Chapter 694: One by One
Lin Li could totally guess that all of the prominent forces in the Breezy Plains were thinking of attacking the Tower of Dusk during the six months that he was away. He reckoned that perhaps even the Supreme Council had already gotten ready to select a candidate to take over after Lin Li. After all, the Tower of Dusk was still an official Guild of Magic of the Tower of Dusk.
The Tower of Dusk which had just been established less than two years ago brought them too much surprise in this short period of time. At the beginning, everyone had just been wondering if the Tower of Dusk could gain a strong footing in the Breezy Plains, but as they developed, everyone started to wonder if the Tower of Dusk would become the third major force alongside the Dark Blade and the Malfa Family. Upon hearing that Lin Li did not leave the Haiga Mountain Range, everyone naturally began to covet the Tower of Dusk.
However, most people might not know where the true value of the Tower of Dusk lay. If Lin Li were absent, many of the original advantages of the Tower of Dusk would disappear with time.
It was not that there was anything wrong with the development that Lin Li had planned for the Tower of Dusk, but rather mainly that the Tower of Dusk had been established only for a short period of time. Although the mages of the Tower of Dusk were extremely talented, Lin Li had yet to nurture talents who were powerful enough to support the Tower of Dusk.
The simplest example was the pharmaceutical team that continuously brought huge benefits to the Tower of Dusk. Without Lin Li, pharmacists like Wilkinson would not continue to stay there. How could a few inexperienced disciples be able to sustain the business? If anyone were to really get their hands on the Tower of Dusk, they would realize that they obtained only a beautiful but empty shell.
Only when the Tower of Dusk had its own Legendary-mages apart from Lin Li, as well as Masters of Pharmacy, Masters of Inscription, and other Masters of various professions, would they be able to survive for thousands of years. Of course, if they were developed to that extent, the other forces probably wouldn’t dare to attack the Tower of Dusk.
The mages of the Tower of Dusk all had a deep understanding of this, especially since Lin Li was absent for a period of time. While Lin Li was away, the things that used to be easy to do became much harder. All the random forces actually had the audacity to create trouble.
In the past six months, many mages felt confused and insecure about the future of the Tower of Dusk as well as their own. There were even some who chose to leave halfway. After all, six months ways way too long, and their firm mindset and beliefs gradually wavered over time.
However, as Lin Li made a powerful comeback, the confusion of the mages disappeared at this moment. Even though they had just experienced a tragic life-and-death battle, they were filled with immense joy and excitement that they could not hide. Every mage’s gaze was full of admiration, respect, and awe when they stared at Lin Li as if he were their deity.
After arranging everything, Gavin proceeded to report to Lin Li, who was speaking to Gerian. He had nothing much to say about cleaning up the battlefield. He killed the rest of the enemies that had yet to die, and saved the members of the Tower of Dusk who were still alive. As for the battle spoils, the items belonging to the Dark Blade did not appeal to the Tower of Dusk at all.
However, the thought of the losses of the Tower of Dusk made a look of guilt form on Gavin’s face. Although there was still the pharmacist Wilkinson left behind in the Tower of Dusk after Lin Li left, and there had never been any shortages of high-level healing potions in the Tower of Dusk before, even the best potion couldn’t revive a dead person. During the past six months, the Dark Blade and the Tower of Dusk had been through countless battles, and if it weren’t because of the healing potions, there would probably be even more dead mages.
Lin Li did not blame Gavin. It was a formidable feat for the Tower of Dusk to survive for such a long period of time when faced with a massive force like the Dark Blade that released continuous offensive attacks for several months. Although Lin Li was very distressed about the death of the 10-odd mages, he still comforted Gavin and got him to bring the mages of the Malfa Family.
As one of the first batches of elite mages in the Malfa Family who had been equipped with Dark Moon Staffs and Faro’s Robes, Tegel had what it took to be proud. With the two powerful magical equipment pieces, he would be able to display strength that was far beyond what a level-19 mage should have. Although he had yet to step into the Legendary-realm, he was just as good as the basic Legendary ones.
Actually, Tegel and his companions who were sent to support the Tower of Dusk all had a hidden agenda, and that was to take over. However, they did not plan to strike the Tower of Dusk by launching a forceful attack like the Dark Blade did. Instead, they were planning to truly convince the mages of the Tower of Dusk by showcasing their strength and abilities. They wanted the mages of the Tower of Dusk to know that the Malfa Family was currently the only force in the Breezy Plains who could bring them a bright future and become their only pillar of support.
Since they initially already had the intention to show off while giving aid, Tegel and the rest were naturally arrogant when they interacted with the mages of the Tower of Dusk. After all, without the Legendary-mage Lin Li, the newly established Tower of Dusk would be like an orphan. Even though they were very competent, they were worlds apart from the Malfa Family.
However, what Tegel and others did not expect was that the young President of the Tower of Dusk would miraculously reappear after having gone missing for half a year. Furthermore, he even exhibited groundbreaking power that took the Malfa Family by storm as soon as he appeared. He struck the Legendary-mage Borg of the Dark Blade with a single massive blow before defeating the two Legendary leaders in the blink of an eye. Even Master Cheyenne would not be able to do that.
Tegel tagged alongside Gavin, and was completely distracted even though the latter was speaking to him every now and then. He was anxiously trying to recall if he had said or done anything disrespectful to the mages of the Tower of Dusk when interacting with them. The four other mages of the Malfa Family remained silent, and were filled with uneasiness.
Tegel and the rest had all taken part in the trip to the Haiga Mountain Range; hence, they knew that the young President Lin Li was protective of his underlings and servants. He even offended the elves for his Undead servant before. If Tegel were to accidentally offend someone from the Tower of Dusk and anger the petty Lin Li, they would all be in trouble.
Gavin brought Tegel and the others to Lin Li, who did not speak immediately, but instead scanned them from head to toe. Actually, Lin Li did not quite care what intentions the Malfa Family had. After all, given the situation at that time, no one else would be able to escape from the Undead Heaven. Besides, the Guild would have suffered heavier losses if it weren’t for the five mages sent by Cheyenne.
Although Lin Li was much younger than Tegel, the scene of Lin Li defeating the two Legendary powerhouses was still fresh and vivid in his memory. Hence, he dared not underestimate Lin Li at all. Tegel panicked, and said, “Congratulations to President Felic for escaping the ordeal and returning home safe. I believe Teacher will be elated to hear that you are back.”
“Oh, are you a disciple of Master Cheyenne? Has he been alright?” Lin Li asked, shooting Gavin and the five mages a glance, and gestured for them to take a seat.
Tegel relaxed a little. While carefully looking at Lin Li’s expression, he explained, “Ever since Teacher returned from the Haiga Mountain Range, he mentioned more than once that we wouldn’t have received so many gains without President Felic’s help. This time, Teacher was originally planning to come over in person, but he suddenly had an epiphany and found a breakthrough opportunity while studying the books of magic that he brought back. Hence, he got the five of us come to help first.”
Lin Li then asked about the current status of the Malfa Family, and gained some understanding of the development of the Malfa Family in the past six months. After Cheyenne returned, he didn’t immediately start attacking the Dark Blade. After all, he had to turn the gains that he’d obtained in the Sky Castle into power that the Malfa Family could use, and that would require more than just a few days. Besides, the Dark Blade had a strong background, and even if they had already lost a Legendary leader, Baldela and Borg were not easy to deal with.
Cheyenne’s loot from the Sky Castle consisted of more than 100 sets of magical equipment of the High Elven army, a Legendary Winged Angel, a large number of advanced books of magic, and the blueprint of the Tower of Death. Apart from the Winged Angel that had incredible combat power and could quickly increase the strength of the Malfa Family, the other things could not be used immediately.
The magical equipment could enhance anyone who wore it, but no one would leave so much precious magical equipment in the hands of someone they did not trust. There were many outstanding mages in the entire Malfa Family, but Cheyenne only took out seven sets of equipment after a thorough consideration. Apart from Tegel and those who went to the Tower of Dusk, only Adelo and Hutton were qualified to use them.
As for the Tower of Death, Lin Li could already guess that it would be extremely difficult for the Malfa Family to build the tower given their current power. Putting the technical aspects aside, just the various precious materials alone would probably cost more than the treasures in the Malfa Family’s treasure vault.
Cheyenne himself had gone through various battles; hence, he was confident to break through to level-22. Adelo and Hutton had been continuously learning from Cheyenne because they wanted to enter the Legendary-realm sooner. Hutton, in particular, seemed to have been agitated so much after hearing about Stephen that he put his best foot forward in learning the past six months.
Tegel greeted Lin Li and spoke to him calmly. Seeing that his attitude was still fine, he carefully made a request to leave. He felt that it would be better to retreat early. If it were to drag on for too long, they might not be able to leave easily if one of the watchdogs came out to tell on them.
Lin Li had a rough understanding of the situation in the Malfa Family. Seeing that Tegel had requested to leave, he decided not to think about it. Instead, he said a few more polite words, and got Tegel to relay a few of his words of gratitude to Cheyenne before getting Gavin to send them off.
“Am I that scary?” Lin Li asked Gerian in amusement after noticing how eager to leave Tegel and his companions were.
Gerian squinted; the fat on his cheeks moved a little, after which he looked at Lin Li in disdain. He chided, “Well, you don’t know how arrogant those rascals were when they arrived. They were looking down on all of us. Yet, you were gone for half a year. Everyone is almost trampling all over the Tower of Dusk.”
“Is that so? Do you want me to catch them back now so that you can vent your anger?” Lin Li asked jokingly. However, he could deduce from Gerian’s complaint what the situation of the Tower of Dusk was like now.
Although there were various forces in the Breezy Plains, not all of them had Legendary leaders. Even when Lin Li was not around, the Tower of Dusk was still stronger than most forces. However, the attack of the Dark Blade was taxing on the Tower of Dusk’s power, and they could not find the time nor energy to deal with the troublemakers at all.
In the past six months, the businesses of the stores in the Breezy Plains owned by the Tower of Dusk faced blows of varying degrees. Some were made to pay protection fees, while some were robbed. In others’ opinion, it was only a matter of time before they got destroyed by the Dark Blade now that the Legendary-mage Lin Li was not around.
Even in the nearby Doland City, many pharmacies were looted, and the only business that was not affected was the one in Aminya City. Believing that the Malfa Family had long set their sights on that business, other forces dared not touch them.
Lin Li gently tapped his fingers on the table and squinted slightly with a peculiar smirk. He suddenly remembered the famous saying that existed in the world that he was from: “I’ll make sure they pay for everything that they had done, tit for tat!”.
Lin Li had never been a generous person. Although he had various mindset changes ever since he’d entered the Legendary-realm, he still showed no mercy to those who dared to offend him. Indeed, to the Legendary Lin Li, those who were below the Legendary-realm were all insignificant, and he wouldn’t mind killing them if they were to have the audacity to disrespect him.
However, it was not the time to settle the score. Although the Tower of Dusk had plenty of casualties in the fierce battles, it also revealed some of their shortcomings. After all, Lin Li was not a god, and his abilities were limited. Besides, the Tower of Dusk was not that affluent when it was first established; hence, many things could not be perfected due to the circumstances they were subjected to.