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 257: Escape

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

What if it was a Chromatic Dragon's corpse next? Or the corpse of an Ancient God?

Lin Yun couldn't guarantee that it wouldn't happen.

At such a crucial time, the only thing Lin Yun could do was grinding his teeth and raise his control to its maximum. He raised his control on the Planar Path to its limits and moved it forward through this dangerous storm.

But…

He was reaching his limit.

Even Lin Yun, this mage who far surpassed this era, still seemed powerless in front of that disaster. Lin Yun was doing his best, but he was still losing control. Three elven corpses crashed in the Planar Path Fragment one after the other. Under the huge impact, the Planar Path Fragment showed signs of damage for the first time.

An entire ten meters of the Planar Path Fragment instantly disappeared.

Weapon shards and armor remains fell onto the Planar Path Fragment, riddling it with holes. Lin Yun could feel the surrounding space distortions becoming more and more unstable, ready to collapse anytime.

The several dozens meter long Planar Path looked like a boat in a rainstorm, struggling against the large waves, the huge waves rolled by the gales almost engulfing it.

No one was talking on the Planar Path, they were all looking at Lin Yun with anxiousness and worry.

"Shit, Mafa Merlin, this is all because of you taking us to this damn place. Do you hate me so much that you want to kill all of us?" Fran who had been silent the entire way couldn't help bursting out.

Unfortunately, Fran's burst only lasted for a split second.

It was immediately followed by a loud slap…

"Suyass, you…" Fran held his swollen face and looked at Suyass with anger and dissatisfaction.

"If you say one more word, I'll immediately kill you." Suyass said in an icy voice. There was no anger nor contempt in his gaze. It was as if he had been talking to an irrelevant stranger.

"You…"

Facing Suyass' icy gaze, Fran subconsciously withdrew. It wasn't that Fran didn't want to fight, but rather, he didn't dare to. Fran could feel the killing intent Suyass was emitting. If he did say anything, he would definitely be killed.

Fran guessed right.

Suyass was completely serious this time, if Fran had kept talking, Suyass would have unhesitantly killed him.

The current situation wasn't something an Archmage or an Heaven Mage could solve, that was the destruction of an entire world. Facing such a disaster, even ten Suyass wouldn't last one second. Their only chance was to follow that young Great Mage, only he could take them out of this calamity.

If he let Fran clash with him, everyone would probably end up buried alongside Fran.

Thus, Suyass suppressed Fran before the conflict even started.

After warning Fran, Suyass slowly walked over and stood next to Lin Yun, "Merlin, can I help with anything?"

"Destroy as many shards and remains as you can." Lin Yun hesitated a bit as he gave that answer.

Lin Yun's power was no longer enough.

The Magic Arrays had already been pushed to their limits, he was already displaying his extraordinary control, but the Planar Path he was urging forward was still greatly suffering. Suyass' help would reduce the pressure.

But, even if he did his best, it wouldn't help that much.

The speed of the hail of shards and fragments was simply too shocking. It would be fine if Suyass wanted to avoid them, but intercepting them was another matter altogether. If hit by these shards or remains, his chances of survival would be very small.

The risk was too great.

Lin Yun saying this was like telling Suyass to gamble with his life.

"Okay, no problem." Suyass actually answered straightforwardly.

After Suyass joined, the pressure on Lin Yun's body alleviated quite a bit. After all, he was an Archmage. Although he might not necessarily be Lin Yun's match, the powerful spells brought up by his higher rank were actually suitable to stop the shards and let Lin Yun breath.

But…

Lin Yun suddenly noticed the Netherstorm in the void becoming incomparably bright, that bloody red color was visible like an aura.

'Soon!'

Lin Yun knew that his only opportunity would quickly come.

After seeing this, Lin Yun immediately burst out and joined hands with Suyass to cast a large amount of spells, creating a space around them which could buy them ten seconds.

Then, only two paths were left in front of Lin Yun.

If everything went smoothly, Lin Yun should be able to leave the Heaven Enlightening Plane within those ten seconds.

But if they were unlucky, they would never leave the Heaven Enlightening Plane. Ten seconds later, the shards would fall again on the Planar Path. Even if that one opportunity happened at that time, Lin Yun wouldn't have the energy to catch it.

Seconds slowly passed

The crimson in the sky became denser.

'There!'

Sure enough, when the power of that apocalyptic storm reached its peak, the entire void shrank back for a few tenths of second. Not one bit of mana could be felt from the void then.

This was the opportunity Lin Yun had been waiting for.

Just as the void shrank, Lin Yun poured mana in the Crystal Scales. This was the mana Lin Yun had been saving for a long time. It rushed into the Crystal Scales and instantly destroyed its structure. In an instant, that outstanding Spiritual Magic Tool Set turned into countless shards. At the same time, the space around them started crazily twisting as a huge power began pulling the Planar Path. This felt as if the Planar Path was being forcibly dragged out of this world.

The boundless void was distorting, giving them the feeling of being deep underwater before ripples slowly appeared.

The world before their eyes was no longer real, the crimson and black were slowly being replaced, the powerful Netherstorm ravaging and swallowing one corpse after the other instantly turned into nothingness.

But Lin Yun who had been standing on the Planar Path couldn't feel it.

Obviously, everything was clearly happening, but he couldn't sense it. It was as if he was looking at two beasts fighting each other while being behind a glass. Being able to enjoy this event without having to deal with the bloody smell or the desperate aura.

"Finally escaped…" Lin Yun knew that the reason it was so strange was because they had already left the Heaven Enlightening Plane. Everything they saw was the afterimage brought up by the spatial distortions. The true Heaven Enlightening Plane was under the attack of the Netherstorm.

But it had nothing to do with him anymore.

After destroying the Crystal Scales, Lin Yun took a seat on the Planar Path and began studying the Alchemic Mana Whirlpools.

It was because Lin Yun knew that the return from the Heaven Enlightening Plane this time would be different from the previous return, this was going to be a very long trip, maybe three days, maybe five, maybe even longer.

The power of the Heaven Enlightening Plane far surpassed Noscent. Escaping from it wasn't something anyone could do. Even if he urged the Planar Path Fragment to leave the plane through some mysterious exit by using the Crystal Scales, they still wouldn't escape from the binding of the Heaven Enlightening Plane.

Lin Yun wasn't wrong.

The Planar Path didn't struggle free of the Heaven Enlightening Plane's binding within three days.

In fact, Lin Yun was given enough time to fuse with Alchemic Mana Whirlpools.

He could be seen why Vaughn was worthy of his title of Final Artisan of the empire. That man had reached great heights in the domain of alchemy, just one look at these two Alchemic Mana Whirlpools he fused with was enough to understand that point. After the two Alchemic Mana Whirlpool fused within his body, he didn't feel anything wrong.

Lin Yun tried to let some mana flow and didn't have any feeling of obstruction or delay, the two Alchemic Mana Whirlpools were like a part of his body, and if it wasn't for his mana increasing by two times, Lin Yun wouldn't have believed it.

This was simply utterly shocking.

In Lin Yun's eyes, this was the highest realm of an Artisan.

Being able to create anything.

Lin Yun even felt that if the Vaughn of that time managed to live a bit longer, he would have definitely been promoted to Saint Alchemist.

But maybe Vaughn had already reached the realm of Saint Alchemist and hid it from the outside world…

Naturally, this was only Lin Yun's conjecture, he would only be able to confirm it in the future, once he set foot on Crystal Island and researched the greatest secrets of Vaughn's life.

After fusing with the two Alchemic Mana Whirlpools, Lin Yun felt around his pocket. At first, he was looking for the bottle of Silver Dragon's blood. But he put it down after some hesitation. Fusing with a drop of Dragon Blood wasn't something that could be done in such a period of time. He might not be finished by the time their trip was over, so he decided to start with something else.

He had decided to check the red crystal first.

Thinking of it, Lin Yun took it out.

'Eh? What's that?' Lin Yun's expression changed.

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Chapter 258: Crest

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

There was nothing noticeable on the Red Crystal, it wasn't emitting light and wasn't crystal clear. But this crystal would change shape with a light squeeze and gave the feeling of a red hard jelly.

But as Lin Yun studied this Red Crystal in more details, he suddenly found out that the center of the crystal seemed to have something else.

A small black dot.

Lin Yun hadn't paid attention to it at first, thinking that it was some impurity within the crystal. But after looking at it, Lin Yun felt something wrong. That very small black dot actually carried a faint aura of life and gave the feeling of a seed.

'No way…' Lin Yun's expression suddenly changed.

He wouldn't be feeling surprised if that Red Crystal had been obtained from another place, life aura was present everywhere. All things and all living beings had life aura, it was only a matter of intensity.

But…

That red crystal obviously came from the Heaven Enlightening Plane.

Everything in the Heaven Enlightening Plane had already died, Time, Space, and the other Laws no longer existed. That was a graveyard made of boundless void.

How could the Red Crystal he had obtained from that graveyard possess a faint aura of life?

Even if weak, that was still the aura of life.

'It's a pity…' Lin Yun couldn't help feeling regretful. The Heaven Enlightening Plane contained more secrets that he had imagined. He hadn't had time to research those secret before they were nearly turned to nothingness by the Netherstorm. He might never have a chance to walk on that void again.

After regretfully sighing, Lin Yun picked up that strange Red Crystal once again and turned it again and again to study it.

It was strange, but Lin Yun was feeling a bit scared of that Red Crystal.

He couldn't help being on guard.

'How could it be so strange…' This inexplicable feeling made Lin Yun feel cold. Lin Yun originally thought of putting that Red Crystal back in his pocket, but now, he felt that this wasn't too appropriate.

After thinking for a long time, Lin Yun chanted a spell and opened his Demiplane.

This was the second time Lin Yun opened that Demiplane after stealing it.

The first time was when he hid the fragment of the soul of an Ancient God that Shawn was terrified of within. This time he was putting the Red Crystal within.

These two things definitely held an enormous secret.

But following the secrets were dangers that Lin Yun simply couldn't deal with. The only way to handle these two wonders was to put them in the Demiplane and wait for the day he had enough power to solve these secrets.

As for now, Lin Yun was more concerned with that drop of Silver Dragon Blood.

Although this drop of Silver Blood couldn't compare with Xiuban's Three-Headed Golden Dragon Blood in term of rank, the blood of a higher ranked Chromatic Dragon might not necessarily be the most suitable for Lin Yun. The Book of Death was a good example, it was such a high Ranked Magic Tool, yet he could only use the Sage Chapter.

Of the Book of Death's 13 chapters, each of possessed heaven-defying power. With the Book of Death in hand, that Heaven Mage Bane never experienced defeat for a millennium, he was a true legend in Noscent.

It's not that Lin Yun didn't want to use them, he was just unable to use them.

12 more chapters meant 12 more Augments.

Lin Yun clearly remembered that the lowest of these 12 Augments was True Spirit Rank, and the three most powerful were comparable to the Book of Death in rank, they were Heaven Rank Augments.

There was no point to think on how to collect them all together right now.

Just controlling these Augments would be enough to make Lin Yun despair.

Lin Yun would be dreaming if he thought he could master the lowest 12th Augment as 9th Rank Great Mage. Not every Augment was like the Sage Chapter which could be used as long as enough mana was supplied.

To Lin Yun, only the power he had complete grasp on could be trusted.

Such as this drop of Silver Dragon Blood.

This drop of Silver Dragon Blood would make the Magic Array undergo a new transformation and push it to a whole new level, a new realm that had never been seen in both past and future.

Even Lin Yun felt strange about it.

What kind of change would happen after completing this transformation, even he didn't know.

Lin Yun was very careful on the first attempt.

The drop of Silver Dragon Blood was completely wrapped in mana while the Magic Arrays revolved at top speed, repeatedly probing it, only withdrawing a few runes to be analyzed each time. This situation continued for three days. Three days later, Lin Yun was finally convinced that this drop of Silver Dragon Blood wouldn't be too much of a threat and gradually undid the restrictions of the Magic Arrays to do a methodical analysis.

"Cousin, Cousin…" But William's voice could be heard at this time.

It was time to emerge…

Lin Yun sighed before stopping his analysis, "What is it?"

"Cousin, look…" After coming over, William sneakily looked around and fished something mysterious from his pocket, "This is something I found a few days ago…"

"Ah?" Lin Yun took out that thing and studied it. It was a damaged crest.

The pattern on the crest had already became vague and he could only make out a drop of blood with a Dragon's head.

Lin Yun frowned and thought about it. In his memories, there was no force that used a drop of blood and a Dragon's head as a crest.

Thinking of it, Lin Yun looked at William with a doubtful expression.

"Cousin, this is the Merlin Family's crest!" William looked extremely excited as he watched that damaged crest with shaking hands.

"Aren't you making a mistake…" Lin Yun clearly remembered that time at the Gilded Rose, William had pointed at the crest of a flaming staff while telling him that it was the crest of the Merlin Family. How could the crest of the Merlin Family have changed in less than half a year.

"No no, Cousin, the crest of the Merlin Family in the 3rd Dynasty was like that!"

"In the 3rd Dynasty?" Lin Yun was stumped.

"Did your father not tell you?" It was William's turn to be doubtful.

"Never before."

"Okay…" Although William wasn't convinced, he still couldn't suppress his excitement and smiled as he said, "Cousin, our Merlin Family's history is much older than what people know. Now, almost everyone believes that the Merlin Family rose up when they founded a country, but in reality, our history trace back to the distant 3rd Dynasty…"

"Eh?" Although Lin Yun has lived as a member of the Merlin Family for more than a year, he had never been concerned about Mafa Merlin's family background.

Lin Yun only knew that Mafa Merlin was born from a huge family and their ancestors founded a country during the previous kingdom and had some great achievements leading to the entire Family rising up quickly during the establishment of the Andlusa Kingdom and becoming one of the peak power of the Kingdom.

Lin Yun didn't know much more than that.

Lin Yun couldn't help showing some interest when hearing William saying that the Merlin Family's history could be traced back to the 3rd Dynasty. He fiddled with the damaged crest while urging William to continue.

"I also hear my father say that he had entered the Family's Ancestral Land and saw the secret tome there. It was written in it that the Merlin Family was already on the rise during the early 3rd Dynasty, and there was even one of our ancestor who had followed Charles the Emperor. At the time, the Merlin Family used a drop of blood as their crest, this was an amazing distinction at the time, it meant that the Merlin Family had participated in the war against the Dragons…"

"…" Merlin couldn't help holding his breath when he heard that. There had been countless heroes who had slaughtered Dragons in Noscent's history, but there had only been one war against the Dragons.

Under the Throne of Life, in the last battle, the Chromatic Dragons appeared with all their power and fought a desperate battle with the imperial army. The sky and earth were dyed red and bodies piled up in front of the Throne of Life, before Charles the Emperor finally smashed it to pieces, forcing the Chromatic Dragons and the pure-blooded Elves to escape into the void. This war marked the end of the Silver Era and the start of the era of mortals.

This was a war that had been written into stories for a very long time.

The powerhouses that participated in that war had already became legends, their names were sang in poems by bards and minstrels and spread through every corner of Noscent.

Lin Yun thought at first, 'Even if the history of the Merlin Family could be traced back to the 3rd Dynasty, it would only be as an aristocratic Family.'

But Lin Yun truly didn't think that the Merlin Family had such an illustrious history.

That was a Family that participated in the war against Dragons!

Few Families in the entire Noscent could compare with their noble bloodline.

But why did such a prominent and noble Family declined in the 3rd Dynasty?

Lin Yun clearly remembered that no Merlin Family existed within the thirteen major families of the Empire.

"Unfortunately, some unforeseen accident happened later on…" William kept explaining as Lin Yun was getting confused.

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Chapter 259: Transformation

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"A hundred years after the Draconic War, a huge disaster happened. Almost all the powerhouses of the Merlin Family disappeared overnight…"

"Disappeared?" Lin Yun was surprised when he heard this. Even if a powerful Family that participated in the Draconic War declined in a century, how could it be because of their powerhouses disappearing overnight?

"Following that, the status of the Merlin Family took a great hit, falling down from the peak of the empire to dust…"

"But I wasn't expecting this…"

"Before that huge disaster, the Merlin Family's crest was indeed a bloody Dragon's head. This is something that can only be found within the secret tome in the Ancestral Land."

"In other words, this crest you gave me most likely belonged to one of the Merlin Family's Ancestors?" Lin Yun gazed at that damaged crest for a long time before doubtfully asking, "How did you get this?"

"Eh, it was earlier, when the sky reddened.." William scratched his head, he looked dazed as he said, "But I don't remember the details. I only remember that it was very chaotic, weapon shards, armor fragments and corpses were crashing onto the Planar Path. There was nowhere to hide, nor was there any time… By the time everything calmed down, I found that crest at my feet…"

"…" Lin Yun was speechless. Xiuban finding the Three-Headed Dragon's drop of blood was an extremely lucky coincidence, but he hadn't expected William to be just as lucky and find a crest of the Merlin Family after the ordeal.

But this crest…

Lin Yun looked at that damaged crest and discerned a strange power lingering within it.

It felt like soul type power.

Lin Yun didn't understand much about soul power, so after failing to detect anything for a while, he called out Shawn.

"Come, Lord Shawn, take a look at that crest, see if there is something strange…"

"Eeeh, Dragon Slayer Crest!" Shawn clearly knew more than Lin Yun. Just as that crest got into his sight he immediately exclaimed, "This thing has a deep history, where did you get it? I'm telling you, the things left behind by the Thirteen Great Families can be very evil. They aren't as trivial as the Royal Family's Bloodline Curse. It's your thing if you meet some trouble and die, but don't drag me down with you…"

"…" Lin Yun took a few breaths as he tried to suppress the urge to squeeze Shawn back into his ring with his bare hands.

"Wait a second…" But just as Lin Yun was considering how to punish Shawn, the latter exclaimed, "This isn't right, that bloody Dragon's head clearly belongs to the Black Dragon of Destruction, but at the time, none of the Thirteen Great Families participating in the Draconic war fought against the Black Dragon of Destruction. I say, this is a fake…"

"Be less long-winded. I called you out to get your help to check if there is any soul power on that crest, not to be annoying…" Lin Yun unhappily cursed, "Who asked you whether this was a fake or not? You have spent so much time in Barov's tomb, who knows if your mind deteriorated over time…"

But even though he said that, Lin Yun couldn't help secretly admiring Shawn.

Shawn's insight was clearly superior to an ordinary person, in truth none of the Thirteen Great Families had fought the Black Dragon of Destruction.

Because the one who withstood the Black Dragon of Destruction at the time was the strongest alchemist of the empire, the Dark Sage.

Thinking about it, Lin Yun was stumped.

'Could it be that the Merlin Family has some relation to the Dark Sage?'

As he thought about it, Lin Yun felt that this was truly possible. As a participant of the Draconic War, since the Merlin Family left behind a bloody Black Dragon's head as their crest, it meant that the Merlin Family had most likely fought the Black Dragon of Destruction, and in history, the one who fought the Black Dragon of Destruction was the Dark Sage.

Thinking about it, there truly seemed to be a relation between them.

At the very least, they should have fought alongside each other.

"Indeed, there is some soul power involved…" Shawn finished his analysis while Lin Yun was lost in his thoughts. He spoke up with a proud voice, but suddenly stopped before doubtfully saying, "But there is something strange…"

"What is it?"

"The soul power within that crest doesn't seem to be a curse nor a protection…"

"Then…"

"If I'm not wrong, the soul power within that crest is likely… An inheritance…"

"You mean, a soul inheritance?" The expression on Lin Yun's face became extremely strange.

No wonder that crest became damaged.

Until then Lin Yun still thought that the crest of the Merlin Family managing to land at the feet of an offspring of the Merlin Family was a coincidence.

But it now seemed that this wasn't a coincidence after all.

Someone might wonder why it didn't land at Lin Yun's feet.

Mafa Merlin was indeed an offspring of the Merlin Family.

But Lin Yun wasn't, his soul came from 30,000 years in the future.

"That's right, it's a soul inheritance, but don't count on me to deal with that soul inheritance, the risk is too great and I won't take it…" Shawn stretched after saying that. He didn't wait for Lin Yun to urge him and retreated back into his ring.

"…" Lin Yun didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he watched the cowardly Shawn disappear.

But then again.

Lin Yun had no one else to ask…

"When you meditate in the next few days, try to pour mana into the crest." Lin Yun didn't wait for William's answer and directly threw the crest back to him before sitting down to continue his analysis of the Silver Dragon Blood.

Days slowly passed.

In a blink, half a month passed.

The time it took to return surpassed Lin Yun's expectations.

Through the twisting void, he could still clearly see the Netherstorm devastating the Heaven Enlightening Plane, that crimson almost covering every corner of the plane. The only part yet to be affected was that cemetery.

But it was only a matter of time.

Once the Netherstorm strikes, the whole world would turn into nothingness, corpses of the Ancient Gods would be no exception.

After two weeks, Lin Yun managed to extract a hundred thousand runes from that Silver Dragon Blood.

Now, the runes gathered within the Magic Arrays had reached a shocking 200,000!

If this spread on Noscent, even Archmages would turn pale on the spot. What did 200,000 runes meant, that was understanding over half of the world's known runes. The amount of spells that could be combined with these 200,000 runes was simply amazing. This kind of abnormal rune accumulation would be described as shocking even in the peak of the magic era.

Never before did a Great Mage gather so many runes.

Not even the ones with the Magic Arrays.

The Magic Arrays within Lin Yun's body already expanded to their maximum but still couldn't accommodate all these runes. Lin Yun could clearly feel that the nine Magic Arrays within his body seemed bloated, they weren't efficient enough and were a bit sluggish. Lin Yun knew that his circumstances were that of someone that had eaten too much and couldn't walk.

He only had two choices.

Throwing up or fully digesting.

Lin Yun clearly wasn't willing to get rid of these runes.

Thus he could only choose to digest them.

During the later half of the month, Lin Yun remained seated on top of the Planar Path, not standing up any longer. Everyone could feel the shocking mana fluctuations being emitted by Lin Yun, and these mana fluctuations never wavered, he was like a machine that never stopped, continuously operating his mana.

Lin Yun was in such a state.

For half a month, his Magic Arrays worked tirelessly, they kept operating at full speed. The feeling of burden and bloating made them inefficient and sluggish at start, but then, the Magic Arrays performed faster and faster and followed Lin Yun's thoughts more precisely before finally working like usual.

Normally, Lin Yun should have stopped since the Magic Arrays already recovered.

But Lin Yun didn't adhere to normal, he continued running them in full speed.

Because he felt that the Magic Arrays were already transforming.

Lin Yun didn't move for another ten days.

But the mana fluctuations emitted were getting even more shocking.

In these ten days, whether it was Suyass, Fran, Lys or Solomon, they were all looking at Lin Yun with shock. They had a faint feeling that once that young Great Mage opened his eyes, the magic system of Noscent would be once again overturned.

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Another ten days quickly passed.

Lin Yun still remained motionless, but they could all feel an invisible pressure filling the air, just like the calm before the storm, the pressure made them struggle to breath.

The Planar Path was silent, they were all holding their breath while looking at the young Great Mage with alarm and expectations.

Days passed one after the other.

The mana fluctuations that young Great Mage was emitting became more and more shocking and even an Archmage like Suyass felt speachless. These mana fluctuations were too scary. They were almost tangible, like essence. Suyass felt as if a huge boulder was pressing onto him.

But what was more terrifying was that this huge boulder was becoming heavier and heavier with time.

In other words, the mana fluctuations of that young Great Mage were rising. This made them feel despair, it was rising, rising continuously as if there was no limit. Suyass couldn't imagine what level these continuously rising mana fluctuations would reach.

They all paled, and the weaker ones were heavily sweating.

The pressure brought up by that young Great Mage was too high.

No one knew how long it took, time seemed to have lost its meaning. The Netherstorm that could be seen through the distorted space no longer attracted their attention. They only stood there, trembling with fear, tightly clenching their fists as they waited for the astonishing event to happen.

The surroundings elements flared up as Lin Yun's mana grew stronger and stronger.

Booming thunder and whistling gales could be heard as boundless mana was filling the Planar Path.

They could all feel that this young Great Mage was stepping into the High Mage Realm.

Among the countless of mages who advanced to High Mage in Noscent's history, this was the one who did so with the most shocking momentum.

Mana frantically converged, and then, that young Great Mage fused his nine Magic Conducting Runes into one before entering the High Mage realm.

Lin Yun who had sat there for a bit over a month finally opened his eyes.

Suddenly, everyone seemed to hear a rumbling sound as an intense light spread in the horizon. Everything seemed to have been frozen in that moment, the surging thunder, the whistling gales, the flowing mana, they all seemed to have disappeared. That young High Mage was now calmly standing there, his body not emitting one bit of mana fluctuations. There was no sign of mana, as if he was an ordinary person.

But when he opened his eyes…

They felt as if they were seeing stars falling, creation and destruction, endless runes floating…

"How much time did I use?"

It was a simple question, yet no one answered. Apart from the still sleeping Xiuban and William who was trying to connect to the Merlin Family's crest, the few others were looking at Lin Yun with dread and alarm.

That was an indescribable pressure.

In the end, it was Solomon, the one most familiar with Lin Yun, who stood out, "A bit short from a month and ten days."

"So long?" Lin Yun frowned. He glanced through the Planar Path's distortions and looked at the Netherstorm still frantically swallowing the Heaven Enlightening Plane. The plane had already turned into nothingness. Only the cemetery was left.

It was a bit strange. When Lin Yun began analyzing the drop of Silver Dragon Blood, the Netherstorm had already started invading the plane. But according to Solomon, almost two months had already passed, yet that cemetery remained intact and was still contending against the Netherstorm.

This was the Netherstorm…

'Could there be some power able to contend with the Netherstorm in the cemetery?'

"Merlin…" While Lin Yun was lost in his thoughts, Suyass cautiously called out to him.

"What is it, Sir Suyass?'

"You…" Recalling all the phenomenons that appeared, Suyass couldn't help gulping. When he finally managed to recover, he doubtfully asked, "You are already a High Mage, aren't you?"

"Haha…" Lin Yun suddenly laughed when he heard that question. After laughing, he nodded, "More or less…"

After obtaining a satisfying answer, Suyass didn't keep pursuing the matter. He only congratulated Lin Yun before silently retreating. But he was far from being as calm as he pretended to be on the surface. As a 9th Rank Great Mage, Merlin could already beat an Archmage like Fran just by relying on the power of that strange flame. Now, with the nine Magic Conducting Runes fusing together, his strength could only be described as frightening. Even if he didn't use that strange flame, he would still be comparable to an Archmage in terms of fighting power.

It was now proven that his previous choices were correct.

If he hadn't persevered during this trip and gave up on all harvest, with the vengeful nature of that young High Mage, he would have sooner or later looked for Fran to settle his debt.

On that day, Fran would definitely be finished.

After losing that strange Magic Tool, Fran had already fallen to the 5th Rank High Mage level, he wouldn't be able to handle one spell of that young High Mage. Even if they teamed up, they would be far from being able to handle him.

'Fortunately…'

'Fortunately I made the correct decision.'

Suyass couldn't help inwardly rejoicing.

At this time, Lin Yun gazed back at the cemetery. The boundless void was already colored red, the Netherstorm was like a stormy sea, constantly pounding against that void cemetery. Each wave fiercer and more violent than the previous one. Even if they were separated by a distorted space, Lin Yun could feel a terrible force making him shake.

That was the plane, no longer able to resist and contend against the Netherstorm.

"Haaa…" Lin Yun saw everything and couldn't help inwardly sighing. No matter how resistant that cemetery was, it couldn't escape the fate of being swallowed by the Netherstorm. This had been fated a long time ago. No power could change it.

And sure enough…

The resistance from the cemetery seemed to infuriate the Netherstorm. After repeated failures, the Netherstorm ended up shrinking again!

"It's coming!" Lin Yun instantly narrowed his eyes, he was very familiar with that scene.

Indeed…

The boundless Netherstorm transformed into a red mass and heavily smashed against that cemetery.

Lin Yun felt as if he heard glass shattering.

Then, a whole part of the void started disintegrating and a large amount of cracks appeared in the void. With the Netherstorm wrecking havoc within, the cemetery instantly became chaotic. At the same time, the Netherstorm once against expanded and turned into earth-shattering crimson waves, instantly swallowing the cemetery.

The entire Heaven Enlightening Plane turned into nothingness.

"It's over…" Lin Yun shook his head and turned his gaze away from the Heaven Enlightening Plane.

Xiuban was still fusing with the Three-Headed Golden Dragon's blood, he was sitting there with a solemn expression, a faint layer of golden light appearing on his green skin. It gave off a feeling slightly resembling a divine aura.

On the other side, William was also immersed in his meditation.

But that meditation was very strange.

Lin Yun was now ten times sharper when it came to the path of mana and other powers. With one glance he could see that William was already fusing with that crest. Even the soul power within didn't feel any different from William's own, as if that crest had already fused with William's soul.

Lin Yun knew that this meant the soul inheritance had already started.

Contained within that crest was the inheritance from an ancestor of the Merlin Family, a powerhouse that participated in the Draconic War.

Even Lin Yun couldn't imagine how powerful that inheritance would be.

Only William would know the answer after completing the inheritance.

'Hmmm?' Just as Lin Yun was pondering, a ray of light suddenly illuminated the entire Planar Path.

Lin Yun raised his head in shock and caught sight of the space on the other side of the spatial distortion. A ray of light suddenly appeared in that void swallowed by the Netherstorm.

No…

It wasn't a ray of light…

Outside the distortions, the space was filled with half light and half darkness.

Apart from light and darkness, there was fire, water, wind, and earth, slowly rushing forth.

'This… This is!' Lin Yun was dumbfounded by the extremely strange scene taking place before his eyes. The birth of light and darkness, the four great elements rushing forth… These were the signs of the birth of a world, this was also a scene that Lin Yun had seen endless repetition of when he had touched the Reincarnation Eyes.

'Could it be…'

A flash of understanding suddenly appeared in Lin Yun's eyes.

Lin Yun could finally understand why the Heaven Enlightening Plane was described as the plane of origin and ending. This was all because it could undergo rebirth after being shattered.

'Looks like I'll have to return here sooner or later…' Seeing the new Heaven Enlightening Plane thriving, Lin Yun couldn't help recalling the Red Crystal he had stored in his Demiplane, in the center of that Red Crystal was resting a small seed that exuded a faint aura of life.

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Chapter 261: Return

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

The Planar Path suddenly shook and broke away from the binding of the Heaven Enlightening Plane. The surrounding space started continuously changing, countless scenes flashed before Lin Yun's eyes. Lin Yun could faintly see the four elements being set up, life starting to sprout, mountains and seas, grasslands and lakes, everything was filled with flourishing life aura, only the center of the world was covered in death and silence.

That was the remains of the vast cemetery, the corpses of Ancient Gods, Chromatic Dragons, and pure-blooded Elves were buried there. It wasn't just Noscent's lifeforms being buried there, there might also be the secret which would decide Noscent's fate.

Unfortunately, this secret could only be left for next time…

Lin Yun took one final look at this new Heaven Enlightening Plane.

But as the Planar Path gradually travelled further and further through the darkness, they finally reached some light.

A group of people standing in the treasury appeared in their sight.

"Eh, Merlin…" Sasu approached and welcomed them. The leader of the Silver Moon Mercenaries was doubtfully looking at Lin Yun's group, "How… How could you be so fast?"

"Fast?" Before Lin Yun could even open his mouth, Solomon rudely interjected, "We floated for a few months in that damned place, how is that fast?"

"Months?" Sasu was suddenly startled before frowning, "But…"

"Sasu, how long has it been since you returned?" Lin Yun waved his hand to stop Solomon.

He wasn't surprised by Sasu's reaction.

Because Lin Yun knew that it wouldn't be strange for some time distortion to happen after entering the Heaven Enlightening Plane with the Planar Path Fragment. After all, the Heaven Enlightening Plane wasn't an ordinary place, it was simply a dead world, the Laws had already stopped operating, including the law of Time and the law of Space. Lin Yun only wanted to know how serious that distortion in time was.

"One hour…"

"Okay, I understand." Lin Yun nodded but didn't say anything else.

At this time, most of the other people from the joint exploration team gathered over and greeted the few of them one by one. They also reported the situation in the treasury. A few days had passed before Sasu's group returned. The magic materials had already been arranged and they were only waiting for Lin Yun to allocate them.

"Merlin, we had an agreement, you have the loot priority, so now pick the ones you want."

"Hold on a moment, I have something to deal with first…" Lin Yun didn't look at the magic materials, he instead poured mana into the ring on his finger, "Lord Shawn, do me a favor…"

"What favor?" Shawn was alarmed when he heard the word favor, "Don't expect me to help if it's too difficult!"

"…" Lin Yun didn't know how to feel about this cowardly True Spirit Magic Tool. He took a deep breath before calmly continuing, "My cousin's soul inheritance is almost complete, I need you to help him with the last step…"

"Eh?" Hearing Lin Yun, Shawn raised his head and looked at William who was next to them.

William was in a strange state, he had yet to wake up after over a month of meditation. The average mage would have been considered dead by then. But William seemed completely fine, whether it was his mana fluctuations or his life aura, they were both completely normal.

The only difference was William's soul power being active.

This discovery amazed Shawn, "I didn't expect that you would understand how soul inheritances worked…"

"Haha…" Lin Yun laughed with an incomprehensible smile, making Shawn lose some self-confidence.

How could Lin Yun know how soul inheritances worked…

Lin Yun only knew that the soul inheritance the Merlin Family's ancestor left behind had been set aside for an offspring of the Merlin Family. If William couldn't obtain the inheritance, then who could?

Of course, he couldn't tell Shawn…

"Indeed, that guy's soul inheritance is almost over…" Shawn then rolled his eyes, "It is also not impossible for me to help him finalize the inheritance, but…"

"But?"

"But you do know that I'm only an Incarnation, I would use up a lot of mana every time I activate the Soul Walker. You should understand what I mean, right?"

Lin Yun almost spat to Shawn's face.

'Even if you are looking for an excuse, can't you settle for a decent one?'

'Even a Magic Apprentice knows that it doesn't take any effort for a Magic Tool Incarnation to rouse its Magic Tool, it simply doesn't use the least bit of strength. Telling me that it would use up a large mount of mana, do you take me for someone inferior to a Magic Apprentice?'

'Forget it…'

Lin Yun didn't bother to argue with Shawn after reigning in his anger and directly took out a level 25 mana crystal from his pocket, "That should be more than enough mana…"

"Enough, enough, more than enough…" Shawn blissfully took the level 25 mana crystal and felt a surge of mana revolving within his body before guaranteeing, "Rest assured, I'll take care of the final step, I can guarantee that this youth will complete his soul inheritance."

"Less talking…"

William's soul fluctuations had already reached their peak, so Shawn didn't dare to delay and with a howl, his faintly discernible body immediately transformed into a ray of light and fell onto that damaged crest.

Just as Shawn disappeared, the meditating William suddenly paled and started crazily sweating. His originally calm expression twisted with pain.

Seconds slowly passed.

After who knew how long, Shawn's howl reverberated once again as he flew out from the damaged crest and re-transformed into his Ghost Wolf shape, his appearance accompanied by whining with some dread mixed in it, "Shit, what kind of inheritance was that, I had to bet my life. I lost out, I lost out, that's no good, you have to make it up with another level 25 mana crystal."

"You are dreaming." Lin Yun used this time to pour mana in the Soul Walker, and before Shawn could say anything, he absorbed him back inside.

"Despicable…"

William opened his eyes just as Shawn's silhouette disappeared.

That pair of eyes seemed no different than usual, but Lin Yun could see the burning flames within the irises.

Lin Yun knew that just like him, William stepped in the High Mage realm after going through that inheritance.

And this was only the beginning.

The soul inheritance from the Merlin Family actually made Shawn suffer some loss, just from that it could be estimated how powerful that inheritance was. It might be even better than he thought. William entering the High Mage realm was only the beginning, as long as he had some time to digest that powerful soul inheritance, he would sooner or later reach a shocking height.

"How was the harvest?" Lin Yun didn't ask about the details of the soul inheritance, he only said a few words as if they were just idly gossiping.

"Huge, huge…" But Lin Yun not asking about the details didn't mean that William wouldn't say anything, "This is not a good place to share, I can make a copy after we return, help me take a look at it then Cousin."

There was no unnatural expression when William said that.

He truly felt that it was normal for him to make a copy for his cousin.

Because William knew that what his cousin gave him had far surpassed what he had earned from the soul inheritance.

Everyone was likely to covet his inheritance, family, brothers, no one could remain calm in front of that soul inheritance, except this younger cousin.

Because he simply didn't need it.

Would a rich man care about the bread in a beggar's hand?

"Sure, no problem." Lin Yun straightforwardly nodded and searched for something in his pocket, "This is for you."

"This is?"

"This is an Alchemic Mana Whirlpool left behind by Vaughn, if you are fortunate enough, it can raise your mana one fold. You should take some time in the next few days and fuse with it. In a few days, we will go to Okland, at that time, you can't be defeated by the rest of the Merlin Family's younger generation."

"…" Although Merlin had said it casually, it didn't stop William from being scared silly and almost dropping the Alchemic Mana Whirlpool.

Being able to raise his mana one fold if he was lucky.

As someone that had studied magic since childhood, how could William not understand the meaning of those words.

It could be said that once such an Alchemic Mana Whirlpool was taken out, even Archmages would crazily fight over it. This was no laughing matter, which mage would be able to resist the temptation of having their mana rised one fold?

"Thank you…"

"Alright, Solomon will instruct you how to fuse with it, I'm going to check on Xiuban." After waving to William, Lin Yun walked to the Draconic Beastman.

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But…

The Draconic Beastman suddenly roared before Lin Yun could approach.

During the fusion process with the Three-Headed Golden Dragon blood, Xiuban's originally green skin was already turning red. Now when the Draconic Beastman roared, that red skin already turned dark red, making him look as if he had been dyed by blood. The aura emitted felt like that of an ancient creature. When his eyes swept over everyone, even Suyass, the highest ranked in the group, felt as if he was stared down by a ferocious creature.

"How unexpected!" After fusing with the blood of the Three-Headed Golden Dragon, Xiuban was filled with power. He felt as if his every move would shatter the earth and split the sky. That unprecedented powerful feeling as well as the fear in everyone's eyes made him forget his previous painful tortures, "Mafa Merlin, you can no longer order this great Xiuban as you wish, hurry up and remove this great Xiuban's contract!"

"You want me to remove the contract?" Lin Yun looked at the Draconic Beastman and found the scene quite funny.

"Of course!"

"Well, 'Great Xiuban', didn't you know that unless a soul dissipated, a soul contract could never be removed…?"

"I…" A Soul Contract was clearly above that Draconic Beastman's knowledge level, but since he already started, he couldn't easily give up. Thinking of this, the Draconic Beastman became unreasonable, "How could I know so much. I don't care, remove the soul contract, otherwise…"

"Otherwise what?" Lin Yun slightly frowned.

The ones who weren't that familiar with Lin Yun might not know, but William who was the most familiar with him couldn't help wiping the sweat from his forehead.

'That idiot Xiuban, he ran out of luck…'

Unfortunately…

The Draconic Beastman hadn't realized that he had already started walking an unfortunate path and kept digging a proverbial hole for himself…

The Draconic Beastman had already sank in his own world, the surge of power overshadowing any reason, leaving only boosted confidence.

"Otherwise I'll let you know how frightening the great Xiuban is!"

After saying this, the Draconic Beastman punched the floor.

That punch was followed by a loud bang.

Countless rock fragments instantly scattered. Xiuban's punch had broken the slabs of Moonstone covering the floor, and Moonstone was as solid as steel…

But just as everyone was shocked by the Draconic Beastman, a thunderous roar echoed in the treasury.

Then…

The leaders of the major forces looked on as a several dozen meters long block of Moonstone weighting at least 500 kg was forcibly pulled out of the ground by the Draconic Beastman.

This scene made everyone dumbstruck.

What kind of strength was that…

'Is… Is he truly a Beastman? Isn't he a Dragon disguised as a Beastman through illusion?'

"Now that you can see the great Xiuban's power, hurry, hurry up and remove my soul contract…"

"You are talking too much." Lin Yun's voice echoed.

Then…

The roar of the Draconic Beastman was abruptly stopped and everyone watched as a huge palm fell down, followed by an intense pressure filling the treasury. At that instant, Solomon and Lys as 9th Rank High Mages paled visibly, and even Suyass as an Archmage felt an unbearable pressure.

The pitiful Draconic Beastman didn't have the time to finish his words before he was almost crushed by that palm falling down like a huge boulder.

Only a rumble could be heard as the whole treasury shook. Dust and pieces of rocks scattered as the earth shook for a while.

This time, the onlookers' eyes were lifeless.

It took no less than a minute for the dust to disperse.

Everyone could clearly see a hole several meters deep and ten meters wide in the sturdy Moonstone, and laying at the bottom of that hole was the bloody Xiuban, still holding that heavy block of Moonstone from his power demonstration. But there was no more arrogance on his face, only blank fear and loss.

"Want me to remove your soul contract? Sure, wait until you can kill a dragon empty-handed." After saying this, Lin Yun gently waved his hand and a thumb-sized flame suddenly appeared within his hand.

That flame seemed dark and faint, as if it would be snuffed out with the smallest bit of wind.

"Sir, Sir, I was wrong, I was wrong, please let me off…" But the Draconic Beastman let out a heart-wrenching cry the moment he saw that flame.

"Haha, aren't you eager to show me how powerful you became?" Lin Yun was unmoved, he let go and allowed the flame to join Xiuban in the hole, "Or do you prefer seeing how powerful I am first?"

"No, no, please no! Sir, let me off, let me off…" The Draconic Beastman sounded even more miserable as snot and tears flowed down. He did his utmost to struggle free and beg for forgiveness, in order to stay out of the path of that flame.

Unfortunately, he couldn't dodge.

An explosion echoed as the flame fell into the hole, before dazzling red flames could be seen soaring…

"Good, everyone, I finished dealing with my personal matters, we can now discuss how to allocate those magic materials." After dealing with Xiuban, Lin Yun patted the dust off of his robe and rejoined with the exploration team to start the allocation of the magic materials they obtained in the treasury.

"…" The Draconic Beastman's mournful cries could be heard from time to time, and they all couldn't help feeling their blood run cold whenever they looked at that young High Mage.

A few courageous ones dared to take a look into the hole…

They saw several dozens of Flame Shackles criss-crossing and firmly trapping the Draconic Beastman, just like a prey in a spider web, he simply couldn't move. The raging flames burned on the Draconic Beastman's body, and even if they were far apart, they could still smell the burned stench.

Even scarier was that besides binding the Draconic Beastman, the flames also turned into Flame Whips and were whipping the Draconic Beastman, periodically forcing out his screams.

"Cousin, isn't that a bit too heavy…" Among everyone here, William knew Lin Yun the best.

As one of Lin Yun's most trusted subordinates, how could William not know that his cousin had high expectations of the Draconic Beastman. That was a future Sword Saint, he was only teaching him a lesson, nothing more.

In fact, others might not know, but William clearly understood that his cousin was powerful enough to make others despair.

Killing a Draconic Beastman was something very easy.

"It's fine…" Lin Yun shook his head with a smile and no longer paid attention to the mournful cries.

William guessed right.

Lin Yun was only punishing the Draconic Beastman.

Because Lin Yun clearly understood that although the soul contract was the strongest contract, it was the one with the weakest binding power. It wasn't enough against a crafty and cowardly Draconic Beastman. Lin Yun was using this lesson to teach the Draconic Beastman that he could rebel if he wanted, but he would have to be prepared to pay the price.

As for killing the Draconic Beastman…

Lin Yun truly didn't want to think about it.

Others might have felt that the power behind that huge hand was shocking, but only Lin Yun knew how shocking it actually was.

It wasn't exaggerated to say that it had the power of a 6th Tier spell.

It belonged to the peak of the High Mage realm.

But such a powerful spell only made the Draconic Beastman bleed a bit.

If this spread, who knew how many mages would despair. What did it mean? A peak High Mage spell only superficially wounded the Draconic Beastman. This was a power comparable to Dragons, a Draconic Beastman able to resist High Mages' spells. If he was fully equipped, wouldn't he become a nightmare to every mage?

Not to mention…

Draconic Beastmen also have the innate ability to cast spells from their bloodline.

Why would Lin Yun kill this kind of subordinate with boundless future?

It didn't matter if he wasn't obedient, he could let Syudos have a chat with him. If the first time didn't work, then there would be the second time, the third time, and so on. How could he become obedient if he wasn't whipped?

Lin Yun kept thinking as he sorted the magic materials.

The harvest this time could be described as amazing. The magic materials in the treasury were dazzling. Even Lin Yun with all his knowledge couldn't help being awed.

Lin Yun was very straightforward and picked about 8 magic materials, all of which were rare magic materials he had heard of before, but never personally saw them.

His eyes went from chest to chest, searching for materials.

Unfortunately, Lin Yun looked for half a day, but didn't find that blue radiance he had been looking for.

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Chapter 263: Ten Thousand Spell Wheel

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

'Looks like luck isn't on my side…' Lin Yun sighed in disappointment after searching for a while.

But thinking about it…

There was no guarantee to find a magic material like Latour Gold Essence in the hands of an Artisan to begin with.

In the past, the Dark Sage acquired a piece and used it in the forging process of the three Heaven Rank puppets.

But if there was no Latour Gold Essence, his plans to refine the Magic Array one more time would have to be postponed.

Lin Yun originally thought that after fusing with the Silver Dragon Blood, his Magic Array would reach near perfection and might overturn Noscent's magic system to become the most powerful Magic Array in history.

But when Lin Yun opened his eyes, he found out that he was only half right…

Indeed, his Magic Array was the most powerful in Noscent history, but it was still far from being perfect.

Lin Yun was the only one who knew about the strange state he found himself in.

Whether it was Suyass, Fran, Lys or Solomon, they all unanimously believed that Lin Yun had already fused his nine Magic Arrays while travelling on the Planar Path and stepped into the High Mage realm.

But Lin Yun knew…

They only guessed half of it.

Lin Yun had indeed entered the High Mage realm, but the nine Magic Arrays had yet to fuse!

No…

It wasn't as simple as not having merged yet.

In fact, even Lin Yun couldn't figure out how this happened, but he ended up with ten Magic Arrays!

This was too strange.

In Noscent's long history, there had never been a mage who formed ten Magic Conducting Runes. It had always been either remaining at nine Magic Conducting Runes or fusing the nine Magic Conducting Runes into one, there was no other way.

But Lin Yun formed a 10th Magic Array.

Naturally, this didn't mean that the 10th Magic Array was superfluous.

It was the opposite, the appearance of the 10th Magic Array pushed Lin Yun to the High Mage realm. And although Lin Yun had yet to fuse his Magic Arrays into one, the qualitative change brought up by the 10th Magic Array was enough to push him to the next realm.

Moreover, the power brought by the 10th Magic Array was shockingly frightening.

It could be seen from the previous scuffle with the Draconic Beastman.

The power Xiuban had just displayed was almost on par with Sasu. Even though previously Lin Yun would also be able to defeat Xiuban, it would have taken much more effort, he most certainly wouldn't have the spare mana to casually form a huge hand to instantly suppress Xiuban.

This was the power brought by the 10th Magic Array.

But…

Its appearance also caused some problems.

All his plans had been destroyed by the appearance of an extra Magic Array.

Lin Yun had originally planned out his magic path, but with the appearance of the 10th Magic Array, Lin Yun had no other choice but to alter it.

The first step of the alteration would be obtaining a very specific Magic Tool.

A Magic Tool Lin Yun had never seen.

In the peak of the magic era, there had been one True Spirit Magic Weapon that shocked the entire Noscent, named the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel. Myriads of spells and runes revolved within that Ten Thousand Spell Wheel. At that time, the master of the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel was Great Astrologian Agalon. That unconventional powerhouse from the Starry Sky College was using that Magic Tool to control the power of a Demiplane.

He was almost unequalled at the time. He kept challenging powerhouses stronger than him and stepping on them with ease. The Ten Thousand Spell Wheel's name quickly spread through Noscent alongside the name of the Great Astrologian.

The greatest feature of the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel was its boundlessly inclusive nature.

This aspect was very similar to the Magic Array.

If Lin Yun wanted to correct his plan, he had to get the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel. It would be able to maximize the power of the Magic Arrays and only then would the Magic Array be considered perfect.

Naturally, there was no need to think about the True Spirit Rank Ten Thousand Spell Wheel for the time being.

Even if Lin Yun found Latour Gold Essence, he would only be able to use it to make a copy of the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel, and the copy would only be Spiritual Rank. Who knew how much time and effort would be needed to raise it to True Spirit Rank.

But Lin Yun wasn't in a hurry…

Displaying the power of the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel would have to wait until he completely controlled the Demiplane. Only after gaining control over the Demiplane could he use the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel to control the plane's power. At that time, with the Magic Arrays as the core and the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel as the control hub, he would be able to surpass Great Astrologian Agalon.

Unfortunately, he couldn't find Latour Gold Essence.

This was a big blow to Lin Yun.

Not being able to find it within Vaughn's collection proved how hard it would be to find some.

It looked like he would have to wait until he reached Okland, the kingdom's most prosperous area, to search for some traces of Latour Gold Essence.

As he thought about it, Lin Yun picked up a few of the more precious magic materials.

"Merlin, there is a puppet here!" Lin Yun was still looking through the magic materials when he got interrupted by Solomon.

"Ah?"

"Come and check it?" Solomon had searched that discarded warehouse with Lin Yun before, so he knew that this newly advanced young High Mage had some knowledge of puppeteering. This was the reason he instantly called Lin Yun when he found that puppet.

"Okay…" Lin Yun slightly hesitated before stopping what he was doing, patting the dust off his robe and walking towards Solomon.

"Look…" Once Lin Yun reached him, Solomon pointed to a puppet on the ground, "This is something Sauss discovered when they were organizing the magic materials."

"This…" Lin Yun bent down and carefully checked the puppet before bitterly smiling.

What Solomon made a fuss about was merely a guarding puppet.

From the control hub's array, it should have been a Lurker model. That model had been mass produced during the 3rd Dynasty and was specialized in assassination and traps. Because of their fast movement speed, they would often ambush from the darkness and were then dubbed as Shadow Assassins.

But as the array skills kept developing, that kind of specialized puppet was gradually replaced by puppets with complex functions, such as the Mage Breaker model which was a very outstanding alternative.

To be honest, the rank of that Shadow Assassin wasn't low.

Lin Yun estimated that it was equivalent to a 5th Rank Expert Swordsman.

But to Lin Yun who had just returned from the Heaven Enlightening Plane and had seen Chromatic Dragons' and Ancient Gods' corpses, this about 5th Rank Expert Swordsman Shadow Assassin was truly nothing worth paying attention to.

"High Mage Solomon, this puppet is known by the name Shadow Assassin. If you like it, I can help you restore it. Its fighting strength should be around that of a 5th Rank Expert Swordsman."

"Good, good, then you should immediately restore it." Solomon didn't reject the offer. A 5th Rank Expert Swordsman was pretty decent, it could be put in the Sage Tower to add to its prestige.

"…" Lin Yun had said those words purely out of politeness, but he hadn't expected Solomon to take him up on the offer and felt trapped for a second.

There was nothing he could do, so he started the restoration…

Fortunately, this Shadow Assassin wasn't too harmed, only the mechanical system suffered some damage. After inspecting it a bit, Lin Yun found out the problem and fished out a quill and Moonlight Ink while proficiently dismantling the Shadow Assassin, preparing to rebuild the mechanical system.

But, halfway through his dismantling, Lin Yun suddenly froze.

"Eh?" After opening the outer shell of the Shadow Assassin, Lin Yun saw a blue light.

'Latour Gold Essence!'

Lin Yun hadn't expected that the Latour Gold Essence he couldn't find in Vaughn's collection would actually appear on the body of a Shadow Assassin puppet with only the strength of a 5th Rank Expert Swordsman!

What kind of circumstances was that…

Lin Yun froze on the spot, unable to say anything for the moment.

This was impossible…

Latour Gold Essence was one of the most important materials needed to create Heaven Rank puppets, how could it be used for a mere Shadow Assassin?

Even an Apprentice Alchemist knew that the value of a hundred Shadow Assassins couldn't compare to a piece of Latour Gold Essence!

'How could Vaughn have made such a critical mistake?'

"Stupid!" As Lin Yun was puzzled, a voice suddenly echoed inside his mind.

"Who is it!" Lin Yun was suddenly startled.

The brain was a true restricted area to a mage, no mage was willing to let others' invade their consciousness, it was more terrifying than death to every mage.

But Lin Yun just found out a strange and unfamiliar voice in his mind.

This discovery made him sweat bullets.

"Fuck, you destroyed my body, yet you still dare to ask who I am?"

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Chapter 264: Settling In

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"Who are you?" Lin Yun asked with a heavy voice while secretly casting a Spirit Defense.

All ten Lin Yun's Magic Arrays were working at all times, ensuring that no foreign mana could enter Lin Yun's mind undetected, thus Lin Yun deducted that the voice he heard in the back of his mind had to be some type of spiritual power, or some type of ghostly power. And Spirit Defense was the bane of these two powers.

But…

"Don't waste your strength, Spirit Defenses are useless against me." That voice once again resonated in Lin Yun's mind after he activated the Spirit Defense.

"…" Lin Yun couldn't help cursing.

This was really a ghost…

How could he encounter such a thing?

This was fatal to a mage, a voice that could talk in one's mind anytime, anywhere… In other words, even if one was to meditate or cast, they might be disturbed by that voice. This was no laughing matter, it meant that a mage would risk suffering from a magical backlash anytime.

"Tell me! Who are you in the end…"

"Did you already forget? You destroyed my body not long ago…" The voice in the back of his mind remained unperturbed, not speaking fast yet not slowly and seemed to be mocking him.

"Destroyed your body…" Lin Yun frowned and thought for a long time. Whose body did he destroy, could it be a ghost from one of those powerful corpses in the Heaven Enlightening Plane?

'No way…'

'If it really was a ghost, the Magic Array would have already alarmed me, so why didn't it react?'

'Hold on…'

'Destroyed body…'

'The Crystal Scales!'

That's right, it was the Crystal Scales, only such a strange existence like a Magic Tool Incarnation could pass through the Magic Arrays and Spirit Defenses undetected, and the Crystal Scales were the only ones who held a grudge against him.

"You are the Crystal Scales!"

"Hahahaha, you are half right…"

"Half?" Lin Yun became perplexed. Identity was something you either guessed right, or wrong. What did half right mean?

"I am indeed the Crystal Scales' Incarnation, but I am not just the Incarnation of the Crystal Scales. In reality, the Crystal Scales are the weakest of my numerous bodies. Do you think you would have been able to suppress me if that hadn't been the case?"

"Doesn't that still mean that you were suppressed by me…?"

"That's why I'm saying that you are stupid!" It seemed that the voice flew into a rage after Lin Yun brought up the past , "You Humans are like that, arrogant and conceited yet ignorant and narrow-minded. You really think you truly suppressed Lord Enderfa? Ridiculous, you think that a mere Magic Array can suppress Lord Enderfa… You had better listen and do what Lord Enderfa wants you to do, otherwise, don't even think of meditating and casting in this life. Magical backlash will be waiting for you…."

"Despicable!" Lin Yun gnashed his teeth. This was too despicable, that guy was threatening him to interfere with his magic path.

Lin Yun couldn't help feeling regretful. If he had known that the Crystal Scales' Incarnation was that weird, he wouldn't have relied on the Magic Array and would have directly looked for a Superior Magic Tool to seal him, what kind of trick could he use then?

'Hold on, Magic Array…?'

Thinking about it, Lin Yun realized something wrong. Why didn't that so called Enderfa Magic Tool Incarnation not say anything in the Heaven Enlightening Plane? After all, that was when he was walking on a tightrope and would have fallen in the abyss with a single misstep. Lin Yun would have most likely agreed to anything if he had been threatened then.

On the contrary, he got threatened now, when he was back to safety…

This wasn't very logical…

Moreover, he had already been feeling very strange when absorbing the Silver Blood in the Planar Path. Over 100,000 runes appeared and he should at most have been able to refine the Magic Array, he shouldn't have been able to undergo such a transformation. After all, he had gained an extra Magic Array out of nowhere, this was completely changing the shape of the Magic Array and toppling Noscent's magic system.

Lin Yun had felt before that his luck was too great.

But now it looked like it wasn't as simple as getting kissed by lady luck.

It was most likely linked to that Magic Tool Incarnation, Enderfa…

Lin Yun frowned as he thought of that, but then suddenly smiled while calmly saying, "I was wondering why there was an extra Magic Array, turns out it was Lord Enderfa's help, thanks a lot…"

"What are you saying? I don't understand." Those simple words made Enderfa's voice shake.

"Haha…" Hearing this, Lin Yun knew that he had guessed right, "But I am very sorry, Lord Enderfa, I'm not the type of person that likes receiving uncalled favors. Thus, I decided to part with the gift and give up on that 10th Magic Array!"

"You… What do you mean!"

"Lord Enderfa, how could you not make a name for yourself for being an altruist. You helped me yet don't allow me to thank you…"

"Why are you saying that I helped you complete that 10th Magic Array? What proof do you have!" Enderfa quickly turned crazy and tried his best to deny this.

"Haha…" Lin Yun sneered.

They were in a deadlock for about ten minutes before the Incarnation called Enderfa finally yielded.

"Okay, okay, so what if I helped you complete your 10th Magic Array, can't I gain pleasure from helping others?"

"Naturally you can gain pleasure from helping others…" Lin Yun kept a smile on his face, "But isn't it too much to linger around even after helping?"

"You… What do you want?"

"I'm not asking much from you, just don't bother me excessively, and don't even think of disturbing me during meditations and spellcasting training. If I truly met a magic backlash, Lord Enderfa might be more nervous than me."

The Incarnation suddenly turned quiet.

Enderfa remained silent, and Lin Yun didn't force him to talk, thus calm reigned in his mind.

Ten minutes later, Enderfa's voice echoed in his mind once again, "Okay, Human, I have to admit that you are right. I am indeed dwelling in this 10th Magic Array, but don't try to threaten me with this, I know you very well, you have an abnormal thirst for power. Haha, rest assured, I wasn't serious earlier, and just as you said, if you encounter a magical backlash, I'll be more nervous than you. This means that on the short term, our interests align. So let's chat about the conditions…"

"Alright." Lin Yun was waiting for this. Now that Enderfa raised the issue, Lin Yun straightforwardly raised his conditions, "I can let you live in the 10th Magic Array, but you must understand that you are only lodging there. I believe you know that the Magic Arrays are the foundation of my magic path, thus, I won't put up with anything targeting my Magic Arrays. I can assure you that otherwise I would rather give up some power and destroy the 10th Magic Array."

"I can pledge not to do anything that would threaten your Magic Arrays…" Enderfa straightforwardly agreed before muttering, disheartened, "In fact, I can't do anything against that damn Magic Array, I have never seen such a complicated Magic Conducting Rune, I truly don't know how you completed it…"

"This is something you don't need to know. The first condition has been settled, now, the second…"

"Hey, don't go too far!"

"The first condition is only an advice to you, now, this condition is a true condition. Did you plan to eat and live for free? Did you think I don't know that apart from inhabiting the 10th Magic Array, you are also taking advantage of the mana I absorb? If you had only been lodging and didn't affect my meditation efficiency, I wouldn't have bothered with you. How is it, do you agree to a condition or not?"

"Okay okay, say it…"

"The second condition is actually very simple…" As he spoke, Lin Yun pointed to the Shadow Assassin before him, "The mechanical system of that Shadow Assassin is using Latour Gold Essence. I'll later use this Latour Gold Essence to make a Magic Tool. At that time, I'll transfer you into that Magic Tool and let you become the new Magic Tool Incarnation. That way you'll have a new body. But in exchange, you need to serve me for a hundred years…"

"One hundred years?" Hearing this time frame, Enderfa clearly sighed in relief, "That's fine, a hundred years it is!"

Lin Yun wasn't surprised.

Magic Tool Incarnations had almost endless lifespans, one hundred years would be a short moment to them. Using such a short time to get new body was very advantageous to Enderfa.

Naturally, Lin Yun wouldn't suffer either.

One hundred years later, he would most likely already have the Book of Death under control as well as having collected the 13 Augments. As long as he had the Book of Death, would he need other Magic Tools?

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Lin Yun didn't further provoke Enderfa after the latter agreed to the two conditions.

Because Lin Yun felt that this Enderfa was the most evil Incarnation among Incarnations. It was for the best if they could peacefully coexist, which would be the best conclusion. It didn't feel as if he was gaining much, but if he pushed Enderfa too far, they would end up in a life and death struggle, and that wouldn't benefit anyone…

"Oh, right, Lord Enderfa, you just said that I was stupid?"

"That… That was just a joke, hahahaha…"

Enderfa's laughter dragged on for a while, but after a few moments he found out that the other side remained silent, and thus his laugh slowly petered out.

Lin Yun also did not press him and waited for Enderfa to be done laughing. "Explain…"

"Fuck…" Enderfa cursed before talking unwillingly. "I said you were stupid because you think that the creator of this puppet was Vaughn…"

"Ah?" Lin Yun's eyes shone when he heard that. "So you mean to say that someone else created this puppet?"

"Well, there is no harm in telling you, you would learn of this sooner or later…" After sighing, Enderfa helplessly said, "I believe you should know the reason for Vaughn's rapid rise. It was because he obtained the inheritance of a formidable alchemist…"

"You are talking about the Dark Sage?"

"Indeed, the Dark Sage. But Vaughn only obtained a small part of the Dark Sage's legacy. To be more precise, it was three Heaven Rank puppets…"

"Sure enough…" Hearing this, Lin Yun nodded in understanding.

In fact, many people during the 3rd Dynasty had conjectured that Vaughn had obtained the Dark Sage's three Heaven Rank puppets, but the conjectures on the subject were only baseless theories. There had been no evidence, even after Vaughn's death. Those three Heaven Rank puppets never appeared during his life.

Up until now, when Enderfa affirmed that conjecture.

"Later, Vaughn discovered some secret in the Four Seasons Canyon, and don't even ask what that secret was, because even I am not too sure about it. I only know that after Vaughn found that secret, he set up a large array around the Four Seasons Canyon and built an alchemy laboratory here. Once he was done, Vaughn left the Four Seasons Canyon and only returned once, years later…"

"When exactly?"

"Around ten years before his self-exile…"

"Eh…"

Lin Yun worked out the time frame. Vaughn's self-exile to Crystal Island was twenty years before his death. In other words, he had returned to this laboratory thirty years before he died. At that time, Vaughn already stood at the peak of Noscent as the Imperial Chief Alchemist, the glorious last Artisan.

"When Vaughn came back, he brought back the three Heaven Rank Puppets and handed over the control of the laboratory to them, and ten years later he left again. He went to Crystal Island and spent the last twenty years of his life there."

"What then?"

"And then… Haha, then these three puppets followed Vaughn's will and took charge of the laboratory, keeping it operating. Up until one night, five hundred years ago, when one Heaven Rank puppet suddenly lost control and started crazily destroying everything in the laboratory…"

"It went crazy?"

"Yes, it did, you would never imagine how frightening an uncontrolled puppet could be. The entire laboratory was almost destroyed by that puppet, and what you see now are only the ruins left behind after the disaster. The laboratory during its peak far surpassed what you could imagine…"

"How could the puppet go out of control like that…" Lin Yun pondered over it but couldn't understand. Puppets strictly followed the orders from their control runes, so how could that one go crazy out of the blue?

"How could I know? My body at the time was only a Spiritual Magic Tool Set, I couldn't even run when faced with that Heaven Rank disaster, so how could I still have the courage to search for the truth? In any case, when that Heaven Rank puppet went crazy and destroyed everything, it also climbed to the highest floor of the stone tower. It met the other two Heaven Rank Puppets and a battle ensued, leaving the top floor of the stone tower in ruins. You simply can't imagine how scary that battle was…"

"Eh?"

"You went to the top floor, you should remember that very long path with empty cages on the sides, right? Well the truth is that those cages held magic beasts from various planes. The weakest was around level 28, while some of the stronger ones reached level 38, and they were far more numerous than you could have ever guessed. I can still remember the dark tide when the two Heaven Rank Puppets released them. At that time, they almost all died in that world-shaking fight, and less than one in a thousand might have managed to escape."

"I see…" Lin Yun understood when he heard this.

Those empty cages had been left behind after those magic beasts…

Everything actually made sense. The magic beasts that the joint exploration team encountered were most likely part of the survivors or the descendants they left behind.

Lin Yun couldn't help sweating profusely.

Just that fragment of the initial number of magic beasts released back then nearly wiped out the exploration team. Their group wouldn't even have had the chance to put up a fight if they'd been there when all the magic beasts had just been released.

"In the end, that crazy Heaven Rank puppet lost. All its systems were dismantled by its companions before being thrown to the discarded storehouse down there."

"But what does it have to do with me being stupid?"

"After the two puppets dismantled the crazed one, they also sank into madness and started attacking each other. They each controlled one part of the laboratory and frantically made their own armies to engage the other in a fierce melee. The Shadow Assassin in front of you was made by one of them…"

"No way.." Lin Yun couldn't help feeling stunned when he heard this. The two Heaven Rank Puppets had a large amount of Vaughn's resources at their disposal and produced a steady flow of puppets as they kept fighting each other and sending their armies into the fray.

This solved some of the questions on Lin Yun's mind…

Such as why there were so many things in this laboratory that didn't seem to have been made by Vaughn, or the Void Python Maze, or those few Mage Breakers patrolling the botanical garden, or those flying puppets guarding the stone tower. It turned out that these had all been created by the two crazy puppets.

As he thought of this, Lin Yun curiously asked, "What happened afterwards?"

"They fought for two or three centuries before the resources were exhausted. They both entered the top floor and have never been seen since…"

"Never been seen since…" Hearing this, Lin Yun's expression changed. "Don't tell me… In that mountain range…"

"I'm not too sure about this…" After saying this, Enderfa's voice filled with impatience. "Okay, okay, I already explained, now you should hurry up and dismantle that Shadow Assassin and take the Latour Gold Essence. Let me know when you make that Magic Tool…"

This was followed by silence. No matter how much Lin Yun called out to him, no voice echoed in his mind.

'Okay, let's pack everything and return…' After getting no response, Lin Yun could only scratch his head before dismantling the Shadow Assassin and taking the essence from within.

To Lin Yun's surprise, the piece of Latour Gold Essence was the size of a fist…

"Such a waste…" Lin Yun was dumbstruck. A fist-sized piece of Latour Gold Essence had been used for the mechanical system of a mere Shadow Assassin… Few people could be more wasteful than these two Heaven Rank Puppets.

Let alone a fist-sized piece…

Just a thumb-sized piece of Latour Gold Essence would have its price measured in spirit mana crystals… Yet these two Heaven Rank Puppets used it for creating Shadow Assassins…

But it could be explained. The war between the two Heaven Rank Puppets was fierce, and it reached a point where the resources within the laboratory were nearly exhausted, forcing them to use materials like Latour Gold Essence on Shadow Assassins. It must have reached a desperate level then.

If the joint exploration team had entered the laboratory a few hundred years ago, their harvest would have been a hundred times better.

Naturally, that was with the premise that they weren't drawn into the fight with the Heaven Rank Puppets.

The allocation of magic materials was already finishing when Lin Yun was done extracting the Latour Gold Essence. This time, every force that took part in the joint exploration team had had a satisfying harvest, including Suyass and Fran.

Naturally, the Gilded Rose was the one with the greatest harvest.

Loot priority was truly too great.

Besides the Latour Gold Essence and the numerous rare magic materials, the rest of the magic materials allocated to the Gilded Rose could be used to support their business for a few years.

Moreover, Lin Yun still had something planned.

The major forces had gotten their hands on so many magic materials, but no more than three of them could actually use these.

Discussing a good deal with them would be for the best.

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Lin Yun did just that.

Half a month later, the joint exploration team returned to Thousand Sails City. Waiting for them were three days and three nights of celebration. This time, the joint exploration team could be said to have had an unprecedented success. The harvest they earned from Vaughn's laboratory far surpassed what they had imagined, and for a while, Thousand Sails City soaked in happiness.

After their celebration was over, Lin Yun went from house to house to negotiate.

But Lin Yun hadn't foreseen that the negotiation would be extraordinarily smooth. All eight major forces participating in the joint exploration were willing to trade their magic materials.

This included even the Alchemist Guild and the Monchi Family.

After all, the Alchemist Guild was the greatest alchemy force of Thousand Sails City. Without the abnormal Lin Yun, the Alchemist Guild's talents and techniques were higher than the Gilded Rose by a bit. It normally would be unthinkable for them to trade away that batch of magic materials.

There was also the Twin Moons Splendor of the Monchi Family, that was the alchemy store second only to Lin Yun's Gilded Rose. Even if they had already been crushed by the Gilded Rose, there was still some business. Besides, the relationship between the Monchi Family and the Flashing Gold chamber of commerce wasn't particularly good. The shipwreck of Locke Merlin couldn't avoid being linked to the Monchi Family.

Because of this, Lin Yun didn't even think of negotiating with them.

He had planned to go to the few forces he had a good relationship with, such as the Silver Moon Mercenary Group, the Black Horn Auction House, the Sage Tower, the Viper Nest, and even the Flash Arrow Mercenary Group. He hadn't planned on looking for the Monchi Family or the Alchemist Guild.

As a result…

Lin Yun didn't have to look for them as they directly came to him.

On the afternoon of the same day Lin Yun conducted his trade negotiations, Lys ran to the Gilded Rose.

He slammed a table and asked what the Gilded Rose was doing and if they were looking down on the Alchemist Guild. It took Lin Yun coming out and personally apologizing before Lys was finally appeased. They discussed for a while and the materials of the Alchemist Guild were also given to the Gilded Rose, and they didn't obtain golds or items in exchange, but rather, they deepened their partnership.

And just as Lys left, Monchi came over with his son.

Naturally, Monchi brought his eldest son, Ryan. He had already locked Mason in and had someone escorting him even to the bathroom.

Nothing could be done about it, Monchi was afraid.

Monchi seemed to have aged ten years after his trip to the Four Seasons Canyon. His meticulous hair had already started turning white. Monchi was in the prime of his life, yet he could already pass off as someone with one foot in the grave. Monchi had been getting nightmares every night ever since they returned from the Four Seasons Canyon, he kept dreaming of the young High Mage coming to deal with him, dreams of the Monchi Family collapsing overnight, of his sons dying violently.

It wasn't that Monchi was a coward…

The trip to the Four Seasons Canyon had left too big an impact on Monchi.

Fran, a 5th Rank High Mage, looked like a child when facing the then 9th Rank Great Mage Lin Yun, he couldn't even retaliate and ended up with his head in the dirt, being stomped on. That scene alone made Monchi feel cold feet.

And then, something even more shocking happened. Two people of the Mercury Tower came one after the other, one of them was Archmage Suyass, the other was the future master of the Mercury Tower, Karon.

At the time, Monchi thought Mafa Merlin would greatly suffer.

And to be fair, the situation was going in that direction at first as Suyass had a serious conflict with Mafa Merlin and even burnt Solomon. It looked as if a battle was about to start, before Karon appeared.

Monchi didn't know what Karon told Suyass, he only witnessed Suyass taking the initiative to admit defeat and harm his own arm.

Monchi had been stunned.

At that time, Monchi felt that troubles would soon appear for the Monchi Family.

However…

Monchi never imagined that this was just the beginning.

Monchi couldn't follow the joint exploration team in the underground laboratory himself, but that didn't mean that Monchi wouldn't learn of what had happened.

Elder Hansen saw everything with his own eyes and conveyed everything to Monchi after returning, drenching Monchi's shirt in cold sweat.

At the top floor of the stone tower, Mafa Merlin instantly killed an Alpha Thunderbird close to level 40 while they were besieged by a flock of Thunderbirds. Then, in the treasure trove filled with magic materials, he defeated Fran who had reached Archmage realm, and even Suyass, an Archmage who had been famous for a long time, had no other choice but to lower himself in front of Mafa Merlin.

Everything felt like a nightmare to Monchi.

He would have a stomach ache whenever Mafa Merlin's name was mentioned.

If he had realized Mafa Merlin's potential earlier and killed him while he was still a Magic Apprentice, would the Monchi Family be in such a crisis?

If he hadn't followed Solan's instructions and didn't participate in Locke Merlin's shipwreck as well as having Fario try to take the house left behind by Locke Merlin, if he hadn't forged enmity with Merlin in the Black Horn Auction, if he hadn't ignored Mason provoking Merlin time and time again…

If only…

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Mafa Merlin was too influential. He sat on the extremely wealthy Gilded Rose and his strength was already unfathomable. Elder Hansen didn't even dare to guess what realm Mafa Merlin had reached, he only sighed and said that the most powerful mage of Thousand Sails City was no longer Solomon…

And that was without mentioning the fact that all the major forces of Thousand Sails City were currying favor with the Gilded Rose. If Mafa Merlin said a word, those forces that were usually polite with the Monchi Family might immediately bare their fangs towards them without hesitation.

Monchi didn't know what to think now…

He remained scared and on edge ever since he returned from the Four Seasons Canyon, afraid of making a mistake that would attract the attention of that young High Mage on himself.

This kind of life was a torture.

Up until Monchi heard that the Gilded Rose's Mafa Merlin personally went from house to house to negotiate with every major force, hoping they could let the Gilded Rose work on that batch of materials while giving generous conditions in exchange.

Monchi couldn't sit still anymore.

Because Mafa Merlin hadn't looked for the Monchi Family.

Monchi wouldn't have cared before and would have even preferred Mafa Merlin not looking for them.

But Monchi couldn't help being afraid at such a sensitive time.

What was the Gilded Rose's goal?

Looking for all the forces that participated in the joint exploration team, but not for the Monchi Family. Did this mean that Mafa Merlin determined he gained enough influence and could start retaliating against the Monchi Family?

Monchi became alarmed when he thought of such a possibility. He no longer cared about his reputation and immediately called Ryan. The father and son pair hurried to Victorious Return Street.

Only a week after returning from the Four Seasons Canyon, a pale and exhausted Monchi entered the Gilded Rose. Even Lin Yun took some time to recognize him when he saw him.

"Hello, Leader Monchi." Seeing Monchi going in, Lin Yun froze before plastering a smile on his face.

'Perfect timing.'

Lin Yun originally wanted to pay a visit to the Monchi Family before leaving Thousand Sails City to have a discussion with Monchi himself.

He needed to discuss the Twin Moons Splendor's future development and Locke Merlin's shipwreck. Lin Yun already decided that if Monchi was unwilling to cooperate, he would have no other choice but to eliminate the Monchi Family before leaving Thousand Sails City.

Lin Yun wouldn't have to spend a lot of effort eliminating a Monchi Family or two.

Lin Yun didn't even need to do the job himself. As long as he asks, quite a few major forces of Thousand Sails City would be willing to make the effort in his stead.

The only thing he needed to be concerned about was that Solan from the Black Tower.

But before Lin Yun could carry out his plan, Monchi came to his door on his own.

"High Mage Merlin…" Monchi's body seemed a lot worse. He was clearly stooping as he walked, his grizzled hair and anxious gaze clearly displaying that Monchi wasn't in a good state mentally.

"Leader Monchi, is there a problem?"

"I heard that a few of the major forces that explored the Four Seasons Canyon let the Gilded Rose process their magic materials. I wonder if our Monchi Family could have this honor? Being able to cooperate with the Gilded Rose is our Monchi Family's wish. With such a good opportunity, how could our Monchi Family miss it…"

"Eh?" Lin Yun wasn't very surprised by Monchi's strange wording, six other major forces had given their magic materials to the Gilded Rose, how could the Monchi Family not feel that they have been isolated. They only had one path left, but Lin Yun never expected Monchi to lower himself like that.

'It looks like this trip left an impact on Monchi.'

"Haha, so it was like this, I thought too much. I originally thought that with your Twin Moons Splendor, the Monchi Family required a lot of magic materials. I didn't expect the Monchi Family to have so much magic materials stored that even with the Twin Moon Splendor's consumption, you can still take some out to cooperate with the Gilded Rose. Worthy of a millennial family, your foundations are so deep that they can't even compare to ordinary forces…"

"Haha…" Monchi's mouth twitched as he squeezed a stiff smile while feeling dead inside.

That's right, Twin Moons Splendor wasn't short on magic materials.

But due to what?

This wasn't because of the Monchi Family's stored magic materials, nor was it because the Monchi Family was a Millennial clan with deep heritage, it was purely because the Gilded Rose monopolized the market.

'You are talking shit, who doesn't know that the Gilded Rose is a big tumor among the alchemy stores in Thousand Sails City. The monthly alchemy exhibition is already forcing the other alchemy stores to kneel.'

'Every exhibition would have newer and better items. The market would be squeezed once again. The Gilded Rose's alchemy items already stretched across all alchemy domains, from potions to equipments, from puppets to arrays, which domain doesn't bear the shadow of your Gilded Rose? You even offer after sale maintenance and technical support. This undisguised monopoly is a hundred times worse than Locke Merlin!'

'The current Twin Moons Splendor can only get the scraps the Gilded Rose doesn't want. It would be a wonder if their magic materials didn't accumulate after half a year.'

Naturally, Monchi wouldn't say those words aloud.

He was inwardly cursing the Merlins while displaying a smile, "High Mage Merlin, the Monchi Family truly want to cooperate with the Gilded Rose in good faith, but I don't know if we will get this opportunity…"

"Leader Monchi, you speak like an outsider. Whether it's the Monchi Family or the Gilded Rose, they are both forces native to Thousand Sails City. Helping each other is an obvious action, there is naturally no problem in cooperating…"

Lin Yun said that with a smile, which made Monchi's eyes regain their luster, eased up his brows and straightened his back. He was about to say a few kind words, when he was thrown off guard by Lin Yun's smile disappearing, "But it is very unfortunate…"

"Eh?" This sudden change almost gave Monchi a heart attack. At this time, Monchi couldn't even keep his smile as his filled with impatience, "What is it, High Mage Merlin?"

"I can't do anything about it, Leader Monchi. You are also a member of the joint exploration team, so you should know how great was the harvest of the Four Seasons Canyon, the eight major forces gained quite a bit of magic materials, and they are all piled up here. I already used all of the Gilded Rose's funds, and I am still owing a large sum. I'm not going to hide it from you, I had to borrow from Sauss with high-interest."

"…" Monchi thought before inwardly spitting, 'You took a high-interest loan from Sauss? He would run as if his life depended on it to give you golds as long as you stood in front of the Poison Fog Canyon.'

But Monchi also understood the young High Mage's words. It wasn't that cooperating was impossible, it just meant that some conditions were needed.

Monchi felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

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Chapter 267: Patriarch Position

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

How could a harsh condition compare to the ruin of the Monchi Family? Monchi came with the intention of giving all their magic materials to the Gilded Rose. As long as Mafa Merlin took them, he wouldn't bother the Monchi Family.

This was an unspoken rule between the major powers. It was the same for everyone, even if Mafa Merlin overtook Solomon as the strongest mage of Thousand Sails City.

Otherwise, which force would dare to have dealings with the Gilded Rose?

"High Mage Merlin, the Monchi Family is very sincere about this cooperation. We can take our time to discuss the payment if you are in a bind. It is just as High Mage Merlin said, we are forces from Thousand Sails City, we should help each other. I think that after this collaboration, the Monchi Family and the Gilded Rose will have many opportunities to cooperate…"

"This is actually…" Lin Yun nodded. "Since Leader Monchi said so, it would be disrespectful to decline. When are the magic materials going to be delivered?"

"Tomorrow morning." To be honest, the young High Mage's question was quite rude, as this wasn't how a cooperative partner would communicate. If it had been someone else, Monchi would have simply turned and left without saying a word at that point.

Unfortunately, this wasn't just anyone…

Monchi couldn't just leave, and on the contrary, he had to plaster a smile on his face while saying "I wish us happy cooperation" and such platitudes while instructing Ryan to hurriedly gather the magic materials.

"Now that our business is over, I need to consult Leader Monchi about a personal matter, do you have time to talk privately?"

"Of… Of course." Monchi nearly staggered when he heard Lin Yun.

'Personal matter…'

Monchi knew that the upcoming discussion was the most crucial. If he did badly, he wouldn't be the only one ruined… The entire Monchi Family might be buried with him.

"Let's go to the reception room, it's quieter there…"

The two of them casually grabbed some chairs and sat in the reception room, not sitting in the manner of a host facing a guest, because they both knew that this wasn't a discussion which required such etiquette.

"Tell me how much you participated in causing the shipwreck."

When Lin Yun talked this time, he no longer acted polite. He looked sharply at Monchi, his mana remaining stable. Often, keeping one's mana perfectly stable like this was most oppressive.

"I…" Monchi, who had been accustomed to pressure, felt nervous for some reason. He opened his mouth, but his throat felt abnormally dry, and thus, he had to force himself to swallow before he could say, "I didn't participate…"

"Haha…"

"Really, I truly didn't participate…" When Lin Yun's sneer fell into his ear, Monchi got flustered, yet he didn't consider changing his words as he eagerly explained, "I truly have nothing to do with your father's shipwreck…"

"Eh?" Lin Yun frowned. Monchi's eager expression didn't seem to lie. 'Did I guess wrong?'

"High Mage Merlin, I really didn't participate. Think about it, your father perished in the middle of the vast sea. Archmages might not necessarily come back from that place, it is a forbidden region. Besides your father's fleet, no fleet can sail to that place in the eastern part of the kingdom. Even if the Monchi Family wanted to harm your father, they didn't have the ability to do so then…"

"You mean, my father's shipwreck is truly unrelated to you?"

"In fact, it's not strange for High Mage Merlin to be suspicious. The Monchi Family was indeed the rival of the Flashing Gold chamber of commerce, and I did think of assassinating your father many times, but I was scared of making too much noise. Also, there was someone at your father's side that even Solan himself had no confidence in beating…"

"Ah?" Lin Yun frowned as he heard this. Lin Yun knew of Solan. He was Monchi's younger brother and the youngest 9th Rank High Mage of the Black Tower. He entered the Dark Azure Plane the previous year in order to push towards the Archmage realm. Lin Yun was pretty sure that he should be coming out soon.

It was said that Monchi's younger brother was the most outstanding genius in the past few hundred years. He accomplished the feat of defeating an Archmage as a 9th Rank High Mage and managed to enter the Black Tower Council at such a young age. It was also said that he was a strong contender for the seat of the next Chairman.

Lin Yun always felt that purely in terms of power, Solan had been unequalled in the former Thousand Sails City. Both Solomon and Lys weren't Solan's opponents.

But from what Monchi said…

Locke had someone at his side that could compete with Solan.

This news was a bit surprising.

'To be able to contend with Solan… Was it an Archmage?'

"Are you sure?" Lin Yun looked suspiciously at Monchi.

"Yes, I heard it from Solan himself."

Lin Yun nodded, but didn't say anything.

But his mind was filled with questions. When he took over Mafa Merlin's body, he had thought that Locke Merlin had been an ordinary merchant and that money was the only thing he had going for himself.

But then, one matter after the other made Lin Yun feel that Locke Merlin wasn't as simple as he seemed on the surface.

First was the Planar Path leading to the Bone Plane…

The array to open the Planar Path had clearly been set up by a Master Alchemist. Inviting a Master Alchemist wasn't that easy as a rich businessman…

There was also his identity as a member of the Merlin Family, as well as this newly mentioned powerhouse protecting Locke that was strong enough to contend with Solan.

As he mulled it over, Lin Yun was suddenly full of curiosity towards Locke Merlin.

But after carefully searching Mafa Merlin's memory, Lin Yun found out that Mafa Merlin didn't know much about his father.

In Mafa Merlin's childhood memories, there were very few things related to Locke Merlin. He might spend ten days to half a month without seeing him. When Mafa became older, Locke directly left him at Seth's place and only dropped by once a year, not staying long every time. It felt as if Locke Merlin thought that Mafa only needed the best learning conditions and the best living conditions… and nothing else.

Mafa Merlin didn't even know who was at his father's side…

He only faintly remembered that six or seven people would follow Locke Merlin whenever he wanted to go out, but he simply didn't know who they were.

'Is the powerhouse Monchi mentioned one of them?'

"Thus, High Mage Merlin, with such a person at Locke Merlin's side, I wouldn't be able to harm him even if I wanted to, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes…" Lin Yun nodded, no longer focusing on that question. "Then what about the matter with Fario?"

"Fario…" Monchi hesitated a bit before answering, "Fario was indeed sent by me. I believe High Mage Merlin already knows that it was for the house left behind by Locke Merlin."

"How much do you know about the secret of that house?"

"I don't know anything. Solan only told me to not spare any efforts to get it so I sent Fario…"

"Solan again?"

"Yes, a year ago, Solan secretly returned to Thousand Sails City and told me that Locke Merlin would soon have an accident and that the house would become ownerless. I was tasked to get the house at all costs, and in exchange, the Black Tower would help me take over the business of the Flashing Gold chamber of commerce and would spend a lot of effort to nurture Ryan…"

"Hold on…" There was certainly something wrong about that. "You are saying that Solan already knew that my father would have an accident?"

"Yes, Solan indeed said so, but I'm not too sure as to how Solan learnt about it…"

"Good, Solan…" Lin Yun nodded. He didn't ask anything else and only kept Solan in mind. In any case, he would soon leave for Okland. He would have plenty of time to see Solan there.

While the two were discussing, Ryan already finished gathering the magic materials and silently entered the reception room before whispering a few sentences in Monchi's ear.

"Okay, I understand." Monchi nodded and slowly stood up. "High Mage Merlin, the magic materials are ready, you can get someone to receive them tomorrow morning. As for your father's shipwreck, I told you all I knew… I hope that High Mage Merlin can be magnanimous…"

"Maybe, but I have a condition."

"Go ahead, High Mage Merlin."

"The Patriarch position of the Monchi Family has to be inherited by Mason."

"…" Monchi's expression suddenly became quite unpleasant.

Monchi had two sons. Who didn't know of Mason's behavior? Monchi sometimes even wondered if Mason was really his own child. Why else would he be so different from his brother, Ryan?

Mason inheriting the Monchi Family…

Monchi didn't even think this was possible.

He was almost certain that if this happened, the Monchi Family would fall within ten years.

Monchi had already made arrangements for Mason's future. Once his health deteriorated, Monchi would have Mason leave Thousand Sails City for a small, remote town. By then, even if Mason hadn't changed at all, he would still be able to spend the rest of his life by relying on his identity as a Mage and the wealth left for him.

But this plan had been disrupted…

Monchi felt himself aging. He glanced at the smiling young High Mage before his eyes and felt that he was a lot more terrifying than his father.

Although Locke Merlin was very smart and capable, he would never come up with such a devious plan.

Making sure that the Monchi Family fell into Mason's hands…

'What do I do…'

"Mafa Merlin, the succession of the Monchi Family isn't something you can interfere with!" While Monchi was hesitating, the silent Ryan suddenly voiced his objection.

"Ryan…" Monchi was suddenly frightened, but he was too late to stop him. A loud sound echoed beside his ear before he could call his name.

Lin Yun hadn't even looked at him. He had only raised his hand, sending a Flame Burst over.

Only an explosion was heard, and Ryan didn't even have the time to scream before being sent flying out of the reception room by the blazing flames.

"Do you want to try extracting my Flame Burst this time?" Lin Yun didn't even look at Ryan as he was blasted out like a rag doll. His eyes were fixed onto the pale Monchi's. "How about it, Leader Monchi, do you like my offer?"

"I…" This was the first time Monchi had seen the young High Mage act aggressively ever since he came back from the Four Seasons Canyon. Even Monchi, with his limited experience with magic, could see how powerful that spell had been. Even Ryan, who he was extremely proud of, was no more than an ant when facing that young High Mage.

But…

Monchi was even more scared of Lin Yun's words.

Spell Extraction…

Monchi clearly remembered… When Mason ended up in a bad state after looking for trouble at the Gilded Rose, Ryan had people carry Mason back before he asked Lin Yun to extract his Blood Vine Spell.

This was something that had happened about a year ago.

But that young High Mage clearly still remembered it and got back at him with a Flame Burst.

This kind of vengeful attitude really drew out one's fear.

Monchi thought that if he didn't agree with the other side's conditions, even if he hadn't participated in Locke Merlin's shipwreck, just knowing about it and not telling would be enough for the young High Mage to keep the Monchi Family in his mind…

Moreover…

Only Monchi himself knew that he wasn't as innocent as he let Lin Yun believe when it came to Locke Merlin's shipwreck.

"Okay, High Mage Merlin, I can give the patriarch position to Mason within three years." Although the other side didn't stipulate a time period, Monchi was very tactful and didn't try to say that it would be after his death.

Monchi believed that he would end up dying strangely if he said so.

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Chapter 268: Successor

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

After sending off Monchi and Ryan, Lin Yun returned to his alchemy laboratory. The harvest from the Four Seasons Canyon was too amazing. He had gotten eight kinds of rare magic materials, each of them being a rare treasure that couldn't be found not just in Thousand Sails City, but even in the core of the kingdom, Okland. They might only show up during large auctions.

Especially the Appeasing Soulsong Gem. This was a treasure that would only appear once in a hundred years. This Appeasing Soulsong Gem was dark red, the size of a thumb, and would sparkle with a dazzling light when put under the sun. More importantly, the gem would start singing hymns once activated with mana!

The Appeasing Soulsong Gem's songs had the power to put souls to rest, making it the nemesis of all ghostly lifeforms. If Lin Yun had been in possession of the Appeasing Soulsong Gem when he crossed the River of Ten Thousand Ghosts, over 30% of the Ghosts would have evaporated from the sound of the hymns.

But handling the Appeasing Soulsong Gem was very difficult. It was different from other gems, as it couldn't be cut or carved. Every Appeasing Soulsong Gem was a whole, and if damaged, the gem's hymn would no longer be complete.

In fact, it would still be fine if that were all.

The problem was that even if the Appeasing Soulsong Gem's hymn could put souls to rest, it didn't inherently have the power to suppress evil. It had to be enchanted so that an array to enhance power could be added. Only with this could the Appeasing Soulsong Gem become a true Magic Tool.

This meant that the alchemists had to be very careful with the enchantment. They couldn't get any scratches on the gem, which was very difficult. Gems were most vulnerable during enchanting.

Lin Yun spent a week crafting that Appeasing Soulsong Gem into a pendant, replacing the Lava Dominator's spot.

Lin Yun spent a week in his laboratory just taking care of the Appeasing Soulsong Gem… Over twenty days had passed since his return from the Four Seasons Canyon, yet Lin Yun only did a third of the work. Apart from the Appeasing Soulsong Gem, the other rare magic materials only underwent a simple processing. It would take him a lot more time if he wanted to make the best use of them.

And there was also the Latour Gold Essence.

Latour Gold Essence's boundless inclusive nature was a characteristic people usually yearned for, but it was too disgusting when it came to enchanting. Lin Yun used a spirit mana crystal to pour mana into it, but the effects were minimal. After twenty days, the enchanting of the Latour Gold Essence was only halfway done.

And on top of that, Lin Yun still had to deal with the Parasitic Tree and the Obsidian Flower, and also prepare the compound to cure Solomon's collapsed Mana Whirlpool. He also had to find ways to repair the Heaven Rank Puppet, and also…

He had too many things to take care of.

He hadn't had much free time during these twenty days.

But nothing could be done about it, as there were too many things waiting for Lin Yun.

And all of them were very important.

In contrast, what did the Monchi Family even count as?

At first, Lin Yun wanted to retaliate against the Monchi Family on behalf of Mafa Merlin. He felt that since he was occupying this body, he should do some things for him, such as finding the truth about Locke Merlin's shipwreck.

At first, Lin Yun truly thought that the Monchi Family had plotted against Locke Merlin in order to get a monopoly over the market.

But as time passed, Lin Yun gradually adapted to the era and gained greater understanding of Thousand Sails City's major forces, as well as Locke Merlin. Lin Yun came to the conclusion that the Monchi Family most likely didn't have the ability to do so.

Locke Merlin was a lot more powerful than everyone else.

The Bone Plane's Planar Path, the identity as a descendant of the Merlin Family, as well as the powerhouse that could contend with Solan…

In others' eyes, Solomon was the number one High Mage, Lys was the number one Alchemist, and the Monchi Family was the number one in terms of wealth. But few people knew that Locke Merlin, who started from nothing, already had enough power to shake Thousand Sails City's very foundations, and the original Mafa Merlin was completely unaware.

Using a shipwreck to engulf Locke Merlin wasn't something the Monchin Family could pull off, at least on their own. Not to mention the Monchi Family, even Solan didn't have that ability.

Naturally, how could Lin Yun not know that the Monchi Family had played a part in that shipwreck? He was obviously far from being as innocent as he claimed.

He needed someone to feed him information.

In any case, he couldn't get any more information from Monchi. It would have to wait until he reached Okland and met with the rare genius Solan if he wanted to find the truth about the shipwreck.

As for the Monchi Family…

He would make Monchi give the Patriarch position to Mason.

This way of handling things was very sinister.

Everyone in Thousand Sails City knew what kind of person Mason was. With him in power, this millennial Family would decline in a decade, and it would take them decades or even centuries to recover from it…

Of course, Lin Yun didn't take this sinister approach just to retaliate against the Monchi Family. He did this because he was taking the Gilded Rose into consideration.

The Gilded Rose could be said to be the sun in Thousand Sails City, but it lacked the time to stock up, and with only himself doing this stocking, he couldn't compare with the other peak forces. The Gilded Rose was only relying on his amazing personal performance to keep up with the crazy momentum of its expansion, but the lack of time to build up stock was a huge weakness, and it was bound to burst at some point.

At that time, the Gilded Rose would have no choice but to cease its expansion and slowly build proper foundations.

Lin Yun didn't want to see the Monchi Family suddenly rise up while the Gilded Rose stopped expanding.

Thus, Lin Yun took advantage of the Monchi Family yielding to put Mason at the head of the Monchi Family.

He also gave a Flame Burst as a warning to Ryan on the side.

That Flame Burst was to tell Ryan that he had better not go against his arrangements. Otherwise, he might not just stop at a Flame Burst next time.

Whenever Lin Yun worked in the laboratory, he only let Faleau come in as a helper. And it was the same today. Lin Yun waited until Faleau finished adjusting the mana radiating device before putting the Latour Gold Essence on the refining table and continuing the enchanting he had been working on.

"Oh right, Faleau, I arranged a few formulas for you last time, how did the practice go?"

Lin Yun had been very satisfied with Faleau

When Cadgar sent Faleau, Lin Yun had already planned to let him be in charge of the technical work of the Gilded Rose, and eventually become the true Chief Alchemist of the Gilded Rose. After all, Lin Yun had always considered himself a mage, not an alchemist. With the current expansion of the Gilded Rose, Lin Yun could still rely on his outstanding abilities to take care of the technical work, but in the future…

The Gilded Rose would continuously expand while he would keep going further and further on the path of magic. Would he still have the time and energy to take care of the Gilded Rose then?

Thus, he had to find someone to replace him.

In Lin Yun's eyes, that person was Faleau.

To be honest, Faleau wasn't considered a genius in the field of alchemy. Compared to the geniuses Lin Yun had seen, his talent was far from being outstanding, only moderate.

But Faleau had two strong points: he was hardworking and eager.

Among the numerous alchemists Lin Yun had seen, Faleau was the most hardworking one. He would often see Faleau spending nights in the laboratory. Although Faleau would be solving difficult problems when staying overnight, these difficult problems were nowhere near difficult in Lin Yun's eyes. However, that diligence was one of the most important qualities for alchemists.

It could be said that Lin Yun was watching Faleau walk from the Alchemist realm to the Great Alchemist realm, before exploring that realm. He watched as Faleau fumbled his way through the Great Alchemist realm at a speed that couldn't be considered fast, but which was extremely steady. If Faleau's rate of advancement were analyzed, it would clearly be shown as a diagonal line.

It wouldn't be considered sharp advancement, but it was stable.

This also meant that Faleau didn't meet any bottlenecks and would rarely be stuck on his path forward.

This was no joke…

Who among Noscent's countless alchemists didn't get stuck at some point? Even Nolan, the master of the Mercury Tower, and Osul, the future Saint Alchemist, both became troubled over bottlenecks.

Of course, comparing them to Faleau was a bit unfair; they were in completely different realms, after all.

But what if he was compared to those young "genius" alchemists?

The Mercury Tower gathered almost all the geniuses of the kingdom. There was several 20-year-old Master Alchemists, and Karon said that there was even an Artisan in his twenties. But even these geniuses were blocked by various bottlenecks and might spend a year or two on them, their alchemy progress stagnating for the duration.

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Chapter 269: Merlin Family's Answer

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

Faleau's talent wasn't worth mentioning when compared to Master Alchemists in their early twenties and peak Master Alchemists in their late twenties, but Lin Yun believed that as long as Faleau had enough time, he would catch up to them sooner or later, and eventually leave them in the dust.

Because Faleau had qualities that they might not necessarily have, such as diligence and eagerness.

Perhaps it hadn't been obvious when Faleau followed Cadgar, but these two qualities gradually emerged when he entered the Gilded Rose and worked as Lin Yun's assistant.

The current Faleau had an unimaginable thirst for knowledge. He was like a sponge absorbing all the information presented to him. He would usually ask for every last detail when Lin Yun gave him a task until he clearly understood it.

Lin Yun even felt impatient sometimes, but he couldn't withstand Faleau's frightening desire to learn more.

Over time, Lin Yun got used to it and ended up explaining everything to Faleau as he worked, each and every detail, the purpose behind what he was doing and why it was done like that, as well as the advantages and the downsides.

Naturally, Lin Yun would be lazy sometimes…

When that happened, he would give Faleau exercises to practice on. They might be some troublesome experiments or some complicated tasks. In any case, he wasn't expecting Faleau to solve these in a short time, but he would learn from the experience.

Like today…

"Boss, it didn't go so well…" Hearing Lin Yun inquire, a hint of awkwardness appeared on Faleau's face. He also lowered his voice and spoke in a quieter tone. "I only completed one of the three formulas you gave me…"

"Haha, it's fine…" Lin Yun shook his head. The three formulas he had given him last time touched upon the Master Alchemist realm, so it was quite good for Faleau to have completed one. Lin Yun estimated that Faleau was currently at least at the level of a peak Great Alchemist.

'It looks like I can help Faleau make his preparations to reach the Master Alchemist realm when I return from Okland…'

"Boss, I've been computing these two formulas for the past two days, but I can't find any clues," Faleau said while fishing a stack of paper out from his pocket. The papers were filled with numerous characters and formulas. It could be seen with one look that Faleau had spent a lot of time working on the two formulas.

"Let me see…" Lin Yun took the stack of paper and started sifting through it when he heard someone knocking on the door.

"…" Faleau sighed before helplessly walking towards the door.

Faleau knew that people would rarely disturb Lin Yun once he entered his laboratory.

"It doesn't matter if the Gilded Rose is on fire, as long as the fire doesn't reach the 2nd floor, you are not to disturb Young Master when he is there!"

These were Pave's words…

This meant that people would knock on the door only when something very important happened… In other words, Faleau couldn't delay.

And sure enough, William awaited Faleau on the other side of the door.

"Already back?" Faleau said dispiritedly. He was just about to get pointers from Lin Yun, yet that guy interrupted them. How could Faleau remain in a good mood?

"Hmm…" William nodded before eagerly walking up to Lin Yun.

Faleau ground his teeth at William's rude attitude.

"Already back?" Lin Yun nodded at William from the refining table.

"Yes, yes, I just returned. I asked Pave and learnt that you were here so I rushed over with all due haste," he said with a smile. It was the same question, but William's answer was completely different this time.

'Such a boot-licker…'

Faleau kept stewing in dissatisfaction behind him.

"How is it? Did the Merlin Family agree to my conditions?"

"The Merlin Family…" William started to reply before suddenly stopping and glancing at Faleau.

Lin Yun guessed that William was most likely going to talk about some important secrets.

"It's fine, Faleau is one of us." In this era, the ones Lin Yun trusted the most besides the old butler were William and Faleau. He wouldn't hide those kinds of matters from them.

"Okay…"

William nodded unwillingly before looking at Faleau again, feeling vexed, only to see him smiling back at him.

Lin Yun knew of the rivalry between them. They had been competing with each other in private for a long time, but never in the open, so that they wouldn't affect Lin Yun's business. Thus, Lin Yun would mostly ignore it.

Even now.

He didn't say much more about it, he only nodded and signaled William that he could speak.

"The conditions that you raised are being widely disputed within the family. Many people feel that you shouldn't have the qualifications to enter the Ancestral Land when you return and that there is no need to even talk about it…"

"Oh?" Lin Yun frowned as he heard that.

When Lin Yun returned from the Four Seasons Canyon, he sent William to the Merlin Family and had him inform the Elder Council that there was no issue with him returning to the family, but the Merlin Family had to agree to a few of his conditions, the most important one being that he wanted the right to freely enter and exit the Ancestral Land.

In Lin Yun's eyes, the other conditions could be discussed, but that one definitely couldn't be negotiated.

Lin Yun had merged with the Silver Dragon Blood in the Heaven Enlightening Plane before receiving the help of the Crystal Scales' Incarnation, Enderfa, to create a 10th Magic Array, using this trick to enter the High Mage realm.

It could be said that Lin Yun was the most peculiar High Mage in Noscent's history.

When Great Mages advanced to the High Mage realm, their greatest hurdle was merging the nine Magic Conducting Runes together into one. From that point on, they would truly be able to control their Magic Conducting Rune as they pleased, and whether it was their power or abilities, they would show extraordinary progress.

But Lin Yun…

Even if he had stepped into the High Mage realm, his Magic Arrays had yet to merge.

This also meant that the power and ability of the Magic Arrays had yet to undergo that abnormal progress.

This might even influence Lin Yun's future magic path.

The Magic Arrays not being fused meant that Lin Yun couldn't yet progress in the High Mage realm. If becoming a 1st Rank High Mage was his natural limit, then even if he had extraordinary fortuitous encounters, he would at most be able to reach the level of a 4th Rank High Mage. The 5th Rank would forever be out of his sight.

What was more frightening was that because of the might and complexity of the Magic Array, this Magic Conducting Rune was one of the hardest to fuse. Lin Yun's only clue was that member of the Merlin Family from a few hundred years in the future.

That person also had the Magic Array and managed to solve the difficult problem most people couldn't solve. He went to the Ancestral Land and came out with the Magic Arrays fused, instantly becoming a High Mage. Twenty years later, he reached the Archmage realm.

Lin Yun felt that the key was in the Ancestral Land.

Thus, it could be said that the Ancestral Land was a must to Lin Yun.

"Nothing can be done about it. Those old men from the Elder Council are like that, each of them greedier and more stubborn than the other. They insist that you haven't made any contributions to the family and aren't qualified to enter the Ancestral Land. Haha, they think I don't know that they are eyeing that Nether Iron Vein…"

"The Nether Iron Vein is impossible, but I can give them some benefits," Lin Yun said after thinking for a bit.

The Nether Iron vein was in the Bone Plane. Giving it to a force like the Merlin Family was akin to giving them the entire Bone Plane. Lin Yun wouldn't agree to such a condition.

But it was fine to give them some benefits to gain access to what he needed.

After all, the secrets within the Merlin Family's Ancestral Land were too crucial to Lin Yun, possibly even determining his future magic path. In comparison, what were a few concessions?

But William shook his head when he heard Lin Yun's words…

"It's useless, Cousin, I already told these old geezers that as long as they let you freely enter the Merlin Family's Ancestral Land, you can transfer some of the Gilded Rose's shares and give each of them a decent amount as thanks, but guess what they said?"

"What?"

"Haha, these old geezers were very interested in the money, but they said that they weren't very interested in the shares. In their eyes, an alchemy shop from Thousand Sails City isn't enough to tempt the Merlin Family. There were even a few hateful old fossils that contemptuously said that if you can't take out that Nether Iron Vein, then let alone entering the Ancestral Land, they will even stop you from returning to the Merlin Family…"

"Oh?" Lin Yun smiled and didn't show any hint of anger. "And what about my Great-Uncle?"

The Great-Uncle Lin Yun mentioned was this generation's Patriarch. He was the younger brother of Mafa Merlin's grandfather, Locke Merlin's uncle.

It was that Patriarch who told William to make it so that Lin Yun would return to the Merlin Family. To make Lin Yun agree, he even made a lot of promises.

To Lin Yun, these promises weren't very important, and the only crucial thing was actually running into issues.

This was something Lin Yun couldn't accept no matter what.

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Chapter 270: Okland

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"The Patriarch has been supporting you all along, but… The rules of the Merlin Family are like that. The Elder Council has a lot of power…" William suddenly paused, before adding, "I also got the feeling that someone was secretly influencing the Elder Council. How else could they be so united against you? These old geezers would fight each other for a few dozen golds…"

"Eh?" Lin Yun's frown intensified. It would be troublesome if someone was truly influencing the Elder Council. He would have to have a chat with that person when he reached Okland.

"It couldn't be helped, the Gilded Rose's wealth made some people too greedy…"

"Haha…" Lin Yun smiled and changed topic. "Okay, let's put this aside. How is the merging with your Alchemic Mana Whirlpool?"

"I finished merging with it two days after returning to Okland and I've spent my time adapting to having twice the mana on my way back. It still feels a bit strange…"

"That's good, I'll give you three days to completely adjust to the Alchemic Mana Whirlpool. In three days, we are going to Okland."

"Okay."

Three days later, Lin Yun finished the processing of the Appeasing Soulsong Gem and named this Spiritual Magic Tool the Evil Punishing Pendant.

At the same time, the Heaven Rank Puppet had been renovated.

Naturally, the renovation wasn't a true repair.

The Heaven Rank Puppet was an existence on par with a Heaven Mage, which meant that it was an outstanding alchemic achievement. It would be a miracle if an Artisan could easily repair it, let alone a Master Alchemist like Lin Yun. Even Nolan, who stood at the peak of the Artisan realm, or the future Saint Alchemist Osul, would sigh and shake their heads in front of that puppet.

That was a realm that very few could ever reach.

Moreover, Lin Yun couldn't afford the materials needed to even attempt to fully repair the puppet. He would be ruined just for a fighting system set. Latour Gold was rare and expensive. Lin Yun calculated that if he wanted to rebuild the puppet's fighting system, he would need enough Latour Gold Essence to build thirty Ten Thousand Spell Wheels.

Just hearing about this amount would make anyone feel numb.

Lin Yun's so-called renovation was only based on ordinary puppets. All the materials and techniques used were far from meeting the requirements of the Heaven Rank Puppet. What Lin Yun did could be likened to wrapping the Heaven Rank Puppet in an ordinary puppet shell.

But even then, its strength was outstanding. After all, this mechanical system of an ordinary puppet was connected to the Heaven Rank Puppet. Just borrowing a bit of its strength was enough to make this puppet's power reach a terrifying level.

Lin Yun estimated that the puppet's power was close to that of a Sword Saint…

And as he worked on the puppet, Lin Yun had learnt some things. Although he couldn't make it recover to its full strength, he wasn't completely unable to make it regain some of it. But the method was a bit stupid. He had to amass a large number of rare parts. The more powerful the parts, the more power this Heaven Rank Puppet would recover. In theory, he would be able to make its strength infinitely close to its original if he found enough rare parts.

Naturally, this was only theory.

As for the source of these rare parts… Lin Yun already had a place in mind.

It was rumored that in Gaugass' depths, there was a Planar Path that had never been unearthed. At the end of that Planar Path was an extremely strange world. There was no life on that world, only puppets, a world of puppets. Lin Yun believed that as long as he could find that Planar Path, he would be able to find enough rare parts.

Naturally, the condition was to quickly merge his ten Magic Arrays as soon as possible to remove the obstruction in his magic path. Otherwise, he would never be able to become a 5th Rank High Mage and wouldn't be able to survive in that puppet plane even if he found it.

Before leaving, Lin Yun went to the Sage Tower to give the potion he had spent a few nights refining to Solomon.

"Rest assured, I can help you keep an eye on the Monchi Family."

With Solomon's words still echoing in his mind, Lin Yun took Xiuban and William with him and passed through the Four Seasons Canyon before continuing north. They reached Okland after a few days.

Okland had been built during the early days of the 3rd Dynasty, when that great empire was just rising. It could be described as a mess both inside and outside, with the Nesser Dynasty's shadow shrouding the empire and assassination and war covering every corner of the empire. The Gaugass Battlemages guarded the northern frontier, with Okland behind them. At that time, Okland was one of the five strategic military towns, and even today, countless years later, the shadow of the war fortress could still be seen from the city wall.

But compared to that war fortress bathed in blood and fire, today's Okland was a lot more noisy and thriving. When Lin Yun took the Draconic Beastman and William in, he clearly felt the difference between this place and Thousand Sails City.

"This is Dragon Street, Okland's most thriving area. It has the most people, the most shops, and the most thieves. In front of us is Okland's Mercenary Guild. There are always mercenaries entering or leaving that place. The magic materials harvested every day could supply the Gilded Rose fifty times over. On the side is the Black Horn Auction House, which organize an auction every three months on a larger scale than Cadgar's. All the wealthy merchants and influential powerhouses of Andlusa would visit. I heard that there are always some high-ranked members of the Black Horn chamber of commerce visiting the place. Cousin, if you need something, you can try your luck there…"

William acted as a guide, and two hours later, their carriage crossed all of Okland before reaching the gate of a manor beside the Fallen Star Lake.

"This is the Merlin Family's estate. Normally, only those directly related to the family can enter… Look on the other side," William said as he pointed to dozens of towers on the far side of the Fallen Star Lake. Some were tall while some were short, and they were arranged in a strange order. "This is Okland Magic School…"

"We can check it another day." Lin Yun had some interest in Okland Magic School, even if just to visit Raymond. If he didn't, what was he supposed to tell Pave?

"This might not be possible in the next few days. I heard that Okland Magic School is making arrangements for their graduation trial. Their security is very tight right now."

"Graduation trial?"

"Yes, the students of Okland Magic School who want their diploma have to undergo a graduation trial. As for the contents of the trial, it changes each year. Last year they had to go to the Cold Wind Mountains to kill magic beasts, and the year before that was hunting magic beasts on the Gaugass Frontier. The previous year was even worse, I heard that they put a Thunder Beast into the trial field. In the end, eight students ended up seriously injured…"

"…" Lin Yun thought for a bit and remembered that Raymond was supposed to graduate this year. He wondered what would the trial be this year…

"Let's go inside first. The Patriarch told me that once you arrived, I should lead you to him first…"

"Sure."

After the group of three entered the Merlin Family Manor, they found a place to rest, following William's lead. Lin Yun and William then left Xiuban behind and went to meet the current patriarch, Mafa Merlin's Great-Uncle and Judd Merlin's younger brother, Ofran Merlin.

The Merlin estate was huge.

The house left behind by Locke Merlin couldn't even compare. Even Monchi's millennial manor was too embarrassing to compare.

This place was like a small city. Lin Yun and William walked for half an hour before they reached a courtyard on the southern part of the manor.

"This is the official reception room of the Merlin Family…" William pointed at a stone tower that was three floors high. "The Elder Council convenes there every month. The Patriarch usually receives guests on the 3rd floor and should be waiting for you there."

"Let's go."

The two entered the courtyard and were just about to walk into the stone tower when someone came out of it.

"If it isn't Cousin William!" The person they encountered was wearing a black robe with a silver line on the cuff. He looked no older than thirty and was already a Great Mage. He also looked somewhat similar to William, but he was a lot paler and his eyes were unfocused and bore dark, heavy circles. This should have been due to losing himself to wine and women. His body had already been completely ruined.

"Jason, you are blocking my path." William couldn't seem to stand that older cousin. Disgust flashed on his face when he saw that person.

"Haha, Cousin William, it's been so many days since I last saw you. How could you be so busy, to not even have time to chat with your cousin? I heard that you did something big recently and the entire Elder Council is flaring up. What, William? After being in Thousand Sails City for so long you forgot that your name is Merlin? You think anyone can enter the Ancestral Land…" This Jason reeked of wine, forcing William and Lin Yun to cover their noses, yet he didn't seem to notice or care as he kept talking. "Oh right, that kid at your side looks a bit young, is he your new follower? Servant? How could he be so rude as to not even say his greetings?"

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Chapter 271: Stepping

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"Shut up…" William suddenly turned pale and quickly reached to block that mouth reeking of wine. "You are courting death…"

In William's eyes, he was indeed courting death.

'Jason, you bastard, do you even know what you are talking about? Even if you want to be annoying, how could you dare ask him to personally greet you? Can you even afford his greeting? Do you know who he is? He is the one at the top of Thousand Sails City!'

'Which of Thousand Sails City's powerhouses isn't someone formidable? Peak 9th Rank High Mage Solomon, Master Alchemist Lys, the millennial Monchi Family, Sauss with his strongest underground force… Yet what is their attitude in front of this person?'

William has been following Lin Yun for almost half a year.

He was very clear about his status.

Why were all the leaders of Thousand Sails City's major forces bending at the waist when entering the Gilded Rose? Wasn't it because the leader of the Gilded Rose was this person? He wasn't a kind-hearted fellow. When he was blocked at the entrance of the Poison Fog Canyon, he certainly didn't treat Sauss politely.

"Jason, shut up…" William turned even paler as he thought about this and dragged him back while covering his mouth.

William didn't have much choice.

He had seen Lin Yun frowning.

After following this younger cousin for half a year, how could William not know that something would definitely happen whenever he frowned?

It wasn't that William wanted to protect Jason…

It was just that William knew that his younger cousin was someone who hated trouble…

And it would be troublesome if Jason ran out of luck.

Following their history that had been buried in the dust, the Merlin Family rose in the Andlusa Kingdom and founded a country. Over a millennium had passed since then, and over time, it became a behemoth. The descendants of the Merlin Family covered almost every corner of the Andlusa Kingdom. But during that millennium, only the descendants of three main branches could control the Merlin Family.

Only these three branches' descendants could have a seat at the Elder Council and be qualified to obtain the position of Patriarch. They were the Okland Merlin, the Palatine Merlin, and the Lorraine Merlin branches. Not only where they the three strongest branches, but they also had the purest bloodline in the past millennium.

For the past thousand years, the three main branches took turns to wield the Merlin Family's authority, and the fate of countless descendants was in their hands.

The Okland Family had been in charge for the past three hundred years.

Although the highly respected Judd, Mafa Merlin's grandfather, had strangely left, Ofran, who replaced him, did a pretty good job. He cautiously and conscientiously worked hard for decades and raised the Merlin Family's prestige higher than ever. And although his three sons weren't outstanding geniuses, they inherited Ofran's diligence, allowing them to obtain shocking achievements in their respective fields.

Then there was William's generation…

Aube Merlin and Leon Merlin could be described as the twin stars of the Merlin Family. They were young, but one was already a High Mage while the other was a Master Alchemist. There were very few geniuses that could compare with them in Okland.

The Okland Merlins were the most impressive.

But the other two main branches weren't weak. The strength they gathered over time was something that other forces couldn't imagine. There might not have been a genius with earth-shattering talent in the past hundred years, and neither did any shocking major events happen, but if anyone approached these two low-key main branches, they would find that these two branches were only hibernating, and that sooner or later, they would return to the highest stage of the Andlusa Kingdom.

Jason Merlin came from the Lorraine Merlins.

It could be said that the beautiful and rich Lorraine City in the western part of the Andlusa Kingdom was the private property of the Lorraine Merlins. Over there, the name Merlin meant everything. Even if a king wanted to appoint a city lord, he would have to convene with the Lorraine Merlin Family.

Jason had an extremely pure bloodline. He was one of the three grandsons of the leader of the Lorraine Merlin Branch, Logan. Unfortunately, Jason didn't inherit Logan's wisdom and ability to scheme, and was a famous wastrel in Lorraine. He relied on his family's status there to do anything he wanted. Over the years, few people wouldn't become pale and scared when the name Jason was mentioned.

His bad habits didn't change when he was sent to Okland after he turned eighteen.

The only fortunate thing was that Jason was only a Great Mage. The people he came into contact with weren't very high ranked, so if he ran in trouble, the Merlin Family could always settle it.

This was how William became acquainted with him.

At that time, William had already revealed outstanding talent in the Merlin Family and would frequently be sent out to help resolve Jason's issues. After a few times, Jason could be considered an acquaintance.

But an acquaintance was only an acquaintance, as William was very disgusted by his antics.

In William's eyes, he was just a waste waiting to die. The only thing Jason could do was to leech off of the Merlin Family until his death.

But even if he was disgusted by him, William still had to deal with the situation.

His grandfather was Logan and the Lorraine Merlin Branch had five seats in the Elder Council. Five seats meant that as long as Logan could pull in two or three allies, he would be able to gain the right to oppose any decisions.

In other words, Logan might not be able to make decisions outright, but he could easily become an obstacle.

Thus, even if Ofran was the Patriarch, unless he needed to, he wouldn't offend Logan.

"Okay, okay, Cousin William, don't drag me. I know who he is, isn't that the kid from outside? The one from Thousand Sails City."

Jason had drunk too much. He pushed William to the side as he slurred, just like an ordinary drunkard. He was also staggering and seemed like he might fall to the ground anytime if he didn't pay attention.

"I heard that this kid asked for many conditions and requested to go to the Ancestral Land…"

"Jason! You are drunk!" William became mad and grabbed Jason with both hands. If this wasn't the place where the Merlin Family held official discussions, William would have already slapped him. 'Are you trying to die? Can't you see his expression? Do you think you'll be able to leave this place unharmed? Even Suyass would lower himself in front of him…'

'Do you know who Suyass is!?'

'One of the most outstanding disciples of the Mercury Tower, a Master Alchemist and an Archmage. Someone who led puppet legions to campaign through the Golden Forest Plane and killed more underground elves than you could ever imagine. Jason, since when are you courageous enough to be rude to a person that Suyass would humble himself before?'

Unfortunately…

Jason couldn't understand William's thoughts…

"Move, William, I need to have a discussion with that kid. He thinks that Okland is Thousand Sails City, and he doesn't put the Merlin Family in his eyes. To dare to request something like that from the Merlin Family, I have to teach him a lesson…" The drunk Jason staggered as he randomly waved his staff with both hands.

"You are crazy!"

William felt his blood run cold.

William no longer cared where they were and directly slapped him. He then blinded Jason with a Light spell while pointing his magic staff and also releasing a Vine spell. The tough vines flew out fast and coiled around Jason's magic staff.

Jason fell heavily to the ground.

The vines had powerful momentum and Jason was drunk, and thus, he ended up with two of his front teeth broken.

"William… You… You… You dare to attack me… Don't think I won't-," Jason wheezed from the ground.

"I believe you," William said as he stepped on Jason's head.

"Uuuh…" The pitiful Jason didn't even finish his words before his mouth reached the floor and issued some unintelligible sounds, as he could no longer speak.

"Okay let's go." Lin Yun shook his head. Someone like Jason simply didn't enter his eyes. He hadn't even paid attention to his words, just wondering what the lunatic was raving about.

At this moment, William was stepping on Jason and Lin Yun didn't even spare him a look as he walked over him before entering the stone tower.

"Haha, it looks like the Merlin Family is still curious regarding my arrival…" Lin Yun said with a smile after turning a corner.

"What do you mean?"

"There were two High Mages in the courtyard when you stepped on that guy, and first-rate High Mages too…"

At this point, Lin Yun took back the Mage Eye he had quietly released.

Because it was no longer needed.

Lin Yun already knew who these two High Mages were…

But Lin Yun felt a bit strange. 'Didn't William say that the competition between those two was very intense?'

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'Forget it, it doesn't matter whether they team up or not…'

Lin Yun shook his head and walked to the 3rd floor of the stone tower. The floor was made of white Moonstone and appeared clean and tidy. Some paintings were hung on the walls, and although Lin Yun didn't know the name of the expert craftsman who painted them, he could make out from the colors and lines that these weren't cheap…

"Knock knock knock…"

William softly knocked on the door to the study before hearing an aged voice from within, "Come in."

The study was quite huge, eight neat and tidy bookshelves surrounded the room. The flames in the fireplace were roaring, and even though it was late autumn, they couldn't feel any chill in the room. A short old man was sitting on a chair next to the dancing flames, the shadow of youth could still be seen on his roughly seventy years old face. As the two of them entered, the old man smiled, "The journey must have been exhausting, please sit down."

"You are too polite, Sir Ofran…" Lin Yun smiled back as he nodded towards the old man, and sat down without being modest.

"Haha…" The old man was startled at first, because he noticed that the other side had called him Sir Ofran and not Grandfather or Great-Uncle.

Ofran had stepped in the Archmage realm ten years ago and occupied the position of a peak existence in Okland, there was nothing improper with Lin Yun calling him Sir Ofran.

But today was the day of Lin Yun's return to the Merlin Family.

The Family's power was based on blood relationships, thus, the 3rd generation of the Merlin Family would usually call Ofran Grandfather.

But Lin Yun was politely calling him Sir Ofran.

Ofran knew by hearing this way of address that getting the other side to return to the Merlin Family would prove a lot more complicated than he had surmised.

Ofran's head hurt as he thought of this.

When Judd Merlin left the family, only Ofran knew that he had been heading for Thousand Sails City. But before leaving, he kept telling Ofran that no one should know about it. Thus, Ofran remained tight-lipped for many years, clearly aware that if Judd learnt that he couldn't keep the secret, the consequences would be unimaginable.

It was just recently, when word about a lot of weapons forged out of Nether Iron reached him, that Ofran sent someone to Thousand Sails City and found out that the one in control of the Nether Iron Vein was actually an offspring of the Merlin Family stranded outside. When he heard this news, Ofran sank in contemplation for a long time. Judd who had always been on his mind had already passed away, and even his son, Locke Merlin, seemed to have suffered from a shipwreck…

The only remaining one was a grandson named Mafa…

And that Mafa seemed to be hopeless.

Based on that intel, Ofran sent William over to discuss the transferring of the Nether Iron Vein's ownership while helping Mafa out.

But he hadn't expected that after William reached Thousand Sails City, he would find out that the information they gathered was far from the truth. Indeed, Mafa Merlin controlled a Nether Iron Vein, but he had no plan to give up that Nether Iron Vein. Moreover, the alchemy shop that was supposedly in debt was actually extremely prosperous. It completely monopolized the alchemy market of Thousand Sails City and even some merchants and mercenary groups of the nearby Oddrock City would go there for items.

The Merlin Family naturally had some alchemy shops, so how could Ofran as the leader of the Merlin Family not understand how profitable an alchemy shop could be.

Let alone Oddrock City…

Just Thousand Sails City market monopoly was frightening enough. Describing the Gilded Rose as the richest in town was no exaggeration as William even told him that only the millennium old Monchi Family could compete with the Gilded Rose in terms of wealth.

Ofran was a bit regretful when he heard that.

If he had paid attention to Thousand Sails City, to Judd's grandson, early on, then that Mafa Merlin who could compete with the Monchi Family in terms of wealth might have already become a member of the Merlin Family.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

William's letter clearly stated that Mafa Merlin didn't have much interest in returning to the Merlin Family and that there might even be some conflict. If he rashly sent someone over, he might incur his dislike.

Thus, Ofran refrained from sending someone to Thousand Sails City and only kept William there, to let him build a good relationship with Mafa Merlin and convey the will of the Merlin Family at a suitable time.

Because Ofran knew that he had missed the best opportunity to recruit Mafa Merlin.

Mafa Merlin grew up in Thousand Sails City for almost twenty years and had never came in contact with people of the Merlin Family before. Moreover, Locke Merlin's shipwreck and the Flashing Gold chamber of commerce going bankrupt overnight had all been taken care of by Mafa Merlin, all on his own.

Mafa Merlin had already struck it rich and had enough wealth to attract the eye of the Merlin Family. Sending someone to contact him now would only make it seem like they are trying to seize his belongings.

In the end, it was inevitable for Mafa Merlin who grew up in that kind of environment to not consider himself as a part of the Merlin Family.

As the leader of the Merlin Family, Ofran knew this more than anyone else.

That's right, the power of the Family was maintained through blood relationships, but only those foolish old geezers from the Elder Council who only know how to argue all day believed that they could rely on bloodline to force an affluent merchant to re-enter the Merlin Family.

Ofran knew that the road would be very long if he wanted to make Mafa return to the Family.

Fortunately, after bitterly waiting for a few months, Ofran finally got an opportunity.

William brought back some shocking news.

Mafa Merlin wanted to enter the Merlin Family Ancestral Land!

This was an extremely rare opportunity to let Merlin return to the Family.

This was what he had been waiting for.

Even if the Merlins' Ancestral Land wasn't casually available for entering, this was only to ordinary people. Which of the true core children of the Merlin Family hadn't entered the Ancestral Land? Of the third generation, Aube went in, Leon went in, Ross went in, and even William would go in this year.

Although this didn't conform to the rules, it's not as if an exception couldn't be made to let Mafa Merlin into the Ancestral Land.

As long as the old guys of the Elder Council remained calm and collected and simply embraced the Gilded Rose, Lin Yun's return to the family would go without problem.

At that time, Ofran was overjoyed and accepted a lot of conditions.

Although these conditions didn't have much importance to the Merlin Family, in Ofran's eyes this was a good chance to let Mafa Merlin know his value to the Family.

The conversation through William Merlin also went very well.

But he had never expected the Elder Council to suddenly obstruct the negotiations.

Especially because the disputing old geezers used the argument that they couldn't break the family tradition as a reason to reject Mafa Merlin's request to enter the Ancestral Land.

Ofran almost went crazy on the spot.

At that time, he wanted to point at those stuck up elders and ask them if they knew how much wealth Mafa Merlin gained in Thousand Sails City and if they realized how much of a loss the family would suffer because of their so-called traditions.

Unfortunately, the Merlin Family was like that. The Elder Council had a lot of power.

Even as the head of the family, Ofran wouldn't dare use the Patriarch's authority to suppress the Elder Council unless he was sure that he could control the situation. His reputation going down was trivial. But he might very well be accused of misconduct by the Elder Council, and at that time, he might even lose his seat as the Patriarch.

At that time, Ofran still thought that Mafa Merlin only asked to enter the Ancestral Land as a justification to return to the Merlin Family. It wouldn't have been difficult if that had been the case, as long as he comforted him and promised him that he would let him in the Ancestral Family Land when the time was ripe, and everything would be solved.

A condition for entering the Ancestral Land was to make a contribution to the Merlin Family.

Even Ofran didn't find this difficult. For a wealthy business, casually helping the Merlin Family with a deal could be considered an achievement.

At that time, he would make him enter the Merlin Family Ancestral Land and everyone would be happy.

But…

From hearing that "Sir", Ofran realized that this Merlin Family's offspring he had just met for the first time wouldn't be as easy to deal with as he thought.

"Regarding the matter of your entry to the Ancestral Land…" Ofran wanted to explain.

But his mind was in a mess at this moment. After all, he was an Archmage and the Patriarch of the Merlin Family. He had agreed to his terms before, yet he had broken his word to a youth decades younger than himself. If this spread out, people would ridicule him.

"It's fine, Sir Ofran…" Lin Yun smiled, a calm expression on his face, "I only want to know what do I have to do to become eligible to enter the Merlin Family Ancestral Land."

"This…" Ofran felt embarrassed when he heard that.

Entering the Ancestral Land wasn't that difficult usually.

But for some reason, the Elder Council was unyielding this time so Ofran didn't dare to promise anything.

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Chapter 273: Contribution

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"Sir Ofran, don't hesitate and just tell me the conditions, whether I can do it or not is my problem."

"Okay…" Hearing this, Ofran knew that he had to be careful with his words. On one side was the wealthy Mafa Merlin, while on the other side was the unyielding Elder Council. Ofran thought for a few minutes before coming up with a solution.

Delaying…

He would first give Mafa Merlin an extremely hard condition to stall for time before taking advantage of that time to find another method to make Mafa Merlin return to the family.

This was very important for the Merlin Family.

If the wealth of the Gilded Rose was properly used, it could let the power of the Merlin Family reach a whole new level.

Moreover, the Gilded Rose wasn't just wealthy…

From the information William sent, the Gilded Rose had resources, skill, and talent. And the affiliated mercenary group that appeared out of nowhere had a shocking force of 50 Great Mages. Even in Okland, that would be considered a pretty decent fighting force.

With their amazing wealth, even the Merlin Family might not be able to keep up with them if they had the time to develop.

Only those blind old geezers would push away stranded offspring that controlled such a force. Any other faction would already have been begging for him to enter their Ancestral Land.

As he thought of that, Ofran composed himself. "The Merlin Ancestral Land is different from the ones from other Families and Clans. Only the core children can enter, and as for the others, they would have to be strong competitors for the Patriarch position to have the right…"

"…" William forgot to breathe and almost choked before Lin Yun even said anything.

'Are you joking?

'Who in the Merlin Family doesn't know the conditions to enter the Ancestral Land? What do you mean competitor for the Patriarch position? You are lying through your teeth! And it normally wouldn't much that you are lying… But you are creating huge problems for yourself…

'Isn't there enough chaos with Aube, Leon, and Ross competing for the position? You are making it worse… What if Cousin believes you? This is no joke…

'If he truly believes it, then Aube, Leon, and Ross won't survive. With his temperament, he will most likely get rid of these people so that he could become the successor himself. Many could die because of your casual lie, will you be able to live with this?'

William couldn't help shivering as he thought of that. He looked desperately at Ofran, hoping this old man would retract his words.

Fortunately…

Although Ofran hadn't noticed William's meaningful glance, he hesitated after finishing his sentence and added, "Naturally, if you can make a great contribution to the Merlin Family, you'll also be able to enter the Ancestral Land…"

"Pheew…" Hearing those words, William sighed in relief. 'Thank god, thank god you reacted in time…'

And sure enough, Lin Yun didn't even think about it and directly asked, "What is considered a great contribution?"

"It's very simple," Ofran said with a relaxed expression. "A few hundred years ago, Okland had a Charlotte Family. Although this Charlotte Family's strength and heritage were a lot inferior to that of the Merlin Family, a genius suddenly appeared. That man was named Fussen Charlotte. He became a Great Mage at 18, a High Mage at 25, and he was one step away from advancing to the Archmage realm at 33…"

"And then?"

"Then, the Charlotte Family rose with this genius and felt that they could rival the Merlin Family. They kept provoking us, and even publicly declared that Fussen Charlotte would reach the Heaven realm before fifty and would wipe the Merlin Family and the Watson Family at that time…"

"That's certainly some ambition.."

"It was, the Charlotte Family's ambitions were great, but those were just words. At the time, Fussen Charlotte was truly a genius among geniuses, progressing at a rapid pace on the path of magic. But the Merlin Family and the Watson Family had their own geniuses too."

"What was the outcome?"

"The outcome…" Ofran smiled at Lin Yun. "He ended up being killed by a Merlin during a hunt and fell before becoming an Archmage. The High Mage who killed him was Santon Merlin, one of the three Heaven Rank Mages of the Merlin Family in the past five hundred years. But Santon had only been a child of a side branch when he killed Fussen Charlotte. His Merlin blood was very thin, and it was only after he killed Fussen Charlotte that he was allowed to enter the Ancestral Land. Three years later, he became an Archmage, and twenty years later, he reached the Heaven realm and became a genuine Heaven Rank powerhouse. If you are interested, you can read his story in the secret tome of the family. The account of Santon's life is very detailed and it is a very interesting story…"

"Okay, I understand." Lin Yun nodded before asking, "Who is the most outstanding genius of the Watson Family at the moment?"

"It's Stan Watson, he is 38 years old and an 8th Rank High Mage. He is similar to Fussen Charlotte," Ofran subconsciously answered, before doubtfully asking, "Why are you asking?"

"Nothing, I was just asking. Anyway, Sir Ofran, it's time we take our leave…" Lin Yun didn't wait for Ofran's answer and immediately left with William.

"Eh?" Ofran didn't manage to react, standing there in a daze as the two of them hurried away. He only recovered a minute later and exclaimed, "Hey! I wasn't done talking!"

Unfortunately for him, they were already gone, so they could no longer hear him.

"As temperamental as Judd," Ofran mumbled to himself before sinking into contemplation.

'What is that Mafa planning? Why didn't he seem worried as he left with William? Could it be…

'No way!'

As his thoughts reached that point, Ofran suddenly felt scared.

'No way, no way… Did he ask me who the most outstanding member of the Watson Family was so that he could do something like Santon? Getting rid of an opposing Family's most outstanding genius?'

Ofran felt a little numb…

'This… This can't be real?

'That story was only to show that it was difficult to enter the Ancestral Land. Santon had to get rid of the most outstanding member of the Charlotte Family to it, so since you also want to gain access, then you just need to make a similarly large contribution…'

Ofran was only giving a suggestion.

'With the wealth of the Gilded Rose, as long as you gave a small share to the Merlin Family, or if you shared the techniques and resources you had available, then the contribution would be sufficient.'

Ofran hadn't planned on making him kill Stan Watson…

Stan Watson was an 8th Rank High Mage that was apparently close to reaching the 9th Rank. He would be a peak High Mage then. Whether it was his mana storage or his power, they would be at an astounding level.

Moreover, as he'd said, Stan Watson was the most outstanding member of the Watson Family, so he was heavily guarded. Having a few High Mages guarding him at all times was quite normal, and there might even be an Archmage. This was no joke. Let alone Mafa and William, even Ofran, as an Archmage, wouldn't dare to attack Stan Watson.

He was the jewel of the Watson Family.

The few Heaven Mages of the Watson Family might even be paying attention to Stan's growth discreetly. Let alone killing such an important person, just attacking him would be enough to invite terrible trouble.

'Shit…' Ofran inwardly cursed. 'What should I do?'

"Link, come here." Since this was a big matter, Ofran couldn't think of another way.

Following Ofran's shout, a black silhouette appeared in the originally empty studio. "What is your command, Master?"

This black silhouette's face was hidden by a hood and seemed to be half-merged with the shadows, making his appearance difficult to make out. From his voice, one could guess that this was a middle-aged man, perhaps in his forties.

"Link, I have to trouble you with something, did you see the two kids who just left? Please watch over them for me. If you find out… If you find out that they plan on killing Stan Watson, then please find a way to stop them."

"Understood." The black silhouette named Link nodded before blending into the shadows. If not for his words, no one would notice his existence.

Ofran sighed in relief after Link disappeared.

'With Link watching over them, there shouldn't be any problem.'

In the Merlin Family, Ofran was the only one who knew that Link had been working for the Family for five hundred years.

The first master that Link followed was Santon Merlin, the one who killed Fussen Charlotte. After Santon Merlin, Link never left the Merlin Family and followed Santon's will, obeying the Merlin Patriarch's orders.

And Link's existence became a secret only known by the leader of the Merlin Family.

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Chapter 274: Seize

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

Link had always been an unconventional existence in the Merlin Family. He would almost never appear and instead just remain hidden in the shadows. If Ofran didn't summon him, he might not be seen for a year or two. Even Ofran, the Patriarch himself, didn't know much about Link. Ofran only knew that Link was very powerful, but just how powerful… He didn't know. If he had to describe his strength, he would use the word "unfathomable".

That was right, Link felt unfathomable to Ofran.

For as long as Ofran could remember, Link had never gone all-out against someone. He would always act discreetly and smoothly, to the point that Ofran didn't even know what realm he had reached.

Ofran only knew that Link had lived for at least five hundred years.

Link was already in the Merlin Family during the era of Santon, always hiding behind Santon like a shadow, rarely making a move. But every time he did, it was at a crucial moment.

After Santon disappeared, Link remained in the Merlin Family and acted even less than before, only listening to the words of the Patriarch.

Only when the Patriarch's position was being handed over would the previous Patriarch tell this secret to the future Patriarch.

Ofran finally relaxed after sending out Link.At this time, in the courtyard of a huge manor, a young mage in his thirties was sitting down with a smile on his face. A middle-aged man in his forties wearing a black robe with a red pattern on the cuffs was standing beside him. This was the symbol of a High Mage. But at this moment, the Great Mage was sitting while the High Mage was standing. That High Mage was even slightly bowing with a fawning expression on his face.

Even a blind person could see that the younger mage had far higher status than the middle-aged High Mage.

"Anthony, I sent you to check on my younger cousin, how is it?"

"Young Master Aube, this…" The High Mage named Anthony froze and the smile on his face became awkward. "I investigated a bit… I heard you say that this Mafa Merlin had been studying under Seth, so I used some channels and made some inquiries on Seth's side, but…"

"But what?"

"According to Seth, this Mafa Merlin doesn't stand out and might remain a Magic Apprentice all his life…"

"Magic Apprentice?" Aube was a strong contender to be the successor of the Merlin Family. Among the numerous geniuses of Okland, Aube Merlin was ranked at the forefront.

Hearing High Mage Anthony's report, Aube showed some amazement before quickly shaking his head, "This is impossible. If he truly had the strength of a Magic Apprentice, then no matter how wealthy he was, his wealth would immediately be seized. A Magic Apprentice is an ant, even in Thousand Sails City. If he wants to keep his wealth, he would need the power to defend himself…"

"Yes, Young Master Aube, I also feel that it is impossible for him to be just a Magic Apprentice…" Anthony fawned over Aube before continuing, "Moreover, a few of Seth's students belong to the side branches of the Merlin Family and are already Mages. They joined the Family's Mercenary Group. I went to look for them early this morning and from what they remembered, that Mafa Merlin always seemed cowardly when he studied under Seth. He was even bullied, yet he didn't dare to say anything. He would also keep to himself most of the time, this doesn't seem to…"

Anthony glanced awkwardly at Aube after saying this.

"Haha, you are trying to say that it doesn't match the current Mafa?"

"Yes, Young Master Aube. According to your description, Mafa watched what happened between William and Jason without saying a word. He wasn't scared by Jason and didn't try to dissuade William… This doesn't seem to match his former behavior…"

"Anthony, you are overthinking it. People change…" Aube smiled confidently, giving the feeling of having everything within the palm of his hand. "Thinking about it, it's been almost a year since Mafa left Seth's tower. During that year, Locke Merlin died in a shipwreck and the Flashing Gold chamber of commerce suddenly collapsed. Even if Locke left him some capital to make a comeback, making the Gilded Rose operate at this level isn't something that could be done in a day or two. How could Mafa Merlin not mature during this year? Not being pulled around by emotions is the most basic quality for a merchant…"

Aube paused for a moment before adding, "Naturally, his character can't change completely. Just as you said, Mafa didn't say anything after being humiliated by Jason and needed William to help him. I never thought that our younger cousin William would be this bold. The one standing behind Jason is someone that can give headaches to the Patriarch, Elder Logan, yet William dared to raise a hand against Jason."

"Maybe he gave up so he doesn't care anymore…"

"This is also possible. William will never have the opportunity to sit on the Patriarch's seat. No matter how troublesome Elder Logan can be, it wouldn't be that bad for him. But Ross, Leon, and I can't afford to offend Elder Logan…"

"Young Master Aube…" Anthony seemed to have thought of something. "This is an opportunity, if you can deal with this for Elder Logan, wouldn't you have one more ally in the Elder Council?"

"Haha…" Aube sneered when he heard this. "That old fox has been in the Elder Council for a few decades, how could he be moved by such a trivial thing? He would only support those that are strong enough, favors would be useless. It's a pity that Ross doesn't understand something so simple. I heard that he just sent someone to deal with Mafa…"

"Then we…"

"We don't need to do anything. Just watch, let Ross take the initiative. In fact, I'm more interested in William. He does seem a lot stronger now, maybe he'll enter the High Mage realm soon and compete for the Patriarch seat with us, giving us one more contender…"

"Wasn't William a 5th Rank Great Mage when he left Okland? How could…"

"Haha, maybe it's due to some stroke of luck or some fortuitous encounter? It's not that hard to believe. At that time, Ross was only a child from a side branch and his bloodline wasn't very pure, but after having a fortuitous encounter, he suddenly joined the competition for the position of Successor…"

"Understood, Young Master Aube, I'll pay more attention to William Merlin."

While the two were talking, the door to William's courtyard was kicked open.

Indeed, it wasn't pushed, it was kicked.

A loud sound could be heard echoing outside.

The Draconic Beastman had been waiting for Lin Yun and William for a while and was quite impatient, pacing back and forth the whole time. When that sound echoed, his two ears stood up straight. He grabbed the Gold Essence Two-handed Hammer and stood still, confusion apparent on his dark red face…

Before Xiuban could recover, a group of people entered the courtyard.

There were about ten of them and they all seemed overbearing. They wore dark red leather armor that had a crest in the shape of a bloody longsword, displaying their status as the warriors of the Merlin Family's subordinate Dragon Slayer Mercenary Group.

The one in the lead was actually a mage. He was in his twenties, and from the silver line on his cuff, he ought to be a Great Mage.

After this Great Mage entered, he saw the Draconic Beastman holding his Gold Essence Hammer and froze. He then looked ecstatic as he said, "Good, William Merlin dares to shelter a Dark Flame Beastman in his home!"

In the past few years, the Dark Flame Beastmen continuously attacked the Gaugass' fortifications and forced their way into Andlusa three times. The king, in his anger, announced a bounty seven times, increasing the price of the head of a Dark Flame Beastman every time. Nowadays, an ordinary Dark Flame Beastman's head could be taken to mages for a huge sum of gold. In the bigger cities of the Andlusa Kingdom, no one dared to shelter Dark Flame Beastmen, because if found, they would have to eat prison food for a few years.

As for Xiuban, he was actually a Highland Beastman, the Beastmen known as the thieves and swindlers of the Beastman race. They never had any bounties placed on them in the Andlusa Kingdom.

The problem was that Xiuban's skin had already turned from green to dark red due to the fusion with the blood of the Three-Headed Golden Dragon. But this was also one of the characteristics of Dark Flame Beastmen…

Thus, that young Great Mage who was obviously looking for trouble seemed pleased when he saw Xiuban.

"What are you looking at? Start moving! Seize that damn Dark Flame Beastman!"

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Chapter 275: Pale

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

Following the order of the Great Mage, the dozen warriors rushed over to surround him. They were the elites of the Dragon Slayer Mercenary Group and were all Great Swordsmen at the very least. The momentum of ten Great Swordsmen bursting with Aura was very frightening…

How could the cowardly Xiuban withstand this? He didn't even think about it and just swung his hammer.

A loud sound roared out as the Gold Essence Two-handed Hammer smashed the ground, making the earth shake. The warriors didn't have time to react and weren't able to withstand the shockwave.

At this moment, the warriors felt as if they had been charged by a beast. They didn't even have time to shout before they were sent flying.

The Gold Essence Hammer in Xiuban's hands had been tailor-made by Lin Yun.

Xiuban's strength had already reached an extreme level after fusing with that drop of blood. Every one of his moves contained boundless power, and he would even be able to burst with power close to that of a Dragon if he went all-out. This power wasn't something ordinary weapons could support.

Even Lin Yun had to spend quite a bit of time to craft this weapon for Xiuban.

It looked similar to the two-handed hammer sometimes used by ordinary fighters, but it had been made out of Gold Essence, one of the heaviest materials. A hammer made of Gold Essence would weigh over a hundred kilograms. Moreover, Lin Yun had used a lot of alchemy techniques that transcended this era.

The most shocking one was the Boundless Layering Technique.

In theory, the Boundless Layering Technique could keep layering magic materials endlessly. The Shelter Tower protecting Heiss City used this Boundless Layering Technique.

Of course, layering them endlessly wasn't actually possible…

The greatest alchemists had been gathered for the construction of the Shelter Tower, but in the end, they only managed to layer a few hundred times. Even so, it still allowed an ordinary tower to delay Noscent's destruction for over ten thousand years.

As for Lin Yun…

He could only layer ten times at best.

But a tenfold layering was frightening enough. Although this hammer wasn't much different from an ordinary one on the surface, it was ten times heavier and weighed over a thousand kilograms. In other words, Xiuban was brandishing a terrifyingly lethal weapon.

If it fell on someone's body…

Let alone these Great Swordsmen, even a Dragon would spew blood on the spot.

Lin Yun was very satisfied with all the transcending techniques he used on that hammer.

He even believed that after being used for a year, it would give rise to a Magic Tool Spirit, and at that time, it would inevitably rise to top of the Spiritual Magic Tools. With sufficiently good fortune, it might even become a True Spirit Magic Tool.

For this reason, Lin Yun named this hammer, calling it Carnage.

He chose this name because it would be what happened once the hammer burst out with all its power.

Just by smashing Carnage on the ground, Xiuban created a shockwave that sent the dozen Great Swordsmen flying.

"You… You dare resist!" The Great Mage was clearly frightened by Xiuban's attack.

This was no joke…

The dozen Great Swordsmen had been focused on Xiuban, yet they didn't have time to react before being sent flying. Just how frightening was that power?

"Eh…?"

But the Great Mage didn't expect that the Beastman wouldn't even pay attention to him.

Although it was the first time this Great Mage had ever seen such power, wasn't it also Xiuban's first time using Carnage?

The might of that thunderous swing scared Xiuban too…

Xiuban had misjudged the swing and hit the ground on accident, but it unexpectedly created such a powerful shockwave. These were Great Swordsmen, and it wasn't as if Xiuban had never met Great Swordsmen before… Before meeting Lin Yun, a Great Swordsman was enough to make him run away in panic. Even the weakest 1st Rank Great Swordsman would leave Xiuban bitterly struggling to move just with their Aura.

As for a 2nd Rank…

Xiuban expected only death from them.

Even now…

He got many benefits from following Lin Yun, and after getting that drop of blood in the Heaven Enlightening Plane, Xiuban could only tell that he was stronger than before.

But he simply didn't know how much stronger he was.

There were two important mages in the Gilded Rose: the young one he was no match for, and the older one he couldn't rival. The Humans were too despicable, they had all kinds of spells that were malicious traps for the upright and straightforward Highland Beastman, and every time he fell into it, they would jeer at him.

And there was also that damn flame.

In front of that flame, Xiuban only felt cold sweat trickling down his back. If he could, Xiuban would rather not face that abnormal flame ever again.

After the fusion with the drop of blood, his strength had advanced by leaps and bounds, making him feel as if he had broken away from the control of that Human and could finally breathe freedom. But that Human subdued him before giving him to that abnormal flame. Just thinking of that experience made Xiuban feel cold.

Xiuban remembered that the Human named "Merlin" that he was now serving seemed to be a Great Mage.

'Aren't Great Swordsmen and Great Mages around the same level?'

That experience had made the obstinate Xiuban believe that he was roughly only at the level of a 5th Rank Great Swordsman. If he met two or three lower-ranked Great Swordsman, he might be able to do beat them, but if he met a stronger one, he would be out of luck.

But he hadn't expected that he would meet a group of weak and unreasonable Great Swordsmen after following that Human Mage into a city.

He understood after seeing these guys…

They all approached with raging Aura, showing off their strength as Great Swordsmen. Some of them were in the upper ranks too.

But…

'How could they be so weak…'

'I only smashed Carnage down… Could the gap between Great Swordsmen and Great Mages be that large?

'Or is it… Is my weapon that amazing?'

Xiuban couldn't help touching Carnage. There seemed to be nothing special besides its weight… Otherwise, it was no different from your everyday hammer…

'No, I have to test it.'

"You there, get up." Xiuban lifted Carnage once again.

"…" The Great Swordsmen on the ground all held their breaths.

'Shit, why is this damn Beastman so abnormal… He already seriously injured us, yet he's still telling us to stand back up… Is he not satisfied? He wants seconds?

'Fuck, do you think we are idiots? Only idiots would stand up after being told to like that…'

The Swordsmen didn't need to communicate to all make the same choice.

If they didn't stand up, they wouldn't die!

Thus, a strange scene unfolded.

"Get up! Get up! Hurry up and get up!" Xiuban urged them.

'Don't get up, don't get up and we won't die…'

The Swordsmen desperately played dead.

"…" Xiuban had a new weapon that he really wanted to try out, he wanted to see if that strike had been a coincidence.

But he hadn't expected that the Great Swordsmen would actually play dead and refuse to stand up.

Helplessly, Xiuban could only look at the Great Mage on the side. "How about you come over?"

The Draconic Beastman's mind was very simple…

He simply didn't think of the difference between occupations, he only knew that Great Mages and Great Swordsmen had similar rank, so they should have similar power.

Since the Great Swordsmen refused to get up, he could only target that pretty boy on the side.

"Your face is so pale, you must be a very formidable Great Mage…" It couldn't be helped that he was confused. Xiuban was a Beastman, not a Human, and he only knew two Great Mages, Lin Yun and William. Both of them were a bit on the pale side, so in the Draconic Beastman's mind, any Great Mage with a pale face would be very formidable…

"…" The young Great Mage almost went crazy.

If not for his great fear of the Beastman and his weapon, the young Great Mage would have already cursed back at him, 'Shit, since when does being pale equate to being formidable?

'Moreover…

'I'm fucking pale? That's because you are scaring me…'

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Chapter 276: Taking Care of Something

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"What… What do you want to do!?" The young Great Mage became even paler as he looked at Xiuban's dark red face, which seemed very sinister to him. It was even more so after Xiuban laughed evilly while caressing his hammer, looking more and more perverted.

"What am I doing? Hehehehe…" Xiuban was already immersed in the pleasure of discovering such a powerful weapon. He couldn't stop giggling, and when the young Great Mage noticed his eerie smile, he almost peed his pants on the spot.

"D-Don't… Don't…" The young Great Mage took a few steps back, his eyes filled with fear as he retreated. "Don't come over…"

"Hehehehe…" Xiuban slowly walked closer to the Great Mage while holding his hammer.

This was an extremely strange scene.

And fortunately for Xiuban, William hadn't held much importance in the Merlin Family before. He was only one of the stronger members of the younger generation that couldn't participate in the succession fight, so usually, no one would visit his courtyard. Otherwise, they would catch Xiuban in the act.

Ten warriors on the ground, a Great Mage and a Beastman on the side, one retreating step by step, the other advancing step by step. The atmosphere in the courtyard was very weird.

Fortunately…

Someone was there to save the young Great Mage.

William had returned.

"What's going on?" William's face sank when he discovered that someone had broken the door to his courtyard.

But… He soon saw that strange scene…

One retreating while stuttering threats, one advancing while giggling, it looked quite comical. William even forgot about his door and crossed his arms over his chest as he calmly watched.

"William, you, you… You dare shelter a Dark Flame Beastman! I'll report you to the Elder Council!" Seeing William, that young Great Mage shouted as if he was grasping at his last straw.

But the way he shouted was a bit wrong…

William originally wanted to stop Xiuban, but when he heard that shout, he swallowed his words and instead sneered, "Report me if you can."

"You…" The young Great Mage's expression became unsightly.

Although William wasn't as important as Aube or Ross, he was still a direct descendant of the Merlin Family. Sheltering a Dark Flame Beastman might send most people into prison for a few years, but the Merlin Family's descendants would at most be reprimanded. So what if he told the Elder Council?

His own situation was a lot more troublesome.

'That damned Dark Flame Beastman keeps approaching with its creepy smile while fondling that weapon, I'll be seriously injured if it touches me!'

"William, if… if you do this, Ross won't let you off!" The young Great Mage was panicking. He thought that by using his backer, he would be able to escape this situation.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as the young Great Mage imagined.

"Haha, Ross…" The name which held boundless respect in that Great Mage's heart was only worth a sneer in front of William.

William might have been afraid of the consequences in the past…

After all, he was one of the most talented geniuses of the Merlin Family. His strength and talent exceeded that of Aube and Leon, but because he was born in a side branch, he had only been suppressed by Aube.

Unfortunately for this young Great Mage, William was no longer the same.

Remaining in Thousand Sails City for half a year had let William reach a whole new level. William saw a 9th Rank Great Mage suppress an Archmage, so how could he care about Ross?

Moreover, William had acquired the Soul Inheritance from that damaged crest. He was completely reborn and had stepped in the High Mage realm. His future was boundless. Using Ross' name to pressure him was a wrong move.

"William, you seem a lot bolder after half a year…"

At this time, another group entered.

The one in the lead was a seemingly thirty-year-old man that looked quite carefree. Although there was a long scar on his face, it didn't make him ugly, but instead increased his charisma. As he stood there, whether it was the fallen Great Swordsmen, the retreating Great Mage, the pervert Beastman, or the reborn William, they all looked at him.

He gave the feeling of always being the center of attention.

"Ross, why did you come?" William's heart tightened. That name was a shadow that none of the younger Merlins could get rid of.

As long as they had the Merlin name, they couldn't ignore Ross' existence.

Born in the side branches, he didn't have powerful backing or outstanding talent. At 24, he was only a 5th Rank Mage. That power wasn't enough to enter the Gilded Rose's Mercenary Group. Who knew the name Ross Merlin back then?

But after he was 24, Ross Merlin rose up like a comet.

It only took him one year to reach the Great Mage realm. Five ranks in a single year, this caused a sensation in the Merlin Family.

But it wasn't over yet.

After rising those five ranks in one year, Ross kept quickly progressing and advanced even more ranks in another year, becoming a 5th Rank Great Mage. After two years, he stepped into the High Mage realm, and his Magic Conducting Rune was the Endless Spring that no one in the Merlin Family managed to form in five hundred years. Santon Merlin was the last person to form the Endless Spring in the Family, and was known for his endless reserves of mana.

After fusing Nine Endless Springs into one, Ross' mana reached a realm that a High Mage could never dream of. Just by relying on that Magic Conducting Rune that had never appeared in five hundred years, Ross sit at the number one position of the younger generation despite being a member of a side branch.

And this wasn't self-proclaimed…

Three years ago, Ross went deep into the Raging Flame Plane and single-handedly charged into a Crimson Fort occupied by over a thousand Raging Flame Beastmen. He fought for seven days and nights without rest before taking back the Crimson Fort.

After this fight, Ross' position in the Merlin Family skyrocketed, becoming one of the powerful contenders for the Successor position from his previous position as a mere side branch member.

Even his fellow contenders, Aube and Leon, were speechless about this.

Despite having been completely transformed in this half a year, William, who had been wondering if he could now stand up to Ross, couldn't help frowning when facing him.

It couldn't be helped, as Ross' battle in the Raging Flame Plane had left a deep shadow in his mind.

It was a subconscious reaction.

But his frown quickly disappeared.

William had realized that he was no longer the same, he had changed after everything he'd experienced since he left the family.

Nowadays, he was leading the Gilded Rose' Mercenary Group. He had fifty Great Mages under his command and had entered the laboratory of the final Artisan of the 3rd Dynasty. Let alone Ross, William even believed that Santon Merlin might not have had as many diverse experiences as him at this age.

Not to mention, there was still his unfathomable cousin, Mafa, standing behind him.

If there was one person who could make William feel dread, it was definitely Mafa Merlin. William knew more than anyone how terrifying his younger cousin could be.

Xiuban was a good example. With Carnage in his hand, a dozen Great Swordsmen were laying on the ground and one Great Mage almost peed his pants. Wasn't that frightening enough?

William himself was a good example. In just half a year, he advanced from 5th Rank Great Mage to 2nd Rank High Mage, and even now, he was still advancing at a frightening speed. He might even manage to become a 9th Rank High Mage before turning 40. Wasn't that miraculous enough?

But William knew that whether it was the frightening Xiuban or himself, they had both benefited from Mafa Merlin's training.

It could be Xiuban, it could be himself, but it also could have been others instead.

He and Xiuban had only been lucky enough to follow that younger cousin.

In contrast, what did Ross even count as?

He was only the number one of the Merlin Family's younger generation. He may have the Endless Spring Magic Conducting Rune, but he was still an ant in front of an Archmage.

But Mafa Merlin, while he was still a 9th Rank Great Mage, had already defeated Fran, who had reached the Archmage realm.

The gap between them was too great.

Since that was the case, how could he be nervous facing Ross?

"Haha, I heard from someone that you took our younger cousin back from Thousand Sails City and that I should come to check on him. Where is he?"

"Cousin?" William had already recovered, so he wasn't at all angered by Ross' condescending attitude. He only smiled as he replied, "Cousin Mafa went out to deal with something, he should be back soon."

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Chapter 277: Funny Joke (Unexpected Development!)

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

The Aurij Mountains, north of Okland, near Shulan, the land of Ice and Fire. Towering mountains spreading for hundreds of kilometers. In the middle of the 3rd Dynasty, the Empire opened a path in Gaugass, and this became a savage, deserted land with numerous minerals and herbs, but it was also occupied by many dangerous magic beasts. For thousands of years, the Aurij Mountains remained a paradise for Mercenary Groups.

Of the over hundred Mercenary Groups of Aukland, at least half of them were making a living in the Aurij Mountains. The more powerful the group, the deeper they could go and the more magic beasts and precious materials they could harvest.

The Red Dragon Mercenary Group was among the most famous of these.

It was the 3rd ranked Mercenary Group in Okland. The Red Dragon Mercenaries already had three hundred years of history and had been through four leaders, each of them being famous powerhouses that helped slowly raise the status of the Red Dragon Mercenary Group to its current position.

In the current Okland, the Red Dragon Mercenary Group fell short only of the Heaven Enlightening Mercenary Group and the Temple Knights Mercenary Group. They had an 80% success rate that they could proudly boast of. If it wasn't for their leader dying in battle two years ago, the Red Dragon Mercenary Group might have already risen to become the number two Mercenary Group of Okland.

The Okland Mercenary Guild's board had a special column with a star symbol. The star symbol indicated that the task was very difficult and very rewarding.

These high-risk high-reward missions were usually monopolized by the three highest ranked mercenary groups.

This included things such as killing a level 30 magic beast, or destroying a force on par with the Viper Nest, or taking control of a small town. There were all kinds of missions…

And only the three strongest mercenary groups could accomplish these.

But this time, the Red Dragon Mercenaries had accepted a mission that wasn't marked with a star.

This mission had come from the Watson Family.

One of the two major Families of Okland, a behemoth that stood against the Merlin Family. Even the Red Dragon Mercenary Group had to lower their heads in front of the Watson Family.

This time, the one who hired the Red Dragon Mercenary Group was Stan Watson, the most outstanding genius of the Watson Family. He hired the Red Dragon Mercenaries this time to protect him as he entered the depths of the Aurij Mountains.

As for why Stan Watson was going in the depths of the Aurij Mountains, it wasn't for these hired hands to know.

The Red Dragon Mercenary Group wasn't unfamiliar with the Aurij Mountains' depths. They would usually go there to hunt of magic beasts or gather resources.

But it was the first time that they had received an escort mission. They were very careful about this and sent the strongest fifty members with a vice-leader at the head to guard Stan Watson on this journey.

They were the strongest that the Red Dragon Mercenaries had to offer and were the main force for over half of the star missions. They were all veterans.

The entourage had made their way through quite domineeringly. The met dozens of magic beast attacks that would have wiped out any normal group, but with the protection of the 50 Red Dragon Mercenaries, Stan didn't even have the opportunity to make a move of his own.

To begin with, the fifty members of the Red Dragon Mercenary Group were like mammoths charging up a mountain.

"Alright, it's here." After annihilating another group of magic beasts, the team of fifty took a break to rest and reorganize under a cliff. A young mage wearing a white robe walked out from behind, a yellow map in his hands. After carefully examining the cliff, joy spread across his face.

"Young Master Stan, please be careful, this is one of the most dangerous areas of the Aurij Mountains. You are now under our team's protection. If something unexpected happened, our Red Dragon Mercenary Group wouldn't be able to account for it."

The one speaking was a female warrior donning a silver armor. She seemed very young, in her early twenties. Her silver armor couldn't completely cover up her graceful figure and her blonde hair glittered like the setting sun. From her fair face and delicate features, she was undoubtedly a stunning woman.

But…

The members of the Red Dragon Mercenary Group knew that she wasn't merely a beauty.

She was Anna Achilles, the top ranking vice-leader of one of the three largest mercenary groups in Okland, a 24-year-old Expert Swordsman with the bloodline of the War God. Three years ago, she defeated a famous Expert Swordsman when she was a 9th Rank Great Swordsman becoming famous herself.

Now, Anna was already the 1st vice leader of the Red Dragon Mercenary Group, only having to report to the current leader, Leo.

If it wasn't for the fact that the one they were escorting had a rather special identity, Anna wouldn't have accepted such a mission.

"Okay, Commander Anna, your mission has been completed after escorting me here…" The young mage with his white robe waved his hand casually. "I don't need your help to protect me. Shall I remind you that your Red Dragon Mercenary was only hired so that I wouldn't use up mana beforehand? As for the rest, I don't need you worrying about it."

"Young Master Stan…" Anna wanted to say insist, but she ended up shaking her head and remaining silent.

"Don't say anything else. Commander Anna, you'd best remember my identity. I'm Okland's only 8th Rank High Mage at only 35 years old. Only a Sword Saint would be qualified to worry about my safety.

"You…" These words were truly hurtful, and even Anna couldn't help being angry despite being a hired mercenary.

However.

Before Anna could say anything, a voice came out of a bush.

"Stan Watson?"

"Who are you!" Before Stan even reacted, the fifty mercenaries already drew their weapons. As the commander, Anna instantly burst with Aura, covering her blond hair and heavy armor with a layer of cyan mist.

Anna had studied under the Storm Sword Saint, Talos.

Talos went through hundreds of battles throughout his life and was never defeated due to his famous Sky Aura. Although he had many disciples, only three or four of them truly mastered the Sky Aura, Anna Achilles being one of them.

Anna instantly released her Sky Aura just as the voice came out of the bush because she felt a premonition of danger from that voice.

She didn't know exactly why…

But she felt that the owner of that voice had some frightening magic power, and even if he hadn't come out of the bush, it was enough for a veteran like Anna to feel a chill run down her spine.

"Come out!" Anna's Sky Aura was raging as she remained vigilant and coldly snorted towards the bush.

"Haha…" Under Anna's cold snort, a young mage slowly walked out of the bush. He looked thin, and his face seemed a bit pale, yet charming. He walked very softly, as if afraid of killing an ant.

The young mage held a magic staff with a huge gem embedded at the tip. Anna looked at it carefully and discovered that it was actually an Elemental Amber!

This discovery made Anna's heart tighten.

Fist-sized pieces of Elemental Amber were very rare in Okland. They would usually appear only in the hands of geniuses nurtured by their entire Family, like Stan Watson, for example.

Yet, the young mage standing before them held one.

"Okay, stand there and don't move! Tell us what you are planning, or else the Red Dragon Mercenary Group will view you as an intruder!" The Elemental Amber raised Annas level of vigilance.

"If I don't get closer, how could I tell you my goal…" The young mage kept slowly walking towards Stan Watson as if he hadn't heard her. "In fact, I hold no evil intentions…"

"Oh?" Anna tightened the grip on her sword and didn't relaxed after the person's answer.

"Whether you hold evil intent or not, don't hope of escaping now that you came," Stan Watson coldly snorted before Anna even gave the order to attack.

At the same time, he quickly chanted a spell.

The might of an 8th Rank High Mage was quite extraordinary. Just as the incantation echoed, raging flames were already filling the atmosphere. It was a Flame Prison spell. The flames turned into chains, sealing the escape route of the young mage.

"I truly hold no evil intentions…" The young mage didn't seem to notice that he was in the center of a Flame Prison and only scratched his cheek before raising his staff. "I only came to kill Stan Watson, it has nothing to do with you…"

"Haha, such a funny joke!" Stan laughed when he heard that.

As the most outstanding genius of the Watson Family, Stan had become so strong that he had never met anyone or anything that could contend against him. Let alone the youths at the same age, even the Archmages with a grudge in the Watson Family didn't dare to openly talk about killing him.

And now, a young mage that probably wasn't even twenty had said something like that…

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Stan Watson felt that this was a joke, but Anna didn't think so…

If that young mage gave a feeling of danger just when he came out of the bush, then after raising his staff, Anna felt an icy chill in her bones. That chill was similar to being watched by a viper from brush or standing at the edge of a cliff. It was inexplicable, but so very vivid.

Anna had been training under Storm Sword Saint Talos from an early age. Her eyes were far keener than the average person could imagine. From when she joined the Red Dragon Mercenary Group at 18 to becoming the 1st vice leader now, she had experienced hundreds of battles. Her repeated close encounters with death gave Anna some instincts that far surpassed those of ordinary Expert Swordsmen when it came to feeling danger.

She felt the chilling sensation of danger just as the Flame Prison appeared.

That feeling was so intense that Anna thought that death had already come to claim its victim.

"Protect Young Master Stan!" Although she didn't know what the danger was, Anna still held her sword and dashed forward at the young mage stuck in the Flame Prison.

The power of an Expert Swordsman bursting with the Sky Aura was very threatening. Her speed reached the pinnacle and she looked like a meteor crashing into the Flame Prison.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

Because the young mage had already extended his hand.

This hand didn't seem strong or powerful, but when Anna saw it, it made her go pale.

"Fuck!"

She was still twenty meters away from the Flame Prison when she swung her sword, letting the Aura contained within burst out with an ear-piercing sound. In a flash, a cyan aura could be seen flying in the shape of a curved moon, displaying beauty as well as endless killing intent.

Anna's attack could only be described as shocking. Even Stan, who had said that only Sword Saints were qualified to worry about his safety, could draw back in surprise in front of this attack.

But it was such a pity, because it was still too late.

The cyan Sword Aura was only a meter away from the Flame Prison.

But this meter was like an uncrossable ravine. Before the deep cyan Sword Aura could breach that distance, the young mage's slender hand had already grabbed the Flame Prison and gently pushed.

The prison of raging flames tore open.

In that moment, Anna even saw the young mage calmly pat the dust off his body before casually waving his magic staff.

Following that, a strange rune appeared out of nowhere.

"Runic Shield!"

Anna was startled.

The might of that Runic Shield far surpassed what anyone could have imagined. A strange rune could be seen floating in the air. It was neither dazzling nor bright, and it didn't emit any frightening aura. It was only silently floating there just like a dried up leaf.

But it was this rune like a dried up leaf that blocked Anna's all-out Crescent Moon Slash. The deep cyan Sword Aura exploded against the strange rune…

The scene was too strange.

It was obviously an extremely fierce explosion, but there were no sounds and no traces of Aura or mana flowing out… Everything happened silently.

The strange rune floated there like a bottomless black hole, swallowing away all the power.

"This is impossible…" Anna was a bit stunned, this completely surpassed her imagination.

But this beautiful Expert Swordsman was a veteran, she was only startled for a split-second before bursting with Aura once again and slashing with her sword three times. Three Crescent Moon Slashes burst out consecutively with Sword Aura. At this time, the entire area seemed to be covered by her Sword Aura: sound, wind, rocks, soil, branches, everything was bathing in that power.

It could be said that this beautiful Expert Swordsman was bursting with all her power.

But…

The young mage wasn't affected at all. That strange rune was like an unbreakable barrier that stifled Anna's efforts. The young mage was still walking very slowly with his staff in hand, a smile on his face.

But in Anna's eyes, he looked like a ghost, a shadow of death.

Facing the three Crescent Moon Slashes, the young mage's hair wasn't even ruffled as he walked straight through the Sword Aura, leaving the three slashes in the dust.

When he brushed past her, Anna felt her hair standing up on her head.

Besides Anna and Stan Watson, there were still fifty members of the Red Dragon Mercenaries, but she was the only one that could feel the danger.

Only Anna, who knew how much she had put into those four Crescent Moon Slashes, knew how frightening that young mage was. He simply wasn't an existence an Expert Swordsman could contend with. A common High Mage couldn't use a Runic Shield to block four of her Crescent Moon Slashes.

Anna had never met such a powerful opponent.

When the enemy brushed past her, Anna felt like her heart had stopped beating. The feeling of being on the verge of death was terrifying.

He only brushed past her for a split second.

But to Anna, it felt like a year. Her back was already drenched in sweat, she had tightened her fists until they turned white, her heart was beating fiercely, and she was panting heavily. After some time, Anna finally felt that pressure disappear.

"Phew…" Anna sighed in relief when the pressure dissipated.

But she recalled this young mage's words.

"I truly hold no evil intentions, I only came to kill Stan Watson, it has nothing to do with you…"

"Fuck!" Anna cried out in alarm. She tightened her grip on her sword and rushed over like lightning.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

Anna had chased after him as fast as she could, but she only caught up to a spark of flame. The young mage had burst into raging flames just as he passed her.

Elemental Incarnation!

The young, carefree mage had already turned into an Elemental Incarnation and taken advantage of the remaining flames from the Flame Prison to reach Stan with a Flame Flash.

"Who are you? You dare become the enemy of the Watson Family?" Stan had a grave expression. He raised his magic staff and burst out with the power of an 8th Rank High Mage, showing that he was worthy of being the most outstanding genius of the Watson Family.

He didn't panic when facing the young mage. He used a counterspell to gain some valuable time and then cast a Flame Field to restrain the fire elements and stop them from being too active. The two spells were insta-cast, and they were cast accurately and perfectly.

After this, he cast an Ice Wall.

Not many mages knew that the 2nd Tier Spell, Ice Wall, was still one of the best ways to handle Fire Elemental Incarnation, even after gaining access to spells of higher tiers. The Ice Wall itself had the effect of suppressing fire elements, while also bringing powerful physical defenses. To a Fire Elemental Incarnation, which used fire elements for both spells and physical attacks, the Ice Wall was a true nemesis.

The three spells in a row displayed the true power of Stan Watson.

He was worthy of being the genius nurtured by the Watson Family. Even though he had grown up under the protection of the Watson Family, he wasn't lacking in fighting experience. Despite facing an Elemental Incarnation at close range, he didn't panic.

This was the difference being peak forces and ordinary forces.

Compared to Stan Watson, the genius from the Monchi Family, Ryan, was far too inferior.

Stan Watson sneered after casting these three spells. The light at the tip of his magic staff flickered as the mana stored within erupted out.

This time, he cast Chain Lightning.

This spell, which had reached 6th Tier, was extremely destructive.

Stan Watson knew that as long as he could hold for three seconds, the Chain Lightning would completely rip through his enemy.

"Careful!" At this time, Stan heard the warning of the beautiful Swordsman.

But that reminder felt laughable to Stan, who was in the middle of channelling Chain Lightning. Although Anna wasn't weak, her insight was too shallow. How could she understand his marvelous setup? In the end, insight depended on one's strength. An Expert Swordsman was only a joke, only a Sword Saint was qualified to mind his safety.

But…

Stan Watson's smile suddenly disappeared.

Because he noticed a flame passing through the thick Ice Wall.

'How could it be!?'

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Unfortunately, it was too late for Stan Watson to figure out what was happening.

The red flame passed through the thick Ice Wall, dazzling like the sun. The ice instantly melted as the red incandescence leapt out from within. Stan suddenly lost contact with the ground, and a flaming arm was tightened around his neck.

It was followed by a snapping sound.

The surroundings suddenly went quiet.

Everyone stood there in a daze.

This was a really shocking scene.

The beautiful Expert Swordswoman forgot to send a 5th Crescent Moon Slash, the elites of the Red Dragon Mercenary Group forgot to try to save their employer. They all stood there in a daze, filled with shock and fear.

Stan Watson had already been famous ten years ago. He was considered the Watson Family's future, a 25-year-old High Mage that shocked all of Okland, and he had been steadily progressing over the years. He had been quickly advancing down the path of magic and had already become an 8th Rank High Mage. He might have become an Archmage within three years if given the time.

Stan Watson was like a shadow looming in the minds of all of Okland's young mages. Everyone knew that he was very prideful and arrogant, but no one could deny that he was extremely talented. Anyone that wanted to reach the peak would have no choice but to face Stan Watson.

The beautiful Expert Swordswoman included.

Anna had the bloodline of the War God, she had defeated the famous Expert Swordsman, Rosen, and was now the vice leader of the Red Dragon Mercenary Group. Her sword rarely met any worthy opponents, but she herself had to admit that she was still far from being on Stan Watson's level.

Earlier, Stan had arrogantly claimed that only a Sword Saint was qualified to worry about him. At the time, even if Anna had been angry, she didn't retort, because this was indeed a fact. He was incredibly confident, to the point of being arrogant.

But now…

The arrogant and formidable Stan Watson was dead.

Indeed, that seemingly fragile and slender arm had passed through the thick Ice Wall and snapped Stan's neck in an instant.

Now, Stan Watson was only a corpse that was casually thrown to the ground by that young mage. The Fire Elemental Incarnation had already scattered and the young mage no longer emitted berserk mana fluctuations. He gently looked around at everyone with a smile on his face. If not for the sparks at the tip of his fingers that had yet to dissipate, no one would have imagined that such a gentle and harmless-looking young man had just snapped the neck of the most outstanding genius of Okland Family.

"You… You killed Stan Watson!" Anna stood there in a daze, her hand tightly gripping her sword, but it was clear that her sword was shaking.

The beautiful Expert Swordswoman was already paralyzed. She couldn't stop thinking of the consequences of Stan Watson's death. The failure of the escort mission would be a huge blow to the Red Dragon Mercenary Group's reputation, and the Watson Family would definitely look into it.

Normally, Anna's only choice as a hired mercenary would be to kill the murderer.

But she didn't dare to try.

Anna truly didn't dare, because the power of that young mage was frightening and strange. She simply didn't have the confidence to withstand that power, let alone to kill the opponent. Even just looking at him from far away made her feel unspeakable fear.

Even Anna was in such a state, not to mention the other mercenaries.

In fact, they had yet to react. How could their perfect escort mission suddenly fail? 'Where did that young mage come from, how could he have such frightening power? Wasn't Stan the most outstanding genius of Okland's younger generation? The most talented? How… How could he be completely unable to even resist? How could he stand there as his neck was broken by someone else? This… What's happening?'

But they wouldn't get an answer from Lin Yun.

He didn't leave immediately after cancelling the Fire Elemental Incarnation. Instead, he bent down and picked up the yellow map.

He had seen Stan Watson take it out earlier, and it seemed very important. After he appeared, Stan Watson didn't have the time to hide it, and with his death, that map had involuntarily fallen to the ground.

"Oh?" After picking it up, Lin Yun took a look at the map and became interested.

On the yellow map was drawn the shape of the Aurij Mountains with a red line at the peak. Lin Yun studied it carefully and saw that the end of that line seemed to be on the other side of the Aurij Mountains, close to the Gaugass region.

'It looks like I killed the right person.' Lin Yun smiled and stopped studying the map. He slowly rolled it up before carefully putting it in his pocket.

Looking further at it would be a waste of time.

The red line led to a region that he couldn't enter right now. In the future, a world-shaking fight would happen, engulfing the entirety of Noscent. Countless powerhouses would fall there; Archmages, Sword Saints, they were only cannon fodder in that war, as even more than a dozen Heaven Mages would fall.

Thus, Stan Watson's death wasn't unfair.

Trying to step into that area with the strength of an 8th Rank High Mage…

'He was truly tired of living…' Lin Yun's mouth twitched. He no longer paid attention to the corpse on the ground and nodded at the beautiful Expert Swordsman who was still shaking. "Don't worry, I don't have any evil intentions."

He then walked down the mountain…

At this time, the fifty elite mercenaries and the 24-year-old War God didn't dare to stop Lin Yun on his way down. Let alone stopping him, no one even dared to breathe.

Lin Yun's figure gradually became indistinct in the distance.

"Hold on! Stop!" Anna seemed to regain some courage as she chased after the blurry figure.

But then, she stopped.

Even this beautiful Expert Swordswoman herself didn't know what she was doing.

Chasing him?

Was this any different from courting death? The power displayed by the other side could overwhelm Expert Swordsmen, and she was only at the 5th Rank. Even if she spent a few years and reached 9th Rank, or even Sword Saint rank, she felt that it might be very difficult for her to win.

But…

She felt unwilling to let the other side go.

Anna didn't know what she should do now.

The blonde Expert Swordswoman was at her wits' end as she stood there. She didn't dare to chase, but was unwilling to let it go. A few minutes later, when the young mage's silhouette disappeared completely, Anna sighed and told the fifty mercenaries behind her, "Take Young Master Stan's corpse, let's return…"At the same moment, in the Merlin Family Manor.

"That is quite a coincidence, I came to meet our younger cousin today, but he actually went out. Forget it, it's fine if our younger cousin isn't around, I only wanted to tell him a few things." Ross stood there with his condescending attitude. The young mage from earlier was already hiding behind Ross, afraid of that "Dark Flame" Beastman doing something rash.

"What did you want to tell him?"

"I heard that our younger cousin's business in Thousand Sails City is pretty good, the alchemy shop called Gilded Rose seemed to be doing quite well. It's perfect, I just set up a mercenary group and I'm preparing an expedition on the River Branch Plane and I need a lot of equipment. Wait a bit, I'll have someone draft a list and send it to you, then you can have our younger cousin deliver the items as soon as possible."

"Hehe…" William suddenly understood when he heard that.

No wonder someone was looking for trouble.

It turned out that he was obeying his master.

The matter of the Gilded Rose's wealth had already spread throughout the Merlin Family. It wasn't just Ofran that knew, even Ross and Aube most likely got some information.

It was clear that Ross had heard that the Gilded Rose was thriving in Thousand Sails City, and thus, he sent a group of people to look for trouble, in order to extort some profits from the Gilded Rose.

It wasn't hard to understand.

While they were busy making a mess, Ross would personally appear to clean it up and take the opportunity to ask for a batch of alchemy items. Due to owing a favor and because of Ross' power, even if Mafa was unwilling, he would feel pressured to deal with his request.

Unfortunately, Ross had yet to meet Mafa.

If he had, he would never have dared to blackmail him even if he were a hundred times more courageous…

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Chapter 280: Fire Dragon Spell

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

'He was a 9th Rank Great Mage when he crushed an Archmage. And he had already set foot in the High Mage realm, his strength reaching an unfathomable level. Trying to blackmail such an abnormal existence, are you tired of living?'

Unfortunately…

Ross didn't know about any of this.

"It's just a small matter. Since our younger cousin isn't around, you can help me pass on the request," Ross said before his expression became serious. "But I truly didn't think that you would become so bold after going to Thousand Sails City. You even dare to shelter a Dark Flame Beastman and watch as he attacked my people. Don't you know the relationship between Harvey and me?"

"Cousin Ross…" As William started to respond, the young mage that was hiding behind Ross suddenly chimed in, "William is holding you in contempt! When that Dark Flame Beastman attacked me, he said that you aren't anything special!"

"Haha, It looks like you have grown a lot after half a year in Thousand Sails City, William…" Ross' gaze became even colder.

"Alright, Ross, you don't have to continue with the nonsense. You should be able to discern truth from falsehood, Ross. I'll still advise you, you should think twice before trying to walk over Cousin Mafa's head…" William didn't plan on explaining any further.

Ross' goal was extremely clear. He had sent his people to start a conflict. As long as he had the upper hand, he would force Mafa Merlin to equip and supply his mercenary group.

His method was a good one, but he had tried it on the wrong person.

"Haha, let's have a go then. I want to see how much progress you made in Thousand Sails City in half a year and whether Harvey's words are right… We'll see if you have the right to belittle me…"

With these words, Ross immediately roused his Magic Conducting Rune without letting William reply. Endless Spring revolved at maximum speed and a huge amount of mana started flooding Ross' body.

At the same time, he drew a strange rune in the air.

After completing the rune, a ball of fire rose up and flew towards William. This was a 5th Tier Spell, Fire Dragon. It consisted of flames transformed into a Dragon Breath, and although it wasn't as terrifying as an actual Dragon Breath, it already had the characteristics of one: high temperature, high toxicity, and enough power to melt even steel just by grazing it.

But Fire Dragon was a 5th Rank Spell. Even if Ross was a High Mage, he shouldn't be able to complete it that fast. He took only one second to cast the Fire Dragon after drawing the rune.

That was almost no different from an instantaneous spell.

This was thanks to the Endless Spring.

As the most powerful Magic Conducting Rune of the Merlin Family, the power of the Endless Spring wasn't something that other Magic Conducting Runes could compare with. It could be considered one of the peak Magic Conducting Runes in the entire Andlusa Kingdom.

The mana recovery was shocking, and although High Mages with the Endless Spring didn't truly have an endless supply of mana, it was very hard for them to run out with basic consumption.

Moreover, after the nine Endless Springs fused as one, there would be a special spell slot. This spell slot could store a spell that didn't surpass the caster's rank, and if the need arose, they could use a rune to cast that spell.

Such as this Fire Dragon.

The most frightening part was that after the Fire Dragon spell went through the Endless Spring's nurturing, its might increased and couldn't be compared to an ordinary version of the spell. When that mass of fire rose up, William felt an aura of destruction. It wasn't much different from a true Dragon Breath…

"Shit…" William felt the horror of the Endless Spring.

But William didn't think that Ross would use the most powerful card in his hand. This wasn't just teaching him a lesson… If that spell hit him, even if he managed to survive, he would still be crippled.

Unfortunately, William didn't have time to think about it now.

He didn't think too much about it and let out a Runic Shield.

Usually, using a Runic Shield at such a time would be very stupid.

Ross would immediately follow with a spell after that Fire Dragon, but William had already lost valuable seconds on a Runic Shield. If another spell landed on it, it would almost certainly be shattered.

But he didn't have much time to think.

After casting the Runic Shield, a rumbling sound could be heard as the Fire Dragon clashed with it. The tyrannical flames exploded, making the shield flicker twice before it was split open by the enhanced spell.

'So powerful…' William was startled, but he took advantage of the valuable few seconds he gained from the Runic Shield to cast a Fire Elemental Incarnation. He then used Flame Flash and instantly appeared behind Ross.

"William, you are so naive…" What awaited William was a large hand.

A loud crashing sound echoed.

That was from the hand slamming the ground. William didn't even have time to react before he felt that huge power crashing into him. It felt as if a large rock had fallen onto his body. Everything spun around him as he spat a mouthful of blood.

"Runic Shield, haha, William, it looks like your harvest in Thousand Sails City was pretty good, you are already a High Mage…"

"The Endless Spring is so troublesome…" William coughed some more blood. He was extremely pale, but his eyes were bright and scary.

He had understood.

It looked as if he had lost this battle very quickly. Ross only cast one Fire Dragon and almost settled the fight.

But in reality, William found out from this that the gap between him and Ross wasn't as big as he had imagined. He hadn't lost because of the Fire Dragon, but because of the Endless Spring.

He had lost to the most powerful Magic Conducting Rune of the Merlin Family.

If he had a powerful Magic Conducting Rune of his own, the outcome of this fight would have been uncertain.

As he thought of this, William looked forward to it.

He looked forward to the next fight against Ross.

Because his younger cousin had promised to impart him a Meditation Law Set far surpassing the Crimson Heart once he stepped into the High Mage realm. That Meditation Law Set was so amazing that he would even be able to rely on it to reshape his Magic Conducting Runes if he was willing to, or so his younger cousin had said.

Reshaping his Magic Conducting Runes!

He would stand on the same starting point as Ross if he could do that. At that time, the battle wouldn't be settled by one Fire Dragon.

William now truly understood how much he had gained in Thousand Sails City. He now had some hope to defeat Ross, the existence he'd been forced to look up to, the Ross he had never hoped to catch up to.

He would have never believed it possible before going to Thousand Sails City.

He only needed time now.

Time wasn't a problem for William, as he was patient enough.

But…

William being patient didn't mean that others would be patient.

As William coughed blood, someone entered his courtyard.

"Well, Cousin, you are admitting defeat too early…" Lin Yun held his Spiritual Magic Staff as he slowly entered the messy courtyard.

"Haha…" William's heart sank as he saw Lin Yun coming into the courtyard. A hint of a smile appeared on his face as he struggled to reply, "Nothing I can do about it, a Fire Dragon Spell nurtured by the Endless Spring isn't something I can currently resist against. It's fine, he won't be my opponent if I have three months…"

"William, it's not your style to say something so bold…" Ross sneered at William before looking at the approaching Lin Yun. "I suppose you are our younger cousin from Thousand Sails City? Hmm? William, how about you make the introductions?"

That last sentence was actually an attempt to get a reaction from Lin Yun.

Unfortunately, Lin Yun didn't even look at him. He walked to William and took a bottle of Health Potion from his pocket and frowned as he asked, "How is it? Any severe injuries?"

"I'm alright…" William coughed blood again before drinking the Health Potion. After a short time, his face regained some color. Then, William pointed at Ross, "This is Ross Merlin, one of the most outstanding geniuses of the Merlin Family, and alongside Aube and Lyon, he is considered the future of the Merlin Family…"

"And compared to Stan Watson?" Lin Yun grinned.

"Haha, how could he be compared to a dead person…" William couldn't help chuckling when he heard that question.

William didn't need to ask the result of Lin Yun's trip…

He knew that since Cousin Mafa personally went to take care of this, Stan Watson was definitely dead.

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Chapter 281: Rematch

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"Stan Watson!" Ross suddenly flew into a rage when he heard that name and roared, "I'll step on him sooner or later and show everyone that Ross Merlin is a hundred times stronger than Stan Watson!"

"What happened to him?" Lin Yun asked William with a strange expression. He didn't listen to Ross or even spare him a glance.

"Well, in the past…" William didn't try to act tactful and he said this with a loud voice so that Ross would hear.

"William, shut up!" The enraged Ross became furious like a lion. He clenched his fists as his eyes turned red and glared at William with fury and killing intent.

To Ross, Stan Watson's name was taboo.

This was an open secret in the Merlin Family. Few people would dare to mention his name in front of Ross.

Three years ago, Ross entered the depths of the Raging Flame Plane and charged into the Crimson Fort occupied by a thousand Raging Flame Beastmen. He spent seven days and nights there fighting them before he defeated the army and took control of the Crimson Fort.

After that fight, Ross' position in the Merlin Family had skyrocketed. From a member of a side branch, he became one of the core members of the Merlin Family, one of the three geniuses alongside Leon and Aube, and he even gained a seat at the Elder Council.

But…

While Ross was flushed with success, the Watson Family joined the fight over the Raging Flame Plane.

That was the first Planar War that Stan Watson participated in.

This young genius of the Watson Family became a dazzling light in the Planar War. The Watson Family's planar legion was an irresistible force under the leadership of Stan Watson, managing to defeat the Merlin Family's three planar legions. Hundreds of Merlins died at Stan Watson's hands, including Ross' younger brother.

In the end, the two dazzling geniuses had a decisive battle at the foot of the Crimson Fort.

That battle caused a commotion all through Okland. Who knew how many people had rushed towards the Raging Flame Plane to try to catch a glimpse of their decisive battle when they heard about it?

But…

That battle had already ended.

It had only taken ten minutes for the 6th Rank High Mage, Stan Watson, to toss away the 4th rank High Mage, Ross Merlin, who was just one step away from the 5th Rank.

This battle left everyone disappointed.

It also showed that the 5th Rank was a dividing line that couldn't be broken. The Endless Spring lost, and Ross Merlin fell down from his lofty position. He spent three years hating Stan Watson continuously, thinking of that disgrace and wanting to avenge his younger brother.

But no matter how hard Ross trained, when he lifted his head, he would only see Stan's back.

Day after day, year after year…

Stan Watson had already become Ross' nightmare.

He would become crazed every time his name was mentioned.

"Haha…" William chuckled.

William naturally knew why Ross hated Stan Watson…

But Ross didn't know that William hated Stan even more.

Besides William and his father, not many people knew of this matter.

Earlier, when William and Lin Yun left Ofran's study, William had said something as they walked. He once had an older sister who died in the Raging Flame Plane.

Lin Yun didn't say anything about it before.

But William knew that Stan Watson was already dead.

"Why did you waste a Runic Shield in front of that Fire Dragon?" Lin Yun completely ignored the raging Ross, but he also didn't pay attention to William wanting to get back at Ross. He only looked at him with concern as he asked that question.

"I…" William looked awkward.

"Don't tell me that you don't know? In a battle between High Mages, whoever is forced to use their Runic Shield first tends to lean towards their defeat. What were you thinking?"

"I only…" William subconsciously lowered his head under the criticism, his voice extremely low. "I just felt that I couldn't handle that Fire Dragon…"

"Fire Dragon is only a 5th Tier Spell!" Lin Yun was dissatisfied.

"But, his Magic Conducting Rune is the Endless Spring…"

"Haha, he might have the Endless Spring, but don't you have Metamagics? Did you forget about it after becoming a High Mage? As long as you had Empowered Spell and used an Ice Field, it would have let you resist over half of the damage. If you had used an Instant Spell afterwards, you would have easily taken care of that Fire Dragon. But you chose to use Runic Shield. Didn't you know that you would have no decent defensive spells in reserve if your Runic Shield broke?"

"I know, but…."

"But what? Didn't you feel the outcome? You were swatted like a fly after using that Runic Shield."

"I'll pay attention next time…"

"I don't have that much time to spend on you. Go now! If I see you using Runic Shield negligently again, I'll have a chat with you about you taking advantage of my matters!"

"…" William suddenly paled.

Although Lin Yun hadn't said anything specific, how could William not know that he was referring to Stan Watson?

After half a year in Thousand Sails City, William had gained a good understanding of his younger cousin.

That young High Mage wasn't concerned about the life or death of Stan Watson. To him, Stan was only a ticket to the Ancestral Land. Whether the ticket was intact or damaged, this young High Mage simply didn't care.

But if someone took advantage of that in the middle…

That would definitely be a problem.

Mafa wasn't Ross.

Ross' fire spell would at worst injure him seriously…

But it would be a lot more serious he made Mafa unhappy.

The Draconic Beastman had made him unhappy in the treasure house.

In the end, Xiuban had nightmares for two weeks.

Every time he saw a flame, he would weep, howl, or laugh hysterically. William felt his blood run cold when he thought of Xiuban's condition.

"I'll go immediately!" William didn't dare to hesitate, and he picked up his magic staff before walking over. "Ross, you coward! You heard Stan Watson's name and started soiling your pants! If you aren't frozen in terror yet, how about coming for a second round? I shall see if the Endless Spring is as frightening as you make it sound!"

"William…" Ross' eyes were originally already red at the mention of Stan Watson's name, but after hearing William, he became downright terrifying. "Are you courting death?"

"Yeah, I am courting death, bite me!"

"Good, I'll do as you wish!" After saying this, Ross' aura changed as the Endless Spring activated once more, bursting out with full power. Vast amounts of mana flew out like a tide, even causing the mana in the surroundings to be crazily absorbed like a whirlpool.

"Shit…" William was stunned.

It seemed that Ross hadn't used the Endless Spring to its full extent earlier. The current Ross was the one who single-handedly took over the Crimson Fort and defeated a thousand Raging Flame Beastmen. These mana fluctuations could only be described as terrifying. Even a High Mage like William felt dread as he stood in that vortex of mana.

But…

It was only a wisp of dread.

This couldn't compare to having to face his younger cousin.

William unhesitantly tightened his grasp on his magic staff and started casting the first spell of this battle. It was a Flame Burst, a Flame Burst that held his determination. William wanted to gain the initiative by striking first.

He had only said those words in order to enrage Ross.

In William's eyes, a furious Ross would inevitably rush and attack, so the Flame Burst he sent out should be able to get some results. Even if he couldn't injure him, it should still make Ross flustered.

But he hadn't expected that before his Flame Burst was even launched, Ross had already prepared a Counterspell.

"Fuck…" William cursed.

This Counterspell was too disgusting…

It stopped the Flame Burst at the most crucial time.

If he hadn't changed his Meditation Law Set to Crimson Heart, greatly improving his control over fire spells, this Flame Burst would have left him in an awkward situation.

'Shit, that Ross is too crafty…'

William suddenly discovered that after the start of the fight, Ross was no longer as riled up as before. He kept his emotions in check and was like an accurate machine, relying on his Counterspell to gain the advantage before retaliating with some accurate spells that were troublesome to deal with.

William was in a miserable state.

"I see, you are truly foolish…" At this time, a helpless voice resounded from behind. "Although your Meditation Law Set is the Crimson Heart, does that mean that you are limited to fire spells?"

"Hmmm?"

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William suddenly reacted.

'Shit, I've been so flustered by that crafty Ross and the negative effects of the counterspell that I limited myself to fire spells, completely forgoing the other types of spells. I'm so stupid.'

Thankfully, this reminder came right on time.

After William realized his problem, he immediately changed his approach. He mixed many different types of spells within. Although the power of these spells was far from comparable to that of his fire spells, after being strengthened by all kinds of Metamagics, they gave William the opportunity to breathe.

'Whew…' William finally sighed in relief. The situation had gone from terrible to bearable. He hadn't been able to retaliate against Ross' rain of spells before, making him feel like he was only a small boat facing a storm. If not careful, he would drown under the waves.

Fortunately, he managed to recover some ground. As long he was able to push back from the disadvantage that the Counterspell had put him at, the battle's situation would be the same as it had been the start.

As he thought of this, William couldn't help smiling. He was an expert at being patient.

But his smile didn't last long before a voice came from behind.

"What are you still waiting for? Are you waiting for him to invite you for dinner? Such a great opportunity, yet you aren't taking it. Are you trying to eat a second Counterspell? Hurry up, my time is limited, settle that fight or I'll go back…"

"…" William almost slipped up.

If not for the battle being so intense, William would have already turned to ask, 'Big Brother, don't mess with me, I'm being suppressed, how could there be an opportunity?'

"I see, you are truly stupid. Did you calculate Spell Cooldown timing? Did you even study the Round Table Theory? How could you not see the opportunity?"

'Spell Cooldown, Round Table Theory…'

Ross' flurry of attacks was still as fierce as before, but William's eyes were getting brighter and brighter.

After the reminder, it felt as if a door had opened in front of him.

Or it might be better to say that a thread suddenly came out of the complicated ball of numerous threads in his mind.

William had been passive during this duel due falling into a disadvantage at the start. He only managed to get some breathing room after being prompted to use a wider variety of spells, but he was still busy casting, forced to go all-out.

Up until that reminder.

'Yeah, why didn't I think of calculating the Spell Cooldowns? Ross' waves of spells keep falling down and it's already been several dozen spells, as long as I can calculate the cooldowns, I could completely predict this battle's direction.

'Isn't that what I'm good at?'

William finally understood why his cousin always emphasized time: casting time, cooldown time, bursting time, channelling time, and so on. Sometimes, William even felt that his cousin had a morbid obsession with time. Casting had numerous variables. It was the same with spells and mages. In different circumstances, time was completely different.

Too many factors influenced time.

William had complained, but every time he did, he would suffer harsher treatment. That period of time for the foolish William was like hell. Sometimes William even doubted if it was just his younger cousin making fun of him.

This suffering had continued for three months.

In those three months, William almost went insane. He would have to keep casting no matter what he was doing, even eating and drinking. That period had already turned into a painful torture. An ordinary Wind Blade would need at least seven calculations, and if even one of them was wrong, what awaited William was an even more painful torment.

After three months, William had finally met the minimum requirements and gained a perfect grasp of all time-related information concerning the lesser spells.

William clearly remembered that his younger cousin hadn't said anything, only handing him a handwritten copy of the Crimson Heart.

From that point on, his strength increased by leaps and bounds.

From 5th Rank Great Mage to High Mage, it only took half a year.

He was even able to fight Ross today.

Before going through all of this, William would never have thought that he could ever do so.

After clearly understanding this, William wasn't just casting and fighting anymore. His mind was now focused on the cooldown calculations.

Under the guidance of the Round Table Theory, William quickly found Ross' casting pattern.

'Turns out it was possible to fight like this…' After accurately predicting again and again, William suddenly felt as if a cloud of fog around him had suddenly cleared up. William realized how precious his cousin's teachings really were. This completely overturned how mages normally fought.

William had already recovered his lost initiative, so he and Ross were back at the starting line. With William's altered strategy, the unbalanced fight had suddenly become deadlocked.

Lin Yun watched from the side without worry, only giving some pointers from time to time.

"You didn't notice such a simple pitfall? This is a trap to make you waste your Counterspell…

"Careful, careful, I told you to be careful, what are you doing, don't use Runic Shield casually, don't you have other defensive spells to use?

"Attack, attack! Fuck, is Sharp Mind in your spell lineup? You should have used it a minute ago, didn't you see that it was your best opportunity to burst out?"Like this, the battle kept going until the sun set.

The power used in the fight between the two High Mages was quite amazing. Besides Lin Yun and the Draconic Beastman, everyone else had retreated quite far away. During that fight, the whole courtyard was almost completely destroyed. It was to the point that they couldn't even find proper footing.

At this time, both Ross and William were arrows at the end of their flight. The spells used by the both of them were slowly regressing in rank, from 6th and 5th Tiers to 2nd and 1st Tiers. It could be seen that they were already running out of mana.

"Ha… Haha, Ross, it looks like the gap between us isn't as big as you imagined…" William kept panting while taunting.

This fight had allowed William to blow off some steam.

Before today, he'd never even dreamt of fighting Ross on such close footing.

After all, he was one of the three geniuses of the Merlin Family, the owner of the most powerful Endless Spring. He had already advanced to become a 5th Rank High Mage half a year ago, while William was only a 5th Rank Great Mage at the time. The gap was so huge that they simply couldn't be compared.

But he was already standing on the same stage as Ross now!

He withstood the first Counterspell and held firm against Ross' rain of spells. He even forced Ross to run out of mana.

That was Ross Merlin!

The Endless Spring, Ross Merlin!

He managed to almost exhaust the Ross who managed to fight for seven days and nights in the Crimson Fort with the support of his Endless Spring!

In other words, the pressure William brought to Ross was far greater than the pressure Ross brought to William.

He had already won this battle, in a way…

And it only lasted this long because of the Endless Spring.

William had more than enough reason to be proud.

"Hey, you haven't won yet…"

"…" William's mouth twitched. He paused for a while before saying, "I'm running out of mana…"

"So you do know that you are running out, eh? Don't you know that your opponent has the Endless Spring? His mana recovery speed is ten times faster than yours. If you delay your offense and talk for a while, you'll be helping your opponent. Maybe after you finish talking he'll be able to cast a Flame Burst to turn you to ashes…"

"But…"

"But what? Didn't your soul inheritance teach you how to make use of a spell backlash to extract some mana?"

"Ah, Spell Backlash…" These words suddenly reminded William that he did learn the way to take advantage of a backlash to extract some mana.

But that method was too dangerous.

The theory behind it was to use the collision between two spells to take mana that burst out for one's own use. In the process, he would have to bear with the damage that would have been dealt by both spells. This was too dangerous for a mage. The power bursting from two 1st Tier Spells colliding was no joke. If he wasn't careful, he would suffer greatly before even being able to try to extract the mana.

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Chapter 283: Audience

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

As he thought of the danger, William suddenly hesitated. He innocently looked at Lin Yun, hoping he could change his mind.

"Do as I say." Lin Yun remained unmoved.

"Eh, okay…" William could only clench his teeth and agree.

"Now, it's time to use the Runic Shield, no no, not to protect your body. You only have to form the basic arrangements of the Runic Shield, there is no need to completely release it. Like that, that basic Runic Shield will protect your Mana Whirlpool, allowing you to…"

"Cousin, will this really work…?" William asked in an anxious voice while trembling in fear.

But Lin Yun acted as if he hadn't heard him.

He used a commanding tone to direct William through the Spell Backlash while still remaining wary of attacks.

The basic arrangement of the Runic Shield had been completed and the two Wind Blades were ready to be cast.

William ultimately clenched his teeth…

He heard a loud explosion, followed by his whole body shaking. Under the shock, William almost let his magic staff fall to the ground.

But he held on.

He felt a surge of mana pouring into his body. His dry Mana Whirlpool quickly rotated again after he received that quenching mana, familiar power returning to his body once more…

"Ross, you lost…" Feeling the mana filling his body, William felt full of confidence for the first time.

He felt like an upstart who had suddenly gained a large amount of wealth and didn't know how to spend it.

After taking advantage of the Spell Backlash, William used a Counterspell.

Ross was still urging his Endless Spring to recover some mana, so how could he cast anything?

Counterspell had three effects. The first was to interrupt spells, the second was to inflict a short duration silence effect, and the third was to seal a spell. There was no need to explain spell interruption, and the short duration silence was also easy to understand, while the third effect was the most crucial effect. Spells like the Flame Burst that William wanted to cast were the best opportunities for Counterspells, because a Flame Burst being countered would usually seal the entirety of one's fire system spells. For mages specialized with fire spells, it would be like cutting an arm off. Even if William's Crimson Heart avoided the worst, he still felt stifled.

And even though Ross wasn't casting a spell, this Counterspell would afflict him with a second of silence.

Using a Counterspell like this could only be considered extravagant.

But William didn't care.

He wouldn't give Ross any time to react after that Counterspell. He took advantage of that one second of silence to directly cast a powerful Flame Burst.

And he didn't stop at one…

Three Flame Bursts were cast successively, each of them enhanced with a Metamagic: Instant Cast, Empower Spell, Magic Penetration. The three Flame Bursts destroyed the Ice Wall that Ross managed to put up with a lot of difficulty.

It was followed by a Wind Blade piercing through the Ice Fire Shield.

And then…

There was nothing after that.

An Icicle was already touching Ross' throat.

"Sorry, I won."

After saying this, William no longer cared about Ross' reaction and scattered the Icicle. He didn't even glance at him before turning to leave the destroyed courtyard with Lin Yun and the Draconic Beastman.

Ross stood there, alone. In the distance, a dozen Great Swordsmen, as well as Great Mage Harvey, were all standing there looking stunned. They had watched the most outstanding genius of the Merlin Family be defeated by William, who was someone of much lower status.

"How was it, Cousin, I did alright, didn't I?" William had already overtaken Lin Yun and revealed a wide smile as he started seeking compliments for his achievement.

"You are talking about that wasted Counterspell?""Or maybe those three Flame Bursts that completely lacked coordination?"

"Eh…" The happy William took a blow from Lin Yun's criticism and lowered his head. After a bit, he mumbled, "But I beat Ross Merlin…"

"Yeah, you beat Ross Merlin…" Lin Yun didn't put him down this time. He only nodded with a smile. "Thus, you'll soon become of the focus of the Merlin Family."

"Ah?"

"Ah what? Don't tell me you didn't notice? There were at least three Mage Eyes watching the fight. Oh right, there were also the magic fluctuations of a powerful divination spell. I think that your heroic stance must have been shown in a large crystal ball…"

"You mean…" William was suddenly startled. "You mean people were spying?"

"You shouldn't call that spying, they were an audience…"William's courtyard was already deformed beyond recognition. Even if Lin Yun wanted to live there, he simply couldn't. Thus, they had no choice but to find another place to stay. Fortunately, the Merlin Family Manor was large enough, so it wasn't difficult for William to find another place to live in with his status.

Lin Yun wasn't worried about this.

What truly grabbed Lin Yun's attention were the three Mage Eyes and the traces of the divination spell. If Lin Yun wasn't wrong, those three Mage Eyes had come from three 9th Rank High Mages, one of which might have already advanced to the Archmage realm.

If he guessed right, they should be of the same generation as William Merlin's father, the true core of the current Merlin Family.

It seemed that William would soon get some attention, and not just a bit.

As for those mana fluctuations that seemed to have been emitted from a large crystal ball, even Lin Yun was unsure as to where they had come from.

He only felt that the mana fluctuations emitted some dangerous aura.

Although Lin Yun was only a 1st Rank High Mage, when it came to fighting power, a 1st Rank Archmage like Suyass might not necessarily be his match. Only someone a lot more powerful would be able to make him feel danger.

There might be a 5th Rank Archmage, or perhaps someone even stronger, hidden behind those mana fluctuations…

But it didn't matter, as he had to get to the Merlin Ancestral Land first before thinking about this.

The feeling of remaining stuck at 1st Rank felt terrible.

As he thought of this, Lin Yun stopped brooding on the spectators. He urged William to find a place for them to stay so that they could rest. He would find Ofran first thing in the morning to have him open the Ancestral Land.

"Cousin, this is where my sister used to live. It's been a long time since someone put the place in order. We don't have much choice, so let's just spend the night there for now…" The group of three walked for about ten minutes before reaching a shabby house.

"Ah, err, Cousin…" William seemed to remember something as he opened the door and thus stopped. "My sister took in a girl before and she is now living her by herself, but she is a bit antisocial…"

"Okay, I got it." Lin Yun nodded. What William was trying to say was clear. He wanted to let him know that this girl was a bit special so he shouldn't bother arguing with her if he met her.

After the three entered, they found that this seemingly shabby house was actually clean and spotless. The table and chairs were wiped clean, and not a single speck of dust could be seen on the floor. This didn't look like a place that had been left abandoned for a long time.

"Let's go to the 2nd floor, there should be some vacant rooms there. I also lived on the 2nd floor last time I came," William said while leading them up.

"Hmm?" Lin Yun felt something wrong just as he set foot there.

He felt as if he was being spied on.

At first, Lin Yun thought that the people that were spying on William before were doing it once again.

Lin Yun's expression sank at that discovery.

He didn't mind people watching William's fight. After all, each of the words he'd uttered had gone through runic encryption. Even Ross, who was within hearing range, couldn't understand him, let alone those three Mage Eyes.

But Lin Yun wasn't happy about their continuous spying.

This was naked provocation…

As Lin Yun got ready to search for the Mage Eyes to give the spies a stern warning, he suddenly found out that it wasn't a Mage Eye spying on him, but two glistening eyes.

In the shadows of the stairs, a malnourished and sickly small girl was standing there silently. The young girl was no more than 12 years old and signs of malnutrition could be seen on her pale face. Her hair was also in bad condition. She looked like a small twig that could break in the wind

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But the girl ran off just as Lin Yun turned around…

"Hmm?" Lin Yun looked at the small girl's back with a thoughtful expression.

"What?" William, who was in front, stopped when he noticed Lin Yun's situation. He followed Lin Yun's eyes before saying, "She is Ranya, the child my sister took in. After my sister had an accident, no one took care of her. The family would give her some money every month and she kept living here. After such a long time, she became antisocial…"

"Oh…" Lin Yun nodded but didn't comment.

The group of three went to the 2nd floor, which held three rooms. They were all clean and tidy, and the furniture was spotless. There wasn't a single wrinkle on the bed. This was all very surprising… How could such a small girl clean such a big house by herself?

Of course, it didn't really matter to Lin Yun's group.

Mages would use meditation to replace sleep most of the time, especially ones like Lin Yun and William, who had already entered the High Mage Realm. Even if they didn't sleep for a few days, they still wouldn't feel too tired, and just a bit of meditation would be enough to recover their mana.

Thus, most mages wouldn't be too fussy about the condition of their resting area. Forests, swamps, deserts… As long as it was safe, they could meditate.

But Lin Yun didn't start his meditation after entering the room. He fished an item out from his pocket instead. This was the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel he had partly completed in Thousand Sails City.

The Ten Thousand Spell Wheel was very important to Lin Yun.

The Spell Wheel might be only half completed at the moment and couldn't compare to a Superior Magic Tool, but this was only for now. Although the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel would even reach True Spirit Rank, as a bridge to the ten Magic Arrays, the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel's complete form would appear when fused together with the Magic Arrays. It would be able to use the power of the ten Magic Arrays anywhere, anytime. When that happened, even if it was ranked as a True Spirit Magic Tool, its power wouldn't be much inferior to the complete Book of Death.

Naturally, the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel in Lin Yun's hands was far from being complete…

After closing the door, Lin Yun rested for a bit before starting to pour mana into the Spell Wheel, but he was doing it differently this time. Usually, Lin Yun poured mana into a Magic Tool in order to activate it and thus, it flowed in suddenly and in large amounts.

But now, he wanted to carve magic runes and engrave as many as 200,000 of them in the Spell Wheel.

It was called the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel because Latour Gold Essence had so much storage and could hold an unlimited number of runes; this was very similar to the Magic Array.

Lin Yun even thought of something. Once the Spell Wheel reached True Spirit Magic Tool rank, wouldn't Enderfa become its Magic Tool Incarnation? At that time, he would have to discuss with Enderfa and see if he could use that property to clone a Magic Array over. With that, the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel wouldn't just be a bridge to the Magic Array, but rather, another shape of the Magic Array.

Of course, that would be in the future.

The Ten Thousand Spell Wheel was only a partially finished product at the moment, so all that would be a long way off.

All Lin Yun could do for now was to carve the runes.

This was the first step into giving spirituality to a Magic Tool.

Only after completing this step could a Magic Tool have gain a Magic Tool's Spirit. Only then would the Magic Tool advance to Spiritual Rank.

This was very laborious work, and no mistake could be made or it would lower the might of the Magic Tool and even damage it. Thus, Lin Yun wanted to keep his mana output as low as possible, so he made the mana flow like water and gently pour into the Spell Wheel. One rune after the other appeared on the Spell Wheel. These runes were carved with mana and would fuse with the Spell Wheel to become its true foundation.

One hour, two hours, three hours…

As the hours passed, Lin Yun remained motionless. Even the mana injected in the Spell Wheel didn't fluctuate once. He was precise like a machine.

He continued up until midnight when he felt the mana injected in the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel meeting some sort of obstruction.

'Good enough…' Lin Yun stopped pouring mana in when he felt that obstruction.

Because he knew that after many hours of continuous mana injection, the mana had gradually become less pure. He had to undergo meditation before he could resume his work.

This was the most troublesome part of the Spell Wheel.

Only the purest mana could carve runes in it. It was also for this reason that Lin Yun had only completed a bit over half of the Spell Wheel since returning to Thousand Sails City.

But fortunately, it wouldn't be too hard to complete it.

Lin Yun took the semi-finished Ten Thousand Spell Wheel and carefully activated it with mana before watching the dazzling runes appear on it. He inwardly calculated that it would take ten days at most before he finished carving the runes. Then, he would have to find a powerful magic gem.

Originally, Lin Yun wanted to use the Spiritual Magic Staff's Elemental Amber.

But he gave up on it after checking it.

First, the Elemental Amber was already fused with the Spiritual Magic Staff and had been polluted by the Magic Staff's aura after thousands of years. There might be some unexpected problems if it was used for the Spell Wheel.

Second, the Elemental Amber's property was mana storage. This in itself decided that if he used the Elemental Amber as a core to make the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel, it would be used more for stocking mana and spells. It wouldn't be much help in empowering or combining spells, which he considered more important.

'It seems like I should visit Okland's alchemy market…' Lin Yun remembered that when they first arrived at Okland, William told him about the Black Horn Auction happening every three months. From what he heard, the next auction should be within a week.

He felt that he should take a look at it.

He could conduct a preliminary investigation of the condition of Okland's alchemy market on the way, and when the Gilded Rose expanded to Okland in the future, he would take Faleau and investigate the details.

After making up his mind, Lin Yun put the Spell Wheel back in his pocket.Three hours of meditation later, the sun started setting.

Lin Yun came out from his room and intended to call William and Xiuban to eat breakfast outside when he suddenly smelled a delicious aroma.

"This…" Lin Yun took a deep breath and felt that the smell came from downstairs. When he got down, he saw the young girl precariously carrying trays to the dining table. There was a lot of food on the table, and with one look, it could be seen that she couldn't have prepared it alone.

"Ranya, this is our breakfast?" William happily asked as he casually grabbed a piece of toasted bread.

"Yes," the young girl said in a quiet voice while nodding. She seemed to be a bit afraid of William, and she turned and ran back to hide in the kitchen.

"Then I won't hold back…" William didn't mind her reaction. He had been busy the whole day yesterday. Fighting twice against Ross made him so famished that he just found a chair and started wolfing down his breakfast.

"Take your time to eat." Lin Yun shook his head before tearing a piece of bread and buttering it. He ate it as he looked around the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" It was the second time William asked Lin Yun.

William was too familiar with his younger cousin. He looked approachable, with his ever-present smile, but those who knew him knew that he was extremely cold-blooded. He wouldn't care about anything unrelated to his interests.

Sometimes, William felt that even if the entire world perished, as long as it had nothing to do with him, his cousin would just watch with a smile.

In fact, William clearly noticed that his younger cousin didn't pay attention to anyone after entering the Merlin Family Manor. He didn't even put the Patriarch Ofran in his eyes, let alone Ross, or even Stan Watson, who died in his hands.

Yet…

His cousin seemed to be paying particular attention to Ranya.

"It's nothing…" Lin Yun shook his head but didn't tell William that this little girl named Ranya was far from being a simple outsider.

"This kid is quite pitiful…" William glanced at the kitchen and couldn't help sighing. "She was abandoned by her parents before luckily meeting my older sister. My older sister was very fond of her so she brought her back to the Merlin Family, treating her as her younger sister. Those were good times… But later, my sister had that accident in the Raging Flame Plane and Ranya had no one to take care of her…

"I originally planned on sending Ranya to Okland Magic School to let her study magic and see if she could become a Mage, but I hadn't expected that she wouldn't have a single bit of magical talent. She couldn't complete the most basic meditation. There was nothing I could do, so I could only let her remain here. Even just this put a lot of pressure on me. You should know that those old geezers are inhuman. In their eyes, it would be better to raise a hunting dog than a girl with no magical talent.

"Haha, they'll regret it later."

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"Regret?"

"They'll understand what they missed later…" Lin Yun didn't explain any further and returned to his breakfast.

It was true that the little girl named Ranya didn't have any magical talent. Lin Yun was sure of it as soon as he saw her. She innately had no affinity with elements, which had always been an unsolvable defect, even 30,000 years in the future.

This meant that the little girl would never be able to feel the existence of elements.

Thus, it was normal for William to say that the girl couldn't perform meditation. If she couldn't feel the elements, how could she ever draw mana from meditation?

So the Merlin Family was right, and the little girl could never become a mage.

But Lin Yun felt that the Merlin Family was too careless. There were over a billion people in Noscent, and less than one in ten thousand could become mages. If she had to be abandoned, then how many people in all of Noscent would have to be abandoned?

Not to mention…

Not becoming a mage didn't mean that her future was bleak.

In fact, in Lin Yun's eyes, the achievements that little girl could get in the future would far outshine most of the Merlin Family.

Lin Yun could already see the path of the Heaven Rank spreading in front of her. She only needed someone to take her along that path.

As soon as he saw that little girl, Lin Yun knew that she had eyes that could rival the Sky Eyes.

This pair of eyes only appeared twice in Noscent's history.

One of them lived during the Nesser era, the famous Night Elf King, Salalys. He was the first Demon Hunter to surpass Heaven Rank with his new moon and thirteen moonlights. He left countless legends in Noscent. But Salalys was most famous for his amber colored eyes that were also known as Quicksand Eyes. In the legends, Salalys could see through the fog of time with his eyes faster than even time itself. In those legends, there would always be a scene where Salalys' new moon appeared and the thirteen moonlights tore apart space, giving the feeling of time going backward.

It was almost impossible to imagine, almost indescribable.

The other pair of Quicksand Eyes appeared in the peak of the magic era. There had always been a Silver Elf girl at the side of Charles the Conqueror. She never spoke and would rarely directly make a move, but in the fight over the Undead Plane, one arrow killed three Undead Monarchs. News of this battle spread throughout Noscent. This elf also had dreamy amber eyes.

And now, that young girl in the kitchen that looked so frail and malnourished was the 3rd person with the Quicksand Eyes.

Of course, it wasn't unusual for the Merlin Family to give up on her, since after all, the Merlin Family was so huge, having countless children from various branches. They couldn't help each of them unearth their potential one by one, so they set standards. The Family would naturally nurture them, but if they couldn't meet the standards, they could only fend for themselves.

This was the world of large Families.

But it didn't matter to Lin Yun. He was only curious about the girl with the Quicksand Eyes, since it was his first time seeing them.

Not to mention, of the two other pairs of Quicksand Eyes that appeared in Noscent's history, one was from a pureblooded Night Elf, and the other was from a Silver Elf. Both were of the Elven Race.

And this pair appeared on a Human.

Lin Yun wanted to know if a Human with the Quicksand Eyes could reach the same heights as those two legendary figures.

It was just like the Draconic Beastman, Xiuban.

He only wanted to see how far they could go.

"Oh right, Cousin William…" After he finished eating, Lin Yun wiped his mouth and stopped glancing at the kitchen.

"Yes?"

"The Black Horn Auction should be in a week, right?"

"Yes, yes, the Black Horn Auction is in a week," William answered energetically. Lin Yun had only asked casually, not expecting William to become so excited all of a sudden. "Okland's Black Horn Auction is a lot more lively than the one in Thousand Sails City, we should definitely go…"

"You…" Lin Yun was puzzled for a brief moment before understanding.

William had followed him to the Four Seasons Canyon, gaining quite a lot on the way, especially in that treasure house at the end. William had received a share of the magic materials, and besides giving the biggest part to Lin Yun to forge items, he still had a small part he intended on trading for gold and equipment.

It seemed that William wanted to take a trip to the Black Horn Auction to get some money.

"Then grab those materials later, I'll take a look for you…"

"Okay, okay…"

After finishing breakfast, the two didn't immediately leave the house. Instead, they looked through the magic materials for a while. Lin Yun only allowed William to put the ordinary ones in the auction, because he knew that the truly valuable magic materials could never be traded with golds.

Rather than put those rare materials in the auction, it was better to keep them in hand for a suitable opportunity to use them or trade them for some powerful item.

After their busy morning, the two geniuses recalled that they should see Ofran.

They believed that the news of Stan Watson's death should have already reached Ofran's ears, and thus, Lin Yun was about to get Ofran to open the Ancestral Land for him.

But Lin Yun hadn't expected…

Just when they set off to see Ofran, they saw someone waiting for them there.

"William…" The one waiting there was Ross.

Just a day later, this most outstanding genius of the Merlin Family, possessor of the Endless Spring, looked a lot different. He looked haggard and listless. Yesterday's battle might have brought him too much of a shock.

"What are you here for?" William remained cold and indifferent.

Originally, William's older sister died in the battle over the Raging Flame Plane, and Ross wasn't unrelated to that. If not for Ross separating from the main force to take over the Crimson Fort on his own, William's sister might not have died.

Naturally, William also knew that this was only hypothetical.

But because of that, he couldn't maintain an agreeable expression when looking at Ross.

"Who killed Stan Watson?"

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Chapter 286: Bloodline Ceremony

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

"How does that concern you?" William remained expressionless. Although it had already been many years, the fact that Ross went against everyone's advice and insisted on leaving to attack the Crimson Fort still weighed heavily in William's heart. After saying that William ignored Ross and pushed him aside. "You are blocking our way."Ross stood awkwardly as he watched the two of them leave. He had heard people saying that the most outstanding genius the Watson Family had produced in centuries, the one who had disgraced him, Stan Watson, was killed in the Aurij Mountains.

Moreover, he had been killed while under the protection of the Red Dragon Mercenaries, in front of the 1st vice leader, Anna.

Ross was left stunned…

He had fought Stan Watson in the Raging Flame Plane, and since then, he had always used Stan as a lofty goal to strive towards. Ross could even say that he was the one who understood Stan Watson's strength the best. How could he not know how powerful he was?

There were countless members of the younger generation, and the only difference that mattered was power. Only a few of them could lead far ahead of the others.

Stan Watson was one of them.

Ross Merlin knew that Stan had already become an 8th Rank High Mage and that he'd been very close to advancing to the 9th Rank. He was so close that people already considered him an Archmage.

But this time, Stan Watson had been killed.

And this had involved the Red Dragon Mercenary Group, Okland's number three Mercenary Group. They were powerful enough that they could already be ranked among the twenty strongest forces in Okland. Ross had seen Anna fight with his own eyes and knew that she was a very powerful Expert Swordswoman. Few people could get the chance to study under the Storm Sword Saint Talos, and even fewer could learn the Sky Aura.

They had even taken fifty mercenaries with them, making that a group that could rival an Archmage. How could they let someone they were escorting die in front of them?

At that time, Ross recalled something William said.

Their younger cousin had asked how Ross compared to Stan Watson.

Back then, William had answered, "How could he be compared to a dead person?"

Ross then suddenly realized that the suddenly rising William might know some information that hadn't been publicly revealed.

Thus, Ross wanted to ask him how much he knew about Stan's death.

This matter was very, very important to Ross.

It was related to a secret that only Ross knew.

But things had unfolded poorly for him.

Ross knew that William's behavior was he'd always believed that his older sister died because of Ross' actions back then.

In the past, Ross wouldn't have cared about what William thought because the gap between the two of them was too great. No matter how unwilling William was, he would have no choice but to answer if Ross wanted to know something.

Unfortunately for Ross, it was different now.

William's sudden rise changed everything.

Even now, Ross still couldn't accept the fact that William had defeated him.

It wasn't Aube, it wasn't Leon, it was William.

Although William couldn't be considered mediocre among the younger generation, Ross had never thought much of him. The gap between them was huge, an entire tier! When Ross became a 5th Rank High Mage, William was only a 5th Rank Great Mage.

But now…

Just half a year later, William had shockingly stepped into the High Mage realm and defeated him in a one-on-one fight.

Ross couldn't understand how this had all happened.

The gap between them had already been breached, so it would be very difficult to get an answer from William.

But he couldn't help himself, so he still had to ask.

This matter was too important to Ross.

'What about Anna?' After thinking for a long time, Ross thought of the 1st vice leader of the Red Dragon Mercenary who had been present on the scene. 'She might be able to tell me something…'As Ross left the Merlin Manor, Ofran looked anxious in his stone tower.

'How could it happen so coincidentally…' Ofran was sitting on his chair, a bitter smile on his face.

Originally, Ofran had raised that condition to get Mafa to back off for now.

But he hadn't expected something so fortuitous to happen.

Just as he raised that condition, Stan Watson died.

Ofran couldn't help cursing inwardly when he thought of that.

'You were a freaking 8th Rank High Mage, not much worse than me, how could you die like that? What should I do…

'Do I really have to face the pressure of the Elder Council and let Mafa enter the Ancestral Land? This is very troublesome…

'You trash, Stan Watson, couldn't you have just remained in the Watson Family Manor? Why did you have to go to the Aurij Mountains? How could you be so worthless as to die with fifty Great Swordsmen and one Expert Swordswoman guarding you?

'Hmm… It was mentioned that the killer was a young mage.'

As his train of thought reached this point, Ofran suddenly became puzzled.

'Could that be one of Mafa's helpers?'

After thinking carefully about it, Ofran couldn't help considering that possibility.

'Mafa Merlin, just who are you?'

Ofran tried to wrap his head around it.

'…The boss of the greatest alchemy store of Thousand Sails City, his wealth can only be described as tremendous. He also seems to have ties with Solomon of the Sage Tower, and Solomon is Star Sage Jouyi's disciple. It wouldn't be difficult for him to use his relationship with Solomon to hire one or two helpers from the Cloud Tower.

'The one who killed Stan Watson might be a young mage from the Cloud Tower… But who could it be…? Although there have been a lot of talented mages appearing in the Cloud Tower in recent years, I don't recall any being young and that frightening.

'Maybe he asked another force? After all, with the huge amount of wealth he possesses, it wouldn't be very difficult for him to have someone kill Stan Watson.

"Haaa…" Ofran couldn't help sighing.

He hadn't expected this to happen.

He'd only brought up such a condition because he knew that it was impossible for Mafa and William with their strength. He'd only wanted to buy time.

He hadn't expected things to blow up.

Moreover…

Link had yet to return, for some unknown reason. Ofran had already tried to call out to him twice, but he hadn't gotten any answer. Otherwise, he could have asked Link what had happened.

Ofran couldn't help feeling his head throb as he thought of this.

"Knock knock knock…"

At this time, someone knocked on the door to the reception room.

"Come in…" Ofran sighed. Who other than William and Mafa would come knocking at such a time?

And as expected…

The two young mages entered the room.

"Sir Ofran, as you wished, Stan Watson has died. Concerning the matter of entering the Ancestral Land…" Lin Yun went straight to the point after entering the reception room.

These words made Ofran feel a lot older. 'Sure enough… It feels as if I ordered a hit…'

"Oh, this…" Ofran couldn't help feeling bitter as he wondered, 'What should I do? Do I really have to confront the Elder Council?'

"Sir Ofran, I hope you aren't thinking of backing out?" Lin Yun asked with a smile as Ofran was hesitating.

"Backing out? No no no, of course not…" Ofran was startled at first before vigorously shaking his head to deny this. The person before him was the owner of the Gilded Rose. The wealth and the resources he held were tremendous. Delaying him was fine, but backing out on a deal could make him abandon any thought of returning to the Merlin Family. Who would believe a Patriarch who went back on his word? If he couldn't agree to this, the other side might even worry whether they could keep their wealth after returning.

'Forget it. If I have to confront the Elder Council, then so be it.'

With that thought, Ofran accepted the situation and made his decision.

"Mafa, I am happy that you can contribute to the Merlin Family. You already proved yourself, so you can enter the Ancestral Land anytime you want. Where do you plan on going?" After Ofran got over it, he simply conceded this favor.

Originally, the young mage would have to wait until the Elder Council negotiated the final result before he could enter the Ancestral Land. It might take ten days, but it might also take over a month.

But Ofran had decided to let him enter the Ancestral Land first.

In any case, he would have to slowly fight with the Elder Council, so why not make Mafa owe him a favor while he was at it?

Sure enough, Lin Yun smiled at Ofran's answer. "Now, of course."

"Good." Ofran didn't hesitate and opened a drawer before taking a crest out from it. "This is the proof needed to enter the Merlin Family's Ancestral Land. William will lead you there later. Also, there are a few things I should remind you of before you enter. You'd best not run all over the place in the Ancestral Land, you should quickly come out after doing the Bloodline Ceremony. Some of the secrets of the Ancestral Land aren't things that you should get into contact with at the moment…"

"I know." Lin Yun nodded. Every powerful Family hid countless secrets in their Ancestral Land. These secrets weren't secrets that could be shared with just anyone.

But Lin Yun wasn't interested in these secrets.

What Lin Yun truly cared about was the Bloodline Ceremony.

William had once told him that after the Merlin children reached adulthood, they could undergo the Bloodline Ceremony in the Ancestral Land, provided they were outstanding enough. Even the oldest members of the Merlin Family didn't know when the Bloodline Ceremony had been established. They only knew that regardless of how thin the Merlin Bloodline was, as long as they underwent the Bloodline Ceremony, they would be able to possess the power of the purest Merlin bloodline.

The Merlin Family hadn't declined after so many years because not only were they able to keep their bloodline pure, but they could also undergo this Bloodline Ceremony.

Lin Yun clearly remembered it.

The Merlin Family started declining several hundred years later, until Flame Ruler Doug was born in the Merlin Family. He was known as the strongest Archmage and made the name of the Merlin Family resound throughout Noscent overnight.

And this Flame Ruler's Magic Conducting Rune was the Magic Array that Lin Yun held.

It was said that this Flame Ruler crawled up from the bottom and was still a Great Mage when he turned fifty.

But after fifty, he found the Merlin Family's Ancestral Land and underwent an ancient and mysterious Bloodline Ceremony, transforming his bloodline into the purest Merlin bloodline. After that , Doug's strength skyrocketed, and within three months, he fused his nine Magic Arrays into one and stepped into the High Mage realm before taking another ten years to become the strongest Archmage in Noscent.

This was all because of that ancient and mysterious Bloodline Ceremony.

And it was because of this that Lin Yun wanted to enter the Merlin Family's Ancestral Land.

Lin Yun was convinced that the pure Merlin Bloodline was related to the Magic Array.

"Alright, if there are no questions, you can go there now…" After making this difficult decision with clenched teeth, Ofran felt as if his head was about to explode. He gave a hurried explanation and then waved his hand, hinting for Lin Yun and William to leave.

"Haha, many thanks, Sir Ofran." Lin Yun didn't hold back and nodded politely before leaving with William.

After leaving Ofran's stone tower, Lin Yun took the time to ask, "Cousin William, where is this Ancestral Land?"

"Do you see that place?" William pointed at the Fallen Star Lake. A precipitous cliff could be seen past the mist covered water whose bottom was covered by a dense fog. It was a bottomless canyon. "That canyon is the Merlin Family's Ancestral Land. It was said that the Merlin Family's ancestor came out of that canyon in his youth and followed the old king to establish the Andlusa Kingdom. Although many children of the Merlin Family have been into that canyon, no one knows how many secrets are hidden within…"

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Chapter 287: Mountain Temple

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

The two left the Merlin Manor and walked alongside the lake shore. They soon reached the bottom of the cliff. Now that they were close, they could see the canyon covered in fog. They were surrounded by mist and they simply couldn't see the end of the canyon.

"Hmm?" Lin Yun stood at the top of the canyon. He looked down with a heavy expression.

"What is it?"

"This fog isn't simple."

"Yes…" William nodded when he heard this. "It is said that this fog wasn't here originally. The Merlin Family's ancestor left the Ancestral Land and followed the first king to establish the Andlusa Kingdom. Once the kingdom was established, he refused to stay despite the first king's entreaties and returned to the Ancestral Land. He was never seen since then. From that time on, the canyon has been filled with dense fog…"

"It's not just that…"

Lin Yun shook his head before pointing with his Spiritual Magic Staff. The Elemental Amber flickered. Under the surge of mana, the fog suddenly raged.

William, who had already reached High Mage Rank, could now see a faint flicker within the fog. Countless mysterious runes were roaming within the fog. Most importantly, William could clearly feel the huge mana fluctuations within the fog created by the mana injected by his younger cousin. It was neither berserk nor fierce, it was heavy and calm, just like a mountain range extending in front of them. Even by just standing there they could feel the pressure.

"This…" As a well known member of the younger generation, William had gotten close to the Ancestral Land many times, even if he hadn't undergone the Bloodline Ceremony.

In the past, William had only thought that the Ancestral Land was extremely mysterious and filled with countless secrets.

But now, William felt that the Ancestral Land wasn't just mysterious. The secrets it held were most likely greater than he had imagined.

"Let's go take a look." Lin Yun smiled and ignored William's stupefied expression. He followed the rugged, precipitous mountain path towards the bottom of the canyon.

The path was very long, and it took them almost an hour to reach the bottom of the canyon.

There were a dozen towers at the bottom.

The world at the bottom of the canyon was impressively open, and the landscape was more beautiful than they had been expecting. There was no end to this world. From the bottom of this precipitous cliff, a dozen towers could be seen spreading far in the distance. Faint mana fluctuations were emitted, quiet and mysterious. Lin Yun looked into the distance and noticed that the smallest tower was still seven floors tall.

'It looks like the foundation of the Merlin Family is deeper than I thought…' Lin Yun couldn't help sighing after seeing that scenery.

In Noscent, there was a strict norm concerning mages living in towers.

Mages could have two floors at most, Great Mages could have four, and High Mages could have six. Although this wasn't explicitly written anywhere, it had spread among mages over the years, and the mages strictly abided by it. The decorative design on mages' cuffs would also rarely be forged.

The world of magic seemed free and mysterious, but in reality, it was far more respectful of status than the secular world.

And the smallest tower having seven floors meant that the ones living in these towers were all Archmages at the very least.

Moreover…

Lin Yun noticed that the tallest tower had nine floors!

This meant that a Heaven Rank Mage had lived there.

But…

No mana fluctuation was emitted from that tower. It was deathly silent.

An ordinary person might be mistaken about this, but Lin Yun couldn't. After reaching the High Mage realm, Lin Yun became over ten times sharper when it concerned changes in mana fluctuations. He didn't even need to use the Magic Array to determine that the tallest tower had already lost its master.

In other words, the Heaven Mage of the Merlin family had already left, or he might have fallen. In any case, he wasn't present here.

But even if that tower had lost its master, just based on those seven-floor and eight-floor towers, it could be seen how frightening the foundation of the Merlin Family was.

They were all Archmages.

"Living in these towers are the ancestors of the Merlin Family. After long lives, they grew tired of the secular world and chose to live in seclusion in the Ancestral Land, naturally becoming the guardians of the Ancestral Land. We usually wouldn't get the opportunity to enter. It's thanks to Cousin that I have the opportunity to see these Guardian Towers…"

"Oh, what about Santon Merlin…" Lin Yun didn't care much about the ancestors of the Merlin Family, but as William talked, he suddenly recalled Ofran mentioning Santon Merlin.

"Santon Merlin isn't there."

"Hmm?"

"From what is written in the Family's secret tome, Santon Merlin didn't stop at a Guardian Tower after he entered the Ancestral Land. Instead, he headed for the depths of the Ancestral Land before disappearing…"

"The depths?" After hearing that, he looked further into the Ancestral Land, a bit curious.

But his expression suddenly changed.

The depths of the Ancestral Land seemed to have countless mountains, murmuring rivers, and dense forests, all of those forming a beautiful landscape. But Lin Yun noticed that he had a strange feeling when he looked at this scenery. It was as if something was blocking his sight. No matter how hard he tried, he could only see mountains, rivers, and forests, but no further.

This was a startling discovery for him.

After all, at Lin Yun's current level, he could already see the sources of things when observing the world. Just like earlier, when he observed the Guardian Towers that had stood tall for a long time. An ordinary person might see just a tower, but Lin Yun could see the mana flowing around, as well as the mana fluctuations emitted by the tower.

When Lin Yun observed something, he would see more than what most would see.

But here, he found that he could only see the same as others…

This made Lin Yun more curious about this place. What was hiding in the Ancestral Land? Why could he not understand what he was looking at?

"This…" William seemed to lack confidence as he looked around everywhere while Lin Yun was inwardly baffled. "Cousin, we shouldn't stay there long, I heard that the area around the Guardian Towers is very unusual. We might have an accident if we are careless. A child of the Family who entered to do his Bloodline Ceremony met the ghost of an ancestor here and was scared senseless. He fled and didn't even dare to do his Bloodline Ceremony. This genius who was supposed to have great potential and someday attain many achievements went crazy and fell before he could mature. The whole Merlin Family felt that it was a pity for a very long time…"

"Okay, we will hold the Bloodline Ceremony first." Lin Yun didn't worry about the strangeness of this place. Could it be worse than the end of the world?

He didn't have free time to research the Ancestral Land before doing the Bloodline Ceremony.

"It's not far ahead."

William led the way, and it wasn't long before the two left the Guardian Towers to reach an area under the cliff. At this time, they could clearly see a rugged path exposed in the cliff, that path went into the depths of the mountain and was covered with dense fog.

The two walked down this path for a long time before it suddenly opened before them. At the end of the rugged path, the spacious core of the mountain felt like spring. At the core of the mountain stood an ancient temple. The temple had been built in a very strange style… One could say that it was poles apart from the 3rd Dynasty's style, yet it also didn't resemble the style of the past millennium. It was rough and mysterious.

'Could it be…' Lin Yun stood in front of the temple, inwardly startled because of the two statues outside and the rough and mysterious style. It made him think of the distant Nesser Dynasty, the era of Dragons and Elves.

If that was really the case…

This temple would be far too ancient…

In fact, Lin Yun could feel a simple and ancient aura, created over the years as the temple experienced the passage of time.

Lin Yun had already discovered in the Heaven Enlightening Plane that the Merlin Family's ancestor most likely had participated in the Draconic War that caused the destruction of the Nesser Dynasty. And after the Draconic War, the Merlin Family nearly disappeared overnight, up until their renewed rise in the recent millennium. Such a temple shouldn't have been left behind.

"Let's go in." Lin Yun didn't wait for William and directly pushed open the temple's door, entering the simple temple.

Sure enough…

Just as Lin Yun entered, he felt that he hadn't guessed wrong. A powerful draconic aura spread through the temple. It was the aura of a Chromatic Dragon, the aura of the Black Dragon of Destruction…

Lin Yun was surprised by this because after hearing from William that the ancestor had participated in the Draconic War, he had speculated that the ancestor was most likely the Dark Sage.

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Chapter 288: Heart

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

Among the Chromatic Dragons, the Destruction Black Dragon Clan was Noscent's most famous. Whether it was the evil Dragon capturing a princess, the carriage snatched by a Dragon, or the Dragons always living in volcanoes in the stories whose Dragon Breath had a strong sulfurous scent. They would mostly be Black Dragons.

Yes, the Destruction Black Dragon Clan was infamous in Noscent.

Even the pure-blooded Destruction Black Dragons were forced to flee to an unknown plane when Charles the Emperor shattered the Throne of Life. Only some mixed-blood descendants remained in the current Noscent, but the infamous name of the Destruction Black Dragons had already spread throughout, remaining ingrained in the hearts of every inhabitant of Noscent.

That was why Lin Yun felt shocked when he felt the aura of those Dragons.

They were the Destruction Black Dragons! One of the Chromatic Dragon Clans! They would have Heaven Rank power upon reaching adulthood and would rarely have opponents in Noscent.

'A Destruction Black Dragon actually fell here…' Lin Yun couldn't help remaining speechless in front of that empty temple.

In fact, when he confirmed that the temple had come from the Nesser Dynasty, Lin Yun had made some conjectures, but he hadn't dared to believe them since they were too shocking.

Very few temples would be built during the Nesser Dynasty, which was completely different from the 3rd Dynasty.

The 3rd Dynasty's royal family worshipped the Haiba Dragon God as the first Dragon born at the beginning of the world. The Haiba Dragon God loved wealth and offerings. The greater the offerings, the happier the Haiba Dragon God would be. Thus, the Haiba Dragon God had temples everywhere in the 3rd Dynasty. Most of these temples hid shocking wealth. Countless legends of people becoming rich overnight appeared after the destruction of the 3rd Dynasty.

But it was different for the Nesser Dynasty.

The Nesser Dynasty was the Dynasty of the Elven and Draconic Empire.

Although the Elves and Dragons believed in their own gods, they never blindly worshipped them. There were very few temples during that period, and they would be erected to commemorate their fallen companions.

And it had to be a companion who made such great contributions that it affected the whole era.

It could be said that every temple of the Nesser Dynasty had an epic story behind it.

During his days in the decaying library, Lin Yun had read the famous – Elven and Draconic Requiem–, and in it were recorded the achievements of the fallen Elves and Dragons that could warrant a temple. It was a true poetic saga depicting formidable powerhouses. Their names were still passed down in songs after countless years, and the places they fell at were holy grounds.

Now, a Nesser Dynasty temple stood in front of them filled with the aura of a Destruction Black Dragon meaning that a Destruction Black Dragon had once fallen there.

'It looks like I still underestimated the Merlin Family…' Lin Yun stood in the spacious temple and took a deep breath as he thought of walking over to the altar in the center.

The altar was a dozen meters tall and was constructed out of some unknown stones. The ground seemed to be made of scalding flames as Lin Yun walked on it. At the top of the altar was a terrace a few meters wide. A fireball was raging in the center of the terrace.

"This is…" Lin Yun froze when he saw that flame.

That was a Dragon Heart.

To be more specific, it was the Dragon Heart of a Destruction Black Dragon.

The aura Lin Yun had felt had come from this ignited heart.

'Hold on…'

As Lin Yun was inwardly amazed, a strange sound reached his ears.

"Badump, badump, badump…"

Hearing this powerful pulsating sound, Lin Yun's expression suddenly paled. 'This Destruction Black Dragon's heart is still alive!'

Indeed, it was still beating. It looked really strange in this quiet temple.

'No way…' Lin Yun rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing properly.

Sure enough, the heart was beating. Through the flames, Lin Yun could clearly see the black diamond-like sparkling heart throbbing vigorously.

'Is the key to fusing the nine Magic Arrays on that heart?" Lin Yun carefully thought about it and felt that this might be possible.

Fusing the nine Magic Arrays into one would require a lot of patience and willpower as he did it very slowly, but it might also be possible to do it forcefully using incomparable power.

And that Black Dragon Heart held extreme power.

Lin Yun finally found a clue.

Flame Ruler Doug most likely used the power of that Destruction Black Dragon to fuse his nine Magic Arrays and reach the High Mage realm in one go.

But…

How did he get that power?

He definitely didn't extract it…

An adult Black Dragon was at least a Heaven Rank existence, not to mention a Destruction Black Dragon that earned a temple after falling. It would have been one of the powerhouses whose names could be recorded and sung in poems. They might be comparable to a Three-headed Golden Dragon.

Even if it only left a heart behind, the power contained within wasn't something Lin Yun could extract.

In fact, Lin Yun could clearly feel that he had been capable of safely standing there only because the power of the altar had been suppressing the Black Dragon's heart. Otherwise, let alone standing there, he would have faced the oppressive power as soon as he'd approached the temple.

Directly extracting the power would be suicide.

"Oh, right, Cousin…" Lin Yun suddenly stopped as he thought of something. "How much do you know about the Bloodline Ceremony?"

"The Bloodline Ceremony?" William also felt the Destruction Black Dragon's power, and his strength was inferior to his cousin's. Thus, he only hid on the side, hoping for his younger cousin to hurry up with his Bloodline Ceremony.

William couldn't help freezing when he heard Lin Yun's question, before recalling that his younger cousin's grandfather had already left the Merlin Family, planning to never return. He probably hadn't mentioned the Bloodline Ceremony.

"You drip a drop of blood on it!" William promptly yelled from a distance before anxiously looking at Lin Yun and repeating. "On that ball of flames!"

"A drop of blood?" Lin Yun felt doubtful when he heard that…

'How could it be dripping blood?'

Usually, a ritual to purify blood would involve accepting a mysterious baptism in order to condense a bloodline that would reach the purity of an Ancestor's. In fact, dripping one's blood on a Dragon's heart seemed more like an offering.

But naturally, Lin Yun quickly threw those suspicions to the back of his mind. That was only his own point of view, but there were all kinds of rituals and ceremonies in Noscent. He couldn't know the principles behind each and every one of them. Perhaps the Merlin Family's ceremony was a special case?

But even if he did a sacrifice, how could one drop of blood have such a big influence?

Lin Yun no longer hesitated after thinking of this. He let out a precise Wind Blade, and under the accurate control of this High Mage, the Wind Blade only brushed past his left hand's middle finger and blood spilled as he gently shook. That drop of blood fell onto those flames.

It was immediately followed by a world-shaking Dragon Chant.

"What's going on?" Lin Yun was suddenly startled. That Dragon Chant clearly carried endless anger and unwillingness.

Unfortunately, before he could understand what had happened, the flaming black diamond displayed the phantom of a Black Dragon.

"This…" Lin Yun became deathly pale. The Destruction Black Dragon had world-shaking power, even if it was just a shadow. Let alone a 1st Rank High Mage like him, even an Archmage wouldn't be able to resist.

Lin Yun almost subconsciously brandished his Spiritual Magic Staff.

But before he could even think of counterattacking, the phantom had already pounced on him, followed by another resounding Dragon Chant. Lin Yun only felt darkness ahead of him as he was swallowed whole by the shadow.

Under the suppression of the immense Draconic power, Lin Yun even lost his ability to think. He seemed to have been lost in boundless darkness… It was the same feeling as when they floated in the Heaven Enlightening Plane. No, no, it was even more frightening and even more strange.

In the Heaven Enlightening Plane, he had been able to control his body and mind.

But now, he was incapable of moving while in the endless darkness. And it wasn't just that he couldn't move. His thoughts were extremely sluggish, and even the most insignificant reaction felt difficult.

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