Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 8, The Prodigy Sword Saint
With a single stroke, Linley had defeated a Saint-level expert who was the personal disciple of the War God. In addition, Linley’s current transformation was into a terrifying form. This deeply shocked everyone present. None of the 80,000 viewers actually dared make a single sound.
Deathly silence. Terrifying silence!
Blumer stared terrified at Linley, still hovering in mid-air. At this moment, Linley’s cold, remorseless dark golden eyes were fixed upon him. Blumer felt as though he could die at any moment. This utmost sensation of terror caused him to run even closer towards the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson.
Silence. No one dared to speak.
“Drip!” A single drop of bright red blood dripped down from the tip of Bloodviolet, landing on the dueling platform and splattering on it. In the silence, that clear sound rang out loudly.
This was the blood of Kenyon.
Kenyon was standing at the edge of the dueling platform, in miserable shape. Controlling his muscles and battle-qi, he sealed his wound and stopped the flow of blood. But he didn’t dare fight against Linley again.
He was a Saint-level, true. But he was ‘only’ a mid-stage Saint-level. In terms of their comparative levels of enlightenment, he was far lower than Linley.
“Master Linley.” Johann finally spoke. His voice echoed in the Colosseum, seeming to come out of nowhere, causing more than half the people to turn to him. His face still covered in smiles, Emperor Johann said, “Although I knew you were a powerful warrior, I had no idea that your talent in this field was not one whit inferior to your talent in stone sculpting.”
Emperor Johann’s words visibly eased the tension.
Just then, Linley’s vicious demeanor had caused those 80,000 onlookers to not even dare breathe loudly. But as soon as Emperor Johann finished speaking, the entire Colosseum became filled with the sound of countless conversations.
“Master Linley? Ah! Could it be that he is that youngest-ever grandmaster sculptor?”
“Master Linley belongs to the Holy Union. I heard that Count Wharton had originally come from the Holy Union as well. Dragonblood Warriors truly are formidable!”
“Master Linley is so young! When he was sixteen, he created ‘Awakening From the Dream’, and only eleven years have passed since then. A twenty seven year old Saint-level combatant. Doesn’t that make him even more incredible than Lord Olivier?”
…..
Countless conversations regarding Linley could be heard. Linley had appeared out of nowhere. His status as a master sculptor was well known to many aficionados of stone sculptures.
This was an individual who was almost on the same level as Master Proulx.
And now, this young master sculptor, only twenty seven years old, had defeated in a single blow a Saint-level expert who was a personal disciple of the War God!
Unavoidably, many people began to compare him and Olivier.
Compared to Olivier, Linley was even younger.
“My young friend Linley, that technique you used just now should have been derived from your insight into the Laws of the Wind, yes?” The Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, spoke, his voice ringing from the judge’s platform.
As soon as Haydson spoke, everyone else in the Colosseum fell silent. What did the Monolithic Sword Saint wish to discuss with this genius, Linley?
“It was indeed, Mr. Haydson.” A calm reply from Linley.
“Might I ask what the name of this technique is?” The Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, was a man devoted to his training and focused on reaching the Deity-level. Haydson was very much interested in the mysteries gleaned by other Saint-level experts. Perhaps by doing so, he might suddenly gain some new insights and have a breakthrough.
“The name of this technique is Rippling Wind.” Linley didn’t try to hide it.
In order to learn a powerful technique, one must possess a certain level of understanding and insight with regards to the Laws of a certain element. Without that level of understanding, no matter how clearly you explained a technique to someone, they wouldn’t be able to learn it.
Still standing in mid-air, Linley glanced at the distant Kenyon. Calmly, he said, “Your name is Kenyon, correct?”
At first, Kenyon had thought Linley was someone who wasn’t even at the Saint-level. Naturally, he was furious when Linley rebuked and cursed at him. But now, he knew that Linley was more powerful than he was.
Although he was still rather angry, in his heart, Kenyon already viewed Linley as someone on the same level as himself, or perhaps at an even higher level.
“I am.” Kenyon nodded slightly.
“Mr. Kenyon, given your level of power, you should have been able to clearly discern the seriousness of my younger brother’s injury. Given that you knew exactly how wounded he was, you shouldn’t have said the words you said. Remember. As a judge, you have to be at least somewhat impartial. We had admitted defeat, after all. You can’t go too far!”
As soon as Linley finished speaking these words coldly, he flew down towards his own squad. Linley was still concerned about his younger brother’s injury.
Having been rebuked by Linley yet again, Kenyon felt rather embarrassed.
But he knew that he had acted wrongly here. Just then, the other side had admitted defeat. He did indeed go a bit too far by acting in such a manner.
…..
“Wharton, are you okay?” Linley said worriedly as he returned to his human form, rushing to his little brother’s side and crouching on one knee.
Right now, quite a few people were surrounding him. Even Nina had ignored everything and rushed over.
“Lord Linley.” A light-style magus next to them smiled. “Don’t worry. I just utilized recovery magic on him. Lord Wharton’s wounds are already half-healed. Given Lord Wharton’s natural healing abilities, in ten days or half a month, he should be totally fine.”
“Big bro, I feel much better.” Wharton was able to speak fairly easily now.
Linley finally calmed down.
At the same time, he felt rather satisfied with the preparations the Colosseum had made. Linley knew exactly how effective light-style magi were in treating wounds. Generally speaking, low-ranking magi would only be able to treat superficial wounds. Only powerful light-style magi would be able to heal broken bones or internal injuries.
And of course, the most powerful light-style magi could even totally restore to peak condition anyone who had not yet died. For example, when Linley had received the Divine Boon at the Radiant Temple, that divine power had carried just a bit of healing power with it, but that little bit had been enough to totally restore Linley’s body to peak condition, healing all of his broken bones.
This sort of regenerative ability was very formidable.
“Everyone!”
At this moment, the tournament organizer, that silver-haired old man, reappeared on the dueling platform. His face covered in smiles, he said, “I imagine everyone has had an incredible time watching this battle today. Haha. Even our dueling platform has been destroyed as a result of this battle.”
The 80,000 viewers stared at the shattered, crater-marked dueling platform, and they all began to laugh as well.