Chapter 12 – Tower of Great Masters

Firmly holding the protective talisman ‘borrowed’ from Priest Bahrain, Lin Qi stood in front of a cylindrical tower located in the deepest part of the campus. His forehead was drenched in a cold sweat.

This tower in front of his eyes, built with dark grey boulders, was the tallest building in the entire empire. Some people called it the ‘Tower of Great Masters’,  others called it the ‘Tower of Madmen’. In the Fifth University, there was an official name for this tower – ‘Distinguished Visiting Professor Laboratory’.

Inside the tower were a group of bizarre people from all over the world, with equally bizarre and varied skills. Among them one could find sinister but alluring women and dark elves who studied the dark side of people, d.a.m.ned spirits who liked to periodically take out various creatures’ internal organs,  as well as dwarves who liked to play with all kinds of metal and were proficient in forging and weapon manufacturing. What’s more, these dwarves were also experts in the study of ground essences and so on.

Three hundred and seventy meters tall above ground,  extending to two hundred and fifty meters underground, and a foundation diameter of fifty eight meters, the tower was built using a special technology derived from the dwarves’ study of ground essences. A single floor was vast enough to accommodate two or three of these reclusive ‘great masters’. The rooms themselves were large enough to allow them to research anything they wanted.

Ever since the establishment of University City, all sorts of bizarre information had been flowing out unceasingly from the inside of this tower, even some technology that had greatly enhanced the empire’s strength. For example, the pointed ends of those six sharp swords that Lin Qi sold to Cripple had used a certain great master dwarf’s special technique of dipping the steel, thereby increasing those swords’ penetrating power.

“Right, I want dazzling crowing!” Lin Qi covered the pit of his stomach with his right hand andprayed silently toward all the G.o.ds in the heavens that he knew of, hoping this time he could safely go in and come out.

In numerous Fifth University students’ view, this tower was no different from h.e.l.l. Every year, there were always dozens of students called to serve the distinguished visiting professors inside the tower who ended up either dead or seriously injured. Even worse, there were several people who went mysteriously missing and had never been heard from again.

Lin Qi was just one of these unlucky people. He had just entered the university through the school gate when he was selected to become the server of a certain distinguished visiting professor. During the last three years, although not a very long time, Lin Qi had already been seriously injured to the brink of death four times and lightly wounded countless times. Therefore, every time he entered the tower, Lin Qi regarded it as a huge risk.

However huge risks equaled huge benefits. There were countless risks inside the tower, but Lin Qi had also found a lot of opportunities to get rich inside. Otherwise it would’ve been absolutely impossible for him to establish the Ironfist Brotherhood with its several hundred outer members in the short span of three years.

“For the sake of lovely crowings! Dear teacher, by all means you must not go mad!”

Lin Qi nervously gripped the small scroll of protective talisman in his hand. Priest Bahrain, that sc.u.m of a cleric, had solemnly vowed to Lin Qi that since this sheet of protective talisman was personally crafted by the great bishop of the great parish in the Seille River area, it had higher defensive abilities. However, Lin Qi thoroughly understood Priest Bahrain’s character, if he said that this protective talisman was personally crafted by the bishop of the great parish, then in reality it was most likely crafted by a priest with ordinary spiritual techniques.

As for a protective talisman produced by a priest with ordinary spiritual techniques, its defensive abilities could probably withstand several attacks of an ordinary soldier. Hopefully it would be useful, as long as he wasn’t immediately killed by the teacher he was serving, Lin Qi felt that the risks shouldn’t be very big.

Inhaling deeply, Lin Qi cautiously scuttled into the tower.

The eyes of the two bronze sculptures of hyenas in front of the tower emitted scarlet lights. Four rays of red light circled around Lin Qi’s body. Lin Qi only felt a burst of heat as if he was soaking in boiling water. Fortunately, a piece of ordinary black iron tablet hanging on his waist flashed and an invisible energy enveloped Lin Qi. The eyes of the hyenas gradually dimmed, and Lin Qi steadily and safely entered the tower.

The first floor of the tower was completely empty. The floor was painted with an ordinary Twelve Astral Circle. A total of ten chunks of red sapphire, each the size of a fist, were s.h.i.+ning brightly on the diagram. Several men with cloaks draped over their shoulders were standing in a corner of the hall. Some traces of the armor on their bodies could vaguely be seen through their thick cloak. They were vigilantly looking at Lin Qi. Only after seeing Lin Qi’s appearance clearly did they loosen their grip on their sword hilts.

Lowering his head and not daring to make the slightest sound, Lin Qi carefully walked up to a round iron panel at the corner of the hall.

These male guards inside the hall were all high-leveled knights dispatched by the imperial department. Any one of them could effortlessly suppressed Lin Qi’s strength. In front of these men, Lin Qi didn’t dare show the slightest amount of arrogance and neglect. While with Cripple, Lin Qi could unrestrainedly show off his malice towards Cripple, in front of these vicious and merciless Ironblood Knights trained by the military department, caution and modesty were the first rules to survive.

The military department represented the strength of the imperial squadron that was the grand immense power of the continent. No one dared act wantonly in front of them.

Taking the iron tablet on his waist and putting it on the iron panel next to him, Lin Qi focused his attention to push his limited spiritual power into the iron tablet. Several dull handwritings on the iron tablet slowly shone. The iron panel Lin Qi was standing on slightly flashed, then rapidly descended, following a vertical metal tunnel.

The distinguished professor Lin Qi was about to serve was an eccentric person. He lived on the lowest floor of the underground part of the Tower of Great Masters by himself. Ever since several years ago when his experiment broke down and the leaking toxic gas poisoned everyone on the same floor to death, that floor no longer held any living beings except for him.

Arcanum Great Master Ke Zha was gifted with a high salary and became one of University City’s distinguished visiting professors five years ago. However, his temperament was extremely strange. Over the last five years, he never left the deep underground he had been residing in.

The iron panel under Lin Qi’s feet slowly came to a stop. There was an arched gateway in front of him. He stuck the iron tablet on the iron gate in front of him and cautiously opened the gate.

The protective talisman in his hand was noiselessly unleashed and a layer of white light enveloped Lin Qi’s body.

Lin Qi’s mind suddenly relaxed, the protective talisman given by Priest Bahrain this time was unexpectedly the ‘Charm of the First Glimmer of Dawn’ which borrowed its strength from theG.o.d of Dawn It was also the church’s protective talisman with the strongest defensive power. The G.o.d of Dawn not only had outstanding defensive power, but also regenerative power that wasn’t weak. It was the best type in the records of protective talismans.

With a smile on his face, Lin Qi pushed open the iron gate in front of him. A ball of red flame the size of a fist came whistling to arrive in front of Lin Qi in the blink of an eye. The palpable heat gave testament to its frighteningly high temperature

The ball of fire was extremely condensed, the fearsome temperature instantly dissolved the layer of white light on Lin Qi’s body.

“As expected, it was a defective product! Bahrain, you shameful son of a b.i.t.c.h!” Lin Qi gave a miserable howl.