"Who I choose to spend time with is my business! Don't bother me again! Or else..."
Sheathing his Cross Sword, Leilin finished speaking in a cold tone and immediately pulled
In his heart, he was genuinely a bit afraid of those two crazy women.
"Pure Comosion Giant Snake toxin! And that level of fear suppression! His bloodline! It's exactly what I need!" Frey muttered as she watched Leilin's retreating back, a determined glint flashing in her eyes.
"Haha! What spirit! I like it!" Compared to Frey, Milanta was even more excited.
"Hey, hey! You saw his strength — he's still a notch below us, but in a one-on-one fight he'd definitely slip away. Why don't we team up?"
Milanta sidled up to Frey and whispered in her ear: "When the time comes, I'll let you go first! Of course, if you're interested in all three of us together, I wouldn't object..."
"Ridiculous!" Frey rolled her eyes and walked straight out.
...
"Phew..." Once they were outside, Leilin finally let out a long breath.
"Heh heh! You'll get used to this sort of thing! You're actually lucky — you only joined after reaching the third rank. Those two are the most formidable female warlocks around. If even they can't handle you, the other female warlocks don't stand a chance!"
"Back in my day... sigh..." Robin sighed, apparently recalling some不堪回首 past.
Leilin wisely kept silent, deciding not to poke the wound.
"We're here. This is your manor!"
After passing through a series of buildings, Robin brought Leilin to the front of a vast garden estate.
At the entrance, two massive grey-white serpent stone sculptures stood sentinel, a faint pulse of living energy emanating from them. Clearly, these were no ordinary decorations.
And Gubule, dressed in a butler's formal attire, was waiting at the main gate. The moment he saw Leilin, his eyes lit up and he stepped forward with a bow: "Master!"
"I've already sent someone to brief Gubule on the manor's layout. This is the master key and the ownership crystal!"
Robin handed Leilin a pinkish crystal stone. "You've just arrived and probably have a lot to take care of, but don't forget — tomorrow morning, in the same place as today,
Robin gave a few final reminders before leaving with a smile.
"Give me a tour of the manor! Also — your matter has been settled!"
Leilin gazed at the surrounding buildings with a sense of wonder. Barring any surprises, this place would be his home for a long time to come.
"At your command, Master!" Gratitude shone in Gubule's eyes.
Though resolving this matter had required only a word from his master, the fact that Leilin had even considered it was already uncommon.
Leilin had not only joined the Ouroboros Ring and become a Marquis, but was now also a student of Grand Duke Gilbert — his future was limitless.
Gubule naturally doubled his resolve to serve Leilin well: "Within the manor, aside from the master's private bedroom, study, and laboratory, there are also Negative Energy training fields, Bloodline Fusion pools, Silence Sculpture groups... and several sets of facilities specifically prepared for other wizards, sufficient for warlocks below the third rank..."
Gubule had clearly been briefed before his arrival, and now he rattled off the introduction with practiced ease.
"Integrated facilities for other warlocks? Those must be meant for the vassals." Leilin nodded. "Pick out a set for yourself as well."
"Thank you, Master!" Gubule bowed deeply, his face beaming with delight.
A Marquis's retainer package naturally came at the highest standard — far superior to what he could have obtained through his own rank.
"This manor is too big. It feels a bit empty. Go see about recruiting some apprentices or purchasing slaves, or something like that..."
Leilin casually delegated the tasks, and Gubule listened attentively.
...
Back in the study.
Gilbert opened a document in his hands and studied it carefully.
"According to the information Leilin revealed, his bloodline comes from Norko Gulatu Fasier, the warlock!"
"Yes, Teacher!" Robin's demeanor was extremely respectful.
"This Norko Gulatu Fasier is registered in our records — he was once one of our Comosion bloodline Marquises. He later disappeared during an expedition. It appears he ended up on the South Coast and left behind a legacy..."
"The South Coast! I traveled there in my youth. What a desolate place..."
Gilbert sighed.
For the wizards of the Central Continent, the South Coast and similar regions were mere backwaters — not only were the energy particles in the air depleted to the extreme, there were hardly any useful resources. They wouldn't want to stay there even if paid.
"As for Warlock Norko Gulatu Fasier, he was a senior even to me! The fact that Leilin obtained his legacy — the timeline checks out, and the provenance seems clear!"
"Yes, our people on the South Coast also sent over a file on him." Robin nodded.
"A pity, though — he only inherited a portion of the legacy. He didn't even manage to obtain the fourth-layer Comosion Eye Meditation Method!"
Gilbert sighed, apparently well-informed about Leilin's performance in the screening chamber.
If it had been a complete Morning Star
"You speak truly, Teacher!" Robin agreed wholeheartedly.
Even if the wizards of the South Coast and the Dark Pole Region advanced to the Morning Star rank, there was still a vast gap compared to their Central Continent counterparts.
Many cutting-edge research areas could only be conducted within the Central Continent's environment, and a wizard's solitary exploration could never compare to the collective research and accumulation of many wizards.
"Since there are no issues, let's formally accept him. The Ouroboros Ring hasn't had fresh blood in a long time!"
Gilbert sighed.
The birth of warlocks differed from that of wizards — it required not only soul talent but also sufficient bloodline density. Warlock bloodlines diminished with each generation; typically the first and second generations had the highest bloodline concentration and the greatest achievements, while later generations rarely surpassed them.
Bloodline mutations did occur, but they were exceedingly rare, entirely unpredictable, and the probability was vanishingly small.
Many famous ancient warlock families and organizations had not been destroyed by external enemies but had gradually faded into obscurity due to their own bloodline's decline — or vanished from the wizarding world entirely.
The Ouroboros Ring now faced this very problem.
...
The next day, Leilin arrived early in front of Grand Duke Gilbert's villa.
Those two female warlocks — whether they'd been intimidated or simply had other plans — had refrained from bothering him, which brought him a quiet sense of relief.
"In the animal kingdom, females are often the ones with greater physical strength and power! This phenomenon exists among serpents as well! Could this be the root cause behind the Ouroboros Ring's female dominance — even to the point of female warlocks forcibly claiming male warlocks with dense bloodlines?"
As he walked, a thought kept turning over in his mind.
Based on what Robin had revealed yesterday, even among warlocks of the same rank within the Ouroboros Ring, female warlocks consistently outperformed their male counterparts, which seemed to support this theory.
And even the legendary Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents appeared to be a female!
Leilin shook his head, casting these idle thoughts aside, and arrived at the villa's front gate.
"Teacher! It's Leilin!" he said to a purple trumpet flower growing beside the door frame.
Click! Almost the instant he spoke, the villa's front door swung open on its own. Leilin stepped inside to find the furnishings unchanged from yesterday — indistinguishable from a common human mansion.
Even the Chip's scan detected nothing unusual.
But the more normal it appeared, the more vigilant Leilin became. A fourth-rank warlock's arrangements far exceeded his detection range.
In this seemingly danger-free place, what terrifying power would Gilbert unleash if he activated the magical arrays?
Making his way to the study on the second floor, Leilin once again met Gilbert the fourth-rank warlock — his face and head perfectly smooth, without a single hair.
"Teacher!" Leilin immediately bowed, his manner solemn and reverent.
"Mm! Good! Rise." Gilbert was reading a book made of white bone, from which occasional green sparks and wails erupted, only to dissolve in midair before they could reach him.
"You saw the footage from yesterday. What did you think?"
Gilbert closed the white bone book with a crisp snap.
"Very powerful! Terrifying!" Leilin said honestly.
"This is the might of a fourth-rank Morning Star Wizard — the kind of power that could participate in the ancient Final War! These are the true upper echelons of today's Central Continent!"
Gilbert spoke with some emotion: "In truth, to evaluate the strength of a faction, one need only look at how many Morning Star Wizards it commands — that alone tells you everything. And my expectations for you are great..."
Gilbert then handed Leilin a blood-red crystal ball: "This is the fourth-layer Comosion Eye Meditation Method. Any third-rank Comosion Giant Snake warlock is entitled to receive a copy. But since you are my student, I can give it to you directly. As for the Gasification Magical Array required for a third-rank warlock's advancement, you'll still need to exchange contribution points for that."
Leilin accepted the crystal ball. The Chip immediately recorded the fourth-layer Comosion Eye Meditation Method contained within, compared it against the previously inferred version, and faintly detected further optimizations being generated.
"Thank you, Teacher! If I am ever able to become a Morning Star Wizard, I will surely protect the Ouroboros Ring!"