End of the Magic Era

Chapter 27: Nether Iron

Translator: Shiraishi Editor: TheAlliance

It was most likely the fastest and most cost-efficient plane to conquer in the entire Plane Colonization Era. The young mages were using a worn-out magic battleship, yet they only needed three months to conquer the entire plane.

That wasn’t too surprising, since the level of the Bone Plane was really too low. The most powerful creature there was only a Bone Dragon. The worn-out magic battleship had erased the Bone Dragon from existence with just one salvo.

The three young mages had relied on their miraculous conquest of that plane to obtain the favor of the higher-ups of the Ivory Tower and truly become core mages of that powerful force. After several decades of efforts, they successfully entered the council of the Ivory Tower and became major figures there.

There were plenty of such stories in that era, but what happened after the story was the most important part. Lin Yun remembered that after the Ivory Tower obtained the Bone Plane, it truly rose as one of the seven major forces of Noscent. It not only controlled the Dark Highland for a millennium, but one Heaven Rank Mage came from it, Bane.

Moreover, Bane also had an extraordinary Magic Tool, the renowned Book of Death.

Despite the fact that the Ivory Tower never revealed the reason for their sudden rise, astute observers could guess that the sudden emergence of the Ivory Tower, which had been suppressed by the Caucasus Council for several millennia, was definitely related to the discovery of the Bone Plane by the three young mages. It was a public secret at the time.

Following the rise of the Ivory Tower, the bounty of the Bone Plane gradually spread throughout Noscent. Countless people were eyeing that fertile, black land. The Ivory Tower left a mage corps there and would execute large numbers of trespassers every day, but under the temptation of the possibility for attaining great profits, there would still be countless waves of such people intruding all the time. This situation continued up until Noscent’s mana was exhausted, the powerful mages fell one after the other, and the rising Ivory Tower vanished. As for that fertile, black land, it finally welcomed a long-lost calm.

But all of this had yet to happen.

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The three young mages stumbled upon the coordinates of this plane over ten thousand years later. But Lin Yun had already set foot on this fertile plane through Locke Merlin’s Planar Path, which meant that perhaps the Ivory Tower would not rule the Dark Highland for over a millennium, and Heaven Mage Bane wouldn’t have the extraordinary Magic Tool, the Book of Death.

But for Lin Yun, finding the Bone Plane so early in the timeline came with a serious problem.

The conquest would be extremely difficult...

When those three mages from the Ivory Tower had discovered the Bone Plane, they had only been able to conquer it within three months because they had a magic battleship.

Even if it was worn-out, it was still a magic battleship.

By relying on its power, the three young mages were able to easily conquer the Bone Plane, taking out the most powerful inhabitant in just one salvo. But Lin Yun couldn’t do so, as the plane colonization era had just started, and although the magic battleships had already been created, they were far from having their future destructive power.

Besides, the current magic battleships were only in the hands of a few of the most powerful forces. Moreover, even if these battleships were as strong now as they eventually would be in the future, they wouldn’t fall into Lin Yun’s hands.

Lin Yun could only rely on himself...

But the good news was that Lin Yun had a lot of time.

If everything followed the original course of history, then it would only be over ten thousand years later that the young mages of the Ivory Tower would incidentally find the coordinates of the Bone Plane. Lin Yun should still have enough time to increase his strength. When Lin Yun reached the point of being able to contend against a Bone Dragon, the conquest of the Bone Plane would naturally follow.

And before becoming strong enough, Lin Yun could only maintain a low profile.

The Bone Plane wasn’t something that was impossible for him to explore, but once there, he would have to always remain vigilant. This fertile land was quite fraught with danger for the current Lin Yun.

If more than ten Skeleton Warriors appeared at the same time, Lin Yun would struggle to keep up, not to mention the sleeping Bone Devil. That was an existence that approached the High Mage level. For someone like Lin Yun who had the power of a 9th Rank Mage, if he bumped into it, his only option would be to flee.

Thus, even if the black soil beneath his feet seemed boundless, the area that Lin Yun could explore was only that small plot beside the Planar Path. Only there would he still be mostly safe. If he found something that he couldn’t deal with, he could quickly flee.

Lin Yun was exploring this very area at the moment. In a dozen minutes or so, Lin Yun dealt with over twenty Skeleton Warriors, which brought him four undead essences.

‘Tsk tsk tsk, it truly is a fertile land...’ Finding four undead essences was tantamount to having four Excellent Magic Tools, and it only took him a bit over ten minutes to get them.

Lin Yun’s time was already running out. The three Abyssal Magic Diamonds making up the alchemy array could maintain the Planar Path for about half an hour. After dealing with those Skeleton Warriors, Lin Yun felt like he should head back, as he wanted to have a safety margin.

He could only wait for next time if he wanted to do this again.

Lin Yun didn’t delay and put four Undead Essences into his pocket and started chanting the incantation to leave, but he suddenly saw a bright flash one hundred meters away from him.

“Eh?”

Lin Yun’s curiosity was immediately piqued. This was the Bone Plane, a world made of black soil and ghastly bones, it was definitely unusual for a light to flare out like that...

Lin Yun immediately cancelled the incantation to open the exit and sent a Mage Eye over, keeping it close to the black soil.

Lin Yun became stupefied.

Through the Mage Eye, Lin Yun could clearly see numerous Skeleton Warriors surrounding that flicker, hundreds of them at the very least. Numerous flaming eyes, and a forest of bones... It gave them an even more ghastly feeling.

And the thing that they were all surrounding was a vein of Nether Iron that was several hundred meters long. At first glance, it looked like a giant, hibernating black python emitting a dense aura of death. There was a layer of hazy fog covering it, which covered the bloody moonlight as well as Lin Yun’s line of sight, to the point that even when he was only a few hundred meters away, Lin Yun hadn’t seen the vein of Nether Iron.

Up until now, when Lin Yun accidentally saw that bit of flickering light, leaving him completely shocked.

A Nether Iron vein that was several hundred meters long and completely exposed to the surface. No one would believe it if word of this got out. Normally, a Nether Iron vein could only be found several dozen meters below the ground, and even then, there would only be a few pieces here and there. Lin Yun had never heard of a vein that was hundreds of meters long.

This was too frightening...

After all, Magic Weapons forged with Nether Iron would naturally have the Death Frost power. If one was put on the market, it would sell for tens of thousands of gold. Moreover, Nether Iron would often be accompanied by all kinds of precious magic gems. These magic gems were worth even more than the Nether Iron itself. The Abyssal Magic Diamond was one of those.

‘Such a long Nether Iron vein, it should be enough to gear up ten thousand people.’

After seeing everything through the Mage Eye, Lin Yun wasn’t in a hurry to approach. He instead crept close to a rock and carefully concealed himself. There were a couple hundred Skeleton Warriors next to the Iron Vein. If he alarmed them, he wouldn’t even know how he died. Not to mention the dormant Bone Devil, which definitely wouldn’t be very hospitable.

Pushing through directly was out of the question. Hundreds of Skeleton Warriors and a Bone Devil that could wake up at any time... He would need the strength of a High Mage at the very least before fighting them, but he was just a 9th Rank Mage. Going in would simply be throwing his life away.

But, of course, it didn’t mean that there was nothing he could do.

Lin Yun hid behind the rock and thought about it while letting out another Mage Eye. But this time, after this Mage Eye flew near the Nether Iron Vein, Lin Yun not only gave up control of it, but he also poured a large amount of mana into it, making that Mage Eye quite strange.

It had definitely been separated from Lin Yun’s direct control, but thanks to the support of the residual mana, it could stay there for a long time.

Of course, this kind of existence didn’t have much meaning, because Lin Yun could no longer look through the Mage Eye, as their connection had been severed. The Mage Eye floating above the Nether Iron Mine was actually a target.

Its only effect was to use its faint light for positioning.

But this was exactly what Lin Yun needed.

After planting the Mage Eye, Lin Yun got in front of the rock and started casting a long and tedious incantation. As his mana whirlpool rotated, a Fireball left Lin Yun’s hand and flew out.

The Fireball left a long, flaming trail as it flew several hundred meters forward before arriving above that vein of Nether Iron in a blink. At almost the same time, Lin Yun chanted a final word.

A “bang” followed, echoing loudly, as the huge Fireball exploded above the Nether Iron Vein, creating a blazing inferno in the sky.

In an instant, the area below turned into a sea of fire.