456 Soul Fragments

\"Mephistos?\" Lin Li was only slightly taken aback before he masked his expression. This was not too big of a surprise, as he had already noticed a couple of loopholes in Stephen's words. Firstly, there could not be Minion Demons in the forest, as every level of the Abyss was a closely guarded world. If a Demon Lord appeared somewhere, even the common Demons would avoid the place, much less the Minion Demons.

Furthermore, Stephen mentioned that he followed them here by tracking their magical waves. That was not incorrect in itself, as shadowing through tracking magical waves was indeed a basic skill that every Archmage ought to know. Unfortunately, Stephen was dealing with Lin Li this time.

Lin Li was a cautious man… well, one could say he was paranoid. He was never without a magic shield when dealing with magical beasts below level-10, much less an existence as terrifying as Mephistos! He had already been taking notice of his magical waves along the way here, and every time Hutton stopped to recover his mana, Lin Li would inconspicuously lay down a Magic Dissipating Field to silently get rid of any traces of his magical wave.

Of course, this was not a foolproof solution, and anyone in the Legendary-realm would be able to disregard the existence of the Magic Dissipating Field and locate him with just a bit of Spiritual Brand when tailing them.

However, Stephen was quite clearly a good distance away from the Legendary-realm, and it was almost impossible for him to trace Lin Li with just a bit of Spiritual Brand.

It would be unusual for Lin Li to not realize that something was off based on the loopholes in Stephen's words.

Connoris' reminder was merely affirming Lin Li's conjecture…

\"I got it.\" After replying to Connoris, Lin Li continued ahead without confronting Stephen, carrying on as if nothing had happened.

Lin Li had only ever seen a palace as massive as this once—it was the Eternal Furnace that was hidden in a spacetime crack in the Fire Plume Ridge. However, the two equally massive palaces were vastly different in style.

The Eternal Furnace was modelled in the classical High Elves style: grand, extravagant, and glamorous. Walking into the Eternal Furnace was like entering a High Elves art gallery as every nook and cranny was flawlessly crafted thanks to the High Elves' almost twisted sense of perfectionism. Even though it had been left vacant for over 1,300 years and Osric had taken every valuable and placed it in his own mausoleum, Lin Li was still in awe over the artistic grandeur of the place.

The Palace of Darkness before him was a different story. The second he walked into the place, Lin Li felt as though he had entered an eerie and sinister world. The walls on both sides were plastered with greenish algae, while the ground beneath him was wet and slimy. A cold draft swept past his ears and made his hair stand on ends. While he was flanked by corpse candles on both sides, the flickering white light only served to make the place even more eerie than it already was, and did not help in lighting up the place at all.

There was no trace at all of the attics, balconies, gardens, and corridors that were so abundant in the Eternal Furnace. The Palace of Darkness gave off the vibe of an abandoned massive tomb from the prehistoric times as the huge pillars were the only decorated pieces in the whole place. They came across two huge pillars every 100 meters or so, each one at least 100 meters in length, and requiring at least 10 humans to surround each of them.

Somehow, the sculptures had been carved into the pillars, and each one of these sculptures looked ferocious and was filled with a vicious aura. Some of them had wings of flesh on their back, while others had horns on their heads; the only thing all the sculptures had in common was that they had at least one or two weapons in theirs hands. There were swords, machetes, hammers, chains, daggers… almost every weapon that Lin Li could think of could be found on one of the sculptress.

\"What demon is this…?\" Lin Li had been studying the Abyss of Tharlen for some time, and even though he might not be of at Guru level in terms of knowledge about demons, he was definitely at Master level. Still, he found that he did not recognize any of the sculptures carved on the huge pillars. There were 50 pillars and 50 sculptures, yet Lin Li did not know any of them.

Connoris' voice held a rare admiration as he said, \"These are ancient demon deities…\"

\"Ancient demon deities?\"

\"None of you humans know that during the prehistoric times, when prehistoric magical beasts roamed while the Dragons and Titans fought to rule the world and the High Elves were born from the Tree of Eternity, there were also 99 ancient demon deities who created the 99 levels of the Abyss World.\"

\"99 ancient demon deities? There are only 50 here…\"

\"These 50 ancient demon deities have fallen.\"

\"What about the other 49?\"

\"If you're able to enter the 50th level of the Abyss, you might get a chance to meet them…\"

\"Are you kidding me??\" Lin Li retorted angrily. The Abyss beyond the 50th level was no place for a human. Even the great Highlord Osric and his Magic Legion could not go beyond the 20th level when they attacked the Abyss, much less a measly mage like Lin Li.

The difference between the 20th and 50th level of the Abyss World was so vast that they might as well have been different worlds. Before the 20th level, some Greater Demons had a chance to become the local Demon Lord, yet after the 50th level, they were merely spawns that could be readily disposed of.

Nobody in the whole of Anril had any idea what it was like after the 50th level of the Abyss. After all, not one person had managed to return alive from beyond the 40th level of the Abyss since the Dark Ages. Hence, anything beyond the 40th level was a mystery to humans.

\"Come to think of it, my great Soul Trader, I see that you're pretty familiar with the Palace of Darkness…\"

\"Nonsense…\" Connoris' voice brimmed with disdain. \"But I'll advise you to drop it and not ask questions. If you're meant to know, I'll let you know with time, but what you're not meant to know I'll never tell you no matter how much you press me.\"

\"Say, Connoris, you're a great Soul Trader, after all, surely you know that the heart of doing business lies in being honest? If you're always so mysterious, it's not going to help our partnership…\" Lin Li said unhappily.

Even an idiot would be able to detect the threat in his words, much less a freak like Connoris, who had been around since who knew when.

After being silent for about half a minute, Connoris visibly relaxed as he spoke, \"It's not that I don't want to tell you about it, it's just that those profound secrets are beyond what you can comprehend at your power level now. So what if I let you know that there is a branch of the Tree of Eternity in the 30th level of the Abyss that could be crafted into a magic staff much more powerful than the one you wield now? Well? Do you have the guts to venture down there to retrieve it?\"

\"Isn't there anything more practical than that?\"

\"Something more practical?\" Connoris thought for a moment. \"There is, it's in the Palace of Darkness.\"

\"Tell me about it.\"

\"I'll have to start from the origins of the Lord of Darkness. I told you earlier that the Lord of Darkness is actually the shadow of the Dragon of Destruction, but do you know why the Dragon of Destruction had cast its own shadow into the Abyss?\"

\"If my guess is correct, it's because the Dragon of Destruction wanted to absorb the energy of the Abyss of Tharlen.\"

\"Well, you've guessed it…\" Connoris' voice held a trace of surprise. \"That's right, the Dragon of Destruction had cast its own shadow into the Abyss of Tharlen in order to absorb the Dark Force and Evil Force of the Abyss of Tharlen. This is the only way it could hide from the other four Dragon Aspects.\"

\"Why does it have to hide from the other four Dragon Aspects?\"

\"Have you forgotten what the five Dragon Aspects are for? They are guardians of the 10 basic rules of the whole of Anril, including light, kindness, darkness, evilness, time, space, start and end. These 10 rules stand against each other yet rely on each other to coexist while maintaining an incredibly peculiar balance. Do you dare imagine what would happen should this balance be disrupted?\"

\"If the balance between the 10 basic rules is disrupted?\" Lin Li paused for a second before he broke out in a cold sweat. It would be nothing short of a tragedy for Anril if the balance between the 10 basic rules was disrupted. It would be scarier than if prehistoric magical beasts charged out from a crack between time and space.

That would be an upturned world with no order at all…

\"So the Dragon of Destruction has fallen?\"

\"Nobody in Anril knows for sure why the Dragon of Destruction has fallen, but according to a High Elves Highlord's from when I was still following Osric, the Dragon of Destruction's fall was most likely linked to the Immortal King…\"

\"F*ck…\"

\"But Osric thought that the Dragon of Destruction had not completely fallen, and that the two basic rules it watched over had to have been inherited by somebody, or else Anril would have descended into chaos. Anyway, Osric made many conjectures like this, and if you have an opportunity to enter the Highlord's mausoleum one day, try to find Osric's diary. There are many secrets in that diary, some of which even the High Elves' queen was not aware of.\"

\"Mm-hmm, I'll keep that in mind.\" Lin Li nodded before revealing a look of doubt. \"But what has this got to do with the practical benefits you were talking about?\"

\"Patience, my friend, let me tell you about it slowly…\" Connoris paused before continuing, \"I was managing a huge deal in the Abyss of Tharlen, one that involved more than 10,000 souls, the year the Dragon of Destruction's shadow descended into the Abyss of Tharlen. The Lord of the Abyss of Tharlen then was still Mephistos as the shadow of the Dragon of Destruction had not had the opportunity to overthrow him yet. I had an opportunity to catch a glimpse of this future Lord of Darkness, and as the great Soul Trader you know I am, I was able to tell with just one glance that this powerful demon's soul was not complete. It was almost as if this was just a soul fragment of an even more powerful existence…\"

\"And then?\"

\"Heheh, what happened after that proved that my guess was right. The Lord of Darkness was not a demon born in the Abyss, but the projection of Azardas, one of the five great Dragon Aspects.\" Connoris boasted happily before sighing as he added, \"Azardas was definitely one of the most powerful beings to ever roam Anril—even a fragment of his soul could easily triumph Mephistos and take over the throne as the Lord of the Abyss of Tharlen. Heheh, whoever can obtain the power held in this soul fragment would be…\"

\"Is Azardas' soul fragment the practical benefit you were talking about?\" Lin Li gradually understood as he listened.

\"That's right!\"

\"Stop joking with me! Yes, you're right, a mage can absorb power from a soul fragment, but that must be done under the owner's consent. You think I'll be capable of stealing a Dragon Aspect's power given my capabilities now? Moreover, the Dragon of Destruction had fallen so many years ago, and I'm afraid the soul fragment from so many years ago would already have disappeared without a trace…\"

\"You think I'm joking? No, no, no, the great Soul Trader I am would never say something without meaning it. Think about it, the Dragon of Destruction fell during the prehistoric times, when the High Elves were only beginning to rise, but the shadow in the Abyss of Tharlen had lived on even till the Dark Age…\"

\"But…\"

\"Don't worry about how you're going to obtain the power from the soul fragment. I dare say that I'm the greatest Soul Trader to ever live. I'll definitely help you find a way to obtain the power form the soul fragment. What you need to do now is to find that soul fragment and leave the Abyss of Tharlen safely. No matter what you do, do not get caught by Mephistos, or else even I dare not imagine the consequences…\"

\"I'll think about how to do it.\" Lin Li's heart started palpitating after he listened to Connoris. That was the soul fragment of the Dragon of Destruction Azardas! It held more than just a portion of the Dragon of Destruction's strength; it also contained much of the Dragon of Destruction's memories and experience which was what was the most important to Lin Li.

Lin Li was now a stone's throw away from the Legendary-realm, and all he needed was one last step for him to break into the Legendary-realm. If he could get ahold of this soul fragment, he would be able to easily break through to the Legendary-realm just with the experience and memories it held alone, without even having to absorb any of its powers.