BOOM!
Dark flames exploded directly from the devil's arm, and numerous blade-like edges materialized.
It was clear that this devil warlock leader had already exhausted every last one of his methods.
Unfortunately, neither the flames nor the blades could leave even a scratch on Leilin's pristine white palm. The flames even sputtered out shortly after erupting.
"M-Morning…"
The leader's teeth began to chatter. He could feel that things were spiraling in a bad direction — the entire coalition's plans might be thrown into chaos.
"Master! Help!!!" At the brink of life and death, he immediately cried out to his master.
"Looking for him? Too late!" Leilin shook his head, and a dark blade of light swept past.
Crack! This terrifying warlock — one whose strength was unfathomable even among the Crystallized, and who had even grafted a devil's arm onto himself — was sliced clean in half with a single stroke.
Whether it was innate defensive abilities or the effects of magical artifacts, none of it offered the slightest resistance against the dark blade of light. It was all as good as air.
Even in the instant of death, confusion still lingered on the fallen warlock's face.
"Hmm?" With his top subordinate killed, Ganiar naturally reacted. Once he took in the situation, an expression of utter disbelief spread across his face.
"Leilin!"
"That's right!" Leilin placed Furui into his subordinates' care, then rose into the air, meeting Ganiar's gaze without the slightest hint of retreat.
BOOM! Like an ancient beast awakening, a strange and powerful field surged from Leilin's body, rapidly neutralizing Ganiar's Morning Star Domain.
The warlocks of the Ring of the Ouroboros immediately felt a tremendous weight lift from their shoulders, and their previously sluggish Spiritual Power returned to normal in an instant.
"You've already broken through to Morning Star!"
Ganiar practically ground the words out through clenched teeth.
"Of course!" Leilin's smile was radiant.
With those words, the entire battlefield was stunned!
…
"Furui has Pike and Tasha with her. No need to worry there!"
Leilin wore a loose black robe as he activated the final incantation. The mechanical door descended, followed by layer upon layer of seals.
Luminous runes crawled across the iron door in intricate patterns. Leilin had applied every defensive Magical Array he knew, and with the Chip's computational assistance, even a Morning Star
The walls of the secret chamber were covered in aura-isolating runes, bringing concealment to its absolute peak.
There was no other choice. This concerned his breakthrough to Morning Star — Leilin couldn't afford to be careless in the slightest.
This wasn't his estate at headquarters, but rather the basement of a discrete townhouse he had secretly purchased. The entire process was handled by him alone, with no surface connection to Leilin whatsoever.
At his own estate, he had also set up an identical defensive Magical Array, creating the illusion that he was still there.
The more critical the moment, the more cautious Leilin became. He didn't even fully trust his own subordinates.
"Once I break through this barrier, the world will be my oyster…"
Leilin let out a soft sigh, as if expelling all emotion from his body. His gaze turned clear and serene, and his entire being settled into perfect calm.
He sat cross-legged on the floor. Several items materialized before him.
A milky-white bone fragment with fine cracks running across it. A tube of golden blood radiating terrifying waves of energy. And a large pile of miscellaneous Spiritual Power crystals — most of them war trophies, some gifted by Furui, and the rest from his own collection.
"The path to Morning Star is vast and long. Many Crystallized warlocks never even get the chance to touch that threshold in their entire lives…"
Leilin's expression was solemn.
He had only recently advanced to the Crystallized stage, and here he was already attempting to break through to Morning Star. For an ordinary wizard, that would be nothing but a pipe dream!
But he was different. The depth of his resources and the richness of his foundations surpassed even some Morning Star Wizards.
The Ancient Serpent Woman's finger bone alone could give Comoni Crystallized warlocks — who had been stuck for years — a real shot at breaking through their bottleneck, to say nothing of everything else.
"Chip, display my current status!"
Leilin Farell — Warlock, Tier 3 (Crystallized). Bloodline: Comoni Giant Serpent. Strength: 40. Agility: 35. Constitution: 55. Spirit: 356.5. Mana: 356 (mana synchronously determined by Spiritual Power).
The Chip reported faithfully.
After advancing to Crystallized, his Spiritual Power hadn't increased all that much. However, his Strength and Constitution, amplified by the Power of Many Arms, had seen significant growth.
"The spiritual threshold for Tier 3 generally falls between 200 and 400. The first hurdle for breaking through to Morning Star is pushing Spiritual Power to the critical limit and filling the Sea of Consciousness with crystalline Spiritual Power…"
Since the Chip had already simulated over half of the Morning Star breakthrough process, Leilin was now entirely confident about his path forward.
In truth, this was exactly why he had waited until the Chip's simulation progress reached this point before attempting his breakthrough. In most cases, the key to a successful Morning Star advancement lay in one's understanding of the Morning Star path and the ability to handle the numerous practical challenges that arose during the process.
The Chip's Morning Star simulation perfectly filled that gap, leaving Leilin with no further doubts! In a way, he actually had the Blue Mountain King to thank — if the man hadn't eagerly sent a clone over, the Chip might never have pushed the Morning Star simulation past 50%.
"My current Spiritual Power has barely reached Crystallized. I'm still far from the critical threshold. I'll need the power of Bloodline Burning!"
Leilin picked up the test tube filled with golden blood.
The tube contained the bloodline of an Ancient Red Dragon, obtained from a Kobold warlock in the Forgotten Land. It was incredibly pure, but since Leilin's own bloodline had long been fixed, he'd had no use for it — until he had fully decrypted the bloodline experiment data of the Ancient Quicksand Organization.
Bloodline Burning experimentation, as the name implied, was a method of enhancing oneself by combusting various ancient bloodlines.
The requirements for the bloodline were extremely strict: only warlocks could perform it, and the ancient bloodline being burned couldn't be too low-grade. Otherwise, the entire experiment would fail and might even produce a backlash. The Ancient Red Dragon's bloodline perfectly met these requirements.
As for the auxiliary materials for Bloodline Burning — they were Crystallized warlock Spiritual Power crystals! Only the Spirit Fire generated by these crystals could fully combust the ancient bloodline, converting it into energy to fuel a warlock's advancement!
A complex and precise Magical Array had already been inscribed on the floor. Leilin placed the Spiritual Power crystals into it one by one in the correct sequence, quickly filling the entire array.
Crystallized warlock Spiritual Power crystals were top-tier resources in many trading circles, and could even be used directly as currency. Not only were they enormously valuable, but their worth was rock-solid.
And now, massive quantities of Spiritual Power crystals were spread across the floor as if they cost nothing, shimmering with a brilliant, pure luster.
The original owner imprints within these crystals had, of course, all been erased by Leilin.
"Ancient Red Dragon bloodline — second only to the Blood of the Sun, and capable of advancing to at least Tier 5! Honestly, if bloodlines couldn't be changed once fixed, I might not have been able to resist the temptation to become a Dragon Bloodline Warlock…"
Leilin sighed, removing his wizard robe and smearing the golden blood across every part of his body, leaving no spot untouched.
The golden blood had a thick, viscous texture and carried the fragrance of orchids. Applied to the skin, it was first cool, then rapidly grew scorching hot.
At the same time, a cluster of semi-transparent flames rose from the Magical Array beneath Leilin's body.
Gossamer threads of crystalline light were drawn from the Spiritual Power crystals by the Magical Array, converging at a single point to form a semi-transparent Spirit Fire!
Though this flame carried no heat, the moment it made contact with the golden essence of Ancient Red Dragon blood, a violent reaction erupted.
"Ngh!" Leilin grunted, his body going rigid. He could feel that under the Spirit Fire's burning, the Ancient Red Dragon bloodline was undergoing a wondrous transformation, generating a blood-red energy that seeped directly into his pores and surged all the way toward his marrow.
For an ordinary person, this agony would have been nearly unbearable. But Leilin focused more intently on the Chip's monitoring data: Ding! Detected massive intake of essential substance! Identified as Ancient Red Dragon essence blood. Bloodline Burning experiment initiated!
Spirit Fire curve stable. Converting Ancient Red Dragon bloodline energy…
Ding! Subject absorbing bloodline energy. Spiritual Power increasing!
Three consecutive alerts sent a surge of elation across Leilin's face.
His Spiritual Power reading, previously at 356, began skyrocketing. At the same time, in his Sea of Consciousness, vast quantities of blood-red energy poured in, constantly expanding the sea's borders. Tremendous amounts of crystalline black Spiritual Power — now tinged with an underlying crimson hue — manifested within the Sea of Consciousness in large volumes.
Though his Spiritual Power was surging, Leilin's extraordinary constitution — bolstered by the Power of Many Arms — kept him from passing out. If anything, he gained an even clearer understanding of his own body.
BOOM! As if riding a rocket, his Spiritual Power reading surged past 370 and 380, only beginning to slow after reaching 385.
Then, without mercy, the number breached 390 and began its sprint toward 400 — the Crystallized limit!
The reading stalled there, with only the decimal digits still rapidly fluctuating.
Crack! At that moment, all the Spiritual Power crystals were drained, and the Spirit Fire blazed upward! Bolstered by this surge of power, Leilin's Spiritual Power began climbing once more, not stopping until it reached 399!