Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  “Have some faith in me.” Linley, seeing the worry etched on Wharton’s face, still felt very moved. He understood what his little brother, Wharton, was thinking about.

  Zassler encouraged as well, “Wharton, don’t worry too much. In four more years, the War God and the others will all have returned as well. By that time, the situation will be different yet again. In addition, since when has your big brother ever let you down? You need to have faith in Lord Linley.”

  Wharton nodded.

  He looked at his big brother. Linley had killed the king of Fenlai Kingdom, become famous in the O’Brien Empire, had fought Haydson to a standstill, and now…just by relying on his own ability, was about to become a Deity.

  “Big bro, I believe in you.” Wharton anticipated seeing Linley being able to overcome their enemy.

  Linley actually felt much more confident than Wharton was.

  First of all, if that mysterious Deity was to wait four years before coming, by then…Dylin and the others would have returned as well. He had originally gifted Dylin with that divine spark. Dylin owed him a huge favor in return. Linley believed that Dylin wouldn’t just stand by and watch with arms folded.

  But of course, that was just relying on external strength.

  Linley’s greatest support was…Bloodviolet and the Coiling Dragon ring!

  Divine artifacts had differences in power as well.

  For example, when they had first gone to the sixth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods, they had encountered the Flame Tyrant and that divine artifact greataxe it had wielded. Even Saints could make full use of the special abilities of that divine artifact. Thus…without question, that divine artifact was a low level one.

  The harder a divine artifact was to use, the more stringent its requirements were, the more powerful it actually was.

  As for his Bloodviolet sword, up till now, Linley still was only able to rely on the hardness and sharpness of Bloodviolet to kill opponent’s. Linley was still completely unable to use some of the special abilities of the sword. For example…Linley was completely unable to make Bloodviolet change its size as he pleased.

  Divine artifacts could all expand or contract in size. This was a basic ability.

  But Linley wasn’t even capable of accomplishing this. Clearly, Bloodviolet was no ordinary divine artifact. Actually, when Linley’s spiritual energy had interacted with that terrifying baleful aura and seen that terrifying sight within Bloodviolet, he had known that it was a portent of how extraordinary this Bloodviolet sword was.

  Bloodviolet was one powerful support. He also had the Coiling Dragon ring!

  Up till now, Linley was still utterly baffled with regards to the Coiling Dragon ring. But Linley was certain that for him to not be able to sense anything about it at his current level of strength meant that the power of the Coiling Dragon ring was most likely no weaker than that of Bloodviolet, and perhaps even more powerful.

  “Once I become a Deity, I’ll naturally be able to control and use my divine artifacts.” Linley was very eager.

  He wanted to know the true power of Bloodviolet and of the Coiling Dragon ring!

  “Lord, Chairman Yale of the Dawson Conglomerate has arrived.” A guard of Dragonblood Castle ran into the rear flower gardens and spoke to Linley respectfully. Even the quick glance he snuck at Linley was filled with a hint of worship.

  “Yale?” Linley’s eyes instantly lit up.

  “Quick, quick, invite him over.” Linley immediately felt very happy. To Linley, these three friends he had made during his youthful days had the exact same status in his heart as his real brother, Wharton.

  “Yale?” Wharton frowned, then said to Linley, “Big bro, I forgot to tell you. Five years ago, after the great war began, Yale came to us and asked for us to give him the rights to purchase all of the battle captives we took. At that time, although Cena was rather unwilling, in the end, he had still agreed.”

  “Oh?” Although Linley didn’t understand much about managing a country, he understood what purchasing all of the battle captives meant. This wasn’t something a person could do just because they had money.

  “That’s not a major affair. No need to worry about it too much. I’ll just say a few things to Boss Yale about it.” Linley didn’t think too much about it and just spoke casually.

  Hearing Linley’s words, Wharton didn’t say anything further. At this time, they heard the sound of footsteps. Linley immediately went to the gate of the rear flower garden to greet the person, and indeed…Yale, his face all smiles, walked in. As soon as he saw Linley, his eyes lit up. “Third Bro, it really is quite hard to meet you these days.”

  “I’ve been busy with something important. Come, let’s have a seat while we chat.” Linley immediately said warmly.

  Linley said to the nearby Wharton and Zassler, “Wharton, you guys can go rest for now. Boss Yale and I haven’t met for a long time. We’re going to have a nice long chat. Oh, right. Make the arrangements for a banquet feast tonight. Yale’s having dinner here tonight.”

  Linley’s original plan had been to go back into closed door training after tonight’s meal.

  “Yes, big bro.” Wharton nodded, then immediately left along with Gates and the others. Zassler frowned as he glanced twice at Yale, but he didn’t say anything as he left.

  The maids of the castle quickly brought fine wine and winecups to the two.

  “Boss Yale, why did did you want to buy all of our battle captives?” Linley asked curiously. Linley wasn’t planning to interrogate him; he was just a bit puzzled.

  Yale intentionally put on a mysterious air. “That’s a business secret.”

  “Jeeze, you…you’re going to talk about keeping ‘business secrets’ from me?” Linley immediately began to laugh, and he no longer raised the topic.

  “Your arrival is quite the coincidence. If you were a day late, I probably wouldn’t have free time to spend with you.” Linley felt quite moved. After all, he had just come out yesterday, and had been planning to continue his closed door training after dinner today. There had only been a very small window of time, but Yale had just so happened to catch it.

  It had to be said that it was quite the coincidence.

  “I had some business that required me to pass nearby. When I saw Dragonblood Castle, I decided to come looking for you. I was just trying my luck. I didn’t expect you’d actually be available.” Yale laughed as well.

  “Hey, what wine is this, anyhow?” Yale suddenly frowned as he looked at his wine cup.

  Linley glanced at the wine bottle, shaking his head and laughing. “How should I know? My knowledge of wine isn’t as deep as yours. But I imagine the wine that the servants at my Dragonblood Castle prepared shouldn’t be too bad.”

  Yale immediately began to laugh as well. “I know. You, you genius, spend all your time training. You don’t waste any time on wine. However, although this wine isn’t bad, it can’t be considered exquisite either. Right, in my interspatial ring, I have a bottle of fine wine. Third Bro, come, let’s taste it together.”

  As he spoke, with a flip of his hand, Yale withdrew a small bottle of wine from within his interspatial ring.

  “Such a small bottle?” Linley was somewhat surprised.

  “This is something which a winery which our Dawson Conglomerate owns just finished refining. A single drop of this wine is a thousand times more valuable than its weight in gold. Come, have a taste.” Yale immediately poured Linley a cup, and then poured himself a cup as well.

  Yale raised the cup, then frowned, intentionally saying ‘unhappily’, “Third Bro, what are you waiting for? Are you not going to give me face?”

  “Haha, Yale, how would I, the Third Bro, dare to not give the Boss face?” Laughing, Linley raised the cup of wine. “Come, cheers.” As he spoke, without hesitating at all, Linley drank it all in one swig. But only after Linley drank did he realize that Yale hadn’t drank yet.

  “Boss Yale, why didn’t you drink?” Linley laughed wh
ile berating. “You are going too far.”

  Yale didn’t reply. He just put the wine cup back on the table. His smile had disappeared, and he just looked coldly and calmly at Linley.

  Book 12, The Descent of the Gods – Chapter 21, Soulsilk

  “Boss Yale, you…?”

  Yale’s face was calm, and his cold gaze stabbed at Linley’s heart like daggers. It had been so many years. The four bros of dormitory 1987 had all been on exceedingly close terms with each other. Although they had some squabbles when they were young, there had been none that harmed their friendship.

  Linley had never imagined that Yale would look at him in such a way.

  It was as though he were looking at a stranger. As though he were looking at…a dead person!

  “Huh?” Linley’s face suddenly changed dramatically.

  He finally discovered the changes that were going on inside his body. After that cup of wine had entered his stomach, he suddenly realized that the cup of wine actually contained strange, faint gray strands of thin threads. The many silken threads quickly rushed towards Linley’s brain, and they soon entered his consciousness.

  The many faint gray threads surrounded his entire sea of consciousness, and then…began to seep through!

  “Uhhhh….”

  Linley felt his head grow dizzy. He couldn’t help but sway, falling backwards over the seat behind him. After striking the chair, he collapsed to the floor, but right now, he didn’t notice it at all. His concentration was completely focused on his sea of consciousness.

  “Lord Linley.” A nearby serving woman immediately cried out in alarm.

  Linley, to the serving women and guards of Dragonblood Castle, was a godlike presence. This serving woman had never imagined that the invincible Linley would suddenly faint, as though he were an ordinary person. But the panicked cry of the serving woman quickly drew the attention of the people outside.

  The first person whose attention was drawn was Zassler.

  Zassler charged into the rear flower garden. Seeing the scene in front of him, his face changed dramatically. “Lord Linley.” Zassler immediately rushed towards Linley, but right now, no one at all could help Linley. Zassler immediately turned his head to stare at Yale.

  “It was you!” Zassler’s eyes radiated a freezing light.

  Yale maintained his silence, not saying a word.

  “Big bro, big bro.” Wharton and a group of others ran over as well. Seeing Linley lying there collapsed on the floor, they were all terrified.

  They wouldn’t even be afraid if Linley had been stabbed or slashed, but for Linley to collapse to the ground for no reason at all…how could they not be afraid and worried?

  Within Linley’s consciousness.

  The many faint gray strings had, in the end, penetrated straight through that faint azure layer of light surrounding his consciousness. The many faint gray strings pierced into the sea of consciousness, and instantly began to constrict around that sword-shaped soul of Linley’s.

  The sword-shaped soul was currently hovering in the deepest parts of his sea of consciousness.

  “Not good.” Linley definitely wouldn’t permit those strange threads to attack his soul. He immediately tried to control his spiritual energy to block it.

  The sea of consciousness in his brain instantly began to roil, and large amounts of spiritual energy began to whittle away at those dim gray threads. After having become a Grand Magus Saint, Linley’s spiritual energy had been further refined and become easier to control. Those faint gray threads, however, forcefully pushed through his condensed spiritual energy, drawing closer to his sword-shaped soul at high speed.

  But in the process of doing so, the threads had also been reduced in power.

  Having lost a third of their power, the remaining faint gray threads still wrapped around Linley’s soul. With those many gray threads wrapped around his sword-shaped soul, Linley’s soul was like a turtle trapped in a jar. Those gray threads tried to penetrate even deeper.

  The soul was extremely important. Once it was pierced through, one would most likely die. Linley understood this very well.

  “Rumble…” The sword-shaped soul suddenly flashed with blue light, suddenly gleaming as brightly as the sun. Those faint gray threads dissolved in an instant, like flecks of snow. Within his sea of consciousness, not a single faint gray thread was remaining.

  Only now did Linley secretly let out a sigh of relief.

  He opened his eyes.

  “What are you doing?!” As soon as Linley opened his eyes, he couldn’t help but roar in fury.

  Yale was curled up to one side. Yale’s body was covered with blood, but Yale was still moving. He hadn’t died yet. Wharton, Gates, and the others, especially his son Taylor, were currently kicking Yale.

  “Bam.” Yale suddenly vomited out yet another mouthful of blood.

  “Big bro (Lord Linley)!” Wharton, Zassler, and the others, upon hearing Linley’s furious roar, turned to look with surprised delight.

  “Father!” Taylor turned as well. His tear-covered face was now filled with shock and joy.

  Everyone from Housekeeper Hiri to Taylor’s children were all present. Dozens of people from Dragonblood Castle were clustered here. All of them stared at Yale with eyes filled with hatred. Now that Linley had woken up, however, they all grew joyful and calmed down.

  “Father, are you alright?” Taylor instantly rushed over to Linley.

  “Everyone, take a step aside for now.” Linley was staring at Yale.

  Linley was certain…that just then, he had suffered an extremely powerful, insidious attack. If it hadn’t been that the protective Dragonblood Warrior energy surrounding his soul had suddenly increased dramatically, it would be hard to say if he would’ve been able to make it past that dangerous moment.

  All of this had been caused by that so-called flask of ‘fine wine’ of Yale’s.

  “Cough, cough!” Yale covered his mouth, but fresh blood still continued to dribble out past his fingers. Clearly, just then, Taylor and the others had been absolutely furious. After all, Linley was family. Taylor, Wharton, and the others had been so angry that they had physically assaulted Yale.

  If it hadn’t been for Yale’s special relationship with Linley, he would have been beaten to death long ago.

  Linley looked at Yale and his current appearance. He stretched his hand out, resting it against Yale’s shoulders. He controlled the ‘Pearl of Life’ in his body, and as he did, a special energy filled with life force streamed out from the Pearl of Life, passing through his right hand into Yale’s body.

  Yale’s wounds visibly healed in front of them.

  “Boss Yale, tell me. Why.” Linley stared at Yale. His voice was very low.

  Yale’s body was fine now, and he no longer coughed. He glanced calmly at Linley. “No reason.” After saying these words, Yale no longer spoke.

  Linley’s heart was as cold as ice.

  This was his lifelong friend!

  When he had broken up with Alice and had spent eleven days and eleven nights outside in the cold, Yale, George, and Reynolds had accompanied him the entire time, because they were worried about him, their friend. When he had gone to get revenge on the King of Fenlai, Yale, after having learned about the matter, had done his utmost to assist him.

  Yale hadn’t cared at all that these actions would perhaps cause offense to the Radiant Church.

  Once, Linley had believed that the brotherly love between the four of them would never change.

  But seeing the cold look currently on Yale’s face, Linley’s heart felt such pain.

  “Boss Yale. I’ll call you Boss Yale one more time. Tell me, why did you do this!” Linley suppressed the pain in his heart as he stared at Yale. Was this still the same Boss Yale who had always been so full of laughter, the man who would be willing to throwing himself in any danger for the sake of his friends?

  Yale glanced at Linley. “Why so many questions? It was to kill you.” Yale’s words w
ere very calm, as though what he said was very reasonable.”

  Linley’s heart clenched, as though it had just been struck. A terrible pain slowly began to spread out from his heart, so great that Linley began to shudder slightly. Linley had always been a man who deeply valued love, be it towards his wife, his children, or his friends.

  Linley had always believed that the relationship he had were his most priceless assets.

  He also believed that his brothers would never abandon him, and that their love was firm and unshakable.

  “How…how could this have happened?” Linley’s body was shaking slightly. His eyes were filled with incomprehension and pain!

  Why had his dear friend betrayed him?

  But as he stared at that cold, calm look in Yale’s eyes, Linley truly didn’t know what he should say.

  “Big bro, this Yale wanted to kill you. Why are you hesitating? This sort of person deserves to just be killed!” Wharton was currently still filled with fury, especially after having heard Yale calmly say the words, ‘it was to kill you’. On behalf of his big brother, he felt wronged!

  Linley took a deep breath, letting his heart calm down slightly.

  “Boss Yale. This will be the last time I call you Boss Yale.” Linley looked at Yale, his heart filled with stabbing pains. In his mind, he couldn’t help but see one scene after another of how the four bros had laughed happily together.

  “You can go.” Linley turned around, no longer looking at Yale.

  Yale glanced at Linley, then turned and left without a word.

  “Big bro.”

  “Father.”

  “Lord Linley!”

  Wharton, Taylor, Gates, Boone, and the others were frantic. Yale had wanted to kill Linley, but Linley was going to release him without punishing him at all?

  “Remember. Do not make trouble for Yale. After all…he, he was once my brother.” Linley, when saying the word ‘once’, felt the pain in his heart increase. “Enough. You can all leave. I want to be alone for a while.”

  All of them looked at each other, then looked at Linley’s back, which was turned towards them. And then, they all left, one after the other.