Rumble!!!
The pirates who were still on the outskirts of Nightmare Island witnessed an extraordinary sight.
The dark red mist that had been shrouding the forest above was continuously thinning and dissipating, revealing the original landscape beneath.
The earth trembled, cracks appeared one after another, and sinkholes formed directly. At the very center of the island, the bare mountain peak let out a furious roar. Faint glimpses of fiery red magma seethed with restless agitation.
"Not good! It's an earthquake! This island is going to collapse… Where's the Lord? Where is the Lord?"
Colin ignored the terrified native slaves and pirates and instead rushed toward the edge of the forest, searching for Leilin's silhouette — not out of loyalty, but because he knew that if he dared abandon Leilin and flee on his own, the furious Crimson Witch would skin him alive!
The aura of death and despair blanketed the island. Countless creatures poured out from the jungle, from crevices in the rocks, and from underground caves, forming a desperate tide of fleeing bodies. Even earthworms wriggled their way to the surface.
"Damn it! Damn it! How could these natives settle their tribe on a volcanic island? What's even stranger is why this dormant volcano erupted without any warning at all!"
Beads of sweat the size of beans rolled straight down Colin's forehead.
But the gods above似乎heard his prayers. Just as Colin was about to flee regardless of the consequences, he finally spotted Leilin's figure at the edge of the forest.
"Oh! Thank the Ocean Goddess! My Lord, you've finally appeared! Let's leave this place quickly!"
Leilin's expression seemed somewhat dazed. He touched his forehead, completely ignoring Colin's words.
Just as Colin was debating whether he should throw this lord over his shoulder and carry him away, the light of awareness finally returned to Leilin's eyes.
"There really is no point in staying here. Let's go!"
"Right away!"
Colin felt tears of relief welling up in that instant, feeling that this was the most beautiful sentence he had ever heard in his entire life.
The pirates' ship-handling skills were quite impressive. Although they had wasted a considerable amount of time, they ultimately managed to leave Nightmare Island just before the volcano fully erupted.
Rumble!!!
Dense black flames shot straight into the sky, completely blotting out the pale moonlight — only above Nightmare Island would the moonlight turn purple-red during every full moon. Of course, that would never happen again.
Fiery red magma flowed like small streams, or like the network of blood vessels in a human body, blanketing the area around the volcano and continuously spreading outward.
"I didn't expect that beneath this island lay a vein of fire. Once the suppression of the Nightmare force was lost, the volcano erupted immediately? And due to the immense pressure that had built up before, this eruption is even more violent. I'm afraid the entire Nightmare Island won't survive…"
Leilin gazed at the island in the distance, gradually being swallowed by the magma. His face showed no expression, however — all of his attention was drawn to the records displayed on the Chip.
[Ding! Unknown interference detected. Detection module severely disrupted. Temporarily offline!]
[Ding! Strong interference detected… Currently…]
"The third-layer Maze Lock's power, and the Forgotten Land — they actually managed to temporarily disable even the Chip? Truly terrifying…"
But what Leilin was most concerned about wasn't this. Below the previous messages were dense lines of alerts: [Ding! Subject's true spirit affected by unknown influence. Probability of affecting the main body in the
"Hsss…" Leilin drew in a sharp breath. "It actually reached my main body's true spirit as well. The power of dreams… truly sinister to a terrifying degree."
After this record, the Chip's messages flowed much more smoothly, indicating that the interference had clearly dissipated.
[Ding! Subject has absorbed a massive amount of energy essence! Analysis indicates it is aberrated Dream Force. Commencing absorption!]
[Ding! Subject has absorbed aberrated dream energy! Spiritual Power +1!]
[Ding! Subject's
[Ding! Subject's soul has broken through.
[Ding! Subject promoted to Nineteen-rank Arcanist. Acquired one Level 9 Spell Slot, one Level 8 Spell Slot, one Level 7 Spell Slot!]
Below that were descriptions of the two talents and specializations just acquired: [Dream Sight: The subject now possesses the ability to see through dreams. Their eyes can gaze directly upon another person's soul, and all forms of concealment will be rendered transparent before the subject's vision.]
[Illusion Mastery: The subject automatically masters the Illusion specialization for spellcasting. All Illusion-type spell potency +20%!]
Leilin's data template within the Chip was refreshed once more: [Leilin Farell — Age: 24 — Race: Human — Nineteen-rank Arcanist — Strength: 15 — Agility: 15 — Constitution: 15 — Spiritual Power: 19 — Arcane Energy: 190 — Status: Healthy — Talents: Robust, Erudite, Intermediate Perfect Physique, Dream Sight — Specializations: Arcane Energy Sensing, Arcane Amplification, Illusion Mastery] [Weave Analysis Progress: Level 0 Weave — 100%! Level 1 Weave — 100%! Level 2 Weave — 100%! Level 3 Weave — 100%! Level 4 Weave — 100%! Level 5 Weave — 100%! Level 6 Weave — 100%! Level 7 Weave — 77.99%! Level 8 Weave — 38.21%! Level 9 Weave — 0.11%!]
[Spell Slots: Level 9 (1), Level 8 (3), Level 7 (5), Level 6 (???), Level 5 (???), Level 4 (???), Level 3 (???), Level 2 (???), Level 1 (???), Level 0 (???)]
"So I've finally reached the Level 9 Weave — the limit of Weave-based spellcasting?"
Leilin closed his eyes, sensing the magic network that permeated the entire world of the gods. Beyond the ten layers of the Weave, from Level 0 through Level 9, there seemed to be even more powerful realms beyond — yet his soul was firmly bound, unable to continue its communion.
"After the Level 9 Weave lies the domain forbidden by the gods…" Leilin mused. He already had a vague guess as to what lay beyond the nine layers of the Weave.
It was very likely the gods' own Divine Spell Networks — essentially private servers they had set up for themselves.
"Using the Weave to transmit divine spells? It would indeed minimize the gods' expenditure and make it easier to develop their followers. Heh… these deities really do have it figured out. It's just that…"
Leilin held back his words. This was not something he could interfere with at his current level.
"Having reached nineteenth-level professional rank, I'm extremely close to the Legendary Domain — one could say it's only a single step away. What I need to do now is purify my own power as quickly as possible and enter the Legendary Domain! Only a true Legendary powerhouse can make their voice heard on the continent!"
Twentieth-level professional rank would merely add a few more spell slots — there was no fundamental difference from nineteenth rank. The key lay in the purification of power and the perfection of one's theoretical framework.
Leilin thought of the records regarding Legendary mage breakthroughs.
Every breakthrough to Legendary rank carried an element of chance, but beforehand, the individual had always walked the peak of their own path, with abundant theoretical knowledge and reserves.
"The requirements for a Legendary Arcanist are even more complex — the Arcanist must have condensed their theoretical framework into a Skill Tree or a circular-cycle architecture. But for me, that poses no problem at all. All that remains is the pure energy refinement…"
Leilin touched his forehead, a hint of confusion surfacing on his face.
The events in the third layer of the Dream Maze Lock replayed in his mind, but now his forehead was smooth and flawless, without the slightest abnormality.
"'The final gift'… what exactly did that mean?"
This trip to Nightmare Island, while allowing him to absorb a massive amount of dream power and push his level to nineteen, had failed to yield what Leilin desired most: the inheritance of the Nightmare King, and a way to circumvent the decay of dream power.
No — perhaps he had already obtained it, but simply hadn't realized it yet.
"Dream modification…?"
Leilin looked down at his own hands. Those pale palms contained overwhelming power. He could even feel that his physical body had reached the pinnacle of perfection, yet it continued to absorb nearby radiation and electromagnetic waves every moment, converting them into pure energy to help him break through his bottleneck.
"Ever since leaving Nightmare Island, I've felt that something enormous has changed about me, yet I can't identify what…"
Confusion lingered in Leilin's eyes.
"My Lord… where are we heading now?"
"Mmm! Let's go to Pirate's Port first!" Leilin turned around and saw Colin cowering on the ground, his face deathly pale.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing! Nothing at all! Your subordinate's eyes were playing tricks!"
A fawning smile plastered across Colin's face as he rapidly backed away. Only once he was inside the cabin did he wipe away the cold sweat and mutter to himself, "I must have been drinking too much rum lately. How could Lord Leilin possibly have three eyes? And those blood-red patterns on his face… ha… ahaha…"
Colin shook his head violently, as if trying to drive the memory from his mind, only to find that he couldn't do so no matter what. His hands and legs trembled involuntarily, and he had to lean against the wall to make his way back to his quarters.
"Three eyes? And blood-red runes?"
What Colin didn't know was that every word he had muttered in the cabin had already fallen into Leilin's ears. After Colin left, Leilin immediately raised his hand and conjured a water mirror before him.
The face reflected in the mirror was that of a young noble — slightly pale skin, azure eyes like the deep sea, golden curly hair paired with thin lips, giving him a handsome appearance. Completely unremarkable and free of any abnormalities.