A soft melody rang out, accompanied by a gentle female voice: "Ladies and gentlemen, good evening! Welcome aboard this airship voyage! The dining car is currently serving dinner. Today's menu includes: foie gras with truffles, roasted whole chicken, white bread, squirrel meat..."
Leilin sat in a leather chair, his gaze fixed on the white clouds outside and the faintly visible rice paddies and buildings below, looking somewhat lost in thought.
Beside his seat, several witches were chattering away, appearing quite cheerful.
"Darunlai, where do you want to go? I've heard the Nine-Ring White Tower's recruitment standards for professors are quite low this time — maybe we could try our luck too!"
The witch named Darunlai had a few freckles on her face, though they didn't look out of place and actually made her somewhat cute. Hearing this, she gave a bitter smile: "The Nine-Ring White Tower is the holy land of White Wizards. At most we can only go and try. As long as I can find a good job in Trigones City this time, I'll be completely satisfied!"
"Hehe! You're the top student from our Wetland Garden! Don't be so modest!"
The witches' laughter echoed one after another...
Hearing familiar names like "Nine-Ring White Tower," "Wetland Garden," and "Trigones City," Leilin felt a sense of dislocation, as though he had been separated from the world for ages.
He had already traveled from the Dark Pole Domain to the South Coast, and was now aboard an airship bound for Trigones City.
Things in the Dark Pole Domain had been simple — he had merely met with Xiling briefly, named his first child "Daniel," planted a sealing rune on him, told Xiling to keep a low profile for a while, and that was that.
Then Leilin had come straight to the South Coast.
Although the areas surrounding the South Coast were filled with all manner of dangerous territories — said to be so perilous that even a Third-rank
"So much time has passed. I wonder how those friends and enemies are doing now?"
Leilin gazed through the glass window at the white clouds outside, and one familiar face after another surfaced in his mind.
George, his friend and servant. Nisi. Damian. Number Four. Number Five. Former Academy Head Slai. And his enemies — Gegewu, Aivic...
Memories that had long been sealed away now sprang vividly to life.
Especially the memory of when he wasn't even an apprentice yet, arriving at the South Coast aboard an airship — it felt as though it had happened just yesterday.
"Who would have thought that so much time has gone by without me even noticing..."
Leilin raised his arm and looked at his young, vital hand, feeling lost in thought once again.
"With Fifth-grade aptitude, Jiamen should have been doing fairly well. As for George and
Leilin sighed. If he hadn't taken the path of the warlock, he probably would have remained stuck between First-rank and Second-rank Wizard even with the Chip's assistance. But now, he had not only forcefully broken through the Morning Star boundary but had even reached the Radiant Moon realm — a level that was nothing but legend on the South Coast.
Yet it was precisely the power of his bloodline that had led him to his current situation, carrying an element of unpredictability.
"And also..."
Leilin looked at the enormous silhouette of a volcanic city in the distance, and a smile appeared on his lips.
Threads of blood-red light constantly swirled around his hand. Through this bloodline connection, he knew with certainty that somewhere near Trigones City, descendants of the Farell Family were also active!
"Are these the other children and descendants of my body's father, Viscount Farell?"
Leilin chuckled. "I recall there were no siblings when I left. That John Farell, Viscount — he really does have the spirit of our ancestor Lanter..."
Leilin still felt some attachment to the Farell Family, since this body of his had come from them.
In the past, even though he had sent Damian, Number Four, and Number Five to provide protection, he hadn't been able to completely sever those bonds. But because he found it hard to face them, he had done so anyway.
Now, several hundred years later, when his relatives and friends had long since turned to dust, things were much simpler. He merely needed to offer those descendants a few benefits, and that would be enough.
"Dear passengers! The airship will soon arrive at our final destination, Trigones City! Please gather your personal belongings and disembark in an orderly manner..."
The gentle female voice repeated its announcement: "Additionally, the next flight for this airship will depart in six months, following the Eastern Circuit route. Passengers wishing to board should pre-purchase their tickets. Finally, a notice — traces of ancient Soul-Slaying Cult activity have been discovered to the east of Trigones City. All passengers are advised to exercise caution..."
The earlier information hadn't caused much reaction among the passengers. After all, airships here weren't like those on the Central Continent — each voyage required extensive maintenance time, so intervals between flights were very long. If Trigones City weren't the South Coast's trading center, there wouldn't even be an airship route. But the news about the Soul-Slaying Cult immediately stirred unrest among the passengers.
"Darunlai! What do we do? Those Soul-Slaying Cult Wizards are all lunatics! Isn't it too dangerous for us to go down now?"
The witches who had been sitting beside Leilin grew alarmed.
"Don't worry! Trigones City is one of the White Wizards' strongholds, and Lord Aivic is stationed here. Nothing will go wrong. Besides, the 'Undead Warding' and 'Soul Contamination Barrier' spell templates are exactly what we're best at..."
Darunlai quickly calmed down and reassured her companions.
Their trust in the White Wizards, and the name of Aivic, seemed to give them great confidence. Even the other passengers on the airship gradually quieted down after an initial commotion.
"The Soul-Slaying Cult? And Aivic?" Leilin chuckled softly. "It seems I can settle this grudge quickly this time."
The reason he had chosen to travel by airship rather than make the more convenient journey under his own power was partly to reminisce about old memories, but more importantly, to gather intelligence.
At his current level, even the dreamscape field generated by his own presence could compel many Wizards to surrender vast amounts of information and even secrets without resistance. Combined with the Chip's capabilities, Leilin had already pieced together most of what had happened on the South Coast since his departure.
The event that had driven him to leave was the struggle over the
The continuous fall of White Wizard Second-rank experts had emboldened the Black Wizards, and tensions intensified further after the Ancient Wisdom Tree incident. Before long, a conflict erupted over the Henghe Secret Realm, triggering the Third Wizard War.
On both the Black and White Wizard sides, numerous reclusive old monsters and hidden experts emerged one after another, engaging in unprecedentedly fierce battles above Wanling Island. The radiance of Black Magic and White Magic nearly blotted out half the sky, and the battle ultimately concluded with the sinking of Wanling Island — both sides suffered devastating losses...
The Third Wizard War should have dragged on much longer, but it was swiftly quelled by the emergence of another power.
Right after the Battle of Wanling Island, the ancient Soul-Slaying Cult exploited the power vacuum left by the mutual devastation of Black and White Wizards to rise rapidly. Their leader was rumored to be the ender of all souls — Gegewu! The Soul-Slaying Cult's Wizards fanatically worshipped dark entities and went so far as to harvest souls across the South Coast on a massive scale. Ordinary people, Wizards, Black Wizards, White Wizards — no one was safe from their grasp.
With so many souls, Gegewu's power not only recovered quickly but advanced to the peak of the Third rank in a remarkably short time.
Under these circumstances, both Black and White Wizards could sit idle no more. They swiftly ended their ongoing conflict and began jointly suppressing Gegewu and the rise of the Soul-Slaying Cult.
Finally, after an even more devastating ambush, the Black and White Wizards — having lost multiple Third-rank powerhouses and expended several of their respective ancestral treasures — managed to grievously wound Gegewu. The ancient Soul-Slaying Cult's forces took a severe blow.
But Gegewu proved worthy of being an ancient evil entity, somehow breaking through the combined siege of Black and White Wizards and escaping to lick his wounds in secret, waiting for the day he would return.
Recently, word had spread that Gegewu's injuries were nearly healed, causing the Soul-Slaying Cult's followers to become increasingly active. Several incidents of blood sacrifice massacres — harvesting souls on a massive scale — had already erupted.
The atmosphere across the entire South Coast had become more tense than ever before.
"So, the current South Coast is roughly divided into three factions — Black Wizards, White Wizards, and the Soul-Slaying Cult — all vying against each other?"
Leilin yawned. For someone at his level, even with most of his power sealed, enemies of this caliber were simply too weak.
"I'll finish up things here quickly, then immediately search for the Infernal World! My time is far too precious!"
Leilin stood up and walked to the exit to join the queue.
Right in front of him happened to be Darunlai and her group.
"Hey, hey! Darunlai, look! That handsome guy who was sitting with us is here too!" One of the witches in front tugged at Darunlai's sleeve.
"Oh my! Let's go talk to him! Today really is my lucky day — I'm calling dibs, none of you better try to steal him from me!" Another witch's eyes were already filled with stars.
"You two..." Darunlai's voice was very soft, tinged with helplessness. "At such close range, aren't you afraid of offending him? Didn't you already try before? That gentleman really dislikes being disturbed..."
As she spoke, she stole a furtive glance at Leilin, like a thief.
His luxurious black robe, his ancient and profound aristocratic bearing, and the black mask on his face all added an air of mystery to Leilin. Even with only half his face visible, the charm he unconsciously radiated was enough to send countless witches into a frenzy.