371 Crimson Python

A couple of weeks passed in the blink of an eye, but the Tower of Dusk remained as empty as ever. Occasionally, a few mages would come in to obtain their level certifications, but they were mostly level-5 or level-6. The most ridiculous thing was that a few days ago, they even got a mage apprentice in his thirties. Lin Li was utterly bewildered, and really wondered what was the driving force that led him to continue learning magic if he had not even become a mage by the age of 30.

The only good news to Lin Li was that Apophis had finally left.

After giving the blueprint and ring to Lin Li that day, Apophis took a piece of Lava adamantine. He did keep his word, however, only taking a piece the size of a fist, and even helped Lin Li by using an Eternal Snow Storm to freeze the Lava adamantine completely before he left.

Frankly speaking, Lin Li was pretty grateful to him for it…

The biggest issue with Lava adamantine was that it could not be exposed to air, or its fire magical elements would be completely depleted in at most five days. By then, the precious Lava adamantine would be no more than a piece of rock. The only thing they could do was to freeze it up.

While the Thousand Miles of Ice was powerful, it was only a Level-16 magic spell, and given Lin Li's abilities now, he could only freeze it for up to a day. Once the time was up, he would have to use the Thousand Miles of Ice again. Lin Li was not worried about wasting his mana, but this was an annoying issue indeed. What happened if he needed to leave for an extended period of time? Surely he was not going to hire a couple of Archmages to use the Thousand Miles of Ice every now and then?

It was different with the Eternal Snow Storm, however. It was a level-24 magic, and besides Apophis, not many in Anril were capable of using it. It had an incredibly complicated elemental structure and an insane level of mana use. The result? A nearly eternal state of frost that would not change unless someone forcefully tampered with it.

Lin Li actually knew that the old man was good to him. The great Sanctuary Master had stayed for about half a month at the Tower of Dusk for the sole purpose of teaching him. While his methods were strange, they did let Lin Li's magic improve tremendously. Three days ago, Lin Li managed to securely reach level-18, and while the Soul Contract he'd made with Ujfalusi played a part, it was still mostly thanks to this old man…

Nobody knew better than Lin Li how much he had learned in this half a month. While he was getting beaten up daily, he could clearly feel himself gaining a deeper understanding of magic with every beating. This improvement was absurd even to Lin Li; he was clearly being beaten up, but as he received more beatings, he was suddenly at level-18…

Of course, the most important thing to Lin Li was the conversation they'd had in the library during the inauguration ceremony. That was something only Lin Li and Apophis knew about, and nobody would know that Apophis had been telling a story the whole afternoon…

He was talking about his journey from being a mage apprentice to becoming a Sanctuary Master…

This was a long story spanning 1,300 years, and some of its contents had actually been told as a legend. It had been painted with glory with the fairytale-like battle and weaved into folk songs by travelling poets. Now, it could be heard in every corner of Anril.

But coming from Apophis himself, it took on another form. The old man was not particularly eloquent, and the content and emotions of the story sounded rather monotonous coming from him, just as though he was talking about how he'd won a few copper coins while gambling yesterday instead of participating in the war that changed the fate of Anril.

That was how Lin Li spent the whole afternoon—listening to this old man who lived in a fairytale himself tell his story, occasionally adding in expletives the way he usually did.

Apophis shared more than what had happened during the battle, including things nobody besides him knew of. He talked about how he'd completed his first meditation after being exposed to magic, how he'd cast his first spell, and what it'd felt like to become an Archmage as well as how he'd felt like as he became a Legendary-mage…

All of this came from Apophis himself in its truest form with no distortion or whatsoever—everything was from his own point of view, and it was all the emotions he truly felt.

Even though Lin Li was a poised person, he could not help getting breathless as he listened to the story as he knew that this was a great fortune in itself—a priceless treasure indeed.

Lin Li had received many gifts on the day of the inauguration ceremony, like the potion bottle carved from Dream Crystal and a Fire Feather Gryphon egg; there was also a box of Starlight Herb and an oil lamp capable of summoning a Demon Lord. However, to Lin Li, the story he'd heard from Apophis was the most valuable gift of all…

It contained the life experience of a Sanctuary Master, and would allow a mage to avoid many errors in their journey of magic. For the insanely talented Lin Li, knowing this alone would be sufficient for him to continue on smoothly and become a Sanctuary Master!

Even though Lin Li refused to admit it, he was actually very grateful to Apophis…

After Apophis left, Lin Li's days became long and boring once again. Besides making a few bottles of Arcana Potion every day, all he did was chat with Gerian and whatnot. It continued for half a month, until a certain evening…

That evening, Lin Li was speaking to Alan.

It was about a month after the inauguration ceremony. Alan had been feeling perplexed all this time as he realized that the crystal Felic had given him seemed to be an endless pit: no matter how much mana he channeled into it, it never seemed to fill up.

If it'd only lasted a couple of days, it would not been an issue, but this had been going on for a month. Finally, Alan could not take it anymore.

That afternoon, he brought the crystal to Lin Li, wanting to consult the young president about the crystal. Besides, what Alan wanted to know more was how he could change his bad habit of being stingy with his mana.

"Not bad, Magic Shooter Alan, this crystal is almost full, keep it up."

"Oh…" Alan nodded. He wanted to ask about how he could change his bad habit, but he did not know where to start.

After being in the Tower of Dusk for a month, Alan realized that the more time went by, the less he understood this young president. At the start, he'd thought that the Supreme Council was playing a joke—how could they make a young mage in his twenties the president of a Guild of Magic?

Slowly, however, Alan realized something was wrong. As he stood before this young president, he felt a deep and profound aura coming from him. It was as though he was trapped in fog, and could never decipher his true abilities no matter how he tried. He could only distinctly feel that this young president was very, very strong…

Alan knew that only mages way more powerful than himself would give him such a feeling, and now that he was already a level-14 Magic Shooter, those who were way more powerful than him would have to be a level-15 or even level-16 Archmage. Alan felt his skin crawl when he thought of that; an Archmage in his twenties! No wonder he became the president of a Guild of Magic at such a young age.

In the last few days especially, Alan could feel that there had been a sharp growth in the young president's abilities. If he'd felt like he'd been separated by fog when standing before him in the past, then now it felt like there was an insurmountable peak in front of him.

Even Gavin had only one word to describe the young president: unfathomable!

"Honestly, being too precise with your use of mana isn't too bad a habit. It's merely somewhat petty. Mana is just like money: of course you should use it sparingly when you're tight on it, but if you do that too when you have one million gold coins, then you'll never turn that one million gold coins into 10 million…"

Lin Li was halfway through his words when he heard a growl from afar. Then, a strange magical wave filled up the space, and the magical wave became hotter and fiercer. Even though Lin Li was far away from it, he could detect its violent aura.

"Sh*t!" The magical wave was coming from Black Clouds Town, and Lin Li felt his heart clench. He hurriedly uttered a spell, and the crystal ball in the guild hall lit up. They could see a red figure sweep past in the crystal ball—it had a slender figure and long wings, leaving a streak of red light in the skies above Black Clouds Town…

Seeing the red streak of light, Lin Li lost all color on his face. That was an adult Crimson Python without any doubt! Legend had it that it was a level-18 magical beast, and if it landed in Black Clouds Town, it would turn the whole place into a sea of fire in a second. This was not something Lin Li wished to see. Since the Tower of Dusk was located in Black Clouds Town, it was their responsibility to protect it—such was the rule agreed upon by the 25 Guilds of Magic in the Felan Kingdom.

His only consolation was that Norfeller and Ujfalusi were still in Black Clouds Town. He only hoped that they would be able to stop the destructive flames of the Crimson Python.

"Alan, call Gavin, we need to go take a look at Black Clouds Town!" After giving some instructions hurriedly, Lin Li grabbed his Aether Staff, quickly uttered a Levitation Spell, and flew like an arrow to Black Clouds Town without waiting for Alan to reply.