Book 17, Indigo Prefecture – Chapter 8, The Secrets of the Ancestral Baptism!
Asking about his strength?
Linley looked at Baruch. After a momentary pause, he said, “I am a G.o.d!”
A look of surprise appeared on Baruch’s face, and then he immediately sighed in praise, “Linley, you, a G.o.d, were able to effortlessly defeat that Asru. This is simply inconceivable. How did you accomplish this?”
Linley, for a moment, didn’t know how to reply.
The reason why he, a G.o.d, was so powerful actually had many components.
“Oh.” Baruch seemed to have realized that he had asked a question that he shouldn’t have asked. He laughed, “Enough about that. Since you are so formidable as a G.o.d, once you become a HighG.o.d, you will definitely become a true expert of our Azure Dragon clan. Since that’s the case, there are some things which I will tell you in advance.”
Linley listened intently.
“These affairs, our Azure Dragon clan generally won’t tell some of the weaker clansmen.” Baruch sighed.
Linley couldn’t help but feel puzzled. “Weak people? But the clan leader himself is just a G.o.d. How does he know?” As Linley said it, in the Four Divine Beasts clan, the Baruch clan was indeed a very weak, small clan.
Baruch just continued. “Linley, do you know how resplendent and glorious our Four Divine Beasts clan was in the past?”
“I know.” Linley nodded. “I read a book introducing the Four Divine Beasts clan. In the past, the power of the Four Divine Beasts clan spread across all Four Higher Planes and multiple Divine Planes. But it seems as though ten thousand years ago, all of our clan’s forces withdrew from the other planes and regrouped here in the Infernal Realm.”
“Right.”
Baruch sighed. “Our Four Divine Beasts clan’s power was spread across the Four Higher Planes. But do you know why our clan was so powerful to begin with?”
Linley shook his head.
Linley was puzzled about this as well. Why were they so mighty?
“Let me tell you. The reason our Four Divine Beasts clan was, in the past, so strong, was because…” Baruch’s eyes shone, and his breathing became more ragged as well. His face also turned red from excitement. “The ancestors of our Four Divine Beasts clan were four Sovereigns!!!”
“What?!” Linley felt completely stunned.
“Clan leader, what did you just say? Sovereigns? Did I mishear?” Linley said hurriedly.
Sovereigns were far above all other life forms, whom they gaze down at from up above. Even the most powerful Infernal Asuras or Purgatory Commanders, in front of a Sovereign, were like ants. With but a thought, a Sovereign could kill an Asura.
The ancestors of his clan were Sovereigns?
The ancestors of the Four Divine Beasts clan were four Sovereigns?
“Right! You heard correctly!” Baruch said solemnly. “The ancestors of our Four Divine Beasts clan were four Sovereigns. The four mighty Sovereigns were a very tight-knit group, and the descendants of their Four Divine Beasts clan, which they raised, were naturally powerful to begin with. When they were present, the a.s.sistance the four ancestors provided allowed their clan to dominate the major planes with utter invincibility!”
Linley felt as though his mind was in a state of chaos.
Sovereign? And four of them?
It must be understood that the seven elements of earth, fire, water, wind, lightning, light, and darkness, each only had seven Sovereigns! The Sovereigns were scattered throughout the various Divine Planes and Four Higher Planes. And, for creatures as proud as them, it was very hard for alliances to form.
But four Sovereigns had joined forces. It would be a strange thing if the Four Divine Beasts clan wasn’t mighty!
Most likely, the other Sovereigns also wouldn’t be willing to offend these four Sovereigns without a good reason.
“The ancestor of our Azure Dragon clan was a water-type Sovereign. The ancestor of the White Tiger clan was a wind-type Sovereign, while the ancestor of the Vermilion Bird clan was a fire-type Sovereign. As for the Black Tortoise clan’s ancestor, that was an earth-type Sovereign!” Baruch said solemnly.
Linley’s mind was reeling.
Sovereigns were so far above them, and yet behind the Four Divine Beasts clan, there had been four Sovereigns!
It would be impossible for the Four Divine Beasts clan to be weak, even if they wanted to be.
“If that was still the case, our Four Divine Beasts clan would still be invincible throughout the various planes! But all of this changed, roughly eleven thousand years ago!” Baruch said.
Linley also knew that roughly ten thousand years ago, a tremendous change happened to the Four Divine Beasts clan. What type of change, exactly, had caused his clan to fall?
For all four of the Sovereign’s clans to simultaneously weaken…there was, most likely, just one possible explanation. The power backing the Four Divine Beasts clan had been destroyed! As he thought of this possibility, Linley found it to be unbelievable. “Who could possibly defeat four mighty Sovereigns? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!”
Although he thought this, he still looked at Baruch, waiting for Baruch’s answer!
“The four ancestors are all dead!” Baruch said hoa.r.s.ely.
Linley couldn’t help but stop breathing.
So that really was the case!
“Four Sovereigns…all died? How is that possible?” Linley said hurriedly. To kill a Sovereign, one had to at least be at the Sovereign level, but the four ancestors of the Four Divine Beasts clan represented four full Sovereigns!
Who could kill four Sovereigns?
“They did indeed perish.” Baruch said helplessly. “Although we don’t know the reason for their death, there is no question about the fact that the four ancestors are dead! And precisely because the four ancestors are dead, our Four Divine Beasts clan’s moment of crisis arrived!”
“Crisis?” Linley frowned.
“Right.” Baruch furrowed his forehead in worry. “The four ancestors were all on very good terms with each other. The four of them, all Sovereigns, had existed for countless years, causing the Four Divine Beasts clan and its members to be extremely arrogant and overbearing.”
Linley nodded to himself. With four Sovereigns as ancestors, how could the Four Divine Beasts clan not be arrogant!
“Wherever there are people, there are struggles. Because of their arrogance, because of their power! In the past, when the Four Divine Beasts clan struggled against other clans, the Four Divine Beasts clan would naturally be rather overbearing.” Baruch said.
Linley understood.
“After countless years, naturally there would often be battle and struggles. The Four Divine Beasts clan had a number of enemies, but the Four Divine Beasts clan never cared, because they were so powerful, they didn’t fear their enemies!”
Baruch shook his head. “But then, the four ancestors died!”
Baruch looked towards Linley. “The clans which dared struggle against the Four Divine Beasts clan, even if they were weaker, wouldn’t be too much weaker.”
Linley nodded in acknowledgment.
“Those clans, in their own planes, were all very formidable. But compared to the Four Divine Beasts clan, there was still quite some difference. After all, behind the Four Divine Beasts clan were four Sovereigns. But once the four Sovereigns died…”
Baruch shook his head and sighed.
Linley began to understand.
“Those clans, in the past, had simply been humiliated too much by the Four Divine Beasts clan.” Baruch shook his head. “Once the four Sovereigns died, these clans no longer had any more misgivings. They immediately, wildly began to a.s.sault the Four Divine Beasts clan!”
Linley took a deep breath. He could completely imagine the scene.
“Thus, the forces of the Four Divine Beasts clan immediately withdrew, and the descendants in all the planes immediately withdrew and regrouped to the Infernal Realm!” Baruch said solemnly. “Ten thousand years ago, just during the withdrawal process, the number of HighG.o.ds which died was an astonis.h.i.+ng figure. Even many Six Star Fiends and Seven Star Fiends died.”
Linley’s heart shuddered.
“The Four Divine Beasts clan is strong, extremely strong.” Baruch said. “Originally, when the four ancestors were alive, they naturally cultivated their descendants, causing the Four Divine Beasts clan to produce many experts, Seven Star Fiends, and even Asura-level experts.”
Linley understood this. The four Sovereigns had cultivated their descendants for countless years. Given that the Four Divine Beasts clansmen were naturally blessed with gifts to begin with, it made sense for them to be mighty.
If they weren’t mighty, how could they have dominated the many other planes?
After all, to dominate the other planes, the power of the ancestors was just one aspect. The many powerful experts which the Four Divine Beasts clan held was another aspect.
“They were powerful, but they couldn’t overcome the superior numbers of their enemies, and in addition, their enemies were also powerful.” Baruch sighed. “The worst part was, eight of the clans who had held the deepest grudges against and had the most hatred for the Four Divine Beasts clan ended up actually slaughtering a path into the Infernal Realm!”
“They attacked here in the Infernal Realm?” Linley was astonished.
“Right. Those clans actually moved their entire clans to the Infernal Realm in pursuit of the Four Divine Beasts clan.” Baruch said.
Linley was completely stunned.
“Amongst them is the Barbary [Ba’ba’li] clan which attacked from the Divine Water Plane, the Dean [De’en] clan from the Divine Earth Plane, the Edric [Ai’de’li’ke] clan from the Higher Plane of the Life Realm, the Venna [Wen’na] clan of the Divine Wind Plane, the Ashcroft [A’she’ke’luo’fu’te] clan of the Netherworld, the Chanel [Sheng’nei’er] clan of the Divine Fire Plane, and also the Boleyn clan of the Celestial Realm!” Baruch said solemnly.
Linley was completely dazed.
The transportation fee for moving between high level planes was astronomical. To move an entire clan would require an astonis.h.i.+ngly amount of wealth, but these families were able to accomplish it, which was a testament to their wealth.
In addition…
They were willing to move from their own planes to the Infernal Realm. One could imagine how great their hatred was!
“There were, in total, seven major clans. Aside from these seven clans, in the Infernal Realm, there was one clan already present who had great enmity against our Four Divine Beasts clan. This is the ‘Reinales’ clan.” Baruch said.
Linley sighed to himself.
They even had enemies on their own lands.
“Not a single one of these eight major clans are weaker than our Azure Dragon clan.” Baruch said solemnly.
Linley felt bitterness in his heart.
None of them were weaker than the Azure Dragon clan? Linley knew that in the Four Divine Beasts clan, the Azure Dragon clan was the leader. Even if theoretically all four of the Four Divine Beasts clans were equal in power, allied together, they still couldn’t overcome the eight clans of the enemies!
“The eight clans joined forces. Doesn’t that mean we shouldn’t have been able to resist?” Linley was puzzled.
If none of them were weaker than the Azure Dragon clan, once the eight joined forces, how could the Four Divine Beasts clan possibly resist?
“Right. We couldn’t resist.” Baruch said. “However, we had the help of the Lord Prefect of the Indigo Prefecture.”
“The Lord Prefect of Indigo Prefecture?” Linley was surprised. The Lord Prefect of a prefecture was an Asura!
“The Lord Prefect of Indigo Prefecture has four powerful emissaries under his command, each of whom is exceedingly powerful. In addition, the Lord Prefect of Indigo Prefecture also controls the prefecture army.” Baruch said. “The Lord Prefect forbade the eight clans from attacking the Skyrite Mountains. If battles occurred outside of the Skyrite Mountains, however, he wouldn’t interfere.”
Linley now understood. If the enemies had agreed, then the Four Divine Beasts clan wouldn’t be completely destroyed, at least.
They had to just hide within the Skyrite Mountains.
But the Four Divine Beasts clan couldn’t possibly stay forever within the mountain without leaving. As soon as they left, they would suffer attacks.
“The eight clans obeyed the Lord Prefect of Indigo Prefecture?” Linley was puzzled.
Of these eight clans, seven came from other planes, and each of them was very powerful. These eight major clans would care about a single Lord Prefect? But of course, behind the Lord Prefect was a large number of prefecture soldiers.
“The eight clans obeyed.” Baruch laughed. “All these years, they truly have never attacked the Skyrite Mountains.”
Linley was secretly shocked at the influence of the Lord Prefect of Indigo Prefecture.
“The Lord Prefect of Indigo Prefecture was actually willing to a.s.sist our Four Divine Beasts clan.” Linley sighed to himself.
“I’m not clear as to the reason why, myself. There is probably a deep secret hidden within.” Baruch said. “Perhaps this was the reason why our Four Divine Beasts clan withdrew back to Indigo Prefecture to begin with.”
Linley nodded.
“But our clan can’t always be trapped within the mountains.” Baruch sighed. “Thus, battles still occur quite often. In addition, once they begin, they only end with one party’s death. Either you die or I die.”
Linley remembered clearly that scene he had encountered when he had first arrived at Indigo Prefecture, where the Boleyn clan had engaged in a wild slaughter. Only now did Linley understand that the Boleyn clan was one of those eight clans, and was from the Celestial Realm.
“Linley, you are powerful. Once you become a HighG.o.d, you will definitely become a formidable warlord for our clan. Thus, I want to warn you in advance about this, so that you will continue to train hard.” Baruch said.
“Understood.” Linley nodded.
“I’m just afraid that something terrible will happen to you in those battles…haha, I’m thinking too much.” Baruch immediately shook his head and laughed. “You haven’t even undergone the Ancestral Baptism, and yet you are so powerful. Once you undergo the Ancestral Baptism, you will definitely become even mightier.”
“Ancestral Baptism?”
Linley was extremely curious regarding this. “Clan leader, what exactly is an Ancestral Baptism, and what does it do?”
Baruch laughed. “The Ancestral Baptism is actually a process which truly guides out the innate ability of our Azure Dragon clan. As members of the Azure Dragon clan, we all are at least capable of a.s.suming the Azure Dragonform. But as a clan descended from a divine beast, we have to at least be capable of an ‘innate divine ability’ as well, right?”
“Azure Dragonform? Innate divine ability?” Linley was rather stunned.
The Four Divine Beasts clan was a clan of divine beasts. Naturally, they had their own ‘innate divine abilities’.
“However, although we belong to the Azure Dragon clan, only the ancestor was a true Azure Dragon. We, his descendants, don’t have as pure a blood lineage as he had. Thus, there are differences in our Azure Dragonform, and we have varying levels of strength in our innate divine ability as well.” Baruch said.
“Varying levels of strength?” Linley frowned.
“Right. The more of the blood of the ancestor which flows in our veins, the more pure that blood is, then the more powerful the Azure Dragonform will be. The innate divine ability will also grow to be more powerful.” Baruch said. “But unfortunately, after so many generations, the blood lineage of the descendants has grown rather thin.”