Chapter 29: The Wind Hunter
Above the Qingya Continent in the Wind Element Divine Plane, a sword-shaped metallic lifeform streaked through the air like a flowing light, advancing at tremendous speed.
Linley and Bebe sat facing each other.
Standing respectfully beside them was a black-haired, burly man nearly two meters tall, with a beard as stiff as steel needles. This black-haired man said respectfully, "Lord Sovereign, according to the intelligence from our Qingya Army, there are over a thousand experts on the Qingya Continent worthy of your inspection. We could simply choose a location at random and begin the selection. But right now, we..."
Linley glanced at the black-haired man beside him and said with a smile, "Abu, are you in a hurry?"
"No, no." The black-haired man quickly shook his head.
The Wind Element Divine Plane had a total of nine continents, with the ocean regions being even larger. According to the strength rankings of the seven Wind Element Sovereigns, the Wind Element Overlord managed all the seas plus one continent. Lower-level Wind Element Sovereigns each managed only one continent, while mid-level Sovereigns managed two continents each.
Originally, Tiresias had managed the Qingya Continent.
Now, Linley's territory in the Wind Element Divine Plane was naturally the Qingya Continent.
On the Qingya Continent, there was also an army directly subordinate to the Sovereign—the Qingya Army. The commander of the Qingya Army was this man, Abu.
"This new Sovereign has a strange temper, but he's still decent," Abu thought to himself. "But just how strong is this new Sovereign, Lord Linley? When the Wind Element Overlord, Lord Deya, was speaking with Lord Linley earlier, why did I feel... that Lord Deya was somewhat afraid of Lord Linley? And his attitude was so good?"
"One is an Overlord, the other a Sovereign, yet it seemed like their roles were reversed." Abu was full of confusion.
Linley had just arrived in the Wind Element Divine Plane and had naturally gone to find the Wind Element Overlord, Deya.
When Deya saw Linley visiting, his face turned pale with fear.
Deya remembered clearly. Linley had effortlessly wounded the Lightning Element Overlord with a single sword strike, destroyed the Lightning Element Overlord's Earth Sovereign clone, and scared the Lightning Element Overlord so badly that he fled without daring to look back. With Linley's strength, killing him, the Wind Element Overlord Deya, would be as easy as waving a hand.
Moreover, he and Linley had no friendship, only enmity. Seeing Linley come, Deya was naturally terrified!
However, Linley didn't attack. Instead, he brought up the matter of territory.
Deya had then offered to gift one of his own continents to Linley, but Linley refused.
Afterward, Deya personally accompanied Linley to find the Qingya Army commander, Abu, and informed him that Linley was now the ruler of the Qingya Continent. But during the conversation between Linley and Deya, Abu had observed their expressions and tones. Naturally, he was puzzled.
After all, during their talk, Deya had unconsciously placed himself beneath Linley.
"Abu, don't rush. Now, we're going to the Blue Lion Territory," Linley said with a faint smile.
"Lord Sovereign, you intend to..." Abu's heart stirred.
Bebe, standing nearby, snickered, "My boss means, of course, to go to the Blue Lion Territory and watch that challenge! Since the challenge won't happen for another month, my boss isn't in a hurry. This metallic lifeform will fly slowly, and by the time we reach the Blue Lion Territory, the timing will be just right."
For a Sovereign, reaching the Blue Lion Territory would take about an hour.
But Linley was leisurely riding the metallic lifeform, taking his time.
What was considered "slow" here was only slow for a Sovereign. For ordinary Highgods, the speed of this metallic lifeform was already terrifying.
"Lord Sovereign really is quite relaxed," Abu thought to himself.
"Boss, how long do you plan to spend finding the six envoys?" Bebe sent a mental message. "We haven't been out for a stroll in years. Let's take our time this time."
Though it was called finding envoys, it was actually a way to relax.
"No rush. The Divine Plane is vast and boundless... As long as we finish finding the envoys before the planar war begins, that's fine," Linley said with a smile.
"Actually, even after the planar war starts, it doesn't matter. After all, during the war, even commander-level figures can enter," Bebe said with a grin.
The Qingya Army commander, Abu, blinked in surprise upon hearing this.
---
Wind Element Divine Plane, Qingya Continent, Blue Lion Territory.
"Lord Sovereign, today is the day of the challenge. This battle will be between the seventh-level Wind Hunter Russell and the Blue Lion Lord Umu Brafil. The seventh-level Wind Hunter Russell is quite famous in our Wind Element Divine Plane for his speed and cunning. Of course, his strength is also considerable," Abu said respectfully via divine sense transmission.
At this moment, Linley and Bebe were walking side by side along a mountain path, with the black-haired burly man Abu following beside them.
"Russell..."
Linley remembered the intelligence scrolls and numerous memory projections that Abu had presented to him. They detailed over a thousand experts from the Qingya Continent, each at least at the Seven Star Fiend level, and all with unique techniques.
"Wind Hunter" was the term used in the Wind Element Divine Plane.
Just as "Fiend" was the term used in the Infernal Realm.
A seventh-level Wind Hunter corresponded to a Seven Star Fiend.
"Today's battle will take place in this deep mountain valley. Look at all the people around," Abu sent mentally.
Linley nodded slightly.
In the sky, countless figures flew by, and even on the mountain path, there were many people. But the gods moved with grace and agility. With a step or two, they could cover a mile or two. Although Linley and his group didn't want to draw attention, even their normal pace covered dozens of miles in a few steps.
"Hmm? Abu, unless someone deliberately disguised themselves as the challenger Russell, I think he's behind us," Linley said with a faint smile.
"Oh?" Abu was surprised.
As a Sovereign, Linley's divine sense could spread over an enormous area. He easily detected a figure gracefully flying toward them. Linley observed Russell with interest. A young man with a beauty that could make women jealous, with a seemingly delicate appearance and a smile that could charm even gods. One could say that if Russell were a woman, he would drive countless gods mad. Fortunately, he was a man.
Though his androgynous beauty displeased many, his innate charm made most people feel an involuntary fondness for him upon meeting him.
"After all these years, with my current strength, I should be able to handle this Umu Brafil, right?" Russell flew through the forest, calculating in his mind. "Whatever. I've reached a bottleneck in my training, and further progress is nearly impossible. I can't wait any longer."
There were many figures in the forest.
As he flew, Russell's gaze suddenly narrowed.
"That's—" Russell was startled. "Bebe? And the Paragon, Linley?"
Russell's eyes swept over Linley's group of three. He didn't recognize the Qingya Army commander Abu, but he did recognize Linley and Bebe. Abu, as the commander, rarely showed himself. There were many legends about him in the Wind Element Divine Plane, but very few had ever seen him in person.
As for Linley and Bebe, Linley had defeated Magnus in a planar war, making his name widely known. Many had recorded memory projections of that battle, including the moment when Linley and Bebe walked away together.
Naturally, information about Linley and Bebe began to spread across the planes.
Some Seven Star Fiend-level figures, as long as they had a broad network of contacts, generally knew about them.
"Whoosh!" Russell's figure flickered as he flew toward Linley's group.
"Hmm?" Linley turned to look at Russell.
A smile appeared on Russell's face. He immediately spread his divine domain to isolate the outside world and said respectfully, "Greetings, Lord Linley."
"Uh..." Linley was taken aback.
"You know my boss?" Bebe asked in surprise.
Russell smiled and said, "Back when Lord Linley fought Magnus and banished him, the memory projections of that battle spread widely. I saw them at a friend's place. From that day on, I remembered Lord Linley. And of course, I also remembered Lord Linley's good brother, Bebe."
Linley and Bebe exchanged glances.
"I overlooked that," Linley said with a helpless smile, changing his appearance.
After becoming a Sovereign, Linley had let his guard down. In this world, the only ones who could make him cautious were the four Overlords of the Edicts. Coming to the Wind Element Divine Plane for a stroll was also a way to relax, so Linley hadn't thought much about it. Now, he realized the issue.
"Lord Linley, you've completely concealed your aura. As long as you change your appearance, no one will recognize you," Russell said with a smile.
"And you identified me just by my appearance?" Linley asked with interest.
"First, your appearance. Second, your aura is completely concealed, to the point where even I can't sense it... Such a powerful figure wouldn't bother impersonating someone else," Russell said with a laugh. "That's why I was certain that the person before me was definitely Lord Linley."
Linley couldn't help but smile. "You're quite sharp."
"Pretty clever, huh? But today, you're challenging the Blue Lion Lord," Bebe said with a grin. "Kid, are you sure you can win?"
"I'm not sure, but it won't be easy for him to beat me either," Russell said with a faint smile.
Linley and Bebe then walked with Russell toward the deep mountain valley. Abu, following beside them, chuckled inwardly: "This Russell only knows that Lord Linley is a Paragon. He doesn't know that Lord Linley is already a Sovereign! If he knew, he probably wouldn't be so casual."
Abu had already changed his appearance. Unless someone was familiar with him, they wouldn't recognize him.
As the commander of the Qingya Army, Abu rarely appeared in public. Very few people knew him.
---
Inside the vast valley deep in the mountains, hundreds of thousands of people had already gathered, all murmuring among themselves. Numerous soldiers were maintaining order. Linley's group of four made their way to the front of the crowd.
A black-robed old man spotted Russell from afar and, overjoyed, hurried over to greet him: "Lord Russell, the Lord has already arrived. He's been waiting for you!"
"Hmph, he came quickly enough. But after today, the position of Blue Lion Lord will be mine," Russell said coldly with a smile. He then turned to glance at Linley's group and sent a mental message: "Lord Linley, I'll take my leave now to fight Umu Brafil."
"We'll watch from here," Bebe said with a grin.
Russell then shot into the air and flew toward the open space in the center.
The open space in the center was several miles in radius.
Russell, with his androgynous, handsome appearance, now had a gaze as sharp as an ice blade. He swept his eyes over the surroundings, then smiled coldly and remained silent.
"Russell!"
"It's Russell!" The tens of thousands of gods immediately grew excited, and a tidal wave of murmurs rose up.
"Everyone!" A clear voice rang out across the entire valley, instantly silencing the crowd.
The speaker was the black-robed old man who had greeted Russell. The old man hovered in midair and announced loudly, "This battle is a challenge by the seventh-level Wind Hunter, Lord Russell, against our Lord. Russell has already appeared. Next to appear is, of course, our Lord, Umu Brafil!" Immediately—
A path opened through the gathered soldiers, and a burly man, only three meters tall, clad entirely in blue fur, walked out step by step. This man's face was also covered in fur, and his eyes faintly glowed with green light, sending chills down one's spine.
Blue Lion Lord—Umu Brafil!
At this moment, the beast-like Blue Lion Lord locked eyes with Russell.
The battle was about to begin!
"Boss, who do you think will win?" Bebe, watching from the sidelines, sent a mental message to Linley.
"Do you think I know everything?" Linley said with a faint smile. "Just watch. Aside from the hundred-battle challenge I went through myself, I've never seen anyone else challenge a Lord or a Prefect."