Chapter 24 – Life and Death – Two Paths

Book 16, Starmist Sea – Chapter 24, Life and Death, Two Paths Currently at Miluo Island, at the air above the border between the western and the eastern part of the island, tens of thousands of Highgod island warriors were in a sphere, surrounding Linley and his group who were in the center with no place to flee. The greatest threat to Linley, however, was the four people he was facing. Four Seven Star Fiends! “A single saber blow that chopped my Blackstone Prison ‘cube’ in half, with enough remaining force that I had to disperse it with my fist. The power of that saber blow was really quite frightening.” Linley felt that his right fist was slightly numb. Lowering his head, he saw that on his fist, there was a white imprint. Linley was quite astonished. This was the remaining power from that flash of saber light, after it had chopped through so many walls of the Blackstone Prison! If the saber had landed with full power on Linley, it would be hard to say if his draconic scales would be able to resist it! “Seven Star Fiend! Definitely a Seven Star Fiend!” Linley stared at the red-robed man who had launched that saber blow just now. He was a muscular, red-robed man with wild, tousled golden hair like the mane on a lion. At present, this man was currently standing respectfully behind the red-haired man. “And who is this red-haired man?” Linley was cautious. The three red-robed elders were by the side of the red-haired man, while young master Sequeira was currently by the side of the red-haired man, appearing quite respectful. However, the red-haired man glanced at him, and Sequeira lowered his head, respectfully stepping to the side. “Even Sequeira is so respectful, and he seems quite similar in features to Sequeira. Could this be Sequeira’s father?” Linley, seeing this scene, guessed to himself. After a short consideration, Linley came to the conclusion… That the situation was grim! The three red-robed men were very likely Seven Star Fiends. As for the red-haired man, he couldn’t be weak either. “Using Sovereign’s Might is one possibility, but more importantly, I have to protect Delia and the others.” Linley was still rather worried. After all…their group was surrounded by a dense cluster of tens of thousands of Highgod island warriors! This group of Highgod warriors were extremely dangerous as well. “It seems…I have no other options!” Linley gritted his teeth. He had to block the opponents while at the same time, he had protect Delia and the others. But the enemy consisted of four Seven Star Fiends. Even if he used his Sovereign’s Might, he had to go all out. Thus, in the worst case scenario, he had to simultaneously use two drops of Sovereign’s Might! One drop for his original body to deal with the four Seven Star Fiends. One drop for his divine clone to protect Delia and the others. “That’s the worst case scenario.” Linley was rather unwilling to do so. After all, this was two drops of Sovereign’s Might. But the enemy was too powerful! “I hope you won’t force me to that step.” Linley said quietly to himself. Currently, as Linley was weighing his opponents, they were weighing Linley as well. They discovered, to their astonishment…that they, four Seven Star Fiends, weren’t able to see through Linley at all. “This person is extremely powerful.” The clan leader of the Bagshaw clan, Bakwill, felt astonished. At the same time, he gave his son a hard look. If it wasn’t because of his son, how could they have possibly offended an enemy like this? “Boslo [Bo’si’luo]!” Bakwill shouted. “Milord.” The lion-like man went forward. “Go test him. If you can, then kill him.” Bakwill ordered through divine sense. Bakwill knew very well exactly how powerful the three red-robed elders accompanying him were. In terms of defense, Boslo was the strongest. Thus, he was the most appropriate choice for testing the opponent’s strength. “Yes, milord!” Boslo seemed rather excited. Boslo immediately turned his head, his yellow golden eyes locking onto Linley. Cracking his lips, he laughed loudly. “Haha, just now, you were able to take on my blow. That means you are worthy of knowing my name. I am Boslo. Now, if you die, you won’t die without even knowing who killed you!” Linley just stood there coldly in mid-air. His body suddenly moved, and his divine wind clone flew out, landing next to Delia, Bebe, and Olivier’s sides. Delia was filled with concern as well, while Bebe said through divine sense, “Boss, are you going to use the Sovereign’s Might?” “Right. My wind-style divine clone will also carry a drop of Sovereign’s Might. At a time of danger, I’ll immediately use it.” Linley sent mentally. Two drops of Sovereign’s Might. One was held by the original body within the Coiling Dragon ring, while the other had been shifted into Linley’s divine wind clone’s interspatial ring. If the situation suddenly changed, Linley would immediately use his Sovereign’s Might! “Haha, I haven’t even killed you, but you are already so frightened that you sent out your divine clone?” Boslo laughed loudly. The laughter echoed like thunder in the air above Miluo Island. “Enough bullshit!” The cold voice burst forth from Linley’s lips. Boslo was slightly startled, and then his face grew solemn as well. With a flip of his hand, he retrieved a pitch black long blade that was two meters long. Immediately… The tens of thousands of surrounding Highgods and the countless Deity spectators on the ground all went silent, expectantly waiting for this astonishing battle to begin. “I didn’t expect that this sort of battle would occur at Miluo Island.” A black haired man carrying a warblade on his back appeared within the ground. Raising his head, he stared at the battle. This was Lomio Bornesen whose fame had become widespread throughout Miluo Island. Lomio narrowed his eyes, staring at the two men who were about to battle as closely as a viper. The battle that was being watched by countless people was about to begin! “Rumble…” That explosive red-robed man, Boslo, wielded his long blade. His speed reached the limit, and because he was too fast, the world itself began to rumble and thunder. In an instant, Boslo appeared high in the air. And then, Boslo’s form tightened! Silently, soundlessly, Boslo charged down from up above with his long blade, chopping down viciously towards Linley. But the strange thing was…this blade actually didn’t make any sound at all, and it didn’t cause any spatial vibrations at all. It looked as though it was a very ordinary blade blow. “Eh?” Watching from below, Lomio’s eyes suddenly lit up. “To have trained to such a level in the Way of Destruction…Miluo Island really is a place of crouching tigers and hidden dragons!” But Lomio discovered that Linley still just stood there, not seeming to care at all. Lomio was surprised. Even he, in the face of that saber blow, wouldn’t dare to be so casual. “Formidable.” A sigh of praise escaped Linley’s lips, but right afterwards… As Boslo slashed down in a perfect arc, while he was still two hundred meters or so away from Linley, his body suddenly, bizarrely quivered, then was pushed back by several meters. Instantly, the stance of his downwards chopping blow was broken. “What sort of power is this?” Boslo was astonished. Just now, he clearly could sense a terrifying repulsive power acting on his body. Even at his level of power, when caught off-guard, he couldn’t help but retreat. Even Bakwill and the others, watching at a distance, were astonished. “Father, that man’s Gravitational Space is very bizarre. Not only can it pull downwards, it can also draw inwards or repulse outwards.” Sequeira immediately explained to his father through divine sense. Bakwill couldn’t help but stare at Linley in amazement. “A Gravitational Space that can reach such a level?” He didn’t dare believe it! “Haha…” Boslo let out a loud, gravelly laugh, which sounded like the bursting waters of a flood. His flashing golden eyes stared at Linley. “I underestimated you.” Boslo wielded his saber with both hands, forcibly resisting the repulsive force as he charged towards Linley. Linley just stood there quietly. “Die.” Boslo swung down violently with full force. Wherever his warblade passed by, space itself was chopped open by the sharp blade, with a large crack easily being created. That enormous long blade came straight down towards Linley’s head. Before the long blade arrived, the spatial tremors that it had caused had reached Linley. “This is the moment!” Linley’s eyes suddenly widened viciously. The repulsive force immediately transformed into a downwards gravitational force! Boslo felt that he instantly seemed to have had a trillion-kilogram mountain crush down on his body. This sudden gravitational pull caused all of his movements to change. When experts exchanged blows, a sudden change like this had a tremendous impact. Boslo, caught completely off-guarded, suddenly sank down. Boslo had been chopping down at Linley, but he was now below Linley. How could he possibly hit Linley? “Hmph!” A cold voice rang out. An azure-golden light flashed. Linley’s right leg struck out like a blade towards Boslo’s head, with his Dragonformed body containing such boundless physical strength that this kick actually caused space to crack and rumble. Boslo was an expert as well. He immediately changed his downwards swing to an upwards block, and wherever the blade of his saber passed, space was parted like the waters of the sea. “Bang!” Linley’s right leg slammed viciously onto the blade, but the weird thing was, the power of the blow actually passed through the warblade and into Boslo’s body. Boslo’s entire body twitched momentarily, and at almost the same moment, Linley’s draconic tail also lashed viciously against Boslo’s body. Boslo had been impacted by the Gravitational Space to begin with and was being impacted by an astonishing downwards gravitational force. Now that he had been successively hit by Linley’s kick and also struck by Linley’s vicious tail. “Bang!” The earth trembled as Boslo smashed directly into the surface of the other, an enormous, deep crevice appearing on the ground. The tens of thousands of island warriors and the countless spectators on Miluo Island were all stunned. He actually had dared to use his leg to kick down towards Boslo’s warblade? And had even knocked Boslo into the ground? “How hard is his leg?!” This was what countless people were wondering. “Swoosh!” Boslo emerged from the ground and flew out at high speed, his face filled with disbelief. At this moment, a voice rang out in his mind. “Boslo, what is going on?” “Milord, his strength is too powerful. I’ve never encountered a person whose strength was so great!” Boslo sent back. His physical strength was indeed vast! Just now, when Linley’s leg had smashed against Boslo’s warblade, Boslo had felt as though an enormous mountain that had existed for ten million years had slammed onto his body. The strength of this power was indescribable! “Milord, just now, my attack…he wasn’t injured?” Boslo asked. As he was smashed into the ground, he hadn’t had a chance to notice. “You only broke a few of his draconic scales. You didn’t injure him much.” Bakwill said. “My blade attack contained a soul attack as well. He didn’t feel anything?” Boslo asked hurriedly. Although he was more proficient in material attacks, his soul attacks weren’t weak either. Anyone who didn’t have a soul-protecting divine artifact would find it hard to resist. “His soul defense has to be excellent. I haven’t noticed any change in him.” Bakwill was beginning to worry. The mysterious expert of the Four Divine Beasts clan in front of him seemed to be rather too powerful. “How dangerous. Fortunately, my soul-protecting Sovereign artifact ablated ninety percent of the attack power.” Linley was frightened as well. Just now, although the material attack component of that blade chop was powerful, it was only able to shatter his draconic scales and give him a flesh wound. But the soul attack embodied within the blade had struck like a thunderbolt against that translucent membrane. Upon smashing into the soul-protecting Sovereign artifact, of course it shattered. After the first blow, 60% – 70% of the power was dispersed, and then the remaining force spread throughout the translucent membrane and discovered the flaw in the membrane. The ‘bandage’ over the flaw was now quite strong, and an enormous amount of force was needed to break through it. The remaining bit of energy, Linley was able to resist with his own soul power. “This person is still more proficient in physical attacks. If I were to encounter someone who was an expert in soul attacks…” Linley, just now, had already gripped the drop of Sovereign’s Might into his hand, prepared to use it at any moment. Bakwill and the three red-robed elders were all hesitating. This Linley was truly unfathomable to them. Even a Seven Star Fiend like Boslo seemed to be at a disadvantage. But what they didn’t know was that even a Six Star Fiend, if proficient in soul attacks, would be enough to deal with Linley. Unfortunately, they didn’t know any details regarding Linley. After all, they all believed that Linley was hiding his aura. “His ability at hiding his soul aura is at such a level…how could his soul attacks possibly be weak?” Bakwill and the others all came to this conclusion, which is why they had sent Boslo, who had the strongest material attacks in their group. “Father.” Sequeira said softly. “F*ck off. Go to one side.” Bakwill growled. Bakwill was frustrated, but Linley was also frustrated. Linley knew his own power. His body was very tough and so he could frighten the opponents, but if they were to truly battle, he would absolutely have to use up his Sovereign’s Might. Linley immediately flew over towards Bakwill. “What are you doing!” Bakwill immediately used his divine sense to shout. Bakwill and the three red-robed elders all grew guarded, staring at Linley. It was as though if he said a single word wrong, they would immediately attack. “That Lord Linley is flying over. Can it be that he wants to fight them, one on four?” The countless spectators on Miluo Island who were watching with their heads raised were all staring at this sight, and Lomio was watching quietly as well. Linley continued to fly. Roughly at a distance of three hundred meters from Bakwill, Linley came to a halt. Seeing Linley halt, Bakwill and the others calmed down slightly as well. “How could I be here to cause you trouble? You just don’t know…that at a long distance, my divine sense isn’t long enough to reach you!” Linley didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. He was only a God. Generally speaking, the divine sense of a God was only a hundred meters. Although he had refined a large number of amethysts and his soul had grown to the limits of power for a God and was unable to absorb any more, his divine sense was still limited to three or four hundred meters or so. Highgods, however, could generally speak with divine sense to a thousand meters. Only by drawing closer was he able to speak with divine sense! “I am Linley!” Linley sent through divine sense to Bakwill. “Bakwill.” Bakwill responded. “Linley, your friends are all surrounded. As long as I give the order, tens of thousands of Highgods will join forces and attack. Your friends will all die. Given your power, you should know the true power of our Bagshaw clan. If we really start to claw at each other’s faces and go all out, even if you are an Asura, our Bagshaw clan will still be able to kill you.” The experts of the Bagshaw clan were more numerous than just the few of them present. “I understand. My power has only been partially revealed as well.” Linley sent back through divine sense, while at the same time, Linley stretched out his right hand. In his right hand, a sparkling blue drop of water appeared! This blue drop of water was giving off a faint yet awe-inspiring aura of power. The faces of Bakwill and the three red-robed elders immediately changed greatly. “Water-type Sovereign’s Might!” “I don’t want for us to rip at each other’s faces and go all out. You should know that given my power, if I use this drop of Sovereign’s Might…what the results will be!” Linley sent through divine sense. Bakwill’s facial muscles twitched, and then he laughed coldly. Bakwill flipped his own hand, and a drop of black liquid appeared. Linley could sense the terrifying energy contained within that black drop of liquid. It was a power on the same level of his blue drop of water, only what it emanated was the aura of Destruction. “Destruction-type Sovereign’s Might?” Linley was shocked as well. “Your Four Divine Beast’s clan has Sovereign’s Might. Did you think my Bagshaw clan doesn’t?” Bagshaw sent through divine sense. “For you to have a drop of water-type Sovereign’s Might means that your position in the Four Divine Beasts clan must be quite high.” It was normal for Bakwill, as the leader of the clan, to be carrying a drop of Sovereign’s Might. The top ten ancient clans of the Infernal Realm, such as the Bagshaw clan, all possessed astonishing power of their own! “You killed so many of my men. Although they were minor figures, you still besmirched the face of my Bagshaw clan. I’ll give you two paths to choose from! The first path is the path where we go all out against each other and engage in a great battle. At worst, my Bagshaw clan will lose a number of experts, but we will still kill you. I wager your Four Divine Beasts clan won’t dare to come to my Miluo Island to avenge you!” Bakwill was absolutely confident. Linley’s face didn’t change. He continued to listen. “The second path is, my Bagshaw clan can give you face and forget about those minor figures you killed. However, you must serve my Bagshaw clan and assume the position of a red-robed elder. You must serve the Bagshaw clan without compensation for ten thousand years as a form of apology. In this way, this matter will be at an end.” “Pick a path!” Bakwill stared at Linley.