Chapter 877: Ignite

However, Lin Li didn’t wait for the team to respond before taking action. He knew that the difficulty of turning the tides increased exponentially with every second he waited. Thus, Lin Li had already activated his Power of Flight at full blast without waiting for anyone’s response. He zoomed through the path that was cleared by the Solar Spheres towards the pool the Whispering God was in like a flash of lightning.

Although Lin Li didn’t have to worry about swimming abilities with his current Legendary-level power, he was after all a human, and not a fish. Thus, his movements underwater were still somewhat affected. Heaven knew how many tentacles the Whispering God hid in the pool. If Lin Li wasn’t careful, he might be walking right into the trap. Because of this, Lin Li drank a tube of azure-blue Ocean Potion beforehand so that he had the same ease of motion in water as on land.

It took Lin Li less than a second to disperse the tentacles to form a path and reach the edge of the pool. Seeing that the tentacles had started to converge once again, Lin Li dived into the pool without any hesitation. There were indeed a lot of tentacles underwater, but Lin Li swam with more agility than a fish after drinking the Ocean Potion. He followed the Whispering God’s body and dived deeper into the pool while avoiding those continuously attacking tentacles.

While it seemed simple, every second that Lin Li spent in the pool was accompanied by great danger. He was like an animal that ventured into the piranhas’ territory, facing the threat of being torn into shreds any moment. However, Lin Li didn’t have any other choice. Not only did he have to find a way to get out of this situation, he also needed to do it fast. Without him, the team outside had to keep withstanding an enormous amount of pressure.

Just like Lin Li had thought, the pressure on the exploration team increased immensely after Lin Li had dived into the pool. For a moment, they felt as if it was the end of the world. The casualties in the teams of each faction continued to increase, forcing Hoffman and his companions to switch from attack to defense.

However, after losing Lin Li as a powerful fighting force, the team’s defense was like a bubble that could burst at any moment facing the Whispering God’s frantic attacks. Everyone struggled to persevere, but even though they had pushed themselves beyond their limits, they still couldn’t do much.

Facing the Whispering God’s tentacles and whispers, as well as the mana that was continuously drained from their bodies, everyone could only pin the last bit of hope on Lin Li. However, they didn’t think that Lin Li could bring about any miracle, because it was too difficult for anyone to defeat the Whispering God.

Some people even wondered if there was an escape path under the pool, and if that Felic escaped alone. However, nobody dared to venture near the pool given the tentacles that blocked the way. Even if they were in their prime condition, they wouldn’t be confident enough to break through the blocking tentacles, not to mention in this situation now.

Meanwhile, Lin Li was also very anxious. He didn’t care about what happened to the other factions after he had left, but there were still close to 100 Archmages from the Tower of Dusk above. Those people were the foundation of the Tower of Dusk. If he couldn’t defeat the Whispering God in time, losing the Archmages would be a serious blow to the Tower of Dusk even if he could escape in the end.

Lin Li sent out all of his mental strength, searching for any abnormalities in the pool as he dived towards the bottom. Just as he could put his feet on the bottom of the pool, his mental strength feedback signaled that there were some abnormal magical fluctuations at the other end of the pool.

Lin Li instantly got more alert. He waved the Helios’ Scepter, releasing magic to disperse the surrounding tentacles. Then, he dashed towards the source of the abnormality like a fired arrow. As he moved closer to the source, Lin Li got more excited. Judging from the intensity of the Whispering God’s attacks, it was evident that there was something very important to the Whispering God there.

In the blink of an eye, Lin Li avoided all the tentacles and arrived at the location where his mental strength sensed an abnormality. Upon seeing the source of abnormality, Lin Li was stunned. What he saw was cylindrical equipment that seemed to be used for magic transfer. The tubes were linked to the bottom of the pool, where a booth[1] carved with complex mageweaths stood. A black magical crystal was embedded into the center of the booth. Countless thin threads that looked like spider silk connected the magical crystal to the Whispering God’s body.

Seeing all these things, Lin Li realized that his speculation was correct. Prince Brahere had indeed used this Whispering God as the source of mana! However, this knowledge alone was insufficient. Lin Li needed to figure out how to defeat the Whispering God above him.

If he didn’t have to consider the Whispering God, Lin Li would really want to just cut off all those threads, and put that black magical crystal brimming with mana into his own pocket. After all, that black magical crystal contained enough mana for the Whispering God to level up from the Legendary to Sanctuary-realm. It wasn’t exaggerating to say it was a Sanctuary magical crystal.

However, Lin Li guessed that the reason why the Whispering God couldn’t reach the Sanctuary-realm was exactly this black magical crystal. Although the Whispering God wouldn’t level up to the Sanctuary-realm immediately if he were to take it away now, there wouldn’t be anything holding it back, and things would become even worse by then.

Yet if he didn’t take away this magical crystal, how could he defeat the Whispering God?

An idea suddenly flashed in Lin Li’s mind. As a monster that depended solely on instincts, it was impossible to train a Whispering God like any other animal. According to its instincts, it would never give up any of the mana that it had devoured selfishly. As such, Brahere had to have done something to this Whispering God when he was cultivating it. If not, it wouldn’t go against its instincts like what it was doing now.

For any creature, survival was always the most basic instinct. Evidently, Brahere had put a restriction on the Whispering God that threatened its survival. That was why the Whispering God chose to forsake the mana that could strengthen itself. On the other hand, if Lin Li allowed the Whispering God to level up, would that trigger Brahere’s restriction and bring it to destruction?

Lin Li was currently about to make a huge gamble like never before. If he was right, he would defeat the Whispering God. If he was wrong, then he would create a Sanctuary-level enemy. However, Lin Li didn’t have any other options now. If he didn’t take this bet, the whole team would still walk towards destruction.

Looking at the enticing black magical crystal, Lin Li shook his head with resignation. He held up a piece of debris of the stars Thunderbolt, and started injecting mana into the Whispering God’s body. The mageweaths on his spacetime magic robe lit up with brilliance due to the huge amount of mana being injected.

Although it hadn’t been long since Lin Li had entered the pool, the exploration team outside was already on the verge of collapse. More and more mages and Warriors got controlled by the Whispering God’s whispers. The leaders of the four factions, including Hoffman, were struggling to deal with the Whispering God’s attacks, and couldn’t spare any effort to care about their subordinates.

Every second felt like eternity to everyone. No one knew how much longer they could persevere. When Lin Li just entered the pool, everyone was still a little hopeful that he could find a way to save them. However, seeing that there wasn’t any movement in the pool after so long, their hopes died down with time.

Just then, a terrifying wave of mana suddenly erupted from the pool. The team was terrified to realize that this monster’s abilities increased continuously, almost reaching Sanctuary-level in a flash.

However, when the fear had only just started to settle in their hearts, the monster radiating Sanctuary-level mana suddenly bloated like a huge balloon before anyone could react. It continued to bloat up even after its enormous body filled up the entire pool. Every tentacle became as thick as a pillar.

After that, the whispers that filled the room stopped. What replaced them was a loud “BAM!”. The entire incubation room shook vigorously under the shock as if it was going to collapse at any moment. The immense impact was like a hurricane; everyone was swept away from the source of the explosion. Even Legendary powerhouses like Hoffman and Joseph couldn’t withstand such impact, and could only retreat while putting up their defensive magic.

After the explosion, the incubation room seemed to have been enveloped by a thick green smog that greatly lowered the visibility of the team. Following that, a horrible stench almost made the team unable to breath. However, everyone was filled with joy because they could clearly feel that their mana was no longer seeping away from their bodies. The surrounding environment was also brimming with mana, providing a quick respite to their exhausted mana.

Undoubtedly, that nasty monster had finally disappeared from this world. How would Felic, who was the closest to the center of the explosion, fare under such a great shock? A tinge of anticipation rose in Joseph’s mind. Perhaps this could totally resolve the problem of the Tower of Dusk.

Meanwhile, Hoffman was getting anxious. He cast numerous spells to disperse the smog, wanting to know Lin Li’s condition as soon as possible. Not to mention their friendship, Lin Li and the Tower of Dusk were very important to the development of the Glittergold Trade Union. Hoffman certainly didn’t want to lose such an ally.

Finally, when the smog had thinned, Hoffman vaguely saw a silhouette not far from the edge of the pool. He immediately hastened the speed of casting the spells, and tentatively shouted, “Master Felic, is that you? How are you now? Are you alright?”

Just then, a blinding flash of white light rose from that silhouette and radiated across the entire incubation room. Under the bright light, the green smog which filled the room disappeared like ice under the effect of sunlight.

“President Felic!”

“Master!”

“Master Felic!”

Basel, Norfeller, Ujfalusi, and Hoffman finally saw who that silhouette was, and rushed towards him excitedly, surrounding Lin Li in the middle. While they were thrilled that Lin Li was alive, they were also worried whether Lin Li had suffered any injuries. After all, there was still Joseph from the Mithril Alliance watching over him like a hawk.

Lin Li looked at the surroundings. Although the green smog had been purified by the Holy Light, the already abandoned incubation room looked even shabbier after the explosion. Everything around the center of the pool had been destroyed. The incubation equipment that the team had eyed had been damaged beyond salvaging.

Seeing the concern everyone had shown around him, Lin Li put up a comforting smile, and said, “I was lucky to avoid the explosion just in time, so I’m not hurt at all. Since that monster is killed now, let’s hurry up and treat the injured now. I hope that you didn’t suffer much loss when I wasn’t around.”

Recalling the explosion, Lin Li was secretly thankful that he had worn the spacetime magic robe that Nefa had given him, which allowed him to escape from the bottom of the pool just in time. If not, he would have been seriously wounded if not dead even with his power at the peak of Legendary-realm.

However, the team outside of the pool wasn’t so lucky—especially those who had been controlled after the Whispering God devoured all of their mana. Although they regained consciousness after the whispers stopped, they were almost defenseless when facing the explosion without their mana. Even a lot of people from the Tower of Dusk suffered injuries too—despite the fact that they got a little bit of protection from the top-level magical equipment that they had donned. As for the mages from the other three factions, they weren’t as lucky.

Now that the Whispering God was killed, the pressing issue was curing the injured mages. Looking at the injured, the leaders of the factions couldn’t help but feel troubled. This troubled feeling even washed away some of the happiness they had felt after escaping death narrowly.

“Master Felic, it looks like we have to spend a while here. It’s not so bad on your side, but for us…” Hoffman shook his head with a frown. Clearly, the situation didn’t look great.

Due to the explosion of the Whispering God, a great amount of mana had been released. Thus, the mages who had exhausted all their mana could recover to their original state after a short period of meditation.

[1] It’s not really clear whether it’s a booth because of the vague wording, so it may change to a seat or something of the sort.