End of the Magic Era
chapter-1305

Chapter 1305: Final Choice

On this planet where gravity was unimaginably strong, space had been significantly compressed. A dozen meters here equaled to 100 kilometers in normal space. Adding the enormous pressure, it was impossible for the Soul Swallower to simulate Xiusi’s soul ability anymore…

Since it couldn’t simulate Xiusi’s ability and continue chasing it, it could only keep itself in the current status at best. When it ran out of soul power, it would be torn apart into shreds by the enormous gravity. No, it would be ripped apart into tiny particles, and become part of the planet…

Xiusi returned to Noscent after all the trouble. It lay on the ground like a dead bird the moment it returned.

“Sir Merlin, I’m dying, I’m dying…” Xiusi screamed miserably on the ground. Both of its wings had been fractured. Its bones were broken too. Half of its feathers had dropped. It looked like a chicken that had been processed, and was about to be made into food…

Lin Yun’s eyelids shivered. He took out a bottle of vitality potion for Xiusi, and then covered it in another bottle of vitality potion. A dozen minutes later, Xiusi finally recovered tiredly. It wasn’t easy for the body to recover. If Xiusi hadn’t been a soul entity but a normal life form, it would’ve died a long time ago…

“Xiusi, let me get another body for you—”

Before Lin Yun could finish, Xiusi’s eyes glittered, and it quickly shook its head.

“No, no, no. Sir Merlin, this body is great. I’m very satisfied with it. It can eat pastries and fly…”

Lin Yun was puzzled. He didn’t know why Xiusi tried so hard to prevent the body from being destroyed. For Xiusi, a body should be no different from a set of clothes. Changing a body wouldn’t affect this pure soul life at all…

However, since Xiusi was unwilling to accept the offer, Lin Yun took out another few bottles of potion, and helped cure the wounds.

Seeing Xiusi’s miserable look, Lin Yun knew that he could ignore the first plane he selected. Whatever almost killed Xiusi had surely been above level 49, if not in the Heaven Rank. There might be even more extraordinary lives…

The plane that he sent Xiusi to investigate was the most suitable one for the Gilded Rose at this moment. That plane had a vast continent, and was suitable for the growth of herbs and plants. Almost all sorts of herbs could be grown in this place. Unfortunately, just as expected, the plane was too dangerous. Even Xiusi, which was very good at running, was almost killed…

So, he had to try the other planes that were less satisfactory. After Xiusi was cured and given a rest and a few pieces of pastries, the silly bird immediately forgot that it almost died, and began to boast about itself.

“Sir Merlin, I was hunted by a level-48, no, a level-49 Soul Swallower just now. I appeared right next to the Soul Swallower’s mouth. How could it possibly let go of the great Xiusi? It chased me relentlessly. I didn’t have any choice except to bring it to a silver planet that had horrifying gravity.

“Haha. That idiot thought simulating my soul abilities was enough. But it was too stupid. I had a body. I am an owl with a spatial power bloodline. Eventually, it imprisoned itself with the soul ability it simulated, while I got away with my bloodline power. That dumbass must be dead now…”

Xiusi cackled, and had a few pieces of pastries that were more expensive than gold of the same weight. It then left delightedly with the second pair of coordinates that Lin Yun produced.

Five minutes later, Xiusi hopped out of the shadows of space while shrieking. Its feathers seemed to have been burnt up, and it reeked of the smell of barbecue…

“Sir Merlin, help me! I’m dying! I’m dying!”

Frowning, Lin Yun gazed at Xiusi, and turned vitality potion into a ball of water that contained Xiusi. Xiusi didn’t recover until five minutes later, but its burnt feathers didn’t have replacements. It looked like a chicken whose feathers had been plucked.

Lin Yun heaved a sigh. He could easily imagine what happened. It was impossible to go to this plane, either. Even Xiusi, which was unparalleled in terms of escaping, had lost all its feathers. If Lin Yun had been there, he probably would’ve been killed instantly…

Revisiting the spatial coordinates that he had noted down, Lin Yun abandoned most of them. The most suitable and satisfactory planes could all be given up. The coordinates all pointed to the prosperous locations in those planes that had abundant mana. Whoever controlled those planes would definitely control those places. Or maybe, those planes were highly dangerous forbidden lands that would kill any trespasser.

Abandoning the most favorable planes, Lin Yun found only three pairs of coordinates left. They were the coordinates that led to the weakest and worst known planes. But that was only if they were compared to the previous planes. They were still quite great for Lin Yun at this moment.

He sent Xiusi to investigate the planes again. The first two planes were hopeless. In one of the places marked by the coordinates, a level-48 behemoth was sleeping. The other was the nest to a horrifying group of creatures which almost destroyed Xiusi’s body.

Only the last plane remained. Lin Yun frowned in dissatisfaction. While the last plane satisfied all of the Gilded Rose’s needs, it was the worst plane among all the planes that met the Gilded Rose’s demands.

Lin Yun heaved a sigh, and sent Xiusi to investigate. In no more than 10 minutes, Xiusi returned and reported good news. There was no danger around the location of the coordinates. It was spacious and safe.

However, Lin Yun wasn’t happy at all. The last suitable plane left was a special one, whose spatial barrier was very weak compared to others. Also, the coordinates pointed to somewhere in space, so one would appear in space after opening the Planar Path, and couldn’t enter the plane without breaking the spatial barrier. Because of the plane’s uniqueness, it was impossible to establish a stable Planar Path inside the plane.

Confirming that it was safe, Lin Yun asked Xiusi to take him there. In only a few seconds, Xiusi had set the spatial wave frequency around Lin Yun exactly the same as that around itself. Then, it disappeared from Noscent along with Lin Yun.

They reappeared in the boundless space. There was nothing within a radius of a billion kilometers. Several billion kilometers away, an enormous star was burning, and constantly emitting heat.

Seeing the void in front of him, Lin Yun calculated silently for a moment, and then examined a certain direction. After a dozen minutes, he finally detected unusual waves from that direction.

The strange waves that occurred now and then were caused by the friction between the spatial barrier and this space. Such situations were very rare even tens of thousands of years later.

To find the entrance to a plane in the boundless void purely depended on luck. Only Lin Yun, who knew the exact location of the plane and the precise direction it lay in, could possibly find the point of breakthrough.

Otherwise, to find an opening that was only several kilometers long in the boundless void would’ve been even more difficult than to find a grain of sand in the Noscent’s ocean.

Examining the environment for a while, Lin Yun asked Xiusi to bring him back. A few seconds later, Xiusi and Lin Yun disappeared together.

Such space travels were very exhausting. Xiusi could only carry Lin Yun alone. The time it cost to prepare each trip was quite great too. It was impossible to travel unless safety had been confirmed.

Returning to Noscent, Lin Yun began to wonder how he could conquer that special plane. The conquest should be easy, but the special plane was quite dangerous. It was only accessible from space. Also, it was impossible to send a large garrison to that plane.

That was the conclusion that would be drawn in the future after the deaths of countless experts. In the future, the coordinates would point to an enormous void island that the Noscent mages created in the void. The garrison that protected the plane all stayed on the island, keeping their distance from the entrance of the plane. In order to develop the plane, the Gilded Rose would need to occupy the entrance to the plane.

If so, they would need magic battleships, which were compulsory. Although there wasn’t even a desolate planet nearby, nobody was 100% sure what might happen in the void. To defend against invaders and spies was necessary. Only the magic battleships could carry out such a task.

The Intrepid could be used in battles. However, The Intrepid was a special creature. As an enormous battleship that was built with the remains of Gods and Demons, it was sort of a life form, even though it didn’t have a soul. The Intrepid carried the mark of the Raging Flame Plane, and could only be deployed in the smaller planes that were attached to the Raging Flame Plane, or the Raging Flame Plane itself. It couldn’t stay in other places for a long time.

The Intrepid used the remains of Gods and Demons as its keel, and was horrifyingly powerful. However, it had a fatal weakness in this situation. It could be used in battles, but only magic battleships could be deployed to garrison a place.

However, in this age, the magic battleships had just been invented. Even Agalon only boasted an iron warship 500 meters long, which had been torn into pieces by a space beast instantly. That was impossible to happen in the future.

A 500-meter-long magic battleship, if caught in the same situation, could’ve torn the void beast in three minutes at most. Only experienced Archmages were required to sail such battleships.

The best warships in Noscent were airships. However, such airships wouldn’t even be qualified as carriers 7,000 years later. They could only be used as garbage vessels to dispose of rubbish at best.

Agalon’s iron warship could only be used as a vehicle, and it could only deal with the wandering stones in the void to save the mages’ time. Were it caught in any battle, the iron warship would be a moving target.

Even the lowest-level magic battleship, which would be usually 100 meters long, could easily rip apart dozens of iron warships under the control of a few Great Mages.

Lin Yun frowned and thought hard. Then, he had a strong headache. The Firerock Dwarves, one of the three races under his command, had been on The Intrepid. He sent many alchemists to study The Intrepid too. However, they hadn’t found out anything yet. The Intrepid was itself a high-level Heaven Rank alchemy array. The research results so far were only laying the groundwork. It was impossible for his subordinates to build a magic battleship—at least for now.

Also, as the Gilded Rose was expanding, it required more and more alchemists. Low-level alchemists could be hired easily. Everything would be fine as long as they signed a contract with the Gilded Rose.

However, to create even the lowest-level magic battleship, the alchemists required were Artisans, or at least Master-level ones. They also had to be very familiar with the technology of current airships. It would be even better if they had already invented some valuable technologies.

Lin Yun heaved a sigh. The construction of a magic battleship was a huge project that couldn’t be accomplished by one or two people. Even he couldn’t master all the details of a magic battleship. He only knew the basic direction and the technologies needed. He was familiar with the most crucial technologies that were applied in magic battleships, but it was impossible for him to build one.

Where could he find so many Artisans and Master Alchemists? Lin Yun couldn’t think of another place except the Starry Sky College.

There were a couple of alchemy organizations. Some of them were fairly close to the Gilded Rose. Also, the Sky City’s alchemists were the most suitable for the research of magic battleships, which were similar to what the Sky City was working on.

Unfortunately, it was impossible for Lin Yun to borrow anyone from the Sky City. They would be happy to lend the alchemists to him because the alchemists would eventually return to the Sky City with the important knowledge after doing him the favor. In every organization, the Artisans and the Master Alchemists were very important.

The Starry Sky College was the only exception. That was the only place which didn’t have so many rules, and which had a lot of senior alchemists. Also, with Agalon as an intermediate, it would be fine even if the alchemists decided to work for the Gilded Rose. Agalon was going to hand over the Starry Sky College to Lin Yun anyway. They would eventually be working for him. Besides, Agalon would be very happy to let those alchemists study advanced alchemy technologies.

The three deans of the Starry Sky College were probably already aware of the matter. It wouldn’t be difficult for them to give Lin Yun a few Artisans and Master Alchemists if he talked to them.

Lin Yun left the Gilded Rose for the Starry Sky College. When other people learned the news, they became anxious.

In the Lodney Family, Wilder listened to the report nervously.

“What? 20 Heaven Rank alchemy puppets appeared in Gilded Rose’s convoys? And Mafa Merlin went to the Starry Sky College?”

Wilder wore an awful expression. His cold sweat was popping up too.

He knew that it wasn’t over. Mafa Merlin didn’t react at all when his convoys were attacked. He was only defending himself. That was truly weird. Something was definitely wrong.

The 20 Heaven Rank alchemy puppets had to be the Great Astrologian’s gift. Only the Starry Sky College could’ve been generous enough to offer so many. Because of the unexpected Heaven Rank alchemy puppets, the attackers would suffer a heavy loss. Mafa Merlin wouldn’t let them go so easily. He had to be going to the Starry Sky College for help.

Mafa Merlin surely didn’t know who attacked his convoys. He wouldn’t give up even if he didn’t find anything. As long as he asked for the Starry Sky College’s help, the three deans would definitely try their best to help Mafa Merlin because of the Great Astrologian. Those idiots couldn’t possibly hide themselves any longer. After offending the Great Astrologian and the Starry Sky College, they could never rise in the Odin Kingdom.

As long as the Great Astrologian gave a word, even the royal family of the Odin Kingdom would help suppress those idiots out of respect for him.

Wilder regretted listening to those two b*tches, and helping them deal with Mafa Merlin. This was truly bad. If Mafa Merlin found out that the two b*tches had visited the Lodney Family, it would be impossible for him to explain himself. This time, the Great Astrologian wouldn’t show any mercy…