“Ah! “ At this moment, the rank 3 old man looked as if he had provoked something, stumbled backwards and looking upwards, shouted :”Be careful, it is heading this way!”
*Ji Ji!* An unpleasant sound transmitted out from the mirror in front of him.
A huge tentacle stretched out from within the mirror. It appeared to be some species of octopus, but without suction pads on the pure black tentacles, it looked extremely illusionary.
“Intimidating Gaze! Toxic Bile!”
Despite facing possible death, the rank 3 Warlock showed no fear. He extended his domain and under his manipulation, Toxic Bile manifested itself and became a trident, piercing through half the body of the black octopus-like creature.
*Peng!* The mirror shattered into pieces as the octopus succeeded in squeezing its way through. It’s skin was filled with eyeballs all over, making it a horrifying and gross sight.
*Phush phush!* The highly toxic black poison fork had pierced straight into the body of the octopus, yet no injuries were inflicted.
“Innate skill of virtual transformation! This is most common attribute among the living creatures in space!”
Leylin momentarily remembered what he had recorded.
Soon after, a huge ball of pitch-black smoke was puffed out from the mouth of the octopus and started to attack in the form of infrasonic waves. Leylin immediately retreated to a distance.
The old man yanked the crystal crucifix that he wearing and held it up in front of himself.
*Thud!* Beneath the octopus’ black tentacles, the crystal crucifix proved to have no effects and it was penetrated through easily.
The octopus came face to face with the old man and pounced on him. Countless big and ferocious teeth started appearing beneath.
“A pretty good creature!” However, the octopus did not came into contact with the old man’s face. It was grabbed firmly by yet another palm.
*Snap! Snap!* Multiple sharp teeth were gnawing on the hand, producing a spine-tingling sound, yet there seemed to be no effect at all.
“A space creature! One that has not been seen before! This experiment is indeed valuable!”
Gilbert was full of smiles as he manipulated a layer of blue flame in his hand to cover the entire octopus.
After the ignited flame shrunk considerably, what remained in Gilbert’s hand was a blue crystal ball with a black octopus swimming within it. It looked like a pocket-size ornament.
“And these too!” Gilbert took a deep breath.
A huge hurricane was generated, and Gilbert sucked up the smoke that the octopus had puffed out into his stomach.
In a flash, the smoke that had caused them so much trouble vanished into the thin air.
“Truly a Morning Star Magus!” Leylin exclaimed with a tense gaze.
“Great! It’s all thanks to Lucian for this successful experiment. I will remember your contributions. As for the rest of you, everyone will get ten thousand contribution points!”
Gilbert then declared the conclusion of the experiment. Looking at his expression, Leylin was sure Gilbert couldn’t wait to lay his hands on the newly captured strange creature for experiments.
“The astral plane might be dangerous, but the gains are rich too!“ Leylin felt gloomy from the bottom of his heart.
While walking out of the laboratory, Robin smiled and turned to Leylin to make introductions: “This is Lucian, and this is Kesha, they are both my fellow students!”
Lucian was in fact the old geezer who was in the Crystal Phase. As for Kesha, she too was a rank 3 and Leylin gave both of them a respectful greeting.
Lucian and Kesha extended a warm welcome to their new junior before leaving. Both of their spiritual forces had been exhausted considerably and they needed to rest and restore their strength. especially Lucian; he was almost seriously hurt in the process hence he was in a dull mood.
Leylin understood Lucian’s feelings, but he was left speechless after he had to adopt nine more purification processes after the appearance of the strange creature.
At the trading hall of the clan, bright twinkling lights were being emitted from the huge screen. Some fixed assignments and resource exchanges appeared on it from time to time.
Leylin intentionally looked for the poster selling the life seed. Little did he expect to see there were many messages left under it. That it was a popular item for sale left Leylin speechless.
He only looked at the messages for a short while before turning elsewhere.
After numerous promotions to a higher position, the processing capabilities of his brain had strengthened immensely. He was now comparable to a regular computer. With just a few glances, he could assimilate the information that he needed from the huge screen easily.
“Rank 3 Vapour Phase spell formation, a must-have item for supplementing the vitality and strength of a Rank 3 Magus. Sale price: One hundred thousand contribution points!”
This was exactly what Leylin needed now.
Cultivation of a Rank 3 Magi was to further compress and concentrate the already small spiritual force seed.
Firstly, the bright silver spiritual force would be turned into vapour, after which it would enter the liquid phase and finally crystallisation.
At the final stage, all of the spiritual force would be condensed to a single point, the point mass. This was the raw material required for advancing to become a Morning Star Magus!
Leylin was currently stuck at the beginning stage of rank 3 and had not even entered Vapour Phase.
“With the help of this spell, together with medication and the right meditation techniques, it should only be a matter of time before I enter the Vapour Phase!” Leylin reckoned.
There was a door for every stage within the 3rd Rank. And once a Magus reached the Hydro Phase, they would be allowed to experience entry into the astral gate independently with the assistance of the Magi tower.
Of course this wasn’t a door built specially for the astral plane. It was built for eventual interplanar exploration in the future.
“Mentor Gilbert might be willing to trade the astral gate blueprint with me for a favourable price! However, it will be very difficult to acquire the astral stone…”
According to his Mentor, the so called astral stone was a necessary material when building a astral gate. The origins of the astral stones were unknown, and the Morning Star Magi kept them within their own circle. Thus, it was seldom seen outside.
Experiments on interplanar travel depleted the energy within these astral stones, and they would then have to be replaced. Thus, Morning Star Magi didn’t have enough of them on hand for their own use, leave alone selling them outside.
Given their sky-high price, even if Gilbert were willing to sell some to him, Leylin wasn’t sure he had the financial capabilities to buy them.
Leylin skimmed over the screen at a lightning-quick pace, looking out for anything associated with experiments on the astral plane. Unfortunately, high-grade research like that would not normally be put on sale. Even the rare piece was immediately gobbled up for a very high price!
Leylin stroked his chin in contemplation. ‘Looking at the current circumstances, interplanar travel was a hot topic in the central continent. Although the weaker Magi did have some knowledge of it, most of it was still a big secret!
‘It isn’t realistic to expect to buy a astral stone, and the Vapour Phase spell formation is expensive as well. It’s a better idea to slowly accumulate contribution points as I grow my spiritual force!’
Leylin thought about the one hundred thousand contribution point reward that Gilbert had handed out today, and exclaimed that such extravagance was indeed worthy of a Morning Star Magus. A few more visits to his experiments and Leylin would be able to afford the Vapour Phase spell formation.
It was a pity that most Magi believed in the principle of equal exchange. Leylin’s income today was a payment for the help he rendered, and there was a bonus due to there being gains from this experiment. Gilbert wa
s not one to just randomly reward his students some points.
‘I need to accumulate contribution points, and get a hold of some spiritual force potions that work for rank 3 Warlocks!’ Leylin set these two short term goals.
“It would be the wisest, most compatible and safest way through potions!”
Leylin looked at the screen. There were many highly paid requests for Potion Masters to concoct various potions. There were also contracts available for long-term patronage.
Precipitating 3 years
Potions Grandmasters were rare in the south coast, and at that time, Leylin was only a rank 1 Magus. Thus, he needed to avoid doing things that would leak his secret and lead to trouble.
But the central continent posed no such problems. Even the Ouroboros Clan alone housed a few reputable Grandmasters, not to mention the entire continent.
Furthermore, Leylin had already become a rank 3 Warlock, and his strength now was leagues ahead of what it was before. With Gilbert as his back-up, he had no cause for fear. Thus, it wasn’t much of a problem to reveal a bit of his prowess in the field.
It was still important to keep it a secret on the whole. Leylin’s Potioneering ability was honed over many years by personal tests and A.I. Chip simulations. In addition to the Chip’s assistance during the act itself, he’d reached a level of skill that bordered that of the most respected Potions Grandmasters, a mysterious and unfathomable realm.
But it was unnecessary to show his complete prowess. On top of that, through Potioneering, he could get hold of the majority of the recipes from the central continent for free. Moreover, most were exclusive, and would contribute greatly to Leylin’s database.
Leylin hoped from the bottom of his heart that, after acquiring all the information the central continent had with regards to Potioneering, he will have a breakthrough in his skill!
……
3 years later.
Leylin was in his manor in the Ouroboros Clan headquarters. Because of the many people and slaves in the region, the manor was not as empty as it once was. Once it had started functioning properly, clean-cut slaves and coquettish maids were walking about everywhere.
There were even some acolytes mixed into this sea of people.
Leylin had gathered all the gifted people in his territory and brought them here. He normally left his Warlock vassals to guide them, and only came out to teach himself when he was in a good mood.
This arrangement of Leylin wasn’t well received by the acolytes but they stayed on for the opportunity to work under him. Some of the acolytes and Magi even specially moved to his territory.
Inside the specialized living area, Leylin was conversing with Robin.
“Honestly speaking, Leylin, your Potioneering ability has greatly surprised me!” Robin was playing with the test tube in his hand. The purple liquid inside rippled and reflected a myriad of colours.
Leylin had granted himself both wealth and fame through the selling of potions and Potioneering for his clan members over the last three years.
The number of high-ranking Magi and Magi of affiliated clans seeking for Leylin’s Potioneering had been on a steady increase.
And Leylin wouldn’t reject their offers most of the time, though his success rate was a little lower than the Potion Grandmasters of the Ouroboros Clan, Leylin’s fee was much lower when compared to theirs. Besides, many Potions Grandmasters had already filled their schedules with requests and were unable to take on any more requests.
Precisely because of this, Leylin was able to come across the recipes for a large number of rare potions, which added to his Chip’s database as well as his own skill.
“I just have a slight interest in Potioneering. After all, I started my time as a Magus by becoming a Potions Master’s acolyte!” Leylin laughed weakly, his eyes and expression tinged with nostalgia.
“That itself is extraordinary! And I have to mention that it’s more than impressive for you to keep up with your meditation technique while making vast improvements in your Potioneering skills!” Robin looked closely at Leylin, “Your spiritual force is almost ready to move on to the Vapour Phase, isn’t it?”
“Indeed! I’m about to buy a Vapour Phase spell formation and plan to try and break through soon!” Leylin nodded with confidence. He had nothing to hide.
He’d earned a lot of contribution points through Potioneering. With that and his own resources, Leylin had indiscriminately bought spiritual force potions for his own use from the Ouroboros Clan. With the fourth layer of Kemoyin’s pupil as a guide, Leylin’s path had been clear of any obstacles. With a distinct aim, his spiritual force had improved significantly in this period.
The resources of the central continent could not be compared to those of Twilight Zone and the south coast. In addition to the energy-rich environment, it was much easier for Magi to break through and better themselves here than elsewhere.
“Mm! A Vapour Phase spell formation costs roughly 100,000 contribution points. With the addition of the necessary materials for it, the total will come up to about 150,000! Do you have enough? If not, I can lend you some for now!” Robin said in goodwill.
“Thank you so much!” Leylin laughed.
Although Potioneering was a very profitable business, Leylin had only been in it for a very short time. He’d even spent a huge number of contribution points to purchase spiritual force potions. Thus, he was not so well-off.
The Ouroboros Clan allowed one to exchange magic crystals for contribution points, but there were some considerations that led to Leylin not considering that path. One of them was a fixed limit on the number of crystals a Magus could trade for.
“Oh and here is the information I plan to handover to the clan! Help me do an appraisal!” Leylin chuckled as he handed a folder to Robin.
After skimming through, Robin lifted his brows and looked back at Leylin, straightening his back in astonishment. “You… You actually want to bestow your high-grade potion of tranquility to the clan?”
The high-grade potion of tranquility was an improved version of the one Leylin acquired from the great Magus Serholm, which helped to suppress the emotional instability of Warlocks. Of course, what he offered the guild was the rudimentary version that was not based primarily on the Icy Scorpion’s Breath. But it still proved relatively impressive in repressing the emotions of high-rank Warlocks
The emotional instability of high-rank Warlocks was quite obvious. Although there were some methods and potions to control them circulated inside the Ouroboros Clan, the Magi could never have enough.
As long as the root of this problem was not dealt with, such medicine would always be in high demand. In the past three years, Leylin had refined and manufactured vast quantities of high-grade potions of tranquility, turning them into one of his biggest sources of income. That he was willing to sell the formula left Robin extremely surprised.
“Of course!” Leylin laughed as he shook his head. He did not have the time to concoct and sell potions of tranquility for money. Furthermore, this was an advanced potion! Normal Potions Masters would not be able to achieve a high success rate at concocting it. It would still be easy for him to return to the business to earn contribution points if he wished.
“Just this alone is worth around 25,000 contribution points. Looking at you now, it doesn’t seem like you lack points!” Robin laughed bitterly.
“I wish! Honestly, I was thinking of borrowing some from you, senior! I still have a shortage of them!” Even as he said this, Leylin slyly lifted the corners of his mouth, making Robin feel a little closer to him.
At times, the bond between two people can be improved through the act of mutual support.
“Oh! You won’t be able to support your Magus Tower’s construction much longer, will you?” Robin’s expression changed into one of understanding, and Leylin just chuckled bitterly.
The construction of Leylin’s tower was more or less done over the part three years and now it was mostly down to the detailing and
decoration of each floor.
And Leylin’s expectations were exceptionally high. The materials selected were practically the most premium ones and the resources exhausted were comparable to a chain of mountains.
To be honest, Leylin’s weath was enough to sustain the following add-ons to his tower but he didn’t want to be completely transparent. So the facade of a poverty-stricken individual was absolutely necessary.
“Ah… Leylin, I told you so! Why did you not set your standards lower back then during the planning process, or build it here at the headquarters directly? It wouldn’t have resulted in this situation then!” Robin consoled.
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