Book 12, The Descent of the Gods – Chapter 30, Haeru
These quiet, comfortable days passed, one after the other. In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.
The liquid gold soul essences had been completely absorbed by Linley. Right now, although his sword-shaped soul was just one size larger than before, in terms of quality, it had absolutely transformed.
“No wonder that Deity wanted to collect so many souls and refine them.” Linley couldn’t help but laugh.
But unfortunately, despite the meticulous efforts of the Grand Warlock, in the end, it had all been to someone else’s benefit.
After completely absorbing the soul essences, Linley left the secret pocket dimension, wanting to take a stroll about Dragonblood Castle. Just as he walked along a flowery path, Linley saw a black blur flash right past the air above him from afar.
“Master.” The black shadow flew over to Linley. It was the Blackcloud Panther, Haeru.
“Haeru, heading off to the Forest of Darkness again?” Linley laughed.
Haeru nodded his great head.
Linley knew that Haeru as well those three Saint-level dragons actually were not accustomed to always living alongside humans. The four of them only occasionally stayed in Dragonblood Castle. Most of the time, they flew to the Forest of Darkness, the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, or the Mountain Range of the Setting Sun.
Those places were their real homes.
“Hm...” Linley suddenly had a thought.
“Haeru, you are darkness-style and wind-style, right?” Linley asked.
“Yes, Master. What of it?” Haeru was quite puzzled. Why had Linley suddenly asked this?
Linley laughed and said, “Nothing.” Linley continued walking forward. Haeru stared at Linley’s back, puzzled. But Haeru didn’t think too much of it, and he immediately flew to look for his three good friends; those three Saint-level dragons.
Arriving at the training fields in front of Dragonblood Castle, Linley saw Wharton and several others training.
“Wind-style...Haeru actually would be a good choice.” Linley had been pondering the question of who to give the wind-style divine spark to for quite some time now.
Gates and the others had almost no affinity for the Elemental Laws of the Wind. Although any Saint was capable of fusing with a divine spark, it was best to fuse with a spark of an element one was skilled in. For example, Delia was fusing with a wind-style divine spark, while Barker was fusing in an earth-style divine spark, and Zassler was fusing with a Death-style divine spark.
And now, Linley had found another candidate; Haeru.
Haeru was a dual-element, darkness and wind affinity magical beast. It indeed would be an excellent choice for him to refine this divine spark.
“Big brother Ley.” A familiar voice rang out.
Linley looked over. It was Jenne.
“Jenne.” Linley revealed a hint of a smile on his face. Jenne was wearing water-blue magus robes. The passage of time had left no mark on her face at all. Back in the day, Jenne was a famous ‘iron lady’ of the Baruch Empire’s administrative bureaus. Nowadays, Jenne was in a magus academy working as a magus instructor.
Jenne had worked very hard in her magus training, and she had spent thirty-plus years refining her abilities.
Currently, she was at the level of a magus of the seventh rank. She was more than qualified to be a magus instructor.
“Haha, Jenne, you are back. Ever since you became a magus instructor, you started to spend less and less time here.” Wharton and the others walked over as well.
Actually, everyone in Dragonblood Castle knew how Jenne felt towards Linley. Only, they all knew Linley’s temperament as well, as did Jenne...they rarely spoke, and Jenne didn’t try to force Linley to spend more time with her. As Jenne saw it, her life was already a very blessed one, for her to occasionally be able to see the person she liked, and for her to be able to do something she enjoyed. She enjoyed this sort of leisurely, fulfilling life.
“There’s nothing I can do. There’s only two breaks each year at the institute.” Jenne smiled as she spoke. “Wharton, where’s Arnold?”
“Arnold is playing around in the rear flower gardens, along with the maidservants.” Wharton laughed.
Jenne glanced at Linley. “Big brother Ley, I’m going to go find Arnold.” Linley laughed and nodded. Jenne doted on Arnold very much. Everyone in Dragonblood Castle knew this.
Within the pocket dimension.
The multicolored energy streams swirled in the chaotic space outside the membrane. Dimensional cracks could be seen everywhere. Linley and Delia, husband and wife, were quietly training here. Linley’s divine clone and his original body were separately training in the ‘Profound Truths of Velocity’ and the ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’.
“Whew.” Linley stopped training.
“Delia.” Linley called out.
“What is it?” Delia opened her eyes, looking at Linley in confusion. “Is something wrong?”
“Delia, right now, we still have one more divine spark left. I’m preparing to give this divine spark to Haeru and have him fuse it. What do you think?” Linley wanted to ask Delia for her opinion first. Delia’s eyes lit up. “Haeru? If it is Haeru...that actually is an excellent choice. He is your magical beast, and all these years, him and those three Saint-level dragons have handled many tasks on behalf of the Empire during those battles.”
Delia appreciated Haeru very much.
Haeru was very low-key in Dragonblood Castle, but whenever any problems arose, Haeru would carry out the tasks which others didn’t want to carry out without a single word of complaint.
“Then it is settled.” Linley made up his mind.
After becoming a Deity, Linley was no longer under much pressure. Generally speaking, he would let his divine clone fully focus on training, while his original body would occasionally go wandering about Dragonblood Castle. After all, there was more to life than just training.
Within the main hall of Dragonblood Castle.
Dozens of people were seated around that ten-meter long table. They were eating together, and Linley was seated in the main seat.
“Rumble...”
A unique energy ripple came from the south. The other people in the main hall didn’t notice anything, but Linley raised his head, staring towards the south in amazement. “Yet another person has become a Deity!”
Linley, who had once sensed the energy signature of the natural Laws, was very familiar with that energy wave.
Although that energy wave had travelled a great distance and was now very weak, Linley could still sense it very clearly. That was a unique energy wave generated by the descent of the natural Laws when a person became a Deity.
“Someone to the south became a Deity. Who?” Linley secretly wondered.
To be precise, right now, both Tulily and Desri were located to the south of Linley. Aside from those two familiar figures, there were also the various Prime Saints who had appeared out of nowhere in recent years, such as those two in the Rohault Empire. All of them had the capability of reaching the Deity-level.
So who was it?
“You keep eating. I need to make a trip.” Linley rose to his feet.
Wharton, Gates, and the others stared at Linley in confusion, but they didn’t ask him about it. Linley walked out of the main hall, then immediately flew into the air.
In mid-air, Linley could now clearly sense the area the energy ripples were coming from. “Directly from the south. It shouldn’t be Tulily.” No longer wondering, Linley immediately spread out his spiritual energy. Upon reaching the Deity level, spiritual energy could also be described as ‘divine sense’.
Linley’s divine sense instantly spread out. If he hadn’t absorbed those twenty million soul essences, Linley’s divine sense would only be able to cover roughly a thousand kilometers or so.
But now...Linley’s divine sense was able to cover ten thousand kilometers. But of course, this was only in the Yulan continent’s plane. If he were in some other, higher planes, the area his divine sense covered would be much smaller.
His divine sense spread out like a ripple in water, quickly reaching the mountain where Desri resided.
“Right here.” Linley could clearly sense the powerful natural Laws rippling forth from this location. Linley no longer dared to continue spreading his divine sense. All he did was wait. After all, the process of being given a divine spark and forming a divine body was a very short one. Indeed...
Just a short while later, the ripples of those natural Laws disappeared.
Linley once again spread out his divine sense, instantly covering that person who had just become a Deity.
“It is Desri.” Linley revealed a hint of a smile on his face.
At the moment, Desri was currently within an underground training room in his mountain residence. There were quite a number of people gathered there, including Pennslyn, Higgingson, Reynolds, and others. These people were all excitedly watching as Desri became a Deity. Desri had also chosen the second method; dividing his soul in two!
“Desri, congratulations.” Linley’s voice transmitted directly into Desri’s mind.
“Haha, Linley, I was half a year slower than you.” Desri spoke modestly, but in his heart, he was overjoyed. He had stopped at the Prime Saint level for too long a period of time. Today, he had finally broken through, and it was through relying on his own ability.
The two Deities were separated by thousands of kilometers, but they spoke to each other spiritually.
“Desri, why did you choose to separate your soul?” Linley asked, puzzled. “Don’t you only train in the Laws of Light?”
“Linley, although this soul splitting process is extremely harmful to the soul, with time, the soul will grow and heal. But now, I have two separate bodies. At least, when I’m fighting, if one of my bodies is destroyed, I’ll still have another body. It basically means I’ll have a second life. And more importantly...although I’m currently only training in the Laws of Light, does that mean in the future, I won’t be able to train in anything else?”
Linley laughed as well.
Actually, the majority of people who became Deities on their own, if they knew the difference between the two choices, would choose this second option.
The damage to the soul caused by the soul splitting was only temporary, after all. But what it represented was an additional life, as well future possibilities for further training! After all, after one became a Deity, one would have an unlimited lifespan. One could train in the other Elemental Laws.
For example, if Linley had enough time, he could definitely continue to train in the fire-style, or even the Way of Destruction.
“Desri, you just became a Deity. I imagine you have quite a few things to attend to. I won’t bother you anymore. Afterwards, when you have some free time, come for a stroll at my place.” Linley laughed.
“Definitely.” Desri agreed.
Desri, too, sensed that the variables and changes in the Yulan continent had become highly unpredictable. Joining forces with Linley would be beneficial to both of them in their ability to protect themselves. After all, generally speaking, a person who became a Deity on his or her own was more powerful by a good margin than someone who had become a Deity through fusing with a divine spark.
Fusing with a divine spark was like simply reading a book to understand the Laws contained within it, while becoming a Deity independently was like actually writing a book. The author of a book would naturally have a greater understanding of it than the readers. He would fully understand every part of the book, and would be able to apply the principles within more easily as well.
Linley withdrew his divine sense.
Linley stood there in mid-air, directly summoning his magical beast. “Haeru, come over, quickly.” At this moment, Haeru was still in the Forest of Darkness, but upon hearing Linley’s order, he immediately flew over in haste. Only, Haeru was still a few thousand kilometers away from Dragonblood Castle.
Linley waited in the rear flower garden for Haeru’s arrival.
“Swoosh.” Haeru landed on the ground.
“Master.” Haeru looked at Linley in confusion. Linley had never so urgently summoned him before. After all, his power in Dragonblood Castle was below average. There were only a few who were weaker than him.
“Haeru, want to become a Deity?” Linley revealed a hint of a smile on his face.
Haeru’s eyes suddenly turned around, and all the fur on his body stood up. He stared at Linley in astonishment. “Ma...master? Did you just say?” Haeru, having lived in Dragonblood Castle, knew that Barker and Zassler had both acquired divine sparks.
Could it be...
That the same good fortune was about to descend upon him, Haeru?
Haeru felt somewhat numb. He himself felt that within Dragonblood Castle, he was an unimportant, unnoticeable figure.
“Right. Divine spark.” Linley’s smile was very bright.
With a flip of his hand, Linley retrieved a black divine spark, radiating a faint green light. Haeru stared at the divine spark, forgetting to breathe. All of his attention had been completely captured by that divine spark. The world of magical beasts was one where the strong were venerated.
The friends which Haeru had made were mostly Saint-level magical beasts as well.
The Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, the Mountain Range of the Setting Sun, the Forest of Darkness...perhaps Haeru hadn’t met a hundred Saint-level magical beasts yet, but he had definitely met more than fifty. These Saint-level magical beasts worshipped Lord Beirut and Lord Dylin, because Lord Beirut and Lord Dylin were both magical beasts who had trained to the point of being able to take human form. Magical beasts who had become Deities!
All of these Saint-level magical beasts longed for the day when they, too, would become Deities!
Deity-level magical beasts, standing atop all the other magical beasts of the world!
“I, I, Haeru, am going to become a Deity?” Haeru felt his head grow numb.
Haeru had always been quite satisfied. After all, Blackcloud Panthers were generally of the ninth rank. He was already quite satisfied at having become a Saint, and was very grateful towards Linley for having given him a Saint-level magicite core and allowing him to break through to the Saint level. Thus, Haeru did whatever Linley asked him to do without a word of complaint.
“What, you don’t want to?” Linley snickered.
“I want to!” Haeru responded very quickly this time.
Laughing, Linley tossed over the divine spark. Glimmering under the reflected rays of the sun, the divine spark flew towards him.
Haeru stared at the divine spark, his mind filled with thoughts. How could he have imagined that a magical beast of the ninth rank like himself would not only become a Saint, but also...it seemed he was about to become a Deity-level magical beast whom other Saint-level magical beasts worshipped!
“I, Haeru, am also about to become...Lord Haeru?” Haeru was currently imagining the look of awe and veneration in the eyes of countless magical beasts as they referred to him as ‘Lord Haeru’. “Hrm, how about...in the future, I’ll choose the Mountain Range of Setting Sun. I’ll become the King of the Mountain Range of Setting Sun. I, Haeru. King of the Mountain Range of the Setting Sun.”
Haeru had never been so happy before.