“He really is ridiculously strong. An ordinary blow from him is actually on par with me in human form using ‘wielding something light as though it were heavy’.” Linley couldn’t help but sigh in praise. Dragonblood Warriors truly did have an astonishingly powerful level of strength.
Twisting like a tornado, Linley easily dodged past Wharton. Swish! Nine flashes of violet light appeared. This was just the ordinary attack speed of the Bloodviolet Godsword. As far as Linley was concerned, even though Blumer’s sword was very fast, he probably should only be able to reach this level of speed at best.
Tapping the ground with the point of his foot, Wharton quickly leapt backwards with a dodge while also using the warblade ‘Slaughterer’ in his hands to block Linley’s attack. But although he was able to block six of the attacks, the other three attacks from Linley landed on Wharton’s body. These attacks were simply ordinary attacks by Linley in his human form.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Three metallic ringing sounds could be heard, as three faint white lines appeared on Wharton’s azure blue scales. “Haha… Wharton, it looks like if I don’t use a bit of power, I won’t be able to hurt you at all.” Linley laughed loudly, but in truth, he was very happy.
Wharton looked seriously at his Big Brother. “Big Brother, don’t hold back.” In his human form, Linley was only an early-stage warrior of the ninth rank. But right now, Wharton was already a peak-stage Dragonblood Warrior of the ninth rank. In terms of strength, battle-qi, or defense, he vastly outstripped Linley.
“Lord, if you keep on holding back, I’m afraid Wharton is going to simply beat you down,” Gates shouted loudly from the side.
Laughing, Linley shook his head. “Wharton, be careful.” Linley’s face turned solemn, and he suddenly began to move at a rapid speed. The entire training yard seemed to have suddenly been filled with a wild gust of wind as Linley’s body reached a terrifyingly fast speed.
“Whoosh!” The Bloodviolet Godsword chopped towards Wharton, and seemed to press down against Wharton along with the very space around him.
Impose!
Wharton felt an incredible pressure coming towards him, but faced with this dangerous situation, the Dragonblood in his body began to boil. Letting out a deep growl, Wharton exploded forth the Dragonblood battle-qi in his body, allowing this wild strength to be burst forth from his warblade, ‘Slaughterer’…
Swoooosh. The locked space was chopped open and the warblade collided directly against Linley’s Bloodviolet, but Bloodviolet only trembled slightly, then immediately transformed into six sword-shadows. At such close range, Wharton was completely unable to use his warblade to block it.
“Haargh!” Wharton clenched his left fist, which suddenly had become covered with azure light, then smashed it against the nearest sword-shadow.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! The six sword-shadows once more transformed into a single physical shape as Bloodviolet once more pierced towards Wharton, carrying with it a terrifying penetrative aura that made Wharton tremble.
Wielding something light as though it were heavy! As fast as lightning!
In the blink of an eye, Linley had stabbed four times at a single spot on Wharton’s body. These repeated stabs pierced through Wharton’s battle-qi and his protective scales, punching into his flesh. As soon as he pierced through the scales, however, Linley immediately retracted his sword and flew back.
Wharton stood there, stupefied, then raised his head to look at Linley. Disbelievingly, he said, “Big Bro, how could you be so fast?” He didn’t even have the ability to react. From this, one could imagine in what a short period of time those attacks had occurred, and yet Linley had sent out four full attacks!
“You call that fast? If I were to reach my limit, then in a situation like that, I could have sent out another six sword attacks. This was relying purely on speed, not relying on any mysteries or deep insights. If I were to utilize the Rippling Wind technique…” A hint of a smile was on Linley’s lips. “In the blink of an eye, I can execute several hundred sword attacks, or even more!”
Wherever there was wind, his sword could appear. The power of the Rippling Wind technique lay in a single word: “Fast”. So fast it seemed like teleportation. For the speed to reach such a level meant the power of each strike couldn’t be extremely high, but with hundreds of sword blows combined together, the total power was still quite astonishing.
“Hundreds of sword attacks?” Wharton was shocked. “But… good thing Blumer’s speed is far inferior to yours, Big Bro. If he was this fast, I’d rather just admit defeat.”
“Never hope to rely on luck,” Linley rebuked coldly. “Wharton, are you so sure you know Blumer’s absolute highest speed?”
“No, I don’t.” Wharton shook his head.
“Use your most powerful attack against me,” Linley said seriously.
“Yes, Big Bro.” Wharton grew solemn as well. “This attack was one I developed based on my understanding of ‘wielding something heavy as though it were light’. The name is ‘Single Stroke Execution’.” Wharton gripped the warblade ‘Slaughterer’ with both hands, and a metallic light flashed atop the warblade’s edges.
A hint of a smile was on Linley’s face. “That’s a rather murderous name.” Linley wielded Bloodviolet in one hand.
Whoosh! Wharton sped up to his maximum speed, appearing before Linley in the blink of an eye. The warblade, Slaughterer, seemed to dance in his hands, as agile as a falling leaf. Swish! It chopped towards Linley.
Although the impression it gave was that it seemed to be moving quite slowly, in the blink of an eye, it arrived in front of Linley. Facing this chop, Linley could actually feel a murderous, bloody aura emanating from it. Linley didn’t dare to be the slightest bit careless.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Linley seemed to have transformed into a purple sun, radiating a million flashes of violet light. These violet flashes of light all converged against the warblade ‘Slaughterer’. The terrifying attack power that the warblade ‘Slaughterer’ originally had possessed was slowly, yet fully being cancelled out by the force of those countless violet flashes of light.
Bang! The warblade was actually sent flying, while Wharton himself was chopped countless times by those flashes of violet light and sent flying as well. Wharton ended up coughing twice, rubbing his chest as he stood up.
“Not bad. Quite powerful,” Linley said approvingly. “It actually took ten… no, sixteen hits from my sword to cancel out your attack.” When using the Rippling Wind, every sword blow was fairly weak. In truth, if Linley were to attack at full strength, each blow would probably be around 25% of the power of that one chop of Wharton’s. Logically speaking, Linley should’ve been able to cancel out the attack with just four hits.
“In principle, there shouldn’t be any expert of the ninth rank who is a match for you unless he is also a Supreme Warrior, in which case you might have a fight on your hands,” Linley said approvingly.
“Also.” Linley looked at Wharton. “You need to learn how to more agilely control your battle-qi, and also how to move more fluidly. You shouldn’t let the opponent land several blows on you in one spot.” Wharton nodded.
“Lord.” A servant ran over and bowed respectfully. “Lord, there is a fellow called Reynolds who says he has come to see you, Lord Linley.”
“Reynolds?” Linley’s eyes lit up. Not bothering to chat any longer with his little brother, Linley immediately rushed towards the outside of the manor. Linley hadn’t seen his fourth bro, Reynolds, for nine full years.
Reaching the front courtyard, Linley’s footsteps slowed. Seeing the figure outside the gate, Linley felt as though he had gone back in time. His most carefree, happy youthful years had been spent with his beloved bros, when the four young men had gone to the Jadewater Paradise to drink and have fun. Those distant days were so happy.
As for now, the current Reynolds was wearing a long, plain robe. His waist was now ramrod straight. His long years spent in the army had given Reyno
lds the aura of a military man, and he was now nearly 1.9 meters tall.
“Fourth Bro!”
Reynolds, who had been waiting at the gate, heard the shout. He immediately looked over, and his eyes lit up. Linley had changed as well. That dazzlingly genius had now become much more reserved and composed. “Third Bro!”
“Haha…” The two brothers rushed towards each other, clutching each other in an embrace.”
“I didn’t expect that you, Fourth Bro, would join the army. It’s been seven or eight years now, right? When you were at the gate, I actually wasn’t sure if it was you. I was wondering to myself, why has a military official come here?” Linley teased.
Reynolds clubbed Linley on the chest. “Damnit, Third Bro, I had no choice but to join the army. My old man forced me to. What was I supposed to do?”
“Fortunately, this time when I took my leave of absence, Yale sent someone to inform me that you had arrived at the imperial capital. On my way back, I came to pay a visit to your little bro and look for you. I felt sure that upon arriving at the imperial capital, you’d definitely head to your little bro’s place. And see? Here you are.”
“Haha, let’s go inside and chat.” After having been separated for nine years, these brothers had countless things to say to each other. They had been separated for nine years. Nine years later, those two youths had both become accomplished young men.
5
The Colosseum
Night arrived. The imperial capital of Channe was still as bustling and as beautiful as brocade, but the wilderness outside East Channe was very desolate. On the desolate road, there was a single ghost-like human figure rapidly heading east. In the blink of an eye, the human figure travelled over a hundred meters.
This person was the personal disciple of the War God, the current rising star of the imperial capital: Blumer Akerlund.
The imperial capital of Channe was surrounded by many mountains. Outside West Channe was the War God Mountain and other mountains, while outside East Channe was a number of unremarkable mountain peaks as well. Blumer quickly arrived at one seemingly ordinary mountain.
At the top of this mountain was a peak that seemed knife-sharp. At the absolute top of this peak, a man was seated in the meditative stance. Looking at how he sat there, one might be forgiven for having the strange feeling that this man had been there for tens of millions of years.
Arriving at the mountain peak, Blumer said respectfully, “Elder Brother.” Clearly, the person quietly meditating at the peak of the mountain was Blumer’s elder brother, the one known as the Prodigy Sword Saint, Olivier. Tonight, there was no moon in the sky, nor any stars. In the darkness, one could only hazily make out Olivier’s figure.
“Second Brother. Is there something you need?” a cold voice rang out. Blumer knew that his elder brother had been quietly meditating here on this mountain peak for three full years. These three years, his elder brother had neither eaten nor drank anything. He had used the skies as his roof and the earth as his bed.
Three years ago, when he had seen his big brother, he could sense a terrifying, incisive aura emanating from his big brother’s body. That sort of aura gave the impression that with just a thought, Olivier could defeat him. But after three years, his elder brother seemed to have turned into a boulder on the mountain, without any aura at all.
No one had any idea how powerful the current Olivier had become!
“Elder brother, on the fourth of the next month, which is to say fifteen days from now, I will have a duel with a scion of the Dragonblood Warrior clan at the Colosseum of Channe,” Blumer said respectfully.
“Dragonblood Warrior clan?” Olivier’s normally tranquil voice seemed to carry a hint of interest. “According to legend, Saint-level Dragonblood Warriors are powerful even amongst Saint. I very much want to exchange blows with a Saint-level Dragonblood Warrior, but they have disappeared long ago from the Yulan continent. Mmm. How strong is the person whom you are dueling?”
“After transforming, he should be at the peak-stage of the ninth rank,” Blumer said respectfully.
“Oh. Using the sword arts that I taught you, you should be invincible amongst all ninth rank combatants,” Olivier said calmly. “Enough. You can leave now.”
Blumer hesitated a moment, then said in a low voice, “Elder brother, on the day of my duel… can you come?”
Olivier was quiet for a moment. Then… “February 4th. Understood. If I have time, I will hasten there.” Olivier’s voice didn’t change tone in the slightest. It was as calm as ever.
“Then I bid you farewell.” Blumer immediately left. The mountain peak returned to its prior stillness. That human shadow in the darkness didn’t move at all, as though it had always been and always would be part of that mountain peak.
Yulan calendar, year 10009. February 4th. This was the day two geniuses were going to duel, and many people in the imperial capital hurried excitedly to the Colosseum. Those eighty thousand Colosseum tickets had been sold out long ago, and today, it wasn’t just people from the imperial capital who were hurrying to watch the duel. There were people from other cities and even other provinces.
Linley’s group had arrived at the Colosseum early on, and had been given a private room within it. Linley, Reynolds, and Yale were engaged in active conversation.
“Boss Yale, I didn’t expect that you would be able to make it here as well.” Reynolds laughed.
Yale’s forehead was still covered in sweat. Looking at Linley and Reynolds, he laughed very happily. “After I heard that you arrived at the imperial capital, Fourth Bro, and that Third Bro was here as well, even the most important of tasks became irrelevant. Of course I came! This time, I can also help cheer on Third Bro’s little brother.”
“Boss Yale, Fourth Bro, you all came. Now, we’re only missing Second Bro,” Linley said emotionally.
“Second Bro is now a Grand Secretary of the Yulan Empire. He has extremely high status. What’s more, given that the distance from there to here is over ten thousand kilometers, how can he possibly make it in time?” Yale sighed as well.
Reynolds laughingly cursed, “Back when the four of us were at the Academy, Second Bro was the most glib and most crafty. He participated in every school activity, and he also was very good at hosting them. I knew even back then that he would be suited for officialdom, and see? Just ten years later, he’s managed to swindle his way into becoming a Grand Secretary of the Yulan Empire.”
“It is fortunate that the current Emperor of the Yulan Empire succeeded to the throne when he did. This caused his position and status to immediately rise,” Yale said approvingly.
Footsteps could be heard outside the door. “Bro, we’re heading out to the Colosseum. Let’s go.” Hearing this call, Yale, Linley, and Reynolds all rose and left the resting room.
In the center of the Colosseum, there was a dueling platform over three hundred meters long and three hundred meters wide. The platform was constructed from enormous slabs of tough rock, and were covered with large-scale magical arrays.
On the east and west sides of the dueling platform were the viewing platforms for the families of the duelists. Directly in front of the dueling platform was the position reserved for the officiating hosts of the duel.
Wharton, Linley, and the others came out of the tunnel. Seeing the countless teeming human forms surround them in the Colosseum, they couldn’t help but feel stunned. “So many people.” Wharton had a forced smile on his face.
The fifth brother Gates said with a laugh, “Wharton, there are eighty thousand people here today. You’d best not lose any face.” The chants from the crowd seemed like the howling of the seas, filling the air. Linley and his group could totally sense the excitement of the onlookers.
The O’Brien Empire was a highly martial empire. The duel between two ultimate geniuses would attract the attention of countless people. There were eighty thousand watchers inside, and outside the Colosseum there were many people hoping they would somehow have a
chance to catch a glimpse of this duel.
Linley, Yale, Reynolds, Barker and his brothers, and the others all sat down right above Wharton’s seat. Blumer’s side had arrived early as well. Blumer had many people with him, over a hundred.
“Plenty of them are honorary disciples of the War God’s College. It seems they have come to support Blumer,” Linley said with a calm laugh. He could tell that all of those people were very strong.
“What good does it do him to bring so many supporters?” Yale laughed contemptuously. Right at this time, the chants began to build. Clearly, with both the participants in the duel having appeared, everyone had become extremely excited.
“Eighty thousand people. The most people I’ve seen in one location, even in the army, was ten thousand training together.” Reynolds stared at the spectacle here in the Colosseum. As the Four Great Empires currently were not in an era of large-scale warfare, it was rare to see the various armies massed together.
“Everyone, silence!” A voice rang out like a bolt of thunder, covering the entire Colosseum. Those eighty thousand viewers immediately quieted down as they stared at the silver-haired old man in the middle of the Colosseum.
Linley and the others began to chuckle. This silver-haired old man was an expert of the ninth rank. Given his prowess in battle-qi, it wasn’t hard for him to have his voice cover the entire Colosseum. “For a duel such as this, even the officiating host must be an expert.” Linley sighed ruefully.
The silver-haired old man boomed out, “Everyone, this duel we are about to see is the most important duel in recent history. Of the two participants, one is the personal disciple of the War God, Marquis Blumer. The other is a scion of the Dragonblood Warrior clan, Count Wharton. Both of them are unquestionably talented, but just who is stronger?”
The silver-haired old man began to laugh. “Soon enough, everyone will know. As for the judges for this day, I expect everyone will be very happy once you learn who they are. The first is the personal disciple of the War God, Lord Kenyon,” the silver-haired old man said in a clear voice.
Baruch Rising_Book 3 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 4
