Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  “There’s no need to over-think matters regarding the Necropolis of the Gods.” Linley said with a laugh.

  Right now, Linley didn’t really have any burdens; after having spent all these years in the Planar Battlefield, he had acquired three badges, and lacked only one more. Given that his power had increased greatly, Linley was confident that if he and Bebe joined forces, it wouldn’t be hard for them to acquire one more. After accomplishing this matter, he would truly be relieved, and would be able to calmly continue his pursuit of perfection.

  “Mr. Leylin.” Linley looked at Bluefire and said solemnly, “I have a question in my heart.”

  “Speak.” Bluefire sipped some wine and said with a calm laugh.

  “I am very confused regarding Highgod Paragons.” Linley said with a frown. “There are quite a few commanders who are exceptionally, innately talented, such as Reisgem or Reihom. They were born with tremendous power. In addition, they have fused five of the profound mysteries of their Laws! Logically speaking, given how powerful their bodies are and the fact that they have fused five profound mysteries, I feel that they should be on par with Highgod Paragons. But previously, when they fought Bayer, I discovered…the difference was tremendous. They were toyed with.”

  “Right. That Bayer was too powerful. He was easily able to compress space. That restrictive power was too terrifying.” Bebe said hurriedly.

  “In addition, soul attacks. Wind is suited for material attacks, and not for soul attacks. Although it has ‘Music’ and ‘Sound Waves’, the power isn’t extraordinary. But why is it that when Bayer executed a soul attack, I fell into a dazed state without being able to resist at all?” Linley didn’t understand at all.

  Even Paragons had differences amongst themselves.

  Wind-element Paragons were extremely strong in material attacks. Water-element Paragons had exceptional material defenses. Previously, Hemmers said that a water-element Highgod Paragon was slightly weaker than him in a frontal clash.

  But Bayer was a Highgod Paragon of wind. Why was it that his soul attack was so terrifying?

  Linley truly didn’t understand!

  “Haha…” Bluefire began to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?” Bebe muttered. “Paragons truly are monstrously powerful. It seems as though they are mighty in every aspect.” Different Highgod Paragons of different elements would have different specialties, but although they might be weaker in one aspect, they still far surpassed commanders in might.

  For example, although that Highgod Paragon of water was weaker in material attacks, he was still close to being on par with Hemmers.

  “Highgod Paragons have no weaknesses.” Bluefire said with a calm laugh.

  Linley and Bebe immediately perked up and began to listen carefully. Naturally, when a Highgod Paragon spoke on this subject, they spoke with authority.

  “Highgod Paragons are extremely powerful in every aspect! Different Laws and Edicts only result in Paragons being stronger in certain aspects; for example, I am strongest in soul attacks! Actually, Highgod Paragons are powerful in all aspects…because of a certain secret.” Bluefire said.

  “Secret?” Linley and Bebe were stunned.

  “Right.” Bluefire sighed in praise. “Linley, I can tell you two this, but…the secret about me being a Paragon, as well as this secret? You can’t tell anyone else.”

  “Of course.” Linley and Bebe both nodded.

  Bluefire nodded slightly, then said, “That year, when I was fusing the six profound mysteries of the Laws of Fire, I reached a bottleneck! I was only one step away from becoming a Paragon. I was already extremely powerful by that point in time. However, once I took that final step and became a Paragon, do you know…how great the difference in power was?”

  Linley shook his head. “I’m not sure. However, breaking through bottlenecks, generally speaking, wouldn’t result in too ridiculous an increase in power.”

  “When I took that final step, I felt myself transformed!” Bluefire sighed. “A qualitative transformation. The difference between heaven and earth!”

  “Heaven and earth?” Linley and Bebe were startled.

  “I trust you know that generally speaking, any Highgod, even a very powerful one, who hasn’t reach the Paragon level, upon annoying a Sovereign, can be destroyed by the Sovereign with a thought. There is one type of Highgod which is an exception; Paragons! A Sovereign’s Will cannot kill a Highgod Paragon!” Bluefire laughed.

  Linley nodded slightly. He knew this.

  “Why?” Bluefire said with a laugh. “This has to do with the secret of Paragons! Upon becoming a Paragon, in an instant, one is transformed.”

  Linley and Bebe listened carefully.

  “In that instant of transformation upon becoming a Paragon!” Bluefire seemed to be reminiscing about that feeling he had. “A very unique sort of natural Law surrounded my soul! My soul underwent a sort of qualitative transformation. After the transformation completed, I understood how powerful Paragons were.” Bluefire began to laugh.

  A qualitative transformation of the soul? Linley was stunned.

  From Demigod to God to Highgod, the soul rose in power each time. But he hadn’t imagined that upon reaching the Paragon level, the soul would rise again.

  “This sort of soul transformation caused the natural Laws to bestow upon me a sort of authority which Paragons have!” Bluefire smiled. “An authority which included the Will of the natural Laws of the world! A Paragon’s Will!”

  Linley was stunned.

  Everyone had a will, but the will of ordinary Highgods was an insubstantial thing, containing no attack power. “The Will of a Paragon…contains the Laws of the world?” Linley couldn’t refrain from asking.

  “Right!” Bluefire laughed. “Actually, the increase in power from fusing the profound mysteries, in and of itself, is limited. But even an ordinary attack from us, upon being infused with our Will, will cause the power to rise to a terrifying level! This is a sort of authority! An authority bestowed by the universe itself! And this is what we rely upon to resist the Will of a Sovereign!”

  Linley and Bebe began to understand.

  They, too, had heard that a Sovereign’s Will was inviolable. Sovereign power wasn’t that special; however, Sovereign power infused with a Sovereign’s Will was terrifyingly, ridiculously powerful. The most terrifying thing about a Sovereign was their Will.

  “It is like an Emperor! He doesn’t have to act himself; an order from him can cause countless people to lose their heads. To an ordinary person, an Emperor’s will is inviolable!” Bluefire laughed calmly. “This is a sort of power. The force of his will! The will of ordinary Highgods cannot be used to attack, but for Highgod Paragons, they have this sort of authority, bestowed upon them by the universe itself!”

  Linley and Bebe now understood.

  Good heavens!

  So this was the situation. Will? Amongst the countless Highgods, Highgod Paragons were like ‘Emperors’ who were far above the others. The Will of Highgod Paragons contained the natural Laws, and so even an ordinary attack by a Highgod Paragon contained terrifyingly powerful force!

  “No wonder! A casual movement by Bayer caused the four of us to feel such tremendous restrictions.” Bebe sighed in praise. “An empty-handed attack was comparable to a Sovereign weapon attack.”

  “What about the Will of a Sovereign?” Bebe said hurriedly. “How much stronger is it than a Paragon’s Will?”

  “Much stronger!” Bluefire laughed. “It is the same principle! Sovereigns have a Sovereign spark, and they too have been bestowed by the natural laws of the universe with tremendous authority! This causes their Will to possess even greater power. Sovereigns, from trillions of kilometers away, can use their Will alone to control their Sovereign power to attack us. We Highgod Paragons can just barely hold them off and preserve our lives. However, if a Sovereign was to come in person to attack us, there’s no way we would be able to resist.”

  Linley and Bebe now complete
ly understood.

  The Will of a Sovereign was bestowed by the natural Laws of the universe with far more authority than the Will of Highgod Paragons.

  If they were trillions of kilometers away, a Sovereign wouldn’t be able to kill a Paragon. But if they were close by, the Paragon would still die. But of course…amongst Highgods, Paragons were already invincible figures.

  “A Will which possesses tangible power and might.” Linley sighed.

  Bluefire stayed with Linley and Bebe for three days. During these three days, the three of them chatted and drank. Linley told him some of the stories about the attacks they had suffered here on the Planar Battlefield, and Bluefire had sighed when listening. Still, after three days, Bluefire still parted from Linley.

  After all, Bluefire had come to the Planar Battlefield for a purpose that was different from Linley’s; Bluefire disdained from killing people.

  Currently, they were outside the cave. Standing on the desolate earth, Bluefire was bidding Linley and Bebe farewell.

  “Haha, Linley, let me wish you luck in acquiring your fourth commander badge, then.” Bluefire said with a calm laugh. “Right. Tell me. Before this, you stayed with Reisgem for a time. Half a month before I met you, I discovered Reisgem and that Reihom you described in a cave.

  “Oh?” Linley and Bebe were instantly overjoyed.

  “Where are they?” Linley immediately asked. Linley still felt very grateful towards Reisgem.

  Bluefire looked around, then pointed towards a direction. “Go straight in that direction. Roughly a hundred and ten thousand kilometers away, you’ll discover a mountain with two peaks, like a ram’s horn. The two of them are staying there at the base of the mountain, in a cave. But of course…I can’t be sure if they are still there.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Leylin.” Linley was overjoyed.

  Generally speaking, they would stay in one place for many years. As Bluefire had seen them there recently, Reisgem should still be there.

  “It seems as though you want to reunite with them as well. Then we’ll each part ways now.” Bluefire laughed.

  Linley and Bebe immediately bade Bluefire farewell, then, without returning to their cave, flew towards the direction Bluefire had pointed towards at high speed. Actually, upon hearing the description of a ram’s horn shaped mountain, Linley already had an idea. He had a map of the Planar Battlefield. Naturally he knew where the mountain was located.

  Bluefire watched as the two disappeared into the desolate wilderness, then couldn’t help but laugh. He then sighed, “Beirut really spared no expense and no effort! However, now that Linley has fused four profound mysteries, it can be said that Beirut has accomplished his goal. As for the fusion of the fifth profound mystery, that’s quite far off. It seems, for now, there’s nothing more for me to do here! Mm, I’ve never seen a Planar War. I can’t miss the final battle that will happen in three hundred years.” Bluefire gracefully departed.

  Book 19, Metamorphosis – Chapter 41, High Spirits

  The cold wind howled, stabbing like knives as it swept across the vast, desolate earth. Sand and pebbles flew about wildly, and two blurry forms continued to advance.

  Not too far away from them, up ahead, there was a large, twin-peaked mountain. The mountain was thousands of meters high, and the peak of the mountain was split, all the way from the top to the halfway point. From a distance, it looked just like the horns of a ram. In the maps of the Planar Battlefield, this mountain, the ‘Ramhorn Mountain’, was something of a landmark.

  “Here we are!” Linley, dressed in a deep green robe, glanced about, his eyes flashing like lightning as he stared at every ‘suspicious’ looking part of Ramhorn Mountain.

  “It seems there’s no cave here.” Bebe mumbled.

  “Even if Reisgem is here, how could he allow others to tell just by looking? Let’s do a good investigation of the entire Ramhorn Mountain.” After speaking, Linley and Bebe transformed into two blurs, flying at high speed towards Ramhorn Mountain.

  With Reihom present, even the most desolate of mountains could be transformed into a luxurious cave estate.

  Within that estate inside Ramhorn Mountain, there was a large estate hall that seemed to have been formed by nature. Reihom, that big fellow, was currently seated in the meditative position in the corner of the hall, quietly training. The slow passage of time, to these supreme experts, was generally spent in training. As for Reisgem, he was seated on a chair, his legs resting atop a table which was covered with all sorts of fruits and foods.

  “Montelo, that bastard.” Reisgem grabbed a haunch of leg meat from an unknown beast, giving it a savage bite. “He’s so cocky. All he has is strength in numbers.”

  Reisgem, when thinking back to what happened three years ago, still was quite angry and discontent.

  Reisgem turned to look at the meditating Reihom. He couldn’t help but call out, “Hey, Reihom, stop training like an idiot. There’s no need to train so frantically. It’s not so easy to reach the level of Paragon. Come over here and drink and chat with me.”

  The towering, wargod-like Reihom opened his eyes, and it was as though corporeal light emanated forth.

  “Yes.” Reihom rose to his feet, then moved to sit down across from Reisgem.

  “I asked you to chat with me, so why aren’t you saying anything?” Reisgem couldn’t help but feel resigned. Seeing how Reihom was acting, though, all he could say was, “Alright. Ugh. If I’d known it’d be like this, I would’ve brought a few more people as well. Even if they aren’t able to help out in a fight, they’d help me relieve my boredom. Speaking of fighting…if I become a Paragon, I will definitely make it so that that Montelo would suffer so much that he would beg for dear.”

  “He…needs killing.” Reihom growled as well.

  Reisgem immediately laughed. “Right. Needs killing!”

  “Reisgem!” A clear voice rang out from the corridor up ahead. “Hey, Reisgem, we’re here!” A joyful sound echoed forth from the cave tunnel-corridor. And then, with a ‘bang’ sound, clearly the mountainous slab of rock that covered the tunnel was broken through.

  Reisgem and Reihom reacted by instinct. “Swoosh!” “Swoosh!” They hurriedly rose to their feet and glanced at each other, their eyes filled with surprise, delight, and laughter.

  “Linley and Bebe came.” Reihom said.

  “Haha…let’s go welcome them, quick.” Reisgem was the first to fly out, with Reihom close behind. Once the two arrived at their front courtyard, they saw that the gates to the courtyard had already been broken through. Linley, dressed in a deep green robe, and a black-robed Bebe were smiling, walking over shoulder-to-shoulder.

  “Reisgem.” Bebe called out jubilantly.

  “Ohoh, Bebe!” Reisgem excitedly charged over, grabbing Bebe into a bearhug. “We’re finally reunited again.”

  “Linley.” Reihom revealed a hint of a smile towards Linley as well, and Linley laughed and nodded.

  Reihom was currently transformed into a size of just two meters in height, comparable to Linley. As for Bebe and Reisgem, their heights were similar as well…the four members of this hunting squad, standing together, made for quite an interesting scene.

  “His mommy!” Reisgem turned his head to look at Linley, then punched Linley on the chest and snorted, “Linley, kid, you worried me to death! When you were being attacked and chased by Oman, I wasn’t worried about Bebe; I was only worried about you! Oman wouldn’t be able to do anything to Bebe, but you were a different story. You are my one and only disciple, y’know? If you die, I’ll be very sad.”

  Linley let out an awkward laugh.

  Disciple?

  “Hey, Reisgem, we’re bros!” Bebe slapped his arm around Reisgem’s shoulders and cocked his head. “We’re on the same level, so how can you consider yourself my Boss’ ‘master’?”

  “Uh…” Reisgem was startled.

  “Fine then.” Reisgem gave Linley a sideways look. “It was you who comprehended the profound secrets of my
Amethyst Space on your own, and it was my mother who asked me to do what I did! You can be considered my mother’s disciple, then, which means you and I are on the same level as well.” As Reisgem spoke, he began to snicker. Hearing this, Linley couldn’t help but have a thought. “Hm? So Reisgem did what he did, teaching me while claiming to ‘punish’ me, was at the behest of the Sovereign. But why did the Sovereign make that decision? I’ve never before met the Redbud Sovereign.”

  Bebe said, puzzled, “Hey, Reisgem, that was all arranged by your mother, the Sovereign?”

  “Right. My mother even gave an important Soulstone to Linley.” Reisgem mumbled. “I really didn’t want to part with it.”

  “Soulstone? You mean the black stone?” Linley hurriedly asked.

  “Right.” Reisgem nodded very confidently. “I feel sick at heart just talking about it. That Soulstone…my mother has never given it to any outsider before. You were the first! Do you know? Even Sovereigns have asked for a Soulstone from my mother, but my mother wasn’t willing to give it to them.”

  “Sovereigns wanted it?” Linley said, puzzled. “This is useful for Sovereigns?”

  “It isn’t very useful for a Sovereign.” Reisgem shook his head. “But if it was given to a Highgod, it would be very useful!”

  Bebe said in surprise, “Reisgem, if we compare this ‘Soulstone’ to the ‘Abyssal Fruit’ of the Netherworld, which one is better?”

  “Abyssal Fruit?” Reisgem chortled. “The Abyssal Fruit truly is a treasure as well, but even ten Abyssal Fruits aren’t as valuable as a single Soulstone. Perhaps it has limited impact on Sovereigns, but…for Highgods, a Soulstone is a true treasure. Linley, don’t look at me that way. In the future, you’ll know how valuable that Soulstone is! Although in the countless planes of the universe, there are only two Amethyst Godbeasts, myself and my mother, my mother is the only person capable of giving someone a Soulstone.”

  Linley and Bebe looked at each other.

  From the sounds of it, this ‘Soulstone’ really was quite remarkable. Indeed, in battle, it was remarkably useful, but Linley didn’t yet see how it could be as amazing as Reisgem was claiming it to be.