Coiling Dragon Chapter 177

Published at 1st of August 2022 10:53:23 AM

Chapter 177: Leaving the Mountains
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Virtually all magi knew how to set up a soul-binding magic array. But in terms of actually setting one up, there were certain requirements. Generally speaking, only upon reaching the seventh rank as a magus did one have sufficient spiritual strength to set it up.

A nearly translucent pentagram was floating in mid-air.

And then, the pentagram magic formation flew towards the head of the Blackcloud Panther, who didn't resist at all, allowing the magical formation to enter his mind. Suddenly, both Linley and the Blackcloud Panther could feel that their spirits were now interconnected.

This was not the same as the 'bond of equals' which Linley and Bebe shared.

In the 'bond of equals' between Linley and Bebe, both of their souls had become intermingled. With this soul-binding magic array, however, was formed solely from Linley's spiritual energy. When the Blackcloud Panther accepted the soul-binding compact, naturally Linley was the master.

“Master.” The Blackcloud Panther was extremely respectful.

Linley looked at the Blackcloud Panther. “What is your name?” Linley knew that some high-class magical beasts had names of their own. For example, that Armored Razorback Wyrm which Linley had encountered in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts' Foggy Valley had been named Sartius.

The Blackcloud Panther's voice sounded in Linley's mind. “Master, my name is Haeru [Hei'lu].”

“Haeru?” Linley memorized the name.

“Haeru, tell me about your transformation abilities.” Towards this topic, Linley felt quite a bit of interest.

The Blackcloud Panther nodded. “Master, it is because I am a dual-element magical beast of both darkness and wind elements. In my brain, I have two magicite cores; one is darkness element, the other is wind element. Normally, I am in my first form, where my defense, offense, and speed are all equal.”

“When I rely primarily on the energy from my darkness magicite core, my body will increase in size and my attack power will go up, at the expense of speed. When I rely primarily on the energy from my wind magicite core, I will be in this form, the wind-style form, with great speed but weaker defense.”

The Blackcloud Panther, Haeru, said honestly.

Linley now understood.

So Blackcloud Panthers were dual-element magical beasts of wind and darkness, and this current form was the wind-style form. The giant form was the darkness-style form, and only the original form was the 'normal' form.

“I had originally thought that Haeru's current form was his normal form.” Linley snickered to himself.

Linley suspected that the person who had written the records which Linley had read regarding Blackcloud Panthers had only seen this wind-style form, and thus mistook this as the only form of the Blackcloud Panthers.

“Growl!” Bebe ran over, growling in a low voice towards the Blackcloud Panther.

The Blackcloud Panther began to chat with him as well.

“Looks like our journey will be more interesting in the future.” A hint of a smile was on Linley's face.

…..

Alongside his two magical beast companions, Bebe and Haeru, Linley continued his daily training regime. Linley immersed himself in the world of sword-training. Every so often, Linley would have some new insights regarding how to use his heavy sword.

Spring left, autumn came.

In the blink of an eye, another year had passed.

That fall in the second year, the temperature had dropped to a murderous low. Linley was seated cross-legged beneath an ancient oak, training. The Dragonblood battle-qi had suddenly begun to boil, causing his blood vessels and his heart to once again begin to change and transform.

In addition, within Linley's dantian, the Dragonblood battle-qi had finally begun to change as well. Excited, Linley let out a laugh. He had finally broken past the late-stage of the seventh rank and reached the eighth rank. He had become a warrior of the eighth rank!

As a warrior of the eighth rank, upon totally Dragonforming, Linley's power was now at the peak-stage of the ninth rank.

There was a significant difference between a peak-stage ninth rank warrior and an early-stage ninth rank warrior.

“When I was in Hess City, it was hard for me to even break past the armor of an ordinary magical beast of the ninth rank. But now, even without using the adamantine heavy sword, I can kill most magical beasts of the ninth rank.” Linley was extremely confident.

A peak-stage Dragonblood Warrior of the ninth rank could definitely vanquish a peak-stage magical beast of the ninth rank.

Aside from Saint-levels, perhaps there was nobody in the world who could threaten him anymore.

“Only, the higher level of using this adamantine heavy sword, this so-called 'impose' level…what is it?” Linley began to frown. Right now, Linley had completely mastered the technique of 'wielding something heavy as though it were light'.

He walked barefooted on the ground.

Linley continued on his path of training, constantly harmonizing himself with the pulsing thrum of the earth and the indistinct ebbs and flows of the wind. In turn, Linley's spirit became purified by nature, becoming more agile and graceful.

….

Winter arrived.

In the morning, a great blizzard had descended, covering the entire world with blankets of falling snow. Standing in the middle of the snowstorm, Linley stared up at the snowflakes falling from the sky. His heart was very peaceful.

Suddenly, Linley sat down cross-legged, placing the adamantine heavy sword across his lap. His upper body was still bare, and he still wore that ragged pair of hempcloth pants.

The snow settled on top of Linley's body, but Linley didn't notice it at all.

Time passed. The snow continued to fall from morning until nightfall, covering the entire area with a layer of snow as thick as one's foot.

Bebe and Haeru had hidden themselves underneath a large pine tree, where they watched Linley.

“Impose.”

Linley's eyes opened. Within them, there was a hint of a smile. Raising his head to stare in front of him, he saw that the snow had ceased to fall. Although it was almost dark, the entire world had been painted a light white color by the snow.

“Grooooowl!” From far away, the roar of a magical beast could be heard.

A Glacial Snow Lion was striding on the snow. Apparently having discovered Linley, it began to draw close to Linley, one step at a time. Watching the Glacial Snow Lion draw near, Linley didn't seem to react at all.

“Swoosh!” With a mighty leap, the Glacial Snow Lion pounced towards Linley.

Linley watched as the Glacial Snow Lion pounced towards him. Very casually, he grabbed the adamantine heavy sword that had been lying in his lap and chopped directly towards the Glacial Snow Lion.

“Rumble!” The moment Linley swung the adamantine heavy sword, space itself seemed to suddenly be compressed in the area around the sword, in the direction of the Glacial Snow Lion.

Terrified, the Glacial Snow Lion wished to flee, but the entire area around it was compressed by that pressuring force. It had nowhere to run.

Facing this heavy sword, it had no choice but to take it head on.

“Bam!”

The heavy sword slammed against the Glacial Snow Lion's body. The Glacial Snow Lion's entire body trembled momentarily, then suddenly disintegrated into a pile of flesh and blood.

“So 'impose' refers to 'imposing' one's will on the heavens and the earth, to the point where even space itself can become used to constrict someone. Haha…” Linley laughed.

After having experienced that huge blizzard, Linley finally entered the third level of wielding heavy weapons; the 'impose' level. Only, Linley understood that he had just barely begun to grasp this level.

“To be able to so quickly grasp the 'impose' level, I really must give thanks to my training as a stonesculptor as well as my insights as a magus.” Linley felt very happy.

Because he was a magus, Linley's soul could more clearly sense the throbbing pulse of the earth as well as the flows of the wind. His soul was capable now of becoming one with nature. In addition, this entire time, Linley had been extremely focused on his training and had accumulated a great deal of experience. This allowed Linley to finally surpass that initial barrier and enter the 'impose' level of wielding the heavy sword.

In terms of power, the 'impose' level was far more terrifying than the level of 'wielding something heavy as though it were light'. It was also far more profound and mysterious.

….