Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  “Swoosh!” Emanuel flew towards Linley at high speed, laughing mockingly in his heart. “Those idiots. They killed Linley, but they didn’t immediately go take the spoils of battle. But how could they know that Linley had a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact?”

  Emanuel was exceedingly delighted with himself.

  “Linley, now that you are dead, this belongs to me.” Emanuel was very smug, but as he entered the region of the Blackstone Space, he couldn’t help but be puzzled. “Why hasn’t Linley’s Blackstone Space collapsed?”

  If a person died, his space should collapse.

  “Emanuel.” A cold, emotionless voice rang out.

  “Uh?” Emanuel was stunned. He turned to look, and saw Linley’s dark golden eyes staring at him.

  “Why have you come over? To help me out?” Linley stared at Emanuel, who had a look of astonishment on his face. Linley couldn’t help but laugh coldly in his heart, “This Emanuel has never given up on acquiring my Coiling Dragon ring.”

  Emanuel immediately recovered from his shock. He couldn’t help but laugh awkwardly, “Elder Linley, you really are formidable. I…I saw that you were in a dangerous situation just now, Elder, and so I wanted to come help. But it seems, Elder, you don’t need my assistance. I’ll go deal with some other people. I’ll hand that old fellow down below to you. I trust, Elder Linley, that you’ll be able to easily deal with him.”

  Emanuel immediately flew away, retreating.

  “Despicable fellow!”

  “Hmph!” Linley felt contempt in his heart, then turned to look at the bald fellow who had attacked him. “Easily deal with him? It would seem that it won’t be very easy to kill this old fellow.” Linley could had a sense of danger.

  But Linley wasn’t afraid either.

  He currently had three drops of Sovereign’s Might, and his divine wind clone was right there in his sea of consciousness, ready to activate it at any moment.

  “Haha…”

  Ancient-sounding laughter rang out from the mouth of the old, bald figure below him. The wrinkles on his face contorted like serpents. “Linley, it now seems that last time, when you killed Mosley and the other one, you were still hiding your power! Admirable, admirable!”

  Linley stared at this old man, and as he did, one person’s biographical data floated up to his mind.

  When in Bloodbath Gorge, the Azure Dragon clan had provided him with a very clear explanation of some of the particularly dangerous individuals of the eight great clans. The danger these individuals posed was vastly greater than that of ordinary Seven Star Fiends. They were comparable to the clan’s ‘trump cards’!

  The old man in front him was one of them!

  What Linley didn’t know was that his accomplishments in the previous battle had brought him to the attention of the various great clans, and they too had put his information into their list of ‘dangerous figures’.

  “If my guess is correct, you should be Elder Bulo of the Ashcroft clan.” Linley said in a clear voice as he stood there, high up in the air in the middle of that enormous sphere, staring down at Bulo.

  “Correct.”

  Bulo smiled, but because his face was covered in wrinkles, this smile made him look all the more savage. “You were able to resist my innate divine ability, which means your soul defense is truly quite formidable. But you intentionally pretended that it was your weak spot. Hmph. Hmph. Admirable.”

  That ancient voice echoed in the skies.

  “However, today, I want to see how your physical defense is, in comparison to your ‘Genius Elder’, Blue!” The bald old man said, and then his entire body began to hiss as tiny, dense black scales appeared, covering his entire body. A fierce, slender serpentine tail emerged from behind him as well…

  The Ashcroft clan descended from a supreme divine beast of the Netherworld, the ‘Nether Serpent’.

  Their strength was no less than that of the Azure Dragon clan’s.

  “Linley!” A furious bellow rang out, and a pale, ashen shadow tore through the skies, charging towards Linley.

  Linley turned and saw that a seemingly blurry white figure was coming towards him. It was a savage-faced, green-eyebrowed man. The man immediately charged into the Blackstone Space, and as he did, Linley instantly changed the direction of the gravity.

  Made it go downwards!

  The skinny, green-eyebrowed man strove to resist that downwards pull, but his speed still slowed dramatically.

  Right at this moment, he heard a furious shout. “Hales [Hei’er’si], leave Linley to me. You go kill the other one!”

  The skinny, green-eyebrowed man turned to look at the already Serpentformed Bulo, then said in a hateful voice, “Fine, Elder Bulo, I’ll hand this Linley to you. You absolutely must kill him and avenge my elder brother!”

  “Don’t worry.” Buler was completely confident.

  The skinny, green-eyebrowed man, ‘Hales’, glared hatefully at Linley, then with a cold snort turned and charged towards the distant Emanuel. Emanuel had been watching this entire time. When he saw that Hales went to attack Linley as well, his joy was indescribable.

  Who would have imagined that with but a single word from that bald old man, Hales had come to attack him instead.

  “Motherf*cker…” With a low curse, Emanuel had no choice but to charge towards Hales.

  Linley stared up in front, at the ‘freak’ located outside his Blackstone Space. Elder Bulo’s entire body was densely covered by the tiny black scales of the Nether Serpent. Only his chest still had a patch of large violet scales.

  His slender serpentine tail quivered slightly, while in the center of Elder Bulo’s forehead, a single red eye had appeared from a crack.

  “So this is the transformation of the Nether Serpent clan?” Linley was secretly astonished.

  In truth, Linley’s Dragonform was just as bizarre as Bulo’s. He had multiple fierce spikes radiating out from his spine, while his elbows and knees had sharp spikes jutting out as well. Linley’s entire body looked akin to a human-shaped weapon.

  Freak against freak!

  “Linley, today, you absolutely will die.” Elder Bulo said in his hoarse voice. “Only, I want to see how long you can hold out for!”

  “Bulo, today, you too must die. I, too, want to see how long you can hold out!” Linley said coldly. Linley had already made his plans in advance. First, he’d rely on his body to battle. If he wasn’t able to hold out…then even if he had to sacrifice a drop of Sovereign’s Might, he had to kill this Bulo.

  An expert of this level was worth sacrificing a drop of Sovereign’s Might for.

  “Bang!” Elder Bulo suddenly shot forward, charging directly into the Blackstone Space, and as he did, his speed couldn’t help decline.

  “In my Blackstone Space, you will be at a great disadvantage.” Linley charged towards Elder Bulo.

  But right at this moment…

  Linley discovered, to his astonishment, that Elder Bulo’s entire body wriggled forward like a serpent, easily and agilely gliding forward. Even within the Blackstone Space, although Elder Bulo’s speed wasn’t that fast, he was still incredibly agile.

  “How…how is this possible?” Linley was shocked.

  This was the first time a person within his Blackstone Space had been affected so weakly.

  “Haha…” Elder Bulo laughed wildly, and suddenly, he transformed into a black shadow, piercing through the skies and charging directly towards Linley. Linley, astonished, released a backhand palm blow, carrying within it the ‘Profound Truths of Velocity’ as he smashed towards that black shadow!

  Two terrifying surges of energy collided.

  “WHAP!”

  A sound that was so clear and sharp, it caused space itself crack apart. Spatial ripples spread out in every direction, while Linley himself was sent flying backwards from the vibrations of the clash. His already Dragonformed right hand was uncontrollably trembling, and the palm of his hand was filled with a heart-boring pain.

&n
bsp; “Your body’s strength really isn’t bad.” Elder Bulo snickered.

  “Why the smugness?” Linley gritted his teeth. “In my Blackstone Space, although the effect on you isn’t great, it isn’t small either.”

  Linley flashed forward like a bolt of lightning, while Elder Bulo didn’t show any weakness either, immediately moving forward to welcome him.

  “Spiritual Chaos!” Linley instantly used his spiritual energy through the black stone to affect Elder Bulo, while at the same time, his twin fists struck out mercilessly…

  Although Elder Bulo was able to resist the Spiritual Chaos technique, he still was slightly distracted.

  “Whap!” “Bam!” “Bang!”

  Linley’s fists, legs, and even his draconic tail struck viciously in succession against Elder Buler.

  “Eh?” Linley discovered, to his astonishment, that Elder Bulo’s body was very slippery. It felt as though only half of the power of his blows had been applied. Elder Buler, with a somersault, flipped far away, then recovered in mid-air. He began to laugh from his rage. “Your soul really is quite formidable.”

  “However…”

  Elder Bulo’s body actually began to lengthen, as though he was transforming into a serpent, becoming soft and boneless as his serpentine tail extended as well. Elder Bulo, normally just the height of an ordinary person, had now transformed into a serpentine shape that was dozens of meters long.

  “Haha…” Suddenly, from afar, a wild burst of laughter erupted, and a surge of terrifying power blasted out. Even Linley and Elder Bulo, in the midst of their battle, couldn’t help but be distracted and turn to look…

  “You want to kill me? In your dreams!”

  Emanuel’s entire body was encased in azure light, and every part of his body was emanating with that heart-shaking aura. As for that green-eyebrowed Hales, he was already dead, the shattered remnants of his corpse having already fallen to the ground.

  “Emanuel used his Sovereign’s Might?” Linley was shocked.

  “Sovereign’s Might?” Elder Bulo’s face changed dramatically as well.

  Because the person who had used the Sovereign’s Might…belonged to the enemy!

  Book 17, Indigo Prefecture – Chapter 32, Wanting to Steal a Chicken, Instead Losing the Bait

  “Wonderful.” Linley rejoiced. “Although Emanuel and I have some conflicts between us, we are of the same clan, after all.” Emanuel, upon having used his Sovereign’s Might, had gained tremendous power.

  As for the enemy, the two Green Eyebrow Brothers had both died, leaving behind only Elder Bulo!

  It was easy to see who held the advantage.

  Elder Bulo suddenly let out a savage growl, and the eye in the center of his forehead turned so red, it seemed as though it was about to drip blood. Suddenly, he swiped out with his arm, and that soft, boneless arm actually elongated, slashing through the air and clawing towards Linley. The space which the arm danced through began to tremble.

  “Swish!” A devilish violet light flashed.

  Where the devilish sword light flashed past, space split apart, revealing tears. Bloodviolet chopped directly against that black scaled-covered arm.

  “Hiss…” An ear-piercing sound suddenly came from long, slender arm. The scales split open, and Bloodviolet plunged into the flesh. However, it wasn’t able to cut any deeper, as the flesh was incomparably tough.

  “Haaaargh!”

  Linley, with a savage right fist, swung directly at that long arm, but with a ‘bang’ sound, the arm actually twisted, clawing towards Linley’s elbow.

  Linley wasn’t able to dodge in time at all, Elder Bulo managed to seize his right arm.

  Elder Bulo’s fingernails suddenly turned black, and as sharp as daggers. At the same time, Elder Bulo suddenly applied pressure through his left arm, using those sharp fingernails to try and pierce into Linley’s right arm. Linley let out a low growl, and the muscles on his right arm instantly bulged.

  “Ah!” Linley kicked out mightily, smashing directly towards that long arm.

  “Bang!” When the tip of his foot connected with the flesh on that long arm, it was like having kicked a wad of cotton.

  Elder Bulo’s arm trembled slightly, but he had actually managed to deflect Linley’s attack. “Swoosh!” Elder Bulo borrowed the counter-forced to come charging closer, and as he did, this giant that was tens of meters long came hurtling towards Linley.

  A bloody aura was throwing itself towards Linley at the same time as well.

  “This Elder Bulo’s defense is not only powerful, it is also as slippery and soft as a serpent. How odd.” Linley began to sense how hard to deal with this person was. This Nether Serpent clan, capable of stalemating the Azure Dragon clan, really did have its own unique abilities.

  “Emanuel, hurry up and join up with me to kill him.” Linley hurriedly sent through divine sense.

  After having used a drop of Sovereign’s Might, Emanuel was now extremely powerful.

  But Linley discovered, to his amazement, that Emanuel was pretending to have heard nothing, and was instead chasing after and pursuing those fleeing enemy Six Star Fiends.

  “Join forces with you?” Emanuel laughed coldly in his heart. “In your dreams. I’ll first let that Bulo kill you, and then I’ll take that Azure Dragon ring. Although you have clones, and I won’t be able to bind it with blood right away, but…your remaining divine clones are so weak. How will you fight against me?”

  It was only because Linley was powerful that he was able to maintain ownership of the Coiling Dragon ring.

  As Emanuel saw it, if Linley’s most powerful divine clone was destroyed, how could Linley continue to keep the Azure Dragon ring?

  “Bastard!” Linley cursed in his heart. He was cursing both Emanuel as well as this Elder Bulo who was right in front of him. In a physical close-combat, Elder Bulo occasionally hit hard and occasionally was soft and slippery, causing Linley to be at complete disadvantage.

  “Bang!”

  The two separated once again.

  “This Linley really is tough to deal with.” Elder Bulo felt a headache coming as well.

  Just based on close-quarters combat, he was stronger than Linley. But…in that Blackstone Space, he was at a disadvantage to begin with. In addition, Linley would constantly, randomly change the direction of the gravity, sometimes upwards, sometimes downwards, sometimes towards Linley, sometimes away from Linley.

  The bizarre changes of the gravity’s direction caused Elder Bulo a headache, causing him to be unable to have any advantage at all.

  “Emanuel, come over and kill him together with me!” Linley called out loudly.

  “Emanuel?” Elder Bulo was shocked.

  “Eh?” Emanuel couldn’t help but turn over.

  Just now, when Linley had used divine sense, Emanuel could pretend that he didn’t hear. But now that Linley was shouting so loudly, even the surviving Six Star Fiends of the clan heard the call. Naturally, those distant, spectating intelligence agents probably heard the call as well.

  If he still didn’t act, then if Linley were to die, when the intelligence agents made their report, Emanuel would be in trouble!

  “This Bulo is such an idiot.” Emanuel cursed to himself.

  Shouting was something that required time. During a furious battle such as this, Linley didn’t have any chance to shout at all. If Bulo was able to seize an advantage and to hold Linley down while beating upon him or just kill Linley, then Emanuel’s plot would have succeeded.

  But now that Linley and Bulo were battling to a virtual standstill, Linley naturally had the chance to shout out loudly.

  “Alright, Linley, let’s kill him together.” Emanuel intentionally shouted back loudly as well.

  These words frightened Bulo so much, he immediately went to his last resort…using Sovereign’s Might!

  “You want to kill me? Haha…” The ancient-sounding laughter shook the heavens, and Elder Bulo’s body once more returned to his normal size. At the
same time, his entire body became covered with a layer of a black glow, which at the same time also emanating a terrifying aura, completely comparable to Emanuel.

  “He also used Sovereign’s Might?” Linley was shocked. “The Elder said that the advantage our Four Divine Beasts clan has is that we have some more Sovereign’s Might. I didn’t expect that this Bulo has Sovereign’s Might as well. Terrible.”

  The ancestors of the Four Divine Beasts clan were Sovereigns. Naturally, they had an excess of Sovereign’s Might, giving virtually every single one of their Elders a drop.

  As for the ancestors of the eight great clans, they weren’t that formidable. Sovereign’s Might was extremely rare, and only the most supreme of Elders would be in possession of a drop. And thus, Bulo had one!

  “Emanuel, hurry over.” Linley sent through divine sense, shouting frantically. Emanuel just stood there in mid-air, not in a hurry to charge over at all. Linley instantly understood. “This Emanuel…actually has this sort of plot!”

  Emanuel laughed coldly in his heart. “He used Sovereign’s Might? Excellent. Then first kill Linley.”

  “Linley!”

  A low growl, and Elder Bulo charged directly towards Linley.

  Linley’s face changed. “Rumble…” The direction of the gravity of the Blackstone Space suddenly changed, transforming into a repulsive force! The powerful repulsive energy forced Elder Bulo outwards.

  However, the power of Sovereign’s Might was simply too great.

  Even when trapped within the ‘Blackstone Space’, Elder Bulo was still able to forcibly resist that repulsive force, and his speed was still very fast. He wildly chased after Linley, who turned and ran directly towards Emanuel.

  “If you won’t come to me, I’ll go to you!” Linley said to himself.

  In an instant, Linley charged over to him.

  “Hmph. I might as well kill you first, actually.” Elder Bulo, seeing the nearby Emanuel, could sense the aura of Sovereign’s Might emanating from him, and thus he immediately turned to attack Emanuel instead.

  After all…

  Emanuel was more of a threat to him!

  Linley couldn’t be bothered to care about Emanuel. “This Bulo is too powerful. When trapped in the Blackstone Space, he was still able to fight me to a draw. As for his soul attacks…it’s only because he used his innate divine ability that he became deceived into thinking my soul defense is strong. Once he begins to use soul attacks, I definitely won’t be a match for him.”