thirty commanders. But the ones from other planes are more numerous! A dozen from a highest plane, ten from a divine plane—that adds up to nearly a hundred,” Linley said with a sigh. “And that’s an underestimate. Besides commanders, some former prefects or lords, though retired, haven’t lost their strength. They might come too!”
Bebe nodded.
Indeed… those people entered as ordinary soldiers.
Just like Linley and Bebe. Bebe was an ordinary soldier, but was he weak? By the same logic, there might be only about a hundred with the official status of commander in the planar battlefield. But those with commander-level strength were far more numerous.
Over countless years, many peak experts either stepped down because they were outmatched or retired voluntarily, tired of fighting for power. These people couldn’t be underestimated.
“Only a few still dare to act arrogantly in the planar war,” Linley said with a wry smile. Those without enough strength who acted arrogantly were already dead. The ones still arrogant now were definitely at Dannington’s level. “So, that guy who ambushed me had a pretty good strategy—strike once and flee immediately if he missed.”
“Too sneaky,” Bebe muttered.
“Sneaky, but safe,” Linley said, taking a deep breath. “Bebe, I think we should use his strategy. Find a target, then ambush them. If we fail, leave immediately. No hesitation.”
“Hehe, getting ambushed feels awful, but ambushing others feels great,” Bebe said, his eyes lighting up.
Linley smiled helplessly.
Who wanted to ambush? But there was no choice. Fighting openly, they’d die if they met someone stronger.
“For ambushes, we’ll work together,” Linley said, having already formed a plan on the way back. “When we find a target, Bebe, you use your Divine Ability ‘God Devouring,’ and I’ll launch a material attack immediately. Few can withstand my Shadowstrike sword strike!”
Linley was confident.
Bebe’s ‘God Devouring’ targeted the soul and divine spark, while Linley focused on material attacks.
“Bebe, against whom does your ‘God Devouring’ fail?” Linley asked quickly.
He needed to know the limits of Bebe’s Divine Ability to plan better.
“Oh, Grandpa mentioned it. Those who have reached the Great Perfection should be able to resist my Divine Ability,” Bebe said.
Linley nodded. “And?”
“Those with a soul defense divine artifact should also be able to resist,” Bebe said, then laughed. “But don’t worry. Few people have divine artifacts. Even among commanders, only some have them. And divine artifacts are divided into three categories. Soul defense divine artifacts are very rare, so few have them.”
Linley wasn’t surprised by Bebe’s answer.
Soul defense divine artifacts were forged by Sovereigns to protect their own souls. It made sense that they could resist Bebe’s attack.
“Bebe, if the opponent uses Sovereign power, can they resist?” Linley asked, concerned. This was what he cared about most.
“Hehe, using Sovereign power won’t help,” Bebe said confidently. “My Divine Ability ‘God Devouring’ penetrates everywhere. Unless the soul defense is flawless, even the slightest flaw allows my Divine Ability to seep in and lock onto the soul and divine spark!”
Linley nodded slightly.
“Looks like I’d have trouble resisting this move too,” Linley said with a smile.
“Hehe,” Bebe nodded proudly. “Unless you completely repair that soul defense divine artifact, Boss!”
“Completely repairing it? That’s easier said than done,” Linley said with a laugh.
This conversation made Linley realize the terror of Bebe’s Divine Ability. Any commander who wasn’t at the Great Perfection or didn’t have a soul defense divine artifact would likely be doomed. The only way to avoid it was to keep a distance from the start, like that purple-robed man.
Once within attack range, it was over.
“Among commanders, only some have divine artifacts, and even fewer have soul defense ones,” Linley thought, full of confidence. “With this one move, Bebe can handle most commanders. No wonder Grandpa Beirut said Bebe’s attack power with this move is close to his.”
Linley now felt confident about his journey in the planar battlefield.
After all, besides Bebe’s ultimate move, Linley’s ‘Blackstone Space,’ his Divine Ability ‘Dragon Roar,’ and his divine weapon ‘Shadowstrike’ combined were also terrifying.
Two months passed in a flash.
Inside the cave.
“Boss, another two months, and we’ve only found one person, and he’s on our side. This efficiency is too low,” Bebe said, a bit anxious.
They wanted to hunt enemy commanders, but without targets, they had no way to use their strength.
Linley nodded. “Bebe, on this side of the Star River, there might be enemies too. But they’re all very cautious. Finding them is hard. I think… we should go straight to their base camp!”
“Boss, you mean?” Bebe’s eyes lit up.
“Cross the Star River to the other side!”
The planar battlefield had no sun, moon, or stars. Looking up, one could see colorful spatial turbulence deep in the sky. Though beautiful, it was dangerous. The entire battlefield relied on this high-altitude spatial turbulence to avoid complete darkness.
The Star River!
It split the planar battlefield in two. It was also the most dangerous place.
“Boss, is this the Star River? This doesn’t look like a river,” Bebe said. He and Linley were standing in the grass, looking at the distant Star River.
The Star River was extremely long. According to the map, it split the entire planar battlefield in two, stretching over a million miles. At least, one couldn’t see its end. As for its width…
“At least a thousand miles wide,” Linley estimated.
The Star River was a thousand miles wide. At first glance, it was dazzlingly beautiful. But looking closer, one would realize that the brilliance wasn’t ‘water’ but countless spatial rifts. In this Star River region, spatial cracks were countless, and spatial turbulence was everywhere…
Because of this, it formed a dazzling ‘river’—a ‘river’ made of spatial turbulence!
“How do we get across this damn place?” Bebe frowned.
Linley observed carefully. The spatial cracks, appearing and disappearing, were countless. Of course, within the thousand-mile-wide area, there were some safe spots. Some meteorites, small rocky hills, and earthen mounds floated in various parts of the Star River. The fact that they floated there meant the areas they occupied had no spatial cracks.
But those spots were in the middle of the Star River. Linley and Bebe couldn’t just teleport there.
“The Star River has two wide passages,” Linley said. “But both passages have military camps at both ends, under control. The end on our side is fine—they’re our people and won’t attack us. But if we go through the wide passage to the other side, we’ll be attacked by the enemy!”
The two sides of the planar battlefield were connected only through these two passages.
“Boss, do we really have to?” Bebe raised an eyebrow.
“Yes. We have to find a safe path through the dense spatial turbulence and cracks,” Linley said, looking into the distance. “Bebe, some places have no spatial cracks. Let’s search carefully.”
“No choice,” Bebe muttered.
Linley and Bebe both focused on the Star River.
Linley soon noticed that some areas within the Star River had no spatial cracks or turbulence. Connecting these spots formed a winding path. Linley’s goal was to find a small path that could reach the other side.
“Boss, look over there. It might be passable,” Bebe pointed. “But I can only see a few hundred miles clearly. Beyond that, it’s blurry. I can’t see the small spatial cracks completely.”
Linley glanced and shook his head. “No. The path I found is the same—the latter half is uncertain. So, Bebe, let’s first reach those floating hills and mounds in the middle of the Star River. Once we’re in the center, we can find a path to the other side.”
“Okay,” Bebe said, having no other ideas.
“Then let’s follow that path to the millstone-like rock in the center,” Linley decided.
Linley and Bebe checked their surroundings, then turned into two streaks of light, quickly reaching the edge of the Star River. But as soon as they arrived at the riverbank, they felt the pressure. Ahead of them on the ‘riverbed’ were countless spatial cracks appearing and disappearing, along with spatial turbulence.
“Let’s go,” Linley transmitted.
Linley and Bebe shot into the Star River, nimbly weaving, moving up and down at extreme speeds, skillfully dodging one dangerous area after another.
At this moment, Linley and Bebe were like dancers on a blade’s edge, in extreme danger.
But at their level, their control was superb. Their movements had no mistakes. Sometimes they brushed past spatial cracks by a hair’s breadth, yet they managed to pass through every difficulty.
“It’s right ahead,” Linley said joyfully.
Ahead, a millstone-like rock, dozens of meters wide and long, floated there. It had floated for so long without breaking, clearly indicating this area was safe.
“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!”
Linley and Bebe landed one after another on the millstone-like rock.
“Phew,” Linley breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking around, he saw spatial cracks and turbulence everywhere. Linley couldn’t help but laugh. “Bebe, standing here, I feel like I’m back in the underground planar secret chamber of Dragonblood Castle in the Yulan Continent. But that planar secret chamber had a planar membrane blocking spatial turbulence and cracks. Here, there’s no protection.”
“Boss…” Bebe suddenly said, “Do you think any commanders might be hiding in these rocks in the middle of the Star River?”