In fact, Lin Li even vaguely felt that there seemed to be an invisible force influencing him and the others along the way. Although they had experienced several obstacles on the way, it seemed that all of those would never exceed the limits of the expedition’s tolerance, except the incarnation in the Well of the Sun. Or rather, there weren’t any that exceeded Lin Li’s capabilities. In fact, although every battle was extremely dangerous, it would still turn out to be successful for them.
Lin Li did not think that the Immortal King’s Sky Castle was something that a powerhouse like he who had just stepped into the Sanctuary-realm could invade easily. If that was really the case, the Immortal King’s Sky Castle would be unworthy of its name, and the Immortal King could not be called the best figure in myths.
Although Lin Li did not mention his impression to anyone throughout the journey, he was actually getting a clearer feeling that someone wanted him to arrive at his destination without attracting the attention and suspicion of the people from his team. That person was probably Osric.
That discovery was the very reason that Lin Li was more and more certain that what Osric really valued most was not the Sky Castle, which was the strongest and most powerful weapon, but the special control crystal. Hence, even though Lin Li seemed to want to place the control crystal on the control panel, he was just doing that as a distraction. It was not actually the real control crystal of the Sky Castle, but one of the bizarre magical crystals that Lin Li had obtained from the Malfa Family.
Lin Li wasn’t 100% certain Osric would take the bait, but he was at least 70% to 80% confident in it because according to the previous conjectures, Lin Li could entirely believe that what Osric had been waiting for was the moment he took out the control crystal from the Ring of Endless Storm.
After all, with Osric’s strength, it would not be difficult for him to deal with Lin Li and the others at all. However, even if he could kill Lin Li, he wouldn’t have been able to take the control crystal out of the Ring of Endless Storm. If Osric wanted to obtain the control crystal, he would have to wait for Lin Li to take it out himself before snatching it from Lin Li.
The only thing that Lin Li was worried about was the uncertainty if Osric was familiar with the control crystal, and whether he would recognize the difference between the real control crystal and the decoy.
After all, Lin Li still hadn’t figured out the true history of the control crystal, and he only knew that the purpose of the control crystal was not just to control the Sky Castle. Back when he had explored the Sky Castle for the first time, he had once had his mental strength infiltrated by the control crystal, and at the same time gained an enormous amount of information left by the Immortal King.
Hence, even though Lin Li had used alchemy to transform the appearance of the bizarre magical crystal into that of the control crystal before arriving in the Sky Castle, and managed to pass it off as the real thing with identical mana waves, Lin Li could not replicate the power contained in the control crystal.
Lin Li’s worries did not vanish until Osric snatched the bait away from him. The fear within him also gradually dissipated when he began fighting with Osric in a battle of mental strength in the magical crystal. Even when Osric’s mental strength had seeped into the magical crystal, he did not realize what was wrong. Clearly, Osric was really unfamiliar with the real control crystal.
However, in order not to make Osric suspect anything, Lin Li did not relax or let his guard down. Instead, he pretended to go all out and fight Osric for the control crystal. He even didn’t mind paying a huge price for it. Even at the last moment where Osric was going to place the bait on the control panel, Lin Li was still trying his best to show his desperation, powerlessness, and indignation.
When the bizarre magical crystal was completely triggered, Osric’s mana grew violent, and Lin Li finally heaved a sigh of relief. Despite Osric’s unparalleled strength, Lin Li was not too worried that Osric would quickly break free from the influence of the bizarre magical crystal.
Although Lin Li was not clear about the origin of such magical crystals that could devour mana, and the Malfa Family had likewise chanced upon them during an extremely coincidental encounter, Lin Li already had a clear grasp and understanding of their bizarre attributes. In fact, Lin Li even frequently made use of their features to train his mastery of mana.
One reason Lin Li was able to do that was that his mental strength had been tempered by the control crystal, and another reason was because of the research he had put in over the past few years. As for Osric, it was almost impossible for him to understand and master the features of the magical crystals in a short period of time even though he was much stronger than Lin Li in terms of realm.
Of course, his plan was not really foolproof, but the biggest issue with it was that Osric had to have no experience with such magical crystals in order for the plan to work. Even though Lin Li had already found out from the Ashen Warlock that such bizarre magical crystals did not appear since the Dark Age, he still designed another trap inside it just to be safe.
Lin Li had already concealed a wisp of his mental strength in the magical crystal, which contained the power of Mephistos, the Lord of Souls. It would allow one’s soul to be separated from his body. Previously, Lin Li had even fought a battle of mental strength with Osric in the magical crystal. Actually, the more important thing was to create a facade to cover the hidden mental strength to prevent Osric from scrutinizing the magical crystal with his mental strength.
After receiving the Immortal King’s notes from the Ashen Warlock, Lin Li knew that the perfect body created by Osric had some flaws, which were the very reason that Connoris could never fuse perfectly with the new body in any way. Likewise, Osric would also encounter such problems.
Due to this conclusion, Lin Li added the extra trap when designing the decoy to be safe.
When he had first met Osric, Lin Li had already seen that the fusion of Osric’s soul with his new body was indeed not perfect, and there were still some flaws and issues in it. Although Osric had tailored the new body to perfection for himself, it was obvious that not all the flaws had been addressed and resolved. Hence, even a powerhouse like Osric would take a long time for his soul to adapt to the new body.
Thus, when Osric placed the magical crystal on the control panel and triggered its bizarre power, Lin Li also immediately activated the trap he left behind. Although the small trap would only have a fleeting effect on Osric, the momentary isolation of his soul made Osric lose the best opportunity to get rid of the influence of the magical crystal.
Mana was like water. The mana that surged out vigorously was like a river, while the calm mana was like a lake. Once the balance was disrupted, it would be difficult for them to calm down again as it would be akin to a bursting dam. Hence, even powerful and competent mages dared not use their mana indiscriminately, because once the process of mana collapse began, the situation would never be reversed. That was the same for the Highlord now. He was continuously having his mana devoured, and soon faced the collapse of mana.
Mana was continuously surging out of Osric’s body like an unstoppable flash flood. Facing such a situation, Osric could not suppress it at all even though he was already at the peak of the Sanctuary-realm. He could not even roar in anger, and could only look at Lin Li with resentment in his eyes.
The collapse of the mana left the perfect body with no means to sustain itself, and in the eyes of the people, Osric’s appearance became old and aged at an extremely fast rate. His skin lost its luster, and he was covered in wrinkles and bruises.
Osric’s appearance reminded Lin Li of the first time he met the Ashen Warlock. However, the Ashen Warlock had aged over the years because he had been living for too long, while Osric was experiencing rapid aging because of the collapse of mana that caused a large amount of vitality to be depleted in his body.
When they saw the changes in Osric’s body, Archbishop Martin and the others finally understood why Lin Li had stopped them from attacking. However, at the same time, they were also incredibly astonished. Osric was a powerhouse at the peak of the Sanctuary-realm, so how did he end up in such a state!?
Lin Li’s obstruction gave Archbishop Martin and the others reason to believe that the reason Osric had ended up in such a situation was very likely to be the young Sanctuary powerhouse. Once the idea popped up in their minds, they got chills, and fear immediately replaced the joy within them.
Such a scheme was simply too terrifying. It was even more horrifying than the powerful strength of a Sanctuary powerhouse. Osric, who was one of the most famous geniuses of the Dark Age, possessed incredible wit and competency, both in strength and talent. However, a glorious and mighty figure who was a Sanctuary powerhouse that seemed almost invincible actually ended up in such a miserable state because he had been plotted against!
Archbishop Martin and the others couldn’t help but feel fortunate that they were not the enemies of the Tower of Dusk. Otherwise, Lin Li would have long plotted against them, and destroyed them completely.
Of course, they wouldn’t have known that they had already been treated as cannon fodder when Lin Li had plotted against them in the first place.
Looking at the appearance of Osric who was rapidly aging, almost everyone thought that the outcome was final and set in stone. However, at that moment, an illusory shadow suddenly rushed out from Osric’s body, followed by an infinite amount of mana that shrouded the entire expedition.
Archbishop Martin and the others were astonished to see that, but it was already too late for them to respond to the sudden change. Fortunately, Lin Li seemed to have come prepared. His seven pieces of the debris of the stars entered the void, and the Domain World immediately engulfed the expedition, forming a layer of defense against the overwhelming attack spells.
“That’s Osric’s soul!” When the offensive spells collided violently with the Domain World, Archbishop Martin and the others finally reacted, and discovered to their absolute horror that the shadow flying out of Osric’s body was Osric’s soul.
This scared Archbishop Martin and the others as they finally remembered that Osric was a Sanctuary powerhouse whom no ordinary people could contend with. Sanctuary powerhouses were already existences that were nearly godly. Even if his body was decayed, his soul would still be almost indestructible, and the strength it possessed would not be weakened by the loss of his physical body.
The battle just now had proved how terrifying a powerhouse that was at the peak of the Sanctuary-realm was. The members of the expedition team were practically useless in front of Osric. Even Lin Li, who was also in the Sanctuary-realm, had no means to retaliate. Now that Osric’s soul had emerged with just as much power, it was obvious what their outcome would be!
However, Lin Li was not the least bit surprised that Osric’s soul had appeared. In fact, he even expected it, simply because Osric’s soul was not perfectly fused with his new perfect body. When Osric’s soul and the perfect body did not fuse seamlessly, it would be akin to the relationship between a metallurgist and the Alchemy Colossus he controlled. If anything went wrong with the Alchemy Colossus, he would be able to escape in time. On the other hand, if they fused perfectly, it would definitely be difficult to separate them.
Of course, the lack of a perfect fusion between Osric’s soul and his body was one of the main reasons why Lin Li could get his trap to work. If Osric had achieved perfect fusion, Lin Li would not have been able to plot against him successfully with that magical crystal. Given Osric’s realm and abilities, he might’ve really broken free from the influence of the bizarre magical crystal.
Hence, nothing in the world was perfect, and one could never get the best of both worlds. Win some, lose some. Lin Li had long been prepared for the situation that they were facing now. At least Osric’s strength would definitely be affected greatly after losing his body.
“Damn it, you all deserve to die!” Osric had never been so enraged before. Even when he parted ways with the Immortal King, and knew that the High Elves had already fallen, he was never this infuriated.
Just like the Immortal King, glorious and dignified Highlord Osric was a mythical figure. Yet, he actually lost his new body after being plotted against by a junior. It was a huge insult and humiliation to him. In particular, this proved that all his previous plans had been seen through by Lin Li, and he had been plotted against several times before.
