Linley and Delia

January 1st of every year is the most important festival on the Yulan Continent—the Yulan Festival.

The nation that places the most importance on this festival is the Yulan Empire.

Because the first year of the Yulan Calendar marked the year the Yulan Empire unified the entire Yulan Continent, the Yulan Festival was created specifically to commemorate this historical moment.

Ten thousand years have passed; although the Yulan Empire no longer possesses its former glory, its emphasis on the Yulan Festival remains unchanged.

The Day of Destruction fell on the Yulan Festival of the year 10000 of the Yulan Calendar, a day the Yulan Empire regarded with immense importance.

Delia, who was still studying at the Ernst Institute at the time, had returned to the Yulan Empire early to attend the celebratory ceremonies.

Because of this, Delia escaped the Day of Destruction.

After the Day of Destruction, Delia believed Linley was dead. Heartbroken and feeling as though she had died inside, she decided never to marry, pouring all her focus into cultivation and her career.

By the age of twenty-two, Delia had become a seventh-rank mage. She was taken as a disciple by the Saint Realm magus Longers and became highly skilled in diplomatic negotiations, holding a prominent position within the Yulan Empire.

It could be said that she possessed an excellent family background, beauty, and capability.

In the Yulan Empire, Delia had countless suitors, but she rejected them all.

Ever since news of the battle between Linley and Olivier reached the Yulan Empire, Delia's heart came back to life. She did everything in her power to persuade the Emperor to send a special envoy to the O'Brien Empire.

She succeeded. Shortly after the decisive battle between Olivier and Haydson, the Yulan Empire's delegation arrived in Chiyan City.

On this day, at the Earl Mansion on Fushi Road.

Linley was perfecting his Pulse Guard, while Lewin Andrew sat to the side, watching the cyan-black battle-qi on Linley's body and nodding inwardly.

"Linley, if you continue to refine your Pulse Guard, you should be able to apply it to soul defense very soon."

Linley withdrew the Pulse Guard from his body, let out a long breath, and smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Lewin."

After watching the battle between Olivier and Haydson, Linley had been contemplating whether he could perform a soul attack, or if he couldn't, whether he could at least manage a defense.

Just as Linley was struggling with this, Lewin had pointed him in the right direction.

"You could try applying the Pulse Guard to soul defense."

Although Linley hadn't fully succeeded yet, he had already made some progress, and he knew this path was viable.

Lewin waved his hand, telling Linley there was no need for thanks. "In the battle against Haydson, the key will be your battle-qi. During this time, improve it as much as you possibly can."

"I understand."

The courtyard gate opened, and Gates, the fifth of the Barker brothers, walked in.

Bebe immediately blocked Gates' path.

To prepare for the decisive battle against Haydson, Linley had been in seclusion for this period. Aside from people like Lewin who came to exchange pointers, he saw almost no one.

Bebe and Heilu's main job during this time was to ensure Linley's cultivation remained undisturbed.

"Move aside, Bebe, I have something important," Gates said in his booming voice. "My Lord, there is someone outside named Delia who says she is your old classmate and wants to see you."

"Delia?" Upon hearing this, Linley was startled at first, then joy surged in his eyes as he headed toward the courtyard gate.

Lewin smiled slightly, thinking to himself, "They've finally arrived."

"Witnessed the reunion of Linley and Delia, physical potential upgrade count +1."

"Lewin Andrew."

"Strength: Saint Realm."

"Potential: Highgod who fuses two profound mysteries."

"Physical Strength: Ninth-rank warrior."

"Physical Potential: Highgod artifact."

Consuming this physical potential upgrade count, Lewin's physical potential was raised to the level of a Highgod artifact.

"A pity, it wasn't my potential that increased," Lewin felt a slight sense of regret.

If his potential could have increased again, his cultivation speed would have accelerated.

Fortunately, the next witness event was not far off.

The next event would be one year later, on July 21, 10010 of the Yulan Calendar.

On that day, Linley would marry Delia in "Baruch City," the capital of the Baruch Kingdom he had established.

Shortly after Linley's decisive battle with Haydson, he would head to the Land of Chaos.

The Land of Chaos is located to the east of the O'Brien Empire; as the name suggests, it is a region known for its chaos.

War is frequent there, with dozens of principalities; every few years, the number of principalities changes.

To the west of the Land of Chaos lies the O'Brien Empire, to the south the Luo'ao Empire, and to the east the Far East Prairie. All three powers harbor ambitions of annexing the Land of Chaos.

Additionally, the Radiant Church and the Dark Church have also constantly schemed to conquer the Land of Chaos.

Beyond these, the Dark Forest to the north of the Land of Chaos frequently experiences beast tides. Sometimes they last for decades, other times only a dozen years or so. Although the scale and level of these beast tides are nowhere near those of the Day of Destruction, their high frequency prevents the Land of Chaos from ever finding peace.

With so many powers and factors involved, how could it not be chaotic?

Linley's purpose in heading to the Land of Chaos was to deal with the Radiant Church's influence in that region.

The Land of Chaos is vast, equivalent to half the size of the O'Brien Empire.

After the Day of Destruction, the territory of the Holy Union was reduced by one-third, and the current Holy Union is roughly the same size as the Land of Chaos.

The Radiant Church places great importance on faith, and such a large territory and population in the Land of Chaos could provide the Radiant Church with a great deal of faith.

Linley intends to destroy the foundation of their faith in the Land of Chaos.

After nearly a year of effort, Linley has unified one-quarter of the territory in the Land of Chaos and established the Baruch Kingdom.

"There is about a year left; I will spend this year in the Yulan Empire, hunting Saint Realm magical beasts in the Sunset Mountain Range to strengthen my body while continuing my cultivation." Liewen has already made his plans.

Liewen followed behind Linley, left the courtyard, and saw Delia.

Beside Delia was a middle-aged man with graying hair, looking to be in his forties or fifties.

The middle-aged man was Delia's teacher, the Saint-level wind mage, Master Longers.

Master Longers also brought along his Saint Realm magical beast, the Earth Bear Ahuang, and his level-nine magical beast, the Thunder Gale Eagle Paley.

Delia and Longers were slightly startled when they saw Liewen.

They had also seen the Memory Crystal Ball of the battle between Liewen and Useno in the Yulan Empire.

"Mr. Liewen!"

"Delia, Master Longers."

Both sides exchanged polite greetings.

Linley invited Delia and Master Longers into the courtyard. Having completed his witness, Liewen did not want to stay and disturb the reunion of the two lovers, so he took his leave.

Since Kuhn and Lena also wanted to watch the decisive battle between Linley and Haydson, the three of them decided to wait until the battle was over before setting off for the Yulan Empire.

Liewen himself was no longer interested in this duel.

He already knew the process and the outcome of the duel.

Linley and Haydson would fight to a draw; Linley would be at a slight disadvantage due to insufficient battle qi, but with his two magical beasts, Bebe and Heilu, Haydson would be unable to do anything to Linley.

The battle would end in a draw.

After witnessing the meeting, Liewen barely left the Daryl Family estate, spending all his time in cultivation.

On one hand, he was cultivating the Profundity of Purification, and on the other, he was researching more ways to utilize it.

While sparring with Linley, he had been thinking: since the Pulse of the Earth could be used for both offense and defense, why couldn't the Profundity of Purification do the same?

Once the battle between Linley and Haydson concluded, Liewen finally achieved success in his research.