Chapter 25: Innate Divine Ability
During these sixty-one years on the planar battlefield, Linley had come to deeply understand the dangers within. Relying solely on his own strength to earn enough military merits while also preserving his life was far too difficult. Now, having joined the hunting squad led by Reisgem, Linley felt a great sense of relief.
"That's the spirit! Let's go find a place to rest first." Reisgem said with a smile.
The iron-tower-like giant beside Reisgem remained silent, simply following him.
"This Reisgem has been a Hell Lord for a very long time, and he managed to scare off Benfield!" Linley was certain of Reisgem's strength. "And according to that book by Beirut, Reisgem is heavily emphasized. Among the Hell Lords, he ranks within the top five—an extraordinary figure."
Reisgem had a massive reputation. His own strength was formidable, and on top of that, his mother was the Violet Orchid Sovereign!
"Boss, from now on, things will be easier for us, huh? We'll probably get military merits pretty easily." Bebe grinned, flipping his hand to produce a red fruit and taking a big bite. Reisgem sniffed the air, turned to look at Bebe, and immediately laughed. "Bebe, right? That fruit looks pretty tasty. Give me one."
"Here you go." Bebe, quite generous, flipped his hand again and tossed a fruit to Reisgem.
Reisgem's eyes lit up. He caught it and immediately started eating, nodding in approval. "Crisp, delicious, and really satisfying. Thanks, brother." As he spoke, Reisgem extended his hand, and a purple fruit appeared in his palm. "This is my favorite—only found in the Life Supreme Plane. Give it a try."
Bebe and Reisgem, both childlike in nature, quickly became good friends.
Linley, with a faint smile, followed along as they set off, the iron-tower giant silently trailing behind.
"Hey, Reisgem, I'm not bragging, but my innate divine ability? Hmph." Bebe started boasting to Reisgem.
"Yours is impressive, but mine's no slouch either." Reisgem said confidently. "But Bebe, I have to warn you—don't ever use that innate divine ability on me. My mother told me that the innate divine ability of you Devouring Godly Rats is incredibly heaven-defying. Unless you have a soul-defense Sovereign artifact or have reached perfection, there's no way to withstand it."
"Don't worry." Bebe chuckled. "We're on the same team."
Linley's heart stirred. It seemed Reisgem was somewhat wary of Bebe's innate divine ability.
Reisgem took another bite of his fruit and said helplessly, "Think about it—I, Reisgem, specialize in the soul! Even a perfected Highgod's soul attack doesn't scare me, but Bebe's Devouring ability? I've got no answer for it. That move of yours is definitely the strongest soul attack among Highgods!"
Linley smiled too. Reisgem's words made a lot of sense.
Bebe's technique—devouring the divine spark and annihilating the soul—was indeed the ultimate soul attack. "According to my mother, when it comes to extreme and terrifying innate divine abilities among divine beasts, Bebe, you Devouring Godly Rats are one of them! Then there were the Azure Dragon, Vermillion Bird, and the other three divine beasts back in the day—their innate divine abilities were also terrifyingly extreme! That Life Supreme Plane's World Tree? It's freakishly powerful too. And the Netherworld's Netherworld Fruit Tree counts as well... But most of these ultra-freakish divine beasts have become Sovereigns." Reisgem said admiringly.
Divine beasts were also ranked in tiers.
The Devouring Godly Rat was among the top tier, and the Netherworld Fruit Tree was as well. The innate divine abilities of these divine beasts were all heaven-defying.
"Hey, tell me more about how powerful those divine beasts are." Bebe grew excited.
Linley was also intrigued.
Even though they were walking on the planar battlefield, the four of them were quite relaxed. Linley and the iron-tower giant kept an eye on their surroundings. But clearly, few people would be foolish enough to target Linley's group.
"In terms of attack, the White Tiger's innate divine ability among the Four Divine Beasts is even stronger than your Devouring ability." Reisgem sighed. "My mother said that when the Four Divine Beasts joined forces, combining their four innate divine abilities, it was incredibly heaven-defying! Even among Sovereigns, they were an extremely powerful faction. Unfortunately, they've all fallen now. A pity."
Linley was shocked.
The White Tiger's innate divine ability among the Four Divine Beasts was stronger than Devouring? But he'd never get to see it. After all, none of the descendants of the Four Divine Beasts were true divine beasts—they only carried partial bloodlines. Even their innate divine abilities were developed through ancestral temple baptisms, and their power was far inferior to their ancestors'.
"Stronger than my Devouring Godly Rat?" Bebe muttered, sounding unconvinced.
Reisgem laughed playfully. "There are seventy-seven Sovereigns, and some of them are divine beasts! And most of these divine beasts are unique. You never see them fight, and even when they do, they rarely need to use their innate divine abilities. So of course, you don't know how terrifying their abilities are. But... the combined four innate divine abilities of the Four Divine Beasts are the strongest—there's no doubt about that."
As they chatted freely, a low hill appeared ahead.
"Ahong, make us a cave." Reisgem said.
"Yes." The giant finally spoke.
Linley turned to look. The silent giant walked over to the wall of the hill, which was only a few hundred meters high. He placed his massive, fan-like right hand on it. Immediately, the rock face began to writhe like flowing water, the stone within shifting outward like a slow current.
In the blink of an eye...
A square cave formed, complete with carved patterns on the inner walls.
"What kind of technique is that?" Linley and Bebe stared in astonishment.
"Don't be so surprised." Reisgem smirked proudly, then strode into the cave. The giant followed him inside.
"This giant is mysterious and powerful too." Linley marveled inwardly. He hadn't seen any mention of this giant in Beirut's book.
"Whoosh!"
Shortly after Linley and the others entered the cave, a stone slab fell from the corridor, sealing off the entrance completely. Inside, there was a main hall and several separate rooms.
"So, impressed by Ahong's move?" Reisgem laughed, sitting down at the stone table in the hall. "Let me formally introduce you. Ahong's full name is Lei Hong Lie Yan. He's my best brother and my mother's most trusted envoy. Don't let his silence fool you—he understands everything."
The iron-tower-like giant even managed a rare smile.
Lei Hong Lie Yan?
Linley glanced at him and smiled. "Linley Baruch."
"Hello, Linley." A thunderous voice rumbled from Lei Hong's throat, echoing in his chest.
"Haha, from today on, our hunting squad's strength has skyrocketed!" Reisgem slapped the table excitedly. "Bebe, your innate divine ability, Devouring, is definitely our squad's sharpest weapon! Linley, how powerful is your innate divine ability? How does it compare to the Azure Dragon divine beast's?"
Linley smiled faintly. "I don't know the exact comparison. My innate divine ability can slow down time for the target by dozens of times."
"Excellent! Haha, this is fantastic!" Reisgem jumped to his feet, his eyes glowing with purple light.
"Impressive." The iron-tower giant rumbled softly.
"Linley, with your move, our hunting squad will be even stronger." Reisgem was extremely excited.
Then Reisgem grumbled indignantly, "It's infuriating. All these years, Lei Hong and I have run into quite a few lords on this planar battlefield. But when they can't beat us, they immediately flee. Even with my Violet Crystal Space, if they're determined to escape, I can't stop them. But if at the critical moment, you use your innate divine ability on them, and then Lei Hong attacks, we'll definitely take them down."
Linley couldn't help but smile.
He and Bebe both had incredibly powerful innate divine abilities. Their only weakness was that their actual combat abilities were still lacking—their offense and defense weren't strong enough. But now, joining the squad created a perfect complement.
"Haha... With you two, our hunting squad can dominate this planar battlefield! As long as anyone dares to get close, and they're within the range of Linley's innate divine ability, they're finished." Reisgem was overjoyed. Originally, he had invited Linley and Bebe mainly because of Bebe's innate divine ability and his existing connection with Linley.
But now, he realized that Linley's innate ability was an exceptional support skill on the planar battlefield.
The planar battlefield lasted a thousand years, so Linley and the others weren't in a hurry. They stayed in the cave for three days before setting out. During those three days, Linley learned from Reisgem about some of the battles between lords on the battlefield.
"On the planar battlefield, who dares to charge around recklessly? Those who do have enough strength. Otherwise, they've got a screw loose."
"As for the weaker lords, they're all cunning as hell. They hide and don't show themselves, using puppets to scout the situation. If they encounter someone weak, they fight. If they encounter someone strong, they don't come out at all."
"Of course, most form into small teams. Two people, three people, or even four or five. The most important thing about forming a team is—mutual trust. Otherwise, if team members start killing each other, that's a disaster."
"Linley, Bebe, our targets on this planar battlefield are other teams! As for solo fighters? The strong ones, we can't kill. The weak ones, they hide so well we rarely catch one. It's much better to have group battles with other teams—that's the most intense way, and it's easier to get badges."
Reisgem shared a lot of information with Linley, and Linley understood that their previous strategy of lying in ambush was extremely inefficient. Because those who dared to walk alone were almost always very strong. It was only thanks to Bebe's innate divine ability that they had killed Lang Slo! Otherwise, Linley and his group wouldn't have gotten a single badge.
Linley, Bebe, Reisgem, and the silent Lei Hong walked together.
"Haha, with the four of us, very few people recognize us. That makes it easier to lure in big fish." Reisgem grinned. "Linley, when an enemy gets close enough, your only job is to use your innate divine ability to trap them so they can't escape. Leave the killing to us."
"Got it." Linley smiled calmly.
He admitted that his soul attacks were only average among lord-level experts. With Bebe, Linley had always used this kind of coordination.
"It's hard to run into anyone." Bebe looked around and muttered.
The planar battlefield was always cold and desolate. Looking up, they could see the multicolored spatial turbulence deep in the sky. Amid the howling wind, Linley's group moved forward quietly. They didn't hide, didn't use death god puppets—they just walked side by side.
Linley frowned.
"Reisgem, I think we should split up, keep some distance between us. Otherwise, if all four of us are together, other lords will see us from far away and avoid us." Linley suggested.
"Split up? How will we coordinate?" Reisgem countered.
Linley smiled. "Like this: the four of us split into two teams. Bebe and I are soul-linked, so we can sense each other's presence. Even if we can't see each other, we won't get lost."
"That's a good idea." Reisgem nodded quickly.
"Then... Linley, you come with me. Lei Hong, you go with Bebe. Our two teams will stay about two or three miles apart. At that distance, if a fight breaks out, we can get there quickly." Reisgem arranged directly. Linley and Bebe had no objections, so they split up.
Linley and Bebe could both sense each other's location, so they took the lead in deciding which direction to go.
Less than half a day after splitting up—
"Boss, we've found a target." Bebe's delighted voice rang in Linley's mind.
PS: Chapter one is here!