Chapter 1200 - Compensation
To Artisan, becoming a Saint Alchemist was the most important thing. Many Artisans would be trapped at the Artisan realm for the rest of their lives. Not to mention the Saint realm, even reaching the threshold was impossible.
As for the Starry Sky College’s three Saint Alchemists Deans, they were the best role models. By coming there, they had the opportunity to listen to the guidance of the three Deans of Starry Sky College. Just a few sentences would be enough for an Artisan to make great progress in the field of alchemy.
The Griffin carried Lin Yun above Neverwinter City and flew towards the northern part of the city. The part occupied by the Starry Sky College wasn’t in the center of Neverwinter City, but the entire northern part of Neverwinter City.
After crossing the most prosperous area, the building started becoming scarce and the people were fewer in number. Many of the regions were large expenses of forests and medicinal farms.
A large number of runes floated in the sky and defensive devices were floating above every building. Even if someone released a large-scale Extraordinary Spell, they wouldn’t be able to destroy more than a few houses. The defenses here were terrifyingly powerful. Even an ordinary forest had more than a dozen defensive arrays.
As they flew to a flat forest, they could faintly see delicate housing. The Griffin carrying Lin Yun stopped in front of a house.
“Sir Mafa Merlin, this house is your temporary residence during your stay in Starry Sky College. There is a laboratory, and as many materials that you can use as you wish.
“If there is anything you need, you can summon this puppet at any time and your needs will be satisfied, as best as possible.”
The Griffin Rider gave his explanation before leaving on his Griffin. Lin Yun entered the house. There was a ready-made defensive matrix in the surroundings which could allow a guest to build an array to guard against disturbances.
The exquisite three-story house had a complete laboratory on the 2nd floor and accommodations on the 3rd floor.
Lin Yun looked at the alchemy laboratory and couldn’t help sighing. Although this laboratory was small, it was complete. It had all kinds of relatively advanced alchemy devices, including a few that couldn’t be found in the Andlusa Kingdom.
After Lin Yun carefully looked at the laboratory, he got ready to set up the defensive array. He had seen many houses like this not far from here, and quite a few of them were already occupied.
Alchemists could be a group of very dangerous people. Who knew what kind of danger could happen when conducting some alchemy experiments? Explosions were the easiest danger to handle. Sometimes, they would clearly be refining a potion, but it would blow up the entire laboratory.
So keeping a necessary distance was required, and raising defenses was also required. After all, those that could become Artisans were almost all Heaven Rank powerhouses. A proficient alchemist being a powerful mage wasn’t just a random saying.
Almost all those that could advance to the Artisan realm as Archmages were 9th Rank Archmages. Just like Archmage Gurud who was obsessed with alchemy.
Lin Yun didn’t have time to set up an array when Raphael rushed over.
“Sir Mafa, are you okay? I just heard that you were attacked. Sh*t, someone definitely played us. The information we received was fake, a formidable alchemist definitely tampered with the Starry Sky College’s communications and sent us a false command. There was no one at the indicated location.”
Lin Yun had a calm expression, he wasn’t surprised at all. It was impossible for such things to be coincidental. Raphael barely led him to Neverwinter City when he suddenly received urgent news and had to leave. This was followed by someone ambushing Lin Yun.
Lin Yun didn’t suspect the Hardward Family. Based on Watby’s strength, this was impossible. The Hardward Family’s people also don’t have this kind of ability.
“Sir Raphael, don’t worry about it too much. Do you know if any of the Odin Kingdom’s forces have a rock mage? The mage who ambushed me was a 2nd Rank Heaven Rock Mage.”
Raphael frowned for a bit before shaking his head.
“I can’t say for sure, every force has many Heaven Rank powerhouses and we only know the ones operating on the surface, the rest would rarely appear.
“Most of them are hidden away at the 9th Rank of the Archmage realm. After all, 9th Rank Archmages are also powerhouses and there are many of them. But there are no rock mage under the Heaven Rank, so we can only search for earth mages.
“The number of 9th Rank Archmages proficient in earth magic in the past millennium is uncountable. Moreover, no one knows how old the attacker is.
“Heaven Rank powerhouses have an extremely long lifespan, who knows how old that guy is…”
Lin Yun nodded. He didn’t mind and instead showed the appearance of the rock mage, but since Raphael had no impression of him, Lin Yun didn’t stay on this topic. That expressionless frozen face must have been the work of a mask Magic Tool, but it didn’t matter. As long as he saw him again, Lin Yun would definitely recognize him.
To a mage, facial and physical appearances were never what left the deepest impression, it was the mana fluctuations and aura unique to a mage. As long as he remembered it, then he would be able to recognize him immediately next time he felt that aura and mana fluctuations. Even if the other side had turned into a Pig Beastman.
Lin Yun didn’t stay stuck on this matter, but Raphael was angry. Lin Yun was the person he had escorted. But he wasn’t just the guest of the Starry Sky College, he was his friend. Yet he had barely stepped into the Odin Kingdom before being ambushed, it would be strange if he didn’t get angry.
“Sir Mafa, please rest assured, I’ll get to the bottom of this. If I learn which scoundrel did this, I’ll definitely burst his eggs!”
Following Raphael’s scream, a cold voice echoed outside the house.
“Raphael, I hadn’t thought that you would become a lot more arrogant after luckily advancing to the Heaven Rank. You must be feeling very confident, right?”
Lin Yun had yet to set up a proper array. A speck of darkness appeared on that basic light barrier and darkness mana fluctuations started corroding that barrier, creating a five-meter-big hole in the barrier.
Three Heaven Mages arrogantly walked in, hardly concealing their Extraordinary Power and even pressuring Lin Yun and Raphael with it.
Raphael looked at the visitors and surprise flashed in his eyes, rapidly replaced by an unsightly expression.
“Sir Layford, could it be that you still don’t know that you have to knock before entering someone else’s house?”
The newcomers were wearing pitch-black robes with golden threads and the emblem of their family was embroidered on their cuffs. It was a circle surrounding a knife and a fork crossing each other in front of two palms held together.
And the aura coming from the leader clearly surpassed the 1st Rank of the Heaven realm. The two behind him were also Heaven Rank powerhouses.
The Extraordinary Power’s pressure was clearly a provocation.
The leader had a gloomy expression as he coldly glanced at Raphael.
“Raphael, it looks like your teacher didn’t teach you manners. It’s not your turn to speak, you both listen to me, I came here to notify you.”
Lin Yun frowned and a wisp of mana fluctuation appeared on the surface of his body. The pressure of these three people’s Extraordinary Power was like a river which slid alongside him.
Lin Yun remembered the emblem on those cuffs, it was the emblem of the Jackson Family.
The Jackson Family had been influential in the Raging Flame, but the force they sent to the Raging Flame Plane was very weak. Later on, Heaven Rank powerhouses started intervening in the war, but the strongest member of the Jackson Family had only been a Peak 9th Rank Archmage.
When it was time to enter the Raging Flame Plane, the Jackson Family had already been excluded from the competition. At that time, they used the score of the competition between the Andlusa Kingdom and the Odin Kingdom to determine who could enter the Raging Flame Battlefield.
Entering the Raging Flame Battlefield was the most important reason behind the division of the benefits of the entire Raging Flame Plane, because most of the people who came out of the Raging Flame Battlefield advanced to the Heaven Rank. Even if the Shadow Tower suffered the heaviest losses among the top ten forces, and was at the bottom of the ten forces, it still surpassed the other forces.
The Jackson Family suffered great losses when the Raging Flame Plane was on the verge of destruction due to the Ancient God’s awakening. All those above the 5th Rank of the Archmage realm fell, and their forts were also destroyed one after another by Demons and the destruction. In the end, the Jackson Family only got a symbolic share during the division of benefits.
Lin Yun completely forgot about those guys. But now that these guys were here, they definitely were up to no good.
“Listen, Raphael, our Jackson Family’s losses have been disastrous. But you guys have already divided the benefits of the Raging Flame Plane. Take out half to compensate our Jackson Family.”
Raphael was very uncomfortable due to Layford’s pressure. When coupled with the Extraordinary Power pressure of the other two Heaven Rank powerhouses, he couldn’t really rouse his mana.
The Heaven Rank powerhouses’ Extraordinary Power was mostly pressuring Raphael, only a bit was left to pressure the “9th Rank Archmage” Lin Yun.
“Sir Layford, I can’t make a decision on this matter. If you want to take over our territory like that, then you can only discuss with the Lord of Sky City. I hope the City Lord will agree to your request.”
One of the Heaven mage next to Layford said mockingly, “There is no need to shirk responsibility, Raphael. Our Jackson Family isn’t afraid of Sky City. You think we don’t know that you have full control over the matters of the Raging Flame Plane? We are just notifying you, that’s all. You’d best be smart and hand over half of what you control or we can only take it from your corpse.”
Raphael was bursting with anger, to the point where his mana seemed ready to explode. The cyan hurricanes lingered around Raphael’s body, and that Heaven Mage also burst out with his own mana. Pitch-black darkness mana emitted a thick ominous aura.
The two of them instantly flew up to start fighting.
As the two started fighting, the sinister Layford glanced at Lin Yun with disdain.
“You are the Patriarch of that Merlin-something Family from that countryside Andlusa Kingdom, right? There are no magic beasts and even beasts can occupy territories over there. And it looks like even a 9th Rank Archmage can become a Patriarch.
“It is said that you actually control the largest territory of the Raging Flame Plane, and the most flourishing Steel City is under your control, right?
“Your luck is really not bad. I heard that you have just been attacked and survived. You are really lucky. It’s an humiliation for a country bumpkin like you to step on the Odin Kingdom’s land.
“Fortunately for you, I’m in a good mood today. Your Merlin Family’s territory in the Raging Flame Plane will be taken over by our Jackson Family. From now on, that Steel City, the fertile Four Seasons Plain, and the Horn of Fertility belong to our Jackson family.
“You are rather lucky. You came to participate in the Starry Sky College’s gathering, didn’t you? Then just cut off an arm and I’ll treat it as an apology towards the Jackson Family.”
Layford casually waved his hand, as if he didn’t even feel like looking at a 9th Rank Archmage like Lin Yun. He acted as if he was taking over the interests of the Merlin Family out of pity.
Lin Yun looked at Layford with amazement, he was truly stunned.
‘Does this guy not know that the Raging Flame Plane’s territory can’t be fought over anymore? Many things might remain secret to the people at the bottom, but many forces participated in that matter. The Jackson Family should already know the ins and outs, right? It shouldn’t be too difficult to find out all the information…
‘What makes that guy so confident?’
“Layford, right? Are you sick?”
Layford froze and impatience rapidly appeared on his face.
“Sick? Mafa Merlin, didn’t you hear what I said? Choose an arm to leave behind so you can keep on living.
“Don’t think that the power of our Jackson Family is limited to what you have seen before. I didn’t have time to go to the Raging Flame Plane because of other matters.
“What kind of Family let a 9th Rank Archmage be the Patriarch? What qualifications do you have to occupy the most fertile territories? I’ll give you three seconds before I pick the arm myself.”
Lin Yun took out his Draconic Staff and said with a cold expression, “Say, do you have some kind of brain damage?”
Layford’s expression immediately darkened as he coldly looked at Lin Yun before saying to the Heaven Mage next to him, “Sir White, cut off both his arms and pull his tongue out. If he still doesn’t want to cooperate, then he leaves us no other choice but to get rid of him.”
Layford sneered as he attentively looked at Lin Yun with self-confidence.
‘This country bumpkin really thinks that this is the Andlusa Kingdom? Those few Odin forces are really idiotic.
‘They split so much of the Raging Flame Plane’s benefits with the Andlusa Kingdom. According to the bet, those stupid Andlusan should have been kicked out of the Raging Flame Plane.
‘And the most flourishing city of the Raging Flame Plane is actually in the hands of an Andlusa force, in the hands of a 9th Rank Archmage…
‘What qualifications do these idiots have to control such wealth? These should be the compensation of the Jackson Family. If our Jackson Family hadn’t fought bravely, the Raging Flame Plane would have already been destroyed before these guys could even come to harvest the fruits of victory.
‘That “Mafa Merlin can defeat Heaven Rank powerhouses” report is a joke. This guy might be stronger than Archmages, and might even be able to display the power of the Heaven Rank. But defeating a Heaven Rank powerhouse? What a joke.
‘Forget it, I’ll go and take over the Merlin Family’s territory after Sir White gets rid of this guy.
‘The Starry Sky College won’t conflict with our Jackson Family for the sake of a country bumpkin, especially a dead one.’
Layford didn’t pay attention to Lin Yun and flew up to look at Raphael’s battle. He was hesitant to kill Raphael.
‘Sky City is a subordinate force of the Starry Sky College after all. It’s said that one of the Deans participated in the construction of the never-falling city.
‘Forget it, I’ll let it go as long as Raphael sincerely admits defeat and compensate with half of their benefits.’
On the ground, White cruelly smiled as he roused a pitch-black Fusion Shield and took out a shining staff.