by Zhuang Bifan
Lin Li could not be bothered to waste time to deal with it. He simply placed the Crimson Python's corpse into the Ring of Endless Storm, and began searching a new area again. How could Lin Li be satisfied with two black lotuses? Since there were two lotuses in such an environment, it was likely that there were more. Besides, obtaining another one would be a huge gain as well.
While searching, Lin Li used the makeshift laboratory that he had up on the blackstone platform to formulate some potions. Of course, those potions were not just the ones used to lure the Crimson Python away. In order to overcome the dangers that he might encounter when collecting the branch of the Tree of Eternity, Lin Li had invested a lot of money in those potions, and he had even used half of one of the precious black lotuses.
Fortunately, as Lin Li hoped, the environment there was indeed very unique, and the two black lotuses were not the only ones there. After some careful searching, Lin Li not only harvested several black lotuses that were of excellent quality, he also collected some other herbs with fire attribute. However, he was too lazy to count them. Of course, whenever he discovered a black lotus or another precious herb, he would often encounter a magical beast that would be guarding it. The level-21 Crimson Python was clearly just a small fry.
In such circ.u.mstances, there would be no way for any magical beast below the Legendary-level to survive. However, the powerful Lin Li didn't encounter too much trouble apart from the fact that he had to worry about the precious and fragile herbs like the black lotus being accidentally damaged. Apart from the precious black lotuses, the Legendary magical crystals that Lin Li had obtained were enough to make others salivate. The corpses of the Legendary magical beasts were also rather valuable.
At this moment, Lin Li was also facing a moving treasure vault, which was an a.d.u.l.t Crimson Dragon that had already reached level-23. However, what really attracted Lin Li was not the a.d.u.l.t Crimson Dragon, but the aura of the black lotus that was coming out of the cave behind the Crimson Dragon. If Lin Li did not have his mental strength tempered by the control crystal in the Sky Castle, it wouldn't be easy for him to detect the aura of the black lotus despite the Menace of the Dragon of the Crimson Dragon.
When Lin Li had been in the underground palace of the Dragon Mountains, he had also faced a Crimson Dragon that had been imprisoned by Osric for numerous years. It was no longer as strong as it used to be in its heyday, and it was greatly restricted because it was shackled to the blackstone platform. However, even then, Lin Li still risked his life and put in plenty of effort to kill the Crimson Dragon.
However, Lin Li was much stronger now. Despite facing an a.d.u.l.t Crimson Dragon that was at the pinnacle of its strength, he didn't feel pressured at all. Under the oppression of the Menace of the Dragon, he remained calm, and the daunting and hideous Crimson Dragon was no longer just an enemy full of lethal threat to him, but a treasure vault that he had to collect.
"Howl!"
The arrogant Crimson Dragon seemed to have finally been angered by Lin Li who looked like he was sizing up an object. Although it could feel that Lin Li seemed to be just as powerful as it, it would never fear a challenge, because it was a descendant of the ancient wyrms. After a loud roar, the Crimson Dragon flapped its large wings and flew towards Lin Li, whom it deemed a small fry. The Crimson Dragon was still as assertive as ever, and it was bent on ripping Lin Li to shreds before using its Dragon Breath to turn him into ashes.
There were many factors that determined the strength of each individual, and the levels of humans were generally not equal to those of magical beasts. An ordinary level-23 Legendary-mage would probably lose against the attack of a wyrm of the same level. After all, the wyrm's powerful body and high magic resistance were also considered a huge threat to Legendary-mages.
Unfortunately, the Crimson Dragon was not facing an ordinary Legendary-mage this time. Staring at the menacing Crimson Dragon which was about to leap towards him, Lin Li smirked, and thought to himself, I managed to use the corpse of the Crimson Dragon that I encountered previously on my Humerus Wyrm. I should be able to use this one on something else. Before Lin Li even launched an attack, he was already considering how he could use the various parts of the Crimson Dragon's body in the future.
The large Crimson Dragon had already rushed towards Lin Li with its mouth wide open, and was spraying Lin Li with dragon breath. The dragon breath that could burn everything still seemed extremely hot despite the high temperatures of the environment. It was as if the entire space had been burnt.
Chapter 798 - Fire Elemental World
However, the Crimson Dragon was not an idiot, and it knew that the small fry Lin Li wouldn't be burned to ashes just by its breath. Hence, after breathing out, it immediately launched numerous offensive fire element spells.
At this very moment, a giant pillar of Thunderbolt suddenly fell from the sky, hitting the head of the Crimson Dragon forcefully and causing it to emit electricity immediately. At the same time, Lin Li also appeared outside the attacking range of the Crimson Dragon, and the Helios' Scepter shone brightly in his hand. While the Crimson Dragon was momentarily paralyzed by the lightning, Lin Li took advantage of it and launched a series of offensive spells that were not extremely powerful, but were appropriate for the situation. It immediately made the Crimson Dragon feel like it was trapped in mud.
In order to deal with a level-23 Crimson Dragon, Lin Li did not need to use any debris of the stars, and he did not even bother activating the Light and Darkness Domain. Instead, he immediately launched Legendary spells at the Crimson Dragon. Actually, using the debris of the stars was undoubtedly the fastest way to kill the Crimson Dragon. However, Lin Li wasn't that bold. Although they were already very far from the peak of the mountain, the strong power of the debris of the stars would probably immediately attract Nefa's attention. Lin Li was still keeping his guard up against Nefa who might become his enemy in the future.
The battle didn't last long. Even if Lin Li didn't use his trump cards, it still wouldn't be hard for him to subdue the Crimson Dragon based on his own power and the battle experience that he had obtained from Balak's magical crystal. Even in that battle, Lin Li didn't use too many Legendary offensive spells or launch his terrifyingly powerful Magic Storm against the Crimson Dragon. Instead, he used his rich battle experience to lead the Crimson Dragon to death.
The lack of combat experience due to his rapid growth and progress had always been Lin Li's shortcoming. Despite having experienced several adventures and near-death experiences, the combat experience required could not be acc.u.mulated that easily. As one of the ancient deities with the most combat power and experience acc.u.mulated over thousands of years of engaging in countless battles, Balak made up for Lin Li's shortcoming. It could be considered the best thing Lin Li had gained from Osric's mausoleum.
The a.d.u.l.t Crimson Dragon had lived for several more years than Lin Li, but compared to the combat experience that Lin Li had inherited form Balak's magical crystal, the Crimson Dragon had yet to break free from its instincts as a magical beast. It was just like a child when it fought. As Lin Li expected, the Crimson Dragon finally stopped struggling when it was in Lin Li's net, and its vitality gradually disappeared.
Standing in front of the Crimson Dragon, Lin Li appeared extremely refreshed, and there wasn't a single trace of fatigue on his face at all. That was not only due to his near-infinite mana and mental strength. Most importantly, it was because of his use of combat experience. During that battle, Lin Li's Elemental Shield wasn't damaged at all, and the amount of mana and mental strength that he used did not even reach the limit of an ordinary Legendary-mage.
Just like the corpses of the other magical beasts, the Crimson Dragon's corpse was placed in the Ring of Endless Storm to accompany the Dragon of Destruction, Azardas. Afterwards, Lin Li flew into the Crimson Dragon's cave, and followed the lead of the aura. He then found the black lotus blooming in the depths of the cave—as expected. Moreover, what surprised Lin Li
was that the black lotus was actually different from the ordinary ones, and had clearly mutated.
The outer appearance of the black lotus was not too different from the normal ones, but the petals were thicker, and the edges of each petal were rimmed with gold that made them look graceful and luxurious. The mutant black lotus was much more potent than normal ones, and it was also much more violent and difficult to control.
In order to fully discover the value of the mutant black lotus, he would still have to carry out a lot of experiments. Only then could he use it in making potions. Well, at least Lin Li didn't have a better solution or means.
Lin Li suppressed the excitement he felt, and carefully picked the mutant black lotus. In fact, the collection of black lotus didn't require any special skills. However, once it had been picked, it had to be nourished with rich fire element. Otherwise, it would wither quickly. However, the requirements of the mutant black lotus were much stricter than those of the ordinary ones. Lin Li considered it for a moment, and thought of the corpse of the Crimson Dragon in his Ring of Endless Storm, after which he decided to move the mutant black lotus to the Crimson Dragon. He reckoned that the fire element in the blood of the Crimson Dragon should be enough to nourish the mutant black lotus.
After collecting the Crimson Dragon and the mutant black lotus, Lin Li did not leave the cave immediately, but instead continued to search it. Although the world was almost barren, he was still in the cave of a strong Crimson Dragon, after all. How could there be only one mutant black lotus there? Everyone knew that wyrms enjoyed collecting treasures, and Lin Li didn't think that the Crimson Dragon didn't have anything valuable even though it was a world that was poor in resources.
As expected of a wyrm. There are treasures all over! After searching for a while, Lin Li finally found the treasure vault of the Crimson Dragon. Indeed, it didn't contain much except some Red Blaze gemstones of different sizes. There were probably about hundreds of them, and the four that stood out the most were the size of a fist. They looked exactly the same as the excellent gemstones that Lin Li saw in Osric's mausoleum, but the four he had now were definitely not counterfeits.
The Red Blaze gemstones were pure fire-series magical gemstones, and were also the best amongst them. When furnished on staffs or made into magical accessories, they would allow the mage to greatly shorten the casting time and increase the power of fire magical spells. The four fist-sized Red Blaze gemstones in particular were the best of the best, and they were definitely the treasure of fire mages' dreams.
The Light and Darkness magic was the one that Lin Li used the most, followed by ice element and lightning type magic. To Lin Li, the Red Blaze gemstones didn't seem to be of much use, and even if they were made into staffs, they still couldn't compare to the Helios' Scepter. After all, the Helios' Scepter gave all magic spell a bonus.
However, out of the numerous mages at the Tower of Dusk, most of them specialized in fire magic. Even the ordinary Red Blaze gemstones would give them a huge bonus in combat power, what more the four fist-sized gemstones.
After combing the Crimson Dragon's lair, Lin Li continued to search the area for a while, and decided to continue on his journey after realizing that he could not find anything valuable. He headed in the direction that Nefa had mentioned. The area behind him was truly silent and remote. It was truly a barren land where greenery was scarce. However, there were precious herbs and Legendary-level magical beasts everywhere.
Lin Li searched while advancing forward. He had no idea how long he had been walking for. After all, he was in a world, and even if he had the support of massive mental strength, it would still require a lot of time to search and collect everything. However, a journey would definitely be completed regardless of how long it might be. Lin Li finally arrived at the bottom of the volcano, which was also the place of overlap in the Fire Elemental world.
It was a world of fire, and Lin Li could see from afar that the entire area was shrouded in red, and the terrifying fiery red fire element was all pouring out from that spot and surging towards the surrounding space like tides. Lin Li had already sensed a wave of heat coming towards him. It was not just about temperature—there was a true magic storm made up of the violent fire element. Even with his power, Lin Li had no choice but to launch his Elemental Shield and continuously induce mana into it. Otherwise, it wouldn't be able to endure for long.
Through the dim red light, Lin Li could vaguely see the silhouettes of the various fire magical beasts that were moving about rapidly in the world of flames. There were fire birds that were dancing in the air and large salamanders on the ground, along with Fire Dragons, Lord of Fire Elementals, and many other strange creatures that Lin Li could not recognize. It was a true paradise for fire-element creatures. Although the creatures like the Crimson Pythons enjoyed environment rich in fire elements, they still wouldn't be able to survive there.
However, there was an eye-catching tinge of green in the middle of the fiery red world. When Lin Li saw it, he felt a sense of joy because the green was obviously there because of the branch of the Tree of Eternity.
Actually, Lin Li was already somewhat confident that the branch of the Tree of Eternity was still alive after he heard Nefa's words. If the branch of the Tree of Eternity had already died, it would have very likely lost its power to balance the Laws. With just a massive amount of mana that was depleting and not recovering, how could it be enough for the two worlds to continue overlapping?
If the branch of the Tree of Eternity was dead, Lin Li wouldn't mind leaving after taking a glance. With his current assets, a dead branch of the Tree of Eternity wouldn't be worth the risk. Lin Li had plenty of solutions to make Nefa move his feet; hence, it wouldn't be a huge problem.
Now that he had really seen the existence of the branch of the Tree of Eternity with his own eyes, he felt more and more determined to get the branch because it was not only a branch, but an opportunity for the resurrection of the Seed of Eternity.
Staring at the tinge of green amidst the red, Lin Li tried to contain his excitement, and carefully observed the situation inside. Seeing that there was a certain distance between the fire element creatures and the branch of the Tree of Eternity, he managed to get some idea of the general situation. Given his flying speed, it wouldn't be impossible for him to barge in and steal the branch of the Tree of Eternity.
It would not be impossible to snatch away the branch of the Tree of Eternity, but Lin Li was unsure of what the detailed situation was. Even though the branch of the Tree of Eternity was there, it might not be taken away easily by him.
Chapter 799 - Giant Blazing Hand
If Lin Li did not retreat in time, he would probably have to face the siege of the fire element creatures. If that were to happen, how would he deal with it…
After much consideration, Lin Li decided that it would be better to be cautious. Hence, he approached the world of red slowly in a bid to get closer and learn more about the actual situation. However, before he could even take a few steps, he heard a loud roar that would make one's heart tremble—even though it was not as deafening as a dragon's roar—coming from the sky.
Lin Li quickly stopped and looked up into the sky, only to see a blazing cloud of fire descending from the sky and darting towards him. The cloud of fire was right in front of him, and he immediately exerted his Power of Flight to the maximum before he could even identify what it was. He then dodged in another direction, and the cloud of fire that seemed to be falling like a meteor followed. It stopped in the air opposite Lin Li at this moment.
Lin Li finally had a clear view of the cloud of fire, and realized that it was a crimson bird that was covered in flames which seemed to be its feathers. Heat waves seemed to be surging out in all directions, and massive and violent mana was also spreading to the surroundings with it as the center.
"Damn it, it's the Fire Phoenix!" Lin Li finally identified the creature that had suddenly attacked him. It was the terrifying magical beast that existed
together with the wyrms in the prehistoric times and the supreme existence among the fire elemental creatures, the Fire Phoenix.
Legend had it that the Fire Phoenix was born in flames that were terrifying enough to destroy the world, and its body was made up of Annihilation Flames that gave it the power to manipulate all flames. All of them were extremely powerful and were close to the Sanctuary-realm. They were definitely top-level existences during the prehistoric times. However, the four Elemental Worlds were then separated from Anril by the Titans and wyrms that colluded together. The Fire Phoenix, a terrifying magical beast, had never appeared in Anril from then, and had always been living in the fire Elemental World.
After hearing Nefa mention that the world would overlap with the fire Elemental World, Lin Li did not think that there would be such fire elemental creatures here. He should have long expected to see the Salamanders and the Lord of Fire Elementals. However, the appearance of the Fire Phoenix gave Lin Li a great shock, and the one in front of him was clearly an a.d.u.l.t one. The mana that it was giving out was near the Sanctuary-realm.
While Lin Li was feeling surprised about the Fire Phoenix, the pair of wings that were covering the sky flapped twice rapidly as if the phoenix was shaking off its feathers. Countless flaming feathers darted at Lin Li rapidly like arrows, shrouding the space that Lin Li could retreat to.
Although they seemed to be flames, Lin Li could clearly feel that every one of them definitely contained horrifying power. Perhaps even the Infernal Magic Iron that was famous for its high melting point and heat resistance would melt immediately. Although Lin Li had been using his Elemental Shield, he dared not move closer to it at all under such circ.u.mstances, because the Annihilation Flames were definitely not something that magical defense could withstand.
