Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  But suddenly…

  “Rumble…”

  A surge of unique energy ripples appeared, as the natural Laws descended upon the room where Linley was living in. This happened very commonly in the Infernal Realm, so nobody paid any attention. But this…was a huge source of joy for Bebe.

  “Boss finally broke through?”

  Bebe rejoiced as he charged towards Linley’s room.

  “Creak!” Bebe pushed the door open.

  Delia, within the room, saw Bebe and immediately used her eyes to tell Bebe not to make any sound. Bebe hurriedly nodded. Holding his breath, he raised his head to look at Linley, who was enfolded by the unique natural Laws and hovering in mid-air already.

  Linley’s eyes were shut. Suddenly…

  Linley’s earth-type Demigod spark seemed to have become immaterial. It came out from Linley’s forehead, then floated about Linley’s head. A large amount of earth elemental essence swirled around that divine spark. Under the control of the natural Laws, Linley’s divine spark slowly began to transform…

  Transform from a Demigod spark to a God spark!

  The earth elemental essences disappeared, and that divine spark which emanated an earthen light clearly had a much more powerful aura now.

  “Rumble…”

  The earthen yellow divine spark slowly revolved, then re-entered Linley’s body.

  Moments later…

  “The natural Laws have vanished. Why hasn’t the Boss opened his eyes yet? What’s he doing?” Bebe was somewhat unable to wait any longer. He couldn’t help but speak. Delia just stared at him, then said through her divine sense, “Bebe, don’t make any sound.”

  Linley, hearing Bebe’s words, opened his eyes and laughed as he looked at Bebe. “I just reached the God level, so I wanted to sense what about myself has changed, that’s all.”

  At this moment, Linley had already completely fused the Throbbing Pulse of the World and the Essence of the Earth, entering the full God level!

  Book 14, Fiend – Chapter 17, Profound Mysteries Fused, Power Greatly Strengthened

  “When breaking through from the Demigod level to the God level, the descent of the natural Laws which surrounded my soul lasted only a short while, but the transformation of my soul was comparable in effect to me absorbing those eleven amethysts.” Linley was absolutely amazed.

  Over the past thirty two years, those eleven amethysts that he had purchased had been completely absorbed long ago.

  Linley’s spirit was now incomparably more powerful than it had been in the past. After becoming a God and having his soul transformed yet again, the effect was actually superior to absorbing soul essences.

  “Delia, have you finished absorbing those two Golden Soul-Pearls?” Linley looked at Delia.

  Linley had Delia go buy two Golden Soul-Pearls to strengthen her soul as well. That way, she would find it easier to resist the soul attacks of others. That time, Delia hadn’t just purchased two Golden Soul-Pearls; she had also purchased an amethyst.

  “I’ve completely absorbed the Golden Soul-Pearls, but absorbing that amethyst truly is slow.” Delia sighed. “No wonder there are so many who are willing to buy Golden Soul-Pearls but so few who buy amethysts.”

  “Boss, when are we going to the Fiend trials?” Bebe urged frantically.

  Bebe had been waiting for this day for a long time.

  “When?” Linley looked at the sky, then laughed. “No rush. It isn’t even noon yet. Let’s go have a meal at a restaurant to celebrate. After eating, we can go to the Fiend Castle.”

  “Restaurant?” Bebe’s eyes lit up.

  After Linley’s group finished and left the restaurant, it was already near nightfall. However, the Fiend Castle was open at night as well. Linley’s group immediately went to the Fiend Castle. Upon reaching the Fiend Castle, they saw that there were actually quite a few people here at the Fiend Castle.

  They strode into the first floor’s main hall of the Fiend Castle.

  “A familiar face.” Linley immediately saw Yuna behind the counter, and the three of them walked over.

  “Miss Yuna, I want to participate in the Fiend trials.” Linley said.

  Yuna lifted her head up to look at them, and then her eyes suddenly widened as she started to laugh. “It is you three?” Linley had left a very deep impression in Yuna. After all, on that day, even the Lord Governor, Lord Royalwing, had made an appearance. Yuna naturally remembered that day very clearly.

  “Oh, you reached the God level.” Yuna glanced at Linley in surprise.

  “Were you already at the verge of a breakthrough, the last time you came?” Yuna laughed.

  She wasn’t too surprised. As she saw it, last time Linley should have been stuck at the bottleneck for Demigods. From the Demigod level to the God level, a breakthrough could be very fast or very slow.

  Linley only chuckled. “Help the three of us register for the Fiend trials, please.”

  Yuna looked at Linley’s group then nodded. “Fine. You know the rules. Ten thousand inkstones per person. Thirty thousand for three.” Yuna laughed as she stretched her hand out, and with a flip of his hand, Linley retrieved three of those long azurites.

  Accepting the three long azurites, Yuna withdrew three medallions with a devilish cyclopean eye design, handing them to Linley’s group.

  “What are these?” Bebe looked curiously at the image as he asked.

  “This is the proof that you are qualified to participate in the Fiend trials.” Yuna laughed. “Right, tell me where you are living. I’ll record it down.”

  “Miss Yuna, you haven’t even told us what the mission is. Why do you want our address?” Linley didn’t understand.

  Yuna shook her head. “The mission for a Fiend trial will only be explained clearly when you actually participate in it. Right now…nobody knows. Even the exact time of the Fiend trial is uncertain. This is because generally speaking, only when the numbers are filled up will a Fiend trial begin.”

  “Fill up the numbers?” Linley began to understand.

  Only when the number of participants reached a certain number would a Fiend trial begin.

  They couldn’t be certain of who would come to register, so naturally, there was no way to ascertain the exact time the trials would start.

  “Still have to wait? We won’t wait another few decades, will we?” Bebe said hurriedly.

  “Of course not. Actually, just two days ago, a group of people went to take the Fiend trials. Only, the results were as cruel as ever. Less than a hundred succeeded. Too many died.” Yuna let out a sigh. “Oh. Don’t be in a hurry. Roughly in about a month or so, the numbers will be filled up.”

  One month? Linley’s group was in no rush.

  “After the numbers are filled up for the Fiend trials and the mission has been selected, the employees of the Fiend Castle will notify you at your residence. Thus, you need to leave behind your address.” Yuna laughed.

  Linley’s group understood. They immediately recorded their address.

  “Hey, beautiful Miss Yuna.” Bebe chortled. “I’d like to ask, last time, that fellow named Anji, who failed twice in a row but still wanted to participate in a third Fiend trial. Did he succeed or fail in the last Fiend trial?”

  Bebe’s question caused Linley and Delia to look at Yuna as well.

  “Anji?”

  Yuna began to laugh. “His luck really is not bad at all. He succeeded on the third Fiend trial. After succeeding, he accepted a long-distance escort mission out of Royalwing City. Most likely, he has long since left the boundaries of Nightblaze Prefecture. But of course, it’s also possible that he might have encountered danger during the escort mission and perished. Who knows?”

  Linley’s group rejoiced for Anji. No matter what, in the end, that stubborn fellow had finally succeeded.

  Linley’s group thus began to wait calmly. In the end, they waited more than twenty days.

  Royalwing City. That quiet little courtyard where Linley’s group was stayi
ng. The blood-red sun shone down upon the courtyard. Linley was seated meditatively at the floor of the courtyard, a layer of earthen light roiling about on his body.

  “Boss’s defensive power has far outstripped that of a God-level defensive artifact, and it’s continuing to grow stronger.”

  Bebe sat there on the chair, clutching a bottle of fruit wine in his hands, continuously drinking. “This type of fruit wine is the fairly cheap sort in the Infernal Realm. A single inkstone can buy ten bottles. While drinking it is far better than those fruit wines which are acclaimed so highly in the Yulan continent.”

  Bebe wasn’t like Linley.

  Linley spent most of his time and effort in training, while Bebe spent most of his time eating and playing about, only occasionally training.

  The roiling earthen yellow light on Linley’s body stopped flowing about, transforming into an earthen yellow outfit.

  Earth-style magic included the Sacred Earthguard Armor spell.

  The Sacred Earthguard Armor, upon reaching the Deity level, could form armor on the level of adamantine, just by using powerful spiritual energy as well as divine power. But this sort of Sacred Earthguard Armor was the simplest, most primitive sort. Linley, after mastering the Essence of the Earth, was capable of forming an elemental armor over his body.

  The power of this elemental armor was far greater than that of adamantine armor.

  This elemental armor’s defensive power was comparable to ordinary God-level defensive artifacts.

  But due to his mastery of the Throbbing Pulse of the World, Linley also had the Pulseguard Defense, which was slightly more defensively formidable than even the elemental armor.

  Fortunately, Linley had managed to fuse the Essence of the Earth and the Throbbing Pulse of the World together. Thus, after constant training and improvement, Linley had finally succeeded in being able to combine the constantly flowing, throbbing Pulseguard Defense with the static, immobile earth elemental armor.

  The earthen set of clothes which Linley was wearing was in reality his Pulseguard Armor.

  If one magnified it a hundredfold, one would discover this.

  The extremely thin, minute strands of earthen yellow divine power were criss-crossed into a rippling lattice, moving in accordance to a particular rhythm to form a perfect whole. The countless rippling lattices of divine power in the end formed this set of clothes which Linley was wearing.

  This Pulseguard Armor was the combination of his Pulseguard Defense and his elemental armor.

  In terms of defensive power, it was nearly ten times greater than that of most God-level defensive artifacts!

  “This is the power of fusing profound mysteries!” Linley felt a surge of delight. “If I hadn’t fused them, even though I have mastered both the Throbbing Pulse of the World and the Essence of the Earth, the defensive power would be much lower.”

  Linley finally began to understand why there could be such an enormous gap in power between Highgods.

  “I have only fused two types of profound mysteries, but the power has multiplied tenfold. If I fused three? Four?” Linley sighed unceasingly. “No wonder that Crompton, who became a Deity through fusing with a divine spark, was so terrified in front of the Lord Governor!”

  Indeed.

  After fusing the profound mysteries of a Law, the power expanded exponentially.

  “I mastered the Throbbing Pulse of the World, then developed the Voidwave Sword. But now…with two profound mysteries completely fused, the power of my Voidwave Sword has also increased tenfold. Not just that; if I primarily use my spiritual energy, then the attack is a spiritual attack! But if I use my divine power as the basis of the attack, then it will be a material attack.”

  The Essence of the Earth was normally used for material attacks.

  The Throbbing Pulse of the World was normally used for spiritual attacks.

  With the two profound mysteries fused, the Voidwave Sword didn’t just grow more powerful in spiritual attacks, even the material attack components through his Essence of the Earth had increased greatly!

  “Knock!” “Knock!” …..

  Suddenly, a knocking sound could be heard. “I’ll go open the door.” Bebe leapt to the doorway.

  Linley and Delia both walked over to the door as well. There was a black-haired youth outside. “The three of you are participating in the Fiend trials, right?”

  “Have you come to alert us?” Bebe said in delight.

  The black-haired youth nodded and laughed. “Right. The three of you, let me see your Fiend emblems. Don’t worry; this is the only way I have to ascertain your identities.”

  Linley and the other two each withdrew their fiend emblems with a flip of their hands.

  “Right. Tomorrow morning at dawn, go to the gates of Royalwing City and take part in the Fiend trials. You will find members of our Fiend Castle waiting for you there.” The black-haired youth laughed as he spoke.

  “Tomorrow at dawn?” Linley’s group was filled with anticipation.

  “What’s the Fiend trial going to be?” Delia asked.

  The black-haired youth shook his head. “I don’t know. However, they will only tell you the details regarding your Fiend trial missions when you go to the meeting point.”

  “When the time comes and you go to the city gates, the people of the Fiend Castle probably won’t recognize you. You only have to show off your Fiend emblems.” The black-haired youth said, then he left.

  Linley’s group exchanged glances.

  “Wow. Boss, we’re about to become Fiends.” Bebe was very excited.

  “Fiend trials?”

  Linley had already made up his mind. No matter what, protecting Delia and Bebe was what was important.

  “Perhaps Bebe actually doesn’t need my protection.” Linley glanced at Bebe.

  The next dawn, Linley’s group headed to the city gates very early. When Linley’s group arrived at the city gates, they discovered a large metallic lifeform hovering outside, which had the Fiend insignia atop it.

  “It seems there’s quite a few people.” Linley looked through the translucent windows of the metallic lifeform and was able to see quite a few figures within.

  Linley’s group immediately flew over towards the metallic lifeform, where a silver-haired elder was standing at the entrance. He looked towards Linley’s group. “Are you here for the Fiend trials?”

  Linley nodded.

  “Please show your Fiend emblems.” The silver-haired elder didn’t have any hint of a smile on his face.

  Seeing the Fiend emblems in the hands of Linley and the other two, the silver-haired elder nodded slightly. “Go in.”

  Inside the metallic creature, there was a long corridor which was divided into two directions. There were people in the corridor. Upon seeing Linley’s group, they called out, “Fiend trial participants, enter the rear cabin.”

  They entered the rear cabin.

  “So many people!” Linley couldn’t help but be shocked.

  “Boss, there are at least several hundred people here.” Bebe said in amazement.

  Delia sighed as well, “And not everyone is here yet. Linley, let’s sit towards the sides.” As they spoke, Linley’s group found seats and sat down. In the rear cabin, each row had twenty one seats, with each row divided up by four walkways.

  Bebe looked through the translucent window towards the outside. “Right now, it seems there are quite a few people still coming. Hey, Boss, look, there are people coming who are wearing Fiend medallions. And quite a few of them.”

  “Why are a group of Fiends coming?” Linley looked as well.

  But when he did, Linley’s face changed.

  He saw a familiar face!

  Bebe was shocked as well. “Boss, that foul baldy is here as well!”

  Book 14, Fiend – Chapter 18, Moon Lake

  “Linley, that bald guy named Crompton is here as well.” Delia also noticed that familiar figure.

  Linley could clearly see Crompton and the
other Fiends enter the metallic creature. Only, the Fiends went into the front cabin of the metallic lifeform.

  “All the participants in the Fiend trials are in the rear cabin, while the Fiends are in the front cabin.” Linley was slightly relieved, but despite that, he still felt concern. “Why are these Fiends getting involved?”

  Linley didn’t care about Fiends getting involved; what he cared about was that the Fiends travelling along with them included Crompton.

  Linley had to admit that he disliked this Crompton. And Crompton, in turn, definitely would take advantage of any opportunity he had to kill Linley to vent his anger.

  “If Crompton really were to go all out to kill us, the three of us do have a slight chance.”

  Crompton only became a Highgod through fusing with a divine spark. He was the weakest type of Highgod.

  Those who fused with divine sparks wouldn’t have their souls be ensconced by the natural Laws, nor be nourished and strengthened. Their souls would thus be somewhat weaker.

  And Linley, while only a God, had fused two profound mysteries, the Throbbing Pulse of the World and the Essence of the Earth. His soul attack was ten times stronger than that of a normal God. Linley’s soul attack was more than enough to threaten Crompton’s life.

  However…

  Linley wasn’t completely confident either. After all, the opponent was a Highgod, meaning he had mastered all of the profound mysteries of an Elemental Law. Even if he hadn’t fused any of them, he couldn’t be underestimated.

  “In dealing with Crompton, if Bebe and I were to go all out, we still have a chance. But…Crompton isn’t alone. He has friends!” Linley frowned. This was what caused Linley the most worry. “We aren’t in a city right now. We’re outside the city. There’re no prohibitions against combat. Once Crompton notices us, he might come for revenge!”

  Linley thought back and forth, but he still couldn’t come to a decision on what to do.

  “Motherf*cker, there are so many Fiends. Why do I have to be so unlucky as to have that baldy be on this mission?” Linley couldn’t help but mentally curse.