End of the Magic Era

Everyone was curious about Lin Yun’s actions, but no one dared to disturb him. They only looked at those sheets of paper being continuously filled with writing and knew that Lin Yun was dealing with some important matter. William even followed him sometimes so that no one would approach.

For three days, Lin Yun walked through the entire Radiant Fort, and only then did he stop his seemingly aimless wandering.

“This is actually an array! The entire Radiant Fort is an array!”

After three days of intense calculations, slowly checking every corner of the Radiant Fort, the outcome ended up being exactly the same as his original guess: The Radiant Fort itself was an array!

Now, Lin Yun somewhat understood why the Radiant Fort was constructed a bit differently than the others. It looked a bit sturdier, and the materials used were relatively more precious.

The crude wall of the Radiant Fort was made of not only thick logs, but also some sturdy black stones unique to the Raging Flame Plane.

The entire Radiant Fort made up a huge array, and its biggest effect was to absorb Abyssal power through planes!

Obtaining Abyssal power without opening an Abyssal Gate wasn’t simple. One might even suffer from a lurking Abyssal powerhouse and give that Demon an opportunity to descend.

Moreover, absorbing too little power would have no effect, while too much power would inevitably lead to being exposed.

The only method was to turn the entire Radiant Fort into an array, as only an array that big could suppress such mana fluctuations and absorb a large amount of Abyssal power over a long period of time.

The biggest effect of the absorbed power was to support the fierce barrier. The power needed to maintain such a huge barrier wasn’t something a mage or two could provide.

Apart from this, the second greatest effect was to help the Black Iron Beastmen enhance their strength.

Half of the Black Iron Beastmen’s bloodline came from that Greater Abyssal Overlord, so they could also absorb Abyssal power. Through an ancient ceremony, the Abyssal power absorbed by the array could accelerate the progress of Black Iron Beastmen.

To those Black Iron Beastmen, this array was just as important as arrays increasing mana density were to mages. This was like a place with extremely high mana density.

This was also why Black Iron Beastmen were known to be powerful and why it was rare for an adult Black Iron Beastman Warrior to not even have the power of an Expert Swordsman. The proportion of powerhouses among them was frightening.

Lin Yun had already guessed this outcome, but he felt that it wasn’t quite right. Because according to the calculations, the barrier maintained by the absorbed Abyssal power should have been even more powerful than the previous barrier.

And the power absorbed by the array wasn’t pouring underground but instead dispersed through the entire Radiant Fort. Thus, the Abyssal aura was extremely thick.

After looking at the sheets flipping before him, a trace of understanding flashed in Lin Yun’s eyes.

“Sure enough, there really was a hidden array!”

After making some meticulous comparisons, Lin Yun discovered that this huge fort-array was hiding an easily overlooked array.

But saying that it was a hidden array wasn’t right, because this array was definitely a part of the visible array, and its effects were also part of the original array.

The person who arranged the Radiant Fort had used a very clever method to compound an additional array onto the main array.

The same node might be part of the two arrays, and the two arrays wouldn’t affect each other and could even be regarded as sides of the same coin.

That was the brightest part of this array. Another Artisan with a deep understanding of arrays would be able to notice that the entire Radiant Fort was an array if he was a bit careful. He would even be able to notice the effect of the array, but he would hardly be able to discover that there was another array at this seemingly normal part of the array!

Everything was in the open, so it was hard for someone to find the other array.

The person who arranged the array was highly skilled in the field of arrays and should be at least a Saint Alchemist or an Artisan close to that realm. Moreover, his grasp of alchemists’ minds was perfect.

No alchemist would pay attention to those very obvious areas. They would instead search for hidden things.

By the time those alchemists found those clues they thought had expected to be hidden, they would overlook the most obvious parts.

As for Lin Yun, he felt that this “hidden” array was the most important part!

Because the most important effect of this “hidden” array was to intercept a part of the Abyssal power absorbed by this huge array and let it flow underground!

After all, the power extracted by this huge array was enormous, far from the power of an Archmage.

That power not only maintained the defenses of the Radiant Fort, but it also provided all the Black Iron Beastmen with aura training assistance, upgrading the power of their bloodline.

The amount of power used simply couldn’t be calculated, but at least 30% of that power was separated and sent underground. Just what was underground?

30% didn’t sound like much, but if that power was supplied by spirit mana crystals instead, then even the Black Tower would be unable to handle that consumption and would go bankrupt in less than a year.

Lin Yun sank into contemplation. At that time, wanting to go to the Radiant Fort wasn’t because he really wanted to swap, but rather because he vaguely recalled some matters regarding the Radiant Fort.

In the decaying library, he hadn’t seen the name of the Radiant Fort, but rather a mention about the place called the Raging Flame Radiant Origin.

As others talked about the Radiant Fort, Lin Yun became aware that this desolate place was the Raging Flame Radiant Origin.

It was recorded there because at the peak of Noscent, a powerful mage’s research came out. This place involved the secret of a powerful peak Heaven Mage. It was recorded that this peak Heaven Mage had left ruins behind.

But because something unexpected happened, the researcher hadn’t had time to excavate the powerful mage’s ruins.

That powerful Heaven Mage was called Bill George!

He had once been a prince of the 3rd Dynasty, in the same time period as Barov, but he hadn’t been up to much during the first part of his life. As a prince, his power wasn’t very high, so he was bound to meet a tragic end.

For some unknown reason, he lost his royal status. That part hadn’t been recorded. After that, he was even expelled from Noscent.

Bill George completely disappeared from Noscent for many years before finally coming back as a Heaven Mage.

After coming back, Bill George didn’t seek his former royal status and instead established a force in the current Sten Kingdom’s location.

Now, Lin Yun confirmed that there was certainly something in the Radiant Fort. Whether it was the “hidden” array, or the 30% of the power poured into the ground, there was something…

It showed that the unconfirmed record within the decaying library was true!

Lin Yun didn’t believe that anyone other than a powerful Heaven Rank powerhouse could leave such a huge and sophisticated thing behind. There was no chance of finding the remains left by another Heaven Mage accidentally.

Those Black Iron Beastmen whose brains were half-filled with lava and half-filled with muscles definitely wouldn’t have produced such an array in several dozen millennia.

Moreover, Lin Yun had been even more doubtful after encountering Wagner.

Because of Wagner’s family name!

George!

There might be a lot of people in Noscent with that last name, there was only one such Family, and a peak force at that.

Although the George Family was now in the Odin Kingdom, Lin Yun had also researched this and knew that the root of their Family had originated from the Sten Kingdom even though they had been in the Odin Kingdom for many years now.

Unless Lin Yun was mistaken, Wagner was probably a descendant of Bill George. Only someone like Bill George would have been able to leave such a powerful Family behind. Even the name Bill George had been something he had chosen after returning to Noscent.

He used a very common family name in Noscent, but it turned into a very distinct and well-known name.

It was partly due to the surname George that Lin Yun tacitly accepted Wagner’s shamelessness and let him follow behind.

If this place was really Bill George’s ruins, then Wagner might be useful for something.

After determining that the Radiant Fort had ruins below, Lin Yun started gathering manpower for the excavation. After performing some calculations, he found out that the entrance to the ruins was right in the center of the Radiant Fort.

At that location was an altar of the Black Iron Beastmen. The altar was firmly affixed there, and there was no way to get to the entrance.