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.

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Chapter 193: Setting Off

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"You'll have to agree sooner or later," Fran sneered, before leaning against his chair and closing his eyes to rest.

"Haha…" Lys let out an awkward chuckle, but didn't leave the fireplace immediately. It was partially because of Fran's status as a disciple of Artisan Nolan, which made it so that wherever he went, he had to be respected.

Moreover, Lys was also unsure…

Merlin indeed had shown shocking skill when it came to alchemy, to the point that even Lys himself as a Master Alchemist was awed by him.

But Merlin was truly too young… He wasn't even twenty. Even if he had started studying the intricacies of alchemy at his birth, he could only have accumulated twenty years worth of knowledge. No matter how talented Merlin was, there would inevitably be some shortcomings when it came to his experience.

And cracking an array relied mostly on experience with other arrays.

It was due to this worry that Lys became so indecisive, feeling indignant about Fran's greed while having no other choice but to keep the snake at hand in case he was needed.

After all, who would dare guarantee that Merlin would definitely break the array? If Fran wasn't there and Merlin had issues cracking the array, wouldn't the joint exploration come to a halt?

Thus, Lys could only appease both sides, trying not to offend either.

"Oh right, Fran…" Lys hesitated a bit before saying, "I know of your grudges with the Merlin Family, but I hope that you can take the whole picture into account and not come into conflict with Merlin before the end of the joint exploration…"

"Conflict?" When Fran heard that, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at Lys for some time, before smiling. "No, no, there will naturally be no conflicts…."

"No, Fran, you don't understand, Merlin is different from other Great Mages…" Lys was a bit anxious, as Fran clearly wasn't listening to his words.

At this time, Lys very much wanted to tell him that there would naturally be no conflict since Merlin was someone that Star Sage Jouyi himself acknowledged as having the power of a 9th Rank High Mage… A 9th Rank High Mage facing a 5th Rank High Mage… It was like a stone facing an egg, would there be any conflict?

Unfortunately, Fran didn't pay any mind to his advice and just leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed while waving his hand at Lys. "Well, Lys, I'm a bit tired. I'll rest for now, wake me up when we have to leave…"

…

By nightfall, the leaders of the expedition had gathered. Now, the nine most powerful forces of Thousand Sails City were here. When gathered, they could be compared to powerful external forces like the Merlin Family.

At this time, these groups were coming out at full power.

Two of the three big shots of the Sage Tower had appeared along with seven Great Mages, and they promised to bring along about fifty Mages. The Silver Moon Mercenary Group was even fiercer. They brought three Expert Swordsmen, one High Mage, six Great Swordsmen, and two Great Mages, along with the whole elite Edge Rift expedition team.

The Alchemist Guild had an even more luxurious arrangement. They had one Master Alchemist and three Great Alchemists, and if the external help, Fran, was added, the line up was even more dazzling than the Sage Tower's.

The other forces such as the Viper Nest, the Black Horn Auction House, the Crystal chamber of commerce, and the Monchi Family, brought even more elites, not leaving any room for error.

It was actually the Gilded Rose who only brought two people.

One was Lin Yun, and the other was William.

But no one would dare to say that the lineup of the Gilded Rose was shabby.

The status of the Gilded Rose was too special in Thousand Sails City.

Before it had time to develop, many forces had hoped for it to go bankrupt because that would open up the alchemy market, and they all wanted a part of the profits.

But who would dare think so now?

If the Gilded Rose went bankrupt, the equipment and supplies of every organization would slowly decline over time. Others might not know, but the Silver Moon Mercenaries definitely knew that if it wasn't for the Gilded Rose supplying them with useful consumables, the casualties in their Edge Rift campaign would have at least doubled!

Even the previously hostile Monchi could only behave and reach out his hand with embarrassment from time to time, seeking some technical support.

Nothing could be done about it, as the best alchemy skills of Thousand Sails City were in the hands of the Gilded Rose. If Monchi didn't want the Twin Moons Splendor to go bankrupt, he could only reach his hand out for help and bear the humiliation. Even if he was cheated pretty badly by the old butler, it was always better than having to go bankrupt.

It could be said that although the Gilded Rose was only an alchemy store, it was counted as one of the top forces of Thousand Sails City.

And it was getting stronger and stronger…

In the past, these people could exclude the Gilded Rose from their ranks on the basis that it was weak.

But the weakness of the Gilded Rose seemed to have been fixed recently.

Many people discovered that Great Mages had started to appear within the Gilded Rose, and it wasn't just one or two, but a few dozens!

When this news spread, many leaders felt numb…

With this, along with the rumor of Lin Yun's shocking strength, most of them didn't dare to provoke the Gilded Rose.

It could now be said that the Gilded Rose had already become one of the major forces.

"Cousin, take a few Great Mages with you when leaving…" In the end, Lin Yun felt a bit embarrassed and whispered to William.

"Understood."

After the nine major forces learnt of the overall lineups, they continued with their meeting for a whole night.

An exploration of this scale was quite serious, the nine major forces of Thousand Sails City bringing out such power, along with the helper from the Mercury Tower, Fran. With the complicated relationships between everyone and the benefits to be divided up, too many things needed to be determined before setting off.

Such as the allotment of duties, the distribution of profits, and organization of the forces… Even smaller matters such as who would serve as scouts, who would be on watch duty on which nights, and who would serve as the main force depending on which circumstances. These were all decisions that needed to be taken care of before leaving, or else these would end up being timebombs that could explode during the exploration of the Vaughn "Treasury", sending them all to the afterlife.

When it came to benefits, everyone would talk without caring about others' feelings.

Even two forces who had a friendly relationship would still argue for a long time to send one more or one less person on watch duty.

Soon, the meeting sank into a slog of endless quarrels.

But fortunately, this had nothing to do with the Gilded Rose. After breaking the arrays, they would have loot priority over magic materials. The duty and the benefits of the Gilded Rose had already been negotiated beforehand. Thus, Lin Yun and William took a nap during the meeting, ignoring the squabbling between the other eight groups.

Lin Yun woke up at dawn of the next day.

"Eh, the ruckus is over?" Lin Yun got up from the bench in the corner and saw the exhausted expressions of all the leaders, their faces pale and their lips dry. Many of them looked quite haggard.

They had pulled an all-nighter and spent all that time arguing, so how could they not be in such state?

"Yes, it's all over." The one who answered was Solomon. Although the old man looked rather pale, some happiness could be heard within his voice. He should have gained a good harvest during the night.

"Looks like you were able to secure some decent terms?"

"How about I tell you on the way?"

"Ah?"

Lin Yun found out that every leader was leaving the reception room, one after the other.

As he left with Solomon, Lin Yun got more information. Everyone had to leave before noon to reach Edge Rift before nightfall. They could temporarily use the Silver Moon Mercenary Group's camp there.

Three hours later, over a dozen carriages took everyone out of Thousand Sails City, leaving a huge cloud of dust behind them as they rushed in the direction of Edge Rift.

Lin Yun sat with William. After getting on, he asked William a few questions, and after ascertaining the extent of his magical abilities, Lin Yun gave him a Meditation Law Set before closing his eyes to continue his unfinished work.

Lin Yun had already lost count of how many attempts he had made…

Failure, failure, never-ending failure… But Lin Yun didn't give up, continuously transferring all his runes to try simulating the mysterious characters of the Book of Death again and again, never losing focus despite meeting failure repeatedly.

Although the trip was boring, how could it compare to this never-ending chain of failures?

Lin Yun's mind was fully immersed in this simulation to the point that he didn't even notice that the sky had already darkened outside the carriage…

Pushing through these countless failures, Lin Yun finally saw the first opportunity for success. Several thousand runes rushed forward, forming a strange distortion as a figure that was 70% to 80% similar to the unlimited character was condensing.

Lin Yun was overjoyed and hurriedly focused on controlling the rune.

But he suddenly heard a loud sound above his head.

And with a rumble, the world seemed to shake.

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"Fuck!" Lin Yun reflexively cursed and didn't even think before casting a Flame Burst.

Lin Yun was already a peak 9th Rank Great Mage, and even for his rank, he was very powerful. It could be said that his strength had doubled after reaching his current state from the 5th rank. Even if High Mage Hoen appeared again, he wouldn't be Lin Yun's equal. From this, it could be imagined how powerful the Flame Burst that Lin Yun just cast was.

A rumble echoed as the dazzling flames of the spell spread, even causing the earth to shake.

"Who is it!?" Lin Yun then heard an utterly discomfited voice. "Fuck, whoever just tried to hit me with a sneak attack, fuck off!"

Lin Yun suddenly frowned. He opened the door to the carriage and got off.

At that time, Lin Yun discovered that the large group had already reached Edge Rift, and a camp was standing before him. From the symbols on the tents, it could be seen that this was the Silver Moon Mercenary Group's camp. Both sides of the camp were lined by precipitous mountain walls. Only one carriage could advance on the straight, narrow path, and that voice had come from the path ahead.

Lin Yun looked and found out that it was a young Mage in his late twenties. He was covered with black scorch marks, as if he had just been burnt. From the rampant mana fluctuations that he was releasing, it could be seen that he was only a 7th or 8th Rank Great Mage.

After thinking about the character that he had finally almost managed to simulate, Lin Yun glared at the flustered mage, emitting unconcealable killing intent. After having experienced countless defeats, he was disturbed by this person just as he was getting closer to success. It was obvious how angry Lin Yun would be.

Even if he would end up taking fewer detours in his later simulations after having that experience, how could he hold back the anger of being disturbed at such a critical moment?

Unfortunately, that young Great Mage didn't know that he had already stepped on a path leading to disaster.

"You people from Thousand Sails City, how could you be so shameless? If you want this Variant Beastman, then come get it through negotiation, why use such a despicable sneak attack?"

"Ah?" Lin Yun froze when he heard that. He cast a Mage Eye and found out that there was a monstrous-looking beastman not far from the young Great Mage. It looked thin and fragile, seeming far too different from the usual fierce beastmen. If not for the iconic dark red skin, Lin Yun would have never guessed that this was a beastman.

The strangest part was that this Variant Beastman was emitting an aura… It had the faint trace of Draconic power!

'Draconic Beastman?'

After feeling the faint Draconic power, Lin Yun immediately recognized it as a Draconic Beastman, one of the rumored descendants of the offspring of a Dragon and a beastman. Moreover, they couldn't emit such Draconic aura unless it was a first generation with the purest bloodline.

Draconic Beastmen were very rare.

They were born with two innate martial abilities. The Beastman bloodline granted them outstanding defenses as well as innately powerful mana, allowing them to easily reach a level comparable to that of an Expert Swordsman once they reached adulthood. If they received some martial inheritance, it wasn't impossible for them to enter the Sword Saint realm.

And their Draconic bloodline gave them shocking spellcasting abilities.

Moreover, this spellcasting ability was completely different from that of mages. This was Draconic Magic inherited from their bloodline. It was far simpler and more direct than human magic. They didn't need to study magic or remember incantations. They only needed to rely on their innate Draconic Bloodline to compare with human mages.

It was unexpected for an already captured Draconic Beastman to appear in Edge Rift.

'But didn't the method to nurture Draconic Beastmen first appear a few hundred years later, among the corpses of the ones who claimed to be descendants of Devils, after the Gaugass Battlemages were eliminated by the Black Tower?

'Could the way to nurture Draconic Beastmen have appeared earlier?'

This possibility startled Lin Yun.

But he quickly understood that he was just scaring himself.

"I must warn you that the blood of this Variant Beastman is a magic material that my teacher, Fran, personally requested. Try to steal it and see if you can handle the rage of a Master Alchemist!"

"Magic material?" Lin Yun didn't know whether to laugh or cry. 'Using the blood of a Draconic Beastman as a magic material, only an imbecile like Fran would make such a mistake.'

Half of the blood of a Draconic Beastman came from a Beastman, and half from a Dragon. It was very unstable when used as a magic material. In the entire Andlusa kingdom, perhaps only those few Artisans could control the blood of Draconic Beastmen…

As for Fran…

Maybe in his next life…

Lin Yun wasn't interested in saying anything else and directly extended his hand, releasing an immense magic power that pulled the small Draconic Beastman through the air and softly land in front of him.

Lin Yun checked it and noticed that this Draconic Beastman had been seriously injured and was unconscious. There were traces of wounds from magic attacks everywhere on his body, some burns, some frostbites, and even if they weren't fatal, they still totaled several dozens. With one look, it could be seen that he had been tortured.

After thinking about it for a bit, Lin Yun took a dagger from his pocket and made a light cut on a finger of that Draconic Beastman. A few drops of red blood fell in a test tube Lin Yun had quickly readied. Not one drop of blood was spilled.

'Sure enough, it's a Draconic Beastman' Lin Yun didn't have time to examine the blood within the test tube before the incision made by the dagger quickly healed.

Lin Yun knew that this was the powerful self-healing ability from the beastman heritage. This race living in the extreme north naturally had stronger bodies than humans.

"You dare!" After the Draconic Beastman flew away from him, the young Great Mage's anger was palpable. He didn't even stop to consider whether or not a mage that could instantly grab the "Variant" Beastman from over a dozen meters away was someone he could deal with…

The young Great Mage only knew that this was the person who had attacked him and also wrecked the task his teacher had given him.

Blinded by his anger, the young Great Mage raised his magic staff and spat out an incantation, making three Frost Spikes sail through the air, leaving a trail of frost behind them while emitting a piercing sound.

"Oh?" The instant the Frost Spikes appeared, Lin Yun looked up at them, seeming unperturbed.

But the mana fluctuations around him were seething.

The young Great Mage seemed shocked, because he clearly saw those three lightning-fast spikes stop in mid-air.

"Did you know that the Earthquake you just cast disturbed me and made me lose the opportunity to break through?"

"It did?" The ease with which he stopped the spikes had already startled the young Great Mage, but he wasn't willing to yield. "Disturb you? I don't have the time to care about that!"

"I see…" Lin Yun shook his head and remained silent.

Then, a sharp sound echoed once again…

The three Frost Spikes rotated in mid-air and flew back at an unimaginable speed. This speed was too fast, to the point that no one was able to react. The young Great Mage didn't even have the time to scream before the three Frost Spikes pierced his chest…

"You… You…" The young Great Mage stood there in a daze, blood flowing out of his wounds like water from a fountain, disbelief etched in his face, before falling down on the ground.

"Mafa Merlin!" Fran had just gotten down from his carriage.

And as a result, the drama continued.

"Mafa Merlin! You… You killed Rieser!" Rage was burning in Fran's eyes.

This was Fran's most valued disciple, in his late twenties, yet already an 8th Rank Great Mage and also a Great Alchemist on the verge of becoming a Master Alchemist. Fran had even planned on using most of his harvest from Vaughn's Treasury on this disciple to quickly let him enter the High Mage realm and Master Alchemist realm.

Fran knew that he himself wasn't innately gifted. It was already quite fortunate that he had managed to become a Master Alchemist, but he would never be able to become an Artisan. He had placed all his hopes on this disciple of his.

But now, one day away from reaching Vaughn's Treasury, his most valued disciple had been killed.

The three Frost Spikes piercing his chest also severed Fran's inheritance. For Fran, this was hatred he would never be able to quell!

"Turns out he was a disciple of Master Fran… I'm sorry, I didn't have the time to care about that…" Lin Yun softly answered.

"You didn't care about that!?" Fran stopped, his red eyes glaring at Lin Yun, wishing he could tear him into pieces at this instant.

"Yes, I just told this Great Mage Rieser that his Earthquake spell disturbed me and made me lose the opportunity to achieve a breakthrough. He answered that he didn't have time to care about it." Lin Yun didn't back down and matched his gaze.

"Even if Rieser disturbed you, how could you kill him for an insignificant breakthrough opportunity?" Fran answered in his rage.

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Chapter 195: Time Hand

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"An insignificant breakthrough opportunity?" Lin Yun was so angry that he let out a somewhat manic laugh as he said this.

Even Lin Yun couldn't comprehend the characters of the Book of Death or the power they contained.

After cracking the unlimited character, Lin Yun understood that he had been walking on a thorny path filled with danger. At the end of that path was a world that no mage had ever seen before, whether in the past or the future…

Lin Yun didn't know what that world would look like, nor did he know if he would be able to step into that world…

But he knew that the key to reaching it was merging the mysterious characters with his Magic Arrays.

Lin Yun had just seen a shadow of that critical key, but he had been interrupted by the hot-headed Rieser…

And that opportunity was dismissed as "insignificant" by Fran…

Lin Yun really wanted to ask, 'If that opportunity was so insignificant, then can you give me a few of them?'

"Variant Beastman?" As Lin Yun didn't know whether to laugh or cry, Fran's sight fell on the Draconic Beastman, and his original anger turned to greed. "Turns out you killed Rieser for that Variant Beastman, you are quite vicious, Merlin…"

"…" Lin Yun was speechless.

"You are quite daring, Mafa Merlin, killing is one thing, but lying to cover it up…"

The fleet of carriages had already stopped. Many of the leaders had heard the argument between the two and were coming out from their carriages to nervously watch this scene.

"Everyone, everyone from Thousand Sails City, look at this! This is Mafa Merlin from the Gilded Rose, the one who claimed to be able to crack all the arrays from the Vaughn Treasury, but he did such a nauseating thing on the way! For a Variant Beastman, he killed my disciple Rieser, and still dared to blame him for disturbing his breakthrough!" Seeing the opportunity, Fran raised his voice.

"Leader Monchi, you come say something. Does this kind of person have the qualifications to join this exploration?"

Fran managed to find Monchi among these leaders.

Fran knew of the bad relationship between Monchi and the Gilded Rose. The Twin Moons Splendor and the Gilded Rose were enemies that couldn't co-exist. By calling Monchi out there, Fran wanted to pull him to his side.

Fran felt that as long as Monchi wasn't a fool, he should know which side to choose.

Doing this was equivalent to extending an olive branch. As long as he was willing to grab it, he would have the opportunity to develop a relationship with the Mercury Tower. With that, defeating the Gilded Rose and gaining a monopoly on the alchemy market of Thousand Sails City wouldn't be impossible.

Unfortunately, Monchi didn't share the same opinion.

He was already cursing Fran and Fran's ancestors in his mind. 'Bastard, did I kill your father or your son? Why would you try to draw me into this? Thousand Sails City's nine forces are here, you could have chosen anyone, so why did you choose me? Do you hate me?

'…It's no good, I have to save myself, I can't fall in that bastard's trap.'

"Erm, Master Fran, those of us from Thousand Sails City all know how Mafa Merlin conducts himself, it is strange for something like that to happen. Did you carefully investigate?" Monchi put in a good word for Merlin while feeling as if his heart was bleeding.

In reality, Monchi very much wanted to agree with Fran and try to kick Mafa Merlin out of this expedition and make him a public enemy in Thousand Sails City.

But he didn't dare.

The Monchi Family couldn't afford to offend him.

The average person might think that the Gilded Rose was just an alchemy store and that no matter how wealthy and powerful it was, it wouldn't be able to influence Thousand Sails City.

And as one of the oldest families of Thousand Sails City that had been through a dozen generations, how could it be that the Monchi Family couldn't afford to offend a mere alchemy store?

But Monchi clearly knew that this was beyond the Monchi Family.

The rise of the Gilded Rose was too abnormal.

It could be seen from the attitude of the Sage Tower.

At the start, the Sage Tower would never haggle over prices with the Gilded Rose, and whatever price the Gilded Rose offered would be the price they paid.

But now, the two sides would often argue to the point of being flushed with anger over just dozens of golds. Table flipping and glass breaking would be a frequent matter. Monchi even heard rumors that there were even some instances of them almost coming to blows.

Some said with certainty that this was a sign that the relations between the two groups had worsened and that it was time for the Monchi Family to counterattack!

Unfortunately, Monchi knew that this wasn't their relationship worsening, this was only the Sage Tower changing their attitude.

In the past, the Sage Tower had acted like a big brother helping its little brother. 100,000 golds, 80,000 golds, it didn't matter to the Sage Tower. But it wasn't the same now, because the Sage Tower was already considering the Gilded Rose as a major force like themselves. Since they had the same status, they had to do things in a strict businesslike manner even for dozens of golds… No, even for a small handful of golds!

Since that was the attitude of the Sage Tower, how could the other forces dare to provoke the Gilded Rose?

The current Gilded Rose had already joined the ranks of the top forces of Thousand Sails City.

It was especially clear to Monchi after he saw Star Sage Jouyi's simulation of that battle between Merlin and High Mage Hoen. He no longer dared to have any designs on Merlin after that…

"Leader Monchi, you are colluding with Merlin!" Fran became hostile faster than the turn of a page. Seeing that Monchi wouldn't stand with him, he berated him out of self-righteousness.

"…" Monchi's mood plummeted as he thought, 'Fran, so that's how it'll be… Since you can't pull me in, you are smearing my name! Good, you aren't the only one that can use this move!'

"Master Fran, I just heard people say that it was your disciple Rieser that made the first move. Are you saying that if a disciple of a Master Alchemist of the Mercury Tower is in the wrong, Mafa Merlin cannot defend himself?"

"Nonsense!"

"Whether it's nonsense or not, wouldn't you understand if you asked others?"

Seeing that he couldn't get anything out of him, Fran coldly snorted and aimed at Lin Yun once again. "Mafa Merlin, regardless of the reason, it's a fact that you killed Rieser. As Rieser's teacher, I have to avenge him. I'll give you two choices. Kill yourself as an apology to Rieser, or fight me in a fair fight."

"…"

When they heard Fran's words, everyone from Thousand Sails City felt like spitting…

'Choice? What kind of choice is that! A High Mage challenging a Great Mage, and you dare to use the words "fair fight"…'

Fran seemed to know that the words "fair fight" were inappropriate and thus immediately started moving his mana before he could be ridiculed.

"Time Hand, that's Time Hand!" the Viper Nest's Bell couldn't help exclaiming the moment he saw those mana fluctuations.

Indeed, Fran's mana fluctuations formed some sort of visible aura and a faint hourglass could be seen condensing above his head. This was the sign of the Mercury Tower's strongest Magic Conducting Rune, the Time Hand.

Let alone Bell, even Solomon couldn't help frowning…

"Mercury Tower's most powerful Magic Conducting Rune" wasn't an empty title. When he was still in the Cloud Tower, Solomon had already seen its might. Even if it wasn't really related to the Time Law, its frightening casting speed was enough to give any mage a headache.

It was even said that a mage with Time Hand could cast spells twice as fast as a mage without it.

Fran might be a 5th Rank High Mage, but with this special Magic Conducting Rune, his true power might be comparable to that of an 8th Rank or 9th Rank High Mage.

"Merlin…" Solomon glanced anxiously at Lin Yun.

Solomon was planning to step in and help out. With his strength as a 9th Rank High Mage, there wouldn't be any problem. At that time, he could force Fran to stop causing problems for Merlin and this conflict would end here for now.

"Rest assured…" But before Solomon could say any more, Lin Yun shook his head. "But that's the Time Hand," he continued. How could Solomon be at ease?

"I know, Time Hand." After saying this, Lin Yun slowly walked forward. "Master Fran, you should have come out to stand up for your disciple faster, and honestly, you talk too much…"

"Good, good, good…" Lin Yun's tone thoroughly angered Fran. The 5th Rank High Mage fumed as his mana fluctuations rose up, and the hourglass above his head quickly rotated as a spell was immediately cast.

It was fast, very fast.

Everyone felt the power of Time Hand. Fran was able to cast spells far too quickly, at a speed even beyond their expectations. Lava Bursts were cast one after the other, turning an area of a few dozen meters into a field of magma and flames. He immediately followed this by making Frost Lances fall like rain as if they didn't need casting, sealing Lin Yun's way out.

Only sharp sounds could be heard in the air as over a dozen Frost Lances were shot at almost the same time…

None of the mages present were weak, with the lowest ranked mage being a 5th Rank Great Mage. But seeing Fran's heaven-defying casting speed made all these people pale in surprise. This was the might of one of the peak Magic Conducting Runes, and it was overwhelming…

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Chapter 196: Two Choices

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

In contrast, the response on Lin Yun's side could be said to be quite conforming with the norms. A Freeze spell froze the flowing magma while two lights, one red and one blue, coiled around him to form an Ice Fire Shield, which appeared just in time to intercept the Frost Lances…

But how could a possessor of Time Hand stop there? Just as the Frost Lances shot out, Fran was already starting his next incantation for Fire Dragon Roar, one of the most time-consuming incantations among the 6th Tier Spells, specialized in breaking through all protective spells. Let alone an Ice Fire shield, even a Runic Shield might not be able to hold, depending on the difference between the mana of both sides.

But the incantation of Fire Dragon Roar was too long…

Although every mage knew that the spell was very useful for breaking magical defenses, no mage would choose that spell in a duel, because time wouldn't allow for it. The enemy could use the casting time to cut the caster's throat with a simple Wind Blade.

But Fran didn't seem to have an issue showing the might of Fire Dragon Roar.

This was the advantage brought by Time Hand.

While the Ice Fire Shield crazily rotated to block the Frost Lances, one-third of Fran's incantation was already finished, and the Runic Shield he had prepared hadn't even been needed yet.

In other words, the Fire Dragon Roar was almost certain to be completed.

At this time, Solomon was ready to cast a Counterspell to stop it. When Fran completed his Fire Dragon Roar, he would use his power as a 9th Rank High Mage to forcibly suppress the mana and extinguish the Fire Dragon Roar. Otherwise, Merlin wouldn't be able to block the spell, even if he had ten Ice Fire Shields.

Fran chanted faster and faster, and the surrounding fire elements were roused, making the air around gradually start burning. All the onlookers stopped breathing, knowing that the spell would be completed in a split second.

When Lin Yun's Ice Fire Shield intercepted the last Frost Lance, he seemed to be on the verge of collapse.

But strangely, despite his Ice Fire Shield being nearly broken, Lin Yun didn't seem to panic when he heard Fran's incantation. He gently held his Spiritual Magic Staff and began a quick and hurried incantation.

'How could he try to chant a spell at this time?'

A few Great Mages who were watching inwardly scolded, 'The Fire Dragon Roar is almost complete, yet you are just leisurely chanting a spell. Using Fire Elemental Incarnation would be a good choice as it would at least raise your fire resistance, increasing your chances of surviving the impact…'

'Hold on, this incantation, these mana fluctuations, why does it feel like dejà vu?'

"Fire Dragon Roar!" Solomon was the first to react.

Indeed, Lin Yun was actually chanting the incantation for Fire Dragon Roar.

'Crazy!'

At this time, Solomon didn't care about his status and immediately got ready to cast his Counterspell.

But just as he was about to cast it, he felt something wrong. Why was the casting speed of these two so different?

'No, no, Fran with his Time Hand isn't the faster one.'

Solomon's eyes widened in surprise as the dazzling flames soared up and turned into a flaming Dragon that burned at a heaven-destroying temperature. He bared his flaming fangs as he pounced forward.

That was Lin Yun's Fire Dragon Roar!

It was as if time froze. Everyone stood there in a daze, looking at the flaming Dragon suddenly appearing, looking at the raging flames knocking against the Runic Shield, watching the gorgeous magical runes surging…

In the end, they watched as Fran was sent flying like a cannonball.

All the onlookers were frozen stiff, standing still like statues, disbelief written all over their faces. It truly felt like they were in a dream. No one had expected that this battle would end up with such a dramatic outcome.

A Great Mage had cast Fire Dragon Roar…

Moreover, he had cast it at least twice as fast as Fran, despite the latter possessing the Time Hand Magic Conducting Rune.

What kind of situation was this?

It wasn't just the people of Thousand Sails City that couldn't understand. Even Fran, who had experienced everything himself, couldn't understand.

The Runic Shield had absorbed most of the damage from the Fire Dragon Roar, but to Fran, who didn't have a strong body, just one-tenth of that power was something he couldn't handle.

Over half of his mage robe had burnt due to the high temperature, and the powerful impact had broken half of his ribs. It could be said that Fran was quite helpless now. The only thing he could do was watch as the young Great Mage slowly walked over…

"You… How could that be…" Fran wanted to get up, but he immediately spat blood due to his injuries.

"Master Fran, take a rest. Talking too much isn't good for you." Lin Yun walked over to Fran and stepped on his head, pressing it into the sandy soil.

Fran let out painful yelps as he tried to struggle for his life. But what force could he muster with his serious injuries? Besides making him look like an ostrich, struggling didn't have any meaning…

"But you were right about one point. I didn't learn any courtesy from studying under Seth…"

After saying that, Lin Yun didn't care about the dullard anymore and directly returned to his carriage with the Draconic Beastman.

"Cousin, give me two Health Potions."

"Eh…" William promptly fished two potions from his pocket, but after seeing the state of the weak Draconic Beastman, he couldn't help asking, "But his injuries are so heavy, would Health Potions have any effect?"

"Don't worry about it." Lin Yun wasn't worried at all. This was a Draconic Beastman, holder of two bloodlines, the Beastman bloodline and the Draconic bloodline. His recuperative ability was something humans couldn't imagine.

And sure enough, after receiving the two Health Potions, the Draconic Beastman moved a bit. His fingers twitched twice before his eyes slowly opened.

But then, a roar echoed.

Before William could react, the Draconic Beastman had sprung up, his dark red arm moving like a viper as he grabbed William's neck.

"Who are you?" These words were spoken in Beastman Language.

"Let… Let… Let go!" William's face was pale. The dark red arm was like a pair of iron pliers slowly tightening, making it difficult for him to breathe. "Cousin… Cousin, save me…"

"Let him go." Lin Yun spoke in Beastman Language.

"Tell me who you are or I'll kill him!" The Draconic Beastman remained unmoved as his grip tightened on William's neck, an ominous glint flashing in his eyes.

"Forget it…" Lin Yun gave up on communicating because the Beastman was too agitated, so he raised one finger, casting a Flame Shackle.

In a flash, the Flame Shackle tightened around the arm of the Draconic Beastman, making the latter shriek from the shockingly high temperature. Just as he let go of William, he struggled with all his might to try to break free of the binding of the Flame Shackle.

But how could he break free from a Flame Shackle cast by Lin Yun?

The Flame Shackle was like a python. The more the Draconic Beastman struggled, the tighter it became.

The Draconic Beastman had just woken up from being unconscious, so he was originally at his weakest. There was no need to mention the result of being bound by a Flame Shackle cast by Lin Yun. It was only a short time before he fell to the ground, with burn marks appearing on the dark red skin. Besides grunting in pain, he didn't have the strength to do anything else.

"I told you to let me go…" William massaged his neck and kicked the Draconic Beast to alleviate some of his bad mood. 'Damn, that's the outcome of doing a good deed? If I had known earlier, I would never have taken out those two bottles of Health Potions…'

Lin Yun waved his hand and scattered the Flame Shackle. "Okay, William, give him two more Health Potions."

"Ah?"

"I need to ask him some things."

"Okay…" William begrudgingly took another two Health Potions from his pocket.

After drinking the potions, the injuries caused by the Flame Shackle disappeared from the Draconic Beastman's body, but this time, he didn't make any aggressive moves.

The power that the human mage had displayed had already left a deep shadow in his heart. He even had a feeling that if he tried to resist once again, that mage would kill him without hesitation.

"Listen, I'll ask you a few questions. You only have five seconds to think. If I don't obtain a satisfactory answer or if I feel that you are lying, I'll gift you with two choices: lay down on a refining table as I dissect you, or be turned into magic materials."

"What if he doesn't understand Common Language?" William curiously asked.

Lin Yun thought for a moment before answering, "Then he is useless."

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Chapter 197: The Rats Among Beastmen

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

The Draconic Beastman slightly drew back, fear showing in his eyes…

"Okay, first question, your name."

"Xiuban, Sir, my name is Xiuban Uranus!" The Draconic Beastman indeed knew Common, but his accent was quite heavy so it was hard to understand him.

"Uranus? So it truly was a Highland Beastman," Lin Yun mumbled to himself. Uranus was a typical name used by the Highland Beastman family. They lived in the Dark Highlands for generations and their dark red skin and pale stature were the most obvious signs.

"Sir, you… you know about Highland Beastmen?" The Draconic Beastman was clearly shocked.

"Of course I know…" Lin Yun's lips twitched. 'How could I not know about Highland Beastmen, I even know that you guys are called the rats among Beastmen. For countless years, the two major powers of the Dark Highlands used nearly every derogatory term to describe you: scoundrels, despicably shameless, the ones who take advantage of the situation, the adulterous ones, the petty filth… Such an ear-piercing reputation, how could I not know…'

"Second question, why are you in Edge Rift."

But as a result of this question, Xiuban suddenly started wailing…

"Sir, please help, please help…" Xiuban held onto Lin Yun's legs while rubbing his teary face on the brand new robe. He wept as he complained, "I… I was caught by these Sharp Edge Trolls, Sir, help me, help me! Those damn Sharp Edge Trolls killed my seven younger brothers and eight younger sisters… It'll be my turn soon. Thankfully Sir appeared. If you can send me back to the Dark Highlands, our tribe will be grateful to you…"

"Will they now? Wouldn't they use stone axes and stone spears to show their appreciation?" Lin Yun kicked the Draconic Beastman. "Say, Where is the Edge Rift's Troll's Ancestral Tool?"

"Ancestral Tool?" Xiuban froze when he heard those words and immediately retreated a few steps, a vigilant expression on his face. "What Ancestral Tool?"

"Looks like you don't want to talk…" Lin Yun smiled. He didn't ask anything else as he took out a potion from his pocket. "Drink it."

After grabbing the bottle, the Draconic Beastman subconsciously asked, "What is it?"

"Sleeping potion, one bottle can make you sleep for eight hours. During these eight hours, you won't feel any pain, even as I dissect you."

"…" The Draconic Beastman held his breath, his hands shaking as he threw the potion back as if it wasn't a potion, but rather a viper.

"I'll ask again, where is the Troll's Ancestral Tool. I have a dozen of ways to force you to drink this potion if your answer is still unsatisfactory."

"On… On me."

"Good." Lin Yun smiled with satisfaction and extended his hand. "Hand it over."

"This is something that it took me a lot of effort to get…" Xiuban unwillingly fished a necklace from his pocket. The necklace was made out of the teeth of various kinds of beasts. There seemed to be thirty to forty of them, and when Lin Yun held that necklace, he seemed to hear a rumbling sound, as if countless beasts were running in a forest, as if the souls of countless beasts were howling in grief.

Lin Yun knew that this was the power of this necklace. He shook his head and put the necklace away in his pocket while kicking Xiuban to the side. "You spent a lot of effort stealing it…"

"Finding it is different from stealing…" The Draconic Beastman mumbled.

But Lin Yun wasn't paying attention to him at this time. He poured mana into the Soul Walker. "Lord Shawn, I'll hand it over to you."

"Who did you cheat this time?" Lord Shawn's half material, half immaterial silhouette gradually appeared in the carriage. His voice sounded even lazier than before, completely different from that time in the prince tomb.

In Shawn's words, this was the indolent temperament that would naturally develop by being a superior lifeform.

When he signed the contract with Lin Yun, Shawn was still unwilling. He had felt that in any case, a Great Mage would never be able to support a True Spirit Magic Tool.

But he had never expected that the ability of that Great Mage would far exceed what he could have imagined. From their contract till now, he had never cut Shawn's mana supply, and he even cut a deal not long ago in which he had obtained a few dozen Spirit mana crystals.

It was then that Shawn finally believed in the words the Human had used at the start; he would truly have the chance to recover to his peak in this Human's hands. And although he was still showing the same arrogance as before, when Lin Yun asked him to write a contract, he would always do his work properly.

Of course, Shawn was dissatisfied right now, because the one being deceived this time was a mere Beastman!

'Damn, Beastmen have low IQ, why does he still need Lord Shawn?'

Lord Shawn thought for a bit before taking the piece of paper from Lin Yun's hands. He stretched out his claws and quickly wrote a very harsh servant contract.

Lin Yun took the contract and looked at it. He had no choice but to admire Shawn's progress.

"Xiuban, is it…" Lin Yun forced a friendly smile while placing the slave contract in front of Xiuban. "We Humans are different from you Beastmen. We believe in fair trade. I just saved you from the hands of a vile mage earlier, so in exchange, you will sign this slav… ahem, sign this contract…"

"Si… Sir, please let me off…" Xiuban started shaking when he saw the countless runes on the paper.

'How could I sign something I don't understand?'

"Of course, if you don't agree, nothing can be done about it. You can give up some organs in exchange. I've always wanted to research the difference between the hearts of Beastmen and Humans. Oh, right, the kidneys are also an option, I might be able to crack the secrets of Beastmen's low fertility. You might become a Hero among Beastmen then, as someone who gave up their kidneys to help an entire race prosper. This is a huge contribution too…"

Xiuban paled when Lin Yun started talking about organs. And when he mentioned kidneys, Xiuban almost went crazy…"

"I'm signing!"

…

The sky slowly darkened. Lys had already sent someone to notify them that the troops would rest and reorganize in the Silver Moon Mercenary camp. But William and Merlin were mages, so they were used to replacing sleep with meditation, and thus the two didn't leave the carriage and only underwent deep meditation.

But before going into deep meditation, Lin Yun let out the Upper Rank Flame Spirit, Syudos.

As for Xiuban…

Xiuban proved that the Highland Beastmen were indeed the rats of the Beastmen, they were truly untrustworthy.

At first, Xiuban was still apprehensive and hid in a corner of the carriage, afraid that this sinister Human would find a way to torture him, but after almost an hour, Xiuban found out that Lin Yun's eyes had remained closed all along.

Xiuban suddenly recalled something. 'Could it be the meditation state the Elders talked about?'

He then started thinking back on their words. To a mage, meditation was like entering their own spiritual world. Although Xiuban didn't know what a spiritual world was, it seemed that it should be a state where they wouldn't be disturbed.

With that in mind, Xiuban decided to probe things a bit.

At first, Xiuban pretended to be careless and touched the door to the carriage, making some slight noise. But after a few times, Xiuban found that this sinister Human Mage truly didn't react. He inwardly smirked and got up, taking two steps in the spacious carriage.

'Haha, still no reaction!'

At that time, Xiuban grew more courageous…

The Draconic Beastman sneakily moved to the door before quietly opening it…

The air of freedom was truly great, and the outside world was very vast….

Xiuban felt that this was his best chance to flee. The sinister Human Mage and that slow companion of his had definitely entered some sort of meditative state. If he didn't flee now, then when would he?

As for the flames the Human had released…

Xiuban knew about it, as he had seen many Human Mages cast this kind of illumination in the Dark Highlands, it should be called Light, or maybe Bright?

In any case, it was a harmless spell…

The carriage's door was pushed out little by little. Xiuban's feet were on the ledge. With just a light jump, he would be able to breathe the air of freedom. Thinking of this, the Draconic Beastman got impatient. One foot rushed towards the ground…

But it was followed by a scream…

In that split second, Xiuban felt his soles burning. With one look below he could see that the ground had turned into lava. Fortunately, the Draconic Bloodline Xiuban considerable resistance to fire, making it so that the lava was only burning him rather than anything worse.

The Draconic Beastman was horrified and quickly lifted his foot.

But there was not enough time.

Just as Xiuban let out a blood-curdling scream, the ball of flames that he had thought was a Light spell had already transformed into Flame Shackles, quickly coiling around and bundling the Draconic Beastman.

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Chapter 198: Whipping

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"Want to run?" Syudos didn't know how much he had struggled after being suppressed by the Blood Binding. At first, he was still able to breathe in the Magic Arrays, but when Lin Yun advanced to become a 9th Rank Great Mage, Syudos' temper completely disappeared…

The power of nine Magic Arrays completely pressured Syudos to the point where he couldn't stand up anymore. He could only let Lin Yun flatten him, and thus, Syudos spent his days in the dark, unable to resist.

Today was the first time Lin Yun released Syudos, and he finally had the opportunity to feel some happiness by making someone else suffer, so how could Syudos be kind to Xiuban?

"Good, even I can't get away, so how could you dare run?"

The Flame Shackle flashed and coiled around Xiuban. The shockingly high temperature made Xiuban scream.

"I only wanted to breathe the air outside! I swear I didn't think of running!" The Draconic Beastman looked as if he was drowning, waving his hands wildly.

But no matter how much he struggled, how could he escape Syudos? He was a genuine Upper Rank Flame Spirit. His Human Incarnation form already had the strength of a peak 9th Rank High Mage. And now that he was appearing in his Flame Spirit form, his power was on the level of an Archmage.

Xiuban was a 9th Rank Great Swordsman at best, and one who hadn't received any martial training. In Syudos' eyes, he was no different from an ant.

"Lord Syudos said that you wanted to run, you don't dare to acknowledge it?" The Flame Spirit was unable to restrain his anger and directly dangled Xiuban on the carriage, hurling raging Flame Shackles at him.

After whipping him over a hundred times, Syudos had vented some anger and felt better as he watched the blood dripping down from Xiuban's lacerated flesh. "I shall see if you still dare to run!"

"No more… I don't dare…" The Draconic Beastman sat down in a corner of the carriage after being freed from the Flame Shackles. He was in a very pitiful state while inwardly cursing, 'Fuck, I'm not crazy enough to go for another beating…'

"Count yourself clever," Syudos coldly snorted before transforming back into a ball of fire floating in the spacious carriage.

But Xiuban didn't dare to think that this was a harmless Light spell anymore. Syudos' lesson had almost caused the Draconic Beastman to lose his life. He didn't dare to move for the rest of the night, and each time he looked at that ball of flame, he would feel a chill in his heart.

Lin Yun recovered from his state of meditation at dawn. He took a glance at the Xiuban in the corner and saw the countless burnt marks. Lin Yun naturally understood what had happened.

"Slept well?"

"Slept very well, very well…" The Draconic Beastman's tears flew down, and he had no choice but to squeeze out a stiff smile.

"Looks like you got along with Syudos…" Lin Yun smiled and withdrew the Upper Rank Flame Spirit. He then took out a palm-sized hand-crossbow from his pocket. "I still have to research that beast-tooth necklace and can't return it to you for the time being, so you can use this hand-crossbow for now…"

"Ah?"

"Ah what? Don't mess with it, it's poisonous…"

"You are really giving it to me?" Xiuban naturally knew that it was poisonous. One of the reasons the Highland Beastmen were known as the Rats of the Beastmen was that apart from their legendary poor ethics, they were very good at using poison. From the most common Fighter to the immoral Elders, they were all experts with poisons. As for the Witch Doctors who were regarded as the souls of the Highland Beastmen tribes, they had been exposed to poison since birth. Every drop of their blood would carry intense toxicity.

How could Xiuban, who had been born in a Highland Beastmen tribe, not recognize that this hand-crossbow used poison?

The problem was that the poison was too toxic…

Xiuban only needed to smell it from a distance to know that the toxicity of that hand-crossbow could instantly kill a magic beast over level twenty. The most frightening part was that this hand-crossbow itself carried very powerful magic properties. It could be considered as a perfect combination of poison and magic enchantment. There was even some spirituality coming from the hand-crossbow. Just by holding it in his hand, Xiuban felt incredibly powerful.

Xiuban even felt that he could defeat an Expert Swordsman without any problem.

"Wh… Why?" A shocked expression appeared on Xiuban's dark red face.

"Country bumpkin, do you know what contract you have signed?" Lin Yun didn't have time to say anything before Lord Shawn's voice was transmitted out loud from his ring. "You actually signed a total of seven clauses. Don't even ask about the details, you only need to know this, you already sold every part of your body to Merlin. In other words, ever since you signed that contract, you became Merlin's personal belonging. How could Merlin not be generous when it comes to protecting his personal belongings?"

"…" The Draconic Beastman's face paled. He looked at the hand-crossbow, then at the calm Merlin.

"Private belonging is a bit too excessive, there is a better way to put it…" Lin Yun conscientiously thought for a bit, before asking the Draconic Beastman, "Do you think being a pet sounds better?"

"…"

After breakfast, the expedition left the Silver Moon Mercenary camp. They walked on the rugged path for two days. The path from Thousand Sails City to the Four Seasons Canyon would take five days. During that boring journey, the leaders of the nine forces would visit each other to chat.

And Lin Yun's carriage was the one that was disturbed the most.

Besides Solomon, Cadgar, and other acquaintances, some unfamiliar leaders also used various excuses to board Lin Yun's carriage, talking about nonsense such as the weather that day, before politely returning to their own carriage, wasting time like that for two days in a row.

But it was also strange.

Lin Yun, who was always stingy about time, was like a completely different person for these two days. He would politely receive these people every day, entertain them, and politely see them off. Because Lin Yun knew that these people came to show their attitude towards him. If he didn't see them, they might actually feel insecure and wonder if they had done something wrong. They might even worry about the Gilded Rose's retaliation. And if they were courageous enough, they might take a risk out of desperation even if they ended up suffering from it.

Thus, for these two days, regardless of whether he was busy or not, Lin Yun took some time to chat with the other leaders for a bit. The contents of the discussions didn't matter. What mattered was that they were building relationships.

After two days, almost all the influential people had come to talk with Lin Yun. The only one who hadn't come was Fran.

Nothing could be done about it, as Fran simply couldn't come. That Fire Dragon Roar had almost killed Fran. Although potions had been used to recover his injuries, psychological wounds couldn't be healed so easily.

On that day, Lin Yun had stomped Fran's head into the sand in front of everyone.

Fran was like a zombie after suffering from such humiliation. If it wasn't because of his desire to still explore the Vaughn "Treasury", Fran would have already rushed back to the Mercury Tower instead of remaining with the joint exploration team and being pointed out by people.

After leaving the Silver Moon Mercenary camp, Fran remained in his carriages for two days on the basis that his wounds had yet to recover. Lys thought that this couldn't continue, so after dinner, he took a potion for curing burns and visited Fran.

"Hey, I did advise you…" Lys looked at Fran and saw that his injuries had already recovered and understood that he had only been hiding in the carriage out of shame.

But hiding wasn't a good solution.

'We will soon arrive at the Four Seasons Canyon, if you don't come out of the carriage as the help sent by the Mercury Tower, how are you supposed to get a share?

'Moreover, who was to blame? You are the one who wanted to seek revenge for Rieser, you are the one who wanted a fair fight, and you even made the first move. Who else can you blame other than yourself? Blame Merlin for being too strong? Blame Merlin for being able to cast spells so quickly? Blame Merlin for stomping your head on the sand? Aren't you the one making trouble for no reasons?'

"It's okay, Lys, you don't have to say anything else, I won't let Mafa Merlin get away with this." As Fran recalled the humiliation of that day, his eyes filled with hatred. Even as he looked at Lys, a faint hostility could be seen.

The other reason Fran didn't return to the Mercury Tower was his desire to retaliate. Fran even looked forward to the joint exploration team arriving at the Four Seasons Canyon and entering the Vaughn "Treasury" in advance…

He believed that this was the best place to enact his revenge.

'Aren't you powerful, Mafa Merlin? Let's check if that is truly the case in the Vaughn Treasury. The treasury of the last Artisan of the 3rd Dynasty, that is a field for alchemy. I don't believe that I, Fran, someone who became a Master Alchemist a decade ago, won't be able to handle you, Mafa Merlin…

'I'll let you know how serious the consequences of insulting a Master Alchemist are…'

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Chapter 199: Low Odds

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"Hey…" Lys couldn't help sighing again. Fran clearly didn't want to let it go. If he couldn't change his mind, the two would fight sooner or later. Moreover, the fight would most likely happen in the Vaughn "Treasury", which would implicate Lys as well…

Lys and Fran were old friends. They already knew each other when they were just Great Alchemists, so how could Lys not know of Fran's temperament? If he was in a good mood, then he would clearly differentiate between gratitude and grudges, while if he was in a bad mood, he would definitely retaliate with interest. That day, Merlin had stomped his head into the ground in front of many people. This was incredibly humiliating, and with Fran's temperament, he would definitely fight Merlin to the last breath.

Usually, Lys would try to persuade Lin Yun and have the young Great Mage apologize to Fran, effectively making the problem disappear. This would be the perfect option…

The problem was that Lys didn't dare to do so…

Lys clearly knew that Merlin wasn't the type of person to lower his head.

He had paid attention to this young Great Mage for a while, and from the guild's hearing concerning the Hope Potion to this joint exploration, Lys had never seen that person yield. He didn't even give others the opportunity to yield, crushing them completely and slapping their faces and destroying their reputation, without making a single miscalculation. It was to the point that Lys himself wondered if his next step would be to slap an Archmage…

Moreover, Lin Yun's importance in the joint exploration was a lot higher than Fran's. Let alone breaking the arrays, the key was that Merlin's combat power was terrifying. The fight against Fran two days ago clearly showed that point. Merlin's current fighting prowess might be already comparable to Solomon's.

So comparing all this, it was naturally more worthwhile to make Fran lower his head…

After all, aside from the fact that he was a friend of Fran, this Master Alchemist was serving as a backup in this joint exploration. If Merlin met difficulties breaking the arrays, Fran could supplement the effort, that was all.

Unfortunately, Fran never expected that his position in Lys' eyes had been demoted to being a mere reserve unit.

"That Mafa Merlin was definitely prompted by his family to humiliate me. I must let Teacher Nolan know of the sinister intentions of the Merlin Family after going back…"

"Fran… As far as I know, Mafa Merlin doesn't have a close connection with the Merlin Family…" Lys couldn't stand it anymore. The 9th Rank High Mage of the Cloud Tower took his disciple, Leon Merlin, to the Gilded Rose, but Sauss, Solomon, Monchi, and Cadgar had personally seen the state of the relationship between Mafa Merlin and the Merlin Family. It was far from being as harmonious as it might appear to others on the surface.

But Fran wasn't convinced…

"Lys, you only scratched the surface of their relationship…"

"…" Lys nearly spat blood. 'He used Mana Shackles on his own relative, who is scratching the surface!?'

Lys felt that he really needed to warn Fran, or else he might soon meet his end.

"Fran, listen to me. Although you are a 5th Rank High Mage who possesses Time Hand, your chances of success against Mafa Merlin are very low…"

"That's a joke…" Fran sneered, his laugh filled with contempt and disdain.

In fact, Fran didn't feel as if he had lost, he only felt that he had been careless…

In that earlier fight, he surely wouldn't have been defeated if he hadn't been so reckless in his attempt to make his opponent despair. Because he'd felt that victory was within his hands, he had relaxed. Otherwise, he definitely wouldn't have been defeated and humiliated.

He only lost because he'd never expected Mafa Merlin's casting speed to be so fast, even faster than the speed granted by Time Hand!

If it happened at another time, another location, he definitely wouldn't be that careless.

He was an esteemed 5th Rank High Mage, with his mastery of Time Hand, how could he lose against a Great Mage? Such a joke…

"You think I'm joking? Mafa Merlin's strength is deep and unmeasurable. You didn't come to Thousand Sails City before so you didn't hear that although Mafa Merlin became a Great Mage just this year, he can only be described as unbeatable. He already defeated two High Mages, and moreover, a 9th Rank High Mage from the Sage Tower called Hoen came, and Star Sage Jouyi himself concluded that they would both end up dead if they fought each other…"

"Hoen?" Even with Fran's self-confidence, he couldn't help frowning when he heard the name.

Hoen's name was very famous in Okland, as he was one of the 9th Rank High Mages with the greatest chance of advancing to Archmage. He had been fighting in the Pale Plane for the past few years, and only came back to Noscent two months ago because he was appointed as the Head of the Magic Department by Jouyi.

Although Fran was very confident in his strength, he had to admit that when compared to Hoen of the Cloud Tower, he was indeed inferior.

'Is Mafa Merlin really that powerful?' he wondered.

"Moreover, I heard Solomon say that Star Sage Jouyi cared a lot about Mafa Merlin. If you really make a move against him, I'm afraid that the Cloud Tower…"

"Star Sage?" Fran's heart suddenly tightened. 'The Star Sage is involved too?'

That was the strongest Archmage of the kingdom, and he could become a Heaven Mage anytime. If that kind of person was backing Merlin, then let alone Fran, even ten of him combined would be screwed.

"Anyway, you think about it carefully. We have been old friends for over a decade, I don't want you to bring a disaster onto yourself…" After Lys saw Fran's expression, he understood that his words had finally worked. Thus, he didn't say anything else about Merlin, and instead he just made small talk for a bit before leaving the carriage.

Fran's expression wasn't good after Lys left…

'Could it be that I really don't have the chance to retaliate?'

Fran closed his eyes as he leaned against the carriage. He kept seeing the same images over and over again, a foot heavily stomping on him as well as the sniggering of all the leaders of Thousand Sails City. Just thinking about it made Fran feel endless humiliation.

But Lys' words echoed once again in his mind…

Being able to hold his own against a 9th Rank High mage, as well as being supported by the strongest Archmage of the kingdom.

This was enough to make Fran afraid to act.

It would be fine if it was just Merlin that held some power. He could still use the Vaughn Treasury's arrays as traps and reverse the situation. But after handling the youth, he would have to face the retaliation of the strongest Archmage, Star Sage Jouyi. Fran would never be able to resist.

'Hold on, Cloud Tower, Star Sage Jouyi…' Thinking of this, Fran's eyes brightened. Mafa Merlin had the Cloud Tower and Star Sage Jouyi as backers, but that didn't mean that Fran didn't have backers of his own.

Behind him stood the Mercury Tower and his teacher, Nolan.

In terms of strength, the Mercury Tower wasn't that much inferior to the Cloud Tower, and the status of his teacher was not necessarily worse than that the Star Sage…

'But how could I make Teacher step forth on my behalf…? Teacher isn't the Star Sage…'

The way the Star Sage handled things never followed any rules or customs. He spent over two decades worth of his time in order to crack the Fanrusen Formula. Because of the injuries of his disciple, Solomon, he invaded the Black Tower. If it had been another Archmage, would they have done the same?

At least, he was sure that Nolan wouldn't…

Being in the Mercury Tower for decades, Fran was very clear about his teacher's temperament. Fran knew that unless there was a very compelling reason, his teacher wouldn't take the initiative to get him out of a predicament.

'A reason… I have one!'

Fran quickly fished out a magic letter and a quill from his pocket and started writing a message to his teacher in great haste.

In the letter, Fran claimed to have obtained some information regarding Vaughn Treasury. All the information clearly indicated that Vaughn Treasury wasn't an actual treasury, but rather, a laboratory left behind by the Artisan. This laboratory not only held all of Vaughn's alchemy knowledge, but there were also the True Spirit Magic Tools that Nolan had been eager to get his hands on.

But the exploration of the laboratory was too troublesome, and the alchemy arrays within already far exceeded his abilities. Thus, he was hoping that the Mercury Tower would send some support.

Fran knew that his teacher had been looking for these True Spirit Magic Tools for a very long time but had never found them. As long as he used that reason, even if his teacher didn't appear personally, he would at least send his senior disciple, Karon.

'What would a mere Mafa Merlin be in front of Brother Karon? He is a genuine Archmage, as well as someone Teacher personally nurtured. Even if something happens to Mafa Merlin and Star Sage Jouyi wants to retaliate, Teacher would definitely react.

'As for Brother Karon finding out that it wasn't a laboratory after coming, well, nothing could be done about it, I can only claim that my information was mistaken… At most I'll be reprimanded, but compared to the humiliation Mafa Merlin made me suffer, this isn't much.'

The hastily written letter was quickly sealed, and after Fran's incantation, light flashed from the ring on his right hand, making the letter instantly disappear.

This was the Mercury Tower's unique communication method. Fran's ring was an Inheritance level Spatial Magic Tool. Although it didn't really use the Spatial Law, it was still very useful for transmitting messages.

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Chapter 200: Suyass

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

At that moment, Nolan, who was in the middle of doing data calculations in a study room at the top floor of the Mercury Tower, suddenly frowned before chanting a spell. A piece of paper appeared out of nowhere and softly fell on his desk.

'Vaughn's laboratory?' Nolan quickly read through the magic letter, and his frown deepened.

Fran would have never expected that the random excuse he had found would actually be the truth. He was just trying to trick his teacher and hadn't really thought things through.

But who was Nolan?

He was one of the three Artisans of the kingdom. Not only had he reached the peak in alchemy, but he was also far more knowledgeable than Master Alchemist Lys when it came to understanding the hidden history of alchemists. The Vaughn Treasury was a good example. Nolan had many sources that Lys couldn't possibly have access to.

In fact, Nolan already had some clues…

He was certain that the true Vaughn Treasury was most likely at sea, because when going through historical materials, he found out a very interesting piece of information. In Vaughn's last twenty years of life, he went out to sea four times, and every time he didn't return for an entire year. How precious would the last twenty years of life be for an Artisan? If not for some crucial matter, how could Vaughn take four long trips to sea?

Moreover…

The naval fleet of the 3rd Dynasty had been mobilized intensively during that time, advancing without an apparent goal in the endless sea to do some military exercises.

Coincidentally, Robinson, the commanding officer of the naval fleet, was a close friend of Vaughn's. The two of them walked out from a small village and kept helping each other through countless dangers before one of them gained command over the naval fleet while the other became an Artisan and the court's Chief Alchemist. Their friendship could be described as deep enough to trust each other with their lives.

A single doubtful point could be said to be a coincidence, but a few doubts together would point out a path. The Vaughn Treasury was most likely in the sea…

This was why Nolan sent only Fran after being contacted by Lys for help about the Vaughn Treasury.

Because Nolan didn't believe that Vaughn Treasury was buried in the Four Seasons Canyon.

But what if it was a laboratory?

That was quite possible. In those days, Vaughn had lived in seclusion in many places before he became the court's Chief Alchemist. The Four Seasons Canyon was one of these places. With Vaughn's habits, it wouldn't be strange for him to leave a laboratory there.

But whether it would contain Spiritual Magic Tools was uncertain…

Those were treasures that every alchemist yearned for. Nolan doubted that the short-tempered Vaughn, the mage that would casually blow up a whole region, wouldn't bury that Spiritual Magic Tool with himself.

But it was still necessary to dispatch someone to check.

"Tell Karon…" Nolan originally wanted to send Karon, but he just remembered that Karon had left for the Golden Forest Plane to suppress a rebellion. It would take another two days for him to come back, so Nolan had no choice but to change his words, "Tell Suyass to come."

"Yes."

A Great Alchemist who was attending to him in the study promptly bowed and left. It didn't take long before a knock resounded on the door.

"Come in." A tall middle-aged man entered. It could be seen from the trace of graying hair at his temples that he was in his fifties, yet there was not a single wrinkle on his handsome face. His dazzling blonde hair and mysterious grey irises gave him a dashing appearance that didn't fit well with his age.

"Teacher, you looked for me?" Those who knew Suyass knew that he would only show such a respectful attitude in front of Nolan.

"Yes, read this letter first." Nolan nodded and the letter slowly flew out to the middle-aged man.

"Fran?" After reading that letter, Suyass frowned.

Of Solan's five disciples, the most outstanding one was undoubtedly Karon, who had been sent to quell the rebellion in the Golden Forest Plane. A dozen years ago, Karon had already entered the peak Master Alchemist realm. Nolan himself predicted that within ten years, Karon would inevitably become the 2nd Artisan of the Mercury Tower. On the magic side, Karon was already a 5th Rank Archmage, and in the entire Mercury Tower, his strength was only inferior to Nolan's.

It could be said that within a few decades, there would almost certainly be a 2nd Nolan-level figure in the Mercury Tower.

At the same time, Karon was the only fellow disciple that Suyass respected. Apart from Karon, Suyass didn't pay any attention to the other disciples under Nolan. Not even Grant, who also held the title of peak Master Alchemist and Archmage. From Suyass' point of view, Grant's achievements were only due to him being Nolan's disciple for a longer time. With time, Suyass wholeheartedly believed that he would sooner or later overtake Grant, even leaving him far behind.

However, among the few fellow disciples, Fran was the one that Suyass despised the most.

He completely looked down on him…

Fran had become a disciple before Suyass, but he had remained a mid-level Master Alchemist for years, and when it came to magic, he was a pitiful 5th Rank High Mage. Even if Fran controlled the most powerful Magic Conducting Rune of the Mercury Tower, the Time Hand, he would still collapse in a single blow in front of Suyass.

Moreover, Suyass despised Fran's behavior. Greedy, selfish, narrow-minded… It was because of that deplorable attitude that Fran's progression had halted for a decade. Whether it was magic or alchemy, they both remained unchanged at a lamentable level.

Suyass never hid his disgust for Fran. He would frequently berate him and Fran would endure. Fran wasn't that polite with Karon, but when facing Suyass, he was like a mouse seeing a cat, immediately running two or three hundred meters away after seeing him, afraid that the words of his junior brother would put him in an awkward situation.

As he read that letter, Suyass' first reaction was, 'Fran got in trouble and is trying to make his teacher clean up the mess.'

But after reading a bit more, Suyass' expression eased up.

"Teacher, you mean…" After reading the whole letter, Suyass folded the letter and respectfully asked Nolan for instructions.

"There shouldn't be many problems with Fran's discovery. There might exist one of Vaughn's laboratories in the Four Seasons Canyon. If that is the case, Fran might not be able to handle it on his own. After all, it's Vaughn we are talking about. The arrays inside far exceed Fran's level…" Nolan paused there. "Thus I want you to give some help to Lys' exploration. As for the final harvest, distribute it according to the previous agreement. But if you really find some clues about Vaughn's Spiritual Magic Tool, you can discuss it with Lys. The Mercury Tower is willing to use other ways to trade for it…"

"Understood, Teacher, I'll go immediately." After Suyass answered, he left the study right away and used Flight to rush towards the Four Seasons Canyon…

After Suyass' departure, Nolan once again returned to his calculations…

The sky had darkened while Nolan spent an hour computing. It was only then that Nolan suddenly raised his head.

'Wait, Thousand Sails City…' After closing his eyes to rest them a bit, Nolan suddenly remembered that young Great Mage that stole the spotlight in the Magic Hand's gathering. 'Wasn't he from Thousand Sails City?'

This discovery caused Nolan to frown.

This gathering of the Magic Hand had left such a deep impression on Nolan. The shocking performance of that young mage even made Nolan unable to assess the potential of that young mage. Unfortunately, he had made his move too late, letting Jouyi discover him first. Now, all he could do was to try to maintain a good relationship as best as he could.

Therefore, in the auction over the last Meditation Law Set, he made that young Great Mage owe him. This favor might lead to something…

'Damn…' Thinking about it, Nolan regretfully shook his head. 'I'm getting too old, my memory isn't what it used to be… Had I recalled earlier that that young Great Mage was from Thousand Sails City, I wouldn't have sent Fran or Suyass…'

He was very clear about the personalities of these two disciples…

Fran was a greedy, selfish and narrow-minded person, and he had some grudges against the Merlin Family. If he learned that that young Great Mage was a Merlin, a conflict would inevitably happen.

Suyass wasn't like Fran, but his character was also problematic. He was too prideful and too straightforward. If Fran hadn't fallen in conflict with the young Great Mage, nothing would happen, but if something did happen between the two, then it would definitely blow up…

Although Suyass always looked down on Fran, to defend the reputation of the Mercury Tower, Suyass would unhesitantly help Fran out of his predicament…

As he thought about this, Nolan was unable to sit still…

This would end badly. Nolan could clearly see how important that young Great Mage was to Jouyi. Just for his sake, Jouyi had been close to falling out with the Magic Hand. If Suyass injured Mafa Merlin, or worse, killed him… the consequences would be unthinkable.

"Go, go get Karon to come back immediately. Tell Grant that he is to take over quelling the Golden Forest Plane's rebellion."

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The Gilded Rose's carriage was quiet at this moment…

Xiuban was doing his best to hide in the corner of the carriage, tinkering and fiddling with that perfect combination of magic and toxicity, the hand-crossbow. William had already finished his meditation for the day and was cheerfully looking back at his progress for the day.

Sometimes, William really wondered what was in his cousin's head. How did he know so much about so many things? Not to mention the rest, just the Meditation Law Set his cousin had given him was enough to shock anyone with its effectiveness and novelty. Before they left for the Bone Plane, his cousin had given them three Meditation Law Sets, one for Faleau, one for the fifty Mages, and one for himself.

At the time, even if he was unwilling to admit it, he could feel that the Meditation Law Set was already more fitting for him than the Meditation Law Set that the Merlin Family had refined and integrated with their bloodline over the course of a thousand years.

And even more so after Lin Yun updated it in the carriage after ascertaining the extent of William's magical progress.

Now that he thought about it, he truly had been foolish at first…

That Meditation Law Set could only be described as heaven-defying, and what the Merlin Family used simply couldn't compare to it. In one month, the efficiency of his meditation had more than doubled, and moreover, this Meditation Law Set seemed to be specialized in strengthening Fire Magic. Over the month, he could feel that the power of his fire spells had far surpassed those of his former self…

He sometimes felt that he was very fortunate.

If those Elders from the council hadn't sent him to Thousand Sails City, how could he have encountered such an opportunity?

After all, he was one amongst many children of the Merlin Family back then, and at best he could have been counted within the top ten in terms of potential. There were many outstanding geniuses ahead of him such as Leon, who had already become a High Mage at such a young age, and also Aube, who also entered the Elder Council. What was he compared to them?

But it was different now.

He had gotten a second wind in Thousand Sails City. He had fifty Great Mages as subordinates and his strength was advancing by leaps and bounds. From being a 5th Rank Great Mage, he was now an 8th Rank Great Mage, and there was no resistance on his path to continue improving. This crazy speed surpassed all the geniuses from the Merlin Family. William even felt that he could keep this incredible pace as he advanced to become a High Mage. He wondered what kind of expressions the people from the Merlin Family would have when they saw him once again.

Thinking about it, William looked at the meditating Lin Yun with a complicated expression. There was fear, wonder, and even some worship, because William knew that everything he had gained these days was because of this younger cousin. His cousin was bound to shock all of Noscent, and sooner or later, there would be a day when he supported this cousin from behind as he stood at the peak of Noscent.

"Finished your meditation?" Lin Yun suddenly opened his eyes and glanced at William.

"Yes, I finished."

"How do you feel?"

"I feel very good, very very good…" As the Meditation Law Set was mentioned, William felt excited. "I think I can enter the 9th Rank within two months."

"Haha, I would doubt your talent if you still couldn't become a High Mage after two months from now…" Lin Yun calmly smiled, not feeling any problem with this pace.

William was the leader of the mercenary group that Lin Yun chose himself. How could he convince others if he wasn't good enough? Thus, before entering the Bone Plane, Lin Yun had personally chosen a Meditation Law Set for William, and it wasn't an ordinary one.

At the gathering of the Magic Hand, Lin Yun had exchanged three Meditation Law Sets with eight formulas in each for a territory, some ruins, and sixty spirit mana crystals.

But the Meditation Law Set that he gave to William had a shocking ten formulas!

It was called Crimson Heart. In this era, it would definitely rise to become the best Meditation Law Set. If William had the power and opportunity, he could even rely on that Meditation Law Set to establish a force that would not be inferior to the Cloud Tower or the Black Tower.

But William's understanding of the Crimson Heart was far from sufficient for now.

It looked like it only raised William's meditation efficiency and the destructive power of his Fire System spells. But the true Crimson Heart was far more than that. It was famous during the peak of the 3rd Dynasty as the core Meditation Law Set of the Crimson Tower. After the destruction of the Crimson Tower, this Meditation Law was lost for a few millennia up until many years later, when an Archmage excavated some of the Crimson Tower's ruins and obtained this set of ten formulas from within.

Naturally, there was no need to tell William about this.

When William deepened his understanding of the Crimson Heart, he would naturally understand the true power of this Meditation Law.

Lin Yun now needed to spend more energy on Xiuban.

The roguish-looking Draconic Beastman was cowering in the corner of the carriage, but Lin Yun knew that with the Beastman and Draconic Bloodlines in his body, his future was limitless. He would be a dual martial and magical powerhouse. After all, as a Sword Saint with a tyrannical force who also had innate Draconic Magic… what kind of monster would he become?

Moreover, Xiuban had already signed the contract to become Lin Yun's property, so there was no need to think about loyalty.

He would be wasting his potential if he didn't train with such good conditions.

"Xiuban, come."

"Ah?" The Draconic Beastman, who had still been fiddling with the hand-crossbow, shook when he heard Lin Yun utter his name…

Although Lin Yun had gifted him such an amazing weapon, in the Draconic Beastman's heart, Lin Yun was still a sinister Human Mage. Nothing could be done about that, as Syudos' lesson had left deep marks. It was to the point that Xiuban kept waking up from nightmares when he slept, and the first thing he would do upon waking was to raise his head to check if the frightening flames were around…

Of course, after being treated so harshly by Syudos, Xiuban wouldn't dare disobey Lin Yun. Although he was terrified of that mage, he still slowly moved over after hearing Lin Yun's instructions.

"Hold this…" Lin Yun searched in his pocket before taking out a silver necklace and throwing it to Xiuban.

"Thank you, Sir Merlin…" Xiuban was immediately disappointed as he received the necklace. He properly thanked the evil mage, while secretly despising him. 'That Evil Human Mage, why did he suddenly become so stingy… He called me just to give me a silver necklace. Is that a mana crystal? So miserable… It's not even the size of a toe…'

"Starting from today, you'll have to carry this necklace at all times. If I find out that the necklace disappeared… I'm sure Syudos will be happy to chat with you…"

"Yes, yes, yes…" When the Draconic Beastman heard the name Syudos, his legs suddenly shook. Lin Yun hadn't needed to say much. Xiuban hurried to fasten the necklace around his neck, feeling somewhat apprehensive. 'Such a wretched necklace, if I return to the Highland Beastman Tribe wearing this, wouldn't I be ridiculed?'

Fortunately for him, Lin Yun didn't know what he was thinking, or he would have been quite angry.

Indeed, that necklace was nothing by itself, as Lin Yun only spent a few minutes to craft it out of a silver ingot that Syudos melted.

But the pendant on the necklace…

That "miserable" mana crystal was actually invaluable.

It was a spirit mana crystal!

Lin Yun had sold his Meditation Law Set for sixty spirit mana crystals, but even though Mogg controlled Whistle Island, he couldn't pay him in such a short time. Mogg had only paid three on the spot, and the rest had to wait until Mogg returned to Whistle Island before he could slowly raise the money. Moreover, he would only be able to pay in installments. It might take a whole year for Lin Yun to receive the entire sum.

After the gathering ended, Lord Shawn had thrown a tantrum, and after eventually promising that he would go all-out and even risk his life to serve Lin Yun, he managed to get one of the spirit mana crystals.

And Xiuban got the second one…

This unremarkable silver necklace could sell for an unimaginable sum.

But Lin Yun had his reasons for giving it to him. Draconic Beastmen were like Dragons when it came to magic. They couldn't gather mana through meditation. Instead, they accumulated mana through sleeping and eating, which would store it in their blood. It would also increase as they aged, and the only way for them to increase the speed of that growth was to absorb mana from mana crystals…

Moreover, the more powerful the mana crystal, the faster the mana would increase…

Thus, Lin Yun had clenched his teeth and took out the second spirit mana crystal.

Lin Yun felt that after Xiuban wore the spirit mana crystal for a few days, his first mana pattern would appear and he would be able to cast spells.

As for the martial skills, Lin Yun didn't have to worry about that. Draconic Beastmen usually didn't need profound martial arts inheritances because they battled using just their bodies and instincts. Many of the Draconic Beastmen that appeared in Noscent had spent their time just sleeping and eating, yet they had still casually reached the Sword Saint realm.

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Chapter 202: Arrival

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

After dealing with the Draconic Beastman, Lin Yun began focusing on the changes in his Magic Arrays.

After cracking the 8th character of the Book of Death, Lin Yun had been trying to use the runes to emulate these mysterious characters. When he was in Edge Rift's canyon, Lin Yun had made some progress… which had been erased by the reckless Rieser. Thus, Lin Yun had to spend a few more days on this.

Fortunately, Lin Yun's simulations weren't as tedious now due to his previous experience. He had a breakthrough just as the fleet of carriages was about to reach the Four Seasons Canyon and managed to simulate the first character.

In order to simulate that character, Lin Yun used over a thousand runes. If these were used to establish a spell matrix, it would be a 7th Tier Spell at the very least. In other words, this was already the power of an Archmage…

Unfortunately, Lin Yun didn't have the time to experience this himself. As soon as the simulation was over, the mysterious character made of thousands of runes was assimilated into the center of his Magic Arrays. The nine Magic Arrays were roused at the same time, and in an instant, the mysterious character was memorized.

It turned out that Lin Yun had made a very good decision.

Just as the Magic Array memorized it, the mysterious character collapsed before transforming into its most basic runic state.

It was inevitable, as these mysterious characters were simply too powerful. After all, three of these characters could open a Planar Path, two could complete positioning, and the final two were used for teleportation. This kind of power was unheard of, even to Lin Yun.

Lin Yun even suspected that these characters weren't from Noscent.

Even with his abilities, he could only try countless times and rely on luck to get the chance to simulate a mysterious character using runes.

And it was only a simulation…

After going all-out, he was only able to simulate the mysterious character for a short moment. He wasn't able to control it afterwards and could only turn this character into its most basic runic state.

But this split second was already enough for Lin Yun.

In that split second, the Magic Arrays had memorized that character, which would make the next step much easier. With the powerful computing ability of the Magic Arrays, he would be able to slowly decipher the mysterious character before finally being able to merge it into the Magic Arrays.

In fact, the Magic Arrays were already working on that.

Lin Yun could clearly feel the nine Magic Arrays working at top speed within his body, continuously maneuvering large amounts of mana. The Magic Array was known as such because it was a complete system. Even if the mage supplied it less than half of its mana, the Magic Array would still be able to operate properly, which was different from the other Magic Conducting Runes.

But now, the complete system of the Magic Arrays needed such a large amount of mana. It could be seen from this how powerful that character was.

'Now, all that is left is to wait…' After making sure that the Magic Arrays were working properly, Lin Yun felt relieved and focused.

Moreover, he would have to wait for a very, very long time.

That mysterious character was simulated from over a thousand runes, and its complexity even surpassed a 7th Tier Spell. No matter how extraordinary the Magic Array's computing ability was, it would never be able to complete the calculations in a short time. After all, Lin Yun's Magic Array was still in its most basic form.

Unless Lin Yun could immediately enter the High Mage realm and properly fuse his nine Magic Arrays into a single Magic Array… At that time, the Magic Array would truly transform and its shocking computing ability would reach a whole new realm…

The next two days were as dry and dull as before. After the first few times, the leaders of the other eight major forces didn't come as often to Lin Yun's carriage. Only acquaintances like Solomon and Cadgar would occasionally come over to check on him.

But Sauss… He had been afraid of Merlin all along, and after he sold William out last time, the latter had some grudges. Since he was next to Merlin, he would misinterpret his words from time to time, making Sauss break out in a cold sweat. After the first two times, Sauss gradually stopped visiting.

Since no one was disturbing him, Lin Yun was happy about the peace and quiet. He gave William some pointers about the Crimson Heart Meditation Law Set while secretly taking notes on the Draconic Beastman's changes, keeping him quite busy.

The spirit mana crystal was indeed worthy of its name. Two days after the Draconic Beastman started wearing it, faint traces of mana patterns could be seen on his arms. This meant that Xiuban was no longer a simple Highland Beastman. The magical ability brought forth by the Highland Beastman bloodline was slowly appearing on his body.

It was just that Xiuban was far from being skillful with the casting ability he had.

"I'll say it again, focus your mind!" After an entire day of scolding, Lin Yun was already losing his temper.

Beastmen were Beastmen, and whether they were Highland Beastmen or other Beastmen, they were truly underwhelming in terms of magic. Xiuban could be considered blessed by heavens with his powerful bloodline, but he was still unable to skillfully master his mana pattern after practicing for a whole day.

If this happened to a mage, Lin Yun would have told him to jump under the wheels of the carriage and die.

"Sir, I'm just a Highland Beastman…" The problem was that Xiuban didn't feel anything wrong with that. How could Highland Beastmen focus on studying something? Usually, the battles were all about chaotic slashes, and they only needed to act on instinct. If they didn't know how to fight, sneak attack, dissimilate, or surrender, then they weren't Highland Beastmen…

"…" The excuse of being a Highland Beastman was too easy. Lin Yun almost choked from anger when he heard that.

In the end, Lin Yun throughly lost his patience.

"Syudos!"

"Sir, I'll immediately focus my mind!" The Draconic Beastman knew that things were taking a sharp turn for the worse the instant the Upper Rank Flame Spirit appeared.

But it was too late…

"Syudos, take my place and tell this Highland Beastman what concentrating is!" After leaving these words, Lin Yun closed his eyes once again and entered deep meditation.

As for what happened next, no matter how loud the screams and wails of the Draconic Beastman were, Lin Yun simply didn't care.

The next day, just after opening his eyes, Lin Yun saw the dying Draconic Beastman giving him a "please just end this" kind of look.

"Drink this." Lin Yun shook his head and handed him a bottle of Health Potion. He watched Xiuban drink it, and just as he was about to ask about his progress, he felt the carriage coming to a stop.

"Merlin, finally!" Solomon's voice echoed.

"Four Seasons Canyon?" Lin Yun opened the door to the carriage and saw a rugged and extremely narrow path. Only one person could go through at a time, and there were precipitous walls on both sides, as well as moist moss and wild weeds. It could be seen with one glance that this was a deserted place.

"Let's go." Solomon walked in front, following the rugged path towards the depths of the Four Seasons Canyon while telling Lin Yun, "Everyone's troops arrived three days ago. They already established a camp in the Four Seasons Canyon and tried to explore a bit, but the situation is quite bad…"

"Ah?" Lin Yun frowned. He remembered that the Four Seasons Canyon was described as a desert… As long as they didn't approach the Vaughn Laboratory, there wouldn't be any danger, so why did Solomon's words sound like there was a crisis?

"The magic beasts inside are very fierce. Level 17 and 18 magic beasts are everywhere, and there are also quite a few magic beasts above level 20…" Here, Solomon slowed down a bit. "Moreover, some plants underwent some mutations. They are very fierce and don't differentiate between us and the magic beasts. Once they wrap around their targets, no one can escape…"

"Plants?" Lin Yun was startled…

'What's going on, magic beasts… And now plants? Is this the first major slip-up with my memory since I arrived? But how could it be such a big error…'

He clearly remembered that the Vaughn Laboratory was found about a thousand and seven hundred years later. At that time, alchemy was in its golden growth period. Figures that were important to the field of alchemy emerged one after the other. Just within the borders of Andlusa, four alchemists became Saint Alchemists, and they had no less than ten Artisans. The first person to break into the Vaughn Laboratory was an Artisan from Okland Magic School.

It was clearly written within the notes of that Artisan that the Vaughn Laboratory was a barren desert, without a single bit of green from north to south. The laboratory was buried under this desert and it took the creator and his team six months to dig it up.

'Hold on… Time…'

As he thought of this, Lin Yun suddenly stopped.

'It's time!'

They were still 1,700 years away from that Artisan's discovery. Something must have happened during that time to turn the Four Seasons Canyon filled with fierce magic beasts and mutated plants into a barren desert that buried the entire laboratory.

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Chapter 203: Magic Beast Tide

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

'But what kind of disaster would cause that? No… Not a disaster…'

The Four Seasons Canyon was a few thousand kilometers wide. It was more than a dozen times bigger than Thousand Sails City. If it could be turned into a desolate desert by a disaster, then how shocking would that disaster need to be?

'It's fine if such a disaster happened, but it would have to be a very rare occurrence in Noscent's history, and it would give rise to large-scale mana fluctuations. Who knows how many mages would curse at such an event? How could it not be recorded in the books of the decaying library? Why would the Artisan who excavated Vaughn's laboratory not mention it?'

'But what if it wasn't a disaster? Could it have been man-made?'

"…" As he thought of this, Lin Yun felt a chill. If the cause had truly been man-made, then the Four Seasons Canyon wouldn't be as simple as he had thought…

The trees, the soil, everywhere… It could be said that the vegetation here was flourishing.

For such a huge change to happen, someone or something on the level of a Heaven Rank powerhouse would be needed. Only those who had mastered the Extraordinary power and could open a Demiplane using their own might would be able to create such a disaster.

"Merlin… Merlin…" Solomon had been walking ahead for quite a bit, but he hadn't heard Lin Yun's voice in a while, so he couldn't help asking, "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing important." Lin Yun shook his head, temporarily putting away these chaotic thoughts before slowly following Solomon to the Four Seasons Canyon.

The small, rugged path stretched all the way down. At the end, there was a row of lush trees. When they entered the Four Seasons Canyon, Lin Yun even felt that they had entered an Elven Kingdom. This place was reeking of the aura of life. Tall trees, fragrant flowers, verdant grass, and the soothing sound of running water… Even the atmosphere carried a hint of sweetness.

But for some reason, Lin Yun kept feeling that this aura of life was too vigorous, to an abnormal degree. Yet Lin Yun couldn't pinpoint exactly why it felt so abnormal; it was just a feeling, after all.

From where they were, the two could already see the camp that the gathered troops had established. Several hundred tents were lined up, occupying an entire area at the foot of a cliff. There were a dozen sentry towers built around the camp, and the ones stationed there were the most outstanding archers of the Silver Moon Mercenaries and the Viper Nest. Countless traps and arrays were set up below the sentry towers. If the small groups of fighters patrolling were added into the picture, then this camp could truly be described as well fortified.

"Most of it has been arranged by the Silver Moon Mercenaries. After all, they are the ones with the most battle experience in Thousand Sails City… Careful!"

Just as Solomon was introducing the camp to Lin Yun, a shadow suddenly swept past the latter.

In fact, there was no need for Solomon's reminder.

Syudos had already appeared just as the air began to move. There had been no signs at all. A dozen Fire Arrows were cast, creating a loud impact. Before Solomon could even recover, the shadow sweeping at their back had already fallen down in despair.

"A Shadow Wolf." Lin Yun squatted down and examined the burnt corpse, finding some characteristics exclusive to Shadow Wolves.

But this discovery made Lin Yun frown.

Shadow Wolves were merely level 12 or 13 magic beasts, and even the alpha among them wouldn't exceed level 15. But the Shadow Wolf that had pounced at him had shown power and speed surpassing that. Lin Yun had been able to handle it because Syudos was so powerful. But another 9th Rank Great Mage might have been in trouble facing this sneak attack.

It seemed that this was the mutation Solomon had been talking about…

Otherwise, how could an ordinary Shadow Wolf be this fearsome?

Thinking about it, Lin Yun inspected the Shadow Wolf's corpse even more carefully.

"Eh…" Lin Yun soon found that its eyes were unusually red, as if blood was dripping out. Even though it was burnt up, its body still exuded a faint aura of life. Due to this discovery, Lin Yun finally understood why he had felt that the aura in the Four Seasons Canyon was too abnormal…

This Shadow Wolf was like an embodiment of the entire Four Seasons Canyon's state. The Four Seasons Canyon was in its death throes but was exuding its final radiance, and every organism living within was the same, giving a false appearance of vitality.

"Okay, let's go first." Lin Yun clapped his hands and stood up. Just as he was about to call Solomon to get going, he suddenly noticed something. "Hold on, what is that sound?"

"What sound?" Solomon was at a loss at first, but a moment later, he also reacted. "Fuck, it sounds like Thunder Elephants! And over a dozen of them!"

"Twenty-three… Quick, let's go!"

Fortunately, the two weren't far from camp. The two had reached the camp just as the sound of the Thunder Elephants could be heard.

"Sound the alarm! Sound the alarm!" One of the vice leaders of the Silver Moon Mercenaries seemed to have found out about the situation, and under his command, over a dozen sentries fired several dozen signal arrows into the sky. The whole camp was roused into action, ready to deal with the upcoming battle.

The patrolling unit was the first to arrive. They were armed with swords and shields, and they formed a thick defensive formation behind the traps and arrays. They would be the second line of defense against the Thunder Elephants.

When over twenty Thunder Elephants were running at the same time, they would make the ground shake. These huge bodies made of rough hide and thick flesh could reach level 15 at the very least. They soon appeared hundreds of meters away from the camp, and all that was visible was the dust they raised up. As they drew closer, their maddened red eyes made them look quite crazy. Steam could be seen coming out of their trunks as they raised a loud clamor while charging wildly towards the camp.

"What's the situation?" At this time, some of the other leaders also came out from their tents, and they were a bit stunned when they saw the situation.

There were more than twenty Thunder Elephants stampeding at them! If they let them rush into the camp, then it might end up in ruins.

No, no, it wasn't just the two dozen Thunder Elephants…

Just as everyone was feeling stunned, a huge red cloud appeared in the distant sky. From this distance, it looked as if the sky was igniting.

"Damn it, Flame Crows!" Badrack, the leader of the Flash Arrow Mercenary Group, was the only 9th Rank Spirit Archer of Thousand Sails City. He had the best eyesight out of all present. But after he looked carefully at that red cloud for a bit, he suddenly shrieked, "There are at least 3,000 Flame Crows!"

"No way…" Badrack's shriek was followed by shocked cries.

If over twenty Thunder Elephants could turn this place into ruins, then the arrival of over a thousand Flame Crows would make it hell on Noscent…

Although Flame Crows were magic beasts that only ranged from level 5 to 10, they had the innate ability to control flames and loved to roam around in groups. The smaller flocks would have a few hundred, while the bigger ones could have over ten thousand.

Normally, a small flock of Flame Crows wasn't much of a threat. Many mercenary groups would place traps under an active volcano in order to capture these small Flame Crows. Their feathers were commonly used as materials for alchemy. It could also be used as a casting component to increase the damage of some Fire System spells.

Flame Crows were usually about level five. They were rather weak in raw power, and their innate magic was quite inferior. It would be fine if there were only a few suicidal Flame Crows, as it would let the mercenaries gain some experience.

It seemed to some that it wasn't such a big deal…

Only those who had actually seen Flame Crows moving in large numbers before would know how frightening a flock of over a thousand was. Just the rise in temperature was enough to roast a whole person, not to mention after the crows actually attacked with their flaming feathers. That could truly scorch a place bare in a matter of seconds.

Not to mention that there were over 3,000…

"Prepare to fight." Sasu could be considered the most experienced with large-scale battle as the leader of Thousands Sails City's number one Mercenary Group, so it had already been decided that he would take charge if there was an open battle.

When Sasu's words resounded, everyone quickly got on the move. The people present could be considered true powerhouses, and although they didn't have experience with fights on this scale, they didn't have any issues carrying out orders. Everyone made their proper preparations the moment Sasu transmitted his order. A few High Mages even cast Float spells, prepared to rise into the sky and fight the Flame Crows.

"Wait." But there was an inharmonious voice in the team this time.

"Wait for what…" Sauss was quite irritated by the interruption. He had been readying himself for the fight, but when he heard someone telling them to wait, he suddenly felt like cursing.

But just as he opened his mouth to curse back at the offender, he noticed that the one to speak was actually Lin Yun.

He ended up swallowing his angry words.

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Chapter 204: Thousand Eyes Vine

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

Lin Yun didn't plan on bickering with Sauss. He only shook his head and said, "Wait a minute."

"Ah… I'll wait.." Sauss might not have noticed at first, but he understood everything a few moments later.

Because just as he spoke, dust could be seen rising from just below the red cloud.

"Oh my god…" Sauss held his breath. That cloud of dust was simply ten times higher compared to the one around the large Thunder Elephants.

"… How… How many magic beasts are there?"

"There should be a few hundred…"

"I'll go organize the main force…" Sasu's expression also sank. With one look at their momentum, he was able to determine that this beast tide might be the end of this joint exploration of the nine major forces.

"Hold on… Leader Sasu." Lin Yun thought for a moment before telling Sasu. "I think that we should still rely on the camp for defense and try to hold on as long as possible without staking it all against these magic beasts."

"This won't do. In that scenario, the magic beasts would keep…" Sasu subconsciously shook his head, but he then seemed to think of something. "Merlin, did you discover something?"

"I didn't, but I have a feeling that the Four Seasons Canyon isn't too welcoming towards us." As Lin Yun said that, he sensed the mana fluctuations in the air, and he could clearly feel that there was some sort of strange power in the Four Seasons Canyon.

"The Four Seasons Canyon doesn't welcome us… What do you mean?"

"I can't explain it concretely, but the way I see it, we should defend the camp as much as possible, I'll lead a few people to see if we can find the origin of this magic beast tide."

"Okay." Sasu didn't ask much and only nodded to express his approval. In his heart, he already knew that this young Great Mage would never do anything he wasn't sure of. Since he'd made this suggestion, he definitely already had some clues.

"Great Mage Merlin, I'll go with you!" Sauss promptly volunteered.

"Leader Sauss, you have been operating in the Poison Fog Canyon for so many years, you definitely have some experience in defensive battles. It would be better if you remain on this side to help Leader Sasu. How about I take Leader Solomon and Leader Badrack with me to investigate?" Sauss' fighting strength was still a bit inferior, so Lin Yun recommended Solomon and Badrack. One was a 9th Rank High Mage while the other was a 9th Rank Spirit Archer. With himself added on top, he was guaranteed to be able to move in and out of the beast tide.

"Okay."

"No problem."

After the two agreed, Lin Yun shouted to Xiuban, and the group of four left the camp. They followed a river that cut the Four Seasons Canyon in two and went around the beast tide.

"Merlin, did you actually find anything?" Solomon was blunt with Lin Yun and asked him right after leaving the camp.

"Yes, I did…" Lin Yun paused and then continued, "Didn't you notice that the mana of the Four Seasons Canyon is a bit too vigorous?"

"Yes, I seemed to have that feeling. But what's the issue with the mana being too vigorous?"

"The mana is too vigorous, it's not supposed to be like that normally. It's so abundant that you don't need to do meditation to lure it towards you…"

"Then what's wrong?" Solomon still couldn't understand.

"…" Lin Yun irritably rolled his eyes.

It wasn't as if Lin Yun had never been to a place with such abundant mana. The camp in the Bone Plane was the convergence of endless Soul Fires, condensing the mana within the camp into a liquid state. But when Lin Yun had walked through that camp, he had only felt that everyone's aura was filled with mana. It definitely wouldn't be like this, where mana would strive to rush over, as if it was seeking them out.

"And there was the Shadow Wolf…"

"What about the Shadow Wolf?"

"The color of the Shadow Wolf's eyes was abnormal, a deep red, like blood. It had clearly fallen into some berserk state. Moreover, the Shadow Wolf had a very strong aura of life. Even after its death, it still had far more energy than the usual Shadow Wolf…"

"I still don't understand…"

"Okay, I'll be blunt… I suspect that the Four Seasons Canyon is being influenced by a mysterious force, and that the force is controlling the entire canyon. Mana, Shadow Wolf, beast tide…"

"I understand, you want to go around in order to find the source of this force?"

"Indeed, if we don't find that power source, then the magic beast tide won't stop. It might not be impossible to deal with twenty-three Thunder Elephants, a few thousand Flame Crows, and a hundred random magic beasts, but what happens after annihilating them? What if there is an even bigger wave? Such as another group twice the size? Anyways, if we can't find that source soon, we'd better pack up and return to Thousand Sails City."

"Do you know where that source might be…?"

"If my guess isn't wrong, it should be behind the beast tide."

"Guess?" Solomon didn't feel too reassured.

"Of course it's a guess…"

"Why don't you guess somewhere else?"

"High Mage Solomon, do you know how to ride horses?"

"What do you mean, of course I do!"

Lin Yun gave Solomon a strange look and asked, "Then when you are riding your horse, where do you use your horsewhip when you want it to go faster?"

"Naturally…" Solomon started to reply before abruptly stopping. He looked at Lin Yun before suddenly looking enlightened. "You are saying that the force… That force is herding these magic beasts?"

"I can't say that for sure, it's only a conjecture for now…"

"…"

The party of four cautiously circumvented the main part of the beast tide, trying to slowly infiltrate the rear. When they brushed past the beast tide, Lin Yun felt a cold sweat dripping down his forehead. This was too frightening. The army of Flame Crows covering the sky, the temperature they emitted… It truly felt as if the sky was melting. Meanwhile, several hundred magic beasts converged together and surged like a river towards the camp.

"I wonder if Sasu can hold it…" Even Solomon was worried at this time.

"It should be fine for now, but…"

Lin Yun shook his head and didn't continue speaking, but both Solomon and Badrack understood the meaning. There might be more magic beasts after this wave. That might be something that the forces of Thousand Sails City couldn't handle.

After speaking for a bit, the group of four entered a forest. Solomon promptly reminded them, "Everyone be careful. The vegetation here is very…"

"Help!" A cry of distress issued from behind before Solomon could even finish his words. The three turned to see thick vines tightly coiling around the Draconic Beastman and pulling him into the depths of the forest as he kept struggling…

Lin Yun instantly sent two Wind Blades that severed the two vines in the air, sending Xiuban tumbling to the ground.

"Fuck, where did those damn vines come from…" The Draconic Beastman crawled up from the ground, cutting a sorry figure. He wiped his forehead while cursing.

"Shut up, just be careful…"

Unfortunately, just as Lin Yun chided him, a trembling noise followed and a few fierce shadows appeared like pythons coming out of the bushes, instantly coiling around the Draconic Beastman, once again.

"Help me, Sir, help me!" There were four vines this time, and each of them was as thick as a thigh. Their sharp thorns penetrating Xiuban's chest. Blood could be seen flowing down the vines as Xiuban's dark red face twisted from the pain.

"Fuck, I just told you to be careful!" Lin Yun scolded. He cast Haste on himself before flying forward ten meters like an arrow. Immediately after, the four vines pounced at him, but Merlin kept incanting, Slow, Wither, Weakness. He threw out a few debuffs in a row…

"Merlin, careful! Those are Thousand Eyes Vines!" Solomon warned. He also cast continuously raising two Ice Walls to seal the path of the Thousand Eyes Vines.

But the Ice Walls were too fragile for the vines. Just as Solomon cast them, a thick Vine rushed up from under a brush and only a snap could be heard as a hole appeared through both of the walls. Following the vine's fierce attack, both walls collapsed, shattering into pieces.

At the same time, the four vines that caught the Draconic Beastman already disappeared within the depths of the forest.

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Chapter 205: The Eye

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

But Lin Yun wasn't slow. The Haste spell that had been strengthened by the Magic Arrays pushed Lin Yun's speed to its limits. His feet kicked against the ground as he jumped more than a dozen meters, using his momentum to charge into the depths of the forest. Trees flashed past in his peripheral vision while the cries of the Draconic Beastman were resounding intermittently from the vegetation ahead of him.

'Truly fast…' As Lin Yun chased ferociously, he couldn't help feeling shocked. The speed of those Thousand Eyes Vines was truly too fast. Unless they had extreme magic resistance, after suffering from the debuffs he had cast, they should have slowed considerably. But those Thousand Eyes Vines didn't seem to be affected, dragging away Xiuban at an astonishing speed.

The damp and gloomy forest was covered with branches and leaves, not letting any sunshine pierce through. The ground was covered with rotten leaves, making it feel like he was slogging through a swamp. Lin Yun had to be very careful to keep his balance in this environment.

At that time, Lin Yun could feel the mana in the surroundings becoming agitated, and even the rotten leaves seemed to surge with mana. With every breath and every heartbeat, the mana would crazily pour into his body, making Lin Yun wonder if he would burst if it kept going…

'No wonder he is being dragged to that place,' Lin Yun thought while supplementing himself with a few buffing spells. He knew that the Thousand Eyes Vines would soon stop…

Sure enough, as Lin Yun cast Stoneskin on himself, the few vines ahead of him fiercely flung forward, throwing Xiuban into a swath of brush a few dozen meters ahead. At the same time, the powerful inertia made the vines stretch like a bowstring before a buzzing sound could be heard as the vines quickly shot out again, their speed even faster than when they had caught the Draconic Beastman.

But their opponent wasn't the Draconic Beastman this time…

When he saw this, Lin Yun immediately took out the Book of Death. He poured mana into it, and the Blood Vine spell mark instantly darkened, but at the same time, a red vine blossomed in the forest. This was an Ultimate Blood Vine, which couldn't be compared to an ordinary Blood Vine, its energy reaching a shocking level.

Dozens upon dozens of Abyssal Blood Vines instantly blossomed, just like vipers pouncing towards their prey, the Thousand Eyes Vines. The two kinds of vines began to twist and tangle together, and the thigh-thick black vines were particularly conspicuous among the sea of red vines. It was just like a fight between pythons and vipers. No one could know which would win at this point.

But Lin Yun didn't care which would win.

After he cast his Blood Vine spell, Lin Yun snapped the Book of Death shut and rushed past the entangled vines. Under the siege of the Abyssal Blood Vines, the Thousand Eyes Vines could only look helplessly as their prey was escaping…

"Help! Help…" Xiuban's cries for help kept coming from the bush. Lin Yun just summoned some of the idle Blood Vines and swiftly swept the Draconic Beastman up.

"Sir, Sir, there is something under me trying to prick me!" Xiuban complained.

"Prick you?" Lin Yun frowned.

He wanted to ask about it, but he suddenly felt the soil under them shaking. Countless leaves fell down from the trees in the surroundings.

"Still coming?" Lin Yun opened the Book of Death once again and poured more mana into it, dimming the mark of the Ultimate Flame Burst. A whistling sound pierced the air as a huge ball of fire shot out, leaving a trail of flames behind.

"Rumble!"

As the loud explosion echoed, the entire forest shook, startling countless beasts. And even the Thousand Eyes Vines that were entangled with the Blood Vines paused for an instant. As dazzling flames soared, a blazing wave of heat spread from it. Only a sea of fire could be seen within several dozen meters.

Lin Yun felt like he heard a scream within that world-shaking explosion.

The unstable ground started swaying violently after that scream, just like an earthquake. With another explosion, a large piece of the ground burst up, exposing a huge eye.

Numerous black vines were twisted together under that eye, making it look like an octopus that had grown far too many tentacles. From Lin Yun's position, he could clearly see that the large eye was suffering from burn injuries.

But it was precisely because of this that the giant eye broke out of the ground and impatiently launched an attack on Lin Yun. Countless black vines pounced over at Lin Yun like pythons…

There were over a hundred black vines, but as they were attacking at the same time, they looked like an inescapable net, sealing Lin Yun's escape route in an instant, snapping all the trees in their path, moving through the ground effortlessly.

But Lin Yun actually remained undaunted. He gazed at the eye in the distance while his hands repeated the same motions, opening the Book of Death, and instantly rousing the Ultimate Fire Arrows. Several hundred Fire Arrows instantly appeared in the narrow space he was in, densely packed and intertwining with each other…

The explosions of the Fire Arrows flowered one after the other, sounding rather like popcorn being heated by flames. A dense cyan smoke rose up, carrying a thick stench with it. As the Fire Arrows burst out, the net of black vines was utterly destroyed.

But Lin Yun made sure to keep watching the eye. Sure enough, just as Lin Yun cleared away the countless vines, a strange radiance appeared. Even through the smoke and swirling vines, Lin Yun could feel danger.

"It's coming!"

Lin Yun instantly cast an Ice Fire Shield before rousing the Magic Arrays and chanting a mysterious and profound character.

Then…

A dazzling light blossomed in the depths of the forest!

The Thousand Eyes Vines truly had a thousand eyes.

When the hundreds of Thousand Eyes Vines turned to ash, countless spells burst out of the giant eye. These spells didn't surpass the 2nd Tier: Icicles, Wind Blades, Earth Spikes, Fire Arrows… All kind of Lesser Spells… Even more than half were pure mana rays. But the sudden burst of spells was frightening. Lin Yun guessed that there should have been at least a few hundred spells.

That scene was incredibly gorgeous.

Countless magic runes flew up and down, countless mana lights flew back and forth… The mana in the depths of the forest flared up.

"Merlin! That's a Watcher! Run!" Solomon finally managed to catch up with Badrack and saw the appalling scene.

Unfortunately, that reminder came too late…

The Watcher was already bursting with power when Solomon had shouted…

The large, monstrous eye and the dazzling spells, this amazing scene couldn't be described with words. The depths of the forest had already turned into a whirlpool of mana, but Lin Yun, who was at the center of the whirlpool, didn't seem bothered by it. He only pulled the Draconic Beastman next to him, hiding him behind his body…

He then showed off an incredible display of casting.

Flame Burst, Flame Burst, Flame Burst…

Ice Wall, Ice Wall, Ice Wall…

In less than twenty seconds, Lin Yun had cast thirty Flame Bursts, while simultaneously casting thirty Ice Walls. Every Flame Burst was followed by an earthshaking explosion, and every Ice Wall let Lin Yun take one step forward. Thirty explosions, thirty steps… It wasn't much, but it was enough to let Lin Yun reach the giant eye…

The Watcher's Lesser Spells didn't even wrinkle Lin Yun's clothes. They had all been blocked by his Ice Walls while Lin Yun's thirty Flame Bursts had fallen onto the giant eye one after the other. What had seemed like such a prideful Watcher before had already turned to charcoal, struggling on the ground. But this didn't matter anymore…

Lin Yun was already opening the Book of Death for the 4th time.

An Ultimate Flame Spear blossomed into a dazzling light. It even reminded Solomon and Badrack of the legendary Fire Dragon Spear.

The Flame Spear left a trail of flames behind as it flew out, the raging inferno piercing through the eye in an instant. A mournful scream echoed through the forest, before silence reigned once again.

"High Mage Solomon, your reminder was too late, there was no more time to run…" Lin Yun turned to Solomon and smiled. He then bent down and carefully took out the mana crystal of the Watcher.

But the moment he picked it up, Lin Yun's expression darkened…

It was a level 25 mana crystal.

The power that the Watcher had displayed was close to that of a level 30 monster. Lin Yun had felt that with enough luck, he might obtain a spirit mana crystal… But when he picked it up, he found out that it was only a level 25 mana crystal. How could Lin Yun not feel disappointed?

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Chapter 206: The Tree

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

There seemed to only be a five level difference between a level 25 mana crystal and a level 30 mana crystal, but to Lin Yun, this gap was too large. One was an ordinary mana crystal, while the other was a spirit mana crystal. This alone was enough to make the gap between the two mana crystals more than ten times bigger!

'Forget it, a level 25 mana crystal is still something…" Lin Yun soon put this disappointment to the back of his mind. This was only an unexpected harvest, after all, he didn't have reason to be picky.

He only hoped that this level 25 mana crystal contained enough mana. In that case, it could be used to feed Shawn.

As he thought of this, Lin Yun extracted a wisp of mana from the mana crystal. But he frowned as he absorbed it, and focused on it once again…

No, it wasn't because it contained enough mana. In fact, the level 25 mana crystal only had the mana of a level 20 mana crystal at most.

But Lin Yun detected a few spell matrices from the wisp of mana.

None of them surpassed the 2nd Tier, just things like Fire Arrow, Wind Blade, and so on… But this discovery was enough to make Lin Yun forget his dissatisfaction. What if the level was too low? What if the mana was lacking? In front of these spell matrices, all that was meaningless. It could be said that solely based on these few spell matrices, the value of that mana crystal could be comparable to a spirit mana crystal.

And the existence of these spell matrices meant that this was a mana crystal with the ability to cast spells.

Lin Yun could even guess that the Watcher's ability to cast spells was likely linked to the mana crystal.

After personally fighting a Watcher, Lin Yun knew more than anyone else how frightening this ability was, bursting out with several hundred Lesser Spells in an instant. Even if the Lesser Spells didn't exceed the 2nd Tier, that kind of power wasn't something a High Mage could withstand. Let alone an ordinary High Mage, even Solomon's Runic Shield might break under the onslaught.

Even though it had looked like an easy victory for Lin Yun, using thirty Ice Walls and thirty Flame Bursts before finishing with a Flame Spear, in reality, Lin Yun had used the 8th character of the Book of Death, making him enter the unlimited state.

Otherwise, how could he cast those sixty spells? Only Heaven Mages that had grasped the Extraordinary Realm could completely ignore mana cooling and elemental exhaustion.

It could be seen from Lin Yun's current appearance…

All the mana he had stored before had been exhausted, and he could only tightly hold his Spiritual Magic Tool and continuously extract the mana from within the Elemental Amber to recover.

This was the power of a Watcher…

If that mana crystal could reproduce the power of the Watcher, then it might not need anything else to rival a peak Spiritual Magic Tool. He would have the power to do one all-out attack with the strength of an Archmage!

"Looks like your harvest was good…" Solomon had already walked over. Seeing Lin Yun's smile, he knew that the value of the mana crystal was definitely not insignificant.

'This young Great Mage's luck is shocking. We played thieves before the gathering of the Magic Hand and he managed to subdue a Flame Spirit there. From the power the Flame Spirit showed when turning the Shadow Wolf into charcoal, his strength should be equivalent to that of a peak High Mage…

'And now, here, he casually killed a Watcher and obtained that monster's mana crystal. From his smile, it's definitely valuable.'

As he thought of that, Solomon felt a bit disappointed. 'If I had known earlier, I would have rushed over to deal with it.' His eyes were fixed on the mana crystal in Lin Yun's hands for a long time before he finally managed to look away from it.

"It's only an ordinary mana crystal…" Hearing Solomon's sour tone, how could Lin Yun not know what that 9th Rank High Mage was thinking? Thus, he unceremoniously put the mana crystal into his pocket as he smiled. "Don't think too much about it, I have a damaged Magic Tool, and I need many mana crystals to restore it. I have far too few, far too few…"

"Oh right, Merlin, this is already the center of the forest. What about the force driving the beast tide? Where could it be?" Solomon was also straightforward. Seeing that Lin Yun didn't plan on talking about it, he no longer mentioned the mana crystal and went back to the important mission at hand.

"It shouldn't be too far from here." After saying that, Lin Yun roused his Magic Arrays and cast several Mage Eyes one by one, letting them fly in different directions.

"How do you know?" Solomon was a bit lost.

"Because that mana crystal is only level 25."

"Ah?" Solomon froze in bemusement. 'What does a level 25 mana crystal have to do with the beast tide?'

But Solomon soon understood. As he thought about it, he felt that it truly had a lot to do with it.

The power used by the Watcher showed that it was probably around level 30. That all-out attack at the end was truly on par with an Archmage's attack. Yet that kind of existence only had a level 25 mana crystal…

In other words, that Watcher was just like the Shadow Wolf. It had been affected by some force, making it possess a power close to level 30 despite only being level 25. That was a gap of five full levels. It could be said that it was the greatest increase in strength among all the magic beasts they had seen.

It was likely the one that had been most affected by that force…

Sure enough, as Lin Yun cast his 7th Mage Eye, a strange scene appeared in the transmission from one of his Mage Eyes.

"About two kilometers south!"

"Let's go!"

After a short moment, the group of four stood in front of an ancient tree. Its trunk was several hundred meters tall, towering over them, and its many lush branches nearly covered the entire sky above them. It was like a green giant standing in the center of the forest.

When he first saw the ancient tree, Lin Yun felt like he was back in the Bone Plane, like when he had met that powerful Giant Blood Tree. But he soon recovered and knew that it had only been his imagination. This huge, ancient tree emitted a pure aura of life. It was like black and white compared to the Giant Blood Tree's undead aura.

"What the hell is that thing?"

"Be careful, don't alarm it." Lin Yun quietly tugged on Solomon's arm and tried his best to hide everyone in the bushes. "If I'm not wrong, this ancient tree should be the power source that triggered the beast tide."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go and finish this matter once and for all…" Solomon suddenly got impatient when he heard that. "Although the life aura of that ancient tree is shocking, its mana fluctuations are only those of a level 10 magic creature. It's not a threat to us at all…"

"The problem is that it already triggered a beast tide…"

"…" Solomon suddenly paled.

Yes, it had already triggered a beast tide, who could guarantee that it wouldn't trigger a second one now? After all, the first beast tide had already put the entire exploration team in a dangerous situation. If he triggered another one, the four of them would be finished.

"Moreover, look at this place…" Lin Yun pointed his finger at the thick trunk. The tree trunk was covered in all kinds of strange and enigmatic patterns that intertwined with each other. "That is at least a True Spirit level array…"

"What should we do!" Solomon was startled. Even if Solomon wasn't good at alchemy, as one of the leaders of the Sage Tower, he knew the concept of True Spirit arrays. Facing that kind of array was like facing an Archmage…

"Let me handle the array, you deal with the rest." Lin Yun quickly explained their task before pouring mana into the Lava Dominator and activating the lava armband. At the same time, he opened the Book of Death and the final mark dimmed…

That was Sharp Mind!

This was the most powerful spell that could be stored after the Sage Chapter merged with the Book of Death, and it was also the spell that had surprised Lin Yun the most with its effectiveness. After being upgraded, Sharp Mind could increase Lin Yun's analysis ability by ten times!

In fact, it was because of this Sharp Mind that Lin Yun dared to tell Solomon to let him deal with the array!

"What do you mean by 'the rest'? Hey…"

Solomon didn't have time to finish before a flower suddenly appeared. By the time he recovered, Lin Yun had already covered a few dozen meters and was standing under the ancient tree.

Lin Yun raised his head and looked up at the huge tree trunk before quickly fishing out a quill and a bottle of Melted Snow Ink from his pocket. Melted Snow Ink was crafted by blending midnight sand and the blood of a common raven. It naturally had dissolving properties and was frequently used to destroy various arrays.

Lin Yun softly dipped the quill in the Melting Snow Ink before quickly beginning to write on the tree trunk.

One array, two arrays, three arrays…

With the support of the Ultimate Sharp Mind spell, Lin Yun was able to divide that True Spirit Array into countless fragments in his mind. These fragments formed the basic elements of that array. Each fragment only had a faint power on its own, but when these fragments were gathered together, they had frightening power.

What Lin Yun needed to do now was to shatter the fragments.

As long as he could do that, the powerful array would no longer exist.

The speed of Lin Yun's inscribing was simply frightening.

Although the arrays Lin Yun drew were simple ones, for the most part, the frightening speed was enough to make any Artisan gasp.

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"Hey, what's the rest!?" Solomon was still puzzled as Lin Yun completed a dozen arrays.

"Look behind you!"

"What? Behind…" Solomon turned, feeling that this was all rather dubious, only to cry out in alarm. "Fuck, how could there be so many!"

He saw a dozen Green-Faced Sly Monkeys scuttling through the bushes. These creatures were natural killers in this jungle. They moved at the speed of wind, and their venomous claws would even make a High Mage worried if they brushed past them.

These scuttling Green-Faced Sly Monkeys were yelling with shrill voices as they pounced towards Lin Yun with their sharp claws. Even in this darkness, Lin Yun could see a faint light.

"Badrack!"

"Got it, High Mage Solomon!" Badrack, the head of the Flash Arrow Mercenary Group, was skilled, but didn't have as much fighting experience as Sasu.

Just as the Green-Faced Sly Monkeys appeared, that 9th Rank Spirit Archer was already nocking his arrows. Three magic arrows flickering with golden light flashed between his fingers as he didn't even take the time to aim before three trails of light flew towards three jumping Green-Faced Sly Monkeys. They didn't even have time to scream before the arrows struck them.

An explosion followed as the fire spells sealed within the magic arrows burst. The three Green-Faced Sly Monkeys were burnt to charcoal before they even fell to the ground.

At that time, Lin Yun took a quick glance over before going back to writing, tuning out the jumping Green-Faced Sly Monkeys as well as the sounds echoing from the forest.

This was the reason Lin Yun had chosen Badrack. It couldn't be said that Badrack was the strongest in Thousand Sails City, as Cadgar and Lys were definitely stronger, yet Lin Yun didn't ask them.

He had asked Badrack to come because archers were experts at forest battles, especially someone like Badrack, who was a peak Spirit Archer and was very experienced. Solomon and Xiuban didn't even need to make a move as Badrack used his bow to suppress the dozen Green-Faced Sly Monkeys.

"Looks like I don't have to help," Solomon said with a regretful tone.

But he quickly had to take those words back…

Because after Badrack shot down the dozen Green-Faced Sly Monkeys, fragmented sounds of footsteps had emerged from the other different sounds echoing in the forest. Only lights could be seen flickering among the bushes. These looked eerie and sinister in the dark forest.

After some time, some wolves could be heard howling one after the other, but their location was unclear. They could only see various shadows…

"Shadow Wolves!" Solomon was suddenly startled. He could detect a pack of several dozen Shadow Wolves…

Just thinking of the speed and strength of the Shadow Wolf that had ambushed Merlin at the entrance of the Four Seasons Canyon made Solomon feel worried. That had been a level 15 creature…

"Xiuban, go!" Lin Yun, who was still busy with the arrays, once again looked back.

"Eh?"

"Eh what? You are a Beastman Fighter, aren't you?"

'But… But I'm a Highland Beastman…'

Xiuban's face turned white. Highland Beastmen didn't have much experience in direct fights.

The Draconic Beastman looked pitifully at Lin Yun before drawing two curved blades from his waist and letting out a powerful battle roar to encourage himself as he rushed towards a group of Shadow Wolves…

Highland Beastmen were still Highland Beastmen…

The fighting instinct in their blood couldn't be altered. Xiuban's two curved blades quickly stopped the advance of the Shadow Wolves. Blood splattered as the blades flashed, making it hard to see if he was also bleeding or if it was just the color of his skin.

With Xiuban covering for them, Solomon and Badrack quickly took the opportunity to open fire. A 9th Rank High Mage and a 9th Rank Spirit Archer, two peak powerhouses of Thousand Sails City, were both unleashing a power that ordinary people could never imagine…

A third of the Shadow Wolves collapsed in a blink. It like like grass being mowed down as the Shadow Wolves were scattered about, leaving behind corpses.

But Solomon didn't dare to express his regrets this time.

Because he could already feel that there were more magic beasts gathering around them, possibly on the scale of that magic beast tide. They were only fighting a dozen Green-Faced Sly Monkeys and several dozen Shadow Wolves right now, but for how long? They might soon be flooded by a beast tide of various magic beasts…

"Merlin, hurry up!" At this time, Lin Yun was their only hope. Solomon sped up his reaping of the Shadow Wolves while urging him along.

"Give me ten minutes!" Lin Yun was just as anxious, but this was already his quickest speed. The arrays on that ancient tree were at the True Spirit level. Even Lin Yun could only use the Ultimate Sharp Mind to crack them in a forceful way.

This couldn't be done in a short time. The entire array had been broken down into countless smaller modules in Lin Yun's mind. He threw away the useless parts and focused on breaking the truly important ones…

In other words, Lin Yun needed to break over a hundred modules in ten minutes.

Such a workload was something that an ordinary Master Alchemist would never imagine attempting.

As time passed, Lin Yun completed one array after the other, and numerous lesser arrays were filling the tree trunk.

Lin Yun had already cracked most of the key modules and was slowly approaching the core of the array. He could clearly feel that the aura of life was getting stronger in the surroundings, almost taking shape.

Lin Yun knew that he had already touched the defense mechanism of the array, and although the array itself couldn't counterattack, that rich life aura would bring an even stronger beast tide over to them.

But he couldn't think too much about that for now…

The quill quickly wrote on the tree trunk as over half of the Melting Snow Ink had already been used on various lesser arrays, splitting the entire array.

"Shit, Merlin, hurry up, we won't be able to handle it for long!" Solomon once again issued a cry for help. At this time, the three of them were already facing the 6th wave. The quantity and quality of the magic beasts rushing over to attack them had far exceeded that of the Shadow Wolves from earlier.

The Draconic Beastman was cut all over. There were plenty of claw marks and no lack of bite marks, as well as other injuries that could only have been caused by magic. The Draconic Beastman was already covered in blood. There was no way to tell how much of it was his own, and how much was the blood of some magic beast. Moreover, he was only holding one curved blade; the other one had been lost at some point during the battle. It had been replaced by the toxic hand-crossbow Lin Yun had given him, as he was doing his best to hold off several dozen Thunder Elephants.

Solomon didn't stop casting spells all this time. He chanted many powerful incantations while pouring his mana out like a flood, fluttering through the runes and the dazzling lights. Bloodstains could be seen on that 9th Rank High Mage's robe.

But Solomon couldn't worry about such minor injuries in this situation. A Flame Burst exploded on a Flame Lizard while a Frost Python over ten meters long was already pouncing at him. Solomon had no choice but to turn and use an Ice Wall to save himself from that bloody maw. However, a Shadow Wolf had already rushed out of the bush to attack him from behind, its sharp claws tearing into Solomon's arm.

Badrack, behind him, was the busiest among the three. Various kinds of flying magic beasts covered the sky: Common Ravens, Bullhawks, Toxic Dragonflies, and Wyverns. With the Green-Faced Sly Monkeys added on top, Badrack could only lament that he didn't have eight hands. He used his Spiritual Longbow to continually fire arrows with all kinds of properties, fully displaying the power of a 9th Rank Spirit Archer.

But…

It was all futile in front of the magic beast tide. Magic beasts would keep appearing, stronger and more numerous. Solomon already felt a surge of mana fluctuations from the distance, carrying a frightening aura. That had to be a true level 30 magic beast…

"Fall back, get closer to Merlin!" They already couldn't resist the beast tide, so Solomon led Xiuban and Badrack to retreat, casting spells to hold back the numerous magic beasts as he ran towards the ancient tree.

Ultimately, the three of them lined up behind Lin Yun. This was their last line of defense. Even the Draconic Beastman's eyes were resolute, because they knew that if the beast tide broke through this perimeter, they would all be finished…

"Got it!"

At this critical time, Lin Yun drew the last mana circuit on the tree's bark.

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Chapter 208: Eighty

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"What do you mean?" The battle had been going on for so long that even Solomon was already numb. He only knew how to keep casting, as if everything else had nothing to do with him. Even when he heard Lin Yun's rejoicing voice, Solomon only dispiritedly asked this question.

But after asking, Solomon seemed to realize something, and he quickly recovered. "You got it?"

"Yes, I did."

"Great…" Solomon truly was almost tearful.

As the two talked, the hundred or so lesser arrays Lin Yun had drawn on the tree trunk started working. They were used to sever mana transmission, destroy mana circuits, bypass mana, and attenuate effects. It was accurate and complex, like a machine with countless components.

As the lesser arrays operated on the True Spirit level array, the originally methodical mana flow suddenly became chaotic. All the mana circuits seemed to be blocked, unable to smoothly connect as they had been able to before. In a blink, several hundred mana nodes were terminated, and even the ones that hadn't been terminated were greatly weakened, unable to display their desired effects. In this short moment, the entire True Spirit array began to shut down.

After losing the support of the True Spirit array, the almost tangible aura of life started dispersing. At first, it was only thinning to some extent, but as the hundred lesser arrays continued to do their work, the life aura dissipated faster and faster.

The dense beast tide also seemed to feel it…

Most of them were frozen on the spot, feeling hesitant… On one hand, they felt the power that had been strengthening them now dissipating, but on the other hand, they would hate to part with the prey right before their eyes.

But now that Lin Yun was free from having to work on the array, it wouldn't be as hard as before. The Spiritual Magic Staff appeared in his hands, and Syudos came out of the Magic Arrays, spreading a sea of fire in the forest.

This was enough to turn a dozen magic beasts into coal.

"Still not fleeing?"

As if startled by Lin Yun's cold snort, the horde of beasts suddenly retreated. That last prey's display was too frightening. When Solomon recovered, not one living magic beast was left in the surroundings. Only blood and corpses filled his sight, all of which had been the result of the previous battle.

"Xiuban, gather the mana crystals."

"Sir…" Xiuban was lying on the ground, panting heavily. After going through such an intense battle, the Draconic Beastman only wanted to lay down to nap. Hearing Lin Yun's order to gather the mana crystals, he looked up sullenly, about to complain.

"You can have a quarter of them after gathering them all up."

"I'll go immediately, Sir!" When the half-dead Draconic Beastman heard that, he suddenly got up, no longer showing any signs of fatigue.

'Sure enough, using the carrot and the stick is the most efficient way to deal with a Highland Beastman.'

"Merlin, the camp…" Although the beast tide here had already been taken care of, Solomon was still worried about the camp.

"There shouldn't be any problem with the camp. You can go back to take a look if you want." Lin Yun was quite positive about that. After he cracked the True Spirit array, the aura of life disappeared and the Four Seasons Canyon seemed to return to normal. There was no longer the vigorous mana and crazy vitality pervading the area.

"What about you?"

"I want to research this array." Lin Yun shook his head. He didn't plan to leave for now.

For a Master Alchemist, being able to research the array of an Artisan was a very rare opportunity.

Especially now, it was even more rare to be able to study an Artisan's array that had been cracked.

This was like fully displaying the workings of the True Spirit array in front of Lin Yun, leaving all the secrets and details were plainly visible to him.

This was a temptation that a Master Alchemist couldn't resist.

How could Lin Yun give up on such an opportunity?

About ten minutes later, Xiuban finished gathering the mana crystals and took his share without being polite. Moreover, Lin Yun noticed that the greedy Draconic Beastman took the mana crystals with the best quality.

Fortunately, due to Solomon and Badrack's powerful backgrounds, they didn't consider the pile of mana crystals as anything particularly valuable. To them, it was only a small, unexpected windfall, so they turned a blind eye as Xiuban stuffed his pockets and just took their own shares before rushing out of the field of corpses and blood.

After the two left, Xiuban and Lin Yun were the only ones remaining in the forest…

The surroundings were filled with corpses, and the blood had already dyed the soil red. But Lin Yun didn't care about that. All his attention was focused on the True Spirit array. Relying on Sharp Mind, Lin Yun started analyzing the entire array, cutting, reorganizing, and deducing…

The whole process continued for no less than an hour…

Eventually, Sharp Mind's effect gradually vanished. Lin Yun was smiling, feeling satisfied. The gains of that hour were simply too great. The problems he had been facing before had been solved during this hour, and Lin Yun could feel that he was approaching the Artisan realm.

From now on, the Artisan realm was no longer out of his reach, it was no longer something that only existed in his imagination. Since he touched upon the Artisan realm, it would only be a matter of time and opportunity.

After digesting what he had learned during this hour, Lin Yun stood up in front of the ancient tree.

It was somewhat strange… That ancient tree's many branches were covered with lush leaves. It obviously looked like it was in the prime of its life, but after Lin Yun broke the array, the aura of life slowly dispersed and the ancient tree's vitality seemed to quickly drain away.

"I might as well give you a hand…" Lin Yun saw this and knew that this ancient tree wouldn't be able to survive. Once its vitality was completely gone, it would fall on its own.

Lin Yun steeled his heart and ruthlessly cast a Wither spell…

The 3rd Tier spell was very effective against plant lifeforms, and Lin Yun used the power of his Magic Array to further increase its might. The ancient tree that had already been slowly losing its vitality was now visibly withering.

The green leaves turned yellow, the huge trunk started losing its bark, and the lush branches drooped down powerlessly…

In the end, this tree that had been several hundred meters tall collapsed with a rumbling sound.

'I want to see what kind of secrets you were hiding…' Lin Yun walked to the collapsed tree and summoned five Rock Puppets to unearth it.

After another hour or so and four batches of Rock Puppets, the whole tree was unearthed. After everything was cleared up, a deep tunnel over ten meters wide stretched in front of him. The bottom of the tunnel couldn't be seen.

Lin Yun first cast a Mage Eye…

But that Mage Eye soon met a very powerful mana disturbance and dissipated before it could see anything useful.

"Eh!" Lin Yun suddenly shook. It had been a very powerful mana interference. He was now convinced that something strange was hiding down there.

After considering his options, Lin Yun cast Mage Sight on a Rock Puppet and cast a Light spell to shine into the tunnel before commanding the Rock Puppet to walk into the depths of the tunnel.

Sure enough, the tunnel wasn't bottomless…

It took the Rock Puppet three minutes to walk to the end of the tunnel, but the only thing it found was… nothing. There wasn't a single thing there that could have caused the Mage Eye to dissipate.

'How could this be?' Lin Yun felt a bit baffled. 'Is the secret deeper? If so, the excavating might take quite a while…'

Lin Yun thought about it, but he wasn't convinced easily. He sent the other four puppets and began searching every corner of the tunnel.

Only then did Lin Yun find a small flicker in a corner of the tunnel…

After checking it carefully, he guessed that it was a gem of some sort. It didn't seem to be of high quality, and it was only issuing a faint red color. It was about as big as an egg, with rounded ends and a plump middle, in an oval shape.

Lin Yun hurriedly chanted an incantation and ordered the five Rock Puppets to bring the gem out.

'Sure enough, it holds very powerful mana…' As the gem appeared before his eyes, Lin Yun understood why the Mage Eye had disappeared. It was because of the mana emitted by the precious gem. It was a mana crystal that was at least level 25 and extremely pure, to the point that even a Magic Apprentice could absorb mana from it.

But apart from that, Lin Yun couldn't see anything. After studying it for a long time, the fact that it had pure and abundant mana was still the only thing about it that seemed remarkable to him. Just as he planned to put it in his pocket to study it later, Shawn, who was always busy absorbing mana, exclaimed in shock, "To hell with it! Throw that away! Quick, throw that thing away! Do you want to die?!"

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Chapter 209: Ancient God

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"What are you doing!?" Lin Yun was startled, and he almost let the precious gem fall. After recovering, he scolded Shawn with a dark expression. "What kind of True Spirit Magic Tool are you, making a fuss out of nothing!"

"Throw away that thing in your hand! Quick!"

"Are you kidding? This magic gem is worth at least a few million golds. Are you going to pay it back after making me throw it away?"

"I'm not kidding, that thing in your hand, it… it's not a magic gem, it's only a disaster…"

"Oh?" Lin Yun smiled when he heard that. "Looks like you know something, Lord Shawn?"

"I don't!" Lin Yun had just asked to probe, but Shawn's answer was self-explanatory. He impatiently denied it, afraid that Lin Yun wouldn't believe him. "No… I don't know. But listen to me and quickly throw that thing away. It will only bring you disaster."

"So you don't want to explain." Lin Yun understood when he heard those words. Shawn definitely knew something, but he just didn't want to tell him. "But, Lord Shawn, you should know, right? The Doom Staff is a bottomless pit, it can easily handle dozens of spirit mana crystals, and you also consume a lot… Didn't you almost finish digesting that spirit mana crystal too?"

"I'm… I'm about to…" Shawn's voice lacked confidence. He indeed had almost finished digesting that spirit mana crystal. In the past few days, he had been scheming, trying to come up with a way to wheedle another one from Lin Yun.

"About to…" Lin Yun smiled and shook his head, pointing at Xiuban's neck. "And that good-for-nothing Draconic Beastman's magical development completely relies on gathering mana crystals…"

"But…"

"This is worth a few million golds, and you are asking me to throw it away. Tell me, if there is no reason, why should I waste it?"

"That thing can only cause a disaster…" But Shawn still only repeated the same thing and refused to say what the disaster was.

Lin Yun didn't have a way to get the answer out of him and could only helplessly ask, "Okay, let's leave the disaster aside for now. If it's not a magic gem, what is it?"

"This is a soul fragment…" After saying this, Shawn went silent for a long time. Eventually, he regained his courage and continued, "A soul fragment from a God…"

When the words "Ascian Dynasty" came out of Shawn's mouth, Lin Yun held his breath.

Among Noscent's legends, the story of the ancient Ascian Dynasty established by Gods had always been circulating. That was a true golden era, when the ancient Gods walked the earth. They had many abilities and endless power. They could tear open the sky and raise the earth. Under the rule of the ancient Gods, every race peacefully prospered and all of Noscent was thriving.

But that golden era was ended by a disaster…

And now, no one knew what kind of disaster it was. People could only find some simple records of the era saying that the Gods resisted the disaster and saved the world of Noscent, but that the price they paid was extremely heavy and the survivors had to leave Noscent, exiling themselves into spatial cracks.

That period, often called the Golden Era, was also known as the Mythological Era.

After the Golden Era was the Silver Era, when Elves and Dragons jointly ruled Noscent, up till several tens of thousands of years ago, when Charles The Great shattered the Life Throne. All legends came to an end and Noscent entered the era of mortal rule. That was what people called the Bronze Era.

Time passed and dynasties changed. Eventually, even the 3rd Dynasty established by Charles the Great disappeared in the river of time. In comparison, the furthest Ascian Dynasty could only be traced through epics and legends, and it was only a shadow of its former self.

In fact, even at the peak of the magic civilization, the existence of the Ascian Dynasty was frequently debated.

Lin Yun would have never thought that he would find a fragment of an Ancient God's soul within the Four Seasons Canyon.

"Haha, Lord Shawn, that's very funny…" Lin Yun's first thought was that Lord Shawn was making up another story, just like he had done in Barov's tomb when pretending to be the Desolate Overlord to scare him. It sounded exactly the same, using some fantastic excuse to make Lin Yun throw away the magic gem. 'Ancient God? Really?'

But regardless of what excuse Shawn gave him, Lin Yun couldn't suppress the shaking from his laughter.

"Can't you tell if I'm joking? I have a master-slave contract with you, after all," Shawn sneered.

"No way…" The magic gem in Lin Yun's hand suddenly felt rather hot.

"Do you finally know how serious this is?" After coldly snorting, Shawn scolded Lin Yun like an elder teaching a lesson to a child. "This is the soul of an Ancient God. You must have heard of Ancient Gods, their limitless mana, and their ability to destroy anything with a single move. With one blow, an Ancient God could kill a hundred 9th Rank Great Mages like you. It's quite bold of you to hold the fragment of an Ancient God's soul. Who do you think you are? A wisp of that Ancient God's soul fragment would be enough to obliterate you many times over!"

"Well, Lord Shawn, how do you know this?" Lin Yun looked at the soul fragment for a long time before looking suspiciously at Shawn.

"Because a certain lunatic once played with a soul fragment of an Ancient God, but that lunatic was far stronger than you…"

"You are talking about Barov?"

"That's right, that lunatic."

"So you are saying that the soul fragment I found here is the same kind that Prince Barov had?"

"Don't ask again!" Shawn's voice was filled with a degree of alarm that was hard to cover. "Don't ask again, Ancient Gods are taboo, looking for these will bring you disaster!"

"Indeed." Lin Yun actually nodded. He rarely agreed with Shawn's point of view, but the problem was truly dangerous. Ancient Gods were taboo, and it seemed that the fall of the 3rd Dynasty was linked to that.

"Okay, okay, I have already explained, so quickly throw that thing away…" Seeing Lin Yun nod, Shawn finally relaxed.

"No…" But he never expected that Lin Yun would still shake his head. "Since this is the fragment of an Ancient God's soul, I cannot throw it away…"

"You are insane!"

"Don't worry, I have an idea."

After saying that, Lin Yun opened the Book of Death and incanted the seven mysterious characters. His surroundings changed in a flash as a Planar Path appeared out of nowhere…

"I can put it in a safer place," he said, before stepping into the Planar Path. After the surroundings stabilized, Lin Yun could be seen standing above the Demiplane. Nothing changed, and it was still quiet and desolate, just like Noscent in the future. But Lin Yun knew that there was a huge difference between both. Noscent was on the verge of dying because its life had come to an end, while this Demiplane was just recently born.

Because of its recent birth, it was still in its most primitive state.

But that primitive state could be changed, provided he had enough natural resources, just like Astrologian Agalon. After establishing the four elements, the world's evolution of life would begin, and the desolate Demiplane would turn into an independent world.

Naturally, this would be a very long path.

Just establishing the four elements would have to wait until he reached the Archmage realm, and as for starting the world's evolution of life, he would have to be a Heaven Mage before he could try.

But it wasn't urgent.

Even if he immediately evolved the Demiplane into an independent world, he wouldn't be able to harness the full power of that world yet. This was also something he could only do after reaching the Heaven Mage realm.

Before that, it would be better to treat this Demiplane as a warehouse of sorts.

Lin Yun put down the Ancient God's soul fragment before walking back to the Planar Path. After another distortion, Lin Yun returned to Noscent.

"Hell, you will regret it, I'm telling you, you'll regret sooner or later…" Shawn continued blabbering after they left the Demiplane.

"Okay okay, I understand, I'll regret it…" Lin Yun shook his head and ignored Shawn's complaints.

In fact, Lin Yun also knew that the most reliable way to handle that fragment was to put it back into the hole.

But Lin Yun was reluctant…

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That was a soul fragment of an Ancient God…

What were Ancient Gods? They were the most tyrannical lifeforms in the history of Noscent, their strength only described in legends. This was the only opportunity for Lin Yun to see this kind of power, so he was quite reluctant to give up on it.

Shawn's words were right…

The Ancient Gods were taboo. Any search for their remnants would bring countless disasters. Even a true name could easily destroy a plane. Lin Yun leaving a fragment of an Ancient God's soul behind was a very dangerous matter, even if that fragment was stored in an empty Demiplane…

But Lin Yun still did it.

Lin Yun had personally witnessed Noscent's destruction, had personally felt the powerlessness of having knowledge but no power… In order to extract a wisp of mana, Lin Yun could sleep in the scalding desert for a week, in order to cast a lesser spell he would even spend a few nights without sleeping to build the ideal spell matrix just to make that spell use as little mana as possible.

Lin Yun's thirst for power wasn't something Shawn could understand.

For such an opportunity, Lin Yun was willing to take great risks.

"You are already insane! Just like that lunatic Barov, always yelling about some recurring disaster, you are already insane!" After roaring these words, Shawn angrily severed the mental communication, leaving Lin Yun at a loss.

He was confused by the scolding and wanted to ask Shawn to clarify, but the latter didn't say anything. No matter what threats or promises Lin Yun gave, he no longer responded at all.

In the end, Lin Yun had no choice but to pack up and lead the Draconic Beastman out of this open forest.

It was evening by the time Lin Yun and Xiuban returned to the camp.

As he'd expected, the beast tide had already withdrawn, and the camp had once again regained its order. A dozen bonfires were lit in the middle of the camp, and after the rough day, they were all grouped around their fires, eating roasted meat and drinking some alcohol, talking about the fight they had won and laughing very loudly…

To them, it had been a proud battle. By relying on their simple and crude camp's defenses, they had been able to withstand the attacks of twenty Thunder Elephants, over a thousand Flame Crows, and several thousand other magic beasts, before they managed to force the frightening beast tide back.

They didn't know the real reason the beast tide retreated.

No more than thirty people in the camp knew the real reason.

They were now grouped on the side of a bonfire, striving to be the first to express their gratitude to Lin Yun.

After returning, Solomon told everyone what had happened. Whether it was Sasu, Sauss, or even Monchi, they all knew that the beast tide had retreated because the young Great Mage had found the origin of the beast tide.

"Haha, everyone is too polite…" After saying a few perfunctory words, Lin Yun also sat next to the bonfire, asking about the circumstances inside the camp.

"Merlin, it is truly thanks to your reminder that our side's losses were minimal." The most qualified to answer was Sasu. As the commander of this battle, Sasu credited almost everything to Lin Yun.

"I was just lucky with my guess." Lin Yun shook his head and didn't say anything else.

After this battle, Lin Yun could clearly feel that the leaders gathered here were very enthusiastic towards him…

Of course, it didn't mean that they hadn't been before…

After all, quite a few of them had come to visit him during the trip, and their enthusiasm couldn't be hidden. But the enthusiasm at the time was purely due to their utilitarian natures, to curry favor and avoid conflict with him, making it somewhat out of place.

But now, it came from the bottom of their hearts.

It was pure gratitude.

They all knew that if they hadn't had this young Great Mage with them this day, they would have ended with two choices: withdrawing from the Four Seasons Canyon, or fighting the beast tide to the death. Regardless of the choice, it would have been an unbearable loss to all of them.

Fortunately, that young Great Mage stood out and saw through the origin of the beast tide, successfully resolving the crisis. Those who were still unfamiliar with Lin Yun's strength gradually understood the choices of the Black Horn Auction House, the Silver Moon Mercenary Group, and the Sage Tower…

They were the three closest forces to the Gilded Rose.

Especially the Sage Tower…

Solomon almost always called on the young Great Mage whenever something happened.

They couldn't understand before, but they all started to understand now.

With such a seemingly omnipotent ally, why wouldn't they call on him?

Among the major forces, only one of them was in an awkward spot, which was naturally the Monchi Family.

Monchi was regretting quite a bit right now.

If he had known that Mafa Merlin would reach such heights, he wouldn't have participated in causing Locke Merlin's shipwreck, and certainly wouldn't have agreed with Solan's arrangement to scheme for the house that Locke Merlin left behind.

He wouldn't have stepped foot in the alchemy business and opened the Twin Moons Splendor.

Unfortunately, these hypotheticals couldn't fix the past…

He had already caused Locke Merlin's death and schemed to try to get his house. As for the Twin Moons Splendor, it was open all over Thousand Sails City, and although it struggled under the pressure of the Gilded Rose, everyone knew that it was the Gilded Rose's competitor.

All of this had already happened…

It put Monchi in a very awkward situation.

He didn't dare to think of setting himself against Mafa Merlin or against the Gilded Rose now. It was already like a sun in Thousand Sails City, and even the Sage Tower was showing signs of abdicating their position as the most powerful force of Thousand Sails City.

As for Mafa Merlin himself, he was even more unfathomable. The unruly Sauss didn't dare to get angry in front of him. Thousand Sails City's strongest High Mage, Solomon, treated him as an equal, and even the Alchemist Guild's Leader, the newly promoted Master Alchemist, admitted that he wasn't as good as Mafa Merlin in the field of alchemy.

It was as if there was a halo above Merlin's head now.

Unless Solan came back from the Dark Azure Plane as an Archmage, he wouldn't have the slightest opportunity to raise his head in front of Mafa Merlin.

But how could it be easy to enter the Archmage realm?

If it were easy, Solan wouldn't have entered the Dark Azure Plane, and neither would he have convinced his brother to act against Merlin.

At that time, Monchi thought of acting like the other leaders, taking advantage of this opportunity to show some goodwill towards Merlin.

Unfortunately, he couldn't.

Other forces might be able to show some goodwill, but that was because they had never had any grudges towards the Gilded Rose. But that wasn't the case for himself. He had acted against the Gilded Rose quite a few times, and even if he tried to extend an olive branch now, it was hard to say if the other side would accept. And if he was refused, the reputation of the Monchi Family would be trashed.

Monchi's current mood was very awkward and confused. He wanted to show appreciation, but was afraid of the consequences… But he was also afraid of reprisals if he didn't…

With such a contradictory mood, it was hard for Monchi to sit near the bonfire with the others.

Fortunately, while he was suffering in silence, a shadow reached the camp and interrupted this rare bonfire party.

"I'm looking for Fran." The newcomer with a serious expression and ostentatious blonde hair was one of Nolan's numerous disciples, second only to Karon, Suyass.

"Sir, you are?" Solomon was the first to stand up and use this rare honorific, because he had clearly seen that this middle-aged man had entered the camp using Flight.

It was the sign of an Archmage.

Even if Solomon was a lot more courageous, he wouldn't dare to be rude to an Archmage. The difference between a 9th Rank High Mage and an Archmage was a thin line, but that line was the horizon separating heaven and earth. There were countless 9th Rank High Mages in Noscent who spent their whole lifetimes chasing after that line, but unable to go past it.

"Who I am doesn't matter. I'll say it once again, I'm looking for Fran."

"Haha…" Solomon was the disciple of the Star Sage. Even if the other side was an Archmage, it was very normal for Solomon to get angry when faced with that kind of attitude. But Solomon didn't dare to explode in anger and only forced out a chuckle as an answer.

"Fran! Come out!" Fortunately, Suyass had no intention of arguing with Solomon.

Suyass hadn't yelled very loudly, and it was just as if he was talking normally, but his words spread through the entire camp, echoing in everyone's ears.

"Su… Suyass, how come you are here?" And 'everyone' naturally included Fran. After hearing that voice, Fran rushed out of his tent in panic. His expression filled with shock and fear when he saw his fellow disciple…

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Chapter 211: Instigation

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

Fran had thought that even if Nolan didn't come, the one he would send would be Karon.

Fran would be at ease if one of those two came. Nolan was always gentle with his disciples, and even if they made a mistake, he would only say a few words and let it go. Karon wouldn't even say anything. As the most successful disciple, Karon would take good care of all of them. When Nolan couldn't make a personal appearance, he would usually send Karon.

Fran was certain that recounting the bitter experience he had experienced on the road would be enough to convince Nolan or Karon to stick up for him.

But Suyass had appeared…

Among Nolan's numerous disciples, Suyass was the latest disciple, but he was shockingly talented. Not only was he one of the peak Master Alchemists of Okland, he had also become an Archmage a few years ago. The name Magic Flame Suyass had been spreading through Okland for the past few years. He was considered by many as the 3rd most prominent person of the Mercury Tower.

In contrast, Fran's achievements were too embarrassing to display…

Fran had become a disciple of Nolan at least ten years before Suyass, but after many years, the ones he had once looked down upon had surpassed him. Fran made no progress all that during that time. Whether it was in alchemy or magic, there was no clear improvement.

Moreover, the relationship between both of them kept worsening.

In the past two years, Suyass would usually not speak to Fran unless it was to shout at and scold him. Fran couldn't raise his head in front of Suyass and could only turn and walk away when seeing him, avoiding him completely. Fran feared this young disciple.

Of the many members of the Mercury Tower, Fran wasn't afraid of Nolan or Karon…. But he was afraid of Suyass.

Seeing Suyass appearing at such a time, Fran couldn't help complaining inwardly.

"Follow me." Suyass glanced at Fran and entered the tent after saying those two words with an icy tone.

Fran couldn't help feeling nervous when he saw Suyass' expression. He glanced around reflexively but remembered that this wasn't the Mercury Tower, so there was no one that could help him here. Thus, Fran had no choice to but brace himself and walk inside the tent, with an expression similar to that of a prisoner on death row facing the scaffold.

"Teacher already saw your letter," Suyass said with a very peaceful voice as he casually sat down in the tent.

But for some reason, Fran was afraid, afraid to the point that his voice shook when he asked, "What… What did Teacher say?"

"Teacher was afraid that you can't handle it by yourself, so he sent me to help you. If you really found that set of Spiritual Magic Tools, then I'll have to discuss with the other forces. The Mercury Tower is willing to use other assets to trade for it." After saying this, Suyass looked at Fran with dissatisfaction. "But I think that the set of Spiritual Magic Tools you mentioned doesn't exist…"

Fran was startled… What he feared had happened.

"Fran, do you think Teacher didn't notice your trick? Unless you ran into some huge trouble, would you be willing to write to Teacher? Do you think that mentioning Vaughn's alchemy laboratory and that set of Spiritual Magic Tools would make Teacher personally visit the Four Seasons Canyon? Are you asking Teacher to settle your problems?"

Suyass looked at Fran with a sneer as he scolded, "I already told you quite a few times to spend more time studying alchemy. If you spent half as much time on alchemy as you do on scheming against the Merlin Family, you would have already reached the peak of the Master Alchemist realm. Would you still need Teacher to help with these minor problems then?"

"I didn't want for it to come to this…" Fran was unable to raise his head.

"Forget it, Fran, it's the path you chose. I can help you this time, but I hope that you won't write a letter to Teacher next time. Teacher is already a few hundred years old, do you think he has the time to worry about you all day long? Do you feel no shame?"

"I… I didn't think it would be like that…"

"Okay, tell me, what kind of trouble did you meet? My time is very valuable, after solving your problems, I have to go to the Golden Forest plane to take over Karon's task."

"It's like this…" Hearing that Suyass was willing to help, the scared and anxious Fran suddenly regained his drive. After straightening out his thoughts, he said, "After arriving at Thousand Sails City, I spent my time researching Vaughn's treasury. After flipping through many books and materials, I found out that the arrays of the Vaughn Treasury exceeded my abilities. I originally wanted to give up, but Lys kept asking, so… so…"

"So you made up a story and wrote a letter to Teacher to ask for help." Suyass sneered before bluntly nodding. "This is fine, I've been studying the Hexagram Star of Vaughn, so I have some understanding of that last Artisan of the 3rd Dynasty. When you guys send an exploration team, save me a spot."

Hearing this, Fran knew that things were going well, so he acted as if he wanted to say something but was hesitating. "It's just that…"

"Hmm?" Sure enough, Suyass prodded him to continue. "It's just that what?"

"Well, I don't know who Lys listened to, but he unexpectedly found someone else to break the arrays."

"Isn't that good?"

"The problem is that I'm not too sure about the abilities of the person Lys found. He is called Mafa Merlin and is a Great Mage. At the same time, he is also a Master Alchemist and is about to turn twenty this year. It could be said that his talent is good, but how could I feel reassured by his age?"

"That young?" Hearing that, Suyass couldn't help being impressed. Becoming a Great Mage and a Master Alchemist before turning twenty… He was a rare talent. Even Suyass himself had only reached that level at the age of 25.

But, was it really a problem to be that young?

He might be a genius in the field of magic. Suyass also had great achievements in magic at a young age. But in the field of alchemy, no shortcuts could be taken. The more profound the alchemy, the more experience was needed. Every achievement in the field of alchemy was obtained through pushing on while piling up failures.

Using a Master Alchemist that isn't even twenty to crack complex arrays…

What was Lys thinking?

This was like gambling with the lives of the hundreds of people of the exploration team…

"I already advised Lys many times. Although this Mafa Merlin is a genius in the field of alchemy, he is too lacking in experience at this age. The arrays within the Vaughn Treasury are too much for him to handle. But Lys didn't listen. Moreover, that Mafa Merlin is extremely arrogant and insisted that he could break the arrays. He even said that the reason I wasn't confident was the alchemy level of the Mercury Tower being too low!"

Fran stopped there and slightly lowered his head while paying attention to Suyass' expression.

"Eh?" Suyass frowned. "The Mercury Tower's alchemy level is too low?"

"Yes, that Mafa Merlin said so. If not because of that, I wouldn't have written a letter to Teacher. I truly didn't want to see the hundreds of people of the exploration team being driven to ruin because of the arrogance of a kid…" After saying that, Fran sighed helplessly.

"Haha, it looks like the Mercury Tower had been too low key in the past few years… Low key to the point that a young kid could actually question the Mercury Tower's level of skill in alchemy…" Suyass' frown deepened before he showed a rare smile.

"Haha, maybe it's because Thousand Sails City is too remote?" Fran smiled, knowing that he had reached his goal.

They were fellow disciples. Although their relationship wasn't good, how could Fran not know that whenever Suyass exposed that smile, it meant that he was truly infuriated?

Him being infuriated was perfect.

'It's time for Mafa Merlin to taste the kind of fear I have been feeling in the Mercury Tower…'

"Let's go. Take me to see this Mafa Merlin. I want to see how skilled he is to dare to question the skills of the Mercury Tower." After saying that, Suyass slowly got up. He still had the smile on his face, but in Fran's eyes, that smile signaled Mafa Merlin's death sentence.

Although Fran was secretly happy, he still added a few more words. "Oh right, Suyass, there is a 9th Rank High Mage outside named Solomon, he is the disciple of Star Sage Jouyi and is very protective of that Mafa Merlin. You should be careful, you can't be too hard on Solomon so we can avoid Teacher having to explain himself in front of Jouyi…"

Fran's words were very treacherous. It sounded as if he was trying to stop Suyass from acting too excessively, but in reality, he was saying that Solomon was relying on his relationship with Star Sage Jouyi to protect that young Master Alchemist who questioned the Mercury Tower.

Most people would be careful of Star Sage Jouyi's reaction when listening to this.

But who was Suyass? He was the only genius under Nolan who could chase behind Karon. In all of Okland, only Nolan and Karon were worthy of his respect. What Jouyi, what Harren? Suyass never paid attention to them. Hearing these words, his expression became even more frightening. "Solomon? I see…"

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Chapter 212: Stakes

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

Seeing Suyass' expression, Fran knew that he would be avenged, but he still pretended to look worried as he warned, "Suyass, by all means, don't act recklessly. That's the Star Sage, Teacher has to give him some respect…"

"Hmpf, Star Sage," Suyass coldly snorted before leaving the tent.

When Suyass walked out, Fran leaked out a barely perceptible smile. 'Solomon, ah, Solomon, even I feel sorry for you now…'

Solomon was truly getting caught in the crossfire.

Fran and Solomon had nothing to do with each other to begin with and they had always maintained a polite and indifferent relationship. But on this trip, Fran had clearly noticed that Solomon was very protective of that Mafa Merlin. The two definitely weren't mere acquaintances. If he wanted to deal with Mafa, he would have to dig a hole for Solomon first. Otherwise, he would have wasted his energy if Solomon had a way to contact the Star Sage and insisted on protecting Mafa Merlin.

'Mafa Merlin, you can only blame yourself…'

At this time, the conversation that had been interrupted because of Suyass had already resumed. The leaders of the nine forces of Thousand Sails City were sitting in a circle next to a bonfire, still chatting about the earlier fight. The atmosphere was friendly and harmonious.

"Who is Mafa Merlin?" But Suyass' appearance destroyed that atmosphere. The Archmage with the title of Magic Flame emitted a stifling pressure just by standing there.

He was now standing next to the bonfire, sweeping across everyone with a cold and detached gaze. Besides asking his question, Suyass didn't say anything else, but that stifling pressure made everyone feel as if they were choking.

"And you are?" Lin Yun slowly got up, his face devoid of emotion, yet inwardly vigilant. He could feel the enmity from the mana fluctuations that suppressed the entire camp. It was hostility from an Archmage…

"I am Suyass, from the Mercury Tower."

These words made those next to the bonfire exclaim in surprise. Magic Flame Suyass, one of the youngest Archmages of Okland, the number 3 of the Mercury Tower. All kinds of rumors had spread about him, even in the distant Thousand Sails City.

"Hello, Sir Suyass." Lin Yun was unaffected by hearing the name.

"You are Mafa Merlin?" Suyass squinted as he gazed at Lin Yun. "I heard that you are very confident in your skills with arrays. It so happens that I have some knowledge in the field of arrays. How about we make a bet?"

"Sir Suyass, you must be joking…"

"I'm not playing with you." Suyass' expression didn't change, but his words were a bit rude. "I recently completed a new array, how about we use that array to bet? I'll give you one day. If you can crack this array within a day, it'll be my loss, and if you cannot, it'll be your loss. How about it?"

After saying this, Suyass glanced at Lin Yun and casually said, "As for the stakes, one arm should be fine."

"…" When Suyass' words came out, the surroundings went silent.

Although everyone felt the hostility when Suyass introduced himself, most of them had guessed that he was there to stick up for Fran.

But no one had thought that this Archmage would actually be so unreasonable and ask for an arm. Moreover, the bet was about breaking an array.

Who was Suyass? He was Nolan's disciple, and he had already been known as a peak Master Alchemist for years. The arrays he was researching, if not True Spirit level, were at least close to True Spirit level. Bringing out such an array against a young Master Alchemist was truly unreasonable…

Merlin was not even twenty! Even if he had been studying alchemy since his birth, it would be less than twenty years worth of experience with alchemy. How could he compare to a peak Master Alchemist like Suyass?

This was simply bullying!

"Sir Suyass!" Solomon stood up. "Coercing a young Master Alchemist as the disciple of Sir Nolan, aren't you being a bit too overbearing?"

"Oh?" Suyass' eyes moved away from Lin Yun to land onto Solomon, a faint smile on his face. "You are the disciple of Star Sage Jouyi? Solomon?"

"Whose disciple I am doesn't matter. What matters is you, Sir Suyass, using such an unfair method on Merlin."

"Fairness? Haha, Solomon, you are talking about fairness with me?"

"Sir Suyass…" Solomon was stunned, but he then had a bad feeling. But when he realized that something was wrong and tried to cast a protective spell, he was already out of time.

Just as Solomon closed his mouth, a spark appeared on his arm, immediately followed by an explosion, as raging flames fiercely roared on his arm. His entire arm was on fire.

Solomon's reaction was pretty quick. He had already prepared a Frost spell the moment the spark landed on his arm. A mist appeared as a layer of ice covered Solomon's arm at a crazy speed. It was only a small dot at first, but that small dot covered Solomon's arm in an instant.

Solomon's reaction was very timely.

But…

Just as everyone sighed in relief, another explosion echoed and the flames that had been extinguished by the ice reappeared. A dazzling blaze flared up as the fierce flames turned the ice into vapor.

This sudden change made everyone feel scared. The difference between an Archmage and a Great Mage was just one rank, but that one rank wasn't easy to overcome.

As a 9th Rank High Mage, Solomon simply couldn't retaliate in front of an Archmage…

"Sir Suyass, didn't you want to bet?" At this time, Lin Yun calmly stepped forward, as Syudos gently coiled around Solomon's arm and swallowed those raging flames.

Syudos, as an Upper Rank Flame Spirit, could be said to be the purest flame in this world. Let alone Suyass even if a true Magic Flame descended, playing with fire before Syudos was only displaying one's mediocre skills before an expert.

"Pretty good Magic Tool." Suyass no long paid attention to Solomon, and he only stared at Lin Yun. "Seems like you plan to agree?"

"Wait a moment." Lin Yun carefully helped Solomon take a seat before looking for searching his pocket and taking out a bottle of Ice Spirit Potion. This was something Lin Yun had prepared for his expedition to the Demon Plane. It was specialized against the dark flames of the Abyss. Using it to treat Solomon was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

But he didn't have anything else that would work at this time.

Even though Solomon's help always had some ulterior motive, Lin Yun knew that this was because he was setting up a way forward for the Sage Tower. Moreover, he truly had helped Lin Yun a lot. It could be said that without Solomon, he might have still reached this stage, but it would have been a lot harder.

After drinking the Ice Spirit Potion, Solomon's expression relaxed. His burn was also recovering at a visible speed.

After Lin Yun carefully checked and confirmed that there was no issue with Solomon's injury, he slowly stood up and looked at Suyass with a strange expression for a long time before asking, "Sir Suyass, are you sure you want to use an arm for the bet?"

"What? Are you afraid? Looks like you aren't very confident in your alchemy level. But it's too late to be afraid, Mafa Merlin. If you are willing to bet, then do so, but the stakes cannot be changed."

"No…" Lin Yun helplessly shook his head. "I meant, Sir Suyass, how about betting both arms?"

"Ah?" Suyass was stumped at first. He carefully looked at Lin Yun for a long time before smiling, "Good, good, Mafa Merlin, you are very confident in your level of alchemy…"

After chuckling, Suyass took out a scroll from his pocket. "This is the array I recently completed. You have one day to crack it. If you cannot crack it within a day, then you'll have to leave your arms behind."

Lin Yun took the scroll and examined it. Sure enough, it was close to True Spirit level. A third of the skills within had reached the level of an Artisan. If it had been a day earlier, Lin Yun might have found this array to be rather headache-inducing.

But it was too late now…

"One day? Hahahaha…" Lin Yun laughed before spreading the scroll next to the bonfire and taking out a quill from his pocket. He searched in his pocket some more, but found out that he had already exhausted his Melting Snow Ink. Thus, he turned to Suyass and asked, "Well, Sir Suyass, could I trouble you to lend me some Melting Snow Ink?"

"Hold on." Suyass frowned before taking out a bottle from his pocket and giving it to Lin Yun.

The whole camp then turned silent. Nothing could be heard besides the crackling of the bonfire and the sound of Lin Yun's quill dancing across the scroll. Everyone seemed to have tacitly agreed to hold their breaths, afraid of bothering the young Master Alchemist.

It was to the point that no one noticed a flame sweeping across the sky…

No one but Fran…

'How come Karon also came?'

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Chapter 213: Don't Lower Yourself To His Level

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

The battle in the Golden Forest Plane had already reached the critical juncture. They were about to suppress the rebel Dark Elves. As soon as Karon took the Mercury Tower's puppet legion to march forward, the tumor that had been plaguing the Golden Forest Plane for several hundred years would be cleanly removed. But Grant was sent from the Mercury Tower to replace him, while he had to check on Suyass in the Four Seasons Canyon…

Karon felt strange… Suyass was a peak Master Alchemist and a newly advanced Archmage. He had been doing well in the Golden Forest Plane in the past few years, and moreover, he had entered the Bloody Plane three times and escaped unscathed. He was powerful and ranked third in the entire Mercury Tower.

'How come Teacher is so anxious with him going to the Four Seasons Canyon to help Thousand Sails City's joint exploration team?' Karon thought at the time.

But after asking, he learnt that Mafa Merlin was part of that joint exploration team.

And Karon clearly understood from that. Suyass was too headstrong, and if he joined the expedition, he wouldn't allow anyone to go against him.

It would have been fine normally…

It was quite normal for an Archmage like Suyass to demand absolute control in a group made up of High Mages, Spirit Archers, and Expert Swordsmen.

But Mafa Merlin was also too headstrong.

Others might not know this young Great Mage very well, but Karon did. He got a good understanding of the young Great Mage's character during the Fanrusen Formula's research. Mafa Merlin wasn't easy to deal with. He would remain courteous if others were courteous, but with Suyass' temperament, it would be strange if the two didn't come into conflict…

Moreover, Mafa Merlin wasn't an ordinary Great Mage. He truly had the ability to make Suyass suffer.

Hogg was a good example. The 9th Rank High Mage who was known for his ability in data computation was slapped in the face because of one spell matrix and was almost kicked out of the Cloud Tower by Jouyi.

Not to mention that the current Mafa Merlin was far different from his former self. Not long ago, at the Magic Hand's gathering, he had taken the limelight. His three Meditation Law Sets caused a stir, and who knew how many major forces wanted to have a good relationship with him, including his teacher Nolan. Otherwise, he wouldn't have hurriedly gotten Karon to return from the Golden Forest Plane.

And if a conflict really happened, it would be hard to say who would suffer.

Aware of the seriousness of the matter, Karon immediately felt anxious and travelled day and night from the Mercury Tower, not pausing to drink or eat, before he finally managed to catch up to Suyass.

When Karon fell from the sky and landed, he noticed Suyass next to a bonfire, as well as Merlin, who was immersed in some writings.

Karon's appearance startled many people. This was the Mercury Tower's number two, only inferior to Nolan in terms of status and strength. Moreover, the Mercury Tower had quite a lofty presence in Okland. Many people hurriedly approached to greet him, and even Lin Yun and Suyass temporarily halted the gamble to greet Karon.

"Karon, how come you came?" Suyass smiled when he saw Karon.

Moreover, that smile was completely different from before.

Regardless of whether he was looking at Fran or Lin Yun, Suyass' smile had been cold and sinister. But now, Suyass stood in front of Karon with a genuine smile on his face.

Suyass was very headstrong, but Karon was the true proud scion of the Mercury Tower. He had been a Master Alchemist for over twenty years and was in his fifties now, yet was one step away from becoming an Artisan. He also became an Archmage at the age of 45. Almost ten years had passed since then, and his strength could only be described as unfathomable.

Even Suyass had to admit that Karon was on an entirely different level and was already qualified to stand alongside the peak powerhouses of the kingdom such as Nolan, Jouyi, and Harren.

Not to mention that Karon cared a lot about his fellow disciples. From the time Suyass became Nolan's disciple till now, he had become used to going to Karon if he had a problem. Over the years, his reputation in the Mercury Tower was already comparable to Nolan's.

Suyass was very prideful, even daring to snort at Star Sage Jouyi's name, but he truly accepted Karon.

It could be said that in Suyass' mind, Karon was both like an elder brother and a teacher.

"Teacher sent me to check on the situation…" After saying that in a hurry, he greeted Lin Yun. "Merlin, you are also here, such a coincidence."

"Haha, it is, such a coincidence, Sir Karon."

Lin Yun had a very good impression of Karon. When they were conducting research on the Fanrusen Formula research, Karon had been able to deal with a module on his own. Lin Yun respected his skill, and after the two came into contact, they got along quite well. Lin Yun had originally thought of visiting the Mercury Tower after going to Okland.

But he'd never expected to meet such circumstances in the Four Seasons Canyon.

"Merlin, long time no see. How has it been recently? I haven't seen you getting involved in research ever since your contribution to the Fanrusen Formula. Oh, right, I heard Teacher say that your Meditation Law Sets that stole the limelight also made Mogg bankrupt. Haha, it was such a good deal…"

"Haha, Sir Karon must be joking, I just took out those three sets casually, I didn't expect that others needed it so much and would trade so many mana crystals for it."

"The income Sir Mogg gets by sitting on Whistle Island for one year is equivalent to two of our Mercury Tower's planes. Don't be polite with such a rich person…"

The passionate exchange between the two froze the smiles of a few leaders of Thousand Sails City.

'What… What is going on? How come Great Mage Merlin seems to be familiar with Sir Karon? What's this about the Fanrusen Formula? What about Sir Mogg?… Sir Mogg… Whistle Island… The master of Whistle Island? Hurricane Envoy Mogg? No way…'

At this moment, many of them looked at Lin Yun as if he were a monster. Who in the entire Andlusa Kingdom didn't know about the Hurricane Envoy? Although he was only a 5th Rank Archmage and wasn't a top powerhouse of the kingdom, he was sitting on the incomparably fertile Whistle Island, and the wealth he possessed could contend against that of the Cloud Tower and the Black Tower. Such a person almost went bankrupt due to Merlin?

How could a Great Mage like Merlin do that?

"Eh, Merlin, you are cracking an array?" Just as everyone was lost in their thoughts, Karon noticed the scroll.

'Hold on…'

It only took one glance for Karon's expression to suddenly change. He recognized that scroll… The array written on it had been recently completed by Suyass.

Suyass had named that array Tenebrous Field, and it had been a thought he had come up with after reading some of Vaughn's notes. After being refined by Nolan and Karon, the Tenebrous Field was finally completed. But now, this Tenebrous Field was here, and it was covered in lines made from Melting Snow Ink.

'What Teacher feared the most happened…'

"Right, I just made a bet with Lord Suyass, he bet that I couldn't crack this array in a day."

'Sure enough…' Karon suddenly understood when he heard that. 'Suyass was too headstrong and indeed came into conflict with Merlin and they are fighting over authority… I hope… I hope the stakes aren't too big…'

"Turns out it's a bet. Well, Merlin, Osul had praised you incessantly for your skill in the field of alchemy. It's fine to show off to Suyass, but I hope the stakes aren't too big…" Karon's smile was friendly, but he was already very tense as he kept praying, 'Please don't be too big… By all means, please don't be too big…

"It's only two arms…" Lin Yun casually replied.

"Fortunately, fortunately, only two ar…" Karon seemed relieved for a moment, before suddenly realizing what this young Great Mage had actually said. Karon's face suddenly paled before looking at Lin Yun with disbelief. "Two… Two arms?"

After saying that, Karon suddenly felt the surroundings darkening. 'How could the stakes be so huge!'

"Right, Suyass proposed the gamble and bet an arm. He used High Mage Solomon for a 'demonstration', so I felt that one arm wasn't satisfying enough and immediately proposed two arms instead."

"Merlin, listen to me, listen to me…" Karon almost went mad on the spot and simply didn't care about the audience as he pulled Lin Yun aside. "Suyass is too young, don't lower yourself to his level, can you let him go?"

"Suyass is too young?" Lin Yun looked at Suyass and saw that he was at least 45… How could that be considered young?

"Eh…" Karon also noticed that his words were a bit wrong. When it came to age, Suyass was at least twice as old as Merlin. The problem was that it wasn't necessarily the oldest one who would win in the field of alchemy. "What I meant is that Suyass' brain has had problems since he was born, don't lower yourself to his level, okay?"

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Chapter 214: Apologize

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"I didn't want to lower myself to his level, but the problem is that Sir Suyass didn't agree…" Lin Yun's smile disappeared after saying that, he pointed at Solomon, "See, Sir Karon, that's High Mage Solomon, one of the most respectable elders of Thousand Sails City. He repeatedly took care of me, and his arm got burnt by Suyass just because he tried to stop this bet."

"This…" When he heard this, Karon understood that he had underestimated the severity of this matter. Karon thought that Suyass had only said some unpleasant words and infuriated that young Great Mage, but he didn't expect Suyass actually making a move and attack the disciple of Star Sage Jouyi….

This was big troubles…

As he thought about it, Karon felt a painful headache coming his way. He knew a bit about the friendship between Merlin and Solomon. In fact, Mafa Merlin originally joined the Fanrusen Formula because of Solomon's recommendation. 'Damn Suyass, he actually dared to attack Solomon.'

'Let alone Star Sage Jouyi…'

'Even Mafa Merlin wouldn't let you go.'

'What can I do now?'

"Merlin, I'll personally apologize to Sir Jouyi and Solomon, can you let it go for me?"

"Sir Karon, it's a bit too late now…" But Lin Yun shook his head and returned to the scroll. He moistened the quill in the ink before adding a few more lines…

"Don't, don't, Merlin, say something. Don't, don't be like this…" Karon was suddenly frightened. This was no joke. If the Tenebrous Field was broken, Suyass would definitely be unable to keep his arms.

If it was someone else, Karon might let the bet unfold since the other side wouldn't be able to break the Tenebrous Field.

But Karon truly didn't dare to bet against this young Great Mage…

Karon had watched with his own eyes as this young Great Mage cracked a dozen core spell matrices of the Fanrusen Formula. That abnormal computing ability made the entire research team gasp in admiration. Although the Tenebrous Field approached the True Spirit level, the whole reasoning behind it relied on calculations. It definitely wouldn't be able to withstand that abnormal computing ability.

'But that idiot Suyass…'

'You gave him one whole day, what a joke… He broke a dozen spell core matrices of the Fanrusen Formula in a day… Giving one day for your insignificant Tenebrous Field, do you think you are Osul or Teacher Nolan?'

"Merlin, please do it for me? Suyass is the youngest disciple of Teacher, I always treated him as a younger brother. If you were in my position, you wouldn't want to watch your younger brother lose both arms, would you? Please, let it go, don't lower yourself to his level…"

Lin Yun couldn't help sighing as he looked at Karon's panicked expression. The most outstanding disciple of the Mercury Tower was just as the rumors said, he cared a lot about his fellow disciples.

Lin Yun thought about Nolan…

In the Magic Hand's gathering, Nolan did do him a favor. Moreover, that favor was quite expensive. If it wasn't for Nolan, that 3rd Meditation Law Set would most likely sell for fifty spirit mana crystals or less.

It was thanks to Nolan that the price had shot to sixty mana crystals. That favor was worth at least ten spirit mana crystals, which was enough to buy an entire Gilded Rose.

Seeing Lin Yun's expression softening a bit, Karon intensified his persuasion, "Merlin, you wouldn't be able to watch it either. I'll make Suyass apologize to Solomon, sincerely and clearly apologize, and after we return, I'll let Teacher know and make him personally review his manner education. Just let it go, for me, please."

"Make him apologize." Lin Yun wouldn't press on since Karon already said this. He thought about it and rolled the scroll before handing it back to Karon.

"Sure, of course, of course…" Karon took the scroll back in relief before walking over to Suyass.

"Suyass, your issue with Mafa Merlin stops here. No one will mention it later. Now go and apologize to High Mage Solomon. You are really… High Mage Solomon is the disciple of Sir Jouyi. Aren't you afraid of his teacher peeling off your skin because you attacked his disciple?" Although the matter had been fairly settled, Karon couldn't help criticizing Suyass.

Suyass wasn't surprised…

In fact, as soon as Karon appeared, Suyass knew that the bet wouldn't go through. Karon was that kind of person, too kind and too gentle. He ate quite a few losses when negotiating on behalf of the Mercury Tower because of his character, making the Mercury Tower lose some benefits…

It was the same this time.

Mafa Merlin definitely used Karon's character and said some graceful but insincere words to persuade Karon to step in and stop this bet, 'Karon you are really… How can you let yourself be convinced by outsiders? That Mafa Merlin dared to slander our Mercury Tower, yet you are willing to help him…?'

'Forget it, since Karon wants to stop this bet, then the bet is over. He is only a Great Mage, it's not big deal for him to keep his arms, hopefully this will teach him a lesson so that he wouldn't keep talking shit in the future.'

As he thought about that, Suyass nodded and took the scroll back. But before apologizing to Solomon, he disdainfully glanced at Lin Yun, "Mafa Merlin, it looks like you aren't too confident in your alchemy level. I'll let it slide this time, but I hope that you'll be able to control your mouth after this lesson…"

"Slap!"

Suyass was still speaking when Karon suddenly slapped him.

As the clear slapping sound echoed, the entire camp turned silent.

"Karon?" Suyass covered the cheek that was swelling as he looked towards Karon, his gaze filled with incomprehension.

Suyass was stunned by the slap.

This Archmage with the title of Magic Flame never expected that Karon would hit him. After all, ever since he became a disciple of Nolan, Karon had always looked after him. To Suyass, Karon was like an elder brother.

Moreover, Karon's character had always been very good. He was known in all of Noscent as Good Guy Karon, and he had never said anything harsh to any of his fellow disciples.

Suyass clearly remembered when he had made a mistake as a High Mage in the Golden Forest Plane, leading to several thousand puppets being wiped out and the Dark Elves grabbing the opportunity to counterattack, nearly making the Mercury Tower lose the Golden Forest Plane. At that time, Karon only smiled and said nothing. He never mentioned that matter afterwards.

Fortunately, they managed to preserve the Golden Forest Plane.

But three years later, Suyass learnt that the reason why they were able to preserve the Golden Forest Plane was because on the same night, Karon sneaked out and infiltrated the enemy camp and assassinated three important leaders among the Dark Elves, effectively dissolving the imminent crisis of the Golden Forest Plane. For this, Karon paid the price of being seriously injured for three years. It was only three years later, after recovering, that Karon told the truth to his teacher.

At that time, he lowered his head and apologized to Karon. But Karon only shook his head and said that it was fine.

But now, his face turned white after being slapped by Karon, "Suyass, are you trying to infuriate me?!"

"I… I…" Suyass was at a loss when he saw Karon's appearance, he was panicking and didn't know what to say.

"Apologize to High Mage Solomon immediately!" Karon almost had a heart attack, 'Suyass, ah, Suyass, do you not know the difference between life and death? I'm doing my best to preserve your arms, yet you still have to provoke others. Before asking others to control their mouth, you should work on controlling yours instead!'

Thankfully, that slap was enough to turn Suyass completely docile.

Under Karon's supervision, he politely apologized to Solomon.

Moreover, his attitude was very sincere.

"High Mage Solomon, I am sorry. Please forgive me." Suyass bowed deeply before taking two bottles of Spring Rain, a potion specialized in restoring all kinds of burns. Each bottle was worth at least 100,000 golds.

Just as everyone thought that the apology was over, Suyass actually chanted a spell and a Flame Burst heavily blasted his hand.

A crack could be heard as Suyass' bone snapped. He instantly paled and cold sweat could be seen falling down his forehead.

Everyone was shocked by this scene.

Then, Suyass endured the pain and let the flames of the Flame Burst burn his fractured arm for a full minute before Solomon couldn't bear to watch this and repeatedly persuaded Suyass to stop burning his arm.

This huge farce was finally considered over.

On that night, Karon remained within the camp. Suyass followed him into a tent. The two didn't speak. This strange silence lasted until about midnight, when Karon broke it with a sigh.

"Suyass, do you feel that I was too excessive?"

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"I really don't understand…" Suyass answered after a minute of silence.

"Haha…" Karon got up in the dark tent and cast a Light spell. "Take out your Tenebrous Field scroll and take a look, you should understand…"

"Tenebrous Field?" Suyass was puzzled, but he took out the scroll as instructed and carefully studied it under the light.

He read through it very carefully, to the point of analyzing every circuit and node, but after half an hour, Suyass still didn't notice anything odd with his Tenebrous Field.

"Karon, there is no issue with the Tenebrous Field…" Suyass didn't understand and doubtfully asked, "Moreover, the last part of the Tenebrous Field had been completed by Teacher and yourself, how could there be any flaw?"

"I'm not talking about the Tenebrous Field itself…" Karon shook his head helplessly before walking over to Suyass and pointing at the formula written in Melting Snow Ink. "See this formula?"

"You mean this Azkara Formula? Haha, that Mafa Merlin is truly interesting, he actually thought of using this kind of brute force method to break the Tenebrous Field…" As a Master Alchemist, how could Suyass not know the meaning of that formula?

The brute force method of the Azkara Formula was also known as solving via exhaustion. As long as there was enough time, the Azkara Formula would be able to break all alchemy arrays.

But there would never be enough time.

Suyass was confident in his computing ability, but if he wanted to use the Azkara Formula to break an array, even the simplest Spiritual level array, he would need a month at the very least. Nothing could be done about that, as the Azkara Formula's brute force method was the simplest and most brainless way to break arrays.

Usually, the Azkara Formula would only be used when one wanted to save strength at the cost of time.

But a Master Alchemist like Mafa Merlin used a brainless Azkara Formula to try to crack a near True Spirit Array in a day. This could only be described as laughable.

"Do you think that the idea is too simple and brainless?"

"Ahah, I just feel that Mafa Merlin is very naive…"

"Then you are wrong, Suyass, you are the naive one…"

"Ah?" Suyass' laughing face suddenly froze when he heard that. "Me?"

"Yes…" Karon sighed and pointed at the small Nesser runes on the scrolls which were the calculations of the Azkara Formula. "Take a look at that…"

"Sure." Karon's insistence made Suyass have no choice but to take another look.

But after looking over it for a while, he still couldn't understand.

To be honest, Mafa Merlin's alchemy skills were quite good, even the near-impossible task of cracking the array with the Azkara Formula was done very methodically, to Suyass' surprise. This discovery gave him a good impression of Mafa Merlin.

But it wasn't much…

Because in Suyass' eyes, this was too simple and too mindless.

The results of those calculations were completely unrelated to the Tenebrous Field. In other words, in the past hour, Mafa Merlin had completed useless calculations, basically wasting the hour in vain.

He felt that if not for Karon's sudden appearance, Mafa Merlin might have wasted a full day before being forced to pay with his arms.

"Looks like you don't understand…" Seeing Suyass remaining silent for so long, Karon knew that he hadn't noticed anything. After thinking, he reminded him, "Look there, how large is the scope of those results?"

"Hmm?" After Karon's reminder, Suyass finally found some clues.

That's right, the results of these calculations were large in scope.

It gave the feeling of having no pattern, spreading in multiple directions.

But what was the meaning behind it?

Since Karon made him look very carefully, it wouldn't be that simple. After thinking of this, Suyass reined in his temper and carefully examined those runes.

'Hold on, there seems to be a pattern…'

Suyass then noticed that these calculations weren't random but, were in fact following the trajectory of the Tenebrous Field and were just skipping parts.

Suyass suddenly felt cold sweat trickling down his back.

Although reason told Suyass that this was impossible, completely impossible, the shocking results still made Suyass forget himself as he ferociously grabbed that parchment, his red eyes staring intensely at those calculations.

The more he looked, the paler he became.

Cold sweat started trickling down his forehead as the hands that were holding the scroll were already shivering.

Because Suyass found out that the range of these calculations was becoming smaller and smaller.

Although the answer hadn't appeared, the calculations of that exhaustion method had already been approaching the correct answer.

If it had been another cracking method, Suyass might have thought that this was guesswork and that he had missed the true answer due to a moment of carelessness.

But this was using the proof exhaustion method of the Azkara Formula. Suyass knew that these calculations were only aiming at narrowing down the answer, and that only the remaining one would be the correct answer.

"Do you understand now?"

"I… I understand." As he said that, Suyass could clearly feel jitters. His hoarse voice carried some happiness as Suyass knew that he had escaped the worst.

At this time, Suyass truly understand why he had been forced to talk to the other side for so long and slap himself…

"That Mafa Merlin, he… He is truly capable of cracking the Tenebrous Field…"

"It's more than just being able…" Karon shook his head, sighing. "You were in the Golden Forest Plane before, so you didn't know. Do you remember that I've spent a few years helping Star Sage Jouyi try to crack the Fanrusen Formula?"

"Yeah, I remember. Jouyi even came to the Mercury Tower to thank Teacher, saying that your work on alchemy modules was very beautiful."

"Haha, very beautiful… I also believed so at the time, but I learnt not long ago that it depended who you compared it to…"

"Ah?"

"If my work was compared with Merlin's, I'm afraid that my work would amount to nothing…"

"How could this be!?" Suyass was in disbelief.

Karon already had a foot in the Artisan realm. Few alchemists could compare to him in all of Noscent. He was an authority in the field of the magical use of alchemy modules, and even his teacher Nolan praised him. Otherwise, Star Sage Jouyi wouldn't have paid such a huge sum to ask for his help.

Suyass could understand Mafa Merlin having the potential for breaking the Tenebrous Field, but Karon's words were too unimaginable, saying his work "would amount to nothing"…

Didn't these words mean that Mafa Merlin had made a greater contribution than Karon in the cracking of the Fanrusen Formula?

"What did that Mafa Merlin do? Why do you hold him in such high regard?"

"Haha, Mafa Merlin only did one thing, which was cracking spell matrices."

"Just this?" Suyass froze when he heard that. "Isn't that Hogg's work?"

"Just this? Haha, if Hogg heard your words, he wouldn't be able to stop crying. I shall let you know, on the day he joined the research team, he completed three years of Hogg's work. What followed was even more frightening. In one day and one night, Mafa Merlin received some unknown stimulation and started frantically breaking spell matrices. In front of the entire research team, in front of the entire Cloud Tower, in one night, he completely cracked a dozen spell matrices…"

"A dozen!" Suyass was very startled. "Isn't… Isn't that almost the entire Fanrusen Formula? Doesn't that mean that Mafa Merlin pretty much cracked the Fanrusen Formula on his own?"

"What do you think?"

"How could this be…" Suyass didn't know exactly what kind of concept a dozen core spell matrices was, but he knew that Star Sage Jouyi had spent over twenty years working on the Fanrusen Formula and only broke a few core spell matrices…

"The miracle of that night is still spreading in the Cloud Tower. You see, not many people know of Mafa Merlin in Okland as of now, but sooner or later, Mafa Merlin will come to Okland and shock everyone. This is why I rushed back from the Golden Forest Plane, and the true reason I slapped you earlier."

"This is… This is Teacher's opinion?"

"Indeed." Karon nodded. "Teacher had already been paying attention to this Mafa Merlin for a while. He originally wanted me to get in contact with him and see if I could pull him into the Mercury Tower. But after the recent gathering of the Magic Hand, Teacher changed his mind and told me not to be hasty and to just give him a few favors to establish a good relationship."

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"I heard that Teacher sold a favor to Mafa Merlin worth ten spirit mana crystals!"

"Thankfully, I only burnt Solomon…" Suyass couldn't help feeling apprehensive after hearing all that. Thankfully he hadn't directly harmed Mafa Merlin, or else he might have wasted a favor worth ten spirit mana crystals.

"Haha…" Karon chuckled and remained silent.

Karon originally wanted to say that he might not necessarily be able to burn Mafa Merlin even if he tried.

Karon had some knowledge of the young Great Mage's strength. When Hoen of the Cloud Tower left for Thousand Sails City to act against Mafa Merlin, the Star Sage himself assessed that Mafa Merlin had the strength to take Hoen down with him. At that time, Mafa Merlin was only a 5th Rank Great Mage.

Now, Mafa Merlin was already approaching the High Mage realm, making him many times stronger. If he and Suyass truly came to blows, the outcome would be hard to determine.

But Karon felt that Suyass had suffered enough for one night and wouldn't be able to endure such a hit to his pride.

The two chatted about the situation in the Golden Forest Plane before both going to sleep around midnight.

Early in the morning, Karon left the camp. The battle was still raging in the Golden Forest Plane, and although Grant was there to oversee it, his strength and prestige were far from equal to Karon's. He might be able to manage the situation in the short term, but he wouldn't be able to handle it for long.

Karon was still a bit uneasy before leaving and warned Suyass a few times to rein in his own temper.

Suyass readily consented.

It could be seen from this that although Suyass was rather blunt and direct, he wasn't narrow-minded like Fran.

As for Fran…

He hadn't been able to sleep during the night.

Fran originally was hiding in the tent to watch the scene unfold. He had been in a cheerful mood when he saw Suyass burn Solomon's arm and force Lin Yun into the bet over breaking the Tenebrous Array, because it all followed his plans.

Fran had expected that Mafa Merlin would lose the bet, and his arms, too. The exploration team would have no choice but to seek help from Suyass and himself to break the Vaughn Treasury's arrays.

With Suyass' nature, he would disdain to haggle over the price, so that task would be left to Fran himself. The price he would quote at that time wouldn't be just half of the magic materials. He would raise it by 20%. And what if they didn't agree? He would just take Suyass and leave. Who would be the one breaking Vaughn Treasury's arrays then?

But he never expected Karon to appear…

Moreover, Fran couldn't understand what had unfolded before his eyes. Why did it look like Karon knew Mafa Merlin? And why was Suyass apologizing to Solomon? What did Karon slap Suyass for? Why was it so different from what he had imagined?

These questions perplexed Fran for the whole night. Whenever he closed his eyes, these questions would fill his mind. Fran originally thought of finding an opportunity to ask Karon indirectly what he had told Suyass the previous night, but before the opportunity came, Karon left.

'What should I do? Do I have to ask Suyass?'

Fran was hopeful at first. After all, they were both from the Mercury Tower, so they were from the same side. Even if Suyass was usually rather thorny, he wouldn't show it openly in front of the others

But Fran hadn't expected the actual result…

Not only had Suyass shown it, but it was even more intense than usual. After the two of them saw Karon off, Fran was about to ask a few words when Suyass coldly snorted, "Fran, you had better be honest!"

Fran was startled on the spot and ran away…

That afternoon, the expedition began cleansing the Four Seasons Canyon.

It was a joint decision made by the leaders of the nine major forces after losing a dozen scouts. They had sent several batches of scouts to find traces of the Vaughn Treasury, but they lost a dozen of them in the process.

"Push another meter deeper!" Solomon, who had recovered from his burn, had a heavy murderous aura.

Although the Four Seasons Canyon had already broken away from the influence of the ancient tree and the magic beasts weren't as fierce as before, it was still a very arduous fight for the members of the expedition force.

Under Sasu's lead, the team of several hundred people slowly started moving towards the depths of the Four Seasons Canyon. During that day, they fought a dozen battles, the largest of which happened next to the Four Seasons River's sole tributary. When the joint exploration team moved there, they met a group of over a hundred Thunder Elephants.

That battle alarmed even Suyass. That Archmage with the title of Magic Flame had openly shown his might in that battle. During that hour-long battle, Suyass floated in the sky, almost evaporating the river with the swarm of fire spells that he shot out. After cleaning out the battlefield, everyone realized in shock that at least half of the Thunder Elephants had died from Suyass' flames.

On the contrary, Lin Yun didn't make a move…

Lin Yun had remained in his tent, focusing on processing his previous reward.

Successfully cracking a True Spirit Array was an opportunity that was desired by any Master Alchemist, but that couldn't be obtained when sought. The rewards were too great, and Lin Yun needed to spend all his time digesting this. Over a few days, Lin Yun's skills with arrays increased by leaps and bounds leaving him about twice as skillful as when he entered the canyon.

As for external battles, Lin Yun wasn't worried. He had already experienced the frightening beast tide and personally gotten rid of the source. Although the fighting outside was fierce, it wasn't enough to pose any true danger for the expedition.

Moreover, Suyass had joined them. He was a genuine Archmage, and he was able to greatly reinforce forces. It could be said that as long as Suyass was willing to put in some effort, the joint exploration team would easily clean up the entire Four Seasons Canyon.

It was because of him that Lin Yun had no issue just staying inside the tent, single-mindedly focusing on his own task.

But Lin Yun actually sent Xiuban to participate.

Xiuban's first Draconic Mana Pattern had appeared. It was starting to awaken, and what Xiuban needed the most right now was the chance to participate in fierce battles.

The 2nd day passed, and then the 3rd, and the 4th…

Days passed one after the other, and soon, they had been in the Four Seasons Canyon for a week.

During that week, not only did Lin Yun improve his skills with arrays, but Xiuban also got stronger day by day. The previous night, Xiuban had followed the exploration team and annihilated a squadron of several dozen Shadow Wolves before entering the Expert Swordsman realm. Moreover, four mana patterns had appeared on his skin.

As an Expert Swordsman, he was considered top tier among the melee fighters of the entire joint exploration team. Xiuban's fighting strength was a few times higher than it had been before he met Lin Yun.

Xiuban's strength now completely suppressed William's, to the point that William complained a few times, saying that he had been born the wrong race. He was putting so much energy into meditation, yet he wasn't as efficient as this Draonic Beastman who spent his time mostly sleeping and eating…

"Carefully study the Crimson Heart, this is your foundation." Lin Yun simply ignored William's complaints. Given his incredible growth in just the past few months, what right did he have to be dissatisfied?

Moreover, it only seemed unfair when comparing others to Xiuban.

The problem was that Xiuban's growth speed wasn't comparable at all. When a Draconic Beastman just awakened, their growth speed would be the most amazing part. Let alone William Merlin, not human could compare to him. That was the advantage of races and bloodlines.

The week quickly passed, and the joint exploration team had already combed the greater half of the Four Seasons Canyon, from east to west, and they had already annihilated thousands of magic beasts. Fortunately, the Silver Moon Mercenary Group and the Flash Arrow Mercenary Group were both experts at handling animal corpses. They specially picked a group to handle the corpses of the magic beasts. Over the course of a week, all kinds of mana crystals piled within the camp, forming a small mountain.

But there was still no trace of the Vaughn Treasury.

Until noon…

Lin Yun had sent away the Draconic Beastman as per usual to get some experience while he remained within his tent to do some array research. While he was calculating a key piece of data, footsteps and a heavy voice could be heard outside the tent.

"Merlin, follow me quickly! The Vaughn Treasury has been found…" Solomon entered the tent and grabbed Lin Yun without saying anything.

"Eh?" Hearing this, Lin Yun put away his quill, followed Solomon, and soon reached the outskirts of the forest.

There had clearly been a fierce battle, as magic beasts; corpses littered the ground and blood was seeping within the earth. The air reeked of a thick smell of blood, but no one was paying attention to that. Several hundred people started digging at Sasu's command.

"Sir Suyass found some clues here. After discussing it, we arrived at the conclusion that the treasury might be here," Solomon explained, pointing into the distance.

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Chapter 217: Void Python

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

'The battle was quite fierce,' Lin Yun thought as he looked over. There were at least three hundred corpses of magic beasts, and they were all level 10 or higher. The strongest ones were as high as level 27 or 28. Just based on the levels, they weren't any worse than the joint exploration team.

Fortunately, Suyass was with them. The crushing power of a newly advanced Archmage thoroughly changed the course of the fight. Hundreds of magic beasts were turned into corpses, yet the joint exploration team loss less than twenty people.

The battlefield had already been cleared, and a large number of magic beast corpses were carted back to the camp after some simple treatment. The excavation was carried out with great energy, and through the cooperation of hundreds of people, a tunnel leading underground had already been opened. Suyass, Lys, and the others were waiting at the entrance, discussing something nervously.

"Merlin, Solomon, you two came right on time…" Lys hurriedly welcomed them when he saw them. After a few polite words, he led the two of them to the entrance while explaining the current situation. "We already sent scouts to investigate, and from the style of the building, it should be some ruins of the 3rd Dynasty. But the tunnel is too long, almost two kilometers, and if we keep expanding it, it might collapse. So we are discussing whether we should give up on the previous plan and change it to sending a small squad made up of a one or two people from each force…"

"Well, that works for me." Lin Yun nodded in approval. A tunnel over two kilometers long was very dangerous. If they kept widening it too much, one small vibration could lead to a cave-in. At that time, the forces of Thousand Sails City and the two from the Mercury Tower might end up buried in the Four Seasons Canyon.

Everyone understood that reasoning.

Thus, after Lin Yun and Solomon arrived, they all sat together to talk about it and quickly drew up a new plan. Each of the major forces sent a few of their most powerful members, such as Solomon and Thorpe for the Sage Tower, Lys, Bassoro, and Granger for the Alchemist Guild, Sauss and Bell for the Viper Nest, and Lin Yun, William, and Xiuban for the Gilded Rose.

In contrast, Monchi's power wasn't worth mentioning, and although Ryan had a good future ahead of him, he was only a 2nd Rank Great Mage at the moment. Thus, the Monchi Family only sent a 9th Rank Great Mage Elder.

This was a bit awkward, as it wasn't just a matter of reputation; it meant that the Monchi Family would completely lose the right to speak after departing. In this exploration team made up of High Mages, Expert Swordsmen, and Spirit Archers, a 9th Rank Great Mage wouldn't have the right to speak unless that person was named Mafa Merlin.

When night fell, the twenty-man group entered the tunnel and quickly made their way to the end.

The tunnel opened up to a slightly wider area with a few dozen meters of open space, just enough for the exploration team of about twenty people to make some shelter. Here, they could clearly see the stone walls covered in decorative designs. This was indeed the style of the 3rd Dynasty. Only such an excessive extravagant era would spend so much on just decorating a wall. There had already been a gap created by the excavation team, and two people could enter side by side. The black paint inside had some faint traces of mana fluctuations.

"Let's go." As an Archmage, Suyass didn't feel any danger from that. Even after learning that this was a ruin from the 3rd Dynasty, he only looked over it composedly before going in.

After going through that decorated stone wall, a long hallway appeared before everyone's eyes. The candles on both sides of the hallways had already burnt down, only leaving two rows of empty candle holders. The floor was paved with moonstone, which emitted a faint glimmer in this darkness. Everything in the surroundings was tinted with a deathly pale color.

"Careful, behind!" Suyass quietly warned with a heavy tone.

"Fuck…" Just as Suyass' voice fell, a rumbling sound could be heard behind them. They all turned and were shocked by a pair of window-sized lights flickering in the darkness. Relying on the deathly pale glow of the moonstone, everyone could clearly see a python with a body that was ten meters thick. Those lights were the eyes of the python. Its head was the size of the hallway, and they couldn't tell how long its body was.

The only saving grace was that the python was still fast asleep.

Otherwise, even if they had Suyass, they would be in for a very difficult battle in this narrow hallway.

"Quick, let's go the other way." Suyass made a prompt decision and led them in the other direction.

They all agreed to hold their breaths, afraid of waking the sleeping python.

The group of twenty followed the hallway and walked for nearly ten minutes before the lights disappeared. Most of them sighed in relief.

"That thing was at least level 30…"

"Fortunately, it was asleep…"

"Yeah, this place is too narrow, we wouldn't have any room to evade the attacks of such a big monster…"

They were all secretly rejoicing, to the point that no one noticed that Lin Yun was looking closely at the rows of candle holders.

After avoiding the sleeping python, the group pressed onwards. After they had walked for an hour…

"Wait." Lin Yun suddenly stopped.

"What's the matter?" Suyass frowned. During the week spent clearing out the Four Seasons Canyon, this Archmage had always been the core of the team, and he was used to everyone following his lead. Suddenly hearing someone stopping them put Suyass in a bit of a bad mood.

By the time he discovered that the one who stopped him was Mafa Merlin, it was already too late…

In any case, Suyass was an Archmage. Even if he had talked with Karon for a whole night and now understood that this Great Mage wasn't someone he could offend, what he'd said before couldn't be taken back. He couldn't suddenly change the way he talked to him and fawn over him, could he?

Thus, Suyass could only squeeze out a stiff smile as he tactfully asked, "Merlin… Great Mage Merlin, did you figure something out?"

"I didn't find anything in particular…" Fortunately, Lin Yun didn't plan on causing trouble for Suyass and only smiled. "However, Sir Suyass, don't you feel that this hallway is too long?"

"Too long?" Suyass thought for a bit before frowning.

Suyass came from the Mercury Tower, after all. He couldn't be compared to others after going through countless fights in the Golden Forest Plane. He hadn't found any abnormalities at first because he hadn't thought about it. But after hearing Lin Yun's words, Suyass suddenly reacted.

'Indeed, isn't it too long?'

After discovering that python, they had all walked for an hour. How could they still not be able to see the end of the hallway by then?

"And those candle holders…" Seeing Suyass' puzzled expression, Lin Yun pointed at the candle holders on both sides of the hallway.

"What about the candle holders?"

"These candle holders are exactly the same. The distance between each of them, the traces of rust, everything is perfectly the same. It's like… like they're perfect duplicates…"

"…" Suyass suddenly held his breath and subconsciously glanced at both walls, carefully comparing. It was just like that young Great Mage said, the candle holders on both sides were identical. Even if Suyass was far slower to reach this conclusion, he knew that there was an issue with this hallway.

"Gr… Great Mage Merlin, you mean that we sank into an illusion?"

"It's not as simple as an illusion…" Lin Yun shook his head. "Since that python appeared, I've used Spirit Defense three times and True Sight twice, but I haven't found any signs of illusions."

"Then…"

"Right, Sir Suyass, don't you feel that the mana fluctuations are very strange…"

"Indeed…" Suyass had a pensive expression on his face, his brows faintly creasing, as if he had thought of something but wasn't sure about it. "It gives me the feeling… of a heartbeat…"

"Indeed, a heartbeat."

"…" Suyass was originally pensive, but as a possibility came to his mind, he felt lost for words. His eyes stared at Lin Yun as his voice was already shivering. "Is… Is it really a heartbeat?"

"It is said that a huge disaster happened at the Angel Coast at the end of the 3rd Dynasty. A kilometer-long Void Python charged in and countless lives were lost in one night. The Emperor had been furious and sent the 3rd fleet to fight the Void Python in the East Sea. After paying a heavy price, they seriously wounded the Void Python and the latter disappeared without a trace…"

Lin Yun didn't answer Suyass' question and only narrated a story.

But everyone paled as that story was told.

"We… We are in the body of the Void Python?"

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Chapter 218: Shattered

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

These people had heard of the disaster of the Angel Coast. It was said that the Void Python was a true level 40 magic beast, and not only was its strength on par with that of a Heaven Mage, but it was also a rare ancient beast that had the innate ability to control space. There were countless spatial cracks in its body, and even a Heaven Mage might be suppressed by the overlapping spatial cracks after being swallowed.

If it was as that young Great Mage suggested, then it would be very hard on all those people stuck inside the body of the Void Python. This unending hallway would most likely be a road leading to hell.

That was a level 40 magic beast…

Thinking of the terrifying power of the Void Python made everyone pale. It was a frightening existence on par with a Heaven Mage. In the Four Seasons Canyon, even the newly advanced Archmage Suyass couldn't handle a light attack from the Void Python.

Not to mention that everyone was still standing in this never-ending hallway.

After listening to Lin Yun and Suyass, everyone had gradually realized that this hallway was probably the body of the Void Python. To these High Mages, Expert Swordsmen and Spirit Archers, it was an existence that they couldn't hope to bring down.

"That trap is too treacherous…" Sauss' expression was even more unsightly. He originally thought that the elites of Thousand Sails City were plenty powerful, and that regardless of the dangers, they would be able to thread their way forward if everyone cooperated. But he never expected that he would suddenly end up in the body of a Void Python just as they entered, giving them no chance to escape.

Sauss' words weres just whining, but it somehow managed to ignite Fran. The expression of that Master Alchemist of the Mercury Tower turned unsightly after hearing the discussion between Lin Yun and Suyass. Hearing Sauss' complaint, he burst out in anger.

"Lys! Take a look at what you did. You clearly knew there was danger and you still led us into a trap! Are you trying to kill everyone?"

"I…" Lys' face flushed red. He glared at Fran but couldn't say a word. This was too unreasonable. Even a child would know that exploring ruins was very dangerous. No one could anticipate the dangers of old ruins, especially ruins like the Vaughn Treasury. Those were remains of the 3rd Dynasty's last Artisan, someone who had stood at the peak of alchemy. Who knew how many tricks he had left behind?

But Fran clearly had lost his mind.

"You what? Do you think I don't know that you are dissatisfied towards the Mercury Tower? I know it's not from the recent events. Isn't it because you didn't become Teacher's disciple that year? Isn't it because your Alchemist Guild had suffered some interference? What now? You want to retaliate against Suyass and I by taking us to this place? I'll let you know, Lys, if anything happens to Suyass or me, you and your Alchemist Guild will never enjoy a good future!"

"Fran! What are you saying!?" Lys' heart almost burst with anger. Originally, the two had gotten along quite amicably. Even if they couldn't be described as very close, they were still polite to each other. Lys never expected that when everyone fell into a dangerous situation, Fran would act like a mad dog.

"I'm showing what's hidden within your heart!"

"Okay, Master Fran, you can save some strength…" Lin Yun originally didn't plan on saying anything, but after hearing Fran's continuous shouting, he felt quite annoyed and had no choice but to interrupt him. "If you have the strength to bite indiscriminately, you'd better think of a way to escape from here…"

"Bite… Indiscriminately?" Due to Karon's previous appearance, Fran now lacked the courage to go against Lin Yun.

"Master Fran, you are worrying a bit too much. I only recounted a story and you already lost all self-control. You truly need to strengthen your mentality…"

"…"

"Shut up, Fran!" Suyass had been recuperating with his eyes closed. The quarrel of two High Mages was something he could turn a deaf ear to. But Lin Yun's words made Suyass open his eyes again. He looked at Lin Yun once more and said, "Great Mage Merlin, you mean…"

"I only heard that Void Pythons lifespans weren't that long, perhaps a few hundred years, up to a millenium."

"Hmm?" Suyass realized something from Lin Yun's words. Even a Void Python with the greatest vitality possible wouldn't be able to survive 1,600 years. If this Void Python was the one that had caused a disaster in the Angel Coast, then it simply wouldn't be able to live till now.

"However, Void Pythons' bodies are almost eternal. Even death just dissipates their souls. Their corpses and the countless spatial cracks within would continue existing for a very long time. During that time, a brilliant alchemist could use the corpse of the Void Python to create an unbreakable maze…"

"I understand…" Hearing this, Suyass understood completely. No wonder he kept feeling that something wasn't right. At first, he had thought that it was because he had been walking in the body of a Void Python, but now he felt otherwise. Although the Void Python's heart kept beating, it gave off an empty feeling… There simply wasn't a single trace of a soul.

If it had been before, Suyass wouldn't have understood.

But he now knew that this was because they were in the corpse of the Void Python, which had been turned into a labyrinth.

A maze array was also an array. As long as it was an array, there would inevitably be a way to crack it.

Thinking up to here, Suyass calmed his heart before starting to analyze the entire hallway. Suyass confirmed that Lin Yun's words were correct and that the seemingly endless hallway was in reality a maze array. But that maze array was more complicated than anything he had ever seen before.

The only bright side was that after analyzing it, Suyass found out that this maze array hadn't reached True Spirit rank. This discovery made him sigh in relief. Suyass was only a peak Master Alchemist. He hadn't broken through the Artisan realm. If he really met a True Spirit Maze Array with a Void Python's corpse as its core, he would truly have to give up.

However, it wasn't far from being a True Spirit rank array.

Although the skills used were within the range of a Master Alchemist, with the Void Python's corpse, the complexity of this maze realm was raised by one whole rank. That kind of innate spatial control and the overlapping spatial cracks couldn't be imitated by any skill. This was a maze array that had been generated almost completely naturally. Even Suyass didn't dare to say that he could break it.

Time slowly passed, and Suyass' expression gradually paled. Sweat started sliding down his forehead as his frown deepened…

The quickly moving quill seemed to weigh a ton, and each character he wrote seemed to exhaust his entire strength. Everyone knew that this was because Sir Suyass had met some difficult problem. At this time, they all tacitly agreed to even breathe silently out of fear that they would disturb Suyass.

"Sir Suyass, how about you try the Cliff Formula?"

"Hmm?" When the frowning Suyass heard that, it felt like he was hit by a sudden enlightenment. His mind became clear. 'That's right! The Cliff Formula!'

Suyass' eyes opened wide, and his quill wrote at a shocking speed as paragraph after paragraph appeared on the paper. Suyass finally found the three weakest parts of the maze array.

"Got it!" Suyass spread the paper flat as he said, "Now, I need two mages. It would be best if they could accurately control their casting time. There is no requirement for strength, so Great Mages would do. I'll count to three and after reaching three, I'll cast Flame Burst on the first weak point. Three seconds after I cast Flame Burst, the second mage needs to take over and use Flame Burst on the second weak point, and three seconds later, the third mage needs to act…"

"I'll do it." When accurate control over casting time was mentioned, who other than Solomon would be thought of in Thousand Sails City? At such a critical time, the 9th Rank High Mage was unwilling to let others bear his responsibility.

"Need another one…"

"Merlin, stop being lazy." Solomon didn't even think about it before calling Lin Yun's name.

"…" Lin Yun scratched his cheek and stepped out from the crowd.

"Are the two of you ready?" If it had been before, Suyass might still have had doubts towards Merlin. Even though he had shown power far beyond his level, being able to precisely control one's casting required experience. Given his age, he shouldn't be better than old fellows like Cadgar or Lys.

But Suyass wasn't thinking like that anymore.

Because Suyass himself knew how critical that earlier reminder was.

Suyass even felt that the one who truly broke the maze array wasn't himself, but rather the young Great Mage who had prompted him to use the Cliff Formula.

At that time, Suyass had already approached the core of the maze array, which was the link between the Void Python's corpse and the array itself. As long this step was completed, they would be able to thoroughly collapse the maze array. But he couldn't figure out which formula to use up until the young Great Mage reminded him that the Cliff Formula was the best choice.

Suyass was a peak Master Alchemist, only one step away from becoming an Artisan. In terms of knowledge alone, even ordinary Master Alchemists were unfit to act as his assistants. How could Suyass not know what kind of insight was needed to remind him of the Cliff Formula at such a critical moment?

In that split second, Suyass even thought of his teacher Nolan.

Only an Artisan like his teacher would have the insight needed to see through this array.

But now, this kind of insight had appeared in a Great Mage that was less than twenty years old. Remembering Karon's words, Suyass had no choice but to admit that this young mage might have attained a far higher grasp on the intricacies of alchemy than he himself had.

Insight, experience, age, these made no sense in front of that youth. Sometimes, you had to admit that there were some completely unreasonable geniuses in this world. They didn't need to accumulate experience over time, and they would always create some glorious miracles.

That young Great Mage might be one of them…

"One, two, three…" After Suyass reached three, a Flame Burst exploded in one of the walls of the hallway.

Three seconds later, the second Flame Burst exploded.

And after another three seconds…

A loud rumble could be heard echoing loudly as the surroundings shook. Everyone seemed to hear a mournful howl as the world before them started shattering just like glass breaking apart. One piece, two pieces, three pieces… It ultimately broke into countless fragments!

A long lost radiance shone from the broken fragments.

The world before them suddenly cleared up. A lush tree, a sweet breeze, the soft earth, and farther in the distance, a lake so clear that the ripples were easily visible. The flourishing scene carried an intoxicating aura of life, and it wasn't as abnormal as the aura of life that the Four Seasons Canyon had before. It was rich, thick, soft, and relaxing, making people unconsciously feel intoxicated.

It could be said that this was a completely different world from the hallway that had been making them feel despair.

But now, the ones standing there felt a chill. Whether it was Lin Yun, Suyass, Solomon, or Fran, they all felt cold.

Because they found out that no one else was within sight!

It wasn't just one or two people missing, but rather most of the group.

Before setting off, the nine forces had combined power with the Mercury Tower and dispatched twenty people..

But now, only Fran, Suyass, Solomon, and Lin Yun were standing there. In other words, when the maze broke, a total of sixteen people went missing!

"Fuck…" Solomon immediately swore. "How could this Vaughn Treasury be so evil?"

"No…" Suyass was crouching under a tree, carefully examining a plant with seven leaves. When he heard Solomon's complaints, the newly advanced Archmage shook his head. "This place might not necessarily be the Vaughn Treasury…"

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Chapter 219: Botanical Garden

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"What… Not necessarily the Vaughn Treasury?" Solomon was stunned, and one of his eyes twitched as he repeated Suyass' words.

"Lys might have been mistaken…" Suyass had pulled a plant with seven leaves out and was holding two of the leaves on his palm. After examining it with the aid of a Light spell for a while, he raised his head and said with an affirmative tone, "Yes, Lys did make a mistake."

"No way…" Solomon seemed to have come to terms with it, but he looked lifeless. His mouth was wide open from the shock.

"This is a Psychedelic Flower. One of the most common materials used in mind-affecting potions. When blooming, it releases a kind of fragrance that ants have a fatal attraction to. Thus, Psychedelic Flowers usually bloom in places where many ants nest…"

Seeing that Solomon was suddenly searching the ground looking for ant nests, Suyass didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he said, "Don't bother, this Psychedelic Flower bloomed several decades ago. You'll at most find traces of dead ants. Moreover, if the Psychedelic Flower bloomed, the fragrance wouldn't just attract ants, it would also turn you crazy. A dozen Spirit Defense spells wouldn't be able to save you…"

"Oh…" Solomon stood up, slightly embarrassed, and asked, "But what does that have to do with this place not being the Vaughn Treasury?"

"What we always mention as the Vaughn Treasury is actually the tomb of this Artisan. But in the 3rd Era, it was blasphemy to allow ants into one's tomb. Thus, two types of plants would be planted in the tombs of nobles and civilians of the 3rd Dynasty. One was the Star-Shaped Orchid, and the other was the Snake-Patterned Vine. The odor emitted by the Star-Shaped Orchid would chase away ants, while the Snake Patterned Vine was the natural enemy of the Psychedelic Flower. They only needed to grow the Snake-Patterned Vine throughout the area and the Psychedelic Flower wouldn't be able to survive there. We haven't seen any remains of Star-Shaped Orchids or Snake-Patterned Vines, and here is a Psychedelic Flower. How could Vaughn be buried in this place?"

"Then… where are we?"

"If I'm not wrong, this place should be one of Vaughn's numerous laboratories. It was written that Vaughn toured Noscent for thirty years before becoming an Artisan. During these thirty years, he lived in seclusion in many places. The Angel Coast was one of them, and the Four Seasons Canyon is only one mountain away from the Angel Coast. It's not impossible for him to have left a laboratory in the Four Seasons Canyon…"

Suyass paused before continuing, "Moreover, we just encountered that maze array that hadn't quite reached True Spirit rank. It should have been the work of a peak Master Alchemist. This could have been one of the laboratories that he created before rising in rank."

Suyass didn't notice that Lin Yun frowned as he talked…

It wasn't because Lin Yun doubted Suyass' analysis.

In fact, Lin Yun admired Suyass' analysis.

In the entire exploration team, only Lin Yun knew that the true Vaughn Treasury wasn't here, but rather on the remote Crystal Island. Major forces would gather there a thousand years later and a large-scale war would overturn the land, before the Ivory Tower would finally snatch the Vaughn Treasury.

But Lin Yun knew the truth, because he came from 30,000 years in the future.

Suyass was someone of this era, yet he managed to guess most of the truth just by examining a Psychedelic Flower… This was an admirable quality.

What made Lin Yun frown were Suyass' final words.

That maze was very abnormal.

Lin Yun even felt that the maze hadn't been created by Vaughn…

Vaughn could be described as quite influential in the history of alchemy, and even later generations of Saint Alchemists would have a very high evaluation of him. The Hexagram Star of Vaughn surpassed its era. In the later era, it was something every alchemist had to learn. The analysis of Vaughn made by the later generations was so detailed that it could be taught over a whole summer. Vaughn's knowledge, habits, and everything else had been analyzed thoroughly.

Vaughn wasn't the typical genius alchemist. He wasn't brimming with talent and wasn't bold or very imaginative. Vaughn's greatest achievement was that by being extremely precise with the finest details, he used the Hexagram Star as a core alchemy system and opened a completely independent system. Cumbersome and dull details had turned into art in Vaughn's hands.

But the maze array in the stomach of the Void Python was completely different.

They were two extremes.

The maze array attached to the Void Python could only be described as sloppy, not simple or crude, just sloppy. It gave the feeling of the creator being lazy all along. Places that could use the innate ability of the Void Python wouldn't have many magic circuits. If one thing had to praised, it was that this array was very natural and not polluted with excessive additions.

Moreover, the thought process behind that maze array was very disjointed. It was unconstrained, without any idea being clearly outlined. If it hadn't been the case, Suyass wouldn't have found it so hard to break it. It truly was strange and confusing.

And that was why he was doubtful.

Vaughn was very suspicious of others. Besides his close friend, Robinson, he wouldn't trust anyone else. According to all the accounts left behind, Vaughn had always been working alone. He never had any living assistants, as the only helpers he used were alchemy puppets. It could be said that no other living beings ever entered his laboratories.

So, who was the one who arranged that maze array with a completely different technique?

Did someone enter before them and use the Void Python's corpse to make a sloppy maze?

As Lin Yun was considering the issue, Solomon scolded, "Shit, not the Vaughn Treasury… What happened to Lys' intelligence? We spent so much time and effort only to find a damned alchemy laboratory. Wait until I find Lys and make him compensate my losses!"

"No need to be anxious…" Suyass waved his hand as a smile appeared on his face. "Although this isn't the Vaughn Treasury, the benefits one might get here wouldn't necessarily be lower than what could be obtained at the treasury."

"Oh?"

"Look around… Psychedelic Flowers, Magic Fruits, Snake Tongue Grass, Void Flowers, Thousand Knots Vines… All the plants growing here are rare magic materials. If I'm not wrong, this is the botanical garden Vaughn used to cultivate materials for his experiments. Think about it, the botanical garden created by an Artisan, and one that hasn't been harvested for two millennia. How much wealth has been accumulated during this time?"

"Indeed…" Lin Yun nodded. This place was indeed a treasure trove, as most magic materials commonly used for potioneering could be found here, and in a high quantity at that. He estimated that if he harvested everything, it would be enough to sustain the Gilded Rose for ten years…

"Well, there are too many magic materials here and we can't harvest everything. Let's split into four to search. Keep what you find. Let's meet back here in an hour." Suyass thought for a bit before raising a fair proposal. Although this primitive forest range was only a few kilometers wide, the quantity of magic materials within was enormous. Even if the four of them turned into alchemy puppets specialized in harvesting them, it would take them a few days to completely clean the place out.

Thus, they would spend an hour to take the most precious materials that they could find and carry.

"Okay, see you in an hour."

The four set off in different directions and began harvesting the best things they could find.

Lin Yun went south, and his harvesting speed was shocking. He was a peak Master Alchemist, and his eye for detail transcended his era. Whether it was in the bushes or between trees, Lin Yun always found the most precious materials to harvest, and with his spatial ring, Lin Yun didn't have to worry about storage. As long as he saw something he wanted, he would directly toss it in the ring.

He was like a locust, only leaving a mess behind.

Vaughn was truly rich and overbearing. Of the magic materials he left behind, although none of them were unique treasures, they were all of high quality. The materials Lin Yun harvested formed a pile in the spatial ring akin to a small mountain.

"Merlin!" Just as Lin Yun felt like he had harvested a satisfying amount, Solomon's silhouette came out from a bush.

"High Mage Solomon, time is very valuable…"

"Damn, I've been fooled!" Solomon seemed quite indignant. "The three of you are alchemists while I'm just a layman, I know nothing about harvesting magic materials…"

"…" Lin Yun thought about it and awkwardly felt that he had no choice but to set aside some valuable materials for him.

"Forget about it. I'll just follow you and pick some of your scraps…"

"…" This esteemed 9th Rank High Mage had so little ambition. Lin Yun could only take him along to harvest various magic materials, while painstakingly leaving half for Solomon.

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The one hour passed quickly.

Despite seeing that forty minutes had already gone by, Lin Yun didn't think of turning around and kept searching in the depths of the forest.

"Merlin, what are you looking for?"

"Something very important…"

Solomon watched him poking around and couldn't help asking with a cautious expression, "Need help?"

"Sure." Lin Yun thought for a bit before deciding not to turn him down. "You check if there is anything running around nearby. Oh, right, that thing should look like a tree and shouldn't be too tall, at most a meter tall."

"A running tree?" Solomon's eyes were wide open as he felt that his knowledge of magical plants was indeed outdated.

"That thing is called a Parasitic Tree. It grows in very harsh environments, only in places that are densely populated with magic materials. You will gain great benefits if you find it."

"I can still have some great benefits with you here?" Solomon snorted.

"Well, High Mage Solomon, you have remained a 9th Rank High Mage for quite a long time, don't you want to become an Archmage? Don't you want people to address you as 'Sir' when they see you?"

"Nonsense…" Solomon bitterly chuckled. Who wouldn't want to?

But just wanting it was useless…

When his Mana Whirlpool was damaged, his foundation was destabilized, ruining any chance he had to reach the Archmage realm during his lifetime. And let alone reaching the Archmage realm, he didn't even know if he would be able to live a few more years. Wouldn't someone like Mafa Merlin know about what had happened? Why would he talk about it, isn't that just touching a sore spot?

'Eh, well… Merlin isn't that kind of person…'

After considering this, Solomon's heart raced.

'Right, Merlin isn't ignorant, so why would he mention this? Could it be…'

"Mer… Merlin, do you have some way to…?" Solomon asked with a shaking voice. Those who hadn't experienced such a state couldn't understand how he felt right now.

Solomon had experienced many ups and downs in his life.

He was brimming with talent when he was young and was taken in as a disciple under Star Sage Jouyi. At that time, Solomon was truly flushed with success, becoming a Great Mage in his twenties and having achievements not much inferior to the current Mafa Merlin. After getting pointers from Jouyi, he made leaps and bounds in the field of magic. He had already stepped into the High Mage realm at thirty and snatched the limelight of all geniuses of his time.

The other prodigies who later became famous, like Solan, Hoen, and Suyass, were all quite a bit inferior to the past Solomon. At the age of forty, Solomon stood at the peak of 9th Rank High Mages, one rank away from becoming an Archmage.

But it was at that time…

Solomon went to an active volcano and suffered the biggest setback in his life. At that time, Solomon had fought with someone over a Spiritual Magic Tool in the active volcano. Had he won, he would have been able to become an Archmage early. But as he was wrestling for control over the Spiritual Magic Tool, a High Mage from the Flame Tower appeared and attacked Solomon. A Flame Spear shot through Solomon's Mana Whirlpool, making him lose the chance to reach the Archmage realm.

At that time, Solomon felt as if his future had collapsed in front of him.

He remained convalescing in the Cloud Tower for a full three years before being able to walk away from the shadow of failure.

He was still disheartened after that, and against Star Sage Jouyi's advice, he returned to his hometown, Thousand Sails City, to take over the Sage Tower. From that point on, he didn't have any further progress in his magical ability.

Now, twenty years later, his injuries had worsened further. And in the past year or two, even the medicine crafted by Thorpe wasn't able to completely suppress his fits of coughing.

Solomon was sure that he only had a few years left to live.

In fact, for the past two years, Solomon had been preparing for what would happen after he died. He nurtured Solon and befriended Lin Yun, all in order to give the Sage Tower a chance for a brighter future. Even resorting to thievery in the Ash Tower was because Solomon wanted to gather more powerful treasures for the Sage Tower while he was still alive. He didn't want the Sage Tower to fall to the Ash Tower after he died…

Solomon never even dreamed that this young Great Mage would ask whether he wanted to become an Archmage.

'Of course I fucking want to! …But is it even possible?'

Solomon stood there in a daze, looking fixedly at Lin Yun with hope and fear in his eyes… Hoping that he would be able to learn life-changing information, but afraid to face despair one more time.

"If we find the Parasitic Tree, you'll have an 80 to 90% chance."

"Really?" Solomon grabbed Lin Yun's arms, his eyes moistening.

"Really…"

"Good, I'll go look for it!" Since he had a solution, Solomon was filled with vitality and didn't wait for Lin Yun as he immediately cast seven or eight Mage Eyes and sent them to search all the corners of the forest.

"I wish you luck." Lin Yun nodded before rousing his arrays and also creating many Mage Eyes.

The Parasitic Tree was just as important to Lin Yun…

To Solomon, the Parasitic Tree was like a chance for rebirth, but to Lin Yun, the Parasitic Tree would get him two Obsidian Flower Fruits, as well as a chance to strengthen a magic array.

Lin Yun wasn't very interested in having more than one Obsidian Flower Fruit. He would at most trade it or use it to strengthen a True Spirit Magic Tool. Even if he didn't have the Book of Death, he still had the half-finished True Spirit Magic Tool, Soul Walker. As soon as Mogg finished sending those sixty spirit mana crystals, upgrading the Doom Staff might not be out of question. If the Upper Rank Flame Spirit Syudos burst out, he wouldn't be inferior to a True Spirit Magic Tool by much.

The most annoying thing was that the Soul Walker, the Doom Staff, the Book of Death, and Syudos all required a large investment of resources to bring them to their full potential. But Lin Yun was already feeling overwhelmed even though he was only supplying the Soul Walker at the moment. It was a huge amount, and he didn't know when it might bankrupt him.

Right now, Lin Yun wasn't in a hurry to finish developing the True Spirit Magic Tools.

But he definitely wouldn't let go of the opportunity to strengthen his Magic Arrays.

The Parasitic Tree was also known as the Wood Monster. In most cases, it would exist in the shape of a tree. It had a height of one meter at most, looking like a small sapling, but when it reached its aging period, the state of its soul would change. At that time, it could parasitize any plant, and every time it did so, the infected trees would quickly wither.

And the Parasitic Tree would mature by doing this.

Every time the tree grew, it would absorb the characteristics of the plants it had infected. For example, when the Parasitic Tree infected an Obsidian Flower, after it withered, the Parasitic Tree would not only become highly poisonous, but would also be able to create True Spirit level Fruits, and two of them at that!

What Lin Yun needed was that kind of devouring ability.

If the Magic Array gained such an ability, the speed at which he could break the characters in the Book of Death would be raised at least tenfold. At that time, Lin Yun would be able to enter the High Mage realm and simulate the characters of the Book of Death.

Lin Yun originally planned to go to Okland and take the opportunity to tour the Savage Highlands.

Because he remembered reading about a Parasitic Tree Seed being there. But trying to get that one would be very challenging, because the headquarters of the Gaugass Battlemages wasn't a place that could be casually entered.

But he hadn't expected that in this trip to Vaughn's laboratory, he would catch the trace of a Parasitic Tree. How could Lin Yun let go of that opportunity?

"Merlin!" Solomon called from nearby as Lin Yun was still continuing to cast more Mage Eyes.

"What's the situation?" Lin Yun's heart moved as he rushed over.

"Ahead, slightly to the right… Three hundred meters, I saw a red shadow flashing…"

"A red shadow? That could be it! Hurry!" Lin Yun immediately cast Haste and left.

Solomon also increased his speed to the limit, and it only took a short time before they arrived at the location Solomon had seen the red shadow.

"It's here indeed!" Lin Yun took a deep breath as he felt the aura of the Parasitic Tree. Moreover, the aura had yet to disperse, meaning the tree wasn't too far from them…

"Wait." Lin Yun raised his hand and stopped Solomon, who had wanted to search the surroundings. Lin Yun was looking at all the trees nearby when a bush caught his eye. A smile suddenly appeared on his face.

"You were hiding pretty well!" Lin Yun fiercely advanced while pouring mana into the Lava Dominator.

That bush suddenly looked as if it had been hit by a gust of wind as a sharp, arrow-like weed pierced over from it. It flew extremely quickly, and even Lin Yun was a bit surprised, despite still having Haste active.

Unfortunately, it wasn't faster than the flow of mana.

Lin Yun had already activated the Lava Shield when the weed struck. In a flash, the wall of fire was already surrounding that patch of weeds.

The weeds were helplessly trying to break through the flames, but they would never be able to do so. Moreover, Lin Yun had already started chanting. Flame Shackles appeared out of nowhere and coiled around the bundle of weeds.

"Still thinking of running?"

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It obviously couldn't escape.

Even a Draconic Beastman couldn't escape from the binding power of the Flame Shackles, let alone some weeds.

Under the rotation of the Magic Arrays, the Flame Shackles burst with high temperature and turned the weeds into ashes in less than a second. At the same time, a shadow escaped from the ashes. It was as fast as lightning as it instantly escaped from the binding of the Flame Shackles.

Lin Yun then saw a flower appear in front of him as it passed through the Lava Shelter, apparently planning on escaping into the forest.

But Lin Yun didn't seem to be in a hurry.

Just as the shadow passed through the Lava Shelter, Lin Yun raised the Spiritual Magic Staff in his hand and cast Mind Intimidation. The spell didn't have much destructive power and was typically used by mages to pressure inferior opponents. But now, only a sharp hiss could be heard as the lightning fast shadow froze in place.

The shadow stopped moving, but it wouldn't be for more than a second.

"Syudos!" But for Lin Yun, one second was more than enough. As his Magic Arrays rotated, the Upper Rank Flame Spirit was already rushing out.

In a flash, the flame and the shadow became entangled.

Syudos, as an Upper Rank Flame Spirit, was already a very powerful existence. Although the shadow was ever-changing and had the ability to absorb the best features from all the plants that it encountered, it was still far too inferior in front of Syudos. Syudos had transformed into raging flames and wrapped around the shadow. Although the latter was still struggling, it was slowly becoming powerless…

In the end, the shadow completely disappeared in the flames, and the originally thumb-sized Syudos had now turned into a plump ball the size of a fist, while the fierce flames that had been raging seemed to have mellowed out after swallowing that shadow, as if they had eaten to their heart's content and needed to sleep.

"Truly delicious," Syudos lazily belched as he licked his flaming lips before returning into Lin Yun's body. Under the help of the nine Magic Arrays, he began digesting the power of that shadow…

"…" Lin Yun scratched his cheek, thinking, 'Why are they all gluttons…?'

"Merlin…" Solomon was dumbstruck as he called Lin Yun's name, but he remained silent because he didn't know what to ask…

"It's nothing, just a spirit." Lin Yun knew what he wanted to ask, but there was no time to go into the details. Once the soul of a Parasitic Tree disappeared, its body would wither in less than ten minutes. Lin Yun had to hurry and find the body of the Parasitic Tree during that time.

After hurriedly dealing with Solomon, Lin Yun cast eight Mage Eyes in a row, and the search was a lot smoother this time. He hadn't even needed Solomon's help as it only took two or three minutes for the first batch of Mage Eyes to find a short sapling not far from there.

It didn't seem too different from an ordinary sapling, but after examining carefully, he discovered that this short sapling was growing extremely well. The branches were covered with leaves and gave off the feeling of being full of vitality. It could clearly be seen that this sapling was growing next to a Spirit Absorbing Tree. Spirit Absorbing Trees were very precious magic materials, and a Magic Staff crafted from a Spirit Absorbing Tree would sell for 10,000 golds at the very least.

Moreover, the fruits of a Spirit Absorbing Tree had some mana amplification effects. Many mages liked to have the fruits laid out when receiving guests.

But Spirit Absorbing Trees had a special characteristic.

Once rooted, they would plunder all resources nearby… Sunshine, air, moisture, mana, everything within ten meters would be used to help the Spirit Absorbing Tree mature. No other plants could exist there, not even weeds.

But now, this sapling was growing next to the Spirit Absorbing Tree and didn't seem to be affected by it at all. And not only did it seem immune to the harmful effects, but it even was slanting towards the Spirit Absorbing Tree. From the state of the soil, it could also be seen that the roots of the short sapling were also spreading in the same direction and would soon be entangled with the Spirit Absorbing Tree.

Such aggressiveness and shamelessness, if it wasn't the Parasitic Tree, then what else could it be?

If not for Lin Yun and Solomon, it might have slowly coiled around the Spirit Absorbing Tree, just like a spider webbing its prey, coiling and binding it before leaving it to choke.

"Merlin, you were looking for this?" Solomon looked at it for a while and couldn't see what was so special about it. He couldn't help frowning as he asked.

"Yes, with this sapling, I'll be able to compound a Rebirth Potion for you once we return. If you are lucky enough, you'll only need three months before being able to return to Okland with the status of an Archmage."

"Allow me!" Solomon didn't raise any objections and pulled up his sleeves to start digging.

A few minutes later, Lin Yun threw the Parasitic Tree into his spatial ring before he and Solomon started converging with Fran and Suyass.

The two seemed to also have had a good harvest, especially Fran. When they gathered, Fran's face was so red from excitement that there was no need to ask to know that he had definitely gotten something good.

After the four of them arrived, they chatted a bit before talking about their harvest. Of course, they hid many things within their words. Who would be foolish enough to tell everything to others from potentially competing factions? Thus, the discussion could be considered rather lighthearted, as they just chatted for the sake of chatting.

"I studied the Maze Array just now," Suyass said before fishing out a few pieces of paper from his pockets. "I found out that I seemed to have missed a crucial module, but I'm not too sure… Great Mage Merlin, take a look at it…"

"Fortune Box." Lin Yun only took one glance and knew that Suyass indeed had made a mistake.

The Fortune Box was a small array typically inlaid in relatively large-scale arrays. It could be used as a module, but most of the time, this module was used for escaping because the Fortune Box's only function was teleportation. It triggered random teleportation within a fixed range.

Many alchemists liked to add a Fortune Box on top of their defensive arrays so that they could use the random teleportation to escape if the defense was broken.

But to add a Fortune Box in a Maze Array was a bit reckless.

Unfortunately, the twenty members of the joint exploration team had become victims of that recklessness.

"Yes, Fortune Box, I truly didn't think that someone would embed a Fortune Box in a Maze Array. Was he not afraid that the random teleportation function of the Fortune Box would cause the destruction of the array…?" Suyass thought about it and couldn't understand how there could be such a reckless alchemist.

"Haha…" Seeing Suyass' vexed appearance, Lin Yun couldn't help chuckling.

But in his heart, he was more and more suspicious about the Maze Array. The appearance of that Fortune Box confirmed his conjecture that this didn't suit Vaughn's style. With Vaughn's cautiousness, he definitely wouldn't do something so reckless that could cause the destruction of the entire Maze Array. Vaughn was someone who pursued perfection through details.

"But since it's a Fortune Box, the others shouldn't have too much trouble…" Lin Yun thought for a bit before smiling.

"Yes…" Suyass was also a Master Alchemist, and his understanding of the Fortune Box wasn't much inferior to Lin Yun's. The random teleportation function of the Fortune Box was limited to a fixed range. The botanical garden the four of them ended up in was definitely within Vaughn's laboratory.

In other words, the others very likely had been teleported somewhere within the laboratory. Thus, they would inevitably end up meeting each other.

"Merlin, well, you see…" Suyass didn't dare to consider Lin Yun as a mere Great Mage anymore. He even changed the way he addressed him to be more familiar.

"We should leave this place first." Lin Yun looked around and concluded that they were at the edge of the botanical garden. He thought for a bit before adding, "But be careful…"

"Ah?"

Suyass was a bit confused, as this was only a botanical garden. Besides all kinds of plants, they hadn't found a single living animal, not to mention any other dangers…

"Merlin, aren't you too careful? This is only a botanical garden, nothing more…" Perhaps due to his previous harvest being quite sizable, Fran was currently in a good mood. After not having said anything to Lin Yun for a few days, he now said a rare few words to him.

And as he said that, he brazenly stepped forward.

"Careful!" When Lin Yun saw that, he inwardly scolded, 'Truly a pig-like teammate.'

Unfortunately, there was no time. Just as Lin Yun's warning echoed, a ray of magic brushed past Fran's head.

No, not just one…

There were several rays…

From the quiet botanical garden, several dozen rays of magic shot in all directions: ice, fire, lightning, light. All kinds of elemental rays suddenly shot at the four of them, making them crouch down, unable to raise their heads.

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Chapter 222: Alchemy Puppet

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"Fuck, what did you do, Fran!" Suyass was overwhelmed by the rain of magic rays and couldn't even lift his head. If this spread, it would make people laugh.

The problem was that Suyass was truly afraid of getting hit. Each of the rays was only 2nd Tier or 3rd Tier, but when dozens to a hundred of them were firing at the same time, it wouldn't be any different from a 6th or 7th Tier spell. Suyass was a newly advanced Archmage, and he couldn't deal with such a concentrated rain of magic rays, so he could only helplessly lower his head and hide within the dense thickets.

At the same time, he vented his anger on Fran.

"I… I didn't do anything!" Fran felt that he had been wrongly accused. 'I didn't do anything, so why did this happen?'

"You…" Suyass was green from anger. He didn't want to bicker with Fran at such a critical time, so he had no other choice but to reign in his anger while giving a "we will deal with that later" look to Fran.

"…" Fran saw that glance and knew that it wouldn't turn out well for him. He withdrew his neck and tried to make himself invisible.

"I read somewhere that Vaughn always had some assistant puppets in his laboratory…" At this time, Lin Yun, who was also hiding in the thickets, suddenly inserted a comment.

"Ah?" Suyass was stunned at a first, before holding his breath…

Indeed, it was rumored that Vaughn didn't trust anyone and that his only helpers were puppets…

But those who truly understood Vaughn knew that it wasn't just because he was paranoid. It was more because Vaughn had inherited a huge legacy.

Back then, Vaughn came out of a small mountain village and became a Master Alchemist in a mere ten years. Twenty years later, he stepped into the Artisan realm and became the Chief Alchemist of the empire. This kind of meteoric rise was rarely seen in history, not to mention that Vaughn's talent had only been known as being average. An Apprentice Alchemist with no background and no talent managed to obtain the seat of Chief Alchemist all because of that huge legacy.

It was because of the legacy of Dark Sage Igor.

Who was the Dark Sage?

The teacher of Emperor Charles, the gravedigger of the Silver Era, the dark hand behind the scene that schemed against the throne of the Elves and Dragons, the greatest Puppeteer Alchemist in history…

Given the long list of names of significant figures, he actually had a rather short life. Dark Sage Igor became a Saint Alchemist in the Silver Era and fell in the battle that led to the shattering of the throne of all things. He only lived for a hundred years, which was horrifyingly short for a Saint Alchemist.

During his life, the Dark Sage Igor only had Charles the Emperor as a disciple.

What Vaughn had obtained was only a portion of his legacy, and it was said to be the three puppets personally made by the Dark Sage. In the entire 3rd Dynasty, few people managed to see these three puppets, but everyone knew that they represented the peak of alchemy.

This could be guessed from Vaughn's status.

Vaughn didn't come into contact with the Extraordinary realm during his life, but his status at the end of the 3rd Dynasty was above that of numerous Heaven Rank Mages. From this, it could be seen how frightening the three puppets were…

It was even rumored that Vaughn didn't actually understand the puppets, yet those three puppets helped him establish a formidable puppet legion.

In any case, there were many legends and rumors…

But it was certain that Vaughn had a group of amazing puppets in his hands, and they were probably the reason behind the crazy storm of magic rays shooting at them.

Thinking about this made Suyass sweat. The puppets under Vaughn were well known in the 3rd Dynasty. This was a troublesome fight, a lot harder than he would have expected for this place.

Suyass tightened the grip on his staff as he cast Mage Eyes, one, two, three, and soon, dozens of Mages Eyes were released. Under the rain of magic rays, the survival rate of these Mage Eyes was incredibly low. Of the several dozens of Mage Eyes, only one survived long enough.

Moreover, that Mage Eye was swept away by a Frost Ray just as it flew out of the bush…

But this was more than enough for Suyass.

A total of three puppets, Shadow Wolf models, with abnormal speed even surpassing actual Shadow Wolves. At least two magic rays were enchanted on their bodies, and under the powerful system of arrays, each of their volleys could reach the level of a 6th Tier Spell. Moreover, the frequency of such attacks was extremely high, far exceeding that of the High Mage rank.

"Three Shadow Wolf puppets, very fast," Suyass said to Lin Yun and Solomon while thinking of a means of counterattack.

This was by no means an easy fight…

Each puppet was enchanted with the ability to use two spells, and they were using a very powerful array system with a high activation frequency. There was nearly no interruption, so even if he used an Elemental Shield, he would at most block these attacks for ten seconds. After that, he would have no choice but to withstand the magic rays directly with his body…

The might of those attacks were comparable to 6th Tier Spells…

Besides those powerhouses standing at the peak Heaven realm, who could withstand such powerful magic with just their bodies?

But not doing anything wasn't good either.

If they kept hiding, they would sooner or later be surrounded by the three puppets. At that time, let alone ten seconds, they wouldn't necessarily survive even a couple of seconds.

The only way forward now was to take advantage of the fact that the puppets had yet to surround them to use cover and launch an attack. As long as they could paralyze one puppet, they could change the situation.

But, who would be the attacker?

The cover could only protect them for some time. Once the attacks of the puppets were drawn, they might survive the first volley, but afterward…

Suyass looked at the other three.

Although Solomon was a 9th Rank High Mage, he couldn't display his full power due to his injury. As for Fran, there was no need to mention him. He was only a 5th Rank High Mage. If it weren't for the fact that he had luckily mastered the Time Hand, his fighting strength would be inferior to that of a 3rd Rank High Mage.

As for Merlin…

Suyass hesitated a bit before shaking his head.

Forget it… Although Merlin indeed had fighting strength that far surpassed his rank, he was only a 9th Rank Great Mage. The flaw of only being able to use spells of up to the 4th Tier greatly restricted Merlin's combat capabilities.

After thinking about it, he came to the conclusion that he was the only one that could attempt an attack.

"Cover me," Suyass Solomon and Merlin, his teeth clenched.

"I got this…" Lin Yun shook his head and didn't wait for Suyass to speak any further before casting Haste and rushing out at a lightning speed.

"Merlin!" Suyass was startled. He wanted to stop him, but he hadn't reacted in time, so he could only stare blankly as Lin Yun's silhouette disappeared.

Fortunately, Suyass' reactions were still very good, so he only froze for an instant before immediately helping. He couldn't care about following his original plan at this time, so he hurriedly cast an Elemental Shield and then started casting spells towards the mass of magic rays.

Solomon followed suit, his Runic Shield only half a second slower than Suyass' spell, because he had prepared his spell in advance.

It was because Solomon had more experience than him.

He had gone through similar experiences in the past by following Lin Yun.

One 9th Rank High Mage and one Archmage opened fire nearly at the same time. A Blizzard and a Thunderstorm instantly covered several hundred meters. The two spells of ice and lightning instantly attracted the attention of the three puppets.

After all, puppets were only puppets.

Although they were given incredible power through alchemy, they were far from being considered truly sentient lifeforms. Their conduct was based on very simple judgements.

Certainly, a 9th Rank High Mage and an Archmage firing off spells were clearly more threatening than an advancing 9th Rank Great Mage.

Suyass also understood this.

Since he didn't have the time to stop Merlin, he could only hope that their spells would be able to paralyze one of the puppets.

To this end, Suyass roused his mana to its limit. The Thunderstorm under Suyass' control displayed a power that could only be described as terrifying. The black, earth-shattering mass of thunder and lightning filled the area with deafening roars.

It was to the point that no one saw how that monstrous silhouette appeared behind a puppet, and no one saw what kind of spell he used, but he only softly moved his hand twice and the puppet stiffened and collapsed on the spot, falling apart into a pile of components.

"Merlin, careful, care…" At first, Suyass only noticed Lin Yun appearing within the range of the Thunderstorm and wanted to remind him to avoid being injured by the spell.

But he hadn't expected this scene to appear a blink of an eye later.

Thus, he didn't say anything after initially warning him to be careful.

What did he have to be careful of?

A pile of components?

"He was quite slow this time…" Solomon was smirking, thinking to himself, 'And you call yourself an Archmage? Are you a sheltered mage who has never experienced the world?'

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Chapter 223: A Bit Troublesome

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

In Solomon's eyes, everything was fine…

Last time, in the Ash Tower's Secondary Plane, that young Great Mage did something similar. He complied with Merlin's request for cover fire, and the young mage casually went over and dismantled the two puppets. How could it not be fine now?

Solomon was no stranger to Lin Yun's actions.

As a layman in the field of alchemy, how could he know how complicated alchemy puppets were? How could he know what kind of skill would be needed to instantly dismantle puppets? In Solomon's eyes, it was a matter of course. Weren't puppets the result of alchemy? With a Master Alchemist here so close to them, weren't they just waiting to be dismantled?

After returning from Oddrock City, Solomon had complained a few times to Thorpe, saying that puppets were truly too unreliable. If they could be dismantled so easily by alchemists, then the Sage Tower couldn't rely on them too heavily for the defense of their territory. Hearing these words, Thorpe had looked at Solomon with a rather strange expression.

It was natural for Solomon to think this way because of his time spent with Lin Yun and his inexperience when it came to the subject of alchemy.

But Suyass was an expert…

Moreover, he was an expert among experts, to the point that there weren't many people more skilled than him in the entire Andlusa Kingdom.

Solomon didn't know how complicated puppets were, but Suyass most certainly did. Solomon didn't know what instantly dismantling a puppet meant, but Suyas knew…

Suyass looked as if he had seen a ghost.

"High Mage Solomon, d-d-didn't you see?" Suyass was staring foolishly at the scene and wobbling sluggishly, not even controlling the Thunderstorm as he rubbed his eyes…

'There must have been something in my eyes, definitely…'

Suyas comforted himself…

But Lin Yun didn't even give him the opportunity to comfort himself. As Suyass rubbed his eyes, the Hasted Lin Yun accelerated and used the cover of Solomon's flashy spells to reach another puppet.

Then, his hands only softly moved twice more before that puppet stiffened and collapsed, scattering into a pile of components.

The remaining puppet was less troublesome. Lin Yun didn't even bother waiting for Solomon's supporting fire and used an Ice Fire Shield. He relied on the protection of the quickly rotating red and blue lights to rush through the magic rays and dismantle that puppet on the spot.

And after that… Well, there was nothing after that…

"Th-thi-this… This is broken…." Suyass' eyes were almost swollen from the rubbing. But as looked at the three pile of components on the ground, he almost went crazy.

'What kind of situation was that… How could he have done that so fast? Those were Vaughn's puppets, they had to be dismantled according to their original plan! How was this any different from sleight of hand?"

"High mage Solomon, yo-yo-you saw, right?" Suyass stammered before asking again.

"I saw, I saw…" Solomon casually answered and thought that Suyass was truly very sheltered for an Archmage. To him, this dismantling had seemed kind of slow. Yet, Suyass was almost scared into pissing his pants. What kind of expression would he have if he had seen what happened before in the Demiplane?

'How come such a person came out of the Mercury Tower? He is so weak-willed!'

Solomon made a mental note.

"It's settled, let's go." Lin Yun had already finished picking parts out of the piles of components. It would be more appropriate to say that he plundered most of them, as every single useful component ended up in his spatial ring. After finishing, he noticed that Suyass' expression was a bit weird. "Is there something wrong, Sir Suyass?"

"Nothing, nothing…" Suyass recovered upon hearing Lin Yun's question, but his gaze was extremely complicated while looking at Lin Yun.

It was normal for him to be bewildered. After all, Suyass was a peak Master Alchemist, and he was bound to enter the Artisan realm. Moreover, he was in contact with Nolan and Karon on a regular basis, so he had seen a realm of alchemy that regular alchemists could never hope to see.

Suyass then found out that this young Great Mage had attained a high level of mastery over alchemy. Otherwise, how could Merlin have helped him crack a Maze Array close to True Spirit level by casually pointing something out?

But Suyass had never imagined that it would be this high.

This already couldn't be described as high, this was completely broken!

Suyass wasn't Solomon. Solomon was able to just think that all of this was normal, but Suyass was the disciple of an Artisan, giving him a great understanding of the workings of alchemical puppets.

But it was also because of this understanding that Suyass knew how frightening this young Great Mage was.

That dismantling speed could only be reached when one had a complete understanding of the puppets being taken apart.

The so-called complete understanding pointed to the understanding of every detail of each component. This could be explained if it had been the creator of the puppet, but that young Great Mage obviously had just encountered those three puppets for the first time like himself. He didn't even know the model of the puppets before the information from the Mage Eye came back…

From the time he looked at the puppets until he dismantled them, no more than a minute had passed.

But in that short minute, he had already been able to thoroughly understand the details of each of the puppets. What horrifying insight, what frightening computing ability…

There was also his dismantling skill.

Compared to the insight and computing ability, his dismantling skill truly rendered Suyass dumbstruck. Suyass had led puppet legions into battle for several years in the Golden Forest Plane, so how could he not know how frightening that dismantling skill was? It was like sleight of hand, a sort that had to be repeated a million times at the very least before it could reach this level.

An average person might just think that this technique was miraculous after having it explained, but Suyass knew that this wasn't as simple as being miraculous. It meant that this young Great Mage had incredibly deep knowledge of puppets. That kind of experience could have come from building countless puppets or from fighting countless puppets before he gained some sort of instinct against them.

That discovery made Suyass realize that he wasn't just a genius…

After dealing with the three puppets, the four of them left the botanical garden, but the way Suyass looked at Lin Yun was clearly different now.

"I think that we should be able to directly reach Vaughn's laboratory from this botanical garden…" Lin Yun actually didn't feel that anything was wrong with Suyass' expression.

As for dismantling puppets… There were indeed few alchemists in this era that could contend with Lin Yun; even the creators of the puppets wouldn't do. They just hadn't experienced that future era…

At that time, multitudes of puppets were buried in the deserts. They had lost the source of their mana and were just strewn about, immobile. After generations of dismantling and scavenging them for useful materials, the available parts became fewer and fewer in number. In the end, the puppets that Lin Yun could find in the deserts had been practically stripped bare.

But Lin Yun wouldn't even let go of these puppets. He would sometimes crouch in the deserts for nights in order to get a few screws or a few springs… After twenty years, Lin Yun had already seen all kinds of puppet models. After dismantling puppets thousands of times, he had already engraved all of their details in his mind.

As for his dismantling skill…

Anyone could reach Lin Yun's level of skill once they dismantled as many puppets…

"This is hard to say. Vaughn was the last Artisan of the 3rd Dynasty. A Great Mage like you can't imagine how he did things. What if the botanical garden and the laboratory are separated?" Although Fran was surprised by Lin Yun's way of dealing with the three puppets, he still acted contrary due to his grievances.

Unfortunately, he was opposing Lin Yun.

"Haha, High Mage Fran's imagination is quite vivid."

"You…"

"Fran, shut up." Suyass' expression turned unsightly.

Fran didn't dare to say anything else after Suyass intervened. He only muttered, "But, what if…"

"What if what!" Suyass became angry, and his voice rose quite a bit. "If you were Vaughn, would you be foolish enough to establish an alchemy laboratory far away from the botanical garden? Don't you know about magic materials that can only be preserved for a limited amount of time?"

"…" Fran stiffened, unable to retort, because he really had forgotten about that.

"Okay, it's not far ahead…" Lin Yun didn't pay attention to Fran and only focused on his Mage Eyes scouting the surroundings. After a dozen seconds, he had seen what he needed, causing him to frown. "There is a bit of trouble…"

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Chapter 224: Tower In The Sky

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"What?" Suyass quickly cast a Mage Eye to take a look.

The laboratory was indeed next to the botanical garden, two hundred meters away, through a small path paved with Ivory Stones.

There was a floating Sky Tower.

Through the Mage Eye, Suyass could clearly see that the tower was around two hundred meters above the ground. There wasn't any support, and it was truly floating in the sky.

"Merlin, you…" Suyass worriedly looked at Lin Yun. Of the four present, there were two High Mages and one Archmage, so they would be able to use Levitation and Flight to reach the tower. But the last one was a 9th Rank Great Mage. At that rank, he couldn't use either of those spells. Even if he drew from the power of Elemental Incarnation to use Elemental Flash, he wouldn't be able to cross a distance of over two hundred meters…

"There is no issue with climbing the tower…" Lin Yun shook his head. Although he was only a 9th Rank Great Mage, he still had ways to reach it if he wanted to. He was actually troubled by something else. "Don't you hear a buzzing sound?"

"Ah?"

Suyass froze for a bit before frowning.

Because he clearly noticed the eight puppets circling around the tower. Whenever they turned, that buzzing sound would echo.

"Flying puppets!"

"And they aren't weak…" Lin Yun scratched his cheek as he looked at those eight flying puppets and couldn't help smiling bitterly…

The eight puppets were blocking all the routes to the tower as they circled around. Lin Yun knew with one glance that there was no shortcut, so they would have to steel themselves.

"Two for each…" At this time, Lin Yun didn't dare to deal with everything by himself, even though these puppets weren't as powerful as the earlier ones. Before he could reach the High Mage realm, aerial battles were his weak point.

"Alright!" Suyass didn't say much and took Fran with him as they cast Flight and Levitation. The two flew into the sky, and just as they reached the fifty-meter boundary, five flying puppets began to bombard them.

Suyass' true might could be seen there. An Archmage was truly an Archmage. Under the effects of Flight, he was like a fish in water, displaying his Mobile Casting ability to the pinnacle. His spells were simply unaffected by the high-speed flying, striking accurately and efficiently. He was actually holding his own against five puppets and didn't seem to be at a disadvantage.

"Let's go too." Seeing Suyass start the fight so conspicuously, Lin Yun poured mana into the Lava Dominator. This time, Lin Yun activated the flying ability of the Lava Dominator.

Just as Lin Yun flew into the air, the remaining three puppets instantly pounced towards him.

"Such a fast reaction…" Lin Yun quickly changed his path and brushed past the three flying puppets. At the same time, he raised the Spiritual Magic Staff in his hand and an Ice Fire Shield appeared.

Sure enough, just as Lin Yun released the Ice Fire Shield, a large flurry of Wind Blades was already tearing through the air.

Amidst the numerous sharp sounds, the two radiances of the Ice Fire Shield quickly flickered as an large number of Wind Blades fell on it. It sounded like a bell being struck continuously. Lin Yun didn't stay idle as he controlled the Ice Fire Shield. He tightened the grip on his Spiritual Magic Staff and fired off a Flame Burst.

It was followed by a loud explosion.

The Flame Burst smashed heavily into a puppet and caused a burst of sparks akin to glittering fireworks. The flying puppet was sent flying by the Flame Burst's shockwave.

Lin Yun didn't loosen his guard when the Flame Burst hit its target.

He clearly saw the puppet get blasted away, but neither its flying nor its combat effectiveness seemed to have suffered at all. That kind of defensive ability was quite scary, and Lin Yun felt that even the Bone Plane's puppet's toughness couldn't compare…

'Sure enough…' After this discovery, Lin Yun didn't dare to be careless and put most of his energy into the Ice Fire Shield.

No shortcuts could be taken in that fight. What skills? What tactics? They were all restricted by this battle environment. Since they were out in the open, it was just a battle of offensive spells against defensive spells.

At that time, the rank superiority was clearly displayed. After all, a gap of ten ranks wasn't a joke. Suyass and Fran were in a fight against five puppets, suffering from the pressure of nearly two-thirds of the puppets. But thanks to Suyass' strength as a newly advanced Archmage, they managed to finish their fight before Lin Yun and Solomon…

In the end, Suyass even helped them deal with the last puppet.

As the final puppet fell to the ground, it exploded with a loud bang. This battle made Lin Yun extremely uncomfortable.

"Wait…" Suyass and the others were just about to fly into the tower when Lin Yun suddenly stopped them. Before consulting with the others, he turned towards the still intact puppet…

And like before, he didn't let go of any useful parts.

Lin Yun took a minute to completely dismantle it and put the parts into his spatial ring before flying back and joining up with the other three.

"Merlin, you are a bit too stingy…" This time, even Solomon couldn't help commenting.

The esteemed boss of the Gilded Rose, someone who would gain thousands and millions of golds every deal… wouldn't spare the defeated puppets. If that spread, some people would certainly think that it was strange.

"Hmph, we were busy dealing with more than half of the enemies, yet you are the one sneakily rushing to pocket the most valuable parts…" Fran, who had received two blows in the botanical garden before seeing Lin Yun loot the three puppets, had already been holding back his complaints, but in this battle, he and Suyass restrained six puppets, making this ostrich-like Master Alchemist finally show his head.

"Shut up…" How could Suyass care about a few components? He was actually surprised by Lin Yun's actions. "Merlin, did you find anything?"

"Somewhat…" Lin Yun nodded, before taking out a mechanical system from his ring. It had just been taken from the flying puppet. "Sir Suyass, take a look at this."

"What's up?" Suyass felt somewhat strange, but after looking at it for a while, he couldn't still find anything wrong with it.

"It was well maintained."

"That's surprising…" Hearing this, Suyass couldn't help feeling that it was rather curious. 'Indeed, that mechanical system is in a very good state. It doesn't look like it has gone unused for two millennia.

After all, mechanical systems were different from other components. Some other kinds of components wouldn't have any issues after a few years, but mechanical systems would need to be cleaned at regular intervals, or else many impurities would accumulate and malfunctions could result. It might even lead to the mechanical system breaking down.

"It's not just these flying puppets. Even the puppets we saw in the botanical garden had the same peculiarity. If I'm not wrong, they had been maintained recently, around a week ago…"

"How could this be!"

Lin Yun's words didn't only surprise Suyass. They even made Solomon startled!

'How could they have been maintained a week ago! Vaughn has been dead for almost two thousand years… Who would come to maintain these puppets? Ghosts?'

"In any case, this laboratory is very strange…" Even Lin Yun didn't know the specifics. They would only be able to reach a conclusion after going in.

In the end, the four could only fly up to the tower with these kinds of questions in their minds.

They could clearly see the tower covered in moss, dust, and a large number of cobwebs. It truly looked as if no one had come here for a very long time.

The entrance to the tower was wide open, as the two wooden doors had already rotten away. Wind blew past from time to time, causing a crackling sound. A pair of puppets were there, one on either side of the door, but because it had been so long, their mana sources had already been depleted. They were now laying there, their bodies covered in dust and rust. They were completely different from the puppets they had seen before.

"Mage Breaker models…" Lin Yun took a quick look and then happily identified them. These two broken puppets were Mage Breaker puppets. If the mana sources hadn't been exhausted, they would have been in for a very challenging fight.

But fortunately…

With that in mind, the four of them pushed through the remains of the rotten doors and cautiously entered. After going through a long corridor, they quickly arrived in a spacious hall, hundreds of meters large. Above them hung six gorgeous lamps, and the floor was filled with square Ivory Stones. Each block had been cut like a huge gem, with delicate and complex designs, full of the aura of extravagance from the 3rd Dynasty.

The only other exit was across the hall, leading to a hallway that they couldn't see the end of. It was just shrouded in darkness, just like the maw of a ferocious beast.

"Okay, time to play 'find the differences'…"

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