Chapter 382 Mermaid

In order to ascertain if it was indeed the leader Yang Ling who had committed the heinous act, Brown lowered his volume and recited a few incantations. He then teleported to the area near the Underground Tomb in an instant using Space Element Magic. However, beyond his expectations, Yang Ling was sitting cross-legged on the Great Wizard Altar motionlessly, his form never changing from before.

Could he have been overly suspicious?

Seeing Yang Ling sitting on the Great Wizard Altar as he meditated, Brown shook his head, leaving quickly in frustration after stealing a glance at the main camp of the Dark Association.

Since the death of Adwes had nothing to do with the leader Yang Ling, then the greatest suspect had to be the Dark Association. However, in order to successfully obtain the Teleportation Portal within the Underground Tomb and in consideration of the bigger picture, it was not the time to fall out with the Dark Association.

"Tsk tsk, how dangerous!"

After successfully achieving his goals, to prevent exposing any loopholes, Yang Ling had directly teleported back to the Great Wizard Altar. To think that he had just sat down cross-legged when Brown, who was wielding the magical silver staff, teleported over, nearly exposing him.

Even though he had long sown the seeds of animosity with the Church and did not mind giving them another reason to hate him, Yang Ling did not wish to recklessly engage in conflict with the other party. Now was not the time for them to participate in an all-out conflict with the major faction that was the Church.

The stronger you were, the more trouble you would attract!

Even though the Magical Beast Territory had developed rapidly in their strength, compared to the massive factions with thousands of years of history that were the Church and the Dark Association, they still had a considerable distance to close.

Before obtaining decisive strength, laying low and developing, and silently obtaining riches was the smartest thing to do. Yang Ling would not attack anyone that did not cross him, and would rather mind his own business. It would not be too late to settle the score with the Church when he one day obtained a Magical Beast Army made up of Level Surpassing Magical Beasts, as well as when the Wizard Sect he set up became strong!

After successfully advancing to become a high-level Divine Wizard and learning the Great Wizard Seal, Yang Ling believed that the day was not very far away!

The Terras Forest, Amazon Forest, and the vast sea were teeming with countless Magical Beasts. Amongst those were no lack of Level Surpassing Magical Beasts. As long as he found their tracks and searched for a way to tame them, the scale of his Magical Beast Army would become greater day by day.

In the future, the Tree of Life within the Wizard Pagoda's Space would be able to secrete Water from the Spring of Life. Then, he would be able to use its endless stream to accelerate the evolution of his Magical Beasts, nurturing the level nine Magical Beasts by his side into Level Surpassing Magical Beasts. This way, an army made up entirely of Level Surpassing Magical Beasts would perhaps not be an unrealistic dream!

Furthermore, according to the report of the Beast Soul Priest Augustus, the construction of the Beast Soul Altar was nearing completion. After the altar was successfully constructed, it might perhaps bring him several surprises, allowing him to obtain powerful mutated Magical Beasts.

After sitting cross-legged on the Great Wizard Altar for some time and sensing that the Church no longer had any suspicions that he was the one that committed the act, Yang Ling set up a small tent on the Great Wizard Altar, then entered it to closely examine the wound on his chest.

As a Church Templar with abilities at the peak of Domain Expert, Adwes's strength was alarming. Even though his Ice-sealing Throne Armor had blocked his green blade aura, a bruise had still appeared where he had been hit on his chest. He could not imagine how terrifying it would be if the blade had directly sliced down on his body!

"Tsk tsk, the Full Moon Scimitar, not bad!" After taking out Adwes's scimitar from within the Wizard Pagoda's Space to have a look, Yang Ling nodded his head.

The blade was narrow and had a wide arc, its length not reaching half a meter. There was a deep groove on the body of the blade. It had good flexibility and hardness, its edge immensely sharp. Yang Ling tested the blade out and was able to slice a thin piece of muslin into two in thin air. He was also able to slice a helmet refined using premium metals in half easily.

"This might make a good present for the female pirate Margaret after it is refined using a Dark Sand Ore!"

Thinking about the passionate and generous female pirate Margaret and about how graceful she looked, Yang Ling smiled, storing the scimitar into his Space Ring. He was going to get Master Aaron to refine the blade entirely, in case the Church noticed anything wrong about it. He then sat down cross-legged and organized Adwes's memories.

As he had expected previously, the aim of the Church for this journey was not for the riches of the Thebes Empire, but for the Teleportation Portal that leads straight to the Graveyard of Deities and Demons of the legends.

Legend has it that the Pharaoh possessed a Teleportation Portal leading to the Graveyard of Deities and Demons, and during the lifespan of every generation of Pharaohs, they had to bring together a team of elite troops and send them into it in order to look for divinities or Divine Weapons. According to the records, before the Pharaoh of the last generation died, he had once knelt in front of the Teleportation Portal, hugging a statue as he wailed for three days.

The Pharaoh of the last generation had just died when the Thebes Empire that looked prosperous on the surface had many hidden troubles in secret and collapsed. No one knew where the Pharaoh was buried, and no one knew of the whereabouts of the Teleportation Portal. However, the commoners had once spread a fleeting legend, "When the beats of the Human Skin Drum were heard once again, the Underground Tomb would be opened, and the Pharaoh would awaken from his slumber."

At the start, the fleeting legend spread throughout the entire Tailun Continent, with wandering poets singing odes of the phenomenon. However, the era in which the Thebes Empire collapsed was too long ago. Over ten thousand years later, other than the records in the historical annals of several major factions, the people had long forgotten about this once popular legend.

According to the memories of the black-robed man Adwes, the main mission of the Church was to find the legendary Teleportation Portal and bring it back to the Holy City. After successfully accomplishing their mission, they could also take the time to investigate the reason as to why the hundred-odd elites had lost their sanity.

"Tsk tsk, sending a dozen Church Templars to investigate me, it looks like the Church had put a lot on the line this time!" After understanding the mission of Adwes and his group on this journey, Yang Ling let out a cold smile.

The Church was immensely strong, and their influence was amongst the strongest within the Tailun Continent. They had countless followers, a large number of elite Guardian Knights, a substantial amount of powerful Guardian Spellcasters… Amongst them, the Templars were their greatest and most mysterious force.

Other than a few of the large families and major factions, even an ordinary member working within the Church might not know about the existence and terror of the Templars, much less an ordinary noble or commoner.

Basically, every Templar had abilities rivaling that of a Domain Expert or had unique expertise in an area. Unlike the ordinary Knights and Spellcasters of the Church, the Templars formed their own system, and aside from the elder of the Templars, even the Pope was unable to command them to take action.

The Templars were split into the Outer Templars and the Inner Templars. The Outer Templars were responsible for their connections to the outside world and dealing with a few troublesome affairs for the Pope. The Inner Templar was a forbidden ground that even the Pope could not easily enter. Adwes might be called an elder, but he was, in reality, only a runner for the Outer Templars and had little knowledge of the situation within the Inner Templar.

What do I do?

Do I make peace early, or directly…

Yang Ling knit his brows tightly after understanding the Church's immense strength through the black-robed man Adwes's memories. According to the past actions of the Church, they might send a heavy force to deal with him after the situation of the underground tomb came to a close.

If that was the case, he could either find a way to make peace with them or increase his strength by any means possible and then use all the strength he could make use of to deal with them. If he was able to obtain the help of the Borg family hailed as the Golden Lions, the Bellimore family, as well as the Dark Association, the idea might not be impossible.

The Church had immense strength, but they were definitely not impenetrable! Of course, if he wanted to deal with them, he needed to gain a further understanding of their inner workings. Specifically, regarding the situation within the so-called Inner Templar, in case he was caught off guard at a critical moment.

Infiltrating into the inner workings of the Church in an attempt to understand the situation of the Inner Templars was basically an unrealistic dream. Yang Ling did not think that he had the ability to do that. However, he did have a rare opportunity before him.

Unlike Adwes, a managing elder that was basically a runner, Brown was a respected elder of the Outer Templars and could enter the Inner Templar at any time. If he could kill or capture Brown and obtain his memories, he would naturally be able to understand the situation within the Inner Templars and gain a further understanding of the Church's strength.

The Underground Tomb was a threat, but it was also an opportunity!

However, according to Adwes memories, Brown had reached the peak of Domain Expert a few thousand years ago. Coupled with a bunch of powerful Templars guarding his side, Yang Ling had no choice but to be cautious if he wanted to kill him. Otherwise, not only would he fail to achieve his aims, he might even have to pay with his life!

"Sir, quick, look at this!" Just as Yang Ling was about to think about the specifics of the plan, the Corpse Wizard King charged into the tent holding a piece of Illusory Crystal, his expression grim.

After catching his breath, the Corpse Wizard King injected a streak of Magical Energy into the crystal. In that instant, a clear image appeared on the Illusory Crystal, releasing the sounds of waves crashing.

After a boring scene passed, a human head suddenly appeared in the image. One, two… More and more appeared, all of them swimming toward a dilapidated beach. They were immensely speedy, more agile than a fish.

After closing in on the beach, as the waters got shallower, a shocking scene ensued!

Out of the hundreds of people, alligator monsters with the head of a human, as well as octopi with human heads were clustering around a beautiful lady with a fish's tail.

Her wet hair was draped over her naked shoulders, her silky fair skin immensely supple. Her slender neck was sexy and alluring, accentuated by her long black hair. The light armor on her body covered only her breasts and her thighs. Her developing breasts were not large but were exceptionally perky.

She swam a great distance forward with the light push of her tail. After reaching the shore, she gently muttered an incantation, her tail instantly transforming into a pair of slender, toned legs.

Mermaid?

Looking at the beautiful young lady draping a long robe over herself, Yang Ling rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

"Sir, this is an image captured by a crystal a few dozen miles away from the eastern coast of Jaboli three days ago." Looking at the clear image in the Illusory Crystal, the Corpse Wizard King paused for a moment before continuing, "If my guess is right, this should be a mysterious sea tribe that comes from deep within the ocean. According to the reports of the scouts, they sprinted straight toward the Amazon Forest as soon as they reached the shore, and are getting closer and closer to the Underground Tomb!"

"Hehe, even the sea tribe has rushed over. It looks like it's getting busier and busier at the Underground Tomb!"

After understanding the identity and intentions of the other party, Yang Ling was more elated than surprised. The more complicated the situation in the Underground Tomb, the more advantageous it was for his future plan. It would be even better if the various factions would engage in battle with each other for their own interests!