Of course, Elder Zumar could say that with the strength of the Illuminati, they would still continue to exist even if the High Elves ruled over the Gilded Kingdom. However, he wasn’t crazy after all, and wouldn’t say such foolish things with a straight face.
On the other hand, when High Priest Poer saw that Elder Zumar was speechless, he looked even more smug as he continued, “The Illuminati was originally established and developed with the support of the Gilded Kingdom. Yet, have you ever considered bringing about benefits for the Gilded Kingdom? You only ever think of your own interests. For the sake of your own interests, you made the Gilded Kingdom reach a peaceful agreement with those small forces of the Breezy Plains, and now you want to resurrect someone who died thousands of years ago!”
“Shut up! Don’t you know the reason why the kingdom chose to adopt the strategy of peaceful development in the Breezy Plains? The resurrection of Lord Aquilo is a private matter of the internal sector of the Illuminati, which is also supported by His Majesty. You’ve heard His Majesty issuing the decree himself, haven’t you? You shouldn’t be unaware of that.” While arguing with High Priest Poer, Elder Zumar quietly paid attention to the situation on Saint Edmund’s side. He said so much to Poer partly because he wanted to persuade him to stop, and also partly because he wanted to buy some time for Edmund to recover his strength.
“Of course I know, isn’t it all because of him?” At this point in time, High Priest Poer suddenly pointed a finger at Lin Li, who was standing far away. All of a sudden, he got extremely agitated, and he hollered in a resentful tone, “It’s all because of him! You were afraid of him and that Ashen Warlock. You made the kingdom go against its usual practice and sign some peace agreement with those lowly forces just because you were scared of suffering damage to your power. Even when he did something so terrible in the kingdom and destroyed the Fifth Fleet, you all pretended not to acknowledge it.”
Lin Li had been standing far away from them all this while. Despite the shocking changes that happened over at the side of the team of the Gilded Kingdom, he was still just observing. In his opinion, no matter what happened in the Gilded Kingdom, it was just an internal strife, and as long as they didn’t provoke him for nothing, it would be unnecessary for him to get involved since he was just an outsider.
However, when Lin Li saw that High Priest Poer had suddenly pointed at him, he knew that he had to intervene, even though he didn’t care much about this. Along the journey, he had long since noticed that High Priest Poer would often stare at him hostilely. Hence, ever since High Priest Poer got his hands on the holy artifact, Lin Li had already expected that this would happen, so when facing such a situation, he was not surprised at all, and instead continued watching the escalation of the conflict while pondering over the mageweaths of the seven monuments.
The mageweaths on the seven monuments were even more complex than the Void Spirit Mageweaths that he had encountered previously. Lin Li was certain that they were really masterpieces that were at the level of the Divine Smith level. Although there was a huge commotion going on the Gilded Kingdom’s side, Lin Li was thinking about how to get the mageweaths on the seven monuments and take them back. In his opinion, the mageweaths were the greatest treasure, and if he could understand some of them, it would be worth the trip.
On the side of the team of the Gilded Kingdom, High Priest Poer was still pointing at Lin Li while saying to Elder Zumar, “When you were outside, you had so many excuses, and you refused to help the kingdom get rid of this obstacle. Now, you should have had the best opportunity to do it here, but you still chose to defend him. The kingdom is stuck at sea and unable to develop to the mainland because of people like you. Now that I have this holy artifact, I can be the one to lead the kingdom to infinite glory.”
“Don’t get up to any nonsense. His Majesty will not condone this. You’ll bring the kingdom to destruction!” Seeing that Edmund was slow to recover, Elder Zumar became more and more anxious. While saying that, he waved his staff, and tried to snatch the holy artifact back from Poer.
However, Poer, who now had the holy artifact, had reached the peak of the Sanctuary-realm in strength, and even possessed a wisp of divine power. Hence, Elder Zumar’s approach was almost useless. Before Elder Zumar could get close, Poer waved the holy artifact in his hand, and a pillar of light struck at Elder Zumar horizontally, making him vomit blood and get flung backwards.
However, after blasting Elder Zumar away again, High Priest Poer did not take advantage of his victory and rush to attack. Instead, the massive phantom-like wings on his back trembled, and he flew straight towards Lin Li. Even though he had wild thoughts of bringing the Gilded Kingdom to infinite glory, the first thing Poer wanted to do was, of course, to deal with Lin Li and settle their scores.
In the beginning, High Priest Poer could pin his hopes on Edmund, and he had been trying to convince Edmund to attack Lin Li. However, his efforts were futile, and the result was very disappointing for him. In particular, after defeating the Radiant-winged Giant Python, he obviously felt that Edmund’s attitude had changed. Hence, his hopes were diminished.
However, now that Poer had obtained the Illuminati’s holy artifact, and his strength instantly reached the peak of the Sanctuary-realm, he was immediately confident about ending the feud with his individual abilities. Although the peak of the Sanctuary-realm was still within the Sanctuary-realm, but with that divine might, his strength was several times more powerful than that of the average Sanctuary powerhouse who was at the peak of the realm. When facing a high-level Sanctuary powerhouse like Lin Li, the difference was obvious.
However, looking at an approaching High Priest Poer, the expression on Lin Li’s face did not change, and he looked as indifferent and composed as before. In fact, he merely took a glance before turning to look at the seven monuments instead. It was as if High Priest Poer wasn’t a Sanctuary powerhouse who was at the peak of the realm.
Upon sight of Lin Li’s nonchalant reaction, High Priest Poer was instantly enraged. In his opinion, Lin Li ought to seem intimidated and frightened even if he did not kneel down to beg for mercy immediately. However, Lin Li’s reaction made him wonder if he was having an illusion that he had gained massive strength but was actually the same as usual.
“Felic, drop the act. You’re probably scared soulless now. You didn’t expect me to be the winner, huh?! Now, I will kill you, and soon your men will accompany you in hell too,” High Priest Poer said while stopping in midair. The phantom-like wings on his back were still flapping slightly, forming ripples in the space.
As High Priest Poer arrived, the unparalleled divine might immediately shrouded the Tower of Dusk’s team too. Not to mention the mages of the Tower of Dusk, even a powerhouse like Connoris could not stand it. Although Norfeller had already successfully stepped into the Sanctuary-realm, and reached the middle stage thereof, he could not break free from the suppression of the divine might, either.
The reactions of the people of the Tower of Dusk were quite within High Priest Poer’s expectations. Although Lin Li’s composure made him feel overwhelmed with anger that seemed to be on the verge of erupting like a volcano, the rest of the people of the Tower of Dusk gave him a lot of confidence.
However, just as High Priest Poer was admiring the looks of astonishment on their faces, Lin Li finally looked away from the seven monuments, and looked at him indifferently. “Why? Are you that confident that you think you’ll be the final winner?”
“Haha, why? Aren’t you going to continue pretending to ignore my strength? Don’t think that no one can deal with you just because you have two peculiar magical weapons. Compared to the holy artifact that I’m holding now, your magical weapons are just like trash. I’ve now detected the calling of the godhood, and I’m just one step away from becoming a deity that you can only look up to. Can your magical weapons do that? Your strength is inferior to mine, and your magical weapons are trash. What do you have to compare to me?! If I’m not the final winner, do you think it would be you, a person who’s about to die?!” High Priest Poer hollered deliriously with arrogance while staring at Lin Li in a bid to see him getting frightened.
However, to High Priest Poer’s disappointment, the expression on Lin Li’s face did not change at all regardless of whether he was pretending or not. Lin Li was just standing casually while rubbing his nose. He suddenly smiled, and said, “There’s something I’ve been wanting to ask.”
When High Priest Poer heard this, he thought that Lin Li was trying to beg for mercy without stooping low. Although he would not spare Lin Li even if the latter knelt down and begged for mercy, he felt that it would be an immense pleasure to see his enemy in a horrible plight. Hence, he did not immediately attack, and instead sneeringly said, “Why? Do you want to ask what you can do to make me spare you? That’s not impossible. If you kneel down now and make an oath to become my slave, I might let you live for a while longer.”
Making a Sanctuary powerhouse take an oath and become someone’s slave was akin to making one crawl under one’s knees. High Priest Poer’s intention was purely to gain some benefits from Lin Li before taking revenge. In fact, it was clear that he wouldn’t let Lin Li off regardless of what the latter said.
Hearing the insults, Lin Li did not react much, but the people from the Tower of Dusk behind him were infuriated. Even Connoris, who had often resorted to whatever it took to achieve his goals, and even Angelano, who was not bound to Lin Li by a contract, were instantly enraged by High Priest Poer’s words.
Despite the oppression of divine might, Connoris and the others, including the mages, immediately got into a stance and were ready to fight. As long as Lin Li issued an order, they would attack High Priest Poer with all their might.
However, Lin Li raised his hand and gestured for them to stop. He then raised his head, and said to Poer, “No, I know very well that the feud between us will never end unless someone dies, but I’ve been wondering if you ever get sick of hearing that fly buzzing around your ears all the time.”
Lin Li’s words made everyone confused, but High Priest Poer’s expression changed drastically when he heard that. He exclaimed in shock, “What are you saying!?”
Lin Li laughed nonchalantly while reaching out to pull out his ears. He said, “It’s nothing, I just feel really annoyed hearing a prisoner who has been imprisoned for thousands of years murmuring endlessly in my ears. So, I’m just trying to ask you if you have a solution to bear with the buzzing? Or are you just as annoying as he is, so you two get along well?”
“What?! You can hear the whispers of God? How is that possible?!” High Priest Poer was flabbergasted as he lost his cool, and he was full of disbelief, as if he had heard something incredible.
On the other hand, Saint Edmund of the Gilded Kingdom was just as astonished as Poer. However, Edmund seemed a little gleeful, and he muttered, “How could he hear God’s Whispers without getting tempted by it?!”
The severely injured Elder Zumar was being carried to Edmund by his subordinates. He was very hopeless about the situation initially, but after hearing about the muttering, he couldn’t help but ask in bewilderment, “Saint Edmund, what’s about this God’s Whispers?”
“Although the Ancient God of Light was suppressed and slipped into deep slumber, his instincts are constantly summoning everyone who managed to enter this place and tempting those who can hear him. When Poer did such a thing, I suspected that it could be because of the God’s Whispers, but of course, the biggest reason is his heart’s desires,” Edmund said while looking at Lin Li and Poer as he revealed the truth. He seemed to be blaming himself for his own lack of good judgment.
Hearing Edmund’s words, Elder Zumar, however, was still a little confused as he said with a frown, “In that case, since Felic also heard God’s Whispers, wouldn’t the situation be even more unfavorable for us? Poer is causing enough trouble for us, and if Felic acts like him too, the Ancient God of Light might really be released.”
However, Edmund shook his head, and looked over with some hope in his eyes as he said, “No, the fact that Felic can say that means that he hasn’t been tempted by the God’s Whispers. How strong must his willpower be that he can resist the temptation of God’s Whispers? We might need to count on him to overcome the crisis this time!”
