Chapter 1008: Guidance Battle

The Ashen Warlock had existed since the Dark Age, and despite having lived for a long time, he had not reached the level of the Immortal King yet. Besides, he probably might not improve any further in the future. On the other hand, Lin Li had only arrived in Anril for a few years, and yet he had already become a Sanctuary powerhouse who had a huge potential and room for growth. A simple comparison would show the obvious differences between the two of them.

However, the giant mana hand that grabbed Lin Li was not as simple as a hand that was condensed using mana. As soon as Lin Li was grabbed by the mana hand, he felt a massive amount of strange mana surging into his body, causing the mana that was running in his body to stagnate.

Mana Shackle! A Sanctuary Master was struck with the Mana Shackle!

The battle between Lin Li and Geresco’s incarnation had only lasted for a few seconds from the beginning before ending up in the former’s defeat in the middle of a Domain World that was made up of debris of the stars. That outcome was a huge blow to Lin Li as it gave him a new perspective on his understanding of his own power.

After Lin Li advanced to level-26 and his debris of the stars was complete, he always thought that his power was enough for him to contend with a level-27 Sanctuary powerhouse. However, Geresco’s incarnation was now only at level-25!

Just as Lin Li was feeling hopeless, the mana hand that was restricting him suddenly disappeared, after which the mana that had been restrained in his body also returned to its original operational speed.

“What’s the matter?” Lin Li asked as he looked at Geresco’s incarnation, finding it strange.

“Do you think you have everything just because you have strength? Do you think that by exhibiting all your power, you can defeat all your enemies!? You’ve really disappointed me!” Geresco’s incarnation hollered sternly with anger written all over his face, as if he was a teacher who was lecturing his student.

Lin Li, who had just heaved a sigh of relief due to the disappearance of the mana hand, no longer looked relieved after hearing the words of Geresco’s incarnation. Instead, he looked ashamed. He finally understood that just like the Immortal King’s incarnation, the Geresco’s incarnation was testing him.

Lin Li had obtained the three things left behind by Geresco, the Evil Eye Tyrant’s magical crystal that was used for improving mental strength, the Book of Eternity that was used for increasing one’s magical knowledge, and the key that was undoubtedly used to verify what was learned. Just like a final exam after the completion of a semester in school, Lin Li also had to go through an exam to test his knowledge.

Lin Li had been studying the Book of Eternity for a long time, and he would read it during almost all his free time. He had gained a huge understanding of the content of the Book of Eternity, but it was another thing to put theory into practice during battles. In particular, after Lin Li had stepped into the Sanctuary-realm and gained the power of the complete debris of the stars, he had been pouring out all his power during most of the battles that he fought while neglecting the sharpening of his techniques, just like what Geresco’s incarnation had said.

For example, when Geresco’s incarnation released countless arrows of lightning just now, the first thing that came to Lin Li’s mind was to unleash his full power and resist the opponent’s attack as hard as he could because he knew deep down that the level-25 incarnation of Geresco would not be able to suppress him during such a head-on clash of power.

However, Geresco had taught Lin Li that not all enemies could be suppressed with a powerful head-on collision. The loud arrows of lightning were just a cover that concealed Geresco’s invasion of the Domain World on the other side when they clashed with the Domain World.

Lin Li had seen such techniques in the Book of Eternity too, and he also knew how to use them. However, he completely neglected it during the actual battle. Fortunately, Geresco’s purpose was to test him, not to kill him. Otherwise, even if Lin Li had not died, he would have had to pay a huge price.

Geresco did not give Lin Li much time to think. After lecturing him, the staff in his hand began to glow again, and a Domain World was immediately opened. Although it seemed rather elementary, it was because Geresco’s incarnation was only at level-25, after all. It was actually not considered a world at all, and was worlds apart from the Legendary-level Domain World.

However, Lin Li, who had already been taught a lesson, dared not belittle Geresco’s incarnation at all. When he saw the latter opening the Domain World, he dared not delay for a single second, and quickly took out the Helios’ Scepter. The large gemstone on it was also glowing with eruptive mana.

The battle between the two Sanctuary powerhouses broke out again, and although it seemed like a loud and powerful collision, both of them knew that the sounds were only superficial signs. Under the cover of the loud sounds, they each used their respective means, and the battle seemed to have become a battle of wits. It was no longer a clash of power, but also a clash of experience, knowledge, skills, and intelligence.

“So what if you’re fast at casting spells? If you can’t do any damage to the opponent, you’ll just be wasting your time even if you can cast tens of thousands of spells immediately.” Geresco’s incarnation was just like the strictest teacher who was continuously pointing out Lin Li’s mistakes. If he were berating someone else instead of Lin Li, they might really kill themselves out of shame.

At this moment, Lin Li finally discovered that even though he had learned a lot of magic, and had even stepped into the Sanctuary-realm that was coveted by countless people, he was still just like a mage apprentice in front of Geresco.

That was not an exaggeration at all. Lin Li was a level-26 Sanctuary Master who had powerful debris of the stars. By right, he should have an advantage when facing the level-25 incarnation of Geresco. However, Lin Li seemed to have suddenly become stupid and powerless in the battle with Geresco’s incarnation. He seemed to have continuously stepped into traps.

On the other hand, the traps that Lin Li had put effort into designing were useless in the face of Geresco. After he had painstakingly made Geresco fall into his trap, the latter would get out of it effortlessly. It was akin to a small pit dug painstakingly by a child that would barely cause any injury to an adult who stepped into it.

In just a few minutes, Lin Li and Geresco’s incarnation fought for dozens of rounds, but Lin Li would have usually been caught by Geresco’s incarnation after just two or three rounds. If Geresco’s incarnation had had the intention to kill Lin Li, the latter would have probably died several times. However, based on that alone, it was obvious that Geresco’s incarnation had not unleashed all its strength yet. Otherwise, how could he have used his power so freely?

The fact that a level-26 Sanctuary powerhouse couldn’t even be on par with a level-25 Sanctuary powerhouse was too much of a blow. All along, Lin Li had always been the one to launch attacks beyond his level, but this time he was the one being hit. That was a huge irony.

However, Lin Li was not simply being hit. Despite having failed countless times and being beaten to a pulp within such a short period of time, he had also learned a lot during his fight with Geresco’s incarnation. Compared to the Immortal King’s incarnation, Geresco’s incarnation was truly a dedicated teacher who would sternly point out Lin Li’s problems after defeating him.

Lin Li had initially learned a lot of knowledge from the Book of Eternity, and a variety of techniques of mana usage during battles was deeply etched in his mind. The only thing he lacked was putting his theory into practice. Without actual practice, the knowledge he had would only remain theoretical. Only after having tested it himself would he be able to truly internalize the knowledge.

After the sharpening and honing of his skills, Lin Li felt that he had gained a new understanding of the skills mentioned in the Book of Eternity. They were no longer just a type of knowledge, but had gradually become skills of his own. That was probably what integration was about.

However, just as Lin Li unprecedentedly and perfectly exhibited the magic skills that he had mastered and made Geresco fall into a trap with a design that amazed him, Geresco gave him a huge blow.

“Techniques and skills are just going to assist you. The true power of a mage comes from his understanding of the world, and this is how the World Domain comes about!” Geresco had finally stepped into the lethal trap that Lin Li had designed, but immediately after the staff in his hand stopped moving, Lin Li’s Domain World immediately collapsed, and the seven pieces of the debris of the stars darted out of the Domain World.

The situation was instantly reversed, and the seven pieces of the debris of the stars seemed to have lost control as they left Lin Li’s Domain World one after another. On the other hand, Lin Li was holding the Helios’ Scepter, and staring foolishly at Geresco’s incarnation while anger surfaced in his heart.

Lin Li felt that he had surpassed many other Sanctuary Masters of the same level in terms of his understanding of the world thanks to his comprehension of the Laws of the debris of the stars. However, Geresco’s incarnation had proven that Lin Li’s comprehension and understanding were far from sufficient.

Lin Li could completely feel that this incarnation of Geresco was not only restricted to level-25, but his understanding of the world similarly was also at level-25. However, it was obvious that although Geresco’s understanding of the world was not profound, he had a more thorough understanding of what he ought to know at level-25.

“Debris of the stars, Domain World!” Lin Li finally knew where his problem lay. He was overly dependent on the Domain World that was created using his debris of the stars, which undoubtedly caused his understanding and control of the Domain World to become somewhat skewed.

It was true that Lin Li could build a Domain World that exceeded his current level with the power of the debris of the stars so as to display stronger combat power, but as a mage, his understanding of the world was actually what he truly needed the most.

Just like what Geresco wrote on the cover of the Book of Eternity, knowledge was indeed the highest faith of a mage, and all other external items could only be used to provide assistance, not become a substitute for the knowledge possessed by a mage. A powerful external aid was like icing on a cake. If the user was incompetent, the aid would only seem like an empty gilded shell.

With Geresco’s reminder, Lin Li gave up on using the debris of the stars, and rebuilt his Domain World using his understanding of the world instead. Back then, in the Alanna created by the Immortal King, Lin Li had obtained the soul memories of the Highlord’s impostor. At that time, he had already obtained some understanding of the Domain World. Hence, at this moment, it was actually more of a fusion of memories and turning someone else’s possession into his own.

Geresco’s incarnation could acutely detect the problems that currently existed in Lin Li’s Domain World. He could also use those problems to destroy Lin Li’s Domain World again. In this process, Lin Li was also constantly making up for his shortcomings, repairing the problems in his Domain World, and perfecting his control over it.

In the process of fighting Geresco’s incarnation, Lin Li finally understood why Geresco was known as the God of Mages. It was not only because Geresco had led the rebellion forces to overthrow the rule of the High Elves, nor because he had established the Supreme Council and started the era of human magic civilization. Instead, Lin Li felt that it was because Geresco was just like an omnipotent god who knew almost the answer to everything related to magic.

Lin Li could no longer remember exactly how many times he and Geresco’s incarnation had fought, but he knew that he would often lose within an extremely short period of time. However, the fact that Lin Li could clearly sense his own growth and discover the problem before resolving it was part of his growth process.

Boom! A completely blank area with no mana fluctuations suddenly erupted with shocking power of destruction.

Once again, Lin Li fell into a trap laid by Geresco’s incarnation, but this time he did not panic at all, and the Helios’ Scepter in his hand immediately shone brightly. The World Domain around him seemed to be breathing and contracting to the point where it was almost sticking to his body. It then expanded violently like the explosion that happened during the birth of the world, immediately pushing away the damage of the surroundings.

However, Geresco’s incarnation that was opposite did not compliment Lin Li for his ability to adapt to changes. Instead, he quickly pointed his staff that was glowing with mana at Lin Li. Immediately, flowers of black flames appeared in the air, and the black flames that could burn the air immediately pressed onto Lin Li’s Domain World before engulfing it with an uncontrollable power.

Previously, Lin Li had suffered because of the Black Flames Flowers. Although the Domain World created by the seven pieces of the debris of the stars was not susceptible to head-on collisions, such erosive and penetrative attacks were a huge headache for Lin Li. His previous Domain World relied on the massive power of the debris of the stars, and his lack of understanding of the world was the greatest weakness of his domain.