"What mission?" Leilin asked, his face blank, but anyone who knew him would recognize this as a clear sign that he was extremely displeased.
"This time you'll be entering the Ganges Secret Realm. We need you to relay any information you can from inside the Four Seasons Garden, and at the critical moment, cooperate with us to destroy the Defense Magical Array within!"
The boy's voice carried a tone of condescension, which only stoked Leilin's irritation further.
"So you want me to be a spy? What about the contract I signed? If I betray the Four Seasons Garden, I'll definitely be punished by the Eye of Judgment, won't I?"
"That... the seniors above will take care of it for you!" the boy said, clearly dismissing the concern.
"So you're not offering a single benefit, yet you want me to risk my life for you? Do you think I'm a pushover?"
Leilin suddenly let out a cold laugh, and a flash of crimson light flickered through his eyes.
BOOM!!!
The instant his words fell, Leilin struck without hesitation!
Several fireballs, each about the size of a human head, were blasted directly toward the boy's position.
Scorching flames swept outward in every direction, rapidly evaporating the mist and revealing a small boy's figure hidden in the shadows.
"Have you lost your mind?!" the boy shouted in alarm and fury.
"You're the ones who've gone mad! How dare you threaten me!"
Leilin's voice was icy cold as both his hands suddenly turned crimson, and he lunged forward with a savage grab!!!
The Scarlet Hand!!! The signature move of the Blood Hand!!!
A massive blood-red claw shadow stretched across the sky, its phantom surface wreathed in raging crimson flames.
Boosted by Leilin's spiritual elementalization, this spell had already reached a potency approaching 34 degrees!
"Damn it!"
The boy, already rattled from the fireball attack, rolled desperately on the ground and barely dodged the flames, getting covered in dust and making himself look like a clown.
Then, upon seeing Leinlin's Blood Hand bearing down on him, his entire face turned green.
Who would have thought that this Leilin would be so unhinged — and so powerful, far beyond the scope of semi-elementalization?
In the boy's mind, he held the secret of Leilin's identity. He figured that the moment he dropped that information, Leilin would obediently heel like a dog, doing whatever was asked of him, and he might even score some extra benefits on top.
But he never imagined that Leilin would be so reckless, launching an attack at the slightest provocation without a second thought!!!
Seeing the blood claw, the boy let out a strange cry and frantically tossed a peculiar pendant from his chest onto the ground.
Hiss-hiss!!!
Countless ice crystals erupted, forming a crystalline mirror of ice in front of the boy.
BOOM!!!
The colossal phantom claw, trailing its crimson flames, smashed violently into the mirror, producing a thunderous sound.
VRRR!!!
Blood flames and ice shards scattered in all directions.
Every ice crystal that touched the ground froze into a thick sheet of ice, while everything touched by the blood flames — whether trees, moles, or even the stones on the ground — sizzled with a corrosive hiss, ultimately crumbling into a pile of gray powder!
"You think a single high-grade scroll can save you? How naive!!!"
Leilin strode forward, pursuing the boy.
"This was an instant-cast scroll that cost me two hundred and fifty thousand Magic Stones!!!" Pain and rage twisted the boy's features, distorting his muscles.
"How dare you! How dare you... I'll make you pay!"
Even as he roared, the boy pulled out a Magical Item radiating powerful fluctuations, ready to activate it!
"Imprison!!!"
At that moment, Leilin uttered a low command, and a metal ring on his right arm — which had looked like mere ornamentation — suddenly emitted a circle of light that fell directly onto the boy.
Trapped by the Imprisonment Ring, the boy froze like an insect embedded in amber, completely unable to move. He couldn't even activate the Magical Item in his hand.
"You dared to threaten me?"
Leilin stepped forward, kicked the Magical Item out of the boy's hands, and lifted him up with a single grip.
"You... plenty of other people know about your identity. If I die here, you'll... ahh..."
The boy struggled to squeeze out a few words through gritted teeth, but his answer was a series of Leilin's merciless slaps.
Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!
Leilin's strength, rated at 7.1, struck the boy's face without any restraint. In an instant, both sides of his face swelled up grotesquely. Several teeth were knocked loose, blood foamed around his mouth, and he could no longer form a complete sentence.
Then Leilin grabbed the boy by the throat and held him up in front of his face.