The passage sloped upward, growing narrower as they went.
Linley walked in front with the heavy sword on his back, Bebe sprawled on his shoulder. Doehring followed beside him, reaching out from time to time to touch the rock wall. The cold stone brushed his fingertips. Even that simple sensation still felt novel to him.
After roughly an hour, light finally appeared ahead.
The three emerged through a crack in the mountain.
Outside lay a quiet valley. Sunlight fell through the leaves, and a stream flowed nearby. Linley looked back and saw the layers of rock behind them slowly closing together until even the crack disappeared.
Mo Ers had sealed the passage.
"Let's go," Linley said.
He had promised Mo Ers not to approach the burial ground again, so naturally he would not linger. But they had barely gone a few dozen meters when Doehring suddenly stopped.
Linley immediately gripped Edgeless's hilt as well.
The valley was silent. Even the birdsong had vanished.
A dark-gold figure appeared soundlessly above the stream.
The newcomer was a young man so handsome he looked almost otherworldly. He wore dark-gold robes, his long black hair hanging loosely behind his shoulders. A vertical mark lay between his brows, and his eyes rested calmly on Doehring.
There was no oppressive aura, nor any God's Domain.
Yet Linley's breath caught.
It was as though an exceedingly terrifying magical beast lurked within the young man before him. Merely by standing there, he left every living creature around him afraid to make a sound.
"Dylan," Doehring said slowly.
"You know me?" The otherworldly young man looked at him.
"Mo Ers mentioned the master of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts," Doehring said. "One of the two divine senses that examined me just now should have belonged to you."
Dylan did not deny it. His gaze lingered on Doehring for a moment before turning to Linley.
The Purple Blood Soft Sword on Linley's back trembled faintly.
A trace of cold light flashed through Dylan's eyes.
"It was this sword."
Linley was startled. "You've seen the Purple Blood Soft Sword?"
"It held down a spatial seal beneath Mist Valley. You pulled it out, and the seal collapsed. Only then could I escape the Gebados Planar Prison," Dylan said evenly. "Human, you released me unintentionally. I remember that debt."
Linley had never imagined that taking the Purple Blood Soft Sword back then would have caused such enormous consequences.
Doehring frowned as well.
Back then, he had been the one to judge the Purple Blood Soft Sword a treasure and tell Linley to pull it out. Neither of them had discovered that the divine artifact was actually the key to a seal.
"So the Day of Destruction began with that sword," Linley said quietly.
Dylan glanced at him. "Even without you, the seal was already weakening. I would have escaped sooner or later. You merely brought it forward."
He offered no further explanation, turning his gaze back to Doehring.
"You became a god in my mountain range," Dylan said. "The Laws of the Universe won't ask who this place belongs to. I will."
Doehring took half a step forward, positioning himself just ahead of Linley to one side.
"We entered the underground ancestral grounds by mistake. Becoming a god wasn't something I had planned beforehand either," Doehring said. "I have no intention of seizing territory in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts."
"Having no intention now doesn't mean you won't later," Dylan said. "Humans are accustomed to establishing cities, temples, and armies. One Deity Level expert remaining here is enough to alter the territories of all the Saint Realm magical beasts."
"So you want us to leave?"
"That would be simplest."
Linley frowned.
He had entered the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts precisely to continue his arduous training. It was still far earlier than his planned departure, and his Edgeless Heavy Sword had yet to reach the higher level recorded in his clan's texts. If he left immediately, this nearly yearlong period of training would be interrupted.
Doehring did not answer at once.
Dylan was far stronger than he was, having only just become a god. If they truly fought, he had no chance of winning. Besides, they were indeed in the other party's territory. If they wished to remain, they would have to abide by the rules of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts.
"Linley still needs to train here," Doehring said. "We can accept boundaries."
Dylan's expression did not change. "Three conditions."
"First, you must not seize the territories of Saint Realm magical beasts or establish human outposts in the mountains. Second, you cannot use divine power to hunt magical beasts here. Humans who enter the mountains to train bear responsibility for their own survival, and the same applies to magical beasts. Third, if a human army ever enters the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts with the aid of your power, you will leave."
Each condition was stated plainly, without room for negotiation.
After a little thought, Doehring nodded. "Agreed. But if Linley faces a truly inescapable death, I will intervene."
Dylan looked at him. "If you kill ordinary magical beasts to save him, I won't interfere. If you kill a Saint Realm lord of these mountains in doing so, take him and leave."
"Fair."
Dylan turned to Linley again. "As for you, the magical beasts here won't step aside just because you released me. Whether you kill them or they eat you, both follow the rules here."
"I came to the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts to train in the first place," Linley said. "I don't need them to step aside."
Dylan's gaze paused on the Edgeless Heavy Sword before he said, "You have a god at your side now, yet you're still willing to say that. I hope you can truly live up to it."
Doehring stroked his white beard. "Starting today, I'll conceal my Deity Level aura. Linley will handle his normal battles himself, and I won't directly give him the answers concerning the laws."
Linley turned to Doehring.
"Grandpa Doehring, I don't need you to keep me apart from danger."
"This isn't keeping you apart from danger," Doehring said. "It's giving you back the dangers that belong to you. Little fellow, a teacher can tell you there's a cliff ahead, but he can't walk every road for you."
Linley fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
There was actually something else he had left unsaid.
Doehring had only just returned, and Linley did not want to let him face any danger again. But if he abandoned his training because of that and hid behind a Deity Level expert forever, he would never truly gain the strength to protect his loved ones.
Dylan watched the teacher and disciple, the coldness in his eyes easing slightly.
"You may remain in the mountains," he said. "Until I confirm that you have no intention of seizing territory."
"As for the other divine sense, it came from the Dark Forest. Whether that individual is willing merely to watch from afar has nothing to do with me."
Doehring's expression shifted slightly.
He could sense that the concealed divine sense still lingered far in the distance. The other party was extremely restrained in examining him, yet gave him an unfathomable feeling.
Dylan offered no further explanation.
Space trembled only slightly, and he vanished from above the stream.
Sound returned to the valley.
Birdsong rang out again among the trees, and the stream still flowed gently, as though that otherworldly young man had never appeared.
"Grandpa Doehring, is he stronger than you?" Linley asked.
"Much stronger," Doehring said frankly. "He has already advanced far within the Lowgod level, and his true form is a Divine Beast. As I am now, I'm no match for him."
Linley unconsciously tightened his grip on Edgeless's hilt.
Seeing this, Doehring smiled. "What, planning this old man's future for him again?"
"I just want to know the gap."
"Knowing the gap is a good thing. But let's tend to your injuries and Bebe's first, then talk about training."
The three followed the stream for several kilometers and found a patch of woodland on higher ground.
Linley reapplied medicinal powder to his wounds, then carefully examined the spot where the dragon's tail had struck Bebe. Only after confirming that Bebe had suffered nothing more than flesh wounds did he go nearby and hunt down a fourth-rank Single-Horned Boar.
Bebe handled removing the Magic Crystal Core. Linley cut off the two hind legs, washed them in the stream, and set up a simple wooden rack. After lighting the dry firewood, he turned the meat while sprinkling it with coarse salt.
The aroma of meat soon spread.
Doehring sat on a nearby rock, watching the flames lick the meat with a somewhat distant expression.
During those years accompanying Linley, he had seen scenes like this many times. Linley and Bebe would roast meat in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts while he explained magic beside them or reminded them to watch out for nearby magical beasts.
But back then, he had had no body.
Linley offered him the first piece of roasted meat. "Grandpa Doehring."
Doehring reached out and took the branch.
The bark was rough, and the roasted meat was hot. Fat dripped from it, nearly landing on his robes.
Doehring blew on it twice and took a bite.
The outside was lightly charred, while the inside still held its juices. There was not much coarse salt. The flavor was hardly refined, but it was hot.
"How is it?" Bebe asked eagerly, crouching beside him.
Doehring swallowed slowly and nodded. "Better than I imagined."
"Of course. Boss is great at roasting meat. It's just that this past year, he sometimes got so caught up in thinking that he'd eat it even when it burned." As Bebe spoke, he had already hugged his own boar leg and begun gnawing on it.
Linley glanced at Bebe without arguing.
Doehring did not press the matter either. He simply took another bite, then lowered his head to look at his hands.
After more than five thousand years, he had finally eaten a mouthful of hot food again.
"Too hot?" Linley asked.
"No." Doehring stroked his white beard. "This old man just forgot that eating means chewing slowly, too."
Bebe immediately burst out laughing.
They finished the meal quickly.
After darkness fell, Linley leaned against a tree trunk and closed his eyes to rest. Bebe lay beside his shoulder and soon fell asleep.
Doehring, however, walked to the stream, crouched down, and immersed his hand in the water.
The stream was cold at night.
He took his hand out, then put it back in. Water flowed between his fingers, bringing a distinct chill. This sensation could not have been more ordinary to most people, but he tried it several times.
"Grandpa Doehring."
Linley's voice came from behind him.
Doehring turned. Although Linley's eyes were closed, his spiritual energy had remained on him all along.
"I'm here," Doehring said.
Linley said nothing more.
Only after a while did his spiritual energy slowly withdraw. His breathing gradually grew steady as well.
Sitting beside the stream, Doehring looked at his water-soaked cuff and shook his head with a smile.
Early the next morning, Linley shouldered the Edgeless Heavy Sword again.
The three continued north.
Doehring completely concealed his Deity Level aura. As long as he did not actively use divine power, ordinary magical beasts would sense him as an old man with neither battle qi nor magical power.
Linley still traveled barefoot.
After leaving the valley, he stopped in a clearing, took down the Edgeless Heavy Sword, and began his daily basic training.
Splitting, chopping, sweeping upward, thrusting.
The 3,600-jin Black Jade Heavy Sword cut through the air, every stroke raising a heavy rush of wind. Dead leaves on the ground were swept up by the air currents, then crushed by the force carried by the blade.
Linley swung three hundred times in succession without the slightest distortion in his movements.
Doehring stood beside him, watching the entire time.
Only when Linley lowered his sword did he speak. "You have plenty of strength, and there's no problem with the coordination between your battle qi and your body. But there's one thing."
Linley looked at him.
Doehring pointed at the Black Jade Heavy Sword.
"With a heavy sword weighing 3,600 jin, why must every strike be so heavy?"