According to the rules of the Radiant Church, Deity Level are not allowed to interfere in secular wars. Sending a large army again would be a loss of face; sending assassins from the Saint Realm would risk being crushed by Doehring. The Radiant Church devised the safest method—a night raid, a swift and decisive strike.
That night, the moonlight on the mountaintop was faint. Linley sat cross-legged on the blue stone in front of the house, his eyes closed, deeply concentrating on his Pulsing Defense. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
He didn't open his eyes, but slowly gripped the hilt of the sword beside his knee.
"They're here," he murmured to himself.
Before the words were finished, two dark figures appeared in the moonlight. The one in the lead, dressed in a long black and gray robe, with a gaunt face, stood on the cliff face dozens of feet away—the oppressive aura of the Peak Saint Realm pressed down without reservation. Beside him, a figure surrounded by holy light hung, with six wings spread out behind him.
Six-Winged Angel. Peak Saint Realm.
Linley slowly rose and drew his sword. A thin layer of dragon scales covered his neck from the back of his hand.
Without exchanging pleasantries, the assassin swiftly closed in, delivering a straight palm strike aimed at the throat. The attack of the Peak Saint Realm expert was so fast that even the air itself didn't have time to explode.
Linley shifted his feet to the side, barely dodging the palm strike. But the assassin wouldn't let him escape unscathed. He withdrew his palm, his five fingers forming a hook, and twisted Linley's wrist holding the sword—he wanted to take the sword away.
Linley lowered his wrist, using the momentum to press the sword down diagonally, suppressing the claw-like attack. At the same time, he thrust the sword tip forward, aiming straight for the assassin's shoulder. The assassin dodged to the side, his other hand already reaching out, its five fingers like claws, grabbing for Linley's throat.
The two exchanged blows almost face-to-face, quickly reaching each other for over a dozen rounds. The assassin's style was ruthless and vicious, targeting vital points such as joints, throat, and the wrist holding the sword; Linley, relying on his dragon-scale body, delivered each strike with steady and solid power, enduring even the most cunning attacks with his bare hands.
Seeing that the assassin couldn't gain the upper hand, the Six-Winged Angel leaped from the side, a dazzling ball of holy light condensing in its palm. It didn't rush to attack, but instead held the ball of holy light in front of its palm, slowly releasing it, as if gathering power.
Linley felt a chill run down his spine. He recognized this move—one of the most relied-upon methods of the Saint Realm Radiant Church, Holy Light Impact. Just by looking at its charging stance, he knew that if this blow landed, even a dragon-scaled body would be injured.
"Retreat!" Linley shouted in his heart, and suddenly exerted force with his feet, his body leaping backward like an arrow.
But the Six-Winged Angel had already gathered its strength. It suddenly solidified, and the ball of holy light in front of its palm transformed into an extremely bright beam of light, which shot straight towards the direction Linley was retreating. The speed was so fast that it didn't even leave an afterimage. Wherever the beam of light passed, the air was scorched and distorted, and the rocks instantly turned black and crumbled.
Linley had nowhere to dodge. In a flash, he held his sword horizontally in front of him, simultaneously activating the newly comprehended Earth Element Pulsation within his body, layering it over the sword and his arm—the very skill he had learned from the depths of the earth. No matter how strong your force, striking the layers of Pulsation is like a heavy punch hitting thick soil, being deflected one by one, unable to penetrate completely.
Under normal circumstances, Linley might not have been able to withstand that sword strike. But at this critical moment, he managed to condense that Pulsing Defense to its absolute limit.
The beam of light struck the sword.
Linley felt a scorching, brute force surge through the sword and into his arm. He planted his feet firmly on the ground, using the Pulsation energy to deflect the force layer by layer. Dark blue Battle-qi and white holy light swirled together in front of him, and the rocks beneath his feet cracked and collapsed under the immense pressure, but Linley stood there, completely unmoved.
He actually withstood the Holy Light Impact.
The Six-Winged Angel's pupils constricted sharply. It never expected that this junior, who seemed to possess only the aura of the Initial Stage of the Saint Realm, could withstand its long-prepared, full-force attack head-on. It instinctively tried to condense a second beam of holy light, but Linley was no longer going to give it that chance.
" Hundredfold Waves."
Linley let out a low shout. He pressed down on his sword, using the force to deflect the still-dissipating beam of light. At the same time, the entire sword was wrapped in layers of Pulsation, and he slashed towards the Six-Winged Angel like a tidal wave.
This sword strike was Linley's ultimate move, the Hundredfold Waves, which he had mastered after comprehending the Earth Pulsation. He didn't just unleash a single strike; instead, he layered the power of over one hundred and twenty Pulsation onto the same sword, creating a devastating slash that resembled hundreds of giant waves surging forth one after another. The first wave of power was blocked, but the second, the third... and countless more followed, relentlessly surging up until the opponent's defense was completely crushed.
The Six-Winged Angel had just managed to conjure a wisp of holy light to block the attack when it was struck by the force of the first Hundredfold Waves sword waves, causing it to sway. The second and third waves followed immediately, layer upon layer, and its holy light crumbled piece by piece before the relentless sword waves. By the nineteenth wave, it could no longer withstand the onslaught, and its body was violently thrown away by the sword waves. By the thirty-second wave, with a shrill cry, its holy light dissipated, and its entire figure plummeted diagonally into the depths of the ravine like a kite with a broken string.
Seeing the situation was turning against him, the assassin withdrew his attack and retreated, his figure transforming into a black shadow as he disappeared into the moonlight towards the cliff. Linley did not give chase, but sheathed his sword and stood watching the departing figure, his voice calm. "Go back and tell the Radiant Church that sending two Peak Saint Realm is not enough to kill me. Think it through before you come back."
The mountaintop fell silent once more.
Linley slowly withdrew his Dragonform, the dragon scales peeling away layer by layer, revealing his ordinary human form once more. His knuckles were still slightly white as he gripped the sword hilt. But he paused, then turned and walked back to the stone house, sitting cross-legged in the morning light.
Bebe scurried up and squatted down at his feet, her round eyes quietly watching him.
"Master," it said, " the Radiant Church failed this time, but they won't let this go easily."
"I know," Linley said calmly, his eyes closed, "But their test has also made me realize that Peak Saint Realm assassin alone cannot defeat me after my Dragonform. They either need to send someone stronger, or they'll have to find another way."
"Even stronger?" Bebe tilted her head.
" Eight-Winged Angel." Linley opened his eyes, his gaze darkening. "That's something at the level of Lowgod. If the Radiant Church really unleashes it, I'm afraid my Dragonform power won't be able to withstand it."
He paused, then closed his eyes again. "But before that, I still need to cultivate my Battle-qi. In my human form, my Battle-qi reserves are not even at the Saint Realm Middle Stage. Even if I am lucky enough to fight with angels a few times, my Battle-qi will still be a weakness."