"Storage-type Magical Items!"
Leilin quickly searched the other's body, then his eyes lit up as he tore off the red gemstone pendant from the corpse's ear.
He probed into it with his Spiritual Power, and an Astral Stone the size of a fingernail came into view.
"Excellent!"
Sure enough, the intelligence Vance had given before death was all lies—the Astral Stone had been on him the whole time.
Not only that, the other materials inside the earring could be ignored, but several more were somewhat beyond Leilin's expectations.
"
Looking at something resembling a crystal sculpture in the spatial pocket, a look of joy appeared on Leilin's face.
"This is genuine top-tier material—enough to increase a Liquefied
He couldn't help but glance at his own status.
"Leilin Farell · Warlock Tier 3 (Liquefied) · Bloodline: Komoin Giant Serpent · Strength: 30 · Agility: 30 · Constitution: 45.5 · Spirit: 315.6 · Mana: 315 (Mana determined by Spiritual Power sync)"
It had been some time since his advancement to Liquefied, and previously he had only increased his Spiritual Power through his bloodline's power, never once using a Spiritual Power potion.
After a hundred years of accumulation, the drug tolerance in his body had been nearly worn away.
As long as he used potions again after returning, he should quickly meet the requirements for advancing to Crystallization.
"This Vance really sent me quite the haul!" Not only that, but the items Vance had painstakingly prepared for breaking through to Crystallization—more than half could be directly used by Leilin, saving him a great deal of searching.
Leilin couldn't help but laugh aloud.
The guidance of the Destiny Gold Coin had been correct after all. This Vance was simply his lucky star—though of course, Vance himself would never have thought so.
"Found him!"
At that moment, accompanied by terrifying Crystallization-level fluctuations, Number Five also descended and stood before Leilin.
"Leo didn't come? How disappointing!" Leilin looked at Number Five and shook his head with a look of regret.
"What gives you the gall to openly disrespect the dignity of a Crystallized Wizard? Even if you just killed a peak Liquefied one!"
A layer of frost seemed to settle over Number Five's face, and wisps of dangerous Spiritual Power particles began gathering around him.
"Perhaps you don't know—I not only just killed a Tier 3 Liquefied, but not long ago, I also killed a wizard who had broken through to Crystallization!"
Leilin delivered words that made Number Five's expression change drastically: "Perfect—my previous sample was a bit thin. Another one wouldn't hurt..."
Number Five stared at the calmly smiling Leilin and suddenly felt like he had done something spectacularly foolish.
But it was already too late. A small point of dangerous black light gathered on Leilin's fingertip...
……
"Oakheart Family, you'd better remember this!"
On the other side, a wizard with a hawk-hook nose was fleeing at full speed, his body covered in horrific wounds and the marks left by rampaging wizardry.
Although he had already reached an advanced stage of Crystallization—just one step from peak Spiritual Power Crystallization—he had still very regrettably been defeated under the siege of three fellow Crystallized Wizards and was severely wounded.
Especially the leader, Leo—the high-energy creature he carried was this wizard's nightmare. Most of his wounds had come from that creature.
What infuriated and alarmed him even more was that no matter how he fled or tried to change his aura, Leo would always catch up. This meant that something had been placed on him.
Unfortunately, no matter how thoroughly he searched, he couldn't find it. Even his communications had been restricted. This gap between expectation and reality was driving him half-mad.
"Oakheart Family, this disgusting trick of yours—I will spread it to the world!"
The hawk-hook-nosed wizard roared as Leo and his two companions closed in.
"You won't get the chance!"
Leo's face flashed with ruthlessness as terrifying energy fluctuations gathered around him.
A phantom of a monster emerged from behind him, gradually solidifying and blocking the hawk-hook-nosed wizard's path.
"Gawk gawk!" The monster roared, producing a horrible sound.
It was a creature resembling a hybrid of a wolf and an octopus—possessing the head and torso of a grey wolf, but with its lower body consisting of numerous tentacles covered in suckers. Its dead-white color was enough to make one's scalp tingle just looking at it.
The monster's two green bulb-like eyes stared fixedly at the hawk-hook-nosed wizard, wisps of black-green gas seeping from its suckers.
The gas enveloped the wizard, forming a thick layer of adhesive substance that immediately slowed his pace.
"Gawk gawk!!!" The tentacles on the monster's lower half bloomed like flowers, shooting toward the hawk-hook-nosed wizard...
Leo watched with enjoyment as the monster swallowed the despairing wizard whole, its belly bulging and churning as though it were digesting.
Every time he watched wizards curse, panic, and tremble with fear under his pursuit—only to inevitably meet death—it filled Leo with genuine pleasure.
Though this time his quarry wasn't a beautiful and powerful female wizard, the sheer wealth of his target was compensation enough, Leo felt.
"This Hokkado Beast..." Suddenly, numerous tentacles wrapped around the monster's upper body, forming a massive fleshy tumor that even began breathing like a human.
"It's almost at its evolution stage. And once it completes its evolution, I'm afraid..." A worried look crossed Leo's face.
This special Hokkado Beast had also come from his grandfather—a Dawnstar Wizard—as a harvest from some ruined extraplanar fragment.
Its current form was only its juvenile stage, yet it could already devour a terrifying Crystallized Wizard. Once it fully matured, it would awaken even more bizarre abilities. When that time came, perhaps only his grandfather would be able to subdue it.
Click! At that moment, a crisp sound came from inside Leo's robe, making him freeze.
Almost disbelieving, Leo pulled a diamond-shaped crystal from his robes. The crystal's surface was covered in cracks and emitted no light whatsoever.
Number One and Number Two, following behind him, couldn't help but contract their pupils.
"This is... a crystal sealing a soul essence. Which colleague has fallen?"
"Number Five—what happened? That was just a Liquefied wizard..."
Leo hated this feeling—the sense that things had spiraled beyond his control. "What exactly happened? Was that wizard hiding his strength, or did a high-level wizard just happen to pass by? Damn it, these unpredictable variables..."
Leo's expression turned savage. "Number One, Number Two... I need you to—"
"Bzzz!"
At that moment, another subtle fluctuation descended. A blue streak of light shot from the ring on Leo's finger, projecting an image into the air.
In the image was a blue-haired wizard whose eyes shone more brilliantly than the stars.
"Grandfather!" Leo bowed respectfully, while Numbers One and Two knelt on the ground, trembling.
The majesty of a Dawnstar Wizard could not be offended—even by a Tier 3 Crystallized one!
The wizard in the image looked grim: "I sensed that a portion of the
Leo's pupils contracted. The Oakheart Family's use of Stardust Bugs to spy on wizards' secrets was the most classified of secrets. If it leaked, the consequences would be unthinkable!
Even the Blue Mountain King, a Dawnstar Wizard himself, might not be able to withstand the fury of countless wizards!
And if those fellow Dawnstar wizards—the female ones—discovered what he had been doing... Leo didn't dare think further.
"Regardless, this must be resolved immediately. Fortunately, based on the final residual information from the Stardust Bugs, the target's level isn't high—they haven't even broken through to the Dawnstar realm. Go to these coordinates first; I'll arrive shortly!"
The Blue Mountain King spoke urgently, his tone carrying the weight of command. After finishing, he quickly ended the communication—clearly eager to wrap up his current affairs and rush over.
"These coordinates?!" Leo looked at the information the Blue Mountain King had sent, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.
He remembered with perfect clarity—this was the direction that wizard had fled. And Number Five had died at that very person's hands.
In a flash, every moment of his previous encounter with that opponent came flooding back.
Remembering that calm, unhurried voice, Leo now realized just how foolish he had been back then. The other party had probably known about his tricks all along, and had only waited—after securing a means of escape—to let him walk right into the trap.
Looking back now, he had been nothing more than a laughingstock!
In that instant, Leo's face had grown so dark it could drip ink.
"Move out!" Leo's voice was hoarse, like a desert traveler on the verge of dying of thirst.
Numbers One and Two exchanged a glance, helpless bitter smiles on their faces.
Based on that brief exchange alone, they had already guessed something momentous. And they both knew full well the only outcome of knowing too many secrets.
But this was the tragedy of being controlled—even knowing the other party would eventually turn on them, they had no power to resist.
"Hmph!"
Watching Numbers One and Two follow behind him, Leo turned away, a cold glint flashing in the depths of his eyes.
The Stardust Bug matter was top secret! Historically, only the Oakheart patriarch and the Blue Mountain King had known. Since these two wizards had heard that name, their deaths were inevitable.
The Blue Mountain King was surely thinking the same thing—the reason he hadn't acted yet was simply that he still needed their strength!
Once this matter was settled, a purge was certain! The family's ultimate secrets must never be known to outsiders...
Thud!
Number Five's body collapsed to the ground, a small black hole in his forehead.
"Nice haul!"
Leilin's breathing was somewhat ragged—dealing with a Tier 3 Crystallized Wizard was clearly no easy task. He was now looking at the spatial ring on Number Five's hand, a pleased expression on his face.