End of the Magic Era

Lin Yun, who had already left, definitely wouldn’t know that his bloodline ceremony would give rise to a heated discussion within a Guardian Tower.

He had already returned to the Merlin Family Manor and locked himself in his room for a few days to adapt to the new form of the Magic Array.

The Magic Array had taken on a new shape after the ten Magic Arrays fused into one. The ten previous Magic Arrays were like ten roulette wheels that would slowly rotate when provided with mana. Although in the past they could carry out their tasks almost perfectly under Lin Yun’s control, their independent operations had to be connected by Lin Yun himself, so there would always be a minute gap between each of them.

But it was different now…

The ten Magic Arrays had fused together without any gaps remaining. Although there was no change in how they worked, the efficiency had been raised at least ten times, and there was no longer any need for Lin Yun to split his attention to control it. As long as he kept mana pouring through it, it would automatically revolve within Lin Yun’s body.

In the past two days, Lin Yun used his new Magic Array to analyze the mysterious characters within the Book of Death and pleasantly found that the efficiency was now completely different compared to before. The work of ten days was done in one, while the consumption was greatly lowered. He only needed to meditate to recover his mana now, while in the past, he’d had to replenish mana via mana crystals to be able to cope with the consumption.

As for the merging of spells and metamagics, it reached next step. Lin Yun already started merging 3rd Tier Spells with metamagics, and perhaps by the time Lin Yun broke through to become a 5th Rank High Mage, he would try merging a core spell such as Elemental Incarnation with core metamagics such as Instant Cast and Empower Spell.

Lin Yun remained in his room focused on the Magic Array for a few days, and during that time, even William didn’t dare to disturb him.

Ross actually came several times, but was stopped at the door by William’s cold face.

It was the same today…

“Ross, I already told you that Cousin Mafa is doing something very important, yet you are coming here to nag. Don’t blame me for being rude to you.” William was truly angry. ‘We are both High Mages and you also lost to me, if I say you aren’t welcomed here, it means you aren’t welcomed here!’

William couldn’t help thanking his younger cousin in his heart every time he recalled that battle.

How could he have a chance to frown and tell Ross to piss off if he hadn’t gone to Thousand Sails City?

He had only been a member of the younger generation with second-tier strength. A 5th Rank Great Mage who was also a Great Alchemist sounded very formidable, but he wasn’t particularly eye-catching among the numerous geniuses of the Merlin Family. He’d ranked between 5th and 8th in the younger generation, which was a whole different level compared to Leon, Aube, and Ross, those top three.

At the time, William truly thought that he could only look up at them in the future.

But he hadn’t expected that the mission that he had viewed as a sort of exile would send him to see a cousin he had never met who would completely change his life. This felt like coming into contact with a whole new world.

That cousin he had never met before was simply a monster, one that had reached a level that could only be described as unbelievable whether it was in alchemy or in the path of magic. There were quite many times where he only needed to point out something to give William a flash of insight. In contrast, those teachers that he had studied under in the past could only be described as unworthy. Sometimes, William even thought of making those teachers come to Thousand Sails City to learn under his younger cousin for a few years so that they would stop hampering the progress of their students.

From 5th Rank Great Mage to High Mage, William only needed half a year. Others might take dozens of years to do the same thing, and after returning to Okland, William suddenly discovered that Ross, whose back he had been chasing, wasn’t that far ahead anymore. He even beat him with Mafa’s pointers.

“I really have something important to discuss…” Ross looked at William with an extremely complicated expression. William had been someone worthless to him not that long ago. Who would have thought that such a worthless person could now talk to him as an equal and even defeat him?

“Forget it, Ross, let me tell you the truth. Cousin Mafa is doing something extremely important and cannot be disturbed by anyone. If you have something that important, you can tell me first. Once Cousin Mafa is done with his matter, I’ll convey your message.”

“This…” Ross watched William for a while before admitting that William didn’t seem to be lying.

He seemed somewhat embarrassed…

Ross had been looking into Stan Watson’s death since the previous day.

Because of this, he even paid a visit to the Red Dragon Mercenary Group and personally looked for Anna Achilles to ask for some details.

The Red Dragon Mercenary Group had been awfully busy because of the chaos caused by Stan Watson’s death. In order to appease the Watson Family, the leader had no choice but to personally apologize and severely punish the commander of that mission, Anna, demoting her from being 1st vice leader to the position of captain. She went from being highly ranked, only under one person, to only being able to lead ten weak mercenaries.

As for that fight in the Aurij Mountains, all information about it was sealed off. Even within the Red Dragon Mercenary Group, only a few high ranked mercenaries knew about it.

Fortunately for Ross, he had had some dealings with them in the past and even helped them accidentally once. This time, he personally went to look for the Red Dragon Mercenary Group’s leader. Although the other side was unwilling, he couldn’t refuse. And when Ross suggested using the Merlin Family to put some pressure on the Watson Family to stop them from going too far when looking into the death of Stan Watson, the leader sighed in relief.

In the end, the leader of the Red Dragon Mercenaries summoned Anna before leaving the room.

Anna’s expression wasn’t very good. This famous Expert Swordswoman seemed to be experiencing nightmares, and she looked frightened. She was more or less okay when confronting Ross, but when he started to inquire about the battle, Anna became deathly pale.

Her memories were even more chaotic. Ross spent a lot of time asking before he managed to get some of the murderer’s characteristics from Anna.

A young mage in his early twenties, rather thin and pale, wearing a lazy smile. He looked as if he would hate to step on an ant, but once he made a move, he was like a vicious predator hunting his prey.

The murderer wore a black robe with silver lines on the cuffs, the sign of a Great Mage. But the strength he displayed was far higher than what a Great Mage could imagine. The magic staff he held had a fist-sized Elemental Amber embedded at the top, which should have been the only valuable weapon of the murderer.

That description puzzled Ross Merlin.

First was the age…

As a famous figure of the younger generation, how could Ross not know about the twenty-year-old geniuses? Ross dared to bet that Okland didn’t have a genius Great Mage in his early twenties that could pull off the feat of killing Stan Watson under the protection of the Red Dragon Mercenaries. That would have required the strength of an Archmage.

An Archmage in his twenties, how crazy was that?

And even if there were such a person…

Ross couldn’t find him…

Twenty years old, pale and thin, wearing a black robe. That was too vague, there were many such people in Okland. The only clue was the magic staff with an Elemental Amber.

After inquiring, Ross left the Red Dragon Mercenary Group feeling disappointed.

But he received a surprising bit of news after returning to the Merlin Family, that Mafa who came from Thousand Sails City had already gained permission from the patriarch to enter the Ancestral Land.

This information made Ross suspicious.

After all, the Elder Council had been arguing over this for quite a while. As a member of the Elder Council, how could Ross not know about this? How could that Mafa suddenly obtain the authorization to enter the Ancestral Land?

Ross clearly knew Patriarch Ofran’s character, he was steadfast and wouldn’t just push his own agenda. He had been bound by the Elder Council for many years, but he wasn’t the type to fall out with them for a mere Great Mage like Mafa Merlin.

Unless…

Unless that Mafa Merlin made a huge contribution that would make Ofran have no other choice but to allow him to enter the Ancestral Land.

But what would that huge contribution be?

Ross spent an entire night in his room considering it.

He only had a flash of insight later… ‘Isn’t weakening a hostile family a huge contribution? If killing the most outstanding genius a hostile family has nurtured after hundreds of years isn’t a huge contribution, then what is?’