"Chip! Scan!"
Leilin commanded.
[Dream Devil White Phosphorus Snake: Rumored descendant of the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes, inheriting the power of dreams. Prefers to torment its prey within dreams before devouring them. An adult specimen is a Rank 5 entity!]
The Chip quickly projected a stream of information before Leilin's eyes.
"Even for the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes, projecting her power into such a distant world through dreams must require enormous energy expenditure. So, the first time was her directly triggering my Ten Thousand Snakes Curse, but afterwards, the energy cost was passed on to her other offspring?"
Leilin instantly realized the implications.
"Hiss..."
At that moment, the Dream Devil White Phosphorus Snake flicked its crimson tongue, its blood-red eyes locked squarely on Leilin.
Boom! It suddenly moved, its body transforming into a streak of white lightning.
"In this situation, I have no choice but to fight!"
Leilin let out a bitter smile, the energy within his body boiling once more. "Dreamcraft..."
Swish! The entire space seemed to flash with white lightning. When Leilin's senses returned, he was back in the real world.
However, Leilin's face was now twisted in a grimace. The Ten Thousand Snakes Sigil curse on his forehead had spread thick black veins outward, seemingly greedily draining his original bloodline power, converting his own strength into curse energy, which then acted upon Leilin himself—a seemingly inescapable, deadly loop.
[Warning! Warning! The subject's bloodline power has reached a critical threshold. Rank regression from Radiant Moon imminent!]
The Chip flashed a red warning window, causing Leilin's heart to sink. Although he had tried to conserve his power, the need to escape from the dreamscape had forced him to repeatedly use dreamcraft and his bloodline power, giving the Ten Thousand Snakes Sigil its opening.
"I can't let this continue! Chip! Construct a dreamscape labyrinth!"
The constant threat of being pulled into the dream realm and surrounded by enemies made Leilin's expression turn dark as a storm cloud. He issued the order immediately.
[Ding! Task established. Initiating projection of decoy coordinates. Building dreamscape firewall!]
The Chip responded instantly. This was the fruit of Leilin's research into dreams, capable of blocking an enemy from dragging him into their dreamscape. He didn't know how effective it would be, but anything was better than nothing.
And seizing this hard-won moment, Leilin immediately made other arrangements.
"Chip! Begin running program D-23, construct the Dreamless Mask!"
Leilin issued the command right away. Now that he knew the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents had the means to attack through dreams, taking the necessary precautions was only natural.
[Task established! Simulation initiated. Physical materials required: 300 grams of Locke Alloy, Single-Eyed Serpent fangs...]
These were the materials that had proven effective at isolating the power of dreams in his previous experiments.
The Chip reported rapidly, and a layer of dark qi surfaced around Leilin's body.
Light flickered over Leilin's waist pouch, and the materials the Chip had listed floated out one by one.
A ball of black, eerie flame coalesced and devoured every last material.
Leilin's expression remained calm. He watched as the various materials melted within the flame, occasionally forming hand seals to imbue alchemical runes into the fire.
Though his movements were casual, every gesture was fluid beyond measure, showcasing the terrifying skill of an alchemy grandmaster.
Under Leilin's formidable control, it wasn't long before a half-mask slowly took shape within the flames.
It was a pure black mask. Smooth lines and intricate patterns covered its surface, radiating a unique aesthetic beauty. An extremely peculiar aura emanated from it as well.
The mask flew out and settled directly onto Leilin's face, concealing the Ten Thousand Serpent Curse Mark on his forehead.
Once the mask was in place, Leilin's entire presence seemed to shift. A mysterious quality had been added to him.
[Witchcraft Artifact — Dreamless Mask. Weight: 200 grams. Materials: Locke Alloy, Single-Eyed Serpent fangs. Effect: Isolates the gaze of dream power, protecting the True Soul from the intrusion of dreams...]
Before long, all the details of the Dreamless Mask appeared in the Chip's item log.
The cold mask pressed against the skin of his face, giving Leilin a reassuring sense of security. "Good thing I specifically targeted dream intrusion scenarios beforehand and led the research and development of this Dreamless Mask..."
Leilin's fingers traced over the mask, feeling the complex and precise patterns etched into its surface.
This mask had been built on the foundation of the Chip's database and analytical projections, combined with Leilin's own vision and creativity as an alchemy grandmaster — a witchcraft artifact developed for this very purpose.
Although it could only counter dream intrusion and its function was highly specialized — meaning it did not qualify for the rank of Magical Item or Magical Artifact — its effectiveness was in no way inferior to that of some Magical Artifacts.
Since putting on the Dreamer's Mask, Leilin — who had undergone dream modification and developed a certain sensitivity to this kind of power — immediately relaxed his entire body.
"At least, as long as the Dreamer's Mask hasn't been breached, the other party can't arbitrarily drag me back into the dream and drain my power…"
Leilin now fully understood the terror of the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents. Even separated between two worlds, he had no way to resist her power.
Fortunately, this buffer had allowed him to calm down and think clearly once more.
"Chip! Search the database — I authorize all necessary calculations and projections. Find a method to resolve the Ten Thousand Serpents Curse Mark!"
Leilin's voice was low and heavy. The Chip immediately sprang into action at full speed, vast quantities of data materializing before Leilin's eyes, countless calculation formulas deployed and recalled, and in the simulation space, even a phantom image of the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents appeared.
Under the weight of the immense computational load, the Chip swiftly arrived at its conclusions: [Option One: Voluntary removal by the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents. Option Two: Seek the blessing of other Ninth-rank existences and use their origin power to cleanse the subject's bloodline. Option Three: Break through the bloodline shackles entirely and sever the bloodline connection to the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents.]
"Options One and Two are both unfeasible — there are far too many uncertain variables. Against that level of existence, I can exert absolutely no influence. It would simply be a gamble on luck!"
Leilin stroked his chin, a flickering gleam constantly shifting in his eyes.
"The only choice is to break through the bloodline restriction and free myself from these shackles for good!"
The Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents' control and curse both stemmed from the bloodline power of the Cormoirean Giant Serpent. If Leilin could shatter this bloodline shackle completely and become an independent individual, he would naturally no longer fall under her influence.
For Leilin in his current state, this was also the most viable option.
"I just didn't expect to clash with the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents so soon. To find a way to break through the bloodline shackles, there's no getting around her and the Infernal World…"
Leilin's expression darkened somewhat. "Furthermore, in my current condition, I'll most likely need to lay low for a period of time…"
With that thought, his entire body transformed into a wisp of black flame and vanished into midair.
……
In the Morning Star
"Madam Frey is about to give birth! For our Bloodline Alliance, this is truly a cause for celebration!"
"Indeed! Our Alliance will gain yet another Fifth-rank bloodline heritage! With the talent His Highness Leilin has displayed, the future of his bloodline descendants is exceedingly bright…"
Aurora spoke with a beaming smile. At this moment, he was hovering alongside Geoffrey above Leilin's castle, waiting together.
Inside the castle, panicked maids and servants were scurrying everywhere. A layer of blood-red energy kept spreading, gradually enveloping one room and continuing to extend outward.
From within the room, a woman's faint cries could be heard.
"Fifth-rank bloodline! A Komoyin Giant Serpent? What on earth could it be? Could the Komoyin Giant Serpent have some sort of ancestor or something?"
Geoffrey was quite puzzled by this question.
"No! His Highness Leilin's bloodline is the purest Komoyin bloodline—of that there is no doubt. And from my observations and deductions, the bloodline he has inherited is very likely that of the ancient Komoyin Serpent Emperor! The royal bloodline of the Komoyin Giant Serpents!"
Aurora's voice grew low, as though revealing some immense secret.
"Hsss… which means…" Geoffrey drew in a sharp breath.
"Yes! The royal family of the Ring of the Ouroboros has now appeared. There could be no more legitimate leader than the Komoyin Serpent Emperor!"
Within bloodline clans, the Emperor's bloodline held tremendous dominion over ordinary individuals. Just as the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents had been to Leilin, with his own Serpent Emperor bloodline, Leilin held the power of life and death over all Komoyin warlocks beneath him!
His bloodline, therefore, was the undisputed ruling bloodline of the entire Ring of the Ouroboros!
"From now on, the Ring of the Ouroboros will forever bow beneath the Serpent Emperor bloodline. Unless one day this bloodline is extinguished, it will never betray!"
Aurora's voice remained low and grave. "Therefore, toward His Highness Leilin, we must adopt an even more cautious attitude!"
"I know that. But what about Beavis's side…"
Geoffrey could only smile bitterly. In any organization, the emergence of a genius like Beavis or Leilin was absolutely cause for celebration.
But if those two geniuses couldn't stand the sight of each other, it could only spell disaster.
In fact, the real reason the two of them had come today was to provide protection and issue a warning.
Otherwise, once Beavis did something extreme, Leilin would absolutely not spare him upon his return—and the consequences of that were something they were unwilling to see.
If it were otherwise, the birth of a mere Fifth-rank descendant would hardly warrant two Radiant Moon warlocks personally coming to stand guard.
"Lord Aurora, did you see the intelligence on the Flame Throne from before?"
At this point, Geoffrey seemed to recall something and asked abruptly. (……)