The High Elf leader panicked and sped up his chanting speed, while his voice became sharp and harsh. He was no longer as refined and elegant as before. However, his efforts were in vain because the branches that swarmed over soon entangled and cocooned him like an insect. Immediately afterwards, a dull and miserable cry sounded from the green cocoon, and the power of the Domain World quickly faded.
When that Domain World completely disappeared, Lin Li was left hovering in the sky with a relaxed look, while the proud High Elf leader had already disappeared without leaving anything behind.
In fact, if it were Elder Zumar of the Illuminati, Lin Li might not have won so easily. The High Elf leader only had himself to blame for being a showoff and exerting power that he could not even master himself in front of Lin Li who had two saplings of the Tree of Eternity.
After killing the Sanctuary-level High Elf leader, Lin Li returned to The Star, which was under his control, and began attacking the High Elves ferociously. That battle made Lin Li realize the power of The Star‘s combat power as the High Elves’ fleet became a prop for The Star to show its power.
Under the fierce attacks launched by The Star, the remaining High Elven battleships were barely able to retaliate, and they either sank to the bottom of the sea or simply vanished.
After the battle ended, Lin Li had gained a better understanding of The Star‘s performance. At the same time, he couldn’t help but want to possess a powerful sea fortress. Although he already had the Sky Castle now, he could not use it easily. If he had a sea fortress like The Star, it would definitely be of great help in the future, be it when he was exploring the Endless Ocean or when developing the Tower of Dusk.
However, Lin Li had merely operated the arms system of The Star, and he still couldn’t interfere with The Star‘s voyage yet. Besides, he didn’t want to do so at the moment, either. After all, he still had to wait for The Star to bring him to his destination where he could find out Geresco’s intention for bringing him to this world.
After the battle with the High Elves’ fleet, The Star seemed to be sailing on a safer course, and there were no powerful sea beasts appearing along the way like before. Lin Li also began to relax a little. Apart from studying the structure of The Star, he spent the rest of his time waiting to reach the destination.
Just like that, The Star sailed on the sea for another six or seven days. Lin Li finally saw a huge island in front of The Star from afar. As The Star approached, he also got a clearer glimpse of the island, and saw that there were countless buildings, as well as a large port where various kinds of ships were docked.
Where’s this place? Is Geresco’s purpose to get me here? Several doubts popped up in Lin Li’s mind as he really couldn’t imagine what kind of secrets could be hidden on such a seemingly prosperous island.
Finally, The Star slowly sailed into the harbor on the island, and the boats there hurriedly evaded when they saw the massive ship. Even though they had never seen The Star in action, they could tell from its massive size that their tiny vessels would definitely be smashed into bits immediately upon coming into contact with it.
Lin Li came out of The Star,and walked straight towards the center of the island, ignoring the countless curious or fearful gazes that were being cast on him. He didn’t have to worry about the safety of The Star, either, because there was a skeleton watching from above anyway. Besides, even if there wasn’t anyone watching, The Star could not be operated or maneuvered by just anyone. In fact, no one below the Sanctuary-realm could safely step on the deck of The Star without permission.
Looking at his surroundings curiously, Lin Li walked towards the center of the island, which was not solely occupied by humans. Apart from humans, which was the most common race, there were also dwarves, orcs, and even High Elves. Besides, even those whose races had feuds with each other seemed to be getting along peacefully here. Although it was not to the extent that they could call each other friends, they at least wouldn’t get into conflicts.
There was a large variety of stores on both sides of the streets that peddled a variety of goods from weapons and equipment, which were the most common, to the carcasses of sea beasts. Stores that sold a plethora of marine resources were the most common. In addition to a variety of live and dead deep-sea magical beasts, there were a large number of minerals sold, which were rarely found on the mainland. An example would be aquamarine adamantine, which was sold for a cheap price here.
Lin Li walked aimlessly on the island, only to find the island increasingly familiar. Standing on the top of one of the highest hills on the island, he looked around and discovered that there were numerous mountains in the other directions in the distance, forming a crescent-shaped bay. The island was located in the center of the bay.
Isn’t this Cage Island? Looking at the surrounding scenery, Lin Li suddenly recalled the barren island where the corpse of the Dragon of Destruction was sealed, and which the Gilded Kingdom had requested him and the others to go to give aid. Initially, Lin Li did not dare to believe it, but after matching it with what he remembered, he realized that that place was 90% similar to Cage Island in his memory, except for some minor details.
Is this really Cage Island? Lin Li looked away from the distance, and turned around to begin observing the surroundings, which were rather lively. Compared to the deserted Cage Island, it was drastically different.
At this point, Lin Li suddenly remembered that when he was walking over, he vaguely heard the conversations of the people passing by. Initially, he didn’t take those words to heart, and thus did not deliberately listen to what they said, but now that he had recalled their conversations, he realized that it seemed that they were speaking in a different language!
Thinking of this, Lin Li decided to make his way down the hill and return to the somewhat lively street. At this juncture, Lin Li soon discovered the issue from their conversation because he had deliberately paid attention to it. Although the humans, dwarves, and whatnot were speaking in a common language, they had a strange accent.
After thinking carefully, Lin Li suddenly remembered that the strange, accented common language was not some local dialect, but a very ancient common language. In Lin Li’s memory, this ancient common language seemed to be popular in Anril thousands of years ago.
That should be during the Dark Age, which was also when the High Elves Dynasty was at its prime and most prosperous. Under such circumstances, there was very little communication between the various races, thus giving rise to the peculiar accent. In fact, it could even be considered a common language, or perhaps it was not really a common language, but a simple communication method that arose from the exchange between the various races, and which had not been modified much.
As the High Elves’ rule over Anril weakened in the late Dark Age, communication between the various races increased day by day. Gradually, the common language began to be improvised, and the languages of various races were fused to become more suitable for the use of various races. Hence, the accent of the ancient common language gradually disappeared over time.
Thus, although Lin Li also mastered the universal language, it still took him some effort to decipher and understand it. Fortunately, apart from the accent and words, there were barely any changes to the common language. Although he was struggling, he could still somewhat understand the meaning of their words.
Lin Li walked on the street for a while, and he already had a conjecture that this world that Geresco had created seemed to be based on Anril from thousands of years ago. That was similar to the ancient world of Alanna that he had experienced when he first explored the Sky Castle.
Of course, strictly speaking, the ancient Alanna that the Immortal King had created was in fact still in sync with the time in Anril. However, due to the fact that that world was closed to the outside world, there were very little changes, and it had been developing slowly like it had during the Dark Age. Has the world now been developing for thousands of years, or is it just a scenario-based world created by Geresco at a specific time?
At this point, Lin Li found a tavern next to the street. Taverns were usually rowdy places with all sorts of people; hence, it was just the place for him to find out some more about this world or Cage Island.
Thus, Lin Li turned around, walked over to push the obscure wooden doors, and walked into the somewhat dimly lit tavern. Actually, the taverns from thousands of years ago were not much different from the ones in present-day Anril. It was dim and rowdy, and the air was filled with the smell of alcohol and tobacco, as well as the revolting stench of sweat.
Although it was still daytime, the tavern was full, and there were even some human sailors who were wearing singlets, bearded dwarves, and hideous orcs. As for the High Elves, they definitely wouldn’t want to come to such a place, because it was probably one of the filthiest places of Anril in their opinion.
However, in addition to the humans and common races, Lin Li also discovered a group of peculiar-looking people or creatures in the tavern. They were covered in fine scales, and had bald heads with only holes for ears. The most bizarre thing was that they seemed to have gills, and were breathing using the gill-like structures that opened and closed with their breathing.
Lin Li squeezed through the crowd, and arrived at the bar counter of the tavern. Straining his voice, he ordered a glass of ale from the bartender at the bar. It was the only ale that Lin Li knew of that hadn’t changed much after thousands of years. It still tasted rancid and was as cheap as ever.
Boom!
A large cup of ale was slammed hard on the table in front of Lin Li. The yellow liquid with white foam looked just like a cup of urine, but others were enjoying it very much.
In particular, the dwarves were relishing and gulping down large glasses of ale which flowed down their thick beard to their chests. They then slammed the glass hard on the table, and patted their chest while burping before continuing to brag to the people around them.
Lin Li picked up his glass, put up with the rancid stench, and pretended to take a sip. He then put down the glass, and casually asked the bartender, “Bartender, where do those peculiar-looking people over there come from?”
The bartender didn’t seem surprised by Lin Li’s accent, perhaps because he had seen all kinds of people in this place and heard all kinds of accents. However, he revealed a look of bewilderment when he heard Lin Li asking about the group of people. “It’s probably your first time at sea since you don’t even know who they are.”
“Uh, yes. Well, I’m sure you know about the situation on the mainland. I’m out at sea this time with my elders, and we’re trying to see if we can do some business at sea.” Although Lin Li was a Sanctuary powerhouse, he was only in his early twenties, so his excuse didn’t seem too suspicious.
Hearing Lin Li’s words, the bartender grinned happily, and said, “I knew it. Your tender skin tells me that you haven’t been exposed much to the wind and waves. On the account that we’re both humans, I’ll give you a heads-up. If you want to survive on this sea, the most important thing you need to watch out for apart from the High Elves are the peculiar people you mentioned.”
“Oh, is that so? Who are they? You actually likened them to the High Elves,” Lin Li said, playing along and pretending to be surprised.
The bartender was obviously very satisfied with Lin Li’s performance. While wiping the wine glass in his hand with a dirty rag, he lowered his volume, and mysteriously said, “Even those High Elves dare not provoke them easily, let alone you people. They’re the true masters of the sea.”
During the era of Anril that Lin Li lived in, many people would probably think of the Gilded Kingdom at the mention of the Endless Ocean. With their powerful alchemical warships, the Gilded Kingdom could be considered the overlords of the Endless Sea where there was no one and no force that could compare to the Gilded Kingdom. However, due to the fact that this world was set in the era that was thousands of years ago, the bartender’s words immediately made Lin Li think of the Sea Clan.
As their name suggested, the Sea Clan was an intelligent race that lived in the ocean. Legend had it that the High Elves ruled the mainland of Anril during the Dark Age, while the Sea Clan ruled the boundless Endless Ocean.
