Ancient legends and myths are not necessarily all true.
On the contrary, many things in legends had been embellished to varying degrees. Some were nothing more than the wild imaginings of the people involved, riddled with all sorts of errors.
Only Leilin's Chip could sift through this vast tangle of ancient rumors, conducting massive analysis and comparison, to find the most accurate examples among them.
And just now, after analyzing the collected blood of the Ram-horned Earth Dragon, Leilin hadn't found the slightest trace of an ancient bloodline within it!
Obviously, the claim that the Ram-horned Earth Dragon originated from a crossbreed of dragons and demons was completely false!
Still, Leilin hadn't harbored much hope from the start. Even if the Ram-horned Earth Dragon possessed an ancient bloodline, this particular individual — which hadn't even reached the strength of a formal Wizard — clearly didn't meet his requirements.
Back in Evernight City, he had known full well that purifying an ancient bloodline from an individual possessing ancient creature blood required strict standards for the individual's strength.
After the Chip's comparative analysis, the conclusion was that the individual had to possess at least strength comparable to a Third-rank Wizard!
In other words, even if the Ram-horned Earth Dragon possessed an ancient creature's bloodline, Leilin would have to drain blood from an Earth Dragon with Third-rank Wizard-level strength, then have the Chip purify and refine it, before he could obtain a complete ancient creature bloodline!
"Third-rank Wizard, huh..."
A bitter smile tugged at the corner of Leilin's mouth. He had only just advanced to Second-rank Wizard, and the total Spiritual Power he'd gained through meditation was quite small — a considerable portion had been brute-forced upward through the bonus of his Coromon Giant Serpent bloodline.
While there was nothing inherently wrong with a Warlock relying on bloodline power, Leilin didn't want to develop a shaky foundation.
Besides, advancing to Second-rank Wizard at under forty years old was already somewhat sensational on the South Coast — even in ancient times, it would have been a remarkable achievement.
Therefore, a period of consolidation was absolutely necessary for him.
For quite some time, he probably wouldn't be able to do anything about these Third-rank creatures with ancient bloodlines. What's more, with the bonus of ancient bloodlines, such creatures' strength was often even more terrifying — sometimes even Third-rank Wizards didn't dare to oppose them.
After a brief sigh, Leilin temporarily set aside the idea of collecting ancient bloodlines.
After all, his current Coromon Giant Serpent bloodline was already sufficient for his needs.
And even if he were lucky enough to obtain some ancient creature's bloodline, it would only have high research value for him — once a Warlock had established their bloodline origin, there was absolutely no way to replace it again.
"However, it seems things won't end here!"
Leilin, who had been observing Jenny's party through the crystal ball, suddenly raised an eyebrow as if he'd noticed something.
Under the control of his Spiritual Power, the image inside the crystal ball stretched and shifted from above Jenny's party to a small hill on the other side.
At that moment, under cover of darkness, two shadowy figures on the small hill were whispering to each other.
"How did you handle things? You just let them get the Dragon Blood Bud?"
This person's voice was very deep, their form very blurry, and they appeared to be wearing a mask over their face.
But Leilin's gaze pierced straight through the double barrier of darkness and mask to see his true face.
It was a sinister-looking old man with a black skull brand on his face — it looked as though it had been seared in with a red-hot iron plate — and twisted, horrific scars surrounded the brand.
Moreover, emanating from this old man was an energy fluctuation not one bit inferior to Jemos's — he was actually also a Third-rank Apprentice. Apart from lacking Magical Items, his strength was already on par with Jemos.
"I-I didn't want it either, sir..." Another, younger man's body was trembling, his voice stuttering. "The earlier Explosive Flame Wolf pack was already a huge risk. If I had struck again forcefully, I was afraid they'd discover my trail. Besides, the Ram-horned Earth Dragon was extremely difficult to communicate with and lure... I thought that Earth Dragon alone would be enough to stop this group..."
"Although this Ram-horned Earth Dragon is still in its juvenile stage, its strength exceeds that of a Third-rank Apprentice — only a formal Wizard could take it down!"
The sinister old man acknowledged the young man's assessment.
"Then how did they kill the Earth Dragon?" The young man's face showed puzzlement. "Even if one of their Knights broke through on the spot, they'd only be a Great Knight at most — that couldn't possibly change the outcome of the battle..."
"I could sense the powerful energy fluctuations in the air... A powerful being definitely intervened secretly..."
The sinister old man's expression was extremely grim. That power, even showing just the tip of the iceberg, had made his hair stand on end — as if he'd been transported back to childhood, when he was too helpless to even resist a gentle breeze. He had a premonition: the owner of that power wouldn't even need to exert any effort to kill him. Such power absolutely belonged to the rank of a formal Wizard!
"What do we do then? Do we keep going?"
The young man's voice was startled. He knew the old man across from him was a Wizard — and if something could frighten him this much, that meant... another, even more powerful Wizard?
At that thought, cold sweat poured down the young man's face, and he had the overwhelming urge to turn and flee, to never get involved in this again.