The sun slowly set, its entire body radiating an orange-red glow.
Beneath the shadow of the setting sun, the small town appeared even more dilapidated and weathered.
In the center of the town—the only inn—it was bustling with voices, a thick miasma of rum, roasted meat, and the smell of sweat mingling freely in the air.
Because the nights were cold, the inn had long since sealed its windows tight, leaving not a single crack. And it was precisely this that made the smell inside even more overpowering.
But the ruddy-faced drunkards and the travel-weary patrons paid no mind to any of it. In this kind of climate and environment, having a place to warm yourself by the fire, drink a shot of strong liquor, and enjoy some roasted meat was already a heaven-like existence.
"Your meal, my lord!"
The broad-armed cook briskly set several plates down before a table with only a single patron. Blushing slightly, she sneaked another glance at the young customer before retreating with a satisfied smile.
"By the Throne of the Dawn Sun! How can there be such a handsome man? He must be some noble lord!"
The cook's inner musings naturally had nothing to do with Leilin. At the moment, he was staring at the lavish spread on the table, but his eyes were unfocused—clearly, his mind was elsewhere.
Ever since he had given his orders and set the entire Ouroboros Ring in order, Leilin had set out on his journey.
Since time was not pressing and he had never had the opportunity to travel before, he naturally wanted to take his time and see the sights. The Central Continent was vast and boundless, home to all manner of exotic races and hybrids living alongside humans. The geography was complex and ever-changing, further complicated by the personal radiation contamination left behind by high-level Wizards, among other factors. As a result, nearly every place held some strange phenomenon—or even unsolved mystery.
Having abandoned the convenience of airships, Leilin had to admit that traveling on foot, at his pace, it would take centuries at minimum to tour the entire Central Continent!
Though there were many strange sights along the way, Leilin had already advanced to the Morning Star rank, and his perspective was far beyond ordinary. Under the probing of his soul force, there were very few phenomena left that could genuinely puzzle him.
The reason he had made his way to this particular small town was to witness a legendary marvel.
Though Leilin seemed so leisurely, with nothing on his mind but sightseeing, in truth he was using the study of these bizarre phenomena to feed more data into his Chip and enhance its analytical capabilities.
With that thought, Leilin couldn't help but glance at his status display: "Leilin Farell. Warlock, Fourth Rank. Bloodline: Komoin Giant Serpent (Mature Form). Strength: 50. Agility: 45. Constitution: 65. Spirit: 503.7. Mana: 503 (Mana synchronized with Spiritual Power). Soul Force: ???"
After advancing to the Morning Star rank, the method of expressing data through Spiritual Power had shown its limitations. And since the Chip lacked data on soul force, it had never been able to successfully quantify soul force into numerical data, which frustrated Leilin somewhat.
"Before the fourth rank, Wizards accumulate Spiritual Power through their Meditation Methods. After the fourth rank, it involves the realm of the soul—and the Eye of Komoin loses all its advantage..."
Leilin sighed. His Meditation Method was far too low-level. He had only gleaned this information from the Wing of the Sun.
The cultivation of the soul was far more complex and profound than Spiritual Power. Even the Wing of the Sun couldn't explain it completely and accurately, let alone incorporate it into the Chip's highest protocols.
Thus, Leilin returned to his earlier approach—studying various spirit entities to accumulate data and information about soul force, and ultimately complete the database.
With that thought, Leilin checked the two sub-panels beside his data: "Eye of Komoin Meditation Method, Fifth Layer—Deduction Progress: 6.92%. Soul Force Database—Completion: 26.8%!"
"Sigh... the road is long and the burden heavy..." Leilin smiled bitterly to himself.
Setting aside the Meditation Method's deduction, the Eye of Komoin had originally only four layers—a barrier that countless Komoin warlocks had never broken through. For Leilin to fabricate an entirely new layer from nothing using only the Chip's simulated deduction was simply too difficult.
And the collection of soul force data was even more arduous.
It was only after condensing his particle point—after his Spiritual Power was purified and ascended into soul force—that Leilin realized how laughable his research had been back when he was an apprentice and a first-rank warlock!
The laws governing the birth and death of spirit entities were not so easily discovered. In fact, many times a rule that held true on the first day would completely lose its validity by the second, overturned entirely.
"Soul projection leaping rules—what a damn scam!" Leilin's face darkened with frustration. Moreover, the spirit entities he had encountered back then could hardly even be called spirit entities—they were merely the products of unwilling memory fragments that had undergone energy conversion.
Therefore, while those records still held a modicum of usefulness, they were nothing more than reference material.
Only after advancing to the Morning Star rank and mastering soul force did he have the foundation to begin exploring the soul anew. And Leilin was currently working toward exactly that goal.
Overall, the physical constitution of humans on the Central Continent was far superior to those of the South Coast and the Dark Extreme Domain. With the abundance of energy particles, the probability of a soul transforming into a spirit entity after death was much higher. Combined with the radiation from numerous high-level Wizards, this had created a remarkably primitive and complex spiritual environment here.
Whenever such an environment manifested, Leilin would make every effort to arrive on site to collect data, run analyses, and the like.
"The 'Spirit Tide' phenomenon that invariably occurs at midnight during the Month of Haze in the Year of the Wailing Crow!"
Leilin murmured to himself. This was the reason he had come to this small town.
At this moment, he also keenly sensed numerous glances cast his way with apparent casualness, and couldn't help but smile wryly.
A lone patron sitting before a table of fine food for ages without touching a thing was rather too conspicuous.
With that thought, Leilin picked up his knife and fork.
The average standard of living on the Central Continent was higher than elsewhere, and even a small-town inn served up a fairly abundant spread.
There was not only a cup of honey wine, but even white bread and steak.
The steak had been prepared with baking soda and a wooden mallet to make the meat more tender, and paired with the honey wine, it had a rich, mellow flavor.
Seeing that Leilin had finally started eating, the drunkards either glanced his way or muttered some curse under their breath about an idiot, then lost interest.
But deep in the depths of Leilin's eyes, a faint glimmer of light flickered.
Even inside this small inn, there were Wizards present! It seemed they had been drawn by the Spirit Tide phenomenon.
A sweep of his soul force instantly revealed several dark figures lurking in the corners, as well as a grandfather-grandson pair seated near the counter who also caught his attention.
"Mm! A few second-rank Wizards, and one third-rank Vaporization—not bad!"
As a Morning Star
What drew Leilin's attention most was that grandfather-grandson pair. After all, a third-rank Vaporization-stage Wizard bringing his grandson along likely meant there was something important afoot.
And if it was related to the Spirit Tide, that only piqued Leilin's interest further.
The grandson being led by the elderly Wizard was only thirteen or fourteen, with wine-red eyes and golden hair that made him look quite adorable.
The freckles dotting his face and the lively, curious gaze with which he took in his surroundings made it obvious he rarely ventured outside.
"Surely these Wizards aren't here just to watch the tide?"
Leilin stroked his chin. The Spirit Tide was certainly impressive to behold, but it was confirmed to offer no practical benefit. Apart from Wizards like himself who had nothing better to do and came specifically to collect data, very few Wizards had shown up in recent years, and a Wizard as high-ranked as the old man was truly rare.
"Heh heh... the Spirit Tide is about to start. I'm going to make a fortune this time!"
"That's right! I've been waiting for exactly this!"
Several drunkards in worn leather armor shouted loudly while continuing to pour alcohol down their throats. They were local adventurers, mercenaries, and fortune-seekers who had come specifically to try their luck.
Though the Spirit Tide held little value for Wizards, for ordinary people it was still a massive gold mine.
The large amounts of debris and residue brought in with each Spirit Tide often contained a few good items mixed in, and finding them meant striking it rich.
This was the reason this small town continued to exist.
Otherwise, even though the Spirit Tide posed no great danger, ordinary people would find it hard to tolerate living next to a horde of spirit entities. Apart from Wizards, no one would have the nerve for that.
"Dong! Dong! Dong..."
The deep, resonant toll of a bronze bell rang out, jolting the many travelers to attention. Even the bleary-eyed drunkards were roused by their companions.
"The midnight bell has rung!" "The midnight bell has rung!"
The adventurers cried out in alarm, and more of them began polishing their weapons—items that held no effect against spirit entities and weren't meant for fighting them.
In the face of enormous treasure, it was probably their own companions who posed the greater threat!
"Let's go." The elderly Wizard picked up a napkin and wiped his hands with a leisurely, elegant manner that spoke of thorough training, while his grandson across the table looked somewhat stiff in comparison.
Leilin followed the crowd out of the inn.
A full moon hung high in the sky, surrounded by what appeared to be a thin layer of haze that caused the moonlight to scatter, forming a silvery-white halo.
The cold wind howled. This was considered the northern part of the continent, and the nighttime air was bitterly cold. One could see the white mist of exhaled breath from the noses and mouths of numerous adventurers.
Bang! Bang!
Doors throughout the town burst open, and even more people poured out.
Most of them were robust and sturdy, along with weathered old men bearing scars on their faces. They carried baskets or backpacks on their backs and weapons in hand, armed to the teeth.