Chapter 2: The Second Chapter Arrives!
Gaisreisen was right—it truly was a celebration for the entire clan!
Not only the high-ranking members of the family, but also many ordinary clan members gathered throughout the Celestial Sacrifice Mountain Range, all cheerfully drinking large cups of wine and laughing loudly. Having a Paragon-level expert emerge from the family filled even the common clansmen with a sense of pride!
Back when the four ancestors were still alive, how prosperous was the family?
After the ancestors died, the family declined, to the point where the Eight Great Clans would block them at the mountain range and hurl insults. This was a disgrace! It also left those family members who had experienced the clan’s glory feeling deeply lost.
Linley’s rise rekindled their pride and honor.
It was an incredibly wild celebration—even the guards on duty joined in the drinking and festivities. With a Paragon-level Highgod present, the guards felt at ease; no one dared provoke the Four Divine Beasts Clan.
Late at night, the violet moon hung high in the sky.
Within the Celestial Sacrifice Mountain Range, in the Azure Dragon Clan’s territory, a mansion had been built atop a high mountain. It occupied a vast area, far larger than even the clan leader’s residence. It looked simple at first glance, but upon closer inspection... even the courtyard walls were adorned with exquisite, intricate carvings. To Linley’s eye, it was clear that only a master sculptor could have achieved such work.
And at this moment...
In front of this mansion stood only Linley and Gaisreisen.
Linley couldn’t help but glance at Gaisreisen and thought to himself, “This clan leader has prepared quite a lot for me.”
“Clan leader, I’m staying here?” Linley asked in return.
“Linley.” Gaisreisen said with a smile, “You are now the strongest expert of our Four Divine Beasts Clan! When outsiders mention the Four Divine Beasts Clan, you’re the first one they think of. Your residence should match your status. Besides, this place is large enough—you have many family and friends. It’s more than sufficient.”
Linley nodded upon hearing this.
This newly built mansion was comparable to Dragonblood Castle in the Yulan Continent. It could accommodate not just a hundred people, but even a thousand.
“Then I’ll accept it.” Linley was straightforward.
Gaisreisen smiled and nodded: “Next year, you can move your family and friends here.” Warden and the others were already staying in the Grand Canyon. Hogg had gone to meet with the Baruch clan’s ancestors. For Hogg and Warden, meeting their clan’s forebears was a very important matter.
“No rush.” Linley said, “My family also needs to spend more time with the ancestors of our Yulan Continent lineage.”
“That’s true.” Gaisreisen nodded with a smile. “Linley... look.” As he spoke, a small jade bottle appeared in Gaisreisen’s hand.
This kind of jade bottle had a very narrow mouth, typically used to store refined Soul Gold Pearls or other small, granular items.
“This is?” Linley frowned. “Divine Sovereign power?”
“Yes. Earth-type Divine Sovereign power.” Gaisreisen said with a smile. “Linley, I know you primarily cultivate the Laws of the Earth. When using Divine Sovereign power, Earth-type is the best fit. So we’ve prepared this for you! As the strongest expert of our clan, you should naturally use the most suitable Divine Sovereign power.”
This small jade bottle of Divine Sovereign power, though far less than the flask Resplendent Crystal had once given him, still contained over a thousand drops.
“Clan leader.” Linley didn’t take it but instead shook his head. “This jade bottle of Divine Sovereign power is far too much. Since the four ancestors died, our Four Divine Beasts Clan has lost its source of Divine Sovereign power. Every drop used is one less. These should be kept for the other Elders of the clan.”
Linley knew his own strength—even using Destruction-type Divine Sovereign power, he was unafraid of Paragons, and after Dragonforming, he could even gain a slight advantage.
“Haha...”
Gaisreisen laughed. “Linley, you’re overthinking it. Back then, our clan used Divine Sovereign power so sparingly for two reasons: first, we had no source; second, the Eight Great Clans were oppressing us. Divine Sovereign power was consumed too quickly—one battle used a drop, and it often took dozens of battles to kill an enemy Elder. The consumption was too fast, and the clan didn’t dare waste it. After all, we didn’t know the clan’s future prospects back then... so we had to conserve.”
“But now, Linley, you’ve become a Paragon. Who would dare provoke our Four Divine Beasts Clan?” Gaisreisen laughed heartily.
Linley was somewhat persuaded by Gaisreisen’s words.
With him around, indeed, no one would be foolish enough to provoke the clan, so the opportunities to consume Divine Sovereign power would be fewer.
“Linley, take it.” Gaisreisen urged.
Linley hesitated briefly.
“How about this!” Linley flipped his hand, and Earth-type divine power along with the surrounding earth elements converged, forming a black bottle in his hand. Linley pointed with one finger, and a stream of black liquid emerged from his palm, flowing into the black bottle.
This black liquid was Destruction-type Divine Sovereign power.
Linley had an enormous amount of Destruction-type Divine Sovereign power.
In a moment, he filled a small bottle. This small bottle was at most a tenth of a flask’s capacity.
“What are you doing?” Gaisreisen was stunned.
“Clan leader, I’ll exchange this bottle of Destruction-type Divine Sovereign power for your bottle of Earth-type Divine Sovereign power. Indeed, Earth-type Divine Sovereign power works better for me in combat.” Linley smiled and handed over the small black bottle. If the clan had plenty of Divine Sovereign power, he would have accepted it.
But the clan didn’t have much, and this small bottle likely represented a significant portion of their Earth-type Divine Sovereign power reserves.
“Linley.” Gaisreisen quickly said, “This won’t do, you—”
“Take it, or I won’t accept yours.” Linley shook his head. Gaisreisen could only smile wryly and nod: “Alright.” He accepted the small bottle of Destruction-type Divine Sovereign power, while Linley took the small bottle of Earth-type Divine Sovereign power. For Linley... he had plenty of Destruction-type Divine Sovereign power, and given his strength, he rarely had occasion to use it. Exchanging some for Earth-type Divine Sovereign power was very beneficial to him.
A dozen or so years passed in the blink of an eye.
Linley also noticed the change in the clan members’ attitudes toward him, including the clan leader. Linley realized... that since becoming a Paragon, he had become the spiritual leader of the entire Four Divine Beasts Clan. It was like the War God’s status in the O’Brien Empire or the High Priest’s in the Yulan Empire.
Linley’s mansion was treated like a sacred ground of the clan.
On the empty lawn inside the mansion, a large group of people had gathered. Linley, Reynold, Yale, and George were sitting together, drinking fruit wine and chatting leisurely. Of course... the one chatting was Linley’s Water-type divine clone; his other clones, including his main body, were all in cultivation.
After all, the fastest way to train was with Linley’s main body.
“Elder Linley.” A guard at the mansion’s entrance ran over and bowed.
“Hmm?” Linley looked at him.
“Elder Linley, the clan leader sent word that a Prefect from the Azure Floating Continent wishes to see you.” The guard bowed.
Linley nodded faintly with a smile, while simultaneously spreading his divine sense, instantly covering the entire Celestial Sacrifice Mountain Range, naturally including Gaisreisen and that Prefect. Linley sent a divine message: “Clan leader, tell this Prefect that I am in cultivation and cannot receive guests. Unless he has something important... please handle it for me.”
Gaisreisen was startled.
Linley’s divine message had been sent without him even noticing, and he sighed inwardly: “As expected of a Paragon. His soul power far surpasses mine.” Gaisreisen also knew Linley’s temperament—he had no interest in purely social visits.
“Alright, I’ll handle it for you.” Gaisreisen replied. “From now on, should I turn away everyone like this unless they have something important?”
“Yes.” Linley sent back. “Unless it’s someone I know, like Resplendent Crystal and others. If I’m not familiar with them, and there’s no important matter, turn them all away.”
Linley’s decision was wise, because in the days following his return, after that Prefect from the Azure Floating Continent came, visitors arrived every few months or even years. Some wanted to befriend Linley, some wanted him to do favors, and others wanted to become his disciple.
In short, there were many annoyances.
Fortunately, the Four Divine Beasts Clan blocked them, so no one could actually see Linley.
In fact, it was normal for many people to want to see Linley. After all, Paragon-level Highgods rarely revealed where they lived, making them very hard to find.
“Look at him.” A voice said to Linley. “That person who wanted to see you managed to send this letter, and it clearly states his matter. He really has a great grievance, and he’s truly pitiful. Uncle, won’t you show some kindness and help him?”
Linley glanced at Ina with a smile.
“Nana.” Bebe glared at his daughter. “There are countless people in the Infernal Realm with grievances. If you ask your uncle to save one, what about the millions of others with grievances? In the Infernal Realm, people are killed every moment. Are those who die all deserving of death? They’re also wronged. Do you want your uncle to become an enemy of the entire Infernal Realm and avenge all the dead?”
Ina was taken aback.
Ina and Weide had grown up under Linley and Bebe’s protection, experiencing far less hardship. Unlike Linley and the others, who had walked the edge of life and death, they didn’t see the world as so simple.
“If I had to help everyone I’m not related to, I’d need to split into billions of clones.” Linley chuckled.
Ina pouted and wrinkled her nose.
“Forget about helping others—I still have many of my own matters unresolved.” Linley sighed.
“Huh?” Ina looked at him curiously.
Linley smiled but didn’t elaborate.
Though these days were peaceful and happy, Linley still noticed his father Hogg occasionally staring off into space alone. Linley understood—his father was thinking of his mother. Linley had always been thinking... when should he go to the Divine Light Plane to ask the Sovereign of Light to free his mother?
Inside Linley’s mansion, many people were together.
“Third brother went into seclusion a few days ago, with all his clones in cultivation. He said he was at a critical point... but after an epiphany, breakthroughs should be quick. Why hasn’t he come out yet?” Reynold glanced at the distant corridor. George smiled faintly and said, “What’s the rush? You have eternal life.”
Reynold couldn’t help but laugh.
With such a long life, a decade or a century meant little to gods.
“Oh, third brother is here?” Yale said.
Reynold and the others quickly turned to look, and even those chatting on the lawn noticed a figure emerging from a corner of the distant corridor. Brown hair flowing loose, it was Linley. Linley was in a good mood: “After several hundred years of cultivation, I’ve finally fused these two profound mysteries.”
Fusing profound mysteries from different laws was extremely difficult.
After his soul mutation, his soul had become incredibly powerful, yet it still took so many years to truly break through.
“This is just the beginning. Fusing three will take exponentially more time. My goal is to fuse four.” Linley was also looking forward to it. If he could fuse four profound mysteries from different laws, how powerful would he become? He might even be confident in killing a Paragon.
“Boss.” Bebe ran over.
“Where’s my father?” Linley asked.
“Uncle is probably in his room. I haven’t seen him today.” Bebe said.
“Alright, I’ll go find my father.” Linley nodded to the others and walked toward his father’s residence. After finishing his cultivation, the first thing Linley thought of was going to the Divine Light Plane. “Whether it works or not, I have to go and ask the Sovereign of Light.”
PS: The second chapter arrives... Sorry for the lateness today. I won’t say much more... But Tomato promised that for this month, the average number of chapters per day would reach two. Including this chapter, that’s 55 chapters. Still five short. Tonight, Tomato will have another chapter. But it will be very late. Everyone, please read it tomorrow morning.