Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  “Given this depth, we should be deep within Miluo Island.” Linley guessed to himself.

  Suddenly, Linley discovered that the corridor beneath them was completely filled with water.

  “It’s all water down there. Are we still going down?” Someone couldn’t help but ask.

  “Just follow me and cut out the chitchat.” Sequeira was feeling very unhappy right now. Linley’s words at Suncutter Peak had made his mood turn terrible Those words which Cecily had said before dying made him feel even more insulted than when he had discovered that Cecily had another person’s son in her womb!

  “Drip, drip…”

  Linley’s group followed Sequeira into the water, and the eight of them all formed protective coverings around their bodies, easily blocking the water.

  “Back then, I should’ve asked Tarosse in detail as to what place this secret area actually is.” Linley felt puzzled. This water-logged passage had cave walls covered with green vegetation. Clearly, this passage had been filled with water for a long, long time.

  Suddenly…

  The tunnel beneath them became smooth, and at the end of this smooth tunnel, a faint glow could be seen.

  “We finally reached the end.” Linley couldn’t help but feel a sense of celebration. As soon as they exited the tunnel, however, they saw a world of endless, boundless water.

  “Eh? The secret area is actually in the middle of the ocean?” Linley couldn’t help but speak out in astonishment.

  Sequeira sneered. “Are you puzzled?”

  Linley discovered that ever since he asked that question, Sequeira’s face had continuously been ugly to behold, and his temper had turned irritable as well. Linley couldn’t be bothered to reply. Arguing with Sequeira was something that simply wasn’t worth it.

  After flying at the bottom of the sea for some time, Linley was stunned.

  Off the distance, an enormous black castle that was dozens of kilometers in circumference had been erected at the bottom of the ocean, like a massive monster lying in wait. The amazing thing was, countless, densely clustered figures could be seen around the castle on patrol. The number of people here was extremely high.

  “This is the secret area of our western part of the island.” Sequeira said proudly. “The secret area of my Bagshaw clan! You are very lucky to have the chance to come here.”

  As he spoke, from the distance, a squad of black armored warriors dressed with black cloaks flew over. Seeing this squad, Linley and the others all felt a sense of shock in their hearts. These ten guards all naturally emanated a baleful aura, and their faces were all expressionless and cold.

  “Each of them is an expert.” Linley was incomparably shocked.

  Compared to the warriors of Miluo Island, these black armored and black cloaked guards gave off a far more powerful, valiant, remorseless aura. Even Lomio narrowed his eyes, looking carefully at the distant black castle.

  “A single clan actually has so many forces!” Linley felt stunned.

  He could see, with the naked eye, thousands of people, each of them Highgods, and excellent Highgods at that. They weren’t on the same level as the island guards, who were made up of just any Highgods who wanted to join.

  “Young master Sequeira.” The leader of the squad bowed.

  “They all came. Let’s go.” Sequeira said calmly. The ten black armored guards immediately guided Linley’s group towards the black castle. The gates to the black castle were open.

  This black castle had existed for unknowable amounts of time, deep at the bottom of the sea.

  The strange thing was…

  The black castle seemed to have a sort of strange energy. It actually was able to keep the waters of the sea at a distance, making all the sea water unable to get within a kilometer of the black castle. It was as though a translucent barrier was protecting the castle, keeping all the seawater at a distance.

  And thus Linley’s group suddenly entered a water-less area.

  “Hey?” Everyone was astonished, while Lomio’s eyes lit up in excitement as well.

  Linley turned to carefully look, but he wasn’t able to find any special ‘barrier’. “There really are all sorts of marvels in the world.” As he entered the black castle and saw the many guards within the black castle, Linley was stunned.

  “This…is most likely the true power of the Bagshaw clan.” Linley said to himself.

  Within the black castle. An empty plaza. Linley’s group of eight was waiting here.

  “Wait here a while. Later, people will come.” Sequeira said emotionlessly. “You’ll have to be tested to see if you will have the chance to enter the secret area.” After speaking, Sequeira himself turned and left.

  His assignment was complete.

  “Tested?” Some people were instantly puzzled.

  “Wasn’t it said that as long as we can win a hundred victories, we’ll be able to go to the secret area for a viewing? Why is there a test?”

  Hearing this discourse, Lomio and Linley both maintained their silence. Linley knew all along that there would be a test, and he stared at the area around him. The buildings around this plaza also had roving patrols of black armored guards, and the entire castle was like a military fort, under extremely tight guard.

  Just moments later, the ancient, dark blue gates in front of the plaza that were ten meters tall up rumbled opened.

  “Creaaaaaaak.” The opening of the dark blue gates caused a very unpleasant, scraping sound.

  Six people walked out from inside the gates, the leader a man with white hair, a white beard, red armor, and a red cloak. The five behind him were all black armored warriors, but they too wore red cloaks.

  “Welcome!” The white-haired elder immediately strode forward and laughed clearly, “Welcome to Castle Hendsey [Han’di’sai]! Let me introduce myself. My name is Uriah [You’lai]!”

  Castle Hendsey?

  A hint of suspicion arose in Linley’s heart.

  “Although all victors of a hundred battles in the Arena can come to this secret area,” Uriah laughed, “The scryer recordings within the secret area aren’t just shown to everyone. If you want to view them, you must undergo testing.”

  “Scryer recordings? Of what?” Lomio said.

  “Battles of Seven Star Fiends. Battles of Asuras. Interplanar wars. Even scryer recordings of a Sovereign showing his might!” Uriah smiled. “This has been accumulated by my Bagshaw clan over countless years!”

  As soon as these words came out, everyone’s eyes lit up. Even Lomio’s eyes were shining. Linley sighed to himself; these scryer recordings of experts doing battle was indeed a very alluring prospect.

  “Now, all of you come, one at a time, to compete against our people. Based on your performance, I will judge if you are qualified to go in for a viewing.” Uriah glanced at a person next to him, and immediately, a callous bald man wearing black armor and a red cloak strode forward.

  Uriah stretched out with his hand, pointing towards one of the Highgod victors. “You first.”

  “Fine.” That Highgod who had won a hundred Arena victories chuckled twice, then stepped forward. “If I kill him, don’t blame me.” This Highgod was dressed in a blue robe and had thick eyebrows.

  “If you can kill him, feel free to.” Uriah laughed calmly.

  Immediately, this blue-robed Highgod and the bald man moved to the center of the plaza. The two faced each other.

  “You can start now.” Uriah gave the order.

  “Boom!” The blue-robed Highgod instantly transformed into a flash of fiery light that didn’t emit flames, with the scorching heat causing even the air to crackle. And then, the flameless fire-light immediately formed into a fiery arrowhead, which hovered there in mid-air in the plaza, emanating a heart-shaking power.

  “Swoosh!”

  The arrow of flame suddenly shot out like a meteor.

  “Hmph!” The bald man gave a low snort, his entire body immediately becoming covered by an earthen yellow armor. His enormous fist
began to be covered with rippling light, and he astonishingly landed a direct punch towards that fiery missile.

  “Bang!” A low, rumbling sound. Even the arena itself trembled.

  The rippling light on the fist of that bald man had been shattered, and even his fist had been blown apart. Even the layer of earthen yellow armor on his body was cracked, and he couldn’t help but take several steps back, cracking the ground as he did.

  The fiery red missile collapsed as well. That blue-robed Highgod’s face was ashen, but he was still standing there.

  “Not bad.” The white-haired Uriah nodded. “You are qualified to enter the second secret room.”

  “The second secret room?” The blue-robed Highgod was puzzled.

  “Right. The secret area is divided into two rooms; the first room and the second room. The first room has more scryer recordings, and the experts in those recordings are more powerful.” Uriah said calmly.

  “Then what must I do to be qualified to enter the first room?” The blue-robed Highgod was rather unwilling to accept this.

  “Kill him in one blow.” Uriah pointed towards the bald man.

  The blue-robed Highgod instantly gave up.

  Hearing this, Linley was stunned. “Can it be that the leader of this castle doesn’t treat life as having any value? He can so casually sacrifice even his own people?”

  “You are next.” Uriah pointed to a God.

  “Enough of this.” A cold voice rang out. Lomio directly strode forward, looking calmly at Uriah. “Let me go first. Didn’t you say that if I could kill him with one blow, I can enter the first room, right?”

  Uriah glanced at Lomio in surprise, then laughed. “You are Lomio, right?”

  Lomio nodded calmly.

  “You don’t need to be tested.” Uriah shook his head and laughed. “Of the eight of you, you and red-robed elder, Linley, don’t need to be tested. You can go directly to the first room for viewing.”

  Linley couldn’t help but laugh.

  “However, opening the secret room is a very important matter. We have to make a request to the master of the castle, and then find a good time. You can go rest for now. We will soon notify you.” As he spoke, Uriah arranged for people to guide Linley and Lomio away.

  As Linley was led away by the black-armored, red-cloaked guard, he now understood.

  “It isn’t that the leader of the castle doesn’t care about the lives of his men. It is that when a real expert comes, there’s no need for a test.” Linley was quite eagerly anticipating that moment of viewing those scryer images coming as soon as possible.

  The black castle was very large. It had thick, sturdy walls, and a very complicated layout of many corridors.

  “Captain Mob [Mo’bu], I’ve been here for nearly a month. Why isn’t his lordship willing to meet me yet?”

  “Don’t be in such a hurry. If his lordship wishes to meet you, he will. Otherwise, just wait here.”

  Hearing this voice from a corridor up ahead, Linley couldn’t help but frown. “This voice is so familiar!”

  In front of Linley were four corridors. Two people headed out from one of the corridors, and one of them was a man who wore a long green robe and had fish scales on his face. He was currently with another man, one dressed in black armor and a red cloak, who the first man was constantly speaking to. And then, the two of them entered another one of the corridors.

  “Ganmontin?” Linley’s face was filled with disbelief. “Why is he here?”

  This person was the exact same person who had waylaid and attacked Linley’s group in the Starmist Sea, the person who had wanted to offer Olivier to his ‘Lord Commander’. Ganmontin!

  Book 16, Starmist Sea – Chapter 28, The Secret

  Originally, Ganmontin had wanted to forcibly take Olivier away, but Linley had refused. Thus, Ganmontin and Linley had battled against each other. At that time, Linley had relied upon his Blackstone Space to execute Ganmontin’s divine wind clone, but who would’ve thought that Ganmontin actually had a divine water clone as well?

  Ganmontin naturally hated Linley to the core.

  Linley still clearly remembered Ganmontin’s dying bellow. “You can’t kill me. If you kill me, the Lord Commander will definitely kill you!” Ganmontin had, back then, used the so-called ‘Lord Commander’ to threaten Linley.

  “He went to find the Lord Commander? And he is now here…can it be that the Lord Commander is right here?” Linley frowned.

  This mysterious seafloor castle…Castle Hendsey. The white-haired elder who had welcomed him had once said, “Opening the secret room was a matter of great importance. We need to request permission from the master of the castle.”

  “Master of the castle?” Linley pondered. “The people which Uriah had brought were all roughly around the level of Six Star Fiend in power. Then Uriah’s power…? The power of the master of the castle…?”

  “Ganmontin’s so-called. ‘Commander’…”

  “The master of the castle?”

  In that instant, Linley suddenly thought of a possibility.

  As soon as he thought of this possibility, Linley only felt a sense of terror fill his mind. His entire body couldn’t help but tremble, and his face instantly turned white. “Can it be…”

  “That I’m like a lamb who has delivered himself into the mouth of a tiger? That I’ve come to throw my life away?” Linley pondered.

  From the number of experts at Miluo Island and the number of experts on display here at the seafloor Castle Hendsey, Linley could tell that this master of Castle Hendsey was, without a doubt, an ultimate expert who possessed astonishing power!

  In the Infernal Realm, a person who had great status had to have an equivalent, matching amount of power. Otherwise, others wouldn’t submit to them!

  “Eh?” Lomio, who was travelling alongside Linley, naturally noticed that Linley currently seemed rather ‘off’. He glanced at Linley, puzzled. What had caused Linley to lose his bearings like this?

  Fortunately, the person leading them didn’t turn to look at Linley, and didn’t know what had happened.

  “Milords, once we arrive at the guest houses, we’ll be nearly there.” The black armored red cloaked warrior laughed as he spoke, his words causing Linley to be startled awake from his pondering. Linley immediately began to adjust his mindset.

  After all, the situation hadn’t become utterly disastrous yet. Even assuming that the master of the castle was the ‘Commander’, which he might even be, this person had never met Linley.

  “One thing at a time.” Linley said to himself.

  The seafloor Castle Hendsey was like a small city, filled with intersecting corridors that divided it into many areas. Generally speaking, guests all stayed in one area, which had a number of two-story buildings that were all built in a similar fashion.

  These small buildings were built with a type of rice-yellow stones, and made one feel quite comfortable within the black castle.

  “Lord Lomio, you will stay here in room twenty six. Lord Linley, you will stay here in room twenty seven.” The black armored, red cloaked warrior said respectfully. “When the time comes, someone will deliver food to you. As for when you will enter the secret room, please don’t be impatient, milords. When the time comes, there will be people who will come notify you.”

  Lomio frowned. “Are we just supposed to wait here indefinitely?”

  Linley felt rather uncomfortable as well.

  “Milords, don’t worry. Based on our long-established rules, in roughly half a day or so, you’ll be invited to the secret area. At the slowest, it would only take three days.” The guard smiled as he spoke.

  “Right.” Lomio nodded calmly.

  At most, three days? Lomio wouldn’t mind. But Linley minded!

  “You can go now.” Linley stepped back from the guard, feeling rather concerned, because the more time he spent here at Castle Hendsey, the more dangerous it was. After all, Ganmontin was within this castle.”

  “Linley
, I’ll go to my room for now. If you need anything, you can come find me.” Lomio said, then immediately turned and entered his room, not giving Linley a chance to reply.

  Lomio was normally a very arrogant, solitary figure. It was only because he had seen Linley fight and wanted to spar with Linley that he was now so courteous. Otherwise, why would he say so many things to Linley?

  But Linley’s mind was preoccupied with Ganmontin, and so he didn’t have any energy to bother with Lomio. He turned and went to his own room as well.

  Taking a meditative stance on the stone bed, he looked through the window to the outside.

  “I had wanted to come watch the scryer recordings of battling experts, but who would have imagined that Ganmontin was here?” Linley sighed to himself. At this time, footsteps rang out from outside, followed by a knocking on the door.

  “Enter.” Linley said calmly.

  The door opened. Immediately, two beautiful women dressed in bright yellow robes walked into Linley’s room, carrying a large platter of food.

  “You can just leave it on the table.” Linley said calmly.

  “Yes, milord.” The two maids were very respectful. They gently set down the platter of delicacies, but Linley suddenly raised his head to look at them. “Has the examination of those who had come alongside us concluded?”

  One of the maids said respectfully, “Yes, milord. The examination is complete. Of those six lords, two of them have already returned to Miluo Island, while the other four are living here, not too far from you, milord.”

  “Oh.” Linley understood.

  Of the six, two were like Dylin; they had been refused and shut out, and weren’t going to be permitted to enter the secret room.

  “You can go now.” Linley instructed.

  The two maids curtsied, then left. As for the platter of delicacies, Linley didn’t take a single bite. He didn’t have any appetite or desire to enjoy delicacies right now.

  “Whether fortune or disaster…if it’s a disaster, I won’t be able to avoid it anyhow.” Linley shut his eyes, quietly meditating.

  Castle Hendsey. Currently, that red armored, red cloaked old man with white hair, ‘Uriah’, was currently walking on a tightly controlled and restricted corridor.