Chapter 904: Sky Garden
The mainstay business of the Tower of Dusk were the forging industry and the pharmaceutical industry. However, although the Forging Workshop was placed outside, the preparation of potions was still carried out in the tower. Wilkinson and the other pharmacists resided in the tower as well. After all, the pharmacists were of higher value than the blacksmiths, and Lin Li had to exercise a stricter system of secrecy for the pharmaceutical formulas.
However, with the rise in the Tower of Dusk’s status and Lin Li’s entry to the Sanctuary-realm, he believed that no one would dare to harbor any thoughts about the pharmacists even if the process of formulating potions was done outside the tower.
After taking a tour around the buildings around the Tower of Dusk, Lin Li did not take Chris back to the Tower of Dusk immediately, and instead took him to the back of the Tower of Dusk where there was an elegant garden-like environment. There were some trees and flowers there, but in the middle, there was a young seedling with only two tender leaves which surprised Chris.
“I didn’t expect that you’ve already revived the Seed of Eternity!” Chris could not help but be amazed with the weak seedling when he looked at it and sensed its vibrant aura that was full of vitality.
Lin Li had obtained a dead Seed of Eternity from the Sky Castle, and that matter was basically not a secret anymore. Since the Supreme Council decided to make him a member of the council, they had naturally gotten a good understanding of the matter. However, the revival of the Seed of Eternity was accidentally performed in the Great Rift of the Eternal Darkness Altar during the battle with the Flame Dragon Lothar. Hence, it was not something that ordinary people could understand.
The Tree of Eternity had given birth to the High Elves who had ruled Anril, and also maintained the balance of the World Laws of Anril. Hence, it was called the World Tree. The power and value of the Tree of Eternity were beyond those of any artifacts or treasures. Hence, after reviving the Tree of Eternity, Lin Li did not immediately plant it. Instead, he waited until he entered the Sanctuary-realm.
The current Tree of Eternity was still just a young sapling, and all of its power was utilized for its growth. It did not emit a strong aura of life. Otherwise, Chris would have already discovered its presence as soon as he arrived. Besides, Lin Li had also arranged some mageweaths around the sapling. One was to prevent the aura of life from leaking, while the other was to protect it from being trampled.
The seedling that had only two tender leaves looked inconspicuous, but the benefits that it would bring to the Tower of Dusk after it grew up were absolutely unimaginable.
One of the most direct benefits was that the talent of the mages would be increased greatly after bathing in the power of the Tree of Eternity. That was different from improving one’s strength as talent was usually determined at birth, and could not be changed by external forces at all. If one was destined to only be at the level of an Archmage, it would be impossible for them to step into the Legendary-realm regardless of how hard they worked. For example, Gerian had reached the maximum of his magical talent at the peak of level-19, and despite being given the help of the various superior conditions of the Tower of Dusk, he was never able to take that last step to cross the threshold.
If Gerian’s body could be baptized by the power of the Tree of Eternity, his magical talent would gradually be increased. Once his talent reached the standard required for the Legendary-realm, it would only be right for him to enter the Legendary-realm.
Of course, Lin Li did not know when the Tree of Eternity would grow. After all, it was not an ordinary tree, and G.o.d knew how long its growth cycle was. It was possible for it to be 100-200 years, or even 1,000-2,000 years.
After talking to Chris about the Tree of Eternity, Lin Li took him back to the Tower of Dusk, and introduced some of the settings in the Tower of Dusk to him, such as the All-Kill Array and so on.
Finally, Lin Li brought Chris to the top of the Tower of Dusk where the ma.s.sive Eternal Furnace was placed. The Eternal Furnace was not considered a secret, but Lin Li did not activate the Ice and Fire Nature Magical Domain. It was not that he didn’t trust Chris, but rather that it involved the debris of the stars, Polar Snow and Raging Flames. Hence, it would be difficult to explain.
After Chris’ visiting the Tower of Dusk, Lin Li had about 10 days to prepare for the regular meeting of the Supreme Council. However, he did not waste any time at all. He asked Chris about some of his experience in the Sanctuary-realm, and also found out about some history of the Supreme Council during the Dark Age.
Although Lin Li had the Book of Eternity that contained Geresco’s experiences in the Sanctuary-realm, there was still a difference between what was written and what was taught in real life. Besides, everyone had their own opinion about the mastery and control of Sanctuary-realm power. After all, not everyone had chosen the same path.
Chris had taken a liking to Lin Li; hence, he would answer Lin Li’s questions without reservations. He was also very serious about pa.s.sing on the valuable experience he had gained in the Sanctuary-realm to Lin Li.
The fact that Chris could stand on the pinnacle of the Sanctuary-realm meant that he had chosen the path to the highest point even though it was slightly different from the one chosen by Geresco the G.o.d of Mages. Hence, any bit of experience he had gained along the way was of great value even to Lin Li who possessed the Book of Eternity.
10 days pa.s.sed by in the blink of an eye, and Lin Li managed to learn a lot from Arbitrator Chris. Although he could not advance to level-26 immediately, his realm had become much more stable and solid. He also gained a clearer understanding of the power of the Sanctuary-realm. In terms of power, he could not change much in 10 days, but Lin Li could sense a huge increase in his combat power.
It was finally the day of the regular meeting of the Supreme Council. Lin Li followed Chris out of the Tower of Dusk, and after taking two steps, Chris stopped in his tracks. While Lin Li was feeling puzzled, Chris lowered his head and began chanting some simple and short incantations. As he was doing so, the s.p.a.ce in front of them suddenly fluctuated, and became a little warped like a ripple. A magical door with a soft glow appeared out of nowhere.
“Let’s go,” Chris said to Lin Li as he turned around before stepping into the door, causing ripples to form like a stone falling into water.
Seeing Chris’s figure disappearing in the magical door, Lin Li followed suit without hesitation and soon vanished. When entering, Lin Li subconsciously closed his eyes, but when he opened them again, he was greeted by an entirely different scenery.
The sight in front of Lin Li felt somewhat familiar to him, and he seemed to have seen a hint of the Tower of Dusk from it. It seemed to be a city, but the rows of buildings didn’t look very neat. However, they seemed to also have been staggered in a certain pattern. The roads between the buildings weren’t straight, but had seemingly irregular twists and turns.
Lin Li s.h.i.+fted his gaze to the edge of the city, but he suddenly discovered that there was a sea of surging clouds outside. He thought, Is this city a Sky Castle, and not a city that was built on land?
“This is the venue of the Supreme Council. We call it the Sky Garden.” Chris didn’t rush Lin Li, and simply introduced the place to him smilingly.
“The Sky Garden, Sky!” Lin Li finally remembered why the place seemed to resemble the Tower of Dusk. It was because he had designed the Tower of Dusk based on the layout of the Sky Castle. The environmental layout of the Sky Garden was clearly also related to that of the Sky Castle.
However, Lin Li remembered that in the legendary war at the end of the Dark Age, Geresco led his rebellion forces to consecutively destroy six Sky Castles of the High Elves, leaving one intact because it had escaped into the s.p.a.cetime rift. The last Sky Castle had already been sent away by Lin Li through the Haiga Mountain Range’s Teleportation Array. It was now occupied by the powerful Ghost and countless Undead creatures.
In that case, was the Sky Garden in front of him built by the Supreme Council based on the Sky Castle? If that was the case, the fear that Lin Li had for the power of the Sky Castle would increase greatly.
Ever since the Dark Age, there were not many people who wanted to replicate a Sky Castle, but some had only drawn up theories, while others had put their plans in motion. For example, the Highlord Osric built the Eternal Furnace based on the Sky Castles. However, the end product was still largely different from the real Sky Castles.
There was also the Church of Dawn that the Pope of the Brilliance Shrine resided in. Although it was located on the Holy Mountain, it actually had the ability to fly through the air. However, it was worlds apart from the Sky Castles. The Eternal Darkness Altar of the Darkness Shrine was in fact just an item that resembled the Sky Castles, but the Darkness Shrine suffered a series of catastrophes, and the construction of the altar was postponed.
Lin Li knew that the Supreme Council had a Sky Tower that once appeared when the Shadowglen suppressed the entry to Osric’s mausoleum. In all aspects, it was highly similar to the Eternal Furnace, but it was still far from the Sky Castles. At that time, Lin Li felt that the Sky Tower might have been a replica of the Sky Castles created by the Supreme Council.
However, after looking at the place known as the Sky Garden, Lin Li secretly compared it to the Sky Castle in his memory, only to discover that he couldn’t even tell which was better or worse for a moment.
“Is this the place of the Supreme Council?” Lin Li asked, seemingly subconsciously as he was in shock.
“Yes, it’s here, the Sky Garden that floats above Anril. Apart from some councilors who reside here, most of the occupants are descendants of the mages who were involved in the war, and are now mages of the Supreme Council.” Chris was not surprised by Lin Li’s reaction. In fact, every mage who visited the Sky Garden for the first time had a similar expression as Lin Li.
Lin Li slightly restrained his feelings of excitement and turned to say to Chris, “This Sky Garden was built using the High Elves’ Sky Castle as a template, right? I always thought that the Sky Castles could not be replicated, but the Supreme Council actually managed to do so long ago.”
Although the six Sky Castles that had fallen during the war at the end of the Dark Age definitely left behind a large amount of wreckage that could be salvaged for construction, they would still require excellent techniques in every occupation in order to build a Sky Castle again. In the era where a large amount of technology was lost, that meant that the conditions would be nearly impossible to fulfill. That was the reason for Lin Li’s shock, not the majesty and grandeur of the Sky Garden.
Hearing Lin Li’s question, Chris also understood that Lin Li’s shock was because he disagreed. Hence, he said with some amus.e.m.e.nt, “No, I think you think so because of those legends. They all say that during the war, the commander of the rebellion forces, Geresco, led them to destroy the six Sky Castles of the High Elves. Actually, that legend isn’t real.”
“What?” Lin Li couldn’t help but look surprised again.
This legend could not really be considered a legend, but a true historical record. In reality, after the war ended, everyone did find the traces of the six Sky Castles’ wreckage in several major battlefields on the continent. Also, there was a split in the alliance that arose because of the distribution of the wealth plundered from the wreckage of the Sky Castles.
“One of those seven Sky Castles was built by the High Elves, but they did not get involved in the war at all, and of the six Sky Castles that were actually involved in the war, actually five were destroyed and the remaining one was captured entirely intact by Geresco.”
It was obviously the Sky Garden in front of him that had been captured. When Chris was touring the city with Lin Li, he talked to him about the war back then and the origins of the Sky Garden.
As they toured the Sky Garden, Lin Li could gradually tell there were shadows of the Sky Castle. For example, the usage of materials, the basic structure of the building, and so on. However, the entire Sky Garden looked very different from the Sky Castles, and had obviously undergone a great transformation.
When the Immortal King built the Sky Castles, they were designed with High Elves in mind. Now, people were using the Sky Castle. Although Humans could use it directly, there would definitely be various inconveniences during the process. Lin Li could tell that it was modified to the extent that a human could control it.
The Sky Castle that had escaped into the s.p.a.cetime rift was said to be the most powerful of the seven Sky Castles. After studying the information about the other six Sky Castles, he could basically confirm that. However, after being modified by Geresco the G.o.d of Mages, and adding the gradual improvement of the Supreme Council over the past 1,000 years, it was no longer inferior to the Seventh Sky Castle.
In fact, the Seventh Sky Castle’s power mainly came from its power system. It had been drifting in the s.p.a.cetime rift for thousands of years, and endured the overwhelming Void Storm for thousands of years, yet its defensive abilities had not weakened in the slightest, proving the ma.s.sive strength of the power system.