They had to stay in that gorge and didn’t dare to leave it at all. This sort of life, akin to living in a prison…was this what he had to offer for Delia and Bebe?
From afar, through the corner of his eyes, Linley saw a person flying in the air. It was the familiar figure of ‘Elder Garvey’. He hurriedly shouted, “Elder Garvey.”
Puzzled, Elder Garvey turned to look, then laughed and flew over. “Linley, what a coincidence.” Linley laughed, “Elder Garvey, there’s something important I want to ask you about. Come, let’s chat over there.”
Linley and Garvey flew together to a nearby location halfway up the mountain.
“Linley, what is it?” Garvey asked, puzzled.
“Our clan often has people who go to the cities?” Linley asked.
“Oh. Yes, we do, actually.” Garvey laughed. “First of all, our clan needs to buy some things on occasion. Secondly, our clansmen are always trapped here within the Skyrite Mountains. Quite a few of them can’t stand this type of restriction, and so they’ll go out to improve their mood. However, each time, the number of people permitted to leave is limited.”
“Is it dangerous?” Linley asked.
“There’s not much danger.” Garvey laughed. “In the past ten thousand years, there hasn’t been a single incident.”
“Aren’t we in a state of war against the eight great clans? How can it be that our clansmen are in no danger when heading out?” Linley didn’t understand.
“Linley, think about how vast the Infernal Realm is. Do you think running into someone is a simple matter? The battles which occur between us and the eight great clans occur because both of us are consciously seeking them out. It’s only because they travel on predetermined routes and because we have intelligence agents constantly monitoring those routes that we are able to so easily run into them.”
Linley nodded.
“As for our clan, when a group of us ride a single metallic lifeform and go to a city, there’s no way we can be on a predetermined route.” Garvey said. “This world is incomparably vast, and we can go anywhere we please. In addition, on our way over, even if the eight great clans see a metallic lifeform, there’s no way they would know that it belongs to our Azure Dragon clan.”
Linley began to understand.
“More important, they can’t send Seven Star Fiends just running around randomly everywhere. Even if an intelligence agent of theirs discovers that we are aboard a metallic lifeform, the metallic lifeform will quickly fly off into the distance, and because the route is not predetermined, there’s no way the enemy can possibly guess where the metallic lifeform has flown to.” Garvey laughed.
Linley nodded to himself as well.
The chances of both being encountered as well as being recognized really was one in a hundred million.
“Most importantly of all…each time our clansmen go a group, an Elder will be the escort.” Garvey laughed. “This to guard against any unforeseen circumstances. If we really are so unlucky as to encounter an enemy Seven Star Fiend within this vast area, then we’ll just have to engage in battle.”
Linley, hearing this, felt relieved.
The chances of being encountered really were too low. It was virtually impossible, in fact. And even if there was an encounter…his side had a Seven Star Fiend on guard.
“What, do you have family or friends who want to go out and relax?” Garvey asked.
“Right.” Linley suddenly thought of the limitations Garvey had mentioned with respect to how many people could participate. “How many people can go each time?”
“Five hundred people per trip.” Garvey nodded. “Don’t worry. As an Elder, it will be very simple for you to arrange some family and friends to be included. In addition, if you really are worried, you can escort them yourself as well. If a problem occurred even when two Elders are escorting, that would truly be quite bizarre, wouldn’t it?”
Linley’s eyes lit up.
Linley himself was interested in accompanying Delia into the city for a nice stroll. “The Elders of Bloodbath Gorge are cyclically assigned to missions. I’m not doing anything right now anyhow.” Linley immediately flew back towards Bloodbath Gorge and asked to meet with the Grand Elder.
In the Azure Dragon Palace, the Grand Elder stared at Linley through her mask.
“What? You want to go out?” The Grand Elder said coldly.
“Grand Elder, I just want to accompany our clansmen on a trip to the city.” Linley said.
“I can’t permit it right now.” The Grand Elder shook her head. “Recently, the battle between us and the eight great clans has been fairly fierce. I might need to send you out on a mission at a moment’s notice. Linley, the clan is more important. After your thousand years are up and you retire from Bloodbath Gorge, you can go where you please.”
Linley was stunned.
He, too, knew that the battles had been very fierce, but he hadn’t been sent on a mission in the past two years, after all. Going to a city was a trip of just a few months.
“For now, stay within the Skyrite Mountains. Based on how our intelligence reports develop, I might have a mission for you very soon.” The Grand Elder said.
“Yes, Grand Elder.”
Linley didn’t particular want to go visit the city himself anyways. The only reason he wanted to go was to protect Delia better.
“It’s within an area of a trillion square kilometers…and why would a Seven Star Fiend be so bored as to just wander about randomly? And the chances of them recognizing that this was a group of our clansmen? And also being to defeat one of my clan’s Elders?” Linley considered it, then set his mind at ease.
The chances of something going wrong were virtually zero!