“This won’t do! The difference in power is too much. If we stay here, we’ll definitely die!”
Manla immediately pulled Jenna up, turned, and ran!
Rationally speaking, Manla was a semi-converted Magus whose elemental essence conversion was at least 50%. In the Magus community on the south coast, he would be considered the cream of the crop. However, he had the misfortune of meeting an evildoer like Leylin, who was much too powerful even when his spiritual force and elemental essence conversion were being suppressed. In terms of hand to hand combat, Manla couldn’t win either.
“Tiwoose Fererian!”
The moment they started to escape, Manla threw out a silver magic scroll.
Nine green tornados formed, and like a wall, they hindered Leylin from giving chase.
“You’re thinking of running?”
Darkness flashed in Leylin’s eyes, and after muttering a few incantations, he pointed forward with his right hand.
Black fog immediately converged to become a black python, which headed for the two of them.
This snake was like an illusion, passing through the green tornados. When it arrived in front of Manla, its crimson eyes were fixed on Jenna, and it bit towards her.
“What the hell is this?”
Manla produced another tornado.
*Hua la!* The black snake ducked and passed through without trouble, and then opened its mouth, viciously biting Jenna’s neck!
Two black pinholes instantly emerged on Jena’s fair neck. They transformed to form a strange, twisted rune.
“Jenna?”
There was a white light surrounding Manla’s hand as he tried to brush the snake away.
However, with a swipe of the python’s tail, it shifted and bit Manla’s arm. The same rune was branded there as well.
After these two attacks, the snake hissed and turned back into the black fog, which entered Manla and Jenna’s bodies.
“This seems to be a curse! It’s going to be troublesome!”
Manla’s face fell. He couldn’t feel anything different from the formation of the curse, but instincts told him that it was going to be inconvenient.
“Jenna, hold on!” Manla yelled crazily, the green hurricanes still spreading. His entire body seemed to turn into a gale, and disappeared into the forest.
Seeing Manla escape in that direction, Leylin did not move.
His body seemed to have shattered like porcelain, with large volumes of blood suddenly gushing out.
“It seems like I can’t endure it any longer, the injuries are too severe.” Leylin was half kneeling on the floor. He suddenly became dizzy, and his vision began to blur.
If possible, he obviously wanted to give chase and kill the two off. However, with his current physical condition, it was impossible for him to continue battling.
“However, the curse that I put up at the end… Hehe… cough, cough.”
Leylin laughed evilly but started to cough violently, spitting out large globs of black blood.
“Light elemental Magi will always be the archenemies of dark elemental Magi. Just a cage made of elemental particles was enough to reduce me to this state…”
Leylin laughed bitterly and his figure quickly turned into black smoke, disappearing into the forest.
Currently, he was in urgent need of a place to treat his injuries.
Although he’d told George and the acolytes to wait for him, Leylin couldn’t even take care of himself, much less the others, so that matter was naturally thrown to the back of his mind.
……
After ten or so hours, in a temporarily set up tent.
In the twilight, an oil lamp illuminated the area a dull yellow. Hay was spread across the floor, and Leylin sat atop of it. In his right hand was a test tube with a potion within, which he was constantly tilting towards the injuries on his left hand.
This test tube was rather large, and in the translucent liquid, one could see something that looked like a baby’s face. It was encased in the liquid, and continuously let off little bubbles.
*Tssssss!*
After the potion was dripped into the wounds, large amounts of white gas were emitted, along with the sounds of corrosion.
“Ugh!” An intense pain struck Leylin’s nerves; he seemed to have been struck by lightning, his muscles involuntarily twitching.
Leylin bit down hard, and large droplets of cold sweat dripped from his forehead.
After that intense wave of pain, his wounds started to get numb.
This numbing effect was very strong, feeling like tens of thousands of ants had crawled and gnawed on his bones. Leylin’s pale face reddened as he sucked in sharply.
At the same time, in the areas where Leylin’s left arm was injured, various veins and muscles squirmed and began to regenerate.
First, the fractures in the bone were completely healed, and the flesh and veins followed soon after. After a few minutes, Leylin tested out his left arm.
At this point, the injuries on his left arm had been completely healed. Leylin’s arm was slender and fair, but under that beautiful appearance, there were muscles that held much explosive power.
It was impossible to tell that this arm had been on the verge of breaking off just minutes prior.
Leylin tested out his left arm again with some actions and smiled in satisfaction.
“I’m lucky there was some liquid left over from the Flourishing Flower! If not, the injuries on this arm wouldn’t have been able to be taken care of so easily.”
The Flourishing Flower was an important ingredient used by Magi in operations to regenerate limbs.
No matter what kind of injury it was, as long as there were enough Flourishing Flowers, it would be very likely that one could recover.
The Flourishing Flower that Leylin was holding was something he had gained during his days as an acolyte. He had exchanged some of them in the Abyssal Bone Forest Academy for incomplete information about the Branded Swordsman.
Excluding the injuries on his arm, Leylin had also used several potions to treat his wounds. He was now able to move freely and fight in less vigorous battles.
“I’ve mostly recovered. I guess it’s time for me to go to the Marat Canyon!”
Leylin was a fairly cautious person. In the secret plane at the Eternal River Plains, it was dangerous beyond belief, to the point that even Magi were considered fodder! As a spy from the Thousand Meddling Hands, if he were ever to be discovered, he would be chased to the ends of the world!
In this situation, if he were to sustain any injuries, Leylin knew that there was little chance of him surviving, much less being lucky enough to reap benefits.
Leylin had already considered leaving and going somewhere else if his injuries couldn’t be treated.
After all, he still valued his own life over making profits.
However, the situation was not so dire. Though he had made enemies with a possibly high ranking Magus family with the abilities of divination, he didn’t think much of it.
“I believe they aren’t feeling very well right about now, yes? My curse won’t be taken apart very easily.”
Leylin smirked icily.
Though he had not been able to kill his opponents, he had successfully cursed Jenna and Manla with a spell that was unique to him.
The formation of this curse originated from a curse in the great Magus Serholm’s Book of Giant Serpent. Leylin had started the foundations of that curse and had made the appropriate changes to it.
After adding in every method he could think of, the curse was so different from the original that even the great Magus Serholm would be unable to undo it.
Like a password, it was complicated and difficult to make sense of.
If one were not the original maker of the password, and instead tried to use brute force to get through, the object protected by the password would be destroyed.
Jenna and Manla seemed to have high standings within their family, and most likely wouldn’t be given
up on so easily.
Leylin’s next task was to use the power of the curse to find out who his enemies were.
As he had been followed and almost killed on the basis of some useless prediction, Leylin was quite annoyed.
However, there was still a family backing them, and he did not want to shed all sense of cordiality without making sense of the situation before him.
This was why Leylin had chosen not to chase them and had instead placed a mark on both of them.
Chapter 204 – Marat Canyon
Marat Canyon was located at the end of Pome Alley.
It was a barren canyon where the area and economy were both destitute. Apart from several wretched people who lived here in extreme poverty, no other humans would bother with a place like this
However, after the discovery that there was an entrance to a secret plane in this area, everything changed.
Ever since one of the entrances to the Eternal River Plains’ secret plane was discovered here, Magi from every corner began to fight each other over the area.
Eventually, the hunting and battle teams from Four Seasons Garden, with the aid of the white Magi domain, managed to repel the dark Magi forces and claim this land as theirs.
Soon after this, unaffiliated Magi and acolytes set up a market for magic items in the surroundings.
Four Seasons Garden’s higher-ups were well aware this place wasn’t well developed and dispatched people here. They treated this Magus Market as the center of their power and created a little town, welcoming all non-dark Magi.
The first impression Leylin had when walking in this small town was that it had a lively atmosphere.
“Looking for members! All of us are level 3 acolytes! We have a healer!”
“The latest map of the secret plane for only 500 magic crystals!”
“Walking Dragon Flower! Walking Dragon Flower that’s freshly plucked from the Eternal River Plain’s secret plane for 6000 magic crystals! This is a discounted rate!”
“I am looking for a group to join! I’m a level 3 acolyte and have both offensive and defensive skills. I also know three healing rank 0 spells.”
From the entrance of the little town, various stall-keepers, adventurers and official Magi were crowded together, constantly arguing over prices till they were red in the face.
Everyone was at least an acolyte. There were no regular humans.
The whole town was like a busy food market.
After much effort Lelin arrived at Four Seasons Garden’s administrative area, which was located in the middle of the town.
Compared to the chaos outside, it was much quieter inside the administrative area, which had the battle and hunting teams guarding the area.
Leylin couldn’t help but think about the two official Magi he had seen at the entrance to the administration area.
Getting two official Magi to stand guard obviously caused the Magi and acolytes who came here to feel immense pressure.
Numerous Magi were chattering amongst themselves quietly as they walked by Leylin. All of them looked to be in a hurry.
“Welcome! May I know if you’re here to do the entrance procedures? Please provide evidence that you aren’t a dark Magus, and then present 500 magic crystals. You will then have a one-time opportunity to enter!”
Leylin came to a counter, and as soon as the personnel saw him, he quickly spoke very formally, as if he were selling tickets.
In reality, Four Seasons Garden’s higher-ups had actually capitalized on the opportunity to enter the secret plane by selling entry permits.
“I’m not a Magus from anywhere else. I belong to Four Seasons Garden’s Potioneering team and have been transferred here!”
Leylin placed his token of identification on the counter.
“Ah… My apologies, Lord Leylin!”
The personnel took a look at the symbol and name on the token and bowed.
“No worries!” Leylin looked at the several counters that had a long queue behind them and asked indifferently, “Have there been many magicians going in recently?”
“A large amount have come! Once we had allowed non-affiliated magicians to enter, the Magi and acolytes who came forth to register had filled up this area… We even had to request for several of the hunting team Magi to maintain order!”
The staff smiled wryly.
Leylin was aware of this policy.
Before he came here, he had taken a tour around the town and gathered information.
Though Four Seasons Garden had taken over this entrance, the amount of magicians who came here was no small number. If they kept hogging the entrance, it was sure to trigger someone’s dissatisfaction.
It wasn’t much if it was just acolytes, but when there were wandering official Magi involved, the situation wasn’t as easy to deal with.
If there were dark Magi purposely inciting conflict, then this cause a catastrophe!
Hence, the light Magi factions made a temporary agreement to become allies. They decided to open the entrance up to the public.
All entrances that were controlled by light Magi had rules: other than dark Magi, as long as one paid up 500 magic crystals, one would have the right to enter the secret plane!
In addition to this, there was the condition that acolytes had to give up 50% of their earnings within the secret plane to the light Magi powers guarding the entrance. Even official Magi would have a portion of their profits taken away!
Even with these fees, magicians still flocked here.
They unceasingly entered the secret plane and explored the areas without fear of death. There were some with good luck that managed to survive and leave the area with large amounts of resources. This attracted more acolytes to enter and risk their lives in the plane.
While these free labourers were dying by the dozen, Four Seasons Garden was hiding in the shadows and stealing portions of their profits. They were earning a fortune from this, and on top of that, through coercion and purchases, they now had a map of almost a million mu of the plane and received precious information firsthand.
To large light Magi organisations like the Four Seasons Garden, the resources that were currently inside the secret plane was just a small reward. What they really hankered after was the continuous production of resources that the secret plane could provide!
Hence, with the resources as the bait, large organisations such as the Four Seasons Garden were able to attract many magicians with no affiliation to risk their lives and enter the secret plane for the resources. In exchange, they would be able to obtain more information regarding the topography and ecosystem within the secret plane.
As for the unaffiliated magicians, even if they were aware of the manipulations and hidden agendas behind the entrance fees, as long as they walked the path of a Magus they had no choice but to enter this profitable scheme that the white Magi had established. As the saying goes, as one is willing to be hit, one is willing to beat.
Even Leylin had no choice but to approve the deviousness of this shrewd plan.
Warlock of the Magus World 1-596 Page 157
