The gentle wind blew softly against Linley’s hair as he sat quietly in the meditative posture on the ground, his eyes shut. His soul had become one with the earth and one with the wind.
“Rumble…” Linley could sense the heat of the scorching hot magma in the depths of the earth.
“Swish…” Linley could sense the changes in the speed of the wind. In the upper atmosphere, the wind was very strong, but the wind within the imperial capital’s manors was much weaker. Linley could clearly sense all the changes of the wind.
Linley enjoyed the sensation of training. Each time he gained a new insight and each time he made a breakthrough, he felt his spirit be uplifted and be transformed!
This was a very emotional event which made his heart tremble each time.
“The War God’s words were perhaps accurate. It is good to focus one’s attention on a single path of training. The Laws of the Earth are vast and boundless, while the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’ should be a fairly deep, profound subset of those laws.” Linley could sense this.
Although he and Haydson both studied the Laws of the Earth, they had taken different routes.
His own vibrational attacks were clearly on a higher level than Haydson’s!
“Thruuum.” “Thruuuum.” The unique rhythm and tempo of the earth totally absorbed Linley’s attention. Linley once more allowed himself to be totally submerged into it as he worked hard to understand the profound secrets hidden within it.
Ever since that battle with Haydson, Linley had become publicly acknowledged as one of the most powerful experts people knew about in the Yulan continent. He was already someone who was spoken of as being on the level of Haydson, the Holy Emperor, and the Dark Patriarch. In the imperial capital of Channe, the status of the Baruch clan had become even more extraordinary as well.
Clearly, although he had become famous, no one dared to come disturb Linley any more.
“With each new insight, I have a different sensation.” Linley opened his eyes, a smile coming unbidden to his face. Linley sighed with amazement to himself, “Even the ‘Throbbing Pulse of the World’ contains such immeasurably deep and abstruse secrets. How vast and boundless are the Laws of the Earth, then?”
No wonder it was so hard to become a Deity.
And even an incredible person such as the War God remained at the Demigod level despite five thousand years having passed.
“Big bro!” Wharton and the Barker brothers ran over.
“I knew you were coming.” Linley laughed and stood up. When he had been in tune with the earth, Linley had sensed Wharton and the others walk over.
After everyone finished lunch.
“Zassler.” Linley rose to his feet and smiled as he gestured at Zassler. He brought Zassler into his own courtyard, and the two sat down facing each other.
“Lord Linley, is there something you need?” Zassler asked questioningly.
A complicated expression was on Linley’s face. He sighed, “Zassler, you know much about the affairs of my Baruch clan.” Zassler had been here at the estate for a long time now. Naturally, he had learned everything there was to know. Zassler immediately nodded.
Linley said calmly, “My parents are both dead now, and the primary culprit is the Radiant Church. In the past, when I left the city of Hess, I swore an oath that one day, I would eradicate the Radiant Church and pull it out by its roots.”
Zassler knew of this goal of Linley’s.
Linley looked at Zassler. “I know that right now, my power is increasing steadily. What’s more, with Bebe, Haeru, and the Barker brothers…I have confidence in my ability to deal with the Radiant Church. I am preparing to start acting against the Radiant Church!”
“You are starting?” Zassler was startled.
Linley was planning to openly act against the Radiant Church?
“Linley, although it is true that our power is now quite formidable, the roots of the Radiant Church are very deep as well…” Zassler hurriedly tried to dissuade him. Although he, too, wished to destroy the Radiant Church, they had to be wise about it.
Linley smiled and waved his hand. “No, I’m not going to fight them head on yet.”
“Last time, I heard you talking about the Anarchic Lands. Didn’t you say the Radiant Church highly values that area? And that there is a lot of power there?” Linley asked.
Zassler was over eight hundred years old, and he had spent many years living in the Anarchic Lands.
“Of course they value it!”
Zassler explained in detail, “Linley, based on my understanding of the Radiant Church, aside from sacrificing pure souls to the Radiant Sovereign, the Radiant Sovereign also needs sufficient worshippers! The more worshippers they have, the more faith is generated. The Radiant Church always prattles on about ‘spreading the Lord’s light across the entire world’, precisely because of this goal.”
Linley nodded slightly.
Zassler clicked his fingernails together. “Linley, in the entire continent, the most chaotic areas are the great plains of the far east, the Anarchic Lands, and the Eighteen Northern Duchies!”
“Of those places, the Eighteen Northern Duchies are engaged in constant warfare, while the steppe riders of the great plains are famous for their savagery. Bloodlust is bred into their very bones. How could they possibly worship the Radiant Sovereign? The very nature of the steppe warriors guarantees that the Radiant Church would not be able to succeed with them.” Zassler chatted slowly. “As for the Eighteen Northern Duchies, those Eighteen Northern Duchies already worship the Frost Goddess.”
“The Frost Goddess?” Linley actually didn’t know much about the Eighteen Northern Duchies.
“Right.” Zassler nodded. “Although the Eighteen Northern Duchies engage in constant battle amongst themselves, the Frost Goddess Shrine holds absolute dominion amongst them. And the secrets of the Frost Goddess Shrine are immeasurably deep…and what’s more, the Frost Goddess Shrine isn’t ambitious, and has remained within the Eighteen Northern Duchies this entire time. Naturally, the Radiant Church wouldn’t go and provoke them and create a powerful foe.”
Linley laughed.
Linley had always wondered about this. The Eighteen Northern Duchies were located to the north of the Forest of Darkness. The only nation it bordered was the O’Brien Empire, and the area it covered was roughly that of an Administrative Province. Given the power of the O’Brien Empire, taming it shouldn’t be hard.
But why hadn’t they?
Only now did Linley understand that this had to do with the Frost Goddess Shrine.
“Since these two places are out of the question, the only place left is the Anarchic Lands!” Zassler sighed. “The Anarchic Lands are extremely chaotic. Terrifyingly chaotic.”
“Chaotic? How so?”
Zassler sighed emotionally. “First of all, in the past, according to calculations, there were 48 Duchies. But the boundaries in the Anarchic Lands constantly shift. Every few years, the number of Duchies will change. Perhaps there would be fifty, or perhaps there would be forty. It is hard to say. This is the first reason why it is chaotic.”
“The second reason why it is chaotic is because of their borders. They are located next to the O’Brien Empire, the Rohault Empire, and the clans of the great plains in the far east. All three of these powers have designs upon them!”
“The third reason they are chaotic is because both the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows have desired to hold sway over the Anarchic Lands. In these lands, both of these religions are very powerful and have great influence. The two religions are diametrically opposed, and the struggles between them persist unabated.”
Listening to this, Linley couldn’t help but sigh. If, given all of these conditions, the Anarchic Lands wasn’t in a state of chaos, it wouldn’t make any sense at all.