Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  The White Tiger was wind-attribute. The wind was invisible and formless, appearing and disappearing without any pattern.

  The Vermillion Bird was fire-attribute. Fire burned and blazed wildly, filled with violent fury which was unpredictable.

  This ‘Spacetime Paradox’ was actually the combination of earth, fire, water, and wind.

  When one was stuck at a bottleneck, one might spend a trillion years without breaking through. But it was also possible that one would break through after a few days. This required luck; required a sudden flash of insight. Last time, Linley was just watching the battle, and so he hadn’t sensed too deeply into the technique. In addition, last time, he hadn’t reached this bottleneck in the fusion of the four Laws, and so naturally he hadn’t gained any insights.

  But now, when facing this ‘Spacetime Paradox’, Linley, who had been at a bottleneck for so long, benefited from those accumulated experiences. Everything had been prepared for this moment, and now, when the insight came, Linley suddenly understood.

  He understood!

  Everything was now clear to him!

  Although all of this took time to describe, in reality, everything occurred in a flash. This sudden enlightenment required only a fraction of an instant.

  “Hmph, hmph, die.” Augusta laughed coldly as that translucent light reached Linley’s body.

  “Rumble…”

  The world suddenly changed as the natural Laws descended!

  Linley smiled as he looked at that translucent ray of light. He let out a gentle breath, and a translucent sword shadow emerged from his mouth. When it clashed against the translucent ray of light, it instantly shattered it into pieces. The remnants of the translucent sword of light turned small and thin. After flying for a bit longer, it vanished from the universe.

  Utter shock filled Augusta’s eyes. “Im…impossible!”

  “Swish.” Linley’s eyes shot out two translucent sword shadows. Given how fast his soul attack was, Augusta was completely unable to dodge, and the two translucent sword shadows sank into his body.

  However, Augusta was completely unharmed!

  “His soul defense is actually this powerful?” Linley couldn’t help but exclaim in astonishment, while glancing at the surrounding area. Four types of elemental essences were surrounding him. The natural Laws had already descended, and were currently transforming his soul. “If I hadn’t personally experienced this ‘Spacetime Paradox’ technique, who knows how long it would have been before I would make this breakthrough.”

  This breakthrough was even more difficult than becoming a Paragon. Earth, fire, water, and wind; these four Laws and their profound mysteries were completely different. To perfectly fuse them into a whole was simply too hard.

  But Linley had succeeded. “Upon becoming a Paragon, one would be bestowed with Will as a reward. It was even more difficult for me to fuse these four Laws together, and the technical power of the attack is ten times greater than a Paragon’s. I imagine that the amount of Will I shall receive should be greater as well.” Linley could clearly sense that each of his souls was rising in power.

  Because Linley was a Soul Mutate, upon making his breakthrough, every single soul would evolve.

  “Eh?!” Linley couldn’t help but feel surprised. “This…” Linley’s eyes were filled with wild joy. “I actually gained a portion of Will that was double what a Paragon would gain!”

  Although he had expected that the amount of Will he would receive would be more than what Paragons received, he hadn’t expected that it would be double. This truly surprised Linley.

  Originally, when he had successfully become a Soul Mutate, although he had been bestowed Will, it wasn’t double that of a Paragon’s. Each increase of a full portion of Will represented a tenfold increase in power.

  Linley was able to break through the bottleneck and reach complete mastery; his power had thus increased tenfold in terms of the profound mysteries. But upon receiving two portions of Will as well, that meant that his power had instantly increased a thousandfold! It must be understood that while at the bottleneck, Linley was already ten times as powerful as the Chief Sovereign of Light, Augusta.

  They were on completely different levels. They were several levels apart from each other; the difference between them was like that of the heavens and the earth.

  “Linley actually blocked it? Broke through it effortlessly?” The Chief Sovereigns of Death and Destruction, along with the various other Sovereigns, were all completely stunned.

  “Just now, the natural Laws descended.” The Chief Sovereign of Death suddenly said. “Are you saying…?” The Chief Sovereign of Destruction was stunned.

  “Linley definitely made a major breakthrough. Otherwise, the Laws couldn’t possibly have descended for him. In addition, there is no way he could’ve risen in power by so much so quickly. I have a feeling…that the current Linley is no weaker than us!” The Chief Sovereign of Death sent in a low voice.

  Indeed, in terms of power of Will, as a four-way Soul Mutate with three Sovereign sparks and two portions of will gained from the perfect fusion of four Laws, Linley was ten times stronger than ordinary Chief Sovereigns! He was already comparable to those Paragons amongst the Chief Sovereigns.

  On a technical level, with his fused profound mysteries, he was ten times more powerful than a Paragon. In terms of energy, his fused Sovereign power was a hundred times that of an ordinary Sovereign’s. His only flaw…was that his Overgod weapon was not suited to him, and so he wasn’t able to unleash much of its power. But despite that, Linley’s power was already enough to make it so that he had no need to fear the four Chief Sovereigns of the Edicts at all.

  “How…how can you…” Augusta stared towards Linley in disbelief.

  Linley had instantly increased in power a thousandfold. This increase in power gave Linley complete confidence in facing even the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff. Linley felt no fear at all now. Laughing, he looked at Augusta. “I’m quite curious. Why is it that your ‘Spacetime Paradox’ so weak? It was far weaker than I expected!”

  The fused innate divine abilities of the Four Divine Beasts would allow one’s power to increase more than ten thousand times; after all, for Lesser Sovereigns to be capable of exterminating Chief Sovereigns, one could imagine how mighty it was.

  The Chief Sovereign of Destruction himself had said that when developing ‘Spacetime Paradox’, although the power was far from the power unleashed by the Four Divine Beasts, it was still a thousand times greater than his own raw power. But Augusta…

  “Whoosh!” Augusta’s figure flashed away, attempting to flee.

  “Swoosh!” Linley’s figure flashed as well, and he instantly appeared in front of Augusta. With a casual swipe of his draconic tail, he lashed out with it, using it like a whip that struck viciously against Augusta’s body, sending him flying far away.

  Blood splattered, but as a light shone over Augusta’s body, his flesh and skin were completely healed. “You…your speed?!” Augusta was completely stupefied. The current Linley was on a completely different level from the former Linley.

  “I told you. You won’t be able to flee.” Linley laughed softly. “You haven’t answered me yet. Why is it that your Spacetime Paradox is so weak?”

  Augusta, having seen Linley’s speed just now, no longer had any plans to flee. He let out a snicker. “Weak? The strength of this technique has to do with how much blood essences of the Four Divine Beasts one has. Orloff used far more blood essences than I did, so the power of it was naturally greater.”

  Linley laughed and nodded. “Alright. It’s about time. If I don’t act now, Orloff will soon arrive.” Hearing this, Augusta’s face changed.

  “Linley.” The Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, who was currently hurrying through chaotic space towards them at high direction, sent to Linley frantically, “Isn’t it just a matter of letting your mother regain her free will? Fine. I will make Augusta release his spiritual bond with that Angeli
c Resurrection Pool.”

  “Orloff, you seem to be quite nervous.” Linley sent back. “As far as I can recall, and in fact, as far as any Sovereigns can recall, you, Orloff, as the Chief Sovereign of Fate, always spend your time toiling away with research in your Orloff Gardens in the Celestial Realm. You never get involved in worldly affairs. Nothing can disturb you. But now, you are nervous.”

  “Naturally. He is my good friend.” Orloff sent back. “Linley, I hope you won’t act foolishly.”

  “Just a good friend?” Linley laughed as he sent back…and the Chief Sovereign of Fate’s face changed slightly.

  “Upon seeing Augusta execute ‘Spacetime Paradox’, I realized the truth. You are bound by an Overgod oath; there is no way that you could’ve taught ‘Spacetime Paradox’ to someone else. But there is a loophole; if you and Augusta are the same person to begin with, then naturally any secrets you know, he knows.”

  Linley let out a sigh. “Actually, if I hadn’t accepted that Emissary and learned of the existence of the Bula race, I wouldn’t have come to this realization so quickly. Actually, when I fought Augusta for the first time and realized that his power was ten times what I had expected, I began to suspect that he might have other Sovereign clones. Unfortunately, I never imagined, nor did I dare imagine, that you and him truly were the same person!”

  The Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice, “Since you’ve already guessed it, you should know what to do. I do not wish…for you and I to become enemies!”

  “Yes. I know what I should do.”

  Linley smiled as he waved his hand. The Life Overgod Sword in his hand lashed out in a beautiful, dream-like arc, and a finger-thick ray of inky jade light shot out. The only thing that appeared within the surrounding space was that finger-thick ray of inky jade light, and a finger-thick spatial tear. There weren’t even any spatial ripples created.

  The energy was concentrated to an absolute peak.

  Linley’s most powerful technique…Sword Intent!

  “Slash.” A hole appeared in Augusta’s head. Augusta’s mouth opened…but he was no longer capable of making any sounds.

  Book 21, The Peak – Chapter 43, A New Name (part 1)

  Augusta’s body crumpled down, falling into the flows of chaotic space, being carried away like an inanimate object within the ‘rivers’.

  The Chief Sovereign of Light, Augusta, was killed by one sword blow!

  “Augusta died?”

  “Linley killed Augusta?”

  The Sovereigns couldn’t help but take a deep breath. It had been countless years since a Chief Sovereign had truly perished.

  “Good that he died!” The Chief Sovereigns of Death and Destruction, along with ten-plus other Sovereigns, had already guessed at the connection between Augusta and Orloff. They felt a surge of delight in their hearts!

  “Bang!” “Bang!” Two rays of light shot out from Augusta’s corpse, moving at extremely high speed. It was a ring and the Lightsaber.

  “Stay here!” Linley wasn’t able to catch them in time, so he could only use his fused Sovereign power to create a distant ‘barrier’, wanting to trap these two Overgod artifacts within it.

  “Do you think that the likes of you is capable of trapping my Overgod artifacts?” Orloff’s low voice rumbled within Linley’s mind. In midair, the Lightsaber suddenly expanded dramatically. With a ‘boom’, it pierced straight through that barrier. Linley only saw two bolts of light flash past, and then the two Overgod artifacts disappeared.

  Linley, seeing this, couldn’t help but sigh to himself. The Overgod artifacts belonged to the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, to begin with. Under Orloff’s control, given how quickly Overgod artifacts could move, they vastly outstripped any Sovereign’s speed.

  Ten billion kilometers away from Linley, within the void. A white-robd Orloff stretched his hand out, snatching the Lightsaber that had flown towards him. This Lightsaber was the Fate Overgod weapon; his other clone, ‘Augusta’, naturally wasn’t able to unleash its full power. But in the hands of the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, its power increased dramatically.

  The ring slid onto Orloff’s finger as well. Orloff was able to control his Overgod artifacts from a distance, and didn’t need to bind them with blood before using them. He stared into the distance at the many spectating Sovereigns, especially those who hadn’t realized that Orloff and Augusta weren’t the same person, and so were in a state of shock.

  No matter how foolish they might be, however, upon seeing this, they understood! Orloff and Augusta had been the same person!

  “Ah, Augusta and Lord Orloff are actually the same person! Then…since Lord Orloff became a Paragon long ago, he gained an additional portion of Will. He gained another portion of Will from winning ten Planar Wars in a row. Having an additional Sovereign clone would also transform the Chief Sovereign of Fate’s soul, granting him yet another portion of Will! Although his Sovereign clone has perished, the only thing Orloff lost was the portion of Will which was infused in his Sovereign spark; his already-strengthened soul wouldn’t lose the Will he had already gained. Then Lord Orloff, he…”

  All the Sovereigns were completely stunned. Only now did everyone understand how terrifyingly strong Orloff was! A soul change was irreversible; once one’s souls were strengthened, one soul couldn’t possibly weaken in power, just because the other one was destroyed.

  Thus, Augusta’s death didn’t actually have much of an impact on the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff. It only represented that Orloff had lost a life.

  “So in reality, he had two more portions of Will than I did! No wonder he was able to withstand my Overgod weapon with his bare hands.” The Chief Sovereign of Destruction, Wodred, had a look on his face that was as calm as still water. He quietly watched everything happen.

  All of the Sovereigns watched and waited to see…how the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, would take revenge upon Linley.

  “Whoosh!” The Chief Sovereign of Fate’s speed increased to the limit, passing through a distance of countless kilometers. Less than a minute later, he had traversed the distance of a hundred billion kilometers and arrived within Linley’s field of vision.

  Linley hefted his Life Overgod Sword in his hand, standing there in the void, surrounded by chaotic space. “You are really quite fast,” Linley actually was able to laugh while nodding in praise.

  “And you are really quite audacious.” The Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, smiled as he looked at Linley. “It seems that you are quite confident.”

  “But I, too, feel as though you are quite confident.” Linley laughed calmly. “Do you think that just by relying on that Overgod weapon, you will be able to kill me? Oh, I forgot; you are a Bula. You are able to divide your consciousness in two, and you have spent countless years researching like a madman. I imagine you have a supreme technique of your own.”

  Hearing Linley’s words, a smile appeared on Orloff’s face. “I am very fortunate and should celebrate the fact that I am a Bula, because in terms of my physical defense alone, I am inferior to the Four Divine Beasts, the Sable Leviathan, and those other supreme divine beasts. My Bula race, however, has unlimited potential.” The Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, had an indescribable look in his eyes. “Temperament determines one’s destiny! Due to many contradictory thoughts, many geniuses end up limiting themselves. But me? I’m able to give up all of the contradictory, complicated thoughts that hinder me. All my evilness, my avarice…I can shunt them all aside, leaving behind only what I need.”

  Linley laughed calmly. “Thus, we end up with a wild, overbearing, avaricious Augusta, as well as the supreme expert, Orloff, who focuses on his research and pays no mind to worldly affairs?”

  “Right.” Orloff nodded and laughed. “To tell the truth, we Bulas aren’t that gifted, innately. Originally, as a Paragon, I did have a Sovereign clone, but in terms of power, I wasn’t confident in being able to defeat the other Chief Sovereigns of
the Edicts. Thus, I had to hide my power and ensure that they wouldn’t fear me. If the three of them were to join forces against me, I would definitely lose. Thus, I couldn’t let them know that Augusta and I were one and the same.”

  “And so, I naturally ended up having 182 children! In reality, those children were newborn infants with some excellent talents who I selected from the various material planes. After they grew up, they naturally would have no recollection of what happened when they were one or two years old. Augusta trained them, and so they naturally would believe that Augusta was their father. And thus, there was the Augusta clan. Who, then, would suspect that Augusta and I were one?” Orloff laughed softly.

  “In the past, you were extremely cautious. But now, it seems, you have no more concerns?” Linley laughed calmly. The Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, smiled and nodded. “To tell the truth, I now hold the other three Chief Sovereigns of the Edicts in no regard whatsoever. This is because…all these years, I’ve never before revealed all of my power. You were able to destroy one of my clones; you are quite formidable. In order to show my respect for you, today, I will reveal my entire power. Although you will die, I will allow you to die satisfied.”

  Linley frowned slightly. For Orloff to laugh and speak in such a manner indicated that his self-confidence was extremely high. “Kill me? Augusta also said that he would kill me, but in the end, I killed him.” Linley smiled, but then, suddenly…

  “Crackle…” The Life Overgod Sword in Linley’s hand instantly transformed into a ray of green light. An extremely concentrated line of inky jade light, the size of a finger, shot out through the void, chopping through it like a knife and leaving behind only an extremely fine spatial tear which not even divine sense could see clearly. Linley’s Life Overgod Sword stabbed directly towards the body of Orloff, the Chief Sovereign of Fate.

  His most powerful sword attack…Sword Intent! After completely fusing all four profound mysteries, Linley’s power had risen a thousandfold. He was now completely terrifying, and one could imagine how strong was the power which this sword attack contained.