Chapter 932: Immortal
After seeing the keys in the wooden box, Donald could not help but reveal some eagerness in his eyes. It was not that the diagram he had was useless. The 36 Magic Towers of the Sky Castle were supported by the Sanctuary powerhouses of the High Elves in the past. There had to be plenty of incomparably precious treasures in there.
More importantly, Archbishop Martin also said that the 36 sets of keys were only a part of it. Hence, could there be more keys that could be used to open the other doors in the Sky Castle? Of course there were. The Magical Thousand-contraption Lock could not be opened just by using keys. There was a special unlocking method for every lock. Archbishop Martin should have mastered those unlocking techniques as well. Otherwise, those keys would only become garbage, and there would be no need for him to take them out.
With the guidance of the Sky Castle’s structure diagram, as well as the keys that could be used to accurately open all sorts of doors, the gains of the exploration would definitely reach a shocking extent. Even the Rotterdam Kingdom which had never experienced war, and had inherited countless wealth from the Dark Age still could not be compared to the Immortal King’s treasures in abundance.
Archbishop Martin and Donald both took out things that were enough to reflect their value. Be it the Sky Castle’s structure diagram, or the keys that could be used to open the Magical Thousand-contraption Lock, they were all extremely valuable items. At this moment, both of them looked at Lin Li, waiting for him to take out one of his possessions.
In reality, both the structure diagram and keys did not mean much to Lin Li. Even though Lin Li’s control crystal seemed to have encountered some hindrance after they arrived in the Sky Castle, it did not stop him from getting a generic understanding of the Sky Castle, which was probably clearer than the structure diagram. As for the Magical Thousand-contraption Lock, it was under the control of the control crystal. Back then, even the complicated Magical Thousand-contraption Lock of the Central Tower was unlocked, not to mention the others.
However, it was not the time for Lin Li to take out the control crystal yet. He was still expecting the people from Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom to be his cannon fodder. Once he revealed the information of the control crystal, everyone would know that he was going to become master of the Sky Castle. No one would be willing to work with him anymore.
However, even if Lin Li did not mention the matter of the control crystal, he still had other valuable information. One of the most important reasons why people from the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom wanted to cooperate with Lin Li was because he had experience in exploring the Sky Castle. Experience was something that seemed flimsy and intangible, but it could not be ignored.
Lin Li did not hold back when he was sharing his experience. Instead, he told everyone present in the room in great detail about the things he had encountered and done when he explored the Sky Castle back then. The only thing he kept to himself was probably the matter regarding the debris of the stars. Besides, that had no effect on his overall description anyway.
Lin Li wasn’t worried that he would lose value in the hearts of the others after describing his experience without reservation. The more open and unreserved he was, the more others would think that he had something important to hide. Humans just liked projecting one’s conjectures on others and jumping to conclusions. Lin Li did hold back the details about something important, which was the control crystal of the Sky Castle. However, in terms of his experience in exploring the Sky Castle, there was really nothing worth reserving.
At the end, Lin Li mentioned the Ghost which was actually the thing that the others were most concerned about. The team from the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom had arrived a few days earlier than the Tower of Dusk, but they had been staying close to the edge of the Sky Castle because they could vaguely sense that it was likely that there were many other guardians aside from the magic gears and magic traps. The appearance of the physical Vengeful Spirits was an omen.
Since there were physical forms of Vengeful Spirits, were there any other guardians of higher levels? In fact, almost all of the large-scale ruins of the High Elves were protected by many guardians. Would the Sky Castle be an exception? They dared not take the gamble with the lives of their own people. After all, the former owner of the Sky Castle was the Immortal King. In various legends and myths, many of the Immortal King’s subordinates were psychotic powerhouses.
However, when they heard Lin Li say that they were forced to leave the Sky Castle because of a Legendary-level Ghost, everyone let out a sigh of relief. Donald smiled confidently, and said in a relaxed tone, “It turns out that it was just a Ghost that was at the peak of the Legendary-level. Although the Undead Heaven is a pain in the neck, I believe it won’t be that difficult to deal with it with the help of our friends from the Brilliance Shrine.”
Although Archbishop Martin didn’t say anything, the expression on his face was also quite relaxed. Undead creatures were the beings that the people of the Brilliance Shrine were the least afraid of. It would be no exaggeration to say that the powerful purification power of the Brilliance Shrine could allow the people of the Brilliance Shrine to deal with 10 times as many Undead creatures of the same level.
However, Lin Li shook his head lightly with a smile, and said, “The peak-Legendary-level was the power that the Ghost had when we left back then.”
“What’s wrong with that? It’s only been a few years[1] since that happened. The guardians of the High Elven ruins usually face a gradual decline in their strength, not an increase. In another few years, that Ghost might even fall below the Legendary-realm,” Donald said self-righteously.
In fact, Donald’s thoughts were not considered wrong, as it should be common sense. Age was a ruthless butcher’s knife. Regardless of how strong the guardians might be, they would all age and decline with time, gradually losing their powerful strength and abilities.
The current era was still not very far away from the annihilation of the High Elves. It had only been more than 1,300 years since then. If it had been 13,000 years, the ruins might no longer have been dangerous. The guardians of the ruins would decay, and the magic gears and magic traps would lose their effect.
“President Felic, that is indeed the case. Maybe, that Ghost’s strength was at the Sanctuary-realm, and after thousands of years, it has fallen to the peak of the Legendary-realm. Such things are actually very common in the exploration of ruins.” Archbishop Martin agreed with Donald’s words.
Besides, they were in the Immortal King’s Sky Castle, and the peak Legendary-level strength might be considered strong out there, but it did not seem enough for it to qualify to be the guardian of the Sky Castle. Hence, the greatest possibility was that the strength of the Ghost had declined from the Sanctuary-realm.
“Archbishop Martin, you may take a look at this, especially those 36 towers. I think you should be able to recognize them with your knowledge,” said Lin Li, who did not immediately retort, and instead handed Archbishop Martin a sketch which was actually a replica of the one he’d got from the Scar of Death.
Archbishop Martin grabbed the sketch and took a careful look at the position of the 36 towers, as well as the streets that connected them after hearing Lin Li’s prompt. After a while, he suddenly widened his eyes which were originally squinted, as if he was looking at something terrifying. He shrieked, “Is this a Psychic Array!?”
Necromancers had always been the purification subjects of the Brilliance Shrine, and Archbishop Martin of the Brilliance Shrine was extremely clear on the means used by the Necromancers. Originally, he would not think about that when he had the diagram of the Sky Castle. However, after hearing Lin Li’s reminder, he could soon tell from the layout of the 36 Magic Towers that it was a Psychic Array. That was also because he was unaware of the existence of the Conquering Mageweath. Hence, he could easily see the Psychic Array.
“Psychic Array! It actually has the entire Sky Castle as its foundation. This is terrifying!” Although Archbishop Martin had also experienced many great events, and was quite knowledgeable, he couldn’t calm down after seeing the Psychic Array that was made up of the 36 Magic Towers.
Upon hearing Archbishop Martin’s shriek, Donald and Prince Jeremiah, who had been silent, also had a sudden change in expression. They thought of the Vengeful Spirits, and realized that it was no wonder such low-level creatures could break through to the Legendary-level in addition to not being weakened by time.
However, Donald quickly thought of another problem, and looked at Lin Li with a frown. He said, “President Felic, this doesn’t seem to make sense. Since there is such a powerful Psychic Array, how could that Ghost’s strength be only at the peak of the Legendary-level?”
Indeed, according to the average person’s thought, the guardian of a ruin should be extremely strong, especially in this place. Being at the peak of the Legendary-level was probably not enough. However, if the Ghost itself was in the Sanctuary-realm, not only would its strength not decline with the help of such a powerful Psychic Array, it would also be continuously improved, and it might even be possible for it to reach the pinnacle of the Sanctuary-realm.
“That Ghost is not the original guardian of this place, but it was placed here later by Highlord Osric,” Lin Li explained, revealing yet another shocking piece of news.
That piece of news was even more shocking than the Psychic Array. Highlord Osric was another mythical figure after the Immortal King. Besides, in the people’s memory, he was much more brutal and psychotic than the Immortal King, an existence that was far more terrifying.
For a moment, the tent became quiet. Everyone was dumbfounded by the piece of news, and even their breathing subconsciously became lighter.
However, a moment later, a snort of laughter broke the silence in the tent. Donald’s expression returned to normal, and he said with some contempt in his voice, “President Felic, this news is too shocking. Why would Osric leave a Ghost there?”
Obviously, Donald didn’t quite believe what Lin Li said. Although Osric had died an inexplicable death, he was also a powerful existence that was at the peak of the Sanctuary-realm in the past. Even if there was a Psychic Array in the Sky Castle, the Ghost was placed there to be nurtured with the power of the Psychic Array. However, what was the point of that for a powerful being at the peak of the Sanctuary-realm?
After hearing Donald’s reminder, Archbishop Martin also had some apprehension in his eyes. Despite genuinely believing Lin Li, the news did seem strange and unexplainable.
Lin Li did not flare up at Donald’s suspicion, and instead smiled nonchalantly. He said, “The reason is simple. It’s for the sake of pursuing the so-called immortality.”
“Pursuing immortality?” His words made Archbishop Martin and Donald even more puzzled. What did the pursuit of immortality have to do with the Ghost, they wondered.
“As far as I know, Osric used the souls of 100,000 humans to create this Ghost, and it’s very likely that he had incorporated his Soul Brand into the Ghost. Relying on the power of the Psychic Array to nurture the Ghost would be akin to nurturing his own soul. He had also created a perfect body for himself. Once this Ghost reaches the peak of the Sanctuary-realm and fuses with the perfect body, it might be able to take the final step and achieve true immortality.”
Of course, just voicing that speculation was not enough for him to gain everyone’s trust. Hence, Lin Li took out another item, which was a few pages of Osric’s notes that documented Osric’s thoughts. These few pages were placed in his crystal coffin back then. Due to the fact that they had nothing to do with any magical knowledge, they were not submitted to the Supreme Council.
Although Osric did not mention that his Soul Brand was related to the Ghost, nor did he mention the Ghost at all, it proved Lin Li’s speculation to a great extent.
“In this case, are we going to face Osric’s soul?” After reading the notes, the people present somewhat believed Lin Li’s conjecture, although they still had some doubts.
However, it would be too scary to think about it that way. Osric himself was a Sanctuary powerhouse who was at the pinnacle of the realm. Once his Soul Brand and the Ghost fused, it would be akin to making the Ghost reach the peak of the Sanctuary-realm. It just needed to continuously absorb plenty of mana.
However, this Sky Castle was known to be the most powerful one out of the seven Sky Castles. The thing it lacked the most was infinite mana. Although it had only been two to three years since Lin Li had explored it[2], the Ghost probably had stepped into the pinnacle of the Sanctuary-realm since it was at the peak of the Legendary-realm then.
However, since the teams from the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom had the guts to explore the Immortal King’s Sky Castle, they definitely had something to rely on. Originally, they were already prepared to fight the possible guardians of the ruins, but now they were going to face a Ghost. They refused to believe that the Ghost would reach the peak of the Sanctuary-realm within just two to three years. If that was really the case, the Ghost would have already made a move when they and the others had set foot there long ago.
After the three forces exchanged information with each other, they finally decided to cooperate. In fact, it was mainly the issue between the Tower of Dusk and the Rotterdam Kingdom. Even if Lin Li did not provide any useful information, the Brilliance Shrine would still cooperate with him.
[1] Not months? The author is saying the same thing, but even if more than a year passed, it should’ve been less than two.
[2] Okay, so either the author miscalculated the time, or he simply didn’t make it clear enough.