Leilin looked at Pozain lying on the ground, yet felt no sense of satisfaction.
"You are a worthy opponent! Your strength, equipment, and schemes were all formidable. If I hadn't hidden my strength, and your Magical Items hadn't run out of energy before mine—and if you hadn't used up several life-saving items—the outcome today could very well have been reversed..."
This was Leilin's honest thought.
If he hadn't played the fool, sitting back and watching Pozain exhaust the energy in the Magical Item "Silver Light," and if sheer chance hadn't forced Pozain to burn through his trump card, today's result might truly have been rewritten.
But in the end, Pozain still fell at Leilin's hands, unable even to control his own life or death.
This incident also served as a direct reminder for Leilin.
In the world of Wizards, all kinds of geniuses emerged endlessly, and trump cards were countless. From now on, if there was no necessity, it was better to stay low-key.
Moreover, every additional trump card meant one more chance at survival in the future.
"You will definitely be discovered by my father and die miserably—" Pozain's words cut off as his eyes bulged suddenly.
*Pfft!* A flash of silver light, and Leilin's arm swept out. Half of Pozain's tongue dropped to the ground.
"For an apprentice, being able to still chant a spell represents danger!"
Leilin looked calmly at the nearly unconscious Pozain. "Although, according to my estimates, your Spiritual Power and mana have been completely depleted, one can never be too careful!"
"Bind!"
Leilin chanted a few syllables, directly summoning a Shadow Chain that bound Pozain's limbless body.
Pozain watched Leilin, who could still cast spells, and the light in his eyes dimmed completely. The fact that Leilin could still use spells meant his Spiritual Power and mana were still superior to Pozain's—yet Pozain himself had already reached the Spiritual Power standard for promotion to a formal Wizard!
"A single precaution doesn't seem enough!"
Leilin frowned, extended a slender, pale finger, and tapped directly on Pozain's forehead.
*Buzz!!*
A strange, twisted black symbol materialized between Leilin's fingers, passed through Pozain's body, and sank into his forehead.
Pozain's eyes rolled back, his body convulsed, and he passed out completely.
"Good!"
Leilin stood up, clapped his hands, and an indescribable look of desire filled his face.
"Now, all that remains is the Crimson Great Wizard's inheritance..."
The defensive aura of the "Falling Star Pendant" continuously shrouded Leilin's body. Filled with vigilance, he navigated through the wreckage of countless bookshelves and arrived at the central desk.
On the desk, a black box lay neatly arranged. Its surface bore some slender patterns, resembling a composition of many small snakes.
"Adjust the Falling Star Pendant's defense mode. Focus position: right hand!"
Following Leilin's command, the grey aura around him flowed, thinning elsewhere and concentrating on his right hand to form a thick layer of armor.
Gritting his teeth, Leilin reached out with his right hand and opened the black box.
*Click!* The black lid opened. Contrary to Leilin's expectations, nothing happened.
Inside the box lay a thick black book. The rest of the space was lined with a red silk fabric, looking quite luxurious.
Leilin picked up the book. *Clack!* A mechanical sound suddenly echoed in the silent study.
"Damn it!"
Leilin looked at the text revealed at the bottom of the box after the book was removed, feeling speechless.
At the bottom of the box, where the black book had lain, written in ornate Ancient Byron Language, were the words: "Heir! Once you take the 'Book of the Giant Snake,' the entire secret realm will enter a self-destruction sequence after three hourglasses!"
This line was written in blood-red ink, looking extremely striking.
"What on earth was this Crimson Great Wizard doing?"
Leilin's mind raced. Three hourglasses should be enough time for him to find a way out, and he could even return to the initial garden to loot some more before leaving.
"No! That's too easy. Something's wrong!"
Leilin immediately began flipping through the Book of the Giant Snake.
"Chip! Record the data!"
The entire book was thick, its text extremely dense, and some parts were written in cipher. For an ordinary person, within three hourglasses, they probably wouldn't even finish the preface.
But Leilin was different. He frantically flipped through the book, a glint of blue light appearing in his eyes as the Chip continuously received and recorded the data.
In less than half an hourglass, Leilin had flipped through the entire Book of the Giant Snake.
"Chip! How is it?"
"Information processing... Filtering out 34.8% useless and miscellaneous information. Obtaining the true content of the Book of the Giant Snake!"
"Discovering 667 travel logs, 78 experiment reports, 12 First-level Spell models, and 3 Second-level Spell models!"
The Chip rapidly transmitted the integrated information into Leilin's mind.
"There's none!! There's no information on an advanced Meditation Method!" Leilin realized the most crucial point.
"According to the evil spirit Roman, the Crimson Great Wizard clearly left behind an advanced Meditation Method! This kind of harvest would be considered extremely rich for an ordinary apprentice or even a formal Wizard, but without an advanced Meditation Method, it's still a failure!"