Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance
Lin Yun’s expression was very strange, but he didn’t say much. He put away the Whispering Crystal and just remained seated, frowning. He was considering how he could leave the illusion.
He stayed in the illusion for a long time and kept an eye on the surroundings, but he didn’t discover anything else about it.
‘How did this come about…’
He was already certain that the person that arranged these illusions had no evil intent. This could be ascertained from the situations Ross, Leon, and Xiuban experienced. Not only was there no danger, but they were even gaining a lot of benefits.
But benefits were useless if they ended up trapped in the illusions forever.
‘No… As long as it is an illusion, there should definitely be a way to crack it.’
Lin Yun was still pondering over this matter. He had first appeared in the desolate desert, and he hadn’t discovered any arrays after a careful inspection.
The question was, how did he get in there?
Lin Yun’s mind was restless at this moment. He was at the end of the Magic Era… From time to time, some fragmented memories appeared in his mind. Sometimes, he saw the scene of Noscent’s destruction. Sometimes, he saw his dangerous experiences on the edge between life and death.
Perhaps the illusion would end with Noscent’s demise… But when would that happen?
He didn’t know when Noscent would be destroyed in this illusion… And if it was never destroyed, wouldn’t he spend his life trapped here?
‘This can’t do…’ Lin Yun massaged his temples. ‘If that’s the case, I might as well kill myself.’
But suddenly, Lin Yun’s eyes shone as he recalled something. He got up and left the library without looking back. He crossed the deathly silent street and left Heiss City.
He actually recalled the first time he had danced with death. It was at the end of the Magic Era, before the world met its end, and it was the most frightening experience he had back then. He now wanted to try and see if he could get out of his current plight from that experience.
That time, he and thirty Mages travelled together to look for food outside Heiss City. Lin Yun, who had just come to the end of the Magic Era, clearly knew that travelling alone was very dangerous and that there was strength in numbers. Under the lead of more experienced people, the group didn’t meet many dangers…. Up until they chose to take a different path to return to Heiss City. They were still thirty kilometers away from Heiss City when the group met a Sand Beast.
At the end of the Magic Era, Sand Beasts represented death…
Lin Yun hadn’t thought too much of it at the time, since the group of thirty Mages was a huge force for that period. Let alone ordinary beasts, they could even handle Sand Beasts.
But… things didn’t go according to his expectations.
That Sand Beast wasn’t an ordinary Sand Beast. Its strength far exceeded Lin Yun’s expectations. Two Mages ended up getting swallowed at the start of the battle, sending flesh and blood flying around. The group then fell into chaos. People cried for help and let out miserable shouts as the Sand Beast’s fangs became drenched in blood.
Of the thirty Mages, Lin Yun was the only one that escaped this complete destruction.
Afterwards, the bloody scene remained in Lin Yun’s mind. The Sand Beast even appeared in his nightmares for a few nights, with its bloody maw wide open as it leaked a bloodthirsty aura before pouncing on him. Every time he dreamt up to this point, he would wake up with a start, his body covered in sweat.
And the worst part was that these nightmares just wouldn’t stop.
After leaving Heiss City, Lin Yun cast a guiding spell and followed the path from his memories, walking on the scalding sand in the direction he remembered.
The illusion should be shaped based on his memories. The desolate desert, the crimson sun, the dusky sky, Heiss City, Shelter Tower… These were the things he had a deep memory of. Since these things existed, that powerful Sand Beast should also exist.
He needed to kill that Sand Beast. Only in that way could he remove that sour memory, and perhaps get the opportunity to leave the illusion.
He absent-mindedly followed the path from his memory, feeling as if he had gone back to that time. The only difference was that he was alone now.
“Rustle…”
The shivering of a sandy area was caught by the Magic Array. It was so slight that even if one had their ear stuck to the sand, they wouldn’t have noticed it. Only the almost omnipotent Magic Array could catch such a subtle movement. Lin Yun didn’t act right away. He turned his head to look at the surroundings, and although he was still surrounded by the desolate desert, he had a familiar feeling.
He had come here once before.
Returning to this place many years later, countless memories flowed back.
Sure enough, his guess was accurate. The things he had a deep memory of were now in this illusion, and that powerful Sand Beast was no exception.
“Rumble!”
An earth-shattering sound echoed as the shivering sand was suddenly swept up. For a moment, countless specks of sand covered the sky. At the same time, a formidable, pitch-black figure emitted a frightening aura as it covered the sky. A sinister monster appeared in front of Lin Yun, and just like in his memories, it was extremely huge, its body looked like it was made out of armor plating, its fangs were extremely sharp, and its two dark, crimson irises were staring down at him.
In a flash, that terrifying aura covered Lin Yun, and he finally had the answer to something that had been puzzling him for all those years.
What level was the Sand Beast that annihilated an entire team of mages?
He had thought about it many times…
But he now understood. The Sand Beast had the power of a level 36…
In that era, a level 36 Sand Beast was an unkillable existence. After all, the mana had been exhausted and the powerful godlike mages had fallen. No Heaven Mages had appeared in Noscent for the past thousand years, and very few Archmages appeared. Who could kill a level 36 Sand Beast?
With a deep roar, the enormous Sand Beast moved its mountain-like body toward Lin Yun. The two sharp fangs were shining under the moonlight while the tips flickered. One look was enough for anyone to feel their blood run cold, especially when facing that armored-body, it was so hard that one would despair when their attacks failed to harm it.
The Sand Beast was extraordinarily fast, and it only took an instant to reach Lin Yun.
The pressure that the Sand Beast gave Lin Yun was not at all inferior to Black Tower’s Weiss. Its long tail covered in sharp thorns tore through the air. It felt as if no defenses would be able to withstand it.
Lin Yun’s magic staff was raised the moment the Sand Beast Beast rushed over, setting up a Mana Shield in front of him. The thorn-covered tail struck the Mana Shield heavily, letting out a loud sound. The Mana Shield, which would require Archmages to spend some effort to break, was pathetically weak in front of the Sand Beast. It only needed one hit to darken.
This was followed by a deep roar. The Sand Beast seemed infuriated by Lin Yun still being alive after the attacks, and a cold aura spread from it. A thick stench leaked from its wide-open mouth as it tried to bite Lin Yun. Those two sharp fangs fell onto the Mana Shield.
The darkened Mana Shield simply couldn’t support this frightening power and it cracked the moment one of the Sand Beast’s fangs came into contact with it. Even Lin Yun didn’t expect that the Sand Beast would be that powerful. He raised his magic staff and cast three Ice Walls while Hasting himself and quickly moving back. He then cast three Flame Bursts.
Just as Lin Yun cast the Flame Bursts, the three Ice Walls were shattered by the Sand Beast. The Flame Bursts fiercely exploded on the Sand Beast’s body, but those attacks only made the huge Sand Beast tremble slightly. The armor-plated body seemed to have high magic resistance. The Flame Bursts that could easily shatter an Archmage’s Elemental Shield only left a few shallow traces on the body of the Sand Beast.
‘Quite troublesome…’
Lin Yun’s expression became serious as he quickly withdrew. In the Archmage realm, each step forward would greatly increase one’s strength. Post level 35 was a huge dividing line. If the Merlin Family’s 5th Rank Sword Saint, Thorne, or the 5th Rank Archmage of the Black Tower, Solan, fought this beast, they would only be able to handle it for a few minutes before suffering a bitter defeat. They simply couldn’t contend against this Sand Beast.
Although the difference was only one rank, the difference in strength was hard to describe.
In the Line Canyon, the Incarnation of the Desolate Overlord had yet to reach the Heaven realm, but it could easily kill a level 38 magic beast as well as two level 37s.
After level 35, one rank of difference would be comparable to the difference between heaven and earth. Even Lin Yun, whose strength greatly increased and had fused three Meditation Law Sets into one, would have to spend some effort to deal with this Sand Beast.
One Flame Burst after another fell onto the Sand Beast. A disk rose up behind Lin Yun as the latter was fiercely attacking, flooding the Sand Beast with countless low-tier spells. A single spell might not injure the Sand Beast, but if hundreds of spells were layered together, the armor of the Sand Beast wouldn’t matter. The Sand Beast roared as it was drowned by hundreds of spells, its crimson eyes filled with boundless anger…
That Sand Beast was thoroughly enraged. At the end of the Magic Era, no one had ever injured it.
Today was its first time…
