End of the Magic Era

High-profile human beings such as Dalton were really too eye-catching in the underground world.

After they waited for more than an hour, when the people of the three forces were running out of patience, a lizard finally came, and told them that they could go in.

In a shabby building deep inside the small city, Lin Yun was already waiting with Xiuban and Reina. No natives of the underground world were around.

Having heard what happened outside, Lin Yun knew that they had to be from the three forces. He was rather surprised that those people were still alive.

He decided to keep them waiting for a while for the trouble they caused. They held themselves back for more than an hour without bursting into fury, which made Lin Yun know that their operation in the underground world couldn't have been smooth.

All the visitors were surprised to see Lin Yun. Dalton immediately turned cold.

"Mafa Merlin! Involved with the heretics of the Thorny Crown!"

Danason and Levis instantly realized who the young man was. They were rather surprised. Then, they felt a strong headache.

Danason's expression changed, and he opened his mouth rather angrily. "Sir Dalton, have you forgotten our deal? This is not the Holy Light Alliance's territory. Last warning. If it happens again, our partnership will be over, and you'll be free to go anywhere you want!"

Dalton is truly a stupid rabid dog. I never should've worked with him. Damn it. Everybody knows that the Thorny Crown is close to Mafa Merlin. The internal purge of the Thorny Crown had a lot to do with the young man too.

The man has established the Gilded Rose's branches all over the north of the Odin Kingdom, and even intimidated the ancestor of the Lodneys. How can he be a simple figure? It's said that he's associated with the Great Astrologian of the Starry Sky College too.

Those terrifying warships must be the latest products of the Starry Sky College. They feel like fatal threats to me. If it isn't too costly and difficult to manufacture such warships, the Starry Sky College's rise will be truly unstoppable.

Besides, Mafa Merlin seems to have subdued a few underground races. Many more races are quite fond of him too.

Damn it, we're here to cooperate with him, not to offend him. Dalton is truly a crazy moron…

Danason warned Dalton angrily, and Levis put on an angry expression too. His eyes suggested that he was on the same side.

Dalton held back his fury, and gritted his teeth without continuing. This was not the Holy Light Alliance's territory, and not even Noscent. He had to hold himself back.

After Dalton felt silent, Danason finally walked forward and managed a smile. "Sir Mafa Merlin, I am Danason Chester, from the Chester Family. This is Sir Levis of the Storm Tower and Sir Dalton of the Holy Light Alliance.

"Sir Dalton hasn't been in his best mood, so please forgive his offense.

"We didn't know you were here until we came to the underground world. We're hoping to cooperate with you in exploring a location of relics, which is dangerous but will definitely be rewarding…"

Lin Yun looked at Danason with a weird smile. He simply ignored Dalton, who was a crazy mage who used the power of holy light in the underground world. It would only be a matter of time before the man got killed.

The underground world was not a weak plane. There were level-8 and even level-9 Heaven Rank experts in this place. Everybody of the Holy Light Alliance would've been killed here in good time except its ascetic founder.

"Sir Danason, I'm not interested in exploring any relics…"

Danason had become anxious before Lin Yun finished. They could hardly travel further in the underground world. They didn't know anything, and might piss off some formidable locals without knowing why. Besides, they couldn't find the entrance to the relics without the locals' help. Lin Yun's help was necessary.

"Sir Mafa Merlin, please don't say no just yet. You'll surely be satisfied by what you find in the relics. The beast that my monster contracted was there. The relics are associated with a god. There will be a lot of treasures there, although it's dangerous. We need the locals' help to find the entrance to the relics. Whatever we find, you'll get to pick first!"

Danason revealed important information, which shocked Lin Yun, Dalton, and Levis alike. They had thought that the relics were left by an underground expert, and didn't expect them to be associated with a god.

Nothing that was associated with gods was simple. Even a stone would be transformed into a precious material after being corrupted by the power of gods. It might turn into a valuable Blood Gem.

Lin Yun was shocked because he was reminded of the 73rd God, which was the only god that had ever possibly come to the underground world. None of the territories of the 72 gods of Noscent was in the underground world. This was once a place of exile. In the age of gods, no god would demean themselves by descending to the underground world.

There was no record of a god's death in the underground world, either, so it could've only been the 73rd God!

Lin Yun pretended to be interested, and said casually, "Tell me more. Maybe I'll be intrigued."

Now that Danason had mentioned the god, he decided not to keep the matter a secret anymore.

"My ancestor encountered a heavily wounded Heaven Rank beast thousands of years ago. He contracted the Heaven Rank beast and saved it. Then, he heard tales of the underground world from the Heaven Rank beast.

"The beast was originally in the underground world. It passed by a place where the power of gods emerged, killing all creatures except for it. It luckily escaped, and fell to Noscent through the broken space.

"Then, it informed my ancestor of the power of gods in the underground world. That place has the relics we're going to explore.

"At that time, the channel to the underground world hadn't closed yet, so my ancestor went there in person. Unfortunately, he found nothing but some remains. He fought an underground expert, and had to return with wounds. Then, the channel to the underground world was closed."

Hearing that, Lin Yun confirmed that the relics were definitely associated with the 73rd God. The very first thing that the 73rd God did after he was reborn was to kill all the creatures that detected his power.

That was the only way to keep it a secret!

That lucky beast probably had survived because it accidentally reached Noscent. The 73rd God likely thought it was already dead.

"My ancestor's contracted beast couldn't have lied to him, so he studied the matter, and drew maps based on the beast's memories. In the end, he narrowed it down to a small area. Later, he grew stronger and stronger, and dropped the matter.

"I didn't learn any of that until I found my ancestor's diary. He was unable to reopen the channel to the underground world. I had to find another method to get to this place.

"Sir Mafa Merlin, it's the relics where the power of gods was spotted. Gods perished a long time ago, so the power was likely from their weapon or their body. Either way, it's going to be more shocking than any item ever found that's related to gods!"

Lin Yun was deep in thought. What Danason said was rather convincing. It had been a month since he came to the underground world. Having been exchanging food for information, he already investigated a fairly large area. Even though a lot of people were trading information for food, little information was valuable. The 73rd God had surely noticed him already.

The 73rd God should've reacted after learning that someone was looking for him. However, there was no reaction at all, which was unusual. Hearing Danason's information, Lin Yun wondered if his previous speculation was wrong. The place that Danason was looking for was where the 73rd God was reborn. Taking a look at that place was probably the best choice.

"Alright, I can cooperate with you. I can let the underground creatures help look for leads too. But why should I do everything?"

Lin Yun thought for a long time, and reluctantly accepted the cooperation. Dalton almost burst into fury, but Levis stopped him before he was able to say anything.

Dalton gritted his teeth, and his face was so gloomy that it was almost dripping ink, but he held himself back.

That goddamn heretic dares to extort us. He's paying nothing but some cheap food to find the important relics. Is he still not satisfied? That greedy devil should be purged by holy light!

Danason naturally heard Lin Yun's implication, but there was nothing he could say. Indeed, the food was the cheapest stuff in Noscent, but it meant abundant resources and wealth in this place!

"Sir Merlin, we can reimburse you for the stuff you have to pay, but you should know that we probably cannot exchange previous items for food like locals do…"

Lin Yun nodded.

"If we're going to cooperate, we have to each do our part. It wasn't easy for me to transport all the food to this place. A lot of it may be lost on the way.

"I certainly won't demand the local exchange rate on you. How about this? Let's make it 100 times bigger. Each of you will reimburse me for 20 percent of the food we pay. I'll cover the last 40 percent."

Danason's eyes were cramping, Dalton was almost bursting into fury, and Levis was regretful too. They all knew that Lin Yun was extorting them, but they had to pay.

Lin Yun's food was indeed worthless in Noscent, but here he would lose a huge amount of resources if he used the food for other purposes. It seemed inappropriate for Lin Yun to endure the loss before they saw any return.

They all understood the logic. Still, they felt uncomfortable to exchange precious materials for food that they had never bothered to look at, even though they would never get the food in the end.

A rate 100 times bigger seemed generous, but it was in fact still blatant robbery…

Danason took out a bunch of precious materials to cover Lin Yun's loss, and so did Levis. Both of them knew that if they successfully explored the relics, any of the loot they found would be hundreds of times more valuable than what they paid.

If they didn't want to go back to Noscent just like this, they had to carry on without looking back.

Dalton, on the other hand, remained grim. His eyes looked as cold as sabers. After taking out a bunch of materials, he gloomily stood aside.

Damn you, bastard. Stupid and greedy heretic, wait for the holy light to purge you. Those are my gifts for your funeral. The day we find the relics will be the Judgment Day for you!

Lin Yun couldn't care less what Dalton was thinking. He casually put away the precious materials, many of which couldn't even be found in Noscent. They were the natural embryos to build True Spirit Magic Tools, and could even be fed to Extraordinary Magic Tools.

After giving away the precious materials, Danason took out a map. It was quite simple, and had nothing but the marks of many landmarks. Nobody except the locals of the underground world who had lived in the nearby area could understand the map.

Acquiring the map, Lin Yun had someone looking for the place that was marked on the map. It had been such a long time. There was no telling whether the environment on the map had changed.

The people of all three forces waited in the small city, and Lin Yun asked his subordinates to look for knowledgeable races in the underground world.

A couple of days later, one of the half-beastmen finally recognized the place that was marked on the map. However, the place could be a huge problem…

"According to the locals, the place marked on the map is right in the Blood Elves' territory. It's in the heartland. We have to pass at least seven of the Blood Elves' cities to reach there.

"That place is in the middle of a desert where the Blood Elves have built a city. It's impossible for us to circumvent the Blood Elves if we want to find the relics."

Lin Yun reported everything he knew. Immediately, everybody looked quite awful.

It had been a long time since they came to the underground world. They certainly knew the arrogant and strong Blood Elves. To enter the desert meant to have conflicts with the Blood Elves. Then how could they explore the relics?

While everybody was considering how to bypass the Blood Elves, Xiuban rushed into the room from the outside.

"Sir Merlin, an army of Blood Elves is coming. There are quite a lot of them. They've reached Tungus Mountain…"

Lin Yun was still silent, but Danason put on a smile.

"Fantastic. Right on time. Those Blood Elves give us a perfect excuse to counterattack. As soon as we occupy the city in the desert, we'll be able to start our exploration. We can always abandon the city after the exploration.

"We're not locals of the underground world anyway. Besides, the Blood Elves' territory isn't very big. If we send them to the half-beastmen, I don't think the half-beastmen will refuse the food."

Similarly, Levis shouted aggressively, "Kill those arrogant idiots!"

Dalton left without saying a word. He had to vent his long-accumulated fury on someone. There was nothing he could do about Lin Yun just yet, so the Blood Elves became the best target.

Tempted by the relics associated with a god, he could hold back his fury, even though he was one of the rabid dogs of the Holy Light Alliance.

Outside the city, the armies of lizards, minotaurs, and dark dwarves had all been gathered. All of them were the finest warriors.

Before, they had never had enough to eat; these days, they had too much food every meal. After they became full, they had nothing better to do than fight. They spent half of their time in a day fighting.

They were all full of energy and eager for a battle. Then, the Blood Elves that they always hated were coming. Before Lin Yun gave a command, they had all gathered, and were ready to attack.

Lin Yun didn't ask his subordinates to attack, but looked at the men of the three forces. To explore the underground world, a lot of experts of the three forces had been dispatched. All of the explorers were in the Heaven Rank. Levis and the other two leads were all level-5 Heaven Rank experts. Also, the forces they belonged to were among the best in Noscent, so they could definitely unleash more strength than normal level-5 Heaven Rank experts could.

Dalton was the first to run out. He had been infuriated every day since he came here, and he didn't want to hold any longer.

Levis and Danason, too, flew out to confront the Blood Elves.

Far away on the horizon, a swarm of shadows was flying to Tungus Mountain rapidly. Terrifying mana waves were concentrating in the distance.

Dalton solemnly raised his glowing staff. Around him, law runes that emitted sacred light were circulating. As Dalton chanted a spell, there seemed to be a crack in the sky above his head. Holy light endlessly sprayed from the crack, turning the area in the radius of several thousand meters into a world of holy light. The power of holy light gathered crazily in the area, banishing the power of darkness.