Delin Cowart

It was a seemingly ordinary morning.

Wushan Town's residents had just finished their morning exercises and were preparing to head home. In the courtyard of Baruch Manor, Hillman was leading the children through their routine Qi Cultivation Style training. The autumn sun was warm but not scorching, and a gentle breeze blew from the direction of Fenlai City, carrying the scent of ripe wheat from the fields.

However, a catastrophe arrived silently.

"What is that?!"

Tom was the first to notice the anomaly. He pointed toward the eastern sky, his voice filled with terror.

Everyone looked up—

Not far to the east, at an altitude of two or three hundred meters, a black giant dragon at least a hundred meters long was winding and circling in mid-air. The black dragon's eyes were like massive wheels, flickering with a cold, eerie light. On its colossal body, every single black dragon scale reflected a chilling, icy gleam. Its pair of massive, leathery wings, which spanned a hundred meters when spread, were flapping powerfully, each stroke whipping up a gale.

A Magical Beast—a Black Dragon!

"What is happening?" Linley widened his eyes, his voice trembling slightly.

Lin Yun also looked up, his pupils suddenly contracting.

Standing proudly atop the head of this circling black dragon was a Grey-robed Man. The wind howled in the sky, causing the man's robes to snap violently, yet he stood as straight as a javelin, steady as a rock amidst the gale. His gaze was fixed on a Green-robed Middle-aged Man hovering in the air ahead—the green-robed man had a long sword strapped to his back, his sleeves fluttering in the wind, his Momentum no weaker than the Grey-robed Man's.

Stepping on a Black Dragon, hovering in the air!

"Saint Realm experts!" Hillman's face turned deathly pale, his voice cracking, "Everyone, get into the house immediately! Go!"

Before the children could react, Hillman had already snatched up the two youngest children like an eagle grabbing chicks and sprinted toward the main residence. The other children finally snapped out of their shock, screaming as they scattered and fled.

Lin Yun did not run.

He stood where he was, looking up at the battle in the sky, a complex emotion that was hard to describe surging within his heart.

He knew what was happening.

In the original story of Coiling Dragon, two Saint Realm experts fought above Wushan Town, triggering a disaster that caused mountains to crumble and the earth to split. This disaster was the catalyst for Linley to obtain the Coiling Dragon Ring—he was struck by falling debris, his blood seeped into the ring, and he awakened the slumbering Doering Cowart.

And right now, Wharton—the three-year-old younger brother of Linley and Lin Yun—was still near the ancestral home!

"Big brother!" Lin Yun turned his head abruptly, "Wharton!"

Linley's expression changed as well. He rushed toward the ancestral home almost instinctively, with Lin Yun following closely behind.

In the sky, the battle between the two Saint Realm experts had reached a fever pitch. The Grey-robed Man was enveloped in a brilliant earthy-yellow glow, and massive boulders manifested out of thin air; the Green-robed Man was shrouded in cyan wind vortices, his speed so fast it was nearly impossible for the naked eye to track.

"Boom—boom—boom—"

Countless boulders seemed to appear from nowhere, each the size of a house, crashing down in all directions with destructive force. The earth trembled, hills collapsed, and the entire Wushan Town shivered under the clash of the Saint Realm experts.

One boulder, the size of a carriage, whistled toward the direction of Baruch Manor.

"Wharton!" Linley rushed into the ancestral home like a madman, only to see Wharton standing at the doorway, staring blankly at the terrifying scene in the sky, completely unaware that danger had descended.

The boulder was about to crash down in an instant!

Lin Yun saw it clearly from behind, his heart nearly leaping out of his throat.

Just as the boulder was about to strike Wharton, Linley lunged forward, using all his strength to tackle Wharton to the ground. He instinctively shielded his younger brother beneath him, turning his own back toward the boulder.

Debris rained down like raindrops.

A fist-sized rock struck the back of Linley's head, and blood instantly gushed out. Immediately after, several more rocks slammed into his back and shoulders, causing him to grunt in pain. But he held onto Wharton tightly, refusing to move.

The largest boulder grazed the manor's perimeter wall and smashed into the open ground nearby, emitting a deafening roar. The earth shook violently, and the rising dust blotted out the sky.

Lin Yun rushed over and dragged Linley and Wharton out from the pile of rubble. Wharton was crying loudly from fright, but he was uninjured; however, Linley had a large gash on the back of his head, and blood was streaming down his neck, flowing into the black ring he wore on his chest.

The blood seeped into the ring.

The black ring began to glow faintly.

Three days later, Linley's injuries had mostly healed.

Lin Yun watched Linley, who had been acting rather strange over the past three days—muttering to himself, spacing out, or suddenly wearing an expression of realization—and understood exactly what was going on.

Doering Cowart had awakened.

However, he was in no rush to ask; he trusted Linley. Given the bond between them as brothers, Linley would definitely tell him about it.

Over these three days, Doering Cowart had told Linley many things intermittently—about his own origins, about magic, and about the unknown secrets of this world.

Doering was a Saint Realm Grand Magus of the Pu'ang Empire who had been trapped in the Coiling Dragon Ring for some reason, slumbering for thousands of years. He specialized in Earth Element magic and was one of the most powerful mages in the history of the Pu'ang Empire. And now, he was willing to teach Linley magic.

At Linley's request, he was also willing to teach Lin Yun. In fact, even if Linley hadn't asked, he would have done so anyway—with his soul at the peak of the Saint Realm, he could see at a glance that Lin Yun possessed incredibly powerful spiritual energy. He just didn't know how Lin Yun's elemental affinity was yet.

Sure enough, one afternoon, Linley mysteriously called Lin Yun into his room.

"Lin Yun, do you want to learn magic?"

"Of course I do," Lin Yun replied, though waves were rising in his heart, "But isn't the magic aptitude test still half a year away?"

"Lin Yun, I'm going to tell you a secret." Linley looked at him with a serious expression and lowered his voice, "You cannot tell anyone this secret, including Father and the others."

"Alright, I promise I won't tell anyone." Seeing Linley so solemn, Lin Yun knew what was coming next and felt a sense of anticipation.

Afterward, Linley told Lin Yun the whole story—the Saint Realm soul inside the Coiling Dragon Ring, the identity of Doering Cowart, and his promise to teach them magic.

It was just that Doering Cowart was currently in a soul state and could not communicate directly with Lin Yun, so he could only convey his words through Linley, the master of the Coiling Dragon Ring.

"Lin Yun, sit cross-legged first. I will teach you how to enter a meditative state." After Linley finished speaking, he relayed the instructions exactly as Doering Cowart had taught him over the past two days.

What dealt a heavy blow to Linley was that it had taken him over half an hour his first time, and that was only with the guidance of Doering Cowart, before he could enter meditation. But looking at Lin Yun before him...

Why did it feel wrong?

After Lin Yun closed his eyes, it took only a few minutes for his breathing to become steady and long, his entire being sinking into a state of profound tranquility. That state was even more stable and natural than when Linley entered meditation.

Doering Cowart, observing from the side, was also filled with pleasant surprise. Entering a meditative state in just a few minutes—this child's talent was truly more astonishing than he had imagined.

He did not intentionally guide the concentration of surrounding elements; he wanted to see exactly what Lin Yun's elemental affinity was like.

At this moment, Lin Yun had completely entered the meditative state.

Then, he "saw" it.

Countless specks of light were suspended in the surrounding space, dense and numerous, thousands upon thousands—there were yellow, red, blue, cyan, purple, as well as black and white ones. They floated like fireflies; some were still, some rotated slowly, and others darted about like mischievous children.

Are these the elements of heaven and earth?

But why were there so many colors? Could it be that he, like Linley, could cultivate multiple elemental laws?

"Lin Yun, how is it? Can you feel them?" Linley, watching from the side, couldn't help but ask anxiously when he saw Lin Yun remaining silent.

"Big brother, I can feel them." Lin Yun opened his eyes, his gaze filled with excitement, "So many, many specks of light in various colors, dense and numerous, thousands upon thousands. There are yellow, red, blue, cyan, purple, as well as black and white ones. There are too many, they are everywhere!"

"There are that many colors?" Linley said, puzzled, "Why did I only see yellow ones?"

He did not know that when he was tested, Doering Cowart had guided a large amount of Earth Element around him, which was why he had felt no elemental specks of other attributes.

However, Doering Cowart, standing to the side, had a blank expression on his face.

To be able to sense elemental specks of seven colors while in a meditative state—what did this represent?

Earth, fire, water, wind, lightning, light, and darkness—affinity for all seven elements!

"Could it be that I have encountered a freak?" Doering Cowart muttered to himself in his heart, "To actually be able to sense seven types of elements... do I have a chance to cultivate a Level 4 Mage of seven elements?"

He had lived for thousands of years and seen countless geniuses, but a mage who cultivated all seven elements—let alone seeing one, he had never even heard of such a thing!

"Big brother, what did Grandpa Doering say? How is my talent?" Although Lin Yun guessed his talent shouldn't be bad, he still hoped to receive confirmation from Doering Cowart.

"Linley, tell your brother." Doering Cowart regained his composure and sent a voice transmission to Linley, "His elemental affinity is excellent. He has affinity for all seven elements, and none of them are weak. As for his spiritual energy, there is no need to test it—he is simply a freak. In over five thousand years, I have never seen someone with such strong spiritual energy before even beginning to cultivate."

Linley took a deep breath and relayed Doering's words to Lin Yun exactly as they were: "Lin Yun, Grandpa Doering says your elemental affinity is excellent. You have affinity for all seven magic elements—earth, fire, water, wind, lightning, light, and darkness—and your affinity for each one is quite good."

He paused, his eyes filled with shock: "Most importantly, your spiritual energy is extremely powerful. Grandpa Doering says your current spiritual energy has already reached the level of a Level 4 Mage!"

Linley himself found it hard to believe this conclusion.

Although he didn't know much about magic, after these few days of instruction from Doering Cowart, he was no longer the magic novice he once was. He knew that a genius capable of dual-element cultivation was already one in a million; there hadn't been many in the entire history of the Yulan Continent who could cultivate three elements.

And Lin Yun was capable of seven.

Not only that, but before even beginning formal cultivation, his spiritual energy had already reached the level of a Level 4 Mage—this meant that Lin Yun's starting point on the path of magic was already a finish line that countless people could never reach in their entire lives.

"This... how is this possible?" Linley murmured, feeling happy for his brother while also unable to help but feel a bit envious.

Doering's voice rang out in his mind, carrying the same confusion: "I don't know either. Logically, a human soul cannot bear the affinity for so many elements. But your brother's soul... is very special."

He paused, as if organizing his words: "His soul is so powerful that it doesn't resemble that of an eight-year-old child. In fact, it doesn't even resemble that of an adult. That strength wasn't gained through cultivation, but... it is innate. It is as if his soul has undergone some kind of tempering, becoming ten or a hundred times tougher than that of an ordinary person."

Upon learning the results, Lin Yun also let out a sigh of relief.

He knew his spiritual energy would inevitably be strong—he had lived three lives: the first, as a top student on Earth, where twenty-five years of study and reflection forged a mature mind; the second, as Lin Yun in the Swallowed Star World, where six years of survival in the apocalypse made his will even more resilient; and the third, as the second son of the Baruch Clan in the Coiling Dragon World, where eight years of growth had accumulated new life experience. The memories and experiences of three lives, the accumulation of three souls, plus the tempering of the Small Cauldron, had made his spiritual energy far exceed that of ordinary people.

But in the Coiling Dragon world, having spiritual energy alone was not enough—one had to possess a high elemental affinity as well; otherwise, if one couldn't even sense the elements, how could one refine magic power?

And now, possessing affinity for all seven elements, combined with spiritual energy far exceeding that of ordinary people... Lin Yun could imagine that his path of magic would be a broad, heavenly road!

"Linley, Lin Yun."

Doering's voice drifted out from the ring; although Lin Yun couldn't hear it, Linley immediately relayed it.

"Grandpa Doering says that starting from today, he will systematically teach us magic." Linley's eyes lit up, "Meditation is the foundation of magic cultivation, and also the most important part. Only when spiritual energy is sufficiently powerful can one sense and refine more magic elements."

"Then what should we do?" Lin Yun asked.

Linley listened intently for a moment, then said: "Grandpa Doering says you did very well in your meditation today. From now on, meditate once every morning and evening, for at least half an hour each time. The longer you meditate, the faster your spiritual energy will grow."

"As for me..." Linley gave a wry smile, "Grandpa Doering says I still need to learn how to enter a meditative state stably before I can begin formal cultivation."

Doering's voice rang out again, and Linley continued to relay: "He also said that magic cultivation is not a matter of a single day. One must have patience and persistence. No matter how good the talent is, it is wasted without hard work."

Lin Yun nodded earnestly.

He understood this better than anyone. Talent determines the upper limit, while hard work determines the lower limit—this principle holds true in every world.

"Also," Linley's expression became serious, "Grandpa Doering says that regarding his existence and the fact that we are learning magic, we must absolutely not tell anyone. Including Father."

"I know," Lin Yun said.

A Saint Realm soul was a massive temptation for any powerhouse practicing Necromancy. If the news were to leak, not only would Doering be in danger, but the entire Baruch Clan would face an existential catastrophe.

"Then when do we start formally learning magic?" Lin Yun asked.

Linley listened intently again, a smile appearing on his face: "Tomorrow."

The night grew deep.

Lin Yun lay on his bed, eyes closed, yet he was not asleep.

His consciousness swayed gently between two worlds. His body in the Swallowed Star World was currently fast asleep in a low-rent housing unit in Yangzhou City—he had to go to school tomorrow, and although he felt it was a waste of time, he would still go so as not to disappoint his grandfather.

Meanwhile, in the Coiling Dragon World, the arrival of Delin meant that his path of magic had officially begun.

With a talent for Seven-Element Magic, the personal guidance of a Saint Realm magus, and the advantage of dual-world cultivation, his starting point was higher than anyone else's.

But a high starting point did not guarantee a high finish.

He knew that in the future of the Coiling Dragon World, countless powerful enemies awaited him—foremost among them the Radiant Church, the very force that had caused his mother's death. And in the future of the Swallowed Star World, there were even more formidable cosmic civilizations, the Golden Horned Beast, and even those Universe Masters capable of destroying galaxies with a mere thought.

He needed to become stronger.

Stronger than anyone else.

Lin Yun opened his eyes, looking at the moonlight outside the window, his heart filled with extraordinary anticipation.

Eight years old, dual-world cultivation, the path of magic begins.