Another World’s Versatile Crafting Master c1-1074

by Zhuang Bifan

  Only when the Tower of Dusk had its own Legendary-mages apart from Lin Li, as well as Masters of Pharmacy, Masters of Inscription, and other Masters of various professions, would they be able to survive for thousands of years. Of course, if they were developed to that extent, the other forces probably wouldn't dare to attack the Tower of Dusk.

  The mages of the Tower of Dusk all had a deep understanding of this, especially since Lin Li was absent for a period of time. While Lin Li was away, the things that used to be easy to do became much harder. All the random forces actually had the audacity to create trouble.

  In the past six months, many mages felt confused and insecure about the future of the Tower of Dusk as well as their own. There were even some who chose to leave halfway. After all, six months ways way too long, and their firm mindset and beliefs gradually wavered over time.

  However, as Lin Li made a powerful comeback, the confusion of the mages disappeared at this moment. Even though they had just experienced a tragic life-and-death battle, they were filled with immense joy and excitement that they could not hide. Every mage's gaze was full of admiration, respect, and awe when they stared at Lin Li as if he were their deity.

  After arranging everything, Gavin proceeded to report to Lin Li, who was speaking to Gerian. He had nothing much to say about cleaning up the battlefield. He killed the rest of the enemies that had yet to die, and saved the members of the Tower of Dusk who were still alive. As for the battle spoils, the items belonging to the Dark Blade did not appeal to the Tower of Dusk at all.

  However, the thought of the losses of the Tower of Dusk made a look of guilt form on Gavin's face. Although there was still the pharmacist Wilkinson left behind in the Tower of Dusk after Lin Li left, and there had never been any shortages of high-level healing potions in the Tower of Dusk before, even the best potion couldn't revive a dead person. During the past six months, the Dark Blade and the Tower of Dusk had been through countless battles, and if it weren't because of the healing potions, there would probably be even more dead mages.

  Lin Li did not blame Gavin. It was a formidable feat for the Tower of Dusk to survive for such a long period of time when faced with a massive force like the Dark Blade that released continuous offensive attacks for several months. Although Lin Li was very distressed about the death of the 10-odd mages, he still comforted Gavin and got him to bring the mages of the Malfa Family.

  As one of the first batches of elite mages in the Malfa Family who had been equipped with Dark Moon Staffs and Faro's Robes, Tegel had what it took to be proud. With the two powerful magical equipment pieces, he would be able to display strength that was far beyond what a level-19 mage should have. Although he had yet to step into the Legendary-realm, he was just as good as the basic Legendary ones.

  Actually, Tegel and his companions who were sent to support the Tower of Dusk all had a hidden agenda, and that was to take over. However, they did not plan to strike the Tower of Dusk by launching a forceful attack like the Dark Blade did. Instead, they were planning to truly convince the mages of the Tower of Dusk by showcasing their strength and abilities. They wanted the mages of the Tower of Dusk to know that the Malfa Family was currently the only force in the Breezy Plains who could bring them a bright future and become their only pillar of support.

  Since they initially already had the intention to show off while giving aid, Tegel and the rest were naturally arrogant when they interacted with the mages of the Tower of Dusk. After all, without the Legendary-mage Lin Li, the newly established Tower of Dusk would be like an orphan. Even though they were very competent, they were worlds apart from the Malfa Family.

  However, what Tegel and others did not expect was that the young President of the Tower of Dusk would miraculously reappear after having gone missing for half a year. Furthermore, he even exhibited groundbreaking power that took the Malfa Family by storm as soon as he appeared. He struck the Legendary-mage Borg of the Dark Blade with a single massive blow before defeating the two Legendary leaders in the blink of an eye. Even Master Cheyenne would not be able to do that.

  Tegel tagged alongside Gavin, and was completely distracted even though the latter was speaking to him every now and then. He was anxiously trying to recall if he had said or done anything disrespectful to the mages of the Tower of Dusk when interacting with them. The four other mages of the Malfa Family remained silent, and were filled with uneasiness.

  Tegel and the rest had all taken part in the trip to the Haiga Mountain Range; hence, they knew that the young President Lin Li was protective of his underlings and servants. He even offended the elves for his Undead servant before. If Tegel were to accidentally offend someone from the Tower of Dusk and anger the petty Lin Li, they would all be in trouble.

  Gavin brought Tegel and the others to Lin Li, who did not speak immediately, but instead scanned them from head to toe. Actually, Lin Li did not quite care what intentions the Malfa Family had. After all, given the situation at that time, no one else would be able to escape from the Undead Heaven. Besides, the Guild would have suffered heavier losses if it weren't for the five mages sent by Cheyenne.

  Although Lin Li was much younger than Tegel, the scene of Lin Li defeating the two Legendary powerhouses was still fresh and vivid in his memory. Hence, he dared not underestimate Lin Li at all. Tegel panicked, and said, "Congratulations to President Felic for escaping the ordeal and returning home safe. I believe Teacher will be elated to hear that you are back."

  "Oh, are you a disciple of Master Cheyenne? Has he been alright?" Lin Li asked, shooting Gavin and the five mages a glance, and gestured for them to take a seat.

  Tegel relaxed a little. While carefully looking at Lin Li's expression, he explained, "Ever since Teacher returned from the Haiga Mountain Range, he mentioned more than once that we wouldn't have received so many gains without President Felic's help. This time, Teacher was originally planning to come over in person, but he suddenly had an epiphany and found a breakthrough opportunity while studying the books of magic that he brought back. Hence, he got the five of us come to help first."

  Lin Li then asked about the current status of the Malfa Family, and gained some understanding of the development of the Malfa Family in the past six months. After Cheyenne returned, he didn't immediately start attacking the Dark Blade. After all, he had to turn the gains that he'd obtained in the Sky Castle into power that the Malfa Family could use, and that would require more than just a few days. Besides, the Dark Blade had a strong background, and even if they had already lost a Legendary leader, Baldela and Borg were not easy to deal with.

  Cheyenne's loot from the Sky Castle consisted of more than 100 sets of magical equipment of the High Elven army, a Legendary Winged Angel, a large number of advanced books of magic, and the blueprint of the Tower of Death. Apart from the Winged Angel that had incredible combat power and could quickly increase the strength of the Malfa Family, the other things could not be used immediately.

  The magical equipment could enhance anyone who wore it, but no one would leave so much precious magical equipment in the hands of someone they did not trust. There were many outstanding mages in the entire Malfa Family, but Cheyenne only took out seven sets of equipment after a thorough consideration. Apart from Tegel and those who went to the Tower of Dusk, only Adelo and Hutton were qualified to use them.

  As for the Tower of Death, Lin Li could already guess that it would be extremely difficult for the Malfa Family to build the tower given their current power. Putting the technical aspects aside, just the various precious materials alone would probably cost more than the treasures in the Malfa Family's treasure vault.

  Cheyenne himself had gone through various battles; hence, he was confident to break through to level-22. Adelo and Hutton had been continuously learning from Cheyenne because they wanted to enter the Legendary-realm sooner. Hutton, in particular, seemed to have been agitated so much after hearing about Stephen that he put his best foot forward in learning the past six months.

/>   Tegel greeted Lin Li and spoke to him calmly. Seeing that his attitude was still fine, he carefully made a request to leave. He felt that it would be better to retreat early. If it were to drag on for too long, they might not be able to leave easily if one of the watchdogs came out to tell on them.

  Lin Li had a rough understanding of the situation in the Malfa Family. Seeing that Tegel had requested to leave, he decided not to think about it. Instead, he said a few more polite words, and got Tegel to relay a few of his words of gratitude to Cheyenne before getting Gavin to send them off.

  "Am I that scary?" Lin Li asked Gerian in amus.e.m.e.nt after noticing how eager to leave Tegel and his companions were.

  Gerian squinted; the fat on his cheeks moved a little, after which he looked at Lin Li in disdain. He chided, "Well, you don't know how arrogant those rascals were when they arrived. They were looking down on all of us. Yet, you were gone for half a year. Everyone is almost trampling all over the Tower of Dusk."

  "Is that so? Do you want me to catch them back now so that you can vent your anger?" Lin Li asked jokingly. However, he could deduce from Gerian's complaint what the situation of the Tower of Dusk was like now.

  Although there were various forces in the Breezy Plains, not all of them had Legendary leaders. Even when Lin Li was not around, the Tower of Dusk was still stronger than most forces. However, the attack of the Dark Blade was taxing on the Tower of Dusk's power, and they could not find the time nor energy to deal with the troublemakers at all.

  In the past six months, the businesses of the stores in the Breezy Plains owned by the Tower of Dusk faced blows of varying degrees. Some were made to pay protection fees, while some were robbed. In others' opinion, it was only a matter of time before they got destroyed by the Dark Blade now that the Legendary-mage Lin Li was not around.

  Even in the nearby Doland City, many pharmacies were looted, and the only business that was not affected was the one in Aminya City. Believing that the Malfa Family had long set their sights on that business, other forces dared not touch them.

  Lin Li gently tapped his fingers on the table and squinted slightly with a peculiar smirk. He suddenly remembered the famous saying that existed in the world that he was from: "I'll make sure they pay for everything that they had done, tit for tat!".

  Lin Li had never been a generous person. Although he had various mindset changes ever since he'd entered the Legendary-realm, he still showed no mercy to those who dared to offend him. Indeed, to the Legendary Lin Li, those who were below the Legendary-realm were all insignificant, and he wouldn't mind killing them if they were to have the audacity to disrespect him.

  However, it was not the time to settle the score. Although the Tower of Dusk had plenty of casualties in the fierce battles, it also revealed some of their shortcomings. After all, Lin Li was not a god, and his abilities were limited. Besides, the Tower of Dusk was not that affluent when it was first established; hence, many things could not be perfected due to the circ.u.mstances they were subjected to.

  Chapter 695 - Massacre Weapon

  The All-Kill Array was a good example. It was initially the greatest defensive weapon of the Tower of Dusk, but its power could not be released to the maximum, simply because its mana source was weaker. Otherwise, it would've been impossible for the Dark Blade to hurt Tower of Dusk once the All-Kill Array was activated.

  During the trip to the Haiga Mountain Range this time, Lin Li obtained plenty of magical crystals, and that included the Green Dragon Crystal that he obtained after excavating the green dragons' graveyard. The Dragon Crystals were all above the Legendary level, and the level-22 magical crystal was way stronger than the Salamander's Magical crystal that was being used by the Tower of Dusk now. Lin Li had plenty of magical crystals anyway, so he could afford to spare a few.

  If others knew what Lin Li was thinking, they would definitely hit the roof because of his extravagant use of Legendary magical crystals. Using Legendary magical crystals as a source of mana for the magical crystal cannons was akin to making a knowledgeable scholar do a blue-collar job—a complete waste.

  Every Legendary magical crystal had almost infinite mana; to mages, it was truly an inexhaustible vault of mana. Legendary magical crystals came from the most powerful magical beasts in the world, and were the continuation of their lives. Legendary magical crystals were also the legacies of the souls of magical beasts, and thus were different from ordinary magical crystals. In fact, they would even be like actual mages and transform their ubiquitous magical elements into mana.

  However, for the various settings of the Tower of Dusk, the Salamander magical crystal could only sustain the daily operation of the tower. Once a black hole that continuously absorbed mana was opened, the Legendary magical crystal that was precious in the eyes of others would seem insufficient. The consequence of overloading would be permanent damage to the Legendary magical crystal and it being stripped of its Legendary powers before gradually becoming useless.

  However, it was not an issue for Lin Li at all. If it wasn't necessary for him to bring the controlling magical crystal around with him wherever he went—one magical crystal would be enough to supply mana for the entire tower. Although the Legendary magical crystal couldn't compare to the control magical crystal, it could separate the mana source of the tower. For example, the All-Kill Array had a single Legendary magical crystal as its mana source, while the Crystal Cannons were powered by other magical crystals because Lin Li had plenty of Legendary magical crystals.

  Of course, while strengthening the defense capabilities of the Tower of Dusk, the abilities of the mages, too, had to be improved as soon as possible. Otherwise, it'd be an incompetent tower with a strong facade. The strong defense of the Tower of Dusk was by no means to keep the mages sheltered, but rather to release them from maintaining the defense.

  If only 10 mages were needed for the Tower of Dusk to defend itself, the other mages could then go to do other things. For example, when dealing with attacking enemies, they would have other options. In fact, they could even directly destroy the opponent's base. For example, they wouldn't end up in the state that they were in now in order to protect their businesses in other places.

  Considering the fact that he would be exploring Osric's mausoleum soon, Lin Li got Gavin to tabulate a list of mages who had contributed the most to the Tower of Dusk in a bid to grant them greater benefits to improve their strength.

  Lin Li was well aware that constructive competition within an organization was crucial for continuous progress. Although the resources of the Tower of Dusk were enough for all mages to enjoy the same generous treatment, the so-called fairness and equality was precisely the greatest unfairness.

  After all, the Tower of Dusk was also the Guild of Magic of the Breezy Plains. Almost every mage that came forth to register would be considered a member of the Tower of Dusk. Even the mages of the opposing forces could easily register to become a member of the Guild of Magic when gone unnoticed. They would then get to enjoy the various benefits offered by the Tower of Dusk.

  That was also the reason Lin Li introduced the contribution system. The contributions of each mage were ranked numerically and divided into different grades, each with its own treatment level. Those who wanted to enjoy more benefits would have to put in more effort and make greater contributions. It was the same even for the mages of opposing forces who sneakily registered to join the Tower of Dusk. Otherwise, the treatment wouldn't be too different from that of other Guilds of Magic.

  This time was no exception, either. Lin Li didn't wish to end up with a useless subordinate, or even an enemy, after nurturing and grooming him with the aim of turning him into a powerful mage.

  "Master Felic, you are finally back!" Wilkinson exclaimed as he brought several pharmacists to Lin Li together with him. Heartfelt joy was written all over their faces.

  Although Wilkinson and the other pharmacists did not belong to the tower, with the improvement of their own knowledge in pharmaceuti
cs, they had become increasingly convinced that Lin Li had definitely reached the level of a Pharmaceutics Guru. To Wilkinson and the rest, it would be disaster if Lin Li got stuck in the Haiga Mountain Range.

  After receiving the news and facing the attack by the Dark Blade, the pharmacists had different opinions about whether to leave or stay. However, Wilkinson was a proud disciple of the President of the Pharmacist Guild, and was extremely prestigious and respected by his peers. He soon made the firm decision to stay in the Tower of Dusk, and his peers followed suit.

  Of course, Wilkinson was not hell-bent on waiting for Lin Li to come back. After all, the chances were too slim. Wilkinson negotiated with the rest and convinced them to stay until a new leader took over the Tower of Dusk. Anyway, the new leader would not be able to stop them from leaving, regardless of who it might be.

  Lin Li's return was definitely a big surprise for Wilkinson and the other pharmacists. It was not that they did not respect their teacher, but rather that they felt that there would not be a significant increase in their pharmaceutical skills even if they were to go back to the Pharmacist Guild. After all, they knew that Master Felic was the only Pharmaceutics Guru in Anril.

  "It's been hard on you guys while I was away," Lin Li said with a slight nod while looking at Wilkinson and others. During the time that he was away, the businesses of the Tower of Dusk would probably have come to a standstill if it weren't for the pharmacists who'd chosen to stay. Besides, if it were not for the healing potions that they provided, there would have definitely been more casualties from the Tower of Dusk.

  Although he did not thank them politely, his words were enough to make Wilkinson and the rest feel warm and fuzzy inside as if they had just drank some honey. Knowing that the battle in the Tower of Dusk had just ended, so Lin Li had just returned and had more important things to deal with, Wilkinson and other pharmacists returned to do their own things after greeting Lin Li. Of course, they also decided to summarize all the problems they encountered during this time, and wait for an opportunity to consult Lin Li.