Chapter Seventy-Two: The Four Great Intermediate Deities

Linley, realizing what was happening, quickly shook his head and let out a relieved laugh. "Of course not! Thankfully you were here, Lord Qiankun. Otherwise, my Baruch Empire would have been in real trouble. You helped me drive away formidable foes—I can only be grateful, how could I ever think you meddled?"

"Ah, stop with the 'Lord' this and 'Lord' that. It sounds odd to me," Qiankun waved his hand dismissively. "You’ve become a god now. If you don’t mind, just call me Brother Qiankun—it feels much more familiar that way."

Startled by his words, Linley’s smile deepened. "Brother Qiankun! Had I known your earth deity avatar was still on the Yulan Continent, Olivia, Desley, and I wouldn’t have risked confronting Beaumont. If not for our battle with him, we wouldn’t have broken the seal of the interdimensional prison, releasing so many powerful beings and causing such turbulence."

As he spoke, Linley shook his head with lingering fear. "This time, if you hadn’t been here, Brother Qiankun, I can’t imagine what would have become of my Baruch Empire."

"Uncle!" "Lord Linley!" As voices called out, two figures flew over from the imperial palace—Undying Warrior Anke and the Baruch Empire’s Emperor, Xini, transformed into a Dragonblood Warrior.

Seeing they were unharmed, Linley breathed another sigh of relief and hurried to introduce them. "Anke, Xini, come here and meet Lord Qiankun. Lord Qiankun, these are Anke and Xini. Anke is an Undying Warrior, and Xini is my brother Wharton’s son, currently Emperor of the Baruch Empire."

"Lord Qiankun!" Anke and Xini both bowed respectfully to Qiankun.

Qiankun, his expression gentle, nodded to them before glancing at the nearly hundred Sanctuary experts still suspended in midair by his divine domain. He turned to Linley, "Linley, their leader Ogavin had one of his mid-tier god avatars killed by me and fled in disgrace. I also killed three of his lesser gods. Now only these Sanctuary experts remain—I'll leave their fate to you. No need to slaughter them all; with more powerful Sanctuary experts under your command, your Baruch Empire will grow stronger."

"Uncle, that’s a brilliant idea from Lord Qiankun!" Xini’s eyes lit up. "If we can recruit all these Sanctuary experts, it would be wonderful. You’re a god now—you can’t do everything personally. With these experts, many things will be much easier."

At the same time, Qiankun withdrew his divine domain, restoring movement to the Sanctuary experts, who hastily bowed and pledged, "Thank you, Lord Qiankun, for sparing us. We are willing to submit to Lord Linley and follow his commands."

"You may follow me for now," Linley replied. "If you wish to travel to other divine planes in the future, I won’t stop you."

The Sanctuary experts secretly rejoiced. This Lord Linley seemed reasonable. Though his power was limited—still a lesser god—but with Lord Qiankun behind him, even Ogavin wouldn’t dare provoke them again.

---

"Linley, to prevent Ogavin from coming back for revenge, or other powerful beings coveting your Baruch Empire, I’ll go with you to Dragonblood Castle and stay there for a while, keeping watch until Tarosa and the others return," Qiankun said with a smile.

Delighted, Linley instructed Xini to arrange for his wife and children to join him at Dragonblood Castle, then accompanied Qiankun back. With Qiankun present, Linley felt secure.

Meanwhile, as expected, Ogavin's fire deity avatar, along with his son Kingsley, hurried to the O'Brien Empire to seek refuge with the upper god Adkins.

Ogavin was filled with fear and hatred toward Qiankun. His most powerful light deity avatar had been slain by Qiankun, leaving him only with the weaker fire deity avatar. Even after joining Adkins, he was not valued.

Hatred gnawed at Ogavin like a serpent, spurring him to ingratiate himself with the three mid-tier gods under Adkins, eventually persuading them. The four mid-tier gods believed that although Qiankun was formidable, he couldn’t handle all four of them. Especially Bernas, the strongest among them, who possessed an upper-tier divine artifact and considered himself unrivaled among mid-tier gods.

Boom! Over the O'Brien Empire, a sonic boom echoed as four figures sped east, flying side by side in the turbulent air. They made no attempt to hide, their speed astonishing, their presence intimidating, the sonic booms thundering loudly. Each radiated a fierce, terrifying aura.

Bernas, Gaitenby, Hanbrit, and Ogavin flew in formation, their robes flapping, the sound like thunder. As Bernas had said, "If we strike, it must be with force—no sneak attacks. That would disgrace Lord Adkins."

As Adkins’ most trusted and powerful mid-tier god, Bernas’ words were law; Ogavin and the others dared not defy him.

Thus, the four continued boldly toward Dragonblood Castle. Along the way, hidden Sanctuary and god-level experts noticed their approach. Some even used divine sense to inform their friends, and several quietly followed.

In Dragonblood Castle’s western courtyard, Linley’s figure flickered alongside the dreamlike purple sword shadows, sometimes accompanied by the ringing sound of swords. Where the flexible purple-blood sword passed, space sometimes produced layered echoes, sometimes collapsed, or left behind a thin line splitting the air.

With each practice, Linley’s understanding of the speed laws deepened, and the power of the purple-blood sword gradually unfolded.

"Hmm? What a terrifying aura!" Linley’s expression suddenly changed in mid-training. He sensed several powerful presences rushing toward Dragonblood Castle from the north.

---

As the four drew closer to Dragonblood Castle, Ogavin’s heart raced. He envisioned Qiankun falling in despair under the siege of four mid-tier gods. "Mr. Bernas, Dragonblood Castle lies ahead."

"Oh, so this is Dragonblood Castle?" Bernas, with his silver hair, gazed calmly at the distant castle. "The four of us have made our presence known along the way—many are surely trailing us."

Bernas understood this well—it was exactly the effect he wanted. "We must not disgrace Lord Adkins. This time, we must defeat Qiankun decisively to intimidate other powerful beings. Hanbrit!"

"Mr. Bernas!" The young man with cropped green hair respectfully awaited instructions.

Bernas issued his order coldly: "Strike directly and obliterate Dragonblood Castle. The ordinary folk aren’t worthy to witness this battle."

Hanbrit’s eyes sparkled. He soared forward, smirking, and stretched out his right hand. Instantly, the world shuddered as wild wind elements converged above Dragonblood Castle, forming a massive green vortex, with pale green wind blades swirling about.

"Turn to dust!" Hanbrit chuckled, pressing down with his palm. At once, the huge vortex suspended above Dragonblood Castle sank, and countless pale golden wind blades, dense as locusts, swept downward.

Clang, clang, clang... Amid the crisp impacts, a yellow crystal-like shield appeared above Dragonblood Castle. The countless wind blades struck the shield, but it remained utterly unscathed.