Coiling Dragon

Book 17, Indigo Prefecture – Chapter 2, Travelling to Indigo Prefecture

From going from the Yulan continent to the Infernal Realm, Bebe had always been by Linley’s side. Linley knew very clearly how hard (or not) Bebe had trained. Logically speaking, it should be impossible for Bebe to have mastered four profound mysteries.

However, Bebe had succeeded.

This was a reality! Everyone had seen this.

“Bebe, how did you train?” Dylin was in disbelief as well.

“How could you be so fast?” Olivier, no matter how calm he normally was, had been stunned. They all stared at Bebe. Clearly, all of them wanted to know why Bebe was able to train so quickly, so as to see if they could also learn from this method.

Bebe just laughed smugly.

“I told you so, but you guys didn’t believe, earlier.” Bebe said forcefully.

“We believe you now, but how did you do this?” Tarosse asked as well. Even the greatest of geniuses had a process by which they trained. Linley had seized every moment to train, and his talent had been on full display in the Yulan continent. Everyone had watched him improve, step by step.

But Bebe? Nobody had dared to believe that his training speed could catch up to Linley’s.

“I’m Bebe!” Bebe stared at the surrounding people. He said smugly, “You didn’t believe me. All I’ll say is…it has to do with my Grandpa Beirut. I won’t say anything else.”

“Lord Beirut?” Tarosse and Dylin were mystified.

Training was a personal matter. No matter how powerful Beirut was, he wasn’t by Bebe’s side. How could he help Bebe?

“Those smug looks on your faces just now…hmph. I won’t tell you. Slowly ponder it on your own. I’ll only tell my Boss.” Bebe turned to glance at Linley, then chortled and said through the soul, “Boss, are you surprised?”

“I am indeed surprised.” Linley couldn’t understand either how Bebe had trained so quickly.

Bebe smiled mysteriously, then said through his divine sense, “Boss, do you still remember how Grandpa Beirut had said that to help me train faster, he had paid a very heavy price and obtained many treasures to help me breakthrough faster? He said that I was very slow to have taken twenty years before mastering the Essence of Darkness and reaching the God level, and that if it had been you, most likely a single year would have been enough.”

Linley immediately recalled this.

Beirut had indeed said such a thing.

Back then, Linley hadn’t yet entered the Infernal Realm, and so he didn’t clearly understand how powerful Beirut was. After arriving in the Infernal Realm, however, Linley finally realized how mighty Beirut was. Beirut had created that godspark weapon for Bebe, then infused it with that pearl.

The power of that attack had actually destroyed the divine artifact of Elquin, a Seven Star Fiend!

“If it had been Lord Beirut himself, he most likely would have easily killed that Seven Star Fiend.” Linley still remembered how the master of Castle Hendsey, ‘Mosi’, had said that there were very few people in the Infernal Realm capable of creating soul-protecting divine artifacts.

“But Lord Beirut had made a soul-protecting divine artifact for Bebe.”

Linley mused to himself, “Godspark weapons are priceless items in the Infernal Realm as well. They are exceedingly costly. Even if all he did was sell off a few godspark weapons, Lord Beirut would be a person of astonishing wealth. In addition, he is a Sovereign’s Emissary!”

Despite having been in the Infernal Realm for so long, Linley had yet to hear of someone else who was a Sovereign’s Emissary!

To be selected by a Sovereign…naturally, only absolute topmost Highgods would be selected.

“Lord Beirut said that he had spent an enormous price to acquire some treasures. Given Lord Beirut’s power, for even him to say that the price was enormous…what treasure could it have been?” Linley understood that even a trillion inkstones, to Lord Beirut, was nothing.

A single godspark weapon, in and of itself, was worth far more!

What sort of treasure could possibly cause Lord Beirut to say that it had cost him an ‘enormous price’?

He hadn’t realized this earlier, but now that Linley thought of this, he became all the more curious.

“Bebe, what sort of treasure is it? For even your Grandpa Beirut to say it cost an enormous price, and for it to be capable of helping you train so quickly…” Linley hurriedly asked through their spiritual bond.

Bebe laughed. “Boss, that treasure is…soul fragment strips!”

“Soul fragment strips?” Linley didn’t understand.

“Right. Grandpa Beirut knew that I didn’t have the temperament to slowly train, so he came up with this idea. Grandpa Beirut went to the Infernal Realm and spent an enormous price to invite a major figure to gather the souls of countless Prime Saints and fragment them into strips! He completely peeled out all of the fragments containing ‘Profound Mysteries of the Laws’ in the souls of those Saints.”

Linley was stunned.

Peeling off strips from the soul?

When Linley had been in the Yulan continent, he had seen the then Grand Magus Necromancer, ‘Zassler’, execute a ‘Soulscour’ on a soul. Only, that just removed a portion of a soul’s memories; there was no one to clearly sense the insights within a person’s soul.

“Grandpa Beirut said that peeling off soul fragment strips is very hard! In addition, a Deity’s soul is fused with his divine spark, and so it’s impossible to carve out soul fragment strips from them. The only choice for doing this is with Saints!” Bebe continued to chat through divine sense. “To completely peel off the portion of a soul with insights into the profound mysteries of a Law is something which only a very few people in the Infernal Realm can do. Grandpa Beirut said that he himself couldn’t do it either, so he had to pay an enormous price to invite an expert to help out.”

Linley was secretly surprised.

In places such as the Blacksand Castle and the Redbud Castle, Linley had never heard of ‘soul fragment strips’ being available for purchase. These things were simply priceless. Most likely, only major personages like Beirut were capable of acquiring them.

“When I became an adult, I naturally became a Deity, and so gained insight into the ‘Shadowshape Doppelganger’ mystery. Grandpa asked some of his friends to help out and acquire four pieces of ‘soul fragment strips’ for me, which contained four of the six profound mysteries of the Laws of Darkness.”

Bebe sent resignedly, “Grandpa Beirut said that most Prime Saints had only gained insights into very ordinary profound mysteries, such as the ‘Essence of Darkness’. Very few have insights into ‘Devour’ or ‘Evil’.”

“Grandpa’s friends also were forced to spend an enormous amount of effort and to very carefully peel off those soul fragments. It is extremely difficult to completely peel off the part of the soul with the insights into a profound mystery. In the end, he managed to acquire four, which he gave to me for fusing.” Bebe sent mentally.

Linley was completely stunned.

Souls were very unique things, and even soul attacks were hard to develop.

To completely peel off the part of a soul which contained insights into the profound mysteries of a Law…one could imagine how hard it was just thinking about it.

“To reach this level, how deep must one’s mastery with regards to the soul be?” Linley felt this was almost unbelievable.

Beirut himself was capable of making soul-protecting divine artifacts, which meant that Beirut had already reached a very high level of accomplishment with regards to the soul. But even Beirut was not capable of this, and had to pay a huge price to invite others to do it for him.

One could imagine how hard peeling off soul fragments was.

“Lord Beirut’s friends are truly amazing.” Linley sighed to himself.

There was no way one could peel any fragments from the soul of a Deity, so it had to be done to Prime Saints instead.

“Who knows how many Prime Saints were killed for these soul fragments to be acquired.” Linley sighed to himself, but he also understood that in the Infernal Realm, the mighty were respected. In the Infernal Realm, many tribes raised Saint-level magical beasts, then butchered them and retrieved their body parts for sale to restaurants.

In the Infernal Realm, Saints were treated as humans treated wild rabbits in the material realms. They could be killed at leisure.

“Alas. Prime Saints are all people who have gained some insights into a single profound mystery and have reached a bottleneck and are just one step away from completion.” Bebe sighed. “Thus, with regards to these four profound mysteries, I’ve gained insights all the way through to the bottleneck. For breaking through the bottleneck, though, I still have to rely on myself!”

“In the Yulan continent, it only took me twenty years to break through in the Essence of Darkness.”

“In the Infernal Realm, it’s been seven hundred years. I’ve occasionally gained some insights, and broke through to obtain mastery in the ‘Devour’ and ‘Evil’ profound mysteries. Right now, I’ve completely mastered four types, while I’m at a bottleneck for the fifth. As for the sixth…I’m completely blind and have no idea as to what it is about.”

Linley completely understood.

Bebe was a divine beast. As soon as he reached adulthood, he would naturally master one type of profound mystery and become a Deity! This was the first profound mystery, ‘Shadowshape Doppelganger’.

Afterwards, Lord Beirut, knowing that Bebe had no patience, didn’t want Bebe to become a Highgod through fusing with a divine spark. Thus, he had paid an enormous price to procure those four strips of soul fragments to have Bebe fuse them, and thus naturally reach the ‘bottleneck’ stage in those four profound mysteries.

As soon as he gained an insight into one of them, he would reach mastery.

He didn’t need to train at all.

“No wonder. No wonder.” Linley let out two sighs.

Sometimes, one could be angered to death when looking at others. Linley had spent every day and every night training, but Bebe had spent all his time fooling around. When, for some reason, he gained a sudden insight, he would achieve mastery. This was simply too easy.

However, in Linley’s mind, he was still very happy for Bebe.

“Lord Beirut truly has taken exceedingly good care of Bebe.” Linley sighed.

Beirut had a very high status, while Bebe was the second Godeater Rat in his lineage. Beirut naturally viewed Bebe as a treasure and doted upon him to an unbelievable extent. For Bebe’s sake, he had been willing to exhaust himself and run throughout the Infernal Realm to ask friends to help out.

From this alone, Linley could tell how powerful and vast Lord Beirut’s connections were.

“Peeling off soul strips…that’s hard work and careful work. For that powerful figure to actually be willing to do this for the sake of Lord Beirut…” Linley now understood how influential Beirut himself was.

The metallic lifeform continued to speed towards Indigo Prefecture. As for the secret regarding why Bebe had trained so quickly, in the end, Bebe only told Linley and Delia. The others didn’t know. Clearly, in Bebe’s heart, Linley and Delia were closer to him.

After they had reached the Bloodridge Continent, the metallic lifeform had flown on for three years.

“Boss, look. Stonesword Mountain!” Bebe pointed through the translucent window towards the east.

Linley looked carefully. In the distance to the east, there was an exceedingly tall mountain, its peak seeming to pierce through the heavens. The upper part of the peak was shaped like a heavy sword, and at the peak of this sword-shaped mountain, the clouds swirled about.

“Stonesword Mountain. We finally reached the Indigo Prefecture!” Delia said with excitement.

Stonesword Mountain was one of the important landmarks in the maps of Indigo Prefecture.

Linley felt the blood surging throughout his body. “Finally here. We’re finally here! Indigo Prefecture!”

The place which his dreams and his very soul had been focused on.

When in the Yulan continent, Linley had learned of Indigo Prefecture. He knew that his ancestors, the elders of the Baruch clan had all come to Indigo Prefecture. Linley thus had embarked on this one-way trip to the Infernal Realm!

From the Redbud Continent all the way over to here, they had encountered countless tribulations. The battle at the castle of sand. The volcano range. The breakthrough in the Amethyst Mountains. The shocking danger of Miluo Island…and now finally, after passing through the Starmist Sea, they had arrived at the Bloodridge Continent, arrived at Indigo Prefecture!

“Indigo Prefecture!”

Linley took a deep breath. Currently, he was unbearably eager to go meet the ancestors of his Baruch clan.

“Boss, we don’t know the exact location of the Four Divine Beasts clan.” Bebe said.

“It’s simple.” Linley was all smiles. “Let’s first go to the nearest city, Fansi City. The Four Divine Beasts clan should be extremely famous in the Indigo Prefecture. To find the place where the Four Divine Beasts clan live should be quite simple.”

The metallic lifeform sped directly for Fansi City. Fansi City was the first city which Linley’s group would be entering upon reaching the Indigo Prefecture.

After flying for many days.

Linley and everyone else was drinking wine and chatting idly in the living room of the metallic lifeform. As they were about to reach his ancestral clan, Linley was very happy. In this final stage of the journey, Linley was, for once, not training.

“Boom!” Suddenly, a powerful vibration shook out from the skies, shaking Linley’s metallic lifeform.

The metallic lifeform trembled.

“What a powerful wave.”

“Hey, what’s going on?” Linley and the others stood up, looking out through the window.

The metallic lifeform flew very fast, and soon, Linley’s group saw something which utterly stunned them…

In the distant skies, nearly a hundred Highgods were fleeing in panic. They were currently being slaughtered by three white-robed men!

“Haha, you won’t be able to flee!” A white-robed figure laughed loudly.

The three white-robed men all had long golden hair, golden eyebrows, and were as handsome as any fairies which Linley had ever seen. The three white-robed men flashed about at high speed, and the Highgods on the other side all fell down from the skies.

Those Highgods were terror-struck!

“Flee!” With a furious shout, those dozens of lucky survivors immediately dispersed in every direction.

“You won’t be able to!” A calm voice rang out.

One of the white-robed men whose long hair fluttered in the air suddenly had a pair of golden wings that were ten meters long grow out of his back. This enormous set of golden wings was covered with a hazy golden light, and holy energy spread out in every direction.

The golden-winged man, his entire body wrapped up in golden light, seemed so holy and beautiful.

“I sentence you…to death!”

The white-robed man said softly.

A translucent golden ripple spread out in every direction, and those dozens of fleeing Highgods, no matter how fast they had been fleeing, were unable to move faster than this ripple.

Immediately, those dozens of Highgods who had been fleeing in every direction fell down from the skies. Only the original leader of those hundred Highgods remained, and he stared in terror and rage at the three white-robed men in front of him.

“So strong.” Linley, Tarosse, and the others were all stunned.

“He trains in the Edicts of Fate.” Tarosse said in a low voice. “Judging from his power, that white-robed man, if not a Seven Star Fiend, must at least be a Six Star Fiend.”

“Edicts of Fate?”

In the Infernal Realm, Linley rarely encountered experts who trained in the Edicts of Fate, because most of them had gone to the ‘Celestial Realm’ of the Four Higher Planes. The few he had actually seen weren’t very powerful.

“A Highgod that trains in the Edicts of Fate.” Linley was secretly startled.

From mid-air, a bellow rang out.

“Why. We have never offended your Boleyn [Bo’lin] clan. Why must you be so ruthless, to kill us all and spare not a single one of us?” The lucky survivor, the leader, couldn’t help but bellow out in rage.

Those three white-robed men all faintly glowed with golden light.

“Why? Aren’t you on assignment for the Four Divine Beasts clan?” One of the white-robed men laughed coldly.

“Four Divine Beasts clan?” The surviving leader said, stunned.

“All who serve the Four Divine Beasts clan will die!” The white-robed man who had the pair of golden wings said, then he pointed out with his right hand and a ray of golden light shot out.

The leader wasn’t able to dodge in time. The golden light struck into his body, and he fell down from mid-air.

The white-robed man with the golden wings cast a sideways glance at Linley’s distant metallic lifeform, then let out a disdainful snort. “Let’s go.” The three white-robed figures transformed into three rays of light, disappearing into the horizon.

“All those who serve the Four Divine Beasts shall die?” Within the metallic lifeform, Linley murmured to himself, momentarily speechless.