After
"A Warlock who inherited a sixth-rank bloodline? Interesting! Very interesting!"
So far, the only high-rank bloodlines Leilin had encountered were the sixth-rank Sun Child and the seventh-rank Bronze Giantess blood that transcended the rules.
As for something like a Fire Phoenix, the creature probably wasn't a bloodline being at all. Even holding its egg gave Leilin no way whatsoever to extract its bloodline.
The Sun Child's bloodline had already been consumed twice when Leilin forged Bloodline Imprints, and the Bronze Giantess bloodline had served as the driving force behind his bloodline evolution. Both bloodlines were extremely rare, lacked a living source, and vanished completely once used up.
A Warlock who inherited a sixth-rank creature's bloodline was different. The subject had a complete body — even if a portion of the bloodline was extracted, it could presumably replenish itself through the body's own blood-creating function.
"According to what Jeffrey said, the subject has already reached the fifth-rank Radiant Moon Warlock stage. The bloodline within the body is barely usable now, but for the best results, it would be best to wait until the subject advances to Dawn Sun, when the bloodline's power is fully developed — that would be the moment to harvest the most perfect fruit…"
Leilin rubbed his chin, a faint curve forming at the corner of his mouth.
Although Warlocks possessed the ability to generate their own blood, bloodlines were not so simple a matter. In Leilin's view, the ancient bloodline inherited by a Warlock was not something that could be extracted indefinitely — it was intimately connected to the subject's very origin.
A small amount of bloodline extraction was no big deal, but if one tried to treat the subject as a blood reservoir, the Warlock's own bloodline would likely dry up before long.
This principle applied even to ancient creatures.
But regardless, a fifth-rank Warlock's bloodline — especially one who inherited an ancient Dawn Sun creature's bloodline — was, for Leilin, a mobile treasury!
Setting aside the purification of bloodlines and the creation of Bloodline Imprints, merely observing the circulation of the sixth-rank bloodline within the subject's body could bring considerable gains to Leilin's current bloodline experiments.
Of course, the subject would never willingly agree to be made into an experimental specimen.
"This can wait — let's see how the subject's attitude develops first! What I need to consider right now is the matter of the Flame Throne!"
Leilin rose to his feet and made his way to the Astral Laboratory.
Last time,
But the most critical details remained firmly in her hands, leaving Leilin somewhat helpless.
He knew perfectly well that such crucial information would never be leaked before the moment of action — Melinda would die before letting it slip, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Since there was no new intelligence to be had from her side, Leilin could only find ways to strengthen his own power.
No matter what, this direction could not be wrong.
"Actually, the best approach would be to lie low and wait until I've advanced to Dawn Sun before making a move against the Flame Throne!"
This was Leilin's most honest thought. Unfortunately, after being attacked by the Flame Throne, he knew that was completely impossible.
From the other party, he had sensed the most unmistakable malice — even a determination to destroy him at any cost.
The current period of relative quiet was merely because the Flame Throne needed to recover its energy. And once the enemy fully reacted, what awaited Leilin would be an absolutely terrifying thunderous strike!
"Damn it! When did I ever provoke them? Even the previous time, it was their side who sent Wizards to attack me first!"
Leilin felt entirely innocent, even somewhat bewildered by the whole thing.
The Flame Throne's hatred for him seemed to have no basis whatsoever.
Of course, the Flame Throne had always had a notoriously eccentric temperament — it had once even led the purge against the Warlocks of the Central Continent. If several Radiant Moon powers from the Arcane side hadn't stepped forward in time, Warlocks on the Central Continent might not exist today.
After cursing the Flame Throne under his breath a few times, Leilin found himself no less stuck.
[Ding! Main body has entered the Astral Laboratory perimeter. Automatic decontamination and sterilization commencing!]
Leilin walked along, lost in thought, and as he crossed the laboratory doorway, the Chip's mechanical voice sounded automatically.
As the Chip's announcement rang out, a layer of black luminescence surfaced over Leilin's body, while streams of crimson light washed back and forth across him.
This was a mandatory procedure before conducting Astral experiments. For Leilin, such thorough countermeasures and the clever application of magic were already no inferior to the most advanced laboratories from his previous world — in some respects, even superior.
After completing the full decontamination and sterilization process and taking all necessary precautions, Leilin entered the Astral Laboratory.
He did not go first to the Astral Gate. Instead, he headed to the containment chambers nearby.
In a vast pool, blue ripples shimmered continuously. What filled the pool was not water — it was condensed, liquid lightning!
Alongside the pool, dense arrays of Binding and Isolation Runes divided the interior and exterior of the pool into two entirely separate worlds.
This rigorous containment and restraint system was, of course, designed to imprison creatures — even materials — obtained from the Astral Plane.
After advancing to the Radiant Moon stage, Leilin's ability to explore the Astral Plane had grown enormously. Moreover, with the Chip's assistance, every time he opened the Astral Gate, he brought back different finds. Although he hadn't yet discovered a complete unclaimed otherworld, he had harvested quite a few scattered fragments, and had even encountered Astral Drifters and struck several trades.
During Astral experiments, the occasional unlucky Astral creature would occasionally crash into Leilin's side, or even attempt to descend through the Astral Gate into this world.
Every one of these creatures ultimately became Leilin's trophy, collected and stored here.
Inside the blue lightning pool, Binding Runes at the bottom partitioned the space into several compartments.
Within these compartments sat several bizarre objects, and among them was a living creature resembling a black octopus. Its illusory tentacles constantly probed the edges of the compartment, as if testing something, only to be repelled again by the terrifying electric currents.
"Hoo… hoo…"
The instant Leilin arrived, the octopus contracted into a tight ball, as though Leilin were some even more terrifying monster.
"It looks like it was thoroughly beaten into submission…"
Leilin smiled, reviewing the records stored in the Chip.
[Ghost Octopus: Astral creature. Captured 15 days and 9 hours ago. Currently in good condition, no apparent feeding requirements!]
In the Chip's display, the octopus was projected from multiple cross-sections, accompanied by dense streams of data, estimates, and analyses — essentially, every aspect of this Ghost Octopus had been laid bare before Leilin.
"Soul-level cultivation is extremely difficult. One method passed down by the ancient Wizards involves continuously exploring the Astral Plane — by simulating and learning the laws of the Astral Plane, one's own soul can undergo evolution…"
This method consumed enormous amounts of time and required vast quantities of Astral Stones, but its advantage was safety and effectiveness.
The Astral Plane was boundless and all-encompassing. By comprehending the workings of the Astral Plane, a
But for Leilin, who possessed the Fire Phoenix Egg as a cheat, he had no need for this approach at all.
If not for his body being unable to keep pace, and his concern over the coordination between a surging soul and his physical form, he could have long since broken through to the peak of the Radiant Moon stage.
Nonetheless, Astral experiments still held extraordinary significance for him.
"To strengthen my power in a short time — I've tried everything I can on both the Warlock path and the Wizard methods. The only thing left is other worlds!"
Leilin's eyes glinted darkly. With the Chip continuously analyzing, he had long since mastered the Warlock path inside and out. The same was true for the Wizard path — he knew that until the soul and body issues were resolved, his current strength had already hit its ceiling. That was why he turned his gaze to the Astral Gate.
Since he had hit a bottleneck within his existing systems, he might as well attempt others. There would certainly be gains to be had.
And besides, Leilin had never given up the effort to locate the Purgatory World!
The gaze of the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents had given him a deeply ominous premonition. He did not want to one day be caught off guard and collide with her. He wanted to proactively resolve this matter, and finding the coordinates of the Purgatory World was of paramount importance.
The Purgatory World's coordinates were also what the Warlocks of the Ouroboros Ring had once desperately coveted. As a result, after obtaining the records left behind by the Kemoen Serpent Emperor Warlocks, Leilin's progress in this area had been remarkably swift.
Leilin himself carried the Kemoen Serpent Emperor bloodline, which included a Dominion talent, so he understood all too well the terror of a creature like the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents.
If he had a choice, he naturally did not wish to meet her now. But for the sake of future planning, these preparatory steps were essential.
"I spent Astral Stones lavishly without any restraint, and all I got were these things…"
Leilin stared at the objects inside the Binding Lightning Pool, his expression somewhat speechless: "No wonder so many Morning Star Wizards go bankrupt over the Astral Gate. This kind of probability problem is just too terrifying. I have the Chip amplifying my results, and even then — if this were any other Wizard, they probably wouldn't even have these gains…"
Leilin's expenditure on the Astral Gate in recent times had reached a truly staggering level. He had even exhausted the Ouroboros Ring's entire reserve of Astral Stones. Without supplementary supplies from the Warlock Alliance, his current experiments would have no energy source at all.
And even so, due to the whims of luck, his haul had been modest. All things considered, he was still operating at a loss.