Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  The way he currently looked, even beggars would probably feel sorry for him.

  However, just now, McKenzie hadn’t paid any attention to his attire. In truth, when many Saint-level combatants engaged in training, they would sometimes train for months at a time. It was normal for their bodies to become incredibly filthy. Thus, they didn’t care too much about superficial appearances. What they cared about was what a person was like inside.

  For example, although Linley’s clothes were in absolutely wretched shape, no one would dare look down upon him as he stood there.

  This was a person’s aura and demeanor.

  “Boss, you said you have reached the Saint-level? Transform and let me admire my Boss’s magnificence.” Bebe’s beady little eyes stared at Linley as he intentionally said those flattering words.

  An excited feeling entered Linley’s heart.

  That was not a bad idea at all.

  “Fine.” Linley said with a laugh. Bebe immediately leapt off of Linley’s shoulders as once again, those black scales emerged from Linley’s skin. Sharp spikes erupted from his forehead, knees, and elbows, while his eyes once more transformed into that dark golden color.

  He looked exactly the same as he had before.

  But Linley could feel the difference.

  “Whoosh.” Linley felt the unique energy of the exalted Dragonblood hiding in his veins begin to flow into his bones, his muscles, and even his armor, spikes, and draconic tail.

  The originally pitch-black scales were actually beginning to shine with a hint of blue light.

  “What a feeling of power.”

  Linley could feel that his vision and his hearing had suddenly increased dozens of times in sensitivity. Nothing within several kilometers of him could escape his notice.

  “Such powerful strength. Such powerful battle-qi.”

  Linley balled his fist, and the air itself shuddered once. His mighty muscles now contained far greater power than before, and the amount of battle-qi in his body had grown vastly.

  “Haha…” Linley began to laugh excitedly.

  Late at night. Linley was flying across the desolate landscape. He, a fully transformed Dragonblood Warrior, looked like a monster as he floated through the air, occasionally letting out overjoyed bouts of wild laughter.

  His laughter echoed in the heavens and in the earth.

  “No wonder Barker was so excited when he reached the Saint-level. I didn’t expect that my power would increase this much after reaching this level.” Linley was extremely excited as well.

  Dragonblood Warriors had many innate gifts. Once their power reached a certain level, they would naturally be able to fly. This was like the flight which flying magical beasts innately possessed; it was a natural ability which didn’t require any particular understanding or insights.

  “In terms of mysteriousness and exaltedness, the bloodline of the Armored Razorback Wyrm is far inferior to the lineage of us Dragonblood Warriors.” Flying high in the air, Linley felt a sense of awe.

  Originally, Linley had drank a large amount of dragon’s blood as well as eaten the draconic crystal of the Armored Razorback Wyrm. But despite that, the Dragonblood in Linley’s vein had been able to dissolve and absorb it all.

  And now, upon entering the Saint-level, Linley could sense that the energy of the Dragonblood heritage in his veins was continuing to transform and strengthen various functions in his body.

  “My speed has doubled, at least.” With but a thought, Linley suddenly transformed into a blur as he streaked across the sky.

  “As for defenses…” Linley looked at his now perfect, undamaged scales, paying special attention to that dim layer of blue light. “If I were to take another blow from that Four-Winged Angel, I would at most suffer some light wound.”

  Linley’s lips curved upwards.

  Confidence!

  Unmatchable confidence!

  Actually, most human Saint-level experts had very weak defense. Even experts of the peak-stage Saint-rank had far inferior defense compared to Saint-level magical beasts.

  But the Four Supreme Warriors possessed talents and gifts that were even more freakishly powerful than that of magical beasts.

  This was one of the reasons why, as soon as a Dragonblood Warrior reached the Saint-level in human form, they would immediately be at the peak-stage of the Saint-level in power after Dragonforming. They were invincible. Understanding and insight made no difference.

  Even just by relying on raw force, they were an invincible force amongst Saint-levels.

  This was their natural talent!

  Much like how Haeru was jealous of how powerful Bebe had become, the Four Supreme Warriors were worthy of admiration and jealousy from any race in the entire Yulan continent.

  “Boss.” Bebe leaped up into the air.

  Linley stretched his arm out, catching Bebe in mid-air, and Bebe jumped onto Linley’s shoulders. Linley was now covered totally with dark scales, while on his shoulders there was a black Shadowmouse.

  It really was quite a matching sight.

  “Bebe, time for you to experience the flight speed of a true Saint-level expert.” Linley laughed loudly, then exerted himself to his utmost, transforming into a black blur as he streaked across the skies, disappearing into the horizon.

  The snow continued to fall across the night-shrouded wilderness.

  Only the corpses on the ground gave testament to the battle that had been fought here.

  The straight-line flying speed of a Saint-level was extremely fast. In an hour, Linley was able to cross over a thousand kilometers. In a very short period of time, Linley saw Cloudpeaks Village up ahead.

  Tonight, the snow-covered Cloudpeaks Village was very quiet.

  Linley flew directly to the western side of the village, dropping down at high speed like a meteor as he landed into the middle of the courtyard.

  “Who comes!” A low roar as several shadows flashed out.

  Linley had been flying so fast that he had been creating sonic booms. Naturally, he attracted the attention of experts such as the Barker brothers. But once they saw that the person in front of them was the Dragonformed Linley, they all secretly sighed.

  “Hrm, you entered without even opening the door?” The fifth brother, Gates, said in astonishment, then he stared at Linley. “Lord, could it be that…?”

  Laughing, Linley glanced at Gates.

  Gates was the most intelligent and mentally agile of the five brothers, and was the first one to grasp the concept of ‘wielding something heavy as though it were light.’

  “Ah! Saint-level!” The others now realized as well, and the five brothers stared at Linley in astonishment.

  “Big brother Ley returned?” Jenne’s voice rang out, as she ran out as well. But as she saw Linley’s transformed appearance, she was so scared that she immediately screamed, “Monster!”

  Rebecca and Leena, who shared the room with her, quickly consoled her.

  “Jenne, that’s big brother Linley. That’s his Dragonblood Warrior transformation.” Rebecca laughed.

  Linley returned to his normal human form. Badly frightened just now, Jenne stared stupidly at the transformation, then looked at Rebecca. “Dragonblood Warrior? What’s a Dragonblood Warrior?”

  “Haha, Dragonblood Warriors are one of the Four Supreme Warriors. We five brothers are also Supreme Warriors. We are the Undying Warriors!” Gates said arrogantly.

  Jenne looked at the surrounding group of people.

  When she had arrived here tonight with Haeru, she temporarily took up residence with Rebecca and Leena. But when Rebecca and Leena were introducing everyone to her, they had only gotten around to introducing Zassler.

  Jenne hadn’t even finished getting over her amazement at hearing that Zassler was an Arch Magus necromancer before, suddenly, this ‘Dragonblood Warrior’ and these ‘Undying Warrior’ concepts popped up as well.

  “This…you all are…” Jenne’s mind was in chaos.

  “Jen
ne, go back and get some rest.” Linley laughed as he spoke.

  Barker and his brothers were all stunned by Linley’s breakthrough. The second brother, Ankh [An’ke], laughed helplessly. “Lord, you broke through at such speed. Big brother Barker has reached the Saint-level as well, but still wasn’t your match. Now…the difference between us has increased even more.”

  “If he wasn’t powerful, would he be our Lord, and lead us against the Radiant Church to seek vengeance?” Gates said arrogantly.

  “All of you are close to having the power of the Saint-level.” Zassler’s face had a smile on it. “Fortunately, this old fogey has finally gained some certain insights. I trust that within ten years, I should be able to break through and reach the Saint-level.”

  Ten years?

  Zassler was over eight hundred years old. To him, ten years was a fairly short period of time.

  “A Grand Magus necromancer? That is an incredibly terrifying idea.” Linley’s eyes shone. “By that time, you’ll be able to summon Saint-level undead, and lead an army of millions of undead!”

  An Arch Magus necromancer of the ninth rank was already very frightening.

  But a Grand Magus necromancer was as terrifying as an entire Empire, all by himself.

  “Haha, everyone, keep growing stronger. F*ck, does the Radiant Church still dare send people over? If they send one, we’ll kill one. If they send ten, we’ll kill ten. Then we’ll let Zassler create undead slaves out of their corpses and use them to counter-attack.” As Gates spoke, he grew excited over his idea.

  Everyone was very happy. Their strength increasing meant that they were now becoming more qualified to fight head on against the Radiant Church.

  Linley was very happy as well.

  Raising his head towards the sky, watching the snow drift about, Linley then turned his gaze to everyone present. “Alright, there’s a blizzard tonight. Everyone should go inside the main hall if we want to chat.”

  “Right! Tonight, we won’t stop until we are all drunk.” Even the reliable and steady Barker was roaring loudly in his happiness.

  The party went on for half the night. In truth, whether or not they would be able to fight against the Radiant Church depended entirely on their power. The reason Linley was their leader was because he was the most powerful amongst them.

  Time passed. In the blink of an eye, three days had gone by.

  Jenne had grown to fully understand everyone’s background, and she slowly came to accept it all. Only now did Jenne truly understand that to these people, the city governor of a prefectural city was nothing at all.

  In fact, not just a prefectural city; even the mighty Jacques clan, the rulers of the Northwest Administrative Province, didn’t trouble Linley’s group. They only viewed the Jacques clan as equals, and that only because of the existence of McKenzie.

  “Barker, his brothers, and big brother Linley are all so hard working.” Rebecca, Leena, and Jenne, these three beautiful ladies, were chatting amongst themselves while carrying baskets through the manor.

  But just as they entered the courtyard, they suddenly saw….

  The Shadowmouse, Bebe, floating in mid-air. Seeing Jenne and the others, he winked flirtatiously towards the three of them. Bebe opened his mouth, and out of it came crisp, clear human speech.

  “Wow, three pretty girls. Hello, ladies!”

  Book 8, The Ten Thousand Kilometer Journey – Chapter 51, Wharton

  The imperial capital of the O’Brien Empire. Channe [Chi’yan]. In the entire Yulan continent, perhaps only the capital of the Yulan Empire could match Channe in terms of size.

  As for the name ‘Channe’, the War God O’Brien himself had chosen this name.

  The imperial capital, Channe. There were millions of residents living here.

  As a capital with over five thousand years of history, Channe had many ancient clans. In a place such as the imperial capital of Channe, even experts of the ninth rank were quite common. No one dared to act rashly in the imperial capital, because there were far too many powerful clans here.

  But of course, the number one power of the imperial capital of Channe was, without a doubt, the War God’s College.

  Although the personally taught disciples of the War God virtually never showed their faces, even the weakest of the honorary disciples were at least warriors of the eighth rank, while most were warriors of the ninth rank. From this, one could tell how astonishingly powerful the War God’s College was. And of course, there was the master of the War God’s College. The War God himself.

  It must be understood that in the O’Brien Empire, all other religions were outlawed. Even the commoners prayed to the War God. The War God had become the object of their faith!

  From this, one could tell how important the War God was in the hearts of the commoners.

  The east part of the imperial capital of Channe was a place covered with palaces and noble residences, with the imperial palace located within the east city as well. Within East Channe there was a street named Boulder Street, and on each side of Boulder Street there were meticulously constructed manors. These were all built by the order of the imperial clan of the Empire, and were given as rewards to the nobles and government officials who had rendered great deeds unto the Empire.

  One of the manors on Boulder Street was the residence of the newest rising star of the Empire, Count Wharton. Two sturdy guards stood at each side of the gate to his residence, their waists stiff. And right now, within the main hall of the manor, there were four people.

  All four of them were standing, but one of them was pacing about, a hint of a frown appearing on his brows.

  He seemed to be roughly twenty one or twenty two years old. He wore a simple warrior’s outfit, with the sleeveless outfit totally revealing his bulging muscles. He had a straight nose, thick black eyebrows, and a blocky, angular face, making him look very courageous and fierce.

  But the most astonishing thing about him was his body.

  He had the astonishing height of 2.2 meters. He had massively broad shoulders, a comparatively narrow waist, and two toned, powerful legs.

  “Just by looks, Wharton does seem to be more astonishing than Linley.” Hillman said to himself.

  Compared to Wharton, Linley appeared to be more reserved and understated.

  “Young master Wharton, are you still worrying about the Seventh Princess?” Housekeeper Hiri, his nose red from drinking wine, begin to chortle. Wharton turned to look at him helplessly. “Grandpa Hiri, you know who those people chasing after Nina [Ni’na] are.”

  The other young man in the group of four laughed. “Young master Wharton, why has a bold, forthright man such as yourself become so squeamish and nervous when it comes to matters of love? Why don’t you just go with her to meet with His Imperial Majesty? Isn’t that simple?”

  “Just go directly?” Wharton raised an eyebrow.

  Hillman encouraged as well, “Nader [Na’de] is right. You are already a warrior of the eighth rank, and the scion of the Dragonblood Warrior clan. His Imperial Majesty surely knows that for a scion of the Dragonblood Warrior clan to reach the eighth rank means that he definitely has been able to train in Dragonblood battle-qi, and has the ability to transform.”

  As Hillman saw it, for someone to reach the eighth rank without training in battle-qi was virtually impossible.

  But Hillman had no idea that right now, by Linley’s side, there were five brothers who had reached the eighth rank just based on physical training.

  “Wharton, as a Dragonblood Warrior, you are a fit and qualified match to wed the Seventh Princess. I trust His Imperial Majesty will agree.” Housekeeper Hiri laughed as he spoke. “But as for asking for her hand, I think it might be better if you let the Seventh Princess to sound His Imperial Majesty out first. That way, you’ll have a better idea going in.”

  Housekeeper Hiri and Hillman glanced at each other, then both of them began to laugh.

  In the past year or two, the relationship between Wharton
and the Seventh Princess of the Empire had become quite well known throughout the entire imperial capital. Only, the other young nobles of the imperial capital had refused to give up. What’s more, two of them were quite competitive.

  “Enough of that for now.” Wharton shook his head.

  He trusted the Seventh Princess. The Seventh Princess had already told him long ago that aside from him, she wouldn’t marry anyone else. But Wharton also knew that the marriage of an imperial princess of the Empire was not up to her alone to decide. In addition, Wharton didn’t want the Seventh Princess to be too frustrated and unhappy. If he could openly wed her, that would be for the best.

  “Oh, right. Grandpa Hiri, any news of my big brother?” Wharton asked.

  Housekeeper Hiri nodded. “The Dawson Conglomerate has sent word that your big brother remains hidden in seclusion, where he continues to train. There’s no special news.”

  “Big brother is as hard working as ever.” In his heart, Wharton admired Linley very much.

  Many of the weighty responsibilities of the Dragonblood Warrior clan, such as the reclaiming of their ancestral heirloom, or the avenging their parent’s deaths, had been shouldered by Linley alone. As for him, Wharton, he could remain here in the imperial capital and quietly train.

  Even from afar, Linley continued to shield him from the wind and the rain.

  “Big brother…” Wharton still remembered how when he was young, when those two Saint-level combatants were doing battle outside Wushan Township, those boulders had rained down densely from the skies. His big brother had ignored his own safety to cover Wharton with his own body.

  Wharton could clearly remember that dangerous moment….

  “Get down!” Linley had angrily shouted at Wharton, while charging towards him with no regard for his own safety. Linley had used his own weak, frail body to shield Wharton.

  After leaving home at the age of six, Wharton was now twenty two years old. In another month, he would be twenty three.

  It had been almost seventeen years.

  He hadn’t seen his sibling in seventeen years.