Chapter 168: Illusory Crystal

Orlando, Fatso and the rest only returned, still panting, after Yang Ling and Yuna had covered the traces of their actions and had a few sips of rum back at the tent. They were still flustered.

“Oh Yiblis, my heart almost fell out from all that running!” Fatso pouted, snatching the wine cup from Yang Ling’s hand and drinking the rest of the rum it held. “Brother Yuri, you sure are ungrateful. You are comfortably drinking wine here, even though we helped you divert the attention of those merciless warriors in black.”

Looking at Fatso, who still did not know that the group in black had been exterminated, Yang Ling smiled and said, “Hans, why not let us return to the bar and wait for the big man in black to return and fight him again. Then, if you still can’t beat him, I’ll be responsible for diverting their attention. How about that?”

Again?

Hans shook his head dramatically. He was still catching his breath from the mad dash through the forest, trying to keep up with Orlando. He had nearly vomited the first time! He couldn’t imagine doing it again.

After resting for some time, the more dependable knight Halalei had a serious expression. He said slowly, “Brothers, this place is not too far away from the village. They might come after us at any time. For our safety, why not let us journey overnight and leave this place as soon as possible!”

“Yes, we have to leave this place as soon as possible!”

“Oh Yiblis, that group of people are lucky, they had better not appear in Montson. Otherwise, we’ll show them what power is!”

…

After some grumbling and angry cursing, the group unanimously agreed to journey overnight, in case the other party did indeed come after them. Even though they were all young and feisty, they knew that this was no time for bravado

Yang Ling was on board with the overnight journey. After all, the corpses of the man in black, his group, and his Spellcaster lay not too far away. Though he and Yuna had covered their tracks, it was still possible that someone had heard that black-clad troop die. Getting further away would be prudent precaution.

Just like that, the group journeyed overnight, braving the wind and snow and arrived quickly at the Aila Mountain pass a dozen miles further. No one was concerned about where they were going, and even more so, no one knew that the arrogant group of men in black were now permanently resting behind the small village bar.

Even though there was a team of soldiers stationed at the Aila Mountain Pass, the checks on the merchants, troops and adventurers were lax. The group cleared the checks after giving an arbitrary reason for their travel, and made their way further away from the Aila Mountain Pass as the night went on, and eventually setting foot in the Wilderness of Siberia.

The Wilderness spanned thousands of miles. The mountains in that area were fairly low and worn. Most of the wilderness was comprised of gently rolling hills and plains. It was called ‘wilderness’ because there were few humans in the area.

Over the millennia, because of the lack of humans, the Wilderness had become a merry ground for various intelligent races. No one knew just how many aboriginal tribes were scattered across the vast wilderness. As a result, there was a healthy population of bandits in the area that survived by robbing food and other supplies from other aboriginal tribes.

Yang Ling had already sent Argus ahead into the Wilderness of Siberia, again carrying his message of welcome and invitation, but he expected more resistance than could be dealt with swiftly. Yang Ling assumed it would take some significant time for Argus to sort groups into two categories: those that pledged loyalty to Yang Ling, and those who either left by choice or died by force. Yang Ling would be happy for the time being if they could secure a safe route for traveling merchants through the Wilderness.

When he started, there were no roads through the Wilderness of Siberia. Now, with some travelers braving the trek, some natural routes began to emerge.

As time went by, the merchant route through the Wilderness of Siberia began to establish itself. The route was not used heavily, and it was not paved, but it could be followed.

Yang Ling spent some time trying to come up with a feasible excuse to take a shortcut and leave the relative ease of the merchant route through the Wilderness of Siberia, but eventually he just proposed the change. He was surprised to find no resistance from the newbie troop team, who agreed readily and unanimously.

Both Lia and Hans had long since dropped the guise of seasoned soldiers. It was clear as day they both wanted more than anything to be at Monston overnight, or faster.

Of course, there were both advantages and disadvantages to taking a shortcut!

There were shrubs everywhere on the route, and the path was winding and treacherous. Luckily, Yang Ling’s carriage was exceptional, not only light, but also sturdy and resilient. If they encountered an obstacle that they truly could not pass, Orlando, Halalei and Maputo would easily be able to lift the carriage past the obstacle if they worked together. With food as temptation, the obese Hans also tried his best to help, with somewhat more enthusiasm than anyone else.

Even though it was winter, there were still various wild beasts roaming the snow in the wilderness. There were common beasts like civets and pheasants, as well as hungry bears and wild wolves…

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With his sensitive sense of smell and agile movements, Orlando acted as scout at the front, and would tell the group to stop or take a detour whenever he sensed danger. When he encountered prey that he was confident he could catch, he would hunt with no mercy, which provided the group fresh wild game from time to time.

Other than training and roasting wild game, Yang Ling would sometimes look at the things in his Space Ring to spend the time he had in the carriage.

His Space Ring was stuffed with items, from dried rations to water, and clothes to tents. There were even toys that he did not understand. There were items purchased from the townspeople and soldiers, and some items picked up from the Taildon Valley… Amongst those items were some that he had found on the corpses of the group in black.

There were not many valuable treasures on the muscular man in black or the other warriors, aside from a few crystal coins. But the Spellcaster in the dark black robe was another story altogether. Yang Ling had pulled a magical necklace from his neck. Yuna ascertained that the necklace had the power to increase the wearer’s resistance to magical spells, and it hid a small Magical Space.

There were several thick books on magic inside the necklace’s Magical Space, as well as a stash of Purple Crystal Coins and a few Essence Crystals from high level Magical Beasts. There was also a small wooden box made of Purple Sandalwood. Inside were layers upon layers of soft, flexible Silver Pike Skin.

Peeling away the layers of pike skin, Yang Ling found a dull crystal. On the surface, it seemed as though it was a poor quality crystal that he could find anywhere, but he felt a strong opposing force when he tried to inject a shred of Wizard Power, which prevented him from determining the crystal’s structure.

That’s weird. What kind of crystal is this?

The crystal was surely useful, given how meticulously the Spellcaster had stored it. With some frustration, Yang Ling increased the intensity of his Wizard Power and tried again. Soon, the energy ripples alerted Yuna, who had been meditating in the carriage. She emerged from meditation and addressed Yang Ling.

“Brother Yang, if I am not mistaken, this could be an Illusory Crystal!” After observing the crystal in Yang Ling’s hand for some time, Yuna became excited. “As long as it absorbed enough energy, you could observe the situation around you in real time through the crystal, similar to how a crystal ball works. You can also keep its records for a long time!”

It could observe the situation around me, record and then store it?

Hearing Yuna say this, Yang Ling recalled the film used in movie making. If he could find a large quantity of this crystal, he could perhaps build the first cinema in this world. When that time comes, he would definitely cause a stir, and money would come rolling in!

Yuna took the Illusory Crystal from Yang Ling and carefully set it in one palm. Then she began to mutter softly. Soon, the dull crystal gradually lit up, releasing a halo of pale silver glow. At the end, the glow turned into a screen, and began playing a recording just like a projector.

The picture was a little hazy, as if it had been photographed from far away, but they could still see that it was an image of a massive army of Magical Beasts attacking an ancient castle.

Inside the castle, teams of warriors in black heavy armor and Spellcasters in long black robes rushed out from time to time, as if preparing to forcefully free themselves from their embattlement. But without exception, each of them was torn to shreds by the Magical Beast horde.

“Ah… Necromancer, quick, request assistance from the master!”

“Defend the energy tower! Activate the heavy defenses, quickly!”

…

It seemed that the crystal had also recorded the sounds that were present on the scene. The anxious orders, the rising pathetic cries, even the sounds of the Magical Beasts tearing the flesh of the soldiers. The recording vividly replayed the barbaric, blood soaked scene.

“Brother Yang, look over here!”

Watching the violent, merciless battle, Yuna had instinctively leaned toward Yang Ling for comfort, and in this changed position, had unintentionally discovered the hazy figure at the lower left corner of the screen of light.

Looking where Yuna was pointing, Yang Ling saw a figure dressed in a long black robe and a black hat. Even though the image was blurry, he could still see the Magical Beasts swarm the ancient castle like the tide and attack it under his command. The Magical Beasts charged into the castle like an unstoppable force after destroying the castle gate!

Could this be the Necromancer that the Spellcaster in the black robe had talked about before he died?

Hearing an old Spellcaster murmur in the castle, seeing the countless Magical Beasts, then looking at the hazy figure at the lower left corner of the screen of light, Yang Ling recalled the Spellcaster’s last words as he lay at the muscular man’s side.

A Necromancer should have the ability to control Magical Beasts. Was the other party an Ancient Summoner who could summon Magical Beasts to do battle for him, or an Ancient Wizard just like he was?

Yang Ling wondered about the identity of the man in black. He might be able to find clues about the Ancient Wizards if he found this person, but he might also discover an archenemy in the purest sense of the word. According to the scene depicted in the screen of light, the Magical Beasts that the other party possessed not only had superior battle capabilities, their numbers also far exceeded his own!