Chapter 1044: Viper
Those prehistoric magical beasts were some of the top prehistoric magical beasts that belonged to the same era as the terrifying existences like the ancient wyrms and the Titans. Hence, the dungeon with the gateway to the prehistoric times was definitely the one of the dungeons with the highest rate of deaths in the Endless World.
However, if there was really a team in the dungeon in contrast, they would obtain huge gains even if they simply stayed longer in the dungeon. Aside from being terrifying, the beasts’ bodies were filled with treasures, and as long as a team could kill a prehistoric magical beast, it would be akin to obtaining a gold mine.
Lin Li did not have a guild in the Endless World, but he had once had a few friends who had entered the prehistoric world with him for a few raids. However, they were individuals who were not bound by the strict restrictions of the game guilds; hence, they would often have much to consider and be scrupulous about in such dungeons that required teamwork. Back then, Lin Li was backstabbed by his so-called friend, but of course, the latter did not get to enjoy his victory, and even got killed by Lin Li who took advantage of a later opportunity.
Lin Li had only gone to the Door to the Prehistoric World a few times. After all, the difficulty of party dungeons was extremely high. Even though he was already the first in the leaderboards of the game, the combat power of an individual could not possibly be compared to that of major guilds. By the time he obtained the debris of the stars and the Stars of Fury from the Well of the Sun, he saw the Dragon of Destruction.
In fact, if not for the fact that he had transmigrated to Anril, Lin Li would have used the debris of the stars and the Stars of Fury to break through the Door to the Prehistoric World. It might just create an unbelievable record in Endless World.
Looking at the Door to the Prehistoric World in front of him, Lin Li was filled with doubts apart from being astonished. It was not that the things in the Endless World had never appeared in Anril before, but they were basically always related to the Immortal King. For example, the seven pieces of the debris of the stars, the Stars of Fury, the Endless Labyrinth in the Central Tower of the Sky Castle, and the Hunter’s Shadow in the Whispering God were all directly related to the Immortal King. There was also the Whispering God in Prince Brahere’s mausoleum. Since Prince Brahere was a suspected illegitimate child of the Immortal King, he could be considered to be related to the Immortal King.
However, the Alchemy Array that was known as the Door to the Prehistoric World in the Endless World had appeared among the treasures left behind by Geresco. In that case, what did Geresco have to do with the Endless World, or with the Immortal King? One was the wise man who led the human race to overthrow the High Elves, and was known as the God of Mages. The other had a mysterious origin, and had the ability to kill the Dragon of Destruction, as well as create a prosperous era for the High Elves Dynasty. Apart from being the best of the best in their respective races, there seemed to be no real commonality between the two.
Of course, to Lin Li, there was a similarity between Geresco and the Immortal King, and that was how they most likely had some sort of prediction of him transmigrating into this world. In fact, he even suspected that the Immortal King might have been the culprit who’d caused him to transmigrate to Anril.
Previously, Lin Li felt that he was walking a path that the Immortal King had specially arranged for him, including the various events of him obtaining the loyalty of Norfeller, repossessing the seven pieces of the debris of the stars, traveling to the Endless Labyrinth, and undergoing the test of the Hunter’s Shadow.
So far, Lin Li again felt that Geresco was the one pushing him instead. For example, he obtained the three treasures in the beginning, and then received the mission in the spacetime rift. Now, he had also received the guidance of Geresco’s incarnation.
What kind of relationship was there between the Immortal King and Geresco? In history, the two had almost surely never met. When one went missing, the other was just born. In fact, they could be considered people of two different eras. Yet, they crossed paths here, which was indeed rather mind-boggling for Lin Li.
Of course, Lin Li was not the type to stubbornly mull over an issue. Besides, he believed that with the increase of his abilities, he would one day get the answer he wanted when he delved deeper. Hence, he soon set those doubts aside after thinking about them for a while. He shifted his attention back onto the Door to the Prehistoric World.
After recalling everything associated with the Door to the Prehistoric World that he could, Lin Li soon discovered that although the Alchemy Array in front of him was similar to the Door to the Prehistoric World, it was not complete. There seemed to be missing parts in a few key nodes of the Alchemy Array, which was also the reason that the Alchemy Array could not be activated.
If Lin Li hadn’t seen the Door to the Prehistoric World, he might have to spend a lot of effort on this Alchemy Array in order to truly figure out where the problem lay. However, with the memories he had now, Lin Li managed to instantly find the problems after merely comparing the two Alchemy Arrays.
There were a total of 36 key nodes in the Alchemy Array, and their main functions were to line the two worlds. The Alchemy Array could be called the Double-Realm Psychic Tower only after solving that problem. Otherwise, it would just be a useless painting that was hung on the wall. At the thought of the power that connected the two worlds and the number 36, Lin Li suddenly remembered the 36 Realm Beads that he had obtained from the Double-Realm Psychic Towers when exploring the Sky Castle.
With the power of the Realm Beads and the Psychic Array formed by the Double-Realm Psychic Towers, the world of Undead creatures was opened, and endless Undead creatures descended in Anril through the passage. The Realm Beads actually did not only connect to the world of the Undead creatures—their true power was used to connect two worlds. Which worlds? That depending on where they were used. The Realm Beads used with the Double-Realm Psychic Tower was used to open up the passage to the world of Undead creatures. Hence, when used with the Door to the Prehistoric World, it would open up the world that was predetermined by the Door to the Prehistoric World.
Lin Li was unsure if the Door to the Prehistoric World would open up a prehistoric world like in the Endless World, but he was certain that he could use the 36 Realm Beads there. After making that judgment, Lin Li didn’t waste any more time, and immediately used them on the various key nodes of the Door to the Prehistoric World.
Fortunately, there was no sequence that he had to follow. After the last Realm Bead was put in place, the Door to the Prehistoric World immediately began transmitting mana from the central mana source to the surroundings all around. The dim magic circuits lit up, and soon the entire Door to the Prehistoric World became radiant. All the magic circuits and magic runes of the entire Door to the Prehistoric World began flickering with colorful light, as if it was a beautiful piece of art.
However, Lin Li was not in the mood to appreciate art. Seeing that the entire Alchemy Array was about to be filled with mana, he immediately activated the Alchemy Array using the method that he had found and researched previously. The Alchemy Arrays that were carved in the ground began spinning at this moment. Next, an ancient-looking door gradually appeared in the center of the Alchemy Array.
Lin Li was not entirely certain if there was a prehistoric world on the other side of the door. However, his power had already reached the peak of level-27, and he was confident that he would be able to retreat safely even if he encountered any dangers there. Hence, he did not hesitate much, and instead dashed straight into the door after it was completely condensed.
After some ripples spread, Lin Li looked up and found that he had indeed arrived in another world. However, the scenery in front of him made him feel a sense of familiarity again. The peaks of various heights were actually the Sunset Mountains that he had set foot in when he had transmigrated to Anril.
Lin Li was extremely familiar with the Sunset Mountains. Back when he had transmigrated to that place, he had fortunately been taken under the wing of Andoine. Otherwise, he would have probably been eaten up by magical beasts. When he followed Andoine and learned magic from him, he was often thrown into various corners of the Sunset Mountains to fight with those magical beasts. Hence, although Lin Li was not extremely familiar with this place, he had a strong impression of it.
Why the Sunset Mountains? That made Lin Li feel a little bewildered. The Sunset Mountains of Anril were now extremely dangerous to most people, but now the peak of level-27 was considered nothing to him[1]. Lin Li could even effortlessly kill the Legendary-level magical beasts.
Of course, Lin Li was also well aware that since Geresco had placed the Sunset Mountains on the third floor, and he had to go through a detailed assessment of strength before entering, they were definitely not as simple as the Sunset Mountains in Anril. Hence, instead of dashing towards them immediately whilst in the air, he dispersed his mental strength and entered the Sunset Mountains to explore.
However, as soon as Lin Li released his mental strength, a colorful liquid suddenly shot out of the dense forest below before he could even enter the Sunset Mountains. Although the liquid was spurted from the bottom, it was as quick as lightning, and it arrived in front of Lin Li in an instant.
Fortunately, when Lin Li appeared, he had already exhibited an extremely powerful defensive magic spell. Otherwise, he would really be thrown into a frenzy by the sudden attack. Just as the colorful liquid appeared in front of him, an exceptionally solid Elemental Shield also instantly emerged from the void to shield Lin Li.
Although it was just an Elemental Shield, it was cast by Lin Li, a level-27 Sanctuary Master. Hence, even if it was bombarded by Legendary magic spells, it would barely be damaged. However, what surprised Lin Li was that the vibrant liquid did not get repelled by the Elemental Shield when it came into contact with it. Instead, it made some strange sounds, and the Elemental Shield in front of him was instantly eroded by the liquid, which then continued to surge towards him.
Lin Li was a little alarmed by the scene, and he hurriedly activated his Space Robe, after which his body immediately flashed in another direction. The vibrant liquid penetrated the afterimage that Lin Li left behind, and flew for some distance before finally turning into rainwater and splattering down onto the dense forest. A large hole was immediately opened up below, followed by fumes of white smoke rising from it.
After dodging the attack, Lin Li frowned at the residual smell in the air. With his knowledge as a pharmaceutics Guru, he could tell from the subtle and almost undetectable smell that the brilliantly colored liquid was the legendary Viper’s poison.
Lin Li had once helped Pope Rosario of the Brilliance Shrine get rid of the Viper’s poison that had plagued him for many years, but the Viper’s poison that Rosario was struck with was actually only the toxin of a descendant of the prehistoric viper. Lin Li could completely tell that the Viper’s poison that just attacked him was countless times more violent than the poison that Rosario had had in his body.
Didn’t that mean that he had just been attacked by a real prehistoric Viper!? During the prehistoric times, the ancient wyrms and the Titans might have fought to dominate the world, and the prehistoric Viper seemed to be only a supporting role in that age. However, among the prehistoric magical beasts, there were also many existences that even those two races dared not provoke easily. There were also some that specially preferred to feed on the ancient wyrms and Titans. The prehistoric Viper was one of them.
Legend had it that the Viper’s poison could corrode everything that existed, and not only the Elemental Shield that had been formed by mana. There would even be holes that could not be closed after the erosion. During the prehistoric times, the prehistoric Viper had managed to stay firm at the top of the entire food chain because of its terrifying venom, and even the ancient wyrms and Titans could not pose a threat to it.
Of course, other than its terrifying venom, the strength of the prehistoric Viper was not to be disregarded. Legend had it that the young Vipers that had just hatched would already have Legendary-level power and Magical Domains that were composed of poison and curses. The mature prehistoric Vipers would also reach the Sanctuary-realm. Even gods would have to be wary of them.
Was it a prehistoric Viper or its descendant? Lin Li soon got the answer.
After the poisonous venom rained down, a large snake head that resembled a mountain immediately probed out of the dense forest with a pair of hideous unicorn brows on its head. Glaring at Lin Li who seemed extremely small in comparison, its eyes were like blood moons, full of menace. The fact that the prehistoric Viper could poke its head out of the forest that was made up of numerous trees showed how massive it was.
[1] Author’s mistake. He (she) probably meant that whatever lives there is nothing to lvl27 Lin Li, or the author meant some lower level here since he (she) mentioned Legendary-lvl beasts.