“I’m fine.” After spitting out that mouthful of blood, Barker actually felt much better. “I’m not injured too badly. My Undying battle-qi should be able to fully cure this sort of minor wound in just three days or so.”
Barker looked at Linley with admiration. “Lord, in terms of understanding and insight, you are on a much higher level than me. Although my body is more powerful than yours, I’m still unable to defeat you.”
The Linley of four years ago definitely wouldn’t have been a match for the current Barker.
But over the course of these four years, Linley had deepened his understanding of the Profound Truths of the Earth. By enhancing his original Triple Layered Waves to the current level of a Hundred Layered Waves, he had increased his attack power by several dozen times.
“If I were to use my adamantine heavy sword, the power of the Hundred Layered Waves would be doubled.” Linley said to himself. The power of the Profound Truths of the Earth, when executed by a heavy sword, was extremely great.
“If I used all of my power with the adamantine heavy sword and executed the Hundred Layered Waves attack, I could most likely heavily injure or even kill an early-stage Saint-level Undying Warrior.” Linley was now very certain.
The defensive abilities of the Undying Warriors were legendary.
If even an early-stage Saint-level Undying Warrior was unable to take this attack, how could an ordinary early-stage Saint-level combatant do so?
“Any early-stage Saint-level who encounters the Hundred Layered Waves attack will most likely die.” Linley felt extremely confident.
Raw power and level of insight were mutually supportive.
Compared to four years ago, Linley’s raw power had not increased much. But in terms of the effectiveness of his level of understanding, he had improved by dozens of times. An ordinary peak-stage combatant of the ninth rank, upon reaching the Saint level, would generally only increase in power by around ten times or so.
“Barker,” Zassler said with a smile. “In terms of raw power, the bodies of the five of you are not one whit weaker than Linley’s. Your body, Barker, is in fact stronger than Linley’s. But in terms of insight and understanding, you are too inferior. Linley has already told you that his levels of understanding can be divided into four levels; ordinary attacks being the first, ‘wielding something heavy as though it were light’ as the second, ‘impose’ as the third, and the ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’ as the fourth. But the five of you are still at the most basic level of using raw force. Your level of understanding and insight is far too low.”
Barker deactivated his transformation, returning to his normal appearance.
“In the past four years, Lord Linley has already taught us much. But we five brothers truly…” Barker laughed awkwardly.
“Old man, do you think we are geniuses? His Lordship is around twenty-five years old, but has already reached the peak-stage of the Saint level in terms of insight and understanding.” The fifth brother, Gates, didn’t treat Zassler with any respect at all.
Zassler glanced at Gates unhappily.
“You are physically powerful and all use heavy weapons. You should easily be able to understand the level of ‘using something heavy as though it were light’. But don’t be too impatient. As long as you focus on your training, one day, you will perhaps understand it,” Linley said encouragingly.
In truth, Linley had a large, unfair advantage.
His elemental affinity was, after all, exceptional. As a magus, he naturally was able to more easily attune with nature and commune with it. Pairing his inborn elemental affinity with his proficiency with the sword, it was very natural for him to be able to quickly deepen his level of understanding.
“Yes, Lord.” The five brothers all nodded.
The five Barker brothers all knew that right now, Linley was also at the peak of the eighth rank. As soon as he broke through to the next level, Linley would also be at the early-stage of the Saint level in his Dragonform. Given his already-high level of understanding, by then, the difference between Linley and them would be even greater.
“We can’t allow ourselves to become a hindrance to him.” The five proud brothers all decided to work even harder from now on.
In the blink of an eye, yet another year passed.
The autumn wind was still howling drearily, the same as before.
Staring into the distance at the Barker brothers engaged in their training, Linley couldn’t help but grin. All five of the Barker brothers were physically stronger than Linley, and Linley had paid for the Dawson Conglomerate to produce weapons for them.
Five long-handled greataxes.
Those long-handled greataxes were at least two meters long, and were astonishingly thick. In addition, the axeheads were extremely large as well. The greataxes themselves were made from the finest and rarest of materials, with each long-handled greataxe weighing an astonishing 5,300 pounds.
“The fifth brother, Gates, has a relatively higher talent for insight. He was the first to understand ‘wielding something heavy as though it were light’. The other four have yet to grasp it.”
Although over a year had passed, aside from Barker, the others remained stuck at the peak-stage of the eighth rank and had not broken through. The only pleasant surprise had been Gates coming to understand ‘wielding something heavy as though it were light’.
Zassler had spent this year in tireless training as well. This eight-hundred-plus-year-old man had been somewhat embarrassed by the rapid increases in power by Linley and the Barker brothers, causing him to become hard working as well.
Watching the dried leaves fall from the trees, Linley suddenly felt very much at peace.
“Five years. It has been five years. I should go fulfill my end of the five-year agreement as well.” Linley looked towards the northwest, in the direction of the prefectural city of Cerre.
131
An Appointment Kept
The five-year agreement. Linley still remembered his promise.
“I hope Jenne won’t be too determined.” Linley knew that even if in the end, Jenne elected to follow him, at most Linley would only be able to treat her as he did Rebecca and Leena.
Linley couldn’t reciprocate her affections.
After experiencing so much and passing one tribulation after another, the deepest part of Linley’s heart had been frozen and locked. That layer of ice covering it was very cold, very thick. To melt the hard ice surrounding Linley’s heart would be difficult. Very difficult.
But when he thought about affairs of the heart, Linley began to think about Wharton.
“According to Yale’s messengers, over this past year, Wharton and the Seventh Princess of the Empire have been quite passionate with each other. However, according to what the letter says, it won’t be easy for Wharton to successfully take the Seventh Princess as his wife.”
The Seventh Princess’s background was simply too excellent. She was virtuous, kind, beautiful, of high rank, and doted upon by her imperial father. There were too many suitors.
The only thing Linley could do was to silently bless his little brother and hope he would have a wonderful relationship.
At least, his brother couldn’t end up like him.
Half a month later.
“Lord.” The fifth brother, Gates, energetically sprinted over towards Linley, who had just completed a sculpture. With excitement, he said, “My big brother has also grasped the concept of ‘wielding something heavy as though it were light’.”
“Oh?”
With a flip of his hand, Linley stored away his straight chisel. With surprise, he said, “Barker has reached the level of ‘wielding something heavy as though it were light’?”
“Right. Lord, why don’t you go take a look?” Gates advised.
Linley laughed. “How about this. Gates, have everyone come to the main hall. There’s something I want to tell all of you.”
“Oh.” Seeing Linley had something important that he wishe
d to discuss, Gates nodded.
After a while, everyone congregated within the main hall. Many of them were animatedly talking about Barker reaching the level of ‘wielding something heavy as though it were light’.
“Everyone.”
Smiling, Linley walked into the main hall. “I have an important matter I need to take care of. On this trip, I will only bring Bebe and Haeru. As for the rest of you, all you need to do is to continue to train here. If everything happens quickly, I’ll be back in a few days. If I need a bit longer, I’ll send someone with a message.”
“Lord, you don’t plan to take us along?” Gates asked loudly.
“Continue your training.” Linley laughed as he glanced at Gates. “Gates, if you can reach the ‘impose’ level, or reach the ninth rank, I will take you as well.”
Gates immediately shut his mouth. He wasn’t Linley. Reaching the level of ‘wielding something heavy as though it were light’ was already quite difficult for him. He was still just at the basic stage of this level, and had yet to even master it.
“Enough. Tomorrow morning, I leave at dawn,” Linley declared directly.
The next morning at dawn, the Barker brothers, Rebecca, Leena, and Zassler all watched as Linley, dressed in a warrior’s outfit covered by a long black robe, rode off on the back of Haeru, his Blackcloud Panther, with Bebe seated next to him. The man and the two magical beasts departed from Cloudpeaks Village.
His long black robe fluttered in the wind. Linley’s weapons had all been withdrawn into his interspatial ring.
“Using the adamantine heavy sword to execute the Profound Truths of the Earth is extremely powerful; once that technique comes out, most likely the target will perish. Normally, it would be better for me to continue using the Bloodviolet Godsword.”
Linley had already reached a fairly high level of proficiency in using his Profound Truths of the Earth.
But as for the Profound Truths of the Wind his Bloodviolet sword used, Linley’s level of proficiency was quite low.
Linley didn’t believe that using the Bloodviolet sword was necessarily weaker than using the adamantine heavy sword. After all, the forbidden wind spell was the single-target spell ‘Dimensional Edge’. If magical techniques could create the effects of this spell, logically speaking, sword techniques should as well.
“Bebe, I’ve discovered that over these years, you’ve continued to improve. What sort of magical beast are you, exactly?” Seated astride Haeru, Linley laughed towards Bebe.
Haeru let out a growl. “Master, Bebe is a total freak. I’ve never seen such a freakishly powerful magical beast. Five years ago, he was about the same as me, but now, he’s much more powerful. But he still hasn’t reached the Saint level yet.”
If Haeru had met the three sons of Dylin, the King of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, he would know that there were other magical beasts in the world that were even more freakishly powerful than Bebe. Those three were terrifying magical beasts of the Saint-rank had easily swallowed over a hundred enormous dragons into their bellies.
“Bebe has grown somewhat stronger.” Linley chuckled. “But Bebe seems to still be growing.”
Linley suspected that Bebe was not fully an adult yet.
“Heh heh, that’s entirely possible.” Bebe narcissistically raised his little head. “When I, Bebe, reach adulthood, maybe I’ll be a Saint-level magical beast.”
Saint-level magical beasts such as the Bloody-eyed Maned Lion, the Savage Worldbear, the Violet-Eyed Goldfur Ape… these were magical beasts that would, as a natural part of their growth cycle, enter the Saint level as soon as they reached full adulthood.
This was the innate gift of these Saint-level magical beasts.
“I’ve heard of Saint-level magical beasts. But is there such a thing as magical beasts which would naturally grow up to reach the Deity level?” Linley sighed to himself. “Even if there are, I’ll wager they wouldn’t appear on planes such as the Yulan continent.”
They continued on their journey. By nightfall, Linley reached the prefectural city of Cerre.
On the streets of Cerre, there were many people mounted on magical beasts. However, most of those people were mounted on low-level or mid-level magical beasts such as Windwolves or Fanged Wolves.
When Linley rode the Blackcloud Panther on the streets, the other magical beasts all prudently retreated in terror, giving him space.
Although humans, when encountering strange magical beasts, might not be able to accurately gauge the beast’s strength, when a low level magical beast encountered a high level magical beast, they would easily be able to sense the difference in power.
“Hrm? A black panther?”
A very ordinary man in the streets of the prefectural city of Cerre saw Linley seated on his black panther, and his eyes immediately lit up. “He has a black panther, and he looks exactly the same as the picture. It must be him.”
The man immediately grew excited. He immediately ran out of the street, heading towards a small alleyway.
At the gate to the governor’s castle of the prefectural city of Cerre. As soon as Linley had seen the gate, he discovered that a large number of people were congregating around the gate, awaiting his arrival.
“Big brother Ley.”
A young man and woman called out at the same time.
Linley immediately recognized them. The girl who had grown even more mature and beautiful was Jenne, while the handsome young fellow who was half a head taller than Jenne was most likely the grown-up Keane.
Keane and Jenne ran over excitedly.
The now nineteen-year-old Keane said loudly, “Big brother Ley, I heard from the guards a long time ago that a man riding a black panther had arrived. I immediately guessed that it must be you.”
Black panthers were extremely rare, after all. There were only two types; Blackstripe Panthers, and Blackcloud Panthers.
“Big brother Ley.” Jenne’s face was slightly flushed, and she looked expectantly at Linley.
“Let’s talk inside,” Linley said with a calm laugh.
All of them entered the castle. Since he had turned sixteen, Keane had officially taken over the management responsibilities of the city, and by now, he was a qualified city governor.
Last year, Keane had taken a beautiful wife. At the time, Keane had wanted to invite Linley, but unfortunately, he had no idea where Linley was living.
“Jenne, you’ve become a magus?” walking in the hallway, Linley laughed as he asked her this question.
Given Linley’s spiritual energy, he could immediately sense the aura of a magus coming from Jenne. The aura wasn’t particularly strong.
“Right. A water-style magus.” Jenne’s eyes shone with excitement. “Big brother Ley, after you left, I didn’t have anything to do. Afterwards, I realized that with you being so powerful, if I couldn’t do anything and kept on being a hindrance to you, that wouldn’t be a good thing. So, I went to have my elemental affinity and my spiritual energy tested. I didn’t expect that I was suited to train in water magic.”
When she was young, Jenne had been constantly suppressed and held down by her aunt, and thus didn’t have the chance to train in magic at all.
Nobody had any idea that Jenne had the capability of becoming a magus.
“But my talent isn’t very high. After five years, I’m still only a magus of the third rank.” Jenne said quietly.
Generally speaking, from infanthood until adulthood, one’s spiritual energy was continuously growing. But for geniuses such as Linley and Reynolds, even if they hadn’t trained in magic when they were young and only began once they reached the age of eighteen, they probably would have immediately started off with the spiritual energy of a magus of the third rank.
Eighteen years of growth, combined with five years of training. And yet, she was still only of the third rank.
Her talent could only be considered to be average, perhaps a bit higher than your ordinary magi.
“Big brother Ley,
have a seat.” Keane enthusiastically invited Linley to sit in the seat of honor. “Let me make some introductions. This is my wife, Irene.”
Seated next to Keane was a very beautiful young lady, who had a pair of pretty blue eyes. Right now, this young lady was looking at Linley with curiosity. When she and Keane had first begun their courtship, Keane often would talk to her about Linley.
“Big brother Ley,” Irene said courteously.
“Keane, everyone, just sit down and relax. Don’t stand on so much ceremony,” Linley said with a calm laugh.
Everyone sat down, but Keane continuously stared at Linley. Keane knew very well that the purpose of this trip had to do with that five-year agreement he had made.
Five years having passed, Jenne was now twenty-three. Because of training in water magic, Jenne’s skin was now glistening, making her even more beautiful. And the now twenty-three-year-old Jenne now had a more-womanly aura.
During these five years, Jenne had many suitors.
And not just from the prefectural city of Cerre. Whenever Jenne and Keane went to attend the yearly events of the clan at the provincial capital of Basil, there would be many people who would attempt to flirt with or make passes at Jenne.
But Jenne still refused to pay any of them any heed.
“Jenne.” Linley looked at Jenne, cutting straight to the heart of the matter. “I imagine you still remember our five-year agreement. Jenne, I’ll tell you right now, in my heart, I truly can only envision you as a younger sister who needs someone to cherish her.”
Jenne’s entire body trembled, but in the next moment, she began to laugh.
Next to her, Keane and their housekeeper, Lambert, both let out a low sigh.
“Big brother Ley,” Jenne said. “I feel very fortunate to have a big brother like you. No matter what, no matter where, I’ll follow you. I just hope that you won’t discard me before I get married.”
Linley slightly trembled.
But he immediately understood that Jenne truly had made up her mind to follow him. But judging from what Jenne was saying, over the course of these five years, Jenne had already mentally prepared for what he had said today.
Dragonblood: Book 2 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 103
