Chapter Summaries

Linley learned that Useno had captured his five brothers and was waiting for him in Mote Prefectural City, so he flew north to face the chief inquisitor. Linley revealed his mastery of the Laws of Wind, and the two began a fierce battle with his brothers’ fate still uncertain.

• Linley received Haeru’s broken transmission saying Useno and the Radiant Church had captured his five brothers.
• Linley told Delia he would go to Mote Prefectural City to rescue them, then flew north.
• Linley arrived and confronted Useno, who confirmed the brothers were imprisoned and challenged him to fight.
• Useno overwhelmed Linley with his speed and strength, but Linley used the Laws of Wind to cut his fist.
• Useno unleashed his full power, and Linley fought back on the city wall without retreating.

Linley used his newly formed “One Wind, One Sword” technique to wound Useno and force him to abandon his attack on the five brothers. After freeing them, Linley confirmed that he had crossed a new threshold in his understanding of the wind.

• Useno attacked Linley with his full Peak Saint Realm power, but Linley read the strike through the wind and cut deeply into Useno’s right arm.
• Useno tried to continue fighting with his left hand, but Linley held his ground while warning him not to harm the five brothers again.
• Useno withdrew toward Holy Island, and the Four-Winged Angels followed him.
• Linley collapsed to one knee from his injuries, then walked down the wall and used the wind to break the brothers’ chains.
• At dawn, Linley reflected on the new path his sword had taken through the joining of fast and slow.

After recovering from the battle in Mote Prefectural City, Linley returned to the Yulan Empire and reunited with Delia. He trained for several months to master the Tempos of the Wind, ending with renewed resolve to face Useno and the support of Delia at his side.

• Linley spent half a month healing while arranging the defenses of Mote Prefectural City and studying the sword strike that had driven Useno back.
• After entrusting the city to Gates and Hazer, Linley traveled to the Yulan Empire with Bebe and Haeru and reunited with Delia.
• Linley told Delia how he had fought Useno and admitted that he still lacked the strength to face him reliably.
• Delia encouraged Linley to stay in the capital and train, and he spent several months practicing swordsmanship and studying the Laws of Wind.
• Linley refined his wind intent beside a lake and remembered his vow to reach the Holy Island and bring his sword before Useno, while Delia waited for him near the city gates.

Useno and Leiming attacked Linley together in the Yulan Empire, overwhelming him and Bebe until Doehring arrived and forced them to flee. Doehring healed Linley and Bebe, then stayed to guard Linley while Delia watched from the doorway.

• Linley sensed intruders and found Useno and Leiming waiting in his courtyard to kill him.
• Useno and Leiming attacked in tandem, badly wounding Linley and knocking Bebe aside before Leiming pinned him down.
• Linley transformed with dragon scales and tried to counterattack, but Useno kicked him down as Bebe struggled to reach him.
• Doehring arrived, and Useno and Leiming recognized his greater power and fled without fighting.
• Doehring healed Linley and Bebe, explained that he had come early because he feared the Radiant Church would target Linley, and remained to protect him as Delia watched from the doorway.

After recovering from the battle with the Radiant Church’s experts, Linley followed Doehring’s advice and married Delia in the Yulan Empire capital. The wedding brought his family and friends together, and the chapter ended with Linley feeling that he finally had someone waiting for him at home.

• Doehring stayed in the capital to watch over Linley as he recovered and practiced, while the Radiant Church made no further move.
• Doehring urged Linley to stop delaying and give Delia an answer, warning him not to leave her vulnerable if danger returned.
• Linley chose an autumn day to ask Delia to marry him, and she accepted.
• Linley and Delia married in a modest ceremony attended by Doehring, Wharton, Reynolds and Monica, and the five brothers.
• After the guests departed, Linley held Delia’s hand in the courtyard as Doehring watched, glad that Linley had finally settled down.

Over ten years, Linley united the lands around the Baruch Mountain Range into the Baruch Kingdom while continuing to cultivate. He mastered all 128 layers of Pulsation and entered the Saint Realm in human form, knowing that greater challenges still lay ahead.

• After his wedding, Linley returned to the Baruch Mountain Range with Delia, Bebe, and Haeru.
• Linley campaigned against rival powers and united the region, while Wharton became king of the newly founded Baruch Kingdom.
• Linley trained through the years, studying the earth’s pulsations while handling military and kingdom affairs.
• On a snowy night in the tenth year, Linley comprehended all 128 layers of Pulsation and entered the Saint Realm without transforming.
• Linley returned to Delia and told her he had made it through a stretch of his path, while recognizing that the Saint Realm was only a beginning.

After the Radiant Church and Dark Church seized Baruch Kingdom’s newly discovered magic crystal vein with mortal armies, Linley relied on Bebe to summon rat hordes from the Dark Forest and drive them out. The vein and mining towns were recovered, but Linley and Delia expected the conflict with the Radiant Church to continue.

• Miners discovered a vast magic crystal deposit, and Wharton sent troops to guard it and begin mining.
• The Radiant Church and Dark Church secretly allied and captured both mining towns, taking control of the crystal vein.
• Linley and Doehring agreed that they could not use Deity Level power against mortal armies, so Linley prepared to fight by mortal means.
• Bebe went to the Dark Forest and used his kingly bloodline to summon Shadowmice and Stone-Eater Rats.
• The rat hordes routed the churches’ armies, and Linley arrived with the Dragonblood Warrior clan as the fleeing forces were hunted down.
• Baruch Kingdom recovered the mining towns and crystal vein, while Linley told Delia that he intended to make the Radiant Church pay.

After Baruch Kingdom reclaimed the mineral vein, the Radiant Church and Dark Church blamed each other for their defeat and began pursuing separate schemes. Linley suspected the mine was bait to test whether Doehring could be kept stationed in Baruch, and resolved that they had to hold it.

• Wharton rewarded the army and ordered mining to resume after Baruch Kingdom recovered the vein and captured the churches' supplies and weapons.
• The pope spared the defeated cardinal but condemned the Radiant Church's humiliation and learned that Bebe could command the Dark Forest's rat clans.
• The dark bishop blamed the Radiant Church's reckless attack and plotted to use Doehring Cowart to keep Linley tied down.
• The Radiant Church and Dark Church secretly began pursuing their own schemes despite maintaining their alliance in public.
• Linley told Delia that the mine was likely bait to test Doehring and said they had to hold it.

Beirut visited Linley and revealed that Bebe shared his clan’s Divine Beast bloodline, then offered to help Bebe break through to the Deity Level. He also encouraged Linley to keep pursuing his own path toward the Deity Realm.

• Linley recognized Beirut when Wharton escorted the mysterious visitor to the mountain summit.
• Beirut told Linley that Bebe was his descendant and a Divine Beast whose bloodline had let him reach the Saint Realm.
• Beirut said he planned to help Bebe find a path to the Deity Level when the time was right.
• Beirut praised Linley’s talent and urged him to keep advancing toward the Deity Realm.
• Beirut touched Bebe between the brows and left, while Bebe wondered whether Beirut was truly his elder.

Linley visited Desri in the mountain village to explain why he intended to destroy the Radiant Church and ask Desri to establish a pure new Church afterward. Desri agreed to wait until the old Church fell, and Linley left the mountain the next morning.

• Linley told Desri that he intended to eliminate the Radiant Church because it sacrificed people and devoured human souls.
• Linley explained that he had fought Leiming, could defeat Steller with Bebe, and that Doehring Cowart had reached the Deity Level.
• Linley asked Desri to establish a new Church devoted to faith in the light without sacrifices or the consumption of souls.
• Desri agreed, provided the new Church remained pure, and Linley promised it would never repeat the old Church’s deeds.
• Linley spent the night discussing light and faith with Desri, then left the mountain at dawn.

Linley’s forces defeated the Radiant Church and Dark Church’s joint army after Gates exploited their leaders’ rivalry. Desri agreed to establish a new church after the old one fell, leaving Linley pledged to protect a place for the believers’ faith.

• Linley split his forces to defend the mountain city, the old mine, and the northeastern mineral vein, where Gates prepared an ambush.
• Gates’s troops struck the allied army in a valley, and a scout later overheard Geluman and Jialong arguing over the mine and territorial expansion.
• Linley ordered Gates to keep the churches occupied until their feud worsened; after their soldiers clashed over water, Gates attacked and routed the divided army.
• Desri visited Linley and explained that the Radiant Church’s believers would need a new home for their faith after its fall, agreeing to oversee a new church if Linley protected them from turning to darkness.
• Linley pledged to protect the believers, while rumors of a new church began spreading through southern cities.

Linley secluded himself to examine the foundation of his power and, with Doehring’s guidance, developed a defensive application of the Laws of Earth. He left the summit with a new understanding of how earth’s defense complemented wind’s attack.

• Linley shut himself away on the summit, telling Gates that he needed time to comprehend what he was missing.
• Doehring advised Linley to look beyond wind and study the earth connected to his Dragonblood Warrior bloodline.
• Linley sensed the earth’s Pulsation and realized he could use its layered force to disperse attacks rather than strike opponents.
• After seven days of practice, Linley formed a continuous defensive force around himself and recognized this as the Profound Truths of the Earth.
• Linley swung the Purple Blood Soft Sword with earth’s weight and concluded that wind and earth together formed the foundation of a Dragonblood Warrior’s path.

The Radiant Church sent a Peak Saint Realm assassin and a Six-Winged Angel to kill Linley, but he survived their attack and defeated the angel with his newly developed Hundredfold Waves. After the assassin fled, Linley realized the Church might send an Eight-Winged Angel and resolved to strengthen his Battle-qi.

• The Radiant Church chose a nighttime assassination because sending an army or another Saint Realm fighter risked greater consequences.
• A Peak Saint Realm assassin attacked Linley while a Six-Winged Angel prepared a Holy Light Impact.
• Linley withstood the angel’s attack by using Pulsing Defense, then crushed the angel’s defenses with Hundredfold Waves and sent him into a ravine.
• The assassin fled, and Linley warned him to tell the Radiant Church that two Peak Saint Realm experts could not kill him.
• Linley told Bebe that an Eight-Winged Angel could overpower him and that he needed to improve his Battle-qi reserves.

Linley learned that the Radiant Church had challenged him to fight an Eight-Winged Angel, a Lowgod, over the mineral veins. With Doehring's counsel, he agreed to the duel on terms set by the Baruch Kingdom and prepared to survive while exposing the Church's strength.

• Gates told Linley that the Radiant Church had revealed an Eight-Winged Angel and challenged him to a duel over the mineral veins.
• Linley agreed to the duel but insisted that the Baruch Kingdom choose the battlefield, timing, and rules.
• Doehring explained that accepting the duel would draw the Church's Lowgod-level power into the open and urged Linley to focus on surviving.
• Doehring promised to support Linley, who steadied himself by holding the dragon crystal and resolved to face the coming battle.

Olivier visited Linley before his duel with the Radiant Church's eight-winged angel and showed him that he needed to unite his wind and earth Laws rather than use them as separate weapons. Linley understood the path Olivier revealed but could not yet make his sword strike embody that unity.

• Olivier met Linley at the mountain gate and said he had come to help him prepare for the eight-winged angel.
• Olivier explained that Linley's separate wind and earth techniques would not suffice against a Lowgod.
• Olivier demonstrated a sword strike in which he became the Law instead of using it as a weapon, prompting Linley to see wind and earth as parts of himself.
• Linley tried to imitate Olivier's strike, but his sword still only cut according to the Laws.
• Olivier told Linley to keep practicing and said he would meet him at the summit before sunrise; Linley remained in the courtyard reflecting on the Laws and his sword.

Linley spent seven days training with Olivier and finally learned to unite wind and earth with his sword. Olivier then revealed that the duel was meant to force the Radiant Church to summon its Deity Level being, giving Doehring a chance to strike at its true power.

• Linley practiced all night but could not make wind and earth merge with his sword, so Olivier guided him to follow his instincts rather than control the elements.
• After days of practice, Linley’s thrust bent the trees around the summit through an unseen force, and he realized he had achieved Myriad Swords Return to the Origin.
• Olivier warned Linley that the technique alone would not let him face the Eight-Winged Angel head-on.
• Olivier explained that the duel’s real goal was to make the Radiant Church summon its Deity Level being so Doehring could attack it.
• Olivier promised to attend the duel and told Linley to face the angel’s strike while he and Doehring handled the rest.

Linley faced an Eight-Winged Angel in a public duel and used Wind-Earth Fusion to withstand its strongest attack. Doehring intervened, restrained the angel, and demanded that the deity behind it appear.

• Linley waited on the dueling ground as an Eight-Winged Angel arrived and offered to spare him if he surrendered and handed over the mineral vein.
• The Eight-Winged Angel attacked with holy light, forcing Linley to dodge repeated blasts.
• Linley countered the angel's concentrated orb of holy light with Wind-Earth Fusion, exhausting more than half his Battle-qi to disperse it.
• Linley advanced toward the angel, intending to force it to seek help from its deity.
• Doehring appeared, restrained the Eight-Winged Angel, and declared that it had lost the battle.
• Doehring demanded that the deity behind the angel appear, while Linley watched from behind him.

Linley and the other experts met Beirut at the Metal Castle, where he invited them to enter the Necropolis of the Gods. As Linley prepared to leave for ten years, Doehring was assigned to join him, and Linley awaited the opening with his resolve strengthened.

• Linley and his companions arrived at Beirut’s living Metal Castle and met Doehring outside it.
• Beirut explained that the Necropolis of the Gods would soon open and named Linley and Bebe among those who would enter.
• Beirut invited Doehring to join Linley, and he also approved Linley’s request to bring Barker.
• Linley spent the night waiting with his companions and spoke with Doehring about leaving Delia and his children for ten years.
• Doehring reminded Linley that the entrance would be difficult, and Linley watched the castle, preparing for the door to open the next day.

The Necropolis of the Gods opened, and Beirut sent the Deity Level and Saint Realm entrants through separate gates, where they would remain for ten years. Linley entered the unfamiliar ruins with Bebe, determined to find his own path while Doehring traveled through the other gate.

• Beirut explained that the two gates led to different passages and that no one could leave the necropolis for ten years.
• Doehring entered the Deity Level gate with Beirut, the War God, and the other Deity Level beings after warning Linley to survive on his own.
• Barker entered the Saint Realm gate first, and Linley said farewell to the land and family he had left behind before following with Bebe.
• Linley and Bebe arrived in a vast, ruined wasteland and realized the gate had scattered the entrants to different locations.
• After sensing a faint sound beneath the ground, Linley and Bebe cautiously set off into the ruins.

Linley entered the Necropolis of the Gods and fought his way through its first four floors, surviving a Midgod-level Ba-Serpent with the help of the Purple Blood Soft Sword. After Clay warned him about the dangers ahead, Linley chose to strengthen himself on the first five floors before venturing deeper.

• Linley defeated an ancient puppet on the barren ground, then escaped the first floor's shadow beasts with Bebe using Hundredfold Waves.
• Linley crossed the second floor's maze of traps and powerful beasts in Dragonform.
• On the third floor, a Ba-Serpent nearly killed Linley, but the Purple Blood Soft Sword blocked its azure light long enough for him to flee to the fourth floor.
• Linley met Clay, who explained that the first five floors were level one and warned him that the deeper dangerous areas began after the sixth floor.
• Linley and Clay avoided the Snowfield Panda Clan on the fourth floor, and Linley decided to progress steadily through the first five floors before going deeper.