Chapter 1080: Backdoor
Ujfalusi cast several curses that would cause one’s wounds to decompose, but the immunity of the dragon corpse was too high, and Ujfalusi’s curses were restrained by the power of the gods the corpse possessed. Hence, there was naturally no effect at all.
Norfeller focused on the dragon corpse’s wound in his attacks. After all, the wound was on its back, so it could not be easily protected, unlike the wound on its chest. However, Norfeller was far weaker than the dragon corpse, and the Retribution Dagger could not even expand the wound by a millimeter after stabbing into the dragon corpse’s wound.
Connoris was the strongest of the three, but only because he had the perfect body that allowed him to act as a shield for everyone. The fact that he could resist the dragon corpse’s attacks did not mean that he could counterattack.
As the dragon corpse’s wounds healed automatically, the situation on Cage Island became much tenser, and they had no choice but to pin their hopes on Lin Li.
At this moment, Lin Li, who was still repairing the mageweath array on the bottom of the sea, also felt pressed for time. The immense power of the dragon corpse had seeped into every inch of space here, and Lin Li used the Sky Castle to strike the dragon corpse with all its might for the sake of getting to the bottom of the sea. However, he could now clearly feel that the power of the dragon corpse in the surrounding space was gradually increasing, and thus he immediately guessed that the dragon corpse’s injuries were rapidly recovering.
If the dragon corpse’s power was restored to its original level, it would definitely put the people outside in an even more dangerous situation, but it was a huge disaster for Lin Li who was at the bottom of the sea. When the surrounding space was once again filled with the power of the dragon corpse, it would again become a space that was like a Domain World of the dragon corpse. It would still be dangerous for Lin Li even though he was a high-level Sanctuary powerhouse.
Based on the rate of increase of the dragon corpse’s power around him, Lin Li could already estimate just how pathetic the amount of time he had left was. It was really going to be a race against time!
Lin Li glanced at the mageweath arrays that he had to repair. Repairing four Guru-level mageweath arrays in such a short period of time was the toughest task that he had encountered since arriving in Anril.
Sensing how pressed for time he was, Lin Li couldn’t help but speed up, but he had to repair Guru-level mageweath arrays, after all. While focusing on speed, it was more important not to make mistakes. A slight mistake was all it would take to make his previous efforts go in vain. That was something that Lin Li definitely could not afford.
The people on the battlefield above Cage Island were already fighting for their lives, and so was Lin Li. The light on his Space Robe was flickering continuously, while the figures (afterimages) in the huge mageweath array were continuously flashing and changing position. Besides, each figure was also doing a different action, and they seemed like his clones.
Even though Lin Li was a high-level Sanctuary powerhouse, such frequent use of the power of space and the fast operation of the mana in his body had already caused his mana to be on the brink of overconsumption. Of course, he managed to achieve astonishing results from that. The mageweath array, which was originally dim, gradually began shining with the light of mana which had a range that was also expanding at a speed visible to the naked eye.
However, with the process of the repair of the mageweath array, the speed gradually slowed down too. When Lin Li repaired the mageweath array previously, he merely considered the issue of the mana circuit and the damaged magic materials. However, later on, Lin Li had to consider it comprehensively as a whole, and not an individual mageweath array. After all, he had to restore the power of the seal, and thus he had to consider the connection between the four mageweath arrays. Otherwise, he would only be repairing the four mageweath arrays, and not the real seal.
Although the seal had not been arranged by the Immortal King, the seal formed by four Guru-level Mageweath arrays had probably been created by someone at the pinnacle of the Guru-level.
When he was repairing the mageweath array previously, Lin Li kept using all sorts of magic materials in his hands, and it seemed as casual as throwing garbage. However, when Lin Li laid down the magic materials now, he would often pause for a few moments, looking extremely careful.
At this juncture, more than half of the wounds of the dragon corpse in the battlefield above Cage Island had obviously recovered. In the situation where a high-level Sanctuary powerhouse was absent, Elder Zumar and the others soon became extremely passive, and they seemed even more disheveled than before.
Damn it, what the hell is that Felic doing!? Why hasn’t anything changed yet!? Elder Zumar thought to himself. After having born most of the pressure, Elder Zumar was no longer like a dignified Sanctuary powerhouse, and instead looked like an ordinary old man who was being beaten up by a burly man. He was filled with indescribable misery.
The expensive robe on Elder Zumar’s body had already become tattered like beggar’s clothing at this point, and was just like loose pieces of fabric, some of which had shown traces of corrosion. Thanks to the robe, Elder Zumar could escape death several times. However, his precious robe had been completely ruined.
As for the others, their predicament was in fact not much better than Elder Zumar’s. Even though they had to bear much less pressure, they were not experts to begin with. It was already quite difficult for them to survive until now. However, as the power of the dragon corpse gradually recovered, they felt like their death was approaching. They might just fall in a moment.
The situation of the battle had already reached a critical point. Lin Li, who was at the bottom of the sea, suddenly stopped frowning while speeding up in his actions. After a round of numerous calculations, Lin Li finally sorted out his thought process, and he immediately began repairing the mageweath array smoothly without pausing.
With Lin Li’s movements, the four mageweath arrays were also gradually restored, and the four types of origin power also gradually began coalescing in the mageweath array. The wisp of power that bound the dragon corpse was originally fickle, but it now seemed to have gained a new lease on life with the reinfusion of the four types of origin power. It seemed to have gradually become stable before growing again.
The dragon corpse in the sky was becoming increasingly violent, as if it had sensed the binding force getting stronger. However, Elder Zumar and the others were the only ones bearing everything. During the previous battle, everyone including Elder Zumar had suffered injuries of varying extent. Hence, the situation was naturally more and more dangerous.
The entire sky was filled with the violent power of the dragon corpse as the space was shattered under its ferocious attacks. Even the Sky Castle that was floating steadily above the battlefield seemed to be shaking continuously in the violent power fluctuations.
At this juncture, Elder Zumar really hoped that the Sky Castle could inflict more damage to the dragon corpse. However, he knew clearly that he could only dream about it. Putting aside the fact that it would require a large number of Legendary magical crystals, an attack of a similar power might not be able to injure the dragon corpse, either.
Lin Li could not see the situation of the battlefield in the sky, but he could imagine that even though the dragon corpse had no soul, being free from restraint was probably an instinctive urge of most living beings. Even a dog would not let others put a leash on it easily, let alone the corpse of the Dragon of Destruction. Otherwise, the dragon corpse would not have broken free from the seal and got out.
What would be the outcome of the dragon corpse, which was originally extremely powerful, combining with the frenzy of breaking free from shackles? However, Lin Li could not be bothered to pay attention to what was going on outside. If he couldn’t repair the seal completely, being able to leave now would be of no help at all at this juncture. Even if he would cause some casualties now, he had no other option.
However, the situation also made Lin Li move faster. After all, if they couldn’t hold the dragon corpse back, it would definitely come for him.
At this point, Lin Li had also broken out in a sweat, and although he was just repairing a seal, the effort he put into this was probably far greater than when he’d fought with Osric. In particular, he had expended more mental energy than the physical. Anyone else in his place would probably be thoroughly mentally exhausted.
However, when Lin Li was about to completely repair the seal, he suddenly saw something unusual from it. Through the repair of the seal, Lin Li had gained a clear grasp of the entire structure and design of the seal. However, that was also the reason that something that should not have been in the seal was cleverly embedded in it.
“Felic, why aren’t you done yet? I’ve already repaired the Alchemy Array. It’s so exhausting,” said Angelano who had already repaired the 12 Alchemy Arrays, and was sitting on the ground. He was speaking to Lin Li triumphantly.
Angelano did not have the ability to move like Lin Li. When he was repairing the 12 Alchemy Arrays, he relied entirely on his legs to run around. Actually, the repair of the Alchemy Array was not considered much. Instead, running back and forth was more tiring for him.
However, Lin Li did not respond to Angelano, and instead decided to use the precious time to study the strange thing that he had discovered in the Seal Array. Although he was only one step away from completely repairing the seal, Lin Li knew that once the spell was repaired, he would have to leave the place immediately because of his current level of power. By then, he would have no opportunity to study these things again.
With Lin Li’s attainment in inscriptions, he had to take his hat’s off to the person who created such a clever design for the Seal Array. It was not that it was too advanced, but rather that the thought process involved was incredible. In fact, it was even more amazing than the combination of Conquering Mageweaths and Psychic Arrays in the Sky Castle.
It seemed that the ancestor[1] of the Gilded Kingdom had left behind an infinite amount of wealth for his descendants! From the clues on the Seal Array, Lin Li managed to figure something out. At the same time, he was also amazed that the Immortal King, Osric, and Geresco were not the only amazing talents in the history of Anril. The fact that the ancestor of the Gilded Kingdom was able to seal the corpse of the Dragon of Destruction, and even make such an arrangement showed that he was probably more talented than the three arbitrators.
The entire Seal Array was indeed designed to seal the powerful dragon corpse, but the array that was hidden well and was discovered by Lin Li could seal the dragon corpse while continuously drawing power from the latter. It was the corpse of the Dragon of Destruction, and even if it was dead and without the soul and magical crystal, the power it had was definitely massive beyond imagination.
The mageweath that contained a wisp of godly power, which Lin Li had discovered previously, was actually the array that extracted the power of the dragon corpse and overlapped with the Seal Array. As for the ancestor of the Gilded Kingdom, Lin Li could more or less guess what he had extracted the power of the dragon corpse for.
If all the power of the dragon corpse was extracted and infused into a person’s body, it would probably immediately create a Sanctuary powerhouse that had a wisp of godly power. Actually, the power of the peak of the Sanctuary-realm was nothing, and the key was still the wisp of godly power, which was the gateway to becoming a god. As long as a Sanctuary powerhouse had a wisp of godly power, they would be able to comprehend the mysteries of the Sanctuary-realm, and be a step away from the realm of gods.
Of course, Lin Li wouldn’t leave such a good thing to the people of the Gilded Kingdom. He had taken a great risk to help them this time, after all, and asking them for something in return wasn’t too much to ask for.
However, it was still too early to extract that power. Although the array had already extracted a huge amount of power from the dragon corpse after so many years of operation, the real key to the power of the gods was still in the dragon corpse’s body. The godly power would probably be extracted only when all the power of the dragon corpse was depleted.
As a Guru of Inscription, Lin Li naturally had a way to deal with it. He had merely tampered with the array, and left a minor setting that was similar to a back door. Those who were below the Guru-level probably would not be able to tell. The entire Seal Array and the array that extracted the power of the dragon corpse was in Lin Li’s control thanks to the back door.
“Felic, what are you getting up to? If you still don’t repair the seal, we’re going to die here.” Within a brief period of less than 20 seconds, the smugness on Angelano’s face had long disappeared. Instead, it was replaced by horror.
[1] It was previously unclear, but it seems like it might be one ancestor, not multiple ones, or only one among them has such skills.