“There’s only one option right now,” Linley nodded slightly as he spoke.
“Boss, quick, give it a try,” Beb urged.
The only option was… to bind it with blood!
Linley stretched out his index finger. With but a thought, a drop of fresh blood oozed out of his skin, then dripped down onto the crown.
“Eh?” Bebe stared.
“Eh?” Linley frowned.
The drop of blood hit the crown… and then it splattered and rolled down onto the ground.
“It wasn’t absorbed?” Linley was puzzled.
“What’s going on? This thing has an owner?” Bebe frowned.
Linley pondered for a moment, then nodded. “There’s one possibility. The owner of the crown might have been fighting in the Planar Battlefield, and then died, with the Sovereign artifact falling into chaotic space. However, the owner of the crown still has a divine clone outside, and so there is no way to bind it with blood.”
“Makes sense! Ah, wait! Boss,” Bebe suddenly said. “This crown is damaged, but there is no way for chaotic space to damage a Sovereign artifact, right? There is no way for Highgods to damage Sovereign artifacts either.”
Linley was stunned. He couldn’t help but nod slightly.
When Highgods did battle, generally speaking, after one died, the Sovereign artifact would be completely undamaged. There was no way for the power of a Highgod to damage a Sovereign artifact.
“Can it be that the owner of this crown was a Sovereign?” This was Linley’s guess. “This crown was then damaged in a battle between Sovereigns, just like my Coiling Dragon ring?”
“If it was a Sovereign, then, the Sovereign definitely must have fallen,” Bebe said. “If the Sovereign fell, the other Sovereign who killed him definitely wouldn’t have spared his clones; he definitely would have pulled up the grass by the roots. This crown should then be an ownerless item. It should be bindable by blood.”
Linley didn’t understand either.
He was able to bind the Coiling Dragon ring with blood, but not this crown.
Still, for now, this was all speculation.
“Forget it.” Linley shook his head. “Bebe, if we can’t figure it out, let’s not worry about it. Long story short, there’s no way to bind it with blood. Perhaps… this crown isn’t a Sovereign artifact at all.”
“What else, besides a Sovereign artifact, can survive in chaotic space?” Bebe mumbled.
Linley and Bebe couldn’t understand it. Based on the knowledge available to them, the only thing that could survive in chaotic space, aside from Sovereign artifacts and godspark weapons, was perhaps divine sparks! As for ordinary materials made of ores or metals, there was no way they would be able to survive in chaotic space.
Unable to get a clear understanding of the crown, Linley had to give up for now. He stored it back into his interspatial ring, and then, based on his earlier line of thoughts, began to train. Only three hundred years remained from now until the final battle of the Planar War. Linley wanted to make a breakthrough in advance.
“That blade blow of Lupe’s…”
Completely storing up all the power, and then letting it all explode forth with amazing force.
“The fists of Hemmers…”
That utterly unblockable punch… it continued to swirl about Linley’s consciousness.
“That spiked mace of the golden-robed man…”
Linley carefully pondered the attacks of that spiked mace as well.
Over the past few years, he had encountered many experts of the Laws of the Earth, such as the Redcliff Lord or Bailey…
Every single one of those experts of the Laws of the Earth had analyzed and developed a supreme technique that belonged to them. But those were their techniques, not his! Still, Linley wanted to discover some of the secrets behind those supreme techniques, hoping to find something that would help him suddenly break through the bottleneck he was facing. And just like that, Linley began to tirelessly analyze them.
Bebe, utterly bored, just rested there within the cave, his eyes half-lidded as he occasionally munched on fruit. He was currently controlling a Deathgod Golem outside. “It has been three years, but we only encountered a single person. And that person wasn’t someone that was easy to deal with. The weaker people have all hidden away, as cowardly as rats. Uh… wait. I’m a rat as well.”
Bebe suddenly turned to look at Linley.
“Huh?” Bebe’s eyebrows rose slightly.
A large amount of earth elemental essence suddenly appeared around Linley’s body. Slowly, with Linley at the center, it formed into an earthen yellow sphere.
“What’s going on with the Boss?” Bebe didn’t understand.
“Whoosh!”
Very strangely, the earthen yellow aura suddenly contracted, from a size of three meters to just a tiny dot. This sort of high-speed contraction actually caused a spatial tremor, and the ripples from this tremor caused the stones nearby which were within the cave to instantly transform into dust. The entire cave had just transformed into a giant sphere.
At this moment, Linley opened his eyes, a hint of a smile on his face.
“Boss? You… broke through?” Bebe guessed.
Linley looked at Bebe. He nodded slightly.
69
SUPREME TECHNIQUE
Bebe was stunned… and then, he was wildly overjoyed. He tossed the half-eaten fruit in his hands to one side. “Haha, Boss, I knew you would definitely make a breakthrough within three centuries. I was right, wasn’t I? It’s only been three years, but you broke through the bottleneck!” In fusing profound mysteries, the farther one went along, the harder it was.
Once one broke through, it represented that one’s power would rise exponentially!
“I did indeed break through. I broke through before the final battle.” Linley felt very excited, from the bottom of his heart. The rise in difficulty from fusing three types of profound mysteries to four types was simply too hard. Now, in the Planar Battlefield, he finally was no longer a bottom-level commander. If he encountered some formidable commanders, he’d be able to give them a fight.
A commander who truly feared no challengers had to be completely flawless. In the past, Linley’s soul defense was weak, but now, in terms of soul defense, he was no longer a weakling, having fused four profound mysteries and also having the support of his innate azure soul glow, as well as that damaged soul-protecting Sovereign artifact. In fact, Linley no longer even feared the soul attacks of experts on the level of Reisgem and Montelo.
But of course… if he ran into any Highgod Paragons, Linley would still have to run. Not just Linley; even if Reisgem encountered a Highgod Paragon, he wouldn’t be able to fight back.
“I wanted to go out and have a wild battle long ago. Now that you made a breakthrough, Boss, let’s head out.” Bebe was absolutely delighted. “We’ve been in this damn place for nearly six centuries. It’s time for we two bros to show our might.” Bebe was utterly brimming with confidence.
Linley just laughed, then shook his head. “Don’t be impatient.”
“How can I not be impatient? I’m impatient!” Bebe pursed his lips intentionally. “You’ve increased your power. Do we still have to hide here?”
“No. Although I’ve successfully fused four profound mysteries, I haven’t developed an attack that suits me yet.” Linley laughed.
Fusing different types of profound mysteries would result in different types of powerful attacks.
Some were skilled in support techniques, while others were skilled in soul attacks or material attacks or stealth and subterfuge… in short, after fusing profound mysteries, they would develop techniques suited to them.
In the past, Linley’s primary skills were the ‘Blackstone Space’ and the ‘Firmament Splitter’.
However, Linley had risen in power. His supreme techniques would naturally have to change as well.
“Oh, develop a supreme technique?” Bebe chortled, then sat down by the
side of the cave. “Boss, develop as much as you want. I’ll just watch here without saying a thing! Right… it won’t take you too long to develop a technique, will it?”
“I already have some ideas. It should be fairly fast,” Linley said with a laugh.
And then, Linley began to develop his supreme technique. Days passed in constant testing. Linley, for fear of damaging the cave, created a miniature Blackstone Prison, constantly testing within it. Even if energy leaked out from him, it would be kept within the Blackstone Prison.
Utter darkness. Not a hint of light could be seen from the Blackstone Jail.
Linley stood there, his mind flickering through one image after another.
“This material defense should begin with my former ‘Pulseguard Armor’, then modify it…” Linley, in the past, didn’t care too much about material defense, because his Dragonformed body was already powerful enough. However, now that he had fused four profound mysteries, once he used that and Sovereign’s Might to reinforce his supreme defensive technique, the defensive power would be comparable to his Dragonformed body. Naturally, Linley wouldn’t mind adding an extra layer of defense.
Within the dark, lightless Blackstone Prison, Linley continuously analyzed.
“Crackle…”
Divine earth power continued to flow out from Linley’s body. In Linley’s mind, one mechanism after another for using power sprang to mind, and the divine earth power surrounding his body continued to change methods nonstop.
His original body and his divine earth clone joined together in training. After spending eleven days, Linley finally developed a supreme defensive technique that he was satisfied with.
“This armor, if formed from divine earth power, is inferior in strength to my Dragonform. However, when relying on Sovereign power, the power exceeds that of Dragonform. Right. This armor formed from divine earth power… I’ll just call it my ‘earth armor’.” Linley couldn’t be bothered to think too much about it, so he casually picked a name, then continued to analyze his soul defense techniques.
Linley cared deeply about his soul defense.
After all, a person’s soul was his foundation. In Linley’s sea of consciousness, a large amount of spiritual power roiled about, and one sort of technique for using energy after another was being tested by him.
The Laws of the Earth were extremely deep and profound. They were divided into six profound mysteries, and mastering each of them individually was nothing more than gaining a basic understanding of the Laws of the Earth. Only by fusing them… could one truly gain a deeper understanding of the Laws.
For example, the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’ started with increasing to a total of 256 layers, and then was constantly fused and simplified down into a single wave. It was the same principle… the more one fused the mysteries of the Laws of the Earth, the more thoroughly one understood them. Linley had fused four of them, and this resulted in a major increase in power for him, in both soul defense and material defense.
“A constant, unbroken cycle, advancing on one side, continuing on the other… this sort of soul defense is enough.”
After spending nine days, Linley’s soul defense reached a limit as well. Unless Linley was able to gain an even greater understanding of the profound mysteries, his methods for using the Laws had reached a limit.
“In twenty days, I’ve mastered a way for soul defense and for material defense. Now… I need to focus on the most important of all. A material attack.”
Linley knew very well that as the mysteries he had fused were the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’, ‘Essence of the Earth’, ‘Strength’, and ‘Gravitational Space (Geomagnetism)’, the fusion of these were suited most for material attacks. In addition, in Dragonform, his body was incredibly strong; to not use it for material attacks was a huge waste.
Linley immediately began to focus on developing a supreme attacking technique.
Analyzing supreme techniques was quite complicated.
For example, soul defense; it had nothing to do with any part of the ‘Essence of the Earth’. As for material defense, it had nothing to do with ‘Gravitational Space’. Thus, it was much easier to develop techniques.
But supreme attack techniques were different. This would involve all four mysteries.
Time flowed on like water, moving past silently. In the blink of an eye, Linley had spent two full months working in the Blackstone Prison.
Within the cave.
“Hmph!” Bebe wrinkled his nose, glancing sideways at the still-present Blackstone Prison. “The Boss said it would be ‘very fast’, but it’s been sixty-three days, and he’s still not done.”
Suddenly…
Silently, noiselessly, the Blackstone Prison dissipated, the energy returning to the world and leaving behind a Linley who was dressed in a blue robe and whose eyes were closed. He stood there, still holding Mirage in his hand. Clearly, Linley hadn’t filled it with his divine power, as one could still clearly see Mirage in his hand.
“Haha!” Bebe immediately hopped over.
Linley opened his eyes and glanced over, his face filled with smiles.
“Boss, you succeeded?” Bebe chortled.
“Right. I succeeded.” Linley laughed and nodded.
“How strong is it?” Bebe said with anticipation.
“Much stronger than before, of course,” Linley said with a calm laugh. “That ‘Firmament Splitter’ of mine only fused two profound mysteries; the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’ and ‘Strength’. This was because there was no way for me to add the ‘Essence of the Earth’ into it. But… now that I fused ‘Gravitational Space’, I am able to add the ‘Essence of the Earth’ into my attack as well. It now has four types of profound mysteries. The power of this sword is tens of times more powerful than in the past!”
Linley was extremely confident. In the past, his sword had relied primarily on the strength of his Dragonform, which was why he was able to threaten other commanders.
But now, just by relying on his mastery of the profound mysteries, Linley was able to be on roughly the same level as other commanders. With the added strength of his Dragonform as well as Mirage, Linley was now qualified to be confident.
“Hoho, Boss, give it a try, give it a try,” Bebe called out excitedly, staring at Linley.
Linley smiled and nodded.
“When battling, I will first set up my Blackstone Space, then use this sword blow.” Linley laughed as he spread out his Blackstone Space and a powerful gravitational force spread out. Just as Linley was about to execute his sword blow, upon seeing the earthen yellow aura that was glowing due to his ‘Blackstone Space’, Linley suddenly came to a halt, standing there stupidly.
Bebe was startled, immediately asking, “Hey, Boss, what are you doing?”
But Linley seemed to not have heard him.
“What’s the Boss doing? Didn’t he say he was going to show it off for me?” Bebe didn’t understand.
“Haha…”
Linley suddenly began to laugh loudly.
“Boss, what is it, what is it?” Bebe said frantically.
“So I can do it as well. So I can do it as well! I’m too foolish, too foolish!” Linley’s face was filled with wild joy.
“Boss?” Bebe hurriedly called.
Only now did Linley think of Bebe. Turning his head, he laughed. “Bebe, just now, I suddenly thought of something, which is why I was rather excited.”
“Thought of something?” Bebe frowned.
“Right!” Linley nodded and laughed. “Do you remember how, when we encountered that Highgod Paragon, ‘Bayer’, his attack against you locked your movements, right?”
“Right.” Bebe thought back to that scene and felt helpless once more. “That attack of his… when it came, I felt as though space itself was squeezing me. My speed dropped dramatically. Actually, I was able to move; only, my speed dropped so much, tens of times slower than normal. At such a slow speed, in a real fight, it meant I would be slaug
htered.”
Linley chortled. “Just now, when I saw my ‘Blackstone Space’, I suddenly thought of that person, I too can make the enemy feel as though space is compressing him, and make him feel like a fish who was trapped in mud, his speed lowered greatly.”
“Eh?” Bebe didn’t understand. “Boss, your Blackstone Space; the gravity of it faces one direction. How can you compress someone?”
Indeed; the power of the Blackstone Space’s gravity would be upwards, downwards, repulsive, or attractive towards Linley.
There was only a single possible direction!
For example, a downwards gravity that trapped the enemy would result in an enemy who, when facing Linley’s sword, would find it hard to fly upwards but easily be able to dive underground. Even if he was unable to go underground, his movements forward, backwards, and sideways wouldn’t be impeded much.
But the spatial compression was different.
It made one feel as though one was being compressed from all directions. No matter how you moved, the restrictive power was still astonishingly great, just like being caught in a net.
“Haha…” Linley suddenly started to laugh. “Bebe, I had a taste of that restrictive power back in the Amethyst Mountains.”
Linley still clearly remembered how, when he had used Worldwalking in the Amethyst Mountains, he had encountered Reisgem inside the mountain. Afterwards, Reisgem trapped Linley within the Amethyst Space, causing powerful gravity to press down upon and squeeze Linley. Even his bones began to uniformly splinter, and blood flowed outwards. This was a pressure that came from all directions!
“My current sword blow is just like those of other experts of the Laws of the Earth, containing some basic gravitational pull to it. What I need to do is to make it so that the Blackstone Space no longer treats me as its core, and for it to merge into the sword itself.” Linley knew that this would be very hard.
If Linley didn’t understand the principles of ‘Amethyst Space’, and was only able to operate on the basis of his ‘black stone’ in executing the ‘Blackstone Space’, there was no way at all that he would be able to infuse this ability of the Amethyst Space into it.
The Planar Wars: Book 7 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 56
