Seeing that the inviter was the Ashen Warlock, Lin Li couldn’t help but frown a little and ask the mage who brought him the letter, “Where is the person who sent the letter?”
He could tell from the magical ink on the letter that the letter was definitely real. However, the content of the letter was too simple because only the time and sender’s signature were stated.
Upon hearing Lin Li’s question about the person who delivered the letter, the mage painstakingly tried to force a smile, and said with slight difficulty, “Mr. President, I initially wanted to invite the messenger in to wait for a while, but the old man who delivered the letter said… said that he still had to go home to take care of his field, and so he didn’t want to waste any more time here. By the way, he also asked for 10 gold coins as a reward for delivering the letter.”
“Oh, did you give it to him?” Lin Li asked, finding it a little amusing.
The Ashen Warlock was living in seclusion in Gran Town, and that was something that everyone in the Breezy Plains knew about. However, Lin Li didn’t expect the Ashen Warlock to let an ordinary farmer deliver the letter.
“Yes, I initially wanted to give him more, but he refused to accept the money. He said that he only wanted to get paid for how much work he had done, and that it was just delivering a letter, so he merely wanted some money for travel expenses.” It was not that the young mage was dumb. He could also detect the magical waves emanating from the crumpled letter, and could naturally tell that the origin of the letter was not simple.
“Okay, you are dismissed,” said Lin Li as he put away the letter and waved to let the mage leave.
Although there was no substantial information about the Ashen Warlock’s invitation on the letter, Lin Li could more or less guess what it was about. It could also be considered to be a tradition of the Breezy Plains. Every three years, the Ashen Warlock would send an invitation letter to the leaders of the most powerful forces of the Breezy Plains to invite them to Gran Town.
Although the invitation letter was so simple that it looked like a joke, it was like en edict from the deities in the Breezy Plains. No one would dare to show the slightest contempt. At the same time, in the eyes of most people, the seemingly ordinary invitation letter was also a status symbol which signified that one was standing on the pinnacle of the Breezy Plains with their respective forces.
That was not an exaggeration at all. Ever since the Dark Age, the Ashen Warlock had been living in seclusion in the small Gran Town. He had also left behind numerous stories about his horrifying deeds, as well as some rumors and legends. The incident that took place more than 50 years ago was just one of the insignificant ones.
Hundreds of years ago, the Retribution Knight Rodhart led the Death Knights to conduct a massacre in the Breezy Plains, and brought about a huge disaster. Under the attacks of the Death Knights, strong cities were turned into ruins, and various Legendary powerhouses with great reputation had all fallen under Rodhart’s Eternal Frost Blade.
At that time, Rodhart split his nearly 1,000 Death Knights into two in order to speed up the harvesting of their souls. However, Rodhart did not expect that to be the worst decision of his life apart from choosing to become the Retribution Knight.
The 500-odd Death Knights in the north still possessed the strength to besiege more than a dozen Legendary powerhouses even though they were not led by Rodhart himself. They were much stronger than the Gryphon Riders of the Felan Kingdom. However, even a team with such power actually went missing on their way to Gran Town. At that time, the residents of the town didn’t even know that they had had a close shave with death.
However, when Rodhart detected that they were missing and arrived outside Gran Town, he only stayed for a while before fleeing back to the southern part of the Breezy Plains. Up until he was purified by the Prophet Willen, Rodhart did not reveal the slightest intention of going north, which was also the reason he had a tinge of vitality left during the disaster in the Breezy Plains.
Unfortunately, the Ashen Warlock did not intend to be the guardian of the Breezy Plains, and he simply didn’t want anyone to disturb his peaceful life. Otherwise, the Prophet Willen wouldn’t have had the chance to purify Rodhart.
Another event that spread like wildfire in the Breezy Plains, which was also recorded in history, was the disbanding of the rebellion alliance, which resulted from a conflict of interests during the most chaotic period in Anril. The orcs, who had long been coveting the fertile soil of the Breezy Plains, had once organized an army to encroach on the Breezy Plains.
The orcs did not have any strict military discipline. Besides, at that time, they believed that they had suffered a loss in the distribution of interests amongst the rebellion alliance, and thus wouldn’t be kind to the civilians. In fact, they had done all evil such as murder and arson. They would leave behind ruins wherever they went, and their cruelty and ruthlessness were no less than those of the Death Knights.
However, when the orcs arrived in Gran Town, the Ashen Warlock appeared in front of them, clad in a black robe. He simply told them to scram in a low and stern voice, after which the countless orcs around him suddenly retreated entirely like a tide, leaving behind only some banners, weapons, and countless corpses that were trampled to death.
That was also the incident that made the people of the Breezy Plains know that such a powerful and daunting man actually lived in seclusion in the unassuming town in the northern part of the Breezy Plains. No one knew how old the Ashen Warlock was, or how long he had lived in Gran Town for. All they knew was that he had been living in a dilapidated tower in Gran Town.
To their astonishment, even during the Dark Age, Gran Town was still like a paradise that was completely unaffected by the chaos going on in the Breezy Plains. Even the extremely powerful High Elves seemed to have strictly abided by a certain agreement, and had never set foot in Gran Town during the Dark Age.
During the Dark Age, it was the Highlord Osric who dominated and ruled the Breezy Plains and the Felan Kingdom. Even the terrifying Endless Abyss was conquered by the Magic Legion led by Osric. The ancient demon deity Balak, known as the most powerful in terms of combat power, was actually doomed in the hands of Osric. Yet, Gran Town remained a forbidden area in the Breezy Plains.
Many people believed that the Ashen Warlock might have met Osric and made an unknown agreement with him. However, Lin Li heard another incredible statement from Angelano. Angelano was Osric’s first follower, and was once known as one of Osric’s three butchers. Hence, he naturally knew more about Osric than the others.
“No one knows what the Ashen Warlock did, but he simply waved his hands, and thousands of elite fighters of the Magic Legion lost their lives instantly. They aged very quickly, decomposed, and turned into ashes. I could sense a strange force even when I was observing through the crystal ball.” Angelano began to recall the old memories, and couldn’t help but say in a shaky voice, “Ever since then, Osric never mentioned the Ashen Warlock again. It was as if he had completely forgotten about this matter, and focused all of his energy on the construction of the Eternal Furnace.”
If Lin Li had heard about the matter from others, he probably wouldn’t have believed it at all. Osric was the proud disciple of the Immortal King, a powerhouse who was said to be no less powerful than the High Elven queen in the Dark Age. The High Elves’ Magic Legion was extremely powerful, and they had once swept through the Endless Abyss, causing countless powerful Abyssal Demons to flee for their lives.
However, the Ashen Warlock actually turned thousands of soldiers of the Magic Legion into ashes with the wave of his hands, making it impossible for the arrogant Highlord Osric to even think of taking revenge. Lin Li couldn’t imagine what level of strength the Ashen Warlock had reached, but he reckoned that it probably wasn’t worse than that of the three arbitrators of the Supreme Council.
It was precisely the tyrannical and domineering power of the Ashen Warlock Roland that allowed him to be above all forces of the Breezy Plains, just like a god looking down at other sentient beings.
After the Dark Age ended for more than 1,300 years, and the initial war between the nations that were competing for territory, Anril remained peaceful for nearly a millennium. However, the Breezy Plains was an exception. Although it belonged to the Felan Kingdom in name, the royal family had very little control over the Breezy Plains.
Due to the fact that there had never been an actual ruler, the Breezy Plains was perpetually going through tumultuous times, even though the war had ended nearly 1,000 years ago. On this piece of land, the forces of various sizes were closely related, and would get into various conflicts at all times. Hence, most outsiders would call the Breezy Plains a land of chaos.
However, there was still some order despite the chaos, and the person who maintained order was the Ashen Warlock Roland, who was above all the forces in the Breezy Plains. He was the only one who was fit and able enough to enforce and maintain an order that no one would dare to violate.
Roland the Ashen Warlock who lived in the small Gran Town was probably the only person who knew the reason he bothered to intervene with the disputes between forces in the Breezy Plains. Perhaps it was because he didn’t want those disputes to affect his peaceful life, or perhaps he was just bored.
In short, the tradition of the Ashen Warlock sending an invitation once every three years began some time ago. Every three years, Roland, the Ashen Warlock, would send an invitation card that was written on cheap letter paper to the leaders of the strongest forces of the Breezy Plains, and invite them to his dilapidated tower in the small Gran Town.
As for the contents of the gathering, the outsiders would never find out, as it would be kept confidential to everyone except for the leaders of the major forces that participated. They only knew that after every gathering, the power distribution in the Breezy Plains would be finalized, and the originally intense battles would soon disappear.
That was the order of the Breezy Plains that no one had dared to break. It was the order that the Ashen Warlock had been maintaining for years in the chaotic land, the Breezy Plains.
