Linley understood this as well.
This Necropolis of the Gods was for the group of Saints to enter. Even if the Deities entered, they wouldn’t enter alongside them. Given the power of Saints, upon encountering a full God, they would definitely die. There was no question about this whatsoever.
Lord Beirut laughed calmly. “Don’t worry. The path before you isn’t a path of certain death. First, let me explain some basics regarding the Necropolis of the Gods to you. The Necropolis of the Gods has a total of eighteen layers! The top ten layers definitely do not have divine sparks. From the eleventh layer onwards, there will definitely be corpses of Deities as well as divine sparks to be found.”
Many of the experts who had never been here before immediately had looks of joy on their face.
Hearing that there were divine sparks on the eleventh floor, many people immediately made the decision that they absolutely had to break through to the eleventh floor. Once they found a divine spark, they would become a Deity. The prerequisite, of course… was that they find the divine spark of a Demigod.
“The part of the Necropolis of the Gods that you are about to enter into has the divine beast, ‘Ba-Serpent’, as the leader of the top eleven floors. As for the twelfth floor and beyond… even Deities which enter it have a very high chance of death.” Lord Beirut laughed calmly, and the people who had unconsciously contemplating giving the twelfth floor a try immediately gave up the notion.
Beirut looked at the people present. “As for the Ba-Serpent, he might be on the first floor, or he might be on the eleventh floor. Regardless… he is definitely within one of the eleven floors.”
Linley couldn’t help but feel nervous.
“If we run into the Ba-Serpent, doesn’t that mean we are doomed?” Linley worried.
Beirut seemed to know what Linley was thinking. He explained, “Regarding the Ba-Serpent… the Ba-Serpent is fond of sleeping, and when asleep, a Ba-Serpent generally will not wake up, unless there is a huge commotion of some sort. If you encounter the sleeping Ba-Serpent on your floor, you’d best not wake him up, as otherwise, you would definitely die.”
Everyone present was secretly cursing in their heart.
Who would be idiotic enough to wake up the Ba-Serpent? But everyone knew as well that if the leader of these first eleven floors was the Ba-Serpent, then there would definitely be other barriers as well.
“The Ba-Serpent is fond of sleeping, but if the Ba-Serpent just so happens to be awake when your group enters… all you can do is blame your own terrible luck,” Lord Beirut explained.
The faces of all the experts present changed.
If they encountered the divine beast ‘Ba-Serpent’ while it was awake, most likely not a single one of them would be able to escape.
“Haha…” Lord Beirut laughed loudly. “All I can do is wish you good luck. Remember. The first eleven floors have more than just the divine beast, ‘Ba-Serpent’. It also has all sorts of other monsters, or undead creatures, or aberrations from other planes. There are quite a few creatures within that are much more powerful than even the most powerful of you.”
The faces of Fain and Desri were extremely solemn.
They knew this very well, because last time, they had suffered as a result of it.
“Remember. Be careful and be vigilant. Don’t be greedy,” Lord Beirut said. “If you die inside, I won’t be able to rescue you from outside either.”
As he spoke, Beirut’s hands flashed with two rays of black light that struck the bottom of the wall. Instantly, two gateways appeared there at the bottom of the massive wall. “Human Saints will enter through the left gateway, while magical beast Saints will enter through the right gateway. If you survive the first four floors, then… you’ll meet again on the fifth floor.”
Linley immediately understood.
The insides of the Necropolis of the Gods were very complex, and these two tunnels led to different paths through the first four floors. Only on the fifth floor would it all merge together.
“All of you, go inside now.” Beirut laughed calmly. “Remember. If you are afraid, you can just hide on the first floor, which has the least danger, and wait ten years. In ten years’ time, every single floor will have portals to the outside world appear, at which point you will be able to leave.”
Ten years!
Nobody hesitated. The human Saints and the magical beast Saints all separated into their own groups.
“Bebe, be careful,” Linley said mentally.
“Boss, you be careful too.” Bebe couldn’t bear to part from Linley either.
10
Moving Cautiously
After the human experts and the magical beasts experts entered the Necropolis of the Gods, the High Priest finally spoke.
“Lord Beirut?” The High Priest looked at Beirut. “If that Bebe encounters the divine beast, ‘Ba-Serpent’, what then?”
Perhaps Beirut didn’t give a damn about the lives of the others, but he definitely cared about Bebe. And, in the Necropolis of the Gods, even Beirut wouldn’t be able to save them. The High Priest was confused… why did Beirut dare to do such a thing!
Beirut laughed. “It’s fine. Bebe won’t encounter the Ba-Serpent. Because… he took the right tunnel.”
“Lord Beirut, what are you saying?” Cesar’s face changed.
Beirut laughed calmly and nodded. “Just now, when I opened the tunnels, I did a quick investigation. The Ba-Serpent is in the area of the left tunnel, and it is beneath the third floor… thus, I had the magical beast Saints enter the right tunnel.”
The High Priest, War God, Dylin, and Cesar all sighed secretly.
“Then Linley…” Cesar said in a quiet voice.
Beirut said calmly, “I hope his luck is good. I can’t always protect them. They made the decision for themselves to enter the Necropolis of the Gods. Enough. Let’s go. We’ll come again in ten years.” Beirut immediately turned and flew out from the tunnel they came in from.
The High Priest, the War God, and the others all hurried after him.
The dark, gloomy tunnel was ‘lit’ by black light. The group of experts entered the tunnel. The waters of the deep sea weren’t able to enter this tunnel at all. Fain and Linley walked side by side.
“Linley, remember. If you encounter anything dangerous, the safest thing you can do is retreat to a lower floor.” Fain was giving Linley the benefit of his experience. “Every single layer here has a large amount of terrifying creatures or undead, but they remain on their own floor.”
Linley nodded slightly.
“Also. No matter what, do not release your spiritual energy in the Necropolis of the Gods,” Fain said solemnly. “If your spiritual energy draws the attention of some creatures, they will quickly discover your presence.”
“I know.” In a dangerous place like this, actively releasing his spiritual energy was telling all the creatures and undead of this floor his location. That was as good as looking for death.
Linley said questioningly, “Fain, the Necropolis of the Gods is built with so many types of creatures on each floor… I have the feeling that someone built it on purpose.” It was simply too bizarre. After all, if many Deities had died here, it should have been a chaotic place.
But instead, it looked indeed like an enormous necropolis.
“From what Master said, Lord Beirut had told him once before that this Necropolis of the Gods is actually nothing more than a Sovereign’s game,” Fain laughed bitterly.
“A Sovereign’s game?” Linley was stunned.
But then, Linley immediately understood. “That Hodan had said that in the Higher Planes, there are trillions upon trillions of Deities, but there are only seven of each type of Sovereign. Sovereigns sit on high thrones, far above the Deities. One must have sent his subordinates to construct a necropolis for the corpses of many dead gods, and then intentionally allow Saint-level experts or perhaps Deity-level experts to enter here and seek treasure.” Linley felt a sense of helplessnes
s.
Sovereigns were far and above their level.
All of them, including the High Priest, the War God, and the other Demigods were nothing more than a tiny chess piece in this game to the Sovereign.
“Perhaps the Sovereign would actually find some amusement in watching us fight for our lives.” Fain sighed.
Linley understood. The Sovereigns were far above them, looking down and watching as they struggled, much like how when he was young, him and the other children watched the ants on the ground.
All of them, including the High Priest and the War God, were nothing more than ‘ants’ in the eyes of the Sovereigns. Perhaps even the seemingly powerful Beirut, in the eyes of the high Sovereigns, was nothing more than a rather large ant.
“Regardless, the chance we have here to seize a divine spark is far greater than the chance we would have in the Higher Planes.” Fain sighed deeply.
Linley sighed deeply as well.
It was time to prepare to fight.
“If I can get a divine spark, even if I don’t use it, I can give it to Delia.” Linley deeply treasured Delia. He had left and would be gone for ten years, but she hadn’t said a single word of complaint. He truly felt lucky to have been able to marry such a wife, who always thought about him first and foremost.
“Everyone, we’ve reached the end of the tunnel,” a callous middle-aged man who wore a turban on his head said loudly. “If we continue forward, we will be at the first floor. Remember. Don’t be too greedy. You dying isn’t a big deal, but don’t drag down others with you.”
After speaking, the turban-wearing man walked out of the tunnel.
This person was one of the Five Prime Saints, the number one expert of the great plains of the far east, the War Saint Tulily.
Behind him, one Saint after another exited the tunnel.
“Who knows what will be on the first floor. We better not encounter that terrifying Deity-level ‘Ba-Serpent’ magical beast on the very first floor.” Linley stared at the pitch-black end of the tunnel, then stepped through it. Instantly, the world spun and the environment changed.
“Whooooooooooooosh.” A wild wind was blowing desolately, and yellow sand was flying everywhere.
This was an extremely desolate desert world, and the wild wind blasted the yellow sand everywhere, causing the entire world to seem blurry. The heat waves here caused the air itself to distort as well.
“There’s magical beasts over there.” Linley could clearly tell that off in the distance, there was a ferocious, three-horned magical beast that was hundreds of meters tall, which was currently roaring with anger. Its entire body was covered with a metallic shine, and its fierce fangs were dripping with some sort of liquid. “This magical beast appears to be quite formidable.”
Linley was secretly surprised, and he immediately transformed into his Dragonblood Warrior form.
In a place like this, he didn’t dare to be incautious.
“Hrm?” Linley suddenly realized that a great deal of sand was being blown by the wind through the body of that ‘ferocious magical beast’. Soon, the ferocious magical beast disappeared from view.
“Mirage?” Linley began to understand.
Many of the Saints were inspecting their surroundings carefully upon entering this place, and then quickly were beginning to fly in search of the passageway to the second floor.
“Where’s Barker?” Linley hadn’t discovered Barker yet. “This damn place. There’s sand everywhere, the air is distorted, and mirages constantly appear. I can’t even see anyone clearly,” Linley secretly cursed. Aside from a few of the nearer Saints, whom he could make out clearly, he couldn’t see any of the other Saints at all.
Linley didn’t waste any more time thinking, and he immediately flew out as well.
“Linley.” Suddenly, someone drew near Linley.
Linley looked at him. This was the fifth personal disciple of the War God, Eddins. Eddins reminded him, “Linley, remember, this damn place is filled with mirages that are hard to tell apart from reality. They are truly irritating. Don’t stay in one place. What you need to do is run everywhere and search for that gateway to the second floor. If you stay in this place and waste too much time, it’s possible that trouble will find you.”
After speaking, Eddins immediately flew away by himself at high speed.
The scorching waves of gas caused the air itself to distort. Soon, Linley could no longer see Eddins.
“I can only do what Eddins recommended.” Linley immediately began flying everywhere, searching for that gateway to the second floor. The most common life form here in this desert was an enormous cactus. As for creatures… he didn’t even see one.
Linley flew in the air while carefully inspecting all of his surroundings, searching for that gateway.
“Swish!” A flash of light suddenly shot out from beneath the yellow sands, shooting directly towards Linley. Linley’s iron-whip-like draconic tail struck at it lightning fast, and with a ‘whap’ sound, the ray of light was immediately shattered and broken.
Immediately afterwards, six skeletons whose entire bodies were covered with a diamond aura emerged from the yellow sand at high speed.
“Draconian, obediently give us your corpse, and we’ll give you a clean death,” one of the six Saint-level undead spoke out, his eye-sockets filled with two lively balls of fire. The six Saint-level skeletons surrounded Linley, their weapons at the ready.
Linley looked at the six Saint-level undead.
“Draconian?” Linley glanced at them out of the corner of his eyes. “You think I am…” Halfway through Linley’s words, the various weapons in the hands of these Saint-level undead, such as a skeletal sickle and a skeletal spear, simultaneously struck out at Linley.
The air immediately howled piercingly. The combination attack of these six Saint-level undead couldn’t be looked down upon.
But suddenly, countless flashes of violet light appeared, and with a metallic clanging sound, the six Saint-level undead found themselves being knocked backwards.
“Oh? They didn’t die?” Linley noticed that these six Saint-level skeletons only had some superficial scars on their skeletal bodies, but hadn’t collapsed. Although the ‘Rippling Wind’ technique’s attacks were extremely fast and could produce countless strikes, its raw attack force truly wasn’t very high.
The devilish purple light flashed yet again.
The six Saint-level skeletons didn’t hesitate at all. With a howl, they immediately tunneled back down into the sand.
“Crunch!” “Crunch!” “Crunch!”
Three of the Saint-level skeletons were broken in half by a chop, while the other three Saint-level skeletons managed to hide within the depths of the yellow sands.
“They fled rather quickly.” Linley flew forward at high speed.
After Linley left, those three bisected skeletons suddenly moved, immediately grabbing their other, severed half. To undead, as long as the fire of their spirits hadn’t been extinguished, they themselves wouldn’t die either. They absolutely could reconnect any of their broken or severed body parts.
“Rustle.” Suddenly, multiple Saint-level skeletons came up from the sand, surrounding and slaughtering those three heavily-injured Saint-level skeletons, and then devouring the spiritual flame of the three.
“That Draconian was terrifying.” One of the Saint-level skeletons raised his head, staring into the distance. “I wonder how long it will be before we collect enough corpses.” And then, those Saint-level skeletons immediately burrowed back down into the ground.
Much as Linley had expected, as long as the divine beast, ‘Ba-Serpent’, wasn’t on this first floor, then this first floor held the least amount of danger, here in the Necropolis of the Gods. Linley disposed of a few Saint-level skeletons that had rashly tried to kill him before finally finding the stairs to the second floor.
He climbed up the stairs.
The second floor of the Necropolis of the Gods was a jungle world. Dense
foliage and brambles were everywhere, making it very hard to see any dangers that might be present here.
“There are no illusions here, but I need to be wary of ambushes.” Linley’s battle-qi had already formed his Pulseguard Defense, and he held Bloodviolet at the ready, heading into this jungle world at high speed. But suddenly, Linley came to a halt and stared into the distance.
A human Saint had appeared, not too far away.
“Him?” Linley let out a secret sigh of relief. Although Linley didn’t know the names of many of the human Saints, Linley still memorized what they looked like.
Linley began to fly again, but the trees of this jungle world reached all the way to the top of this level, and they were so dense that they completely blocked one’s field of vision.
Linley didn’t notice that a green little snake the size of a finger was coiled on the leaf of a tree. Its coloration was identical to that of the leaf, and Linley, flying through the jungle at such a high speed, didn’t notice it at all. But that green little snake’s eyes were filled with an icy glare as it stared below at Linley.
“Swoosh!”
As fast as lightning, the little green snake the size of a finger shot out towards Linley, biting towards Linley’s neck.
“Hrm?” Linley’s face instantly changed. His Pulseguard Defense had actually been instantly penetrated 70% of the way through. The power of this attack was truly too terrifying. If a slightly weaker expert had encountered this little green snake, he probably would have died immediately.
“Swish!” The devilish purple light flashed, and spacetime suddenly froze, then began to fold on itself. Even as the little green snake was crying out, Bloodviolet chopped down on its body.
Profound Truths of the Wind – Tempos of the Wind, level two!
“Whap!” The little green snake was chopped in two. Afterwards, the two halves suddenly expanded in size, immediately transforming into an enormous green serpent that was over a hundred meters long and as thick as a water barrel. The corpse of the giant serpent fell to the ground.
Gods of Yulan: Book 4 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 8
