"Rest assured, I absolutely won't leak any information!" Having grasped his meaning, Leilin immediately gave his assurance.
"Good! Very good! Next, I'll take you to see the estate you've been assigned, as well as the trading hall! Every Comorian Giant Serpent Warlock is our organization's most precious resource and will receive the best support and care..."
The Ouroboros Ring was quite well-known on the Central Continent, naturally controlling a vast territory where many mortals and even
These territories would often have portions carved out as noble fiefs for the organization's internal aristocracy.
Among the warlock nobles of the Ouroboros Ring, some built massive castles on their own fiefs and settled there permanently, rarely visiting the headquarters, gradually spreading their branches and founding families.
Those warlocks who still harbored ambitions for advancement did the opposite — delegating management of their fiefs to others while spending their days at headquarters.
Leilin held the rank of Marquis, so the fief he could obtain was quite extensive, and the resources and Magic Stones produced there were far beyond what the barren South Coast and Dark Polar Region could compare to.
Furthermore, even at the Ouroboros Ring's headquarters, he would be assigned an independent space the size of an estate to serve as his residence.
Screens resembling stock exchange boards hung in mid-air, the numbers upon them constantly flickering in various colors.
Below them, warlocks of various ranks were always bustling about, whispering to the attendants behind small windows.
This was a place every organization had — something like a mission board hall that also handled some trading and exchange functions. Leilin was naturally quite familiar with this, though the scale of this trading hall was much larger than any he had experienced before. What made him even more uncomfortable was a message displayed on one of the screens: "I am a first-rank Comorian Giant Serpent Warlock with good blood purity, selling a night of seed-nurturing opportunity! Price: 1,000 Contribution Points. Additional condition: the woman's appearance must be approved!"
"This is..." Leilin was at a loss for words.
"Ha ha!"
"After a dozen or so generations, the blood concentration in bloodline warlock families gradually diminishes, with few exceptions. Even Comorian Giant Serpent Warlock families will experience degeneration, producing descendants with Horal Black Serpent or even Manxter Giant Serpent bloodlines... If this continues, those families will inevitably decline. And eventually perish... Therefore, seeking warlocks with higher blood purity to sire children in order to improve a family's bloodline became a common practice for many warlock families, and some low-rank Comorian Giant Serpent Warlocks often made a living this way. Although warlocks have difficulty producing offspring, with enough attempts, there are bound to be some chances..."
"I know that!" Leilin rolled his eyes, though this kind of behavior — reminiscent of host boys from his previous life — still left him quite depressed.
"By the way! I can see that your bloodline is extremely pure and your rank is quite high, Leilin. You should watch out for those female warlocks — they can be quite crazy!"
Robin said with a teasing expression, half-joking.
"No matter what, I absolutely will not do something like that!" Leilin said with firm conviction. This was simply beyond his threshold of tolerance — no matter what, he would never accept such a completely dignity-destroying method.
"That's not really up to you. Some female warlocks will even forcibly abduct male warlocks with high blood concentrations and keep them until they've produced bloodline offspring before releasing them. Since the males don't suffer any real material loss and it would damage their reputation to speak of it, they tend to swallow their grievances silently. It's also rather difficult for us to handle..."
Robin continued with words that left Leilin completely speechless.
"Of course, with your current strength, there aren't many female warlocks in the Ouroboros Ring who could forcibly abduct you!"
Robin looked Leilin up and down before nodding.
"Robin! What a coincidence!" Suddenly, a female voice rose from behind them. Robin turned to see a female warlock with long black hair pushing through the crowd. She kept glancing at Leilin, her face showing unconcealed excitement, while Leilin felt his scalp go numb.
"Who's this handsome young man? I don't think we've met before?" This female warlock's aura was somewhat similar to Robin's — both were powerful warlocks who had reached the third-rank Liquefied stage. She had a bewitching face, a tall figure, and fair, delicate skin. A rare beauty.
"This is Marquis Leilin! My mentor
"Hello! Marquis Milanta!" Leilin naturally knew how to address her and promptly bowed in greeting.
"Marquis Leilin! This is your first time here, isn't it? Why don't I give you a tour, and then we can head back to my estate to enjoy the warmth of us female warlocks!"
Milanta's eyes lit up as she looked at Leilin, unconsciously sticking out her tongue to lick her lips. This gesture, performed by such a great beauty, added an extra touch of seductive charm, causing heat to rise in the bellies of many watching male warlocks.
"Sorry! I'd rather have Senior Robin show me around!" Leilin refused. Though he was rather fond of women, he would only ever take the leading role — being used as a breeding tool was simply too damaging to his self-respect.
"Don't be so quick to refuse! Five thousand Contribution Points! Five thousand for one night! How about it?"
Milanta quoted the price without hesitation, and the surrounding warlocks all gasped in unison — it seemed the purchasing power of five thousand Contribution Points was considerable.
"Enough!" Leilin's face darkened instantly, his hand already resting on the black Cross Sword hilt at his waist.
"So you like to play it this way! Ha ha! Let Big Sister tame you!" Milanta showed not the slightest fear, even carrying a hint of playful amusement on her face.
She had seen through Leilin's aura at a glance — he had only just entered the third rank as a warlock, not even having reached the Vaporized stage, while she was already a Liquefied-rank warlock.
Among the ranks of third-level Wizards, there were three substages: Vaporized, Liquefied, and Crystallized, with enormous gaps between each. Leilin was two substages below her — even if he had some hidden trump cards, she didn't take them particularly seriously.
"Right here, then?" Milanta's eyes turned into vertical pupils. Wisps of danger radiated from her body, and fine patterned scales emerged across her skin, making her appear even more bewitchingly beautiful.
"Milanta! Stop!"
Another crisp female voice rang out, followed immediately by the flash of a blood-red serpent shadow.
"It's you!" Milanta waved her hand, and countless fine black air currents materialized around her body, colliding with the blood-red serpent shadow.
Boom! The sound of an energy explosion rang out before being suppressed by Robin.
Even so, many of the watching warlocks still collapsed to the ground.
"Another one! Leilin! Your luck today is really something!" Robin said with a bitter smile as he suppressed the residual energy.
"Another one?" Leilin looked toward where the voice had come from.
The one who had launched the blood-red serpent shadow attack was also a female warlock. Her long black hair cascaded like a waterfall down to her waist, her figure was stunningly voluptuous, yet her face was incredibly innocent-looking — a stark and striking contrast.
"This is Marquis Furi! I haven't heard of her having any bad behavior like abducting male warlocks, but her family has recently been experiencing bloodline deterioration, so she's been searching for a suitable matrilocal husband. Watch yourself!" Robin secretly transmitted to Leilin, and Leilin's expression had gone beyond speechless into pure blankness.
"Furi! If you want men, there are plenty in Big Sister's castle — I'll give them all to you. But you can't fight me for this one!" Milanta clearly regarded Leilin as her own prey.
"Milanta, you shameless wench! I'm not here looking for a lover — I want him to join our family!" Furi retorted without any politeness.
"No way! I saw him first!"
"Just because you saw him first means he's yours?" The two women argued more and more intensely, threads of dangerous atmosphere spreading outward, causing the surrounding warlocks to retreat a great distance.
Leilin stood in the middle, watching both sides show not the slightest consideration for his own opinion, instead preparing to decide his fate through a duel between themselves. He couldn't help but feel caught between laughter and tears: "Excuse me! Have either of you even considered what I might have to say?!"
"You?" Milanta let out a light laugh. "The weak have no right to resist. Even your mentor wouldn't have any objections to this sort of thing — and besides, I have an Elder backing me!"
Furi on the other side didn't say anything, but wore a look of complete agreement.
"It seems I need to show you both exactly who the weak one really is!"
Leilin let out a cold shout as the black Cross Sword at his waist left its sheath.
Hummm! The Fallen Star Sword had reached the high-tier Magical Items grade, and its terrifying fluctuations — which even faintly touched upon the realm of Magical Artifacts — radiated outward.
Threads of black sword light, carrying the terrifying Comorian corrosive toxin, shot toward the two female warlocks.
From Leilin's body, his third-rank innate talent Terror Shock erupted, immediately spreading in all directions.
Though the other two female warlocks also emitted similar fluctuations, the moment they clashed with Leilin's Terror domain, sounds of strain immediately rang out and they were forced to retreat step by step.
"Terror Shock at this degree?" Robin, who had retreated to the side, watched the large number of low-rank warlocks collapse to the ground, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes: "It seems Leilin's bloodline purity is even greater than I predicted!"
Crack! Snap!
After the black light flashed, two faint explosive sounds occurred in quick succession.
Milanta's red leather whip snapped into two pieces, while Furi stumbled back several steps as a red ring on her hand crumbled into powder.