Chamber of Commerce
"Ka-cha!"
Todd's black dagger slashed across the translucent armour, but it harmlessly bounced off.
"It's a defensive secret technique!" Todd's eyes gleamed.
There were many secret techniques for Grand Knights, but many of them were just a large boost in a single attribute.
For example, Todd's secret technique focused on speed, raising it to twice his original speed!
From what he could see, Baelin had mustered a technique that boosted his defense.
"Dummy, once your technique wears off, you will still be slain by me!" A sinister smile appeared on Todd's face.
However, Baelin suddenly moved!
Speed! Baelin was extremely quick; as he moved, his translucent armour created a shrill noise from the wind passing through.
Todd could only see the bare afterimages!
"It's…actually the two attributes buff!" Todd cried out hoarsely, yet the greed in his eyes only grew more apparent.
Such a technique was of a considerably high grade that existed only in myths. Even the Argus Family had not seen anyone wielding such a technique for the longest of times.
However, Todd did not have much time to think. Baelin had already appeared in front of him as he raised his cross blade, furiously slashing down at Todd.
"Clang!" Todd jumped back and parried with the dagger in his hand.
*Peng!" As the two weapons clashed, Todd's dagger was sent flying out of his grip.
"There is even a strength buff! Three attributes! A secret technique that buffs three areas!" Todd's mind was blank at this moment. A two attributes buff was not unheard of, but this three attributes buff of a Grand Knight level was practically unheard of, even in legends!
However, Baelin had no desire to explain things to him.
He charged forward and swung his sword at Todd's neck.
*Pu!* The head that carried a scarred face was sent flying, as a blood fountain gushed to a metre's height from the neck.
"Jenny, are you alright?!"
Baelin dispelled the translucent armour and rushed to Jenny's side.
"I… I'm alright!" Jenny replied involuntarily, before seeing Baelin collapse at her side.
Although the Cross Star was a technique taught to him by Leylin, who was not a Grand Knight, the might of it exceeded that of other Grand Knight techniques, but still retained the same properties of a Grand Knight technique!
As for Baelin, who had activated this technique, he entered a feeble state. Even raising an arm was too difficult for him; only his eyes and mouth could just barely move.
"You… why are you this silly? This does not even concern you…" Jenny wept, and tears once again streamed down her face.
"Keke…I'm fine!" Baelin tried his best to mask his current weakened state, but it was all done in vain.
"I've thought about it—let's seek asylum from Lord Leylin! He will definitely be able to protect you!" Baelin spoke what's on his mind.
"… We can't do that!" Jenny wryly smiled and replied.
"Baelin! Can't you discern the truth from this misfortune? Lord Leylin has already abandoned me!" Jenny smiled bitterly, "You had better return to Lord Leylin, where he can protect you! Lucas won't be able to cause you any harm…"
"No!" Baelin's face flushed red. "I won't leave you even if I die!"
"Baelin!" Jenny crouched down as both of them engaged in a passionate kiss.
After the long and intense tongue fight, Baelin seemed to have changed immediately. "Let us go! To the middle region! To where the dark elves' kingdoms are! To the area of darkness! Whatever it is, let us leave here to a place where no one can find us, and live happily ever after!"
"Alright!"
Jenny resolutely replied.
The two exchange gazes and smiled brightly.
...
"Huh! It seems as though Baelin has decided to leave!"
Leylin ruminated in amusement as he saw the extremely tidy and neat room, in which a letter lay on the table.
To him, Baelin was only a pet that he was raising while nursing his injury.
As for the current Leylin, he had already returned to the right path, and no longer had time to take care of Baelin. Perhaps it was the best choice to allow him to leave.
Furthermore, Leylin did not have much use for Baelin. Even if he was turned into a Branded Swordsman, the strength of a rank 1 Magus was not sufficient to aid Leylin.
"However, this is my first time having good intentions! I hope you can pass down my cross blade technique throughout the Twilight Zone and not ruin the name of my Farlier family…"
A profound light flashed in Leylin's \eyes.
Through the sense of the Sacred Flame he had, he already knew that Baelin and Jenny were not regular folks. What's more, they would be taking the stage in Twilight Zone as the 'main characters'!
One would expect that in the near future, they would definitely not have any sort of peaceful lives—troubles would come searching for them one after another.
"But only then are things interesting! My setup can finally be put to good use!"
Leylin smiled gently, before putting this matter at the back of his head.
Today was the day that he had set with Siegfried to meet other official Magus. Leylin had been anticipating this day for quite a while.
"So it's here?"
Leylin and Siegfried, dressed in common folk clothes, walked into an extremely lavish shop.
"Gersi's Chamber of Commerce, the most outstanding conclave in the whole of the eastern Twilight Zone. Some of the nobility even know that there is a Magi organisation supporting this conclave from the shadows…"
Siegfried smiled as he explained this to Leylin.
Although they spoke as if no one was beside them, their voices did not travel far enough for the people in the surroundings to hear.
"As for us, the other Magi who are in small associations or are wandering around, we like to gather here for a couple of days and exchange some valuable insights gleaned from recent experiments or the experience gained from meditation techniques. Sometimes trades will be conducted too. Of course, all these are only restricted to the official Magus level."
Siegfried wore a large black glove, hiding his metal prosthetic limb within it.
"Welcome! How may I help you?"
Two beautiful maidservants came over and asked after Siegfried stepped into Gersi's Chamber of Commerce.
"Take me to the VIP room!" Siegfried handed a gold card to the maidservant, whose eyes immediately started to shine.
"My two Lords, please follow me!" She bowed deeply, showing off the curves of her chest. As she led the way, she exaggeratedly swayed her hips.
"How is it? Do you want to play for a while?" Siegfried asked Leylin with a smile on his face.
"I have no such urges now, so maybe after this!" Leylin smiled indifferently and replied.
As the maidservant in front heard Leylin's words, disappointment streaked across her face.
Although she was somewhat disappointed, the maid still quickly brought them to an extremely lavishly decorated room. "My apologies! As my level is not high enough, our manager will take over and assist you from here!"
The girl bowed again and took her leave.
"Our Magus VIP cards are different from others, so the person who is serving us next will know our requirements and will bring us to the conclave!"
Siegfried explained the process simply to Leylin.
"The membership registration is extremely simple. You need to first reach the rank of an official Magus, and then have another Magus refer you. I'll set a referral up for you later!"
"I appreciate it!" Leylin smiled gently.
*Boom!* At this moment, an oil painting in the VIP room swung open, revealing a flight of stairs.
"Honoured guests, please follow me!"
An upper-class woman with the spiritual force of a level 3 acolyte appeared in the tunnel. Her skin was flawless and white like porcelain, without any traces of pores.
"Alright!" Siegfried nodded his head and allowed the lady to lead the way.
However, he spoke to Leylin without the lady hearing. "She is an example of the high-grade goods that Gersi's Chamber of Commerce is offering. If you're interested, you can apply to purchase a few of them later. The chamber is rather generous to the newcomers' needs…"
"A slave at the level of an acolyte?" Leylin was in shock. This level of a slave was much better than the ones appearing in the Nightless City on the south coast.
Back in Nightless City, Leylin, who was a rank 1 Magus, had only managed to purchase a level 3, old geezer acolyte who was nearing the end of his life.
Evidently, even though both of them were level 3 acolytes, a charming lady would definitely command a higher price than a dying old geezer.
The passage was rather short, and after a couple minutes, they soon reached the end.
After opening the door, Leylin was brought into a great hall.
The light of multiple sun stones penetrated through the crystals in the four corners of the hall, illuminating every corner of the hall.
At this moment, Magi were seated in different circles while chatting in soft voices.
Upon their tables were several green fruits and drinks. Apart from that, many delicacies that were unknown to Leylin were placed there for the Magi's taking, yet very few bothered to taste them.
"Come! I'll bring you to see some of my friends!"
After looking around, Siegfried eyes lit up after he noticed a group of red haired Magi sitting in one of the circles, and he promptly dragged Leylin over to them.
"Here! These are the Magi from the Earth Fire Association, and they are also my friends! As for him, this is Mister Leylin, a wandering Magus who had recently come to our eastern capital…"
Siegfried made the introductions on both sides, and Leylin smiled and sent his greetings to the group of Magi.
Together with Leylin's disposition as a noble and his increased charisma due to the fact that he was a Warlock, he very soon managed to break the ice and began to mingle with them.
Icy Jade Scorpion Breath
Leylin looked at the members of the Earth Fire Association
The Magi sitting here were rather few. Including Leylin and Siegfried, they only amounted to 5 people.
No matter if it was the south coast or the Twilight Zone, it was not easy to advance to an official Magus. However, once someone advanced, their status and position would undergo massive changes.
"When I had recently studied Gaia's Might, I felt that it was very difficult to attract the earth element energy particles. It was especially so on the topic of gathering Gaia's aura…"
At this moment, one of the red-haired Magi impatiently began to talk.
"For that, I believe an energy particle pond will help you…" Siegfried interrupted with his own opinion.
"That is not realistic! It consumes too many resources! I suggest using 3 kinds of meditation assisting runes, but then there is the problem of impurities in your spiritual force later on…"
Leylin found that these Magi of the Earth Fire Association discussed quite a bit about their experiences while training using their high-level meditation technique, Gaia's Might.
Some of the problems discussed had been researched very thoroughly, and it helped Leylin a little bit in his cultivation and perfection of his Sacred Flame and Kemoyin's Pupil.
The common practice in the Twilight Zone was like this: people would get together and discuss their experiences in meditation techniques, and thus hope to jointly advance.
Of course, one was delusional if they thought that just relying on these casually discussed phrases would help in the completion of Gaia's Might. Thus, these Magi were not worried that their cultivation secrets would be leaked.
When it was Leylin's turn to share his experience, he talked about his breakthrough through a small bottleneck, which led to some reminiscing among the other Magi.
Although it had only taken him a short time to advance to a rank 2 Magus, his Kemoyin's Pupil had also advanced to the second level, which was considered a high level. Moreover, after obtaining another high-level meditation technique called Sacred Flame, under the constantly inferred data by the A.I. Chip, Leylin's understanding of meditation techniques had far surpassed the knowledge of these old geezers who had immersed themselves in meditation techniques for several hundreds of years!
"It seems that later on, one must not only bitterly cultivate by themselves but also often exchange experiences with their peers."
Just this one discussion had given Leylin new ideas for resolving the complexities and misunderstandings he had with his own meditation techniques. This was despite the fact that this discussion was only pertaining to the Gaia's Might, which was not the meditation technique Leylin practised!
Furthermore, relying on the information collected by the A.I. Chip this time, Leylin could derive a deeper understanding of his two meditation techniques.
This was only natural, as Magi followed the ancient principle of equal exchange among themselves.
Leylin paid attention to the fact that these Magi only talked about general things and the mentioning of the various means of doing something.
The genuine, concrete details could only be mutually exchanged between two Magi in a way like a business transaction, and strict confidentiality was expected between these two parties that had made the transaction.
Just now, Siegfried had sold some information related to the energy particle pond, and had got a huge remuneration.
After the public information exchange session was over, the next session was the transactions between two people.
If one was an official Magus, then they could set up a table with items to be sold and await customers.
The atmosphere here was completely different from that of the open-air stalls and street vendors.
Magi were not very eager to strike a deal, but rather, they loved to showcase and play with their precious resources. It was a common sight to see both buyer and seller chatting and smiling; some even had wine out to toast their successful trades.
Unfortunately, although these underground resources were also very valuable, most of them held no interest for Leylin.
With the A.I. Chip's knowledge of some ancient information, he could easily identify the items on display and recognize their names and origins. It was a pity that while these resources were useful for a level 1 Magus, they were of no use to Leylin, who had already advanced to a level 2 Magus.
However, after all was said and done, the underworld was not the same as the south coast. Leylin did not recognise some of the items on display, and as a result, his curiosity was piqued.
"What is this?"
Leylin walked up to a table just ahead and picked up an item that had been placed on a white tablecloth.
It was a uniquely shaped bone flute, with one side having some irregular, round holes.
"This is the Saxon bagpipes, which was inherited from the McKinsey era's Leighton archduchy. It is said the tune it produces is very beautiful, even surpassing the songs sung by mermaids. Thus, it can be used as bait to trap mermaids. Unfortunately, ever since the Leighton archduchy's destruction, there hasn't been anyone who knows how to play this instrument…"
The seller was a middle-aged fellow who was suitably attired for this occasion. In his hand was a long-stemmed wine glass full of a dark-red wine.
"I am very interested in these kinds of ancient musical instruments. I have currently already acquired 3912 varieties of musical instruments from different eras, and have housed them in my collection room. However, this item that I'm holding right now will not be able to shine on my hands, so I am in search of a more suitable owner"
The middle-aged gentleman's face appeared regretful as if he was saying goodbye to his own lover
"If you can use this item to play the ancient Requiem, then it is all yours." He raised his glass of wine to toast Leylin.
"Umm! I beg your pardon, but I have only a little understanding in playing a musical instrument…"
Leylin was somewhat silent, but this was also the norm for Magi. Due to their long lifespans, apart from always doing experiments and cultivating, Magi also took some time to have some extra fun.
Preferring to hoard some special kind of collectibles was not a very common or safe hobby. Some dark Magi even experienced a big change in their temperaments, as they got addicted to collecting strange collectibles—some of which even reeked of blood—and finally caused harm to others and themselves.
"That is truly regrettable! However, one day, I will definitely be able to find its genuine owner." This gentleman seemed to truly feel regret and sighed. "Come! Let us drink to the moment that my precious item will find its owner! Toast!"
"Cheers!" Leylin inwardly sneered, but still picked up a glass of orange juice. Then middle-aged gentleman touched his glass to Leylin's, issuing a clear 'ding' sound.
There were but a few in this trading session like this strange, gentlemanly Magus. Most of the Magi were doing their exchanges quietly. There were some who had clearly defined that their items could only be exchanged for items or resources, while the others also accepted magic crystals and completed their transactions.
In the Twilight Zone, magic crystals were also a commonly used currency among Magi.
Leylin exploited those transactions that used magic crystals to buy several resources that could only be found in the Twilight Zone, intending to go back and look over each of them thoroughly.
Because he was worried that both parties' magic crystals might have subtle differences, Leylin had purified all the magic crystals he had brought from the south coast and had converted them into magic crystals with the purest essence he could produce.
Magic crystals with this kind of purity were just like that magic crystal used by Leylin when he had opened the ancient teleportation formation. This was because after undergoing the purification process many times, it was now impossible to find any characteristics of the south coast in Leylin's magic crystals.
It was just like that matter with the gold coins. The decorative design on the gold coins from the south coast was not too similar to those from Twilight Zone, but Leylin had melted down all his gold coins into a lump of gold so that no person would be able to tell that it was from the south coast.
"Ehhh??"
While Leylin was walking around, he was occasionally observing the other Magi bargaining, trading, and so on, silently watching and learning from them. At this time, however, something on a white table caught his attention.
"What is this?"
Leylin picked up an item that looked like a shard of ice from the white table, appearing to be interested in that item.
This ice shard was preserved within a green jade box as if it was a very valuable treasure.
However, this feature wasn't why it had caught Leylin's eye.
While he was walking to this table, he had felt a movement in his blood essence, as if it were reacting to some item, and that item was this ice shard.
At this moment, while Leylin was holding onto the ice shard with both his hands, the sensation he had felt before had now intensified.
*Zi! Zi*! A white mist appeared out from that ice shard and very quickly condensed into a layer of thick frost that froze Leylin's fingers.
This degree of white frost could not do any harm to Leylin, but he still was pleasantly surprised to find that when this cold air invaded him, there was an odd change that had occurred to the Kemoyin's bloodline in his body.
This feeling, it is as if a person who was burning with rage suddenly had ice-cold water poured on him. It really is very enjoyable!
Leylin heaved a mental sigh.
A Warlock's emotional instability was a bloodline illness, and it had already caused Leylin trouble for a long time. Although the A.I. Chip, in accordance with the research notes and the original prescription of the tranquility potion left behind by the Great Magus Serholm, had allocated more of the high-level tranquility potion, in the end, it could only suppress the illness, and could not completely cure it.
Now, this ice shard-like item in his hand caused him to feel some hope!
"I feel that this item I am holding can suppress the negative effects on my emotions for at least a year! If I find more items like these, then perhaps the emotional instabilities can be completely cured."
A joyous sparkle appeared in Leylin's eyes, but it was quickly concealed.
He did not want to expose any emotion before he got his hands on the name and origin of the ice-shard.
"This is the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath. Icy Jade Scorpions live deep within ice caves, and their saliva has the effect of boosting the advancement of plenty of ice element high-level meditation techniques. It is being sold for 500,000 magic crystals, or can be exchanged for an item of similar worth…"
In front of Leylin was an extremely beautiful female Magus.
Her long purple robes could not hide the curves of the body. Instead, it was even more enchanting as the robes failed to conceal them. Her light purple hair was let down like a waterfall, and her exquisite face carried a smile.
This woman's looks definitely ranked in the top ten of all females Leylin had ever seen, and in addition, she looked extremely intelligent and capable.
"I have an experiment which requires a large amount of this item; can you bring me to the ice cave? Or perhaps, I can purchase them in bulk"
From the smile of the woman, Leylin knew that she had seen through his urgent need for the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath, so he just calmly admitted it.
Research And Experiment
Meanwhile, a magic crystal was tossed onto the table.
Leylin kept the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath in his palm with no intentions of returning it.
"Is it just an experiment?"
The purple-haired Magus said with a grin. The magic crystal on the table flew into her hands, leaving behind a flickering black afterimage.
Leylin merely looked at her with a vacant stare, as if what he had said was the truth.
"Alright then!" The female Magus elegantly raised her finger, on which her fingernail had been painted with the red sap of a daffodil, and kept the magic crystal.
"I'm Celine! You can contact me in the future for more information regarding the Icy Jade Scorpion. This is my secret imprint!"
She then passed her secret imprint, which looked like a purple daffodil, to Leylin.
Leylin nodded and left the area, and right after that, a plump Magus walked up to Celine and began to chat with her earnestly.
"Leylin, my friend! Where are you going?"
At this moment, Siegfried strolled up to where he was.
"You came at the right time. Do you know who that purple haired female Magus is?" Leylin pointed at the female Magus who occasionally covered her mouth and giggled while conversing animatedly with the plump Magus.
"Oh! That's Celine, the inheritor of a small guild. Although the guild's strength isn't much, she is a famous beauty of the eastern capital! However, she's extremely crafty, and many Magi who have harboured designs on her have suffered. She's not someone you'd want to provoke…"
Siegfried looked at Leylin before grinning. "Why? Are you interested in her?"
"No! We just had some dealings previously."
After listening to Siegfried's explanation, he was even more sure that Celine was not a simple woman. The grip he had on the box unconsciously tightened.
However, the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath was paramount to his path as a Warlock, so he absolutely could not miss this chance.
"It seems like I'll have to play with this vixen for a while!"
Leylin smiled as he glanced at Celine.
...
In the eastern capital, within the villa that Leylin bought.
After Baelin's silent farewell, only Leylin was left as the sole occupant of the grand villa. As Leylin had not bought any slaves, it felt rather empty in here.
At this moment, Leylin had separately constructed a concealed tunnel in the underground cellar.
At the end of the tunnel was a spacious underground lab, at the centre of which was a silver metal experimental desk with test-tubes lying on top of it. All of these things were items that Leylin had brought along with him.
"What a strange item!"
At this moment, Leylin used silver tweezers and held the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath as blue light shined in his eyes.
With the aid of the microscopic analysing abilities of the A.I. Chip, the surface on the icy shard continuously enlarged, finally revealing a strange rune with six sides.
Chilliness churned and emanated from this strange rune.
[Beep! The analysis of the components of the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath is complete! Creating matrixes and images! Beginning simulation of the experiments on bloodline!]
Soon, the A.I. Chip's voice intoned.
"Let's begin!" Leylin inhaled deeply.
[Authorisation received. Beginning the simulation of experiment on bloodline!] The A.I. Chip worked on the data. Leylin's eyes blurred as he seemed to enter a different dimension. He could vaguely make out a translucent human figure with purple blood running through their veins.
[Injecting the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath!] With the A.I. Chip's voice, two thin metal needles pierced the humanoid figure at the shoulders, and images then showed a strange white liquid flowing into the body.
*Huala!* Once the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath had entered the body, it frothed as if hot oil had met with icy water, creating a very strong reaction.
The experimented-on body began to shake violently, and the numbers which represented the data of the figure changed wildly, almost turning into a blur.
[Blood flow and pressure are increased, and burden on the body is multiplied by five!]
From time to time, the A.I. Chip would update and interpret the new figures for Leylin.
"Begin the radiation of energy particles! Stabilise the vitality within!" Leylin ordered once again.
Soon, black Dark elemental energy particles began to emanate from the experimental body, and under such radiation, the body slowly began to stabilise.
Finally, the experimental body returned to its original state, and the purple blood in the body continued to flow, just like wine inside a glass.
The main difference was that the blood had dulled a little and become darker.
[Warlock's bloodline emotional stability experiment was successful! Estimated time for suppressing the core emotional waves: 345 days, 13 hours.] The A.I Chip gave an accurate analysis of the experiment.
"If the dosage is increased, could it prevent any troubles in the future?" Leylin asked the A.I. Chip.
[Data is insufficient. Analysing the data's probabilities…] The A.I. Chip once again went into a computing mode.
Only after five hours had passed did the A.I. Chip come up with a reply. [Success rate is 67%. Requires more high-level Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath.]
"As expected! This kind of Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath can really cure problems with Warlocks' emotions."
Leylin's eyes shone brightly with happiness.
Although the ancient bloodline Warlocks had powerful physiques and magic capabilities, it was very difficult for them to advance.
However, this was not the main reason why the Warlock inheritance declined!
As a result of their access to powerful ancient bloodlines, a Warlock would also inherit the intact genes—which were deeply imbued with tyrannical and terrifying emotions—of ancient predators.
Because of this, a Warlock's personality was often irascible, and they were quick-tempered, which was a fatal flaw in the Magus world.
No matter how powerful one was, what was the point in having such power if one could not control their own spirit?
Therefore, the calm and rational Magi could pass on their legacies. However, there were no traces of Warlocks on the south coast and Twilight Zone; perhaps only the central continent had some of the legacies left behind by Warlocks.
"Icy Jade Scorpion!"
Leylin quickly sorted out all the information he had related to this organism.
After being told the name of this crystal, Leylin began an intensive study on the characteristics, habitats, capabilities, etc. of this organism, and gathered all of the relevant data.
"Icy Jade Scorpion, a high energy organism that reaches the might of a rank 1 Magus in its adult stages. In search of fertile lands, they often reside in icy caves! Legend has it that they came from another world back in ancient times, and after entering the Twilight Zone, they underwent some evolutionary changes. Only the special radiation reflected from certain types of topaz are able to sustain their lives and reproduction capabilities. Their crystallised breath is known to have stimulating effects on certain high-grade meditation techniques."
This was a brief summary of all the information Leylin had gathered.
The icy cave's resources had already been monopolised by several guilds, and was in the process of being excavated. It would be extremely difficult for Leylin to enter on his own.
"No matter what, I have to obtain the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath!" Flames of desire glinted in Leylin's eyes, "Even if the heavens fall and the earth crumbles, I will not stop under any circumstances!"
Suppressing a bloodline Warlock's emotional instability proved to be extremely difficult, as even though there were so many ancient Magi, they could only discover ways to suppress it. If not for Leylin having the A.I. Chip and bloodline acting as a reminder, he definitely would not have been able to discover the use of the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath this easily.
Leylin did not feel that he would chance upon such a lucky encounter again!
"However, using the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath as a suppressant may not work for all Warlocks, and may not even work for others with the Giant Kemoyin Serpent's bloodline. However, the A.I. Chip managed to find a resource that is able to work specifically for me!"
Leylin's face was extremely solemn.
There were no remedies to treat the emotional instability of Warlocks. Also, due to the difference in bloodlines, each Warlock had a unique bodily attribute. Hence, Leylin himself was not sure whether the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath would be effective.
It was very likely that the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath would aid Leylin, but not another Warlock with the Giant Kemoyin Serpent's bloodline.
In other words, the unique characteristics of this resource made it especially effective for Leylin!
Furthermore, the rise and fall of other Warlocks was of no concern to Leylin! He only cared that the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath was useful to him, and that he needed more of it. It would be best if he could find another Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath of higher quality.
"I'll have to plan for this! I need a calm and collected mind!"
Leylin looked at the icy shard between the tweezers.
"Through the experimentation on the A.I. Chip, I now know that although the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath can suppress my mental fluctuations and allow me to be sane for close to a year, there will also be some side effects. I have to concoct some potions to get rid of these side effects!"
This would not stump Leylin at all. After residing in Four Seasons Garden for such a long time, Leylin was no longer a Potion Master who had just advanced.
The Four Seasons Garden was a large-scaled power that was formed of potion masters. They had various information on all sorts of potions, as well as ideas on concocting ancient potions, and these experiments were not too difficult.
Naturally, Leylin had absorbed all of the information stored within the Four Seasons Garden like a sponge, all while practising his potioneering skills at the same time.
Through various trades and experiments, Leylin estimated that his skills had far surpassed that of his mentor, Professor Kroft, after leaving the Four Seasons Garden, and had even reached the realm of a Potion Grandmaster!
A Potions Grandmaster! Their success rate for brewing high-grade potions was around 30%, and they could even research and try brewing new types of potions on their own!
Negotiations
There were only a few Potion Masters in the entire south coast, and they were all pursued and worshipped by many major powers.
Hence, Leylin did not dare to expose his attainment in potioneering.
Advancing to rank 2 at his age was already heaven-defying, but if he revealed his skill in potioneering, he would be called not a normal genius, but a freak of nature!
A Potion Master's progress was not dependent on his theory research—he had to do a great amount of practical work. Only after wasting lots of resources could he get plenty of experience and thus make progress.
Even if Leylin was freakishly talented, he simply could not be promoted to a higher level in potioneering without doing anything.
If many Magi decided to investigate him, the existence of his A.I. Chip might even be exposed!
Because of this, Leylin had always concealed his genuine realm in Potions, choosing to stay silent regarding this.
The most important aspect of a Potions Master was innovation! By relying on their wealth of knowledge and experience, they could improvise formulas and still attain a very high success rate.
Thanks to Leylin's current attainments in potioneering, he only had to think for a short while before being able to recall several formulas to be used together with Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath that would negate its side effects.
"En! In order to completely eliminate the side-effects of the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath, I'll need Arrow Frog Venom, Reddish Stony Feces, and the egg of the Black Mountain Goat, and then I'll be able to start the neutralisation process… "
Leylin eventually selected a formula. "Coincidentally, I have one portion of all of these items!"
Soon after, he was deeply immersed in the brewing process.
The usage of this Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath concerned the success or failure of eliminating the side effects from his bloodline, and thus, he had to be serious.
...
Two days passed before Leylin emerged from his laboratory.
There were slight differences between his condition from 2 days ago and now. His personality had become colder, and he now gave off an unapproachable aura. His skin had turned softer, and it constantly emitted a jade-like luster.
A chilliness seemed to emit from his black hair, decreasing the surrounding temperature by a few degrees.
After having brewed the potion, Leylin was itching to make use of it and see if it would successfully suppress his bloodline.
The A.I. Chip had already given Leylin definite assurance that while the potion was in effect, even if Leylin was to take part in bloody battles every day, the effects of his bloodline wouldn't corrupt his rational thinking.
Only now did Leylin have the confidence to research on the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath.
"Siegfried! Previously, I asked you to get some intelligence about Celine's guild. Is there any news on that matter?"
"Celine! I now have some time, so tell me where it is! We can go there directly and talk in person about the matter concerning the Icy Jade Scorpion!"
The first thing Leylin did was send out two short messages using secret imprints.
A few minutes later, he received an answer. A khaki coloured imprint of a mechanical arm shone upon the contact book.
"I had previously gathered some intelligence, and coupled with your generous reward, I have already gotten a better understanding of Nature's Alliance. I'll pass on the information to you later."
Siegfried conveyed some good news to Leylin.
"Thank you! I will come and visit you later." Leylin smiled.
Compared to Siegfried, Celine's answer was much simpler. There was a time and a place, and everything else could only be discussed once they reached the place.
"What a shrewd woman!" Leylin evaluated. "I just hope you don't go and get yourself ensnared too!"
...
"This is the place." Leylin had arrived in front of an elegant office in the eastern capital.
This building was rather different from the usual structures of the subterranean world, which placed an emphasis on defence. Here, it was extremely majestic and sought to be elegant and pleasing to the eye—it was adorned with all sorts of flowers and plants, while its defence was unbelievably weak.
This contrasting style, along with the top-class luxurious items inside, had attracted the attention of several aristocrats, causing them to rush madly towards this place. However, it implemented a very strict system for its members, and only a limited number of customers were received. The supporter of this place was also extremely firm, and after rejecting the requests of a few aristocratic families, the demand sharply dropped.
Leylin entered this office and began to recall the information Siegfried had given him.
Nature's Alliance—this was the guild that Celine was in. It was said that this small sized guild had affinities with various plants from another world, and their greenhouse handling of plants and research of these plants were extremely unique and cutting edge.
Furthermore, although the high-grade meditation technique of the Nature Alliance did not have strong fighting abilities, it was extremely useful in playing the role of support. Furthermore, the training in this technique allowed the practitioner to permanently change their appearance slightly, turning them into handsome men and pretty ladies that would be able to attract pursuit from the opposite sex.
Lastly, the Magi that graduated from these guilds were completely different from traditional Magi with their stubbornness and unwillingness to communicate with others. Most of them were intelligent, capable, and extremely adept at socialising. They had quite a good reputation outside, and even had a good relationship with other small guilds.
This was all the information Siegfried had gathered regarding the guild behind Celine.
Leylin had also found much valuable information from within. "Changing their appearance, being good at socialising, having a powerful backing… It looks like the high-grade meditation technique of Nature's Alliance can't directly increase one's strength. It might increase one's charisma or illusory abilities!"
"In addition, they have a good relationship with most small guilds, and a few medium-sized guilds. This means that it's almost impossible for there to be a rank 2 or higher Magus in charge, else it would have long since become a large-scale guild."
If Leylin was still a rank 2 Warlock, he would naturally force his way through. However, as he was still sustaining an injury and could not yet use his full power, he had to remain low-key indefinitely and not attract unwarranted attention from Magi who were rank 2 and above. Hence, he had to be patient and enter the game that this wily vixen Celine was playing.
"Hello, Mister! Do you have an appointment?"
As Leylin stepped in, he was respectfully stopped by two maidservants. As they greeted him, Leylin caught a whiff of an extremely simple yet elegant perfume. The two maidservants were dressed extremely well, and they clearly had training in their poise, which could rival that of women in nobility.
However, the few Knights that stood behind the maidservants were enough to cause people to dispel their stray thoughts.
"I have an appointment with Celine!" Leylin answered.
"Lord Leylin, please follow me!" After hearing Celine's name, the two maidservants' bodies shuddered slightly and they became more respectful to Leylin.
"Lord Celine is waiting for you in the Horizon Pavilion!"
"Horizon Pavilion? Isn't that the guestroom that is reserved for people of the highest importance?" A passing noble youth squealed, attracting the attention of passers-by.
"I haven't heard wrongly, it is the Horizon Pavilion!"
"Exactly what background does this young man have? I haven't heard anything about a noble paying a visit…"
From a secret hall nearby, all sorts of mutters could be heard. Though their voices were extremely low and quiet, they were still able to travel into Leylin's ear.
Leylin followed behind the maidservants. Under everyone's astonished gazes, he headed towards the meeting point designated for the people of highest importance.
After walking through several corridors that were lined with flowers and plants, Leylin finally reached the Horizon Pavilion.
The two maidservants opened the door for Leylin before retreating.
Mist! A layer of thin white mist engulfed the entire room, and in certain corners of the room were the glittering of jewels, making the place more magnificent than before, its picturesque beauty like a place of fantasy.
"En? This mist seems to have a type of tranquil and relaxing effect, which is rather useful for even a regular human's body!"
Leylin made his deduction after catching a single whiff of it. He even understood the formula to replicate the mist. "It's a pity that it doesn't have much of an effect on an official Magus."
Leylin continued to observe the layout of the Horizon Pavilion.
Green plants took up a huge portion of the room, but the layout was extremely neat and tidy, giving off a feeling of being one with nature.
In the Twilight Zone, green plants were extremely valuable resources, as the light from sun stones was used to grow various fungi and oats. As for vegetables and fruits, they were extremely rare items only for the nobility, much less plants that were only used for aesthetic viewing purposes.
Celine rested on a chair made of vines, seemingly unaware of Leylin's arrival. Her long, slender legs were revealed, and with that beauty of hers that could cause wars between kingdoms, it was no small temptation, even for an official Magus.
"Ahem." Leylin lightly coughed.
Following which, the woman lying down was roused in shock, and she proceeded to greet Leylin with a smile, "You're here, Magus Leylin!"
Each and every movement of hers had elegance in it, and coupled with her voice that was as sweet as a skylark's, it could leave one intoxicated.
"Hello, Magus Celine!" Leylin gave a perfunctory greeting, the expression on his face neither warm nor cold.
The spiritual force of an official Magus was enough to engulf the space within the room, and when Leylin entered, he did not conceal the aura on his body. It would be strange if this woman did not realise his arrival at all!
However, even if it was done on purpose, Celine's behaviour could not invoke any hatred. It was as if a little girl was playing a prank, which was not annoying.
However, after witnessing this scene, Leylin was even more sure of the meditation technique she cultivated in.
A superior illusory technique was not only cast on opponents, but also on the user. It would often leave opposing Magi finding it unbearable to inflict pain on them.
It was extremely obvious that Celine's meditation technique had reached such a level.
Celine
"There is only one effect from such a meditation technique, and that is to increase affinity with others!"
"Natural affinity! Affinity to all things! At its peak, it will even affect intelligent creatures and their unconscious state of mind. Furthermore, it will also attract the illusion elemental energy particles…"
Leylin quickly deduced Celine's meditation technique.
"Terrifying! At its later stages, this meditation technique will even affect official Magi, where the energy particles will enter the Magus' body and influence their spirit's natural inclinations…"
Of course, Celine's attainment in this meditation technique had not reached such a level yet. Furthermore, Leylin had only conjectured the level higher than her current state, which may not even be true.
Evidently, her lustrous appearance could still not enchant Leylin.
Hence, Leylin had not completely disregarded Celine's beauty and found another chair made of vines, which was facing her, to sit on. "I'm sure that Miss Celine is extremely clear about my intentions on being here…"
The attitude that Leylin showed caused Celine to furrow her brows. However, very soon she smiled meaningfully as she stood up and stretched her back.
"Since Mister Leylin had already mentioned it, then I won't beat around the bush any longer!" Celine smiled wryly. "The icy cave is not controlled by my guild, Nature's Alliance. As for the Icy Jade Scorpion, it's venom poses a problem even for Magi… Furthermore, the elite Icy Jade Scorpion has the might of a semi-converted elemental Magus. Legends have it that a peak rank 1 Magus could not even beat their king…"
"Under so many unfavourable circumstances, we have to pay a huge price for every Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath that we obtain. What's more troublesome is that this species cannot be tamed, and they will attack any other living thing… To be frank, that material that I put for sale was the very last piece I owned…"
Celine continuously poured forth her grievances, seemingly pitiful like a weak and helpless damsel. One would often forget her identity as an official Magus.
However, Leylin would not fall into such a trap. Furthermore, even if she really had met with such troubles, Leylin had no intentions of helping her.
"My apologies but my reason for coming here this time is to amass large amounts of the Icy Jade Scorpion's Breath. Also, if you were to meet with difficulties, we could change our negotiations. Bring me the permit to enter the icy cave and a detailed map. In exchange, I'm willing to fork out large amounts of magic crystals, precious resources, and even top-grade research materials.
Leylin spoke in a rich and overbearing manner.
Of course, to enter the icy cave, he could deal with other organisations or simply choose to infiltrate his way in.
However, having an honest identity was always a good thing. Furthermore, Leylin had already inquired about the other factions who were safeguarding the icy cave. They were either a type of intelligent species or those extremely obstinate, conservative humans. As to whether Leylin could obtain anything from them, it remained a mystery.
No matter what, if Leylin did not want to cause a huge stir, the best way was to get in through Nature's Alliance.
Of course, if he was left with no other choices, Leylin did not mind going into seclusion for a good while before he regained the might of a rank 2 Warlock and force his way in and even monopolise the area for himself.
"Entry permit? Even a map?" Celine bowed her head as she pondered, but she very soon declined, "My apologies! Mister Leylin, you aren't from Nature's Alliance, so if I were to let you in, the other factions would not be too pleased about it…"
"However, if you were a member of Nature's Alliance, then there wouldn't be any problems anymore!" Celine grinned.
Leylin laughed loudly, "Just for a mere entry permit and you want me to join as a member, aren't you a little too naive?"
"It definitely will not stop at that level. If you, Mister Leylin, are willing to join, Celine is willing to give you the honorary title of a professor, with 500,000 magic crystals as a salary each year. Furthermore, the precious resources and experiment lab will be opened to you! Mister! Won't you give Celine a hand?"
Celine sounded extremely sincere as she spoke in an endearing manner which could enchant people. Ripples seemed to emanate from her big, shiny eyes.
"En?" Leylin was shocked for a while before he smiled and met Celine's eyes with his.
Under the detection of the A.I. Chip, an extremely indiscernible spiritual force was revealed to him. Moreover, the direction that it headed towards was Leylin's brain and his sea of consciousness.
"She actually dared to cast an illusion on me?" Leylin did not know whether to laugh or cry. This woman was acting somewhat recklessly. Not to mention the automatic counterattack from his bloodline, as a rank 2 Warlock, his massive spiritual force was enough to cause Celine a backlash which could turn her into an idiot!
However, he still had uses for her, so naturally, he would not be this vicious.
From Leylin's eyes, a large crimson coloured light surged forward and crumbled the incoming spiritual force into pieces.
After realising this had happened, Celine's face turned pale. Leylin, who had adopted a low profile, had always been suppressing his spiritual force and energy waves that he radiated. On the surface, he was just another ordinary rank 1 Magus.
For this very reason, Celine was willing to cast an illusion on him.
However, from the looks of it, this Magus by the name of Leylin was concealing most of his strength, which had caused her to be on the losing end.
In many cases, magic could turn around and backfire on the person who had cast the spell and cause him or her damage.
Celine struggled, wanting to shift her eyes away.
However, her neck seemed to be stuck in a certain position, unable to move even an inch.
Shocked, Celine could only gaze pitifully at Leylin, hoping to gain his understanding.
After playing around with her for a while, Leylin gave a faint smile and curbed the crimson rays coming from his eyes. Meanwhile, Celine trembled violently, two red lines flowed from her beautiful nose and created a flaw on her attractive face.
"A peak rank 1 Magus! You're a peak rank 1 Magus!" Celine did not even bother sorting out her appearance and exclaimed.
Through this spiritual force encounter, Celine could tell that he had a spiritual force that was as deep and profound as an ocean. The icy and terrifying aura it had caused her much fear.
She was extremely confident in her abilities in casting illusions. Based on records on meditation techniques, only someone who had the strength of at least a rank 1 peak Magus would be able to forcefully break her illusions.
At this point, Magi like them had basically completely converted their elemental essence, and their whole body had undergone a slight change. Ordinary illusions were basically useless.
And Leylin right here was a peak rank 1 Magus!
"My apologies! Celine did have the slightest clue that Mister Leylin had already been promoted to the peak of rank 1. Please forgive me for that sudden probing just now. Thank you so much for letting me off."
Celine looked grim, got up, and bowed towards Leylin with an expression of reverence.
In this situation where guilds were usually managed by official Magi, a peak rank 1 Magus was enough to destroy several small guilds. Celine was extremely familiar with the destructive power of a peak rank 1 Magus.
Magi at this level were enough to be the trump cards of medium-scaled guilds. Why would they appear here?
While Celine was bowing, she secretly raised her head and took the measure of this young man who was preposterously good looking. All sorts of thoughts emerged in her mind.
"It's nothing much! How is it going regarding the trade?" Leylin shook his head slightly.
Just showing a bit of strength was enough for this little vixen to see the disparity between them. When the difference in power was like that between heaven and earth, any scheming would be useless!
"The trade isn't very urgent. Please wait for a while longer!"
Celine's attitude had now undergone an 180-degree change. She bowed slightly, and then flitted away into the darkness like a butterfly.
She did not make him wait long, appearing in front of him again within a few minutes.
However, she now wore a purplish-gold gown and had dressed herself up, and did not look as pitiful as she had been. She was also holding onto a round disk.
"This is the collection at our office. There aren't many produced every year, and we only use it to entertain important guests!"
Celine smiled daintily, placing the item on the round dish on the table.
It was a seed that was in the shape of an olive. There were also patterns that were similar to that on walnuts and was probably the seed of some plant.
Celine's pale jade-like hands brushed at the seed!
*Weng!* Along with a circle of green rays, the entire seed began to tremble.
*Pak!* A white feeler burst out of the seed, extended itself, and then increased in number.
After the feelers were brown branches, followed by green leaves and pink flowers.
Under the green rays, this seed rapidly went through its entire brief life, and when all the flower petals fell away, a red fruit that was like an apple appeared on a branch.
"This is a special local product of ours, the Sicily Fruit! As it stays ripe for just a short period of time, it needs to be eaten right after being picked to be able to enjoy its pure, unadulterated taste."
Celine explained to Leylin while giving a gentle smile.
"The miracles in life are truly splendid and numerous!" Leylin praised. Such a miracle was only possible by using magic.
He picked the fruit off the plant, and the plant, which had lost its fruit, quickly wilted, and in seconds, turned into a puddle of grey liquid.
A Pact
*Munch!*
Leylin took a bite of the fruit that had been created by using magic to accelerate its growth.
As for any poisons, after having awakened the toxic innate talent of the Giant Kemoyin Serpent, he was basically immune to most poisons in the world. Perhaps only the terrifying toxins that originated from ancient times might be able to affect him.
As the fruit entered his mouth, a fragrant and sweet juice flowed between his teeth.
"It tastes pretty good, and it also seems to be beneficial towards one's spiritual force! It is still rather effective for official Magi who are gathering spiritual force."
Leylin gave a slightly surprised glance towards Celine.
"The Sicily fruit is only effective for official Magi who are eating it for the first time. If a Magus' rank is too high, or if it is eaten multiple times, it is probably only useful for satisfying one's taste buds and stomach." Celine could only force a wry smile, pointing out the flaws in the fruit.
"Even so, it is still remarkable!" Leylin shook his head. The effects of this fruit were akin to those of a potion for spiritual force. If this was on the south coast, countless official Magi would be looting this everywhere. Here, however, any small power was able to bring it out, and Leylin once again learned more about the abundance of resources in the subterranean world.
After displaying his strength, Leylin was extremely calm and composed, enjoying the top-grade delicacies, wine, and other great things that Celine brought out, while occasionally speaking to her.
After that, Celine took the initiative and brought up the trade that Leylin had been talking about.
"Is my lord really not going to even consider Celine's suggestion?" Celine stared at Leylin with puppy-dog eyes.
"I don't have any plans to join any powers and be tied down." Leylin rejected her straight out.
"Please don't worry about that at all. Nature's Alliance is very small and I, Celine, am the only official Magus. My lord, you wouldn't have to do much!" Celine guaranteed.
"Also, the moment you enter, we will release to you all of Nature's Alliance's high-grade meditation techniques and information regarding the secret spells that have been passed down.
After all, it was very rare for a peak rank 1 Magus to be seen traveling alone in the Twilight Zone. One could go so far as to say that they could be seen once in a hundred years.
If one wanted to walk far on the path of Magi, it was essential that they possess large amounts of resources and knowledge, and these were things that only large powers possessed.
Hence, those wandering Magi were usually not that powerful. Anyone who was a semi-converted Magus was considered rather powerful, and as for being a peak rank 1 Magus, that was virtually impossible.
Even if there were one or two who were extremely lucky, they would immediately be roped in by large Magi organisations, and would definitely not continue to wander.
Now, however, Celine knew there was a tremendous opportunity in front of her!
The moment she recruited Leylin, Nature's Alliance would automatically become a medium-ranked guild that would not lose out to top powers!
Hence, whilst knowing that she did not have much hope in this endeavour, Celine still wanted to give it a try! Though she had previously used her own beauty to seduce a few Magi, most of them were nothing special, and all they wanted was to gain possession of her. It was extremely disgusting, but she had to endure the disgust that rose within her and continue to have dealings with them for her guild to continue to exist.
If her guild had a peak rank 1 Magus taking charge, things would definitely be different!
"My apologies but…" Leylin spoke, causing Celine's expression to pale.
"But it's not as if there isn't a roundabout way of doing this." However, Leylin's next words caused Celine's eyes to shine.
"I can go through the motions of entering the Nature's Alliance guild to obtain the entry permit to enter the icy cave. Also, I want everything that you promised me, and in return, I can even personally help you to expand the guild to some extent! After this, you and your Nature's Alliance are not allowed to reject any of my requests. Remember, I mean any at all!"
Leylin altered the conditions a little, leaving Celine to sink deeply into thought.
"Fine!" After muttering to herself for some time, this clever woman quickly nodded and accepted Leylin's terms.
There were few chances to recruit a peak rank 1 Magus. In addition, though Leylin would only enter the guild in name, as long as she did her utmost if Nature's Alliance were to get into trouble, wouldn't he help out?"
"I can.. Even…" Celine raised her head and looked at Leylin's handsome features, flushed red, and then ducked her head.
However, considering her experience, she knew to reign in her emotions.
"I'll pass you the high-grade meditation techniques and information regarding spells as soon as possible. May I know when you are planning to enter the icy cave? I can arrange…"
Celine's head automatically lowered.
Such an attitude surprised Leylin. "Don't I have to sign some contract? I recall that when most guilds recruit new blood, some even get them to leave behind a portion of their soul."
"I trust Lord Leylin!" Celine resolutely stated, which left Leylin somewhat stupefied.
Of course, he would not leave any traces of his spirit to be bound by a contract. However, he was prepared to use the Trial's Eye to reassure her. After all, he still had many items that could be used to concoct the solution of the Nefarious Filthbird's feathers.
However, it seemed like Celine was slyer than he thought, and was also willing to take risks!
Perhaps, in the future, Nature's Alliance would be able to shine through her leadership and walk the path to glory!
Leylin looked at Celine, who seemed like a maidservant now, as he smiled in a toying manner…
...
A few days later, on a tall, fertile land, in front of a mighty construction.
Celine wore purple robes, seemingly with a bewitching intent. This caused the two acolytes behind her to gulp down their saliva.
Between the two acolytes, one of them was female. She herself was intoxicated by Celine's beauty, and her gaze held a trace of adoration.
"Lord Celine, are we really waiting for a peak rank 1 Magus here?"
As for the other male acolyte, he was somewhat in disbelief. It was a peak rank 1 Magus after all! Such strength was enough to be granted the position of an elder in large guilds. Why would such a Magus lower his status and enter a small guild?
Or perhaps, maybe it was for Lord Celine! The male acolyte racked his brains to derive a plausible explanation while tightly clenching his fist.
As for the female acolyte, she gritted her teeth.
As for what she thought, that peak rank 1 Magus must have used some methods to cause Lord Celine to succumb to him, and intentionally joined the guild to use it to his advantage for a long time.
"Obo, Ilya, although this Lord Leylin has a relatively good-natured disposition, you cannot be disrespectful. You are the hope of my Nature's Alliance. If you have the chance to be favoured by Lord Leylin and become his disciple, the chances of advancing to a rank 1 Magus in the future will be extremely high…"
As for Celine, she did not consider the complicated feelings of her acolytes and even tried to instruct them at this moment.
The reason for her bringing the two acolytes who had the highest chances of advancing into an official Magus with her was twofold. First, she wanted everyone in the guild to know that she had recruited a peak rank 1 Magus, and on the other hand, she had hoped for Leylin to take them as his disciples, to further strengthen the ties they had.
"Jejeje! Isn't that the guild leader of Nature's Alliance? Who might be this important for the ravishing beauty Miss Celine to personally welcome him?"
At this moment, a group of Magi walked out as the large gates of the construction creaked open.
The one walking at the forefront was middle-aged, with a half-naked torso and eight long legs that propped up his body. At his buttocks was a sack of silk.
It seemed to be a half-man half-spider creature. Moreover, a genital tube hung from his lower abdomen in the open. Looking at it, Obo felt it repulsive, and as for Ilya, she lowered her head.
However, they could not express their disgust, as this creature had the might of a semi-converted rank 1 Magus, which made it stronger than Celine.
Through the sensing of the spiritual force, they could see that the halo of energy particles surrounding the creature's body was mightier than that of their guild leader.
"It's been a really long time, Magus Skrill!" Celine smiled jubilantly and went forward to greet the creature.
The Magus Skrill looked at Obo and Ilya in disdain, before looking at Celine. "Miss Celine, why do you have to safeguard the Nature's Alliance? There are so few acolytes, and much less potential. This will only end with you squandering your youth and your precious life span. Why don't you join us at the Eight-Claw Spider Guild? I can give you a position which is just beneath mine…"
Skrill licked his lips as he lustfully looked at Celine.
"My apologies, Sir Skrill, I…" Celine smiled with some difficulty, and as Skrill edged closer, she caught of whiff of his repulsive odour, which left her rather pale.
On the other side, Obo and Ilya's eyes had already turned red; if not for Skrill being an official Magus with a might that surpassed Celine, they would have already dashed forward.
Skrill was a leader of one of the small-scale guilds that had banded together with Nature's Alliance to guard the icy cave.
Very long ago, when Nature's Alliance was at its peak, Skrill's guild was still a pathetic, tail-wagging, pity-votes-garnering, tagalong of a guild.
However, after Celine took over the leadership position, Nature's Alliance's power started to wane. Only then did Skrill begin to mercilessly reap the benefits that originally belonged to Nature's Alliance, and even express his interests in Celine.
Crystal Mask
Celine herself had only just advanced to become an official Magus.
Compared to Skrill, she was obviously lacking. In addition, all the Magi that were on good terms with Nature's Alliance were not willing to offend a semi-converted Magus just for this small matter, as with their responsibilities in their respective guilds, they had to consider many more things than most other Magi.
Even if Celine were to win over a few Magi by using her body, those she could win over would at most be regular official Magi that would be much weaker than Skrill.
This was what had allowed Skrill to be so unreserved with his actions.
The smile on Celine's face gradually became more forced as Skrill made things more difficult for her along every step of the way. At the same time, she also sent warnings to Obo and Ilya, telling them not to do anything that might provoke Skrill.
Obo and Ilya felt as if their hearts had been slashed, as they were only able to clench their fists at this scene.
Celine continued, "The reason I'm here is to welcome a famed professor into my guild. He wishes to enter the icy caves."
"Famed professor?" Skrill's brows furrowed.
"Is it Wagrin or Noah? With just their measly amount of strength, they'll just be a burden…"
Skrill sneered.
"No! The professor we've invited is a travelling Magus from the eastern capital. In fact, I myself was rather surprised that he actually agreed to enter Nature's Alliance."
A grin surfaced on Celine's face. "Anyways, he's already here!"
"Hehe… how powerful can a travelling Magus be? Celine, I hope you didn't get cheated!" Skrill's disdainful expression was still on his face. "Hm, he's here? Where is he?"
"Here!"
Leylin's cold voice sounded from behind Skrill.
Skrill's body stiffened. How powerful was this official Magus to be able to escape his detection and sneak behind his back without any trouble?
If not for the greeting, it would have been an easy task for Leylin to kill him with just a spell.
He turned around rigidly to the sight of a young Magus in black standing behind him with a gentle smile on his lips.
However, the aura he was giving off was terrifyingly strong!
The moment he appeared, dense dark elemental particles permeated the area, repelling the elemental particles revolving around Skrill.
"The aura of an elemental essence conversion… A p- peak rank 1 Magus!" Skrill had even begun to stutter.
Oh, great Gaia! A peak rank 1 Magus was basically a tyrant in the Twilight Zone. Why would one choose to enter a small guild such as Nature's Alliance to be a professor?
Skrill could not make sense of this situation.
"Looks like you aren't very respectful to the guild master of our Nature's Alliance, huh?" Leylin stared at this Magus with interest.
"Surgical transplants? Or meditation techniques that can alter the body shape? I really want to explore further with that research…"
Though his words were indirect, Leylin's gaze was enough to cause Skrill to shiver in trepidation.
"My lord, you're such a joker! We of the Eight-Claw Spider Guild and Nature's Alliance have always been friendly with each other, so why would I be trying to make things difficult for guild master Celine? Haha… haha…"
Skrill bowed towards Leylin, lowering his head and smiling apologetically.
"Is that so?" Leylin shot Celine a glance.
"Yes, Lord Leylin!" Celine glared coldly at Skrill until an imploring look appeared in his eyes, and then spoke.
"In that case, go back first. I still have some matters that I wish to discuss with Celine!" Leylin instructed.
"Of course, of course. Many thanks, my lord!" Skrill immediately ran back to the fort as if he had been granted an official pardon, not daring to overstep his boundaries.
"Celine! It looks like your Nature's Alliance isn't doing that well."
Leylin looked at Celine, and then slightly eyed the two level 3 acolytes, both of whom were gradually flushing red.
"My apologies!" Celine gave a wry smile.
"Ever since my mentor passed away, we of Nature's Alliance have not seen anyone advance to an official Magus in a long time. All that's left is me working alone, which has caused our situation to go downhill. However, with my lord joining us, I'm sure the situation will improve."
A peak rank 1 Magus was the trump card of middle-scaled guilds. With Leylin, Nature's Alliance would obviously be able to develop more.
"Whatever. However, I hope you remember our arrangement. If not, I won't actually help you if you cause some trouble that's difficult to deal with."
Leylin reminded Celine. What he had agreed on was that in exchange for her high-grade meditation techniques, accumulation of information regarding Magi as well as easy access to the icy cave, he would be a professor in name.
In fact, Leylin would only be joining the Nature's Alliance in name. Though he had other plans, he did not wish for Celine to use his name to create trouble outside.
"Don't worry!" Celine guaranteed. She was an intelligent woman and knew not to touch Leylin's bottom line.
"Obo and Ilya, quick, greet my lord!" She called out to the people behind her.
Upon hearing her words, Obo and Ilya bowed, looking dazed.
"We give our greetings to our lord!"
Their heads were low, and they did not dare to look at Leylin. However, from their voices, their admiration was apparent.
A peak rank 1 Magus! Obo and Ilya had never imagined that such a Magus would appear in Nature's Alliance.
Now, with a top-notch Magus like Leylin in charge, Nature's Alliance seemed like it would once again emerge as a top power.
Obo and Ilya were immeasurably emotional. Ever since they were young, they had been taken in by Nature's Alliance and naturally had developed very deep feelings for the guild, hoping that it would become more powerful.
Even their resentment from Celine almost being snatched away had lowered considerably.
"Alright! Celine, where are the things I wanted?"
Leylin gestured with his hands, getting the level 3 acolytes to leave, and then spoke to Celine.
Seeing that Obo and Ilya were not enough to catch Leylin's eye, Celine could only sigh in her heart. She then produced a light gold-coloured leaf and a sheet of dark yellow parchment paper.
"This is a map! In the other hand, recorded on this gold leaf is the only high-grade meditation technique that we have: the original Crystal Mask. I hope you can take care of it!"
Celine's expression was very sincere
This attitude was rather surprising to Leylin.
He immediately took the map and took a look. Within were numerous potholes and markings; it was obvious that Nature's Alliance had been exploring the icy caves for a long time.
Even so, they had not explored the deepest level of the cave, which went to show the immense size of the cave. This was the reason why Leylin had wanted the map.
Otherwise, wouldn't it mean that he would need to blindly explore the icy caves for months or even years before he could gather enough of the Icy Jade Scorpion Breath?
"Also, this Crystal Mask?"
Leylin naturally knew the significance of Celine passing down the original high-grade meditation technique to him. To some extent, this was a symbol of Nature's Alliance. Celine's actions were like she was handing over much of her authority to Leylin.
In addition, handing out the original meditation technique allowed Leylin to see that she did not do anything suspicious to the technique.
...
Celine was unafraid as she met Leylin's gaze, her eyes filled with a fervent hope and… pleading?
Leylin pursed his lips and extended his hand to take the gold leaf, and a trace of silver spiritual force entered it.
[Discovery of spiritual force, permission to allow transmission of information?] The A.I. Chip prompted.
"Permission granted!" Under Leylin's orders, large amounts of data entered his brain, which also answered the question of why Celine had been so generous as to pass him the original.
"There are only two levels to the Crystal Mask?"
Leylin found it hard to believe as he looked at Celine. "Shouldn't all high-grade meditation techniques have at least four levels?"
In ancient times, high-grade meditation techniques were not just any simple techniques. They represented a route that could allow one to enter the ranks of the Morning Star Magi!
In other words, high-grade meditation techniques had at least four levels of information, allowing Magi to train until they became Morning Star Magi!
"The second half of the technique is lost, my lord!" Celine looked bitter.
"To be honest, most of the high-grade meditation techniques in the Twilight Zone are incomplete. There is no way to advance further."
After listening to Celine's narration, Leylin suddenly thought of Siegfried's meditation technique, Gaia's Might.
The high-grade technique of the Earth Fire Association seemed to only have three levels, allowing Magi to train until rank 3. There was no another way for them to advance.
"Even in ancient times, high-grade meditation techniques were not staple goods, and there were a few wars in Twilight Zone. Though the inheritances were successfully passed down, we now lack a lot of the information regarding sub-topics and other information."
Celine explained to Leylin.
"In addition, even though we have two levels of the Crystal Mask, none of the Magi in Nature's Alliance have successfully trained in both levels. The contents of the second level need to be supplemented with Mirage Crystals from the Fog World, but unfortunately, these materials have been gone from the Twilight Zone for over ten thousand years."
Seemingly afraid that Leylin would think of this meditation technique as having little value, Celine quickly handed out something else.
"These are the spell models that Nature's Alliance has been accumulating until now, within which are our research materials on four rank 2 magic spells."
She produced a crystal ball and passed it to Leylin. "In addition, we can increase our offerings to you to a million magic crystals per year!"
"Rank 2 spells?" Leylin was inwardly exhilarated, but his expression remained stolid. "Don't worry. I've made my promise to you, and I definitely won't go back on my words."
Icy Cave
As far as Leylin was concerned, he had collected high-level meditation techniques to supplement the A.I. Chip's information bank and to further understand the contents of the Kemoyin's Pupil and Sacred Flame.
With the A.I. Chip's formidable computation abilities, even if the data was somewhat incomplete, it did not matter. Difficulties regarding advancement were not the issue here, and in any case, Leylin himself would not be practicing all these techniques.
"Good! I am already aware of your sincerity!"
Under Celine's somewhat stunned gaze, Leylin threw a light-gold leaf, the surface of which acted like a memory crystal, back to Celine and indifferently told her, "I now want to enter the icy cave by myself…"
"My lord! The icy cave's terrain is complex, so even though you have a map, would you allow Obo or Ilya, or even Celine herself to guide you personally?"
Anxiety was present all over Celine's face, as this was an opportunity for her relationship with Leylin to become better, and she did not want to miss it.
"No need for that!"
Leylin immediately rejected her suggestion.
In addition to the fact that Leylin had many secrets that were inconvenient for him to reveal in front of others, bringing along people would bring no benefits. According to the A.I. Chip's analysis, the higher the rank of the Icy Jade Scorpion was, the better the quality of the Icy Jade Scorpion Breath would be, and therefore, Leylin desired to penetrate deep into the depths of the Icy Jade Scorpions' lair in hopes of finding a higher ranked beast.
For the commonly found, dangerous adult beasts, which were equal to an official Magus in terms of strength, two level 3 acolytes would simply be like food delivered on a platter.
Even if Celine were to go, it would bring more demerits than benefits.
"In that case, I request that my lord informs me when he comes out. Celine has not brought my lord to have a look at the guild."
Celine bit her lip, and finally issued her invitation.
"I will!" Seeing her wanting to speak more but hesitating, Leylin smiled inwardly, and immediately complied.
Then, following behind Celine, Leylin arrived at the entrance to the icy cave.
"Here the Nature's Alliance, Eight Clawed Spiders, the Teal Vine, other guilds and factions guard this place together. They have jointly formed a council of Elders to oversee this place. In the past, our Nature's Alliance naturally held a vast influence within this council of Elders, but it is very unfortunate that ever since my teacher passed away, Nature's Alliance's power has been reduced, and now, we have been pushed aside to the lowest authority."
While Celine brought Leylin inside a huge building, she occasionally enlightened him as to the current situation of the Nature's Alliance.
Along the way, Leylin could often see many Magi and acolytes, all wearing different kinds of Chinese gowns with different symbols on them, pass by him on their way in and out.
"This place is known as the Ice Fortress. The 6 guilds jointly vested some funds and built the fortress, and the guilds' members defend it. Also, many other guilds have set up their own special laboratories here, and they analyze the various materials obtained from the icy caves…. Although our current authority is not much, escorting my lord inside is not a problem."
Celine spoke as she led Leylin to the base of the fortress.
Within the man-made fortress, Leylin saw a huge white crevice.
A cold wind blew out constantly from the crevice, causing the temperature inside the cavern to drop by several degrees, to the point that even the white wind was condensed into cold ice and white snow which formed a thick layer that covered the entire crevice.
"The icy cave is filled with this type of ice wind all year long. Incidentally, the cold air and sharp ice ridges inside the cave are thorny nuisances even for our official Magi. After many years of exploration, we discovered that this crevice here is the least harmful, and is a most suitable entrance. Other places are either a dead end or it requires a long period to withstand the chilling cold air. Even a rank 2 Magi cannot necessarily withstand it…."
"En!" Leylin nodded.
There were also other giant surface cracks outside the icy cave, but by seeing how all the magicians paid no attention to them, he knew that these entrances simply were deathtraps, and that here lay the safest path.
"Isn't this Magus Celine? Do you want to enter the icy cave to explore?"
At this time, the Magus guarding the entrance greeted Celine with a smile, a warm expression in his eyes.
When Leylin saw that this Magus had a floor-length white beard, he somewhat speechlessly sneered inwardly.
"No! I am only escorting our guild's honorary instructor to the entrance," Celine replied with a smile.
"Honorary instructor? Him?!"
The old man was startled first, but then immediately began sizing up Leylin, this newly arrived Magus.
Although with Celine's ability, she couldn't attract an extremely formidable Magus, some comparatively shallow official Magi had willingly become members of Nature's Alliance guild to get close to this beauty but were ultimately rejected by her.
Based on the facts that she had revealed, Celine had tried to find at least a semi-converted elemental Magus to join the guild. It was obvious that among her admirers, only Skrill had met these requirements, but Celine would not agree to that.
"Hello, Young Magus! I am known as Old Madre!" The elderly Magus was carefully measuring Leylin up, but he nevertheless spoke very politely.
"I am called Leylin. Nice to meet you." Leylin smiled but remained very reserved.
Because of him frequently being in the habit of compressing his spiritual force, Leylin's aura and fluctuation of energy waves were concealed, and thus, Old Madre was unable to discover Leylin's true strength.
However, even this alone was enough to catch Old Madre's attention and cause dread, as the unknown was often feared and considered dangerous by all, particularly the Magi.
"Since he is the honorary instructor of your guild, he can certainly go in!"
After confirming Leylin's capabilities, Old Madre reverted to his business-like appearance.
Immediately, he pulled out something that looked like a metal ball, from within which a red light radiated, and submerged into the entrance.
*Po*! Within the void, there were faint trembles; these invisible distortions blasted out unceasingly, revealing a red coloured network of rays that covered the entire entrance. This network was clearly a previously-arranged defense mechanism, but it was unknown how it concealed things so that there was not even a leak of any magic waves.
"Such an arrangement…" Leylin hesitated and inwardly muttered. "If I did not know what it was beforehand, perhaps my identity would have also been discovered by it!"
"It is dangerous within the icy caves. A cold wind that is comparable to a level zero magic attack blows everywhere, and there are also many high-energy organisms that gather in some places. Hence, I request that you please not go in too deep!"
Old Madre exhorted a couple of sentences, and then immediately gestured an invitation to Leylin.
"My lord! The cold air attack of Icy Jade Scorpion is of an extreme Yin nature! I am begging you to be careful!" This was the last sentence Celine said to Leylin.
This scene caused old Madre, who was standing to one side, to be somewhat envious, but he did not say anything.
But he was different compared to Skrill. Old Madre only had warm feelings of admiration for Celine; his attitude did not change to one of terrifying possessiveness.
Therefore, when saw that Celine's intention was to cherish Leylin, he had only chosen to observe this scene.
"I will be careful!"
Leylin smiled in agreement, and after that, he signalled to Old Madre with a nod and then submerged himself within that cold wind and snow.
...
*Whooo! Whooo!*
The cold wind howled in Leylin's ears as it violently blew about while he hurriedly slid down.
Finally, along with a light sound, Leylin steadily stood in a snowy area.
"How is it so deep? Aren't I already at least 3 kilometers underground?" Leylin surveyed his surroundings.
With the howling icy wind, there was much noise, like 10,000 musical instruments are being played at the same time.
The illumination contrasted greatly in here against the Fortress, as it was pitch black within the underground icy cave.
"Illuminate!" Leylin lifted his right hand, and a ball of light that was like a bright, incandescent light bulb calmly appeared on his palm.
"Let's go!" As Leylin lightly shouted, the light ball rapidly rose in mid air and rotated.
The ball of light immediately illuminated this place.
Leylin took a quick look all around him. He was currently within a semicircular, underground icy cavern, the surroundings of which had countless densely packed holes in the walls. It was as if he was within an anthill.
All around on the walls was a thick, translucent layer of ice. The light from his illumination technique fell upon this ice layer and was immediately refracted into multi-colored light that made for a magnificent feast for the eyes!
*Flap*
Sounds of wings beating against the air resounded massively, as if tens of thousands of sparrows were trying to free themselves from a bag, waking Leylin who was standing awestruck while observing his surroundings.
Immediately, massive black dots welled up from within the underground cavern.
Upon taking a closer look, these black dots all had a pair of transparent, fleshy wings, forked tails that were similar to what swallows had, and tiny eyes and sharp ears that brought about an eerie feeling.
"Sun Chasing Bats! There are at least 10,000 of them!" Leylin quickly estimated the number of these bats.
"Chiiik…Chiik" The numerous bats cried out, and as if black clouds were blotting out the sun, they revolved around that light ball and projected a shadow upon the ground.
"Chiik!" After the colony of bats had surrounded the light ball, as if they had obtained a command they suddenly started to mindlessly attack that light ball. Their wings continuously smacked that ball of light, and like that, they wrapped up the entire light ball causing not even a sliver of light to be seen.
The entire cavern was once again plunged into darkness.
A moment later, the fluttering of wings once again echoed and the numerous Sun Chasing Bats scattered, but there were no traces of the light ball.
"Oh" Leylin sighed: "Igniting light in a region shrouded in darkness is clearly dangerous…"
In the subterranean world, the Twilight Zone's human race made up only a small portion of the living organisms, and most darkness creatures had already been thoroughly exterminated, and because many of them were weak, they had no option but to hide upon seeing light.
However, in some desolate places outside of Twilight Zone, such light rays would instead stimulate the terrifying characteristics of these creatures of darkness leading to a relentless barrage of attacks!
The creatures of darkness outside of Twilight Zone and the ones that Leylin had just encountered were entirely different matters.
The tide formed by the massive amounts of foreign creatures of darkness were also something that even official Magi generally avoided.