by Zhuang Bifan
Chapter 759 - People From The Shrine
The spine of the Titan was cut vertically into two halves, surrounding the Skeleton Square and becoming the walls of the Black Front Fortress. The Titan's huge skull was supported by two shorter ribs, with its jaw embedded in the ground of the Skeleton Square, looking like it was roaring. It was the entrance and exit of the fortress.
Shortly after Lin Li completed the Black Front Fortress, Angelano and Connoris also completed the transformation of the Death Knights. 12 black-armored Death Knights that were shrouded in immense death aura had already become silver-armored knights that were emitting pure holy aura. However, the 12 Death Knights did not become the first residents of the Black Front Fortress. Instead, Lin Li sent them to the Scar of Death in the Blackstone Mountains, and ordered them to kill as many Undead creatures as they could and devour more soul fire while waiting for the Retribution Knight to summon the other Death Knights.
Although the Black Front Fortress was built for the Death Knights, the Lich Ujfalusi, his Humerus Wyrm, the Vampire Norfeller, and Lin Li's Crimson Dragon were the first ones to live in it. For the Undead creatures, the enhancement effect of the Black Front Fortress was not inferior to the Psychic Array's, except the Sky Castle of course…
After adding the crystal coffin, the Eternal Furnace took shape, and although it could not be considered complete, it only lacked some details. Lin Li could gradually improve it with his own strength. The Titan skeleton was used to build the Black Front Fortress, which also gave Lin Li and his Death Knights a place to advance rapidly and safely. On the other hand, the 12 Death Knights that were transformed into Divine Death Knights using the crystal coffin had their strength more than doubled. The gains that Lin Li had risked his life to obtain had all become a great help to him and the Tower of Dusk.
The only thing that made Lin Li feel regretful and helpless was that the Stars of Fury, which he'd once thought was with Osric, was still missing. He had no idea what Osric had done before entering the crystal coffin alone, for there were no clues in the memory of the perfect body. Lin Li had no idea if the memories had been sealed or Connoris' fusion was still insufficient.
However, despite the regret, Lin Li did not mull over it excessively. After he completed the Black Front Fortress, he focused most of his energy on studying the debris of the stars Nothingness, and got some enlightenment about the nomological power of spacetime. After all, even if he had obtained the Stars of Fury, there was no way for him to exert all of his level-24 power, and his understanding of the power in the debris of the stars was the most important.
It was not just a hunch that Lin Li had. Instead, he was confident that after he obtained the seven pieces of the debris of the stars, he would be stepping into the Sanctuary-realm. He already had five pieces of the debris of the stars at the moment, namely Holy Light, Gloomy Dark, Rebirth, Thunderbolt, and Nothingness. Every piece of the debris of the stars contained nomological power that was equivalent to extremely great wealth. As for Polar Snow and Raging Flames, they became easily attainable because of the large order from the Felan Kingdom.
In Anril today, even 2000 Master-level potions would only be considered advanced potions to Lin Li's Tower of Dusk. Although it was impossible to stop all other pharmacy business and put in all their efforts and energy into preparing the 2000 potions, the pharmacists of the Tower of Dusk were fortunately capable of formulating potions of a certain level on their own. Since it was a task where contribution points were awarded, the mages who had knowledge of potions were also willing to spend their spare time on this task. Hence, it was only a matter of time before the potions were completed.
After exploring the Sky Castle and Osric's mausoleum, Lin Li had ample time on his hands. Apart from waiting for the Dragon Crystals of the Ice and Fire Twin Dragons and going to the underground palace of the Dragon Mountain, there was nothing else on his agenda. Hence, in addition to reading the Book of Eternity and studying the debris of the stars, Lin Li used the rest of his time to study other things, such as the Viper's poison that had been troubling the Brilliance Shrine for numerous years.
When Lin Li was appointed as the President of the Breezy Plains Guild of Magic, he received a hefty gift from the Brilliance Shrine, and that was the Magic Summoning Lamp, in which the Lord of Nightmares was sealed. The lamp was of great help to Lin Li later on, and it helped him obtain the Humerus Wyrm, defeat the elven mage Vidas, and overcome various ordeals. Hence, Lin Li could never forget the agreement he had with the Brilliance Shrine.
When making that agreement, there was no problem with Lin Li's level of pharmacy. However, the Viper's poison was highly toxic, after all, and could not be dispelled with just a potion. There were other issues that needed to be specifically considered. Therefore, Lin Li was not entirely confident at that time, and it was impossible for the Brilliance Shrine to allow their pope to be the subject of Lin Li's experiments.
Fortunately, the elves and the Moonsaber Panther in the Haiga Mountain Range gave Lin Li a chance to verify his theory, even though they were only poisoned by a descendant of the Viper. Lin Li was now 90% confident in curing the Viper's poison in the pope's body. With time and confidence, Lin Li decided to put this matter on the agenda.
The biggest characteristics of Viper's poison were its ability to stay concealed and its rapid devouring of vitality. If Lin Li hadn't cured the elves in time, they would have had their vitality depleted within a few days. Even the holy beast of the elves, the Moonsaber Panther, could not resist the invasion of Viper's poison, even though it had a long life and the Viper that bit it was only a descendant of the real Viper.
Back when he was giving the elves the antidote, the main problem was actually the concealment of highly toxic substances, and the actual detoxification was rather easy. However, the pope of the Brilliance Shrine was infected with the real Viper's poison; hence, Lin Li couldn't use the same low-level potion that he gave to the elves back then.
At the same time, in order to attract the actual Viper's poison, the vitality stimulants that Lin Li had were not enough; hence, he had to concoct a potion that would greatly enhance vitality. In order to ensure it was foolproof, Lin Li chose to use a Guru-level potion, Gift of The Earth Goddess, which would allow an ordinary person to live for 1,000 years. The massive vitality would also attract the Viper's poison for sure. Thanks to the studying he had done during this period of time, Lin Li had an understanding of the nomological power of the debris of the stars, Rebirth. Otherwise, even if he was already a pharmaceutics Guru, he would still have a hard time formulating the Gift of The Earth Goddess potion.
Even now, formulating the Gift of The Earth Goddess was still a big challenge for Lin Li. He spent 10 days preparing, processing, and extracting the essence of various precious medicinal materials, and then spent three more days to analyze the steps he took to prepare. After all, it was a Master-level potion, and every medicinal herb used was extremely precious. Every failed attempt would bring losses, and some of the herbs could not be replenished within a short period of time at all.
Most of the pharmacists led by Wilkinson had reached the Master-level, which could be considered the pinnacle of pharmaceutics in Anril. Hence, there would inevitably be some pharmacists who had become complacent, and thought that there was nothing else for them to learn in pharmaceutics.
However, the preparation of the Gift of The Earth Goddess made all of them realize that a Master of pharmaceutics was merely the beginning of becoming a good pharmacist. The medicinal principles and techniques involved in the preparation made those who were proud, conceited, and satisfied with what they had learned feel ashamed.
After formulating the potion, Lin Li answered the endless questions posed by the pharmacists while considering when to go to the Brilliance Shrine to fulfill the agreement. After all, the Brilliance Shrine was located in the Ledin Kingdom, which was still quite far away from the Tower of Dusk, and curing Pope Rosario was far beyond just giving him the potion. Lin
Li still had to consider his condition; hence, Lin Li had no idea how much time he would need to spend in the Brilliance Shrine. It might be more than 10 days, or a month or two.
However, what Lin Li did not expect was that the people from the Brilliance Shrine had already come knocking on his door before he finished planning his visit. The visitor was none other than Bishop Martin, whom Lin Li had met before during his inauguration ceremony. However, at that time, Englos and Martin hurriedly returned to the Brilliance Shrine halfway through the ceremony for some reason, and thus Lin Li didn't get to speak to him much.
This time, Bishop Martin came alone, and looked like a servant who had rushed there straight from the Brilliance Shrine. There was worry and anxiety written all over his face.
"President Felic, I heard that some elves had been poisoned by a descendant of the Viper in the Haiga Mountain Range and you managed to cure them. Is that true?" Bishop Martin asked eagerly as soon as he saw Lin Li. After seeing Lin Li nod, his anxiety seemed to have dissipated as he immediately requested to speak to Lin Li in private.
Lin Li knew that Bishop Martin wanted to talk about the original agreement. After all, the poison in Rosario's body was indeed related to the survival of the Brilliance Shrine. Even in the Brilliance Shrine, only a few people knew about it. Hence, after taking Bishop Martin to the reception room, Lin Li told the rest outside not to disturb them. He then finally asked about the specific condition that Pope Rosario was in.
Chapter 760 - Brilliance Shrine
"Archbishop Martin, could there be any changes in the Viper's poison according to religion?" Lin Li asked. He had heard from Englos that the Viper's poison in Pope Rosario was injected into his body during the trip to the Sunset Mountains with the Supreme Council. Throughout the years, Pope Rosario had been trying to suppress it with his own body. However, Lin Li was well aware that the Viper's poison could be considered the most insidious and deadly poison in the world. Although it could be suppressed by the host's body, the root of the poison would not be eradicated. The stronger the Viper's poison, the greater the damage to the body of the poisoned person. Over time, the toxins would acc.u.mulate, and the viper's poison would explode again. By then, even a real deity would not be able to save the person.
However, Archbishop Martin shook his head anxiously, and said, "His Holiness Rosario did suffer a relapse a while ago, and although it has already been suppressed, His Holiness has a hunch that he may not be able to make it through the next relapse."
In fact, several archbishops who knew about this matter already felt rather hopeless. Even Englos, who had been feeling hopeful about Lin Li's pharmaceutical skills, didn't think that Lin Li could reach the Guru-level and have the ability to resolve the Viper's poison. They only saw a new glimmer of hope when they heard the news of Lin Li having given the poisoned elves an antidote for the Viper's poison in the Haiga Mountain Range.
Upon hearing this, Lin Li could not help but feel a sense of relief because at least there was still some hope for Rosario's recovery. Otherwise, he might never get to return the favor that he owed the Brilliance Shrine.
"President Felic, I also know that the Viper's poison that was in the elves' bodies is very different from the poison in His Holiness's body. I'm afraid the hunch that His Holiness has had is true, and the relapse should be happening soon. I don't know if it's convenient for you to go to the Brilliance Shrine now. Even if you can only reduce and weaken the toxin, that'll be great too," Archbishop Martin said worriedly. Although he had been in the Legendary-realm for many years, and was also a person of high status, the matter concerned the safety of the pope and the existence of the Brilliance Shrine. Thus, he could not hide his worry.
The Brilliance Shrine was born at the end of the Dark Age, and during that chaotic era where there were raging wars, everyone had to rely on faith to keep surviving. They had to push themselves to live on by relying on the hope that light had given to them. The doctrine of the Holy Light had soon spread throughout Anril.
Throughout the past 1300-something years, there had been countless believers of the Holy Light in all human kingdoms other than Felan Kingdom. Be it the rich, the poor, the aristocrats, the royals, the civilians, the affluent businessmen, or the poor farmers who were struggling to survive, all of them regarded the Holy Light as their religious faith, and they would follow the guidance of the popes, spreading their faith to every part of the world.
In Anril now, only the Supreme Council that was created by the Mage Geresco had the power to resist the Brilliance Shrine, but that happened only after the inexplicable decline of the Darkness Shrine. Even in terms of secular power, the Brilliance Shrine was definitely superior to the Supreme Council. Except for the Felan Kingdom, almost all kings of the human kingdoms would have to be crowned by the pope of the Brilliance Shrine before they could ascend the throne and be recognized by the people.
Pope Rosario, who was a powerhouse of the Sanctuary-realm, was the legendary incarnation of the Holy Light who had ascended the throne of the pope at the age of 30. The neighbors of Ledin Kingdom, including the stubborn Felan Kingdom, had all established numerous churches of various sizes during his reign. That was a formidable feat that none of the previous popes could achieve. To the believers of the Brilliance Shrine, Pope Rosario was the embodiment of the Holy Light, especially in the sacred Ledin Kingdom. His words were just like the will of the Holy Light. Compared to him, the king was insignificant, and the pope's approval was required for all decisions.
That was also an important reason why Pope Rosario had been able to keep the news of his poisoning under wraps for so many years. If the news of Rosario's poisoning were to spread, then there would definitely be an uproar in the Brilliance Shrine.
Lin Li touched his chin, looked at Archbishop Martin, and said, "Actually, before you arrived, I've already prepared the antidote for the Viper's poison. I'm just worried if there had been other changes in the Viper's poison over the years. I also have to consider the physical condition of His Holiness. Please tell me more about the symptoms of the Viper's poison relapse, and I'll see if there's anything I have to add."
Archbishop Martin did come this time because he saw a glimmer of hope, but it was mostly because he felt that Lin Li might have a way to weaken the toxins in order to allow Pope Rosario to endure for a longer time. However, he did not expect that Lin Li had already formulated a potion. He was shocked so much that he thought that he was hallucinating.
Archbishop Martin tried to suppress the excitement in his heart as he shivered uncontrollably. He then asked in disbelief, "You mean, you have prepared a potion that can be the antidote for His Holiness Rosario?" At the same time, he was staring at Lin Li intensely for fear that the latter would say something to disappoint him.
Lin Li nodded and stared at the excited old man before saying, "I'm only 90% confident, the rest will have to depend on how the poison in His Holiness's body has changed." Using one's body to suppress the poison was an unprecedented event in the Endless World. Hence, he was rather conservative with his claims, and dared not be 100% sure.
However, the fact that Lin Li was 90% sure was enough to surprise Archbishop Martin. Archbishop Martin was not clueless about pharmaceutics, and after having understood what Lin Li meant, he immediately suppressed his agitation while trying to recall everything. He slowly began to describe the details of every relapse, and dared not miss out a single detail at all.
The two discussed for a long time in the reception room. Lin Li finally got to understand some details of Rosario's condition, which allowed him to be more confident in curing Rosario. After coming out of the reception room with Archbishop Martin, Lin Li was about to get ready and go to the Brilliance Shrine together with him. However, he noticed that the mage in charge of reception had hurried over.
"President, there is a person who claims to be a priest of the Dark Temple outside, and he would like to see you. I was afraid of disturbing your conversation, so I told him to wait in the recepti
on room. You…" The mage immediately froze when he saw Archbishop Martin, feeling awkward and speechless.
In the eyes of ordinary people, the perpetual hostility between the Brilliance Shrine and the Darkness Shrine was caused by the conflicting doctrines and the difference in beliefs. Therefore, once the two sides met, they would definitely be at odds with each other. However, in reality, everything was about interests for both parties. Most people probably would have never guessed that the Brilliance Shrine and Darkness Shrine used to be one family known as the Eternal Shrine.
Hence, Archbishop Martin didn't say much about the arrival of the people from the Darkness Shrine. Not to mention, they were in the Tower of Dusk, and not the Brilliance Shrine. Even if there was a feud between them, they couldn't solve it there and then. Hence, Archbishop Martin simply smiled at the mage, and turned around to tell Lin Li that he could wait a few days.
Lin Li had learned about the relationship between the Brilliance Shrine and the Darkness Shrine from Sendros a long time ago. Hence, he was naturally not surprised by the reaction of Archbishop Martin. He could more or less guess the reason the person from the Darkness Shrine came. Back in the Blackstone Mountains, Sendros had said that Lin Li should definitely visit the Darkness Shrine if he had the time. Since he only had to worry about the development of the Tower of Dusk and his future expeditions, he did have some spare time now.