"It seems you're very familiar with this material, Leilin! You've at least seen a description of it before!"
Kasha nodded first, then let out a bitter laugh. "Snake Woman's Hair can accelerate the maturation of the Comoin Giant Serpent bloodline within our bodies. The benefits go without saying—enough to make members of the organization fight tooth and nail for it, and nobody would sell! Besides, the moment this kind of material is found, it gets used immediately. The only reason I know about this is that Teacher
A look of understanding crossed Leilin's face.
In most cases, the Comoin Giant Serpent bloodline that had been passed down to the present day already carried impurities and was no longer very pure. When it came to breaking through the bottleneck from Third-rank Warlock to Fourth-rank Morning Star, the power the bloodline could provide was minimal.
But pre-maturing the bloodline to obtain a massive boost of bloodline power could not only cause one's warlock level to soar, but also lay an excellent foundation for the future.
Perhaps the fact that Gilbert had been able to advance to Morning Star
Leilin could only sigh helplessly.
Top-tier materials of this caliber were not so easily obtained. Both luck and strength were indispensable.
Just then, he noticed a strange expression flicker across
Leilin filed that anomaly away in his mind, put a smile back on his face, and changed the subject…
After the banquet ended, back at the Black Fortress in Leilin's study.
A servant led Robin in, opened the door, bowed respectfully, and withdrew.
Leilin was sitting on a sofa, a glass filled with deep crimson wine in his hand, its surface shimmering with a captivating luster under the lamplight.
"Wine from a vintage year—this is one of my treasures! Won't you have a glass, Senior Robin?"
Leilin picked up the glass bottle on the table and gave it a swirl.
"Of course!"
Robin sat down on another sofa without standing on ceremony and picked up his glass. After pouring a small amount, he brought the glass close and swirled it. A look of enjoyment crossed his face. "Wine brewed during a Year of Abundance! These are extremely rare by now!"
"Pike and the others procured this. Apparently it was a tribute gift from some nearby royal family!"
Leilin smiled. He wasn't particularly concerned with things that were purely for enjoyment. After a few casual remarks, he got down to business.
"Earlier today, when we were discussing Snake Woman's Hair, you seemed to have some different thoughts, Senior Robin?"
"Mm!" Robin narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath of the wine's aroma.
"Since you were willing to come, this information is clearly on the market. Name your terms!" Leilin took a deep breath.
"Very well! Worthy of you, Leilin!" Robin praised, took a sip of wine, then continued. "…No need for payment. But you must keep this secret for me, and everything we discuss today must not be leaked!"
"No problem. I swear on the honor of my bloodline nobility!" Leilin's expression turned solemn as he made a vow.
At their current level of strength, even a casual agreement carried the效力 of a contract, let alone a sworn oath.
Once Robin saw Leilin swear, a smile bloomed across his face.
"Actually… I do possess a lead on Snake Woman's Hair." Before Leilin could ask, he pressed on. "I received word that a Secret Realm has been discovered in the eastern part of the Forgotten Land!"
"The Forgotten Land." Leilin stroked his chin.
The Chip quickly pulled up all available information on the Forgotten Land.
Because Morning Star Wizards possessed devastating destructive power—their ultimate techniques were comparable to the nuclear weapons of later ages that could annihilate entire nations—the Central Continent had established a peace accord similar to a nuclear non-proliferation treaty, restricting Morning Star Wizards from casually wielding power beyond set limits.
Although bound by this covenant, when disputes between Morning Star Wizards escalated to their final stages, large-scale battles became unavoidable. Morning Star-level combat had occurred several times on the Central Continent, each time causing catastrophic losses.
In the Extreme Dark Domain, the incidental spillover from two Morning Star Wizards had completely severed the passage connecting the Dark Domain to the outside world, isolating it for several thousand years.
And on the Central Continent, though its territory was vastly larger than the Extreme Dark Domain and hosted numerous Morning Star, Radiant Moon, and even Dawn Sun Wizards, Morning Star-level battles still brought terrifying casualties.
Moreover, certain regions had been completely shattered. Not only were all intelligent creatures annihilated, but an elemental funnel effect had formed, causing any magical arts used there to lose a significant portion of their power.
Gradually, these places became lands of death. Only outcasts among alien races and criminals who had nowhere else to go would endure such a harsh environment and settle there.
The Forgotten Land was one such place.
Rumors held that the hostile environment there forced all living beings to push their strength to the limit, evolving in terrifying directions. Over time, this had produced several highly peculiar races—and the place was riddled with danger.
"What kind of Secret Realm?" Leilin asked. He already had a premonition.
Secret Realms were hardly rare on the Central Continent. Even the Ouroboros Circle had the capability to construct one on its own, and the major organizations of the Central Continent were all focused on the Astral Gate—the resources inside Secret Realms were only of interest to Second-rank and Third-rank Wizards.
But in the resource-starved Forgotten Land, the resources within a single Secret Realm were enormously valuable, and would inevitably trigger bloody disputes and desperate battles.
"A damaged resource Secret Realm. It was likely caught in the crossfire during the last great Morning Star war. Thanks to the Secret Realm's self-repair capabilities, a small area was preserved—and it's only been discovered now!"
Robin set down his glass, his expression turning serious and even tinged with a hint of greed.
"My subordinate who found the Secret Realm was afflicted by a severe curse. He managed to relay some intelligence to me before dying immediately, but we did manage to learn quite a bit! Take a look at this."
Robin handed Leilin a black leaf.
The moment the leaf appeared, Leilin felt his own bloodline stir with a faint tremor.
He suppressed the anomaly in his body and accepted the leaf.
It was just an ordinary leaf with faint green veins running across its surface, but the wisp of aura lingering around it made Leilin's pupils contract.
That trace of aura was extremely faint, yet it made no effort to conceal its powerful essence—it even gave Leilin a sense of wariness.
"The aura of a Snake Woman! No wonder I felt uneasy—they say Snake Women can manipulate giant serpents through illusions!" Leilin let out a long breath. "This leaf came from that Secret Realm?"
Ancient Snake Women were terrifying creatures of the Radiant Moon level. Though the modern wizarding world had races like the Half-Serpent Folk, they were completely different creatures from the ancient Snake Women!
Only a Snake Woman's aura that could genuinely threaten Leilin would make him this cautious.
"That's right." Robin nodded.
"According to my intelligence, it's an enormous resource Secret Realm belonging to an ancient warlock organization. As you know, warlock organizations—because of their reliance on bloodlines—have always been the most passionate about collecting bloodlines for hybridization and experimentation. So inside that realm, there are absolutely many materials that we warlocks desperately need!"
"Understood. You want to go explore it, but you don't have enough manpower?" Leilin had already grasped Robin's intentions.
Despite the danger, he was planning to make the trip. The allure of Snake Woman's Hair and the promise of even more bloodline resources were enough for him to take the risk.
"Yes. Besides you, I've also invited Kasha!" Robin nodded.
Even among Third-rank Warlocks, there was a vast gap in strength between the Comoin bloodline and the Holar Black Serpent bloodline.
Among his subordinates, only one junior who had just advanced to Third-rank possessed the Comoin Giant Serpent bloodline. The rest were only useful as assistants at best.
"The danger seems rather high." Leilin leaned back.
As for why Robin hadn't invited Lucie—the Third-rank Crystallized Warlock—or simply reported directly to Gilbert, Leilin didn't even need to think to understand the reason.
Robin himself was only at roughly the Liquefied stage. He could just barely suppress Leilin and Kasha, both of whom were at the Gaseous stage. If he brought in Lucie, how would they divide the spoils at the end?
And if he notified their teacher, there probably wouldn't be much left beyond scraps.
Of course, this was also because Robin had weighed his own strength and determined that the three of them working together would be sufficient to secure the resources within the Secret Realm. If things still didn't work out or they encountered an insurmountable obstacle, he would still invite Lucie or even Gilbert to intervene.
"I have no objections. When do we leave?" Leilin asked.
"No rush on that. I still need to prepare on my end—it'll take roughly two months or so. Let's meet at headquarters in three months and set out together!"
Robin gave the specific timeline and placed a document on the table.
"This is the general intelligence on the Forgotten Land and the Secret Realm. Study it well and make your preparations accordingly!"
"Understood. Then we'll see each other at headquarters in three months!"
Leilin nodded, stood, and escorted Robin out of the study. He sat alone in contemplation.
The Chip was rapidly scanning the documents Robin had left behind, cross-referencing and running projections.
"The data checks out. It seems Robin is being genuine!"
Leilin stroked his chin. The information Robin had provided about the Forgotten Land largely matched what the Chip had already collected—and in some areas was even more comprehensive and detailed.
"Quicksand? What a strange name for an organization. Was it a warlock group?"
Quicksand was the name of the ancient wizard organization that Robin said had created the Secret Realm. According to legend, it was an organization composed of warlocks—but unlike the Ouroboros Circle, which only accepted warlocks of the same bloodline, Quicksand was highly eclectic and would accept any bloodline warlock. As a result, its membership was extremely varied, and some members supposedly possessed bloodlines that existed only in legend.
This Secret Realm appeared to have been established by the Quicksand organization as a base dedicated to bloodline hybridization and experimentation.
Of course, no matter how powerful Quicksand had once been, it had long since vanished in the Ancient Final War, leaving behind only the abandoned Secret Realm.
But Leilin's thoughts went deeper still.