Chapter 1048: Golden
After sensing the changes in the surrounding environment, Lin Li really suspected if this world was a Meditation Land created by Geresco. Of course, the strong magical waves and the highly concentrated magical elements did not mean that it was suitable for meditation. After all, meditation was unlike eating and drinking where one just had to swallow the food and water.
For example, after the magic tides appeared, the density of magical elements in Anril increased greatly. However, in Lin Li’s opinion, it still wasn’t suitable for being a Meditation Land of a mage, because the magical elements had been pouring into the mages’ bodies by force instead of being actively guided by the mage and transformed into their
own mana.
That outcome resulted in the emergence of pseudo-Sanctuary powerhouses. Although many of them had already broken through the bottleneck, many of those who were talented in magic were also ruined. In today’s Anril, many of the mages who truly had foresight were either seizing the opportunity to increase their power or thinking of ways to control the magical elements and suppress the growth of their mana.
Hence, even though there were powerful magical waves and an extremely high concentration of magical elements in this world, it was still not the Meditation Land that Lin Li had imagined. He was not extremely certain about it now, and he would only find out after giving it a try for himself.
However, meditation in the sky would definitely be impossible as he would certainly become the target of the prehistoric magical beasts. Lin Li searched from the sky for a place that seemed suitable enough before flying over and landing on the ground.
Lin Li first laid out a large Alarm Array that would allow him to wake up from his meditative state in time if any uninvited guests appeared. After all, there were too many Sanctuary-level prehistoric magical beasts in this world. Even if he was confident in his own strength, he did not dare to lower his guard at all lest he got defeated.
After making those preparations, Lin Li could finally put his mind at ease. He sat down in an obscure spot, and swiftly entered a meditative state before beginning to try absorbing the magical elements in the s.p.a.ce.
The attempt almost made Lin Li jump in fright as it was simply too terrifying. He had merely taken the initiative to start, but the magical elements in the outside world already seemed to be surging into his body like the floodgates had been opened. Most importantly, he did not have to put in too much effort into converting the magical elements, as they were easily transformed into his own mana as if they were already his own.
It had to be mentioned that that was an extremely rare phenomenon! If the process of meditation was described with an inappropriate a.n.a.logy, meditation for mages was just like hunting where mages had to hunt and capture the magical elements in the s.p.a.ce, and then put in effort to tame them before finally turning them into their own mana.
Of course, this so-called taming also involved the issue of depth. The pseudo-Sanctuary-level mages in Anril now were considered imperfect because they could not achieve the desired use of mana even though they had already converted all the magical elements into mana.
Hence, absorbing more magical elements did not mean that more mana could be produced. Even if all of the magical elements could be transformed into mana, it did not mean that one could use the mana effortlessly as they pleased.
However, Lin Li could completely feel that the magical elements of this world were much more “obedient” than the ones in Anril. In fact, Lin Li did not even have to go through the taming process, as those magical elements naturally became his mana, and were compliant to all his commands.
This is a Meditation Land, it’s really Geresco’s Meditation Land! Lin Li was so excited that he almost fainted. He was worrying about acc.u.mulating his mana, but he did not expect to stumble upon Geresco’s Meditation Land. The feeling was like receiving a pillow right when he was dozing off. Although he had only given it a try, he could tell from some calculations that the gain he would get from meditating here for an hour was almost as much as meditating for a day outside.
An hour’s gain was akin to a day’s in the outside world. Even a mage with ordinary apt.i.tude would become a genius mage with the help of the Meditation Land. Any mage who found out about such an incredible Meditation Land would probably go crazy.
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.
d.a.m.n 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 ma.s.sive 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 n.o.ble 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 t.i.tans 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 ma.s.sive 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 ma.s.sive 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 coa.r.s.e, 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.