Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  “Get ready.” Linley immediately began to use it.

  “Crackle…”

  Geomagnetic ripples spread out from Linley’s feet, spreading out through the earth and continuously transforming from within it. The strange thing was, the black stone was currently floating within Linley’s sea of consciousness, and the 108 rays of spiritual energy within the black stone were moving in exactly the same manner as the geomagnetic ripples.

  It was as though the two were moving in accord.

  “Haha, the gravity is quite something, but it’s nothing to me.” Bebe said delightedly, but suddenly, Bebe’s face changed. He frantically shook his head. “Boss, stop playing around. My head feels miserable.”

  Linley immediately halted.

  “How does that feel?” Linley laughed while looking at him. This was all as Linley had predicted it would be.

  Bebe stared at Linley in surprise. “Boss, just now, my head felt so dizzy. That feeling was just, just like how when I heard the strange wind sound in the Fog Sea. It was that sort of feeling. My head felt extremely miserable. How’d you do it?” Bebe somewhat didn’t dare to believe it.

  “This is the effect of a treasure I received.” Linley explained.

  Actually, in the later stages of his analysis of the black stone, Linley had discovered this. It was at this point of the analysis that Linley realized why the juvenile amethyst beast had said that with this black stone, he wouldn’t have to worry about the influence of the strange wind sound. It was because the special effect of the strange wind sound and the soul-effect of the black stone were identical!

  Linley suspected…

  “Perhaps, within these Amethyst Mountains, there is an extremely large ‘black stone’, capable of impacting and spreading out to a range of hundreds of thousands of kilometers.” Linley guessed.

  “Linley, what are you testing out?” Delia walked over as well.

  Bebe turned his head and grinned. “Delia, the Boss is now extremely powerful, and I even daresay that we definitely won’t have any problems in leaving the Amethyst Mountains.” After having tasted this technique, Bebe was now completely confident in Linley.

  Delia’s eyes lit up. Walking over to Linley, she said, “Linley, shall we head out now?”

  Linley frowned slightly. “No rush. Delia, the Infernal Realm has too many dangers hidden within it. We should wait until we are a bit stronger before heading out. Right now, I’ve only fused two types of profound mysteries. However, I am confident that I should be able to fuse three types of profound mysteries very soon!”

  “Fuse three types?” Delia and Bebe were both surprised.

  There were quite a few experts who had fused two types of profound mysteries, but the number who had fused three was extremely, extremely low. It must be understood that many Six Star Fiends had only fused three types of profound mysteries. As for fusing four….even Elquin, the Seven Star Fiend, had only fused four.

  With each increase in level, the power would increase tenfold as well! The difficulty, as well, would also increase exponentially.

  For example, Linley had fused the Throbbing Pulse of the World and the Gravitational Space. To fuse a third type of profound mystery, he would have to have the third profound mystery find a ‘joining’ location for both of the other two types of profound mysteries, which would be the foundation for the fusing. Only then would fusing become possible. Finding the ‘joining’ location, however, was extremely difficult.

  For example, Linley had spent a long time looking for a ‘joining’ point between the Throbbing Pulse of the World and the Gravitational Space without success and without any breakthroughs. Afterwards, he had used the ‘Essence of the Earth’ to have these two types of profound mysteries find a ‘joining point’.

  “I’m confident in being able to fuse three profound mysteries, but four?” Linley couldn’t help but think of the ‘Worldwalking’ technique. Up till now, he hadn’t had a single insight into how he would fuse Worldwalking with any of the other three profound mysteries. To fuse four profound mysteries, he would at least have to begin fusing Worldwalking with the other three profound mysteries.

  But he hadn’t even found a joining point; how could he then fuse it with the other three?

  Most likely, even after spending ten thousand years, he still wouldn’t be able to do it.

  “The higher I climb, the harder it becomes.” Linley understood.

  Book 16, Starmist Sea– Chapter 2, Ten Years of Harvesting

  The ‘Essence of the Earth’ had been fused with the Throbbing Pulse of the World long ago, and had been partially fused with the Gravitational Space. At present, to fuse these three profound mysteries into one, it could be said to be just a matter of time. Linley naturally wouldn’t choose to leave first.

  The Amethyst Mountains were as calm as always.

  As the calm days passed, Linley’s understanding of the Laws of the Earth gradually increased, and the degree of fusion of the three types of profound mysteries constantly increased as well. Time silently flowed onwards, and in the blink of an eye, another 120 years passed.

  On the surface of the stone, Linley was seated in the meditative position, his body covered by a layer of dust. Suddenly, a surge of energy swirled around his body, sweeping away the dust.

  “Just a little bit more, and the three profound mysteries will be fused.” Linley opened his eyes and let out a low sigh. Pausing his training, he said, “A bottleneck is hard to breakthrough. Once I am stuck at the final bottleneck, who knows how long it will take? Fusing profound mysteries have two critical points; the first is finding the ‘joining point’, and the second is the ‘final bottleneck’. The amount of time needed for these two is completely unpredictable.”

  Despite that, however, Linley was still in quite a good mood.

  He was just a tiny step away from fusing these three profound mysteries, and his power was now five or six times that of the past, when he had only fused two profound mysteries.

  “Originally, when escorting Salomon and his treasure, we had been trapped in that castle of sand. Now, I’m going to create a Blackstone Prison of my own!” Linley smiled, then willed it…

  Instantly…

  With Linley at the center, divine power surged forth in the area with a circumference of a hundred meters. A large amount of earth elemental essence coalesced, instantly forming a black, completely sealed prison. Not a hint of sunlight could be seen from within the prison, and nothing could be seen at all.

  At the same time, within this prison, there was an extremely strong gravity!

  Compared to the past, when Linley had only fused two profound mysteries, the power of the gravity now was actually several times greater.

  “Hmph. Even a Highgod who falls into this most likely won’t even be able to run out from within it.” Linley was very confident. “Their speed will be lessened, but my speed won’t be influenced at all. I can easily kill that Highgod!”

  Blackstone Prison!

  A prison formed as the result of the fusion of the Throbbing Pulse of the World, the Gravitational Space, and the Essence of the Earth profound mysteries, while using the mysterious priceless treasure, the ‘black stone’, as the nucleus.

  Within this prison, the trapped person would suffer tremendously powerful gravitational bindings, while at the same time the soul would be impacted as well. The person would be able to use less than a tenth of his total strength. Within this region, Linley definitely could deal with his opponents.

  “Unfortunately, the three profound mysteries haven’t been completely fused.” Linley said to himself.

  Linley knew very well that given how hard it was to train in the Laws, to successfully fuse four profound mysteries would take countless years. What he was currently training in now would be, at this point in time, his greatest asset when roaming the Infernal Realm.

  “Logically speaking, the Asuras of the Infernal Realm should have fused five types of profound mysteries. As for Seven Star Fie
nds, most of them have fused four profound mysteries. Only a very few have fused five profound mysteries. Generally speaking, Six Star Fiends have fused three types.” Linley hypothesized.

  Ordinary Highgods were Four Star Fiends. After fusing two profound mysteries, they would generally be capable of becoming Five Star Fiends.

  But of course, this wasn’t absolute. This was just a generality.

  “Although I’m only one step off from completely fusing three profound mysteries, the effect of my ‘Blackstone Prison’ should be greater than that of four fused profound mysteries.” Linley knew very well that the reason why this technique was so powerful was primarily because of the strange way in which it was used.

  This was the way in which the juvenile amethyst beast used Gravitational Space.

  108 geomagnetic rays of force, when working together, could actually increase the former upper limits over a hundredfold! When combined with the ‘black stone’ and its support, the power of this technique would definitely doom most Highgods who encountered it.

  In normal circumstances, Highgods could easily kill Gods, precisely because they were able to rely on their Godrealm as well as their naturally stronger souls.

  Only…

  With regards to the soul, Linley had a Sovereign soul-protecting artifact. As for the binding power of a Godrealm, Linley’s Gravitational Space had an even greater binding power. Generally speaking, any Highgods who encountered Linley would indeed be doomed. Actually, this made sense.

  He had the ‘black stone’, the ‘soul-protecting Sovereign artifact’, and was very nearly at the point of fusing three profound mysteries.

  Although his God-level divine power was rather weak, the three advantages listed above were simply too strong. Most Highgods definitely wouldn’t be a match.

  “Linley, you are finally prepared to head out.” Olivier had waited a long time for this day.

  “Sorry.” Linley laughed.

  And then, Linley glanced at the nearby Delia and Bebe. “Everyone, prepare yourselves!” As he spoke, Linley’s body began to circulate with an earthen yellow light, and then a ten-meter long sphere of earthen light emanated out, surrounding Linley and the group of four within it, levitating.

  A Gravitational Space didn’t have to be flat; it could be made into a sphere. However, this was something Linley had accomplished only after centuries of research.

  “Let’s go!”

  Within the Gravitational Space, Linley easily countered the impact of that gravitational pull. Linley’s group of four immediately flew into the air.

  “When we came, the gravity was so powerful. But now that we are leaving, I can’t feel any gravity at all.” Olivier couldn’t help but glance at Linley. Sighing, he said, “Linley, of the experts of the Yulan continent who came to the Infernal Plane, I imagine there are very few as powerful as you.”

  Olivier couldn’t help but be impressed by Linley.

  They flew into the white fog ahead of them. Linley’s group of four constantly rose upwards, higher into the air.

  “We’ve already left the region of powerful gravity.” Linley had been continuously controlling the gravitational sphere. Naturally, he could sense the changes in gravity outside. “We’re about to immediately enter the region of that strange wind sounds, that chaotic area.” Linley reminded everyone.

  Delia and Olivier were very careful, because their soul defenses weren’t very strong.

  “Whoosh!” “Whoosh!”

  That wind sound rang out again. Immediately, Bebe frowned, while Delia and Olivier began to feel their heads going dizzy.

  Linley immediately activated the ‘black stone’, and his own spiritual energy emanated out from within the black stone, filling the entire Gravitational Space sphere.

  “So it really is the same.” Linley had a smile on his face. Right now, he could easily sense the principles behind the wind sound causing the soul to grow dizzy. Actually, it wasn’t the wind; it was a sort of strange spiritual energy ripple. Even when it entered the body through the ears, it would still be transmitted straight through to the sea of consciousness.

  Linley shut out that strange wind sound, and Delia along with the others felt much better.

  “We’ll definitely be able to leave now.” Olivier was incomparably excited. After seeing Linley shut out that strange wind sound, he was completely sure of it now. It must be understood that this chaotic region with this strange wind sound was a place which even Highgods found difficult to deal with.

  In the chaotic area, Linley’s group of four was completely unaffected. Naturally, they headed straight through.

  Moments later…

  “I see the outside world.” Bebe said in surprised delight.

  “Me too.” Linley immediately dispersed the Gravitational Space.

  At this moment, not too far away from Linley, a group of people were standing aloft in mid-air, clearly waiting for amethysts to fly out.

  “Ah, two amethysts!” From afar, an excited cry could be heard.

  “Haha, I didn’t expect that after being here for just half a month, you would be able to get two amethysts. Let’s go have a good celebration.” From afar, some idle chatter could be heard.

  Linley’s group of four looked at each other and laughed. These words were very familiar to each other. They were words commonly heard here in the Fog Sea.

  They had finally escaped!

  “We really did come out.” Bebe’s face was full of delight.

  “Hey, the four of you, be careful. Don’t go too deep into the Fog Sea. I saw that the four of you seem to have come from rather deep within. You have got to be careful.” A flying God warned Linley’s group of four. “If you go past the safe zone, you’ll never be able to leave again.”

  “We know.” Linley chuckled in response.

  Of course they knew the danger. They themselves really had in fact been trapped within.

  “Let’s go.” Linley’s group of four felt quite joyful, and they immediately flew out of the borders of the Fog Sea.

  “Linley, when we leave, each of us should pay three amethysts. Let’s not return the writ.” Delia said through divine sense.

  “Why?” Bebe asked.

  Linley was puzzled as well, but then he immediately understood. Delia explained through her divine sense, “I’m worried that after each Fog Wave, the eighteen clans will change to a different type of writ. If we take out our writ of passage, they might very well know that we entered during the previous Fog Wave, and will definitely suspect that we came out from within the Amethyst Mountains. Once we are discovered, we’ll be in for a great deal of trouble.”

  Bebe and Olivier immediately understood.

  Right. This was very possible.

  “If we’re discovered, we really will be doomed.” Linley could imagine it.

  It must be understood that in the Amethyst Mountains, acquiring amethysts was simply too easy. It was like picking money off the ground.

  Linley’s group of four immediately flew towards the outside perimeter, and instantly, two black-robed men went to greet them. One of them glanced at Delia in surprise, especially upon seeing the Fiend medallion on Delia’s chest; this was a Highgod Fiend! It was extremely rare for them to see a Highgod Fiend enter the Fog Sea to harvest amethysts.

  Linley couldn’t help but feel startled.

  “The four of you, where are your writs of passage?” One of the black-robed staff members said.

  “We entered without buying them.” Bebe replied.

  “Oh.” The black-robed man replied very naturally, “Same rules as always. Three amethysts each, twelve total for four of you.”

  With a flip of her hand, Delia produced five amethysts while saying, “My luck was a bit better than yours, so I’ll pay five amethysts. How about you three? Bebe, this time, you had pretty good luck as well, right? You got quite a few amethysts, I believe.”

  “Oh, I’ll pay the other seven.” Bebe chortled as he withdrew seven amethysts.
>
  Accepting the twelve amethysts, the two black-robed figures glanced at Delia in puzzlement, and then nodded. “You can leave.” Clearly, the black-robed men didn’t want to make too much of a fuss.

  Linley’s group of four laughed and immediately flew away, while from behind them came the sound of the two black-robed men chatting.

  “That Highgod Fiend entered to harvest amethysts as well. What’s wrong with her?”

  “Who knows? Perhaps that woman reached the Highgod level while harvesting amethysts.”

  “Oh, right, that’s very possible. It’s only been a few centuries since the Fog Wave, but that skinny kid had really good luck. He was actually able to produce seven amethysts.”

  Linley’s group heard these words as they travelled farther away. From afar, Linley’s group took out their metallic lifeform and entered it, and it transformed into a ray of black light, quickly disappearing into the eastern horizons.

  Within the metallic lifeform.

  “Haha, we’re rich, we’re rich!” Bebe called out excitedly.

  “How so?” Linley laughed as he looked at Bebe.

  “Boss, a hundred years ago, you said that you had a way to let us leave the Amethyst Mountains, right?”

  “Right, so what?” Linley looked at Bebe in puzzlement.

  “Since I knew we were going to leave, I began to go harvest those amethysts like mad.” Bebe laughed delightedly. “Boss, you don’t know this, but I couldn’t settle down and focus on training, so I went to harvest amethysts. At a single one of those Demonic Amethyst Lairs, in a single day, I was easily able to acquire millions of amethysts. I was harvesting for ten full years!”

  “Millions of amethysts every day for ten years? How many do you have?” Linley, Delia, and Olivier were all shocked.

  “Heh heh, can’t you calculate it for yourself?” Bebe was extremely delighted with himself. “In the Amethyst Mountains, amethysts are worthless, but in other places, they are quite valuable.”