The Land of Forgotten was exceedingly barren, a veritable wasteland for Wizards.
The Wizards who went there were all ones who had exhausted every option in the Central Continent, each carrying a bounty on their head.
Tanasha was no exception — if her identity were discovered, it would mean enormous trouble not just for herself, but for Leylin as well.
"I didn't. I was extremely careful the whole way. I left behind no images or aura readings, and I didn't use an airship!" Tanasha said.
"Good!" Leylin nodded. "And my items?"
"Right here!" With a wave of her hand, a massive black case materialized on the table.
Seeing the seals on it still perfectly intact, Leylin's face broke into a satisfied expression.
He opened the case. Inside lay a thick layer of white down.
These were the molted feathers of the Blood Vulture King, possessing a wondrous ability to mask the aura of bloodline essence — even Leylin himself had been deceived by them before.
Once he parted the white feathers, the pulsing fluctuations of countless bloodline artifacts erupted from within, drawing a flicker of astonishment across Tanasha's face.
Bloodline crystals piled up like a small hill, alongside numerous strange bones, as well as fruits and plant roots imbued with peculiar bloodline power — all jumbled together inside as though they were worth nothing at all.
But Tanasha knew all too well just how tremendous an impact these items would have on the Ring of the Ouroboros if they were ever exposed. Every single item in this case could drive high-ranking Warlocks mad with desire!
Though she had transported them all the way here under Leylin's orders, she had followed his instructions to the letter and never once opened the case — it was only now that she learned exactly what was inside.
This, of course, had all been part of Leylin's plan.
When he had reaped such tremendous rewards inside the secret realm, he had already thought ahead to how he would pass Gilbert's inspection.
After all, as the one who had sent the message, he had known from the start that Gilbert would come — how could he not have made preparations?
A Morning Star Warlock's methods for detecting bloodline artifacts were simply beyond what Leylin could imagine. He had absolutely no confidence that he could fool them, so Leylin had opted not to carry the items on his person at all!
Sure enough, even though Gilbert had inspected Leylin's spatial pouch and ring, he had only found the small amount of items Leylin had deliberately left behind. The true bulk of the haul had been transported away by Tanasha.
For this arrangement, Leylin had steeled himself and committed fully.
First, Tanasha had not only sworn an oath of loyalty — a sliver of her soul essence had also been retained as collateral.
For a Wizard, this kind of restraint was practically fatal. The moment Leylin destroyed that sliver of soul essence, Tanasha would go mad even if she didn't die outright! On top of that, he had cultivated her allegiance beforehand, promised to avenge her, and the task he had assigned was merely to transport a single item — Leylin was quite confident in all of that!
And to ensure safety on the road, he had not only placed sealing sigils on the black case, but had also used the Blood Vulture King's down as cover to conceal the bloodline fluctuations of these items.
Now it appeared that this plan had succeeded beautifully.
Looking at the bloodline artifacts piled like a small hill before him, Leylin nearly laughed out loud.
Among the myriad pulses of bloodline energy, a single finger bone lay there in silence, yet like an emperor on his throne, it outshone the radiance of every other item around it.
Tannisha stared at that finger bone as though she were facing a powerful enemy. "What is that thing?"
The aura emanating from the finger bone clearly made her feel uncomfortable — and that was simply inconceivable for a Crystallised Wizard.
After all, it was obviously nothing more than a remnant, yet the pressure it exuded could still make her feel so ill at ease. What level of power had the original owner actually reached?
Tannisha fixed her gaze on Leylin. More and more, she found herself unable to read this young Wizard.
"The joint bone of an Ancient Snake Woman!"
To her surprise, Leylin answered her question outright.
"Tower Spirit, put these things away!" Leylin picked up the finger bone, then issued a command to a small blue sprite hovering nearby.
"At once, my master!" The sprite bowed with a hand over its chest, then a pair of mechanical puppets stepped forward, collected the black box, and carried it off to the storehouse for safekeeping.
"Tannisha, come with me! There may be something I need you for shortly!"
A trace of gravity crossed Leylin's face as he beckoned to Tannisha.
He then led her down to the subterranean containment chamber before finally coming to a halt.
"Powerful Restriction Runes!" "Energy Isolation Runes!" "Corrosion Force!" "Wailing of Vengeful Souls!" "Gravity Runes!" ...
Tannisha stared at the runes inscribed on every surface, her expression growing darker with each one. With this many binding formations in place, even she, at the Crystallised realm, would find it nearly impossible to break free.
She gained an even deeper appreciation for the sheer depth of Leylin's wealth.
"You set up a containment chamber this airtight — were you planning to summon a Devil Grand Duke?" Tannisha asked, a note of provocation threading through her voice.
"No! It's merely a precaution against the unexpected. You know how it is — the other world is always teeming with all manner of strange creatures. It never hurts to be a little more prepared!"
The smile on Leylin's face was oddly cryptic. "But even I didn't expect that the first thing it would be used on would be *that*!"
A flash of light swept from his right hand, and the Snake Woman finger bone shot into the centre of the containment array with lightning speed. A reinforced glass gate slammed down in an instant, and the multitude of runes blazed to life.
The Snake Woman's finger bone lay there in silence, as though it were nothing more than an inert relic.