"Caw! Caw!"
Upon catching sight of blood, excitement blazed in the Blood Vulture's eyes and it let out a sharp cry.
A blood-red radiance surged from various parts of its body.
At the same time, massive quantities of blood gushed from the snake-necked tortoise's neck like a fountain, continuously condensing in midair until it formed clumps that the Blood Vulture swallowed into its stomach.
Riiip! The Blood Vulture then extended its razor-sharp black talons, easily prying open the shell on the tortoise's back. It carved the most succulent portions into strips of meat and fed them into its mouth, its movements fluid and unhurried. Right in front of the other snake-necked tortoises, it began to feast with brazen nonchalance.
Brutality and elegance coexisted simultaneously upon this terrifying behemoth.
"Moo... moo..." Watching their companion meet such a grim fate, the snake-necked tortoises let out mournful cries, yet not a single one dared leave the lake.
Leilin watched the scene in silence, his expression utterly blank.
This was merely one of the most common and natural occurrences in the wild. Before one evolved to the point where energy intake was no longer necessary, this kind of hunting and predation for survival held neither virtue nor vice, neither right nor wrong — only compliance with and reverence for the laws of nature.
"This kind of bloodline control ability!" On the contrary, Leilin was extremely interested in the Blood Vulture's power to manipulate blood.
Moreover, unlike the snake-necked tortoises, adult Blood Vultures all possessed third-level strength, meeting the minimum standard for purifying ancient bloodlines. Leilin was also deeply curious about the origins of this bloodline creature.
"But... should I go?" Leilin rubbed his chin.
The Blood Vulture King might be at the Morning Star level. Under the perception of such a terrifying creature, his stealth abilities would be utterly useless. But if the Blood Vulture King was still at the third-level
"So many choices in life are this troublesome!" Leilin sighed. He felt as though he were standing at yet another crossroads of fate, shrouded in a veil of mist.
In truth, everyone faced such choices many times over, each person deciding differently, with outcomes ranging from good to bad.
"So — go, or not go?" A peculiar expression crossed Leilin's face.
Bang!
A dark gold coin was tossed into the air, landing steadily on the back of his hand.
The image of a Lucky Bird appeared before Leilin's eyes.
After a long wait, the coin itself remained undamaged. Leilin let out a long sigh of relief.
"Since the Destiny Coin suffered no backlash, it means the Blood Vulture colony has no fourth-level king. It's worth the risk!" A fire ignited in Leilin's eyes.
The Destiny Coin was Leilin's greatest treasure from the Dark Extreme Region. Although it had the drawback of being unable to predict Morning Star-level power — otherwise it would suffer backlash — it had still been of tremendous help to him.
Now, using the Destiny Coin to make a prediction, no new crack had appeared. At the very least, this meant there was no existence within the Blood Vulture nest that exceeded Morning Star power. That was enough! Facing the chasm of Morning Star, no amount of effort from Leilin would make a difference!
But as long as the enemy lacked Morning Star strength, Leilin dared to take the gamble!
"Caw!"
By now, the Blood Vulture on the ground had finished eating. Leilin watched in surprise as it gripped the leftover tortoise carcass and soared upward, apparently intending to bring the remains back to its nest.
"Perfect timing!" A sharp gleam flashed in Leilin's eyes as he activated Shadow Lurk at full power. His figure melted into the shadow fissures and silently latched onto the tortoise carcass.
The whistling of wind rang out ceaselessly! The Blood Vulture ascended at tremendous speed. The violent airflow created enough friction to produce sparks along the tortoise's carcass.
Fortunately, after reaching a certain altitude, the turbulence subsided and the ride smoothed out.
The Blood Vulture flew at great speed. Leilin could see the landscape below shifting rapidly, and in just over ten minutes, they reached their destination.
Leilin stared at the massive dark silhouette in the distance, unable to hide his shock.
Before him stood a colossal mountain, rising in solitude from a vast plain. Its surface bore not a trace of vegetation, gleaming with an inky luster as though forged from some kind of metal.
At numerous points, enormous openings gaped in the rock, from which countless Blood Vulture heads emerged, crying out without cease.
The combined cries of so many Blood Vultures were not only ten times more piercing than before, but they even caused the Komoin bloodline within Leilin's body to stir strangely, as though it were being drawn outward. Fortunately, this was only a fleeting illusion — once Leilin suppressed it with his gaseous Spiritual Power, the sensation vanished without a trace.
"The Blood Vulture's bloodline control ability! Truly terrifying!" Leilin murmured.
"And this ecological garden is far too vast!" Leilin began to doubt his earlier assessment. "Could it be that this isn't some ecological garden or Wizard's garden at all, but a Secret Realm? A Secret Realm within a Secret Realm!"
Rumor had it that within certain Secret Realms left behind by ancient Wizards, a peculiar phenomenon could occur — a Secret Realm discovered within another Secret Realm!
This layering technique was extraordinarily difficult.
But clearly, the ancient Wizards had found some way to overcome this limitation, constructing Secret Realms within Secret Realms!
Such a place was called a Core Secret Realm. Only the great factions of ancient Wizards possessed the ability to construct these Core Secret Realms, and the resources stored within were enough to make even Morning Star Wizards green with envy.
"Since the QuickSand organization harbored a terrifying being like the Son of the Sun, its power must have been supreme even in ancient times. Such an organization would certainly possess the capability to build a Core Secret Realm!" Leilin speculated. It now seemed that the entire QuickSand Castle was, in fact, a special Core Secret Realm itself!
"Caw!" The Blood Vulture carrying Leilin let out a cheerful cry and descended into a massive cavern.
Bang! The tortoise carcass was hurled to the ground, and at the Blood Vulture's call, several small, pinkish Blood Vulture chicks came scurrying from deep within the cavern, eagerly gnawing at the tortoise meat.
These small Blood Vultures were clearly juveniles — not only did they have bumpy pink skin with barely a feather among them, but their aura was only at the Third-rank Apprentice level, and the tops of their heads were entirely bare.
"Blood Vultures reach third-level Wizard strength upon maturity and possess bloodline manipulation abilities. They're also flying creatures. If I could get my hands on their eggs to sell, they'd probably fetch an astronomical price at auction..."
Leilin looked at the chick-like Blood Vultures with a hint of regret on his face.
Blood Vultures that had already hatched would imprint on the first living creature they saw upon breaking out of their shells, making domestication impossible.
Taking advantage of the moment when the Blood Vulture chicks were busy eating, Leilin slipped off the tortoise carcass and made his way to a spot deeper in the cavern.
"Shadow Secret Technique!"
A complex magical rune was cast upon himself by Leilin.
Profound darkness immediately enveloped him, blending him completely into the gloom of the cavern.
The Blood Vulture colony here was exerting far too much pressure on him. And within the centralmost cavern, Leilin sensed a terrifying biological aura. That could only be the Blood Vulture King of this place — a Blood Vulture King at the peak of third-level Crystallization!
Under the detection of so many high-energy creatures, Shadow Lurk alone wouldn't hold for long. That was why Leilin had augmented himself with another spell.
Shadow was not a spell but rather a special secret technique. During his time in the Dark Extreme Region, Leilin had collected numerous third-level spell models. Though most were incomplete, a few were whole. Using these models as a foundation, he had developed a secret technique that complemented his Shadow Lurk perfectly. The many tomes of the Dark Elves had given him considerable inspiration in the process.
"Secret Technique — Shadow: Can be used independently to conceal the caster's form, or combined with the first-level spell Shadow Lurk to dramatically amplify the Wizard's shadow abilities, producing effects comparable to a third-level spell!"
Developing a true third-level spell independently was extremely difficult. Moreover, Shadow Lurk was a spell Leilin had grown very adept with, and it matched his bloodline and talents perfectly. So he had specifically developed the Shadow Secret Technique to enhance Shadow Lurk's power, allowing it to remain effective even at the third-level stage.
After applying the Shadow Rune to himself, the combination of Shadow Lurk and the Shadow Secret Technique immediately produced a terrifying effect.
Leilin could clearly feel that the shadow fissure he occupied was now wrapped in a layer of profound darkness. The constant tension — the fear of being discovered at any moment — had vanished entirely.
"So Blood Vultures prefer metallic environments — that's something the books never mentioned!"
Paying no mind to the Blood Vulture family chatting amicably on the other side, Leilin clasped his hands behind his back and began inspecting the Blood Vulture's nest.
The cavern was vast, its interior extremely dim, and it carried the musky scent of animals. Of course, none of this posed any problem for Leilin.
As he ventured deeper, at the bottom of the cavern Leilin came upon an enormous nest constructed from blocks of metal. Beside it were several smaller nests, each woven from golden plant roots of unknown origin, with faint glimmers of various lights shimmering upon them.
"This is..."
Leilin approached for a closer look and his eyes widened immediately, captivated by what lay within the golden nest.
"Bloodline Crystals, Dragon Root Fruit, and the withered bones of bloodline creatures!"
He instantly recognized several of the items.