Chapter 616 - Viper’s Poison (1/2)

Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, the human adventure team had already rested in the elven camp for 10 days, which were more like torment than rest.

After a long period of peace, a commotion broke out in the campground again. It was in fact even more chaotic than the one that Lin Li had caused previously.

Even Lin Li who was not often bothered by anything else around him had no choice but to put down the Book of Eternity, because he could clearly sense that the elves were not taking revenge, but rather were obviously panicking.

Lin Li stepped out of the tent and took Norfeller to the gate of the camp, where he was greeted with the sight of a team of elves who were entering the campground one after another. However, there were obvious scars on their bodies, and they were no longer graceful. Instead, they were rather disheveled.

There were definitely some spectators who were gloating over the incident. However, more people were worried about the situation—just like the elves. With the current abilities of the elves, they were definitely formidable, yet they ended up in such a sorry state. Clearly, the dangers in the Haiga Mountain Range were far beyond imaginable.

Although not everyone had a clear understanding of the purpose of the mission this time, they were sure that they had to enter the Haiga Mountain Range. The thought of the attacks from the magical beasts that they had suffered just now made everyone tense up. No one knew if they could walk out alive.

Lin Li looked around and realized that the elves had all got far, far away after seeing him. However, they were all looking at their injured companions with melancholy.

Lin Li got Norfeller to ask around, after which they roughly got the idea what had happened.

The injured elves were said to be the elites of the elves, and had already delved into Haiga Mountain Range to look for the holy relic along a vague route even before the humans arrived. Unfortunately, they met with the attacks of magical beasts; hence, they had no choice but to retreat.

Those who did not know elves well could not figure out clearly if they were really elites, but Lin Li could sense that the power of those elves was much stronger than that of those he met in the campground. Most of them were level-18 and level-19.

However, what caught Lin Li’s attention was not their strength, but their injuries. Given the abilities of the elves, most ordinary wounds would be no big deal, and injuries wouldn’t affect their power even without treatment.

However, Lin Li could sense a curse-like aura that was coming from them. He frowned and carefully scrutinized the elves, after which he found something fishy.

Lin Li stroked his chin and decided to stop looking at them. Instead, he turned around and returned to the tent together with Norfeller. According to the characteristics of the wounds of the elves, Lin Li already guessed something. He reckoned that they might have been poisoned by something.

Lin Li was reminded of a kind of poison that belonged to the prehistoric viper. The viper’s poison was the most deadly of all. Besides, it was a combination of a curse and toxins.

However, he could tell that the poison that the elves were infected with was not that serious as that of an actual prehistoric viper. Perhaps it was a mix between prehistoric magical beast and the prehistoric viper; hence, the genetics would be already different.

Of all toxins, the viper’s poison could be said to be the most difficult to overcome or understand. However, as a pharmacist, Lin Li did not abandon his research of viper’s poison—not because he had nothing to do, but because he remembered the promise that he had made.

During the presidential inauguration ceremony back then, all of the various forces came forth to congratulate Lin Li and send him some gifts. The Summoning Lamp in which the Lord of Nightmares was sealed had been gifted to Lin Li by Englos from the Brilliance Shrine. However, it was an extremely precious gift that was not given away for nothing. When the Summoning Lamp was given to Lin Li, he had to promise that he would help the Pope of the Brilliance Shrine and remove the viper’s poison in his body once he was powerful enough to do so.

The viper’s poison in the Pope’s body was pure, concentrated, and much deadlier than that in the elves’ bodies. Although Lin Li had already become a pharmaceutics Guru back then, formulating a Guru-level potion required more than just skill and technique. The understanding of the Rule Power was equally important. Back then, Lin Li had been just an Archmage, and he could only give Englos a verbal promise.

If Englos had demanded that Lin Li helped the Pope get rid of the poison before he gave him the Summoning Lamp back then, Lin Li probably would have rather turned him down than make a promise that he couldn’t keep, no matter how precious the Summoning Lamp might be.

However, Englos had told him that the Summoning Lamp only required a right opportunity, and that Lin Li could fulfill his promise whenever he had the confidence to do so. If he still didn’t have the confidence by the time the poison overwhelmed the Pope, Englos wouldn’t blame him, and the Summoning Lamp would still be his to keep. Hence, Lin Li verbally promised Englos to get rid of the poison within the Pope’s body as long as he had the ability to.

Although it was only a verbal promise, Lin Li was a man of his word, and he would never go back on it. Ever since he made the informal verbal promise, Lin Li had been keeping the matter in mind, and searching for ways to remove the viper’s poison from human bodies.

Lin Li was now already a level-21 Legendary-mage. In addition to reading the Book of Eternity, his understanding of the Rule Power had become deeper. Many techniques of pharmaceutics Gurus could be now used by him; hence, he finally got some clues about getting rid of the viper’s poison.

With Lin Li’s current abilities, there might be a gap for him to close before he could really remove the viper’s poison, but the toxin in the elves’ bodies had been diluted; hence, he had a way to remove it. Although he could not eradicate the toxin immediately, he was still about 70-80% confident.