No matter what, both parties were now in a cooperative relationship, even though it was only temporary. They would rather leave the item to rot in the warehouse than chat with them? That was not something that should be said to one’s partner. Although that was what they felt, the Gilded Kingdom and Illuminati would seem too narrow-minded if they said that out loud.
In fact, given High Priest Poer’s status, he might not think of that under normal circumstances. However, Lin Li was his enemy. If he was in a conflict with Lin Li, he would definitely want to gain some upper hand and maintain a smile. However, the problem was that he had suffered losses so far, but he still couldn’t regain his pride. He was obviously furious and ashamed.
At this moment, Lin Li was still smiling, and he did not bother about High Priest Poer. He said to Saint Edmund, “Saint Edmund, why don’t you consider my suggestion? I believe you should be very clear that this is a win-win situation for both of us.”
Seeing that Lin Li still refused to give up, Elder Zumar and High Priest Poer coincidentally wanted to speak again. However, at this moment, Saint Edmund suddenly gestured for them not to speak before slowly saying, “Um, President Felic, what conditions do you intend to use in exchange for us to give up this Ice Phoenix?”
Saint Edmund’s words were really beyond Zumar and Poer’s expectations. However, Zumar seemed just bewildered, while Poer dared not voice his anger. Nonetheless, they were similar in the sense that neither of them could figure it out. How did Saint Edmund suddenly change his mind again?
“That depends on what you want.” There was no trace of surprise on Lin Li’s face, as if he had expected them to compromise.
Am I supposed to give you whatever you want? Of course, Edmund did not believe that Lin Li would really go out of his way for the corpse of the Ice Phoenix, so he pondered for a moment before saying, “How about this? I don’t need you to really come up with anything in exchange, President Felic. My conditions are simple. In the next exploration, we want to have the priority to choose if we discover anything.”
Hearing this, Elder Zumar, who was still a bit puzzled, suddenly had an epiphany. Indeed, giving the corpse of the Ice Phoenix to them would be pointless. Could it be that the Lich could immediately step into the Sanctuary-realm? It was the corpse of a peak Sanctuary-level Ice Phoenix, and turning it into an Undead creature using just a peak Legendary-level Lich within a short period of time was probably impossible. Hence, handing over the corpse of the Ice Phoenix to the other party would not result in a huge impact.
Elder Zumar still remembered that when he met with the Tower of Dusk’s team, the other party had said that they had come here to look for a magical weapon. Of course, it was fake too, but it was certain that the other party had to have come here to look for something important, perhaps some special magical weapon or equipment.
Magical weapons and Ice Phoenix were different, and if they could get the former, they could definitely put it to use somehow. It was like the difference between a sharp sword and a sword billet. Perhaps an excellent sword billet could be used to create a brilliant sword, but that would take a long time. Meanwhile, a sharp sword could be used for killing immediately.
Saint Edmund used the corpse of the Ice Phoenix in exchange for the priority to choose. In Elder Zumar’s opinion, Saint Edmund had obviously done it on purpose. If the Tower of Dusk was really out to get a powerful magical weapon or equipment, the other side would use the priority right to prevent them from getting it.
Of course, that was not the important thing. After all, it was a verbal agreement which did not have much binding power. In fact, even if the Tower of Dusk did not want to comply with the agreement, the Gilded Kingdom would not lose out. Even if they really fell out with each other, the Gilded Kingdom would still be the one in the right. The Supreme Council could be unreasonable with others, but the Illuminati was a powerful force, and they had to be reasonable with it.
Besides, during this exploration, the Gilded Kingdom planned to make the Tower of Dusk cannon fodder. Hence, it was unclear what the Tower of Dusk’s team’s resulting fate would be. The Ice Phoenix corpse might just be temporarily held by the Tower of Dusk, and it was unclear who would get it in the end.
Hence, although the condition seemed insignificant as its value was far below the Ice Phoenix’s, it was just Saint Edmund’s trick. Having figured that out, Elder Zumar once again smiled, and waited to see how Lin Li would respond.
They would have never thought that Lin Li was there not to find some powerful magical weapon. In fact, he didn’t actually plan to find anything. Lin Li’s only agenda was to follow the trail of the Immortal King to figure out what Geresco was trying to guide him to after leaving such a world behind.
Lin Li seemed to have failed to see Edmund’s intentions, and he simply resolutely answered, “Sure, deal!”
After agreeing to Edmund’s terms, Lin Li nodded at Ujfalusi who had been waiting at the side. Ujfalusi immediately scurried towards the corpse of the Ice Phoenix excitedly, and raised his staff to chant an incantation. As he did so, a huge black hole appeared beneath the Ice Phoenix’s corpse, dragging it into Ujfalusi’s Undead space.
Afterwards, both teams set off again towards their destination, and Elder Zumar took the opportunity to pull High Priest Poer to the side to explain to him Saint Edmund’s intentions. Finally, High Priest Poer looked less sullen. Meanwhile, Lin Li called Norfeller, who had just stepped into the Sanctuary-realm, whispering some instructions to him. Next, Norfeller left the team alone quietly.
If he only received the corpse of the Ice Phoenix after defeating it, how could it be enough!? Back then, he had only heard a little bit about the Ice Phoenix in the Endless World game. Legend had it that the Ice Phoenix had an extremely unique power; hence, it would never be able to give birth to its own offspring in its lifetime. However, after its death, it would attain nirvana and give birth to itself.
All the previous experiences made Lin Li feel that there were too many things in Anril that were similar to the Endless World. In that case, could the legend of the Ice Phoenix be the same in both worlds? If it was really the same, there might really be a newborn Ice Phoenix appearing in the Ice Phoenix’s lair now.
Hence, Lin Li sent Norfeller over to search for the Ice Phoenix’s lair. Since Norfeller sucked the blood of the Ice Phoenix, he would definitely have an instinctive sense for the aura of the Ice Phoenix. Even if the Ice Phoenix’s lair was thousands of kilometers away, he would be able to detect it with his senses. Of course, the greater possibility was that the Ice Phoenix’s lair was on this island, thus making things easier.
The battle with the Ice Phoenix took place in the central area of the island. Hence, it didn’t take long for them to arrive at the real central location of the island. The place felt familiar to Lin Li, and the surrounding magical elements had already reached a terrifying level of density. It was even richer than that of the islands with Void Spirit Mageweaths.
In the center of the island, a massive black vortex appeared above their heads, and it seemed to have been made of a massive amount of mana. The mana fluctuations emanating from it made several Sanctuary powerhouses turn pale.
Upon sight of such a scene, Lin Li immediately understood that it was no wonder there were so many strong magical beasts on this island that could attract the Ice Phoenix. Clearly, there was also some kind of mageweath on that island—the Void Spirit Mageweath or even another type of mageweath that was more powerful than the former. In short, it was definitely a mageweath above the Divine Smith level.
There was a black, bottomless crypt corresponding to the position of the large mana vortex. It was just like a massive mouth that was devouring heaven and earth. The depth of the crypt was not visible to the naked eye, and even if one tried to use their mental strength to probe, it would be impossible to reach the bottom.
Fortunately, the members of both teams were above the Legendary-level, so they had a large amount of mana that was enough to support them to maintain their flight for a long period of time. Otherwise, if they fell, it would definitely be fatal.
When the team from the Gilded Kingdom arrived next to the crypt, Elder Zumar looked at Lin Li, and said, “President Felic, this is our destination for this exploration. We’ll head down first. After all, we know this place better.”
Although the Gilded Kingdom’s intention was to have the Tower of Dusk’s team be their cannon fodder, anyone who was made to go down first would be wary in this situation. Getting the other party to take the lead in reconnoitering when trying to make them cannon fodder would be the silliest thing to do, unless the other party were fools. Hence, it was sometimes good to take the lead, especially when one was aware that the situation ahead was not that dangerous.
After speaking to Lin Li, Elder Zumar and his company cast the Power of Flight to fly down towards the crypt. All of a sudden, their figures surged into the bottomless crypt like dumplings, making the scene look spectacular.
After flying into the crypt, High Priest Poer had a look of derision on his face, and he seemed to be gloating too as he said to Elder Zumar, “The vast majority of those people in the Tower of Dusk have just reached the Legendary-realm a short while ago. With their low strength, I’m afraid it won’t be that easy to safely fly to the bottom.”
“You can’t say that, they’ll be of some help to us this time, after all. Besides, with Felic, that Sanctuary powerhouse, we won’t face any major problems even if the situation gets tough.” Although Elder Zumar did not show it, he was anticipating a good show somewhat.
However, while the two were talking, they suddenly felt that there was something wrong with the surrounding atmosphere as many people were looking upward. Hence, they simultaneously tilted their heads and looked up. However, their expressions seemed excited. Some were amazed, some were disappointed, and others were shocked or even jealous.
Apart from Lin Li and a few other top powerhouses in the team of the Tower of Dusk, the rookie mages were all carrying a strange kind of alchemical equipment on their backs. The strange alchemical equipment looked just like the wings of a flying bird, but they were translucent, and were about four or five meters long. Its entire body emitted a faint magical light. When the mages were flying downwards, the magic wings would flap once or twice to adjust the speed of flight.
There’s actually alchemical equipment in this world that enables flight! That made the people of the Gilded Kingdom, who had always been proud of their level of alchemy, a little unable to accept it for a while. There were even a few people who were so distracted by the surprising sight that they accidentally hit a rock wall, and almost fell to their deaths.
High Priest Poer, who had snapped back to his senses, now had bloodshot eyes, and it was as if he wished he could go and snatch the magic wings immediately. It was not that he had never seen any precious items before, but the magic wings were just too useful, and he had no choice but to be jealous.
Although using the Power of Flight to fly was not difficult for Legendary-mages, the mana consumption was rapid and continuous. Perhaps the mana consumed during a short flight might not be compared to the powerful magic spells, but the mana thus consumed was definitely terrifying. After all, not everyone was as impressive as Lin Li.
However, the magic wings of the Tower of Dusk definitely consumed a large amount of mana in the opinion of High Priest Poer and the others, but it was almost negligible. To them, it was simply incredible. There had always been a saying in Anril: one would get how much they put in. Flying would require them to give in a corresponding amount of mana, which was just right. However, the magic wings of the Tower of Dusk had changed their perception.
Although equipping oneself with magic wings seemed to only bring about the benefit of saving mana during a long-distance flight, Legendary-mages were not the only ones in this world. There were also other legendary professions like Legendary Sword Sages who did not have the Power of Flight, and could only stay in the air for a long time using Combat Energy. However, if the Legendary Sword Sages were equipped with magic wings, they would definitely be terrifying when allowed to fly freely in the air.
