Chapter 674: Immortal King’s Descendant
“Although I am not sure if he did move here, I remember he went away for around a month the year we built the Eternal Furnace. But, when he came back, the construction of the Eternal Furnace never ended. The technical issues that once challenged him seemed to be resolved in one night,” recalled Connoris.
“It seems that he did not only empty this place, but also failed to find something important here,” said Lin Li as he exited the secret room. He stood in the center of the hall of the laboratory and looked at the debris around him. “Also, it seemed that this Highlord was not a man with good temperament. But, that is aligned to his title as the butcher. Yet, I don’t remember seeing anything of real value in the Eternal Furnace.”
“After all, he was not the Immortal King. His life ended before the construction of the Eternal Furnace was completed. He hid those core materials in his mausoleum when he sensed that his life was about to come to an end,” said Connoris indignantly.
“You should be glad that he left you at the Eternal Furnace instead of bringing you into his grave,” Lin Li said smilingly.
“Is that so? I don’t think I am a man of luck,” Connoris remarked. It seemed like he was not satisfied with how Lin Li had been treating from the day he met him.
Lin Li was not very affected after knowing that Osric emptied the laboratory that belonged to Immortal King. He was just glad that he the firstcomer was Osric. Lin Li was confident that Osric’s mausoleum would land into his lands eventually. He was just taking the long way.
“Although it is a little troublesome, it isn’t a bad thing. At least Osric brought the items into his grave instead of destroying them. It seems that he was fearful of feeling lonely after death,” commented Lin Li. He recalled how before he transmigrated, the monarchs and the rich always loved to put valuable items in their graves, which were always exploited by tomb raiders.
Of course, over the course of the year he had been in the mainland of Anril, Lin Li had totally turned into a tomb raider of an alternative world. The more adventures he participated in, the clearer he understood that the dangers in treasure hiding spots and mausoleums of Anril were much greater than the emperor’s tomb that was once mysterious.
However, now that he had gotten through the Orderly Maze and the Seven-Realm Spiral to reach Immortal King’s treasury, he was confident that the mausoleum of Osric would not mean anything to him. If he had not come to the Breezy Plains to establish the Tower of Dusk, he would have gone to Alanna to find Aldwin, the president of Alanna Guild of Magic, to seek information related to Osric’s mausoleum.
“The High Elves did not manage to avoid the passing of time, nor did the divine achieve an eternal life. Although I am not sure how much inheritance had Osric gotten from Immortal King, from my experience with him, I thought that you human beings should be glad that he died an early death. If not, he would have built the eighth sky castle,” said Connoris gloatingly. Although he would not be able to avenge himself, he was feeling rather joyful knowing that his enemy did not get to fulfill his wishes before dying.
“So what? The six out of the seven sky castles had been destroyed, and the last one moved to this place. Even if Osric really created the eighth sky castle…” Lin Li suddenly stopped talking.
Lin Li knew about Osric’s endeavor of creating the eighth sky castle from Connoris when he acquired the Eternal Furnace. At that time, he had limited understanding of sky castles. He was only shocked by Osric’s ambitious and seemingly unachievable plan. But, now that he obtained the blueprint of the sky castle, Lin Li clearly understood the drastic difference between the Eternal Furnace and a sky castle.
In Lin Li’s memory, Osric was a well-known figure during the Dark Age, yet he did not believe that Osric could really achieve something Immortal King couldn’t, even though he was the latter’s disciple.
Now, Lin Li had just heard something interesting from Connoris. Did this Soul Trader say that there was a great possibility for Osric to complete the eighth sky castle if he had enough time?
After all, each of the sky castle took a great deal of effort from Immortal King as well as manpower and resources from the High Elves. Resources, skills, and time were the three conditions that had to be fulfilled for this construction.
Time was considered the least demanding requirement out of the three. If Connoris was saying that Osric only lacked time, was he implying that he had fulfilled the two other conditions?
The construction of sky castles was not a trivial matter. Without sufficient preparation, he doubted Osric would have such a daring ambition. Even if he did not make enough preparation for the castles, he should have sufficient resources to maintain half of the construction efforts. If not, the construction of sky castles would be a joke.
The Eternal Furnace is nothing like the sky castle. Where did the other resources allocated for the sky castle go? Might he have kept them in his mausoleum, or used them to build his mausoleum?
Frankly speaking, these were wild guesses Lin Li dared not to believe. “Although Osric was well-known during the Dark Age, and was the disciple of the Immortal King, it had to be extremely difficult to build such a sky castle, didn’t it?”
“Either that fella was trying to act in front of me, or he really had the confidence to do that, especially after he returned from this place. If that sense of confidence had been feigned, I don’t think it’d have eluded my intuition,” said Connoris with relief. Had Osric’s plan succeeded, he would not have a chance to escape that darn furnace. It was lucky that Osric did not live for long.
“Tsk, why would he want to fake it in front of a soul sealed in a hammer?” Although Lin Li gave a disdainful reply, his anticipation for Osric’s mausoleum grew.
“Hey, that dude consulted the almighty Soul Trader on many questions when he was constructing the Eternal Furnace. If not for me, he—” Connoris retorted.
“Yeah, yeah,” Lin Li patronized Connoris. He had already started to consider Osric’s mausoleum seriously.
Lin Li first heard about Osric’s mausoleum when he was a Magic Shooter at Alanna Guild of Magic. At that time, Adventurers Guild and the Alanna Guild of Magic were in a deadlock over the key to Osric’s mausoleum. That prompted them to establish a bet—the Adventurers Guild to have a member who could create high-level mageweaths, and the Guild of Magic to have a member who was capable of forging magical weapons.
However, President Aldwin of Alanna Guild of Magic was clearly at disadvantage with the bet. Having a guild that was entirely made up of mages, it was almost impossible to have someone who had the skills in forging. Lin Li’s skills in forging brought him into the bet between the two guilds.
While it seemed that Lin Li had a critical role to play, he was a man without position and ability to participate in the mission for Osric’s mausoleum. After he went to the Breezy Plains to establish the Tower of Dusk, he never stopped busying himself with the matters related to the tower. That made him delay his involvement in the mission.
Through his interactions with the Eternal Furnace, Throne of Darkness, underground palace in the Dragon Mountains, and other adventures along the way, Lin Li obtained great benefits that would help him grow the Tower of Dusk. Yet, in this process, his interest in Highlord Osric’s mausoleum dwindled.
His attention switched to Immortal King’s treasures when he acquired information about it, thinking that that had to be the most valuable treasure of Anril. He was once again convinced to delay the plans to look into Osric’s mausoleum.
What Lin Li did not expect was that Osric had managed to empty all the valuable treasures before everyone else. And, from Connoris’s words, Lin Li could deduce that Osric had definitely placed resources to construct another sky castle in his mausoleum. This idea grew Lin Li’s ambitions.
Of course, that was a mere guess. There was still a possibility for Osric not to have placed all the treasures in his mausoleum. Regardless of the situation, Lin Li was convinced that he had to invest energy and time to venture into Osric’s mausoleum to take a look himself.
However, while he decided on his next goal, Lin Li knew he had to consider the question of safety. Now that he knew that Osric was the disciple of Immortal King, he had to readjust his attitude towards Osric’s mausoleum.
“If that is so, almighty Soul Trader, since Osric had consulted you on so many things, how much power do you think this disciple had inherited from Immortal King?” Lin Li asked, hoping he could acquire more information about Osric. After all, this unlucky ancient deity had interacted with Osric for a considerably long time.
“Hmm, at least enough for him to have the great confidence to construct a sky castle,” replied Connoris in a tone riddled with uncertainty. He couldn’t help it. After all, he was just a captive sealed in a hammer. How could Osric tell him everything?
Although he did not manage to acquire specific information, Lin Li was not the least bit disappointed. He could now gauge Osric’s ability.
The construction of sky castles was not an easy job, for they were not any random city on the mainland of Anril. The construction required knowledge from almost every other aspect. The arrogance of the High Elves stemmed from their great powers. They were unlike the human royals who were only capable of boasting. Since Osric established the building of a sky castle as his goal, it meant that he was confident in his ability.
The thought if it reaffirmed Lin Li that Osric’s mausoleum was not something to be trifled with. Had Osric invested half of the efforts of building a sky castle into the construction of his mausoleum, that mausoleum would be something beyond imagination of common men. Furthermore, it was only common sense for him to have focused on the construction of his mausoleum when he knew that his time was running out.
Lin Li could not imagine a mausoleum that had been built with adequate resources and skills. He was convinced that no one had ever managed to make a close prediction about Osric’s mausoleum. Lin Li could not help but feel worry that the number of fatal traps within the mausoleum had to be at least on par with that in the sky castles.
“Then, did Osric mention to you anything about alchemy arrays, magic gears, or any magic that could be used to create traps?” Lin Li’s worries prompted him to ask Connoris another question.
“As for this, I remember Osric mentioning something about the Orderly Maze and the Seven-Realm Spiral. But, I am sure you know that both of them require one to derive it with true efforts. There are no shortcuts for those.” Unfortunately, despite being the only contact of Osric, Connoris did not have a lot of understanding of that Highlord. He could not offer more information for Lin Li to predict possible powerful magical traps Osric might have set in his mausoleum.
“Hold on. Wasn’t Osric the disciple of Immortal King? When did he mention the Orderly Maze and the Seven-Realm Spiral? Could he have entered this tower through the Orderly Maze and the Seven-Realm Spiral, just like how we did not manage to use the main entrance?” Lin Li inquired curiously. Although he did not obtain the information he initially wanted, he managed to think of new possibilities.
In fact, it did not matter when Osric grew an interest in the Orderly Maze and the Seven-Realm Spiral. Lin Li deduced that Osric had to have experience of getting through the Orderly Maze and the Seven-Realm Spiral. That left Lin Li with another doubt. While he was certain that Osric had the ability to get past the first few realms of the Seven-Realm Spiral, it had to be challenging for him to get through the last one.