by Zhuang Bifan
So, Lin Li had to dig out the Winter Staff, which was the only equipment Andoine gave him. Although the tip of the staff was inlaid with a magical crystal from a level-eight Frost Troll, it was a handsome weapon for Lin Li, who had always loved ice spells.
"Eh!" Lin Li suddenly saw two familiar things when he took out the Winter Staff from the Ring of Endless Storm. It was a dirty canvas and a ring embedded with a black diamond.
Lin Li vaguely remembered that the two things should have been offered by the Leviathan Gorilla when he went to rescue Ina.
The dirty canvas was quickly thrown aside by Lin Li, for he couldn't understand what was painted on it anyway, but he was delighted by the ring. This was something that carried a strong magical wave. When they found it in the tree hole of the Leviathan Gorilla, Lin Li knew that it was at least on the same level as his Robe of Wrath.
But after coming to Jarrosus City, he had no use for it at the time, and he also had no time to use it. So, he had actually forgotten about it in the long run…
Now that he had found it again, Lin Li decided to study it in detail.
He first tried to input mana into the ring to see if he could trigger the magic attributes of the ring itself. This was general knowledge Andoine had taught him. If he was unable to judge the use of a piece of magic equipment, the best way to find out was to input mana into it. Under the stimulus of the mana, most magic equipment would reveal its own attributes.
What Andoine had taught him was indeed true. Lin Li had just begun to input his mana into the ring when the black diamond inlaid on it began to emit a faint light. The light was strange—deep and dark—like the eyes of the legendary Abyssal Demon.
Lin Li's confidence rose seeing there was a reaction from the ring.
He slowly began to increase the intensity of his mana output. It was a process that required patience. An overly intense mana output was likely to destroy rare magic equipment.
But very soon, Lin Li found that he was being too careful.
The intensity of mana output was constantly increasing, and the light coming out from the black diamond glowed brighter and brighter. But the true attribute of the ring was never revealed. Lin Li began to feel a little anxious. The increase of his mana output began to amplify from the previous caution to a subsequent full output.
But the strange ring remained the same…
"F*ck! What bird-crap stuff is this…" Lin Li knew his mana like the palm of his hand. At present, he was close to the maximum output of his mana. With such a massive influx of mana, even the most powerful magic equipment would be activated. How was it that this bird-crap ring had no response at all?
"Did I use the wrong method?" The method of mana input did not work, but Lin Li was not discouraged. After all, this was only one of the ways to judge the attributes of a magic equipment—it was just the most widely used method. Apart from this, there were many ways to activate equipment; some creators even deliberately placed traps on the magic equipment.
Lin Li gently held the ring inlaid with the black diamond in his hand and began his attempt to penetrate it with his mental strength. It was just like when he was forging the gold rod; he could establish a subtle connection with the ring with the penetration of his mental strength. Mental strength was a s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e and delicate thing. Through the trace of mental strength, Lin Li could clearly grasp any situation that was in the ring.
Lin Li felt an anomaly the moment his mental spirit penetrated the black diamond.
It was a bizarre feeling, as if the trace of mental strength fully incarnated into Lin Li himself and that little black diamond had become the whole world.
The world in the black diamond was just like the deep, dark light it gave off, bearing a strong, peculiar aura. Lin Li was aware of the abnormality as soon as his mental strength seeped in. There was an endless gloom all around; it seemed that no trace of mental strength could escape the darkness. A powerful attraction force—chaotic and violent—poured in from all directions, as if to tear the thread of mental strength to pieces.
From the moment the powerful attraction force appeared, Lin Li knew he had done something stupid. The penetration of the mental strength was a very dangerous thing, not to mention doing it with a ring of unknown origin. If the mental strength was completely torn apart, even if he made great progress in magic in the future, it would not be able to make up for the flaw left behind in the mental strength.
However, it was too late to regret now. Under the pull of the powerful attraction force, he was unable to recall that trace of mental strength. Lin Li could only try to steady his mind and control the mental strength with caution. Shuttling swiftly through the darkness, his goal was the only glint of light in the endless darkness.
That glint of light was far ahead—faint and flickering but exceptionally brilliant in the endless darkness. The powerful attraction force was tearing in all directions, the darkness swept past, and every now and then, there were voices husky and deep, whispering and murmuring, and everything was as if in a dream.
And with these voices were all kinds of emotions—sadness, joy, laughter, and tears. These innumerable emotions seemed to pour into his mind all at once, and even with his sick mental strength, he almost collapsed in an instant.
After barely managing to steady his mind, Lin Li felt cold sweat breaking out all over his body. The pure mental attack was more frightening than a magic spell. It took only one careless move to plunge himself into a state of eternal damnation. At this point, he had begun to regret venturing to penetrate the black diamond with his mental strength.
Chapter 75 - Torrent of Elements Ring
The sudden influx of a large amount of emotions was frantically tearing at Lin Li's mental strength. At that moment, he felt as if he had completely broken down, or as if he were a schizophrenic—at one time laughing, and at another crying. Accompanying the laughing and crying was a splitting pain. The pain that gushed out of the depths of the mind had nothing to do with the body. It was just the purest of all pain that couldn't be diverted nor relieved; he could only let it wreak havoc in his mind.
Lin Li felt that he had gone insane under the inhuman suffering. No one knew how long this pain lasted; perhaps it was only one second, perhaps it was a year. Just as he was on the verge of collapse, a ray of light tore through the endless darkness…
It was as if a red sun rising from the east at the darkest hour before dawn, shining in all its splendor and filling the whole world with life and vitality. This was what Lin Li felt at the moment. After that wisp of light tore open the endless darkness, boundless rays of light permeated it all at once and cleared away the haze in an instant. The world became pure all of a sudden.
The dream-like voices disappeared and the various emotions were gone without a trace. Through the mental strength, Lin Li could feel a kind of peace and tranquility very clearly.
Apart from the dazzling light, there was an immense void all around. There was neither time nor space around, only the purest and most primitive nothingness, as if it were all but for the purpose of making this piece of light exist.
After a short respite, Lin Li extended his mental strength and examined the bright light quietly…
With his recent lesson, he did not dare to be careless. Everything was done with caution. His tenuous mental strength was divided into dozens of feelers, probing around one by one.
The light seemed to contain some kind of power and rules; it maintained a tenacious and unyielding resistance to the invasion of that trace of mental strength from Lin Li. This resistance made the invasion extremely difficult, and Lin Li had to control his mental strength to wander around in search of cracks to penetrate.
This was a process that required patience. After a few thousand tries, a trace of mental strength managed to get through at last…
The mental strength fused with the light the moment it succeeded. At the same time, there seemed to be a loud noise in the deeper part of Lin Li's mind. It was a complete
fusion, as if a soldering iron had come down, and a unique imprint of Lin Li had been branded on the ring.
The branding was more thorough than the one on the gold rod. The gold rod was only controlled by a trace of residual mental strength. However, this time, Lin Li left his own mental mark on the ring completely, making the ring part of his mental strength. To prompt it, he didn't need any mana or connection through his mental strength—a mere thought could activate the attributes of the ring.
"Good stuff…" When the ring was branded with his mark, Lin Li knew exactly what kind of magic equipment it was. It never occurred to him that a level-eight magical beast like the Leviathan Gorilla could come to possess such a powerful treasure.
What was really powerful about this ring was that it could create an elemental channel in an instant—all the magical elements that might hurt oneself would be guided into this particular channel. The magical elements guided into it would then be stored in their complete form; regardless of the elemental sequence or the magic structure, there would be no change. When needed, the owner of the ring could also release the stored magic by mana activation…
The only thing that was regretful to Lin Li was that the channel could only be created once a day, and the magic that could be guided into it could not exceed his own level by five.
But apart from these two flaws, this ring with the black diamond was absolutely invulnerable. Not to mention the opportunity for a magic immunity, there was also an additional powerful magic spell on the house. If the ring was utilized well, with Lin Li's current strength, he might even have the chance beat an Archmage…
"Not bad, not bad…" After putting on the ring contentedly, Lin Li was grinning from ear to ear. It was only after a long time of elation that he suddenly remembered such a handy magic equipment had yet to have a name. "Since it's used to immunize magic through a channel… I'll simply call it the Torrent of Elements…"
With this Torrent of Elements Ring, Lin Li felt that he had no need to go to Gerian again. The Guild of Magic had been poor for years, and the only magic equipment it could bring out were probably the one that the Mannes Family contributed. The magic equipment in the guild's warehouse either enhanced mental strength or supplied mana. What little enhancement did a monster like Lin Li who was almost like a magical beast need?
Fumbling through the Ring of Endless Storm again, there seemed to be no more equipment that could be used…
So, Lin Li naturally had his mind on potions.
After selecting several commonly used herbs, Lin Li hesitated for a while, and gingerly took out a black lotus petal.
This was probably what they called "character determines destiny." If Gerian were to fight in this duel, with the old man's arrogant character and an opponent who had been defeated easily before, he would have gone to the duel straight, without even bringing his staff…
But Lin Li had always been cautious. Even facing Cromwell, whom he had easily beaten before, he would still want to be fully prepared before the duel. Although the black lotus petals were precious, they were not worth mentioning compared to his own life.
Moreover, he would not be so naive to think that this duel would be easy.
Old Merlin had seen clearly what happened in the Emerald Tower that day. With his vision, how could he not see that Cromwell was no match for Lin Li? He was not an idiot. How could he send the sole heir of the Merlin Family to die knowing the disparity in power?
Lin Li was almost certain from all these unreasonable points that the Merlin Family definitely had something formidable up their sleeves for this duel. The Cromwell who would appear at the Daylight Square tomorrow would definitely be a lot stronger than the one he knew!
Chapter 76 - Elixir of the Sages
There was a heavy mist in the potion lab. Lin Li was busying himself with a solemn expression on his face.
He was about to concoct the Elixir of the Sages, a true master-grade potion.
This was the first time Lin Li used a master-grade formula ever since he'd transmigrated. The previous Sobriety Potion and the Arcane Magic Potion were merely medium-grade formulas. Even the Awakening Potion that allowed Gerian to stun Old Merlin outside the Emerald Tower was only a product of a high-grade formula…
A master-grade potion that made use of the petals of the black lotus was not to be mentioned in the same breath with the other potions he had concocted before.
Even Lin Li, who was accustomed to using the Flaming Hands for heating, lit up an amethyst lamp today. This was a luxury item that a real pharmacy master was qualified to possess. The amethyst was by nature extremely s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e to mana. By filling it with a low-level fire magical crystal, the temperature could be precisely adjusted through the use of mana.
Half a small beaker of peacebloom succus was placed on top of the lamp holder woven by the Eternal Adamantine thread.
As the temperature of the amethyst lamp rose little by little, the beaker containing the peacebloom succus gradually began to boil.
Lin Li gently swung the test tube in his hands, carefully shaking the wild steelbloom succus up. But in his heart, he was carefully calculating the time taken for the peacebloom succus to boil. The Elixir of the Sages was a fragile thing, and would not allow any room for error. If the boiling time was too long, it would lead to serious volatilization of the potion, and the effect would be greatly reduced when used. If the boiling time was too short, its mind-calming effects would not be completely achieved. A bottle of Elixir of the Sages that could predict the future would likely become a maddening lethal potion.
The wild steelbloom succus in the test tube was completely shaken up, which was also the moment when the peacebloom succus in the beaker turned from turbid to clear. Lin Li quickly poured down the succus of the wild steelbloom. The mixture of two solutions—one cold and one hot—not only fogged the potion lab, but also quieted the boiling liquid in the beaker in an instant.
The wild steelbloom grew in dark, damp places and had some medicinal properties tending towards cold. It was suitable to be used to cool the boiling peacebloom succus.
After pouring the wild steelbloom succus, Lin Li did not adjust the temperature of the amethyst lamp. According to his calculations, it would take at least 30 seconds for the liquid in the beaker to boil again.
Although 30 seconds was not long, it was enough for him to complete a bottle of the potion.
Lin Li used the silver knife in his hand and gently cut four stalks of dracaena grass into portions of equal length. And then there was another cut, and a piece of terocone was cut in half. One half of terocone and the four stalks of dracaena grass were put into the beaker at the same time, and they floated lightly in the clear liquid.
After all these, Lin Li released an Ice Blast, creating a cold mist on the potion table. The little black lotus petal was enveloped in that mist. Under the stimulation of the two distinct attributes, a hiss was heard…
The cold mist dispersed almost instantaneously, while the temperature on the potion table was still hot.
Lin Li was not fl.u.s.tered as he released another Ice Blast.
The black lotus, which grew only in the extreme temperatures, naturally contained massive amounts of fire magical element. It did not look any different than usually, but once the medicinal properties were released or when it collided with other magical elements, the blazing temperature could erupt in an instant. If it was put directly into the beaker without any prior processing, it could probably evaporate the whole beaker of succus in an instant.
After cooling down with three Ice Blast spells, the black lotus petal was frozen at last.
Under the light, the frozen black lotus petal exuded a glittering mystery. However, Lin Li had no time to admire it. The three Ice Blast spells had used up nine seconds of his time.
When that piece of sparkling frost fell, the liquid in the beaker that was about to boil seemed to rest suddenly. No fog arose and no magical element stirred; only a refreshing breath overflowed the beaker�
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There was a deep red glow in the previously clear liquid. This was the true color of the black lotus—as red as the fire, its own attribute.
Lin Li heaved a long sigh of relief after finishing all these.
This was probably the most tiring concoction ever since he'd transmigrated.
Although the required skills were not profound, it demanded the precise control of time. Every step had to be precisely calculated in seconds, in particular the last 30 seconds where the cooling of the black lotus petal had to be completed.
However, watching the full beaker containing the Elixir of the Sages standing there, Lin Li felt that all his tiredness was worth it. It was a master-grade potion using the black lotus petal. It would take only a small bottle to produce a time-warping effect, allowing the user to know in advance what would happen within 20 meters in the next ten minutes.
Even among the master-grade formulas, the Elixir of the Sages could be considered a true high-quality product. To some extent, f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y distorting the rule of time was near to a miraculous realm.
As long as a bottle of Elixir of the Sages was in his hand, Lin Li really did not believe that Cromwell would be able to hurt him in the following day's duel.
The door of the potion lab opened suddenly as he was thinking of the duel.
Gerian poked his head in and asked with an obsequious smile, "Eh! Felic, you are concocting potions again?"
"Please cut the crap, President Gerian…" Lin Li rolled his eyes in spite of himself. He knew the old fellow would find his way here.
Ever since the Arcane Magic Potion, Gerian's nose seemed to become more s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e. As soon as he smelled something coming out of the pharmacy, the old fellow would rush in and watch at the side, waiting for Lin Li to prepare the potion so that he could fill his pockets with one or two bottles.
