"So the price for healing the injuries in my sea of consciousness, and for removing Aiwik's mark inside me, is that half of my spiritual power will be unusable for a period of time?"
Lei Lin stroked his chin, sinking into thought.
After a moment, he made his decision: "Begin!"
Hum!
The instant he issued the command, the silver spiritual power within his sea of consciousness began to climb and cling to the cracks at its outermost edges, crystallizing and solidifying!
Silver-white crystals instantly blanketed nearly half of his sea of consciousness. Inside the crystals, the original milky-white point of light was frozen in place, like a tiny insect trapped in amber.
After solidifying nearly half of his spiritual power, Lei Lin finally saw the hairline fractures around the sea of consciousness cease their expansion, filled in by the solidified spiritual power. He couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.
This time, the trouble plaguing him was thoroughly dealt with, though the cost was that for a while, he would only be able to wield the strength of a First Rank Wizard.
Only after stabilizing his injuries did Lei Lin have the mind to observe his surroundings.
The area was very dimly lit. Only by relying on some luminescent moss could he barely make out objects within a few meters; beyond that was pitch black.
"This should be inside some sort of cave. I wonder what's outside..."
Lei Lin exhaled slowly and glanced at the teleportation formation.
The formation here was the same style as the one in the Soul Slaying Secret Realm on the other side, but one of the corner runes had been destroyed by Lei Lin himself.
Furthermore, Lei Lin estimated that if the opposing Third Rank Wizard was there, they would either be guarding it personally or have destroyed the formation outright. So, this teleportation formation would be unusable for quite some time.
On this side, the Soul Slaying Sect Wizards had set things up very simply. The entire cave contained only the teleportation formation as a man-made object. Besides that, there was only an extremely narrow passage, seemingly carved out of the stone wall.
"Dark Vision!"
Lei Lin casually added an auxiliary apprentice-level spell to himself.
Instantly, a faint black gleam flashed in his eyes. The darkness could no longer obstruct his vision, and everything around him came clearly into view.
"The concentration of darker energy particles here seems much higher than on the South Coast!" As he cast the spell, Lei Lin distinctly felt the difference between the two places.
If the concentration of dark-type energy particles in the air on the South Coast was a 1, then here it was at least 1.5, possibly approaching 2.
"Chip! Detect the concentration of energy particles in the air and compare it with the South Coast!"
"Task initiated! Beginning to collect information data! Generating comparison chart!"
Soon, the Chip projected two different pie charts into Lei Lin's field of vision.
Within the charts, the colors representing each type of energy particle occupied different proportions, displayed clearly before Lei Lin.
"The one on the right is the data generally collected from the South Coast, while the one on the left is the latest data from here!"
Lei Lin compared the differences between the two charts.
The latest data showed that here, the concentrations of dark-type, shadow, necromantic, and other negative energy particles had risen dramatically, nearly all at one to two times the levels found on the South Coast.
Meanwhile, the concentrations of positive energy particles — light, plant, and life types — were generally much lower.
"Also, the concentration of earth-type energy particles here is quite high, while fire-type and water-type are extremely scarce..."
Lei Lin stroked his chin, a contemplative look flickering in his eyes.
"In other words, the actual total energy particle concentration here is roughly the same as the South Coast — it's just the specific proportions that differ. The negative energy particle concentration is nearly on par with a small secret realm, while the positive energy particle concentration is at best comparable to the ratio in the Keli Archipelago..."
Lei Lin formed a few guesses in his mind, then strode forward into the narrow rock passage.
The passage was quite long, and since Lei Lin was on foot, he walked for roughly over ten minutes before finally reaching its end.
At the end of the passage stood a massive stone gateway.
Calling it a gateway might even be too generous — in Lei Lin's view, it was simply an enormous, irregularly shaped boulder plugging the passage's exit.
Through the gaps in the rock, Lei Lin could hear the faint sound of wind seeping in from outside.
"It'd be best to preserve this stone gate. If I ever need to use a teleportation formation in the future, I can come back!"
With a thought, Lei Lin cast a first-tier Wizard spell: "Shadow Stealth!"
Instantly, a black halo enveloped his entire body, and he gradually began to turn transparent within it.
The effect of Shadow Stealth was to temporarily render the caster intangible, allowing them to slip into the gaps between shadows and pass through most solid objects. However, while in stealth, the caster could not attack — doing so would immediately break the spell. Furthermore, wide-area energy and sonic attacks were its natural counter.
But right now, he only needed to pass through a single rock, so it was effortless.
Lei Lin's translucent shadow glided smoothly through the gaps in the rock's shadow and emerged on the other side.