Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  But if he were to then fuse the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’, the power would increase still further!

  “Different profound mysteries are suited to different types of attacks. Thus, generally speaking, after fusing certain profound mysteries, one will develop an attack that allows one to best unleash one’s power.”

  Linley sighed. “Seven Star Fiends have generally fused four types of profound mysteries, but some are specialized in fleeing, some are specialized in soul attacks, and some are specialized in material attacks. This is because…their fusion of profound mysteries is different!”

  Delia nodded.

  Prior to this, Linley had fused the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’, the ‘Essence of the Earth’, and ‘Gravitational Space’, these three types of profound mysteries. These three profound mysteries, when combined with the ‘black stone’, created the ‘Blackstone Prison’, his most powerful technique.

  But as for material attacks?

  The profound mysteries of the Laws of the Earth most suited for material attacks were the ‘Profound Mysteries of Strength’ and the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’.

  The most suitable were the best.

  “When these two profound mysteries are fused, my attacks in Dragonform will reach a new level.” Linley said confidently. His strength in Dragonform was tremendous to begin with. He had a very good base. Once he fused these two profound mysteries…

  It was frightening just to think about how powerful he would be.

  Linley’s ‘Blackstone Prison’ could be used to trap people, but his attack was too weak, and the energy in his body was only at the God level. He had to rely on his Dragonform…but although his strength was great, he still wasn’t able to kill someone in one blow.

  “Once I fuse these two profound mysteries, I’ll first use my ‘Blackstone Prison’ to trap the enemy, and then give him a punch. Even if he doesn’t die, he’ll be badly injured.” Linley was completely confident.

  Delia laughed as she watched Linley grow so animated as he spoke.

  “Boss!” Suddenly, a voice rang out.

  Linley and Delia both turned, only to see Bebe fly over, beaming merrily. “Boss, I need to go out on a trip.”

  “Go out on a trip? To Meer City?” Linley laughed.

  “Right. It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen Tarosse, Dylin, and the others. I’ll go visit them.” Bebe mumbled. “I hear that Olivier has already left Meer City. He’s gone out for an adventure. Who knows if he’s still in Meer City.”

  “Fine, go then. Have a safe trip.” Linley laughed.

  “Heh heh, no worries.” Bebe chortled and waved, then flew into the skies.

  Linley suddenly had a thought. Ever since he had returned to the gorge, Delia hadn’t made a single trip. Linley couldn’t help but turn to look at Delia. “Delia, do you want to go out as well? How about this time, we’ll go to Meer City together?”

  “No rush.” Delia shook her head. “Linley, you’d best focus on your training. After you’ve mastered your fusion of the Profound Mysteries of Strength and the Throbbing Pulse of the World, we can go together.”

  “Thank you.” Linley said gratefully.

  Delia just smiled at him.

  Linley ignored the chaos that was happening in the outside world, focusing solely on his training. Occasionally, his original body would pause for a while to spend some time with Delia. After beginning the fusion of the Profound Mysteries of Strength and the Throbbing Pulse of the World, he continued to advance and improve…

  As he trained, he barely noticed the passage of time.

  In the blink of an eye, five hundred years had passed since he had left Bloodbath Gorge.

  In the great gorge, the place where Linley lived.

  Delia was seated quietly within her room, flipping through a book in her hands. Right at this moment…

  “Haha…” Suddenly, loud laughter rang out from within the room.

  Delia was startled, but then turned to look, overjoyed. She saw Linley, his long hair fluttering loosely, walk in with great strides. As soon as he saw Delia, he laughed, “Delia, I finally broke through. After five hundred years, I’ve finally broke through.”

  “What did you break through in?” Delia hurriedly stood up.

  “I’ve finally mastered the Profound Mysteries of Strength. And, I’ve completely fused the Profound Mysteries of Strength and the Throbbing Pulse of the World.” Linley was exceedingly delighted.

  After this day, Linley had mastered a total of five of the six profound mysteries of the Laws of the Earth, with only one remaining – Vitality.

  “However, fusion really is hard. The Profound Mysteries of Strength have only been fused with the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’. I haven’t fused it at all with the ‘Gravitational Space’ or the ‘Essence of the Earth’, Linley said with a sigh.

  He had originally hoped to be able to fuse it with the other two as well, so that he could strive to fuse four profound mysteries.

  But from the looks of it, the path of fusion was indeed an extremely long one.

  “You are already doing quite well.” Delia laughed encouragingly. “Didn’t you say that after you fuse the Profound Mysteries of Strength and the Throbbing Pulse of the World, that you will have a powerful material attack?”

  “Of course.” Linley laughed as he thought of this.

  The Profound Mysteries of Strength and the Throbbing Pulse of the World were both suited for material attacks.

  “However, although I’ve fused these two profound mysteries, I still need to carefully analyze them and develop an attack technique suited to these profound mysteries.” Linley said. “Still, it won’t take too long. At most half a year or a year, but perhaps as little as two weeks.”

  Linley himself was rather eager.

  Once he developed it, he could pair this attack with his ‘Blackstone Prison’. Even if he were to encounter Bulo again, he wouldn’t just launch a simple fist without injuring Bulo at all. Even if he was unable to kill Bulo, he’d still be able to heavily wound him.

  Book 17, Indigo Prefecture – Chapter 39, Firmament Splitter

  The Skyrite Mountains. At the borders of the great gorge.

  “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”

  One massive vibration after another shook the earth. Many of the residents within the gorge could clearly sense these vibrations. They all felt puzzled, and quite a few headed to the place where the vibrations were emanating from. When they did, they saw…

  That Linley was sending one punch after another into the ground.

  Although his fist didn’t actually impact the ground, the pulsating power of his blows still spread into the ground, causing it to tremble.

  “It’s Elder Linley!”

  Those clansmen who had been somewhat annoyed, upon seeing that it was Linley training, didn’t dare to say anything.

  “Still not right.” Linley shook his head, then unleashed yet another heavy punch.

  Although the punches seemed to be coming out at an extremely slow speed, they gave off the sensation of carrying the force of a mountain. When Linley’s fist stopped at the end of each punch, vibrations passed through space.

  But Linley just frowned, once more changing his style of attack.

  When testing techniques, Linley wasn’t in Dragonform. After all, once he was in Dragonform, the power of each fist would be simply too terrifying. Linley was completely absorbed in his training, constantly testing. In his mind, one type of attack after another arose, and then was quickly discarded.

  Constant improvement…

  “Patriarch, Elder Linley is currently in his gorge, punching the ground repeatedly, as though he is testing out some sort of technique. Elder Linley has already been training like this for a month.” A black-robed figure said respectfully.

  Patriarch Gislason couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh? Punching the ground? It seems he must be testing out a material attack. He’s been wasting his advantage of having su
ch a powerful body. He should’ve started training a more powerful material attack long ago.”

  Relying on one’s advantages was the intelligent choice.

  Since Linley’s body was powerful, he naturally had to focus on it.

  “I want to see what he’s developed.” Gislason immediately walked out of his residence.

  In the past five centuries, Gislason had been worrying about the future of the Four Divine Beasts clan. He was also in a very bad mood. For him to go out and take a look was also a way by which he could relax.

  Gislason flew at a very fast speed, soon arriving in the air above the gorge.

  “Rumble…”

  Gislason could clearly sense the ripples in air.

  “It seems he’s doing quite well.” Gislason flew over at high speed, arriving at a place in the sky directly above Linley’s training location. Linley was currently completely absorbed in launching one attack after another, gaining insights and improving with each blow, and so he didn’t notice that anyone had arrived.

  Linley’s right fist once more struck out…

  His fist seemed like a giant millstone that was grinding slowly, and yet actually moved as fast as lightning. This punch actually created ripples in space that could be seen with the naked eye.

  “Oho.” Gislason’s eyes lit up.

  “Not right. Still not right…” Linley was shaking his head.

  Each time he discarded a technique, he did so because he had gained a better understanding of it, and so he had made new breakthroughs. As he discovered flaws…he would once more seek an attack with greater power.

  One technique discarded after another. One breakthrough after another…

  A look of surprise slowly appeared on Gislason’s face.

  “Strange. Why has the ground stopped trembling?” Everyone had gotten used to the ground trembling. When the ground stopped trembling, the clansmen who lived in the gorge were actually surprised, and quite a few hurried towards Linley’s training area.

  “Can it be that Elder Linley has stopped training?”

  The clansmen all hurried over, but as they did, they saw that Linley was still repeatedly punching towards the ground.

  “All of you, leave.” A voice rumbled and echoed throughout the minds of the spectators. “Don’t disturb Elder Linley.”

  These clansmen were all shocked. Only now did they discover that there was a person standing there in the air above. This person was their Patriarch, Gislason. But these ordinary clansmen had never before met their Patriarch.

  “That person…seems to be an expert of some sort.”

  The clansmen didn’t dare to disturb Linley, and so they all left.

  Gislason turned to look at Linley, a hint of a smile being revealed on his face.

  Linley struck out with his fist yet again, and at the edges of his punch, many spatial ripples appeared. The strange thing was, these spatial ripples all folded upon each other, rather than emanating outwards.

  It was as though all of those spatial ripples were connected and building onto each other.

  “Break!”

  Linley had been training for more than three months. After three months of silence, Linley suddenly let out a growl, striking out with a massive punch. At the edges of this punch, a large number of spatial ripples appeared, and then they vanished.

  “I finally succeeded!” A look of surprise and joy appeared on Linley’s face. With a ‘crackle’ sound, draconic scales immediately tore apart his clothes as they appeared from his body. Those savage spikes jutted out as well…

  Dragonform!

  “Let’s see how my most powerful material attack does.” Linley wanted to give it a test and see how he could do with a full force attack.

  “Eh?” Linley suddenly turned and stared behind him, only to see Gislason watching him while grinning. Linley was shocked, and he hurriedly said, “Clan leader!”

  “Haha, go ahead and test your attack.” Gislason laughed. “Given the strength of your body in Dragonform…I am quite eager to see what the power will be like, myself.”

  “Yes, Patriarch.” Linley couldn’t help but feel itchy in his heart as well, and he immediately prepared for a test blow.

  Linley’s draconic scale covered right fist suddenly swung out, and in the instant that it did, with a sudden rumble, the sound of space itself exploding could be heard. Wherever his right fist swung past, space trembled violently.

  The power of this punch was akin to a flood dragon leaving its lair!

  As the punch struck out, a large number of spatial ripples appeared at the edges of his draconic scale covered fist, causing the space around his fist to form a rippling half-sphere that was like a bubble of ripples…

  And then, the explosion!

  “BANG!”

  A sound which caused the soul to tremble. The space surrounding the fist all blew apart, revealing a large black hole in space. Through this hole in space, one could clearly sense the vibrations from the region of chaotic space.

  In an instant, the hole in space disappeared.

  “Haha, good, good!!!” Gislason’s loud laughter rang out.

  Linley was filled with joy as well. Although he had developed this attack in human form, that was just hypothetical. There was no way he could be sure what the power of the attack would be like when he was in Dragonform. But now it appeared…the power exceeded his expectations.

  “Linley, what’s the name of this technique of yours?” Gislason laughed loudly.

  Linley paused for a moment, then said, “This attack was formed from the fusing of the Profound Mysteries of Strength and the Throbbing Pulse of the World. Its name is ‘Firmament Splitter’!” This blow was capable of shattering space with a single punch. One could imagine how great its power was.

  “Come, have a spar with me.” Gislason laughed loudly.

  “Patriarch?” Linley couldn’t help but feel astonished.

  “Hurry up!” Gislason couldn’t help but frown. “What, do you think you can actually beat me?” As he spoke, Gislason’s body became covered with azure draconic scales as well. The color of the scales was identical to Linley’s, but he didn’t have any sharp spikes on his body.

  Linley began to laugh. “Patriarch, so you have this desire, then I will accompany you in a spar.” Linley was very confident right now as well.

  “Linley, even just by comparing bodies, I’m more powerful than you. You have to use all your force.” Gislason laughed.

  Linley laughed, and then immediately set up his ‘Blackstone Space’. Instantly, a blurry earthen yellow light sprang up, trapping Gislason within. Even the body of Patriarch Gislason couldn’t help but tremble, and he couldn’t help but let out a low curse, “This punk is really…”

  But before he finished his words, Linley came flying at him.

  “Patriarch!” Linley laughed loudly, his right fist flashing forward like thunder.

  “Hmph!” A low snort. Gislason, his long azure hair fluttering, also sent his own right fist forward.

  “BOOM!”

  Two draconic scale covered ‘metal fists’, carrying countless tons of force, collided. Space itself was immediately torn open like a thin piece of paper. Gislason’s right fist couldn’t help but shake, and Gislason hurriedly move backwards, a hint of blood having actually appeared on his fist.

  “Not bad, kid!” Gislason’s eyes were shining. “It seems as though it’s not enough for me to just use raw force against you.”

  Linley, looking at the Patriarch who seemed to have gone berserk, was shocked inwardly. “The Patriarch’s body truly is tough. I used my most powerful blow, but the Patriarch only used raw strength.” But of course, the result of the Patriarch just using raw strength was that the draconic scales atop his fist had shattered.

  From this exchange of fists, Linley was made clearly aware that Patriarch Gislason’s reputation of having the most powerful body in the Azure Dragon clan was indeed a solid one.

  It only made sense. When he ha
d his arm captured by Gislason that time, he hadn’t been able to resist at all.

  “What technique is this?” Linley was somewhat astonished as he saw that a layer of frost had actually appeared on Gislason’s entire body, completely covering the Patriarch, including even his fist.

  The ice-clad Gislason, under the glow of the sun, gleamed with beautiful light.

  “Kid, I’ll just use half my strength.” Gislason laughed as he flew directly towards Linley. He was trapped in the ‘Blackstone Space’, but thanks to Gislason’s powerful body, his speed was still astonishing.

  Linley didn’t retreat either, excitedly charging forward to meet him.

  When drawing nearer to Gislason, Linley felt a freezing aura invade his body, so cold that Linley was astonished.

  “Bang!”

  Neither of the two dodged. Their fists slammed against each other, and where their fists passed, space itself directly collapsed. Linley couldn’t help but fly backwards after the collision.

  “Haha…” The Patriarch immediately chased after him.

  “Swoosh!” Linley immediately retreated.

  “Kid, don’t run.” The Patriarch shouted.

  Within the ‘Blackstone Space’, although the Patriarch was still very fast, he was still slightly slower than the Dragonformed Linley. Linley, relying on his speed, was dodging by relying on his speed, occasionally unleashing a powerful punch or kick.

  “Whap!”

  “Bang!”

  “Boom!”

  One enormous, world-shaking vibration after another. These vibrations attracted quite a few spectators from the gorge, and this battle between Linley and the Patriarch caused them to stare, slack-jawed. Every single exchange of blows caused space to collapse.

  If these blows had landed on them, how many of them could withstand it?

  Linley and Gislason finally came to a halt.

  “Haha, Linley, your material attack is now at Blue’s level, at least.” Gislason was very satisfied.

  But Linley discovered that just now, when he was exchanging blows with the Patriarch, even though the Patriarch was using only half of his might, he was still able to fight the Patriarch to a standstill. “Patriarch, your body is far more powerful than mine. How is it that your attack…?”