Chapter 589 - Stealth
Lin Li dared not take his three pieces of the debris of the stars out easily, because unlike his own power, he could not suppress the power of the debris of the stars for later use. Fortunately, the battle in the Harvest Square had given him the chance to win the Helios’ Scepter from Vidas. With this staff that had once shined in the Dark Age, the magic that he exhibited would be greatly enhanced in power. Even if he didn’t use his Legendary-realm power, the strength of his magic would not be inferior to that of a Legendary-mage.
The Red-backed Sickle-clawed Dragon roared with a tinge of menace that was unique to dragons. However, it had no effect on the Legendary-mage Lin Li at all. The Crimson Dragon that Lin Li had encountered in the underground palace back then was much purer in terms of lineage than this.
Before the Red-backed Sickle-clawed Dragon approached, Lin Li had already finished chanting his spells, and he waved Helios’ Scepter gently in his hand. After that, Earth Magic gravel was immediately released under the feet of the Red-backed Sickle-clawed Dragon. Earth Magic had never been known for its offensive power, but the Earth Magic gravel was definitely effective. A sharp stone spear emerged from the ground and stabbed the lower body and abdomen of the Red-backed Sickle-clawed Dragon.
Actually, this type of magic was great for dealing with humans too, though it was too embarrassing to be used against men, and too indecent to be used against women. Therefore, many mages had decided to forgo it, especially since there were plenty of other spells they could use. There was no need to let themselves be despised for the sake of this spell. However, this type of magic was very effective for dealing with magical beasts. Well, everyone knew that the abdomens of magical beasts were often the softest and weakest part of their bodies.
With the addition of the power of the Helios’ Scepter, the stone spears seemed to glow like crystals and radiate light beneath the moon. The hardness of such crystal stone spears was not inferior to that of the real weapons used by Warriors. Even though the Red-backed Sickle-clawed Dragon had inherited the powerful defensive power of the dragon, it was still rather pathetic.
Of course, the power of the Red-backed Sickle-clawed Dragon was nonetheless close to level-20. It could not be destroyed merely by magic. The dragon sent its sickle-like claws slashing against the stone spears, and flattened them immediately. In just a split second, the massive spell struck the dragon and overwhelmed it.
The process of the battle was not that thrilling. Although Lin Li could still deal with the dragon even without the Helios’ Scepter, the scepter did allow him to save lots of energy. This was just a magical beast that was almost Legendary. The only reward it would face for obstructing Lin Li was being sealed in the Ring of Endless Storm.
Lin Li did not move on immediately after getting rid of the Red-backed Sickle-clawed Dragon. Along the way, he had already placed more than a dozen high-level magical beasts in the Ring of Endless Storm, and after the Red-backed Sickle-clawed Dragon appeared, Lin Li could not help but consider the potential obstacles that he might meet in the next half of his journey.
What exactly happened in the valley and the reason for the bizarre assembly of so many high-level magical beasts still remained a mystery that probably wouldn’t be solved until Lin Li reached his destination. However, there was one thing that Lin Li could already be sure of, and that was that he would definitely encounter more magical beasts like the Red-backed Sickle-clawed Dragon during the rest of his journey. He might even meet an actual Legendary magical beast. If he were to bulldoze his way through, he might not reach his destination even after the Malfa Family and Dark Blade were done settling the battle outside.
Lin Li was there to take advantage in advance, not to clear the obstacles for the Malfa Family and Dark Blade. Instead of exerting himself, he might as well leave it to them to deal with these obstructions. That would give him more time to respond and strategize after reaching his destination.
Be it Thunderbolt which was one of the pieces of the debris of the stars, or the mysterious object that was used to seal it, both treasures were irresistible temptation for anyone. Lin Li would not be so naive to believe that the Malfa Family and Dark Blade would remain cooperative with him and stay honest in the face of such a powerful artifact.
Not to mention, Lin Li possessed three of Geresco’s relics, which were no less valuable than the ruins of Titans. It could be said that he was a moving treasure in the eyes of others. God knew if they wouldn’t find an excuse to kill Lin Li when it came to splitting the treasures if he were to consider morals and ethics now.
After he gave it some thought, the frown on Lin Li’s forehead eased, and he whipped out a potion from the Ring of Endless Storm. If there were a sensible person beside him, he or she would definitely gasp in shock because the potion bottle was made of Crystal of Eternity, and was a highly coveted treasure for all pharmacists. Potions placed in bottles made of the Crystal of Eternity enjoyed perfect preservation for eternity. Moreover, the longer the storage time, the stronger the properties of the potion in the crystal potion bottle.
The potion definitely wasn’t ordinary, since it was worthy of being placed in a potion bottle that was made of Crystal of Eternity. Placing low-level potions in bottles made of Crystal of Eternity would be a complete waste; as a Pharmaceutics Guru, Lin Li obviously wouldn’t do that. The potion that he was holding onto was a Master-level potion known as the Stealth Potion.
Lin Li was not a Bandit or an assassin; hence, he did not have any stealth skills. In order not to alarm the high-level magical beasts in the valley during his journey to the destination, he would have no choice but to rely on the potion. Lin Li believed that he would definitely encounter a stronger magical beast during the remaining part of his journey. Not to mention, the senses of these magical beasts were far greater than those of humans, and he probably would not be able to escape their heightened detection and instincts even if he were to have the stealth skills of Legendary Bandits.
A potion like the Stealth Potion could command a price of more than 100,000 gold coins during an auction. However, he did not hesitate at all, because it was all for the sake of the debris of the stars. Instead, he twisted the cap of the potion bottle, and emptied the light green contents into his mouth.
The slightly bitter potion flowed down his throat and into his stomach, after which the gentle yet deep effects of the potion took effect instantly. Lin Li’s body began to turn blurry at a speed that was visible to the naked eye until it completely integrated into the surrounding environment.
The simple disappearance of the physical body would have no effect on those sensitive magical beasts, because most of them were blind in the first place, and only relied on their sense of smell and fluctuations in temperature and energy to detect and discern objects.
However, the Stealth Potion that Lin Li had just ingested provided more than just the concealment of his physical body. Otherwise, it could not be considered a Master-level potion. Apart from fully integrating the user’s body shape into the environment, the Stealth Potion had a more powerful effect—it would hide all of the fluctuations of magic and Combat Energy within the body, as well as the breathing and heartbeat.
After the potion took effect completely, Lin Li immediately rushed towards the deeper parts of the valley. No one knew how deep the valley truly was, and the effects of the Stealth Potion could only last for 10 minutes under the enhancement of the crystal potion bottle. Lin Li did not wish for the effects to fade completely when he ran into a large bunch of magical beasts, for that would be a huge blunder.
The deeper he delved into the valley, the more frightened Lin Li got. At the same time, he also admired his foresight which prompted him to prepare a Master-level potion like the Stealth Potion. He even wondered if all of the high-end magical beasts in the Haiga Mountain Range had been concentrated in this small valley.
The adventurer team probably would not be experiencing anything too different from what they were now, with or without the adventuring notes provided by Cheyenne. Since the magical beasts had all been assembled in the valley, it did not matter whether they had avoided their territory. The territories which had been marked as dangerous beforehand were probably already empty.
At the beginning, Lin Li encountered some magical beasts that were almost level-20, such as the Shining Wing Moth, the Silver Maned Bear King, and many others. Those would never detect Lin Li because of the Stealth Potion that he had ingested, and also because they were not Legendary yet. Hence, he was just like thin air to them.
However, when a real Legendary magical beast appeared, Lin Li still had to slow down despite having the help of the Stealth Potion. Level-20 was also a huge threshold for magical beasts to develop qualitative changes. The Legendary magical beasts not only enjoyed a great increase in power, but also had different detection abilities that were worlds apart from those of the other magical beasts below the Legendary-realm.
Although Lin Li was confident in his own potion, most people failed because they were overly confident. Lin Li did not wish to make such a mistake.
The truth proved that Lin Li’s concerns were not uncalled for—the Chimaera with evil wings clearly detected something, gliding in circles slightly above his head, even though it did not discover his presence.
It was Lin Li’s second encounter with the magical beast Chimaera. His first was in Tutankhamun’s wooden hut in the Blackstone Mountains. Through the Spacetime Beacon, he saw Geresco’s battle with the Evil Eye Tyrant, during which a four-headed Chimaera was the first to appear.
However, that four-headed Chimaera was different from the two-headed one now above Lin Li which had two goat-like heads, a lion’s body, a snake’s tail, and huge black wings. However, the Chimaera was not a pushover just because it had only two heads. It was actually another species of Chimaera which was not the same as a four-headed Chimaera. Although it did not have the magical prowess of a four-headed Chimaera, it had immense physical strength, and was much more proficient in Wind and Fire Magic.
The Chimaera with evil wings growled in a low voice, and hovered above Lin Li, seemingly having sensed something and wondering why it couldn’t find anything.
Lin Li dared not speed up even though he did not have to fear the Evil-wing Chimaera given his abilities—he would definitely have a hard time if his presence was detected.