Two strands of divine sense descended into the underground cavern, and Doehring immediately detected them.
One was extremely subtle, sweeping over him only once before retreating into the distance. The other made no attempt to hide itself, examining Linley, Bebe, and Mo Ers in turn.
"Two Deity Level experts."
Doehring's heart sank.
He had only just become a deity and knew nothing about the Deity Level experts currently on the Yulan Continent. But Mo Ers had yet to stop attacking, and he could not spare any attention for those two strands of divine sense.
"Roar!"
Mo Ers roared in fury, his enormous body suddenly exerting its strength.
The jet-black scales on the dragon claw Doehring held up went taut. Overwhelming force pressed down, and Doehring's right hand sank slightly.
In terms of physical strength alone, a newly formed divine body was enough to overpower a Saint Realm magical beast. But Doehring had been a mage and was not accustomed to competing with magical beasts in brute strength.
With a thought, a peculiar power radiated from his body.
God's Domain!
Mo Ers's body abruptly froze. The power that had been surging within him was completely suppressed, and he could not even raise his other dragon claw.
Linley and Bebe also felt the space around them tighten, but the binding force soon vanished from their bodies. Though this was Doehring's first time using God's Domain, he had instinctively excluded the two of them.
But the domain had expanded too quickly.
Crack!
A huge fissure suddenly split the cavern ceiling. Immediately afterward, a series of cracking sounds came from the surrounding rock walls, and large chunks of stone fell.
One enormous boulder was falling straight toward the dragon bones.
Doehring's expression shifted slightly, and he immediately swept his left hand.
Dense, earthen-yellow light enveloped the boulder. The stone, weighing tens of thousands of pounds, simply stopped in midair. More earthen-yellow light spread out, protecting all the dragon bones and supporting the loosened rock strata.
Doehring immediately contracted his domain, leaving only an area several dozen meters around Mo Ers.
The cavern stopped shaking.
To think the difference between divine power and mageforce was so great, Doehring thought.
Over five thousand years ago, his control over spiritual energy and mageforce had already been extraordinarily precise. Yet now, merely releasing a little too much divine power had nearly collapsed this cavern.
Mo Ers seized the opportunity to withdraw his dragon claw and retreat two steps, his dark-gold eyes fixed on Doehring.
"You've become a deity?"
"I just broke through." Doehring did not conceal it.
Mo Ers looked at the Coiling Dragon Ring on Linley's finger.
"You came out of that dragon relic."
Doehring frowned. When the Laws of the Universe had descended, enormous dragon-shaped markings had indeed appeared inside the Coiling Dragon Ring. But he did not know what that ring actually was either.
"We have no intention of touching the dragon bones here," Doehring said. "Linley and Bebe only fell into this place by accident."
"He has dragon blood in him. And that ring holds an even more ancient dragon aura."
"So you decided he had come to steal the dragon bones?"
Mo Ers did not answer, but his foreclaws dug into the rock again.
Doehring could tell that this Black Armored Earth Dragon had not given up.
"We did trespass on your territory, even if it was by mistake," Doehring said calmly. "But if you still intend to kill Linley, I can only act again."
"Outsiders who intrude upon the burial ground cannot leave alive."
Doehring's brows drew together.
An extremely narrow God's Domain unfurled again, enveloping Mo Ers completely.
Boom!
The rock beneath Mo Ers's feet suddenly rose, attempting to carry him out of the domain. Dense, earthen-yellow light also appeared across his jet-black scales.
"Manipulating earth elemental essence in front of me?"
A hint of amusement flashed through Doehring's eyes.
When it came to the Earth Element, his pride as a peak Saint Realm archmage returned.
Doehring extended his right hand and gently closed it.
The large quantity of earth elemental essence gathered beneath Mo Ers's feet instantly dispersed. The raised rock became level again. No matter how Mo Ers drove his spiritual energy, the surrounding earth elemental essence did not respond at all.
"Impossible!" Mo Ers growled.
"You're merely using spiritual energy to force the earth elemental essence to obey," Doehring said. "That way of using it barely scratches the surface."
Mo Ers's scales scraped together in a rapid clatter as he struggled desperately, yet he could not even lift his tail.
Doehring did not attack.
Though this earth dragon was ferocious, he was not fighting for treasure or prey. He simply valued the dragon bones here more than his own life.
"I won't kill you, nor will I take anything from this place," Doehring said. "We'll withdraw from the burial ground and never approach it again."
Mo Ers stared at him. "The words of the strong prove nothing."
"I can promise you that," Linley suddenly said.
His voice was somewhat hoarse, but firm.
"We won't take a single dragon bone, nor will we tell anyone else where this place is."
Doehring glanced back at Linley, then withdrew his God's Domain.
The restraints vanished, and Mo Ers swiftly moved sideways in front of the dragon bones, shielding the remains with his body. Even defeated, he still refused to bow his head.
A moment later, Mo Ers slammed a foreclaw heavily against the ground.
A rumble sounded on the cavern's left side. Large masses of rock parted to either side, revealing a passage slanting upward.
"Follow the passage," Mo Ers said slowly. "Do not return."
"We'll keep our word," Doehring said.
Rather than leaving immediately, he turned toward the rock walls his domain had cracked.
Earthen-yellow divine power flowed into the mountain. Over a hundred cracks rapidly closed, and the loosened boulders settled back into the rock strata. Moments later, the entire cavern was stable again.
The hostility in Mo Ers's eyes lessened slightly.
"I caused it, so naturally I should repair it," Doehring said.
Mo Ers did not thank him.
Doehring did not mind. He turned around and finally faced Linley directly.
Linley was still fully Dragonformed. Many of his black dragon scales were broken, and he had wounds on his chest and arms. He still gripped the Edgeless heavy sword tightly.
"Little fellow."
Clang!
The Edgeless heavy sword fell to the ground.
Linley stared at Doehring in a daze.
Just now, Doehring had first shielded him, then been unable to resist explaining the use of the Earth Element while suppressing Mo Ers. That tone, that pride that naturally emerged whenever he spoke of the Earth Element-none of it had changed.
This man was Grandpa Doehring.
Linley slowly released his Dragonform. The black dragon scales and spikes rapidly withdrew into his body, and he returned to his human appearance.
Seeing his wounds, Doehring immediately frowned. "Treat your wounds first."
But Linley took a step forward.
Doehring instinctively raised his hand, intending to pat Linley's head as he had in the past. But Linley had grown up, and Doehring was no longer a soul without a physical body.
His hand stopped in midair.
Linley reached out with his right hand, first gripping the cuff of Doehring's moon-white robe, then touching his wrist.
Warm and solid.
There was even a pulse beating steadily within that wrist.
"Grandpa Doehring."
Linley suddenly stepped forward and threw his arms around Doehring.
His arms tightened forcefully, his body still trembling slightly. When facing the Saint Realm Black Armored Earth Dragon just now, he had still been able to calmly assess attacks and escape routes, but now he could not even form a complete sentence.
Doehring froze.
He had only intended to pat Linley's head and had never expected Linley to suddenly embrace him. For a moment, his hands hovered in midair, and he did not know where to put them.
"You're still alive." Linley's voice trembled.
"Yes."
"Grandpa Doehring, you really are still alive."
"Yes, I'm still alive."
Doehring felt a sting in his eyes.
He slowly lowered his hands, resting one on the back of Linley's head and wrapping the other around his shoulders and back.
Back in Hess City, he had only been able to pat Linley's head before burning his soul. That had been their final farewell.
This time, his hand did not pass through Linley's body.
"All right." Doehring gently patted Linley's back. "I've only just gotten a body. Squeeze any harder and you'll break this old man's bones."
Linley hurriedly loosened his grip. "Could I really break a divine body by hugging it?"
"Of course not," Doehring said with a laugh. "But if I didn't say that, how long were you planning to keep holding me?"
Linley finally let go of Doehring. His eyes were red, but a smile appeared on his face.
Bebe jumped onto a nearby rock and flicked his tail.
"Boss, you finally let go. I thought you were going to hug him until dawn."
Doehring turned toward Bebe.
After becoming a deity, he could clearly sense the spiritual fluctuations Bebe deliberately emitted.
"You must be Bebe," Doehring said with a smile. "Back when I was in the ring, I saw you fighting Linley over roast meat plenty of times."
Bebe's eyes lit up. "You can hear me talking?"
"I can now."
Bebe immediately jumped onto Linley's shoulder, looking first at Doehring, then turning to Linley.
"Boss, you can see Grandpa Doehring too, right?"
Linley reached up and stroked Bebe's head.
"I can."
Only then did Bebe relax completely.
He looked at Doehring and called out solemnly, "Grandpa Doehring."
"Good," Doehring said with a nod. "Thank you for staying by Linley's side all these years."
"Boss stayed by my side too. We're brothers. There's no need for thanks."
The smile on Doehring's face deepened.
"That's right."
Those two strands of divine sense in the distance still had not left.
Doehring quickly put away his smile. "Treat your wounds first, then we'll leave. Two Deity Level experts were examining us just now, and I still don't know who they are."
Linley nodded and took medicine and clean clothes from his interspatial ring. Only after confirming that Bebe had suffered nothing but flesh wounds did he begin bandaging his own injuries.
Doehring's gaze fell on the Coiling Dragon Ring on Linley's finger.
This ring had trapped him for over five thousand years, and it had also protected his true spirit at the last moment in Hess City.
"Linley, give me the ring."
Linley immediately took off the Coiling Dragon Ring and handed it over.
As the cold face of the ring settled into his palm, Doehring's fingers paused slightly. In the past, he had always remained inside the ring, never holding it in his hand as he did now.
Doehring released his divine sense and probed into the Coiling Dragon Ring.
Inside the ring was the same familiar dark space. But when his divine sense probed deeper, seeking the region that had once protected his true spirit, it encountered an invisible barrier.
No matter how Doehring examined it, those enormous dragon-shaped markings did not reappear.
The soul-protecting space had sealed itself.
Doehring withdrew his divine sense and returned the Coiling Dragon Ring to Linley.
"Grandpa Doehring?"
"It's nothing." Doehring shook his head. "Let's leave first."
Linley put the ring back on and picked up the Edgeless heavy sword.
Doehring turned toward the passage Mo Ers had opened. After a few steps, he stopped again and looked back at Linley.
Linley and Bebe were both following behind him.
This time, the Coiling Dragon Ring was still on Linley's hand.
But Doehring no longer had to return to the ring.