Chapter 1060: Chapter 813: His Highness the Third Prince?
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The "Great Explorer" returned to the Mountain Giant Star, where all the tribal Elders were gathered on the ground awaiting Long Yi’s return. Upon sighting the "Great Explorer," cheers immediately erupted from the crowd.
"We’ve succeeded!"
Long Yi, jumping down from the spaceship, shouted loudly.
With that, the entire Mountain Giant race was in a frenzy.
A battle had occurred in which not a single Mountain Giant had died, a miracle that seemed only the Mountain Giants could create. They decided to fill the upper rock walls into the lower areas, allowing the planet to regain its original appearance and enabling the Tree of Life to receive sunlight. This was a decision made by the Mountain Giants themselves, and Long Yi naturally supported it. Just then, the Ancient Mage Tower arrived late, right at the moment of Long Yi’s return.
"Haha, you’ve done a good job, lad! This time must have been safe and sound, eh?" Master Elma patted Long Yi on the shoulder as he said from the upper level.
"Don’t worry, with me around, no seed will try to pull any tricks on me," Long Yi boasted, thumping his chest.
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Even though Long Yi already knew that the third key was in Elma’s hands, he had no direct way of taking it at this time. Since Elma had lied about this matter, he must have had his own agenda, which certainly wouldn’t be allowed to be disclosed to Long Yi.
Whatever that agenda was, startling the snake wouldn’t be wise.
For this reason, Long Yi especially admonished Little Zi not to try to probe Elma’s mind with any psychic magic. Being an old fox who had lived so long, Elma still somewhat trusted Long Yi at the moment, so Long Yi had to use this trust to figure out what Elma was really up to.
"Hahaha, that’s great! You just take a good rest for the next little while, I promise you’ll get a big surprise soon!" Elma seemed excited.
"Surprise? Have you found the third key?" Long Yi asked in astonishment.
"How could that be possible..." Elma immediately shook his head in denial.
"So, have you found another way to reach the middle level of the Plane?"
"Hey, you little rascal, are you that eager to leave here?" Elma asked pretending to be angry.
"Yes, I am. I’ve eliminated all of the seeds of the Tree of Destruction that concerned me. I have no more attachment to this Plane, and reaching the middle level of the Plane has always been my plan, so of course, I’m in a rush!"
"Hahaha, stop guessing, you’ll find out when the time comes!"
Elma wore a mysterious smile, while Solis on the side looked on with disdain. After Long Yi left, Solis sneered at Elma and then turned to leave with his confidants.
Watching Solis’s figure disappear, Zulal spoke up, "Master Elma, since returning from the pilgrimage, Master Solis has been very active, more dominant than in the past. Some have seen him following Long Yi in the Holy Land, and others have heard explosions coming from the depths there. I personally went back to investigate, and indeed there had been a battle. It seems Master Solis did not gain any advantage, and Long Yi didn’t find the chance to kill Solis either."
Elma nodded, "After all, Solis is also considered a top-tier Master in this Mage Tower. Maybe he’s no match for Long Yi in a head-to-head fight, but he certainly has prepared some means to save his life."
Zulal nodded, glanced around, and then lowered his voice, "Master Elma, do you think Long Yi knows that the third key is with you?"
Elma’s expression became cautious immediately, he looked around, and there was no sign of Long Yi. The permanent defensive spell attached to the psychic world also showed no signs of disturbance.
"He shouldn’t," Elma said quietly, "Given Long Yi’s personality, if he knew, he would definitely come to ask me for it. Little Zi would certainly scan my mind when Long Yi asked about the key. Since nothing happened just now, he probably doesn’t know."
"But we can’t be too careful," Zulal said.
"No worries," Elma smiled slightly, "In a few days, once Long Yi sees the big surprise I’ve prepared for him, even if he really finds out about the key being with me, he’ll never want to leave the Ancient Mage Tower again! His power, his magic, his everything, will become the treasure of the Ancient Mage Tower, my treasure!"
In a corner, Long Yi was scratching his head.
They hadn’t gone far and were lingering nearby. In this room, Long Yi had used a very primitive method. He left a Crystal Core of a Molten Beast in a corner and, through the contract of the Crystal Core, he could hear the sounds in this place.
"To be honest, if I hadn’t heard it myself, I would have never believed that this seemingly hearty old guy would dare to covet what’s mine!" Long Yi’s expression was somewhat frightening; he always adhered to a cautious approach when making acquaintances. But to pay back his life-saver in such a way?
"What do we do next?" Ai Lin asked.
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"What can I do? Since he doesn’t want to be friends with me or even a passerby, then the only option left is to be enemies," Long Yi said with a smile.
Thus, Ai Lin knew that Elma was in for some trouble.
Long Yi’s standards for judging matters were very straightforward: allies, passersby, enemies. If someone was an ally, he would do everything in his power to look after them; if they were simply passersby, he would go by his mood; and if they were enemies, he would use every means at his disposal to make them disappear!
"Let’s wait for him to make a move," Long Yi said.
At this moment, above the upper planes, within the Eternal Battlefield, the land of the Heavenly Kingdom’s descent.
Tilian had been here for some time now, a force from Hell, he had been put to significant use here. After all, a Hell warrior as strong as Tilian had never appeared on this battlefield before. He was also indecisive, joining one legion today and another tomorrow. Within this legion composed of different warriors from different planes, no one cared about something as trivial as loyalty; what mattered most was acquiring the knowledge from the descending Heavenly Kingdom.
What surprised Tilian was the role that Golems played in this war.
These powerful Golems only required Fine Gold as currency for trade, exchanging Fine Gold for various forms of support. Whether it was long-range artillery or direct Golem participation in battle, this drastically changed the dynamics of the battlefield. The strength of Golems was undeniable and, over time, they only became more powerful.
Although Tilian had never seen a Golem firsthand, even in Hell, he had his ways of staying well-informed. He knew that these Golems were repaired by Long Yi and that the Darkness race was the core race originally created by the Giants. Apparently, although the Golems had passed through the plane portals, they ended up here.
Perhaps the Teleportation Gate sorted its transfers by rank?
Tilian didn’t seek out the help of Golems, as it would likely expose them, bringing them trouble he didn’t wish to inflict. So he kept to himself, relying on his own abilities to fight. Honestly, Tilian’s strength was already formidable, but on this battlefield, he was only considered mid-level at best, even coming close to being killed a few times.
This forced him to be more cautious. Fortunately, as a creature of Hell, his survival skills were plentiful.
The Heavenly Kingdom that had descended had opened twice during this period, but Tilian had not managed to get close to it. So this time, he decided to approach closer to the front lines of the battle.
This wasn’t a good choice, as it could mean that before even reaching the descending Heavenly Kingdom, he would become the primary target of focused fire from the enemy. However, Tilian didn’t want to waste time, so he decided to take a gamble.
There were always premonitions before the Heavenly Kingdom opened, and this time was no exception. Runes and Arrays descended from the sky, and the rules flowed wildly, informing everyone that the Heavenly Kingdom was about to open again!
The battle immediately intensified, with both sides now unleashing their strongest Magic and Fighting Aura without reservation. Tilian, on the other hand, began to retreat. The aura of death was pervasive, and the bodies of the just-deceased were corrupted by the death energy, turning into Hell creatures under Tilian’s control. These creatures of Hell stood in front of Tilian, using their bodies to protect him. Amidst the roaring spells and Fighting Aura, he searched for a Fissure that would lead him closer to the descending Heavenly Kingdom.
The appearance of the Heavenly Kingdom’s portal was not always the same; this time, it was a luminous band hundreds of meters wide. Touching the band of light didn’t mean that everyone could enter; there was a strict limit to the number of people that could be inside the Heavenly Kingdom, and once that number was reached, the entrance would disappear immediately.
Tilian hid among the undead, trying to make himself seem as inconspicuous as possible.
Just then, heavy footsteps suddenly came from behind.
Tilian turned around and saw a group of warriors, each four to five meters tall and clad in heavy Battle Armor, charging through the crowd and heading straight for the band of light.
Steel Roses.
Tilian had heard of this Mercenary Group before; they were rumored to be a band of powerful fighters. Their purpose in coming here was to make money, they never conversed with others and didn’t care about how others viewed them. Charge, slay, exchange for money – that was all they did.
This was Tilian’s first encounter with the group. Yet, for some reason, he felt a strange familiarity with them. How should he put it? The style of the armors these mercenaries wore was familiar, as if... as if they were the Battle Armor from the Human Realm’s White Dragon Empire!
As the former lead scientist of the Black Dragon Empire, Tilian had closely studied the Battle Armor invented by Long Yi. Even though he hadn’t managed to replicate it, he was quite familiar with some of its distinctive features. And now, these armors all bore the hallmarks of the Battle Armor.
Could Long Yi be here?
That didn’t seem likely, did it? Long Yi was a Giant, and if he were here, would he allow the descending Heavenly Kingdom to be viewed so casually? Perhaps the legendary Giants might allow it, but Long Yi most certainly would not be so generous!
So where did these mercenaries come from?
At that moment, the Dark Holy Woman transformed into a Crystal Core within a Steel Roses Golem, relying on their impressive past achievements. There was simply no one bold enough to obstruct them. Just then, a person appeared in front of her.
A creature of Hell? (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to recommend it at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
