The apparition that appeared was an exceedingly beautiful young woman, her green hair carrying a slight curl as it drifted ceaselessly through the air, as though it possessed a life of its own.
And her eyes were even more captivating, shimmering like ripples on water. Combined with her delicate, bewitching features, they gave Leilin a vague sense of familiarity.
Especially once the phantom fully materialized, the bloodline inside Leilin's body immediately surged with fear—as though he had encountered a natural predator—yet there was also an intimate warmth, as if he wanted nothing more than to throw himself into the young woman's embrace.
"Ancient Snake Woman?!"
Bitterness flooded Leilin's mouth. From the single word "kin" the other party had uttered, he had already guessed at the truth.
The resemblance between her bearing and that of the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes—and her appearance as well—left an especially deep impression on Leilin.
The Ancient Snake Woman was also a bearer of the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes' bloodline, even a purer line than the Kemi Giant Snake. But all things considered, they were bloodline siblings, connected by the same ancient power.
"Kin! Tell me—what did you come here seeking?" the green-haired Snake Woman asked. There was an odd, seductive quality woven into her voice, and Leilin found himself involuntarily wanting to answer her question.
"Warning! Warning! The host's bloodline is experiencing unstable fluctuations—an emotional influence detected!" The Chip's cold reminder snapped Leilin out of the bewitchment just in time.
But he dared not look at her again—especially not into the Snake Woman's eyes.
"Legend says the Ancient Snake Woman possesses the ability to command any species of serpent. Now it seems that is indeed the case…"
Even as a mere spirit-like projection, she had nearly ensnared him. If the actual Snake Woman—a being whose true body had reached the rank of Radiant Moon
"Your bloodline seems remarkably pure. And your body is shrouded by a very particular kind of power…"
The Snake Woman phantom bit her finger.
"Who exactly are you?" Leilin's voice was low and guarded.
"I was once human. I've had several names… but I've forgotten them all." The phantom smiled, as though speaking about something that had nothing to do with herself.
"Are you the soul projection of an Ancient Snake Woman sorceress?" Leilin guessed.
According to his intelligence, the ancient Quicksand organization had once counted among its members a Snake Woman sorceress who had apparently undergone atavism, becoming a true Snake Woman of terrifying power—even ordinary Radiant Moon Wizards were no match for her.
"No. She has long since perished utterly. I am merely a phantom formed from scattered memory fragments that have evolved over an immense stretch of time…" A trace of melancholy crossed the green-haired girl's face.
"Even so, for a spirit of this magnitude to form, there must be an incredibly powerful radiation source nearby!"
Leilin's eyes lit up. He thrust his hand down and grabbed at the fur-covered cushion!
A massive black claw materialized, sweeping aside the fur and metal to reveal what lay beneath the surface.
It was a layer of white feathers. And once he pushed those feathers aside, a thick pulse of bloodline energy immediately surged outward.
"It can block both radiation waves and bloodline aura!" Leilin hastily gathered the white feathers, then fixed his gaze on the object nestled in the hollow.
It was a fragment of bone—the finger bone of some humanoid creature.
Despite the passage of countless ages, its terrifying majesty and energy still radiated outward, giving Leilin an almost overwhelming urge to kneel.
"As expected of a creature that reached the Fifth Rank at maturity. Even a single finger bone can continue radiating for this long after death—and give rise to something like this." Leilin glanced at the green-haired Snake Woman.
The remains of a Fifth Rank creature—needless to say, how precious they would be to the Blood Vultures. No wonder their king had layered protections around the bone, even using radiation-masking feathers to conceal it.
"What did you come here to do, my brother?" the green-haired Snake Woman asked again.
Leilin hesitated for a moment, then answered: "I'm looking for something that can accelerate bloodline growth. Snake Woman hair, for instance…"
"That can help you far more than Snake Woman hair!"
The Snake Woman smiled faintly. The finger bone floated into the air and settled into Leilin's palm.
"Why… are you helping me?"
Feeling the bloodline inside him surge with exultation, Leilin knew the Snake Woman bone joint in his hand was genuine—and that it would benefit him enormously.
But he did not accept it immediately. Instead, he voiced the question that weighed on him.
"I have persisted far too long… I no longer know if it has been hundreds of years, or even over a thousand. I can never leave the range of this bone's radiation…"
The Snake Woman gave Leilin a sidelong glance. "Do you know what that kind of existence feels like?"
Leilin fell silent. Such suffering could indeed drive a Wizard to madness—or even to wish for death.
"Once you take the bone away, without the environment of constant radiation, I will gradually fade…" The girl's silhouette grew more translucent, yet a smile of relief appeared on her face.
"Wait—the bloodline shackles of a Kemi Giant Snake sorcerer. How can those be broken?"
Seeing the girl's form growing transparent, revealing the wall behind her, Leilin blurted out the question.
"That is something only the Mother can solve…"
As her voice grew ever fainter, the Snake Woman's phantom dissipated entirely into the air.
"The Mother? The Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes?" Leilin rubbed the bone joint in his hand, his expression unreadable.
"There's no time to dwell on it. I need to leave—now!"
Leilin carefully stored the finger bone away, swept his gaze around the chamber one final time, and activated the
Dense darkness enveloped him completely. Combined with his own magic, it allowed Leilin to slip past the two Blood Vulture guards at the entrance without incident.
All the way down to the foot of the mountain, Leilin turned back to gaze at the enormous black peak and the countless caves riddling its surface. A look of hesitation crossed his face.
This place was an absolute treasure trove for a sorceress—but without Star-level strength, there was no way to subdue the entire Blood Vulture colony.
"At most five minutes until the Blood Vulture King returns from its patrol. Once it discovers the bone is missing, it will mobilize every Blood Vulture for a sweep…"
Leilin stroked his chin. He had been lying in wait here for a long time, and his preparations went far beyond this single act. But the greatest prize was already in his hands, and whether to continue left him conflicted.
Throughout history, there had been no shortage of those who threw away their lives chasing after profit. Leilin had no intention of becoming one of them.
"Never mind. Let's go!"
Leilin cast one last, regretful glance over his shoulder, then departed.
…
"Hmm? He's finally come out."
Not far from the mountain, in a hastily excavated underground cave, the pursuing female Wizard stared at the crystal orb in her hand. Its surface was now suffused with a deep crimson glow, growing brighter by the moment.
"If you had stayed hidden in those Blood Vulture nests the entire time, I might genuinely have been unable to touch you. But now?"
A smile spread across the female Wizard's face.
She had tracked Leilin all the way in, using magic to capture a trace of his aura and craft it into a tracking device. But once she arrived, she discovered that Leilin had actually taken refuge inside the Blood Vulture nests!
The Blood Vulture King at that location was at the peak of the Crystallization stage—its strength exceeded hers, to say nothing of the numerous Third Rank subordinates. If she tried to pursue Leilin there, even the slightest commotion would alert the entire colony and bring them all down on her.
So the female Wizard had chosen to lie in wait. In her estimation, Leilin had come here to gather materials. No matter how long it took, whether he succeeded or not, he would inevitably have to leave eventually—and that would be her chance.
"I do have him to thank, in a way. He led me to discover this treasure trove. As a reward, I'll make your death a quick one…"
The female Wizard flicked her robes and vanished into the cavern.
"Ding! Warning! Warning! High-energy wave pattern detected in a force field—distance from host: 15 kilometers and closing fast!"
The Chip's alarm suddenly blared, catching Leilin off guard.
This was the Chip's advantage. It gave Leilin not only the spiritual power scanning that was a Wizard's specialty, but also the ability to detect threats through the Chip's sensors.
And the Chip's detection range far exceeded Leilin's own.
"Scan and render!" Leilin issued the command immediately. A red dynamic image was projected into his field of vision.
It showed a humanoid figure—nothing but a heat and radiation silhouette, impossible even to determine whether it was male or female. But the vivid coloring betrayed the truth: this was a Third Rank Wizard, one who had reached the Crystallization stage.
"The pursuer? Finally!" Leilin had long anticipated this.
*Chirp-chirp!* At that very moment, a piercing cry echoed from the distance, and the color drained from Leilin's face.
"The Blood Vulture King is back too! Going back now would be suicide!"
In that case—Leilin's lips curved into a smile. He issued his command to the Chip: "Chip! Activate every contingency plan!"
"Command accepted. Initiating activation." The Chip's emotionless voice rang out.
*Chirp-chirp!* On Blood Vulture Mountain, the Blood Vulture King had entered its cavern, and a roar of fury immediately reverberated outward.
Two Liquification-stage Blood Vultures were pinned to the ground beneath its talons, feathers and blood tumbling together. The Blood Vulture King bellowed in rage, sending every vulture on the mountain into a frenzy.
But that was not all.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At Leilin's command, hidden magical arrays across every secret corner of Blood Vulture Mountain erupted into activation one after another.
Shadow Servants materialized in rapid succession—appearing right beside ordinary Blood Vulture nests, snatching up caches of bloodline artifacts, some even seizing enormous Blood Vulture eggs, and fleeing at top speed.
Apart from the immediate surroundings of the Blood Vulture King's own cavern, which had been left untouched, these Shadow Servant arrays had been planted at over fifty locations across the mountain.
Combined with the Blood Vulture King's enraged roars, the swarm of dark figures darting in every direction threw Blood Vulture Mountain into utter chaos.