Starting Unlimited Evolution from Grinding

Lin Mo.

Before this, Duke Danlo had heard that name many times.

He had exploded onto the scene at the Imperial Academy Grand Competition organized by the Violet Empire, stealing the spotlight from all the prodigies at that contest.

Although Duke Danlo, as a duke of the Lockesetz Empire, looked down on the Violet Empire’s overall strength, no matter what, even the weakest of the three great empires was still an empire.

The same logic applied at the academy level. Even if the Violet Empire’s academy was the worst among the three imperial academies, it was still an imperial academy, built with vast state resources.

So normally, it was almost impossible for a smaller kingdom’s academy to win first place in the Grand Competition.

Even on the rare occasions such a thing happened, it would be limited to some extraordinarily powerful sovereign nations.

But this time was completely different.

For a small kingdom to seize the championship at the academy Grand Competition was unheard of in the annals of history; it was nothing short of earth-shattering.

When the news first reached him, Duke Danlo had at one point suspected the source was faulty, or that the Violet Empire was releasing smoke and mirrors.

Yet after repeated confirmations and with the truth beyond doubt, the Lin Mo who had shone so brilliantly at the Grand Competition officially entered the view of the continent’s top powers.

Those top forces knew exactly how immense his potential was.

Even this war, at its very beginning, was taken seriously because of his influence; otherwise...

If the Lockesetz Empire had stuck to its original stance and allowed the Gnome Kingdom to invade the Elven Royal Court unchecked, with the Dark Tide’s empowerment, the Elven Royal Court would have been breached easily, and the Dark Tide would have seized those powerful elves to its will.

Duke Danlo could not bear to imagine how disastrous that would be.

But even so, everyone still regarded Lin Mo as an exceptionally brilliant young genius.

To those renowned elders, this was at most a young talent with enormous potential who might, in time, reach their level or even surpass them; for now, he was only a young man slightly stronger than his peers.

However, seeing Lin Mo in person for the first time completely overturned that impression.

What young man is this?

His power was probably not far off from those old veterans.

And he was not even twenty years old!

Even the handful of legendary prodigies in history who left indelible marks in the annals, at that same age, had likely only just crossed the threshold into the Heroic Realm.

Even the well-known Saintess Joan had only reached level 24 by age twenty.

“Only,” “just.”

He never imagined those words could be used for Saintess Joan, but compared to the youth before him, there was no doubt even Joan fell far short.

Am I even human?

That was the question swelling in Duke Brin’s heart.

Can you blame him for such flights of fancy? The shock this prodigy delivered was simply too extreme.

A Heroic Realm at under twenty!

And judging by his earlier moves, the power he displayed was far beyond what an ordinary Heroic Realm could pull off; even if he tried to defeat him, it would not be easy.

If Duke Danlo knew Lin Mo actually hadn’t reached the Heroic Realm yet, he might feel even more unsettled.

The level being lower made it seem somewhat more reasonable, but the problem was... without even reaching Heroic Realm, he already possessed strength comparable to mid-Heroic or stronger, which might be more terrifying than already being Heroic.

What he didn’t know was that the scene he’d witnessed was only Lin Mo’s casual strikes, far from his full power.

Duke Danlo was astonished, but he quickly forced himself to refocus. This was not the time for idle wonder. As the battlefield’s commander, he had to constantly monitor the situation and coordinate adjustments; moreover, the current state required his contribution.

The youngsters had already done so much, the old men could not be outdone.

So Duke Danlo struck with even greater decisiveness, crackling lightning rippling from him and sweeping outward, easily finishing off those fleeing high-level goblins and gnomes.

Because they had chosen to move decisively and rushed quickly, many high-level goblins and gnomes didn’t have time to retreat and were caught right in the open; this sortie was very fruitful.

But they did not see the Gnome Emperor’s figure.

That fact left Duke Danlo far from elated.... Although this sortie had been very successful and eliminated many future threats, without seeing the Gnome Emperor, no matter how many gnomes died, the war could not be decisively ended.

To utterly rout the goblin host, the only way was to kill the Gnome Emperor or for the Gnome Emperor himself to order a retreat.

By normal logic, the latter should have happened by now as the war reached this stage.

Continuing such a massive war benefited neither side.

But the appearance of the Dark Tide had clearly pushed the situation into a very dangerous state.

To end the war, the best option was to kill the Gnome Emperor or at least repel him....

Yet now they couldn’t find him. Even if they entrusted the Elven High Priest to search, the Gnome Emperor could sense the priest’s probing and shift position.

In other words, if the Gnome Emperor didn’t want to be found, it was nearly impossible to locate him,

which was truly troubling.

Lin Mo, after repeatedly killing many gnomes and gaining a large amount of proficiency, had considered this problem as well.

Although the war was reaping great benefits for him and continuing would yield more proficiency, he did not want the conflict to stretch on indefinitely.

For one, continued war meant continuous casualties; two, every goblin and every allied soldier who died kept feeding the Dark Tide.

If this continued, no one knew to what extent the Dark Tide would be nourished, and things could spiral out of control....

At that moment, an unexpected change occurred.

The Holy Light barrier behind them, which had held for a long time, suddenly vanished.

“What’s going on?!”

Duke Danlo started, “Has something changed at the position?”

Those nearby voiced the same question, but no news came; they could only wait anxiously.

They did not have to wait long. Soon several figures appeared before them.

Lin Mo immediately spotted the Elven Princess Velesia in the crowd.

Beside her was an elf bearing a striking resemblance to her, but clearly much more mature and with a far stronger presence.

It was obvious this was the Elven Queen.

The queen was supporting an elderly-looking elf.

He was stooped, his face lined with wrinkles, and he leaned on a cane, yet his steps remained steady.

After these arrivals, a slender, scholarly middle-aged man appeared nearby without anyone noticing earlier.

“Royal Astrologer!”

Seeing this man, Duke Danlo cupped his hands and bowed, then greeted the Elven Queen, the High Priest, and the Church’s Holy Son in turn.

The Royal Astrologer nodded in response.

Clearly, the Royal Astrologer’s status was above Duke Danlo, even above several of the empire’s dukes.

That was unusual. Normally, a country’s royal astrologer, though highly respected, ranked roughly on the same level as dukes and below higher nobility.

But the Royal Astrologer of the Lockesetz Empire was special.

His strength was solid enough that no one dared provoke him.

This Royal Astrologer was one of the continent’s very few Legendary-Level powerhouses, and he was currently the president of the continent’s Mage Association.

After he appeared, he approached the elves. His gaze swept over the princess and queen, finally resting on the elderly elf.

“High Priest, long time no see.”

He bowed slightly, showing full respect.

The High Priest looked up at him and smiled, “It has been some time.... The young man of those days has grown so much.”

“High Priest, your coming out signifies...?”

“Heh.”

The High Priest chuckled, “You should know.”

The Royal Astrologer fell silent for a moment, then lowered his head, “I have no confidence.”

He had come to the front to keep an eye on the Gnome Emperor. Normally, the Gnome Emperor would not choose to go all-out against the empire; he wouldn’t deliberately start a true all-out fight, so his presence here should have been enough to deter the Gnome Emperor.

But things had clearly changed, which meant he might well face a Gnome Emperor strengthened by the Dark Tide.

The Royal Astrologer plainly lacked assurance.

Although he was Legendary-Level, he had only recently entered that tier and his foundations were not solid. Even against the original Gnome Emperor, he had little chance—at best it would be fifty-fifty to ensure he didn’t lose.

With the Dark Tide’s intervention, it was hard to imagine how much the Gnome Emperor’s strength had increased...

To be honest, he was somewhat afraid.

The stronger someone’s power, the more they valued their life. Having finally attained such power and position, who would recklessly risk everything like a desperate madman?

“I don’t either.”

What came from the High Priest next made the Royal Astrologer’s pupils constrict and a trace of dread appear in his eyes.

“You don’t have confidence either?”

Both were Legendary-Level, but the gap between them could be described as a chasm.

In fact, the higher the rank, the larger the difference between adjacent grades became; at Legendary-Level, such differences were especially extreme.

Common thinking often treated all Legendary-Level figures as the same pinnacle, overlooking the disparities between them.

But the truth was otherwise: although both were Legendary-Level, if the High Priest wanted to kill him, the Royal Astrologer might not last ten moves!

So when the Royal Astrologer heard that even the Elven High Priest had no confidence, he was naturally terrified and shaken.

If the High Priest had not come here, and he truly had to face the Gnome Emperor directly...

The Church’s Holy Son at the side furrowed his brow, “The situation has indeed become very dire. At this point, even if the Pope himself came, it would be hard to resolve.”

The High Priest nodded, “He is right. Your understanding of the Dark Tide is still too shallow.”

Compared to humans, the long-lived elves were far more wary of the Dark Tide, which had been absent for thousands of years.

Because of their longevity, the era when the Dark Tide raged was relatively recent to elves, whereas for humans it had been long past.

This Elven High Priest may even have experienced it firsthand in his youth.

Thus, the elves’ knowledge of the Dark Tide exceeded that of most humans, perhaps even surpassing what the Church knew in some respects.

“This war from beginning to end was likely manipulated by the Dark Tide,” the Elven High Priest said slowly. “After so long of fighting, the number of goblins killed has reached tens of billions. The nutrients produced by such a scale of deaths are enough to let the Dark Tide grow to a terrifying degree.”

“Moreover, the Gnome Emperor himself is a Legendary-Level magical creature. If all the accumulated sacrificial energy in this period concentrates on him, then not only you and I, but even the Pope of the Holy Light Church would have no opponent against him in the world!”

“Is it that serious...”

The Royal Astrologer heard this and furrowed his brow deeply.

“So what does the High Priest intend?”

He recovered quickly; if the High Priest knew this and still came, did he have a plan?

“Our Mother Goddess, the great Goddess of Nature, has always been a follower of the Holy Light Goddess.”

The High Priest did not answer directly; instead he spoke in a long, lingering tone, telling a story: “She taught us to be born toward the light, to love all living beings in this world, to protect this world, to protect life and nature... She lived by that teaching herself....”

“Now, it’s my turn.”

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