Chapter 797: Crimson Dragon
What really made him worried was the two black lotuses. The Crimson Python was lurking in the vicinity of the black lotus, and if it were to attack Lin Li and move its body casually, the two black lotuses would be destroyed immediately. That was definitely not what Lin Li wanted to see.
“I must find a way to lure it away!” Lin Li exclaimed, and slowly retreated instead of moving closer. He then found an open space between the intertwining lava rivers, and immediately dropped the blackstone platform that he had gotten from the underground palace in the Dragon Mountains.
The large blackstone platform was once the center of the magic gears in the underground palace, and was used to imprison the Crimson Dragon. It had been immersed in lava for numerous years without suffering any damage. Back then, Lin Li was not as wealthy, so after killing the Crimson Dragon, he removed the stone platform too. However, he realized later that there was nothing he could use it for; hence, he kept it in the Ring of Endless Storm for a long time since he had infinite space in the Ring of Endless Storm anyway.
Lin Li didn’t use the blackstone platform for the sake of leveling the land, but to give himself some lodging. Given Lin Li’s abilities, he wouldn’t be hurt by the lava at all, but what he had to do now could not be done if he were to continue standing in lava.
After landing on the blackstone platform, Lin Li began to take some of his items out of the Ring of Endless Storm again, and soon he placed a simple pharmaceutical lab on the platform. Indeed, he was going to make some potions there.
The environment on the ground would cause even the Fire Crystal Grass to be burned into ashes, let alone the other herbs. Hence, Lin Li thought of the blackstone platform in his ring. Although it was open-spaced, he would be able to create a temporary isolated space that could be used as a makeshift lab for preparing potions as long as he put up a simple mageweath.
The potion that Lin Li wanted to formulate was not complicated, and a few red potions could be created just with a dozen kinds of herbs, some stamens of the Flame Flowers, and the leaves of the Fire Crystal Grass. After formulating the potions, Lin Li flew up into the air, and as he induced his mental strength into the Ring of Endless Storm, a large six-pointed star appeared beneath the platform. In the blink of an eye, he put away the large blackstone platform and the various pharmaceutical equipment.
The Crimson Python watched as Lin Li left, and shifted its gaze back to the two black lotuses, after which it continued to wait for the best time to devour the black lotuses. As long as nothing went wrong, the power in the black lotuses would allow the Crimson Python to advance to the peak of level-22 after devouring them. Compared to that temptation, Lin Li was much less appealing, and did not pique the interest of the Crimson Python.
However, shortly after Lin Li left, the Crimson Python suddenly felt an alluring aura coming from the end of its field of vision. The aura seemed to be coming from something that contained more power than the black lotuses. It could tell that if it were to devour that thing, it would probably allow it to advance to level-23.
However, why have I never felt that aura before? it thought. Although the Crimson Python carried the blood of the prehistoric magical beasts, it only inherited some of the genetic characteristics, and it was not much different from the ordinary magical beasts in terms of IQ. After hesitating and wondering for a moment, it could not help but move its body and slither towards that aura.
However, shortly after the Crimson Python left the two black lotuses, two shadows suddenly emerged beside the black lotuses like they had broken through space. They even dug up the black lotuses with ease and adroitness, after which they disappeared together with the black lotuses without stopping at all.
The Crimson Python was slithering in the alluring aura which suddenly disappeared before it could even see what it was. Shortly after, it felt that the aura of the black lotuses that it had been guarding had also vanished without a trace. It looked over, only to see that there was nothing there. At this moment, the Crimson Python panicked, and after roaring loudly, it turned around to leap towards the black lotuses in a bid to find out where they had gone.
However, at this moment, Lin Li appeared above the Crimson Python with the Helios’ Scepter in hand, after which he cast a Legendary magic spell without hesitation. The aura of the Crimson Python was coming from the potion that Lin Li had formulated at the last minute. There weren’t many medicinal properties of that potion, and all it could do was release astonishing fire element aura.
The two shadows were two of the six alchemy puppets that Angelano had given to Lin Li after studying and researching the Shadow Assassins. Compared to the Shadow Assassin which only knew how to kill, the six alchemy puppets could also execute many more elaborate instructions in addition to being a superb assassin like the Shadow Assassin. Otherwise, Lin Li wouldn’t have dared to use them to pick up the black lotuses.
However, despite having obtained the black lotuses, Lin Li decided to obtain the Crimson Python too, for it was quite a treasure as well, and Lin Li had never been a wasteful person anyway. Since he didn’t have to worry about anything else, killing a level-21 Crimson Python was nothing to Lin Li. It would only take him a short while to cast a few spells, and the Crimson Python that had been living there for years suddenly roared and lay motionlessly on the ground.
Lin Li could not be bothered to waste time to deal with it. He simply placed the Crimson Python’s corpse into the Ring of Endless Storm, and began searching a new area again. How could Lin Li be satisfied with two black lotuses? Since there were two lotuses in such an environment, it was likely that there were more. Besides, obtaining another one would be a huge gain as well.
While searching, Lin Li used the makeshift laboratory that he had up on the blackstone platform to formulate some potions. Of course, those potions were not just the ones used to lure the Crimson Python away. In order to overcome the dangers that he might encounter when collecting the branch of the Tree of Eternity, Lin Li had invested a lot of money in those potions, and he had even used half of one of the precious black lotuses.
Fortunately, as Lin Li hoped, the environment there was indeed very unique, and the two black lotuses were not the only ones there. After some careful searching, Lin Li not only harvested several black lotuses that were of excellent quality, he also collected some other herbs with fire attribute. However, he was too lazy to count them. Of course, whenever he discovered a black lotus or another precious herb, he would often encounter a magical beast that would be guarding it. The level-21 Crimson Python was clearly just a small fry.
In such circumstances, there would be no way for any magical beast below the Legendary-level to survive. However, the powerful Lin Li didn’t encounter too much trouble apart from the fact that he had to worry about the precious and fragile herbs like the black lotus being accidentally damaged. Apart from the precious black lotuses, the Legendary magical crystals that Lin Li had obtained were enough to make others salivate. The corpses of the Legendary magical beasts were also rather valuable.
At this moment, Lin Li was also facing a moving treasure vault, which was an adult Crimson Dragon that had already reached level-23. However, what really attracted Lin Li was not the adult Crimson Dragon, but the aura of the black lotus that was coming out of the cave behind the Crimson Dragon. If Lin Li did not have his mental strength tempered by the control crystal in the Sky Castle, it wouldn’t be easy for him to detect the aura of the black lotus despite the Menace of the Dragon of the Crimson Dragon.
When Lin Li had been in the underground palace of the Dragon Mountains, he had also faced a Crimson Dragon that had been imprisoned by Osric for numerous years. It was no longer as strong as it used to be in its heyday, and it was greatly restricted because it was shackled to the blackstone platform. However, even then, Lin Li still risked his life and put in plenty of effort to kill the Crimson Dragon.
However, Lin Li was much stronger now. Despite facing an adult Crimson Dragon that was at the pinnacle of its strength, he didn’t feel pressured at all. Under the oppression of the Menace of the Dragon, he remained calm, and the daunting and hideous Crimson Dragon was no longer just an enemy full of lethal threat to him, but a treasure vault that he had to collect.
“Howl!”
The arrogant Crimson Dragon seemed to have finally been angered by Lin Li who looked like he was sizing up an object. Although it could feel that Lin Li seemed to be just as powerful as it, it would never fear a challenge, because it was a descendant of the ancient wyrms. After a loud roar, the Crimson Dragon flapped its large wings and flew towards Lin Li, whom it deemed a small fry. The Crimson Dragon was still as assertive as ever, and it was bent on ripping Lin Li to shreds before using its Dragon Breath to turn him into ashes.
There were many factors that determined the strength of each individual, and the levels of humans were generally not equal to those of magical beasts. An ordinary level-23 Legendary-mage would probably lose against the attack of a wyrm of the same level. After all, the wyrm’s powerful body and high magic resistance were also considered a huge threat to Legendary-mages.
Unfortunately, the Crimson Dragon was not facing an ordinary Legendary-mage this time. Staring at the menacing Crimson Dragon which was about to leap towards him, Lin Li smirked, and thought to himself, I managed to use the corpse of the Crimson Dragon that I encountered previously on my Humerus Wyrm. I should be able to use this one on something else. Before Lin Li even launched an attack, he was already considering how he could use the various parts of the Crimson Dragon’s body in the future.
The large Crimson Dragon had already rushed towards Lin Li with its mouth wide open, and was spraying Lin Li with dragon breath. The dragon breath that could burn everything still seemed extremely hot despite the high temperatures of the environment. It was as if the entire space had been burnt.