The trial ended, and Linley and Bebe both passed, officially becoming Ordinary Fiend of the Fiend Castle.
What caught Linley off guard after Bebe became a god was not his strength, but his appearance.
That morning, as Linley stepped out of the stone house, he saw a strange boy squatting at the door, teasing a small animal he had caught from somewhere. The boy was about fifteen or sixteen years old, with short, jet-black hair, a handsome face, and bright, mischievous eyes.
"Who are you?" Linley frowned.
The boy looked up, grinned at him, and said, "Boss, it's me! Bebe!"
Linley was stunned.
The boy stood up, dusted himself off, and twirled around triumphantly. "How about it, boss? This is the best look I could imagine. Deity Level magical beasts can transform into human form, and I spent a long time figuring it out before I could achieve this."
Linley looked him up and down, and for a moment he was both amused and exasperated. He then remembered that Bebe was no longer the Shadow Mouse that used to perch on his shoulder. A lower- Darkness Element Lowgod, capable of taking human form.
"You..." Linley opened his mouth, "How can you lean on my shoulder looking like this?"
"That's easy!" Bebe chuckled, shrinking back into the Shadow Mouse the size of a palm, and leaping onto Linley's shoulder. "You can turn into a human when you want, and into a mouse when you want. Boss, you can't be envious of that."
Linley shook his head, too lazy to argue with this lazy brat.
In the days that followed, Linley took on missions from the castle, hunting exiles and ferocious beasts in the Gebados Wasteland, while simultaneously studying the Laws of Wind. His strength steadily improved through countless life-or-death battles. Bebe, on the other hand, sometimes transformed into a boy and sometimes back into Shadowmouse, living a more comfortable life than anyone else in the perilous Gebados Wasteland.
Until that day, a piece of news shattered Linley's peaceful training.
"Have you heard? The Emperor Wing Fiend Gula has declared that he will massacre the exiles of the Western Wasteland. Anyone who stands in his way will be killed."
" Gula? That madman who reached the peak of the Midgod?"
"That's him. I heard his son died at the hands of the exiles, and he's going to seek revenge."
Linley initially didn't intend to pay any attention. However, when he received a mission from the castle to investigate the Western Wasteland, he unexpectedly ran into Gula.
It was a bald giant nearly three meters tall, his muscles bulging like iron, his body engulfed in jet-black demonic flames. The demonic flames were not scorching hot, but they exuded a suffocating aura of death, and wherever they passed, even the sand and stones on the ground were charred black.
A peak Midgod. Even in Fiend Castle, Gula is a figure of considerable stature.
At this moment, at Gula's feet, more than a dozen exiles lay dead, their blood soaking the scorched earth and forming a dark red stream.
"Boy." Gula slowly turned around, his scarlet eyes coldly fixed on Linley. "Are you also one of these exiles?"
Linley's heart sank. He could see that Gula's eyes were bloodshot; he was already in a killing frenzy.
Gula didn't give Linley a chance to explain.
He threw a punch.
The pitch-black demonic flames condensed into a fist tens of feet in size, carrying a world-destroying force as it smashed towards Linley. Wherever the fist passed, the air emitted a shrill shriek, and the sand and stones on the ground were all swept up.
Linley's pupils shrank sharply. This punch was ten times more terrifying than any of the ferocious beasts he had encountered in the trials.
He retreated rapidly, simultaneously drawing his Purple Blood Soft Sword and unleashing a Blade of Dimension strike.
But the Blade of Dimension, powerful enough to tear space apart, was completely swallowed up by the giant fist of demonic flames, like a mud ox sinking into the sea, without even a ripple.
"A lower -Wind Element Lowgod dares to draw his sword before me?" Gula sneered, "Overestimating yourself!"
The second punch has already landed.
Linley was slammed into the ground by a punch, causing the earth to crack and rocks to fly everywhere. His bones were almost shattered, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Boss!" Bebe's eyes reddened. He instantly transformed into a boy, his palms clasped together, and two jet-black claw shadows tore towards Gula.
With a casual wave of his hand, Gula's two claw shadows, powerful enough to tear apart Midgod, crumbled like paper. Bebe was swept away by the aftershock and sent flying, crashing into half of a stone mountain.
"A lowly rat of a Lowgod dares to come and die," Gula sneered.
Linley struggled to his feet, covered in blood. He looked at the arrogant Gula, then at Bebe lying in the ruins, and a surge of overwhelming fighting spirit suddenly welled up in his eyes.
The wind couldn't stop him.
But beneath his feet was still the earth.
Linley slowly closed his eyes.
The earth. Profound, steady, bearing all things, enduring for billions of years without decay. The Dragonblood Warrior bloodline within him originates from the power of the earth. In these years in Gebados, he has been chasing the wind, but he has forgotten that his true roots are the soil.
" The Earth Element, the Earth Pulsation... bearing, protecting, and endlessly regenerating." Linley murmured softly, his voice seemingly coming from the depths of the earth.
In an instant, the Laws of the Universe descended once more.
Earthy yellow divine power surged wildly from the depths of the earth, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, pouring into the side of Linley Lei's true form, forming a new body. The body of his true form, which had been tempered by Wind Divine Power, was now undergoing another transformation, and an earthy yellow Divine Spark slowly condensed within his soul.
Earth Element Lowgod Spark, accomplished!
The Earth Clone into the main body, and Linley slowly straightened up. One of his eyes shone with a Azure Light, while the other was a deep, earthy yellow. Wind Element and Earth Element, two divine powers, converged within his body.
"Dual Divine Spark?" Gula's pupils contracted, then he grinned maliciously. "So what if Lowgod has dual Divine Spark? I'm a peak Midgod!"
Before the words were even finished, the third punch had already been thrown.
Linley gripped the sword with both hands, and Wind Divine Power and Earth Element Divine Power surged into the Purple Blood Soft Sword simultaneously. On the blade, Azure Light and earthy yellow intertwined, condensing into an unprecedented sword aura.
"The earth is my shield; the wind is my blade!"
A sword slashed out.
boom!
Sword and fist collided with a deafening roar, sending Linley flying backward. His feet pounded the ground, carving two deep furrows. His hands, gripping the sword, were split open, bleeding profusely.
But this time, he did not fall.
"Interesting." Gula licked his lips, his eyes flashing even more fiercely. "To withstand three of my punches, you, a Lowgod, do have some skill. But today, you still die!"
He no longer held back, unleashing a flurry of punches, the dark demonic flames surging forth like raging waves, each punch heavier than the last.
Linley gritted his teeth and braced himself. He used Wind Element attacks and Earth Element defenses, pushing the power of his dual Divine Spark to their limits. But Gula was, after all, a peak Midgod. Every punch he received caused Lin Lei excruciating pain all over his body, as if his internal organs were about to shatter.
Bebe also rose from the ruins, transformed into a boy, and fought alongside Linley. The man and the rat, with their combined divine power, barely managed to withstand the surging demonic flames.
Blood gushed from Linley's mouth and nose. His arms were so painful that he had almost lost all feeling in them. Yet he did not retreat an inch.
Finally, Gula stopped.
He gazed at Linley, who was covered in blood but still stood upright, and a faint look of surprise flashed across his crimson eyes.
"Boy, state your name," Gula suddenly said.
" Linley." Linley was panting, but still held his head high. " The Baruch Clan, Linley."
" Linley," Gula murmured, then suddenly burst into laughter, "Fine! I won't kill you today. Come find me again when you reach the level of Midgod!"
Having said that, he turned and strode away, and the raging demonic flames gradually died down.
Linley could no longer hold on; his legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground.
"Boss!" Bebe rushed over and supported him. "Are you alright?"
"He won't die." Linley wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, watching Gula's departing figure, a deep resentment flashing in his eyes. "Peak Midgod... indeed, he's beyond my current capabilities."
He barely managed to hold his own in this battle and save his life.
But he finally understood that there were always people more capable than him in Gebados. He still had a long way to go.