Chapter 680: Core
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Looking at the huge magical crystal in front of him, Lin Li could not help but feel excited even though he had seen plenty of rare treasures before. He could clearly feel that the massive mana was surging into his body like tidal waves. He had only been standing there for a moment, but he had already absorbed the mana that usually required a week of meditation to acquire.
Lin Li had already reached the peak of level-22, and even just a brief moment of meditation would allow him to absorb a huge amount of mana. Now, he no longer needed to meditate. All he had to do was remain standing and allow the mana to surge into his body, and he would be able to obtain massive mana that would usually require a week of meditation. The magical crystal seemed to be even more useful than the Tree of Eternity because of this.
Just as Lin Li got a grip on himself, he suddenly felt like there was a vague voice calling him. That voice sounded exactly the same as his, and it was as if he were speaking to himself. Lin Li could not help but feel a little dazed.
Upon hearing that summoning voice, Lin Li subconsciously moved away and walked towards the middle of the hall. He almost didn’t notice that he was instinctively infusing his mental strength into the magical crystal while walking.
Lin Li suddenly snapped out of his trance when a portion of mental strength was infused into his body, and he broke out into cold sweat. How could he make such a low-level mistake? The huge magical crystal was not just large in size. God knew what was hidden in it.
The magical crystal was not just a container for storing mana. The fact that it had surpassed the Sanctuary-level meant that it was extremely powerful. Lin Li reckoned that the life form of the owner of the magical crystal was probably beyond what humans could fathom.
If the magical crystal contained the Soul Brand of the magical crystal’s owner, or some form of Spiritual Force, Lin Li’s mental strength would be like the magical crystal’s dessert. He was just a level-22 Legendary-mage who would be insignificant compared to power of the Sanctuary-realm. If he were careless, he might just have his conscious devoured by the magical crystal, and then become a puppet of the magical crystal with no means to retaliate.
Unfortunately, it was too late for Lin Li to wake up to this idea. Just as he was about to withdraw his mental strength, the huge magical crystal suddenly produced a strong and irresistible attraction. As Lin Li’s mental strength was sucked by the magical crystal, he felt that he could not even break the connection with that portion of mental strength. At this moment, all of his mental strength was completely out of control as it surged towards the magical crystal.
At the same time, the magical crystal that had been quietly suspended in the air suddenly radiated a dazzling light that lit up the entire hall like daylight. If someone were to be outside the Central Tower of the Sky Castle at this moment, they would be able to see the Central Tower getting lit up bit by bit from above. It seemed like a lamp post.
The unassuming mageweath around the Central Tower slowly lit up and spread outwards rapidly like ripples in the water. As the light spread outwards, the buildings in the vicinity would light up too.
The 36 towers that served as the conquering nodes of the Conquering Mageweath began to light up one after another too. The entire sky began to light up as well. The city that used to be dead to Lin Li again radiated gloriously like it had in the past.
However, Lin Li couldn’t see any of that, nor did he have any spare time to pay attention to it. He only knew that he desperately wanted to control his own mental strength, but it seemed impossible under that irresistible and powerful attraction. He had no choice but to watch as his mental strength surged out and got consumed completely by the massive magical crystal.
What a tragedy! He had carefully and cautiously made his way there, and was about to watch himself become the biggest winner, yet his damned negligence caused his efforts to go in vain. Lin Li was filled with anger and grief. He’d just been thinking about how he should explore Osric’s mausoleum, but everything was over now.
However, just as Lin Li was about to resign himself to fate, a strong portion of mental strength surged into his brain from the magical crystal. That mental strength seemed rather familiar to Lin Li, or rather it could not be considered familiar, because it seemed to belong to him. However, Lin Li was well aware that the mental strength was not the one that had gotten devoured, but was emitted from the magical crystal instead.
The powerful mental strength contained countless information, which made Lin Li feel like he was talking to himself. The information was all-encompassing, massive, and extremely complex, some of which was already known to Lin Li. An example would be the evolution of Anril since the prehistoric times. However, most of the information was foreign to Lin Li because he had never heard of it before. The experiences and information were all complicated, messy and endless.
The huge amount of information instantly poured into Lin Li’s mind, and his brain soon reached the limit processing information. Lin Li felt like his head was about to explode; he dropped the Helios’ Scepter onto the ground, stuck his hands into his hair, and pressed them down onto his head as hard as he could. Finally, a loud noise exploded in Lin Li’s mind. He lost consciousness and curled up on the ground.
Sometimes, fainting was indeed a very happy thing. After Lin Li fell onto the ground, his body was still quaking, but he clearly no longer had to worry about his head exploding.
After a long time, the light on the huge magical crystal gradually began to turn dim. Lin Li groaned unconsciously and slowly opened his eyes, feeling like everything was just a nightmare. Squeezing his sore forehead, he awkwardly got up from the ground. However, thinking of what happened just before he fainted, Lin Li quickly thumped himself back onto the ground and closed his eyes to carefully inspect his body’s condition.
If a mage were to lose his mental strength, he would become a vegetable1 for the rest of his life even if he did not become an idiot. Extremely anxious, Lin Li tried to mobilize the mental strength in his mind. Anril was a brutal world where only the strong survived. Even though he had always been very open-minded, he couldn’t imagine how he was going to survive in this world after losing his right to be a mage.
All of a sudden, Lin Li widened his eyes forcefully and the look of worry on his face disappeared, after which it was replaced with a look of surprise and doubt. Lin Li had initially thought that he had already lost his mental strength, but it turned out that his mental strength had become much stronger than before. That did not refer to the increase in mental strength, but rather that it seemed like it had become more condensed, like a piece of refined iron that had been tempered and purified.
When he was abducting the Elemental Wyrm, Lin Li also had to use the techniques about the control of mental strength taught in the Book of Eternity to make his mental strength even more condensed in order to detect the wyrm’s condition. However, Lin Li could feel the purity of his mental strength even without using those skills.
Although such changes did not increase Lin Li’s mental strength, it allowed him to have better control over his magic. Lin Li already had the ring made out of the Evil Eye Tyrant’s magical crystal allowing his mental strength to increase at all times. Hence, compared with the simple increase of mental power, this tempering was undoubtedly a great gain for him.
Lin Li picked up the Helios’ Scepter that he had thrown on the ground, stood up, and then walked towards the magical crystal that was suspended in midair before subconsciously stretching out his palm. Just as Lin Li was feeling strange about his behavior, the magical crystal that had been quietly remaining still suddenly flew towards him gently and landed on his palm.
After coming to, Lin Li felt like he had gained plenty of knowledge for no reason. Recalling the moment before fainting, he reckoned that the information must have been sent into his mind by the mental strength from the magical crystal. Although Lin Li had yet to have the time to sort the information out carefully, the information about how to manipulate and use the magical crystal emerged naturally as if it were originally from his memory.
Lin Li seemed to be able to see everything in the Sky Castle through the magical crystal in his hand. He could see the countless Vengeful Spirits wandering in their respective territories on the interweaving streets. He could also see the various mageweaths, formidable Alchemy Arrays, and lethal magic gears that were opening and closing.
Lin Li could see that the sky above the Sky Castle that was resisting the storm seemed to be emitting strong rays of light from time to time. Even the Orderly Maze in the Central Tower and the seven realms of the Seven-Realm Spiral could be seen clearly. He could even see the expressions of Cheyenne and the rest who were loitering in the corridor as if he were the Sky Castle.
After enjoying the wonderful feeling of knowing everything, Lin Li began to try to control the Central Tower of the Sky Castle through the magical crystal. He knew his strengths, so his target of control was only the mageweath on the Central Tower.
However, as Lin Li had just started to think about it, the magic in his body immediately seemed to surge out unrestrainedly like a flood. At this time, the Supreme Mageweath in the Central Tower that had just lit up a little showed some tendency to be urged. Lin Li’s massive mana would never be exhausted during battles, but at this moment, it was completely depleted.