The Elemental Dragon, which was at the peak of the Legendary-realm, was already on par with a Sanctuary powerhouse, yet there was no tough or intense battle at all. It was simply twisted to death like an ant. No matter how arrogant and haughty Jeremiah was, he did not think that he was powerful enough to compete with the Elemental Dragon. Although he did not dare to think that Lin Li was a Sanctuary powerhouse, he knew that the latter could definitely destroy him easily even if he was not a Sanctuary powerhouse.
Everyone watched in shock as Lin Li put away the nail-sized Elemental Dragon Crystal, and floated to the ground from the sky. Lin Li had expected everyone to react that way. However, the most important thing now was to explore the Sky Castle, and not to let them stay dumbfounded there.
Seeing that they could not recover from the shock for a long time, Lin Li shook his head helplessly, and reminded, “Archbishop Martin, Master Donald, I’ve already gotten rid of the Elemental Dragon. Do you think we should reorganize the team and continue advancing?”
“Ah, yes, yes.” Upon hearing Lin Li’s reminder, everyone was finally enlightened. They were on the land of the Sky Castle, and there were plenty of things they had to do.
Everyone suppressed their thoughts and reorganized the team. Those who had to be treated were treated, and the things that had to be repaired were also repaired. Actually, the greatest casualties were the 10-odd Holy Light Knights that the Elemental Dragon had suddenly attacked and killed, as well as the 11 Alchemy Colossuses of the Rotterdam Kingdom that had been destroyed.
Under the impact of the Elemental Dragon’s magical elements, the 11 Alchemy Colossuses had long turned into broken pieces. There was no need for repairs at all. The only things that required repair were the problems caused by the overdraft of the Alchemy Colossuses’ power during the defensive battle. Although the people from the Rotterdam Kingdom could not repair the Alchemy Colossuses as quickly as Angelano could, they fortunately had the adequate equipment. Most of the work consisted of replacing parts, which did not take much time.
The Brilliance Shrine had plenty of methods for healing, which included healing potions and Holy Light Magic. However, the priests had had to overdraft their mental strength and mana in order to keep up with the defense. That was not something that could be healed by ordinary potions.
Lin Li directly took out two boxes of potions from his Ring of Endless Storm, and handed them to Archbishop Martin. The potions were meant for restoring either mana or mental strength. One reason behind his decision to do so was that he had a good relationship with the Brilliance Shrine, and the other reason was that he didn’t want to waste too much time there. After all, he still had to deal with Osric’s Ghost.
Potions that restored mana and mental strength were far more valuable than Recovery Potions. Yet, Lin Li took out two boxes of them in one go. When Jeremiah saw those potions, he was suddenly reminded of what he’d said about giving the Tower of Dusk some potions to aid them. He immediately felt ashamed, and his face turned as red as a monkey’s bottom.
After a period of rest, the team finally regained some strength, and the three forces continued with the original plan. They entered the avenue square again.
Archbishop Martin originally still had the key to the Magic Tower in the middle of the square, but when he grabbed the key and tried to open the gate of the Magic Tower, he discovered that the Magical Thousand-contraption Lock had already disappeared, yet the gate still could not be opened.
Lin Li had a faint ominous hunch when he saw that.
That situation also similarly caused Archbishop Martin and Donald to feel very disappointed. They initially thought that they could obtain the Immortal King’s treasure without any problems since they had the key. However, now that the key had actually lost its effect, they had no choice but to worry and wonder if that was just a single phenomenon, or if that was the same in the entire Sky Castle.
Despite being unable to open the gate of the Magic Tower, Archbishop Martin didn’t insist on forcing his way in. After all, they had more important things to do in the Sky Castle, and if they were to get any treasures, it would only be coincidental. If they could obtain any, they would, of course, be glad, but if they could not, they would not cause any delay in what they had to do just because of it.
Feeling rather regretful, the expedition left the Magic Tower, and passed through the square to enter another street, once again walking into the endless fog.
The thick fog was still affecting their senses, and making it impossible for their mental strength to reach far. However, the strange thing was that the journey this time seemed to be much smoother than before, and there were very few enemies. The occasional Vengeful Spirits that appeared were also significantly weaker, and they did not encounter any Legendary-level enemies for a long time.
Having just experienced a vicious battle, the people of the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom took everything for granted. They even somewhat enjoyed the smooth-sailing journey.
They felt that even if it was the Immortal King’s Sky Castle, there wouldn’t be psychotically powerful monsters everywhere! Since a powerful monster like the Elemental Dragon was destroyed, it should be normal for them to relax for a while! During the exploration, almost everyone felt the same.
Actually, their thoughts were not wrong. After all, the Elemental Dragon was a perverted monster, and one of it was enough. The power of an Elemental Dragon combined with Ghost Mages was far beyond their imagination. They could not imagine what could be stronger than that. The descent of the Immortal King?
However, Lin Li would never dare to have that thought. Even though he was now a true Sanctuary powerhouse, he still had scruples about the notorious Highlord Osric.
Compared to the people from the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom, Lin Li had a greater understanding of Highlord Osric. Perhaps Osric, who was once known as the Butcher, was just a mythical figure and a historical symbol to others. No matter how exaggerated it was, he still lacked a truly terrifying power.
However, Lin Li was different from them. Ever since he obtained the Eternal Furnace in the beginning, until he explored the Sky Castle for the first time, followed by the Highlord Osric’s mausoleum, he had gotten a clear understanding of the perversity of Osric, the mythical figure.
The Immortal King’s proud disciple had stood at the pinnacle of Anril a long time ago during the Dark Age. Although he strangely died an early death, he was no less powerful or talented than the Immortal King. He built the Eternal Furnace by imitating the Sky Castles. His creation even surpassed the Sky Castles in some ways. He created the perfect body, and created the Ghost using 100,000 human souls. He intended to follow a different path to immortality than the Immortal King. If his plans could’ve gone smoothly, he might’ve really succeeded.
Lin Li had some suspicion that the bizarre missing of the Immortal King had something to do with Highlord Osric. He still remembered that among the information he had, there seemed to be a mention of an argument between Osric and the Immortal King, as well as the message from Osric that was placed in the Central Tower.
Facing such a terrifying enemy, Lin Li still lacked confidence despite having already stepped into the Sanctuary-realm. In fact, deep down, Lin Li was still willing to face the two Sanctuary powerhouses, the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera and the Flame Dragon Lothar. However, he did not want to face Highlord Osric.
However, Lin Li had no choice. Did he really come to the Sky Castle this time to make all the gains in the Sky Castle his? He had obtained Osric’s Eternal Furnace and his perfect body. There was no way he could resolve the hatred between them. Once Highlord Osric recovered his power and returned to Anril, the first thing he would do would be to destroy Lin Li and the Tower of Dusk so as to take the Eternal Furnace and the perfect body back.
That was one of the most important reasons for Lin Li to set foot in the Sky Castle again. He hoped to get rid of the massive threat while Osric had yet to fully recover.
Lin Li dared to create trouble for Osric mainly because he had the control crystal, which he had obtained through the Immortal King’s test when he’d first come to the Sky Castle, to fall back on. If he could really gain complete control of the Sky Castle through the control crystal, he would be confident in fighting Osric.
However, judging from the signs he had seen after stepping into the Sky Castle again, he felt that the task was extremely difficult. Regardless of whether Osric had recovered fully or not, it was obvious that he had most likely gained control of a portion of the Sky Castle in the past two years.
Although Lin Li had studied quite a bit of information about the Sky Castle, he was worlds apart from Osric in terms of knowledge of the Sky Castle. After all, back then, Osric had obtained most of the Immortal King’s inheritance, and had also created the Eternal Furnace by replicating the Sky Castles. Clearly, he had a deep understanding of them.
Even if Lin Li had the control crystal, he could not guarantee that he would be able to successfully gain control of the Sky Castle.
Perhaps the only thing worth rejoicing over now was that Lin Li had quite a good grasp of the usage of the control crystal. Even if the operation failed this time, he could at least use the power of the control crystal to send himself and his subordinates back to Anril using the Teleportation Portal. Lin Li probably could not do anything to help the teams from the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom.
Moreover, if things really developed to that stage, Lin Li would have no choice but to seek help from the three arbitrators. Lin Li was not a match for Osric with complete control of the Sky Castle at all. He was just a beginner of the Sanctuary-realm.
Lin Li was so worried about Osric that he did not feel the slightest bit of joy despite the fact that they could advance so smoothly and rapidly. Instead, he was much more worried about it. He was well aware that Osric and the Sky Castle would be a terrifying combination. Their current situation was just superficial safety, and in fact, it could be considered the calm before the storm.
However, Lin Li did not mention that concern of his to the senior members of the other two forces. He knew that it was impossible for them to heed his warnings at this juncture, especially since a major crisis had been resolved.
Just as Lin Li had thought, almost everyone from the teams from the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom were taking the smooth advancement for granted.
The expedition pushed all the way to the interior of the Sky Castle, and they almost did not encounter any proper enemies. Besides, they also made plenty of gains from the buildings on both sides of the streets. That caused everyone to appear extremely excited, as if the Immortal King’s treasures had already opened its doors to them.
Yes, after overcoming the hurdle of the Elemental Dragon, everything has been so smooth! Look, aren’t we about to enter the central area of the Sky Castle!? The treasure of the Immortal King is waiting for us. This is going to be a joyous festival for us!
The people from the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom were even somewhat regretful at this moment. Had they known that everything was going to go that well, they should have gone and explored all of the outskirts of the Sky Castle before exploring the central area. Of course, exploring that place first would be the same since all the valuable items were there anyway.
However, at this time, the thick fog that filled the Sky Castle seemed to have suddenly rolled backwards in all directions like a tide. In the blink of an eye, the entire Sky Castle became rather clear. The people from the expedition were also shocked by that change. At the same time, they discovered that the fog was actually rolling towards the Magic Tower behind them, which they could still see.
At this time, the Magic Tower was completely engulfed by the gray fog, making it look just like a massive gray pillar. However, this time, it did not last for long. Within a few breaths, the fog was completely devoured by the Magic Tower, revealing the true appearance of the tower again.
However, the Magic Tower that had devoured the fog seemed to be significantly different from before. The vicinity of the tower lit up with the light of magic, and the large and complex mageweaths that spread all over the tower gave off a terrifying vibe of silence.
At the top of the Magic Tower, a thick ink-like black fog was constantly being sprayed into the sky, forming an incomparably thick umbrella-shaped black cloud above the tower. It also continuously spread out to the surroundings rapidly.
At the same time, the members of the expedition could see that the same dark clouds were also forming in the sky in other parts of the Sky Castle even though there were buildings around them. The clouds quickly became one, and covered the entire Sky Castle.
“D-damn it, that’s a Psychic Tower that connects two realms!” Archbishop Martin yelled in disbelief. He was frightened, and instantly turned as pale as a sheet.
Everyone knew that a Psychic Tower was the Magic Tower of a Necromancer where Necromancers studied Necromagic. At the same time, it would be a huge addition to the power of Necromagic. Almost every Necromancer would have the lifelong goal of building a Psychic Tower, which could be called the highest crystallization of Necromagic. A Necromancer who owned a Psychic Tower would almost be invincible as long as he stood in a spot that was covered by the black fog of the Psychic Tower.
That was actually very similar to a mage’s Magic Tower. The main reason that the construction of a Psychic Tower appeared to be countless times more difficult than a normal Magic Tower’s because of the environment. Although High Elves had studied Necromagic before during the Dark Age, they had always been hostile to the Necromancers on the surface. After the end of the Dark Age, the Brilliance Shrine was established, thus making it difficult for Necromancers to continue to survive.