Chapter 1113: Heart Of The Ocean
After devouring the magical crystal of an adult Elemental Dragon, Xiao Hua managed to last until the end of the exploration in the Sky Castle. However, it began to fall into a deep sleep again upon returning. During its slumber, Xiao Hua finally turned the power of the magical crystal into its own.
Although Xiao Hua’s size did not change, it was no longer childlike, and its strength was not worse than any Sanctuary powerhouse’s at this point, even though it had yet to step into the Sanctuary-realm or become an adult Elemental Dragon. In fact, purely in terms of mana, Lin Li might not hold a candle to Xiao Hua even though he was a Sanctuary powerhouse with nearly infinite mana.
After coming out of Dream Garden, Xiao Hua first circled around Lin Li twice cheerfully before turning to face the nine-headed manticore, striking it with an intimidating magic storm. The magic storm that Xiao Hua was casting now was probably as powerful as a full-blown attack of a peak Legendary powerhouse. The power of countless peak Legendary-level magic spells combined was definitely groundbreaking. If it was blasted at the island below, everything would probably vanish in the blink of an eye.
After summoning Xiao Hua, Lin Li did not stop, and instead took out the Summoning Lamp and chanted a few short incantations. Afterwards, a large swollen body that looked just like a giant worm made of flesh appeared in midair. Although there was a pair of wings on its back, they had already lost their function, and it was now just floating in the air.
That monster was Lord Devourer Garl, whom Lin Li had subdued in the Well of the Sun. For some unknown reason, Angelano and Garl would argue nonstop whenever they met, and they would even show a tendency to fight. Hence, apart from letting Garl come out occasionally for a breather, Lin Li would keep him sealed in the Summoning Lamp most of the time. This time, he brought him along.
Before Garl could complain to Lin Li when he rose to midair, he was faced with the attacks of the nine-headed manticore that were like a tidal wave. Garl temporarily put aside his unhappiness of being imprisoned for so long, and immediately opened his huge mouth that was large enough to devour the sky.
The terrifying thing about the nine-headed manticore was the powerful affinity spell in each of its nine heads. At the same time, it also had nine Sanctuary-level magical crystals for providing mana. Facing the nine-headed manticore that was at the peak of the Sanctuary-realm was akin to facing nine powerhouses that were close to the peak of the Sanctuary-realm, which was not something that just anyone could tolerate.
However, the Lord Devourer had the ability to devour everything, and the groundbreaking magic spells were just like a huge feast for him. If the nine-headed manticore contained a wisp of G.o.dly power like the Dragon of Destruction’s corpse, Garl would probably be sending himself onto a path to death by doing that. However, despite being ma.s.sive, the nine-headed manticore’s power was still considered mortal. Hence, Garl could devour it smoothly.
The momentum and power of the attack of the nine-headed manticore were immediately weakened by the magic storm attack of the Elemental Dragon Xiao Hua and the crazy devouring force of the Lord Devourer Garl. The seven pieces of the debris of the stars flew out from the Ring of Endless Storm one after another, their horrifying force condensing into a World Sword that slashed towards the nine-headed manticore.
At the same time, The Star on the sea below also received a message from Lin Li through soul contact. All of the weapons rose and pointed at the nine-headed manticore that was in midair; the battleship-cla.s.s Magical Crystal Cannons, ordinary Magical Crystal Cannons, harpoons, attack spells, Alchemy Arrays, and other weapons were all activated.
After a few seconds of charging and bracing, all the weapons on The Star roared almost simultaneously, and the various mana cannons, harpoons, and offensive spells immediately surged up from the sea and blasted at the nine-headed manticore in the air.
If the nine-headed manticore had even a hint of G.o.dly power, Lin Li would probably have no choice but to flee. However, the situation was completely different now as the attacks from the sea and the air immediately engulfed the nine-headed manticore. The large and powerful Earth Shield shattered with a loud thud under the blasting of the World Sword. All the attacks then landed on the nine-headed manticore.
After a series of roars, everything finally calmed down again, and the heavily injured nine-headed manticore fell to the surface of the sea like a meteor. However, Lin Li waved the Helios’ Scepter in his hand, and a magic hand appeared out of thin air, scooped up the nine-headed manticore, and placed it in the Ring of Endless Storm immediately.
After dealing with the nine-headed manticore, Lin Li caved in because of the pitiful gaze in the Elemental Dragon Xiao Hua’s eyes, and allowed it to devour the magical elements on the island that had been acc.u.mulated for an unknown period of time by the Void Spirit Mageweath. However, Lin Li wasn’t that nice to Garl, as he immediately turned the Summoning Lamp and put Garl, whose eyes were filled with resentment, into it.
Lin Li returned to the island, and everyone looked at him with much more fear and respect in their eyes, disheveled and battered. The nine-headed manticore was a powerful existence that was rumored to be able to contend with the G.o.ds according to legends, but it was destroyed just like that! That gave them a little more understanding of Lin Li’s terrifying strength.
Without the disturbance of the nine-headed manticore, the process of copying the Void Spirit Mageweath was resumed, and it took another day and night before it was finally completed.
After putting the Elemental Dragon Xiao Hua, who was patting its belly and burping, back into the ring, Lin Li led the group to reboard The Star. In the past few days, the damage of The Star had been repaired, and it immediately set sail and left the island according to the original plan on Lin Li’s order.
However, The Star was not in a rush, and instead maintained an appropriate speed, at which it seemed to be cruising leisurely. At the beginning, Joseph also deliberately approached Lin Li twice to ask about it, but when he saw how nonchalant Lin Li was, he had no choice but to keep mum.
Of course, apart from Joseph, others also found it very strange, but they finally realized Lin Li’s intentions when The Star stopped near another island. In fact, Lin Li’s intention was not complicated—he just wanted to take this opportunity to explore the sea.
The appearance of the island with the Void Spirit Mageweath previously was evidence that the sea here had been uninhabited for many years. Otherwise, it would have probably been discovered by others long ago before Lin Li and his sailors could even reach it. Even those who lived at sea near the coast of the Breezy Plains had been living there for much longer than Lin Li had, what more the Gilded Kingdom that had dominated the Endless Ocean for years. If the island with the Void Spirit Mageweath was near a certain route, the abnormal rapid acc.u.mulation of magical elements would have long caught the attention of others.
Lin Li also had a huge doubt about the origin of the magic tower and the person who built it. Who could have added a Divine Smith level Void Spirit Mageweath, and even locked a nine-headed manticore in the tower? Lin Li had no idea where to find the answers, and had no choice but to pin his hopes on a certain island on the sea in a bid to find some clues.
Of course, Lin Li wouldn’t drop everything just to explore and comb the sea. He was actually just trying his luck now. It would be a good thing if he could find something, but if his efforts were futile, he would have to follow his original plan, and leave the sea for further exploration later.
In fact, apart from Lin Li, the others were also curious and full of doubts about the island. Hence, they didn’t object to Lin Li’s approach, and even seemed quite enthusiastic about the exploration. After all, who wouldn’t want to make a fortune? They would really gain a ma.s.sive amount of wealth if they could find some ancient ruins during the exploration.
“President Felic, why are we stopping again? We can see everything on this tiny island at a glance. There can’t be anything hidden on it, right?” Joseph initially wanted to stop talking about it, but when The Star stopped again near a barren island, he couldn’t help but ask about it again anxiously.
In Joseph’s opinion, it would be justifiable and reasonable to stop and explore whenever they encountered a forest or an island that was structured peculiarly, but he felt that there was nothing to explore on the barren island where everything could be seen clearly at a glance.
That left Joseph with no choice but to wonder if Lin Li was really trying to explore, or was simply using this excuse to dawdle. After all, the invitation to the Gilded Kingdom’s founding celebration this time was a good opportunity for the forces to form good relations with the Gilded Kingdom, and that would not be a good thing for the Tower of Dusk.
After all, the Tower of Dusk could be considered the greatest obstacle to the Gilded Kingdom’s further development in the Breezy Plains. Thus, the two forces were destined to become rivals. If the Gilded Kingdom roped in a few more forces of the Breezy Plains, the Tower of Dusk would have a few less forces on its side. That would pit them against each other.
Hence, Joseph had that suspicion. If the Tower of Dusk was intentionally procrastinating so that they all missed the Gilded Kingdom’s founding celebration, it would undoubtedly be to a great benefit of the Tower of Dusk.
Of course, Joseph was not foolish enough to bring this issue up directly; in fact, he didn’t even tell anyone else about it. After all, they were on The Star, and they didn’t want to be thrown into the sea halfway through the journey. Besides, it was just a wild guess based on his gut feeling, which was impossible to prove until the final outcome was produced.
At this point, Claus and others also found it bizarre, but they didn’t voice their doubts like Joseph did, though their eyes were still filled with bewilderment. After all, this island was still too simple; in fact, it didn’t even seem like an island, but rather a boulder submerged in the sea.
However, Lin Li did not immediately answer to clear their doubts. Instead, he smiled, and said to the crowd, “You may try to hit that boulder and see which one of you can smash it.”
The crowd was even more puzzled after hearing Lin Li’s words, but they nevertheless proceeded to try attacking the boulder. However, the attack allowed them to witness something even stranger as their attack spells and Combat Energy would all vanish without a sound after being blasted at the boulder. At first, they simply threw a few fireb.a.l.l.s at it, but afterwards they had no choice but to increase the intensity of their attacks, and even came close to using all their power. However, the boulder remained intact.
“What?” Now, they finally realized the strangeness of the boulder. They were all Legendary powerhouses who could easily smash steel into pieces, let alone a boulder.
Seeing that they had stopped and walked towards him with their faces full of confusion, Lin Li smiled, flew away from The Star, and landed on the boulder. Immediately afterwards, a spear appeared in his hand. It was the spear that the debris of the stars, Nothingness, had turned into, and contained the power to cut through all s.p.a.ce.
Holding the Void Spear, Lin Li slashed at the boulder randomly a few times, after which a large piece of it was cut off and fell into the sea. Finally, a ray of azure light came through. His movements also became faster and faster, so much that the outer sh.e.l.l of the boulder on sea was removed, revealing a large azure crystal.
“I-is this the Heart of The Ocean?” After seeing the azure crystal, the crowd on The Star couldn’t help but exclaim in astonishment.
The Heart of The Ocean was a specialty of the Endless Ocean—a pure water-series magical gemstone that was known as a holy relic of the Sea Clan during the Dark Age. However, in their memory, the largest one they had seen was only the size of a baby’s fist, which was also of the highest grade. A fingernail-sized Heart of The Ocean could fetch a price of tens of millions of gold coins, and the value of one that was the size of a baby’s fist could not be measured in gold coins at all.
Apart from containing pure water-series mana, the Heart of The Ocean also had a powerful ability to turn the attacking power of any attribute into water-series mana. Of course, the absorption was limited. In addition to the volume and purity of the Heart of The Ocean, as well as many other factors, the strength of the wearer also had a considerable impact. In other words, the stronger the user, the greater the power. Hence, with the Heart of The Ocean embellished in the sea, there would be no need to worry about the problem of elimination in the future when their strength increased.