Coiling Dragon

“Then Gramps, how is it that you appeared from within the ring just now?” Linley looked doubtfully at the old man.

Laughing, the old man explained, “Actually, when I sealed my spirit within the Coiling Dragon Ring, I interwove my very existence into the Coiling Dragon Ring. Only when a person becomes the new owner of the ring would I be allowed to depart it.”

“Becomes the new owner of the ring?”

“Right. Through dripping blood onto the Coiling Dragon Ring.” The old man laughed.

Linley frowned while mumbling, “Dripping blood onto the ring?” Frowning as he tried to recollect when that had happened, Linley suddenly remembered that when the rock had cut his head open, fresh blood had suffused his clothes and his chest. Most likely, it was around then that the blood had dripped onto the ring.

“Oh. Then that makes me the owner of the Coiling Dragon Ring.” Linley nodded.

“Right. Only now, after you became the owner of the Coiling Dragon Ring, am I able to depart the ring and once more experience the air of the Yulan continent.” A hint of a smile was on the old man’s face. “Right. Kid. I just told you my name, but what is yours?”

Linley smiled brightly. “My name is Linley! Linley Baruch!”

“Linley, a fine name.” The old man smiled.

“Gramps, are you going to be forever bound to the ring and unable to ever regain your freedom?” Linley felt rather bad for him.

The old man smiled and nodded. “Linley, you must know that when most people die, their spirits will enter the Nether Realm! But because I was a Saint-level Grand Magus at the time of my death, my mental energy had obtained physical form. That was the only reason why I could temporarily resist the call of the Nether Realm and seal myself within the Coiling Dragon Ring. Right now, there is only one way for me to leave this ring – exhaust all of my remaining mental energy.”

“Exhaust all your remaining mental energy?” Linley didn’t quite understand.

“What men called mental energy, ghosts might call ‘spiritual energy’. When a person’s mental energy was utterly exhausted, his soul would naturally dissipate. In other words…when my soul dissipates, it will leave the confines of this Coiling Dragon Ring.” The old man said calmly. “But the current situation is fine also. Although I am confined by the Coiling Dragon Ring, preventing me from ranging more than three meters away from it, this isn’t too bad.”

Linley’s heart trembled.

Suddenly, in his heart, Linley felt some pity for this old man.

“Heh heh, Linley, I’m already very satisfied. You don’t know this, but…if my spirit had been captured by Hamelin, it would have been a fate worse than death.” The old man sighed.

“Gramps, you said your name is Doehring Cowart? Can I address you as Grandpa Doehring?” Linley suddenly said.

Doehring Cowart was a mighty Grand Magus of the Pouant Empire, and thus had an extremely high personal status. Back then, he would have ranked amongst the top five personages in the Yulan continent. He fell only because he had been despicably ambushed by Grand Magus Hamelin and another Saint-level combatant.

However…

Doehring Cowart had never had a child, nor grandchildren. Upon hearing Linley address him as Grandpa Doehring, Doehring Cowart’s heart, which had been lonely for thousands of years, suddenly felt warm.

“Yes, yes.” Doehring Cowart felt extremely happy.

A look of excitement suddenly appeared in Linley’s eyes. “Grandpa Doehring, just now, you said that you are a Saint-level Grand Magus. Then, can you teach me how to use magic?” Linley’s heart was frantically pounding. The person in front of him was a five thousand year old Saint-level Grand Magus.

In Linley’s mind, the huge body of the Velocidragon, the terrifying spectacle of the Dance of the Fire Serpents, and the countless boulders falling from the sky began to play over and over again, along with the spectacle of that proud man who stood on top of the Black Dragon.

He deeply desired that one day…

He, too, would step on top of the head of a Black Dragon and make the heavens tremble.

Doehring Cowart stroked his white beard. His eyes shining, he said, “Of course I can! Your Grandpa Doehring is a Saint-level Grand Magus of the almighty earth style…and amongst all of the elements, the element of earth is the mightiest of them all!” As he began to discuss magic, Doehring Cowart began to get excited.