Chapter 902: Arbitrator Chris
With a mere wave of his hand, he managed to cause drastic changes in the plaza. The Legendary magical crystals that were fluctuating greatly seemed to have been doused with a pot of cold water as the mana fluctuations disappeared without a trace. At the same time, the self-exploding alchemy puppets, too, crumbled like sand sculptures that had lost their cohesion, and scattered all over the ground after turning into tiny particles.
The sudden change left everyone stunned, and Albert, who was laughing maniacally, seemed to have choked all of a sudden.
Magical crystals were one of the most stable mana aggregates. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been any magical beasts in the world. The Legendary magical crystals contained a wisp of nomological power that was even more difficult to be triggered by an explosion, but once it was successfully triggered, the process would simply be irreversible unless one had G.o.dly power. That was the reason Albert chose that method of revenge. That was arguably the most foolproof method of retaliation that he could think of.
However, the old mage had merely waved his hand—in fact, the people didn’t feel any abnormal magical waves at all—yet the six Legendary magical crystals that were about to bring a devastating disaster to everyone as they had already begun releasing their enormous mana stopped silently.
Even the leaders of the forces who had panicked and were feeling hopeless just now were in shock and disbelief, what more Albert. They even forgot to feel the joy of surviving an ordeal. They believed that if the Legendary magical crystals were to erupt, they would definitely not cause any damage to Lin Li, the Sanctuary powerhouse. In fact, he might even protect the people around him. However, resisting the power that emanated from the erupting Legendary magical crystals was different from obliterating it. It would not be an exaggeration to call the old mage’s casual actions a miracle.
Everyone immediately s.h.i.+fted their gazes to the mage who had moved through the void, only to be even more shocked because the appearance of the mage actually reminded them of a famous figure from legends. After thinking about the G.o.dly power that the other party had displayed, they got rid of the last bit of uncertainty within them.
Seeing that the old mage had resolved the crisis with the wave of his hand, Lin Li was rather astonished as well. As a Sanctuary powerhouse, he could definitely sense the Sanctuary-level aura of the other party. However, the old mage’s realm was still far above his because the old mage was an elite—a top Sanctuary powerhouse.
Upon sight of the old mage’s meticulously combed silver hair, glistening eyes, neatly trimmed silvery white beard, and the natural elegance he exuded as he stepped slowly in the air, Lin Li could easily guess the other party’s ident.i.ty even though he had only been in that world for a few years. He was clad in the robe of an arbitrator of the Supreme Council, and he was different from the austere and old-fas.h.i.+oned Megard and Apophis who lacked restraint. He was an old mage who was poised, naturally elegant, and exuded n.o.bility. He was Chris, one of the three arbitrators of the Supreme Council, and once a prince.
It was said that during the Dark Age, the Highlord Osric’s fiefdom included the Felan Kingdom and a large portion of the Breezy Plains. In the Jarrosus region of Felan Kingdom, there was once a small kingdom known as the Garland Kingdom, which Chris the Arbitrator was the former prince of.
Unlike Prince Brahere, the Highlord Osric had always resorted to ruthless means when ruling over the various forces in his territory. He would squeeze them dry and mercilessly exploit them to the very end. Osric claimed that he would rather leave them with no strength to get up than allow them to have the strength to retaliate.
Under the cruel rule of Osric, the small kingdom of Garland, which was unable to provide much value to Osric in the first place, was reduced to a miserable state, and the royals were turned into commoners. When Osric began building the Eternal Furnace, he used the entire kingdom of Garland as a bait to lure a powerful ancient wyrm.
In the process of capturing the ancient wyrm, the entire Garland Kingdom became a battlefield. Be it the ancient wyrm or Osric’s Magic Legion, no one paid attention to the lives of those humans below. During the intense battle, powerful and ma.s.sive magic spells landed on the ground of Garland Kingdom incessantly like a terrifying natural disaster. It seemed to have almost overturned the ground of the entire Garland Kingdom.
In that disaster, the Garland Kingdom’s population was wiped out, and the royal family had it worse. The original royal palace was destroyed, leaving behind only a ma.s.sive pit that was created with the dragon breath of an ancient wyrm. Back then, Chris, the prince, was negotiating with neighboring countries for food aid after the famine that had occurred in the kingdom before, and thus managed to escape the disaster by fluke.
Chris, who rushed back to the capital of the Garland Kingdom, ran into Geresco, who was attracted by the intense battle. After witnessing the amazing power of magic, Chris swore to avenge his parents and nation, and was introduced to the path of practicing magic by Geresco.
Unfortunately, by the time Chris stepped into the Sanctuary-realm and followed Geresco to wage a war against the High Elves to overthrow them, the Highlord Osric had already begun his long slumber in his mausoleum.
After the end of the Dark Age, Geresco established the Supreme Council, of which Chris, Megard, and Apophis became the three great arbitrators. At the same time, he also established the Jarrosus Guild of Magic, and became the first President of the Guild of Magic.
Although Lin Li had guessed the ident.i.ty of the other party, he did not stop feeling shocked. Legend had it that it had been more than a decade since the Arbitrator Chris appeared in the Supreme Council. He had even missed the numerous Supreme Council meetings previously. Hence, there had been rumors about his death and departure from Anril because he had followed in Geresco’s footsteps.
Hence, many misunderstood the reason for the conflict between Andoine and Rosen to be the vacant position of Arbitrator that resulted from Chris’ absence. After all, in the Supreme Council, Andoine and Rosen were the only underlings of the three arbitrators. From an outsider’s perspective, the two of them were the most qualified to compete for that position.
Now that Arbitrator Chris had appeared there, all the rumors were naturally dismissed, and Lin Li could also feel that the Sanctuary-level aura of that arbitrator was also much stronger than those of Apophis and Megard. Of course, it was also possible that when Lin Li first met those two arbitrators, he had yet to step into the Sanctuary-realm, and thus did not know much about the power of the Sanctuary-realm, which gave birth to such a misconception. However, no matter what, Lin Li was certain that the other party had to be many times stronger than himself.
Arbitrator Chris’ arrival had allowed the crisis to be resolved, and the issues that were supposed to be addressed during the meeting had also been resolved a long time ago. Hence, with Lin Li’s sign, the meeting ended, and the members of the Tower of Dusk led the shocked leaders of the various forces and proceeded to sign the contract expressing their submission. As for Albert, he definitely faced a terrible end.
Lin Li, on the other hand, led the senior executives of the Tower of Dusk and the leaders of several top forces to the sky to wait for the arrival of Arbitrator Chris.
Chris slowly stepped down from the air, and first looked at Lin Li with a genial smile. He then nodded slightly, and said in a tone of admiration, “Felic, not bad.”
“Respected Arbitrator, I didn’t know you would descend at the Tower of Dusk, so I didn’t arrange anyone to receive you. Please forgive me.” While speaking, the people behind Lin Li bowed respectfully to Chris.
Although all the leaders of the top forces of the Breezy Plains did not have a unified relations.h.i.+p with the Supreme Council, no one dared to show the slightest disrespect to the arbitrator of the Supreme Council who was a mythical figure that made them feel uncontrollably excited. In fact, they even found the opportunity to salute him in person to be a supreme honor.
Chris waved his hand, indicating that there was no need for them to bow and salute. He teasingly said to Lin Li, “I heard from Apophis that you were never that uptight about rules initially. Why have you learned to become so proper after being a President for a few years?”
When Lin Li was inaugurated as the President of the Breezy Plains Guild of Magic, Arbitrator Apophis had personally attended and given Lin Li some pointers about magic. Back then, Lin Li was tormented during their spar, but he burnt Apophis’ beard with fire. Since it was the beard of an arbitrator, it wasn’t exactly a loss.
Hearing Chris mention Apophis, Lin Li touched his nose in embarra.s.sment and smiled awkwardly. “Well, it has been a long time since that happened. Lord Apophis’ beard should have grown back, right?”
“Huh?” When Chris heard those words, he glared at him in surprise, and asked, “His beard? What’s wrong with that bushy beard of his? He didn’t mention anything about the beard to me when I arrived.”
“Hahaha, Master Chris, it’s really too rude of me. How can I stand here and talk? Hurry and come in, please.” Upon hearing his words, Lin Li had an ominous hunch; he almost spilled the beans about the embarra.s.sing matter that Apophis had been through. He quickly changed the topic and invited Chris to go to the Tower of Dusk.
Although it was just a simple and light-hearted conversation between the two of them, everyone else was overwhelmed with emotion. The arbitrator of the Supreme Council was a figure that truly stood at the pinnacle of Anril. If they were to have a conversation with such a figure, they probably wouldn’t even be able to speak in complete sentences, and it even felt like a fantasy for them to watch.
Lin Li and Chris walked in front and headed to the Tower of Dusk, while the rest of the crowd followed cautiously behind as they could not help but slow down their breathing. Although it was a great honor for them to meet the arbitrator of the Supreme Council, enjoying it wasn’t that relaxing for them.
“I left Anril for a while due to a trivial issue that I had to handle. I didn’t expect to receive such good news upon my return. You’ve come out of the Jarrosus Guild of Magic, and being able to achieve what you have now is a great contribution to the Guild of Magic of Jarossus as well.” Chris did not hide his appreciation for Lin Li, and looked at Lin Li like he was looking at his own junior.
Of course, Lin Li was in fact like his family as Lin Li’s teacher Andoine was from the Jarrosus Guild of Magic. Later on, he also joined the trials as a member of the Jarrosus Guild of Magic. He then obtained the qualification to establish a Guild of Magic in the Breezy Plains. Chris was the founder of the Jarrosus Guild of Magic and the first President of the Guild of Magic. Hence, they were family.
However, the people following behind couldn’t help but be flabbergasted, because Lin Li had not only stepped into the Sanctuary-realm, but also gained a backer like the arbitrator. It seemed that the Breezy Plains would really be the oyster of the Tower of Dusk in the future. Putting aside ordinary forces, even the Ashen Warlock might not be able to shake the Tower of Dusk. Besides, the Ashen Warlock seemed to have good chemistry with Lin Li.
“You flatter me. I was just doing my best to do what I can. Besides, I had the support of the Supreme Council,” Lin Li said humbly. Of course it was true. Although the Supreme Council did not give sufficient support during the establishment of the Tower of Dusk, they had given them a status after all, and they did send some people to help with the construction.
“Hmph, you don’t have to speak up for them, they can’t hide those tricks from anyone. Now that the Tower of Dusk has developed to such a great scale, let’s not bother with them for now. If anyone dares to target you in the future, just inform me. Even if that ancient wyrm tries to harm the Tower of Dusk, I’d be able to bury it in the Arctic snowfield again,” Chris said casually, but the meaning of his words was already too obvious. He was obviously expressing his stand as the backer of the Tower of Dusk.
The ancient wyrm that Chris was referring to was obviously the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera. Although Sindera was also at the peak of the Sanctuary-realm, Lin Li knew that Chris was definitely not bragging. If it had been before Lin Li stepped into the Sanctuary-realm, it probably wouldn’t have been easy for him to judge if Sindera was stronger than Chris. However, he could tell from Chris’ actions that he was really halfway to becoming a G.o.d.
The power that erupted from six Legendary magical crystals was indeed nothing for a Sanctuary powerhouse, but Chris had almost reversed the World Laws and immediately dissipated that ma.s.sive power. Perhaps even Sindera might not even be able to do it. It was definitely good to have an additional backer even though Lin Li might not necessarily need Chris’ help given his current abilities.