Lord of the Magical Beasts

After committing the Wizard Mantra for honing the body to memory and making sure that he could recite it without any problems, Yang Ling searched the hall again, ensuring that he checked every nook and cranny.

The box was carved with mysterious symbols that seemed to match the symbols seen elsewhere in the hall, so Yang Ling was fairly sure the Spider Monster acquired the box in the hall, and not elsewhere. Maybe there was other treasure for Yang Ling to find if he looked closely.

As the sky darkened, the fog in the hall lightened, gradually subsiding. Perhaps some of the corners of the hall might still be a little dark to an average person, but to Yang Ling and his enhanced vision, it was not too difficult for him. He could see everything inside the hall even without the burning mud balls.

Other than the few Magical Spell Formations, and a lone table meant for offerings, the hall was empty. The table was mottled and made from a hardy purple sandalwood. It was covered in a layer of tree oils, similar to paint, and gave off the scent of sandalwood.

Behind the table were two giant footprints, as if a giant statue had been placed there many years ago, leaving behind two deep traces on the hard stone slab.

At the center of the table was a long depression. Yang Ling tried and found that it fit the metal box perfectly. It looked like his guess had been correct that the Spider Monster had found the metal box in the hall and swallowed it whole when it discovered the box would not open. To think that it was him that found it in the end. It truly was fate!

In front of the table was a giant Five Pronged Starlight Spell Formation. According to the Heavenly Fox Yuna’s explanation, this should be the Spell Formation that had sent the Heavenly Foxes abroad back then. The Magical Teleportation Formation could not be activated, despite the group’s combined best efforts. Perhaps years of neglect or a lack of power was responsible for the Formation’s stillness.

“If we could activate this Magical Teleportation Formation, we might perhaps be able to find traces of the other Heavenly Foxes. How unfortunate!” The Fox Elder sighed in frustration.

If he could activate the mysterious Teleportation Formation, he might be able to receive the Heavenly Foxes’ support. He might even manage to transport his clan abroad to a new continent, just like in the legends.

Heavenly Fox Yuna also sighed in frustration. Her attempts to help had not awakened the Formation either. Compared to the Fox Elder, she had hoped even more that she could activate the Magical Teleportation Formation. On the other side of the Teleportation Formation were her clansmen, everything she had been looking forward to. Where the Heavenly Foxes had gone, there was no human greed, no endless wars. It was paradise for the Beastmen, the holy land for her race.

“Being unable to open it now does not mean that there will be no way to activate it in the future! I believe that one day, we will be able to activate this Magical Spell Formation!” Yang Ling smiled encouragingly at the Heavenly Fox Yuna and the Fox Elder, and then continued searching the hall. He was personally more interested in the hall itself. He had a feeling that it hid many secrets of an Ancient Wizard.

The hall’s wide door was covered in many images. In an average person’s eyes, this was a mysterious, ancient Magical Spell Formation. But Yang Ling recognized it as a high level Wizard Formation. Someone had added an obscure Killing Formation and an Illusory Formation to the foundation of a Spirit Gathering Spell Formation, which created the hall’s persistent white fog.

This Wizard Formation caused the Spider Monster to become trapped inside the hall. The spell became stronger with every full moon, stunting the Spider Monster’s growth and preventing its advancement, thereby ensuring its long term incarceration. It also prevented the Spider Monster from ever attaining Sage-level.

Other than the mysterious symbols, there were also images of priests grovelling on the floor and praying carved onto the ground. It might have been more accurate to call the hall an ancient, divine temple.

Could this be a divine temple at which the Ancient Wizard prayed?

Yang Ling considered the images carved into the ground, and the giant footprints behind the offering table, and thought that it fit. He couldn’t imagine why someone would move the deity’s statue away, but it was clear to him that the Ancient Wizards might have lived in the temple some hundreds of years ago. Perhaps that was also the reason why the Spider Monster, that had looked for tracks of the Ancient Wizards everywhere, would come into that place despite the white fog’s danger.

Could the Ancient Wizards have all moved to the new continent behind the Magical Teleportation Formation, just like the Heavenly Foxes did?

Yang Ling wondered. Perhaps the Ancient Summoners had created a Teleportation Formation in the divine temple after having found a new continent abroad, then performed a mass migration. Sometime after that, the Heavenly Foxes discovered this secret and moved their entire tribe away too.

When Yuna’s forefathers arrived late and coincidentally got blocked by the Spider Monster that inhabited the temple, the fierce battle unintentionally activated the Wizard Formations at the entrance of the divine temple and outside the cave. From then on, the two Wizard Formations circulated automatically, making it such that outsiders would not be able to enter and those inside would not be able to exit!

As Yang Ling was deep in thought, Argus led in a large group of warriors and was cleaning up the bloody battlefield quickly and efficiently.

They collected the useful corpses and Blood Essence of the spiders and buried those they had no use for. Finally, a few of the Spellcasters cleaned up the last traces of blood using water element magic spells. With so much manpower, they managed to clean out the place in just over an hour, the metallic stench of blood in the air finally subsiding.

After exploring the place countless times and confirming that there weren’t any treasures, the group turned to leave, heading out of the cave to rest, while Yang Ling stayed behind under his Magical Beast army’s protection.

As far as the group was concerned, there were no other items inside the temple worth harping over, other than the inactive Teleportation Formation. But in Yang Ling’s eyes, the Wizard Formation at the entrance of the divine temple, the white fog that did not scatter, and the symbols left on the ground were all treasures of which he could never have enough.

He sat down cross legged, and silently recited the Body Honing Wizard Mantra he had found on the vellum. Pulsing, his Wizard Core pushed his Wizard Power, causing it to circulate around his body.

At the start, he did not notice anything changing, as if the Body Honing Wizard Mantra was not effective. But with the Wizard Power circulated faster and faster within his body, and he began to feel heat released wherever the Wizard Power had passed.

Soon, as the temperature rose, the Wizard Power seeped into every inch of his muscles, into every inch of his bones. At the same time, his body was slowly absorbing the white fog within the divine temple, every pore in his body expanding.

The faster his Wizard Power circulated, the more of the white fog he absorbed. The boiling hot Wizard Power caused his muscles to expand, while the icy cold white fog contracted them. One hot and the other cold, the energies created a cycle.

Some time later, Yang Ling felt the symbols in the divine temple become clearer. His mental energy spread outward like a spider’s web, slowly touching the images carved onto the ground, walls, and roof. Then, the images clearly appeared within his mind.

Could this be a so-called restriction?

There were many symbols in the divine temple. Even though he was unable to understand them right away, Yang Ling understood that there were several mysterious Wizard Formations within the divine temple, each one layered onto the last.

Originally, he had thought that there was only the Wizard Formation at the entrance of the divine temple other than the Teleportation Formation before the offering table. But after he freed his mind and touched the vast wizard symbols, he realized how wrong he had been!

On the surface, the wizard symbols and images seemed to share no connection with each other, but as Yang Ling came to understand, all of the wizard symbols were bound tightly together with energy, forming a many layered Wizard Formation. According to the explanation on the stele, this was beyond the classification of a Wizard Formation; instead it was a restriction set up by a high level Wizard.

According to the stele, Wizard Techniques were split into seven levels. The level of Blood Wizard was preparation for the beginner stage, and Spirit Wizards were equivalent to apprentices. Only when one cultivated their abilities to the level of Earth Wizard did they truly step into the beginning stages.

Even when one had cultivated their abilities to the level of Earth Wizard and formed the Wizard Core, the training had only just begun. They could gain understanding of several mysterious spells only after they cultivated their abilities to the level of Heaven Wizard, Divine Wizard, or Soul Wizard. Amongst those, one would come into preliminary contact with restrictions only at the later stages of Heaven Wizard. It would be risky to try to forcefully cultivate this technique.

“So that’s the case; it’s no wonder that it could release this strange white fog. It is no wonder that even the terrifying Spider Monster would be trapped here alive for thousands of years!”

Yang Ling stood up cautiously, not daring to forcefully investigate the secrets of this divine temple. He was afraid that he might activate a deeper restriction if he was not careful.

Yang Ling recalled his protective Magical Beasts and left the cave quickly. Then he took a deep breath and began testing out his moves. He soon realized that he was able to pierce through the light armor the barbarians wore with his fist, and at full thrust, he was even slightly stronger than the Horned Bee Beasts.

It looked like the Body Honing Wizard Mantra on the vellum was powerful indeed. His constitution had improved dramatically in just a few hours! Yang Ling was confident that he would be able to escape successfully with his Tree Eyes ability even if he was unable to retaliate if he encountered a Heaven-ranked Assassin in the forest.

The teleportation-like Earth Evasion technique, top notch speed, immense strength, and full stamina all allowed him to have a certain level of self defense even without Magical Beasts aiding him in battle. He was much more powerful than a Blood Wizard that could only tame Magical Beasts and had no further offensive capabilities.

After eating their fill, the group started discussing the next step of their plans with excitement.

“Sir, after this, we have to conduct a large scale development of the sulfur mine as soon as possible!” Pulling his white beard, the Fox Elder shared his opinion.

Taking in a mouthful of warm alcohol, the Ox Chief corroborated the Fox Elder’s suggestion and added, “That’s right, with enough sulfur, we can accelerate the cultivation of the Black Pulp Trees and create more mud balls!”

The Ox Chief was largely fine after the fierce battle due to the timely treatment. Only the Medusa leader was still weak, having sustained severe injuries. If Yang Ling had not fed her a few Magical Beast Blood Essences in time, she might not have survived.

“Excavating a mine requires a lot of manpower. We need resources like tools and rations. We cannot rush these things!” Deliberating for a moment, Yang Ling continued, “In order to excavate the sulfur mine over a long period of time, we will also need to build a decent mountain fortress to facilitate our control over the Taildon Valley. We might as well build a city in the nearby mountains while we are preparing our resources!”

The sulfur mine, underground crystal vein, ancient divine temple, and the mysterious ancient entrapment…

After understanding the worth of the Taildon Valley, Yang Ling began deliberating how he could control the valley securely. Of course, it would be even better if he could rally the Bullmen, Foxmen and Medusas scattered around the Ladak Mountain Range under his rule, so as to obtain much cheap labor and many warriors.