The short moment felt like centuries to Lin Li. Murmurs kept echoing in his ears, like the murmurs of the night, and also like a soft call. The endless darkness gradually disappeared, and was replaced by a colorful halo. It was as if countless colors had suddenly filled in the space between black and white, making the whole world come alive in an instant.
Lin Li's weak mental strength swam carefully and cautiously in this colorful world.
What he needed now was a breakthrough point, even if it was the tiniest crack. As long as he could let a trace of his mental strength seep in, he was confident that he could leave his mark on it and completely control this strange crystal, just like how he had obtained control over the Brand of Dusk back then.
But the process was far more difficult than Lin Li had imagined. The whole colorful world seemed to be protected by some kind of power. Once his mental strength got close, it would be immediately repelled. There was not a single gap, not a single loophole. It was like a perfectly round ball, and there was not a single place that could be used.
Time passed by the minutes and seconds …
Lin Li's forehead was already covered in sweat. He knew that he did not have much time left. If he continued to drag this on, the only thing that awaited him would be the complete loss of his mental strength, and he would eventually die of exhaustion. Lin Li could even feel that the rate at which his mental strength was being drained was increasing. It was like a surging torrent that was continuously flowing towards that strange crystal …
In the end, Lin Li was even in despair.
There was no room for struggle at all. The only thing he could do was to wait for death to come.
"Which bastard is so wicked to actually hide a crystal in the Nightmare Mountains to harm people …" The rapid loss of mental strength had weakened Lin Li's state of mind to the limit. His mind was dizzy, and the only thought he could think of was to curse the bastard who placed the crystal in the cave to harm people.
"F * ck, I'll fight it out with you!" The situation could not get any worse. It was meaningless to look for any loopholes at this time. In the last moment of losing consciousness, Lin Li finally gritted his teeth. He did not care what kind of power this colorful world was protected by, and did not care how much damage this loss would cause to him. He almost made a decision in an instant.
Lin Li completely gave up on the control of his mental strength, and let it rush into the crystal. At the same time, he continued to urge his mana, letting it attack this colorful world again and again.
This was a decision that was close to seeking death …
Either he rushed out of a hole, or he died in the Aurora Square.
Mental strength and mana surged out at the same time, and Lin Li's face instantly turned pale. This feeling was as if his flesh and blood had been sucked out, and only an empty shell was left. His whole body was weak, and he could not muster up any strength. His mind was empty. Other than the mental strength that he released at the beginning, he could not feel the existence of anything else …
Then, he suddenly realized that in this colorful world, a gap suddenly appeared!
"There's hope!" To Lin Li, the appearance of this gap was like a ray of light suddenly appearing in the pitch-black night. He did not hesitate at all, and directly manipulated the remaining mental strength towards that gap …
Then, there was a loud "boom" …
In the dizziness, Lin Li only felt as if the whole world had collapsed. The colorful light in front of him seemed to have split into countless pieces in an instant. In the dark red light, the colorful pieces flew all over the sky, looking more gorgeous than the fireworks in the night sky. But immediately after, Lin Li realized that the countless colorful pieces seemed to be controlled by some kind of power. Sometimes, they flew in all directions, and sometimes, they gathered into a ball. Finally, they turned into a colorful stream of light and surged into his mind.
In that instant, Lin Li seemed to see the back of a figure.
It was the back of a skinny figure wearing a black robe. He stood quietly in this colorful stream of light, but it seemed to be unusually harmonious. What shocked Lin Li the most was that the aura emitted from his body was actually the same as the black fog that Garat released. Under the sudden change, Lin Li was about to release a trace of mental strength to investigate, but he suddenly heard a voice coming from afar.
"Immortal King, you shall use your skeleton as a scepter, and be crowned king again!"
Then, all of this suddenly disappeared without a trace, and only the colorful stream of light that filled the sky was left, and it surged into his mind in an instant …
The stream of light that was formed by the countless colorful pieces of light was buried deep into his memory the moment it surged into his mind. Lin Li suddenly realized that these must be the memory fragments of some living being. It was just that these memories seemed to have been cut apart. They were messy and fragmented. Maybe it was a sound, maybe it was a picture, or maybe it was just a feeling.
The moment they surged into his mind, Lin Li tried to decipher some useful information from them. But he quickly realized that it was all in vain. These memory fragments were too messy, and they were not related to each other at all. It was more realistic to expect Andoine to suddenly become a Master Pharmacist than to expect to decipher useful information from them …
Lin Li filtered these countless memory fragments one by one. The only thing he gained was that there was indeed a powerful existence known as the "Immortal King" in the Dark Age more than a thousand years ago.
But he could no longer find any clues from the memory fragments about the origins of this "Immortal King" and what he had done during the Dark Age …
In the end, Lin Li had no choice but to give up.
When he came back to his senses, everything in front of him had disappeared. Whether it was the colorful world or the thick black fog, everything had disappeared without a trace after the incident. At this time, Lin Li had regained control of his body. He looked down at himself. He was still holding the Aether Staff in his hand, and he was still wearing the Rune Robe. The only difference was that his right hand was holding the dark red crystal tightly, and a demonic light was flowing out from the gaps between his fingers …
"At least I'm lucky that I didn't die here …" Lin Li could not help but break out in a cold sweat when he recalled the soul-stirring battle. The situation just now could not be any worse. Even if he had been a little unlucky, he would not have been able to escape death from exhaustion.
This kind of battle with pure mental strength was always the most dangerous. Although Lin Li did not use any magic from the beginning to the end, the danger was far higher than a real battle. One careless mistake and his body and soul would be completely destroyed. Not even a trace of Soul Brand would be left behind. This kind of death was definitely the most thorough, and there was no possibility of treatment.
Lin Li wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. When he turned his head back, he suddenly realized that the Aurora Square was frighteningly quiet. Everyone's gaze fell on him at the same time. It was as if they were not looking at a trial apprentice, but a walking magical beast …
"What's going on?" Lin Li was stunned. He could not help but mutter in his heart. Could it be that when the black fog was spreading, he did something shocking again? No, no, since the black fog was spreading, even if he did something, they would not be able to see it, right?
Then …
Lin Li suddenly saw his opponent, Mage Gala from Far Watching City, kneeling on the ground with one knee. Both of his hands were holding the magic staff high above his head, and his expression was filled with sincerity and reverence. The current Gala did not look like an opponent who wanted to kill him, but rather his most devout believer.
"Great Immortal King, welcome back to the earth!"
Gala's voice was still as hoarse and low as before. In the huge Aurora Square, no one could hear what he was saying except for Lin Li. However, the posture of him kneeling on one knee instantly caused a commotion in the audience seats. The voices of thousands of mages discussing among themselves immediately caused the entire Aurora Square to become chaotic. Everyone was guessing what exactly happened in the black fog earlier. Why did Gala, who was about to win, kneel on one knee? Why did that mage from Jarrosus not get engulfed by the black fog?
Questions popped up in their hearts one after another. However, there was no answer to all of this. This was because in the next moment, a black fog suddenly rose from Gala's body. It looked as if it had a life of its own. Just as it rose from Gala's body, it started to change into various shapes. Sometimes it dispersed, sometimes it gathered. Finally, with a shrill laugh that was like an owl's, it turned into a black smoke and flew into the distance …
"F * ck, what exactly is the Immortal King!" Lin Li stood in the Aurora Square and stared blankly at the black smoke disappearing. His heart was indescribably agitated. This was because just before the black smoke left, Lin Li heard another voice coming from his mind. It was similarly low and hoarse, and it was also inexplicable — Great Immortal King, you will finally wake up among the skeletons …
"Wake up your mother, big watermelon …" Lin Li scolded angrily. This kind of behavior that kept people in suspense was simply the most annoying. It made your heart itch, but it did not tell you what was going on …
Wait …
Halfway through his sentence, Lin Li was stunned again.
He suddenly remembered that the direction in which the black smoke disappeared was the road to the Shadowglen.
Could it be that all of this was because of the trial that happened more than a month ago?
The more Lin Li thought about it, the more afraid he became. He had personally experienced the Death Energy in the black fog just now. To exaggerate a little, even if it was someone at Andoine's level, he was afraid that he would not be much better than him. That was not a power that a human could contend against. Especially the mental strength confrontation afterward, it made Lin Li break out in cold sweat just thinking about it. How could Lin Li not know how his mental strength was? But when he was extracted by the crystal, Lin Li felt like he was an ant tied to a spider's web. There was no room for struggle at all, and he could only watch as he approached death step by step …
Thinking about everything that happened in the black fog, Lin Li suddenly felt that the crystal in his hand seemed to be a little hot …
"Who's the winner?" The two judges stood far away and looked at each other. They could not come up with a reason for a long time. Logically speaking, this match should be won by the mage from Jarrosus because he was still standing, while his opponent had fallen.
But there was a problem in the middle …
There were too many accidents in this match, so many that no one could tell who was the winner and who was the loser. Not only did Macklin forcefully rush into the competition field, even Aldwin personally intervened in the end. This was blatantly interfering with the process of the competition. If it was done according to the rules, it would have been enough to disqualify someone from the competition 10 times and chase the two accomplices out of the Aurora Square …
Of course, this was only an "if" …
Even if they were given a hundred guts, they would not dare to chase the two accomplices out of the Aurora Square.
"Why don't we just call it a draw?" The young referee hesitated for a long time before finally speaking his mind in a hesitant manner.
"Draw your mother's watermelon!" Although Macklin was old, his hearing was still very good. He had just gotten up from the black fog when he was sent flying by it, but he suddenly heard this guy suggesting a draw. Instantly, he was furious. "Damn it, how can this be considered a draw? What are you two judges doing? Felic is standing, and Garat is lying down. Can't you see such an obvious winner? Do you really think my trial apprentice is easy to bully? "
"No, no, no … Mr Macklin, you've misunderstood. Can you listen to my explanation first …" Everyone in the Guild of Magic knew Macklin's temper very well. Apart from Aldwin, no one else dared to provoke him. Although the two judges had the right to decide the outcome of the match, they still chose to shut up in front of this man.
"What's there to explain?" The old man glared and shamelessly stretched out his hand, pointing at Garat who was lying on the ground. "It's fine if you want to call it a draw, but there must be a rematch. If you can wake him up, I'll admit that this match is a draw and let Felic fight with him again. But you'd better hurry up, I don't have much patience …"
When he said the last sentence, it was already an undisguised threat.
"This …" Looking at Macklin's ferocious gaze, who would dare to provoke him at this time? The two judges only used less than ten seconds to make their decision.
"Alright, then the winner of this match is Mage Felic from Jarrosus!"
…
The final six were all decided. Macklin could be said to have gained a lot of face this time. Two of the three trial apprentices under him had entered the final six, and one of them even had a chance of winning the final victory. This incomparably brilliant result made the old man exceptionally happy. Even the number of times he lectured Mason had decreased significantly.
When the results of the drawing of lots came out, Macklin almost jumped up. He could be seen patting Lin Li's shoulder with a face full of joy. "Felic, you're finally lucky!"
"Ah?" Lin Li was recalling everything that happened in the black fog when he was suddenly patted by someone. He was instantly scared out of his wits. When he saw clearly that the person who patted him was Macklin, he slowly heaved a sigh of relief. With a face full of helplessness, he said, "I say, Master Macklin, don't you know that people can be scared to death by scaring others?"
"Scared my a * s …"
"Forget it …" Lin Li shook his head with a face full of helplessness. He knew that he would definitely not be able to explain it clearly to this old man, so he quickly changed the topic. "You seemed to have said that I was lucky just now?"
"That's right!" Macklin stretched out a hand and quietly pointed to a distance. "See that? That fella is your opponent in the next round …"
"This fella looks very unfamiliar. Why, do you know where he came from?" Lin Li frowned. The young mage in the distance looked to be in his twenties. He was thin and small, as if he was born malnourished. His face looked a little pale, and his eyes were a little swollen. Lin Li wondered if it was because he did not sleep well last night …
"His name is Gordon, from the Burning Willow City Guild of Magic. He's not weak, and is said to be close to level-14. But this fella is a little unlucky …" When Macklin said this, he gave a wretched smile. "Heh heh, he also met a level-14 Magic Shooter in the previous round. The two of them fought for half an hour, and in the end, he seemed to have forcefully used a level-15 spell. Be it mental strength or mana, both are seriously overdrawn. He won't be able to recover without a few days. If you go up now, you'll just be picking up a bargain …"
"That's not bad …" Lin Li laughed.
"F * ck!" At this moment, Mason suddenly exclaimed, "Why am I so f * cking unlucky?"
"What's wrong?"
"Look …" Mason pointed into the distance with a face full of grief and indignation. Aldwin was holding two pieces of paper in his hand. One had Mason's name on it, and the other had Gryffindor's name on it!
"…"
"F * ck, Gryffindor is like a beast now. How can I beat him? It's over, it's over. I wanted to enter the final three, but it's all gone now. President Aldwin is really too much. Can't he wash his hands before drawing lots? " After Mason finished complaining, he looked at Lin Li with a pitiful face. "Felic, don't you have a lot of potions? Do you have a potion that can help me defeat an Archmage after drinking it? "
"…" Lin Li did not know whether to laugh or cry. After holding it in for a long time, he finally squeezed a word out of his mouth. "Yes!"
"Really?"
"Yes, but this potion is very troublesome. After drinking it, there will be some small side effects …"
"What side effects?"
"After defeating an Archmage, you will also die …"
"F * ck …"
Just as the two of them were talking, the drawing of lots for the top six had been completed. Lin Li's luck was not bad. He had drawn a level-13 Magic Shooter who was at the end of his rope, while Matthias was slightly worse off. His opponent was a genuine level-14 Magic Shooter. But for Matthias, this should not be a difficult matter.
And the most unlucky one was naturally Mason. He had actually drawn the same match as Gryffindor. Thinking of this fellow's beast-like strength, Mason could not help but break out in cold sweat. The referee had not announced the start of the third round, and this fellow had already started to secretly plan how to lose with a little more dignity …
"Oh, yes, Felic!" Lin Li was helping Mason to come up with a plan when he suddenly heard Macklin's voice from behind. "Garat is awake."
"Really?" Lin Li immediately perked up, and did not bother to discuss with Mason about how he could lose in a more dignified manner. He hurriedly pulled Macklin to the side, and asked, "Did he say what's going on with the black fog?"
"He said he did not know …"
"Then did he say why he has such a strong Death Energy?"
"He still said he did not know …"
"How could he not know anything?" Lin Li was really troubled. This Garat was really messing around. He had released such a strong Death Energy and almost killed him. Yet, he did not know anything after he woke up. Was he purposely here to fool around with me?
"Can't help it. He said he forgot everything …"
"Why doesn't he go and die …"
"No, no, no. I think he really forgot …" Macklin shook his head, and then continued, "Because before he woke up, I used Mana Detection to observe him. The Death Energy in his body had completely disappeared. Now, he is just an ordinary level-14 Magic Shooter. Maybe he is slightly stronger than Sarsen, but it is impossible for him to be strong enough to kill you …"
"What you mean is that Garat did not possess that power?"
"Yes."
"What the hell!" Lin Li simply had the intention to kill. Such a strange thing had happened to him, but even the last clue had been cut off. The whole thing had become a mystery without a clue. If he wanted to find out what had happened to him, did he really have to wake up in some skeleton like what the voice had said? F * ck, it's not like I have nothing better to do …
"If I did not guess wrongly, this matter most likely has something to do with the two Undead Lords in the Shadowglen. Garat also said that on the fifth day after entering the Shadowglen, he met an extremely strong Undead creature. After that, he completely lost his memory, and only regained his consciousness just now …" When Macklin said this, there was a tinge of fear on his face. The two Undead Lords in the Shadowglen were powerhouses that had existed since the Dark Age. No one knew how strong they were now. Not to mention a level-18 Archmage like Macklin, even the number one mage in Felan, Aldwin, did not have the confidence to face them …
When Lin Li heard this, he took in a breath of cold air. He looked at Macklin in disbelief. "Are you trying to tell me that the one who competed with me just now was not Garat, but a puppet controlled by an Undead Lord?"
"It is very possible …"
"…"
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