Chapter 492 - Challenge
‘I hope I won’t be too unlucky…’ A bitter smile appeared on Lin Yun’s exhausted face. Just after thinking about it, he suddenly felt frightening mana fluctuations rising up and the power that suddenly burst out could even make the heart of an Archmage skip a beat.
An explosion loudly echoed.
It was followed by complete silence.
The frantic mana fluctuations shrank back like a falling tide and the ground under his feet also stopped shaking.
“Hmm?”
This time, Lin Yun could clearly see that the Raising Dragon Array was already opened, exposing an ancient passage in which a flight of steps carved from stone could be seen. Lin Yun couldn’t help feeling overjoyed when he saw this, but he noticed something as he approached the entrance of the passage.
‘Why is the temperature so high…’ At the entrance of the passage, he was assaulted by an extremely hot burning aura. He couldn’t help frowning because of how hot it was.
In fact, the temperature of the Raging Flame Plane itself was high to begin with. Ordinary people simply couldn’t endure such a high temperature, and the weaker ones might die.
But the heat from the passage was even more frightening, even hotter than the Sacred Land of the Thawing Fire Tribe. High Mages might end up dehydrated within a few minutes, and only Archmages or those stronger could endure and adapt to such an environment.
‘Let’s check it out first…’
Lin Yun looked at the passage and frowned. He knew that only by going through the passage could he have the opportunity to get the Chromatic Dragon Crystal.
But just as he prepared to enter…
“That guy Mafa is busy all the time. Sir Thorne repeatedly notified him to go to the Flame Demon Fort to discuss some matters, but not even his shadow was seen… Sir Yuri, what are you doing blocking our path? We only want to see him, nothing more. He has been hiding here for over ten days, could there be some hidden secret?”
“Hmpf, Sir Thorne showed him some respect and personally came to look for him. Who does that Mafa think he is? Does he really consider himself a Planar Commander?”
These two irritating voices made Lin Yun feel irritated. He stopped and said, “Sir Yuri, let them come…”
After a few minutes, five silhouettes slowly descended with Levitation. Both Yuri and Ida had sour expressions. “Sorry, High Mage Mafa…”
“It’s fine…” Lin Yun expressionlessly waved his hand. He then looked at the three uninvited guests, one of whom he recognized, Planar Commander Thorne. Lin Yun had never seen the two behind him, but from the mana fluctuations they emitted, he could accurately assess that these two were Archmages.
Thorne, who had just arrived at the bottom, quickly discovered the existence of the passage, especially the heat being emitted from within. He frowned in amazement and couldn’t help but ask, “What is this…?”
After the battle in the Sacred Land, Thorne had been running all over the place, firmly controlling the spoils of war of the Merlin Family. He would occasionally come across some important decisions that he planned on discussing with the young mage, but unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get in touch with him.
He later heard that the young mage had entered the Ghost Valley early on and was doing something unknown there, not coming out.
After having several conflicts with the young mage without gaining any advantage over him, Thorne gradually realized that the young mage wasn’t as simple as he had thought. He couldn’t be underestimated even if he didn’t possess the commanding authority over the squadron. Thorne hadn’t gotten involved with the young mage’s matters for over ten days…
Up until yesterday.
A deafening noise had come from the young mage’s location. It seemed that a huge battle had taken place. Thorne had sent someone to get in touch with the young mage once again, but to no avail. They were stopped by Yuri Merlin before they could see him.
Thus, Thorne led some people today and came in person. He wanted to find the young mage to ask what had happened.
But, he felt that those questions weren’t important when he saw the passage before his eyes.
He naturally guessed that the young mage had stayed there for over ten days for a special purpose.
Thorne was very curious about this passage. ‘Where does it lead?’ He expressionlessly glanced at Lin Yun before pointing to the passage to the side. “Mafa, I want to follow you in. You should know that as the Commander of the Merlin Family’s Planar Legion, I have the power of supervision, so I have the right to oversee anything happening…”
“Haha, Thorne, you aren’t joking, right?” Lin Yun’s mood was already bad, but after hearing Thorne’s words, he became even more unhappy. “You should be clear about one thing, Sir Thorne. Your force was nowhere to be seen during the attack on the Ghost Valley. It was all due to my subordinates and the Black Tower that we were able to seize it. Naturally, if you want to go in, you can, but you can only obediently watch from the side. Don’t blame me for being rude if you so much as take a single pebble from inside.”
“For what reason?” At this time, an Archmage behind Thorne spoke out with a dark expression. He coldly looked at Lin Yun and disdainfully said, “Mafa Merlin, you don’t know how to differentiate good from bad! Sir Thorne is a true Commander. I don’t understand what gives you the confidence to tell Sir Thorne that he can’t take anything. In the entire Raging Flame Plane, if anything is found in an area conquered by the Merlin Family’s Planar Legion, that belongs to the Merlin Family. Mafa, I hope you aren’t thinking that this belongs to you… So ridiculous.”
“With what eyes did you see the Ghost Valley being conquered by the Merlin Family’s Planar Legion? I think Sir Thorne should clearly understand the answer to this question, you should ask him…” Lin Yun looked at that unfamiliar Archmage with ridicule before discreetly shaking his head, not saying anything else.
“What are you trying to say Mafa, that you conquered the Ghost Valley on your own? That it’s all due to your merits?” A sneer appeared on that Archmage’s face as he shot back, “Who do you think you are? A Heaven Mage? No, you are a mere 5th Rank High Mage, and a ridiculous one at that! You are in the same situation as those cannon fodders in the fight over the Raging Flame Plane…”
“Good, good… Well, this ridiculous 5th Rank High Mage is challenging you. Are you willing to accept…?” Lin Yun smiled, not getting angry. It was as if he was looking at a clown’s performance, just that the clown happened to be somewhat strong and was also an Archmage.
“You are just asking to be humiliated!”
“Lahn! Enough! Shut up immediately…” The quarrel between the two had eventually roused Thorne from his day-dreaming, and he spoke up to stop it.
He clearly knew of Lahn’s strength. Lahn was a very qualified Archmage and had been one for the past few decades. He was always moving between every major plane and had unfathomable strength. Had Thorne not broken to the 5th Rank recently, it would be very difficult for him to beat Lahn.
Precisely because of this, Lahn had been entrusted with a heavy responsibility. Half a year ago, he was dispatched to the Flame Frost Fort, one of the Great Forts of the Merlin Family, to be in charge of it.
And not long ago, the Merlin Family and the Black Tower obtained incredible benefits from their collaboration. In order to quickly take care of the spoils of that war, Lahn was once again dispatched to the Flame Demon Fort. It was clear how much the Merlin Family valued Lahn.
But even so, Thorne didn’t believe that Lahn could come out unscathed after provoking the young mage.
Although Lahn was very powerful, his opponent was a monster.
Thorne had truly become aware of the young mage’s true strength in the Thawing Fire Tribe’s Sacred Land, particularly during the fight against the Tribal Chief. Thorne could still remember it clearly… He was certain that the young mage’s power had increased explosively ever since their first confrontation half a year ago. He was definitely comparable to a 7th Rank Archmage now.
This was a pure monster.
He encountered the young mage for the first time half a year ago, at the meeting of the Elder Council. He was shocked back then… The young mage was only a High Mage but he was frighteningly powerful and could contend against himself, a 5th Rank Sword Saint.
What shocked him was that in just six months, the young mage’s power increased even further, leaving Thorne far behind…
It was hard to imagine how anyone could progress so quickly.
Thorne was now looking at Lahn strangely. It looked like he wanted to say something, but he dispelled that thought after looking at the young mage.
‘Forget it, he might as well learn firsthand that he should never provoke Mafa…’