After hastily packing up his things, Leilin fell into deep sleep following his daily meditation.
He slept very soundly. When he naturally woke up, it was already close to noon the next day.
Leilin thought for a moment, changed into a suitable loose robe, and walked out of the villa.
Following the small path between the villas, Leilin headed toward the fourth layer of Polar Night City according to the map he'd obtained yesterday.
"Good day, sir!"
The red-haired old man he'd seen yesterday was trimming his lawn. Seeing Leilin come out, he smiled and offered a greeting.
"Hello!" From this red-haired old man, Leilin clearly felt the massive fluctuation of spiritual power—this was not a newly advanced First-rank
Moreover, judging from the elemental energy particle traces around the old man, the Chip estimated that this wizard had already reached the level of semi-elementalization.
Combined, his level was very close to the clone of the Lilisite Family member who had pursued Leilin that day.
"I just wonder what his actual combat strength is like?"
White Wizards tended to be more adept at theory and research. From this old man, Leilin felt not the slightest sense of kinship—clearly, this was a White Wizard.
A high realm didn't necessarily mean high combat power. Leilin had previously been at only 1% elementalization yet had narrowly defeated a semi-elementalized wizard, which proved exactly this point.
"My name is Cleo! It's been a long time since a new neighbor moved in here!"
The old man smiled and set down the scissors in his hand, looking quite interested in Leilin.
"I'm Leilin, just arrived in Polar Night City. It's a peaceful city—I like it very much!"
Leilin gave a slight bow.
From this old man, he felt a long-lost sense of tranquility. The old man's aura was thick with the scent of books, brimming with scholarly temperament.
In Black Bone Forest Academy, every instructor carried an intense, oppressive aura of cold and gloom that left the apprentices terrified.
"Ha ha... your choice is correct!"
Hearing Leilin's words, the old man's wrinkles all bloomed into a smile.
"Where are you headed?" The old man settled onto a bench in the garden. "Care to share a cup of red tea with this old man?"
"No thank you, I'd like to explore the city first and then check out the trading district!"
Leilin smiled and declined the old man's invitation, then took his leave.
"What a peaceful city. Perhaps I can stay here for a while!"
Leilin strolled aimlessly along the streets.
The third layer of Polar Night City was different from the first and second. Since it served as the wizards' residential area, each villa was spaced far apart, with conspicuous signboards marking them.
Additionally, the walls of the third layer were constructed using Star Stone as material.
This type of stone was not only extremely beautiful in appearance but also possessed the ability to absorb dissipated energy and radiation.
The Chip estimated that the cost of the entire wall exceeded two million Magic Stones, which made Leilin silently marvel.
After reaching the third layer, the pedestrians on the streets were noticeably fewer. The few he occasionally spotted were all formal wizards accompanied by retainers.
Leilin even noticed several figures wreathed in the auras of vengeful spirits and fresh blood.
Clearly, they had noticed him too—those of the same kind always had an eye for each other.
But due to Polar Night City's rules, and perhaps some other reasons, Leilin and those Dark Wizards merely exchanged a few glances from afar before swiftly departing from their respective positions.
Passing through the heavily guarded gate, Leilin arrived at the fourth layer of Polar Night City.
Here, shops of all kinds lined the surroundings, with wizards constantly coming and going.
Every passing wizard possessed the energy intensity of a formal wizard—not a single apprentice among them.
"It seems this is a trading platform specifically for formal wizards!"
Leilin was delighted. The White Wizard Domain was the trading hub of the entire South Coast, and Polar Night City was one of its largest cities. Here, the cream of the South Coast's resources gathered, with all sorts of materials constantly emerging—definitely enough to satisfy his needs.
Leilin casually examined the shop signs on either side while walking toward the center along the street.
"Old Green's Potion Shop!" "Good Hope Alchemy Items!" "Tailor Shop" "Finished Gem Store" "Magical Creature Specialty Shop"...
The dizzying variety of shop names had Leilin feeling quite spoiled for choice.
However, following the information he'd obtained yesterday, Leilin walked without stopping directly to the central plaza of the fourth layer.
In the area surrounded by numerous shops lay a vast granite plaza. Around it stood eighteen massive stone pillars, each as thick as a human head.
On the plaza, several wizards occasionally stood with their eyes closed, running their hands over the stone pillars as if sensing something.
Some wizards who had been wandering aimlessly inside shops, like headless flies, seemed to find their direction after making contact with the pillars—gaining a clear purpose, they would either leave directly or head toward a specific shop.
"We've arrived—the Trading Plaza!"
A note of wonder sounded in Leilin's mind, and a flicker of anticipation passed through his eyes.
He then walked behind a middle-aged man wearing a red robe and got in line.
There weren't many wizards on the plaza, and it was Leilin's turn very quickly.
Leilin took a deep breath, stood before the stone pillar, and pressed his palm against it.
Hummm!
The moment his skin touched the rough stone pillar, Leilin felt an extremely cold thread of spiritual power spread out from the pillar and drill into his forehead.
Leilin's skin tightened slightly. A few streaks of black light flashed, but then, as if forcibly suppressed, he allowed the spiritual power to penetrate.
"Data transmission interface detected. Allow connection?"
"Allow!" Leilin commanded.
Immediately, a torrent of text and images converged into a stream of information that flooded Leilin's mind, coalescing into the shape of a large book.
Leilin's spiritual power cautiously touched the book and turned the first page.
"Materials" "Finished Products" "Knowledge" "Potions"...
Boom!
A flash of silver light swept past, and then a massive number of subcategories appeared before Leilin's eyes.
"Advanced Dwarf Enchantment Studies"
"A Detailed Explanation of Flame Runes"
"An Introduction to Pharmaceutical Studies"
"Spirit Research Data"
...
All manner of advanced academic knowledge appeared before Leilin.
Among them were even some disciplines he had never heard of before, with names that were quite bizarre.
"But still, there's no information on advanced Meditation Methods, nor any knowledge concerning wizard advancement. It seems these have been deliberately hidden as well..."
Blue Gold Stone, Bayan Flower, Withered Giant Tree Dryad, Black Rose, Pale Blue Lizard Heart Key—various materials Leilin had and hadn't heard of appeared before him. Some were accompanied by pictures, making them look all the more real.
"Search—Dark Energy Particle Crystallization!"
Immediately, all the other materials vanished, leaving only a few lone entries on the entire page.
"Seeking Fire-Swallowing Bird eggs, favorable price offered, materials-based trade accepted: I possess 200 grams of Spirit
"Our shop's item listings: Dark Energy Particle Crystallization, Dragon Breath Grass, Ghost Face Sunflower..."
On the enormous page, only two entries remained, looking rather forlorn.
"So few, and one only accepts Fire-Swallowing Bird eggs in exchange!"
Leilin frowned slightly.
To improve his spiritual elementalization progress, apart from his own continuous efforts, the Chip had also offered another method: absorbing energy particle crystallization that matched one's elemental affinity.
This crystallization was a naturally occurring, high-concentration energy particle crystal that could only form under certain extreme elementalization conditions.
By absorbing this crystallization, a wizard could accelerate their spiritual elementalization progress.
Through this method, Leilin could rapidly advance his spiritual elementalization and shore up his weak point.
But energy particle crystallization of each element was extremely precious, and the dark variety was especially niche—so much so that only two entries in the entire trading database mentioned it.
"No matter—it's better to have something available than to search for it myself."
Leilin's spiritual power tapped on the entry marked "for sale," and a line of small text appeared behind it: 231 Elm Tree Lane!
That was the address of the shop from just now.
At the same time, Leilin also dropped a High-grade Magic Stone into the pillar's input port.
Obtaining information from the Trading Plaza required payment, and it wasn't cheap either. The lion's share was taken by the major forces behind Polar Night City, which made Leilin roll his eyes.
After a moment's thought, Leilin somewhat reluctantly dropped in another High-grade Magic Stone and obtained the contact information for the wizard seeking Fire-Swallowing Bird eggs.
After leaving the Trading Plaza, Leilin quickly found the small shop from the listing.
The shop was located down a small alley, in a very secluded spot. Without the specific address, Leilin might never have found it.
The interior was dimly lit, with dust covering the floor.
On the surrounding shelves sat rows of transparent glass jars, each containing various biological tissues and organs soaking in murky yellow liquid. Leilin even spotted several humanoid embryo models.
"What do you want?"
From behind the counter emerged an old witch wearing a tall, pointed hat. Her face was a cascade of wrinkles upon wrinkles, her nose hooked sharp like an eagle's talon.
"I saw in the trading information that you sell Dark Energy Particle Crystallization—is that right?" Leilin asked with a touch of anticipation.
"Oh my, look what we have here—a wizard who specializes in dark energy particles..."
The old witch cackled, her eyes seeming to emit a faint green gleam.