Coiling Dragon

Book 18, Highgod – Chapter 4, Ironknife Gorge

Linley tightly held Delia’s hand as well.

“The pinnacle…right. That day will definitely come, one day.” Linley, in his heart, would forever remember the figures of Beirut and Dunnington. They were his goals!

Suddenly, a snicker from his side.

Linley turned to look, only to see Wade and Ina secretly looking towards them. Upon seeing that Linley had noticed them, the two quickly retreated to their own rooms. Linley couldn’t help but laugh. “Wade, Nana, hurry up and come over. Right, Nana…your father and your mother have already returned to the Bloodridge Continent. They are now heading to Indigo Prefecture. Most likely, in a year or so, they’ll have returned.”

“Father is about to return?” Ina stuck her head out, a look of surprise and delight on her face.

Linley laughed and nodded. As he and Bebe were spiritually linked, the two could sense the rough location of each other.

“Oh, that was pretty fast.” The nearby Delia said. “Bebe and Nisse, on this round trip, just spent a bit more than a century. It seems they didn’t stay too long in the Coldcalm Prefecture . I wonder how Bebe and Salomon acted towards each other.”

Linley laughed calmly. “No matter what, Bebe won’t let himself get the worst of it.”

Given Bebe’s current level of power, how could Salomon be a match for him? Although Salomon was Nisse’s older brother, given Bebe’s temper, Linley knew very well that if Salomon went too far, even if Bebe didn’t kill him out of consideration for Nisse, he would still punish Salomon.

“Linley, how about let’s go visit Lord Beirut? It’s been so many years since we have visited. We can wait for Bebe there as well.” Delia advised.

“Great, great. Let’s go to Great-Grandfather’s place!” Ina was the first to react.

The Lord Prefect’s residence of Indigo Prefecture. Linley, indeed, had never visited this place before. He immediately laughed and nodded, “Fine, then. Let’s go to Lord Beirut’s place. Bebe knows exactly where I am, so he’ll head directly there as well.””

Linley’s group immediately turned the direction of their metallic lifeform, sending it towards the Lord Prefect’s residence.

Indigo Prefecture. The Lord Prefect’s residence. This was located in the northern part of the northern district of Indigo City, the chief city of the ten great cities of Indigo Prefecture. The more than half of the entire northern district seemed to reserved for the Lord Prefect, while the personal soldiers and servants of the Lord Prefect numbered in the tens of thousands.

Linley’s arrival naturally resulted in a warm welcome from Beirut. Linley’s group thus settled down here for now.

In the blink of an eye, nearly a year passed.

Linley and Delia were currently strolling through a flower garden, which was filled with all sorts of fresh flowers. Red ones, blue ones, yellow ones; flowers were spread everywhere. The couple strolled while enjoying the fragrance of the flowers. This was indeed a very enjoyable thing. But suddenly…

Linley turned to look towards the west, smiling slightly. He then turned his head to look at the nearby Delia. “Delia, Bebe and Nisse have already reached Indigo City. I imagine that they’ll arrive soon.”

“They’ll arrive soon?” Delia couldn’t help but reveal a hint of joy, but then she was rather puzzled.

“Delia, what is it? Speak.” Linley and Delia had been together for so long that Linley could tell from a single glance or a look on Delia’s face what she was thinking. Delia hesitated, then said, “Linley, we’ve been in the Infernal Realm for nearly two thousand years. The Four Divine Beasts clan has already solved its crisis, and you have become a Highgod. I think…that it might be time for us to return to the Yulan continent, right? Sasha and Taylor, our two kids…I really want to see them.”

Linley was stunned.

Return to the Yulan continent?

Instantly, Linley’s mind became filled with countless scenes. Going to study when he was young at the Ernst Institute. Playing around with Boss Yale, George, and Reynolds. Bitter training within the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. And the many friends and family he cared about.

Before they discussed the topic of returning, Linley hadn’t felt anything, but now that Delia raised it…Linley actually suddenly felt as though a pressing fire was burning in his heart, surging and charging through his emotions and filling his chest with ardor. “Right. It is time to return to the Yulan continent to have a look. After so many years, I wonder how Boss Yale is doing. And Wharton and the others. Sasha and Taylor, those two…I wonder how they are doing.” Linley was filled with eagerness.

“Right. Let’s go back together.” Delia, seeing that Linley had agreed, couldn’t help but feel overjoyed. As a mother, the care and concern she felt for her children came from the deepest recesses of her heart. “I wonder how my elder brother is doing…”

Linley also remembered Dixie. Back then, when he had just entered the Ernst Institute, Dixie had been proclaimed its number one genius. But afterwards, due to Linley learning from the Straight Chisel School of sculpting, Linley’s spiritual energy had rapidly improved, allowing him to make constant breakthroughs until he had finally surpassed Dixie.

“It has been a long time since Bebe’s been back as well. Now that he’s returning, let’s have him accompany us on a trip to the Yulan continent.” Linley said eagerly. “To tell the truth, up till now, I remain quite curious as to what the Necropolis of the Gods within the Yulan continent holds. This time, we can take a look.”

After having trained for so long, Linley no longer felt too much interest in the Necropolis of the Gods, but he was still curious, after all.

He still clearly remembered how, that year, Olivier and the others had risked their lives in adventuring through the Necropolis of the Gods. But of course, to the current Linley, the Necropolis of the Gods no longer posed much of a challenge.

“The Necropolis of the Gods?” Delia sighed. “You spent ten full years on that trip to the Necropolis of the Gods. I was worrying about you the entire time in Dragonblood Castle.” Hearing this, Linley felt rather ashamed of himself.

“Boss!” Bebe’s voice suddenly rang out from afar.

“Bebe arrived. Come, let’s go.” Linley immediately headed with Delia towards the outside. Once Linley and Delia reached the outside, they discovered that Beirut, Wade, Ina, and the others were already there waiting.

Bebe and Nisse were warmly chatting with Beirut and Ina.

Seeing Linley walk over, Bebe immediately walked towards him and laughed, “Boss, long time no see.” As he spoke, he gave Linley a firm hug. Linley just grinned. “How was your trip to the Jadefloat Continent?”

“What do you think?” Bebe quirked his lips.

Linley couldn’t help but look at him in puzzlement.

“That Salomon hurriedly apologized, of course. Hmph, fortunately, he knew to act. If it hadn’t been for that…hmph. Hmph.” Bebe let out two snorts, and Linley couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. It seemed as though Salomon cared about his younger sister as well, and so had been rather meek in his attitude.

In reality…

After Salomon had seen Linley’s performance in the scryer recording, and after Nisse had let him know about the relationship Bebe had with the Lord Prefect of Indigo Prefecture, Lord Beirut…how could he dare to have a poor attitude?

“Haha, everyone, let’s chat inside.” Beirut laughed.

While walking towards the inner halls, Linley quietly discussed with Bebe, “Bebe, Delia and I have come to an agreement that we are planning to travel to the Yulan continent. We’ve been in the Infernal Realm for so many years, but have never gone back. Do you want to go back with us?”

Bebe’s eyes lit up upon hearing this.

“Yes, of course, yes!” Bebe immediately sent mentally. “Boss, let me discuss this with Nisse. She’ll definitely agree.”

Everyone sat down in the main hall.

Some servants walked over, carrying all sorts of fine delicacies and offering them. Linley said directly, “Lord Beirut, we’ve been in the Infernal Realm for so long…Bebe and I have decided that we are planning to return to the Yulan continent.”

“Returning to the Yulan continent? I’m going too!”

“I’m going as well.”

Wade and Ina simultaneously called out.

Beirut let out a surprised sound, but then laughed and nodded. “Makes sense. It has indeed been quite some time since you came to the Infernal Realm. If you want to return to the Yulan continent, you need to be transported back through the ‘Ironknife Gorge’ of our Bloodrige Continent.”

Linley knew that there were teleportation portals scattered throughout the five continents and two seas of the Infernal Realm.

But the price of each trip through these portals was very high.

“Lord Beirut, how much is the transport fee?” Linley asked.

“Generally speaking, moving between the Higher Planes or Divine Planes isn’t as expensive. But moving from the Higher Planes or Divine Planes to material planes…now that is exceedingly costly. From material planes to the Higher Planes or Divine Planes, however, is free.” Beirut explained.

Linley understood this as well. He knew that it was expensive…but how expensive, exactly?

“I don’t know if I have enough money on me.” Linley was rather nervous.

Beirut laughed. “But when you go for your trip, as long as you show this medallion, you will be able to use the teleportation portals for free.” With a wave of his hand, Beirut pulled out a blood red medallion which emanated a heart-stopping aura.

Linley and the others looked at it.

“Teleport for free?” Bebe’s eyes lit up. “Grandpa, give it to us as a gift.”

“Hey, I’m just loaning this to you for a single use.” Beirut said hurriedly. “This medallion was given to me by the Sovereign himself. In the past, when I casually roamed throughout the countless planes, I relied on this toy. Otherwise, no matter how much money I might have, I wouldn’t be able to afford all those teleportations. I’m only giving it to you for a single use. After you use it, you have to return it to me. In the future, if you need it again, I can loan it to you again.”

Bebe couldn’t help but pout.

Clearly, he was unhappy at how ‘stingy’ his grandfather was.

“Thank you, Lord Beirut.” Linley said hurriedly.

“Haha…” Beirut laughed. “Once you reach the Yulan continent, if there’s anything you need, feel free to come to the Forest of Darkness to look for me. My clone has remained in the Forest of Darkness this entire time.”

“Clone?” Linley was surprised.

Beirut laughed and nodded.

Linley couldn’t help but feel rather surprised…because the ‘Beirut’ he had met in the Yulan continent looked absolutely identical to this one, in both aura and clothing. Was the ‘Beirut’ which he had met the person in front of him now…or the clone that was currently in the Forest of Darkness?

“I’m giving this medallion to you. Don’t lose it.” Beirut said solemnly, then tossed it to Bebe.

Bebe caught it. “Don’t worry. How can I lose it?”

On this trip back to the Yulan continent, Linley’s family of three and Bebe’s family of three headed out together. On the second day after they acquired the medallion, Linley’s group of six headed directly towards Ironknife Gorge.

Ironknife Gorge. The teleportation formation for the Bloodridge Continent was located here.

Linley’s group flew over, and saw Ironknife Gorge from far away. Ironknife Gorge was an extremely easy-to-recognize landmark, but of course, what sealed its status was the large number of patrolling Bloodridge Soldiers which surrounded the area.

“Newcomers, halt!” The Bloodridge Soldiers called out loudly.

Linley’s group immediately landed, and the leader of the Bloodridge Soldiers, a man with short, golden, metallic-looking hair swept Linley’s group with his icy gaze, then barked, “Why have you come to Ironknife Gorge?”

“We are going to return to a material plane through the teleportation portal.” Linley said.

The golden-haired man couldn’t help but be surprised. Quite a few people passed through the portal to the other Higher Planes and Divine Planes, since the price was much cheaper, but returning to a material plane? The price was terrifyingly high.

“Oh. Then come with me.” The golden-haired man led the way forward.

Linley’s group of six immediately followed after the Bloodridge Soldier, heading deeper into Ironknife Gorge. Moments later, Linley’s group arrived at the castle situated at the peak of Ironknife Gorge, where the teleportation array was located. The magic formation which formed the teleportation portal was identical to the one Linley had seen when he had arrived in the Infernal Realm.

“There’s actually six of you!”

There were quite a few Bloodridge Soldiers present. One of them weighed Linley’s group with his gaze. “Three Highgods, one God, one Demigod, one Saint. According to the rules…returning to a material plane will cost each Highgod one trillion inkstones, and each Highgod can bring ten Gods with them…”

Linley, hearing this, was badly shocked.

He finally understood why it was that almost no Deities had returned to the Yulan continent, despite the passage of so many years. This price was too extravagant. A trillion inkstones…that was most likely the entire networth of most Seven Star Fiends. There was no way an ordinary Highgod could possibly afford it.

“So in total, you need to pay three trilli…uh…” The Bloodridge Warrior only finished half his sentence before seeing the medallion in Bebe’s hands.

“Hurry up and activate the transportation magic array.” Bebe said calmly.

“Yes!” The surrounding Bloodridge Soldiers, seeing the medallion, instantly stood up ramrod straight, then quickly flew to the various parts of the array, starting to activate it. Suddenly, one of them turned to look at the group. “Milords, where are you heading to?”

“The Yulan continent plane.” Linley said.