Chapter 442: Return to the Ancestral Land

Ofran looked at Wollings with disbelief when he felt those mana fluctuations. His throat moved, but he couldn't make any sound. Wollings was already a 5th Rank Archmage, and an extremely powerful one at that.

Even if he was also a 5th Rank Archmage, Ofran felt alarmed when faced with these mana fluctuations. He would definitely not be Wollings' opponent.

But, when he saw Wollings a month ago, the latter was only a 3rd Rank Archmage...

How could his strength increase so quickly?

No wonder he was so arrogant...

"Ofran, the current Charlotte Family isn't the same one from before anymore. I advise you to hand over that territory. If you keep refusing, our Charlotte Family won't mind shedding all pretense of cordiality and attacking in the open." Wollings ridiculed him. He saw the look in Ofran's eyes and couldn't help displaying a prideful expression.

"Sir Wollings, are you deaf? Didn't you hear Patriarch Ofran telling you to leave...?"

At this moment, a cold and sharp voice echoed.

Wollings' expression instantly soured when he heard Lin Yun's voice. He looked at the source and saw that it was the young mage he had recognized earlier.

Speaking of which, the Charlotte Family hadn't troubled him...

Mafa Merlin was a child of the Merlin Family stranded outside who had returned several months ago. And this Mafa Merlin possessed the huge gold-making machine known as the Gilded Rose, enjoying the monopoly of the alchemy market in the eastern part of the kingdom. He even spent over thirty million golds in an auction a few months ago.

This had all been investigated by Wollings and wasn't considered a secret. More importantly, during the auction of the Star Gem, that young mage and Hanson of the Charlotte Family had a disagreement. After the end of the auction, Hanson and a few people he took with him disappeared without a trace.

After obtaining the information, Wollings had suspected that Hanson's death was linked to this young mage.

But this young mage's strength hadn't reached the stage where he could contend against Hanson. Wollings clearly knew of the Charlotte Family's secret. Even an Archmage or a Sword Saint might not necessarily be able to kill Hanson, so he'd wondered if it had been a powerhouse of the Merlin Family.

Thinking of this, Wollings' expression gradually became cold. He looked at Lin Yun with killing intent and said, "Ofran, look at the youths of your Family, what kind of child is that? As his elder, you should properly discipline him. A youth like him doesn't have the qualifications to butt in on our discussion!"

"Haha, Patriarch Wollings, you are a bit too controlling..."

Ofran sneered. 'With Mafa's strength, he even has the qualifications for me to treat him as an equal! So what if he wants to say something? He can even make a move against you if he wishes to!'

Naturally, Ofran wouldn't say those words out loud, but he knew how terrifying that young mage was. Three months ago, he fought against 5th Rank Sword Saint Thorne, and the victor hadn't been decided. Now, after meeting him three months later, the young mage gave him a very dangerous feeling. He knew that the young mage was a lot stronger than before.

"It's been a long time since a youth dared to talk to me like this. Haha, I really want to see what gave him the confidence to be arrogant..."

A gloomy aura suddenly spread to every corner of the study as berserk mana fluctuations rose up.

"Wollings! You dare to do this in our Merlin Family!?" Ofran exploded in anger as he instantly stood up.

Wollings didn't say anything, a serious expression on his face. He used his actions to answer Ofran's question as the mana fluctuations continued to flood the entire room. The pressure of a 5th Rank Archmage was unleashed onto the sitting Lin Yun.

But...

"Ah! What is that?"

As for Wollings, it seemed as if he had aged by ten years, and he looked very weak.

"You, you..."

Wollings truly felt like dying. His strength had greatly advanced after obtaining the support of the Thousand Souls Sacrifice, letting him reach the 5th Rank and even be a bit stronger than Ofran. Because of this, he had the confidence that he could force the Merlin Family to hand over that territory.

But he'd never expected that young mage to take out such a mysterious Magic Tool and drain away his strength.

This was too outrageous...

He didn't dare to make a fuss anymore, and he forced himself out of the chair while panting, hurrying out of the study.

"This, Mafa..."

Ofran was completely stunned. He was looking at the young mage in a daze, shock filling his mind. This couldn't be described with a few words. He wanted to ask something, but he swallowed his question back and ended up reminding Lin Yun, "Mafa, you should take a trip to the Ancestral Land before leaving for the Raging Flame Plane..."

"Okay..."

Lin Yun nodded and directly left the study.

...

After staying in his residence for a day, Lin Yun left the room. He went out of the Merlin Family Manor and followed the Fallen Star Lake until he quickly arrived at the bottom of that cliff.

The Ancestral Land was always shrouded in a dense fog obstructing one's sight. He simply couldn't see anything inside. This was the most mysterious part of the Merlin Family.

It was passed down that the Merlin Family's ancestor had come out of here and followed the Andlusa's first king to establish the kingdom. He retreated after attaining some achievements and once again entered the Ancestral Land, never to come out again. From that time on, the entire ravine was filled with a dense fog.

Lin Yun also felt that this mysterious ancestor should have been hiding a huge secret.

The last time he entered the Ancestral Land, he had just arrived at the Merlin Family Manor and had needed to spend some effort to get Ofran's approval. Moreover, that Ancestral Land did interest him quite a bit. In the depths of that ravine, there were over a dozen magic towers with seven or more floors. This meant that in the Ancestral Land, there were at least a dozen Archmages, and there was even a tower with 9 floors, which represented the Heaven Rank.

It's just that that no mana fluctuations could be seen on that tower. It felt as if it had lost its master a long time ago.

But this was shocking enough. The Magic Era was still in its infancy, so the Archmage ream was a goal countless mages would pursue all their lives without attaining, let alone the Heaven realm.

When he first came to the Ancestral Land, his first target was the merging of his Magic Arrays. But back then, he discovered that the temple in which the bloodline ceremony was conducted had the style of the Nesser Dynasty, from the era of Dragons and Elves.

At that time, he knew that the Merlin Family was far more complicated than it appeared to be. His conjectures had been confirmed after going in the depths of the Tulan Mountain Range. In the 10th Floor of the magic tower, the scene reflected by that damaged Heaven Puppet made Lin Yun discover that one of the ancestors of the Merlin Family had followed Charles the Emperor and participated in the campaign to destroy the Throne of Life.

And in the 9th Floor's study, the Well of Stars that William obtained was a clue pointing to the gravedigger of the Silver Era, the greatest alchemist of all times, the Dark Sage. The current members of the Merlin Family were most likely descendants of the Dark Sage. Naturally, Lin Yun couldn't say for certain that this wasn't a coincidence.

Lin Yun walked for close to an hour before reaching the bottom of the ravine. When he left Ofran's study the day before, Ofran reminded him that Sir Ryan, who had appeared a few months ago, had told him to take a trip to the Ancestral Land before leaving for the Raging Flame Plane. Apparently someone wanted to meet him.

Lin Yun inferred that the ancestor who wanted to meet him should have a higher rank than Ryan, or else Sir Ryan wouldn't have personally relayed the message.

After reaching the bottom of the canyon, although still foggy, Lin Yun could see the silhouettes of the magic towers. It felt like a small town, and the surroundings were quite beautiful. It was difficult to see the end at first glance, but Lin Yun noticed a hidden fluctuation. If he hadn't been using the Magic Array, he would have had a hard time discovering it.

After carefully sensing it, he felt that the fluctuation was quite peculiar. In the ravine's dense fog, amidst the flickering radiance, there seemed to be several mysterious runes moving up and down, and that fluctuation felt as if those mysterious runes were fusing together. This should be the reason why it was hard to detect.

He had heard William say that the area around the Guardian Tower was very strange. There had once been a youth who came to undergo the bloodline ceremony who met a powerful magic beast in here, and that unlucky guy met the ghost of an ancestor and ran away, not even doing the bloodline ceremony. After returning to the Merlin Family, he became crazy.

Thinking of this, Lin Yun looked at the depths of the canyon with a strange expression. It was very hard to see through that layer of dense fog. He even doubted whether that strange mana fluctuation came from some magic beast, or the ghost of an ancestor.