Upon hearing Lin Li’s reminder, Gavin and the others immediately snapped back to reality and realized what was going on. The joy on their faces diminished, and they solemnly said to Lin Li, “Please rest assured, Mr. President. We definitely won’t give them any chances. No matter what tricks they get up to, they’ll end up being severely injured by us.”
Lin Li had no doubt that the three major forces definitely wouldn’t dare to do anything to the Tower of Dusk itself, because they had already been warned by the Ashen Warlock. They could only resort to dealing with the Tower of Dusk using some tricks. However, with the current commercial foundation of the Tower of Dusk, they wouldn’t be affected easily.
After giving some brief and simple instructions to them, Lin Li headed to the Eternal Furnace that was on the top of the tower, and saw Connoris who was making modifications to the Death Knight in the core of the Eternal Furnace.
“How was it? What kind of person is the Ashen Warlock?” Connoris asked as he immediately paused in his actions when he saw Lin Li entering.
“Aren’t you the Soul Trader who knows it all? Why don’t you know anything about the Ashen Warlock?” Lin Li joked as he recalled the time when Connoris often claimed to be the know-it-all Soul Trader when he was sealed in the hammer.
“Of course I know about the Ashen Warlock. I suspect that the last clone I left behind in Anril was killed by him. However, the origin of that guy is so mysterious. He appeared out of nowhere, and I bet no one in Anril knows where he’s from,” Connoris defended himself while ignoring Lin Li’s teasing.
“Actually, you may not believe it, but I really know of his origin. According to him, he’s a life form that the Immortal King created,” Lin Li said truthfully. After all, he might need Connoris to help in building the new body using the Eternal Furnace.
“Haha, I was right, you don’t know, either… Wait, what did you say!? What about the Immortal King…?” Connoris was extremely astonished, and couldn’t recover from the shock. He was expecting Lin Li to say that he didn’t know, but to his surprise, Lin Li made such a shocking statement, which caused him to be dumbfounded.
“You took so long to react. Seems like he was right about there being flaws in this so-called perfect body of yours,” Lin Li teased while staring at the dumbfounded Connoris. Of course, the flaws that the Ashen Warlock mentioned did not include the lack of IQ.
Before Connoris could register Lin Li’s words, he got a great shock again because he heard that his body was flawed. He stepped forward to grab Lin Li, and nervously asked, “What? What exactly happened? What creation of life? What flaw!?”
“Okay, don’t be so nervous, I didn’t say that I’m not going to tell you,” said Lin Li, who finally broke free from Connoris’s hand. He then pushed him away, and said, “If you want to hear the answer, stand properly!”
Connoris was about to dash forward again, but after hearing Lin Li’s words, he had no choice but to remain standing while still feeling just as nervous as before. “Hurry and speak up. What exactly is going on?”
“This time, the Ashen Warlock made a deal with me, and he wants me to create a perfect body for him. He also told me that the technique for the creation of the body was not invented by Osric, but by the Immortal King. He’s the first life that the Immortal King has created using that technique,” Lin Li explained. Lin Li honestly still found it rather incredible, but he had no reason to suspect that the Ashen Warlock was lying.
“The life he created? Are you sure he said life, and not body?” Clearly, Connoris had immediately discovered the key of the issue, just like Lin Li at the beginning.
“Yes, life,” Lin Li answered firmly with a nod.
“It can’t be, how is that possible!? Creating life is not something that mortals can tamper with!” Connoris exclaimed, finding it hard to accept. Although everyone knew how strong and powerful the godly Immortal King was, he still wasn’t a true god, after all.
“Since he’s called the Immortal King, do you think he can still be called a mortal?” Even Lin Li still couldn’t quite believe it at this time, let alone Connoris. The ones who could create life were probably supreme existences even amongst gods and deities. Legend had it that the Immortal King was a near-god existence, but he seemed to have done beyond that.
After a long time, Connoris finally suppressed the shock in his heart. He then recalled another problem, and frantically asked, “I remember what you said just now. The Ashen Warlock said that my body is flawed?”
“Yes,” Lin Li answered, and he continued what he’d said to Connoris again. “We’ve always thought that you just haven’t fused with the perfect body yet. However, since the Ashen Warlock could bring up these issues even though he hasn’t met you before, there should be nothing wrong with it.”
“Damn it, what did Osric learn from the Immortal King!?” Connoris couldn’t help but curse. When he first met Lin Li, he just wanted a stronger body which would allow him to get out of that hammer. Getting the perfect body was considered an unexpected surprise to him. However, after hearing that the body was flawed, he still could not help but feel a little disappointed.
“You don’t need to be too disappointed. Now that I have the journal of the Immortal King, I might be able to find some ways to help you make up for your physical flaws.” Lin Li was not just comforting Connoris. As the perfect body had already been formed, it would be impossible for him to remake it in the furnace. However, if he were to master all the techniques of the Immortal King, he should be able to reduce the impact of the flaws after some modifications.
“That’s the only solution we have now. I’ll count on you from now on,” Connoris agreed before throwing the problem back to Lin Li. He then continued to fiddle with the Death Knight in the crystal coffin.
Gavin and the others announced the news of the events that had happened in Gran Town, which caused the entire Tower of Dusk to go into an uproar. Who wouldn’t want the force that they belonged to to become stronger? Besides, the three major forces couldn’t even do anything to the Tower of Dusk despite joining forces. Didn’t that mean that the Tower of Dusk was extremely powerful? All the people who did not have much faith in the Tower of Dusk previously were convinced now, and they thought that the forces that were going against the Tower of Dusk should all go to hell!
Having understood the competency and abilities of the Tower of Dusk, they never thought that they were worse than any of the three major forces. Besides, they felt that they would be able to stand up to the three major forces even if they were to unite. However, both parties would end up being hurt. Everyone knew how terrifying the Ashen Warlock was, and now that the Tower of Dusk had the protection of the Ashen Warlock, they wouldn’t have to worry about the three major forces!
Not long after, the news spread around the Tower of Dusk, and everyone’s opinion was confirmed. The boycott led by the major forces almost ceased overnight. The potions and magical weapons that were stolen from the Tower of Dusk were still produced and sold in large quantities by the other forces, but the prices had since increased by a large amount. Although the prices were still much lower than the product price listed by the Tower of Dusk, the difference was not major. Lin Li reckoned that the forces probably didn’t want to offend the upstart of the Breezy Plains, the Tower of Dusk. They didn’t want to end up compensating them with a large amount of gold coins, either.
In fact, what worried the mages of the Tower of Dusk the most was the boycott led by the three groups of bandits in the past. After all, the Tower of Dusk had a wide network of commercial connections, and there would be caravans coming and going in all directions every day. If those forces were ruthless enough, they would definitely affect the reputation of the Tower of Dusk even if they couldn’t completely boycott them.
However, the words of the Ashen Warlock became a protective amulet for the Tower of Dusk. No force in the Breezy Plains dared to break the peace and order of the Breezy Plains. Hence, extreme behavior like carrying out an armed robbery on the caravans of the Tower of Dusk would be impossible.
However, with Lin Li’s reminder, the senior executives did not let their guard down. After all, the three major forces had been running businesses in the Breezy Plains for over 1000 years. Apart from simple and violent means, they would definitely resort to other scheming tricks. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that the Ashen Warlock needed Lin Li’s help this time, Joseph’s conspiracy would have succeeded. Given Ashen Warlock’s character, he wouldn’t care if Lin Li was a genius or not.
Nonetheless, there had been a major change in the predicament of the Tower of Dusk after the gathering in Gran Town this time. At least they no longer had to face the suppression by other forces of the Breezy Plains. Some of those who had unanimously set up obstacles for the Tower of Dusk had given up, while some seemed to be acting perfunctorily, and of course some had not given up.
At this moment, Lin Li devoted most of his energy to the improvement of his own abilities. Although he managed to help the Tower of Dusk resolve a major problem successfully this time thanks to the protection of the Ashen Warlock, he still felt uncomfortable about having his fate lie in the hands of someone else. If Lin Li had had Sanctuary-realm power this time, the three major forces probably wouldn’t have dared to covet the Tower of Dusk even if he couldn’t compare to the Ashen Warlock.
Of course, there was another important reason for Lin Li’s desperate desire to improve, and that was the fact that the disaster that Geresco had predicted was getting closer. There wasn’t much time left for Lin Li. Perhaps he had less than a year left—he had to step into the Sanctuary-realm before that. He had to seal the big rift like Geresco had mentioned. Otherwise, the entire Anril would be stuck in the catastrophe.
Having seen the big rift in the Eternal Darkness Altar, Lin Li realized that the disaster that Geresco had predicted was really not an exaggeration. According to Rogge, there was a terrifying existence hidden in the big rifts that had to be sealed. Even Rogge was daunted. Once the disaster struck Anril, no one would be able to stop it from destroying the world.
Stepping into the Sanctuary-realm might be considered illusory for most people. Even those who had also seen a trace of the power of the Sanctuary-realm might not be able to do it just with determination. However, there were too many precious treasures in Lin Li’s hands which contained the seven basic Laws, such as the debris of the stars, the God of Mages Geresco’s Book of Eternity, the control crystal that contained infinite mana, and the resurrected Seed of Eternity, as well as the magical crystal of the Dragon of Destruction. If he still couldn’t take the crucial step with so many treasures, he would be better off dead.
The control crystal of the Sky Castle was taken out of the Ring of Endless Storm and placed in the meditation room. Lin Li could bask in the pure, infinite mana every moment. Although Lin Li had reached the peak of the Legendary-realm, the meditation was still very useful and effective for him.
More importantly, Lin Li did not restrict the magic tides of the control crystal, allowing them to fill the entire interior of the Tower of Dusk. Hence, in the process of him striving to enter the Sanctuary-realm, the mages of the Tower of Dusk were also basking in the magic tide at the same time. Even if they were not mediating deliberately, they could still reap great benefits from it.
However, stepping into the Sanctuary-realm required more than just pure accumulation of mana. The real key lay in mastering the nomological power and the usage of power through the understanding of the laws. The Sanctuary-realm was about mastering the Laws and making the nomological power their own.
Comprehension and enlightenment came before mastery. Only by comprehending the laws to the extreme could one truly master the Laws. Some people could understand the true meaning of the Laws immediately, but Lin Li couldn’t pin his hopes of entering the Sanctuary-realm on such an ethereal and illusory guarantee. However, he didn’t have time to slowly accumulate.
However, Lin Li had fortunately obtained all seven pieces of the debris of the stars which contained the seven laws of the world. It could be considered the epitome of the seven laws. It was just like how tasting honey would be better than imagining the taste of honey. Those seven pieces were like real honey which Lin Li had had the chance of tasting, thus giving him an advantage over the others.
Although Lin Li relied on the Power of Light and Darkness to achieve his current accomplishments, the seven laws were closely related. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to constitute an entire world. Hence, even if Lin Li only wanted to get an extreme comprehension of the Laws of Light and Darkness, comprehending the other five fundamental Laws would be very beneficial to him too. Besides, Lin Li was not satisfied with just mastering the Power of Light and Darkness. After all, only Sanctuary powerhouses could be considered godly existences.
