by Zhuang Bifan
"Hehe, do you mean spiritual guidance? But the insights gained through this method are all from the guide, and although the difficulty of understanding the nomological power is reduced, even if it is successful, the path in the future will be more difficult than that of others. It might be 100 or more times harder," Lin Li said disapprovingly.
In the magical world, it was generally believed that mages understood the nomological power and that relying on themselves was the only way to enter Legendary-realm. The spiritual guidance that Lin Li mentioned was an express route that would allow a Legendary-mage to become a guide. The mental strength of the two would be merged together, after which the guide manipulated the nomological power to allow the guided person to achieve enlightenment.
However, there would also be the problem of success rate, followed by the nomological power which could only be understood by the guided with the help of a guide. In other words, it was equivalent to being directly limited. Even if one had entered the Legendary-realm, it would still be extremely difficult to break through the restriction and advance further. In fact, it was almost right to say that further possibilities were restricted. If one were to break through those boundaries, he would be talented enough not to need a guide, and would have a great chance at entering the Legendary-realm. Of course, Culofen might be referring to other methods, but their nature should be the same.
Culofen's face froze again. Although he was not talking about spiritual guidance, it didn't really make much difference. Since Lin Li had already made such a statement and mentioned the side effects of this method, it meant that he was rather knowledgeable.
At this moment, Culofen suddenly remembered the methods the human mage used to subdue Jacques that night. Although on that day, the Chief Elder Randy and several high-level elves had all realized that his methods were extraordinary and reckoned that Lin Li must have used powerful magical equipment, he now began to wonder if Lin Li actually wasn't a Legendary-mage already.
Culofen could not quite believe his own speculation. The elves had inherited part of the genes of the High Elves; hence, they definitely felt a great sense of superiority over the other races. However, even the younger elven geniuses had never become Legendary powerhouses at such a young age. None among the Helios, Druids, and the Seven Sages had ever entered the Legendary-realm at such a young age.
In order to verify his guess, Culofen casually raised some questions about the Legendary-realm and talked about his own understanding of the nomological power. Those who knew nothing about the Legendary-realm would never be able to talk about these topics. Even if one's knowledge is based on hearsay, he would let the cat out of the bag once they went deeper.
Lin Li had never deliberately concealed his own strength. Seeing how polite Culofen was, he decided to add a few sentences too. He then added on to Culofen's topic and casually talked about his own understanding. There would be no need for an in-depth discussion in Lin Li's opinion.
However, as they slowly expanded the topic, Culofen began to feel agonized because after speaking to Lin Li, he actually discovered a harsh truth. Lin Li could understand and catch everything that he talked about, as well as give his opinions and thoughts about the relevant topics. However, Culofen realized that he gradually found it difficult to answer the questions and statements that Lin Li made.
Culofen realized that this young human mage was not only a Legendary-mage, but his accomplishments in magic were greater than his. Not to mention, it was just a short conversation. Goddess knew if he could continue being prideful and proud of his identity as an elf. Culofen finally stopped trying to test Lin Li for fear that he would be embarrassed further.
"Mage Felic, you indeed are a young human genius. I didn't expect you to have such a profound insight in magic." After complimenting Lin Li, he continued, "Speaking of which, we elves are not lacking in young and talented individuals, either. Actually, the most outstanding one is none other than Princess Elune."
Culofen certainly did not forget that Princess Elune was still waiting for the human mage in front of him to save her. However, he could not bring himself to plead with Lin Li; hence, he had no choice but to gradually make Princess Elune the topic of discussion.
However, Lin Li laughed after hearing Culofen talking about Princess Elune, though it was unknown if it was intentional or not. "It is true that Princess Elune is very famous in the human world. Plenty of people say that Princess Elune has not only inherited the beauty of her mother, the elven queen, but also the talent of her father, Master Garrincha, who is now a Legendary-realm Druid. Her talent and gift are truly enviable. However, since Princess Elune has made such a great achievement, her father, Master Garrincha is probably going to reach the Sanctuary-realm soon."
As a member of the Queldana Family, Culofen had always been proud of his own family. Upon hearing Lin Li talk about a Druid, a look of pride immediately graced his face. He then began to talk about Garrincha and how he led the elves into the Emerald Forest before embarking on several adventures to rescue the besieged elves. He also mentioned Garrincha's contributions to the development of the Elven Kingdom.
Lin Li was also very cooperative, and appeared to be interested while listening to Culofen's descriptions, occasionally butting in a little. At this moment, everything in the tent seemed to be rather harmonious, for a human was listening to the stories told by an elf.
However, under the harmonious facade, Culofen wished he could smack his own mouth. At this rate, when would he broach the topic of Princess Elune again? There had been various points when Culofen wanted to stop and shift the topic back to Princess Elune. However, Lin Li's replies made him continue talking, and thus drifting further and further away from his own agenda.
Throughout the entire afternoon, Culofen took on the role of a storyteller. Those stories were very common among the elves, and none of the younger ones would be interested in listening to them. However, even after the sky turned dark, Culofen still had yet to talk about Princess Elune again, and it was fair to say that nothing serious was mentioned.
Seeing that it was getting late and that he would make no progress if he were to go on, Culofen had no choice but to stand up awkwardly and excuse himself.
Lin Li then walked Culofen out of the tent.
After leaving the tent, Culofen turned around and smiled wryly. When he arrived, he did consider the possibility of how tough to deal with Lin Li might be, but he did not expect the outcome to be as such. Lin Li did not give him any hostile attitude, and was instead very polite when listening to his stories and talking to him. Lin Li's politeness was the reason it was even more difficult for Culofen to say anything.
Culofen returned to see Chief Elder Randy and his peers, to whom he briefly explained what had happened in Lin Li's tent. When he mentioned Lin Li's Legendary-realm strength, his peers were undoubtedly surprised, but everyone was paying more attention to the poisoned and unconscious Princess Elune. The most important thing to do now was to enlist Lin Li's help.
"What Culofen did today is not exactly useless. Well, at least the relationship between us and this human mage should have eased a little after the conversation they had today. In that case…" After looking around at several high-level elves, the elder kept his eyes fixed on one of them. "Gildor, you may go this time. Don't beat around the bush and cut straight to the chase about our situation."
Chapter 620 - Swallowing His Pride
Gildor's face grew sullen at the instant that he heard his words. Later on, he left the tent unwillingly after his peers urged him to. For the elves who had always been proud and arrogant, it was very uncomfortable to lower their pride and ask a human mage for help.
No matter how reluctant Gildor was, he nonetheless walked towards Lin Li's tent. The only good thing at this time was that the Vampire Norfeller had already gone out for his usual reconnoitering. Gildor adjusted his expression and prepared to make his tone as mellow and polite as possible. He then asked Lin Li if he could enter.
After hearing Lin Li's response, Gildor stepped inside the tent, where he stayed for another few hours. When Norfeller finally returned from reconnoitering, Gildor finally couldn't stand it any longer, and resignedly bade Lin Li goodbye.
Just like Culofen, Gildor spent hours telling Lin Li many stories about the elves, but did not find a chance to talk about Princess Elune.
"He clearly knows what we're looking for him for. Otherwise, he wouldn't change the subject whenever we got to the main point," Gildor complained to Elder Randy and his peers.
"Why don't we face him directly and let him tell us how to remove the poison? He's actually the leader of one of the forces in the human adventure team we cooperate with now. However, I've already made it clear that this time only he and that dirty Vampire are here on this trip. Moreover, his relationship with the humans of the Dark Blade is not harmonious. Even if we harm him, the other two forces wouldn't dare to say anything," Ferner said, still feeling proud.
The elves were not really pure and kind. Races that were truly kind and saintly had long gone extinct. Just like other intelligent races, the elves were also competitive and hungry for power. Otherwise, the Queldana Family wouldn't have secretly cooperated with Dark Blade to send the elites of each party to help find the lost relic.
However, Elder Randy and Ferner's peers did not agree with him. It was not because they were soft-hearted, but because Lin Li was a Legendary-mage they were not confident in subduing. The fact that he had fearlessly confronted them in the campground that night meant that he definitely had great power. If they were to fail, the relationship between the two would definitely be strained beyond redemption.
However, under the current circ.u.mstances, no one could be sure of what the human mage Lin Li would do. The elves had thought about swallowing their pride before, but their greater concern was the fact that they would embarrass themselves if Lin Li were to turn them down. They felt that it wouldn't be worth it.
The discussion of the elves was inconclusive, but the condition of the poisoned elves like Princess Elune was not optimistic. The Natural Rejuvenation technique used by Elder Randy had been said to be able to suppress the effects of the poison for 10 days, but it now seemed that it'd actually be less. The toxins in their bodies would continue to eat away at their vitality rapidly. Elder Randy and the other high-level elves could clearly feel that the vitality of the poisoned elves was depleting rapidly.
They all knew that they could not afford to delay it any further, for the loss of any of the elves, not only Princess Elune, would be a huge loss for them. After a long day of discussion, Elder Randy finally decided to speak to Lin Li himself.
Upon hearing his decision, the high-level elves immediately objected. Elder Randy was not the elder of the Queldana Family, but the eighth elder of the Emerald Council of the Elven Kingdom. With such a high status, he was actually going to personally invite a lowly human mage to help them? What a huge disgrace to the Elven Kingdom.
However, Elder Randy stood firm to his decision, and the high-level elves had no choice but to give in. After all, the poisoned elves could not wait any longer.
Early in the following morning, Elder Randy walked towards Lin Li's tent, surprising and drawing the attention of many along the way, especially the adventurers of the Malfa Family. Although they did not know the true identity of the elven elder, they could tell that Elder Randy had the highest position in this camp.
After hearing that Elder Randy had arrived, Lin Li, who had just finished his breakfast, did not exit the tent to welcome him, and instead invited him to enter in a nonchalant tone.
Oh God, this young President of the Tower of Dusk is too vicious! That's the elven elder who has the final say in this camp, no matter what his status in the Elven Kingdom is, yet you called him in so casually. Aren't you afraid of offending the elves and fighting them!? The members of the Malfa Family stared blankly at what was happening in front of them, and their brains seemed to have turned blank.
However, Elder Randy did not express any disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. After receiving Lin Li's response, he lifted the curtain and strode into the tent. Actually, he wasn't that calm nor composed. In the Elven Kingdom, even the queen wouldn't give him such an indifferent attitude when he asked to see her.
However, what else could they do? If Princess Elune really died there, even Elder Randy, the eighth elder of the Emerald Council and the brother of the queen's husband, would never be forgiven by the queen. Despite being overwhelmed with helplessness, Elder Randy did not show a tinge of his emotions, and instead kept smiling calmly.
It was not that Lin Li was disrespectful to his elders1, but rather that his respect for someone depended on whether they were worth respecting. He would definitely respect those who respected him, and contrariwise for those who disrespected him. It was the same for everyone, be it the elders of the elves or other big shots. Regarding the incident involving Norfeller, Lin Li didn't think that this matter could be swept under the carpet just because the elven elders had punished several young elves at that time and deprived them of their power for a number of years. It was not over for him even though he had saved Norfeller with his potion.
At that time, Lin Li did feel that this punishment was rather severe for the elves, but after giving it some thought, he realized that elves didn't rely on energy to begin with. Helios who was at his peak during the Dark Age and Druids were all examples. They managed to attain higher levels even without power, didn't they? Remember that it's obvious in China to respect those older than you, especially if they are one or more generations older.
Chapter 621 - Extortion
Of course, Lin Li did not intend to criticize their attitude. However, he definitely wouldn't fall for their tricks, either. Hence, he did not welcome the elven elder before his tent, and even remained still after the latter entered.
Chief Elder Randy was still waiting for Lin Li to question him. Yet, to his surprise, Lin Li remained silent for a long time. Chief Elder Randy had never been treated that way before. However, the thought of the purpose behind his visit made him suppress his disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e and put on a smile. "Mage Felic, have you got used to staying here in the past few days?"
Damn it, don't they have anything fresh to say to me? Those two elves who came yesterday said the same thing. As their eight elder, you should have a higher standard than them, Lin Li thought. Although he was polite to the two previous elves, he treated the eighth elder with a harsher attitude. He coldly said, "Thanks to your subordinates, I've been well in the last few days."
Chief Elder Randy obviously knew what had been happening in the campground for the past few days. However, back then, he had had no idea how important Lin Li was. He definitely could not bring himself to apologize; the best he could do was to feign ignorance and push all the blame to his subordinates for acting presumptuously.
Lin Li did not harp on the matter, and remained cold and aloof instead. When he spoke, he made sure that his sentences were all seamless, not giving the elder a chance to speak at all. Besides, he could also tell that Princess Elune could very likely be the one of the highest status amongst them because when the three elves spoke to him separately, they all tried to make her the topic of discussion.
Lin Li knew that unlike human princesses, Princess Elune was indispensable to them, and that she held a great significance because it was said that she was the only successor of the elven queen. Besides, she was the one and only princess. Hence, if she were to die there, the eighth elder would definitely be held responsible.
Since Lin Li did not know her at all, he felt that there would be no need to care about her well-being. He did not take pity on her, either. That was just how he was like. If the ones who got poisoned were people he knew, he would definitely try to rescue them, even if they were ordinary villagers. However, not only did Lin Li have no relation to the elven princess, he also disliked the elder in front of him. How could he possibly offer him help?
Chief Elder Randy still
refused to swallow his pride for the rest of the conversation, and instead tried to use the conversation to broach the topic of his main agenda. He was planning to get Lin Li to ask about Princess Elune, after which he would tell Lin Li that Princess Elune had been poisoned and that she needed an antidote. He was just trying to make it seem like he was giving Lin Li a chance to get closer to the elves because he felt that all humans in Anril definitely wanted to get in their good books.
Actually, Borg and Cheyenne would definitely react agitatedly and enthusiastically to Chief Elder Randy's words. After all, they both valued the so-called friendship with the elves. Obtaining the said friendship would make it easier for their trip this time, and they would also gain greater benefits in the future.
However, their friendship was of no use to Lin Li at all. Whenever the elder asked him some questions and tried to broach the main topic, Lin Li would reply coldly and change the subject.
Chief Elder Randy had encountered all kinds of discussions and negotiations with sharp-tongued people in the Emerald Council before, but he seemed to be helpless now that he was faced with the human mage Lin Li.
Before he knew it, time passed slowly, but there seemed to be no progress in getting to the main issue proper. Chief Elder Randy was getting more and more anxious about the oblivious Lin Li, whom he wished he could bury there and then.
Thinking about Princess Elune's condition, Chief Elder Randy decided that he couldn't wait any longer. Hence, he made his tone even mellower, and even sounded a little polite and respectful. "Mage Felic, yesterday, the sacred beast of our elven race returned to the camp poisoned, and after we brought it back, we observed it and realized that the toxins in it gradually dissipated. I heard that you have fed it something. Has it perhaps been an antidote to detoxify the toxin?"
