In the past, Linley had known very little regarding Sovereign’s Might. Thus, he had taken it for an advanced form of ‘divine power’. But now, it seemed, it was completely different. Sovereign’s Might was actually capable of being used like spiritual energy.
“Sovereign’s Might also has one other benefit.” Gislason laughed. “When you use Sovereign’s Might, for a short moment, both your body and your soul will be uplifted.”
“Eh?” Linley was surprised.
“This is the truth.” Gislason sighed. “However, the amount of uplifting isn’t very great. If one was willing to be wasteful and consecutively use hundreds of drops of Sovereign’s Might, both the soul and the body will be tremendously transformed.”
“Hundreds of drops? Who has that many?” Linley laughed.
“Even if someone does have that many, they wouldn’t be willing to waste it like that.” Gislason said.
“Our Four Divine Beasts clan’s one and only advantage over the eight great clans is that we have quite a bit of Sovereign’s Might.” Gislason sighed. “By relying on Sovereign’s Might, we are able to be at the level where even when under group assault, we can still fight back. This is the only reason why we’ve been able to keep the death ratio at one-to-one.”
Linley nodded. After this recent experience, Linley realized how powerful the enemy was.
For example, Mosley’s innate divine ability truly was terrifying.
“Now that our ancestors have died, the more Sovereign’s Might we use up, the less we have.” Gislason warned. “Linley, you cannot waste this Sovereign’s Might. Unless the situation is critical, using it simply isn’t worth it.”
“Yes, Patriarch.” Linley replied.
Even the Four Divine Beasts clan had a dwindling stockpile of Sovereign’s Might.
“Enough. You can go back for now. In the upcoming period of time, my younger sister shouldn’t assign you any more missions. After all, after this experience, the eight great clans will be very much on their guard against you. In the future, it won’t be so easy for you to kill two Seven Star Fiends.” Gislason laughed.
Linley nodded, then immediately left.
………………………….
Indigo Prefecture, the eastern borders. Four of the eight great clans were located here, amongst them the Barbary clan which had moved here from the Divine Water Plane.
Deep within a dark estate, a giant was standing within a flower garden.
He was 3.5 meters tall, and his face was covered with a green beard, each hair looking like a steel needle. He was dressed in a plain, unadorned set of armor, and on his shoulders, there was a black, serpent-patterned cloak attached. This person was staring directly at Cole, who was standing before him.
“Cole, you were killed without even being able to fight back?” The giant said, frowning.
“Patriarch, I, I didn’t expect…” Cole’s face was filled with rage. “He clearly was just a God, but who would have imagined that he was just hiding his aura? When he was very close to me, he suddenly ambushed me…I didn’t have any chance to react at all.”
Currently, Cole only had his divine wind clone remaining.
“Not just me. Even Mosley wasn’t able to detect that this person was hiding his aura.” Cole said hurriedly.
This Patriarch of the Barbary clan frowned even more deeply.
“Patriarch, based on what the clones of my subordinates told me, the person who killed me didn’t have an extremely powerful soul defense.” Cole said hurriedly.
“Eh?”
The Barbary clan’s Patriarch couldn’t help but grow puzzled. He swept his gaze towards the outside of the garden, and instantly, a black shadow flitted in from outside, standing there respectfully.
“Quickly go investigate if there is a new Elder within the Azure Dragon clan who is skilled at hiding his power.” The Patriarch of the Barbary clan instructed.
“Yes, Elder.”
The black shadow vanished once more.
………………..
After having completed the last mission, the Grand Elder wouldn’t possibly send Linley into battle once more in the near term. Thus, Linley rejoined Bebe, Delia, Cesar, and the others in the gorge, enjoying some rare, peaceful days.
More than two years had passed since the last assignment. In the past two years, not many things happened. On this day, Linley and Delia were currently eating some food together.
“Delia, she…seems to have something she wants to say.” Linley laughed to himself. Today, Delia was very absent-minded as she ate, as though she wanted to say something but didn’t.
“Linley.” Delia hesitated a long time, then finally spoke.
Linley chuckled. He had been waiting a long time for her to speak. “Delia, what is it?”
Delia paused a moment, then said, “Linley, we’ve been here in the Skyrite Mountains for quite some time. It’s been eighty years now, right?”
“Right.” Linley nodded. “What of it?”
“Linley, we rushed all the way here to Indigo Prefecture, then entered the Skyrite Mountains. Right, we’ve returned to your clan, but…are we just going to stay in the Skyrite Mountains forever?” Delia asked him instead.
Linley couldn’t help but frown. “Delia, you want to leave? You want to depart from the Skyrite Mountains?” Linley felt this came out of nowhere.
“No, that’s not what I mean.” Delia said hurriedly. “Actually, I want to follow the forces of the clan to go on a trip to the cities.”
“No.” Linley refused decisively. “It’s too dangerous. No.”
“It’s not dangerous.” Delia said hurriedly. “In fact, it’s not just me. Bebe, Dylin, and the others all want to go on a trip outside. Linley, we’ve been in this same place without going anywhere else this entire time. It’s not as bad for you. You can train and you can go battle. But the rest of us are just here in this gorge every day. After a long period of time, we all feel rather stifled.”
Linley was stunned.
He understood what Delia meant. To be in a single place with no contact with the outside world…it wouldn’t be so bad at first, but after more time passed, one would feel terribly depressed. If a very long period of time passed…one would be accustomed to being depressed and lonely, at which point one’s very temperament would change.
Delia, in particular, had accompanied Linley on their long journey over here. Her heart, like his, was a free one, which couldn’t endure this sort of restrictions.
“Delia, I understand your feelings.” Linley nodded.
In the past, when he had entered the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts for training for three years, he only had Bebe by his side for those three years. That sort of solitary, lonely life was indeed quite stifling. He himself had only been able to hold on and persevere because of his hatred, which had let him endure it all.
“Delia, I’m sorry.” Linley reached out to take Delia’s hand.
At this moment, Linley came to a realization.
He had been too selfish!
He always thought of things from his own viewpoint. He wanted to return to his clan. He wanted to battle in Bloodbath Gorge for the clan. But he hadn’t considered the situation from Delia and Bebe’s viewpoints. He himself could live a very exciting life. But what about them?
Always in their little gorge, living a leisurely, dull life. Bebe was the lively sort, and Delia enjoyed her freedom as well. Linley himself liked an exciting, lively life. Nobody liked to live a flavorless, boring life. He had completely neglected Delia and Bebe.
Thinking of this, Linley couldn’t refrain from saying, “Delia, I truly am sorry.”
“Say no more.” Delia laughed and shook her head. “It’s fine. I just want to go for a slight change in atmosphere. Once I’m in a better mood, I’ll be fine.”
“I want you to go out and relax as well. Only, it really is very dangerous.” Linley said nervously.
“Linley, it really isn’t dangerous.” Delia said hurriedly. “Actually, the Azure Dragon clan has quite a few clansmen who often go to the nearby cities to go sightseeing and shopping. It truly isn’t dangerous.”
“It isn’t dangerous?” Linley didn’t understand.
“Linley, if you don’t believe me, you can ask the other Elders.” Delia immediately said.
“Oh?” Linley nodded. “How about this. Delia, you wait here. I’ll go ask the other Elders. If there really isn’t much danger, I’ll let you go.” Linley didn’t want his wife to be too stifled either.
Linley immediately flew up through Dragon Avenue, constantly pondering in his mind Delia’s words. The more he thought of it, the more he felt that he had neglected Delia, Bebe, and the others. They had all accompanied him to the Skyrite Mountains.
But in the end?