Chapter 32: What Is This?
The planar battlefield was, as always, silent and eerily cold.
The wind blew, sending gravel flying wildly.
Linley, Bebe, Reisgem, and Reihong were casually walking, looking for a suitable place to rest.
"Huh?" Reisgem suddenly turned his head to look behind them.
"What's wrong?" Bebe asked, puzzled. Linley, seeing this, also turned his head to look back, but behind them was still a desolate stretch of overgrown weeds, without a single person in sight.
Reisgem frowned and said, "It feels like someone's there."
Just as Reisgem finished speaking, Linley sensed two auras from the same camp's insignia far behind them. Those two auras were flying toward them at extreme speed. Linley focused his gaze. The originally chaotic, weed-covered ground suddenly burst forth with eight figures, flying directly toward Linley and his group.
Two were from the Dark Divine Plane, six were from the Light Divine Plane.
But at this moment, the battle lines were blurred.
"Montero!" Reihong's low voice rang out.
"Montero!" Reisgem's face changed. "Boom!" A violent black aura erupted from his body. He immediately used Sovereign power, and at the same time, a long spear appeared in his hand without warning. Without hesitation, Reisgem arched his waist like a drawn bow, then explosively unleashed his power, hurling the Sovereign artifact spear.
Crackle
Using Sovereign power, he unleashed his strongest strike. The purple spear flowed with black light, transforming into a black streak of light under extreme speed, leaving a crack in space behind it.
The Sovereign artifact spear shot toward a proud, aloof middle-aged man beside Montero.
"Hmph!" Beside the aloof middle-aged man, a petite green-haired girl suddenly erupted with white light. Like a whirlwind, she shifted horizontally, directly placing herself in front of the aloof middle-aged man. Her right fist, clad in a black glove, slammed fiercely toward the tip of the Sovereign artifact spear.
"Bang!"
Fist and spear tip collided.
"Boom!" The petite green-haired girl was sent flying backward by the rebound, the impact cracking space with several fissures. The purple Sovereign artifact spear flew back toward Reisgem at high speed.
"Reisgem, for killing members of the Augusta family, today I'll collect some debts!" Montero laughed loudly as his entire body blazed with a white halo. Like a great bird, he flew toward Reisgem. While in midair, his body suddenly shot out countless white threads, entangling Reisgem.
Reisgem was enraged. He transmitted urgently, "All of you, fight without restraint! Use Sovereign power! Kill!"
"Boom!" Reihong stomped heavily on the ground.
"Rumble…" The ground beneath the enemy's feet suddenly bulged upward. In an instant, the earth was lifted, pressing directly toward the seven enemies and obstructing their vision.
"Kill." Reihong's eyes were filled with killing intent as he charged out.
Just then, the seven enemy figures also shot forward simultaneously. "What rotten luck—one from the Augusta family, one is Reisgem. They use Sovereign power right from the start, not knowing how to conserve it at all." The silver-robed woman, Lanasha, muttered inwardly, but her body also erupted with a cyan halo.
The battle erupted in an instant!
Linley instantly dragonized, the Mirage Sword appearing in his hand. He immediately used a drop of Destruction Sovereign power! Linley sighed inwardly in admiration, "Having a whole flask of Sovereign power really makes a difference!" If he only had two or three drops, would he dare to use it so freely from the start like this?
Linley also understood why the Four Divine Beasts clan had been able to spread across all planes and remain so powerful back then. Back then, the Four Divine Beasts clan probably used Sovereign power without much restraint, just like he was doing now.
"Uman, you handle the one from the Azure Dragon clan! The Azure Dragon clan—you can counter him perfectly." Montero gave orders while attacking Reisgem.
Actually, orders weren't necessary. Since Reisgem's side only had four people, Montero tying up Reisgem left the other seven to deal with Linley and the other two—more than enough.
"Don't worry!"
The silver-haired, cold-faced burly man in a golden robe moved his feet, appearing before Linley in an instant.
In truth, Linley wasn't only being targeted by this Uman. With so few enemies to go around, before Uman could act, a young man wielding a long whip from Lanasha's side had already attacked Linley. The whip lashed out, lengthening like a massive python, its tail whipping directly at Linley.
Linley's body retreated swiftly. "Bang!"
The Mirage Sword blocked the whip. Linley's body immediately became shrouded in black light, forming a vast Blackstone Space. Using Destruction Sovereign power for this technique, though not as powerful as using Earth Sovereign power, still produced a gravitational force far exceeding that of using Highgod power.
Just as Linley blocked the whip, the golden-robed burly man descended from above.
"Huh?" Linley was shocked to see a three-meter-long spiked club suddenly appear in the golden-robed burly man's hand. The man swung the club directly down at Linley's head.
"Crackle…"
The spikes on the club tore through space, leaving cracks in their wake.
"Not good." Linley quickly changed the direction of gravity. He had been pulling downward, which only made the golden-robed burly man faster. "Repulsion!"
But changing the gravity direction was too slow—the golden-robed burly man had already arrived!
The spiked club was right before his eyes. Linley could even feel a powerful gravitational field. "This golden-robed burly man is a practitioner of the Laws of the Earth." Sensing the intense threat, Linley flipped the Mirage Sword, infused with Destruction Sovereign power, unleashing its maximum force.
The tip of the Mirage Sword met the spiked club head-on.
"Clang!"
Linley felt a terrifying force transmit from the Mirage Sword to his palm. "Whoosh!" The shocking impact shattered the dragon scales on Linley's palm, blood seeping out. The Mirage Sword was knocked back, rebounding toward Linley's shoulder, while the spiked club continued its descent.
It slammed heavily onto Linley's shoulder, blocked only by the Mirage Sword.
If not for the Mirage Sword's obstruction, that blow would have crushed his head.
"It's a Sovereign artifact!" Linley was certain now—the spiked club was a Sovereign artifact!
"Bang!"
Dragon scales burst, bones snapped, blood sprayed. Linley's left arm was severed. His entire body, like a meteor, was smashed directly into the ground. "Swoosh!" He plunged deep underground, leaving only a large hole on the surface. The golden-robed burly man with the spiked club didn't hesitate, following him into the earth.
"Boss!" Bebe's face changed drastically at the sight.
Linley's strength, though at the Commander level, was among the weakest of Commanders. Facing a practitioner of the Laws of the Earth wielding a Sovereign artifact and possessing immense power, he could be beaten to death.
"Bang!" Bebe was sent flying.
But Bebe was unharmed. He ignored using his innate divine ability to retaliate against his attacker. In that instant, Bebe also plunged into the hole Linley had created. "Boss, you can't die!" Bebe shot deep underground.
In truth, up to this point, Montero's side didn't know Bebe was the Godeater Rat. When facing Bayer, Bebe had used his innate divine ability inside a mountain, unseen by outsiders. Also, Bebe's trademark—his straw hat—had been destroyed during the battle with Bayer.
Though Bebe could reform it with divine power, having just survived a life-or-death struggle, he hadn't had the leisure to think about making a new one.
Without the straw hat, Montero and the others didn't recognize him.
If they had known Bebe was the Godeater Rat, Montero might have changed his strategy. After all, they had someone with a soul-defense Sovereign artifact. Unfortunately, they didn't know Bebe's identity.
"Boom!" The massive spiked club struck again.
Linley's Mirage Sword blocked once more.
"Bang!" Linley was smashed further downward. Thanks to five hundred years of cultivation, Linley had made progress in the profound mysteries of the Laws of the Earth. He had reached a bottleneck in fusing four profound mysteries. Though he hadn't broken through, his strength had increased considerably. This allowed him to survive the attacks of this powerful enemy without being killed outright.
He could barely hold on, using the Mirage Sword to save his life time and again.
But—
In terms of weapons, he was slightly inferior.
Both he and his opponent were using Sovereign power.
As for profound mysteries, his opponent clearly surpassed him! Though within the Blackstone Space, his opponent was too close. Linley was falling, while his opponent above kept swinging the spiked club downward.
"Boom!"
Another strike.
Linley barely defended, but his body plunged again. He crashed through soil and rock, sinking deeper into the earth.
"I can't go any deeper! If I go further, I'll encounter spatial tears." Linley knew well the dangers of the planar battlefield's depths. At a certain depth, one would encounter spatial tears. The deeper one went, the denser the tears became, until eventually entering the spatial turbulence.
"Haha, you've got good endurance! If I can't kill you, I'll send you into the spatial turbulence!" The violent voice echoed in Linley's mind.
"Bang!"
Another club strike!
Linley struggled to defend. His palm was covered in blood, his body stained with it. Though it seemed slow, Linley's descent was actually instantaneous. The golden-haired burly man kept swinging the spiked club, giving Linley no respite. At this critical moment—
A massive Azure Dragon phantom suddenly appeared around Linley, its golden eyes fixed on the golden-robed burly man, Uman.
Innate divine ability—Dragon Roar!
But in the blink of an eye during the innate divine ability, Uman struck again with the club. "Bang!" Linley's body plunged once more. With his strength, all Linley could do was avoid being killed; he couldn't stop his descent.
"Crackle…" A several-meter-long, half-meter-wide spatial tear swept past Linley's side, dissolving some soil before vanishing.
Linley broke out in a cold sweat. Spatial tears would only increase. With the impact force of the spiked club, he would descend at least dozens or even hundreds of meters. He had already reached the limit. Another few dozen or hundred meters, and he would be banished into the spatial turbulence.
"You can take a lot, but… go down."
The golden-robed burly man, now free from the time effect, descended again, swinging the spiked club mercilessly at Linley.
"Hum…" A peculiar energy instantly engulfed the golden-robed burly man.
Innate divine ability—Devour!
"Damn it, die!" A furious roar rang out. Bebe arrived at this critical moment and kicked the golden-robed burly man hard. The man swung his club backward at the newcomer. "Bang!" Bebe was sent flying sideways into the soil.
"Bebe." Linley quickly flew toward Bebe.
"What kind of attack was that?" The golden-robed burly man sneered. "I didn't feel a thing." He had been focused on Linley below. When Bebe used his innate divine ability Devour, the man didn't see the Godeater Rat phantom above, so he didn't know the attack's power.
And Devour, against the golden-robed burly man's soul-defense Sovereign artifact, was like an egg hitting a rock—utterly useless.
The golden-robed burly man didn't realize the attack's potency, thinking it was just a normal strike.
"Swoosh." Linley had already reached Bebe's side.
"Boss, this guy isn't affected by my innate divine ability." Bebe transmitted.
"Haha, both of you die together." The voice echoed in Linley and Bebe's minds as the figure arrived.
Suddenly—
"Whoosh!" A terrifying spatial tear, ten meters long and one meter wide, appeared out of nowhere, directly separating Linley and Bebe from the golden-robed man. The man was startled and dared not approach. If he charged into the spatial tear, he would truly enter the spatial turbulence.
But strangely—
From within this spatial tear, a small black shadow shot out like lightning. After exiting the tear, it flew directly toward Linley and Bebe.
Linley reflexively reached out and caught it.
"Huh?"
Holding this black shadow, Linley felt a peculiar energy flow into his body. Bebe, beside him, clearly saw what it was—it appeared to be an ordinary, beautiful crown, but it had lost its luster. The empty grooves where gems had once been set were bare, clearly missing their jewels. The crown seemed dull and faded.