Under the immense spatial tearing force, cracking sounds continuously erupted from Lei Lin's body, and blood spurted out like a gushing spring.
"Warning! Warning! Main body has entered a critically injured state! Estimated cellular collapse countdown under spatial tearing: 8 seconds!"
"Even with my constitution, it's come to this?! How on earth did those ancient Wizards survive this kind of spatial force?"
Lei Lin's face was twisted in agony, every vein across his body bulging grotesquely, and his eyes had taken on a faint reddish hue.
Just as the Chip's countdown reached the final second, the silver light dissipated, revealing a pitch-black opening.
Lei Lin's spirits surged, and he charged straight toward the opening.
*Pop!* As if piercing through an invisible membrane of water, Lei Lin instantly arrived in the real world — all the tremendous spatial pressure from before had vanished without a trace.
"That was close!" Lei Lin's vision was blurred. Summoning every last ounce of strength, he traced a red line through the air, shattering a symbol on the teleportation formation beneath him. Only then did he finally collapse unconscious...
*Drip! Drip!* Above the cave, stalactites steadily released pale-red droplets that struck the ground in a rhythmic patter.
Lei Lin's eyelids fluttered, and he forced his eyes open.
"Ugh!" He clutched his forehead, feeling that there wasn't a single part of his body that wasn't wracked with searing pain.
"Chip! Scan my current condition!"
Lei Lin immediately summoned the thought in his mind.
"Lei Lin Farell, Warlock, Second-rank. Bloodline: Comoin Giant Serpent. Strength: 15 (21.1). Agility: 4 (14.4). Constitution: 19 (27.9). Spiritual Power: 0.01 (104.3). Mana: 0 (Mana determined by Spiritual Power synchronization). Status: Severe contusions across multiple body tissues, Spiritual Power depleted!"
The Chip reported promptly. Staring at his current state, Lei Lin couldn't help but let out a bitter smile.
He had underestimated the dangers of spatial teleportation and failed to take adequate precautionary measures — this journey through the spatial channel had nearly cost him his life.
Not only had all his physical attributes plummeted, but even his Spiritual Power had been completely drained.
In this condition, an ordinary
"This time I'm truly gravely wounded! Avik, one day, I will return…"
A trace of cold light flickered through Lei Lin's eyes. He then shifted his gaze to his waist.
When he saw that a black leather pouch was still there, a look of relief finally surfaced on his face.
That spatial leather pouch truly deserved its reputation as a high-grade Magical Item. It possessed no offensive capability, but its inherent defensive power was remarkably impressive, and with the protection of the spatial runes on its surface, it hadn't sustained any damage whatsoever.
Fortunately, that was the case — otherwise, all of Lei Lin's worldly possessions would have been gone for good.
"For an ordinary Wizard, even if they were lucky enough to survive injuries like this, they would need to expend an enormous amount of time to recover. They might even suffer a regression in their Wizard rank!"
Lei Lin carefully examined his physical condition. Although his entire body was riddled with severe wounds, he could faintly sense a cold current brimming with vitality and vigor continuously emanating from his heart, circulating through his blood to every part of his body. Under the influence of this current, his wounds were mending themselves automatically. The progress was exceedingly slow, but it was steady and unending.
"The self-healing ability of a Bloodline Warlock is simply far too powerful!" A glint of joy appeared in Lei Lin's eyes. "And some of the potions I have on hand can also accelerate this effect…"
With that thought, he laboriously lifted his only functional right hand, retrieved a pink healing potion from the leather pouch, bit off the cork stopper with his teeth, and gulped it down in large swallows.
Boom! A layer of pink luminous membrane instantly enveloped Lei Lin's entire body.
Under the influence of this luminous membrane, the horrific wounds on his body began healing at an astonishing pace.
"Crack! Crunch!" The sound of joints popping and resetting rang out continuously from Lei Lin's body.
The muscles on his face twisted and contorted. He snorted heavily through his nose, and even his breathing became labored and labored.
After several minutes like this, the pink luminous membrane covering Lei Lin's body finally dissipated completely. Snap! Lei Lin leaped to his feet, transitioning from his previous half-reclined position on the magic circle to a full standing posture.
"The exterior is all repaired. The internal damage is more troublesome, but at least it won't impede simple movements!"
Lei Lin slowly moved his limbs about, then performed several standard Knight training movements. Immediately after, his brow furrowed.
"No good! In my current condition, my body can only withstand activity at the intensity of a Preliminary Knight at most. Any more than that, and it will affect the recovery of my internal injuries…"
In other words, until his injuries fully healed, Lei Lin could only use strength and speed no greater than that of a Preliminary Knight.
Lei Lin stroked his chin, then pulled a leather armor from the pouch and pulled it on over his body.
His previous Wizard robes had long since been shredded into tattered strips by the tearing forces of spatial pressure, hanging loosely and in tatters about him. Lei Lin simply grabbed them and tore them away without a second thought.
After examining his body, Lei Lin finally turned his attention to his sea of consciousness.
The situation inside was even worse. The massive consumption of Spiritual Power earlier had caused his sea of consciousness to run dry—the blood-red glow had dimmed considerably, and not a wisp of silvery Spiritual Power remained.
Even the outer walls of his sea of consciousness had developed fine hairline cracks, which made Lei Lin's expression tighten. If his sea of consciousness were to shatter, the consequences would be far more severe than simply regressing in Wizard rank.
When he spotted a small point of white light still stubbornly lodged in a corner of his sea of consciousness, Lei Lin's face grew even darker.
This was the tracking mark that Aivik had placed on Yojona. After Lei Lin killed Yojona, the mark had transferred into Lei Lin's sea of consciousness, clinging there like a piece of taffy—no matter what method he tried, he couldn't purge it.
The only way to deal with such a mark was to slowly attrite it with massive amounts of Spiritual Power. Although it came from a Third-rank Wizard, the two of them were now separated by a vast distance, and with no way to replenish his power, the mark wouldn't be able to withstand Lei Lin's Spiritual Power for long. But this required a great deal of time—something the previous Lei Lin simply couldn't afford.
Now, however, seemed like the right time to deal with this lurking menace!
Lei Lin sat cross-legged and recalled the core content of the Eyes of the Kemoyin, an advanced Meditation Method: "Meditate upon your own soul, gaze through your eyes into those of the Kemoyin Giant Serpent, and obtain its power!"
Daily Meditation Method practice was a mandatory discipline for every Wizard. Whenever Lei Lin activated the Eyes of the Kemoyin and adjusted his spiritual frequency to the optimal state for the Meditation Method to circulate, it felt as though he had transcended the vast barriers of time and space to behold the terrifying amber vertical pupil of an ancient entity lurking in the void!
According to the records in the Serpent Tome, this phenomenon only manifested after cultivating the Eyes of the Kemoyin to an extremely profound level!
As Lei Lin sank into an even deeper state of meditation, the blood-red glow within his sea of consciousness gradually intensified. Wisps of faint silvery Spiritual Power surged up from the depths of the sea, breathing new vitality into the long-dried-up spring.
In the dim cave, speck after speck of dark crimson light materialized from the void like fireflies, swiftly merging into Lei Lin's body. The entire process occurred without a sound, yet behind Lei Lin, the phantom projection of a terrifying giant serpent materialized—its massive form coiling and spiraling, appearing ever closer to becoming corporeal.
After a single session of meditation, Lei Lin looked at his Spiritual Power, which had recovered to roughly half its capacity, and a satisfied smile crossed his face.
"As expected of an advanced Meditation Method! In terms of both progression speed and recovery efficiency, it's top-tier across the entire South Coast! It's a shame it only has three layers…"
A trace of worry crept across Lei Lin's face.
Although the Eyes of the Kemoyin was indeed an advanced Meditation Method, the complete inheritance Lei Lin had received from Grand Wizard Crimson consisted of only three layers.
The layers of an advanced Meditation Method corresponded to Wizard ranks, which meant Lei Lin could at most advance to Third-rank Wizard with this technique. Beyond that, his Spiritual Power would stagnate due to the lack of further Meditation Method content—unless he found the subsequent layers of the Eyes of the Kemoyin.
"The continuation of the Eyes of the Kemoyin Meditation Method, based on Grand Wizard Crimson's vague hints, should be somewhere on the Central Continent. Where exactly am I right now?"
Lei Lin rose to his feet and surveyed his surroundings. This was the cavern where the ancient Soul Slaughter Cult had set up their teleportation point. It appeared to have been abandoned for a very long time—the air was thick with the smell of mildew, and a heavy layer of dust had accumulated atop the teleportation array.
"Let me head out and take a look first! Hopefully I'll land directly in the Central Continent! But before that—Chip! What solutions are there for the damage to my sea of consciousness and the Third-rank Wizard's tracking mark?"
Lei Lin asked directly within his mind.
Instantly, massive streams of data, images, and graphs swept across his field of vision. The Chip was operating at an extreme, breakneck speed, providing an answer in the blink of an eye.
"Based on the main body's requirements and a comprehensive calculation of current conditions, the optimal solution: solidify a large quantity of Spiritual Power within the Sea of Consciousness until both the damage and the mark are fully repaired!"
"Solidify a large quantity of Spiritual Power?"
Lei Lin was startled. This meant that before his injuries fully healed, a portion of his Spiritual Power would have to remain permanently solidified within his Sea of Consciousness, completely unusable.
If that were the case, his combat strength would drop significantly.
"What proportion needs to be solidified?" Lei Lin's face darkened as he gazed at the still-expanding crack within his Sea of Consciousness, but he still asked calmly.
"51.2% of the main body's Spiritual Power!" the Chip replied promptly.
"So that means until the damage is fully repaired, I can only exert the strength of roughly a First-rank Wizard?"
Lei Lin rubbed his chin.