Damn it, did it appear in my dreams? Lin Li shook his head helplessly. Just when he was about to give up on further investigation and get his hands on Gloomy Dark straightaway, he heard Ujfalusi's gasp.
"M-M-Master, that's the Immortal King!"
"Huh?" Lin Li exclaimed in surprise. "You mean, that half-bodied statue depicts the Immortal King?"
"That's… that's right," Ujfalusi replied. The mentioning of the legendary figure of the High Elves Dynasty terrified Ujfalusi. He even swallowed his saliva like a real human when he looked at that half-bodied statue in awe…
"…" Lin Li glanced at the statue resting on the summit of the pointed tower and froze for a few minutes. When he regained his composure, vulgar words exited his mouth. "F*ck, why is it that bastard again…?"
Lin Li could not help it.
The name 'Immortal King' had become a curse ever since the finals in the Aurora Square. It was like an annoying spirit that continued to haunt him wherever he went. From the Aurora Square to the Demon Fall Valley, and from Doland to the Scar of Death, Immortal King's name came up everywhere.
Even Ujfalusi, whom he had signed the Soul Contract with, seemed to have some connection with that bastard…
Although Ujfalusi did not tell him anything about the Immortal King, it did not mean Lin Li was totally unaware of it. The Soul Contract Ujfalusi signed with Lin Li was one which forbade secrecy. The moment the bond was established, fragments of Ujfalusi's memory were transmitted to Lin Li's mind. Although Lin Li could not gather much useful information from those disorganized fragments, he saw the shadow of the Immortal King in them…
Since Ujfalusi did not reveal any details about the Immortal King to him, Lin Li knew it had to be something that could pose a threat to Ujfalusi.
Hence, Lin Li still did not ask Ujfalusi about it.
"That's right, it's this altar!" Adelo exclaimed excitedly, and was unable to repress his joy. But the next moment, Adelo was looking at Lin Li in hesitation. "Mage Felic, could we have a talk?"
"Of course…" Lin Li replied after glancing at Adelo. He knew very well what that Archmage from the Malfa Family had to say. The lies about wanting to destroy the altar earlier on were all a child's play. How could his ultimate goal be destroying the altar when he agreed to bring a group of people into the Scar of Death tirelessly in hopes of finding the altar that was located deep within the cave? Lin Li would be a moron to believe those words…
But, he welcomed Adelo's invitation to talk.
How could Adelo have zero knowledge of the altar he took so much risk to locate? His mentor, Cheyenne, was the one who'd personally come to the altar that year to battle the Lich. If one were to say that Adelo was ignorant of that altar, Lin Li would be the first person to get suspicious.
In fact, Lin Li had planned out what to do long before Adelo spoke. Since what he wanted from the beginning was just the Gloomy Dark, he did not mind knowing more secrets from Adelo, and then negotiating the splitting of benefits…
Of course, if Adelo wanted the Gloomy Dark like he did, it would be another story…
"I'm guessing Mage Felic would know that my main motive of entering the Scar of Death is not to destroy this Altar…" Adelo admitted to his lie immediately.
"Hehe…" Lin Li laughed, and did not say anything. Yet, he was secretly shocked. When did this dude who has been disguising himself as a Magic Shooter become so straightforward with his words?
Lin Li would not have guessed that Adelo was actually governed by his fear when he spoke to him.
That was right. Adelo was indeed scared…
Adelo's fear of the young mage grew as they survived the different battles that seemed to increase in difficulty as they journeyed towards the Scar of Death. How would anyone have the guts to lie to a young mage who made 10 Death Knights submit to him, had the ability of a Legendary-mage to defeat the Lich, and had skills to seal a Humerus Wyrm? It might have cost him his life…
"Actually, I wasn't entirely lying when I said that just now—I just forgot to say some details… When I went into the cave with my mentor that year, I really lost my consciousness. He only told me what happened in the cave after I woke up again…" Adelo said defensively.
"That year, my mentor indeed battled with the Lich. But, according to him, there wasn't any Humerus Wyrm in the cave. Hence, he had an advantage when he battled the Lich. At the end of the battle, my mentor sacrificed a level of his ability to inflict great harm on to the Lich…"
"Oh?" Lin Li could not help but feel surprised. He was extremely well aware of the ability of the Lich. Not to exaggerate, having received the most formal education in magic, the Lich was almost perfect in his combat techniques. He made zero mistakes in his tactics, and his life case that was safely stowed in the altar allowed him to absorb unlimited amount of force produced by the Gloomy Dark. Hence, it was extremely difficult to battle an opponent who had never-ending supply of mana like him.
Lin Li knew very well that the All-Knowing Potion could only give him the powers of a Legendary-mage temporarily. It was not sufficient for him to defeat such a terrifying Lich. The victory he'd got unexpectedly was all due to that crimson crystal. The Devouring Force within it allowed him to create a vacuum for the reckless Lich to fall from the air like that.
Otherwise, Lin Li would be the one who had his body ripped into pieces instead…
But, the mentor Adelo was telling him had to be something. How could anyone have the ability to sacrifice a level of his ability to critically injure a Lich?
That was even more powerful than him downing a bottle of the All-Knowing Potion himself…
It seemed that there was still a difference between Legendary-mages. Lin Li knew he would only figure out that difference after he reached the Legendary-realm.
"My mentor has been telling me that he had committed a grave mistake in that battle. That was, using a spell to restrict the Lich instead of destroying his body completely…"
"This mistake is really serious…" Lin Li knew it meant trouble.
"That was because my mentor found the altar located deep within the cave at the same time…" Adelo recalled the story with very complicated feelings. "This fault made him regret for decades. If not for his carelessness, it would not lead to the subsequent consequences, and delay his breakthrough into level-21 by 10 years…"
Adelo sighed.
"However, it was no doubt natural for Mentor to feel anxious then. I believe anyone would have done the same thing if he had discovered the huge secret within the cave."
"It seems that Mage Adelo wants to tell me about the secret hidden within this altar now…?"
"Yes," said Adelo. "My mentor went into a historical building owned by the High Elves, and got to know that the Scar of Death has this altar and about the great secret hidden within it. This secret is related to the Immortal King…"
"Immortal King?"
"I presume you should have read many articles written during the High Elves Dynasty. Don't you realize that those articles barely mention the Immortal King? Even if there is information that might be related to him, it's only mentioned vaguely as though the author was trying to avoid the topic. For the parts that speak of the King, they were mixed with too many rumors and hearsay. 1300 years had gone by, and the only thing people of Anril knew of him was just that he was the creator of the entire High Elves Dynasty…"
"Mage Adelo, this means you know a lot about that Immortal King?"
"Since what I know of him is all stories my mentor told me, it would be an overstatement to say that I understand him well. I believe there would only be a handful of people in the entire Anril who would know the Immortal King well.
"My mentor found a diary that belonged to a high elf royal in that historical building. On the last few pages of the diary, this royal mentioned that his grandfather was actually one of the servants working under the Immortal King.
"In fact, the establishment of the High Elves Dynasty transformed the servants of the Immortal King into prominent aristocrats. Many truths about that age gradually disappeared in the river of time. The owner of the diary only found out about the Immortal King while he was tidying his grandfather's relics. Apart from this secret, his grandfather left him two other relics: a crossbow with a strange energy as well as a map that was said to lead to infinite amount of treasures… "