End of the Magic Era

In a battle of experts, no matter how powerful a spell was, it would be as useless as a level-1 spell if it couldn't hit the target. Only a spell that could achieve the planned effect would be a useful spell…

When Lin Yun launched the second electromagnetic cannonball, Myers didn't stop chanting. Horrifying magic waves were appearing around his body, gathering into the illusion of a crystal monster that didn't have limbs or head. It looked like a monster that was made of countless crystals, and had nothing but a torso. There were complicated magic patterns on the monster's skin and inside its body.

The second electromagnetic cannonball was launched. At the same time, a gentle breeze appeared around Myers. It wasn't very strong for a Heaven Rank expert, but it pushed Myers a meter aside like a pair of gentle hands…

The shift of one meter was enough for him to avoid the cannonball's head-on strike. All he needed to do was avoid the wind that the cannonball caused, which was negligible compared to the momentum that the cannonball carried. At least, it couldn't break the arc-shaped crystal shield.

With a smile on his face, Myers stared at Lin Yun in the distance. The illusion of the crystal monster behind him seemed to be gazing at Lin Yun in a special way too. Crystal flowers were rolling around Myers, and emitting dazzling brilliance…

This beginner-level usage of mana, which didn't even count as a level-1 spell, was enough to resist Mafa Merlin's powerful spell.

Mafa Merlin, a young man, probably could never understand that. A great spell should be one that could be applied well. If it couldn't be applied well, then it was just useless.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't have a chance to learn that. The passing of such a genius would be such a shame. If they had met elsewhere, Myers would've invited him to join the Thorny Crown. Unfortunately…

Once this spell was activated, it would be impossible for that man to dodge even though he had mastered the law of space. He would perish with space. What a shame.

With pity in his eyes, Myers closed his eyes, as if he didn't want to watch Lin Yun die. The illusion of the crystal monster behind his back emitted special waves, a sign that he was about to activate his spell…

Right then, the second cannonball had traveled through space, and was flying rapidly. It could never hit Myers if it had moved in a straight line. However, the moment the cannonball left the magic electromagnetic cannon, a spatial rune glittered on the surface of the cannonball, slightly twisting the space ahead of the cannonball during its flight…

Because of the deviation, the cannonball flew in a curve instead of a straight line, but it wasn't slowed down at all. It hit Myers' crystal shield precisely…

The crystal shield that had been cracked couldn't be recovered so quickly. Without the support of the colorful crystal ball, it couldn't possibly resist the second cannonball.

The moment the cannonball hit the crystal shield, the crystal shield broke into pieces like glass. The remaining power of the cannonball then hit Myers. In a grave crisis, Myers was unable to finish his chanting, even though it was so close to completion.

His body instinctively reacted by covering itself with a tremendous amount of crystals. He was fully enclosed in a large piece of crystal. The uncompleted spell was disrupted…

After hitting Myers, the cannonball exploded into pieces. The collision was too powerful when it hit the solid shield that protected Myers. The crystals that enshrouded Myers were flung back by the terrifying force too. They left a glittering belt of light in the sky before they crossed eight kilometers and crashed into a mountain…

The earth was shaking, and a pit 100 meters in diameter emerged in the middle of the mountain. At the center of the pit, there was a hole that stretched into the stomach of the mountain.

Flames and lightning bolts slithered around the pit. The beasts around the mountain all detected the terrifying force, and fled into the distance crazily.

Lin Yun flew over from the sky, and stared at the enormous pit while floating. He didn't attack again, but simply waited quietly.

Deep inside the mountain, the crystals that protected Myers were already cracked. There was a half-meter-deep dent on the front side, and tiny cracks spread into the crystals from the dent.

A few seconds later, the crystals crumbled and disappeared. Myers was pale and utterly shocked. Even his magic waves were rather disorderly. Underneath his skin, there seemed to be many worms crawling. Myers' face was first pale and now red. He didn't regain control of himself until a dozen seconds later, and the "worms" underneath his skin were finally gone.

He opened his mouth and vomited blood, which turned into bloody crystals in midair. Then, he raised his head again, with his crystal eyes glittering with disbelief and shock.

He hadn't expected Mafa Merlin to be so strong. That man had probably already made up for the flaw of his spell that could only attack in a straight line. The first spell was only launched to fool him. The second spell was the real fatal one…

He's so smart. In no more than one second, he figured out the way to hit my body. He used the first spell to knock away my crystal magic tool, and the second spell to break my crystal shield. If I hadn't had a trump card, I would've been torn into shreds…

How did he do it? How could he have thought so much in only one second?

Myers was shocked and befuddled. The battles between top experts were always tricky. It was barely possible to kill an opponent unless one had an overwhelming advantage. Even the most powerful spell would be useless if it couldn't hit the opponent or break their defense.

That was why he had transplanted the bloodline of the crystal monsters, which were extremely dangerous. He could easily destroy any mage's shield with the magic neutralization ability.

Also, thanks to the special crystal spells, he was very good at protecting himself too…

In order to kill an enemy, a spell had to hit the target and break their defense first. That was the only way to kill an enemy.

However, it was barely possible to perfectly notice every small change, and take the best reactions in a fierce, evenly matched battle. To display 120% of one's combat ability meant to be completely devoted to fighting instead of thinking…

Myers had no idea how he was hit in the head-on clash. Thinking about what happened in retrospect, Myers had cold sweat all over his forehead. He thought he had underestimated his opponent…

While Myers was wondering, another cannonball was shot into the hole, and exploded in the narrow space even more powerfully than it would outside. Myers' body was like a nail that was continuously pressed deeper into the mountain.

Like a living target, Myers was hit by three cannonballs in a row. The crystals that surfaced on his body were already full of cracks. His last line of defense would be shattered by one more strike. Even though he had other methods to protect himself, he didn't know how he could get himself out of this situation.

His arrogance was completely gone, replaced by seriousness. He considered Lin Yun as a worthy opponent.

When Myers was going to fight with his life on the line, there were no more cannonballs that came at him, only Lin Yun's casual voice.

"Sir Myers, are you going to take a nap in there?"

Lin Yun was slightly regretful. Facing the consecutive attacks, Myers didn't have any chance to dodge. Considering the frequency of the attacks, Myers would be killed by the cannonballs deep inside the pit.

Unfortunately, there wasn't such an opportunity. Myers was smashed into the mountain in a slant. From that angle, if Myers was hit by another cannonball, his body would penetrate the mountain, and fall out from the other side of the mountain. Then, it would be difficult to hit him again. It would be impossible to kill Myers with the last cannonball strike as well…

More importantly, after Myers had been knocked away, his Heaven Rank followers had already caught up, and it was impossible for Lin Yun to attack again. Even if he could kill each of those Heaven Rank experts in three seconds, there would be enough time for Myers to escape and fight back. Therefore, it was pointless to continue the battle.

Therefore, he might as well negotiate with the man. His main purpose in catching up with those people was to stop them from doing whatever they wanted, which would cause a terrible crisis if they didn't stop. Then, whoever came to this plane would suffer.

Lin Yun seemed to have made a concession. A dozen seconds later, Myers flew out of the pit. His robe had already become ragged. The colorful crystal ball flew close from the distance and circled him. Myers drifted in midair, and stared at Lin Yun solemnly. He was obviously vigilant, but he didn't attack again.

Myers surely didn't know that Lin Yun didn't kill him only because he was unable to. If they were to continue fighting for a couple of hours, then all of them would be on the losing side…

Calculating his position inside the mountain with the angle, force, and speed was something that nobody would do except Lin Yun who was running deductions with the Ten Thousand Spell Wheel…

Myers didn't realize that. He simply thought that Lin Yun wanted to negotiate a truce…

Lin Yun had proved that he was worthy enough to negotiate with. He remained casual, ignoring the Heaven Rank mages around him. Some of them were already eager to attack. Myers waved his hand.

"Stop."

After stopping all the Heaven Rank experts under his command, Myers finally stared at Lin Yun solemnly.

"Sir Merlin, I admit that I underestimated you. Also, I had a chance to kill you."

Lin Yun ignored what Myers said, and simply went on. "Sir Will Myers, I discovered this plane first. I've been here many times."

Myers changed his expression significantly. Before he could say anything, Lin Yun continued, "Are you going to ask me why I have never conquered or developed this plane, or looted the resources here, if I discovered it earlier than you did?"

Myers didn't say anything, and only listened quietly. It was a silent yes.

"You must've realized that the beasts in this plane are all of an extremely low level. At least, considering the mana in this mana and the blue sun that radiates magical power, a lot of strong extraordinary creatures should've been born in this place.

"However, in this place, there's nothing but weaklings whose souls are no better than reptiles'. There are very few extraordinary lives. Even the strongest of them are only in level 1 or 2 of the Heaven Rank. They're even weaker than the level-1 or level-2 Heaven Rank mages. However, all the beasts here are gregarious.

"Do you know why? Because for this plane, they're exactly reptiles."

Hearing that, Myers finally allowed his expression to change. Lin Yun didn't explain further, but Myers understood. Those beasts equaled the reptiles in Noscent that even ordinary people could squeeze and kill easily. They were all insects below level 5…

In a plane that had developed normally, those creatures should be on the bottom level, and never be the main part. Planes like this one, which was full of reptiles with incomplete souls, were very rare. Those creatures were like worms' souls residing in level-20 beasts' bodies. The bodies were too powerful for the souls, so their souls seemed broken. Some were even just pieces…

There were no advanced creatures in this plane at all, or any creature that had the slightest spark of wisdom.

Considering the abundant mana in this plane and the blue sun that radiated magic power, even a stone might have been enlightened after receiving the sunlight for thousands of years.

However, there was no sign of intelligent creatures here at all, which was highly unusual and horrible. It was either because this plane had a fatal flaw that prevented such creatures from coming into being, or because this plane was so dangerous that no intelligent creature could survive…

As the chief elder of the Thorny Crown, and the most powerful man in it, Myers was not just strong, but also very accomplished in magic research. Although the Thorny Crown was much more corrupt than when it had been founded, they were still pursuing the truth of magic, even though some of them had redefined what the truth was…

Myers soon came up with a bunch of possibilities, and looked at Lin Yun with shock and suspicion. He was already convinced that Lin Yun had discovered this plane earlier and explored it well. Otherwise, he couldn't have realized the hidden problem with this plane.

Since it was impossible to kill Lin Yun and monopolize the plane, and because Lin Yun was obviously familiar with this plane, it was best to cooperate with him and explore this plane together.

"Sir Merlin, are you proposing to explore this plane as a team? How should we split up the things we find?"

Before Myers could finish, Lin Yun interrupted him peacefully. "Sir Myers, are you not exploring this plane for a special item that can alleviate the conflict caused by foreign bloodline inside your body?

"Or are you just looking for treasures? If you're just looking for treasures, let's just split up whatever we might find. If you think treasures are more important than your lives, then I don't mind sharing the treasures with you."

Myers immediately changed his expression. The Heaven Rank mages around him who wore hoods and black robes were all disturbed too.

"How do you know!?" Myers cried in shock and fear. After crying that out, he finally realized that he lost control of himself…

Lin Yun glanced at Myers with disdain and sympathy.

"The crystal spells can only be grasped by human beings who boast special talents or bloodlines. However, they cannot use the Magic Neutralization Crystals like the crystal monsters.

"Plus the crystal defenses that you gathered around your body, is there another possibility except that you've transplanted a crystal monster's bloodline?

"Your colorful crystal magic tool, your eyes, and the bloodline of your body are all from a crystal monster whose name should be Stark, right? Because the only sound it can make is something that resembles 'Star'. Also, since you've reached level 5 of the Heaven Rank, that Stark must've been in level 40, right? You transplanted its bloodline when you were a level-9 Archmage.

"What a shame. If I had been you, I would've kept one of my own eyes, and melted the two crystal eyes into one. It doesn't feel very good when your eyes shiver fiercely with conflicts of mana every day, does it?"

After Lin Yun finished, there was undisguised shock on Myers' face. His lips were shivering too. He gazed at Lin Yun, as if he had seen a terrifying being.

How did he know that? Nobody knew that. Where did he learn it? Had he figured out everything about his opponent during the brief battle a moment ago?