Chapter 20: A Tranquil Heart
The rustling, chilly wind howled, pressing the weeds low to the ground.
The corpses of Lang Siluo and Yulande lay on the ground, devoid of any breath. Before this, they had been peak-level experts commanding respect in their respective planes, figures of authority! They had entered the planar battlefield hoping to advance further, accumulate military merits to exchange for a Sovereign artifact, and rise among the ranks of commanders.
But alas…
For every success, there must be a failure.
The success of one commander came at the cost of ten commanders dying, or the fall of a hundred thousand high-level gods! Unfortunately, Lang Siluo and Yulande had become the failures.
“Whoosh, whoosh!”
The wind stirred, then stilled.
Two figures appeared at the battlefield site. Both wore cyan robes and had long cyan hair, with identical faces and heights. The only difference in appearance was that one had golden eyebrows and the other white. To anyone who didn’t know them, they might have seemed like avatars of the same person.
If Linley had been there, he would have recognized them as the legendary twin commander experts of the wind-type divine plane.
“Big brother, did you see that?” the white-browed youth asked solemnly.
The golden-browed youth also glanced at the two corpses on the ground and nodded slightly. “I saw it. Though I’ve never witnessed the legendary Beirut using his innate divine ability, based on the floating images we saw back then, that phantom just now should have been the phantom of a Soul-Eating Rat!” Earlier, when Bebe had used his innate divine ability, the phantom of the Soul-Eating Rat had been a hundred meters tall, visible from afar.
That was also why Linley and Bebe had immediately left.
The white-browed youth nodded. “This Lang Siluo—even if my brother and I joined forces, dealing with him would be difficult. He’s very troublesome. Lang Siluo’s soul defense is extremely strong. To kill him, only a Highgod Paragon could do it, or of course, that Beirut with his terrifying innate divine ability. Beirut’s innate special move ignores the soul defense of ordinary commanders. The one who struck just now was almost certainly Beirut!”
Beirut had only become famous a little over ten thousand years ago!
As for Bebe, too few knew of him. Bebe had reached the Highgod level without making any major waves. How would these experts from other planes know about him? So, they assumed it was Beirut who had acted!
“Why has Beirut come to the planar battlefield too?” the white-browed youth frowned. “With his strength, he doesn’t need to be here. His fists and feet alone are enough to rival a Sovereign artifact. The planar battlefield is already chaotic enough, and now he’s butting in… it’s practically bullying!”
“So what if he’s bullying? Do you dare to go and fight Beirut?” the golden-browed youth said with a faint smile.
They had seen the phantom of the Soul-Eating Rat and deliberately waited a while before coming over, afraid of running into Beirut.
“Alright, little brother, let’s go. Stay alert, and if we encounter Beirut, keep far away.” The golden-browed youth glanced at the two corpses on the ground, then drifted away like a phantom, with his brother quickly following. Only the two lifeless bodies remained on the open ground.
On a low, charred hill, deep within its belly, there was an empty cave.
Linley and Bebe had burrowed up from underground and carved out this cave.
“Haha, boss, a big haul, a big haul!” Bebe cheered excitedly, placing the heavy dark purple armor on the ground and tossing a spatial ring aside. Just as he was about to say more in his excitement, he suddenly froze.
“Boss!” Bebe stared blankly at Linley.
Linley was now looking at the golden badge in his hand, his eyes full of emotion. Traces of tears could be seen.
“Finally, finally got a golden badge.” Linley clutched the golden badge tightly in his palm, pressing it to his chest. At this moment, Linley felt as if this golden badge had turned into his father, into George, into Yale… and scenes from his childhood and youth flooded his mind.
A golden badge. To Linley, did it represent the ability to accumulate and exchange for a Sovereign artifact?
Wrong!
It represented the chance to bring back his father, who had left him in his youth, and his brothers, who had died in despair and injustice.
“Father, Yale, George…” Linley closed his eyes and murmured, “I can save at least one of you. My father, my brothers, you must wait for me. Wait for me to leave the planar battlefield. You’ve held on for nearly two thousand years—hold on a little longer!”
“Wait for me…”
Tears unconsciously slid from the corners of his eyes.
Ever since stepping into the underworld, Linley had been under immense pressure for decades. It was like a heavy stone constantly pressing on his heart. First, he went to the Nether Mountain to see the Sovereign of Death, barely managing to gain a sliver of hope. Then, he challenged Lord Chi Yan in the Nine Nether Domain, finally succeeding and earning the right to enter the planar battlefield.
But that was just the beginning.
After entering the planar battlefield, Linley felt constant pressure. He had a sense of confusion, and deep down, even a hint of fear.
This seemingly silent planar battlefield hid far too many experts! Linley feared running into a truly supreme expert who would kill him and Bebe. His own death wasn’t frightening, but if Bebe died, Linley would be forever guilty. Moreover, he would lose any chance to save his father and brothers.
In the first half-year on the planar battlefield, repeated failures began to make Linley doubt himself.
Anxiety and unease—these emotions had been surrounding Linley!
Though Linley appeared calm while lying in ambush, his heart was unsettled because he hadn’t managed to kill a single commander. He doubted whether he could obtain a commander’s badge. In this state of turmoil, Linley endured day after day. Yet… just now, an unexpected battle had brought a surprise!
“Finally succeeded. One golden badge.” Linley said to himself, “Bebe and I, working together, can definitely do it. It’s been less than a year, and I’ve already gotten one golden badge. And this planar war still has nearly nine hundred years. I’ll be able to get enough golden badges.”
That one success calmed Linley’s heart!
No matter how dangerous or perilous the days ahead might be, Linley now had the confidence to face them.
“Right, there’s another golden badge.” Linley suddenly turned to Bebe and said urgently, “Bebe, open that spatial ring quickly. When Yulande was killed, that golden badge was stored inside.” Linley’s heart raced with excitement.
Bebe had been watching Linley’s expression and immediately grinned. “Alright, I’ll open it now.” Bebe knew that Linley’s tears just now were tears of joy.
A drop of blood seeped from Bebe’s skin and dripped onto the spatial ring.
“Huh?” Bebe’s eyes widened.
Linley frowned.
That drop of blood rolled on the surface of the spatial ring and then fell off, landing on the ground with a soft pat.
“Damn it! That Lang Siluo still has an avatar alive,” Bebe cursed angrily.
“Just as I expected.” Linley had already anticipated this.
Most commanders entering the planar battlefield, except for a very few, kept a divine avatar outside. The death rate here was simply too high. And Lang Siluo… clearly, he also had a divine avatar outside, making it impossible for Linley to open the spatial ring.
“Ah!” Bebe suddenly roared in frustration, “That defensive Sovereign artifact, that artifact—it’s useless too!”
If even the spatial ring couldn’t be claimed by blood, the defensive Sovereign artifact naturally couldn’t be either.
Linley glanced at the dark golden armor and said with a faint smile, “Bebe, don’t worry about it. You should know that this defensive Sovereign artifact was granted to Lang Siluo by a Sovereign. Even if we killed him, the Sovereign will still reclaim it. At most, it stays with us temporarily.”
“I know that, but right now, the artifact is here. At least we could use it for a while,” Bebe said helplessly.
“A while? Who knows when the Sovereign will come to take it back,” Linley said with a light laugh.
Linley even suspected that the planar battlefield had Sovereigns overseeing it. They might come immediately to reclaim the artifact, or they might not be in a hurry… waiting a while. But one thing was certain—any Sovereign artifact obtained by killing its owner would eventually be taken back by a Sovereign.
“What I regret most is that commander badge,” Linley said with a sigh.
“Yeah, we can’t get it out either,” Bebe said helplessly.
According to the military merit rules, when the war ended and they exited the spatial gate, merits would be tallied based on the number of badges. Even if Linley later found Lang Siluo’s remaining avatar and forced him to hand over the golden badge, it would be useless.
“So, badges can be wasted like this,” Linley said bitterly.
Perhaps some experts killed seven or eight commanders and obtained seven or eight badges. But if they were killed by someone else, that person would only get one badge. The other seven or eight badges would remain in the spatial ring, unable to be retrieved, and would be wasted.
“There’s definitely a lot of waste. Take the final big battle, for example—it happens in the Star River passage area,” Bebe said with a sigh. “Fighting for your life there, you might get knocked into the chaotic Star River zone, and badges could fall into spatial rifts or the chaos of space.” Bebe explained.
Linley nodded slightly.
“It seems cutting corners isn’t easy. Unless the opponent has no divine avatar outside. But such people are too rare,” Linley said, shaking his head.
Gaining enough military merits wasn’t that simple; it had to be done step by step.
“Boss, what should we do with this spatial ring? Destroy it or keep it?” Bebe asked.
“Keeping it only brings trouble, no benefit. Destroy it,” Linley said with a faint smile.
“Crack!” Bebe crushed the spatial ring with a squeeze, and the items inside turned to nothing.
“Carry this Sovereign artifact with us. Let the Sovereign come to reclaim it,” Linley said with a light laugh.
“Heh, even if we wanted to destroy it, we couldn’t,” Bebe said, kicking the dark golden armor a couple of times. “Damn, it’s really tough. Hmph, my body hasn’t reached its peak yet. Someday, it won’t be weaker than a Sovereign artifact,” Bebe snorted.
Bebe’s physical defense was strong, but as he devoured divine sparks, he was also using their essence to refine his body. This was a process that took time. Bebe had reached the Highgod level far later than Beirut—by over a million years. The gap was still there.
Linley calmly cultivated in the cave, while his main body controlled the Death God puppet to act as bait outside.
The planar battlefield remained as before—silent on the surface, but with hidden killings erupting from time to time. Though the battlefield was dangerous, having succeeded once, Linley now had enough confidence. If he could get a golden badge in less than a year, even if it took ten years per badge, he could easily achieve his goal.
He waited quietly, patiently, for the big fish to take the bait.
“With a calm heart… cultivation speed has increased a bit too.” Linley opened his eyes with a faint smile.
“Huh?” Bebe sensed something and opened his eyes, looking at Linley. “Boss, what’s up?”
“Bebe, get ready. I’ve detected someone nearby,” Linley said, a glint flashing in his eyes.
“A target?” Bebe immediately jumped up excitedly. “Haha, only half a month, and we’ve got another target. Time for me to shine again. Gah gah!” Bebe was thrilled.
“Don’t rush. We need to see if they’re enemies. Let’s go!”
Linley and Bebe quietly slipped through the underground tunnel and left the mountain belly.
PS: Sorry, only one chapter today! I’ve had a cold and cough for the past couple of days, and today it’s gotten worse. My head is dizzy and groggy. I wrote one chapter, but I really can’t hold out anymore. Sorry… rest assured, I’ll make up for it. Everyone, take care—the weather is unpredictable, and it’s easy to catch a cold.