Book 17, Indigo Prefecture – Chapter 34, The Eight Great Patriarchs

Bloodbath Gorge.

“Whoosh!” Emanuel was currently flying at high speed through Bloodbath Gorge. The other warriors within Bloodbath Gorge couldn’t help but stare, puzzled, as Emanuel flew past at high speed.

“Isn’t this that Elder Emanuel of the Azure Dragon clan? Why is he in such a rush?”

“No idea. Must be something urgent.”

The warriors within Bloodbath Gorge all couldn’t help but comment to themselves.

Currently, Emanuel couldn’t be bothered with the idle chatter of others. A ball of fire was blazing in his heart, and fury had filled his mind. He charged directly to the residence of his father, ‘Forhan’.

“Smash!” The door was pushed open.

Forhan had been seated in his room, quietly drinking tea. He couldn’t help but raise his head in amazement. “Emanuel, what are you doing here?”

Emanuel didn’t say anything. Turning, with a ‘creaaaak’ sound, he slammed the door shut.

“Bang!” Emanuel fell to his knees, his kneecaps smashing hard against the ground. Even the tough ground cracked apart from the force of it.

“Emanuel, what are you...” Forhan immediately stood up.

“Father!” Emanuel called out with grief and fury.

“What on earth has happened?” Forhan had a bad feeling...

“My...my divine water clone died! It was because of that Linley! Because of him!!!” Emanuel said, his entire body trembling. “It was all because of him! First, he intentionally refused to participate, and then, he parted ways with me!”

“Your divine water clone died?”

Forhan’s mind went momentarily blank. His son only had two bodies in total, one a divine water clone, the other a divine wind clone. The power of his divine wind clone was ordinary, and he hadn’t been able to fuse any of the profound mysteries.

His son wouldn’t even have the chance to refine a water-type divine spark and recover his former level of power.

“What exactly happened? Explain clearly.” Forhan said hurriedly.

“Yes, Father.”

Emanuel’s face was covered in rage. Now that he had found someone to complain to, he immediately began to speak in detail. Only, once the words came out from Emanuel’s mouth, the story had changed. It seemed as though everything Linley had done, he had done to try and harm Emanuel.

The Azure Dragon Palace. The fifth floor. A side room.

The Grand Elder was seated in the meditative position on a prayer mat, quietly training. Suddenly, the Grand Elder’s forehead furrowed, and she opened her eyes. “Why are the two of them here?” The Grand Elder immediately stood up and walked towards the main hall.

“Grand Elder!” Forhan’s voice rang out.

And then, Forhan and Emanuel entered the main hall on the fifth floor.

“What are you doing, rushing in here like this!” The Grand Elder shouted in a cold, unhappy voice.

“Grand Elder, Emanuel’s divine water clone died.” Forhan said frantically.

“Eh?” The Grand Elder was shocked. She couldn’t help but look at Emanuel. “Emanuel, didn’t you and Linley go together to carry out this mission? Also, you and Linley both had a drop of Sovereign’s Might.”

“Bang!” Emanuel knelt down heavily.

“Grand Elder, Linley and I encountered three Seven Star Fiends, all of whom were extremely strong. One of them was Elder Bulo of the Ashcroft clan.” Emanuel said hurriedly.

The Grand Elder’s face changed. “It was actually him? Given his status, he should have had a drop of Sovereign’s Might.”

“However, if you and Linley had both used your Sovereign’s Might and joined forces, even if Bulo used Sovereign’s Might, the two of you, when joining forces, should’ve been able to escape with your lives.” The Grand Elder said.

“That Linley just watched me die without helping!”

Emanuel said hurriedly. “When I was in danger, he didn’t help out at all. Afterwards, an expert suddenly appeared and ordered that Bulo to temporarily halt his attacks. That expert ordered Bulo to leave, and so I thought that I was safe. Linley then said that he had something to discuss with that expert, and so I was to leave by myself first.”

“I didn’t suspect anything, and thus left by myself. But who would have imagined...” Emanuel was filled with both rage and grief. “Grand Elder, just as I left, I was ambushed by that Bulo again and killed by him. Grand Elder...it must have been arranged by Linley. He definitely must have secretly used his divine sense to speak with that Bulo and told that Bulo to ambush me. Otherwise...how could Bulo have left, then returned to attack me?”

The Grand Elder, hearing this, frowned.

“For Linley to not assist earlier does show that he had the intention of harming you. However, as for Bulo’s later attack...there’s no way to be certain as to whether or not Linley used his divine sense to collude with Bulo.” The Grand Elder said in a low voice. “Although Linley didn’t assist you, you didn’t die, after all. Your death was caused by Bulo’s attack. It can’t be counted as being caused by Linley.”

“Grand Elder!” Emanuel was frantic.

Although the Grand Elder was his paternal grandmother, she was too obstinate and unfeeling. Even her son, ‘Forhan’, had to address her as ‘Grand Elder.’.

“Grand Elder, think about it. If Linley didn’t have the intention of killing Emanuel, how could Emanuel’s divine water clone have died?” Forhan said frantically. “Why wouldn’t he return alongside Emanuel? Why would he insist on them taking separate paths? Even if he wanted to speak in private, couldn’t he just have Emanuel wait off to one side?”

“Also. That Bulo, having been ordered off by that mysterious expert...why would he dare return and attack? He definitely colluded with Linley.” Forhan said frantically.

But they all forgot about something...

Bulo, after having used Sovereign’s Might, was able to use a Sovereign’s power for scouting.

“Grand Elder.” Forhan said frantically.

The Grand Elder couldn’t help but look towards Emanuel.

“Bang!” Forhan suddenly knelt down as well. Frantically, he said, “Mother!!!”

The Grand Elder’s body trembled. Ever since she ordered Forhan to address her as ‘Grand Elder’, it had been many years since her son had addressed her as ‘Mother’ again.

“Mother, Emanuel is my only son. His divine water clone is now dead. For his divine wind clone to grow in power will be difficult, even after the passage of countless years! Mother, the future of your grandson has been shattered by that Linley. How can you...not even a little...”

As he spoke, Forhan began to shed tears.

The Grand Elder felt her heart clench.

If she wanted to penalize Linley, just by being slightly partial, she could indeed penalize him.

“Mother!!!” Forhan said frantically.

The Grand Elder looked at the two men kneeling in front of her. One was her son, and the other was her grandson. The Grand Elder took a deep breath, then said softly, “Child, rise.”

The Grand Elder rarely displayed her emotions, and within the clan, she always gave the impression of being callous and emotionless.

However...

She was still a mother. Deep within her soul, there was still a very soft place. She wasn’t completely stone-hearted and unfeeling.

Forhan and Emanuel, hearing this, were overjoyed.

“Mother. Linley’s divine clone is at the Skyrite Mountains right now. We can interrogate him right away.” Forhan said hurriedly. “Our Azure Dragon clan should be unified and work together, but Linley actually dares to act in such a way. Even if we don’t execute him, we have to punish him heavily.”

“Right. Punish him heavily.”

Emanuel said hurriedly. “In addition, by what right does he, a junior, hold the Azure Dragon ring of the ancestor? The Azure Dragon ring should be in your possession, grandmother. Even if you don’t need it, it should be given to Father.”

The Grand Elder was silent.

“Mother, shall we send someone to summon Linley over?” Forhan said hurriedly.

Linley’s original body and divine wind clone were currently in the battlegrounds outside, while his fire, water, and earth clones remained in the Skyrite Mountains. They could be interrogated immediately.

“What’s the rush?”

The Grand Elder glanced sideways at each of them. “Even if I am to punish him, can it be that I am supposed to punish those clones? Linley’s original body isn’t even back yet.”

Forhan and Emanuel both came to their senses.

“Right. We shouldn’t interrogate him now. Otherwise, if we interrogate his clones, he might be so frightened that his original body flees. That won’t be worth it.” Emanuel said hurriedly. As Emanuel and Forhan saw it, the value of Linley’s clones was far inferior to the value of his original body.

After all...

Generally speaking, there were differences in power between the clones of an expert. The most important one was the one which mattered the most.

Within the borders of Indigo Prefecture. A place where four of the eight great clans were stationed.

The leader of the Ashcroft clan, which had moved here from the Netherworld, was currently chatting with Bulo’s divine water clone. After all, Bulo’s divine Death clone was still on the way back.

“Bulo, did you say he has a Sovereign artifact?” This Patriarch’s eyes were scarlet red, and his eyebrows appeared very devilish. His long black hair which glowed with a green light extended to his knees, and the two green serpents hanging from his ears were currently staring at Bulo.

This person...

Was the leader of the Ashcroft clan, and the ancestor of the Nether Serpent clan! The most powerful expert of the Nether Serpent clan.

“Yes, Father. That fire-type Sovereign artifact is very formidable.” Bulo said respectfully. “He also asked me to deliver a message to you. He said that he didn’t kill me because he was giving you face, but if in the future, we dare touch Linley, then the repercussions...we can imagine them for ourselves.”

“Hmph. Impudence.”

This Patriarch let out a cold snort.

“His Sovereign artifact is fire-type. He should thus be the Emissary of a Sovereign of Fire.” The Patriarch of the Nether Serpent clan considered this, then he couldn’t help but bark, “Pay a visit to the Boleyn clan with me.”

“Yes, Father.”

Immediately, the Patriarch of the Nether Serpents led Bulo directly towards the nearby Boleyn clan.

The Four Divine Beasts clan was led by the ‘Azure Dragon clan’, while the eight great clans was a temporary alliance. Currently, the most powerful of the clans, the ‘Boleyn clan’ of the Celestial Realm was their leader.

The Boleyn clan. The Radiant Palace.

The Radiant Palace was over a hundred meters tall, with multiple pillars that were emanating a soft white light supporting it. Currently, outside this palace, Bulo was there, standing alone in a respectful manner. As for within the palace, there were eight figures seated.

These eight were the eight Patriarchs of the eight great clans!

To be more precise, four of them were the true bodies of the Patriarchs, while the other four were the ‘golem clones’ of the Patriarchs of the other four clans, who were far away on the opposite end of the Indigo Prefecture. These ‘golem clones’ were ‘Deathgod Golems’, and held a hint of consciousness within them.

The reason they had Deathgod Golems here was so that they could discuss things in a group.

Bulo was respectfully narrating what had occurred in this battle. After he finished speaking, he said formally, “That’s all!”

The voices of the eight great Patriarchs could be heard from within, engaging in conversation.

“Reinales, your clan has always been in the Infernal Realm. You should be familiar with its experts. Have you heard of this ‘Phusro’?”

“Phusro? I’ve never heard of a person in the Infernal Realm who went by this name.”

“No matter what, if he has a weapon-type Sovereign artifact, he is definitely a Sovereign’s Emissary!”

“So what if he is a Sovereign’s Emissary? If he dares act wildly against our eight great clans and really forces us, we can just kill him...as long as we aren’t the first to attack, the Sovereign behind him won’t blame us!”

Bulo, hearing this, couldn’t help but be secretly startled.

However, Bulo also knew that of the eight Patriarchs of their eight great clans, seven of them were Sovereign’s Emissaries, with the eighth not being a Sovereign’s Emissary but still being in possession of a Sovereign artifact. In fact, the eighth was actually the most powerful of them all.

After all...

The Patriarchs of the Four Divine Beasts clan also had Sovereign’s artifacts.

Given that the eight great clans to dare act against the Four Divine Beasts clan, how could they not have sufficient power of their own?

“How long will it be before I, too, have a Sovereign artifact?” Bulo thought to himself. However, he understood that even if the eight Patriarchs didn’t have Sovereign artifacts, they were still incredibly strong. It was precisely because they were so strong...

That they were noticed and valued, and received Sovereign artifacts.

In Bulo’s mind...

The eight Patriarchs were high and lofty figures. Indeed, it was only natural for a Sovereign’s Emissary to be far above other people.

“Don’t rashly make new enemies!” A somewhat hoarse voice rang out in a rebuke from within the palace. “There’s no need for us to fear that Phusro anyhow. Right now, I’m more suspicious about another person.”

“Bulo.” The voice came from within.

Bulo immediately bowed.

“Let me ask you this. When you saw that Linley, you, too, believed him to be a God? You didn’t sense any hint of a Highgod aura?” The hoarse voice in the palace said.

“Yes. I couldn’t sense a thing. I sent out my divine sense, but could only sense that he was a God.” Bulo said.

That hoarse voice rang out again. “Right. I am very familiar with Bulo’s power. Your Ashcroft clan specializes in the soul to begin with, while Bulo is one of the supreme members of your clan, and has reached a very high level of accomplishment with regards to the soul. The number of people in the entire Infernal Realm who could hide their strength and prevent Bulo from realizing it can be counted on one hand. Someone with this level of power...shouldn’t be weaker than me. If Linley really was this formidable, it would be simple for him to kill Bulo.”

“But he didn’t! And in fact, it was that Phusro who saved him.”

“I have a suspicion! I suspect that this Linley really is just a God! The reason why his soul is so tough is that he has a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact!” The hoarse voice said.

“He really is just a God? Patriarch Boleyn, don’t jest like that.” Someone immediately said.