Chapter 1262 Growth and Bandits
"I can only help you speed up your comprehension, resonance and usage of your Natural Demiplane, as well as accelerating its growth."Your Natural Demiplane is perfect. As long as you continue to develop it like that, I believe that you will be able to overpower me just by relying on the Natural Demiplane once you reach my rank. As for me, I can overpower everyone of the same rank!"
Agalon said these words very casually, he was completely confident.
Lin Yun smiled bitterly, he couldn't say that he had a better understanding of Natural Demiplanes than him, he wouldn't believe him.
Lin Yun was struggling to hold on. Inside the Natural Demiplane, the halo of the mountain and the Mana Water of the mana lake were rapidly being consumed, it even caused the Natural Demiplane's mana density to sharply decline.
This was actually a good thing. Mana kept accumulating in the process of developing the Natural Demiplane,and it wasn't a good thing, at least to Lin Yun.
Because so much mana accumulating meant that power wasn't consumed, it also meant that the development of the Natural Demiplane was slow.
When it came to Natural Demiplane's development, mana was never enough.
If there was too much mana accumulated, then the Mana Vines' growth would stagnate. Only when the Natural Demiplane's mana was lacking would the Mana Vines feel that the mana torn from the void wasn't enough and would continue spreading.
The mana lake wasn't full but the Mana Water was rapidly consumed. The forest of Mana Vines, spreading over ten kilometers and looking like a green pillar supporting the sky, seemed to suddenly come alive.
Each Mana Vine slowly split up into two smaller Mana Vines which inserted themselves into the void, devouring the power within the void to fill the Natural Demiplane's gap.
As time passed, the mana lake's Mana Water slowly dried up and the mana permeating the air of the Demiplane was consumed. The southern volcanoes became silent and the northern ice field started melting. This was the effect of mana deficiency. The Mana Vines then went completely insane.
The biggest mana crisis in the history of the Natural Demiplane has become the best foundation for the development of the Mana Vines. All the Mana Vines within ten kilometers frantically split in two, and then into four. They were twisting their bodies towards the sky like giant pythons.
They were frantically tearing through the void's mana. It was like ordinary vegetation suddenly sensing moisture on the verge of death and bursting with their strongest potential. The Mana Vines formed a thick jade-colored pillar supporting the sky.
The condensed pure mana slowly flowed down, but that pure Mana Water didn't have time to reach the mana lake before being consumed.
This was the same as the Natural Demiplane remaining in a state of mana dryness. The Mana Vines instinctively believed that this was the best time to grow and that there wasn't enough of them. Ultimately, the Mana Vines would keep splitting, growing, splitting, growing…
Moreover, the Natural Demiplane was consuming a large amount of mana to cast a protection around Lin Yun. The mystic Laws formed a dense layer of fog around him which made him barely visible.
The difference was too great. The power of the Laws seemed to have been directly imprinted in Lin Yun's soul and comprehending the Laws became thousands of times easier and clearer.
Lin Yun bitterly smiled, but he knew that this was an extremely rare opportunity. A powerhouse that could already alter Laws personally helped him and said he would help him reach the peak of the Heaven realm within ten years, this was no different from a cheat.
Because the Natural Demiplane had the opportunity to evolve into a true world. As they developed, the Laws would be perfected, but they wouldn't rely on magic comprehension, they would mainly be relying on the Natural Demiplane's growth to evolve naturally.
With that and Agalon's help and training, comprehending the Laws would really be no different from cheating.
Even without Agalon's help, Lin Yun would grow stronger and faster as he comprehended the Laws of the Natural Demiplane. This was the reason why owners of Demiplanes would all become terrifying powerhouses once they reached the Heaven Rank, without any exception. The weakest would still be at the peak of Heaven Rank.
More importantly, with Agalon's help and his control over his power, he could definitely be pressured to his limits without risking accidental death.
With such a good opportunity, how could Lin Yun be willing to let go of it. He was resisting with all his power on one side while comprehending the Laws' projection, which was countless times clearer, on the other side.
A week rapidly passed.
Lin Yun quickly reached his limits, and so did the Natural Demiplane.
The comprehension he obtained within that week could compare to six month inside the Natural Demiplane, he only needed to consolidate what he gained to thoroughly transform himself.
As for the Natural Demiplane, the Mana Vines frantically expanded but still couldn't support the mana consumption. The forest of Mana Vine already expanded a dozen times and all the Mana Vines had reached the thinnest size they could, to the point where they could no longer split in two until they matured.
Losing that huge mana consumption, the Mana Vines' condensed Mana Water converged into a waterfall which followed the Mana Vines into the mana lake. The dried-up mana lake slowly started filling, and according to that speed, it would take two days to be completely filled. And this was with most of its mana being consumed by the Natural Demiplane. The dried-up energy started being replenished once again just like a plant regaining its colors. With the huge consumption of mana, the developing Natural Demiplane slowly started rapidly evolving, the world expanded and evolved.
After two days, the chaos within the Natural Demiplane ceased. After frantically maturing, the Mana Vines once again turned into thick emerald vines extending straight from the ground into the void. The forest of Mana Vines covered over forty kilometers, but it spread up along the length of the Mana Vines, expanding a dozen times as they reached into the void.
The differences between the Demiplane's four poles became even more pronounced. In the west, the earth became thicker and started producing metal, crystals and other things. The eastern gales whistled over the sea, and lightning fell repeatedly. In the south, blazing lava erupted from the volcanoes, and as long as there was heat, those flames would never stop burning. As for the north, crystal-like dark blue ice started condensing.
This was a really good thing for the Demiplane. It meant that after stabilizing, the Laws of the four elements had a deeper evolution. From being simple, they started becoming more and more complex. Once branches of the Laws appeared, the Laws would become even more complete.
It was like a sapling taking root in the ground. As it grew, more and more branches would be formed until it turned into a tall and lush tree.
With this growth of the Natural Demiplane, only the four Laws could be said to be branching out and frantically growing. The Spatial Law had just become a small sapling, while the Light and Darkness Law only started to germinate, who knew how long it would take before they started growing.
He rested for two days to settle his Laws' comprehension before making the Natural Demiplane recover. Then, that deadly exclusion feeling surged and the surroundings once again turned into that boundless starry sky. Lin Yun had already made his preparations and continued his resistance.
Lin Yun started the neverending painful training with Agalon, while on the other side, the Rodney Family, who had been humiliated, was completely silent.
Three days after the attack on the Gilded Rose, a convoy of the Gilded Rose was raided by bandits at the frontier of the Odin Kingdom.
That kind of matter wasn't surprising, they only needed to strengthen their defenses. Convoys would be raided every year, it was enough to support a powerful mage family. The number of bandit forces spread around the Odin Kingdom simply couldn't be counted.
They didn't dare to rob powerful forces, and powerful forces didn't feel like wasting power on them. Ordinary forces, or even smaller forces, were their main targets.
There were also forces, like the Gilded Rose, that had no influence in the Odin Kingdom.
After being raided for the third time, Faleau felt that something wasn't right. But the person he dispatched to look out for clues found out that the other side were really bandits.
A week later…
"Sir Faleau, our convoy of goods and materials has been snatched again. The losses were huge this time, there were some Perfect Grade Hope Potions and a few bottles of Perfect Grade Volcano Potions that had been compounded at the headquarters.
"However, we figured out where these bandits came from…"
Faleau had a calm yet unsightly expression. It was the fourth time the convoy was raided not far from its destination. It was on the golden trade path between the Andlusa Kingdom and Odin Kingdom, the path that convoys had to take to enter the Odin Kingdom.
Previously, using airships to transport goods was faster and cheaper, but with the Rodney Family, that method was too dangerous. The other side could casually dispatch a Heaven Rank powerhouse or a battleship to crash the airships within a minute.
And with that method, as long as the other side wasn't completely unscrupulous, they wouldn't be able to figure out the origin of the attack.
Transporting the goods on the ground and hiring a caravan was the best method. Defending it would be relatively easier, moreover, they would be able to transport a few times more goods and material at once, it would just take more time.
When transporting on the ground, they would inevitably have to pass through the golden trade road, but now, they were robbed multiple times in a row and they hadn't been able to figure out the origin of the attacks, because there were too many bandits. Almost all of the Odin Kingdom's famous bandit groups were active around there, waiting for the time when fat sheeps would pass every year.
Now that they figured out where the bandits came from, it was much easier to find a way to deal with it. After all, bandits relied on being able to come and go as they pleased, their hideout would remain hidden.
"Where is their hideout?"
Faleau was fuming with a dark expression.
This kind of thing happened in the Andlusa Kingdom when the Gilded Rose was in its early stage of development. As long as they discovered the nest of the bandits, they would immediately dispatch someone to raze it to the ground.
Later, no one dared to make a move against the Gilded Rose's goods. Faleau really hadn't expected something like that to happen several times in a row in the Odin Kingdom.
The man had an awkward expression as he reported, "Sir Faleau, after going through the clues several times, I found the trail and discovered their hideout. It's over a kilometer away from the Gilded Rose. Their forces are pretty good, but not to the point where we can't deal with them. However…"
"However?"
"However, the bandits' hideout is in a territory controlled by the Rodney Family. If we dispatch our people to eliminate it, we might not be able to get close. After all, we are currently at odds with the Rodney Family…"
Faleau's expression sank.
Rodney Family…
With the Gilded Rose's current relationship with the Rodney family, if they dispatched people to deal with the bandits, they would definitely be unable to enter the Rodney Family's territory. The other side would definitely kill them regardless of their reason for entering their territory. They would definitely bite the Gilded Rose as a provocation in order to start a war.
After all, it's not like that kind of thing hadn't happened before. Using bandits as an excuse to enter another force's territory and launching a sneak attack on the other side's forces was a strategy commonly used.
'Damned, the Rodney Family definitely knows about this. Or the bandits might even be controlled by the Rodney Family. Unless we directly kill the bandits when they attack, wiping them out would prove difficult.'
After analyzing the situation, Faleau understood the condition of the Gilded Rose.
After a moment of silence, Faleau took some people and left the Gilded Rose to visit the person in charge of the Rodney Family in Neverwinter City.
That Rodney was actually very enthusiastic. After hearing of Faleau's visit, he immediately came up to welcome him.
"Ah, I know now why I was in a very good mood today, it turns out Sir Faleau visited us in person, truly a distinguished guest, please come in."
Ivan was the person in charge of the Rodney Family's matters in Neverwinter City. He had a big smile on his face as he led Faleau to the meeting room.
"Sir Faleau, this is a special product of our Family, the Rootless Fruit, there are very few of them and they are only taken out to welcome very special guests. Not only do they taste very good, they also restore mana, give it a try.
"Ah, I almost forgot. What matter brought Sir Faleau here?"
Ivan was very cordial, as if he was entertaining a very distinguished guest, but Faleau's heart sank a little.
"Sir Ivan, I came today on behalf of the Gilded Rose to discuss something with the Rodney Family. Our convoys have been raided on the golden trade road several times and our losses are quite big. We just confirmed that the attackers are the Death Sickle Bandits and their hideout is within the Rodney Family's territory…"
Faleau had yet to finish his sentence when Ivan wrily smiled and started complaining.
"Turns out to be the Death Sickle Bandits, that's truly unfortunate. These damned bandits actually started raiding the golden trade road. I won't hide it from you, we have been distressed about the Death Sickle Bandits for a very long time.
"These damned bandits are hidden in our Rodney Family's territory multiple times, logically speaking, we should have killed them long ago.
"But it's actually very troublesome, these damned bandits are very powerful. We dispatched people to get rid of them three times, but our forces ended up coming back unsuccessful.
"We even dispatched a Heaven Rank powerhouse to attack, but it was completely fruitless. Not only are they very powerful, their hideout's defenses are extremely good.
"The Rodney Family once went all-out to destroy the Death Sickle Bandits, but the people we dispatched only found an empty hideout. They all scattered to the surrounding cities and villages, assimilated into the locals. And those damned locals completely shielded the bandits, we couldn't just kill everyone.
"To be honest, our Rodney Family is very distressed about this. We have no way to deal with these cockroaches…"
Faleau opened his mouth, but swallowed back his words. He had a very unsightly expression, and as he looked at Ivan's distressed expression, he felt like slapping him.
'F*ck, is that idiot f*cking with me? How could there be an uncontrolled bandit group in the Rodney Family's territory that even dares to steal from them and still live well?
'Damned b*stard, are you treating me like a child? Do you even believe in that excuse?'
Faleau's lungs were bursting with anger, but he couldn't just let it out. It's not like he could just question the other side's statement.
What a joke. This was just an excuse provided by the Rodney Family. Most of the time, this kind of game had to be played by the rules. Knowing what's going on is one thing, but making a move is another.
Ivan kept complaining for a while before moving onto another topic.
"Regarding the Gilded Rose's misfortune, I have to express my sincerest regrets. Rest assured, Sir Faleau, I'll immediately report this matter to our Family and our Family will definitely dispatch people to eliminate those damned bandits as soon as possible.
"But, Sir Faleau, you shouldn't hold a lot of hope, we might still be unable to eliminate these bandits. They might only behave for a few days…"
The people Faleau brought were all holding in their anger. Ivan said that the Gilded Rose was unfortunate and only expressed his regrets, saying that they couldn't do anything about it. As for eliminating these bandits, he did say that it would be done as soon as possible, but this meant nothing. It could take a year, ten years…
To be continued