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 God!”


    A look of surprise appeared on Baruch’s face, and then he immediately sighed in praise, “Linley, you, a God, were able to effortlessly defeat that Asru. This is simply inconceivable. How did you aplish this?”


    Linley, for a moment, didn’t know how to reply.


    The reason why he, a God, was so powerful actually had manyponents.


    “Oh.” Baruch seemed to have realized that he had asked a question that he shouldn’t have asked. Heughed, “Enough about that. Since you are so formidable as a God, once you be a Highgod, you will definitely be a true expert of our Azure Dragon n. Since that’s the case, there are some things which I will tell you in advance.”


    Linley listened intently.


    “These affairs, our Azure Dragon n generally won’t tell some of the weaker nsmen.” Baruch sighed.


    Linley couldn’t help but feel puzzled. “Weak people? But the n leader himself is just a God. How does he know?” As Linley said it, in the Four Divine Beasts n, the Baruch n was indeed a very weak, small n.


    Baruch just continued. “Linley, do you know how resplendent and glorious our Four Divine Beasts n was in the past?”


    “I know.” Linley nodded. “I read a book introducing the Four Divine Beasts n. In the past, the power of the Four Divine Beasts n spread across all Four Higher nes and multiple Divine nes. But it seems as though ten thousand years ago, all of our n’s forces withdrew from the other nes and regrouped here in the Infernal Realm.”


    “Right.”


    Baruch sighed. “Our Four Divine Beasts n’s power was spread across the Four Higher nes. But do you know why our n 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 n 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 n were four Sovereigns!!!”


    “What?!” Linley feltpletely stunned.


    “n 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 n were Sovereigns?


    The ancestors of the Four Divine Beasts n were four Sovereigns?


    “Right! You heard correctly!” Baruch said solemnly. “The ancestors of our Four Divine Beasts n were four Sovereigns. The four mighty Sovereigns were a very tight-knit group, and the descendants of their Four Divine Beasts n, which they raised, were naturally powerful to begin with. When they were present, the assistance the four ancestors provided allowed their n to dominate the major nes 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 nes and Four Higher nes. 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 n 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 n was a water-type Sovereign. The ancestor of the White Tiger n was a wind-type Sovereign, while the ancestor of the Vermilion Bird n was a fire-type Sovereign. As for the ck Tortoise n’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 n, there had been four Sovereigns!


    It would be impossible for the Four Divine Beasts n to be weak, even if they wanted to be.


    “If that was still the case, our Four Divine Beasts n would still be invincible throughout the various nes! 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 n. What type of change, exactly, had caused his n to fall?


    For all four of the Sovereign’s ns to simultaneously weaken...there was, most likely, just one possible exnation. The power backing the Four Divine Beasts n 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 hoarsely.


    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 n 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 n’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 n and its members to be extremely arrogant and overbearing.”


    Linley nodded to himself. With four Sovereigns as ancestors, how could the Four Divine Beasts n 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 n struggled against other ns, the Four Divine Beasts n would naturally be rather overbearing.” Baruch said.


    Linley understood.


    “After countless years, naturally there would often be battle and struggles. The Four Divine Beasts n had a number of enemies, but the Four Divine Beasts n 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 ns which dared struggle against the Four Divine Beasts n, even if they were weaker, wouldn’t be too much weaker.”


    Linley nodded in acknowledgment.


    “Those ns, in their own nes, were all very formidable. Butpared to the Four Divine Beasts n, there was still quite some difference. After all, behind the Four Divine Beasts n were four Sovereigns. But once the four Sovereigns died...”


    Baruch shook his head and sighed.


    Linley began to understand.


    “Those ns, in the past, had simply been humiliated too much by the Four Divine Beasts n.” Baruch shook his head. “Once the four Sovereigns died, these ns no longer had any more misgivings. They immediately, wildly began to assault the Four Divine Beasts n!”


    Linley took a deep breath. He couldpletely imagine the scene.


    “Thus, the forces of the Four Divine Beasts n immediately withdrew, and the descendants in all the nes immediately withdrew and regrouped to the Infernal Realm!” Baruch said solemnly. “Ten thousand years ago, just during the withdrawal process, the number of Highgods which died was an astonishing figure. Even many Six Star Fiends and Seven Star Fiends died.”


    Linley’s heart shuddered.


    “The Four Divine Beasts n is strong, extremely strong.” Baruch said. “Originally, when the four ancestors were alive, they naturally cultivated their descendants, causing the Four Divine Beasts n 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 nsmen 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 nes?


    After all, to dominate the other nes, the power of the ancestors was just one aspect. The many powerful experts which the Four Divine Beasts n held was another aspect.


    “They were powerful, but they couldn’t ovee the superior numbers of their enemies, and in addition, their enemies were also powerful.” Baruch sighed. “The worst part was, eight of the ns who had held the deepest grudges against and had the most hatred for the Four Divine Beasts n ended up actually ughtering a path into the Infernal Realm!”


    “They attacked here in the Infernal Realm?” Linley was astonished.


    “Right. Those ns actually moved their entire ns to the Infernal Realm in pursuit of the Four Divine Beasts n.” Baruch said.


    Linley waspletely stunned.


    “Amongst them is the Barbary [Ba’ba’li] n which attacked from the Divine Water ne, the Dean [De’en] n from the Divine Earth ne, the Edric [Ai’de’li’ke] n from the Higher ne of the Life Realm, the Venna [Wen’na] n of the Divine Wind ne, the Ashcroft [A’she’ke’luo’fu’te] n of the Netherworld, the Chanel [Sheng’nei’er] n of the Divine Fire ne, and also the Boleyn n of the Celestial Realm!” Baruch said solemnly.


    Linley waspletely dazed.


    The transportation fee for moving between high level nes was astronomical. To move an entire n would require an astonishingly amount of wealth, but these families were able to aplish it, which was a testament to their wealth.


    In addition...


    They were willing to move from their own nes to the Infernal Realm. One could imagine how great their hatred was!


    “There were, in total, seven major ns. Aside from these seven ns, in the Infernal Realm, there was one n already present who had great enmity against our Four Divine Beasts n. This is the ‘Reinales’ n.” Baruch said.


    Linley sighed to himself.


    They even had enemies on their ownnds.


    “Not a single one of these eight major ns are weaker than our Azure Dragon n.” Baruch said solemnly.


    Linley felt bitterness in his heart.


    None of them were weaker than the Azure Dragon n? Linley knew that in the Four Divine Beasts n, the Azure Dragon n was the leader. Even if theoretically all four of the Four Divine Beasts ns were equal in power, allied together, they still couldn’t ovee the eight ns of the enemies!


    “The eight ns 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 n, once the eight joined forces, how could the Four Divine Beasts n 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 hismand, 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 ns from attacking the Skyrite Mountains. If battles urred outside of the Skyrite Mountains, however, he wouldn’t interfere.”


    Linley now understood. If the enemies had agreed, then the Four Divine Beasts n wouldn’t bepletely destroyed, at least.


    They had to just hide within the Skyrite Mountains.


    But the Four Divine Beasts n couldn’t possibly stay forever within the mountain without leaving. As soon as they left, they would suffer attacks.


    “The eight ns obeyed the Lord Prefect of Indigo Prefecture?” Linley was puzzled.


    Of these eight ns, seven came from other nes, and each of them was very powerful. These eight major ns would care about a single Lord Prefect? But of course, behind the Lord Prefect was arge number of prefecture soldiers.


    “The eight ns obeyed.” Baruchughed. “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 assist our Four Divine Beasts n.” 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 n withdrew back to Indigo Prefecture to begin with.”


    Linley nodded.


    “But our n can’t always be trapped within the mountains.” Baruch sighed. “Thus, battles still ur 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 n had engaged in a wild ughter. Only now did Linley understand that the Boleyn n was one of those eight ns, and was from the Celestial Realm.


    “Linley, you are powerful. Once you be a Highgod, you will definitely be a formidable warlord for our n. 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 andughed. “You haven’t even undergone the Ancestral Baptism, and yet you are so powerful. Once you undergo the Ancestral Baptism, you will definitely be even mightier.”


    “Ancestral Baptism?”


    Linley was extremely curious regarding this. “n leader, what exactly is an Ancestral Baptism, and what does it do?”


    Baruchughed. “The Ancestral Baptism is actually a process which truly guides out the innate ability of our Azure Dragon n. As members of the Azure Dragon n, we all are at least capable of assuming the Azure Dragonform. But as a n 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 n was a n of divine beasts. Naturally, they had their own ‘innate divine abilities’.


    “However, although we belong to the Azure Dragon n, 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.”