However, no one could refuse the temptation of breaking through to the Sanctuary-realm. After reading Rogge’s magic journal, Sendros was even more eager to improve his abilities and power. In order to do so, he would probably have to use the Legendary Tribute of Darkness, which was the sacred potion of the Undead, in addition to practicing for a long time.
The Tribute of Darkness was called the sacred potion of the Undead, and was a treasure that was highly coveted by the Necromancers. It was said that anyone who drank the Tribute of Darkness would immediately be converted into a Darkness form that was one of the closest to the original form of magic. When in the form of Darkness, manipulating Dark magical element would become an instinct. It was a complete mastery and perfect control of the magical element, and being in the form of Dark Magic was akin to becoming the legendary Darkness incarnation.
After so many years of accumulation of knowledge and experience, he would probably be able to enter the Sanctuary-realm if he could get a single dose of the Tribute of Darkness, especially since he now had the Sanctuary powerhouse Rogge’s magic journal. The Sanctuary-realm was the holy grail of every ambitious mage. No one could resist the temptation of the Sanctuary-realm.
Hence, despite feeling a little embarrassed, Sendros couldn’t help but ask Lin Li about it. After all, Sendros already knew through the fact that Lin Li had detoxified the poison in Pope Rosario’s body that Lin Li was probably a pharmaceutics Guru. In the entire Anril, Lin Li was the only one who could prepare the Tribute of Darkness.
“Well, I am rather confident, but I lack a lot of the ingredients needed to prepare the Tribute of Darkness, especially the main herbs, which I have none of,” Lin Li answered after some hesitation.
The preparation of the Tribute of Darkness was actually a deal that Lin Li had made a long time ago with Sendros when he’d still been an Archmage. Sendros had given the Heart of the Fallen from his collection to Lin Li and helped him integrate the Heart of the Fallen into the soul fire of the Humerus Wyrm on the condition that Lin Li would help him prepare a dose of the Tribute of Darkness once he was competent enough.
At that time, Lin Li wanted to turn him down because he wasn’t too confident about concocting the Tribute of Darkness, even though he was a pharmaceutics Guru. The Tribute of Darkness was the most difficult to prepare among all the Guru-level potions. In the opinion of many pharmacists, one would have to reach the level of a Divine Smith in order to successfully concoct the Tribute of Darkness.
However, after training for such a long time, Lin Li had definitely reached the peak of the Guru-level even though he still hadn’t broken through yet. This time, he had gotten a glimpse of Sanctuary-level power. Although it would be wrong to apply a single concept to everything, his clear understanding of the nature of the power had also allowed him to advance greatly in terms of concocting potions.
Hence, Lin Li could safely say that he was 70-80% confident that he could concoct the Tribute of Darkness. However, the difficulty in preparing the Tribute of Darkness did not lie only in the techniques required. The rarity of materials was also an important factor that contributed to the difficulty. For example, the two main herbs required—Everchill Flower from the arctic snowfield and the fruit from the Heart-devouring Tree below the 33rd level of the Abyss—were herbs that Lin Li had never seen before.
“Well, what if you have all the materials and herbs that you need? How confident are you in preparing it?” Sendros quickly asked again.
“Why? Have you collected all the herbs that are required?” Lin Li asked in shock when he heard Sendros’ words. He knew that many precious herbs could not be bought with money or found just based on incredible strength. Those precious herbs were truly rare to come by.
Lin Li watched as Sendros nodded slowly and answered, “You know that although the Darkness Shrine has only been around for more than a thousand years, the Eternal Shrine that existed before the Darkness Shrine has been in Anril for a long time. Although most of the assets that I’ve inherited back then are gone, I still have the ability to get the herbs needed for the Tribute of Darkness.”
In fact, with Sendros’ current strength and Rogge’s magic journal, it wouldn’t be too difficult for him to step into the Sanctuary-realm even without the help of the Tribute of Darkness. The only thing he needed was time. However, through this incident, Sendros had a hunch that Anril might soon lose its peace again, even though the dreaded catastrophe did not happen. Under such circumstances, entering the Sanctuary-realm sooner would be very necessary for him and the Darkness Shrine.
“However, I am only 80% sure. Unless there is room for failure, I suggest you wait a little longer if the materials are not sufficient,” Lin Li said conservatively. He had no choice but to do so, as the value of the herbs required for the preparation of the Tribute of Darkness might be enough to purchase the entire Felan Kingdom. If the concoction failed, the loss would be too great.
After hearing Lin Li’s words, Sendros could not help but hesitate for a while. He was a Master of pharmaceutics himself, and had a deep understanding of the value of various herbs. He also knew how difficult it was to prepare the Tribute of Darkness. However, after hesitating for a while, he said to Lin Li, “Although the materials are only enough to make a single potion, I still want to try it. While those herbs are precious, they will not be of any value if they cannot be formulated into potions.”
Sendros’ thoughts were actually very simple. The Divine Smith had always existed in legends, and for the vast majority of people, it was an ethereal existence. Although Lin Li was already a pharmaceutics Guru, he would still have to wait a long time before becoming a Divine Smith. During the wait, Sendros might even be able to step into the Sanctuary-realm by himself, without the help of the Tribute of Darkness.
Lin Li also understood Sendros’ intentions. After remaining silent for a long time, he said, “Okay, we can give it a try, but in order to ensure a higher success rate, I have to make some preparations in advance.”
Sendros was over the moon, and he frantically said to Lin Li, “Thank you very much. If you need anything, feel free to let me know and I’ll get them to fully cooperate.” Although he did not have the ability to prepare the Tribute of Darkness, he knew that concocting such a high-level potion would require plenty of preparations. It would be impossible to prepare it just with some herbs.
Lin Li’s original plan was to give Sendros an explanation after coming out of the big rift, and then put an end to the visit in the Darkness Shrine. To his surprise, Sendros suddenly suggested that he prepare the Tribute of Darkness, which was a promise that they had made a long time ago. Since Sendros had made up his mind, Lin Li naturally had nothing to say.
Although the herbs would all be provided by Sendros, Lin Li didn’t want to really spoil the precious herbs that were rare and could not be found easily. Hence, before he began the concoction, he would have to make meticulous preparations in advance. The first step would be to make numerous calculations and separate each step of the preparation process. Lin Li claimed that he was 80% certain of successfully preparing the potion, but since he had agreed to help Sendros, he had to strive to do his best. After all, the herbs that Sendros had were barely enough for the Tribute of Darkness. Hence, he would have to pen down the numbers and carry out a huge amount of calculations.
However, planning things out on paper alone was not enough, and he would have to carry out plenty of experiments to verify various preparation methods. Although some of the herbs required were relatively easy to obtain, the amount required was daunting as well. Fortunately, while the Darkness Shrine had declined, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. Besides, they had a powerful background. Otherwise, the amount of herbs consumed during the experiment would be discouraging enough.
“Joan, collect some herbs according to the list. We’re running out of them. There isn’t much left in the laboratory,” Lin Li instructed his assistant while fiddling with the equipment in the laboratory that Sendros had arranged for him.
“Yes, Master Felic, I’ll get going now,” said Joan, who had been working as Lin Li’s assistant the past few days. Actually, he did not help much, and he mainly helped Lin Li collect all kinds of herbs. He felt like his heart was about to bleed when he saw the large amount of precious herbs that he sent turn into worthless waste. The process was simply too torturous.
However, Joan dared not say anything, for High Priest Sendros had already instructed him to speak less and abide by Lin Li’s instructions. Although he didn’t know what Lin Li was about to do, he reckoned that it had to be a very important thing since the chief high priest was taking it seriously.
This time, only Sendros and the other high-level officials of the Darkness Shrine knew about the incarnation of the God of Darkness and the catastrophe that almost struck the Darkness Shrine. Apart from the few high-level officials, the other believers of Darkness simply thought that Lin Li was a distinguished guest of Sendros. Those who were more informed would know that the Tower of Dusk and the Darkness Shrine were in cooperation.
Joan grabbed the list given by Lin Li, and when he looked at the various herbs listed on it, he couldn’t help but be secretly astonished. Although the Ghost Grass and Lilacs were not extremely precious herbs, the value and quantity required were absolutely astonishing.
“Nark, hurry and collect these herbs,” Joan said as he handed the list to Nark, the person in charge of guarding the warehouse where the herbs were stored.
“Oh my God, why are you here again? Did the higher-ups make you build another storeroom elsewhere!?” It was no wonder that Nark said that, because the herbs that Joan had picked up these days were almost half of the inventory in the warehouse.
“Stop making wild guesses and hurry up. Prepare the herbs,” Joan said with a wry smile. If Nark knew that the herbs that he had picked up the past few days had all gone to waste, he would probably vomit blood.
Nark had also received instructions from Sendros, and thus simply expressed his astonishment for a while before proceeding to collect the herbs on the list. While walking, he looked at the herbs listed and shook his head while thinking to himself, There’s going to be so much more space in the storeroom after this!
