Chapter 1180: Great Rewards
Lin Li did not really put it to heart when he first agreed to Edmund’s request that he would help the Illuminati speed up Aquilo’s resurrection after he mastered the mageweath that was on the seven monuments. It was not because Lin Li thought lowly of the promise, but because he was not sure when he would be able to master the mageweath. After all, it was a divine-level mageweath, and Lin Li was a busy man. It would not make sense for him to devote all his time and energy to the study.
However, the suspense that Aquilo’s hologram created convinced Lin Li that he had to start considering how much energy to devote to the study of the mageweath. He knew that the earlier he could master the mageweath and resurrect Aquilo, the earlier he would be able to hear him speak about the Immortal King.
Of course, there was also the possibility that Lady Luck would give Lin Li the clarity to everything before he could master the mageweath. But, Lin Li was never someone who would surrender himself to fortune. He always believed that efforts were more dependable than luck.
Edmund ended the resurrection ritual while Lin Li’s mind was raging with all the different possibilities. He limped towards Lin Li with the help of Elder Zumar. “President Felic, we have completed our task here for the time being. I hope you will remember to help us speed up Lord Aquilo’s resurrection after you master the mageweath on the monuments,” said Edmund.
If it were before, Lin Li would definitely not treat this promise as his priority. He was planning to think about helping the Illuminati only when he was completely free from other matters. But, he now really hoped to let Aquilo speak even without Edmund’s request. It seemed like he had already put this matter to heart.
However, Lin Li did not show that sense of eagerness to anyone. “Rest assured. Since I have given you my promise, I will definitely help you when I have the ability,” he replied calmly as he gave Edmund a slight nod.
Edmund felt a little relieved hearing Lin Li’s affirmation. However, he was clear that it would depend on the Illuminati’s relationship with the Tower of Dusk as well. If the two forces were to enter a conflict, and officially become enemies with one another, this promise would definitely not take effect.
Of course, Edmund had the confidence that he could convince the higher-ups to change their attitude towards the Tower of Dusk. After all, war would not be the best option for anyone.
The three men gazed at Aquilo as he was recovering. With different thoughts in mind, they left the ruins.
Edmund had completed his mission, and Lin Li had no intention for further exploration. Although they had seen the monuments that suppressed the ancient God of Light and found Aquilo, they knew that this was only the tip of an iceberg. Despite his abilities, Lin Li did not have the confidence to continue with deeper exploration so recklessly. After all, this was a place that could bring gods to their fall.
Furthermore, Lin Li had reaped considerably great rewards this time round. What he needed to do was to process all the rewards, and convert them into his own ability. For example, if he could understand and master the powers of the Twin Serpents of Light and Darkness, he would definitely become the most powerful man in the Sanctuary-realm without being able to create his own divine world. The Divine-level mageweath that he acquired had also helped him gain clarity of the road to becoming a Divine Smith. He could even use it to enter the Divine-realm.
Since both of the teams did not have plans to continue their exploration, their respective leaders started to lead them back on the path that they came from after they reconsolidated their resources. This time, their journey back outside the gold shining palace was faster. It only took them half a day.
However, the two teams faced a problem when they reached the bottom of the great dark entrance of the underworld. They took nearly a day to descend from the top when they first came here, and the weaker ones were nearly drained of all their mana. It would certainly be more laborious for them to fly out of this place.
Although flying out of the place would require more mana for the people from the Tower of Dusk, they had the magical crystals on their magic wings that would help them to take care of that. Not to mention if one were a Legendary mage or not, a Magic Shooter would have been able to fly out of this place very easily with the magic wings.
But, things were different for the people from the Gilded Kingdom. They had to use their own mana to fly. The weaker ones would definitely fall back down after depleting their mana. Hence, the people from the Gilded Kingdom became very vexed as they calculated the chances of them flying out alive.
Moreover, the weaker ones had had the help from their three Sanctuary powerhouses when they had descended. Now that High Priest Poer was out of the team, and Edmund and Zumar were injured, they did not have the ability to take care of them now.
Edmund naturally thought of this problem as well. He turned to look at the people from the Tower of Dusk, and saw their mages wearing the magic wings on their backs. After some hesitation, he got Zumar to accompany him to find Lin Li.
“Saint Edmund, I see that you are not preparing for your departure. Do you have anything else to do here?” asked Lin Li curiously as he supervised his men preparing for their departure, but saw Edmund and Zumar approach him.
“Erm,” replied Edmund a little embarrassedly. “It is like this, President Felic. We were ill-prepared when we came here. We did not expect that we would consume such a great amount of energy when we entered this place, and it would be even harder for us to leave. I see that your men have the help of those magic wings, and I was wondering if you have spare ones to lend some of them to us,” he asked Lin Li, knowing that he would be owing him another favor.
“Oh, I see,” responded Lin Li. It was only then that Lin Li realized that the people from the Gilded Kingdom had the ability to enter, but not to leave this place. Yet, as his main objective of having the magic wings was also to test their functionality, Lin Li only brought enough magic wings for each of his men. While Lin Li had some spare ones to prepare for unexpected glitches, he did not have enough to equip the large team from the Gilded Kingdom.
Edmund and Zumar knew of this possibility too. Who would bring so many pairs of spare magic wings to an adventure mission? They were here to explore, not set up a business. Furthermore, while the magic wings looked simple, they were definitely made with very important alchemy techniques. If Edmund were Lin Li, he would not be willing to lend them to other people so easily. The reason why he came to ask Lin Li was because that was his last resort. If not, they would have to continue to stay here till they recovered their energy to bring their men out in batches.
Therefore, Lin Li’s difficult expression convinced Edmund to take back his request. “President Felic, it is alright if that is not a good idea for you. We will think of other ways,” said Edmund.
However, just when Edmund and Zumar were preparing to leave disappointed, Lin Li called out to them. “Saint Edmund, Elder Zumar! While I do not have enough of these magic wings, I’ve got something to lend you if you’re just trying to get out of here safely,” said Lin Li.
By the time Edmund and Zumar turned back, Lin Li had already brought out a behemoth airship from his Ring of Endless Storms. Such airships were not unique to the world that Lin Li came from. They were also an important mode of transportation during the time when the goblins were establishing an alchemy civilization.
However, with the demise of the goblins, many products of their alchemical civilization were lost as well. And since the airship could easily turn its users into the target of potential enemies due to its slow flying speed, no one cared to develop it anymore. As a result, it naturally lost the hopes of flying in the sky.
“Th-th-this…” gasped Edmund and Zumar. They could not believe their eyes when they saw Lin Li let out such an enormous airship. The technical aspects of the airship aside, Lin Li’s ability to carry such a gigantic item with him so casually meant that the space in his ring had to be massive. It was definitely more than a ring in the Space Artifact.
While the people from the Tower of Dusk opened their magic wings and swooped towards the black hole in the sky, the people from the Gilded Kingdom started to operate Lin Li’s airship, and they inched upwards very slowly. Although its speed was incredibly slow, it was easy, safe, and reliable in its operation.
Lin Li brought his men out of the underworld very quickly, and they flew directly towards the edge of Ice Island, where they anchored The Star. Lin Li did not care to wait for his airship, as he knew that it would take the people from the Gilded Kingdom three to five more days to get out of that place. Since it was not a remarkable technology, Lin Li did not mind leaving it with them for the time being.