Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  “Blood…blood…”

  Linley was doing his best to remain clear-minded, but he could feel the intense desire of Bloodviolet to drink blood. After having roused the baleful aura contained within Bloodviolet, Bloodviolet had to be sated by drinking enough blood.

  “Swish!”

  Transforming into a violet ray of light, Bloodviolet passed straight through the neck of one of the Goldmane Mastiffs. A meter-high mastiff head flew off.

  Linley’s speed was simply too fast.

  No. Accurately speaking, Bloodviolet’s killing speed was too fast. Only after it had chopped through eight Goldmane Mastiffs heads did the first head fly off. And only now did the remaining Goldmane Mastiffs, who had all been kneeling in terror, wake to their senses.

  “Hoowwwl!” Nearby, the largest of the Goldmane Mastiffs forced itself to stand up, then raised his head up and began howling angrily. But despite this, its limbs were still trembling, and its eyes were still filled with disbelieving fear.

  Their intelligence, however, was very high.

  These Goldmane Mastiffs all knew that this human emitting this terrifying aura was going to kill them all. Even though they were terrified, they were still going to resist.

  Having drank so much fresh blood, Bloodviolet emitted a joyful sound.

  “Die! Die!” The more he killed, the more Linley felt as though the desire to kill was consuming him. Right now, the only desire he had was to kill.

  The remaining hundred or so Goldmane Mastiffs didn’t dare to directly face Linley. All of them turned tail and ran.

  “Swish!” Linley’s Bloodviolet sword chopped towards the head of another Goldmane Mastiff.

  Knowing that it wasn’t going to be able to flee, this Goldmane Mastiff turned back and opened its mouth, biting down at Linley while breathing flames from its mouth. Instinctively, Linley’s body became covered by his azure-blackish Dragonblood battle-qi, which protected him and blocked the flame breath of this Goldmane Mastiff.

  When the violet sword drew close to the Goldmane Mastiff’s head, the Goldmane Mastiff could clearly sense that the baleful aura this violet sword was emitting was now several times stronger than before. This terror, the likes of which it had never felt before, caused its limbs to go soft. Even the energy being generated by the magicite core in its body had come to a halt, and it just stood there, allowing the violet sword to cut its head off.

  Surrounded by a baleful aura that had taken physical form, Linley constantly chased after and killed one Goldmane Mastiff after another.

  These local tyrants, the Goldmane Mastiffs, were now truly panicked. They had no idea where this fiendish god had come from. That baleful aura was now so strong that even their bodily functions were being affected. Even if they wanted to fight, their bodies were no longer under their total control.

  Blood sprayed everywhere.

  Hacked limbs and severed heads flew everywhere…

  In the blink of an eye, thirty Goldmane Mastiffs had died on the spot.

  “Boss, boss!” Bebe called out frantically.

  Bebe could sense the state which Linley was currently in. He was terrified that in the future, Linley would have permanently transformed into a constantly slaughtering madman. Slowly, Linley’s form slowed its movements.

  “Bebe. I’m fine.” Linley’s voice rang out in Bebe’s mind.

  Bebe immediately ran over. Bebe could clearly see Linley’s bare upper body, his forehead covered in sweat, and that faint layer of red on his skin. Right now, Linley’s eyes were closed, and his chest was rising and falling like a blacksmith’s bellows.

  “Whew…”

  Letting out a long breath, Linley finally opened his eyes. Linley’s eyes had now returned to their normal clarity.

  “Boss, you…what happened to you?” Bebe said worriedly.

  With a hint of lingering fear, Linley looked at the Bloodviolet sword in his hands. Right now, Linley was very certain that this Bloodviolet sword had been a slaughterer’s sword, and that it had killed an extraordinarily high number of people. Linley even suspected that the endless sea of blood, bones, and corpses that he had sensed earlier had all been the handiwork of Bloodviolet.

  But those corpses…Linley didn’t even recognize most of them, or what races they belonged to.

  “Is there a race of humans with the heads of bulls? Can it be that these are the legendary minotaurs from other planes?” Linley thought to himself questioningly. From his books, Linley had seen references to minotaurs before, but there were no such creatures in the Yulan continent.

  But many of the other corpses, Linley had never seen or heard of, even in the books and records he had read.

  For example, those massive giant creatures that were ten meters tall, covered with thick black scales, and had two massive horns sprouting from their foreheads. The aura emanating from their corpses alone filled Linley with dread. Linley had the feeling that those massive creatures definitely were not one whit weaker than some of the Saint-level magical beasts he had seen.

  But there were innumerable numbers of corpses of those giant creatures!

  It was true! Those corpses of creatures which were no weaker than Saint-level magical beasts could be seen everywhere in that boundless sea of blood.

  “Who was the previous owner of this Bloodviolet sword? He actually killed this many powerful combatants.” Linley was secretly shocked. He was absolutely certain that this sword definitely came from one of the Higher Planes, because the Yulan continent simply never had this many powerful combatants.

  As he thought back to how he had originally acquired Bloodviolet, Linley understood something. This Bloodviolet Godsword truly did not originate from the Yulan continent.

  With a thought, Linley absorbed Bloodviolet into his interspatial ring.

  “Whew. Unless it is absolutely necessary, I definitely cannot activate the baleful aura hidden within this Bloodviolet sword again.” Linley had already made up his mind about this.

  At this time, Bebe leaped onto Linley’s shoulders.

  “Boss. What just happened?” Bebe asked.

  Linley laughed as he looked at Bebe. “Bebe, do you remember how we discovered that magical formation back when we were in the Foggy Valley? At that time, Grandpa Doehring had said that the mysterious magical formation was even more complicated and mysterious than Saint-level magical formations. And Bloodviolet was used to support that magical formation. At that time, we suspected that Bloodviolet wasn’t as simple a sword as it appeared to be. And indeed, that is the case.”

  Bebe immediately listened alertly.

  “This Bloodviolet Godsword most likely has experienced endless amounts of murder and slaughter, and also killed many powerful combatants, including those of the Saint-level, or even higher! And precisely because that is the case, within this Bloodviolet sword there is a terrifyingly powerful baleful aura. Once it has been activated and agitated, even those Goldmane Mastiffs quaked and knelt down in fear. But despite having its positives, it also has its negatives. Once it’s been activated, Bloodviolet absolutely must be fed blood. Otherwise, Bloodviolet will refuse to obey my intentions and won’t obediently go into my interspatial ring.”

  Bebe nodded.

  “Boss, this Bloodviolet sword really is terrifying. Just then, that baleful aura even made me tremble with fear as well, and my limbs were shaking too. In a situation like that that, even though I’m a magical beast of the ninth rank, I perhaps would’ve only been able to use half of my power.” Bebe said honestly.

  As for magical beasts of the eighth rank, when oppressed by that baleful aura, they probably wouldn’t even be able to use a tenth of their power.

  When the baleful aura within Bloodviolet was activated, the opponent’s own power would be impacted and drop. If even a magical beast of the ninth rank would be influenced so dramatically, one could easily imagine how useful this sword would prove to be in battle.

  “But being possessed by that cruel, vicious, wild, murdering urge r
eally is not a good feeling. Once the baleful aura is activated, I absolutely must kill a large number of living creatures before that wild, cruel, murdering urge is sated.” Linley had just experienced that urge, so he knew full well what it was like.

  Unless it was absolutely necessary, it was best not to activate that baleful aura.

  “Alright, Bebe. Let’s collect the magicite cores and continue.”

  “Magicite cores? Wow, so many.” Bebe excitedly went to collect the magicite cores.

  After collecting the cores of those several dozen Goldmane Mastiffs, Linley and Bebe continued on their journey, letting the corpses of the Goldmane Mastiffs remain there. In the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, once dead, even the most powerful of magical beasts would be no more than food for other animals.

  Their discovery of this secret contained within Bloodviolet was nothing more but a side event.

  Linley continued his lifestyle of training. Every day, he would travel around ten kilometers, with most of his time spent training. As far as how the heavy sword was meant to be used, almost every day, Linley would have a new insight. Linley was totally immersed in that wondrous feeling of training and improving.

  Book 8, The Ten Thousand Kilometer Journey – Chapter 4, The Black Shadow

  The first snow of that winter was a major one. Many places in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts were covered with snow as well. Various tracks could be seen clearly, some belonging to humans, and as well as magical beasts of various sizes.

  “What a large blizzard.”

  Linley still wore only those ragged hempcloth pants, his upper body bare. Although the temperature was so cold that even rapidly flowing water would freeze, Linley didn’t fear it in the slightest.

  Barefooted, Linley continued to stride forward.

  “Boss, it should almost be the time of the Yulan Festival, right.” Bebe guessed.

  After having been in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts for so long, Linley didn’t even have a rough idea of what day it was. Although Linley did have a pocket watch, the watch was only capable of keeping simple time, and didn’t track dates.

  “Should be around that time.” Linley nodded.

  After having been in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts for around two years, Linley’s prowess as a warrior had increased at a fairly rapid rate. He was at the peak-stage of the seventh rank now. But in terms of using the heavy sword, his skill in wielding his adamantine heavy sword was immeasurably higher than it was originally. In particular, after becoming a dual-element magus of the eighth rank, when he used his magic and his warrior skills simultaneously, his power was raised to a very high level.

  “Hrm?” Bebe and Linley both turned to look back.

  Not too far away, two sturdy warriors dressed in leather armor and holding weapons were running frantically, seemingly panic-stricken. Seeing that it was other humans, Linley continued on his path. The Mountain Range of Magical Beasts had a large number of human experts training within it, and in these past two years, Linley had encountered quite a few humans. With respect to the humans in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, Linley had a simple principle – Don’t irritate others.

  After all, plenty of people were here with the intention of taking the magicite crystals in other people’s bags for themselves. Because Linley had an interspatial ring, he didn’t have to carry his bag with him. Thus, there were very few people who had the desire to act against Linley.

  “Wait, wait!” A frantic shout from behind.

  But Linley didn’t pay them any mind at all, continuing to walk forward. Those two people ran quite fast, and they quickly overtook Linley. When they drew near, Linley immediately halted and turned around.

  “What do you want?” Linley stared coldly at those two men.

  Linley could tell that these two were not weak. However, a human’s level of power was hard to judge at a glance. Linley was fairly cautious in dealing with these two.

  “Us?” The two sturdily built men exchanged glances, and then forced out awkward smiles towards Linley. One of them, a one-eyed bald man, said apologetically, “We don’t have any bad intentions. Only, the core regions of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts are too dangerous. We two brothers…would like to travel with you, friend. That way, we can help each other out. Wouldn’t that be safer?”

  The other bald man started momentarily, then quickly nodded repeatedly. “Right. The core region is very dangerous. If we travel together, we can help each other out. How about this? Once we all leave the core regions and leave the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, we’ll go our own ways.”

  “Not interested.”

  Linley frowned. Turning back, he continued on his journey forward.

  Linley wasn’t that easily fooled youngster of the past. He could tell that these two were clearly lying. Helping each other out in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts? What a joke. These two people definitely didn’t have any good intentions in wanting to travel with him. Linley didn’t want to cause any trouble, and couldn’t be bothered to kill these two either. Naturally, he wouldn’t want them to travel with him.

  Seeing how bluntly Linley refused and continued on his journey, these two bald men glanced at each other. Hesitating only slightly, they immediately rushed over again.

  “Wait, friend, please wait.” The two bald men caught up again.

  Linley couldn’t help but frown as he turned his head to stare coldly at these two.

  The two men looked awkwardly at Linley. The one-eyed man said apologetically, “I’m so very sorry, but we two really would like to travel alongside you. Don’t worry, once we leave this place, we’ll definitely show gratitude to you.”

  Linley glanced at each man.

  “If you want to follow, then follow.” Linley said calmly.

  After having been in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts for so long, Linley was quite experienced now. If these two insisted on travelling with him, then let them. Linley was confident in his own ability to deal with them. After all, Linley had Bebe with him as well, on his shoulders.

  “Thank you, thank you.” Those two bald men said gratefully.

  Immediately, those two moved together to walk alongside Linley. At the same time, they constantly scanned the area around them, a hint of dread in their eyes.

  “Friend, we hail from the O’Brien Empire’s southwest district administrative province. Where are you from?” The one-eyed bald man seemed to want to have more friendly relations with Linley.

  Linley’s eyebrows twitched.

  The O’Brien Empire?

  Linley knew very well that if he were to cut directly through the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, he would be able to arrive in the territory of the O’Brien Empire quite quickly.

  “Why so many questions?” Linley glanced at the man. “If you want to follow, then follow. Don’t make a sound.”

  “Alright, alright.” The one-eyed bald man nodded repeatedly.

  They could tell that Linley definitely was no ordinary person. It wasn’t too strange for him to be only wearing hempcloth pants in the winter, but what was quite amazing was that a human in the core region of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts could be so calm and unhurried.

  It was as though this dangerous region was nothing more than a flower garden to him.

  “Big brother.” The bald man pulled at the arm of the other, one-eyed bald man. In a low voice, he said, “Big brother, do you think we’ll be able to preserve our lives?”

  The one-eyed bald man looked at their surroundings in fear, then said in a low voice, “Don’t over-think things. For now, let’s follow this mysterious fellow. If we follow him, we might have a chance.”

  “Right.” The first bald man nodded. But in his heart, he still felt fearful.

  Up ahead in front of them, Linley was walking very naturally. Linley noticed that the two men behind him were whispering, but Linley had a feeling that these two men were not the type to try and act against him.

  A
fter a while, Linley took a rest.

  Each day, Linley would only travel ten kilometers. The rest of his time was spent in training. The two men behind him became truly frantic when Linley rested so soon.

  “Why have you stopped?” The one-eyed bald man said frantically.

  “Hrm?” Linley glanced unhappily at the two men.

  The younger man hurriedly laughed. “Milord, this is still the core regions. Wouldn’t it be better for us to hurry out of the core regions before resting?”

  Linley frowned, then spoke. “Don’t annoy me. If you want to follow me, then follow. If you want to go, then go. As for me, if I want to stop, I’ll stop. If you keep kicking up such a fuss, then don’t blame me if I kill you both.”

  The two bald men exchanged glances, then laughed awkwardly.

  “Sorry, sorry.”

  The two immediately retreated slightly, no longer daring to disturb Linley.

  “These two are acting in a strange way.” Linley glanced at these two men. These two men said that they wanted to leave the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, but they insisted on following him. If he didn’t leave, they wouldn’t leave either.

  Why did they insist on following him?

  He didn’t know these two men at all.

  Linley sat down cross-legged, placing the adamantine heavy sword across his legs. But just at this moment, Linley suddenly felt a tinge of fear in his heart….

  “Swish!”

  Linley suddenly turned his head. A black shadow suddenly flashed in front of him, then disappeared.

  “Ah! Ah!” From far away, a terrified cry could be heard, but after two or three cries, it fell silent. Only now did Linley realize that of the two bald men, only one was left now. The one remaining was the one-eyed bald man. As for his younger brother, the man was gone now. Next to the man, there was a pool of blood.

  “Ah! Ah! No, no!” The one-eyed bald man seemed to have suffered some sort of unspeakable shock, as he began to scream.