Dragonblood: Book 2 of the Coiling Dragon Saga

by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi

  You idiot. Next to him, Doehring Cowart was secretly cursing at Linley. A beautiful girl comes over this late at night to talk with you and comfort you, and you actually ask her what she wants?

  Delia laughed, slightly nervously. But then, she regained her usual calmness. “What, I can’t come over to chat with you unless I want something? I’ve known you since our very first year together at the Ernst Institute. Since when did you decide to keep me at such a distance?”

  “N-no, that’s not what I meant,” Linley said hurriedly.

  Delia couldn’t help but laugh in delight, but then she let out a long sigh. “Linley, there really is something I want to talk to you about, which is why I came over at such a late hour.”

  “Go ahead.” Linley couldn’t help but begin mentally guessing at what Delia was going to say.

  Delia said helplessly, “Linley, you should know that this is year 9999 of the Yulan calendar. In eight more months, it will be year 10000 of the Yulan calendar. The first day of each year, the entire Yulan continent celebrates the Yulan Festival. You can imagine how important an event the celebration of the 10000th Yulan Festival will be.”

  Linley nodded, not quite understanding why Delia was saying these things.

  “Although the entire Yulan continent holds the Yulan festival in high importance, our Yulan Empire holds it in even higher esteem,” Delia continued.

  This, Linley understood. After all, the first year of the Yulan calendar was the year when the Yulan Empire had unified the continent. The 10000th Yulan Festival would naturally be an extremely important day within the Yulan Empire.

  “My clan has sent out an order. For this Yulan Festival, I must return home. For this Yulan Festival, our Yulan Empire will carry out an empire-wide celebration. Naturally, we main-branch descendants of the Leon clan must return to participate.” Delia looked at Linley. “Linley, the Yulan Empire is very far away from the Holy Alliance. This round trip will most likely take one or two years. Tomorrow, I’ll have to leave and return to my motherland.”

  Linley understood Delia’s meaning. In other words, within this next year or so, he probably wouldn’t have a chance to meet with Delia again.

  Staring at Linley, Delia bit her lips, then suddenly said, “Linley. Before I leave, can I hug you?”

  “Hug?” Linley was stunned. He stared at Delia. He knew very well how Delia felt towards him, but… perhaps because the two of them had interacted too often, Linley had always viewed Delia as nothing more than a close female confidante, ever since the first year they studied together at the Ernst Institute. And especially after that affair with Alice, Linley’s heart had been frozen and locked.

  Seeing the look in Delia’s eyes, Linley nodded. A smile appeared on Delia’s face, and she immediately reached out with her arms, embracing Linley by the neck, then pulled herself firmly against Linley’s body. Delia pressed her face gently against Linley’s face as well.

  Linley could feel their mutual breaths. He could also smell the enchanting fragrance on Delia’s body. In particular, when their faces touched, he could feel the warmth of her skin… all of this caused Linley to feel a very unique sensation.

  “Linley. Thank you,” Delia murmured into Linley’s ear. Linley didn’t make a sound.

  Releasing him, Delia slowly rose to her feet, her eyes still locked on Linley’s. But halfway to her feet, Delia came to a halt. There were only two inches of distance between her eyes and Linley’s.

  Suddenly, Delia bent down. Her lips just so happened to land and brush against Linley’s, causing Linley to be stunned. Delia didn’t give Linley the chance to react, as she then quickly stood up. Taking one last look at Linley, she quickly ran out of Linley’s bedroom.

  “Boss! Did she just force a kiss on you?!?” From the opposite side of the blanket, Bebe popped his tiny head out, staring at Linley.

  “You…! Go back to sleep!” Linley mentally shouted at Bebe. Bebe let out a few disgruntled squeaks before returning to the blanket. But Linley still stared at the closed door through which Delia had left. His nose still seemed to be filled with the fragrant aura of Delia’s perfume. His face seemed to still feel the warmth of Delia’s face.

  Rubbing his lips, Linley felt a soft, warm feeling in his heart. The feeling was very similar to the feeling he had that night, when he had hidden with Alice on her balcony and talked the night away.

  “Delia…” Shaking his head, Linley cast away all of these extraneous thoughts.

  “Linley.” Doehring Cowart looked at Linley with interest. “When you had just entered the Ernst Institute and saw this Delia girl for the first time, didn’t I say to you, then and there, that this was a beauty in the making? I told you from the very beginning to chase after her. Feeling regretful yet?”

  Linley frowned as he looked at Doehring Cowart. “Alright, I’ll stop talking.” With a twirl of his beard, Doehring Cowart transformed into a beam of light and retreated into the Coiling Dragon ring.

  Linley didn’t think about this anymore. Once more seating himself cross-legged, he entered the meditative trance to distill his mageforce.

  Early the next morning, Delia led the delegation from the Leon clan away from the town of Wushan, but Linley didn’t send her off. He continued to kneel there in the main hall, maintaining his vigil and observing the rites of filial mourning.

  In the blink of an eye, the seven days of filial mourning had passed. In the town of Wushan, aside from Linley’s bros, there were only two other major personages remaining: Cardinal Lampson and Cardinal Guillermo.

  As Cardinals of the Radiant Church, Lampson and Guillermo didn’t have anything they had to attend to. After all, most small matters could be handled by their subordinates, making their lives very relaxed. These few days, they spent their time sightseeing around the town of Wushan while occasionally going into Wushan itself.

  Morning. The citizens of the town of Wushan were all watching on each side of the street as the delegations from the Radiant Church and from the Dawson Conglomerate began to depart.

  “Boss Yale, Second Bro, Fourth Bro. There’s something I need to go discuss with Lord Guillermo’s party,” Linley told his bros, and then left the Dawson Conglomerate’s carriage and entered the carriage of Lord Cardinal Guillermo.

  Lampson was in the carriage as well. The two Cardinals and Linley shared this carriage, but this carriage had been specially designed for Cardinals of the Radiant Church. It was extremely spacious, with enough space for all three of them to lie down and sleep, if they so desired.

  “Linley, you’ve made up your mind?” Guillermo smiled as he looked at Linley. Previously, Linley had told Guillermo that he needed to discuss the matter of joining the Radiant Church with his father. But now, his father had passed away. Naturally, there was no one else for Linley to discuss this with. By now, he should have an answer for them.

  “Lord Guillermo, Lord Lampson. I am still young. I wish… to temporarily assist his Majesty, King Clayde. For now, I think it would be best that I not take up a formal position within the Radiant Church. If in the future, the Radiant Church has need of me, I can be enlisted into your service at any time,” Linley said.

  Both Guillermo and Lampson smiled. Serve King Clayde? Clayde was the ruler of the Kingdom of Fenlai, while the capital of Fenlai, was also the Holy Capital of the Holy Union. What’s more, the ruler of Fenlai was under the direct authority of the Radiant Church. For Linley to serve King Clayde was the same thing as declaring his allegiance to the Radiant Church. “Very good.” Lampson was the first to begin grinning. “Linley, this is an extremely wise decision.”

  But neither Lampson nor Guillermo knew that the reason Linley had come to this decision was because he wanted to investigate his mother’s whereabouts. Only through inserting himself into the national affairs of the Kingdom of Fenlai would he have even more opportunities to deal with Duke Patterson in the future.

  Guillermo laughed as well. “Then from this moment onwards, you can be considered a mem
ber of our Radiant Church. Oh, right. You don’t have any incantations for earth and wind spells of the seventh, eighth, or ninth ranks, or any of the forbidden spells, right?”

  “Correct.” Linley nodded. “I was only able to develop the incantation for the Soaring Technique through analyzing magical theory.”

  Guillermo said with satisfaction, “The incantation for the Soaring Technique isn’t that difficult, but it is still quite impressive that you were able to extrapolate it from the incantation of the Floating Technique. Linley, don’t worry. Once we return to the Church, we will send people to deliver all the incantations for spells of the seventh rank and higher to you.”

  37

  Writ of Nobility

  The Ernst Institute did not make high-level magical incantations of the seventh rank or higher publicly available. If you wanted to learn these higher rank spells, you would have to decide to join a faction.

  “Thank you, Lord Guillermo, Lord Lampson,” Linley said gratefully. He couldn’t help but think back to the power of the higher ranked wind spells as described in the books he had read. The higher ranked the spell, the more terrifying its offensive potential, especially in the wind-style. Its offensive spells, in fact, could be considered supreme amongst all styles. The forbidden-level ‘Dimensional Edge’ spell or the ninth-ranked spell “Void Extermination” spell were good examples of why this was the case.

  “Linley, how about this. When we return to Fenlai City, I will send someone to inform Clayde of your decision. Clayde will, in short order, confer a writ of nobility upon you and grant you a manor as well.” Guillermo smiled. Linley nodded in response.

  “Linley.” The nearby Lampson patted Linley on the shoulders. “You don’t need to worry about any official matters for now. The only thing you need to do is train hard. I very much want to see our Radiant Church have yet another Saint-level combatant in our midst within fifty years.”

  Fifty years? Linley was confident that within fifty years, he could become a Saint-level Dragonblood Warrior. But as for becoming a Saint-level Grand Magus in fifty years, the difficulty was too great. “Work hard.” Guillermo also patted Linley on his shoulders in a friendly way.

  As the resplendent carriages made their way through the village roads, the nearby trees and lakes soon receded into the distance. In front and behind the carriages, there were rows of knights. Under this resplendent escort, they reached Fenlai City by lunchtime.

  Fenlai City. Within the Debs clan’s manor. “Alice, can you forgive me?” Kalan was holding Alice’s hands, staring into her eyes. A look of helplessness was on Alice’s face. She gently nodded. What else could she do?

  “Rowling is about to arrive,” Alice said softly. “I’m about to go back.” Despite everything, as of right now Alice and Kalan still were not formally man and wife. Even if they got engaged, they still would not yet be husband and wife. Only after the formal ceremony would they become husband and wife. Before the wedding, Alice still had to observe the proprieties. Every day, she would go back to her own home.

  “Rowling?” Kalan couldn’t help but frown upon hearing this name. Rowling was Kalan’s principal wife. Because of the fame of the sculpture, ‘Awakening From the Dream’, that female figure who was the inspiration for the sculpture had also been deeply imprinted into everyone’s mind. Once Kalan formally announced his engagement, many people would be able to recognize Alice as that inspiration. In a very short period of time, the Debs family had already selected a principal wife for Kalan.

  “Kalan.” A happy voice rang out. A golden-haired girl, her hair in pleats, ran over to them happily. This girl looked extremely pure and innocent, yet still possessed the aura of nobility. Especially those large, liquid eyes; they made her seem all the more adorable.

  “Rowling. You came.” Kalan forced a smile on his face. Kalan had to admit that Rowling was a very adorable girl. Perhaps nobody would refuse to be together with Rowling. Only, in Kalan’s heart, the one he truly loved really was Alice.

  “Where’s Uncle Bernard?” Rowling swept the area with her big eyes.

  “Father went out to handle some affairs. I expect he’ll be back soon,” Kalan replied. Kalan knew exactly where his father had gone and what he was doing. Thanks to the pressure of the Dawson Conglomerate, the businesses of the Debs clan in the City of Fenlai had reached the brink of collapse. Every day, they were losing money. If they continued suffering such losses, they might be able to hold out for another year or half year, but as time went on, even their deep pockets would eventually run dry.

  What’s more, the clan couldn’t just sit there and do nothing. After all, many of the other clans in Fenlai City were eying them covetously and circling around them. Thus… his father, Bernard, had made a very dangerous decision. To engage in the illicit mining and smuggling of water jade.

  Water jade was a type of extremely valuable gemstone. Generally, it was inlaid on top of magistaffs, and was very beneficial to water-style magi. In the Kingdom of Fenlai, there was a fairly large amount of water jade deposits, and the Kingdom of Fenlai had generated an astonishing amount of wealth through water jade mining.

  Because water jade was so precious, there naturally were many people who tried to engage in water jade smuggling. But his Majesty, King Clayde, bitterly detested the smuggling of water jade. Every single merchant who had been discovered to be smuggling water jade, King Clayde had ordered to be put to death. But because the profit margin for the smuggling of water jade was simply too enormous, perhaps 500% to 600%, there were still always merchants who were willing to brave this risk.

  In the past, there was no need for the Debs clan to take such a dangerous route. But now, things were different. Since all normal business paths had been sealed off by the Dawson Conglomerate, the only choice for the Debs clan was to smuggle!

  “There shouldn’t be any problems,” Kalan said to himself. “The business partner which father has selected is the Minister of Finance for the Kingdom of Fenlai, the younger brother of his Majesty, Duke Patterson. With him as our partner, the chance of there being any problems should be fairly low.”

  Patterson was the Minister of Finance for the entire Kingdom of Fenlai. Clayde naturally had selected the person he himself trusted the most to assume the weighty responsibility of being in charge of managing the finances of the entire kingdom.

  “Uncle Bernard is back.” Rowling’s bright voice sounded out.

  Kalan raised his head. Bernard, his face covered with smiles, walked through the door. Seeing Rowling, he laughed. “Rowling, you are here? Have you had dinner yet?”

  “Not yet,” Rowling replied.

  Bernard nodded. “Tonight, stay here and have dinner with your big brother Kalan. Oh, right, there’s something I need to discuss with your big brother Kalan. Why don’t you and Alice have a nice chat? Later, I’ll have your big brother Kalan spend some time with you.” As he spoke, Bernard flicked a glance at Kalan.

  Kalan obediently followed by Bernard’s side as the two entered a private room. Closing the stone door, they lit the lamps. “Father, what is it?” Kalan asked hurriedly.

  A hint of satisfaction was on Bernard’s face. “I’ve already completed my discussions with Duke Patterson. He’s already agreed. But we will have to split the profits on this endeavor, fifty-fifty.”

  “Fifty-fifty?” Kalan stared. “Father, Duke Patterson is being too greedy. Our clan is carrying out the actual smuggling work and spending all of the upfront costs. We are even paying for the horses out of pocket. All he’s doing is arranging some safe smuggling routes for us.”

  It wasn’t that Kalan didn’t understand the importance of these smuggling routes. But for this project, the Debs clan had invested a truly massive amount of money, while Duke Patterson didn’t have to spend a single coin. All he had to do was to use some of his official powers, and he would earn a huge amount of money.

  “Fifty-fifty is within our range of acceptability.” Bernard laughed calmly. “Duke Patterson isn’t j
ust providing us with safe smuggling routes. More importantly, he’s betraying his country and betraying his elder brother. If King Clayde found out he probably wouldn’t show any mercy, even though Duke Patterson is his little brother.”

  Kalan nodded slightly. Their partner was a Duke and the Minister of Finance. With him taking on such enormous risks for the sake of arranging a safe smuggling route for their clan, it was fair for him to claim half of the profits.

  Bernard and Kalan exited the secret room and returned to the living room, where Alice and Rowling were currently engaged in conversation. “Oh, right. Kalan. I just heard from Patterson that in three more days, his Majesty will personally confer a rank of nobility upon Linley in the royal palace,” Bernard instructed, “Prepare a gift for me. In a few days, I will give it to Linley.” Kalan nodded.

  Alice, who was chatting with Rowling not too far away, couldn’t help but turn her head and glance at them. “Big brother Linley is being conferred a rank of nobility?” Alice murmured to herself.

  Within the royal palace of Fenlai City. Dozens of important ministers were lined up in orderly fashion in the court, while King Clayde was sitting up high, overlooking everyone below.

  “Everyone. Today, I have something important to announce.” The smile on Clayde’s face was radiant, and he spoke in a bright voice. The major ministers who had received the news in advance all knew what King Clayde was going to say. Clayde glanced at an attendant by his side. Instantly, the attendant shouted in a loud voice, “Linley Baruch, enter the palace!”

  His voice echoed in the palace. Shortly afterwards, Linley, dressed in black and gold magus robes, entered the palace. All of the nobles and ministers in the palace turned to look at him. “I pay my respects to his Majesty.” Linley bowed as he spoke.

  Clayde looked at Linley, and a smile appeared on his face like a flower blooming. “Linley, for you to be willing to labor on behalf of our kingdom is something I am extremely gratified about. I now confer upon you the title of Prime Court Magus, and also bequeath upon you the rank of Marquis.”