Chapter 36

If taken out separately, the value of a Spirit Magic Tool would definitely far surpass that of a Spirit Component. After all, a Spirit Magic Tool is equivalent to the combat power of a High Mage, while a Spirit Component, before being attached to any magic tool, is almost useless.

However, once a powerful magic tool is attached to a Spirit Component, the result would immediately be completely reversed. Especially after the Spirit Component fully matures, there would be no comparison between the two.

This also means that the value of a Spirit Component, which has no combat power, would far exceed that of a Spirit Magic Tool, which is equivalent to the combat power of a High Mage.

The moment Lin Yun realized that what was in front of him was a Spirit Component, his eyes immediately lit up with excitement.

"Falor." After a brief moment of thought, Lin Yun called Falor over.

At this moment, Falor had already completed the formula calculation for the Abyssal Potion, and the result could only be described as "crazy." The effect was several times stronger, and the potion formulated this way could no longer be called an Abyssal Potion, right?

Faced with this crazy result, Falor was completely stunned. He lay on the table, staring at the draft paper filled with various formulas, repeatedly checking it. Once, no error; twice, no error; three times, no error... nine times, ten times, still no error. This meant that the result of his calculation was absolutely correct. The moment he put down the draft paper, Falor felt as if a door had opened in front of him, revealing a whole new world...

Such immense happiness could only be understood by true alchemists. Day after day of research, year after year of experiments, all for the sake of advancing their alchemy. Now, this step had been taken so easily, and the sudden happiness even made Falor doubt whether he was still dreaming.

"Falor?" Lin Yun called out twice with no response, and he immediately raised his voice in impatience.

"Yes, yes, Mage Merlin, what do you need?" Hearing Lin Yun's suddenly raised voice, Falor finally snapped out of his daze and looked up at Lin Yun. In addition to the previous fear, his eyes now held admiration and reverence, a longing for knowledge and respect for wisdom.

"Go to the Sage Tower's box and tell High Mage Solomon that I can bear half the cost of the Annihilation Hell spell. After the auction, it can be handed over to the Sage Tower for three months, during which they can freely copy and study it as long as it is not damaged. I, who will bear the other half, will permanently retain the scroll after three months."

"Yes, I'll go right away." If it were before, Falor might have asked whether such an unfair condition would be accepted by High Mage Solomon, but after completing the formula calculation for the Abyssal Potion, Falor would no longer do such a foolish thing. How could you question a future master? You must be crazy...

After Falor left the box, Lin Yun did not sit down again. His eyes were fixed on the scroll on the stage, but his mind had already drifted to the Bone Plane...

The Extraordinary Magic Tool, the Book of Death, in Bain's possession, was almost certainly from the Bone Plane. Only the black wasteland shrouded in death could give birth to an Extraordinary Magic Tool like the Book of Death. If everything went smoothly, after mastering the Nether Iron Vein, he could find a way to expand deeper into the Bone Plane. By then, the Flash Gold Guild should have recovered some of its strength, and he could form a force capable of crossing planes and waging war...

As long as he had the means to survive in the Bone Plane, he could find the legendary shortcut and obtain the Book of Death that once belonged to Bain.

With the Book of Death and the Spirit Component, even a High Mage, let alone a High Mage, would have to walk around him...

While Lin Yun was immersed in his thoughts about the future, the door to the box opened again. This time, in addition to Falor, there was also Solon. When Solon saw that the owner of the box was Lin Yun, he was clearly taken aback, but quickly smiled warmly: "I didn't expect it to be you, Mage Merlin. Teacher Solomon would like to invite you over. Do you have time?"

"Of course, it would be my honor." The moment Solon entered, Lin Yun smiled, knowing that the Spirit Component was almost certainly going to be in his hands.

The three of them walked into the Sage Tower's box, and Lin Yun realized that only Solomon was present among the three leaders of the Sage Tower. The emaciated old man was sitting in the corner of the box, his skeletal body slightly curled, occasionally bursting into a violent cough. No matter how you looked at it, he was an old man in his twilight years. If his name were not mentioned, who would have known that this was the legendary figure who had stood at the peak of Thousand Sails City for over twenty years, whose name alone made many forces dare not act rashly?

"Hello, High Mage Solomon." Lin Yun greeted him politely but could not help but frown slightly. The health condition of this High Mage did not seem as ideal as the Sage Tower claimed...

The violent coughing just now was clearly a sign of magic power collapse. Otherwise, each cough would not have triggered unstable magic fluctuations.

In this era, magic power collapse was almost incurable. For any mage, once magic power collapsed, it meant that a lifetime of effort was in vain. For Solomon to still possess the power of a High Mage after a magic power collapse was nothing short of a miracle.

But this miracle was probably at its end...

Lin Yun was willing to bet that this High Mage, who had dominated Thousand Sails City for twenty years, had at most five years left to live. The coughing revealed that violent magic power had already begun to damage his internal organs. It could be three years, or five years, but this powerful High Mage did not have much time left.

In fact, the urgency with which he had been grooming Solon for a position in recent years also revealed some signs...

"Your insight, Mage Merlin, is much stronger than I imagined." Solomon, sitting in the corner of the box, did not stand to greet him. Given his age, this was normal. There were few in Thousand Sails City older than him. When he saw Lin Yun frown, the old man smiled.

The old man knew that the young mage had already figured it out...

"Thank you for the compliment." Lin Yun humbly replied and sat down at Solon's invitation. Without much small talk, he got straight to the point: "What do you think of my proposal, High Mage Solomon?"

"Two questions." Solomon raised two emaciated fingers and looked at Lin Yun with a faint smile: "First, several hundred thousand gold coins is not a small amount. Given the current situation of the Flash Gold Guild, it seems they do not have the capability. Second, if we are both bearing half the cost, why should the scroll not go to the Sage Tower?"

"Before answering your first question, I would like to introduce you to Alchemist Falor." Lin Yun called Falor over and introduced him to Solomon: "Alchemist Falor comes from the Black Horn Auction House. I believe he can give you a satisfactory answer to your first question."

"Yes, High Mage Solomon, I can assure you that Mage Merlin will receive full support from the Black Horn Auction House in this auction. He can obtain any item he wants."

"Khadgar has good judgment..." After listening, Solomon only smiled and shook his head, not pressing further.

"As for your second question..." Lin Yun glanced outside the box: "I think it's probably because you dislike the Ash Tower more than I do."

"Ha ha..." This somewhat evasive answer made Solomon stare at Lin Yun for a long time, until Lin Yun felt uneasy. Finally, the old man stood up and extended a withered hand to Lin Yun: "Then, Mage Merlin, I wish us a pleasant cooperation."

"Pleasant cooperation."

After Lin Yun and the Sage Tower reached an agreement, the competition for the Annihilation Hell spell entered a fever pitch.

The Sage Tower and the Ash Tower bid the scroll of Annihilation Hell up to 1.3 million gold coins. This price made everyone wonder if the two factions had gone mad. This was the highest price in the history of the auction, and was it really worth paying such a staggering price for a fragmentary spell?

"1.4 million gold coins."

When Solomon called out this price, the entire venue fell silent. In the Ash Tower's box, apart from a cold snort, no new bid was heard. After Khadgar counted down three times, he announced that the new owner of the fragmentary spell was High Mage Solomon of the Sage Tower.

This meant that Lin Yun would have to pay 700,000 gold coins for the scroll.

The scroll was quickly delivered to Solomon's box. Lin Yun glanced at it and handed it over to Solomon. To Lin Yun, the fragmentary spell recorded on it was meaningless. What truly mattered was the scroll itself. In any case, the scroll would be in his hands in a month, so it didn't matter much whether he looked at it now or not.

After obtaining the Annihilation Hell spell, Lin Yun was about to take his leave, but to his surprise, the usually reclusive High Mage actually tried to retain him, and his words were unusually firm, making Lin Yun feel somewhat embarrassed to insist on leaving.

In the end, Lin Yun had no choice but to stay.