"You dare trespass into the forbidden territory of our Lias Family!"
The wizards surrounding Leilin wore long blue robes, had sea-blue hair, silver pupils, and pale skin. What surprised Leilin even more was that the aura of bloodlines emanated unmistakably from them — they were all sorcerers!
"Bloodline sorcerers! I didn't expect that the underground world would have sorcerer heritage as well!"
A gleam flickered through Leilin's eyes.
"No — this is actually the normal situation! After all, the underground world is even more vast than the
Leilin glanced around. The sorcerers surrounding them all looked very young, but thanks to the enhancement of their bloodlines, their actual ages were quite advanced — their withered aura forming a stark contrast with their handsome faces.
"At least second-rank sorcerers! And this bloodline?" A trace of blue light crept into Leilin's eyes.
The surrounding sorcerers showed similar shock in their gazes, apparently unable to believe that Leilin and his companion had actually made it out of the forbidden zone.
"Chip! Scan their bloodlines! Cross-reference with the database!"
Leilin issued the mental command.
These sorcerers, none of whom had reached Morning Star rank, failed to detect Leilin's subtle action, and the Chip quickly retrieved the information he wanted.
[Bloodline information collected! Cross-referencing with database! Confirmed — Ancient Thousand-Spiked Thunderbird!]
The Chip then pulled up all relevant data on the Ancient Thousand-Spiked Thunderbird.
[Ding! Ancient Thousand-Spiked Thunderbird — Sixth-level creature! Said to be a descendant of the primordial Thunderbird, possessing formidable lightning abilities and sonic attacks. Prefers to inhabit areas rich in metallic elements. Assessment: Extremely dangerous — the nemesis of the ancient Metallic Clan!]
"A sixth-level creature's bloodline! No wonder their bloodline gives me a faint sense of oppression!"
Leilin cast a somewhat regretful glance at the surrounding sorcerers. "What a pity — their bloodlines have degraded considerably. They can't be purified back to the original sixth-level standard!"
These sorcerers surrounding Leilin, though their bloodline source was the sixth-level Ancient Thousand-Spiked Thunderbird, were essentially equivalent in standing to the Horar Black Snake sorcerers within the Ouroboros Circle — their bloodlines had degraded over generations, long since losing the power of their ancient ancestors.
"However, with them around, the strong ones in this sorcerer family should be able to push their bloodlines to the pure-blood level..."
Leilin eyed the sorcerers with an unfriendly gaze, causing them to suddenly feel a sense of impending doom.
"But this is the Lias Family's forbidden territory, and they deliberately let these adventurers in — there must be some unknown secrets inside..."
A moment's thought was all it took for Leilin to consider the possibility that the Lias Family had deliberately leaked information to lure adventurers here for blood sacrifices or some similar purpose.
If that were the case, it would also explain why Joe and his group, despite their weak strength, had been able to enter the ruins without any hindrance.
"Why waste words with him? Any wizard who defiles the forbidden territory of our Lias Family meets only one end — death!"
Under the urging of a leader-like figure among the Lias Family sorcerers, they attacked without hesitation. Faint static electric fields emanated from their bodies, merging into a powerful domain that enveloped both Leilin and Joe. Leilin could even sense their killing intent — they were clearly determined to keep the two of them here at any cost, no matter the cost to themselves.
"This spell?" Leilin watched the blue arcs of electricity dancing across the sorcerers' bodies, forming a large-scale static field that mutually reinforced and amplified itself, and an interested expression flickered across his face.
[First-level spell: Static Field! Identified as the opponent's first-level innate talent spell. Capable of releasing a large-scale static electric field with minimal energy expenditure and a mutual amplification effect!]
The Chip relayed the details of their spellcasting ability.
"Kill him!" The leader was clad in a layer of lightning armor, and two pairs of massive blue luminous wings unfurled from his back, instantly propelling his speed to terrifying levels — he became a streak of blue lightning.
[Thousand-Spiked Thunderbird sorcerer — second-rank bloodline spell identified: Lightning Armor! Third-rank bloodline spell: Wings of Lightning!]
Through the sorcerer's bloodline activity and spellcasting, the Chip gathered even more data, presenting a flood of information before Leilin.
"Truly worthy of a sixth-level ancient bloodline. These innate abilities are all quite practical!"
Leilin sighed mildly. Unfortunately, no Morning Star sorcerers were mixed in this time. For him, no matter how impressive a spell was, as long as it hadn't reached a certain threshold, it would be useless when cast.
"Break!" Leilin uttered a single syllable. Then, terrifying darkness energy particles surged outward like a rising tide.
The surging, tumultuous energy particles roared and coalesced into enormous weapons and monstrous beasts, slamming into the opponents' combined static electric field.
*Zzzzt!* Blue sparks exploded and scattered, intermingled with streaks of black energy, followed by a muffled thunderclap that made the very ground tremble.
Screams rose in succession as the first-rank and second-rank Thunderbird sorcerers collapsed one after another.
"Kee-kee!!!" The leader, still hovering in midair, let out a piercing shriek at the sight and spun around, about to transform into lightning and flee.
"You come down too!"
Leilin didn't even glance at him, but an illusory two-headed black serpent had already materialized behind the leader. Four blood-red eyes locked directly onto him.
*Hssss!* The serpent's tongue lashed out, snatching the leader into its jaws in an instant. Blue lightning crackled in every direction, then gradually subsided.
The two-headed black serpent slithered down to the ground and spat out the leader, who was already unconscious — even the lightning glow on his body had completely vanished.
"Too weak! Far too weak! At this level..."
Leilin narrowed his eyes. A bloodline of this caliber didn't even interest him enough to take a sample.
"Lord... Lord! We..." Meanwhile, Joe Derian, who had been watching the confrontation between Leilin and the Lias Family, was so terrified he was on the verge of passing out.
The Lias Family's reputation in the Empire was at its zenith — there were even rumors of a powerhouse surpassing Morning Star rank standing guard. For this wizard to provoke them so brazenly, wasn't that just courting death?
But more critically, neither Leilin nor the Lias Family was someone he could afford to offend, and he nearly broke into tears.
"I still need to wait a while. You go ahead," Leilin waved his hand.
"How... how can I leave the Lord to face the Lias Family alone?" Joe hesitated, but the reluctance was transparently obvious to Leilin.
"Once their reinforcements arrive, it won't be these small fry anymore. What — do you want to stand with me against the Lias Family?"
Leilin regarded Joe Derian with a half-smile.
"No! No! Lord! This humble one takes his leave!" Joe's face went pale. After bowing hastily, he fled as though some primordial beast were chasing him from behind.
Watching his retreating figure, Leilin shook his head. Joe was a minor character to begin with — if he'd been foolish enough to stay out of misguided bravery, he'd inevitably have been caught up and blamed. Choosing to leave now was actually the wiser move.
But Leilin had no time to dwell on that. He looked toward a streak of lightning hurtling toward them from the distance, and a trace of amusement surfaced in his eyes.
"Kee-kee!" It was like the combined cry of ten thousand birds. When the lightning dissipated, a figure had appeared in midair.
"Was it you who did this?" The newcomer was very young, his brow furrowed with fury — clearly enraged by the sight of the numerous Lias Family sorcerers writhing on the ground.
"They offended me, and I was already being merciful by not killing them. Had I acted as I normally would, they'd already be repenting in hell!" Leilin shrugged.
*Crack!* White lightning streaked across the sky as if tearing it apart, and from overhead came the sorcerer's tightly restrained voice: "Good! Very good! Then let me show you my brand of 'mercy'!"
Power at the Morning Star level — the terrifying energy of the fourth-rank sorcerer threshold — erupted from his body. Massive dark clouds gathered, blanketing the surrounding area.
*BOOM!* Eight pillars of blue light descended instantly, releasing an infinite barrage of lightning from within, forming what seemed like a massive purgatory.
Countless bolts of thunder-fire converged within the purgatory, encasing Leilin inside.
[Thousand-Spiked Thunderbird sorcerer — fourth-rank bloodline spell deduced: Thunderstorm Purgatory!] The Chip projected the specifics of the spell before Leilin's eyes.
"A fourth-rank spell. Looks like I need to get a little more serious."
Leilin's expression grew slightly graver. Cursed with the Ten Thousand Serpent Mark, he could only muster Morning Star-level power — putting him on equal footing with his opponent.
*Hisss! Crack!* Vast serpents of electricity, wreathed in flame, opened their massive jaws and swallowed Leilin whole.
The blinding glare of lightning was almost unbearable — but then a sliver of pitch-black light leaked out from within the radiance.
The black light grew and grew, until it finally shattered through the lightning and coalesced into an illusory, terrifying giant serpent that manifested behind Leilin.
*Hsssss...* Iron-studded chains coiled around the giant serpent, yet without a moment's hesitation it roared and hissed toward the thunderclouds above.
"A sorcerer?! This terrifying and sinister bloodline power?!"
From within the thunderclouds came the shocked voice of the sorcerer from before. Then the voice gradually faded, replaced by a piercing roar.
"Kee-kee!"
A blinding streak of blue light shot out from the dark clouds and struck Leilin's shoulder.
"Flash — Thunderclap!"
The sound only reached Leilin after the lightning had already hit.