Chapter 965: Sanctuary-realm
What kind of power is this!? It’s the Sanctuary-realm, it definitely is the Sanctuary-realm!
When Lin Li killed the Undead Elemental Dragon previously, Archbishop Martin was already speculating in his heart that Lin Li had probably already entered the Sanctuary-realm. Now, he was even more certain that that was the case. There were hundreds of Legendary-level Corpse Dragons opposite them, many of which were at the peak of the Legendary-level. Only those with the power of the Sanctuary-realm would be able to resist such attacks effortlessly.
Archbishop Martin was now a powerhouse at the peak of the Legendary-realm. In the eyes of others, it was just a step away from the Sanctuary-realm, but he was well aware deep down that he would still be considered a small fry in front of the true Sanctuary powerhouses if he did not take that last step. That was a difference in power itself. No matter how strong they might be, those in the Legendary-realm would still only be as powerful as mortals. In essence, they were far from being comparable to those in the Sanctuary-realm.
Meanwhile, Donald and the rest from the Rotterdam Kingdom were dumbfounded too. They had originally thought that Lin Li was that powerful because he had some powerful magical weapon, or even a legendary artifact. However, they had to admit that the power that Lin Li was displaying was definitely in the Sanctuary-realm, regardless of how unwilling they might be.
The arrogance of the people of the Rotterdam Kingdom was crushed badly at this moment. They could no longer imagine what kind of world it was outside the Rotterdam Kingdom. Did the world outside already become this terrifying? A small, unknown force actually has so many Legendary powerhouses, and is helmed by such a young Sanctuary powerhouse!
However, after feeling shocked, Archbishop Martin and Donald and the others did not seem too elated about Lin Li resisting the attack of the Corpse Dragons. They did not think that Lin Li would be able to kill the Corpse Dragons alone. Besides, other than the Corpse Dragons, there were other Undead creatures around the expedition. However, in the defense just now, both the teams from the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom had suffered varying degrees of damage. Their remaining combat power would probably be insufficient for them to continue hanging on for the next clash.
Donald and the others inevitably felt somewhat resentful towards Lin Li in such a situation. Had Lin Li made that move earlier, their Alchemy Colossuses would not have been damaged so severely. It was not strange for Donald to have such thoughts. After all, he knew himself that his cooperation with the Tower of Dusk was not that earnest.
However, Donald dared not show his displeasure at all. If he were to really anger Lin Li, there would be many ways for him to destroy Donald’s team and wipe them out, even if he did not attack personally. Donald would definitely be unable to escape his demise, let alone his subordinates.
The situation that the team from the Brilliance Shrine was in was actually far more dangerous than that of the Rotterdam Kingdom. After all, only one of the Alchemy Arrays of the Alchemy Colossuses of the Rotterdam Kingdom was damaged. Their combat power was not affected greatly. However, the team of the Brilliance Shrine had been severely injured, be it the Holy Light Knights or the priests. They probably could not even exert half of their combat power.
However, Archbishop Martin didn’t have the same thoughts as Donald. Although he also felt that Lin Li had taken action too late, he felt that Lin Li had to have done so for a reason. After all, they were facing the attacks of hundreds of Legendary-level Corpse Dragons. Even a Sanctuary powerhouse had to deal with it carefully.
In fact, Lin Li had indeed only stepped into the Sanctuary-realm a few months ago. Just like what Archbishop Martin thought, he could easily deal with eight to 10 enemies that were at the peak of the Legendary-realm, but if he wanted to wipe out hundreds of Legendary-level Corpse Dragons, he would have to have the strength of the three arbitrators.
More importantly, this was the world created by the Immortal King, not Anril. Lin Li managed to step into the Sanctuary-realm by relying on his understanding of the World Laws of Anril. However, this world had strayed away from Anril, and there were many things that he had to understand and relearn.
In fact, from the moment the expedition entered this world, Lin Li had already siphoned off some of his mental strength to analyze and decipher the structure of the Laws of this world. Fortunately, he had devoured some of Osric’s willpower in the previous world, which contained the knowledge that the Immortal King used to create this world. That bit of knowledge was also the reason that Lin Li could have a mastery of the Laws of this world so quickly after entering this Undead World. Otherwise, Lin Li would probably have to patiently gain some enlightenment in this world for more than 10 days in order to do what he was doing now.
Moreover, through his analysis of this world, Lin Li also knew that the core of this world was exactly the gigantic Undead tree. The Undead tree covered a portion of the ground and shielded it from the sun. The underground area was even more terrifying, with roots occupying almost the entire world. One might even suspect that the ground of this world itself was made up of those roots.
The key to leaving this place undoubtedly lay in the gigantic Undead tree. After resisting and defending against the Corpse Dragons’ attacks, Lin Li, who had such knowledge, fixed the Undead tree as his target. It was his true opponent in this world.
However, Lin Li also knew that the expedition was in an unfavorable situation now. Although the team of the Tower of Dusk did not suffer many losses, they could not resist the attacks of the Corpse Dragons, let alone hold them up in that place. If the teams of the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom were intact, they might be able to do so together. However, they were now unable to offer much help.
In this situation, how could Lin Li feel at ease leaving them to deal with the Corpse Dragons? If he were to do so, there would probably be barely any combatants, except a few Legendary powerhouses, left on his side before he could destroy the Undead tree. He brought his subordinates there to train, not to court death. Otherwise, there would be no point even if he obtained the Sky Castle in the end.
There was no way Lin Li could solve the issue faced by the Rotterdam Kingdom. Even with the Guru of Alchemy, Angelano, it would still take some time to repair the Alchemy Colossuses. He could not eliminate all the damage in the Alchemy Colossuses at once as if casting healing magic spells. Fortunately, the Alchemy Colossuses of the Rotterdam Kingdom did not sustain severe damage, so their combat power was not affected much.
In comparison, the problem faced by the Brilliance Shrine was undoubtedly the most serious. Although the Holy Light Knights and priests were not defenseless, they would be facing death by dealing with the Corpse Dragons on their own. However, Lin Li had just the right solution to that problem.
At the same time, the people of the expedition who were on the ground were also worried about that problem—especially Archbishop Martin, who was looking straight at Lin Li in the air with his eyes, waiting to see what his next move would be. He was well aware that a Sanctuary powerhouse would not be afraid of those Corpse Dragons, but it was still very difficult to protect a group of people who were barely able to resist under the siege of so many Corpse Dragons.
Indeed, to a Sanctuary powerhouse, even Legendary powerhouses were insignificant existences. However, Lin Li, a Sanctuary powerhouse, was just like a child compared to the three arbitrators. There was a fundamental difference between a child and a minion that didn’t even deserve to be considered human. However, an excessive number of minions would cause a lot of trouble for the child.
At this moment, Archbishop Martin suddenly discovered that Lin Li, who had just disintegrated the attack of the Corpse Dragons, was holding something that he did not have just a moment ago. It was an orb that was emitting white light. Archbishop Martin could sense an incomparably pure power that was full of holy aura from it. It was the pure Power of Light that even Pope Rosario never had.
At the moment he felt that power, Archbishop Martin could not help but think of the scene of the arrival of the Holy Light depicted in the Doctrine of Light. Other than Archbishop Martin, all the Holy Light Knights and priests of the Brilliance Shrine’s team were holding their breaths at this moment while looking at the sky and the light in Lin Li’s hand with pious enthusiasm.
Immediately afterwards, Lin Li raised the arm that he was using to hold Holy Light, and the light erupted violently in his hand instantly. It was as if a little sun had risen, and the entire area was filled with Holy Light. As Holy Light shone, the people of the Brilliance Shrine’s team immediately felt a wave of Divine Power surging into their bodies. Not only did the injuries in their bodies heal immediately, even their souls were enhanced as they were shrouded in Holy Light.
However, the people of the Brilliance Shrine’s team did not shriek in shock at all. It was as if they did not care about the changes in their bodies at all. Instead, they gently chanted prayers that praised the Holy Light devoutly with tears in their eyes. To them, getting baptized by the Holy Light would allow them to die with no regrets even if they had to die immediately now.
Under the illumination of the Holy Light, the Corpse Dragons that were initially fearless towards the Power of Light involuntarily retreated continuously. Although they no longer had the flaws of ordinary Undead creatures after being modified by the Immortal King, their fear of the Power of Holy Light suddenly rose uncontrollably from the depths of their souls at this moment.
The illumination of the Holy Light did not last long. It was only sustained for a second or two before being retracted quickly.
“Hold these Corpse Dragons down,” Lin Li instructed. After saying that, he suddenly vanished from above the expedition. When he appeared again, he was already at the back of the group of Corpse Dragons, and was flying straight towards the gigantic Undead tree in the distance.
Did he leave just like that? Archbishop Martin, who had awakened from the baptism of the Holy Light, was shocked to see the change. He knew that the Holy Light just now would definitely be of great help to his subordinates. However, even then, it would be hard to resist that huge horde of Corpse Dragons without a Sanctuary powerhouse based on the expedition’s strength alone!
“The Holy Light is with me! I actually advanced by two levels!” someone from the Brilliance Shrine’s team yelled. However, there were soon many more shrieks of surprise because they had advanced in level and abilities.
At this moment, Archbishop Martin finally discovered that the team he was leading had experienced a manifold increase in strength after experiencing the baptism of Holy Light just now. Those who were originally only at level-17 or 18 had advanced to the peak of level-19, and while those who already had the strength of the peak of level-19 did not directly step into the Legendary-realm, their mana waves clearly contained a tinge of the Laws of Holy Light. Hence, it was now even more likely that they would step into the Legendary-realm in the future.
Surely this isn’t a dream, is it!? Even Pope Rosario can’t do this! Archbishop Martin immediately thought about the item that was emitting Holy Light just now and the fact that his subordinates’ strength had surged. He was certain that it was definitely because of the Holy Light. Since that item could actually increase the Holy Light devotees’ abilities so drastically, it suggested that it was definitely not an ordinary magical object. Instead, it definitely had something to do with the Brilliance Shrine.
If the Brilliance Shrine could own that item, it would definitely play an incomparable role in promoting the development of the Brilliance Shrine. As soon as they were baptized by the Holy Light once, the level-17 and 18 devotees of Holy Light managed to advance to the peak of level-19. There were many level-17 and 18 devotees in the Brilliance Shrine at present. If they could all advance to the peak of level-19, there would be many who could step into the Legendary-realm!
However, Archbishop Martin was also well aware that it was basically impossible to truly obtain that item. The person who possessed that item was a true Sanctuary powerhouse. Even Pope Rosario would not easily offend a Sanctuary powerhouse.
However, just because he couldn’t get it, it didn’t mean that he could not use it. Archbishop Martin soon thought of Lin Li’s other identity as the Son of The Holy Light. Although Lin Li had always seemed unwilling to acknowledge that identity, facts were facts. He decided that if they could pull through this crisis safely this time, he’d better try and see if he could poach Lin Li to the Brilliance Shrine.
Even if Lin Li was still unwilling to accept his identity as the Son of The Holy Light, it would not be much of a problem to invite him to the Brilliance Shrine as a guest given the ties between the Tower of Dusk and the Brilliance Shrine. He felt that it would be a feasible idea to think of a way to use the power of that item to increase the strength of the Brilliance Shrine when Lin Li visited as a guest.
In an instant, Archbishop Martin had already developed a plan and some thoughts of his own. However, the important thing at hand was how they could overcome the ordeal of the Corpse Dragons. If they could not pull through, all of his comprehensive thoughts would just remain in his imagination. At the thought of this, Archbishop Martin immediately perked up, and began to organize his team members to face the Corpse Dragons.
Seeing the changes in the Brilliance Shrine’s team, Donald and the others were filled with extreme jealousy. In the blink of an eye, the members of the Brilliance Shrine had not only regained their combat power, but had also surged several times in strength. Meanwhile, the Alchemy Colossuses could only be repaired if they stopped to do so and allowed them to recover. It was hard to tell if their men and the Alchemy Colossuses were at an advantage or not. Besides, what really worried Donald was the fact that the relationship between the Tower of Dusk and the Brilliance Shrine would definitely be strengthened as they got closer as a result of this incident. That would be akin to causing his team to become even more alienated.