Chapter 12: Not Dead?
“Haha, old man, what are you so arrogant about?” Bebe doubled over with laughter.
The three subordinates of Tianshan City Lord Molde also turned their heads, staring blankly at the human-shaped hole in the distant cliff wall. Their lord had been sent flying in an instant?
“Boom!” The cliff wall shook, and rubble tumbled down. A figure shot out from the human-shaped hole in the cliff and landed on the valley floor.
Molde had no injuries on his body. His gaze sharpened, fixing on Linley. “I haven’t gone after you yet, yet you dare to ambush me? Hmph… your speed is decent. But your strength is still a bit lacking.”
Strength lacking?
Linley knew Molde was bluffing, because the Lord God artifact Molde possessed was a material defense Lord God artifact. Of course his kick couldn’t kill him.
And Molde also knew that Linley’s kick was powerful, but he believed Linley had ambushed him. He didn’t think Linley was much stronger than him. Even if he were a bit stronger, it didn’t matter, because he had that magical armlet. This armlet gave him boundless confidence.
“Let’s not waste time. Let’s fight.” Linley was still smiling faintly, without any hint of tension or vigilance.
Molde frowned, his brows shooting up. He sneered, “Since you’re looking for death, I’ll grant your wish.”
“Boom!” A black halo burst forth from Molde’s body surface. It was the power of a Sovereign of Destruction! Having used the Sovereign power, Molde could feel the immense strength flowing through his body. His confidence bolstered, Molde sneered confidently, then his figure suddenly moved.
Like a black lightning bolt—
“Hah!” Molde’s right leg, like a giant axe, chopped down toward Linley.
“Sss—” Space was torn apart by this leg strike. Where Molde’s long leg passed, a terrifying spatial crack appeared. Possessing a material defense Lord God artifact, every part of Molde’s body could be used as a weapon.
Linley, however, smiled and moved forward in a dreamlike manner.
“Die!” Molde’s leg shadow viciously passed through Linley’s body. The moment it passed through, Molde’s expression changed drastically. “No. That wasn’t his body!” Molde’s guess was correct. That was merely an afterimage left behind by Linley’s extreme speed.
Linley’s body appeared behind Molde.
Linley reached out, his hand forming a claw, and directly grabbed Molde’s left leg.
“No!” Molde felt a terrifying force binding his left ankle and couldn’t help but change expression drastically.
“Too slow!” Linley’s voice rang out in the valley. As the sound echoed, Linley grabbed Molde’s left leg and swung him like a whip.
He slammed Molde’s entire body toward the ground! Smashing him again and again, viciously pounding him down.
“Bam!” “Bam!” “Bam!” “Bam!” …
The valley floor cracked open, forming a huge deep pit. The immense impact force even turned the top ten meters of stone into powder instantly. As for deeper layers, they directly split into ravines. A terrifyingly large deep pit was thus created.
“How could…” Being smashed at lightning speed, Linley’s strength completely unbridled, Molde was also dizzied by the pounding.
In an instant, Linley had smashed Molde over a hundred times, then suddenly threw him aside like a stone launched from a catapult. Molde was shot into the cliff wall, once again creating a human-shaped hole.
The white-browed man and his two companions stared dumbfounded at this scene.
“Uncle Linley is so powerful.” Daiya’s eyes lit up.
“Indeed, terrifyingly strong.” Oliwei’s eyes gleamed. He too was pursuing the peak of cultivation, and seeing Linley display such strength made him tremble with awe.
“That Molde guy, I wonder what he was thinking, daring to fight my boss like that? Although the boss hasn’t shown much of his strength, just from that speed earlier, he should have backed off.” Bebe muttered. “Isn’t it just a material defense Lord God artifact? What’s there to be proud of?”
Bebe couldn’t understand why Molde didn’t retreat.
“Bastard!” An enraged roar came from within the cliff wall. “Boom!” Molde charged out again. Having been smashed so viciously, Molde was furious to the extreme. His eyes reddened as he glared at Linley, growling, “You brat, are you only relying on speed? Hmph, with your level of attack power, you can’t hurt me at all!”
Molde was getting anxious, but even now, he still thought… Linley was merely relying on superior speed.
His attack power wasn’t necessarily stronger.
“Oh?” Linley’s expression darkened. “Since you’re looking for death, don’t blame me.”
Having reached this level, Linley rarely killed ordinary Lords. Because… for Linley to fight a Lord was truly bullying, a massacre! He had originally wanted to teach this guy a lesson and make him scram, but this Molde seemed very confident, and Linley couldn’t help but get angry.
“Haha… if you have the skill, go ahead and kill me.” Molde laughed arrogantly, then stomped the ground fiercely, charging at Linley like a mountain.
Molde’s right fist, like a sword, instantly crossed the space between them, stabbing toward Linley.
“Slap!” Linley struck out with lightning speed.
Fist against fist!
Molde was sent flying backward. After landing on the ground, he looked at Linley in disbelief. “You, how… you didn’t use Sovereign power, how did you block my punch?” Molde was very confident in his own strength, and he had even used Sovereign power. Yet Linley had repelled him with a direct fist-to-fist clash.
“Your punch? Compared to Haimos, it’s far inferior.” Linley said coldly.
“Haimos?” Molde frowned, then seemed to recall something, but sneered again. “Your strength is indeed decent. Then try my soul attack.”
Molde’s expression turned serious, and then he opened his mouth—
“Whoosh!” A transparent blade-shaped ripple shot toward Linley.
“Die!” Linley showed no more mercy and let out a low shout.
A formless sword ripple shot out from Linley’s body surface. The formless sword ripple, as long as an ordinary longsword, collided with the transparent blade. “Bang!” It crushed it effortlessly. The transparent blade turned to nothing, while Linley’s formless sword ripple only shrank by a small portion.
Molde’s expression changed drastically. He wanted to shout something, but it was too late.
The formless sword ripple silently entered Molde’s body. Linley’s strongest attack was his soul attack, which was almost on par with that Paragon of Fate. How could a mere City Lord withstand Linley’s soul attack?
Molde’s body trembled, his eyes dimmed, and he went limp.
“City Lord…” The white-browed man and his two companions were stunned. Their City Lord… was dead just like that?
“This Molde, overestimating himself, really was asking for death.” Bebe snorted.
Linley turned and walked toward Oliwei and the others, smiling faintly. “Let’s go!”
“Linley!” Oliwei’s expression changed, and he exclaimed in shock, staring at Linley in alarm.
“Hmm?” Linley turned around in confusion.
The Tianshan City Lord Molde, who should have been dead, had actually stood up again, his eyes bright. He stared at Linley in shock. “You, who are you?”
Linley was equally shocked as he looked at him. “You’re not dead?” He had clearly seen Molde take the hit, his body fall, and his eyes go lifeless. How had he come back to life? “Boss, how is this old guy not dead? This is strange,” Bebe shouted.
Indeed, it was very strange. If Molde had a soul defense Lord God artifact, then Linley’s soul attack should have had no effect on him at all. But Molde had clearly fallen, only to recover completely unscathed. This was truly bizarre.
“Soul attack this powerful, material attack this strong, speed this fast… he has no weaknesses.” Molde was shocked inwardly.
“Are you a Paragon? May I ask which Paragon of the Infernal Realm you are…” Molde began. Aside from a Paragon, Molde couldn’t think of anyone else who could be like this. “Are you Mr. Linley?” Molde actually guessed it in one go.
It wasn’t surprising. In the Infernal Realm, there were only three suspected Paragons.
As for the others, Molde already had accurate information on them. Linley had only become famous in the planar war two hundred years ago. The Infernal Realm was too vast; in two hundred years, the news hadn’t spread completely. Although Molde had met a friend who had heard of Linley, he only knew Linley’s name, that he was from the Azure Dragon clan, and that he could undergo Dragonform transformation.
As for Linley’s appearance, he didn’t know.
“Yes, I am Linley.” Linley smiled faintly and nodded.
“Paragon Linley?” Molde’s three subordinates were dumbfounded. Their City Lord had sought revenge on a Paragon? Wasn’t that suicide? They were shocked, and Molde was both shocked and furious.
“That Boning kid is only a Six-Star Demon. No matter how much trouble he causes, how could he get involved with a Paragon?” Molde was shocked and angry. He knew the enemy was relatively strong, but Boning was a Six-Star Demon after all. He thought… the enemy was at most a City Lord level. A Paragon? A Paragon dealing with his son was overkill.
How many suspected Paragons were there in the Infernal Realm? Three, including Linley. What were the odds of running into him?
If it were Danington or the others, Molde would have recognized them immediately and backed off. But unfortunately, it was Linley, a newly risen Paragon. Molde didn’t have accurate information on him. When he saw Linley, he didn’t recognize him. His own son had managed to provoke a Paragon.
Molde’s luck was truly terrible.
“This, Mr. Linley, my apologies.” Molde forced a smile. “Since it’s Mr. Linley, I’ll take my leave now.”
“Leaving now? If my boss were weak, wouldn’t we have been killed by you?” Bebe shouted. “Too late to leave now!”
“I’m very curious now. How did you survive one of my attacks?” Linley looked at this Tianshan City Lord Molde.
Molde’s expression changed drastically. Without hesitation, he shot into the air, trying to flee! Facing a Paragon, even if Linley couldn’t kill him, he could tear open a spatial crack and banish him into it. Molde didn’t think a Sovereign would go to the trouble of saving him from the chaotic spatial currents.
Linley blinked, and two formless sword ripples shot toward Molde in midair.
No matter how fast one’s escape speed, it couldn’t match the speed of a soul attack!
Two consecutive formless sword ripples entered Molde’s body. Instantly, Molde’s body, which had been flying, went limp. He fell from the high altitude again, crashing to the ground. But in just a moment, this Molde actually scrambled back to his feet.
“Strange, very strange.” Linley laughed. “If you had a soul defense Lord God artifact, my soul attack should have had no effect on you. But clearly, you don’t have one. Yet without a soul defense Lord God artifact, how can you withstand my soul attacks repeatedly and not die?”
Linley was puzzled.
“Mr. Linley, no, Lord Linley!” Molde’s expression changed drastically. If he had encountered a non-Paragon, he would have been confident in escaping. But a Paragon… excelled in every aspect, truly without weakness.
“How strange.” Linley frowned in confusion.
“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!”
Two more formless sword ripples shot out, once again entering Molde’s body. Molde’s eyes went lifeless, and he collapsed weakly again. This time, Linley extended his divine sense to cover Molde, carefully observing any changes. Linley’s divine sense permeated every part of Molde’s body, overbearing to the extreme.
Molde’s eyes brightened, and he regained consciousness again.
“So that’s it.” Linley finally discovered the secret.
“City Lord…” The white-browed man and his two companions saw the situation was dire and immediately flew away, leaving Molde alone.
After Molde regained consciousness, he saw Linley walking toward him. His expression changed drastically, and he immediately burrowed into the ground.
“Haha, you can’t escape.”
Linley’s laughter rang out as his figure appeared beside Molde, grabbing him by the shoulder.
Linley’s other hand seized the opportunity to grab the armlet. “No!” Feeling Linley grab the armlet, the Tianshan City Lord panicked. But Linley’s left hand exerted force suddenly. “Crack!” The armlet shattered directly, and the nine green beads fell into Linley’s hand.
“You survived my attacks repeatedly because of these nine spirit beads, right?” Linley glanced at him.
Seeing the spirit beads in Linley’s hand, the Tianshan City Lord’s face instantly turned pale.