End of the Magic Era

The Gilded Rose’s carriage was quiet at this moment…

Xiuban was doing his best to hide in the corner of the carriage, tinkering and fiddling with that perfect combination of magic and toxicity, the hand-crossbow. William had already finished his meditation for the day and was cheerfully looking back at his progress for the day.

Sometimes, William really wondered what was in his cousin’s head. How did he know so much about so many things? Not to mention the rest, just the Meditation Law Set his cousin had given him was enough to shock anyone with its effectiveness and novelty. Before they left for the Bone Plane, his cousin had given them three Meditation Law Sets, one for Faleau, one for the fifty Mages, and one for himself.

At the time, even if he was unwilling to admit it, he could feel that the Meditation Law Set was already more fitting for him than the Meditation Law Set that the Merlin Family had refined and integrated with their bloodline over the course of a thousand years.

And even more so after Lin Yun updated it in the carriage after ascertaining the extent of William’s magical progress.

Now that he thought about it, he truly had been foolish at first…

That Meditation Law Set could only be described as heaven-defying, and what the Merlin Family used simply couldn’t compare to it. In one month, the efficiency of his meditation had more than doubled, and moreover, this Meditation Law Set seemed to be specialized in strengthening Fire Magic. Over the month, he could feel that the power of his fire spells had far surpassed those of his former self…

He sometimes felt that he was very fortunate.

If those Elders from the council hadn’t sent him to Thousand Sails City, how could he have encountered such an opportunity?

After all, he was one amongst many children of the Merlin Family back then, and at best he could have been counted within the top ten in terms of potential. There were many outstanding geniuses ahead of him such as Leon, who had already become a High Mage at such a young age, and also Aube, who also entered the Elder Council. What was he compared to them?

But it was different now.

He had gotten a second wind in Thousand Sails City. He had fifty Great Mages as subordinates and his strength was advancing by leaps and bounds. From being a 5th Rank Great Mage, he was now an 8th Rank Great Mage, and there was no resistance on his path to continue improving. This crazy speed surpassed all the geniuses from the Merlin Family. William even felt that he could keep this incredible pace as he advanced to become a High Mage. He wondered what kind of expressions the people from the Merlin Family would have when they saw him once again.

Thinking about it, William looked at the meditating Lin Yun with a complicated expression. There was fear, wonder, and even some worship, because William knew that everything he had gained these days was because of this younger cousin. His cousin was bound to shock all of Noscent, and sooner or later, there would be a day when he supported this cousin from behind as he stood at the peak of Noscent.

“Finished your meditation?” Lin Yun suddenly opened his eyes and glanced at William.

“Yes, I finished.”

“How do you feel?”

“I feel very good, very very good…” As the Meditation Law Set was mentioned, William felt excited. “I think I can enter the 9th Rank within two months.”

“Haha, I would doubt your talent if you still couldn’t become a High Mage after two months from now…” Lin Yun calmly smiled, not feeling any problem with this pace.

William was the leader of the mercenary group that Lin Yun chose himself. How could he convince others if he wasn’t good enough? Thus, before entering the Bone Plane, Lin Yun had personally chosen a Meditation Law Set for William, and it wasn’t an ordinary one.

At the gathering of the Magic Hand, Lin Yun had exchanged three Meditation Law Sets with eight formulas in each for a territory, some ruins, and sixty spirit mana crystals.

But the Meditation Law Set that he gave to William had a shocking ten formulas!

It was called Crimson Heart. In this era, it would definitely rise to become the best Meditation Law Set. If William had the power and opportunity, he could even rely on that Meditation Law Set to establish a force that would not be inferior to the Cloud Tower or the Black Tower.

But William’s understanding of the Crimson Heart was far from sufficient for now.

It looked like it only raised William’s meditation efficiency and the destructive power of his Fire System spells. But the true Crimson Heart was far more than that. It was famous during the peak of the 3rd Dynasty as the core Meditation Law Set of the Crimson Tower. After the destruction of the Crimson Tower, this Meditation Law was lost for a few millennia up until many years later, when an Archmage excavated some of the Crimson Tower’s ruins and obtained this set of ten formulas from within.

Naturally, there was no need to tell William about this.

When William deepened his understanding of the Crimson Heart, he would naturally understand the true power of this Meditation Law.

Lin Yun now needed to spend more energy on Xiuban.

The roguish-looking Draconic Beastman was cowering in the corner of the carriage, but Lin Yun knew that with the Beastman and Draconic Bloodlines in his body, his future was limitless. He would be a dual martial and magical powerhouse. After all, as a Sword Saint with a tyrannical force who also had innate Draconic Magic… what kind of monster would he become?

Moreover, Xiuban had already signed the contract to become Lin Yun’s property, so there was no need to think about loyalty.

He would be wasting his potential if he didn’t train with such good conditions.

“Xiuban, come.”

“Ah?” The Draconic Beastman, who had still been fiddling with the hand-crossbow, shook when he heard Lin Yun utter his name…

Although Lin Yun had gifted him such an amazing weapon, in the Draconic Beastman’s heart, Lin Yun was still a sinister Human Mage. Nothing could be done about that, as Syudos’ lesson had left deep marks. It was to the point that Xiuban kept waking up from nightmares when he slept, and the first thing he would do upon waking was to raise his head to check if the frightening flames were around…

Of course, after being treated so harshly by Syudos, Xiuban wouldn’t dare disobey Lin Yun. Although he was terrified of that mage, he still slowly moved over after hearing Lin Yun’s instructions.

“Hold this…” Lin Yun searched in his pocket before taking out a silver necklace and throwing it to Xiuban.

“Thank you, Sir Merlin…” Xiuban was immediately disappointed as he received the necklace. He properly thanked the evil mage, while secretly despising him. ‘That Evil Human Mage, why did he suddenly become so stingy… He called me just to give me a silver necklace. Is that a mana crystal? So miserable… It’s not even the size of a toe…’

“Starting from today, you’ll have to carry this necklace at all times. If I find out that the necklace disappeared… I’m sure Syudos will be happy to chat with you…”

“Yes, yes, yes…” When the Draconic Beastman heard the name Syudos, his legs suddenly shook. Lin Yun hadn’t needed to say much. Xiuban hurried to fasten the necklace around his neck, feeling somewhat apprehensive. ‘Such a wretched necklace, if I return to the Highland Beastman Tribe wearing this, wouldn’t I be ridiculed?’

Fortunately for him, Lin Yun didn’t know what he was thinking, or he would have been quite angry.

Indeed, that necklace was nothing by itself, as Lin Yun only spent a few minutes to craft it out of a silver ingot that Syudos melted.

But the pendant on the necklace…

That “miserable” mana crystal was actually invaluable.

It was a spirit mana crystal!

Lin Yun had sold his Meditation Law Set for sixty spirit mana crystals, but even though Mogg controlled Whistle Island, he couldn’t pay him in such a short time. Mogg had only paid three on the spot, and the rest had to wait until Mogg returned to Whistle Island before he could slowly raise the money. Moreover, he would only be able to pay in installments. It might take a whole year for Lin Yun to receive the entire sum.

After the gathering ended, Lord Shawn had thrown a tantrum, and after eventually promising that he would go all-out and even risk his life to serve Lin Yun, he managed to get one of the spirit mana crystals.

And Xiuban got the second one…

This unremarkable silver necklace could sell for an unimaginable sum.

But Lin Yun had his reasons for giving it to him. Draconic Beastmen were like Dragons when it came to magic. They couldn’t gather mana through meditation. Instead, they accumulated mana through sleeping and eating, which would store it in their blood. It would also increase as they aged, and the only way for them to increase the speed of that growth was to absorb mana from mana crystals…

Moreover, the more powerful the mana crystal, the faster the mana would increase…

Thus, Lin Yun had clenched his teeth and took out the second spirit mana crystal.

Lin Yun felt that after Xiuban wore the spirit mana crystal for a few days, his first mana pattern would appear and he would be able to cast spells.

As for the martial skills, Lin Yun didn’t have to worry about that. Draconic Beastmen usually didn’t need profound martial arts inheritances because they battled using just their bodies and instincts. Many of the Draconic Beastmen that appeared in Noscent had spent their time just sleeping and eating, yet they had still casually reached the Sword Saint realm.