盘龙 - Coiling Dragon, by I Eat Tomatoes (我吃西红柿）UNABRIDGED

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 12, Front Courtyard as Busy as a Marketplace

Linley, Wharton, Blumer, and Olivier almost simultaneously turned to stare at Emperor Johann in surprise.

On March 15th, the Emperor would announce who would marry the Seventh Princess?

In the past, Emperor Johann had kept delaying, without seeming to be the slightest bit impatient. Neither Wharton nor Blumer had imagined that Emperor Johann would suddenly say such a thing.

“Nina…” Wharton turned to look at Nina.

Nina shook her head, also confused. “I don’t know anything. My Imperial father didn’t tell me anything about this.” She, too, looked frantically at Emperor Johann, but as the Seventh Princess was a member of imperial clan, her marriage was not something she could design on her own. It was completely up to Emperor Johann to decide.

“Princess.” At this moment, a palace attendant came over. “His Imperial Majesty is about to leave. It is time to return to the palace.’

Nina nodded.

Emperor Johann had forbidden her to leave the palace. The only reason she was able to meet Wharton this time was because of this duel in the Colosseum. After bidding farewell to Wharton, Nina followed the imperial clan back and left.

Linley and Wharton’s forces also withdrew from the Colosseum.

“Olivier.” As Linley left via one of the passageways, he glanced at Olivier, and saw that Olivier was also glancing at him.

These two ultimate geniuses exchanged stares, then turned their heads and left the Colosseum.

Ever since the 80,000 onlookers had witnessed the events in the Colosseum on this day, February 4th, the news about the duel which had taken place at the Colosseum took the imperial capital by storm, filling the entire imperial capital with excitement.

Many people from other cities and other provinces, upon leaving, brought back the news of this duel to their own hometowns as well.

Linley had easily defeated Kenyon, and then fought to a stalemate with Olivier. Olivier had then challenged Haydson. These three events quickly became well-known, and the rumors of these events spread out at astonishing speed.

Linley’s reputation quickly became well-known in the imperial capital, and beyond as well, spreading in every direction.

The imperial capital. Boulder Street. Outside Count Wharton’s manor, one carriage after another came, all filled with people coming to visit Linley.

Within the inner courtyard of the manor.

Linley, Yale, and Reynolds were seated together, chatting and laughing. Although there were many nobles and famous people clustered together at the front courtyard, Linley couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to them.

Actually, those nobles expected and understood this in heart. Would someone of Linley’s status go personally welcome them?

At Linley’s level, ordinary, worldly trappings of power no longer meant anything to him. Even the Emperor would be extremely courteous when dealing with Saint-level experts and wouldn’t dare to put on airs.

Without question….

Now that the Baruch clan had produced someone like Linley, even if Linley were to never become a noble within the Empire and even though Wharton was just a Count, the Baruch clan had naturally become an extremely surpassing clan within the imperial capital.

“Third bro, you’ve been hiding your power and your talents, but now that you’ve exploded forth onto the scene, you’ve really shocked quite a few people.” Yale laughed loudly.

Reynolds nodded repeatedly as well. “Right, right. I imagine the Radiant Church has a terrible headache right now.”

Yale and Reynolds knew about Linley’s affairs with the Radiant Church. Given the Radiant Church’s power, for them to kill Linley at his current level was virtually impossible.

This was especially true given that Linley was currently in the imperial capital of the O’Brien Empire. The Radiant Church wouldn’t dare send any Saint-level experts over, for fear that the War God would misunderstand. This was the War God’s territory, after all.

“Dealing with the Radiant Church?” Linley laughed calmly. “I’ve already killed the principal target of my quest for revenge. As for dealing with the rest of the Radiant Church, I’m not in a particular rush. Right now, I’m no longer afraid of the people of the Radiant Church. But dealing with the Radiant Church…I don’t have enough power yet.”

The Radiant Church had quite a few peak-stage Saint-level experts.

The currently reigning Holy Emperor, Heidens. The spiritual leader of the Ascetics, Lord Fallen Leaf. The Praetor of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal, Osenno. Special Executor, Stehle. And the leader of the Zealots…

Five experts, with Stehle most likely being the weakest of them.

As for the other four, none of them could be underestimated. Even against Stehle, Linley wouldn’t be able to win that easily. The reason why Linley had been able to easily defeat Kenyon was only because Kenyon was nothing more than a mid-stage Saint-level expert.

“When my human form reaches the Saint-level and my skills as magus reach the Saint-level…” Linley’s eyes flashed with a fierce light.

“When your human form reaches the Saint-level?” Yale and Reynolds exchanged glances. They couldn’t help but feel worried for the future Radiant Church.

If Linley were to reach the Saint-level in his human form, then as soon as he transformed, just relying on physical strength, battle-qi, defense, and speed, he would already be at a terrifying level of power. Supreme Warriors were hailed as the most powerful of Saint-levels. They were nothing to laugh at.

Such a powerful foundation combined with Linley’s ‘Profound Truths of the Wind’ and ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’….

They believed that once Linley reached the Saint-level in his human form, then his two ‘Profound Truths’ would also advance in level. And then, once he reached the Saint-level as a magus…

He would be invincible in close combat, and at long-range, the spells of a Saint-level magus were unbeatable.

If his opponents were to use human wave tactics, a single annihilating magical spell would be able to destroy them.

“Too terrifying.” Yale and Reynolds were frightened just thinking about it. The current Linley was already a peak-stage Saint-level expert. If in the future, his power increased tenfold in every aspect…who could possibly stop him?

“Enough about this topic for now.” Linley laughed calmly.

Yale laughed and nodded. “Third bro, do you know? My old man keeps on telling me to handle this affair or handle that affair, but after hearing that you had arrived here, he’s stopped pressing me. In fact, he supported me spending more time with you. I must say…my Conglomerate really did make a killing off this deal. We got you as one of our Elders so cheaply.”

Previously, at the provincial capital of Basil, Yale had given Linley an elder’s medal.

“Even if you didn’t give me that medal, if the Dawson Conglomerate had any difficulties, given our relationship, Boss Yale, of course I would help out.” Linley laughed.

Yale felt a sense of warmth and gratitude in his heart.

“Beautifully said! Come, cheers!” Yale immediately raised his cup in a toast, and Linley and Reynolds joined him, laughing.

People’s hearts were hard to discern, especially after growing up. It would be hard for Yale, Linley, and Reynolds to easily trust people now, but towards those good friends they made in their carefree, worry-free childhood years, they felt nothing but the utmost trust.

It is a rare thing for someone to be able to have a true bosom friend.

Linley and the others all felt very fortunate to have such good bros.

“Third Bro.” Reynolds pursed his lips. “You really showed off your godlike power this time at the Colosseum. Even our Dunstan clan has sent people to come meet you.”

“They sent someone?” Linley was startled. “Who?”

“One of my paternal uncles.” Reynolds said disdainfully. “But he didn’t have a chance to even see you.”

Linley nodded. Linley had refused to meet with any of the people who had come to pay a visit with him. Even the people of the imperial clan had been summarily ignored.

“If your clan truly wants to meet with me, just give me a heads up, and I’ll go meet with them.” He would of course give face to one of his bros.

“No need.” Reynolds shook his head. “I really don’t see eye to eye with the people in my clan. Anyhow, the point is, Third Bro, you’ve really become famous. This makes my life easier as well. Many people in the clan are now much nicer to me as well. They all know that I’m your bro.” Chortling, Reynolds looked at Linley. “Third Bro, in the future, if anything good comes your way, you have to take care of me, your bro, you know!”

“You little punk.” Seeing the impish expression on Reynold’s face, Linley couldn’t help but laugh while berating him. “You’ve been in the army for seven or eight years now, but you still act this way!”

The four close friends of dormitory 1987. Yale was the playboy type, while Reynolds was the type who feared neither heaven nor earth and would dare to do anything.

“Third Bro, Boss Yale, I’m only this one way in front of you guys. In front of those common soldiers, I always have a hard-*** look on my face.” Reynolds intentionally put on a stern, solemn expression.

It had to be said that once Reynolds hardened his face, he did indeed have the look of a soldier in his eyes and demeanor.

After chatting and joking with his close friends, Linley’s face grew solemn. “Boss Yale, Fourth Bro. There’s something I need you two to help me plan out.”

“What is it?” Reynolds and Yale looked at Linley.

Given Linley’s current status, what did he have to worry about?

“This has to do with my little brother. That day, Emperor Johann publicly announced that on March 15th, he would openly announce at the Martial Palace who the Seventh Princess will marry.” Linley’s face was very solemn.

Reynolds and Yale both nodded.

“My little brother, Wharton, and the Seventh Princess share a deep love for each other. Without the Seventh Princess, I fear that my little brother will be in pain for a long, long time. I don’t want to see something like that to happen once again, and to my own little brother.” Linley’s voice was very low.

Reynolds and Yale exchanged glances.

They still remembered how Linley had actually coughed out blood that year when he and Alice had broken up, and then carved out the sculpture ‘Awakening From the Dream’ over ten days and ten nights, not drinking or eating anything.

Although Linley didn’t say anything, they both understood that this had deeply hurt Linley.

“Third Bro, go ahead. Tell us what you want us to do.” Yale said directly, and Reynolds nodded by his side as well.

Linley nodded. “Right now, I have two options planned. If Emperor Johann plans to choose my little brother, then that will be a joyous event. But…if he chooses Blumer…”

Linley’s face turned cold.

“At that time, I won’t give a damn about the fact that he’s the Emperor, or how powerful Blumer’s older brother is. I will help my little brother and go bring the Seventh Princess out of the palace and allow the two of them to elope together. If anyone tries to stop me, I will kill them!” A killing intent could be seen in Linley’s eyes.

Reynolds and Yale couldn’t help but feel their hearts shiver.

Others might not understand, but they understood clearly. The five Barker brothers which Linley had brought with him were actually Undying Warriors, and three of them had Saint-level power. And then there was the Blackcloud Panther and Bebe.

Six Saint-level experts!

Once Linley decided to go all out, especially with Bebe who was no weaker than Linley, the entire imperial capital would no doubt begin to tremble from the repercussions of six trouble-making Saint-level experts.

“I hope his Imperial Majesty chooses Wharton.” Reynolds and Yale were both praying in their hearts.

“Third Bro.” Yale looked solemnly at Linley. “Don’t be impatient. Even if you have to bring the Seventh Princess out by force, there’s no need to push things to such a state.”

“I know.” Linley laughed calmly. “I’m only saying, IF someone tries to stop me, then I’ll kill them. My little brother and I naturally don’t have as firm an understanding of the affairs of the imperial capital as your clans, which is why I hope the two of you can help me think about this issue.”

The Dunstan clan and the Dawson clan both had very deep roots of power, and knew many things about the events occurring in the imperial capital.

“Third Bro, set your mind at ease. My Dawson Conglomerate’s forces are quite numerous. We even have a number of palace attendants and maids who will obey the words of the Conglomerate.” Yale said confidently.

Money was a wondrous thing. The power of money could be extremely large.

“When I go back, I will speak with my old man. Don’t worry. My old man will definitely help and support you.” Yale laughed.

Linley was certain about this as well.

If the Chairman of the Dawson Conglomerate were to leak this information to the Emperor, he probably wouldn’t see much of a benefit. After all, the Dawson Conglomerate didn’t lack for money. But as for experts…the Emperor couldn’t simply order a Saint-level expert to serve the Dawson Conglomerate, right?

“You should take primary responsibility for this affair of Third Bro’s. My clan’s authority primarily resides in the military, after all.” Reynolds knew his own limits.

Linley nodded.

“Then I’ll be counting on you, Boss Yale.” Linley said seriously.

Yale nodded confidently.

After the deaths of his parents, Linley had only a single relative left: Wharton. No matter what, he wouldn’t let his little brother be hurt. If Emperor Johann were to select Wharton, then that would be wonderful. But if he didn’t…Linley wasn’t adverse to revealing the true depths of power available to him and forcibly bring Nina out.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 13, Caylan’s Arrival

The night descended. In Channe, the imperial capital of the O’Brien Empire, the most military powerful Empire in the Yulan continent, life went on as usual. Aside from a few crowded nightlife streets, the city was calm and peaceful.

East Channe. Boulder Street. After receiving countless carriages over the past few days, Count Wharton’s manor gradually regained its usual calm as well.

Within Count Wharton’s halls.

Linley, Housekeeper Hiri, Hillman, Barker and his brothers, Zassler, and the other core members of the team were in a meeting. They were discussing how to handle the Seventh Princess affair.

“If his Imperial Majesty really were to select Blumer, then I will act in accordance with your plans, big bro.” Wharton didn’t hesitate in the slightest.

Hillman nodded solemnly as well. “The soldiers of the Empire are famous for their courage and fearlessness, while the Seventh Princess is located deep within the palace. If you are discovered while sneaking within…even if you manage to slaughter your way out, no doubt there will be countless deaths.”

After arriving at the O’Brien Empire, Hillman had been stunned by the spirit and aura of the Empire.

Martial!

The entire Empire venerated the War God, and the only deity they worshipped was the War God. This nation deeply respected powerful experts. One could easily sense that just by looking at the near-crazed reactions of those onlookers in the Colosseum.

Cowards who fled from battle would be viewed with disdain by the Empire.

The O’Brien Empire was located in the northern part of the Yulan continent. The entire Empire was often fairly cold all year around, which had also helped the citizens of the Empire in developing their endurance.

“Uncle Hillman, if we are to go bring out the Seventh Princess, we definitely won’t just send a single person. Although the soldiers of the Empire are very powerful, as far as I can tell, they shouldn’t be able to pose a threat to us. The only potential complication is that there are Saint-level experts living in the palace.”

The Emperor didn’t have the ability to demand a Saint-level expert be his personal bodyguard, but the War God would of course station Saint-level experts within the palace to help defend it. The value of the items in the imperial treasury and various hidden treasure rooms were more important than the Emperor himself. Naturally, they would have to be protected.

If someone dared to barge into the imperial palace to take a princess, those resident Saint-level experts might just interfere and stop them. Linley was confident in his ability to deal with Saint-level experts by himself, but if he was bringing an ordinary person like Nina with him, it would be tricky.

Linley looked at Bebe, who was resting on his legs. “Bebe. When the time comes, it will be up to you.”

Bebe immediately leapt to his feet, hopping onto the table.

“Hrm? Up to me?” Bebe rolled his beady little black eyes as he looked at Wharton. “Little Wharton, don’t worry. I, Bebe, will definitely bring your woman back to you totally unharmed.”

“Bebe will go?” Wharton was stunned.

“Little Wharton, don’t you trust me, Bebe?” Bebe raised his little head proudly, widening his eyes and staring angrily at Wharton.

Wharton hurriedly shook his head. “It isn’t that I don’t trust you. It’s…the imperial palace will definitely have Saint-level experts residing there. If they fight against each other, will Bebe really able to bring a weak person like Nina safely?”

“Wharton, given Bebe’s level of power, bringing the Seventh Princess out of the imperial palace shouldn’t be a problem.” Linley had quite a bit of confidence in Bebe’s abilities. “Bebe’s speed is the fastest I’ve ever seen.”

“The fastest? Big bro, are you saying he’s even faster than you and Olivier?” Wharton said in surprise.

“Bebe’s speed is the fastest speed I have ever seen in a magical beast.” The Blackcloud Panther, Haeru, suddenly spoke up from his position lying on the ground. Blackcloud Panthers were famed for their speed. When they were at the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, Bebe was actually only an early-stage ninth rank. But even then, Bebe was already almost on par with the Blackcloud Panther.

After five or six years had passed, Bebe’s speed had surpassed the Blackcloud Panther’s by a large margin, reaching a new, terrifying level.

And now? After having reached the Saint-level, Bebe’s speed had soared once again!

“Of course he is faster than Olivier.” Linley laughed as he rubbed Bebe’s little head. “Wharton, let me tell you, Bebe’s speed and defense are the greatest I have ever seen. In the past, when I was at the Ernst Institute, Bebe was still in his growing phase and had the power of a magical beast of the seventh or eighth rank. But even after being struck by the dying blow of a peak-stage ninth ranked Armored Razorback Wyrm, he still only suffered a severe wound.”

This was the first time Wharton had heard of this. It was the first time Zassler and the others had heard this story as well.

“How is that possible?”

They were all stunned. An Armored Razorback Wyrm was one of the most terrifying dragon-type magical beasts.

“When I encountered Haeru in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, Haeru wasn’t able to injure Bebe at all with his attacks. At that time, Bebe was only an early-stage ninth rank. You must know that Haeru’s attacks were able to cause harm to me at that time, even though I had the defensive powers of a late-stage ninth-rank expert after transforming.”

Bebe raised his head even higher upon hearing Linley’s praise, staring around himself haughtily like a victorious general.

“I can tell you this. Bebe’s speed is definitely higher than Olivier’s. What’s more, even if Olivier was able to land a blow of his ‘Sword of the Aurora’ on Bebe, he still probably wouldn’t be able to break past Bebe’s defense.”

Linley laughed.

Bebe’s fur’s defensive power was simply too terrifying.

“The ‘Sword of the Aurora’ most likely wouldn’t be able to break his defense?” Wharton, Hillman and the others fell silent. That unremarkable little Shadowmouse Linley had acquired when he was young had grown to be so powerful.

Bebe shook his head. “Har har har. The defense of me, Bebe, is naturally powerful. That goes without saying. However…I’m not confident in my ability to deal with a blow from the Boss’s ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’.”

Linley’s ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’ all but ignored defense. The only thing defense would do would be to slightly weaken the strength of the vibrations as it passed through.

“Given Bebe’s speed, bringing out the Seventh Princess then fleeing at high speed from the imperial palace shouldn’t be a problem. Most likely, the Saint-level experts in the palace simply wouldn’t have time to catch up.”

“Heh heh. Boss, just entrust this issue to me.” Bebe was extremely excited. He looked as though he wanted to go break the Seventh Princess out right now.

“Don’t be impatient. Emperor Johann hasn’t made his announcement yet with regards to who he will choose, after all.” Right now, Linley was prepared for either eventuality. He wouldn’t be caught offguard.

……….

Both Wharton and Blumer spent these next few days worrying. Many of the nobles of the imperial capital were also secretly guessing which one of them would end up marrying the seventh princess.

In the imperial palace.

The Emperor was currently in a seated meeting with a blue-haired middle-aged man. In front of them was a strategic wargame board in front of them. These games were quite popular in the military, and Emperor Johann often liked to play this game as well.

“Your Imperial Majesty. You’ve raised a fine daughter. She’s actually attracted so many suitors, including my own younger son.” The blue-haired middle-aged man laughed.

This blue-haired middle-aged man was the mighty Imperial Left Premier, Judd Darryl. Judd and Johann were on extremely good terms, and in private they were as close to each other as brothers.

“Judd, stop teasing me.” In front of Judd, Johann only addressed himself as ‘me’, not using the royal ‘we’. Just from this alone, one could tell how close the relationship was between these two men. But of course, he only did so when nobody else was present.

“You don’t know this, but this has been a huge headache for me. Blumer and Wharton aren’t too much of an issue. Either would be a fine choice. But their older brothers…” Emperor Johann sighed. “Olivier and Linley both are absolutely terrifying.”

Judd nodded. “Indeed. I saw that astonishing battle in the air above the Colosseum as well. Olivier and Linley both revealed that they had peak-stage Saint-level power from the very beginning. I didn’t expect that the power they initially revealed was just the tip of the iceberg. They actually both had their own ultimate attacks, and Olivier even dared to challenge the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson.”

Johann nodded. “Olivier and the Monolithic Sword Saint competed before. Last time, Olivier lost. But despite having already competed and thus knowing exactly how powerful the Monolithic Sword Saint is, he still dares to challenge him yet again? That means he definitely has something that is making him confident.”

“I have a feeling that both Olivier and Linley will be people on the level of the Monolithic Sword Saint in the future.” Johann sighed. “The most damnable thing is, both of these men are extremely protective of their younger brothers. Judd. You tell me. How can I not have a headache?”

Judd began to laugh.

“Then, your Imperial Majesty, have you made your decision yet?” Judd looked at Johann.

Johann nodded. “I’ve made my decision.”

“Who?” Judd was very curious.

Johann said resignedly, “I admit that Linley is indeed the most brilliant person I have seen in my entire life. He is astonishing in every single aspect. But compared to him, Olivier isn’t much inferior. If it weren’t for other factors, I would probably choose Wharton.”

“Then your Imperial Majesty, you mean to say…you have chosen Blumer?” Judd could tell what Emperor Johann meant.

“Right.” Johann nodded.

“There’s nothing for it. Blumer is, after all, the personal disciple of the War God. You should know how influential the War God is in the Empire. In addition…over four of his fellow apprentices have come to speak with me. All of them did so for Blumer’s sake.” Emperor Johann said helplessly.

“Four of them?”

Judd was shocked as well. “I’ve heard that the personal disciples of the War God rarely get involved in matters. I didn’t expect that as soon as he became a personal disciple, four other personal disciples would come out and speak on his behalf.”

“Judd, you should know that although in principle, I have the most authority in the Empire, in reality…the War God is still the highest power in the land.”

Emperor Johann, in the end, had decided to side with the War God’s College.

…..

The Imperial Left Premier’s manor.

An astonishingly handsome young man with long, flowing blue hair was taking a casual stroll on the stone roads within his own family’s estates. Whenever he saw anyone, even servants, he would smile and nod towards them.

Caylan Darryl, a genius magus.

“In the end, his Imperial Majesty decided to choose Blumer?” Caylan shook his head and sighed. His father, Judd, deeply doted on Caylan. He had even told Caylan about this affair.

“Why? Why can’t his Imperial Majesty consider his daughter’s feelings?” In his heart, Caylan was actually very unhappy with some of the coldly pragmatic ways in which the noble clans and the imperial clan handled affairs.

In his mind, people should treat other people well. If two people were to be together, it should be because both loved each other. Emperor Johann should have considered things from Nina’s standpoint.

“That girl Nina.”

Thinking back to how he and Nina had played around together when they were young, Caylan came to a decision. He immediately headed out of the Left Premier’s manor. The only thing he said to the housekeeper when he ran into him was, “I’m going out for a walk.” Caylan headed straight for Count Wharton’s manor on Boulder Street.

Caylan had come to a decision.

He had to inform Wharton of this affair.

….

At nightfall, Wharton was still training in his manor’s training area. Next to him, Linley was meditating quietly. Just at this moment, a servant ran over. “Milord, Lord Caylan of the Left Premier’s household has arrived.”

“Caylan?”

Wharton came to a halt. In his heart, Wharton actually felt very grateful to this former romantic rival of his. After all, Caylan had voluntarily given up his pursuit. If he hadn’t, this affair would be even more complicated.

“Caylan’s come? Wharton, I’ll accompany you.” Linley was actually quite curious about this young man who had voluntarily abandoned his pursuit as well.

Linley and Wharton headed directly to the guest hall. When they saw Caylan, the first impression Linley had was that this was a person who was very amiable and easy to get along with.

“Wharton.” Seeing Wharton, Caylan smiled, then looked at Linley. “And this should be your older brother, Master Linley. I’ve heard of Master Linley’s reputation a long time ago.”

Linley smiled at him as well.

“Caylan, please sit.” Wharton was very friendly towards him.

Caylan shook his head. “No need. I’ve come today to tell you something. As soon as I have, I’ll be leaving.” Caylan’s face grew solemn.

“Tell me what?” Wharton said, puzzled.

Caylan said resignedly, “Wharton, based on the information I’ve received, on March 15th, his Imperial Majesty is most likely going to choose Blumer, not you. But of course…since it isn’t March 15th yet, nothing is for sure. However, this information I have is most likely 90% accurate.”

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 14, An Exchange Between Geniuses

Wharton was stunned by this sudden news.

Wharton truly wanted to be able to openly wed Nina in the imperial capital, rather than elope with her.

“Caylan, is this information of yours true?” Linley stared at Caylan, asking urgently.

Caylan nodded solemnly. “Master Linley, although his Imperial Majesty hasn’t publicly proclaimed it yet, this information came from my father’s conversation with his Imperial Majesty. Master Linley, I trust you can judge for yourself the authenticity of this news.”

Linley nodded slightly.

There was no need for the Imperial Left Premier to lie to his own son. And, given Linley’s spiritual energy as an Arch Magus of the ninth rank, if Caylan were currently lying, Linley should be able to sense something.

“No matter what happens, we brothers would like to thank you for your assistance, Caylan.” Linley said in thanks.

Only now did Wharton’s mind become clear again. He too said gratefully towards Caylan, “Caylan, thank you for notifying us.”

“No need to thank me. I just hope that in the future, Nina will have a happy life. Alright, I need to leave.” Caylan bowed slightly towards Linley and Wharton, then left.

Wharton watched Caylan leave, then suddenly turned towards Linley. “Big bro. What should we do?” Wharton’s mind was in chaos.

“What should we do?” Linley spoke with absolute conviction. “For now, we immediately begin moving the household out of the imperial capital.”

Linley stared coldly in the direction of the imperial palace. “We are out of options. I will immediately instruct people to speak with Yale and have him come. Right now, we’ll have to use the secret channels of the Dawson Conglomerate to take Rebecca, Leena, Jenne, and Uncle Hillman’s family members out of the imperial capital. And, ideally the Emperor must not discover that they’ve left.”

In truth, it wouldn’t be too big of a deal even if the Emperor did find out.

Even if Emperor Johann was suspicious of Linley, so what? Would he dare to offend Linley? He himself was not the War God, after all. And even if he dared to offend Linley…who under his command was actually capable of dealing with Linley?

…..

That very day, Linley invited Yale over. After discussing the issue for quite some time with Yale, Yale immediately slapped his chest and promised, “Third Bro, don’t worry about it. It’s just a few people. There definitely won’t be any issues.”

Yale then laughed. “Actually, Third Bro. Even if the Emperor found out, he would pretend he didn’t know.”

Linley smiled as well.

He had reached the Saint-level. Although the status of the Emperor was very high, Linley didn’t have any fear of the man. In truth, the only person Linley was afraid of was that man who was residing on War God Mountain.

“Still, try to avoid being discovered.” Linley instructed.

……..

Although, Jenne, Rebecca, and Leena were reluctant to leave, they knew that they would meet again with Linley’s group later, and thus they followed the directives of the Dawson Conglomerate and quietly left the imperial capital.

Actually, Linley and Wharton hadn’t given up all hope yet.

They hoped that on March 15th, Emperor Johann would choose Wharton at the Martial Palace. Although the chance was very low…it was still possible that Emperor Johann might change his mind.

After all, Nina eloping with Wharton meant parting with her family. As for Wharton, he, Housekeeper Hiri, and Hillman had all become very comfortable and used to living in the imperial capital. Unless it was absolutely necessary, they didn’t want to take the final step.

….

Each day passed, and March 15th drew nearer as well. The streets, hotels, and restaurants of the imperial capital were once again filled with discussion regarding Wharton, Blumer, and their older brothers.

Everyone was trying to guess who would be the one to wed the Imperial Seventh Princess.

The hoped for day of March 15th finally arrived. That morning, a rare snowstorm actually descended on the imperial capital early in the morning. Even though the sun came up at seven or eight, it was still hard to see anything farther than ten meters away.

“Whew.” Standing outside his manor, Wharton let out a long breath.

These past few days, he had been under a lot of mental pressure.

“Enough. We’ll know the answer today. Relax.” Linley laughed, clapping Wharton on the shoulder. Wharton turned his head to look at his older brother. Looking at Linley, Wharton felt as though Linley were his strongest source of support. With Linley there, Wharton felt a sense of confidence.

“Right.” Wharton nodded strongly.

Linley and Wharton immediately got on their carriages, heading in the direction of the imperial palace. Because of the snowstorm, the carriages advanced very slowly. In addition, there were many carriages heading towards the imperial palace this day.

At the gates of the imperial palace.

One carriage after another stopped at the gates, and the various nobles exited their carriages and exchanged pleasantries with each other.

“Lord Olivier has arrived.” Seeing Olivier and Blumer walk out of the carriage together, many of the nobles and ministers outside the gates welcomed them warmly.

Seeing the nobles and ministers walk towards him as soon as he left the carriage, Olivier couldn’t help but frown.

“Second brother, let’s go inside.” Olivier didn’t so much as glance at the nobles as he emitted a wave of force from his body, directly pushing aside the oncoming nobles and senior ministers, yet not harming them in the slightest.

The nobles and ministers all exchanged glances. They couldn’t help but be surprised.

“Your Lordship, we’ve arrived.” A carriage-driver’s voice rang out, and then Wharton and Linley exited the carriage. This time, the nobles and ministers very wisely did not try to draw too near. They just called out words of welcome at a safe distance.

Linley and Wharton didn’t pay too much attention to those nobles either, heading directly for the palace.

“Linley.” Olivier came to a halt, turning his head and bidding Linley welcome.

“Olivier.” Linley still felt a degree of respect towards a powerful rival such as Olivier. Nobody could reach such a level of power without focusing for many years on painstakingly training one’s self.

Linley, Wharton, Olivier, and Blumer walked forward in a line, heading towards the Martial Palace together.

“Linley, that day, at the Colosseum…to be honest, I really wanted to keep fighting with you.” A friendly smile appeared on Olivier’s face.

“Oh? Then why did you give up the chance? I refuse to believe you were afraid of Haydson.” Linley said with a calm laugh.

Olivier and Linley had both sensed each other’s power. Although that day, they had been forced aside by Haydson, aside from Haydson’s power, one of the main reasons they had been forced aside was because they had not yet allowed their attacks to explode at full power.

“It wasn’t that I was afraid of Haydson. It was more that…challenging Haydson was the goal I set for myself six years ago. After mastering the obsidian sword, I absolutely must challenge him.” Olivier glanced at him. “At the Colosseum, I very much hoped to continue to do battle with you. But this battle must come after my battle with Haydson.”

“I don’t want to let Haydson know the secrets to my obsidian sword technique. If I were to battle you with it, wouldn’t I be exposing myself to him?” A hint of a smile was on Olivier’s face. “I really want to see if the ‘Monolithic Sword Saint’ Haydson, famed for his defensive abilities, can withstand my attack.”

Linley nodded.

“In the duel between myself and the Monolithic Sword Saint roughly a month from now, who do you think will win?” Olivier suddenly asked.

Linley paused for a moment.

That day, Linley had seen the layer of flowing black energy on the obsidian sword’s blade. It gave off a very strange sensation. Linley was very confident in his own adamantine heavy sword, but he wasn’t necessarily confident in his ability to withstand his opponent’s blow.”

“It’s possible for either you or the Monolithic Sword Saint to win. But I think the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, has a higher chance of winning. After all, in all these years, no Saint-level expert has been able to beat him. For him to be able to accomplish such a feat means that he surely has some power to rely on.” Linley said impartially.

Olivier nodded. “Right. I admit, six years ago, when I dueled with Haydson, he only revealed a portion of his true power. Haydson…his power is unfathomably deep. But I am filled with confidence towards my obsidian sword as well. No matter how strong his defense is, he shouldn’t be able to withstand it.”

Linley laughed.

How could it be that this Olivier was so similar to him? He himself had that same sort of confidence in his adamantine heavy sword.

“What sort of attack does your obsidian sword possess? Why are you so confident in it?” Linley asked curiously.

Olivier laughed. “My obsidian sword?” Olivier looked at Linley. Pausing for a moment, he said, “I can tell you this. You should know by now that the technique of my obsidian sword is based on my insights into the Elemental Laws of Darkness.”

Linley nodded.

“Thus, in addition to astonishing penetrative power and attack power, my obsidian sword also possesses a spiritual attack.” Olivier said directly with confidence.

“Spiritual attack?” Linley was shocked.

Darkness-style magic did indeed include spirit-based curses. The Elemental Laws of Darkness included all sorts of soul-related properties. But for Olivier to be able to develop a spiritual attack with his obsidian sword based on his insights into these laws was indeed astonishing.

“Perhaps the ordinary, physical attacks of the obsidian sword are very easy to defend against, but the assault on the spirit…ordinary defenses are virtually useless against it. I want to see how Haydson can block it!”

As Olivier spoke, a look of excitement appeared on Blumer’s face as well.

Linley had to admit…

The obsidian sword was indeed very terrifying.

“How frightening. To directly attack the spirit…” Linley was amazed at the power of this technique as well.

“The more powerful one’s spirit is, the greater the chance that they will be able to block this attack. But warriors generally do not have very powerful spiritual energy. Even Saint-level warriors usually don’t have as much spiritual energy as an Arch Magus of the ninth rank.” Olivier was very confident.

Warriors had far less spiritual energy than magi of the same rank.

This technique was aimed precisely at the weak point of warriors.

“Linley. What about the attack for your technique?” Olivier asked as well.

Blumer also looked at Linley. Right now, a hint of arrogance was in Blumer’s eyes. He was certain that Linley wouldn’t be able to match up to his big brother.

Linley didn’t try to hide anything. He said directly. “My technique with the adamantine heavy sword also renders exterior defenses useless. It directly strikes against the internal organs in the opponent’s body.”

“Renders defenses useless?” Olivier’s face changed.

Generally speaking, experts would slowly build up their spiritual energy. On the path to gaining insight into the Laws, their rate of growth in spiritual energy would increase rapidly. For example, Haydson’s spiritual energy should be able to match an Arch Magus of the ninth rank.

But the internal organs were different.

Although it was easy to train one’s muscles, it was extremely hard to train the heart or the intestines. They could only absorb a little bit of elemental essence, which would slightly fortify the heart and the organs.

If one’s organs were destroyed, one would definitely die.

“Renders exterior defenses useless and strikes directly at the insides of the body…” Olivier felt admiration in his heart towards Linley as well. This sort of attack was simply too bizarre, yet Linley had managed to develop it.

Linley similarly felt admiration towards Olivier. The obsidian sword was able to attack someone’s spirit!

……..

The nobles and ministers behind them, upon seeing Linley and Olivier chatting on seemingly amicable terms, couldn’t help but feel surprised.

Soon, Linley and the others arrived outside the Martial Palace.

Linley and Olivier glanced at each other, then led their younger brothers into the Martial Palace together. Actually, even though they had described their ultimate attacks to each other, the attacks would still be very hard to defend against.

Both the spirit and the internal organs were definitely vital points. This was why these two geniuses were so confident, and why they weren’t afraid of telling their rival their secret.

So what if I tell you? Let’s see if you can do anything about it!

…………

Quite a few people were gathered in the Martial Palace. Upon Linley and Wharton entering the palace, a palace attendant immediately walked over. “Lord Linley, his Imperial Majesty has already arranged a seat for you. Please take a seat over there.”

Ordinary ministers had to remain standing, but Linley did not.

Linley calmly sat down, while Olivier was also led to a seat by a palace attendant. The eyes of the various nobles and ministers in the palace were all focused on Linley and Olivier with a hint of respect and dread.

“Linley, who do you think his Imperial Majesty will select?” Olivier chatted casually with Linley, as though those watching nobles and ministers weren’t present at all.

“My younger brother Wharton, of course.” Linley said directly.

Olivier glanced at Linley. “I don’t think I agree. Oh, his Imperial Majesty has arrived.” Linley and Olivier both looked towards the palace gates. At that moment, a number of palace attendants, the Empress, the Imperial Consorts, and seven princesses entered the palace alongside his Imperial Majesty, Emperor Johann.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 15, The Results

The entire Martial Palace fell silent. Seeing Emperor Johann arrive, Linley and Olivier both rose to their feet. In the Martial Palace, the Emperor had the highest rank. They had to at least give the Emperor some face.

Wharton’s gaze fell upon Nina. Nina was behind her mother, the Empress. As soon as she entered, she looked at him.

“Big lunk…” Nina’s mouth moved, but she didn’t speak.

Wharton squeezed out a smile of his own, but his eyes were firm. The two knew what the other was thinking from the gaze they shared. No matter who Emperor Johann selected today, Wharton wouldn’t give up.

“Nina is mine. Nobody can take her from me.” Wharton glanced at Blumer from afar, then turned to look at his Imperial Majesty, Emperor Johann.

“Your Imperial Majesty!”

All the nobles and ministers in the palace fell to one knee, bowing respectfully.

“Arise, all of you.” Emperor Johann turned to look at Olivier and Linley, saying modestly, “Linley, Olivier, please, take your seats.”

Wharton also stared at Linley from afar. With Linley there, Wharton felt the utmost confidence.

Emperor Johann then turned to look at the Empress and his Imperial Consorts. “All of you, you can sit over there. Nina, sit with your Imperial mother.” The Empress, the Imperial Consorts, and the seven princesses all sat on the other side of the palace, where a row of seats had been arranged.

In the O’Brien Empire, the Empress and the consorts were not permitted to get involved in politics. In the Martial Palace, even the Empress could only sit below and watch.

“Today is a very important day. Haha…We expect many of you have been waiting for this day. Indeed, today, We are going to announce who will be the one to marry Our beloved daughter.” Emperor Johann smiled towards Nina as he spoke.

Linley, Olivier, and everyone else stared raptly at Emperor Johann.

Wharton felt his heart begin to thump loudly.

Who would it be?

Himself? Or Blumer?

“As for who We will select, before We make the announcement, We would like to introduce two of the personal disciples of the War God.” Emperor Johann saw the two figures flying in this direction from far away. Both men were dressed in long blue robes. Upon entering the Martial Palace, the first one nodded towards Blumer.

“Your Imperial Majesty.” Only then did the two men greet Emperor Johann.

The expression on Wharton’s face changed.

The personal disciples of the War God? Seeing these two arrive, Wharton sensed that things were not going to go well. Blumer, not too far away from him, cast Wharton a delighted glance.

These two had clearly come in support of Blumer.

“We shall make some introductions, first. This person on the left is Mr. Lanke [Lan’ke], a personal disciple of the War God and a Saint-level expert.” Emperor Johann said in a loud voice. “This person on the right is Mr. Castro [Ka’si’te’luo], a personal disciple of the War God and a Saint-level expert as well.”

The nobles and ministers in the Martial Palace all made gestures of respect towards the two Saint-level experts.

“Lanke, Castro, please take a seat over there, near Linley and Olivier.” Emperor Johann said with a smile.

Lanke, Castro, Linley, and Olivier were all seated together.

Wharton cleared his throat. Right now, he truly felt under a great deal of pressure. The atmosphere was clearly in favor of Blumer. At this moment in time, Emperor Johann spoke.

“Blumer, Wharton, come to the middle.” Emperor Johann said in a clear voice.

“Yes, your Imperial Majesty.”

Taking a deep breath, Wharton forced himself to stop thinking wild thoughts, then headed to the center of the palace. Blumer and Wharton stared at each other coldly, then stood shoulder to shoulder.

Everyone’s attention was focused on these two.

“We are going to announce who shall become Nina’s husband. Naturally, that’s only if you two both desire to marry Nina. We shall ask you one more time; do the two of you both wish to marry Nina?” Emperor Johann said in a solemn voice.

This was the final moment.

Blumer immediately said. “Your Imperial Majesty, my greatest desire and dream is to be able to take Princess Nina as my wife.”

Wharton said respectfully, “Your Imperial Majesty, it is also your servant’s dream that I can have an open, public marriage ceremony with Nina, and that the two of us shall be together forever, never to be apart.”

As Wharton spoke, he looked at Nina.

Nina was looking at Wharton as well. Their gazes met. Most of the people in the palace noticed this, and Blumer’s face sank.

“Haha, wonderful.” Emperor Johann laughed loudly. “Since both of you are so sincere, We are very gratified. But in the end, We must choose one person.”

As he spoke, Emperor Johann cast a smiling glance at Blumer.

This glance immediately dissipated the rage in Blumer’s heart. He could sense what Emperor Johann’s hidden meaning was, and Blumer suddenly felt confidence.

Who would be chosen?

To the contrary, Wharton was growing anxious as he looked anxiously at Emperor Johann.

“Everyone, please be quiet. We solemnly announce that-”

“Wait.” That personal disciple of the War God, Castro, stood up and spoke out, preventing Emperor Johann from speaking. Emperor Johann looked questioningly towards him.

If it had been someone else who had interrupted him, he would’ve shouted in anger already. But the person stopping him was Castro.

“Your Imperial Majesty.” Castro actually headed towards Emperor Johann, in the middle of the palace. All of the nobles and ministers were stupefied. “There is something I must tell you in private, your Imperial Majesty.” As he spoke, Castro glanced at Blumer.

The palace attendants didn’t know whether they should try to block him or not try to block him.

“Step aside. Castro has something he wishes to discuss with Us.” Emperor Johann instructed his attendants to step aside, and Castro walked directly to Emperor Johann’s side.

Emperor Johann looked at Castro quizzically.

Castro whispered a few words quietly into Emperor Johann’s ear. Emperor Johann frowned, glancing at Castro. But then Emperor Johann started, and a smile appeared on his face.

Castro stepped away.

“What is this Castro doing?” Linley had a very bad feeling about this. “Could it be that Castro is privately asking Emperor Johann to select Blumer?”

In Linley’s heart, he truly hoped that his younger brother would have a perfect marriage.

But there was nothing that could be done about it. Behind Blumer was the might of the War God’s College.

“Haha. Just then, Castro had a minor matter to discuss with Us. Now, We shall officially announce that Our daughter shall be wed to…” A smile was on Emperor Johann’s face.

The entire palace was so silent, you could hear a needle falling.

Wharton and Blumer both looked anxiously at Emperor Johann.

“Shall be wed too…” Emperor Johann proclaimed loudly. “Wharton Baruch!”

“Wharton Baruch!” “Wharton Baruch!” “Wharton Baruch!” Wharton’s name echoed throughout the Martial Palace.

The entire Martial Palace became utterly still.

Blumer’s eyes bulged out.

Wharton was stunned.

Nina was stupefied as well.

“Ah!!!!” Wharton suddenly let out a wild howl of excitement, then charged directly towards Nina. Nina recovered as well, throwing herself directly into Wharton’s embrace.

Wharton and Nina actually tightly embraced each other, there in the Martial Palace, as though no one was watching. Nina was utterly thrilled.

“Impossible!” Blumer shook his head nonstop, totally unable to accept this result.

In truth, Blumer didn’t feel too much affection towards Princess Nina. But Blumer had a strong, possessive nature, wanting to possess the best of everything. And when he was young, people would often compare him against Wharton.

Thus, Blumer wanted to surpass Wharton in every way.

Challenging him to a duel. Wooing Nina. They were all for this reason. The only person Blumer truly loved was himself.

“Wharton. Nina.” Emperor Johann’s voice rang out.

Only now did Wharton and Nina come to their senses. This was the Martial Palace. Nina’s face turned red, and she immediately retreated into her Imperial mother’s embrace.

Wharton immediately bowed as well. “Your Imperial Majesty, your servant was too excited.”

“We can understand. We can understand.” Emperor Johann laughed and nodded.

And then, Emperor Johann looked at Blumer. “Blumer, you and Wharton are both outstanding talents. Only, We have to consider what is best for our daughter. Do you understand?”

What could Blumer do?

He wasn’t Wharton. In Blumer’s heart, even if Princess Nina became his wife, she would still be nothing more than something for him to show off. He didn’t have much affection for Nina herself. Although it was hard for Blumer to accept this defeat, he didn’t lose his composure.

“I understand the difficult choice your Imperial Majesty had to make.” Blumer could only grind his teeth and force out these words, swallowing the bile that had risen to his throat.

Emperor Johann nodded with satisfaction.

“Haha…” Emperor Johann laughed loudly. “We are extremely happy today. How about this. Let Us decide the date for Wharton and Nina’s engagement. Next month, on the 12th. Wharton, that will be the date of your engagement ceremony with Nina. Do you have any objections?”

“Thank you, your Imperial Majesty. Your servant has no objections.” Right now, Wharton was all smiles. How could he have any objections?

Linley, standing next to Wharton, felt very happy as well upon seeing his little brother’s joy. His little brother’s romantic relationship was about to come to a happy conclusion. At last, he was confident it wouldn’t turn out like his own had.

Thinking once more about how his own had turned out, Linley felt a bit of pain in his heart.

“Linley, congratulations.” The personal disciple of the War God who sat next to him, Lanke, said in a warm manner.

Castro laughed as well. “Master Linley, on War God Mountain, I am a big collector of stone sculptures. I’ve always been full of admiration for you, Master Linley. If you have some free time, Master Linley, please come to War God Mountain for a stroll. War God Mountain welcomes you at any time.”

“I will definitely go when I am free.” Linley was in a fine mood today as well.

Olivier directly rose to his feet and walked to his little brother, Blumer, patting Blumer on the shoulder.

“Linley, Wharton, today you shall enjoy a meal with Us, what do you say?” Emperor Johann’s voice rang out. “Olivier, Blumer, Castro, Lanke, you should come with Us as well.”

Castro and Lanke rose to their feet.

“Your Imperial Majesty, we have affairs we need to attend to back at War God Mountain. We won’t be able to accompany you.” Castro said.

“That’s fine.” Emperor Johann didn’t try to force the issue.

“Your Imperial Majesty, I also need to go prepare for my duel with Haydson next month. My second brother shall accompany me back as well.” Olivier also refused.

Blumer had already lost. How could he stay and have a meal with them?

Emperor Johann understood this and nodded.

But Linley and Wharton accepted Emperor Johann’s invitation. In the future, Emperor Johann would be Wharton’s father-in-law. They had to give him this bit of face.

“I didn’t expect this.” Linley’s face was covered with smiles.

Indeed, he truly had not. Linley had already sent out Jenne, Leena, and Rebecca from the imperial capital, and was already prepared to take Nina by force and let Nina and Wharton elope. But the end result had actually been this. This truly was surprising.

After the court was adjourned, Nina left alongside the Empress and the Imperial Consorts.

But Linley and Wharton followed Emperor Johann to a different place.

“Big bro.” Wharton’s face was still covered in smiles. He was simply too happy. Without meaning to, he continued to beam happily.

Linley was very happy for Wharton as well.

“Linley, in the future, we’ll all be one family.” Emperor Johann laughed towards Linley.

“Right. All one family.” Linley smiled back.

……..

Lanke and Castro were flying in the air side by side, heading straight for the War God Mountain outside the imperial capital.

“What was that all about? What did you say to Johann?” Lanke was confused this entire time. Why did Emperor Johann choose Wharton? Emperor Johann had previously already agreed to choose Blumer.

“I told Johann that our master, the War God, was ordering him to choose Wharton!” Castro said in an unhappy voice.

“Master?” Lanke was stunned.

“How should I know? Right after I entered the palace, Master’s voice rang out in my mind and instructed me to speak with Johann. And then, Master delivered the same message to Johann as well.” Castro said helplessly. “Master most likely was afraid that if he simply spoke to Johann, Johann wouldn’t believe that it truly was the War God who was speaking to him. After all, Master has never spoken to Johann mentally before.”

“Why did Master do such a thing?” Lanke said quizzically.

“How should I know?” Castro had no idea either.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 16, Congratulatory Gift

The imperial palace was under heavy guard, and valiant knights could be seen everywhere, along with beautiful palace serving ladies. Emperor Johann and Linley walked side by side, with Wharton slightly behind them. Behind these three men were a number of palace attendants and serving ladies. All of the soldiers they encountered on the trip over bowed respectfully upon seeing Emperor Johann.

“That is Master Linley.” Many warriors, seeing Linley walking by Emperor Johann’s side, began to murmur quietly amongst themselves.

Their eyes were filled with veneration and adoration towards Linley. They were all young, and many of them were no older than Linley. Many of the young men in the Empire had set Linley as their goal towards which they would strive.

“The O’Brien Empire lives up to its name of being the most military powerful of the six major powers. All of these warriors in the imperial palace are very powerful.” On the way over, Linley noticed that not a single one of the warriors here was weaker than the sixth rank.

Most were of the sixth, and many were of the seventh. Even a few eighth rank warriors could be seen.

Even the ordinary patrolling guards were so powerful. One could imagine how powerful the Empire as a whole was.

“Linley, look. The eyes of those guards are lighting up when they see you. I’m afraid that in their hearts, the veneration they feel towards you is greater than for Us.” Emperor Johann said with a loud laugh.

Linley laughed calmly.

Ever since that duel in the Colosseum, Linley’s fame had spread throughout the O’Brien Empire, especially given his young age. He had already become a legend.

Linley was in his twenties, and not only a genius sculptor, but also a genius magus and a Saint-level warrior. In the hearts of many, even though they might not be as talented as Linley, as long as they worked hard, they might be able to reach at least 10% of Linley’s accomplishments, and they would be happy with that.

This had actually caused many young people in the Empire to train even more painstakingly.

The O’Brien Empire had a long-standing custom that whenever a genius appeared, the Empire would officially spread the news alongside the rumors of the common-folk. The impact on the citizens of the Empire was actually quite large.

….

The imperial flower garden. There was a banquet table filled with food, and the only people seated there were Emperor Johann, Linley, and Wharton.

The palace serving maids brought plate after plate of delicacies forward, while the guards around them kept a solemn watch around them.

“You can all leave now.” Emperor Johann waved his hand.

“Yes, your Imperial Majesty.”

The surrounding maids, servants, and guards all dispersed. Soon afterwards, only Emperor Johann, Linley, and Wharton were present.

Emperor Johann glanced at Wharton. Actually, on the entire trip over from the Martial Palace, his heart was filled with questions.

Why did the War God wish to help Wharton?

In the Empire, the War God was unquestionably the highest power. Wharton was nothing compared to him. The War God and Wharton most likely didn’t have much of a relationship.

“Could it be that our venerable ancestor, the War God, has some sort of connection to the ancestors of the Dragonblood Warrior clan? That shouldn’t be the case either. Five thousand years ago, when the Empire was founded, the Dragonblood Warrior, Baruch, was very famous, true, but they were nothing more than peak-stage Saint-level combatants. There was still a major gap between them and the War God. What sort of relationship could the two possibly have had?”

Emperor Johann didn’t believe it.

The War God was someone on the level of the High Priest. How much of a relationship could he possibly have had with Baruch? Even if he had one, could it have been a deep enough relationship that he would help out the descendants of Baruch, five thousand years later?

“Wharton.” Emperor Johann didn’t think about it any longer. Smiling, he said, “A while later, you and Nina will get engaged. You need to take good care of Nina. This child has the temper of a spoiled princess. We hope you can be accommodating towards her.”

Wharton straightened his chest, hurriedly saying, “Your Imperial Majesty, don’t worry.”

But Linley was staring at Emperor Johann.

“A few days ago, Caylan said that Emperor Johann was going to choose Blumer, but now…” Linley was puzzled about this.

Linley asked directly, “Your Imperial Majesty, I wish to ask, why is it that you chose my younger brother Wharton?”

Emperor Johann was a bit startled.

“Haha…” Emperor Johann laughed loudly. “Linley, didn’t We already discuss this at the palace? We were considering things from Nina’s standpoint. Nina likes Wharton, after all. We are deeply gratified that We are able to bring Nina happiness.”

Linley snickered secretly.

If Emperor Johann really were considering things from Nina’s standpoint, then when Wharton had asked for her hand in marriage, he wouldn’t have delayed and caused a large chain of events to occur before accepting.

Emperor Johann saw the look on Linley’s face. “What? You don’t believe it, Linley?”

“I don’t fully believe it, actually.” Linley said bluntly.

Emperor Johann started. Generally speaking, who would dare speak to him in such a way? But the one who said these words was Linley, a peak-stage Saint-level expert. Emperor Johann let out two awkward chuckles. “Actually, We admit that We had originally been considering Blumer.”

That was more like it.

Although that had been Linley’s first time meeting with Caylan, he had the feeling that Caylan was a trustworthy person.

“Linley, you should know that in reality, it is Saint-level experts which determine the rise and fall of an Empire.” Emperor Johann sighed. “Saint-level experts can easily kill the enemy’s leaders despite being surrounded by a million soldiers. Saint-level magi can utilize destructive forbidden-spells and destroy a million man army entirely. It can be said that in the eyes of ordinary people, Saint-levels are absolutely invincible experts.”

Linley nodded. When he was young, Saint-levels were indeed the ultimate combatants in existence.

“Although We are the Emperor, We do not dare issue orders to Saint-levels. If We were to offend them, they might leave the Empire. We trust there are many places which would welcome a Saint-level expert’s arrival.” Emperor Johann laughed bitterly.

Linley understood this.

If a Saint-level expert were to flee, given their flying ability, that would be very simple.

“Both Blumer and Wharton are likely to reach the Saint-level in the future. But the critical issue is…Blumer belongs to the War God’s College. All of the experts of the Empire are clustered around the War God’s College. We do not wish to anger the War God’s College. After all, there is an entire group of Saint-level experts there, not just one or two!”

An entire group of Saint-level experts. Just hearing the words was enough to make people shiver.

“With multiple fellow apprentices of Blumer coming to speak on his behalf, We didn’t have a choice.” Emperor Johann shook his head and sighed.

“Then why did you choose my younger brother Wharton in the end?” Linley asked.

He had been wondering about this the entire time. What was the reason?

Emperor Johann turned a puzzled gaze towards Linley and Wharton. “Linley. Does your Baruch clan have some sort of historical relationship with the War God?”

“The War God?”

Linley immediately understood. Shocked, he said, “Your Imperial Majesty, are you saying that it was the War God who caused you to select Wharton?”

“Of course.” Emperor Johann said, “Linley, think about it. In the Empire, whose word carries even more weight than the members of the War God’s College? Only the War God, the highest power of the land.”

“Our venerable ancestor, the War God, directly spoke to Us mentally and ordered Us to choose Wharton.” A hint of excitement was in Emperor Johann’s eyes. “This was the first time We have ever heard the voice of our venerable ancestor, the War God.”

The War God!

It had actually been the War God!

The War God was an incredible figure. Five thousand years ago, he had battled the High Priest over the Yulan river to a standstill, proving that he was definitely a Deity-level combatant.

After five thousand years, although no one had ever seen the War God fight again, everyone understood that given the War God’s natural talent, he was undoubtedly even more terrifyingly powerful now.

The War God had trained incredibly fast, going from ordinary person to Deity-level in just a few centuries.

His sudden rise to prominence five thousand years ago had caused his fame and glory to completely eclipse even the Four Supreme Warriors, becoming the most brilliant shining star of that era.

“The War God helped my little brother?” Linley couldn’t understand it.

“Could it be that he knows my side has six Saint-level experts?” Linley began to wonder. Given the War God’s power, he definitely could sense the strength of Linley’s forces.

Linley shook his head.

Impossible. To a Deity, Saint-level experts were nothing. Most likely, the War God could kill all six of them with one blow.

“Then what’s the reason? Could it really be because he had some relationship with the ancestors of the Baruch clan?” Linley truly didn’t understand what the reason was behind the War God’s actions.

…..

West of the imperial capital. War God Mountain. Aside from the primary peak, there were four other peaks. Connecting two of the peaks was a natural cave tunnel.

Lanke and Castro were walking side by side in the tunnel.

After travelling several hundred meters through the winding tunnel, the tunnel suddenly turned downwards sharply. If one stared downwards into that bizarre, deep dark hole, not a single thing could be seen. Nobody could tell how deep that tunnel was.

“Whoosh.”

Lanke and Castro jumped directly into the deep hole. They fell down at a fairly slow speed. After falling for several thousand meters, the two landed as gently as leaves on the ground. From the entrance of the tunnel to this hole was merely a thousand meters, but this hole took them several thousand meters underground.

“Master usually spends his time in closed-door training, and whenever he does so, he’ll usually spend several years, several decades, or even longer training. When he is engaged in training, he’ll virtually never speak to us mentally. But this time, at the Martial Palace, he actually reached out to us mentally and told us to tell Johann to choose Wharton, then told us to come back here.” Lanke was mystified.

This was very contrary to the War God’s habits.

There were very few matters in the world which an ascetic such as War God would issue orders about.

“Junior apprentice-brother, don’t think about it too much. Master surely has his reasons for acting like this. All we need to do is listen and obey.” Castro said.

“Yes, senior apprentice-brother.” Lanke nodded.

To the disciples of the War God’s College, the commands of the War God were not to be flouted. They would do whatever the War God ordered them to do. There was no need to think about it.

“Rumble…” A blistering heat could be sensed in the depths of the tunnel. As they walked in, the stones were slowly turning red as well.

The temperature here was very high!

After going several hundred more meters, Lanke and Castro came to a halt in front of a pitch-black stone door. The stone walls surrounding this door were already scarlet red, and the temperature was so high that even Lanke and Castro had to use their battle-qi on their feet to protect themselves.

If a piece of paper was tossed out, it would most likely instantly be set alight.

“You’ve come.” A calm voice drifted out from behind the door.

The War God’s voice was very soft, but it carried a penetrative power. The voice was like a needle, piercing directly into one’s soul. Castro and Lanke, his two disciples, even suspected…that the War God could possibly dissipate their soul with his voice alone.

This was one of the reasons why Castro and the other personal disciples of the War God feared their Master so much. The War God was simply too powerful.

“Yes, Master.” Castro and Lanke said respectfully. Castro continued, “Master, what instructions have you for us?”

The War God’s voice rang out yet again. “April 12th will be the day of the engagement ceremony for that kid Wharton. Go speak to your eldest apprentice-brother and acquire an interspatial ring. On the day of that kid Wharton’s engagement ceremony, give it to him as his engagement present.”

Castro and Lanke were utterly stunned.

The War God was giving an engagement present?

This had never happened before. Even when they, his personal disciples, had gotten married, the War God paid no heed. After all, was the War God someone who had to send congratulatory gifts to others? Even if he wanted to do so, who would be worthy of accepting his gifts?

But the War God was now ordering them to deliver a congratulatory gift for Wharton’s engagement ceremony?

“You can leave now.” The War God’s calm voice once more sounded out in the tunnel.

Castro and Lanke stared at the pitch-black stone door, then glanced at each other. Although they didn’t understand it at all, they didn’t dare disobey the orders of the War God.

“Yes, Master.” Lanke and Castro replied, their voices filled with incomparable respect.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 17, Stepping Onto the Stage

Yulan calendar, year 10009, April 12th. This was the day on which Wharton and Nina would be engaged at the imperial capital. One of the two lovers was the younger brother of a peak-stage Saint-level expert, while the other was the daughter of the Emperor. An engagement ceremony such as this would definitely be very well attended.

The nobles of the imperial capital who received invitation letters all felt extremely proud. Many common nobles weren’t qualified to be invited to this event; after all, if everyone was invited, the Count’s manor wouldn’t be able to hold all those people.

The Count’s manor was very festive today, and the outside of the manor was flooded with arriving carriages, which blocked off a large half of the Boulder Street. The guards and servants of the nobles weren’t qualified to enter the manor, and all had to wait outside. In total, there were thousands of guards and servants waiting outside.

An ocean of people!

Each carriage was gaudier and more lavish than the next, and each young noble lady was dressed more beautifully and was more mesmerizing than the last. The engagement ceremony banquet at the manor was definitely one of the imperial events of the highest caliber, and the people who came were all people of great status.

“Big bro, I still feel really uncomfortable wearing this.” Wharton had wasted quite a bit of his time in his room. He felt more nervous than he ever had before.

Linley laughed. “Enough, Wharton. You already look very handsome. Have some confidence!”

Wharton took a deep breath.

“Let’s go. Time to welcome the guests in the hall.” Linley laughingly lectured. “You can’t just keep on having Grandpa Hiri welcome the guests. For example, when his Imperial Majesty comes, how can you possibly not be out there to welcome him?”

Wharton and Linley entered the main hall, and as soon as they did, they breathed sharply. Good heavens. There were so many people there. What’s more, that was just a small portion of the nobles who would be present. Many senior personages hadn’t arrived yet.

“The imperial capital really is the imperial capital. There are far more nobles here than in Fenlai City.” Linley sighed.

In the past, Linley had participated in Alice and Kalan’s engagement ceremony. The number of people present that day clearly were far fewer than the number attending the ceremony today, and were clearly a much lower caliber of people as well.

The noble clans of a kingdom naturally were far fewer in number than the noble clans of an empire.

As soon as Linley and Wharton entered the main hall, they immediately became the center of attention. Wharton’s massive frame was simply too eye-catching, and many people went over there to greet him warmly.

“Wharton, come over here.” Housekeeper Hiri immediately called out to him.

Wharton immediately hastened over to the main door of the hall and began to greet each of the arriving guests. As for Linley, he filled a cup with wine, then casually walked to the center of the hall, occasionally clinking cups with the guests.

These nobles were very conscientious and didn’t try to get too close to Linley or bother him too much, only gently tipping their cups towards him from afar.

However…

Some of the young noble ladies had their eyes set on Linley. They knew that Linley was unmarried. A twenty-something year old peak-stage Saint-level expert…where would anyone find another man like this?

“What a headache.” Linley saw three separate young noble ladies begin to drift in his direction. Linley could only pretend not to have seen them.

When these three young noble ladies were a meter away from Linley…

“Whoosh.” A soft yet firm gust of wind suddenly pressed against their bodies. No matter what they tried, those three young noble ladies couldn’t move any closer towards Linley.

And then, Linley raised his cup, smiling faintly, before heading to a corner of the main hall and sitting down.

“Just then, Master Linley…” A golden-haired and golden-eyed beautiful young noble lady got excited. “What sort of amazing technique was that?”

The other two young noble ladies didn’t know either.

Not knowing wasn’t an issue. This didn’t impact Linley’s status in their heart. In fact, to the contrary; this made Linley seem all the more powerful and mysterious to them. Actually, what Linley had just used was just the simplest manipulations of the wind.

“Did you see Master Linley’s Dragonform transformation that day at the Colosseum? He seemed so wild and untamed. I was so excited.”

“He really is exciting. I like this type. Those men at school are all soft as cotton. None of them are extremely manly like him.”

Linley’s hearing was simply too good. Hearing what the young noble ladies were saying to each other, Linley felt a wave of resignation in his heart. They called his Dragonform transformation ‘wild and untamed’? And ‘extremely manly’?”

“His Imperial Majesty has arrived!”

The voice of the guest announcer at the main gates immediately increased in volume. He had clearly shouted using battle-qi, allowing all the guests in the hall to hear clearly.

The entire hall full of nobles fell silent as they all looked towards the gates. There were many nobles outside the hall as well. There were too many guests here today, and the hall simply couldn’t fit them all inside.

“Johann has arrived?” Linley stood up and left the hall.

“Milord.” The uniformed Gates called out towards Linley.

Today, all five of the Barker brothers were dressed in handsome matching uniforms. As they wandered around the manor, their massive size and frame made the hearts of the nobles quail. The nobles all secretly sighed…the Dragonblood Warrior clan lives up to its name. Even their guards were so incredible.

Emperor Johann was a sight to behold, as always. Holding the Empress’s hand, he was followed by a few bodyguards.

“Wharton.” Emperor Johann immediately picked out Wharton from the crowd. Seeing how handsome and strong Wharton looked, Johann nodded with satisfaction. “Not bad, not bad.”

Linley arrived.

“Your Imperial Majesty, come rest inside.” Linley laughed.

“Alright. We have much to discuss with you, Master Linley.” Emperor Johann said warmly. Immediately, the two of them entered the guest hall. As for the other nobles and ministers, they very conscientiously stepped aside for them.

So many of the nobles of the imperial capital had arrived today, but Linley hadn’t gone to welcome any of them. The nobles all felt that this was normal. A Saint-level expert, go welcome them? Was that possible?

“The Chairman of the Dawson Conglomerate has arrived!”

That high-pitched voice rang out again. The Chairman of the Dawson Conglomerate, one of the three major trading unions of the Yulan Continent. Although the Dawson Conglomerate didn’t actually possess any Saint-level experts, it still possessed astonishing economic power.

Even Emperor Johann stood up and said to Linley, “Monroe Dawson is one of Our good friends.”

Linley rose as well.

Yale was sure to have come alongside Monroe Dawson. Of course Linley would go welcome them.

“Haha…” The big-bellied Monroe Dawson made his way over, with Yale by his father’s side. Seeing Emperor Johann, Monroe Dawson immediately bowed slightly. “Monroe pays his respects to the mighty Emperor Johann.”

Emperor Johann smiled warmly. “Monroe, today, Linley is the master of this location. There’s no need for you to stand on too much courtesy with Us.”

“Master Linley and I have been friends for a long time. Only, I didn’t expect that in a few scant years, Master Linley had reached such a level of accomplishment. Haha…” Monroe Dawson laughed so hard his eyes turned into merry slits.

“Uncle Dawson, just call me Linley.” Linley smiled as he spoke. He and Yale were the best of bros. Naturally, he had to be respectful to Yale’s father.

“Wharton, come and greet Uncle Dawson.”

Wharton came over as well.

“What a handsome, strapping young lad.” Monroe Dawson’s eyes lit up when he saw Wharton. Clearly, Wharton’s size and stature had surprised him.

One noble after another arrived, and even Blumer arrived. Blumer acted in an extremely gentlemanly manner today, and even spent some time congratulating Wharton.

But Wharton, in his heart, still felt rather uncomfortable around Blumer. He kept on feeling that Blumer wasn’t speaking sincerely.

“Blumer, your elder brother didn’t come today?” Emperor Johann laughed as he spoke to Blumer.

“My elder brother is currently in closed-door meditation training, in preparation for his duel with Lord Haydson next month.” Blumer smiled.

“Oh. Makes sense.” Emperor Johann nodded.

Blumer then glanced towards Wharton, who was welcoming guests at the gate. A cold light flashed in his eyes. In his heart, Blumer was very unhappy that Wharton had managed to successfully ask for Nina’s hand in marriage.

“The Monolithic Sword Saint, Lord Haydson, has arrived!”

When the voice rang out, Emperor Johann, Linley, Monroe Dawson, and many others immediately rose to their feet and headed out the hall.

“Haydson came?” Linley was very surprised and pleased. He had thought that Haydson would be busy preparing for next month’s duel.

Very soon, the gray-robed Haydson walked in by himself. Emperor Johann, Linley, Wharton, and the others all went to welcome him.

“Haha, Wharton, congratulations.” A very friendly smile was on Haydson’s face. He then looked at Linley. Jokingly, he said, “Linley, your little brother is getting engaged. What about you, the big brother?”

Linley started. He hadn’t expected Haydson to ask such a question.

“Hahaha…” Emperor Johann began to laugh loudly as well, nodding repeatedly. “Linley, it really is time for you to get married. If you take a fancy to someone, just tell Us. We will definitely make sure that lucky girl is sent to you.”

Linley didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.

“Lords from the War God’s College have arrived!”

This call from the gate extricated Linley from having to answer the question, as they all went to welcome the people from the War God’s College.

“I didn’t expect that the War God’s College would also send people over.” Emperor Johann sighed emotionally.

Haydson nodded as well. The War God’s College was one of the most major organizations in the Yulan continent. They rarely participated in engagement or wedding events, unless it was the event of one of their own people. Only then would the other fellow apprentices attend.

Lanke and Castro walked in, side by side.

Castro smiled. “Haha, brother Wharton, congratulations.” As Castro figured, given how well-disposed his master was towards Wharton, then Wharton was qualified to be addressed by him as ‘brother Wharton’.”

But this term of address baffled Linley, Johann, Haydson, and the others.

The members of the War God’s College were extremely arrogant.

They rarely paid much attention to other people. Castro’s attitude really caused quite a few people to feel puzzled.

“Today, we two fellow apprentices have come here as representatives of the entire War God’s College to congratulate you, Wharton, on this joyful occasion. This is the gift which our master personally instructed us to bring you.” Castro directly held out a brocade box towards Wharton.

Master?

Everyone around them was stunned. The War God was giving a gift?

“We are incredibly grateful.” Linley was the first to recover. Smiling, he accepted the congratulatory gift. “Castro, Lanke, come, have a rest over here.”

Generally speaking, the servants would accept any congratulatory gifts at the gate…but how would the gift registrars of the Count’s manor dare to take the gifts from people belonging to the War God’s College? Even if they had come empty-handed, it would have been an honor.

The Count’s manor was a hubbub of noise. Many high ranking nobles such as Dukes and Counts were all chatting amongst themselves, while Linley, Emperor Johan, Monroe Dawson, Castro, Lanke, Haydson, and the others chatted casually as well.

The guests at this engagement ceremony were all absolutely incredible.

Just look at the seating arrangements. At Linley’s table, the only people present aside from Saint-levels experts were an Emperor and the Chairman of a Conglomerate. Just at this moment…

“A Saint-level expert is flying over.” Many people called out. Linley glanced through the door at the sky, and indeed, saw a human form gracefully soaring through the clouds.

Linley, Emperor Johann, and the others all rose to their feet in confusion.

But no matter who it was, given this person was a Saint-level expert, they had to give him some face.

With a mid-air flash, the man arrived at the main gate. This was a white-haired old man, with a white beard as well. Clearly, he was ancient, but his dreamy, sky-blue eyes were very sharp.

“Haha, I came uninvited. I hope I won’t be unwelcome here?” The white-haired old man laughed heartily.

He didn’t even look at Linley and the others, instead flying directly towards the place where Linley and the others had been seated. As he drew near, Haydson and Castro hurriedly stepped out of his way, and the white-haired old man sat down on the seat previously occupied by the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson.

“This is a pretty good seat. I’ll sit here.” The white-haired old man laughed loudly.

Emperor Johann frowned. This man was a bit too impolite. Linley, as well, felt that this white-haired old man was a little too arrogant.

“Might I ask…” Before Linley even had a chance to finish his words, the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, quickly said in an extremely courteously voice, “I didn’t expect you could come here, milord. This truly is an unexpected surprise for us.”

By his side, both Castro and Lanke hurriedly nodded their heads in assent. Their attitudes were unbelievably humble.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 18, Experts of Other Planes

Linley, Emperor Johann, and the others were all puzzled. Who in the world was this mysterious white-haired old man? Even the number one Saint-level expert, Haydson, was incredibly deferential to him.

“Could it be the War God?” Linley secretly wondered.

Most likely, only a Deity could make Haydson be this deferential. And clearly, both Castro and Lanke recognized this person as well. He was most likely the War God.

“Add a chair.” Housekeeper Hiri instructed a nearby servant.

Linley took a step forward. Smiling, he said, “Sir, we two brothers feel extremely honored to have you attend my younger brother’s engagement ceremony. Might I know your name, sir?”

“Me?” The white-haired old man glanced smilingly at Linley. “My name is Hodan [Huo’dan].”

“Hodan?” Linley quickly combed through his memory, but he definitely didn’t recall an expert by the name of Hodan.

“Linley, no need to ask anything else. It is wonderful that Lord Hodan is able to attend today. Let’s all sit down first.” The Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, said with a laugh.

Although Linley and Emperor Johann and the others were mystified, they all sat down.

“Milord, let us offer you a toast, milord.” Castro and Lanke both raised their cups.

Milord?

A few things suddenly came to Linley’s awareness.

First of all, most likely only a Deity was capable of making a Saint-level expert address them as ‘milord’. At the same time…if Castro and Lanke addressed him as ‘milord’ and not as ‘Master’, then this person was most likely not the War God.

The continent had five prominent Deities. Linley had already met Dylin and Cesar, while he had yet to meet the High Priest, the War God, and the King of the Forest of Darkness. The white-haired old man should therefore be one of those three.

He was now certain that this man was not the War God.

So this person should be either the High Priest or the King of the Forest of Darkness.

“However, it has been countless years since those two Deities showed themselves. How could Haydson, Castro, and Lanke all recognize him?” Linley refused to believe it.

A Deity-level expert didn’t make appearances so easily.

“Linley.” The white-haired old man named ‘Hodan’ raised his cup. “Come, let us toast each other.”

Linley hurriedly raised his cup.

“When I see you, Linley, I think about the past affairs of your Baruch clan and those several Dragonblood Warriors. Haha…unexpectedly, several thousand years have passed in the blink of an eye.” Hodan laughed merrily.

These words caused Linley’s heart to twitch, hard.

“Those several Dragonblood Warriors of the Baruch clan? Thousands of years ago?” Linley looked at Hodan with confusion.

In his own clan’s history books, there had been three generations of Dragonblood Warriors, but later on a thousand years would pass between each generation of Dragonblood Warriors.

But this Hodan was saying that thousands of years ago, he had met several Dragonblood Warriors?

“I didn’t know that Elder Hodan knew the ancestors of my clan.” Linley laughed.

“Of course. Your clan leader, Baruch, really is a formidable fellow.” Hodan said with feeling. “But your Baruch clan has really decayed. In the past, when you had dozens of Dragonblood Warriors, who would dare offend you? Such a pity, such a pity…”

Linley stared.

“Dozens of Dragonblood Warriors?” Linley and Wharton both looked at Hodan in shock.

“What, is that surprising?” Hodan looked at Linley and Wharton.

Haydson hurriedly said, “Milord, it would be best if you discuss this somewhere else. There are too many people here.” It was best if they didn’t reveal these secrets to the ordinary nobles.

“It is fine. Only the people at this table can hear us. As for the people outside of it, no matter how loudly we speak, they won’t be able to overhear anything.” Hodan chortled.

There were eight people at this table. Aside from Wharton, Emperor Johann, and Monroe Dawson, the others all possessed at least Saint-level power, with the white-haired old man’s power being immeasurably deeper.

“Dozens of Dragonblood Warriors?”

Linley and Wharton could hardly dare to believe it.

Their ancestral records were very clear; the first three generations of their clan produced three Dragonblood Warriors, after which a thousand years would pass between Dragonblood Warriors. In total, there had been only five. How could there have been dozens of Dragonblood Warriors a few thousand years back?”

“The Four Supreme Warrior clans…alas. All have decayed to a sorry state. In the past, the Four Supreme Warrior clans were quite glorious.” Hodan said with emotion.

Linley suddenly thought of something.

He remembered how in the ‘Secret Dragonblood Manual’, there were instructions on the second way by which one could become a Dragonblood Warrior; drinking live dragon’s blood. But based on that manual, all three Dragonblood Warriors were natural-born Dragonblood Warriors.

If the second method had never been used successfully, why would the Secret Dragonblood Manual record it?

In the past, both Linley and Doehring Cowart had suspected that the manual had been altered. His clan’s history should probably have included examples of Dragonblood Warriors who were produced via drinking live dragon’s blood.

“But I didn’t expect there were dozens!” Both Linley and Wharton felt extremely shocked internally.

“Oh, that little girl named Nina is coming over.” The white-haired old man, Hodan, beamed, causing Linley and the other shocked participants to turn and look.

Linley and the others all stood up, and Wharton immediately went over to welcome Nina.

Holding hands, Wharton and Nina went from table to table, toasting the guests. But right now, both Wharton and Linley, who remained at his seat, felt their minds to be in a state of utter confusion.

Their clan’s history clearly wasn’t as simple as they had imagined.

In addition…

Saint-level experts had extremely long lifespans. How could it be that not a single Dragonblood Warrior in their clan was remaining? And not just their clan; even the Undying Warrior clan, the Violetflame Warrior clan, and the Tigerstripe Warrior clan had seen the same thing. All of the Four Supreme Warrior clans had bizarrely collapsed.

“Secret…” Linley understood that the history of the continent definitely contained many hidden secrets that were different from the official accounts.

For example, the King of Killers, Cesar, had once told Linley that five thousand years ago, many experts from other planes of existence had descended to the plane of the Yulan continent. But in the history books, there was no such thing.

Linley found himself somewhat mentally disengaged as the engagement ceremony continued. He kept on thinking about these things.

He even wanted to have a private chat with that white-haired old man named Hodan.

Clearly, this Hodan person knew many things about the affairs of the past.

After dinner, the various nobles in the main hall were chatting idly. At this time, Linley, who had grown frantic with impatience, suddenly heard a sentence that was as beautiful as music from the heavens.

“Linley, come with me. I have something to discuss with you.”

Hodan actually reached out to Linley and actively asked to speak to him privately.

Wharton looked at his older brother, and Linley instructed, “Wharton, you stay here. Afterwards, go spend some time with Nina. As for Mr. Hodan, I’ll speak with him.” As he spoke, Linley followed Hodan out of the main hall.

Haydson, Castro, and Lanke all glanced at each other.

“I wonder what Linley will decide.” Haydson sighed with emotion.

Hodan and Linley left the main hall. While walking, Hodan said, “Linley, where are those two Saint-level experts of yours? Call them over as well.”

Linley was startled.

How did this Hodan know everything?

Hodan knew the names of Wharton and Nina, and he also knew that Linley had two magical beasts. He even knew that Bebe was a Saint-level magical beast.

Linley didn’t try to deny anything. He immediately spiritually contacted Bebe and Haeru, calling them over. Since there were Saint-level experts present today, Linley hadn’t allowed Bebe or Haeru to go to the main hall.

“Let’s go to the training grounds behind the manor. There’s nobody there.” Hodan chuckled.

“Grooooowl.”

Haeru and Bebe arrived by Linley’s side.

“Squeaaaak!” Bebe continued to pretend.

“Little fellow, I know that you are a Saint-level magical beast. Stop squeaking.” Hodan laughed as he reached out to rub Bebe on the head. Bebe wanted to move aside, but to his astonishment, he found that it was impossible for him to move. He had no choice but to allow Hodan to rub his head.

Linley was secretly shocked.

Without question, Hodan was a Deity-level expert.

“He really is a Deity. How many Deities does the continent have?” Linley thought to himself, while at the same time, he followed Hodan to the training grounds.

“Boss, who is that old fellow? How is he so powerful?” Bebe didn’t dare to be too playful right now, appearing very obedient.

Haeru obediently followed by Linley’s side as well.

“Close the door first. Without my orders, no one is to be permitted entry.” Linley instructed the servants, and then Hodan headed directly to a stone bench and sat down.

“You can sit as well.” Hodan pointed to another seat opposite from him.

Linley sat down obediently, then said humbly, “Mr. Hodan, I am totally lost right now. Can you please provide me with guidance?”

“The reason I came today is primarily for the sake of your two magical beasts.” Hodan smiled. “Of course, you and those three other Undying Warriors who possess the Saint-level of power can also just barely be considered qualified to be worthy of being considered my targets.”

“Hrm?” Linley looked at Hodan with confusion.

Hodan smiled. “Linley, in the countless years of the Yulan continent’s history, there have been countless geniuses as well. Even if there is only one every century, in a hundred thousand years, that means there have been a thousand. But right now, how many Saint-level experts exist in the Yulan continent? Each Empire only has a few dozen.”

“Saint-level experts can live for over a hundred thousand years?” Linley said in shock.

“Saint-level experts, so long as they aren’t killed, can easily live a hundred thousand years.” Hodan laughed calmly. “Upon reaching the Saint-level, you are virtually immortal and immune to aging. However, you can still be killed, of course.”

Linley was also puzzled.

If this was the case, why were there so few Saint-level experts? After all, the Yulan continent definitely saw a new Saint-level expert every century.

“Then what is the reason?” Linley asked.

“The reason is…they’ve gone to other planes.” Hodan smiled.

“Other planes?” Linley started.

But then, Linley suddenly understood, and he hurriedly asked, “Could it be that the ancestors of the Baruch clan have also gone to other planes?”

“Right. Those dozens of Dragonblood Warriors have all gone to the ‘Infernal Realm’, one of the Four Higher Planes. In the past, I even visited your ancestor, Baruch, in the Infernal Realm and drank with him.” Hodan laughed heartily.

“The Infernal Realm. Mr. Hodan, you come from the Infernal Realm?” Linley felt as though the secrets of the universe were unfolding before his very eyes.

Hodan nodded. “Right. Linley, let me put it to you like this…in the ordinary, material world, once a life form has reached the Saint-level, they will be qualified to enter the Four Higher Planes, or perhaps the Seven Divine Planes. They will be permitted to train and live there.”

“In the history of the Yulan continent, many Saint-level experts have already left the Yulan continent and chosen to enter the Four Higher Planes or the Seven Divine Planes.” Hodan smiled.

Linley nodded to show he understood.

“Technically speaking, you and those other three Undying Warriors, despite possessing Saint-level power, aren’t yet at the Saint-level in your human forms. There was actually no need for me to hurry over here to speak to you. My primary targets were those two Saint-level magical beasts of yours. They have both reached the Saint-level. They are allowed to choose…to continue to live here at the Yulan continent, or to enter the other planes.”

Hodan quickly said with a hint of enticement, “The Four Higher Planes are much better than the Seven Divine Planes. In the ‘Infernal Realm’, for example, experts as are common as the clouds, and Saint-level experts are nothing more than ordinary people. In that place you will have excellent training opportunities, and treasures such as interspatial rings are as common as water. There’s a terrifyingly large amount of treasures there.”

Linley understood.

Only upon reaching the Saint-level was one qualified to enter the Higher Planes. Naturally, the Four Higher Planes would have experts everywhere, with Saint-level experts being nothing more than commoners.

“I’m not going. I’m staying with the Boss.” Bebe shook his head.

“I’m not going either. I’m staying with my master.” Haeru said.

Hodan looked at Linley. Laughing, he said, “Linley, your real power has already reached the peak-stage of the Saint-level. You are completely qualified to enter the Higher Planes. Do you wish to go?”

Linley didn’t respond. Instead, he looked at Hodan. “Mr. Hodan, who are you, exactly?”

“Me? Oh. I forgot to tell you.” Hodan smiled at Linley. “I am the Planar Overseer for the Yulan continent.”

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 19, A Choice

“Planar Overseer?”

Hearing this title, Linley somewhat understood. The term ‘overseer’ contained elements of both ‘watching over’ and ‘protecting’. No wonder this Hodan possessed such astonishing strength.

“Linley, you haven’t answered me yet. Are you willing to go to the other planes?” Hodan urged.

It was up to each individual Saint-level as to whether or not they wished to go to the higher planes. The Planar Overseer was only responsible for telling them about this choice.

Linley remained very calm.

“Mr. Hodan, honestly speaking, I don’t know anything about the other planes. Can you perhaps enlighten me a bit?” Linley asked humbly.

Doehring Cowart actually knew about the existence of the Planar Overseer, but at the time, Linley was far too weak, and so Doehring Cowart didn’t see a need to tell Linley right away. But Doehring Cowart had explained a little bit about the Four Higher Planes.

“There are many material planes such as the Yulan continent. These material planes are all about the same. On some, magical beasts are the primary power, while in others, other races are in power. In some, humans are in power. These planes are essentially the same.” Hodan began explaining some of the most basic information regarding the Higher Planes.

“Above these material planes are the Four Higher Planes and the Seven Divine Planes.” Hodan laughed. “The Seven Divine Planes were created by the seven principal Sovereigns of the seven elements. As for the Four Higher Planes, they were created by the four Overgods.”

Linley nodded.

“The Seven Divine Planes and the Four Higher Planes…what are the differences between them?” Linley asked.

Hodan laughed. “The Seven Divine Planes are planes of earth, fire, water, wind, lightning, light, and darkness. For example, you are someone who is training in the Laws of the Earth. If you were to enter the Divine Plane of Earth, you would find that you trained twice as fast using half the effort.”

“However, the Seven Divine Planes are inferior to the Four Higher Planes. It’s best if you enter the Higher Realms.” Hodan said enticingly. “Linley, you must understand, the Higher Planes were created by the Overgods. The four Overgods far outstrip the power of the Sovereigns.”

“Overgods? Can anyone reach the level of Overgod through training?” Linley suddenly asked.

Hodan stared at Linley in astonishment.

“Haha…” Hodan began to roar with laughter, as though he had heard the funniest joke ever.

Linley looked at Hodan in confusion.

“Linley, it seems you really know nothing.” Hodan laughed. “You have no idea. The Overgods aren’t people who reached that level through training. Let me explain to you. Every single race has the chance to become a Sovereign through training; the chance is just extremely, extremely low…”

“How low?” Linley asked.

“Let me give an example. In a hundred million ordinary Deities, it would be rare for a single Sovereign to appear.” Hodan laughed. “For example, in the Divine Realm of Light, there are countless Demigods, Gods, and Highgods. But in ten million years, you might not see a single Sovereign appear from their ranks.”

Linley was silent.

“Demigods, Gods, and Highgods?” Linley frowned as he looked at Hodan in confusion.

In the past, Grandpa Doehring had only discussed the existence of ‘Gods’. He didn’t explain further.

“The ‘divine spark’ of Deities are of different levels as well.” Hodan said calmly. “Once you reach a certain level of mastery with regards to the Laws, the Laws will themselves grant you their recognition and descend into you a ‘divine spark’, allowing you to become a Deity. But when you begin, you’ll only be a Demigod. As you continue to understand more…at a certain level, you will become a God.”

Only now did Linley understood.

“What level of Deity is the War God?” Linley asked with curiosity.

Hodan glanced at Linley with irritation, then laughed. “For the sake of your ancestors, I’ll tell you. The War God…is only a Demigod.”

“A Demigod?” Linley blinked twice.

Good heavens. The War God had become a Deity over five thousand years ago. Given his talent, he should be much more powerful now than before. How could he still just be a Demigod?

“Haha, Linley, do you think it is easy to advance from being a Demigod to a God?” Hodan shook his head.

“But the War God was a Demigod five thousand years ago.” Linley immediately said.

“At that time, he was indeed a Demigod. But there are differences amongst Demigods as well. For example, let’s say that to become a Demigod, one must master 1% of a Law, while to become a God, one must master 10% of a Law. Someone who only mastered 9% of a Law is only a Demigod…but is he on the same level of power as someone who mastered 1% of a Law? Even though they are both Demigods?” Hodan explained in a simplified way.

Linley now understood.

“Linley, don’t be too greedy. On the road to becoming a Deity, every single step is extremely arduous. There have been countless Demigods in the Four Higher Planes who have spent hundreds of millions of years, or even billions of years, without being able to break through from the Demigod level to the God level.”

“But what about the Overgods?” Linley immediately said.

“The Overgods?” Hodan laughed again. “You were asking me earlier if it was possible for humans to reach the Overgod level, right? Let me explain…”

“The Overgods…” Hodan continued to snicker at Linley. “Linley, the Overgods aren’t people, nor do they have genders. They don’t even have bodies.”

“Uh?” Linley stared at Hodan in surprise.

“The four Overgods are manifestations of the Four Prime Laws. They are nothing more than the very embodiment of the Laws that flow through the countless planes! The Overgod of Death is the embodiment of the Laws of Death. The Overgod of Destruction is the incarnation of the Laws of Destruction. The Overgod of Life is the avatar of the Laws of Life. And the Overgod of Fate is the personification of the Laws of Fate!”

Hodan laughed as he looked at Linley. “You tell me. Can you become an Overgod through training?”

Linley understood.

The four Overgods were a natural part of the infinite planes of the multiverse. They were the heavens, they were the earth…they were part of the souls of every living creature.

They were the Laws themselves!

“The Overgods are beings of pure Law. They know nothing of love, hate, friendship, grudges, or other such emotions. They are cold. If you cursed an Overgod, they would ignore you. If you flattered them, they will not reward you. However…if you were to damage the planes themselves, then the Overgods would punish you.”

Linley laughed.

Although the Overgods existed, they were the personification of the Laws of the multiverse. There was no need to pay them any heed or attention at all.

“Curse an Overgod? Someone would dare to curse an Overgod?” Linley asked, laughing.

Hodan stared at him, then laughingly berated Linley, “I was just giving an example. In all my years in the Netherworld, I’ve never heard of an Overgod manifesting in person. As far as you should be concerned, the most invincible power in the world is the power of the Sovereigns. The will of the Sovereigns is not to be disobeyed!”

Linley nodded, signifying understanding.

“Linley, the Seven Divine Planes are extremely beneficial for someone training in a particular Law. But the Four Higher Planes are different. No matter what sort of Law you are studying, the speed at which you train in the Four Higher Planes will be as fast as if you were training in the relevant Law in one of the Seven Divine Planes.” Hodan said persuasively. “Thus, the Four Higher Planes are the best choices.”

The Four Higher Planes – the Celestial Realm, the Netherworld, the Infernal Realm, and the Life Realm.

“Linley. The ancestors of your clan are all in the Infernal Realm. Why don’t you go there as well?” Hodan continued.

Go?

Linley had already made up his mind.

The Infernal Realm only had the ancestors he had never met. There wasn’t much point going there. By contrast, in the Yulan continent, he had his younger brother Wharton, and his dear bros, Yale, Reynolds, and George. He also had many friends such as Barker, his brothers, Jenne, and the others.

In addition…

He also had a goal that was unfinished. The utter destruction of the Radiant Church.

Seeing Linley’s hesitation, Hodan continued to speak persuasively. “Linley, the Infernal Realm has countless races and all sorts of powerful species of creatures, which have all sorts of attacks. In the Infernal Realm, training is extremely exciting.”

“No need.”

Linley shook his head and laughed. “Mr. Hodan, thank you for telling me so much. However, I am still young, and I haven’t even gotten married. I’m in no rush to go there.”

Hearing Linley say this, Hodan could only nod with resignation.

As the Planar Overseer, he was forbidden from forcing people to leave this plane. If others were unwilling to leave, they could remain in their own plane as long as they liked, even to the point of becoming a Highgod.

“Mr. Hodan, I wish to ask you, if one goes to a Higher Plane, can one return?” Linley suddenly asked.

Hodan shook his head. “It is virtually impossible. Out of hundred thousand people who enter a Higher Plane, there usually isn’t even a single person who can come back to his homeland. This is because returning home carries an extremely high price.”

Linley understood.

No wonder the War God and the High Priest were unwilling to go to the Higher Planes. For even Deity-level experts to be unwilling to go, one could imagine how difficult returning was.

Not even one out of a hundred thousand would be able to return.

This probability was simply too low.

“Mr. Hodan, I’m so sorry to have wasted your time.” Linley said humbly.

“Since that’s the case, I’ll leave now.” Hodan stood up. “Linley, if one day you wish to leave this plane, you can come to the Arctic Icecap at the end of the North Sea to find me. I live atop a glacier in the Arctic Icecap.”

Linley felt surprised.

“The Arctic Icecap?” This was the first time Linley had heard that at the end of the North Sea, there was an ‘Arctic Icecap’.

“Mr. Hodan, what about at the end of the South Sea?” Linley was curious.

“The South Sea is far larger than the North Sea, and is virtually boundless. But at the end of it…at the end of it is the end of the Yulan plane. You’ll find nothing there but chaotic space.

Linley now understood.

After speaking, Hodan immediately flew into the air and left, heading north and quickly disappearing. Linley stood there, not moving for a long time.

This discussion with Hodan had a major impact on Linley.

“Boss, I’m actually pretty curious about the Higher Planes. Wow. All sorts of amazing species, and Saint-levels are just ordinary people there. That place must be awesome.” Bebe’s eyes were gleaming.

Linley patted Bebe on his little head. “Do you want to die?” Most likely, any expert in that plane could easily kill them.

Linley already had a plan for his future training.

Sovereign? That was too far away.

One step at a time. First, reach the Demigod level. Upon becoming a Demigod, Linley would have confidence in his ability to destroy the Radiant Church.

Linley knew his own limits. Given his current power, he wasn’t yet strong enough to impose his will upon and act as he pleased in the Yulan continent.

“It’s hard to say if I’d even be able to defeat Olivier.” Linley didn’t feel any confidence at all when it came to Olivier’s spiritual attack in his obsidian sword.

Spiritual attack?

Linley suddenly thought of his Coiling Dragon ring. In the past, when divine power had entered Linley’s soul, a burst of power had emanated from the Coiling Dragon ring to counter it.

“But Grandpa Doehring was also a master of the Coiling Dragon ring in the past. Why is it that at the point of his death, the ring didn’t help him?” Linley was puzzled.

The mysterious power of the Coiling Dragon had to be activated somehow.

The divine power of the Radiant Sovereign had done just that, somehow agitating the power in the Coiling Dragon ring, causing it to manifest protectively. But Olivier’s attack wouldn’t necessarily also activate the Coiling Dragon ring’s protective energy.

“I have no idea what secrets lie hidden within the Coiling Dragon ring. But no matter what, I can’t just put all my hopes on the Coiling Dragon ring. In battle, the only one I can rely on is myself.”

Right now, the manor was filled with countless nobles and magnates, but Linley and his two magical beasts remained in the training courtyard in the rear of the manor. As if no one was present, Linley began to train.

“After going to the Infernal Realm, returning will be almost impossible. I can’t possibly hope that I will receive any support from my ancestors. Everything that I do in the Yulan continent, I will have to rely on myself.”

But Linley had forgotten something. Why was it that the dozens of Dragonblood Warriors as well as all of the other Supreme Warriors had left the Yulan continent en masse, and hadn’t left even a single Saint-level expert behind to look after their descendants?

The waters of the Yulan continent were far deeper than Linley could imagine.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 20, The War God’s College

By nightfall, many of the guests at the manor had left, and most of the nobles were now gone. The engagement banquet was an afternoon banquet. The people still remaining at the manor were all relatively important guests.

“Wharton, where is your big brother?” Yale poured two cups of wine, then walked to Wharton’s side. “I haven’t seen him for almost the entire afternoon, I think?”

“My big brother left with that Mr. Hodan. No clue where he went.” Wharton shook his head.

“I’ll go look for him. Given your big brother’s personality, he might have run off to the training yard and started to train.” Yale left the guest hall. Making his way down the corridors, he arrived at the training courtyard after a while.

“Drip.” “Drip.”

Water flowed down the manmade fountain. Each drip-drop of water could be heard clearly in the silent training courtyard. Linley was seated in the meditative trance on the grass, not moving at all.

If one moved closer and examined him carefully, one might see that Linley’s muscles were contracting and expanding in a very rhythmic way. And as they did, a natural gust of wind seemed to have surrounded Linley.

His spirit had become one with the endless earth and attuned to the boundless wind.

“Boom!” “Boom!” ….

“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” ….

His eyes shut, Linley could feel the trembling, vibrating spirit of the earth, and the formless wind which filled the skies. After a long time, Linley opened his eyes.

“His lordship issued the order that no one is to be permitted to enter without his permission.”

“Not even me?” Yale sounded very resigned.

“Boss Yale, come in.” Linley had a hint of a smile on his lips, and he immediately stood up. Only now did Yale walk in. Looking at Linley, he chuckled, “Third Bro, I knew it. You are training again. Why are you so hard working? You are already a peak-stage Saint-level. You are already incredibly powerful.”

Linley glanced at Yale and chuckled.

To Yale, Linley could already be considered a peerless expert in the Yulan continent. Even the Emperor of the O’Brien Empire was incredibly courteous to Linley. But after having interacted with Hodan, Linley knew that he was still far from being adequate.

“Come, have some wine with me. I haven’t had much of a chance to drink with you today.” Yale put down two flasks of wine on the stone table.

Linley sat down as well, then retrieved two winecups from his interspatial ring.

“It’s a pity that Fourth Bro couldn’t be here.” Linley shook his head and sighed. A month ago, when Emperor Johann had announced who would marry his daughter, Reynolds had left the imperial capital.

“He had no choice. The army had ordered him to return. He had to go.” Yale said helplessly. “Last time, he just so happened to be on leave, which was why we three bros were able to have a reunion. It isn’t so bad for Fourth Bro, but for Second Bro…if we want to see him, we have to go to the Yulan Empire.”

The distance from the Yulan Empire to the O’Brien Empire was quite far.

Chatting idly with his dear bro, Linley felt extremely cheerful. Why would he want to give this up to go to a Higher Plane and engage in slaughter?

The most enjoyable part of training was in the spirit gaining a greater and greater level of understanding. It wasn’t about the bloody slaughter.

“Third Bro, in a few days, I’ll leave the imperial capital as well.” Yale sighed emotionally. “Nothing for it. I’m still young. There are many things which the Conglomerate needs me to handle. Otherwise, in the future, I won’t be qualified to manage it.”

Linley understood.

An organization on the level of the Dawson Conglomerate definitely wouldn’t award someone the leadership position just because one’s father previously held it. Otherwise, the Dawson Conglomerate wouldn’t be as powerful as it currently was. Of course, being the son of the Chairman had its advantages, but one also needed to have ability and a work history.

“Next month, Olivier will be doing battle with the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson. Doesn’t that mean you’ll miss it?” Linley laughed.

“Yeah.” Yale laughed uncaringly. “I’m just a magus anyhow. How much would I understand from watching a battle between two Saint-level warriors?”

Linley suddenly put down his wine cup and looked at the door. “Someone is coming.”

“Who?” Yale was puzzled. “Someone else knows that you are here?”

“Those two from the War God’s College.” Linley laughed calmly.

Saint-level experts could use spiritual energy to scan an area. The comparatively tiny manor could easily be totally covered by it. Naturally, they could easily locate Linley.

Castro and Lanke walked towards the back courtyard side by side. They were very surprised by their master’s instructions.

“Although Linley’s strength is not bad, there’s no need for Master to act this way.” Lanke shook his head.

“I don’t understand either.” Castro also felt puzzled.

Both of them were confused. Walking into the back courtyard, they saw that the guards had opened the door for them already. Castro and Lanke exchanged a glance.

“Linley knew that we were coming.”

Castro and Lanke immediately saw Linley seated alongside Yale. Seeing that Yale was here as well, the two frowned.

Yale immediately stood up. “Third Bro, people have come to see you. Why don’t you have a chat with them? I’ll go to the main hall for now.”

Linley nodded.

After Yale left, Castro and Lanke sat down. Linley asked, “Castro, Lanke, why have you come?”

Castro laughed. “Linley, the two of us have come bearing an invitation from our master to pay a visit to the War God’s College.”

“The War God is inviting me to the War God’s College?” Linley could hardly believe it.

How could someone like the War God be inviting him?

Lanke nodded. “Linley, Master did indeed instruct us to have you come to the War God’s College. And what’s more, Master has instructed our senior apprentice-brother to welcome you personally. Linley, you must understand, even when the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, visited the War God’s College in the past, our senior apprentice-brother didn’t come to welcome him.”

“Oh?”

Linley was intrigued. Who was this ‘senior apprentice-brother’ of the War God’s College?

“Your senior apprentice-brother should be the first disciple of the War God, right? Wait…how old is he?” Linley suddenly came to a realization. Good heavens. The War God was someone who had reached this level over five thousand years ago.

Castro and Lanke both grinned.

“Right. Our senior apprentice-brother is already five thousand years old. He isn’t much younger than our master.” Castro nodded. “We were very surprised as well when we heard that Master instructed our senior apprentice-brother to welcome you.”

Linley knew that the War God only accepted a personal disciple every three hundred years.

The youngest one was Blumer, only thirty years old or so. But the oldest was this senior apprentice-brother, and was five thousand years old.

“Alright. When should I go?” Linley asked with a laugh.

“You can come to the War God’s College at any time. How about this? Here’s my insignia. When you arrive at the War God’s College, hand it to one of our fellow apprentices. They will inform me.” With a flip of his hand, Castro retrieved a scarlet red medal which had Castro’s name carved onto it.

Accepting the insignia, Linley laughed and nodded. “Don’t worry. I will definitely go.”

Castro and Lanke both nodded, then left.

Linley secretly wondered to himself…if the senior apprentice-brother of the War God’s College was five thousand years old, how powerful was he?

Could he be weaker than the Monolithic Sword Saint?

Linley didn’t much believe it. The Monolithic Sword Saint was only a few centuries old, while the senior apprentice-brother had been training in the War God’s College for thousands of years with the War God’s personal guidance. After five thousand years, how could he possibly not be strong?

The primary peak of the War God Mountain was covered with many buildings. These were the places where the honorary disciples of the War God stayed, along with Kenyon, Castro, and Lanke, who were in charge of the ordinary affairs of War God Mountain, great or small.

The mountain wind was very strong this day. Many of the honorary disciples of the War God’s College were training.

“Haaargh!”

A boulder weighing dozens of tons was easily tossed from one person to another, who in turn kicked it back…the two honorary disciples of the war God’s College were able to easily kick around this massive boulder.

Most importantly, the boulder wasn’t damaged at all.

This required a very fine control of both physical strength and battle-qi.

Right at this time, a graceful figure appeared, soaring across the sky like blue smoke. It gracefully circled around War God Mountain, and in the blink of an eye it arrived at the War God’s College.

“Hrm?” One of the honorary disciples of the War God’s College looked at the arrival with surprise. He hadn’t seen anyone earlier, but then all of a sudden, this person had appeared.

“Are you…Master Linley?” The honorary disciple could recognize him. On the day of the duel at the Colosseum, the honorary disciple had gone to support Blumer.

Smiling, Linley nodded. “Castro invited me to come. This is his insignia. Please go inform him.” Linley tossed the insignia to the honorary disciple.

The honorary disciple hurriedly said, “I’ll go report it right away. Master Linley, please take a rest first.”

Linley nodded. Wharton’s engagement ceremony had concluded two days ago, and today, Linley had accepted the invitation and headed off to the War God’s College and see for himself what it was all about.

“That person is Master Linley. I hear he’s only 27 years old.”

“Even apprentice-brother Kenyon was easily defeated by him.”

“I was there that day. It only took one blow. Compared to Linley, apprentice-brother Kenyon is very weak.”

“Apprentice-brother Kenyon is only the 25th personal disciple of our master. It is understandable that he is a bit weaker. Most likely, apprentice-brother Castro is roughly on par with Linley. If the first ten disciples of Master had been the ones to do battle, most likely they would have easily beat Linley.”

Many of the honorary disciples of the War God’s College murmured in quiet voices while casting glances at Linley. All of these honorary disciples were geniuses in their own right, and they were all proud and arrogant. But compared to Linley, they had a long way to go.

“Linley.” A bright voice rang out.

Castro ran out, his face wreathed in smiles. “You came after all. Come, let’s go to Bluethunder Peak.”

“Not here?” Linley was puzzled.

Clearly, this primary peak was the largest one with the most buildings. The other four peaks didn’t have much construction.

Castro laughed. “Linley, we have many honorary disciples here at the War God’s College, so we let them stay at the main peaks. Myself, Lanke, and Kenyon all stay here because we are in charge of them. The rest of our fellow apprentices are all on the other mountain peaks.”

Linley nodded slightly.

Castro immediately led Linley in the direction of a different mountain peak. Linley and Castro walked up the steep mountain walls as easily as if they were travelling on flat land, their steps as graceful as flying birds.

“Castro, you are in which generation of personal disciples of the War God?” Linley asked.

“Me? I’m the 22nd personal disciple.” Castro laughed.

“You’ve reached the peak-stage of the Saint-level by now, right?” Linley asked. When he was at the courtyard, he had heard the honorary disciples say that Castro should be on par with him. This was why Linley asked this question.

Castro nodded. “Right. But I most likely am not a match for you. Your speed is quite astonishing, on par with Olivier.”

Linley was thinking nonstop.

Even the 22nd personal disciple had reached the peak-stage of the Saint-level. Then what about the earlier disciples?

“Castro, the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, is reputed to be the number one Saint in the world. Has he ever competed against your senior apprentice-brother?” Linley asked.

“No way.”

Castro let out an involuntary chuckle. “Although Haydson already has a rather high grasp and understanding of the Laws of the Earth, the War God’s College has quite a few people more powerful than him. The reason why Haydson is famous is because my senior apprentice-brother and second apprentice-brother are all over five thousand years old, and have retreated from the secular world thousands of years ago. How could they go out and compete against a junior who is only a few centuries old for the sake of fame and glory?”

Linley suddenly understood.

“Even aside from our War God’s College, I know others more powerful than him as well. For example, that King of Killers, Cesar. A thousand years ago, Cesar sparred against my senior apprentice-brother, and they were both on par with each other. I imagine if Cesar wanted to act against Haydson, he would be able to easily gain victory.” Castro said with certainty.

Linley was startled.

Cesar?

It seemed as though Castro didn’t know that Cesar had already reached the Deity-level. But for his senior apprentice-brother to have dueled Cesar to a standstill a thousand years ago meant that he was indeed an incredible person.

“We’ve arrived at Bluethunder Peak. Come. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my senior apprentice-brother as well. Master has always said that amongst all of us disciples, senior apprentice-brother is the most likely to reach the Deity-level.” Castro’s face was filled with confidence.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 21, The Eldest Disciple

The mountain wind howled drearily. Walking up the mountain, Linley and Castro travelled a hundred meters with every two or three steps.

“On Bluethunder Peak, eight of us apprentice-brothers are living there. Our senior apprentice-brother is also living at the very top of Bluethunder Peak.” Castro said with emotion.

But Linley was currently thinking about that battle the eldest disciple had with Cesar a thousand years ago.”

“Castro, do you know anything about that duel between your senior apprentice-brother and Cesar?” Linley asked.

Castro said enviously, “When that duel occurred, I hadn’t been accepted into the War God’s College yet. I have, however, heard other fellow apprentices discuss it. That Cesar was extremely powerful, and he was extremely fast as well. Senior apprentice-brother’s speed is the highest amongst all of us, but he was only able to match Cesar’s speed.”

“How fast were they?” Linley was also specialized in speed.

Castro laughed calmly. “I don’t know either. After all, I didn’t personally witness this duel. But I think…they should be much faster than you and Olivier.”

Linley could understand. After all, his human form was not yet at the Saint-level. He still had a long way to grow. It was normal if he currently wasn’t a match for them.

At the top of Bluethunder Peak.

The top of the mountain had an open space that was a few dozen meters wide. There were some stunted dwarf trees at the top of the mountain as well as some wild grass. Next to one of the old dwarf trees, there were two stone houses.

And at the top of the mountain, there was a man standing there, staring downwards.

Linley carefully looked at this man. He was dressed in a simple blue robe. He was rather skinny, but his back was ramrod straight. His short hair was only three inches, and it was also blue. Just by looking at him, one could sense that this man was possessed of a valiant, resolute air.

“Senior apprentice-brother.” Castro said respectfully.

The blue-haired man turned to look at them. When his gaze landed on Linley, Linley suddenly sensed his own soul seem to tremble from the gaze.

Was this an attack?!

Linley instantly grew frightened. He was certain that against ordinary warriors, most likely the gaze alone of this senior apprentice-brother could destroy their soul. Fortunately, he himself possessed the spiritual energy of an Arch Magus of the ninth rank.

“Not bad.” The man smiled and nodded. “You are Linley?”

“I am.” Linley nodded as well.

“My name is Fain [Fa’en].” The man smiled. “Master instructed me to come welcome you. You drank dragon’s blood in order to gain the ability to transform, I believe. You aren’t a pure Dragonblood Warrior, right?”

“Hrm?” Linley frowned.

“After hearing about your Dragonform’s appearance, I deduced this. I’ve met other Dragonblood Warriors of your Baruch clan.” Fain said with a calm laugh.

“So what if I did drink dragon’s blood?” Linley responded.

The eldest disciple, Fain, sighed with emotion. “Based on what I know, the Pure Dragonblood Warriors have tremendous potential, while the Variant Dragonblood Warriors who drank dragon’s blood have slightly less potential. If you were a Pure Dragonblood Warrior, upon reaching the peak of your power, you would probably be able to do battle with me.”

“Even the potential of a Variant Dragonblood Warrior most likely is greater than yours.” Linley was very unhappy with the way this ‘eldest disciple’ was speaking.

Fain frowned.

He was a person of great status. Even the so-called ‘most powerful Saint’ in the world, the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, was nothing more than a junior in Fain’s eyes, not even worthy of his attention. He truly was rather dissatisfied with the way Linley had just spoken to him.

But when he thought of the instructions the War God had given him, Fain simply smiled, no longer allowing himself to be angry.

“Indeed. Supreme Warriors, even non-pure ones, still have higher potential than normal people.” Fain smiled, then glanced at the nearby Castro. “Apprentice-brother, you can go back now. For now, I will attend to Linley.”

“Yes, senior apprentice-brother.” Castro said very respectfully. He then looked at Linley meaningfully, signaling with his eyes for Linley to not be too arrogant. He then left the mountain.

Linley took a deep breath. He, too, understood that here at the War God’s College, it was best to be a bit more humble.

“Linley, let’s sit down and chat.” With a wave of his hand, Fain caused two nearby wooden seats to fly over towards them, landing in front of himself and Linley.

Seeing this, Linley was extremely puzzled.

What technique had Fain used just now? Linley hadn’t sensed him using any battle-qi.

“I hear that you refused Lord Hodan?” Fain laughed. Even Fain was extremely respectful towards Hodan. Hodan was, after all, a Deity-level expert.

“Indeed.” Linley nodded.

“Wise.” Fain laughed. “Linley, we should feel very lucky to have been born here in the Yulan continent.”

“Oh?” Linley was somewhat confused.

Fain continued, “Many Saints have already been famous for centuries and have enjoyed all there is to enjoy. Most of their family members have died of old age. Without anything tying them down emotionally, a large number of them have gone to the Higher Planes.”

Linley nodded. He understood this.

Eventually, one would grow weary of what the material plane had to offer. After the passage of centuries, all family members who had not reached the Saint-level would have died long ago. It was very normal for them to eventually decide to go to the Higher Planes.

“But what those people do not understand is that many of the experts of the Higher Planes wish they could come here to the plane of the Yulan continent.” A hint of a smile was at the corner of Fain’s lips. “Linley, five thousand years ago, many experts from different planes descended to the Yulan continent. Do you know of this affair?”

“I’ve heard of it.” Linley nodded.

“I didn’t expect you to know about this.” Fain nodded. “Those countless experts all came to the Yulan continent. Naturally, it was because there was something about this plane which attracted them.”

Fain shook his head and sighed. “But many Saints instead choose to run off to the Higher Planes, where experts are as common as the clouds. They give up what is close to them for something far away.”

“Linley, let me just tell you this. Don’t be in a hurry to go to the Higher Planes. Stay here. Eventually, you’ll know what huge benefits this plane has to offer. As for what secrets lie hidden within the Yulan continent, for now, I cannot tell you.” Fain said with a laugh.

Linley looked at Fain questioningly. “Why tell me this?”

Many Saints didn’t know about this. Why had Fain decided to tell him?

“Master instructed me to.” Fain said.

“The War God?” Linley truly didn’t understand it.

This was the second time the War God had assisted him. The first time, he had ordered Emperor Johann to choose Wharton, while this time, he had Fain tell him these secrets.

Fain suddenly said, “Linley, I hear you are quite powerful. Let’s spar together. What do you say?”

Linley’s eyes lit up. He immediately nodded.

To train with someone on the level of Fain would definitely be beneficial. With a flip of his hand, Linley retrieved his Bloodviolet flexible sword. Leaping backwards, he retreated at high speed, while at the same time, those black scales covered his body, and those sharp, ferocious spikes appeared as well.

Staring at Linley’s cold, remorseless dark golden eyes, Fain sighed in praise. “This Variant Dragonform of yours seems to be quite special. Come. Are you ready?”

Linley was already chanting the words to the Windshadow spell.

“Ready.” Linley nodded.

Looking at Linley, Fain recalled his master’s instructions. He couldn’t help but let out a resigned sigh. The reason he actively asked Linley to spar was also at the behest of the War God.

According to the War God, it was time to let Linley have an idea as to how powerful the true experts of the continent were.

“Linley, I am extremely fast. Be careful.” Fain said with a smile. In fact, Linley had chosen to use Bloodviolet precisely because he had heard that Fain was fast.

Bloodviolet could reach an astonishing level of speed when used correctly.

“Let’s begin.” Fain’s eyes lit up.

“Swish!” An azure light suddenly flowed out from Fain’s body, so powerful that it crackled and popped.

Fain suddenly moved.

Linley only felt an azure bolt of lightning suddenly streak towards him, at least twice as fast as Olivier’s top speed. This terrifying speed rendered Linley completely unable to dodge.

“How frightening!”

Linley leapt backwards while hurriedly transforming Bloodviolet into a tornado of movement, creating countless flashes of violet light which attacked that azure bolt of lightning.

Profound Truths of the Wind – Rippling Wind!

Linley didn’t dare to use any other techniques. If he were to use the ‘Tempos of the Wind’ instead, he probably wouldn’t even be able to touch his opponent. Only by using this extremely fast technique could he just barely defend himself.

“Bam!” A terrifying force struck onto the tip of Bloodviolet.

And then, Linley could clearly sense that azure bolt of lightning seem to be transmitted through Bloodviolet towards him, striking onto his black scales.

“Bang!”

It was as though a heavy warhammer had struck Linley’s soul. Linley flew upwards, then immediately collapsed onto the floor, his entire body trembling as that azure lightning continued to ripple across Linley’s body.

His entire body felt paralyzed. Linley could sense that his muscles had lost all power, and he was barely able to remain conscious.

After a long period of time, Linley finally regained full consciousness, and his four limbs and his muscles slowly gained strength as well. Only now did Linley stand up, staring at Fain with disbelief.

When he had dueled with Olivier, Linley had believed himself to be a peak-stage Saint, which meant that there should be very few people in the continent capable of defeating him.

But now, after sparring with Fain, he realized that the difference between himself and Fain was extremely vast.

Fain was twice as fast as him. Although that didn’t sound like much, when engaging in a battle of speed, even a tiny advantage in speed meant the faster party held an advantage. Twice as fast…this was an unbridgeable gap.

There was no way for him to counterattack.

What’s more, that lightning-attack had stunned his very soul. Fain had actually held back from using his full power as he had not wished to injure Linley.

“What, you can’t believe it?” Fain sat back down on his wooden chair, laughing.

Linley’s mind was in a state of chaos. “Although I knew that you are strong, Mr. Fain, I didn’t expect…I couldn’t resist at all. Mr. Fain, have you reached the Deity-level?”

“No. I’m still just a peak-stage Saint.” Fain shook his head.

“I’m also a peak-stage Saint. But…” Linley couldn’t understand.

Laughing, Fain looked at Linley, then sighed with emotion. “Linley, don’t be fooled by the four words, ‘peak-stage Saint-level’. In the eyes of experts such as us, the so-called ‘peak-stage’ doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is how much and how well you understand the Laws.”

“If you understand just the tiniest bit of the Laws, then you are a ‘peak-stage’ Saint in the eyes of ordinary people.” Fain said disdainfully.

Linley was startled.

Right. That was indeed the case. When Linley’s proficiency with the sword had reached the ‘impose’ level, that was merely borrowing the ‘imposing force’ of the heavens and the earth. It didn’t have anything to do with the Laws.

But the techniques he had developed based on the Profound Truths of the Earth and the two techniques he had developed based on the Profound Truths of the Wind, the Rippling Wind and Tempos of the Wind techniques, were indeed based on what he himself knew was but a tiny bit of understanding of the Laws.

“According to what Master says, the Elemental Laws are as vast and boundless as the seas. If you’ve understood a single drop of water in those seas, you are a peak-stage Saint. If you’ve understood a hundred drops of water, you are still a peak-stage Saint. But there is a huge difference between the two!”

A hint of loneliness could be seen on Fain’s face. “The Elemental Laws truly are vast and boundless. Supposedly, only after mastering 1% of a Law can one reach the Demigod stage.”

“As for you and Olivier, you haven’t even mastered 0.01%.” Fain laughed as he glanced at Linley. “Tell me. Although both of you have gained some insights, can your insights compare with the likes of those of us who have been training for thousands of years?”

Linley understood.

No matter how much of a genius he was, he had spent less than ten years meditating on the Elemental Laws.

And Fain? He had been doing the same for thousands of years. Even if Fain wasn’t as talented as him, how could his understanding of the Laws be lower than Linley’s?

“Linley, most of the famous Saints in the world, such as that ‘Monolithic Sword Saint’ Haydson, all became famous in the past millennium. Those true experts who have been training for thousands of years are all far past the point of caring about worldly fame. All of them are meditating and training in private.”

Linley was stunned.

The Monolithic Sword Saint had the reputation of being the most powerful Saint, after all.

“Those lists and rankings that you might have heard about are nothing more than the experts which most people of the continent know about. Do you know how powerful the experts you are unaware of are? All of the lucky survivors of those battles from five thousand years ago have been in training in secret since then. I refuse to believe that they would be willing to leave the plane of the Yulan continent.” A hint of a smile was on Fain’s face.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 22, The War God’s Summons

After saying these words, Fain turned and walked to the edge of the peak, allowing the wind to buffet his long robes. As for Linley, he continued to sit there, digesting what he had just learned.

From the Planar Overseer, Hodan, Linley had learned that upon reaching the Saint-level, one could leave the plane of the Yulan continent.

From Fain, Linley had learned that the Yulan continent’s plane contained a major secret. The descent of those experts from other planes five thousand years ago was also related to this mystery.

Actually, it was already quite incredible that Linley had reached his current level at the tender age of twenty seven. After all, those extremely powerful experts who were training in secret here in the Yulan continent had all been training for countless years.

“Whew.” Linley let out a long breath.

“Why worry about so much? As long as my little brother and I are happy, and as long as I can exterminate the Radiant Church to avenge my parents, I should feel satisfied.”

Linley’s current goals required that he reach a certain level of power.

As for Linley himself, he truly enjoyed the path of training.

The path of training was filled with obstacles, treacherous cliffs, and dangers. Many powerful people had lost their lives on this path. How few would actually reach the pinnacle?

In the entire Yulan continent, there were only five Deities.

Ever since embarking on this path, Linley’s goal was to stand at the very pinnacle of the Yulan continent. When he had embarked on this path as a youth, Linley had mentally prepared himself for the possibility of death and failure.

“When I was six, because I was unable to train in Dragonblood battle-qi, my dream was to become a warrior of the seventh or eighth ranks. Afterwards, I not only became a Dragonblood Warrior, I also became the genius magus of the Holy Union.”

“When I was young, I dreamed of eventually reaching the Saint-level. And now, I have become a peak-stage Saint.”

A hint of a smile was on Linley’s lips.

He had confidence.

“Fain? In the not too-distant future, I will defeat him as well.” Linley felt full of excitement. The more experts he surpassed and the greater the heights he achieved, the more satisfied he felt.

What truly moved a person wasn’t the results he gained, but the overcoming of setbacks and breakthroughs which one made on the path to success.

Fain turned his head, looking at Linley.

“Rest here for now. At nightfall, I will take you to see Master.” Fain smiled.

“The War God?” Linley frowned.

The War God wanted to personally meet with him?

“Naturally, Master has something he wishes to discuss with you. Just train here quietly for now. If there is anything you need, you can ask me.” Fain didn’t want to waste any more time on Linley. He walked to a stone that had already been polished smooth by him sitting on it countless times. Seating himself in the meditative stance, he closed his eyes.

Linley stared at the meditating Fain.

“What exactly does the War God want?” Linley didn’t think about it for too long, as he also sat down and began to quietly meditate.

…..

Time passed. In the blink of an eye, the sun had set.

Fain had been quietly meditating on the boulder. Suddenly, his body began to turn blurry, then disappeared from atop the boulder and reappeared next to it.

Seeing that Linley had been quietly meditating this entire time, Fain couldn’t help but secretly nod.

True experts had to learn how to endure solitude.

For example, Olivier had quietly meditated by himself atop that desolate mountain for three full years. Linley, in turn, had spent three painstaking years training in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. If one couldn’t endure solitude, one’s level of talent wouldn’t make a difference.

“Linley, it is about time. Come with me to meet Master.” Fain smiled.

Linley opened his eyes as well, and immediately followed Fain.

Fain walked to the side of the peak, and then began to fly downwards. Although Linley wasn’t able to fly in human form, Linley leapt off the peak as well, allowing himself to gracefully drift downwards.

Based on his mastery of the wind, Linley could slow down the rate of his descent.

Soon, Fain landed at the half-way point down the mountain, and Linley landed as well.

“Come in with me.” Fain headed straight for a natural tunnel. Linley felt rather puzzled. The War God actually lived in a tunnel?

The tunnel curved left and right. After a long time, it ended in that deep, bottomless pit. Looking down into it, nothing but darkness could be seen.

“Let’s go down.” Fain jumped down directly, and Linley followed him.

“Whoosh.” “Whoosh.”

The two fell down at high speed. Linley was secretly shocked. “We’ve definitely fallen for at least two thousand meters. We’re below the ground level by now.”

After falling for a long period of time, Fain and Linley gracefully floated to the ground.

And then, Linley followed Fain as they continued to move through the tunnel, but as they did, the tunnel’s temperature grew higher and higher.

“What a high temperature.”

Even Linley didn’t dare to resist this terrifying heat with his body alone. He had to use his battle-qi to protect the soles of his feet, and even his skin and head was covered by a layer of azurish-black battle-qi.

Without the protection of his battle-qi, most likely Linley would have caught on fire.

The surrounding stone walls were all red with heat. After walking for a while, Linley saw a pitch-black stone door in front of him. Despite the extremely high temperature, the stone door hadn’t turned even the slightest bit red. Clearly, it was made from no ordinary material.

“Whoooooosh.”

Gusts of hot air came from the other side of the door, carrying with it a faint, majestic presence. Faced with this majestic presence, Linley actually felt the sudden urge to bow down towards it.

“Master, I’ve brought Linley.” Fain said respectfully.

The War God?

The War God was past this door!

Linley had previously been calm, but now, his heart couldn’t help but begin to beat faster. He was actually standing in front of one of the six ultimate experts of the Yulan continent, with only a stone door separating them.

“Alright. Fain. You can leave now.” A calm voice rang out.

“Yes, Master.” Fain respectfully departed.

Linley still stood there, quietly waiting for the War God to address him.

“Linley. Twenty seven years old. An Arch Magus of the ninth rank who has already embarked on the path of understanding the Laws…” The War God’s voice remained very calm. “Linley, you aren’t bad.”

Linley frowned.

He could sense that the War God’s voice seemed to be causing his soul to shudder. He had the sense that if the War God was to raise his voice a little bit, it would cause his soul to dissipate and collapse.

“Thank you for your praise, War God.” Linley said humbly.

“I have already instructed Fain to tell you that which you need to know. Outside the door, there is a scarlet talisman of command. Take it. From today forward, you can be considered to be someone belonging to my side.” The War God said calmly.

Linley’s heart shook.

Considered to be someone belonging to the War God’s side?

He turned to look at the side of the door. Indeed, atop a flat rock, there was a scarlet red talisman, which slowly rose into the air and began to fly towards Linley.

Atop the talisman, a single engraved word could be seen: “War”!

“What is this War God thinking? I’ll be considered as belonging to his side?” Linley felt somewhat unhappy. The War God was forcibly recruiting him without even asking or negotiating with him.

The War God’s calm voice once more rang out, “Given your current level of power, you actually aren’t yet qualified to receive this talisman. However…I believe you will reach that level sooner or later, which is why I am giving it to you in advance. Once you have this talisman, you will be qualified to investigate the secrets of the Yulan continent.”

“The secrets of the Yulan continent?” Linley said.

“When your human form reaches the Saint-level, or…when you defeat the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, come find me again. By then, you will be qualified to know this secret. Only then would you truly be worthy of this talisman.” The War God said calmly.

From the War God’s words, Linley could sense a certain lonely arrogance.

In the War God’s eyes, the current Linley wasn’t even qualified to possess this talisman. In his eyes, Linley’s power was indeed quite weak.

Linley knew his own limits as well.

“War God.” Linley said respectfully. “You just said when my human form reaches the Saint-level, or when I defeat the Monolithic Sword Saint? Does that mean you, War God, feel that only after my human form reaches the Saint-level will I be able to defeat the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson?”

The War God was momentarily silent.

“That Monolithic Sword Saint is reputed to be the world’s strongest Saint. Although in the eyes of those other peak-stage Saints who lie hidden throughout the world, he doesn’t live up to that reputation, Haydson’s current level of power can still be considered on par with those who have trained for thousands of years.

Linley understood.

“As for reaching the Saint-level in your human form…if you remain unable to defeat Haydson even after your human form reaches the Saint-level, then I will feel embarrassed on your ancestors’ behalf.” The War God said calmly.

Linley laughed.

Clearly, as far as the War God was concerned, once Linley’s human form reached the Saint-level, Linley should definitely have surpassed Haydson. But the War God seemed to currently feel that he was not yet able to overcome Haydson.

“I refuse to believe that the War God knows about the true offensive power of my ‘Profound Truths of the Earth.’” Linley said to himself.

Although the War God possessed divine power, he wasn’t omniscient.

“Linley, let me offer you a word of advice!” The War God suddenly said.

“War God, please speak.” Linley’s eyes lit up, and he immediately listened carefully. The War God had become a Deity over five thousand years ago. His advice could allow Linley to avoid many missteps.

That calm voice rang out from behind the stone door. “The Elemental Laws contain all sorts of truths. What you need to do is select a single path and follow it to its conclusion. It is best if you don’t simultaneously train in multiple paths.”

Linley was startled. The Elemental Laws were indeed quite boundless. For example, Linley was currently analyzing two aspects of the Elemental Laws of Wind. The first one was speed, the ultimate speed.

The second was in single-target sword attacks, such as his Tempos of the Wind.

“War God, why should I select just one path?” Linley asked.

“Naturally, if you so desire, you can simultaneously analyze multiple aspects of the Elemental Laws. No one can force you not to do so. Whether or not you choose to take my advice is up to you. Alright, I am finished. You can leave now.” The War God said calmly.

Linley hurriedly said, “War God, I would like to ask, what sort of power or authority does this talisman confer upon me?”

“Possessing this talisman is a symbol that you are qualified to enter the ranks of those who know the secrets of the Yulan continent. As for everything else…even if you die, I won’t get involved. You must rely on yourself.”

“Then War God, I would like to ask, right now, how many Deities exist on the Yulan continent?” Ever since meeting Fain, Linley had been wondering…

Was it possible that the Yulan continent had more than just five Deities?

“In total, there are five.” The War God said calmly. “That Cesar broke through just a few years ago.”

Linley felt secretly relieved.

The Yulan continent only had a few Deities standing at its peak after all.

“War God, why did you give me this talisman? Previously, why did you help my younger brother?” Linley asked. Linley had been puzzled about this the entire time. What sort of relationship did the War God have with him?

As far as Linley could tell, the War God shouldn’t need anything from him.

After all, the War God was far, far more powerful than him.

“You ask too many questions.”

The War God’s voice turned cold. “You can go back now. For now, don’t think about too many things. Focus on your training. After you defeat Haydson, or after your human form reaches the Saint-level, come find me again.”

Hearing that the War God was starting to grow annoyed, Linley knew how he should act.

“War God, I bid you farewell then.”

Linley immediately left. Casting the Windshadow spell, Linley flew out of the deep pit, then exited the tunnel. After exiting the tunnel and allowing the mountain wind to buffet him, Linley let out a long breath.

Despite being separated from the War God by a stone door, Linley still felt enormous pressure when speaking to the man.

“Someone belonging to his side?” Linley stared at the scarlet talisman in his hand. The scarlet talisman occasionally flashed with golden light. Linley had never seen this sort of material before.

With a flip of his hand, Linley stored the scarlet talisman into his interspatial ring, then headed down War God Mountain.

On the way down, Linley was still thinking about the War God’s final bit of advice.

“The Elemental Laws contain all sorts of truths. What you need to do is select a single path and follow it to its conclusion.”

His current focus was the throbbing pulse of the world.

Linley shook his head. Without thinking about it any longer, he left War God Mountain and returned to the imperial capital.

The next time Linley would return to War God Mountain, it would be after he defeated Haydson, or when his human form reached the Saint-level.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 23, Pulseguard

Count Wharton’s manor was very quiet. Zassler was in his room training, while Barker, his brothers, and Wharton were all training in the wide training yard in the back of the manor. Rebecca, Leena, and Jenne were chatting with the Seventh Princess, Nina.

“Whew.”

After finishing his training, Wharton took a shower and changed into a set of clean clothes. Satisfied and content, Wharton walked into his manor. He had never felt as happy as he currently felt.

He was together with his big brother, and he was marrying Nina. Grandpa Hiri and Hillman were also enjoying the quiet, comfortable lives of nobles.

“Father. Mother. If you two were still alive, you would definitely be very happy.” Wharton felt very satisfied, while at the same time, he felt very grateful to his big brother, Linley, who had brought all of this.

Linley was the pillar of the clan.

If it wasn’t for Linley, would the Emperor have given Nina to him? If it wasn’t for Linley, in the capital, he would only be an ordinary person amongst the nobles, at best considered a genius.

Wharton glanced at the distant Grandpa Hiri, who was reclining on a chair, idly sipping some fruit juice.

“Grandpa Hiri, where’s my big brother?” Wharton asked as he walked over.

Housekeeper Hiri looked up and smiled. “Oh, Wharton. Young master Linley left early in the morning.”

“He still isn’t back yet?” Wharton nodded.

“You have nothing to be worried about. Your big brother is a Saint. Young master Wharton, you need to train hard as well.” Housekeeper Hiri chortled.

“Right.” Wharton nodded.

“Grandpa Hiri, next month is Olivier’s duel against the Monolithic Sword Saint. Will you go watch?” Wharton laughed.

“Naturally. How could I miss a duel between two Saints?” Housekeeper Hiri’s eyes shone. “The Monolithic Sword Saint is an expert amongst Saints. This duel will definitely be exciting.”

Wharton’s eyes were also filled with excitement.

“One day, I will be like my big brother, Olivier, and Haydson.” Wharton secretly decided.

Just then, footsteps rang out.

Linley appeared outside the courtyard. Seeing his big brother, Wharton felt a warm feeling in his heart. He hurriedly went to welcome him. “Big bro, what took you so long to come back? Barker and I have finished our training. We are going to eat dinner soon.”

“I went to see some people.” Linley laughed.

Linley didn’t tell his little brother about his trip to War God Mountain. As Linley saw it, it was best not to inform his little brother about certain affairs of the Yulan continent. When his little brother reached the Saint-level, there would be plenty of time to tell him then.

Within the rear of the courtyard was Linley’s residence within the manor estate. The training grounds of the estate were extremely large, but Wharton, Barker, and his brothers all needed a great deal of space as well. Thus, Linley usually trained by himself in his own manor.

“Whoosh.” “Whoosh.” The wind blew about, scattering the fallen leaves on the floor, sending them dancing into the air. Linley’s hair gently fluttered about with the wind as well.

Linley was wielding the adamantine heavy sword, with the tip of the sword touching the ground.

“I have already managed to generate 128 pulses of the vibrational attacks of the Profound Truths of the Earth.” During the five years he had spent at Cloudpeaks Village, Linley had already mastered the Hundred Layered Waves during the fourth year.

Linley had improved quite rapidly when he had advanced from three waves to ten, then from ten to a hundred.

But after a hundred waves had been reached, Linley’s rate of improvement had begun to drop. Despite all that time having passed, Linley had only reached 128 waves.

With each breakthrough, Linley only managed to increase the number of waves by one or two.

“I wonder what the absolute limit is for the number of waves?” Linley sat down into the meditative position.

“Thruuum.” “Thruuuum.”

The sound of the throbbing pulse of the world rang out within Linley’s consciousness. That unique rhythm had a miraculous cadence, capable of causing someone to unconsciously be subsumed within it.

Linley’s muscles would occasionally expand or contract as they constantly vibrated, and wind arose out of nowhere around Linley. While meditating, Linley had previously noticed that his muscles would absorb earth elemental essence at an even faster pace when they were vibrating in pace with the rhythm of the earth’s pulse, allowing his body to gain strength faster.

“Ah!”

Linley suddenly stood up, his eyes shining with terrifying light.

“The throbbing pulse of the world. The throbbing pulse of the world…” Linley had suddenly recalled that technique the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, had used to block himself and Olivier.

Haydson’s body had suddenly been surrounded by layered waves of earth-colored elemental particles which had hammered against him in waves, forcing him backwards.

“Back then, I had the feeling that Haydson’s defense seemed to have a very familiar quality about it. But at the time, I didn’t understand it, and I didn’t have time to analyze it. But now…”

Linley had a particular feeling, akin to seeing a bright moon which had been hidden behind a foggy veil gradually grow clearer in his mind.

“The throbbing pulse of the world isn’t just vibrational waves. It can also become invisible, and it can also be transmitted through battle-qi.” It was as though there had been an opaque film covering this realization. Having pierced through the film, Linley now began to understand.

“Using pulses for defense, haha…earth-style magic has the ‘Pulsating Guard’ forbidden level spell. It seems that they are based on the same principles. However, my ‘Pulseguard Defense’ would only be used to protect myself.”

Linley’s azurish-black battle-qi began to fill the area around him.

“No, that isn’t how it works.”

Linley shut his eyes, allowing his heart to merge with the throbbing pulse of the world, while also tuning his Dragonblood battle-qi to the same tempo. He already understood the general principles, but actually applying them wasn’t a simple task.

Linley stood there in the middle of the courtyard as waves of azurish-black battle-qi suffused the area around him.

The principle was actually quite simple. For example, a sheet of paper could easily be torn apart, but if the paper was folded six times into a braid, this braid of paper might be able to support up to a hundred pounds of force.

The same material, after being folded and braided, could support far more amounts of force.

Battle-qi was the same when used for defense.

The same battle-qi, when used in different ways, could defend against ten times or even a hundred times as much incoming force. The “Throbbing Pulse of the World”, in turn, was a very unique technique.

The Throbbing Pulse of the World was just one of the paths within the Laws of the Earth.

Linley had already reached a rather high level of understanding with regards to the Throbbing Pulse of the World. All he had to do now was to transform that understanding and use the same principles to create a Pulseguard Defense for himself. Since he already understood the principles, once he began to apply them, he would advance fairly quickly.

“Big bro, time to eat.” Wharton walked over, with Barker and his brothers behind him. The five of them had just finished training and then showering.

But when they pushed the door open, they discovered…

Linley was surrounded by azurish-black battle-qi, which rolled out like waves of fog. Linley was hidden within those roiling waves of azurish-black battle-qi.

“Big bro?”

“Lord?”

Wharton, Barker, and the others all looked at each other. Although training was important, resting was as well.

“Don’t bother the Boss.” Bebe, resting in the corner of the courtyard, ordered.

“It is dinner time. Big bro should take a rest.” As he spoke, Wharton headed towards Linley. Bebe and Haeru glanced at each other, but didn’t block him.

Linley had already instructed Bebe and Haeru not to go near him, as they would otherwise be injured by those waves.

“Time to let this little punk learn a lesson.” Bebe secretly said to himself.

Wharton remained cautious. The battle-qi around Linley was quite dense, but he was still fairly far away from Linley. The battle-qi here was still rather sparse. How could Wharton be truly worried about such a small amount of battle-qi?

But once he reached the edges of that azurish-black battle-qi, Wharton suddenly felt a bizarre surge of energy strike at him.

“Bang!”

Wharton was sent flying away. Wharton had the sensation of being struck dozens of times in an instant, and each time he felt as though he had been struck by a meteor.

“Wharton.” Gates was the first to go forward and catch Wharton.

“Wharton, are you okay?” Gates asked.

“I’m fine.” Wharton put his hand against his chest, the taste of blood in his mouth. He stared at Linley in disbelief. “Big bro is releasing his battle-qi, but I only touched the outermost perimeter. How could the power be so intense?”

Wharton didn’t believe it. The battle-qi density closer to Linley was far higher, and it would most likely be far more dangerous as well.

“Wharton, his Lordship still hasn’t stopped his training despite what just happened. Clearly, he must be at a critical juncture in his training. It’s best if we don’t disturb him.” Barker said seriously.

Wharton nodded as well. “I will order the guards to prevent anyone from disturbing him.”

“No need. Haeru and I will look after him.” Bebe said disdainfully. “You can leave now. If the Boss doesn’t finish his training, don’t disturb him.”

Wharton, Barker, and the others glanced at each other, then left.

At the same time, Wharton and Barker instructed everyone else not to interrupt Linley’s training. That night, at dinner, Jenne, Nina, and the others were all astonished at how hard Linley was training.

“He’s training so hard that he won’t even eat dinner. Big lunk, your big bro really is hard working.” Nina murmured.

But unexpectedly, the second day, Linley continued to train like this. The third day, the same…and just like that, one day after another went by.

In the blink of an eye, over ten days passed. May had arrived.

“In a few more days, it will be time for the duel between Olivier and Haydson. My big bro wouldn’t be so caught up in his training that he will miss it, would he?” Wharton said to Barker and his brothers.

Wharton, Barker, and his brothers were all standing at the doorway to the courtyard.

Every day, after they finished their training, they would come visit Linley. Linley hadn’t changed at all, and he was still surrounded by that azurish-black battle-qi. Only, compared to ten days past, that azurish-black battle-qi had actually shrunk quite a bit in area.

“I wonder how big brother’s training is progressing.” Wharton simply couldn’t understand what he was seeing.

Barker and his brothers shook their heads as well. In terms of level of understanding, Barker and his brothers weren’t much better off than Wharton, and weren’t able to understand much of anything regarding the Elemental Laws.

“Whew.” The sound of an exhaling breath.

Wharton and the Barker brothers, who had just turned and prepared to leave, all turned and looked back. Indeed, the azurish-black battle-qi had returned to Linley’s body, and Linley was currently smiling while stretching.

“Wharton, you are here as well.” Linley laughed.

“Big bro, you finally finished your training.” Wharton said with excitement.

“Oh, right. Wharton, how much time have I spent in training?” Linley laughed.

“Almost fifteen days! Today is May 1st. In three days, it will be May 4th. That night, Olivier and Haydson will be dueling.” Wharton said quickly.

“Fifteen days?”

Linley was slightly startled. Actually, he had been totally concentrating on sensing the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’ and constantly modifying and upgrading his Pulseguard Defense technique. He hadn’t noticed time pass at all.

Unexpectedly, after closing his eyes, fifteen days had passed.

“Although I already had a high understanding of the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’ and also understood the general principles behind the Pulseguard, the actual development of the technique took fifteen days.”

But Linley was actually quite satisfied.

In the past, his ‘battle-qi armor’ was created through the application of battle-qi in a very simple, crude manner. His current ‘Pulseguard Defense’ used the same amount of battle-qi, but was several dozen times stronger.

“But it seems my defense is different from Haydson’s.”

When he was developing his technique, Linley had thought their techniques were the same. But after developing it, Linley realized…that Haydson’s defense was actually just a simple way of utilizing the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’. Haydson’s understanding of the Throbbing Pulse of the World definitely was not as deep as Linley’s own level of understanding.

However, Haydon’s defense was still frightfully powerful.

This was because the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’ was just a supportive part of Haydson’s defense. His true power most likely lay in a different mystery of the Laws of the Earth.

“I wonder how my pure ‘Pulseguard Defense’ technique matches up against Haydson’s defense.” Linley secretly wondered to himself.

“Big bro, what are you thinking about? Let’s go eat dinner.” Wharton called out.

“Alright.”

Linley turned to look at Bebe and Haeru. “Bebe, Haeru, let’s go.” Linley could guess that Bebe and Haeru hadn’t left his side during these past fifteen days.

“And here I was thinking that the Boss had forgotten about us.” Bebe hopped onto Linley’s shoulders, then pursed his lips. “But Boss, I’ve gotta say, although we haven’t left the courtyard a single time during these past ten or so days, those servants still delivered food to us every day. Alas, but tonight, nobody will deliver food. I, Bebe, will have to personally go get something to eat.”

Linley, Wharton, and Barker and his brothers all couldn’t help but laugh.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 24, Olivier vs Haydson

Yulan calendar, year 10009. May 4th. This night was guaranteed to be anything but an ordinary night. Many of the people of the imperial capital were unable to sleep, and instead came to the outskirts of the city. Tonight, there were no stars in the sky, nor was there a bright moon. Instead, a thick layer of clouds covered the skies.

Many citizens of the imperial capital had come with lit lanterns. In groups of three and five, they awaited the arrival of this battle.

“Hey, third brother. Where do you think Lord Olivier and Lord Haydson will hold their duel? Back then, when Lord Olivier challenged Lord Haydson, he didn’t clearly specify where they would fight. Only, that they would fight outside the city. But would it be outside the east gate or the west gate, or the south gate, or the north gate?”

“Who knows? We have no choice but to quietly wait.”

This question nagged at many people. Many people had even arrived from different cities. Aside from a small number of people who were indifferent, and a number of magi, many people came. Nearly half the population of the city had come to watch this duel. When the tourists from other cities were added to their number, there were definitely millions of people here today.

People were clustered outside all four of the gates of the imperial city.

Nobody knew where the duel would take place.

A large group of people from Count Wharton’s resident had gone as well, naturally. But Linley’s group was able to easily tell where the duel was going to occur. This was because…the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, was intentionally broadcasting his aura.

The Monolithic Sword Saint and Olivier had not clearly discussed where the duel would occur.

Thus, Haydson, the Monolithic Sword Saint, had chosen to head to the Channe River, located north of the imperial capital. He stood in the air above the river, which was a wide one, measuring several hundred meters across at its widest. However, in terms of length, it could not compare to the Yulan River, and the Channe River actually joined the Yulan River at its end.

Saints were extremely sensitive to the auras of others.

If a Saint-level battle were to occur at a specific location, Saints from hundreds of kilometers away would sense it. Linley didn’t transform, because Haeru and Bebe could both clearly sense Haydson’s aura.

“Above Channe River, north of the city. Let’s go now. The duel will occur there. Lord Haydson is there.” This information swept the city like a storm, quickly spreading to the people in the south, east, and west sides of the city.

The millions of people congregating in those places swept towards the north like a flood.

The vast majority of these people went cross country towards the north. After all, there were far too many people here. If they all went by the streets of the capital, it would simply be too congested.

“There really are quite a number of people here.” Linley, Wharton, Barker and the others all stared at the local scene in shock.

Over a million people were standing on each side of Channe River. The 80,000 spectators in the Colosseum had already seemed like a sea of people. These million-plus spectators truly were a terrifying sight.

Both sides of Channe River were filled with people.

The worst part of it was…

People were continuing to arrive from the east, west, and southern sides of the city. It was as though three massive deluges of water were continually adding to an already flooded area. The population of people here only continued to grow.

“So many people. Jeeze, that Olivier…why did he have to insist on the duel being three months later? If it had been half a month, the people from the other provinces wouldn’t have been able to make it over. Three months…even people from the Northwest Administrative Province have made their way over.” Hillman shook his head.

Zassler only snickered. “The more the merrier. What an awesome spectacle.”

Zassler seemed to be treating this sight as a way to reminisce about the sight of his million-body strong army of departed souls. His million-body undead army was also an extremely incredible sight.

“More importantly, how can we get to the front? Are we going to just watch from afar?” Seeing how tightly packed the people were in front of them, Housekeeper Hiri didn’t have the courage to try and squeeze through.

Gates said delightedly, “That’s easy. Let us five brothers lead the way and charge forward.”

Given their massive frames, they definitely were capable of pushing to the front.

“No rush. Haven’t you noticed that Emperor Johann’s army has arrived?” Linley laughed. Indeed, just at this moment, the soldiers from the army had formed an orderly regiment and were marching in their direction.

There were millions of ordinary commoners here, and less than a hundred thousand soldiers.

But due to their tight formations and gleaming armor, the soldiers were able to awe and suppress the hearts of the commoners.

“Roooaaaaar!” “Grooooowl.”

The millions of spectators had magical beasts in their ranks as well, some of which had been tamed by powerful experts. The cries of magical beasts could be heard as well, alongside the unceasing chatter of the humans.

It was a scene of utter chaos.

“SILENCE!”

A powerful voice rang out. “Everyone who is on a boat on Channe River, all of you, get to land, quickly! If you are on the river during Lord Haydson and Lord Olivier’s battle, it is highly likely that your boats will be swamped by waves. People on the shores of Channe River, all of you move backwards by ten meters! Nobody is permitted to go near the shores of the river. The army will maintain order here!”

The imperial army began to organize the viewers.

The upper echelons of the Empire didn’t dare to be careless. If something were to happen here, with millions of citizens present, it could be disastrous. A duel between two Saints was a joyous occasion. They couldn’t let it turn into a tragedy.

“Lord Wharton, Lord Linley, please come with us.” Two soldiers walked over to them.

Linley and Wharton grinned at each other.

Emperor Johann had already made arrangements early on. After having those spectators retreat by ten meters, the nobles of the Empire headed to the front, although they also didn’t go to the edges of the shores. With the Channe River spanning several hundred meters, there was plenty of space for the two Saints to duel.

In addition, both of the Saints were dueling in mid-air.

The nobles, based on their prearranged spots, lined up along the banks of Channe River. Having the best viewing locations, they prepared to watch this incredible spectacle. The commoners of the Empire, seeing this, actually weren’t angry.

There was a huge gap between the worlds of the nobles and the commoners.

Those who were able to become nobles were all people of talent, or who had rendered great merit to the nation. As long as you had ability, you could become a noble. The commoners of the Empire actually held the nobles in great admiration, and they too wished to become nobles.

The night wind was very cold, especially close to the river banks. The cold night wind caused many nobles to put on cloaks.

On each side of the river, there were countless lit torches, illuminating the entire Channe River. However, in the air above Channe River, the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, stood there in mid-air alone. Olivier had yet to appear.

“Master Linley, why hasn’t Olivier appeared yet?” Emperor Johann said to Linley, who was now by his side.

Emperor Johann had personally requested that Linley be seated next to him. The first reason was because he wanted to strengthen his relationship with Linley. The second was because with Linley by his side, he would be a bit safer while watching these two Saints duel.

“Don’t be impatient, your Imperial Majesty.” Linley smiled. “Haydson himself is still patiently waiting. Your Imperial Majesty, you just need to quietly wait.”

“True.” Emperor Johann smiled and nodded.

In the air above Channe River, the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson stood, dressed in his simple gray robes, and carrying that earth-colored heavy sword on his back. His eyes were shut.

Suddenly…

Haydson opened his eyes and stared to the east. A human blur was flying through the air at high speed. In the blink of an eye, a second human figure had arrived in the air above Channe River.

It was Olivier, with his Lightshadow sword and the obsidian sword on his back. Today, Olivier was dressed in a long black robe. He looked very mysterious, and his white-streaked hair was flowing freely in the breeze.

“Lord Olivier has arrived!”

The millions who had been impatiently waiting suddenly let out an explosive shout of joy, filling the heavens like a physical wave of sound, causing the waters of Channe River to vibrate. One can imagine how loud millions of joyfully shouting voices were.

“Such a large number of people is really frightening.” Wharton sighed in amazement.

Linley chuckled.

In the air above them, Olivier and Haydson hadn’t been impacted in the slightest. They stared at each other in mid-air, with Olivier absolutely radiating an aura of battle.

“Haydson, there is no way I will hold back in our duel today. If I accidentally kill you, you can’t blame me.” Olivier said coldly.

The Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, laughed calmly as he glanced at Olivier. “If you can kill me, then kill me. I definitely won’t blame you.”

These words from these two powerful Saints excited all the spectators to the point of trembling. Good heavens, was this going to be a life-and-death duel between two powerful Saints?

This duel between two Saints was not a duel between ordinary Saints. One was reputed to be the most powerful Saint in the world, the Monolithic Sword Saint. The other was the Prodigy Sword Saint, who had come today to avenge his humiliating defeat of six years ago. This battle had filled everyone with excitement.

After countless voices called out in excitement, everyone fell silent!

Millions of people were present, but not a single person made any noise. The only thing that could be heard was the rustling of animals in the grass and the ceaseless blowing of the wind.

“Today, I have to get a good look at these two.” Linley’s eyes were as sharp as lightning, and what’s more, the surrounding wind also served as his eyes. Despite the dark night, he could clearly ‘see’ everything going on in the air between these two people who stood in mid-air several hundred meters above.

According to what the War God had said, if Linley was capable of defeating Haydson, that would mean he was qualified to know the secrets of the Yulan continent’s plane. Haydson was also a practitioner of the Laws of the Earth. Naturally, Linley would carefully observe this battle.

As for Olivier…Linley had the sense that Olivier would also be a very powerful rival.

Not just Linley.

Blumer, Kenyon, Castro, Lanke, and other personal disciples of the War God had come over to watch this duel as well. After all, given Haydson’s power, even in the War God’s College, only those disciples who had trained for thousands of years were capable of defeating him.

“Six years ago, I wasn’t a match for you at all. But today…” Olivier laughed coldly as he drew the pitch-black obsidian sword from his back.

“You are starting off with the obsidian sword?” Haydson smiled slightly, but then his face slowly grew solemn. He didn’t move at all, nor did he draw his sword.

Olivier’s face turned cold.

“Oh? Six years ago, you didn’t draw your sword. Today, you still think you won’t need to draw your sword in order to defeat me?” Olivier said coldly.

“If you have the ability, then force me to draw my sword.” Haydson said calmly. At the same time, a rippling wave of earth-colored battle-qi surrounded Haydson, causing him to seemingly be ensconced in a wave of earth.

The two were separated by hundreds of meters of distance. Naturally, they spoke very loudly.

All the millions of spectators could clearly hear their words. They were stunned. The Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, was so arrogant that he didn’t even draw his sword.

“This Haydson probably doesn’t know that Olivier’s obsidian sword includes a spiritual attack component alongside the physical attack.” Linley didn’t say anything.

For Haydson to dare act in such a way meant that he probably had reason to be confident. Linley actually didn’t desire Haydson to be killed by Olivier in one stroke. That would be too laughable.

A dream-like burst of white light flashed across the sky. With each streak of white light, an additional Olivier appeared in the sky. In the blink of an eye, 108 Oliviers appeared in mid-air.

“Using a technique like this? Olivier, can it be that you don’t know that these techniques are useless against me?” Haydson stood there calmly in mid-air, ensconced by his earthen aura.

“Truly?”

Olivier laughed coldly. The strange thing was, those 108 Oliviers all moved at the same instant, charging towards the Monolithic Sword Saint at the same time.

Haydson stood there, occasionally taking a single step.

One step forward, one step back, left one step, right one step…each movement was simple, but every single step allowed him to instantly travel several dozen meters, easily dodging every single one of Olivier’s attacks.

In terms of speed, Haydson wasn’t the slightest bit slower than Olivier.

“Are you only capable of dodging?” Olivier shouted angrily.

“Even if I were to fight you head on, what would you be able to do?” Haydson’s calm voice rang out, then he returned to his original position, and then he actually retracted that earthen aura, allowing it to cling on his body.

“Whoosh!”

Those 108 Oliviers all combined into one. Olivier’s body was covered by a gloomy, cold black light which seemed to devour all the light surround him. Olivier’s face couldn’t be clearly seen.

“Hrm?” Linley was surprised.

The wind elemental essence couldn’t even get near Olivier.

“Swish!”

A ray of devouring black light tore through the sky, striking directly at Haydson. Haydson stood there without moving, just using a simple punch to strike at it with his right fist…

“Bam!” A sonic boom could be heard.

That fist smashed down with the weight of a mountain, locking the surrounding air in place.

“Boom!”

Olivier finally appeared, his obsidian sword having chopped against Haydson’s fist. When Haydson had punched out, Olivier actually hadn’t tried to dodge, instead clashing his sword directly against it. That terrifying force from the punch passed through the obsidian sword, and with a terrifying splintering sound, Olivier’s right arm contorted bizarrely, and he was knocked flying away by the power of that fist.

As for Haydson, he simply stood there, not moving.

“Haydson…seems to be in trouble.” Linley carefully watched Haydson.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 25, As Resilient as a Monolith

“Splash!”

Olivier fell from the skies, slamming down into the waters of the river and kicking up an enormous geyser of water.

“Elder brother!” Blumer, who had been watching at the riverbank, roared loudly, while at the same time charging directly towards the location in the water where Olivier had fallen.

The millions of spectators were simply too numerous. Many of the people at the distant edges couldn’t even see Olivier and the Monolithic Sword Saint do battle. They could only overhear what the people in front were saying about what had just happened. Instantly, the millions of onlookers began to murmur.

The difference between the two was simply too enormous!

After all, Haydson continued to stand there, as though he hadn’t been injured at all.

“Master Linley, Olivier lost?” Emperor Johann said questioningly to Linley, by his side.

“It is still too early to come to any conclusion.” Linley was still staring up at the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, who remained unmoving in mid-air. Linley said to himself, “I wonder what the results are for Haydson, after he took on that attack head on.”

The Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, was feeling extremely uncomfortable right now.

He was extremely confident in his defense. He had roamed the Yulan continent for centuries now, and had never discovered anyone whose defense was stronger than his. Indeed, the obsidian sword’s battle-qi attack just now hadn’t breached his defense in the slightest.

However…

When the obsidian sword had struck against his fist, a strange energy had easily penetrated past his vaunted defense and directly attacked his spirit, catching him off guard and stabbing viciously into his soul.

He felt dizzy, and his head hurt so much it threatened to split apart.

“What a Prodigy Sword Saint. He’s even managed to develop a soul attack technique.” After a moment, Haydson regained his normal faculties. “A young fellow who isn’t even a half-century old was actually able to develop such a unique attack.”

Haydson had tasted this sort of attack long ago!

Soul attacks actually weren’t that unique.

For example, that ‘eldest disciple’ of the War God, Fain, which Linley had met, had caused Linley to nearly faint when his lightning technique struck Linley. It had taken Linley quite a while to recover. This, too, was a form of soul-based attack.

For example, the War God, who simply by speaking could cause someone’s soul to shudder.

The basic principle underlying soul-based attacks was quite simple; it was using one’s spiritual energy to form an attack, then use it against the opponent’s soul.

Simply put, it was a spiritual attack.

But although it was easy in theory, it was extremely difficult to do in practice. This was because spiritual energy, normally speaking, was very soft and malleable, like cotton. In order to do a spiritual attack, one had to transform the cotton into a sharp knife and use it to pierce the opponent’s soul.

Even most Saints were only able to, at most, broadcast their spiritual energy. To use it to attack? To transform cotton into a knife?

Difficult!

But although it was difficult, those top-level experts who had been meditating on the Elemental Laws for a long time were capable of reaching that level. Haydson had previously experienced this sort of soul-based attack.

“Olivier’s spiritual energy is not very strong. Most likely, it is only on the level of a magus of the eighth rank. If he had the spiritual energy of an Arch Magus of the ninth rank, I would most likely be badly injured. If it was on the level of a Grand Magus Saint…” Haydson laughed calmly.

And then, Haydson looked down into the Channe River.

The Channe River had already regained its usual calm, but Olivier hadn’t reappeared yet.

“Olivier, it seems you won’t come out until you’ve finished repairing your arm.” Haydson laughed loudly, his voice shaking the heavens and reverberating throughout the land.

“Repairing his arm?” Linley frowned, feeling surprised.

“Splash!”

A waterspout suddenly erupted from the river, and a black blur instantly shot up into the sky, once more standing in mid-air and staring at Haydson. Olivier’s damaged, twisted right arm had already returned to its normal condition.

Olivier laughed coldly as he looked at Haydson. “Repairing an arm? Haydson, even if you wanted to do such a thing, you wouldn’t be able to.”

“Light-style elemental essence is indeed miraculous. Some top-grade light-style magi are able to heal even the most grievous of wounds in an instant. However…in terms of defense and attack, the Laws of Light are inferior to the Laws of the Earth.” Haydson said confidently.

The Laws of the Earth.

Linley, too, trained in the Laws of the Earth.

“How can you possibly understand the subtle mysteries of the Laws of Light?” Olivier said calmly. “Haydson, don’t be over-confident. You didn’t enjoy the feeling of my sword attack just now, did you.”

Haydson frowned.

Even an extremely powerful soul, upon receiving a soul-based attack, would suffer some wounds.

“With your soul damaged, will you be able to use 100% of your power?” Olivier drew his Lightshadow sword with his left hand.

He wielded his obsidian sword with his right hand, and his Lightshadow sword with his left.

“But I’m different. My arm was broken, but now it is healed. I’m not impacted in the slightest.” Olivier dual-wielded his weapons, with a layer of dazzling white light covering his Lightshadow sword, while a layer of light-devouring cold black aura covered his obsidian sword.

Two diametrically opposite forces.

“I want to see how you will deal with these two totally opposite forces!” Olivier’s eyes flashed with a cold look, and then he instantly transformed into a blaze of white light, as radiant as the sun, while at the same time, an unremarkable series of black lights flashed amidst his radiance.

His speed suddenly increased to his utmost limit!

The skies were once again filled with over 108 Oliviers.

“Clang!” Haydson, his face solemn, drew his earthen-colored heavy sword from his back.

“Haha…you’ve finally drawn your sword.” Olivier’s laughter shook the heavens. The countless spectators were all silent.

Tonight, the night sky was covered by thick clouds, giving the battlefield a very gloomy aura. The spectators below even had the feeling that those dark, thick clouds were so close to Olivier and Haydson that the two could touch the clouds just by raising their hands up.

“Boom!” “Boom!”

Terrifying sonic booms could be heard, as each time Olivier streaked through the sky at high speed, there would be an eardrum-rupturing sonic boom. The power of those sonic booms in the sky was so great that even those lit torches wavered, the flames pressing downwards from the pressure.

Gales of wind caused everyone’s hair to begin to float upwards.

Countless people stared fixedly at this spectacle, hoping they could clearly see what was happening in the skies.

“Clang!” “Clang!”

Each time Olivier’s dual swords clashed against Haydson’s earthen-colored heavy sword, those two light-style and darkness-style bursts of energy would strangely combine and attack together, seeking to break through Haydson’s attack.

“I didn’t expect Olivier to have this sort of attack!” Watching the battle with his head raised, Linley sighed secretly.

He had to admit that Olivier was a genius. Light and Darkness were two diametrically opposed types of Elemental Laws, but Olivier not only was able to train in both at the same time, he was also able to use them together in a very perfect manner.

“Haha…”

With each consecutive blow, Olivier’s loud laughter rang out. “Haydson, what, are you just going to defend? Can it be that your soul is so wounded that you can’t even attack?”

“BOOM!”

A terrifying thunderclap could suddenly be heard from the cloud-covered skies as an enormous bolt of lightning snaked down and struck the ground. A few seconds later, a torrential rain began to fall.

In the blink of an eye, the world was covered with rain.

“Damnit, why does it have to rain now?” The millions of spectators began to curse aloud. Most people had not brought any rain gear. With the rain suddenly descending upon them, they were transformed into a series of half-drowned chickens. However, these spectators continued to raise their heads high, staring at the duel in the skies.

But thanks to the torrential rain, they couldn’t even fully open their eyes as they stared upwards.

How miserable!

Many people were forced to take off their clothes and try to use their clothes to block some of the rain, so as to allow themselves to continue to stare upwards at this duel between absolute experts, which they might not have the chance to see again in a hundred years. But despite this…the thick, heavy rain prevented them from seeing much of the battle in the skies.

Right now, there were very few people who could clearly see what was going on in the skies.

Linley, of course, was one of them.

“Master Linley, what is going on in the duel above?” Emperor Johann asked Linley urgently. The imperial clan was still quite comfortable, because as soon as the rain had started, many large umbrellas were immediately deployed above them.

Linley and the others all continued to sit comfortably dry under those umbrellas.

“Your Imperial Majesty, Haydson continues to defend, while Olivier is wildly attacking him. However…it seems Olivier is totally unable to harm Haydson.” Linley smiled.

But although that was what he said, in his heart, Linley was wondering to himself, “Every single one of Olivier’s attacks contains a spiritual attack component. What sort of shape is Haydson in, exactly?”

The torrential rain continued to fall.

Those countless torches had been extinguished by the rain long ago. Right now, only the illuminating spells of a few light-style magi provided a bit of illumination in the area.

“Olivier, are you finished attacking?” Haydson said calmly.

“What?!” Olivier was suddenly stunned.

Could it be that despite him having attacked for so long, he hadn’t been able to injure Haydson at all? His soul-based attack was his secret weapon.

Wielding both swords in his hands, Olivier stood in mid-air, staring at Haydson.

Haydson looked calmly at Olivier. “When I received your first soul-based attack, I was indeed injured, but afterwards, since I was prepared for them, your attacks weren’t able to harm me at all.”

“Prepared?” Olivier was stunned.

How would one defend against a soul-based attack? Even Olivier himself had no idea.

“Olivier, you must understand, although soul-based attacks are special, you aren’t the only one to use them. There have been quite a number of people in the history of the Yulan continent who have developed soul-based attacks, and I have tasted these attacks before as well. You are only a warrior, after all. Your spiritual energy is far too weak. Most likely, you are only at the level of a magus of the eighth rank. If you were at the ninth rank…then perhaps I would be injured even if I prepared for your attacks. If that were the case my victory today wouldn’t be this easy.”

The Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, looked calmly at Olivier.

“What?!” Olivier found it difficult to accept this.

This was an unbelievably heavy blow to him!

“Olivier, you are already quite impressive, to have reached this level before even a half century of life.” Haydson gently stroked the earthen-colored heavy blade in his hands. “Now, prepare to receive my most powerful attack. Consider this my way of showing respect for your power. As to whether you will live or die, that will be up to heaven.”

Olivier felt that this was very laughable.

Whether he would live or die?”

“Haydson, don’t be too arrogant. If you have the ability to do so, then come and kill me. Enough talk.” Olivier’s body once more began to blaze with that brilliant white light, intermixed with that dark black light.

Half his body was covered with pure white light. The other half, pitch black.

“Come!” Olivier’s black and white hair flowed freely in the air. He radiated light in every direction, and the power of those two swords in his hands reached a crescendo as well.

Wielding his earthen-colored heavy sword in one hand, the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, had a smile on his face.

“This is my most powerful attack. The name of the attack is…‘Worldbreaker’. If you are to die, I wish you to die with full knowledge of what killed you!” Haydson had already forgotten how many so-called geniuses had died to him.

Was Olivier the sixth, or the seventh?

He had forgotten.

But Haydson knew that if a genius were to die, then they would no longer be a genius.

“Elder brother!” Blumer roared mightily into the skies. “Be careful!” Tears streamed down from Blumer’s eyes, but given the torrential rain, no one could tell if they were tears or just raindrops.

Although the torrential rain was thunderously loud, powerful experts were still able to clearly hear the words between these two combatants.

Hearing his younger brother’s shout, ensconced in black and white light, the corner of Olivier’s lips actually tugged upwards, forming a perfect curve. Surrounded by black and white light, Olivier was very dazzling to the eye. To the below spectators, Olivier seemed to be a bright star shining in the night rain.

“Boom!”

Olivier suddenly moved, and a terrifying sonic boom could be heard as he transformed into a dazzling line of light which streaked towards the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson.

“Haaaaaaaaargh!” Haydson let out a loud yet calm shout.

The Lightshadow sword and the obsidian sword seemed to have merged together, and the dark light and the white light crackled and swirled together, as Olivier, his face fierce, viciously swung down both swords at close range for one final blow…

But as Haydson swung his giant earthen sword towards him, it seemed to carry the power to shatter the entire world.

“BAAANG!”

A terrifying loud collision sound could be heard, as though the world itself had exploded. At the same time, a terrifying gust of hurricane-like wind blasted in every direction as the torrential rain fell down in sheets, carried by the force of that blast of wind.

“Splash!” A human figured covered with dim black and white light fell at high speed into the Channe River…and on the surface of the Channe River, a large amount of a red colored liquid could be seen.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 26, A Time and a Place

In turn, Haydson’s body had been knocked flying far away at high speed by this terrifying clashing force. Only after flying backwards for nearly a hundred meters did Haydson stabilize himself, and a hint of blood leaked out from Haydson’s mouth.

Haydson wiped the blood away, staring down at the Channe River.

“What a fine Prodigy Sword Saint. His final attack truly was powerful.” Haydson murmured to himself. At a do or die moment, Olivier’s final attack had reached a new level of power, and had actually broken through Haydson’s defense and struck Haydson’s body, causing him to be injured.

“Rumble.” The torrential rain continued to fall nonstop, and on the surface of Channe River, the waves of water roiled about. Quickly, that ‘scarlet red’ color atop the surface of the river dissipated and disappeared from sight.

A deathly silence!

Everyone had fallen silent, and the people at the two banks of the river stared into the Channe River. Everyone wanted to know, had that glorious Prodigy Sword Saint died, just like that?

“Elder brother!” Blumer didn’t hesitate at all. Shedding bitter tears of pain, he threw himself directly into the turbid waters of the Channe River.

“Master Linley, did Olivier die?” Emperor Johann was worried.

Linley shook his head. “I’m not sure either.” As he spoke, Linley lowered his head to glance at Bebe, who looked upwards at Linley with resignation. “Boss, Olivier’s aura is extremely weak right now, and he isn’t even breathing. I can only detect the barest hint of life in him. It seems he really is about to die.”

The countless spectators were all discussing this situation in hushed tones, wondering if Olivier had truly died. But everyone still remembered…Olivier’s dazzling final blow.

“Plop!” Water sprayed everywhere.

Carrying a body, Blumer rushed out of the water. Linley could instantly tell that Olivier’s face was drained of all blood and was totally white, and his lips were ashen as well. He was no longer breathing.

Only by using spiritual essence to probe him could one sense that Olivier was still alive.

“Move, move!” Carrying the Lightshadow sword, the obsidian sword, and his older brother Olivier in his arms, Blumer charged directly towards the direction of Emperor Johann.

Blumer’s eyes were filled with tears.

“Your Imperial Majesty, your Imperial Majesty, where are the healers? Quick, quick!” Blumer shouted frantically.

For this battle, Emperor Johann had prepared in advance for the most exalted Arch Magus of light magic of the ninth rank in the palace to come.

“Mr. Anders [An’te], quick, save Olivier.” Emperor Johann immediately said.

A silver-haired old man immediately walked out from behind Emperor Johann and hurried towards Olivier’s prone body. His hands glowing with white light, he touched Olivier’s body. Soon, color began to quickly reappear in Olivier’s face.

“How is he? How is my older brother?” Blumer said frantically.

Although Blumer was very stubborn and very cold towards others, in Blumer’s heart, he loved Olivier like a father. His older brother had raised him ever since he was young. To Blumer, there was nobody more important than his older brother.

“Don’t be hasty. Just now, all I did was heal the simpler wounds Lord Olivier has sustained. I need to use more healing magic to address his internal injuries.” The silver haired old man nodded as he spoke, then immediately began to mumble the words to a magic spell. Blumer watched, feeling anxious and nervous, but he didn’t dare to interrupt the work of this light-style Arch Magus.

Soon…

A starry light entered Olivier’s body, and the wounds on Olivier’s body began to rapidly heal. The efficacy of this healing magic was quite astonishing.

“Hrm?” The silver haired old man shook his head, puzzled.

“What is it?” Blumer asked frantically.

The silver haired old man shook his head, frowning. “Lord Olivier’s body has been totally healed. His external injuries, his organs, and his broken bones are all restored. But Lord Olivier didn’t wake up. This…”

Linley was carefully inspecting Olivier as well.

“Olivier’s soul has been wounded.” Bebe said mentally to Linley. “I can feel that his spirit is extremely weak right now.”

Just at this moment, the gray-robed Haydson flew over slowly from the sky, agilely and gracefully coming to a halt in front of Emperor Johann.

“Haydson!” Blumer stared hatefully at Haydson.

His one and only older brother, his one and only family member. Blumer felt boundless hatred towards Haydson. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was far weaker than him, Blumer probably would’ve charged straight for him.

“Stop staring at me. Your older brother’s spirit was heavily wounded, and he is hovering at the point of life and death, but that isn’t because of me. When executing his final attack, your older brother seemed to utilize some sort of forbidden technique to attack me, hoping to take me down with him.” Haydson’s face was rather pale as well.

“Forbidden technique?” Blumer frowned.

Suddenly, he remembered…

A while ago, he wanted to learn the obsidian sword technique from his elder brother, but Olivier had instructed to focus on learning the Lightshadow sword technique, and not to train in the diametrically opposite obsidian sword technique.

“Could it be that there really is some sort of taboo preventing people from utilizing two diametrically opposite Elemental Laws at the same time?” Blumer lowered his head to stare at his older brother.

Olivier’s face was ruddy, and his body was clearly in peak condition. But he still didn’t wake up, and his spiritual aura was extremely weak, as though it could be extinguished at any moment.

“Lord Olivier lost?”

“His brother carried his corpse out. Alas, the Prodigy Sword Saint has died.”

“Who said he died? Maybe he’s just unconscious due to his injury.”

“No matter what happened, Lord Haydson, the Monolithic Sword Saint, seems to be fine, and even flew down from the skies. Clearly, he is far stronger than Lord Olivier.”

Those millions of spectators were all discussing this battle. Although the skies were filled with torrential rain, it couldn’t douse their burning ardor. Everyone was filled with excitement at what they had just seen. Regardless of whether Olivier was dead or just passed out from his injuries, one thing was certain…

The victor of this duel was the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson!

This result was one which the vast majority had predicted. After all, Haydson had been famous for too long, and was reputed to be the most powerful Saint alive. He had never been defeated. It was very normal for him to be the victor of this duel.

Everyone would’ve been stunned if Haydson had lost.

The flood of spectators slowly began to melt away. Many began to head towards the imperial capital, while others headed towards some villages on the outskirts of the city.

The people slowly left, but the soldiers still stood guard.

“My elder brother won’t die.” Blumer said coldly. And then, carrying his elder brother’s body, he ordered his servants to carry the Lightshadow and obsidian swords and follow him. Blumer left, carrying his older brother in his arms.

“I hope Olivier can make it past this disaster.” Emperor Johann sighed. Right now, Emperor Johann was surrounded by over a thousand people.

These people were all nobles. Many of them wished to know if Olivier was alive or dead.

“Lord Haydson truly is powerful. Once again, he won easily.” A distant noble’s voice rang out respectfully. Haydson laughed calmly.

And then Haydson looked at Linley. With a loud laugh, he said, “Actually, compared to Olivier, I’d rather have a competition against Master Linley.”

A stunned silence.

Everyone was shocked. Haydson had just completed a major duel with Olivier, and now he wanted to challenge Linley to a duel?

Linley was silent for a moment, then spoke. “Haydson, what do you mean by this?”

Haydson smiled. “Last time at the Coloseeum, you and Olivier didn’t finish your duel, but Olivier had drawn his obsidian sword, and you had prepared your adamantine heavy sword. I remember at that time, you had said that your adamantine heavy sword techniques were based on the Laws of the Earth, right?”

“Indeed.” Linley nodded.

“I, too, am a person who studies the Laws of the Earth. I imagine that if we were to engage in a competition, it would be of great benefit to both of us in our attempts to break through to a higher level of understanding.” Haydson looked at Linley. “Linley, I’d like to invite you to spar. Would you accept?”

Neither the surrounding nobles nor Emperor Johann dared to make a sound.

One was reputedly the strongest Saint alive. The other was a Saint who was a genius the likes of which the world had never seen.

“Big brother…” Wharton couldn’t help but speak out.

Linley turned to glance at his little brother. He chuckled.

Wharton, in his heart, was frantic and angry. He thought to himself, “This Haydson really is despicable. He just finished beating Olivier to the brink of death. Does he now want to kill my big brother as well? Is it because he saw both my big brother and Olivier are both geniuses, and are afraid that in the future, they would threaten his status?”

Wharton wasn’t the only person thinking this. Many of the people present were thinking this as well.

After all, Linley and Olivier were both dazzling geniuses. One had been beaten to the point where whether or not he would survive was at question. And now, Haydson invited Linley to spar? Many people naturally questioned his real motives.

“What, you refuse?” Haydson asked with a laugh.

Linley looked at Haydson, a smile on his face. “Name a time, and name a place?”

Haydson was startled.

He immediately understood that this meant Linley was accepting his challenge. “I’ve already competed today against Olivier and am not in peak form. How about this. Three months from now, on August 4th, in the air above Mt. Tujiao, east of the city. Let’s have our competition there.”

“Fine.” Linley smiled and nodded.

Linley wanted to duel with Haydson as well. He had just begun to understand this Pulseguard Defense technique. Combining that with his ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’ attack, Linley didn’t think that he would be easily defeated. After all, he not only was protected by the Pulseguard Defense, he also was protected by his draconic scales. With such powerful defenses, most likely it would be hard to say if Haydson’s was better or his own was better.

“Since this is the case, then your Imperial Majesty, Linley, I’ll bid you farewell.” Haydson nodded to each of them, then transformed into a gray streak of light as he flew away into the sky.

“Big bro…” Wharton ran over frantically.

“I’m fine. Victory and defeat is yet to be determined.” Linley smiled confidently, and then he led his people back towards their residence.

As for those nobles and the members of the imperial clan, they were all engaged in endless speculation. After a while though, all of them returned back to the imperial capital as well under the cover of rain.

The Channe River once more regained its normal peacefulness. Only the mess left behind at the riverbanks gave testament to the earlier excitement.

………..

At the place where the Channe River and the Yulan River intersected, a six story tall enormous ship was sailing from the Yulan River into the Channe River. A row of knights were standing in a neat row on the deck.

Many of those powerful knights had magical beasts as well. Ordinary people did not have access to magical beasts; for so many of the knights to have magical beasts meant that the status of the person on this ship was quite extraordinary.

“When we arrive at the Channe River, we’ll be only three days out from the imperial capital of the O’Brien Empire. Unfortunately, we’ll have missed the duel between the Prodigy Sword Saint, Olivier, and Lord Haydson.”

The warriors on the ship’s deck were chatting amongst each other.

Right at this time, a man with white streaked hair came out onto the top deck. He seemed to be a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties. By his side was a brown-furred bear that looked charmingly naïve. This bear was roughly as tall as a person was, and seemed very cute.

“Growl. Growl. Master. I really don’t feel comfortable here on the water. Let’s fly instead.” That charmingly naïve seeming bear said to the middle-aged man.

“I know you hate water.” The middle-aged man laughed as he walked to the chain linked side of the boat, staring down into the waves.

“Your Honor.” Seeing the middle-aged man, the soldiers on the ship deck all said respectfully. Just at this time, a tall, golden-haired beautiful woman came walking out with a smile. Laughing, she headed towards the middle-aged man. “Teacher, we’ve already arrived at the Channe River. We should be arriving at the O’Brien Empire soon.”

The middle-aged man laughed as he glanced at the golden-haired woman. “Haha. Indeed we are. Delia, I think you are even more impatient than I am.”

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 27, The Yulan Empire’s Special Envoy

That adorable looking bear laughed as well. “Right, right. As soon as Delia knew that Linley fellow was here, she immediately started scheming to come as well.”

“Big Yellow, do you want to die?” Delia grabbed the big bear by his ear.

“It doesn’t hurt. Haha. It doesn’t hurt.” The big bear said delightedly.

“Hrmph.” Delia wrinkled her nose and pouted. “Big Yellow, I know you are powerful, alright? You are a Worldbear and you have thick skin. You aren’t afraid of me twisting your ears.” As she spoke, she walked over to stand next to the middle-aged man and ignored the bear.

The big bear rubbed its head, said in a deep, adorable voice, “Delia, don’t be angry. It was my mistake, alright?”

Delia looked at him and started to laugh.

“Hatton [Ha’dun], Delia is just teasing you. She won’t get angry that easily.” The middle-aged man said with a calm laugh, and then he turned to stare at the skies. “Parry [Pa’lei] is coming back.”

From the skies, a hawk with wingspan of five or six meters came swooping towards the ship at high speed. This hawk was extremely fast, and it seemed to move at the speed of lightning. Its eyes were golden, and it had a crest of blue feathers atop its head. It appeared very fierce.

This was a magical beast of the ninth rank – the Wildthunder Stormhawk.

The soldiers on the ship did not attempt to block it. Clearly, they recognized this Wildthunder Stormhawk, which flew directly towards and landed next to Delia and the others.

“Little Wind, did you catch anything?” Delia devotedly rubbed the head of the Wildthunder Stormhawk.

Retracting its wings, the Wildthunder Stormhawk stood up, rising to its full height of 2 meters high. Right now, the Wildthunder Stormhawk was enjoying Delia’s attention, closing its eyes as Delia continued stroking its head.

“Parry, get over here.” The big bear said unhappily.

The Wildthunder Stormhawk glanced at the big bear, then obediently moved over to it. The Worldbear was a Saint-level magical beast, and an extremely powerful type at that.

Actually, both the Worldbear as well as the Wildthunder Stormhawk were the magical beast companions of that middle aged man, a Saint-level Grand Magus of the Yulan Empire, Longhaus [Long’er’si].

Master Longhaus was a wind-style Grand Magus.

Wind-style Grand Magi were extremely terrifying. When Longhaus had brought his Wildthunder Stormhawk into the Mountain Range of the Setting Sun, he had used the Dimensional Edge spell to heavily injure this Worldbear.

The offensive power of the Dimensional Edge spell was simply too terrifying. It cut through the walls of reality itself.

Against this sort of attack, even a peak-stage Saint such as Haydson could be split into two halves. In addition, wind-style Grand Magi could control the wind to a terrifying degree, and could also move extremely quickly.

It could easily be said that, given enough time, a Grand Magus Saint could easily defeat a Saint-level warrior. But Saint-level warriors were no fools either. Thus, most Grand Magi Saints would work hard to acquire a Saint-level magical beast.

Alas, capturing Saint-level magical beasts was simply too difficult.

Delia stood atop the ship’s deck, fiddling with her necklace as she stared to the east. A gentle wind blew, stirring her hair. She was a very beautiful, moving sight. Even those warriors off to the side couldn’t help but stare at her and feel moved.

Delia had become extremely famous in the Yulan Empire. She was a genius who had reached the seventh rank as a magus at the young age of 22. In addition, she had an extremely powerful clan behind her, and had been accepted as an apprentice by the Saint-level Grand Magus, Longhaus. In terms of appearance, she could definitely rank in the top ten of the imperial capital as well. Such a glorious, outstanding girl definitely had many suitors and paramours.

But unfortunately, Delia had refused every single one of them.

Because of her clan and because she had grown up in the imperial capital, Delia was extremely eloquent and very astute in judging the intentions of others. Ever since the news of Linley’s battle with Olivier had spread to the Yulan Empire, Delia had schemed nonstop, finally managing to convince the Emperor of the Yulan Empire to send a special envoy to the O’Brien Empire.

Before heading out, they had notified the O’Brien Empire, which had naturally agreed.

“Channe City…” Delia murmured.

That place which occupied her dreams had a person whom she longed for.

The river waters continued to rush forward rapidly. On the front deck, the Worldbear and the Wildthunder Stormhawk stood alongside Delia as the massive ship continued to sail forward at high speed.

Soon, the ship disappeared off into the horizon as it made its way through the Channe River.

The news that a special envoy from the Yulan Empire was coming quickly spread across the imperial capital, and the imperial clan as well as the nobles quickly learned of this as well. But as far as the imperial capital was concerned, they only cared about two things right now.

They only cared about two major duels.

The first duel was the duel which had just happened between the Prodigy Sword Saint, Olivier, and the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson. The second one was the duel which would occur three months from now between the Dragonblood Warrior, Linley, and the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson.

Would Linley learn from the mistakes of his predecessor, Olivier? Or would he come to the same disastrous end?

Nobody knew.

But in the hearts of the citizens of the Empire, most believed that the strongest Saint, Haydson, would gain victory yet again.

Boulder Street. Count Wharton’s estate.

“In the next three months, nobody is permitted to disturb Lord Linley unless there is something critical!” This declaration came forth from the manor ever since that stormy night.

The atmosphere in the estate was extremely tense.

In the rear training courtyard, Wharton trained for a short while. Then, not in the mood for more training, he placed the warblade ‘Slaughterer’ to one side, then sat down unhappily.

“That Haydson really goes too far.” Wharton cursed. As soon as he thought about Linley, he began to worry. “Haydson, if you are so tough, why don’t you wait ten years and let my big brother reach the Saint-level in his human form before dueling with my big brother! What’s the point of dueling now?”

“**** his grandmother. He doesn’t just go too far. He’s absolutely vile!”

Gates walked over, saying angrily, “There are plenty of Saints in the Empire, and the War God’s College has many experts as well. Why doesn’t Haydson go challenge them? Instead, he challenges his Lordship. His Lordship is only twenty seven years old. That Haydson is several centuries old.”

“No point in cursing him.”

Barker walked over, resting his massive long-handled greataxe against the artificial hill. “His Lordship has already agreed to duel with Haydson. Right now, our only option is to hope that his Lordship will win.”

“His Lordship definitely will win.”

Gates clenched his fist and pumped it in the air several times as he said angrily, “I refuse to believe that Haydson’s internal organs are as defensively powerful as his external defense. What’s more, that weird thing which his Lordship developed a while ago seems to be really mysterious as well. It definitely must be extraordinary.”

Gates and the others didn’t really understand how powerful the Pulseguard Defense was.

Linley was within his private courtyard. Right now, he was seated in the meditative stance beneath a tree, constantly training in accordance with the ‘Secret Dragonblood Manual’. Right now, Linley already was at a very high level of understanding. All he needed was battle-qi.

Whenever Linley had any free time, he would train in battle-qi, trying to absorb as much of the energy from the Dragonblood in his veins as possible, ideally until reaching the Saint-level. However, training battle-qi actually didn’t require too much focus. As long as one trained in accordance with the set methods, that would be enough. Thus, right now, Linley was pondering other questions in his mind.

“Last time, when I encountered the War God’s first disciple, Fain, and when I encountered the War God, I found that they were both capable of soul-based attacks. Olivier also mastered such a form of attack. Most likely, there are many people who have mastered this type of technique. Should I also try to develop this sort of soul-based attack? Even if I don’t, I should at least learn how to defend against it, right?”

While cultivating his battle-qi, Linley continued to wrestle with this question in his mind.

What were the principles underlying soul-based attacks?

And how would one guard against it?

While Linley was thinking and training, Haeru lay resting against the ground, while Bebe was curled up comfortably on Haeru’s back, his eyes half-closed.

“Bebe, do you think Master will be able to beat that Haydson in their duel?” Haeru said in a low voice.

“Naturally.” Bebe opened his eyes and said with complete confidence.

But then, Bebe said in a low voice, “But of course, that Haydson seems to be really powerful as well. But no matter what, if the Boss ends up at the point of death in his duel against Haydson, I, Bebe, will immediately charge forward to assist. Hrmph. Two nights ago, everyone just watched as Olivier was beaten half to death. He still hasn’t woken up yet. I can’t let the Boss succumb to such a state.”

“Isn’t that a breach of rules?” Haeru said questioningly.

When two people dueled, regardless of victory or defeat, others were not to interfere.

“Screw the damn rules. The earth is big and the heavens are bigger, but nothing is bigger than the Boss. How can the rules compare in importance to my Boss’s life?” Bebe said arrogantly. “What’s more, so what if I, Bebe, interfere? My Boss is a magus, ya know! When a magus duels against a warrior, they usually bring their magical beasts. If I interfere, that isn’t a violation of the rules.” As he spoke, Bebe felt as though his argument had a lot of merit, and he laughed delightedly.

The gates to the imperial capital were open. The path from the imperial palace to the east gate of the city were all lined with guards from the imperial army, who had been divided up into two neat lines on each side of the street.

The knights of the imperial palace formed into lined regiments, following behind the Emperor’s carriage, with a large number of nobles following behind them.

The Saint-level experts of the War God’s College, Kenyon and Lanke, had both arrived as well.

This was because they knew that the delegation from the Yulan Empire included a Saint-level Grand Magus. If their side had no Saints present, then their side would seem weaker.

“Why aren’t they here yet?” Emperor Johann said unhappily to a nearby palace attendant.

“Your Imperial Majesty, the ship of the Yulan Empire’s special envoy is about to reach the river’s harbor. Most likely, they’ll be here soon.” The palace attendant said respectfully.

Emperor Johann nodded.

Without question, the two most powerful nations in the Yulan continent were the Yulan Empire and the O’Brien Empire. Emperor Johann very much wished that his own O’Brien Empire could be superior to and suppress the Yulan Empire.

But alas, the Yulan Empire had its own strong points.

The Yulan Empire had been in existence for over ten thousand years now, and was an ancient nation. What’s more, the Yulan Empire had become one of the greatest sources for magi in the world. If the O’Brien Empire had the most Saint-level warriors, then the Yulan Empire could be said to have just as many Saint-level Grand Magi.

After all, Saint-level Grand Magi were far more threatening than Saint-level warriors. For example, that wind-style Saint-level Grand Magus, Longhaus. Not even Haydson would dare say that he was totally confident of defeating him. After all, so long as Longhaus was given a bit of time to prepare, his Dimensional Edge spell could chop Haydson into two halves.

“They are here!”

The many spectators of the O’Brien Empire saw the enormous ship sail over. When they saw that adorable big bear on the deck, as well as that large hawk, many people felt astonished.

“A Worldbear? And a Wildthunder Stormhawk?”

Kenyon and Lanke exchanged glances. They couldn’t help but feel astonished. Even if they joined forces, they weren’t certain that they would be able to defeat a Saint-level Worldbear.

Delia was dressed in a beautiful long robe and standing next to the wind-style Saint-level Grand Magus, Longhaus. They disembarked together, and behind them came the two magical beasts, the warriors on the ship, and the magical beasts of the warriors.

“Clang!”

The knights of the Empire formed into two ranks, while at the same time raising their pikes high into the air. These knights were specially selected from the finest knights of the imperial palace. All of them were of the seventh rank, and their leader was a warrior of the eighth rank.

“Teacher, the warriors of the O’Brien Empire really are more powerful than those of our Yulan Empire. They even have a totally different aura. Our imperial capital is a bit too dissolute.” Delia chatted quietly with her teacher as though no one else was present.

Longhaus nodded slightly as well.

The imperial capital of the Yulan Empire was an extremely ancient city, and the ancient clans of the capital only thought of enjoying life. To the contrary, the O’Brien Empire was a nation of warriors, and all of them strove to outdo each other. No wonder it was hailed as the most militarily powerful nation.

Emperor Johann, Lanke, Kenyon, and the palace attendants went to welcome them.

“Delia Leon, right? Haha…” Emperor Johann laughed loudly.

Delia very courteously curtsied. “Special Envoy Delia of the Yulan Empire pays her respects to the mighty ruler of the O’Brien Empire, Emperor Johann. I bring with me the sincerest greetings and well-wishes of the Emperor of the Yulan Empire.”

“Emperor Johann, this is my teacher, Saint-level Grand Magus Longhaus.” Delia smiled as she made the introductions.

Emperor Johann looked at Master Longhaus. “Very happy to meet you, Master Longhaus.”

“I am very honored to meet you as well, Emperor Johann.” Longhaus said with a smile.

Delia couldn’t help but glance around at her surroundings. A hint of disappointment appeared in her eyes. She didn’t see the person she was looking for. But at the same time, she said to Emperor Johann, “Emperor Johann, these two should be two powerful Saint-level experts, correct? Can you introduce them to me?”

Before Delia had arrived, she had already acquired quite a bit of information, and she already knew quite a bit about Kenyon and Lanke.

Special Envoy Delia of the Yulan Empire, the wind-style Grand Magus Longhaus, and the others had now formally entered the imperial capital of Channe, where a grand welcoming ceremony awaited them.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 28, Delia

Delia chatted and jested with Emperor Johann, and their conversation was full of humor and amusement. Emperor Johann’s loud, clear laughter rang out nonstop.

Emperor Johann, Delia, Master Longhaus, Kenyon, Lanke and the others walked in front, with the palace servants and palace maids as well as many powerful knights taking up the rear.

The many other nobles followed behind the knights at a distance.

“What a beautiful woman.” A group of young nobles of the imperial capital were clustered together. All of these young nobles had an extremely high rank in the Empire. Some were princes, while others were main branch descendants of major clans. They had never lacked for anything, and they often formed little cliques. Nobody in the imperial capital dared to offend them.

The words that had just been spoken came from the son of Prince Julin, Marquis Jeff [Ji’fo].

“I think her name is Delia.” Another noble youngster next to him spoke. This young noble was named Scott, and he was the Eighth Prince of the Empire. “She’s so beautiful and has such grace. There are very few like her, even here in the imperial capital.”

Marquis Jeff, Prince Scott, and the others all stared from afar while rating her.

Indeed, Delia was an extremely alluring and charismatic figure.

Her every movement contained the grace and poise of an ancient clan, and as a magus of the seventh rank, her movements were filled with grace. What’s more, Delia was beautiful to begin with, and her dazzling, soft golden hair shone like the sun.

Scott sighed emotionally, “Delia is a member of the Leon clan, and was previously a student at the Ernst Institute. Nowadays, she is the disciple of a wind-style Grand Magus Saint, Longhaus. In the Yulan Empire’s imperial capital, she can be considered one of the most influential nobles. No doubt there are countless young nobles pursuing her.”

Marquis Jeff’s eyes were shining as he stared at Delia. “If I were to successfully woo her, I would be willing to never touch another woman again.”

“Cousin Jeff, you are that determined?” Scott laughed as he glanced at Jeff.

“Of course!” Marquis Jeff said with conviction.

Emperor Johann was an extremely biased person. His one and only younger brother was Prince Julin, and Emperor Johann was extremely solicitous of him, to the point of even allowing Prince Julin to take over and rule the Southeast Administrative Province, one of the seven large Administrative Province’s.

As the saying goes, love me, love my dog. Naturally, Marquis Jeff was doted upon by Emperor Johann as well. In the imperial capital, his status was extremely high, and this group of young nobles accepted him as their leader.

“Since you’ve made up your mind, cousin, then I can’t let myself fall behind you.” Scott laughed confidently. “Cousin Jeff, let’s see which of us two bros will be able to successfully woo Ms. Delia.”

“Fine.” Jeff nodded. With an evil laugh, he said, “If we’re successful, it can be said that we’ll have really gained a huge amount of face on behalf of all the men of the O’Brien Empire. After all, those young nobles of the Yulan Empire hadn’t been able to successfully woo Delia.”

……..

“I imagine that Ms. Delia must be tired after her long journey, along with Master Longhaus. How about this. Let Us order some people to arrange places for Ms. Delia and Master Longhaus to rest. Later at night, after you’ve rested, you can attend the dinner banquet which We have arranged. What do you say?” Emperor Johann came to a halt once they reached Boulder Street and said.

The residences of Boulder Street had all been constructed by the imperial clan.

When the imperial clan bequeathed estates to nobles or received guests, it was usually all done within the confines of Boulder Street. The estates here couldn’t be bought with mere money.

“Then we shall do as you suggest, your Imperial Majesty.” Delia said with a smile.

At this moment, Scott and Marquis Jeff quickly walked forward. They, too, knew that Emperor Johann was about to separate from Ms. Delia. They had to seize the opportunity.

Given their status, those guards naturally wouldn’t stop them.

“Ms. Delia and Master Longhaus, I imagine you two aren’t too familiar with our imperial capital. We shall arrange a guide to accompany you.” Emperor Johann said with a laugh.

“Thank you, your Imperial Majesty.” Delia said with appreciation.

“Imperial father.” “Your Imperial Majesty.” At this point, Scott and Marquis Jeff’s eyes lit up, and they called out without any hesitation.

Emperor Johann glanced backwards and saw that it was his son as well as his nephew.

“Scott, Jeff, what is it?” Emperor Johann was in a fine mood today.

Marquis Jeff said respectfully, “Your Imperial Majesty, you plan to arrange a guide? Scott and I are as familiar with the imperial capital as our own homes. I think that the two of us can be the guides. We would definitely make Ms. Delia very happy with our services.”

Emperor Johann glanced at Jeff and Scott upon hearing these words. How could he not guess what these two really intended?

However, Emperor Johann also thought that Delia was a fine woman. If his nephew or his son were able to successfully woo this woman, that would be a good thing as well.

“Let Us ask Ms. Delia first.” Emperor Johann turned to look at Delia. “Ms. Delia, what do you think?”

Delia glanced at Scott and Marquis Jeff. Immediately, both of them stood slightly straighter, putting on gentlemanly appearances. A hint of laughter appeared in Delia’s eyes.

“Thank you. I’ll trouble you two to assist me then.” Delia curtsied slightly.

“No trouble, no trouble at all.” Scott and Marquis Jeff hurriedly said.

A hint of a smile could be seen on the lips of Master Longhaus, who was by Delia’s side. As his disciple, how could he not understand Delia? When they were in the imperial capital of the Yulan Empire, countless young men had pursued Delia. Given Delia’s skill, she had easily beaten them at their own game and played them like a fiddle.

“Milady Special Envoy, this will be the place where you will live while you are here in the imperial capital.” A palace attendant pointed towards an estate in front of them.

The nearby Marquis Jeff immediately said, “Ms. Delia, the Boulder Street is an extremely famous street within the O’Brien Empire. On this street, there are even several Saints who live here. For example, our Empire’s Prodigy Sword Saint, Olivier, and his younger brother. They both live on Boulder Street. The genius Master Linley and his younger brother both live on Boulder Street as well.”

While they passed between the estates, Marquis Jeff continuously introduced them to her.

“Right. These two geniuses would be considered the most outstanding individuals anywhere in the Yulan continent.” Scott didn’t want to fall behind either.

Delia, hearing their words, couldn’t help but allow a complicated look appear in her eyes. But naturally, she quickly returned to her normal, friendly smile.

“That isn’t necessarily the case.” A deep, rumbling sound could be heard from the nearby bear.

Scott and Jeff looked at the big bear and immediately squeezed out a smile. When they were in the welcoming party, they had overheard that this big bear was a Saint-level Worldbear. Saint-level magical beasts could freely change their size. A Worldbear was usually well over ten meters high in their normal form.

He could easily crush them to death with a single paw.

“Delia’s older brother is very formidable as well. He is only twenty seven years old, but has become a magus of the eighth rank. What’s more, he has become the personal disciple of the High Priest.” The big bear looked at Delia. “Delia, am I right?”

Delia smiled slightly and nodded.

Becoming a twenty seven year old magus of the eighth rank was definitely an extremely terrifying accomplishment. At this speed, it would be quite possible for him to become an Arch Magus of the ninth rank before the age of forty.

It must be understood that someone who could reach the ninth rank before the age of forty was, without question, a definite world-shaking genius.

“Dixie is indeed the most talented magus I have ever seen.” Master Longhaus laughed as well. As they spoke, they entered the main hall of their estate.

“Magus talent?”

Lifting his head proudly, Scott said, “Master Longhaus, on the topic of talent as a magus, I understand that our Empire’s Master Linley, also twenty seven years old, is already an Arch Magus of the ninth rank. What’s more, he is a peak-stage Saint-level warrior.”

“A twenty seven year old Arch Magus of the ninth rank? Impossible!!!” Master Longhaus couldn’t believe it at all. “In the entire history of the Yulan continent, there has never been anyone who could reach the ninth rank before the age of thirty.”

“Scott, is this true?” Marquis Jeff asked questioningly.

Scott said with absolute certainty, “It is true. My Imperial father personally told me this. When Master Linley dueled with Olivier, everyone learned how powerful he was as a warrior, but they didn’t pay attention to his abilities with magic. He is indeed already an Arch Magus of the ninth rank.”

Hearing Scott’s words, although on an emotional level Longhaus still couldn’t believe it, his intellect told him that this was probably true.

“Master Linley. An Arch Magus of the ninth rank.” Delia wasn’t too surprised.

In Delia’s heart, Linley was a person filled with secrets and miracles. A sixteen year old grandmaster sculptor, and supposedly the number two genius magus in all of history. But now, he had become the number one genius magus in all of history. Why would that be ‘impossible’?

“You can keep chatting. Delia, I’m going to go take a rest. If you need to talk to me, just notify Parry.” Longhaus instructed.

“Yes, Teacher.” Delia said humbly. Next to her, Scott and Jeff bowed as well.

“Gentlemen, I’m tired as well. I’ll retire to my room and rest. Excuse me.” Delia rose as well.

Scott and Jeff knew that they couldn’t push her, and they immediately nodded. Delia left, with that Wildthunder Stormhawk by her side.

Ever since Master Longhaus had tamed the Worldbear, the Wildthunder Stormhawk’s primary responsibility became guarding Delia. From this, one could tell how much Master Longhaus cared about her.

“He’s also living on Boulder Street. Maybe he’s very close to me.”

Delia stood in front of her window quietly.

That night at Wushan township, when she had bid Linley farewell, then left the Holy Union and returned to her own ancestral nation, she had been preparing to return to the Holy Union after the Yulan Festival. But then, she had heard of the Apocalypse Day which had occurred.

The entire Kingdom of Fenlai had been reduced to rubble and become the playground for magical beasts.

And according to the news available to her clan, a few days before the Apocalypse Day, in the estate of the magus genius, Linley, a demon appeared, attempting to murder the king of the Kingdom of Fenlai. Most likely, Linley himself had already died.

This news had caused Delia to suffer a major illness.

It had taken a full year before she had fully recovered.

In years after this, she had no news of Linley at all, and she had even made up her mind to abandon love and instead focus on carrying out the affairs of her clan and train in magic. But she didn’t expect…that a while ago, news came to the Yulan Empire of Linley and Olivier’s duel.

This news caused Delia’s deadened heart to immediately grow excited. She felt as though she were full of energy and full of hope.

After a few machinations, she arranged for today’s visit.

Delia had planned to wait until the next day before visiting Linley, but after spending merely half an hour in her room, she felt as though she had waited for half a year.

Especially after learning that Linley also lived on Boulder Street…she could no longer resist.

“Little Wind, tell Teacher that I plan to pay Linley a visit.” Delia said to the Wildthunder Stormhawk. A while later, Master Longhaus appeared outside her door.

An indulgent smile was on Master Longhaus’ face. “Delia, I knew that you wouldn’t be able to sit still for long before deciding to go see him.” Longhaus knew everything there was to know about his student Delia’s affairs.

A bashful red flush crept onto Delia’s face.

“Teacher!” Delia wrinkled her nose. “Stop making fun of me. Let’s go.”

“Fine, fine.” Longhaus laughed.

Delia and Master Longhaus, followed by the Worldbear and the Wildthunder Stormhawk, left the estate. When they did, they saw Jeff and Scott waiting outside, seated.

“Ms. Delia?” Jeff and Scott’s eyes lit up, and they immediately rose to their feet. “Where are you headed?”

Delia’s forehead creased, but she still managed to say with a smile, “I was planning to go pay a visit to your so-called genius, Master Linley.”

“Oh, so you are going to visit Master Linley?” Marquis Jeff hurriedly said. “That’s a good idea. But I’m afraid that it will be difficult for you to see him. This is because over two months from now, Master Linley will be engaging in a duel with Lord Haydson at Mt. Tujiao.”

“What?” Delia was stunned, and for once, lost her cool.

“Oh, you just arrived, so you didn’t know. Two days ago, Olivier and Lord Haydson dueled, with the result being that Lord Olivier was badly injured to the point of death. Lord Haydson then immediately invited Master Linley to a duel as well, and Master Linley has already accepted.” The nearby Scott explained.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 29, Meeting Ten Years Later

“Linley and Haydson?” Master Longhaus said in surprise as well.

Marquis Jeff nodded repeatedly. “Right. Two nights ago, Lord Olivier was injured by Lord Haydson so badly that he is still in a coma. Immediately afterwards, Lord Haydson challenged Master Linley.”

Marquis Jeff and Scott’s words both contained some resentment, suggesting that Haydson was going too far.

“This Haydson is reputed to be the most powerful Saint. For him to be able to injure Olivier so badly that he entered a coma means that Haydson’s reputation is definitely deserved. No matter how much of a genius Linley is, he is only twenty seven…” Master Longhaus was somewhat dissatisfied as well.

He knew that his disciple, Delia, liked Linley. Naturally, he himself looked favorably on Linley as well.

“Olivier was injured to the point of entering a coma?” Delia’s eyes were blazing. “How could he be in a coma after receiving treatment from light-style magic?”

No matter how serious the injury, light-style magic could easily and totally repair it. And what’s more, there was another type of magic which was even more effective than light-style magic for healing; Life Magic!

The three types of High Magic; Necromantic Magic, Oracular Magic, and Life Magic.

As long as one didn’t die, even if one’s soul was heavily damaged, Life Magic could heal it.

“It seems it has something to do with his soul.” As a prince, Scott knew quite a bit.

“His soul?” Master Longhaus frowned. “Can it be that Haydson possesses a soul-based attack?” Actually, Grand Magus Saints were generally proficient in soul-based attacks.

Generally speaking, after beginning to gain insight into the Laws, it wasn’t hard for them to use soul-based attacks, given their powerful spiritual energy.

“In your opinion, does Linley have any chance of defeating Haydson?” Delia suddenly asked.

“Of course not.” Scott said bluntly. “Lord Haydson has been famous for centuries, and nobody has ever been able to defeat him! Master Linley competed a while ago against Lord Olivier, and the two were roughly on par. Since Lord Haydson was able to beat Olivier into such a terrible condition, it is very possible that he might badly injure Linley or even kill him.”

No matter how calm and collected Delia was, she was beginning to worry for Linley.

What if Linley was killed?

Delia didn’t even dare to imagine such a thing.

“Would Haydson truly be so merciless as to go full force?” Delia’s face still maintained its calm.

“Ms. Delia, two days ago, when Lord Haydson dueled Lord Olivier, he went full force on Lord Olivier. How could he be merciful with Master Linley?” Marquis Jeff said.

Master Longhaus shook his head. “When Saints do battle, unless there is a huge gap in power, we do not dare to hold back. If you hold back but your opponent goes full force, you might die.”

Delia was silent for a moment.

“Ms. Delia?” Scott and Marquis Jeff called to her softly.

“Nothing. Let’s go.” Delia’s face returned to her normal, professional smile, but her smile was somewhat forced.

Marquis Jeff and Scott both nodded.

At Count Wharton’s estate.

“Ms. Delia, as I said earlier, you won’t necessarily be able to see Master Linley.” Marquis Jeff laughed, then casually spoke to the gate guard, “Go report that the Eighth Imperial Prince, Marquis Jeff, and the Special Envoy from the Yulan Empire have come here to meet with Count Wharton.”

“Yes. Please wait here a moment.”

One of the guards outside the estate ran inside to make his report.

Delia and the others knew that given Linley’s current status, meeting him would be very difficult. Right now, their only option was to first see Wharton, and then ask to meet with Linley.

“Everyone, please come in.”

Delia, Master Longhaus, Marquis Jeff, and Scott all entered the Count’s residence.

Within the main hall.

“Wharton.” Scott walked into the main hall, laughing in a very familiar manner. “Let me make some introductions. This beautiful young lady is the Special Envoy from the Yulan Empire, Ms. Delia.”

Scott was the Imperial Eighth Prince, while Nina was the Imperial Seventh Princess. Wharton naturally was extremely familiar with Scott.

“The Special Envoy from the Yulan Empire? Why has she come to meet me?” Although Wharton was very surprised, he still smiled politely. “Ms. Delia, an honor to meet you.”

“Count Wharton.” Delia smiled as she spoke. “This is my teacher, the wind-style Grand Magus Saint, Master Longhaus.”

Wharton was startled. Housekeeper Hiri, standing behind him, was startled as well.

In the O’Brien Empire, Saint-level warriors would be seen from time to time, but they had never seen a Saint-level Grand Magus. After all, there were extremely few Grand Magi in the O’Brien Empire.

“Wharton, the Special Imperial Envoy has arrived?” A loud, brash voice rang out. It was the fifth of the Barker brothers, Gates.

Wharton had been in the middle of his training with Barker and his brothers. Hearing the report from his subordinates, he had stopped training and come out to welcome the guests. Out of curiosity, Gates had come over as well.

“Whoah. What a pretty girl.” Gates’ eyes shone.

“Gates, this is the Special Imperial Envoy, Ms. Delia. This is the wind-style Grand Magus Saint, Master Longhaus.” Wharton made the introductions, afraid that Gates would cause a diplomatic disaster.

Gates’ attention immediately turned to Master Longhaus.

“Whoah! A Grand Magus Saint!” Gates’ eyes were as wide as an ox’s.

Master Longhaus secretly sighed to himself. Good grief. Where did these people come from? Wharton’s massive physique had already shocked Longhaus, but Wharton was at least relatively handsome. Gates was totally different. His waist was astonishingly thick, and the man himself looked like a giant bear.

“Step away from my Master.” A deep voice rang out.

The big bear behind Master Longhaus suddenly began to grow in size. Originally, he was only two meters tall, but suddenly he increased to three meters in height. The Worldbear lowered his head to stare at Gates, a hint of delight in his eyes.

“A Saint-level magical beast?” Gates raised his head to stare at the Worldbear.

Delia immediately went straight to the point. “Count Wharton, my teacher and I have come for the purpose of meeting with Master Linley.”

“To see my big bro…” Wharton frowned.

These people didn’t have a low status, and they even had a Grand Magus Saint with them. However, to Wharton, his big brother’s training was more important. After all, in more than two months time, he would be in a major duel.

“Very sorry, but my big brother is focusing on his upcoming duel with Haydson, and he can’t be disturbed.” Wharton said. When he mentioned Haydson’s name, he didn’t have the slightest bit of respect to his voice.

Hearing these words, Delia, as well, felt that Linley’s preparation for his duel was more important. After being silent for a moment, she said, “Then…I won’t disturb him.”

Longhaus, by her side, sighed secretly, then said in a loud voice, “Count Wharton, my student, Delia, was previously also a student at the Ernst Institute, and she was a very good friend and classmate of your big brother’s. They haven’t met for ten years.”

“A student of the Ernst Institute?” Wharton’s heart was swayed.

Actually, every day, Linley would still eat and rest like normal. After all, he didn’t train nonstop like when he was developing his Pulseguard Defense. It wasn’t a big deal if he paused for a bit to welcome some guests.

If they were people that Linley didn’t know, Wharton would refuse them.

But this was his big brother’s old schoolmate.

“Then…come with me.” Wharton nodded.

Delia’s fists clenched nervously. She took a deep breath to calm herself down. By her side, Master Longhaus laughed as he patted Delia on the shoulders. “Relax.”

“An old classmate?” Scott and Marquis Jeff were both surprised.

But Delia walked in front of them, not paying attention to them in the slightest. Scott and Jeff therefore quite conscientiously maintained their silence.

After walking for a while…

“Ms. Delia, my big bro is training in the courtyard in front of us.” Wharton laughed, while Gates hurriedly said, “I’ll go inform his Lordship.”

Delia could feel her breathing grow more rapid.

Ten years!

That year Linley’s father had died, Delia had parted ways with Linley. In the blink of an eye…it had been ten full years. Delia’s eyes closed for a moment. Once her eyes opened again, she had returned to her normal calm.

“Bebe, out of the way. I have something important to report.” Gates’ loud voice rang out from the courtyard.

“Your Lordship, there’s someone named Delia outside. She says she’s your old classmate and wants to see you?”

“Delia?” A calm voice that carried a hint of surprise rang out from within the courtyard. The voice wasn’t very loud, but to Delia, the words seemed to ring in the skies with the power of a thunderbolt.

No matter how calm or tranquil one normally was, when one met with someone one had been thinking about for ten years…she couldn’t prevent her heart from shaking.

“Whoosh!” A gentle gust of wind blew past the surrounding trees, gently lifting up Delia’s long golden hair, causing it to sway with the wind.

Delia couldn’t help but narrow her eyes due to the wind.

Just at this moment, the figure she had dreamed about over a million times appeared in front of the courtyard’s gate. The man wore a light blue robe, and his formerly short hair had grown long.

Delia carefully looked at him.

“He’s a bit taller than he was, and much more mature.” Seeing the man of her dreams, for a moment, Delia couldn’t speak.

“Delia. It really is you.” Linley suddenly spoke out in a startled, joyful tone.

“It is me.” Delia finally was able to speak.

Linley’s eyes were as dark and profound as the sea. Quickly, he noticed Master Longhaus by Delia’s side, as well as his Worldbear. “A Saint-level magical beast. Worldbear?”

“Linley, this is my teacher, the wind-style Grand Magus Saint, Master Longhaus. The Worldbear is his magical beast companion.” Delia finally recovered from her earlier stupor.

“Come in.” Linley smiled.

Seeing Linley’s smile, for some reason she herself didn’t understand, Delia felt a hot gush of warmth in her heart. “Is this feeling…happiness?” Delia’s eyes were turning red.

“Wharton, you can help welcome these two.” Linley glanced at Marquis Jeff and Scott, then didn’t say anything else.

Scott and Marquis Jeff weren’t angry at all. They immediately left respectfully. After all, the man was a Saint. Even his Imperial Majesty would be respectful to him. How could he possibly waste time on nobles like them?

Around a stone table in the courtyard.

Linley, Delia, and Longhaus were all seated around the table.

“What are you looking at?” The Worldbear glanced at the Blackcloud Panther, Haeru. As a Saint-level magical beast, the Worldbear was an extremely proud creature.

“You, you stupid bear.” Haeru sneered aloud.

“Saint-level magical beast?” Longhaus and Delia, hearing Haeru speak, both turned to look at Linley in astonishment.

“Don’t squabble, Haeru.” Linley glanced at Haeru, and Haeru immediately crouched down, no longer paying any attention to the Worldbear. Actually, Haeru himself knew that he wasn’t a match for the Worldbear. But at the same time, Haeru wasn’t afraid either…because the Worldbear’s speed was inferior to his own.

But Bebe actually waved his claws in a threatening manner towards the Worldbear.

“Bebe.” Delia was extremely delighted. “Come here.”

Very obediently, Bebe made a single hop and landed directly into Delia’s arms.

“Bebe, long time no see.” Delia devotedly petted Bebe on his glossy fur, and Bebe closed his eyes contentedly.

Although she was petting Bebe, Delia was still looking at Linley.

In the past, Linley had been very hard and callous. But now, he seemed more gentle and much more natural and at ease.

“Master Linley, I hear you are going to duel with Haydson?” Longhaus started off the conversation.

“Right.”

Linley smiled and nodded.

Delia turned her head to stare at Linley and said, “Linley, can it be that you are confident that you can defeat Haydson?”

“No.” Linley said honestly. Delia was one of his extremely few close friends at the Ernst Institute. Aside from Yale, Reynolds, and George, Delia was probably his closest friend.

Seeing Delia, Linley couldn’t help but think back to their final meeting from ten years ago.

That night…

Delia had come late at night to see Linley and tell him that she was leaving the Holy Union. She said that before leaving, she wanted a hug. But who would’ve expected that their goodbye hug would have turned into a goodbye kiss?

Linley truly had been stunned by that kiss.

Even today, upon seeing Delia, Linley couldn’t help but think back to that night.

“You aren’t confident?” Delia chewed her lips, then asked, “Then, Linley…can you cancel the duel and not compete against him?”

Master Longhaus shook his head. “Delia, how can you say something so foolish? After two Saints have already agreed to a duel, how can one back out?”

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 30, Delia’s Protector

Master Longhaus could clearly tell that his disciple cared about Linley so much that she had lost her wits.

“Delia, it is fine. Don’t worry!” Linley laughed. Linley felt very moved at Delia’s obvious concern.

“Okay.” Delia nodded.

However, Delia was still worried. After all, the person dueling with Linley was reputedly the most powerful Saint alive; the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson.

Longhaus looked at Linley, then at Delia. Laughing, he said, “It’s been quite a while since you two classmates have met with each other. I won’t disturb you. Let me go for a walk. The two of you can have a nice chat. I imagine, after ten years, you have many things to say to each other.”

Delia cast a grateful glance at her teacher.

Clearly, Master Longhaus was giving her a chance to have some alone time with Linley.

As he spoke, Master Longhaus led his Worldbear away from that courtyard, leaving behind only Linley, Delia, Bebe, and Haeru.

Delia lowered her head, continuing to stroke Bebe’s fur. She was waiting for Linley to speak.

A beautiful woman, petting an adorable pet. This was a soul-stirring image…but Linley only felt awkward. If he was facing a Saint, Linley wouldn’t feel any fear at all, but facing Delia, Linley felt very complicated.

The female of his age group whom he was most familiar with was definitely Delia.

After all, they grew up together.

Linley wasn’t a dummy. He knew how Delia felt…and this was why Linley felt so awkward. Especially now that he was alone with her.

“These past few years, have you been well?” After a long silence, Linley finally managed to force out this rather blunt and graceless phrase.

Delia raised her head, glancing at Linley. She actually let out a chuckle. “Linley, you are already a Saint-level expert. Since when have you become so shy? I’ve been fairly well these years. With my clan and my teacher backing me up, who would dare to mistreat me?”

After hearing Delia’s words, Linley felt slightly more relaxed.

“What have you been up to these years?” Delia said softly.

“Not too much.” Linley seemed to once again think back to what had happened ten years ago. Ten years ago, after learning of his father’s death, he had given up everything and set his mind upon avenging his father.

He had walked farther and farther along the road to revenge, and in the end he had indeed killed Clayde. But due to the encirclement and battle with those six Special Executors of the Radiant Church, in the end, his most dearly beloved Grandpa Doehring had sacrificed his soul for him…

Three years of painstaking training in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, six years of quiet meditation in the O’Brien Empire.

That battle with Stehle, that battle with those six Angels, that sparring match with McKenzie…one scene after another appeared in his mind. As they did, without holding anything back, Linley began to tell Delia what had happened.

Delia stopped petting Bebe, intently listening to every single word Linley said.

Right now, Linley spoke in a very calm, simple manner, as though he were very relaxed. But Delia could totally imagine what Linley’s past ten years of life had been like. After finishing speaking, Linley couldn’t help but sigh repeatedly.

“Linley.” Delia suddenly reached out to take Linley by the hand, gripping it tightly!

Linley raised his head to stare at Delia in surprise. Delia was staring at him. “Linley, don’t let your life be so exhausting. You’ve done very well already.”

Delia’s hands were rather cold.

But Linley could feel the beat of Delia’s heart through her tight grip. It was beating very quietly. Linley felt a surge of warmth in his own heart, slowly thawing a small part of his frozen heart.

“Thank you.” Linley said softly.

“Don’t say thank you to me.” Delia shook her head, her scorching gaze on Linley’s face.

The air between the two of them grew warm. For some reason, Linley felt himself grow a bit muddle-headed. Scenes of himself and Alice would drift to his mind, but then they would be replaced by that kiss he had shared that night with Delia. His heartbeat sped up as well. Linley actually was growing a bit frantic.

“Bebe.” Linley looked at Bebe, then looked at Delia. “Delia, do you know how powerful Bebe has gotten?” Under that sort of atmosphere, the only thing the panicking Linley could do was immediately change the topic.

Linley didn’t know what he might end up doing if that atmosphere continued.

Thus, Linley decided to simply change the topic.

Delia secretly sighed to herself. She was skilled in negotiations, and thus she naturally was a student of psychology as well. When she had been at the Ernst Institute, she had already begun studying psychology. In fact, the reason she started psychology was to better understand Linley.

Delia understood Linley very well.

Delia knew that, after having experienced what he had with Alice, although Linley had seemingly already forgotten about her, in truth…the after-effects of that relationship were not something which Linley could simply forget about as easily as that.

First love was actually very fragile.

Especially for a stubborn person such as Linley. Once he truly loved someone, then he would place an even higher value on that first love than normal people. The failure of that first love would unconsciously cause Linley to have somewhat of a phobia towards love.

Even if other females tried to approach him, Linley would naturally recoil.

Delia understood that a layer of ice had already covered Linley’s heart. If one wished to melt that layer of ice, one couldn’t be too hasty. It would have to be melted one step at a time.

Delia deeply loved Linley, and in her heart, she felt pain on Linley’s behalf.

Linley had suffered so much. One loved one after another had left him. True, he was extremely accomplished, having become a peak-stage Saint at the age of twenty seven. But how much bitterness and suffering had occurred on the path he had taken?

Delia truly didn’t wish for Linley to continue exhausting himself. For Linley’s sake, Delia had already made up her mind to spend as much time as would be needed. As long as she could help Linley be a bit more relaxed and a bit happier, she would be very satisfied.

“Delia, what are you thinking about?” Linley saw that Delia seemed to have gone daydreaming.

Delia immediately snapped out of it and laughed, “What am I thinking about? I’m thinking about you.” Linley couldn’t help but be stunned. Seeing the look on Linley’s face, Delia laughed. “I’m joking.”

Linley laughed as well.

“What did you want to say about Bebe just now?” Delia laughed.

“Bebe, want to say a few things to Delia?” Linley laughed as he looked at Bebe.

“Say a few things?” Delia looked at Bebe in surprise. That ordinary little Shadowmouse she had seen at the Ernst Institute could speak? All magical beasts capable of speech were at the Saint-level.

Bebe jumped to his feet, clambering onto the stone table. Standing tall, Bebe raised his little head proudly and said in a loud voice, “Ms. Delia, let me tell you a secret. When the Boss and I were in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, the Boss would often talk to me about you. He even said that you had forcibly kissed him once!”

“Whap!” Linley immediately slapped towards Bebe, but Linley’s palm passed straight through ‘Bebe’. It was nothing more than Bebe’s after-image!

Bebe was standing in mid-air, laughing at Linley delighted.

“Bebe, you little rascal.” Linley didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

He had never said such a thing before. Bebe actually made that all up.

“Bebe, be good, come over to me.” Delia stretched her hand out, and Bebe immediately hopped into Delia’s bosom again. In Delia’s warm embrace, he seemed to feel very comfortable, and even winked a few times at Linley.

Thanks to Bebe’s intentional ‘teasing’, Linley and Delia were both laughing constantly. Time flew by very quickly, and soon, the sky gradually began to darken.

Seeing how the sky was darkening, Delia suddenly remembered that tonight, Emperor Johann had arranged a major welcome banquet for her.

“Linley, it’s getting late. I need to leave for now. Tonight, Emperor Johann has arranged a dinner banquet for me. I have to attend.” Delia said apologetically.

Linley nodded slightly. “Then I won’t keep you any longer.”

“Will you go tonight?” Delia suddenly asked.

“Me?” Linley laughed. “Emperor Johann didn’t invite me, and I don’t like dinner banquets. Forget it.”

Delia nodded slightly.

Actually, how could Emperor Johann not have invited Linley? Only, Wharton had already refused on his older brother’s behalf. He knew that Linley didn’t like banquets, and also didn’t like dealing with those nobles.

“Farewell.” Delia said softly.

“Farewell.” Linley looked at Delia.

Delia stood there for a moment before slowly leaving the courtyard. After she walked outside, she turned to look back at Linley. It was already growing dark, and there wasn’t much light. As Delia turned to look at Linley, her hair was swept up by the night wind.

A dazzling smile, and then she left.

Watching this beauty depart into the night, Linley stood there without moving, thinking who knows what.

“Big bro, what are you looking at?” Wharton walked over, laughing. “It is time for dinner.”

“Your big bro feels the stirrings of spring!” Bebe’s little head popped up from behind Linley.

Night descended, but the entire imperial capital was filled with lights. Right now, in the imperial palace, a huge banquet had been prepared, and the palace musicians were performing beautiful songs. Men and women were displaying their graceful dance steps in the middle of the hall.

Delia was seated in a seat next to a wall of the main hall. Next to her was the Wildthunder Stormhawk. She was the guest of honor today. After all, this banquet was for the sake of welcoming her.

But aside from exchanging a few polite words with Emperor Johann, and singing a few words to a beautiful song, Delia claimed that she wasn’t feeling well and went off to one side to rest.

A handsome young noble walked over to Delia, a smile that he probably thought was friendly on his face. Bowing slightly, he said, “Beautiful Ms. Delia, might I have the honor of asking you to a dance?”

“I’m sorry, I’m not feeling very well.” Delia shook her head.

The young noble left regretfully. Not feeling well? Who was she trying to fool? Many girls who didn’t want to accept an offer to dance would say this. What’s more, Delia was a magus of the seventh rank. How could she so easily become ill?

From afar, quite a few young nobles were staring at Delia.

“What number is he?” Scott laughed towards a nearby young noble.

“The eighth.” The young noble laughed.

“The eighth what?” Marquis Jeff, who had just finished a dance, laughed as he walked over. Right now, Marquis Jeff was in a splendid mood.

Indeed, as Marquis Jeff was the son of Prince Julin. As his heir, Marquis Jeff would one day be the controller of the entire Southeast Administrative Province! His status was very high, even higher than a prince who wasn’t in line for the imperial throne. Naturally, many young noble ladies were desirous of becoming his wife.

Unfortunately, although many young noble ladies had been bedded by Marquis Jeff, none of them had gotten anything.

“I was talking with his Imperial Highness regarding Ms. Delia. This is already the eighth person to ask Ms. Delia to dance, only to be refused. It seems the others have lost confidence. No one else dares to go invite her.” The young noble laughed.

Scott laughingly looked at Marquis Jeff. “What, cousin Jeff, do you wish to try?”

Marquis Jeff nodded confidently. “It’s just a dance, right? Watch me.” Marquis Jeff smiled as he walked over towards Delia, smiled quite brightly.

“Ms. Delia.” Marquis Jeff walked in front of her. “Might I have the honor of asking you to a dance?”

“I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well.” Delia gave the same response.

Marquis Jeff very naturally sat down next to her, maintaining a practiced degree of distance between the two of them. Although the distance between the two wasn’t very far, it wasn’t so close as to be threatening.

“If you aren’t feeling well, you should rest.” Marquis Jeff, being quite experienced, knew exactly how he should approach this sort of situation. If one was able to get into physical contact with a girl, it would be easier for the two to feel more intimate with each other.

As to how to get into physical contact…

“Oh, Ms. Delia, your shoulder has some…” As he spoke, Marquis Jeff reached out with his hand towards Delia’s shoulder.

But before he could get the word ‘dust’ out of his mouth…

“Ah!!!” Marquis Jeff let out an agonized scream. That scream stunned the main hall, and everyone turned to look at him. Even the distant Emperor Johann, who was chatting with the Imperial Left Premier, had their attention drawn to them.

“What just happened?” Emperor Johann immediately walked over.

“My hand! My hand!” Marquis Jeff was almost crying. A large wound had appeared on his hand, and a large chunk of flesh was missing. Blood was flowing nonstop, staining the floor.

Delia hurriedly stood up. “Emperor Johann, my apologies. Teacher instructed his Wildthunder Stormhawk to protect me. The Wildthunder Stormhawk will attack anything which touches my body in a manner it deems threatening. Before I even had a chance to react, the Wildthunder Stormhawk immediately pecked at him.”

Everyone looked at the Wildthunder Stormhawk.

The Wildthunder Stormhawk was dangling a chunk of flesh off its beak, which was stained with blood. The Wildthunder Stormhawk swallowed that chunk of flesh in one gulp, then stared death at Marquis Jeff with its two golden hawk eyes.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 31, The Anticipation of the Crowd

“The Wildthunder Stormhawk will attack anything which touches my body in a manner it deems threatening.” These words seemed very simple, but all of the nobles present were extremely intelligent. They immediately realized what had happened when they heard Delia say this.

All of the nobles turned to stare at Marquis Jeff, who was currently clutching his wounded hand. His face was pale and very ugly to behold.

“This Marquis Jeff actually tried to make a physical move on her. Jeeze…” Many nobles secretly cursed him in silence. Although they didn’t speak aloud, it was only natural that their gazes would convey their thoughts. Marquis Jeff felt extremely awkward.

Emperor Johann glanced at his nephew with dissatisfaction as well.

He knew that the Wildthunder Stormhawk behind Delia was a magical beast of the ninth rank belonging to her wind-style Grand Magus Saint teacher, Master Longhaus. Most likely, Delia really was unable to react to the Wildthunder Stormhawk’s attack on Marquis Jeff, and in turn the Wildthunder Stormhawk was unable to speak with Delia.

A situation like this most likely wasn’t a result of Delia intentionally acting against Marquis Jeff.

Indeed…

Delia hadn’t intentionally acted against Marquis Jeff. Before arriving at the banquet, Delia had already told the Wildthunder Stormhawk that if anyone wished to try and make a physical move on her, the Wildthunder Stormhawk was to ‘peck’ them in punishment.

None of the other young nobles had dared to make a physical move on her, but Marquis Jeff did. Naturally, he was the one who took the spear in the belly.

“Attend me! Take Jeff to the healers.” Emperor Johann snapped an order to his servants.

Marquis Jeff didn’t try to explain, only hanging his head while holding his hand, with that astonishingly large hole in it. He rapidly left the main hall. Only then did Emperor Johann say comfortingly to Delia, “Ms. Delia, sincere apologies that you had to experience something like this. This was our fault. We hope you won’t be too upset.”

“No, no. Emperor Johann, this was Little Wind’s mistake. When I go back, I’ll definitely ask Teacher to rebuke him.” As she spoke, she intentionally ‘glared’ at the Wildthunder Stormhawk.

And then, Delia said apologetically, “Emperor Johann, I’m not feeling very well today. I’ll go home now. I hope you will forgive me.”

“That’s a good idea. Ms. Delia, when you get back, you need to have a good rest.” Emperor Johann said in a very gentlemanly manner.

With the guest of honor, Delia, having left, the other nobles began to buzz and chatter. Poor Marquis Jeff, naturally, became the center of their gossip.

After this event and after having his wound healed by light-style magic, Marquis Jeff actually fearlessly and shamelessly went to serve as a ‘guide’ for Delia, and Eighth Imperial Prince Scott accompanied him as well.

But unfortunately…

Although Ms. Delia was very friendly, those two magical beasts were terrifying.

Once, when Ms. Delia stumbled while walking, as she was about to fall, Prince Scott reached out with ‘good intentions’ to help steady Delia by embracing her. Welcoming him, however, was a peck from the Wildthunder Stormhawk. This time, the injury was even more severe than Marquis Jeff’s, as a hole was pecked straight through Prince Scott’s right hand.

After this experience, both Scott and Marquis Jeff learned their lessons and no longer dared to reach out with their hands. But just as they thought they were being nice and proper, misfortune came again.

That Worldbear suddenly stretched out its two palms and sent both Scott and Marquis Jeff flying into the air.

How terrifyingly strong were the paws of a Worldbear? Even a casual slap from the Worldbear was enough to injure Scott and Marquis Jeff to the point of vomiting blood. They were beaten to the brink of death, but fortunately, light-style magi were there to heal them.

This is what the Worldbear, Hatton, said to them: “You two keep swaggering around every day in front of me, Lord Hatton. You are so motherf*cking annoying. In the future, every time I see you, I’ll beat you!”

Good heavens!

Who would dare anger a Saint-level Worldbear? Even for the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, defeating a Worldbear wouldn’t be a simple task. After all, a Worldbear was definitely a top-class magical beast, even amongst Saint-level magical beasts. If it hadn’t been that Master Longhaus’ Dimensional Edge spell was simply too terrifyingly powerful, how could he possibly have subdued such a creature?

Having learned their lessons, Scott and Marquis Jeff no longer dared to bother Ms. Delia again.

Those other young nobles of the imperial capital who had ambitious designs on Ms. Delia, seeing the disasters which had befallen Marquis Jeff and Prince Scott, no longer dared to try anything. There was nothing for it. If they were swatted to death by that Saint-level Worldbear, they wouldn’t even have a chance to cry.

Emperor Johann, while chatting with Delia, finally learned that Delia had actually been classmates of the same year with Master Linley at the Ernst Institute. In addition, Delia was in no hurry to return to the Yulan Empire, and was planning to stay and watch the duel in the O’Brien Empire between Linley and the Monolithic Sword Saint.

Emperor Johann naturally was very welcoming and magnanimous.

Although a stay of several months from a foreign Special Envoy was quite long, Emperor Johann expressed welcome to her, saying that the longer she stayed, the better.

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, nearly three months had passed. Tomorrow was August 4th. Countless people in the imperial capital were discussing the upcoming Saint-level duel. Even the towns outside the imperial capital were beginning to fill up with people who had come from distant places.

This was because there were simply too many people coming to watch this duel. The imperial capital was totally full.

On Boulder Street. Count Wharton’s estate. Hillman and Housekeeper Hiri were drinking wine and chatting idly.

“Uncle Hiri, have you noticed that recently, at mealtime, Linley smiles a lot more than usual, and often cracks jokes.” Hillman’s face was all smiles.

Housekeeper Hiri’s ruddy nose was as red as ever. He chortled as well. “Hillman, I imagine you know the reason why as well. Ms. Delia comes to visit young master Linley every day. How can young master Linley not be happy? As I see it, this Ms. Delia is a fine young lady. And I feel that Ms. Delia is interested in young master Linley.”

“Right. When Ms. Delia eats with us, I recognize that look in her eyes when she looks at young master Linley.” Hillman spoke with the air of experience.

Hillman and Housekeeper Hiri were both quite satisfied with Delia.

However…

“But young master Linley himself always dodges this topic. I’ve raised it with him several times.” Hillman shook his head helplessly.

“No rush. As long as both of them are willing, when the time is right, they’ll definitely get together.” Housekeeper Hiri was actually quite confident.

Right at this time, Wharton, Barker, and his siblings all came from the back courtyard’s training fields. Those six massive bodies formed an amazing sight.

“Grandpa Hiri. Uncle Hillman.” Wharton called out to them from far away.

As soon as Wharton entered the living room. “Eh? My big brother and Ms. Delia haven’t arrived yet.” Right now, every day, Delia would come have lunch with Linley.

“They’ll be here soon. Don’t be impatient.” Hillman said.

“They are here.” Gates, who was at the back, turned his head and saw Linley walk in alongside Delia, both dressed in light blue robes. The Blackcloud Panther, Haeru, was behind them, while Bebe was standing on Haeru’s back.

Both dressed in light blue robes, the natural, at-ease Linley and the beautiful, moving Delia did appear to be a match made in heaven indeed.

“Big bro, time to eat. You’re still busy chatting? Don’t you think you’ve chatted enough?” Wharton’s loud voice boomed out.

Linley and Delia looked at Wharton, and Wharton laughed while shaking his head.

Yulan calendar, year 10009. August 4th. Afternoon. Today, the weather was excellent. The sky was pure blue, with only a few clouds in the sky. The wind wasn’t too strong, and the soft wind gently blew comfortably against everyone’s faces, as gentle as the caress of a lover’s hand.

West of the city. Mt. Tujiao!

This was a small mountain that was only around a thousand meters high, and a few thousand square meters in area. It wasn’t a large mountain. Compared to War God Mountain, it was far smaller. Today, however, the area surrounding the mountain had already been divided into countless regions by various painted lines. Over a hundred thousand city guards were there maintaining order as well.

There was an extremely high number of spectators here today, even more than during that last duel between Olivier and Haydson. Although many people had come, with those millions of people all divided into one region after another, it was quite orderly, with each region having an army regiment standing guard.

Mt. Tujiao didn’t have any people on the mountain itself. But in the air above Mt. Tujiao, Linley stood in mid-air!

Even the nobles stood several hundred meters away from the base of Mt. Tujiao, with the city guards maintaining a perimeter.

Wharton, Barker, and his brothers naturally were in the front, quite close to Emperor Johann. As for Delia and Master Longhaus, they were quite close to Wharton’s group.

Wharton and Delia both raised their heads, staring at Linley’s figure with concern.

“My big bro will definitely win.” Wharton murmured silently to himself.

Master Longhaus gently patted Delia on her shoulders. Delia looked towards her teacher, her eyes slightly red. Delia felt tremendous mental pressure.

“It’ll be fine. Linley will be fine.” Master Longhaus said comfortingly.

“He definitely will be fine.” Delia said softly to herself, as she looked up towards Mt. Tujiao again.

“F*ck, why hasn’t that Haydson come yet?” Gates cursed angrily. He didn’t care about the Monolithic Sword Saint at all, and cursed as he pleased.

Right now, Wharton, Housekeeper Hiri, Hillman, Delia, Barker and his brothers, Jenne, Rebecca, and Leena…all of them were quietly hoping and praying for Linley’s victory.

“For Linley to win will be very hard.” A gray-robed figure suddenly appeared next to them.

“Olivier?” Wharton and Gates stared at this man in astonishment.

Olivier had come back to life!

Olivier’s face was ashen pale, but his aura was even more restrained than before. Blumer was standing by his side. Olivier glanced at Wharton, then said calmly, “That Haydson’s defense is extremely powerful, and his attack force is very astonishing as well. You should remember how when I fought him, my arm broke from aiming a single sword blow at him. His strength far exceeds mine. In addition, his spiritual energy is very powerful, and he is also very fast…he is essentially flawless. Beating him will be hard.”

“Olivier, our Lord is not you.” Gates said unhappily.

Olivier laughed calmly and fell silent. He walked with his younger brother to a different area, quietly awaiting the coming battle.

“Lord Haydson has arrived!” A surprised shout came from somewhere within that endless sea of humanity.

Everyone turned to stare at a figure that was flying over at high speed from the east. In the blink of an eye, Haydson appeared in the air above Mt. Tujiao, standing opposite from Linley.

Right now, Linley and Haydson were only a thousand meters off the ground.

The dwellers of the Yulan continent all had good eyesight. In broad daylight, they could clearly make out these two figures who were a thousand meters away.

Delia’s hands were balled into tight fists, and her palms were sweaty.

At this moment, none of the millions of spectators surrounding Mt. Tujiao made any noise. It seemed as though they were all holding their breaths, as they all felt an incredible pressure.

Everyone’s gaze was fixed on those two figures high up in the air.

“Linley, you arrived rather early.” Haydson said casually as he stood in mid-air.

Linley just looked at him calmly. A gentle wind surrounded him. Linley was currently in his human form. The reason he was able to fly was because he had already utilized the wind-style spell of the ninth rank, Windshadow.

The Soaring Technique was a spell of the seventh rank, while the Airwings spell was a spell of the eighth rank. The Windshadow spell of the ninth rank combined the Airwings spell with the Supersonic spell. When using this spell, not only could one fly, one would also possess astonishing speed.

Linley casually removed his outer garments, collecting them into his interspatial ring, then stared coldly at Haydson. “Haydson, let’s cut the crap. Prepare to fight.” As he spoke, Linley’s body quickly began to be covered with black scales, and those sharp spikes appeared from his elbows, knees, forehead, and spine. That iron-whip-like tail swung about behind him, and those dark gold eyes stared coldly at Haydson.

“Oh, how refreshingly blunt. Come, then…let’s see if you are qualified to make me draw my sword!” The Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, looked at Linley with confidence, and he laughed calmly as he spoke in a bright voice.