by Zhuang Bifan
Truth be told, the Tower of Dusk was not built in a good location. After all, there were many local forces in the Breezy Plains, and strategic locations had been occupied by them. All along, Lin Li had been using Legendary magical crystals to create a suitable environment for meditation for the mages of the Tower of Dusk. In particular, the control crystal that Lin Li obtained when he explored the Sky Castle for the first time allowed the meditation efficiency of the mages of the Tower of Dusk to increase greatly.
However, now that Lin Li obtained the Sky Castle, he naturally had to place the control crystal in the Sky Castle's control center, but he couldn't possibly let all the mages go to the control center to meditate. Although the mages' meditation efficiency in the Sky Castle was astonishingly high, that was only impressive by the standards of the general crowd. Lin Li had been rather unsatisfied with that speed and efficiency, because he was the only one who knew how tight the time was.
Now that Lin Li had such an incredible Meditation Land, he would no longer have to worry about the speed of increase in the strength of his subordinates. The Meditation Land itself would allow the mages of the Tower of Dusk to go through the process of mana acc.u.mulation within the shortest possible time. For example, a mage who had just entered the Legendary-realm would probably require at least a year or two to acc.u.mulate enough mana to reach the peak of level-21. However, if he were to enter the Meditation Land, it would only take a few to a dozen days. He would then be able to prepare for a breakthrough.
However, when Lin Li was excitedly fantasizing about a better future, he suddenly felt a violent vibration on the ground, and he soon received an alert from the Alarm Array.
Lin Li hurriedly stood up and looked in the direction indicated by the warning alert, only to see a large bunch of behemoths that were scurrying towards him with heavy footsteps.
Damn it, the prehistoric magical beasts again! Lin Li did not curse out of fear of fighting the prehistoric magical beasts, but because their appearance made him think of a problem that he had to face.
Since there were many Sanctuary-level prehistoric magical beasts in this Meditation Land, Lin Li obviously would not feel comfortable about letting his subordinates come here to meditate, for he was afraid that they might get killed by the prehistoric magical beasts. Although Lin Li could guard them for the first two rounds, it would not be sustainable in the long run. Besides, if they were to really get into scuffle, no mage would have the ability to meditate in that environment!
Lin Li finally understood why there were that many prehistoric magical beasts in this world. Even if he kept a rabbit in the cage, it would probably turn into a rabbit of the Sanctuary-realm after more than 1,000 years as long as it wasn't devoured by the magical beasts.
At the same time, Lin Li also knew why Geresco would place the Meditation Land after the Barbarous Arena. Only after going through the training in the Barbarous Arena and increasing one's strength to a certain level could one survive in the Meditation Land. Otherwise, entering in advance would simply be courting death.
When Lin Li was thinking about that, the bunch of prehistoric magical beasts that had disturbed Lin Li likewise rushed to the front and revealed their true appearance. They turned out to be the Behemoth Beasts that orcs worshiped as holy beasts.
In the world of Anril, wyrms were known as the kings of the sky, while the Behemoth Beasts were known as the overlords of the mainland. They had extremely strong bodies and massive power that could allow them to flatten a hill. Besides, their defensive power was not inferior to that of the wyrms, either. Be it with physical attacks or offensive spells, it was rather difficult to break their incomparably tough skin.
There were probably dozens of Behemoth Beasts approaching, and the one in the middle should be their king. Their bodies were obviously taller and stronger than the other Behemoth Beasts. The body of the Behemoth King was dozens of meters tall, and had a gilded exterior as if it was cast in gold. Glistening under the bright sunlight, its ferocious image seemed even more prestigious.
The Golden Behemoth!
When he saw the Behemoth King's appearance, Lin Li's face turned solemn. The Golden Behemoths were one of the most noble ones in the line of succession of the Behemoths. They were just like the royal High Elves. Not every Behemoth King was a Golden Behemoth, but every Golden Behemoth was definitely far stronger than the average Behemoth King.
Legends had it that during the prehistoric times, Golden Behemoths were at the prime of their prosperity, and they even once became the third largest race in addition to the ancient wyrms and the Titans at one point. However, for some reason, the prosperity of the Behemoths lasted only 1,000 years, and then they gradually declined due to the decrease in the number of Golden Behemoths.
Based on its mana fluctuations, the Golden Behemoth in front of Lin Li was probably at the peak of level-28, which seemed to be a bit worse than his last opponent in the Barbarous Arena. However, coupled with the powerful defensive power, the Golden Behemoth definitely had the qualifications to become Lin Li's toughest opponent yet.
Lin Li guessed that the group of Behemoths appeared there probably because they were attracted here by the two major battles that occurred previously. Sanctuary-level magical crystals were not only useful to Lin Li, they also had a fatal attraction to other magical beasts. He reckoned that the Behemoth Beasts rushed over because they were intending to reap the benefits from the battles.
However, regardless of the reason, Lin Li did not intend to escape, and the Behemoth Beasts obviously wouldn't let him off, either. A battle between them was inevitable.
The Golden Behemoth roared into the sky, and the Behemoth Beasts around it immediately scattered in all directions to surround Lin Li, clearly preventing Lin Li from fleeing.
However, in Lin Li's opinion, that was completely unnecessary. If he wanted to flee, he could just directly fly up into the air. The Behemoth Beasts were known as the overlords of the land, but even the Golden Behemoths did not have the ability to fly, so there was no way they could stop him from escaping via flight.
Clearly, the Golden Behemoth did not know that the small, wingless figure in front of it could fly away from its head at any time. Seeing that its underlings had already surrounded Lin Li, it immediately launched an attack on Lin Li nimbly. In the blink of an eye, it was already in front of Lin Li, and its massive claws were almost covering the sky above Lin Li's head. It then smashed downwards forcefully with a loud boom.
Boom! With a deafening sound and a violent tremor, the Golden Behemoth formed a huge pit in the ground, and it was as if a meteor had hit the ground.
Of course, Lin Li would not be killed that easily, and his body had already shot out like a sharp arrow right before the Golden Behemoth's claws landed. However, the Elemental Shield on his body had also been struck by the debris darting everywhere, and was shaking uncontrollably. That situation made him feel flabbergasted. The debris propelled upwards was as powerful as Legendary-level magic spells. The Elemental Shields of ordinary mages probably would not be able to sustain such attacks.
While flying, Lin Li suddenly turned over, and pointed the Helios' Scepter at the Golden Behemoth, after which a burst of golden flames surged towards the Golden Behemoth. With the appearance of the golden wave of flames, the surrounding temperature suddenly soared, causing the trees to be charred, and the ground in the path of the flames had turned into red-hot lava.
However, in the face of such a terrifying wave of flames, the Golden Behemoth had no intention of dodging, and it chased Lin Li instead. Its massive body bulldozed through the flames with a loud boom. If it had been some other magical beast, it would have been burnt into ashes. Even ancient wyrms probably wouldn't dare to go hard against it. However, the Golden Behemoth's gilded figure was intact, and even its fur was not burnt by the fire.
Fortunately, Lin Li's mental condition was tough enough for him not to be frightened by this terrifying scene. When he saw the Golden Behemoth charging out from
the flames, he immediately turned around, and flew in another direction without hesitation. Lin Li's strategy was the same as in the last battle, and that was to kill the ordinary Behemoths before focusing on battling the Golden Behemoth.
However, although there were no Sanctuary-level Behemoth Beasts, their skin were all thick and coarse, thus making it difficult to deal with them. Lin Li was not afraid of agile opponents like the Tempest Beasts, which he could easily defeat as long as he seized the right opportunity. However, beasts with thick skin like the Behemoth Beasts were quite a headache for Lin Li. Even if he bombarded them with powerful magic spells, it would only produce a tenth of the results that he would usually obtain. In order to kill them, he would have to put in 10 times the effort.
Lin Li rushed to two Behemoths and pointed the Helios' Scepter forward, after which two thunderbolts that had the diameter of a bucket blasted the heads of the Behemoth Beasts. However, they simply shook their heads; they had merely become giddy from the attack. Besides, they soon came to their senses, and roared as they swung their claws at Lin Li.
Chapter 1049 - World Sword
Damn it! Lin Li cursed, and thrust the Helios' Scepter into the ground forcefully, after which two sharp stone spikes suddenly emerged from the ground. His goal was the stomachs of two Behemoth Beasts. In Lin Li's opinion, no matter how coarse their skin was, their stomach would definitely be their weakness. The sharp stone spikes could poke holes in steel, let alone bodies made of flesh.
However, the outcome made Lin Li realize that he should never treat the bodies of the Behemoth Beasts as flesh. The two sharp stone spikes merely overturned the two Behemoth Beasts and left a white mark on their abdomens without causing any bleeding at all.
At this moment, the Golden Behemoth had already caught up with Lin Li, thus leaving him with no choice but to temporarily give up attacking the two Behemoth Beasts and launch his Space Robe immediately. He then flashed in another direction. However, this time, Lin Li also knew how tough the skin of the Behemoth Beasts was, and thus did not inspect or test it any further. Instead, he immediately whipped out the Light and Darkness Sword, and slashed the Behemoth Beasts without any mercy.
The defensive power of the Behemoth Beasts was definitely at the top in the entire Anril. Although Lin Li's Light and Darkness Sword allowed him to easily kill a few Behemoth Beasts in one fell swoop, it was not as easy as slashing and chopping them up. None of the Behemoth Beasts that died were dismembered. They had all died because their internal organs were destroyed by the Light and Darkness Sword.
Besides, the Light and Darkness Sword was considered one of the most powerful weapons that Lin Li had. Other than its astonishing power, it also had a high consumption of mana. Usually, Lin Li would use the Light and Darkness Sword only when facing opponents that were in the Sanctuary-realm. However, he had to use it on the Behemoth Beasts that had yet to reach the Sanctuary-realm.
Fortunately, this world was the Meditation Land of Geresco, and the surrounding magical elements were extremely abundant. Casting the Light and Darkness Sword was not too taxing for Lin Li. However, he was particularly displeased because it was a waste of his powerful sword, yet he would not be able to kill the Behemoth Beasts without using it.
Lin Li continuously launched powerful attacks in front, bombarding the Behemoth Beasts surrounding him while the Golden Behemoth roared in anger and chased after him. Unfortunately, the Golden Behemoth was slow even though it was not clumsy. As long as Lin Li put his mind to it and focused on dodging, the Golden Behemoth could only chase after him.
The Golden Behemoth did not bring many Behemoth Beasts with it. Although dozens of Behemoth Beasts was definitely a staggering number in Anril, they only managed to last for a second under Lin Li's full-swing massacre before being slaughtered.
At this moment, Lin Li was finally willing to face the Golden Behemoth, but it had become even more terrifying this time. Seeing its underlings killed one by one in front of it, the Golden Behemoth would have exploded in anger if not for its thick skin1.
At this moment, the Golden Behemoth's body was emanating raging flames, and dense dark gold ancient runes began to appear on its skin, causing the surrounding air to be dyed with a golden halo, as if shrouded in a golden mist.
Seeing the changes the Golden Behemoth was undergoing, Lin Li knew that he had gone too far this time as he caused the Golden Behemoth to advance in a state of anger. He wondered if any of the Behemoths he killed were the mates or children of the Golden Behemoth. Of course, even if the Golden Behemoth suddenly advanced, it would not make Lin Li feel terrified. He would at most regard it as his last opponent in the Barbarous Arena.
Before the Golden Behemoth moved, Lin Li swung the Helios' Scepter, and a Six-pointed Star Array appeared in front of him, followed by a ray of Divine Punishment Thunder, which blasted at the c.h.e.s.t of the Golden Behemoth. The power of the Divine Punishment Thunder was enough to destroy a mountain peak, but Lin Li knew that it could not hurt the Golden Behemoth at all. What he needed was to make the Golden Behemoth feel numb because of the lightning.
If other mages found out that Lin Li had cast such a top Legendary-level magic spell for the sake of achieving an anesthetic effect, they would probably fly into a rage and scold him for being a wastrel. However, Lin Li knew that given the high defensive power of the Golden Behemoth, low-level thunder-series magic spells would not bring him the result he wanted at all. Only magic spells like the Divine Punishment Thunder would be likely to affect the enemy.
Among all the elemental magic spells, thunder-series magic spells had always been known for their sharpness and power. Their attacking speed was similar to that of the Holy Light Magic spells, and it was almost impossible for one to evade it unless they could move in a flash like Lin Li or attach their bodies to the void.
Due to their destructive nature, the power of the thunder-series magic spells surpassed their counterparts. At the same time, thunder-series magic spells also came with paralyzing effects that would usually decide the outcome during an intense battle.
From that point alone, thunder magic spells seemed to be the best option for mages. However, nothing in this world was perfect. Despite having such an attribute, thunder magic spells had never been the mainstream magic spell for the ages. The greatest reason was the difficulty in casting.
Although it was said that one would never be able to evade once their opponent cast thunder-series magic spells, and would suffer great damage, the casting duration was rather long; hence, the process of spell casting might easily be interrupted by the opponent. If magic could not be cast, what was the point of it being powerful? Thus, ice element magic that was powerful enough and easy to cast was the favorite among the mages.
However, for someone at Lin Li's level, it was almost no longer a problem. Sanctuary Masters had already reached the stage of being able to cast instantaneous magic spells thanks to their mastery over and familiarity with all sorts of laws. For most Sanctuary-mages, casting spells was as simple as developing a thought, unless they were spells that were near the God-level like the one Geresco had left behind for sealing the spacetime rift. Only those would require incantations or the condensation of mana.
In particular, Lin Li himself developed in the direction of mastering the World Laws, unlike most Sanctuary Masters who chose to focus on a single domain. Now, he could create a World Domain, and had mastered the various World Laws to a significant extent. Magic spells like the Divine Punishment Thunder would not be difficult for him.
The Golden Behemoth did not have any time to react, and a purple-golden thunderbolt that had a holy and menacing aura immediately bombarded its massive body. Countless snake-like arcs of lightning immediately darted out of the Golden Behemoth's body and leaped around with cackling sounds. Its appearance alone was hair-raising.
The Divine Punishment thunder was absolutely powerful, as its name suggested. However, as Lin Li had expected, after the Golden Behemoth was hit by the Divine Punishme
nt Thunder, Lin Li realized that it did not actually cause any damage to the Golden Behemoth's body upon closer inspection.
However, Lin Li did not expect the Divine Punishment Thunder to be able to strike the Golden Behemoth down in one go. Despite the powerful magic defense of the Golden Behemoth, the Divine Punishment Thunder could bring about the numbing effect that he wanted. That fact alone was considered extraordinary. However, Lin Li did not carry high hopes for that small request. After all, luck had never been reliable, and real strength was the deciding factor.
Hence, after casting the Divine Punishment Thunder, Lin Li did not stop to check the situation. Instead, he followed the figure straight up into the sky. At the same time, a large amount of mana in his body surged into the Helios' Scepter rapidly, causing the gemstone on the tip of the scepter to emit a dazzling light. The light almost shrouded his body as if a small sun had risen in mid-air.
At the same time, Lin Li had acutely sensed that the Golden Behemoth had indeed been very unfortunate to have entered a state of numbing under the blast of the Divine Punishment Thunder. Although the duration only lasted for a pathetic one-tenth of a second in the face of the Golden Behemoth's resistance, that was already an extremely wonderful opportunity for Lin Li.
Lin Li knew that he had to seize the opportunity. Hence, he immediately pointed the Helios' Scepter downwards, while the light from the gemstone immediately began condensing, and turning into a giant sword that could split the world open. It then slashed at the Golden Behemoth that was in a state of paralysis.
Although it was also a World Sword, Lin Li had put in more mana into this sword than usually. Even mountains that were made of steel would be slashed and broken by the sword. Even the strongest fortress in Anril would be cut into half by it.