Book 11, Necropolis of the Gods – Chapter 38, Desiring a Divine Spark?
On the tenth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods.
“Bebe, how is Linley currently?” Desri asked softly.
“The Boss is still alive and kicking.” Bebe’s wounds had already been more than half-healed, but he was still focused entirely on sensing Linley’s existence, terrified that Linley might die.
As for Tulily and Rosarie and the others, all of the experts were waiting quietly off to one side. Only from Bebe would they learn that Linley was still alive.
Tulily could sense how depressing the mood amongst the experts was. In order to change the mood, he said, “Olivier, the power of that sword attack you displayed on the eleventh floor really was quite formidable. You were able to kill four of those Abyssal Blade Demons with a single blow.”
“I remember that sword attack as well.” The Blackscale Scorpion said.
“I don’t think any of the rest of us can accomplish that.” Tulily said.
When the experts had been trying to flee back to the tenth floor, Olivier, in desperation, had unleashed his most powerful sword attack, and when that black-and-white illusionary sword had chopped out, it had immediately chopped four of the Abyssal Blade Demons to death.
These Abyssal Blade Demons were formed from tough metal, even if their defenses weren’t as strong as their attacks. To kill four Abyssal Blade Demons with a single sword blow was too hard. Even Linley had to utilize either the Profound Truths of the Earth or the ‘Tempos of the Wind’ to kill a single Abyssal Blade Demon. An ordinary sword blow wouldn’t be able to chop the Abyssal Blade Demons into two parts.
But of course, after gaining insight into the ‘Dimensional Decapitator’, Linley’s sword blows could easily kill five or six Abyssal Blade Demons per hit.
For Olivier to have been able to kill four of the Abyssal Blade Demons was a sight which truly stunned everyone present. After all, Tulily and the others couldn’t accomplish this.
“This attack is my last resort, desperation ultimate attack. After utilizing it, my spiritual energy is all but wiped out.” Olivier said.
“Despite that, it’s still very powerful. Even going all out, my attacks aren’t as powerful.” Tulily laughed self-mockingly.
The various experts all sighed in amazement at Olivier’s rate of progress. When they had just entered the Necropolis of the Gods, Olivier could only be considered a memory of the second group, but after the past ten years, Olivier’s strength had increased dramatically and his attacks had reached such a tremendous level of power.
Olivier didn’t explain any further.
The only reason he had his current level of achievements was because the near-death experience he previously had.
“In the past, when we encountered that Beholder King, we knew that you had some differences compared to us.” Desri sighed as well.
Now that everyone was chatting, the atmosphere on the tenth floor improved a bit. None of them noticed, however, that Bebe’s lowered head suddenly rose up, staring in astonishment towards that distant stone pillar.
“Boss!” A cry of surprised joy rang out.
“Swish!” A black blur charged over.
“What?!” Desri, Tulily, Olivier, and the other experts all turned to stare towards the exit to the eleventh floor in astonishment. They saw a youngster dressed in a sky-blue robe, exchanging grins with a black Shadowmouse.
Linley had returned!
“Boss.”
“Bebe.” Linley was currently holding Bebe in his arms, and the man and the magical beast laughed, staring at each other.
“Wonderful, Boss. I missed you terribly. I was afraid you wouldn’t make it back, Boss.” Bebe’s beady little eyes were turning misty. The past three or four hours had been a type of torture for Bebe. He was afraid that Linley really would die.
At this time, Desri, Fain, Olivier, Rosarie, Tulily, the two Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, and the Blackscale Scorpion immediately hurried over. They, too, felt both astonishment and joy that Linley was able to return to the tenth floor!
“Linley, you managed to escape?” Fain said with surprised joy.
“I really didn’t expect that despite being pursued by a million Abyssal Blade Demons, you were still able to return to the tenth floor, Linley.” Desri’s face was covered in smiles as he spoke. “I thought that you were trying to delay underground as long as you could, and hold the Abyssal Blade Demons off until the ten year period was up.”
“Think about how awesome my Boss is!” Bebe immediately began to grow boastful. He stood up high on Linley’s shoulders, his little paws folded proudly over his chest.
Linley laughed, “Do you think I didn’t want to try and delay and hold them off? But those Abyssal Blade Demons were simply too clever. They set up enormous numbers of choke points in the center area, and whenever I was discovered, they would immediately have large numbers of Abyssal Blade Demons attack me simultaneously. After holding on for three hours, I simply couldn’t hold on any further.”
“Then Linley, how did you return?” Fain and the others stared at Linley in confusion.
Fain and the other experts simply couldn’t imagine how, under the pursuit and assault of the Abyssal Blade Demons, Linley had managed to flee to the tenth floor.
“Luckily enough, at the critical moment, I suddenly had a breakthrough, and my speed rapidly increased, allowing me to easily throw off those Abyssal Blade Demons. After killing a few of those Abyssal Blade Demons, I managed to acquire the divine spark of the eleventh floor, and then I returned home safely.” Linley said these words quite calmly.
But everyone, including Bebe, was stunned.
“You retrieved the divine spark?” Fain, Desri, Rosarie, Tulily, and the other experts stared, their eyes round and shocked. Even Olivier, who stood silently behind the others, stared at Linley with hard-to-disguise amazement.
Divine spark...
The treasure which Fain and the others had dreamed about acquiring. Upon acquiring the divine spark of a Demigod, they would become Deities.
The difference between a Saint and a Deity was as great as that of the earth and the heavens.
“Linley, congratulations.” Desri was the first to recover. All he could do was say congratulations.
The other experts forced out smiles and congratulated Linley as well. Right now, Desri and the others felt hard-to-repress envy in their hearts! After all, they had worked for simply too long to acquire a divine spark. Now that Linley had it, there was nothing they could say, as Linley had risked his life to acquire it.
But in their hearts, they still felt a hint of envy.
In fact, their envy made it so that they couldn’t help but think about ‘killing Linley and stealing his divine spark’, but as soon as that idea came to their minds, it immediately was tossed aside.
After all, they weren’t despicable people like that.
In this group, aside from Bebe, only a single person didn’t feel much envy. That person was Olivier.
“Linley, I expect you will become the sixth Deity of our Yulan continent.” Olivier’s face revealed a hint of a smile. “Linley, you are more powerful than me right now, but...in a few more years, I will definitely challenge you.”
Olivier felt extremely confident in himself.
He was weaker than Linley, but that was just for now!
“Challenge?” Linley looked at Olivier, nodding and laughing, “Wonderful, I’ll accompany you any time you choose.”
After Linley returned to the tenth floor, the experts all comfortably awaited the conclusion of the ten year time period, and they all went to find places to rest and relax on the grass. As for Linley, he naturally was with Bebe.
“Boss, tell me, how many divine sparks were there on the eleventh floor? I expect there was more than just one.” Bebe whispered.
Linley smiled. “Three.”
Bebe’s little eyes instantly turned as round as the moon, and then he grinned so wide, his little mouth nearly split open. “Wow, wonderful, three divine sparks! Boss, what element were those divine sparks?” Bebe hurriedly asked. “Are they compatible with you, Boss? I hope those three divine sparks aren’t of fire, lightning, or something like that.”
“One is earth-style, one is wind-style, one is Destruction-style.” Linley raised his head and looked up meaningfully. “They are extremely compatible with me!”
Bebe was shocked as well. “How could there be such a coincidence?”
“How should I know?” Linley chuckled, then shook his head and sighed. “Unfortunately, I am too weak and don’t have the power to go up to the twelfth floor or higher.”
“Huh?” Bebe stared at his Boss in confusion. “Boss, why do you want to go even higher? The twelfth floor is only suitable for Deities to challenge. If we go, that’s as good as throwing away our lives.” Bebe also knew...that from the twelfth floor onwards, the guardians of each floor were all Deities.
Without the power of a Deity, entering was certain death.
“Bebe, before we entered the eleventh floor, I told you that there is something in the Necropolis of the Gods which is calling to me.” Linley sighed, while Bebe cocked his little head.
“Ever since I arrived here in the Necropolis of the Gods, I had the feeling...that whatever is calling to me is coming from above. When I entered the tenth floor, I still felt that whatever was calling me was calling from above. At that time, I thought that perhaps it was in the eleventh floor.”
Linley shook his head. “But after I entered the eleventh floor, I realized that I was wrong. The presence which was calling to me was still higher. Perhaps it is on the twelfth floor, or perhaps the thirteenth...it might even be as high as the eighteenth. Who knows? After all, I’m not strong enough to go higher.”
Bebe nodded slightly.
After Linley had been on the tenth floor for roughly a month, Desri came to Linley’s area. He was hesitating slightly, unable to speak.
“Desri, what is it?” Linley asked in confusion.
Desri seemed rather embarrassed. He let out two dry laughs, took a deep breath, then whispered, “Linley, I would like to know...how many divine sparks did you find on the eleventh floor?”
Linley’s heart moved. This Desri, it seemed, had some desire towards his divine sparks. However, Linley could understand why.
“Three.” Linley didn’t try to hide it.
Desri’s eyes lit up. “Can I ask what elements they were?”
“Desri, why are you asking?” The nearby Bebe said angrily. “These divine sparks, my Boss only acquired after risking his life. Don’t forget that if the Boss hadn’t used his ‘Dimensional Edge’ to open up a pathway and then blocked all of those Abyssal Blade Demons, none of you would have survived.”
Desri looked rather awkward.
Linley glanced at Bebe, then smiled towards Desri. “There’s no reason for me not to speak of it. They are of the earth-style, the wind-style, and the Destruction-style.”
“Oh?” Desri nodded.
“Linley, there’s something I need to tell you.” Desri looked at Linley. “First of all, you don’t necessarily have to fuse with a divine spark of your own element. For example, you are totally capable of fusing with a fire-style divine spark. But of course...the speed would be very slow. To absorb a divine spark, the only requirement is that a person be at the Saint-level, which would allow his soul to be able to fuse with the divine spark.”
Linley nodded slightly.
“In addition, every Saint can only fuse a single spark.” Desri explained.
“This, I know.” Linley nodded.
Desri hesitated, but in the end, still forced out a smile and said, “Linley, you only need a single divine spark for yourself. If...and I’m only saying if...if you were willing, would you be willing to...one of your divine sparks...” At this point, Desri didn’t know what to say.
What should he say? Ask Linley to sell it?
What could he, Desri, possibly exchange for a divine spark?
Ask Linley to gift it to him?
Desri couldn’t even force out the words to ask. The only reason why he had come and so shamelessly discussed this was Linley was because he simply had too great of a desire to become a Deity. Even if the element was different and his rate of fusion was slow, and his future rate of understanding the Laws would be impeded...he didn’t care.
“Aside from Olivier and those two Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, the other experts all have this wish.” Linley secretly said to himself.
Over the past few months, almost all of the other experts had secretly come over to talk with Linley.
Even if Linley himself didn’t need the divine sparks, he still valued them highly. It must be understood...that a single divine spark represented a Demigod! He could give these three divine sparks to Gates and his brothers, or to his own brother Wharton, and let them become Deities!”
“Let me delay for now.” Linley secretly said to himself.
The experts only hinted at their interest. After all, their lives had been saved by Linley, and Linley had only managed to acquire these divine sparks after a extremely dangerous experience.
“Rumble...”
Suddenly, the entire Necropolis of the Gods began to shake.
“What’s going on?” Linley and Bebe immediately turned their heads to stare about them.
Instantly, they saw that off in the distance, an exit covered by a black aura had appeared out of nowhere. From within that black exit, a person walked out. He had long black hair, a long black beard, and wore a long black robe. It was the number one expert of the Yulan continent. Beirut.
Linley, Desri, Tulily...all the experts immediately stood up.
Beirut glanced at the experts, and then said, “The ten years are up. Everyone can now leave the Necropolis of the Gods.” And then, he turned his gaze to Linley, a hint of a smile on his lips. “Haha...Linley, I must congratulate you.”