Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  “Couldn’t you understand what I was saying earlier? Naturally, it was Wodred who lost.” The Chief Sovereign of Death chortled.

  The other Chief Sovereigns were somewhat in disbelief.

  If they didn’t compete using Overgod artifacts, the Chief Sovereign of Fate would be stronger. But if they did…the Chief Sovereign of Fate only had a soul-protecting Overgod artifact. There was no way for him to increase his attack power. Why, then, did the Chief Sovereign of Destruction lose the second round?”

  “As for why he lost? Hmph, that old fellow, Orloff…how much of his terrifying power have you truly witnessed?” The Chief Sovereign of Death laughed calmly.

  The group of Chief Sovereigns fell silent.

  “A reward of Will?” Linley couldn’t help but say. “Your Excellency, what exactly is a ‘reward of Will’?”

  “You don’t even know about this?” The Chief Sovereign of Death looked at Linley, puzzled. The other Chief Sovereigns looked at him as well.

  “I truly don’t know.” Linley laughed helplessly.

  A smile appeared on the small, pretty face of the Chief Sovereign of Death. “Haha, you’ve trained for less than ten thousand years. It makes sense that you don’t know. The ‘reward of Will’ that I spoke of, is the reward that the Overgods will bestow upon those who win ten consecutive victories in the Planar Wars!”

  “Ten consecutive victories?” Linley frowned.

  “Right. Every trillion years, there will be Planar Wars. Each Planar Wars will have five competitions. The eleven planes, aside from the Life Realm, will all compete. Every trillion years, the ten planes will only compete a single time. The results of the battle have three possibilities; victory, defeat, and draw!

  Linley nodded slightly.

  He had participated in a Planar War before; he knew that victory and defeat was determined by the results within the two corridors above the Stellar River.

  “According to the rules, if one’s plane wins ten consecutive Planar Wars, then the seven Sovereigns of that plane will all receive a reward from the Overgods. They will all be bestowed with an additional portion of Will, comparable to fusing with an additional Sovereign spark.” The Chief Sovereign of Death explained in detail.

  Linley couldn’t help but feel startled.

  “A portion of Will?” This reward was simply too extravagant.

  “Linley.” The nearby Chief Sovereign of Life smiled and said, “Do you think it is easy to win ten victories in a row?”

  “No.” Linley immediately understood.

  He had undergone a Planar War. A Planar War required one side to dominate two Stellar Corridors simultaneously in order for that round to be considered a victory for that side. If only one corridor was conquered, then it would simply be a draw. Last time, if it hadn’t been for Linley and Magnus fighting, the Divine Darkness Plane probably wouldn’t have won.

  “More than half of the Planar Wars end up in a draw!” The Chief Sovereign of Death snickered. “Occasionally, a plane will win a round. However, a trillion years later, the next battle might be a draw, making the earlier win pointless. After all, only by winning ten victories in a row would one be rewarded. Forget about ten consecutive wins; even five consecutive wins is inconceivable. But even if you won five times in a row, if you reached a draw in the next round, or lost the next round, then you would have to start from scratch again!”

  Linley nodded slightly.

  The various planes were all on par in power. Given the rules for ‘victory’ in the Planar Wars, to win ten rounds in a row…the chances of accomplishing it were so low as to be nearly zero!

  “A trillion years each time. From the creation of the universe until now…there has been more than a million Planar Wars.” The Chief Sovereign of Death sighed.

  “More than a million…” Linley’s heart clenched.

  A trillion years each time? How long ago, then, had the universe been created? Linley felt astonished. Most likely, the Chief Sovereigns who had unlimited lifespan couldn’t even be bothered to calculate it. It was simply too long. They would just say ‘countless years’.

  “But Linley, do you know how many times, over the course of countless years, a side has won ten rounds in a row?” The Chief Sovereign of Death smirked.

  “This…I don’t know.” Linley couldn’t be sure.

  “Once! Just once!” The Chief Sovereign of Death sighed. “Over countless years, there have been six cases where a side won nine rounds in a row. But on the tenth round of those six cases, all of the other planes would join forces to prevent that other side from winning a tenth time.”

  Linley understood.

  The Sovereigns didn’t wish for other Sovereigns to receive the reward of Will.

  Thus, even if one side won nine battles in a row, for the tenth battle, the other planes would join forces.

  “This sole success was achieved by the Higher Plane belonging to Fate, the Celestial Realm.” The Chief Sovereign of Death sighed as she spoke. “Precisely because of that, the seven Sovereigns of Fate were all bestowed with an additional portion of Will. Because of that, the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, is naturally more powerful than us!”

  Linley sighed to himself.

  The Chief Sovereign of Fate was a Paragon to begin with. Now, he had gained an additional portion of Will. No wonder he was so powerful!

  “In addition, Orloff never gets involved in mortal affairs. He is completely absorbed in training. He researches the fundamental principles behind innate divine abilities, and the reasons why a body can become powerful…” The Chief Sovereign of Death sighed. “For example…Orloff’s body is definitely ranked as one of the top three amongst the Sovereigns in terms of strength.”

  Linley was secretly shocked.

  This Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, an old fellow who never cared about worldly matters, was such a terrifying figure.

  “Watch. They are about to fight now.” The Chief Sovereign of Death suddenly said.

  Linley hurriedly looked over, and the other Chief Sovereigns also focused their attention, watching rapidly.

  Within the vast, chaotic void, the white-haired, white-robed Chief Sovereign of Fate was quietly standing there, staring at his opponent…the Chief Sovereign of Destruction.

  As for the Chief Sovereign of Destruction, a heart-shaking black aura surrounded him. This black aura was so pure and so black that it devoured everything around it. Even the chaotic streams of energy were devoured by the black aura. Slowly, the reach of the black aura expanded until, moments later, it reached a thousand kilometers.

  “Orloff is very powerful. However, this time, Wodred has developed a supreme technique as well.” The Chief Sovereign of Death sent towards Linley.

  “What sort of supreme technique?” Linley was curious.

  The Chief Sovereign of Death gave a meaningful glance at Linley, then sent, “In the past, the four ancestors of your Four Divine Beasts clan had a combined innate divine ability that was extremely powerful, so much so that it could threaten Chief Sovereigns! And now, Wodred has developed a supreme technique that is similar to that combined innate divine ability.”

  Book 21, The Peak – Chapter 18, Divine Beast, Sable Leviathan

  “What? The combined innate divine ability of the four ancestors?” Linley’s eyes turned round.

  And then, Linley stared towards the Chief Sovereign of Destruction, who stood there in the void. He mused, “Twenty thousand years ago, the Chief Sovereign of Destruction has obtained half of the divine beast blood essence from Grandpa Beirut. Right. Five thousand years ago, Gislason’s group of four loaned to the Chief Sovereign of Destruction a hundred Highgods of the Four Divine Beasts clan. Most likely, that was also for the sake of analyzing the innate divine ability of the Four Divine Beasts. And now, he has actually succeeded! Inconceivable. This Chief Sovereign of Destruction is indeed a terrifying figure.”

  An innate divine ability could never be perfectly learned, but there was hope for mimicking a si
milar divine ability.

  For example, someone like the Chief Sovereign of Destruction, if he analyzed it enough and also utilized the blood essences of the Four Divine Beasts, he would still have a chance at mimicking it.

  For example, Linley; the ‘Amethyst Space’ of the Amethyst Godbeasts was a very special supreme technique. Under the intentional guidance of the Redbud Sovereign, Linley finally understood the principles behind it. Although the power wasn’t as great as when the Amethyst Godbeasts themselves used the technique, the power was still tremendous.

  The ten Chief Sovereign level experts fell silent, staring into the distance at the upcoming duel between the two mighty Chief Sovereigns of the Edicts.

  “Crackle…”

  A black light spread out to a thousand kilometers, and within the center of that black light, a blurry, sinister looking figure continued to hover there quietly.

  “Orloff! I’ve borrowed from the innate power of a unique race that exists in the Infernal Realm, the ‘Tartarians’. After countless years, I’ve finally further perfected my supreme technique. This technique is now far more powerful than it was last time. This time, take another look at my most powerful attack.” The Chief Sovereign of Destruction’s voice echoed in the void.

  “Oh? From the sound of it, it should be excellent. Make your move.” The white-robed, white-haired Orloff continued to simply smile.

  His black robe fluttering, the Chief Sovereign of Destruction stared coldly at his opponent. His hand waved…and a pitch-black longspear emerged in his hand. The black longspear was nearly two meters long. Even though he hadn’t attacked with it yet, the fierce aura that it naturally emanated was causing the surrounding streams of chaotic energy to crumble.

  Linley and the other distant spectators were all astonished.

  Everyone understood that the longspear was a Destruction Overgod weapon!

  “Rumble…” The vast amounts of black light in the surrounding area suddenly contract, completely merging into the body of the Chief Sovereign of Destruction.

  This caused a true void to appear within a thousand kilometers, without any energy being left behind at all.

  “Rustle…”

  A strange sound was emitted from the mouth of the Chief Sovereign of Destruction. At the same time, behind the Chief Sovereign of Destruction, an enormous illusion appeared. The illusion was actually an awe-inspiring ten thousand kilometers in length. This was an enormous, coiling creature that was similar to a serpent. Its soft, coiling body was covered with black scales. In addition, it had more than ten thousand sharp claws.

  Ten thousand kilometers, with ten thousand sharp claws, and more than ten thousand sharp wings.

  At first glance, the countless scales, claws, and wings seemed to be made out of black steel.

  This monster’s head was completely bald. It had only a pair of eyes, with one end having white pupils and one eye having red pupils.

  Linley, watching from afar, was completely stupefied. The true form of the Chief Sovereign of Destruction was simply too frightening.

  “What is this?” Linley whispered.

  Linley’s divine sense was constantly active. Because of his fused Sovereign power, others weren’t able to sense Linley’s divine sense at all. However, Linley himself was able to clearly see that after the Chief Sovereign of Destruction unleashed this technique, countless strands of spiritual energy were bizarrely swirling towards the Chief Sovereign of Fate!

  The Chief Sovereign of Fate was like prey that had been trapped.

  “You didn’t know?” The Chief Sovereign of Death glanced at Linley, then sent, “Wodred is the very first creature that was born in the Infernal Realm. He lives in the depths of the Chaotic Sea. He himself named himself the divine beast, ‘Sable Leviathan’. This innate divine ability is known as the ‘Soul Cage’.”

  The Chief Sovereign of Death, being the first creature of the Netherworld, was of a similar age to the Chief Sovereign of Destruction, who was the first creature of the Infernal Realm. Of the four Chief Sovereigns of the Edicts, the two of them were the oldest.

  “The divine beast, ‘Sable Leviathan’. Innate divine ability, ‘Soul Cage’?” Linley’s heart trembled.

  Indeed, every single one of the four Chief Sovereigns of the Edicts were formidable.

  “However, this sort of ability won’t have much of an impact on the Chief Sovereign of Fate. Watch…” The Chief Sovereign of Death laughed softly.

  Linley had already seen it!

  As the Chief Sovereign of Destruction has unleashed his innate divine ability, ‘Soul Cage’, he also swept over with his Destruction Overgod weapon at a speed so fast, it was akin to teleportation, as he charged at the Chief Sovereign of Fate.

  “Rumble…”

  The black spear shadow instantly transformed into countless spear shadows, covering an area of a thousand kilometers. They were like countless venomous vipers that spat outwards. Every single spear shadow spat out a ray of black light, and the countless spear shadows actually once more swirled around the Chief Sovereign of Fate. And then, the countless spear shadows seemed to flood towards and deluge the Chief Sovereign of Fate.

  “Boom!”

  All of the spear shadows vanished.

  A single sword shadow pierced straight towards the head of the white-robed elder, the Chief Sovereign of Fate!

  His most powerful, supreme attack…

  Exterminatus!

  From start to finish, the white-robed elder, the Chief Sovereign of Fate, simply faced it all with a smile. He didn’t even fight back. His body was surrounded by countless rays of black light and was under extremely great compression.

  “Heh heh.” The Chief Sovereign of Fate chuckled slightly, then stretched out his right now.

  Strangely, although his entire body was covered and compressed by rays of black light, when he lifted his right hand, he seemed to be moving in a very normal manner. With the flip of his hand, the surface of his entire palm became covered with a strange golden light. His palm rose from his side and simply slapped against the sides of the black longspear. With just a low, rumbling striking sound…

  “Whoosh!” The Overgod weapon was knocked flying back.

  “How terrifying.” Linley had been stunned by the Chief Sovereign of Destruction’s attack. Now, he was stunned by the Chief Sovereign of Fate’s simple yet strong deflection.

  “Your Excellency, how is it that the Chief Sovereign of Fate can use his hand to strike against an Overgod weapon?” Linley couldn’t believe what he had just seen. He couldn’t help but speak mentally to the Chief Sovereign of Death.

  The Chief Sovereign of Death laughed softly. “Orloff has an additional portion of Will compared to the rest of us to begin with. Naturally, his foundation is superb! But that isn’t the most terrifying thing; what’s truly terrifying is that Orloff is a madman.”

  “Madman?” Linley didn’t understand.

  “Right. Him and I have known each other for countless years, and I understand him very well.” The Chief Sovereign of Death sighed. “He has no desire to fight or struggle against others, nor is he greedy, nor will he abuse the weak…in short, he can be described as a man with an extremely good temperament.”

  “If he’s so good-natured, why is he a madman?” Linley didn’t understand.

  The Chief Sovereign of Death sent with a laugh, “Linley, you tell me. He already stands at the peak, but instead of enjoying the fruits that being at the peak brought to him, he only enjoys a single hobby. That hobby is…increasing his strength!”

  “Increasing his strength?” Linley didn’t understand. “How?”

  “Research!” The Chief Sovereign of Death sighed. “This old fellow became the Chief Sovereign of Fate shortly after the universe was created, and became a Paragon as well. From then onwards, he began to research various unique races, research various innate divine abilities and innate powers. He analyzed where these abilities came from, and then…he used many of them on himself in order t
o increase his own power through such methods!”

  Linley, hearing this, was completely stupefied.

  “He can research innate divine abilities?” Linley felt speechless.

  “Don’t think it strange. All races and creatures are formed from a soul and a body. Innate powers are generally linked to the blood and to the soul. This old fellow, over the course of countless years, has spent his time analyzing various souls in depth.” The Chief Sovereign of Death sighed. “He is a madman. Do you know? His body’s strength was originally quite ordinary, but through his research, he has made it so that his body’s strength isn’t any inferior to mine.”

  Linley felt shock in his heart as he heard this.

  “A person who has, for countless years, absorbed himself in research. Who never relaxes or slackens, and who never enjoys any form of entertainment, and who never fights with anyone. You tell me, if he isn’t a madman, what is he?” The Chief Sovereign of Death asked.

  After listening to this, Linley couldn’t help but turn to look at the distant white-robed, white-haired elder.

  “He has neither a wife nor any kids?” Linley asked.

  “None!” The Chief Sovereign of Death shook her head. “I told you. His only goal is to increase his strength.”

  “He…really is a madman.” Linley couldn’t help but say to himself.

  Even Linley himself would, at most, make his clones train hard. He would at least have his original body accompany his wife, his family, his friends. Although he, too, dreamed of reaching the peak, in his heart, his family and friends were equally important. But this Chief Sovereign of Fate?

  “He…probably views increasing his own power as a form of amusement.” Linley mused to himself.

  This sort of stubborn, eccentric madman who had spent countless years doing nothing besides raising his own power…how terrifying must he now be?

  “Thanks to Orloff’s influene, quite a few Sovereigns have begun to research and analyze some races with unique innate abilities. Only, how could doing this sort of research be easy? It requires both ability and patience. You might spend countless years, only for all of your efforts to result nothing.” The Chief Sovereign of Death sent mentally. “The Chief Sovereign of Destruction, Wodred, is excellently patient. He has spent countless years deep within the Chaotic Sea. This time, he has come up with a truly supreme technique, and he wishes to truly defeat Orloff for once.”