by Zhuang Bifan
Seeing that he could not obtain any valuable information from Connoris, Lin Li decided to temporarily put this aside in order to avoid arousing the suspicion of Elder Randy. He quickly left the Immortal King's laboratory.
Lin Li thought that Elder Randy and Cheyenne would have entered the sixth floor by now and begun searching impatiently. However, when he arrived at the sixth floor of the tower, he saw that Cheyenne and Elder Randy were waiting for him and had not entered first.
That really surprised Lin Li. Although everyone had some kind of tacit understanding before, he didn't think that they would be willing to wait for him there, especially since each of them represented their own forces. When interests were concerned, there seemed to be no need to save any face for others.
However, when he got closer, Lin Li discovered that the people waiting in front of the door of the sixth floor did not seem annoyed or impatient because of waiting, but rather all looked sad and worried.
"Elder Randy, Master Cheyenne, sorry to have made you guys wait," Lin Li said smilingly, but he did not mention anything about Osric's note. It's a vague part, it could've referred to his level as a Hunter before the novel started.
Chapter 676 - Oil Lamp
However, although Lin Li's behavior was a little suspicious, everyone tacitly decided not to ask for the reason for his late arrival, because they all knew that there was nothing left in the laboratory. Both Elder Randy and Cheyenne felt that they had made the biggest gains on the fifth floor, especially when compared with Lin Li's alchemy puppets. Hence, no one wanted to talk about the fifth floor again lest they caused the young mage Lin Li to be displeased.
"Hehe, we had no choice but to wait. Mage Felic, you'll understand when you walk over." Elder Randy and Cheyenne greeted Lin Li with a wry smile, and tactfully made way for Lin Li to stand in the middle. They had already unknowingly put Lin Li above them during the cooperation.
Lin Li looked at the two of them peculiarly without saying much. He then walked towards the space between the two of them and looked through the door, only to get a great shock. He finally knew why they looked so glum and sullen.
There was a long corridor after the gate, and there didn't seem to be anything special about it. On the surface, it didn't look any different from the one on the first floor. The ground was also covered with precious magical gemstones, and there were cyan lamps on the walls of both sides.
However, as a Legendary powerhouse who was highly s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e to energy fluctuations, Lin Li could clearly feel that the plain-looking corridor was full of lethal dangers. Besides, the menace in the corridor did not come from the Alchemy Array or any magic gears. Instead, it came from pure nomological power.
"This is really absurd!" Lin Li only scanned a bit of the surroundings, but the shock that the corridor brought him was unimaginable, for the Laws of the space in the long corridor were extremely chaotic and way out of the ordinary. It was, in fact, very outrageous.
If space was described as a sheet of white paper, the space in the corridor would be a sheet of white paper that had been torn into pieces and f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y pieced back together. From afar, there seemed to be nothing too different about it. However, when one took a closer look, he would be able to see the dense cracks on it. The shredded pieces of paper definitely wouldn't be a threat, but the broken pieces of space that had been f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y been put together again were absolutely fatal. One definitely would not be affected when standing outside the space, but once they stepped into it, they would definitely be ripped into shreds by the countless cracks in space, regardless of how powerful they might be.
Without a doubt, the Immortal King, who was known to be as powerful as gods, was the only one who could create such an insanely powerful space. For any intruder, this trap would be almost impossible to resolve. It was clearly telling every intruder that there was a fine line between life and death.
Lin Li was horrified because of that. The power in the cracked space was indeed terrifying, but it would at most cause him to be a little taken aback. Back in Tutankhamun's cabin, using the Spacetime Beacon Spell, Lin Li had once witnessed the massive power displayed by Geresco that was enough to tear the space apart.
However, the corridor that he and the rest were facing now did not pose just the problem of a cracked space. The dense and menacing cracks were absolutely hair-raising and equivalent to countless areas of cracked space being forged together again. It almost had nothing to do with technique, but was a pure display of power. The Immortal King had created an almost-invincible trap that could not be overridden. Such power was really equivalent to that of the gods in legends.
What was even more incredible was the fact that any cracks in space would gradually recover under the Space Laws in the world until they began to disappear. Otherwise, the countless wars that had been happening since the prehistoric times which were powerful enough to tear space apart would have already caused the world to collapse and get destroyed completely long ago.
However, the space cracks in the corridor did not at all recover even after a long period of time. It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that this force had violated the laws of the world.
Lin Li shook his head slightly. If it were an Alchemy Array, a magic gear, or even a master-level magic trap, Lin Li could still use his own knowledge to find a way to solve it. However, the space trap in front of him was created by the Immortal King using his purest and unparalleled power. There was no way to resolve it at all.
Lin Li could only sigh helplessly. Sometimes, knowledge might be useless. Although he had a considerable amount of knowledge in Alchemy and magic gears, it seemed that he could not put it to use now that he was faced with the trap created with formidable power.
Having noticed Lin Li's expression, Elder Randy and Cheyenne could not help but appear disappointed. Although they also knew that it would be impossible for anyone to get rid of the space trap in the corridor, they still had a tiny bit of hope in Lin Li, hoping that he could create some miracle again.
Unfortunately, Lin Li said to everyone, "This corridor is not accessible at all. Seems like we have to find another way. Otherwise, we will have to stop here."
There wasn't a tinge of hypocrisy in Lin Li's tone, because he really didn't have a solution this time. Although he had the debris of the stars, in the end, the cracks were not physical entities. Even if the debris of the stars could not be destroyed, it would disappear through the cracks and disappear in the chaos of time and space. Lin Li had finally seen the hope of gathering the seven pieces of the debris of the stars and piecing them together; hence, he did not want to take the risk. If he were to lose one of the pieces of the debris of the stars in the chaos of time and space, he would probably never get it back again.
Lin Li didn't have much interest in continuing to delve deeper, because he was preoccupied with his thoughts about the debris of the stars, Nothingness, that was in Osric's mausoleum. However, Elder Randy and Cheyenne were obviously still unwilling to give up. Although they had obtained the Magic Tides and the Tower of Death, the fact that there was such a powerful unsolvable trap in front of them meant that there would be a greater treasure behind the trap. Everyone knew that it was bad to be greedy, but when faced with such temptation, it would be hard for anyone to stop appropriately.
Everyone was crowding around the gate, some pressing their faces against the wall and carefully scrutinizing the patterns in a bid to find the switch to shut down the space trap in the corridor. They would also tap their hands against the wall in hopes of finding a hidden door or something. According to the common sense applied when exploring and finding treasures, the harder the trap, the more likely it was that there would be great treasures. Hence, the space trap that could not be dealt with had aroused greater interest within the people.
Lin Li and his two Undead servants did nothing except to stand in front of the gate and carefully look into the corridor because Lin Li was well aware that whatever Cheyenne and Elder Randy were do
ing was useless. The Immortal King had set up the trap prevent others from entering. Hence, how could there be an alternative way to enter?
Indeed, it didn't take long for Elder Randy and Cheyenne to return to Lin Li after finding out that they had nothing to gain. They remained silent and simply stared at the end of the corridor.
"Seems like this is really the end of our journey," Elder Randy said while holding an arrow. He threw it into the corridor, immediately after which the arrow was ripped into shreds by the countless space cracks.
Everyone could not help but shiver in fear; they could completely imagine what would happen to them if they were to barge in.
"Yeah, it's just a single expedition, and we've already gained enough. We really shouldn't be greedy and hope for more." Cheyenne sighed, clearly feeling indignant, but there was nothing he could do now that he was faced with the space trap that could not be solved at all.
However, no one took the initiative to leave, because they were all filled with a dash of hope, and were thinking about how great things would be if they could find a way to pass through. Nonetheless, they knew that the chances were very slim.
"Did you guys discover that that magical oil lamp seems different from the rest?" After standing in front of the door for a long time, Cheyenne suddenly pointed at the corridor and questioned them while feeling uncertain.
However, Cheyenne's discovery did not pique the interest of the rest. In fact, every lamp in the corridor had a different style and design. Hence, the difference did not seem to be of any significance.
"Didn't you guys sense that the magical wave of that oil lamp is different from those of the surrounding lamps?" Cheyenne seemed to have really felt something, and there was a tinge of excitement in his voice. If that oil lamp was really special, it could very likely be related to the trap. The High Elves wouldn't have used other materials just because they lacked one.
"You mean the second lamp from the right?" Elder Randy glanced apprehensively in the direction that Cheyenne was looking at, and closed his eyes to carefully feel the aura of the oil lamp under the influence of the countless cracks in space. He stopped feeling doubtful, and gradually began to feel a sense of joy and surprise.
It was indeed different! When Cheyenne mentioned it for the first time, Lin Li focused his attention on the oil lamp and discovered that the burning flame of the oil lamp was slightly different, though it was very similar to cyan.
The shape of the oil lamp did not seem to stand out from the surrounding ones. After all, all the oil lamps were different. However, Lin Li discovered that the oil lamp actually had a lot of similarities in structure with the Summoning Lamp that he had.
Chapter 677 - The Labyrinth
The Summoning Lamp that had sealed the Lord of Nightmares was a congratulatory gift from Englos on behalf of the Brilliance Shrine when Lin Li was appointed as the President of the Breezy Plains Guild of Magic. Of course, he had not accepted the gift for nothing. He still had to treat the Pope of Brilliance Shrine and give him an antidote for the Viper's poison.
Regarding the Summoning Lamp, Lin Li had once thought it was just a powerful magical weapon because the powerful Lord of Nightmares was sealed within it. However, according to Connoris, the Summoning Lamp was not just a magical weapon, and was in fact a super weapon that Osric had created for the Eternal Furnace.
Due to this, Lin Li had also done an extremely detailed research on the Summoning Lamp. In fact, he could be considered to be well aware of the various characteristics of the Summoning Lamp. Although the Summoning Lamp had a completely different appearance from the special oil lamp in the corridor, Lin Li could draw many subtle similarities between the two.
After hearing Cheyenne's reminder, everyone discovered that the oil lamp was indeed different, but they still faced a difficult problem. Although the oil lamp was on the edge of the space trap, it was still surrounded by the dense cracks in space, and no one knew what to do to make the oil lamp work. Even if an arrow struck it, the arrow would be shattered by a space crack before it even hit the target.
However, Lin Li thought of the similarity between the two lamps, and could not help but suddenly get an idea. The Summoning Lamp had to be infused with mental strength in order to stimulate and summon the sealed Lord of Nightmares. In that case, what would happen if he were to infuse some of his mental strength into that oil lamp?
At the thought of this, Lin Li did not hesitate any longer. After all, he wasn't the only one who noticed that oil lamp. If he were to miss something, it would be too late to regret it. Deciding to give it a try, Lin Li gathered a portion of mental strength, carefully pushed it through the gap between the cracks in space, and finally injected it into the oil lamp in the corridor.
With the infusion of mental strength, the oil lamp suddenly exploded with a loud bang, and a smoky shadow rose from it before gradually solidifying, revealing a huge figure. The silhouette was almost blocked by the corridor, but it was just a shadow from waist down. It then gradually condensed and hid itself in the flame of the oil lamp.
Upon sight of the huge silhouette, almost everyone suddenly felt like they were being crushed by a huge mountain. The surrounding atmosphere seemed to have frozen all of a sudden, making it hard for everyone to breathe. The tension and huge pressure made them gradually bend their legs subconsciously as if there was a voice in their heads that was telling them to kneel down to seek relief.
Fortunately, they were all Legendary powerhouses, and the huge figure did not seem to deliberately exert its pressure, making everyone press on with their strong perseverance. They did not do anything embarrassing at this moment.
Everyone, including Lin Li, was taken aback by the sudden change, and tried their best to prepare for the battle. However, the huge figure that suddenly emerged did not immediately attack them. Instead, it hovered in the air and looked down at them. At this moment, everyone got a clear view of the huge figure in front of them, and they could not help but be shocked when they saw its face.
They were not the only ones who got shocked because they were unprepared. Even Lin Li, who'd caused the sudden change himself, immediately became dumbfounded when he saw the huge figure.
They looked so similar! everyone thought to themselves. The huge figure that suddenly appeared in front of them turned out to have the same appearance as Lin Li. It was as if it were made from a mold of Lin Li.
Everyone had been interacting with Lin Li for some time. Even if they didn't compare the two, they would still be able to confirm the similarity between the two. In fact, when they got a clear view of the figure's face, they would have thought that it was a magnified shadow of Lin Li if it weren't because of the figure's terrifying aura.
After being stunned for a while, Lin Li snapped out of his trance, and immediately thought of the statue that he had seen at the altar of the Lich in the Scar of Death, which was said to be a statue of the Immortal King. Of course, Lin Li wasn't that narcissistic as to think that the huge figure that appeared suddenly was himself. Thinking of the Immortal King's statue, he could not help but wonder if the huge figure was the Immortal King.
When he first saw the Immortal King's statue in the Scar of Death, Lin Li felt rather peculiar because the statue was way too similar to him. At that time, he, too, thought that it might be a coincidence. After all, a statue was a statue, and the High Elves might have added some artistic details to it.
However, Lin Li now felt that it might not be a coincidence, though the similarity between the Immortal King and himself still remained a difficult riddle to solve.
Everyone watched in horror as the huge figure slowly chanted a spell that no one could understand in a low and deep voice. No one knew what spell it was, not even the elves who had learned and inherited the language of the High Elves. Even though they had already gotten ready for a battle, no one dared to move and inch at this moment. The mighty power left them with no d.e.s.i.r.e to resist at all.
Everyone could not hide the fear o
n their faces at all. No one thought that the spell chanted by the figure was just a lame and insignificant magic spell. Perhaps the end of the chant would also spell the end of them all. However, when faced with that coercion, even running away had become a luxury, let alone retaliation.
As the last syllable of the spell ended, Lin Li suddenly discovered that his surroundings had changed dramatically, though there was no strange feeling. Elder Randy and Cheyenne, who were initially standing beside him, had already disappeared at this moment, and they were no longer in front of the dangerous corridor that was full of dangers.
Lin Li looked up and around, only to feel a freezing coldness in his c.h.e.s.t. The sky was gray, and not dark like skies that were covered by gloomy clouds. However, it was dull and suffocating. The only unique color in the air was the blood-like sun that was eye-catching but unable to bring a touch of warmth. There were huge cracks in the ground that intertwined and seemed to contain enough force that would split the earth apart. It was not only the sky and the earth and sea, but the entire world that seemed to be on the verge of collapsing. Everything seemed to be full of decline and about to be destroyed anytime soon.
A thunderous roar continued to reverberate between heaven and earth, making the entire world quake continuously. Lin Li looked into the distance to see that there were huge figures like towering peaks, waving giant flashing spears in their hands. However, their enemies were massive dragon-like creatures flying in the sky.
Lin Li could clearly feel the aftershock of the collision even from such a long distance. Lin Li suddenly thought of the two most powerful races, the Titans and the Ancient Wyrms, which had fought and battled in Anril for countless years during the prehistoric times.
