Linley received the news three days after the Radiant Church's attack failed.
Gates came up the mountain in person. He looked very serious. As soon as he entered, he placed a secret letter on the table and said in a low voice to his third brother, "Third brother, has the Radiant Church gone mad this time? My spies have reported that they've found something we've never seen before at the Temple."
Linley held the letter in his hand, but didn't open it immediately. Instead, he asked, "What is it?"
"Angels." Gates swallowed hard. "Not the kind we know. They're said to have eight wings, and even the old folks have only seen them a few times. According to doctrine, Deity Level shouldn't interfere in human affairs, but the Radiant Church considers Eight-Winged Angel not to belong to the divine realm, but rather to be ' the Radiant Church's secular military force,' so they're out in the open."
After Linley opened the letter and read it, his brows gradually furrowed.
The letter stated that the Pope had addressed all the powers on the continent, declaring a life-or-death duel with Linley in the wilderness of the Baruch Kingdom, the stakes being the ownership of two mineral veins. The Radiant Church had not sent ordinary Saint Realm experts, but rather Eight-Winged Angel.
Eight-Winged Angel. Lowgod.
After putting down the letter, Linley paced back and forth in the room, saying in a deep voice, "How could Eight-Winged Angel be a force that mortals could use? This is just an excuse the Radiant Church used to force Deity Level power into secular rules to deal with me."
"Third brother, we can't accept this," Gates said urgently. "Even after you Dragonform, you only have the combat power of the Peak Saint Realm expert. How can you possibly fight an Eight-Winged Angel who is Lowgod? Isn't this just suicide?"
Linley didn't speak. He walked to the window and gazed at the distant wilderness, remaining silent for a long time. He knew that the Radiant Church's actions were blatant. If he refused to fight, the Radiant Church could use the excuse of "cultivators being cowardly" to smear the Baruch Kingdom. The mine was a small matter; once the people's hearts were lost, it would be a complete loss.
"The game of chess requires responses," Linley finally spoke, his voice low and deep. "But how to respond is up to me. Send the message to the Radiant Church; I can agree to the duel, but the battlefield, the time, and the rules must all be in accordance with the regulations of the Baruch Kingdom."
"Are you crazy?" Gates glared. " Eight-Winged Angel? You really want to fight him?"
"I'm not going to my death." Linley turned around, but his eyes were surprisingly calm. " The Radiant Church wants to use the Eight-Winged Angel to trap me on this stage, so I'll just refuse to fall into their trap. Let's take this step first, and we'll consider the rest later."
As soon as the words were spoken, the room fell silent.
Just as Gates was about to offer further advice, a steady voice from an elderly man came from outside the door. "This move was the right one."
Looking back, Gates saw that Doehring was already standing in the doorway. He still had a gray beard and white hair, wore an ordinary long robe, and carried an ordinary wooden cane. He slowly walked in. Gates subconsciously took a step back but did not stop him.
"Mr. Doehring," Gates couldn't help but say, "But that's Eight-Winged Angel, Lowgod. The third one..."
"Understood." Doehring interrupted him, walked to Linley's side, and looked at his apprentice whom he had watched grow up. " Eight-Winged Angel, Lowgod, you cannot confront him head-on in your current state. But you agreed to this duel not to die, but to make a move that the Radiant Church has not yet figured out."
Linley looked at him and said, "Grandpa Doehring, you mean...?"
" The Radiant Church is using the Eight-Winged Angel to blackmail you, trying to force you to admit defeat," Doehring said slowly. "But they've forgotten one thing: this duel is a 'secular dispute' over the ownership of the mine. Since it's a secular dispute, it should be handled according to secular rules. The Eight-Winged Angel is Lowgod; by agreeing to a duel with it, you've already put the Radiant Church at a disadvantage according to the rules."
After a pause, his face darkened. "All you need to do is agree to this duel and bring the Eight-Winged Angel to the arena. As for how to win, there's no need to rush; the outcome won't be decided in a single move."
Linley's heart skipped a beat, and he roughly guessed the hidden meaning in Doehring's words: by bringing the Eight-Winged Angel to the forefront, the Radiant Church had actually exposed its own strength.
Doehring didn't answer directly, but simply said, "For the past few years, the Radiant Church has relied on that Deity Level statue and these angels for support. Now, to deal with a junior, they've deployed Eight-Winged Angel, which shows how weak their foundation is. The more they reveal their true strength, the more it shows they're afraid."
"Are you scared?" Linley asked again.
"It's afraid you won't follow its rules, afraid that one day you, this newly grown Dragonblood Warrior, will stand before it," Doehring told him. "So it's eager to crush you in the dueling arena with an angel you can't defeat before you've even mastered your skills. But the more impatient it is, the easier it is to create weaknesses."
After a long silence, Linley looked into Doehring's calm eyes and slowly understood. On the surface, agreeing to the duel seemed like being forced into a corner, but in reality, it was the Radiant Church revealing its trump card when it needed it most— the Eight-Winged Angel's appearance was tantamount to bringing its Lowgod power from the shadows into the open. It wanted to kill Linley, but in doing so, it exposed itself to Doehring, Beirut, and other true Deity Level powerhouses.
"Grandpa Doehring," Linley asked in a low voice, "Do I have a chance of winning this battle?"
"Victory or defeat is irrelevant to this battle," Doehring said calmly. "All you need to do is survive. As long as you don't fall in the dueling arena, the Radiant Church's move will have been in vain. Leave the rest to me."
He patted Linley on the shoulder and then turned to leave. He stopped at the door, but didn't turn back, only saying, "Go. Go all out in the duel. I'll be right behind you."
Linley watched his departing figure, still steady in the moonlight, and the tension that had been building up inside him for days finally eased slightly. He picked up the dragon crystal and examined it, his expression gradually calming down.
I know I'm not fighting alone in this game.
Linley stood alone outside the stone house, gazing at the moonlit mountains. He held the dragon crystal in his hand, his fingers gently stroking it. It was the source of his Dragonblood Warrior lineage, the deepest foundation of his path. Remembering Doehring's words, and the Eight-Winged Angel already looming overhead even before it appeared, he murmured to himself, " Eight-Winged Angel, Lowgod ... I can't defeat him with just my Peak Saint Realm strength after Dragonform. But this battle isn't one I can win alone."
He held the dragon crystal in his hand, looking up at the southern night sky, the direction of the Holy Island of the Radiant Church. He knew he had already caught the move Doehring had mentioned. Only the final step remained.