by Zhuang Bifan
Speaking of what Lin Li would be receiving, Megard paused for a while. However, the slight pause made everyone's expressions turn peculiar. Andoine and Aldwin thought that Megard would forbid Lin Li from receiving any rewards because he had already taken away the perfect body created by Osric and the magical weapon. Hence, they all looked rather worried because they thought that Lin Li was about to be sanctioned. Rosen thought just about the same as others, but he seemed to be gloating instead. He thought, I thought Megard didn't hold it against him, but seems like he's settling scores with him now.
However, what Megard said next made everyone's expression change drastically. After a short pause, he continued, "Felic, you've played a vital role in this mission. What do you want?"
He actually asked Lin Li what he wanted! Andoine and Aldwin were instantly surprised, while Rosen, who was initially gloating, was full of disbelief at this moment. Such a reward was absolutely unprecedented, and it was actually offered by the arbitrator himself. Even if Lin Li were to ask to go to the treasure vault to pick out an item or ask to become an authoritative figure in the Supreme Council, it wouldn't be impossible for Megard to agree.
However, the treasure vault of the Supreme Council wasn't that attractive to Lin Li, and he was much less interested in becoming an authoritative figure. Although Megard had allowed him to pick his reward without restrictions, he couldn't really ask for anything he wanted. Lin Li touched his chin and looked up at Megard. "Respected Arbitrator, since the Supreme Council has no use for the crystal coffin, please give it to me."
Although the Supreme Council did not have the Eternal Furnace, Lin Li did, and he just lacked the crystal coffin which could be used as the core. Since Megard had let him choose, how could he give up the chance to pick something that would be the most useful for him and choose something useless instead? However, Lin Li had also put some thought into how he worded his request. If the crystal coffin was useless to the Supreme Council, wouldn't the arbitrator of the Supreme Council be compelled into giving Lin Li more than just something he didn't need?
Megard smiled a little, clearly having seen through Lin Li's intentions. However, he didn't expose Lin Li, and simply nodded before saying, "Yes, in addition to the crystal coffin, I'll give you another item. It's your chance to take your pick and tell me what your request is."
Megard's words made everyone else freeze immediately because of their astonishment. They even doubted if Lin Li was related to Megard by blood because it was simply too exaggerated. The crystal coffin was the furnace that Osric used to create the perfect body. How could it be useless for the Supreme Council? Not only did Megard give it to Lin Li. he even allowed Lin Li to make another request. They thought, Is this the arbitrator I know!?
Even Lin Li was surprised when he heard Megard's words. Of course, it was one thing to be surprised, and another to grasp the opportunity. He would be a fool not to. After thinking about it for a while, he said, "Sir, one of my companions, Angelano, has also contributed greatly in this mission. He has broken most of the magic traps that we encountered in the mausoleum, and he wishes to take a look at Osric's journal. Is this request a little too much?"
"You mean that Goblin who has mastered Alchemy well? Get him to come here with Andoine tomorrow. I'll give him seven days to read the part about Alchemy in the journal," said Megard who agreed to Lin Li's request readily. He then ended the conversation and told everyone to go get some rest.
Lin Li decided to fight for this opportunity for Angelano partly because he wanted to fulfill the original promise he made, and partly because of his own selfish reasons. Anyway, he had already successfully made Angelano promise to go back with him to the Tower of Dusk, and Angelano would definitely have to create Alchemy Puppets for the Tower of Dusk in the future. Hence, it would be a great benefit for Lin Li if Angelano could use this chance to improve his Alchemy skills.
As for why Lin Li did not take the opportunity to request a chance to read Osric's journal himself, it was because he still had the Book of Eternity left behind by Geresco. The knowledge about magic contained in that book was not inferior to that of Osric's journal. In other areas like pharmacy and inscription, Lin Li had already reached the Guru-level, so he didn't need it urgently.
When he went out to see Angelano, Lin Li told him everything that happened, and the Goblin Angelano was immediately touched. From his point of view, Lin Li had given up his chance to get a better reward for an opportunity for Angelano to read Osric's journal. In the tens of thousands of years that he had lived, he had never met such a good person. At the same time, Angelano also had more faith in Lin Li's credibility, and he believed that Lin Li definitely wouldn't go back on his words.
Angelano was given the opportunity to read Osric's journal, and although it was only for a short period of seven days, it was enough for him to benefit greatly given his level of attainments in Alchemy. While Andoine took Angelano to the Sky Tower to read the notes, Aldwin was busy rebuilding the Alanna Guild of Magic. Macklin advanced to the Legendary-realm when he was in the mausoleum, and was rather busy as well. Even Connoris was busy fusing his soul with his new body. After all, the higher the rate of fusion, the stronger he would become. Everyone who left the mausoleum was busy with their own things, but Lin Li became a slacker.
As for Ujfalusi and Norfeller who had recovered from their injuries, they set off early to return to the Tower of Dusk after leaving the mausoleum. Although there were very few forces that dared to go against the Tower of Dusk because of how ruthless Lin Li was and how powerful the Tower of Dusk had become, Lin Li still could not feel at ease if there were no Legendary powerhouses to take charge for a long time.
However, Lin Li didn't get to stay idle for a long time. The news of their return from the mausoleum was not a secret. Since the others were all too busy with their own matters, the only idle person would become the focus of attention. After all, Alanna was where the king of the Felan Kingdom lived, and although it was not as vast as the Breezy Plains, there were plenty of forces there—no less than in the Breezy Plains. Lin Li had only taken a day off and rested in the Alanna Guild of Magic before being bombarded by various invitations.
Darian, who specialized in receptions, was sick of receiving invitations, and became used to seeing the prominent names on the invitations. Perhaps in the near future, he would feel honored about having personally received the young mage Lin Li. In fact, the other mages in the Guild of Magic were all looking at him with envy in their eyes already.
If it had been in the past, Lin Li would've definitely taken this opportunity to discuss business deals with the forces for the sake of the development of the Tower of Dusk, even if he hated entertaining others. However, the development of the Tower of Dusk in the Breezy Plains was already in full swing, and the representatives from almost all the forces had taken the initiative to request to cooperate with Lin Li for business. As the owner of the Tower of Dusk, Lin Li naturally didn't need to worry about those matters, and he immediately turned plenty of those people down for the sake of having some peace.
However, there were some invitations that Lin Li couldn't turn down, such as the ones from Balbo, the President of the Pharmacist Guild, Al'Akir, the President of the Adventurers Guild, and the Felan Royal Family.
In the past, Balbo agreed to send Wilkinson and other pharmacists to the Tower of Dusk, and regardless of what his agenda was, they really did play a vital role in the development of the Tower of Dusk. Hence, Lin Li would never turn Balbo down. On the other hand, Lin Li had a good impression of Al'Akir, who allowed him to f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y take away the Legendary Salamander's magical crystal after giving him the potion.
As for the invitation from the Felan Kingdom, it would be considered a great honor for ordinary people, but for the powerful Legendary-mages, it would be nothing. Lin Li initially wanted to run them down, but the thing mentioned in the invitation made him change his mind.
After a frustrating dance, Lin Li ignored the sultry gazes of n
umerous ladies and followed Prince Arthur of the Felan Kingdom to a reception lounge that was much quieter. At the command of Prince Arthur, two waiters guarded the front door of the reception lounge to stop others from entering and disturbing them. When Prince Arthur revealed the content of the deal and Lin Li saw the item on the table, the latter found it a little unbelievable, even though he had already read it on the invitation card.
"The Dragon Crystals of the Ice and Fire Twin Dragons, are you sure you want to trade this?" Lin Li had never expected there to be such a treasure hidden in the treasure vault of the Felan Royal Family. Although dragons liked mating with different creatures, they had low fertility. The Double Death Dragons that Lin Li had encountered in the Haiga Mountain Range were extremely rare, especially since they had different attributes.
Although the Ice and Fire Dragons were wyrms, they were considered the dragon version of Romeo and Juliet. It wasn't wrong to call it an interracial combination, either. The fertility of dragons of the same element was already very low, yet not only did they have a love child, they produced an extremely rare pair of Double Death Dragons.
Of course, another possibility was that the conflicting attributes might actually increase the birth rate of the twin dragons. After all, without a leader, it would be a rare thing for them not to fight each other, and sparks of love were simply a miracle.
"Yes, I know that general wealth means almost nothing to Master Felic, and your Tower of Dusk doesn't lack any magical equipment. Hence, the only thing we could think of are these Legendary Dragon Crystals obtained from the High Elves' treasure vault," said Prince Arthur, who seemed a little embarrassed as if he could not bring himself to give those two Dragon Crystals to Lin Li.
Prince Arthur had personally traveled to the Tower of Dusk to participate in Lin Li's inauguration ceremony. Hence, he had witnessed the Tower of Dusk going from nothing to becoming a powerful force that was feared by many. Therefore, he showed great respect to the competent, young and legendary President Lin Li.
Lin Li could tell from Prince Arthur's words that the Dragon Crystals of the Ice and Fire Twin Dragons seemed to be extremely precious to Prince Arthur, but he only saw them as two Legendary Dragon Crystals. However, the fact that the Ice and Fire Twin Dragons were more precious and rare seemed to have been completely ignored.
However, Lin Li thought about it carefully, and began to understand the situation better. For most people, the role of the magical crystals would be nothing more than just a mana source for Alchemy Arrays and mageweaths. Based on those uses alone, the Dragon Crystals of the Ice and Fire Twin Dragons were indeed functional and rather similar to the other magical crystals of the same level. Hence, from a practical point of view, no matter how rare they were compared to the others, their value was about the same.
Chapter 757 - The Complete Form
However, for Lin Li, the value of the Dragon Crystals of the Ice and Fire Twin Dragons were far greater than that of average Dragon Crystals. Lin Li had finally found all seven pieces of the debris of the stars, but he only had five of them, including Nothingness. The other two, Polar Snow and Raging Flames, had been found in the underground palace of the Dragon Mountain Range earlier. However, Lin Li had yet to truly obtain them because he could not bear to let go of his Ice and Fire Natural Magical Domain.
Connoris once suggested that he use the strong Throne of Darkness that had devouring abilities to move the Ice and Fire Magical Domain into the Eternal Furnace to allow it to be as strong as the Conquering Mageweath. However, there was a harsh condition to be fulfilled, and that was that he needed to find two items to replace the Polar Snow and Raging Flames in the Magical Domain. Otherwise, Lin Li would never be able to use those two pieces of the debris of the stars without damaging the domain.
The two items first had to have fire and ice abilities achieve complete balance because any fluctuation might lead to the collapse of the domain. However, as the saying went, it would be impossible to find two identical leaves in the world. It was indeed a tall order for Lin Li to find two substitutes that contained ice and fire attributes, and could also strike a perfect balance in terms of mana waves.
Even though Lin Li had left the underground palace for a long time, Lin Li still felt rather hesitant, and he could not decide if he should give up the domain or give up Raging Flames and Polar Snow first.
Lin Li did not expect the problem that had troubled him for so long to actually have a turning point in the treasure vault of the Felan Kingdom. Of course, even if the two Dragon Crystals of the Ice and Fire Twin Dragons were not too different from ordinary Legendary Dragon Crystals in Prince Arthur's opinion, it still wouldn't be easy for Lin Li to obtain them.
"2000 vitality potions." Lin Li had no choice but to admit that the Felan Kingdom had a huge appetite. Those potions were meant for Warriors to break through their bottlenecks. Hence, 2000 potions meant 2000 strong Warriors beyond level-15. One level-15 Warrior didn't mean much, but 2000 level-15 elite Warriors would form a huge lineup that could easily kill the three Undead Lords in the Shadowglen.
"Master Felic, 2000 potions are meant to be exchanged for these two Legendary Dragon Crystals. If you can provide more, we will be willing to give you whatever you want as long as we can afford it," Felan said, clearly not hesitating at all.
2000 potions were indeed of equal value to the two Legendary Dragon Crystals. Besides, Lin Li desperately needed the Ice and Fire Twin Dragon crystals. However, with the power of the Tower of Dusk, it would require some time to produce 2000 potions even with Wilkinson and the other pharmacists. The bigger problem was not manpower and time, but the herbs and materials required. In order to produce so many vitality potions, Lin Li would require large amounts of all kinds of precious herbs. Even the Elven Kingdom which had rich supplies of those herbs would face issues with providing such a large amount of herbs.
"A large amount of precious herbs is required for so many potions to be produced. I'm afraid it'd be difficult for the Tower of Dusk to produce that many in a short period of time given the current transaction volume," Lin Li explained with a look of dismay. However, he did not show any desperate need for the Dragon Crystals. It was not that he was deliberately doing so, but because that was a matter of fact. If the Felan Kingdom didn't need the potions urgently, he should be able to produce them within two or three years.
However, in this transaction, the Felan Kingdom seemed to be determined to get what they wanted. After hearing Lin Li's words, Prince Arthur seemed to have thought about it for a long time. Smiling confidently, he said, "Feel free to name the herbs that you need. We should be able to provide some herbs."
Since Prince Arthur had said so, there was no reason for Lin Li to turn him down further. Hence, he grabbed a pen and a piece of paper, and wrote down all the herbs required for the potion. This time, he didn't include the herbs that he wanted for himself. The potion wasn't very high-level, and although the herbs required were previous, they were not considered treasures, and with the current capability of the Tower of Dusk, they really didn't need to take advantage of this deal.
After the two parties had reached an agreement, Prince Arthur happily invited Lin Li to participate in the ball outside, saying that he would introduce Lin Li to some wealthy ladies and heiresses. However, Lin Li wasn't interested in those desperate women at all. Hence, he frantically turned down Prince Arthur's goodwill and left the Felan Kingdom.
After seven days, Lin Li arrived at the Sky Tower again, and obtained the crystal coffin that had been emptied out. Angelano had also finished studying the alchemy notes in Osric's journal according to the agreement. Although it was only a short period of seven days, Lin Li could tell from the look of excitement on Angelano's face that he had benefited greatly.
Since everything had been settled, Lin Li did not plan to stay in Alanna, and thus bade Andoine and Aldwin goodbye before taking Angelano and Connoris back to the Tower of Dusk. He had to hurry because he wanted to complete the transaction wit
h the Felan Kingdom soon and obtain the two Dragon Crystals in order to release the debris of the stars Polar Snow and Raging Flames while keeping the domain intact.
Although Alanna was not close to the Breezy Plains, Lin Li and Connoris each used their Power of Flight to fly, while Angelano flew in his alchemy aircraft without stopping to take a break. They headed straight to the Tower of Dusk, and managed to see it in less than a day.
The Tower of Dusk was much less crowded and lively this time as compared to Lin Li's previous return. Although he had been gone for a long time, the brutal actions chosen by the Tower of Dusk back then still made others fearful. No one dared to harbor ill intentions against the Tower of Dusk, and even the leaders of some forces who had such ideas would be betrayed by their subordinates who did not want to be implicated by them.
The first thing that Lin Li did upon returning to the Tower of Dusk was to look for Wilkinson and the other pharmacists to instruct them to prepare the vitality potions while maintaining the normal operation of the pharmacy business as much as possible. The potion was considered a Master-level potion in Anril, but according to the pharmaceutical hierarchy in the Dark Age, it was just an ordinary advanced potion. Hence, for Wilkinson and the other pharmacists, it was not difficult to formulate such a potion, but the sheer quantity was the issue.
It was the first time the Tower of Dusk had ever received such a large order, and according to Prince Arthur, it was just the minimum amount required by the Felan Kingdom. As long as it was within the range that the Felan Kingdom could afford, they would be willing to take as many potions as possible.
