Chapter 1177: Holy Artifact
To everyone else, Lin Li had already given up on resisting. Although they knew that Lin Li’s continued resistance would only delay their defeat, it was something that gave them a speck of hope. Now, this speck of hope was nowhere to be found.
Edmund was full of regret at this moment. If he had seen through Poer’s ambitions, he would definitely not have brought him here. Now, it was too late for regret. He knew that there would only be catastrophe for the Illuminati and Gilded Kingdom once the demiG.o.d left this place.
They watched as Lin Li’s Domain World collapsed under the thunderous attacks launched by High Priest Poer. They knew that the collapse of Lin Li’s Domain World would mean that their doomsday had arrived. Yet, none of them had any idea on how to overcome this.
Seeing this, a smile flashed across Poer’s expressionless face. His one and only obsession was to slaughter Lin Li by his hand. When his goal was about to turn into reality, he finally let himself transform into the servant of the ancient G.o.d of Light.
As a series of explosions thundered across the s.p.a.ce, Lin Li’s battered Domain World finally collapsed under Poer’s attacks. It shattered like gla.s.s. .h.i.t by a metal hammer under the eyes of all the despairing men.
High Priest Poer did not cease his attacks after he destroyed Lin Li’s Domain World. He waved his crystal swords to weave an enormous net, and cast it at Lin Li. Without the protection of his Domain World, what awaited the high-ranking Sanctuary powerhouse was only doom.
The sight of this scene shattered all of everyone’s hopes. Edmund and the rest closed their eyes in despair, while the people from the Tower of Dusk rushed towards Lin Li. While it was futile, they really hoped to help shelter Lin Li from that critical blow.
Suddenly, Lin Li opened his eyes. Although the Domain World had shattered, and he was faced with Poer’s inevitable attack, there was no trace of panic on Lin Li’s face. He raised the Helios’ Scepter, and recited a spell speedily. As he did that, the gem sitting on top of the scepter radiated dazzlingly.
However, the light from the Helios’ Scepter was not directed at High Priest Poer. Instead, it went past him and down to the seven monuments below. Although the monuments were a great distance away from Lin Li, it reached the monuments almost instantaneously.
The light activated the mageweath on the seven monuments. If one were to pay attention to them, they would discover that the movement of the mana within the mageweath was slightly different than before. Moreover, the power of the seven monuments was originally used on the s.h.i.+eld to suppress the ancient G.o.d of Light. Now, it was spreading outwards and attracting the Power of Light towards it.
The net cast by High Priest Poer was about to reach Lin Li when the transformations started to happen on the seven monuments. However, the glow of the net dimmed rapidly at the critical moment. Then, it suddenly disappeared when it was about to come into contact with Lin Li.
The sight of the high priest’s astonishment brought a smirk to Lin Li’s face. Although he looked extremely worn-out, he continued to activate the powers of the mageweath.
“Who cares if you are a servant of the divine or the will of the ancient G.o.d. I will show you where you belong,” said Lin Li calmly.
Shortly, the men saw Poer’s phantom-like wings being tugged by an invisible but ma.s.sive force. The wings started to distort very quickly. The distortion started from the edges. The wings disintegrated into minute particles, and were sucked into the s.h.i.+eld that was held up by the seven monuments, forming a magnificent glow along their trajectory.
After the phantom-like wings vanished, Poer’s body started to disintegrate as well. His silver hair and crystal-like body were like weathered stones, decomposing by layers. Very quickly, Poer’s body disappeared from the sky, and the holy artifact from Illuminati flew directly into Lin Li’s hands.
The ball of light within the s.h.i.+eld of the seven monuments started to vibrate vigorously again, but not for long. The monuments cast 1,000 rays of light on the ball, and calmed it down.
It was only now that Lin Li knew he could afford to be more relaxed. He sighed in relief, and descended with the holy artifact in his hand. While it seemed like only close to a minute had pa.s.sed, this minute had been filled with too much pressure and anxiety for Lin Li.
It was not easy for Lin Li to distort time with his present abilities. Apart from consuming a huge amount of mental strength and life force, he had to take a tremendous risk. Why then did he activate the mageweath from the monuments against Poer only when his Domain World collapsed? It was not because he took all the time to understand the divine-level mageweath. Instead, it was because he was trapped within the laws of distorted time, and nearly lost himself in it. It was the collapse of the Domain World that broke the barrier of time, and freed Lin Li from the turbulence.
Frankly speaking, the high priest was Lin Li’s savior. Of course, that would not have changed Lin Li’s determination to defeat him. After regaining his consciousness, he used all he knew about the divine-level mageweath on the monuments to suppress Poer.
Edmund and the rest could not believe their eyes. Did they just witness Lin Li defeat the high priest? All of them stood rooted to the ground, dumbfounded. They dared not flinch for fear of waking up from this dream.
Unlike them, Connoris and the two Undead servants from the Tower of Dusk who were connected to Lin Li’s soul naturally knew that it was reality. They bolted to Lin Li the moment they saw him making an extremely weak landing. They wanted to check on Lin Li and protect him from a possible sneak attack from the Gilded Kingdom.
“Felic, how did you do that? I knew you would have a way out!” Connoris said excitedly as he started to pat Lin Li’s shoulders profusely the very moment he reached the latter. Being a close rival for the goblin Angelano when it came to fearing death, Connoris would never want to part with his perfect body and die alongside Lin Li. Hence, no words could be used to describe his excitement when he saw Lin Li defeat Poer.
In reality, Connoris was not the only one who felt this way. No one but Lin Li knew how he succeeded in defeating a demiG.o.d. After all, all of them saw Lin Li being terribly helpless a minute ago. They could not believe how he reversed his fate within the next minute. It was just like a fairy tale.
Just when Connoris wanted to continue patting Lin Li’s shoulders, Norfeller stopped him with his hands. “Master needs a rest,” he chided Connoris coldly.
If it had been before, it would have been extremely easy for Connoris to bully Norfeller, but now that Norfeller had entered the Sanctuary-realm, Connoris really did not dare to trifle with him anymore. “Yeah, yeah. I was just too excited, wasn’t I? Hmph, wait till I enter the Sanctuary-realm…!” Connoris sulked as he withdrew his hands from Lin Li.
At the same time, Edmund and Elder Zumar walked over as well. Edmund had mixed feelings when he saw Lin Li standing behind his two protective Undead servants. Never would he have thought that he would require the help from an outsider in their mission.
Lin Li patted Norfeller on his shoulders, and walked past his two servants. Although he seemed rather weak, he was still more alert and energetic than Edmund and Elder Zumar who had suffered great injuries.
“Saint Edmund, Elder Zumar, do you not have an explanation for this?” asked Lin Li indifferently.
Edmund had previously promised that they would not wake the ancient G.o.d of Light from his sleep in their retrieval of the holy artifact. It was this promise that convinced Lin Li to bring his men on board this mission. But, although the G.o.d of Light secretly played a part in the mishap, the slipup of the Gilded Kingdom was definitely not to be looked past.
Furthermore, Lin Li was not someone who would do favors for free. While it seemed like Lin Li was being polite when he asked for an explanation from Edmund, it was clear that he was asking for compensation from the Gilded Kingdom and Illuminati.
Edmund was not frustrated by Lin Li at all. The former knew that he was in the wrong, and was clear that the holy artifact was still in Lin Li’s hands. He had come all the way here for the holy artifact. He needed it to revive Saint Aquilo, the founder of the Illuminati. Now that Lin Li had acquired the key to the mission, Edmund would definitely not mind being scolded by Lin Li.
“President Felic, we would really like to apologize for this unexpected mishap caused by our slipup. I would also like to represent the Illuminati and the Gilded Kingdom to thank you for how you have contributed to us,” said Edmund with extreme sincerity. While his sincerity stemmed from the knowledge that Lin Li had their holy artifact, it was also due to his genuine admiration for Lin Li’s great potential.
Lin Li gradually regained his composure as he spoke.
“Saint Edmund, let’s talk about something more practical. I have helped to resolve such a problem, and have acquired your holy artifact. Just like before, I want to read the highest scripture from Illuminati and other ancient research articles. I hope you do not use any reason to patronize me when the time comes,” said Lin Li as he waved his hand.
“How would we do that? President Felic, since we have promised you the conditions, we would definitely fulfill them. I will also report to our lord about the great favor you have done for us. I’m sure the Illuminati and Gilded Kingdom would have handsome rewards for you too,” replied Edmund, who grew a little embarra.s.sed. Before this, he even got onto good terms with High Priest Poer when they plotted against Lin Li. He did not expect High Priest Poer to create such a huge mess that they had to trouble Lin Li to help solve.
“Well, I’ll trust you again, then. This is your holy artifact, you can have it back,” replied Lin Li as he threw the holy artifact to Edmund without a care.
Lin Li’s move was too unexpected and quick for Edmund to react to retrieve the holy artifact that was thrown at him. If Elder Zumar had not stepped in to catch it, the holy artifact would have smashed into Edmund’s face.
One would have known how invincible the Illuminati’s holy artifact was when it helped to raise High Priest Poer from the middle to the peak of the Sanctuary-realm. Hence, no one would believe that Lin Li would throw such a powerful holy artifact as though it was a common object if they did not witness it themselves.
Of course, Lin Li was not as selfless as he appeared to be. He had already studied the holy artifact carefully, and discovered that the holy artifact was not even comparable to the debris of the stars, Holy Light. While it was an impressive holy artifact to the Illuminati, it was rather useless for someone like Lin Li who had the seven pieces of the debris of the stars.
Lin Li was not a scrooge who would acc.u.mulate all the good stuff for collection purposes. He believed that doing so would only undermine the value of those treasures.