Chapter 2 – The Four Higher Planes

Book 5, The Godsword, Bloodviolet – Chapter 2, The Four Higher Planes Linley was totally stunned by Doehring Cowart’s words. “Grandpa Doehring was a Saint-level Grand Magus of the era of the Pouant Empire. If even he has never seen such a complicated, powerful magical formation before, and is certain that the power of this formation is even greater than that of forbidden spells, then…” Linley felt a thread of trepidation. What exactly was this mysterious magical formation doing here? “Linley, take a closer look and try to get a feel for the formation, as well as that violet longsword.” Doehring Cowart said to Linley. Linley nodded slightly. He immediately gathered wind elemental essence to him and used it to sense the aura of that magical formation and the violet longsword. Closing his eyes, Linley could sense an aura of weight and density emanating from the black platform’s magical formation, so heavy and oppressive it was stifling. At the same time, this black platform, or perhaps the magical formation anchored on the platform, emanated waves of incredibly dense elemental essence. “No wonder the elemental essence here is so dense, almost a hundred times that of the outside world. So the reason is this.” If he hadn’t directly and clearly attempted to probe the black platform, Linley wouldn’t have been able to understand that the platform was the origin, as the elemental essence constantly came down in waves. In actuality, the center of the cave was where the elemental essence was the densest. “Amongst the seven elemental essences, the darkness-type elemental essence is the strongest. No wonder both the Armored Razorback Wyrm and the Saint-level Violet Tattooed Bear both liked this place. Both of them were darkness-type magical beasts.” Linley nodded to himself. “That violet longsword.” Linley carefully tried to sense out any details on the violet longsword plunged into the middle of the black platform. “Darkness-type element…but so reserved and introverted.” Stroking his beard, Doehring Cowart smiled at Linley. “Linley, I can tell you something. The value of that violet longsword is most likely not at all inferior to a Saint-level magicite core.” Linley stared at Doehring Cowart questioningly. Linley knew very well that generally speaking, a warrior’s weapons were not very valuable. As long as some extremely hard metals were used along with some other alloys, a weapon could be made. Even his Baruch clan’s family heirloom, the warblade ‘Slaughterer’, only cost a few tens of thousands of gold coins to make. Afterwards, the successors to the Baruch clan sold the warblade ‘Slaughterer’ for 180,000 gold coins, but that was primarily because of its connection to the famous Dragonblood Warriors. Unfortunately, it had been many years since a Dragonblood Warrior had surfaced, and thus the fame of the Dragonblood Warriors was no longer worth as much. If it had been sold in the days when the Dragonblood Warriors had roamed and dominated the lands, the price would have been much higher. The weapons of warriors weren’t worth much. But the magistaff of a magus was a different matter. The higher quality a magistaff was, the more precious the materials for making it needed to be. For example, the ‘divine treasures’ used by a Saint-level Grand Magus, such as a powerful magistaff, would use the magicite core of a magical beast of the ninth rank, or a Saint-level magical beast, to serve as the energy source. Next, complicated and powerful magical formations would be carved onto the magistaff, in order for it to reach its maximum potential. A magistaff which was hailed as a ‘divine treasure’ definitely was a priceless treasure. After all, a Saint-level magicite core by itself was considered a priceless treasure. But of course… When discussing the relative worthlessness of warrior’s weapons, that was with respect to material weapons forged in the Yulan continent. If a weapon came from another place, such as one of the Four Higher Planes, then its value would be different. “This violet longsword has a very unique aura. If my guess is correct, it should come from one of the Four Higher Planes. Most likely, the Infernal Realm.” Doehring Cowart said musingly. Linley asked curiously, “The Four Higher Planes?” His white beard fluttering, Doehring Cowart said, “If we consider the Yulan continent as a whole, at your current level of power, you can nominally be considered to be in the upper tier. I can begin telling you a few things now. Linley, you should know by now that in this universe, there is more than just one plane of existence.” Linley nodded. “Of course I know. For example, the Netherworld.” “You know very little.” Doehring Cowart shook his head. “In reality, within this vast, infinite universe, there are countless planes, with material, physical planes just one of the most basic, elementary types of planes. Amongst all of these countless planes, there are Four Higher Planes of existence. These planes are the Netherworld, the Infernal Realm, the Life Realm, and the Celestial Realm.” Doehring Cowart explained carefully. Linley attentively listened, as this information was perhaps known only to the absolutely most powerful people of the Yulan continent. “Linley, by now, you should know what a so-called ‘god’ is, right?” Doehring Cowart grinned as he looked at Linley. Linley nodded. “Those who have surpassed the existence of ‘Saints’ are what we call Deities or Gods.” Having read many books, Linley knew that in many books discussing power which transcended the level of the Saints, this level of power was described as the power of the Gods. A power that was so great, it was irresistible. “Right. But above the level of the Deities, are the Sovereigns. And above the Sovereigns, there are the Overgods!” Doehring Cowart sighed. “These Four Overgods are truly eternal presences which surpass everything else in existence.” This was the first time Linley had ever heard of the existence of the Four Overgods. “Overgods? Are they more powerful than the Radiant Sovereign?” “Haha, the Radiant Sovereign?” Doehring Cowart began to laugh. “Regardless of whether we are discussing the ‘Radiant Sovereign’ of the Radiant Church, or the ‘Shadow Sovereign’ of the Cult of Shadows, they are nothing more than Sovereigns. To us, and to any ordinary Deity, a Sovereign is an all-powerful entity. But they still require the power of faith from their followers.” “But the Four Overgods are different. They neither require followers, nor require faith. Their power is all-encompassing and all-ruining. Sovereigns such as the Radiant Sovereign or the Shadow Sovereign most likely would only be worthy of being servants for the Four Overgods. And that would be only if the Overgods found them worthy.” Doehring Cowart spoke with absolute certainty. Linley’s heart trembled. “The Netherworld, the Infernal Realm, the Life Realm, the Celestial Realm. These Four Higher Planes were created by the Four Overgods. In the past, I had once had the chance to sense the aura of these Four Higher Planes, which is why, immediately upon seeing that violet longsword, I felt certain that it hails from the Infernal Realm.” Doehring Cowart stared suspiciously at the violet longsword plunged into the round black platform. “But I, too, am suspicious. How did something from the Infernal Realm come here?” “Linley, think about it. This is a magical formation which is more powerful than even forbidden spells. For it to rely on this violet longsword as a supplemental source of energy, in terms of energy levels, this sword should at least be on par with this magical formation. I strongly recommend…that you drip your blood on it and see if you can bind it to you.” Doehring Cowart’s eyes were gleaming. “Bind it?” In Linley’s heart, there arose a desire to acquire this treasure. “Don’t be afraid. No matter what this magical formation is meant to do, for such a huge formation to be activated would take a long period of time. This will give you enough time to run far away. First drip your blood onto it and see if this sword already has a master. If it has no master, you can take it away with you. There definitely won’t be a problem, and no one will find out.” Doehring Cowart said with absolute confidence. A divine sword which could be bound with blood was no ordinary thing. When worn, nobody would be able to tell what it was. In the eyes of others, it would be as ordinary as the Coiling Dragon ring. “Alright.” Linley exerted control over his Dragonblood battle-qi, and instantly, the scales on his arms and his upper body began to vanish. The second form of the Dragonblood Warriors: the Demidragon form. Linley could now totally control which portion of his body would transform. The rest of his body was now the same as a normal person. After using his teeth to cut his finger, Linley directly leapt up and flicked that drop of blood onto the violet longsword, which had been there for who knows how many years. The drop of Linley’s blood landed on the dust-covered violet longsword, which had been there for countless years. It absorbed his blood like a sponge, easily drinking it in. At the same time… “Ting!” That violet longsword rang out with a clear sound, and at the same time began to tremble. All of the dust stuck to its surface suddenly flew away, and at the same time, a strange, bloody aura began to circulate on top of the sword, as though fresh blood was flowing all around it. “An item with no master.” Seeing this, Doehring Cowart felt surprised and pleased. Doehring Cowart knew very well that if this sword had a master, then Linley would’ve had no hope at all. But if the sword had no master, then in the future, Linley would possess an extremely useful tool. “Linley, quick, pull the sword out, and then immediately get out of this place!” Doehring Cowart urged. “Got it.” Linley once more leapt up, this time directly grabbing the violet longsword and giving it a powerful tug. “Shrrrring!” With a clear ringing sound which seemed to carry boundless joy, it came out. Earlier, when Linley’s blood had been absorbed by the violet longsword, Linley immediately knew….that this was a flexible sword! But upon exerting battle-qi, mageforce, or any other sort of force through the sword, it could instantly become firm and rigid! It could be flexible or hard! Pulling the sword out from the black platform, Linley landed on the ground. As he landed, with the flick of his wrist, Linley wrapped the violet longsword around his waist, using it like a belt! “Bebe. Let’s go.” Picking up his backpack with one hand, Linley immediately ran for the tunnel exit. At the same time, he began to cover his entire body with scales once more. Bebe, as well, instantly jumped atop of Linley’s shoulders. In the Dragonform, Linley possessed the power of a warrior of the early eighth rank. But in terms of speed, he was a match for a particularly fast warrior of the eighth rank. “Seventh rank Supersonic!” Linley immediately cast the wind-style supportive spell, ‘Supersonic’. A Supersonic spell cast at the seventh rank could increase the speed of a warrior of the fourth rank by up to three times. However, Linley’s current base speed was already extremely fast, and so even with the assistance of the Supersonic spell, his speed only improved by another 50%. But even a 50% increase was already a terrifying increase. …… The white fog continued to flow about in the air above the Foggy Valley. As for those giant flying dragons that were previously circling about in the air, aside from a very small number of them still in the air, all of the dragons were now resting on the ground. However, without question, all of them were staying far away from that small hill. The tunnel covered up by that hill was forbidden grounds! These giant dragons still remembered how, days ago, that pitiful human had entered the forbidden grounds. Most likely, that pitiful human had died long ago. “Whoosh!” A black blur suddenly shot out from within the tunnel, and then directly rocketed into the sky. “What was that?” Those hundred-plus dragons all noticed the human-sized blur. A fast warrior of the eighth rank could definitely match the speed of a giant flying dragon of the eighth rank. And now, with Linley utilizing the Supersonic spell to assist himself, his speed had been increased by 50%. Right now, Linley’s speed was definitely on par with a warrior of the ninth rank. Even compared to Bebe, he wasn’t much slower. “Roar!” Those hundred-plus dragons immediately began to roar with rage. A human had actually dared to trespass on the territory of the dragons? One giant dragon after another spread their wings, taking off and chasing after Linley, but Linley’s current speed was simply too fast. Even that largest Fire Dragon could do nothing save watch as Linley’s form grow farther and farther away from them. In just a short amount of time, Linley had thrown them off and disappeared from their sight. “That doesn’t seem to be a human.” That largest Fire Dragon coiled about in mid-air, musing to itself, confused. Although it hadn’t been able to catch Linley, it could tell quite clearly that this creature was human-shaped, but was covered with scales. “A human-shaped magical beast?” That Fire Dragon wondered to itself. ….. Within the underground cave, atop the black platform, the countless crisscrossing lines and patterns of the magical formation slowly began to glow. Each line seemed to have a line of glowing silver emanate from it. Slowly…the entire magical formation began to shine, so brightly as to hurt one’s eyes. “Boom!” A deep rumbling sound could be heard, and the magical formation began to grow even brighter. Those rumbling sounds grew more and more frequent, more and urgent. “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” Like a series of drumbeats, those booming sounds continued, and that mysterious magical formation continued to grow brighter. “CRACK!” That black pavilion, made out of an unknown material, suddenly cracked, with three cracks appearing.