Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  “An important affair? Could it be that we are about to start fighting with the eight great clans?” The azure-haired man was rather worried.

  “I’m not sure. We’ll know when the Patriarch returns.” The brown-haired man shook his head.

  While chatting, the two flew towards the direction of ‘Death Valley’, the place which the Azure Dragon clan used for carrying out ‘life-and-death duels’.

  Quite a few people had arrived at Death Valley today. Aside from the high level members of the clan and Linley’s people, there were also a large number of patrol warriors who knew about this matter. Bored, they came to watch this battle.

  This was an Elder against a God!

  Something like this was something which they wouldn’t see even in a hundred million years within the clan.

  “That Emanuel really does put on airs.” Bebe said unhappily. “We’ve already arrived, but he still hasn’t shown himself. Perhaps it really will be like what the azure armored warriors said and that he won’t come out until noon.”

  Linley laughed as he stood above Death Valley. “Bebe, don’t be impatient.”

  “Linley, you seem completely confident.” Tarosse laughed.

  “I had wanted to live the peaceful life for a bit longer, after having returned to the Azure Dragon clan. It seems that won’t be possible any longer.” Linley swept his gaze across Death Valley. Currently, quite a few Elders of the clan had already arrived. But of course, most of the spectators were azure armored warriors.

  There were thousands of azure armored warriors present, and they were all chatting amongst themselves.

  “I hear that today, the God who is being challenged by the Elder to a life-and-death duel is named Linley. Which one of those guys is Linley?”

  “That one, the one with brown hair. The one standing next to the kid with the straw hat.” Someone immediately pointed him out. Amongst the patrolling guards who had come to watch this duel, information regarding Linley had quickly spread out.

  “What a pity. A God is going to die today.”

  “I wonder why Elder Emanuel is acting this way towards a God. If he wants to kill a God, he doesn’t need to go to all this trouble.”

  “The Elder is going a bit too far. Linley is quite impressive as well, that he actually has the courage to come.”

  It was natural for people to pity the weak, and of course the patrolling guards were also considered commoners within the clan, those of the lowest rung. In the bottom of their hearts, they were filled with both fear as well as respect for those venerable, lofty Elders. It was only natural for them to feel sympathy for Linley and stand on his side.

  But of course, although in their hearts, they stood with Linley, they wouldn’t dare display it.

  “Elder Emanuel has arrived!” Someone suddenly called out.

  Immediately, everyone turned to look. Linley, hearing the commotion, also turned his head to look. From mid-air, the bald Emanuel, dressed in the garb reserved for Elders, came flying down alongside several other Elders.

  “They finally came.” Linley looked at him.

  Emanuel looked back at him. “He’s bold at least.” Emanuel had a hint of a smile at the corner of his lips. He swept his gaze across Linley, and saw the flash of light from the ring on Linley’s finger. He couldn’t help but grow excited.

  He knew that was a Sovereign artifact!

  “Fortunately, he didn’t flee last night.” The previous day, Emanuel had ordered that the gorge be completely sealed off from above, precisely to defend against Linley fleeing.

  “In accordance with the rules of the clan, once conflicts reach an irreconcilable level, a life-and-death duel will be initiated. No regrets in death! Today, the parties to this life-and-death duel are Emanuel and Linley!” An Elder hovered in midair and said in a loud voice.

  The entire Death Valley became silent, with no one saying a word.

  “Gentlemen, make your preparations.” The Elder said calmly.

  Emanuel flew over gracefully to the center of Death Valley, immediately looking arrogantly towards Linley.

  “Boss, go kick that Elder’s ass and kill him.” Bebe sent through divine sense.

  “Linley, be careful.” Delia said.

  Linley just laughed calmly, then flew straight to the center of Death Valley as well, staring directly at the distant Emanuel. In the entire Death Valley, everyone, Elders and patrolling warriors alike, had fallen silent.

  “Begin, then.” The Elder shouted.

  Linley’s face instantly turned solemn.

  “Linley, as long as you admit defeat, I can spare your life.” Emanuel floated down, laughing calmly as he spoke, as though he held Linley’s life in his hand.

  “Admit defeat?”

  Linley let out an emotionless chuckle. “Today is a life-and-death duel. Either you die or I die.”

  Immediately, there was an enormous commotion. The Elders and the patrolling warriors were all rather astonished. As they saw it, Linley was going to die for certain. For Emanuel to be able to say what he had just said could already be considered quite benevolent and merciful. But Linley had actually refused.

  “Hmph. It is you who is asking for death.” Emanuel’s face immediately turned cold.

  Suddenly, Emanuel frowned. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed Delia, Bebe, Cesar, and the others standing at the corner of Death Valley.

  “These people look rather familiar. It seems I’ve seen them somewhere before.” Emanuel had this sudden thought, but instantly, the thought disappeared. After all, a battle was about to begin. He couldn’t lose his concentration.

  “BOOM!” An explosion of energy.

  Linley’s entire body was instantly covered with a large number of draconic scales. Those azure-golden scales stretched across his entire body as those fierce spikes erupted from his forehead and spine. His draconic tail, flashing with metallic light, began to sway gently.

  “Come!” Linley stared coldly with his dark golden eyes towards his opponent.

  “It’s him?” Elder Garvey was shocked.

  “It’s him!” The faces of the ten or so Elders who were watching from afar instantly changed.

  The scryer recording which had spread to them from Miluo Island. All of the high level members of the Azure Dragon clan had viewed it. They all knew…that in the Infernal Realm, there was an expert of the Azure Dragon clan whose body emitted sharp spikes when Dragonformed.

  The members of the clan had never before seen this sort of transformation. After all, in normal circumstances, how could the descendants of the Four Divine Beasts clan be forced to drink the dragon’s blood of a magical beast of the ninth rank, an Armored Razorback Wyrm, in order to activate Dragonblood in their veins?

  The formerly confident Emanuel’s face immediately changed as well.

  “It’s him! That powerful, mysterious clansman of ours who appeared in Miluo Island!” Emanuel’s mind was in a state of chaos now, and then he glanced sideways at Delia, Bebe, and the others. “Right. Now I remember where I saw them. In that scryer recording! When that enormous cube was chopped apart, those people were by the side of that clansman of ours!”

  Book 17, Indigo Prefecture – Chapter 16, No Mercy!

  In the air above the Skyrite Mountains. A tall, powerful figure slashed through the skies, his long robe fluttering as he arrived to a high point above Dragon Avenue, at the ‘Dragonhead’ location, where there was an enormous castle.

  His azure hair fluttered in the breeze. His cold, grim face appeared to have been chiseled out by knives. This person descended directly in front of the castle gates.

  The patrolling soldiers in front of the castle gate, upon seeing this person, immediately bowed with respect. “Patriarch!”

  The person was the awe-inspiring Patriarch of the Azure Dragon clan, the number one expert of the Azure Dragon clan…Gislason [Gai’si’lei’seng] Redding! The son of the Sovereign ‘Azure Dragon’. Gislason’s power was simply infathomable.

&nb
sp; “Mmm. Why are none of the Elders present in the castle?” Gislason frowned. He had been able to instantly tell that the castle had no Elders within it.

  “The Elders all went to Death Valley to watch a life-and-death duel.” A patrol warrior immediately replied.

  “Life-and-death duel?” Patriarch Gislason frowned. “A single life-and-death duel attracted so many Elders? What’s this about?”

  “Elder Emanuel initiated a life-and-death duel against a God named Linley.” The patrol warrior said.

  “Linley? A God?” Gislason was utterly confused. “A venerable Elder, engaging in a life-and-death duel with a God? Hmph.” A cold snort. The Patriarch ‘Gislason’ transformed into a streak of light, flying at high speed towards Death Valley.

  At this moment, the situation at Death Valley was very peculiar.

  The duel had begun, but Elder Emanuel, who clearly should have had the upper hand, was actually hesitating. He hadn’t attacked yet, and his face was filled with shock, fear, anger, and regret!

  “It’s actually him! It’s actually him!!!”

  Emanuel was utterly enraged. “He has the Azure Dragon ring. His soul defense is definitely very powerful. But his body…” Emanuel had originally been planning to use ‘material attacks’ to gain victory. He was very confident, as his own body was very powerful. But he had seen the scryer recording…

  Emanuel knew very well that Linley’s body was even tougher than his!

  Who would have imagined that Linley was actually that expert who had appeared at Miluo Island.

  “Emanuel, what is it? You want to let me go first?” Linley laughed coldly.

  Instantly, the entire Death Valley buzzed with conversation. Those patrol warriors, in particular, were puzzled as to why Emanuel still hadn’t attacked.

  “Linley…” Emanuel wanted to say something.

  “Since you are letting me go first out of courtesy, Elder, then I’ll go first.” Linley said coldly, and then he exploded with speed, transforming into a blur that slashed through the skies. Emanuel immediately let out an explosive shout…

  “Rumble…” The world suddenly gave birth to enormous watery waves, and these waves swept down towards Linley. And then, instantly, the wave transformed into mist, ensconcing Linley within. For a moment, Linley wasn’t able to see what was going on in front of him.

  “Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!” …..

  Sharp icy bolts suddenly emerged from the mist, all of the icy bolts arcing in curved lines. The countless icy arrows were actually all arcing in different curved lines towards Linley, and as the icy arrows drew near, they actually tore the skies apart…

  Multiple tears in space appeared.

  “He lives up to being an Elder.” Linley said to himself.

  Linley didn’t even dodge. He just stood there in mid-air, like a celestial divinity.

  Rays of divine earth power emerged from Linley, sweeping outwards with Linley at the center. Immediately, that dim earthen yellow light spread out, forming an enormous sphere that was five hundred meters in diameter. Emanuel was unable to dodge, and he was immediately trapped within.

  Blackstone Space!

  The terrifying gravitational pull, when applied to those icy arrows, caused their direction to change slightly. This slight change in direction caused the vast majority of the icy arrows to very naturally miss their mark, and be unable to converge on the target.

  “Crunch!” “Crunch!” “Crunch!”

  Eight icy arrows struck Linley, but a clear sound like metal clashing on metal rang out. The icy arrows immediately shattered, while only a few white spots were left on Linley’s draconic scales.

  “What!” Emanuel’s face changed dramatically.

  Although he had been mentally prepared already, he was still astonished at Linley’s defensive power.

  “Terrible!” Emanuel could feel that his body was under the effect of that inexhaustible gravitational power. He immediately wanted to throw it off, but in an instant, the downwards gravitational pull suddenly transformed into a pull towards Linley’s direction.

  “You want to flee?” Linley let out an angry laugh, then threw himself towards Emanuel.

  Emanuel’s speed was naturally inferior to Linley, now that he also had to fight off the gravity.

  “How did this come to pass?” The thousands of patrol warriors were all flabbergasted. This life-and-death duel which they had been certain was going to be one-sided was indeed one-sided, but the person who had the advantage was that ‘God’.”

  “This Linley, how can he…” These people only stared, their tongues tied.

  “Linley. He isn’t a God. He definitely isn’t.”

  For now, let’s ignore the stupefied patrol warriors. Those Elders who were watching the battle from the side, after seeing Linley’s transformation, grew certain in their hearts.

  “Emanuel is doomed, this time!”

  “He’s kicked a steel board this time.”

  Those Elders all maintained their silence. After all, Emanuel was participating in a life-and-death duel. It wasn’t appropriate for them to intervene.

  “Bastard.” Trapped in the gravitational sphere, Emanuel was like an ordinary person trapped in quicksand, finding movement incredibly difficult. Linley, however, was drawing near at astonishing speed. Emanuel didn’t dare to engage in close-quarters combat with Linley.

  “Aaaaaah!”

  Emanuel seemed to have gone insane as he let out a bellow.

  “Crackle…” Strangely, a large amount of ice appeared out of nowhere, forming an enormous, thick wall of ice directly in front of Emanuel, the blocks of ice flashing with dazzling light. This wall of thick ice was also affected by the powerful gravity…

  And they flew at high speed against Linley!

  Not only was the wall of ice affected by the gravity, Emanuel himself also intentionally sent the ice wall flying towards Linley.

  In an instant, the ice wall reached Linley’s body.

  “Break!” Linley let out a low growl. His right fist, carrying boundless power, utilized the ‘Profound Mysteries of Strength’ of the Laws of the Earth, smashing down viciously against one point on the icy wall.

  “BANG!” The entire icy wall trembled, then exploded into countless shards of ice.

  As Linley was flying past those shattered shards of ice, Emanuel had managed to flee to the edges of the gravitational field. But right at this moment, Emanuel actually stopped fleeing, turning and letting out a low roar…

  Suddenly, an Azure Dragon Phantom appeared behind Emanuel, which stared at Linley with a pair of icy eyes, preparing to let loose a low roar.

  Innate divine ability – Dragon Roar!

  “Not good.” Linley’s face changed.

  A blurry azure light instantly shot towards Linley, who felt his head grow numb for a moment before he instantly regained clarity. But Linley discovered…that both Emanuel as well as the countless distant spectators suddenly began to move much faster.

  “Time?” Linley immediately understood.

  In that instant, the region where Linley had been had its time slowed down. For every ten seconds which passed for others, one second would pass for Linley. This allowed Emanuel to flee from Linley’s gravitational field.

  “I finally escaped.” Emanuel immediately flew to the far end of Death Valley.

  “Emanuel, you won’t be able to flee.” Linley flew over.

  “Halt!” Emanuel furiously shouted.

  Linley was startled, but he still halted. With a cold laugh, he said, “Emanuel, what, you have something you want to say?”

  “I acknowledge your strength. I admit defeat. Let’s just bring an end to this life-and-death duel.” Emanuel sent through divine sense. “It’s my fault for being blind. I didn’t realize you were an expert. Let’s just leave it here.”

  “Leave it here?” Linley threw himself forward once more.

  “Linley, I don’t want that Azure Dragon ring anymore.” Emanuel said hurriedly. “
I originally thought you were a God. Who would have imagined…that this Azure Dragon ring, when carried by you, can still unleash such tremendous power. I won’t try to take it.”

  Linley just laughed coldly.

  When Emanuel had thought he was weak, Emanuel wanted to kill him. But now he was submitting tamely. However, without a doubt, currently the only outsider who knew that Linley was in possession of the Coiling Dragon ring was Emanuel. If he killed Emanuel, then there was no longer any danger of outsiders finding out.

  Kill!

  “I admit defeat!” Emanuel’s voice rang out throughout Death Valley.

  “Eh?” Linley was stunned.

  Emanuel was actually so shameless as to directly admit defeat in the midst of a life-and-death duel. “Can it be that this Emanuel doesn’t know that there are only two possible outcomes of a life-and-death duel? One is fighting to the death, while the other is the victor sparing the life of the loser!”

  Admitting defeat in a life-and-death duel was meaningless!

  “He admitted defeat?” The many patrolling warriors and Elders were all astonished. As for Delia, Bebe, and the others, they grew excited.

  “Linley, since Emanuel has admitted defeat, just spare him.” An Elder said loudly. But even he couldn’t break the rules of a life-and-death duel. Only Linley could make the decision to spare Emanuel.

  “Right, Linley. He’s admitted defeat. Just forget it.” The other Elders spoke out as well.

  At present, in their hearts, they had already begun to consider Linley as an expert on the same level as them.

  Although Emanuel felt humiliated in his heart, he still knew very clearly: “This Linley’s body is so incredibly powerful, and he has a Sovereign artifact for soul defense. Although the Sovereign artifact is damaged, it still isn’t something I can break through.”

  Emanuel couldn’t see any hope of victory for himself.

  He didn’t want to die!

  “Spare him?” Linley’s dark golden eyes had a cold light flash through them. Suddenly, a terrifying howl rang out, and Linley’s body slashed through the skies, charging towards the distant Emanuel. Showing no mercy at all!