Chapter 12: Master Tower

Lin Qi stood before the tall, round tower deep in the campus, his forehead covered in cold sweat, tightly clutching the talisman he had ‘borrowed’ from Father Barin.

The tower built from dark gray stones was the tallest building in the entire Empire. Some called it the ‘Master Tower,’ while others called it the ‘Madman Tower.’ At the Fifth University where Lin Qi attended, this tower had a formal, official name—’Special Guest Professor Laboratory.’

Inside the tower lived a group of odd people from all over, who had all kinds of strange skills and just as strange personalities. There were Black Fairies and Dark Elves who studied the dark side of people’s hearts, the undead who liked digging into the insides of different creatures, Dwarves who enjoyed fiddling with lumps of metal and were experts at forging, and Goblins who were skilled at making and studying all sorts of weapons, and more.

This tower rose three hundred and seventy meters above the ground and went two hundred and fifty meters underground. It was built using special techniques provided by the Dwarves and Goblins. The base of the tower was fifty-eight meters wide, and each floor was very large, big enough to hold two or three solitary ‘Masters’ who could fully research everything they were interested in.

Ever since the University City was built, this tower kept producing strange documents, and some of the technologies greatly improved the Empire’s strength. For example, the tips of the six rapiers that Lin Qi sold to Cripple used a special steel-dipping technique from a certain Dwarven Master, which gave those rapiers above-average stabbing power.

“Alright, I need shiny Wowo Call!” Lin Qi pressed his right hand to his chest and silently prayed to all the Deities whose names and Holy Duties he knew, hoping that this time he could go in safely and come out safely too.

In the minds of many students at Fifth University, this tall tower was no different from Hell. Every year, thirty to fifty students who served the Special Guest Professors in the tower either died or were badly injured. Some even disappeared without a trace and were never heard from again.

Lin Qi was one such lucky person. As soon as he entered the university, he was chosen to be an assistant to a certain guest professor in the tower. It had been three years now. During that not very long time, Lin Qi had nearly died from serious injuries four times, and he had lost count of how many times he got minor injuries. Because of this, every time he entered the tower, Lin Qi treated it as a very risky adventure.

But great risk came with great reward. Although there were countless dangers inside the tower, Lin Qi also found many chances to get rich there. Otherwise, he definitely could not have formed the Iron Fist Brotherhood with hundreds of outside members in just three short years.

“For the lovely Wowo Call! Dear mentor, please don’t go crazy!”

Nervously holding the small talisman scroll in his hand, Lin Qi remembered how Father Barin, that disgrace among the Clergy, swore that this talisman was made by the Bishop of the Sain River basin’s main church district and had above-average defense power. But Lin Qi knew Father Barin’s character well; if he said it was made by the Bishop of the main church district, the actual maker was probably just an ordinary Divine Art priest.

A talisman made by an ordinary Divine Art priest could probably block only three to five slashes from a normal Warrior. He hoped it would work. As long as his mentor didn’t kill him right away, Lin Qi thought the risk might not be too high.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Qi carefully darted into the tower.

Two bronze hyena statues at the tower’s entrance shot out red beams from their eyes. Four red beams swept over Lin Qi’s body. Lin Qi felt a burning heat all over, as if he were soaked in boiling water. Luckily, a plain black iron plate at his waist glowed slightly, and an invisible wave covered Lin Qi. The hyenas’ eyes slowly dimmed, and Lin Qi walked into the tower without any trouble.

The ground floor of the tower was empty. A normal twelve-pointed star Magic Array was drawn on the floor, with dozens of red and blue gems the size of fists shining brightly on it. A few men wearing cloaks stood in the corners of the hall. Through their heavy cloaks, one could vaguely see the shapes of armor they wore underneath. They watched Lin Qi cautiously, only letting go of the swords at their hips after they saw Lin Qi’s face.

Not daring to make a sound, Lin Qi kept his head down and carefully walked to a round iron plate in the corner of the hall.

The men on duty in the hall were all high-level Knights sent by the Imperial Military Ministry. Any one of them could easily kill Lin Qi. In front of these men, Lin Qi did not dare to act proud or careless at all. Unlike with Cripple, whom Lin Qi could bully freely, being careful and humble was the number one rule to stay alive in front of these ruthless, iron-blooded Knights trained by the Military Department.

The Military Department represented the Empire’s military power, a huge force that dominated the entire Continent. No one dared to act out of line in front of them.

Lin Qi took the iron plate from his waist and placed it on another iron plate nearby. He focused and sent his small amount of mental energy into the iron plate. A few dim words slowly lit up on the iron plate. The iron plate under Lin Qi’s feet shook slightly and quickly descended down a vertical metal tunnel.

The Special Professor Lin Qi served was a monster who lived alone on the very bottom floor of the Master Tower. A few years ago, he had an experiment accident, and the leaked poisonous gas killed everyone on that entire floor. Since then, besides him, there were no other living things on that whole floor.

Master of Secret Medicine Kocha was invited with a high salary by the Empire five years ago to become a Special Guest Professor in the University City. But his personality was extremely strange, and he had stayed deep underground without ever coming out for five years. Plus, his Secret Elixir experiments always had all sorts of big and small accidents. In the last two years, aside from Lin Qi who was his full-time assistant, no outsiders ever went near his area anymore.

The iron plate under his feet slowly stopped. Before him was an arched doorway. Lin Qi pressed his iron plate against the iron door in front of him and carefully opened it.

The talisman in his hand activated without a sound, and a faint white light covered Lin Qi.

Lin Qi immediately felt relieved. The talisman Father Barin gave him this time was actually the ‘Dawn Talisman,’ which borrowed the power of the Dawn Deity. This was also the Church’s strongest defensive talisman. The Dawn Deity’s Divine Power was not only great for defense but also had decent healing ability. It was the best kind of protective talisman.

Smiling, Lin Qi pushed open the iron door in front of him. A fist-sized, fiery red fireball carrying frightening heat came roaring toward him, reaching Lin Qi in the blink of an eye.

The fireball was extremely concentrated, and the terrifying temperature quickly broke apart the white light covering Lin Qi.

“It’s still a defective product after all! Barin, you son of a bitch!” Lin Qi screamed in terror, his voice hoarse.