During the tour, Kashia naturally couldn't stop herself from exclaiming and admiring everything, but Friel was much more quiet this time, rarely speaking, as if she had something weighing on her mind.
"Whew… Leylin, I take back what I said before — you're not just wealthier than me, you're richer than Senior Lucius!"
Kashia lounged on the sofa in the living room, showing no concern for her exposure, and spoke with evident contentment.
"In my opinion, even Lucius's Wizard Tower can't compare to yours, Leylin! I'd say it's among the very finest in the entire Central Continent!"
"Senior sister! Please stop saying things like that!" Leylin raised his hands in mock surrender with a bitter smile.
"Did you two come here for something today?"
Seeing his master conversing with guests, Slubi brought forward tea and refreshments, then quickly withdrew, performing exactly like a well-trained attendant.
"I came specifically to thank you for taking care of me in the secret realm, Junior. I originally planned to compensate you with resources, but it seems you clearly don't lack those, so I'll have to find another way to make it up to you…"
Kashia licked her lips. "How about letting me stay with you for a few nights? I'm flexible with any position you'd like to try…"
"Mm! We can discuss that later…" Leylin smiled and deftly changed the subject.
"Tch! You're just as boring as ever, Junior!" Kashia shook her head in disappointment. "As for Friel, she came here to ask you for a favor — she wants to make a deal with you!"
"A deal?" Leylin was somewhat puzzled, instantly recalling what had happened in the trading hall back then.
"Not in that area. Though if Master Leylin were willing to sell Life Seeds, I would certainly offer a high price!" Friel giggled, covering her lips with her hand.
"I don't currently have any plans in that regard!" Leylin kept a blank expression, finding that conversing with these female sorceresses was indeed exhausting.
Perhaps afraid of offending Leylin and ruining the upcoming transaction, Friel behaved herself this time and refrained from further teasing.
"In fact, I'd like to offer a high price to purchase a material from you, Leylin…"
"What material?!" Leylin's wariness instantly kicked in.
"Bloodline Crystals!" Friel took a deep breath and gazed at Leylin with eager anticipation.
"Oh, that!" A flash of understanding crossed Leylin's eyes. Bloodline Crystals had the powerful effect of enhancing bloodline potential and even purifying bloodlines. While they were of little use to a bloodline Warlock like him whose bloodline had already been refined to its absolute limit, for a clan like Friel's, which was experiencing bloodline deterioration, they were truly priceless treasures.
"But how did you know?" Although he was directing the question at Friel, Leylin's gaze was fixed squarely on Karsa.
Under the weight of Leylin's stare, Karsa flinched, then straightened with a hint of pride: "That's right! I was the one who told her. After your last exchange with my teacher, you still had Bloodline Crystals left over, didn't you? You don't have a clan backing you, so you're not exactly desperate for them. Friel, on the other hand, is my good friend, and the price she's prepared to offer will definitely satisfy you!"
Leylin stroked his chin. When he had been aboard the Blackscale, the materials he had handed over were only part of the haul—he had privately kept several pieces in his own spatial ring.
Of course, that had been done deliberately for
As a Wizard, how could the shrewd and cunning Grand Duke Gilbert believe that Leylin had absolutely no selfish motives?
Sure enough, everything had unfolded just as Leylin had anticipated. Although Gilbert had noticed his little trick, he hadn't pursued the matter. On the contrary, it had actually put him more at ease.
The small amount Leylin had stashed away wasn't worth the Grand Duke's attention.
But looking at it now? Gilbert might not care, but that didn't mean other high-ranking Warlocks wouldn't. Gilbert had certainly leaked some information—otherwise, Karsa wouldn't have known about any of this.
"I do indeed still have one
Leylin pondered, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the table as though caught in an internal struggle.
In reality, he had already decided to sell off the materials he had openly obtained. Otherwise, who knew how many more people would be eyeing them?
This time it was Karsa and Friel, with whom he had relatively close ties. But next time, if someone more reckless like Mirana or Senior Luci came knocking, what would he do then?
Friel and Karsa exchanged a glance, a hint of delight surfacing on both their faces.
As long as he was willing to name a price, everything would be straightforward. Their clan's foundations were deep, and there were plenty of things that could move Leylin. Friel had even made special preparations before coming.
"A set of Liquefaction and Crystallization formation arrays passed down through our family. They can increase your success rate when compressing Spiritual Power by ten percent!"
The very first sentence out of Friel's mouth made Leylin's eyes light up.
Compression arrays handed down from high-ranking Warlocks were naturally nothing like the common fare found in the Ouroboros Ring's trading hall.
Moreover, since the other party was also a Komodo Giant Snake Warlock, the arrays they had developed were certain to be far more suited to the needs of bloodline Warlocks.
"That's not enough!" Leylin said coldly.
"And this one too!"
The box was small, its surface bearing a woody grain, as if crafted from some species of timber. A faint ring of crimson energy particles hovered across its surface, forming a multitude of sealing arrays.
"Hm?!" Leylin furrowed his brow and blew a breath toward the box.
Whoosh! Powerful yet refined dark energy particles swept past. In the span of a single instant, the seals upon the box began to decay, cracking apart inch by inch.
"That level of power has already reached crystallisation!"
Karsa exclaimed in admiration: "The amplification of this Wizard Tower of yours is simply terrifying!"
Across from her, Freya's face showed a flicker of shock as well. She had deliberately left the seals on the box intact, hoping to test her counterpart's strength. But now it was clear that Leylin's power within his Wizard Tower far exceeded her expectations.
In truth, within the amplification range of his Wizard Tower, Leylin could not only exert strength comparable to a crystallised Wizard, but thanks to his ability to freely draw upon particles from the positive and negative energy reaction pools to replenish his expenditure, his own mana was practically limitless.
If an ordinary crystallised Wizard were to come, they would be worn to death by him outright.
One could say that within the range of his own Wizard Tower, the only beings Leylin need truly fear were Morning Star Wizards.
Faced with the astonishment of these two women, the expression on Leylin's face did not change in the slightest as he opened the box.
At the bottom of the box lay a thick layer of velvet, pure white beyond compare, curving with a gentle softness.
Nestled in the centre of the velvet was an octagonal red gemstone. Fine golden runes swam about inside the blood-red stone like tadpoles.
"Hall Gem: Rarity — Rank Three. An ancient wondrous treasure that possesses a powerful catalytic effect on the Spiritual Power compression of bloodline Warlocks, capable of increasing the probability of liquefaction success by 50%!"
The Chip rapidly transmitted the relevant data into Leylin's mind.
"A Hall Gem!" The excitement was plain on Leylin's face. "I thought this material had gone extinct in ancient times?"
With this gemstone, plus the liquefaction wizard array, once his Spiritual Power reached the threshold, he would be able to complete the liquefaction of his Spiritual Power smoothly and effortlessly, without the slightest bottleneck.
The significance of such a thing to him could hardly be overstated.
Leylin subconsciously glanced at his own status.
"Leylin Fairhair — Warlock, Level 3 (Gaseous) — Bloodline: Komodo Giant Snake — Strength: 23.6 — Agility: 20.1 — Constitution: 39.1 — Spiritual Power: 251.7 — Mana: 251 (Mana is synchronously determined by Spiritual Power)"
"The minimum Spiritual Power for third-level liquefaction is estimated at around 300!" Leylin recalled the data he had obtained through the Chip's numerous simulated experiments.
"With the Snake Woman's Bone Segment, once I accelerate my bloodline's maturation, the speed of my Spiritual Power's growth won't be slow at all — I'll probably only need a few decades to meet the requirement!"
The two great obstacles to a Wizard's advancement were accumulating Spiritual Power and breaking through bottlenecks.
Now, the bottleneck problem had already been solved by the other party. All that remained was to slowly accumulate Spiritual Power. How could this not fill Leylin with joy?
Though Leylin was extremely restrained, the trace of delight he let slip was still carefully noticed by Frey.
She giggled sweetly: "It seems Lord Leylin is quite fond of this item!"
"Yes — for all Gaseous Warlocks, this Hall Gem would drive them mad!" Leylin nodded.
"Forgive my curiosity, but where did you find it? Hall Gems should have gone extinct along with the Gem Ocean!"
Leylin voiced his doubts.
"The Gem Ocean vanished long ago, but in ancient times, it still existed!" Frey replied with a smile. "As long as you search enough ancient ruins, it's still possible to find one."
"So their last expedition really was for this…" Thinking of how they had returned gravely wounded last time, with even the Second Elder forced to intervene, Leylin felt a chill run over his scalp. Even the object in his hand suddenly felt scalding hot.
"We originally wanted to give it to you outright, but…"
Frey's face carried a look of regret, while Leylin felt a silent wave of relief.
Fortunately, he happened to possess something the other party wanted. Otherwise, if they truly offered the Hall Gem as a gift, he really would have had a hard time deciding whether to accept it.
Once he took that bait, the other party would certainly have further benefits to dangle, luring him into a trap until he willingly married into the family.
Throughout history, probably many talented Wizards with extraordinary potential but no background or connections had been recruited in exactly this way.
Though both sides would ultimately be satisfied, it was clear that Leylin was different from them.