Lin Li spent almost an hour walking and stopping along the way. He had no idea how far he had gone. After a few turns, he finally saw a spot of light in the distance. It should be the exit of the secret passage. At this moment, Lin Li did not immediately run towards the light excitedly. He knew that he had to be even more careful in such a situation. As expected, as he got closer to the exit, the frequency of the traps increased, and they became more detailed. Just like that, it took him more than half an hour to finish the last part of the journey.
When Lin Li arrived at the exit of the passageway, he stretched his body out and looked out, only to find that the exit of the passageway was actually on the cliff of an extremely large crypt. A scorching and pungent smell assaulted his nostrils. Beneath his feet was the slowly flowing bright yellow magma. It was like boiling liquid gold, bubbling from time to time before bursting open.
This was a world of fire. The concentration of the fire element was extremely high, just like a natural Fire Magical Domain. Other than the fire element, all the other elements were suppressed. Even with Lin Li's almost infinite mental strength, he felt a little sluggish when he mobilized them.
"No, the Amethyst Tortoise can't survive in such an environment. Could it be that Osric knows of other magical beasts that are more suitable than the Amethyst Tortoise to be the power core of the magic gears?" Lin Li had a lot of doubts when he came into contact with this environment.
The Amethyst Tortoise had a long life, but it also had requirements for the environment. After all, it was a magical beast of the water element. No matter what, it should choose an underground river to live in. In an environment with a high concentration of water element, the Amethyst Tortoise could live for more than 100,000 years. In such an environment with a high concentration of fire element, the Amethyst Tortoise might not even survive for a few years.
Osric would definitely not make such a mistake, and it could not be because he could not catch a Legendary Amethyst Tortoise. It could only mean that he had a better choice. However, Lin Li could not think of any fire element magical beast that could live as long as the Amethyst Tortoise.
The fire element was the most violent among the seven major elements. Hence, the attack power of fire element magic was usually the strongest among magic of the same level. Fire element magical beasts were also more powerful in the same level. The fire element was violent, while the water element was gentle. Therefore, the lifespan of fire-attributed Magical Beasts was generally not as long as that of water-attributed Magical Beasts.
In most cases, the purpose of magic gears was to protect a certain place for a long time. Therefore, as the power core of the magical beasts, it was not necessarily better for them to be strong, but to have a long lifespan. A very powerful magic beast was used as the power core, but if the magic beast died after three or five hundred years, the magic gears would be useless.
What kind of magical beast was that? Lin Li carefully used the Power of Flight to fly out of the hole, and looked at both ends of the crypt. However, he was shocked by Osric's generosity. The power core that the Highlord had chosen was indeed a combination of strength and longevity.
Osric's choice was unthinkable to ordinary magic gear designers. In the middle of the slowly flowing lava, there was a black stone platform with an area of a thousand square meters that was obviously man-made. A Crimson Dragon, whose wings were pierced by 18 chains, was struggling and roaring on the platform. The chains were only as thick as a human's wrist, and seemed to be slender compared to the Crimson Dragon's body. However, even though the Crimson Dragon was struggling, there were no signs of it loosening.
As the Crimson Dragon struggled, the black stone platform beneath it also let out a loud rumble as if it was going to be crushed at any time. However, Lin Li knew that the reason the black stone platform made such a sound was not because it was fragile, but because there was a mechanism operating within it that converted the power of the Crimson Dragon into the power of the magic gears.
Such a Crimson Dragon was actually used as the power core of the magic gears! This shocked Lin Li, and he could not help but sigh at Osric's generosity. In order to maintain the magic gears for tens of thousands of years, a dragon with a long lifespan was indeed a good choice. Compared to the Amethyst Tortoise, this dragon's lifespan was not inferior, and its power was much stronger.
Moreover, there was another advantage of using the Crimson Dragon as the power core. Even if an intruder successfully passed through the secret passage, they would have to think twice before trying to destroy the power core of the magic gears. The power of an adult Crimson Dragon was not something that the Amethyst Tortoise could compare to, let alone in such an environment.
This was a magma crypt, the best environment for a Crimson Dragon to live in. The dense fire element not only replenished the Crimson Dragon's energy, but also greatly improved its lifespan. If not for the 18 chains piercing through its wings, perhaps the Crimson Dragon would be willing to live in such an environment.
After all, it was to use a living Crimson Dragon to build the magic gears. It was to capture a Crimson Dragon as the core to build the magic gears. Lin Li could not be bothered to think about whether the chicken or the egg came first. However, since the power core was a Crimson Dragon, it probably would not be used only for the magic gears on the wall. With the power of this Crimson Dragon, it would definitely be able to support the entire underground palace with ease even if it was filled with magic gears.
At the thought of this, Lin Li suddenly froze for a moment. He recalled that he had encountered plenty of Undead creatures along the way, but they were not fit to be the guardians of the underground palace. In that case, it wasn't impossible to say that the entire underground palace was filled with magic gears. It was an absolute certainty.
Lin Li secretly rejoiced that he had only used the Warlock's Eyes to search around, and did not touch those precious books. Otherwise, if the magic gears were to be triggered, even he would be in trouble. Osric was really cunning to use the unpopular magic gears to protect the underground palace. If it were anyone else, who would think of magic gears? Even if they thought of it, who would have the confidence to crack it? Furthermore, the power core was a Crimson Dragon.
Actually, Lin Li had been negligent. He had not expected Osric to use magic gears in the underground palace. Although he had reached the Master-level in the study of magic gears, it was an extremely unpopular subject, after all. There was probably no one in the entire Anril who studied magic gears.
The current situation had exceeded Lin Li's expectations. He had not expected a Crimson Dragon to be here. As the direct descendant of the four Dragon Aspects, the Crimson Dragon was born with the Flame Domain, and its power was at least level-21. Hence, the difficulty of cracking the magic gears by mastering the power core was immediately raised to the extreme.
"Oh, it's a Crimson Dragon. Your luck is really not to be envious. There's a Retribution Knight outside, and now there's a pure-blooded Crimson Dragon here." Connoris's gloating voice rang in Lin Li's mind. He had always been very jealous of Lin Li's luck. After all, his own experience was too miserable. How could he not go crazy when he compared the two?
Should I retreat? If I don't deal with this Crimson Dragon, the magic gears outside would only waste more time! Lin Li waved the illuminating magic ball away, and took out his magic staff from the Ring of Endless Storm. He left the exit of the tunnel and flew towards the Crimson Dragon on the black stone platform.
"Hey, what are you doing? That's an adult Crimson Dragon, are you crazy!?" Seeing that Lin Li had actually chosen to challenge the Crimson Dragon, Connoris was frightened. His body was still depending on Lin Li. He hurriedly shouted, "Hey, hey, don't take things too hard! Seeing how you came in, those things outside shouldn't be a problem for you, right? Why do you have to provoke that guy!? It's already pitiful enough for him to be locked here as a coolie! "
Speaking of which, the Crimson Dragon might not be stronger than the Lord of Darkness in the Abyss of Tharlen. However, that was in the Endless Abyss, and Connoris could borrow the laws of the Endless Abyss to help Lin Li. But now, this was not the Endless Abyss, and the ancient demonic runes were useless. How could Connoris not be anxious?
However, Lin Li had obviously made up his mind. He completely ignored Connoris' advice, and waved the magic staff in his hand while flying. He first cast the Elemental Protection on himself. Balls of light of different colors circled around his body as if they were spirits with life.
Lin Li had chosen to challenge the Crimson Dragon not because the Crimson Dragon was easy to bully, nor was it because he was hot-headed. To a master of magic gears like him, cracking those magic gears would only take a little more time. There was no danger, but there would not be any benefits either. The process of cracking the magic gears would not allow him to advance from the Master-level to the Guru-level, and there was no need for him to advance to the Guru-level.
Challenging the Crimson Dragon would undoubtedly be dangerous, but at the same time, there would be huge benefits that he could not give up. First, it would be battle experience. Although Lin Li had successfully advanced to the Legendary-realm, he was still far from the old guys like Sendros and Andoine in terms of battle experience. It was difficult to find a suitable opponent. Finding the old guys as sparring partners would not allow them to go all out. After all, he was also a Legendary-mage. Hence, battling the Crimson Dragon was a rare opportunity for him.
Another reason was more mundane. In Lin Li's eyes, this Crimson Dragon was not just a Crimson Dragon, but a moving treasure vault. From head to toe, inside to outside, the Crimson Dragon was a rare treasure. Although the Crimson Dragon was stronger than the Amethyst Tortoise, its value was also immeasurable. How could Lin Li give it up just like that?
The struggling and roaring Crimson Dragon suddenly quietened down. There was a hint of caution in its eyes. A Legendary-realm mage could no longer be referred to as an insignificant human. Even a proud wyrm would not dare to be careless when facing a Legendary-mage. Once upon a time, powerhouses who had entered the Legendary-realm loved to add scenes of slaying dragons to their Legendary stories. Those who were weaker would look for dragons with impure bloodlines, while those who were as strong as the Immortal King would look for the Dragon of Destruction.
The Crimson Dragon could feel that the human who flew out of the cave was a powerful Legendary-mage. Although the aura that the human emitted seemed to be weaker than its own, humans were the most cunning creatures. Even though it had been locked up here for thousands of years, it had not forgotten this saying.
"Aren't you going to discuss it? It seems like it does not want to fight you. Maybe you can persuade it." Connoris was still trying his best to persuade Lin Li, hoping that Lin Li could see the facts clearly and not get into trouble that he could not handle.
However, Connoris' efforts went to waste with the arrival of a mouthful of scorching dragon flames.
"F * ck, did you see that? It actually spat at me. You might be able to tolerate this, but I can't!" Of course, Lin Li was only joking with Connoris. His body changed directions in the air nimbly, and he dodged the dragon flames. At the same time, he waved the magic staff in his hand, and instantly cast a spell at the Crimson Dragon.
Actually, Lin Li had another advantage. He could fly freely in the sky, while the poor Crimson Dragon was like a dog chained in the yard. It allowed children to throw stones at it, but it could not do anything outside the range of the chains. Of course, this Crimson Dragon had some tricks up its sleeve. At least it could spit.
Wait … there was the Flame Domain!
The Crimson Dragon raised its head and roared. Strong magical waves spread in all directions, and the Flame Domain expanded instantly, engulfing the entire cave. The environment here could already be called a natural Flame Domain. The Crimson Dragon's Flame Domain expanded greatly in this environment, be it in terms of range or power.
The magma around the black stone square platform boiled, and dragons made of fiery red magma flapped their wings and flew into the sky, chasing after Lin Li. The magma dragons had a temperature of more than 1,000 degrees Celsius. One or two of them was not a big deal, but tens or hundreds of them were quite impressive.
This scene reminded Lin Li of the scene in the Throne of Darkness when he used the Angels of Light and Dark to besiege the Lord of Darkness. However, he was now the one being besieged. The only consolation was that the magma dragons were not as beautiful as the Angels of Light and Dark that he had created.
Lin Li held the magic staff, and pointed the magical crystal at the top outwards. He swept it horizontally in a circle in front of him, and more than 10 magma dragons that pounced towards him were instantly frozen, and fell into the magma river below. However, before the frozen magma dragons could fall into the river, they were melted by the high temperature, and flew up again.
In fact, there was no absolute restraint among the elements that made up Anril. It was true that the water element restrained the fire element, but when the fire element was strong, it was normal for it to restrain the water element. As the underground magma river flowed through here, the fire element was extremely dense, and this caused the Crimson Dragon's Flame Domain to be greatly strengthened.
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