by Zhuang Bifan
In the headquarters of the Mithril Alliance, Elvis, who had stepped into the Sanctuary-realm, sunk deep in thought for a long time after hearing the reports from the messengers whom he had sent to the Tower of Dusk.
Since the Dark Age, the Mithril Alliance's legacy had been passed down for thousands of years, and it had always been a top force in the Breezy Plains. A force with such a rich heritage actually had to bow down to a new force that had been established only for a few years. That was something that no one in the Mithril Alliance could accept.
However, it couldn't be helped, since the Tower of Dusk had such an incredible and competent president who had stepped into the Sanctuary-realm at a young age. Under the deterrence of the Sanctuary powerhouse, the people of the Mithril Alliance had no choice but to resign to fate despite feeling extremely indignant. Otherwise, if they were to end up provoking the Sanctuary powerhouse and cause him to attack them, the Mithril Alliance would be too weak to contend with him, no matter how major of a force they might be.
Fortunately, the magic tides suddenly appeared and gave Elvis, who had originally lost all hopes of stepping into the Sanctuary-realm, the chance to do so. Although the Mithril Alliance had always been apprehensive about the rumors of Lin Li dying in the Sky Castle, they had felt that even if Lin Li eventually returned, Elvis' presence of a Sanctuary powerhouse would be enough for the Mithril Alliance to gain equal footing with the Tower of Dusk.
However, after listening to the report of his men, Elvis's heart, which had just been filled with eagerness and excitement, gradually turned cold again. Elvis had a deeper understanding of the terror of a Sanctuary powerhouse than others—precisely because he had stepped into the Sanctuary-realm. Elvis could tell from the words of his subordinates that even though he had stepped into the Sanctuary-realm, the power of the young president of the Tower of Dusk was not something he could contend with.
In fact, Elvis could even sense that the gap between him and Lin Li did not decrease even though he had stepped into the Sanctuary-realm. In fact, it seemed to be greater than that of three years ago when he was only at the peak of the Legendary-realm. Elvis believed that Sanctuary powerhouses like him would only end up dying in a battle against Lin Li.
In the eyes of those who had yet to enter the Sanctuary-realm, Sanctuary powerhouses would not vary much in strength. Hence, after Elvis had reached the Sanctuary-realm, the members of the Mithril Alliance began to expect the Mithril Alliance to rise again from the doldrums. Even if the Mithril Alliance could not suppress the Tower of Dusk, they could at least be on par with the Tower of Dusk.
However, after hearing Elvis's explanation, everyone realized a truth—as long as Lin Li, the young president of the Tower of Dusk, was around, there would never be peace in the Mithril Alliance.
"Okay, don't pull a long face. I can see that the young president of the Tower of Dusk has ambitions that are far beyond this tiny Breezy Plains. Succ.u.mbing to him is not that humiliating for us." After all, Elvis had become a Sanctuary powerhouse, and his state of mind had changed greatly compared to before.
Although Elvis inevitably felt a little powerless after knowing that there was a horrifying increase in Lin Li's abilities, he soon got over it. After all, a devil like him would probably appear only once in a blue moon. He ought to be content that he was lucky enough to enter the Sanctuary-realm. If he were to insist on comparing himself to Lin Li, he would only be making things hard for himself.
As for the others of the Mithril Alliance, they were naturally somewhat disappointed. It would be fine if they had never had any expectations, but as soon as they got their hopes up, their hopes were dashed again, and it was simply a torture.
Elvis naturally knew what everyone was thinking, but they could only accept and figure it out themselves slowly. Persuasion alone would not be too effective. However, in order to avoid letting them feel indignant and develop some other thoughts that would create trouble for the Mithril Alliance, he had no choice but to give all of them a stern warning.
At this moment, the other forces of the Breezy Plains were having similar conversations as the Mithril Alliance. As usual, only Sanctuary powerhouses would know how terrifying other Sanctuary powerhouses were. Some of the forces kept a low profile after having a few members become Sanctuary powerhouses.
At the same time, the various forces became more and more respectful towards the Tower of Dusk, thus causing their speed1 to increase immediately. Within less than 20 days after Lin Li came out of the library, the businesses of the Tower of Dusk had already recovered, and were also developing rapidly.
Lin Li also made use of those few days to modify the gigantic battleship, thus causing the fortress-like battleship to become even more terrifying. With this battleship to patrol the seas, the Gilded Kingdom would be courting death even if they sent another 10 battlesh.i.p.s.
After tossing the battleship into the sea, Lin Li welcomed another longtime acquaintance of his, President Hoffman of the Glittergold Trade Union.
Despite the influence of the magic tides, Hoffman had not stepped into the Sanctuary-realm, but his power had also reached the peak of the Legendary-realm, and he was only a step away from the Sanctuary-realm.
In fact, it was a good thing for Hoffman. After all, with the power of the magic tides, he would only be considered to be in the pseudo-Sanctuary-realm, and there would be an obvious difference between him and a Sanctuary powerhouse who had broken through using his true abilities.
Due to the fact that the old president Thomas had stepped into the Sanctuary-realm, the Glittergold Trade Union now only needed a Sanctuary powerhouse to take charge for the time being. Hence, Hoffman chose to give up on this route, and continue to strengthen himself so as to enter the Sanctuary-realm based on his own abilities.
Previously, the representatives of various forces gathered at the Tower of Dusk, and due to the fact that Hoffman was in the Dwarf Kingdom, he could not make it back in time. Hence, the Glittergold Trade Union sent Elvan, who was one of the shareholders of the Glittergold Trade Union, to represent them. This time, other than catching up, Hoffman looked for Lin Li to consult him about some things regarding the Sanctuary-realm. He also arrived with plenty of information about the Gilded Kingdom.
The Glittergold Trade Union was one of the top trade unions in Anril, and its business was not only spread throughout the mainland—it had also spread to the Gilded Kingdom. It was safe to say that no other force in Anril would know the Gilded Kingdom better than the Glittergold Trade Union did.
Hoffman's news first confirmed one of the conjectures that Gavin and the others had made. There was truly an inseparable connection between the Illuminati and the Gilded Kingdom. The relationship between the Illuminati and the Gilded Kingdom was like that between the Brilliance Shrine and the Ledin Kingdom. The lord of the Illuminati had a lot of control over the Gilded Kingdom, just like the pope of the Brilliance Shrine over the Ledin Kingdom.
The Illuminati was an ancient religion that believed only in one god—the ancient god Zagar. The ancient god Zagar was a deity that had been around since Anril's establishment. It was also the only true god of Anril who had broken the chaos, given rise to Anril, and created the two strong races, the Wyrms and the Titans. Probably the speed at which they hurried to restore normal relations with ToD.
Chapter 1029 - Nonsense
Of course, every pope had the ability to exaggerate the god that they believed in, and the propagation of the doctrine of the creation of the gods was commonplace in the history of Anril. In fact, there was even an Immortal religion. The devotees believed in the Immortal King, and claimed that the Immortal King who created the world was omnipotent.
However, there was another characteristic about the religion of the Illuminati. The devotees claimed that the god that they believed in still existed in Anril. Although no religion would say that the god that they believed in had died, most of them would say that their god was in heaven. Others could not consider anything else at all.
/> However, the Illuminati's doctrine stated that the ancient god Zagar fell into a deep slumber after creating the world and the two major races, the titans and the wyrms, because of a certain force. They even stated explicitly where the ancient god Zagar had slept. Legend had it that it was in the most famous place of the Endless Ocean, known as the Great Whirlpool.
Upon hearing this, Lin Li also understood why the Illuminati could not trump the Brilliance Shrine in Anril. The Illuminati was too conservative with the description of the ancient god Zagar. How could the only true deity fall into slumber? He was clearly much inferior to the other omnipotent gods.
Of course, Lin Li was not in the mood to care about the doctrine of the Illuminati. What he was concerned about was the power of the Illuminati. After all, the Illuminati's shadow was present in all the events that had happened to the Tower of Dusk lately. Lin Li did not have to think much to know that he would sooner or later face the Illuminati.
If the Illuminati's abilities were mediocre, Lin Li would not mind using the Sky Castle to get rid of the Illuminati completely. However, it was basically impossible to do so. If the Illuminati were not capable enough, they would not be able to control the Gilded Kingdom. Based on that point alone, the Illuminati definitely wouldn't be inferior to the Brilliance Shrine.
However, the Glittergold Trade Union unfortunately did not have a thorough understanding of the power of the Illuminati. Although the Glittergold Trade Union was famous in Anril, it was only an ordinary trade union to the Gilded Kingdom. It was not because the Gilded Kingdom had a trade union that could compare to the Glittergold Trade Union, but rather that the Gilded Kingdom had imposed a lot of restrictions on foreign trade unions. They would definitely not allow foreign trade unions to control their local market.
Hence, the Glittergold Trade Union could rarely get into contact with the senior executives of the kingdom or the Illuminati. Naturally, they could not get better information.
Although Lin Li had obtained some news on the Illuminati from Hoffman, and knew how powerful the Illuminati was overseas, Lin Li might not necessarily be afraid of them even though the Illuminati was comparable to the Brilliance Shrine.
In fact, in the aspect of the Sanctuary-realm, the so-called strength comparison between the various forces was actually a comparison of the strength of the Sanctuary powerhouses. For the Sanctuary powerhouses, the number of devotees, Legendary powerhouses, and the amount of wealth they controlled did not matter. The Brilliance Shrine was extremely powerful, and they controlled the massive Ledin Kingdom as well. However, they dared not provoke the Ashen Warlock, who was all by himself, all because his only opponent was Pope Rosario of the Brilliance Shrine. To him, the archbishops and others were insignificant existences.
Hence, to Lin Li, a Sanctuary powerhouse, whether or not a force could pose a threat to him would depend on the abilities of their Sanctuary powerhouses. Although Lin Li was still unsure of how many Sanctuary powerhouses there were in the Illuminati, he was confident that with his own abilities and the power of the Sky Castle, the enemies would not be able to pose a threat to him and the Tower of Dusk even if they had a Sanctuary powerhouse.
To put it more seriously, even if the Illuminati had Sanctuary powerhouses that were as strong as the three Arbitrators, and even if Lin Li could not contend with them, no one would be able to stop him from leaving unscathed. Hence, if the senior executives of the Illuminati knew that the Tower of Dusk had Lin Li, the Sanctuary powerhouse, they would not really fall out with him.
Besides, Lin Li was certain that the Illuminati should have long discovered this. Back when Lin Li had just reached the Tower of Dusk and killed those who were surrounding the Tower of Dusk, one of the Sanctuary powerhouses stood out to stop Lin Li from taking away the captive. Now, since he had confirmed that the prisoner was from the Illuminati, the Sanctuary powerhouse who tried to stop him had to be from the Illuminati too.
Lin Li believed that no matter what the Illuminati's agenda was, they probably would not dare to continue pursuing it after finding out that the Tower of Dusk was helmed by him.
As long as the Illuminati stopped courting death, Lin Li could not be bothered to settle scores with them—not because he was magnanimous, but because he didn't have the time to.
The magic tides had already appeared, and the spacetime rifts had become more and more active. No one knew when the prehistoric magical beasts in the spacetime rifts would surge into Anril in large batches. Lin Li's time was running out. Increasing his power and sealing the spacetime rifts was the top of his priorities now. Otherwise, even if the Illuminati had a few Sanctuary powerhouses, Lin Li would drive the Sky Castle to the Gilded Kingdom and settle scores with them.
However, the other forces of the Breezy Plains were not as confident as Lin Li. Even if the few top forces had Sanctuary powerhouses, they were essentially only pseudo-Sanctuary powerhouses, some of whom had similar lifespan as other Sanctuary powerhouses, but were only slightly stronger than those who were at the peak of the Legendary-realm. They were words apart from Sanctuary powerhouses who had entered the Sanctuary-realm by relying on their own abilities.
Such pseudo-Sanctuary powerhouses could not even compare to level-25 powerhouses who had just stepped into the Sanctuary-realm, what more someone like Rosario. That was also the reason that the various forces were attacked badly by the Gilded Kingdom. Otherwise, any true Sanctuary powerhouse would definitely be able to resolve that issue.
Hence, although the people who made a mess of the Breezy Plains had already been killed by Lin Li, the various forces did not feel relieved just because of that. Instead, they began to feel a suffocating oppression.
The ordinary small and medium-sized forces might be dauntless because of their ignorance, but forces like the Mithril Alliance and the Caesar Family, which had existed since the Dark Age, knew what the Illuminati was like. In fact, perhaps there were certain ancestors of their family who used to be believers of the Illuminati.
Although they had Sanctuary powerhouses, major forces like the Brilliance Shrine were like behemoths that they dared not provoke. They might not know the exact strength of the Illuminati and the Gilded Kingdom, but with the Brilliance Shrine and the Ledin Kingdom as examples, they could more or less guess that the Illuminati was not to be provoked.
Now that they knew that the Illuminati and the Gilded Kingdom coveted the Breezy Plains, the forces immediately began to get nervous. Although many of the forces weren't convinced with the Tower of Dusk, the latter did not harm their interests, but the Illuminati was different. The things done by the Legendary powerhouses that were sent by the enemies were evidence.
They had resolved their temporary issues, but to the forces of the Breezy Plains, there was still a greater problem that they had to face next. After all, the Breezy Plains belonged to the Felan Kingdom only in name. If the Illuminati and the Gilded Kingdom invaded, the Breezy Plains' people would probably have to rely on themselves.
In order to deal with the next moves of the Illuminati and the Gilded Kingdom, the first solution that the forces of the Breezy Plains thought of was to form an alliance that could contend with them. However, there was a reason for the Breezy Plains to be known as a chaotic place. For thousands of years, it had never been unified, and there were all kinds of nasty things between its forces. Perhaps a few forces might be able to form a temporary alliance, but uniting all forces like what the Tower of Dusk had tried to do was simply a delusional idea.
Besides, in the past, they had attacked the Tower of Dusk for the sake of benefits, and the Tower of Dusk was nothing to them at all at that time. However, the opponents that they were about to face now were the Illuminati and the Gilded Kingdom. There were too many things involved. Simply put, no one wanted to take responsibility, but everyone wanted to reap the benefits. In the end, the alliance meeting turned into a laughing stock as it was dismissed after five days due to the incessant conflicts between forces.
In fact, the fo
rces were not entirely to blame. There were complicated relationsh.i.p.s between them, and even if they got the God of Mages, Geresco, to come out, he might not be able to settle their issues. Otherwise, the Breezy Plains would probably have been unified a long time ago. How could they be known as the land of chaos if not for that?
In the retaliation against the Illuminati and the Gilded Kingdom, even the top forces like the Mithril Alliance, the Caesar Family, and others could not really unite the forces of the Breezy Plains. Under the circ.u.mstances that they failed to form an alliance, the leaders of the few top forces finally gave up their ambitions, and once again sent their representatives to the Tower of Dusk in hopes that Lin Li could stand out and lead the forces of the Breezy Plains against the Illuminati and the Gilded Kingdom.
However, what everyone didn't expect was that Lin Li went missing again soon after he came out of seclusion in the library. This time, even Basel, Gavin, and the senior executives of the Tower of Dusk had no idea where their president had gone.
Hoffman stayed at the Tower of Dusk for three days. In addition to discussing with Lin Li the Illuminati and the Gilded Kingdom, he also asked Lin Li for advice about the Sanctuary-realm. Besides, after he sent Hoffman away, Lin Li immediately put aside the matters regarding the Illuminati and the Gilded Kingdom. He then began considering the issues of improving his own abilities.
Through the guidance of Geresco's incarnation, Lin Li increased his power to level-27 in the library, which was extremely fast to anyone. However, Lin Li was not satisfied with that, because he was well aware that having level-27's strength was simply insufficient for the things that he wanted to accomplish in the future.
Lin Li wanted to continue to receive the guidance of Geresco's incarnation and improve his abilities through that, but it didn't seem to be possible for the time being. Unless Lin Li's strength could increase again, he would only be putting himself through torment if he wanted to learn from Geresco's incarnation again. It was just like how one would have to think of a way to enlarge a bucket full of water to continue pouring more water into it. That could be considered a bottleneck.
