Chapter 1265: Mutation
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The peaks seemed like the Earth Spike magic spells that had been enlarged countless times. Like the fangs of a giant beast, the peaks chased after Lin Li’s figure, and tried to impale him incessantly. On the other hand, Lin Li seemed to have become a sparrow shuttling through a thick forest, casting magic spells and dodging the terrifying Earth-Spike-like peaks.
The battle with the Ancient God of Water proved that the Mount Tai mageweath was still very effective in suppressing ancient gods. However, when facing the Ancient God of Earth, Lin Li did not use the Mount Tai mageweath immediately, and instead did his best to go in circles with his opponent. In fact, he even placed himself in an extremely dangerous situation.
It wasn’t that Lin Li was trying to put himself through suffering, but rather he didn’t want to give up such an opportunity to familiarize himself with the power of the ancient gods so easily. Instead of a test left by Geresco, it was more like a chance to learn to fight with gods. There was no other place in this world that would give one a chance to fight against gods. What other person could suppress the power of the ancient gods to such an extent and send a Sanctuary powerhouse there for training?
The ancient god was very powerful. Even though the majority of his power had been suppressed, Lin Li still wouldn’t be able to defeat him easily. However, if Lin Li had used the Mount Tai mageweath all the way, it would probably have been difficult to reap many benefits from it. The Mount Tai mageweath definitely wasn’t omnipotent, and if he met a true god again in the future, the effects that the Mount Tai mageweath could exert would probably be limited too. By then, it would be too late for regrets.
Lin Li could still get a mass of Power of Origin after suppressing the ancient gods and a clearer understanding of the origin laws from it. However, it would be akin to getting a book; while one could flip through the pages and gain some knowledge from their content, it didn’t mean that one would be able to internalize the information and know how to apply it. Only through the battles with the ancient gods could Lin Li clearly see the way that the ancient gods used the Power of Origin, which was also important for his integration of the knowledge he had gained.
Seeing that the peaks that were piercing through the sky still couldn’t catch Lin Li, the Ancient God of Earth lost his patience at this point, and swung his fist into the sky abruptly. Although that punch seemed ordinary, the appearance of the sky suddenly changed with it.
The sky, which was originally turquoise blue, turned into the same color as earth, and it was as if the entire earth was hanging upside down in the sky. Lin Li was flying in the air, and if he looked above him, he would even feel as if he was hanging upside down. Besides, like the earth beneath his feet, mountains and peaks were also emerging from the earth above his head. The sword-like mountain peaks also began charging towards Lin Li.
This time, Lin Li was facing a bombardment of attacks coming from all directions, and it wasn’t that easy for him to rely on his flexibility and agility to dodge them. Besides, the intertwined peaks formed a cage that made Lin Li’s range of activity shrink more and more.
Such an attack was not really that terrifying for Lin Li. Without the influence of the terrifying gravity, even an ordinary Sanctuary powerhouse might not be in much danger, let alone Lin Li. Hence, it made Lin Li feel that the Ancient God of Earth seemed to be playing the cat-and-mouse game with him and completely treating him like a plaything.
“Ant, hand over that thing in your hand, and I’ll grant you the honor of becoming my believer!”
A mellow voice suddenly sounded in Lin Li’s mind. It naturally belonged to the Ancient God of Earth because there was no one else around apart from Lin Li himself and the Ancient God of Earth. That also made Lin Li understand that the Ancient God of Earth had been coveting what he was holding.
Although the Ancient God of Earth did not state explicitly what it was, Lin Li could already guess that the Ancient God of Earth was probably after his debris of the stars, Rebirth, which contained the pure laws of earth.
At this moment, the Ancient God of Earth possessed only a small portion of his power that was drawn from his main body. Hence, he was barely maintaining his power as a god, and naturally couldn’t break free from the restraint. If the Ancient God of Earth could obtain the debris of the stars, Rebirth, he would at least be able to restore a large portion of his strength, if not the full amount that he had during his prime.
With the temporary lifting of the suppression by the Divine-Smith-level mageweath and the recovery of a large part of his strength with the aid of the debris of the stars, Rebirth, the Ancient God of Earth might have a chance to break free. No one was willing to be imprisoned forever, what more an ancient god who was once above all other gods and deities.
“If you want it, come and get it yourself by defeating me!” How could Lin Li possibly give something as important as the debris of the stars to the Ancient God of Earth? His battles with the ancient gods were supposed to be a test left by Geresco, and even if the ancient god was unwilling to fight Lin Li, the latter would have to force the former to fight instead of trying to find a way to avoid the battle.
The only thing Lin Li would get out of handing his debris of the stars over to the Ancient God of Earth was becoming a slave to the latter! Lin Li wouldn’t hold himself cheap like that. The Ancient God of Earth had to have been suppressed for too long, so much so that his brains were fried.
Lin Li’s answer had undoubtedly angered the Ancient God of Earth. He was one of the powerful ancient gods, and the qualifying criteria to become their slaves were extremely demanding, and generally only true gods and deities would qualify. Besides, Lin Li was just an ant-like mortal to him, and yet he actually dared to say something so arrogant. The ancient god felt that it was simply the greatest insult to him.
“In that case, die, ant!” the Ancient God of Earth hollered furiously, and numerous mountain peaks appeared in the sky and earth. Just like the sharp fangs of gigantic beasts, they chomped down on Lin Li.
Lin Li had already anticipated the Ancient God of Earth’s reaction. The Helios’ Scepter flickered, and various 100-meter-long Light and Darkness Swords emerged from around Lin Li’s body before slashing towards the mountain peaks like a windmill. The entire space was instantly filled with continuous roars as the Light and Darkness Sword collided with the mountain peaks that resembled sharp swords. It was as if Lin Li and the Ancient God of Earth were in a sword fight.
However, the Ancient God of Earth’s methods were clearly not limited to that, as his attacks were followed by magic spells that contained the laws of earth. They were bombarding Lin Li like a storm. The earth elemental magic spells that the Ancient God of Earth cast were not merely flying sand and stones, but he had also displayed an excellent application of the laws of earth. The Ancient God of Earth could even use the laws of earth to cast magic spells in conjunction with other laws, such as Thunderbolt Flames and Thunderstorm Gale, each of which contained destructive power.
Lin Li’s Domain World was rapidly changing in size. Hundreds of Light and Darkness Swords danced in the air to form a shadow of light, constantly blocking attacks from all directions. However, Lin Li’s strength was eventually far weaker than that of the Ancient God of Earth. In the beginning, he could use a Light and Darkness Sword to offset an attack, but he gradually had to put in more and more power.
When a huge mountain peak which resembled a Sky Castle fell straight towards Lin Li, dozens of Light and Darkness Swords immediately flew out of the defensive range, and slashed towards the mountain. If this were elsewhere, Lin Li would be able to slash it into pieces even if it was more than 10 times larger than this one. However, this mountain peak that contained the laws of earth, or rather one that was purely made up of laws of earth, was not that easy to deal with.
The numerous 100-meter-long Light and Darkness Swords began blasting at the mountain peak that flew over along with the sound of air exploding. However, the collision between the Light and Darkness Swords and the mountain peak did not cause a single explosion. Instead, it was as if the attacks had landed on a desert as they sunk and vanished upon contact. Immediately afterwards, the mental connection between Lin Li and the Light and Darkness Swords was instantly cut off.
However, Lin Li did not panic at all. Ordinary magic spells would vanish as soon as the link was cut off, but the Light and Darkness Swords, which utilized two extreme forces consisting of light and darkness, were completely free from the restraint of Lin Li’s mental strength. As a result, the two forces exploded because of the conflicting power.
As expected, the moment the connection was severed, a low explosion sounded from that massive mountain peak. Numerous large bulges began to appear on the mountain peak, resembling large bubbles in boiling water.
Unfortunately, that was the limit. Although the power of the Light and Darkness Swords was terrifying, it wasn’t enough to disintegrate the mountain peak. The massive mountain peak was still falling towards Lin Li like a meteor with a deafening roar.
If it had been an ordinary mountain peak, Lin Li would not have suffered much damage even if he got hit by it because of the great defensive power of the Domain World. However, this mountain peak was composed entirely of the laws of earth, and the mountain peak was only its physical form. Essentially, it was the bombardment of the laws of earth, which Lin Li didn’t dare to underestimate.
Lin Li did not use the Void of the Stars technique again, because he knew it would not be of much use against ancient gods. As the light on the Helios’ Scepter flickered, a looming spear of light suddenly appeared in Lin Li’s Domain World. It was none other than the debris of the stars, Nothingness.
Lin Li took out the Crossbow of Reincarnation, while the Nothingness spear turned into an arrow that was placed on the crossbow. Immediately afterwards, it darted out with the buckling of the crossbow mechanism. Nothingness had the most bizarre power among all pieces of the debris of the stars. It contained the laws of time and space, and was the one Lin Li had mastered to the lowest extent. However, the power of Nothingness was not to be doubted. When he killed the Dragon of Destruction in the Endless World, the power of Nothingness played an extremely crucial role.
After Nothingness was launched, it slashed through the space with an unpredictable light, and shot straight into the mountain peak. Next, a massive vortex seemed to have appeared in the middle of the huge mountain peak, and began devouring the surrounding rock. In the blink of an eye, the mountain peak which was even larger than a Sky Castle vanished without a trace in midair. All that was left was the faint vortex, which seemed to be about to vanish.
Clearly, the Ancient God of Earth did not expect Lin Li to have so many good things, and was momentarily stunned by the development. However, although the power was bizarre, it was still far from being enough to defeat him in his eyes. Hence, he didn’t feel anything else other than surprise.
The Ancient God of the Earth pointed his hand forward, and more than 10 mountain peaks once again rose up immediately around Lin Li, constantly rotating around him. One by one, they ruthlessly collided with Lin Li; at the same time, the earth above his head, which seemed to be a reflection of the earth below, tried to crush Lin Li like a large millstone.
After a few moments of exchanging blows, Lin Li finally couldn’t hold on any longer. With his strength as a high-level Sanctuary powerhouse, there was still a great difference between him and the Ancient God of Earth, even though the latter had been greatly restrained. The fact that Lin Li had not been killed in seconds by the Ancient God of Earth was already something to be proud of.
Of course, although he didn’t spend much time fighting, Lin Li gained a good understanding of the Ancient God of Earth’s usage of the laws of earth. Although his attainments couldn’t be compared to those of the Ancient God of Earth, it could be said that gaining this understanding was akin to opening a door for Lin Li. The inspiration it gave him could not be measured according to any standard.
Sensing that he was already having a hard time holding up, Lin Li stopped wasting any more time, and instead reached out to start drawing the Mount Tai mageweath. However, the Mount Tai mageweath was significantly different from before this time because Lin Li had made changes to it according to the characteristics of the Ancient God of Earth. In fact, it was thanks to this battle that Lin Li had gained a better understanding of the Ancient God of Earth. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have been able to suppress the Ancient God of Earth using the original Mount Tai mageweath.
Although many things were triggered when Lin Li drew the Mount Tai mageweath again, it didn’t affect Lin Li’s drawing speed. The seven pieces of the debris of the stars were reintegrated into his Domain World to enhance its defensive power. Afterwards, he began drawing the new Mount Tai mageweath quickly while dealing with the storm-like attacks of the Ancient God of Earth.
Due to the fact that he had gained experience from that battle with the Ancient God of Water, Lin Li managed to free himself from danger this time, even though he was in quite a disheveled state. Finally, when the Domain World was about to collapse, the Mount Tai mageweath in front of Lin Li was also completed. As Lin Li drew the last stroke, the completed Mount Tai mageweath flickered and flew out of the Domain World. Its light almost made the entire space gilded.
Under the suppression of the Mount Tai mageweath, the earth above his head and under his feet melted rapidly like snow under the sun. The sky above his head was blue again, and a turquoise blue sea appeared beneath his feet. All the power of the laws of earth was forced back into the Ancient God of Earth’s body. The Ancient God of Earth, who was originally like a Titan, also began to collapse under the pressure.
Sensing the power of the suppression, the Ancient God of Earth roared indignantly, and he kept blasting his arms towards the surroundings, as if he was trying to disperse the oppressive force. However, his attacks seemed to be futile as he couldn’t touch the power of the Mount Tai mageweath at all.
Lin Li stood still in the air, and watched as the Mount Tai mageweath and magic runes began to flicker on the Ancient God of Earth’s body.. The tall body of the Ancient God of Earth gradually began shrinking before eventually turning into a mass of yellow light.