by Zhuang Bifan
It was likely that a large batch of mages of the Tower of Dusk would probably become Archmages at the peak of level-19. That meant that the Tower of Dusk would increase in strength, and there would also be more Legendary powerhouses, who would provide incalculable benefits for the future development of the Tower of Dusk.
Of course, to Lin Li, the most important thing was that he would be able to summon the Sky Castle once he had the magical crystal and sufficient power.
Perhaps the Sanctuary-realm seemed illusory and unreachable to everyone, but for Lin Li, the Sanctuary-realm was a clear goal that he could see right in front of him. While others were searching for the direction to the Sanctuary-realm, Lin Li had to stay determined and move forward.
Although he still couldn't control the Sky Castle, Lin Li did not quite feel depressed, because he knew clearly that he was very close to it. Lin Li put away the magical crystal ball and realized that there were no more valuable items in the hall, which also meant that the exploration of the Immortal King's treasure vault had come to an end.
Lin Li walked out of the hall and walked towards the deadly corridor to see that Cheyenne and Elder Randy were looking in and trying to take a peek. After mastering the magical crystal, Lin Li got a clear understanding of the Sky Castle. He then walked towards an oil lamp and infused it with some of his mental strength, after which a Teleportation Portal appeared beneath his feet.
Looking at the young mage who suddenly appeared beside them, Cheyenne and Elder Randy's expressions turned complicated. It was no doubt that the lucky Lin Li must have gotten some gains that probably exceeded the value of all of their gains combined. However, no one dared to take the initiative to speak, since there was no reason for them to question Lin Li. Hence, they had no choice but to be disappointed and continue guessing jealously.
However, Lin Li had no time to bother about their mood, because he was eager to explore Osric's mausoleum. Hence, he smiled at Elder Randy and Cheyenne before saying, "Masters, I'm sorry to have made you guys wait for a long time, but this is already the last floor of the tower. If there isn't anything else, is it time to leave?"
In any case, all of them had obtained plenty of loot, be it a crystal ball, magical equipment, the lost spells, or impeccable magical equipment designs. All of the items that they'd gained were enough for their respective forces to expand and become stronger.
As Lin Li clearly did not plan to talk to them about the gains that he had gotten on the sixth floor, Cheyenne and Elder Randy had no choice but to nod helplessly.
Everyone had reached an agreement, and quickly arrived at the hall of the first floor, but they had no choice but to stop when they saw the tightly shut door. When they arrived, everyone had to enter the Seven-Realm Spiral of the Orderly Maze after passing through the first trap on the balcony of the second floor. However, when they left, they could not avoid the door that had been locked with the Magical Thousand-contraption Lock.
Are we going to be trapped inside forever? I'd rather try to break through the Seven-Realm Spiral again! Everyone was just thinking about how they should use their treasures after going home, so the tightly shut door was like a wet blanket to them. If they had no solution to leave this place, what was the point of all these great gains!?
However, everyone's worries did not last long. The two Undead servants behind Lin Li suddenly walked out of the team and stood by the tightly shut door. Their movements could not be seen at all, and they simply extended their arms to pull the doors open.
Although the Magical Thousand-contraption Lock could not be unlocked at all, Lin Li had thought about leaving a long time ago. He was indeed not strong enough to control the Sky Castle, or even activate a mageweath, but he could easily use his power to unlock the door.
Although it was only the simple action of opening a door, the door was locked by the Magical Thousand-contraption Lock. Hence, why could it be easily opened by the young mage Lin Li's team? Everyone watched in shock as the door moved back and forth a few times with Lin Li's body, and they began to develop a terrifying conjecture about what Lin Li obtained on the sixth floor.
Lin Li looked at the crowd on his left and right, shrugged his shoulders, and walked out of the door while ignoring the look of surprise on their faces.
Regardless of what everyone was thinking, they immediately stopped mulling over it after walking out of the gate of the central tower. Although they did not see anything unusual, they could vaguely feel something inexplicably bizarre in the surroundings.
At this moment, the Sky Castle had already returned to its usual state of silence after Lin Li took away the magical crystal. Everything was no different from when they'd first arrived. However, it still felt peculiar yet clear. It seemed to be haunting everyone and causing them to tense up.
Lin Li frowned slightly, and looked around to see that there was nothing at all in the spacious square. The buildings inside were exactly the same as outside the square. There were identical streets that were indistinguishable between the buildings. He turned back and ordered his subordinates to be careful and stay alert. He could no longer be bothered about shocking everyone else, and instead immediately whipped out his giant magical crystal from the Ring of Endless Storm.
As soon as Lin Li took out his magical crystal, Cheyenne and Elder Randy were all dumbfounded, for all they could see was that massive magical crystal, and they were thinking about the surging mana wave. What is it that actually produced such a huge magical crystal? Is this the ultimate treasure hidden behind that deadly corridor? they wondered.
Cheyenne and Elder Randy were overwhelmed with jealousy. A Legendary magical crystal was already considered very remarkable in the world of Anril, and they reckoned that even a magical beast of the Sanctuary-realm might not be able to produce it. Everyone knew that a magical crystal was no longer just a container for mana after its level had been fixed, and instead had its respective uses. Although they did not know what functions Lin Li's magical crystal had, they could not help but wish that they could exchange everything they had for it just because of that massive mana.
Holding the magical crystal in his hand, Lin Li ignored the jealous eyes around him and injected a trace of mental strength into the magical crystal. Although he could not control the Sky Castle, he could clearly observe everything in the surrounding within a certain range, which allowed him to see and feel every change in the streets and buildings nearby.
However, even though he could see everything, Lin Li felt increasingly uneasy because he could not detect any abnormalities at all. Not only were there no attackers hiding in dark corners, there was not a single change in energy at all. He wondered if he was just hallucinating, but he reckoned that it couldn't be the case after staring at everyone else's reaction.
While staying alert, they carefully moved in the direction of the Teleportation Portal. At this moment, Ujfalusi, who had been following Lin Li, quickly strode towards Lin Li and uneasily said, "Master, there seems to be a strange tension in the air here."
Lin Li stopped in his tracks all of a sudden and turned to look at Ujfalusi before turning to look at Norfeller, who also nodded slightly. He suddenly realized something. He reckoned that Ujfalusi could be the reason he and the rest could not pinpoint what was wrong even though they could sense that something was amiss.
However, although Ujfalusi was weaker than Norfeller, he was still a Legendary Lich, after all. Even Holy Light would not make him feel so oppressed. Hence, Lin Li reckoned that his feeling of oppression could have been due to Undead creatures' natural fear towards their superiors.
Although Lin Li was not a Necromancer, he often had his two Undead servants by his side, and had also had many long talks with Sendros, the most famous Necromancer in Anril. Hence, Lin Li was not entirely clueless about the world of Undead creatures.
The world of Undead creatures indeed had a strict hierarchy that was different from that of humans, and the division was instead determined by power that was similar to rul
es. The lower-level Undead creatures tended to feel uncontrollably fearful when faced with superior Undead creatures. They would not be able to control their fear unless they transcended the rules and created some.
Back in the Undead world of the Seven-Realm Spiral, Ujfalusi, who had Legendary power, had never felt oppressed even when he was faced with the three powerful Undead Lords, yet he actually mentioned it now. Clearly, he was extremely impacted by that feeling.
An Undead Lord was already at the top of the Undead hierarchy. What else was above them!?
At the thought of this, even Lin Li who had always been calm could not help but feel worried. He stopped in his tracks and injected more of his mental strength into the magical crystal to constantly expand his detection range.
Lin Li's mental strength was focused on the magical crystal, and it spread to the surroundings like invisible ripples. The rows of buildings, streets, and everything else popped up in his head.
Seeing that Lin Li had suddenly stopped in his tracks and slowly spun the magical crystal in his hand, Elder Randy and Cheyenne could not help but get nervous. Along the way, they had encountered various problems, but they had never shown such nervousness or anxiety before. Although they did not know what happened, they were able to guess from Lin Li's behavior that something extraordinary was about to happen.
As the magical crystal expanded, the intangible mental strength continuously extended to the surroundings. All of a sudden, Lin Li opened his eyes, while his frown continuously deepened. Shock was written all over his face. The peculiar feeling that they felt turned out to be coming from the 36 towers, and it was clearly not like what he had previously thought.
Seeing a horrified expression on Lin Li's face, Cheyenne and Elder Randy subconsciously tensed up. Although no one questioned Lin Li, they were all constantly guessing.
Lin Li had already reached the peak of level-22, second only to Elder Randy, who was the only level-23 person amongst all of them. However, simply based on the three arrows that Lin Li had, even Elder Randy had to admit that he could not ignore the level of disparity between him and Lin Li. They could not imagine just what the young mage Lin Li had seen to make him so horrified.
Chapter 682 - Undead Monster
When Lin Li first got the blueprint of the Sky Castle in the Scar of Death, the Conquering Mageweath that was composed of the streets and the 36 towers on the blueprint attracted Lin Li's attention. It was also precisely the Conquering Mageweath that allowed him to quickly speculate that the treasure map mentioned by the Malfa Family was the blueprint of the Sky Castle.
However, at that time, although Lin Li confirmed that he was holding onto the blueprint of the Sky Castle and could recognize the complicated Conquering Mageweath that everyone was confused about, he only had limited knowledge about the Sky Castle. At that time, he was just an Archmage who was on the edge of the Legendary-level. He was neither strong nor knowledgeable enough to judge the mystery of the towers from the blueprint.
However, Lin Li was now really in the Sky Castle, and he knew far beyond reading the blueprint. Besides, when he was on the sixth floor of the Central Tower, he also received countless signals in his mind that were being forced into his head. Hence, he finally gained some new insights into the 36 towers that had become one with the Conquering Mageweath.
Lin Li clearly felt that apart from being towers for mages and nodes for the Conquering Mageweath, each of the 36 towers had the characteristics of a Psychic Tower. Psychic Towers, in essence, were towers for Necromancers; the various mageweaths and Alchemy Arrays were leaning towards Necromagic, and were meant for helping Necromancers advance and improve their power.
However, it was difficult to see actual Psychic Towers because Necromancers were notorious in Anril. Once a Necromancer began to build a Psychic Tower, it'd almost certainly result in attracting a large number of powerful attacks. Well, at least the Brilliance Shrine would never allow any Necromancer to successfully build a Psychic Tower.
However, if it were just the Psychic Towers alone, Lin Li would at most be just a little surprised. What really shocked Lin Li was the arrangement of the 36 towers. If the factor of the Conquering Mageweath was excluded, they would form a huge Psychic Array.
Lin Li couldn't distinguish whether he initially already had some memory about the Psychic Array or it was just information that was given to him in waves by the magical crystal. He only knew that after seeing the arrangement of the 36 towers, the information about the Psychic Array would naturally pop up in his head.
The mention of the Psychic Array would probably remind most people of the Mageweath Array, but Lin Li who did not know much about Necromagic clearly knew at this time that Psychic Arrays were not part of Alchemy and inscriptions. Instead, it was a classic Necromagic Array that was the ultimate dream for every Necromancer.
Unfortunately, most of the current Necromancers in Anril were not as powerful as Sendros, and it definitely wouldn't be easy for them to survive even if they could be as strong as the Darkness Shrine and rival the Brilliance Shrine. As for the Psychic Tower, owning one would be a far-fetched idea, let alone a Psychic Array composed of various Psychic Towers.
Everyone knew that level did not determine strength for Necromancers. It also depended on the strength of the Undead creatures that he had summoned. One of the biggest functions of the Psychic Array was to strengthen Undead creatures.
The Psychic Array could transform various elemental forces drawn from the space into the Power of Death that was required by the Undead creatures, creating a space similar to the Undead world. In this space, the almost infinite Power of Death made the speed of Undead creatures' advancement increase exponentially.
Besides, one of the most direct ways for Undead creatures to increase their strength was to absorb the soul fire of other Undead creatures. In addition to turning the elements in the region into the Power of Death, the Psychic Array could also collect the soul fire of the Undead creatures and store it for absorption by other Undead creatures. It was said that Legendary Undead creatures could be bred through Psychic Arrays; the effects were not inferior to the efficiency of the debris of the stars, Gloomy Dark.
Of course, while the summoned Undead creatures were powerful, that might not always be a good thing for the Necromancers. It was just like when mages used magic: the more powerful and advanced the magic, the longer the casting time. As for the Necromancer, the stronger the summoned Undead creature was, the longer it'd take to summon it. The longer the summoning time, the easier it would be to interrupt for the enemy, and the more dangerous it would be for the Necromancer himself. There might even be situations where the summoned Undead creatures escaped control.
Therefore, the duration of the summoning time was extremely important to Necromancers. This was a Psychic Array that brought about another extremely important benefit for the Necromancer: the Undead creatures strengthened by the Psychic Array would continue to strengthen their connection with the Necromancers. Not only would the summoning time be continuously shortened, it would also reduce the chances of the Undead creatures rebelling. With the help of the Psychic Array, it would not be impossible for the Necromancer to instantly summon Undead creatures.
Among the people Lin Li knew, the most powerful Necromancer was the High Priest Sendros. Even with Lin Li's current judgment, the power that Sendros once exhibited could still only be described as unfathomable. Lin Li didn't know if Sendros had a Psychic Tower or a Psychic Array. After all, he hadn't seen Sendros summon any Undead creatures even till now.
However, Lin Li was sure that if a Necromancer had a Psychic Array, he would be able to experience a surge in power even if his Psychic Array was the most rudimentary and basic. Although he might not reach Sendros' level, he would definitely become a ruthless figure no one wanted to trifle with in Anril.
The Psychic Array in the Sky Castle was not a basic one, and it was absolutely powerful enough to be extraordinary. The 36 towers were the maximum limit of the Psyc
hic Array, and each tower was outrageously extravagant.
Although the towers could not be compared to the Immortal King's Central Tower, the materials used for construction and the elaborate top-level mageweaths and Alchemy Arrays were the brainchild of the High Elves. Any of them alone would definitely be a holy grail of a mage in Anril since it was a tower for mages.
The Psychic Arrays formed by the 36 towers were unimaginably powerful. The effect on Undead creatures was probably not inferior to that of the Magic Tides on mages.
The Undead creatures here had been growing under the Psychic Array for 1300 years, or perhaps even longer. The mere thought of how powerful they were was enough to drive others crazy. Couldn't the crazy High Elves do something normal!?!
Lin Li had thought that he would finally be able to conclude the expedition after exploring the Central Tower. However, Lin Li had never thought that there would be changes after he left, resulting in such a dangerous situation.
Through the extension of mental strength, Lin Li could clearly see that the 36 towers had been completely shrouded in thick black mist within just moments. The massive Death aura that was exuded through the violent transmission of mental strength from the black mist made Lin Li's face turn pale.
Noticing the changes on Lin Li's face, Cheyenne and Elder Randy could not longer bear it. While staying alert, they each used their own means to detect changes around them. However, the Sky Castle had already returned to its normal, silent state. Although the sky was still radiating, the environment around it was extremely dim, thus hampering them from detecting everything properly.
Cheyenne activated Warlock's Eyes and scanned his surroundings to see that everything around him was dim. Hence, they had no choice but to put out all of their mental strength and detect something in their surroundings. Although they were both level-21 Legendary-mages, Cheyenne was inferior to Lin Li in terms of mental strength. Hence, exploring the Sky Castle was almost too much for him.