Dragonblood: Book 2 of the Coiling Dragon Saga

by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi

  “Move,” the Special Executor shouted in a loud voice.

  Many of the buildings nearby had toppled, and the battle aroused the interest of a large number of powerful combatants, who were watching from afar. But seeing such a large scale, intense battle, they didn’t dare draw too near.

  The aura of that powerful light-style battle-qi alone filled them with dread.

  “Swish!” The six Special Executors moved at the same time, transforming into six streaks of white light that flew towards Linley. Surrounded on all sides by the walls of light, Linley had nowhere to run.

  Linley ground his teeth.

  “Raaaaaargh!” Linley let out an angry howl, then pulled out the adamantine heavy sword from his back, wildly chopping it towards the six Special Executors.

  “BOOM.” Linley’s adamantine heavy sword collided viciously against a Special Executor, who didn’t even attempt to dodge. That Special Executor suddenly felt a terrifying force passing towards him.

  “Hrm?” The violet-robed Special Executor was knocked flying backwards by the blow, but under the protection of that light-style battle-qi, he still didn’t suffer any major injuries.

  Only a heavy sword such as this could allow the astonishing power of a Dragonblood Warrior to be put on full display.

  “Slash!”

  The other five swords continued to chop at Linley’s body. Linley used his claws, his tail, and the spikes on his body to wildly attack, and the five Special Executors once more flew backwards.

  Linley fell to one knee.

  The majority of the scales on Linley’s body were shattered now, and that wound on his chest had suffered yet another slash. The wound was so deep that Linley’s bones could be seen, and it was rapidly oozing blood.

  However, the Dragonblood Warrior’s powerful bloodline gave Linley an extremely fast recovery.

  Linley’s muscles were constantly rippling and stretching out, try to once more mend and stitch themselves back together. This wound, however, was simply too severe. Even Linley’s bloodline only resulted in the wound growing stronger. The loss of a large amount of blood, however, was causing Linley to grow dizzy.

  “The next one will be the one that kills you,” one of the six Special Executors said arrogantly.

  Filled with fear, Bebe crouched next to Linley. Both Linley and Bebe felt a sense of despair.

  “Hmph.” Linley angrily shook his head, forcing himself to try and focus a little.

  But he had lost too much blood, and even Linley’s vision had grown slightly blurred. But right at this moment, a magical, illusory ray of light shone forth from the Coiling Dragon ring, transforming into an old man with white robes, a white beard, and white hair.

  “Grandpa Doehring.” Linley was startled. He didn’t understand why Doehring Cowart had appeared all of a sudden.

  Doehring Cowart looked exactly the way he did when Linley had first encountered him. A little smile on his face, Doehring Cowart gently rubbed Linley on the head.

  “Linley, in the future, you’ll have to rely on yourself,” Doehring Cowart said, a fond smile on his face.

  “Grandpa Doehring, what are you…” Linley was stunned.

  Doehring Cowart’s spirit suddenly rose into the air. Hovering a meter above the ground, he spread his hands wide. A terrifyingly powerful burst of spiritual energy suddenly erupted forth from Doehring Cowart.

  Right now, Doehring Cowart felt extremely calm and at peace.

  “In the past, when I lived in the Pouant Empire, my life was a life of training and slaughter. In the Pouant Empire, I was extremely arrogant and a difficult person to get close to. I had no children and no grandchildren. But after having spent five thousand years in the Coiling Dragon ring, my temperament has changed. And then, I met you, Linley.”

  Hovering in the air, Doehring Cowart was still gazing at Linley.

  “Grandpa Doehring, what are you going to do?” Linley had a terrible premonition…

  “I’ve watched you grow up and mature, one step at a time. In my heart, I felt very proud of your successes. I’ve even come to consider you as my own grandson.” The amount of spiritual energy Doehring Cowart was emitting grew even greater.

  The amount of spiritual energy was so high that aside from powerful combatants such as Linley and the six Special Executors, even those warriors watching the battle from far away could sense it. All of the six Special Executors were shocked and alarmed.

  “Linley, don’t be sad. In truth, trapped as I am within this Coiling Dragon ring, I don’t have much of a future. Let this, then, be one final demonstration of my power.” Doehring Cowart’s smile became all the more brilliant.

  But Linley was now shaking with terror.

  “What is going on?!” The six Special Executors were beginning to be genuinely frightened. That vortex of spiritual energy was simply too powerful, so powerful that they too were beginning to quake with fear.

  The power unleashed when a peak-stage Saint-level combatant was igniting the spiritual energy present in his very soul was incomparably more powerful than the power which even a peak-stage Saint-level combatant normally possessed.

  “WHOOSH!” All of the earth elemental essence around the entire City of Hess suddenly flowed towards Doehring Cowart at high speed. Bound by Doehring Cowart’s terrifyingly powerful spiritual energy, all of the earth elemental essence began to coalesce.

  No mageforce. This was a spell that relied solely on spiritual energy to control the earth elemental essence!

  Under normal conditions, this would render the attack power of the earth spell to be very weak. But the spell that Doehring Cowart was now casting was so powerful that one could only shiver in terror.

  “HEAVENLY METEOR’S DESCENT!”

  Doehring Cowart’s spirit had begun to grow blurry, but his voice remained as cold and calm as that of a celestial spirit. Six enormous earth-colored meteors fell forth from the sky, smashing towards those six Special Executors.

  “SWOOSH!” Those six gigantic meteors formed purely from earth elemental essence, each the size of a house, smashed towards the six men at such a high speed that it seemed as though they were tearing through space itself.

  Those six Special Executors fled in terror, but those six meteors only chased after them.

  “Linley.” Doehring Cowart looked at Linley. “Goodbye.”

  Linley looked up at Grandpa Doehring, with his white beard, white hair, and white robe.

  “Remember this. Live well.” Doehring Cowart’s face suddenly blossomed into his trademark smile… and then his now-translucent spirit disappeared, like smoke being blown away by the wind.

  Linley opened his mouth, but felt as though no words could come from his throat. His tears began to uncontrollably roll down his face.

  “Ah… Ah!!!” As though he were mute and incapable of speech, Linley howled to the heavens, and his tears came pouring down.

  87

  Crazed

  BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

  The six giant meteors smashed down viciously towards those six Special Executors. The six Special Executors all used their hands to rip the ground apart beneath them and try to tunnel downwards.

  Those six giant meteors struck the ground, causing the earth to shake furiously with colossal booms, as though giant waves of thunder were suddenly emanating from the ground.

  “BOOOOM!”

  Six massive, deep gouges appeared in the earth, each of them around ten meters wide. The tremendous shockwaves spread out in all directions, and the earth itself began to buckle and roil about, toppling houses and snapping trees in every which way.

  Within a circular area with a circumference of several hundred meters, everything was turned to dust.

  This terrifying explosive boom caused the entirety of Hess City to take notice. Whether it was the Ascetics who had just stepped out of the gates of Hess City, or the men of the Dawson Conglomerate, or other powerful experts, everyone felt the vibrations coming from this place.

&n
bsp; The roiling waves of force reached Linley as well, but Linley only stood there like an idiot, not moving at all. He allowed the waves of force to buffet him as they pleased.

  Linley just stood there like an idiot, his tears flowing down without stopping.

  “Ah… ah… ah…” Linley seemed to have forgotten how to speak, and his entire body trembled with panic and heartbreak as he roared into the sky.

  Linley fell to his knees.

  A sense of utter heartbreak, of his heart being ripped to shreds, consumed Linley.

  Linley’s mind suddenly began to swim with images of him and Doehring Cowart together.

  That first time he had seen that ray of light transform into an old man with white robes, white beard, and white hair. The child-Linley had shouted in astonishment, “You… who are you?”

  “Hello, kiddo. My name is Doehring Cowart. I am a Saint-level Grand Magus of the Pouant Empire!” That was the first time Doehring Cowart had interacted with Linley.

  “Grandpa Doehring, why aren’t you talking? How is the strength of my affinity for earth elemental essence?” The first time Linley had been tested for his talent as a magus.

  “Good. Extremely good. Your affinity for earth elemental essence is extremely high.” Doehring Cowart’s face was wreathed in smiles. “Based on what I know, only perhaps one in a thousand magi would have as strong an affinity for earth elemental essence as you. Truly.” Doehring Cowart’s praise had caused child-Linley to be unspeakably excited.

  A Saint-level Grand Magus of the era of the Pouant Empire. A young child. And so, under the tutelage of this Grand Magus of the Pouant Empire, the child embarked on the road to being a magus.

  Stone sculpting using the Straight Chisel School method. Training within the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. Under the tutelage of the experienced Doehring Cowart, Linley had progressed and matured at an astonishing rate.

  But when Linley had become the center of attention for everyone…

  … no one knew that behind him stood the spirit of a Saint-level Grand Magus of the era of the Pouant Empire.

  “Linley. In the future, you’ll have to rely on yourself.” Grandpa Doehring had fondly rubbed Linley’s head one last time.

  After casting that world-shaking forbidden spell, ‘Heavenly Meteor’s Descent’, Grandpa Doehring had faded away.

  “Linley. Goodbye.”

  “Remember this. Live well.”

  Linley’s mind swam with images of the time he had spent with his Grandpa Doehring. That kindly, forbearing old man who had taught Linley so much, had long since become someone whom Linley couldn’t bear to be apart from.

  “No…no…”

  Linley shook his head repeatedly.

  He wasn’t willing to believe it. Grandpa Doehring had truly passed away. What’s more, his very soul had dissipated upon his death.

  “Impossible. Grandpa Doehring, come out. Come out.” Linley stared at the Coiling Dragon ring, howling nonstop at first, before his words took on begging tones as his tears splashed against his ice-cold scales.

  Blood continued to leak out of Linley’s body, but Linley didn’t feel anything at all.

  “Grandpa Doehring.”

  Linley so dearly hoped that once more, that ray of white light would shine forth from the Coiling Dragon ring and transform into the white bearded, white-haired, white-robed Grandpa Doehring. Linley simply couldn’t believe that Grandpa Doehring had died, just like that. Never to be by his side again.

  He had been together with Grandpa Doehring since he was a child.

  Since then, Linley had never been separated from Grandpa Doehring. Never!

  In the depths of his heart, Linley had truly become accustomed long ago to Grandpa Doehring’s presence. Even when Linley had been imprisoned within the Radiant Temple, he hadn’t felt as alone or as helpless as he did now.

  His heart had always been steady… because behind him, he had the support of Grandpa Doehring.

  But now…

  Grandpa Doehring had left forever. Forever!

  “Why… Why?” Linley’s voice was shaking. “Heaven, first my mother died, then my father died. Why? Why did you have to take even Grandpa Doehring away as well?”

  “WHY!!!” Linley raised his head, howling towards the heavens.

  His voice echoed in the sky.

  “Ah… ah…” Linley fell to his knees, powerless. He began to sob madly, but no matter how hard Linley cried, that kindly old man would never appear again.

  He had died and left forever.

  “Grandpa Doehring.”

  Linley felt more feeble and fragile than he ever had before. It was a spiritual fragility. No father. No mother. And now, even Grandpa Doehring, who had always been by his side, had left.

  The only one left by Linley’s side was Bebe, who had never even known about Grandpa Doehring’s existence.

  “Boss. Hey, Linley, Boss!” Bebe nudged Linley, somewhat frightened.

  Linley turned his head to look at Bebe.

  “Bebe.” Linley suddenly pulled Bebe into his arms.

  “Boss, just now, you were calling out for a ‘Grandpa Doehring’. Who is Grandpa Doehring? Just now, I sensed a terrifying spiritual energy burst. What was that?” Bebe was totally baffled.

  Linley’s heart was shot through with agony once more upon hearing Grandpa Doehring’s name.

  He lowered his head to look at the Coiling Dragon ring on his finger. But… Grandpa Doehring would never come out from it again.

  “Rustle.” Suddenly, a series of extremely light sounds could be heard. Linley turned his head to look.

  Within the giant craters created by the meteors, a violet-robed figure was struggling to crawl out. Not only him. The other five men were also slowly struggling to crawl out as well.

  Heavenly Meteor’s Descent – An earth-style forbidden spell.

  If a Saint-level Grand Magus were to use this spell, the six of them would have been dead without a doubt. But Doehring Cowart was a Saint-level Grand Magus who didn’t have a single shred of mageforce.

  Based on the laws of magic, mageforce was the general commanding the army of soldiers known as elemental essence. Through mageforce, spiritual energy was able to command these soldiers to form powerful magical spells.

  What Doehring Cowart had done was to consume the spiritual energy within his very soul, using this powerful burst of spiritual energy to directly control the elemental essences and execute the forbidden spell, Heavenly Meteor’s Descent.

  But because he had no mageforce, even though he consumed all of his own spiritual energy, the power of Doehring Cowart’s spell was only 10% - 20% of a normal Heavenly Meteor’s Descent. Despite that though, even 10% to 20% of the power of a forbidden spell had smashed those six Special Executors to the brink of death.

  Watching those six violet-robed figures crawl out, Linley’s heart was suddenly filled with unbridled, boundless, unquenchable rage.

  “Ah!!!!!” With a scream, Linley charged like a bolt of lightning towards one of the violet-robed figures. The Special Executor, seeing Linley charge towards him, was so terrified that his eyes turned as round as the moon.

  “Ah!!!!!” Exerting force with his arms, Linley ripped the Special Executor into two halves with his bare hands.

  “Die.” Linley physically ripped off the head of another Special Executor.

  “Haaaargh!” Linley’s sharp claws pierced into the chest of a third Special Executor, ripping his heart out and crushing it to pieces with his claws.

  “Go die!” Linley latched onto the throat of the fourth Special Executor with his teeth, ripping his throat out.

  He wanted to eat their flesh and drink their blood!

  “Ah!!!!” Linley’s figure suddenly appeared next to the fifth Special Executor. The heavily wounded Special Executor, unable to defend himself, could only watch in terror as Linley ripped him apart into two pieces by his legs.

  As for the sixth Special Executor…

  “You… you�
��” The heavily wounded sixth Special Executor, upon seeing the terrifying scene before him, saw Linley charge towards him like a demon from the Infernal Realm. He was so terrified that his body began to shake, and then he collapsed dead from fear.

  Although the sixth Special Executor was already dead, Linley still smashed a vicious punch at his head, exploding it.

  Watching this, Bebe was somewhat frightened.

  The warriors watching from far away had been scared stupid as well. They had never imagined that a human could be so vicious, so brutal, so terrifying. This was especially true because of how Linley currently appeared. His body was covered in broken scales, and blood dyed his entire form red. Even his dark gold eyes were dimly flashing red.

  “Boss, you… you… what’s wrong?” Bebe was worried.

  After Linley had brutally killed all six Special Executors, he suddenly sat down on the ground, his energy gone. He sat there, staring into nothing, with no clue as to what he was thinking.

  “Boss.” Bebe pushed Linley frantically.

  Linley suddenly raised his head, but he was unable to restrain his tears from coming out again. He then lowered his head, burying it against his legs and beginning to cry once more.

  Those six giant meteors had turned the entire area around for hundreds of meters into rubble. Those six violet-robed men had all been killed by that demonic freak.

  But then, that demonic freak suddenly put his head against his legs and began to sob.

  There were nearly ten thousand onlookers now, watching from hundreds of meters away. None of these people could understand what they were seeing.

  “That demon is crying?”

  All of them were astonished.

  “That demon seems… seems really sad,” a young person said uncertainly to a nearby friend of his. That friend started, then nodded slowly.

  None of the onlookers moved any closer. They had seen the terrifying scene of just moments ago. Even the combatants of the eighth rank knew exactly how much stronger this person in front of them was.