Chapter 119: Warlock "But there's good news too!"
Leilin calculated how things would unfold from here, and his expression gradually eased.
"Bosain and the other two joined mid-way. According to Jiamen, they even managed to hide it from both the family and the academy. That means the Lillitur family at most knows Bosain is dead, but doesn't know where he ended up or who he met! This is the best-case scenario!"
As for Jiamen's disappearance?
Leilin wasn't particularly concerned. First, he hadn't killed Jiamen, so even if they used truth-detection wizardry or something similar, he had nothing to fear. Second, Jiamen only had
Leilin cast one last look back at the cliff, then turned and walked away without looking back.
Meanwhile, inside an imposing and sinister ancient castle.
From one of the rooms, a furious roar suddenly erupted: "Bosain is dead!!!! The death parasites on his body didn't activate either!!!"
The voice's owner seethed with absolute rage, waves of sound reverberating through the castle again and again.
In the air, ripples visible to the naked eye appeared, and a powerful, terrifying aura continuously seeped out from the room.
Many of the servants and maids in the corridors dropped to their knees, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
"Summon Quirete! If he can't find out the truth, I'll send him to the Flame Mine for a hundred years!!!!"
……
The sky darkened abruptly as cold winds howled. Before long, fine threads of rain began to fall, bringing moisture and chill to the earth.
But Leilin's mood was excellent.
Right now, he was inside a mountain cave, warming himself by a crackling campfire, his eyes closed as he reviewed the contents of the advanced Meditation Method.
He placed tremendous importance on this Meditation Method. After all, his future path would largely be decided by it.
Moreover, the advanced Meditation Method had certain requirements for apprentices — one had to meet specific prerequisites before being able to practice it smoothly.
Lei Lin certainly didn't want to risk life and limb only to end up with something completely useless to him.
The content he had hastily skimmed earlier had already planted a seed of doubt in his mind: "Warlocks? Like Brand Swordsmen — some kind of ancient
Lei Lin leaned against the dry cave wall, his mind continuously sorting through the Meditation Method data that had been transmitted to him today.
"Eye of Komoine." That was the name of the advanced Meditation Method left behind by Grand Wizard Crimson that Lei Lin had obtained.
Before the Meditation Method itself, there were several pages of supplementary material introducing a type of existence that emerged when ancient apprentices advanced — Warlocks!!!
So-called Warlocks were a special breed of Wizard. Through consumption, reproduction, or other means, they acquired the bloodlines of powerful magical beasts or even beings from other worlds, then continuously excavated the power sealed within.
Like the Brand Swordsmen, Warlocks were yet another minor sub-class within the ancient Wizard tradition.
According to the introduction Grand Wizard Crimson had written at the front, he himself had been a powerful Warlock of the Fourth Tier! He had even unified the entire South Coast and left behind many immortal legends.
Moreover, legend held that Warlocks possessed far greater innate talent in spellcasting. Under normal circumstances, at the same tier, a Warlock completely surpassed a Wizard.
But if Warlocks were truly that powerful, the South Coast would have fallen under Warlock dominion long ago, and there would never have been so many Wizard organizations.
First, Warlocks relied on bloodlines as their primary path. As time passed and generations reproduced, Warlock descendants would often find their bloodlines growing thin. In recent ages, as various ancient creatures gradually went extinct and the supply of new bloodline sources dried up, this problem had caused the Warlock population to dwindle steadily.
Furthermore, most Warlocks suffered from an exceedingly troublesome occupational hazard — emotional instability!!! Wizards were the embodiment of absolute rationality. But Warlocks, influenced by the bloodlines within their bodies, tended to be extremely temperamental and prone to extremism.
Clearly, such a disposition would make it very difficult to go far in the cutthroat world of Wizards.
Fortunately, Grand Wizard Crimson had provided a method to counteract this occupational hazard — the
As long as a Warlock consumed the Serenity Potion, they could calm their inner emotions and restore the rational side of their Wizard nature.
Moreover, strong willpower also helped to offset the emotional influence of the bloodline.
And in the foreword of the advanced Meditation Method, several methods for acquiring bloodlines were listed — more than enough for Lei Lin to choose from.
Having read this far, Lei Lin had already made up his mind to advance as a Warlock and walk the path of bloodlines.
But what he discovered next made him furrow his brow.
"Three layers! The entire advanced Meditation Method — how does it only have three layers? And there's obvious damage and missing content beyond that!"
According to the intelligence Lei Lin had gathered, advanced Meditation Methods had the ability to pull a Wizard up in rank.
In other words, as long as a Wizard completed one layer of a Meditation Method, their Wizard rank would automatically advance — no need for large quantities of materials to break through, and even less need to solidify a Spell Model.
This was because an advanced Meditation Method would automatically generate an innate spell perfectly matched to the Wizard, which would be continuously inscribed into the Wizard's sea of consciousness through meditation.
But the Eye of Komo only had three layers, which meant that even if Lei Lin cultivated this Meditation Method to its highest level, he would at most advance to Third Rank Warlock — only slightly stronger than an ordinary Third Rank Wizard.
Still, that wasn't bad. On the South Coast, a Third Rank Wizard was already an incredibly formidable figure — the kind of power that led great organizations like the Night Lighthouse!
But Lei Lin felt a lingering thread of dissatisfaction. He had hoped to cultivate all the way to the realm of a Ninth Rank Grand Wizard!
He soon laughed at himself for such wild fantasies.
"Even the Grand Magus Crimson himself was only a Fourth Rank Warlock — the distance to Ninth Rank is farther than the galaxy! I shouldn't be too greedy. After all, this Meditation Method can guarantee my cultivation up to Third Rank Warlock. If I had to break through on my own, I wouldn't even be confident of reaching formal Wizard status..."
"Besides, the Grand Magus Crimson himself was a Fourth Rank Warlock, which means the Eye of Komo definitely has subsequent sections — I just need to find them..."
Lei Lin steadied his mind and looked further into the text. Sure enough, in the latter half of the Meditation Method, some vague clues appeared, pointing directly to the Central Continent.
The Central Continent — Lei Lin had never heard of this place before. But in the Great Serpent Scripture, there was a relevant description. It was apparently a true paradise for Wizards, vast in territory and extraordinarily rich in all manner of resources.
However, traveling from the South Coast to the Central Continent required crossing many dangerous regions. Without the strength of a formal Wizard, it was practically suicide!
Lei Lin silently committed the information about the Central Continent to memory and resolved that one day he would definitely go there to search for further clues to the Eye of Komo.
At the very end of the Meditation Method, there was one more cryptic line: "Those who walk the path of bloodlines will ultimately be imprisoned by their bloodlines as well..."
For some reason, after reading those words, Lei Lin seemed to hear a distant sigh — or perhaps it was just his imagination.
But that sentence nonetheless cast a shadow over his heart.
Lei Lin fell silent, the blue light in his eyes flickering rapidly before returning to normal.
"It seems like Warlocks have some kind of flaw. But that's a problem I'd only face after reaching Third Rank! And right now, I'm nothing but a tiny apprentice — I'm not even confident about advancing to formal Wizard..."
"Even if, in the end, the Warlock path hits a ceiling, I can always look for other methods! By then, I'll at least have the strength of a formal Wizard!"
"And now, with my apprentice-level strength, there's absolutely no chance of obtaining another advanced Meditation Method..."
Various thoughts flashed through his mind, and Lei Lin's gaze gradually became resolute.
"To cultivate the Komoin Eye, I first need the bloodline of a Komoin Giant Serpent or one of its subspecies!"
Lei Lin began to consider his path forward.
"The Komoin Giant Serpent! It's an ancient creature — the Chip has records of it. And as for its subspecies, I've encountered two of them: the Manxter Giant Serpent and the Horar Black Serpent!"
Just from the fact that Crimson Great Wizard had also cultivated the Komoin Eye, he too must have been a Warlock carrying the bloodline of the Komoin Giant Serpent!
And his painstaking efforts to breed serpent creatures, his fondness for using snakes to set up defensive traps and the like — that was all understandable now.
Lei Lin thought for a moment, then pulled a great many items from his waist pouch.
Over a dozen blood-red stones, and a frozen heart!
These dozen or so blood-red stones were the concentrated essence of the Horar Black Serpent's entire bloodline, which Lei Lin had collected directly. As for the heart, it was a precious material Lei Lin had harvested from the dead Horar Black Serpent before escaping Dillen Garden.
"According to the earlier entries in the Foundation Meditation Method, I can absolutely use these blood essences to obtain the Horar Black Serpent's bloodline..."
An adult Horar Black Serpent was a powerful creature capable of fighting a Third Rank Wizard head-on without losing ground — more than sufficient for Lei Lin's needs.
Perhaps Crimson Great Wizard had left that Horar Black Serpent there precisely to allow a future successor to obtain its bloodline.
But Lei Lin's ambition, of course, went far beyond that.
"While the Horar Black Serpent isn't bad, it only carries a sliver of the ancient Komoin Giant Serpent's bloodline. Maybe I could try to purify the Horar Black Serpent's bloodline and obtain the true ancient bloodline!"
A sudden fire blazed in Lei Lin's eyes.
Since Warlocks were people who constantly dug deeper into the power of their own bloodlines, then the bloodline transplanted at the very start was naturally best if it was as strong as possible.
Just a brief thought on this, and Lei Lin's heart burned with excitement.
"Chip! Establish a task: calculate the feasibility of purifying the ancient bloodline from the Horar Black Serpent's bloodline!"
"Ding! Task established. Analysis commencing!"
The Chip faithfully executed Lei Lin's task.
"Scanning current blood essence! Composition: pure blood 78.8%, nutrients 11.3%, high-energy bacteria 2.14%, useless impurities..."
A detailed diagram of the blood composition materialized before Lei Lin's eyes.
Possessing the Chip gave Lei Lin an inherent advantage in this regard!