by Zhuang Bifan
Although the magic of Starfall was powerful, one of its greatest problems was the fact that it would perceive everything in the attack range as a target of destruction, regardless of whether they were the enemies or not. At the beginning, Geresco used Void of the Stars after releasing Starfall in order to nullify his body so that none of the offensive spells would be effective on him.
However, Void of the Stars could be considered to touch the realm of the gods. Lin Li had no idea if Megard had mastered that magic or not, but he didn't cast the spell to avoid the falling stars1. However, even if there was no Void of the Stars, it seemed that there was no need to worry about Megard's safety, because all the meteors that were falling towards him would be deflected to the side by an invisible force.
Lin Li could tell that it was not some magic, but rather an application of nomological power which directed the attacks away from one's body. It was easier said than done, and even if one had already understood all the mysteries of the nomological power involved, they still might not be able to achieve it.
The three Undead Lords had already been smashed back to the ground by countless meteors, including the large Humerus Wyrm, which was covered in dense cracks. The once-gilded bones were also been smashed to the point of becoming dim. The Lich King continuously put up defensive spells before becoming crushed again. The robe on his body had already been tattered beyond shreds. The only thing that was still intact was the hood covering his face.
As for the Undead Army in the Shadowglen, they had no resistance to Starfall at all, and all of the Undead creatures, including the Vampires that were moving swiftly and the Dracolich1 that was exhibiting magic, seemed to have been crushed and smashed into the soil.
In just a few seconds, the black mud on the ground in the Shadowglen was replaced with a gray color, and the three Undead Lords were crawling in the mud while still suffering from the falling meteors. They looked extremely pathetic, and their soul fire was growing dimmer, seemingly about to become extinguished soon.
The Skeletal King, whose arm had been broken, finally raised his head and shrieked at Megard who was in the sky, "You can't kill us, Geresco has promised us this before!" Meteors in Chinese are literally falling stars.No idea where this guy came from, possibly the author's mistake... Or he forgot to mention that there was one among the skeletal dragons summoned earlier.
Chapter 707 - The Agreement of That Year
What a joke. Are you stopping just because you want to? Why didn't you stop when you were bullying the mages who had yet to even reach the Legendary-level!? Lin Li's lips moved a little. He did not expect that an Undead Lord would also swallow his pride and submit.
Everyone could tell that given the current situation, the three Undead Lords would definitely be destroyed as long as Starfall continued for a few more seconds, even without Megard's extra intervention.
However, what Lin Li did not expect to see was the arbitrator of the Supreme Council, Megard, waving his staff gently to converge the stars. He actually managed to end the attack of Starfall just like that.
"This…" Lin Li looked at Andoine and Rosen, only to see that they were not in the least bit surprised at all. He finally recalled what the Skeletal King said while begging for mercy.
It's Geresco again. Why did Geresco promise not to kill them? Look, Megard can easily destroy the three Undead Lords with his current power, what more Geresco. It could be said that the Supreme Council would be able to destroy the Shadowglen anytime without painstaking efforts. There must have been some reason for the Shadowglen to exist for so many years.
The Shadowglen was not located in a desolate region. It would be no problem if the Undead were in the Dragon Mountains or in the Haiga Mountain Range, but they were now near Alanna, which was rather near the Felan Kingdom. Despite being such a dangerous element, they actually managed to survive for more than 1000 years. What was Geresco thinking?
Is it for them to protect Osric's mausoleum? That's a bit of a joke. The Supreme Council has been researching and studying Osric's mausoleum for so many years, and no one in Anril would be able to take anything from the mausoleum even if they were to open it.
Another issue that puzzled Lin Li was the fact that the three Undead Lords of the Shadowglen seemed rather similar to the three Undead Lords that he had encountered in the Seven-Realm Spiral. What's the relationship between them and the Immortal King? Lin Li recalled one of the Immortal King's puppets saying some strange things to him when he was training back then.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Li put on a wry smile. Although he seemed to be finding out more and more information, he still felt like there was something he had yet to discover. It was if he were touching a dragon whilst being blindfolded.
The Skeletal King pleaded for mercy, and the terrifying Starfall finally stopped. Staring at the skinny Mergard disappearing from the Sky Tower, the three Undead Lords still heaved a sigh of relief despite forgetting how to breathe. They'd initially thought that Geresco no longer existed, and that they did not have to be afraid of anyone anymore after improving their power over the past 1000 years or so. However, to their surprise, there was still a huge difference between them and a Sanctuary-realm powerhouse.
"Since you still remember Geresco, open the Immortal Door according to the agreement made that year," Megard said, his aged voice sounding from the High Tower.
The three Undead Lords shivered; soul fire flickered in their eyes before finally regaining calm. They struggled to get up from the ground and scurried out resignedly.
The Immortal Door! Lin Li was shocked to hear Megard's words. Aren't we here to explore Osric's mausoleum? What does it have to do with the Immortal King? Although Lin Li seemed to have gained a lot of benefits from the arrangements of the Immortal King, Lin Li still felt uneasy, especially since he felt like he could never be away from the Immortal King.
While Lin Li was in doubt, the three Undead Lords had already arrived in the deepest part of the Shadowglen. In the large open space, the three Undead Lords stood alone and began chanting an inexplicable curse. It was not in the High Elves tongue, Titan language, or Dragon language. Instead, it seemed to be a simple combination of tones. However, every note seemed to be able to resonate with nomological power in this world.
As the chant continued, dark clouds began rolling over the Shadowglen while overlapping above their heads. Lightning would flash in the sky from time to time. The colorful ripples flashed one after another between heaven and earth, and the entire space seemed rather distorted. It would also peculiarly emit dull explosive sounds, which made it seem like it was about to collapse and crumble.
At this moment, the earth, fire, water, darkness, and light in this world, which formed the basis of this world, seemed to be riled up. The extremely chaotic nomological power made the place free of magic, and any mage who wanted to cast magic there would be torn into pieces.
The spell chanted by the three Undead Lords became more and more rapid. The soul fire that was pouring out of their eyes was bursting, and the entire Shadowglen had also begun to shake violently. Amidst the deafening roar, the solid ground was slowly shattered by the invisible force. A large vortex was formed in the crack.
Immortal Door? This is clearly a solidified void channel! Lin Li stared at the scene that was cast in the crystal ball, and subconsciously swallowed his saliva. It was no wonder that the three Undead Lords would cause so much of a ruckus—the void channel was an existence that would destroy the world's rules, and would be alienated by the world's nomological power.
The magic spell, Void Channel, was already beyond the scope of magic, and was the result of using the power of the broken nomological power to cross the obstacles in space. Powerhouses of the Sanctuary-realm would probably be able to release the magic spell in a short period of time, but it would take a god to solidify it in the world forever.
In fact, the role played by the three Undead Lords was just being a key to the door, and all they had to do was summon the
Void Channel that had been permanently solidified there. Even the Highlord Osric could not solidify the channel, let alone the three Undead Lords. That was perhaps how the name "Immortal Door" came about. Only the formidable Immortal King would be able to do that.
What a lunatic, why don't you just use the Teleportation Portal? Would it kill you not to show off!? Lin Li gritted his teeth angrily, but he also knew that there would be errors in using the teleportation if the destination was more than 1000 meters below ground. Once any errors occurred, the people would be buried alive, and never get to escape again unless they were gods of the earth.
The Teleportation Portal isn't safe! Lin Li knew that very well because he was trapped in the chaos of time and space for half a year due to an error in the Teleportation Portal after they left the Sky Castle back then. However, he was fortunate enough to get out of it. If the portal had collapsed, he would've ended floating in the chaos of time and space before getting ripped apart.
God knew how far they were from the destination. Hence, digging a tunnel in the ground was not a viable option. Besides, they were not on Earth; no one could prove that Anril was round. Hence, even the gods might not know how thick the earth was.
Now that the Void Channel has been summoned, what do they do next? Lin Li and the rest stared at the arbitrator Megard who was in charge of the operation, and waited for further instructions.
"The Immortal Door has been opened, and Osric's mausoleum is on the other side of the door. Although there is plenty of danger there, I can't follow you guys. In order to keep the door open, I must stay here and use the power of the tower to suppress it. I'll wait for you guys here," Megard said calmly.
Although having a strong powerhouse from the Sanctuary-realm when exploring Osric's mausoleum would indeed reduce a lot of trouble, Lin Li did not feel too sad about the fact that Megard had to stay there. He was most worried about the debris of the stars, Nothingness, being linked to the item that the Supreme Council wanted to find. Hence, Megard staying behind was nothing too bad for him.
Lin Li was also well aware that Megard was telling the truth. The Void Channel was like a Void Crack which was not tolerated by the Laws of this world. After it was opened, it had to be maintained by a constant flow of power. Otherwise, it'd soon be repaired. Although it could be reopened, they could not trust the Undead creatures, because they probably wouldn't open the void up again without Megard watching them.
Upon hearing that Megard could not go with them, Aldwin could not help but feel worried, and he thought, Without the arbitrator, we won't be able to suppress Andoine and Rosen who had been at odds against each other for more than a day or two. God knows what might happen? However, he could not say those words to Megard, because the arbitrator had made the three Undead Lords submit.
Chapter 708 - Secret Space
While Megard was speaking, the tower had already reached the sky above the Immortal Door. The mageweaths and Alchemy Arrays that were engraved at the base of the tower gradually shone brightly, forming a faint huge beam of light, which shrouded the space. As the beam of light fell, the nomological power began to calm down, but it wasn't recovering. Instead, it seemed to have solidified. A large black vortex formed in the crack in the ground, and it was rotating much slower than before.
"You guys can leave now," said Megard.
The people agreed in unison. They remained silent while turning around to walk out of the tower. Although they were all dozens of years old, with Lin Li being the only exception, they were still rather excited. After all, in the history of Anril, Osric was second only to the Immortal King and Geresco. Hence, it was an extraordinary experience for them to explore Osric's mausoleum personally.
"Felic."
Just as Lin Li walked out together with them, he suddenly heard Megard's voice coming from behind.
Regardless of what happened before, Lin Li still greatly respected the mythical figure who came from the Dark Age. He stopped and turned back to look at Megard, who was in front of the crystal ball. He asked, "Do you have any more instructions?"
Megard did not turn around, and instead kept his eyes fixed on the crystal ball while calmly saying, "When you enter, be careful of the spirits in there."
Lin Li froze for a moment, and then waited for a moment to ensure that Megard no longer had any other instructions. He then thanked Megard and walked out while feeling bewildered. He was confused, and could not figure out if Megard's reminder had a deeper meaning to it.
After interacting with him for two days, Li clearly felt that Megard, the arbitrator of the Supreme Council, was obviously biased towards Rosen in various aspects. After all, Rosen was Megard's student, so he could not be impartial even though he was an arbitrator. That made Lin Li confused, for Megard reminded him instead of his student Rosen.
If it was genuinely a kind reminder, why didn't he make things more explicit? All he told me to do was to beware of the spirits in there. What do spirits refer to? It can't be about the Vengeful Spirits, can it? Lin Li walked out and caught up with the people in front to leave the tower. When they arrived at the Immortal Door, he still didn't understand what Megard meant.
The thoughts of the mythical figures, the Immortal King, Geresco, the highlord Osric, and Megard, were all really hard to guess. Lin Li was also rather inexperienced in dealing with such problems. He decided not to guess, since he couldn't figure it out.
Standing in front of the huge fissure in the ground and watching the black vortex that was constantly spinning in the fissure, Lin Li could not help but be surprised by the power radiated by the black vortex.
The power emitted by the huge black vortex seemed to be beyond the scope of magic, and it was simply a huge Laws Storm where all sorts of nomological power were f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y put together by a stronger and irresistible force, regardless of their respective characteristics. The Laws were conflicting, and their collision constantly stimulated the forces. Once the generated power was released, it would be strong enough to destroy the world, yet the nomological powers were now stuck in the vortex—clear evidence of how strong that force was.
Lin Li looked up at the sky tower and realized that it was no wonder that the Supreme Council even resorted to activating its headquarters and an arbitrator. If it weren't for the suppression of the Sky Tower, no one would be able to pass through the black vortex at all.
Around the fissures in the earth, the three Undead Lords immediately collapsed on the ground after opening the Immortal Door, and the soul fire in their eyes seemed to have become dimmer. In fact, they couldn't even spare some energy to repair their bodies even though they were covered in wounds after being attacked by Starfall.
However, when Lin Li followed everyone to the Immortal Door, the three Undead Lords scanned everyone and suddenly kept their eyes fixed on Lin Li. They then struggled to get up from the ground, ignoring the wounds on their body and the dimming soul fire in their eyes. One of the wings of the Humerus Wyrm had already been broken, and it could only rely on its other wing to support its heavy body while carving a messy mark in the ground. The Lich King supported himself against the staff that was covered in cracks while shivering continuously. He then raised his head to reveal his face that had been hidden beneath the hat. After several failed attempts at standing up, the Skeletal Lord had no choice but to fall onto his knee and straighten his back. However, the soul fire in his eyes was still flickering vigorously.
However, after a while, the three Undead Lords returned to their half-dead state as if all of their energy had been depleted after struggling just now. The soul fire had also become rather dull. The brief moment of unusual behavior did not attract anyone's attention, since Megard's tower was right above, and no one thought there would be any changes.
Although the black vortex exuded a powerful aura of destruction, everyone did not hesitate to step into the black vortex one by one. Lin Li didn't hesitate, either, as he soon entered it while holding onto the Helios' Scepter.
Right afte
r Lin Li's body sank into the vortex, he could feel the huge oppressive force generated by the constant conflict and outbreak of various nomological powers around him. If not for the Sky Tower, Lin Li would definitely be unable to make it out of the storm safely regardless of how many trump cards he might have.
However, even with the suppression of the tower that made the storm ease a little, Lin Li still felt absolutely uncomfortable. In particular, the nomological powers were continuously stimulating the mana within Lin Li, making it all riled up and on the verge of rushing out of his body to regain freedom. At this moment, Lin Li finally understood the troubles of having infinite mana that could only be controlled using mental strength.
Fortunately, Lin Li's mental strength had already exceeded the requirements thanks to the continuous improvement of the Evil Eye Tyrant and the tempering of the magical crystal that controlled the Sky Castle. Although his power was now only at the peak of level-23, his mental strength was already at the level of a Sanctuary-realm powerhouse. Hence, his strong mental strength managed to suppress and tame the infinite mana again.
After some time, Lin Li's eyes lit up again, and the speed of his descent began to increase all of a sudden, shocking him to the point of releasing his flying skill to stabilize his body before landing slowly. After finishing that, he finally had the chance to look around him.
I'm actually in the sky? Lin Li looked up and saw the black vortex spinning slowly in the blue sky. He then looked down and realized that he seemed to be about 10,000 meters above ground, with a vast green ocean and a large building beneath him. There were also a few black spots which he reckoned to be Andoine and the rest who entered before him.
In the process of falling, Lin Li looked into the distance at dense forests, meandering rivers, and rolling mountains, only to realize that everything seemed to be the same as in Anril. If it weren't for the massive palace, Lin Li would have thought it was a joke made by Osric, and they were brought to another corner of Anril.