Everyone was thrilled that they had forged such a perfect weapon, so they held another banquet at the estate.
"I've been eating at banquets every day. I'm getting fat!"
Garen joked.
Ever since they arrived, Yale had treated them to delicious food every day. He was almost too hospitable.
After the banquet, Linley got the urge to practice with his heavy sword in the courtyard.
After a while, he suddenly looked excited and left.
Linley had already learned how strong Garen was during their earlier conversation, but he hadn't asked for his help. It seemed he didn't want to owe him too much, especially since he now had the strength to avenge himself.
Garen didn't mind. He returned to the hotel he had booked and began meditating to refine his spiritual power.
He couldn't give up on cultivating just because he had a system.
In fact, after the Soul Golden Bead had strengthened his soul, Garen had become much faster at comprehending the Laws and Mysteries.
He had gained over a hundred thousand points of experience in just over a month in the Sunset Mountain Range. If he could keep his mind focused and comprehend nature at that pace, he'd fully grasp the Wind Element and reach the God Realm in less than twenty years.
Of course, his own comprehension would certainly hit bottlenecks. There was no way he could make steady progress all the way to godhood.
Without groups of Magical Beasts to hunt, searching for them one at a time to gain experience was actually very inefficient. It wasn't necessarily much faster than comprehending the Laws and Mysteries himself anymore.
Besides, a moment of sudden insight while comprehending the Laws and Mysteries could save him from hunting who knew how many Magical Beasts.
He had already cleared out the Level Nine Magical Beasts in the Blazing Sun Desert and the Sunset Mountain Range. Most of the Level Nine Magical Beasts in the Magical Beast Mountain Range were probably still on the front lines, attacking cities. Beirut seemed to keep a close eye on the Dark Forest and the Eighteen Northern Duchies, so it would be best not to go looking for trouble there.
Even with a system, he couldn't throw his weight around in the early stages of his time in the Material Plane of the Yulan Continent. Damn, this was frustrating.
Garen decided that if he couldn't beat them, he'd join them. After saving Doehring Cowart this time, he'd talk more with Linley and Bebe and build a good relationship with them.
He remembered that the system had once given him a Side Quest to benefit from the protagonist Linley's fortune. That meant fortune existed in this universe, too. Perhaps his own fortune would improve if he stuck with Linley.
At this point, Garen didn't know whether Beirut had noticed Bebe yet. Either way, as long as he got along with Bebe, he should be fine on the Yulan Continent in the future.
For now, he'd keep a low profile, grow stronger quietly, and avoid trouble.
And so, Garen stayed in Hess City for several days, keeping a close eye on what was happening around town.
If a large group of Level Nine experts fought and caused powerful shock waves, he would certainly sense them.
One day, just after Garen finished cultivating, he felt a strange, powerful surge coming from nearby.
He hurried toward its source.
Before he could get close, he saw a Level Nine warrior carrying a greatsword on his back rush past him.
Garen didn't stop to ask questions. He could already see a white glow in the distance. The battle's shock waves were coming from there, so he flew over without hesitation.
Inside the three-dimensional octahedron formed by six Level Nine warriors, blood was everywhere. Bodies lay strewn across the ground, so mangled they were barely recognizable.
Within the octahedron, a dragon-shaped man knelt on one knee, covered in blood, with most of his scales shattered and a wound in his chest that cut down to the bone. An old man with a white beard floated in the air, seeming to give him some final instructions, while a Magical Beast in the form of a rat attacked the barrier frantically. The barrier only rippled in response, showing no sign of breaking.
"Old man, don't do anything rash!"
Garen shouted anxiously.
Garen was moving so fast that his voice swept toward them from afar. The moment the six Level Nine warriors noticed someone approaching, a powerful killing intent bore down on them. Their combined attack, which was nearly on the level of a Saint Realm technique, almost collapsed.
"Die!"
Garen swung his blade. The God-Slaying Blade cut through the white light like a knife through tofu, and one of the Level Nine warriors was cleaved in two.
Ding: Killed a Level Nine warrior. Gained 1,209 experience points.
The other five Level Nine warriors spat blood in unison, their condition deteriorating at once.
"Garen!"
Linley was overjoyed. He had been too confident and underestimated the combined attack of the six Level Nine warriors. He had been gravely wounded and nearly killed, and he had almost gotten his good brother Bebe and Grandpa Doehring killed as well.
Garen had no time to answer. Afraid Bebe might rush in and steal his kills, he unleashed the Laws of the Wind Element. Afterimages flashed one after another, and all five Level Nine warriors died.
Ding: Killed a Level Nine warrior. Gained 1,211 experience points...
Five notifications rang in succession, each awarding experience. Only then did Garen hurry over, nod to Doehring Cowart, and help Linley up.
Ding: Completed the Side Quest: Save Doehring Cowart. Reward: "Soul Mutation."
"Holy crap, what a surprise! Now that's what you call a surprise!"
Garen instantly felt his Soul Power increase tenfold, and his spiritual power grew much stronger along with it.
A blade-shaped soul slowly took shape and appeared above his Soul Ocean.
Normally, a soul could only take form when its owner had Saint Realm-level spiritual power. Yet his had already taken shape while he was only Level Nine.
Garen was ecstatic. Soul Mutation! It was an exceptionally rare way to grow stronger in the Coiling Dragon Universe.
Soul Mutation came with many benefits. After becoming a god, he could fuse divine power from two elements, increasing its power tenfold.
He could also fuse Laws and Mysteries from two different elements. Once Laws and Mysteries from the same element were fused, their power increased tenfold.
Fusing Laws and Mysteries from two different elements was ten times more powerful than fusing two from the same element. It was equivalent to fusing three Laws and Mysteries from the same element, making it a hundred times more powerful than unfused Laws and Mysteries.
A tenfold increase in Soul Power would not only speed up his comprehension of the Laws and Mysteries; it would also greatly strengthen both his Soul Attacks and his soul defense.
In short, it came with all sorts of benefits.
At last, he'd be able to truly fuse two types of magic. Their power would increase dramatically. Even when he'd merely used them together before, they'd dealt double damage. A true fusion would probably make them ten times stronger, just like fusing Laws and Mysteries.
If two Level Nine spells could be perfectly fused, wouldn't their power be about the same as a forbidden spell?
Garen lost himself in wild fantasies.
"Garen, Garen..."
"Hm?"
It was Linley calling him. A pair of large hands waved in front of his eyes.
"Garen, thank you so much for this. The consequences would have been unimaginable otherwise."
Linley was still shaken. Grandpa Doehring had just begun telling him to take care of himself in the future. Though Linley didn't know how Grandpa Doehring planned to help him escape the deadly situation, his instincts told him that the outcome would be something he couldn't accept. A strong sense of foreboding had washed over him.
Just then, Garen had arrived in time and saved him from certain death.
"Come on, you don't have to thank me. We're brothers."
Garen waved it off.
"Linley, Garen, you need to leave right away. If more experts from the Radiant Church show up, we'll have trouble on our hands."
Doehring Cowart spoke up at just the right moment.
Seeing the crowd slowly gathering hundreds of meters away in response to the powerful shock waves from the battle, Garen grabbed Linley and quickly left.
Not far away, Yale, George, Reynolds, and a group from the Dawson Chamber of Commerce happened to pass by. They saw Garen and Linley in the distance and were about to call out, but Munro Dawson stopped them.
"That's where the higher-ups of the Radiant Church gather. The people they killed were all high-ranking members of the Radiant Church. We're still in their territory, so don't draw attention to yourselves, or we'll be in danger later. Pretend nothing happened. We can look for a chance to meet up with them later."
Thanks to Shashi Ji for the monthly pass and recommendation, and thanks to all the other readers for their recommendations and bookmarks. The book is about to get its first round of recommendations, so please send in your free recommendation tickets. Thank you, everyone!
###
[Please take a moment to share this website on Facebook so we can keep operating.]
Before you continue