“Only by reaching the pinnacle of power can one realize one’s dreams. Despite being such an enormous organization, when the Holy Union came face to face with that Dylin, didn’t they choose to retreat?”
Linley had total confidence in himself.
“There will come a day when I, too, will reach those heights.” Staring at the raging waves, Linley felt nothing but great ambitions, as boundless as the river.
The captain of this ship had an extremely easy life. Although the rapids of the Yulan River were rather fast, it was still far safer than the sea. The captain even had time to casually chat with his sailors.
“Hey, did you guys see that black panther?” The captain said delightedly, “That’s a magical beast. You just wait and see. My own son will tame a magical beast of his own soon.”
“Captain, that’s a panther-type magical beast. Do you think your son could tame one of those?” The nearby sailors began to laugh. There wasn’t too much of a social stratification between a captain and his sailors. Both were men who made their livings on the sea.
The captain sighed emotionally. “High-class magical beasts. I really admire those people who can tame one. I remember how last year, when we went to the imperial capital, I saw the War God’s College accept new honorary disciples. Wow. You have no idea how many experts were there. Some were mounted on enormous magical beasts, while others were seated on flying magical beasts… so many experts all rushed there, struggling to be the one to qualify for that sole slot. Those battles and those movements between the experts… all I saw were blurs. They were too fast, too fast.”
The sailors all began to make wild boasts about the experts they had seen before.
In the O’Brien Empire, every single child wanted to become a powerful combatant, with being recruited by the War God’s College being their ultimate goal.
Linley was seated meditatively on the wooden deck, allowing the wind to blow against him. His adamantine heavy sword was on his legs. His eyes closed, Linley was quietly attuning with the boundless vastness of the Yulan River’s waters.
“The power to impose is the power of the heavens, the power of the earth, the power of the boundless oceans.” Linley’s spirit had become one with the wind. He almost felt as though he could sense the vast riverbed of the Yulan River as well as the boundless land surrounding it. Naturally, he could also sense that rushing river as well.
The ship continued to sail forward. They did stop occasionally in their journey so as to allow everyone to have some food, but Linley remained in the meditative posture on the deck, not eating at all.
In the blink of an eye, six days had passed. “Sis, is big bro Ley gonna be ok? He hasn’t eaten or drank anything.” Keane pointed at Linley, who was still in the meditative posture, as he worriedly asked Jenne.
Jenne was somewhat worried as well, but she shook her head helplessly. “I don’t know either. Bebe won’t let us get near him though.”
“Don’t worry.” The captain of the ship walked over, chuckling. “Those high-level experts aren’t like us ordinary folks. To them, even traversing a precipice ten thousand fathoms deep is of no issue. Not even a million-man army can stop them. I’ve heard of people who, in the course of their meditative training, neither ate nor drank for months. At their level, not eating or drinking for months is actually quite normal.” Although the captain used the word ‘normal’ when he spoke, a trace of envy was in his eyes.
Hearing the ship captain’s words, Jenne and Keane began to feel even more astonished.
“Can it be?” Suddenly, a murmur could be heard. Jenne, Keane, and the captain all turned their heads towards Linley, and when they did, they were shocked. Holding the adamantine heavy sword in his hands, Linley jumped directly into the river.
“Big brother Ley!” Jenne shouted in alarm. The three of them immediately ran over to the deck. Running to those locked steel chains, they stared down. To their amazement, they saw that Linley was currently standing on top of the water, the adamantine heavy sword in his hands. He floated up and down with the waves, but didn’t sink down at all. This sight stunned them all and left them gaping in shock. Mid-air flight was something only a person at the Saint level could do.
“Earth… fire… water… wind…” Linley murmured in a quiet voice, and then suddenly, he thrust his adamantine black sword towards the sky. As the adamantine heavy sword shot up, it seemed as though a hole had been pierced in the sky, as a dreadful, screeching howl could be heard from the air.
At the same time, all the water surrounding Linley suddenly erupted skywards like a geyser.
“Haha.” Linley laughed loudly and happily, and then his body could be seen constantly moving and spinning about amidst the waves. The river water seemed to follow Linley’s movements, as the heavy sword constantly shrieked and howled with each stroke.
All the river water in an area of a hundred meters around Linley had gone wild.
Sometimes, the water would all rise tens of meters into the sky, while at other times, they would form a giant whirlpool. Other times, the water would shoot out like sharp arrows in every direction, while at other times, it would just circle around Linley…
“Clang.” A crisp, clear sound rang out from the heavy sword entering its sheath.
Those wild waters suddenly calmed down. In the blink of an eye, the Yulan River once more returned to its ordinary state, with just a few lingering effects. Striding on the waves, Linley didn’t sink down at all.
But this time, Linley wasn’t using his wind magic to counteract the effects of the weight of the adamantine heavy sword.
Rather, he was using his new insights on how to ‘impose’.
“This ‘imposing’ force was the force of the heavens. It is also the force of the enormous earth and the boundless seas.” A hint of a smile was on Linley’s face. With a gentle leap, Linley vaulted back onto the deck of the ship.
This entire time, Linley had been focusing on understanding ‘impose’ through his affinity to earth and wind. But over the course of these six days of meditation, Linley was able to sense the movements of the waves, and he also remembered the blazing passion of the fire elemental essences in fire magic.
Dense, graceful, pliable, and passionate.
When the aspects of these four elements were merged with each other in a sword stroke, they could make the universe move. This was what ‘impose’ truly meant. In the past, Linley’s understanding of ‘impose’ was nothing more than the most rudimentary of understandings.
“Big brother Ley, just now, what were you— what was…?” Keane was very excited, but he didn’t know what to say.
Jenne was looking at Linley with awe as well.
What Linley had just done had truly stunned them. Even the captain, who was well-travelled and worldly, had never seen such an awesome spectacle.
“Just training,” Linley said with a calm smile.
Although in the records of his clan, the highest level of using heavy weapons was this third level of ‘impose’, Linley suddenly had a certain feeling.
‘Impose’ was not the end of the road.
There was something even greater than that.
After reaching the ‘impose’ level, and in particular, after his soul could become attuned to nature, Linley always had this feeling… that there were even more profound truths awaiting him. Linley could dimly sense them, but he had no way of actually comprehending them.
“Battle-qi and brute strength are only the most basic of building blocks. In order for one’s attacks to become more powerful, having a deep grasp of these profound principles is extremely important.”
You might possess the power to lift something that weighed a million pounds, but if your movements were too stupid and clumsy, you might only be able to unleash 10% of your total power.
After training hard, you might be able to unleash 30%.
Experts would be able to unleash 70%.
But what Linley wanted to do was to unleash 100%. And, borro
wing from the ‘imposing force’ of the universe itself, strike blows that were more powerful than he himself was physically capable of.
“Jenne, Keane, how far are we from the shore?” Linley asked.
“We are another day off,” the nearby captain replied.
Linley nodded, then instructed, “How about this. Let’s not get off too close to Cerre City. Let’s get off at the harbor one stop removed from Cerre City.”
“Yes, Lord Ley.” Although the ship captain didn’t understand the reason, he still agreed.
Linley’s choice to travel by river had thrown all of Madame Wade’s forces into a state of confusion. That red-haired man, Kerde, in the end had managed to learn that Linley's group had travelled by ship and were advancing through the Yulan River.
No matter how powerful Apothecary Holmer was, he couldn’t just leap past a river that was hundreds of meters across at its narrowest and get onto the opponent’s boat, right? Even if he was able to get on the boat, they would no doubt be highly suspicious of his intentions.
Thus, they could only lie in ambush at the port, as if they were waiting for a hare to fall into their snare.
However…
Based on their calculations, the ship should’ve already arrived by now.
“What’s going on? Shouldn’t they have arrived yesterday?” Apothecary Holmer was resting in a commoner’s house in a town that was located quite near the port.
“Master Holmer, please wait a bit longer.” Madame Wade’s subordinates were extremely frantic as well.
Suddenly, the door to the residence swung open, and one of Madame Wade’s subordinates rushed in. He angrily said, “Master Holmer, they didn’t stop at this harbor; they stopped at the previous one. They have already reached a small city named Redsand which is quite near Cerre City. Most likely, they will reach the prefectural city of Cerre by tonight.
“They are arriving tonight?” Apothecary Holmer was startled.
“Quick, we need to head out immediately,” Apothecary Holmer immediately ordered, and the entire group frantically hurried back in the direction of the prefectural city of Cerre.
106
Poison Gas Fluttering in the Wind
The City of Redsand was a small one, and there were only a few tens of thousands of people within it.
When Linley’s group left the boat, they headed directly towards the prefectural city of Cerre. On the way there, they stopped by Redsand City, preparing to have a quick lunch.
In a private room in the second floor of a hotel, Jenne and Keane both had excited smiles on their faces.
“Haha, by tonight, we will reach Cerre City. By then, we’ll have much fewer troubles.” Keane chortled.
Jenne nodded as well. “Once we reach Cerre City, our aunt probably wouldn’t openly move against us, right?”
“Jenne, Keane, things won’t be as easy as you think.” Linley laughed calmly. “Once we reach Cerre City, it will actually be even more dangerous. Your so-called aunt isn’t as timid and fearful as you seem to think she is.”
When women decided to be venomous, they could be extremely terrifying.
During his three years in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, Linley had encountered all sorts of cruel, vicious people. Jenne’s aunt was totally capable of having Keane killed within Cerre City, and in a manner which didn’t implicate her at all.
“Really?” Keane was somewhat afraid now. After all, he was a fourteen-year-old boy.
Linley laughed. “But don’t worry too much. There’s no need for us to rush to Cerre City this afternoon. Let’s have a good rest in Redsand City first. Tomorrow morning, we will head out.”
“Tomorrow morning?” Jenne and Keane both looked at Linley.
“If my predictions are correct, the people your aunt undoubtedly stationed at the river have already discovered that we disembarked one harbor early. They should be able to calculate that we would arrive at Cerre City at around nightfall. Thus… there is an 80% to 90% chance that they will be waiting for us there, tonight.”
Linley could easily deduce such simple stratagems.
As long as one could think things through from another’s perspective, one could easily lead them by the nose.
“Let’s rest up and recover our strength. Tomorrow morning, we head out.” Linley laughed loudly. “There’s no rush right now. Let’s have a good lunch.”
Jenne and Keane revealed hints of smiles on their faces.
Indeed, as Linley had predicted, Apothecary Holmer and his group had headed directly for Cerre City. Madame Wade’s people in Cerre City had received this information as well.
On the walls of Cerre City.
Madame Wade was leaning on a parapet, staring outside the city. Behind her were her two brothers as well as Apothecary Holmer. As for the city guards, they had all scattered at her command.
“Mr. Holmer, I’ll have to trouble you to wait here tonight for a while.” Madame Wade turned her head towards Holmer, smiling.
Apothecary Holmer knew his own limits.
He personally wasn’t that powerful. The most powerful weapon available to him was his poisons. Naturally, he wouldn’t want to offend this malicious person in front of him, who was the true power in Cerre City.
“Madame Wade, don’t worry. Those siblings definitely will not live to arrive at Cerre City.”
Holmer was very confident. “Even if they have an escort who is of the ninth rank, hmph. As long as he hasn’t reached the Saint level, I am confident in my ability to deal with him. But of course… he can’t already know who I am.”
If a combatant of the ninth rank were to recognize him and activate his battle-qi, the battle-qi would be sufficient to easily repel the poison.
“Mr. Holmer, all these years, you’ve resided here in Cerre City. You aren’t a person who likes to show yourself either. How many people could have possibly seen you? What’s more, I’ve heard that you, Mr. Holmer, possess the ability to change your appearance?” Madame Wade laughed as she looked at Holmer.
Holmer laughed happily. Stroking his beard, he said, “Haha. Madame Wade, change my appearance? You praise me too highly. All I do is to use some medicinal concoctions to change the color of my skin and hair. And then a little makeup… even people who know me, as long as they don’t carefully inspect me, won’t be able to recognize me.”
Madame Wade smiled as she nodded. “Then I leave everything in your hands, Mr. Holmer. Tonight, I will stay in the nearby hotel and await your good news.”
Holmer laughed confidently.
But as time went on, Madame Wade, who was in that hotel nearest to the city walls, was beginning to grow confused. Because quite soon, the city gates would close for the night.
The rule of Cerre City was that at ten o’clock sharp, the gates would be shut.
But Jenne and Keane’s group still had yet to arrive. Based on Madame Wade’s information, Jenne’s group had arrived at Redsand City by lunchtime. Even if they travelled slowly, they should’ve reached here by now.
Ten o’clock arrived.
Those enormous city gates began to slowly close as a large number of guards pushed at them. Apothecary Holmer, who had meticulously prepared for this battle, descended from the walls with a belly full of anger. Madame Wade also walked out of the hotel.
“Madame Wade, what is this?” Holmer was truly upset now.
After receiving the news, he had run all the way back from the harbor to the city. The bumpy, long ride was quite miserable for this three-hundred-year-old Holmer.
And then, he had stood up there on the walls for half the night, with the icy wind blowing at him the entire time.
And now, the city gates were shutting. But no one came.
“Who knows what is going on with that group of people. I’m afraid they might have taken a rest at Redsand City. Mr. Holmer, why don’t you rest here at the hotel tonight? Let’s see what tomorrow brings.” Madame Wade was not in a good mood either.
“That’s the only opt
ion we have right now.” Holmer was extremely disgruntled.
The next dawn, just as the city gates opened, Holmer began to quietly wait for them to arrive. By nine o’clock in the morning, Holmer was truly furious.
Holmer rushed down from the city walls and charged directly into the second floor of the hotel.
“Madame Wade. If they aren’t coming to us, I’ll go to them,” Holmer said directly. “Give me some men, at least one of whom recognizes those two siblings.”
Madame Wade approved of this idea. “Alright. Then I’ll have to trouble you, Mr. Holmer, to make this trip.”
“This time, I really have to give these people a taste of my power,” Holmer said quietly, his eyes filled with a murderous look.
After purchasing a carriage in Redsand City, Jenne and Keane entered the carriage, with the old servant, Lambert, being the driver. As for Linley, he rode on the back of his Blackcloud Panther, Haeru.
Haeru was more than two meters tall and very broad-backed. His fur was very smooth and soft as well.
Riding on the Blackcloud Panther, Linley couldn’t feel any bumps in the road at all. The ride was far more comfortable than that of a horse or a carriage. What’s more, the Blackcloud Panther ran up mountains as easily as it ran on prairies.
“Big brother Ley. What time is it now?” Keane poked his head out of the carriage and asked Linley.
Linley glanced at him. “Don’t be impatient. It’s only ten o’clock. We most likely we’ll arrive at Cerre City by eleven o’clock.”
The Blackcloud Panther that Linley was riding on was very awe-inspiring. Everyone on the road who saw Linley all moved aside early on to allow Linley the right of way.
“Giddyup, giddyup!”
From far away, the sound of hoof steps could be heard. Soon, three mounted knights could be seen in the distance, but as soon as they saw Linley, all three were terrified and came to a halt.
Dragonblood: Book 2 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 83