Chapter 24: Dead End? A New Beginning!
Benfield was naturally much faster than Linley to begin with!
Linley had the ‘Blackstone Space,’ but his opponent was also using Sovereign Power. Even now, his speed still surpassed Linley’s! If Linley allowed Benfield to keep pursuing him, the mere few hundred meters of distance would be closed in no time!
“Hmph!” Linley willed it.
The gravitational direction of the Blackstone Space abruptly shifted—the repulsive force turned into an upward attractive force!
“Oh?” Benfield’s body couldn’t help but wobble, veering diagonally upward.
“My Blackstone Space isn’t that simple,” Linley thought to himself. He immediately began to rapidly and drastically change the gravitational direction of the Blackstone Space. Sometimes upward, sometimes downward, sometimes repelling outward. One had to know that the gravitational force itself was incredibly powerful, and with such drastic changes, even Benfield found his movements greatly affected.
Benfield couldn’t help but grow furious.
“All of you, die!” Benfield’s eyes turned icy.
“Whoosh, whoosh~”
A blurry stream of transparent arrows shot out from within Benfield’s body, directly aimed at Linley and Bebe. Over a dozen transparent arrows streaked across the sky in an instant, attacking Linley and Bebe separately. The soul attack was extremely fast; Linley and Bebe could only manage a slight sideways dodge, yet four of the transparent arrows still pierced into Linley’s body.
Into Bebe’s body, a full three arrows also sank.
Linley’s face turned pale with shock. “Bebe, use Sovereign Power!” Benfield’s soul attack was described in the information provided by Beirut as extremely terrifying, and now Benfield was even using ‘Sovereign Power of Fate’ to execute this technique. Its lethality was unimaginable.
“Hum~” A layer of earthy yellow light immediately appeared on Linley’s surface.
Without a doubt, Linley had used the Sovereign Power of the Earth!
Inside Linley’s mind.
“Bam!” “Bam!” “Bam!” “Bam!” The four transparent arrows slammed fiercely against the transparent membrane, shattering like eggs hitting a rock. But after shattering, they transformed into a mass of transparent threads, spreading out to envelop the entire membrane. Then, countless threads coiled and attacked towards the gap location.
Countless blurry ‘illusory sword shadows’ burst forth, clashing against these transparent threads.
“Even relying on my soul defense Sovereign Artifact and the Sovereign Power of the Earth, the patch on the gap was still consumed by more than half,” Linley thought, shocked.
The patch on the soul defense Sovereign Artifact’s gap had been repaired after leaving the Nether Mountain. Adding the sixty-one years on the planar battlefield, it had been nearly a hundred years. The achievement of a century was now more than half depleted. And this was the result of using the Sovereign Power of the Earth. If he hadn’t used the Sovereign Power of the Earth, Linley wouldn’t have been able to withstand it at all.
“How terrifying. If I didn’t have the soul defense Sovereign Artifact, even with Sovereign Power, I probably couldn’t have blocked it,” Linley’s expression suddenly changed drastically. “Bebe!”
Bebe had been hit too.
“Boss, I’m fine,” Bebe’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind.
Linley was surprised to find that Bebe hadn’t used Sovereign Power at all. He couldn’t help but feel puzzled. Bebe had blocked the attack without using Sovereign Power. If it were just a soul defense divine artifact, that would be absolutely impossible. “Could it be… Bebe doesn’t have a soul defense divine artifact, but a soul defense Sovereign Artifact? Or… is Bebe’s soul itself special, with extremely strong defensive power?”
This thought flashed through Linley’s mind in an instant.
But now was not the time to consider this, because… danger was coming!
“Big brother!”
A deep voice rang out. The black-armored giant was standing on a coiling, rapidly flying crimson red serpent. This crimson red serpent had flown in from outside, now arriving right in front of Linley and Bebe.
“Boss, things don’t look good,” Bebe said urgently.
“I know,” Linley was well aware of the dire situation.
Ahead, they were blocked by the crimson red serpent and the black-armored giant; behind, there was Benfield. They were trapped, with no way forward or back!
“Benfield, how does he have two more companions? And they’re not even from the same camp,” Linley cursed inwardly in frustration. During the escape and battle, Linley had noticed that Benfield and the other two weren’t from the same camp. Linley couldn’t sense the badge aura from Benfield.
Clearly, he was an enemy!
But the ‘red-robed woman’ who had transformed into the crimson red serpent and the black-armored giant—Linley could sense their badge auras. Obviously, they were on Linley’s side.
People from different camps had formed a small team.
“Bebe, follow me this way, hurry!” Linley’s divine power of the Earth enveloped Bebe, and his speed instantly soared to its limit. Linley and Bebe fled directly to the side, a direction where Benfield would find it easiest to pursue.
But the power of the Blackstone Space had also increased nearly a hundredfold, and the terrifying gravity made it difficult for Benfield to catch up.
“Swoosh!” Benfield flew out of the ‘Blackstone Space’ area. Within the Blackstone Space, he couldn’t possibly catch Linley. “You two brats, listen up. Today, I, Benfield, will definitely kill you. Definitely!” His furious voice echoed through the space.
Benfield was now flying parallel to Linley and Bebe at extreme speed.
The two sides were only separated by the obstruction of the Blackstone Space.
The red-robed woman and the black-armored giant were also desperately following behind.
“I can’t let this Benfield get entangled with me. Just now, when he attacked me and Bebe simultaneously, I was already struggling. If he gets close and unleashes his strongest attack, I definitely won’t be able to withstand it,” Linley thought, but he was relieved about Bebe, because Bebe had blocked the attack earlier without even using Sovereign Power.
“Boss, we have to shake this guy off,” Bebe transmitted.
“I know,” Linley suddenly looked at Benfield beside him.
Behind Linley, a winding, coiled green dragon phantom, over a thousand meters long, abruptly appeared. The dragon’s head hovered above Linley, staring at Benfield.
The ‘Sovereign Power of the Earth’ in Linley’s mind fused with his innate azure light, radiating directly towards the nearby Benfield—
Innate Divine Ability—Dragon Roar!
This was an innate divine ability executed using the Sovereign Power of the Earth, with immense power!
“Oh?” Benfield’s movement involuntarily stalled slightly.
“Let’s go!” Linley and Bebe seized the opportunity to flee.
Benfield, a super expert skilled in soul attacks, possessing a soul defense Sovereign Artifact and Sovereign Power, quickly broke free from the restraint.
“Trying to escape?” Benfield saw the afterimages of Linley and Bebe departing and immediately chased after them.
Linley and Bebe were fleeing together at top speed. Bebe transmitted a curse: “Boss, that Benfield is really annoying. He has a soul defense Sovereign Artifact and a material defense Sovereign Artifact, leaving us no way to strike. We can’t kill him. And his own soul attacks are so strong. It’s infuriating!”
“I’m furious too, but there’s no way around it.”
Linley knew that breaking through in the wind-style might attract some people, but he never expected to draw out such a troublesome character as Benfield. Benfield could definitely be called Linley’s nemesis. Possessing two defensive Sovereign Artifacts left him completely untouchable, and he was also skilled in soul attacks.
How was Linley supposed to deal with someone like that?
Even using his innate divine ability ‘Dragon Roar,’ all Linley could do was seize the chance to escape!
“Damn it, boss, he’s coming again!” Bebe growled angrily.
Linley turned his head to look—that blurry shadow was chasing at extreme speed.
“This bastard is really fast,” Linley was frantic. But even using Sovereign Power, he couldn’t surpass the other in speed. “It seems I’ll have to use the innate divine ability ‘Dragon Roar’ to hinder him again,” Linley thought to himself. But just then—
Linley suddenly noticed two figures standing in the air ahead. On the planar battlefield, anyone daring to hover in the air was among the top-ranked commanders.
“This road is closed!” A faint voice rang out.
Linley and Bebe sensed the threat from the two figures and couldn’t help but stop. Looking at the two before him, Linley had a feeling—the threat they posed was no less than Benfield’s.
These two were very strange. One was nearly four meters tall, his entire body glowing with a bronze hue, with a robust frame and a stern, stone-carved face. Sitting on the shoulder of this nearly four-meter-tall giant was a cute, bald-headed youth eating a fruit. This youth was even smaller than Bebe.
Yet this youth made Linley’s heart tremble.
“You two, help me stop them, and I, Benfield, will owe you a favor,” Benfield quickly said.
Debts of gratitude were the hardest to repay!
Benfield’s words made Linley and Bebe’s hearts sink.
“Swoosh.” Linley and Bebe tried to flee from the other side.
“Whoosh!” A figure suddenly appeared in front of Linley and Bebe. It was the cute, bald-headed youth eating a purple fruit.
“So fast,” Linley was shocked.
“What’s the rush to run?” The bald-headed youth grinned, crunching down the fruit in two bites and casually tossing the pit aside.
“Big brother,” the red-robed woman and the black-armored giant, who had been chasing from behind, finally caught up.
“You two won’t escape,” the red-robed, green-haired woman glared angrily at Linley and Bebe. Linley and Bebe exchanged glances, sensing the danger. “Boss, there are three here, plus two over there. If all five of them gang up on us, we won’t be able to escape.”
Linley and Bebe didn’t dare move for the moment.
Because… if they moved, the bald-headed youth and the giant might strike.
“Thank you, both of you,” Benfield said with a smile.
The bald-headed youth’s earlier obstruction of Linley and Bebe had clearly given him face, but he was also puzzled: “I’ve never seen this youth and this giant before. When did these two experts appear?” The bald-headed youth’s movement speed earlier was enough to shock him.
“Hey, Benfield, is your head messed up?” The bald-headed youth grinned.
Benfield’s expression changed.
“Did I stop Linley and them just to help you?” The bald-headed youth said mockingly.
“Linley?” Benfield and the other two looked at Linley and Bebe. Until now, they hadn’t known their identities.
“You know me?” Linley looked at the bald-headed youth in surprise.
The bald-headed youth laughed heartily. “Ah, it’s only been a few years, and you don’t recognize your teacher anymore?” He sighed.
“Teacher?” Linley and Bebe were both stunned.
Suddenly, a purple light radiated from the bald-headed youth’s body, instantly spreading over a thousand meters, covering Benfield, Linley, and the others. The powerful and familiar gravitational force made Linley’s face show astonishment: “Could you be…” In Linley’s mind, the image of that cute purple juvenile beast appeared, the one that had commanded billions of purple monsters with its roars.
It was under that purple juvenile beast’s ‘torment’ that Linley had learned the basic method of using the ‘Blackstone Space.’
“It’s you!”
Benfield frowned. “Rese Crystal!”
“Haha~ That’s right, it’s me!” The bald-headed youth laughed heartily. “What’s the matter? I’ve changed into a human form, and none of you recognize me? Oh, right… My control over my soul is too strong; I’ve completely concealed my soul aura. You can’t sense my aura anymore, so you don’t recognize me. Understandable, completely understandable.”
The bald-headed youth waved his hand. “Benfield, you old turtle, get out of here quickly, or I wouldn’t mind playing with you a bit.”
Benfield looked at Linley and the others, gritted his teeth.
“Let’s go.” Benfield could only suppress his unwillingness and fly away with his two companions.
Linley and Bebe both breathed a sigh of relief.
Rese Crystal rubbed his bald head, glanced at Linley, and shook his head. “Useless! You learned my ultimate technique and still got pushed around like this. You’re embarrassing your teacher!”
Teacher? Linley was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.
“You guys are really dumb. If you’re weak on the planar battlefield, you need to form alliances! Haven’t you seen many people forming teams of two, three, or four?” Rese Crystal said casually. “Hmm… How about this? You two join my hunting squad. We’ll team up and roam the planar battlefield together. What do you say?”
“Join your squad?” Linley looked at Rese Crystal and the iron-tower-like giant behind him.
“Join us. From now on, we’ll split the military merits four ways. Be a man and make a decision!” Rese Crystal puffed out his chest, as if displaying his manly demeanor.
Linley couldn’t help but smile.
Linley and Bebe exchanged glances and nodded slightly.
“We’ll join!” Linley said.
From then on, Rese Crystal’s hunting squad expanded from two to four members, greatly increasing their strength!