Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The following days were peaceful, and everything was going according to plan. The workers sent by the Supreme Council had started building the tower, and Kaman had begun to send over rare magical metals. Besides visiting Doland every once in a while, Lin Li spent his time alone with Norfeller. Nobody knew what he was up to these days.
Well, strictly speaking, Lin Li was not up to anything these days…
The strange encounter in the Aurora Square had brought him many things, which included a dozen core magical mantras. This was enough research material to last a lifetime for any mage; luckily for Lin Li, these mantras were embedded in his memory like a soul brand he was born with, so all he needed to do was to internalize the information, and he would be able to master them with ease…
Even that was no small feat, and would take a long time as the dozen core magical mantras were akin to all there was in magic. Anyone who could master all of them had to be a god or close to one; even though Lin Li had committed all of them to memory, he was still far away from mastering all of them.
Of course, memorizing all of them had its benefits. At least it made it easier than before for Lin Li to use magic, as evidenced by the fight in the Demon Fall Valley. Old Merlin was a powerful level-15 Archmage, and even though he was not as skilled as Lin Li, he was comparable to the latter. Yet, he was forced to remain on defensive as he failed to pose any threat to Lin Li all the way until he died…
Such was the power of the core magical mantras…
Lin Li did not harbor high expectations initially considering how profound the core magical mantras were. Even the mages who had reached the Legendary Realm and surpassed it could not say that they had mastered the mantras, much less Lin Li, who was merely a level-16 Archmage.
However, Lin Li found his understanding of magic growing as time went by. He found the answers to the questions he’d had in the past as well as questions he’d never thought he had. It was a surreal experience for Lin Li who was immersed in the knowledge. It excited him to the point where he did not set foot outside the house for a month as he buried himself in his research.
These mantras were like endless treasure coves to say the least, and Lin Li found himself gaining enlightenment and finding new techniques to use his magic with each passing day.
The boring and routine-like days passed by quickly as a month had gone by in a flash…
In that month, Lin Li occasionally called on Norfeller to test out his strength.
He had to admit that Norfeller was indeed a worthy opponent. As a high-ranking Vampire, he held impeccable strength in his body and was well-versed in Necromagic. According to his calculations, Norfeller was at least on par with a level-17 Necromancer…
Norfeller started out winning by a small margin, but the more Lin Li understood the core magical mantras, the more difficult it became for Norfeller. In the last couple of days, especially, Lin Li found that he could defeat Norfeller in half an hour if Norfeller only used Necromagic.
What Norfeller found perplexing was the fact that he clearly felt this young man’s power remaining at level-16. He could not understand how a level-16 Archmage managed to repeatedly defeat a level-17 Archmage so effortlessly. Norfeller found no other explanation besides the fact Lin Li was the incarnation of the Immortal King…
All in all, Lin Li had been very satisfied with the work in the past month.
Like any other day, Lin Li woke up at dawn and went for breakfast with the little Dragonhawk before going on a walk outside of town as he observed the progress of the tower’s construction. He then returned to his house to study the core magical mantras.
Who knew that a series of knocks would be heard from the door not long after he sat down.
“Strange…” Lin Li frowned, slightly doubtful as he answered the door. Ever since Herza left, the people in Black Clouds Town rarely came to look for him. The workers building the tower, however, were unbelievably arrogant, and would have hardly spared him a glance if not for the Supreme Council’s direct orders.
Yeah, just like that Moke—Lin Li could not comprehend how anyone could be so silly. Moke outdid his silliness after Herza left as he either ignored Lin Li or sneered at him, saying that he was not engaging in honest work as a mage and instead meddled secretively with magical metals like an idiot…
Damn it, you’re the idiot here!
Sometimes, Lin Li really wanted to slap his face.
Unfortunately, he never found a reason to…
Strangely, hateful as he was, Moke never did anything out of line. Lin Li felt all the more irritated that he could not find a reason to slap him…
“Kaman?” Lin Li saw a familiar face as he opened the door to the study.
“Great, that’s great, Mage Felic, you’re here indeed…” Kaman stood there flushed and panting heavily as if he had just finished a marathon. Before Lin Li could ask him what was the matter, Kaman started speaking while still out of breath. “Mage Felic, I-I-I… I found a batch of rare magical metal!”
“Oh?” Lin Li was intrigued when he heard him mention “rare magical metal”, and hurriedly ushered him inside. “Quick, tell me what rare magical metal is it? ”
“Well, you see, Mage Felic, a dwarf brought a batch of Ice Crystal Metal to the stone trading bank today…”
“Ice Crystal Metal?”
Lin Li frowned as soon as he heard what Kaman said. He was familiar with Ice Crystal Metal, and had once held a dagger made of it in the Endless World. Incredibly sharp and powerful, it was hailed as a classic amongst magical equipment. Lin Li had beheaded at least 10 high-ranking warriors and slit open the belly of Azardas, the Dragon of Destruction, with the said dagger. A pity that he could not bring it with him when he arrived in this time…
“Yes, Ice Crystal Metal, a whole carriage of refined Ice Crystal Metal…” Kaman’s beady eyes positively glowed at the mention of this. Paired with his panting round face, he was the definition of “comical”.
Lin Li had no concern for this, however, as he hurriedly questioned Kaman before he finished speaking. “What’s his price?”
“One million gold coins…” Kaman eyed Lin Li carefully as he said this, fearing that the figure would anger Lin Li. He was a young mage who killed without batting an eye, so Kaman would be deep in trouble if Lin Li thought he was being greedy and got angry…
“One million gold coins?” Lin Li brushed his nose as he stood up from where he was sitting without questioning further. “Let’s go, bring me there!”
“What?”
“Bring me to Doland, I want all of that Ice Crystal Metal!”
“…” Kaman nearly bit his tongue. Damn it, mages are all filthy rich, how can he decide to buy one million gold coins’ worth of Ice Crystal Metal without bargaining at all?! Hell, this is one million gold coins, not a hundred copper coins!
“What are you waiting for?”
“Oh, right…” Kaman jumped at Lin Li’s words, and quickly followed him out of the house to the carriage waiting outside.
Lin Li did not bring Norfeller along this time, as the latter was an Undead creature, which might cause a scene if he appeared in Doland. The unusually devoted followers of Brilliance Shrine took it upon themselves to exterminate evil Undead creatures, and might mistake him for one of them as well—wouldn’t he be in trouble then?
“Right. Kaman, did you manage to sell the magical weapons I got you to previously?”
“Yes, Mage Felic, all four of them have been sold. Your crystal card has been credited with the money, you can check the transaction details anytime you wish. Heh, to be honest, Mage Felic, in my years of doing business, I’ve never seen such popular goods. They were gone in less than half a day after we put them up…”
