Chapter 1294: One Year
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In the legends of the Dark Age, a Sky Castle was known as the city that would never fall. However, during the war at the end of the Dark Age, this myth of the Sky Castle being indestructible was debunked by the rebellion alliance led by Geresco. On the other hand, Lin Li really wanted it to be indestructible, so he did not neglect the defense system while creating a powerful weapon system during the transformation of the Sky Castle.
The original defense system of the Sky Castle was the canopy that enveloped the entire city, which allowed the Sky Castle to survive the constant bombardment of the terrifying Nether Storms during the thousands of years it spent in the Endless Void. Thus, it showed that the power of the canopy was considered very rare in this world.
However, Lin Li wasn’t very satisfied with the defensive power of the canopy.
Although Lin Li didn’t know what kind of enemies he would encounter in the future, he could tell from Geresco’s prophecy, as well as the information from Rogge, the high priest of the Darkness Shrine, that the mission Geresco had left for him definitely wasn’t going to be simple.
Seal the spatial rifts? Lin Li didn’t think that the mission that Geresco had left for him would really be that simple. When he was an Archmage, he didn’t see the problem with the so-called mission, because he didn’t have much knowledge of magic. Thus, he took it for granted that as long as he reached Sanctuary-realm, he would be able to seal the spatial rifts that posed a threat to the existence of Anril.
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However, with the enhancement of his strength, Lin Li no longer had the same thoughts as he did back then. In fact, he even doubted the authenticity of the mission as he felt that it was just an excuse for Geresco to use him to enhance his abilities.
After all, in Lin Li’s opinion, Geresco’s strength and abilities were already becoming clearer and clearer. If Geresco could even suppress those gods and make them his slaves, how could he possibly be unable to seal those spatial rifts?
However, Lin Li still couldn’t figure out Geresco’s reason for doing so, and he wondered if it was really for the sake of returning a favor to him for the Immortal King’s sake.
At least from Lin Li’s point of view, Geresco had really put in a great deal of effort to return this favor. In hindsight, Lin Li realized that it seemed that every step he had made in Anril was according to Geresco’s arrangements. For example, the time when he met the vampire, Norfeller, in the underground palace of the High Elves, followed by his acquisition of the debris of the stars, Holy Light. For example, the three Undead Lords guarding Osric’s mausoleum in the Shadowglen, as well as the deal he made with Geresco.
Towards the end, he even obtained the Book of Eternity, the key to the inverted tower, and the so-called mission to save Anril. The traces of Geresco’s deliberate arrangements were becoming more and more obvious. However, at that time, Geresco’s arrangements seemed to have become more reasonable, and he even seemed to be portraying the image of a savior.
When Geresco’s shadow said below the Cursed Island that everything was for the sake of returning a favor to Lin Li for the Immortal King, Lin Li began to develop a strong suspicion and doubts regarding the matter. Perhaps Geresco knew that when Lin Li came to the Cursed Island, the so-called mission to save Anril might not be a reason enough to continue to spur Lin Li to strive to improve his strength.
Lin Li was particularly skeptical about the returning of the favor. Did the Immortal King transmigrate him into this world, and train him into becoming an expert that was near the level of the gods just because he had stolen his Hunter avatar?
For someone like Lin Li who used to be an ordinary person, becoming powerful and gaining a long lifespan was indeed a very generous gift. However, with the strength of the Immortal King or Geresco, they could easily bestow such qualities on a person, and there wasn’t a need to put Lin Li through such a troublesome arrangement at all.
Of course, it could also be said that Geresco was really just too generous, and thus decided to put Lin Li through this training to become a true powerhouse. Hence, he chose not to let Lin Li obtain everything easily. However, regardless of how he looked at it, Lin Li had a feeling that the enemy he was going to face would definitely not be a simple spatial rift or some prehistoric magical beasts in the spatial rifts.
Hence, Lin Li couldn’t afford to make any mistake or tolerate a single defect in the transformation of the Sky Castle, and strove to make the offensive and defensive systems as capable as possible.
Hence, in addition to the canopy, Lin Li also tried to use the two Trees of Eternity to enhance the defensive system of the Sky Castle.
The two Trees of Eternity might have only been planted in the Sky Castle for a few years, but under Lin Li’s special care, they had been growing rapidly. In particular, the special characteristics of the Trees of Eternity were that one was alive, while the other was dead, both of which formed a cycle. The power that they possessed was far more complicated than the concept of one plus one.
In fact, Lin Li remembered that the existence of the two Trees of Eternity was mentioned in the background story of the Endless World game. Clearly, the current Trees of Eternity had truly become one, which was the best state for his power to be maximized.
Although the current twin Trees of Eternity had yet to grow to full maturity, the power they possessed was rather impressive. Lin Li naturally couldn’t waste such a great power. Hence, he thought of adding the power of the Trees of Eternity to the defense system of the Sky Castle.
In Lin Li’s plan, there would be a mageweath array that was close to the Divine-Smith-level revolving around the Twin Trees of Eternity, making them the core of the mageweath array. Under the effect of the mageweath array, the power of life and death possessed by the twin Trees of Eternity would form another barrier of defense under the canopy.
The defensive barrier formed by the power of the Twin Trees of Eternity would be far tougher than the canopy, and destroying it would be akin to destroying a world. Even those powerful deities probably wouldn’t be able to break through it with a single blow. Those with strength below the Divine-realm would not even be able to break through the layer of defense.
More importantly, with the growth of the Twin Trees of Eternity, the power of the defensive barrier would continue growing. Once the Twin Trees of Eternity grew to maturity, the power of the defensive barrier would be so massive that even the gods couldn’t break through it, thus allowing the Sky Castle to become a city that truly never falls.
However, during the year that Lin Li spent in the Meditation Land, the defensive mageweath array of the Twin Trees of Eternity was still only the most basic part of the defense system, which was completed by the inscribers of the Octopus Clan. After coming out of the Meditation Land, Lin Li still had to link the basic mageweaths to complete one of the most crucial steps of the mageweath array.
With powerful weapons and a strong defense, he now had to go on to create a variety of auxiliary systems, such as the Conquering Mageweath that could instantly enhance the strength of the occupants in the Sky Castle by hundreds of times, which was the best way to deal with the invading enemy.
There was a famous saying that a strong fortress was always broken because of an internal fault, so Lin Li naturally wouldn’t make such a low-level mistake. Although he also wouldn’t just create another Conquering Mageweath, he had added many other settings that allowed the interior of the city to be as strong as a wall of steel.
Magic traps and magic gears were already considered extremely ordinary in the Sky Castle as they were laid out everywhere, and could be found in every corner. Even a Sanctuary-level Assassin like Norfeller would end up facing defeat upon encountering them.
The more dangerous thing, which could be called the nightmare of intruders, was the power of the Twin Trees of Eternity. The combination of power of life and death together could put the intruder in an endless cycle of life and death, which would make them feel as if they were experiencing life again and again before finally forgetting everything in the endless cycle.
The source of this design was naturally the reincarnation in the myths from the world that Lin Li belonged to before he reincarnated, and was something that didn’t exist in Anril. Hence, when the Twin Trees of Eternity grew to a certain level, it would probably be unable to break free from the cycle of reincarnation easily even if the Divine Flames were to enter it.
After the transformation this year, the construction according to the modified transformation plan that Lin Li had left behind was basically completed. However, all the people involved in the transformation discovered that the Sky Castle didn’t seem to be complete even though all the works had been completed. It was as if something very important was still missing.
Gavin and the other senior members of the Tower of Dusk gathered together more than once to carefully study the transformation plan left behind by their president, Lin Li, in a bid to determine if they and others had missed something. They all knew how important the transformation of the Sky Castle was to Lin Li, and they would be huge sinners if they were to cause any ensuing dire consequences because of their negligence.
However, Gavin and the others had studied the plan Lin Li had left behind no less than 100 times, and it was simply much more detailed than the High Elves’ print. However, they hadn’t found the real cause of everything.
Pangs of panic and anxiety engulfed them. Gavin and the others came to the entrance of the Meditation Land in the inverted tower of the Sky Castle on the day Lin Li asked them to come. They waited there for Lin Li’s return.
Finally, when Gavin and the others were waiting anxiously, a light vortex gate slowly opened in front of them, while Lin Li slowly walked out of it.
Gavin and the others were at most at the Legendary-level, so no one could see which level Lin Li’s strength was at. However, Lin Li knew very well that after the past year of comprehension, he had gained enough confidence to challenge the three arbitrators.
Even when Lin Li reached the Sanctuary-realm, the strength of the three arbitrators of the Sanctuary-realm was still vague to him, and he felt as if he was standing at the foot of a mountain while looking up at a mountain peak in the clouds. However, he could now sense what the level of the strength of the three arbitrators was at.
However, Lin Li still hadn’t taken the final step, and thus hadn’t been able to ascend to the legendary Divine-realm. After the past year of enlightenment, Lin Li felt that he was already at the peak of the Sanctuary-realm, which didn’t seem to be far from the Divine-realm.
According to the general law, the so-called advancement actually required the accumulation of mana to a certain degree, which was a qualitative change. For example, the accumulation of mana to a certain standard would allow an Archmage to advance from level-18 to level-19. On the other hand, level-19 Archmages who advance to level-20 Legendary-mages would have accumulated enough mana to result in a qualitative change to advance to the Legendary-realm.
However, in the past year, Lin Li had been continuously absorbing mana in the Meditation Land. In fact, he even felt that his mana had been improved by dozens or even 100 times compared to when he entered a year ago. However, even then, he still couldn’t reach the Divine-realm, as if he had never been able to let his mana fill his body.
Considering that he had already spent a year in the Meditation Land, Lin Li had no choice but to put aside his eager intentions to break through, and come out to continue with his transformation plan for the Sky Castle.
Seeing that Lin Li had walked out, Gavin and the others immediately went to greet him. After bowing to him, Gavin told Lin Li about the problems that they had encountered with a guilty expression.
However, after listening to Gavin’s story, Lin Li laughed nonchalantly and waved his hand. “This is not your fault. According to my plan, the Sky Castle is indeed still only a half-finished product. Gavin, how is the construction of our battleships at the port?”
Lin Li’s words made Gavin and the others finally feel relieved, but they couldn’t imagine that the transformed Sky Castle was actually still just a half-finished product! They wondered, In that case, how powerful will the completed Sky Castle be after it has truly been transformed?
“President, I received a report a few days ago that we already have 30 battleships that are at the same level as The Star after the past year of construction. Furthermore, all of them have passed the navigation test.” Gavin didn’t have time to dwell on the issue of the Sky Castle, and hurriedly reported to Lin Li about the construction of the battleships.
“30 battleships, huh? That should be enough.” Lin Li nodded in satisfaction when he heard that result.
30 battleships didn’t seem like a staggering number. Even the naval forces of Ledin Kingdom and Felan Kingdom had several or more than 10 times this number of battleships. However, these 30 battleships were all created based on The Star, and the power of a single one of them was great enough to even defeat a fleet of the Gilded Kingdom, what more that of 30 of them.
30 such large battleships built in one year was such a powerful naval force. Even if they couldn’t dominate the Endless Ocean, they could at least have a place among the various forces in the Endless Ocean.
Acquiring such a strong naval force in a year might sound exaggerated, but not all forces were able to enjoy the support of the vast resources of the Endless Abyss. Even the Gilded Kingdom, which had been developing in the Endless Ocean for thousands of years, could not have as many resources as there were in the Endless Abyss.
“Okay, gather all the mages of the Mage Legion, and put aside the report on the transformation project of the Sky Castle for the time being. I have more important things to do.” Seeing that Gavin was ready to report to him about the progress they had achieved in the past year, Lin Li stopped him. In fact, as soon as he came out of the Meditation Land, he had already scanned through the entire Sky Castle with his massive mental strength. Since he was well aware of the situation of the Sky Castle, he didn’t think it was necessary to continue listening to Gavin’s report as well.