Recalling his expression of wanting to vomit blood, Leylin felt the urge to laugh.
Of course, Spirit Circle was still Ouroboros Clan’s ally, and Leylin had not gone too far. At least, when he had been eating the meat, he’d thrown a few bones to Paul.
When he sold off some of the treasures from Scarlet Crescent at a slightly discounted price, Paul’s dead expression eased slightly. That said, the other party would definitely not dare deceive him anymore.
*Boom!* Yellow earth exploded, and a giant black figure strode forward, each step causing the surroundings to tremble.
“As expected, a puppet is easier to use than soul force!” Leylin controlled the giant black steel puppet, extremely satisfied.
The soul force from before had only been a virtual body, and he could not do many things. On top of that, the energy consumption was high. Now that he had the puppet, it was like giving his soul force a layer of clothing. Not only could he do things that needed a corporeal body, even the energy consumption had lessened.
This puppet was obviously not Paul’s. Leylin had teleported one over himself.
After negotiating the trade, the two of them had immediately used the astral gate and sent over the items, finishing the trade in an instant. The teleportation fees were meagre, but Paul took responsibility for that. Leylin had taken the opportunity and sent over a puppet for himself, causing Paul to roll his eyes.
“Something I made myself is easier to use. Besides, I don’t dare touch any of that octopus’ things. Who knows what soul scrying techniques or traps are inside…”
Leylin was still quite fearful towards the most mysterious branch of bloodline Warlocks, the spirit Warlocks.
“Hm?!” Leylin’s eyes flashed, having discovered something. His body turned into a black figure, colliding into a little hill like a savage beast.
*Boom!* The hill exploded, sending rocks flying everywhere. While dust flew everywhere, a human figure flew out.
The human figure looked thin and small, and its body was translucent. One was somewhat able to see the scenery behind it.
“A vengeful spirit that possesses worldly malice?” Leylin burst out in laughter, soul force forming a large hand and grabbing it.
By the time his opponent came before him, Leylin realised that the vengeful spirit looked to be only 13 or 14 years old. It looked like a delicate boy, eyes still holding fear.
“The environment isn’t bad here, and the vengeful spirit created here is considered top-rate even in the central continent. Should I take over a place and build a spirit experimentation area or something…”
Leylin watched the boy’s faint figure in the large hand, stroking his chin.
This vengeful spirit was completely intimidated by Leylin’s terrifying pressure, and could only tremble.
“Hm? Is this power the malice of the world?” While grabbing the boy, Leylin felt a strange force emitting from the body, and even trying to invade his soul force.
This was a force similar to the force of destiny, yet at the same time also similar to Gaia’s extensive will. If not for Leylin having researched deeply into these two areas, he might not even have noticed it.
“If it was a complete and powerful world, even Morning Stars would be unable to handle its malice. It’s a pity…”
Leylin sighed. This was merely a plane, and it was broken. Even Gaia’s will had been defeated at the hands of Radiant Moon Warlocks till it was in tatters. If not, it would not have only this amount of strength.
Gaia’s will was, in actuality, the culmination of common trains of thought amongst living bodies, and even non-living bodies such as the earth and ocean.
Now, however, all intellectual beings of this plane had been exterminated, leaving behind vengeful spirits, and allowing Warlocks to take over more of it.
Perhaps… Tens of thousands of years later, humans would thrive. Gaia’s will, which would be protective of the new humans and Warlocks’ benefits, would completely replace the original will here, and beat these down.
“This sort of malicious intent depends on the entire plane. If a new Gaia is not created, or the area is completely destroyed, this situation will not completely die away. It will be very troublesome…”
Leylin’s brows furrowed. Soul force began to quiver with a specific undulation, immediately shaking out this malicious intent.
*Bang!* The faint figure of the boy in his hands immediately looked sinister and quickly exploded, turning into streams of black air and dissipating.
“How long will it be until all the mysteries of the soul are laid bare before me?”
Leylin observed the desolate area, sighing ruefully as he commanded, “A.I. Chip! Show me the progress on the simulation of the fifth level of Kemoyin’s Pupil!”
[Beep! Progress of 5th level of meditation technique, Kemoyin’s Pupil: 30%!] The A.I. Chip loyally intoned. This number had been stuck here for a long while, and if he did not make any breakthrough, he would probably not be able to make any progress.
Looking at this number, Leylin sighed silently.
In terms of a Magus’ progress, progress from ranks 1 to 3 relied on spiritual force. From 4 to 6, it would touch on the soul. The even more mysterious rank 7 required the grasping of some power of the world, or in other words— laws!
Leylin was now stuck in the training of the soul.
Kemoyin’s Pupil only had four levels, and there was no elaboration on the later realms. Leylin could only grope around blindly.
However, soul force was hard to understand. Even the A.I. Chip now could not completely come up with the date of others. How could he conduct simulations and the like?
‘Perhaps even rank 5 or 6 Magi or Warlocks might not be able to fully understand the working of souls. In addition, while strengthening soul force, one can only rely on meditation techniques and long periods of time…’
Leylin couldn’t help but recall the Wing of the Sun. Even this top-grade meditation technique’s explanation about souls was not clear. The author had often marked speculation and guesses. That meant that even a terrifying rank 6 being like the Sun’s Child did not have enough understanding of the soul, and only depended on the characteristics of its race to gain power.
‘Compared to Magi, Warlocks use the power of their bloodlines to strengthen the soul. Most of the time, nobody understands how it works. Meditation techniques mostly teach how to activate the power of the bloodline, which is why their knowledge on souls is even lesser than that of Magi! Maybe that’s one of the reasons why, amongst bloodline Warlocks, there haven’t been the appearance of any rank 6 thrones…’
Leylin touched his chin, beginning to make conjectures.
“First thing’s first, I have to completely revitalise the bloodline of the Sun’s Child. With the Wing of the Sun, I might be able to gain something. Next, I have to purchase large quantities of renowned works on souls by Magi and Warlocks, and I must obtain level 5 or 6 high-grade meditation techniques…”
“These two methods are the most practical. For the latter, I can solve it right here!” At the thought of the information at the trading market, Leylin’s eyes brightened.
*Rumble!* Though it wasn’t the first time he’d seen it, he was still awed by the large amounts of soul force and conscients mixed together. The scene of uncountable amounts of data streaking through still left Leylin with his mind blown.
On the giant planet of the Morning Star area, basically all Morning Star Warlocks left a trace of their soul force or will here to conduct trades.
Some wills stayed here, relying on selling information and earning large amounts of top-grade resources.
Leylin noticed keenly that the use of magic crystals had been lowered to the utmost, and they were almost completely unseen.
This was very normal. Among Morning Star Warlocks, who did not have a few or even tens of large-scaled magic crystal mines? This could not be used as something of much value.
The currency here was something else that
Leylin was very familiar with— astral stones!
Astral stones had become the norm, and were the currency being used. If Morning Star Warlocks had something they needed, they would usually sell off what they had on hand and, after accumulating enough astral stones, buy it.
For Morning Star Warlocks, astral stones were an eternal, hard currency. They would not depreciate in value.
The information in the market changed completely every few moments, making Leylin think back to the stocks, securities, and futures markets of his previous world. It caused him to feel dazzled.
WMW Chapter 537
Blood-sucking Loach
‘A.I. Chip, begin scan! Keywords: Soul force, high-grade meditation technique.’
Thankfully, Leylin had the A.I. Chip which was fused with his soul. It responded instantly to his thoughts, [Beep! Mission established, starting scan!]
Soon enough, a blue display was projected in front of his eyes, showing a very long list. Leylin gathered himself and started looking through the information carefully.
“High-grade meditation technique—Void Phantom: Five layers in total and complete. As long as…”
“Ancient soul force Arcane Art— Multi-luster Sacrificial Rite: Able to strengthen soul force and improve the power of spells that are rank 4 and above by 50%, all in exchange for the egg of a Nefarious Filthbird!”
“Crystallised soul force: 500g of the crystallised soul force of a Morning Star in exchange for astral stones of the same quality!”
“Ancient Bloodline— Offspring of the White-scaled Illusory Tiger: Not only can it keenly sense soul force, a contract with it has the extraordinary effect of strengthening the soul. Prices to be negotiated face to face!”
The large amounts of data dazzled Leylin, every item on the screen nearly causing him to salivate. He realised then that he was poor. He was way too poor!
Whether they were from his plunder of Twilight Zone or his other sources of wealth, his resources that could originally be sold off at astronomical prices were dispensable to Morning Stars.
Other things, such as his bloodline refinement method and the data on Quicksand’s experiments could not see the light of day.
Leylin suddenly found that the only things he could take out to sell were the astral stones he’d appropriated from the clan treasury.
“This won’t do! I need to find a source of revenue as soon as possible!” Leylin watched the items on the screen, eyes turning slightly red.
These Morning Star Warlocks had gathered too many amazing items. As long as he obtained a portion of any of them and hand it over to the A.I. Chip to experiment with, the progress on the analysis of soul force would definitely increase rapidly. This was very important to him.
“But… a source that suits a Morning Star, and it needs to be regular as well…”
He found himself in a bind. Other Warlocks would surely have taken such sources over already, how would he get a chance? His only option was to think up a brand new source of income.
Leylin flipped through the pages absent-mindedly, and finally found some things he was interested in.
“Teleportation required: I need to reach Sunset Mountains within three days. If any friends have teleportation points, please contact me. Prices are negotiable!”
“Requesting help: Rebellion by Marine Dragon Whales at the East Region. Need at least three Morning Stars to suppress them. Each will be guaranteed a minimum of 1000g of astral stones, and additional rewards will be given to those who capture their enemies…”
“Assistance required in attacking the Mage Basin. Once conquered, offering 5% of their yearly profit!”
……
All sorts of conscients gathered at the other end of the trade area, communicating rapidly. The deals were near-instant.
“If there isn’t anything else, I’m afraid I’ll have to take on some missions here, becoming a mercenary of sorts…”
Face grim, Leylin followed a thread of information to a dark conscient, “May I know if Sire here is selling high-grade meditation techniques?”
Floating in front of Leylin was a bundle of black light. An extreme darkness full of terrifying energy converged on it. Though it was merely a conscient, it was still enough to cause Leylin to feel fear.
“En!” The other party answered unwillingly, as if not really interested in this deal. Unlike other items, this sort of knowledge and special techniques could be sold off multiple times and not even at a very high price, which was Leylin’s first target.
After all, he had already gained a top-grade meditation technique, Wing of the Sun. With this one, as well as the other accumulations from before, the A.I. Chip’s research would reach a whole new level and he could obtain more information.
“May I know the price?” Leylin calmed down, readying himself to negotiate with the other party. He did not have a lot of astral stones, and there were a lot of good resources here. He needed to be frugal.
Besides, the requirements listed by the other conscients were just unbelievable. Even Leylin could not take it, especially the one asking for the egg of the Nefarious Filthbird. He’d blacklisted that choice right away.
The Nefarious Filthbird and Trial’s Eye were at the same level and had the ability to traverse worlds. How could it be of equal value to an ancient Arcane Art?
Just thinking of this, Leylin felt that they were crazy. As for the soul force crystals, he could just produce himself. They weren’t all that useful anyway.
In general, since there was news of people hoping for an exchange, they obviously wanted to sell items off at a higher price. Hence, very few deals were made in this trading area. Most of the idle soul forces and conscients lazed around here, and once they saw a cheaply-priced trade, immediately pounced forth like a bunch of sharks that smelt blood.
Morning Star Warlocks were erudite, and also had the detective ability that soul force offered them. Each and every one of them was old and sly, and while it was not impossible to get pick up cheap gains, the effort and time one needed to put into it was too much.
This was the conclusion Leylin came up with after surveying the scene multiple times. Hence, he gave up on the thought of picking up cheap deals and began to trade honestly.
“My Void Phantom not only has five complete levels, but also includes an affinity to the element of illusion. It’s at an unconditional price of 5000g of astral stones!” The dark conscient didn’t seem to care if Leylin actually wanted to purchase it.
“Mm! However, its requirements for the users is too high. Besides, we’re all Warlocks. The high-grade meditation techniques of Magi are only for reference, which makes your price too…” Leylin frowned. With his knowledge of high-grade meditation techniques, just a few casually-thrown-out sentences caused the conscient to begin hesitating.
“Furthermore, haven’t you sold this meditation techniques many times already? How can it have the same price as before?” Realising he had a chance, Leylin immediately attacked.
……
After a complicated negotiation similar to the business deals in his previous world, Leylin finally bought the high-grade meditation technique, Void Phantom, at a low price just like he wanted to. However, the astral stones he had gotten from the headquarters of the Ouroboros Clan had been practically halved in that instant.
He calculated it all carefully. The real wealth was definitely on the three dukes, and all that was left in the headquarters were merely scraps.
Leylin had too few astral stones left on him after buying the meditation technique. He took a look around, and upon finding nothing special quickly found a little corner, his soul force withdrawing from the Morning Star area.
“Hah…” In the headquarters of the Ouroboros Clan, at the core laboratory in the technological department, Leylin gave a long huff and observed the black crystal in his hands.
[Beep! High-grade meditation technique Void Phantom has been recorded. Saved into database under high-grade meditation techniques] The A.
I. Chip’s emotionless voice sounded.
“Very good!” Seeing the progress bar that was now progressing again, Leylin’s heart that had been aching was finally consoled.
He left the technical department and came before the bloodline laboratory from before.
This was the core laboratory of the Ouroboros Clan, and only the three Morning Stars were allowed access to it. Of course, after Leylin took over, he had used this as his own laboratory. The experiment on the revitalisation of the Sun’s Child bloodline had been performed here.
“Tower genie, how’s the situation with the specimens?” Leylin asked.
“The specimens are currently doing well. The number of surviving blood-sucking loaches is being kept at 20 and above, and they have consumed 32.7 tons of culture fluid.”
The tower genie projected a series of data in front of Leylin, to which he nodded his head. At the beginning, the blood-sucking loaches’ numbers had rapidly dwindled, but after the other specimens had gotten used to the bloodline of the Sun’s Child, they could finally survive for a longer time. At this point, a decent number of them could remain alive at a time.
Leylin came to the cultivation pool from before.
The liquid in the pool had already turned a dark green, with occasional streaks of gold flashing underwater. It had also expanded tenfold from before.
Water splashed everywhere, and a golden monster jumped out to bite at Leylin, its mouth full of sharp teeth. It was even spitting out flames!
*Tsss!* Before the flames could reach him, they were blocked by a layer of white light. Black lightning grouped together to form a large hand, slapping it back into the water.
“Mm! It’s very lively!” Leylin chuckled, judging this mutated blood-sucking loach.
Perhaps, calling them blood-sucking loaches was no longer suitable, since what was in front of Leylin was a whole new species that had gone through the stimulation from the bloodline of the Sun’s Child.
Warlock of the Magus World 1-596 Page 367
