Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
With the appearance of this figure, an aura that contained divinity immediately spread throughout the entire space. The members of the Illuminati’s and the Tower of Dusk’s team immediately became extremely nervous. Even though they couldn’t see through the other party’s strength, they felt that their souls were engulfed by boundless fear.
Edmund and Zumar were so frightened that their expressions changed drastically. They couldn’t be bothered to say anything else to Lin Li, and frantically returned to organize and prepare their team for a battle. They could sense that the power possessed by the figure that emerged from the rift was probably comparable to a demigod, if not on par with that of real gods. It was undoubtedly going to be a tough battle.
The figure stopped in midair, but he didn’t immediately notice the two teams below. Instead, he looked up to the sky and let out a deafening roar that was full of pain, agony, and anger, as well as a tinge of inexplicable surprise.
For a god that had been suppressed for such a long time, during which period his mana was continuously drawn out of his body, like a slave, it was not only agonizing but also a huge insult. If they couldn’t control themselves, the gods would have probably extinguished their Divine Fires after knowing that they could not leave.
.
After venting their anger, the figure finally noticed Lin Li and the others. He could clearly guess that Lin Li had a close relationship with the person who’d suppressed him, and might even be his successor.
After being suppressed for thousands of years and having his mana drawn out of him continuously, this god could no longer put into words his hatred for the person who’d suppressed him there. Now that he had guessed that Lin Li might be that person’s successor, this deity naturally refused to miss this opportunity for revenge.
Hence, the god roared and suddenly extended his arms, after which an erupting volcano appeared behind him.
The God of Volcanoes? Lin Li could already confirm the identity of the individual who had escaped.
The God of Volcanoes was just a subordinate god to a main god, the God of Divine Fire, that mastered the laws of volcanoes derived from the combination of fire and earth. Even though he was a subordinate god, he was not something that ordinary Sanctuary powerhouses could contend with. However, the God of Volcanoes had been suppressed in the rift, and had had his mana drawn out of him for a few thousand years. If he’d been suppressed for a few thousand more years, his Divine Fire might have been extinguished, and he would really have fallen off his pedestal as a god.
However, Saint Edmund and the others were unaware of this. All they knew was that the sudden appearance of the figure had placed such great pressure on them that they almost suffocated. Not to mention the others, even a seasoned peak Sanctuary-realm powerhouse like Edmund was clearly extremely nervous at this point.
In other circumstances, they would at least be able to escape even if they couldn’t defeat the god. However, they were now standing in front of the resurrection place of the founding saint, Lord Aquilo. If he were to escape at this time, who knew what would happen to the resurrection of Lord Aquilo? The Illuminati had been working hard towards that goal for thousands of years, and no one was willing to fall into eternal despair again after seeing a glimmer of hope.
Edmund, Elder Zumar, and the other members of the Illuminati’s team all seemed to be ready to go all out at this point. For the sake of the resurrection of Lord Aquilo, they wouldn’t mind giving up their lives without hesitation even if they were facing a true god.
At this moment, Lin Li, however, frowned slightly and muttered, “How could I have been so careless? I let one escape.” While saying that, he turned around and raised his arm, pointing at the God of Volcanoes who was about to rush over to massacre them.
No one knew what was going on. Lin Li turned around and pointed his hand forward, after which numerous dazzling rays of light suddenly emerged from space, and extended towards the God of Volcanoes who was ready to go on a rampage. The God of Volcanoes had those rays of light intertwined around his body when he had just dashed out for more than 10 meters. He instantly let out a loud roar of agony.
After being intertwined with the light, the God of Volcanoes’ body began emitting fumes of black smoke, as if it was firewood that was being burned. He now could not care less about venting his anger on Lin Li and others, as he started struggling and roaring in agony like he was being subjected to torture. The cries and roars of pain made the people below find it unbearable too.
If the God of Volcanoes was in his heyday, Lin Li wouldn’t need to try anymore. He just had to run as far as possible. However, the God of Volcanoes had been imprisoned, and had his mana stripped away from him for thousands of years. Hence, he had been greatly weakened, and when he escaped, he had similarly paid a considerable price, leaving the level of his strength at that of demigods.
Lin Li had even defeated a few ancient gods in Geresco’s test. He was definitely capable of defeating this subordinate god who had more than half of his power removed and was barely surviving.
Soon, the God of Volcanoes stopped roaring, and his entire body turned into black cracked stone that began crumbling and falling like cooled lava.
The astonishment that Edmund and the others felt when a god landed in front of them in the blink of an eye could no longer be put into words. Although they also knew that the god only possessed divinity, and did not have much power, Lin Li had handled it too effortlessly. Even if he was just a demigod-level enemy, they thought that Lin Li shouldn’t have been able to kill him so easily!
From the moment he saw Lin Li again, Edmund had already sensed that there was a change in Lin Li, which he couldn’t quite put a finger on. After seeing how Lin Li managed to easily kill a god, they felt that Lin Li’s abilities were even more mysterious. For Edmund, a seasoned powerhouse, it would be impossible to kill the God of Volcanoes easily. Even the Illuminati would have to pay a huge price for it.
However, the problem was that Edmund could clearly sense that Lin Li’s strength had definitely yet to reach the Divine-realm or even the demigod-level, which was puzzling for Edmund. Since they were both at the peak of the Sanctuary-realm, why was there such a huge difference between them?
Lin Li, who had just killed a god, acted as if nothing had happened at all. He then turned around and clapped his hands while saying to everyone in the Tower of Dusk, “Okay, everyone, get ready, it’s time for us to leave.”
Edmund’s heart was full of bewilderment, but he also knew that he couldn’t ask about such things. Hence, he had no choice but to swallow his questions, and instruct his team to get ready to leave. However, there was one thing that he knew very well: he had to inform the Illuminati about Lin Li’s strength as soon as possible.
Becoming enemies with a Guru of Inscription who was near the Divine-Smith-level and could easily kill a god would be an absolutely foolish thing to do. Besides, not only did they have to make sure not to become Lin Li’s enemy, the Illuminati also had to resort to some means to improve their relationship with him. That was the only choice that would be in line with the Illuminati’s interests.
After the matter of the underground world ended, the teams of the Tower of Dusk and the Illuminati finally returned to the surface of the Cursed Island, where they boarded The Star, and headed back to Four Seasons Island.
At this moment, Grina, the prince of the Giant Shark Clan, seemed to be happier than ever. During the auction previously, he had suffered a considerable loss as he had not only failed to win the auction of the items he wanted, he even lost a few years’ worth of mining rights to the Sea Serpent Clan. Logically speaking, he shouldn’t have been in a good mood.
The reason that Grina was suddenly in high spirits was because the group of seahorse slaves that the Tower of Dusk had bought in advance previously was now standing in front of them. The outsiders had no idea what the seahorse slaves meant to the Giant Shark Clan, but Grina knew that getting his hands on them would be enough to make up for the fact that he failed to bid for what he wanted.
The Seahorse Clan had once ruled the Endless Ocean, but the royals of the Ocean Dynasty lost their power because they had angered the Sea God. However, the Ocean Dynasty had amassed a large amount of wealth that was far beyond what ordinary people could imagine. After the betrayal of the Giant Shark Clan and other major Sea Clans, the wealth of the Ocean Dynasty was divided and shared among the clans. The share that the Giant Shark Clan had obtained was probably less than one-tenth of the total. The Seahorse Clansmen that were lucky to have survived would know the answer to where the remaining wealth had gone.
Grina had gone to confront the Tower of Dusk, only because he had heard that some of those seahorse slaves seemed to be the descendants of the royal Seahorse Clan. Of course, the fact that he belittled the Tower of Dusk was also an important reason. Otherwise, if it had been any other force, he would have definitely contemplated if it was worth falling out with them before taking action.
Grina waved his hand to have the seahorse slaves escorted away before turning around to speak to Cantory, who had given him the information, with great enthusiasm. “Cantory, my brother, it’s all thanks to the news you gave me that I managed to find those damned slaves.”
In fact, Cantory merely told Grina that Lin Li had left with the core members of the Tower of Dusk. However, Grina couldn’t say so, or else it would look as if he was afraid of the Tower of Dusk, though he was indeed unsure if he could really snatch the seahorse salves away from Lin Li.
On the other hand, Cantory, who had been thinking about how to land Lin Li in trouble, was naturally pleased to see that Grina had snatched away the slaves that Lin Li had bought. However, he was still rather rational. After accepting Grina’s thanks, he instructed, “Brother Grina, I’m sure you’re aware of the relationship between the kingdom and the Tower of Dusk. So, please keep this matter a secret for me.”
“Yes, yes!” Grina patted Cantory on his shoulder, but he said with some obvious disdain on his face, “I really don’t know what that old fogy Bradlor is thinking. Why is he sucking up to the Tower of Dusk? What’s so good about the Tower of Dusk? They just have two Sanctuary-realm powerhouses, what’s there to be afraid of?”
Cantory didn’t know how to answer him, and merely shook his head with a bitter smile before bidding him goodbye. In fact, he also wanted to say that not only was the Gilded Kingdom sucking up to the Tower of Dusk, even the Illuminati was just as subservient. However, he couldn’t say it, otherwise Grina wouldn’t act according to Cantory’s wishes.
After sending Cantory away, Grina returned to his underwater castle, and couldn’t help but laugh while looking at the sky. Since he arrived in the Gilded Kingdom, he had never been as elated as he was now. He could even imagine how furious Lin Li would be when he learned that the seahorse slaves were missing upon his return.
Besides, Grina was already prepared to take revenge for the way the Tower of Dusk insulted him in front of the embassy previously by humiliating the members of the Tower of Dusk once they returned.
During Lin Li’s absence, Four Seasons Island seemed to have barely changed as it was still full of a festive ambiance, with everyone making various preparations for the Gilded Kingdom’s founding celebration. After a few days of sailing, the huge vessel, The Star, also finally sailed into Helena Port, which was full of festive decorations.
Together with the members of the Illuminati, Edmund and Zumar bid farewell to Lin Li in the port, and got ready to return to the Illuminati to report the results of this operation. However, at this moment, a priest of the Illuminati hurried to the docks, and whispered something to Saint Edmund.
No one heard what the priest said, but Edmund’s face instantly became sullen. Immediately afterwards, Edmund bade goodbye to Lin Li briefly before taking his subordinates away with him as he left the port.
Damn it, that punk of the Giant Shark Clan really doesn’t know what he’s setting himself up for! Edmund cursed in his heart while taking his subordinates away from the port.
There were some matters in the Gilded Kingdom that King Bradlor might not be aware of, but there was nothing that the Illuminati wouldn’t know about. The things that Grina had done might be hidden from the Gilded Kingdom, but not from the Illuminati. However, the Illuminati’s external affairs had always been handled by Saint Edmund of the Chaos Sanctuary. Hence, the members of the Illuminati reported this matter to him only when he returned.
Besides, the Giant Shark Clan had four other Sanctuary-level divine generals, and if the other three Sanctuaries weren’t involved, it would be difficult for the force on Four Seasons Island to handle this matter.
In the underwater palace of the Giant Shark Clan, Grina was still happily thinking about what he would do to the seahorse slaves when he suddenly heard the sounds of hurried footsteps.
Soon, a guard who had anxiety written all over his face scurried in. When he saw Grina, he immediately called out, “Prince, bad news. The people of the Illuminati are here.”
What’s so bad about the Illuminati’s arrival? Grina was puzzled. After all, the Giant Shark Clan had been in contract with the Illuminati. Although their relationship wasn’t exactly close, they would still be somewhat courteous to each other.
Hence, Grina’s face turned sullen immediately, and he asked in displeasure, “What do you mean? So what if the Illuminati is here?”
“Prince, the members of the Illuminati want you to hand over all the seahorse slaves of the Tower of Dusk immediately,” said the guard.
