Chapter 1276: Heart of All Evil
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Huh? What?” Great Monarch Hegel was stunned, but immediately afterwards, he realized what Lin Li was talking about.
Does he not want to teach our inscribers inscriptions? The first thing that came to Hegel’s mind was that Lin Li didn’t want to give the inscribers of the Octopus Clan any guidance. Otherwise, he couldn’t have asked to go straight to the topic of the inscribers going to the Tower of Dusk without answering a single question.
However, immediately afterwards, Hegel recalled the things that Lin Li said previously, and immediately looked at the wall in front of him that was covered in complex mageweaths that he had never seen before. Although they hadn’t been activated yet, it was obvious that they were Guru-level mageweaths.
Hegel initially thought of taking a look to find out what was going on before responding to Lin Li, but he didn’t expect to have his eyes glued to it as soon as he did so, as he couldn’t bear to even blink at all.
The master inscribers of the Octopus Clan were all widening their eyes like Hegel, and staring straight at the mageweaths that Lin Li had left on the wall, which made everyone fall silent.
Elder Zumar didn’t know much about inscriptions, but he was confused by the reactions of the Octopus Clan members. He only knew that the exchange of inscriptions seemed to have ended before it had even begun. He hurriedly got up, chased after Lin Li, and asked with some concern, “President Felic, is this appropriate?”
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Elder Zumar was afraid that Lin Li would offend the Octopus Clan. Even though Saint Edmund had already instructed Elder Zumar that the Illuminati had to express their firm stand on taking Lin Li’s side regardless of what Lin Li encountered, the Octopus Clan was not the Giant Shark Clan, after all. The Illuminati had a deeper cooperative relationship with the Octopus Clan, and if Lin Li were to fall out with the Octopus Clan, the Illuminati would definitely incur major losses as well.
Hearing Elder Zumar’s question and seeing how worried he was, Lin Li smiled calmly, waved his hand, and said, “Elder Zumar, don’t worry, I’ve given them the answers they need, and they can go there to look for them themselves. What’s so inappropriate about that?”
Despite what Lin Li said, Elder Zumar was still as worried as before, and he could only stare at the hall nervously to watch the Octopus Clan’s reaction. However, what he was worried about did not happen. Not only did none of the people of the Octopus Clan stand out and accuse Lin Li, they even kept their eyes fixed on the mageweaths on the wall, seemingly mesmerized and in awe. It was as if everything around them could not affect them at all.
However, Lin Li didn’t have the patience to wait for Hegel to come back to his senses. Hence, he raised his voice slightly, and even used the vibration of his mental strength to say to Hegel, “Great Monarch Hegel, the mageweath is right there, and you can study it whenever you please. Should we get my matters settled first!?”
If he’d simply raised his voice and exclaimed loudly, he might not have been able to back Hegel snap out of his trance. Fortunately, he had used the shaking of his mental strength to draw Hegel out of his state of engrossment. After coming back to reality, Hegel looked at Lin Li excitedly, and said, “Master Felic, thank you so much. You’ve given the Octopus Clan a treasure of inscription classics that can be passed down through the ages!”
There was no way Hegel wouldn’t get all worked up and excited. Given his attainment in inscriptions, he could tell how precious the unknown mageweath was even though he had only been studying the mageweath for a few moments. Although he didn’t know the exact name of the mageweath and the kind of power it contained, he could tell that the mageweath contained almost all the theories of inscription of various profoundness.
It could be said that as long as this mageweath was in place, even an apprentice of inscription would be able to advance all the way to the Guru-level of inscription following the guidance of the mageweath. At the level that Hegel was currently at, he couldn’t yet deduce if the mageweath could lead an inscriber to the Divine-Smith-level, but he was certain that as long as one took the correct path, reaching the Divine Smith realm would certainly not be as difficult as before now that they had the help of the mageweath.
Faced with an excited Hegel, Lin Li didn’t say much, and instead asked the same question as before. “Great Monarch, now that your problem has been resolved, should we talk about mine?”
“Yes, yes, I am getting way too excited. Don’t worry, President Felic, please give me three days’ grace, and I’ll definitely get you all the inscribers with the best talent.” Hegel was now completely at ease and full of trust in Lin Li. Based on the mageweath that Lin Li had drawn on the wall alone, he was already certain that his inscribers would definitely obtain major gains in the field of inscription if they continued to learn alongside Hegel.
In fact, according to Lin Li’s requirements, Hegel didn’t have to get any extremely talented inscribers at all. As long as the candidates were senior inscribers who weren’t dense, they would be able to meet Lin Li’s criteria, and Hegel would be able to fulfill the task that Lin Li had given him. However, Great Monarch Hegel couldn’t be that slipshod with the selection. After all, in their opinion, learning from a Guru of Inscription like Lin Li would be the best opportunity.
If it weren’t for the fact that he was the Great Monarch of the Octopus Clan, Hegel would have followed Lin Li to the Tower of Dusk. Of course, even if he could not go himself, he was already determined deep down that he had to send his son, Harquess, to the Tower of Dusk.
In fact, a team of inscribers who fitted Lin Li’s requirements could be gathered easily within three minutes, not to mention three days. However, the Octopus Clan was having some trouble with those matters. On the one hand, Hegel had to consider the talent of the candidates. After all, those who lacked talent would only be wasting the godsend opportunity if they went to the Tower of Dusk. On the other hand, he also had to consider the distribution of benefits and interests.
For example, if Hegel tried to send his son to the Tower of Dusk, others would definitely be aware of the benefits it involved. Everyone in the clan had their own descendants and juniors who they hoped could achieve great accomplishments in life. However, there was a maximum quota of about 30 candidates, so there would inevitably be some competition for the slots. Hegel had to consider this matter comprehensively lest he let this wonderful opportunity drive a wedge between the members of the clan.
“Alright, I’ll give you two days. I can stay here and delay my plan by at most two days. Great Monarch Hegel, I hope that you can pick out the candidates by then,” said Lin Li, who knew that Great Monarch Hegel definitely had plenty to consider. That was why he didn’t urge him much.
Seeing that Lin Li wasn’t displeased, Hegel nodded profusely, and said, “Alright, alright, two days is fine.”
Everyone in the hall was already immersed in studying the mageweath, so Lin Li naturally did not want to continue staying there and facing the dozens of “statues”. Hence, after hearing that Hegel had agreed, he then said, “Alright, since there’s nothing more for me to do here, you guys go ahead while I take a tour around the city.”
“Alright, how about I let Harquess accompany you?” Hegel immediately called his son over, and instructed him to accompany Lin Li on a tour around the city to entertain Lin Li, the most important guest of the Octopus Clan, on his behalf.
Although he was also fascinated by the mageweaths on the walls, Harquess didn’t dare to disobey his father’s instructions, and thus quickly led Lin Li out away from the hall enthusiastically. Fortunately, Harquess no longer bore a grudge or harbored ill feelings against Lin Li after the apology, so he seemed more relaxed around him too.
With Harquess’ accompaniment, Lin Li managed to take a tour around Lantis City in two days’ time, and even collected some items that were not commonly found.
Harquess did a rather good job at hosting Lin Li and treating him with the best hospitality. Besides, after the contact in the past two days, he felt that Lin Li didn’t seem to be as loathsome as Cantory had made him out to be. Hence, he couldn’t help but have some doubts about Cantory.
Of course, Hegel was not just going to dump Lin Li to Harquess and forget all about him. He had also thrown a banquet of a considerable size during the visit, only to find that Lin Li wasn’t interested in a banquet at all.
In the past two days, the numerous senior members of the Octopus Clan had been vying intensely for a chance to learn from Lin Li. In fact, the sounds of their arguments could be heard in the hall of the five-colored conch-shaped building almost every single moment. Hegel was completely overwrought while trying to resolve those issues. After all, the quotas were really too precious in their opinion.
Two days later, Hegel finally decided on the final list of candidates. Although Lin Li said he wanted 20-30 of them, Hegel maximized the quotas, and selected 30 senior inscribers for Lin Li. Of course, the inscribers were not all sons of nobles and powerful figures. Many of them were also famous geniuses of the Octopus Clan.
Although Hegel had gone through a tedious selection process, Lin Li did not even bother to carefully consider their individual aptitude after seeing the selected candidates. Anyway, he just needed 20-30 inscribers who could assist him, and their talent didn’t matter to him at all.
“Master Felic, please take a look at these youngsters. They do fit your requirements, don’t they?” Hegel asked Lin Li carefully after seeing them.
Lin Li merely glanced at them simply before nodding as he said, “Alright, these ones will do.”
Seeing that Lin Li nodded and agreed so readily, Hegel also felt a bit more at ease. Immediately afterwards, he said with some difficulty, “Master Felic, these inscribers are among the best elites of the younger generation in my clan, and so they are inevitably a little arrogant. In order to let them better obey your instructions, I plan to send my son, Harquess, to keep an eye on them, what do you think?”
Hegel originally intended to let his son Harquess take up a slot among the quota of 30 candidates, but there was already fierce competition for those 30 slots, which gave him a huge headache. Hence, he thought of this solution where Harquess could follow alongside Lin Li and learn from him without having to take up a slot in the quota.
Lin Li naturally saw through Hegel’s intentions at a glance, but he wasn’t bothered, because it was just one extra candidate.
Now that he had taken a tour around Lantis City and gotten a team of inscribers, Lin Li didn’t want to waste any more time here. Thus, he immediately said goodbye to Hegel.
Hegel tried to make Lin Li stay a little longer, but when he realized that he couldn’t change Lin Li’s mind, he had no choice but to regretfully say, “Master Felic, since you have some matters to handle, I’ll leave these young men to you. If any of them, including Harquess, are to disobey you, feel free to banish them. I hope that you will have time to visit us again in the future. We will always regard you as the most important friend of the Octopus Clan.”
Finally, under the escort of Hegel and the senior members of the Octopus Clan, Lin Li, Harquess, and the other inscribers boarded The Star, which then slowly set sail from the port of Tidal Island to the Siren Clan’s sea area.
As soon as they arrived in the Siren Clan’s territorial sea waters, there was already a special team sent by the Siren Clan, who had heard of the news long ago, to welcome Lin Li and the others. There were numerous senior members of the Siren Clan riding 16 white whales with huge bodies, who were led by Prince Cleve, to welcome them halfway.
While riding on the back of a single-horned white whale, Prince Cleve arrived on the deck of The Star, where he saw Lin Li, Harquess, and the other inscribers of the Octopus Clan.
Prince Cleve couldn’t help but be surprised when he saw Harquess and the others on The Star, because he didn’t expect that the Octopus Clan would actually value Lin Li so greatly as to send Harquess to stay by Lin Li’s side. Harquess was the prince of the Octopus Clan who was going to succeed Hegel as the great monarch of the Octopus Clan in the future. His importance to the Octopus Clan was far greater than that of the ordinary clansmen.
Initially, Prince Cleve had invited Lin Li over to help them draw a mageweath that would be complementary to the Heart of All Evil because he thought that Lin Li’s attainment in inscriptions should be on par with that of the inscribers of the Octopus Clan. After all, those truly powerful inscribers of the Octopus Clan could not be hired easily. Meanwhile, Lin Li had already proven his Guru-level attainments in inscription with the creation of the Mount Tai mageweath.
However, Prince Cleve did not expect that Lin Li’s inscription attainment would be enough to earn him the respect of the Octopus Clan, who had even bowed down to him. Only after hearing Elder Zumar’s hint and the explanations from Harquess and the other inscribers did he realize how wise of a decision he had made.
The Siren Clan’s underwater capital was called Starry Crescent City, which, although it wasn’t as large and powerful as the Octopus Clan’s Lantis City, was definitely unparalleled in the Endless Ocean in terms of the city itself and the surrounding sea environment.
Prince Cleve led Lin Li all the way to Starry Crescent City under the sea. During the journey, Lin Li saw the breathtakingly beautiful scenery that showed him just why the Siren Clan would be called the “elves of the ocean”. Not to mention the scenery under the sea, even the islands on the surface of the sea exuded the beauty of nature, which was probably on par with, if not better than, the High Elves’ Emerald Forest.
The Siren Clan greeted and welcomed Lin Li enthusiastically at Starry Crescent City. Compared to the peculiar appearance of the Octopus Clan members, the gorgeous female Sirens were like a feast for the eyes. Queen Halleleah of the Siren Clan had personally attended the welcoming banquet for Lin Li, and even expressed the friendly intentions of the Siren Clan towards Lin Li.
Although Lin Li was quite indifferent to this, Elder Zumar, who tagged along, was once again surprised by the enthusiasm of the Siren Clan.