"What's going on? Isn't she the highest authority here?"
Iyaz looked at the half-serpent woman across from him in confusion, only to find that her expression was equally bewildered.
"No matter! I have to capture her first! Anyone who dares profane the glory of my Lord shall be punished!" Iyaz's expression turned resolute.
In truth, without this kind of fanatical devotion, he would never have advanced to the rank of Fourth Circle Ritualist so easily.
But would Leilin let him succeed so easily?
"After all, he's a Fourth Circle powerhouse and an elite of the Corrupt Bird's side. I can't take him out in one blow..."
From a distance, Leilin carefully controlled the power of his witchcraft: "I'll just go with temporary binding and restriction for now..."
The massive dream power, amplified by the magical array, transformed like charcoal becoming diamond, producing terrifying results.
"Fourth Circle Dream Witchcraft — Wall of Inter-realm
The surging dream power instantly formed a massive labyrinth, enveloping Iyaz and three other Morning Star powerhouses who had come to reinforce him.
Boom! The shrieks of Night Hawks and the sounds of impacts against walls constantly echoed from within, causing the dream labyrinth to twist and deform.
"Let's go! I can't hold them for long!"
Leilin's figure suddenly transformed into a black hurricane, enveloping the half-serpent woman. Although he was the one directing the dream power, what was being used was the dream power drawn out by the half-serpent woman, and the total amount was rather limited. Coupled with Leilin's deliberate restraint, he couldn't be sure how long he could hold them, so he needed to end this quickly.
As if sensing the bloodline power within him, the half-serpent woman's scarlet eyes flickered, but she didn't resist.
Whoosh... the dark hurricane howled ceaselessly, carrying what seemed like the power of annihilation. It drained the life force from anyone who tried to block their path, turning them into desiccated corpses that collapsed to the ground.
Once no one else was willing to come out and obstruct them, the black hurricane carrying the half-serpent woman surged past the coastline and vanished at the edge of the horizon.
Crack! Boom! A dozen seconds later, massive amounts of lightning generated above the dark red labyrinth, then crashed down in torrents, accompanied by piercing sounds and the sharp cries of great hawks.
Bang! The entire labyrinth shattered and collapsed, revealing the furious Iyaz and his companions behind it.
"After her! And issue a wanted notice! Don't let that woman escape!"
Iyaz's eyes were bloodshot, his voice hoarse with rage, silencing the surrounding guards into fearful submission.
--- "This Purgatory World seems to differ greatly from the
As he fled while carrying the half-serpent woman, Leilin reflected on the process of casting his spells just now.
Ever since infiltrating the Purgatory World, he had been extremely low-key. The only time he had acted, he used only the Metal Activation Spell, without employing any wide-range or high-power techniques. It was only just now that he used wide-range offensive witchcraft for the first time.
"Just as my earlier observations indicated, the physical rules here are more stringent. The cost of driving witchcraft has increased, while its power has decreased..."
Leilin checked the Chip, which was already projecting the latest results into his memory area.
[Ding! Based on field testing and hypothetical experiments, all ranks of wizard spells will be weakened by 37.89% in the Purgatory World!]
"Quite a powerful suppression. Could it be that in ancient times, the Purgatory World didn't welcome other power systems?" Leilin seemed to realize something and asked the Chip: "Chip! Search the database! Find the power systems most suited to the Purgatory World!"
[Ding! Task established. Scanning!] The Chip responded faithfully, finding the answer almost instantly.
[Based on simulated experiments, two power systems most suited to the Purgatory World have been identified: 1. Path of Ritualism 2. Soul Beast Art] Looking at the results, Leilin's face showed the look of someone who had long expected this: "As expected, these two power systems are the most fundamental paths of the Purgatory World?"
Due to differences in world rules, each world possessed its own unique characteristics and paths of growth. And after the test of time, it was clear that the Path of Ritualism and Soul Beast Art were the most suited to the Purgatory World.
"It seems I not only need to study both of these systems, but also strive to advance to higher realms within them!"
Leilin stroked his chin.
The Myriad Serpent Curse Seal only targeted his bloodline power, and had no effect on other power systems. While it continued to weaken him, it didn't actually affect his achievements on other paths.
"Fire Feather Technique!" At Leilin's will, a mass of black, eerie flames materialized in his hand.
"Multi-Arm Power!" The phantom of a multi-armed being materialized as well, granting Leilin a tremendous power boost. It was precisely because of these other power systems that Leilin could maintain roughly Morning Star-level strength even after his bloodline power was sealed.
But bloodline power was his foundation. If this problem remained unsolved, within three years Leilin would still be killed when the Myriad Serpent Curse Seal depleted his bloodline power, no matter how amazing his achievements on other paths might be!
Because the bloodline path was his chosen fundamental path — one that even held his life essence, his very soul influenced by the bloodline. The other paths were merely icing on the cake.
"As expected, in the Purgatory World, the power systems from other small worlds are also suppressed!"
Leilin's expression darkened. There was one more power system — dream power. Though it was the least affected, the strong unpredictability of dream power meant Leilin didn't have high expectations for it.
"However! Since the bloodline path isn't working now, I have no choice but to try other paths. Once these paths reach higher realms, perhaps they could develop enough power to break the Myriad Serpent Curse Seal and lift my curse..."
Leilin made up his mind: "With the Chip's assistance, I can advance rapidly. The Path of Ritualism and Soul Beast Art are clearly the top priority, followed by the Fire Feather Technique and dream power..."
As for Multi-Arm Power, the information Leilin had obtained was far too limited, and even with the Chip's projections, he couldn't reach the highest tier. So he decisively eliminated it from consideration — barring any extraordinary circumstances, it would likely remain nothing more than a supplementary ability for life.
"Put me down!"
At that moment, the half-serpent woman opened her eyes, her expression cold.
"We're at least three hundred nautical miles from Port Iyaz. We should be temporarily safe!"
Leilin shrugged and landed on a desolate island. The black hurricane dissipated, revealing himself and the half-serpent woman.
Only now did Leilin have time to study her carefully.
Snow-white long hair, scarlet pupils, and delicate white snake-scale patterns across her face — far from appearing grotesque or frightening, they gave her a unique quality, especially combined with the commanding presence of someone long accustomed to authority, adding to her distinctive charm.
"It seems the bloodline of the Mother of Myriad Serpents always carries this trait — a charm bonus. Could she be a specialist in illusion magic?"
Leilin was somewhat speechless, but this brief period had been enough for the Chip to gather sufficient data.
[Half-Serpent (Name: Unknown) | Gender: Female | Paternal Bloodline: Devil White Phosphorus Serpent (Diluted) | Maternal Bloodline: Unknown (Determined to be humanoid species) | Strength: 79 | Agility: 50 | Constitution: 65 | Spiritual Power: 463 | Soul Power: 46 | Passive Abilities: 1. Illusion Field — Generates an illusion field around the body. Beings with Spiritual Power below 200 cannot resist and will lose their free will. 2. Dream Attraction — The Devil White Phosphorus Serpent bloodline possesses the ability to draw power from the dream world.]
The Chip quickly projected her image and detailed data.
"Among Morning Star-level beings, her strength and stats are quite impressive!" Leilin nodded inwardly, his gaze lingering particularly on the "Diluted" annotation beside her paternal bloodline.
"It seems the Fifth-rank bloodline power she inherited isn't particularly concentrated — even less than what I have embedded in my mask. No wonder she didn't give me much of a sense of pressure, and the dream power she attracted was so thin..."
"However, the Devil White Phosphorus Serpent's ability to commune with the dream world seems worth exploring in depth..."
Leilin stroked his chin. Although he had already mastered a great deal of dream witchcraft, he had been bottlenecked by the issue of dream power. But the appearance of the Devil White Phosphorus Serpent gave him hope of solving this problem.
This Fifth-rank serpent species had clearly inherited the Mother of Myriad Serpents' power over dreams, even possessing the ability to commune with the dream world — extremely useful for Leilin. And more critically, in his possession, he already had pure Fifth-rank Devil White Phosphorus Serpent bloodline!
"While dream power is highly unpredictable, it's still excellent as an emergency backup! And regarding how to commune with the dream world, this half-serpent woman might be able to give me some insights. Although she doesn't seem able to directly travel between planes — at most she can only attract some dream power..."
Leilin stared at her without any restraint, and this look clearly irritated the half-serpent woman.
"Are you done looking?"
The half-serpent woman snorted coldly.
"Is this how you plan to treat your savior? My kin?" Leilin smiled. "After all, without my help just now, you'd have fallen right into Governor Iyaz's hands..."
"So what?" The half-serpent woman was defiant. "And I clearly warned you before. Why didn't you just leave?"