# Chapter 3: Strength
Odin looked down in terror at Saint below, transmitting mentally, "Lord Prefecture Master! Lord Prefecture Master!" Odin was truly panicked. Having witnessed Linley's strength, he knew clearly... he had no chance to fight back. Blindly, he could only hope for Lord Saint to act.
"Shut up!" Saint transmitted back angrily.
Saint's eyes were bloodshot, his heart filled with rage. Under the watch of so many garrison soldiers, he had been kicked to the ground—this was humiliation! Saint was of noble status; having suffered such disgrace, he naturally wanted revenge. But he simply didn't have the strength to retaliate!
Many surrounding soldiers stared at Linley in shock, occasionally glancing at Saint, whose body was covered in bloodstains.
"If I retaliate now, I'll only die. Endure it, endure it!" Being watched by everyone made Saint feel even more humiliated. "If I die, it's all over. This Linley is probably truly a Paragon. Even if word spreads that I lost to him, it's not shameful." Saint consoled himself this way.
Saint was worried about face, but Odin was worried about his life.
"If I don't escape now, there's no hope." Odin immediately dove downward, intending to burrow into the ground and flee.
"Hmph."
Linley smiled faintly. A blurry afterimage appeared, and Linley was already below Odin.
"Slap!" Linley's palm struck Odin's face, sending him flying backward like a torn sandbag crashing into the castle wall. A dull impact sound echoed as the castle wall cracked. "His speed is terrifying." Before Odin could recover from his shock, Linley was already beside him like a shadow.
Odin caught a glimpse of Linley, and his expression changed drastically.
Linley, however, calmly extended his hand. At the same time, 108 streams of earthy yellow airflow spread out, forming a cage that completely bound Odin. The terrifying binding force made it impossible for Odin to break free.
Even Hermes, whose material attack rivaled a Paragon's, had his speed greatly affected by Linley's technique.
A mere Seven Star Fiend couldn't resist the pressure imbued with the might of the will.
Completely immobilized!
"Yale. You decide how he dies." Linley turned to look at Yale, who flew over at that moment, a hint of madness in his eyes.
"Ah!" Odin struggled frantically against the crushing force.
One had to know that when Linley had reached the Highgod level, his gravity space could already make ordinary Seven Star Fiends struggle to resist. Now, imbued with the might of the will, its power was increased by more than a hundred times. Odin was like a trapped beast in a cage, roaring madly but unable to escape the crushing range.
"You want to kill me? Haha... kid, you think you're worthy of killing me?" Odin stared at Yale with bloodshot eyes, his gaze full of contempt.
"Linley! If you've got the guts, just kill me!" Odin roared.
At this point, Odin understood there was no hope. Saint, Anita, and the many garrison soldiers could only watch silently from afar as Odin struggled like a trapped beast. Earlier, they had wanted to attack and even kill Linley and his group, but after Linley made his move, they no longer had any thought of resistance.
"Just kill you?" Linley smiled coldly. "Dream on."
"Hmph." Odin suddenly sneered. A transparent ripple shot from Odin's eyes toward Yale.
"Pfft." Within the earthy yellow light shield surrounding Odin, a transparent sword ripple appeared, directly dispersing the soul attack. Linley glanced coldly at Odin. "Odin, trapped in my gravity prison, you have no ability to resist. Don't try any tricks."
"Go ahead." Linley looked at Yale.
Yale nodded slightly. A deep cyan longspear appeared in his hand.
"My brothers. My wife and children. My parents..." Yale's body trembled slightly, his lips turning white as he stared intently at Odin. Then Yale's body suddenly arched like a drawn bow storing power, before exploding outward. The longspear in his hand carried boundless power as it thrust toward Odin.
Whoosh...
"Pfft!" The deep cyan longspear struck Odin's body surface, but couldn't even pierce his skin.
Yale was stunned.
"Ha! Haha..." Odin threw his head back and laughed wildly, laughing maniacally. "Linley, Linley! You want your brother to kill me? Haha! He's a mere Demigod, while I'm a Seven Star Fiend among Highgods! My energy defense is close to a Highgod artifact. His pitiful attack can't even pierce my skin! Haha, kill me? Dream on!!!"
Yale's face turned pale.
"I... I..." Yale's body trembled slightly. "I want revenge, but I..."
Linley had already bound Odin and given him to Yale to kill, but Yale's attack power was simply too low. Odin was, after all, at the Seven Star Fiend level. With Highgod divine power combined with profound mysteries, his material defense was close to a Highgod artifact. As for soul defense, Odin, who cultivated the Edicts of Death, was even stronger. Yale couldn't harm him at all.
Odin suddenly glared viciously at Yale, as if wanting to devour him. "Kid, you want to kill me? Dream on! With your pathetic strength, you can't even harm a single hair on my head!"
"Odin." Linley looked at him coldly.
"Linley, what are you so arrogant about?" Odin, knowing he was doomed, no longer feared anything. He looked down at Linley, laughing. "Didn't you want your brother to kill me? Too bad! He's too weak. You, his brother, caught me and gave me to him to kill, but he can't even do that! It's fated—he can never take revenge with his own hands! Hmm... I still remember how that Yale's family died, one by one. So wonderful!"
"Bastard!" Yale roared.
"You can't kill me. You can never take revenge with your own hands." Odin said smugly.
Linley's face was as cold as frost. "Absorb it into your body and activate it." Linley flipped his hand, and a drop of black liquid floated toward Yale.
"Oh?" Odin's expression changed.
"Aren't you so tough? An ordinary Seven Star Fiend, and one who cultivates the Edicts of Death at that. Let's see if your body can withstand an attack infused with Sovereign power!" Linley said with a cold smile.
Yale's eyes lit up.
"Third brother, thank you." Yale immediately absorbed that drop of Sovereign power into his body. Then, with a "boom," a black halo spread across Yale's body surface, and a terrifying aura radiated outward. Yale gripped the deep cyan longspear, black halos swirling around it. Yale let out a low roar—
"Die!"
Like lightning, Yale thrust the deep cyan longspear madly toward Odin.
"No—" Odin only had time to let out a miserable scream.
Yale didn't directly stab Odin's head. Instead, he stabbed wildly and chaotically, piercing dozens of holes in Odin's body before finally thrusting through his head!
"Pant... pant..." After stabbing frantically and continuously, Yale began to tremble slightly.
Odin's body went limp, completely unresponsive. A divine artifact floated out from within him but, due to repulsive force, leaned against Odin's corpse.
"He's dead. This Odin is dead. I killed him with my own hands." Yale threw his head back and laughed, but tears streamed down his face. At this moment, Yale was delirious.
Seeing this, Linley breathed a sigh of relief.
Yale had released the deepest hatred in his heart. From now on, things would be much better.
After a long while, Yale finally calmed down. He turned to look at Linley, his eyes filled with gratitude. Linley smiled and flew over, patting him on the shoulder. "Let's go!" They were brothers who had grown up together; many things didn't need to be said.
George and the others were also happy for Yale.
Then, Linley and his large group boarded the metallic lifeform and departed.
Meanwhile, North Prison Prefecture Master Saint and the others exchanged glances, secretly relieved.
"Lord Prefecture Master, this Linley is... is truly too strong." A green-robed burly man beside him said in a low voice. "Odin was a Seven Star Fiend, yet Linley trapped him effortlessly, unable to resist. What kind of technique is that? And Linley's speed is simply unbelievable."
With speed like that, an ordinary commander facing a Paragon had no chance to fight back.
"Such speed, and that energy could trap a Seven Star Fiend... and he only used ordinary earth divine power." Saint's expression was grave. "This Linley has probably truly reached the Paragon level."
The people beside him were stunned.
Paragon?
"Let's go. Everyone back!" Saint's face darkened as he barked.
---
"Whoosh, whoosh..." The wind howled like sharp blades scraping past.
Iron Blade Gorge, within the castle.
On the open ground, two massive teleportation arrays were laid out. Suddenly, one of them lit up with dazzling, myriad-colored light. The Bloodpeak Army soldiers nearby turned to look.
The light dissipated, revealing a group of people.
Among those Bloodpeak Army soldiers, one's eyes lit up. He slightly bowed and said, "Greetings, milord." The last time Linley had used this teleportation array to leave, this soldier had clearly seen him and knew that Linley possessed the Bloodpeak Sovereign's medallion.
"Hmm." Linley nodded slightly. "We'll wait here a moment before leaving."
"As you wish, milord." The Bloodpeak Army soldier smiled.
Linley and his group waited on the open ground. Bebe muttered, "Boss, you all should have come quickly from the Yulan continent. Why aren't you here yet? I haven't seen Nini in a thousand years, or Nana..." Bebe mumbled about his wife and daughter.
"They'll be here soon." Linley said with a smile. "It takes a while for a large group to fly from the Yulan continent to the Arctic Icefield..."
"Linley, little Wharton is coming too, right?" Hogg said, a mix of nervousness and excitement.
"Yes, Father." Linley nodded with a smile.
Father hadn't seen Wharton in a long time. Wharton had been sent to the O'Brien Empire early on, and when Father died, he probably only remembered Wharton as a child. Linley smiled and said, "Father, you might not recognize Wharton at first glance."
"I'll definitely recognize him." Hogg was absolutely certain.
"Oh, they've entered the teleportation array. They're coming." Linley said. His fire-type divine clone was coming with the large group.
Linley and his group all watched the teleportation array. It lit up with myriad-colored light again. After a moment, the light completely dissipated, revealing a large crowd gathered within. At the front were Linley's fire-type divine clone and Delia. The fire-type divine clone immediately flew toward Linley and merged directly into him.
As it merged, the five souls became one.
Immediately...
Linley's four already soul-variant souls began transmitting soul power to the fire-type clone's soul, slowly beginning to change each other. After all, the five souls were originally one.
"Father!" Wade, Taylor, and Sasha all ran toward Linley.
"Father!!!" Wharton stared blankly at Hogg.
Hogg also stared at this sturdy young man. Wharton's face faintly bore traces of Hogg, and he looked somewhat like Linley. Most importantly... Hogg looked at Wharton's eyes, seeming to see the big eyes of the child Wharton from long ago. "Wharton?" Hogg said softly.
"It's me, Father." Wharton stepped forward and embraced Hogg.
"Good, good." Hogg couldn't help but tear up.
After a long while, the father and son finally parted.
"Father, look, this is your grandson Wade, this is Taylor, and this is your granddaughter Sasha..." Linley walked over and introduced them with a smile.
Wharton also quickly introduced them. "Father, this is your grandson Ciney... and that one, Annow, come here. Meet your great-grandfather. Father, and that lively little boy is Annow's son." Many people had come this time—almost everyone who had reached the Saint level, with only a few left behind.
"Good, good." Hogg nodded repeatedly, unable to stop smiling.
"Alright, Father, let's head to the Celestial Sacrifice Mountains first." Linley said with a smile.
Immediately, this massive, bustling group entered the metallic lifeform and flew away from Iron Blade Gorge.
The Bloodpeak Army soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment.
"These big shots are really something else! They bring their entire family—over a hundred people—to the Infernal Realm all at once. Grandfathers, grandsons... so many people."
"Hey, Captain, you called that brown-haired man 'milord.' Who is he?"
"You don't know. That day when I was on duty, that brown-haired man had a Sovereign's medallion. Using the teleportation array was free! Even most Sovereign's envoys don't have a Sovereign's medallion. Without a certain status, how could you get such a treasure?" The Bloodpeak Army soldiers chatted idly.
Meanwhile, Linley and his entire family were heading toward the Celestial Sacrifice Mountains.