Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  Faith!

  This was one of the most important reasons why the Radiant Church existed. They had lost a tremendous amount of faith energy last time. They had been very fortunate, for the Radiant Sovereign had not punished them for this.

  But if they were to lose even more…

  The repercussions would be unimaginable!

  “No matter what, we cannot allow our Radiant Church’s foundations in the Anarchic Lands to be destroyed. This colossal amount of faith energy cannot be allowed to be lost.” Lord Fallen Leaf said in a low voice.

  “Right. It cannot be lost.” Zealot Commander Lehman said as well.

  Osenno’s lips quirked up. “Faith energy is important to us, but not necessarily to Linley. Linley most likely doesn’t have much interest in land either. We can negotiate with him.”

  “Right.” The eyes of the other three lit up.

  This wasn’t unresolvable.

  Heidens paused for a moment, then immediately ordered, “Since that’s the case, then how about this. Lehman, you stay at the Sacred Isle for now. All matters at the Sacred Isle will be under your control. Don’t allow Linley to ambush us and destroy our headquarters. As for Fallen Leaf and Osenno, you two come with me, along with six Angel Saints.”

  The emaciated Lord Fallen Leaf nodded slightly.

  Osenno approved as well.

  The Radiant Church had human Saints as well, but the potential of human Saints was far greater than that of the Angels. The Church would rather use the Angels as cannon fodder than allow their human Saints to die.

  With the Holy Emperor Heidens as their leader, the three pillars of the Radiant Church, Heidens, Osenno, and Lord Fallen Leaf, alongside six Angel Saints, quickly flew away from the Sacred Isle and away from the ocean, heading towards the Anarchic Lands.

  As for the Cult of Shadows, the importance they placed on faith power was no less than that of the Radiant Church’s.

  The various Saint-level pillars of the Cult of Shadows, such as the Dark Patriarch, also headed towards the Anarchic Lands.

  In the southern part of the Anarchic Lands, on a desolate official road, the massive tide of rats accompanied the human warriors in a quite orderly fashion, continuing their attacks. The hundreds of millions of rats and the two hundred thousand human warriors had been divided into ten armies.

  Each army had tens of millions of rats and twenty thousand human warriors.

  The main use of the human warriors was to placate the citizens of the cities. Within the twenty thousand human soldiers, there was a carriage. This was the only carriage in the entire army.

  And within the carriage, there was only…Bebe!

  Within the spacious carriage, Bebe stretched his two rear claws out as he lazily lay down while chatting spiritually with Linley. “Boss, five armies under my control have already taken down six prefectural cities and dozens of small cities. How about you? How’s training in the pocket dimension going? Oh, fine…I won’t bother you anymore.”

  “I’m so bored.”

  Bebe let out a resigned sigh.

  Although Bebe was roughly two thousand kilometers away from the magicite mines, Linley and Bebe both possessed so much spiritual energy that, when combined with their ‘bond of equals’ type of soul-binding, they could still chat at such a distance. Their range was double that of Linley and Haeru’s.

  Twelve years ago, Linley and Haeru could mentally talk at a distance of a thousand kilometers.

  By now, Linley and Haeru could talk at a distance of two thousand kilometers. Linley and Bebe naturally could talk at an even greater distance.

  “Hey, where are we? How much farther from the next prefectural city?” Bebe said loudly to the outside guard.

  Immediately, the soldier pulled open the carriage window and said respectfully, “Milord, according to the maps, we have another fifty kilometers to the next prefectural city.”

  “As far as that?” Bebe muttered, then closed his little eyes. “I guess I’d better take another nap first.”

  “The rat swarm is coming, the rat swarm is coming!” Sounds of terror from the city walls.

  Atop the walls of this prefectural city, the faces of the thousands of soldiers were utterly pale. Seeing the endless wave of magical beasts in the desolate wilderness, they were all terror-stricken. Even the city governor had giant beads of sweat appear on his forehead.

  “What to do?” The city governor was totally baffled.

  A nearby city manager said with terror, “Lord City Governor, this rat wave is simply too terrifying. We can’t stop them. It’s…it’s better if we surrender.” As he spoke, his voice lowered to a whisper. The soldiers of the prefectural city on the wall had all seen the enormous number of rats coming, with a thin line of human soldiers mixed in.

  “Surrender, won’t kill!”

  “Surrender, won’t kill!”

  “Surrender, won’t kill!”

  The human soldiers immediately let out an enormous unified chant. This earth-shaking chant, mixed with the terrifying, endless rat wave, caused many guards to throw down their weapons. After all, even before the rat swarm had arrived, these people had heard of how terrifying the rat swarm was.

  “Lord Bebe.”

  The carriage suddenly halted, and Bebe opened his little eyes blearily. Just as Bebe’s eyes were beginning to focus, his little eyes suddenly turned absolutely round, and with a ‘swish’, he disappeared from inside the carriage.

  The city had already surrendered, and the countless rats had been preparing to enter the city. But suddenly, not a single rat was moving.

  This was because a group of people were standing there in mid-air, the leader of them a skinny, bald man. Heidens. A terrifying aura spread out from Heidens, terrifying the below rats so badly that they all knelt down, not daring to move.

  “A Saint-level expert!” The human warriors below felt a hint of terror in their hearts.

  Seeing this, a hint of a calm smile appeared on Heiden’s face.

  The air quivered, and Bebe, who had previously been inside the carriage, appeared in mid-air. Bebe’s eyes stared fixedly at Heidens. His voice was extremely shrill. “You damn baldy, even Osenno is standing behind you. So you are that so-called Holy Emperor of the Radiant Church?”

  Damn baldy?

  Osenno, Lord Fallen Leaf, and the two Angel Saints standing behind Heidens felt amused.

  A hint of a faint smile remained on Heidens’ face. Like a benevolent father, he looked gently at Bebe. “So you are Linley’s magical beast. I am indeed the Holy Emperor, Heidens. Today, I have come because I hope to have a good negotiation with Linley.”

  “Oh?” Bebe’s beady little eyes rolled.

  “Alright. You wait.” Bebe said loudly. “My Boss is still back in the Kingdom. I can’t notify him. You’ll need to wait half a day.”

  Heidens smiled and nodded. “Fine. Linley can choose the meeting location as well.” Heidens’ attitude was quite modest.

  Bebe’s beady little eyes rolled again, and then he said loudly, “Fine. Just stay here at this prefectural city. I’ll come looking for you in a bit.” Bebe let out a sharp screech, and instantly, the rats below all obediently retreated out of the city, no longer attacking it.

  Seeing this, Heidens, Osenno, and Lord Fallen Leaf all felt shock in their heart.

  As for Bebe, he transformed into a black streak of light, flying towards the north. As he flew, Bebe began to reach out to Linley. “Boss, quick. Stop training. Something big is going down.”

  In the depths of the magicite mine, a gentle wind blew past. Linley’s body appeared in mid-air, while Zassler immediately flew out as well.

  “Lord Linley, the value of this pocket dimension room is definitely on par with any divine artifact.” Zassler sighed in amazement. This was Zassler’s first trip into the pocket dimension room. Just then, Linley and him had been training inside.

  Zassler, having been initiated into the secrets of necromancy, knew many occult mysteries, far more th
an Linley did.

  Zassler knew very well that a Demigod definitely would not be able to create such a stable pocket dimension.

  “Enough of that for now. Just then, Barker’s magical beast notified me that the experts of the Cult of Darkness have arrived. And then, Bebe contacted me as well.” A hint of a smile was on Linley’s lips. “The Cult of Shadows and Radiant Church are both frantic now.”

  “Naturally.” Zassler laughed. “Lord Linley, you don’t care about territory, but religious organizations greatly value the power of faith. If they lose a huge amount of territory, they might even have a punishment fall down upon them from the Divine Plane of Light.”

  “When their soldiers attacked my territory, I endured the entire time. But now, these people have popped out. I want to see what they have to say!” Linley’s eyes had a hint of coldness flash past them.

  “Zassler, let’s go.”

  Linley’s body transformed into a flash of light, streaking gracefully towards the south. Zassler laughed, then followed him. Only, Zassler’s ‘laugh’, when paired with his deathly, netherworldly eyes, was simply terrifying to behold.

  While flying over.

  Linley’s eyes turned cold as he issued a mental order. “Haeru, you and those three Saint-level dragons come as well.” Immediately, the Saint-level magical beasts, the Blackcloud Panther, the Tyrant Wyrm, the Golden Dragon, and the Thunder Lizard all flew out of Mt. Blackraven.

  Book 10, Baruch – Chapter 45:Shameless

  Above the mighty Liuyan River, a large ship was gliding its way through the waters, but not a single person was on the deck.

  In the uppermost inner deck of the ship, however, experts were as numerous as the clouds.

  Every single person within this massive inner deck was a Saint-level expert. Within the hall, there were nine chairs, divided into three sides.

  Linley, Barker, and Zassler were seated on one side.

  The Holy Emperor Heidens, Praetor Osenno, and Lord Fallen Leaf were seated on another side, while on the other side were the forces of the Cult of Shadows: Dark Patriarch Affleck [A’fu’lai’ke], Senior Judge O’Casey, Fallen Angel Leader Cramerson [Ke’lai’mo’sen].

  Behind each of the two sides were a number of Angel Saints or Fallen Angel Saints.

  Heidens and Affleck shared a glance, a strange feeling in their heart. The two of them were the leaders of two major religions, and they were enemies to each other.

  But today, they were allies.

  The reason for this bizarre transformation was Linley. An astonishing genius who had grown at rapid speed. Despite his youth, he had reached one of the utmost peaks of power amongst the experts of the continent. Even figures as exalted as the Holy Emperor and the Dark Patriarch had to lower their noble heads in front of Linley and speak soft words to negotiate with him.

  “Heidens. Affleck.” Linley had a hint of a smile around his lips. “I don’t know why you have invited me to come here. What is this about?” Bebe rested on Linley’s thighs, his beady little eyes staring at the Holy Emperor and the Dark Patriarch.

  The Dark Patriarch Affleck’s skin was as white and tender as that of a young girl’s. His voice was also very soft and gentle. “The reason why so many of us from the Cult of Shadows have come is primarily to ask you, Linley, to make a concession and have your rat wave army halt its attacks. I imagine Heidens has come for similar reasons. Heidens, am I right?”

  Heidens nodded slightly, then looked at Linley, his gentle gaze giving off the impression of the spring wind. “Linley, would you be willing to make this concession?”

  “Are you all dreaming?” Linley didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.

  Heidens laughed calmly. “Linley, as long as you are willing to make this concession, our Radiant Church is also willing to pay a high price. We will definitely make you satisfied.”

  “The same with us. What we pay would definitely be enough to make you feel satisfied, Linley.” Affleck said.

  Both of the leaders of the two religions were acting submissively towards Linley.

  They didn’t want to fight against Linley head on. First of all, they had no excuse to do so. If they fought against Linley head on, they would be giving Desri’s side an excuse to intervene. And secondly, the Radiant Church, at least, had agreed that within these twenty years, they were not to attack Linley. The time limit wasn’t over.

  “Linley, what do you think?” Heidens looked at Linley.

  Linley felt deep hatred for the Radiant Church. Linley only harbored a dislike for cruel, savage people, but towards those who feigned benevolence, such as Heidens, and for those who pretended to be as kind as a father, but who in reality were merciless, cruel, and utterly pragmatic, Linley felt the utmost of revulsion.

  The leaders of the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows looked at Linley.

  Linley revealed a hint of a smile, but from his mouth, he spoke two words: “No way!”

  The faces of both Heidens and Affleck instantly froze, while at the same time, the leader of the Fallen Angels, Cramerson, let out a cold sneer. “Linley, can it be that you rashly imagine that you can set yourself against both the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows?”

  “Cramerson.” The Dark Patriarch, Affleck, immediately barked at him.

  Linley looked at the leader of the Fallen Angels, Cramerson, and let out a light laugh. “Based on what I know, for an Angel to Descend, they require a powerful body. Mr. Cramerson, you are so powerful that this body must at least be of the seventh or eighth rank in power. Where did your Cult of Shadows procure such a powerful body?”

  In the past, the five Barker brothers had reached the eighth rank just by physical training alone.

  Linley knew very well that most people would only be able to reach the sixth rank through physical training. No matter how talented they were, the seventh rank was virtually impossible, with perhaps one appearing every millennia. Only the lineage of the Four Supreme Warriors was able to constantly produce such a miracle just based on physical training.

  Thus, this body of Cramerson’s most likely belonged to one of the Four Supreme Warriors.

  “Right. Where did that body come from?” Barker stared coldly at the Cult of Shadow’s side.

  Back then, him and his four brothers had nearly died and had their bodies transformed into vessels for Angels. Thus, this was a very sensitive topic for him.

  “That’s a secret of our Cult of Shadows.” Cramerson smiled. “Enough, Linley. Let’s return to the previous topic. Are you truly unwilling to make any concession at all? If you are willing to make this concession, you will win the eternal gratitude of our Cult of Shadows.”

  Gratitude?

  Linley, Zassler, Barker, and even Bebe immediately began to laugh loudly, holding their stomachs.

  “Linley, you’d best consider it.” Heidens looked at Linley as well.

  Linley’s laughter faded, and his face grew solemn. He swept the people in front of him with his gaze and said seriously, “Heidens. Affleck. Listen well. I, Linley, will say this to you plainly. No matter what, I will not withdraw my armies. The unification of the Anarchic Lands is going to happen, and there is nothing that can stop it!”

  “Linley, don’t go too far.” Osenno sneered coldly.

  In terms of his ability to ‘endure’, Osenno clearly was inferior to Heidens and Lord Fallen Leaf.

  “Too far?” Linley frowned, his gaze shooting towards Osenno like cold knives. “Osenno, don’t put on airs in front of me. I’ve already spoken very plainly today. If you want me to withdraw my armies, that’s not going to happen.”

  The aura in the cabin of the boat immediately became extremely tense.

  “Is there anything else? Speak.” Linley was quite casual.

  Bebe added, “Right, if there’s anything you want, hurry up and talk. I’m about to go lead my rat wave army to go take over a huge swathe of land.”

  Zassler’s cold, gloomy gaze swept towards the people in the room. He let out a f
ew insidious chuckles, but didn’t speak.

  The cabin was silent for a while.

  “Fine then.” Heidens sighed. “Our Radiant Church can make one final concession. We can offer the land which we control to your Baruch Kingdom and let you administer it.”

  “Oh?” Linley was a bit surprised.

  What was Heidens intending? Why was he allowing Linley to take over the entire Anarchic Lands?

  “We are willing to do this as well.” Affleck said.

  Linley glanced at Heidens, then at Affleck. He mused to himself, “What are these two church leaders planning?”

  Heidens looked at Linley. “Our request is very simple. As long as you are willing to agree to allow our Radiant Church to preach openly throughout your empire and won’t suppress our religion at all, we’ll be satisfied.”

  “Preach? Not suppress them at all?” Linley frowned.

  Affleck nodded as well. “Our request is the same. Allow our Cult of Shadows to openly preach, and do not suppress it at all.”

  Linley laughed.

  He now understood their intentions. The Cult of Shadows and the Radiant Church greatly valued the power of faith. Compared to that, they didn’t care too much about who ruled over a particular territory.

  What was truly the most important was that the faith power had to be maintained.

  “Linley, the spread of our religions in your empire in the Anarchic Lands won’t affect your governance much. You should be able to accept this, right?” Affleck said persuasively.

  Heidens just quietly watched Linley, waiting for Linley’s answer.

  “You’ll allow me to unify it, and you’ll just proselytize?” Linley looked at the two.

  “Right.” Heidens immediately nodded. “This is the greatest concession we can make. Linley, if you are willing to agree, then our two sides can become friends, and we can forget about everything which has happened in the past.”

  If Linley were to agree, then the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows would definitely have to give Linley face in the future. In the future, Linley would be as free and unrestrained in the Yulan continent as a fish in water.