The autumn rains had just stopped in the capital of the Yulan Empire.
Linley stayed at Delia's place for a few days, and the two chatted about their recent lives and made plans for the future. That night, he had just sat down in his study when a very faint ripple came from outside the window.
It wasn't the wind, but a transmission from the soul. It came from thousands of miles away, intermittent, like muffled thunder broken into pieces.
Linley's expression changed instantly, and he stood up abruptly. Delia happened to be bringing in tea when she saw his expression, paused, and asked softly, "What's wrong?"
" Haeru's voice transmission." Linley's brows furrowed tightly. "It's too far away. I could only hear a few fragmented words— Useno, Saint Realm expert, the five brothers... they've all been captured."
Delia paused, composed herself, put down her teacup, and looked at him. " The Radiant Church has made its move?"
Linley closed his eyes and tried to communicate with Haeru in his mind again. After a long while, he pieced together a few more complete sentences from that distant, almost broken wave: Gates, Hazer, and Ankh were surrounded by nine Four-Winged Angel at night; Barker and Boone were in Mote Prefectural City when they were kicked down by someone who appeared to the Peak Saint Realm, and that person was none other than Useno, the chief judge of the Inquisition. The five brothers were now all bound by chains mixed with Black Yù.
But what truly sank Linley's heart was the last sentence Haeru had desperately relayed. "That Useno... didn't return to Holy Island. He's staying in Mote Prefectural City, saying... he's waiting for you to personally go and die."
Linley opened his eyes, his face darkening.
"He didn't leave," Linley said. " Useno is very arrogant. He thought he could definitely kill me, so he simply didn't take anyone back and stayed in Mote Prefectural City to wait for me."
Delia frowned. "He's stronger than you; he's deliberately trying to lure you into a trap."
"I know," Linley said, looking at her. "But my five brothers are in his hands. If the Radiant Church uses them to blackmail me, I'll be in an even more passive position. Since he dared to stay and wait for me, I'll go and meet him."
Delia didn't try to persuade him further, nor did she ask any more questions. She knew the man before her all too well—he could endure until his revenge was complete, but when his brothers' safety was at stake, he wouldn't back down an inch. She simply straightened his collar and said softly, "Go. If the Radiant Church dares to do anything to your brothers, I won't stand idly by."
Linley nodded. "Wait for me to come back."
Without further delay, he used the ninth-level Wind Shadow Technique to fly into the sky, exchanged a few words with Delia, and then asked someone to send a message to the mountains. He then leaped into the air, transforming into a streak of dark blue light, breaking through the night wind, and flying straight north.
The flying speed of the Saint Realm expert is a speed directly propelled by the Battle-qi, while the Wind Shadow Technique cast by a level nine Wind Element mage is no less powerful than that of a Saint Realm expert. The distance between the capital of the Yulan Empire and the Mote Prefectural City in the Chaotic Territory is several thousand miles, a distance that an ordinary person would not be able to cover in a lifetime, but for the Saint Realm expert, it would only take half a day.
Linley skimmed the ground, passing cities and traversing endless mountains. Along the way, Haeru sent several more messages, each more vague than the last—saying that he couldn't defeat Useno and had to burrow underground to escape; and that Useno was indeed guarding the city, dressed in a black and gold robe, having sent most of the angels back, leaving Linley alone, and declaring that he would kill Linley with his own hands.
Linley listened without saying a word, only intensifying his magical power. The wind whistled in his ears, his robes fluttered in the wind, but his eyes remained fixed on the deep night in the north.
As the sun began to set, the city walls of Mote Prefectural City came into view in the distance.
Linley didn't land immediately. He hovered in mid-air, looking down at the city that was now under the control of the Radiant Church. A figure in a black and gold robe stood on the city wall, hands behind his back, looking up at him with the composure of a hunter watching his prey come to him.
It was Useno.
" Linley, you really came." Useno's voice wasn't loud, but it reached Linley's ears clearly. "I originally thought you'd hide under that woman's skirt in the Yulan Empire and wouldn't dare come back. I overestimated how afraid you are of death."
Linley landed on the other side of the city wall, facing him, his voice calm. "Where are my five brothers?"
"Don't worry, they're still locked up properly." Useno scoffed. "If you want to save them, you'll have to step over my dead body first."
He spoke with absolute certainty and confidence. As a Peak Saint Realm, he couldn't see any reason why he would lose to a Dragonblood Warrior who had only reached the Saint Realm Useno transformation. He didn't even bother with any extra preparations, and he sent most of the Four-Winged Angel back—he simply wanted to kill this major threat to the Radiant Church in front of everyone in Mote Prefectural City, as a warning to others.
Linley didn't reply. He simply slowly drew his Purple Blood Soft Sword, and dark blue-black Battle-qi rose around him. A thin layer of dragon scales covered his skin from the back of his hands and neck.
Useno's pupils contracted, followed by a cold laugh, "Transformation? Fine, at least it'll save people from saying I'm bullying you."
Before he could finish speaking, Useno's figure vanished. The speed of the Peak Saint Realm was terrifying; he appeared in front of Linley almost instantly, delivering a palm strike wrapped in black light straight at Linley's throat.
Linley instinctively raised his sword to block. But the force of that palm strike far exceeded his expectations—the sword hummed, and a brute force slammed into his tiger's mouth along the blade, making half of his arm numb, and he was slid backward several feet by the force.
Useno pressed his advantage, closing in again with a swift movement, his fists and feet raining down like raindrops, each strike carrying the force to shatter boulders. Linley, relying on his dragon-scaled body, took several hits head-on, his chest feeling tight from the impact, but he couldn't find an opening to counterattack— the Peak Saint Realm's speed, strength, and understanding of the laws all surpassed his own.
"Is that all you've got?" Useno scoffed, delivering a powerful whip kick to Linley's forearm, sending him flying back ten paces. "If that's all you've got, tonight is your death day."
Linley steadied himself, exhaled a breath of stale air, but his eyes showed no sign of panic. What he had comprehended in that mountain village was not brute force, but the threshold of "speed" in the Tempos of the Wind —to merge the sword into the wind, so fast that people could not keep up, so slow that people could not dodge.
He slowly raised his sword, and the dark blue-green Battle-qi around him suddenly became extremely faint, like a wisp of wind that could be blown away at any moment.
Useno frowned, keenly sensing that something was amiss. He stopped probing, moved again, and threw a punch with all his might, aiming straight for Linley's heart.
In that instant, Linley moved.
The sword flash was almost silent. The wind condensed on the blade into a thin line almost invisible to the naked eye, and with just a light stroke, it actually cut a shallow gash in the blade of Useno's heavy punch. Useno's heart skipped a beat, he withdrew his fist and stepped back, looking down at the almost invisible wound on the back of his hand, his pupils shrinking.
"This is... the Laws of Wind?" Useno's expression finally dropped its flippancy, and his tone became serious. "You brat, you were hiding this trick?"
Linley didn't answer, but simply gripped the Purple Blood Soft Sword and walked towards him step by step. The wind around him grew stronger and stronger, and the sword seemed to become an open eye; every inch of air current was his eye, his hand.
Useno sneered and assumed his stance again. This time, he neither tested the waters nor acted arrogantly— the Peak Saint Realm unleashed his full power, enveloped in overwhelming holy light, and clashed fiercely with Linley's extremely sharp wind sword.
On the city walls, the gale and holy light swirled together, the roar shaking the entire Mote Prefectural City. The soldiers guarded by the Radiant Church below looked up, not daring to even breathe—no one had expected that this young man, who had rushed back overnight, would dare to confront the Radiant Church's notorious chief judge head-on.
Linley knew in his heart that he might not win tonight's battle, but he absolutely could not back down. The five brothers were still in Useno's hands, and if he retreated even a step, there would be no way to save them.
The wind whistled along the sword's edge, yet his gaze was frighteningly calm.