Book 11, Necropolis of the Gods – Chapter 31, Necropolis of the Gods, the Eleventh Floor!
Atop the prairie, the experts all clearly saw the ‘rip’ in space appearing. Although they had heard of how astonishingly powerful the ‘Dimensional Edge’ spell was, personally witnessing the ‘rip in space’ created by the ‘Dimensional Edge’ still left them feeling awed.
“The Dimensional Edge spell really does live up to its reputation of being the most powerful single-target forbidden-level spell.” Fain sighed in shock. “Even me...if a Grand Magus Saint ambushed me with this spell, if we weren’t too distant from each other, I would probably be unable to dodge in time.”
The ‘Dimensional Edge’ spell could be considered to have reached a pinnacle in single-target attacks for the wind-style.
Its speed had reached the absolute limit, and its attack power had reached the limit as well.
“This is why I generally will always be rather cautious around wind-style Grand Magus Saints, especially if they have any grudge against me.” Desri laughed. “Generally speaking, whenever I sense a large amount of wind elemental essence gathering close to me, I’ll immediately run and hide as far away as I can.”
“Haha...” All the experts began to laugh loudly.
“Desri, you are afraid as well?” Fain laughed loudly as he said.
For Linley to finally break through to become a Grand Magus Saint was something which caused Desri, Fain, and the other experts to feel surprise and joy. Linley’s power would increase greatly, which gave their group a higher chance of obtaining a divine spark on the eleventh floor.
“Enough. There’s two more months from now until the year and a half we agreed on is up. Let’s all rest for the final two months.” Desri said clearly.
The experts all nodded, then separated again.
Right now, Bebe was with Linley.
“Boss, you finally reached the Grand Magus Saint level. This is wonderful.” Bebe was so happy that he was jumping up and down, waving his little claws happily in the air, his little eyes squinting in delight.
“Although I’ve become a Grand Magus Saint, that only means my chance of surviving the eleventh floor is now a little bit higher.” Linley sighed. “Look at how much the difficulty level rose from the first level of five floors to the second level of five floors. This eleventh floor...”
Bebe nodded his head as well.
The eleventh floor would probably be ten or a hundred times as dangerous as the sixth floor, where the Flame Tyrant had been!
Would they be successful?
Actually, neither Linley nor Desri, or indeed any of the others, felt confident. But Desri’s group had struggled towards the goal of becoming a Deity for thousands of years, and now that they were so close to reaching their goal, they naturally wouldn’t easily give up.
“In the last two months, we’ll have to prepare well.”
Having reached the Grand Magus Saint level and especially after his soul had changed, Linley felt that his very existence had just transformed to a new stage. Actually, Bebe could also sense it...right now, Linley, standing in front of him, was like a sharp blade that was pointing towards the sky. Utterly unblockable.
............
Two months later.
Beneath that ancient pillar. Outside the exit. The eleven experts had gathered.
Deep blue draconic scales covering his entire body, Linley was in Dragonform. At the same time, a diamond-like sparkling armor covered Linley’s entire body, including even his draconic tail. This was the protective spell of earth-style Saints....the Sacred Earthguard Armor.
Around the diamond Sacred Earthguard Armor, there was a layer of deep azure-black battle-qi covering Linley’s entire body, forming a thin membrane. This was the ‘Pulseguard Defense’.
The defenses of the Dragonblood Warrior, the Saint-level ‘Sacred Earthguard Armor’, and the ‘Pulseguard Defense’...with these three layers of defenses reinforcing each other, Linley’s current defensive power was most likely so great that not even Bebe could match him.
Desri and Rosarie were covered with their respective Elemental Saint Armors as well, while Fain, Olivier, Tulily and the others were covered with a layer of battle-qi. Everyone had fully prepared themselves. Even Bebe’s body had a dim black aura around it.
“The goal we have been striving towards for five thousand years...it all comes down to this.” Desri’s eyes were glowing.
The eyes of Fain, Tuilily, Rosarie, the three Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, and the Blackscale Scorpion were also extremely resolute and firm.
“On the eleventh floor, the danger we encounter will definitely be ten times or a hundred times greater than in the lower floors. Any one, two, or more of us can die!” Desri swept everyone with his gaze. He said solemnly, “But those who survive and are successful, whether man or magical beast, must definitely help the dead resolve their affairs, be it debts or grudges, in the normal world.”
All of the experts nodded silently.
In the eleventh floor, nobody could afford to play the part of a lone hero. They all had to work together to have the slightest hope of success.
Fain swept every single person with his gaze. In a low voice, he said, “No matter what, I hope that at least one of us eleven will become a Deity.” What Fain feared the most was...all eleven of them would perish here on the eleventh floor.
“It isn’t a hope. It is a certainty. An absolute certainty that we will succeed!” Tulily’s eyes were extremely fierce.
“Let’s go.” Desri turned his gaze towards the exit, staring at it.
“Let’s go!”
The eyes of the eleven experts were extremely firm. Together, they entered the darkly glowing exit, heading to the eleventh floor.
Necropolis of the Gods. The eleventh floor!
The light of a setting sun was casting its glow upon this entire world. This was a world of metal, and the vast, endless earth was covered with all sorts of metal constructs. Massive metal mountains and metal valleys could be seen everywhere, and the wind howled here as though it were knives.
Suddenly....
The eleven experts of the Yulan continent appeared at the eleventh floor.
“How desolate. How bizarre.” Rosarie stared at the surrounding area as she mentally spoke into their minds. According to their agreement, after entering the eleventh floor, unless it was absolutely necessary, nobody was to speak, so as to avoid disturbing any terrifyingly powerful creatures here. This ability to speak mentally with the soul was one which Linley could now manage as well.
After one had enough spiritual energy, all one needed to do was learn the trick to it.
“Everyone, be careful. When we encountered the ‘Beholder King’ on the eighth floor, it was also extremely quiet there at first. Nobody can afford to be incautious. Now, let’s go hunting for divine sparks.” Linley, now acknowledged as the most powerful of these eleven experts, led the way in front.
The other experts followed behind Linley. Desri, Rosarie, and Olivier were in the center, as their defense was the weakest.
Linley had three layers of defenses, while his body had the Pearl of Life.
His soul had risen in power, and he possessed the spells of a Grand Magus Saint. Linley was indeed now the most powerful person here.
“Everything here is metal. I don’t sense any life at all.” After flying for a long time, Linley was beginning to frown.
But Linley didn’t dare to let his guard down. He focused all of his attention on maintaining his vigilance, carefully inspecting the area to see if there were any corpses of Deities here, or divine sparks. At the same time, he had to be very careful to see if there were any powerful creatures present, hiding in a hard-to-spot location.
The creatures here could be as large as a mountain or as small as a fist.
The eleven experts were careful enough for twelve people.
“There’s a valley up ahead. It seems to have a special aura about it.” Desri’s voice rang out in everyone’s mind.
Linley also noticed that distant valley, which seemed to have some sort of unique aura emanating from within it. In addition, that aura made one’s heart shake and feel a sense of pressure.
“Could that be the aura of a divine spark?” Linley’s voice rang out in their minds.
Everyone’s eyes lit up. Something capable of making their hearts shake and make them feel pressure...that just might be a divine spark indeed. After all, nobody here had ever seen a divine spark, but they had all sensed a Deity’s divine presence before.
“It might be a divine spark, but it might also be...the creature guarding the eleventh floor.” Rosarie’s face was solemn, and her voice rang out in everyone’s mind.
“Guardian?”
Linley and the others felt their hearts quiver. Logically speaking, the difficulty level of this eleventh floor should be ten times or a hundred times greater than that of the sixth and seventh floors. The Flame Tyrant and the Queen Mother had already been so powerful...then how powerful would the creatures on this eleventh floor be?
“Everyone, let’s decide. Should we enter the valley or not?” Linley asked the experts.
“Enter.” A Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion said. “If we’re even afraid of this, then even if we find a divine spark inside, there’ll probably be no one bold enough to take it.”
The experts exchanged glances.
Right. If they were so timid as to avoid every unique aura they sensed, how could they possibly find a divine spark?
“Enter.” Fain said mentally, and all of the experts turned to stare towards the valley.
The eleven experts, with Linley in front, crept towards that distant metallic valley. This metallic valley was over a hundred meters wide. As Linley and the rest of the eleven experts flew to the air above the metallic valley, they could even more clearly sense that heart-shaking aura.
“This valley is covered by a faint red fog.” Linley frowned.
Looking down into the immeasurably deep valley and that faint red fog, he saw that the fog was roiling about. It gave Linley a feeling...as though there was an enormous creature beneath the fog, and the fog was its exhaled breath.
Exchanging glances with everyone, Linley mentally spoke to them. “Let’s go down.”
The eleven experts all fearlessly flew downwards. The deeper into the valley they went, the more Linley and the other experts could sense that heart-racing aura. In a short period of time, they entered the area near that red fog, and the eleven experts flew towards the direction of the source of that aura.
“Whooosh.”
Their flying speed was very fast. It only took them a few seconds to go from the air above the valley to the valley below, but those few seconds, to these eleven experts, had been unbearable.
The eleven experts landed on the valley floor. The fog was fairly faint, not too thick, and one could see within a radius of a hundred meters.
“What’s that?” Linley could vaguely see that there was a body lying on an enormous, flat rock, off in the distance. The heart-racing aura was coming from that body.
“A Deity’s corpse.” Desri excitedly transmitted mentally to them.
Linley felt his heart clench hard. Even Fain and Tulily’s breathing became slightly heavier. Without hesitating at all, all of the experts quietly crept towards that giant flat rock.
“Haha...” Suddenly, loud, wild laughter shook the entire valley, and it seemed as though that wild laugh was coming from the giant flat rock which had a boulder resting on it.
All eleven experts, Linley included, felt their hearts suddenly shudder violently.
“Not good.” Linley knew that the situation had just turned grim, and he immediately transmitted mentally, “Retreat, quick, retreat!”
Not just Linley. This was the reaction of the other ten experts as well. They flew into the skies as fast as lightning. Their speed was extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, they flew out of the faint red fog, but then, Linley and the other ten experts stopped in their tracks.
They stopped there, within the valley, not daring to fly up.
Because above them...
Bodies made entirely out of metal. Arms, legs, and forehead made of swords. These creatures appeared, a low-level type of creature born from the Abyss and made for slaughter...Abyssal Blade Demons!
It was Abyssal Blade Demons!
Linley and the others had encountered an Abyssal Blade Demon on the tenth floor. Although they were extremely fast and powerful, their defense was only average...any one of Linley’s group, when going all out, could have killed that Abyssal Blade Demon.
But right now, Linley, Fain, Desri, and the others all felt a sense of hopelessness in their hearts.
They were clustered as densely together as ants. At least ten thousand Abyssal Blade Demons hovered in the air above the valley, blocking out even the light of the skies. When the Abyssal Blade Demon of the tenth floor had chopped down, Fain, despite using a weapon to block, had still been made to vomit blood by the impact.
In terms of raw offensive power, they were comparable to Tulily.
“Haha...it’s been so long since we’ve encountered any invaders. Children, kill them for me.” Within the endless sea of Abyssal Blade Demons, a small, skinny red Abyssal Blade Demon let out a wild shout.
“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” “Whoosh!” “Whoosh!”
Howling a piercing howl, the countless Abyssal Blade Demons charged downwards from the sky. Each of them wielded those long blades with both hands. Linley and the others knew exactly how sharp those long blades were. Those were weapons on par with low level divine artifacts.
“Go down.” Desri breathed raggedly.
Without hesitating at all, Linley and the other experts immediately charged back down.
“Swish...” The faint red mist was suddenly sucked away into a different part of the valley at high speed. In the blink of an eye, Linley and the others saw what was going on. The faint red fog had been drawn in by another distant, small, skinny, blood-red Abyssal Blade Demon into his chest.
There was a blood-red Abyssal Blade Demon above them, and there was another one within the valley as well.
“There’s a huge amount of Abyssal Blade Demons below us as well.” Rosarie’s voice rang out in everyone’s minds.
The valley actually had tunnels within it, and two of the tunnels were currently filled with endless amounts of Abyssal Blade Demons which were flying out of it. The air above them was flooded with countless Abyssal Blade Demons, but beneath them, there were tunnels filled with them as well.