Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  Linley pressed two fingers together, forming a ‘sword’ with them. A blurry gray sword that was around 1.5 meters in length slowly emerged. As soon as this illusion of a blurry gray sword emerged, the surrounding space began to tremble and fracture into countless pieces.

  Orloff stared intently at the illusory sword, his attention focused. “Whoosh!” The sword pierced through the air. Linley’s most powerful sword attack was finally unleashed…his ‘Sword Intent’, fused with four types of power!

  “BANG!” A terrifying explosion rang out. An unprecedented explosion! Linley’s sword seemed to have created a terrifying change in the world! An enormous, terrifying black hole that was nearly ten thousand kilometers in circumference appeared before Linley. Countless amounts of dense gray energy emerged from this hole, pouring into the Infernal Realm and spreading out towards every direction.

  “Not good!” This gray energy spread out so quickly that in virtually an instant, it traversed countless millions of kilometers. The eleven Sovereigns who were just slightly too slow in fleeing were touched by it, and anything the gray energy touched was instantly transformed into nothingness. Even their Sovereign sparks were melted away into nothingness and disappeared. This entire region was completely transformed into a region of death.

  “Just now, just now…” The Chief Sovereigns of Death and Destruction, and the various other survivors, were so terrified that their faces turned white. Just now, the terrifying black hole which Linley’s sword had created had spewed out limitless amounts of gray energy, which had represented annihilation. Anything touched by the gray energy, whether ordinary Deities or mighty Sovereigns, and even inanimate rocks and water, were transformed into nothingness.

  “One step slower, and we would’ve all died.” The Chief Sovereign of Destruction remained extremely tense. “Just now…what was that?” The surviving Sovereigns were completely terrified. Although they had seen how powerful Linley was, they had never been so terrified as they were now. The black hole that had suddenly vomited forth that gray energy was simply too terrifying. “The nearer Sovereigns all died. Not even their Sovereign sparks remain.” The Chief Sovereign of Death’s face was ashen. “And that Linley…he, he was surrounded by that gray energy and transformed into nothingness as well.”

  The gray energy created a region which Sovereigns couldn’t use their divine sense to scan. These Sovereigns didn’t know as to what had happened, exactly, when the gray energy had spread out within that region. But there was one thing they were certain of; everything within that region had been transformed into nothingness.

  “Linley!” Beirut’s face was ashen. Bluefire’s face was completely bloodless as well. They had never imagined…that such an awe-inspiring turn of events would occur. Linley, whose power had suddenly skyrocketed, actually then vanished within that terrifying gray energy and disappeared.

  By now, the gray energy was flooding back towards the black hole. It completely vanished, and even the black hole was slowly shrinking, before finally disappearing as well. The terrifying energy wave caused astonishment in the entire Infernal Realm.

  “…where is this place?”

  Linley stared at his surroundings. The surrounding space was filled with that strange, foggy gray energy. His own four types of Sovereign power had joined together and formed this exact same type of energy, which had then transformed his body and soul. Just now, his sword attack seemed to have shattered the skies, allowing this energy to cause the deaths of the many Sovereigns.

  Linley turned to look, then saw a translucent membrane. At the opposite side of the translucent membrane was chaotic space. “I…where am I?”

  Linley’s gaze suddenly turned sharp as he stared in front of himself. Because…someone had appeared in front of him. This person was dressed in unadorned hemp clothes. He had a head full of wild, tousled hair. This middle-aged man’s face had an extremely excited smile. “Haha…it has been a thousand Grand Kalpas, but my waiting is finally at an end.”

  “A thousand Grand Kalpas?” Linley was completely confused. “Second Brother, come with me.” The middle-aged man smiled, then extended a hand. He grabbed Linley by the arm, pulling him forward at high speed.

  What astonished Linley was, every single step this middle-aged man took covered a limitless amount of distance. His speed was incomprehensibly faster than Linley’s.

  “Why do you address me as ‘Second Brother’?” Linley looked at him, puzzled. “And who are you?”

  “Haha…because you are the very first person, after the passage of countless years, who was able to break through the bindings of the Cosmos and enter this place, this Hongmeng Grandmist.” The middle-aged man said with a clear laugh. “What is the ‘Cosmos’?” Linley hurriedly asked. “You said I broke through the bindings of the cosmos. Are you saying…that the countless planes I live in comprise the Cosmos?”

  “To be more precise, the countless material planes, the Seven Divine Planes, the Four Higher Planes, the various minor planes, and chaotic space; they combine to form a whole, which can be referred to as the Cosmos.” The middle-aged man smiled as he spoke. “As for this energy? I refer to it as the Grandmist spirit-energy.”

  Linley took a deep breath. Indeed…the Chief Sovereign of Fate had sensed that it seemed as though an invisible hand was controlling the countless planes, and had wanted to break free from this control. It now seemed as though the invisible hand was the mysterious middle-aged man in front of Linley.

  “Grandmist spirit-energy?” Linley stared carefully at the primal gray energy. “My home is up ahead.” The middle-aged man pointed towards the front. In the center of that endless amount of primal energy, there was an island that was only a few dozen meters in circumference. This island had a thatched cottage built atop it, and by the side of the cottage, there was a thick, gnarled dwarf tree. Beneath the tree was a stone table and two stone benches.

  “Let’s sit first, then chat.” The middle-aged man laughed as he sat. Linley, filled with questions, sat down as well.

  “Take a look.” The middle-aged man waved his hand, and instantly, a watery mirror formed. A giant sphere emerged from the mirror, and this sphere was surrounded by four much smaller spheres. The middle-aged man laughed as he pointed towards the small sphere on the right. “This is the Cosmos you live in!”

  “What?!” Linley stared, slack-jawed. “There are three other Cosmos like mine? And an even larger one?” Linley was truly stunned.

  “The Cosmos in the center is the main Cosmos, while the four Cosmos surrounding it are secondary Cosmos. They are only a tenth of the size of the main one.” The middle-aged man smiled. “The various Cosmos all exist within the Hongmeng Grandmist region! As for myself…my name is Hongmeng.”

  “Grandmist?” Linley looked at the middle-aged man. “As a matter of fact…” The middle-aged man sighed. “Linley, let me put it to you this way. Long, long ago, this Grandmist region gave birth to me. I was the only living creature within the Grandmist.” Linley nodded slightly.

  “After a long, long period of time, I felt bored. I had a sudden flash of insight, and began to build the Cosmos! First, I built up the main Cosmos, but I felt that by itself, it wasn’t stable enough, and so I then built the four much smaller secondary Cosmos, forming a stable whole.” Linley nodded.

  “The energy I used to build the Cosmos was this Grandmist spirit-energy.” Hongmeng laughed as he pointed towards the primal gray energy. “In the Cosmos, I created the various living creatures. In order to ensure that the various races would be able to develop in equilibrium, I had to set many rules and edicts.” Hongmeng laughed. “For example, in your homeland, the four Overgods in that secondary Cosmos were actually created by myself, based on the four Edicts that I set up. All they are able to do is carry out my orders; they don’t have a shred of emotion at all.”

  Linley’s heart trembled. So the four Overgods were nothing more than tools which this Hongmeng had randomly created.

  “The larger a Cosm
os is, the more stable it comes. I allowed part of the Grandmist to transform into the Five Elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. These five types of energy served as the foundation for the primary Cosmos, and then gave birth to Ying and Yang, two opposing types of energy, as well as the tribulation power of lightning.” Hongmeng laughed. “As for the four secondary Cosmos…they were small, and so they didn’t need the Five Elements. I thus controlled the Grandmist primal energy into four basic types of energy; earth, fire, water, and wind. They then gave birth to light and darkness, as well as the tribulation power of lightning.”

  “The Grandmist…was transformed into earth, fire, water, and wind?” Linley was stunned. He was beginning to understand. The main Cosmos was formed from a foundation of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth; the Five Elements. As for the secondary Cosmos, they were formed from a foundation of four types of energy; earth, fire, water, wind.

  “Although I created the main Cosmos and the four secondary Cosmos, it is very, very difficult for the living creatures within the Cosmos to escape into the outside world.” Hongmeng sighed. “Very difficult?” Linley asked, puzzled.

  “Right. The main Cosmos is infinitely vast. There are many, many living creatures which are far more powerful than the Sovereigns of your secondary universe! Amongst them are Godkings and even Exalted Celestials, who are capable of sensing the Laws of Space and the Laws of Time. If they were to go into your secondary Cosmos, they would be capable of shattering the binds of that Cosmos.”

  Linley was stunned. The experts of that Cosmos were actually so numerous? “However, the stability of the secondary Cosmos is inferior to the main Cosmos, and thus I wouldn’t permit lifeforms capable of comprehending the Laws of Time and Space to exist within them. Thus, within the secondary Cosmos, it is impossible to train in space and time; at most, a few innate divine abilities would be able to impact them.” Hongmeng laughed.

  Linley nodded slightly. “However, Linley, your current level of power has surpassed even the most powerful of Exalted Celestials of the main Cosmos.” Hongmeng laughed.

  “Oh?” Linley was rather surprised. “Because you have a Grandmist Body!” Hongmeng laughed. “There are two types of powerful bodies. The most powerful is the ‘Inextinguishable Xuanhuang Body’, while the slightly weaker one is the ‘Grandmist Body’. You must understand that the Grandmist energy is the most basic level of energy there is. Even the Exalted Celestials of the main Cosmos who enter this place will be dissolved into Grandmist energy.”

  “Because a Grandmist Body is formed from Grandmist energy to begin with, the Grandmist energy here won’t harm it.” Hongmeng explained.

  “Then where does this ‘Indestructible Xuanhuang Body’ come from?” Linley asked. “Afterwards, when you, too, set up a Cosmos and establish a universe, you will naturally begin to generate Xuanhuang energy, which will gather in your body, causing it to once more rise in power. You will then gain the most powerful Indestructible Xuanhuang Body’.” Hongmeng laughed.

  “Me? Create a Cosmos?” Linley was stunned. “Yes. Like I did.” Hongmeng laughed. “I care not one whit for the lives and deaths of the living creatures within the Cosmos. I can create countless living creatures at any time. I only care about those who are able to, on their own, break free of the bindings of their universe and surviving in this place. You are worthy of being the brother of myself, Hongmeng.” Hongmeng laughed as he waved his hand, and a single leaf suddenly floated down from the nearby tree.

  The leaf flashed with light. “I’ve imprinted the methods for creating a Cosmos within this leaf. Use your spiritual energy to look into it, and you’ll understand everything.” Hongmeng handed the leaf to Linley.

  Linley looked at Hongmeng, then accepted it. “This…” Countless amounts of knowledge instantly flooded into Linley’s mind. In an instant, Linley’s understanding of the Grandmist region reached an extremely deep level. He even fully understood the various ways by which the Grandmist could be used, such as how it could be divided into the Five Elements, or resolved into earth, fire, water, and wind.

  “So…for me to break through the Cosmos required so many coincidences. It was so difficult.” Linley now completely understood.

  “Right!” Hongmeng nodded and laughed. “You just so happened to have four clones of earth, fire, water, and wind. If you had an extra one, it wouldn’t have worked; if you had one less, it also wouldn’t have worked. And then, you successfully underwent a Soul Mutation! This gave you a chance, but…the four types of energy in the universe are actually four different types of Sovereign energy. You had to be able to control those four types of Sovereign energy and fuse them, and so you had to fuse four Sovereign sparks.”

  Linley laughed and nodded bitterly. He now understood…he had four clones of earth, fire, water, and wind, then underwent a soul mutation, and then became a Sovereign of all four elements. Only then had he been able to fuse the four types of Sovereign energy into Grandmist energy. The difficulty of every single step was exceedingly great.

  “To break free from the main Cosmos is just as difficult.” Grandmist laughed calmly. “This is why, despite the passage of more than a thousand Grand Kalpas, you are the only one to emerge here.”

  “Big Brother Hongmeng, you spoke of more than a thousand Grand Kalpas. How long is a Grand Kalpa, exactly?” Linley could tell that ‘Grand Kalpas’ represented a unit of time, but how long?

  “Each Grand Kalpa represents six quadrillion years!” Hongmeng laughed. Linley sucked in a deep breath. More than a thousand Grand Kalpas represented more than six quintillion years. In his own Cosmos, a Planar War was carried out every trillion years. It seemed as though there had been millions of Planar Wars.

  “How incredible!” Linley sighed in praise. “Big Brother Hongmeng, your four secondary Cosmos all have different cultures. My home Cosmos is the Magic Cosmos. The other three Cosmos are the Machine Cosmos, the Bioform Cosmos, and the Immortal/Devil Cosmos. As for the main Cosmos, it includes everything. Incredible.”

  Linley was now completely stunned. Only now did he realize…that aside from the Elemental Laws, there were many other ways of training that were completely different. There were machines, there were bioforms, and there were even Immortal and Devil cultivation paths.

  “Haha, in the future, you’ll create your own Cosmos as well. When you have time, you can go to my Cosmos and take a look.” Hongmeng laughed. “Oh. Before this, you must take a look at something.”

  “What?” Linley was puzzled. Hongmeng waved his hand, and instantly, a golden banner flew over from countless kilometers away, landing nearby Linley. This golden banner contained an awe-inspiring prestige which made Linley’s heart clench. It was roughly six meters long and half a meter wide.

  “Oh, there are words on the back?” Linley saw them right away. Behind this golden banner there was a word that was roughly the same size as the banner. The word was very unique; Linley was certain that he had never seen this language before. But as he looked at it, he understood the meaning of this words.

  Meng [Mist]!

  “This is the Golden Grandmist Banner!” Hongmeng laughed. “It, too, was born from the Grandmist space. Look at the first line on the Golden Grandmist Banner.” Linley looked at it. The very first line on the Golden Grandmist Banner had a single word on it.

  Hong [Grand]!

  Or, to be precise, the upper left corner of the Golden Grandmist Banner had just this single word.

  “Anyone whose name is on this Golden Grandmist Banner will become a controller of the Grandmist region. Upon being a controller of the Grandmist region, you will be able to freely use the energy of any Cosmos, and will be able to calculate the destinies of virtually all living creatures!” Hongmeng laughed. “But if you wish for your name to be on the Golden Grandmist Banner, you have to, at the very least, break through your Cosmos and come to the Grandmist region.”

  “Linley, control a hint of your spiritual energy and send it into the banner.” Hongmeng
said. Linley nodded, extending out some of his spiritual energy.

  The Golden Grandmist Banner instantly began to absorb that spiritual energy, and on the first line, next to the ‘Hong’ character, another character appeared: ‘Lin’.

  Instantly, Linley’s mind was once more flooded with information, as well as quite a few divine abilities. “So…there are different levels of Grandmist controllers as well.” Linley began to laugh. “I’m actually the same as you, Elder Brother; we are first rank Grandmist controllers.”

  “Naturally. The Grandmist space is vast and endless, but because of stability reasons, the Golden Grandmist Banner will only, at most, permit us to create a total of four Cosmos like the main Cosmos I created. Naturally, there will only be four first rank Grandmist controllers. The fifth controller will naturally have a lower ranking, and the others will all be limited by us.”

  Linley nodded. Only the highest ranking Grandmist controllers would understand everything. “From today onwards, I have a new name of my own, then…Linmeng.” Linley let out a sigh. “Right. Let the Cosmos that you create in the future be known as the Linmeng Cosmos.” Hongmeng laughed.

  A hint of solemnity appeared on Linley’s face. “Alas, my Grandpa Doehring…” After becoming a Grandmist controller, Linley understood that there was no way a person whose soul had dissipated could be brought to life. But of course, Linley was capable of creating new life. He could create a new, identical Grandpa Doehring, one who even had the same memories as Grandpa Doehring.

  Only, that would only be a duplicate; it wouldn’t be the true Grandpa Doehring.

  “Grandpa Doehring…” Linley silently engraved Grandpa Doehring into his heart.

  After becoming a Grandmist controller, he had learned many things. Linley’s mindset had changed, and he had become far more at ease and natural than before. “Oh, Big Brother, it seems I have to make a trip back.” Linley couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Right. Your family members are going frantic.” Hongmeng laughed. “Right. Your home Cosmos…in the future, you can help me manage it. You are now a Grandmist controller; your divine abilities aren’t much weaker than mine.”