"Hello! My name is Leilin, and I'd like to meet the patriarch of the Trelair Family!"
Leilin repeated his purpose once more.
"Leilin? Leilin!" The middle-aged man murmured the name several times, and his expression suddenly changed. With even greater respect, he asked, "Might I ask — are you Leilin of the Black Bone Forest Academy?"
"That's correct!" Leilin gave a firm confirmation.
A brilliant smile spread across the middle-aged man's face as he tried his best to look as amiable as possible. "Welcome to the Trelair Family! I'll go announce your arrival right away…"
Once he learned of Leilin's identity, the man's attitude shifted yet again.
He had heard Leilin's famous name many times before. Not only was he the junior apprentice of Biji and the prized disciple of Professor Guofate — a genius apprentice of the Black Bone Forest Academy, rumored to possess astonishing talent in Potionology — but he was also a potential Wizard seed who had advanced to Third-rank before the age of twenty!
Most importantly, this man had once sent a letter promising compensation for the losses Biji had caused!
Thinking of this, though he remained outwardly respectful, a trace of greed mixed with unease flickered in the depths of the middle-aged man's eyes.
"I'm terribly sorry about what happened with Miss Biji…"
The man squeezed out a few tears from his face. "Miss Biji used to be so well-behaved. Who could have known…"
"I'm aware of all that. Take me to see your patriarch."
Leilin's expression went cold. The middle-aged man suddenly felt a chill run down his back, as though he had been fixed by the gaze of some extremely dangerous creature.
"I'll go right away! Right away!"
He immediately picked up his little daughter and vanished behind the door in an instant.
A dozen minutes later, Leilin had been led into the great hall of the castle and was face to face with the patriarch of the Trelair Family.
"Honored guest! I am the patriarch of the Trelair Family — Yorseina Trelair! Welcome to the ancient Trelair Castle. I hope you enjoy your stay here!"
The Trelair Family patriarch called Yorseina was an elderly man dressed in a pure black formal suit. The silver hair on his head gleamed with a crystalline luster, combed to immaculate perfection, but his eyes were a murky, clouded white.
"Yorseina Trelair — Strength: 1.9, Agility: 2.5, Constitution: 2.0, Spirit: 13. Combat rating: Third-rank Apprentice. Based on the intensity of his Magical Items, he is estimated to be capable of unleashing three attacks exceeding twenty degrees of power!"
An invisible flicker of blue light passed through Leilin's eyes as the Chip scanned and recorded all of this patriarch's data.
Furthermore, with a slight twitch of his nose, Leilin caught the scent of decay and old age coming from Yorseina.
Judging by the deep wrinkles on this patriarch's face, he didn't have much lifespan left.
Too weak! Such strength was as feeble as an ant that could be crushed at any moment before Leilin's eyes!
Leilin's gaze swept over the patriarch briefly. The only thing on Yorseina's entire body that was even remotely passable was that single Magical Item — a treasure that allowed a Third-rank Apprentice to pay the price in advance and unleash an attack at the level of a full Wizard. It seemed this was the trump card passed down through a great family for generations.
But in Leilin's eyes, it would simply take a little more effort to go from one attack to two. Nothing more.
With such an enormous gap in strength, Leilin couldn't even be bothered with small talk.
"I stated my purpose in my previous letter. I will pay sufficient compensation for the Rainbow Potion, and you will absolve Biji!"
Leilin ignored the flicker of anger on the Trelair patriarch's face and directly found a seat to sit down.
Seeing Leilin's discourteous behavior, a flash of fury crossed Yorseina's face before he quickly suppressed it.
In his heart, though, grief sat heavy like a boulder pressing down on his chest. When had it come to this — that even a Third-rank Apprentice could act with such audacity inside the Trelair Castle?
But Yorseina had lived through much and possessed a wealth of life experience. Besides, he always felt an aura of danger emanating from Leilin.
Years of discipline kept a smile on Yorseina's face, as though Leilin's behavior didn't vex him in the slightest.
"The Rainbow Potion is an ancient and rare potion. Many of its ingredients are extremely difficult to find these days…"
"I'll offer a portion of Greene Water!"
"Wh… what…" Yorseina's words were cut short, and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.
"I said, I'll offer a portion of Greene Water! That should be more than enough to cover the Rainbow Potion, wouldn't you say? After all, the Rainbow Potion's effect is merely to assist the success rate of Greene Water. In terms of rarity, Greene Water is far superior!"
Leilin interlaced his fingers, a smile playing at the corners of his lips, and laid out a temptation that Yorseina could not refuse.
The composition and effects of Greene Water had long since been thoroughly simulated by the Chip over such a vast stretch of time.
As for the preparation process, it required large quantities of finished product for reverse engineering, and Leilin simply didn't have enough finished potions on hand, so he had to let that go.
According to the Chip's calculations, the effect of Greene Water was to dramatically burn away an apprentice's lifespan in order to break through the Spiritual Power bottleneck.
This method obviously came with significant hidden dangers and drawbacks.
And when Leilin had advanced, although he had burned a small portion of his lifespan at first, it was quickly replenished by the essence blood of the Komoyin giant serpent.