After the war, the Blood Serpent and Farlier Families would immediately rise in power. There was no doubt about that.
“Alright, let’s get to the next area!” Once all affairs at Greenflame City were taken care of, a few Warlocks immediately continued on a new journey.
With Leylin along with Gilbert and Emma as support, the organisations that relied on Jupiter’s Lightning and had merely one or two Morning Star Magi were swept through.
While Philip and Paul did not do anything, just their presence represented the stance of the Warlock Union. Even Rank 5 Magi had to reconsider the consequences.
Hence, the frontlines were pushed forward smoothly. In less than a month, all the land that had been occupied had returned to the high-ranked Warlocks of the Ouroboros Clan. Of course, there were naturally changes when it came to allocation, but no Warlock dared complain.
“Hah… Onyx Castle! I’m back!”
Leylin stood above Onyx Castle in his territory, and was speechless.
The Magus Tower not far away had long since been overturned by the Oakheart family. Of course, they had immediately compensated Leylin with a brand new Morning Star Magus Tower.
The Onyx Castle below had obviously been destroyed and reconstructed. That must have been the Oakheart Family trying to curry favour with him since they were already here.
“Are you very familiar with the Azure Mountain King? The moment you arrived, he immediately withdrew his troops, and even looked impatient in doing it!”
“I just have something on him, so we’re temporary allies.” Leylin shook his head and chuckled.
“Temporary?” Emma observed Leylin’s profound smile, suddenly feeling like the breeze in the skies was slightly chilly. She began to mourn for the Oakheart Family.
“News has come in that the Green Snake Marshes have been taken back. Our Ouroboros Clan has now regained all its past territory!” Gilbert’s figure appeared by Leylin side, a sigh in his tone. “What should we do next?”
“Nothing. Just work on consolidating our original territories.”
Leylin knew when to stop. Though he did not know if it was his existence or the intimidation of the Warlock Union, Jupiter’s Lightning had displayed a high degree of tolerance towards the Ouroboros Clan’s recent activities, and practically did not interfere at all. This was also why Leylin and the rest had been able to reclaim their territories so quickly.
Of course, Leylin did not believe that they were afraid of him or the union.
Zegna probably had something more important to focus on, which was why he was temporarily enduring his activities. As long as he killed Leylin, the Ouroboros Clan would quickly fall apart even if they took up half of the central continent.
Leylin always had his guard up against this Radiant Moon.
……
“The Ouroboros Clan has completely expelled our organisations and restored their territories!”
“In the Lava World, Wayde has brought a group of high-ranked Warlocks and is going around annihilating the Mobius Organisation!”
“Damn it, Damn it, DAMN IT! Leylin, Wayde… One day, I’ll bury your skulls under my palace’s steps, and have your souls wailing within the flames of my lights…”
Zegna’s eyes were bloodshot as he sent the reporting Morning Star Magus away. Recently, all that was being delivered to him was bad news.
Wayde had actually gotten the coordinates to the Lava World, bringing a whole group and vying for territory with him. His previous actions had lost him his friendship with Scarlet Eye, and Archibald had become hostile with him after this matter as well.
While Zegna was in terrible shape worrying over these, Leylin had meanwhile reclaimed all the territory that had once belonged to the Ouroboros Clan!
Pond of Lamentation
“It’s all your fault, Narsha! Didn’t you say that as long as we make use of the Lava World’s coordinates as a trap, we can get rid of them and make them disappear into a spatial rift? You said nobody would know!”
The moon rune on Zegna’s forehead dimmed as he narrowed his eyes.
“How would I know that three Morning Star Warlocks, when teamed up, were as powerful as a Radiant Moon Magus…” The mysterious female voice sounded like that of a spoilt little girl.
“Are you calling me useless?” Veins surfaced on Zegna’s forehead.
“What? How could I do such a thing? You’re my student, after all!” The little girl’s voice was suddenly replaced by a mature one.
“All we have is a trade, an exchange of benefits.” Zegna was breathing heavily as he stated this fact.
“Alright, alright! I know what you want. Wayde is fighting you over the Lava World, and Leylin is challenging your might in the central continent… But all this does not matter. As long as we succeed in our plan, you can advance to Breaking Dawn and become a King! Even wiping out the entire Warlock Union would be a piece of cake, let alone just them.” Her voice was very gentle and extremely easy to be caught into it.
With the comforting words from the female voice, Zegna gathered his composure and returned to a dark secret chamber in his Magus Tower.
Passing through layers of restrictions, one would find nothing in the room except a circular fountain in the centre. A large amount of turbulent black air was boiling within it, and a few expressionless, pale human faces were floating on the surface.
“Wuuu Wuuu!”
A little white stream of air rose up, before forming into a few tall human figures that moved slowly around Zegna.
“How is it? I spent all my treasures for this, and even…” Zegna’s voice lowered.
“It’s looking good. The Pond of Lamentation configuration is almost complete, all that’s left is a few last steps…” The female voice turned a little cold.
……
[Beep! Reserves of the Sun’s Child bloodline imprint strengthened!] [Beep! Host’s fire elemental resistance has increased!]
Along with the timely prompts from the A.I. Chip, Leylin’s mind wandered off for a bit as he stared at the sun-shaped runes on the back of his hands.
‘I prepared this specially for Zegna, but he didn’t even show up!’ Leylin had to admit that he hadn’t predicted the opponent’s reaction. Zegna was a narrow-minded villain, but he had remained composed under such provocation. This was out of Leylin’s expectations.
‘Or maybe someone else persuaded him not to act!’ Leylin stroked his chin, ‘If that’s the case, it must be someone holding a prestigious status in Jupiter’s Lightning. Which one is it?
‘Eh, it’s better like this anyway. We got back all our territory, and I didn’t even have to use one of my bloodline imprints…’ These bloodline imprints were almost as strong as rank 6 spells. They were definitely a trump card of Leylin’s, and it was best that he continued to hide them.
Also, Leylin could feel that the bloodline imprint in his skin resonated with the modified Fireplume, and they complemented each other. With the passage of time, this resonance became more and more obvious.
‘Could it be that the ancient Sun’s Child was related to the phoenix?’ Leylin dismissed his own thought with a laugh.
“Mentor! These are all the documents related to the body tempering in the Ouroboros Clan!”
The door to the study opened, and Snoopy entered with tons of black documents and crystal ball recordings.
All the documents had been piled up on Leylin’s desk, forming a small hill.
“Mm, great job!” Leylin nodded his head in encouragement to this handy student of this. He sent him off as he started on the documents.
There were many different types of recording apparatus in the Magus World, and they came in different shapes, sizes, and materials. Books made of real paper were very scarce. In fact, Leylin had even seen a book made entirely out of bronze before, as well as books made of bone.
After all, the Ouroboros Clan was one of the top organisations in the central continent, and the very first thing Leylin had thought of af
ter browsing through the documents was to find a way to improve his vitality.
The side effects of the massive increase in his soul force had yet to be resolved. Moreover, judging from his current health, there were very few spells and refining methods that would be of use to him.
Leylin casually flipped opened a thick dictionary-like book. On the pale yellowish page was a brightly-coloured rose, the leaves and petals seeming to tremble a bit.
“Ah…Dearest Trivish! I adore you, adore your eyes which are so pearl-like, and…”
As he flipped through a huge amount of mixed content, he found what seemed to be like short lines left behind by a bored bard. The phrasing was poor and the text somewhat incoherent.
Yet, Leylin browsed through the thing without much thought. He placed his fingers on a piece of paper with raised markings on it, gently sliding across every letter. It was then that something bizarre happened.
A line of fire appeared at the part Leylin touched, and the rest of the letters started to twitch. There were even little black feet growing on them as they started to rearrange themselves.
“The following text contains information on the initial stages of the reformation of Hodo Worms. Only official Magi and above can attempt to…”
Another instructional line appeared, and the A.I. Chip sounded at the same time:
[Beep! Object letting out inductive radiation detected, based on the activity rate of the detected radiation, it can be transferred into the Host’s vitality. Probability: 0.000000001%!]
Leylin closed the book, feeling rather speechless.
Such hidden techniques and methods of induction could only be created by those at rank 3 and above. Rank 1 or 2 Magi who practised this would have their vitality stimulated, and would begin to improve.
However, such a thing was way too weak for Leylin.
“Reform through Hodo Worms? There’s a maximum increase of 3 vitality, and added resistance against poison!” Leylin’s eyes glowed blue as he stroked his chin, “But the new look would be simply too ugly… And it’s useless for me currently anyway…”
He shook his head and moved on to the next source.
With his position in the Ouroboros Clan, he could use any resources he wanted. He’d finished browsing through all the documents in a few days.
No other Magus would have been able to accomplish much after one quick browse through. They would have to spend time to understand and memorise the information. Unlike them, however, all the information was now in Leylin’s memory, never to be forgotten.
“A.I. Chip, scan through the new data and look for methods that can improve my current vitality,” Leylin ordered.
Not only had he looked through all the documents about body refinement spell formations, he had also organised all the rumours and legends that related to improvements in vitality, giving it all to the A.I. Chip to analyse.
Even though he did not have much faith in the Ouroboros Clan’s library, just a few clues were good enough for him.
[Beep! Search complete. Found 3 methods that suit the host.]
Along with its report, the A.I. Chip projected some information into Leylin’s mind.
[1: Conversion into Adoforke. Will result in a one-time increase of 40 vitality.] [2: Acquire the title of Virtuous Sky Sage and come in contact with the Endowing Scepter. Will assist in advancement of host’s physical strength by two ranks at once.] [3: Consume the Giant Dragon Potion together with Hades’ Blood Sacrifice. Will result in an approximate increase of 10 vitality.] These were the three methods the A.I. Chip had found, the methods most suited to Leylin himself.
Of course, they were deduced from rumours and scientific content. Leylin would have to do his own work to get all the resources required to proceed with them.
Even so, it was much better for him than for those Magi who were clueless when they encountered problems, having to try all methods one by one.
“Conversion of Adoforke? Where on earth am I going to find such an ancient spell formation for the conversion of vitality?” Leylin smiled bitterly.
“Let’s leave that aside for now. As for becoming a Virtuous Sky Sage…” he muttered as he touched his chin, sinking deep into thought. The Sky Castle was under the control of the Monarch of the Skies, but it was open to all scholars. The title of Virtuous Sky Sage was an honorary title in that place.
For strictness of the Magi, those were able to get the titles, were all the masters of the scholars. Coming into contact with the Endowing Scepter would be the benefit of the entitlements. Rumours had it that it could increase Magus’s physique without any side effects.
Of course, with the help of the A.I. Chip, Leylin was quite confident in passing the tests. However, the Sky Castle was located in a Monarch’s territory, and he was not sure of the attitude of the Monarch of the Skies held towards bloodline Warlocks. Hence, he wasn’t confident in that plan.
“As for the last thing, the Giant Dragon Potion and Hades’ Blood Sacrifice are quite simple to get. I can use a bunch of kobolds to refine some dragon blood, and I also have a spell formation for Hades’ Blood Sacrifice…”
Leylin’s eyes flickered with light. “The increase is a little on the low end, but it’s good enough!”
He had finally realised how hard it was for Magi to advance. His vitality was already great as a Warlock, and he still faced so many difficulties in advancement. Imagine how hard it would be for Morning Star Magi?
There were probably many Magi stuck in the Morning Star realm due to a stagnation in their soul force and vitality.
“Let’s do this for now. I’ll prepare the Giant Dragon Potion, use it to increase my vitality, then proceed to the Sky Castle!” Leylin had made up his mind.
Giant Dragon Potion
“Leylin!” Gilbert and Emma had come over while Leylin was deep in thought. Their eyes were twinkling with joy.
“What’s this? You’ve acquired an interest in body tempering?” Emma had immediately made the connection after glancing at the mess of materials on the table.
“Mm. My soul has strengthened too much recently, and my physical body hasn’t been able to keep up.” Leylin nodded. This wasn’t any information worth hiding after all.
“Seriously,” Gilbert sat down speechlessly, “Us bloodline Warlocks have the advantage of increased vitality due to our inheritance of ancient genes. We’re ahead of Magi in this field, and normally we only have to worry about how to increase our soul force. There are practically no other people in your situation!”
Leylin’s monstrous growth rate was something Gilbert found difficult to digest.
Leylin laughed, and asked the two dukes some other questions about body tempering. However, both of them knew even less than he did, and could hardly give him any useful information.
In the end, Leylin could only ask, “How much do you know about Sky City?”
“What?!” “Don’t tell me you’re going there!?” Both Warlocks stood up in shock.
“Why? What’s the matter?” Leylin asked with a smile.
The Endowing Scepter kept in Sky City was a treasure that only Virtuous Sky Sages could come in contact with, and it had the ability to increase his physique by two levels without any side effects. To the present Leylin, that was a huge temptation.
Two levels was roughly twenty points of vitality. With the additional ten points from the Giant Dragon Potion, his vitality would grow very close to a hundred points. The remainder could be increased slowly through Fireplume or Multilimb Strength.
Therefore, if he couldn’t find other methods to substitute for it, he had to go through with this.
After a moment of silence Emma spoke. “Leylin… Even though the Monarch of the Skies hasn’t targeted Warlocks before, you know the situation with our Warlock Union…”
Due to unknown reasons, bloodline Warlocks had been rejected and were treated as enemies by the regular Magi of the central continent. They had even reached the verge of extinction. Despite the tremendous efforts
of the few Radiant Moon Warlocks, most Warlocks still felt quite unsafe. This was why the Morning Star Area had come up.
If the Monarchs hadn’t given the suppression of Warlocks their tacit approval, this would have been impossible.
In Emma’s eyes, Leylin was an up-and-coming talent who she had high expectations for, even someone who she considered a son-in-law. She naturally wouldn’t want Leylin to leave and expose himself to danger.
“Mentor Gilbert, what do you think?” Leylin could only laugh wryly inside, his eyes focusing on Gilbert.
“Let’s not talk about the Monarch of the Skies. Sky City is a holy land for Magi in the central continent, and is considered the Palace of Truth. Countless top-grade masters, artisans and scholars gather there, calling it the cradle of knowledge. In terms of innovations and advancements in spells, rapid progress is made every single day!”
Gilbert scratched his bald head, recalling some fond memories from the past as his eyes shimmered.
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