End Of The Magic Era

by Stayrr

The world that nurtured the civilization which reached the pinnacle of magic was on the verge of destruction. The last survivor transmigrated to the past, when the magic civilization started growing, as countless mages were still fumbling their ways through the thorny paths of magic knowledge. He, who came from the end of the magic era, aim to reach the pinnacle of magic.

4. 97

Read End of the Magic Era - Chapter 97 - Gaugass Battlemage online free - Light Novel Full

Chapter 97 Gaugass Battlemage

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

T/N: Fixed Gaugass, it's a group of mages and not one person.

'Plate armor, lance… Gaugass Battlemage!' Lin Yun was startled and subconsciously raised the Spiritual Magic Staff with Flame Burst's flames flickering at its tip.

But he immediately realized that something was off.

Lin Yun noticed that this the armored silhouette holding the lance was actually motionless. It really was a legendary Gaugass Battlemage, and he wasn't moving at all in front of Lin Yun's Flame Burst. What did that mean?

'Could it be… Another skeleton?'

Lin Yun interrupted the cast of his Flame Burst while feeling a bit doubtful, but he didn't dare to be careless. He held the Sage Chapter in his hand tightly. If anything went amiss, the Fire Arrows within would be activated. Those were genuine Ultimate Spells, and their might would far surpass that of his Flame Burst.

This wasn't Lin Yun being overly careful.

These Gaugass Battlemages could be considered quite unconventional among the entire magic civilization. They never learnt any magic knowledge or did any magic research. They didn't even have their own written language, a group of true barbarians. Their societal system was still at the tribal stage.

But it was this group of barbarians that was blessed with innate magic skill. Almost every Gaugass Battlemage was born with Mage level mana accumulation. Once they reached adulthood, that mana accumulation would reach Great Mage level. It had to be mentioned that this would occur without meditation or training, it was all innate mana. This was enough to make ordinary mages envious.

The most frightening part was that Gaugass Battlemages were born with extremely tyrannical physical strength. They could use all kinds of weapons and all heavy armors. When they joined a battlefield, it was as if armored beasts had joined the fray, and in addition, those armored beasts could fire all kinds of spells!

Facing such an abnormal existence, Lin Yun felt that no matter how careful he was, it couldn't be considered excessive.

Lin Yun remained alert as he cast Detect Magic.

'No mana fluctuations, no signs of life…'

Lin Yun let out a sigh of relief. Whether that silhouette was a Gaugass Battlemage or not, there was no danger.

Lin Yun finally relaxed the hand holding the Sage Chapter and moved past.

The Bone Devil's footsteps were already drawing closer.

That sinister roar echoed once again in Lin Yun's ears. But the more terrifying thing was that after expanding out, the passage didn't continue any farther.

The path had come to an end.

Lin Yun's only course of action now was waiting.

Waiting for the Bone Devil to give up on tracking him, or for it to find him.

Time ticked by, second after second. The cave began shaking even more violently, and rocks fell from the ceiling, making Lin Yun feel depressed. Bu Lin Yun couldn't worry about this right now. After discovering that there was no way out, Lin Yun cast a Mage Eye. Without the interference of the magic staff, the Mage eye smoothly retraced his way back.

The Mage Eye found the Bone Devil at the middle of the slope. Compared to his first trip to the Bone Plane, where Lin Yun barely had the time to look at the Bone Devil, this time he was able to pay closer attention.

He saw a huge, several-meter-tall body entirely made up of thick bones, its sharp bones flickering with a faint radiance in the dark. There were several dozen phosphorous lights on its body, each one scattering a berserk mana fluctuation. The Soul Fire within the skull was the size of a fist, emitting an enormous death aura. Even Lin Yun, who was on the other side of the slope, felt stifled.

Two lights were crazily pulsating in the eye sockets, moving back and forth in the dark cave, seemingly searching for the origin of the living aura.

'Damn ghost…' Lin Yun knew that he wouldn't be able to escape this time. The Bone Devil didn't look like it would give up.

After giving up on his hopes of being lucky, Lin Yun actually calmed down.

He looked around, his brain working at a crazy speed. 'If I fight the Bone Devil here, I might have some chances.'

Honestly, he wasn't too confident.

Although the passage was advantageous to him, it would only be good for a sneak attack.

Two Fire Arrows upgraded to Ultimate Spells, along with the damage from a prepared Flame Barrier, might be all he could cast before being noticed. Afterwards, he would have to suffer from the bombardment of several dozens of Dark Fire Bullets. Chanting spells at that point might be complicated, and he might really have to remain in the Bone Plane for all eternity.

It would have been great if the Gaugass Battlemage next to him was still alive. With his tyrannical physical strength, stalling the Bone Devil might not be an issue. And maybe with the power of the two of them together, they might have had the strength to get rid of the Bone Devil.

With his attention drawn back to the battlemage, Lin Yun was suddenly startled, shock plastered all over his face.

'Strange, this Gaugass Battlemage's body doesn't have the slightest scent of rot. Could it be that the bodies of the favorites of the wilderness don't even rot after years? That can't be, this is the Bone Plane filled with death energy. Anything would corrode ten times faster here. Let alone the Gaugass Battlemage, even the corpse of a Dragon would turn into another Bone Dragon after three hundred years.

Lin Yun's eyes suddenly shone.

He finally understood why this Spiritual Magic Staff would have such a powerful mana strengthening effect, why his path looked man-made, and why that Gaugass Battlemage's body hadn't become rotten after so many years.

His doubts were suddenly cleared up.

This was all because the Gaugass Battlemage next to him wasn't a living person!

When Lin Yun's thoughts reached this point, he rushed to lift the plate armor of the Gaugass Battlemage.

'Sure enough…' Lin Yun nearly took a step back subconsciously. What appeared before him was an astonishing skeleton built out of Gold Essence. Numerous alchemy arrays were carved onto the skeleton, each of them being at least Master Alchemist level. If such a Gold Essence construct appeared in the outside world, it would create a huge stir. This was enough to make all alchemists spend a crazy amount of money.

But Lin Yun didn't have time to care about that at the moment. His eyes only swept through the arrays and he quickly found the location of that alchemy puppet's mana source.

Just as Lin Yun expected, the mana source was completely empty.

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Now, he only needed one more thing.

Every alchemy puppet had unique control runes. Different types of alchemy puppets had a different number of control runes. For example, the mining alchemy puppets produced by the Gilded Rose only had three or five control runes and could only carry out a few types of instructions like extracting ore and transportation.

But the control runes of some battle puppets would be a lot more complicated, and the number could reach several dozens or more. Since battle puppets couldn't think by themselves, only by having enough control runes would they be able to adapt and react to any situations.

What Lin Yun lacked now were the control runes.

'Looks like an unsolvable problem.'

Wanting to find the control runes of an alchemy puppet that had been shut down for over three hundred years was an impossible task.

But Lin Yun actually smiled.

While smiling, he took out the Inheritance Ring. 'Too obvious, in all of Noscent, only the Black Tower was capable of crafting a Gaugass Battlemage puppet model.'

In other words, the remains he found earlier most likely belonged to this alchemy puppet's master.

That master had left two items behind.

A Spiritual level magic staff, which was the mana source of that alchemy puppet.

And an Inheritance level Ring, which Lin Yun hadn't had time to study yet, but if it didn't contain the control runes of the alchemy puppet, what else could it be?

Lin Yun didn't spend too much time thinking farther and took out the Inheritance Ring. Under the rotation of the Magic Array, mana poured into the ring, and with a click, a deep Nesser sound echoed in Lin Yun's ears.

One, two, three, four…

Lin Yun hadn't expected that the alchemy puppet would have a total of 130 control runes!

Moreover, those 130 control runes were divided into a few layers, each layer more precise than the one before. Most of the lowest control runes could even be modified to add casting skills to the alchemy puppet. This was quite overpowering, tantamount to having the usual benefits of an alchemy puppet along with the casting skills of a mage.

Naturally, the prerequisite was that the master of the alchemy puppet had to have already mastered that skill.

This wasn't a problem for Lin Yun.

After remembering all the control runes, Lin Yun put the ring back in his pocket. It was the first time he had felt truly relaxed ever since the Bone Devil had awakened, because he knew that he now had the power to fight against it. If everything went smoothly, he might be able to get hold of the Nether Iron Vein in advance.

He inserted the magic staff into the alchemy puppet's body, the huge Elemental Amber filling the empty spot for the mana source. A large amount of mana poured in like a waterfall, and three seconds later, the alchemy puppet's finger moved. Ten seconds later, the Gold Essence frame's arrays began radiating with light.

After thirty seconds, the alchemy puppet's body shook fiercely under the radiance emitted by the Elemental Amber.

Recharged!

"Attack!" Lin Yun pulled out the Spiritual Magic Staff and simultaneously ordered through the control runes in Nesser Language. The originally stiff body immediately straightened and grabbed the Gold Essence Lance next to its body before rushing to the pathway at an astonishing speed.

Lin Yun finally understood how the pathway had been carved, and in fact, it couldn't really be described as being carved. The alchemy puppet with its heavy plate armor was like an armored bulldozer. A sweep from the three-meter lance in its hand was enough to easily plow through the earth. In just a moment, it soared through the hundred meters or so of the narrow passage.

Just as the alchemy puppet rushed in, the Bone Devil entered from the other side. The sinister roar filled that narrow space. The two phosphorous lights within the empty sockets pulsated as several dozens of Dark Fire Bullets were rotating around it, just like sinister will-o'-wisps.

The Bone Devil was clearly distracted when the alchemy puppet appeared.

Despite the Bone Devil's strength being similar to that of a High Mage, it wasn't nearly as intelligent. With its pitiful mind, it was really difficult to understand a strange existence like this alchemy puppet. It wasn't an undead being, but neither was it a living lifeform, yet it was letting out astonishing mana fluctuations. What kind of creature was that?

The alchemy puppet wouldn't clear up the Bone Devil's question, though. The Gold Essence Lance swept over, sending the Bone Devil's huge body flying. A deep sound echoed out as it struck the wall.

But the Bone Devil was worthy of being a powerful undead lifeform with the strength of a High Mage. After being struck with such a heavy blow, it only roared in indignation before staggering back up. The alchemy puppet's blow had clearly infuriated this hegemon of the black wasteland. The two lights were burning as it rushed towards the alchemy puppet with an angry roar.

Another deep clash echoed as the two non-human creatures knocked into each other. A hegemon of the black wasteland controlling Dark Fire Bullets, and an alchemy puppet wielding a Gold Essence Lance. This fight had just started, yet it already looked like a desperate brawl.

Each time the two combatants collided, loud sounds that would make one feel numb would thunder out. Defense had no part in that fight, and they only went all-out with their attacks. This fight was fierce enough that even a Great Swordsman would turn pale upon watching. The Bone Devil would endure the Gold Essence Lance passing through its body in order to ensure that its own Dark Fire Bullets would land, and the alchemy puppet would let the Dark Fire Bullets hit its body in order to land a blow on the Bone Devil.

Among the dust, a sinister hole could be seen on the Bone Devil's chest as three of its ribs had already broken. Naturally, the alchemy puppet was hardly better off. The thick Gold Essence plate armor had already been heavily dented in several locations, and there was even a sharp bone piercing through its stomach.

Lin Yun left down the long passage while continuously chanting the control runes, tightly holding the Spiritual Magic Staff and the Sage Chapter in his hands.

His palms were soaked in sweat.

Because he knew that he only had one chance.

If he missed that opportunity, no matter how fierce the alchemy puppet was, he would have no choice but to remain in the Bone Plane. After all, this alchemy puppet was merely at the 1st Rank Great Mage and 5th Rank Great Swordsman level. Compared to a Bone Devil that could contend with a High Mage, it was still quite far off.

It looked like the alchemy puppet was a match for the Bone Devil at the moment, but Lin Yun knew that it wasn't because of the alchemy puppet's inherent strength, but rather because he was manipulating three control runes each second.

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Chapter 99: Collapsed Bone Devil

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

In other words, Lin Yun's control was raised to its limit, forcibly improving the alchemy puppet's fighting strength.

But that kind of increase couldn't possibly last long.

After all, there were 130 control runes, and in a fight where nothing was set in stone, every control rune had to be used perfectly with no room for mistakes. Even if it was Lin Yun, keeping up with such a high-intensity battle without making any mistakes couldn't go on indefinitely.

That battle did appear fierce, but the one who was enduring the most pressure was still the one controlling the alchemy puppet, Lin Yun.

Fortunately, he didn't have to wait too long for that opportunity.

After another bitter clash, the two were once again entangled. The dazzling Gold Essence Lance held a dazzling flame as it pierced through the Bone Devil's chest. The fierce fire elements burst out and caused the Bone Devil to let out a mournful yell. Filled with rage, the Bone Devil looked at the lance in its chest and pounced ferociously, making the alchemy puppet fall over.

Clashing sounds echoed out one after the other.

The sounds became fiercer as a thick, bony fist kept striking against the alchemy puppet's body. The thickest part of the Gold Essence Armor had already sunk in, and the cave shook each time the thick fist landed.

Under normal circumstances, Lin Yun would definitely order the alchemy puppet to break away from the Bone Devil because if it kept going, the puppet wouldn't be able to recover from the damage.

But this time, Lin Yun actually ordered the puppet to remain entangled with the Bone Devil.

The alchemy puppet also attacked crazily, the Gold Essence Lance piercing deeper into the Bone Devil centimeter by centimeter, continuously bursting with Fire Magic elements. It looked like fireworks were being set off within the Bone Devil's chest, each burst followed by a mournful yell.

'Now!' The long-awaited opportunity had finally appeared!

Lin Yun tightly gripped the Spiritual Magic Staff in his hands and a large amount of mana poured into his body from the Burning Spirit Wood. Lin Yun then activated the Sage Chapter in his other hand, the magic symbol of the Fire Arrow flickering on the stone tablet.

A "woosh" could be heard, but it was barely noticeable because of the Bone Devil's loud shouts.

But this Fire Arrow carried a long trail of flames as it tore through the air and exploded against the Bone Devil's skull.

In front of a Great Mage, a Bone Devil's body was almost unbreakable, as it was shockingly hard and had frightening resistances. Even if a Flame Burst exploded on the Bone Devil's body, it would only leave a burn mark behind.

But this was a Fire Arrow that had become an Ultimate Spell thanks to the Sage Chapter, and it was now bursting with the might of a High Mage spell.

Only a "bang" was heard as the first Fire Arrow exploded upon striking the Bone Devil's skull and flames spread out along with fragments of bone. A hole had been drilled by the Fire Arrow in the skull that could make a Great Mage despair.

The Bone Devil let out a painful cry due to its sudden injury and momentarily couldn't pay attention to the alchemy puppet under it, which sent it flying over to the nearby stone wall. At that moment, the Bone Devil had already turned its body, its phosphorous lights burning crazily as they stared firmly at Lin Yun. It sped up as it dashed furiously at Lin Yun.

The cave shook underneath its feet.

The part of the path that Lin Yun had taken cover in was only a bit over a meter tall while the Bone Devil's body reached several meters, so normally it wouldn't be able to rush in.

But the Bone Devil was too powerful. It wasn't completely stopped as it rushed in, and half of its body still managed to squeeze in. But the most frightening thing was that Bone Blades on both arms had already appeared. As the two arms swayed back and forth, cracking sounds could be heard from the stone walls as chunks kept falling down, and in a short time, the roughly one-meter-tall path had expanded to a height of over two meters.

At that time, the distance between Lin Yun and the Bone Devil was less than five meters.

If it kept swinging its two Bone Blades a few more times, Lin Yun would soon be at the mercy of the Bone Devil.

But Lin Yun was remaining motionless, as if he hadn't seen the crazy Bone Devil. The Spiritual Magic Staff in his hand was radiating with light as a huge amount of mana continued pouring into his body. The second magic symbol on the Sage Chapter started shining.

Afterwards, another "woosh" could be heard…

A Fire Arrow flew at the Bone Devil's skull once more, but this time, there was no bone to block its path, and the Soul Fire, the source of undead lifeforms, was completely naked, exposed in front of Lin Yun.

The might of the Ultimate Spell was displayed the moment the Fire Arrow and the Soul Fire collided. An extremely loud sound echoed as Lin Yun felt a heat wave rushing over. Soaring flames filled Lin Yun's field of view as the lively fire elements seemed to be singing at this moment.

The furiously roaring Bone Devil fell still as if someone had drained all its power. The bones fell down and the Soul Fire stopped burning. The Bone Devil's life ended there.

'Finally over.'

At the same time that the Bone Devil collapsed, Lin Yun sat on the ground, greedily absorbing some of the remaining Soul Fire. After being used twice, the mana in the Elemental Amber decorating the Spiritual Magic Staff had already been depleted.

Yet Lin Yun couldn't worry about that. He could only sit on the ground while panting.

Although he only used two spells in that fight, the pressure he endured was far greater than the use of two hundred spells. The two Ultimate Spells were Lin Yun's last card. If he hadn't been able to destroy the Bone Devil's Soul Fire with them, he would have had no hope to make a comeback.

The pressure from hovering between life and death, even Lin Yun, who had been through countless close calls at the end of the magic era, was something he was unable to endure. Now that this fight was over, Lin Yun felt like collapsing.

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Lin Yun rested for a full ten minutes.

After ten minutes, Lin Yun had recovered from his state of weakness.

After feeling better, the first thing he did wasn't to check the damage of the alchemy puppet, but rather to look at the corpse of the Bone Devil. To Lin Yun, the biggest reward of this trip was getting rid of the Bone Devil ahead of schedule. Now, not only could initiate the mining of the Dark Iron Vein a month in advance, but he could also push the plan to get the Book of Death ahead by a month.

Although the Soul Fire had already been destroyed, as Lin Yun crouched next to the Bone Devil's corpse, he could still feel the death energy leaking it. The amount of death energy that was still left after the destruction of the Soul Fire was extremely shocking.

Lin Yun had already been mentally prepared regarding the power of the Bone Devil, so he hadn't placed his hopes on the Undead Predator ability. He wasn't Charles the Conqueror, who had exterminated all the undead of the Undead Plane. Lin Yun's Undead Predator ability would currently show some effects against low-level undead beings at most. Wanting to intimidate an existence on par with a High Mage like a Bone Devil… Maybe after he conquered the Bone Plane.

Lin Yun had more trust in the mana he controlled than in an ability that he had yet to master.

'Sure enough…' After crouching by the Bone Devil, Lin Yun quickly found the things he wanted.

Lin Yun found the Dark Fire Bullets that never left the body of the Bone Devil.

Those Dark Fire Bullets shouldn't be underestimated, as the existence of the bullets was the main reason that a Bone Devil could contend with a High Mage. They were condensed from death energy and had surrounded the Bone Devil for who knows how many years. They were already infected with the characteristic corpse poison of undead lifeforms. In Lin Yun's eyes, each of these Dark Fire Bullets was comparable to a Splendid Magic Tool.

They were single-use items with power that wasn't inferior to that of a Spiritual Magic Tool by much. Only something like that monstrous alchemy puppet built from Gold Essence could handle a few Dark Fire Bullets without collapsing.

If Lin Yun tried to take the hits, let alone a few, he wouldn't even be able to endure one.

Lin Yun found 23 Dark Fire Bullets next to the Bone Devil.

After the death of the Bone Devil, these Dark Fire Bullets lost the source of their death energy and turned jet-black. They were cold and rough, hardly eye-catching, but Lin Yun knew that these unremarkable bullets could still burst with shocking firepower as long as they were supplied with a bit of mana.

Feeling very satisfied with the the acquisition, Lin Yun put the bullets into his pocket. He also did not forget to tear off the two Bone Blades and set them up on the alchemy puppet's arms.

That alchemy puppet modeled after the Gaugass Battlemages no longer looked as mighty as when Lin Yun first saw it. Its Gold Essence plate armor had been deformed from the Bone Devil's blows to the point that it looked rather funny now. The scariest part was the Gold Essence frame, which was a bit twisted. It could no longer move as nimbly as before.

Lin Yun couldn't find a good way to deal with the damage. This was the Bone Plane, after all. If someone happened to be looking for an undead lifeform, they would easily find it here, but there were no easily usable repair materials here. For lack of a better solution, Lin Yun could only set the alchemy puppet aside and think of a way to repair it after going back to Noscent.

Once done, Lin Yun did a last check to make sure there was nothing else worth collecting from the Bone Devil's corpse and then picked up the Sage Chapter and the Spiritual Magic Staff from the ground.

'What?' But Lin Yun felt something wrong when he picked up the Sage Chapter.

He noticed that a 3rd Ultimate Spell slot had appeared on the Sage Chapter!

When Lin Yun first got hold of the Sage Chapter, there was only one Ultimate Spell slot. After harvesting over a thousand Skeleton Warriors' Soul Fires, a 2nd slot had appeared. Lin Yun had speculated that it would take a long time before the 3rd Ultimate Spell slot appeared. But he hadn't expected to confront and defeat the Bone Devil here, and after destroying its Soul Fire, the incomplete Soul Fire made the 3rd slot appear ahead of time.

This was even more important than 23 Dark Fire Bullets to Lin Yun.

Although the Dark Fire Bullets were comparable to a Spiritual Magic Tool's attack, the Sage Chapter was an Extraordinary Component. The appearance of a 3rd Ultimate Spell slot raised Lin Yun's power even farther. Just based on the previous fight, if Lin Yun had been able to use an extra Ultimate Spell, the battle would have been a few times easier.

He might not necessarily have needed the alchemy puppet.

With three Ultimate Spells cast in a row, Lin Yun would have had at least a 50% chance of destroying the Bone Devil's Soul Fire on his own.

After dealing with all this, Lin Yun quickly gave up on the Bone Devil's body and just carried the alchemy puppet out of the cave. He knew that the biggest reward from this trip didn't come from the High Mage's remains, and it also wasn't the alchemy puppet. And it was neither the Dark Fire Bullets left behind by the Bone Devil nor the two extra Ultimate Spell slots on the Sage Chapter.

The true harvest was the place where the Bone Devil had originally been slumbering.

Lin Yun quickly went around the Nether Iron Vein and reached the Bone Devil's lair.

The Bone Devil's lair had been a forbidden death zone to Lin Yun. He wouldn't have been to keep his life if he had entered. But the situation had changed, and that place was now a treasure grove. Who didn't know that Bone Devils only slept in places with the richest death energy? And place with rich death energy usually produced magic materials.

Moreover, with the passage of time, the Bone Devil's own death energy would permeate the area. Even Lin Yun didn't dare imagine to what extent those magic materials would mature.

When the Bone Devil burst out of its lair, it left a huge hole in the black wasteland. The soil in its surroundings had already become soft and unsuitable for walking. But Lin Yun didn't care about that. He drew close and impatiently leaned to look down.

There, Lin Yun saw a blossoming Black Flower.

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Lin Yun's eyes opened wide when he noticed the black flower, his breathing even accelerated.

'Worthy of a Bone Devil's lair…' Lin Yun jumped into the hole, not paying attention to the thick, rotten smell, and he crouched in front of the black flower. He used the priceless Spiritual Magic Staff to gently dig around the black flower.

Lin Yun's movements were very careful, taking a lot more time than necessary, digging the soil bit by bit. One minute passed, then two, then three… Ten minutes later he started sweating as the digging didn't seem to be making any headway. A bit of worry could be seen on Lin Yun's face, but he still focused and slowly dug at the soil.

Lin Yun knew that this was an Obsidian Flower, rumored to be the root of all evil. Lin Yun would suffer from unbearable loss if the Obsidian Flower suffered the slightest bit of harm.

Very few mages had seen a living Obsidian Flower during the peak magic era. It was the crystallization of the resentment of thousands upon thousands of the undead. It represented this world's most malicious and most sinister existence. Each petal contained incurable poison. A High Mage powerhouse would instantly die with a mere touch.

Moreover, it was said that even the soul of a man poisoned by the Obsidian Flower would have to suffer pain and torture for all eternity.

However, the fruit of a blooming Obsidian Flower was an extremely precious magic material. The Obsidian Flower could bear three kinds of fruits, and each kind was enough to create miracles when used for alchemy.

Lin Yun remembered that approximately five hundred years later, an unlucky Master Alchemist named Lawrence lost the entirety of his family property in a storm. With only a hundred golds to his name, Lawrence used that money to buy a withering fruit. Everyone felt that Lawrence was finished at the time.

But no one thought that a year later, Lawrence would rely on the withered fruit to make the first True Spirit Magic Tool, joining the ranks of the Artisans.

At that time, people only knew that the fruit Lawrence bought with his hundred golds was called the Heart of Light. That was one of the three fruits that came from the blooming of the Obsidian Flower.

It was a miracle of alchemy created by the Obsidian Flower.

It let a Master who had been at an impasse become an Artisan.

It took Lin Yun thirty minutes to dig up the Obsidian Flower, and still, he didn't dare to use his hands to touch it. Instead, he put on a pair of gloves made out of Gold Essence. With those, he pulled out the entire Obsidian Flower. A sinister cold wind blew over, and countless ghosts flew up from the hole in the soil. Mournful cries echoed as the entire world became sinister and eerie at that moment.

Lin Yun knew that this was the crystallization of the resentment of the Obsidian Flower.

He didn't panic and instead just cast Spirit Defense, followed by Banish Evil.

In a flash, the cold wind stopped and the ghosts faded away as peace returned to his surroundings.

After everything was over, Lin Yun held the Obsidian Flower in one hand and the Spiritual Magic Staff in the other as he crawled out of the hole.

'Time to go back…'

After climbing out of the hole, Lin Yun took a last glance at the black wasteland.

In doing so, he saw a strange phenomenon.

'There are so many Skeleton Warriors here?'

This was strange… The hegemon died, yet not only did the amount of Skeleton Warriors not lessen, but it had also shockingly increased.

Lin Yun's eyes shone as he looked at those thriving Skeleton Warriors.

He had originally planned to bring the alchemy puppet back to Noscent to repair it. But after seeing so many Skeleton Warriors, Lin Yun couldn't restrain himself. These Skeleton Warriors looked so lively, it would be a shame if he didn't harvest them.

Lin Yun thought for a bit before giving two orders to the alchemy puppet.

The first was to hunt nearby, and the second was to gather Undead Essences.

For the Skeleton Warriors of the black wasteland, these two orders were simply a nightmare.

Naturally, this had nothing to do with Lin Yun anymore. After arranging the situation of the alchemy puppet for the next month, Lin Yun patted the dust off his robe and once again used the incantation to open the Planar Path.

He would begin mining the Nether Iron Vein during his next trip, and also look for that shortcut to the Book of Death.

After a short spatial distortion, Lin Yun once again returned to Noscent. He didn't check his rewards in the hidden chamber this time. Instead, he immediately rushed to the garden and planted the Obsidian Flower that he had brought with him.

And then, the entire garden…

The Obsidian Flower wasn't called the root of all evil for nothing. Its toxicity was enough to instantly kill High Mages, so how could a small garden escape from the ravages of its power? Just by planting it, the entire garden underwent huge changes. Trees withered, flowers shriveled, and in a short time, all the plants in the entire garden died.

For a moment, Lin Yun was a bit unsure of how to proceed.

But he ultimately thought of something and drafted two alchemy arrays at the garden's entrance to prevent the toxicity from leaking out. At the same time, he told the servants that no one was allowed near the garden. Lin Yun could only relax a bit once he was done with this. But he knew that this was only treating the symptoms but not the root. There might not be any problems for now, but once the Obsidian Flower bloomed completely and started bearing fruits, those two alchemy arrays would be unable to keep the toxicity at bay. At that point, the only option would be to have everyone move out.

But before he could come up with a better solution, these two arrays would do the job for now.

Naturally, if he was fortunate enough to find a Parasitic Tree later on, then everything would be much easier to will with.

A Parasitic Tree planted with the Obsidian Flower would not only absorb the Obsidian Flower's toxicity, but it would also make the Obsidian Flower bear two fruits instead of one!

'Looks like I have to find an opportunity to search the Savage Highlands…' Lin Yun scratched his cheek and returned to his study to check on his harvest.

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Chapter 102: True Cousin

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

Thirty minutes of stay had become three hours. Lin Yun's harvest in the Bone Plane had truly seen a substantial increase. When Lin Yun came back the first time, he had only gained a few precious magic gems, and besides a Frost Lich Heart, the rest of the harvest together wasn't even worth an Inheritance Magic Tool.

But this time, Lin Yun obtained the 23 Dark Fire Bullets from the Bone Devil's corpse, each of them worth at least a Splendid Magic Tool. He also found the magic staff in his hand, which was a genuine Spiritual Magic Tool, and even the Obsidian Flower, known as the root of all evil. There was also the alchemy puppet that was powerful enough to contend with a Bone Devil, as well as the Sage Chapter's additional two UItimate Spell slots.

In other words, this harvest from this trip was far beyond what Lin Yun could have ever imagined.

'Oh, and there is that Inheritance Ring.'

Because of the lack of time in the Bone Plane, Lin Yun hadn't had the leisure to carefully inspect the ring. After extracting the control runes from within, he had put it aside. But now that he had left the Bone Plane, Lin Yun could finally research it.

Cracking an Inheritance Magic Tool wasn't anything complicated for Lin Yun, as he had mastered that skill in his previous life.

It took him less than half an hour to understand the ring.

'Spatial Magic Tool!' Lin Yun was actually shocked that this was a Spatial Magic Tool!

Normally, an Inheritance level Spatial Magic Tool wouldn't be enough to move Lin Yun.

In this era, the alchemy array technology was already approaching maturity. It wasn't impossible to get the effect of spatial distortion. In fact, the pockets of Lin Yun's black robe had been treated with a similar alchemy array. The actual volume of his pockets had been more than doubled.

The truly shocking Spatial Magic Tools were those at the Spiritual level or at the True Spirit level because Spatial Magic Tools could display their true power through their Spirit or Incarnation. An Inheritance Ring Spatial Tool like the one he found couldn't be considered a particularly valuable Spatial Tool.

What moved Lin Yun was the origin of that Spatial Magic Tool.

This particular tool had belonged to a High Mage.

Lin Yun had always been troubled by an oddity while in the Bone Plane. How could an esteemed High Mage leave only one staff behind? But he now understood after seeing this Spatial Ring… The rest should be within that ring.

Cracking it became a lot easier after knowing that this was a Spatial Magic Tool.

Lin Yun only drew an alchemy array and after cutting off the source of the mana flow, the radiance of the ring dimmed, followed by a loud "bang".

Lin Yun didn't have time to react before being buried by various things.

"Fuck…" Lin Yun struggled out of the pile. After looking around, he couldn't help cursing.

Such a big study was now filled with ore, deep blue and cold to the touch. If this wasn't Nether Iron, what was it? And some of those ores were shining, definitely Magic Gems. Lin Yun started counting, but he quickly gave up because there were too many.

'This High Mage from the Black Tower was very hardworking…' Lin Yun looked at his study filled with Nether Iron and Magic Gems and was speechless for a while.

He originally thought that his previous harvest was shocking enough.

But he hadn't expected this additional bounty.

Now he had an entire study full of ore and gems. If he sold them now, he would most likely get over 10,000,000 golds. And this was only the material price. If they were processed by the Gilded Rose, that number would increase quite a bit.

Lin Yun scratched his face and called a servant, "Go tell Uncle Pave to get me a few ca… No, a few dozen carriages!"

…

That pile of unexpected Nether Iron Ores and Magic Gems immediately sent the alchemy workshops into a craze. After Faleau forced the Great Alchemist Hawkins to withdraw, the prestige of the Gilded Rose had been completely solidified. And with Hauss fanning the flames, those few dozens of Alchemists sent by Bassoro were put in order.

Under Faleau's supervision, the Nether Iron Ores and Magic Gems were quickly turned into alchemy items, which then appeared in Thousand Sails City's marketplace, shocking many businessmen.

Now, the Gilded Rose could be said to have skill, talents, and resources. In a short ten days, the old butler expanded the operations four times in a row. The Gilded Rose opened thirteen shops and spread to almost every corner of Thousand Sails City.

Lin Yun had rarely appeared in the Gilded Rose recently. He would mostly stay at home to take care of that Obsidian Flower. He didn't have much choice, as the toxicity of the Obsidian Flower was too high. Servants couldn't approach, and only a Great Mage like Lin Yun could rely on the protection of mana to barely approach the Obsidian Flower.

It was the same today. After taking care of the Obsidian Flower, he read a book in the study for a while, and just as he prepared to go check if the caravan for Edge Rift was ready at the Gilded Rose, he heard some hurried knocking on the door.

"Knock knock knock, knock knock knock!"

Lin Yun looked at the door with a strange expression as he said, "Come in…"

"Young Master, Young Master…"

"Uncle Pave?" Lin Yun was startled. From the frantic knocking, Lin Yun had expected Remy, Faleau, or maybe even Raymond coming back from Oakland, but Lin Yun had never expected it to be the steady old butler.

"Young Master! There is a guest outside, he…" The old butler's expression turned strange as he hesitated. "He said he was your paternal cousin!"

"That can't be. Doesn't my benevolent uncle Fario only have a daughter? Don't tell me he is an illegitimate child?"

"No no no, he isn't Fario's son, he said he was your true uncle's son!"

"What?" Lin Yun almost choked. 'Since when is there a real and a fake paternal uncle?'

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"How about you go and check it out?"

"Good, I'll go take a look and see if I truly have more uncles…" Lin Yun felt gloomy. There were too many annoying people… Apparently, one Fario wasn't enough, turns out there is another uncle. 'Damn, will they never end?!'

"Young Master, I saw him and I don't believe he is a fake." The old butler quietly whispered on the way.

"Oh?" Lin Yun suddenly frowned.

"In those days, your grandfather and your father indeed came from another place, I still remembered hearing some rumors that they were in fact part of a great family, but because of some sort of family conflict, they had to hide in Thousand Sails City. Th-that…" The old butler tried hard, but he found that he didn't know how to address that person, so he had no choice but to be vague. "That person downstairs said something similar…"

"No way…" Lin Yun's expression wasn't good. "Then what about Fario?"

"This I know about. Fario is indeed a Merlin, but he is a distant relative. But once your father became rich, he came over and wept for help, and with your father's soft heart, he immediately acknowledged his relative."

"That fucker…" Lin Yun truly felt conflicted. He had rejoiced at first because Mafa Merlin's relationships were simple enough, allowing him to save a lot of energy. But he hadn't expected the situation to suddenly change. Not only was his cousin waiting downstairs, but another uncle had also appeared.

'Forget it… In any case, this doesn't have much to do with me. I'll decide what to do after seeing him.'

Lin Yun left the study, and while walking down the stairs, he noticed a young man in his twenties sitting in the living room. Lin Yun walked over with a smile on his face and extended his right hand as he greeted, "Hello, I'm Mafa Merlin."

"I am William Merlin." The young man looked at Lin Yun's hand, but he didn't shake it or stand up. He merely looked around at the living room with some undisguised disgust. "You can call me Great Mage William, or Great Alchemist William, I don't care. Also, your living room has such poor arrangement, you had better change it soon. I'm not accustomed to receiving guests in such a rough place."

"Haha…" Lin Yun was suddenly stunned…

This young man calling himself William Merlin truly had the power of a Great Mage and was at least at the 5th Rank. From the fact that he wasn't even thirty, this could be considered fairly shocking.

After all, Ryan, who had become a 1st Rank Great Mage in his twenties, was called a genius rarely seen in a hundred years in Thousand Sails City, yet William here was far more powerful.

The 1st Rank and the 5th Rank only seemed separated by a few ranks, but the two were poles apart. Not only could a 5th Rank Great Mage learn 4th Tier Spells, but they could also have five Magic Conducting Runes. There would be a qualitative change when a Magic Conducting Rune reached five runes. This kind of change would give a 5th Rank Great Mage the power to push for a new realm.

Lin Yun estimated that it would take ten Ryans to fight this one William Merlin.

One could indeed be arrogant when they had such strength at this age.

But when Lin Yun was the one targeted by that arrogance, his mood went somewhat sour.

"Right, Mafa Merlin was it? I came this time to let you know that your paternal grandfather and my paternal grandfather are both from the Merlin Family. From the perspective of familial relations, you should call me Older Cousin or Older Brother, but I'm not quite willing to hear this. Thus, if there aren't any specific circumstances, you can only address me as Great Mage William or Great Alchemist William."

"Sure, Great Mage William…" he acquiesced.

"I came this time because some elders made some inquiry about this family branch through who knows what channel and heard about your unpleasant situation, your father's shipwreck, your debt, and you being a 9th Rank Magic Apprentice that had yet to become a Mage after years of efforts. Thus, those elders sent me to help you deal with the debt your father left behind, as well as to give you some pointers in magic to let you quickly put on some pitiful black robe so that you won't tarnish the Merlin Family's reputation."

"This… Great Mage William, I need to ask something…"

"Knowing too much isn't good for you, it's better to not ask what you shouldn't ask." The young Great Mage didn't even look at him as he stopped his question with the kind of bossy tone and appearance that seemed like what he would use when ordering a family servant.

"…"

"Also, Mafa Merlin, I heard you have an alchemy shop called the Gilded Rose under your name?"

"Yes, that's right." After nodding, Lin Yun once again looked at William Merlin with a strange expression. The Gilded Rose should now be on the path to greatness, but it should only be famous in Thousand Sails City, so how could this young Great Mage from Okland know about the Gilded Rose?

Unfortunately, the young Great Mage showed no interest in continuing his conversation and got up after getting the answer to his question. "Well, rushing over from Okland in a day had left me feeling a bit tired, Have someone prepare a quiet guest room for me, and dinner will be delivered directly to my room."

Lin Yun didn't even want to bother rolling his eyes at him.

The old butler couldn't stand it, so he promptly called two servants and made them arrange a guest room and a meal for that Great Mage, yet the young Great Mage still hadn't moved. Rather, he was looking at Lin Yun doubtfully. When he saw Lin Yun's baffled expression, he coldly snorted in dissatisfaction. "What are you still looking distracted for? Do you expect me to move my own luggage? Are you blind?!"

'Fuck, he is really looking for troubles,' Lin Yun inwardly cursed.

He called a servant to help this Great Mage William move his luggage, and after he managed to send off this suddenly appearing cousin, Lin Yun slowly calmed down and started thinking about what had caused this situation.

'This William Merlin shouldn't be lying. The body I took over is most likely from the influential Merlin Family he mentioned. But the Merlin Family had no dealings with Thousand Sails City for the past decades, so how come they suddenly recalled that they had a missing relative there? Could it really be as William said? Isn't this a bit too coincidental?'

After thinking through the possibilities, Lin Yun came up with something. 'Oh right, he just asked if I had an alchemy shop called the Gilded Rose. Could it be because of the Gilded Rose?'

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Chapter 104: It Was This Simple

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

'It seems like I'll have to live with this cousin for a few days…' Lin Yun chuckled and told a servant to take very good care of his older cousin before leaving for the Gilded Rose with the old butler.

The development of the Gilded Rose had been very quick recently. The old butler had opened thirteen branch stores in the past ten days, which now covered all of Thousand Sails City, but most of the time people would call these branch stores something like the Lion King Street Gilded Rose or the Quality Research Street Gilded Rose… Only the store on the Victorious Return Street would be directly called the Gilded Rose.

By this point, the Gilded Rose was already considered a giant on the Victorious Return Street. It occupied a whole street and was comparable in size with the Sage Tower it was facing.

But whether it was the old butler or Lin Yun, they both felt that gathering too many alchemy items in one location wasn't good.

Thus, a part of the street was rebuilt as a technology center, a great number of alchemy workshops and a great number of alchemy laboratories, so that every Alchemist had the best work environment possible. As for the storefront, all that remained the same was the original Gilded Rose so that when people came for the first time, they couldn't see that it was the 1st Gilded Rose alchemy shop of Thousand Sails City.

After Lin Yun entered the Gilded Rose, he went to the 2nd floor after greeting a few alchemists.

Since the Gilded Rose was booming, it had been a long time since Lin Yun had made something himself. Even if he occasionally got a few precious magic materials, Lin Yun would give them to Faleau and wouldn't bother asking if they'd been wasted.

Like this, he would be able to reduce the amount while letting Faleau accumulate a lot of experience.

That young Alchemist broke through his bottleneck two days ago to become a true Great Alchemist.

This was the first Great Alchemist of the Gilded Rose besides Lin Yun.

Lin Yun came today to chat with Faleau so that they could plan his path from here on.

After all, the Great Alchemist rank was very important. At the peak of the Magic Civilization, becoming a Great Alchemist was considered taking the first step on the path of alchemy. If someone took improper detours on their path, it wouldn't be as easy to fix as before. Some paths might lead a Great Alchemist with boundless prospects to fail and be unable to get any decent achievements.

Lin Yun waited for a bit in his laboratory before a knocking sound echoed at the door, but when the door was opened, Lin Yun was surprised by the newcomer. Instead of Faleau, it was Remy.

"Remy, what is it?"

"It's like this… Boss Merlin, there is a guest outside. He said he was your older cousin. He said that you had to go down immediately… To go down to meet him…" Now that he had officially become an Alchemist, Remy couldn't help feeling nervous when facing Lin Yun.

As one of the oldest employees of the Gilded Rose, Remy's understanding of this young boss far surpassed that of these new Alchemists. Remy had seen Mason eat a glass bottle, and he had seen a Great Mage getting slapped twice by his young boss.

Remy was more aware than anyone else that this smiling young boss was far less good-natured than he appeared to be.

"…" Lin Yun could feel a vein throbbing on his forehead. That William fellow still wasn't done!

After taking a few breaths, Lin Yun repressed his urge to curse and only replied with a sullen expression, "Okay, Remy, I understand. You go first."

Lin Yun quickly went downstairs and discovered quite a few people already standing in the lobby. Faleau, Hauss, Remy, William, and a forty-year-old man wearing a black robe.

William seemed to be a bit impatient as his expression wasn't good, and when he noticed Lin Yun, he coldly snorted, "I'll say it once, my time is limited, and you already made me wait twice. I hope there won't be a third time."

"…"

"I hope you won't make the same mistake, otherwise I'll leave Thousand Sails City and won't care about your situation." After William strictly tossed out those words, he took a look around the Gilded Rose, sizing it up with undisguised disdain on his face. "Mafa, I have to say, your Gilded Rose business is very bad. Look, your father left you a golden spot for a shop, and you barely manage to keep it. I have to ask, do you even have a hundred alchemy products in this place?"

"There should be over a hundred…" Lin Yun thought about it very seriously, as it seemed like there weren't many left. Ten days ago, dozens of carriages filled with Nether Iron Ores and Magic Gems had piled up their contents in the storage of the Gilded Rose. In order to make space, the old butler had sent all the items in the lobby to be delivered to various other branches. Now, only a hundred or so items were left here.

"So you do know that there are only a hundred items?" William was watching Lin Yun strictly, and his look expressed his disdain for Lin Yun failing to meet his expectations. "I already investigated, this place is called the Victorious Return Street, the best location in the Gilded Rose. You are occupying such a golden place, yet you only have a hundred items here, how weak is the alchemy skill of your Gilded Rose?"

"Hey, watch your words!" Faleau intervened before Lin Yun could even speak.

The current Faleau was Thousand Sails City's youngest Great Alchemist, Lin Yun excluded of course. The day he broke through and became a Great Alchemist, almost all the forces of Thousand Sails City had expressed their congratulations. Many of them had directly expressed the intention to hire him, giving him all kinds of beneficial conditions. Even after working for the Black Horn Auction for many years, Faleau hadn't been able to resist being shocked at what they offered.

But after the initial surprise, Faleau didn't even hesitate and directly refused all invitations.

Because Faleau knew that the reason behind him becoming a Great Alchemist in his twenties was neither because of his own natural talent nor his hard work. It had happened because he was working for the Gilded Rose, and more specifically for a boss called Mafa Merlin. It was this simple.

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Chapter 105: Put It Back

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"Who are you?" William Merlin frowned. He looked at Faleau for a few seconds with his high and mighty gaze, as if he felt like he was looking at trash. It was to the point that even Faleau, who was known for enduring, couldn't help bursting out.

Faleau took a deep breath and forcibly refrain from cursing. "I am Faleau, the Gilded Rose's Chief Alchemist." He introduced himself in a neither servile nor overbearing tone.

"No wonder…" William only sneered at Faleau's introduction. He then turned, no longer paying Faleau any attention. When he looked at Lin Yun again, his expression was even more impatient. "Well, Mafa, I don't have that much time. I also don't want to take care of your trivial matters. But before coming over, the elders of the family repeatedly told me to help you get rid of this pathetic debt. To shut those elders up, I brought you a Great Alchemist…"

After saying that, William moved aside slightly to let that black-robed man move forward. "This is Angma, a Great Alchemist I brought from Okland. From today on, he will take over the technical work of the Gilded Rose. Have someone hand over all the magic materials and alchemy formulas to him, and he will tell you how to break away from that pathetic debt."

"There might not be enough time…" Lin Yun's words were true, as the Gilded Rose had expanded too fiercely lately, to the point that the magic materials they'd gathered now filled quite a few storehouses. The number of alchemy formulas had also already multiplied to the point that even Lin Yun didn't quite know how many of them there were. It was basically impossible to do that in a day.

Unfortunately, Lin Yun's opinion was once again ignored by William.

In fact, from the beginning, William was giving out orders and didn't plan to listen to anyone else's opinions.

"Angma, you are good at potioneering right? Go take a look at the alchemy laboratory and the magic materials. Compound a few potions to fill the shop front for now. For fuck's sake, the store is located in a golden location but it only has a hundred items, I really don't know how a boss of a store can act like this…"

"Okay, Young Master William."

Angma nodded, and just like William, ignored all the others. After receiving his instructions, he went up the stairs and entered Lin Yun's laboratory on the 2nd floor.

"Go, Mafa, go watch how a true Great Alchemist works. Oh right, there is also you, Gilded Rose's Chief Alchemist…"

Lin Yun was too lazy to roll his eyes. He just said, "Let's go Faleau…"

"Great Mage Merlin, what's wrong with your cousin…" While the two climbed the stairs, Faleau couldn't help asking Lin Yun while pointing at his cousin's head.

"He might have hit his head as a kid…"

After Lin Yun muttered that with an evil expression, he suddenly heard a shocked voice. He thought there might have been a problem in the alchemy laboratory, but when Lin Yun ran up, he only saw William standing in front of a refining table, shock and disbelief plastered all over his face.

"How could it be so primitive!"

"What's primitive?"

"Fuck, you really think those alchemy tools aren't primitive? Take a look at this, a glass beaker produced by the Crystal Workshop ten years ago, it can't even prevent mana from scattering. And this, these are test tubes produced by the Crystal Workshop 7 years ago. They can't even maintain a constant temperature. You are not afraid a change of temperature could create an accident? What kind of alchemy laboratory is this, how could it still use these kinds of primitive tools?"

"Well, Great Mage William, this is Thousand Sails City, not Okland…" Lin Yun felt a bit speechless. Okland was the kingdom's economic center. The main store of the Crystal Workshop was located in Okland. Of course the alchemists there could enjoy the most advanced alchemy tools. But no matter how large Thousand Sails City was, the Crystal Workshop wasn't willing to open up a branch here. The old butler had spent a lot of effort to have these items transported here from Oddrock City.

"Good, good…" William shook his head helplessly. "Now, get your best magic materials here. If Great Alchemist Angma fancies some of them, he'll quickly help you break away from your pitiful debt. I heard you owe 8,000 golds? Truly pathetic…"

"Faleau, go check what magic materials are left." After not coming to the alchemy shops for several days, Lin Yun indeed wasn't sure what they still had left in stock at this location.

Faleau felt quite resentful. He quickly found several magic materials left over from the time when Lin Yun crafted the Angel Potion. If they were used properly, they would be enough to craft 17 or 18 Angel Potions.

But when these magic materials were put on the table, that Great Alchemist's face became very bad. As for William Merlin's reaction, it was even more outrageous. "No way. Mafa Merlin, you only have these poor magic materials left?"

"Poor magic materials?" Faleau was unhappy. 'Fucker, you think these are poor magic materials? Do you even know what you are talking about? Those poor magic materials in your hands were used to compound an Angel Potion. You don't know about it, but body strengthening, mana recovery increase, as well as holy power, this was a potion compounded from those "poor magic materials," so get your eyes checked!'

Once again, the unhappy Faleau had been ignored by William Merlin. This cousin that appeared all of a sudden from nowhere simply went over Lin Yun and Faleau's heads and cast a Detect Magic spell.

William's face showed an expression of pleasant surprise realizing what the spell had detected.

"Eh, I really didn't expect that such a run-down alchemy store would actually have a rare magic material!"

"Rare magic material?" Lin Yun was uncertain at first, but his expression soon changed. 'The rare magic material he is talking about, it shouldn't be…'

Sure enough, just as Lin Yun thought about it, William Merlin crouched down and took out a crystal test tube from under the alchemy table.

Complicated alchemy arrays were drawn onto it, and it contained a few drops of black liquid inside.

"Not bad, there is actually a sealing array on it, it looks like this Gilded Rose isn't that primitive after all.." William Merlin laughed, satisfied.

"Put it back." Lin Yun frowned.

What a joke, that was Obsidian Flower Sap. One drop was enough to create a massacre in Thousand Sails City, exterminating tens of thousands of people. Lin Yun had originally planned to run some experiments with a few drops, but he hadn't expected it to be found by that ridiculous William Merlin.

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Chapter 106: You Are Truly Fortunate

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"You are ordering me around?" William's voice turned cold. He looked at Lin Yun with extreme disdain. "Mafa Merlin, do you know who you are talking to? Don't think that you can prance around in front of me just because the elders of the family told me to take care of you…"

"I told you to put it back!" Lin Yun's voice suddenly rose as fierce mana fluctuations were emitted. A tearing sound spread through the air. William was still talking when he felt an acute pain in his chest, his whole body flying back.

At the same time, the crystal test tube in his hand also fell down.

"It doesn't matter if you are courting death, but don't implicate others," Lin Yun scolded as he reached out and caught the crystal test tube. After carefully checking it once, he gently put it back in his pocket.

This was Obsidian Flower Sap. If just a bit leaked out, there would be no one left living in the Gilded Rose.

"Mafa Merlin! You dare to make a move against me?" William struggled out from the corner. The Tornado Whip hitting his chest had burnt like an iron branding.

But compared to the pain of getting up, he cared more about the fact that this failure had dared to offend him.

William Merlin, as a famous member of the Merlin Family's younger generation, had an almost innate feeling of superiority. In his eyes, Lin Yun was merely a youth of a branch of the family that was stranded away in the middle of nowhere. Who knew how many of these branch family youths there were in the huge Merlin Family.

William should have been worshipped as a savior when he arrived! How could it not be? He had come to extricate Mafa from his debt, and if he was willing, he would even let him become a Mage. Mafa's life would be a thousand times better than before.

In William's eyes, this younger cousin should be prostrating in worship.

But William had never expected that the other side would actually fail to appreciate his kindness!

'Who do you think you are? You are merely a youth from a side branch of the family, not even living in the family land! You didn't even obtain the family's acknowledgement. In Okland, you wouldn't even have the qualifications to use the Merlin Family name!"

'Such an ant dares to attack me? This is courting death!'

"Freeze!" he shouted.

William Merlin softly covered his chest, his eyes full of rage. He muttered a hurried incantation as ice appeared under Lin Yun's feet. That was Cold Death, a 4th Tier spell that only high-rank Great Mages could master. That ice spread crazily past Lin Yun's feet, reaching his chest in a short moment. In a blink, Lin Yun was turned into an ice sculpture.

Immediately after, William Merlin incanted something else, and the Cold Death was followed by a Wind Python.

That was another 4th Tier Spell!

After William chanted his long incantation, a burst of wind spread through the alchemy laboratory as a cyan python roared amidst the gale. Even Faleau and Angma on the side could smell the fishy stench emitted by the python.

William Merlin kept his mouth open as he continued with his incantation. He looked extremely pleased with himself. This time, he was set on punishing this Mafa Merlin. He had to make him suffer. These reckless branch family kids would only understand how to respect the main family members if a few of their limbs were taken.

He had to teach him that even if the same Merlin Family blood flowed in their veins, William was far superior.

William's incantation echoed even louder, louder than the Wind Python.

After the incantation was over, the fishy smelling cyan python pounced at Lin Yun. The huge, meter-tall python tightly coiled around the motionless ice statue. At this time, even the Great Alchemist, Angma, couldn't help closing his eyes, unwilling to see that bloody, bone-shattering scene of carnage.

"Mafa Merlin, these are the consequences of putting your hand on me," William Merlin coldly said. He then remained silent as he stood there, waiting for the other side to struggle in pain and plead in despair.

He ended up waiting for a while.

But there still wasn't any sort of response after waiting for a while. At that moment, William couldn't help checking the Wind Python, thinking that he shouldn't have lost himself in rage and cast such a powerful spell. It would definitely be bad if Mafa died to that Wind Python. He would have to waste a lot of time explaining to the elders after going back…

Just as William Merlin was getting anxious, a "bang" came out of the ice statue as it burst into flames.

…And not only the ice statue.

Even that coiling Wind Python was set aflame in a split second. Only the mournful cry of the Wind Python was heard at this moment. It didn't have time to struggle before turning into a pile of ashes. The ice statue shattered at the same time.

William looked at this silhouette covered in flames, walking out from within the shattered ice shards.

"El-Ele…Elemental Incarnation!"

This time, William Merlin simply couldn't close his mouth due to shock.

He wasn't even given the opportunity to recover…

Because before he could, that flaming silhouette crossed ten meters, appearing in front of him in an instant. A flaming right hand fiercely grabbed William Merlin's neck, lifting him up.

William struggled while he stared in shock as the silhouette's left hand rose…

Immediately afterwards, two slaps echoed.

William Merlin felt pain in his heart as a deep feeling of humiliation washed over him. One of the most outstanding children of the Merlin Family was slapped twice in a small place like Thousand Sails City by a branch kid that hadn't even received the family inheritance.

But at this moment, William Merlin wasn't feeling anger, but fear!

He could feel this right hand's grip on his neck was tightening. Tighter and tighter, and those two eyes shrouded within the flames were turning colder and colder.

That proud son of the Merlin family could feel death approaching. In that split second, William Merlin had countless thoughts floating in his mind. He wanted to curse, he wanted to threaten, he wanted to beg for forgiveness, he wanted to call for help, but in the end, William found out that he couldn't make any sound.

As breathing became harder and harder, he began to hallucinate, his mind gradually turning blank, his vitality slowly draining.

"Knock knock knock, knock knock knock!"

William was suddenly saved by the hurried knocking on the door. After entering, Remy was startled by the sight of Lin Yun wreathed in flames. The young Alchemist only dared to talk once Lin Yun removed his Elemental Incarnation. "Boss Merlin, L-L-L… Leader Lys came."

"Okay, I'll head over." After sending Remy away, Lin Yun slowly released his grip on William's neck. He watched as that proud scion of the Merlin Family gasped for air and then vomited. Lin Yun slowly crouched down, showing a smile that made Williamfear for his life, "Next time you touch something in my alchemy laboratory, it won't matter if someone comes knocking."

With these words, Lin Yun turned and left the alchemy laboratory.

Angma, to the side, was already thoroughly terrified. The young 5th Rank Great Mage, William Merlin, was a famous figure among the younger generation of Okland, but in such a small place like Thousand Sails City, he was caught like a chicken by a youth that wasn't even 20. 'Di-Did I just hallucinate all that?'

Faleau had long been accustomed to all this. Before leaving, he patted William's shoulder with a smile, "You are truly fortunate. You actually survived after Great Mage Merlin made a move. Oh right, after leaving, don't forget to thank Leader Lys, he accidentally saved your life…"

"L… Leader Lys?"

"Leader Lys, Leader of the Alchemist Guild. Of course, you can also call him Master Alchemist Lys."

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Chapter 107: Vaughn Treasury

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"Leader Lys?! How could he be a Master!?" William gasped. How could he not know the Leader of Thousand Sails City's Alchemist Guild, Lys? A few decades ago, Leader Lys had been in a good relationship with the Merlin family, and ever since then, he would leave for Okland every year and visit as a guest of the Merlin Family. He even gave some pointers to William the previous year.

But William never could have imagined that the Great Alchemist from last year had already become an esteemed Master Alchemist!

After all, there were only 6 Master Alchemists in Okland, the core of the kingdom. Every single one of them had a very influential position in the kingdom and they weren't people that even the powerful Merlin Family would rashly offend.

Master Alchemists had reached a frightening level of proficiency in their craft, giving them nearly boundless power as each of them had a peak power of the kingdom standing behind them. Even if the Merlin Family had over a thousand years of history in Okland, the consequences of offending a Master Alchemist was far too grave.

'Damn, am I in the right place? Is this really Thousand Sails City?' William wondered, feeling disoriented. 'Is this really the eastern part of the kingdom, famous for being barren and primitive? The Thousand Sails City that was only acknowledged for its shipbuilding industry? Is someone playing a trick on me?'

He was having trouble accepting the situation.

'If this place really is Thousand Sails City, how could a Master Alchemist appear here? …Hold on, Master…'

As his line of thought reached this point, William suddenly calmed down. 'Isn't it great that Leader Lys became a Master Alchemist? After all, the Merlin Family's friendship with Leader Lys has lasted for decades, and he even gave me pointers last year. It's perfect, I can take advantage of this and have Leader Lys seek justice for me! With the decades of friendship, he wouldn't allow me to be bullied in a place like this!'

William could practically see his revenge playing out.

'If Leader Lys learns that this damn Mafa dared to attack a direct scion of the Merlin Family, he would definitely not let him off. Just a word from Leader Lys would close down the Gilded Rose. I wonder what kind of expression that Mafa Merlin will have once his store is closed down!'

William Merlin promptly wiped the corner of his mouth and arranged his black robe, covering the scar on his neck as much as possible. Once he was done, he chanted a Water Screen spell and made sure that he looked fine and proper. Only after that did he push open the door to the alchemy laboratory and head downstairs.

Lin Yun had already been talking to Leader Lys for some time.

However, Lys didn't mention that alchemy formula, and neither did Lin Yun mention the fifty Alchemists. The two seemed to maintain a tacit agreement not to say anything about the lucrative deal they had made.

Their discussion seemed to revolve around potioneering. One was a Master Alchemist, leader of the Alchemist Guild, while the other was someone who had mastered alchemy knowledge that transcended time. If outsiders heard this discussion, they would think that it was an exchange of knowledge between two alchemists of similar level, but who would think that of these two people, one was a Master Alchemist that was nearly a hundred years old, while the other wasn't even twenty.

"Great Mage Merlin, do you have some free time?" This was the first time Lys brought up a topic other than potions.

"Haha, Leader Lys, why are you asking this?" Lin Yun had a smiling expression, but he was inwardly vigilant. He had talked with that person for about ten minutes and Lys hadn't hinted at anything during that time. But how could Lin Yun not know that he was a fox that could compare to Solomon and Monchi?

'Suddenly asking if I have time right in the middle of a discussion about potions! Leader Lys, you are a sly one aren't you…'

"Not long ago, our Alchemist Guild found an ancient ruin," Lys explained. "After conducting some research, we confirmed that it was left by the 3rd Dynasty's last Artisan, Vaughn."

'Vaughn Treasury!' Lin Yun realized, feeling quite startled.

At this moment, Lin Yun really wanted to tell Leader Lys, 'Aren't you a bit too direct?'

'That's Vaughn Treasury…' He thought about what he knew about it. 'The 3rd Dynasty's final Artisan, a famous existence in Noscent's history. The only Artisan to name three alchemy formulas with his own name.

Those six alchemy formulas were called the Hexagram Star of Vaughn.

But these six formulas were lost after the 3rd Dynasty. It was rumored that before his death, Vaughn hid these formulas in his own tomb, and that tomb was named Vaughn Treasury.

Lin Yun knew that this rumor was correct.

Because a thousand years later, the major forces of the kingdom would be caught in a chaotic, decade-long war due to Vaughn Treasury. That war swept in all the major forces, and ultimately, the Hexagram Star of Vaughn landed in the hands of the Ivory Tower. Heaven Mage Bane stood out during that chaotic war as he finally stepped into the Heaven Rank.

But it was a thousand years too early, so how could the Alchemist Guild have found it already?

Furthermore…

"Why me?" Lin Yun asked.

"Haha, Great Mage Merlin, you are underestimating yourself. If people had to pick out the most talented alchemist of Thousand Sails City, I believe that 99% would choose me, Master Alchemist Lys…" As Lys said this, his smile gradually vanished. "But I would definitely choose you."

"Hmm…" Lin Yun was suddenly at a loss. To be honest, Lin Yun really didn't think that he had such a great position in that Master Alchemist's mind.

"Vaughn's ruin is filled with alchemy puzzles. I think that you might be the only one talented enough to solve these puzzles," Lys continued.

"Crystal Island is a bit far away…" Lin Yun truly felt pained. He obviously didn't want to go to Vaughn Treasury, but he couldn't say it.

Nothing could be done about it since Lin Yun couldn't just tell Lys, 'I already mastered the Hexagonal Star of Vaughn, so I have no interest in Vaughn Treasury, go have fun with it…'

A lot of trouble would come his way if he said something like that…

Thus, Lin Yun made it look as if he wanted to go but couldn't because he was busy and because it was too far away. If Lys insisted and wanted to drag him on a boat trip, he would use the trauma of a shipwreck.

"Crystal Island? No, no, no…" Lin Yun hadn't expected that Lys would laugh instead when he heard that. "Everyone thought that Vaughn Treasury was located in Crystal Island, but they were actually wrong…"

"Eh?" Lin Yun was stunned. This didn't make sense. The Ivory Tower's people recorded that they found Vaughn Treasury at Crystal Island!

"The ruin we found is located in the Four Seasons Canyon, north of Edge Rift."

"It truly isn't in Crystal Island?" Lin Yun wasn't convinced. Heaven Mage Bane's personal notes recounted the scene of the battles happening on Crystal Island, ten years of battles. Could Heaven Mage Bane have lied about that?

Otherwise, how could Vaughn Treasury appear in the Four Seasons Canyon?

'Hold on… Four Seasons Canyon! Isn't that the location of Vaughn Laboratory?'

"Hm… Okay, Leader Lys. Who is participating?" Lin Yun suddenly made his decision when he thought about that. Vaughn Laboratory was a lot more valuable than Vaughn Treasury.

After all, that laboratory not only had all kinds of alchemy items made by Vaughn, but it also had all kinds of precious materials that Vaughn had plundered during his life.

Speaking of plunder, the Hexagram Star of Vaughn had to be mentioned.

It was rumored that the Hexagram Star of Vaughn was a Teleportation Gate leading to Hell. Besides displaying the outstanding achievements of Vaughn, that name also secretly was ridiculing Vaughn's greedy and ruthless nature.

Vaughn sat on the position of Chief Alchemist of the 3rd Dynasty for over a hundred years. During those hundred years, Vaughn plundered in an almost berserk fashion. Countless innocents lost their lives, and countless precious magic materials were sent to Vaughn Laboratory, some of which could be considered amazing even during the peak of the magic era.

Lin Yun wasn't interested in the Hexagram Star of Vaughn, but he absolutely couldn't miss out on Vaughn's collection of magic materials.

"In addition to Thousand Sails City's major forces, the Mercury Tower will also send a powerful team."

"Good. I'll also go, but I have one condition before we set off. I have no interest in the Hexagram Star of Vaughn, but I want priority when it comes to choosing materials from those left behind by Vaughn." Lin Yun paused, but before Lys could turn him down, he tossed in a hard-to-refuse condition. "I'll be in charge of cracking all alchemy arrays!"

"Cracking all alchemy arrays!" Lys repeated. He almost gasped when he heard that.

He had thought that his evaluation of this young Great Mage was high enough…

But it seemed that his understanding of Mafa Merlin was far from clear enough.

Those were the alchemy arrays left behind by the final Artisan of the 3rd Dynasty. Even if that Master Alchemist from the Mercury Tower came, he would only dare to say that he would do his best. But Great Mage Merlin here treated all the alchemy arrays as one package and didn't say he would "try" but that he would crack them…

What amazing courage and self-confidence.

What frightening level of alchemy was behind that courage and confidence?

"Great Mage Merlin, this isn't a game…"

"Rest assured, Leader Lys, I can guarantee it."

"…" Lys look at Lin Yun for a short time before helplessly sighing. "Okay, I need to consult with the others. I'll give you an answer three days later at most."

"Haha, then I'll be waiting for Leader Lys' good news." Lin Yun actually kept an indifferent expression on his face because he knew that Vaughn Laboratory wasn't like the Gilded Rose Laboratory where even a piece of trash like William Merlin could rush in. That place was the laboratory of the final Artisan of the 3rd Dynasty. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to compare it to a tiger den or a dragon lair. Those who hadn't been there wouldn't know how terrible it was.

Not to mention everything else, even if one only considered those defensive alchemy arrays, they couldn't be broken by just any Master Alchemist.

It could even be said that in this era, the only one able to break those alchemy arrays before entering the Artisan realm was Lin Yun.

Thus, Lin Yun felt quite at ease as he boldly announced his conditions.

Because he knew that no matter the result of their discussion, they would have no choice but to ask for his help in the end.

"Youths nowadays are getting more and more difficult to deal with…" Lys shook his head and stood up from his chair after refusing Lin Yun's invitation to stay longer. He was in a confused state of mind as he went to the reception room, planning to return and digest everything that he had heard today.

But when he was about to open the door, it was fiercely opened from the other side.

The newcomer was William. This older cousin had a pleasantly surprised expression on his face as he approached. "Leader Lys, it's great that you are here!"

Lys took two steps back to take a clear look.

Lys actually had some impression of William Merlin.

When he visited the Merlin Family the previous year, Lys had given a few pointers to that youth. He'd had no other choice but to admit that this youth was truly a rare talent in the field of alchemy. The young man was merely in his twenties, yet he had reached the rank of Great Alchemist already. Thinking about it, Lys couldn't help being impressed. The Merlin Family was worthy of being a millennium-old family. When it came to the field of education, they were far more outstanding than those nouveau riche families.

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Chapter 108: Ridiculous

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"Leader Lys, I am William Merlin, the one who consulted you last year when you visited the Merlin Family." William looked as if he had seen a savior. Regardless of whether he had hit the old man when pushing the door open, he introduced himself with an expression of pleasant surprise.

"Ah, it's you, William. Why are you so flustered…" Seeing that the newcomer was William Merlin, Lys' expression softened and his unhappy feelings disappeared. Over the past decades, Lys had taught several dozen alchemists in the course of his work at the Alchemist Guild. It was hard to avoid being partial to someone as talented as William.

Even if one disregarded his good relationship with the Merlin Family, he could still be considered William's elder. And it wasn't good for elders to bicker with the younger generation. But he couldn't help thinking that last time he met William, the latter had been very steady. How could he be so flustered in Thousand Sails City?

Unfortunately, William didn't know what Lys was thinking. All William could think about was how to make Mafa suffer.

"It's like this, Leader Lys. This Mafa Merlin fellow cheated me of an alchemy formula. I wanted to discuss with him just now and make him compensate me, but I didn't think he would be so unwilling that he would attack me inside the laboratory!"

After saying this, William threw a provocative glance at Lin Yun.

But this glance gave off the feeling of a weak person trying to appear to be strong.

William Merlin could contain his sense of superiority, unlike that idiot, Mason.

William knew that he had been wrong about Mafa being a failure that couldn't become a mage. Mafa was clearly a true, high-level Great Mage whose strength was far above William's.

This was undoubtedly a huge blow to William Merlin.

That realization was even worse than the two slaps on his face.

It turned out that this unknown outer family member was, in fact, a lot stronger than he was. He had been fostered to be an heir to the Merlin Family every since he was a child, and he was at least in the top five of the young generation in terms of strength.

But he hadn't expected that he would be knocked down in one move and then slapped twice in a small place like Thousand Sails City.

William couldn't accept this.

But being a scion of a major family had many advantages. Regardless of whether he accepted it or not, he would be able to come to terms with reality and immediately react.

William's method was very simple. 'Since I'm not as strong as you, I'll drag you down by competing in alchemy. I don't believe that you are as formidable in alchemy as you are in raw power. That's right, I'm going to frame you.'

William was quite confident that this was the correct way to approach the situation.

'I, an esteemed Great Alchemist, am going to frame you in front of a Master Alchemist. What can you do about it? Going to try to explain? Are you as knowledgeable as I am when it comes to alchemy? Are you as close to Leader Lys as me?'

Thus, after complaining to Lys, William threw a provocative look at Lin Yun and then revealed a smile full of confidence.

"Ridiculous!" Sure enough, Leader Lys' expression sank.

At this time, William's Merlin was feeling extremely delighted. 'Heard that, Mafa? Leader Lys is already scolding you. The boss of a broken down alchemy shop in Thousand Sails City is being scolded by a Master Alchemist. I want to see how you can stay in Thousand Sails City from now on.'

"It's okay, Leader Lys. You don't have to get angry over such a trivial matter. I'll settle this." Lin Yun actually had a smile on his face as he said a few comforting sentences to Leader Lys.

William wanted to snort. 'You still think you can get away with this?'

William threw a disdainful smile at Lin Yun, thinking that Mafa was truly too naive. 'After getting an alchemy formula gained from cheating the Merlin Family, do you think you can get away with just a few sentences? Aren't you too naive?'

"This isn't a trivial matter, cheating an alchemy formula!" Lys was someone who would always keep his anger hidden, yet he was showing an extremely ugly expression on his face right now.

"Yes, yes, I know. Cheating an alchemy formula, I'll have a chat with William later." Lin Yun had a helpless expression. Lin Yun didn't know what he should say concerning this older cousin he had never met before. 'Seems like I need to have a proper chat with this older cousin after Leader Lys leaves.'

William didn't know what Lin Yun was thinking about.

The worse Lys' expression became, the more cheerful William felt.

'Yes, yes, this Mafa Merlin will quickly run out of luck.'

William was carefully keeping his thoughts from showing on his face while he looked at Lys' reaction from the corners of his eyes.

"Do you know what you are talking about?" Lys pointed at William Merlin. "Do you know how grave the accusation of cheating someone's alchemy formula is?"

William's mood rose as he inwardly repeated that sentence, but once he did, he couldn't help feeling strange.

'Why is Leader Lys pointing at me?'

"Truly ridiculous. You are framing Thousand Sails City's most outstanding alchemist of cheating you of an alchemy formula? William Merlin, is that how your Merlin Family educated you? Looks like I'll need to have a proper discussion with your grandfather when I visit the Merlin Family this year. We will discuss whether you are truly suitable to be the Merlin Family's heir!"

'Wait wait, did he just say… William Merlin? Damn, what does he mean by the most outstanding alchemist of Thousand Sails City? Shouldn't the most outstanding alchemist of Thousand Sails city be Master Alchemist Lys? When did I accuse Master Lys of cheating me of my alchemy formula?'

William's mind was in chaos…

All sorts of questions were popping in one after the other. But the answer to each question made William Merlin feel alarmed. He didn't even dare to confront these answers. If everything was true, it would be too frightening. Was this old man, Lys, talking nonsense, or was the world going crazy?

"Considering the reputation of the Merlin Family, I won't bother about your deception today. But, William Merlin, I will recount everything that happened here today to your grandfather, without missing a single fact." Lys glanced at William and coldly snorted. He then turned around with an apologetic smile. "I'm really embarrassed, Great Mage Merlin, I let you experience a farce. About the earlier condition, wait until I return to discuss it with everyone, I'll give you an answer in three days."

"Okay, I'll wait for Leader Lys' good news."

"Good, I'll leave first." Lys softly sighed before opening the door of the reception room, but he glanced at William again before leaving.

Although he didn't say much, the warning in that gaze made William Merlin's legs shake.

"So, dear Older Cousin William, don't you owe me an explanation?"

"This… That…" Only Lin Yun and William remained in the reception room at the moment. Thinking about everything that happened in the alchemy laboratory, William's already shaking legs couldn't keep straight. 'Fuck, this is a monster far stronger than me… If I'm caught again, would it still be two slaps?'

William was on the verge of panic.

'If Leader Lys stayed here, I could have counted on him to rescue me, but now that he left, I have to face that monster alone. That's too much pressure…'

"Oh right, I have yet to move my luggage!" After William Merlin said this, he ran away like a rabbit.

"…" Lin Yun watched as William Merlin escaped and couldn't help feeling stunned for a while.

After returning to the Merlin House's guest room, William Merlin was filled with worry.

'Damn, I'll really suffer this time… Not to mention being slapped twice, I offended the esteemed Master Alchemist Lys. How could Thousand Sails City become such a frightening place? Let alone a rising Master Alchemist, even that Mafa Merlin is far more powerful than me. Wasn't this place known for being barren and primitive?'

William Merlin truly didn't want to stay in this place, it was too strange and too abnormal.

If he could, he would immediately leave Thousand Sails City and return to the Merlin Family, never to meet that Mafa Merlin again.

Unfortunately, William couldn't leave yet.

Because he had come to Thousand Sails City this time to carry out a mission.

Besides helping a cousin that he had never met before, William Merlin had another mission.

The Merlin Family was in dire need for Nether Iron, but Nether Iron was scarce in all of Noscent. It was hard to mine, and there was a pitiful amount. The Merlin Family thought of various means, but they couldn't find a steady supply of Nether Iron.

But a few days ago, the Merlin Family suddenly received news that a large amount of Nether Iron weapons and armors appeared in the eastern Thousand Sails City. This news stirred the entire Merlin Family, and after following the clues, they found out that these Nether Iron weapons and armors came from an alchemy shop called the Gilded Rose.

And that alchemy shop belonged to a youth named Mafa Merlin.

It was actually someone surnamed Merlin.

Thus, the Merlin Family began paying attention to this matter.

As a result, they found out that this Mafa Merlin was actually a child of their Merlin Family that had ended up living outside the main family. His grandfather, Judd Merlin, was the younger brother of the Merlin Family Patriarch, Ofran. Several decades ago, he suddenly left with his son for Thousand Sails City.

After that, a lot of things had been excavated.

At this time, the Merlin Family found out that this child of their family living outside the clan wasn't in a good situation. Although the father, Locke Merlin, established a huge chamber of commerce, he had died in a shipwreck a few months ago, and his chamber of commerce went bankrupt overnight, leaving behind a debt of 8,000 golds.

Moreover, that Mafa Merlin wasn't fortunate. He was approaching twenty years but was still a 9th Rank Magic Apprentice.

Thus, the Merlin Family Patriarch, Ofran Merlin, personally gave an order, sending a youth of the Merlin Family to Thousand Sails City to help that child who was stranded in the outside world.

Naturally, the most important part was to make Mafa hand over the Nether Iron Vein, or whatever source he was getting the Nether Iron from. In exchange, the Merlin Family was willing to acknowledge him as a child of the family.

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At the time, William had felt that this mission was truly a simple one.

That Mafa Merlin was in such a difficult situation. Not only did he have a debt of 8,000 golds, but he was also still a mere Magic Apprentice. The chance to be able to gain the acknowledgement of the Merlin Family, and furthermore, as a direct child, was like reaching heaven in a single step, something that would only happen in dreams.

William Merlin felt that the task was too easy. He only had to take a trip to Thousand Sails City and directly express his intentions. Would Mafa dare to reject the Merlin Family? Once he had control of the Nether Iron Vein, he would give the poor fellow some pointers to let him smoothly become a Mage, and as for the debt… That was a joke, how could 8,000 be regarded as a debt?

Moreover, William felt that he was quite considerate. Thinking of Mafa's future source of income, he specifically brought Angma from Okland. He was a Great Alchemist, and once he started working in the Gilded Rose, business was sure to boom.

Such a perfect plan… Meticulous planning…

It all went up in smoke…

'Cousin, Cousin, I came to help you. Why didn't you understand? And you even slapped me!'

William felt like he had been wronged.

'Damn, this is too troublesome… It's fine if you don't need my help, but you can still give me the Nether Iron Vein! Without the Nether Iron Vein, how can I report to the Merlin Family?'

Before what he had experienced today, William would have been willing to fight for it, but when facing a monster like Mafa Merlin, William truly didn't dare to think of fighting him now. No kidding, he was a Great Mage that could complete the Elemental Incarnation spell while being attacked by the Cold Death and Wind Python spells.

Although William was quite proud of being known as a genius when it came to magic, he didn't have any confidence in front of this younger cousin.

'At his age, wasn't I a 7th or 8th Rank Mage?' Should I find someone to help?'

William remembered that before he left, his father had specifically told him that he had some acquaintances in Thousand Sails City. If he ran into any trouble, he should look for a particular person's help. That person was called Sauss, and he was apparently the leader of the biggest underground force.

Recalling this, William Merlin's eyes shone. The leader of Thousand Sails City's biggest underground force should have some weight behind him. It might not matter to Leader Lys or High Mage Solomon, but there shouldn't be any issue with exerting some influence on his younger cousin, right?

In fact, he didn't need Sauss to help him too much. As long as he was willing to put a bit of pressure on Mafa Merlin to have him discuss the Nether Iron Vein with him, William would be able to use all kinds of conditions. He didn't believe that Mafa would refuse at that point.

'But… How should I contact that Sauss?'

When his father mentioned Sauss, it was only in passing. He never could have expected that William would actually run into any trouble in Thousand Sails City, so he hadn't even told him how to contact Sauss.

'Doesn't matter, I'll ask around.'

William left the guest room. Just as he was about to ask a servant, he suddenly noticed Faleau walking in from outside.

"How did it go? Did you thank Leader Lys?" Faleau smiled at William.

Faleau wasn't magnanimous. He had been humiliated earlier, so now that he had the chance, how could he not return the favor?

"You are annoying!" William felt a vein twitching on his forehead. 'Fuck, that's a low blow. He definitely knows that I have been scolded by Leader Lys, yet he still asked if I thanked him… Bastard!'

But after stewing in his anger for a few moments, William thought of something.

'Hold on, aren't I looking for someone that can tell me about Sauss?'

As he considered his goal, William's gloomy expression gradually eased, and eventually, he managed to squeeze out a stiff smile.

"Hmm, Faleau right?"

"Yes…" Faleau sat on a chair, nearly closing his eyes. His voice was so soft that it was almost imperceptible, to the point that if one didn't look closely, they would think that he had fallen asleep.

'Damn, that bastard is definitely doing this on purpose!'

William Merlin took a deep breath to suppress the anger rushing to his head. Maintaining his stiff smile, he asked, "Faleau, is there someone called Sauss in Thousand Sails City?"

"Sauss? You are looking for Sauss of the Viper Nest?"

"Sauss' force is called the Viper Nest?" William's eyes shone. Once he got the name of the group, the problem would be a lot easier. He could just go out and ask anyone. Why would he need to ask a snake like Faleau? William didn't even bother to keep up his smile anymore. "Did anyone ever tell you that you are as annoying as a chatty vegetable-selling auntie!?"

William left with those parting words.

"…" Faleau was stunned for a moment, but then he couldn't help laughing. 'Want to get Sauss to help you out? Wait until you see him and you'll understand…'

After leaving, William caught a passerby and asked him for information. He quickly learnt that the Viper Nest was located in the Poison Fog Canyon north of Thousand Sails City. He unhesitantly called for a carriage to leave straight for the Poison Fog Canyon.

…

Arriving outside the Poison Fog Canyon, William threw a hundred golds to the driver without looking back, before looking for one of the sentries.

"I am William Merlin, I wish to see Leader Sauss!"

The hands of that sentry shook when he heard the "Merlin" name. He shot one signal arrow into the sky and the entire camp acted as if they had seen a great enemy. Several hundreds of bows and crossbows were readied on the dozens of sentry towers, all taking aim at William Merlin. Inside the camp, an entire square formation of fighters with swords and shields in hand was ready to charge at any time. There was also a group of mages behind them… Which seemed to be casting already!

'Damn, this isn't fun!' William was feeling sweaty. 'What is this? Father shouldn't have tricked me, didn't he say that he had a decent friendship with that Sauss? Why do these guys look like a great enemy has come to their doorstep?'

"Don't be impulsive! Don't be impulsive!" William waved his hands crazily while hurriedly taking a few steps back. "I have no evil intent, I only want to meet Leader Sauss!"

Fortunately, Sauss came out.

"William? How come you are here?" Sauss was surprised to see William here. He hurriedly shouted to his nervous subordinates before inviting William back to his wooden house to have a cordial discussion.

A few years ago, Sauss had received a lot of help from William Merlin's father, and he also wanted to rely on the major force known as the Merlin Family, so he was very amicable with William.

So when William asked "Uncle Sauss" for a small favor, Sauss straightforwardly agreed.

"No problem, William. Your Uncle Sauss could be considered a bit influential in Thousand Sails City. When I faces some troubles in the past, your father helped me. I'll also help you."

"Thank you very much, Uncle Sauss."

"So polite…" Sauss smiled.

"It's like this, Uncle Sauss, I recently got into a small issue in Thousand Sails City, a guy named Mafa Merlin…"

"Wait, wait, what Merlin?"

"Mafa Merlin." William threw Sauss a strange look before patiently repeating himself.

"Mafa Merlin!" William didn't expect that Sauss would suddenly jump up when he heard that name. "Fuck, Mafa Merlin, you said Mafa Merlin!"

"Yes, Mafa Merlin… Uncle Sauss, what's wrong?"

"Hmm, William…" After sitting back down, Sauss' expression wasn't as natural as before. "What's going on with Mafa Merlin?"

"It's like this, Uncle Sauss, I have a bit of business I need to discuss with Mafa Merlin, but he seems to be rejecting me, not giving me any chance to talk. So I wanted to use Uncle Sauss' power in Thousand Sails City to put some pressure on him…"

"Pressure!" Sauss suddenly cried out in alarm, sweat flowing down his forehead.

He felt like cursing as he looked at William.

'Damnit, didn't you call me uncle? How about I call you uncle and you let me go? Asking me to put pressure on that Mafa Merlin… Do you think I don't have enough problems in the Poison Fog Canyon? Last time I put pressure on him because of the Hope Potion and ended up suffering badly. He single-handedly killed his way in and bombed two sentry towers, forcing me to open up a trade route.'

Sauss shuddered at the memory of those events.

'And you want ME to pressure HIM… Do you want me to waste all the time I invested in the Poison Fog Canyon?'

To be honest, Sauss was very willing to help him with most things, as he was friends with William's father and could build a relationship with the Merlin Family.

But when William asked him to pressure Mafa, Sauss only felt like seeing him out quickly.

"William, I am unable to help you this time." It wasn't that he couldn't help, but that he didn't dare to. Sauss clearly remembered the two potions in Mafa Merlin's hands.

One was called Magic Spring, and Sauss had already tried it and found it very useful. Putting a bottle in a ventilated room would make all of the members of the Viper Nest immune to the effects of the Poison Fog for about three days.

But Sauss would rather never learn of the name of the other potion, because he knew that the appearance of that potion would signal the end of the Viper Nest.

'Pressuring him… Who is pressuring who?'

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Chapter 110: Fear

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"Why?" William Merlin was a bit worried. Sauss was his last hope in Thousand Sails City! If even Sauss couldn't help him, then his only remaining option would be to force himself to face Lin Yun directly.

"William, I still have something to do. I won't be able to keep you company. Say hello to your father when you return." Sauss' voice was a bit apologetic. He truly felt sorry that he couldn't help William. He couldn't repay his friendship and wouldn't be able to take advantage of this chance to get closer to the Merlin Family.

But Sauss would rather be sorry than become Mafa Merlin's enemy.

Sauss awkwardly chuckled and then left the wooden house.

"Gr-Great Mage Bell, wha… What is going on?" William was stunned for a while. After recovering, he asked Bell, still at a loss.

"Less than a month ago, Mafa Merlin came to the Poison Fog Canyon, killed dozens of people, exploded two sentry towers, and then had Leader Sauss open up a trade route for him."

Once he was done explaining, Bell also left.

Only William was left in the spacious wooden house. Firewood was cracking in the fireplace and the cold of winter couldn't be felt in the room, but at this moment, William Merlin felt an intense chill.

He had been looking down on his younger cousin all along, but it turned out that he was actually someone that could make Sauss shrink away in fear.

That was Sauss.

The leader of the number one underground power of Thousand Sails City, which was said to have several thousand subordinates ready to give up their lives for him, jumped up from fear at the mere mention of Mafa Merlin's name!

William felt that the world was becoming crazy…

After returning to Thousand Sails City, he felt that he didn't have enough information concerning his cousin.

Since Sauss had refused to help, he would have to rely on his own ability to figure things out.

He had no confidence to face his younger cousin.

But whether or not he had any confidence didn't matter at this point. He could only try to get a better understanding of his cousin.

Thus, William Merlin spent the entire afternoon outside, walking around half of Thousand Sails City, asking everywhere about his younger cousin.

…

While William wandered through Thousand Sails City, Lin Yun was working hard in the Gilded Rose.

The test tube of Obsidian Flower Sap was placed in front of Lin Yun, along with a huge pile of discarded draft papers. A lot of alchemy arrays were drawn on these discarded pieces of paper. Some were completed while some only had a few lines.

'It's no good, the addition of the gloom array would destroy the cycle of mana…" Another draft paper was crumpled and thrown on the refining table.

This was already the 30th design that Lin Yun had discarded.

Lin Yun spent a whole day in the alchemy laboratory, repeating this process, designing, drafting, and discarding.

In fact, these designs were all just short of perfection. If they spread about and were seen by others, they would make many Great Alchemists go crazy with fervor.

But Lin Yun was still dissatisfied.

Because he wanted to use the Obsidian Flower Sap this time!

Lin Yun had extracted some sap by taking advantage of the fact that the Obsidian Flower had just been planted so its toxicity hadn't reached its peak yet. Lin Yun thought that he could use it to compound some potions. If a potion was successfully compounded from that, it would inevitably be a Master Alchemist Rank Masterpiece.

But Lin Yun quickly found out…

He didn't have materials formidable enough to pair with it. The Obsidian Flower's toxicity was truly too frightening. Lin Yun had rummaged through his collection, but he hadn't been able to find one that would work.

In the end, Lin Yun had no choice but to give up on compounding a potion and started working on a Magic Tool.

But ultimately, after over twenty designs, he still hadn't been able to come up with one that satisfied him.

It was troublesome because the Obsidian Flower Sap's toxicity was truly too fierce. If that Magic Tool could be crafted, it would definitely have the power of a High Mage, but at the same time, there couldn't be a single mistake during the crafting process. The design would also have to be perfect, as even a negligible flaw could create a huge accident.

By the evening, Lin Yun had discarded 36 designs.

After throwing away another draft, Lin Yun didn't prepare a new piece of paper. He massaged his eyes and looked away from the table for the first time since he had started working on this.

Lin Yun knew that it would take more than a day if he wanted to use the Obsidian Flower Sap to make a Magic Tool. Seeing the color of the sky, Lin Yun started packing, ready to wrap up for the time being.

"Knock, knock, knock." The sound echoed from the door.

"Come in." Lin Yun cleared away the draft papers while acknowledging the arrival. Knocking at this time in such a respectful way, it should either be Faleau or Remy.

The doors to the alchemy laboratory opened, but contrary to Lin Yun's expectations, it was neither of those two. Instead, it was his older cousin that he hadn't seen for the whole day.

"It's you?" Lin Yun slightly frowned. To be honest, this uninvited older cousin was giving him quite a headache. Becoming hostile didn't work, yet appeasing him didn't work either. That guy had a lot of pride, gesticulating and talking all day, making Lin Yun quite angry in the past two days.

But he couldn't just drive him away…

Because Lin Yun had yet to figure out why the formidable Merlin Family residing in Okland was interested in him. The answer to that question lay with William Merlin.

William had said that the Merlin Family couldn't tolerate his "situation"…

But Lin Yun knew that this was purely an attempt to coax a child. What kind of major force was the Merlin Family? There were hundreds of Merlin children each generation, so how could they care about tending to all of the scattered members? Here, a child of the main branch had rushed over to help him settle his debt and propel him to the Mage Rank, what was that?

Thus Lin Yun was waiting, waiting for William to be straightforward…

"This… That…" But what surprised Lin Yun was that today's William didn't seem to be in a good state. As he stood outside the alchemy laboratory, he was cowering slightly, as if the presence of a monster in the laboratory was preventing him from taking a few steps forward.

Lin Yun didn't know that his guess was actually right.

Now, in William's eyes, this younger cousin from outside the main clan was similar to a monster.

For the entire afternoon, William had kept asking about Lin Yun through half of Thousand Sails City.

And the more he asked, the more his fear grew.

William Merlin finally knew why the Merlin Family's intelligence was so inconsistent…

It was because Mafa Merlin had indeed been a worthless Magic Apprentice just a few months ago, and moreover, one that had been stuck at the 9th Rank for many years. A few months ago, the Gilded Rose was a mere empty husk, and aside from a few poor magic materials, it only had an empty lobby.

Yet, everything seemed to have changed a few months ago.

The originally listless Mafa Merlin seemed to have transformed in one night. He broke away from his status as a Magic Apprentice and became a true Mage. Afterwards, he spent over a million golds, won four rare magic materials, and then the Hope Potion, Dragon Strength Potion, and Meditation Potion were compounded, and the Gilded Rose underwent an extremely fast spurt of growth and was now the biggest alchemy shop of Thousand Sails City. It wasn't far behind that year's Flashing Gold chamber of commerce.

The most frightening part was that…

For unknown reasons, that Mafa Merlin had managed to get some sort of a relationship with many peak existences of Thousand Sails City. He went to Lion Monarch Street and reached a cooperative agreement with the Silver Moon Mercenaries, and then, when he took a trip to the Black Horn Auction, Cadgar had regarded him as an important guest and even sent Faleau, who he treated like a son, to the Gilded Rose. There was also the Sage Tower, with Solomon himself going to the Gilded Rose and scolding a member of the Alchemist Guild's market supervision team for making trouble for Mafa.

William couldn't understand all this.

If High Mage Solomon scolded a member of the Alchemist Guild on Mafa Merlin's behalf, then why did Mafa still have such a good relationship with the Alchemist Guild? Not only had Great Alchemist Bassoro frequently visited the Gilded Rose, but even Master Alchemist Lys personally visited him. Wasn't that a bit too illogical?

William Merlin was truly frightened.

Now that he was standing in front of Lin Yun, William didn't even know what he should say. Should he mention the previous slaps? Or the earlier attempt to framing him through Leader Lys?

"If you have something on your mind, just say it…" Lin Yun shook his head in exasperation. Though this older cousin felt like a different person compared to before, Lin Yun managed to adapt.

"I… Can I come in?"

"Come in." Lin Yun looked at the time, and noticing that it was still quite early, he wasn't in a rush to leave. He wanted to hear what his cousin had come here to say.

After entering the alchemy laboratory, William Merlin noticed the draft papers on the alchemy table and the blood suddenly drained from his pale face.

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Chapter 111: Master Alchemist

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

In fact, William Merlin himself was an accomplished Great Alchemist. Although he wasn't an expert in alchemy arrays, he could still understand array designs.

One of the uncrumpled draft papers on the refining table just fell into his sight, his eyes widening open in response, prompting him to glance at Lin Yun with horror filled eyes. That wasn't a look you would use on a normal human being, it was as if William was looking at a monster.

William's mind was simply blank as he stood there in a daze. He was so shocked he couldn't even keep his mouth closed.

'Master, that's a Master Alchemist!'

Many unusual things had happened ever since he came to Thousand Sails City, and he finally had the answer.

How could Mafa Merlin easily rebuild the Gilded Rose, how could Mafa Merlin spend over a million golds at the Black Horn Auction, how could Mafa Merlin have a good relationship with numerous peak characters in Thousand Sails City, how could he maintain a good relationship with Leader Lys…

This was all because Mafa Merlin himself was a Master Alchemist!

'Master, he is really a Master Alchemist…' William stood there with a dull expression.

'I have a Master Alchemist younger cousin!'

Inexplicably, William Merlin was actually proud.

But once the pride washed away, it was replaced by growing fear.

Because William Merlin suddenly recalled how arrogant he had been in front of this Master Alchemist. He ordered such a Master Alchemist to help him with his luggages. And then he made a move on this Master Alchemist and was slapped twice.

Recalling these events, William's legs shook, he subconsciously supported himself with the side of the refining table. 'This is too frightening, I have been so arrogant in front of a Master Alchemist. Yet I'm still alive, was I blessed by the Merlin Family's ancestors?'

'Oh, right, that Faleau told me I should thank Leader Lys for saving my life…'

'I thought he was just mocking me, but it looks like Leader Lys truly saved my pitiful life. Not to mention a Great Mage, even a High Mage can't avoid death after making a move on a Master Alchemist.'

'Among all the High Mages from Okland, who is foolish enough to provoke a Master Alchemist? If a personage like that became unhappy, they could ask an Archmage for a favor, and what could a High Mage do at that time?'

'Fuck, I was quite bold!'

While William Merlin's legs kept shaking, he gritted his teeth as he cursed at himself.

"Talk, what the hell is going on." Lin Yun noticed William Merlin's appearance, and after staring for a long time, he couldn't help but remind him.

"I…" William opened his mouth, but found out that his voice was weird. He laboriously gulped before opening his mouth again, and managed to say with some difficulties, "Can I take a seat?"

"…" Lin Yun rolled his eyes at him, thinking, 'Isn't that too much of a change?'

"Sit…"

After hearing Lin Yun's "sit", William cautiously sat on a chair next to the refining table, but he didn't dare sitting too comfortably, his posture straight, not even leaning his back on the back of the chair.

As for the reason…

It was because the Master Alchemist was still standing!

"Good, talk now." Lin Yun didn't have the time to analyze William Merlin's thoughts, he straightforwardly asked him as soon as the latter sat.

"I… I only wanted to ask, do you… Do you possess a Nether Iron Vein?"

"Excuse me?" Lin Yun squinted, looking at William unfriendly.

After all, the Bone Plane was Lin Yun's true foundation.

The Bone Plane's fertility was well-known even during the peak of the magic era. One look at his last trip there was enough to prove this. He got a hold of an Obsidian Flower, a ticket to smoothly progress to Artisan level, and that was without mentioning the harvest of materials and loot.

If a small place like the black wasteland had a heaven defying existence like the Obsidian Flower, then what would there be outside the black wasteland? What else does the Bone Plane hold in store for him?

Furthermore, the Sage Chapter in Lin Yun's hands needed a large amount of Soul Fire.

That was an important item able to increase the efficiency of the Magic Array!

The Bone Plane was crucial to Lin Yun. If he lost the Bone Plane, he would become unable to get the Book of Death, the magic materials would be nothing more than an illusion of the past and the Sage Chapter in his possession would never display its true might.

Lin Yun wasn't willing to bear this kind of loss.

Lin Yun had been trying all kinds of ways to increase his power ever since he returned from the Bone Plane, not hesitating to use the dangerous Obsidian Flower Sap to make a Magic Tool. The reason behind this: The Monchi Family's and the Black Tower's attention.

Now, William's careless words made Lin Yun vigilant.

At that instant, Lin Yun even thought that William Merlin might already know of the Bone Plane's existence. Why else would he ask about the Nether Iron Vein?

In that situation, Lin Yun's first thought was to silence William.

"No no, don't misunderstand!" Noticing the killing intent in Lin Yun's eyes, William almost peed himself, "Listen to me please, I only came to talk about cooperation, cooperation!"

"Sorry…" Seeing William's frightened expression, Lin Yun calmed down, his reaction had truly been a bit too fierce.

He had obtained a large amount of Nether Iron and magic gems from the Spatial Magic Tool of that High Mage, he had then delivered those to the Gilded Rose and turned them into alchemy items.

The amount of items flooding the market was so high that it would be hard not to attract attention.

It seemed reasonable that people could guess about him having a Nether Iron Vein from these items.

"That's right, I have a Nether Iron Vein, what about it?" After thinking about it, Lin Yun decided to admit it. In any case, he would have enough mining puppets next month to start mining that Nether Iron Vein. At that time, there would be more items entering the market and concealing it from others would be impossible.

"That's great, Cousin…" William suddenly felt happy. Due to excitement, he even forgot about his fear of Lin Yun and addressed him as "Cousin". He only realized that it was a Master Alchemist standing in front of him after talking, thus he quickly glanced at Lin Yun and found out that the other side wasn't dissatisfied. He steeled himself and continued, "Cousin, you might not know, but the elders of the Family Elder Council have set an extremely expensive price for that Nether Iron Vein of yours!"

"Oh?" Hearing this, Lin Yun knew that his guess was spot on. The Merlin Family had guessed that he had a Nether Iron Vein due to Thousand Sails City's market.

Lin Yun's expression eased up, they could have a discussion if they wanted to cooperate, he just didn't know what kind of price the Merlin Family was willing to pay.

"The elders promised that as long as you handed the Nether Iron Vein to the Merlin Family, they would acknowledge your status as a direct member of the Merlin Family. Your father and grandfather included. You can even…" The cheerful William started speaking about the conditions.

But as he talked, William found out that with every word, the expression of that Master Alchemist cousin of his turned gloomier and gloomier. Mafa Merlin's face was extremely unsightly when William came to a stop.

William Merlin's heart suddenly tightened, not daring to say the last few sentences.

He carefully looked at Lin Yun, inwardly considering what was wrong with his words.

"Damn, how could I be so stupid!" William was quite smart, after thinking about it, he felt that he should slap himself.

'Fuck, how could I forget…'

'He is a Master Alchemist!'

'Would a Master Alchemist care about the status of direct member of the Merlin Family?'

'In fact, if the family learned that one of their branch descendant living outside was a Master Alchemist, the whole Elder Council might personally visit Thousand Sails City to welcome that Master Alchemist back.'

'After all, even as a peak force of the kingdom, no Master Alchemist appeared in the Merlin Family for two hundred years. And that Master Alchemist is young and frighteningly gifted in magic as well.'

'If he returns to the Merlin Family, he will definitely be appointed as the only heir.'

William immediately understood what was wrong.

But fortunately for him, William wasn't inferior to Faleau when it came to adapting to an unexpected situation. Just as Lin Yun's countenance worsened, William displayed a resentful expression.

"Those old guys are really crazy, to think of using the status as a direct member to get your Nether Iron Vein. Rest assured, I'll argue for you with my father. I'll make sure those old guys take out enough benefits, otherwise, not to mention you disagreeing, even my father and I will reject that!"

"…"

"Oh right, Cousin, you have to keep this Nether Iron Vein a secret. In Okland, I heard that the Black Tower's people were also asking about the Gilded Rose…" The more William talked, the more affectionate his tone was towards his cousin.

"Black Tower?" But those words actually startled Lin Yun when he heard them, "You are saying that someone from the Black Tower is asking about the Gilded Rose?"

"Yes, I heard they were Solan's people."

"Solan?"

"Yes, Solan Monchi, 9th Rank High Mage, the High Mage with the most chances of becoming an Archmage among the Black Tower's High Mages. He has recently entered the Dark Azure Plane and it was said that he will return a year later." After William finished, he seemed to recall something, "Speaking of this, it seems like this Solan Monchi has a deep relationship with Thousand Sails City's Monchi Family."

"Solan Monchi, Monchi Family…" After mumbling, Lin Yun smiled, "I understand…"

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Lin Yun clearly understood…

Not just the reason why the Monchi Family tried so hard, but also why Solan left for the Dark Azure Plane.

Because the Spatial Magic Tool he got from the High Mage in the Bone Plane had been made of Deep Sea Mithril, and Deep Sea Mithril was a material specific to the Dark Azure Plane. In other words, back in the days, that High Mage might have stayed in the Dark Azure Plane for some time.

He may have left some notes in the Dark Azure Plane…

Naturally, these notes shouldn't be very detailed, they would most likely mention the existence of a strange location, without more detailed explanation. That strange location should be the Planar Path, otherwise how could the 9th Rank High Mage already be making a move. That was a 9th Rank High Mage, currently besides Solomon, who could contend against him?

In fact, even that dead High Mage himself might not have known it was a Planar Path.

It had only been a few centuries since the tragedy of the Crimson Tower happened. If the High Mage had known it was a Planar Path, he wouldn't have dared to step on it even if he was hundred times more courageous.

Thinking about it, Lin Yun sighed in relief.

As long as no one knew about the Planar Path, Lin Yun wouldn't feel as pressured.

Nothing could be done about it. A Planar Path, especially one leading to the Bone Plane, is something any powerhouse would be unable to resist. Noscent's finest forces would go crazy over it, not to mention that Lin Yun was only a Great Mage right now. Even if Lin Yun finished forming five Magic Arrays and could contend against High Mages, he wouldn't be able to defend the Planar Path, unless he got hold of the Book of Death…

But fortunately, no one knew that it was a Planar Path yet.

Moreover, Solan just gifted him one year of preparations…

One year was plenty enough for Lin Yun to get hold of the Book of Death.

Hearing the good news William brought him, Lin Yun's mood improved. This older cousin of his suddenly became pleasing to look at.

"Thanks for your reminder, Cousin William."

"D-d… Don't mention it." William suddenly felt overwhelmed with gratitude and a bit of fear at the same time, this was the thanks from a Master Alchemist!

"However, the Merlin Family's conditions…"

"I understand, I understand…" William's reaction wasn't the least bit slow. Seeing Lin Yun's expression, he could tell that the latter was dissatisfied with the conditions offered. He immediately stood up and said with a righteous bearing, "Those old guys from the Elder Council are a bunch of senile old men. Cousin, by all means, do not lower yourself to their level. How about you wait for now, I'll write a letter to the elders to reprimand them and make them change for better offer!"

"My conditions are very simple." Lin Yun looked at William's performance and didn't say much, only calmly stating his terms, "I can sell Nether Iron Ore to the Family according to market price, but they have to pay in magic crystals. In addition, the Merlin Family has to send me a group of Mages."

"Mages?" William stared blankly, 'Since when have Mages become a currency?'

"Yes, 5th Rank and above Mages, at least fifty of them."

If Bassoro was here, he would definitely remark that Great Mage Mafa Merlin was getting addicted to being paid in manpower.

It was true, Lin Yun mentioning this was connected to that matter.

He had been delighted with the previous transaction with the Alchemist Guild, he only paid what was a useless alchemy formula in his eyes, and managed to quickly develop the Gilded Rose in exchange. It could be said that without the fifty Alchemists delivered by Bassoro, the Gilded Rose wouldn't be as successful and popular as it was nowadays.

Thus, Lin Yun also wanted to trade with manpower in this deal with the Merlin Family.

As for why he wanted so many Mages…

That was because Lin Yun knew that the Gilded Rose's development had reached its peak. There was no alchemy shop that could contend with the Gilded Rose, including the Monchi Family's Twin Moons Splendor.

But a too fast-paced development would create many problems.

Such as his own force.

Thousand Sails City's seven chambers of commerce all had their own chamber of commerce's mercenary groups, of which the Twin Moons chamber of commerce's group's strength wasn't much inferior even in comparison to the first underground force of Thousand Sails City, the Viper Nest. It was actually ranked just under the Silver Moon Mercenaries, the official number one force.

The Gilded Rose on the other hand…

Let alone a chamber of commerce's mercenary group, they didn't even have an armed caravan. Last time, Lin Yun had to personally take a trip to the Poison Fog Canyon when a few Alchemy Apprentices got detained by the Viper Nest. It wouldn't be bad once or twice, but what if he had to do something like that eight times, ten times. Would Lin Yun still have a life?

Moreover, the Gilded Rose would expand sooner or later. Thousand Sails City wouldn't be able to satisfy Lin Yun's needs for magic practice, he needed a huge amount of wealth at his disposal. At that time, would Lin Yun have to run around to deal with the Gilded Rose's problems?

Thus, the chamber of commerce's mercenary group had to be established, this was imperative.

There hadn't been a suitable opportunity before, but now that the Merlin Family was in the picture, would Lin Yun be polite?

After the matter was settled, William Merlin went to write a letter. Lin Yun sat down and put the draft papers in order before leaving the alchemy laboratory.

Just as he reached the lobby, he met Faleau heading in.

"Great Mage Merlin, you are still here?" Faleau came over and greeted Lin Yun.

"I'm on my way home. Oh? Faleau, what's that?" Lin Yun greeted Faleau and then casually asked about what Faleau was holding in his hands.

"Oh right, you should check this, Great Mage Merlin…" When Faleau heard Lin Yun's question, he recalled something and promptly handed over the thing in his hands, "This is a new enchanted magic weapon from the alchemy workshop, you should take a look at it, if possible, I hope to have it mass produced."

"Okay, let me have a look." Lin Yun checked it. It was a Nether Iron forged hand crossbow with a very elaborated design. The forging was also very good. It could be considered pretty good as a secondary weapon. Even if the enchantment was quite rough, if an alchemy array was added, its power could double, or more.

'Hold on, alchemy array!'

A flash of insight appeared in Lin Yun's mind.

"Faleau, have someone tell the old butler that I still have something to do and I won't come back for dinner!" Lin Yun left those words in a hurry and returned to the alchemy laboratory. He sat down at the refining table and spread a brand new piece of paper before picking up a quill. He then drew the elaborated hand crossbow.

Afterwards, Lin Yun started drawing an alchemy array.

Lin Yun drew a total of four alchemy arrays, three of which added additional damage properties.

An armor piercing and an annihilating attribute, respectively targeting all kinds of armor and mana shields.

And then there was a heavy wound attribute.

Weapons with that kind of attribute could double constitution loss and the depths of injuries. Of those, the deepening of injuries effect was actually dispensable, but the loss of constitution was something Lin Yun urgently needed. With that constitution loss effect, the Obsidian Flower Sap's might would be able to display its effects perfectly.

It could be said that this heavy wound attribute was the core of the design, as for the one array remaining, it was a sealing array. It was to prevent the Obsidian Flower Sap from leaking.

He had been busy on the design for the whole day and finally managed to complete it before dark.

Afterwards, Lin Yun spent some time to set up the mana cycle of the hand crossbow before leaving and finding Faleau downstairs.

"Faleau, help me and send that design to the alchemy workshop. Have the guys over there create a hand crossbow based on that design."

"Understood, I'll immediately take care of this."

Lin Yun's hand crossbow design was already Master level, and the design he had Faleau deliver didn't include the mana circulation system and the crucial three damaging arrays, but it wasn't something that could be done in a short time. After handing him the design, Lin Yun left the Gilded Rose.

In the evening, just as Lin Yun was about to go to bed after his daily meditation, William Merlin knocked at his door.

"Cousin, the elders from the Elder Council agreed!" After entering, William reported the good news to Lin Yun.

"Haha, pretty good." Lin Yun smiled, but didn't ask why there was an answer in the evening when he wrote a letter in the afternoon.

A peak force like the Merlin Family, how could it not have a special communication method? Not to mention the Merlin Family, even the Monchi Family should have some special communication method to connect to Solan in the Black Tower, otherwise, how could Monchi not bid from the beginning in the Black Horn Auction before suddenly taking out 4.000.000 golds. Lin Yun wouldn't believe that he bid so much without Solan prompting him.

"The elders said that there is no problem with the market price transaction, nor is there any with the magic crystal payment method…" William Merlin stopped there, some curiosity on his face, "They want me to ask, what do you want fifty 5th Rank Mages for?"

After saying that, as if afraid Lin Yun would go back on the deal, he hurriedly explained, "Don't misunderstand, don't misunderstand, those fifty 5th Rank Mages are already on the way, the Elder Council only wants to ask, there is no other meaning."

"Because I need a group of Great Mages to help me handle matters."

"Okay, I understand." William left Lin Yun's room after nodding.

But just as he reached the hallway, William's face froze.

'Wait…'

'Did I just hear… Great Mages?'

'Wasn't it 5th Rank Mages? When did they become Great Mages?'

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Chapter 113: What A Coincidence

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"Must have been a mistake… A mistake… Haha" William stood in the hallway, chuckling nervously.

How could William not know that although Great Mage and Mage were very similar, the pronunciation was different, there was very little chance of making a mistake.

But William really didn't dare to think too deeply about it…

If he thought too deeply about it, William wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

'If it wasn't a mistake, then didn't that mean that Cousin is able to mass-produce Great Mages?'

'This is crazy just thinking about it…'

Lin Yun had some free time for a few days since he was waiting on the fifty Mages from the Merlin Family and on the result of the design he gave to the alchemy workshop, but he soon became unable to sit still. Thus he began to mull over the chamber of commerce mercenary group. For this matter, Lin Yun especially went to ask the old butler what the original Flashing Gold chamber of commerce's mercenary group looked like.

After asking, he learnt that the former Flashing Gold's mercenary group was called the Mercury Mercenary Group. It would rank fourth among Thousand Sails City's mercenary groups. But all the elites of the mercenary group were escorting the ship and ended up being involved in the shipwreck, with the mercenary group getting nearly wiped out.

Only a handful of new recruits without any battle experience were left in Thousand Sails City, along with one decent vice leader, but they lost contact with him after the Flashing Gold chamber of commerce went bankrupt. The old butler didn't know where they were now.

Lin Yun got a headache after listening to the old butler.

Lin Yun originally thought that if there was one of former leaders left, he could look for him and have him cooperate with William to rebuild the mercenary group with the fifty 5th Rank Mages as a base.

But who would have thought that Locke Merlin's shipwreck was so thorough.

The entire Mercury Mercenary Group had been ruined, and the only vice leader left couldn't be contacted.

'How could it be rebuilt that way?'

'Seems like I can only take my time and think of another way…'

Time passed very quickly, and in a flash, several days passed by. The fifty Mages of the Merlin Family finally arrived, but unfortunately, Lin Yun didn't have time to take care of them because he heard news from the workshop at the same time. The hand crossbow was already forged, and the Gilded Rose's caravan was now ready and would be leaving for Edge Rift the next morning.

Thus, Lin Yun had no other choice but to put those 5th Rank Mages aside and instead spent the whole evening crafting in the alchemy laboratory. The next morning, Lin Yun followed the caravan with dark eyes, going straight for Edge Rift.

The Poison Fog Canyon's trade route had already been opened, and for this trip, the Gilded Rose spent 100.000 golds, yet Sauss was still a little afraid that the Gilded Rose would occupy it for a long time. But Lin Yun had personally guaranteed that it would be three months and not one day more so Sauss could only skeptically let it go.

Today, Sauss heard the news of Gilded Rose's caravan arriving at the Poison Fog Canyon and rushed over alone, not bringing a single subordinate.

When Sauss saw Lin Yun, he mentioned about William Merlin coming to him.

"Great Mage Merlin, a few days ago, a certain William Merlin came to find me!"

William Merlin was in one of the caravan carriages, and when he heard Sauss, he inwardly cursed him along with his ancestors.

'Damn Sauss, you are a real bastard, you kept mentioning the great favor from my father that day, you said you would think of a way to repay the favor. Is this how you fucking repay it? By selling me out?'

'Thank god I'm smart…'

William Merlin couldn't help being proud of himself as he thought about it.

'If I didn't have a bad feeling about this and hurriedly changed my approach, I might have not been able to repair my relationship with this Master Alchemist cousin of mine. It's much better now, I immediately became the bridge between the Merlin Family and cousin and facilitated their collaboration, and cousin is slowly starting to trust me.'

'This caravan going for Edge Rift for example, cousin asked me to escort it.'

'If I have a few more opportunities, I might be put in an important position by cousin.'

'This would lead to a better future than with the Merlin Family…'

William Merlin was clear that although he was a famous scion of the Merlin Family, he was merely 6th in the line of heirs to the Patriarch's seat. There was still five scions more outstanding than himself. His chances of seizing the position of Patriarch were merely one thousandth.

Later, he would most likely become a supervisor of one of the Merlin Family's business, or manage a territory for the Merlin Family.

That was the best outcome.

But it would be different if he followed his Master Alchemist cousin.

That was a Master Alchemist not even in his twenties, and even if he spent thirty years to become an Artisan, he would only be fifty! If William could obtain his trust, his own future would be far more bright and promising than if he stayed with the Merlin Family.

Thinking about it, William got off the carriage, and greeted Sauss in the distance.

"…" Sauss' smile immediately froze.

'This is quite awkward…'

'I'm cheerfully selling you out, but I didn't expect you to be a part of this caravan. How could this be more awkward?'

"Ha… Ha… Haha, William, this is quite a coincidence!" Sauss coughed a bit before chuckling.

"Indeed, Uncle Sauss, what a coincidence!" William was fuming, and the way he said "Uncle Sauss" made Sauss' legs shake.

'I'm finished, I'm finished, I thoroughly offended that young master from the Merlin Family…'

Fortunately, footsteps coming over from some distance away rescued Sauss.

"Stop!"

A silhouette rushed over from the faint red mist, staggering. He was chased by a team of Fighters from the Viper Nest. It seemed like the Viper Nest's own problem.

But as Great Mages, Lin Yun and William had keener senses than the others. The two felt a fierce mana fluctuation approaching at the same time.

"7th Rank Great Mage, could it be Bell?" William Merlin made a guess.

But Lin Yun shook his head, "No, it's a 5th Rank Great Mage, but with a very strange Magic Conducting Rune."

Lin Yun had met the Great Mage from the Viper Nest, how could he not know what his Magic Conducting Rune looked like.

Indeed, Bell's Magic Conducting Rune was very powerful, but it lacked the strangeness of this person's rune…

This Magic Conducting Rune had a shockingly high temperature, but it was deathly serene.

This was strange, usually high temperature came from flames, and flames were usually ferociously burning. How could it give a deathly quiet feeling?

This Magic Conducting Rune didn't resemble flames, it gave more of a feeling of post combustion's ashes.

That's right, ashes!

Lin Yun recalled the Black Horn Auction House's High Mage that was going toe to toe with Solomon, he gave out the same feeling. At that time, he had asked Solomon, and Solomon had told him that it was the Ash Rune, one of the most powerful Magic Conducting Runes among the Ash Tower's inheritances.

'This is a Great Mage from the Ash Tower?'

That staggering silhouette was quickly overtaken. Fighters from the Viper Nest immediately put swords on his neck. At the same time, the Ash Tower Great Mage was drawing closer.

"Let's go, there is nothing worth seeing." Although Lin Yun and Sauss were chatting happily, he didn't want to come in contact with the Great Mage from the Ash Tower, so after seeing that person under control, he pat William's shoulder and told Sauss, "Leader Sauss, we will leave first."

"Mage Merlin doesn't want to take a break? I planned to place an order of Magic Spring Potion. Damn, it's those guys' fault for disturbing Great Mage Merlin, I'll definitely teach them a lesson later…" Sauss exaggeratedly tried to keep Lin Yun behind, while waving him goodbye…

"Haha…" But inwardly Sauss was carefully thinking on how he could shake Lin Yun off.

The Great Mage that came from the Ash Tower. With the relationship between the Sage Tower and the Ash Tower, if Solomon knew, Sauss would have to take it up with him. Sauss' attitude when Lin Yun mentioned leaving was only an appearance.

Lin Yun chuckled and entered the carriage with William. Just as he planned to have the caravan continue on, a voice echoed ahead, "Colin?"

Lin Yun was surprised by hearing the butler's voice and before he could react, the old butler had already rushed over.

"Young Master, Young Master…"

"Uncle Pave, what's up?" Lin Yun looked strangely at the old butler. He rarely showed this much anxiety aside from Fario's visits for debts.

"That's Colin!"

"Colin?"

"Didn't you ask me a few days ago about the former member of the Mercury Mercenary Group? That's Colin's father, the last vice leader of the Mercury Mercenary Group."

"You are saying that this is the son of the vice leader of the Mercury Mercenary Group?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I got it." Lin Yun nodded, getting down from the carriage and shouting at Sauss, "I'm sorry Leader Sauss, I don't think I can walk from this."

"Plop!" Sauss who had been happy because of Lin Yun leaving suddenly slipped and fell on the ground with a plop. After he managed to get up, Sauss couldn't help inwardly curse, 'Damn, leave if you are leaving, just don't come back!'

'This is troublesome…'

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Chapter 114: Spatial Magic Tool

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

'This is so unfair…' Sauss thought.

Sauss had been in Thousand Sails City for so many years, how could he not know the relationship between the Sage Tower and the Ash Tower, they were mortal enemies. The amount of people that died by their hand in the past several hundred years could fill half of the Poison Fog Canyon. Unless there were special circumstances, would Sauss have dealing with the Ash Tower?

This time he was only giving a hand.

Early this morning, a Great Mage from the Ash Tower came looking for Sauss, saying that someone stole an important Magic Tool from the Ash Tower and was now hiding in the depths of the Poison Fog Canyon, and he wanted the Viper Nest's people to catch him.

Sauss thought it through, he wasn't willing to offend the Ash Tower, one of the two major forces of the eastern part of the kingdom, roughly on par with the Sage Tower. Moreover it was just lending a hand. If he quickly caught that person, that Great Mage would leave, right? Thus Sauss straightforwardly agreed.

But in the end…

It was all ruined by Great Mage Merlin.

As he thought of that, Sauss inwardly cursed his idiotic subordinates, 'Stupid trashes, the Poison Fog Canyon is so vast, yet you led him here…'

'Great, now the monster I finally managed to send off came right back!'

Unfortunately, Sauss couldn't say anything…

What else could he do? Should he say, 'Sorry Great Mage Merlin, please wait until the Great Mage from the Ash Tower arrives, if you can't wait to meet with him, how about you just leave?'

Sauss would never be able to say that even if he was ten times bolder.

"Ha… Ha… Haha… Naturally, our Viper Nest is honored if Great Mage Merlin is willing to stay, let's go to my wooden house, I have a few bottles of good wine from Okland. How about I accompany Great Mage Merlin for a drink?" As he said this, Sauss' smile twitched, turning slightly unsightly.

"Haha…" Lin Yun chuckled, he knew what Sauss was scared of, so he didn't beat around the bush, "It's fine. But I suddenly discovered that this youth you captured is someone from our Gilded Rose, so…"

"Cough cough… Gilded Rose?!" Sauss almost fell down again when he heard that.

'Damn, how could he be someone from the Gilded Rose!'

There was a shadow left in Sauss' heart from when he detained a few Apprentice Alchemists from the Gilded Rose. Now hearing that this person was someone from the Gilded Rose, he almost fainted from fear. At this moment, he inwardly cursed that Great Mage from the Ash Tower along all his ancestors.

'Your Ash Tower isn't happy enough? You don't have enough troubles? Why would you find troubles for the Gilded Rose? Even if you are looking for troubles with the Gilded Rose, don't involve me okay? If you want to have troubles with them, then go on, but I'm still trying to have a life in Thousand Sails City!'

'If you make Great Mage Merlin think that I was colluding with the Ash Tower, how could I still appear in Thousand Sails City?'

'No good, I have to draw a line with the Ash Tower!'

Sauss made his decision almost instantly.

In fact, Sauss didn't know if Lin Yun was telling the truth or not, but what did it matter? Since Lin Yun said he was someone from the Gilded Rose, then he was someone from the Gilded Rose, or did he have to conduct an investigation? Wouldn't that be courting death?

"Turns out it's someone from the Gilded Rose!" After Sauss' heart calmed down, an expression of sudden realization appeared on his face, "It's a mistake, a misunderstanding, truly a misunderstanding… Hey, you idiots, why haven't you released that person yet? What are you staring blankly for?"

His subordinates were stupefied…

"Idiots, I told you to release him!"

"Eh, eh, eh…" After being roared at by Sauss, the subordinates reacted and hurriedly released that person while being utterly flustered.

"It's truly a misunderstanding Great Mage Merlin, you are magnanimous, please don't bother yourself with these idiots. They definitely captured the wrong person, they are blind. Wait until I return, I'll definitely teach them a lesson."

"Haha, Leader Sauss is too polite." Lin Yun answered courteously. Sauss' attitude this time truly made Lin Yun admire him. It really wasn't by fluke that the Viper Nest became the number one underground force of Thousand Sails City. His ability to judge the situation was like an instinct, he could see which side he should stand on.

When all was said and done, the Viper Nest was a force from Thousand Sails City, no matter how powerful the Ash Tower was, they could at most try to intimidate Sauss. From the beginning, only the Sage Tower could truly influence Sauss' decisions.

If he offended the Ash Tower, he would at most have to be a bit careful, but if he offended the Sage Tower, it wouldn't be fun for him…

Solomon could be very unreasonable. The famous Black Wing bandit group tried to reason with Solomon one year, and in the end, the three big shots of the Sage Tower joined hands and burned the Black Wing bandit group clean. Even if Sauss was courageous, he wouldn't dare let Solomon know that the Viper Nest actually collaborated with the Ash Tower.

Lin Yun held onto this weakness and was very direct about this.

The way he spoke was very domineering, but in reality, he was giving Sauss a way out, which meant that he didn't know about the Ash Tower's part in this matter.

Thus, after being polite, Lin Yun added a line, "Oh right, Leader Sauss, I already let the Gilded Rose know about the Magic Spring Potions, you can go there anytime to get them. Also, the Silver Moon Mercenaries' recent order is a bit lacking, there are many Magic Weapons and Magic Armors left at the shop, if Leader Sauss is interested, you can take a look and discuss the price."

"Thank you very much Great Mage Merlin!" Sauss' heart suddenly accelerated. The entire Thousand Sails City knew that the Gilded Rose alchemy workshop was making Nether Iron Magic Armors and Magic Weapons, but the best quality ones were naturally to be supplied to the Silver Moon Mercenaries. It was because during the Gilded Rose's harshest time, it was the Silver Moon Mercenary group who extended a helping hand, and they also supplied a great amount of magic materials and became the Gilded Rose's partner.

Now it was naturally time for the Silver Moon Mercenaries to get their rewards.

Thus, although Thousand Sails City's other forces were green with envy, they couldn't complain. Who didn't know how the Silver Moon Mercenaries supported the Gilded Rose at their worst time?

Sauss was naturally very envious…

But Sauss didn't think that the bit of goodwill he just sent would be reciprocated so quickly. Those were peak equipments that only the Silver Moon Mercenaries could get their hands on. In the entire Thousand Sails City, the Viper Nest was the 2nd force to enjoy this treatment.

As he thought about this, Sauss' heart felt warm, 'If I had known earlier that there could be this kind of payback, I would have directly sold the Ash Tower out! With those weapons and armors, the fighting strength of the Viper Nest would raise one whole level!

"Leader Sauss, sorry to bother you for so long. We still have to hurry to Edge Rift so I won't waste your time any longer." Lin Yun waved at Sauss and then called to the youth he just saved, "Colin, you sit in Uncle Pave's carriage."

"Who are you?" Colin seemed to be about the same age as Lin Yun, but his strength wasn't bad. Lin Yun could feel a trace of Aura, it might not be long before he becomes a Great Swordsman.

But that young 9th Rank Swordsman had apparently never seen Mafa Merlin, thus, he had some distrust now that he was standing in front of Lin Yun.

"It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is that if you don't get on, the Ash Tower's person will arrive… Forget it, he is already here." Lin Yun was clearly distracted as he said this, because he had estimated that the Great Mage in the distance would arrive five minutes later from those fluctuations.

But just as he finished that sentence, that Great Mage arrived.

'Could it be a Spiritual level Spatial Magic Tool?'

'That would be quite troublesome.' Spatial Magic Tool above Spiritual level already had a trace of the Shadow Law, it might have the ability to twist and rip space.

To be honest, Lin Yun didn't want to run into this kind of opponent. Spiritual level and above Spatial Magic Tools were known for being hard to defend against, one moment of carelessness could completely reverse the outcome of a battle.

But now, it wasn't like Lin Yun could avoid running into them.

Just as his words ended, fierce mana fluctuations appeared above. Lin Yun raised his head and saw a young Great Mage hovering in the sky of the Poison Fog Canyon. Behind him were some blazing flaming wings. This blond haired Great Mage was reeking of arrogance.

"Truly annoying…" Lin Yun couldn't help cursing. Great Mages don't have the ability to fly, only after one reached the level of a High Mage would one be able to learn Levitate, and even Levitate was only the ability to float, it couldn't allow one to fly long distance.

Only an Archmage could fly long distances. They could move 500 kilometers in an instant with Elemental Incarnation and Flight.

This was also the reason why once a mage reached the Archmage rank, they couldn't be restricted by secular authority. A flying Archmage could destroy an entire city relying on his own power. This kind of power was already out of the ordinary.

That youth floating in the sky as a Great Mage was obviously not using his own power, so the only possibility was that he was using a Spatial Magic Tool.

Once he thought about it, Lin Yun couldn't help having a headache. Spatial distortion, flying ability, this Magic Tool wasn't bad.

Fortunately, he already knew how to handle it.

"Sauss, you disappointed me!" The young Great Mage floating in the sky said with a domineering tone, "I thought that as the leader of the Viper Nest, you would consider your own subordinates, but you are so brainless, you actually thought of letting an enemy of the Ash Tower go. It seems that the Viper Nest doesn't need to exist anymore…"

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This display was a bit too arrogant…

Even the always slick and sly Sauss couldn't help snorting.

Sauss from the start hadn't planned to become cannon fodder stuck between two forces. He only handed over that person to Lin Yun as it presented Sauss with an easy way out of that situation. At that time, he only felt that in consideration of his position as the master of the Poison Fog Canyon, no matter how dissatisfied the Great Mage from the Ash Tower was, he wouldn't take his anger out on him.

But he hadn't expected that the other side wouldn't give him any respect and say outright that there was no need for the Viper Nest to exist.

Sauss almost spat blood in anger…

'Even if your Ash Tower is one of the two major forces of the eastern part of the kingdom, you shouldn't forget that this is Thousand Sails City, not Oddrock City. Even if your Ash Tower is powerful, is it powerful enough to step over the Sage Tower? Saying that the Viper Nest doesn't need to exist… What do you take the Sage Tower for?'

Sauss' face was gloomy, "Great Mage Lonald, you words are a bit too much, the Ash Tower is the Ash Tower, the Viper Nest is the Viper Nest. I don't think that the Viper Nest's way of handling things has anything to do with Great Mage Lonald?"

"Sauss, you really aren't smart enough." After saying that, the young Great Mage looked at Lin Yun as if looking at an already dead man, "As for you, I'll give you ten seconds to hand over that person, or else…"

"Or else what?" Lin Yun was still smiling.

"Or else you won't leave this place."

"Lonald, who are you trying to stop?" William Merlin got down from the carriage at this time.

"It's you! William Merlin!" Just when William opened his mouth, the young Great Mage's expression froze, "You are in Thousand Sails City?"

People who knew William Merlin were aware that he was one of the heirs to the Merlin Family. Although Lonald was an arrogant young Great Mage, his tone became a bit less conceited when he saw William Merlin. After all, the Merlin Family was one of the strongest forces of the kingdom, stronger than the Ash Tower, they didn't dare to casually offend the Merlin Family.

"I can't be in Thousand Sails City?"

"You can…" Lonald was apparently a bit apprehensive of William Merlin. But after coldly snorting, he still said, "Okay, William Merlin, I'll show you some respect and let your people off, but I advise you to have your subordinate hand over that person. To be honest, that person is related to an important secret of the Ash Tower. If this blows up, even the Merlin Family won't be able to protect you!"

"My subordinate?" William Merlin froze, before his mind fiercely reacted, 'He me-meant… My Master Alchemist cousin?'

William inwardly cursed Lonald.

'Are you a fucking idiot? Which of your eyes told you he was my subordinate? Could it be that you are blind? You can't see that I'm the subordinate? He is a Master, a Master Alchemist, don't you understand? Even if you're blind and begging for troubles, don't drag me with you! To dare say that a Master Alchemist is my subordinate, do you want me to die early?'

But hearing the other side say something so serious, William didn't dare to make a decision.

The Ash Tower's mages were famous for being willful, if it really was like the other side said and the apprehended youth was related to an important secret of the Ash Tower, then letting the matter grow bigger could easily bring a bad ending…

Thus William Merlin thought about it and whispered to Lin Yun, "Cousin, you see…"

William Merlin then heard Lin Yun say, "He'll be working with you later to rebuild the Gilded Rose chamber of commerce's mercenary group."

"Rebuild the Gilded Rose chamber of commerce mercenary group, that kid is quite lucky…" William threw that kid an envious look, but he froze midway through his sentence and excitement filled his face, "With me?"

"Yes, with you…"

"Damn, Lonald, aren't you arrogant!" After hearing Lin Yun's confirmation, William Merlin felt filled with courage, the magic staff in his hand pointing at Lonald, "This is someone that I decided to save, if you are unhappy with it, then send those elders from the Ash Tower to look for me. I want to see if the Ash Tower is ready to start a war with the Merlin Family!"

"You…" The young Great Mage's expression changed. He originally thought that this William Merlin would back down after the Ash Tower was mentioned, but he hadn't expected that this William would suddenly display such an unyielding attitude.

Naturally, this young Great Mage didn't know that after William took his stance, he timidly whispered, "Cousin, the Ash Tower is not to be trifled with…"

"I also don't want to provoke the Ash Tower…" After Lin Yun finished speaking, he ignored William rolling his eyes and fished out a hand crossbow from his pocket before aiming at the flying Lonald.

"You are courting death!" The young Great Mage didn't think that "William's subordinate" would dare to make a move on him.

Following the young Great Mage's angry shout, the surrounding mana fluctuations became increasingly fiercer and the two meters long blazing wings expanded to over ten meters in an instant. The sky had turned red, as if it had been ignited, and heat waves were flooding dozens of meters around them.

"This is, the Lava Dominator!" William let out a shout in surprise. Among all of the Ash Tower's Spiritual Magic Tools, the Lava Dominator was the most famous. It combined fire and spatial energy and could create an impenetrable Lava Shelter. It also allowed the use of Flame Flash without the use of Elemental Incarnation.

This was a peak existence among Spiritual Magic Tools.

Almost absolute defense with Lava Shelter, the ability to appear and disappear unpredictably with Flame Flash, it could be said that a mage with the Lava Dominator was nearly invincible.

'Fuck, how could the Lava Dominator be left in Lonald's hands.' William's expression changed, it was no longer as relaxed as before, 'This is one of the most powerful Spiritual Magic Tools of the Ash Tower, is that Lonald an illegitimate child of all four members of the Elder Council?'

"I'll let you see what kind of ending awaits the enemies of the Ash Tower!" After his declaration, the magic staff in his hands was raised, and suddenly, a large amount of fire elements started congregating. The flaming wings fiercely spread before coiling around the young Great Mage to protect him. There was enough fire elements flowing on the wings to make any Great Mage exclaim in surprise.

That was the Lava Shelter, the rumored nearly impenetrable defense!

At the same time, the ground below him ignited. The earth shattering flames had an extremely high temperature and were restricting the people below into a small space. Even as a Great Swordsman, Sauss could only manage to protect himself with Aura. A few subordinates on the side issued blood-curdling screams, but they were instantly buried in a sea of flames.

The Lava Shelter wasn't just a defensive ability, it was also a cage that could strangle enemies.

William Merlin promptly chanted a spell. Nine vortexes of water loudly rose up and formed a defensive perimeter in the face of the raging flames. That was a 4th Tier Spell that could be learnt after reaching 5th Rank Great Mage, Waterspout. It could be considered the nemesis of Fire Spells, but that nemesis could only protect the Gilded Rose when facing the Lava Shelter, it didn't have the power to strike back.

"Fuck…" William was sweating. Lava Shelter was too powerful, his Waterspout spell wouldn't be able to resist for long under the high temperature.

"William Merlin, you courted death, you can't blame others." The young Great Mage in the sky coldly snorted before his magic staff moved and under the urge of mana, the Lava Shelter's might raised a notch.

'How could a trifling Waterspout be able to block Lava Shelter, that's the ability of one of the most powerful Spiritual Magic Tools from the Ash Tower. What about William Merlin, he is only a 5th Rank Great Mage. Apart from a High Mage, only a Spiritual Magic Tool could block another Spiritual Magic Tool.'

'It's time to end this farce!'

Lonald urged his mana and made the cage of flames tighten once again while casting a spell. The flames from Flame Burst aggregated at the tip of his magic staff.

While dazzled by the light, Lonald felt as if he heard a "woosh" lightly echoing. That was the sound of a crossbow dart tearing through air.

"Naive…" A sneer was plastered on the young Great Mage's face, 'William's subordinate is truly interesting, he didn't lose his will under the pressure of Lava Shelter, and is still trying to vainly attack with a hand crossbow. Funny, that's Lava Shelter, a near impenetrable defense. Let alone an insignificant hand crossbow, even a ballista wouldn't harm me at all!'

"It's over!" As Lonald was about to cast the spell, he felt some warmth on his arm.

After lowering his head, he found a thin wound on his arm.

This discovery made the young Great Mage shocked, 'A small hand crossbow was actually able to hurt me?!'

But he quickly recovered and his shock turned into a sneer.

"Unfortunately, you are a bad shot…"

Afterwards… There was no afterwards….

Almost at the same time as the words left his mouth, the young Great Mage fell from the sky, only the sound of a body meeting with ground echoed, as the young Great Mage crashed.

Without the young Great Mage supplying mana, the Lava Dominator immediately lost its power supply and the flames shrinked and vanished in a flash. If not for that black scorched earth left behind, then they might have thought that the earth shattering flames had been but an illusion.

The place was suddenly quiet.

"Unfortunately, I'm a poor shot… " Lin Yun regretfully shook his head while fetching a ruby necklace from Lonald's limp body.

This was one of the most powerful Spiritual Magic Tools of the Ash Tower, able to combine the power of flames and space, able to use the Flame Flash movement ability and the Lava Shelter defensive ability. Even in Lin Yun's eyes, that Lava Dominator was a near perfect Spiritual Magic Tool.

But unfortunately, he couldn't keep this Spiritual Magic Tool…

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Chapter 116: Jade Rock Door

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

The Lava Dominator's reputation was too great, even an outsider like William could recognize it with a glance. Keeping this Spiritual Magic Tool was like hanging a sign around his neck reading "Killed Lonald and Snatched Lava Dominator" in capital letters.

It wouldn't be fun…

Let alone the crazies from the Ash Tower, even an old tortoise wouldn't be able to tolerate this.

Fortunately, there were many ways to change the outer appearance through alchemy, Lin Yun wasn't worried about the Lava Dominator being a hot potato. Once he returned from the prince's tomb, he would be able to change the appearance of the Lava Dominator.

Right now, Lin Yun was worried about something else.

"Haha, Leader Sauss, the issue has been solved." Lin Yun smiled at Sauss.

But this kind of smile made this leader of the 1st underground force of Thousand Sails City feel cold. An uncontrollable fear shrouded Sauss' heart. At this time, Sauss even felt like he was being observed by a fierce magic beast.

'Fuck, I know too much!'

Sauss immediately understood. The freshly dead Great Mage came from the Ash Tower, a force equally famous as the Sage Tower. Not to mention, this was related to an important secret of the Ash Tower. If something was leaked, the Gilded Rose might meet a lot of troubles.

He looked around…

Besides the Gilded Rose's people and the corpses on the ground, he was the only outsider.

Outsider…

Sauss suddenly felt his legs weaken. Even an idiot would know that turning the outsider into another corpse was the safest way.

Dead people don't talk.

Sauss knew that he wasn't overreacting. He understood when seeing Mafa Merlin's smile as he said that the issue had been solved, while still holding the hand crossbow that killed the Great Mage. 'Damn, if the issue had been solved, why would you still have the hand crossbow in your hands?'

As he thought of this, Sauss couldn't help wanting to slap himself twice, 'Why didn't I think of bringing back up? I can't even beg for my life now…'

'No good, I have to save myself!'

Sauss ground his teeth and made a firm decision.

"Hold on, Great Mage Merlin, the issue hasn't been solved. Look, his eyes are still moving!" Sauss said with a panicky expression on his face. He quickly unsheathed his sword and pierced Lonald's chest. In an instant, a bit of black blood spurted out, flowing out of Lonald's corpse.

Sauss then saw the weeds around the corpse withering.

'So toxic, no wonder that Great Mage wasn't able to withstand one hit from the hand crossbow, even with the Lava Dominator.' Sauss was inwardly shocked while displaying a relieved expression, "Okay, the issue has been settled. I never expected that I would have to personally kill a 5th Rank Great Mage."

"Haha, fortunately Leader Sauss reacted promptly or we might have been sneak attacked." Lin Yun smiled once again, but it was a sincere smile this time.

Because he already knew that this action had tied the Viper Nest with the Gilded Rose. Sauss wouldn't be able to do anything about it in the future due to what happened here. After all, the final blow done on the Ash Tower's Great Mage had personally been done by Sauss.

As long as Sauss was smart, he wouldn't leak anything.

If even Sauss wouldn't talk, who would?

The remaining people were all members of the Gilded Rose. If Lin Yun was unable to do something as easy as having his people keep their mouth shut, then he might as well give up on this second chance at life.

"Great Mage Merlin is too polite…" Seeing Lin Yun's actions, he finally sighed in relief. To be honest, Sauss had been under high pressure ever since he came in contact with this ruthless young Great Mage.

But fortunately, after fighting on the same side during this battle, the Viper Nest and the Gilded Rose's relationship should be more stable than with the other forces in the future.

It should be considered an unexpected harvest.

"In any case, thank you, Leader Sauss." Lin Yun didn't remain too courteous with Sauss and waved his hand, leading the Gilded Rose's caravan on their way.

As for the recently saved Colin, he was directly thrown to the old butler by Lin Yun.

From that previous question about his identity, it was clear that this youth wasn't very trusting. This was quite normal. The original Mafa Merlin wasn't always in Thousand Sails City and many of Locke Merlin's subordinates were actually not familiar with him. Moreover, this Colin shouldered a huge secret of the Ash Tower, it was normal to be on guard against strangers.

But Lin Yun wasn't in a hurry.

In any case, he had to go to the prince tomb again. He couldn't bring Colin along so it was better to let the old butler brainwash him. Once Lin Yun returned, Colin should be able to participate in the rebuilding of the mercenary group.

A 9th Rank Swordsman with a trace of Aura and a 5th Rank Great Mage scion of the Merlin Family leading fifty 5th Rank Great Mages delivered by the Merlin Family… Although the number was far from enough, it should still be a pretty decent force. There shouldn't be much problems on the trade routes around Thousand Sails City.

When Sauss finished dealing with the body of Lonald, the Gilded Rose's caravan was already out of the Poison Fog Canyon. Besides William Merlin sitting in the now empty carriage, no one knew that Lin Yun had already quietly left the caravan. He had made his way for the prince tomb with the support of the Magic Spring Potion.

There was no hidden Rotten Flower on the way this time, nor was there any Toxic Dragonfly blocking the path to the cave, thus Lin Yun only used one Magic Potion to reach the depths of the cave.

The enchanted vine set up at the entrance was still there. After a short incantation, the vine coiled around Lin Yun and brought him in the prince tomb once again.

Lin Yun followed the same path and reached the location of the Death Garden. Lin Yun clearly remembered that location turning into a path after the Death Garden disappeared.

Sure enough, after going through the hallway and walking past withered ruins, Lin Yun quickly found a tightly closed stone door.

Over a thousand years passed, but time didn't leave any mark on the stone door. To the touch, it felt as if that door had been recently cut, and the delicate decorations on both sides made people overwhelmed by a feeling of beauty in this sinister tomb.

'Sure enough, it's a prince tomb…' Lin Yun was dumbfounded, the 3rd Dynasty's royal family was so extravagant. It was well known in all of Noscent, but Lin Yun really didn't think that it would be to this degree. But this tomb door was carved from a whole piece of Jade Rock, that was worth three Inheritance Magic Tools!

Not to mention the decorative design…

That was an enchanted 6th Tier Runic Shield, High Mages' strongest defensive spell.

It could be said that this Jade Rock Door couldn't be broken by anyone below the High Mage realm!

And this was only the way to the center of the tomb…

'This is definitely a bit too much…' Lin Yun tried to push open the Jade Rock Door, but as expected, it didn't move.

Lin Yun had a headache, Jade Rock itself was the natural armor of Abyssal Demons. Its defensive abilities could only be described as shockingly high, and it was further enchanted with a Runic Shield. This Jade Rock Door was blocking Lin Yun's path, he wouldn't be able to break this door open unless he reached the level of a High Mage.

This was a bit too unfavorable.

Lin Yun made a lot of preparations this time, he brought 50 Magic Spring Potions in order to get to the Reincarnation Eye, but he hadn't expected to be stuck at this Jade Rock Door. Lin Yun was stunned, 'This is a great start.'

'What should I do…'

'Should I withdraw and explore once again to see if there is another way in?'

With such a large tomb, there must be more than one path leading to the center. As he thought of this, Lin Yun's mind was drawn to this plan, but he couldn't help having second thoughts. In the 3rd Dynasty people wouldn't spare anything when burying their relatives, particularly the royal family. Even if he found another way, there would most likely be another Jade Rock Door.

'Forget it, there might be a mechanism…'

After making his decision, Lin Yun began looking around.

"Eh!" After about ten minutes, Lin Yun's eyes suddenly shone.

Lin Yun's luck was pretty good.

As he looked through the weeds, Lin Yun found an alchemy array!

Lin Yun was excited, he hurriedly checked the alchemy array and then discovered that it was most likely to be the control center of the Jade Rock Door, but it was a little strange. The remains of that alchemy array didn't seem very old, a hundred years at most.

Thinking about it carefully, the Jade Rock Door wasn't a thousand years old either, based on appearance, it looked recently cut.

The reason behind this should be the environment of the prince tomb.

Thinking about this explanation, Lin Yun slowly stopped pondering about it. He started researching this array, and no less than half an hour later, Lin Yun stood up and sighed.

Lin Yun was now sure that this alchemy array was the control center of the Jade Rock Door.

No, to be more precise, it was the control center of the Runic Shield on the Jade Rock Door.

'An enchanted spell with a control center?' Lin Yun couldn't help exposing an astonished expression on his face. After all, the meaning of enchanted spell was to make a spell exist forever. As long as the mana source didn't disappear, the effect of the spell wouldn't disappear. Usually, there wouldn't be something like activating and deactivating that kind of enchanted spell.

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Chapter 117: Desolate Overlord

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

'Could this be a back door left behind for the prince so that people could easily go in and out? That doesn't sound very logical…'

Lin Yun kept studying the alchemy array, doubtful and on guard.

He quickly analyzed the structure of the array and found out that this array surprisingly didn't have a mana source!

Lin Yun was shocked by this discovery. He first thought that there was a mistake in the analysis, or that there might have been some other issue with the structure of the array, and thus, Lin Yun performed another check. However, he still arrived at the same conclusion: this alchemy array didn't have a mana source!

'How could it be so strange?' Lin Yun felt a headache coming up. He would understand if this alchemy array's mana had been exhausted. After all, over a thousand years had passed since the end of the 3rd Dynasty.

But this wasn't a problem of mana exhaustion, as there was no mana source from the start.

In other words, this alchemy array had never truly worked!

It was simply decoration!

How could a mistake like that appear in the tomb of a prince of the 3rd Dynasty?

Lin Yun thought about it for a bit, but he couldn't understand. In the end, he could only decide to temporarily put this question to the back of his mind and start up the array.

There was no problem with this.

Lin Yun had already analyzed it twice and it could be said that he knew the alchemy array inside and out. Not having a mana source wasn't a problem, because with his knowledge of alchemy arrays, transferring a mana source was only a matter of a few minutes and wouldn't consume any strength.

Moreover, Lin Yun quickly realized that he didn't even have to attach anything.

Because on his 3rd analysis, he found out that this alchemy array actually sort of did have a mana source, but it was inoperative. The alchemy array had a part that had never been activated, which was equivalent to not being non-existent. Thus, Lin Yun hadn't found this disabled part of the alchemy array on his first two analyses. It was on the 3rd examination that he discovered this notch on the edge of the alchemy array.

Afterwards, Lin Yun thought about the whole structure of the alchemy array. Who would have been so senseless as to draw an entire alchemy array that couldn't be activated with a mana source, wouldn't this be a waste?

'Whatever, I already found the mana source.'

The next step was a lot simpler, since as long as this mana source was activated, it would slightly change the structure of the array, and the Runic Shield on the Jade Rock Door would stop working.

Without the Runic Shield's protection, it wouldn't be impossible for Lin Yun to break open the Jade Rock Door.

Lin Yun looked into his pocket, but he only found a few inferior mana crystals.

'Doesn't matter, inferior mana crystals should be fine, the alchemy array doesn't need to work for long anyway…' Apart from the inferior mana crystals, Lin Yun only had the Elemental Amber Ring and the Spiritual Magic Staff to supply mana. But those two were trump cards, so obviously he wouldn't use them to activate this sort of alchemy array.

After Lin Yun made his decision, he put a level 5 mana crystal in the notch.

After the addition of that level 5 mana crystal, the magic nodes on the alchemy array started flickering with a faint light. That faint light also flowed through various magic circuits while the light from the level 5 mana crystal quickly dimmed, and moments later, it turned into an ordinary stone.

'One isn't enough…' Lin Yun thought. He fished out another level 5 mana crystal and quickly completed the swap.

The magic nodes flickered as mana flowed through the magic circuits…

Lin Yun knew that the alchemy array was about to be activated.

At this time, Lin Yun was already holding the Spiritual Magic Staff, waiting for the radiance from the Runic Shield to disappear so that he could cast his strongest spell to break open that Jade Rock Door.

"Stop, you damn thief!" But at that moment, a deep roar echoed in Lin Yun's head.

"Fuck…" Lin Yun felt a burst of confusion. He pointed his magic staff above his head and a Light spell came out from it.

At this time, Lin Yun could clearly see that above his head, a shadow was gradually being formed.

"I…" Seeing that shadow, Lin Yun held his breath.

It was a Greater Demon, the Wasteland Overlord from its appearance, a ruler of the Wasteland of the Abyss' 17th layer. An existence on par with a Heaven Mage. Not to mention this current projection that was descending, even the incarnation of a small amount of Desolation power could easily kill hundreds of Great Mages like Lin Yun.

That wasn't an existence he could compare to.

The Greater Demons existed during the beginning of the Ashan Era. That was a true mythological era, when Gods and Devils ruled the earth. Countless powerful creatures were thriving during that period. Each of these creatures had unfathomable power, and powerful existences like Dragons were a mere common race in that time period.

The current mages were suspicious about the existence of that era, and their reasoning had been supported by many people. They believed that Noscent would never have been able to withstand the frightening power of those powerful creatures and the Gods walking on earth.

And the Greater Demons came from that era…

This kind of frightening existence that had walked on the same ground as Gods and Devils had now unexpectedly sent a projection in the tomb of a prince from the 3rd Dynasty.

In that split second, Lin Yun had one thought in his mind. 'It's over… I'm finished!'

This simply wasn't a power that Lin Yun could contend against.

Let alone Lin Yun, even the strongest High Mage of Thousand Sails City, Solomon, and his Archmage teacher would be like ants in front of that existence. One breath from this Desolate Overlord's projection would be enough to crush their bodies.

"Shameful thief, you have the cheek to disturb Lord Jalax's sleep! Despicable thief, you'll pay for your recklessness!"

'How could I have such luck…' Lin Yun originally held onto a slim hope, but after this roar, he only felt darkness.

In this era, only Lin Yun knew what the Desolate Overlord's true name meant. Jalax, in the language of Gods and Devils, was a combination of the four domains: Withering, Decay, Destruction, and Desolation. Even among the Abyss' numerous Greater Demons, Jalax' power was among the top.

This Desolate Overlord became famous towards the end of the magic civilization's peak. The powerful mages of that time were already comparable to Gods. They conquered thousands upon thousands of planes before their sight fell onto the endless Abyss. They broke through 20 layers of the Abyss and killed no less than 20 Greater Demons, this Jalax included.

In other words, in this era, the Overlord's true name had yet to be known.

Each Abyssal Demon's true name was taboo, especially for a Greater Demon like the Desolate Overlord. If not for the plane invasion that year, the name Jalax might have never been known.

Now that this name appeared in front of Lin Yun, it meant that this projection inevitably belonged to the Desolate Overlord.

Lin Yun felt like his luck had run out…

"Respected Desolate Overlord…" Lin Yun gulped and took a deep breath before asking in a hoarse voice, "Would you believe me if I said I had the wrong room?"

"Hahahaha…" Deafening laughter echoed through the tomb. For some time, Lin Yun only felt his surroundings shaking, before he received a response. "Who would have thought that a disgraceful thief like you would actually recognize the name of this great Lord?"

"Yes, yes, Respected Desolate Overlord, your fame spread through myriads of planes, your radiance illuminates the endless Abyss."

"Hahahaha, Human, you are very interesting." Delight could be heard in the Greater Demon's voice for the first time. "Since that is the case, I'll give you a chance."

After saying that, a scroll gently floated down.

Lin Yun sniffed the air and felt a concentrated scent of sulfur. He knew that it was the smell of the Abyss.

"Human, this is your only opportunity. Sign this contract and you'll become Jalax's servant. This way, I'll be able to forget your previous disturbance."

"Respected Desolate Overlord, it would be my honor!" Lin Yun didn't hesitate as he immediately grabbed the contract. The projection didn't notice Lin Yun squinting at that time…

Lin Yun only needed one glance to understand that this was a soul contract. If he signed, it would bind him forever. His soul would never be able to break away from enslavement. Lin Yun had seen many such contracts, so his eyes swept past most of the content and fell on the last part.

A blank space left for Lin Yun's name in the servant position, while the master position had a few Nesser Runes emitting a thick sulfur smell, Jalax.

Seeing these Nesser Runes, Lin Yun understood how to handle this.

"Respected Desolate Overlord, my stomach suddenly started hurting. I'm afraid I cannot sign your contract!"

"Bold!" Jalax's shadow suddenly roared, making the stones of the tomb shiver accordingly. "Human, this is your only opportunity. If you don't sign this contract and become the servant of Lord Jalax, your soul will endure endless suffering in the flames of the Abyss!"

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Chapter 118: Soul Walker

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

Along with Jalax's deafening roar, gray flames appeared all around. The smell of sulfur spread through the entire tomb. This was Decay Fire. Jalax resided in the Wasteland, a place burning with Decay Fire, which would burn the souls of all living beings.

Lin Yun felt the temperature drop when the flames were ignited. The originally sinister tomb became like an icy cave. The raging Decay Fire almost touched Lin Yun's feet, like flaming tongues lashing about, able to completely extinguish his soul.

But Lin Yun stood there, not flinching away at all. Instead, he looked at the Desolate Overlord as if he was looking at a performance.

"Okay, one hundred years…" After a short confrontation, Jalax's voice unexpectedly eased up. "One hundred years is this Lord Jalax's final concession. This is also your last opportunity, Human."

"Haha, Respected Desolate Overlord, your generosity is moving me to tears." Lin Yun showed a smile for the first time. He was looking at the Desolate Overlord without the fear he had previously felt. "But I'll still refuse!"

"Bold!" Jalax immediately flew into a rage. After roaring once again, the Decay Fires in the surroundings rose up, and the entire area turned grey as it was covered in the flames.

Lin Yun couldn't help shivering when hit by that bone-piercing chill. But his eyes were staring at the contract, at the Desolate Overlord's name written in Nesser. After a short time, Lin Yun's face once again revealed a smile. His finger softly moved along the name of the Desolate Overlord. In a flash, the few Nesser Runes quickly dissipated and the Desolate Overlord's name was wiped away!

"You… You… You have the cheek to erase Lord Jalax's true name! Shameful Thief, you offended the mighty Lord Jalax! Your soul will sink into the abyssal flames forever! I'll make your body turn to ashes and spread you on the Wasteland's soil! I'll imprison your soul for all eternity, I'll make you…"

As the deafening roar echoed through the tombs, pieces of rock fell down from the ceiling. The whole tomb seemed to shake from the anger of the Desolate Overlord.

But despite all this, Lin Yun cast a spell at this moment.

"Time to show me what you really are!"

The spell Lin Yun cast was the 3rd Tier Spell, True Eyes. It was said to be able to see through all illusions and falsehoods. Lin Yun's eyes shone with a radiance the instant the spell was cast.

"You damn human!" Following the activation of the spell, the projection of the Desolate Overlord let out a blood-curdling scream. The projection that had been obscuring no less than half of the ceiling shrank under the light of the True Eyes spell before finally turning into a ring. With a clank, it fell on the ground.

"Human, I curse you!" The moment the ring fell, a shadow flew out.

"Magic Tool Incarnation!" Everything happened too quickly. Lin Yun only had the time to let out a surprised shout before the shadow arrived in front of him. Lin Yun didn't have time to think as he pointed with his Spiritual Magic Staff and cast Flame Shackles while hurriedly retreating.

Lin Yun didn't think these Flame Shackles would have much of an effect because this was a True Spirit Magic Tool's Magic Tool Incarnation. An existence of this level would be able to contend with an Archmage. If the Flame Shackles he sent could trap it for a second, it could be considered a huge victory.

"Fuck, fuck, you damn human!" After casting the Flame Shackles, Lin Yun heard a miserable shriek…

'What happened…'

Lin Yun looked over, stunned, and discovered that the great True Spirit Magic Tool's Magic Tool Incarnation was unexpectedly trapped by a mere 2nd Tier Spell!

"You… You… Wait for me to come out, I'll bite you to death!" That's right, in the middle of the Flame Shackles' flames, a young wolf the size of a palm was loudly barking curses. The only strange part was that the wolf's body was translucent, making it look as if it would dissolve into the air at any moment.

'Hold on, this is a Ghost Wolf!'

Although there was the word "ghost" in its name, the Ghost Wolf wasn't really an undead lifeform. They were genuine Soul Lifeforms. They had no bodies and lived in Noscent only as souls. They were naturally proficient in all kinds of soul techniques. The illusions they created even had a trace of the Shadow Law.

Such a skill was not to be trifled with. An illusion with a trace of the Shadow Law was comparable to the Death Garden. Just one more step and it wouldn't be impossible for it to turn into reality.

In fact, the supreme existence among the Soul Lifeforms was the rumored Dream King. It was said that each of the Dream King's illusions was indeed a true world.

The Dream King was continuously sleeping and reincarnating among those countless true worlds. If the Dream King truly woke up some day, these countless true worlds would be instantly destroyed, and the burst of power would destroy the world.

Moreover, Soul Lifeforms were immune to almost all physical damage. They also had an extremely high resistance to magic, and only attacks aiming at their souls would truly harm them.

However, Soul Lifeforms were very rare in Noscent. Even in the notes in the decaying library, Lin Yun didn't find more than two dozen mentions of Soul Lifeforms.

He hadn't expected to find one in the tomb of a prince from the 3rd Dynasty.

Moreover, this was a Magic Tool Incarnation's Soul Lifeform.

'But how can it be so weak?'

As he thought about it, Lin Yun couldn't help looking at the Ghost Wolf with some disappointment. 'This is a Magic Tool Incarnation from a True Spirit Magic Tool, how could it be bound by 2nd Tier Flame Shackles. Is it a fake?'

"What are you looking at! Wait until I get out, I'll bite you to death!" Lin Yun's expression made the Ghost Wolf explode with anger.

'Hmm, it should be a Magic Tool Incarnation…' Lin Yun had seen through it and felt that the Ghost Wolf was definitely a True Spirit Magic Tool Incarnation… but for some reason, its power was extremely weak.

Lin Yun felt that this was a real opportunity.

A chance to get hold of a True Spirit Magic Tool!

"If you have any nonsense to say, say it quick, and then hurry up and release this Lord, or else…" The Ghost Wolf bound in the Flame Shackles was still arrogant as it made threats.

"Or else you'll bite me to death…" Lin Yun scratched his cheek, thinking, 'No wonder that Great Mage from the Cloud Tower was able to get a hold of you. Turns out you had such a low IQ…'

"But before you bite me to death, I have to ask, what's your name?"

"How can this Lord casually tell you his name…" The Ghost Wolf's voice was extremely disdainful. As a noble Magic Tool Incarnation, how could he casually give his name to a human?

'It doesn't matter if you don't tell me, let me guess…" Lin Yun then actually started guessing.

Lin Yun used Nesser Language to say the names of a few dozen True Spirit Magic Tools. Each of them made the Ghost Wolf sneer in disdain, but Lin Yun wasn't worried at all.

That Great Mage of the Cloud Tower had shone for about a century in Noscent. Not that many True Spirit Magic Tools appeared during that century, so in the end, there shouldn't be much more than thirty, and those thirty had been recorded in the library.

However, Lin Yun had only read those records to study Nesser Language, so he hadn't been concerned with which true name corresponded to which of the True Spirit Magic Tools.

Thus, Lin Yun had no other choice but to guess now.

But there wasn't anything complicated with guessing. With only about thirty true names, he would sooner or later find the correct one.

Sure enough, the 23rd true name uttered by Lin Yun turned the sneering Ghost Wolf speechless.

"Turns out it's you, Soul Walker Shawn." Lin Yun chuckled after saying that.

"How, how could you have learned of Lord Shawn's name?"

"Haha, it doesn't matter. I just want to tell you that there is a price to pay for trying to make use of such a loophole in a soul contract…" After saying this, Lin Yun no longer cared about the bound Soul Walker. He took out a quill pen and began writing on the scroll.

"Damn, what do you think you are doing!" The Ghost Wolf was frightened when he saw Lin Yun writing on the scroll.

He could clearly feel that the damn human was tampering with the soul contract that he had drafted. As a Soul Lifeform, how could the changes on the soul level escape Shawn?

Although he still didn't know what that damn human was up to, each character on the soul contract being altered made the Soul Walker full of fear.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Regardless of how much the Soul Walker cursed, it couldn't prevent Lin Yun from writing his own name on the soul contract.

"No, no, no… Shameful thief, despicable human, what do you think you are doing!" At that moment, the Soul Walker struggled as hard as it could in the Flame Shackles.

But it found out that there was no point in struggling, as the Flame Shackles around him fell off just as he moved.

Despite this, the poor Soul Walker neither cheered nor roared. Rather, he looked at Lin Yun with an extremely complicated gaze, because at that time, the Soul Walker felt that the soul contract had already taken effect.

But in another kind of way.

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Chapter 119: Dark Arena

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"I did tell you that you had to pay the price for trying to use the loopholes in the soul contract. You are no exception, even as a Soul Lifeform. You should be glad that you didn't tamper with that soul contract too much, or else what you signed wouldn't have just been a master-slave contract…"

Lin Yun was a bit regretful as he said this.

The only place that had been tampered with was the section with the true name, where the Soul Walker hid his true name, disguising it as Jalax.

In Noscent, soul contracts were the most impartial contracts. If one of the parties interfered with the soul contract, then a loophole could appear in the entire contract. No matter how well they did it, and no matter how big the exploit, since the Soul Walker tampered with the true name, Lin Yun would be able to make use of that loophole, but only on the true name section.

What Lin Yun did was very simple.

He only reversed the position of the two names.

The contract was still a contract, and the contents didn't change, but the positions of master and slave had been completely reversed.

This was also why Lin Yun said that the Soul Walker should be glad.

If the Soul Walker had made bigger changes, Lin Yun would have had more leeway when exploiting the loophole, and it might not have been as simple as a master-slave contract at that point.

Something like an eternal contract that couldn't even be broken through reincarnation, or a blood oath making them share their lives, or enslavement without anything in return. In short, it wouldn't be as fair and relaxed as a master-slave contract.

"You… How did you find out?" The Soul Walker withdrew, his voice shaking. The master-slave contract was already in effect. He wouldn't attack Lin Yun even without the Flame Shackles.

Moreover, he didn't have the power to attack Lin Yun. Otherwise, he wouldn't have tried to use magic to impersonate the Desolate Overlord, and he also wouldn't have been so helpless against the Flame Shackles.

"This is a secret…" Lin Yun smiled, not answering this question.

Only Lin Yun himself knew that he had nearly been duped.

This had been a brilliant trap.

At first, Lin Yun had truly believed it that he was facing a projection of the Desolate Overlord, because the true name of the Desolate Overlord wasn't something spread in this era, it would be known 20,000 years later.

But the Soul Walker exposed a flaw.

The Desolate Overlord, Jalax, was an existence above the Heaven Rank, so why would he lower himself to sign a master-slave contract with a Great Mage?

But that flaw still wasn't enough. After all, the behavior of an existence like the Desolate Overlord wasn't something that a Great Mage could predict.

Fortunately, a second flaw was exposed.

It was the true name on the contract.

Lin Yun immediately knew that there was a problem with the contract. The true name Jalax only had endless power in the God and Devil Language, yet the contract's true name was written using Nesser Language.

Thus, Lin Yun probed him.

Lin Yun tried to haggle with that suspicious Desolate Overlord, and surprisingly succeeded.

After the Desolate Overlord roared in anger, he actually agreed to change the time limit of the contract to one hundred years.

If at that time, Lin Yun still hadn't been able to see that this was a trap, then he really wouldn't have deserved that second chance. A frightening existence like the Desolate Overlord, how could it be willing to haggle with a human Great Mage?

Lin Yun used True Eyes, and sure enough…

"Shouldn't it be your turn to explain yourself?"

"There is nothing much to explain, I only drew an alchemy array, waiting for despicable thieves like you, that's all." Although it had already signed the master-slave contract, the Soul Walker was clearly unwilling to accept it. His words were still filled with ridicule and disdain.

The Soul Walker truly felt that all this was unacceptable.

As a True Spirit Magic Tool's Soul Walker, he had already been in this prince's tomb for a thousand years. For some special reasons, he had already exhausted his mana a few hundred years ago, and it looked like his Incarnation would soon disappear. So the Soul Walker came up with a way.

He used the last of his power to draw an alchemy array in front of the Jade Rock Door to act as bait.

In order to make the bait realistic, the Soul Walker did indeed connect the Runic Shield and the alchemy array. In other words, that alchemy array really could control the Runic Shield, but he had left some tricks when devising the mana source. It looked like the supplied mana would be poured into the alchemy array, but it was in fact intercepted by the Soul Walker…

But the Soul Walker truly didn't think that there would be such a miserly person in this world.

He only had two level 5 mana crystals!

The Soul Walker almost cried when the mana of those two level 5 mana crystals was poured into his body. 'What could I have done with two level 5 mana crystals? That wasn't enough to cast half a spell when I was at my peak!' he thought.

'Damn you!' he cursed in his mind. 'Once this Lord Shawn had made you sign the master-slave contract, I would have humiliated you, miser! This Lord Shawn even turned into the Desolate Overlord. Yet this Lord Shawn was unlucky…'

Up till now, Shawn felt that if that damn human had been a bit more generous and had given it a bit more power, it wouldn't have had such a pitiable ending.

"Turns out True Spirit Magic Tools can also run out of mana…" Although the Soul Walker didn't explain anything, Lin Yun thought about it for a moment and figured out the entire process. He couldn't help chuckling, "You are truly unlucky…"

Shawn exploded with rage when he heard Lin Yun laughing.

"You think you won? You became Lord Shawn's master in vain. Have you forgotten, Lord Shawn is the Incarnation of a True Spirit Magic Tool!"

After saying that, the Soul Walker turned into a mist and disappeared into the ring.

It was followed by a burst of proud laughter echoing in Lin Yun's ears. "Hahahaha, ridiculous human, now you know the power of Lord Shawn. You signed the master-slave contract with Lord Shawn, but you forgot that Lord Shawn is the Incarnation of a True Spirit Magic Tool. If you have the skill, then make Lord Shawn come out from the Magic Tool…"

But he hadn't expected that Lin Yun wouldn't show any signs of being flustered at all, his smile unchanged.

"Sure, if you like hiding in the Magic Tool, then you can hide in the Magic Tool forever. But I guarantee that if you dare to come out, you'll never regret it…" After saying that, Lin Yun reminded the Soul Walker, "Oh right, I forgot to tell you, I'll be twenty this year and I am a Great Mage. Many say that I'll become a High Mage at 40, and maybe after a few hundred years, I might become an Archmage. I heard that Archmages can live for a millennium and then some. I wonder if you'll be patient enough to wait for my death?"

"Human, don't waste your time scheming, I already waited for more than a millennium in this tomb. As far as I'm concerned, waiting another thousand years would at most be another period of slumber."

"Slumber? That's good. If that's the case, I don't need to supply you with mana. Moreover, to let you have a good sleep, I won't let you be disturbed at all. I'll tailor an alchemy array to isolate you from all kinds of mana emission. That way you'll have a very deep sleep. Who knows, maybe you'll be able to sleep until your Incarnation dissipates…"

"…"

The Soul Walker fell silent.

Waiting a thousand years truly was considered nothing to a True Spirit Magic Tool. It would just be a long period of slumber at worst. But having no mana supply whatsoever was something the True Spirit Magic Tool couldn't accept. The last time his mana had been exhausted, his Incarnation almost dissipated. How could the Soul Walker accept falling into such a condition again?

"In fact, what's wrong with changing masters? That prince already died a thousand years ago, could it be that you, a True Spirit Magic Tool, want to keep living in memories of the past?" Lin Yun noticed the Soul Walker's attitude mellowing and knew that he should use some persuasion.

"That fucking prince!" The Soul Walker unexpectedly burst out in anger. "Don't mention that lunatic, Barov, to me. He was always paranoid, saying that our world was heading towards its end. But now, the world is still here, while that lunatic met his end! Yet he still locked this Lord Shawn in this pitch dark tomb for a thousand years. What memories? Lord Shawn can only recall facing death at his hands!"

"…"

"Human, don't waste your time on scheming. You want Lord Shawn to serve you. No can do. Look at yourself, look at how weak you are, an insignificant Great Mage. You want to control a True Spirit Magic Tool like Lord Shawn, but do you think you are like that lunatic, Barov? Let's do it like this. Human, you take responsibility for supplying Lord Shawn with mana, and if Lord Shawn is in a good mood, I might let you borrow some power…"

"Sure!" Lin Yun had been waiting for this sentence.

He had been afraid that the Soul Walker would be determined to hide in the ring. Besides the previous method of locking him away from any mana source, Lin Yun didn't have another way to really punish him. If he used that method, neither side would win. The True Spirit Magic Tool's Incarnation would dissipate, and Lin Yun would have to pass on a True Spirit Magic Tool.

Now that the Soul Walker had agreed to cooperate, everything would be a lot simpler for Lin Yun.

The Soul Walker's claim that he would only let Lin Yun borrow some power if he was in a good mood… This was just Shawn acting pretentious. They had signed a master-slave contract, so if Lin Yun died, Shawn wouldn't have an easy time. At the very least, he would lose a rank, downgrading to a Spiritual Magic Tool from a True Spirit Magic Tool…

Also, Lin Yun was just a Great Mage at the moment so it would be very difficult to use a part of the power of the True Spirit Magic Tool. If he really tried to use the full power of the True Spirit Magic Tool, he would be drained of energy.

As for when he would be able to completely master this True Spirit Magic Tool…

Lin Yun estimated that it would be when he reached the High Mage Rank at the very least. At that time, he would have fused his nine Magic Arrays into one, and his fighting strength should be around that of a 9th Rank High Mage. He should have a chance of completely mastering the True Spirit Magic Tool at that point.

As for now, a portion of power was already enough…

Moreover, what he wanted to use now wasn't the power of the True Spirit Magic Tool.

"Lord Shawn, can I ask you a question?" Lin Yun picked up the ring on the floor and carefully put it on his left hand's ring finger.

This was due to a superstition spread among mages. All mages believed that the ring finger had unfathomable power, and thus they would always wear their most powerful magic ring on that finger…

"This… Depends on Lord Shawn's mood…"

"…" Lin Yun inwardly cursed. After taking a breath, restraining his urge to sever the mana supply, he muttered, "I only wanted to ask how to open this Jade Rock Door."

"This shouldn't be…" The ring on his hand let out a surprised sound. "You seem quite smart, Human, why would you need to ask me such a silly question?"

"I am Mafa Merlin. You can choose to call me master, or Merlin. But never just call me Human again, or else I might forget to supply mana if I'm annoyed…"

"You actually have to threaten Lord Shawn with such a weak supply of mana…" The Soul Walker snorted twice unhappily. But afterwards, he changed the way he addressed Lin Yun. "Okay, Merlin, now let Lord Shawn tell you how to break through this Jade Rock Door… Oh right, Lord Shawn will say in passing that the name Merlin is very silly…"

'Fuck you…'

Lin Yun felt a vein pulsating on his forehead. He breathed roughly a few times, resisting the urge to curse. "You can't say that!"

"Your attitude is not very good, Lord Shawn is a bit unhappy…" The Soul Walker originally wanted to keep acting pretentiously, but before he could say anything else, he felt the supply of mana being cut off. Shawn, who had felt his strength recovering during this short time, immediately became tactful.

"But it doesn't matter, Lord Shawn's mood is pretty good. I won't lower myself to argue with you. Don't you see, this alchemy array was actually created by Lord Shawn's power. It was specially created to deceive stupid humans like you. If you input a lot of mana, it would only be supplied to Lord Shawn, and as for the true method, you can find it on the Jade Rock Door…"

Lin Yun inwardly cursed, 'Fuck, these Soul Lifeforms are too shameless…'

The Soul Walker's reminder was clear to Lin Yun. The Jade Rock Door didn't lack an opening mechanism. But some shameless Soul Lifeforms used an illusion to hide it.

Lin Yun walked over with a gloomy face, and sure enough, after the power of the Soul Walker dissipated, a circular mechanism appeared on the originally smooth Jade Rock Door. A riddle was written around the circle in Nesser Runes. Just as Lin Yun planned to solve the door's riddle, the voice of Lord Shawn echoed out.

"No need to look, Lord Shawn can tell you the answer to such a simple riddle. Left three times, right four times, try it out, Silly Human… My bad, Silly Merlin…"

Lin Yun simply chose to ignore it.

But his hand still moved according to the instructions of the Soul Walker. Left three times, right four times. Immediately afterwards, the entire Jade Rock Door began to move with a rumble. After a short while, a big arena appeared in front of him.

"No way…" When Lin Yun saw that huge arena, he became aware of the trouble awaiting him. That Great Mage from the Cloud Tower wrote at least half a page on this huge arena.

"Haha, Merlin, your luck is pretty good. After going through the Life and Death Door, you only have a 10% chance of walking into the Dark Arena. Such a low probability and you actually met it, let this Lord Shawn guess what kind of opponent you'll come across, okay?"

"It would be better to guess when I'll cut your mana supply." Lin Yun unhappy scolded.

"Damn you, you dare to threaten Lord Shawn!"

Lin Yun chose to ignore this pretentious and long-winded True Spirit Magic Tool, and after scratching his nose, he stepped into the Dark Arena.

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Chapter 120: Rock Wolf

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

In the notes of that Great Mage of the Cloud Tower, the prince's army was buried in the Dark Arena, and under the influence of the Bloodline Curse, they had already transformed into spirit-like existences, tempering their fighting skills all day and night in the Dark Arena while also guarding the only path leading to the prince's tomb.

That year, the lucky Great Mage almost fell into a desperate situation in the Dark Arena. He ultimately relied on his heaven-defying luck to walk out of this Dark Arena.

Lin Yun didn't think he would be as lucky.

So when Lin Yun passed through the Jade Rock Door and saw that empty circular arena, his expression wasn't as calm as usual…

"Here!"

Almost at the same time as Lin Yun's feet touched the soil of the Dark Arena, a powerful roar echoed out. In a flash, the desolate and deathly still Dark Arena changed greatly. A blood-red setting sun, a sea of black clouds, blood and pieces of bodies flowing everywhere on the ground, broken weapons, discarded flags. All of this made Lin Yun feel like he was standing on a battlefield from the 3rd Dynasty.

Immediately afterwards, Lin Yun heard a sinister roar echoing behind him.

Lin Yun turned around and caught sight of a group of Rock Wolves encircling him. The pairs of clear, blue eyes shone brighter than the setting sun. These magic beasts were level 13 at the very least. Their individual power was only a bit inferior to that of a Rotten Flower.

What's more, there were at least ten wolves surrounding Lin Yun.

"Worthy of the Dark Arena…" Lin Yun suddenly felt numb. This was only the 1st stage, yet there were already no less than ten Rock Wolves. If it was like that, what would follow? Lin Yun already didn't dare to go further down this line of thought.

As he was inwardly feeling apprehensive, the biggest Rock Wolf already pounced over, carrying an odd, fishy smell along with it. That Rock Wolf was clearly the leader of the pack, and its level should be above 13, perhaps already at level 15. It was extremely fast and very powerful, more or less on par with a 5th Rank Great Swordsman. The only difference was the lack of the powerful Aura.

But it was already frightening enough just based on the speed and strength of a 5th Rank Great Swordsman. That fishy smell could already be detected as the Rock Wolf was pouncing at Lin Yun. The sharp claw flickered with a cold light under the setting sun. This was the most frightening weapon of a Rock Wolf, and it could instant tear apart a hard rock.

'So fast…' Lin Yun was startled. The Spiritual Magic Staff in his hand moved as his Flame Shackles coiled over. But a level 15 magic beast like the Rock Wolf wasn't as useless as the mana-exhausted Shawn. Those Flame Shackles were broken open by the wolf pack leader in mere moments.

The Rock Wolf roared as it broke free, and over a dozen shadows charged at Lin Yun.

Almost at the same time, the ground surprisingly distorted. The originally smooth floor transformed into a gorge, and moreover, that gorge was blocking the path behind Lin Yun. If Lin Yun had retreated, he would have tumbled into the gorge, and then the Rock Wolves would have swarmed him and torn him into pieces.

Fortunately, after Lin Yun used the Flame Shackles to trap the wolf leader, he didn't try to back away.

Lin Yun hadn't moved, as if he had known that a gorge would appear behind him, and directly started casting another spell.

In that split second, Lin Yun pushed his casting ability to the peak, shortening more than half of the incantations of his spells while mixing in some instant spells. For some time, flying flames, hovering pieces of ice, and countless fluttering runes could be seen. The entire fight could only be described as magnificent.

And in the midst of that magnificent fight, Lin Yun on his own forcibly managed to do what would have required the joint work of several Great Mages.

Attack, defense, control…

Lin Yun was obviously by himself, but he suddenly turned into a few Great Mages in this battle, accomplishing perfection in every aspect. Not a single Rock Wolf managed to break through Lin Yun's defense, and not one of them managed to dodge his attacks.

Thirty seconds later, a Flame Spear pierced the alpha wolf's chest.

The battle was over…

"Fucking Dark Arena…" Lin Yun cursed when he stopped. It may have looked like this fight only lasted thirty seconds, but it wasn't as relaxed as when he was facing several hundred Toxic Dragonflies. These Rock Wolves were too fast and too powerful, they simply didn't allow Lin Yun any room for error.

One mistake and his chest would be ripped apart by claws.

In a short 30 seconds, Lin Yun used Quicken Spell four times, Instant Spell seven times, and the Magic Conducting ability 11 times. This was definitely a feat that would be extremely hard to exceed for Great Mages.

"Oh wow, that's pretty good, you actually dealt with these Rock Wolves so fast. This truly is beyond Lord Shawn's expectations!" While Lin Yun was panting, the True Spirit Magic Tool once again started prattling once again.

"Stop with the nonsense," Lin Yun unhappily scolded. If he could, Lin Yun wouldn't want to push himself to this limit. After all, the more extreme the casting, the more mana he would use. These 30 seconds of casting had consumed at least 90% of his own mana.

If not for the Spiritual Magic Tool in his right hand and the Elemental Amber Ring on his left hand, Lin Yun would already be lying down on the ground waiting for his death…

The problem was that he had no choice but to go to this extreme when facing a pack of Rock Wolves. Rock Wolves were so frightening when they fought in large numbers. If there were more than a dozen, their overall ability would become a lot more frightening. Just now, the alpha wolf had made a gorge to cut off his retreat, and if over twenty of them had attacked at the same time, their might would have reached the power of a High Mage.

"You have the cheek to scold Lord Shawn!"

"You want your mana supply cut off?"

"You are getting too bold, you are not only scolding Lord Shawn, you are also daring to issue threats! Wait for me to regain my power, and then…"

"Shut up, Lord Shawn…"

The True Spirit Magic Tool was busy prattling even when Lin Yun was recovering his mana. A silhouette wearing a black robe came out from the edge of the arena. He had a dignified appearance, with flaming red hair and a black robe dyed by the glow of the setting sun. He stood there as if he was a deity.

"Congratulations, Challenger. Your heroic performance pleased me. In return, you can choose your reward."

As that majestic voice was ringing in Lin Yun's ears, three golden chests appeared in the circular arena.

"This… What's going on?" Lin Yun froze. There was no mention of a reward in the notes of the Great Mage from the Cloud Tower.

"Surely you didn't think that this Great Prince would be watching your performance for free?" the deity-like person said.

"You are saying… You… You are Barov?"

"Indeed, Redhead Barov, the most powerful man of the Empire."

"No way…" Lin Yun gulped with difficulty. Although he knew that Redhead Barov had died over a thousand years ago, seeing this silhouette wearing a black robe, Lin Yun couldn't help feeling his blood freezing.

"Nice… Now don't stare blankly and get the reward that lunatic is giving you. Oh, right, this Lord Shawn is in a good mood, I'll reluctantly remind you that the lunatic is left-handed…"

"Are you so kind?" Lin Yun looked at the ring with a strange expression.

"Stop with the nonsense…"

Lin Yun walked to the three golden chests, and after hesitating for a bit, he decided to believe in Shawn this time. He opened the leftmost chest.

"Mana crystal?" Just as he opened the golden chest, Lin Yun frowned. There were over a dozen mana crystals inside the chest, each of them being around level 10. In the past, Lin Yun might have been pleasantly surprised with this, but the current Lin Yun had already visited the fertile Bone Plane twice, and he had even planted an Obsidian Flower in his garden. Thus, a dozen mana crystals would barely make him excited…

"Mana crystals? Very good, perfect to replenish Lord Shawn's mana. Quick, quick…" Shawn cheered.

"Hey, Lord Shawn, did you do that on purpose?" Honestly, Lin Yun couldn't be blamed for being suspicious. Shawn was too unusual. Pointing out a chest with kind intentions… Moreover, to choose the one chest with the mana crystals he urgently needed. But Lin Yun didn't expect Shawn to burst out in anger.

"Nonsense! You have the cheek to question Lord Shawn? Intolerable! The Dark Arena originally was like that, whenever you defeated an opponent, that lunatic would give you some rewards. The stronger the opponent, the better the rewards. You only beat your first opponent, so how could you be unsatisfied with a dozen mana crystals?"

"Truth or lie?"

"Won't you understand if you try it yourself? Okay okay, don't disturb Lord Shawn's mana absorption, your 2nd opponent will appear soon!"

Just as Shawn fell silent and started absorbing mana as if his life depended on it, Lin Yun's second opponent truly appeared…

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Chapter 121: Spirit Warrior

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

Lin Yun's 2nd opponent was a magic beast, a level 15 Three-Eyed Evil Wolf that could use Necromancy at around the level of a 5th Rank Great Mage. It collapsed after fighting Lin Yun for a minute.

Lin Yun hurried to recover his mana while looking expectantly at the center of the arena. Sure enough, three golden chests appeared out of thin air once again. Unable to resist Shawn's persuasive advice, Lin Yun picked the leftmost golden chest this time too.

"More mana crystals!" There were another dozen mana crystals in the chest. Lin Yun felt the urge to kill Shawn when he saw this.

"Don't be impetuous. Don't be impetuous! Take a look at their quality!" Noticing the precarious situation, Shawn quickly stopped Lin Yun, who had planned on cutting off the supply of mana.

Calming down a bit, Lin Yun took a closer look and found out…

The quality of this batch of mana crystals was a fair bit better than what he'd gotten from the earlier chest. The lowest was level 10, while the highest reached level 12! One had to know that with each increase in the level, the value would roughly double. Lin Yun made some calculations and found out that the value of this second batch of mana crystals was double that of the first batch!

He was a bit surprised at the increase, to the point that Lin Yun forgot to deal with Shawn. If the value of each reward doubled, then wouldn't he be able to buy all of Noscent after a dozen times?

"Don't dream too much about it, didn't you notice that the strength of that Three-Eyed Evil Wolf was a lot greater than the previous group of Rock Wolves? After a dozen times, you might have to face the Dream King…" Shawn ruthlessly woke Lin Yun from his greedy fantasy.

"…"

In fact, he didn't need to go that far.

By the time he met the 6th round of opponents, he was already sweating bullets…

It was an entire group of ten Spirit Warriors.

These Spirit Warriors had followed the prince during his life and were unable to break away from the power of the Bloodline Curse after his death. By being buried in that Dark Arena, their souls had transformed into spirits, forever guarding the prince's eternal rest.

Lin Yun studied his new enemies. The ten Spirit Warriors were wearing silver armor and holding Magic Greatswords. Wounds crisscrossing their bodies indicated that they were veterans of many battles when they were still alive. Each one had the strength of a 15th Rank, but they also had thick Aura and exquisite martial skills. They might each have fighting strength greater than that of a 15th Rank Great Swordsman.

In the entire Thousand Sails City, perhaps only the Silver Moon Mercenaries and a few other peak forces could have such a lineup.

"Hey, Lord Shawn, think of a plan, quick…"

"Don't play with me, what kind of plan? Even if you supply mana to me, I still won't be able to display my Incarnation…" A hint of panic could be heard in Shawn's voice. Although the binding of the master-slave contract wasn't very strong, if his master died, Shawn would still suffer a heavy blow…

"You have the nerve to call yourself a True Spirit Magic Tool?" Lin Yun still took the time to curse before the battle with the ten Spirit Warriors began.

This was a fight with no build-up. Both sides used their most powerful abilities right at the start. Aura was ignited as the Spirit Warriors rushed over. The huge greatswords carried with them the sound of destruction as they slashed down, flaming Aura raging on the blades, splitting open Lin Yun's Ice Fire Shield in an instant.

Lin Yun was desperate. When his Ice Fire Shield was cut apart, he used the momentum from the greatsword's push to retreat a few steps and followed up with an incantation. A huge and powerful Fire Dragon roared before pouncing at the Spirit Warriors.

Lin Yun gripped his Spiritual Magic Staff tightly as he gestured continuously with his hands, coordinating with the incantation. In a short ten seconds, he let out three successive Fire Dragons!

This way of casting was extremely dangerous because he could suffer a magic backlash at any time.

But he couldn't worry about that right now. His goal was simply to launch an attack powerful enough to kill one or two Spirit Warriors to start with. That way, he would be able to rely on the vigorous mana supply from the Spiritual Magic Staff to contend against the remaining Spirit Warriors.

Unfortunately, Lin Yun's first plan failed.

The ten Spirit Warriors got into a formation and managed to withstand Lin Yun's torrent of magic.

Although a few Spirit Warriors were seriously harmed and looked like they had lost some of their fighting strength, Lin Yun's heart tightened.

Lin Yun knew that here in the Dark Arena, the frightening recovery speed of the Spirit Warriors made their bodies almost unkillable. These deadly injuries would recover in a matter of minutes.

But since the fight had already started, Lin Yun only had one path left ahead of him. After his initial wave of reckless casting, Lin Yun's mana had already dropped by half, but Lin Yun's following display became even fiercer. Taking advantage of the fact that a few Spirit Warriors had been seriously injured, Lin Yun incanted once again: Flame Barrier, Consecutive Fire Arrows, Elemental Slash, Frost Burst… His most powerful spells fell one after the other on the bodies of these Spirit Warriors.

It had only been thirty seconds since the start of the battle, but the damage Lin Yun caused would be enough to scare any Great Mage shitless.

But… The number of Spirit Warriors still remained at ten.

Moreover, they still approached Lin Yun, even with over half of them being seriously injured. The flaming Aura seemed to already be right in front of him.

Lin Yun knew that his first opportunity had already escaped him…

"Fuck…" He cursed to himself fiercely. He had no choice but to use Elemental Incarnation early. By relying on the sea of fire that he had created with his initial barrage of spells, Lin Yun pulled open the distance with a Flame Flash.

"Stupid, you are truly hopelessly stupid. You haven't noticed that these Spirit Warriors already formed a Life Sharing Formation? Do you think you are a peak High Mage that can dispatch ten Spirit Warriors at once?" Shawn's flustered and exasperated scolding echoed in Lin Yun's ears just as he landed on the other side of the sea of fire.

"I obviously know of the Life Sharing Formation, but I don't have the means to split it apart!"

"No, you do!"

"I do?" Lin Yun's expression froze.

"I feel a familiar mana fluctuation in your body, it should have been from the Death Garden in the tomb! Take that thing out, quick!"

"The Sage Chapter?" Lin Yun felt a bit strange. The Ultimate Spells stored in the Sage Chapter truly were his most powerful cards. 'But are they enough to break the Life Sharing Formation?'

It's not as if Lin Yun hadn't thought of using the Ultimate Spells…

But after the previous attempt, Lin Yun had already guessed that the Spirit Warriors were using the Life Sharing Formation. Its ability to endure damage was too high. Even if he used his Ultimate Spells, he would only be able to injure some more Spirit Warriors… It wouldn't be of too much help to the battle as a whole.

It was a tough obstacle to overcome, as the power of Lin Yun's Ultimate Spells were only at the 4th Tier at the moment. If he wanted to instantly dispatch these Spirit Warriors, he would need 6th Tier Spells, or in other words, spells on a level close to reaching the power of an Archmage.

"That thing is called the Sage Chapter? Forget it, its name doesn't matter. As long as that thing came from the Death Garden, it can be used to handle these Spirit Warriors. Did you forget what kind of place a Death Garden is?"

"Wait, you mean…" With Shawn's mention of the Death Garden, Lin Yun understood.

'That's right! The Sage Chapter came from that place!'

What kind of place was a Death Garden? It is the convergence of death energy. The Sage Chapter was born from boundless death energy, and it was even of a higher rank than Shawn. The death energy contained within could only be described as frightening.

At the same time, what kind of existence were Spirit Warriors?

The Spirit Warriors had been affected by the Bloodline Curse, turning their souls and bodies into spirits. What they loathed and feared the most was death energy.

If there was a sudden burst of death energy, these Spirit Warriors would definitely be affected.

The only problem was that Lin Yun didn't dare to assume that it would have a sufficiently large effect…

Lin Yun tightly held the Sage Chapter, but he couldn't help displaying a trace of hesitation on his face.

'This is no joke…'

The Sage Chapter in his hands was his last trump card, and if he wanted to release the death energy that was inside, the three Ultimate Spells would disappear. If he was still unable to split apart the Life Sharing Formation after that, Lin Yun truly wouldn't have any other chances to make a comeback.

He didn't have much time left…

The ten Spirit Warriors were already crossing the sea of fire, raising their huge greatswords once again. But Lin Yun couldn't use Elemental Incarnation again, so it would be hard to escape if they got closer.

"This better work!" Lin Yun bit his lip and cancelled the three Ultimate Spells in the Sage Chapter.

In a flash, a huge amount of death energy burst out. A thick gas condensed above the Dark Arena, and countless Soul Fires rushed out from the Sage Chapter. With world-shaking roars, they exploded in the center of the Dark Arena, transforming into a swarm of ghosts and skeletons. The entire Dark Arena looked like a sinister graveyard.

At the same time, Lin Yun brandished the Spiritual Magic Staff and started launching another ferocious wave of spells.

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Chapter 122: Strongest True Spirit Magic Tool

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

Chant after chant, gesture after gesture, spells cast one after the other…

Lin Yun felt the mana in his body pouring out like a waterfall. He shuddered slightly when the mana within the Elemental Amber Ring was exhausted, and then began extracting the mana from within the Spiritual Magic Staff. The flow of time seemed to become hazy with so much happening. Lin Yun himself didn't know how many spells he'd cast.

A blood-curdling scream finally cried out in front of him.

After receiving a direct hit from a Flame Spear, the Spirit Warrior at the front finally collapsed. It immediately turned into a white light and disappeared from the Dark Arena.

"First one!" Only one Spirit Warrior died, yet this was the dawn of victory for Lin Yun.

The mana stored within the Spiritual Magic Staff started frantically pouring into Lin Yun's body. The incantations that had paused for a moment resounded once again in the Dark Arena.

Lin Yun couldn't use Elemental Incarnation again. Facing the swarming Spirit Warriors, his only remaining way to continue was to push his Magic Array to the limit. With his rich battle experience from surviving at the end of the magic era, he was able to keep struggling in this life and death battle with the 9 badly injured Spirit Warriors.

Continuously attacking, defending, and controlling, Lin Yun did everything he could. He drank three Angel Potions and used seven Dark Fire Bullets. Even the mana of the Lava Dominator that he got from Lonald had been exhausted in that fight. It could be said that Lin Yun had taken out all his cards…

Ultimately, Lin Yun used a Flame Burst to finish this fight that had stretched on for three hours.

"Finally over…" Lin Yun had exhausted all his mana during this fight and had even cleaned out all the mana stored within the Spiritual Magic Staff. His mind was completely exhausted. Three hours of maintaining peak performance had drained all of his energy.

Lin Yun lowered his head just as the last Spirit Warrior turned into a light…

This had been his most exhausting fight yet. He was feeling more drained than how he had been after that half day of slaughter in the Death Garden. This fight had been so taxing that he couldn't even lift his head. He even felt like taking a nap and forgetting about the prince tomb and the Dark Arena.

Unfortunately, he was urged on by Shawn after lying down for a few minutes…

"Quick, quick, check your reward quickly, check if there is something that can let Lord Shawn immediately recover his powers!"

"If you want to check, then go check it, I want to sleep…"

"You have the cheek to talk back to Lord Shawn!" Shawn immediately flew into a towering rage, but after a fit of temper, he mischievously told Lin Yun, "You think that these ten Spirit Warriors were your last opponents? Lord Shawn didn't want to scare you at first, but since you are so ignorant, I'll reluctantly give you a reminder. Do you remember how many battles a gladiator had to win in the Empire to regain their freedom?"

"…" When he heard Shawn's words Lin Yun jumped up, feeling startled.

'That's right! The gladiators from the 3rd Dynasty could obtain freedom after seven victories. Doesn't that mean that I have another battle to go through? Fuck, is this a joke?'

Thinking of the fact that he still had to go through another battle made Lin Yun want to cry. Ten Spirit Warriors had already forced him to go to that extent. Based on the usual practice of the Dark Arena, shouldn't his next opponent have the strength of a peak High Mage, or even… an Archmage?

"Thus, Lord Shawn is advising you to check the reward first. There might be something good inside that can let Lord Shawn directly recover. If that happens, you can stand aside for the next battle and cheer this Lord Shawn on."

"…" Although Lin Yun disapproved of that arrogant True Spirit Magic Tool, he still looked forward to seeing those three chests.

After all, Lin Yun had already obtained a Spiritual level one-handed sword after defeating his 5th opponent.

Although this one-handed sword wasn't suitable for Lin Yun, the fact was that there was a genuine Spiritual Magic Tool in that chest.

Based on the rewards increasing after each fight so far, even if Lin Yun wouldn't receive a True Spirit Magic Tool, wouldn't he at least get a peak Spiritual Magic Tool now?

And that power would be completely under his control, not a shameless slacker like Shawn.

Lin Yun stood in front of the three chests. He raised his hand, but he didn't extend it, as he was still hesitating.

"Okay, okay, stop that now…" Lin Yun got a headache from Lord Shawn's harassment. 'I had some pretty good harvests after picking the left ones each time, so I might as well continue.'

Lin Yun reached out and opened the left chest.

And following that…

Shawn loudly cursed…

"Fuck, Barov, you are shameless, you dare to trick Lord Shawn!"

Honestly, it wasn't unusual for Shawn to be so angered.

Who would have thought that after killing ten Spirit Warriors, the reward would actually be an Inheritance Magic Tool!

Moreover, it was an incomplete Inheritance Magic Tool!

Shawn felt like crying. He had thought that after the elimination of the ten Spirit Warriors, the reward would be a peak Spiritual Magic Tool or even better, and once he absorbed the mana within, he would be able to recover at least half of his power. But all that was inside the box was an incomplete Inheritance Magic Tool!

It was a magic staff made of Ghost Wood, with a mana crystal of unknown level inlaid at the end. From the mana fluctuation, it was definitely an Inheritance Magic Tool. Moreover, the staff had three arrays, but they weren't connected to each other, and the mana source wasn't even activated. Anyone with discerning eyes could see that it was incomplete.

'Fuck, not only do you give out an Inheritance Magic Tool, but it's not even complete, Prince Barov, what kind of joke is that?'

Shawn was simply unable to restrain his anger, and he even tried to use a bit of the power he had just recovered to destroy this disgraceful Inheritance Magic Tool.

But before he could make his move, the staff was grabbed by Lin Yun.

No, he didn't just grab it…

Lin Yun held it as if it was a treasure and then put it into his pocket.

"Hey, are you destitute enough that you would grab anything you can? Even an incomplete Inheritance Magic Tool won't escape your hands? Seems like Lord Shawn should reconsider this… If I work for you later, will you be destitute enough that you won't be able to provide the mana crystals needed by Lord Shawn?"

"I have to say, Lord Shawn, you truly have a poor insight…" Lin Yun shook his head, quite satisfied with the find. Getting such a treasure, how could Lin Yun not be in a good mood? Shawn's mocking didn't even feel as unpleasant as before.

"You know of that damn Inheritance Magic Tool? Quickly talk… Can it let me recover my power?"

"It can't, but I can guarantee that a year later at most, the power of that damn Inheritance Magic Tool will be superior to yours, Lord Shawn. How about we make a bet?"

"Nonsense!" Shawn burst out in anger.

"Then let's bet. If I lose, I'll immediately lift the master-slave contract. If you lose, you have to completely acknowledge me as your master."

"This…" Lord Shawn suddenly hesitated. He didn't believe that this incomplete Inheritance Magic Tool could surpass him in a year.

But after seeing Lin Yun's confident expression, he felt a bit uncertain.

As he thought about this, Shawn suddenly warned, "Careful! The 7th battle should begin soon!"

"Crap! Too quick!" Lin Yun hurriedly fished out a level 13 mana crystal from his pocket and clenched his teeth as he started extracting the mana within without any care for the fact that he might suffer a magic backlash from the impurities.

Fortunately, the 7th battle still hadn't started by the time Lin Yun was done, so for insurance, he grabbed a level 12 mana crystal from his pocket and continued replenishing his mana.

One, two, three, four…

After absorbing the mana from four mana crystals, Lin Yun's mana had already completely recovered.

But for some reason, the 7th battle still had yet to start…

"What's going on?" Lin Yun was at a loss. He wouldn't misremember the rules of the 3rd Dynasty's arena from the notes. Gladiators would regain their freedom only after the 7th battle.

'But I only fought six battles, why is the 7th battle so slow to start?'

"What are you standing around for, the doors to the Dark Arena already opened, or do you plan to stay for dinner?"

Shawn's sneering made Lin Yun's expression sink. "What is going on? Didn't you say the 7th battle was about to start? Did you deceive me?"

"How could Lord Shawn deceive you? As per the rules of the Empire, after clearing the 7th battle, the gladiators truly obtain their freedom. But your luck is very good, your 7th opponent just happened to be the unequalled Lord Shawn…"

"You?" Lin Yun froze, before understanding.

Shawn, as a True Spirit Magic Tool, was an existence able to contend with an Archmage. It would be reasonable for him to be selected for the 7th battle of the Dark Arena.

As he thought about that, Lin Yun remembered that the Great Mage from the Cloud Tower had written in his notes that he broke through the Dark Arena through heaven-defying luck. Now that Lin Yun thought about it, he could understand what that heaven-defying luck was…

The Great Mage might have been similar to himself. He had obtained the acknowledgement of the True Spirit Magic Tool before entering the Dark Arena letting him skip the 7th battle.

Otherwise, based on the battle against the ten Spirit Warriors, the 7th opponent would be comparable to an Archmage, and that was an existence that he couldn't deal with… No Great Mage could stand more than ten seconds against an Archmage. Lin Yun wouldn't be able to either, even if he had nine Magic Arrays.

It wasn't just the difference in power…

It was simply a battle between two different types of existences!

'Looks like my luck isn't as bad as I thought,' Lin Yun thought as he left the Dark Arena.

"Hey, Merlin, you still haven't told me, what is special about that damn Inheritance Magic Tool?"Just as they were leaving the Dark Arena, Shawn asked about the staff again.

"You won't understand even if I tell you…" Lin Yun said half-heartedly.

It simply couldn't be explained. Lin Yun couldn't tell this Soul Walker that what he dubbed as a "disgraceful Inheritance Magic Tool" would become a frightening existence a few millennia later. At that time, this staff would be known as the Strongest True Spirit Magic Tool!

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T/N: Component - Augment

Of course, at this moment, this staff wasn't the famous Strongest True Spirit Magic Tool that it would become in several millennia.

In some notes, Lin Yun had read that thousands of years later, this Strongest Magic Tool had 28 alchemy arrays, as well as 17 various powerful Augments. It was an existence that completely toppled the alchemy system. An incomparably complicated structure, a frightening carrying capacity. The power of its complete form far exceeded that of any True Spirit Magic Tool of that time.

Unfortunately, it only existed in Noscent in that state for about a thousand years.

A thousand years later, its master died in an unknown plane, and although the Cloud Tower had forcibly snatched it back, it lost its power forever.

This Strongest Magic Tool became a common item from that point on.

However, alchemists never gave up on researching the Magic Tool even after it turned into an ordinary object. More than a thousand years later, the researchers came closer and closer to the truth, up until the silent Cloud Tower finally made their results public. It was all because of the mana crystal inlaid at the top of the Magic Tool.

It was the mana crystal of a Spirit Devourer Behemoth…

An adult Spirit Devourer Behemoth was basically an incomparably huge plane, and they would devour everything they could. Meteors, netherstorms, and even remains of dead planes were considered tasty food. No one ever hunted a Spirit Devourer Behemoth in Noscent's history.

Thus, the origin of this Spirit Devourer Behemoth's mana crystal was among the numerous unsolved mysteries of the magic era.

In short, the Cloud Tower relied on the mana crystal of the Spirit Devourer Behemoth to create the strongest Magic Tool of the entire peak magic era.

The mana crystal of the Spirit Devourer Behemoth didn't give formidable power to the Magic Tool, and thus that Magic Tool was only an Inheritance Magic Tool when it appeared. However, it brought unlimited potential to the Magic Tool.

Not to mention the rest, just the carrying capacity was enough to topple the entire alchemy system, able to handle 17 Augments.

That kind of carrying capacity even surpassed many Extraordinary Magic Tools.

Lin Yun knew that the complete Book of Death could hold 15 Augments, and this was already a peak existence among Extraordinary Magic Tools.

Naturally, Lin Yun also knew that it was too early to think about these.

What he held right now was only an Inheritance Magic Tool, and an incomplete one at that. Besides having a Spirit Devourer Behemoth's mana crystal and Ghost Wood, there were only three arrays, and not even one Augment.

Lin Yun still had a long way ahead of him if he wanted to make that Magic Tool reach the level it would have reached many years later.

Or he would have to spend a huge amount of money.

Let alone the rest, just the 28 alchemy arrays were enough to make Lin Yun desperate.

It eventually had an incredible count of 28 arrays! The amount of resources required to do that was enough to cause tens of the Flashing Gold chamber of commerce to go bankrupt. It would be amazing if he could make just one with his current assets.

And there were still 17 Augments…

Those weren't ordinary Augments. He knew that most of these Augments were True Spirit level. The lowest one was a peak Spiritual Augment.

Thinking about it, Lin Yun, along with Solomon, had spent over a million golds for a Spiritual Augment, and that was while everyone was unaware of its true value. If people had known it was a Spiritual Augment, the price might have doubled!

Given that an ordinary Spiritual Augment was like that, completing that Strongest True Spirit Magic Tool certainly wouldn't be a matter of one day or two.

Even Lin Yun would only dare say that it could surpass the Soul Walker after a year.

Naturally, this was purely bullying Shawn…

However you looked at it, Shawn's Incarnation was a Soul Lifeform, and it wasn't particularly powerful. What Shawn excelled at was creating all kinds of illusions as well as directly attacking his enemy's soul. It was unfair of it to compete in power against a genuine Magic Tool for attacking.

Lin Yun didn't even need to let that Magic Tool reach True Spirit level.

As long as he was able to make the Magic Tool's spirit appear, after reaching Spiritual level, its might would definitely surpass Shawn's.

"Too poor…" Thinking of the cost of the 28 alchemy arrays and 17 Augments, Lin Yun couldn't help sighing.

Lin Yun originally felt that he was rich enough when the Gilded Rose expanded and became the number one alchemy shop of Thousand Sails City.

But it now seemed that it was still far from enough…

'Whatever, I'd better find the Reincarnation Eyes first.'

After thinking for a while, Lin Yun put that Magic Tool back in his pocket and directly passed through the Dark Arena while looking towards the depths of the prince tomb. The terrain became more complex as Lin Yun went further in. The entire prince tomb felt like a huge maze.

With the addition of the various traps on the way, Lin Yun had a whole new understanding of the alchemy technology of the 3rd Dynasty. What about tens of thousands of arrows, what about mountains of daggers and seas of flames? Those were simply too inferior to be put in the prince tomb. Lin Yun gained a lot of experience this time. Various situations that would make people become frightened to death, various situations that would make people feel defenseless. This path wasn't the least bit more relaxing than the Dark Arena.

He had to remember the path he was taking while also guarding against all kinds of traps. Lin Yun felt his hair turning white from stress as he broke through the maze and reached a very spacious shrine.

Now, an altar was standing in front of Lin Yun. The altar was dedicated to the Haiba Dragon God, this world's Origin Dragon possessing a golden body, three heads representing the three Laws: Light, Darkness, and Chaos. Even if the one there was only a statue, the boundless might emitted still made Lin Yun feel the urge to prostrate himself.

"Dissipate!" Lin Yun coldly snorted and cast Spirit Defense.

As this world's first Dragon, how frightening was the power of the Haiba Dragon God… An ordinary Great Mage might have immediately fallen to their knees in front of that Dragon Might.

But Lin Yun wouldn't…

Because Lin Yun had personally viewed the records of the killing of the Haiba Dragon God. That was the first and last time that any mage of Noscent killed a God, letting the Light, Darkness, and Chaos Laws return to human hands.

Lin Yun didn't feel any fear or reverence for this God that would fall in the future.

After putting up a Spirit Defense, Lin Yun was finally able to withstand the Dragon Might. He began searching the shrine. Most people knew that the Haiba Dragon loved all kinds of riches. The shinier and more valuable something was, the more one would receive the favor of the Haiba Dragon God.

As a royal family member from the 3rd Dynasty, it was impossible for the prince not to know about that. In fact, wasn't there a huge amount of wealth in the temple in the Poison Fog Canyon?

But besides the altar, there was nothing inside this shrine…

'Did that prince suddenly change his faith in front of death?'

"Fuck, what are you doing here!" But while Lin Yun was racking his brain, Shawn, who had been focused on absorbing mana from mana crystals, suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

"I'm looking for something," Lin Yun absent-mindedly answered while creating a Mage Eye.

"The Reincarnation Eyes?"

"You know about the Reincarnation Eyes?"

"You are truly blind," Shawn disdainfully snorted.

"What are you saying…" Lin Yun was startled. Since Shawn said "blind" and not "idiotic", "silly" or "stupid", wasn't he implying that the Reincarnation Eye was already within his sight?

"Take a look at that statue's eyes."

Heeding Shawn's suggestion, Lin Yun promptly controlled the Mage Eye to check the statue on the far side of the shrine, and sure enough, as it got closer, Lin Yun noticed the statue's eyes. They felt alive, and they kept staring at the Mage Eye. A strange mana interference appeared immediately afterwards and the careful Mage Eye directly dissipated.

"Strange…" Lin Yun tried twice, and regardless of how much mana he controlled, or how many defenses he added, the Mage Eye couldn't approach within a hundred meters of the statue's eyes.

"Far too evil…" Shawn's voice sounded a bit disdainful, but for some reason, Lin Yun felt that his tone carried a hint of fear. "Did you know, when that lunatic Barov built this tomb, he was in the prime of his life. But ever since the tomb was established, Barov didn't leave and spent most of his time inside this shrine, chatting up with his God all day. Who knew what he was doing…"

"That evil?"

"More than that, Barov was even more frightening in his later years. The Empire's most powerful man actually went crazy, would you dare imagine? That nearly omnipotent powerhouse going crazy… Barov killed all his subordinates and relatives and buried them within the tomb before removing all of my mana and trapping me forever within this tomb…"

The more he talked, the more frightened Shawn felt. In the end, he even shuddered a few times.

"Then what happened?"

"Then, then…" Perhaps because of the memory of his pitiable state, he flew into a rage out of humiliation. "How could I know what happened afterwards! After my mana was extracted, I naturally sank into a slumber. I can't travel through dreams, there's no way I could know what happened afterwards!"

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Chapter 124: Creation

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"And you have the cheek to call yourself a True Spirit Magic Tool…" Lin Yun had been listening to the most important part, but when it was suddenly cut short, he spat out some words of rebuke.

"In any case, this place is very evil."

"Don't talk nonsense." Lin Yun unhappily disregarded Shawn's opinion and started chanting incantation after incantation, which caused Mage Eyes to appear one after the other. In a short period, there were over a hundred Mage Eyes.

"I want to see how evil this place is!" Lin Yun sent his army of Mage Eyes ahead with determination. It felt like moths throwing themselves at lights, as these Mage Eyes would instantly pop like bubbles when getting too close to the statue.

But then, more and more Mage Eyes approached.

They were truly like moths, ignoring the deaths of their brethren to keep rushing towards that light.

In an instant, the some 70 or 80 Mage Eyes had already disappeared. But Lin Yun had yet to give up as he kept chanting, and Mage Eyes continued to appear in front of him before rushing at the statue.

Ultimately, one Mage Eye broke through and reached the restricted area within a hundred meters of the statue.

"Got it!" Lin Yun rejoiced before linking to that Mage Eye with mana.

That lucky Mage Eye didn't survive more than three seconds before receiving a more powerful mana interference within the statue's restricted area. Three seconds later, it disappeared with a bang.

But three seconds were already enough for Lin Yun.

This time, Lin Yun managed to get a clear look. Under the altar, there was surprisingly a huge alchemy array drawn on the ground in Shadow Ink.

'Thankfully, I was careful enough to check first…' Cold sweat trickled down Lin Yun's back. Arrays drawn with Shadow Ink were known for being hidden, able to even conceal mana fluctuations. The only way to distinguish them was from the traces left behind on the ground. If one wasn't particularly mindful, they simply wouldn't know that these things that seemed to be just leftover stains actually hid an astonishingly powerful alchemy array.

Fortunately, Lin Yun had noticed early on that this shrine was a bit too spacious and empty, and thus had insisted on using Mage Eyes to search the area first. As a result, he was able to avoid certain death.

Lin Yun had recognized that huge alchemy array on the floor…

It was an Artisan level Hell Array!

With Lin Yun's strength as a Great Mage, there would be only one end for him if he entered the Hell Array: death. The Crimson Fire from Hell would turn Lin Yun to ashes in an instant. That was a power that even High Mages couldn't resist for a moment, let alone a Great Mage like Lin Yun.

But everything was different after gaining those valuable three seconds.

In those three seconds, Lin Yun managed to find the Hell Array's mana sources.

There were a total of six mana sources, akin to a hexagram star, supplying the Hell Array. Lin Yun's plan was to destroy these six mana sources, which would result in the collapse of the Hell Array.

Destruction had always been easier than construction.

Lin Yun had stopped sending out Mage Eyes and started activating the Elemental Amber Ring on his hand to replenish his mana.

In a short few minutes, Lin Yun had cast at least two hundred Mage Eyes. Fortunately, he had only connected to the very last Mage Eye, the one that made it the farthest.

After replenishing his mana, Lin Yun cast Burning Flames, spreading raging flames over several dozen meters. Lin Yun then used Elemental Incarnation, and cast Flame Flash through the sea of fire to reach the side of a mana source.

Lin Yun pointed with his Spiritual Magic Staff and a Flame Spear shot out, instantly shattering the mana source. A large amount of mana scattered, but Lin Yun didn't care about absorbing it and instead cast Flame Flash once again to appear next to the second mana source.

And then the third, the fourth, the fifth, and the sixth!

The six mana sources were shattered in mere moments. The Hell Array shone for a bit before going dark…

At the same time, Lin Yun cast a final Flame Flash while in his Elemental Incarnation state.

The next second, Lin Yun appeared atop the altar.

Lin Yun was now able to confirm that the huge altar was completely empty. This discovery made Lin Yun frown. How could the altar that was used to consecrate the Haiba Dragon God in the tomb of a prince of the 3rd dynasty be empty?

In the 3rd Dynasty, failing to place an offering on the altar of the Haiba Dragon God would be enough to have Barov charged with the crime of blasphemy.

'Could grave robbers have entered the tomb before me and stolen all the valuables?' he wondered. 'No, that seems unlikely.'

Lin Yun immediately rejected this possibility..

Because the Hell Array's mana sources had yet to be destroyed. If there had really been a grave robber, how did they get through the Artisan level alchemy array without destroying the mana sources? Such a grave robber would have to be an Archmage.

But how could an Archmage be interested in the wealth, yet miss the true treasures?

To such powerhouses, wealth was secondary. More wealth couldn't compare to an increase in their fighting strength.

Thus, the only possibility left might be extremely frightening.

Prince Barov, a member of the royal family in the 3rd Dynasty, was probably a heretic that did not believe in the Dragon God…

Lin Yun quelled his shock and began sizing up the statue of the Dragon God. From the altar, Lin Yun could now see the mysterious power within the eyes. It was dark and abstruse, but after looking at it for a bit, people would be unable to break away from it.

"Those really are the Reincarnation Eyes!" This was just like the information that came from the Cloud Tower thousands of years later.

Lin Yun knew that as long as he was able to reach these two eyes, his Magic Array would transform in a flash. This kind of transformation would make him reach five Magic Arrays in a short time and become an existence able to contend with High Mages.

Lin Yun stood on that altar and slowly extended his hands to reach for those eyes.

"Fuck, don't randomly touch it! This place is very evil!" Shawn had long been traumatized by his miserable experience that had gone on for over a thousand years. Barov's craziness in his later years had been because of that strange shrine, and now that he saw Lin Yun extending his hands towards the eyes, a hint of pleading could be felt within Shawn's voice.

"It'll be fine." It wasn't that Lin Yun didn't know that this place was evil, but he had spent so much effort and energy. He hadn't gone through all that to stop here, in front of the Reincarnation Eyes. No matter how evil, no matter how strange, it wouldn't be able to stop him from reaching out.

To a mage, the temptation of power surpassed everything.

"Yo-You… Don't regret it!"

As Shawn worried in a weeping voice, Lin Yun touched the Reincarnation Eyes.

Afterwards, endless darkness and desolation spread in front of Lin Yun's eyes. It felt as if time and space didn't exist in this place. An instant might have passed, or it might have been a millennium, when suddenly, a loud sound echoed and a black spot exploded out.

In a flash, Lin Yun saw a boundless world: mountains, rivers, oceans, deserts, followed by a Dragon's roar echoing in the sky. Lin Yun turned his head and saw a three-headed Dragon with a golden body flitting across the sky. Lin Yun watched as countless planes were born attached to that world, before countless races and countless creatures matured upon these countless planes.

'Holy shit…' Lin Yun froze atop the altar. Lin Yun didn't register when those scenes disappeared, but at this moment, his brain was filled with the scenes he had just witnessed. That was the birth of Noscent.

Lin Yun could even guess that the next step would have been the Gods and Devils walking on earth, and Noscent's first era…

Unfortunately, Lin Yun couldn't see it for the time being.

It was due to a blood-colored mist spreading around the whole altar just as his hands left the Reincarnation Eyes. The power of the Bloodline Curse suddenly surged in the shrine.

"Fuck, look what you've done!" Shawn exclaimed, sounding angry and fearful.

But Lin Yun ignored him and started incanting, casting one buff after the other, making himself reach a near-perfect state for battle because he had a feeling that he might soon be fighting an existence that was more frightening than ten Spirit Warriors.

It was the convergence of an extreme amount of Bloodline Curse Power.

Sure enough, as Lin Yun was finishing casting his buffs, three people carrying huge Magic Greatswords and Gold Essence armors were already rushing at this strange shrine.

"Fuck, those are the Guardian Puppets refined by Barov! You've caused some huge trouble!"

After Shawn's alarmed shout, Lin Yun noticed that the three warriors weren't really human, but were rather alchemy puppets with Magic Weapons and Gold Essence bodies.

After entering the shrine, these war machines rushed through the sea of fire and charged at Lin Yun.

"You jinx…" As he watched those three alchemy puppets rushing over, Lin Yun felt that this would be a very troublesome fight.

They definitely each had the power of 9th Rank Great Swordsman…

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Chapter 125: 2nd Magic Array

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

This would be a truly bitter struggle…

Lin Yun had one of the strongest Magic Conducting Runes, the Magic Array. He had the Spiritual Magic Staff and the Lava Dominator, as well as the frightening buff of the Angel Potion. His fighting power had reached a level that would make any Great Mage tongue-tied.

But one thing shouldn't be forgotten: Lin Yun was only a 1st Rank Great Mage.

Indeed, he could kill someone of the same rank in an instant and could even dominate a 5th Rank, but it would become harder and harder to deal with people above the 5th Rank. Just like when he fought the ten Spirit Warriors in the Dark Arena earlier, they had put huge pressure on him and he had only been able to free himself from the Dark Arena by relying on the death energy stored in the Sage Chapter.

And now, Lin Yun was facing three enemies that were on par with 9th Rank Great Swordsmen.

A 9th Rank was a peak Great Swordsman standing at the door to advancement.

The difference in ranks between him and a 9th Rank Great Swordsman was big enough, but he also had to face three of them at the same time. Lin Yun normally wouldn't have had much chance of success.

But fortunately, he had already touched the Reincarnation Eyes before those three alchemy puppets appeared.

His Magic Array started transforming right after he touched them.

Right now, Lin Yun still didn't know what this transformation would bring him, but he had a faint feeling that the mana flowing within his body was moving a lot faster than before. The speed of Magic Array seemed to have risen quite a bit, and some of the spell combinations that he could only use in battle while relying on the Sage Chapter didn't feel as difficult now that he touched the Reincarnation Eyes.

But the most important part…

He could feel that his second Magic Array was in the process of being formed.

Lin Yun felt that he would have to first thank the Reincarnation Eyes if he came out victorious in this battle.

The three alchemy puppets instantly rushed up to Lin Yun and started the battle. No probing, no observing, just a fierce, storm-like offensive. Even the battle-hardened Lin Yun couldn't help feeling a bit flustered as he cast an Ice Wall in front of him. When he tried to gain some leeway to cast a few short spells, a greatsword emitting raging flames slashed over, crushing the Ice Wall with a crunching sound.

'So fierce…' Lin Yun paled. The power of these three alchemy puppets was actually higher than he had imagined.

He even held some admiration for the creator of these alchemy puppets.

Not only was their power and speed not inferior in any way to that of 9th Rank Great Swordsmen, but they had even solved the flaw of puppets being unable to use Aura.

The raging flames coming out from the greatswords wasn't inferior to a 9th Rank Swordsman's Aura. Such a thick Ice Wall was broken apart in one slash. At least three Ice Fire Shields would be needed to block a direct blow.

And Lin Yun soon discovered some sort of coordination between the alchemy puppets.

'They aren't giving me any way out…'

What kind of Control Rune could make alchemy puppets coordinate with one another like this? Didn't this need the skill of an Artisan?

Considering that the three alchemy puppets were equivalent to 9th Rank Great Swordsmen, if they could cooperate, then their overall combat potential could only be described as frightening.

This small miscalculation led to Lin Yun's Flame Barrier being released half a second too slow, with one of the alchemy puppets having already launched its attack. The raging flames from the weapon in its hand almost cut Lin Yun in half.

Fortunately, Lin Yun had noticed his miscalculation and reacted fast enough. He activated the Sage Chapter while casting the Flame Barrier and an Ultimate Frost Armor appeared a meter in front of Lin Yun.

Only a cracking sound echoed as the flaming sword fell heavily onto the Frost Armor.

This Frost Armor had already become an Ultimate Spell, displaying the power of a 4th Tier spell. But it still broke under the flaming sword. At the same time, a huge force struck Lin Yun, sending him flying a dozen meters away like a broken kite.

'Fuck, truly annoying…' Lin Yun righted himself and wiped the blood at the corner of his mouth. He then drank a health potion to recover.

This was the power of a 9th Rank Great Swordsman.

That was an Ultimate Frost Armor. It could block an attack from a Spirit Warrior, but it had actually disintegrated under the sweep of that sword, and the remaining shockwave sent Lin Yun flying.

If that sword landed on him…

After taking a small loss, Lin Yun put even more effort into trying to keep away from the alchemy puppets as he started casting all kinds of control spells: Slow, Bind, Ice Trap, Shadow Cage, all one after the other. He also mixed in the Lava Dominator's short distance flight ability from time to time, along with the Magic Array's Haste, only barely surviving the attacks from the three alchemy puppets.

The pressure was too high, and the offensive of the three alchemy puppets was too fierce. Aside from dodging and casting control spells, Lin Yun couldn't even stop to breathe.

As for counter-attacking… he was unable to…

The only thing Lin Yun could do right now was stall for time because he could feel that during his constant fighting and casting, his 2nd Magic Array was continuously forming, and it was even speeding up unconsciously. It had only been a condensation of mana at the start, but it now had the embryonic form of a Magic Array.

Even though the 2nd Magic Array was still very small…

No, this couldn't even be called a Magic Array, this was only a Magic Conducting Rune being carved from mana. But at this time, this was Lin Yun's best chance.

Once he had two Magic Arrays, Lin Yun's fighting strength would greatly increase. Even if the 2nd Magic Array didn't possess mana conducting ability or a melded spell, by coordinating with the 1st Magic Array, he would be able to make use of the two Magic Arrays to complete a simple Formation.

That was the Magic Array, one of the most powerful Magic Conducting Runes of Noscent. If he could complete a Formation, even if it was the simplest Formation, the power it would display could only be described as frightening.

Lin Yun was now gambling. He was betting on himself completing his 2nd Magic Array before exhausting his mana.

Fortunately, Lin Yun wasn't betting without assurance.

With the Elemental Amber Ring on his left hand and the Spiritual Magic Staff in his right hand, also embedded with an Elemental Amber, Lin Yun was able to use mana far surpassing any Great Mage and could almost compare to a 5th Rank High Mage purely based on the amount of usable mana.

The seconds ticked by, and only after twenty minutes did Lin Yun need to replenish his mana. He extracted the mana from the Elemental Amber Ring, the latter gradually dimming. A third of the 2nd Magic Array had been carved.

Another twenty minutes later, Lin Yun had to replenish his mana once again, while a bit over half of the 2nd Magic Array had been carved.

It looked like victory was within his hands…

But this was the most difficult period for Lin Yun.

The intensity of this battle far surpassed the Dark Arena's battles. Lin Yun's brain never stopped doing calculations, and his mind was strained to its limit. Whether it was his mind or body, they both were overworked.

Other Great Mages would have been unable to last longer than twenty minutes in such an intense fight, but Lin Yun had already lasted forty minutes, and it looked like he still needed to last quite a while longer to have hope for victory. This battle wasn't a battle of strength, but a battle of will.

Lin Yun relied on his exceptional will forged from surviving in the apocalypse-like end of the magic era to keep persevering.

Lin Yun couldn't feel the time pass. His forehead was already covered in sweat, his face completely pale like a ghost, and even his two-handed grip on the Spiritual Magic Staff seemed to be shaking. However, Lin Yun was still shockingly clear-headed. Each of his spells was extremely accurate and countered the alchemy puppets perfectly. It was as if he had turned into an extremely precise machine, barely surviving in the face of such a dangerous situation.

'Ten more minutes!' When the fight reached the hour mark, Lin Yun's consciousness was already turning fuzzy. What supported Lin Yun at the time was the fact that the 2nd Magic Array was on the verge of completion.

The last part had just been completed, and a brand new Magic Array had already been formed in Lin Yun's body. What he needed now was to activate this Magic Array.

Lin Yun fiercely gripped the Spiritual Magic Staff as a huge flood of mana poured into him, causing a shock that made him slightly feel the effect of a magic backlash. After suppressing that backlash by relying on his impressive control, the 2nd Magic Array within Lin Yun slowly activated due to the mana shock.

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Chapter 126: Runic Shock Burst

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

Lin Yun felt a power quickly grow the moment the 2nd Magic Array activated. This was the power produced by the two Magic Arrays coexisting. At this time, he could understand the size of the gap between one Magic Array and two Magic Arrays.

It could be said that Lin Yun, who had only one Magic Array before, hadn't known what a true Magic Array was.

Only now that the 2nd Magic Array was completed was he able to feel a completely new world. The mana within his body circulated between the two Magic Arrays, feeling smooth and agile. It didn't need Lin Yun to deliberately guide it as it automatically formed a nearly flawless system.

The vast majority of Great Mages had to spend a lot of effort to refine their own Magic Conducting Runes from 1st Rank to 9th Rank, seeking this limber state where mana was like a part of one's body and would move with a thought.

Lin Yun was only a 2nd Rank Great Mage now, but he had already achieved this state that many 9th Rank Great Mages couldn't even reach.

This was the power of the Magic Array…

But Lin Yun cared more about completing a Magic Array Formation at this moment.

'Finally, time to retaliate…'As the 2nd Magic Array activated, Lin Yun used Ice Elemental Incarnation and burst out with power. With the power from this form, he froze almost the entire shrine into an icy cave. The three alchemy puppets were frozen into statues by the burst of Ice Spells cast by Lin Yun.

But he knew that it wouldn't last too long.

Maybe eight or ten seconds…

They would shatter the statues soon and he would have to resume the fight with the alchemy puppets once again.

Lin Yun took advantage of this short period of respite to combine the two Magic Arrays.

Along with Lin Yun's mana surging forth crazily, the surrounding mana fluctuations became fiercer. The carved runes of the Magic Arrays began quickly fluctuating. These runes were the foundation of the Magic Array as well as the source of Lin Yun's mana.

The usual Great Mage would do their utmost to strengthen their Magic Conducting Runes to give them greater power, but what Lin Yun was doing far surpassed these Great Mages. He used the Magic Array as a medium to arrange these runes, each arrangement producing a completely new power.

But this kind of arrangement also required extreme computational ability.

Lin Yun's Magic Array had quite a few runes, and each arrangement needed many calculations, which was also the real reason there were so few Great Mages possessing a Magic Array. In this era, no Great Mage could accomplish this besides Lin Yun.

Lin Yun held the Sage Chapter in one hand and the Spiritual Magic Staff in the other. The runes flickered wildly, and a large amount of mana converged in the shrine. The swirling gales carrying along ice fragments painted the shrine into a blizzard-like world.

Lin Yun chanted a long incantation, each word filled with unfathomable power, his voice reverberating within the swirling gales. A cracking sound resounded from the three statues just as he finished his last word. The shrine shook so violently that it felt as if the prince tomb was collapsing.

At this moment, ripples could be seen with the naked eye, radiating out violently with the three statues at the center.

That was Runic Shock Burst, one of the most basic Formations of the Magic Array. At the same time, it was the strongest spell Lin Yun could currently use.

After one Runic Shock Burst, silence filled the entire place. There were no gales whistling past, no more mana fluctuations, only the frozen statues and the collapsed Lin Yun. It felt as if time had frozen.

At some point, a snapping sound echoed, breaking this strange silence.

Then, more sounds echoed as cracks started appearing on the statues. The small cracks soon spread, turning into scars, before the statues shattered into pieces.

The ice shattered into pieces, and so did the three alchemy puppets.

The Magic Weapons, Magic Armors, and even the Gold Essence frames broke into fragments due to the Runic Shock Burst.

This was the power of this new ability.

"Wha-What… What the hell was that?" This kind of power was too frightening, to the point that Shawn's voice was filled with fear.

He wouldn't be so surprised if that kind of power had come from a High Mage, but Lin Yun was obviously a Great Mage, and furthermore, a Great Mage that just reached 2nd Rank. 'How could he control such a frightening power? Such power as a 2nd Rank Great Mage… What would happen if he became a High Mage?'

Thinking about it, Shawn fell silent…

"You wouldn't understand even if I explained…" Lin Yun didn't plan on clarifying everything for Shawn. That Runic Shock Burst had already used all of Lin Yun's mana, and he even lost a few of the recently carved runes.

It couldn't be helped, as the mana consumption of Runic Shock Burst was too frightening. When Lin Yun found out that he didn't have enough mana to use, he promptly chose to sacrifice a few recently carved runes in order to close out this harsh battle.

Now, Lin Yun's 2nd Magic Array was somewhat unstable. He had no choice but to use this time to once again carve the runes that had been consumed, or else he might end up being the one to hold the shortest tenure as a 2nd Rank Great Mage in all of Noscent's history.

Fortunately, the Magic Array had formed well after Lin Yun touched the Reincarnation Eyes, so carving the runes once again took significantly less time. It took ten minutes for Lin Yun to patch this flaw. He then stood in front of the statue of the Haiba Dragon God and put his hands on the Reincarnation Eyes once again.

But his expression suddenly changed.

Because no scene appeared in his mind this time.

'What's going on?' Lin Yun frowned. 'Could this be mana-related?'

He pondered on it and felt that this was the only possible reason.

When he had touched the Reincarnation Eyes earlier, his mana reserves were full. After the battle with the three alchemy puppets, his mana reserves had been completely depleted. This seemed to be the reason that he was no longer able to activate the Reincarnation Eyes.

'In any case, I might as well try again later.'

Thus, Lin Yun thought of how he should recover his mana. He was a bit dumbfounded when he found out that his Elemental Ambers were already empty, and that he was also out of mana crystals…

Of all of his recovery methods, the only one left was the increased mana recovery speed from the Angel Potion.

Lin Yun didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

The mana recovery speed from the Angel Potion would be a welcome boost during a fight, but when trying to refill all of his mana, it could only be described as trying to put out a fire with a cup of water…

If it wasn't for Shawn's determined resistance, Lin Yun would have made him spit out the mana he had absorbed.

Lin Yun shook his head with a wry smile before suddenly noticing the remains of the three alchemy puppets.

Sure enough, Lin Yun quickly found three level 18 mana crystals among the pile of parts!

'Worthy of being a prince of the 3rd Dynasty…' Seeing these three level 18 mana crystals, Lin Yun couldn't help feeling moved.

A magic beast with a level 18 mana crystal was already an existence close to the Monarch level. If put on Thousand Sails City's market, it might sell for 3,000,000 golds or more. But in this prince's tomb, it was used as the mana source for three alchemy puppets…

Relying on these three mana crystals, Lin Yun not only recovered all of his mana, but also filled his two Elemental Ambers.

After finishing this, Lin Yun touched the Reincarnation Eyes once again.

Lin Yun then knew that his guess had been correct.

It was indeed due to mana.

The boundless scenes once again appeared in Lin Yun's mind.

A short instant was the same as a millennium.

But when Lin Yun emerged from the scene shown by the Reincarnation Eyes, he heard familiar footsteps echoing out.

"Fuck!" Lin Yun's face darkened.

Sure enough, as he cursed, the silhouettes of alchemy puppets in the shrine once again, but there were five of them this time!

There was something Lin Yun had always been curious about. Why had that Great Mage who previously used the Magic Array only managed to reach the state of having five Magic Arrays with the help of the Reincarnation Eyes?

The Reincarnation Eyes could let someone experience reincarnation over and over again in a split second. This reincarnation wouldn't do anything to an ordinary mage, but for someone possessing a Magic Array, it was a long-awaited opportunity, because each reincarnation allowed the Great Mage to accumulate many more runes within their Magic Conducting Runes. The more runes they had, the more refined the Magic Array would become.

In theory, as long as they experienced enough such reincarnations, it was completely possible to reach nine Magic Arrays, and even fuse the nine Magic Arrays into one and become a High Mage.

So why didn't that Great Mage with his Magic Arrays continue the cycle of reincarnation?

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Chapter 127: Raven Watson

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

Lin Yun now realized that alchemy puppets would most likely be drawn here every time the Reincarnation Eyes were touched, and moreover, these alchemy puppets would probably increase in number every time. It was only his second time touching the Reincarnation Eyes, yet he had attracted five alchemy puppets. Then, wouldn't there be over twenty of these puppets once he touched the Reincarnation Eyes for the tenth time?

Even if he had three or four Magic Arrays at that time, he would still have to flee in from so many of these alchemy puppets.

Moreover, Lin Yun wasn't sure that the following puppets would still be at the level of 9th Rank Great Swordsmen.

If they reached the power of High Mages, or even Archmages… Not to mention having 4 Magic Arrays, even five wouldn't be able to let him escape death.

'Thankfully, there are only five right now…'

Although there were two more than before, Lin Yun now had his 2nd Magic Array. His increase in power wasn't small. He was able to deal with the five alchemy puppets this time without too much risk.

But Lin Yun didn't dare to touch the Reincarnation Eyes again.

He didn't want to test his hypothesis just yet, but he was fairly certain that next time he touched the Reincarnation Eyes, at least seven puppets would come out. At that time, he would have to deal with seven puppets that each had the strength of a 9th Rank Swordsman. Even if he had two Magic Arrays and his 3rd Magic Array in the process of being formed, Lin Yun still felt too much pressure thinking about facing seven of them!

Fortunately, the creator of the alchemy puppets was very generous.

After Lin Yun dealt with these five alchemy puppets, he obtained five level 18 mana crystals. This was very important to Lin Yun because it gave him the ability to recover his mana, which would improve his survivability. As long as they kept supplying him, he would be able to keep fighting in this shrine for a very long time.

Moreover, Lin Yun could make use of these five mana crystals to arrange some alchemy arrays.

Although he could only craft a few relatively rudimentary alchemy arrays due to the lack of materials, no matter how rudimentary an alchemy array was, it would still give him an advantage in battle and raise his fighting power.

Moreover, the poisonous fog from the Poison Fog Canyon didn't reach this deep in the prince's tomb, so he didn't even need the Magic Spring potions. Lin Yun had a lot of time to form more Magic Arrays. So he wasn't in a hurry.

After completing all his preparations, Lin Yun also took a nap next to the altar. Once he was in peak condition, the next day, he reached out to touch the Reincarnation Eyes for the third time.

…

A month passed in a flash. Lin Yun hadn't appeared since, but the current Gilded Rose was already on the path to success. The old butler was taking care of the business plan, Faleau was in charge of the alchemy skills, and even William was there to organize the newly formed mercenary group.

Speaking of William…

That guy was doggedly hanging out at the Gilded Rose. He had ridiculed by Faleau quite a few times, but he still refused to leave.

William would sneer every time Faleau mocked him. 'You think I'm such an idiot? How many people would be given the opportunity to follow a Master Alchemist? And such a young one at that? He is definitely going to become an Artisan in the future, and at that time, if I can cling onto him, my name would definitely be recorded in history as one of his trusted aides… Leave? Only an idiot would leave…'

As for the Merlin Family, they still hadn't recalled William.

This way, William's standing in the Gilded Rose was a lot more stable. Every day he would put a lot of effort into training those fifty 5th Rank Mages. There were some unexpectedly noticeable results after a month of training. Although none of them ranked up, their fighting strength did increase by quite a bit.

Today was the same as any other day. William left for the Gilded Rose first thing in the morning after sending someone to notify the fifty 5th Rank Mages, intending to have them take care of two missions they had received from the Mercenary Guild to give them some real battle experience. A carriage parked near the entrance to the Gilded Rose.

"Business so early in the morning?" Faleau, who was nearby, looked rather pleased. After working at the Black Horn Auction House for so many years, he had some good insight. Just by looking at the decorations, he could tell that this was the carriage of a wealthy person. That kind of person could take out several hundred thousand golds casually.

"That's trouble coming to the door." William slightly paled, and his face seemed to be full of worry as he looked at the carriage.

"Cousin, you shouldn't be envious…" Faleau smiled as he brushed past William and welcomed the carriage that had stopped.

"Fuck, who is your cousin!" A vein twitched on William's head. 'Did that annoying guy eat something that went bad? He always calls me "Cousin."'

Moreover, every time Faleau addressed him as "Cousin", he was looking at him with a strange expression. As if he wasn't just calling him "Cousin", but rather addressing him with a funny nickname…

William Merlin naturally didn't know…

Every time Faleau called him "Cousin", he would think of what Boss Merlin had said: "He might have hit his head as a kid."

"Hey! Wait!" After cursing by reflex, he noticed that Faleau had already rushed to welcome the carriage. He wanted to stop Faleau from going out.

But he didn't have enough time…

Faleau just reached the side of the carriage when a huge force hit him in the chest. The young Great Alchemist was ruthlessly sent flying back into the Gilded Rose. The sound made by his heavy landing even made William feel numb.

"How is it? Are you okay?" William rushed over and carefully inspected Faleau's condition. After finding out that he had only received some shock, he took a bottle of health potion from his pocket and handed it over, not forgetting to comment, "I did warn you that this was trouble."

"Fuck…" Faleau felt as if he had been hit by a heavy hammer. His bones were all aching. He regained the strength to curse after drinking the health potion.

"If you are fine, go stand to the side. Business dropping by… Thinking yourself clever…" William dropped a few unkind sentences before exiting the Gilded Rose and stopping in front of the carriage. "Raven Watson, although you are a 9th Rank Great Mage, did you have to be so heavy-handed?"

"This is none of your business, William Merlin. He had the nerve to approach my carriage without permission." After saying this in an icy tone, a young man alighted from the carriage. He appeared to be in his late twenties and was wearing a well-tailored black robe with an exquisite silver lining on his cuffs. Just from the blazing mana fluctuations, it could be seen that it was a very rare Magic Tool.

There was also that Magic Staff embedded with a Scarlet Crystal Rock in his hands, pulsating with a mana fluctuation that seemed like it was breathing. This was definitely the sign of a Magic Tool having spirituality.

"…" William Merlin's face froze. When he saw the carriage, he knew that it was definitely Raven of the Watson Family.

Only a fool like Faleau wouldn't know the crest of the Watson Family.

A sharp sword crossing a staff.

There were no more than twenty Families and Clans in the entire Andlusa Kingdom that could use weapons as their crest.

And only the Watson Family was able to use a sword and a staff as their emblem. This was due to the fact that the Watson Family managed to have three Archmages and three Sword Saints.

This was something that even the Merlin Family couldn't do.

Among the kingdom's numerous Clans and Families, the Watson Family was considered the oldest. Their history traced back to the middle of the 3rd Dynasty.

They had many geniuses over the generations, a total of seven Archmages and Nine Sword Saints. It was even rumored that there was a senior figure from the 3rd Dynasty living in seclusion in the Watson Family territory, and that person was rumored to be a frightening existence who surpassed the Archmage realm.

In contrast, the Merlin Family was a relatively newly risen family that had begun their sharp rise after the founding of the Andlusa Kingdom. It couldn't compare to the Watson Family in terms of lifespan. But fortunately, the number of geniuses appearing among the Merlin Family's younger generations wasn't any less than the Watson Family. An Archmage would appear within each generation, which allowed them to maintain a subtle balance.

But the struggle between the two Families never stopped. After more than a thousand years, it had spread to all fields of expertise: mainly in business, politics, and territory, but also to a lesser extent in resources, talents, fame, and even at dinner parties and auctions. Whenever these two families appeared at the same location, there would be a harsh conflict.

Such as this situation, the fight over the Nether Iron Vein.

The cause was an unconfirmed plane coordinate, but it raised huge waves when these two Families participated. The Merlin Family's luck was pretty good as they obtained the news of the Nether Iron Vein first and immediately sent William over, quickly coming to an agreement with Lin Yun. Soon after, a large amount of Nether Iron Ores came into the Merlin Family's hands.

But the Watson Family had survived from the 3rd Dynasty till now, so they naturally wouldn't back down from a fight.

After the Merlin Family made a move, the Watson Family quickly reacted and sent one of their heirs, Raven, to Thousand Sails City.

Raven's status was a lot higher than William's.

He was one of the three heirs to the Watson Family, and his strength had already reached the 9th Rank of the Great Mage realm.

Just based on that knowledge, it could be said that the Watson Family was certain to get a hold of that Nether Iron Vein!

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Chapter 128: Choice

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

Sure enough, after Raven sent Faleau flying with a Tornado Impact, he directly entered the Gilded Rose.

At this time, Faleau was already sitting down on a chair. Even after he drank the health potion, the effect from the Tornado Impact had yet to dissipate. At this moment, Faleau still felt some pain in his chest and had some trouble breathing.

Raven stood in front of Faleau and looked at the young Great Alchemist with an air of condescending arrogance. "I heard you have a batch of Nether Iron Ores?"

"What? Nether Iron Ores?" Faleau naturally wouldn't willingly acknowledge this.

But this wasn't due to the previous Tornado Impact…

With Faleau's profit-seeking nature, if a business opportunity dropped by, let alone eating a Tornado Impact, he could even take slaps with a smile and still show his other cheek, reminding the other party not to forget about leaving a tip.

The problem was that Faleau didn't know what this person's goal was.

It didn't look like he was here for business, or else, would he start by beating down the seller first?

Boss Merlin wasn't here and Boss Pave had gone to Edge Rift, so in the Gilded Rose, the decision makers left were himself, followed by William.

William was unreliable, so Faleau felt that he should be extremely careful.

After Faleau's words, Raven's gaze turned icy. He raised the magic staff in his hand and a huge force fell upon Faleau. The same Tornado Impact, in the same location. Only a "bang" could be heard as Faleau was knocked off his chair and plastered against the wall.

The wooden chair split into pieces, and all that remained of it were the fragments that could be seen spread on the ground. Faleau himself felt as if a giant beast had rammed into his chest, and he immediately spat some blood.

"You have one chance left." Raven made his way through the mess in the lobby, slowly walking closer to Faleau. He pointed his staff, and an invisible power grabbed Faleau and lifted him into the air. No matter how much Faleau struggled, he couldn't free himself from that terrible binding.

"I'll ask one more time, do you have a batch of Nether Iron Ores?"

"I… I don't understand what you are saying."

"Looks like you aren't treasuring this opportunity…" An ominous glint flashed in Raven's eyes. At the same time, the gem at the top of his staff flashed and a flame rushed at Faleau's face.

This was a 3rd Tier Spell, Flame Imprint. Given Faleau's current situation, he could only stare blankly as that flame flew closer to him before it finally exploded with a bang.

Faleau initially shut his eyes in despair, but after some time, he realized that he hadn't been injured. He cautiously opened his eyes with a strange expression and noticed a pale William holding his own magic staff and channelling an Arcane Barrier.

And the one protected by that Arcane Barrier was the shocked Faleau.

At this moment, Faleau's thoughts weren't filled with joy of escaping disaster, but with a dispirited cursing. 'Fuck! I won't be able to raise my head in front of that scoundrel later…'

"Raven Watson! I advise you to leave here while you can. This isn't your Watson Family territory, it's not a place where you can act as you wish." But William was only a 5th Rank Great Mage, after all, and using an Arcane Barrier to block a 9th Rank Great Mage's Flame Imprint was a very strenuous action for him.

Just this clash was enough for William to turn pale from the exertion. Even the Magic Conducting Runes within his body showed signs of being rattled.

"With just you?" Raven glanced at William before bursting into a laugh. "If the one saying these words had been your older brother, I might have considered it. But you? William Merlin? I'll give you a piece of advice out of respect for your older brother. Leave while you can."

"You… What are you planning?"

"You should clearly understand what I am planning," Raven drawled. "I also want that Nether Iron Vein, but I'm not as generous as your Merlin Family, taking out fifty 5th Rank Mages for a business transaction. You are besmirching the reputation of Okland's Five Families…"

Raven continued while indicating Faleau. "This should be the owner of the Gilded Rose, that so-called Mafa Merlin? Say, if I let him choose between having his neck snapped or handing over the Nether Iron Vein, what do you think he will choose?"

"Mafa Merlin?" William was stunned when he heard this and then threw Faleau a pitying glance.

'Damn, who told you to keep calling me Cousin… And now here you are, getting shot while laying down…'

After sympathizing with Faleau, William was about to explain Raven's error when footsteps suddenly echoed behind him. A fierce mana fluctuation burst through the Gilded Rose's lobby.

A "bang" was heard as a Tornado Impact hit Raven's chest.

In a flash, Raven was sent flying. He was sent flying higher than Faleau had been, piercing through the ceiling before falling onto a table in the reception room on the 2nd floor.

"If I told you that you got the wrong guy, would you believe it…" Lin Yun slowly entered the Gilded Rose with a wry smile on his face as he raised his hand. A fierce mana fluctuation once again filled the room, and Raven, who had ended up on the next floor, was sucked back into the lobby. He was unable to breathe under that indescribable power, as if he had fallen into a whirlpool in the middle of the sea.

Raven's neck drew closer to Lin Yun's hand.

And Lin Yun wouldn't be courteous. He grabbed the neck of this 9th Rank Great Mage and lifted him easily, before ruthlessly smashing him on the floor.

Another loud "bang" echoed, making everyone feel numb.

Especially William. His eyes were wide open from shock.

This was a 9th Rank Great Mage…

This already far exceeded William Merlin's understanding. He was like a little kid in front of that Master Alchemist cousin of his, who seemed to be able to do just about anything he pleased with impunity. 'Wh-Wh-What kind of power is that?'

Last month, he had been slapped twice by his cousin in the Gilded Rose. Although William could admit that his strength was far behind his cousin's, at that time, he could still see that the strength of this Master Alchemist cousin was that of a Great Mage. But now, a month later, William didn't dare to make any quick judgements any more because of that power.

"Hi~ Great Mage Raven Watson, I presume." Lin Yun's stepped on Raven's face as he politely introduced himself. "Nice to meet you, I am Mafa Merlin. That's right, that Mafa Merlin who has to make a choice."

"Let… Let go." Raven's face was bloody, and he was laying down on the ground, almost unable to breathe. That Tornado Impact had nearly caved his chest in. If he hadn't sensed the mana fluctuations and been fast enough to cast an Ice Fire Shield to protect his chest, he might have already turned into a corpse.

Due to being heavily smashed into the ground afterwards, Raven could only feel like everything was spinning around him, his ears continuously ringing.

"Let go? What a good joke! You attacked one of my people in my Gilded Rose, and twice at that, and you also offered such a nice deal, yet you are asking me to let go? Do you think you are my cousin?"

"…" William inwardly scolded, 'Why am I getting shot while laying down?'

"Alright, Great Mage Raven Watson, you were looking for Mafa Merlin. I'm back, so I wonder what kind of choice you'll be giving me now?"

"Let… Let go."

"Okay…" Lin Yun noticed that stepping on Raven's face was causing that Great Mage to be unable to speak properly, forcing him to go through great effort just to squeeze out a few words, Thus, Lin Yun retracted his foot and inquired, "Can you talk now?"

After struggling up from the ground, Raven groaned, "Mafa… Mafa Merlin, I came on behalf of the Watson Family…" He subconsciously retreated, as if he wasn't standing in front of a human, but an overwhelmingly ferocious beast. After making sure that he was at a safe distance, Raven wiped the blood from his face before struggling to say, "I represent the Watson Family to present you an offer, we hope to buy the Nether Iron Vein in your hands."

"If the choice you mentioned earlier referred to this, then I can tell you right now that I choose not to sell. And not only will I not sell the Nether Iron Vein, but I also won't sell Nether Iron Ores to you either."

"You…" An angry scowl flashed on Raven's face, but it quickly disappeared because Raven suddenly recalled that the person standing in front of him was an existence even more unreasonable than himself.

Thus, Raven immediately decided to endure for now. After leaving that damned Gilded Rose, he would have his family dispatch two High Mages to see whether that damn Mafa Merlin would still dare to refuse to deal with them.

"Alright then, Great Mage Merlin…" Raven wiped a bloodstain off his face and after saying goodbye in a "regretful" tone, he planned to leave the Gilded Rose.

"Hold on…" But Lin Yun stopped him.

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