Book 19, Metamorphosis â Chapter 41, High Spirits
The cold wind howled, stabbing like knives as it swept across the vast, desolate earth. Sand and pebbles flew about wildly, and two blurry forms continued to advance.
Not too far away from them, up ahead, there was a large, twin-peaked mountain. The mountain was thousands of meters high, and the peak of the mountain was split, all the way from the top to the halfway point. From a distance, it looked just like the horns of a ram. In the maps of the Planar Battlefield, this mountain, the âRamhorn Mountainâ, was something of a landmark.
âHere we are!â Linley, dressed in a deep green robe, glanced about, his eyes flashing like lightning as he stared at every âsuspiciousâ looking part of Ramhorn Mountain.
âIt seems thereâs no cave here.â Bebe mumbled.
âEven if Reisgem is here, how could he allow others to tell just by looking? Letâs do a good investigation of the entire Ramhorn Mountain.â After speaking, Linley and Bebe transformed into two blurs, flying at high speed towards Ramhorn Mountain.
With Reihom present, even the most desolate of mountains could be transformed into a luxurious cave estate.
Within that estate inside Ramhorn Mountain, there was a large estate hall that seemed to have been formed by nature. Reihom, that big fellow, was currently seated in the meditative position in the corner of the hall, quietly training. The slow passage of time, to these supreme experts, was generally spent in training. As for Reisgem, he was seated on a chair, his legs resting atop a table which was covered with all sorts of fruits and foods.
âMontelo, that bastard.â Reisgem grabbed a haunch of leg meat from an unknown beast, giving it a savage bite. âHeâs so cocky. All he has is strength in numbers.â
Reisgem, when thinking back to what happened three years ago, still was quite angry and discontent.
Reisgem turned to look at the meditating Reihom. He couldnât help but call out, âHey, Reihom, stop training like an idiot. Thereâs no need to train so frantically. Itâs not so easy to reach the level of Paragon. Come over here and drink and chat with me.â
The towering, wargod-like Reihom opened his eyes, and it was as though corporeal light emanated forth.
âYes.â Reihom rose to his feet, then moved to sit down across from Reisgem.
âI asked you to chat with me, so why arenât you saying anything?â Reisgem couldnât help but feel resigned. Seeing how Reihom was acting, though, all he could say was, âAlright. Ugh. If Iâd known itâd be like this, I wouldâve brought a few more people as well. Even if they arenât able to help out in a fight, theyâd help me relieve my boredom. Speaking of fightingâŠif I become a Paragon, I will definitely make it so that that Montelo would suffer so much that he would beg for dear.â
âReisgem!â A clear voice rang out from the corridor up ahead. âHey, Reisgem, weâre here!â A joyful sound echoed forth from the cave tunnel-corridor. And then, with a âbangâ sound, clearly the mountainous slab of rock that covered the tunnel was broken through.
Reisgem and Reihom reacted by instinct. âSwoosh!â âSwoosh!â They hurriedly rose to their feet and glanced at each other, their eyes filled with surprise, delight, and laughter.
âLinley and Bebe came.â Reihom said.
âHahaâŠletâs go welcome them, quick.â Reisgem was the first to fly out, with Reihom close behind. Once the two arrived at their front courtyard, they saw that the gates to the courtyard had already been broken through. Linley, dressed in a deep green robe, and a black-robed Bebe were smiling, walking over shoulder-to-shoulder.
âReisgem.â Bebe called out jubilantly.
âOhoh, Bebe!â Reisgem excitedly charged over, grabbing Bebe into a bearhug. âWeâre finally reunited again.â
âLinley.â Reihom revealed a hint of a smile towards Linley as well, and Linley laughed and nodded.
Reihom was currently transformed into a size of just two meters in height, comparable to Linley. As for Bebe and Reisgem, their heights were similar as wellâŠthe four members of this hunting squad, standing together, made for quite an interesting scene.
âHis mommy!â Reisgem turned his head to look at Linley, then punched Linley on the chest and snorted, âLinley, kid, you worried me to death! When you were being attacked and chased by Oman, I wasnât worried about Bebe; I was only worried about you! Oman wouldnât be able to do anything to Bebe, but you were a different story. You are my one and only disciple, yâknow? If you die, Iâll be very sad.â
Linley let out an awkward laugh.
Disciple?
âHey, Reisgem, weâre bros!â Bebe slapped his arm around Reisgemâs shoulders and cocked his head. âWeâre on the same level, so how can you consider yourself my Bossâ âmasterâ?â
âUhâŠâ Reisgem was startled.
âFine then.â Reisgem gave Linley a sideways look. âIt was you who comprehended the profound secrets of my Amethyst Space on your own, and it was my mother who asked me to do what I did! You can be considered my motherâs disciple, then, which means you and I are on the same level as well.â As Reisgem spoke, he began to snicker. Hearing this, Linley couldnât help but have a thought. âHm? So Reisgem did what he did, teaching me while claiming to âpunishâ me, was at the behest of the Sovereign. But why did the Sovereign make that decision? Iâve never before met the Redbud Sovereign.â
Bebe said, puzzled, âHey, Reisgem, that was all arranged by your mother, the Sovereign?â
âRight. My mother even gave an important Soulstone to Linley.â Reisgem mumbled. âI really didnât want to part with it.â
âSoulstone? You mean the black stone?â Linley hurriedly asked.
âRight.â Reisgem nodded very confidently. âI feel sick at heart just talking about it. That SoulstoneâŠmy mother has never given it to any outsider before. You were the first! Do you know? Even Sovereigns have asked for a Soulstone from my mother, but my mother wasnât willing to give it to them.â
âSovereigns wanted it?â Linley said, puzzled. âThis is useful for Sovereigns?â
âIt isnât very useful for a Sovereign.â Reisgem shook his head. âBut if it was given to a Highgod, it would be very useful!â
Bebe said in surprise, âReisgem, if we compare this âSoulstoneâ to the âAbyssal Fruitâ of the Netherworld, which one is better?â
âAbyssal Fruit?â Reisgem chortled. âThe Abyssal Fruit truly is a treasure as well, but even ten Abyssal Fruits arenât as valuable as a single Soulstone. Perhaps it has limited impact on Sovereigns, butâŠfor Highgods, a Soulstone is a true treasure. Linley, donât look at me that way. In the future, youâll know how valuable that Soulstone is! Although in the countless planes of the universe, there are only two Amethyst Godbeasts, myself and my mother, my mother is the only person capable of giving someone a Soulstone.â
Linley and Bebe looked at each other.
From the sounds of it, this âSoulstoneâ really was quite remarkable. Indeed, in battle, it was remarkably useful, but Linley didnât yet see how it could be as amazing as Reisgem was claiming it to be.
âMy mother probably gave one to you out of guilt. Otherwise, how could she possibly give it to you?â Reisgem said with a sigh.
âGuilt?â Linley asked hurriedly.
âUhâŠâ Reisgem covered his mouth, looked around, then hurriedly shook his head and said, âDonât ask, just pretend I didnât say anything. Donât ask!â
Linley and Bebe were both rather astonished, but then Reisgem hurriedly changed the topic. He started to laugh. âHaha, Linley, Bebe, now that you are back, our chance for revenge has come! In the past three years, Iâve always wanted to find Montelo and gain revenge, but myself and Reihom, without anyone else, are far from being enough. If we went, weâd just be taken advantage of by them. But now that you are here, things are different.â
âWhat do you mean?â Bebe raised an eyebrow. âWeâre going to find Montelo and get revenge?â
âOf course!â Reisgem said, rather angrily. âIâve been thinking about revenge every moment of the past three years. Now that my chance has come, how can we not go?â
âRight. Letâs go kill Montelo and the others.â Reihomâs gaze was cold, containing powerful hatred.
Linley frowned, worried about one thing. âReisgem, last time, we exchanged blows with them. There were eight of them and only four of us. In addition, that Oman who fought with me was particularly strong. Even Bebe, using his innate divine ability, wasnât able to do anything to him. Weâre going to get revenge?â
âRight. Oman is really hard to deal with.â Bebe said.
âHahaâŠâ Reisgem began to laugh smugly. âIf there are eight, there are eight. Whatâs to fear? Only two of the eight have soul-protecting Sovereign artifacts. One is Oman, while the other is Chauswey [Xiaâsiâwei]. Although five of the other six have Sovereign artifacts, they donât have soul-protecting Sovereign artifacts! Last time, we were attacked and caught off guard. This time, as long as we prepare, Bebe, you use your innate divine ability and deal with two of them from the start! Once your innate divine ability recovers, weâll continue to exterminate themâŠhmph, it wonât be hard for us to deal with eight of them!â
âItâs a bit tough to deal with eight people.â Linley said with a frown.
âUnfortunately, I canât use my innate divine ability nonstop.â Bebe said resignedly.
Linley nodded slightly. The same was true for him. Using an innate divine ability and a soul attack were different concepts!
Soul attacks only took up spiritual energy; even if you used it all up, you could use Golden Soul-Pearls to quickly replenish it. Or, by relying on Sovereign power, one could use the attack repeatedly without worrying that oneâs own spiritual energy would be used up.
But innate divine abilities, aside from using up spiritual energy, also used up their innate energy.
For example, Linleyâs usage of âDragon Roarâ used up that âazure lightâ which was his innate energy. Although the innate azure light replenished very quickly, it still needed time! Bebe was able to execute two âGodeaterâ innate divine ability attacks in succession, but for the third time, he had to wait for a while. Only after his innate energy replenished to a certain degree was he able to use it again.
âEight people. We have two dispose of two of them at the very start.â Reisgem immediately began to plan it out. âBebe, once we encounter them, first deal with that silver-robed woman, Ranessa! Afterwards, then deal with Montelo! Once we deal with those two supreme experts, there are only two people capable of threatening us.â
Although the enemy side had eight experts, they only had four truly supreme experts, with the other four being slightly weaker, below-average commanders.
âLinley, Bebe, are the two of you tired? Should we rest for a bit, or head out right away?â Resigem asked.
âLetâs head out now.â Linley said with a laugh. He and Bebe had parted from Bluefire not too long ago, and they had been resting previously as well. They werenât the slightest bit tired; on the contrary, they looked forward to this battle. âIf this battle goes as smoothly as predicted, Iâll have enough commander badges by the end.â
According to Linleyâs calculations, only one was needed.
âFine, then. Letâs head out.â Reisgemâs eyes were shining, and he snorted. âThat Montelo. Iâll teach him to be so smug. And so cocky! Hmph, he has no idea that we have a trump card like Bebe.â
Montelo, as far as the soul went, was on the same level as Reisgem. Even Highgod Paragons would have to work hard to kill them through the soul. ButâŠupon encountering Bebeâs innate divine ability, he would definitely die.
âLetâs go.â Reihom, who whole-heartedly wanted to avenge his brother, and Linley, who wanted to acquire enough commander badges, as well as Bebe and Reisgem directly left the cave.
Upon leaving the cave, they were in extraordinarily high spirits. But three days later, Reisgem became rather depressed and resigned.
The desolate wilderness. A wild wind howled drearily.
Four figures were striding side by side. Reisgem said helplessly, âI thought that the Planar Battlefield wasnât that large, but now, it seems, itâs huge. Finding Montelo within it is too hard.â The Planar Battlefield had a circumference of a million kilometers, and the restrictive power of it was a level higher than the Infernal Realm and Netherworldâs.
Even for Linley, to travel a million kilometers would take a day or two, and that was if they were walking in a straight line. They werenât doing that; they were searching one place after another for Montelo.
âEven if we used Sovereignâs Might to search, it would take a few dozen years or even upwards of a hundred years to find Montelo.â Linley shook his head and sighed.
To find someone in the Planar Battlefield, one would have to rely on Sovereignâs Might and use it in the form of divine sense. By doing so, the range would be much greater.
âRight. Thereâs one other way.â Bebe mumbled.
âWhat way?â Reisgem said, startled. âWhatâs another way for us to find Montelo?â
âActually, we donât have to find them. They can find us; thatâs fine as well.â Bebe said with a snicker. âWe want to take revenge on Montelo, but he wants to make trouble for you as well. Reisgem, all you need to do is start a battle which causes a bit of a ruckus, and even use that innate divine ability of yours! Make it so that people ten thousand kilometers away will know that the person causing this ruckus was you, Reisgem! As long as Montelo isnât too far away, heâll soon hurry here to deal with you.
Reisgemâs eyes immediately lit up.
âThatâs so simple! Why didnât I think of it?!â Reisgem immediately began to laugh. âThis time, Iâm going to make it so that Montelo throws himself into my net!