Lord of the Mists

by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi

  Linley nodded slightly. Two months ago? It seemed as though Brodie shouldn’t have been able to run too far away.

  “Tell me the exact location of the Lotte tribe,” Linley said.

  “Mr. Linley, how about I personally accompany you on a visit to the Lotte tribe?” The governor was very friendly.

  “That won’t be necessary.” Linley laughed calmly.

  After learning the precise address, Linley and Bebe immediately made haste to the Lotte tribe.

  In recent years, the Lotte tribe had been visited quite a few times by Six Star Fiends and Seven Star Fiends, who had invited tribesmen to accompany them for a very high price.

  “All of them are standing on the mountain, hoping for an expert to take them in search of Brodie. They are all doing this for money.” A grim, black-faced old man glanced at the tribesmen who were standing atop the tall mountains. He couldn’t help but let out a cold snort.

  “The payment those experts offered is exceedingly high. Generally speaking, ten million inkstones or more. Just recently, our chieftain himself received a hundred million inkstones in remuneration. Our chief’s divine clone immediately took this wealth to a city to live a peaceful life. If someone were to invite me and give me a hundred million inkstones, I would accept, even if it cost me a divine clone,” a round, chubby-faced, adorable-looking youth spoke out eagerly.

  Indeed, the lives of many of the tribesmen of the Lotte tribe had changed dramatically.

  After all, only a single divine clone was needed for going to recognize a person.

  “In your dreams. Do you think that those experts truly don’t care about money?” The black-faced elder snickered. “The vast majority were only given ten million; only a single person was given a hundred million. Kid, you want someone to give you a hundred million? How laughable. Focus on your training. In the end, personal power speaks loudest!”

  “Hmph.” The chubby-faced youth, upon hearing this, couldn’t help but let out a low snort, no longer speaking with the grim elder.

  “Whoosh!”

  A blur flashed past, and two figures appeared before them.

  The round-faced youth and the grim elder were both badly startled. This speed was simply too fast. They carefully looked at the person in front of them. The newcomers were a brown-haired youth and an adorable, skinny youngster.

  “You are…?” The grim elder couldn’t help but speak in surprise. He had never before seen someone as fast as these two.

  Linley swept them with his gaze. Nodding, he said, “Do the two of you recognize Brodie?”

  “I do, I do.” The round-faced youth immediately came to his senses and called out, “Brodie and I were neighbors for nearly a thousand years.”

  “Don’t listen to him spout rubbish,” the grim elder said hurriedly. “That kid just lived with Brodie on the same mountain. Although Brodie and I weren’t neighbors, we often met. I would recognize him at a single glance.” Although earlier he acted as though everything was beneath him, when opportunity came knocking, the grim elder grew excited as well.

  Laughing calmly, Linley nodded. “Fine, then. The two of you, follow me. On this trip, there will be many experts who will be fighting over the treasure, and I will be one of them. I might not be able to protect you two. How about this. If you follow me, each of you will receive five hundred million inkstones.”

  “Five hundred million inkstones?”

  The round-faced youth and the grim elder exchanged glances, then stared around themselves, quite cautious

  “There is nobody nearby.” Linley laughed calmly.

  “Hey, old fellow, we’re now on the same boat. Don’t go running around bragging wildly. Wait for us to enter the city, then brag,” the round-faced youth sent mentally.

  “Don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself,” the grim elder said.

  “Prepare to head out.” Linley immediately paid each person five hundred million inkstones. As Linley saw it, to give them five hundred million inkstones wasn’t that much, given that he was causing two Gods to face such danger. But to these low-level denizens of the Infernal Realm, upon acquiring five hundred million inkstones, they would be able to live an extremely comfortable life in the Infernal Realm in the future.

  The black, sword-shaped metallic lifeform was advancing at high speed.

  “So fast.” The round-faced youth and the grim elder were both quite stunned.

  They had both released their divine clones and had them take their newfound wealth and keep it peacefully within the Lotte tribe. They were waiting for their opportunity; for the Lotte tribe’s metallic lifeform to head to a city. Only then would they leave together.

  “Boss, according to the intelligence reports of the city, two months ago, Brodie appeared in this region,” Bebe said.

  “I know.”

  Linley had already completely extended his divine sense, and everything within eight million kilometers was now within Linley’s range of inspection.

  “There are no powerful experts nearby.” Linley continued to hasten forward.

  Given the speed at which Linley was able to control the metallic lifeform, in but a few days, he would be able to completely investigate the hundred-million-kilometer-area surrounding this place. Given Brodie’s speed, in two months, he would at most be able to move a hundred million kilometers or so. The other Seven Star Fiends who relied on Sovereign power to investigate, however, would have a far smaller reach than Linley did.

  In addition, given how fast Sovereign power leaked out, they wouldn’t be able to search for too long.

  This made it so that these people would find it hard to find Brodie!

  However, Linley didn’t recognize Brodie either. What he needed to find was a place where many experts were gathering. That would be the place where Brodie was!

  “LORD CHEGWIN, that Brodie fled into these Neville Mountains.”

  A dragon-shaped metallic lifeform flew through the skies. There were six individuals within it, with the leader being someone with long green robes, violet lips, and a closed eye-slit in the middle of his forehead. This devilish-looking man was the person who had just barely escaped dying in Linley’s hands not long ago; Chegwin!

  In the Stellar Corridor of the Planar Battlefield, Linley had killed two people at one go, but Chegwin had been able to escape thanks to his two protective Sovereign artifacts.

  “The two of you, lead one of the Lotte tribesmen inside to search for Brodie. No matter what, I must acquire that red caltrop diamond.”

  “Yes, milord.” The two Seven Star Fiends bowed, then each led a group of people into the Neville Mountains. At the same time, they left behind a divine clone within the metallic lifeform, so as to be able to report back to Chegwin at all times.

  Two months had passed. As time had gone on… Brodie, no matter how crafty he was, found that the area in which he could hide in was growing smaller and smaller. By now, the only place left for him was the Neville Mountains!

  “Lord Chegwin, I have discovered Brodie. However, there is another Seven Star Fiend who has also located him,” one of the Seven Star Fiend’s divine clones said hurriedly.

  “Let’s go,” Chegwin’s eyes lit up and he barked hurriedly.

  He immediately collected his metallic lifeform. Chegwin didn’t even pay any attention to those Lotte tribesmen, instead immediately following the Seven Star Fiend’s divine clone to advance forward rapidly.

  “Chegwin, where are you rushing towards?” a familiar voice rang out in Chegwin’s mind.

  Chegwin turned his head, only to see four figures fly over.

  “You… Linley?” Chegwin’s face changed dramatically.

  “I discovered quite a few people moving in this direction. It seems as though that darkness-element Highgod being chased is Brodie.” Linley laughed calmly. As soon as his divine sense had located Chegwin, he had immediately hurried over. Given Chegwin’s power… he definitely had a chance to seize Br
odie.

  Unfortunately…

  Linley had arrived!

  27

  THE CRITICAL POINT

  “Lord Chegwin, the struggle going on up ahead for the red caltrop diamond is extremely tight. We need to go there right away,” one of the two Seven Star Fiends by Chegwin’s side sent frantically to Chegwin.

  “Shut your mouth,” Chegwin sent back.

  Although these two Seven Star Fiends were Chegwin’s subordinates, they didn’t participate in the last Planar War. Chegwin hadn’t told anyone about Linley either, and so these two didn’t recognize him.

  “I didn’t expect that Linley would come as well.” Chegwin began to worry. “According to the intelligence reports regarding this red caltrop diamond, it is very likely that this is an Overgod talisman. Even if it isn’t, it is a Sovereign artifact level treasure. If I can acquire it, I would offer it to the Chief Sovereign! Perhaps the Chief Sovereign would think of a way to help me acquire a third Sovereign artifact.”

  The Overgod talisman was within his grasp! How could Chegwin bear to give it up?

  “I didn’t expect that you, Mr. Linley, would come as well.” Chegwin laughed calmly. “Might I ask what you have come here for, Mr. Linley?”

  “Recently, there has been much rumor regarding this ‘red caltrop diamond’ treasure. I’m quite curious about it,” Linley said with a calm laugh while flying forward. “Chegwin, let us travel together.”

  “It would be my honor.” Chegwin wasn’t impatient, instead opting to follow behind Linley.

  Chegwin had seen Linley’s power, and he knew that if he were to fight against Linley head on, Linley would be able to kill his subordinates with the flip of a hand. As for Chegwin himself… although he had a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact and a defensive Sovereign artifact, making it hard for even Linley to kill him, it wouldn’t be too hard for Linley to drive him into chaotic space.

  Chegwin didn’t have any divine clones located elsewhere. If he were to be driven into chaotic space, it would be hard for even a Sovereign to locate him.

  After all, chaotic space was so boundlessly vast that it was comparable to nearly almost all of the other planes combined.

  How would a Sovereign search for someone in such a vast expanse of space? The only way it could be done was if a divine clone accompanied the Sovereign to point the Sovereign in the correct direction.

  “Lord Chegwin, the experts over there are more and more numerous. If you don’t intervene, then Leer and I won’t be able to hold on by ourselves,” the Seven Star Fiend sent frantically.

  “Don’t be impatient,” Chegwin sent back. “Linley arrived. It won’t be so easy for others to acquire the red caltrop diamond.”

  “Linley. Who is he?” the Seven Star Fiend sent back while giving a glance at Chegwin. Chegwin had never mentioned Linley to him in the past… after all, the story was an embarrassing one for Chegwin. Why would he discuss it with his subordinates?

  “A Highgod Paragon,” this was Chegwin’s sole response.

  The Seven Star Fiend was badly frightened.

  As for Linley, he was puzzled. “Chegwin is the Emissary of the Chief Sovereign of Light. Can it be that he is here because the Chief Sovereign of Light has asked him to search for the Overgod talismans?” What Linley was worried about was that the Sovereigns were paying attention to this matter. Linley swept Chegwin with his gaze. Chegwin was currently behaving extremely respectfully.

  The two Highgods behind Chegwin were fairly average in strength. Linley had never heard of them, nor did he care about them.

  As far as the current Linley was concerned, ordinary Seven Star Fiends were indeed nothing. Even Lord Prefects and Asuras would just attract a bit of attention from Linley. After all… he already stood at the true peak. Amongst Deities, there were none capable of defeating him!

  “Chegwin, I plan to speed up. Come with me.” With but a thought, Linley sent divine earth power surging out, surrounding the group of people.

  “Swish!”

  A ray of earthen yellow light shot through the air, and a heartbeat later, Linley’s group had already arrived at a location deep within the Neville Mountains.

  Deep within the Neville Mountains. A hundred figures were flocking here.

  “Haha, I didn’t imagine that I, Brodie, would actually draw attention from and be surrounded by so many experts.” Laughter rang out from one mountain forest, and then, in midair, multiple figures suddenly appeared. There was a single figure within the forest as well. Clearly, these people had already completely surrounded Brodie.

  Only, nobody dared to go seize it.

  “So many people have actually come for it,” a big-bearded muscular dwarf mumbled, his green eyes sweeping the others with his gaze. “I recognize fifty-six Seven Star Fiends, and the others are probably Six Star Fiends. In addition, there are even one or two Asura-level experts mixed in.”

  Everyone understood that the red caltrop diamond was a hot, yet hard-to-hold item.

  Most likely, if anyone went to seize it, that person would suffer the attacks of the rest of the group. Nobody was confident in being able to seize it, then survive an array of attacks from this huge group of Seven Star Fiends.

  Right at this moment…

  A black-robed, loose-haired man slowly flew out from the mountain forest. His eyes were filled with amusement, and he casually glanced at the group of people surrounding him. “Haha… unexpected, truly unexpected. I, Brodie, was actually able to cause so many experts to join forces in pursuing me. Such an honor this is! Even if I, Brodie, were to die, it would be worth it.”

  This person was Brodie. Surrounded by multiple layers of people, he no longer ran and revealed himself instead.

  “Swoosh!” Just as Brodie spoke out, a green figure suddenly flew towards him, clearly wanting to seize the initiative.

  “Hmph!” A cold snort rang out.

  “Rumble…” A fiery red blade shadow rose from the heavens, shattering through space and instantly chopping down upon that green figure’s body. A blurry light suddenly flashed in the green figure’s eyes, and he managed to resist the power of this terrifying attack. Still, he was knocked flying away.

  Instantly, all of the other foolish, impulsive people restrained themselves, not daring to attack.

  At this moment…

  The loose-haired Brodie stood there in the air above the mountain forest, surrounded by a large number of supreme experts. Brodie, however, didn’t seem to know that he had reached the end of the line. He actually smiled as he looked at them, then said in a clear voice, “Everyone, tell me, with so many of you here, who should I actually give the diamond to?”

  The many Seven Star Fiends and Six Star Fiends all looked at each other, not making any sound.

  “That’s the easiest question ever,” a clear voice rang out. “Just give it directly to my Boss.”

  A large sphere of earthen yellow light suddenly appeared in midair. The earthen yellow aura dissipated, revealing seven people. It was Chegwin and his two subordinates, along with Linley, Bebe, and the two tribesmen they had brought with them.

  “What incredible speed.” Chegwin’s two subordinates were stunned.

  “Lord Chegwin.” Upon seeing Chegwin, quite a few of the Six and Seven Star Fiends called out in surprise. They were all stunned. After all, compared to Linley, Chegwin had been famous for countless more years. Even amongst ‘commanders’, he was a supreme expert ranked close to the top. Chegwin’s information had been public for a long time now.

  But Linley had only participated in a single Planar War very recently. News about him had yet to truly spread.

  Although there were a group of Six Star Fiends and Seven Star Fiends here, while Chegwin was alone, in truth, he could still fight them all. Because he had two Sovereign artifacts!

  “It looks like we have no hope,” the big-bearded dwarf said with a snicker.

  “No hope at all.” A callous, s
ilver-haired youth gave a sidelong glance at the distant Chegwin as well.

  Chegwin was able to fight against everyone here. Even if they all fought over the red caltrop diamond, Chegwin would be able to seize it. In addition, these Six Star Fiends and Seven Star Fiends were no fools. All of them knew that if one had to compare the value of their lives with the value of a treasure, their lives were still more important!

  “You… you are Lord Linley?” suddenly, a voice rang out.

  Linley turned to look, only to see a Six Star Fiend staring at Linley in surprise.

  “What, you recognize my Boss?” Bebe winked at this Six Star Fiend.

  “Ah, Lord Linley. I just participated in the previous Planar War. I was fortunate enough to see Lord Linley and Lord Magnus battle. I didn’t imagine that you would come as well!” This Six Star Fiend was very excited. He then glanced at the surrounding people and said loudly, “Everyone, now that Lord Linley has come, there’s no point to fighting. This red caltrop diamond will go to Lord Linley.”

  “He’s Lord Linley?”

  Of the hundred plus people present, there were two or three others who knew of Linley. Only, they didn’t know what he looked like or what his aura was like, and so they weren’t able to recognize him at a glance.

  Chegwin smiled as well. “Everyone, the person by my side is the number one expert of the Four Divine Beasts clan, the Highgod Paragon, Lord Linley. Everyone, do you still want to fight over the red caltrop diamond?” Hearing these words, the other Six and Seven Star Fiends were simultaneously shocked and began to repeat the same words.

  “Highgod Paragon?”

  That was an invincible individual who was able to execute commander-level experts as easily as cutting grass. If he wanted the red caltrop diamond, who would be able to take it from him?

  Linley couldn’t help but glance at Chegwin. Chegwin was actually speaking on his behalf?

  “Lord Chegwin?” Brodie, hearing those surprised calls, had begun to understand that Chegwin was probably a supreme expert. But now, it seemed, that next to Chegwin was a legendary Highgod Paragon. “Linley?” Brodie gave Linley a close look.