Book 11, Necropolis of the Gods – Chapter 15: Eight Years in the Necropolis
Waves of heat permeated the fifth floor. It was hard to even see people in the distance, due to the distorted air.
“Linley, hurry on over!” A familiar voice rang out from afar. Linley couldn’t help but turn to look towards the voice. The distant figure was very blurry, but Linley was still able to tell that the person standing in the distance was the Senior Apprentice of the War God’s College, ‘Fain’.
Although Linley was very dispirited, his will was still very firm.
In a place like the Necropolis of the Gods, unless you chose to give up, your only choice was to harden your faith in yourself and continue, one step at a time.
“Bebe, let’s head on over.” Linley said calmly, and Bebe immediately jumped onto Linley’s shoulders.
Transforming into a blur, Linley quickly arrived at the place where the many experts had gathered. Not only Fain was there. Desri, Rosarie, Tulily, and Rutherford were there as well. All five of the Prime Saints were together.
Aside from the five of them, there were three of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions as well.
“Now that the two of you are here, everyone is present.” Desri said with a calm laugh.
Linley couldn’t help but feel puzzled. What did that mean? Everyone was now present?
“Linley, come, sit.” Fain gestured. “I heard that in the lower floors, the Ba-Serpent woke up. That truly is a calamity. Fortunately, you survived. Now, let’s discuss the matter of ascending to the sixth floor.”
Linley came to a rest, sitting down cross-legged.
To Linley’s scales, the waves of blazing heat coming from below didn’t pose much of a threat.
“You aren’t going to discuss things with those people?” Bebe pointed in confusion to another group of men and magical beasts off in the distance.
Over thirty experts had survived and made it to the fifth floor. Amongst them were over ten magical beasts, with a similar number in men. Originally, there had been sixty human experts of the eighty plus experts present, but thirty or so had died on the third floor, and several had most likely died on the first and second floor as well. The ten or so remaining people were probably hiding on the second floor, not daring to enter the third floor again.
“Them?” The severe-looking Tulily said calmly, “If they get involved, they’ll only disturb us.”
Linley immediately understood. Glancing at the distant Olivier and Hayward, he thought to himself, “Tulily’s intentions are very clear. Only these ten experts are the cream of the crop. Bebe and I aren’t any weaker than them. As for those three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, their power is also unfathomable. As for Olivier, Hayward, the disciples of the War God’s College, and the various magical beast experts...they are at least a level lower in power.”
In a place like this, the top tier experts naturally would form a unit.
Those twenty plus slightly weaker experts formed into a second unit.
Although the second unit contained people like Desri’s good friends, ‘Hayward’ and ‘Higginson’, along with several fellow disciples of Fain’s, and two of Tulily’s apprentices, there was nothing that could be done.
“Linley, Bebe, Cleo [Ke’li’ao] and your two brothers, you five probably aren’t that familiar with the sixth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods. Let me explain.” Desri said solemnly. “Bebe, you saw just a while ago that the only creatures here on the fifth floor are a few ‘Magma Demons’. In terms of power, they are only comparable to the likes of Hayward.”
“Magma Demons?” Linley was puzzled.
He had never seen any Magma Demons. Desri looked at Linley. “Linley, you didn’t come in time. Those Magma Demons are formed from lava, and are roughly comparable to a human in size and shape. They are extremely strong and possess great defense, but they are a bit slow. Their power...is most likely comparable to your good friend Barker, although their defense is perhaps a bit weaker than Barker’s.”
Linley now had a clear understanding of these creatures.
“The fifth floor is the weakest floor of the first five. Those Magma Demons have already been destroyed by us.” Desri continued. “This fifth floor is a floor for us to prepare and rest. But soon, we will be entering the sixth floor...”
Linley, Bebe, and the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions were listening carefully.
On the sixth floor, the danger level would rise dramatically, far beyond that of the fifth floor.
“The sixth floor is a world filled with lava and rocks. There is a powerful creature there; the Flame Tyrant.”
Flame Tyrant?
“To be precise, this Flame Tyrant is hundreds of meters tall, and his body is composed of countless tough boulders. His strength is boundless, and his defense has also reached a terrifying level.” Desri’s face was solemn. “Most importantly of all, he wields a Bloodlust Greataxe. If any of us are hit by that greataxe, we will most likely die.”
Linley’s heart twitched.
As long as one was hit, one would die. That was too terrifying.
“And that’s not all. Aside from the Flame Tyrant, the sixth floor also has hundreds of Magma Demons.” Desri’s face grew even more solemn. “One or two Magma Demons aren’t a problem, but hundreds of Magma Demons are extremely dangerous.”
Linley felt himself at a loss for words.
“Hundreds of Magma Demons. Isn’t that equivalent to hundreds of Undying Warriors?” Linley was inwardly shocked. “Although these Magma Demons have slightly weaker defense than an Undying Warrior, there are hundreds of them. That is simply terrifying.”
Desri continued, “These large numbers of Magma Demons all obey the orders of the Flame Tyrant. Actually, I have a feeling...that the Flame Tyrant is an evolved form of the Magma Demons. Think about it. They are all formed from lava rocks, except the Flame Tyrant is as massive as a mountain, while Magma Demons are the size of a human.”
The nearby Rutherford laughed coldly. “A Flame Tyrant is essentially a Magma Demon magnified hundreds of times over. Its strength and attack power is also hundreds of times that of a Magma Demon.”
Linley and Bebe looked at each other.
“Boss, those Magma Demons really were strong, on par with Barker. If the Flame Tyrant’s power is hundreds of times greater than the Magma Demons’...” Bebe’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind. Linley maintained his silence.
Linley now had a clear understanding of what the sixth floor was like.
The sixth floor’s adversary was a Flame Tyrant who commanded hundreds of Magma Demons. The Flame Tyrant itself was like a mountain, and had the power to smash a mountain to dust with a single punch. Nobody could withstand that sort of power.
Desri was silent for a long time. After Linley and the others had fully absorbed this news, Desri continued, “None of us are a match for the Flame Tyrant by ourselves. Only if we join forces and work together will we be able to charge into the sixth floor.”
Linley nodded slightly.
“Three thousand years ago, we did battle against the Flame Tyrant.” Desri said.
The eyes of Linley, Bebe, and the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions lit up. Only with experience could one form a good strategy on how to deal with the Flame Tyrant.
“In truth, last time, it was Fain and Tulily who attacked the Flame Tyrant. As for the rest of us, we were sent fleeing by a swarm of Magma Demons.” Desri added. Three thousand years ago, he hadn’t even had the chance to touch the Flame Tyrant.
Fain spoke. “Of the five of us, Tulily possesses the strongest attack.”
No one disputed this.
Linley couldn’t help but look at this person, the number one expert of the great plains of the far east, the man known as the ‘War Saint’, Tulily. Tulily said calmly, “The defense of the Flame Tyrant is the most terrifying defense I have ever seen. But three thousand years ago, our power was weaker than it is right now.”
The others all nodded.
After three thousand years, the five of them had become Prime Saints. Their power had improved dramatically compared to three thousand years ago.
“Once we enter the sixth floor, the seven of you need to help me, Rutherford, and Rosarie clear a path. The three of us, joining forces, should be able to deal with that Flame Tyrant.” Tulily said. Rutherford and Rosarie both nodded.
Desri explained to Linley, Bebe, and the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, “This is a powerful attack which the three of them have developed together after researching for a long time. Most likely, this is the most powerful attack we are capable of.”
“Alright. I’ll help clear a path.” Linley nodded.
Since Tulily was publicly acknowledged as the Prime Saint with the greatest attack, and had two others helping him, the power of their combined attack definitely would not be weak.
“Now, what we need to do is...” Desri laughed calmly. “Train here and prepare on the fifth floor!”
Fain laughed as well. “We’ll first train for eight years, then head off to the sixth floor.”
“What?” Linley was somewhat astonished. They only had ten years in the Necropolis of the Gods, but they were going to spend eight of them here on the fifth floor?
But Linley quickly understood. He had learned from Clay that the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth floors were extremely dangerous. In these four floors, they probably wouldn’t even have the chance to rest.
To go past these four floors, if they were successful, most likely they would only need ten days or half a month.
“Prepare well. Each of the following floors, if we aren’t careful, will be the death of us. If you are afraid, you can also stay here on the fifth floor and wait for the ten years to be up.” Tulily stood up as he spoke calmly, and then flew by himself off into the distance to begin his meditations.
Not just Linley and the other nine experts. Even Olivier, Hayward, and the other twenty experts knew how terrifying the sixth floor was, and so nobody was in a hurry to enter. All of them focused on seizing every available moment to train. Perhaps in this short period of time, they might make some breakthrough.
Waves of heat distorted the air. Embers could be seen everywhere.
The experts in the fifth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods began to train and meditate.
Linley stared at the distant figures, all made blurry by the waves of heat. Olivier, the human experts, the magical beast experts...these thirty plus people were the most elite group of experts in the Yulan continent. Right now, all of them were training quietly.
Linley and Bebe glanced at each other, their minds linked. The man and his magical beast began to train.
“Thrum!” “Thrum!” “Thrum!” “Thrum!” .....
The Throbbing Pulse of the World was omnipresent. Even though Linley was in the Necropolis of the Gods, Linley could still clearly feel that mysterious, profound throbbing pulse of the world. Every single pulse contained extremely profound mysteries. Linley began to meditate and attune himself to it, while at the same time, quickly mentally experimenting the ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’ over and over.
One year. Two years. Three years.
Many of the experts would train for a year or half a year, and then get up and test out the attacks they had developed or improved. Just like that, time continued to move forward.
In the past, Linley had needed only a year to condense the 256 waves of the Throbbing Pulse of the World into 128 waves, but he needed five full years to make it a bit past halfway on his attempt to further condense the 128 waves into 64 waves.
This was all as Linley had predicted. The Throbbing Pulse of the World became harder and harder to fuse in the later stages.
In the blink of an eye, eight years had passed.
The fifth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods was as it had been in the past, with waves of heat distorting the air. Many experts had finished their training long ago. After all, many of them had been training for thousands of years. A few years now was only enough to further perfect some of their existing attacks and condition themselves.
“Why is Linley still training? We’re waiting on him now.” Rutherford couldn’t help but frown as he stared at the distant Linley, still in the meditative position.
By now, the Five Prime Saints, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, and Bebe had stopped training. Bebe had actually reached the level of transforming into eight doppelgangers using the ‘Shadowshape Doppelganger Technique’. In their unit, the only one left was Linley, who was still totally immersed in his training.
“Don’t be impatient. My Boss has already reached the critical juncture point. Once he makes this breakthrough, his power will multiply several times over.” Bebe stood next to Linley, staring coldly at the people in front of him as he spoke.
“A breakthrough that will allow him to increase his power several times over?” Desri, Tulily, and the other experts couldn’t help but feel astonished.
They had already reached the level of being Prime Saints, and had reached the end of the path of training they had chosen. Unless they made the true, final breakthrough and reached the Demigod level, it was very hard for them to improve at all. At their current levels of insight, it was impossible for their power to multiple by several times over, unless they truly became a Deity.
“Whew.” Linley let out a long breath, then opened his eyes, a smile on his face.
After spending eight years, Linley had finally, fully mastered the 64 layered waves of the Throbbing Pulse of the World, and the attack of his ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’ had once again multiplied several times over.
Linley looked at the people standing there, and he instantly understood. He couldn’t help but let out a calm laugh, then said, “Apologies. I’ve made you wait for a long time. Shall we head out now?”