Book 10, Baruch – Chapter 26, Blueheart Grass, Dragon’s Blood
Power?
Linley knew exactly how powerful he currently was.
He had reached the Saint level in human form. Once he Dragonformed, his draconic scales were ten times as powerful as they had been in the past. His strength and battle-qi had also risen to terrifying levels. Linley could fully understand...the reason why his ancestors, despite not having a high level of insight, could rely on Dragonform alone to defeat peak-stage Saint-level magical beasts.
As for insight...
The Throbbing Pulse of the World. He had already mastered 256 layers of vibrational waves. The more waves, the more difficult improving became. It had always been like that, but upon reaching the 256th layer of waves, after spending an entire year, he hadn’t been able to improve whatsoever.
It seemed...as though 256 layers was some sort of limit.
“It can’t be a limit.” Linley was very certain. “According to the War God, if one follows an aspect of the Elemental Laws to its limits, then one would enter the Deity-level. I’m far, far away from the Deity-level. So what exactly comes next, after the 256 layer level?”
Linley didn’t know either.
His understandings of the Throbbing Pulse of the World were unique, and there was no one he could ask for advice. All Linley could do every day was to try and immerse himself in the Throbbing Pulse of the World and try to make a breakthrough.
As for the Elemental Laws of the Wind, Linley continued to slowly but surely improve. He hadn’t reached a bottleneck yet.
“However, spiritual energy really is hard to build up. After twelve years, I’m still only at the peak of the ninth rank. Breaking through to the Grand Magus Saint level really is hard.” Linley sighed in his heart. If anyone else heard what Linley was thinking, they would have cursed him to hell and back.
As a magus, going from the sixth to the seventh rank was one bottleneck, while going from the ninth rank to the Saint-level was the other major bottleneck.
How could this bottleneck be so easily broken through?
Linley looked at Delia, and he couldn’t help but think back to that black rock which Bebe had given her on their wedding night. “In just twelve years, Delia has advanced from the seventh rank as a magus to the ninth rank as an Arch Magus. Although she previously had already been at the seventh rank for quite a few years, this sort of improvement rate really is terrifying.”
Delia was already an Arch Magus of the ninth rank.
After the wedding, Delia had discovered that it wasn’t just her elemental essence affinity that had been raised to a terrifying level; she even was able to absorb mageforce at an astonishing speed, and her spiritual energy rapidly increased as well...her rate of improvement vastly outstripped Linley’s. As Linley saw it, there was only one explanation for this change.
That mysterious black rock.
After the meal.
Cena, Taylor, and Sasha were having fun by the lake, while Linley, Wharton, Delia, and the others all sat down.
“Big brother.” Wharton finally brought up the purpose of their trip. “Cena and Taylor were tested when they were young. The density of Dragonblood in their veins hasn’t reached the required level. It seems we’ll have to use that method you spoke of in the past.”
Linley frowned.
“Oh? That’s right. It is time to use fresh dragon’s blood to activate the Dragonblood in their veins, so they can begin training in the Secret Dragonblood Manual early on.” Linley nodded slightly. When Linley had chatted with the Planar Overseer, Hodan, he had realized...
There were far more Dragonblood Warriors in the history of the Baruch clan than the book had mentioned. The real number was very high, and they relied on dragon’s blood.
“Would it be very dangerous?” Delia was a bit nervous.
“As long as the dragon’s blood is mixed in with Blueheart Grass, there is no danger at all to activating the Dragonblood in their veins.” Linley said with absolute certainty, while at the same time, he looked at the three children by the lake. “Taylor and Cena need to have their blood activated. What about Sasha?”
“Sasha?” Wharton and Delia both looked at the distant Sasha.
Sasha was just a girl. Although male warriors generally were somewhat superior to female warriors, that didn’t mean girls couldn’t become experts.
Delia smiled calmly. “Let her make her own choice.”
Linley nodded slightly.
....
“Become a Dragonblood Warrior?” Taylor was the first to whoop in joy. “Oh, I’ll do it, I’ll totally do it. I dream about being a Dragonblood Warrior like Father. Wow! I’m excited just thinking about it.”
Cena nodded slightly as well. “I’ll do it.”
Linley, Wharton, Nina, and Delia weren’t surprised. It’d be weird if any of the male children in their lineage passed on this opportunity. Now they all looked at Sasha. Sasha was very quiet. Although she was just ten years old, the beauty she had inherited from Delia was beginning to show.
“I...I’ll do it also.” Sasha bit her lips, but nodded firmly.
Delia stroked Sasha’s head and praised, “Sasha, in the future, you are going to be a powerful female Dragonblood Warrior.” A smile appeared on Sasha’s face.
“Alright.” Linley nodded. “If that’s the case...then Wharton, Nina, you can just hand Cena to me. I’ll take the three of them to...the Mountain Range of the Setting Sun to search for Saint-level dragons. It’s time to engage in some bloodletting with Saint-level dragons.” Linley chuckled.
Engage in bloodletting with Saint-level dragons. These words filled the eyes of Sasha, Taylor, and Cena with shock and joy.
“I’ll go as well.” Wharton was somewhat nervous.
“Hey, little Wharton, you’re only at the ninth rank. Even after transforming, you are only an early-stage Saint.” Bebe flew over here and said unhappily, “Do you think your level of insight is comparable to the Boss of twelve years ago?”
Although he was also an early-stage Saint after transforming, in terms of insight, Wharton was far inferior to Linley.
“I’ll go with the Boss. Shit, if one dragon comes we’ll kill one dragon; if two comes, we’ll kill one, then capture the other one to use as a mount.” Bebe was extremely boastful, but he had the strength to back it up. After the past twelve years, Bebe’s power was far stronger than it had been twelve years ago as well.
Wharton nodded and laughed. “Since you are going as well, Bebe, then I won’t be worried at all.”
The squad was thus decided as being: Linley, Bebe, Delia, and the three kids. Delia was responsible for taking care of the kids, and Bebe’s job was to protect them. As for Linley...he would deal with any Saint-level dragons.
....
The skies stretched off far into the distance, and a few white clouds were drifting here and there. A ten-meter long magical beast was soaring through the air at high speed. It was the transformed Bebe, with Delia, Cena, Taylor, and Sasha on his back.
Delia had cast a magic spell to form a protective invisible barrier, preventing the wind from scraping against the children’s bodies.
“Wow...Mother, that city is the biggest one I’ve ever seen.” Taylor pointed below at a ‘fist-sized’ city. Although the city seemed small from up above, the size of this ‘fist’ was actually a huge space.
A complicated look was in Delia’s eyes. Sighing, she said, “That is my homeland, the imperial capital of the Yulan Empire.”
“The imperial capital of the Yulan Empire?” Taylor, Sasha, and Cena all looked down.
“Hungry yet?” Delia withdrew some food they had brought along from the interspatial ring. Bebe had transformed to ten meters in length, and his back was naturally very wide. Given that Delia had then used magic to block the wind, this made Sasha, Cena, and Taylor feel as stable as when they were on the ground.
They sat down and began to enjoy the food.
Bebe flew very stably, with no turbulence at all.
“Delia, don’t pamper those kids too much.” Linley, flying alongside Bebe, said with a laugh as he saw this.
Delia looked at Linley. “Linley, don’t reprimand me. You see your children so rarely, and you are going to reprimand me?” Linley immediately didn’t dare to say a word. He actually did feel very guilty. Sometimes, he would go off and train for months at a time. He did indeed feel as though he owed the kids and Delia a lot.
Linley looked down at the boundless earth. They weren’t too far from the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts now.
The three major gathering grounds for magical beasts in the Yulan continent were the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, the Forest of Darkness, and the Mountain Range of the Setting Sun. Of course, other places also had magical beasts, but they were much rarer in those places. But in these three places, a terrifyingly high number of magical beasts congregated.
By now, both the Forest of Darkness and the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts had a Deity present. Thus, Linley had chosen to go to the Mountain Range of the Setting Sun.
A long time later...
The peaks of the Mountain Range of the Setting Sun appeared in the horizon. The Mountain Range of the Setting Sun started from the Dark Alliance, followed the southern boundaries of the Yulan Empire, and then intersected between the Rhine Empire and the Burning Desert.
In truth, the Mountain Range of the Setting Sun and the Burning Desert were both the southernmost points of the Yulan continent.
If one went past the Mountain Range of the Setting Sun or the Burning Desert, they would enter the boundless Southern Seas.
“Wow, it’s so big. It seems to be even longer than the Forest of Darkness.” Taylor said in surprise. Taylor and the others had flown on Bebe’s back before and had seen the Forest of Darkness from the air.
Cena said, “Taylor, according to the books, the Mountain Range of the Setting Sun and the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts are both very long, but only around a thousand kilometers wide. As for the Forest of Darkness, it is thousands of kilometers long, but also two or three thousand kilometers wide.”
Taylor nodded in understanding.
“Get ready to go down.” Linley suddenly said.
The giant Bebe next to Linley suddenly dove down along with him. When they were only a few hundred meters away from the mountains, the two halted in mid-air.
“We’re going to fly at this height for now. Bebe and I are going to go meet some dragon Saints.” Linley said to Delia and the kids.
“Don’t worry about us, Father.” Taylor said confidently.
Linley, looking at his son, couldn’t help but chuckle, and then split apart from Bebe. At the same time, he began to scan the below area with his spiritual energy. The Mountain Range of the Setting Sun didn’t have fewer monsters than the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. Naturally, there were quite a few Saints as well.
But the Mountain Range of the Setting Sun was very large. The Saint-level magical beasts were scattered all over. To instantly find a Saint-level dragon was not likely.
“Hrm?” Linley’s spiritual energy suddenly discovered a Saint-level magical beast, one which Linley was fairly familiar with. It was a Violet-Eyed Goldfur Ape. This terrifying, three-story tall Saint-level beast suddenly noticed a human was scanning him.
“Who is it?” The Violet-Eyed Goldfur Ape’s voice rang out like a bolt of thunder, and it raised its head to stare at the human in mid-air.
Linley stood there in mid-air, transmitting his voice downwards. “Linley of the Anarchic Lands. Excuse me for disturbing you.” After finishing speaking, the Violet-Eyed Goldfur Ape didn’t bother with him any further. Saint-level magical beasts were more intelligent than even your average human.
Ones that had lived a long time were very familiar with the experts of the Yulan continent.
Some of the most powerful experts, such as Desri of the Anarchic Lands, Hayward, Tulily of the great plains, were known to them. Linley of the Anarchic Lands had also become well known amongst magical beast experts. As long as Linley didn’t go too far, these Saint-level magical beasts didn’t want to fight such a peak expert either.
After searching for quite a while.
“Boss, I found a Saint-level dragon. It is a darkness-element Tyrant Wyrm.” Bebe’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind. Not hesitating at all, Linley flew directly towards Bebe at high speed.
In the ground atop a mountain, Linley instructed, “Cena, you and the other kids all stay here. Delia will take care of you...Bebe, no matter what, you have to protect them.” Linley looked at Bebe, who said confidently, “Don’t worry, Boss. My Shadowshape Doppelganger Technique is able to create four now.”
Given Bebe’s terrifying speed and his Shadowshape Doppelganger Technique, even three ordinary Saint-level magical beasts working in concert still wouldn’t be able to hurt Delia and the others.
“Be careful, Father.” Sasha said.
Linley began to laugh. “Right. Just wait here. I’ll go bring that Tyrant Wyrm over.” As he spoke, Linley flew away at high speed. Delia and the kids just stood there, watching. Fortunately, because they were on a hill, they could see far.
A short while later...
Linley arrived in the air above the Tyrant Wyrm. The dragon race was divided into two types; the extremely strong and tough wingless dragons, and the magically powerful winged dragons. The Tyrant Wyrm was one of the most powerful wingless dragons. Its enormous body was over a hundred meters long, and its pitch-black, marble-like scales were terrifyingly hard.
The Tyrant Wyrm had already noticed Linley. Its massive eyes burned like fire as it stared at Linley. “Who are you?”
“Linley of the Anarchic Lands.” Linley said.
“Linley?” The Tyrant Wyrm growled, “I am Plaket [Pu’lei’ka’te] of the Mountain Range of the Setting Sun. Linley, what do you want?” This Saint-level Tyrant Wyrm, Mountain Range of the Setting Sun, was also an apex combatant.
Linley smiled. “Plaket, I want to borrow some of your draconic blood.”
“Growl...” The eyes of the Tyrant Wyrm, Plaket, filled with a fiery rage, and the massive trees and boulders around him began to burn. “Linley, are you trying to humiliate me, Plaket? If you don’t beat it, then prepare to receive my fiery rage.”
In mid-air, Linley could only shake his head and sigh helplessly. With a flip of his hand, he withdrew Bloodviolet.