Gods of Yulan: Book 4 of the Coiling Dragon Saga

by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi

  “Bowditch has come as well,” someone said, as a skinny man with long silver hair flew down from the skies. Bowditch was yet another person who, in the past, had shaken the Yulan continent with his fame. But that was three thousand years ago. These days, Bowditch lived a quiet life of training in the Arctic Icecaps.

  “Bowditch, you came as well!” one of the ten people in the empty space, a grim-looking man with white-flecked hair, said.

  “Olivier. If you can come, why can’t I?” Bowditch’s voice was very cold as well. His gaze was focused on Olivier. Currently, Olivier only had a single sword on his back, a translucent sword that emanated extreme cold.

  During his bitter training in the Arctic Icecaps, Olivier had fought several times against Bowditch as well. The first time they had fought, Olivier had lost. But eight years later, when they fought again, the two were on par.

  One expert after another began to arrive. “Kefande, you arrived very late, this time.” Seeing the experts continue to arrive, many people immediately laughed and greeted them.

  These experts, having trained in seclusion for thousands of years, almost all knew each other. They all belonged to the War God’s side. By nightfall, twenty of them had arrived. According to their plans, there should be a total of twenty two. Ten from the War God’s College. Twelve other experts.

  “Our Senior Apprentice has arrived,” someone suddenly said. A thin man with short jade hair whose back was ramrod-straight and who had a sharp aura walked out. His blue robes fluttered in the wind. He was the Senior Apprentice of the War God’s College… Fain!

  Five Prime Saints. Fain was one of them! As Fain arrived, a group of people immediately went to welcome him. All of them greeted him very familiarly. The only one Fain hadn’t met before was Olivier.

  “Hrm? Where’s Linley?” Fain spoke. “He isn’t here yet?” Twenty-one of them had arrived. The only one missing was Linley!

  6

  Everyone Assembled

  By the time the other experts had already assembled at War God Mountain, Linley hadn’t actually had the chance to head out yet!

  Linley had been secluded in meditation for over a year now. The magicite mine had been emptied long ago, and right now, there was a massive, multi-kilometer underground castle built here. The master of the castle was Linley. Every day, many people who worshipped Linley would come to the outside of this castle and stare at it in awe.

  Beneath the Castle, within the pocket dimension room.

  Outside the pocket dimension room was the terrifying anarchic space. Cracks in reality could be seen everywhere, while Linley still sat there in the meditative position, quietly training.

  “Thrum!” “Thrum!”

  Each beat of the Throbbing Pulse of the Earth thrummed in Linley’s heart, and also echoed like thunder in his mind. Linley’s understanding of the profound truths of the Throbbing Pulse of the Earth had deepened, step by step, from within the boundless sea that was the Laws.

  The 256 waves of the Throbbing Pulse of the World was currently in the process of transforming into the 128 waves.

  “Success.” After an unknown period of time, Linley opened his eyes, revealing a hint of joy. “After pondering for so long, I’ve finally managed to fuse the 256 waves into 128 waves. The power has multiplied several times over.”

  Although the number of waves had decreased, the power had increased dramatically.

  The power of the current 128 waves, compared to the original 128 layered waves, was untold times more powerful. After all, the current 128 waves embodied all of the profundities of the Throbbing Pulse of the World. But if one was able to fuse them all into a single wave that contained all of the profundities of the Throbbing Pulse of the World, then the power of that attack…

  That would be the Deity level.

  “Continue.” Without hesitating at all, Linley once more sank himself into his reverie, constantly mentally testing his ideas again and again. This time, however, the difficulty level was clearly much higher. He had to spend over ten times the effort to fuse two waves into one.

  Within the main hall of this underground castle, there was a large group of people. Wharton, his wife, Barker and his brothers, Taylor, Sasha, and a group of children. These children also included the children of the Barker brothers. Everyone here was waiting for Linley.

  “Why hasn’t Father come out yet?” Taylor said, somewhat frantic. Taylor was 1.7 meters tall now. He had grown very rapidly during this year.

  Wharton laughed calmly. “Taylor, don’t be in a rush. Your Uncle Bebe has already gone to go call him. He should arrive soon.” Today was March 2nd. The War God had ordered him to arrive at War God Mountain before March 3rd. Linley had to head there tonight at the very latest.

  “Barker, you are going to go as well?” Zassler, seated nearby, suddenly spoke out.

  Barker nodded slightly.

  Zassler’s eyes flashed with a green light. “Honestly speaking, I want to investigate this legendary Necropolis of the Gods. Unfortunately… I’ve only just recently reached the Saint level. My self-protective ability is far too limited.” Zassler was somewhat unwilling to accept this. All of these experts desired to reach the peak of training, after all.

  Nobody feared a bit of danger. If they didn’t all have iron will, how could they have possibly trained to the Saint level?

  “He’s coming.” Zassler was the first to notice Linley’s arrival.

  Everyone looked towards the side door of the hall, because they knew that Linley would be coming from the hidden training room, which was linked by the side door. Indeed… soon afterwards, Linley, with Bebe on his shoulders, walked out while holding Delia’s hand, entering the main hall.

  Linley was shocked upon seeing the living room. Why were there so many people here?

  “Boss, have a good meeting with the others. It’ll be ten years before you see them again,” Bebe’s voice rang out.

  “Ten years?” Linley felt incomparably shocked. He wondered to himself, “Isn’t it just a trip into the Necropolis of the Gods? Entering a necropolis, then coming out… a month would be too long. Why would it need ten years?” Linley looked at Bebe, puzzled. Everyone in the main hall looked at Bebe in confusion as well.

  Bebe said with absolute certainty, “The Necropolis of the Gods opens once every thousand years. Each time, one must remain inside for ten years, and only after ten years can one leave… but of course, if you die inside it, there’s nothing for it.”

  “Bebe must have received this information from that one in the Forest of Darkness. It can’t be false.” Linley understood this, but he still couldn’t help but frown.

  Suddenly, Linley felt pressure against his hand. Linley turned his head and looked at the nearby Delia, and saw the look of longing in her eyes.

  “Sorry,” Linley said softly.

  This trip to the Necropolis of the Gods symbolized that he would be apart from Delia for ten years.

  “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” Delia consoled Linley. “We’ll have a long time together in the future. But Linley, you have to be careful.” Delia didn’t try to stop Linley from going to the Necropolis of the Gods, because Delia knew…

  In Linley’s heart, he had the goal of reaching the peak of training.

  A place like the Necropolis of the Gods was a place where countless experts desired to enter but didn’t have the chance to. How could Linley give up such a precious opportunity?

  “Thank you.” Linley’s heart swelled with gratitude.

  “Spend some time with the kids,” Delia said gently. Linley turned his head and looked at his two children; Taylor and Sasha. “You are so big now. By the time I come out of the Necropolis of the Gods, you’ll be in your twenties.”

  Knowing that he would be leaving for a long time, Linley spent a good amount of time with his son and daughter.

  When dusk arrived.

  “Taylor, Sasha. Go back.” Linley patted his two kids on their heads.

  “Okay.”
Taylor and Sasha both nodded obediently.

  The nearby Barker looked at Linley. “Lord Linley, please help me on that matter.” Hearing this, Linley nodded. Barker wanted to go to the Necropolis of the Gods as well, but the number of names was limited. Linley had to go ask before knowing what the answer was.

  “Delia.” Linley exchanged gazes with Delia.

  “Be careful,” Delia said softly.

  Linley nodded slightly. The two kissed gently, and then Linley and Bebe flew away, leaving the castle and heading towards War God Mountain in the west.

  The wild wind howled as Linley and Bebe transformed into two rays of brilliant light, flying past the horizon.

  “Bebe, why must one stay ten years in the Necropolis of the Gods?” While flying, Linley asked Bebe the question.

  Bebe shook his head. “I don’t know either. This is based on what Grandpa Beirut told me. Oh, right… Barker wants to go to the Necropolis of the Gods? If you aren’t able to get it for him, I can go ask Grandpa Beirut. Grandpa Beirut would definitely agree.”

  “No rush. Let’s ask the War God first,” Linley said.

  Linley suddenly had a suspicion. Bebe was going to the Necropolis of the Gods along with him, and Lord Beirut had agreed to it? Linley couldn’t help but ask, “Bebe, isn’t your Grandpa Beirut worried about your safety? Why is he letting you go to the Necropolis of the Gods?”

  Bebe pursed his lips. “Grandpa Beirut said that in the past, he himself had experienced countless dangers before reaching his current accomplishments. He wants me to be trained and tempered. As for the Necropolis of the Gods, as long as my luck isn’t absolutely horrendous, staying alive should be fine.”

  Linley nodded.

  After all, weren’t Desri and Fain doing perfectly fine?

  “Here we are.” Linley could already see the distant War God Mountain. The two immediately flew down.

  “So many experts.” Linley immediately noticed those twenty-one experts. If he didn’t transform, many of those below were on par with Linley, and even the weakest of them wasn’t much weaker than him. “But in my Dragonformed state, only Fain can do battle with me.”

  In terms of understanding, he was still inferior to Fain.

  But Dragonblood Warriors simply had too much of an innate advantage. There was nothing that could be done about it. Or for example, Bebe… as a Godeater Rat, his innate advantages were even greater than that of the Dragonblood Warriors.

  “So noisy.” Linley noticed those twenty-one warriors were currently in the midst of sparring matches. Suddenly, a loud, clear laugh could be heard. “Haha, Linley, you finally arrived. You are the last one to arrive.”

  Linley immediately landed.

  At this time, it was night. The empty area had quite a few chairs and tables. The experts were chatting, drinking, and even sparring, for those who had the interest. It was quite rare for these ultimate experts to have a chance to meet like this.

  “Sorry, I came late.” Linley was a bit embarrassed, and he hurriedly greeted everyone.

  Fain laughed as he walked over. “It’s fine. Master hasn’t come to receive us either. He won’t be here to meet us until tomorrow morning. Tonight, we’ll just assemble here and have a good time.”

  “So he is Linley?”

  Many of the experts who were drinking cast their gazes towards Linley.

  These people had all been training in seclusion for thousands of years. Generally speaking, they didn’t care about newcomers, but… Linley had simply become too outstandingly famous. Especially with Linley being a Dragonblood Warrior, one of the Supreme Warriors. None of the people present dared to look down on him.

  “Everyone.” Fain smiled as he stood up, and everyone turned to look at Fain.

  Even the experts sparring in the air landed. Fain laughed calmly. “Most people here haven’t met Linley yet. Weren’t we discussing him just this afternoon? Right, Clay, weren’t you shouting nonstop about how you wanted to check out the power of the Dragonblood Warriors for yourself?”

  “Check out the power of the Dragonblood Warriors?” Linley couldn’t help but reveal a hint of a smile on his lips.

  “Pity that it’s a Dragonblood Warrior, not an Undying Warrior.” A loud, clear voice rang out, and a bulky, powerful-looking man with short gold hair stood up. He wore a sleeveless shirt, and his terrifying muscles made his shirt look as though it was about to split apart.

  The golden-haired man looked at Linley and laughed. “Linley, let me introduce myself. I’m Clay. Normally, I train on an island in the North Sea. I’ve heard of the fame of the Dragonblood Warriors long ago, and I’ve been itching to have a go. I would like to have a spar with you, Linley. I wonder…”

  “Sure.” Linley smiled as he spoke.

  “Wonderful.” Clay’s eyes lit up, and his muscles immediately began to tremble. With a sudden ‘boom’, his shirt exploded into tatters, and his body suddenly seemed to have turned to metal and shone with a metallic light.

  Fain said to Linley, “This Clay also trains in the Laws of the Earth, but in terms of defense, he is more than ten times more powerful than Haydson.”

  Linley smiled. “I know.”

  “Clay’s body looks like it is made from metal. It seems similar to the ‘Sacred Earthguard Armor’, which is made from diamonds at the Saint level,” Linley mused. For a warrior’s defense to reach such a terrifying level, he indeed had to be an exceptional expert.

  With a flip of his hand, Linley withdrew Bloodviolet.

  “Linley, go ahead and transform,” the golden-haired Clay said loudly.

  Linley shook his head. “No need for now.”

  Clay seemed a bit unhappy. He snorted. “Linley, you really are quite confident.” As he spoke, Clay charged into the air. This was War God Mountain. They didn’t dare to damage the War God Mountain when they sparred, so naturally they all flew into the air and sparred there.

  In an instant, Linley appeared in mid-air as well, his speed clearly a level higher than Clay’s.

  “Haha… come!” in mid-air, Clay let out an excited roar, and then he transformed into a blur and charged at Linley. He suddenly struck out with his right fist, and it was as though it had pierced through reality, carrying a terrifying howling sound as it attacked Linley.

  Where this fist passed, space itself rippled.

  “Hrm?” Linley’s face changed. Linley had been preparing to use the ‘Rippling Wind’ attack, but seeing the power of this fist, Linley immediately was forced to change his attack.

  Retreating backwards, Linley slashed out with Bloodviolet, and it also seemed to pass through reality. Wherever Bloodviolet passed by, space itself seemed to congeal and slow, then fold in on itself. Atop Bloodviolet was a frozen spatial edge, and clear ripples appeared around it as well.

  Profound Truths of the Wind – Tempos of the Wind, level two!

  “Bang!”

  Bloodviolet collided head-on with the fist of the shiny metallic man.

  “Booom.” That terrifying force passed straight through Bloodviolet and attacked Linley. The battle-qi around Linley’s body roiled. Only the Pulseguard Defense guarding his body managed to protect him from this terrifying force. Clay himself was knocked backwards as well. His fist had a hint of blood on it, but he wasn’t harmed at all.

  “What terrifying defense. In terms of defense alone, he should be on par with an Undying Warrior.” Linley was secretly shocked.

  “Linley, I admit defeat,” Clay’s voice rang out. “This Linley really is a monster. He’s so powerful even without transforming. Once he transforms, I won’t have the power to fight back at all.” As he muttered to himself, Clay flew straight back down.

  7

  The Metallic Castle

  “This Clay wasn’t injured at all, but he admitted defeat.” Linley chuckled, then stored Bloodviolet back into his interspatial ring, then landed as well.

  By now, everyone present had a clearer understanding of Linley’s power. Clay was one of the more powerf
ul experts present, and there were only a few present who were mightier than him. These experts knew very well… that Clay’s most powerful attack was his punches.

  His body’s defense was slightly weaker than his fist’s power.

  Linley’s sword had actually drawn a hint of blood from Clay’s fist. If it had landed on Clay’s body, it would have at least resulted in some blood loss.

  “Linley, I haven’t seen you in thirteen years, but your power has reached such a level.” Fain’s eyes also had a hint of battle-lust in them.

  From the battle just then, Fain could tell that Linley now had a fairly high level of understanding of the Laws. Paired with his natural gifts as a Dragonblood Warrior, Linley should now be able to have a proper duel with him. Fain, as well, wanted to have a sparring match with Linley.

  “Everyone wants to fight with my Boss. Why don’t you guys fight with me?” Bebe sensed Fain’s desire to do battle and immediately flew in front of Fain.

  Fain looked at Bebe, startled, and then he seemed to have remembered something. He hurriedly said, “Oh, Bebe, right?” Fain no longer mentioned anything about sparring. Instead, he pulled Linley and Bebe to join him in laughter, wine, and idle conversation.

  Midnight. The mountain wind blew gently. The night wind of early spring was very cold, but of course, these experts didn’t mind at all. They continued to chat and laugh.

  “Olivier’s aura has completely changed from before.” Linley glanced sideways at the distant Olivier. Olivier was one of the twenty-two experts as well. “In the past, Olivier would still talk and laugh, but now, he seems to have become much colder, and his eyes have become sharper as well.”

  The current Olivier was like a precious sword that had been unsheathed, extremely sharp and fierce.

  This caused the experts around him to voluntarily draw away from him. Clearly, these people weren’t very close to Olivier.

  “Linley. This time, you and Olivier are the only new participants in our squad. Although Olivier’s power is weaker than yours, he is still a hair more powerful than Clay.” Fain sighed in approval. “His attack power is quite astonishing.”