Three days passed like this.
Within the great gorge. “The clansmen have all gone crazy with joy.” Linley laughed as he looked outside the window. The three days of mad celebration had caused the entire Skyrite Mountains to be filled with a festive aura. The stifled, depressed aura that had been present for so many years had been wiped away all at once. Everyone was exceedingly happy.
“You’ve been smiling non-stop for the past three days.” Delia couldn’t help but laugh.
Linley laughed and nodded. “Right, Delia. When I became a Highgod, I didn’t have the chance to carefully inspect the changes in my body, and I’ve been too busy the past three days as well. You go take care of something else. I’m going to spend some time investigating myself,” Linley said, then sat down in the meditative position on their bed.
Delia, seeing this, just laughed, then walked out of the room.
After having reached the Highgod level, Linley had been baptized once more by the natural Laws. The soul of Linley’s Highgod earth clone had increased in power nearly tenfold. Although the other souls weren’t strengthened much, still…
Linley’s five souls were in reality all one soul. Under the influence of his divine earth clone’s soul, the other four souls were slowly improving as well.
Actually, as long as Linley took his divine earth clone into his original body, then the spiritual strength of the divine earth clone would become the spiritual strength of his original body. After all… they were one to begin with.
“A little while later, I’ll need to spend some time refining some amethysts.” With a thought, Linley reached out and connected with the plane of the Elemental Sea.
The Elemental Sea. This was a vast, roiling, endless, boundless sea of earthen yellow light. The deeper into the sea one looked, the higher level the quality of the energy of the ‘seawater’. By now, Linley had become a Highgod. He could already see very deep into the sea, and deep within the sea, a large amount of liquefied Highgod-level divine earth power was present.
“What a thick, dense layer of Highgod-level divine earth power. When I had become a Highgod earlier, I was too worried about the clan so I didn’t spend much time examining this bottom layer or to see what it has!” Linley controlled his divine sense to delve still deeper into the Elemental Sea.
An incredibly dense and incomparably powerful aura spread out as waves of earthen water swirled about at the bottom. The earthen yellow water there was clearly different from the ordinary liquefied divine power.
“That should be…?” Linley’s divine sense wasn’t able to go down any further, but he was able to vaguely sense something far below… “The aura of Sovereign’s Might? Right. It is Sovereign’s Might!” After having seen Sovereign’s Might for so long, Linley recognized it right away. However, this was at the deepest reaches of the sea, at a depth which was beyond what he could actually reach.
“The bottom of this Elemental Sea is filled with Sovereign power?” Linley was rather stupefied. The bottom of the Elemental Sea was boundless and limitless. So much Sovereign power made one grow greedy just looking at it… but Highgods had a limit to the depths at which they could investigate. There was no way they would be able to actually acquire any of it!
2
MIRAGE
Deep within the Elemental Sea, invisible currents of power swirled about, and the endless waves of water formed from Sovereign power rolled forth. “I can see it, but I can’t get it.” Linley felt an itchy feeling in his heart.
So much Sovereign power! However, the Elemental Sea was something that every single Deity could sense. Highgods had more powerful souls, and thus were generally all able to sense the region containing Sovereign power. “The souls of Sovereigns are far more powerful than the souls of us Highgods.”
Linley quickly cast these thoughts aside. If he couldn’t get it, there was no point obsessing over it.
“Who knows if there is perhaps a region of even more powerful energy beneath the region of Sovereign power?” This thought suddenly appeared in Linley’s mind, but moments later, Linley shook his head, no longer considering it. “I don’t even have Sovereign power. Why think of other things? But it really is odd. Divine power is divided into Demigod-level divine power, God-level divine power, and Highgod-level divine power. But I have never heard anyone say that there are different levels of Sovereign power.”
After having lived in the clan for many years, Linley had come to learn that the Seven Elemental Laws and Four Edicts each had seven Sovereigns, with one being a High Sovereign, two being Intermediate Sovereigns, and four being Lesser Sovereigns. Clearly, Sovereigns were divided into levels as well.
“But why is it that I’ve never heard of there being different levels of Sovereign power?” Linley was very puzzled. The Four Divine Beasts clan and the eight great clans all had Sovereign’s Might, but Linley had never before gotten the feeling that one person’s Sovereign’s Might was more powerful than another’s. It seemed as though they were all the same.
“Can it be that different level Sovereigns all use the same type of Sovereign power? But why then are they divided into High, Intermediate, and Lesser Sovereigns?” Linley couldn’t understand it, and so he stopped thinking about it. After all… each Law had only seven Sovereigns. Every single Sovereign was a lofty figure. Even the most powerful of Highgods was incomparably weak in the face of a Sovereign.
Linley then inspected his soul-protecting Sovereign artifact. He saw rays of spiritual energy circulate throughout it, and a small membrane had appeared over the flaw as well. As spiritual energy continued to circulate through the artifact, the bandage over the flaw was slowly transforming.
“Indeed… only after becoming a Highgod can I truly begin to repair this soul-protecting Sovereign artifact.” Linley sighed in amazement. The repairing speed was now far faster than it had been when he was a mere God.
It was like a situation where floodwaters were bursting through a broken dam. If you threw little pebbles down into the hole, even if you threw many pebbles nonstop, they would be effortlessly wiped away by the floodwaters. But if you threw large numbers of boulders down, boulders which were dozens of times larger, then the effect would immediately be much better.
The same was true for repairing this artifact. The spiritual energy of a God was, qualitatively, too inferior to a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact. Thus, repairing with it was too difficult.
Ever since the Sovereign’s descent, the Four Divine Beasts clan and the eight great clans had ended their struggles against each other. The lives of the members of the Four Divine Beasts clan had returned to tranquility. Linley’s family and Bebe’s family thus began to live a peaceful life within the gorge as well.
Linley constantly consumed amethysts, strengthening his soul. Towards the end, Linley actually used up all of the amethysts that he had. He had to end up asking Bebe for many amethysts, allowing himself to continue refining them. Bebe had said magnanimously: “Boss, you just keep refining. I’ll give you as many as you want.”
In the past, Bebe had spent ten full years harvesting amethysts in the Amethyst Mountains. The number of amethysts he had collected was truly astronomical.
A CENTURY PASSED in the blink of an eye.
Within the gorge. Linley’s room. A long table was covered with food. Linley’s family of three and Bebe’s family of three were all gathered here. Delia, Nisse, Wade, and Ina were all handing plates of food back and forth, while Linley and Bebe were seated comfortably.
“Boss, how much more can your soul absorb?” Bebe asked. “You’ve already absorbed so many amethysts.”
Upon reaching the Highgod level, Linley’s amethyst refining speed had increased tens of times over as well. As his soul had risen in power, his refining speed had only grown even faster. The number of amethysts he had absorbed over the past century was an astonishingly high figure. But clearly… the soul of a Highgod was capable of absorbing a truly vast amount of power.
“What, jea
lous?” Linley pursed his lips. “Bebe, as I recall, in the past, you wanted to compete with me in seeing who would become a Highgod first.”
Bebe rubbed his nose. All he could do was manage a resigned laugh. That time they had gone to Meer City, Bebe had acquired from his grandmother a final soul slice fragment. After absorbing it, Bebe only needed one final step before reaching the Highgod level. But Bebe’s speed clearly was much slower than Linley’s. Linley had broken through after gaining that sudden insight, while Bebe had not.
“Boss, you are amazing. Super duper amazing. Satisfied?” Bebe said dourly, a sour look on his face. “Still. Grandpa told me that once I become a Highgod, my power will be close to his in might. Boss, you might be powerful right now, but when I become a Highgod I might end up being even more powerful than you.”
“Being more powerful than me is a good thing.” Linley laughed. He knew well what innate gifts Bebe had. The innate divine ability, ‘Godeater’, could be described as something that which made Bebe invincible amongst his peers. Once Bebe reached the Highgod level, who would be able to resist his Godeater ability? Perhaps only Highgod Paragons!.
In addition, as a Godeater Rat, Bebe’s body was frightfully strong. Just by watching how Beirut dared to use his hands to block Sovereign artifacts, one could imagine how astonishing a Godeater Rat would be at the Highgod level. Bebe hadn’t fused any profound mysteries at all… but by relying on his innate gifts, he would still be comparable to Linley after he became a Highgod…
Still, Linley wasn’t jealous in the slightest. All these years, Linley and Bebe truly were like siblings, and they were always happy when the other grew stronger.
“I want to gain a sudden insight and break through too. Why is it so hard?” Bebe let out a long sigh.
Right at this moment, Wade walked over, carrying a platter of food. Hearing these words, he couldn’t help but say, “Uncle Bebe, I want to make a breakthrough too. When I became a Deity, I only did so thanks to the Ancestral Baptism. It’s hard for me to even become a God by myself.”
“Hmph.” A low, dissatisfied snort. Ina walked in, carrying a plate of food as well. “Big Bro Wade, in the future, can you not complain about your situation? I’m still… not even a Deity yet.” Immediately, Linley and Bebe both began to laugh.
“Daaaad! Uuuuncle!” Ina couldn’t help but stare at them, but Linley and Bebe only laughed all the harder.
“Haha, what has all of you laughing so happily?” a loud, clear laugh rang out, and two figures descended from the skies. Linley turned his head to look. It was a black-robed Beirut and a red-robed Carolina.
Beirut’s appearance made Linley’s eyes light up as he immediately thought of that promised godspark weapon. Beirut hadn’t come to visit a single time over the past century. This time… had he come because he had finished forging the godspark weapon?
“Grandpa.” Bebe was extremely happy as well.
Beirut just smiled, then turned his head to look at Ina. “Ina, come over here.” Beirut and Carolina both doted dearly on Ina. Ina immediately walked over to greet them and chatted with Beirut and Carolina for a while.
“Grandpa, is this visit of yours because the godspark weapon is finished?” Bebe went straight to the point.
Beirut, hearing this, looked towards Linley, then laughed loudly. “Linley, I spent a full century working on this godspark weapon of yours. I’ve finally finished now. Take it!” As he spoke, Beirut waved his arm. Suddenly, an illusory black blur sliced through the air.
Linley stretched his hand out, directly snatching that sharp sword. But the illusory shadow of the sword was too blurry, and Beirut had thrown it out too quickly, with the intention of making Linley look bad. When Linley caught it, he grabbed it by the blade instead of the hilt.
“So sharp.” Linley felt pain in his hand, and a line of blood sprang out from his palm.
He lowered his head…
The sword was long and slender, as thin as a butterfly’s wings. This longsword was actually translucent. If one took a close look at the sword, one would see that a black energy was circulating inside of the sword. It was very bizarre. Generally speaking, divine swords would have energy circulating on their surface, but this sword had stupefying black energy circulating inside of it.
In particular, the sharpness of the sword was so terrifying as to make one’s heart grow cold. Although Linley hadn’t transformed, he was a Highgod; his body was fairly tough. This sword was unbound, but its raw sharpness alone had allowed it to cut through his palm.
“This sword…” Linley couldn’t believe it.
“Sharp enough for you?” Beirut laughed.
Linley hurriedly nodded. “It truly is sharp. I’ve never seen such a sharp weapon before.”
“Grandpa, how did you make it? Why isn’t my dagger this sharp?” Bebe said hurriedly.
Beirut laughed and said, “Actually, I myself am puzzled as to how this sword ended up like this.” These words caused Linley, Delia, Bebe, and everyone else to be confused. Beirut continued, “I knew that Linley trained in earth, wind, fire, and water; four types of Elemental Laws. Thus… when I forged this sword for you, I consciously only chose to devour and digest Highgod divine sparks of earth, wind, fire, and water.”
Linley couldn’t help but feel a surge of gratitude. When making a godspark weapon, one could just pick some divine sparks at random for the forging. However, Beirut had gone out of his way to be very detailed and careful in this forging for Linley, and so had only used those four types of divine sparks.
“I was very careful in the forging. In the later stages, though…” Beirut laughed. “This sword actually somehow became like one solid whole. Those four different types of divine sparks essences actually fused to become a perfect whole. The power of this godspark weapon is such that it is the finest godspark weapon I have ever made in all these years.”
Linley couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement. “Lord Beirut. Thank you,” Linley said gratefully. Beirut truly had expended significant effort in forging this weapon for him.
“Bebe, as for your dagger, I only used darkness-type divine sparks to forge it. After all, you have only become a Deity in darkness.” Beirut laughed calmly. “As for Linley’s sword… I’m not too clear as to why the power of it is so great, myself.”
Sometimes… one might end up creating a perfect masterwork, for reasons one might not even understand. Perhaps a true masterwork required a bit of luck as well.
Linley carefully stroked this sharp sword. The blood from his cut palm fused into the sword, and this sharp sword that had never before had an owner soon became wholly accepting of Linley, becoming Linley’s personal sword.
“Curious. Curious.” Linley discovered, after taking complete control of the sword, that with but a thought he could cause the energy flowing within the sword to suddenly vanish, resulting in the entire sword becoming completely translucent. Someone looking at it would think that Linley wasn’t even holding a sword at all.
“Linley, pick a name.” Beirut laughed.
Linley stared thoughtfully at this incredible weapon. “When using this sword at high speeds, even experts will only be able to see a blurry shadow… so let’s just call it ‘Mirage’.”
This was Linley’s third weapon… Mirage! The godspark sword Mirage had arrived in this world!
After acquiring this precious weapon, ‘Mirage’, he naturally would often use it to train. The more he used it, the happier Linley became. Once this precious weapon was filled with Highgod-level divine power and matched with Linley’s tremendous physical strength in Dragonform, even Linley himself was astonished by the power of each sword stroke.
Originally, Linley would use his fists to execute the ‘Firmament Splitter’ and punch holes in space itself. But… when this incomparably sharp and tough ‘Mirage’ used the technique, it seemed as though all of space would tremble. Wherever the shadow of the sword passed, a tear in space would be left behind.
ON THE GRASS
Y field outside of Linley’s house within the gorge. Linley was currently wielding Mirage, casually twirling it about. His entire body seemed to have become a gust of wind, fusing with it. One could only see the blurry shadow of an illusory sword, also as agile and untraceable as the wind.
Slash! Swish!
Wherever the sword passed, rips in space appeared. It must be understood… this was Linley in his normal, human form. But of course, this was Linley as a Highgod and in possession of a godspark weapon. Nonetheless, one could still imagine how powerful Linley had become now, thanks to these factors.
“Awesome. Uncle, you are so powerful!” Ina stood off in the distance, her eyes shining as she watched Linley train with the sword. Right at this moment…
Rumble… Ripples born from the descent of the natural Laws suddenly descended. Even Linley, in the midst of training with his sword, came to a halt. He turned his head to stare towards the location where the ripples were emanating from. “Huh? Bebe’s residence? Can it be that Bebe has made a breakthrough?”
Linley still remembered the words that Bebe had spoken to him… “Once I become a Highgod, maybe I’ll be even more powerful than you.”
3
GOALS
The descent of the natural Laws attracted attention from many of the dwellers within the gorge. The members of the Yulan branch all hurried over, looking towards the building where Linley, Ina, Delia, and the others lived.
The clansmen watched as Baruch walked over towards Linley, and they immediately parted for him. “Linley, who made the breakthrough? Is it Bebe?” Baruch knew that this building was one where Bebe lived in, and so it was very normal for him to come to this conclusion. Linley was in an excellent mood, and he smiled while nodding.
The Planar Wars Page 2
