Reflection and Experimentation
After Jeffrey left Leylin’s castle, the sunny smile on Leylin’s face slowly crumbled, a brooding look taking its place. “A Warlock that has inherited a rank 6 bloodline? Interesting. Very interesting!”
Till now, the highest bloodlines he’d seen were those of the Sun’s Child which was rank 6, and the blood of the rank 7 bronze female giant who’d comprehended laws.
As for the fire phoenix, perhaps that wasn’t even a bloodline creature at all. Even though he possessed the egg, Leylin had no way to extract a bloodline from it.
The bloodline of the Sun’s Child had been completely exhausted after Leylin had created two bloodline imprints, and the bloodline of the bronze female giant had been a huge driving force in Leylin’s bloodline evolution. Not only were the quantities of blood in both cases meagre, neither had even come with a real body. After they were used up, they had disappeared.
Things would be different with a Warlock who had inherited a rank 6 bloodline. The fellow would have a complete body, and even if he were to lose some of his bloodline, he could probably make up for it with the natural regeneration of blood by his body.
‘Based on what Jeffrey said, he has already become a Radiant Moon Warlock. The bloodline in his body meets my requirements as well, even if barely. However, if I want the best effects, I should wait till he advances to Breaking Dawn. When his bloodline force is at it its best, I can reap the most perfect fruit...’ Leylin stroked his chin, his lips curving up.
Though Warlocks had the ability to regenerate blood, bloodlines were not quite as simple. Leylin believed that ancient bloodlines inherited by Warlocks could not be extracted without limit, as they had a close connection to their sources.
There was no issue if a small part of the bloodline was extracted, but if the other party was used as a bloodbank, their bloodline would soon be exhausted. This would have the same effect even on ancient creatures.
Whatever it was, the bloodline of a rank 5 Warlock, especially that from a Warlock who had inherited his bloodline from an ancient Breaking Dawn Creature, was basically a moving treasure trove for Leylin. Forget purifying it or making imprints from it, just observing how a rank 6 bloodline interacted with the body would bring great benefits to his bloodline experiments.
But of course, the other party would definitely not let himself be treated as a guinea pig.
‘Forget that for now, I’ll decide on that after looking at his attitude. Right now, I need to think about the Blazing Flame Monarch.’ Leylin stood up and entered the astral laboratory.
Melinda had tried to entice him into dealing with the Blazing Flame Monarch together, stating that she knew of his weakness. In order to gain his trust, she’d even given him some information, and the A.I. Chip had tested its veracity. However, the most important bit was still in her possession, and there was nothing Leylin could do about that.
He obviously knew that she wouldn’t divulge key information until the time for the operation came. There was no other way about it. And since the other side would give him no more information, Leylin could only begin thinking of ways to increase his own strength. No matter what the situation was, he could not go wrong with that.
‘Truth be told, it’s best that I hole myself up and deal with the Blazing Flame Monarch only after I reach Breaking Dawn.’ Although Leylin thought this way, it was a pity that he had been attacked by the Monarch. He now knew that this was impossible.
Leylin could feel an obvious malicious desire from him. It told him the Monarch was intent on eliminating him. The only reason for the current silence was that the opponent needed to recover some strength. Once they reacted completely, the most terrifying of strengths would be brought to bear on Leylin like lightning.
‘Shit! When did I ever provoke them? Even if it was the previous time, he was the one who dispatched Magi to attack me!’ Leylin felt that he was being wronged, and was rather confused.
There was no reason for the Flame Monarch’s hatred towards him.
Of course, the Blazing Flame Monarch had always had a strange temper. Back then, if not for Offa and the other rank 5 Radiant Moon standing up to the leader of the Warlocks purge campaign in time, perhaps the central continent would not exist today.
After cursing the opponent a few times, Leylin found he could not do anything about it. He’d been walking as he delved into thought, and the A.I. Chip’s robotic voice sounded automatically the moment he walked through the laboratory.
[Beep! Host body has entered range of astral laboratory. Beginning sterilisation and disinfection .Beginning automatic sterilisation and disinfecting.]
Once the voice sounded, Leylin’s body was covered with a layer of black as fiery red light cleaned it top to bottom.
This was an essential procedure for interplanar experiments. With such complete measures that cleverly made use of magic, Leylin felt like this laboratory matched up to the high-end laboratories of his previous world, even surpassing them in some aspects.
Completing the sterilisation and having prepared his defences, Leylin arrived at the astral laboratory. He did not head for the astral gate straight away, instead entering one of the binding rooms beside it.
Blue light rippled in a massive pool made not of water, but condensed lightning. Densely packed confinement and isolation runes separated it from the outside. This sort of strict defence was obviously prepared to confine a creature or material from the astral plane.
After he reached Radiant Moon, Leylin’s ability to explore the astral plane had improved greatly. With the additional help of the A.I. Chip, he’d obtained various harvests every time he activated his gate. Though he hadn’t yet found a foreign world with no World Will, he’d acquired quite a few scraps, even meeting a wanderer in the astral plane and making a few deals.
There were even a few astral beings who were unlucky enough to charge headfirst into Leylin’s side, arriving at this world through his gate. These beings eventually became Leylin’s spoils from his explorations, and were all collected here.
Large numbers of confinement runes formed several separate frames at the bottom of the pool. Various strange items were placed within each. One of them was a creature similar to a black octopus with numerous illusory tentacles touching the edges of the frames, as if trying to probe something before being frightened back by the terrifying current.
*Wooh wooh...* Practically at the very moment Leylin arrived, the octopus quickly withdrew into a ball, as if Leylin was some horrifying demon.
“Looks like I was too rough with it...” Leylin laughed as he read through the records by the A.I. Chip.
[Spectral Octopus: Astral Being. Period Since Capture: 15 days, 9 hours. Currently in good condition, no distinct need to eat.]
The image that the A.I. Chip provided had numbers all over the different parts of the octopus, with some conjectures included. Everything about this spectral octopus was being shown to him.
“Training the soul is extremely troublesome. The method the ancients passed down is to constantly probe the astral plane, simulating and understanding its rules to allow one’s own soul to evolve...” Such a method took too much time and consumed a tremendous amount of astral stones. However, it was safe and effective.
The vast astral plane was truly boundless, and it encompassed all things. Experiencing the working of such a thing was very beneficial for a Magus’ truesoul.
Leylin, however, had the cheat that was the phoenix egg. He had no need for this. If not for his own vitality being unable to keep up and his fear of the issues that would arise due to a lack of coordination between the body and a rapidly strengthened soul, he would long since have broken through to the peak of Radiant Moon.
To him, interplanar experiments carried a whole different meaning. “I’ve already pushed the paths of a Warlock and Magus to the limits for now. If I need to strengthen myself quickly, the only ways left are in other worlds...”
Leylin’s eyes were calm. He who had the A.I. Chip constantly analysing things for him knew very clearly the paths of Warlocks and Magi. He understood that his strength had reached its peak until he could deal with the issue of body-soul balance, which was why he’d shifted his attention to the astral plane.
Since he had reached a bottleneck in his own path, it was a good idea to walk on others. Such a thing would definitely be beneficial to him.
On top of that, Leylin had never given up his search for the Purgatory World!
The attention from the Snake Dowager had given him a terrible premonition. He did not want to meet her when he was caught unprepared one day, and wished to solve this problem himself. Finding the coordinates to the Purgatory World was therefore of extreme importance.
The coordinates to the Purgatory World were something the Warlocks of the Ouroboros Clan yearned for, which was why after obtaining the information left behind by those Kemoyin Warlocks, Leylin’s progress in this area had increased rapidly.
Leylin, who had the innate ability of control due to his Kemoyin Serpent Emperor bloodline, naturally knew how terrifying a creature like the Snake Dowager was.
If possible, he obviously did not want to meet her now, but it was necessary to make some preparations for the future.
“I’ve been using so many astral stones without care, and I only got so much...”
Leylin gazed at the items in the restraining lightning pool, speechless, “It’s no wonder that Morning Star Magi spend so many resources to no avail. Things like this that rely on luck are too scary. This is my result with the aid of the A.I. Chip; other Magi won’t even have this much...”
Leylin’s astral stone consumption had reached a terrifying stage, and he’d even used up all the astral stones belonging to the Ouroboros Clan. If not for the Warlock Union replenishing his supply, he would’ve faced a problem with the energy for his future experiments.
Even then, he wasn’t lucky enough to have gathered many resources, and he was facing a net loss...