Chapter 984: Shadow
“Keep moving forward, there are no magic traps or magic gears on this floor. There are no Abyssal Demons, either,” Lin Li said after seeing that the two of them were not saying anything. He was trying to suppress his worries.
Just as Lin Li said, the expedition managed to move through that floor successfully. There was not a single Abyssal Demon at all, and it was as if they were there for a vacation. However, the journey was only easy on that floor. When the expedition entered the fourth floor through the spiral staircase, they began to face difficulties.
In the following stages of the exploration, even Lin Li, a Sanctuary powerhouse, found it difficult to force his way through with only his strength. He mostly had to rely on his past experience. The appearance of the owner of the Well of the Sun made Lin Li doubt his past experience, but what he was worried about fortunately did not happen during the journey.
The Abyssal Demons and all sorts of magic traps and magic gears were identical to the ones that Lin Li had seen in the Endless World. They did not change much because of the appearance of the owner of the Well of the Sun. With his experience, the expedition managed to complete the journey somewhat smoothly, though they were still shocked and frightened. There were some inevitable casualties, but things were much better than the situation they faced on the first floor.
In fact, if Lin Li had known that this place would be exactly the same as the Well of the Sun of the Endless World when he fought Garl on the first floor, he would have prepared a Heart-piercing Potion in advance and saved the expedition from suffering so many casualties.
Now, Lin Li was pretty much reliving the experience of breaking into the Well of the Sun. However, he was not alone this time, and had brought a team with him. Back then, Lin Li mostly wanted to use his stealth abilities as a Hunter to hide and sneak through some places, but now he had to defeat enemies and overcome the obstacles with the team.
Relying on his strength and experience, Lin Li and the team finally arrived at the core of the Well of the Sun after an arduous journey that was full of obstacles.
Standing at the end of the spiral staircase, Lin Li felt a little uneasy. He was afraid that he might see the mythical Immortal King. However, in order to leave this place, he had to face everything that came his way. Otherwise, he would just need to find a random place where he could live the rest of his life in peace.
Of course, there was also the possibility that the Immortal King had already left, and there was nothing on this floor except an exit. However, that was just Lin Li’s thought. If he were to pin his hopes on a lucky coincidence, he might end up dying without even knowing how he died.
Finally, Lin Li took a deep breath, calmed his fluctuating emotions, and commanded the team to enter the last floor of the Well of the Sun.
After stepping onto the last floor of the Well of the Sun, they could finally see the sky above their heads, which was already completely different from before. When they were on the lower floors, they could only see a ceiling of golden light when they looked up, but now there was a massive vortex in the sky that was probably even larger than the entire Alanna. They could not see the end of it at all. It simply rotated in the sky, emitting a strong aura that made it seem like it was about to collapse and be destroyed.
Lin Li was naturally no stranger to that vortex. It was the trauma caused by the collapse of the Tree of Eternity in the past. The vigorous mana tore through the spatial barrier, and left behind a huge vortex. Actually, the large vortex in Anril lost its terrifying force that was impossible for even the Legendary powerhouses to contend with only because the Immortal King had moved the Well of the Sun and the vortex there.
This floor seemed extraordinarily quiet, and no sound was emitted from the palace except for the sounds of the footsteps of the members of the expedition. There were no Abyssal Demons that came out to block them, nor were there any magic gears and magic traps. They felt the same as they did when they destroyed the Lord of Nothingness on the third floor.
Could it be that the Immortal King had really left? Lin Li definitely dared not believe it at all. On the contrary, the calmer it was, the more uneasy he felt.
Archbishop Martin and the others who did not have such profound knowledge felt surprised after seeing the scene there, after which they could not hide their immense joy. No one enjoyed fighting. Besides, the teams from the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom had already paid a huge price. If they could really leave this place successfully without having to fight, it would naturally make them elated.
Soon, the expedition arrived at the core of the palace where there was an even more majestic and grand golden palace, which was dazzling with an eye-catching light. However, there was a figure above the palace that was emitting seven differently colored streams of light. They were continuously surrounding the figure and dancing.
There were no traces of mana fluctuations on that figure’s body. In fact, it didn’t seem to be breathing at all. It was just like a lifeless sculpture. Hence, the members of the expedition did not discover the figure above the palace until they reached the center.
That figure did not attract the attention of Archbishop Martin and the others, but after Lin Li saw it, he couldn’t help but be horrified, because it was a person. The colors of the seven specks of light that flew around them corresponded to the seven pieces of the debris of the stars.
Hence, the moment Lin Li saw the figure, he immediately thought of the mysterious owner of the Well of the Sun that the Lord of Nothingness had mentioned.
His mana fluctuations and aura were undetectable, not because they did not exist, but because he had completely integrated into this world, and his mana fluctuations had already formed a perfect harmony with this world. He was the world, and the world was him. That was something that only a top powerhouse of the Sanctuary-realm could do.
Seeing that Lin Li had suddenly stopped in his tracks, Archbishop Martin and the others leaned over, and asked, “Master Felic, can you determine where the exit of this place is? This place is too big. If we keep exploring, it’s going to take a long time.”
Archbishop Martin and the others did not detect any danger at all. All they wanted to do was to find the door to leave this world as quickly as possible. However, as he said, although this was already the core of the Well of the Sun, it was still very spacious, and it would take a long time for the expedition to search the entire place.
In the opinion of Archbishop Martin and the others, Lin Li had always been extremely confident in everything he did during the journey. It was as if he was extremely familiar with the place. Although his behavior could be explained by the fact that he had subdued the Lord Devourer, Garl, Archbishop Martin and the others were all wise and experienced. How could they really believe that explanation that was full of loopholes?
From Archbishop Martin’s point of view, Lin Li had to have gained knowledge about this place through other ways. After all, the Supreme Council was above the Tower of Dusk, and the Supreme Council was founded by the God of Mages, Geresco. Geresco was the only person in the history of the world of Anril who could be compared to the Immortal King. In conclusion, even if they could not get a clear answer, they were still certain that Lin Li knew that place very well.
Although Donald from the Rotterdam Kingdom wouldn’t think of the Supreme Council and Geresco like Archbishop Martin did, he already found Lin Li, the young Sanctuary powerhouse whom he had not heard of, to be extremely mysterious. Hence, he felt that it was normal for Lin Li to know something that the others did not, since he could enter the Sanctuary-realm at such a young age.
However, Archbishop Martin and Donald did not immediately receive a reply after they asked Lin Li for advice. Feeling bewildered, they couldn’t help but notice Lin Li’s expression, only to realize that it was extremely sullen. He had never reacted that way, regardless of how difficult of a situation they had faced previously.
Seeing such a grim expression on Lin Li’s face, Archbishop Martin’s and Donald’s heart sank, and they immediately followed the direction of Lin Li’s gaze. Finally, they realized that the target that Lin Li was looking at was the inconspicuous statue-like figure which did not have any mana fluctuations or aura that they missed previously.
In the eyes of Archbishop Martin and the others, it was just a statue, regardless of how realistic and lifelike it was. Given the attainments that the High Elves had in art, that was nothing surprising at all. They thought that it was probably placed at the top of the palace because of worshiping purposes, and that it might be a statue of the Immortal King.
However, after seeing Lin Li’s performance, Archbishop Martin and the others didn’t dare to take it for granted anymore. They quickly ordered their team members to quickly go into a defensive mode. The fact that even a Sanctuary powerhouse was nervous meant that their respective teams were definitely not strong enough to battle such an existence. Other than being able to do their best to protect themselves by defending against it, what else could they do?
At this moment, the figure, which everyone treated as a statue, suddenly spoke.
“I never thought that after waiting here for over 1,000 years, I would actually finally see you.”
Although the figure was facing the entire expedition, Lin Li knew that he was actually talking to him.
Lin Li did not understand what exactly that sentence meant, but he felt slightly less nervous. The figure was indeed very terrifying, but since it did not try to kill him immediately, and instead said something to him, it seemed that things hadn’t reached their worst yet.
Lin Li moved and left the expedition. He flew to the same height as the figure, and stopped at a distance he thought was safe in mid-air. At the same time, he could see the figure’s appearance clearly because he was much closer to it now.
However, after taking a look, Lin Li lost all his composure again, and shock began to rise from the bottom of his heart. It was written all over his face. He finally knew why the Lord of Nothingness and the Abyssal Demons that he encountered in the past had mistaken him for the owner of this Well of the Sun. It was because the figure in front of him looked almost like an identical clone of him, be it in terms of features or build.
The only difference between Lin Li and that figure was their respective attire. Lin Li was wearing the Space Robe that the Immortal King had created, while the figure was wearing black leather armor. However, the different attire was exactly the reason that Lin Li was shocked. The figure’s appearance was secondary.
It was because Lin Li was very familiar with the black leather armor that the figure was wearing. He was so familiar with it that he could even tell exactly where every part of that black leather armor came from, and the power they possessed. The reason was that the black leather armor was exactly what Lin Li had worn when he had explored the Well of the Sun. It was known as the King Of Hunters armor, and was said to be the most powerful Hunter’s armor in the Endless World.
The helmet of the King Of Hunters suit had a top-notch Eagle Eye skill which would allow one to easily launch a fatal shot at a mouse from a kilometer away bound to it. It also came with a skill that would allow one to see through invisibility and expose a top Assassin.
The King Of Hunters Torso might not have the strongest defensive ability, but it did have top-notch camouflage effect. Lin Li managed to explore the entire Well of the Sun and obtain the seven pieces of the debris of the stars alone thanks to the camouflage effect.
The King of Hunters Gloves could increase the rate of Fatal Strikes to 50%, which meant that every second arrow would be a fatal strike. It could also increase an archer’s accuracy. Even those who had never touched a bow and arrow could immediately become a sharpshooter.
The King of Hunters Wrist Guard came with an individual storage space that could store a large number of arrows and increase the speed of rapid-fire shots. Besides, it could add additional magical damage to every shot launched by arrows pulled out when one was wearing the wrist guard. Those who had a pair of such wrist guards would be a human cannon that could rapidly shoot continuously.
The King of Hunters Pants came with a shift skill that would allow the wearer to evade quickly and dodge a fatal attack once the skill was activated.
On the other hand, the King of Hunters Boots would allow the wearer to move quickly and stay immune to any environmental impacts. During a burst, the wearer could even leave the battlefield immediately.
The King of Hunters armor would turn even a third-rate hunter into a powerhouse among Hunters. Back when Lin Li was still a Hunter in the Endless World, and had yet to obtain the Stars of Fury and the debris of the stars, he still managed to establish a prestigious reputation as the King of Hunters in the entire game world just by relying on the impeccable effects of the armor set.
At this juncture, Lin Li had also finally figured out that the figure in front of him, who was wearing the King of Hunters suit, was the Hunter that he was when he barged into the Well of the Sun in the Endless World.