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

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 7, Heavy Casualties

The hot springs water bubbled about. By now, Linley was at the bottom of the hot springs.

This hot springs pool wasn’t very deep, at most around two meters or so. Right now, Linley was pressing his body against the bottom of the pool. The water of the springs was very clear, and Linley could vaguely see what was going on outside.

“Who are these people? Why were the warriors of the Radiant Church outside unable to take a single blow from them?” Linley’s mind was full of suspicions. No matter what, at the very least the warriors of the Radiant Church outside were of the fifth rank. Every one of them possessed the ability to use battle-qi.

Could it be that for some reason, these warriors were not able to use battle-qi to block that black fog?

Linley didn’t understand what was going on, so for now, he did not dare to come out and directly resist the black fog!

“Linley, that black fog should be a fairly common darkness-style spell known as the ‘Corrosive Fog’. You can definitely use battle-qi to resist its effects.” Doehring Cowart’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind.

“But those warriors of the Radiant Church…”

“They should have been attacked by a different sort of spell that bewilders the mind, preventing them from utilizing their battle-qi in time to defend against the spell.” This was Doehring Cowart’s deduction.

“Gurgle, gurgle.”

From around Linley’s body, a gust of wind began to billow outwards. It was the wind-style spell, Windscout. Linley could totally sense everything which was going on outside.

“Quick, no matter what the cost, we have to kill Linley.” The leader in black said coldly.

The other five black robed men all nodded, charging towards the hot springs at high speed.

Right at this moment…

“Swish!”

Like an arrow, Linley shot out of the pool into the air, splattering beads of water everywhere. And then, Linley descended from above them like a fierce tiger leaping down from the mountains, his five fingers formed into claws as he ripped towards the head of one of the black robed men.

“Hmph.” That black-robed man’s body quivered slightly, as he prepared to use his left arm to forcibly block Linley’s claw attack, while stabbing out with the sharp knife in his right hand.

A hint of a vicious smile appeared on Linley’s face.

Suddenly, a bluish-black Dragonblood battle-qi covered the right arm of Linley, which was attacking with a claw hand. The layer of Dragonblood battle-qi was very thin. Given its thinness and the fact that the surrounding area was full of the dark ‘Corrosive Fog’, it wasn’t very visible at all. Most importantly…sharp claws suddenly appeared from where Linley’s fingernails had been.

“Shiiiiirk!” Linley’s right hand easily pierced through the black-robed man’s shoulder blade. At the same time, Linley once again used force on his right hand, giving it a fierce twist.

“Crack!”

The entire left chest of the black-robed man exploded, casting fresh blood everywhere. The black-robed man instantly died, but right before his death, he stared in disbelief, because his knife had stabbed Linley’s body but didn’t leave a mark at all.

“A seventh rank Earthguard armor is made out of jadestone. Do you think jadestone is so easily overcome?” Linley said to himself. “Much less, aside from the layer of jadestone armor, the skin on my body can instantly transform into the Dragonblood Warrior’s scales.”

Right now, when under the full Dragonblood Warrior state, Linley had the power of a warrior of the early eighth rank.

And when using the ‘Dragonform’, Linley had inherited the hallmark property of the Armored Razorback Wyrm; incredible defensive powers. Linley’s black scales were much stronger than the jadestone armor. Judging from the power of that stab by the black-robed man, he had most likely been an expert of the seventh rank.

Unfortunately, the defensive abilities of that expert of the seventh rank were totally unable to defend against this claw attack by Linley. Those were the draconic claws of a transformed Dragonblood Warrior. And what’s more, this was only the Demidragon state.

“How is that possible?” The other four black-robed men were stunned.

Based on their information, Linley was a dual-element magus of the seventh rank, and his warrior abilities were far weaker. They didn’t expect that an assassin of the seventh rank couldn’t withstand a single blow from him.

“Our intelligence was wrong!” The leader of the black-robed men standing in the very back cursed in his heart.

But Linley only nodded mentally to himself. “It seems that when using a partial transformation, one can catch the opponent off-guard and make them suffer a serious loss.”

“You Cult of Shadows bastards!” Furious roars could be heard ringing out from outside, travelling at high speed towards the Hot Springs Garden. Linley understood that another group of the Knights of the Radiant Church charged with his protection had arrived. Only ten or so people had been killed just now, while his total guard numbered over a hundred.

The expression on the face of the leader of the black-robed men changed.

“No matter the cost, kill Linley!” The black-robed leader shouted.

And then he led the four remaining black-robed men to surround and attack Linley. The black knives in their hands gleamed with a dark aura, as they seemed to have infused every last bit of their power into the knives in their hands.

An attack which they were willing to give up their own lives to make!

“Warriors of the seventh rank, right?”

Seeing the group attack of these black-robed men, Linley didn’t dodge or hide at all. With his right hand, Linley gently touched his waist. Suddenly….

A cold, fierce, brilliant violet light flashed.

At the same time, Linley retreated at high speed towards the back. Of the five people attacking Linley, four remained at their original spots, while the fifth, the leader, hurriedly retreated at high speed.

“Shirrrrrrrrrrrk!”

The stomachs of those four black-robed men were sliced open. Their stomach and intestines fell to the ground, and blood sprayed everywhere.

“Fast. And sharp.” The leader of the black-robed men stared in astonishment at Linley.

A single sword stroke killing four warriors of the seventh rank. This example was really too terrifying.

Linley knew very well how sharp this Bloodviolet Godsword was, but just based on Bloodviolet’s natural sharpness alone, it might be difficult to penetrate the defense of a magical beast of the seventh rank. Similarly, if a warrior of the seventh rank was to use battle-qi to protect his body, at the very most, Linley would only be able to heavily injure them, not kill them.

But just then, those four black-robed men had been using all of the energy on their attacks!

They didn’t expect Linley to have such a sword on him.

“If I want to enhance the power of Bloodviolet, I would have to activate it via my Dragonblood battle-qi. But if I use the Dragonblood battle-qi, the speed of Bloodviolet will be slower than if I used my wind-style mageforce to activate it.” At this moment, Linley was pondering the pros and cons of each.

Just then, it was true that Linley had used a single strike to kill the four of them.

What he relied on was his astonishing speed, an attack so fast that his opponents weren’t able to respond to it!

But just relying on speed and the sharpness of his sword would generally only be enough to kill a warrior of the sixth rank, or to heavily wound a warrior of the seventh rank. Only if the warrior of the seventh rank were to act like these four assassins and concentrate all of their battle-qi on their attack, not caring about their lives and sparing nothing for defense, would he be able to kill them.

“But the leader didn’t suffer much of an injury.” Linley looked at the leader of the black-robed men.

This black-robed man’s power should most likely have exceeded the seventh rank.

Using wind-style mageforce on Bloodviolet could make Bloodviolet move faster and make its movements more smooth. But it couldn’t raise the attacking power! But if he were to use Dragonblood battle-qi on Bloodviolet, he could increase the attack power but wouldn’t be able to increase his attack speed.

“You pieces of trash!”

Angry roars erupted from right outside the Hot Springs Garden. Clearly, these Knights of the Radiant Church had just seen the corpses of their companions and were all furious now.

“Linley, you are even more formidable than we thought you were. But unfortunately, you have sided with the Radiant Church. Thus…” The black-robed leader seemed to pay no attention at all to those who were outside, as he spoke in a soft voice to Linley.

The black-robed leader’s voice seemed to carry a certain unique timbre to it. At first, Linley didn’t notice anything, but by the time the black-robed man was halfway through his words, Linley could feel his mind grow a bit blurry and his focus waver.

“You must die!”

The black knife of the black-robed man arrived almost instantly at Linley’s chest.

“Linley!” Doehring Cowart’s mental roar echoed in Linley’s mind, instantly bringing Linley back to his senses.

“Crunch!”

The black-robed leader stared at his waist in astonishment. His waist had suddenly been bitten almost in half. His exposed muscles were still trembling, and blood was pouring out in a torrent. The black-robed man could clearly feel that his entire body had lost all strength. His life-force was quickly draining away.

“This Shadowmouse…”

The black-robed leader stared stupidly at the black Shadowmouse by Linley’s side.

A black Shadowmouse should at most be a magical beast of the third or fourth ranks. To this black-robed leader, as a warrior of the eighth rank, a black Shadowmouse shouldn’t be able to injure him at all. This was why the black-robed leader hadn’t paid any attention to it.

But…

Just then, that little black Shadowmouse had flown over, quickly transformed his jaws into a larger size, then taken a vicious, giant bite out of his waist.

“Hmph! Let’s see you be cocky now. You should consider it an honor to have died by the hands of I, Bebe.” Bebe stood near the corpse of the black-robed leader, his little head raised proudly.

Linley couldn’t help but laugh.

Bebe was a freak of nature that could even withstand the dying final blow of an Armored Razorback Wyrm. Bebe was capable of even biting and breaking the tough, massive plated scales of a Velocidragon of the eighth rank! In terms of both offense and defense, Bebe was now extremely powerful.

The only weakness was…his size was too small.

Even if Bebe was able to bite those giant magical beasts, Bebe might not be able to totally chew through their thick massive scales or skin at one bite.

“Bastard!”

Those angrily howling Knights of the Radiant Church charged to Linley’s side. Just as they prepared to do battle with their opponents…they saw the ground littered with corpses.

“Milord, are you alright?” The leader of the knights immediately asked.

Right now, Linley’s appearance was very frightening. Both his face and his body were covered with blood.

“I’m fine. I only suffered some light wounds.” Linley said. “You dispose of the corpses. I’ll go take a rest.” As he spoke, Linley immediately walked out of the Hot Springs Garden. And now, when the knights lowered their head to stare at the corpses, they couldn’t help but begin to frown.

The corpse of the black-robed leader was missing half of his waist, as though it had been bitten off, or perhaps cut off by claws.

The other four black-robed assassins had been cut cleanly in half, while for the last one, it seemed as though his left chest had entirely exploded, revealing his bones.

“What…how…”

The group of knights stared dumbly, their jaws slack. They didn’t imagine that Linley, a magus, could cause his enemies to die like this.

………

At the top level of the Radiant Temple.

The long, skinny form of the Holy Emperor was covered by a long, whitish-silver robe. He reclined on a chair, leisurely flipping through some books. His bald head shone dazzlingly like the sun.

“Holy Emperor.” The red-robed Guillermo bowed obediently in front of him.

“Hrm?” The Holy Emperor twitched his eyelids, glancing at Guillermo.

Being watched by the Holy Emperor was like being under pressure from a thirty thousand pound boulder. Guillermo respectfully said, “Holy Emperor, just now, the Cult of Shadows made an assassination attempt against Linley. But fortunately, Linley’s abilities as a warrior are quite profound. He managed to kill all of the attackers, suffering only a light wound.”

“Killed them?”

The Holy Emperor looked at Guillermo with his jade-blue eyes. With a light laugh, he said, “Guillermo, the Cult of Shadows is aware that Linley is a dual-element magus of the seventh rank. Could it be that they didn’t send a sufficiently competent force?”

“Holy Emperor, this group of assassins was quite powerful. The lead assassin should also have been a specialist at using mind-bewitching darkness-style magic.” Guillermo hurriedly said.

The Holy Emperor didn’t say anything else, only faintly smiled as he looked at Guillermo.

“Guillermo, are you proposing….?”

Guillermo nodded. “Right. Linley is an important individual who needs to be trained well by the Radiant Church. More importantly, not only does Linley possess high natural talent, he is also an extremely hard worker. I believe that after another fifty years, it is very likely that Linley will become a Saint-level combatant. And in a hundred years….Linley will be one of the ranked Saint-level combatants of the Yulan continent.”

If a man did not prepare for the future, his present would be filled with problems.

Both the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows had existed for many years now. Even back when the Yulan Empire had unified the Yulan continent, they had existed.

The reason they were able to last for so long, was because they both understood the importance of one thing: Cultivating talent!

Constantly expanding, constantly converting believers, constantly cultivating talent.

Perhaps right now, Linley wasn’t too powerful, but a century later? Perhaps he would be an individual approaching the level of the Holy Emperor. To a Saint-level combatant, a hundred years was nothing at all.

“That’s why I wish for Linley to receive even better instruction, as well as better protection. In other words…I wish for Linley to go train alongside Lord ‘Fallen Leaf’.” Guillermo said.

“Fallen Leaf?”

The Holy Emperor was startled, but then he nodded. “Fine, then. But first, you must go seek his approval. I certainly am not able to make a decision on behalf of Fallen Leaf.”

“Yes, Holy Emperor.”

Guillermo paid his respects and left.

The Holy Emperor glanced at the departing Guillermo with his jade-blue eyes, and then stared at the sky outside the window. “He killed all of the attackers? Baruch…Baruch….hrm. It seems as though the Baruch clan was one of the clans of the Four Supreme Warriors. The Dragonblood Warrior clan.”

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 8, An Excessive Desire to Kill

During the recent assassination attempt, Linley’s side suffered the losses of eighteen Knights of the Radiant Church, four female attendants, and two male attendants. As a result of this, the Radiant Church further strengthened and enlarged the security detail within the estate.

That same night of the assassination, within the manor.

“Linley, are you okay?” King Clayde asked solicitously.

“I’m only slightly wounded, your Majesty.” Linley’s arm was wrapped with medical gauze.

Actually, Linley hadn’t been injured at all during this attack, but he didn’t want others to know exactly how powerful he was. Thus, he lightly injured himself on purpose, using his straight chisel to cut himself on his arm.

To Linley, who had previously suffered the pain of the initial Dragonform transformation, this sort of pain was nothing.

“As long as you are fine, Linley.” Duke Patterson, who was by King Clayde’s side, laughed.

Linley looked at Duke Patterson.

Tonight should have been the night for the meeting between Linley and Duke Patterson, but because of the assassination attempt, the two of them no longer would have the chance to have a private conversation tonight.

“Second brother, it’s best that we don’t disturb Linley any further. Let’s allow him to have a good rest.” Clayde turned his head and said.

“Yes, your Majesty.” Patterson glanced at Linley, and then followed King Clayde out.

Linley felt as though there were a hint of helplessness in the look Patterson had given him. Clearly, per Patterson’s original plan, there were some things he wished to discuss with Linley in private during their scheduled one-on-one meeting.

But clearly, this was no longer an appropriate time.

In the next few days, the estate once more returned to normal.

“Boss, today is May 18th, right?” Bebe, who was enjoying lunch alongside Linley, suddenly spoke mentally to Linley.

“Right. What is it?” Linley looked at Bebe.

Bebe wrinkled his little nose. Quirking his mouth, he mentally said, “Boss, have you forgotten? That Bernard fellow, the leader of the Debs clan, told us that June 18th would be the date of his son’s engagement ceremony. He invited you to attend as well. It’s now May 18th. You only have a month left.”

“Engagement?”

Linley was startled.

A month from now, Alice and Kalan would be getting engaged.

“That’s none of my business.” Linley quickly returned to his usual calm demeanor, lowering his head and continuing to eat.

Bebe’s beady little eyes rolled around three times, and then he used his tiny little paws to rub at his chin. A look of suspicion on his face, he said, “Could it be that I, Bebe, am mistaken? Shouldn’t be the case. I’m so awesome, after all. My judgment is excellent. In his heart, the Boss certainly cares about this affair. If it were me, Bebe, I would smash that little Kalan’s skull in with a single paw.”

“Lord Linley.”

One of the guardian knights entered the main hall. “Lord Linley. Cardinal Guillermo has come.”

“Guillermo?” Linley hesitated for just one moment, then he immediately put down his utensils and went to the door.

In the entire hierarchy of the Radiant Church, the person whom Linley was most familiar with and had the best relationship with was probably Cardinal Guillermo. When someone treated Linley as courteously as Guillermo did, Linley naturally wouldn’t act in a high, arrogant manner, as though he thought himself better.

“Linley, there’s something I must tell you.” Upon seeing Linley, Guillermo began to chuckle with joy as he spoke.

Linley looked at Guillermo questioningly. “What is it?”

Beaming, Guillermo said, “Linley, are you aware that within our Radiant Church, we have a special group of people known as…Ascetics?”

“Yes, I am.” Linley nodded.

Previously, when he had been kidnapped by those experts from the Cult of Shadows, it was the Deputy Arbiter of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal as well as an Ascetic and several Executors who had scared the opponents away. Only then had he been able to return to the city of Fenlai.

“Within our Radiant Church, there have been many people obsessed with magic or fighting skills who have enlisted within the ranks of the Ascetics. Put another way, neither the Knights of the Radiant Temple, nor the Ecclesiastical Tribunal, have as many experts amongst their ranks as the Ascetics do.”

Guillermo beamed as he patted Linley on the shoulders. “What I am about to tell you is that you have the chance to become the disciple of a legendary Ascetic.”

“A legendary Ascetic?” Linley frowned.

Guillermo smiled faintly. “This legendary Ascetic is considered to be at the highest levels, even amongst the Ascetics. He also possesses an extremely high status within our Radiant Church. As for his power, even if we look at the Yulan continent as a whole, there are perhaps only those three freaks of nature who can surpass him in power.”

“Three freaks of nature?” Linley instantly grew curious. “Lord Guillermo, who are these three freaks of nature that you speak of?”

While chatting, the two of them walked back to the main hall.

Guillermo didn’t reply right away. He glanced at the Vicar next to him, and the Vicar instantly escorted everyone present away, then obediently stepped out himself, closing the door.

In the entire main hall, only Linley, Guillermo, and Bebe were now present.

“Linley, in the future, it’s possible that you will meet with these people, so it isn’t a big deal if I tell you about them now.” Guillermo said, putting on a mysterious air.

Linley looked at Guillermo curiously.

Guillermo sighed. “Here in the Yulan continent, there are three individuals who have surpassed the existence of the Saint-level combatants. The three ‘freaks of nature’ I talked about, are precisely those three freaks.”

“Those who ascended past the level of Saints? That would make them Gods?” Linley was shocked.

“Right. You can refer to them as Gods.” Guillermo nodded.

Linley immediately perked up his ears to listen closely.

Guillermo slowly said, “Across the entirety of the Yulan continent, there are only three such freaks. The first freak is the ‘High Priest of the Living Temple’ of the Yulan Empire. Many people simply refer to him as the ‘High Priest’. I, at least, have no idea how old the High Priest is. He has been alive for simply too long.”

Linley nodded.

“This second freak has been alive an extremely long time. He is the true ruler of the third most dangerous place in the Yulan continent, the Forest of Darkness. This freak is supposedly a magical beast in nature, but he has already reached the level of being able to transform into a human. Linley, you should already know that when a magical beast reaches the Saint-level, he can transform his body enough to speak in human tongues, but is not able to transform into a human form. You can imagine for yourself how terrifying a magical beast who can transform into a human must be.”

Linley nodded slightly.

He had previously heard Doehring Cowart speak of these two individuals. Even back when Doehring Cowart was alive, these two had been invincible presences.

“And the third person?” Linley asked.

Guillermo sighed. “This third person is also someone who I revere greatly. He was the founding Emperor of the O’Brien Empire, the most militarily powerful empire in the Yulan continent. People call him the ‘War God O’Brien’.”

“O’Brien?” Linley memorized this name.

Given that the O’Brien Empire was named after this person, one could imagine how amazing he was.

“Five thousand years ago, the War God quickly rose to prominence, defeating one Saint-level combatant after another. In that era, there were many super-combatants, such as the Four Supreme Warriors, who appeared during that time period.” Guillermo smiled at Linley.

Linley thought back to his own ancestor, Baruch.

The first leader of the Baruch clan had appeared almost exactly five thousand years ago as well.

“Back then, the Four Supreme Warriors were extremely powerful, but their brilliance was totally eclipsed by the War God. The War God defeated one powerful Saint-level combatant after another, and in the end, even engaged in a great battle with the High Priest, in the air above the Yulan River. During the course of their battle, the shockwaves alone killed over ten thousand people. In the end, both the O’Brien Empire and the Yulan Empire gave up a large amount of territory, allowing it to form into three independent kingdoms which served as buffer zones between these two great Empires.” Guillermo sighed emotionally.

“Linley, in the minds of many, the High Priest is the most powerful human alive. But the War God was actually able to fight to a stalemate with the High Priest. But how few years had the War God been alive for? This is why so many people are in awe of him. Who knows what level of power the War God is now at, after five thousand years of training.” Guillermo sighed with praise.

Linley secretly nodded as well.

“This War God. He fought the High Priest to a stalemate?” Doehring Cowart’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind. “How is that possible?”

Back in Doehring Cowart’s era, the High Priest’s brilliance eclipsed everyone in the world.

In Doehring Cowart’s heart, the High Priest was invincible and undefeatable.

“Grandpa Doehring, every era will see super-combatants emerge. If you, Grandpa Doehring, hadn’t died back then and had continued to train, perhaps one day you would’ve also broken past the Saint-level and become an expert on the same level as the High Priest.” Linley mentally said.

Doehring Cowart let out a low sigh and no longer spoke.

“Enough talk about those three freaks. The person I am about to have you meet is only inferior to those three. If you can become his disciple, it will be of great benefit to you as you attempt to increase your power in magic.” Guillermo said.

Linley laughed inside.

As far as someone who was only inferior to those three freaks…wasn’t his own Grandpa Doehring someone who was at the peak of the Saint-level?

“What is the name of this Ascetic?” Linley asked.

“His name is…Fallen Leaf.”

Within one of the slums of Fenlai City. Only now did Linley realize that within Fenlai City, one of the largest, most prosperous cities in the Yulan continent, there was such an impoverished, desolate place. It was far worse off than even his own hometown of Wushan township.

At this moment, Linley and Guillermo were walking shoulder-to-shoulder within a foul, dirty alley.

“Lord Guillermo, the Lord Fallen Leaf that you spoke of lives here?” Linley couldn’t believe it.

“Right.” Guillermo nodded. “Linley, remember, this Lord Fallen Leaf detests those nobles who think themselves better than others. Thus, you must be modest and courteous, even towards these poor people.”

Linley glanced at the poor people lining the streets.

Not too far away, he saw a seven or eight year old child, malnourished to the point of being skin and bones, who wore a foul, oily black rag as his clothes. This child was staring at Linley with fear in his eyes.

Due to his skinniness, his sunken eyes seemed particularly large.

Those innocent eyes made Linley’s heart tremble.

Linley didn’t do anything, just continued to walk forward alongside Guillermo. On the road, Linley saw one poor child after another. None of them wore any proper clothes, and all of them were extremely poor.

“Here we are.” Guillermo suddenly said.

Linley couldn’t help but turn his head to look.

They were standing in front of a casually erected metal frame-like dwelling. An old man who looked like a beggar sat in the middle of the building. The old man was so skinny that it made one’s heart quiver, and all the skin on his body was sagging down. His hands were like the claws of a chicken, only skin and bone.

This old fellow was looking at Linley with curiosity.

“Lord Fallen Leaf.” Guillermo said respectfully.

“He really is Lord Fallen Leaf?” Linley wasn’t sure in his heart, but seeing Guillermo behave in such a manner, he was forced to believe it.

But could this old man in front of him, who looked like a beggar that could be blown down by a good gust of wind, really be the high Saint-level combatant, Lord ‘Fallen Leaf’?

“Guillermo, this is the one you mentioned to me, the so-called kid with talent?” The old beggar asked.

“Yes, Lord Fallen Leaf.” Guillermo said respectfully.

“Grandpa Fallen Leaf, Grandpa Fallen Leaf, quick, help save my mother. She was beaten and injured by someone!” A youthful voice rang out, then a girl came running in, carrying her skinny mother on her back.

The old beggar immediately turned around and stretched his right hand out.

Surrounded by a holy light, that heavily wounded woman began to heal at an astonishing speed.

The old beggar turned back to look at Linley. “I will only teach those with kind hearts and pure souls. But you…your heart is filled with an excessive desire to kill. I will not teach you.”

Guillermo couldn’t help but be astonished by these words.

“An excessive desire to kill?” A hint of a smile appeared on Linley’s face.

The need to seek vengeance on behalf of his parents had caused unspeakable pain and torment to Linley. Every minute, he desired to kill Patterson, but he continued to force himself to be calm and to not be rash. But this sort of constant self-repression did indeed cause Linley’s killing urge to only grow greater and greater.

“Then, Lord Fallen Leaf, I take my leave.” Linley bowed slightly, then turned and left.

The old beggar had originally wanted to say a few extra words. Upon seeing Linley turn and leave so cleanly and bluntly, he couldn’t help but be startled. But then, a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 10, Captured

The main hall of the Debs clan was in an uproar.

“This…this…”

Many nobles were absolutely stunned upon seeing Alice. Linley’s extremely high level of sculpting abilities, unfortunately, was to blame for them to so easily be able to recognize Alice as the inspiration for ‘Awakening From the Dream’.

Linley had already surpassed the level of ‘skill’; through his sculpture, he totally was able to bring out this woman’s charm and mesmerizing qualities. All of these nobles, at the very first glance, were able to be absolutely certain that Alice was the ‘goddess’ of their dreams.

Many nobles looked at Alice, then turned to stare at Linley.

Silence!

All of a sudden, the entire main hall became deafeningly quiet, as though all of the nobles present suddenly understood something, while also understanding that now was not the time to discuss this.

But this silence…made Alice all the more embarrassed and frantic.

From the corner of her eyes, Alice glanced at Linley. Linley, who was standing right next to the King of Fenlai. Still as calm as ever. He was just quietly looking at her.

Towards Linley…

Alice’s emotions towards him were very complex. There was regret. There was hatred. Hatred for the fact that Linley’s sculpture had prevented her from being the principal wife, and also for making her feel so embarrassed now. But at the same time, that sculpture…had also let her truly understand how Linley had felt towards her.

Kalan felt extremely awkward as well.

“Everyone, let me make the introductions.” Bernard’s voice rang out, his face all smiles. “My son Kalan is now becoming formally engaged with Miss Rowling and Miss Alice.”

As he spoke, Bernard walked over to Kalan’s side. Pointing at Rowling, he said, “This is Miss Rowling, the principal wife of my son Kalan. And this is Miss Alice.”

Instantly, the main hall became filled with quiet murmurs. Every so often, someone would sneak a furtive look at Linley.

“Everyone, let’s begin the banquet!” Bernard laughed merrily.

All of the nobles in the main hall entered the banquet area. During the banquet, the members of the Debs clan were extremely friendly and warm to everybody. But nonetheless, there were still many nobles who would continue to glance at Alice, then glance at Linley.

Holding a glass of wine, Linley walked over to a secluded corner of the main hall, casually seating himself in a sofa.

“Boss, I can hear so many people chatting about you.” Bebe leapt onto Linley’s legs.

Linley gently sipped the wine in his glass. “Let them talk if they wish to. I’m fine with it. Only…Alice most likely is suffering.”

Nowadays, towards Alice, Linley’s emotions were calm and peaceful.

Only now did he understand what a huge influence this sculpture, ‘Awakening From the Dream’, had upon Alice’s life.

Seated in that corner, Linley quietly watched as Kalan, Alice, and Rowling moved from table to table, meeting with guests. He quietly drank his wine by himself.

“Lord Linley, why are you here drinking wine all by your lonesome?” A beautiful young lady with jade hair and snow white skin walked over, sitting down quite naturally next to Linley while extending her glass of wine towards him.

Linley clinked glasses with her.

“My name is Sasha [Shasha]. Before the banquet began, I had been hoping I would have a chance to chat with you, Lord Linley. But it seemed as though you attracted quite a lot of attention from the girls. I didn’t have a chance at all.” Sasha laughed.

Linley looked at Sasha.

Sasha was very tall and slender, and her laughter was rich and vibrant. Her eyes also held a bewitching, intoxicating gaze. Compared to those young noble ladies, a female like this had a more feminine charm.

“The girls? Can it be that yourself aren’t a girl, Sasha?” Linley asked with engrossed ‘curiosity’.

Sasha took a light sip of wine, then laughed. “A girl? I’ve been married for eight years now. How could I be a girl?”

Linley couldn’t help but be startled.

“However…my husband died on the day of our wedding.” Sasha glanced at Linley as she spoke in a soft voice.

“Uh….” Linley stared at Sasha in astonishment.

Seeing the look on Linley’s face, Sasha couldn’t help but begin to laugh a charming laugh, and then she raised her glass and had another sip of red wine. Smiling, she said to Linley, “Lord Linley. You really…are too cute.”

Linley couldn’t help but laugh as well.

This Sasha really was an interesting person.

“Sasha. What are you doing here?” Duke Patterson walked over with a laugh.

Sasha glanced back at Duke Patterson. Feigning anger, she said, “Lord Duke, I just started chatting with Lord Linley. Fine, fine. Go ahead and have your talk with him.” As she spoke, she winked at Linley, then left.

Duke Patterson stared at Sasha’s departing silhouette for a moment before sitting down next to Linley.

“Linley, what do you think?” Duke Patterson said to Linley.

“What do I think about what?”

“Sasha, of course.” Duke Patterson looked at Linley suggestively. “Linley, amongst the circle of nobles, Sasha is a beautiful lady who is chased after by many. Look at Sasha’s figure, her eyes, her little mouth. Oh…”

Linley could only laugh.

“Let me tell you, Sasha should be very interested in you. If you seize this opportunity, you should be able to get her into your hands.” Patterson patted Linley on the shoulders.

Linley glanced at Patterson. “Not interested.”

Patterson stared at Linley in surprise.

“Linley.” Patterson lowered his voice as he spoke to Linley. “Tonight, after this banquet is over, don’t leave in a rush. There’s something I wish to discuss with you.”

Linley was startled.

As secretive as that?

“You wouldn’t not give me face, right?” Patterson feigned anger.

Linley glanced at Patterson, musing to himself, “I want to see what you are up to.” Linley rather wanted the chance to get a bit…closer…to Patterson as well.

“Lord Duke, don’t worry. Tonight, I will wait a while for you.” Linley smiled as he replied.

Eight o’clock that night. Many of the nobles had already left, but Linley was in no hurry. He still remembered his appointment with Patterson.

“I want to see what you are up to.”

Linley waited quietly in the main hall.

“Linley, I’ll leave now.” Clayde said to Linley as he left. The people in the main hall grew fewer and fewer. Getting rather impatient, Linley left the main hall, stepping onto the outside balcony to enjoy the cool night wind.

Right at this moment, a manservant quietly walked up to him.

“Lord Linley. The Lord Duke is inviting you for a walk.” The manservant said quietly.

“As secretive as this?” Linley was a bit surprised.

“Lead the way.” On the surface, Linley looked calm. Bebe remained curled up inside Linley’s robes. The manservant led Linley to a very dark, secluded alley. Judging from the appearance of the road, this was a place where people rarely came.

“Where are we going?” Linley said in a low voice.

The manservant said respectfully, “Lord Linley, this is in accordance with the Lord Duke’s instructions. No one is to see you, Lord Linley.”

“Oh?”

Linley furrowed his brows. But Linley wasn’t afraid. He continued to follow the servant forward, as the two of them made their way through the dark, secluded alley, then passed through a small copse of trees. A secret door was opened, and they arrived at a small building.

“So the Debs clan has a place as secretive as this.” Linley said to himself.

Unless someone was capable of flight, it would be quite difficult indeed to spot this hidden little building.

The manservant led Linley directly into the main hall.

“Lord Duke, Lord Linley is here.” The manservant called out respectfully as they reached the main hall’s doorway.

“Haha, Linley is here?” Dressed in a long black robe, Duke Patterson stepped out of the main hall. Seeing Linley, a gleam of excitement appeared in Duke Patterson’s hawk-like eyes, and he hurriedly walked over. “Linley, come in, quick.”

The manservant respectfully said, “Lord Duke, I’ll be leaving then.”

“Yes, you can go.” Patterson said casually.

The manservant respectfully bowed and turned to leave. But then, the smiling Duke Patterson suddenly shot out his right arm at high speed, viciously piercing through the manservant like a knife, from his back to his chest.

“Ah!” The manservant disbelievingly turned his head and stared at Duke Patterson. He totally couldn’t understand why the powerful Duke Patterson would stoop to killing someone like him!

Unfortunately, with his heart totally shattered, in just a few seconds, the light fled from his eyes.

“Lord Duke, the meaning of this is…?” Linley, off to the side, still managed to maintain his calm.

Duke Patterson was a warrior of the seventh rank. For him to kill a manservant who was at most a warrior of the first or second rank was indeed very easy.

From within his clothes, Duke Patterson drew out a handkerchief, using it to wipe off the blood from his hand. And then, he casually tossed it on the ground.

“Linley. It’s nothing. I just didn’t want anyone to know that you and I met.” Duke Patterson chortled.

Linley looked suspiciously at Duke Patterson. “You don’t want anyone to know?”

Duke Patterson nodded confidently. “Don’t worry at all. This secret meeting place was arranged by Bernard per my instructions. Bernard only knows that I’ll use this place, but he doesn’t know who I meet with. The only servant who knows that we have met is dead now. Thus, no one will know that we have met.”

Linley made up his mind. He stepped into the main hall.

“Duke Patterson. This matter seems to be quite important.” Linley smiled at Duke Patterson.

Patterson nodded. “Of course. And, I have arranged for a decoy as well. In the eyes of others, I have returned to my estate long ago. Aside from Bernard and my housekeeper, I’m afraid you are the only one who knows I am here.”

“A decoy?”

“Duke Patterson, what exactly do you intend to do, for you to meet with me here so secretively?” Linley asked with some curiosity.

Duke Patterson looked around the area, then closed the door to the main hall.

“Come. Let’s chat inside.” Pulling Linley by the hand, Duke Patterson headed for a room within the main hall. After entering the room, Duke Patterson activated a mechanism. With a grinding sound, the stone wall began to move, revealing a stone passageway.

So within this secret little building, there was a secret underground room as well.

“Linley. Come in.” Patterson smiled at Linley.

Linley nodded and stepped inside.

The inside of the underground room was pitch dark. Patterson lit three candles, then turned to smile at Linley.

“There’s nothing for it. Neither my Duke’s manor nor your own manor is suitable. There are too many spies in both places. It’s not safe.” Duke Patterson let out a long breath.

Linley also knew that his manor was under constant surveillance from the Radiant Church as well as Clayde.

Because this manor was gifted to him by Clayde. The servants belonged to Clayde as well. It was quite normal for the place to be filled with Clayde’s spies. At the same time, his guard corps belonged to the Radiant Church. Frankly speaking, Linley’s actions within his manor was under the constant, watchful eye of these two parties.

“Duke Patterson. Today, the topic of our conversation seems to be quite important. Go ahead, tell me what this is all about.” Linley smiled.

Patterson withdrew a magicrystal card from his clothes. “Linley. There are ten million gold coins in this card.”

“Ten million gold coins?” Linley waited for Patterson’s explanation.

Patterson said helplessly, “Linley, I’ll tell you the truth. After my elder brother tasked me with the position of Minister of Finance for the kingdom, I have used my authority to accumulate wealth for myself. Up until now, my activities have been hidden perfectly, but this time, the smuggling activity I engaged in with another clan was simply too large-scale. Based on what my sources tell me, my elder brother…may have already found out.”

Patterson still held to his, as he did not reveal that the clan in question was the Debs clan.

“The smuggling was on too large a scale? But does this have anything to do with me?” Linley laughed as he looked at Patterson.

Patterson hurriedly said, “Of course this has something to do with you. Although I am King Clayde’s younger brother, I know very well that when he makes his move, he never shows any mercy at all. I must find a path of retreat. After all, over the course of all these years, I have done too many things. Once this affair comes to light, many other affairs will be dug up as well.”

“Thus…I want you to speak on my behalf with young master Yale of the Dawson Conglomerate. I know that you are good friends with Yale.” A hint of a smile appeared on Patterson’s face.

“Yale?” Linley began to understand Patterson’s intentions.

Patterson said helplessly, “In the future, when these events come to pass, there are not many local powers capable of rescuing me from Fenlai City. But the Dawson Conglomerate is definitely one of them. The Kingdom of Fenlai does not dare to offend the Dawson Conglomerate! At the same time, the Radiant Church will not go to loggerheads against the Dawson Conglomerate for the sake of a minor corruption scandal.”

“As long as the Dawson Conglomerate is willing to act, they can easily rescue me. However, I spoke with the Dawson Conglomerate, and they were not willing to offend King Clayde on my behalf.” Patterson looked hopefully at Linley.

“Linley, Yale is the son of the Chairman of the Dawson Conglomerate. His words are extremely influential. What’s more, the Dawson Conglomerate values you quite highly as well. As long as you are willing to help me, there definitely won’t be any problems.” Duke Patterson begged. “If you don’t help me, I most likely am going to die. I beg of you, please help. No one will know that you and I have spoken.”

“As long as you are willing to save me, these ten million gold coins are yours, Linley. I beg you.” Patterson’s words were very sincere. His eyes were filled with hope!

Linley laughed.

“No one will know?” Linley’s smile was incandescent.

“Right. No one will know.” Patterson hurriedly nodded. A look of joy had already appeared in his eyes.

Suddenly, Linley’s body began to transform at a high speed. Black draconic scales began to come out of his body, while a single black horn sprouted out of his forehead. His two hands transformed into draconic claws. His pupils also transformed from their original color to the dark, golden color of the Armored Razorback Wyrm.

“You…” Duke Patterson’s face changed. Knowing that something was wrong, he hurriedly roused his own battle-qi, and all of the muscles of his body began to tighten.

“Whoosh!”

Linley’s iron-whip-like tail slashed through the air with a terrifying howl. Given Duke Patterson’s reaction time and speed, he was unable to avoid it, and it landed a vicious blow on his body.

“WHACK!”

Patterson, warrior of the seventh rank, was sent flying. Blood splattered everywhere.

But then in the next instant, that whip-like tail wrapped around Patterson. The sounds of bones clattering could be heard as Patterson’s entire body was bound tightly, preventing him from moving in the slightest. Patterson struggled as much as he could, but his arms were unable to break free from his bonds.

Linley controlled his draconic tail to pull Patterson towards himself.

Linley was now under full Dragonform. His cold, merciless, dark golden eyes stared death directly into Patterson’s eyes. A hint of a cruel smile played about the corners of Linley’s lips. “You say….no one will know? Haha. That’s just perfect. I’ve waited so very long for this opportunity.”

“You…you…” Patterson had been absolutely scared stupid by this sudden development.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 11, The Man Behind the Curtain

His entire body was covered in black scales, while sharp black spikes jutted out from his elbows and his knees. His entire back was lined with a row of sharp spikes coming from his spine. And his eyes had turned a dark golden color. Just seeing that cold, dark, golden set of eyes staring at him was enough to terrify Duke Patterson.

“Who are…who are you?” Duke Patterson was so terrified that his face was ashen white. His mouth flapped for a long while before he managed to say these words.

What was this monstrosity in front of him?

“Who am I?” Linley’s cold gaze was fixed on Patterson.

“Squeak, squeak.” The sounds of bones chattering emanated from throughout Patterson’s body, as Linley continued to apply force through his iron-whip-like tail in constricting Patterson. No matter how hard Patterson struggled, he couldn’t budge at all.

Pain began to spread from his arms to the rest of his body.

“You are from another plane?” Patterson’s eyes were filled with terror. From what he could tell, based on Linley’s current appearance, only a different species from another plane could do what Linley had just done. “Linley, I beg you, spare me, spare my life. I definitely will keep your secret, definitely.”

Transfixed by Linley’s dark golden gaze, Patterson had totally lost his equanimity.

“Spare your life?” A hint of a cold smile appeared on Linley’s face. “That’s not impossible. I want to ask you something. Around twelve or thirteen years ago, did you send some people out to kidnap a woman.”

Patterson was startled.

He immediately frantically tried to recollect the affairs of twelve or thirteen years past, but twelve or thirteen years was an extremely long period of time. Most importantly… “Linley, no, Lord Linley, I…I can’t remember.” Patterson said frantically.

“That was a long time ago, and I often would have women I took a fancy to captured and brought to my mansion. I don’t know exactly which one you are talking about.”

That murderous intent in Linley’s heart began to grow.

This Patterson actually often abducted women?

From Linley’s face, Patterson had no idea as to the transformation that was currently occurring in Linley’s heart. Having completely undergone the Dragonform, Linley appeared totally cold and emotionless, terrifying sinister.

“A woman who had just given birth not long beforehand, who had just finished a pilgrimage to the Radiant Temple, and then returned to her hotel.” Linley still stared icily at Patterson. His voice didn’t rise at all.

Hearing Linley say these things, Patterson’s entire body went stiff. And then he stared at Linley in astonishment.

“You remember now?” Linley said coldly.

Of course Patterson remembered now. Throughout all these years, he had only abducted women who had just given birth on two occasions. His memories of these affairs was quite keen. Especially that one time, thirteen years ago. That time, the person whom had instructed him to act had severely warned him to maintain secrecy.

“I really can’t remember.” Patterson said, terrified. “Lord Linley, I beg you, spare me. I really don’t know. You must be mistaken.”

Linley’s dark golden eyes flashed.

“You want to die?” Linley’s voice grew even colder.

“Ahhhh!” Patterson’s screamed in torture as Linley’s tail increased the pressure around him. This greater pressure was causing all of the bones in Patterson’s body to moan in protest.

“Clatter. Clatter.” The sound of bones nearly cracking was enough to make one’s heart shudder.

But Linley still only stared coldly at Patterson.

“Crunch!”

“Ahhhhh!”

The crisp sound of a bone snapping, mixed with the tortured screams of Patterson. His left arm bone had actually been snapped clean by this terrifying pressure.

“Not bad.” Linley’s lips quivered slightly. As though he were smiling.

But Patterson didn’t view it as a smile. Under the Dragonform, the slight curve of Linley’s lips only filled Patterson’s with even more fear.

“You know what matters and what doesn’t. The vast majority of your battle-qi has been used to protect your vital organs. Only a small amount of battle-qi was used to protect your arm. It’s true. A broken arm isn’t a life-threatening condition. But if your organs were to rupture, then you really will lose your life.” Linley’s voice was very calm.

Patterson felt his throat go dry.

He had never imagined that Linley would have such a terrifying side.

“Now, do you remember yet?” Linley asked again.

Patterson really wanted to answer him, but when he thought about the punishment which would await him if he spoke, he couldn’t help but shudder. His face growing still more pitiful, he cried out miserably, “Lord Linley, I beg of you, don’t torture me. I really don’t know. Even if you kill me, I still don’t know.”

Patterson firmly believed that, with this affair having been over thirteen years ago and Linley being so young, there was no way Linley could be certain about what had happened.

Most likely, Linley had received some sketchy details and was not absolutely certain. As long as he clenched his teeth and refused to speak, perhaps Linley would believe him in the end.

“Lord Linley, if I knew, I would’ve told you long ago, and avoided all this suffering. Lord Linley, I beg of you, please investigate this matter clearly.” Tears began to pour out of Patterson’s eyes, and his face was a picture of sincerity. If it weren’t for the fact that Linley had read that letter from his father, he might really have hesitated.

Staring at Patterson, Linley’s lips began to curve upwards even more.

Patterson’s heart felt a sudden chill.

“Good. Wonderful.” Linley’s tail was still wrapped around Patterson. Suddenly, the draconic tail sent Patterson smashing directly, viciously into the stone floor. Fortunately, though, Linley smashed Patterson feet-first, rather than head-first.

Linley gave full reign to the power of his draconic tail!

Patterson’s two legs smashed against the stone floor.

“Crush!”

The sound of bones splintering instantly, mixed with Patterson’s terrifying, high-pitched howls of agony.

On Patterson’s left knee, the shattered white bone was visible to the eye, piercing both through his leg and his pants. His right leg, even worse off, simply lay limply on the ground, while blood stained his pants around the ankles in particular.

“Ahhh! Ahhhh! Ahhhh!” Patterson was screaming nonstop.

This level of pain was killing him. Fortunately, though, his organs had been protected by his battle-qi, and so his life was not yet in danger.

“Demon. Demon.” Patterson was cursing nonstop in his heart. He knew what a tremendous force Linley was using. Based on his strength as a warrior of the seventh rank, he was only just barely able to protect his internal organs with his battle-qi, and couldn’t protect the rest of his body.

Patterson didn’t want to die.

Crippled legs?

Not a problem. With enough money, he definitely could invite a Grand Magus of the ninth-rank of the Radiant Church to use the ‘Song of Life’ on him. As long as he didn’t already die, any wound, no matter how serious, could be healed!

“Do you remember yet? That woman you abducted?” Linley’s voice was still very calm, not rising in the slightest.

But the terror in Patterson’s heart was growing.

“I remember. I remember.” Beads of sweat were flowing down Patterson’s face. Not from pain. From fear.

Patterson knew very well that in this sealed underground room in which he and Linley were currently in, nobody outside could hear anything, no matter how loud the screams. Perhaps someone directly outside, leaning against the stone door, could just barely hear something.

But who would be outside of this secret little room, pressing their ears against the stone door?

No matter how loud he screamed, no one would know.

“If you said so earlier, wouldn’t you have suffered less?” Linley’s dark golden eyes stared peacefully at Patterson. “Speak, then. Explain what happened to me.”

Patterson hurriedly nodded. “Lord Linley, that year, that woman was extremely beautiful. I was bewitched, and hatched an evil plot to abduct that woman and bring her back to my place. I wanted that woman to sleep with me, but she was too headstrong. She committed suicide by ramming her head against the stone wall.”

Stuttering as he spoke, Patterson looked at Linley.

In Patterson’s opinion, there were very few people who knew what had really happened to that woman. Linley shouldn’t have had any clue.

“You continue to lie!!!”

Linley finally grew angry. Those dark golden eyes seemed to slowly turn red. Using his draconic tail, Linley brought Patterson directly before him. Linley all but pressed his face directly against Patterson’s, coldly staring into his eyes.

Pressed against Linley, seeing Linley’s black scales and the black horn on his forehead, Patterson grew even more terrified.

“I’m not lying! I’m not lying!” Patterson hurriedly said.

Linley’s hands, already transformed into claws by the Dragonform, suddenly delivered a mighty slap to Patterson’s face.

“THWACK!” Five pieces of flesh were ripped from Patterson’s face, and blood began to flow out in a steady stream. Fortunately, Linley wasn’t trying to kill him. Otherwise, he would’ve crushed Patterson’s brain to a pulp with this blow.

“Sob…sob…sob…” Patterson was in so much pain that his voice changed.

Linley stared coldly at Patterson. “Patterson, listen closely. I already know very much about what had happened, which is why it’s best for you not to lie to me. Otherwise, the torment you will suffer definitely will not be limited to just this. Let me tell you this. The woman that you abducted was my mother!”

“Mother?” Patterson was stunned, even forgetting his pain for the moment.

“I am very clear about what happened that day with my mother, and I have been investigating this entire time. Thus, it’s best if you tell me everything about what happened to my mother. Otherwise…you will definitely die.” Linley’s voice grew even more freezing.

Actually, no matter what Patterson said, he was still definitely going to die.

Because Linley’s father had been pursued and heavily injured by Patterson’s men, and had died as a result. Patterson didn’t yet know that the person he had sent people out to hunt and kill was Linley’s father. If he had known…perhaps Patterson would be reacting in a totally different way.

“Tell me. Who did you give my mother to?” Linley stared at Patterson.

“You knew?” Patterson’s face turned pale.

Linley actually knew that he had given the woman away to someone else?

“Tell me his name, but you’d best not lie to me. If I discover that you have lied to me, I will make your life worse than death.” Linley’s voice was very calm again, not rising in the slightest.

Patterson hesitated for a moment.

“There’s no use for me to tell you. You can’t kill him.” Patterson said in a low voice.

“Can’t kill him?” Linley stared coldly at Patterson. “Patterson, listen to me. All you have to do is tell me who that person is. As for whether or not I can kill him, that’s none of your concern. Do you think you know what my real level of ability is?”

Hearing these words, Patterson secretly agreed.

The ‘Linley’ in front of him was too terrifying. The power he had previously displayed had already made others believe he was an absolute genius. But apparently, Linley’s real power was far greater than that of a warrior of the seventh rank. In front of Linley, he didn’t have the slightest ability to resist.

Patterson began to furiously calculate in his mind.

Linley didn’t rush him, only fixing Patterson with his dark golden gaze.

After pondering a long time, Patterson gritted his teeth and looked at Linley. “Linley, I’ll tell you who he is, but you have to guarantee that you definitely won’t let anyone know that I was the one who told you! And, you have to promise you won’t kill me.”

Linley’s face was still as cold as ever. “Fine. I guarantee that I will not tell anyone that you were the one to tell me. And, I guarantee I will not kill you.”

Only now did Patterson secretly let out his breath.

“About twelve years ago, on one occasion, we members of the royal clan of Fenlai went to pay a visit to the Radiant Temple. Within the Radiant Temple, we saw your mother. Afterwards, I sent people to abduct your mother.” Patterson immediately said, “But that wasn’t actually my own intent. I was obeying the orders of another.”

“Who?” Linley asked.

Patterson glanced at Linley. He slowly said, “The orders came from my elder brother. The current ruler of the Kingdom of Fenlai. King Clayde.”

“Clayde?” Linley was startled.

The pride of the Kingdom of Fenlai, the ‘Golden Lion’, Clayde? The warrior of the ninth rank, Clayde?

“Yes. It was Clayde.” Patteron said with certainty. “But I know that Clayde valued your mother highly. He even told me that no matter what, I couldn’t let this information out, as if I did, I would definitely die.”

Linley looked at Patterson.

“He should be telling the truth.” Doehring Cowart’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind. “I can sense the vibrations of his soul.”

Linley made up his mind.

Patterson looked beseechingly at Linley. “Linley, can you spare my life? I guarantee that I definitely won’t say a single word about what happened today to anyone.” Patterson’s eyes were filled with hope.

“Fine. I’ll keep my promise.” Linley’s draconic tail loosened.

Patterson’s body dropped to the floor. A look of wild joy appeared on Patterson’s face, and he looked at Linley with eyes filled with gratitude.

Right at this moment, a black blur flashed by.

“Crunch.”

The little Shadowmouse, Bebe, bit Patterson’s neck. Patterson stared with terror at Bebe. He had just escaped from death’s door, but now, he could already seem to feel the call of the Netherworld. Patterson could tell that the little Shadowmouse was the one which was always on Linley’s shoulders.

Disbelievingly, Patterson stared at Linley.

“I said I wouldn’t kill you. But I never said my magical beast wouldn’t kill you.” Linley looked coldly at Patterson, whose throat was spurting out blood. “Let me tell you something else as well. Several months ago, there was a man who snuck into your Duke’s mansion. Afterwards, you sent people after him to kill him. And that man…was my father!”

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 12, The Investigation

Just before his death, Patterson finally understood.

He had, after all, participated in Linley’s father’s funeral. He knew that Linley’s father was already dead.

The funny thing was, just now, he had been hoping that he could leave with his life. But now, he completely understood why Linley had done what he had done. Deep in Patterson’s heart, he was unwilling to be resigned to dying like this. Based on his prowess as a warrior of the seventh rank, it wouldn’t be too hard to live for another two or three hundred years.

His life should still be long.

“I’m dying, but Clayde, your life won’t be much better.” As Patterson’s soul was drawn to the Netherworld, it contained a thread of hatred, hatred for his brother Clayde.

…..

After watching Patterson die, Linley returned to his normal form.

“Clayde. So the man behind this event was Clayde.” Linley frowned deeply.

Clayde himself was a combatant of the ninth rank. Even if Linley was in full Dragonform, he would be at most an early eighth rank combatant.

Clayde was on a totally different level compared to him. Even if Linley were to ambush him, he simply could not harm a warrior of the ninth rank. The gap between them was too great.

And Clayde had tremendous power at his disposal as well.

As the revered ruler of Fenlai, how could he not have many fighters under his banner? And, having been the ruler for many years of the Kingdom of Fenlai, the leading kingdom amongst the six kingdoms of the Holy Union, he had a very close relationship with the Radiant Church. His roots were extremely deep.

In terms of both strength as well as forces available, Linley could not compare to Clayde.

“Perhaps my only advantage right now is that I am operating hidden in the shadows.” Linley constantly pondered how to deal with Clayde.

Doehring Cowart appeared from within the Coiling Dragon ring. He immediately urged Linley, “Linley, don’t waste any more time here. What you need to do right now is to destroy anything that might reveal you were here. Get back to your own estate immediately, otherwise, if you return too late, when they begin investigating who killed Patterson, they might suspect you.”

Linley was startled awake.

Right!

His only advantage was that he was operating from within the shadows. No matter what, he couldn’t allow Clayde to be on guard against him.

“Time to burn the evidence to ashes.” Linley immediately generated several dozen fireballs which surrounded Patterson’s body. Based on his current spiritual energy, the temperature of his fireballs was quite high.

Patterson’s body quickly began to burn, while at the same time, an extremely foul odor began to fill the air. After a while, only a few charred yellow bones and ashes remained.

That foul odor made Linley frown.

“Linley, your clothes.” Doehring Cowart reminded.

Linley looked down at his clothes. Indeed. After having gone through the Dragonform transformation, his clothes had been totally ripped apart. Linley retrieved his things, and then removed his outer jacket and pants without the slightest hesitation. Instantly, he burnt his clothes to ashes as well.

Linley immediately activated the mechanism.

“Rumble rumble.” The stone door once more opened, and Linley hurriedly walked out, then closed the door again.

No matter what, it was best for the stone door to be closed. Otherwise, with the door open, that smell of burnt flesh would quickly draw people’s attention.

“There should be clothes within this room.” Linley glanced down at his underwear. Clearly, he couldn’t walk out just in his ruined underwear like this. That would definitely arouse suspicion. Linley immediately went to another room on the side, opening up a dresser.

The dresser was filled with sets of clothes.

Linley selected a set of black clothes, rather similar to the outfit he had worn to the engagement ceremony. Putting the clothes on, Linley then once more used his wind-style spells to blow away the nearby specks of blood as well as that foul odor of burning flesh.

“Best to go back early. Can’t let anyone notice anything.” Moving at high speed, Linley leapt straight through the courtyard, arriving at the front courtyard in a matter of minutes.

At this point in time, there were still a few nobles remaining, engaging in idle conversation.

“Oh, Lord Linley. You haven’t left yet?” Count Juneau was heading out as well. Seeing Linley not too far away, he warmly greeted Linley.

Linley smiled. “Right. Just then, my stomach felt a bit queasy, so I went to the privy.”

Count Juneau walked out shoulder-to-shoulder with Linley.

“Lord Linley, I must say that I am a big fan of your sculptures. I was the one who bought your very first three sculptures that you exhibited at the main hall of the Proulx Gallery.” Count Juneau said proudly to Linley. The thing which Count Juneau was proudest was most likely the fact that he had been the one to purchase the first three sculptures which Linley had put on display.

Those three sculptures of Linley’s, just judging from the outside, was perhaps only worth six or seven thousand gold coins.

However…Linley’s status was now very different. He was the master sculptor who had carved ‘Awakening From the Dream’. In terms of status, he wasn’t too much off from the levels of Proulx and Hope Jensen. How could the price of the very first three sculptures a person such like this exhibited be low?

Based on his calculations and the implicit value, these three sculptures which Count Juneau had collected were most likely each worth at least a hundred thousand gold coins!

This was perhaps the collection which Count Juneau was the most delighted over, ever. Count Juneau had decided that these three items needed to be kept in his collection. He believed…as Linley’s future accomplishments became greater and greater, the value of these three sculptures would rise as well.

“Lord Linley, have a safe trip.” The housekeeper for the Debs clan said respectfully at the gate for the Deb’s clan’s manor.

Linley nodded. Bidding farewell to Count Juneau, he entered his own carriage.

“Go back.” Linley gave a calm command upon entering the carriage.

“Yes, milord.”

The Radiant Church warrior of the seventh rank who served as a driver bowed in acknowledgment, then immediately began driving the carriage towards Linley’s manor.

“I probably spent around fifteen minutes or so with Patterson.” Linley took out his pocket watch and took a glance.

This was one of the gifts that the many well-wishers of his had sent him upon him being conferred the rank of Marquis.

“Fifteen minutes or so. Count Juneau and the rest were amongst the last pack of guests to leave. If they don’t investigate extremely carefully, it shouldn’t be possible for them to suspect me.” Linley said to himself. “The other problem is, Patterson said that his housekeeper knew that he was going to meet with someone, but not exactly who.”

Linley frowned. “But I can’t totally trust his words. Perhaps his housekeeper did in fact know he was going to meet me, but Patterson wanted me to relax and trust him and thus claimed no one else knew.”

Linley had considered this possibility.

Patterson’s housekeeper!

This definitely was a flaw.

What’s more…if there really was an investigation, people might discover that Linley had disappeared for fifteen minutes at the end. But during that period of time, all the nobles were engaged in casual conversation and were leaving haphazardly. It would most likely be extremely difficult to clearly investigate a single person, given those circumstances.

“At least no one personally witnessed my meeting with Patterson. The one attendant who did see was killed by Patterson.” Linley said to himself.

At most, others might suspect him. But there was no actionable evidence against him.

“Boss, what are you thinking about?” Bebe was lying on Linley’s legs. Raising his little head, he looked at Linley.

“Nothing.” Linley rubbed Bebe’s little head, having totally calmed down.

“Milord, we have arrived.”

Linley pushed open the carriage curtains, then raised his head and stared up at the boundless sky. Right now, the night sky was filled with stars. Linley couldn’t help but feel a carefree joy in his heart, while at the same time, his resolve to kill Clayde grew still more firm. “Patterson died today. Next one up is Clayde.”

Patterson had disappeared for a day or two. Aside from Patterson’s housekeeper, no one noticed that something was amiss.

Within the Debs clan’s manor, there was only Bernard and a jade-haired middle-aged person.

“Bernard, on the night of Kalan’s engagement, did the Lord Duke depart from your manor?” The jade-haired middle-aged man asked. This man was Duke Patterson’s housekeeper, named Lodi [Luo’di].

Bernard was forced to hold in his aggrieved feelings and refrain from saying, “Your Duke disappeared, and you are asking ME about it?” That night, Patterson hadn’t even told Bernard whom he was going to meet, nor did he say a word when he left. How would he, Bernard, know anything?

“The Lord Duke left. The Lord Duke is not in my manor.” Bernard replied directly.

The very day after the engagement ceremony, Bernard had sent someone over to dispose of the servant’s corpse. His servants didn’t find any trace of Patterson within that small building.

“Oh.” Lodi frowned, then stared at Bernard. “Bernard, if you find any trace of my Duke, you must let me know immediately. This affair might be minor, or it might be major. If it becomes a major affair, even the smuggling affairs of your Debs clan might come to light.”

Bernard’s face changed.

“Alright, I’ll go back now.” Lodi left with a heavy mind.

Seeing Lodi’s departing back, Bernard felt somewhat unsettled, and made the decision to immediately go visit that building which Patterson had used.

Within that secretive building inside the Debs clan’s estate.

Bernard had entered alone. The corpse of that dead servant had long since been removed and disposed of by the people Bernard had sent. Looking at the building, Bernard frowned. “Duke Patterson said he was going to meet with a guest, but in the end, he didn’t return home. Could it be…”

Bernard suddenly thought of one possibility.

Very few people even in the Debs clan knew about the secret underground room. Naturally, those people he had sent to dispose of the corpse wouldn’t know either, nor would they go investigate.

But Bernard had told Duke Patterson of the secret underground room. He had also told the Duke that there was definitely no one who could eavesdrop on any conversations within.

“Impossible. There’s no way something like that could’ve happened.” Bernard hurriedly ran into the main hall, then directly went to the mechanism and activated it.

“Rumble, rumble.”

That wall-like ‘stone door’ slowly opened, while at the same time, a foul, bloody odor that smelt like burnt flesh wafted out.

The look on Bernard’s face grew ugly.

Hurriedly walking into the secret room, he saw that on the granite floor, there were still traces of blood and scratches. To the side, there was a pile of charred human bones as well as ashes.

“Someone died here.” Bernard was absolutely certain.

And then, the person who died had been burnt to ashes. But there was no way for Bernard to tell who it was for certain.

“Ring!” Bernard suddenly saw within the pile of ashes a dirty, grayish-silver ring. Upon seeing the ring, Bernard felt that it looked extremely similar to the ring which Duke Patterson liked to wear.

Instantly, all the blood fled from Bernard’s face.

“Patterson is most likely dead.” Bernard’s thoughts were a chaotic mess.

The Debs clan had spent over half of their capital and a large amount of manpower in order to carry out this water jade smuggling operation with Duke Patterson’s help. This was an extremely important business operation for the Debs clan. But if the smuggling became exposed…it wouldn’t just be a problem of losing money. Most likely, the entire Debs clan would be exterminated by the furious King Clayde!

The entire Debs clan….was quite possibly finished.

“No, not possible. Duke Patterson was a warrior of the seventh rank. How could he die so easily? Given his careful personality, there is no way that he would meet in private with someone who was more powerful than him.” Bernard couldn’t accept what he was seeing.

It was true. Patterson was an extremely cautious man. Sadly, Patterson didn’t have an accurate understanding of Linley’s power.

…..

The entire city of Fenlai was peaceful. Linley continued to train quietly at his manor every day. But then, after Duke Patterson had disappeared for half a month, the previously calm and sedate King Clayde finally began to issue orders. The first step was to captured the Duke’s housekeeper, Lodi. The next was to investigate the Duke’s whereabouts on a wide scale.

Within the main hall of Linley’s manor.

“Lord Linley, per his Majesty’s decree, he would like Lord Linley to pay a visit to the palace.”

Staring at the royal decree brought by the palace attendant, Linley felt a bit unsettled. Why was King Clayde summoning him?

“Please wait a moment. Allow me to change my clothes, and I’ll head to the palace immediately afterwards.” Linley smiled as he replied.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 13, Secrets Exposed

The night was pitch-dark.

The sound of the carriage could be heard on the quiet road leading to the palace. Linley was sitting alone in the carriage, with Bebe on his legs. Next to the carriage, there were over ten knights on fine stallions, and leading them was the palace servant who had come.

Within the carriage.

Linley was frowning as he considered. “It’s quite late already. But King Clayde suddenly summoned me to his palace. What is this about?” As the saying goes, only those who were blameless would always be relaxed.

Linley had just killed Patterson, and now he was very much aware that in the past, it was Clayde who had instructed Patterson to send people to abduct his mother. In other words, there was a deep enmity between him and Clayde.

Naturally, Linley was very careful around Clayde.

“I heard two days ago, Clayde seized the housekeeper of the Duke’s manor, and has begun a wide scale investigation of Patterson’s affairs. Patterson said that he hadn’t told anyone about his meeting with me. But can I trust those words?” Linley felt uncertain.

Perhaps that housekeeper already knew about Patterson and Linley’s meeting.

If that Duke’s housekeeper informed King Clayde of the meeting, then naturally, Linley would be at the precipice of danger.

“Linley, don’t worry.”

Doehring Cowart’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind, reassuring him. “Linley, even if that Duke Patterson told his housekeeper that he was meeting with you, you would still be fine.”

“Fine?” Linley looked questioningly at Doehring Cowart.

Doehring Cowart nodded confidently. “Naturally. Even if Clayde guessed that you killed Patterson, he still won’t openly address it.”

“Because…Clayde doesn’t know the reason why you killed Patterson.” Doehring Cowart’s face was filled with confidence.

Linley was startled. Even if Clayde didn’t know why he killed Patterson…he still would know Linley was the killer, right?

“It’s simple. Judging from the conversation you had with Patterson in that underground room, his relationship with Clayde wasn’t very good. While he was the Minister of Finance, Patterson engaged in widespread corruption. In his heart, Clayde probably didn’t feel much affection for Patterson. What’s more…Clayde doesn’t know that there is enmity between the two of you. Thus, he won’t act against you without cause. Because if he wishes to punish you, or to kill you, he would have to first get permission from the Radiant Church.” His eyes gleaming, Doehring Cowart looked at Linley.

“Hrmph, can that Clayde really be considered a king? The Radiant Church has the authority to depose him from his rule. But you are someone whom the Radiant Church values highly. Would he dare to casually act against you?” Doehring Cowart consoled Linley.

Linley nodded.

He understood this logic.

However…

Linley truly did not wish for Clayde to be on his guard against him. If Clayde became wary of Linley, how would Linley investigate his mother’s whereabouts or take revenge on behalf of his mother?

“Open the door! It’s me!” The palace attendant shouted in a shrill voice.

Hearing this, Linley immediately knew that they had already reached the palace gates. Like a giant beast, the gates squatted there, hulking. In just a half hour’s time, countless carriages had entered and left the palace.

One of those carriages was Linley’s. Another belonged to Bernard. And still others were carrying other nobles.

Within the business discussion hall of the palace.

Aside from the two guards standing at the door to the hall, everyone else present in the hall were nobles of high rank. In total, there were eight people present. These were Bernard, leader of the Debs clan. The Prime Court Magus, Linley. The Left Premier, Duke Bonalt. The Inspector General, Hampton [Han’pu’dun]…

“Linley, you came.” Bernard greeted him warmly.

All of the nobles already present instantly greeted him as well. Seeing all of these nobles, Linley couldn’t help but suddenly feel calm. It seemed that he had not been specially summoned after all.

“Milords, I wonder if any of you know why his Majesty has summoned us?” Linley immediately asked.

Duke Bonalt, as the Left Premier, knew a great deal of information.

“Most likely, this summons is related to the disappearance of Duke Patterson.” Duke Bonalt replied with a warm laugh.

Bernard, off to the side, immediately asked, “Lord Duke, what does Duke Patterson’s disappearance have to do with me? I don’t have any important responsibilities at court.”

“Today, his Majesty isn’t summoning his entire court, merely investigating a matter. Otherwise, why would I be here, but not the Right Premier, and only a single Inspector General?” Duke Bonalt saw things quite clearly.

Bernard nodded.

But Bernard still felt very uneasy.

Ever since Patterson had disappeared, Bernard had been filled with unease. He feared that the involvement between his Debs clan and Duke Patterson in the water jade smuggling operation would be brought to light. If this affair was revealed, then the Debs clan would really be finished.

“His Majesty has arrived!”

Suddenly, the shrill voice of the palace attendant sounded out. From a side door to the hall, Clayde walked in, heading directly for a seat in front and sitting down, two palace attendants respectfully at his side.

“All hail his Majesty!”

All of the nobles present bowed and chanted.

Clayde glanced at the nobles. He calmly nodded, then said, “It’s quite late at night already. I originally didn’t wish to disturb all of you, but this issue regarding the disappearance of my second brother, Patterson, is too important. I was forced to summon all of you to come here.”

“Might I ask, your Majesty, what Duke Patterson’s disappearance has to do with your summons for us?” Linley immediately asked.

Of the eight people present before Clayde, perhaps only Linley would dare to speak to him in such a manner. Because while everyone else present was subordinate to Clayde, in reality, Linley was the subordinate of the Radiant Church, and was only a servant of the Kingdom of Fenlai in name.

“Linley, I just wish to clearly investigate this affair.” Clayde smiled, and then said in a loud voice, “Bring out the Duke’s housekeeper, Lodi.”

Lodi? The Duke’s housekeeper?

Both Linley and the Deb clan’s leader Bernard felt their hearts start to pound.

The entire meeting hall was silent. Everyone quietly awaited Lodi being brought forward to testify. Linley still stood there, with the Shadowmouse Bebe on his shoulders.

After a short while…

Under escort by palace guards, a middle-aged man with jade-like hair walked in. This man looked very fragile, with mussed hair and a bewildered look on his face.

Bernard recognized this man at a single glance. This man in front of him was indeed Lodi, the housekeeper for Duke Patterson.

“Lodi, explain everything in detail.” Clayde shouted towards Lodi.

Lodi clearly had already explained once to Clayde already. This explanation clearly was for the benefit of Linley and the others. Lodi said very honestly, “Your Majesty, on June 18th, when the Debs clan held that engagement ceremony, the Lord Duke also went to attend. But after the ceremony, the Lord Duke never came back.”

“Lodi, stand to one side.” Clayde said coldly.

“Yes, your Majesty.” Lodi clearly was terrified. He hurriedly scurried off into a corner.

Clayde swept the eight nobles with his gaze.

“Based on the information from my investigations, the night of the engagement ceremony at the Debs clan, you all were amongst the last to leave. What I want to ask is, did any of you encounter Duke Patterson?” Clayde’s question was very simple.

“Right after the banquet, Patterson departed.” The Left Premier, Lord Bonalt, said in a loud voice.

Linley nodded as well. “I, too, saw Patterson departing quite early.”

The others either said they didn’t see him, or that Patterson left very early.

Hearing everyone speak, Clayde smiled and nodded, and then turned to Lodi again. “Lodi, continue.”

“Yes.” Lodi continued. “That night, before going to the Debs manor, Duke Patterson told me that he was going to be meeting with an extremely important person, but to the importance of the discussion topic, nobody could know about it. Thus, he ordered me to arrange for a double to impersonate him and leave the manor. In truth, the Lord Duke would remain within the manor.”

“The Lord Duke also said that the Debs clan would arrange for a safe, secret place for his meeting.” Lodi added.

Upon hearing these words, Bernard Debs’ face immediately turned white.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”

Bernard hurriedly said, “This has nothing to do with me. The Lord Duke told me he wanted to meet with someone, so I arranged a meeting room for them. I couldn’t refuse him.”

“Bernard. Don’t be hasty. I won’t wrongly blame someone.” Clayde smiled.

“Thank you, your Majesty.” Bernard quickly stepped back, but his face was still pale.

Clayde turned to look at Linley and the others. “If Patterson was going to meet with someone, the person he was going to meet with should have some status. Who would that person be? I think…it must have been one of the last guests to leave.”

Linley’s heart trembled.

Duke Bonalt, Count Juneau, Marquis Hampton, and the others all stared at Clayde in astonishment. By now, they could guess why the king had called them here.

His Majesty was suspicious of them!

“Your Majesty, I definitely did not meet with him.” Count Juneau, Marquis Hampton, and the others hurriedly said.

Clayde smiled. “I only have my suspicions. If none of you did anything to be guilty of, why be so nervous? Look, Linley’s the calmest one here.”

Linley smiled but didn’t make a sound.

Clayde glanced at this group of people, laughing coldly in his heart. “I couldn’t give a damn about who made Patterson disappear. In fact, I’d rather thank that person for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to eradicate all the secret connections Patterson has built up.”

As the long-time Minister of Finance, Patterson had erected an enormous, dense web of connections. His influence was extremely large. Clayde didn’t dare to casually investigate Patterson either, as he didn’t want to cause too many problems in the kingdom.

This was also the reason why the Debs clan had decided to work alongside Patterson.

But now, Patterson had disappeared. The group of dragons no longer had a leader.

Acting as fast as lightning, Clayde used various ruthless techniques to quickly clip off Patterson’s wings and shatter the web of influence which Patterson had spent so long building up.

Without Patterson’s guidance, those collaborators of his naturally would be in for a terrible time if they resisted. There was no way they could resist the pressure exerted by King Clayde.

Clayde looked at Linley and the others. Laughing, he said, “The disappearance of my second brother, Patterson, is something I must look into. But what surprised me was, I ended up discovering quite a few things. Lodi, in particular, spilled many secrets.”

Linley couldn’t help but look at Lodi.

“Lodi, tell them.” Clayde smiled at Lodi.

Right now, Clayde was feeling extremely satisfied. The death of a brother, to Clayde, was no big deal at all. More importantly…all of the power within the Kingdom of Fenlai finally rested with him again.

Lodi respectfully said, “Your Majesty, that day, when Duke Patterson attended the engagement ceremony at the Debs clan, the reason he needed to meet with that mysterious person was that he wanted to start a relationship with the Dawson Conglomerate. Thus…the person he went to see absolutely has to have some sort of connection to the Dawson Conglomerate.

“The Dawson Conglomerate?”

Linley felt his heart shudder violently.

“Does everyone want to know why it was that my second brother wished to start a relationship with the Dawson Conglomerate?” Clayde laughed as he looked at the people present. “Lodi, continue.”

“Yes.” Lodi clearly had been totally cowed by Clayde, saying whatever he was told to. “Over these years, Duke Patterson had betrayed his country in many ways for his own profit and for his own selfish motives. In these past few months in particular, he initiated a large-scale water-jade smuggling program with the Debs clan. In the entire history of our kingdom, this is the largest water-jade program that has ever existed.”

“Smash!”

The leader of the Debs clan, Bernard, immediately knelt down, his knees smashing into the ground. He hurriedly said, “Your Majesty, I am being framed! Our Debs clan has always operated our businesses in an open, aboveboard manner. We’ve never acted in a way which was against the best interests of the kingdom. Our Debs clan is being framed!”

“Framed?” Clayde flicked a cold glance at Bernard.

“Bring in the Lanseer brothers!”

Upon hearing the words ‘Lanseer brothers’, the face of Bernard, clan leader of the Debs clan, lost all blood.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 14, Imprisoned

For the sake of this water jade smuggling operation, the Debs clan had paid a very high price. Bernard ordered his Third Brother to be responsible for this affair, and the Lanseer brothers were his Third Brother’s right and left hand men.

Standing in the middle of the meeting hall, Linley remained calm. The Shadowmouse, Bebe, also quietly stood on Linley’s shoulders.

The man and the magical beast both just stood there as though nothing were happening, quietly watching it all. Even though he saw the begging look Bernard had trained on him, Linley didn’t react in the slightest.

After a while…

The sound of heavy chains could be heard. Two golden-haired men in shackles entered the meeting hall, under escort from the palace guards. These two men were shackled by the feet and by the hands as well. Just judging from the thickness of those leg-irons, the shackles must have been one or two hundred pounds heavy.

Such heavy shackles were used expressly for collaring those warriors with powerful strength.

“Milord clan leader.”

Upon entering the discussion hall and seeing Bernard who was kneeling on the ground, strange smiles appeared on their faces. They actually called out to Bernard respectfully.

Standing to the side, Linley understood.

Most likely these Lanseer brothers were two of the major leaders in the smuggling operation who most likely had some secret connection with the Debs clan.

“The Debs clan is going to be in trouble now.” Linley just quietly watched.

Seeing those two shackled golden-haired men, Bernard reacted with confusion. “Uh? Lanseer and Langmuir [Lan’mu’er], why have the two of you been imprisoned by his Majesty? Didn’t I give the two of you a 100,000 gold coins a few months ago and tell you to go enjoy life?”

Those two golden-haired men were briefly startled, then they laughed.

“Milord clan leader, are you jesting?” Lanseer laughed.

Next to him, Langmuir snickered as well. “What, lord clan leader, do you still think that you can lie and hide? Forget it. You might as well admit your guilt.”

A look of rage appeared on Bernard’s face. He suddenly rose to his feet, staring angrily at Lanseer and Langmuir. “Lanseer, Langmuir, my Debs clan has raised you and cultivated you since you were little. The two of you should know very well how I have treated you.”

“It’s true, you have treated us brothers very well. But the two of us have also risked our lives for the Debs clan for many years now.” The elder brother, Lanseer, said coldly.

Bernard’s rage grew. With a trembling hand, he pointed at the Lanseer brothers. “The two of you truly forget favors and violate justice. True, you two have worked on behalf of the Debs clan for many years now, but all these years, you have been acting corruptly so as to gain money that belonged to the clan. After that event half a year ago, considering that the two of you had worked for us for so long, I spared your lives and even gave you a 100,000 gold coins and told you to go home and enjoy your lives. But…but you…not only are you not grateful, you’ve now participated in smuggling? And after getting caught, you sully the Debs clan?”

Lanseer and Langmuir were totally caught off-guard, and they stared at Bernard in bewilderment.

“We…we were corrupt? You…you gave us 100,000 gold coins?” Lanseer and Langmuir were totally flabbergasted.

Bernard’s rage exploding, he suddenly turned and knelt before Clayde. His tears cascading onto the ground, he said, “Your Majesty, these two are nothing more than a pair of insatiable wolves. When they were young, I saw that they were two pitiable orphans and so I took them in, and later gave them important positions. But they only acted to shovel my clan’s wealth into their own pockets. Despite that, considering the many years of affection between us, I spared their lives and even gave them 100,000 gold coins. This can be considered to be extremely benevolent and merciful of me. But now? Now they actually come here to sully and frame my Debs clan. They want to destroy the Debs clan! How vicious! Your Majesty, my heart is broken. My heart is broken!”

Seeing the miserable cries of Bernard, many of the nobles in the meeting hall did indeed begin to wonder if Lanseer and Langmuir really were framing the Debs clan.

“Bernard, you…you…” Lanseer and Langmuir were so enraged that their faces turned red, but they weren’t able to say a single word.

How much had these two brothers sacrificed for the Debs clan?

They were even willing to engage in smuggling for the clan, precisely because the two of them didn’t fear death. If it weren’t for the fact that this time, the offer from King Clayde was simply too enticing, they wouldn’t have betrayed the Debs clan.

But everything which Bernard was saying now was false!

“Oh? There’s an event such as this?” Clayde glanced at Bernard.

Clayde could sense that Bernard had come prepared, as otherwise, he wouldn’t have suddenly come up with all these lies. If he were to investigate, most likely he wouldn’t be able to find any flaws.

“Hrmph. It’s a pity that Third Brother of Bernard’s leapt into the river. We weren’t even able to find his corpse. Otherwise, with his Third Brother in front of him, Bernard would have nothing to say.” Clayde was furious.

Smuggling water jade.

Water jade mines were part of the national wealth of the kingdom. Which was to say, it was part of Clayde’s wealth.

Illegally mining and smuggling water jade meant stealing from him, Clayde. Naturally, Clayde would feel furious.

But that Third Brother of Bernard’s had leapt into the river to commit suicide, while Bernard had seemingly been prepared for Lanseer and Langmuir’s betrayal.

“Bernard, I won’t unjustly accuse an innocent man.” Clayde said solemnly.

“Thank you, your Majesty! Thank you, your Majesty!” Bernard’s face was covered with tears.

But Clayde announced coldly, “However, I also won’t forgive a person who has betrayed the interests of his kingdom. Based on the intelligence that I have, it seems that the person responsible for this smuggling operating was your Third Brother.”

“My Third Brother?” Bernard stared questioningly at Clayde.

Clayde stared coldly at Bernard. “What, do you have something to say?”

A wounded look on his face, Bernard said, “Of course I do. Your Majesty, I really don’t know why you said what you just said, but over a year ago, my Third Brother left the Kingdom of Fenlai and began on a training excursion tour to various other countries. Just a few days ago, he sent a letter back to us.”

Clayde’s gaze grew colder.

His men had personally reported that when they were in the process of apprehending Bernard’s Third Brother that the man, being heavily wounded, had elected to throw himself into the river. They couldn’t find any trace of him.

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty! You must deliver justice!”

Bernard cast a furious glare at Lanseer and Langmuir. “You simply cannot believe the lies of these two despicable men and cast aspersions on the heart of a clan which is loyal to the kingdom.”

“Bernard, you! You!” The furious and anxious Lanseer brothers didn’t know what to say.

Clayde suddenly rose to his feet, staring coldly at Bernard. “I’ve already said that I will not unjustly accuse an innocent man, nor forgive a man who has betrayed the interests of his kingdom. Based on the evidence I have at hand, there is at least a suspicion that your Debs clan has betrayed the kingdom. Guards!”

Bernard’s face instantly changed. “Your Majesty! Your Majesty! I am loyal and faithful to the Kingdom!”

Two palace guards rushed into the meeting hall.

“Bernard.” Clayde smiled at Bernard.

Bernard raised his head, looking beseechingly at Clayde, as though he were a child looking at his parents.

“Whether or not your clan is loyal is a question that will only be settled by evidence. I will give you a chance. I will not exterminate your clan right away.”

In his heart, Bernard let out a sigh of relief. What he feared the most was that the Debs clan would instantly be exterminated. “Fortunately, I found those ashes and those remains within the secret room. It gave me the chance to prepare.” Ever since that day, Bernard had been preparing. He had in fact made multiple levels of preparations.

“Guards, deliver Bernard as well as the successor to the Debs clan to the Blackwater Jails. As for this case involving the smuggling operations of the Debs clan, let the Right Premier Merritt [Mei’li’te] investigate.” Clayde ordered.

Immediately, those two guards took Bernard away.

“Your Majesty! I believe in your Majesty’s wisdom!” Bernard called to Clayde, even while being dragged away.

That night, the Greenleaf Road became a very energetic place.

Hoof steps and shouts unabated. Hundreds of knights directly surrounded the Debs clan’s manor, terrifying all of the members of the Debs clan present.

“What are you doing? What are you doing? Do you know what place this is?” Kalan’s second granduncle, the second uncle of Bernard, immediately shouted at those palace guards.

The leader of the knights said coldly, “Do you dare to go against the dictates of his Majesty?”

But this second granduncle only raised his head proudly. “The orders of his Majesty? Who knows if you are falsely claiming that you have an order from his Majesty? Speak! What do you want?”

“Second Granduncle, what’s going on outside?”

By now, many of the members of the Debs clan had rushed over.

Even Alice and Rowling had gotten dressed and rushed over. In the Yulan continent, after the engagement ceremony, the fiancée normally would begin to live with the fiancé. But generally speaking, only after the marriage ceremony would the two of them enter their bridal chambers.

Naturally…

There were cases of people sharing a bedroom prior to the wedding as well, as long as both were willing.

“Big sister Alice, what’s going on outside?” Rowling was holding onto Alice’s hands.

Alice was bewildered as well. “I’m not sure.”

The hundreds of people within the Debs clan’s manor all streamed out, and most of them seemed bewildered. Only the core members of the clan who knew the truth about the smuggling operations began to feel frightened.

This smuggling operation of the Debs clan was an extremely large scale one.

Just to carry out the operation, they had used several tens of millions of gold coins. If they were successful, the profits would be several hundred million gold coins. What the Debs clan’s elders thoughts were, once would be enough.

But it seemed this one operation had proved problematic.

“Big brother Kalan, what’s going on?” Rowling asked Kalan as well.

Kalan shook his head, indicating he didn’t know.

The squad of palace knights had assembled outside the manor. Their leader, the knight-captain, upon seeing so many members of the Debs clan present, withdrew the tablet of command from his clothes, shouting in a bright voice, “His Majesty orders that, as the Debs clan is under suspicion of engaging in the smuggling of water jade, the leader of the Debs clan as well as his successor are to be immediately jailed within the Blackwater Jails.”

Instantly, the faces of every member of the Debs clan changed.

The faces of those core members of the Debs clan turned even more ashen, even paler. But Alice, Rowling, and those other members of the clan only felt astounded and bewildered.

Several guards stepped forward and grabbed Kalan.

“Take him away!”

The leader of the knights shouted.

At this moment, Kalan felt as though his limbs had gone soft. He allowed those guards to march him towards the gate. But once he reached the gate, he suddenly woke up and, turning his head, frantically called out, “Second Granduncle, Alice, you two have to save me, have to save me!”

Allowing Kalan to shout as much as he wanted, those palace guards emotionlessly escorted him off towards the jails.

Alice, Rowling, and the other members of the Debs clan could only watch as Kalan was taken away, unable to help. Their clan was powerful, true, but how could they resist against the king?

By the next morning, the news that the Debs clan was suspected of having engaged in water jade smuggling had spread across the entire noble circle of Fenlai City. Many of the nobles of Fenlai were paying special attention to this matter.

What’s more, this case was being personally handled by the Right Premier of the Kingdom of Fenlai, Duke Merritt.

Within Duke Merritt’s manor.

Lord Duke Merritt was already over seventy years old, but as a fairly powerful warrior, he looked as though he were only in his middle years. His short golden hair was slick and gleamed.

Right now, Duke Merritt was seated on a chair. He casually flicked a glance at his visitor from the Debs clan – the second granduncle of Kalan, Nimitz [Ni’mi’si].

“Lord Merritt, our clan has definitely been unjustly accused. I hope, lord, that you will be just to our clan.”

As he spoke, Nimitz pulled out a book from his side. “Lord Merritt, I know that you love to collect holy scripts. This holy script was issued by the Radiant Church over three thousand years ago. It’s a rather rare one.”

“Oh, a holy script?”

Merritt casually accepted it, but while flipping through it, Merritt suddenly noticed that stuck within the pages, there was a flat card. A flat card produced by the Golden Bank of the Four Empires. A magicrystal card!

A hint of a smile appeared on Merritt’s face.

Nimitz was carefully observing Merritt’s reactions. Merritt closed the holy script, putting it to the side, then smiled. “Nimitz, you should know that aside from holy scripts, I’m also a big fan of sculptures. A while ago, when I saw that ‘Awakening From the Dream’, I liked it very much. During your clan’s engagement ceremony, I saw that Alice. Oh, she looked so very similar to that person in the sculpture. I wonder…if it would be possible for me to have a private chat with Alice.”

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 15, To Be Wronged

Have a private chat with Alice? Whether or not the Debs clan had engaged in the smuggling of water jade, what use would a private chat with Alice be to make that determination? Clearly, this Merritt had other designs. Nimitz was a person with significant worldly experience. Naturally, he knew exactly what was going on.

Nimitz’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Merritt.

But Merritt only casually reclined on his chair, even closing his eyes as he relaxed himself. He didn’t even look at Nimitz. Merritt’s attitude spoke for itself: If you want your family’s ‘grievance’ to be washed clean, then have Alice come talk to me about it.

Nimitz was quiet for a moment, then laughed. “So Lord Merritt is a fan of Master Linley’s ‘Awakening From the Dream’. It is understandable if you want to have a chat with Alice. Fine, I’ll go back and speak with her.”

Upon hearing these words, Merritt opened his eyes, smiling at Nimitz. “Haha, then Nimitz, you can go back now. If Alice is willing to have a good chat with me, I think I will have a better understanding of your Debs clan.”

Nimitz immediately stood up, bowing modestly. “Then Lord Merritt, I take my leave. I entrust the affairs of our Debs clan with you.”

Merritt nodded slightly.

Nimitz immediately departed.

Leaving behind Duke Merritt, alone in that living room.

Toying with his wine cup, Merritt mumbled in a low voice, “My goddess…Alice…” There was a look of satisfaction and anticipation on his face.

As the Right Premier of the Kingdom of Fenlai, and as a Duke, Merritt had an extremely exalted status. The number of people with a higher status than him in the Kingdom of Fenlai could be counted on one hand.

A person like him had experienced virtually any sort of woman he wished.

Merritt really was a lecher, despite being in his seventies. Warriors of his level could live to be over three hundred. Right now, he was only in his seventies and in the prime of his life. Merritt publicly had twelve wives to his name, but there was a common viewpoint amongst nobles; one’s own wives at home weren’t as interesting as having lovers outside, but having lovers outside weren’t as interesting as those you couldn’t get. Those whom you couldn’t get were the best of all.

But given Merritt’s status, there were very few women he was unable to get. At the same time, there were very few women who could truly move him.

But Alice was definitely one.

Ever since that sculpture, ‘Awakening From the Dream’ had become famous, in the hearts of many, the woman of the sculpture had become an untouchable, lofty goddess. For someone of Merritt’s stature, naturally he would deeply desire to get a goddess like Alice beneath his thighs. But this was really too difficult.

But now. An opportunity had come.

“Alice. The goddess?” Merritt was unable to repress his smile. Turning his head up, he drained all of the red wine from his glass.

Sitting within his carriage on the way home, Nimitz was frowning deeply.

Alice was Kalan’s fiancée!

If he were to ask Alice to get meet privately with Merritt, then he definitely would be essentially pushing Alice into a disaster. In the future, when faced with Kalan’s questioning, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But if word of this were to spread, the impact it would have on the Debs clan’s standing would be tremendous.

“Ugh. If the clan is finished, then what will its reputation matter?” Nimitz shook his head, sighing.

Right now, the Debs clan had reached a critical juncture. If the Debs clan was found to have been guilty of smuggling, then the entire clan would be exterminated, and all of its possessions would be taken by the King of Fenlai. Although the Debs clan had left behind some roots outside the kingdom, preventing it from being totally wiped out, almost all of its possessions were in the Kingdom of Fenlai.

If it was all lost, who knew how many years it would be before the Debs clan would return to its former glory?

Compared to the clan’s future, a little bit of mockery and humiliation wasn’t a big deal. After all, since when did the circle of nobles lack for embarrassing stories?

“But this has to be of Alice’s own free will.” Nimitz was a bit worried. “I can’t forcibly deliver her to the Right Premier’s manor, after all.”

Nimitz didn’t care at all about Alice’s purity. She was just a woman, after all!

But Nimitz knew…

“This Alice has a special relationship with Linley. If I were to force her, and then Linley found out…” Just thinking about it made Nimitz frightened. Linley had a very special status within the Kingdom of Fenlai.

Although he had the rank of Marquis, in actuality, Linley belonged to the Radiant Church. In the past, when Clayde had invited Linley to join the ranks of the nobles in the Kingdom of Fenlai, he had even said that between the two of them, there was no need to observe the normal protocols between king and subject.

Clearly, Clayde desired to pull Linley closer to him.

And all of the nobles of the Kingdom of Fenlai knew that if Linley were willing, he could probably easily become a Vicar of the Radiant Church. In a few dozen years, it would be quite natural for Linley to become a Cardinal.

The status of a Cardinal was even higher than that of the King!

“Can’t force her.” Nimitz felt a headache coming. He was worried that Alice would refuse. He pondered things from Linley’s point of view.

Alice was, after all, previously Linley’s first love! If he, Nimitz, were to force Alice to meet Merritt, and she were to lose her chastity, how could Linley not explode with rage?

Within the Debs clan’s manor.

The clan hall was filled with many members of the Debs clan. Alice and Rowling were there as well. All of them were awaiting the return of Nimitz.

They were all worrying about the future of the Debs clan!

“Second Uncle is back! Second Uncle is back!” A middle-aged man standing in the doorway saw Nimitz and began to call out.

Instantly, all of the members of the Debs clan rushed out towards Nimitz en masse. Alice and Rowling exchanged glances, then rose and went to welcome him as well.

“Second Uncle, what’s the situation?”

Nimitz looked at the group of people in front of him. Squeezing out a smile, he said, “The situation isn’t too bad yet. Everyone, go back to your residences. Alice, stay. I need to talk to you.”

Within the clan, Nimitz had a great deal of authority. Hearing his words, everyone departed.

Alice was somewhat confused, confused as to what Nimitz wanted to talk to her about.

“Big sister Alice, I’ll go back to my room now.” Rowling waved towards Alice and said in a quiet voice. A short period of time later, the person left in the hall was Alice.

Nimitz stepped into the hall.

“Second Granduncle, what’s wrong?” Alice stuttered.

Nimitz looked at Alice. Suddenly, he smiled warmly towards her. “Alice, don’t be nervous. Sit down first. Let’s have a good talk.” As he spoke, Nimitz sat down as well.

Why was Nimitz, who previously was so stern to her, who seemed to always look down on her, being so warm to her now?

Alice couldn’t help but feel suspicious.

“Come, sit.” Nimitz’s smile was so kind, so warm.

Alice nervously sat down.

Nimitz let out a long breath. Worry appeared between his brows. “Alice, we didn’t expect that this would happen so soon after you and Kalan got engaged. I don’t know who is secretly framing our Debs clan. If I did, I would kill him.” A baleful aura appeared on Nimitz’s face, but then it transformed into a look of helplessness. “But right now, the most important thing is to cleanse this stain from our name, and rescue Kalan and Bernard.”

Alice nodded.

But in her heart, Alice was suspicious. “Why is Second Granduncle saying these things to me?”

Staring at Alice, Nimitz said with sincerity, “Alice, there is something I must beg of you.”

“Beg me?” Alice was so startled, she rose to her feet.

Such as Nimitz’s standing within the clan that even the clan leader would be respectful to him. But now, Nimitz was saying that he had to beg her to do something. How could Alice not be shocked?

“Alice, Lord Merritt is in charge of investigating this allegation that the Debs clan was engaged in the smuggling of water jade. Lord Merritt is very intrigued by you and wants to meet with you privately.”

Nimitz said urgently to her, “Alice, this is a rare, wonderful opportunity to improve our relationship with him. Only by managing to have a good relationship with Lord Merritt would you be able to help our clan. Alice, you grew up alongside Kalan. You don’t want to see him in jail either, right?”

Alice was stunned.

A private meeting?

Alice was someone who had lived in a noble clan as well, and knew all too well about the shameful things which occurred amongst the nobility. She instantly could guess that this meeting with Lord Merritt would be more than a simple meeting.

“I…I…” Alice stuttered.

Nimitz begged, “Alice, our entire Debs clan is relying on you. I can even guarantee that so long as you can pull Lord Merritt to our side, you will be Kalan’s principal wife.”

Alice felt as though her mind was in shambles.

Alice was still pure and chaste of body.

She had refused to cross that last barrier with both Linley and Kalan. Even after getting engaged to Kalan, Alice still insisted on being married before she would enter the bridal bed with him.

But now she had to go deal with Lord Merritt…

“Alice, I’m begging you.” Nimitz gritted his teeth, leaving his chair and falling to his knees before her. “Alice, Kalan’s life is in your hands.”

“Kalan’s life?” Alice trembled.

Kalan had grown up alongside her. In recent days, in the face of ridicule and scorn from the other members of the Debs clan, it had been Kalan who protected her.

“Alright. I agree.” Alice gritted her teeth.

A look of surprised joy appeared on Nimitz’s face, then he hurriedly said, “Wonderful. How about this. Tomorrow at dusk, I’ll arrange for you to be brought to Lord Merritt’s manor.”

But right now, Alice’s face was extremely pale. She didn’t respond at all.

That next evening. Escorted by twelve knights, a carriage departed from the Debs clan’s manor, slowly rolling towards the manor of Lord Merritt. Within the carriage was only one person. Alice.

Alice quietly sat within the carriage, chewing on her lips. Her nervous hands were tightly gripping her dress.

The carriage continued to roll forward. Quite soon, it arrived at the main gate to Lord Merritt’s manor.

“Miss Alice, we’re here.” The voice of the carriage driver rang out from outside.

Hearing his words, Alice’s heart trembled. Her right hand drifted down to her waist. The firmness of the steel dagger by her side helped to slightly calm her mind down.

Taking a deep breath, Alice pushed open the carriage to the door and stepped out.

Within the welcoming hall of Lord Merritt’s manor.

Wearing a jacket on top and a skirt beneath, Alice was dressed relatively conservatively. Step by step, Alice managed to enter the hall relatively calmly. Alice looked around her, but saw nobody there within the hall.

“Hrm?” Alice couldn’t help but frown.

Just at this moment, a female attendant ran over. Respectfully, she said, “Miss Alice, the Lord Duke is in his study and would like to invite you there as well.”

“His study?” Alice shuddered slightly.

But under the urging gaze of the attendant, Alice still began to walk forwards with her.

The study was in a very quiet, secluded area. There were very few people here. Arriving at the door to the study, Alice saw a seemingly middle-aged, golden-haired man standing in front of a study desk, staring at some papers.

“This is Merritt?” Seeing Merritt, Alice’s first impression was that this was a very fierce person. Even when he sat down at his desk, his back was ramrod straight, and his eyes were sharp.

“Lord Duke, Miss Alice has arrived.” That female attendant said respectfully.

Only now did Merritt raise his head. Seeing Alice, he excitedly rose to his feet. “Haha, Miss Alice, you came? I’ve waited for quite a long time. Come, Miss Alice, please sit.” As he spoke, he left his seat and walked towards Alice.

Alice stepped into the study.

Alice looked around her. Towards the right side of the study, there were many bookshelves, covered with countless books. On the left side of the study, there was a bed.

“Often, when I’m reading or taking care of government affairs, I’ll get tired and will rest there.” Duke Merritt said with a smile. At the same time, he walked towards the study door and shut it.

Seeing the door to the study shut, leaving behind only her and Merritt in the room, Alice grew nervous.

“Lord Merritt, it’s better if we leave the door to the study open. I’m not accustomed to dark environments.” Alice hurriedly said.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 16, Limits

As he closed the door to the study, Merritt heard Alice’s words. He couldn’t help but turn to Alice with a smile. “Miss Alice, we’re going to discuss the affairs of the Debs clan. We can’t discuss those openly and publicly, can we? If his Majesty were to find out, then I would be in serious trouble. You should know that I’m taking on serious risks on behalf of your Debs clan. Best we leave the door closed.”

Alice was stunned.

In terms of wordplay, how could Alice match this Lord Merritt, who had engaged in the highest levels of court intrigue for so long?

Smiling, Merritt walked past her. In front of the bookshelf, there were two chairs around a round table. Merritt would often chat with some of his friends here.

Merritt first sat down, then looked at Alice. “Alice, you should sit.”

“Thank you, Lord Merritt.” Alice secretly let out a sigh of relief, then sat down on the opposite chair. The thing which made Alice the most nervous in this study was that bed.

“Please wait a moment.”

Smiling, Merritt rose to his feet, then pulled out a bottle of red wine and two wine cups. He poured himself and Alice a cup of wine each.

“Alice, this is the Bluerain red wine from the Yulan Empire, a sixty-year old vintage. The flavor isn’t bad. Have a taste.” Merritt smiled as he raised his glass to her.

Alice was somewhat afraid that some sort of knockout drug had been mixed into the wine. But, under Merritt’s gaze, Alice was forced to raise her own glass as well. Only, she just barely touched the wine with her lips.

Merritt didn’t force her. Changing the topic, he said, “Alice, you and Kalan have already become engaged. I expect you know quite a bit about the affairs of the Debs clan. Did you know they were engaged in smuggling?”

“No, I didn’t. I think Kalan wouldn’t engage in smuggling.” Alice hurriedly said. “Lord Merritt, the Debs clan is quite powerful. I think they wouldn’t engage in this smuggling business.”

With a smile that wasn’t a smile, Merritt looked at Alice. “Hard to say.”

“Ah!”

Merritt seemed to have seen something, and all of a sudden, he moved next to Alice, so close that his face was mere centimeters away from Alice’s face.

Startled, Alice hurriedly retreated.

“Don’t move.” Merritt’s shouted carried a hint of a command.

Born from long years of being accustomed to power, Merritt’s commanding voice froze Alice in her tracks, as ill at ease as she was. Merritt carefully inspected Alice’s hair, then looked down at Alice.

Upon lowering his head, his face was now only a few centimeters away from Alice’s. This made Alice hurriedly bend her head away from him.

Seeing this, Merritt laughed, then returned to his original seat. He let out a helpless sigh. “Just then, I saw a single white hair on your head, but after you moved, I couldn’t see it anymore.”

A strand of white hair?

In her heart, Alice began to grow irritated. She lived together with Rowling now, and every morning, when they were bored, they would comb each other’s hair. Often, she would find some white hairs on Rowling’s head. But Rowling often expressed envy towards Alice, as she could never find white hair on Alice’s head.

Rowling couldn’t find any white hair despite combing Alice’s hair every day. How could Merritt have found any?

But Alice didn’t dare to say this.

“Alice, you are still young. Don’t be too upset. If you are upset, you’ll age faster, and thus have white hair.” Merritt said solicitously.

Alice only quietly listened to him as he spoke.

Merritt nudged his chair in Alice’s direction, then fixed his gaze upon Alice. “Alice, you are quite beautiful, you know. Your charm and aura of refinement is really quite mesmerizing to behold.”

Alice couldn’t help but feel shy and nervous.

Merritt leaned forward slightly, staring intensely at Alice. “Alice. Those wives of mine, all they care about are superficial things like money and glory. They seem so vulgar, so low. But you are totally different. Truly, you are, you know. The very first time I saw you, I was stunned.”

“I very much regret that I ended up marrying women such as them.” Merritt suddenly reached out and held Alice’s hand. Alice’s eyes suddenly widened. Merritt continued to look at Alice. “Alice, if I…if I were to tell you that I love you from the bottom of my heart, that I am smitten with you, would you believe me?”

Alice hurriedly stood up…but Merritt maintained his tight grip on her hand.

“Lord Merrit, Lord Merritt. I’m the fiancée of Kalan!” Alice struggled, and only after three attempts was she able to break free from Merritt’s grip.

Merritt looked at Alice with a smile. “As you say, you are only a fiancée, which means you aren’t married yet. You totally can marry another. As for Kalan, what does a kid like him know about having fun?”

As he spoke, Merritt once more moved nearer to Alice, while Alice continued to move back.

But in her nervousness, Alice didn’t notice in the slightest that Merritt was pressuring her into the direction of the bed.

“Alice. I really have fallen for you. I swear!” Merritt stared soulfully at Alice.

Merritt wasn’t lying. Over the course of admiring the sculpture ‘Awakening From the Dream’, and then upon seeing Alice herself, he really did fall for Alice. But this sort of ‘falling for’ was only a desire to possess.

“Lord Merritt!” Alice was growing frantic.

Suddenly, Alice’s back legs collided with the bed. Knocked off balance, Alice fell backwards onto the mattress.

A hint of a smile appeared on Merritt’s face. He immediately threw himself on top of Alice, all but pressing his body against hers. “Alice, my goddess, please satisfy the desires of this mortal who has been mesmerized by you. If you satisfy my desires, I’ll satisfy yours as well and clear the unjust stains from the Debs clan.”

Clear the stains of the Debs clan?

Staring at Merritt who was right on top of her, Alice couldn’t help but suddenly think back to a night she had been with Linley at a small hotel. The two of them had entangled themselves lustfully, but at the very end, she had stopped Linley.

How could she give up her chastity to this man in front of her?

“My goddess, come to me.” Merritt’s voice was very soft, as though he was trying to hypnotize her.

“No. No!”

Alice suddenly pulled the dagger from her waist and thrust it at Merritt. At the same time, the stones on the floor flew at Merritt.

Alice was an earth-style magus, after all!

But Merritt himself was a powerful warrior. His reflexes were very fast, and he quickly dodged to one side while at the same time slapping the dagger out of Alice’s hand.

Alice instantly dodged towards the other side, running for the door.

But with a flicker of his body, Merritt appeared between her and the door. With a smile that was not a smile on his face, he looked at Alice. “Alice. Do you still want to resist? Based on your prowess as a magus and that little knife, you want to resist me?”

“Lord Merritt, let me leave.” By now, Alice was firm in her resolve.

“You no longer wish to save the Debs clan? You don’t wish to save your fiancé, Kalan?” Merritt asked.

Alice’s eyes were determined. Gritting her teeth, she said, “Although I do wish to save them, this is not the way to do it. You beast!”

“Beast?” The expression on Merritt’s face changed. He coldly said, “Originally, I wanted for the mood to be a bit more romantic, but since you refuse to cooperate, then I’ll show you what a beast really looks like.”

Alice’s face turned pale.

“Merritt. Don’t go too far.” Frightened, Alice quickly retreated, grabbing the chair next to her and smashing it at Merritt.

With a single fist, Merritt easily broke the chair apart.

“Don’t resist. This place…is my manor.” Merritt said with a soft laugh.

Watching Merritt draw step by step closer to her, Alice gritted her teeth and said wildly, “Merritt! You’d best not forget that I once was Linley’s woman!”

These words halted Merritt in his tracks, stunning him.

Alice really did not want to say these words. She knew that her actions of the past had wounded Linley very deeply, and she didn’t want to have anything more to do with him. But at this point in time, she could think of no other way.

“Linley?” Standing there without moving, Merritt frowned.

Biting her lips, Alice stared at Merritt. “Merritt, I can pretend that nothing at all happened today. But if you go too far, then don’t blame me when I also go all-out afterwards. I trust you know how influential Linley is now.”

Merritt looked at Alice.

He really had been enchanted by Alice, but Merritt knew very well that Linley’s relationship with Alice was very special. Just from looking at that sculpture, ‘Awakening From the Dream’, one could tell how deep Linley’s affection for Alice had been.

“Linley’s feelings towards Alice really were in the realm of true love. If Linley were to find out…” Merritt’s head began to hurt.

Linley.

Very hard to deal with!

The current Linley already possessed incredible influence. Although he, Merritt, was powerful, in the end he was only the Right Premier of a single kingdom. To the Radiant Church, perhaps deposing one of the rulers of a kingdom was something it would do only after serious consideration, but they wouldn’t even think twice before dealing with the Right Premier of a kingdom.

All Linley had to do was to ask the Radiant Church for their assistance. Dealing with him, a Right Premier, wouldn’t be a problem.

But in the future, Linley would only be more formidable. This was one of the reasons why not a single member of the nobles of the Kingdom of Fenlai had dared to plot against Linley or make attempts against Linley’s life, which was why, in front of Linley, they all behaved so courteously.

“Alas…” Merritt let out a long sigh. “Alice, I really, truly, have fallen for you from the depths of my heart, so much so that I lost my sense of rationality.”

Merritt smiled apologetically at Alice. “I apologize. I’ve come back to my senses now. Since you aren’t willing or able to have feelings for me, of course I cannot force myself on.”

“Lord Merritt, I’ll take my leave, then.” Alice quickly scurried to the door, opened it, then rushed out.

Seeing Alice depart, the apologetic look dropped from Merritt’s face, and his gaze grew vicious and cold. With a cold sneer, he spat out the word, “*****!”

By the time Alice had returned to the Debs clan manor, it was now totally dark.

Right now, all of the members of the Debs clan were in the middle of the main hall, eating dinner. Only, the atmosphere wasn’t very good. The clan could be exterminated at any time, after all.

“Alice. You returned?” Rowling suddenly saw Alice running inside.

Nimitz and the others all stood up as well.

“As fast as that?” Nimitz frowned. Alice had come back far too early, much earlier than he had expected.

“Alice, eat dinner with us.” Rowling immediately called to her.

On the walkway past the main hall, Alice glanced at the people inside and said apologetically, “I’m not feeling well. I’ll go back to my room and rest first.” Alice’s voice was very low and hoarse.

Rowling felt that Alice wasn’t acting normally.

“Let me go see how Alice is doing.” Rowling smiled at everyone, then left the hall, leaving behind Nimitz, who was frowning with suspicion.

Alice and Rowling, in their room.

Upon entering the room, Alice had immediately thrown herself into her bed. She could no longer hold back her tears, which poured out. Her heart was filled with wrongs and injustices.

“What did I do wrong? Lord, why must you punish me so?”

Alice was howling with rage in her heart.

“I never asked for much, only that I could have a simple, peaceful life. I want my parents to have a peaceful life, for myself to have a peaceful life. Why, why must you punish me so?” Alice’s heart was filled with misery. True, the Debs clan perhaps was going to be finished.

But what did that have to do with her?

Why did they have to send her to deal with Merritt?

Why did she have to be forced to the point where she had to shout out the words, “I once was Linley’s woman?” How difficult had it been for her to force these words out! Alice truly hadn’t wanted to say that!

“Big sister Alice, what happened?” Rowling ran into the room. Seeing Alice sobbing to the point where there was a huge wet spot on the bed, Rowling grew frantic with worry.

Rowling immediately went over and began to stroke Alice’s back. “Don’t cry, don’t cry. Whatever it is, you can tell me. Tell me.”

Alice immediately turned and threw herself into Rowling’s arms, bawling even more fiercely. It wasn’t as bad without anyone there to comfort her, but now that someone had come, Alice felt all the more aggrieved and wronged.

Rowling comforted Alice for more than half an hour before Alice finally became somewhat calmer.

“Big sister Alice, what exactly happened? Tell me.” Rowling looked at Alice.

Alice took a deep breath, then slowly explained the injustice that had been done to her. “Little Rowling, you are also aware of the current situation with the Debs clan. Yesterday, Second Granduncle came and wanted to have a private chat with me. He wanted me to…”

The more she heard, the more fury Rowling felt.

She was angry at Nimitz’s behavior. She was angry for what Alice had suffered. And she felt rage towards that beast-like Merritt’s behavior. At the same time, she felt sympathy for Alice.

“I don’t want to get involved, get involved anymore. I just want to live out a peaceful life.” Alice said, sobbing sporadically.

Over these past few days, Rowling had been considering what the best way to help the Debs clan was. But upon hearing Alice’s story, she suddenly understood a few things.

“Big sister Alice, don’t be sad. No matter what, you definitely cannot let that Merritt destroy your chastity.” Rowling comforted her.

Alice nodded.

“But we still have to come up with a way to save Kalan and the others.” Rowling said. “Big brother Kalan is our fiancé, after all.”

Alice also wanted to save him, but she didn’t know how.

“We still have an option.” Rowling looked at Alice. “But…I don’t know if you would be willing to take it, sister Alice.”

“Rowling…” Looking at Rowling, Alice had already guessed what she was going to say.

Rowling nodded. “Right. Go ask Linley for help. Today, as soon as you mentioned his name, that Merritt no longer dared to touch you. Clearly, Linley is extremely influential. Based on what I know, not only does Linley have a relationship with the Radiant Church, he also has a relationship with the Dawson Conglomerate. Even his Majesty, King Clayde, treats Linley as he would a friend, rather than an ordinary subject. If Linley is willing to speak out, we would have a much greater chance of rescuing big brother Kalan.”

Currently, in the Kingdom of Fenlai, without question, people were more willing to defer to Linley than to anyone else.

Even the Left Premier and the Right Premier couldn’t compare with him.

Because, as one could easily tell, in the future Linley would be a high level person within the Radiant Church. Even right now, he was viewed as an extremely important potential talent who needed to be cultivated and trained. For the sake of Linley, those two Cardinals of the Radiant Church had even gone to Hogg’s funeral and paid their respects to him. From this, one could easily see how important they viewed Linley as being.

“Big brother Linley?” Alice’s emotions were very mixed.

In truth, in Alice’s heart, she knew this was a possibility long ago, but she didn’t want to confront it. She truly didn’t wish to go beg Linley. She felt that she didn’t have the face to see him again.

She knew that she had wounded Linley too heavily. That moment when she had seen that sculpture, ‘Awakening From the Dream’, Alice understood how deeply Linley loved her. Or at least, how deeply he had once loved her.

She was ashamed to meet him!

“Big sister Alice, I understand your feelings.” Rowling tightly gripped Alice by the hands. “But, big sister Alice, big brother Kalan and his father are very likely to lose their lives. I beg you, please just suffer a bit on our behalf. At least Linley won’t act the way that Merritt did.”

Alice’s heart was filled with pain.

“No face? Is my self-respect more important, or are the lives of big brother Kalan and his father more important?” Alice asked herself this question. She had no other choice.

“Big sister Alice.” Rowling stared beseechingly at Alice.

Alice took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. Looking at Rowling, she nodded. “Alright. I’ll go see big brother Linley tomorrow.”

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 17, The Plea

At the manor of the Prime Court Magus. Within the Hot Springs Garden.

An earthen glow emanated from a patch of grass within the Hot Springs Garden. Earth-style magic – Supergravity Field. Right now, Linley was dressed only in a pair of long pants, his upper body bare as he trained in the grass.

Those muscles on his bare upper body rippled like water. There wasn’t a trace of excess flesh. Right now, Linley’s body, organs, veins, and arteries were all being forced to withstand a gravity four times stronger than normal.

Fortunately, after becoming a Dragonblood Warrior, Linley’s body had reached new heights in power.

Linley’s legs were arched in a bow-drawing stance, and his two hands were raised parallel by his sides, each holding up a giant boulder. Each of these boulders weighed over a hundred pounds. Under the quadruple gravity field, the two combined weighed nearly a thousand pounds.

His legs as taut as steel cables, Linley’s body was as straight as a quill. His gaze, fixed in front of him, didn’t waver either.

One drop of sweat after another rolled down Linley’s body, covering his entire body in sweat. But Linley persevered….

Despite being designated the Prime Court Magus for the kingdom, Linley continued to train non-stop every day. His guards stood solemnly outside, alongside two female attendants who were ready to answer Linley’s call at any moment. The door to the Hot Springs Garden, however, was closed.

Whenever Linley was training, no one was permitted to enter.

Once, his majesty King Clayde, ruler of Fenlai, had come to the manor. The palace attendant ignored the guards at the Hot Springs Garden and charged in directly, instructing Linley to meet with his Majesty. Linley immediately issued an order for that attendant to receive twenty strikes of the military rod. That physically weak attendant ended up being beaten to death.

But afterwards, King Clayde didn’t blame Linley in the slightest. On the contrary, he berated his subordinates, telling them that while at the Hot Springs Garden, they absolutely must obey Linley’s rules.

“Lord Linley always is so hard-working when he trains. He’s spent an entire day in there. When he’s not engaging in warrior training, he is engaging in magus training. I think the only time he ever rests is the time he spends in his stonesculpting.” One female attendant said in a low voice. The other female attendant also nodded. “I’ve never seen such a hard-working noble before. In the previous household I worked for, the instructor for the warriors himself only spent four hours a day training.”

The nearby guardian knights of the Radiant Church also felt a great deal of admiration for Linley. Most geniuses, after their initial glory, would begin to fall behind. Each year, the Radiant Church would train a good number of geniuses. However, not only were none of those geniuses as outstanding as Linley, once their status had risen, they would become totally distracted by the material pleasures of the world and fall behind.

“If Lord Linley continues like this, in all likelihood, he will be the youngest combatant of the ninth rank in history, and the youngest Saint-level in history as well.” One of the guardian knights said softly.

The other guardian knight also nodded.

All of these people very much admired Linley’s painstaking diligence in training.

Only….“Lord Linley is a bit too strict and severe.” One of the female attendants said in an unhappy voice.

In their hearts, Linley was handsome, young, had high standards for himself, and powerful. He had a future! A person like him could be considered to be all but perfect. Only, he was extremely severe towards others. Even when dealing with female servants like them, he didn’t act with any gentleness or affection.

What these people didn’t know was that although Linley did engage in stonesculpting, he wasn’t really resting; when he was stonesculpting, he was increasing his spiritual energy at the fastest rate possible! Linley’s was increasing his power at every moment!

Within the Hot Springs Garden.

“Whew.”

An hour of warrior’s training had come to an end. Linley began to activate the Dragonblood battle-qi in his body, and that tired, weary feeling disappeared. From a nearby box, Linley withdrew a straight chisel, then walked over to one of those two boulders he had dropped onto the grass. These were used by Linley when stonesculpting.

Staring at these boulders and their internal lines and structure, Linley began to mentally design a sculpture. In the blink of an eye, a mental image of a warrior’s face was formed.

A hint of a smile on his face, the straight chisel in Linley’s hand began to move.

In a very rhythmic pattern, the straight chisel flew and chopped about, causing shattered bits of stone to fly everywhere. Linley knew exactly what he was doing, and so each chop was made with absolute confidence, and the strength he used was just right.

What a wonderful feeling!

Linley’s spirit became submerged within the ebbs and vibrations of the surrounding earth elemental essence, allowing him to sense the lines and cracks of the stone. Linley’s spirit also submerged into the surrounding wind elemental essence, allowing every single stroke of the knife to reach the peak of perfection in accuracy.

Nature!

Linley’s soul had become one with nature, and like a benevolent mother, nature surrounded Linley’s soul, allowing it to grow, to strengthen.

“Whew.”

Letting out a breath, Linley withdrew his straight chisel.

After spending two hours, this giant boulder had been transformed into a rough outline. As for the fine details, Linley planned to finish those tomorrow. Every day, Linley set limits on how much time he could spend on his stonesculpting.

He had to use the right complement of training regimes to achieve the maximum effect in terms of raising his power!

Training started every day at five in the morning, while now, it was eight o’clock. It was time for Linley to eat breakfast.

Putting down his straight chisel, Linley stepped out of his pants and into the hot springs pool. Lying within the hot springs, feeling the hot springs water rush against his muscles, Linley closed his eyes comfortably, finally allowing himself some time to rest.

“Enter.” Linley suddenly shouted.

Those two female attendants who had been quietly standing outside the door this entire time immediately entered with two trays. Those round trays were covered with all sorts of delicacies and fruits.

“Lord Linley.” Those two female attendants put the two round trays down on the nearby table, then respectfully awaited Linley’s commands.

While obediently standing to the side, those two female attendants couldn’t help but sneak peeks at Linley. Linley’s naked, muscular, reclining male body was indeed a source of fascination to them.

“You can go for now.”

Linley said calmly.

“Yes, milord.” The two female attendants immediately left respectfully.

From start to finish, Linley had not glanced at them even once.

Next, Linley stepped out of the pool, put on a set of clean underwear and clothes, then sat on a chair and began to eat breakfast.

“Swish.” A black shadow rushed out from the faraway grassy fields. It was Bebe. Before this, when Linley was training and stonesculpting, Bebe was napping.

“Boss, it’s time for breakfast, eh? Alright, this big piece of roast meat is mine.” Bebe’s eyes instantly were drawn to a particular large piece of roasted magical beast meat.”

Linley chuckled.

“Grandpa Doehring, do we really have no method available to us to deal with that Clayde at present?” Linley mentally said to Doehring Cowart.

Doehring Cowart flew out of the Coiling Dragon ring. Seating himself on another chair, he smiled at Linley. “Linley. Clayde is a warrior of the ninth rank. The gap between the two of you is too vast. Even if you assume the complete Dragonform, you are only a warrior of the early-stage eighth rank. Oh, wait, now that you are currently a late-stage warrior of the sixth rank, when you assume the Dragonform, you can be considered to be a late-stage warrior of the eighth rank. But nonetheless, you are far from being a match for Clayde.”

Linley felt very unwilling to accept this. He knew, now, that the person who had instructed his mother to be abducted by Duke Patterson was King Clayde. But right now, he had no chance of dealing with Clayde at all.

“The only choice I have is to continue training hard.” Linley unconsciously balled his fists, with the fork in his hands warping from his strength.

In the early ranks, the extra boost provided by the Dragonform transformation was especially large. As a warrior of the late-stage sixth rank, based on his current training regime, in about half a year, there was hope for Linley to reach the seventh rank. Upon reaching the seventh rank of power, when using the Dragonform, Linley would be able to step into the early-stage ninth rank.

“Lord Linley.” The voice of a female attendant could be heard from outside.

“Come in.” Linley said calmly.

Only now did the female attendant rush in. Respectfully, she said, “Lord Linley, outside, there’s a young lady named Alice who wishes to meet you.”

“Alice?” Linley’s eyelids flickered. He looked at the female attendant. “Bring her to the guest hall. I will be there shortly.” Linley stood up as he spoke.

“Yes, Lord Linley.” The female attendant didn’t dare to tease Linley in the slightest. They all knew how legendarily severe Linley was with his subordinates.

……

Alice was clutching a glass of water, seeming very ill at ease. For her to come beg Linley was asking a lot of her. But she had no other choice.

Footsteps could be heard.

Alice’s entire body shook, and she immediately turned her head to look.

Dressed in a loose, long robe, Linley smiled as he entered from an inner hall. Seeing Alice look at him, he immediately nodded and smiled back. “Alice, long time no see.” As he spoke, Linley sat down at the host’s seat.

Alice could clearly feel that Linley’s attitude was now totally different from a year ago. A year ago, Linley was still very young and immature.

But now, Linley carried himself with the unconscious noble grace and poise. Just from that faint smile, one could sense his grandeur, a grandeur which only came from someone being assured of his high status.

“Big brother Linley.” Alice forced her voice to sound calm, but even despite that, her voice still trembled slightly.

“Would you like to eat some fruit? I remember that you loved to eat olives.” Linley glanced at one of his female attendants.

A short time later, the female attendant returned with a plate of fruit.

“Thank you.” Alice picked up an olive and took a small bite. At this moment, Alice couldn’t help but think back to when she and Linley had eaten olives together. Back then, Linley had fed them to her.

Alice couldn’t help but turn to look up at Linley, only to find that Linley was smiling at her.

“Big brother Linley.” Alice put down the fruit, looking at Linley. “There’s something I want to ask your help with.”

“You need my help?” Linley had already guessed at the reason behind this visit of Alice’s.

“Go ahead.” Linley said directly.

Alice took a deep breath, then looked at Linley seriously. “Big brother Linley, you already know about what is happening with Kalan’s clan. I think…Kalan and the others are innocent. I hope you, big brother Linley, can help them and say a few words on their behalf to his Majesty. I hope you can wash away these unjust accusations and return their innocence to them. I know that his Majesty will definitely give you face.”

Linley couldn’t help but laugh helplessly.

Innocence?

Others might not be aware, but how could he, who had killed Patterson, be unaware? When he had killed Patterson, Patterson had personally told him about this smuggling affair. There was an 80% to 90% chance that this was with regards to the Debs clan!

“Wash away these unjust accusations? Why do you believe they are innocent? Alice, how much do you really know about the Debs clan?” Linley looked at Alice.

Alice was startled.

It had taken her a tremendous amount of courage to force out those words just now. But after Linley answered her with a question, she had a feeling…that Linley wasn’t going to help!

She suddenly wanted to cry. She felt extremely miserable.

Alice stood up. Curtseying towards Linley, she said, “Big brother Linley, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here today. I know that in the past, I hurt you very deeply. For me to come now and ask you to help save the Debs clan is really excessive of me. It’s okay if you don’t help. I won’t blame you.” As Alice saw it, Linley and Kalan were rivals in love. It was already very kind of Linley not to throw more stones in the drying well, to kick him when he was down.

As he looked at Alice, Linley’s heart was very calm

With regards to his failed relationship with his first love, Linley now regarded it only as a bygone dream. The current Linley had already experienced the battle in the Foggy Valley, the transformation into a Dragonblood Warrior, and the death of his father. And now, he had embarked on a dark road of vengeance!

On the road to vengeance, the thing which Linley had to do was to suppress himself, to be cruel, to be cold, to not slacken in the slightest. The current Linley was, mentally, far stronger than he had been a year ago, and far more mature as well. That young, naïve Linley of a year ago couldn’t compare at all to the current Linley. He also wasn’t the Linley that Alice thought he was.

After having experienced so much, he had matured! Linley had experienced far too much!

“Big brother Linley, I’ll leave now.” Alice immediately stood to leave, her tears at the precipice of coming out.

“Alice.” Linley stood up as well, stretching his hand out and resting it against Alice’s shoulders.

Alice turned her head to stare at Linley in amazement. Linley was gazing at her. In a serious voice, he said, “Alice, there’s so much that you don’t know. Whether or not the Debs clan is innocent isn’t something that you can determine. However, since you made up your mind to come ask me for help, I won’t just stand by and watch. But…whether or not I’ll be able to succeed in saving them is another question.”

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 18, The Visit

Alice felt her heart suddenly tremble. A warm feeling suddenly rushed into her heart, a sensation of thankfulness mixed with a boundless regret.

“Big brother Linley, thank you. Thank you.” Alice couldn’t help but repeat herself. Her tears were already beginning to shimmer in her eyes. The tears of excitement.

Linley smiled. “Go back. This afternoon, I’ll pay a visit to his Majesty at his palace.”

Linley could feel that right now, his heart was very calm when he saw Alice. When seeing Alice, all he was seeing was a female friend whom he was on good terms with. Nothing more.

“Alright. Thank you.” Alice glanced at Linley one more time, then turned her head and left, her thoughts extremely complicated.

Originally, Alice was afraid that because in the past, she had hurt Linley, Linley would feel hatred for Kalan, which would cause Linley not to help save Kalan. But Linley’s reaction had been totally out of her expectations. Linley wasn’t agitated at all. He was very calm.

Watching Alice’s departing back, Linley sat down. Grabbing a fruit, he began to casually eat it. At this time, Bebe popped out as well.

“Boss, you’re gonna help that Alice? If it were me, I would’ve kicked her out long ago. Heck, it’s enough that you didn’t just slap her to death with one palm!” Bebe said unhappily.

Linley glanced at Bebe. “Bebe, humans aren’t magical beasts.”

At this time, Doehring Cowart flew out of the Coiling Dragon ring. Looking at Linley with an approving gaze, he said, “Linley, you performed very well. I was a bit worried that you’d have a child’s temper and shoo her away, throwing another stone into a drying well.”

“A child’s temper?” Linley was startled.

In Doehring Cowart’s eyes, such behavior was indeed that of a child.

“That’s right. Women, psh. They are all over the place.” Doehring Cowart chuckled.

Linley was instantly speechless. He was very much not in favor of Doehring Cowart’s viewpoint on women, which was rather similar to the viewpoints of Yale and Reynolds.

“Alright, enough chat. I need to continue my training.” Linley immediately rose and returned to the Hot Springs Garden.

As far as Linley was considered, Alice was nothing more than a side-episode, incapable of affecting his mood. Right now, the only thing Linley cared about was…avenging his father.

…..

“His Majesty is in his study, laboring over affairs of state. Lord Linley, please come with me to the study.” The palace attendant said respectfully.

Linley nodded.

Bebe standing on his shoulders, Linley followed the attendant towards the study. After a while, they finally arrived.

“Your Majesty! Lord Linley has arrived!” The palace attendant called out loudly from outside the door to the study.

Clayde, who had been absorbed in reading some texts, raised his head. When his tiger-like gaze landed upon Linley, his eyes shone excitedly. Laughing loudly, he said, “Linley, quick, come in. There’s no need for the two of us to stand on so much ceremony.”

“Yes, your Majesty.” Linley laughed faintly as he entered the study. Clayde, in Linley’s eyes, really was a bold, straightforward man, and was incredibly polite when interacting with Linley, never using his position as the king to try and bully him.

“If it wasn’t for my father’s death,” Linley mused to himself, “Perhaps you and I would’ve become friends. But there will come a day where I must kill you. Right now, the only thing I am lacking is an opportunity.” Linley had never hesitated in his determination to kill Clayde.

As soon as he had the opportunity, he would definitely kill him.

Clayde clinked wine cups with Linley in a toast, took a sip, then said, “Linley. It is quite rare that you voluntarily come pay a visit to the palace. What business do you, my Prime Court Magus, have to discuss with me today?”

Linley chuckled.

The Prime Court Magus actually had quite a few responsibilities, but Linley had never undertaken any of them. He allowed the other court magi to assume many of the responsibilities, and Clayde had never given him any pressure. After all, Linley was only a servant of the Kingdom of Fenlai in name. All he was doing…was showing that he, Linley, considered himself to be on Clayde’s side.

“It’s true that I came here today to discuss something.” Linley smiled as he looked at Clayde. “With the Debs clan under suspicion of smuggling water jade, your Majesty ordered that Kalan and Bernard be seized, right?”

“That is so.” Clayde frowned as he looked at Linley. “What, you’ve also come to speak on their behalf?”

Over this period of time, quite a few nobles had come to speak on behalf of the Debs clan. The reason they had done this was because the Debs clan had made use of their fortune.

“If you really want to save their clan, I can indeed give you face.” Clayde said forthrightly.

The only thing Clayde really wanted to do was to break the power structure that had been erected by his younger brother Patterson. As for the Debs clan, he was going to dispose of them just as a matter of course. He was totally willing to pardon the Debs clan in exchange for Linley now owing him a favor. After all, even if he were to pardon the Debs clan, he could also squeeze them for quite a hefty price in the process.

“No.” Linley only shook his head. “I haven’t come to speak on their behalf.”

“What?” Clayde looked curiously at Linley.

Linley said casually, “Your Majesty, the question of whether or not the Debs clan engaged in the smuggling of water jade naturally has to be handled in a fair, aboveboard manner.”

“Oh?” Clayde looked questioningly at Linley. “Then Linley, the reason you came today was because…”

Linley laughed. “I’m thinking that it’s enough for you to have seized the clan leader, Bernard, due to your suspicion that the Debs clan engaged in the smuggling of water jade. As for his son, there’s no need to seize him. After all, what’s the point of seizing a successor? If you seize the first one, they’ll still have a second one. As long as their clan isn’t exterminated, someone will continue the line.”

“Linley, you mean to say…” Clayde looked at Linley.

Linley looked back at Clayde. “Your Majesty, I hope you can release Kalan.”

“Oh, release Kalan. I heard that you and Kalan…?” Clayde had done a very thorough investigation on Linley. Naturally, he knew of the complicated history between Linley, Kalan, and Alice.

Linley let out a helpless laugh. “Your Majesty, that was a long time ago.”

Clayde reminded him, “Linley, I must remind you that based on my investigations, this Kalan fellow is a very vicious, narrow-minded person who can hold a grudge.”

“I know.” Linley nodded slightly.

Based on the few interactions he had with Kalan, Linley had already sensed that Kalan viewed him with hostility. And…Linley knew that during the seven day exhibition of his sculpture, ‘Awakening From the Dream’, someone had desired to destroy it.

Destroying a sculpture was an act which benefited nobody.

Aside from Kalan, Linley couldn’t think of anyone else who would want to destroy ‘Awakening From the Dream’.

“Then why do you help him?” Clayde continued.

“Your Majesty. Do you believe a narrow-minded man of limited vision such as him is someone I would be concerned about?” Smiling, Linley looked at Clayde. Clayde blinked, then laughed as well.

“Right. In the past, it could be said that you and Kalan were old acquaintances. But now, not only does he not wish to befriend you, he even harbors enmity towards you. It is his father who continues to try and befriend you. Compared to his father, Kalan’s vision really is very limited.” Clayde laughed loudly.

Clayde patted Linley on the shoulders. “Don’t worry. I’ll instruct Merritt to handle this case fairly and to investigate everything thoroughly. The Debs clan definitely won’t suffer any injustice. But if the Debs clan really was guilty of smuggling water jade, I won’t allow them to escape punishment either.” “Right. Handle the case fairly.” Linley nodded.

On the way back home in the carriage, Bebe was lying atop of Linley’s thighs.

“Wow, Boss, you are so evil. The leader of the Debs clan definitely engaged in smuggling. Later on, his clan will be finished. Even if Kalan is able to escape for now, in the future, he’ll still be in terrible straits!” Bebe said excitedly.

Bebe had wanted to destroy Kalan a long time ago. Linley shook his head with a laugh. “Whether or not the Debs clan really will be finished is hard to say. For example, they could give the majority of their clan’s fortune directly to King Clayde, and perhaps Clayde would give them a way out. But no matter what, now that they’ve fallen into Clayde’s hands, even if they don’t die, they’ll lose several layers of skin and flesh.”

Linley fully understood how dark the world of nobles could be. Although on the surface, they talked about handling things fairly, that was nothing more than a sham. “Compared to Clayde, the Debs clan is too weak.” Linley shook his head.

That puny little Kalan was someone Linley had never worried about. Kalan simply wasn’t even close to being on the same level as Linley. The one Linley wanted to deal with was Clayde!

“Milord, we have arrived.” The driver said respectfully.

Linley pushed open the carriage door and stepped out. With a leap, Bebe hopped onto Linley’s shoulders again. Just as Linley was about to enter his manor, a gate guard said respectfully, “Lord, a guest just came by. He’s currently in the main hall waiting for you.”

“A guest? In the main hall?” Linley felt suspicious.

There often would be nobles coming to visit Linley, but without his permission to come in, all of them would quietly wait outside. Only people with a very high status, such as Duke Patterson or King Clayde, or Cardinal Guillermo, would directly head to the main hall, instead of waiting outside.

“Who is it?” Linley couldn’t help but ask.

“No clue, but in his hands, he was holding the medal of a Cardinal.” The guard said respectfully. As a Knight of the Radiant Church, he was very familiar with the insignias of the Cardinals.

Each Cardinal only had a single medal. Naturally, some extremely powerful Ascetics had medals as well. Possession of a medal implied a certain status, representing that this person’s position was no less than that of a Cardinal.

“An insignia?” Linley was startled.

Without hesitating at all, Linley immediately went towards the main hall. By the time Linley passed through the walkway and reached the main hall, he was shocked by who he saw.

Within the main hall was a middle-aged, black-haired man wearing a long, loose robe. Judging from appearances, he was in his thirties or forties. He gave off an indolent, lazy aura.

When Linley saw this middle-aged man, that middle-aged man seemed to sense him as well. He immediately looked over towards Linley, a look of excitement in his eyes. “Master Linley, you came?”

“Master Linley?” Linley’s mind was full of questions, but he quickly entered the main hall.

“You are…oh, I remember now. You were that one who made the bid of ten million gold coins.” Linley remembered now. During the sculpture auction of ‘Awakening From the Dream’, this middle aged man was the one who had bid ten million.

The middle-aged man nodded excitedly. “I didn’t expect Master Linley to remember me. This makes me so excited. Oh, right. Let me introduce myself. My name is…Cesar [Xi’sai].”

“Cesar?” Linley had never heard this name before.

“Cesar?!” Doehring Cowart’s voice suddenly boomed out in Linley’s mind. “I didn’t imagine that little freak Cesar would still remain on this plane, in the Yulan continent.”

Linley was startled.

Grandpa Doehring knew this Cesar? Grandpa Doehring was from a long gone era! If he knew this man, then how old would this Cesar be?

“Linley, this Cesar is a total freak. His rate of improvement in strength is extremely fast, and he kills without blinking. When I was alive, he had already entered the Saint-level. Although back then, he was only an early-stage Saint-level, after five thousand years, based on his rate of improvement, he is most likely far more powerful now.”

Linley’s heart clenched.

The man in front of him appeared to be only thirty or forty, but was actually already a Saint-level combatant during Doehring Cowart’s era. Doehring Cowart had only lived for a thousand years before dying, but this Cesar, if one were to count accurately, had been alive for nearly six thousand years now.

A six thousand year old freak!

“Master Linley, what is it?” Cesar said with concern. “Your face seems to have a rather unpleasant look.”

“Nothing, Mr. Cesar. Please, sit.” Linley forcibly calmed himself down, but whenever he thought of who this person in front of him was, he couldn’t help but be stunned.

A six thousand year old freak, a super-combatant who had survived from the era of the Pouant Empire until the modern era. He had already been a Saint-level combatant back then. And now?

“Master Linley, I am very much in awe of your sculpting skills. If it weren’t for the fact that Delia, that little girl, begged me, that day I definitely would’ve bought your sculpture.” Cesar pursed his lips as he spoke, but then his eyes lit up. “So Master Linley, when are you and that Delia girl getting married?”

“Married?”

No matter how stunned Linley had been by Cesar, upon hearing these words, Linley’s eyes bulged out of his sockets as he stared speechlessly at Cesar.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 19, The King of Killers

Cesar stared at Linley suspiciously. “What? Can it be that the little girl of the Leon clan isn’t your fiancée?”

“Fiancée?” Linley mouthed the words.

Seeing Linley’s reaction, Cesar seemed to understand something. Laughing, he said, “Haha, how amusing, how amusing! Master Linley, I must say, that little Miss Delia of the Leon clan has spent quite a lot of trouble on your half. She’s spent a lot of time, a lot of effort, and also gold in order to buy that sculpture of yours, ‘Awakening From the Dream’.”

Linley stared questioningly at Cesar. “Mr. Cesar, can you perhaps tell me where you heard that Delia was my fiancée, and that we were going to get married?”

Cesar stroked his goatee. Delightedly, he said, “Mustn’t say, mustn’t say.”

But in his mind, Cesar thought back to the contents of the letter which Delia had her servant deliver to him. He mused to himself, “For a girl to have the courage to act in such a way shows that her feelings towards Linley are genuine. Best I not say anything, lest I end up embarrassing that little girl, Delia.”

Cesar knew that when a girl told him certain things, it would be rather morally wrong for him to spread it to others as well. He, Cesar…was a very principled man.

Linley buried his curiosity. After all, Cesar describing Delia as his fiancée was a small matter. This man in front of him was a six thousand year old freak. This was what mattered.

“Mr. Cesar, for you to be here with one of the medals of the Radiant Church, does that mean you have come to me on the business of the Radiant Church?” Linley intentionally tried to probe the reason the man had come.

Cesar sat down with a dramatic gesture, then shook his head. “The Radiant Church? Don’t lump me in with those fellows from the Radiant Church.”

“Then this medal?” Linley stared questioningly at Cesar.

Cesar casually said, “Oh. It’s from back when I killed that Cardinal. I figured this medal would eventually come in handy, so I took it from his corpse. On occasion, I’d take it out and present it. I’ve got to say, it really has come in handy over the years.”

“Killed a Cardinal, then casually swiped his medal?” Linley’s heart trembled, and he couldn’t help but feel cold.

This Cesar in front of him really was an extremely forceful person.

Doehring Cowart’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind again. “Linley, back when I was alive, Cesar had already entered the Saint-level. At that time, the Radiant Church wasn’t too powerful. After five thousand years, Cesar is definitely at an extremely terrifying level of power. The Radiant Church wouldn’t offend him just because he killed a Cardinal.”

“After all…Cesar is a Saint-level assassination specialist. A Saint-level combatant such as him is far more dangerous than your ordinary Saint-level combatant. What’s more, an assassination specialist, upon reaching the peak of the Saint-level, is even more dangerous.”

After hearing Doehring Cowart’s words, Linley began to understand.

In the past, when he was in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, he had encountered assassins as well. Linley knew very well that despite only being of the sixth rank as well, a specially trained assassin of the sixth rank could be far more dangerous than other combatants of the sixth rank.

Because assassins specialized in ‘ambush’ and in ‘one-hit kills’. When they killed someone, they acted with no scruples or honor at all.

Most Saint-level combatants, on the other hand, cared greatly about their personal honor and reputation.

A peak-stage Saint-level combatant who had no shame and who was an assassin possessed terrifying power.

“That’s the reason why the Radiant Church has never tried to recover the medal from Cesar. This is also the reason why Cesar is able to live so openly in the Holy Capital, Fenlai City.” Doehring Cowart sighed. “This Cesar is really living a rather comfortable life.”

Hearing these words from Doehring Cowart, Linley couldn’t help but feel admiration for Cesar.

“What, are you afraid?” Cesar saw that Linley had fallen silent. He couldn’t help but grin at Linley. “Relax, that was a long time ago. It has been quite a while since I’ve last killed someone.”

Quite a while? How long a period of time was that? Remembering that the man in front of him was a six thousand year old assassin, Linley wasn’t too sure.

“I’m fine. I’m just amazed by Mr. Cesar’s prowess, that you could kill a Cardinal of the Radiant Church, but still live openly here in the Holy Capital.” Linley smiled.

Cesar’s eyes lit up, and he clapped Linley on the shoulders, nodding. “Not bad, not bad. You really are a master sculptor; your mental fortitude is far stronger than most others. Despite knowing my power, you aren’t frightened in the slightest.”

“Master Linley, I’ve come to pay you a visit because I wish to ask something of you.” Cesar looked at Linley, speaking with sincerity.

Linley quickly said, “Mr. Cesar, please speak. As long as it is within my capabilities, I will definitely assist.”

But Cesar put on a stern look, saying, “Master Linley, I, Cesar, have always hated owing favors to others. Since I’m asking a favor of you, naturally I will assist you with something as well.”

Linley felt joy in his heart.

A favor of an assassin who had reached the Saint-level over five thousand years ago was priceless. In Linley’s mind, a thought quickly flashed by – Kill Clayde!

This entire time, Linley had been bitterly trying to come up with a way to deal with Clayde, or perhaps capture and interrogate him. Linley absolutely had to find out what happened to his mother. But in terms of both personal power and total forces available, Clayde was far more powerful than Linley. He had no way at all to deal with Clayde.

But now, Linley had a way.

“If I were to invite this Cesar to go kidnap Clayde, that shouldn’t be too hard.” Linley began to grow excited. This problem had already vexed him for a long time. It seemed as though he could resolve it now.

“Mr. Cesar, please tell me what you need.” Linley said seriously.

Cesar said boldly, “Fine, then I’ll just say it outright.”

Rubbing his goatee, Cesar’s attitude was that of chatting with an old friend. “I don’t have too many hobbies. Women, I like. In the past, killing was also a hobby. But after I got bored of killing, I began to take an interest in art. And naturally, I am most infatuated by stonesculpting, that highest of art forms. Master Linley…last time, I felt a great deal of regret for being unable to purchase your sculpture, ‘Awakening From the Dream’. When I went back, I couldn’t even sleep well at night. After tossing and turning many times, I decided to come pay a visit to you in person.”

“Mr. Cesar, what are you trying to say?” Linley’s brow was furrowed.

He had already sold off the sculpture, ‘Awakening From the Dream’. Delia had been the one to buy it.

“I was hoping to ask you, Master Linley, to help me carve a sculpture.” Cesar looked hopefully at Linley.

“Easily done.” Linley quickly agreed. Every day, he spent a few hours training himself by carving sculptures. To spend some of that time carving one for Cesar was an easy task.

“I have a few secondary requirements for this sculpture.” Cesar stood up, looking a bit embarrassed.

Embarrassed!

Right, this six thousand year old freak seemed a bit embarrassed.

“Mr. Cesar, feel free to explain.” Linley looked at Cesar with curiosity.

Cesar chortled. “Master Linley, I hope…this sculpture will be of me, and will capture my unique aura.”

“Use you as my model? Your unique aura?” Linley was startled.

Seeing the look on Linley’s face, Cesar quickly said, “What, will that be hard?”

“No. That isn’t it.” Linley shook his head, frowning. “Using you as the model is very easy. Having seen you once, it’s easy for me to remember what you look like. I can sculpt you without any problems. But it’s a bit more complicated to imbue the statue with your unique aura as well. This is because every person has a different aura at different times, such as one aura for when they are angry, another when they are happy, still another when they are sad, or wounded, or both angry and sad…”

Cesar immediately laughed. “Easy. The aura I want…is the aura I have when I am at my manliest.”

“Your manliest?” Linley looked questioningly at Cesar. “Mr. Cesar, when do you feel you are at your manliest?”

Linley was beginning to wonder if this six thousand year old freak had some mental problems.

Cesar said confidently, “I believe that I appear manliest when I am killing someone! My nickname is the ‘King of Killers’ for a reason, you know!”

Cesar, the ‘King of Killers’!

This was a very terrifying name in the Yulan continent. Neither the Four Great Empires nor the two major alliances wished to offend this individual. Even the four major assassin’s guilds, if they were forced to nominate the most outstanding person within their ranks, would without question select this person who had dominated the Yulan continent for over five thousand years. Cesar, the ‘King of Killers’.

A peak-stage Saint-level combatant, and specialized in assassination techniques! In terms of the numbers and complexity of assassination techniques he possessed, he had already reached the pinnacle of perfection in this field. Those people who had received some training from Cesar went so far as to say his assassination techniques had reached the field of artistry.

The strongest assassin. The King of Killers!

Although there were quite a few people in the Yulan continent who had become peak-stage Saint-level combatants, such as the Holy Emperor of the Radiant Church, or the Dark Patriarch of the Cult of Shadows, or that Lord Fallen Leaf of the Radiant Church. And of course, the Four Great Empires each had their own peak-stage Saint-levels.

But without question, every single one of these combatants were wary of the King of Killers, Cesar.

Because in terms of assassination, none of them could match him.

The power of the peak-stage Saint-level ‘King of Killers’ was simply too terrifying. Even the Four Great Empires and the two major alliances held fast to the principle of, ‘do not offend him if it is at all possible to avoid doing so’, much less the other major clans of the Yulan continent.

Originally, during the auction, Cardinal Lampson and Cardinal Guillermo had been prepared to bid an extremely high price so Linley would feel grateful towards them. But upon seeing Cesar make a bid, they were so scared they no longer dared to bid at all. Even that old servant of the Leon clan, Shaw, had been terrified upon seeing Cesar, the King of Killers. Afterwards, only after Delia had wrote Cesar a letter and obtained his agreement did Delia dare to make another bid.

From this, one could tell how truly formidable this ‘King of Killers’ was.

Despite him having a medal of a Cardinal for so many years, the Radiant Church had never tried to regain it, and allowed Cesar to use it to deceive others as he pleased without a peep of protest. This was their show of goodwill towards Cesar. As for that Cardinal he had killed, the only thing that could be said was that he died in vain.

“When killing someone?” Linley shook his head. “Mr. Cesar, I’ve never seen you kill anyone. How would I know what you are like when you kill someone?”

At present, Linley still knew very little regarding the names of the Saint-level combatants of the Yulan continent. Even the world famous ‘King of Killers’, Cesar, he had never heard of before.

“That’s easy. I’ll just show you right now what it looks like when I kill someone. Watch carefully.” Cesar’s attitude instantly changed.

“Wait!” Linley hurriedly shouted out in alarm. “Mr. Cesar, please don’t kill anyone in my home.”

“Who said I was going to kill someone? I’m just going to show off the way I look when I kill someone, that’s all.”

Cesar glanced at Linley rather sourly.

Linley laughed awkwardly.

In his heart, he was filled with a great deal of trepidation towards this ‘King of Killers’, Cesar. When he heard Cesar say he was going to show how he looked upon killing someone, Linley was instantly frightened and wanted to stop him.

“Watch carefully. Pretend my target is that flower vase in front of us.” Cesar said calmly.

Cesar’s previous attitude had totally changed. He became calm. In the blink of an eye, that lazy, indolent aura of Cesar’s totally disappeared, and he became someone without a hint of an aura, without a hint of power, without a hint of emotion.

Cold. Calm.

Linley didn’t see anything at all. He only felt the air tremble slightly, and then the flower vase in front of Linley suddenly started to disintegrate, one inch at a time.

Right. As clearly as can be, the flower vase had disintegrated, one inch at a time!

This sensation totally stunned Linley.

“So this is the King of Killers?” In Linley’s mind, he firmly memorized this moment. When making his move, Cesar’s expression hadn’t changed in the slightest. At that moment, Cesar had seemed totally emotionless, and he had coldly stared at everything in the manor. It was as though in his eyes, all life was nothing more a blade of grass.

Killing someone was nothing more than cutting a blade of grass.

But Linley also had the feeling that, when Cesar had made his move, all of his attention had been focused on that flower vase.

As though the entire universe had been reduced to the flower vase, and nothing else had existed.

That strange, bizarre feeling made Linley want to vomit blood.

“Did you see it?” Cesar once more became energetic and animated. Casually sitting down, he crossed his legs and looked up at Linley. “What do you think? Do you agree that I look the manliest at that type of moment? I’ve relied on this technique to win the hearts of quite a few young ladies, you know.”

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 20, Poison

Linley firmly etched this scene into his mind.

Faced with Cesar’s questions, Linley nodded. “Very charismatic. I’ve already committed that scene to memory. However, I’m afraid it will be quite difficult for me to make a carving on the same level of ‘Awakening From the Dream’ again.”

A ‘Masterpiece’ level sculpture appearing in the world was a rare event indeed.

In the past, Linley had been thoroughly heartbroken, and had poured all of his emotions into that carving, allowing himself to forget everything else in the world and attain that most mysterious of states. Only then was he able to complete such a sculpture. For him, in his current state, to attempt to carve another sculpture of that level was virtually impossible.

“As long as you, Master Linley, are the sculptor, I’ll be satisfied. I don’t ask that it be on the same level as ‘Awakening From the Dream’, only that it is on the same level as most master level sculptures.” Cesar said with a laugh.

Linley nodded.

If that was the case, Linley had total confidence in his abilities.

“Mr. Cesar, how about this. I will produce the sculpture you requested in about a month. What do you say?” Actually, Linley only needed three days, but he wanted to give himself sufficient time.

Cesar nodded. “Alright. One month is a very short period of time. I’m not in a hurry. I have all the time in the world. Haha.”

“Master Linley, if you have anything you want me to help with, feel free to tell me. As long as I can accomplish it, I will definitely do it for you.” Cesar said magnanimously.

Linley couldn’t help but feel rather nervous.

With Patterson killed by him, the only target in Linley’s mind now was Clayde. To kill or to capture Clayde wasn’t something which Linley was currently capable of.

But Cesar, the King of Killers, definitely was capable!

“Mr. Cesar, if I were to ask you to capture one of the rulers of a kingdom belonging to the Holy Union, would you agree?” Linley resisted the urge to be rash, and instead first sounded Cesar out.

Cesar was startled. He stared questioningly at Linley. “Capture a king?”

Linley nodded heavily. “Yes.”

Cesar frowned. After a short pause, he looked at Linley. “How about this. Let me ask you something first. If I were to help you capture this ruler, would you kill him?”

“Most likely!” Linley replied honestly.

Lying to a ‘King of Killers’ would most likely be quite unwise. As for killing Clayde, if his mother really had died in Clayde’s hands, how could Linley not seek vengeance?

Linley had a dark premonition. There had been no trace of his mother for so many years. Most likely, she was dead, or perhaps imprisoned somewhere. No matter what the case, he would seek vengeance for his mother.

“Kill a king?” Cesar looked at Linley.

Linley looked back with hope in his eyes.

In Cesar’s heart, he understood that although in terms of status, a Cardinal was somewhat more important than a King, the impact caused by the murder of a King would be greater than that caused by the murder of a Cardinal.

A dead Cardinal could instantly be replaced by the Radiant Church.

But the death of a King would cause countless battles and strife within a kingdom. At the same time, the Radiant Church would yet again be unhappy with him.

“This request of yours…forgive me for being unable to fulfill it.” Cesar looked seriously at Linley. “Linley, the impact caused by the murder of a King is too great. And, this entire time, the Radiant Church has treated me quite well. I don’t wish to set the Radiant Church and my Sabre organization up as enemies just for the sake of a sculpture.”

Behind Cesar, the King of Killers, was the Saber organization, one of the four great assassin’s guilds.

Cesar knew what was important and what was not.

A single sculpture wasn’t worth allowing cracks to appear in the friendly relationship between himself and the Radiant Church. All these years, the Radiant Church had treated him with courtesy, something Cesar understood in his heart. He couldn’t be a selfish wolf who repaid the Church’s kindness by acting against one of their kings.

“Change your request.” Cesar said apologetically.

Linley suddenly felt powerless. Perhaps in terms of power, Cesar didn’t care about Clayde at all, but Clayde’s status had convinced Cesar to stay his hand.

Linley forced himself to remain calm.

“Mr. Cesar, I would like to ask, do you have any method by which I, a magus of the seventh rank, can kill a combatant of the ninth rank.” Linley asked.

Cesar glanced at Linley. After a short silence, he said, “I have quite a few assassination methods. But one which would allow a magus of the seventh rank to assassinate a combatant of the ninth rank? This…is challenging.” As he spoke, Cesar began to consider this question. In the mind of this ‘King of Killers’ who hadn’t killed anyone in a long time, one assassination method after another began to speed through his mind.

Linley didn’t dare to disrupt Cesar’s train of though. He stood there quietly.

Suddenly, Cesar turned to look at Linley. “The combatant of the ninth rank, would this be a warrior or a magus? If this person is a magus, I have a method.”

“Warrior.” Linley immediately said.

Dealing with a warrior and dealing with a magus required totally different methods. Hearing Linley explain that this was a warrior of the ninth rank, Cesar’s head began to hurt.

Linley could only wait there urgently.

“Oh. I have an idea.” Cesar’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he turned to Linley. “Haha, a long time ago, I stumbled upon this method by accident. I didn’t imagine that eight hundred years later, I’d still remember it.”

“What method?” Linley immediately grew excited.

Heavens!

This King of Killers actually had a way for a magus of the seventh rank to kill a warrior of the ninth rank.

“The King of Killers is full of assassination techniques. Indeed, he knows far more than I do in this field. Although, if I lived for five thousand more years, perhaps I would still know more than him.” Doehring Cowart’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind.

Linley couldn’t help but force a laugh. Grandpa Doehring never liked admitting inferiority to anyone.

“The method is…” Cesar smiled at Linley. “Using poison!”

“Using poison?”

Linley was startled. He thought it must’ve been some sort of good method…but a king’s food was always tasted and tested. How could using poison be effective?

“Master Linley, don’t underestimate the power of poison. The art of using poison is an extremely deep, subtle method of assassination. This world is filled with countless ingredients, which can be used to make countless types of poisons. Who in this world can dare say that he knows all of the poisons in the world? Or that he can detect any sort of poison?”

Linley couldn’t help but nod.

He agreed with this. For example, Doehring Cowart knew about using Blueheart Grass to counteract the forceful effects of dragon’s blood.

“This poison that I’m talking about was specially designed for use against warriors. As long as the warrior is not at the Saint-level, upon being affected by this poison, his strength will decrease by more than 90%. What’s more, to this very day, there’s been no antidote invented for this poison. Only by spending a year of time can one slowly use his battle-qi to purge the poison from his system.” Cesar clearly had a very clear memory regarding this poison. “And this poison is both odorless and tasteless. There’s no way to detect it at all. Only after having been poisoned would one realize that one had ingested it.”

Less than 10% of strength would remain? No way to test for it?

Linley’s eyes lit up.

Clayde was nothing more than a warrior of the ninth rank. Once he was impacted by this poison, based on Linley’s current level of power, wouldn’t he be able to easily trample Clayde into the ground?

“Do you have this poison, Mr. Cesar?” Linley quickly asked.

Linley could guess that this poison was extremely rare and valuable. That was without question. A poison which was effective against all warriors short of the Saint-level, and which was odorless, tasteless, and undetectable, would of course rare and precious. If not, all the warriors in the world would be dead already. “Master Linley, didn’t you hear what I just said? This is something I recalled learning about eight hundred years ago. I just glanced at that recipe back then. After all, this poison was of no use or threat to me.” Cesar frowned. “I only know this poison was primarily formed from eight major ingredients, but I don’t recall the exact ingredients clearly.”

“You don’t remember?” Linley was so frantic, he could kill someone.

Cesar laughed towards Linley. “Master Linley, don’t worry. Although I’m not sure, the recipe for this poison was stored within my organization long ago. I can order some people to make a copy of it and bring it to me. However, the base of my Saber organization is in a place with very few people. From here to there and back, most likely it would take a month or two of time.”

A month or two. That was acceptable!

Linley nodded towards Cesar. “Mr. Cesar, might I ask if your organization has any of this poison already in stock?” Linley didn’t want to waste time looking for ingredients to mix the potion.

“We do not.” Cesar shook his head. “In this entire world, perhaps only the Deathgod’s Hands has this poison in stock.”

“Deathgod’s Hands?”

In the past, while chatting with Yale, the topic of conversation had turned to the four major assassin’s guilds. These were known as Saber, Bloodrose, Scarlet Moon, and Deathgod’s Hands. Each assassin’s guild had its own specialty. The Deathgod’s Hands specialized in using all sorts of queer, exotic assassination techniques.

“Right. In the past, if it weren’t for the fact that the Deathgod’s Hands had a favor to ask of me, perhaps they wouldn’t have given a copy of such a precious recipe to my organization.” Cesar nodded.

Something which could kill virtually any warrior below the Saint-rank. The value of such a poison was unimaginable.

“Then…would it be possible for me to purchase this poison from the Deathgod’s Hands?” Linley said hopefully.

“Impossible.” Cesar laughed. “The Ten Ultimate Poisons of the Deathgod’s Hands is something they never give to any other organizations. The reason they gave us this recipe was probably because they expected that we would never actually use it.”

“Never use it?” Linley looked questioningly at Cesar.

“Because the price is simply too high. It isn’t worth it.” Cesar chuckled. “Two of the ingredients, in particular, have already been totally cornered off the market by the Deathgod’s Hands. The price of the poison would most likely be more than the commission of the assassination mission.”

Linley understood.

But to him, no matter how much gold it cost, it would be worth it.

“How about this. I’ll go back now, and arrange for some people to deliver a copy of this recipe to you. But Master Linley, a month from now, you need to have my sculpture ready.” Cesar laughed as he spoke to Linley.

“Of course.” Linley felt a knot in his heart unclench.

After sending off Cesar, Linley, who had been worrying this entire time about how to deal with Clayde, finally relaxed. That night, he finally had a sound rest and a beautiful dream, something very rare for him.

That next afternoon.

Linley was calmly seated cross-legged on the grass, cultivating his Dragonblood battle-qi. That azure-black Dragonblood battle-qi in his body was constantly roiling about, as the unique power of the Dragonblood constantly was drawn deep into Linley’s bones, muscles, and tendons, causing his body to become more and more powerful.

Linley believed that if he continued at this rate, there would come the day that his body would be as powerful as that of a real, Saint-level dragon. He would resurrect the fallen glory of the Dragonblood Warriors.

“Lord Linley.” A female attendant’s voice from outside.

Linley took a deep breath, allowing the Dragonblood battle-qi to return to his dantian.

“Enter.” Linley said calmly.

Only then did this serving woman come in. Respectfully, she said, “Lord Linley, there are several guests from the Debs clan outside. They say they have come to thank you, Lord Linley.”

“Thank me?” Linley was momentarily stunned.

But then, Linley quickly understood. Clayde had given him face and freed Kalan Debs.

“Thank me? I’m afraid it isn’t as simple as that.” Linley said to himself.

There was a better than 80% to 90% chance that the Debs clan, seeing Linley help out once, had shamelessly come to ask for Linley’s help to save the Debs clan yet again.

“Let them enter.” Knowing of the existence of the poison, Linley now felt much calmer and more assured of himself. With his mind relaxed, he now had the leisure and patience to pay attention to the affairs of the Debs clan.

“The Debs clan? Even if they aren’t exterminated, they’ll be totally beaten down.” Linley could already totally predict the future of the Debs clan.

Within the main hall.

Nimitz was the leader of this delegation. Kalan’s two uncles, Kalan himself, Rowling, and Alice were the members of this six-person delegation. No one in Nimitz’s delegation had dared to sit. They all were standing respectfully.

Seeing Linley walk towards them from afar, Nimitz and the others immediately smiled, and Nimitz even cupped his hands in salute. “Lord Linley!”

“I just finished my training exercises. If you could just wait a moment, I’ll take a quick bath and change my clothes first.” Linley said with a faint smile. And then, no longer paying any attention to the courtesies being paid to him by Nimitz and the others, he headed directly to another room on the other side of the hall.

Nimitz and the others were briefly stunned, but they could only smile and stand there, respectfully awaiting his return.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 21, The Trial

Nimitz, Kalan’s two uncles, Kalan himself, Rowling, and Alice didn’t dare to seat themselves with their host absent. They simply waited quietly in the main hall.

“Kalan, when Lord Linley returns, you must remember to be a bit more humble.” Nimitz glared coldly at Kalan.

Kalan nodded. “Second Granduncle, I know.”

In actuality, Kalan’s heart was still filled with enmity towards Linley. After knowing the reason why he had been released from jail, he felt even more rage towards Linley!

“I would rather stay in that jail than have Alice go beg him!” Kalan’s heart was filled with fury.

In the past, when Linley and Alice had been together, Kalan began to hate Linley. After he took Alice back, he felt a bit smug. In his eyes, although Linley was quite formidable, when compared to his Debs clan, Linley was not even close to being on the same level. But after just a few months, Linley’s status had totally changed, becoming the brightest star within the Kingdom of Fenlai at one leap. Even his Majesty the King of Fenlai, and Cardinals of the Radiant Church, treated Linley with warmth. Even his own father acted so humbly towards Linley. All this filled Kalan’s heart with even more hatred.

They were both young men. Why was he so inferior?

Especially this time!

He had languished in prison. Although he ended up escaping, it had required Alice, the woman he loved dearest, to go beg Linley to free him.

This caused Kalan to feel humiliated. He very much wanted to not accept Linley’s kindness and continue to stay in that jail. How he wished he could angrily curse at Linley, or even kill Linley!

But for the sake of the clan, he, Kalan, had come humbly to Linley’s manor, and couldn’t even act the slightest bit disrespectfully.

Footsteps could be heard.

Kalan immediately cast aside his angry musings. Forcing a smile onto his face, he made himself appear courteous and modest.

“Forgive me for keeping everyone waiting.” Linley’s clear voice rang out.

Nimitz and the others all turned to look. Clearly, Linley had just washed. His hair was wet, and he was casually wearing a loose robe.

“You can all sit.” Linley comfortably sat down, gesturing casually with one hand.

Nimitz and the others all quickly expressed their thanks, then sat down. Nimitz was the first to smile and say, “Lord Linley, the purpose of our visit this time was to thank you. If it wasn’t for you, Kalan most likely wouldn’t have been able to get out this quickly. Kalan, hurry up and thank Lord Linley!”

Kalan was forced to rise to his feet again. Suppressing the anger in his heart, he forced himself to act humbly. “Thank you, Lord Linley.”

Linley smiled at Kalan. “Kalan. No need to thank me.”

“Mr. Nimitz. Very shortly, I’ll have to attend to some important affairs. I don’t know if you had any other purposes behind this visit? If you do, I hope you can speak of them now.” Linley smiled towards Nimitz.

In truth, Linley simply didn’t want to waste any time with these people. His time was meant to be reserved for training.

Nimitz was startled, but then he quickly adjusted. In a low voice, he said, “Lord Linley, our Debs clan has been framed and falsely accused of engaging in the smuggling of water jade. At this point, it’s very possible that our Debs clan will be entirely eradicated. Thus, our clan would like to beg you, Lord Linley, for your assistance. Once our clan overcomes this critical threat, we definitely will not forget your great kindness to us.”

As he spoke, Nimitz pulled out a black box from his side.

“Lord Linley, this is a very small gift from us to you as our thanks for your rescuing of Kalan. If our clan manages to survive this tribulation safely, we will once again show our gratitude towards you.” Nimitz sincerely held out that black box for Linley to look at.

“Swish.”

The little Shadowmouse, Bebe, suddenly scurried in front of Nimitz, and actually directly grabbed the box, then jumped onto Linley’s legs, planning on opening it up.

“Bebe!” Linley let out a low shout.

Bebe raised his head, staring at Linley unhappily. He didn’t open the box, only let out a few ‘hmph’ sounds, then fell silent.

“Mr. Nimitz, Bebe is rather naughty and mischievous. I’ll accept this gift, then, and offer my thanks to you.” Laughing, Linley put the black box off to one side, not even glancing at it.

Nimitz could sense that Linley was getting impatient.

Immediately, Nimitz glanced meaningfully at his companions, then was the first to stand up and bow. “Lord Linley, we won’t disturb you any further. This case involving our Debs clan will be tried a month from now. I hope that at that time, you can assist us, Lord.”

Linley casually nodded.

Nimitz and the others immediately left. That entire time, neither Alice nor Rowling had said a single word. Nimitz was the primary speaker.

Watching the group leave, Linley laughed coldly. “Nimitz, you old scoundrel. Did you think that by bringing Alice, I’d give you more face?” Linley flipped open the cover to the black box. Within it was a magicrystal card and a letter.

“A letter?”

As he toyed with the letter in his hands, a burst of flame suddenly erupted from his palms, incinerating it and turning it to ash. Linley couldn’t be bothered reading the letter.

Time passed quickly. September arrived.

This entire past month, Linley had focused on his training. His strength, agility, and other aspects of his body had all improved. The Dragonblood battle-qi in his dantian had become more pure as well.

Linley had the feeling that he had reached the late-stage of the sixth rank.

As far as his growth in spiritual energy, although Linley’s advancement rate was extremely rapid, even a genius would normally need around twenty years of training to advance from the seventh rank to the eighth rank. Despite his rapid improvement, a few months of growth wasn’t very noticeable.

The path of the magus was indeed a long, difficult one.

Within the Hot Springs Garden, the shadow of a chisel could be seen, and a human-shaped sculpture was become more and more clearly defined. Bits of rubble flew about in every direction, falling onto the grass. Suddenly, Linley came to a halt, withdrawing his chisel.

“Whew. Finally done.” Looking at the sculpture in front of him, Linley nodded with satisfaction.

This sculpture, which Linley had named the ‘King of Killers’, had truly cost Linley a great deal of effort. Each time, Linley had forced himself to totally enter the right state, so as to more perfectly carve out the statue of Cesar making his move.

The statue in front of him was as tall as a person.

Those two cold, calm eyes in particular gave people the sensation of being watched by a god. The aura emanating from this sculpture was the aura of a God of Death. Under the gaze of this sculpture, viewers would unconsciously feel a terrible, cold dread.

“Although this sculpture isn’t comparable to ‘Awakening From the Dream’, it is the most perfect statue that I can make while in a normal state.” Linley was extremely satisfied with this sculpture. He had spent an entire month on it, carefully, attentively sculpting. At last, it was completed.

Putting down his straight chisel, Linley soaked for a while in the hot springs, then put on a loose robe and sat on top of a chair. He was eating the breakfast which his attendants had brought him.

“Linley.” Doehring Cowart flew out by his side.

“Grandpa Doehring.” Linley looked at Doehring Cowart.

Laughing, Doehring Cowart said, “Linley, there’s two days left before the trial of the Debs clan’s case. Do you plan to go watch?”

“The trial?” Linley was startled.

This month, he had been absorbed in his bitter training. Linley had totally forgotten about everything else, including the Debs clan’s case. If it weren’t for Doehring Cowart’s reminder, Linley probably wouldn’t have remembered it at all.

“Yes, of course I’ll go.” A hint of a smile was on Linley’s face.

Year 9999 of the Yulan calendar. September 9th. Within the Blackwater Jail of Fenlai City.

The Blackwater Jail was the most famous jail in the Kingdom of Fenlai, and it was the most securely guarded jail. The cases awaiting trial at the Blackwater Jail were also the most important cases in Fenlai.

Within the Blackwater Jail’s courtyard, today there were many nobles congregating. Even his Majesty, King Clayde, had arrived, and was seated to the side, watching. Naturally, Linley came today as well.

“Lord Linley.” One noble after another greeted him warmly.

“Linley, come, sit with me.” Seated in front, Clayde gestured toward Linley. Linley smiled at Clayde, then walked over.

Linley sat down next to Clayde.

Merritt, his hair gleaming, sat at the judge’s seat. His waist and back were ramrod straight. He really did give the impression of being fair and impartial. “Everyone, please sit.” Merritt nodded and smiled towards the noble spectators who had gathered here. In particular, Merritt smiled modestly towards the direction of Linley and Clayde.

The noble spectators all sat down quietly. Today, more than ten people had come from the Debs clan. All of them were seated together, nervously watching the proceedings.

“Bring Bernard.” Merritt ordered directly.

Very soon, under escort by two soldiers, Bernard was dragged to the court, hands and feet both shackled.

Merritt glanced at a nearby official, who quickly strode forward. In a loud voice, he proclaimed, “Duke Patterson, when he was the Minister of Finance, acted in many ways against the benefit of the kingdom. In particular, he is suspected of colluding with the Debs clan in the smuggling of water jade. The scale of this smuggling operation is larger than any since the founding of our Kingdom of Fenlai. We have already discovered that the valuation of the smuggled water jade was greater than fifty million gold coins!”

In actuality, the Debs clan had just begun their smuggling program. Although the valuation was fifty million gold coins, in reality, the Debs clan had only spent a few million gold coins thus far. From this, one could tell what enormous profits lay in the smuggling trade.

But just as their smuggling activities had begun, Duke Patterson had died, resulting in this being revealed.

The official continued, “Based on our investigations, one of the main organizers of this smuggling activity jumped into the river, while the other two were the brothers Lanseer and Langmuir.”

Finishing, the official sat back down.

Merritt looked at Bernard. “Bernard, do you have something to say for yourself?”

Bernard nodded. “Yes, lord, I do. First of all, it was not our Debs clan which engaged in smuggling. Secondly, the Lanseer brothers had been expelled by our clan long ago. Thirdly, the primary mover behind this smuggling operation should’ve been that person you said jumped into the river. There is no link to our Debs clan at all.”

Merritt nodded and laughed. “The organizer of this smuggling operation was your third brother. And you say this has nothing to do with you?”

“Third brother? My third brother is still adventuring in the wilds. How would he have the chance to engage in smuggling?” Bernard continued to insist on this point.

“Your third brother is engaging in adventuring?” Merritt’s face grew cold. “Then let me ask you, if your third brother is outside adventuring, then why, despite me ordering your Debs clan to summon him back, hasn’t he returned after such a long period of time?”

Bernard said confidently, “My third brother is adventuring in other kingdoms. Most likely, he’s travelled too far. It is normal for us to need more than a year to find him.”

Merritt glanced at Bernard, chuckled, then said coldly, “Bring in Catson [Ka’te’sen] and the other two.”

“Catson?” Bernard was suspicious. Who was Catson and who were the other two?”

Very shortly, three very cowering youths entered the court, falling to their knees immediately as they said respectfully, “Greetings, Lord.”

These three youths clearly were peasants who had seen very little of the world before.

Merritt said calmly, “Catson, clearly explain what you saw happen.”

“Yes, Lord.” The leader of the youths said respectfully. “On June 28th, we three bros were fishing on the river, but suddenly, we saw a richly dressed noble lord clutching onto a dead tree trunk float by us. This noble was covered in blood and had already passed out.”

Upon hearing these words, the expression on Bernard’s face changed.

“The day that we pursued the leader of the smugglers was June 28th as well. As it just so happened, the leader jumped into the river.” Merritt looked at Bernard. “Bernard, are you willing to admit guilt yet?”

“My third brother is adventuring in distant lands. He definitely wasn’t organizing any smuggling activities. My Debs clan is definitely innocent.” Bernard still held his head up high and maintained his innocence.

Merritt laughed coldly, then said, “Bring Kanter [Kan’te] Debs.”

Hearing the name ‘Kanter Debs’, the faces of Bernard as well as the members of the Debs clan present all immediately turned white.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 22, The Enormous Fine

“This Kanter Debs should be that third brother of the Debs clan.” Clayde laughed softly towards Linley, and Linley nodded. Linley and Clayde merely watched these proceedings, while the Debs clan’s members all felt terror.

All of those viewers from the Debs clan were now so nervous that they were trembling.

“Clatter!”

The sound of shackles rattling could be heard, as under the escort of two soldiers, a thin, ashen-faced, golden-haired middle-aged man entered the court. The gazes of everyone in the court were drawn towards him, including Bernard, Kalan, and Nimitz.

Seeing that golden-haired man appear, Bernard let out a long sigh, then shut his eyes.

“It really is the third brother of the Debs clan, Kanter!” From the watcher’s gallery, the sound of discussion could be heard. Many of the nobles present recognized and knew Kanter Debs, due to his position within the Debs clan.

By now, the Debs clan had no further hope of trying to dissemble.

Seated up in the magistrate’s chair, Merritt looked towards Clayde, who nodded.

“Bernard.” Merritt looked at Bernard. “As things stand, do you still have something to say for yourself?”

But Bernard didn’t look at Merritt. He turned his head to look at his third brother, Kanter, fixing Kanter with his gaze. Kanter, too, was staring at his elder brother Bernard. The gazes of these two brothers met.

“Third bro, why did you do this?” There was disbelief in Bernard’s eyes, as pain and rage caused his entire body to shake.

“I’m sorry.” Kanter said softly.

Bernard laughed bitterly, then shook his head. In a solemn voice, he said, “It isn’t me you should be sorry to. It’s the entire Debs clan. How many years has the Debs clan existed? It was only thanks to countless generations of hard work and effort by our ancestors that we enjoy our current level of success. But you….you…” Bernard was in so much pain that he couldn’t speak.

“Thud!”

Kanter fell to his knees within the court, and two streams of tears began to flow.

“Big brother, I deserve to die!”

He slapped his face severely with his shackled hands. Crying miserably, he said, “Big brother, I’m sorry. This is all my fault. I was greedy and wasn’t satisfied with that little bit of authority and wealth I had within the Debs clan. That’s why I used the clan’s gold to engage in this smuggling operation. This is all my fault. Big brother! This is all my fault!”

This scene startled everyone present.

Linley and Clayde both raised an eyebrow, while the sentencing magistrate, Merritt, frowned.

“Since things have already developed to this extent…” Bernard raised his head, forcing his tears to stop. He seemed very desolate. “Third bro, it’s no matter a question of whose fault it is. Your actions have caused our entire clan to be in danger of annihilation. I, Bernard Debs, as this generation’s leader of the Debs clan, will not be able to face our ancestors, even in death.”

As he spoke, Bernard’s tears once more began to fall.

Bernard suddenly turned to look at Clayde, kneeling in his direction. Crying miserably, he said, “Your Majesty. It is the greatest misfortune possible for our Debs clan to have given birth to this miserable, petty traitor to the kingdom. As the leader of the Debs clan, I, Bernard Debs, cannot escape responsibility. I, Bernard, am willing to use my death in order to beg you, your Majesty, to spare the Debs clan. After all, the vast majority of people within our clan are innocent!”

Clayde looked at Bernard.

And then he looked at Merritt, nodding once.

Merritt understood Clayde’s intentions. Immediately, he called out, “Fifteen minute recess! Fifteen minutes later, we will announce the final sentence!”

……

All of the nobles present had to leave the court, and could only come back fifteen minutes later. The direction this case was heading towards had become very clear. As for how the Debs clan would be punished for its crime of smuggling, that was totally up to his Majesty.

Such a large-scale smuggling operation could definitely impact the entire clan. Even if the clan was exterminated, it would be understandable.

But of course, Clayde could also be more benevolent and merely punish the Debs clan but allow it to survive.

The result would be entirely up to Clayde.

….

Outside the court, Duke Bonalt was chatting with Linley.

“Linley, did you see that? These main branch descendants of the Debs clan are really quite good. That Kanter had been captured quite a few days ago. But, instead of committing suicide, he waited until today to put on that show just now.” Duke Bonalt laughed.

Linley nodded in praise as well.

“If Kanter had killed himself, then the Debs clan would be in an even worse, more passive situation.” Linley laughed as well.

If Kanter had committed suicide, then his corpse would have been used as evidence proving the guilt of the Debs clan in engaging in smuggling. The Debs clan would have had no way to argue against it. But now, Kanter himself was acknowledging that he had acted alone, giving the Debs clan a chance at life.

But of course, whether or not the Debs clan would live was entirely up to his Majesty.

“Kill’em, kill’em all.” Bebe, on Linley’s shoulders, bared his fangs while mentally speaking to Linley. “This Debs clan is too good at playing games. I, Bebe, can’t stomach them.”

Hearing this, Linley couldn’t help but laugh.

“Squeaaaaak.”

The door to the court opened. Fifteen minutes had passed. All of the nobles outside made their way back into the court, all of them quietly assuming their previous positions. Just then, the only people present in the court had been Merritt, King Clayde, and a few other people.

“Linley, take a guess. How do you think I will sentence him?” Clayde smiled towards Linley.

“No clue.” Linley replied succinctly.

Clayde grinned secretively.

“All rise!”

Saying these words, Merritt rose solemnly, and all of the nobles in the court followed his lead. His head raised high, Merritt said in a solemn, clear voice, “This is the sentence of this court: Kanter Debs, a member of the Debs clan, did flagrantly engage in the large-scale smuggling of a huge quantity of water jade, and is therefore sentenced to execution by hanging, with the sentence to be carried out on October 11th.”

“The total value of this smuggling operation was in excess of forty million gold coins. We sentence the Debs clan to receive a punitive fine of double that amount, eighty million gold coins. Bernard Debs is to be released. Court adjourned!” After hearing these words from Merritt, Bernard, Kalan, and Nimitz all let out a sigh of relief, but in their hearts, they felt very helpless.

Eighty million gold coins!

What a terrifying sum!

The entire net worth of the Debs clan was only around a hundred million gold coins, and that was including all of their illiquid assets. For them to be able to pay such a huge fine would certainly require them to sell off many of their illiquid assets. Such a large-scale auction, in term, would definitely result in a great deal of lowballing and haggling from the buyers.

Although their illiquid assets were worth eighty million gold coins, the chances of them actually receiving eighty million gold coins was really too low.

“Linley, what do you think?” Clayde looked at Linley.

Linley laughed and nodded. “Admirably done, admirably done.”

The fine which Clayde had levied against the Debs clan was carefully calibrated, precisely because the valuation of the Debs clan’s illiquid assets worth around eighty million or so. If Clayde really were to sentence the Debs clan to extermination, then without a doubt, he wouldn’t have been able to get his hands on a single coin of their liquid assets.

But if the penalty fine was too high, perhaps the Debs clan would even risk extinction rather than pay the fine.

The fine of eighty million gold coins was neither too high nor too little. It was just right.

“Father.” Kalan and the others instantly went to help Bernard to his feet.

But Bernard only stared at his third brother, Kanter. A gloomy, calm look was on Kanter’s face. He only nodded towards Bernard. After he had been exposed in leading the smuggling operation, Kanter knew that he would die, without a question. But now that he was dying on behalf of the clan, the clan would most likely treat his son and his wife well.

Bernard nodded towards Kanter as well.

Two brothers. From a single exchange of glances, they knew what the other was thinking.

“Let us…go back.” Bernard said with a sigh.

After experiencing this tribulation, the Debs clan had suffered a major blow to its vitality. At absolute best, they would have a tenth of the economic power they previously had. From this day forward…the Debs clan had toppled from its previous position of power at the highest levels in the Kingdom of Fenlai. They could only be considered a fairly wealthy clan, now.”

…..

Within Linley’s manor, in the Hot Springs Garden.

Linley was seated on a chair, quietly staring blankly.

“Linley, what are you pondering?” Doehring Cowart came out of the Coiling Dragon ring.

Linley glanced at Doehring Cowart. Sighing, he said, “Today, when I saw the Debs clan be sentenced, I suddenly thought of my own clan. My clan was once a clan which dominated the entire Yulan continent, but now, after all these generations, who is left? My father died, and my mother’s whereabouts are unknown. Little Wharton is now in the O’Brien Empire. In the entire Holy Union, I am alone with no kin.”

Linley was gripped by a powerful, lonely melancholy.

His parents were gone, and he was engaged in a mission of revenge that couldn’t be revealed!

On this road to revenge, Linley’s heart was tightly spun up, and he didn’t dare to slacken off in the slightest.

Looking at Linley, Doehring Cowart felt surge of pity. Although superficially Linley seemed very mature, and didn’t have any problems at all dealing with those important nobles…Linley was still only seventeen years old this year. He had just graduated from the magus academy not too long ago.

“Linley, relax. Don’t give yourself too much pressure. You have plenty of time.” Doehring Cowart encouraged him.

Linley looked at Doehring Cowart. On this lonely road he had been travelling, it was good that he had Grandpa Doehring with him, along with that mischievous rascal, Bebe.

“Thank you, Grandpa Doehring.” Linley said gratefully.

Doehring Cowart began to chuckle.

“I really want to know what happened to my mother as soon as possible. I want to kill Clayde as soon as possible.” Even if they ignored the fact that Clayde had abducted his mother, the fact that he had caused his mother to be separated from their family for over ten years, resulting in the death of Linley’s father, meant that without a doubt, Clayde had to die.

“Who knows when that ‘King of Killers’, Cesar, will bring that poison recipe.” Linley was beginning to grow impatient.

…..

Each day, Linley had been urgently awaiting the return of Cesar, the ‘King of Killers’. But each day passed with no news of Cesar. Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was now October. During this past month, the Kingdom of Fenlai had been fairly tranquil. The only major affair was the large-scale auction carried out by the Debs clan.

Many clans seized the opportunity to try to haggle with or lowball the Debs clan. However, the value of the Debs clan’s illiquid assets really were very high, so there were quite a few bidders from other clans as well. Thus, the price at auction wasn’t too low, in the end. The assets, previously valued at around eighty million gold coins, ended up selling for around seventy million gold in total.

After paying the fine of eighty million gold coins, the Debs clan could finally be considered as having escaped from danger.

But after this affair, the net worth of the Debs clan had essentially shrunk by 90%.

…..

October 10th was the day before Kanter’s execution. This day, Linley remained in the Hot Springs Garden, training as he always did.

“Lord Linley, Lord Cesar has come!” A female attendant called out in a high-pitched voice from outside!

Linley had instructed that he must be immediately alerted if Cesar came.

“Cesar came?” Linley quickly threw on some clothes and immediately rushed out of the Hot Springs Garden. Given Linley’s current speed, in ten seconds, he arrived outside the main hall. Right now, Cesar, still dressed in those long, loose robes, was seated lazily with one leg crossed. He was drinking a cup of tea.

“Mr. Cesar.” Linley called out from afar. Three steps later, Linley entered the main hall.

Seeing Linley, Cesar’s eyes lit up, and he immediately rose to his feet. “Master Linley, my truest apologies for only coming today.” As he spoke, Cesar withdrew an envelope from his clothes. “Linley, this is the recipe I mentioned. It’s all yours.”

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 23, The Bloodrupture Poison

Linley looked at the two female attendants outside the main hall. He called out coldly, “Leave. Without my orders, no one is to be permitted inside.”

“Yes, milord.”

The hearts of those two female attendants shook, and they quickly left.

“Master Linley, you are quite cautious.” Cesar laughed.

Linley felt helpless.

Cautious?

How could he not be cautious? He was going to use this recipe to kill Clayde.

“This Cesar probably knew all along that I am intending to kill Clayde.” Linley understood this point. Previously, he had told Cesar that he wanted to kill one of the six rulers of the kingdoms of the Holy Union. And then, he said he wanted to kill a warrior of the ninth rank.

As long as Cesar wasn’t a total idiot, he would easily be able to connect these two points to understand that Linley wanted to kill a king of the Holy Union who was also a warrior of the ninth rank. In the entire Holy Union, the only one who fit these criteria was Clayde.

“Cesar, this old freak, wouldn’t go curry favor with Clayde by selling me out.” Linley felt quite confident.

What sort of person was Cesar? Would he deal with someone like Linley using tricks like these?

“Linley, you do indeed have to be careful. That person you intend to deal with is highly valued by the Radiant Church.” Cesar said in a low voice by Linley’s side. “And he has many guards as well. If you are to try and poison him, it will be quite hard.”

Linley glanced at Cesar. “Thank you for your advice, Mr. Cesar.”

Poison Clayde?

If Linley was willing to risk his life, he definitely would be able to succeed. All he had to do was to invite Clayde to his manor, and then serve Clayde some wine. In his own manor, lacing the wine was an extremely easy task. But if he did this, he would be revealing himself as the perpetrator.

He had to find an opportunity to kill Clayde without anyone knowing about it.

Such an opportunity was quite rare.

“I can’t always rely on being lucky, like that time with Patterson insisting on meeting with me in secret.” Linley said to himself. That private, secret meeting with Patterson really was an unexpected, wonderful surprise for Linley, but such surprises could only be wished for, not relied upon.

As he was considering this, Linley opened the envelope.

There was a piece of paper within the envelope, filled with countless words.

“Drug name: Bloodrupture Poison

Ingredients: Astralagus fruit, white ginseng, turmeric, fog grass, cloud fungus, bitterskin, cardamon kernels, Blueheart Grass.

Effect: Bloodrupture poison, when dissolved into wine or water, has no odor and no taste. To this date, no way of detecting it has been discovered. Once it is ingested, it will seep into the blood and then into the dantian, preventing battle-qi from being generated, causing a warrior to have less than 10% of his strength left. Anyone below the Saint-rank is vulnerable to this poison, and there is no cure. Only by using battle-qi over a long period of time to cleanse the poison from the bloodstream can one cure one’s self.

Instructions: In order to produce one gram of Bloodrupture poison, one needs to have thirty grams of Astralagus fruit, twelve grams of white ginseng, ten grams of turmeric, fifteen grams of fog grass, twelve grams of cloud fungus, one gram of bitterskin, twelve grams of cardamon kernels, and one gram of Blueheart Grass. First use the twelve grams of ginseng, the fifteen grams of fog grass, and the gram of bitterskin. Place them into the alchemist’s pot and boil them until the fog grass begins to emit whit mist, then stop. Filter out the concentrated juice, then place it into the mixing pot and add in the Blueheart Grass, the turmeric, and the cardamon kernels….

Storage method: ……”

This paper very clearly detailed every aspect of the manufacture and usage of the Bloodrupture poison. Just from examining the concocting procedures, Linley quickly understood how difficult it would be to produce this poison. If a single mistake was made in any of the procedures, the entire potion would be worthless.

The way to store it and preserve it was also very complicated.

The cost of a unit of Bloodrupture poison was more than a million times that of an equivalent weight of gold.

“Of the eight ingredients required to concoct this Bloodrupture poison, five of them aren’t that rare. Astralagus fruit, white ginseng, turmeric, bitterskin, and cardamon kernels. The prices of these five shouldn’t be considered too high for you. But the other three are very rare. That fog grass generally only grows in the far eastern plains, east of the Four Great Empires. It is extremely rare, and is rarely found in the marketplace. As for the other two ingredients, their rarity is even greater than that of fog grass!” Cesar explained carefully.

“Both Blueheart Grass and cloud fungus are virtually un-purchasable and cannot be found in the market, even if you have money. Supposedly, a while ago, someone tried to offer a hundred thousand gold coins to buy Blueheart Grass, but still was not able to do so. Cloud fungus, as well, hasn’t appeared in the market for a long time.”

Cesar patted Linley on his shoulders comfortingly. “Linley, it will take you quite a bit of effort to gather these eight ingredients.”

Linley still felt a degree of confidence.

Of these eight ingredients, five wouldn’t pose any problem at all. As for fog grass, even though it was rare, it shouldn’t be too hard to buy it. As for Blueheart Grass…he had it already. There was no need to buy it. Right now, the only problem was the cloud fungus!

“Once I acquire the cloud fungus, I’ll be able to produce some Bloodrupture poison. And that day will be the day of Clayde’s death.” Linley said to himself.

Linley could no longer endure any longer. If in the future, he still couldn’t find an appropriate opportunity, he would go all out and kill Clayde, even if it meant exposing himself as the killer. If worst came to worst, he would go ask Yale for help and have the Dawson Conglomerate aid him in fleeing from the Holy Union.

Based on the influence and power of the Dawson Conglomerate, it wouldn’t be too hard for them to help Linley escape from the Holy Union.

“Right now, what’s important is finding these eight ingredients.” Linley was still very happy right now.

At least he now had a goal to work towards.

“Linley. Linley.” Cesar called out to him. “Ahem, Master Linley!”

“Uh?” Only now did Linley end his pondering and turn to look at Cesar. “Mr. Cesar, is there something you need?”

Cesar chortled. “Linley, are you perhaps forgetting something?”

Linley immediately understood. Laughing, he said, “Haha, Mr. Cesar, you are referring to the sculpture, right? I finished the sculpture you asked for a full month ago. Come, please, this way.” Linley immediately led Cesar towards a side room.

In the corner of this side room, there was a man-shaped sculpture which radiated a cold, killing aura. Those two eyes contained within them a disdain for all life and an arrogance that forced viewers to feel awe and terror.

As for the facial features, the facial details were carved even more accurately. The sculpture looked exactly like Cesar.

“Wonderful, wonderful!!!” Cesar was so excited, he said the word wonderful twice.

“Master Linley, you truly are a master sculptor. In such a short period of time, you were able to produce such a flawless sculpture. In my mind, this sculpture is ten thousand times better than even that ‘Awakening From the Dream’ of yours.” Staring at his sculpture, Cesar was grinning so widely that his face threatened to split.

The more he looked at this sculpture, the happier Cesar felt.

“This King of Killers is perhaps a bit too narcissistic.” Seeing the grin on Cesar’s face, Linley couldn’t help but think this to himself.

…..

“Lord Linley.” A nearby housekeeper bowed politely.

Linley pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to the housekeeper. “Go purchase these twelve ingredients for me. The exact amount I need for each is written on the paper.”

“Yes, Lord Linley.” The housekeeper accepted the piece of paper.

Of the twelve ingredients on the list of paper, six of them were the ones which Linley needed, while the other six were just some normal, random ingredients Linley had scribbled on as well. Of the twelve ingredients, only fog grass was relatively expensive. As for the Blueheart Grass and cloud fungus which the Bloodrupture poison required, Linley didn’t even bother writing them down on this piece of paper.

Linley wasn’t actually worried about these ingredients being made public.

After all, the secret formula for Bloodrupture poison was one of the secret formulas of the Deathgod’s Hands. Aside from the Saber organization, most likely no one else knew this formula. And there were many other formulas that also used those ingredients.

After all, Linley didn’t write down the two most critical ingredients; Blueheart Grass and cloud fungus.

“Find and purchase these ingredients for me as soon as possible.” Linley instructed.

After giving his orders to the housekeeper, Linley immediately sent someone to invite Yale, Reynolds, and George to come meet with him at his manor. Whenever they had a chance, the four bros would meet and have food together, thus this wasn’t out of character for Linley.

The next morning.

This was the day of Kanter Debs’ execution by hanging, but Linley couldn’t be bothered to go watch. He was in his manor, drinking wine and chatting with his three bros. Only after they finished drinking did Linley bring up what he wished to discuss.

“Boss Yale, there’s something I want to ask you to help me with.” Linley said.

“Third Bro, just let me know what you need.” Yale said boldly.

Linley withdrew a piece of paper. “Boss Yale, I need two types of ingredients. One is fog grass, the other is cloud fungus. These two herbs are extremely rare, and are virtually unavailable on the market. I was hoping you could help me, Yale.” Yale was supported by the Dawson Conglomerate, after all.

As one of the three great trading unions of the Yulan continent, the Dawson Conglomerate was a massive organization with astonishing abilities.

It would be much simpler for them to look for cloud fungus and fog grass than for Linley to do so on his own.

“Two types of herbs? Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle it for you.” His tongue slurred from wine, Yale pounded his chest and promised. At the same time, he took the piece of paper with the two herbs written down on it from Linley.

“I’ve seen fog grass at home when I was young. It is a very fun type of grass. Under the hot morning sun, it will emit white mist.” Reynolds immediately said.

Linley’s eyes lit up. However, Reynolds’ clan was back in the O’Brien Empire. From his clan to the Kingdom of Fenlai would require at least a year of travelling time. Linley didn’t have that much time to wait. Only if he absolutely couldn’t find it would he be forced to wait patiently.

“How long would it take us, if we were to wait for you to get fog grass from your home, Fourth Bro?” Yale snickered. “Third Bro, I’ll go talk to my Second Uncle right away and have him help you find these two ingredients.”

Yale really did handle Linley’s matters with high importance. That very day, he went to find his Second Uncle.

That night, with a private deluxe room, the brown-haired Myron [Mai’lon] Dawson was casually draped in a bathrobe. Bare-chested, he was lying on a reclining chair, while two beautiful young ladies were by his side, attending to him.

“Second Uncle, Second Uncle!” Yale’s voice sounded out from the other side of the door.

Myron curled his lips helplessly. Stroking the fragrant hair of the two beauties, he chuckled. “My dears, the two of you can go outside and wait a while.” Those two beautiful women left the deluxe room very obediently, and then Yale rushed in.”

“Yale, you are already a grown up now. How can you act like this?” Myron Dawson said with a frown.

Yale chortled. “Second Uncle, don’t be angry. I’ve come today to ask for your help with something. This is something on behalf of my Third Bro, Linley.”

“Your Third Bro? That Linley fellow?” Myron immediately sat up straight. “Go ahead, what is it?”

Yale withdrew that piece of paper from his clothes. “Second Uncle, my Third Bro is in urgent need of these two types of herbs, which is why I’d like to ask you, Second Uncle, to help out and see if we can find them.” As he spoke, he delivered the paper to Myron.

“Fog grass, cloud fungus?” Upon seeing the words on the paper, Myron Dawson nodded. “I’ll send some people to investigate and see if there’s any to be bought nearby.”

“Haha, thanks, Second Uncle!” Yale was excited. “Then I won’t disturb you, Second Uncle, from your festivities. I’ll leave now.”

“You little punk.” Myron Dawson chuckled, then looked back at the piece of paper. “Fog grass and cloud fungus? What does this Linley need these two ingredients for?”

………

Linley had to admit, the Dawson Conglomerate was an astonishingly efficient machine.

“Third Bro, within the various branches in the Holy Union of our Dawson Conglomerate, we only have a small amount of fog grass. As for cloud fungus, we had some a while ago, but it’s already been shipped towards our headquarters. The headquarters of the Dawson Conglomerate is the place where we have the most herbs and ingredients. Here, let me give this fog grass to you first.” Yale directly handed Linley a pouch.

Within the recipe, the amount of fog grass needed was measured in grams, but the pouch which Yale handed to Linley contained nine full clumps of fog grass. This amount was more than enough.

“So there’s no cloud fungus available?” Linley accepted the pouch.

Yale nodded. “Third Bro, if you are in a hurry, I can have my Second Uncle send experts to ride flying magical beasts to head to our headquarters as soon as possible. Riding flying beasts is quite fast. From here to our headquarters, three months is more than enough.”

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 24, Breakthrough

Linley was silent for a moment, then smiled and nodded apologetically at Yale. “Boss Yale, sorry for the hassle.”

“It’s no hassle.” Yale chortled. “It’s just sending someone to make a delivery is all. No big deal. Our Dawson Conglomerate often sends people to deliver letters to the headquarters. We’ll get several things done.”

Linley nodded.

“Third Bro.” Yale’s voice became solemn as he looked at Linley. “Tell me the truth. Why are you in such a rush to get these herbs?”

If it were someone else asking him, Linley totally could’ve lied and claimed that he was using it to make a medical lotion which would help him increase the speed at which his body gained strength. After all, it wasn’t unheard of to bath in medicinal waters as part of training. But facing one of his bros, Linley didn’t wish to lie.

“Boss Yale, right now, I can’t tell you yet. When the time is right, I will tell you.” Linley patted Yale on the shoulders as he spoke.

The bros of dorm 1987 had been together since they were young. They ate together, lived together, played together. They were as close as real brothers.

“Understood, Third Bro. But if you need anything at all, make sure you let me know.” Yale didn’t ask anything else.

The next day, Linley’s housekeeper brought over the herbs which Linley had asked for, except he hadn’t been able to find any fog grass. Based on what the housekeeper said, there was no fog grass available on the market at all. If they wanted to buy some, they would have to send someone to buy it from the Four Great Empires.

After all, fog grass was cultivated from the great plains to the far east. Some of the market centers of the Four Great Empires fairly close to the great plains did have a small amount of fog grass for sale.

“Right now, of the eight ingredients I need to produce Bloodrupture poison, seven are ready. All I’m missing is cloud fungus.” Within his secret study, Linley had put all of the various herbs in front of him on a table, pondering what to do. Of the eight ingredients, there were three that were rare. Fog grass had been procured by the Dawson Conglomerate, while he already had enough Blueheart Grass.

“If I wait three months, then at that time, the people from the Dawson Conglomerate will come and deliver the cloud fungus.” Linley felt very confident.

At most, three months. At that time, he would have all the ingredients that he needed, and would thus be able to prepare a few mixtures of Bloodrupture poison.

But Linley wasn’t the sort of person to sit around waiting.

“Help me spread the word. Let it be known that I am preparing to begin a period of training with the usage of herbal baths, and need cloud fungus as one of my components. I’m willing to pay up to a million gold coins for it.” Linley instructed his housekeeper.

Although Linley wouldn’t lie to his bros, he had to give a good excuse to the rest of the world.

Cloud fungus, in and of itself, was not a poisonous plant. It actually was greatly beneficial to the body. But all herbs possessed their own wondrous properties. When these eight herbs were all refined and processed together, they would be able to produce a poisonous powder like the Bloodrupture poison.

“Yes, Lord Linley.” Upon hearing the words, ‘a million gold coins’, the housekeeper’s heart trembled.

To Linley, a million gold coins really wasn’t much. When he had auctioned off his sculpture, ‘Awakening From the Dream’, the price was twelve million gold coins. Afterwards, when Patterson had secretly met with him, he had gifted Linley another ten million gold coins. After Linley’s rise to prominence and appointment to the rank of Prime Court Magus, the Radiant Church, King Clayde, and many other nobles had all given Linley many valuable gifts.

And just a short while ago, the Debs clan had gifted Linley with a magicrystal card that had one million gold coins on it.

Linley’s current net worth was well over twenty million gold coins.

And this wasn’t even counting the Saint-level magicite core that Linley had acquired from the Saint-level Violet Tattooed Bear. That core, which Linley was keeping hidden, was a priceless treasure which probably was worth more than even a hundred million gold coins.

The news that Linley was seeking to buy cloud fungus for a million gold coins originally only spread amongst herbal merchants, but shortly afterwards, all the various nobles of the Kingdom of Fenlai learned of it as well. All of those nobles now knew that Master Linley needed cloud fungus.

If they could provide Linley with the cloud fungus, not only would they receive a million gold coins, they would also have a chance to build up a relationship with Linley.

Many nobles began to wrack their brains for methods by which they could locate cloud fungus.

But alas, cloud fungus was far too rare, and far too expensive.

After ordering this news to be spread out, Linley continued his life of solitary, pitiless training within his manor. In the blink of an eye, November arrived, and with it the temperature began to drop as well. The leaves of the trees within the Hot Springs Garden began to turn yellow and fall, filling the grass with sallow leaves.

“Haaaaa!”

Linley, who had been engaging in one-finger vertical push-ups suddenly exerted strength through his fingers, flipping himself into the air. Somersaulting easily through the air, Linley landed on the ground, his bare upper chest covered in sweat.

Aided by the Supergravity Field, after having trained for so long, even Linley’s powerful body was beginning to feel tired.

“Whew.”

Standing normally again, Linley felt the muscles in and near his fingers, arms, and shoulders all feel numb and sore. He found this feeling to be very comfortable, as he knew that in this situation, his muscles and bones were slowly strengthening.

The way to train one’s body was to exceed one’s limits time and time again, so long as one didn’t exceed the limits by too much each time.

Seating himself cross-legged, Linley immediately began to train in accordance with the ‘Secret Dragonblood Manual’, allowing the liquefied Dragonblood battle-qi in his dantian to begin to rush out. In a short while, the mighty Dragonblood battle-qi had filled Linley’s entire body.

Training, time and time again. Each time, the Dragonblood battle-qi would become a bit more pure, and Linley’s bones and flesh would become a bit stronger.

The azurish-black Dragonblood battle-qi entered his dantian again, then spread out again. The dantian was the nucleus for a Dragonblood Warrior. Linley had reached the late-stage of the sixth rank long ago, and in September and October, he had reached the peak of the sixth rank.

Right now, Linley had reached a plateau. He could break through any day now.

“Crack. Crack.” All sorts of strange sounds began to emit from Linley’s body. Linley’s muscles seemed to have a mouse buried beneath them, as they began to ripple up and down nonstop. Even his veins were popping out, and throughout Linley’s body, beads of sweat and beads of blood were beginning to come out!

“I’m finally about to break through.” Linley was shocked and pleased.

He had waited far too long for this day.

“Bubble, bubble.”

That azurish-black Dragonblood battle-qi began to roil about strangely, filling Linley’s entire body with pain. But within his dantian, that liquefied Dragonblood battle-qi began to condense itself yet again, increasing in density by several factors. The Dragonblood battle-qi was being drawn back into the dantian nonstop. And then, it would once again be emitted from the dantian yet again, forming a circle.

Whenever the Dragonblood battle-qi entered the dantian, it would transform.

After roughly an hour’s time had passed, all of the Dragonblood battle-qi in Linley’s body had undergone this transformation. Although there was theoretically only a thin barrier between the peak of the sixth rank and the early seventh rank, Linley’s strength was now several times greater than it had been in the past.

Linley opened his eyes, a look of uncontrollable excitement within them.

“Haha, I’ve finally entered the realm of a warrior of the seventh rank.” Linley was extremely excited.

As long as he were to agitate the Dragonblood battle-qi in his body, he would be able to assume the Dragonform. The training speed of the Dragonblood Warriors was extremely high, especially in the earlier stages. Linley had spent just about half a year before advancing from the sixth rank to the seventh rank. This sort of advancement was extremely astounding.

But Linley estimated that to progress from the seventh rank to the eighth rank, he would need several years, most likely.

The farther along one was, the harder the road would become. But nonetheless, most Dragonblood Warriors only needed a few decades to reach the Saint-level in power.

Bebe, who had been sleeping nearby this entire time, opened his sleepy eyes, which suddenly brightened. Excitedly, he spiritually said to Linley, “Boss, you reached the seventh rank?”

“Yeah.” Linley nodded happily.

“Then doesn’t that mean, once you Dragonform, you have the power of an early-stage ninth rank?” Bebe was excited. “Looks like your power is gonna be more than mine now, Boss!”

Linley began to laugh as well.

In the early stages, the boost to power provided by the Dragonform was quite dramatic. For example, as a warrior of the seventh rank, in the Yulan continent, he could only be considered an unremarkable fellow. But upon using the Dragonform, he would be an early-stage ninth rank warrior, who was qualified to be considered a notable figure in the world.

However, the more powerful one grew, the weaker the boost provided by the Dragonform would be.

Dragonform, after all, was nothing more than forcibly drawing out the Dragonblood which a weak Dragonblood Warrior hadn’t been able to fully absorb.

“Early-stage ninth rank, and your Dragonform was influenced by the Armored Razorback Wyrm. The Armored Razorback Wyrm specializes in speed and defense, while you also possess strong defense and unquestionably high speed.” Doehring Cowart appeared from the ring at this time.

Linley was very confident in his own speed.

Because after taking on the Dragonform, not only did he have the natural high speed of a Dragonblood Warrior, he could also utilize wind-style magic and boost himself with a Supersonic spell of the seventh rank, which would increase his speed by a good amount.

Linley was so pleased that he just stood there, grinning stupidly.

“Boss, stop laughing like an idiot. Look at yourself, you’re filthy. Take a bath, jeeze.” Bebe intentionally put a disgusted look on his face while covering his nose and jumping up and down as he bared his fangs at Linley.

Linley looked at himself.

At this moment, his body was covered in both sweat and blood. He really did look dirty.

“Splash!”

Linley jumped directly into the hot springs pool. The water in the hot springs was constantly flowing, so Linley didn’t worry about getting it dirty. After having experienced the sensation of his entire body transforming, then having the hot springs water rush against it, Linley felt so comfortable that he lay within the hot springs pool, eyes closed.

He fell asleep.

He felt so comfortable that he actually fell asleep.

Just as Linley was enjoying a beautiful dream, a voice rang out from outside. “Lord Linley. Lord Linley.” The female attendant’s voice clearly sounded rather anxious.

Linley’s eyes suddenly opened. Hearing the voice, he couldn’t help but frown. “Come in.”

Only then did that female attendant dare to enter the gardens. Standing at the side of the hot springs pool, she snuck a few looks at Linley’s naked body, then respectfully said, “Lord Linley, a herald from the palace is waiting outside. He says that he has come at the command of his Majesty, who is inviting you, Lord Linley, to make a trip to the palace.”

“By command of his Majesty?” Linley hesitated slightly, then directly clambered out of the pool.

“You can leave now.” Linley always dressed himself, as he didn’t like the female attendants helping him dress.

“Yes.” Her cheeks scarlet red, the female attendant quickly lowered her head and fled the Hot Springs Garden.

…..

Seated in a carriage, headed for the palace. Outside the carriage, aside from sixteen palace soldiers, there were sixteen knights from the Radiant Church. Linley’s entourage was larger than that of even the Left Premier or the Right Premier.

“Lord Linley, his Majesty is currently within the East Flower Garden.” The shrill voice of the palace attendant rang out.

“Lead the way.” Linley said abruptly.

The palace attendant was very deferential towards Linley, smiling at him the entire way.

“Who else has his Majesty invited this time?” Linley asked.

“Just you, Lord Linley.” The palace attendant replied.

“Just me?” Linley began to feel suspicious, but he didn’t ask anything further. Under the guidance of the palace attendant, Linley finally arrived at the palace’s East Flower Garden. As it was now already November, there were very few flowers which were still in bloom. But the countless flowers in the East Flower Garden of the palace were still vibrant and beautiful.

And that ‘Golden Lion’, King Clayde, was currently chatting with his Queen in the garden.

“Haha, Linley, you came.” Clayde greeted Linley in a very friendly manner. “Come, sit.” “Your Majesty. Queen.” Linley paid his respects, then sat down.

Clayde and the Queen exchanged glances, and then he grinned at Linley. “Linley, I heard that you have been looking for cloud fungus in order to create a medicinal bath for yourself?”

“Yes.” Linley nodded.

Suddenly, Linley had an idea as to why Clayde had specially requested his presence at the palace. But Linley didn’t quite dare to believe it. He was searching for this cloud fungus for the sake of dealing with Clayde. Could it be that Clayde was going to…

“Haha, I knew you were searching for this cloud fungus, so I sent my men out to do a search. By a stroke of good fortune, my palace storehouse just so happened to have a single clump of cloud fungus.” Clayde glanced at a nearby female attendant, who immediately presented a golden brocade box she was holding to Linley.

Linley was really, truly stunned.

The cloud fungus that he had been so desperately seeking, had been provided to him by King Clayde!

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 25, Producing the Powder

Cloud fungus. The true reason why Linley was seeking cloud fungus was to use it to produce Bloodrupture poison powder. And the reason why he wanted to produce Bloodrupture poison was because he was going to use it on Clayde.

But in the end, it was Clayde who provided the cloud fungus to him.

“Can it be that hidden deep within the world, there really is such a thing as the cycle of karma?” Linley suddenly thought of the teachings of the Radiant Church, one part of which discussed fate. In the past, Linley had never believed in any religion, but this affair really had developed in a very bizarre way.

Given that the cloud fungus had just been delivered into his hands, how could he not take it?

“Thank you, your Majesty.” Linley smiled, bowing in thanks while accepting the cloud fungus.

But in his heart, Linley was laughing coldly. “Since you’ve given it to me, this means that the heavens themselves desire your death. You can’t blame me.”

Linley had virtually no memories of his mother, but that didn’t stop Linley from deeply desiring to have had a mother’s love. Due to never having known his mother, Linley had always been a bit lonely. Whenever he saw someone else’s mother and felt a bit unhappy, he would think silent, lonely thoughts of his mother.

Upon capturing Clayde, he definitely would be able to discover his mother’s whereabouts!

“Linley, I’ve invited the Right Premier for lunch today. Stay here and have lunch with us, why won’t you.” Clayde beamed at Linley.

“Yes, your Majesty.” Linley’s attitude was very humble.

The Queen nodded gracefully to Linley, then said to Clayde in a gentle voice, “Your Majesty, you and Master Linley can remain here. I’ll go back now.” Clayde nodded calmly as well. In the Kingdom of Fenlai, the King’s authority vastly outstripped that of the Queen’s.

November. The temperature was getting cold.

But Linley and Clayde were both dressed lightly, not afraid of the cold in the slightest. Linley was now a warrior of the seventh rank, while Clayde was an even mightier warrior of the ninth rank.

“Your Majesty, why did you invite Merritt to dine with you?” Linley was chatting naturally and casually with Clayde.

Hearing Linley’s words, a very satisfied smile appeared on Clayde’s face. He glanced at the nearby palace maids, who very obediently left. Only then did Clayde say in a low voice, “Linley, are you aware that Merritt has recently married his thirteenth wife?”

“Thirteenth?” Linley was stunned.

He didn’t know that this apparently serious, solemn judge, the Lord Right Minister, was so fickle in love.

“His new wife is an extremely flavorful woman.” Clayde revealed a smile towards Linley, a type of smile all men understood.

Seeing that expression on Clayde’s face, Linley couldn’t help but be startled.

“Haha…” Clayde patted Linley on the shoulders. “Linley. Next year, you will be eighteen. Don’t tell me you’ve never tasted a woman before.”

Linley couldn’t help but feel awkward.

Clayde sighed, “Merritt, that kid, was actually able to acquire such an intoxicating little vixen. It really does make one jealous. But since I’ve taken a fancy to her, that intoxicating little vixen is mine. Merritt won’t even dare to touch her from now on.”

Clayde openly spoke of such affairs to Linley.

“Your Majesty? Is that…is that appropriate?” Linley was a bit surprised.

She was, after all, the wife of the Right Minister. But from the sound of it, Clayde was going to directly seize her for himself.

“What’s inappropriate about it? Merritt only climbed to his current position through women to begin with. He should know very well what his place is. But Linley, that day when Merritt got married and had his banquet, I think you didn’t attend.” Clayde said questioningly.

During this period of time, Linley had been pondering the question of alchemy and herbal ingredients. He had no inclination to go to a wedding at all. Generally speaking, Linley declined all banquet invitations from nobles.

The wedding banquet of the Right Premier?

Declined all the same!

“Linley, how about today, during lunch, you take a look at Merritt’s new wife, Windsor [Wen’sa]. If you like her, I don’t mind giving her to you. I can guarantee that no matter how daring and audacious Merritt might be, he won’t dare to touch Windsor a single time.” Clayde said confidently.

Clayde possessed absolute authority within the Kingdom of Fenlai.

The day of Merritt’s wedding, Clayde had taken a fancy towards Windsor. That very night, Clayde had sent someone to bring Windsor to a manor outside, and he, Clayde, had thoroughly enjoyed himself.

As for Merritt, he didn’t dare to show any hint of temper.

What’s more, ever since that night, Merritt no longer dared to touch Windsor.

Some of the major ministers in the Kingdom of Fenlai had risen to their ranks through their abilities. Those were truly capable ministers indeed. But some ministers had clawed their way to their current ranks through some unsightly deeds.

Linley was secretly surprised at Clayde’s forcefulness.

But then again, Clayde, the one whom men named the ‘Golden Lion’, had always been as forceful as a lion. One could imagine how despotically he could act if he so chose.

“Your Majesty, Duke Merritt and the Duchess have arrived.” A palace attendant ran over and said respectfully.

“Haha, come, Linley.” Clayde immediately stood up.

Holding the packaged cloud fungus, Linley could only follow Clayde out. But shortly afterwards, they arrived at a very graceful, light red courtyard within the palace.

Merritt and that Madame Windsor were there, waiting at the gate to the courtyard.

Linley couldn’t help but glance at the Madame Windsor who had drawn Clayde’s interest.

Madame Windsor’s body was extremely slender. Although she was dressed very conservatively, her tight clothes accentuated every curve and every line of her slender body. Her waist was so slender, and yet her bosom was so full.

Her dark red hair was so alluring.

In particular, this Madame Windsor’s eyes were soul-beguiling. Anyone who saw her would unconsciously begin to think improper thoughts.

“Your Majesty. Lord Linley.” Merritt said, and that Madame Windsor echoed him in her gentle voice.

“She really is quite an enchanting vixen.” Linley said to himself.

Clayde cast a delighted glance at Linley. In a low voice, he said to Linley, “What do you think? Do you feel a bit a bit of an urge to…?”

“Your Majesty, let’s go in and have lunch.” Linley said in a low voice.

“Haha…” Clayde began to laugh loudly.

That Windsor couldn’t help but turn to stare at Linley with her beguiling eyes, seemingly quite interested in Linley. If Merritt and Clayde hadn’t been there, perhaps she might have gone directly up to Linley and struck up a conversation with him.

“Wow, what a beautiful lady.” Bebe, on Linley’s shoulders the entire time, said, his eyes growing round.

“Swish.”

Bebe actually leapt off of Linley’s shoulders, landing directly…on Windsor’s bosom.

“It’s so big…” Bebe’s voice sounded out in Linley’s mind.

Linley was flabbergasted.

“What an adorable mouse!” Windsor excitedly cuddled Bebe, who used his little head to rub himself against her ampleness, seeming to enjoy himself very much.

….

“Whew.”

Bebe in hand, Linley managed to finally leave the palace. This entire time in the palace, that Windsor kept on using her beguiling eyes to stare at him. Even Linley found it hard to endure.

They entered the carriage.

“Return.” Linley snapped an order to his guards, and the carriage immediately began to move. “Hey, Boss, what’s the rush? Right, didn’t that Clayde say he was willing to give Windsor to you? You should accept.” Bebe’s beady little eyes stared at Linley.

Linley couldn’t help but smack Bebe on his head. “You perverted little mouse.”

“Hrmph, I’m about to be of age, y’know.” Bebe said unhappily.

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

But thinking back to what he had gained from this trip to the palace, Linley couldn’t help but let a hint of a smile appear on his face. He took out the case by his side.

Within this case was a clump of cloud fungus.

“Now that I have the cloud fungus in hand, all eight ingredients are ready. I have what I need to produce the Bloodrupture poison powder.” Linley had already decided that he would immediately start to produce the powder when he got back home.

“Boss, I feel like that Clayde is rather brotherly, stand-up guy. Are you really going to kill him?” Bebe said in a low voice.

Frowning, Linley turned to look at Bebe.

“Bebe, Clayde is the ruler of a country. As long as he has any brains at all, he would naturally try to build a good relationship with me. He is friendly and does right by me, only because of my status and my potential. If I didn’t have potential, then Clayde probably wouldn’t even bother to notice me. Perhaps if I had a beautiful wife, he would directly take her for his own pleasure. Just like with that Merritt.”

Linley understood Clayde quite well.

A person like Clayde was actually quite heartless. But he could still be considered a capable ruler. At least, he was able to distinguish between capable ministers and useless ones.

“In fact, I even am beginning to wonder if, in the past, Clayde saw that my mother was beautiful and therefore wanted her for himself.” Upon seeing Windsor, Linley had thought of this possibility.

Based on Clayde’s personality, this was not impossible.

“Bebe, tell me, how can I spare Clayde?” Linley looked at Bebe. Just thinking about that possibility filled Linley with a boundless desire to kill.

Perhaps because he could feel the killing desire Linley was feeling towards Clayde, Bebe instantly said, “Kill him, kill him. I, Bebe, will be the first to act against him.” Bebe rose to his feet, waving his two paws around while baring his fangs, demonstrating to Linley the deep hatred he, too, felt for Clayde.

“No need for you to act. After finding out about my mother’s whereabouts, I will be the first to act.” Linley said coldly.

Within the secret room in Linley’s manor, under the light of eighteen lanterns, the entire room was bright. Linley was carefully following the procedures for producing Bloodrupture poison powder.

The procedure for producing this powder was extremely complicated. Each step required caution, caution, caution.

If there was even the slightest error, then the ingredients would have been wasted.

Right now, on the table within the secret room, there were alchemist’s tools, and the eight ingredients, all chopped up into many small pieces.

“Gurgle, gurgle.”

Linley filtered the herbal juice out from the alchemist’s pot, then placed this juice into a new, clean pot and began to boil it. At the same time, Linley began to carefully add the three remaining ingredients to the mixture.

“Can’t get the order wrong. I should put in the Blueheart Grass, then the turmeric, then the cardamon kernels.”

Staring at the alchemy pot, Linley focused all of his concentration onto it, carefully watching it for any reactions. Each step had to be controlled with extreme precision.

An entire night passed.

“I’ve finally produced a single liquid dose.” Linley carefully strained the small amount of clear liquid out of the alchemist’s pot, pouring it into a white tray.

“This translucent liquid seems to be just like clear water. There’s no distinguishable difference at all.” Linley sighed emotionally.

Based on the instructions for producing Bloodrupture poison powder, this final liquid dose could already be considered a form of Bloodrupture poison. However, only allowing it to dry into powder form would it reach its highest level of potency.

By now, this liquid dose had already been boiled once, and not much water remained within it. Most likely, within ten days time, it would totally dry and transform into the Bloodrupture poison powder.

“The first dose was a success. Tomorrow, I’ll make a second dose.” Linley was very careful.

He didn’t dare to use all the materials on a single attempt. After all, if he were to fail, it would be disastrous. By dividing the materials into multiple attempts, at least a single failure wouldn’t be too disastrous.

A single dosage of poison powder should be enough. But, to be cautious, Linley had decided to prepare multiple doses.

Year 9999 of the Yulan calendar. The end of November.

The six doses of Bloodrupture poison which Linley had produced had completely dried into powder form. Just by looking at its translucent, crystalline form, it was hard to imagine something which could so dramatically cripple the power of a warrior of the ninth rank.

“Whew. Although I’ve used up all my ingredients, these six doses of poison powder should be enough.” Looking at the six packets of powder on his table, Linley let out a long breath.

For the sake of this Bloodrupture poison powder, Linley really had expended a great deal of time and effort. And now, he had succeeded.

“Now, the only thing that I am missing is an opportunity to make my move against Clayde.” Linley couldn’t help but begin to ponder a way to poison Clayde and capture him without anyone suspecting that it had been Linley who did it.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 26, The Scheme

This would be difficult!

If it was within the palace, Linley would have to first find an opportunity to use the poison, and then both question and kill Clayde within the confines of the palace.

“Even if I don’t worry about the issue of being discovered to be the murderer, upon killing Clayde, it will be very hard to escape the palace.” In Linley’s mind, one possibility after another appeared, then was discarded.

Linley finally reached a conclusion…

“To use poison within the palace and then escape afterwards is virtually impossible.” Linley discarded this possibility entirely. After all, there were simply too many experts in the palace. Only if he used the Dragonform would he be able to cut his way out.

But Linley was not willing to expose the secret that he could Dragonform.

“It has to be outside the palace.” Linley felt his head hurt.

A place outside the palace, where Clayde would be willing to be alone with him. And, the place had to be a standalone place. This was extremely difficult. Clayde was, after all, the king. If someone wanted to meet with him, they would go in person to the palace.

Linley couldn’t, after all, send someone to the palace and ask King Clayde to come meet him.

Linley had never heard of a situation where a subject would request a ruler to come see them. This clearly was unfeasible. Even if Clayde gave him face and agreed, Clayde would most likely be suspicious and on guard.

As soon as Clayde became on his guard, the chance of success would be lowered.

“I have to find an opportunity to be with him alone in a place outside the palace.” Despite having been in Fenlai City for so long, Linley had never been in a one-on-one situation with Clayde before.

Generally speaking, they would only meet at banquets.

But Linley couldn’t make his move at a banquet, in front of an audience of countless people, could he?

“What to do?”

Linley was beginning to feel vexed.

Early December. The temperature of Fenlai City suddenly dropped, and the first snow of this winter came as well. The entire Fenlai City was covered white, and the cold bite of the air caused many nobles to hide inside their homes, unwilling to venture outside.

Still dressed in loose robes, Linley was strolling on the snow-covered streets, escorted by two guards.

“Crunch. Crunch.” The sound of footsteps on the snow.

The snow-covered Fenlai City was exceptionally alluring. On the gates of the noble manors on each side of the Greenleaf Road were countless icicles. The reflected rays of the sun glittered off of them, making them seem all the more beautiful to behold.

The towering, snow-covered pine trees in front of the manors seemed exceptionally beautiful as well.

The scene was a beautiful one.

But Linley’s mood was foul.

“That Clayde is already a warrior of the ninth rank. Although advancing from the ninth rank to the Saint-level is very hard, perhaps one day he will suddenly break through. By then, it will be even more hopeless.” Linley really didn’t want to wait any longer.

The earlier he made his move against Clayde, the greater his chance of success.

But he needed an opportunity.

“Boss, look. Many of the nearby manors have been renovated and redecorated.” Bebe’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind.

While walking on the road, Linley’s thoughts were elsewhere, so naturally he hadn’t noticed. But upon hearing Bebe’s words, Linley noticed that the manors alongside Greenleaf Road were now different from before.

“This is…” Linley said questioningly.

“Hang it up. Good. Now move it a bit to the left.” A servant of the nearest manor was busy hanging up various decorations under the instruction of a nearby man.

“Those are…Yulan flowers!” Linley noticed the decorations hanging next to the door and what patterns they had. The patterns looked like Yulan flowers.

Suddenly, Linley understood what was going on.

“Right! It’s already December. The Yulan Festival will be coming quite soon. And it will be the 10000th Yulan Festival!” Linley knew the importance of this particular Yulan Festival.

Year 10000 of the Yulan calendar, January 1st. That would perhaps be the most festive day in the history of the Yulan continent. No wonder every single noble clan was putting up so many decorations.

“Crunch!”

One of the steps on a ladder which the servant was standing on while hanging up decorations suddenly broke. The servant lost his footing, wobbled, and then fell down, first banging against the ladder, and then slamming into the stone ground head-first, his fresh blood staining the ground red.

The nearby servants all were frightened.

“Are you okay?” All of them ran forward to help the man up.

“A bit…a bit dizzy…” That wounded man said in a weak voice. Fortunately, the ladder wasn’t too high, and so the force with which he struck the ground wasn’t too great either. That was the only reason he had survived.

“Alright, that’s enough for you for today. Go home and rest. Kohl [Ke’er], go take care of him. Jeeze, you weren’t even that high up, but you managed to smash yourself this badly.” The manager shook his head helplessly.

The servant named Kohl immediately helped prop up the wounded servant and began to assist him back to his home.

Seeing this, Linley was stunned.

“Lord…Lord Linley?” Only now did that manager notice Linley, and he quickly went forward to pay his respects to Linley. This manor was the manor of Duke Bonalt, and Linley had come here before. Naturally, this manager recognized Linley.

“Good morning, Lord Linley,” the manager said with a bow.

Only now did Linley recover from his stupor. An excited smile appearing on his face, he looked at the man and chuckled. “Haha, good morning to you as well. Haha, alright, time to go home.”

Excited, Linley immediately turned around, leading his guards back.

“Hey, why is our lord so happy?” Those two warriors began to chat with each other in low voices.

They had seen what a foul mood Linley had been in this morning, so what had suddenly caused him to be so excited?

“This method is so simple. Why didn’t I think of it? Haha!” Linley couldn’t help but slap himself on the head. He really had obsessed so much that his brain had gone bad.

Linley had already come up with a surefire method to bring Clayde to visit him. This method was…receive an injury!

“I’ll pretend that when I was training battle-qi, I suffered some internal injuries by accident. If I’m wounded, from what I’ve seen thus far, Clayde will most likely come to visit me.”

Linley was feeling unbelievably happy. As long as he made his move within his own manor, it would be very easy for him to plot against Clayde.

“As for the status and wealth granted by the Holy Union, I’ve never cared too much. After I find out what happened to my mother and kill Clayde, I will use the backchannels of the Dawson Conglomerate to flee from the Holy Union’s domain.” Linley had already come to a firm decision.

The Holy Union held no attractions for Linley.

Right now, his one and only family member, little Wharton, was staying in the O’Brien Empire. There was nothing in the Holy Union preventing Linley from leaving.

To kill Clayde in a way which wouldn’t raise any suspicions was virtually impossible. Since this was impossible, the only choice Linley had was to accept that he would have to make a small sacrifice. To Linley, the Holy Union held no further attractions, after all.

Linley’s manor. The Hot Springs Garden.

Linley was seated cross-legged within the grassy area, cultivating Dragonblood battle-qi. Like the ferocious waves of the ocean, the Dragonblood battle-qi burst forth, clashing against every blood vessel in his body.

In truth, the average warrior of the seventh rank wouldn’t be able to withstand such training. But Linley was different. He had drank blood from a living dragon. Generally speaking, when dragon’s blood was applied to the outside of one’s body, it would acquire an astonishing durability. But Linley had actually drank it into his stomach, which caused all of his blood vessels to also gain an incredible degree of resiliency.

“Paagh!”

Linley suddenly vomited out a mouthful of fresh blood, and his face turned white.

“Aaaaargh!” A painful, guttural roar ripped out from Linley’s mouth.

Right now, all of the female attendants outside the Hot Springs Garden could faintly hear that low roar of Linley’s, and they all rushed against the door, pressing their ears against it to listen carefully.

“Lord Linley…seems to be in a lot of pain?” One of the skinnier attendants said questioningly.

“Seems like it.” Another, chubbier attendant nodded.

But none of them dared to go inside.

“Lord Linley?” That skinnier attendant called out.

“Come…come in…” Linley’s voice rang out.

Those two attendants exchanged glances, then immediately pushed the door open and ran inside. But upon arriving at the grassy area, they were both frightened. There was a large pool of blood on the ground, and Linley was collapsed on the ground, his face pale.

“Assist me to my room.” Linley said in a low voice.

“Yes. Yes.”

The two female attendants were a bit frantic. Each of them helping hold Linley by an arm, they immediately assisted Linley all the way to his private bedroom.

“Milord, should we ask for the light-style magi to come?” The skinnier female attendant asked.

“No need. My injuries are internal. Magic won’t be able to help. I have to quietly recover.” Linley took a deep breath, then assumed the meditation position on the bed, his eyes closing. “The two of you can leave now.”

“Yes, milord.” The two female attendants bowed respectfully and left.

Both the light-style and the water-style recovery spells were spells of a reparative nature, allowing physical wounds to heal. But to damage done to internal organs, they wouldn’t be of much assistance.

……

Within Linley’s room. Only him and Yale were present.

“Third Bro, you aren’t injured?” Yale was confused. “If you aren’t injured, why are you pretending to be injured? And asked to meet with me so urgently.” Even before he feigned injury, Linley had sent someone to ask for Yale.

Linley said in a low voice, “Boss Yale, this affair has to do with my revenge. Boss Yale. I can tell you now. That Clayde is most likely the person who killed my mother.”

“The person who killed your mother?” Yale stared. “Third Bro, you are planning to…?”

“Right. Get revenge.” Linley didn’t hide anything from his bro.

“That Clayde is a warrior of the ninth rank. How are you going to get revenge on him? And he’s the king of the Kingdom of Fenlai as well.” Yale was growing frantic with concern for Linley.

Linley said solemnly, “Don’t worry. I already have total confidence in my ability to deal with him. However, after I kill Clayde, then even if the Radiant Church spares me and doesn’t kill me, my life will most likely be made miserable. Thus I have decided that after I kill Clayde, I will immediately leave the Holy Union.”

“Leave the Holy Union?” Yale was startled, but then he quickly understood. “Right. You do need to leave. Leave this to me. The mercantile power of our Dawson Conglomerate is spread over every major city in the Holy Union. It will be very easy for us to smuggle a person out of the Holy Union with no one the wiser.”

“What’s more, our Dawson Conglomerate has master disguisers as well.” Yale was totally confident.

Linley knew full well how powerful the Dawson Conglomerate was. How could one of the three major trading unions of the Yulan continent be trifled with?

“I know. That’s why, Boss Yale, I want for you to arrange for someone to wait for me at that hotel at the end of the Greenleaf Road. When I arrive there later, you can help arrange for me to be smuggled outside the Holy Union.”

Linley was very confident that after killing Clayde, he would be able to easily make his way to this hotel.

“No worries.” Yale nodded.

“Third Bro.” Yale frowned, looking at Linley. “You have to be careful.”

Linley smiled at Yale. “Boss Yale, you must have faith in me.”

The news that Linley had been injured quickly spread out. The first to receive this news was not the ruler of the Kingdom of Fenlai; it was the Cardinal of the Radiant Church, Guillermo.

But very quickly, King Clayde and the various nobles of Fenlai received the news that Linley had suffered an injury when training. Although injuries caused by training were rather rare, they weren’t unheard of. Generally speaking, only someone who trained too hard and exceeded his body’s maximum limits would suffer such an injury, and sometimes even harm the organs. “The only thing to do now is to wait for King Clayde.” Wearing a loose robe, Linley sat on a chair in his bedroom, his face ashen.

Bebe was standing on a nearby chair as well.

“Lord Linley.” The female attendant from outside ran in.

Linley’s eyes couldn’t help but light up. But then, Linley immediately returned to presenting himself as ‘weak’. Looking at the attendant, he said calmly, “What is it.”

“Lord Cardinal Guillermo has arrived.” The female attendant hurriedly said.

“Oh?” Linley’s heart was suddenly gripped with worry.

Although Guillermo’s visit had been expected, Linley suddenly thought of something…what if Guillermo was present when King Clayde arrived as well? Then it would be very difficult for him to act against Clayde.

After all, Guillermo was a magus of the ninth rank. That Bloodrupture poison was used primarily against warriors to weaken their power, and didn’t have much of an impact on magi.

“Linley!” Just at this moment, Guillermo’s voice sounded out from outside the room.

[AnimeFan9001]

Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 27, The Wine

Linley couldn’t help but turn his head to the door.

Guillermo was there, dressed in a long, red robe, a smile on his face, his waist straight. His eyes, however, were very fierce and resolved. Under the escort of the two Vicars, Guillermo strode into the room.

“So Guillermo has already arrived. I hope Clayde will be a bit slower.” Linley was filled with anticipation.

The only weakness in this plan of his was the possibility that Clayde and this magus of the ninth rank would come at the same time. After all, the Bloodrupture poison was of no use against a magus.

Linley immediately began to stand up. “Lord Guillermo.”

“Linley, look at yourself. Your face is so pale. Sit, sit.” Guillermo immediately took two quick steps forward to stop Linley from rising.

“Lord Guillermo, I’m fine. Although I suffered some internal injuries while training battle-qi, I can still walk and act normally. Only, it’s a pity that for a period of time, I won’t be able to train battle-qi any more.” Linley said with a long sigh.

“At a time like this, you are still thinking of training battle-qi?” Guillermo said angrily. “External injuries are easy to heal, but internal ones are much more dangerous. If you don’t heal them properly, it’s possible that they’ll cause harm to you for your entire life.”

“Thank you, Lord Guillermo, for your concern.”

In truth, Linley had a very good impression of Guillermo. He couldn’t help but cast a glance to the entranceway. “I hope this Clayde will arrive a bit later.”

Yesterday’s blizzard had caused Fenlai City to become very cold, and there were very few people on the road from the palace. But right now, a hundred-man strong contingent of guards were currently protecting and escorting a lavish golden carriage out of the palace.

“Crunch. Crunch.”

The wheels of the carriage crushed through the snow.

“Ransome [Lan’sai’mu], open the door.” Clayde ordered.

The carriage was extremely spacious, and could easily fit five or six people very comfortably. This Ransome was one of Clayde’s personal bodyguards, and he immediately said, “Yes, your Majesty.” He quickly pulled open the curtain-door, letting in a blast of that frigid air.

But neither Ransome nor Clayde felt the cold in the slightest, despite the fact that Clayde was just wearing a jacket over some undergarments, while Ransome was wearing the traditional uniform of a palace servant.

“This Linley actually managed to damage his vitals due to over-training battle-qi. Jeeze.” Clayde couldn’t help but laugh while sighing.

Ransome said in a low voice, “That Lord Linley is still very young, yet he still has such accomplishments. No matter how talented a person is, one still needs to train hard. For a warrior to be able to injure himself internally due to over-training battle-qi shows to what extent he goes to when he trains.”

The limits to a person’s body’s endurance might perhaps be very high.

But each time one tried to stimulate one’s potential, one couldn’t go too far. Although it was true that hard work was beneficial to a warrior in training, one couldn’t go overboard either. The body wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“Right. This Linley’s future accomplishments will be unimaginable.” Clayde nodded as well.

Seeing the look on Clayde’s face, Ransome sighed secretly.

As Clayde’s personal bodyguard, naturally he had a deep understanding of his master. With the forceful personality that Clayde had, it was very rare for Clayde to be so courteous to someone. But towards Linley, Clayde had never stopped being courteous for a single moment.

“It’s a pity that, in that year, his Majesty…alas. His Majesty knows that he has no hope of entering the Saint-level, which is why he views Linley with such importance.” Ransome knew Clayde’s secret.

Although Clayde was a warrior of the ninth rank, Ransome knew…that unless the Radiant Sovereign was to bestow his divine power upon Clayde, Clayde would never be able to reach the Saint-rank, no matter what.

“Your Majesty, we have arrived at Lord Linley’s manor.” Ransome said softly.

Through the open door, the gate to Linley’s manor could be seen quite clearly. At this moment, there were two powerfully built warriors standing guard outside the gate. These two warriors were elite members of ace divisions of the Knights of the Radiant Church.

“Crunch.” The carriage came to a halt.

Ransome was the first to leave the carriage, then respectfully waited for Clayde to step out as well.

“Your Majesty!” Those two guards bowed respectfully.

“Oh, someone arrived before me?” Clayde noticed that there was another luxurious carriage stationed outside, along with a group of Knights of the Radiant Temple standing outside.

“Right. Lord Guillermo has already arrived.” One of the two warriors guarding the gate said respectfully.

“Lord Guillermo has arrived? That’s fine.” Clayde glanced back at his own squad. “All of you stay here. Ransome, come with me.” After issuing these orders, Clayde made his way through the gate, his personal bodyguard behind him.

……

Right now, Linley was still engaged in conversation with Guillermo. Neither of them knew that Clayde had already reached the gate.

“This Guillermo still isn’t leaving?” Linley was beginning to grow impatient.

If Guillermo intended to keep on chatting with him like this, who knew how much longer this would go on for? The longer this went on, the more complicated things would get. Growing anxious, Linley suddenly put a hand to his mouth.

“Cough. Cough!” Linley let out a few coughs, coughing so hard that his white face turned red.

“Linley.” Guillermo was very surprised.

He didn’t imagine that Linley’s injury would be as severe as this.

“Linley, you must properly use this medicine I have brought you. They have the effect of assisting the body in healing its internal organs.” Guillermo hurriedly said. “Your body isn’t in good shape right now. Get some rest. I won’t disturb your rest any further.” Guillermo stood up.

After coughing, Linley’s ashen face was even paler than before, without a hint of blood.

“Lord Guillermo, my sincere apologies.” Linley said apologetically.

“It’s fine. Get some rest. Your body is what’s important.” Guillermo reminded him yet again, before leaving the room along with his Vicars.

Just as Clayde and Ransome walked through the gate to Linley’s manor, they heard a voice call out from behind them.

“Your Majesty. Your Majesty.”

Clayde turned around questioningly, only to see Merritt quickly jump out from a carriage. “Your Majesty.”

“Merritt, you came as well?” Clayde chuckled, coming to a stop as he looked at Merrit.

Merritt ran to Clayde. Respectfully, he said, “Lord Linley’s been injured. How could I not come? Your Majesty, how could you go inside with just Ransome? It isn’t safe!” Merritt hurriedly said.

When a ruler paid a visit to one of his subject’s, usually he would bring all of his guards directly inside as well.

The first reason was to protect the safety of the ruler. The second was to display the ruler’s authority and power.

“No need. I’m just checking up on Linley. No need to raise the flag high and all that.” Clayde chuckled. “Much less, within the city of Fenlai, who is capable of posing a threat to me, hrm?”

Clayde’s self-confidence wasn’t without merit.

First of all, Clayde wasn’t worried about most combatants of the ninth rank. The only type of person which Clayde truly feared was a Saint-level combatant, but would a Saint-level combatant come to assassinate him, a king? What’s more, this was Fenlai City, the Holy Capital of the Radiant Church!

Who would dare to act rashly within the confines of the Radiant Church’s headquarters?

“Right, right. Your servant was being too cautious.” Merritt hurriedly said.

“Let’s go. We can go inside together.” Clayde entered along with Merritt and Ransome.

“Your Majesty, Linley is currently recuperating within the private courtyard in the east wing. Allow me to guide the way.” Escorted by the pretty attendant, Clayde, Merritt, and Ransome began to head towards Linley’s resting area. But halfway there…

Clayde and the other two saw Guillermo and his two Vicars.

“Lord Guillermo.” Clayde, Merritt, and Ransome simultaneously paid their respects.

“Clayde, you came as well.” Guillermo nodded. “This internal injury of Linley’s seems to be a heavy one. Just now, he was coughing. When you go to see him, don’t waste too much time. Just see how he is doing, then allow him to rest.”

“Understood.” Clayde nodded.

“Then I’ll leave now.” Guillermo nodded as well, then led his two Vicars out and left.

Clayde went with Merritt and Ransome to Linley’s chambers.

Guillermo’s departure had let Linley to let out a sigh of relief. But before he had a chance to take a breather, a female attendant came running in to make a report.

“Lord Linley. His Majesty and the Right Premier have arrived.” The female attendant hurriedly reported.

“He’s here?”

Linley’s eyes lit up.

“I’ve waited so long. He finally came.” Linley couldn’t repress the excitement in his heart. “You can go now.” Linley immediately ordered the attendant to leave, and then he calmly stood up, quietly awaiting Clayde’s arrival.

Just a few seconds later, Linley heard the sound of footsteps.

“Linley.” Clayde’s voice rang out as soon as he entered the room. In three quick steps, he arrived by Linley’s side. In a very caring voice, he said, “Linley, your face looks terrible. Quick, sit down and rest. Have a good rest.”

Linley was pressed down to his seat by Clayde.

“Lord Linley.” Merritt was very courteous to Linley as well.

“Thank you, your Majesty. Thank you, Lord Merritt.” Linley said with a rather weak voice.

But the excitement in Linley’s heart was beginning to swell. In the past, after learning of his father’s death, Linley had instructed Hillman to take his clan’s heirloom, the warblade ‘Slaughterer’, to the O’Brien Empire. At that time, he had already made up his mind that the risk of death would not be enough to sway his decision to gain revenge.

Father. Mother!

His father’s death was linked to Clayde as well. If it hadn’t been for Clayde ordering Patterson to abduct his mother, how would his father have died in an attempt to gain revenge? And of course, his mother’s disappearance was Clayde’s doing.

“Your Majesty. I’m fine. I’ve just suffered some internal injuries, and won’t be able to train battle-qi for a while. I can still carry out my normal, day-to-day activities.” Linley said with a smile.

“That’s good. That’s good.” Clayde revealed a hint of a smile as well.

“Lord Merritt, you came as well.” Linley suddenly ‘remembered’ something, and exclaimed happily, “Right! I haven’t had the chance to drink the flagon of fine wine that you gifted to me last time, Lord Merritt. Since both you and his Majesty have arrived today, let’s have a little drink.”

As he spoke, Linley headed to the liquor cabinet next to him.

“No need. Linley, you’ve been injured. You can’t drink any alcohol.” Clayde advised him.

“It’s fine. My wound is just a light one. And a little bit of wine is good to get one’s veins active.” As he spoke, Linley plucked out four wineglasses, along with a bottle of red wine. “Ransome, you should sit as well. At my home, there’s no need to stand on so much ceremony.”

Linley knew a great deal about Ransome.

As Clayde’s personal bodyguard, he was an extremely powerful person as well. Although Linley couldn’t clearly determine his power, Linley was certain that he was at least a combatant of the seventh rank, or perhaps even of the eighth rank.

“No need. I don’t drink alcohol.” Ransome shook his head in refusal.

As his Majesty’s personal attendant, he had to maintain his wakefulness at all times.

“Linley, Ransome never drinks alcohol. No need to invite him to drink.” Clayde shook his head towards Linley. “Linley, when Lord Guillermo saw me just now, he said you were coughing hard. He wanted you to have a good rest. It’s best that we don’t drink.”

Not drink?

Nobody but Linley knew this, but the Bloodrupture poison had already been mixed in with this wine. If Clayde didn’t drink, how would he be poisoned?

“No worries. Lord Guillermo is overly concerned about my welfare.” Smiling, Linley poured everyone a glass of wine. “Your Majesty. This wine is exceptionally delightful. Lord Merritt, come. Let’s all have a toast.” Linley raised his own glass.

Clayde and Merritt had no choice but to raise their glasses as well.

A light ringing sound as their cups touched. And then Clayde, Merritt, and Linley each drank the wine.

“Paaah!”

Linley suddenly began to cough violently again, spitting out all the wine from his mouth. The coughing Linley’s face turned a sickly red color again.

“Linley, I told you not to drink wine. You just had to drink.” Clayde said in dissatisfaction. He hurriedly went over to help Linley.

“I’m fine.” Linley smiled and reached out to stop Clayde.

Suddenly. Linley stared at Clayde. In a solemn voice, he said, “Your Majesty. There is a very important matter which I would like to discuss with you, your Majesty.”

“A very important matter?” Seeing the expression on Linley’s face, Clayde felt confused.