Saving Doehring Cowart

"Linley Baruch, you can't escape."

The deacon at their head looked at Linley expressionlessly.

"Submit quietly and come back to the Church with us to stand trial."

"Otherwise, don't blame us for showing no mercy."

Linley tightened his grip on the Purple Blood Soft Sword. In his other hand, he held a freshly forged black heavy sword.

The Black Jade Heavy Sword!

Though injured, his aura was no weaker for it.

"You want to capture me?"

A trace of blood trickled from the corner of Linley's mouth.

"Then let's see if you have what it takes!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, his body surged in size once more.

Dragonblood Warrior transformation, full power!

"Roar!!"

A dragon's roar rang through the mountain forest.

A Peak Ninth Rank aura erupted from Linley!

"You don't know when you're courting death."

The leading deacon sneered.

"Form the formation!"

"Yes!"

The six deacons moved at once.

Like ghosts, they attacked Linley from six different directions.

Light Battle Qi condensed into swords in their hands.

Six swords of light stabbed at Linley simultaneously from six directions!

Their coordination in this attack was flawless.

It completely sealed off every path of retreat for Linley.

"I'll fight to the end!"

Linley gritted his teeth.

With the Purple Blood Soft Sword in his left hand and the Black Jade Heavy Sword in his right, he attacked with both.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

A series of metallic clashes rang out.

Linley blocked four swords of light, but the remaining two struck him squarely.

Pfft-

Two wounds deep enough to expose bone appeared on Linley's back and thigh.

Blood gushed out.

"Boss!"

Bebe cried out and turned into a black blur, lunging at one of the deacons.

"Get out of the way!"

The deacon struck at Bebe with a backhanded palm.

Bang!

Though Bebe was fast, he was ultimately weaker in strength, and the palm strike sent him flying.

"Pfft-"

Bebe spat out a mouthful of blood in midair and crashed heavily to the ground.

"Bebe!"

Linley's eyes nearly split with rage.

"You... deserve to die!!"

He went completely mad.

Ignoring his injuries, he charged at the deacon who had wounded Bebe.

The Black Jade Heavy Sword came crashing down with tremendous force!

"You're courting death!"

The deacon neither dodged nor retreated, raising his sword of light to meet it.

Clang!!

As the tremendous force struck him, the deacon's expression changed, and he staggered backward.

Linley's strength was even greater than he had expected!

But-

That was all.

"Attack together!"

The leading deacon shouted.

The six joined forces again, surrounding and attacking Linley.

One man was no match for many.

Besides, his opponents were six Peak Ninth Rank experts who worked together seamlessly.

Linley was strong, but in the end, he was only one man.

And he had already suffered serious injuries earlier.

As time passed, his injuries grew worse and his strength continued to ebb.

His defeat and death were only a matter of time.

Pfft-

Another sword pierced Linley's shoulder.

Linley staggered back several steps, his face as pale as paper.

His vision had already begun to blur.

He had lost too much blood.

If this continued, he really would die here.

"Boss, hurry and go!" Bebe struggled to his feet and stood in front of Linley.

"Bebe..." Linley said weakly. "Hurry and go. I'll cover your retreat..."

"No! I'm not going!" Bebe shook his head stubbornly. "I want to stay with you, Boss!"

"Silly child..."

Linley's eyes grew moist.

He knew that he would probably meet his end here today.

But...

He couldn't accept it!

He still hadn't fully avenged his mother.

He still hadn't repaid Grandpa Doehring's kindness.

Big Brother Haoyue...

He hadn't said goodbye to Big Brother Haoyue yet.

"Linley, give up," the leading deacon said slowly. "You have no way out."

"Come back to the Church with us, and perhaps we can still leave your corpse whole."

Linley's strength was gradually failing him, and his injuries were growing more serious. He had lost so much blood that the scene around him had begun to blur.

Just then, an aged, gentle voice rang out in his mind.

"Linley." A streak of white light flew out, transforming into Grandpa Doehring in a white robe.

Linley's whole body trembled.

"Grand... Grandpa Doehring?"

Doehring Cowart smiled and stroked Linley's head, saying affectionately, "From now on, you'll have to rely on yourself."

"Wh... what do you mean?" A powerful sense of unease rose in Linley's heart.

"No... Grandpa Doehring, don't..."

Linley panicked.

Suddenly, Doehring Cowart's soul rose into the air, hovering a meter above the ground with his arms spread.

A terrifying spiritual force radiated outward with him at its center.

At that moment, Doehring Cowart was calm.

"Back when I was in the Puang Empire, all I knew was training and fighting. I had no descendants." Doehring's voice was as gentle as ever.

"Watching you grow up and develop step by step has given me a great sense of accomplishment. I've even come to think of you as my grandson."

"Don't be sad, Linley. The truth is, I don't have much of a future staying in the Coiling Dragon Ring anyway."

"Grandpa Doehring..."

Linley could no longer hold back his tears, and they spilled from his eyes.

"No... I don't want this..."

He floated in midair, terrifying soul fluctuations emanating from his body.

Those fluctuations grew stronger and stronger.

Doehring Cowart's smile grew brighter. "This time, I'll show you my... one more time."

At that critical moment-

Buzz-

A golden blade ray lit up on the horizon.

Fast!

Like a meteor plunging to earth, the blade ray tore across the sky.

Wherever it passed, space itself seemed to be split apart.

Its targets-

Were the six special-grade deacons!

"What is that?!"

The six deacons' expressions changed drastically.

They could sense the terrifying power contained in that blade ray.

They absolutely couldn't block it!

"Get out of the way!"

The leading deacon roared and tried to dodge.

But the blade ray was simply too fast.

So fast that they had no time to react.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Six muffled sounds rang out almost simultaneously.

Six fountains of blood shot into the sky.

The six Peak Ninth Rank special-grade deacons couldn't even let out a scream before the blade ray cleaved them in two.

Blood and entrails spilled across the ground.

They couldn't have been more dead.

A deathly silence fell over the entire scene.

Linley was stunned.

Doehring Cowart was stunned as well.

His soul was still floating in the air, but he had forgotten what he was supposed to do next.

Just then-

Whoosh-

A figure sped over from the horizon and landed in front of Linley.

His black robes fluttered, and his posture was straight.

He held an enormous miao saber in his hand.

Blood was still dripping from its blade.

Who else could it be but Haoyue?!

"Phew..."

Haoyue let out a long breath and turned to look at Linley.

"Good thing I made it in time."

Linley stared blankly at Haoyue's back.

For a moment, he forgot to react.

Big Brother Haoyue...

Doehring Cowart remained in his translucent soul form, hovering in midair, unable to go forward or back.

He had just been preparing to die a heroic death, and he'd even made a long, sentimental speech.

And now, someone had arrived?

And he had cut down six Ninth Rank experts with a single slash?

What was that about?!

For a moment, the scene was a little awkward.

"Cough, cough..."

In the end, Doehring Cowart was the first to recover.

He coughed twice, and his body rapidly shrank back to normal.

"Well, Linley... now that Haoyue's here, everything's fine. I'll head back inside."

Doehring Cowart rubbed the back of his head and smiled awkwardly, his old face as red as a ripe apple.

With that, he zipped into the Coiling Dragon Ring.

Leaving Linley standing there, utterly bewildered.

A moment later.

Linley finally came to his senses.

"Big brother Haoyue!"

He rushed forward excitedly and threw his arms around Haoyue.

"I knew it... I knew you'd come..."

Linley's voice was choked with emotion.

Just now, he had truly thought he was going to die.

He had also thought Grandpa Doehring was really going to leave him.

Thankfully...

Big brother Haoyue had come.

"All right, you're a grown man. Why are you still crying?"

Haoyue patted Linley on the back with a smile.

He could feel Linley's body still trembling slightly.

Clearly, he had been badly frightened.

"Let me see your injuries."

Haoyue helped Linley sit down, then began examining his injuries.

They were severe.

He was wounded all over and had lost too much blood.

If Haoyue had arrived any later, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

"Don't be afraid. I'm here."

Haoyue comforted him.

A soft blue light appeared around his hands.

Water Element: Hydrotherapy!

Gentle Water Element magic energy flowed into Linley's body, healing his injuries.

Before their eyes, Linley's wounds began healing at a frightening speed.

They scabbed over, the scabs fell away, and new skin grew.

In just a few moments, most of Linley's wounds had healed.

"This..."

Linley's eyes widened as he felt his strength returning.

Wasn't this healing effect a little too frightening?

It was more powerful than any Light Element healing magic he had ever seen!

What he didn't know was that Lin Yuan had the Overflow talent, which could enhance damage, healing effects, and shield strength, so Hydrotherapy was far more effective than usual.

"Big brother Haoyue, you're incredible!" Linley looked at Haoyue with admiration.

Haoyue smiled but didn't explain.

He stood up, walked over to Bebe, and brought him back in his arms.

Bebe's injuries were also serious, but fortunately, he hadn't suffered any fundamental damage.

Haoyue used Water Element magic to heal him as well.

Soon, Bebe was bouncing around again.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!" Bebe stared with wide eyes, full of admiration.

Haoyue rubbed his little head and smiled.

Then he stood up and looked at the six corpses on the ground.

"Big brother Haoyue." Linley walked over. "What do we do next?"

Haoyue thought for a moment. "We can't stay here long."

"The Radiant Church will soon discover what happened here. When they do, they'll definitely send more people after us."

"We need to leave as soon as possible."

"Where do we go, then?" Linley asked.

Haoyue fell silent for a moment.

Where should we go?

In the original story, Linley was supposed to go to the O'Brien Empire next.

But now his own mother, as well as Linley's father and younger brother, were all in the Aoben Rhine Empire.

"We'll go to the O'Brien Empire." In the end, Haoyue made that decision.

The O'Brien Empire was one of the most powerful empires on the Yulan Continent.

It produced powerful experts in great numbers and offered many opportunities.

"All right." Linley nodded without objection.

"But before that-"

Haoyue paused and looked at the Coiling Dragon Ring.

"Grandpa Doehring, how much longer are you planning to hide?"

Inside the Coiling Dragon Ring, Doehring Cowart was huddled in a corner, drawing circles.

"Grandpa Doehring?" Linley spoke up too. "Brother Haoyue, you knew Grandpa Doehring was inside my ring?"

"I more or less guessed. You kept saying Grandpa Doehring had taken me as his disciple and was teaching me to sculpt, but he never showed up. You were always the one teaching me, and you could always pass on what Grandpa Doehring said. So I had reason to conclude that Grandpa Doehring was right there with you, and most likely in soul form."

After hearing Haoyue's analysis and reasoning, stars shone in Linley's eyes. "Wow, brother Haoyue, you're so smart!"

"Heh heh heh! I'm not that smart!" Haoyue scratched his head and laughed.

Doehring Cowart's voice came from the ring, sounding somewhat awkward.

"Um... could you two forget what happened just now?"

Although Haoyue couldn't hear him, he could tell from Linley's expression that Grandpa Doehring was joking.

"Grandpa Doehring, thank you... for what you did just now," Linley said earnestly.

Although big brother Haoyue had arrived in the end, Grandpa Doehring's willingness to sacrifice himself for Linley had been real.

"Why are you thanking me?" Doehring Cowart's voice sounded a little uncomfortable. "I'm your Grandpa Doehring. Of course I should look after you."

"Besides, wasn't it Haoyue who saved the day in the end?"

At that, Doehring's tone turned a little resentful.

"Say, couldn't that kid Haoyue have come a little earlier?"

"He made an old man like me say so many mushy things. How embarrassing."

After Linley relayed that to him, Haoyue said, "..."

So it's my fault now?

"All right, all right, I'm done talking to you two." Doehring Cowart's voice sounded a little tired. "I'm exhausted. I'm going to rest."

"Don't call me unless it's important."

With that, he fell silent.

It looked like he really was so embarrassed he wanted to crawl into a hole.

After their laughter, the mood was much lighter.

"All right, we should get going too." Haoyue stood up.

"Mm." Linley nodded.

He picked up the Black Jade Heavy Sword from the ground and returned the Purple Blood Soft Sword to Haoyue.

Once that was done, the two men and the beast left.

They slowly headed east, in the direction of the O'Brien Empire.