Dylin’s cold laughter rang out. “If you are afraid, then don’t go. There’s nothing embarrassing about it. It isn’t too late to give up now. If you give up later, after arriving there, and decide to flee at that point, that would be really shameful.” The four Deities walked to one side, waiting for midnight to come.
Desri walked to the front of the group.
Desri’s face looked extremely dark and downcast. Linley had never seen the suave Desri have such an ugly look on his face before.
“Those of you who experienced the opening of the Necropolis of the Gods two thousand years ago or a thousand years ago, listen carefully.” Desri’s voice was very cold. “There isn’t just one Necropolis of the Gods, nor is there just two. There are three. The three different tunnels lead to three different Necropolises!”
“Three?” Many people were shocked.
Even Linley felt shocked, and he focused his energy on listening to what Desri had to say.
“Although the Necropolises of the Gods that are reached through the tunnels in the Forest of Darkness and the North Sea’s island are dangerous, the danger isn’t that great. Generally speaking, as long as you are cautious and prudent, you won’t be in any risk. But the Necropolis of the Gods that is reached through the South Sea is extremely, extremely dangerous,” Desri said in a low voice, “In fact, I even believe that of the eighty or so experts present, even if we are extremely careful, we would be lucky to have a third of us survive.”
“A third?” Many of the Saints let out startled calls.
Many of them had gone to the Necropolis of the Gods before, but on the past two visits to the Necropolis of the Gods, only a quarter of them or so had died. But from what Desri was saying… it seemed two thirds of them were likely to die on this trip.
“And that assumes you are being extremely careful. If you get greedy… I expect that perhaps we might be lucky to see ten survivors out of our eighty people present.” Desri looked at the people in front of him. “Remember this. If you die, that’s no big deal. But don’t drag down others with you.”
After finishing speaking, Desri returned to stand next to Hayward and Higginson.
The atmosphere was extremely depressed.
“What is there to be afraid of? The more dangerous it is, the greater a chance of finding a divine spark or a divine artifact,” a voice rang out from the group.
“Make it out alive first,” Fain’s cold voice rang out.
Fain’s face was also exceedingly ugly to behold right now.
Desri, Higginson, and Hayward were all silent.
Linley walked towards them, then asked softly, “Desri, what’s wrong? This trip to the Necropolis of the Gods will be very special?”
Desri looked at Linley, then sighed and said, “Linley, do you remember your first trip to our village? At that time, when Hayward was sparring with you, you asked why he, a Grand Magus Saint, didn’t have a magical beast companion.”
“I remember.” Linley nodded.
When Hayward had been sparring with him, Linley had been under the impression that a Grand Magus Saint who sparred with him without a magical beast companion would definitely be defeated. But then, Hayward had shown him the error of his ways by demonstrating how a Grand Magus Saint fought.
“At that time, you said that his magical beast had died in order to save him. That was more than two thousand years ago. In addition, a good friend of yours had died as well,” Linley responded.
“Right.” Desri nodded. “And the event I spoke of was our journey into the Necropolis of the Gods three thousand years ago.”
Linley nodded.
“Hayward’s magical beast was an Electrobolt Panther, very useful for staying alive in the Necropolis of the Gods. I begged Lord Beirut for another slot in order to let that magical beast come as well. However, on that trip… on just the outer perimeter of the sixth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods, our third brother and that magical beast both died. As for the three of us, we were on the fifth layer and didn’t dare to enter the sixth layer. Just like that… we stayed there in the fifth layer for five years, waiting until the exit tunnel appeared.” Desri’s face was very bitter.
Linley’s mind was stirred.
The fifth layer? Sixth layer?
Although he didn’t know anything about the Necropolis of the Gods, from the sound of it, it was divided into many layers. And this ‘sixth floor’ was an extremely dangerous one.
The night descended. Not a single Saint left. If they were afraid of an unknown danger… then they truly would have been quite weak-willed.
A black shadow suddenly appeared in front of the group, then slowly solidified. This person wore a very simple black robe. His black hair was loose and unbound, and his beard was so long that it reached down to his chest. He looked just like an old man.
“Lord Beirut,” the High Priest, Cesar, the War God, and Dylin all immediately rose and said respectfully.
All of the Saints immediately rose and bowed respectfully, regardless of whether it was their first, second, or third time meeting Beirut. The atmosphere was such that neither the High Priest nor the War God, much less the Saints, dared to even breathe.
Beirut had a pair of little eyes, but they were quite lively, like two brilliant stars. His face seemed to have a perpetual hint of a smile on it.
“Bebe, come over here.” Beirut looked at Bebe, then beamed at him.
Bebe immediately jumped into Beirut’s arms. Everyone present looked at Bebe.
“Grandpa Beirut, let’s go. I’ve waited here so long.” Bebe didn’t seem to feel any pressure from Beirut’s presence at all, and Beirut nodded indulgently, then flew towards the south with Bebe in his arms. “Let’s go,” Beirut’s slightly gravelly voice rang out.
At this moment, the four Deities and the eighty plus human and magical beast Saints all flew into the air as well.
While flying, many people looked at Linley. Clearly, the close relationship between Bebe and Beirut had caused them to pay attention to Linley as well. But those people only knew… that Bebe was Linley’s magical beast. Many people had come to a decision…
Even if they didn’t make friends with Linley, they couldn’t offend him.
After all, in front of Lord Beirut, even the likes of the War God and the other three Deities acted as though they were children, afraid to even breathe loudly. One could completely understand how, in Lord Beirut’s heart, the status of Bebe was far greater than that of the likes of the War God.
“This War God truly is formidable. He expressed goodwill towards me so early on, during my little brother’s wedding.” Linley laughed secretly to himself. “Lord Beirut has a relationship with Bebe, Bebe has a relationship with me, and I have a relationship with Wharton… there are two layers of separation here!”
But the War God had even gotten involved in Wharton’s affairs, directly ordering that Emperor Johann to allow Wharton to become Nina’s husband.
One could completely imagine how much respect and dread the War God felt towards Lord Beirut.
The oceans took up an enormous amount of territory in the Yulan plane. The North Sea was already enormous, but the South Sea was simply shocking. Linley had once heard Hodan say that at the end of the South Sea, one would see the wild, chaotic space.
Late night. The endless waters of the sea seemed dark and heavy.
“Right here,” Beirut declared as he stood there in mid-air above the sea.
“In the depths of the ocean here, you’ll find the entrance to the tunnel to the Necropolis of the Gods. That tunnel is roughly twenty thousand meters away from the surface of the sea.” Beirut laughed calmly. “I trust the water pressure of the deep sea won’t have any effect on you. If you can’t even withstand a tiny little bit of deep sea water pressure, then it is best if you give up right away.”
As he spoke, Beirut himself was the first to dive into the water.
Wherever his body passed, the deep ocean water itself naturally split apart aro
und him, creating a corridor.
9
The Necropolis’ Sculptures
“Rumble, rumble.” The sea roiled, and then four pathways into the sea appeared, and the High Priest, the War God, and the others all dove into the sea as well.
The eighty-plus human and magical beast experts didn’t hesitate at all, hurriedly entering the water.
“This deep sea is quite interesting.” Linley’s battle-qi was swirling around him. With his Pulseguard Defense, he was able to easily offset the outside water pressure. As for Linley himself, he curiously stared at the various scenes here, deep in the ocean. This was Linley’s first trip into the seas.
In the deepest part of the ocean, it was silent and pitch-black. The only things that could be seen were a few creatures that naturally radiated light.
Fain and Linley flew down together. Fain glanced at Linley, then his voice rang out in Linley’s mind. “Linley, in this vast expanse of land here in the South Seas, there are actually a great many magical beast, such as Aquatic Dragons, Dragon Turtles, Nine-Headed Serpents, Titanic Octopi… all of these are Saint-level magical beasts.” Fain naturally had the ability to engage in spirit-projecting communication.
Linley secretly nodded.
The South Seas were far larger than the Yulan continent in size. It would be unnatural if they didn’t contain a large amount of magical beasts in them.
“But even if the magical beasts of the depth drew near, upon seeing us, they would be so frightened they would immediately flee.” Fain smiled calmly as he mentally spoke to Linley.
Linley chuckled as well.
The group continued to fly deeper into the dark, silent depths of the sea, while at the same time, they enjoyed the sight of these rarely-viewed sceneries. Occasionally, an enormous magic beast would appear, but upon discovering that so many experts were descending, it would invariably be so frightened that it wouldn’t even dare to move.
The farther down they went, the greater the pressure was.
At the end, the pressure was so great, it was as though a small mountain was weighing down upon them. Fortunately, all of these people were amongst the most powerful Saints in the world, and thus they could take it. They would either cast magic spells, or use protective barriers of battle-qi. The rainbow of colors surrounding them was quite resplendent to behold.
“We’re at the sea floor.” The experts all came to a halt at the sea floor.
There were some life forms such as corals down here, which radiated a bit of light. The bottom of the sea was covered with rows upon rows of coral reefs, while the ground was not level, sometimes convex while other times concave. It could rise up to a height of hundreds of meters, and sink down so deeply that the bottom couldn’t be seen.
“Almost there,” Fain said mentally to Linley.
Linley nodded slightly.
Everyone continued to follow the leaders at the bottom of the sea. After travelling for several kilometers, they arrived at an enormous, pitch-black boulder. This pitch-black boulder stood by itself in the middle of a gorge, and in the water above the boulder, there was a translucent ‘door’ which was emitting strange ripples.
“Here we are,” the gravelly voice rang out in everyone’s ears.
Everyone stopped in front of this pitch-black boulder.
“Hrm? This ‘door’ seems quite similar to the ‘door’ of my pocket dimension. Only, it’s twice the size.” Linley was intrigued.
Lord Beirut’s voice could be heard in each person’s ears. “This interspatial door is the tunnel that leads to the Necropolis of the Gods. Normally, this interspatial door is shut and covered by a layer of invisible force.” As he spoke, Beirut’s body suddenly emitted a ray of black light.
This ray of black light struck directly against the interspatial door.
“Rumble…” The quiet sea floor suddenly began to shudder, and the previously translucent ‘door’ suddenly emanated with a blinding, dazzling light, as though a membrane had suddenly covered and sealed it.
But a few seconds later, it burst apart like a popped bubble.
“Pop!” With a very soft sound, the membrane collapsed.
“Follow me. All in at the same time.” Beirut flew to the interspatial door, and with one step, crossed through to the other side. As he did, Beirut completely disappeared from the line of sight of the people present.
The High Priest, War God, Dylin, and Cesar didn’t hesitate at all. They immediately entered the interspatial door as well, disappearing from line of sight.
“So the Necropolis of the Gods is actually another plane.” Linley now understood. “Only, the plane of the Necropolis of the Gods is connected to the Yulan continent’s plane.”
This was much like his pocket dimension. The hidden location of the Necropolis of the Gods was also linked up with the Yulan continent.
All of the experts present entered the interspatial door together, and Linley and Fain entered as well.
“What a strange vibration.” Linley could clearly sense that the moment he stepped across the interspatial door, he had a strange feeling, as though he were a person swimming in the water who suddenly stepped onto dry land. It was as though the entire environment had changed.”
The many experts had arrived at a different plane.
They were all still at the bottom of the sea. Only, it was the bottom of the sea of a different plane.
“What a strange feeling.” Linley had a sense of being ill at-ease upon entering this new dimension.
Fain drew near Linley and said to him spiritually, “Linley, in this plane, even my spiritual energy can only encompass ten or so meters. In addition, this plane is filled with countless experts. We can’t fall behind the others, as if we do, if we are surrounded by those countless magical beasts, we will die for certain.”
Linley was secretly shocked.
The group of people followed Beirut forward. Beirut wasn’t the slightest bit nervous, leading them flying for over ten kilometers.
“That mountain-sized building over there is the Necropolis of the Gods,” Fain drew near Linley yet again and spoke to him spiritually. Linley stared at that distant, massive structure. He couldn’t help but feel his heart shake. “This Necropolis of the Gods really is astonishingly large.”
Linley was certain that this Necropolis of the Gods was over a hundred kilometers away from them, but Linley could nonetheless make it out clearly.
“The Necropolis of the Gods is nearly twenty thousand meters tall, and each of the four sides of its base is over ten thousand meters long,” Fain spoke to Linley spiritually. He was very familiar with this Necropolis of the Gods.
“How was such an enormous edifice built?” Linley couldn’t help but sigh nonstop with praise.
Given their flying speed, the distance of a hundred kilometers was quickly reached. Once they drew near it, Linley began to sigh in amazement yet again. The reason he sighed in amazement… was because although the Necropolis of the Gods was primarily cuboid, the top of it still tapered off into narrow edges.
The Necropolis of the Gods had four sides, and the side facing Linley had a massive carving on it.
“Dragon?”
Staring at this twenty-thousand-meter-high, ten-thousand-meter, massive carving, Linley saw that it was of an enormous, winding dragon. This dragon was different from the dragons of the Yulan continent’s plane, because this dragon didn’t have wings. And yet, the sculpture of the dragon gave off an aura of majesty which made others want to bow towards it.
“The four sides of the Necropolis have four different carvings,” Beirut’s voice rang out in everyone’s ears. “This side is of a massive dragon. It truly is the carving of a dragon. The opposite side is the massive carving of a white tiger. On the other two sides are massive sculptures of a phoenix and of a dragon-turtle.”
A massive dragon… a white tiger… a phoenix… and a dragon-turtle?
“Why does this Necropolis of the Gods have these four sculptures here?” Lin
ley was puzzled.
Beirut patted Bebe, still in his arms. At this point, Bebe jumped off and scampered onto Linley’s shoulders. Beirut then laughed calmly and said, “These four massive sculptures represent four different parts of the Necropolis of the Gods. As for the side of the massive dragon, beneath it, there are a large number of smaller sculptures.”
Linley and the others saw it as well.
The massive sculpture of the dragon took up roughly 70%-80% of the entire area, while the other sculptures, all combined, only took up 10%. The rest was just blank.
“These sculptures…” Linley carefully inspected the smaller sculptures below the massive dragon. All of them, amazingly enough, were in the form of a dragon or serpent-type magical beasts. There was a certain rhythm and sequence to them as well.
“Judging from these small sculptures…” Beirut looked at the smaller sculptures as well. “This time, it seems that the guardian of the first eleven layers of the Necropolis of the Gods will be the divine beast, the ‘Ba-Serpent’.”
“The divine beast, ‘Ba-Serpent’?”
The eighty-plus experts of the Yulan continent’s plane were all very confused, but they all knew one thing… since it was termed as a ‘divine beast’, this ‘Ba-Serpent’ clearly had already reached the Deity level. How would the Saints here possibly break past it?
“Ba-Serpent? Lord Beirut, but… how will they even stand a chance?” Dylin spoke.
Lord Beirut glanced at him, then laughed calmly. “This divine beast, ‘Ba-Serpent’, reached adulthood tens of thousands of years ago. From what I understand, it has already reached the level of being a full God. Let’s not discuss the Saints for now; even if the four of you went in, once you got into a fight with the Ba-Serpent, you would definitely die.”
The faces of the eighty-plus experts changed.
“Last time, the leader of the upper eleven floors was only a Two-Headed Vile Dragon from the Infernal Realm. I didn’t expect that this time, it would actually be the divine beast, ‘Ba-Serpent’. And a God-level one at that.” Fain’s face was extremely sour.
Gods of Yulan: Book 4 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 7
