Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  Because Linley and the others were currently landing within the rear gardens.

  The previous day’s snow had yet to melt completely, and thus clumps of snow could still be seen amongst the flowers.

  “Linley’s back?” Housekeeper Hiri and Hillman, who were currently enjoying the sun in the center of the rear gardens, immediately turned to stare from afar. Linley, dressed in a sky-blue robe, and Barker, dressed in a brown robe, were standing shoulder to shoulder, while the adorable Bebe was currently standing on Linley’s shoulder.

  “Uncle Hillman. Grandpa Hiri.” Linley immediately went over to greet them.

  “Wonderful. Wonderful.” Housekeeper Hiri was extremely excited. “Over ten years. Ten full years. Linley, I, an old fellow, thought I might not have the chance to see you return.” Housekeeper Hiri had accompanied many generations of the Baruch’s clansmen. He was over a hundred years old now.

  After all, in terms of age, Linley was over fifty years old.

  However, amongst Saints, compared to those experts who had trained for thousands of years, Linley was just a young fellow.

  “Lord Linley. Oh! Big brother!” Gates and Ankh, those two huge fellows, immediately charged forward, their faces covered in excitement.

  “Father!” A deep voice rang out.

  Still covered with sweat and wearing just a simple cloak, a sturdily built youngster rushed forward. This youngster was over two meters tall, and as he ran over, he excitedly looked everywhere before his gaze locked on Linley.

  “Father.” The sturdy youngster immediately ran towards Linley.

  This sturdy youngster’s features seemed to have 70% similarity with Linley’s. Only, he was physically larger than Linley. Linley immediately recognized him. With surprised joy, he said, “Taylor?”

  “Father, it’s been ten years.” Taylor immediately embraced Linley.

  When Linley had left his home, Taylor had only been twelve, and was just a child. But ten years later, Taylor was already twenty two years old. If he were to stand side by side with Linley and someone were to claim that Linley and Taylor were siblings, many would probably believe it.

  After all, Linley’s appearance was virtually unchanged.

  “Father, you look exactly like you did ten years ago.” Taylor was so excited that his eyes were turning red. After all, to the twenty two year old Taylor, ten years was indeed an extremely long period of time.

  Linley patted Taylor on the head, a smile on his face. Linley had always felt a hint of guilt towards Taylor. A person’s childhood…was the most important period to them in their development, but he, Linley, had never had much time to spend with his son.

  “Where’s your sister, Sasha?” Linley asked.

  Taylor shook his head. “Sis isn’t at home. She went to the imperial capital. Most likely, she’ll only come back some time later.”

  “Your mother?” Linley noticed that Delia hadn’t come out yet.

  Right at this moment, a beautiful young lady holding an infant walked out. The beautiful young woman, upon seeing Linley, had a hint of worship in her eyes. Linley glanced at this young lady, puzzled. “Taylor, who is this?”

  “Jenny, quick, come on over.” Taylor immediately called to her.

  The beautiful young woman walked over, then said, somewhat nervously, “Father!”

  “Father?” Linley was somewhat astonished.

  Taylor immediately chortled, “Father, come, this is your precious grandson. He was born just three months ago.” Taylor immediately took the infant from the arms of the young lady, then held him out in front of Linley. “Father, look at how cute he is.”

  “Grandson?” Linley was rather flabbergasted.

  He hadn’t come back in ten years. Not only had his son grown up, he had a son of his own now.

  “Haha…Boss. That look on your face…so funny.” Bebe was laughing loudly now, and the others began to laugh as well. Only, they didn’t dare to laugh as wildly as Bebe did.

  Linley couldn’t help but clout Taylor on the head. “Taylor, you little rascal. You got married and had a kid without even waiting for your father, me, to come back.” Linley didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. He just stared at his grandson in front of him, with his tender, watery skin, and those adorable, pure, pitch-black eyes staring at Linley in confusion.

  As soon as Linley had seen his grandson, he immediately took a liking to this adorable kid.

  Linley immediately reached out to hold the infant. Linley was extremely careful. Even when he was picking up those three divine sparks in the Necropolis of the Gods, he hadn’t been as careful as he now was.

  “Oh…what a good boy…” Linley held his grandson, a smile blossoming on his face.

  Taylor and his wife, ‘Jenny’, glanced at each other, smiles appearing on their faces as well. Jenny whispered into Taylor’s ear, “Taylor, didn’t you say that your lord father ripped a Hellfire Phoenix apart with his bare hands? But your lord father doesn’t seem as terrifying a person as the legends make him out to be.”

  Taylor looked at his father, Linley. Right now, Linley looked as though he were holding the rarest of treasures in his arms.

  “Taylor, have you picked a name for the child yet?” Linley raised his head to look at Taylor.

  “I have. His name is Arnold [A’nuo].” Taylor said.

  “Arnold?” Linley lowered his head, looking into Arnold’s pure, jet-black eyes. He said softly, “Arnold, Arnold…” This was his first grandson, and this feeling of holding him filled Linley’s heart with satisfaction and fulfillment.

  Book 12, The Descent of the Gods – Chapter 2, Becoming a Deity?

  After spending ten years in the Necropolis of the Gods, he came back to a grandson.

  This truly caught Linley somewhat off-guard, but while holding Arnold in his arms, Linley still felt very happy.

  Within the main hall of the castle.

  “Taylor, where is your mother?” Linley asked.

  Taylor immediately began to laugh. “Father, two years after you left, Mother reached the Grand Magus Saint level…”

  “What? Two years?” Linley wasn’t only overjoyed; he was also shocked.

  In the Necropolis of the Gods, he had finally broken through to the Grand Magus Saint level on the tenth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods. That was the ninth year in the Necropolis of the Gods. Compared to Delia, Linley had actually reached the Grand Magus Saint level much slower.

  “Delia really is amazing.” Linley secretly said to himself while grinning.

  Taylor continued, “After reaching the Grand Magus Saint level, she went to the underground training room you always used. A while ago, when Arnold was born, Mother had come out of seclusion, but after his first month, Mother went back to continue training.”

  “Oh?” Linley nodded slightly.

  Turning, he glanced at the others. “Everyone, wait here for now. I’ll bring Delia out soon. We’ll have dinner together.”

  Deep within Dragonblood Castle was that mysterious dimensional gateway. Only, compared to the dimensional gateway beneath the South Sea, this one was much smaller. Linley’s body was already covered with a ‘Pulseguard Defense’ layer, and he walked in.

  “Ten years.”

  Linley stood in the pocket dimension. Outside of that membrane was chaotic space, and within it, Delia was seated cross-legged, meditating. Her face was covered with a holy light, and she seemed like a goddess.

  “Hrm?” Linley suddenly frowned in confusion.

  While she was training, the aura which Delia was emitting was actual capable of causing Linley’s heart to clench.

  Delia opened her eyes, turning her head in puzzlement. But when she saw Linley, she immediately stood up in surprised joy. “Linley!” Delia’s eyes instantly turned red. The feeling of being separated for ten years truly had been hard to endure.

  Delia threw herself into Linley’s arms, clutching Linley tightly.

  Linley also tightly held Delia, saying softly by her ea
r, “Forgive me, Delia.”

  “Linley, I’ve been so afraid. I was afraid that you wouldn’t be able to return from the Necropolis of the Gods.” As Delia spoke, Linley suddenly felt that his clothes were growing wet. Delia was already crying!

  Delia lifted her head to look at Linley, a mixture of laughter and tears on her face, with tears glistening on her eyelashes. “Linley, you won’t leave now that you are back, right?”

  “I’m not leaving, I’m not leaving,” Linley reassured her.

  Linley and Delia walked towards the stone bed, sitting down while holding each other.

  “Right, Delia. Why is it that I have the feeling as though you are rather different compared to the past?” Linley asked questioningly.

  Delia looked at Linley, intentionally putting on a mysterious air. “Linley, guess why I am different from before?”

  “Is it because you have reached the Grand Magus Saint level?” Linley asked.

  Delia shook her head.

  “Hrm?” Linley couldn’t understand it.

  Delia smiled, then said softly, “Linley, I’ll tell you big a secret. I. Have already…become a Deity!”

  Linley instantly was utterly stunned. It was as though he had been struck by a bolt of lightning. He was speechless for a long time.

  “What did you just say? Delia, did you say you’ve become a Deity?” Linley stared disbelievingly at Delia. How could one become a Deity so easily? The likes of Desri and Fain had trained for so many years without success. Even Linley himself had experienced countless life and death battles before, out of a lucky happenstance, he had broken through on the eleventh floor of the Necropolis of the Gods.”

  But despite that, Linley would still need around ten years to become a Deity.

  Delia had become a Deity?

  “It’s true.” Delia nodded.

  “Delia, stop joking around.” Linley began to laugh. “If you really want to become a Deity, that’s not a big deal. This time, I acquired divine sparks in the Necropolis of the Gods, one of which is a wind-style divine spark of a Demigod. You can use it to become a Deity.”

  Delia gently shook her head.

  “Linley, watch carefully.” Delia said softly to Linley.

  Suddenly….

  A strange presence suddenly filled the area. Linley felt as though he had suddenly come under tremendous invisible pressure, binding him and causing him to be unable to move.

  “Godrealm?” The experienced Linley instantly understood.

  But Linley’s layer of Pulseguard Defense over his body shuddered and broke free of the ‘binding’. Linley couldn’t help but feel astonished. How could a so-called ‘Godrealm’ be broken through so easily?

  Linley stared at Delia in disbelief.

  Delia said, somewhat embarrassed, “I’ve only been fusing with this divine spark for eight years, and I’ve only gained insight into a small part of the Laws held within it. I haven’t even finished absorbing the divine spark. I can only use this ‘Godrealm’ for scaring people. After I completely absorb the divine spark, my ‘Godrealm’ will become a true ‘Godrealm’.”

  Hearing Delia say this, Linley stared at her in astonishment.

  “Delia, what is this all about?” Linley spoke.

  Linley was truly stunned.

  He came back after ten years and found a grandson, fine. But his wife was becoming a Deity?

  “Linley, do you still remember how on the day of our wedding, Bebe said that the Violet-Gold Rat King friend of his had given him a black stone? And then, Bebe had given that black stone to me as our wedding present.” Delia said.

  Linley’s mind suddenly shook.

  “Delia, are you saying that the black stone…” Linley was no fool. Now that Delia mentioned it, he instantly understood.

  “Right. That black stone was a wind-style Demigod divine spark!” Delia said.

  “So it really was the case…” Linley felt that this was simply too ridiculous.

  It was all too ridiculous.

  There was no need to describe how important a divine spark was. Desri and the others had pursued godhood for thousands of years, and even Linley had only acquired these three divine sparks through experiencing countless dangers and near-death situations. But now he suddenly learned…that on the day of his wedding, the wedding gift he had been presented with was actually a divine spark!

  “I couldn’t believe it either, but after I began to absorb this divine spark…I knew that it couldn’t be fake, right?” Delia said honestly.

  Linley nodded slightly.

  “At first, during our wedding, although I had bound the black stone by blood and absorbed it into my body, I couldn’t sense it at all…only, from that day onwards, my spiritual energy and mageforce both increased at a ridiculously fast rate.” Delia said.

  Linley laughed. “With a divine spark in your body, how could you possibly not train quickly?”

  “But I was never able to sense the presence of the divine spark. Only roughly two years after you left, when I reached the Grand Magus Saint level and my soul began to change, did I clearly begin to sense the existence of the divine spark. At that time, I totally understood.”

  Linley nodded. “Right. Only after reaching the Saint-level can one’s soul truly be able to fuse with a divine spark.”

  The reason why she had never been able to sense it in the past, and why she had trained so rapidly, had all become clear. Now Linley fully understood the reason of her ‘rapid improvement’.

  “Delia, according to what you said, you have already spent eight years fusing with this divine spark, but you’ve only absorbed part of it?” Linley asked. Linley himself knew that if he didn’t train and instead used a divine spark to become a Deity, he would still need a very long period of time.

  “Right.” Delia nodded. “It might be because in the past, I didn’t have any insights into the Elemental Laws at all. So, just like reading a book, I had to slowly begin understanding the most basic, elementary aspects of the Laws within this divine spark. Most likely, only after I finish understanding everything it contains will I be able to completely absorb this divine spark, and only then will it completely belong to me.”

  Linley nodded.

  To ordinary people, becoming a Deity was something that required constant experiments, and which had to be taken one step at a time.

  But with a divine spark, it was as though all of the profound truths of the Laws were laid bare before you, allowing you to peruse them at your leisure. After you understood them, that was enough.

  “I expect that it will take at least ten or twenty years of hard work before I’ll be able to completely absorb this divine spark and understand the profound mysteries of the Laws it contains.” Delia said rather resignedly. “However, although I do understand some of the profound truths of the Elemental Laws of the Wind, I have no idea how to actually use them…”

  Linley was stunned.

  “Delia, what do you mean by saying that?” Linley didn’t understand.

  “I mean, I have some insights into the Laws, but I don’t know…how to use them to attack.” Delia said, embarrassed.

  Linley suddenly understood.

  “Hahahaha….” Linley began to laugh loudly.

  This logic was actually quite simple. For example, if a divine spark contained the profound truths of the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’, a Saint who fused with the divine spark would also understand the profound truths within the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’…but he wouldn’t actually know how to use it.

  For example, using the vibrations of the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’ to attack was what Linley had developed into his own special attack, the ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’.

  When utilizing it for his defense, it became the ‘Pulseguard Defense’.

  Understanding the profound truths of the Laws was nothing more than understanding a theory. If you actually wanted to use it to kill someone, you still had to understand how to put that theory into practic
e.

  For example, if someone gained insight into the ‘Fast’ aspect and you then asked them to utilize the ‘Myriad Swords Converge’, would they be able to do so?

  This was a form of application!

  This was the problem with absorbing someone else’s divine spark. The divine spark only contained the insights into the mysteries of the Law, but didn’t include the special techniques which the original owner had used to actually apply and utilize the Laws.

  “The question of ‘application’ is indeed a tricky one. Right, Delia. This divine spark of yours which possesses mysteries regarding the Elemental Laws of the Wind…what type of mysteries does it contain?” Linley asked. “If it has to do with speed, I might be able to give you some pointers.”

  Delia shook her head. “I don’t know how to explain it clearly. I’ve only managed to understand a small part of it. Okay, I can put it to you like this. The mysteries contained within this divine spark which I am fusing with is somewhat similar to the wind-style spell, ‘Void Extermination’.”

  “Void Extermination?” Linley nodded slightly.

  “I truly don’t know anything about that at all.” Linley wanted to help but couldn’t.

  Linley then laughed. “Enough. Delia, for now, just work hard on training. After you fully understand the mysteries of this divine spark, come up with ways of applying what you have learned. Actually, the control over wind elemental essence which the divine spark confers upon you will allow you to form a ‘Godrealm’, and within that realm, Saints won’t be able to move at all.”

  Delia laughed as well. This was the biggest difference between a Saint and a Deity.

  The divine spark, in and of itself, represented a type of authority.

  Actually, the Sovereigns and the Highgods weren’t necessarily that different in terms of their level of understanding of the Laws. Only…with but a thought, a Sovereign could kill a Highgod. This was the unparalleled authority which a ‘divine Sovereign spark’ conveyed. And in the countless planes of the universe, the number of Sovereigns was fixed.

  “Delia, it is wonderful that you are going to become a Deity. But you have to work hard. Most likely, in another ten years or so of training, I’ll reach the Deity-level as well, on my own.” Linley laughed.