Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  No one in the mountain village had suggested that he leave.

  During his month in the mountain village, Reynolds had learned that the vast majority of the villagers here had never left the mountain village. Only a very small percentage would occasionally make trips to the outside world. When they returned, they would inform the other villagers of the events of the outside world.

  Monica was only twenty years old, but she was already a light-style magus of the seventh rank. In terms of talent, she was actually superior to Reynolds. She was even more talented than Reynolds.

  “I can’t continue like this. I have to inform my parents and Third Bro that I am alive.” Reynolds wanted to meet his friends and family, but Monica’s allure for him was simply too strong. And to Monica, this outsider, Reynolds, knew many things. Whenever she chatted with him, Monica found that she could learn many things about the outside world.

  Reynolds was particularly good at making conversation. This made Monica very happy whenever she was with him.

  “If I were to always be with Monica, how wonderful would that be?” Reynolds’ heart was filled with hope.

  “Miss Monica.” A voice suddenly came from behind them, and a silver-haired middle-aged man walked towards them. Reynolds was startled. He hadn’t noticed this man approach them. Clearly, the man was extremely powerful.

  “Uncle Miller [Mi’le].” When Monica turned her head and saw this middle-aged man with short silver hair, she immediately called out in laughter.

  Miller had a simple, honest face. Glancing at Reynolds, he then laughed towards Monica in a friendly manner. “Miss Monica, it is getting late. Your mother is waiting for you to go home and eat dinner.” Monica nodded, then smiled towards Reynolds. “Big brother Reynolds, I’m going home for now. See you later.”

  Reynolds smiled and nodded as well.

  After Monica left, Miller stared at Reynolds. “Outsider kid, you’ve been in our mountain village for some time now. You now need to make a choice…”

  “Choice?” Reynolds felt surprised.

  Miller nodded calmly. “Since you’ve been able to find us, that means that destiny has led you here. You now have two choices. The first is to forever stay in our mountain village, and become one of our villagers, never to leave. The second is to immediately leave, and never enter again. You only have two choices. If you disobey, you will definitely die.”

  These cold, calm words made Reynolds’ heart quiver.

  Leave forever? Or never leave the mountain village again?

  Reynolds didn’t want to make either choice.

  “Mr. Miller,” Reynolds hurriedly said, “Based on what I know, aren’t there some people in the village who occasionally go outside?”

  Miller glanced at him, then chuckled. “True. Our mountain village has a yearly contest. Anyone who makes it into the top ten during this tournament is permitted to leave the village and make a trip to the outside world. But given your current power…you aren’t even able to rank in our top hundred, much less top ten.”

  Reynolds was very anxious.

  “Although I currently can’t make the ranking, in the future I might.” Reynolds had already made his decision. “Mr. Miller, I have decided to become a member of this village.” Although Reynolds loved his parents, when he was in the army, he often went a year or two without seeing his parents a single time. So long as his parents knew that he was alive, that was all that matter. In the future, he would have a chance to meet them. There shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

  Reynolds knew that his parents could definitely live for another century or two.

  But Monica…Reynolds was worried that if he left, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

  Miller nodded slightly. “Welcome to the village. Remember. You are not allowed to leave the village without permission. If it is discovered that you did…you will definitely die. No matter what, you had best not harbor any doubts about how powerful our village is.” Miller immediately turned and prepared to leave.

  “Mr. Miller.” Reynolds hurriedly said.

  Miller turned to look at him. “What is it?”

  “When the other people in the village leave, can they help me carry a message out?” Reynolds asked.

  Miller nodded. “Yes they can. However, you cannot reveal any information regarding the village. In two days, I’ll be leaving the village. If you have any messages, I can help you transmit them.”

  Reynolds felt a surge of joy, and he hurriedly said, “Lord Miller, when you leave the village, please go to any of the Dawson Conglomerate’s branches and tell them that I, Reynolds Dunstan, am not dead. Right now, I am happily alive, and I hope my friends and family won’t be worried about me.”

  “The Dawson Conglomerate?” Miller glanced at him, then nodded.

  “Lord Miller.” Reynolds suddenly realized something. “Didn’t you just say that only the top ten in the annual tournament are allowed to make a trip? Why is it that you can leave whenever you want?”

  Miller glanced at him. “Once you are at my level of power, you can also leave whenever you wish.” As he spoke, with a single movement Miller suddenly vanished from in front of Reynolds. Reynolds’ heart was filled with shock; this speed was simply too terrifying!

  “Milord, that Reynolds isn’t very powerful, but it seems as though Miss Monica feels rather…” Miller stood to one side respectfully, while a handsome, refined-looking middle-aged man with long black hair sat on a stone chair, casually sipping wine.

  The refined middle-aged man laughed calmly. “Monica is free to like whoever she wants. Don’t force her. For Reynolds to choose to remain in the village means that he has courage, at least.”

  “But the Madame…” Miller said.

  The refined middle-aged man laughed. “Haha…as for that, there’s nothing I can do either. If that Reynolds really has taken a liking to my daughter, then all I can do is suggest that he work hard. Otherwise, he won’t even be able to pass my wife’s approval.”

  “Tomorrow, when you head to the Forest of Darkness, be careful. Don’t irritate the King of the Forest of Darkness.” The refined middle-aged man glanced at Miller.

  “Yes, milord.” Miller said respectfully.

  The next morning, a blur suddenly streaked out at high speed away from the mountain village. In the blink of an eye, it pierced through the skies as it flew towards the north at high speed. The speed at which it travelled was a good deal faster than even Linley’s speed in full Dragonform. An hour or so later, that blur arrived at the Forest of Darkness.

  “Hrm?” The astonishing speed lessened, and from high up above, Miller stared down below.

  Blackdirt City was located quite close to the Forest of Darkness, only fifty or so kilometers away from it. Miller was currently directly above Mt. Blackraven. Although he had been flying at high speed, he could sense a powerful amount of wind-style energy coming from below.

  “Someone else who also trains in the Laws of the Wind?” Miller’s eyes lit up.

  Miller was studying the Laws of the Wind as well. He carefully examined Mt. Blackraven, and saw a human form, dressed in a deep blue robe who was wielding a violet longsword. That human form constantly flickered about in multiple places in Mt. Blackraven at an astonishingly fast speed.

  “His level of understanding is quite excellent. It has been centuries since I’ve sparred with another wind-style expert.” Miller’s heart itched. He flew down at high speed.

  By now, Linley had noticed this human form flying down from the skies at high speed.

  Miller landed directly atop the crown of a tree on Mt. Blackraven. Standing on the tree’s crown, he stared at the nearby Linley and laughed loudly, “I am Miller, also a student of the Laws of the Wind. My friend, would you be willing to have a competition with me?”

  Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 50, Linley and Olivier

  Linley looked at the man standing on the tree crown.

  His short silver hair made him loo
k very energetic and intrepid. That wavy blue robe fluttered in the wind, making him seem agile and graceful.

  “An expert!” Linley had the feeling that this silver-haired man’s power was no less than his own.

  “I am Linley.” Linley didn’t try to hide his identity.

  “Linley? The O’Brien Empire’s Linley?” Miller said with surprise, but then he laughed. “I’ve long heard that the O’Brien Empire has a twenty seven year old genius, who has reached a high level of achievement as a sculptor, as a magus, and as a warrior. I didn’t expect that today, I’d be able to encounter you. You were on par with Haydson. I, Miller, would like to spar with you, brother.”

  Linley had a very good impression of Miller as well.

  Miller was open and direct, just the type of person Linley liked.

  “Very well. Then I will have a good sparring match with you, brother Miller.” Having spent such a long period of time in training, Linley also desired to have a good sparring match against an expert. Perhaps he would gain a sudden insight.

  Linley removed the deep blue robe covering his upper body, letting it be bare. And then, black scales quickly began to cover Linley’s body, and those ferocious spikes emerged from his forehead, spine, elbows, and knees. Seeing this, Miller’s eyes lit up. “Dragonblood Warrior. Haha, I’ve heard of this for some time now…”

  Linley’s body began to be covered with that roiling, swirling layer of azurish-black battle-qi.

  Wielding Bloodviolet in his hands, Linley looked at Miller. “Come.”

  With a flip of his hand, Miller withdrew a silvery-white longsword from out of nowhere. Laughing loudly, he said, “Linley, you must be careful. The power of my sword technique isn’t much weaker than Haydson’s attack.” Miller spoke with total confidence. Linley was secretly startled. Linley knew very well how powerful Haydson’s “Worldbreaker” attack was.

  “Careful!” Miller shouted loudly, then his body slashed through the air, immediately appearing next to Linley.

  With a kick of his feet, Linley leapt backwards at high speed, but Miller’s longsword still brushed against Linley’s Pulseguard Defense. In the blink of an eye, Linley appeared atop a large tree several hundred meters away. “Such incredible speed. It seems I have to use the Windshadow spell.”

  From this exchange, Linley immediately understood that in terms of understanding the ‘Speed’ aspect of the wind, he was inferior to this man.

  Linley began to chant the words to the Windshadow magic spell. As for Miller, he paused for a while, still wielding that silver longsword as he waited for Linley to complete his Windshadow spell. Only when Linley did so did Miller charge towards Linley at high speed again. “Linley, show me your ultimate attack.”

  “Whoosh!” “Whoosh!”

  Linley’s body moved at a similarly high speed. Right now, the two were on par as far as speed went, and they dodged and attacked at high speed. Towards the attacking Miller, with a flip of his hand, Linley utilized the ‘Rippling Wind’ technique, and in an instant, countless violet sword tips slashed down, covering Miller’s entire body.

  “Excellent!” Miller laughed loudly, and suddenly, the silvery-white longsword seemed to slowly draw a circle in front of him.

  Although it seemed to be slow, in actuality, before Linley’s ‘Rippling Wind’ attacks managed to land on Miller, they were all destroyed by that ‘circle’. Linley was secretly delighted. “Has Miller trained in a type of extremely ‘Slow’ aspect of the wind?”

  Slow. Fast!

  The so called ‘slow’ and ‘fast’ weren’t purely about ‘speed’; it was about a higher level of understanding. For example, although Miller’s attack seemed to be slow, in actuality, it wasn’t the slightest bit slower than Linley’s ‘Rippling Wind’ technique.

  “Miller, take another one of my attacks.” Linley shouted loudly.

  Linley and Miller were constantly dodging. With each light tap against the tree leaves, the two could instantly change direction at high speed. Suddenly, the two once again clashed in the air above Mt. Blackraven. Linley’s dreamlike Bloodviolet longsword seemed to encompass both an extremely fast speed as well as an extremely slow tempo, combining these two polar opposites into a single seemingly perfect whole.

  “Excellent.” Miller let out a loud shout of surprised joy.

  Miller’s longsword suddenly reduced in speed to an extremely low level, as though it weighed ten trillion pounds and could barely move. Linley could sense how extremely slothful the movements of the opponent’s sword had become!

  But his Bloodviolet sword remained unable to break through this sword.

  “Boom!” The two swords collided.

  Linley felt as though he had suddenly been hit at high speed by something weighing ten trillion pounds. His body shuddered and was sent flying against the nearby mountain cliffs, smashing into the heart of the mountain. On the cliffs, a human-shaped tunnel could now be seen.

  “Whoosh.” A while later, Linley came flying back out.

  Miller was extremely excited. “Linley, your sword art…‘Slow’ and ‘Fast’? Two totally opposite aspects. This…this…” Miller felt as though a light had gone off inside his mind, as though he had suddenly realized something. Linley was also extremely shocked and delighted as well.

  Linley didn’t even care about that line of blood trailing down from the corner of his lips. The only thing he was thinking about was that sword technique his opponent had just used. “Miller defended against my ‘Rippling Wind’ attack using a technique which was gentle as a breeze. But this technique he just used was extremely powerful, not one whit inferior than Haydson’s ‘Worldbreaker’ technique. If it wasn’t for the fact that I have gained some additional insights into the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’, I probably would’ve been severely injured.”

  “That sword technique was derived from a variation of the ‘Slow’ aspect of the Laws of the Wind. During that moment, it seemed as though space itself had frozen.” Linley could still clearly remember how he had felt when facing that sword.

  That sword had moved so slowly, as though it weighed ten trillion pounds, but space itself seemed to have frozen as well. Linley had clearly sensed that his opponent’s sword was extremely slow, but despite the fact that his own sword was extremely fast, in that moment, it somehow wasn’t faster than his opponent’s.

  Miller and Linley both had looks of surprised delight on their face. They smiled, standing there in mid-air.

  Recovering from their ponderings, the two looked at each other and grinned. Clearly, both had gained certain insights.

  “Linley, I had never imagined that two opposite aspects could actually be used to aid each other…you truly have helped me out.” Miller was a little bit excited. Indeed, in that mysterious mountain village, none of his friends trained in the Laws of the Wind, and thus they were unable to help him.”

  Linley spoke words of thanks as well. “Miller, I’ve been pondering how to continue analyzing the ‘Slow’ and ‘Fast’ aspect and how to train them. You’ve helped me clearly see how I should go about it as well.”

  “As far as my insights into the Laws of the Wind go, I don’t have any deeper insights to show you. Let’s just call a stop to it for now. What do you say?” Linley advised.

  Miller pursed his lips. “Linley, don’t be modest. I know…that your true, most powerful attack is with a heavy sword. Supposedly, despite Haydson’s ridiculously strong defense, he was still heavily injured by you. Come. Let me have a try.” Miller said expectantly.

  Linley hesitated slightly.

  Once the ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’ was used, it would be very dangerous. It might kill him.

  “It’s fine. Linley, just come. Let me have a taste of your most powerful attack. My defense is extremely formidable.” Miller laughed confidently.

  Seeing how confident the man was and how he had requested Linley repeatedly to attack, Linley nodded. At the same time, Linley had made up his mind that he would execute
d the Hundred Layered Waves attack of the Profound Truths of the Earth. He wouldn’t go all the way to his limits of 138 Layered Waves. Given the power his opponent had displayed, he should be able to withstand the Hundred Layered Waves.

  In the air above Mt. Blackraven, Linley and Miller stood, facing each other. Linley was now wielding the adamantine heavy sword.

  “Come.” Miller said with a bit of excitement.

  “Miller, be careful.” As he spoke, Linley suddenly charged towards Miller, creating a terrifying sonic boom. Miller just stood there, casually wielding his silvery longsword and slowly waving it in front of himself.

  Space once again froze.

  Linley’s adamantine heavy sword agilely and lightly smashed downwards. A silvery longsword that was very light, but seemingly weighed ten trillion pounds. An adamantine heavy sword that was very heavy, yet seemed to move very agilely and gracefully. As soon as the adamantine heavy sword drew near that silver longsword, it was caught within the ‘frozen space’.

  The two swords intersected!

  “Boom!”

  Profound Truths of the Earth – Hundred Layered Waves!

  What shocked Linley was that when those vibrational waves passed through that ‘frozen space’, it quickly began to weaken in power. By the time it passed through and entered Miller’s body, it had lost more than half of its power.

  But despite that…

  Miller’s eyes lit up. His entire body suddenly was surrounded by waves of energy, but despite that, a hint of blood still came out from the corner of his lips. He stared at Linley in astonishment. “Linley, your attack truly is bizarre. My defense can be considered a very special one, but your attack…”

  When experts did battle, they had to be proficient in speed, defense, and attack. If they were weak in a single area, then they would find themselves in danger.

  Miller’s defense was very special as well.

  As he circulated the Dragonblood battle-qi in his body, Linley’s wounds rapidly began to heal, but he stared at Miller in astonishment. “Miller, that sword of yours…I keep on having the feeling that it seems to have caused space itself to change.” It was precisely because space had changed that Linley’s vibrational attacks would weaken so much when passing through it.