Nearing Awakening

The familiar drumming sound.

In the darkness, a faint emerald light flickered.

A very familiar power, a very familiar aura, a very familiar voice.

The green light gradually grew brighter and more dazzling, and the soul that had been dormant for hundreds of years began to awaken.

Meanwhile, within the completely sealed-off Mind Flayer city, Li Lin continued to chat idly with his companion. Angela confidently declared she could transform the bait into delicious grilled octopus, while Li Lin had absolutely no idea whether Vampire Species or Mind Flayer were superior. However, Angela herself was powerful enough that even if she were defeated, escape wouldn't be a problem. The mental connection between the familiar and its master showed no abnormalities, indicating there were no issues. In fact, Li Lin was quite surprised when Angela was able to use the Mind Flayer's corpse to infiltrate their mental network.

It seems the little guy is really capable.

Nia was still searching for the Elder Brain's location, but Mind Flayer is Mind Flayer; how could she possibly find it so easily? The Elder Brain itself is essentially incapable of movement. To put it bluntly, Mind Flayer's Elder Brain Flayer is like a bonsai brain planted in a flowerpot with tadpoles swimming around it—immobile and incapable of attacking. Aside from its powerful mental abilities, it is incredibly fragile. To exaggerate further, the Mind Flayer's focus on its Elder Brain Flayer is no less than a lich's focus on its life chalice. It's unrealistic to expect it to be found so easily. Moreover, to avoid alerting the Mind Flayer, Nia hadn't used any overly powerful spells, which is also a problem.

"To be honest, I was quite surprised when I learned that a group of Mind Flayer lived in the Underdark."

While exchanging information with Nia through a special method, Li Lin continued chatting with the Elder Brain, whose location was unknown.

"Why don't you guys stay in the Astral Plane? What are you doing here on the Prime Material Plane?"

This statement already carried a hint of accusation, but the Mind Flayer were not angered. They were well aware that in the Prime Material Plane, Arcane Mage held the highest status. Their brethren who had traveled here before brought back the same message: although Mind Flayer were the most arrogant race in the entire multiverse (now perhaps "one of"), they still maintained proper politeness and restraint when facing the actual Dominator a plane.

"This is an internal matter, Arcane Mage. We don't need to tell you the details. After all, the Magic Empire has fallen, and you are no longer who you once were."

"..."

The air suddenly became tense.

"Li Lin?"

Nia wanted to say something, but Li Lin simply tapped the cover lightly and raised an eyebrow.

"I have a completely different opinion on this."

As he spoke, he opened the Eternal Library.

The magical aura instantly activated, surrounding Li Lin. He casually flipped to a page, finding the incantation he needed. He then pressed his finger on it, and as a deep chant rang out, the air began to vibrate, and multicolored light flashed forth. At the same time, the four Mind Flayer roared in unison, their invisible mental power tearing through the earth and transforming into a tangible, powerful force that surged towards Li Lin. However, the sturdy multicolored shield withstood the Mind Flayer's first attack, preventing them from advancing even an inch further.

Given the Mind Flayer's fighting style, they wouldn't normally want to fight in such close proximity. If Li Lin hadn't been a mage, they probably would have retreated even further. However, Li Lin's Isolation Barrier had already blocked all teleportation spells from the start, so these four Mind Flayer could only conceal themselves using mental power and had no way to cast spatial spells.

This is why Li Lin dared to Mind Flayer without fear. Although their mental power was formidable, what made these Astral Plane Octopus Heads so troublesome was their mastery of space. The Astral Plane was a realm of the mind, and these octopus heads were most adept at teleportation spells. Li Lin had witnessed Mind Flayer's battles with other creatures during his travels in the Astral Plane; they could even use their mental power to summon their slaves, kin, and even allies. In terms of proficiency and power, they were unmatched by mages.

Therefore, the best way to block their abilities is to isolate the entire space.

Although the Mind Flayer was in the Astral Plane and Li Lin, as Arcane Mage, was on the Prime Material Plane, their progress was on completely different parallel lines. However, Li Lin's naturally cautious nature and his desire to have everything under his control certainly played a role in this situation. It is often said that most people who want to conquer and enslave the world are madmen, but that depends on whether they are madmen who daydream all day or madmen who have the ability to realize their dreams.

Mind Flayer clearly belongs to the latter category.

Although their ideals were arrogant, conceited, and almost unrealistic, Li Lin, during his travels in the Astral Plane as Luoxia, had still witnessed the hidden threats. The Mind Flayer, as powerful individual psychic beings, along with their intelligence network and hierarchical system led by the Elder Brain, posed virtually no threat. Their methods of using psychic power to enslave slaves were indeed sophisticated; although several slave uprisings broke out under Mind Flayer control during that period, they were ultimately suppressed. The Mind Flayer were not arrogantly ignorant and indifferent; they refined their methods and re-examined their practices.

This is a very dangerous race.

For this reason, in order to prepare for any eventuality, Li Lin had already conducted a detailed investigation of them at that time, and eventually obtained quite a bit of first-hand information. Although this intelligence did not come in much use until the fall of the Magic Empire, at most it was used to verify its authenticity in discussions with some Astral Plane travelers, but at least it was still in his own hands.

Now that space has been isolated, these Mind Flayer can no longer summon their slaves at will, nor can they summon their brethren from the Astral Plane, greatly reducing the difficulty of the battle. Although Li Lin paid the price of being unable to teleport away, the solid defenses of the Eternal Library compensated for this weakness.

As mind flayers, their Mind Flayer is naturally inferior to their ability to escape, but to protect the Elder Brain, they have no choice but to press forward. The Isolation Barrier has cut off all communication and teleportation, so the four Mind Flayer elders can't even command slaves from slightly more distant locations. The slaves nearby haven't even had a chance to cause any disruption before Li Lin swiftly and decisively eliminates them.

Magic and mental power converged in the air, shattering the path and unleashing a deafening roar that engulfed everything around them. The four Mind Flayer elders floated in the air, using the agility and speed gained from their mental powers to maneuver around Li Lin. They were immune to most non-lethal magic, while fire magic was notoriously difficult to aim at due to its low accuracy. Although Li Lin had activated the defensive array of the Eternal Library, dealing with these four octopus heads in a short time was not going to be easy.

"I wonder how Angela is doing."

Li Lin muttered to himself as he watched the Mind Flayer dodging his barrage of spells. Then, Li Lin stretched out his right hand and pointed at one of the unfortunate creatures that hadn't managed to dodge.

A magical glow, shimmering with blue light, instantly appeared, twisting and illuminating not only the back of his hand but also his entire right arm. The Mind Flayer, targeted, froze, its movements halting. It opened its tentacles, and several crisp explosions erupted around it—the clash between magical power and psychic abilities once more. But this time, the magical power emerged victorious. It pierced through the Mind Flayer's mental barrier, and the death ray that followed brought an aura that terrified even the Mind Flayer ... Its body suddenly contracted, then expanded, its two enormous white eyes darting wildly, before collapsing to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

"One is taken care of."

Li Lin withdrew his hand and breathed a sigh of relief. Judging from the time, if the Mind Flayer on the outer perimeter wanted to return to defend, they should have arrived by now. The fact that he hadn't seen them meant that everything was going smoothly on Angela's side, so he couldn't delay any longer.

The ogre charged forward, wielding a massive wooden club. The books and the others stared blankly, devoid of any intelligence. While discussing intelligence with an ogre who spent all his time eating and sleeping was hardly normal, seeing a horde of terrifying monsters, seemingly devoured by their own souls, attacking relentlessly was still a headache.

Red and green light flashed and crisscrossed among the slaves, turning them into corpses in droves with deadly force—the only thing the Mind Flayer couldn't control. But after Li Lin dealt with these unfortunate cannon fodder, he discovered the other three Mind Flayer had vanished. Perhaps the death of their brethren was too much for them to bear?

"That's strange?"

Looking around at the square, which was now half-ruined, Li Lin frowned.

Where did all these guys go?

He thought for a moment, then shook his head.

In any case, finding the Elder Brain is the priority. Once we find Elder Brain, whatever mischief these Mind Flayer want to cause will be harder than climbing to heaven. After all, with the Elder Brain dead, the Mind Flayer are completely useless. Apart from a few Mind Flayer who were fond of magic and "unconventional" enough to sever their connection with the Elder Brain, sacrificing their power for relative freedom, very few can endure the Elder Brain's torment—not just emotional, but also sensory.

Just then, Nia suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

"Li Lin, watch out!"

"Um?"

When Li Lin realized that three enormous black monsters were floating towards him, it was too late. The colorful and solid protective shield around his body instantly crumbled. After seeing the monsters' terrifying bodies and the several eyes around them, Li Lin calmed down and remained silent. He finally understood what those Mind Flayer had been up to.

"Beholder... what a nuisance."

Reactivating the Eternal Library and re-establishing his defenses, Li Lin found the situation exceptionally troublesome. The Beholder could nullify most magic and did not distinguish between friend and foe. While this characteristic was deadly when facing Beholder alone, it now seemed like a good opportunity.

"How are you, Nia?"

"There was some progress just now, but as soon as the Beholder appeared, then..."

Nia's voice was tinged with helplessness. She had finally managed to pinpoint the exact location using magic through painstaking exploration, but before she could conduct any further investigation, the appearance of the Beholder had rendered all her magic useless. To break through their inherent magical suppression, she would need to use even more powerful magic, and by then, the Elder Brain that had become aware of this would probably be much harder to find.

"... hiss!!"

Sensing the battle unfolding within its mental vision, the Elder Brain revealed excitement and pleasure. These three Beholder were originally subordinates of the Mind Flayer Elder. Although they were still minors and lacked the powerful and terrifying abilities of other Beholder, they were the best partners for the Mind Flayer to control. Using these three Beholder would be enough to completely annihilate this Arcane Mage. Although the Elder Brain itself had obtained some information about Arcane Mage through its intelligence network, unlike Li Lin's emphasis on them, the Elder Brain, focused solely on "unifying the Astral Plane," treated this as a mere breeze and paid it no heed. In their view, Arcane Mage were nothing more than first-rate mages; once their spells were gone, they would be much easier to deal with.

"Hoo..."

Just then, the Elder Brain clearly heard a voice he absolutely did not want to hear at this moment. He hurriedly shifted his attention from the mental vision back to his current location, but it was already too late.

A vibrant green light broke through the long-standing seal, and the aura of nature swept in, filling the entire space.

And from within, a languid female voice slowly emerged.

"I've slept for so long... I'm finally awake..."