Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 20, The War God’s College
By nightfall, many of the guests at the manor had left, and most of the nobles were now gone. The engagement banquet was an afternoon banquet. The people still remaining at the manor were all relatively important guests.
“Wharton, where is your big brother?” Yale poured two cups of wine, then walked to Wharton’s side. “I haven’t seen him for almost the entire afternoon, I think?”
“My big brother left with that Mr. Hodan. No clue where he went.” Wharton shook his head.
“I’ll go look for him. Given your big brother’s personality, he might have run off to the training yard and started to train.” Yale left the guest hall. Making his way down the corridors, he arrived at the training courtyard after a while.
“Drip.” “Drip.”
Water flowed down the manmade fountain. Each drip-drop of water could be heard clearly in the silent training courtyard. Linley was seated in the meditative trance on the grass, not moving at all.
If one moved closer and examined him carefully, one might see that Linley’s muscles were contracting and expanding in a very rhythmic way. And as they did, a natural gust of wind seemed to have surrounded Linley.
His spirit had become one with the endless earth and attuned to the boundless wind.
“Boom!” “Boom!” ....
“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” ....
His eyes shut, Linley could feel the trembling, vibrating spirit of the earth, and the formless wind which filled the skies. After a long time, Linley opened his eyes.
“His lordship issued the order that no one is to be permitted to enter without his permission.”
“Not even me?” Yale sounded very resigned.
“Boss Yale, come in.” Linley had a hint of a smile on his lips, and he immediately stood up. Only now did Yale walk in. Looking at Linley, he chuckled, “Third Bro, I knew it. You are training again. Why are you so hard working? You are already a peak-stage Saint-level. You are already incredibly powerful.”
Linley glanced at Yale and chuckled.
To Yale, Linley could already be considered a peerless expert in the Yulan continent. Even the Emperor of the O’Brien Empire was incredibly courteous to Linley. But after having interacted with Hodan, Linley knew that he was still far from being adequate.
“Come, have some wine with me. I haven’t had much of a chance to drink with you today.” Yale put down two flasks of wine on the stone table.
Linley sat down as well, then retrieved two winecups from his interspatial ring.
“It’s a pity that Fourth Bro couldn’t be here.” Linley shook his head and sighed. A month ago, when Emperor Johann had announced who would marry his daughter, Reynolds had left the imperial capital.
“He had no choice. The army had ordered him to return. He had to go.” Yale said helplessly. “Last time, he just so happened to be on leave, which was why we three bros were able to have a reunion. It isn’t so bad for Fourth Bro, but for Second Bro...if we want to see him, we have to go to the Yulan Empire.”
The distance from the Yulan Empire to the O’Brien Empire was quite far.
Chatting idly with his dear bro, Linley felt extremely cheerful. Why would he want to give this up to go to a Higher Plane and engage in slaughter?
The most enjoyable part of training was in the spirit gaining a greater and greater level of understanding. It wasn’t about the bloody slaughter.
“Third Bro, in a few days, I’ll leave the imperial capital as well.” Yale sighed emotionally. “Nothing for it. I’m still young. There are many things which the Conglomerate needs me to handle. Otherwise, in the future, I won’t be qualified to manage it.”
Linley understood.
An organization on the level of the Dawson Conglomerate definitely wouldn’t award someone the leadership position just because one’s father previously held it. Otherwise, the Dawson Conglomerate wouldn’t be as powerful as it currently was. Of course, being the son of the Chairman had its advantages, but one also needed to have ability and a work history.
“Next month, Olivier will be doing battle with the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson. Doesn’t that mean you’ll miss it?” Linley laughed.
“Yeah.” Yale laughed uncaringly. “I’m just a magus anyhow. How much would I understand from watching a battle between two Saint-level warriors?”
Linley suddenly put down his wine cup and looked at the door. “Someone is coming.”
“Who?” Yale was puzzled. “Someone else knows that you are here?”
“Those two from the War God’s College.” Linley laughed calmly.
Saint-level experts could use spiritual energy to scan an area. The comparatively tiny manor could easily be totally covered by it. Naturally, they could easily locate Linley.
Castro and Lanke walked towards the back courtyard side by side. They were very surprised by their master’s instructions.
“Although Linley’s strength is not bad, there’s no need for Master to act this way.” Lanke shook his head.
“I don’t understand either.” Castro also felt puzzled.
Both of them were confused. Walking into the back courtyard, they saw that the guards had opened the door for them already. Castro and Lanke exchanged a glance.
“Linley knew that we were coming.”
Castro and Lanke immediately saw Linley seated alongside Yale. Seeing that Yale was here as well, the two frowned.
Yale immediately stood up. “Third Bro, people have come to see you. Why don’t you have a chat with them? I’ll go to the main hall for now.”
Linley nodded.
After Yale left, Castro and Lanke sat down. Linley asked, “Castro, Lanke, why have you come?”
Castro laughed. “Linley, the two of us have come bearing an invitation from our master to pay a visit to the War God’s College.”
“The War God is inviting me to the War God’s College?” Linley could hardly believe it.
How could someone like the War God be inviting him?
Lanke nodded. “Linley, Master did indeed instruct us to have you come to the War God’s College. And what’s more, Master has instructed our senior apprentice-brother to welcome you personally. Linley, you must understand, even when the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, visited the War God’s College in the past, our senior apprentice-brother didn’t come to welcome him.”
“Oh?”
Linley was intrigued. Who was this ‘senior apprentice-brother’ of the War God’s College?
“Your senior apprentice-brother should be the first disciple of the War God, right? Wait...how old is he?” Linley suddenly came to a realization. Good heavens. The War God was someone who had reached this level over five thousand years ago.
Castro and Lanke both grinned.
“Right. Our senior apprentice-brother is already five thousand years old. He isn’t much younger than our master.” Castro nodded. “We were very surprised as well when we heard that Master instructed our senior apprentice-brother to welcome you.”
Linley knew that the War God only accepted a personal disciple every three hundred years.
The youngest one was Blumer, only thirty years old or so. But the oldest was this senior apprentice-brother, and was five thousand years old.
“Alright. When should I go?” Linley asked with a laugh.
“You can come to the War God’s College at any time. How about this? Here’s my insignia. When you arrive at the War God’s College, hand it to one of our fellow apprentices. They will inform me.” With a flip of his hand, Castro retrieved a scarlet red medal which had Castro’s name carved onto it.
Accepting the insignia, Linley laughed and nodded. “Don’t worry. I will definitely go.”
Castro and Lanke both nodded, then left.
Linley secretly wondered to himself...if the senior apprentice-brother of the War God’s College was five thousand years old, how powerful was he?
Could he be weaker than the Monolithic Sword Saint?
Linley didn’t much believe it. The Monolithic Sword Saint was only a few centuries old, while the senior apprentice-brother had been training in the War God’s College for thousands of years with the War God’s personal guidance. After five thousand years, how could he possibly not be strong?
The primary peak of the War God Mountain was covered with many buildings. These were the places where the honorary disciples of the War God stayed, along with Kenyon, Castro, and Lanke, who were in charge of the ordinary affairs of War God Mountain, great or small.
The mountain wind was very strong this day. Many of the honorary disciples of the War God’s College were training.
“Haaargh!”
A boulder weighing dozens of tons was easily tossed from one person to another, who in turn kicked it back...the two honorary disciples of the war God’s College were able to easily kick around this massive boulder.
Most importantly, the boulder wasn’t damaged at all.
This required a very fine control of both physical strength and battle-qi.
Right at this time, a graceful figure appeared, soaring across the sky like blue smoke. It gracefully circled around War God Mountain, and in the blink of an eye it arrived at the War God’s College.
“Hrm?” One of the honorary disciples of the War God’s College looked at the arrival with surprise. He hadn’t seen anyone earlier, but then all of a sudden, this person had appeared.
“Are you...Master Linley?” The honorary disciple could recognize him. On the day of the duel at the Colosseum, the honorary disciple had gone to support Blumer.
Smiling, Linley nodded. “Castro invited me to come. This is his insignia. Please go inform him.” Linley tossed the insignia to the honorary disciple.
The honorary disciple hurriedly said, “I’ll go report it right away. Master Linley, please take a rest first.”
Linley nodded. Wharton’s engagement ceremony had concluded two days ago, and today, Linley had accepted the invitation and headed off to the War God’s College and see for himself what it was all about.
“That person is Master Linley. I hear he’s only 27 years old.”
“Even apprentice-brother Kenyon was easily defeated by him.”
“I was there that day. It only took one blow. Compared to Linley, apprentice-brother Kenyon is very weak.”
“Apprentice-brother Kenyon is only the 25th personal disciple of our master. It is understandable that he is a bit weaker. Most likely, apprentice-brother Castro is roughly on par with Linley. If the first ten disciples of Master had been the ones to do battle, most likely they would have easily beat Linley.”
Many of the honorary disciples of the War God’s College murmured in quiet voices while casting glances at Linley. All of these honorary disciples were geniuses in their own right, and they were all proud and arrogant. But compared to Linley, they had a long way to go.
“Linley.” A bright voice rang out.
Castro ran out, his face wreathed in smiles. “You came after all. Come, let’s go to Bluethunder Peak.”
“Not here?” Linley was puzzled.
Clearly, this primary peak was the largest one with the most buildings. The other four peaks didn’t have much construction.
Castro laughed. “Linley, we have many honorary disciples here at the War God’s College, so we let them stay at the main peaks. Myself, Lanke, and Kenyon all stay here because we are in charge of them. The rest of our fellow apprentices are all on the other mountain peaks.”
Linley nodded slightly.
Castro immediately led Linley in the direction of a different mountain peak. Linley and Castro walked up the steep mountain walls as easily as if they were travelling on flat land, their steps as graceful as flying birds.
“Castro, you are in which generation of personal disciples of the War God?” Linley asked.
“Me? I’m the 22nd personal disciple.” Castro laughed.
“You’ve reached the peak-stage of the Saint-level by now, right?” Linley asked. When he was at the courtyard, he had heard the honorary disciples say that Castro should be on par with him. This was why Linley asked this question.
Castro nodded. “Right. But I most likely am not a match for you. Your speed is quite astonishing, on par with Olivier.”
Linley was thinking nonstop.
Even the 22nd personal disciple had reached the peak-stage of the Saint-level. Then what about the earlier disciples?
“Castro, the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson, is reputed to be the number one Saint in the world. Has he ever competed against your senior apprentice-brother?” Linley asked.
“No way.”
Castro let out an involuntary chuckle. “Although Haydson already has a rather high grasp and understanding of the Laws of the Earth, the War God’s College has quite a few people more powerful than him. The reason why Haydson is famous is because my senior apprentice-brother and second apprentice-brother are all over five thousand years old, and have retreated from the secular world thousands of years ago. How could they go out and compete against a junior who is only a few centuries old for the sake of fame and glory?”
Linley suddenly understood.
“Even aside from our War God’s College, I know others more powerful than him as well. For example, that King of Killers, Cesar. A thousand years ago, Cesar sparred against my senior apprentice-brother, and they were both on par with each other. I imagine if Cesar wanted to act against Haydson, he would be able to easily gain victory.” Castro said with certainty.
Linley was startled.
Cesar?
It seemed as though Castro didn’t know that Cesar had already reached the Deity-level. But for his senior apprentice-brother to have dueled Cesar to a standstill a thousand years ago meant that he was indeed an incredible person.
“We’ve arrived at Bluethunder Peak. Come. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my senior apprentice-brother as well. Master has always said that amongst all of us disciples, senior apprentice-brother is the most likely to reach the Deity-level.” Castro’s face was filled with confidence.