by Zhuang Bifan
It was no wonder that Master Felic said that he had never encountered this problem before. Since he possesses almost infinite mana, what is the Thunderstorm Disaster to him? I'm afraid the infinite chain that he mentioned is not just theoretical. Since he has infinite mana, he would probably be able to break Aegno's record easily.
The five high priests looked at each other immediately while recalling the tests that they had put him through just now, feeling like they were clowns. In particular, Gergila, who had a skeleton-like face, even began to blush. Of course he'd be embarrassed and ashamed for asking a silly question.
However, although the five high priests felt a little ashamed about everything that'd happened previously, they did not think they had done anything wrong. Besides, they still did not trust in Lin Li's abilities as much as Sendros did. Actually, it wasn't their fault, either, for anyone in their shoes wouldn't pin all their hopes on a person they did not know well.
In fact, Sendros also understood the intentions and thoughts of the five high priests. After all, everyone had the best interests of the Darkness Shrine at heart, and if it weren't for the fact that he was the chief and knew more than the others did, he probably wouldn't believe it easily, either. However, he still had to warn them even though he understood their plight. With a sullen expression, he said to the five of them, "Master Felic is our honored guest. When you go back, tell your men to behave themselves. If I find out that any of you had the nerve to disrespect Master Felic, I won't spare any mercy even if it's your biological son."
"Yes." The five high priests could not help but shiver as they quickly bowed at Sendros. Although they were all members of the Darkness Council, it was still helmed by Sendros, the chief high priest. In the Darkness Shrine, Sendros was equivalent to Pope Rosario of the Brilliance Shrine as far as status was concerned. None of the believers of Darkness would dare to disobey him at all.
Lin Li was ushered into a room by a priest, but he didn't actually need much rest. Although he flew directly from the Brilliance Shrine, he didn't feel any fatigue, because he was a level-23 Legendary-mage. Besides, he had a massive amount of mana and mental strength. However, he found it to be a shame that he didn't get to find out what the urgent matter of Sendros was. Hence, he had no idea if it was really important or not. Besides, he didn't learn anything from the discussion with the two priests at all.
After sending away the priest, Lin Li took out the Book of Eternity, and began reading it instead of thinking about something else. He was fully engrossed in the book too. It had been about two years since he got the Book of Eternity, but the more he read, the more knowledge he acquired. However, he also felt that he was much further away from mastering all the knowledge in the book. Geresco's masterpiece was definitely something that other magic books couldn't compare to. Whenever Lin Li truly understood a sentence, he could clearly feel his progress.
The next two days were rather peaceful. Sendros still did not mention why he got Lin Li to go to the Darkness Shrine, but Lin Li could not be bothered to ask about it. No one would ask for more trouble, after all. Apart from learning magic and reading the Book of Eternity, Lin Li would follow a priest on a tour around the Darkness Shrine.
Everyone in the Darkness Shrine would behave very respectfully whenever they saw Lin Li, be it an ordinary believer or a priest. In fact, even without Sendros' special warning, the believers of the Darkness Shrine, who heard that Lin Li was an honored guest, knew not to be rude to Lin Li. Back in the Brilliance Shrine, Siddarth, too, wouldn't have dared to point a finger at Lin Li if Rosario hadn't had to keep his poisoning a secret.
Although there was almost no obvious alternation between day and night in the Darkness Shrine, Lin Li could guess that it was early morning by judging time according to his own habits. When he heard a knock on the door from outside, Lin Li put away the Dragon Crystal of the Dragon of Destruction and got up to open the door.
There were two people standing outside the door, one of whom was a servant who specifically listened to Lin Li's orders, while the other was a priest who had shown Lin Li around the Darkness Shrine in the past two days. Although the Darkness Shrine was not small, Lin Li had visited almost all of the attractions in the Darkness Shrine, and there was nothing much left for him to see. Besides, what Lin Li really wanted to see was the Darkness classics of the Darkness Shrine. However, he felt that it would be inappropriate to raise that request with Sendros. After all, he'd managed to read the Light Bible only because he had gotten rid of the Viper's poison in Pope Rosario's body. Besides, he wasn't that close to Sendros.
However, there seemed to be a hint of excitement in Balesi's expression today. After seeing Lin Li open the door, he first saluted him before saying, "Master Felic, today is the day of the Darkness Sacrifice. The Night Werewolves and the Vampires will be fighting each other in the arena as part of the ritual, and the high priest would like me to invite you to the event. Would you be interested?"
The Night Werewolves and the Vampires were the races with the strongest faith in the Darkness Shrine. Legend had it that they were enemies by nature, and once they fought, they would spare no mercy. However, in fact, the battle between the two groups was more of a ritual to worship the God of Darkness. Nonetheless, it wasn't a performance, but a genuine sacrifice of blood and lives.
Lin Li could actually imagine that the battle would definitely be low-level, regardless of how intense the battle might be. To Lin Li, the battle was just like child's play. However, Lin Li gave it some thought again, and felt that he might as well watch the battle since he had nothing to do. "Okay, alright then, I'll go take a look."
Lin Li followed Balesi to an arena in the Darkness Shrine, and could hear the cheers from afar. The five high priests were all present at the grandstand in front of the arena, and Lin Li greeted them one by one before taking a seat at the allocated location. However, Lin Li felt rather strange about something. A sacrificial ritual like this was actually like the prayers performed by the believers of light. Lin Li reckoned that it should be a very common thing in the Darkness Shrine. Wasn't it a little ridiculous and senseless for all five of them to appear here?
On the arena, a young Night Werewolf was fighting a Vampire, and just like Lin Li expected, both of them had only reached level-15. Although the fight was rather intense, it was boring to Lin Li.
The common characteristic the Werewolves and the Vampires shared was that they had extremely strong recovery abilities. Unless their limbs were broken or their innards were ruptured, the injuries that would generally make others lose their mobility would be nothing to them. That resulted in the extension of the duration of their battles.
After watching four battles in a row, Lin Li wanted to yawn. It was not that he looked down on them or anything; the problem lay with the fact that he had been trying to improve his strength, and while he could gain some combat experience from watching a battle between masters, there was nothing for him to gain from a fight that seemed to be one between children.
"Master Felic, I was really envious after hearing about the adventures you had previously. Unfortunately, I can't leave this place easily because of my duties. I usually spar with them, but we've all been spending time with each other for so many years, and so we already know one another inside out. When we spar, it's almost always the same as the battle there," said the Lich Gergila, who was getting rather emotional. Staring at the battle in the arena, he shook his head slightly.
"Hah, don't complain to me about it anymore, High Priest Gergila. You at least have a few companions of the same level as you to spar with. I don't get such opportunities in the Tower of Dusk," Lin Li answered smilingly. He didn't think much of the fact that Gergila had suddenly brought up that topic.
However, Gergila seemed to have suddenly thought of something as he turned to look at Lin Li with a slight gleam of excitement in his eyes. He said, "Master Felic, I do have a request that may seem rude, but don't hold it against me. I wonder if I may have the honor to consu
lt you about actual combat experience?"
"Oh?" Lin Li glanced at Gergila, but unfortunately he couldn't see much in his expression. However, Gergila's tone wasn't aggressive at all, and he seemed to only want to discuss their experiences.
Although Lin Li headed to the Darkness Shrine because he had been invited by Sendros, he also intended to learn and find out more about Dark Magic. Meanwhile, Gergila happened to be a Lich who practiced Dark Magic. Even Sendros praised him for his accomplishments in Dark Magic when he mentioned him. Hence, Lin Li didn't turn down the idea, because he felt that it would be wonderful to have a Legendary powerhouse as an opponent.
Chapter 781 - Showdown Between Light and Darkness
"Sure, it's my p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to be able to consult you, High Priest Gergila," said Lin Li. He didn't think that Gergila had other intentions or plans to plot against him, so he agreed readily with a nod.
The 24 stone pillars in the arena rose slowly around the field. The dense mageweaths on the stone pillars also radiated magical light one after another, and soon, a transparent magic shield shrouded the field. Lin Li and Gergila were already standing in the middle of the field, each holding a staff and waiting for the defensive mageweath to be fully activated in the arena.
There was complete silence in the arena, and the Werewolves, Vampires, mages, and believers of Darkness were all staring at the middle of the arena with excitement. Battles between high priests were rare, and only their respective disciples would be qualified to watch them.
As for the young mage Lin Li, they had all heard about him in the past few days, and knew that he was the distinguished guest invited by Sendros, and that he was the owner of the Tower of Dusk in the Breezy Plains. They heard that he was a powerful Legendary-mage, and even though they were all in disbelief after hearing the news, they could not help but grow curious, since it concerned Chief High Priest Sendros. They, too, wanted to see what was so amazing about the young mage Lin Li.
The four remaining high priests were talking to each other anxiously in the grandstand in front of the arena. Did Gergila really just want to share his actual combat experience? That was one of the reasons, but not the only one. As a high priest of the Darkness Shrine, he definitely didn't want to spar with a guest of honor just because he was feeling an urge to practice.
"Zoquila, is it really appropriate for Gergila to do that? Sendros has warned us before," the Vampire Culostein asked with some concern. Although the five high priests were all members of the Darkness Council, they were all respectful to and fearful of Sendros, especially when they thought about Sendros' means of dealing with rebels and those who violated the rules. Even the cold-blooded Vampire could not help but feel a chill down his spine.
"It's just sparring and an exchange of experience, nothing too disrespectful. Besides, Master Felic is a willing party too. I doubt Sendros will hold it against us," Zoquila said while hiding his face in the large hood, making it impossible for anyone to see his expression. However, his tone revealed the uneasiness within him.
"Don't scare yourself. After all, we're doing it for the Darkness Shrine. Besides, didn't you guys see that Mage Felic seems to be looking forward to the sparring session too? There's nothing too special about it. We're doing this for the sake of satisfying him too," said the Werewolf high priest Poladio, who was rather nonchalant about it.
After giving it some careful thought, the Vampire felt that Poladio made sense too. Although Sendros' brutal means were frightening, he was not unreasonable. At the thought of this, the several high priests finally felt slightly relieved, and they shifted their attention to the center of the arena. At this moment, the defensive mageweath of the arena had already been activated completely, and the opponents finally moved after the two of them exchanged some polite words.
Neither Gergila nor Lin Li exhibited their respective Magical Domains. After all, it was just a friendly sparring session. Hence, there was no need to go all out. Besides, Lin Li really took it as a sparring session, and although Gergila was not very satisfied with Lin Li's answer to his question, he did not dare to take Sendros' words lightly.
However, Gergila felt that even if he didn't go all out, it wouldn't be too difficult to defeat Lin Li. He felt that regardless of how great Lin Li's mastery of magic theory was, it did not mean that he could use his spells well. His mana was almost infinite, but that did not mean that he could use it appropriately. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been so many battles in this world. There would easily be a distinct winner once they compared each other's mastery of magic theory. As for experience in adventures, there wasn't a clear winner.
Besides, the environment of the Darkness Shrine was similar to a Darkness Domain, which allowed the strength of the believers of Darkness to greatly improve. Gergila initially had level-23 power, but with the help of Dark Magic, his power was probably great enough for him to rival a level-24 powerhouse. Gergila thought that the only thing he had to do was to make sure Mage Felic would not lose too badly to protect the pride of the latter.
"Be careful, Mage Felic," Gergila specially reminded. He pointed his staff forward, and a shadow formed at Lin Li's feet.
There were some ripples at Lin Li's feet, and it was as if the ground had turned into black water. There were then black tentacles like giant pythons that emerged from the ground and intertwined around Lin Li's body.
Upon hearing Gergila's reminder, Lin Li almost couldn't recover from the shock. Is this a new battle tactic? It might just be a sparring session, but he doesn't have to be so friendly and polite, Lin Li thought as he raised the Helios' Scepter and pointed it toward the ground gently. A ball of flames immediately spread outwards, using his body as a central point.
Resistance Ring Of Fire was a very effective spell that mages could use when they were being besieged. The black tentacles that were moving toward Lin Li were suddenly pushed away from Lin Li by the Resistance Ring Of Fire which caused them to melt quickly. Immediately after casting the Resistance Ring Of Fire, Lin Li immediately waved the Helios' Scepter and caused a ray of Thunderbolt to condense, after which it immediately crashed into Gergila's head.
Gergila was not surprised by the fact that there were no effects of using the shadow. If Lin Li couldn't even counter that, how could he be respected and valued by Sendros? Gergila shifted his footsteps swiftly, and while giving himself an additional shield, he seemed to have become a shadow. At this moment, the pillar of Thunderbolt seemed to have landed too. However, it caused numerous ripples to form in the ground.
Lin Li squinted a little—the Darkness Guardian was a Legendary-level defensive spell, and its effects seemed rather similar to those of Void of the Stars. Of course, it was much worse. It was said that the mages who mastered the Void of the Stars would be able to place their body and soul in the Void of the Stars, and no longer be hurt by the magic spells and weapons. Actually, under the effect of the Void of the Stars, the caster would definitely become an existence that no longer belonged to Anril, and thus would not be susceptible to damage by humans.
The Darkness Guardian would cause the caster's body to become a shadow with extremely high immunity to physical damage and damage done by elemental spells. Swords had never been able to attack shadows. Besides, there was a special feature of Darkness Guardian which allowed the caster to move freely in the naturally occurring shadows. If the caster was completely in the dark, it would almost be the same as teleportation.
However, the greatest weakness of the Darkness Guardian was that it would greatly reduce the caster's resistance to Holy Light magic. When the caster was under the protection of the Darkness Guardian, he could probably be injured by a Holy Light spell of the lowest-level despite being in the Legendary-level. Hence, Dark mages would definitely refrain from using Darkness Guardian when battling with the clergymen of Holy Light, for that would be akin to letting the opponent kill them.
When Lin Li was in the Brilliance Shrine, he had not only read the Light Bible, but also received the personal gu
idance of Pope Rosario. Hence, he definitely wasn't inferior to the clergymen in terms of Holy Light magic. According to Archbishop Englos, Lin Li's attainments in Holy Light Magic were enough for him to qualify for a cardinal's position.
However, in the face of Gergila's Darkness Guardian, Lin Li didn't use any Holy Light Magic. One reason for that was that he was, after all, in the Darkness Shrine. Hence, using Holy Light Magic there would definitely make others detest him. Another reason was that they were just sparring, after all, and Lin Li didn't really want to win. He didn't want the battle to end too soon, either. Moreover, the use of Holy Light Magic during the sparring session would be rather suspicious, and even if he were to win, he would win because of an unfair advantage.
Will I have no means to deal with you just because I'm not using Holy Light Magic!? Lin Li thought to himself with a smirk, after which he darted to the side quickly, avoiding the thorns of the shadow. At the same time, he raised the Helios' Scepter while chanting a spell, causing the gemstone at the top of the scepter to emit a dazzling ray of light.
All of a sudden, the temperature in the arena seemed to have plunged drastically as plenty of snowflakes condensed in the void with specks of glitter. They then floated downwards and caused the entire arena to be covered in snow. It was not Lin Li's Frost Domain, but a level-22 ice element Realm Magic that was similar to Thunderstorm Disaster.
"He actually used a spell of this level at this juncture. Does he really have infinite mana?" asked Gergila, rather shocked—just like the other four high priests, who were also taken aback. Theoretically, a mage should have the ability to cast magic spells that corresponded to their respective levels. Since Lin Li was a level-23 Legendary-mage, it wasn't surprising that he'd be able to use level-22 spells. However, that did not mean that he could use them casually like they were fireballs, especially since Realm Magic as such would consume mana rapidly. It would be a huge burden even for a level-23 mage.
