Another World’s Versatile Crafting Master c1-1074

by Zhuang Bifan

  It was different for the magic gears. Although those learning the usage of magic gears were few and far between, the most important aspect was that they could be constructed and completed by ordinary humans. In the construction of magic gears, the most important thing would be the design sketches and blueprints. As long as the constructors built the place according to the blueprint, Lin Li would only need to make some final adjustments.

  Another important advantage would be that they could cut back on resources. At this point, Lin Li did not have the time to capture a magical beast and use it as the power core of the magic gears. However, he could use some magical crystals to achieve the same results. It would be suitable for living and still be taken care of.

  "Mr. President, that…" said Gavin. He felt a little hesitant with how much money was needed to build Black Clouds Town into a superb one.

  "If you have no questions, get to it immediately. The faster, the better. Hurry and get the people of the town to move back there." Lin Li, who knew what Gavin was about to say, waved his hand nonchalantly. Be it the acquisition of the Throne of Darkness, the loot from the base of the Syer bandits, or what they had gained in the underground palace, Lin Li had gained enough that he could not be bothered by however much it would cost to build the new Black Clouds Town.

  "Yes, Mr. President, I'll arrange it immediately." Gavin decided not to say anything else after seeing that Lin Li had already made up his mind.

  When Gavin was about to leave, Lin Li suddenly stopped him to give him a reminder with a serious expression. "By the way, pay close attention and don't leak the blueprint to anyone irrelevant. Besides, all standards must be strictly in accordance with the blueprint, and no errors are allowed."

  "Yes, I'll remember it," Gavin answered solemnly before handing out some instructions for the construction to others.

  Chapter 504 - Progress

  Lin Li was not too worried about Gavin who was ambitious. It was not a bad thing to be ambitious. In fact, it could also be called being a driven and motivated person. Ever since the Tower of Dusk was built, Gavin arrived and registered to become one of the members. He had always been very attentive and serious when completing tasks, and would always be at Lin Li's beck and call without any complaints. Hence, Gavin was the best candidate for the leader of the reconstruction of Black Clouds Town.

  Lin Li was certainly confident in his own designs. After the new Black Clouds Town was completed with the installation of the Grandmaster-level magic gears, raiding bandits would not be able to break through even if there were 10 groups of them. Hence, the new construction would definitely be able to guarantee the safety of the citizens of the town.

  Hence, Lin Li handed the construction over entirely to Gavin, after which he instructed the rest of his subordinates not to disturb him unless it was absolutely necessary. He locked himself in the room and ignored everything that went on outside.

  Gavin's status in the Tower of Dusk was akin to that of a senior majordomo. In the Guild of Magic, a majordomo was not an official position, and to put it crudely, he was just the President's errand boy. However, all Presidents of the various Guilds of Magic would definitely have a right-hand man like him. Hence, the majordomos did enjoy immeasurable power and authority even though they did not hold any official position.

  Gavin was a powermonger, but he was not the kind to resort to despicable means for the sake of obtaining power and authority. He knew that the young President, Lin Li, did not like handling all of the miscellaneous matters of the guild. Hence, Gavin's power would not be taken away from him as long as he paid attention and performed all of his tasks conscientiously. As the construction of the Tower of Dusk progressed, Gavin's status would increase greatly, and he'd become a huge authority in the entire Breezy Plains.

  After obtaining the blueprint from the President Lin Li, Gavin knew that it was the best opportunity for him to prove his abilities.

  He usually handled trivial and miscellaneous matters, but the construction of the new Black Clouds Town this time was definitely not one of them. The thought of it made Gavin feel extremely excited. He immediately gathered some subordinates and arranged the tasks appropriately.

  If it were purely a project to create a small town where humans could live, the manpower and wealth of the Tower of Dusk would definitely be enough for the small town to be completed. However, the problem was that the Black Clouds Town designed by Lin Li was not only meant for people to live in.

  Gavin brought the blueprint home and analyzed it carefully, only to realize that it had given him a huge headache. If the builders were of mediocre caliber, they would require more than two decades to complete the construction of the small town based on the blueprint, unless… a mage took part in the process.

  However, mages would usually only join the construction when they were building a mage tower. Even during the construction of palaces, the royals could not compel the mages to perform such lowly tasks. Yes, there was a social hierarchy in every part of the world, and that included the workforce. To the mages, construction work was lowly and cheap, for it would make them tired and dirty.

  However, in Tower of Dusk, Gavin was not the only smart one, and one had to be smart in order to become a mage. Everyone in the Tower of Dusk knew that Lin Li was different from others and that he was attached to the citizens of Black Clouds Town. Most importantly, he was very generous too.

  It was no secret that Lin Li was an incredibly talented pharmacist who could concoct limitless potions. Those who were stuck as adepts could be promoted to become a mage, while those who were stuck at being a mage could be promoted to become a Magic Shooter. They even heard that the latter could depend on pharmacy to become an Archmage.

  How much is pride worth? I may become a construction worker, but regardless of how prideful you may be, can you compare to me, a Magic Shooter!? he thought.

  Although Gavin was power-hungry, he detested mages who were obsessed only with gaining power. Those who were out to get into the good books of Lin Li were usually not inferior to Gavin. The young and promising Lin Li was a Legendary powerhouse who could create a Magical Domain. Even without the lofty potions and the elaborate magical equipment, a few enlightening tips from him would be enough.

  Therefore, there was no need for Gavin to recruit construction workers. After finding out that Gavin was responsible for the construction of Black Clouds Town, the mages actively searched for him and asked to participate in the construction work. No one cared about their pride, for all they wanted was to give the young President Lin Li a good impression of themselves. There were more than 40 mages in the Tower of Dusk, and all of them decided to lower their pride and join in the construction work.

  With the additional help of the mages, Gavin finally did not have to worry about the speed of construction, but there was still another problem that had to be resolved before the construction could begin. He also remembered being warned by Lin Li to never leak the blueprint to any third party.

  That could be considered a flaw of the magic gears, for the blueprints were like keys to opening the magic gears. If someone got their hands on the blueprint of the magic gears, even if it was master-level magic gears, they would find out how to deactivate or break the mechanism as long as they could decipher it.

  Hence, it was a taboo to leak the blueprints during the construction of magic gears. After the construction was completed, the blueprints would usually be destroyed. However, sometimes, they might have already been replicated or memorized by those who harbored ill intentions. The wicked ones like Osric, called the butcher by people, would basically kill all the people involved in the construction. Otherwise, where did the Skeletal Warriors come from?

  Of course, Lin Li obviously wouldn't launch a massacre like Osric would. Anyway, there was almost nobody who could understand magic gears left in this world. They could just seal the blueprints at the end. Hence, he only reminded Gavin to be more careful.

  However, Lin Li's words were like a
royal edict to Gavin. He put in a ton of effort into ensuring that the blueprints would not be leaked. He split the blueprints up and messed up the orders before handing them to the people in charge to get them to carry out the construction works according to the blueprints.

  As long as the numbers were accurate and remained unchanged, the magic gears would still work when the correct parts were assembled in the end. If they were to do that while building a Mageweath Array or an Alchemy Array, the result would be destructive. Even the same person would not be able to split the Mageweath or Alchemy Array into parts and complete them slowly afterwards. Every Mageweath Array and Alchemy Array had to completed in one sitting.

  Everyone who got the blueprints felt that the designer was out of his mind. Even if each of them had only obtained one out of dozens of blueprints, it was enough to build 10 Black Clouds Town when combined together. Of course, none of them dared to call the designer crazy after finding out that their noble President was the one who had designed everything. However, their gazes betrayed them and showed their innermost thoughts.

  However, they were secretly overjoyed with the crazy idea because they felt that they had made the right decision this time. The fact that Lin Li had put so much thought and effort into building a small town for the ordinary humans meant that the citizens of Black Clouds Town meant a lot to him. Some even wondered whether or not they should go see the children from Black Clouds Town and pick one of them to be their own student.

  Under Gavin's lead, the construction of the new Black Clouds Town had finally kicked off. Large batches of construction materials and workers were transported. Others might just think that they were building a palace.

  Despite being the designer of the new Black Clouds Town, Lin Li didn't even attend the foundation laying ceremony, and instead cooped himself up in his room.

  It was actually inevitable. When he'd returned from the Blackstone Mountains, Lin Li's powers and abilities heightened rapidly—from level-19 to level-20. Although it was just a level's difference, it was an impressive achievement that other mages might never make in their life. Yet, Lin Li managed to do it within just a few months.

  It was good to make rapid progress, but if it was too rapid, it'd inevitably lead to hidden dangers caused by instability. Nothing was perfect in this world, and although those who were naturally gifted were said to be blessed, they had to go through many more tests.

  Since ancient times, there was more than one talent like Geresco in the land of Anril. There were many other geniuses who died young because of how conceited they were. An example would be the Dark Blade's heir, who was much more talented than Hutton. It had been only a matter of time before he became a Legendary-mage. However, he died young, and Lin Li could not even remember his name anymore.

  Ever since Lin Li came back, he was keeping himself cooped up in the room so as to summarize what he had gained over the past few months, find the possible hidden dangers within himself, and then solve them one by one. He wanted to internalize his new knowledge and make it his own. He wanted to truly become familiar with the power of the Legendary-realm.

  He advanced from the 19th to the 20th level and progressed to the Legendary-realm based on his own changes. It was not a result of acc.u.mulated energy and experience. The process was not as easy as the theory books made it seem, either. In the eyes of most magicians, this was an invisible divide that could hardly be crossed. Once the gap was crossed, one would face a huge disruption and experience drastic changes in his previous knowledge and experiences.

  Chapter 505 - New Black Clouds Town

  Ever since Lin Li went to the Black Rock Mountains, he experienced battles that most people had probably not encountered in their lifetime. The first significant battle to his ascension was the one against the Death Knights. Under the oppression of the Death Knights, and with the help of powerful potions, he touched the Legendary-realm's boundary subtly and exhibited spells that were up to level-21, like the Eternal Light Spell.

  The greatest gain from that battle seemed to be the acquisition of the ten-odd Death Knights who came under his control. However, in reality, the biggest benefit that Lin Li had reaped was the enlightenment regarding the Legendary-realm, which many mages longed for in their lives. If the mages who were stuck at the pinnacle of the Archmage-realm could ever be fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of Legendary-realm and experience such enlightenment just once, they would definitely have a higher chance of breaking through to the Legendary-realm.

  Lin Li was now trying to recall the battle and the changes before and after that trace of perception. Although he was now a Legendary-mage, that touch of insight and enlightenment was still invaluable to him. Although he still had had a battle with a Legendary powerhouse later, the gains from that battle were slightly inferior.

  After a close shave with death, the attack by the Syer Bandits seemed to have become absolutely insignificant in comparison. Actually, it could not be considered a battle, but rather was just a bunch of fools courting death. Hence, that pathetic battle was not worth Lin Li's time and memory at all.

  To Lin Li, the only battle in the past few months worth pondering over was the one against the Lord of Darkness in the Abyss of Tharlen. It was during that battle that Lin Li managed to reach the Legendary-realm through the perception and enlightenment brought about by the ancient demon runes.

  It was during that very moment in the battle that Lin Li's body changed drastically together with everything else around him, including the way he used his magical powers and executed his spells. Lin Li had only roughly experienced the changes, and only now had the time to recall and reflect on everything carefully.

  The ancient demonic runes were perhaps not the strongest demonic language, but it was definitely one of those that were closest to the energy source. Through the ancient demonic runes taught to him by Connoris, Lin Li could understand the true meaning of the Legendary-realm and achieve the transformation from an Archmage to a Legendary-mage smoothly.

  During the battle against the Lord of Darkness, Lin Li would not be a match for him even as a Legendary-mage, let alone when he was still weak and powerless. The Lord of Darkness was almost invincible as he owned the Throne of Darkness created by the Dragon of Destruction. Even if the Lord of Darkness had lost his sentience, he could still use his own instincts and abilities to utilize the Throne. That was how he'd subdued the Lord of Souls, Mephistos.

  The purpose of the ancient demonic runes taught by Connoris was not to increase Lin Li's powers or promote his realm to the Legendary-realm. Instead, it was to make use of the power of the abyss to control the Lord of Darkness.

  The Endless Abyss was created by the ancient deities. To the Endless Abyss, the ancient deities were like the Dragon Aspect to Anril. After all, no matter how powerful the Dark Lord was, the Dragon of Destruction had already fallen. Since the Dark Lord had already become the ruler of the Abyss of Tharlen, he would not be able to escape the control of the ancient deities, even if he was in the Throne of Darkness's separate space.

  The greatest difference between a Legendary-mage and an Archmage was that no matter what magic the latter did, it would have to depend on his own power. It could be said that in the Archmage-realm, the acc.u.mulation of magic power would have already reached the limits of the human body. On the other hand, in the case of the Legendary-mages, not only did the magic power in the body undergo a qualitative change—just like gas turned into liquid, so did magic power become Rules—but most importantly, it allowed the mage to mobilize and use the power of the world through their own magical powers and the Rule power.

  The ancient demonic runes were a magical language the closest to the origin of power, whose function was to borrow the power of the abyss, which was in line with the rules of the Legendary-mages' enlightenment. It was a pursuit that borrowed the power of the world. Although these particular ancient demon runes were a language of the ancient demons, they were also a description of the ancient demons' understanding of
power. However, ever since history began, everyone had the same pursuit of and d.e.s.i.r.e for power, regardless of their race.

  Connoris directly instilled the demon runes into Lin Li's consciousness with spiritual force, which was more thorough than any detailed narrative. That was to say, Lin Li's consciousness and memory palace were almost infinite. No one else would have been able to withstand the impact at that moment.

  Lin Li broke through to the Legendary-realm with the understanding of this ancient demon runes, coupled with the previous acc.u.mulation of knowledge and a trace of enlightenment that had once come to him. Once again, Lin Li experienced the demonic runes and realized that he could still understand a lot and get more enlightenment about the origin of power from the runes.

  After making a trip to the Abyss of Tharlen, the battles that Lin Li had been through could've helped him get used to the power of the Legendary-realm. In hindsight, Lin Li realized that the intense battle in the underground palace with the Crimson Dragon gave him a better understanding of the Legendary-realm. He summed up his shortcomings and the areas for improvement that he could work on. Lin Li felt as if he had teleported back to his school days, when he would analyze the questions and reflect on his knowledge at the end of every test and exam in school.

  In fact, the effectiveness of the summary and reflection was obviously great, for it would allow one to realize what their flaws and shortcomings were, and let them know what they should work on in order to make up for what they lacked. Lin Li still remembered the ancient proverb that he learned before traveling through time: "I reflect on three of my experiences daily".