In a hidden ice cellar within the frozen cavern.
This was a laboratory Leilin had set up on short notice, resembling a large cellar. In separate alcoves, an Ice Jade Scorpion was imprisoned in each one, though all of them looked extremely lethargic, as though a great deal of their energy had been drained.
At the very center of the laboratory, Leilin stood before a small iceberg on the ground, an excited look on his face.
At the very end of the battle, the Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor had realized it could not break free, and was forced to use its ultimate innate ability — Ice Crystallization!
This was a unique ability exclusive to the Ice Jade Scorpions, allowing them to form a layer of hardened ice around their bodies to wait until their injuries healed or rescue arrived.
And for the Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor to resort to this move against Leilin spoke volumes of its desperation.
The ice formation before Leilin was enormous — truly deserving of being called an iceberg. Copious white mist continuously billowed down from its surface, lowering the surrounding temperature considerably.
The crystallized ice layer of the Ice Jade Scorpions was no ordinary ice — its hardness surpassed even that of steel.
The crystallized protective layer of the Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor was naturally even more formidable than that of ordinary Ice Jade Scorpions, but for Leilin, all of this was merely a minor nuisance.
Moreover, while this crystallization protected the Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor, it was also a form of imprisonment! After studying it thoroughly, Leilin simply turned the crystallized layer to his advantage, using it to keep the Emperor trapped.
At this moment, Leilin was holding a slender needle, driving it into the iceberg!
The needle was specially crafted, its surface gleaming silver, and it was over a meter long. The moment it touched the surface of the iceberg, it let out the hiss of a hot iron meeting water.
A red dot appeared on the surface of the iceberg. The silver needle seemed to sink in as easily as if piercing cotton, penetrating the crystallized layer smoothly until it reached the Emperor's outer shell.
The Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor was now like an insect trapped in amber — utterly immobile, unable even to move its eyes.
*Psst!* After a slight trembling, the needle finally pierced into the Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor's body and extracted a small amount of green blood.
Upon seeing this blood, an expression of immense excitement appeared on Leilin's face.
…
Half a day later, Leilin stared at a small drop of green bloodline essence in a petri dish, a look of hesitation on his face.
The Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor was still only at the peak of the first rank, so naturally Leilin could not refine a complete and pure ancient bloodline from it.
But even so, he had still found quite a bit within its bloodline.
Certain ancient creatures could pass on information and fragments through their bloodline via specific methods. This information was usually hidden deep within their genes, and no external force could perceive it unless the creature awakened to it on its own.
But warlocks were different! Their research and understanding of bloodlines was sufficient to unlock complex genetic locks and bring this ancient information back to light!
And it was within the bloodline of this Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor that Leilin had found a trace of such ancient information!
"I don't know whether this is good or bad… but let's take a look!"
After seeing the Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor's bloodline essence, even Leilin's own Comoran Giant Serpent bloodline stirred slightly, giving him a measure of confidence.
"Intercept the soul impression!"
A sliver of silver spiritual power extended from Leilin's forehead and sank into the Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor's bloodline.
…
*BOOM!!!* It was as if only after enduring a long darkness could one see the light once more.
Leilin woke up — but now he found himself unable to move at all, even as the body he inhabited crawled ceaselessly across the ground. He was like a parasite inside this body, an observer who could only watch but not control.
All around was a world of white, with a thick layer of ice covering the ground. Through the reflections on the ice, Leilin caught sight of his true appearance.
Six jointed legs, a scorpion tail trailing behind, and an upper body resembling that of an adult male — except both hands had been transformed into massive pincers.
"What ancient creature is this?" Leilin was momentarily confused.
The legacy of the South Coast was sparse, and this creature was not listed in the ancient bestiaries. Many powerful beings from other worlds had also not been recorded, so Leilin had no idea of the true identity of this Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor's ancestor.
But the vast, surging power within the body made it clear to Leilin that this creature's level of strength far surpassed his own — it might even have reached the level of a Dawn Star
*Crack!* An iceberg several thousand meters high shattered directly before the scorpion-man. He merely waved his pincers and continued forward without a care, occasionally battling other creatures of comparable power, the shockwaves annihilating vast stretches of ice.
Until that day!!!
*Crack!* The scorpion-man was tearing apart a creature that resembled an ice dragon, devouring its flesh in great mouthfuls, when he suddenly sensed something and looked up toward the horizon.
*BOOM!!!!* Heaven and earth shattered. The distant sky seemed to have been torn open by an enormous gash, and a spatial rift stretching tens of thousands of kilometers appeared across the heavens!
Serpents! Enormous black serpents! Silver-scaled serpents! Even Comoran Giant Serpents, which Leilin recognized with startling familiarity — all poured through the spatial rift into this world of ice and snow!
The moment these ancient giant serpents appeared, they unleashed a wave of slaughter.
The scorpion-man roared. He could sense that even the residual waves from the spatial rift would be enough to grievously wound him! And the weakest among these serpents was no weaker than himself! Yet the influence of his deep bloodline and the surrounding environment compelled him to charge toward the rift regardless.
Alongside him rushed the other inhabitants of this world — ice dragons, frost giant eagles, ice spirits, and even creatures that had once been natural enemies — all seemingly summoned by an unknown force, casting aside their enmities as they surged toward the battlefield.
The two great armies collided with devastating force, flesh and blood spraying through the air!
The scorpion-man engaged one of the giant serpents in combat, attacking the creature before him with frenzied ferocity.
All of this stemmed from a deep, instinctive premonition — if these serpents were allowed to survive and reproduce in this world, they would bring about catastrophic destruction! Perhaps even annihilation!
Kill! Kill! Kill! The bloodshed escalated without end. The fall of Dawn Star-level combatants was a common sight, and even colossal creatures whose mere aura made the scorpion-man tremble had their corpses tumbling from the sky.
"Hsss!"
At that moment, an immense serpentine roar brought the scorpion-man instantly back to his senses.
Every creature on the battlefield looked up toward the spatial rift.
A savage aura from an ancient primordial beast poured freely through the rift. Every serpent present bowed their heads in reverence, while the scorpion-man was forced flat against the ground.
The black rift suddenly widened, and then an enormous sphere of serpents, seemingly planet-sized, appeared to be pushing through the spatial rift, threatening to descend upon this world entirely!
A mere wisp of aura radiating from the serpent sphere made the scorpion-man feel a trembling that originated from the very depths of his soul.
All the other creatures of the ice world felt the same.
*Buzz!* The entire ice world trembled. The frozen ground split apart, and a female giant, tens of thousands of meters tall, emerged.
Her features were rugged and imposing, clad in bronze armor, wielding a spear and a green shield.
The female giant roared at the serpent sphere, but received no response. The colossal sphere continued to advance, straining the spatial rift to the point of nearly tearing it apart.
Seeing this, the female giant raised her spear and thrust it at the serpent sphere.
Vast amounts of space generated and collapsed at the spear's tip, blood-red lightning coursing along its length, as though a god in heaven had hurled an apocalyptic spear!!!
"Hsss!!!"
The spear tore through space in an instant and arrived before the serpent sphere.
The mass of coiled serpents parted, revealing the figure of a breathtakingly beautiful woman at the sphere's center. Every strand of her hair was a tiny snake — yet rather than appearing grotesque, it lent her a strange and alluring charm!
The woman smiled radiantly. Her bewitching face seemed to transcend the boundaries of race, instilling a sense of fondness in all living beings — even in space and the world itself — making them reluctant to see her face the spear alone.
Some creatures that originally belonged to the ice world even abandoned their own side and attacked the female giant, only to be reduced to powder by the lightning emanating from her body before they could even draw near.
*Crack!!!* Two enormous hands, each composed of countless serpents, reached out from within the sphere, seized the spear, and snapped it in two!
The spear, which carried enough destructive force to annihilate a world, was broken clean in half beneath those titanic hands.
But the giant hands were far from satisfied. They lashed out at the female giant with a devastating grasp!
A blade of black light, composed entirely of spatial rifts, shot toward the female giant in an instant.
*BOOM!!!* The female giant's head was severed from her body, and a torrent of green blood erupted into the sky.
A violent explosion swept across the entire battlefield, giving birth to countless dangerous spatial rifts.
A single drop of green blood, as large as a normal person's head, landed on the scorpion-man's back. The searing pain and burning sensation made him cry out in agony.
He was then swallowed by an enormous spatial rift.
In the final instant before being completely devoured, the scorpion-man glimpsed a colossal flying dragon — its entire body composed of icy mountain ranges — descending upon the battlefield and breaking the spatial rift.
And from within the serpent sphere, the faint, lingering sigh of the woman could be heard…
Darkness! An overwhelming tide of darkness surged forward, instantly engulfing Leilin's entire being.
"Hah! Hah!!!"
Leilin gasped for breath, cold sweat continuously sliding down his face.
"That woman! The woman inside the serpent sphere! I've seen her before!!!"
Leilin instantly recalled the dream he had experienced when advancing to first-rank warlock, and the woman within it was identical to the one he had just seen in the ancient battle within the Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor's bloodline!
"Could it be… the woman inside the serpent sphere I saw was the mythical Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents? And the battle I just witnessed was the ancient campaign in which the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents invaded the ice world?"