Chapter 1271: Return
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
There were times when Lin Li would seem to suddenly recall something that would spur him to rummage through the pile of drafts to pick out a few crumpled b.a.l.l.s of paper. However, most of the time, he would crush the sheets of paper into b.a.l.l.s and throw them back into the pile of drafts disappointedly after reading them several times.
Just like that, Lin Li became immersed in the algorithms of Franky Magic Formula, and the rows of bookshelves in the study were gradually becoming empty. Almost every inch of s.p.a.ce he was seated on was covered in magic books that he had tossed aside and the discarded piles of drafts that he had scribbled messily on.
Time pa.s.sed, day after day. Lin Li almost forgot about the people and everything outside, as well as the purpose of his visit and the doubts he had. In fact, he even forgot what he was trying to crack the Franky Magic Formula for. Lin Li almost put all the irrelevant matters in the back of his mind for the sake of the seemingly simple formula. His only goal left was to crack the formula.
A month had pa.s.sed, and Lin Li had already emptied a large part of the bookshelves in this study, while all the magic books that he had read were strewn across the ground randomly. However, his frown had turned into a b.u.mp, and he had discarded plenty of quills. The drafts that he had thrown had covered almost the entire ground..
Another month pa.s.sed. By now, the bookshelves in the study were already empty. Lin Li had already memorized the content of the magic books. Despite being a Sanctuary powerhouse, he looked rather haggard at this point. Clearly, he had exhausted plenty of effort on the Franky Magic Formula.
Two months had pa.s.sed. If Lin Li had spent two months studying the Divine-Smith-level mageweath, he should have already gotten an outcome by now. However, Lin Li still couldn’t crack the magic formula, and the countless drafts that he had discarded were enough to bury someone. He had applied some little known magic principles and theories, but it all seemed to just be a waste of paper.
Fortunately, Lin Li had already memorized the contents of those magic books, so he didn’t have to waste time looking through them for reference when doing his calculations, and he was much faster at calculating than before.
Three months pa.s.sed, followed by four. Lin Li’s face looked increasingly haggard, but a glint of wisdom gradually appeared in his eyes. If one were to look him in the eye, they would feel as if they were facing a wise man who had 1,000 years of wisdom, and had gained insight into everything in the world. It was as if all the mysteries of this world would be unraveled in his eyes.
However, Lin Li slowed down in his calculations, and he would often have to think for a long time before he could write a line of characters on the piece of paper. After doing so, he would immediately turn as still as a statue and keep his eyes fixed on the characters that he had written, not moving an inch at all.
In the blink of an eye, Lin Li had already spent nearly six months in the study. However, haggard was now an understatement when describing his appearance. He was so frail and exhausted that it seemed that a gust of wind would blow him onto the ground. His eyes were terrifyingly bloodshot because he hadn’t had any shuteye in six months, and had expended a lot of his energy. Even a Sanctuary powerhouse wouldn’t be able to withstand such torment. However, the light in Lin Li’s eyes became increasingly brighter, as if there was infinite wisdom condensing within them.
Finally, on this day, Lin Li’s quill snapped with a loud pop as he drew a hard stroke on the piece of paper. However, joy was written all over his face as he kept staring at the draft in his hand like it was an ultimate treasure, completely ignoring the broken quill.
“Pfff!”
Lin Li took a long breath, and even felt a little dizzy when he stood up. However, the joy on his face did not diminish at all. Although he had gone through great pains and put in plenty of effort into deciphering the Franky Magic Formula, the results he gained were definitely worth everything he had committed to it. Although he wouldn’t achieve G.o.dhood and become a supreme powerhouse just by deciphering a formula, he could be said to have sorted out all of his magical knowledge in the process of deciphering. The benefits of that were even better than achieving G.o.dhood.
The process of cracking the formula could be likened to ridding one’s body of all impurities strengthening it. However, the process of deciphering the Franky Magic Formula was to remove all the impurities from the magical knowledge in his memory.
Lin Li was indeed a magical prodigy. Within a few years of coming to Anril, he had already reached a height that others might not reach even after hundreds or thousands of years. However, his quick progress was also the reason that he could more or less ignore the basic magical knowledge, and stop paying attention to some unimportant details.
The limit of the height of a house was dependent on its foundation, and the same was true for the field of magic. Without a strong foundation, one would still face the risk of collapsing at any time even if they could achieve great progress with excellent talent and luck.
The process of deciphering the Franky Magic Formula allowed Lin Li to organize almost all the knowledge he had gained in the entire field of magic and rectify many of the issues that he hadn’t noticed previously. The foundation of Lin Li’s magical theory knowledge had become extremely solid after deciphering the formula.
The entire process took him a total of six months. With the deciphering of the formula, Lin Li’s abilities were also improved rapidly. After the magic formula was cracked, he had already reached level-29 of the Sanctuary-realm.
Besides, it had also led to many other improvements. Through his study of the Franky Magic Formula, his attainments in the field of inscription had also improved significantly. He was now only one step away from the Divine-Smith-level.
After sorting out all the knowledge he had gained during this period of time, Lin Li finally realized that he had been here for too long, and it was time to leave. He wondered how much had changed in the world outside over the past six months.
Although Lin Li had already memorized the content of all the magic books on the ground, he didn’t leave them lying there, and instead stowed them all away in his Ring of Endless Storm. He planned to place them in the Tower of Dusk’s library when he returned, which would be a great benefit for the mages of the Tower of Dusk.
After packing up, Lin Li walked to the door of the study. Just like when he entered, the door was left ajar, and the little skeleton outside seemed to have been standing there all this while.
Upon sight of Lin Li, the little skeleton finally moved. He stepped forward and bowed to him respectfully before saying, “My respected master, congratulations on having obtained what the previous master left behind. Are you ready to head back now?”
Lin Li nodded, and casually asked, “How long have I been in there?”
“Master, you’ve been inside for 20 days,” the little skeleton said in a flat tone of voice as he walked beside Lin Li on their way back.
However, when Lin Li heard that answer, he couldn’t help but stop in his tracks with some surprise on his face. Although there was no sunrise and sunset in that room, and he had also lost track of time because of how immersed he was in deciphering the magic formula, he had deduced based on his understanding of the laws of time that he had been inside for nearly six months.
Was there a manipulation of the laws of time involved? Lin Li immediately thought of a possibility. In fact, it wasn’t that unusual of a practice, because there was a mageweath array that could alter the laws of time to speed up the growth of some plants and animals in the special training room of the Tower of Dusk. Another instance was also when Lin Li used his Domain World to change the laws of time when he faced High Priest Poer back then.
However, the control of the laws of time in the study was clearly much more advanced than Lin Li’s. Firstly, it managed to go unnoticed by Lin Li, a Sanctuary powerhouse, which was something that ordinary time manipulation methods could not achieve.
A Sanctuary powerhouse’s mastery of the laws had already reached a considerably high level. A notch higher, and they would go beyond the laws to achieve G.o.dhood. Hence, the changes in the laws hardly went unnoticed by Sanctuary powerhouses.
However, despite having stayed in the study for such a long time, Lin Li didn’t sense that anything was amiss at all, as everything felt exactly the same as outside. That was enough to show how advanced Geresco’s means were. Of course, Lin Li only felt a slight feeling of surprise, which soon faded when he thought of the Divine-Smith-level mageweath and the G.o.ds that had been suppressed.
After following the little skeleton out of the Mage Tower, he soon reached the bottom of the crack. Since the little skeleton had to stay here to continue to look after everything, Lin Li flew up from the rift using the Power of Flight.
The teams of the Tower of Dusk and the Illuminati had been waiting outside the rift for more than 20 days. The team of the Tower of Dusk naturally had to follow Lin Li everywhere. On the other hand, the Illuminati’s team couldn’t leave in advance, because Lin Li was here to help them, and they didn’t know what was going on in the rift just now. Although Lin Li had already helped the Illuminati draw the mageweath, befriending a Guru of Inscription was equally important to the Illuminati.
Fortunately, after waiting for more than 20 days, they finally saw a figure flying straight out from that rift. Of course, before determining who the person was, the two teams remained vigilant and put their guard up. After all, they had felt from the rift countless powerful and terrifying auras that left them with no choice but to be extremely careful.
When the figure flying out of the crack stopped in midair, Edmund and the others could ascertain from his clothing that he was Master Felic whom they had been waiting for. Hence, Edmund and Zumar immediately went forward to receive Lin Li, unable to conceal the joy on his face.
However, just as Edmund and Zumar were approaching Lin Li, they suddenly stopped, while their faces stiffened immediately because they both felt as if Lin Li had seen through their souls when he merely cast a glance at them. A strange sense of fear and horror even instantly surged from the bottom of their hearts.
How is this possible!? Edmund, who had snapped back to his senses, still felt an uncontrollable sense of fear when he recalled the way Lin Li had glanced at them.
Although Edmund was no longer as condescending towards Lin Li as he used to be in the past, it was mostly because of Lin Li’s attainment in the field of inscription. To Edmund, a peak Sanctuary-realm powerhouse, Lin Li’s strength wasn’t exactly significant.
However, Edmund now felt that he couldn’t see through Lin Li’s abilities at all. It wasn’t that Lin Li was concealing them, but rather Lin Li’s strength had reached a height that he could no longer estimate easily.
That idea made Edmund extremely frightened. It has only been 20-odd days. What exactly is in that rift? It actually made his strength improve to such an extent. Of course, although he was curious, he didn’t have any intentions to go out and explore. After all, the demiG.o.d-level skeleton had mentioned before that Lin Li was the owner of everything in the rift.
While Edmund and Zumar were feeling shocked by Lin Li’s strength, Lin Li had also descended from midair, and flown over to approach them.
“Felic, what exactly is in that rift down there? Your strength seems to have increased a lot!” asked Connoris, who didn’t have as many considerations as Edmund and the rest. After all, he was bound with a servant contract to Lin Li, so he immediately asked him some questions out of curiosity upon seeing him.
Hearing Connoris’ question, Lin Li smiled, and said, “Is that so? But I think it’d be better for you not to find out what’s down there.”
It wasn’t that Lin Li was being petty. Not everyone in this world was able to face a bunch of confined G.o.ds as calmly as he could. Lin Li had received an atheistic education in the world he came from, so he wasn’t awestruck even when he saw the G.o.ds of this world. However, the people of this world were different because the G.o.ds were considered supreme existences to them. Even Connoris, an ancient demon deity, had an ancestral demon that he worshiped.
Although these G.o.ds had been suppressed, the divinity that escaped was still a great influence for those who entered. Even Connoris would probably lose his sanity because of the divinity. He would either become the divine servant of those G.o.ds or lose his mind.
Connoris knew that Lin Li had to have a reason for not telling him, so he didn’t harp on it, and instead asked Lin Li about his following plans.
While Connoris and Lin Li were talking, Edmund and Zumar walked over too. They had both heard what Lin Li said to Connoris, so neither of them mentioned the matter of the rift, and instead, like Connoris, they asked if they were going to leave this place.
However, at this juncture, a terrifying magical wave emerged from the rift behind, as if a volcano had erupted. Immediately after that, a body that was shrouded in flames darted out of the rift, and flew into the air like a meteor moving in reverse.