Chapter 154: The Dark Age

Not long after Kas left, Archmage Merlin rushed over quickly. He had not left Montokas, so he immediately sensed the violent energy fluctuations occurring at Lin Lei’s secluded residence.

When he saw this stretch of scorched earth spanning several square kilometers, he was secretly astonished.

The ground of this forest appeared to have been instantly radiated by extremely high energy. All the plants and the humus on the surface were vaporized by the high heat, revealing the sandy soil underneath.

This sandy soil had not escaped damage either; its surface presented a smooth, semi-transparent state, clearly formed by being melted and then re-condensed.

To achieve this, the energy condensation level must have reached a very high degree.

When Merlin stood before Lin Lei, he saw that he was already waiting there leisurely, smiling faintly at him.

At this moment, even Merlin, an Archmage who had lived for over 300 years and the leader of the Free Mages, felt that this young mage was unfathomable.

He asked with hesitation: “Archmage Lin Lei, what caused you to suddenly use such an extreme method of energy eruption?”

“Outsiders, creatures from the Abyss, the so-called demons referred to by the Holy Council. A battle took place between us.”

Merlin’s face was full of shock: “How would they dare?! With the Will intensity of these Abyssal creatures, facing us, even a suppression on the pure Will level would be sufficient to wipe them out!”

Lin Lei looked at the rising sun on the distant mountain mist and spoke softly: “Towards the unknown, any intelligent creature has only two reactions: one is to cautiously keep their distance, the other is to recklessly attempt it. I think these guests from the Abyss will not hold an attitude of awe towards us until they have tasted the fury of the Mages.”

The Watcher Civilization had stood at the peak of the Galaxy for too long. No matter how high their wisdom, they could not easily change that attitude of looking down on all things.

They were just that arrogant!

When they held this attitude and encountered a top existence from another Star System, underestimating the enemy was destined to come at a price!

Lin Lei turned around and said to Merlin standing beside him: “Sir, I request to join the Free Mage Alliance!”

After speaking, under Merlin’s astonished gaze, Lin Lei placed one hand on his chest and performed the formal Mage etiquette of the Main Plane. Facing the Star Alliance, being alone was no longer safe. He did not want to join the Holy Council that believed in Deities, so the Alliance was the only choice left.

It took a long while for Merlin to react. He immediately returned an equally solemn Mage salute to Lin Lei and said with a solemn voice: “Archmage Lin Lei, I am deeply honored by your joining!”

The Free Mage Alliance was not a powerful organization, nor did it possess anything worth coveting. Even he, the leader, existed in a dispensable state.

Merlin was respected by the Free Mages not because of this identity, but because of his powerful strength and selfless charisma.

For the joining of Lin Lei, an Archmage with unlimited potential, he was naturally incomparably welcome, and even felt encouraged.

Sometimes, the reason for the rise of an organization might simply be because it has a powerful member who surpasses their peers!

As mentioned before, a Mage’s Will was powerful and difficult to change. Lin Lei had joined the Alliance. From beginning to end, the two only had a verbal agreement, but the Will bond between the two Archmages naturally formed an existence similar to a contract.

Spoken words became truth; this was one of the characteristics of powerful Mages.

Since they were now members of the same organization, Merlin’s attitude towards Lin Lei became much more casual. He pointed to the surrounding ground and sighed: “Lin Lei, from the signs on this ground, I sensed incredibly pure energy. I have to admit, I cannot achieve this!”

When Merlin said this, there was no jealousy, only thick admiration.

The hard standard to measure whether a Mage is powerful is the Energy Level of the energy they can control, which is a compromise standard between the condensation degree and the quantity of energy.

Most of the time, this had a close connection with the number of Dimensions a Mage comprehended, showing a directly proportional relationship.

Will, Dimension, and Energy, from high to low, formed a pyramid structure and were inseparable existences. If one comprehended more Dimensional Elements, the Will would naturally become powerful, and the Energy Level one could control would also synchronously rise.

But there were exceptions, just like the current Lin Lei. Although he was only a Fifth-grade Mage, his Will completely surpassed Merlin, who was a Sixth-grade Mage, and the Energy Level he could control naturally suppressed Merlin.

This kind of person was often a genius Mage seen only once in a century, just like those immortal existences in the Holy Council, who were all famous figures in their time.

How could such extraordinary figures be confined by conventional rules!

Facing Merlin’s sincere admiration, Lin Lei just smiled. His horizons were broad; he knew that with his current level, he was not yet among the top, but far above the bottom, so there was nothing to be proud of.

“Archmage Merlin, let’s discuss how to face these outsiders in the future? I feel that they, these Abyssal creatures, also have an extremely strict and orderly society behind them.”

Lin Lei intended to reveal a bit about the Galaxy’s situation to arouse Merlin’s attention.

Merlin indeed became interested. He leaned on his wooden staff with both hands, looking at Lin Lei with eyes flashing with light. He knew what Lin Lei’s words implied.

This implied the subversion of the uniqueness and supremacy of the Main Plane defined by the Holy Council.

“Lin Lei, your underlying implication is that they come from another massive plane comparable to the Main Plane? And this plane, like the Main Plane, is suspended in the Abyss.”

The jump in Merlin’s thinking made Lin Lei stunned for a moment, but he immediately reacted. Merlin had accurately expressed the implied meaning of his words.

“Indeed, I believe the Main Plane is not the only existence. Just like those Subspaces we pass through when traveling in various regions, it is just one of the Floating Islands in the Abyss!”

For some reason, Merlin’s face unknowingly became serious, and even his voice became low: “Lin Lei, how do you determine this? Is it merely based on a Mage’s intuition?”

The definition of the Main Plane was actually the work of those Mages in the Holy Council. They fanatically believed that this collection of all habitable regions was the only paradise bestowed upon the world by the Main God. Those Abyssal demons coming here were undeniably coveting the precious gift given by Main God Phobos.

This was the fundamental existence of the large organization, the Holy Council. The uniqueness of the Main Plane was not to be doubted. This was the same principle as the Catholic Church on Earth disregarding the truth and blindly maintaining geocentrism in the past, merely to maintain the authority of the Deity.

To put it plainly, it was to protect the vested interests of these spokespersons of the Deity.

Anyone who questioned would be declared a heretic! Humans on Earth would be burned to death, and here, they would similarly be wiped out!

Unknowingly, Lin Lei had touched upon a taboo topic.

Lin Lei did not know this, but he received some warnings from Merlin’s attitude, so he forcibly cut off this topic.

“It is merely my conjecture, Archmage Merlin. Its correctness cannot be verified.”

Merlin’s face relaxed a little, but for some reason, there was a look of disappointment on his face. He said to Lin Lei: “You are young, do not get involved in these meaningless disputes. Those people in the Holy Council have little rationality when it comes to matters involving Deities.”

Lin Lei was a smart person. He immediately heard the hidden danger regarding the Main Plane in Merlin’s advice.

Indeed, every Star System had dictatorship and autocracy. The Galaxy had the Star Alliance; here, there was the Holy Council. It was just under the name of a different Deity, but the essence was the same.

Lin Lei bowed deeply to Merlin and thanked him sincerely: “I will handle it with proper measure, Merlin.”

At this moment, the old man won Lin Lei’s approval. He possessed a kind of enlightened wisdom.

Persisting in his beliefs while maintaining an attitude of non-contention with the world was the essence of survival in the Main Plane under thought autocracy.

Merlin sighed: “Main God Phobos truly exists, yet is so elusive. His authority in this Main Plane has not brought welfare to the people, but instead became a tool for the powerful to bind the freedom of thought. This is truly a sorrow.”

When Merlin said this, what revealed in his eyes was a sober pain, a pity for all Mages with free thought.

His attitude towards life was merely a helpless compromise; his heart was filled with unwillingness and indignation.

“Why the pain? Why the sorrow! Merlin, you only see the darkness, but haven’t thought of the dawn that follows!”

At this time, Lin Lei’s eyes lit up, and he suddenly had an extremely bold idea, enough to change the historical process of two Star Systems and allow him to gain the greatest benefit from it.

Merlin turned to look at Lin Lei. There was no longer any turbidity of an old man in his eyes. He asked with a trembling voice: “I have been walking in the darkness, never seeing the sign of the dawn’s arrival!”

“Outsiders, Merlin, those Abyssal creatures! Our Main Plane needs change. Then, let us use these outsiders to create an earth-shattering change!”

Lin Lei did not wait for Merlin to answer and continued: “What I said earlier was not conjecture. We know the Main Plane is just a combination of insignificant bright spots in the sky. All regions total only 85,434 blocks, far fewer than the number of bright spots. So why couldn’t other planes exist, perhaps even wider than ours?”

“This is a violent collision, the beginning of a chaotic era. The Holy Council will inevitably conflict with the outsiders, and we, the Free Mage Alliance, can seek the freedom we desire in this chaos!”

Lin Lei’s words were inflammatory. Even Merlin’s aging heart could not help but be moved!

He stared at Lin Lei with burning eyes: “You are a madman, I am sure! But I have to follow you! Go do it, young man, I will always support you!”