Chapter 54: A Flash Passes
In the planar battlefield, inside a cave chamber, Linley sat cross-legged in quiet meditation.
Linley was indeed devoting himself to cultivation, attempting to fuse the profound mysteries of the four laws. Whether it was his main body or his three divine clones, all were focused on this aspect. As for his fire-type divine clone, it continued to cultivate the laws of the fire element.
Suddenly, Linley opened his eyes.
"This really is a bit strange," Linley said with a smile on his face, but confusion in his heart. "My main body and my three divine clones all underwent soul mutation. Why is it that the souls of the clones aren't as strong as the main body's? And the power of the will—the main body's soul also has stronger willpower."
The stronger the soul, the faster one's comprehension and cultivation speed would be.
Because after the soul mutation, he could sense the four types of elemental laws. So Linley had his main body and three clones all comprehend the four elements, but it was clear that the main body's research speed far surpassed that of the other three clones.
"Since we all underwent soul mutation at the same time, why is there a difference?" Linley thought about it but couldn't figure it out. He shook his head, closed his eyes, and once again immersed himself in cultivation.
What Linley didn't know was that the reason for the soul mutation was that he had fallen into a coma after being severely injured. During this unconscious state, the fragile souls instinctively attracted the various elemental energies. At the time, Linley's main body and three clones were all hit and fell unconscious, but the souls of the three clones only sensed the elements corresponding to their respective attributes. Only the main body's soul simultaneously attracted all four elements.
Thus, the main body's soul was the first to begin mutating.
Because of the main body's soul mutation, and since the four souls were originally one, it triggered the gradual mutation of the other three souls. However, since the main body's soul was the primary one, it naturally became the strongest after the mutation! The souls of the three clones were weaker than the main body's.
In fact, this was the same principle.
For example, Sovereigns. The power of a Sovereign was extremely formidable, but Sovereigns generally also had divine clones. The divine clones of a Sovereign, benefiting from the main body, also contained some power. However, the power of a Sovereign's clone was far, far weaker than that of the Sovereign's main body. This was a matter of primary and secondary.
For Sovereigns, the primary and secondary distinction was that the 'clone' that became a Sovereign was the main one, while the other clones were secondary.
For Linley, his main body was the primary one, and the other clones were secondary.
With nearly three hundred years left until the great decisive battle, Linley and the other three lived a leisurely life. Sometimes they cultivated, and occasionally they gathered to chat about everything.
Time passed without notice in cultivation. In the blink of an eye, a hundred years had passed.
Linley and the other three sat together. Resijing asked expectantly, "Linley, I saw you smiling so happily. Did you make a breakthrough in fusing the profound mysteries of different laws?"
"Still far from it," Linley said with a faint smile.
"Linley is being very modest," a deep voice rumbled. It was Lei Hong who spoke.
"He's starting to learn how to hide his strength now. Only those who are too strong need to hide their strength. Hmph, for weaklings like us, we wish we could scare people. Four-clone soul mutation, tsk tsk. I know that fusing profound mysteries of different laws greatly increases one's power. Fusing two profound mysteries of different laws is comparable to fusing three profound mysteries of the same law. Fusing three profound mysteries of different laws equals fusing five profound mysteries of the same law. Fusing four profound mysteries of different laws... equals fusing seven profound mysteries of the same law! That's a whole level stronger than a Paragon!" Resijing exclaimed with emotion.
Four-clone soul mutation indeed had far greater potential than a Paragon.
"My big brother isn't powerful, then who is?" Bebe said smugly. He didn't know the meaning of modesty.
"Fusing profound mysteries is powerful, but it's also much more difficult," Linley said, shaking his head with a smile. "I know someone. I met him when I was traveling in the Violet Jing Continent. His name is Reihomis. He was the one who killed Aliquinn, the original master of Pussero. With Reihomis's talent, he only had a breakthrough in a moment of enlightenment during a life-or-death battle with Aliquinn. He only had a two-clone soul mutation! Just fusing two profound mysteries of different laws was that difficult for him."
Bebe, however, grinned and said, "Big brother, don't be modest. Since you've already achieved a four-clone soul mutation, there's nothing you can't do."
Linley smiled, took a sip of wine.
"But big brother, now that your soul has mutated, your cultivation speed should have increased dramatically. Have you been helping your fire-type divine clone cultivate, trying to get it to the Highgod level as soon as possible?" Bebe asked. "Then, when you fuse the four types of divine power, it will be even more powerful than Sovereign power."
Linley's main body's soul was now thousands or even tens of thousands of times stronger than before the mutation!
His comprehension and deduction speed would also be much faster. If the main body's soul also studied the fire-type laws, the cultivation speed of the fire-type divine clone would increase dramatically. It might even reach the Highgod level before the planar war ended.
"No rush," Linley said, shaking his head with a smile. "For now, I don't want to expose the fact of my soul mutation. So I'm not in a hurry to let my fire-type divine clone reach the Highgod level. Right now, fusing the different laws is the most important thing. I'll focus all my energy on that." Linley understood.
Cultivating the fire-type divine clone was slow!
But he had been in the planar battlefield for seven hundred years. In these seven hundred years, the fifth profound mystery of the fire-type divine clone was almost complete. Although it was slow compared to his other divine clones, he wasn't in a hurry.
However, Resijing had guessed correctly from the start. In the hundred years since Linley's soul mutation, he had also managed to fuse the 'Earth Pulse' profound mystery of the earth laws with the 'Softness' profound mystery of the water element laws. Of course, it was only a preliminary fusion.
Time passed. The day of the great decisive battle was drawing closer and closer.
Inside the stone chamber.
Linley sat cross-legged in meditation. His four souls were simultaneously immersed in deduction and comprehension.
In his mind, he simulated virtual images. On the vast earth, the pulses of the earth continuously radiated outward. But strands of energy, like those the Death Sovereign had demonstrated in the Netherworld Hotel, began to wander and coil, weaving through the ripples of the earth's pulses, influencing them.
Gradually, the earth pulses and these endless, resilient strands began to interact with each other, to fit together...
"Big brother, big brother!" Suddenly, a voice rang out.
In the stone chamber, Linley opened his eyes and saw Bebe. "What is it, Bebe?" Linley asked with a smile.
"Big brother, you've been cultivating so hard you've lost track of time! This year is the last year of the thousand-year planar war. According to Resijing, the great decisive battle will probably happen in a month or two. Aren't we even going to go watch the great decisive battle?" Bebe asked back.
"The great decisive battle?"
Linley stood up directly and said with a smile, "Of course, we should go see it! I've been cultivating for so long; it's time to take a break."
The fusion of 'Earth Pulse' and 'Softness' profound mysteries, after three hundred years of comprehension by Linley's mutated four souls, still hadn't reached completion. He was still stuck at a bottleneck. No wonder fusing profound mysteries of different laws was so powerful. After all, the difficulty of fusion was also immense.
He walked out of the stone chamber and entered the hall.
In the hall, Resijing and Lei Hong were already standing. Resijing said cheerfully, "Linley, I was worried you wouldn't come. I know you've earned enough commander badges, but I haven't earned enough yet."
"We're a team. Since you're all going, how could I not go?" Linley said with a smile.
"Then, let's set off!" Resijing and Bebe led the way, with Linley and Lei Hong following behind. The four of them walked out of the cave.
Although three hundred years had passed, the planar battlefield was still as cold and desolate as ever. As they walked out of the cave passage, the knife-like cold wind blew against their faces, refreshing Linley's spirit. He looked around at the desolate wilderness. "This journey through the planar battlefield is about to end. The great decisive battle... the final feast!"
For Linley, this journey through the planar battlefield had indeed been a transformative experience.
The four of them headed directly towards the Star River.
In the wilderness, weeds grew wildly.
A man was lying on the ground. At first glance, he looked like a corpse left behind from a battle. He had messy, straw-like golden hair and predatory golden eyes. It was Hermes!
"Just one more commander badge! But for a full two hundred years, I haven't run into a single person." Hermes lay on the ground, muttering to himself. "Every single one of them relies on their speed. If they can't beat me, they immediately flee. Hmph, especially that kid from the Azure Dragon clan. I've run into him twice, and both times he relied on that gravity space."
Hermes was full of frustration but had no way to vent it.
"The great decisive battle is coming soon," Hermes muttered.
"It seems I'll have to participate in the great decisive battle to get the last commander badge. Once I get this last commander badge, I'll definitely ask a Sovereign to forge a spear for me! One that can be thrown for long-range attacks and also used for close combat. Hmph, with my material attack power, if I can throw it for long-range attacks, then let's see if those bastards have a chance to escape again!"
Indeed, with material attack power comparable to a Paragon, combined with a long-range Sovereign artifact, Hermes's deterrent power would be almost as great as a Paragon's.
"Hmph, I hope that kid from the Azure Dragon clan participates in the next planar war. Then, when I have an attack Sovereign artifact, I'll definitely teach him a good lesson." Hermes couldn't forget this person who had escaped his grasp twice.
Suddenly—
"Hmm?" Hermes, lying on the ground, raised an eyebrow. "Someone's coming, about ten thousand meters away!"
Hermes himself was born from the first golden mountain formed during the creation of the earth-type divine plane, after billions of years of gestation. He had an extraordinary innate ability to sense the earth, soil, and stone. Lying on the ground like this, he could clearly sense whether anyone was walking on the ground within a certain distance.
"Haha." Hermes sat up with a single motion, looking in the direction of the newcomers. His golden eyes gleamed. "Maybe I'll have to get this last military merit during the great decisive battle."
Then, Hermes's body merged into the earth. Earth Travel Technique!
On the wilderness, Linley and the other three walked side by side, chatting casually. With the strength of Linley's group of four, they truly had nothing to fear on this planar battlefield. Anyone who provoked them would simply be seeking death.
Linley's gaze focused, and he said with a faint smile, "Someone's coming. Everyone, be careful."
"Someone's coming?"
Resijing, Bebe, and Lei Hong were startled. They hadn't sensed anything. After his soul mutation, Linley had extremely strong control over his perception of the world. When an outsider approached within a certain range, Linley could easily detect them.
"It's an earth-type expert, using the Earth Travel Technique," Linley said as he spread his divine sense.
"So it's him." A hint of a smile appeared on Linley's face.
Hermes thought he was being stealthy. Normally, someone using the Earth Travel Technique would only be detected when they got within a hundred meters. But this common sense didn't apply to Paragons or people on Linley's level. Hermes, using the Earth Travel Technique, had been sensed by Linley from far away.
"Boom~" Suddenly, a hundred meters away, a huge figure burst out of the ground, charging towards Linley's group like a thunderbolt.
"It's you, kid from the Azure Dragon clan!" Hermes also recognized Linley. "This kid from the Azure Dragon clan can transform and also use gravity space. Killing him will be a bit troublesome!"
Like a thunderbolt, he instantly charged in front of the four.
"Huh? No transformation, no gravity space?" Hermes was stunned. He had fought Linley before and knew his strength. He had already charged in front of the four, and Linley still hadn't reacted?
Hermes, who had originally planned to attack the nearby 'Lei Hong', instead struck at Linley!
"You're asking for death yourself. Don't blame others." Hermes threw a punch, emitting a low rumble. Space twisted and cracked.
Resijing, Bebe, and Lei Hong stood by, watching the scene with smiles. Linley casually threw a punch, and instantly 108 earthen-yellow dragons surged out, forming a gravity space that directly bound and squeezed Hermes. Then Linley's space-shattering punch followed—
Inch of Earth, Foot of Sky!
"What... what's going on?" Hermes felt that the powerful binding and squeezing force around him had drastically reduced his speed, making him extremely uncomfortable. He had experienced this move from Linley before, but now its power was far, far greater than before!
His fist moved very slowly, completely unable to block Linley's punch.
"Bam!" The fist struck from below, hitting Hermes's chin. Hermes's entire body was sent flying into the air by the punch.