Chapter 1006: Opening the Door
Of course, Donald knew that the loss of a few legendary-level crystals would not mean much to the Tower of Dusk. Hence, he tried to suppress his emotions.
However, there was no sign of heartache on Lin Li’s face after he turned the Legendary crystals into powder. Instead, he relaxed his furrowed brows gradually. He was now certain from his several experiments that he could use the Dragon Cannons to divert the Nether Storms and buy time for himself.
“Archbishop Martin and Master Donald, are the two of you staying here, or are you coming with me?” asked Lin Li as he loaded crystals into the Dragon Cannons. He had the confidence to navigate the situation, but was too lazy to explain it to them.
Although they were accompanied by a Sanctuary powerhouse, they did not have the confidence that the Sanctuary powerhouse would care to protect them in crisis. After all, this was a place dangerous even to Sanctuary powerhouses. It would be fortunate for them to ensure their own lives. The rest of the men, including Archbishop Martin and Donald, was just like ants to Sanctuary powerhouses. But, since the two of them had promised to embark on the adventure with Lin Li, they were more fearful that they would incite hatred within Lin Li if they were to withdraw. Hence, they could only muster all their courage and agree to advance with him.
Lin Li could not help but try to suppress his laughter when he heard the unnatural reply from Archbishop Martin and Donald. In reality, Lin Li did not really care about their decision. He was only certain that he would not leave the two people at such a place. Although he was not a generous man, he was not petty enough to find fault with them over such a small matter.
But, since Archbishop Martin and Donald insisted on accompanying him, there was nothing for Lin Li to talk about, either. With his new discoveries, Lin Li adjusted the Dragon Cannons and summoned Demon Gordon.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Three consecutive balls of fire shot towards the Endless Void, and exploded in different locations.
Lin Li brought everyone through the opening into the World Domain without any delay.
Lin Li immediately experienced the impact of the energy particles when he entered the Endless Void. Despite being relatively stable due to the help of the debris of the stars, it was still difficult for his World Domain to withstand the penetration by the particles.
Of course, no one in the World Domain had the same realization as Lin Li, because their mental energy was not connected to the World Domain. Even so, this did not prevent the rest of their hearts from palpitating. The Endless Void was infamous to everyone in Anril for being an extremely scary place.
After entering the Endless Void, Lin Li swerved to the bottom of the Sky Castle, and saw that one of the balls of fire had just reached the location of explosion. And, just like what he predicted, the direction of the storms changed upon meeting the balls of fire. Although there were still several storms chasing after them, their speed was greatly decreased. If those explosions were to continue, they would no doubt lure the storms away.
Unfortunately, the explosions of the fireballs were not long-lived. Yet, it was a great idea for Lin Li to leave Demon Gordon in the room full of Dragon Cannons. He would help to launch new fireballs as long as Lin Li ordered him to do so.
Hence, as soon as the three fireballs were about to be extinguished, Demon Gordon sent a few more into the void under Lin Li’s orders. In this process, the shield at the launch pad swiftly opened and closed under Lin Li’s control as well. Despite not having any obstruction from the World Domain, the rapid movement of the shield helped to prevent damage to the interior of the castle.
The new explosions once again drew the Nether Storms that were coming in Lin Li’s direction away. New Nether Storms moved towards the explosions as well.
Lin Li brought the men to the base of the Sky Castle with the help of the explosions. It was only now that Lin Li discovered how the place looked. It was the place where his mental strength did not get to meet.
What appeared in their view was an inverted tower. Its base was connected to the Sky Castle with its tip piercing into the Endless Void. It was as though they were standing upside-down.
The architectural style of this tower resembled the tower that was situated above the Sky Castle. The tower’s shape looked just like the shadow of that tower.
The men had to readjust their positions before they set foot on the ground in front of the tower. As directions were not a concern within the Endless Void, the men reoriented to the upside-down feeling very quickly, and got to the door of the tower.
“Master Felic, this door…” muttered Archbishop Martin. He knew that the key of this tower was definitely not among the collection of keys which he gave to Lin Li when Lin Li took over the Sky Castle.
While he had witnessed how the forces from explosions could help to attract the Nether Storms, he realized that the explosions could only buy them a few seconds of safety. Hence, the sight of the tightly shut door and the Nether Storms that were coming after them made Archbishop Martin extremely anxious.
Furthermore, they did not have the key to the tower. Even if they had all the other materials ready, a dozen seconds would be needed for them to unlock one Magical Thousand-contraption Lock. This amount of time was not a problem elsewhere, but every second would mean danger in the Endless Void.
Of course, Lin Li’s inability to open the door was a relief to both Archbishop Martin and Donald as it meant that they would not need to enter the tower and deal with all the risks it might entail. Then, they would be returning to the Sky Castle with a trust from Lin Li won at no cost.
Yet, there was nothing worth rejoicing for Lin Li. This tower was neither shown in the blueprint of the tower nor controlled by magical crystals within the Sky Castle. How could he leave such a mysterious tower in the Sky Castle without knowing its purpose?
This was the dilemma: to immediately retreat or stay there to figure out ways to unlock the door. It wouldn’t be a risk to retreat at this point of time, but if he were to leave the mysterious tower as an unknown, Lin Li was sure that he would never have the confidence to use the castle without worry. That meant that he would need to give up on the Sky Castle for the time being. However, if he were to stay there, he would be putting all his eggs in a single basket, and have to be prepared to face extremely great risks.
Would this mean that he had to give up on the Sky Castle? Although Lin Li had experienced many close shaves with death, he was not somebody who loved to gamble with his life. Those were the times when Lin Li was forced to take the plunge in light of grave situations.
Yet, it was not that Lin Li had no way out. He just had to decide between his life and the Sky Castle. While he might seem crazy at times, Lin Li was not a true lunatic, after all. He naturally knew which of the two weighed more.
Lin Li did not hesitate for too long. He set his heart in a flash. Although the Sky Castle would be a valuable addition to his organization, it would be useless if he did not have his life to use it. Furthermore, giving up would only be temporary. He would still be able to uncover the mysteries of the tower if he had time to think of a better way to explore it.
However, when he was prepared to call for a retreat, Lin Li sensed a unique wave emitting from his Ring of Endless Storm. He immediately sent his mental energy into the Ring of Endless Storm, and discovered that it was coming from a key that had been long forgotten.
This key was one of the three of Geresco’s treasures which Lin Li received after he had gotten through Tutankhamun’s test in the Blackstone Mountains. The three relics that Lin Li had received were the sacred Book of Eternity, the rare magical crystal of the Evil Eye Tyrant, and this key.
According to Tutankhamun, the key that Geresco had left behind was the key to unlock the Sky Castle. However, Lin Li had never used this key despite reaping huge rewards from his two expeditions in the castle.
Lin Li had been reading the Book of Eternity almost every day. It had played an irreplaceable role in his advancement into the Sanctuary-realm. As for the magical crystal of the Evil Eye Tyrant, it had been transformed into one of Lin Li’s rings which he brought around everywhere. It had been raising his mental strength almost every moment, and had contributed significantly to his progress.
This key, however, had not been used from the day Lin Li acquired it. Hence, it had been left in the corner of the Ring of Endless Storm, almost forgotten until today.
But this time, when Lin Li got closer to the upside-down tower, a reaction could be observed from this key that seemed to have been left forgotten. This reaction naturally helped Lin Li associate the key with the tower. Could this be the key to unlocking this tower?
This thought changed Lin Li’s mind. He decided to take the risk to find out whether this key could help to unlock the door of the tower.
Lin Li’s decision was not an impulsive one. Instead, it was because of the fact that the key had belonged to Geresco. After all, Lin Li still had a mission from Geresco, which was to seal the space cracks within the Anril World. Would Geresco, an existence as invincible as Immortal King and any other legends, send him to his death with such a great ploy?
Although this did not mean that there would not be any danger, it was enough to give Lin Li the courage to take the risk.
“Master Felic, I see that the Nether Storms are coming over!”
Just when Lin Li made up his mind, Donald, who was in the World Domain, exclaimed anxiously at the top of his lungs.
The appearance of Nether Storms was unpredictable. They could appear anytime, anywhere as long as they were in the Endless Void. Lin Li had made use of the impact of the explosions to attract some of the storms away, but now that they were at the base of the Sky Castle, he realized that the hindrance from the Nether Storms had reduced greatly. His problem now was how the mana wave from his World Domain seemed to be attracting the Nether Storms in the surroundings like a magnet.
What was even more shocking was that it did not just attract a wave of Nether Storms. Instead, Nether Storms from all directions were charging towards the World Domain. While Lin Li had the ability to overcome one of them, he did not have the confidence to stop himself from being minced into powder due to the combined forces from all of the storms.
Hence, this horrific sight made Donald gasp. If he hadn’t been within Lin Li’s World Domain, he would have fled.
Lin Li knew now was not the time to linger. But, he did not retreat as Donald and Archbishop Martin wished he would. He continued to lead everyone forward, and only stopped when they reached the gate of the tower.
“Master Felic, there is no time to waste now! Those Nether Storms are reaching us!” Donald shrieked. This situation of life and death was not the time to present himself prim and proper. Unfortunately, there was no chance for him to leave Lin Li’s World Domain. All he could do was to shriek hysterically.
“Master Felic, or do you know how to unlock this door?” That was Archbishop Martin. While he appeared anxious, he was not as hysterical as Donald. There were just tremors underlying his voice.
However, Lin Li did not have the time to provide any comfort to them. He retrieved Geresco’s key from his Ring of Endless Storm a little worriedly, but when he saw the key flopping like fish out of water, he knew that he had made the correct choice.
There was no need for Lin Li to say more. He released his hand gently, and let the key fly towards a dent that was located at the center of the door.