Dylla Leon knew quite well that this Emperor Rande was an extremely upright and extremely bold person. If he said Delia would become Empress, he would definitely make that happen.
“Alright, you can go now,” Emperor Rande said with a faint laugh.
“Yes, your Imperial Majesty.” Right now, Dylla Leon’s heart was still in a state of excitement.
Dylla Leon immediately sent someone to summon Delia home. Delia actually didn’t wish to go home. Each time she did, her parents would try to persuade her on the subject of marriage. Although Delia insisted that Linley was now outside the O’Brien Empire and that her marriage to Linley wouldn’t pose any problems to the clan, it seemed as though her parents didn’t really like Linley.
In Dylla’s eyes, Linley’s younger brother had wed the Seventh Imperial Princess, Nina, after all. There was an indisputable relationship between Linley and the O’Brien Empire.
“What?” Delia immediately rose to her feet, staring at her parents in astonishment.
Her mother hurriedly said, “Delia, his Imperial Majesty’s age is close to yours, and he is one of the boldest, most competent Emperors in the history of the Yulan Empire. You are on good terms with him as well. If you were to marry his Imperial Majesty… it would be wonderful for both you and the clan.”
“It would be wonderful for the clan, but how would it be wonderful for me?” Delia couldn’t help but be furious.
She hadn’t thought that the reason her parents had summoned her back so urgently was to discuss this with her.
“Delia, can it be that his Imperial Majesty isn’t talented enough? Do you dislike him?” Dylla Leon hurriedly said.
Delia said angrily, “Father, what does his Imperial Majesty’s talent have to do with me? No, I don’t dislike him. But there’s many people I don’t dislike. Does this mean I have to marry them all? Marrying someone has nothing to do with whether or not I ‘don’t dislike them’, understood?”
“Delia, his Imperial Majesty’s feelings for you are genuine. He said that so long as you marry him, in the future, you would definitely become the Empress,” Dylla said hurriedly.
“Then what about the current Empress?” Delia frowned.
Dylla Leon laughed calmly, “That Empress was just someone the Emperor married when he was only a prince. She isn’t very capable, and she was born to a common noble clan. There have been many people unhappy that she became Empress. It will be easy for his Imperial Majesty to remove her.”
“Hrmph!”
Standing, Delia stared at her father. “Father, perhaps to you, the position of Empress is very important, but to me, it isn’t worth a fart.” The furious Delia began to spout obscenities.
Dylla Leon was so angry that he slapped the desk and stood up as well. “Delia, how can you say such things?”
“Father.” Delia stared at her father. “Don’t try and put on a brave show in front of your daughter. Let me make it clear for you today… with regards to his Imperial Majesty, you can forget it! Even if I die, I won’t marry him. I won’t marry anyone aside from Linley.”
Dylla Leon stared disbelievingly at his daughter. His daughter actually dared to speak to him in such a manner?
“I’m sorry, father.” Delia took a deep breath.
“Cough… cough…” The furious Dylla Leon began to cough. Dylla’s mother immediately went to assist him, but Dylla stared angrily at Delia. “Delia, you are no longer a child. Don’t be so rash and immature. Enough. Go back and think it over.”
Delia glanced at her red-faced, coughing father, then silently turned her head and left.
“What happened to my parents?” Delia could still remember how when she was a child, her father and mother had treated her like a precious treasure. Whatever she wanted done, her father would do. She had even ridden on her father’s back like a horse.
Her childhood memories were so beautiful, and her parents were so perfect.
But now…
Delia cared about her family. Her parents, her Big Brother, her grandmother, her other relatives… Delia had always hoped that she would be able to be together with Linley, while maintaining the relationship with her clan.
“I’ll wait a bit longer. I’ll wait for Linley to found his duchy. By then, father’s attitude would change.” Delia chose to continue to endure.
In the mysterious village. On the wide expanse of grass in front of the cave estate. Desri, Hayward, Miller, Pennslyn, and the others were seated around a stone table, drinking wine while watching Linley and Higginson spar. As for Reynolds and Monica, they were at the side of the grassy area.
“Monica, were you telling the truth in the past when you described your mother?” Staring at the distant Pennslyn, Reynolds then looked at Monica in puzzlement.
Monica didn’t know what to say either.
In the past, her mother was always rather cold and distant. It must be understood… her mother came from the Frost Goddess Shrine. That sort of cold arrogance was bred in the bones. But these past few days, Pennslyn had treated Linley and Reynolds unbelievably well.
Reynolds had even begun to suspect if Monica had lied about her.
“I don’t get it either.” Monica was truly speechless.
At this moment, Linley was wielding his adamantine heavy sword, while Higginson was wielding a silver, blurred longsword. The two were sparring, and Linley had begun to truly use his ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’. Although he hadn’t gone full force, it was still enough to cause Higginson to sigh with surprise.
“Bizarre, bizarre.” Higginson sighed in praise. “I’ve never seen such a bizarre attack.”
Linley stared helplessly at Higginson as well. Dealing with an expert of the Laws of Light truly was a pain. This was because once a person reached a certain level in the Laws of Light, his self-healing abilities would become extremely terrifying. Even broken arms would self-repair in a short period of time.
“Linley, at this time, you should take a look at my ultimate attack.” Higginson smiled.
Linley was startled. Up till now, Higginson had demonstrated a speed that was even faster than that of Olivier’s. But he had been just playing around?
“The name of this sword technique is ‘Illusionary Void Sword’.” Wielding that silver longsword, Higginson suddenly transformed into a line of white light, appearing before Linley in the blink of an eye. A layer of azurish-black energy was swirling around Linley, and his adamantine heavy sword was at the ready as well.
Linley paid careful attention to the sword.
Why was it called ‘Illusionary Void Sword’?
“Rumble…” The space itself in the surrounding area began to shudder and ripple. The silver longsword clearly appeared before Linley’s eyes, but the strange thing was, Linley felt as though the longsword had transformed into multiple layers, and the nearby space had transformed into multiple layers as well. It was as though space itself had turned chaotic.
“You lose.”
Before Linley even had the chance to react, that sword came to a halt in front of Linley’s eyes. Linley hadn’t even had the chance to resist or to block.
“This…” Linley’s mind was totally preoccupied with that sword. He felt as though he had suddenly mentally found something. He immediately descended to the ground and closed his eyes, beginning to meditate. Without paying any attention at all to the nearby people, he immediately began to try hard to find that sense again.
61
The Order Comes Down
Higginson stood there staring at Linley. Linley had actually immediately begun to train without paying attention to anyone else.
“Amazing, amazing.” Higginson let out a sigh of praise, then flew over to Desri. Desri’s group was staring at Linley with approval in their eyes as well. All of them sat down, and Hayward laughed, “Big Brother, this Linley truly is a genius. Even when sparring with Higginson, who uses the Elemental Laws of Light, he will still have some insights.”
Desri’s group of people we
re all amongst the highest-class Saints.
Seeing Linley do this, they knew that Linley must have gained some insight into something important, which was why he had immediately started training.
“Uncle,” Reynolds had immediately run over after seeing Linley’s actions. “What’s wrong with Linley? Is he wounded?”
“Haha…” Desri and the others began to laugh loudly. Miller laughed and said, “Reynolds, Linley is fine. However, it is hard to say how long he will be in training. For those of us at our level, it is very hard and rare for us to suddenly gain an insight.”
Only then did Reynolds relax.
Currently, Linley’s mind was filled with all sorts of movements. A longsword-wielding figure was flashing about in his mind, once again stabbing at him using the technique Higginson had just displayed. Higginson’s sword had seemed like an illusion…
The sword striking out. The flash of light. The distorted space…
Those folded, blurry layers of space… that terrifying penetrative power… it had seemed unstoppable.
“What is it? What exactly is it?” Linley was repeatedly thinking on this matter, and in his mind, he replayed that sword attack over and over. For an instant, upon seeing that sword, Linley seemed to have understood something.
But it was extremely blurry!
Again and again, he replayed the attack in his mind, concentrating on it whole-heartedly.
Suddenly-
It was as though a lightning bolt had suddenly flashed in Linley’s mind. Linley’s heart shook, and that layer of obscuring fog was stripped away. He finally understood that sensation he had felt. “Right. It is the wind. The wind! The ‘Fast’ aspect of the wind!”
Linley’s heart was filled with wild joy.
Previously, when Linley had witnessed Miller using the ‘Slow’ aspect of the Elemental Laws of the Wind, Linley had come to understand the direction in which he should train the ‘Slow’ aspect. Linley had learned that the power of his ‘Tempos of the Wind’ technique could increase.
This was because the ‘Tempos of the Wind’ was similar to the Profound Truths of the Earth. With the Profound Truths of the Earth, the more vibrational waves created, the more powerful the attack was.
By that same logic, the ‘Tempos of the Wind’ utilized the combined forces of the ‘Fast’ and the ‘Slow’ aspects of the wind to create the frictional force that created a spatial edge attack. The deeper his understanding of the ‘Fast’ and the ‘Slow’ aspects of the wind became, the more powerful his combination attack would become in creating a more powerful ‘Tempos of the Wind’.
After having sparred with Miller, Linley’s insight into the ‘Slow’ aspect of the wind was slowly increasing.
But his progression in understanding the ‘Fast’ aspect of the wind had come to a standstill.
Elemental Laws of the Wind – What was the path to training in the ‘Fast’ aspect?
But today, after seeing Higginson’s ‘Illusionary Void Sword’, Linley now clearly understood how he should proceed. “Of the Elemental Laws, in terms of speed, the Elemental Laws of Wind and the Elemental Laws of Light have an advantage. Higginson is fast, so fast that in the instant of his attack, space itself is distorted. But the ‘Slow’ aspect of the Elemental Laws of the Wind can cause space to suddenly freeze. Right… the Elemental Laws of Wind, in their ‘Fast’ aspect, should also be able to instantly cause space itself to distort into multiple layers.”
Linley already had some basic insights into the ‘Fast’ aspect of the Elemental Laws of Wind, and he had been pondering it for some time now.
But now, he knew exactly what his goal was… Linley’s mind began to rapidly ponder how to train. It was as though he now knew the starting point and the endpoint. What he now needed to do was to decide what was the best way to go about on this path, and then actually follow the path to its endpoint.
Linley’s mind played countless scenarios in his mind, and gradually, his insights into the ‘Fast’ aspect of the Elemental Laws of the Wind deepened as well. Whenever he could no longer resolve a question in his mind, Linley would stand up and use the Bloodviolet flexible sword to test out a theory on the spot.
This was the nature of training; tough, pain-staking, and occasionally needing a burst of insight.
It was as though a person had suddenly seen a flash of light and seen the rough picture of the road ahead of him. He now had the general idea of where he should go. All that had to be done next was to continue studying and continue testing. As long as one had enough time, one would definitely be able to reach that goal.
To be able to gain insights into the ‘Fast’ aspect of the Elemental Laws of Wind from watching a sword technique based on the Elemental Laws of Light wasn’t something that just anyone could do. Right now, Desri and the others didn’t have any idea what Linley had suddenly understood.
“It’s been over half a month, but Third Bro, he…” Reynolds stared at the meditating Linley with some urgency in his eyes.
The nearby Monica laughed. “Big Brother Reynolds, last night, I saw Linley suddenly stand up and then perform what appeared to be a sword technique. However, his sword was so blurry and indistinct. When that violet light flashed, the wind began to blow all around him, and the speed of his sword was very fast as well. I couldn’t see anything clearly.”
“If Third Bro continues like this, who knows how long it will take,” Reynolds said with some agitation.
“Big Brother Reynolds, look.” Monica suddenly pointed towards Linley excitedly. Reynolds turned to look… and saw that Linley had already stood up and was smiling towards Reynolds while walking over to them. “Fourth Bro, what’s the matter? Did a flower blossom on my face?”
At this moment, a black blur suddenly streaked out, leaping onto Linley’s shoulders.
“Bebe.” Linley lovingly rubbed Bebe’s head.
Bebe quirked his lips unhappily. “Boss, it’s been half a month. You sure can sleep.”
“Sleep?” An involuntary laugh escaped Linley’s mouth.
He knew that while he was training, Bebe had definitely been extremely bored. However, Linley was in an extremely fine mood today… because he had made progress in the ‘Fast’ aspect of the Elemental Laws of the Wind. Linley understood very well that in order to reach the power of that sword attack of Higginson’s, he would most likely need to spend at least ten or so years.
As for reaching Miller’s level in using the ‘Slow’ aspect of the wind, he would most likely only need three or four years.
Clearly… Miller had a much lower level of understanding than Higginson. Linley was secretly delighted. Indeed, sparring with experts truly did allow one to improve much faster.
If he had been training by himself in the mountain the entire time and training aimlessly, if he was lucky, perhaps in ten years or a hundred years, he would’ve found the correct path. If he was unlucky, he might spend hundreds or even thousands of years before finding the correct path.
This was the nature of training. If you gained insights quickly, you trained quickly. If you gained insights slowly, you would train slowly. After all, not too much time was needed after one reached the Saint level for one’s battle-qi to reach the limits of the Saint level. Everyone spent their time on increasing their insights into the Laws… for example, Olivier was able to defeat Dillon as soon as he had reached the Saint level, precisely because Dillon had virtually no insights into the Elemental Laws. There was nothing for it.
In the northern part of the Anarchic Lands, a large-scale campaign had begun.
As per Linley and Zassler’s plans, roughly seven or eight days after Linley headed off to the mysterious village, Barker and the others began to attack southwards, invading one of the duchies controlled by the Radiant Church. The name of this duchy was the Sherry Duchy.
The soldiers of the Sherry Duchy were inferior in quality to Linley’s forces. Linley’s people lived very close to the Forest of Darkness, and were thus highly accustomed to
violence. They had a much greater battle strength. And of course, they had the five Barker brothers leading them into the fray.
Utter devastation!
The most powerful experts of the Sherry Duchy were nothing more than three experts of the eighth rank. They didn’t have a single expert of the ninth rank. How could the Sherry Duchy possibly stall Linley’s forces at all?
Barker and his brothers were like five gods of battle as they led their ravenous troops into a slaughtering invasion, breaking past all defenses. In just four days, the prefectural city and five smaller cities of the Sherry Duchy had all been taken over. Linley’s territory had just dramatically expanded.
Gates, Hazer, and Ankh all stayed within the prefectural city of Sherry.
“They are totally unable to fight back,” Gates said loudly. “Too weak. Too weak. There’s no one here who can even slow us down.” Indeed. Even if they did meet with strong resistance, who would be able to fight in single combat against the likes of Gates and the others?
In addition, the Saint-level magical beast, the Blackcloud Panther, Haeru, had been in a state of readiness this entire time, ready to attack.
“Andrew.” Ankh suddenly turned to stare at a silver-haired middle-aged man behind them. The man immediately bowed, awaiting Ankh’s order. Ankh asked, “Right now, how is the reorganization of the Sherry Duchy’s military proceeding? And what is the situation amongst the masses?”
In order to manage a country, one naturally had to use appropriate personnel. Barker and the others were only used for military conquest.
“Milords,” Andrew said respectfully. “Currently, the military reorganization has already concluded. We have placed many soldiers of Blackdirt City into their ranks as well.”
Barker and the others didn’t fully trust these surrendered troops. Thus, the only thing they could do was to try and spread them out as much as possible, preventing them from easily coordinating with each other. At the same time, they killed some people while inserting their own loyal followers.
Baruch Rising_Book 3 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 48