End of the Magic Era
chapter-152

Lin Yun was stunned for a moment as he looked at the carriage in front of William, and sure enough, it had the crest of the Merlin Family, a flaming staff.

"Would you like to say hello?" Lin Yun asked without thinking. After all, William was now staying in the Gilded Rose, but he was still a member of the Merlin Family. Now that someone of the Merlin Family came, if William didn't greet them properly, things might become awkward for him afterwards.

"Not going, not going…" But William immediately shook his head as a reply.

What a joke... If it had been in the past, William might have hesitated a bit. After all, although his Master Alchemist cousin had boundless prospects, it would be a very long time before the Gilded Rose become a force that could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Merlin Family. Before that, keeping a good relationship with the Merlin Family would be good to keep a potential escape path.

But now, William's thoughts had changed.

As one of the few outstanding members of the young generation of the Merlin Family, William Merlin was already entitled to some of the secrets of the Merlin Family. William knew to some extent how the Merlin Family had been able to rise so quickly in the last millennia to the point that they were now on par with the Watson Family. It was all because the worthy ancestors of the Merlin Family managed to conquer four planes in over a millennium.

The income brought in by those four planes was five times that of the Merlin Family's territories!

This was just in the field of money and resources...

Apart from this, the land reclamations and campaigns in the four planes would provide a great number of elite warriors to the Merlin Family. These warriors would experience the baptism of blood and battles, and they were the most valuable resources of the Merlin Family. At least two-thirds of the Archmages of the Merlin Family had advanced in these four planes.

There was no need to mention other hidden benefits, as just these two points were enough to know how important a private plane was.

Now, William knew that this cousin also had his own private plane...

Moreover, that private plane was very rich. Just the Nether Iron Vein was enough to arouse greed from any major force in the kingdom, and furthermore, William didn't dare to imagine what was past the black wasteland. If the black wasteland was like that, then how many riches awaited beyond it?

But it didn't matter if William couldn't imagine it. William knew that with this rich and shocking private plane, surpassing the Merlin Family was only a matter of time. Maybe even the Cloud Tower and the Black Tower would have to bow before the Gilded Rose in the future.

Thinking of such a beautiful future, how could William still worry about keeping an escape path? How could he still have the time to deal with the Merlin Family?

"Let's go say hello." After thinking about it, Lin Yun rephrased his sentence, using an imperative sentence rather than a question.

Lin Yun recalled that he still had some use for the Merlin Family.

"Okay, understood." William had been in Thousand Sails City for long enough that he already knew his cousin's character. Hearing this, he understood that his cousin had some plan and immediately nodded before entering the Gilded Rose with the latter.

The business of the current Gilded Rose was booming.

Almost all of the major forces of Thousand Sails City sent their people. Large orders were queued one after the other, lining up until the next year, yet they were unwilling to give up. The Twin Moons Splendor was only a street apart from the Gilded Rose, and although there was a gap between the quality of their items, with the advantage of lower prices, how could it not take some business away from the Gilded Rose?

But the strange thing was that...

The Twin Moons Splendor was now completely deserted. Let alone orders for the next year, who knew if they would even have an order for the day? If the major forces went over, they might be able to directly get what they needed.

But none of them were willing to go to the Twin Moons Splendor.

In the alchemy business, the winner would win everything and the loser would starve. Alchemy items were directly related to fighting power. Even if it was only slightly better, it might determine one's life or death in battle. Under such circumstances, no one would be foolish enough to pick substandard products.

Moreover, the alchemy products of the Twin Moons Splendor weren't just slightly inferior.

Weapons and armors forged from Nether Iron... In the entire eastern kingdom, only the Gilded Rose sold those. In these circumstances, no matter how much the Twin Moons Splendor lowered their prices, they simply couldn't contend with the Gilded Rose...

After Lin Yun entered, he directly walked to his alchemy laboratory.

He had William go to the reception room to greet the person from the Merlin Family.

After entering the alchemy laboratory, Lin Yun noticed the huge crystal ball flashing continuously. This was a communication request from the Cloud Tower. Lin Yun just realized that he had foolishly stayed at in that secret room at home for a week and completely forgotten Star Sage Jouyi.

Lin Yun promptly accepted the transmission from the Sage Tower.

Sure enough, the person appearing in the crystal ball was Jouyi.

"Eh… Hello, Star Sage Jouyi." When Lin Yun saw Star Sage Jouyi's appearance, he understood that this communication request must have been going on for a long time.

"Merlin, you are very busy…"

Jouyi had a fake smile on his face, which made Lin Yun feel somewhat guilty. But it's not like Lin Yun could explain himself, so he just let out an awkward "ha ha".

"..." Jouyi's temper was able to calm down; this was an advantage of age. The youth in front of him was no more than twenty and was acting like a youth, what could Jouyi say? He shook his head with a sigh and asked, "The matter I mentioned last time, did you think it through?"

"That…" Lin Yun found it quite tricky. When Lin Yun had asked to borrow Black Death Rune, this Star Sage straightforwardly agreed, but he raised a condition to Lin Yun, or rather… A request.

Jouyi hoped that Lin Yun would become a member of an organization called the Magic Hand.

Lin Yun was startled at first, thinking it was a cult.

But after hearing Jouyi's explanation, it turned out that the Magic Hand was actually an academic organization. It was first established by a few peak mages of the kingdom to exchange magic knowledge. It gradually expanded over a few hundred years and had now admitted nearly all the peak mages of the kingdom.

This also meant that regardless of whether it was the Cloud Tower or the Black Tower, the Sage Tower or the Ash Tower, as long as one had enough qualifications, one could join the Magic Hand without being affected by the hostile relationship between the various sides.

Jouyi did this out of good intentions.

After considering it, Lin Yun did have a certain amount of interest.

This was normal. Although Lin Yun had mastered knowledge that was beyond this era, this didn't mean that he was already omnipotent. This was simply impossible, as the field of magic was as vast as a sea, and Lin Yun only possessed one library in the end of the magic era. Regardless of how huge, no matter how well furnished that library was, it simply couldn't include everything. Becoming a member of the Magic Hand and exchanging magic knowledge with peak mages could potentially be very beneficial to Lin Yun.

"Sir Jouyi, since you so generously offered, how would I dare to refuse…"

"Good, good…" Hearing Lin Yun's positive answer, Jouyi laughed from his crystal ball.

Jouyi had hardly concealed his admiration for this young mage in the distant Thousand Sails City. In fact, if the other side wanted, Jouyi wouldn't mind making him his inheritor and handing him the Cloud Tower in the future.

Because Jouyi could see that this was a true genius that would walk the path of magic to the peak.

Solomon's insight couldn't compare to Jouyi's.

Solomon might be able to see that this young mage would most likely become an Archmage, but he couldn't see beyond that.

But Jouyi could see.

Not only could he see that youth would reach the Archmage realm, but he could also see him reaching a higher place.

That place might not be limited to the Heaven Rank.

Unfortunately, that young mage had his own goals. Not only was he unwilling to join the Cloud Tower, but he was also unwilling to leave for Okland. Thus, Jouyi had no choice but to settle for second best. He would first make him join the Magic Hand, and the rest could be discussed later.

When his thoughts reached this point, Jouyi once again shook his head regretfully. After a short moment of silence, he reminded, "By the way, Merlin, there is the yearly meeting of the Magic Hand on the 15th of next month. The meeting will be held in Oddrock City. You must come, I'll formally introduce you into the Magic Hand."

"Oddrock City?" Lin Yun suddenly mused, 'Isn't that the domain of the Ash Tower…? That isn't so good… I just got rid of a Great Mage from the Ash Tower and I am still holding on the Lava Dominator. If I go to Oddrock City, wouldn't I be walking into a trap?'

But he then thought that since it was the yearly meeting of the Magic Hand, the Ash Tower wouldn't dare to try anything, and if they did, others would help deal with it, so he nodded as he agreed, "Okay, I'll definitely go."

After obtaining a positive answer, Jouyi shut the transmission with a satisfied expression.

The crystal gradually darkened. Lin Yun then took out the Book of Death and then spread a piece of paper on the refining table to continue the work he had yet to complete in the secret room.