Chapter 7: The Dragonblood Continent
In the Yulan Plane, no one could possibly kill Linley. Without pressure, life passed by in comfort and ease.
Three hundred years slipped away silently. To mortals, three hundred years was an unbearably long time. Countless mortals had died in that span, and countless new lives had been born.
But within Dragonblood Castle, almost nothing had changed.
In the world of gods, a thousand years was but a single moment.
"Linley, you seem to be in a good mood today," Delia said as she strolled with him through the rear garden.
"Today, I made a slight breakthrough in my training," Linley said with a faint smile.
"Oh? Did you fuse three profound mysteries of different laws?" Delia asked, delighted.
"No, not that fast," Linley said, shaking his head with a laugh. "The three profound mysteries of Earth Pulse, Softness, and Dimensional Attack—I've already reached the final step. The overall fusion of these three profound mysteries has hit a bottleneck, and this last hurdle is extremely difficult to break through."
The more profound mysteries one fused, the harder the bottleneck. For example, the final bottleneck for fusing six profound mysteries had trapped countless experts, preventing them from achieving Great Perfection.
"Then what breakthrough are you talking about?" Delia asked, puzzled.
"It's the Explosion profound mystery of the Fire Elemental Laws. This one was the hardest to fuse, and today it finally aligned with Earth Pulse," Linley said with a calm smile. "But honestly, my cultivation speed over these three hundred years has been slower than I expected." After all, since becoming a Sovereign, he had been supported by a vast amount of faith power.
His speed of deduction and comprehension was much faster than before. Three hundred years now were probably equivalent to nearly ten thousand years before he became a Sovereign.
"No rush. Time is infinite," Delia said with a faint smile.
"You may not be in a hurry, but what about Grandpa Beirut and Qinghuo?" Linley suddenly glanced toward the entrance of the rear garden, where a short-haired young man walked in with a smile. The young man's features were sixty to seventy percent similar to Linley's. It was Linley's son, Wade.
"Father, Mother," Wade said with a grin. "Today is the grandest festival on the Dragonblood Continent. Don't you want to go see it?"
"Dragonblood Continent?" Linley was taken aback, then laughed self-deprecatingly. "I forgot today is Dragonblood Festival." Back when Linley had just become a Sovereign, during a conversation with Beirut and Qinghuo about the Yulan Continent and the Qinghuo Continent, he had been struck by a whim and created another continent—the Dragonblood Continent.
Thus, the three continents formed a perfect triangle.
At the time, Linley had used his Sovereign's power to move several small islands near the Yulan Continent and Qinghuo Continent, entire islands, directly into the Dragonblood Continent. The combined population of those islands was nearly ten million. He also moved a large number of magical beasts and other creatures there.
Over three hundred years, with vast land and the magical beasts confined to the westernmost part of the Dragonblood Continent, humans had almost no natural enemies. In just three hundred years, the population had grown from ten million to over a hundred million. Of course, during this development, the Baruch Empire had provided substantial assistance, such as maritime trade between the continents—though it was more like aid.
The people moved to the Dragonblood Continent had designated September 24th as Dragonblood Festival.
"Linley, the residents of the Dragonblood Continent all believe in you. They see you as their one true god. Don't you want to go see the Dragonblood Festival?" Delia teased. "The population is just over a hundred million now, not huge, but the Dragonblood Continent is larger than the other two. If it keeps expanding without limits, in a few thousand years, it'll surpass the Qinghuo Continent."
"Father, many people from the family have already gone," Wade added with a smile.
"Alright, let's go take a look." To ordinary mortals, the distance between the three continents was considerable. But to gods, and even to Saint-level beings, it was quite close. The straits separating the three continents were only about ten thousand miles wide. In the blink of an eye, Linley and Delia crossed from the Yulan Continent to the Dragonblood Continent.
The first city of the Dragonblood Continent—Baruch City, sharing its name with the capital of the Baruch Empire—was located near the eastern coastline. It was also the city closest to the Yulan Continent.
Because of its coastal location, it had developed rapidly. Now, this first city had grown into a supercity housing millions of residents. Today was Dragonblood Festival, and Baruch City was bustling with activity. A flood of people from the countryside had poured in to join the festivities. Not only the square before the temple but even the city streets were packed with crowds.
Linley, in a blue robe, and Delia, in a white robe, walked through the crowded streets. Though the streets were jammed, no one bumped into them. In fact, no one even noticed this strange phenomenon.
"It's getting livelier here. Last time I came, there weren't this many shops on this street," Linley said with a faint smile.
"The last time you came was over two years ago," Delia pointed out.
"Two years? Just a blink of an eye," Linley said, his mindset having changed somewhat.
"By the way, when are you planning to create a divine plane?" Delia asked curiously. "Grandpa Beirut mentioned that creating a divine plane aligns your soul with the plane you create, allowing you to comprehend the laws. It's very beneficial for improving your strength. Aren't you stuck at a bottleneck? Why not give it a try?"
Every Sovereign had the ability to create a divine plane. Once created, they would gain insight into that part of the laws. For example, a Water Element Sovereign creating a Water Element divine plane would comprehend the Water Element laws involved in plane creation. Creating it once or a hundred times yielded the same understanding—no difference. Moreover, creating a plane consumed a great deal of mental energy, Sovereign power, and time. Most Sovereigns only created one.
"Creating a divine plane isn't something that can be done in a day, a month, or even a year. Based on Grandpa Beirut's experience, it takes over a thousand years," Linley said with a sigh.
A plane was enormous. Even for a Sovereign, creation took an extremely long time.
Beirut had created one, but Qinghuo hadn't. Since Qinghuo had already reached Great Perfection, fully comprehending the Fire Elemental Laws, creating a divine plane wouldn't benefit him.
"Over a thousand years—that is a long time," Delia agreed. "When do you plan to create your divine plane?"
"I'll prepare and do it soon," Linley said with a smile. "Like Grandpa Beirut, I'll build it near the Yulan Plane."
As they talked, Linley and Delia arrived at the most spacious area in Baruch City—the temple square. The square before the temple was several miles across, packed with countless people. At the front stood the pope, who preached on the Dragonblood Continent.
"In the name of the great true god, Linley—" a majestic voice echoed over the temple square, and the entire square fell silent. Countless people gazed with fervent worship at the pope.
"The power of religion is truly absurd," Linley said, half-amused and half-bemused.
Back when he created the Dragonblood Continent and moved several small islands, everything afterward was handled by the younger generations of the Baruch clan. The so-called religion and such were also their doing. Still, Linley was indeed worthy of such faith. After all, he was now comparable to an Overgod.
And spreading this religion was easy. Creating a continent was an inconceivable miracle in mortal eyes, far surpassing the divine miracles of the Radiant Church, like the descent of angels.
"Linley, the Dragonblood Festival is about to reach its peak," Delia said with a laugh.
"As usual, every Dragonblood Festival, we select a hundred elites from the Dragonblood Continent to send to the Yulan Continent," announced a burly, bearded man in armor, standing beside the pope. "These hundred elites will join previous elites for training and elimination. The final qualifiers will have the honor of becoming divine guards of the sacred Dragonblood Castle! Alright, let the selection begin!"
Seeing this, Linley couldn't help but smile wryly.
"This whole system was Taylor's idea," Delia said with a laugh.
Dragonblood Castle was Linley's residence, filled with Highgods, Demigods, and Gods—undoubtedly the place with the most gods on the Yulan Continent. Even the castle's guards were called divine guards, and becoming one required fierce competition. After all, being around gods meant easy access to benefits and guidance. Occasionally, a divine artifact, a divine spark, or a soul gold pearl might circulate out of Dragonblood Castle.
Dragonblood Castle was far more attractive than any academy.
"Selecting divine guards is even stricter than when Ernst Academy recruited students back in the day," Linley remarked. "Our magic academy took a hundred students per term. But here, though it's also a hundred, they have to gather on the Yulan Continent and undergo decades of teaching and elimination..."
Divine guards at Dragonblood Castle were replaced every hundred years, but candidates were selected annually from all over, with countless people vying for the chance.
"Actually, the divine guards don't need to be replaced," Delia said with a sigh. "The lowest-ranked divine guards are level nine warriors, with lifespans of nearly five hundred years. They could serve for two or three centuries."
"Becoming a divine guard is the fastest way to reach the Saint level," Linley said with a faint smile. "The people in the castle are all gods now. Even if some became gods by refining divine sparks, they still understand the profound mysteries of the laws. A bit of guidance might help those divine guards reach the Saint level."
"Hmm?" Linley raised an eyebrow.
"What's wrong?" Delia asked, puzzled.
"Someone has come to the Yulan Plane," Linley said with a smile. "Our people."
Far to the north of the Yulan Plane, on the Arctic Icefield, at the peak of the highest icy mountain, the teleportation array glowed with a hazy light.
Four figures gradually appeared.
"Greetings, four lords," said the current plane guardian of the Yulan Plane, a golden-haired beauty who was still only a Demigod.
"Hmph." The leader of the four glanced at her. "Let's go."
The four figures rose into the air and flew south.
"Big brother, do you think what the Overgod of Destruction said is true or false?" asked the only woman among the four, a woman with fiery red hair. She was the patriarch of the Vermillion Bird clan of the Four Divine Beasts.
"The Overgod of Destruction—what status does he have? How could he deceive us?" said the White Tiger patriarch with a laugh.
"No, I still can't quite believe it," the Vermillion Bird patriarch said.
"Don't say that. Even we can't believe it," Gaisreyson said with a sigh. "But the Overgod of Destruction wouldn't lie. Still, Linley becoming a Sovereign? That's too..."
"Enough. We'll know if it's true when we see him," said a deep voice—the Black Tortoise patriarch.
"Have your divine senses found Linley?" asked the Vermillion Bird patriarch, puzzled. "I've searched all three continents and haven't found a trace of him. I did find many of his relatives and friends."
"I can't find him either... Could it be that Linley really has become a Sovereign?" The four patriarchs exchanged glances, still dazed.
After all, this news was too shocking. Otherwise, the four patriarchs wouldn't have all rushed to the Yulan Plane at once.
The four patriarchs moved swiftly, soon entering the Yulan Continent's territory.
"That castle ahead has the most experts, and many of our clan members. It should be Dragonblood Castle," Gaisreyson said. The four turned into streaks of light, diving toward Dragonblood Castle.