Chapter 1268: Shadow
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Finally, the law origin that the Ancient God of Strength had left behind after being suppressed landed in Lin Li’s hands. It was a ball of light that resembled chaos. Just like before, Lin Li immediately channeled his mental strength into the Origin of chaos to conduct a detailed check and examination before stowing it away in the Ring of Endless Storm.
After doing that, Lin Li felt his vision turning blurry, and there were changes in the scene in this space. A new ancient god didn’t appear, and the surroundings suddenly reverted to the study that he had initially stepped into.
I’ve finally passed the test! Lin Li was overjoyed. Passing the test meant that he could see the figure with the back facing him, and obtain the answers to his questions.
However, immediately afterwards, Lin Li discovered that something was amiss because the decor and furnishings of the study actually seemed brand-new, with no signs of wear and tear that should have appeared after the passage of thousands of years. Although there were some magic spells that could prolong the life of some items, signs of wear and tear could never be removed.
While Lin Li was feeling puzzled, he suddenly felt a trace of vigilance, followed by a terrifying force that was surging towards him immediately afterwards.
Thunderbolt! After taking a clear look at what was attacking him, Lin Li was incredibly astonished. He was certain that the seven pieces of the debris of the stars were in his hands, so what was this Thunderbolt that was trying to attack him?
Fortunately, Lin Li had been keeping his guard up even after he arrived here, which allowed him to react to Thunderbolt, which had the shrewdest attacking method. The Space Robe that he was donning flickered abruptly, and he was already in another spot of the study by the time he appeared again.
“It’s not that easy to get your weapon back…”
At the same time that Lin Li moved in a flash, the voice that he had heard previously sounded in his mind again. As the voice appeared, the study that had limited room at first immediately became extremely spacious as if it had been inflated. The rows of bookshelves that were near him quickly enlarged and flew into the distance. Immediately afterwards, a figure seemed to have walked out of the illusion, and appeared in a spot near him.
“Geresco!” Lin Li couldn’t help but call out. The original figure that appeared in front of him turned out to be Geresco, the God of Mages who had trained him rigorously countless times in the first floor of the inverted tower.
However, the Geresco in front of him was clad in a mage’s robe, and holding the weapon Lin Li had always dreamed of: the Stars of Fury. At the same time, the masses of light from the seven pieces of the debris of the stars also started revolving around Geresco’s body like satellites.
When Lin Li saw the view of his back outside the study earlier on, Geresco’s was the first person that came to his mind. Hence, Lin Li wasn’t too shocked to see Geresco’s shadow here. However, he was puzzled as to how the Stars of Fury had ended up with Geresco.
According to the legends of Anril and the information he had received from various sources, Lin Li was certain that the Stars of Fury and the seven pieces of the debris of the stars were weapons that’d belonged to the Immortal King. Even though Lin Li could ascertain that the Stars of Fury was only a condensation of mana, he didn’t expect it to appear in Geresco’s hands.
Is the relationship between Geresco and the Immortal King a type of tacit historical legacy relationship like that between me and Geresco? Lin Li couldn’t help but think of a possibility. According to the history of Anril, it seemed that Geresco was born in the Felan Kingdom only after the Immortal King had gone missing. Hence, Geresco certainly could not have become a disciple of the Immortal King like Highlord Osric. Thus, the only possibility left was that Geresco should have obtained the Immortal King’s legacy through a certain opportunity, such as the Sky Castle and the place where the gods were now being suppressed.
Even though Lin Li could somewhat explain the relationship between Geresco and the Immortal King with such a conjecture, he was still puzzled by what Geresco said. What does he mean, take back my own weapon? Doesn’t the Stars of Fury belong to the Immortal King?! The last time I really had the Stars of Fury was when I was playing the Endless World game using the Hunter avatar. Does Geresco know about what happened before I transmigrated?
Lin Li’s transmigration to this world was his greatest secret, which he had never mentioned to anyone. Meanwhile, Geresco the God of Mages came into existence more than 1,000 years ago, and there was no overlap in the time of his existence and that of Lin Li, so there was no way he could have known of Lin Li’s transmigration.
Or is it just a slip of the tongue? Lin Li really couldn’t figure it out, and had no choice but to attribute it to that reason. Anyway, no matter what, he did want to obtain the Stars of Fury, and make it his personal weapon, so Geresco wouldn’t be wrong if his words were interpreted in this way.
However, Lin Li was soon no longer in the mood to consider this issue, because Geresco’s shadow had already raised his Stars of Fury.
Damn it! The combination of the Stars of Fury and the debris of the stars is powerful enough to annihilate even the Dragon of Destruction! Lin Li immediately broke out in a cold sweat, and could no longer be bothered to think about the doubts he had as he frantically channeled all his attention to the manipulation of his seven pieces of the debris of the stars.
Although the Stars of Fury that Geresco’s shadow was holding was not real, Lin Li was well aware that even if it was just a Stars of Fury that was condensed with mana, the attack launched with it by a powerhouse of such a high level would not be inferior to the real thing at all. It was not Lin Li’s first time seeing such a means. The first was in the Seven-Realm Spiral of the Sky Castle, followed by the time in the Well of the Sun where the Hunter shadow used it too. Hence, Lin Li didn’t dare to underestimate the Stars of Fury that Geresco’s shadow was holding now.
At this moment, Geresco also finally activated the trigger of the Stars of Fury crossbow, and Polar Snow, which had already been placed on top, immediately darted towards Lin Li.
The debris of the stars, Polar Snow, which was powered by the Stars of Fury, released a power that was far different from that of Lin Li’s manipulation of Polar Snow. After leaving the Stars of Fury, Polar Snow dared towards Lin Li in the form of a sharp arrow, and the surrounding temperature also instantly plunged to zero. The air was filled with glistening ice crystals, and even the entire space was frozen to the point of being covered with cracks.
From Lin Li’s point of view, there was nothing but a huge silver wave that seemed to be surging towards him like it was sweeping through the world. Polar Snow was at the center of the silver wave, charging towards him with a terrifying power that seemed to freeze everything in its path.
With the knowledge of the debris of the stars, Polar Snow, Lin Li was sure that even gods would be drowned out by the silver wave, and even their solid Divine Kingdoms would be frozen and shattered into powder. On the other hand, a high-level Sanctuary powerhouse like himself would probably be unable to last even a second before dying.
Polar Snow, Raging Flans! Lin Li immediately activated two of his pieces of the debris of the stars. Instead of releasing an extreme chilliness, Polar Snow turned into a huge wave that collided with the silver wave, while Raging Flames attached itself to the wave, making it seem as if it was a sea of flames.
Without the Stars of Fury, Lin Li wasn’t confident of fighting against Geresco’s Polar Snow using only his Polar Snow. Hence, he added Raging Flames to his own Polar Snow, and combined the power of ice and fire.
In the eyes of others, ice and fire might be incompatible, but when Lin Li first obtained Polar Snow and Raging Flames, the power of these two pieces of the debris of the stars had even formed a Natural Domain of water and fire. Lin Li’s current combination of the two was based off a similar law structure that he had comprehended from the Natural Domain of water and fire.
In the blink of an eye, the silver wave formed by Geresco’s Polar Snow and the sea of burning flames formed by Lin Li’s Raging Flames and Polar Snow collided with each other violently. The silver wave rolled with the power to freeze everything in its path, while the sea of burning flames emitted blazing heat while containing the power of water that eroded everything.
The collision of the two forces did not cause much of a shocking movement, but anyone could see that there was a vigorous fight between the silver wave and red flames. The extreme chilliness emitted by the silver wave froze the flames, but the scorching heat made the silver wave engulfed by the flames, as if it was covered in a layer of fiery red.
If Lin Li used purely the power of the red flames, the sea of fire would probably soon turn into an ice field. Due to the buffer effect resulting from the power of Polar Snow, the power of the flames was maximized to an extent that it could compete with Polar Snow that was powered by the Stars of Fury.
The space where the two forces collided was instantly filled with cracking sounds of things breaking. It was an erosive power that even the layers of spatial barriers could not withstand. In the center of the collision of the two forces, almost all matter ceased to exist, and even countless layers of the endless void were shattered by the impact. If someone used the Void of the Stars technique here, they would probably be instantly turned into flying ashes by the impact along with the void that their physical body was attached to.
Using the power of the two pieces of the debris of the stars, Polar Snow and Raging Flames, to resist the power of Geresco’s Polar Snow that was powered by the Stars of Fury was already quite an achievement for Lin Li. It was the various gains and significant improvement in strength he had obtained from the battle with the ancient gods that allowed him to achieve that.
However, Lin Li naturally would not be satisfied with the status quo. What he wanted to do now was to defeat the Geresco who was holding the Stars of Fury in front of him, and not just contend with him. Hence, while blocking the incoming Polar Snow, Lin Li raised the Helios Scepter in his hand, and a huge vortex appeared in the sky, after which several large pillars of lightning smashed into Geresco with loud roars.
Although the Stars of Fury was held only by Geresco’s shadow, it was still a shadow that belonged to the God of Mages, Geresco. Of course, it had more than just those means. After the attack by Polar Snow was blocked, Geresco merely held the Spear of Nothingness in his other hand, and slashed it against the sky while facing the huge pillars of lightning. With his movements, a spatial rift appeared in the sky above his head, and devoured the hundreds and thousands of lightning pillars1.
Under Geresco’s manipulation, the debris of the stars, Rebirth and Thunderbolt, flew towards the Stars of Fury, after which a yellow ray of light intertwined with a turquoise ray of light, turning into two sharp arrows that darted towards Lin Li.
Damn it, you’re just leveraging on the Stars of Fury! Seeing this scene, Lin Li couldn’t help but curse in his heart. With the Stars of Fury, a single piece of the debris of the stars would possess terrifying power, and now that there were two pieces of the debris of the stars being shot in unison, the power was probably enough to slay gods.
However, there was no point in being jealous. Lin Li was now facing the God of Mages who had the Stars of Fury and the debris of the stars. Fortunately, Geresco wasn’t too ruthless, and the strength of the shadow itself wasn’t that terrifying, as it was only at the higher end of the Sanctuary-realm.
Thus, Lin Li still saw some hope of winning. Otherwise, if the strength of the shadow was greater, Lin Li would be better off giving up.
The debris of the stars, Rebirth, contained the laws of earth, and had the power to control the growth of all things, making it the most bizarre power of the seven pieces of the debris of the stars. The debris of the stars, Thunderbolt, contained the elemental laws of wind and the destructive power of wind and lightning. It was the sharpest of the seven pieces of the debris of the stars. The combination of these two pieces of the debris of the stars, and the combination of earth and wind, life and destruction, was not a simple addition of powers.
How do I deal with this?! Lin Li waved the Helios Scepter, and two pieces of the debris of the stars, Holy Light and Polar Snow, formed a 1000-meter-long Light and Darkness Sword that took on the attack of Rebirth and Thunderbolt. At the same time, the debris of the stars, Nothingness, immediately split into thousands of rays of light that formed countless spatial rifts in the space, making it seem like a sieve.
The countless spatial rifts began devouring the power emanating from Geresco’s Rebirth and Thunderbolt like a swarm of cannibalistic ants. Immediately afterwards, the Light and Darkness Sword collided with Geresco’s attack, causing massive power to emerge immediately. The aftershocks that spread around even dispersed the silver waves and burning sea of flames, while the debris of the stars began flying backwards.
A large vortex was formed in the center of the collision, just like a black hole in the void that was devouring every ounce of magic around it. Even Lin Li, who was still far away, felt a pulling force that was trying to drag him into the spatial vortex.
No matter what, he had finally blocked Geresco’s attack, which made Lin Li, who did not have the Stars of Fury, feel rather smug and conceited. However, immediately afterwards, he turned as pale as a sheet when he saw Geresco placing the debris of the stars, Polar Snow, Raging Flames, Rebirth, and Thunderbolt, on the Stars of Fury.