by Zhuang Bifan
Chapter 423 - I Don't Believe
Furthermore, Hutton had personally witnessed the exchange between the two people. Although Felic managed to achieve a draw with Sendros, it was a fact that he had his mental strength drained in the process. If Sendros cast another spell on Felic upon descending from the sky instead of patting his shoulder friendly, that mage should have turned into a corpse by now.
The difference between level-19 and level-20 was not one that could be balanced out by strong mental strength. This fact should be common sense to Adelo. How could he spout such a childish nonsense? Could it be that he damaged his brain due to the dangerous journey?
"Nothing is impossible…" Adelo emphasized. He knew that it was difficult to convince Hutton. In hindsight, the happenings in the Scar of Death were so unrealistic that it was hard for himself to believe everything. Hence, Adelo did not insist that Hutton be on the same page as him.
"At the beginning, my thinking was similar to yours. I thought that a mage aged 20 would not be able to become a hindrance to us, for I could easily pin him down with my abilities. But, my mindset changed shortly after we encountered a large group of Vampires…"
"A group of Vampires? Didn't teacher Cheyenne tell us that most of the Undead creatures in Scar of Death had already been eliminated?"
"Mentor Cheyenne was wrong," Adelo said as he shook his head. "Throughout these 20 years, the Undead creatures in Scar of Death actually multiplied. It was as if there was a mysterious force that enhanced the abilities of those Undead creatures. The Skeletal Warriors there were around level-8, and the horrifying Vampires we met were level-13…"
"Erm…" Hutton frowned. If those words came from other people, Hutton would ignore it casually, or take a revenge on them for harming Mentor Cheyenne's credibility. However, when the man before him was Adelo, he could not help but consider those words seriously…
Adelo started following Mentor Cheyenne since he was a teen. Now that 20 years had passed, his loyalty to Cheyenne had surpassed that of anyone else. He would adhere to anything his mentor say, even if it would cost him his life. Now that he was saying that Mentor Cheyenne was wrong, it meant that he was really wrong…
However, the thought of level-8 Skeletal Warriors and level-13 Vampires was one that seemed impossible.
It was not uncommon for Undead creatures to level up. As long as they could obtain an unlimited supply of soul fire, they would be able to surpass their present capacity and reach the next. For instance, one of the three Skeletal Lords of the Shadowglen rose to where he was from engulfing sufficient soul fire. Yet, how many Skeletal Lords could there be in Anril? Soul fire could strengthen the abilities of ordinary Skeletal Warriors. For one to rise to a Skeletal Lord, it had to engulf many other Undead creatures that were at the same level in the process.
These Skeletal Lords were lucky enough to have survived to this stage, and thus were one in a million. Hence, how could Adelo be making sense when he said that the entire place was filled with Undead creatures that had reached the cap of their abilities?
"Furthermore, apart from Vampires, there were many Death Knights, among which the stronger ones had reached level-18. I thought we were dead… Then, it was Mage Felic who stepped out. He used a level-21 spell and eliminated all the Vampires…"
"Twen… twenty-one?!" Hutton exclaimed in shock.
"That's right, level-21, the Eternal Light Spell."
"I… I don't believe it!"
Hutton felt as though he was turning crazy. It was already absurd enough for a 20 years old mage to reach level-19. Hence, it had to be impossible for him to cast a level-21 spell! Adelo should have suffered a trauma in the Scar of Death to spout such a nonsense. That should be it!
"I did not believe it at first, but that is the reality. He used the level-21 Eternal Light Spell to eliminate hundreds of Vampires instantaneously, and made a group of Death Knights submit to him. Oh, yes… I forgot to tell you that Mage Felic brought the group of Death Knights out of the Scar of Death as well. Amongst them, the weaker ones are at level-15, and the stronger ones are at level-18…"
"That's nasty…" Hutton commented as he drew a deep breath.
"That was what made Vanskore's attack so foolish. Even if Mage Felic were not to interfere, the group of Death Knights would kill them within 10 minutes."
"What happened afterwards?"
"We went into that cave, and met a Lich at the spot Mentor Cheyenne talked about. That Lich summoned a Humerus Wyrm there…"
Adelo started to talk about how they discovered the altar, how the Lich fell from the sky, and how surprising the battle was. Along the way, Adelo also answered Hutton's questions. The recount of his journey in the Scar of Death ended only in the late evening.
"To be honest, I'm really shocked. Although we have been together in the Scar of Death for so many days, I still could not judge how powerful he is. He has too many secrets. Every time I thought I knew his background, he would give me a bigger surprise, such as casting a level-21 spell and employing Legendary-realm powers. This makes me start to wonder if there is anything in the world he is not capable of…"
"That is because he hasn't met someone stronger than him…"
"I know what you want to tell me…" Adelo said as he smiled helplessly. He had been with Hutton for more than a decade. How could he not know what was on Hutton's mind? "Do you think that Mage Felic would have died if Sendros had had the same perspective as you?"
"Could that not be so?"
"That's because you have only met Sendros, and not the Humerus Wyrm. I saw it with my very own eyes that when I was standing behind Mage Felic. When Sendros descended from the sky, one of Mage Felic's hands was already on that oil lamp, ready to summon the Humerus Wyrm. Yet, the crucial part lies in his other hand. I don't know where he hid it, but every time he did so, he would create impossible occurrences like the level-21 Eternal Light Spell and the sudden appearance of Legendary-realm powers…
"I dare bet my life that if Sendros had attacked Felic back then, he would've been the one to die instead of the mage."
Hutton remained silent. He stared at Adelo in a daze as though he was trying to figure out Felic's real identity in his eyes.
After 10 minutes of silence, Hutton spoke. "Senior Brother, it is not that I do not want to believe you, but what you said sounds really unbelievable. Why don't you return to Aminya first to speak to Mentor Cheyenne?
"Oh, yes. Senior Brother, did you suffer an attack from any mental spell when you were in the Scar of Death?" Hutton asked in a serious tone.
"Forget it, I knew you wouldn't believe me…" Adelo said as he shook his head in disappointment. How could he not know what Hutton was implying? By suggesting that he return to Aminya City, it meant that Hutton hoped Adelo would stop interfering with the activities in the Blackstone Mountains.
Adelo did not have a strong objection to it. Furthermore, he planned to hand the Immortal King's treasure map over to Mentor Cheyenne.
"I will return to Aminya tomorrow…" Adelo replied. "Hutton, please stop going against Mage Felic. Now that Vanskore is dead, and Sendros's action turned out to be a misunderstanding, I feel that he shouldn't be greatly offended. If you were to challenge him, I'm sure he wouldn't give you any chance to regret…"
"Yeah, I will be careful," promised Hutton.
Even without Adelo's reminder, Hutton had no plans to challenge Felic for the time being. Now that he knew that Sendros had a close-knitted relationship with that fella, it would be the end for him if he were to enrage that Necromancer in the Legendary-realm.
There would be a lot of chances for him to deal with that Felic in the future.
…
"That fella wanted to kill you…" Sendros spoke in a very casual tone. It was as if the matter was not one which concerned life and death, but a possibility that somebody had the intention to borrow some money.
"I knew it long ago…" Lin Li replied as he pursed his lips unaffectedly.
One wou
ld not expect from their calm expressions that they were discussing something as serious as murder. No one would have expected that the "fella" mentioned in their conversation was the first heir of the Malfa Family, the mage with the greatest potential in the Breezy Plains, Hutton.
It could not be helped, though. Sendros' rationale was different from that of normal people to begin with. To him, this type of things did not deserve to be invested greatly. If Hutton had the intention of challenging Felic, he could just kill him with ease. If the Malfa Family were to show any sign of disapproval, he could also eliminate them in the process.
As for the small favor he owed Cheyenne, he could repay it easily through other means. It certainly was not as important as Felic's safety. Sendros knew that Felic was the strongest Pharmacist of Anril in history, and could very well break into the Guru realm within 10 years.
He was a man born to rewrite the history of pharmacy! The Malfa Family would be nothing in comparison to Felic.
Chapter 424 - Eternal Shrine
Even if Sendros did not tell him, Lin Li also knew Hutton wanted to kill him. Things were obvious. Vanskore led a group of 300 and went undercover at the border of the Scar of Death. Even if the guards of the Malfa Family were blind and deaf, they would have known that something was wrong. Why didn't they take any action?
All in all, it was just that Sir Hutton who did not want to take any responsibility for killing him. His plan of making use of somebody to do the deed was great, but that person being Vanskore… was just a bad idea…
Come to think of it, Sir Hutton was a really calm man. Despite the fact that the advance party returned to the camp quite some time ago already, Hutton never followed up with the team at all. It was as though Hutton had not dispatched any advance party in the first place.
When Adelo came over in the afternoon to speak for the Malfa Family, he tried to convince Lin Li that Vanskore had planned the attack all by himself. Of course, Adelo also promised that the Malfa Family would investigate into the situation as soon as possible.
Lin Li literally turned a deaf ear while Adelo was telling him all those things. He entertained him smilingly and sent him away smilingly. He did not care to wait for any evidence of the mastermind. Did one even need an evidence for something as serious as a murder or an arson?
Of course, Lin Li did not seek trouble with Hutton after sending Adelo off…
Lin Li stayed in Sendros' tent for the entire afternoon. They chatted about magic, pharmacy, and many other things—everything but the sneak attack that had happened that afternoon. To both the old and the young man, that was a trouble that could be solved easily. It would be a waste of time to talk about that.
Knowing the mastermind would suffice.
It was only natural for the two pharmacy talents to discuss pharmacy when they were together. Sendros was not an amateur like Gerian. He'd spent a few decades studying pharmacy, and had become a master in his study. Lin Li secretly admired him for his insightful comments and perspectives. Furthermore, as someone in the Legendary-realm, Sendros could travel everywhere in Anril to broaden his horizons. He was like a living encyclopedia. The thrilling anecdotes and eccentric pharmaceutical formulas shared by him expanded Lin Li's worldview as well.
Of course, Sendros gained much more knowledge as compared to Lin Li…
Despite having less experience than Sendros, as a real guru of pharmacy who mastered all pharmaceutical concepts and formulae, his practice had reached the point of near perfection.
The longer Sendros talked to Lin Li, the more shocked he grew…
Although he knew that the young man was a genius in pharmacy, it was only after the deep conversation that Sendros realized he had underestimated Lin Li. Not only did complex pharmaceutical information become like a simple math equation to Lin Li, the young man was also able to analyze the principle behind every underrated and uncommon formula and give substantial evidence to back it up.
In the beginning, Sendros only had intended to discuss knowledge with Lin Li. However, as they conversed, guilt grew within the esteemed pharmaceutical master. By the time the sun set, the casual chat between the old and young man turned into Sendros' consultation with Lin Li…
With that, something scary happened in that tent…
Sendros, who was both a Legendary-mage and a master in pharmacy, became like a disciple who'd just entered the world of pharmacy. He sat upright, and wrote down notes while Lin Li told him about many case studies and used layman's terms to describe the most complex pharmaceutical knowledge.
Unfortunately, Lin Li's lack of patience made him a brute mentor. When Sendros expressed his doubts in an attempt to clarify things, Lin Li would flare up at that poor man with coarse words and vulgarities. Sendros was so very ashamed that he did not dare to lift his head despite having lived life for close to a hundred years.
The terrible thing was, Sendros seemed to have transformed into a m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t. The harsher Lin Li treated him, the more excited he grew. That pallid and corpse-like face actually turned pink due to his excitement. The whole afternoon was just Sendros bombing Lin Li with a lot of questions and frantically taking notes. His gaze resting on Lin Li was feverish beyond description.
It was good that Sendros' tent was not a place anyone would have dared to enter…
Otherwise, the scene inside would have scared them insane.
Only Sendros knew how greatly he had benefited that afternoon. Not to exaggerate, the knowledge he'd gained from all the lashings from Lin Li was equivalent to 10-year-long research if he completely retreated from civilization!
Sendros could not help but ask, "Felic, have you… have you reached the Guru-realm already?"
"Hmm, I'm not sure…" Lin Li patronized Sendros' query.
"It has to be the Guru-realm…" Sendros did not know Lin Li was so wicked, lying to him when he had been scolding him for the entire afternoon.
Of course, Sendros could not help believing him, either. It was an extremely honorable achievement to be able to break into the Guru-realm. Their names would be recorded in history and mentioned even after a thousand years. To Sendros, no Pharmacist in the world would reject such noble recognition. Hence, Sendros believed Lin Li when the latter said he was unsure about his progress. Sendros even tried to help that wicked man plan his career growth.
"Why don't you visit the Darkness Shrine when you are free? I have a few rare Guru-level pharmacy formulae there. If you have the ability to create those potions, you are going to rock the entire Anril World…"
"A pharmaceutics guru is all it takes to rock the entire Anril World?"
"Don't you know that a few centuries passed since a pharmaceutics guru appeared in Anril World…?" Sendros glanced at Lin Li suspiciously. "If you could really reach that realm, you would be the first pharmaceutics guru in several centuries. Wouldn't that alarm the whole Anril?"
"That's great. If I have the time, I'll head to Darkness Shrine," Lin Li agreed readily; this was indeed his first time knowing about the prestige of a pharmaceutics guru.
As he had not met any pharmaceutics guru previously, Lin Li used to think that it was because the Pharmacist Guild had a low standard. With Anril being a very huge piece of land, who would know where a Guru-level Pharmacist hid? Now that Sendros told him that, Lin Li finally knew that it was because a Guru had not appeared for a few centuries.
It was no wonder that those old men at the Pharmacist Guild treated him like a Buddha despite their high status.
It seemed that the pharmacy standard in Anril was lower than he had imagined.
Although he was not sure whether there were any Divine Smiths in the Dark Age, he knew the only way for him to progress to that level was to use the rare historic treatises from the Dark Age. As pharmaceutical concepts were created by the High Elves, Lin Li was sure that there were plenty of pharmaceutics gurus in the Dark Age. Out of the 10 Gurus mentioned the historical records, one was Osric…
"But…" Sendros paused and smiled.
"If you really break into the Guru-realm, you can gain some benefits from the Brilliance Shrine…"
"Brilliance Shrine?" Lin Li was confused why Sendros would mention the Brilliance Shrine. Then, he remembered the matter Englos told him about during his presidential ceremony. "You mean the viper's poison the Pope suffers from?"
"That's right. It seems that Englos has told you about it long ago…"
"He only mentioned it briefly during the presidential ceremony. I'm not very sure what it is about."
''The reality is actually very simple. Very long ago, this Pope accidentally got infected with the viper's poison. He would have died if not for the constant support from the force of divine. The Brilliance Shrine has been searching for a pharmaceutics guru who has the ability to cure the viper's poison. They even promised a huge reward…"
"What reward?"
"A request. A request that does not go against the teachings of the Holy Light…"
"…" Lin Li was speechless. He felt that the Brilliance Shrine had put too much importance on the matter. He could easily think of over 10 requests that would not go against the teachings of the shrine. He would be able to gain great benefits from any one of them…
"Felic, please remember what I am going to tell you now…" While saying that, Sendros' expression became very grave and a little bit devout. "If you were to rid Pope of the viper's poison one day, please request the Pope to hand the Helios' Scepter to you."
"Why?" asked Lin Li. He did not expect that.
"That's because there is a secret within the Helios' Scepter. It is a secret only known to the High Priests. Don't you wonder why the High Priest of the Darkness Shrine would know the secret of the Brilliance Shrine?"
"Yeah, indeed…"
"The reason is very simple. That's because there was no Darkness Shrine or Brilliance Shrine 1300 years ago. There was only the Eternal Shrine!"
Chapter 425 - Reincarnation of Darkness
"Eternal Shrine?" Lin Li frowned upon hearing the familiar name. I must have heard about this before…
