by Zhuang Bifan
Although the matter was too incredible, no one doubted its authenticity, because they trusted Sendros greatly. They were all looking at Lin Li with awe and respect. Their respect for the incarnation of the God of Darkness was due to their belief in Darkness, and the fact that a powerhouse had already seen the door to the Sanctuary-realm at the peak level-24 made them feel even more respect towards him.
Although Sendros had already detected something, he was still rather worked up, and couldn't calm down for a long time after hearing Lin Li admit it himself. He finally suppressed the excitement in his heart, and said to Lin Li with a little envy in his eyes, "Master Felic, this is not a place to talk, let's find a place to sit down. I'd really like to hear what you've encountered in the big rift."
In the conference hall of the Darkness Shrine, Lin Li and Sendros sat side by side in the main seats while the five other high priests sat beside them. All eyes were on Lin Li, and their gazes were full of curiosity, waiting for Lin Li to reveal the truth about the disaster that struck the Darkness Shrine.
"First of all, I am sorry that I barged into the big rift without discussing it with everyone, causing you guys to get worried about me," Lin Li said, once again expressing his apology to Sendros and the rest. He then began to talk about everything that happened after he entered the big rift. "The other side of the big rift is a deserted world where large numbers of prehistoric magical beasts gather. However, I didn't get into a fight with them after I entered, mainly because…"
Lin Li told them everything about his encounter with Nefa, the descendant of the Dragon of Destruction, and High Priest Rogge, followed by the fight between the two Sanctuary powerhouses and the Flame Dragon Lothar. However, during his account, he skipped the details about certain matters, such as his pact with Nefa, as well as Nefa's pact with Rogge. He also chose not to elaborate on the understanding that he'd gained about the battle between the Immortal King and the Dragon of Destruction.
"Is High Priest Rogge still alive? He really is alive!" To everyone in the Darkness Shrine, Rogge's status was on par with that of the incarnation of the God of Darkness. Upon hearing Lin Li announce the news, the high priests including Sendros stood up with excitement.
"Yes, but High Priest Rogge said that the time isn't ripe yet; hence, he will not come out to see you guys. It wasn't appropriate for me to ask about the reason, since he didn't mention it. However, before I returned, High Priest Rode asked me to bring you something," Lin Li said as he took out a thin journal and handed it to Sendros who was beside him.
"This is…" Sendros grabbed the journal solemnly with both hands. The journal was made of the skin of a three-headed Manticore, and was emitting a strong magical wave. After he sat down, he opened the journal gently and took a glance. His eyes widened all of a sudden, and he couldn't help but say in surprise, "This… This is the Dark Magic that has been lost for centuries! It can't be found in the Darkness scripture at all."
Lin Li had already read the contents of the journal, and received Rogge's personal guidance. Hence, he was not surprised by Sendros' astonishment, because apart from the powerful Legendary magic, various Sanctuary-realm spells that maximized the Dark Force were also recorded in the journal. Although Sendros was still unable to cast Sanctuary-level magic, he would definitely be close to the door of the Sanctuary-realm after studying Sanctuary-realm magic.
Sendros didn't read the contents in detail, as every spell in the magic journal would take him a long time to read. It was obviously not the time to do so now. He carefully put away the magic journal and looked at Lin Li with a gaze that was full of gratitude. Lin Li had helped them resolve the crisis of the Darkness Shrine, confirmed that High Priest Rogge was still alive, and even brought them such an important magic journal. To the Darkness Shrine, it was a huge favor.
After the conversation ended, the five high priests proceeded to perform their respective duties. After all, the Darkness Shrine had made some preparations to deal with the disaster, but they were clearly unnecessary now. Although the big rift still existed, and they still didn't know if there would be such a disaster again in the future, they reckoned that there would be at least hundreds of years of peace in the Darkness Shrine with High Priest Rogge around.
"Master Felic, you can already see the door of the Sanctuary-realm. How confident are you in preparing the Tribute of Darkness?" Actually, Sendros was quite embarrassed when he was asking that question. After all, Lin Li was the one who solved the problem for the Darkness Shrine this time. It did seem rather inappropriate for him to be asking for another favor before even returning the first.
Chapter 816 - The Tribute of Darkness
However, no one could refuse the temptation of breaking through to the Sanctuary-realm. After reading Rogge's magic journal, Sendros was even more eager to improve his abilities and power. In order to do so, he would probably have to use the Legendary Tribute of Darkness, which was the sacred potion of the Undead, in addition to practicing for a long time.
The Tribute of Darkness was called the sacred potion of the Undead, and was a treasure that was highly coveted by the Necromancers. It was said that anyone who drank the Tribute of Darkness would immediately be converted into a Darkness form that was one of the closest to the original form of magic. When in the form of Darkness, manipulating Dark magical element would become an instinct. It was a complete mastery and perfect control of the magical element, and being in the form of Dark Magic was akin to becoming the legendary Darkness incarnation.
After so many years of acc.u.mulation of knowledge and experience, he would probably be able to enter the Sanctuary-realm if he could get a single dose of the Tribute of Darkness, especially since he now had the Sanctuary powerhouse Rogge's magic journal. The Sanctuary-realm was the holy grail of every ambitious mage. No one could resist the temptation of the Sanctuary-realm.
Hence, despite feeling a little embarrassed, Sendros couldn't help but ask Lin Li about it. After all, Sendros already knew through the fact that Lin Li had detoxified the poison in Pope Rosario's body that Lin Li was probably a pharmaceutics Guru. In the entire Anril, Lin Li was the only one who could prepare the Tribute of Darkness.
"Well, I am rather confident, but I lack a lot of the ingredients needed to prepare the Tribute of Darkness, especially the main herbs, which I have none of," Lin Li answered after some hesitation.
The preparation of the Tribute of Darkness was actually a deal that Lin Li had made a long time ago with Sendros when he'd still been an Archmage. Sendros had given the Heart of the Fallen from his collection to Lin Li and helped him integrate the Heart of the Fallen into the soul fire of the Humerus Wyrm on the condition that Lin Li would help him prepare a dose of the Tribute of Darkness once he was competent enough.
At that time, Lin Li wanted to turn him down because he wasn't too confident about concocting the Tribute of Darkness, even though he was a pharmaceutics Guru. The Tribute of Darkness was the most difficult to prepare among all the Guru-level potions. In the opinion of many pharmacists, one would have to reach the level of a Divine Smith in order to successfully concoct the Tribute of Darkness.
However, after training for such a long time, Lin Li had definitely reached the peak of the Guru-level even though he still hadn't broken through yet. This time, he had gotten a glimpse of Sanctuary-level power. Although it would be wrong to apply a single concept to everything, his clear understanding of the nature of the power had also allowed him to advance greatly in terms of concocting potions.
Hence, Lin Li could safely say that he was 70-80% confident that he could concoct the Tribute of Darkness. However, the difficulty in preparing the Tribute of Darkness did not lie only in the techniques required. The rarity of materials was also an important factor that contributed to the difficulty. For example, the two main herbs required—Everchill Flower from the arctic snowfield and the fruit from the Heart-devouring Tree below the 33rd level of the Abyss—were herbs that Lin Li had never seen before.
"Well,
what if you have all the materials and herbs that you need? How confident are you in preparing it?" Sendros quickly asked again.
"Why? Have you collected all the herbs that are required?" Lin Li asked in shock when he heard Sendros' words. He knew that many precious herbs could not be bought with money or found just based on incredible strength. Those precious herbs were truly rare to come by.
Lin Li watched as Sendros nodded slowly and answered, "You know that although the Darkness Shrine has only been around for more than a thousand years, the Eternal Shrine that existed before the Darkness Shrine has been in Anril for a long time. Although most of the assets that I've inherited back then are gone, I still have the ability to get the herbs needed for the Tribute of Darkness."
In fact, with Sendros' current strength and Rogge's magic journal, it wouldn't be too difficult for him to step into the Sanctuary-realm even without the help of the Tribute of Darkness. The only thing he needed was time. However, through this incident, Sendros had a hunch that Anril might soon lose its peace again, even though the dreaded catastrophe did not happen. Under such circ.u.mstances, entering the Sanctuary-realm sooner would be very necessary for him and the Darkness Shrine.
"However, I am only 80% sure. Unless there is room for failure, I suggest you wait a little longer if the materials are not sufficient," Lin Li said conservatively. He had no choice but to do so, as the value of the herbs required for the preparation of the Tribute of Darkness might be enough to purchase the entire Felan Kingdom. If the concoction failed, the loss would be too great.
After hearing Lin Li's words, Sendros could not help but hesitate for a while. He was a Master of pharmaceutics himself, and had a deep understanding of the value of various herbs. He also knew how difficult it was to prepare the Tribute of Darkness. However, after hesitating for a while, he said to Lin Li, "Although the materials are only enough to make a single potion, I still want to try it. While those herbs are precious, they will not be of any value if they cannot be formulated into potions."
Sendros' thoughts were actually very simple. The Divine Smith had always existed in legends, and for the vast majority of people, it was an ethereal existence. Although Lin Li was already a pharmaceutics Guru, he would still have to wait a long time before becoming a Divine Smith. During the wait, Sendros might even be able to step into the Sanctuary-realm by himself, without the help of the Tribute of Darkness.
Lin Li also understood Sendros' intentions. After remaining silent for a long time, he said, "Okay, we can give it a try, but in order to ensure a higher success rate, I have to make some preparations in advance."
Sendros was over the moon, and he frantically said to Lin Li, "Thank you very much. If you need anything, feel free to let me know and I'll get them to fully cooperate." Although he did not have the ability to prepare the Tribute of Darkness, he knew that concocting such a high-level potion would require plenty of preparations. It would be impossible to prepare it just with some herbs.
Lin Li's original plan was to give Sendros an explanation after coming out of the big rift, and then put an end to the visit in the Darkness Shrine. To his surprise, Sendros suddenly suggested that he prepare the Tribute of Darkness, which was a promise that they had made a long time ago. Since Sendros had made up his mind, Lin Li naturally had nothing to say.
Although the herbs would all be provided by Sendros, Lin Li didn't want to really spoil the precious herbs that were rare and could not be found easily. Hence, before he began the concoction, he would have to make meticulous preparations in advance. The first step would be to make numerous calculations and separate each step of the preparation process. Lin Li claimed that he was 80% certain of successfully preparing the potion, but since he had agreed to help Sendros, he had to strive to do his best. After all, the herbs that Sendros had were barely enough for the Tribute of Darkness. Hence, he would have to pen down the numbers and carry out a huge amount of calculations.
However, planning things out on paper alone was not enough, and he would have to carry out plenty of experiments to verify various preparation methods. Although some of the herbs required were relatively easy to obtain, the amount required was daunting as well. Fortunately, while the Darkness Shrine had declined, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. Besides, they had a powerful background. Otherwise, the amount of herbs consumed during the experiment would be discouraging enough.
"Joan, collect some herbs according to the list. We're running out of them. There isn't much left in the laboratory," Lin Li instructed his assistant while fiddling with the equipment in the laboratory that Sendros had arranged for him.
"Yes, Master Felic, I'll get going now," said Joan, who had been working as Lin Li's assistant the past few days. Actually, he did not help much, and he mainly helped Lin Li collect all kinds of herbs. He felt like his heart was about to bleed when he saw the large amount of precious herbs that he sent turn into worthless waste. The process was simply too torturous.
However, Joan dared not say anything, for High Priest Sendros had already instructed him to speak less and abide by Lin Li's instructions. Although he didn't know what Lin Li was about to do, he reckoned that it had to be a very important thing since the chief high priest was taking it seriously.
This time, only Sendros and the other high-level officials of the Darkness Shrine knew about the incarnation of the God of Darkness and the catastrophe that almost struck the Darkness Shrine. Apart from the few high-level officials, the other believers of Darkness simply thought that Lin Li was a distinguished guest of Sendros. Those who were more informed would know that the Tower of Dusk and the Darkness Shrine were in cooperation.
Joan grabbed the list given by Lin Li, and when he looked at the various herbs listed on it, he couldn't help but be secretly astonished. Although the Ghost Grass and Lilacs were not extremely precious herbs, the value and quantity required were absolutely astonishing.
"Nark, hurry and collect these herbs," Joan said as he handed the list to Nark, the person in charge of guarding the warehouse where the herbs were stored.
"Oh my God, why are you here again? Did the higher-ups make you build another storeroom elsewhere!?" It was no wonder that Nark said that, because the herbs that Joan had picked up these days were almost half of the inventory in the warehouse.
"Stop making wild guesses and hurry up. Prepare the herbs," Joan said with a wry smile. If Nark knew that the herbs that he had picked up the past few days had all gone to waste, he would probably vomit blood.
Nark had also received instructions from Sendros, and thus simply expressed his astonishment for a while before proceeding to collect the herbs on the list. While walking, he looked at the herbs listed and shook his head while thinking to himself, There's going to be so much more space in the storeroom after this!
Chapter 817 - Getting Busy
Just as Nark was about to enter the warehouse, another thin old man walked towards him from afar. Before he even reached Nark, he yelled, "Nark, give me 20 Lilacs. I need them urgently."
Nark stopped in his tracks, turned around to him with a bitter smile, and said, "Master Markelyle, Joan has already taken all the Lilacs. If you want them, I can only find five or six for you. Why don't you wait for the caravan to arrive?"
For every force, pharmacists were indispensable, and the Darkness Shrine was no exception. Although Sendros was a very accomplished Master of pharmaceutics, he was still the leader of the Darkness Shrine, after all, and it would be impossible for him to spend all his time preparing potions. Moreover, Sendros might be interested in concocting potions, but it was not what he wanted. His real goal was still to one day enter the Sanctuary-realm and become a Sanctuary powerhouse who stood on the peak of Anril. Hence, he decided to leave it to a group of professional pharmacists to prepare the potions that they needed daily, and Markelyle was the head pharmacist of the Darkness Shrine.
Although Markelyle was only a level-17 Archmage, he had a high status in the Darkness Shrine because he was the
chief pharmacist. Even Sendros and the several other high priests of the Darkness Council would be extremely polite to him whenever they saw him.
However, Markelyle had been rather upset in the past few days because he had dropped by the warehouse to collect the herbs he needed, only to be told that someone had taken them all in advance on several occasions. However, when he returned to question his subordinates, none of them admitted to taking herbs from the warehouse privately.
"Which rascal took away so many Lilacs? What do you need so many for? To cook up a dish!? Nark, did you secretly sell the herbs? If you don't give me an explanation today, let's find a place to reason things out!" Markelyle hollered as he dashed forward and stomped his feet to vent his dissatisfaction.
With a wry smile on his face, Nark pointed his finger at Joan, who was hiding in the corner.
"Master Markelyle, you can't blame me for this, you'd better ask Joan," he said to the infuriated Markelyle while casting Joan an apologetic glance. He did not want to receive a lashing from the old man.
Markelyle immediately stopped scolding Nark, and instead turned to glower at Joan menacingly as if he were going to devour him. He gritted his teeth, and said, "Your name is Joan, eh? Why don't I remember seeing you in the Darkness Shrine? Have you eaten all those herbs!?"
"Uh, Master Markelyle, you're mistaken. These herbs are not for me, but Master Felic. Besides, High Priest Sendros has instructed us to prioritize Master Felic's needs, so please wait for a while," Joan said while facing Markelyle's intense gaze, trying to explain. He couldn't help but retreat and take a few steps back, though.
"Felic? What Master Felic… Sounds familiar," said Markelyle, who found Felic's name familiar after carefully thinking about what Joan said just as he was about to continue reprimanding.
