Chapter 696: Waves From All Sides
Sometimes, people tended to lose their urge to imagine something when things were really beyond imagination. In the eyes of the mages, the huge magical crystal might be some sort of Magical Crystalloid or something else, but definitely not a magical crystal.
“What we have to do is actually the same as usual. We just have to stay here to meditate and accumulate mana. There are books on magic that President brought back from the Haiga Mountain Range on that bookshelf. Those books are the teaching material for magic that the High Elves used during the Dark Age. If you have any doubts during this period of time, you may read the books to find the answers to your questions. If you can’t find any answer, President will give you the answers…” Gavin instructed, after which he picked a few mages and sat down with them to meditate.
After listening to Gavin’s instructions, everyone could not help but feel somewhat disappointed. They wondered, Can meditation and learning as usual really help us improve our abilities in a short period of time?
However, when everyone sat down and began meditating, they suddenly yelled in shock.
When mages meditated, they actually captured the magical elements in space before transforming them into their own mana which was stored within themselves, continuously expanding the limit of their storage. A certain amount of the mage’s mental strength would definitely be depleted, be it during the process of capturing or transforming.
However, the mages had just begun to meditate, and had yet to channel their mental strength, yet the massive mana that surrounded them seemed to be surging into their bodies like a flood. It was absolutely terrifying. It was not meditation at all. It was a crazy influx of mana! In the blink of an eye, they could already feel an obvious rise in their power.
With Lin Li’s current strength, which was at the peak of level-23, the amount of mana he gained from standing beside the magical crystal for a moment would be equivalent to the amount he would gain in a week of meditation, what more the level-19 mages. In fact, one of the level-15 Archmages managed to advance to level-16 after sitting down for a moment.
If it weren’t for the maintaining of the friendly competition within the Tower of Dusk, Lin Li would definitely allow hundreds of mages under him to join in and create a batch of Archmages within a short period of time. However, there were now 20 Alchemy Puppets that Lin Li had brought back to the Tower of Dusk; hence, it could be said that they did not lack any combat power below the Legendary-level. Most importantly, Lin Li hoped for Legendary-mages that truly belonged to the Tower of Dusk to emerge amongst the 40 mages.
Several mages who were already at level-19 stood up. They knew that at the speed just now, they might reach the peak of level-19 soon, but that would still be extremely far away from the Legendary-realm. They were the elites of the crowd in the first place. Hence, they naturally wanted to improve tremendously during this period of time and not disappoint others when they left.
For mages below the Legendary-level, the only way to increase their strength was to accumulate mana, but in order to enter the Legendary-realm, they would require more substantial knowledge about magic so that they would have a stronger foundation that would allow them to understand and appreciate the mysteries of the nomological power. The level-19 mages who were led by Evan were full of anticipation for the books of magic that Lin Li had brought back from the Haiga Mountain Range.
The High Elven script should be considered a compulsory subject for mages in the Tower of Dusk because reading those magic books was not difficult for them. However, the first mage to get his hands on the books frowned slightly after flipping through the pages. He murmured, “Well, this doesn’t seem like much.”
Several other people also looked at the books of magic on the shelves, all full of doubt. Indeed, it did seem a little puzzling at first, but as they continued to read on, they gradually understood the value of these magic books. They discovered solutions to the minor problems that they usually encountered, and also noticed some of their misconceptions. They could clearly feel that the theoretical knowledge in the books was like a bunch of keys that slowly opened the door to the Legendary-realm for them.
“Tegel, why did you come back? Did the Dark Blade retreat?” an elder of the Malfa Family, Sorenson, asked while staring at Tegel and the rest who had suddenly returned from the Tower of Dusk.
“The Dark Blade… did not retreat…” Tegel and the others began to look more awkward and uneasy as they thought about the incident that took place that day. Lin Li gave them too great of a shock; none of them dared to believe that he was only in his early twenties.
However, Sorenson noticed the expressions of Tegel and the other mages, and interpreted them differently. He solemnly asked, “If the Dark Blade didn’t retreat, does that mean that the Tower of Dusk has been conquered?”
Sorensen couldn’t help but hate the other elders. If it weren’t for their opposition, he definitely wouldn’t have sent just Tegel and the other four mages. Now that the Dark Blade had conquered the Tower of Dusk, they’d definitely experience a surge in strength within a short period of time. Those lunatics are probably going to deal with th Malfa Family next. However, what the Malfa Family needs now is time for development, not a war, he thought.
“No, no, President Felic of the Tower of Dusk returned,” Tegel quickly explained.
“What? That young mage of the Tower of Dusk is back!?” Upon hearing the news, Sorenson suddenly stood up in shock.
“Yes, Sir, not only did President Felic return, he even managed to seriously injure Borg from the Dark Blade with a single blow.” Tegel would still feel a sudden chill in his heart whenever he thought of the destructive blow from the Light and Darkness Sword even now.
“It only took a single blow…” Sorensen couldn’t help but clench his fists tightly. Although he had heard from his father Cheyenne that President Felic of the Tower of Dusk had reached the peak of level-22, he knew that even an ordinary level-22 Legendary powerhouse wouldn’t be able to severely injure their old enemy Borg with a single blow.
“Later on, Baldela and Borg joined forces, but only for a moment because they were soon restrained by President Felic’s magic. All of the Dark Blade’s attacking power was completely destroyed.” Sorenson already found the truth to be hard to accept, yet Tegel told him about something that was even more incredible.
Damn, this is too crazy, did that young mage get trained by the gods for a year!? Sorenson sat back in his chair and looked at the other four mages beside Tegel. He could tell from the expressions on their faces that Tegel did not lie.
“Prepare some gifts. Tegel will be the messenger… Wait, I think I’d better make a trip there in person. Also, look after the Tower of Dusk’s business in the city. Do not let anyone take it over. Otherwise, there will be no mercy spared!” Sorenson ordered. Sorensen was the chief elder of the Malfa Family in the end, so he quickly suppressed the horror in his heart, and prepared for the new changes.
Sorensen was no longer a child; hence, he would not worship anyone blindly, nor would he think that his idol was invincible. He knew that Tegel and the others were not lying, and he also knew that even though his father Cheyenne had broken through to level-22, it would be impossible for him to defeat Baldela and Borg at the same time. The power of the young mage of the Tower of Dusk was absolutely terrifying. Fortunately, the Malfa Family had not done anything to offend or harm the Tower of Dusk in the past six months.
“The young President of the Tower of Dusk is back! He managed to defeat Baldela and Borg of the Dark Blade, all by himself!”
The shocking news spread around the Malfa Family within a short period of time, and began spreading like wildfire in the Breezy Plains.
In the Castellan Mansion of Doland City, a sudden shriek filled the air at night. According to the servants of the Castellan Mansion, the overbearing young master was almost killed by the angry castellan. If it weren’t for the desperate efforts of the castellan’s wife, there would be one less troublemaker in Doland City. Upon hearing the rumors, everyone shook their heads and sighed. Indeed, troublemakers never died.
Arathor, the castellan of Roland City, immediately summoned Sienna, the head of the mercenaries who was left out for a long time. After a long confidential conversation, Sienna left Roland City with hefty gifts. Arathor then ordered the security officials in Roland City to investigate all cases involving smashing and looting in the past six months, claiming that the victim had to be given a fair and satisfactory account. All of a sudden, the entire Roland City entered the state of combat readiness as a large number of guards shuttled through the city and arrested the groups of criminals.
“PAT!”
William was so angry that he turned as pale as a sheet. Pointing with a shaking finger at the steward in front of him who had a palm-shaped mark on his face, William barked, “Who made you change those conditions of cooperation!? Who gave you that authority!?”
“Master William, I’m doing this for the Time Consignment Store. By doing this, we can completely obtain greater benefits,” the other party explained anxiously with horror on his face.
“You!!”
William was feeling just as helpless. Who knew that that young President who was verified to have met with a mishap by the Malfa Family and the elves would actually come back miraculously half a year later with an even more horrifying level of strength. He knew that Lin Li was not a magnanimous person. If any conflicts had happened during their cooperation in the past six months…
“No matter what method you use, find the person in charge of the Tower of Dusk and revise the agreement of the agreement. Give them double the benefits stated in the agreement that we have given them in the past six months. In addition, draft and re-sign another agreement which includes the gifting of another portion of benefits to them. Also, if you dare to take matters into your own hands and act presumptuously, I’ll skin you alive! Scram!!” William hollered. If he hadn’t been exasperated, he wouldn’t have said such harsh words.
The news soon spread through the entire Malfa Family through various means. Those who had interacted with Lin Li were shocked by Lin Li’s strength, but they had no choice but concede that as long as the young President was involved, no miracle was impossible.
However, there were still many other forces that sneered at the news released by the Malfa Family. In their opinion, it was very likely that it was just a piece of fake news that the Malfa Family had released in order to fully take over the power of the Tower of Dusk. The two Legendary leaders of the Dark Blade were famous powerhouses in the Breezy Plains. They reckoned that even if the young President of the Tower of Dusk had returned, the battle would definitely not have been as exaggerated as the Malfa Family’s elders had made it out to be. Beating two of them with a single blow and restricting them with power sounded just like a fairy tale.
“President, the chief elder of the Malfa Family, Sorenson, is waiting to see you in the guest hall.”
“President, the castellan of Doland City is here with gifts. He congratulates you for returning safely. The messenger is waiting for you in the guest hall…”
“President, Castellan Arathor from Roland City sent his messenger…”
“President, the Time Consignment Store…”
After arranging the special training for the mages, Lin Li began to answer some questions for Wilkinson and the rest. However, at this moment, the big shots of the Breezy Plains were streaming in to the Tower of Dusk one after another with hefty and expensive gifts.
The Malfa Family was the first. To Lin Li’s surprise, Sorenson, the chief elder, actually visited in person. That undoubtedly meant that Cheyenne put the Tower of Dusk on the same level as the Malfa Family, or perhaps even higher. Although Cheyenne had already personally invited Lin Li more than half a year ago, at the end of the day, Cheyenne had already retired as their chief elder. Hence, Sorenson, the current chief elder, was the only one who could really represent the Malfa Family.
The castellan of Doland City brought his son over, and said that he would allow the Tower of Dusk to do whatever they wanted with him. He even transferred the ownership of a nearby mine to the Tower of Dusk.
Castellan Arathor initially wanted to entrust Sienna as his messenger, but considering the fact that Sienna had been left out for a while, he decided to just visit the Tower of Dusk personally with his children. No matter what, his daughter and son were students that Lin Li had acknowledged. Hence, he felt that it would be easier to speak to Lin Li since they had such connections.
“Beckley, tabulate the losses that our business has incurred in the past six months, and settle the scores with them,” Lin Li said to the middle-aged mage Beckley who was beside him after sending away some messengers.
Beckley was not talented in magic. He was already 50 years old, but was only a Magic Shooter who had broken through level-10. He also knew that he was at the end of his journey in magic, and gradually became Gavin’s right-hand man as he put most of his energy into managing the business of the Tower of Dusk. This time, Beckley followed Lin Li to settle the matters because Gavin was conducting the special training.
In the past six months, Beckley watched as the business of the Tower of Dusk got continuously attacked by various forces, and was long infuriated with it. Actually, with the strength of the Tower of Dusk, it would be easy to defeat most of the forces even if Lin Li did not intervene. After all, not all forces had Legendary powerhouses in charge. However, the Tower of Dusk was constantly being attacked by the Dark Blade, and they could not deal with the troublemakers at all. Hence, they had no choice but to mark down the losses incurred.
After the news of Lin Li’s return to the Tower of Dusk spread around, all the big shots of the major forces came to visit with gifts. They did not make grand and ostentatious appearances that were publicized, and were instead rather secretive, but every one of them was a pivotal figure of the Breezy Plains, after all, and everyone could more or less tell something was going on.