by Zhuang Bifan
"Amazing, this is really amazing," Hoffman exclaimed as he shook his head. Every potion formula was deduced and confirmed only after tens of thousands of experiments had been made, during which the amount of every single herb had to be precise and accurate. However, there were 15 herbs in the formula that formed a lock, which was rather impressive.
"I don't know how you got hold of the Book of Ten Thousand Incantations, Master Hoffman. Do you know any more information about its origins?" Lin Li asked. He had not figured out the relationship between the Book of Ten Thousand Incantations and the Immortal King last night. Hence, he wanted to find out more from Hoffman.
Upon hearing Lin Li ask about the Book of Ten Thousand Incantations, Hoffman snapped out of his trance, and thought for a while before saying, "I actually obtained the Book of Ten Thousand Incantations by chance. As for its origins, I only know that Osric looted it from the Endless Abyss. Although it doesn't seem believable, I haven't heard of other rumors."
Upon hearing this, Lin Li kept a straight face, but he could not help but be disappointed deep down. He said, "I've seen the content of the book last night, and the magic spells listed in it are very precious. However, with Osric's abilities, he probably didn't value the Book of Ten Thousand Incantations very much."
Hoffman had owned the Book of Ten Thousand Incantations for years; hence, he was naturally very clear about it. He nodded, and said, "However, it was said that Osric had looted more than just the Book of Ten Thousand Incantations from the Endless Abyss. He had also snatched another book called the Book of Ten Thousand Spells. I've been searching for it for years, but sadly to no avail. I don't know how the two books are related, either."
"Book of Ten Thousand Spells?" Lin Li asked as he suddenly got reminded of something that had long been forgotten. Had Hoffman not mentioned it, Lin Li would probably never have thought of it again.
Back in the Alanna Pharmacist Guild, Lin Li had managed to attract the attention of many people because of his superb abilities in formulating potions. At that time, Hoffman had talked to Lin Li about the formula, and promised to give him the Book of Ten Thousand Incantations in exchange for his help.
When Hoffman had left back then, Lin Li had received another esteemed and distinguished guest, Balbo, the President of the Pharmacist Guild. Balbo suggested that Lin Li join the Pharmacist Guild, and offered to give him a place in the guild and the Book of Ten Thousand Spells.
Although Lin Li did not know what the Book of Ten Thousand Spells was like, he was well aware of its value. The Book of Ten Thousand Spells was indeed a precious magic book, but even for Lin Li, it wasn't of much use now. Osric was at the peak of the Sanctuary-realm; hence, the Book of Ten Thousand Spells meant even less to him.
Do the Book of Ten Thousand Incantations and the Book of Ten Thousand Spells simply have similar names? Or is there a deeper relationship between them? At the thought of this, Lin Li secretly noted it in his mind, and thought that he would find a time to talk to Balbo about it. Perhaps he might be able to get the Book of Ten Thousand Spells.
With that idea in mind, Lin Li stopped mentioning the Book of Ten Thousand Incantations, and instead talked to Hoffman about other things. They chatted about everything, from the development of the Tower of Dusk in the past two years to the history of the Glittergold Trade Union; from the events that happened since Lin Li left the rural Jarrosus to how Hoffman helmed the Glittergold Trade Union; and so on.
After chatting for a while, Hoffman stopped all of a sudden, and remained silent for a while before saying, "President Felic, I invited you over this time to talk about another partnership opportunity in addition to the business cooperation and the potion formula."
"Oh? Please go ahead," said Lin Li, who could not help but be interested after seeing Hoffman's solemn expression.
"Master Felic, you've also found out just now that we might be famous in the Breezy Plains because of our businesses, but the capital that we got started with came from the ancient treasures that were found exploring those ancient ruins, which continues even until now." The conversation just now was not a meaningless one. Hoffman managed to find out more about Lin Li and the Tower of Dusk through the conversation just now, and thus decided to talk about that matter.
Hoffman did bring up that matter when he introduced the history of the Glittergold Trade Union to Lin Li. Nicely put, it was archeology, but to put it crudely, it was just raiding tombs. At the end of the High Elves Dynasty, many valuable tombs and ruins were left in Anril, and nearly half of them were excavated by the Glittergold Trade Union. Lin Li nodded without interjecting, but deep down, he could vaguely guess what Hoffman wanted to talk about. He reckoned that it had something to do with the ancient ruins.
"In terms of the exploration of ancient ruins, especially those of the High Elves, we can proudly say that the Glittergold Trade Union has the most authority in the entire Anril," Hoffman said smugly after his mention of the excavation of ruins.
Lin Li also knew that Hoffman was sounding as modest as he could. At the end of the Dark Age, the High Elves were eradicated in Anril, and the Glittergold Trade Union was not the only force that coveted their remaining assets and treasures.
The High Elves had ruled Anril for countless years. In addition to enslaving and exploiting several races on Anril, they had also dispatched various Magic Legions to excavate the ruins. Even the terrifying Endless Abyss was emptied out. One could only imagine how much wealth had been excavated. However, there was still a massive amount of wealth left in Anril, even though a lot of it had been divided amongst the forces that had formed the rebellion army.
During that period of time, almost the entire Anril was plunged into the upsurge of exploring the ruins of the High Elves, and countless adventurers went mad for it. However, there were definitely not many who could truly reap the attractive amount of wealth from the ruins of the High Elves. To the adventurers, the massive wealth buried everywhere was more like countless traps buried all around the place.
However, the Glittergold Trade Union seemed to have treated the High Elves' ruins like their personal treasure vault, which they harvested plenty of wealth from time and time again. Simply based on that, the Glittergold Trade Union could definitely be regarded as a respectable and authoritative force in the entire Anril.
"Master Felic, you've probably already guessed what I'm going to say. Yes, we managed to discover a ruin that seems to be related to the High Elves. It's in the Lockdamer area near the Dwarf Kingdom." Although the cooperation had yet to be confirmed, Hoffman was still very confident in Lin Li, and did not hide anything.
"Lockdamer?" Lin Li asked. He was initially just listening quietly, but when he heard the name of that place, he couldn't help but interrupt Hoffman. He apprehensively continued to ask, "Master Hoffman, pardon me for being blunt, but if I remember correctly, Lockdamer has always been a freezing snowfield since the Dark Age. The High Elves have always detested cold environments since they were born. Hence, there isn't any information to prove that they've been in the Lockdamer area."
Hoffman was not angry about Lin Li's doubting him. Instead, he nodded with a smile, and said, "You're right, Master Felic. We're also rather skeptical of the clues that we've gotten. After all, everyone knows that the High Elves have never sent any elven army to the Dwarf Kingdom even during their heyday. That is also the reason why the Dwarf Kingdom wasn't ruled harshly even though the Highlord Osric had nabbed the Dark Iron Dwarves."
In Anril, the dwarves were famous for their forging techniques, and the Dark Iron Dwarves were the pioneers of the dwarves. Legend had it that the Highlord Osric sent his Magic Legion to capture all the outstanding blacksmiths amongst the Dark Iron Dwarves because of his interest in forging. He then made the Dark Iron Dwarves stay in his palace and demonstrate the forging techniques every day and night.
When the war between the rebellion alliance and the High Elves broke out, Osric annihilated the Dark Iron Dwarves in order to prevent the rebels from obtaini
ng better equipment. In that war, the rebels wouldn't have lost as much if the Dark Iron Dwarves had still been around. The fall of the High Elves would have happened much earlier too.
It was because the Sky-breaker that was used in the attack against the Sky Castles in the later part of the war was actually developed by the Dark Iron Dwarves. Had the Dark Iron Dwarves been the ones to create the Sky-breaker, their power would have been maximized within a short period of time.
However, throughout the Dark Age, the Dwarf Kingdom had never suffered much damage or harm inflicted by the High Elves, because the Dwarf Kingdom was situated in a cold place.
Hoffman first admitted that he didn't believe it in the beginning, either. He then continued, "Although we don't have high hopes for these clues, we've still sent a team of explorers to Lockdamer and carried out a simple search according to the clues."
Hoffman's words made Lin Li stunned for a moment, after which he asked in shock, "Did you find something?"
Lin Li initially thought that Hoffman had merely obtained the clues, but he did not expect to hear that Hoffman had already sent a team of adventurers to explore and verify the facts. Actually, it did make sense. Even though the leads were a little hard to believe, it was still related to the High Elves, after all. Even if there was only a minute possibility, it was indeed worth exploring.
Chapter 851 - Gargas
Since Hoffman could reveal such an incredible piece of news, it probably meant that the team had discovered something.
A look of insuppressible excitement flashed in Hoffman's eyes, and he nodded. "Yes, the expedition team delved deep into Lockdamer, and spent about half a year exploring while following the clues. They even lost contact with us for a while. At last, they finally ended up in the huge canyon of Gargas, and made an amazing discovery."
To be honest, if he didn't know that Hoffman would never lie to him, Lin Li would have a hard time believing such a ridiculous thing. The conditions in Lockdamer were already considered to be rather harsh in Anril, and those in the huge canyon of Gargas that Hoffman mentioned were extremely terrible. If the High Elves hated the environment in Lockdamer, they would definitely detest that of Gargas.
In the language of the dwarves, "Gargas" meant "insurmountable", and the huge canyon of Gargas was indeed almost insurmountable. The huge canyon stretched across thousands of miles, and the cliffs on both sides were like swords and axes. They were covered in thick ice that had existed for thousands of years. The canyon was bottomless, and the darkness was daunting. The sounds of the wind howling miserably could be heard as if it was passing through the terrifying Endless Abyss.
The huge canyon of Gargas divided the Dwarf Kingdom and the Breezy Plains into two different worlds, and there was almost no possibility of a linkage between the two. It was precisely because of its existence that almost all the trade between the Breezy Plains and the Dwarf Kingdom had to go through the Ledin Kingdom. That was perhaps also one of the reasons that most of the forces in the Breezy Plains had always refused to integrate into the Felan Kingdom. After all, if they really did that, the authorities of the Ledin Kingdom would definitely cause them to face many more obstacles.
"About two months ago, the expedition team that went to Lockdamer returned, but only two out of the 50 members of the team managed to survive. However, the casualties weren't in vain, after all. We discovered an amazing secret from the items that they brought back. In the huge canyon of Gargas, there is very likely to be a ruin of the High Elves that is far larger in scale than any that we have ever unearthed." Hoffman's eyes glistened, and he could not suppress the excitement at all.
A team of 50 was sent to explore a place based on seemingly absurd clues. That fact alone was enough to show that the Glittergold Trade Union was indeed enthusiastic about exploring the ruins. Those who could join the expedition were probably the most loyal to the Glittergold Trade Union. Given Hoffman's status, he wouldn't mention it to an ordinary person.
At this moment, Lin Li could not help but get really interested after seeing the look of excitement on Hoffman's face. He asked, "Master Hoffman, could you tell me about the amazing discovery?"
"Haha, Master Felic, you're reading too much into things. Since I want to invite you to a cooperation, I naturally have to come up with something that you can believe." While speaking, Hoffman took out some items, and placed them on the table one by one.
There were some stones and a few loose pieces of metal accessories, which didn't seem to have anything peculiar about them. However, Lin Li took a closer look, and saw that some of the stones were carved with patterns, while some had characters of the High Elves' language carved on them. The metal accessories were also exuding faint magical waves, while the patterns on them seemed to be a part of superior mageweaths.
Lin Li didn't research much on archeology, but he could tell that those inconspicuous things indeed belonged to the High Elves. Although the mageweaths on the metal accessories could be drawn by the existing Masters of Inscription, drawing on such small pieces of accessories could perhaps only be done by top jewelers. However, jewelers were almost extinct in the Breezy Plains. Lin Li had never heard of any famous jewelers, let alone one of the Master-level.
"These things do seem to belong to the High Elves. However, how did you deduce the scale of the ruins?" Lin Li asked, believing that Hoffman wouldn't deceive him. Hence, the items of the High Elves should have been able to prove that the High Elves had appeared in the huge canyon of Gargas before. However, Lin Li couldn't help but pay attention to the scale of the ruins. After all, there would be no point in going to places like the huge canyon of Gargas unless one was motivated by something.
Lin Li looked at it from a technical point of view, while Hoffman relied on his historical knowledge and years of experience in excavating the ruins of the High Elves. After taking out those items, Hoffman took out another drawing of an exquisite accessory. He then placed the pieces of metal onto the corresponding positions of the design, and explained to Lin Li, "Master Felic, please look at the sketch of this accessory, which we found in one of the High Elves' ruins that we had unearthed. It's said that the accessory is meant for the High Elves. Can you see anything from these pieces?"
Lin Li leaned forward curiously, and took a closer look at the sketch and the pieces of metal on it. He could not help but be shocked. The drawing on the sketch was definitely larger than the actual object, but Lin Li could accurately tell that the pieces of metal were part of the accessory just by looking at the mageweaths on them.
Lin Li made some judgments about whether the accessory was meant for the High Elves after he looked at the structure of the entire mageweath on the sketch. The mageweath was a Guru-level one that had the function of creating a domain that would cancel invisibility. No assassins would be able to escape the domain unless they were at the Sanctuary-level. Another function was to provide a user with greater protection. Even if the enemies' attacks were beyond the tolerance of the mageweath, it would still allow the user to resist the attacks, and there was almost no upper limit.
However, what really attracted the High Elves were not those two incredible functions, but the fact that the user's body would be enveloped in a colorful and brilliant glow once the sacred mageweath was activated. It would allow the user to exude a sacred aura that resembled that of a god during its ascent on earth. That was also the reason that the sacred mageweath could only be used by the royals of the High Elves Dynasty. Even the Highlord Osric, who was second to the High Elven queen, was not qualified to use sacred protection mageweath anywhere.
Hence, Lin Li was sure that the High Elves relics that appeared in the ruins which the Glittergold Trade Union had excavated were likely to belong to a High Elven royal family simply because of the sacred mageweath.
In the past few years that Lin Li had been in Anril, he explored the Sky Castle, Osric's mausoleum, and the underground palace. Every treasure that he found was rather significant; hence, ordinary ruins wouldn't attrac
t him.
However, the incredible relics of the royal High Elves were different. They were considered the nobles among the High Elven aristocrats. Even if they were not famous in history, they were far wealthier than other High Elven aristocrats since they were royals. Unlike humans, the lineage of the High Elves determined the lives that they were destined to live. With greater talents and more resources, they had a far more advantageous position than ordinary nobles in all aspects, and the relics that they had left behind were naturally destined to be extraordinary.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click /book/another-world%E2%80%99s-versatile-crafting-master_11275087605321405/gargas_47972138275096162 for visiting.
At the thought of this, Lin Li couldn't help but feel a little excited. Staring at the drawings and the pieces of metals on the table, he said, "If this is really a relic of the royal High Elves, it will really be an unprecedented discovery!"
"Yes, this is exactly what I want to say, but no matter which High Elven royal family this relic belongs to, obtaining it definitely will be difficult. Hence, considering that you have explored the Sky Castle and Osric's mausoleum, I hope to cooperate with you in exploring and unearthing the ruin," Hoffman said while looking at Lin Li with anticipation in his eyes as he waited for his answer.
If it were an ordinary relic, there would be no need for the Glittergold Trade Union to share it with anyone or engage in cooperation with their current power. However, Hoffman had no choice but to take it seriously, because it might really be a relic of the High Elven royal family. The Glittergold Trade Union prospered and rose through exploring and excavating ruins. It was the most important for them to be aware of their own abilities not to be muddled up because of the huge temptation. Although wealth would usually be found in dangerous situations, how many could really survive close shaves with death and become wealthy? Perhaps, that could happen once or twice, but Lady Luck would not always shine on them. If anything were to go wrong, they would end up losing everything.
