Chapter 604: The Source of Magic
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Although the Titans’ Spirits have lost their strong physical bodies and the Titan Dragon Spear that contained the power of Thunderbolt, their strong willpower that had been fused with Thunderbolt’s power ever since they were born allowed their spirits to become formidable even by the standards of Undead creatures.
Lin Li was just a minor Legendary-mage. Although he was an outstanding figure among human beings, he was just as insignificant as an ant in front of a Titan Spirit that was at least level-25. Even if there were 10 of him, he might not be able to stand against the Titan’s Spirit with the help of the Malfa Family and the four Legendary powerhouses of Dark Blade.
However, despite being faced with the possibility of facing a mighty opponent, Lin Li did not leave in dejection. Instead, he began to take out some precious magic items from the Ring of Endless Storm.
If it had been a living Titan, Lin Li would have run away and hidden far, far away without hesitation. However, no matter how powerful the Titan Spirit was, it was already considered an Undead creature which Lin Li felt that he could deal with. Of course, he had to hope that the Titan Spirit was really an Undead creature.
The baby Elemental Wyrm, Xiao Hua, already had the two magic crystals, and was now hovering with translucent wings that allowed it to remain suspended in midair while its head swayed back and forth. It watched Lin Li run about in the cave. Wyrms and Titans were natural enemies, and their relationship had been strained since the birth of their races. Although Xiao Hua was just born, the memory that it had gained from the projected avatar made it well aware how powerful the Titan was.
If it were the Dragon of Dream, Xiao Hua obviously wouldn’t be intimidated by an ordinary Titan, but the Titan was still too powerful for it now. It stayed at the entrance of the cave without touching anything there while staring at Lin Li curiously in a bid to see how the human mage was going to deal with the Titan that was tens of thousands of times larger than it.
The cave was extremely spacious, and Lin Li seemed rather tiny compared to the Titan Dragon Spear and the Titan’s skeleton.
In a short while, a large ring appeared on the ground, encircling the Titan’s skeleton and the Titan Dragon Spear. Although it was just a simple ring, Lin Li’s heart was bleeding when he was drawing it. He truly felt the pinch because the materials used did not come cheap, and were formulated using various precious magical materials. Every handful of them came at a sky-high price. It was all just the beginning.
Such a simple drawing of a circle was obviously not enough to deal with the Titan Spirit. Lin Li had never once paused in his actions, and he continuously used the huge ring as a basis to draw complex patterns. He occasionally placed some precious magical materials in specific positions too.
Lin Li continuously drew various complicated patterns, such as crisscrossing lines, curvy waves, and small symbols with significant meanings. The large circle was continuously enhanced, and the faint magic light emitted by the colorful magical materials gradually made it seem like a piece of art.
However, it was unlike a freestyle art piece, because Lin Li had to ensure the accuracy of each line, and the structure of each symbol could not be the slightest bit wrong. Well, it was not a work of art, but a huge alchemy circle. Any mistake would lead to the failure of the alchemy circle, and any deviation could make the alchemy circle fail to achieve the desired effect.
Drawing such a huge alchemy circle was a great test for all alchemists, and even a veteran alchemist wouldn’t dare to guarantee that he wouldn’t make a mistake during the process. It was perhaps not the most complicated alchemy matrix, but its sheer size would make its formulation difficult beyond imagination.
If Lin Li wanted to fight the powerful Titan Spirit, it would not be enough to just rely on his own strength. Even if he went through the painful experience of ingesting the Heart-piercing Potion again, he would still face death when he encountered the level-25 Titan Spirit. However, Lin Li was not just a mage or a pharmacist. Hence, he thought of the Alchemy Array.
The power of wisdom was infinite. In terms of individual power, humans and the High Elves of the Dark Age would never be able to compare to the strong and overbearing magical beasts. Yet, the magical beasts were the ones that got driven out of Anril, and those who remained to rule the world were the relatively weaker High Elves. That was the power of wisdom.
When the wise were unable to break through their own limitations, they earned to use external forces such as various magical equipment, potions, mageweaths, Alchemy Arrays, and many others, with the smallest being magical rings and the biggest being Sky Castles. That gave the power of the intelligent races unlimited growth potential.
Lin Li would never be able to fight the Titans with his own individual abilities. However, he did not lack help from external factors.
Step by step, Lin Li carefully completed the huge alchemy circle. The plethora of magical materials exuded a mild yet vibrant magical glow, which gradually gave the entire cave a beautiful silhouette. The large Alchemy Array was a great test for Lin Li as well. It was huge not because it was simply enlarged, and there were actually various problems that had to be addressed as well. For example, some magic symbols couldn’t withstand greater power output, so they needed to be replaced with smaller Alchemy Arrays. There were also some magical that couldn’t withstand the flow of too much power, and certain methods had to be employed in order to enhance them. Lin Li had to use his own knowledge to solve the issues one by one.
After a long time, Lin Li looked down and carefully scrutinized his own masterpiece whilst suspended in mid-air. The huge Alchemy Array had already been completed, and the colorful magical glow was shining brightly to form beautiful patterns. The numerous magic symbols intertwined together in a complicated manner. It was absolutely perfect, whether it was perceived as an Alchemy Array or an art piece.
However, what Lin Li wanted was not a work of art, but an alchemy circle that could help him defend himself against the mighty Titan Spirit. After thinking for a while, Lin Li returned to the Alchemy Array and retrieved the debris of the stars, Holy Light and Gloomy Dark, which he then used to replace the magical items in the Alchemy Array.
The debris of the stars were genuine artifacts that possessed incredible power. Unfortunately, Lin Li’s current abilities did not allow him to fully exert their power. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had to rely on the alchemy, and could have just used the debris of the stars to fight the Titan Spirit.
At this point, the alchemy circle could be considered complete, but Lin Li did not stop frowning at all, because there was still a crucial problem that had not been resolved. If the problem was not eliminated, everything that Lin Li had done and the huge Alchemy Array which required plenty of precious materials would very likely go to waste.
The problem was actually very simple, but solving it was the difficult part. The issue was the mana source for the Alchemy Array.
This huge alchemy circle was already the strongest one known to Lin Li. At the same time, its demand for mana was naturally not comparable to general alchemy circles’. In fact, even a Legendary magical crystal would be completely drained in the blink of an eye when used as a mana source.
Compared to ordinary magical crystals, the Legendary magical crystals not only contained more mana, they also could automatically replenish the depleted mana. However, if the rate of replenishment couldn’t keep up with the speed of consumption, the mana would be depleted, and the Legendary magical crystal would be rendered useless.
Even though Lin Li was wealthy, he couldn’t waste a Legendary magical crystal like that. It was practically a crime. Moreover, the alchemy circle needed more than just a Legendary magical crystal. After all, he had to deal with a Titan Spirit that was likely to be level-25 or above. It would be absurd to think that a Legendary magical crystal was enough.
Without a source of mana, the alchemy circle would be nothing but a bunch of meaningless symbols, no matter how advanced they might be. What else could act as the mana source apart from Legendary magical crystals?
Lin Li could not bear to use his assets as a mana source, but the ones that he was willing to use were not up to standard. After giving it some thought, he suddenly noticed Xiao Hua, the baby Elemental Wyrm at the entrance.
Although Xiao Hua had just been born, and was not as powerful as the adult Elemental Wyrms, its talent was still unaffected. With the mastery of the Laws of the four elements, it could freely cast magic without worrying about the exhaustion of mana. How about making it the mana source for the alchemy circle?
Lin Li felt that the method should be feasible. The Elemental Wyrm just like a converter that could convert magic elements into the mana required by the alchemy. At the same time, the speed and amount of this conversion were almost unlimited. That way, there would be a source of mana for the alchemy circle without having to sacrifice Legendary magic crystals. He could also guarantee that the effects would be best. What was not to love?
However, there was another problem he had to face. How was he supposed to make Xiao Hua obediently become the source of mana? Lin Li walked towards the Elemental Wyrm, and spoke to it while gesturing with his hands to make Xiao Hua follow him to the mana fountain. However, Xiao Hua quit when Lin Li was about to move it to position.
Xiao Hua seemed to have forgotten that it had just swallowed two magical crystals. It rubbed its little belly with a front limb, and put on a pitiful look which made it seem as if it had been starving for years. Then, it stretched out a paw towards Lin Li. Obviously, it was asking for a magical crystal again, and this time, it could not be satiated with just one or two magical crystals. Instead, it clearly wanted four magical crystals all at once as four of its fingers were extended…