Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  As for Linley, his brute strength was no lower than Beirut or Hemmers’. In addition, he had the power of Will!

  This made it so that…

  In this clash, Linley’s palm just trembled slightly, while Ballmer’s entire body was knocked flying backwards.

  “Bang!”

  Ballmer’s body slammed hard against the mountain rocks, and the counterforce of their collision was transmitted to the mountain. A power that was capable of making a Highgod Paragon be knocked back that far…how could the mountains of a material plane withstand it?

  “Rumble…”

  A layer of rocks transformed into sand, and then a powerful tremor swept through the mountainous rocks like an ocean wave, transforming them into sand. It was like a ripple that swept out to a distance of hundreds of kilometers; it even swept through the air, from one mountain to another mountain.

  All of the mountain peaks within hundreds of kilometers seemed to have been sliced through by an enormous greatsword that was hundreds of kilometers long. It was extremely flat and equally distributed.

  Divine Punishment Gorge was only a ten or so kilometers away from Linley’s battle. Naturally, it was within that region.

  The hundreds of thousands of warriors within the gorge only felt the entire space tremble violently, and then…

  “Rustle…”

  The upper halves of the mountain peaks above each side of the gorge were completely transformed into sand, and then with a rustling sound, the sand began to flow downwards.

  “Retreat, quick, retreat!”

  These soldiers all began to bellow.

  Countless amounts of sand flowed downwards. If they were to be buried under this avalanche of sand…even the most powerful of warriors would suffocate to death.

  Moments later, an enormous sand pile that was hundreds of meters high appeared within the gorge.

  “Good heavens. A sand dune that is the size of a small mountain. Anyone trapped in it would definitely die. Fortunately, I managed to flee fast enough.” Quite a few warriors stared at the mountain of sand and felt a surge of fear. This terrifying, gigantic dune had already completely sealed off the center of the gorge.”

  “What’s going on? Where did all of this sand come from?”

  “Good heavens. The mountain peaks are all missing. They’ve been completely flattened. It is as though an invincible celestial divinity used a blade to completely flatten the mountains nearby.”

  “Those mountain peaks were still standing just moments ago. Where did they disappear to?”

  Many of the soldiers raised their heads to stare, completely stupefied.

  The high level military officials and powerful experts of each side were also stunned.

  “A miracle!”

  Quite a few people stared with wide eyes. At this moment, the two armies had no desire to keep fighting at all. They were too stunned by this ‘miracle’. Actually, even if they wanted to fight, there was no way to; that sand dune was hundreds of meters high, and it completely blocked off both sides.

  “Let’s go up and take a look.” Quite a few people in both armies were mounted on flying magical beasts, and they rose into the skies.

  There were also some magi, and even a few rare Saints who were able to rely on their own power to fly into the skies. They all wanted to see what had happened, exactly.

  “So many Saint-level experts.” Quite a few people stared, stupefied, at the thronging mass of Highgods hovering in the air.

  “Swish!” A figure suddenly shot over, and then smashed hard against the rocky walls of a large gorge. “Rumble…” The entire gorge seemed to tremble, and then a layer of stone that was more than ten meters thick was transformed into sand and flowed downwards.

  The fiery figure that had slammed into the gorge once more flew into the air.

  “Linley, I told you, I didn’t catch the Planar Overseer.” The fiery red figure began to bellow.

  The soldiers below frantically tried to dodge and hide. Fortunately, this time, the sand that fell down was only a few meters thick, and so the soldiers were able to save themselves. Quite a few warriors emerged from the sand, raising their heads to stare at the fiery figure. “What…what sort of people are they!?”

  A collision was enough to cause a scene of such devastation?

  “You’d rather die than admit it?” A voice echoed in the skies.

  “Gods…celestial divinities!”

  Those soldiers took the speakers to be celestial divinities. These soldiers had no idea what came after Saints. As they saw it…‘gods’ and ‘celestial divinities’ were essentially the same thing.

  Right at this moment, two figures appeared above the gorge, staring at the fiery figure.

  “Linley, your material attacks truly are terrifying.” Dunnington sighed in amazement.

  “My Azure Dragon clan has always specialized in strengthening the body, and so my body was strong to begin with. Now that I have the power of Will and have mastered the profound mysteries, of course I’m a bit stronger than most Paragons in terms of material attacks.” Linley smiled.

  “A bit stronger?” The nearby Paragon of Fire, Ballmer, felt bitterness in his heart.

  That wasn’t a ‘bit’ stronger, it was significantly stronger! This was abusive!

  “Fortunately, although I’m not able to completely defend against this sort of attack, it won’t kill me either.” Ballmer still felt some confidence. What Ballmer didn’t realize…was that the power which Linley had just revealed, despite vastly outstripping Ballmer’s own, was just a small part of Linley’s true power. Linley’s true killing technique, the four-way ‘fused divine power’, had yet to be used.

  If he had used fused divine power, his attack power would increase tenfold.

  Tenfold. What sort of a concept was that? It would be completely lopsided!

  Ballmer looked downwards at the stupefied commoners. He couldn’t help but feel angry that these ordinary mortals had seen him lose face like this, which made him both enraged and embarrassed. “A group of ants.” Ballmer waved his hand, and instantly, a surge of fiery energy swept out, completely covering the skies and forming into an uninterrupted sea of flame above the gorge.

  This sea of flame was hundreds of kilometers long. It covered the entire gorge, rendering it so that those below weren’t able to see anything going on above. As for within the gorge…in the future, it would be referred to by the denizens of the Okerlund Plane as the ‘Apocalypse Flame Gorge’. The flames which Ballmer had casually created…were flames which even Highgods wouldn’t dare touch.

  “Linley, Dunnington, it’s completely impossible for the two of you to kill me.” Ballmer said angrily. “I told you, the Planar Overseer isn’t here.”

  “Haha, Ballmer, stop denying it.” With this voice, a figure suddenly appeared.

  “Ballmer, your material attacks are far weaker than Linley’s.” Yet another figure appeared.

  “You!” Ballmer frowned. Two more Paragons had arrived. Ballmer stretched out his divine sense…and upon doing so, he frowned. It wasn’t actually just two more Paragons who had arrived; the other Paragons were hastening over here as well.

  Ballmer had a very ugly look on his face.

  “Ballmer, don’t deny having the Planar Overseer. Just hand him over.” This speaker’s entire body was covered with an earthen yellow light. His muscles bulged, and his blue veins were like branches that twined about throughout his terrifyingly muscular four-meter-tall figure.

  “Alas, if you insist on just denying it, you’ll just suffer more.” A snicker rang out. The speaker was Bayer.

  In but a twinkling, all of the other Paragons had arrived as well.

  “Haha, I ended up being the last one.” A shadow flashed forward; the latecomer was the Paragon of Light, ‘Clementine’.

  Including Linley, there were eight people present. These eight all stared at Ballmer.

  “Hmph. You all came.” Ballmer had a gloomy look on his face, and he snorted
angrily, “I told you. The Planar Overseer isn’t here.”

  The unending flames blazed above the gorge, and above the flames, nine supreme Deities stood there, eight surrounding one! Ballmer was definitely in a weak position.

  “Ballmer won’t admit it. Dunnington, it’s up to you.” The Paragon of Light, Clementine, pursed his lips and laughed.

  Dunnington winked at Ballmer. “Ballmer, can it be…that you are going to force me to hypnotize and control one of your Highgods?”

  Ballmer’s face instantly changed.

  He finally realized what his flaw was!

  It was extremely hard to use hypnosis to control a Highgod, but Dunnington was capable of it. ‘Soulseed’, ‘Hypnosis’, creating soul shards…these all belonged to the Edicts of Death. If one didn’t train in the Edicts of Death, and instead trained in fire or water, even if one became a Paragon, one would be unable to use Soulseeds and hypnosis, or create soul shards from scraping away someone’s soul.

  Every area had its own specialties. If one didn’t train in the Edicts of Death, no matter how powerful one was, one wouldn’t be able to use ‘Hypnosis’.

  “The Planar Overseer truly isn’t here.” Ballmer said.

  The looks on the faces of the eight experts, Linley included, sank. Clearly, they felt that Ballmer really didn’t know what was good for him.

  “He’s dead. I killed him.” Ballmer then said.

  The eyes of the eight experts lit up.

  Ballmer chuckled, “I’m now the only person that knows about Brodie. However, since you’ve decided to go this far in forcing me, I can’t make it so that you were did this all for nothing. I’ll tell you. After all…even if you know, it won’t be of much use.”

  “You aren’t the one to decide if this information is useful or not.” Bayer narrowed his vertical eyebrows as he said coldly.

  Ballmer continued, “Brodie did indeed come to the Okerlund Plane, but just one year later, he took his wife and left the Okerlund Plane. He went to the Life Realm! However, when Brodie left the Okerlund Plane, he once said something to the Planar Overseer…”

  The eight experts all stared at Ballmer.

  “Brodie said…‘Mr. Ben, if many Deities descend upon this place in search of something called a red caltrop diamond, please tell these Deities something for me. Tell them that the red caltrop diamond is right here in the Okerlund Plane. However, if they want to find it, it will depend on how lucky they are, haha…’” Ballmer finished speaking, then snickered coldly as he looked at everyone.

  The eight experts all began to ponder.

  Everyone sensed quite clearly that Brodie’s words contained a hint of mockery within them.

  “Everyone, you tell me, is the red caltrop diamond in the Okerlund Plane?” Ballmer laughed coldly.

  That’s what Brodie had claimed! But the truth? That was unclear.

  There were two possibilities. The first was that the red caltrop diamond was truly in the Okerlund Plane; only, it was hidden too well, so it was very hard to find.

  The second was that it left alongside Brodie as he went to another plane.

  “Haha…think about it at your leisure. Whether you decide to give up and go back or decide to keep searching is up to you. I’ve already given you this information.” Laughing, Ballmer flew away. As he did so, Ballmer gave Linley a sidelong glance. Just now, when he had been fighting Linley, he had been at an absolute disadvantage.

  “It seems as though Linley wasn’t just lucky when he exiled Magnus into chaotic space. Just now…he wasn’t even in Dragonform.” Ballmer, in his heart, began to feel a hint of dread towards Linley.

  Book 20, The Crown’s Riddle – Chapter 37, Infiltration

  The Biers Mountains. In the air above the sea of flame which hung over the Divine Punishment Gorge. After the Paragon of Fire, Ballmer, departed, the other seven Paragons and Linley all continued to quietly hover there above the sea of fire. After hearing Ballmer’s information, they all began to ponder.

  “Brodie’s message stated that the red caltrop diamond is still in the Okerlund Plane.” Linley frowned as he pondered. “Brodie, after having been surrounded by so many experts of the Infernal Realm, should know by now how important that red caltrop diamond is. Perhaps…he has truly decided to give up the red caltrop diamond, in exchange for a peaceful life.”

  Before being surrounded by so many experts, Brodie might perhaps have been unaware as to just how hot to handle this red caltrop diamond was.

  But after that and the loss of a divine clone, Brodie should’ve begun to wonder as to whether or not he should have continued to hold the red caltrop diamond! Although his power increased tremendously while holding it, it also caused countless experts to descend upon and pursue him.

  “Everyone, you all know the message now. What do you all think? Is the red caltrop diamond still in the Okerlund Plane?” The Paragon of Light, Clementine, said with a smile.

  “Hmph. If Brodie is playing a trick and has the desire to be greedy and keep the Overgod talisman on his own, he would be courting death.” The Paragon of Earth, that four meter tall figure, said in a cold voice.

  “If we believe that the red caltrop diamond isn’t here, we might as well leave this plane.” The Paragon of Wind, Bayer, let out a snicker. He glanced at the surrounding people. “Myself, I’ll be staying here. Everyone…I won’t accompany you here any longer. I’ll go back now.” A wind blew past, and Bayer disappeared from everyone’s field of vision.

  In a material plane, all Paragons were able to move at a speed that seemed akin to the speed of the Sovereigns in the Higher Planes.

  “I won’t stay here any longer either.” Clementine also disappeared, transforming into a ray of light.

  And then, all of the Highgod Paragons left, leaving behind only Linley and Dunnington.

  “Linley, are you going to leave the Okerlund Plane or stay?” Dunnington asked.

  “There’s no rush. Perhaps the red caltrop diamond is still in the Okerlund Plane.” Linley said with a slight frown, but then he chuckled. “Dunnington, let’s compete and see who will be the one to acquire the red caltrop diamond…mm, let’s separate for now then.”

  “You don’t have as many supporters as I do. If someone is to get it, it will be me.” Dunnington began to laugh as well.

  And then, Linley and Dunnington transformed into two blurs as they flew towards different directions.

  Originally, after having thoroughly scoured the entire Okerlund Plane, Linley felt that there was a 90% chance that the red caltrop diamond truly might have departed the Okerlund Plane. The Okerlund Plane was nothing more than a transit location for Brodie! As for that remaining 10% chance…that was just because Linley wasn’t willing to just leave like this.

  However, after having heard this message, Linley’s thoughts had changed.

  Given what Brodie had said, the red caltrop diamond might truly be still in the Okerlund Plane.

  The eastern part of the Okerlund Plane. The Moulin Empire. Within that estate at the peak of Mount Liangya.

  “Boss, what sort of tricks do you think Brodie employed?” Bebe, after listening to what Linley had to say, couldn’t help but frown as he spoke.

  “The red caltrop diamond is such a precious treasure that he naturally wouldn’t want to let us acquire it so easily!” Linley said with a frown, “But I’ve already completely searched the entire Okerlund Plane. There is no red caltrop diamond at all. Then…there’s only one possibility.” This was the possibility that frustrated Linley the most.

  “My divine sense can easily search the heavens, but it is hard for someone to use divine sense to search inside a person’s body. Thus…the red caltrop diamond is perhaps hidden within the body of some sort of living creature!” Linley frowned.

  It was extremely hard for one to send divine sense deep into the body of any living creature with a spirit.

  For example, divine artifacts; divine artifacts had their own form of a spirit.

  It was
impossible for even Linley to send his spiritual energy into a divine artifact and search for something inside of it.

  For example, Bebe’s godspark weapon; he had hidden the interspatial ring within the godspark weapon, and even Sovereigns wouldn’t be able to see through it to find the interspatial ring within. But of course, it was virtually impossible to hide a ring within a divine artifact. After all, in the forging and refining process for the divine artifact, any interspatial ring would have been destroyed long ago.

  Only someone like Bebe, who completely relied on his own will in creating a godspark weapon, would be able to safely secrete an interspatial ring within it.

  Aside from divine artifacts, other living creatures also possessed souls.

  Every single living creature had a soul which would repel the spiritual energy of any invading forces! Because some souls were strong while others were weak, the strength of the resistance would vary as well.

  Some living creatures were simply too powerful and so couldn’t be invaded at all.

  For example, Linley!

  Generally speaking, Paragons might be able to chat with Linley through divine sense, but they definitely wouldn’t be able to extend their divine senses into Linley’s body and investigate the secrets it held.

  But for weaker people, such as mortals…

  If a Deity wanted to investigate a mortal, he would only have to just focus his spiritual energy slightly, and thus would be able to sense into the mortal’s body. This, however, still required concentration and focus. One couldn’t use too much spiritual energy, as if one did, the mortal’s fragile soul might shatter and disperse. But if the spiritual energy was too weak…then it might not be able to go in at all.

  Thus, it was hard to investigate into someone’s body.

  As for searching one’s soul, that was even harder!

  When Delia had been in a coma, Linley hadn’t dared to send his spiritual energy into her to investigate at all. He was afraid that if he wasn’t careful, he would shatter her soul.

  “The Okerlund Plane is simply too vast. I imagine that Brodie chose this plane precisely because he heard of how populated it is.” Linley said with a frown. “Even for me, to search the body of a human being is difficult enough that I can’t investigate a few thousand people at once. I have to be very careful and very patient! At most, I can probably only search a thousand people at once.”