by Zhuang Bifan
In that instant, 10 Wards of Bad Luck had been changed.
The sky blue ink seeped into it, and brought about a 180 degree change—the unique magical wave of the Ward of Bad Luck seemed to have suddenly disappeared without a trace. In its place was an aggressive magical wave, and everyone felt its powerful strength as they stood before the light.
They stared at it wide-eyed and dumbfounded, struggling to open their mouths, only to find that they had lost the ability to speak…
The 10 Wards of Bad Luck that Moke had laid down personally were altered by someone else in an instant. However, Moke did not feel insulted nor angered over it; instead, he felt a deep sense of hopelessness and shock…
This was impossible…
A hallucination, this had to be a hallucination!
Moke could not find it in himself to believe that what he saw was real. Someone had to be playing a joke on him! There had to be a mistake somewhere, or how else was this possible? An amateur who did not even know what a Countercurrent mageweath was used for had tampered with the Ward of Bad Luck he laid down, and even turned it into a mageweath array in an instant…
Soon, however, Moke realized that all of this seemed to be real as the scene before his eyes showed so sign of vanishing no matter how much he rubbed his eyes.
Bloody hell, this was not a hallucination—it really was a mageweath array, and one made out of 10 Wards of Bad Luck at that…
All color disappeared from Moke's face, and in its place was a sickly shade of white.
He was a true Master of Inscription, and knew better than anyone else what a mageweath array meant. It was the highest level of Inscription, the ultimate extension of the power of Inscription! Even though Moke was a Master of Inscription himself, the closest he could get to mageweath arrays was to pay homage to one.
Inscription making was born during the Dark Ages. In its 1,300 years of history, few had been able to master mageweath arrays. All of them deserved their positions at the peak of Inscription, and they were known as Gurus of Inscription…
Moke gulped as he tried to digest everything before him…
While the Wards of Bad Luck continued to shine, the magical wave they emitted was completely different. Actually, they should not be called Wards of Bad Luck anymore, as their core circuit had been completely changed earlier. Lying before Moke was now 10 brand-new mageweaths; they were all tightly interlocked, forming an incredibly strong mageweath array…
There was little wonder in how Moke had thrown away his dignity—this was all beyond his imagination. Not even in his wildest dreams did he think that he would one day see a mageweath array before him.
In Inscription, three mageweaths were enough to form a mageweath array, and that was already the peak of Inscription. Whenever mageweath arrays were involved, there would be countless permutations of every magic node and magic circuit, and no Inscriber would be able to grasp them fully, as it was an astronomical figure that was simply impossible for a human brain to handle.
Besides that, there was the distribution of mana to consider—the distribution of mana required in a mageweath array was nothing short of strict. If the margin of error allowed in a common mageweath was the size of a grain, then the margin of error allowed in mageweath arrays was that of the width of a strand of hair—a mosquito's hair, at that…
Moke had already become a Master of Inscription in his forties, and while he was confident in himself, he knew that there was no way he would be able to create a true mageweath array in his lifetime. It was simply too insane a task, and was impossible for a mortal to achieve.
Today, however, somebody he had thought of as an amateur, a young mage who probably could not even grow a proper beard yet, had completed a mageweath array in an instant.
On top of that, it was a mageweath array comprising 10 mageweaths. If three mageweaths was already as difficult as scaling a mountain, what about 10? Moke felt his skin crawl just thinking about it; he did not even dare to think about the 10 mageweaths, as it was way beyond his comprehension. If the difficulty of three mageweaths could be compared to being a Magic Shooter, then 10 mageweaths would without a doubt correspond to being a Sanctuary Master!
The 10 shiny mageweaths stunned Moke. His gaze was unfocused as he skimmed through the 10 mageweaths before his eyes landed on the young mage he had thought was an amateur.
"Felic, this…" Herza's voice sounded forced. While he was not well-versed in Inscription, in that instant, even a fool could tell that Moke who they had thought of as an authoritative figure in Epigraphy was so stunned by the young mage that he was now lost for words.
Herza felt that he should give Moke a hand…
"This…" Lin Li smiled as he did not bother to hide anything from them. "This is just something I came up with while I was bored in the past. I like to call it the All-Kill Array."
Perhaps Lin Li was the only one who knew that he really was not lying this time. Back when he had participated in the trials in Alanna, he had coincidentally followed Andoine into the Nightmare Mountains, and also coincidentally found a strange piece of crystal. Since then, Lin Li toyed with the idea of creating mageweath arrays. Only, the advanced mageweath arrays required too many things, and were impossible even for a Guru of Inscription. Hence, he thought of more basic mageweath arrays…
Besides entertaining it, he had even tried it personally.
The difficulty in constructing a basic mageweath array was much smaller than that of making an advanced mageweath array. Hence, Lin Li had managed to create his first mageweath array on his first try. While it was not as powerful as he would have liked it to be, it was a mageweath array, after all, and being able to create one was already a huge achievement per se.
If he wanted it to be more powerful, that was simple enough. Since five mageweaths were not enough, he would just add another five!
It was after all only a basic mageweath, and even if he were to add a few more, the level of difficulty did not rise too much except for the process becoming slightly more complicated. Given Lin Li's abilities now, he could create at most 10 mageweaths.
Thus, the All-Kill Array which consisted of 10 mageweaths was born!
As for why he had let Moke lay down 10 Wards of Bad Luck first…
It's boring to create a mageweath, and if Mr Moke doesn't mind helping, why don't I just let him do it?
Of course, Lin Li kept this to himself. If Moke heard this, then things were going to turn ugly…
"All-Kill Array?" Herza nodded, but did not seem to understand. He had no idea what an All-Kill Array was, but one thing he was sure of was that the name definitely suited it as its strength was terrifying indeed. Herza even thought that if its strength was released, even he himself would turn into dust immediately…
Herza could not even recall where he had felt any strength as powerful as this. It was comparable to that of Legendary-mages; perhaps only the three Arbitrators could surpass it easily…
Herza felt assured of that…
Frankly speaking, he had his concerns about Lin Li squandering his time, even though he had yet to make a comment about it. Lin Li did not even seem to care about a position as important as that of being the president of Breezy Plains Guild of Magic, and after the tower had been built, he had only been here twice or thrice. Herza heard that he had even gone to Roland City some time ago. Thankfully, he managed to return in time for the inauguration ceremony…
However, Herza felt assured now that he had seen the All-Kill Array. Seeing as the Breezy Plains Guild of Magic was so capable, he should not have to worry for now.
"P-President Felic…" Just as Herza was silently letting out a breath, Moke had walked over some time ago, and although his face remained pale, there was determination and a wild passion in his eyes. "Can… can I ask you a question?"
"What is it?"
"What's so special about the Countercurrent mageweath you laid down in the bottom of the crystal ball?"
"This…" Lin Li paused. To b
e honest, he had not expected Moke to ask this question. After a moment's hesitation, he patiently explained, "This is just something I thought of—since the crystal ball can monitor the whole tower, why don't I try and see if it can monitor the whole Black Clouds Town, and even the whole Doland?"
"…" While Moke liked to think that he already had nerves of steel, after all the scare he had had for the day, he still nearly stopped breathing when he heard this. Let the crystal ball keep watch of the whole Black Clouds Town, and even the whole Doland? What kind of lunatic was capable of uttering such words?
The only magic spells in the crystal ball were the Warlock's Eyes and the Mirror of Truth. It was definitely beyond insane to use them to control the whole Black Clouds Town and Doland. Fortunately, it was Lin Li who had said it—Moke had a completely different perception of him after seeing the All-Kill Array. If it had been anyone else, Moke would have spat in their face for patronizing him.
But even so, Moke could not help the disbelief on his face. "Is… is that true, President Felic?"
"It's not strange, Mr Moke. If you study the Countercurrent mageweath carefully, you will not be as shocked as you are now. Yes, the Countercurrent mageweath has its faults, it's not consistent enough and not lasting enough, and it's even unable to magnify mana enough, but don't forget that the circuit of magnifying elements is the true core of the Countercurrent mageweath. As long as the circuit of magnifying elements is slightly tweaked, it will not be impossible to control the whole Black Clouds Town, or even Doland…"
"But… but if that's so, wouldn't it damage the crystal ball?"
Chapter 352 - Crystal Cannon
"Heheh…" Lin Li merely smiled without saying anything.
"Oh… I understand now, I understand it now…" Moke was not stupid, after all. After pausing for a moment, he suddenly understood it. He had asked a dumb question—while that was an impossibly difficult problem for most Inscribers, President Felic was a freak who had mastered mageweath arrays and created the All-Kill Array, after all!
So what if the Countercurrent mageweath resulted in damage from mana? This guy could come up with at least 10 solutions for that!
"Thank you." After saying that, Moke bowed deeply to Lin Li.
"You're welcome." Lin Li merely smiled, and did not feel it inappropriate that Moke bowed to him, for he knew that the bow was not to show respect for him, but to show respect to the power of knowledge.
Then, Moke turned around and left the tower…
"Would you like to look at other places?"
"Of course…" Everything that happened today had been too unbelievable, and a look of disbelief remained on the faces of some of the engineers. As members of the Supreme Council themselves, they knew Moke's personality better than anyone else—he was not someone who yielded to others easily. Even in the Supreme Council, where there were many powerful individuals, he rarely conceded defeat willingly; unless the other person awed him with their knowledge of Inscriptions, it would be difficult for them to gain his respect even if they were much more powerful than him.
Without a doubt, this young president had made Moke concede defeat willingly in terms of their knowledge of Inscription…
But why was he so young?
The door to the secret room closed once again, and buried the light of the All-Kill Array in the dark. The gloomy bas.e.m.e.nt room returned to its original state, and nothing seemed to have changed. However, Herza and the engineers knew that it merely looked liked nothing had changed as they could all feel the power that made them tremble in this dim lighting and musty air…
The group followed the stairs up, and returned to the guild hall. The light of dawn was just seeping into the tower, and shone colorfully due to the refraction of the crystal ball. Lin Li stood quietly in the center of the guild hall and raised his head slightly, squinting as he surveyed the tower he had built along with the Supreme Council.
True, Lin Li had not been there more than a few times during the months it took to build the tower, but that did not mean that he was unfamiliar with it. On the contrary, Lin Li knew it like the back of his hand as every critical point was designed by him. For example, he was completely clear which underground room was used to store the source of mana for the power. In order to provide enough mana for the tower, Lin Li had even used the Salamander magical crystal—the Legendary-level magical crystal Lin Li had stolen from under the nose of the Sword Sage of the Storm back in the Fire Plume Ridge…
Fortunately, this had all been done secretly, or he would have driven many mages insane with anger if they knew he was using a Legendary magical crystal as the source of mana. A Legendary magical crystal was a priceless treasure indeed, and it was not an exaggeration in the least bit. To put it simply, if there was a level-19 magical crystal and a level-20 magical crystal on the market, then the latter would definitely be sold at a price at least a thousand times that of the former!
Magical crystals above level-20 were much too rare, but there was nothing that could be done about it. There were only so many people in the Legendary-level in Anril, and even if one was at Legendary-level, it did not guarantee that they would definitely be able to obtain a Legendary-level magical crystal. Both Legendary-level magical beasts and people at Legendary-level were comparable, after all, so who was to say that they would definitely win in a fight to death? Back in the Fire Plume Ridge, the level-21 Sword Sage of the Storm and a few thousand Adventurers from various mercenary corps were still forced into a corner by the Salamander, and if not for Lin Li suddenly striking, nobody knew who would have won in the end…
But the strength of a Legendary magical crystal was deserving of its price.
Any Legendary magical crystal had a nearly endless supply of mana, and was a treasure cove of mana truly coveted by mages. Gerian had once said that if he owned a Legendary magical crystal, he would never go meditate again.
Gerian had not been exaggerating, as the mana in a Legendary magical crystal was enough to last an Archmage for life. Moreover, that mana was renewable…
Each Legendary magical crystal came from the most powerful magical beasts in this world—it was the continuation of their life, the inheritance of their soul. On some levels, Legendary magical crystals had their own life and soul, and were vastly different from average magical crystals. They could even meditate like a real mage in order to gather magical elements from the air and turn it into mana!
And that was what made Legendary magical crystals truly valuable.
Of course, the mana in the tower was awfully abundant with such an insane source of mana.
But was it a little too abundant?
Honestly speaking, Lin Li had been racking his brains over this for a while. Thankfully, it was not long before he came up with a solution, and he added a few interesting designs to the tower…
"Right, President Felic, this is…" Herza suddenly stopped when the group reached the fourth floor. The fourth floor was strange indeed. The second and third floors had merely been libraries, pharmaceutical labs, and alchemy labs—although the facilities were all unnecessarily refined due to the strict requests of Lin Li, they had not exceeded the boundary of what was normal.
However…
The fourth floor was an entirely different story, and Herza even thought he had walked into a prison made from refined iron when he stepped into it. Everything he saw before him was covered in refined iron—from the railings on the stairs to the floor beneath their feet.
Herza looked at the engineers questioningly, but they all shrugged their shoulders indignantly. Truth was, they had no idea what was going on, either. All they knew was that the young president had a special request, and had even provided all the materials—correct, all the materials!
And thus, it resulted in everything they saw before their eyes…
Lin Li smiled, but did not answer Herza's question, and only pushed open the iron door. A narrow room appeared before them, but compared to normal rooms, this one was insane. Herza co
uld not help rolling his eyes as soon as the door was pushed open; there was no doubt that everything inside was made of refined iron, be it the thick walls or the floor they were standing on. The room was tightly sealed save for one window opposite the door. Herza could clearly see a bottom piece made of refined iron under the window; it looked like it was used to hold something…
"I heard someone mention that the Dwarf Kingdom produces an incredibly powerful Crystal Cannon rivaling level-18 magic, so I was thinking it would be interesting if I had about 10 to 20 Crystal Cannons firing around…"
"…" Herza nearly lost his mind…
Setting up Crystal Cannons in a tower filled with mages? And 20 Crystal Cannons at that…
What kind of lunatic was capable of spouting such words?
Herza handled the external affairs of the Supreme Council, and had been to every corner of Anril in the past few decades. Of course, he had been to the Dwarf Kingdom as well, and was not unfamiliar with Crystal Cannons. The truth was, the last time he had been to the Dwarf Kingdom, His Majesty Madoran had even personally demonstrated the power of a Crystal Cannon to him.
He had to admit that it was indeed a terrifying weapon.
But no matter how terrifying it was, surely Lin Li had to be able to use it first? Crystal Cannons used nothing but mana, which could only be supplied by magical crystals, and not just any magical crystals. A level-10 magical crystal could only let the cannon fire a few times, and even a level-15 one could only guarantee a few dozen shots. It took all the Dwarf Kingdom had to offer to set up 18 cannons in their royal castle, and even then there were strict orders for everyone in the Dwarf Kingdom to not use Crystal Cannons unless they were really threatened by a formidable enemy.
Yet this President Felic wanted to set up 20 of it…
Did he really think he could fire Crystal Cannons like fireworks?
Wait a minute…
Herza was shaking his head when he suddenly recalled something. Earlier on in the bas.e.m.e.nt, he had felt a shockingly powerful magical wave.
