Chapter 18: The List
"Hitting a real wall?" Linley was also somewhat troubled.
Among the Commanders, there were indeed some figures who could be called invincible. If they encountered one, he and Bebe would truly be in danger. This world could give birth to the terrifying divine beast, the Soul Devouring Rat, and the divine beast Azure Dragon, which could alter the flow of time. It could also give birth to other heaven-defying divine beasts. Beirut was only known as the strongest under the Sovereigns of the Bloodridge Continent. There were probably still some who could match Beirut.
Linley dared not underestimate these Commanders in the slightest.
"Forget it. Anyway, in this planar battlefield, Commanders hunt each other," Bebe muttered. "We can only rely on luck."
"We're at a disadvantage," Linley shook his head. "Most Commanders participating in the planar war are very familiar with other Commanders. We know too little... This means we'll blindly run into some enemies. Like that Hermes. If we had known him beforehand, we could have completely avoided provoking him."
Linley was also helpless.
After all, he had only just barely managed to climb to the level of a Paragon.
"We are at a disadvantage. We know too few people," Bebe said helplessly.
Linley's eyes suddenly lit up.
Linley slapped his own head and laughed self-deprecatingly: "Bebe, look at me, I'm muddled. If you and I don't know them, can't we ask someone else?"
"Huh?" Bebe was stunned.
"My Fire-type divine clone is right there in the Yulan continent. I can just go ask your Grandpa Beirut," Linley said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Bebe immediately laughed too: "Right, my grandfather must know a lot. Why didn't I think of that?"
Arriving at the planar battlefield, Linley and Bebe had completely immersed themselves in this environment of slaughter and danger, only thinking about hunting other Commanders, and for a moment, they hadn't thought of this.
"Bebe, let's not go out for a while. First, let me figure out which Commanders from the various planes are easy to deal with and which are not, then we'll decide," Linley said with a smile. Bebe nodded repeatedly. They had plenty of time; there was no rush.
Yulan Plane, Forest of Darkness.
The world was a vast expanse of white, with goose-feather snowflakes drifting down. A fiery red blur shot rapidly across the sky above the Forest of Darkness. At this moment, Linley, clad in a fiery red robe with fiery red hair, flew at top speed towards Beirut's metallic castle. The metallic castle, familiar with Linley, did not block him at all. Linley landed and directly strode into the metallic castle.
In the front courtyard of the metallic castle.
Beirut, dressed in a black robe, was holding a book, sitting under a large tree formed from metallic life. The dense leaves completely blocked the falling snow.
"Lord Beirut," Linley said respectfully.
Beirut turned his head, glanced at him with a faint smile, and said, "Oh, Linley, is there something? Have you encountered difficulties in the planar battlefield?" After speaking, Beirut lowered his head again to read the book in his hands.
"Lord Beirut, Bebe and I have been having a rough time on the planar battlefield. We found a target, but who would have thought... his strength was so great that even Bebe and I working together couldn't handle him. Luckily, he wasn't faster than us and wasn't good at long-range attacks, so we managed to escape with our lives," Linley said shamefully.
Beirut closed the book in surprise.
"You and Bebe, working together, couldn't handle him?" Beirut asked. "The two of you against one. One uses a divine ability against the soul and divine spark, the other for physical attacks. They complement each other perfectly... There are relatively few Commanders who can withstand that."
"His name is Hermes," Linley reported the name.
"Him?"
Beirut couldn't help but laugh heartily, "Haha... you two really aren't afraid of anyone, daring to provoke even that brute. Others avoid him. This Hermes's physical attacks rank in the top ten across all the planes. Even your clan leader, Galesron, couldn't withstand one of Hermes's punches."
"I only found out later," Linley said bitterly.
"Lord Beirut, how are Hermes's punches so powerful?" Linley was utterly puzzled. "I also cultivate the Laws of the Earth and have seen the attacks of the former Lord of the Crimson Rock. But I don't understand how Hermes's fists and feet could be..." Linley shook his head, expressing his confusion.
The former Lord of the Crimson Rock was also skilled in physical attacks. And he had fused five profound mysteries, yet his power was only so-so. When he exchanged blows with Linley, he was only slightly superior.
"Talent!" Beirut chuckled.
"Talent?" Linley was stunned.
"Do you know how many profound mysteries he has fused?" Beirut asked with a smile.
"I don't know," Linley shook his head. "Is it a lot, or a little?"
"He has fused four," Beirut said with a faint smile. "I heard this from a Sovereign when I was with them."
Linley was stunned. Fusing four was just the level of an ordinary Seven-Star Fiend, yet the strength Hermes displayed was terrifyingly powerful.
Fusing only four, yet strong enough to make Linley hold his breath. One could imagine his talent.
"This Hermes was born with immense strength and extremely strong defense! Legend has it... when the Earth Plane was first established, a golden mountain was born. After countless years of gestation, this golden mountain eventually transformed into life, which is this Hermes," Beirut said with a smile. "Do you know, right after he transformed and took shape, reaching the level of a Demigod, he became a Sovereign's Emissary and was gifted a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact."
"Uh..." Linley was speechless.
Just a Demigod, and he became a Sovereign's Emissary.
"His original body is indestructible. Coupled with the soul-protecting Sovereign artifact... killing him is almost impossible. Because his body is a special golden mountain born during the formation of the plane, he is born with immense strength. Even without using the profound mysteries of the Laws, a single punch can tear space. Now, having fused four profound mysteries, a single punch is something few dare to block," Beirut said admiringly.
Linley was speechless. Indeed, some people's talents were simply exaggerated.
"My Soul Devouring Rat strengthens itself by refining divine sparks. This Hermes was born with a strong body," Beirut said with a faint smile. "However, in terms of pure physical toughness, this Hermes is still slightly inferior to my Soul Devouring Rat."
Linley also understood that the physical body of a Soul Devouring Rat was comparable to a divine spark.
"Lord Beirut, we have already suffered a great loss this time! So, I would like you to provide me with information on the experts who have reached the Paragon level in the various planes, so I can get to know them. This way, I won't recklessly clash with some super experts again," Linley said quickly.
Beirut nodded slightly.
"I guessed you would come to me," Beirut said. With a flip of his hand, a large bronze chest appeared on the ground. "This chest contains a lot of information, as well as recorded images. Look through it carefully, and you will have some understanding of the most powerful experts in the various planes."
Linley looked excitedly at the bronze chest.
With this, he could be prepared when facing enemies.
"Just look here. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me," Beirut said with a faint smile.
"Thank you, Lord Beirut." Linley quickly walked over and opened the chest.
Inside were a large number of recorded image crystals and thick documents. Linley immediately moved the chest to the side and began to read carefully in the courtyard.
"Magnus, from the Celestial Plane, ranked among the top five super experts, cultivates the Edicts of Fate, suspected to be a Great Perfection Highgod..." Linley began to read seriously. Information about one super expert after another was imprinted in Linley's mind. Linley truly realized...
So, the eleven planes harbored so many peak experts.
One must know, with the Seven Divine Laws and Four Edicts, there were seventy-seven Sovereigns alone. How could there be few peak Highgod experts?
It took a full day for Linley to finish reading all the information and watching all the recorded images.
Linley truly felt the sheer number of experts!
"Among these eleven planes, there are less than thirty suspected Great Perfection Highgods," Linley marveled inwardly. "Averaged across eleven planes, that's only two or three per plane. And they are only suspected Great Perfection Highgods! As for Sovereigns, each of the eleven planes has seven." Linley finally understood how rare Great Perfection Highgods were!
As for Commander-level experts, there were many!
For example, in the Infernal Realm, there were 108 Prefects and 108 Lords of the Abyssal Prison! That's 216 in the Infernal Realm alone, and that doesn't include the super experts who have retired or are in hiding and haven't taken the position of Prefect. How many have retired over the ages? It's truly hard to calculate.
One Infernal Realm probably has several hundred, nearly a thousand experts with Commander-level strength.
Plus the other three Higher Planes and the Seven Divine Planes.
"Indeed, there are many experts!" Linley was secretly shocked. "But most of the time, these people simply don't come out to fight anymore."
Because the eleven planes have existed for an extremely long time. Back when Linley was in the Azure Dragon clan, when he asked some of the clan elders, he found out that these elders had lived for who knows how many billions of years. From this, one can imagine... just how long the history of the various planes is.
Over countless years, it's understandable that so many experts have been born.
"Thump." Linley closed the large chest.
At this moment, Beirut walked out from the hall and said with a faint smile, "Oh, finished reading?"
"Yes," Linley took a deep breath.
This list of expert records made Linley realize that there was always a sky beyond the sky. Although he said he had barely reached the baseline of a Paragon, there were still many experts at the Paragon level. The Infernal Realm alone had 216 in office, not to mention those who had retired or were in hiding.
"Knowing this, don't be careless," Beirut said with a faint smile. "In the planar battlefield, it's a life-and-death battle! So, Commanders who aren't very confident generally don't show their true faces."
"Don't show their true faces?" Linley was stunned. "Then my reading all this was useless."
By looking at the information and recorded images, Linley only knew their appearance and some of their main techniques. If they changed their appearance, how could he recognize them?
"Don't worry too much. Those who change their appearance are the ones who aren't strong enough. True experts who are fully confident don't bother changing their appearance, because they aren't afraid of anyone," Beirut said.
Linley couldn't help but nod.
The super experts at the very top of the Commander level are very hard to distinguish in terms of strength. For example, some Great Perfection Highgods can only be said to rank in the top three or top five in a certain plane, not that they are definitely number one. After all, when one has cultivated to the peak... they are generally about the same. Even if one is slightly weaker, it's very difficult to kill the other.
"Lord Beirut, so you're saying that if I encounter someone I don't recognize, I should just attack," Linley said with a smile.
"Right," Beirut laughed.
"Actually, the planar war is very boring," Beirut suddenly shook his head and said. "It's basically a graveyard for reducing the number of experts... Of course, it will also create a few peak figures."
"Huh?" Linley was stunned.
A graveyard?
"Lord Beirut, what do you mean?" Linley couldn't help but ask.
Beirut said with a faint smile: "There are too many people and too many experts in the various planes! And the planes have existed for who knows how many years. The eternal, long years have led to too many experts. This planar battlefield is precisely a method to reduce the number of experts. Once every ten thousand billion years, the various planes fight each other, which is a way to reduce the number of experts."
"A single planar war lasts a thousand years! Throughout the entire thousand years, it's almost always Commanders hunting each other. Those who don't want to fight hide in the military camps! Only at the very end of the war do the two great armies engage in slaughter at the Stellar River passage," Beirut said with a sneer. "For the vast majority, it's a death sentence. For a select few, it's the best opportunity."