"Number Two! Number Three!"
Leilin called out sharply.
"Master!" Two Brand Swordsmen clad in heavy armor immediately appeared before Leilin, dropping to one knee.
"Activate all the concealment and defensive Wizard arrays. Guard the outside—don't let any living creature approach…"
Leilin issued his orders, and the two soul servants nodded, heading outside to stand watch.
These two Brand Swordsmen were already under Leilin's control via soul branding; they would not hesitate even if ordered to their deaths—making them the ideal bodyguards.
"Countdown: 8, 7, 6…" The Chip's voice grew fainter and fainter.
All Leilin could do was flick his finger, and a ring of magical arrays suddenly sprang up around the entire bathing pool, shielding the area once more.
Having done all this, Leilin closed his eyes and submerged himself completely into the green solution.
…
Time passed without notice.
Ten days later, inside the small cave, within the magical arrays, dense dark-attribute energy particles—now mingled with fiery red fire-attribute energy particles—had completely filled the space where the bathing pool once stood.
These energy particles were so concentrated that they had become visible to the naked eye, casting various hues across the surrounding rock walls.
At the center of the energy particles, wisps of black and red mist had begun to condense, on the verge of forming actual energy crystals.
Inside the bathing pool, the original green solution had completely vanished, revealing the dried-out bottom.
A massive black cocoon lay quietly at the center of the pool floor, occasionally expanding and contracting as though it were breathing.
The dark-attribute and fire-attribute energy particles were being continuously drawn into the great black cocoon with each "breath."
The cocoon's shell grew thinner and thinner, until finally, a perfect human silhouette could faintly be seen within.
"Hss!"
A long, drawn-out inhalation echoed from within the cocoon.
Immediately after, a tremendous storm swept through the entire cave.
The dark-attribute and fire-attribute energy particles in the air, as if encountering a black hole, were all pulled toward the center of the black cocoon.
The black cocoon grew ever thinner until it dissipated entirely.
"Hmm?!" Leilin opened his eyes.
The moment he fully woke up, he felt as though his entire body was coated in a layer of sticky, slimy stuff — deeply uncomfortable.
He raised his right hand. On his arm, a layer of sallow, flesh-colored skin clung there like the withered bark of a tree.
"What is this? Some kind of snake shedding?"
Leilin was momentarily speechless. Then he simply tore the dead skin away without ceremony.
Crack! Crack!
In just a few efficient motions, he stripped the entire layer of dead skin from his body. The shed skin still bore scattered scale-like impressions, looking exactly like a snake's molt.
Leilin set the snake-skin aside and examined his body anew.
In this moment, there was not a single wound left on him. Every injury had fully healed. His vitality was boundless, his condition pushed to an absolutely perfect peak.
Leilin gazed down at his hands.
His palms now appeared even fairer and smoother than before — the pores had nearly vanished altogether, like the skin of a newborn infant.
Yet Leilin could clearly sense just how terrifying a power lay hidden within his arms!
Thump-thump! Thump-thump!
At the same time, his heart beat with tremendous force, sending wave after wave of blood and other nutrient-rich substances throughout his body. With each beat, Leilin could even feel his physical constitution growing stronger — just a little more, over and over.
Though each increment was minute, given enough time, the accumulated result would be staggering!
"My body is already this monstrous — what about my Spiritual Power?"
Leilin closed his eyes and began to sense his sea of consciousness and the elemental particles within.
Inside his sea of consciousness, the crimson glow blazed even more brilliantly. Strands of silvery-white Spiritual Power spiraled like fine threads, radiating a feeling of absolute stability.
"The total volume of my Spiritual Power has increased this much?"
He then channeled a wisp of silver Spiritual Power outward, projecting it beyond his body.
The process felt effortlessly familiar, as though he had done it a thousand times. The massive surge in Spiritual Power had been fully accommodated by his body. Moreover, Leilin could tell that his Spiritual Power had undergone a subtle transformation of its own — it now carried a faint sense of solidity. Among first-level Wizards, this quality was unquestionably at the very pinnacle.
When he extended that wisp of bright silver Spiritual Power into the air outside, a shocking sight appeared.
Black — countless black motes of light drifted into the open air like fireflies, racing and jostling to cling to Leilin's Spiritual Power.