Book 10, Baruch – Chapter 20, A Procession of Arrivals
One of the prefectural cities in the northern part of the Anarchic Lands. Ankh, Gates, and Boone each wielded their massive long-handled greataxes, standing atop the city walls like wargods. Corpses littered the ground around them, and fresh blood stained the walls and the ground below the walls.
The nearby soldiers were all terrified.
They didn’t dare to fight back anymore. All of them put down their weapons.
“Of the seven Duchies, five Duchies have voluntarily surrendered. The previous Duchy was easily taken over. You are the last one.” Gates grabbed the leader of the town guards, his furious, ox-like eyes staring into the terrified, quivering leader. “Motherf*cker, why fight back when you don’t have the power to? Isn’t that the same as just ordering your soldiers to commit suicide? Eh?!”
It was indeed tantamount to suicide.
The two sides were on totally different levels of power. Gates and the other two had killed a huge number of the enemies by themselves.
Hoisted high into the air, the captain of the guards said in terror, “Lord, this has nothing to do with me. It was the orders of the Grand Duke.”
“Fifth Brother.” Ankh laughed. “Enough. Let’s go down. Big Brother and the others are all down below. Most likely, they are already drinking celebratory wine. After having taken over this prefectural city, when we add it to the five which surrendered and the one we just took over, that means we have finished our mission!”
Gates and Boone both began to laugh loudly.
In twenty short days, all of the eight Duchies which bordered the Forest of Darkness had been reformed into a kingdom; the Baruch Kingdom. The Baruch Kingdom had over a hundred million people under its rule and took up a quarter of the Anarchic Lands.
Although the people here were poor, they were very violent and ferocious.
In the richer areas of the Anarchic Lands, the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows still remained in control. From this point onwards…the Anarchic Lands had been divided into three major spheres of influence.
The number one genius in the history of the Yulan continent, Linley, was going to hold a wedding with Ms. Delia of the Leon clan of the Yulan Empire! The day of this wedding was going to be the same day the Baruch Kingdom was formally established.
Time: Yulan calendar, year 10010, July 21st.
Place: The future capital of the Baruch Kingdom – Baruch City (currently known as Blackdirt city, being rebuilt).
This news quickly swept throughout the Anarchic Lands like a tornado, and at the same time, it was made public to the various powers in the entire Yulan continent. One letter of invitation after another was sent to the various locations of the Yulan continent…countless eyes were focused now on the Anarchic Lands.
The imperial capital of the Yulan Empire. The Leon clan’s main hall.
In terms of status, the person with the highest status in the Leon clan wasn’t the clan leader, Dylla Leon. It was Dixie Leon!
First of all, Dixie would be the next clan leader. But more importantly…he was the personal disciple of the supporting pillar of the Yulan Empire, the High Priest. The High Priest was one of the most powerful entities in human society. In the hearts of the countless masses, perhaps only the War God could compare to the High Priest.
An astonishingly powerful expert who had wielded the power of the Deities before the Yulan calendar had even started. The vast majority of the people the High Priest accepted as a personal disciple ended up becoming Grand Magus Saints!
The personal disciple of the High Priest, and a future Grand Magus Saint! And a dual-element Grand Magus Saint at that!
Dylla Leon was currently frowning as he handed the letter of invitation to his son, Dixie.
His back was ramrod straight, and his golden hair was long and unbound. He had an aura of icily keeping all comers at arm’s length. This was just the way he was. Dixie. After reading the letter, however, a rare smile actually touched his lips. “Linley didn’t disappoint my little sister after all.”
“Dixie, what do you think we should do?” Dylla Leon asked.
Dixie glanced at his father, then frowned. “What do you mean, what we should do? My little sister has finally gotten the happiness she has been pursuing for over ten years. Of course we need to celebrate.”
Dylla Leon and his wife hesitated just a moment.
“Father, Mother, I know what you two were scheming.” Dixie said calmly. “You must allow your vision to expand beyond the limits of mortal, worldly power. The true controllers of the destiny of the Yulan continent…are still the likes of the War God, the High Priest, and the various Saints.”
Dixie had to admit that his parents were rather short-sighted.
“Dixie, my beloved son, no matter how powerful Linley is, how can he possibly influence the Yulan empire?” Dylla sighed. “After all, the root of our clan lies in the Yulan Empire.”
Dixie glanced at his father. “Father, I must tell you something. You underestimate Linley.”
“Oh? How so?” Dylla Leon was a bit puzzled.
Dixie said seriously, “Actually, this time before I returned, Master gave me an order.”
“Master? Ah!!! The High Priest!” Dylla Leon’s eyes instantly turned round. Good heavens. Ordinary people like them might never meet the High Priest in their entire lives. But now, the High Priest had personally issued an order to their son.
They suddenly felt honored and glorious beyond compare.
“The High Priest instructed me and two of my fellow apprentices to go to the Anarchic Lands and be his representatives in congratulating Linley.” Dixie said seriously.
Dixie didn’t understand it either. Why did someone at the level of the High Priest need to express such friendliness towards Linley? Especially since Dixie knew…the War God and the High Priest were on opposing sides. Linley was on good terms with the War God. Logically speaking, the High Priest should be on bad terms with Linley.
But it seemed…
The High Priest actually wished to express friendliness towards Linley.
“The waters of the Yulan continent are deep indeed.” Dixie sighed to himself.
The imperial capital of the Yulan Empire. The Walsh clan.
“Milord, this is the letter of invitation from Master Linley, from the Anarchic Lands.” The housekeeper respectfully handed a letter to George. By this point in time, George had already been appointed the successor to the clan leader possession by the Walsh clan.
George accepted the letter.
“Haha…Third Bro, Third Bro. I didn’t expect that you’d end up with Delia after all.” George began laughing loudly as he read the letter.
“The world plays jokes on us all.” George still remembered how, when they had first entered the Ernst Institute, Delia would often go looking for Linley. But when George had seen Alice and Linley start to date, he had thought that Linley and Delia would never work out.
Unexpectedly, in the end, after ten years, the circle was completed.
Linley and Delia had gotten together.
The leaders of all the organizations in the Yulan continent which either had some relationship with Linley or were extremely powerful all received letters of invitation. After all, this wasn’t just a wedding ceremony. It was also the founding of a Kingdom. Naturally, they had to invite the leaders of the various organizations.
Ever since Linley had entered the city of Blackdirt, Blackdirt had begun to engage in a construction boom. By now, Blackdirt City, despite being territorially small, was extremely exquisite and lavish. Even the region outside Blackdirt City was beginning to engage in large-scale construction.
Linley had invited many guests. Amongst the first group to arrive in Blackdirt City was Wharton, Nina, Uncle Hillman, and Grandpa Hiri.
In the governor’s mansion. A scene of excitement and joy.
“Big brother, Nina and I have decided that from today onwards, we won’t be leaving. We’ll be staying here at your place.” Wharton laughed loudly. “Big brother, you’ve worked so hard to establish your own realm. How can we live a life of luxury and comfort in the imperial capital? We’re embarrassed to do so!”
Linley was secretly overjoyed.
He didn’t actually have much free time to manage the Kingdom. Most of his time was spent training.
“Wharton, I’ve been waiting a long time to hear you say these words.” Linley laughed.
Linley suddenly stared towards Nina’s stomach, then looked at Wharton with suspicion. “Wharton, it seems Nina’s stomach has gotten a bit bigger. Can it be that…”
Nina and Wharton exchanged glances, then began to laugh. The nearby Uncle Hillman laughed as well. “Linley, you truly are a Saint-level expert. Your perception is truly amazing. Right. Princess Nina is already pregnant. Linley, you’ve fallen a bit behind in this area. In the future, you and Delia need to work hard.”
Linley and Delia didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.
“Sister Nina, have you decided on a name for the child yet?” Delia asked.
Nina nodded. “I have. Whether it is a boy or a girl, we are going to name it Cena [Xi’ne].”
“Cena.” Linley looked at his little brother Wharton. “Does this have some sort of special meaning?” Wharton immediately began to laugh loudly, exchanging a knowing glance with Nina. Then he said secretively towards Linley, “This is a secret between me and Nina. I can’t tell you.”
Linley clapped his hands to his head. “What? You are keeping secrets from me, your big brother?”
Everyone in the hall laughed joyously. Halfway through the event, Linley secretly pulled Wharton into a nearby flower garden, and the two siblings took a private walk.
“Big brother, what is it?” Wharton waited for them to enter the garden before asking.
Linley looked at his little brother. Probingly, he asked, “Wharton, I’ve always been hoping that you would decide to come here and live with me. Now that you are here, I truly am happy. But…is Nina truly happy about it as well, in her heart? Don’t make her do something she doesn’t want to do.”
Wharton nodded. “Big brother, Nina had a long talk with me. She decided to come with me, and in the future, when she has some free time, she’ll occasionally go back for a visit.”
“That’s the only way, I suppose.”
Linley laughed as he looked at Wharton. “Wharton, after the Baruch Kingdom is formally founded and Delia and I are married, I intend to directly coronate you as the King of the Baruch Kingdom.” Linley was telling his little brother in advance, so as to mentally prepare him.
Wharton was stunned. “King?”
”I’ve already named the Kingdom ‘Baruch’. Naturally, it must be ruled over by the heirs of the Baruch clan.” Linley had made this decision a long time ago.
Wharton didn’t decline. “Fine, then. I’m currently only a warrior of the eighth rank. It should be twenty or thirty years before my human form reaches the Saint-level. Right now, there’s not much of a point to training to gain a higher level of understanding. When I reach that level, I’ll pass the throne down to my son, or perhaps your son, big brother.” Linley understood what Wharton was thinking; Wharton would need to spend time training after all.
But training in understanding the Laws was something which required someone to be in harmony with and able to clearly sense nature, and to sense the various movements of the elemental essences. That required an extremely high level of elemental essence affinity. Generally speaking, magi had high levels of elemental essence affinity, but the same was not true for warriors. Their elemental essence affinity was not as high.
The same was true for Wharton. Right now, he virtually couldn’t sense nature at all. Thus, it would be extremely hard for him to gain any insights on the Laws.
But upon reaching the Saint-level, things would change.
Upon reaching the Saint-level, one would have a much greater level of ability to sense the surrounding elements. Saints could clearly sense the elements and quickly increase their level of insight! This was the same reason why it was so hard for one to advance from being a warrior of the ninth rank to the Saint level. Only a small number of warriors of the ninth rank had a high elemental essence affinity.
However, Supreme Warriors didn’t need any particular level of insight. So long as they could train their battle-qi to a certain level, they would naturally reach the Saint-level.
After spending three days in the city of Blackdirt, Linley and Delia left the city and returned to Mt. Blackraven and began a life of quiet training. As for Bebe, whenever he got bored, Bebe and Haeru would go around the Forest of Darkness, slaughtering magical beasts.
…..
The light blue skies had a dark streak of light and a white streak of light flashing through it at high speed, heading in the direction of Blackdirt City in the Anarchic Lands.
The black streak of light was Osenno.
Today, Osenno was dressed in a long black robe with golden threads interwoven into it. His devilish purple hair flowed freely in the wind. By his side was a powerful middle-aged man dressed in a loose, long white robe. This powerful middle-aged man’s body was an astonishing 2.5 meters tall.
A height of 2.5 meters was virtually unheard of in humans.
His long white robes fluttered in the wind, and his short green hair gleamed like steel needles. His face seemed to have been carved from stone, but there was an extremely faint seal located in the center of his forehead. The seal of a white flame. His body emanated an oppressive, heart-shaking aura.
This person was the Commander of the Zealots. Lord Lehman.
The two flew together, side by side, as Osenno constantly explained about Linley and Bebe’s combat tactics and abilities to Lehman. “That’s everything. Lehman, by now, you should have a good sense of the situation, right? How confident are you?”
Lehman glanced at him, his eyes flashing with light. His deep voice echoed forth from his massive chest, “Osenno, that man and his magical beast are inferior to you in strength, but you were still defeated by them. However, that isn’t surprising; your single-target attacks are not that strong. What you mainly rely on is the bizarreness of your Doppleganger Technique. As for me…I can kill both of them by myself.”
Osenno understood, as well, that his single-target attacks were relatively weak.
But for Lehman, it was the opposite; his forte was in single-target attacks.
“Blackdirt City is up ahead.” Osenno pointed at the city below them. “Next to it is Mt. Blackraven. According to my intelligence, Linley spends virtually all of his time there at Mt. Blackraven. We should head directly to Mt. Blackraven.”
Lehman focused his gaze on the below Mt. Blackraven.
Instantly, the two charged down towards Mt. Blackraven.