"You are a warlock… Hmm, I remember this feeling. You come from the Wizard World, do you not?"
The Wise Ancient Tree spoke slowly, each word requiring a long stretch of time before it could be uttered — enough to drive any impatient wizard to frustration.
But there was not a trace of impatience on Leilin's face. On the contrary, he was filled with reverence for the Wise Ancient Tree. After all, the Tree had played a role in his own advancement to Tier 3 Warlock, so he bowed with deep respect.
"Yes! Tier 4 Warlock from the Wizard World — Leilin Farell, paying respects to the great Enlightener of Wisdom!"
Enlightener of Wisdom was the title that all wizards of the Wizard World had deliberated upon and collectively bestowed upon the Wise Ancient Tree.
According to legend, the Wise Ancient Tree was the crystallization of all wisdom, possessing knowledge of every mystery in the astral plane and the entire universe. Countless high-level wizards had been enlightened by it, and even the glories of the ancient era were said to owe no small part to its guidance.
Yet the great tree, which had always appeared as a dispenser of wisdom and solver of mysteries, had one day suddenly vanished from the Wizard World. No matter how the ancient wizards searched, they could not find the slightest trace of it.
Furthermore, many wizard historians in later ages attributed the decline of the ancient era to the absence of the Wise Ancient Tree's guidance, claiming that without it, numerous ancient wizards had walked the wrong path.
Though Leilin did not entirely agree with this view, the Tree's thorough understanding of wizards was beyond question.
"The Wizard World…" A flicker of nostalgia passed through the Wise Ancient Tree's enormous eyes. "I still remember… it was twenty Dark Ages ago, or perhaps twenty-five. Those wizards were such lovely children. Oh! Among them there was one named Atan — he was rather skilled at roasting meat…"
The great Wise Ancient Tree was like an old man reminiscing about the past, launching into an endless stream of chatter.
Leilin waited quietly to the side, but Toad Quark was growing impatient. "Old friend! Are you moving again? You only settled here eighty-seven thousand years ago… I barely took a nap, and now you have to move once more?"
"Eighty-seven thousand years… a nap?" Leilin was somewhat speechless.
"Yes, my friend! I have sensed the coming of terror. Not even the edge of the world can block the gaze of a great power. The aftershocks of the ancient era will continue to send ripples outward, dragging ever more worlds into the maelstrom…"
The Wise Ancient Tree slowly uttered something resembling a prophecy, which stirred something in Leilin's heart. But no matter how he pressed for more afterward, the Tree fell silent.
"Stopping halfway through… honestly…" Leilin silently rolled his eyes. Just then, after finishing its farewell with the toad, the Tree's voice came again: "And you, little one. I can answer one question as a final gift. Of course, it must not concern the topics we discussed before…"
"Thank you, great Enlightener!" Wild joy crossed Leilin's face. The chance to have a question solved by the Wise Ancient Tree was something that even in the ancient era, not every wizard could hope for. Even a Dawn Wizard would likely fight tooth and nail for such an opportunity.
But once the euphoria faded, Leilin found himself at a loss.
"What should I ask? How to achieve immortality? Too vague!" Leilin's lips parted, but the words did not come.
After a fierce internal struggle, his eyes suddenly cleared with sharp resolve. "Even if this is truly the Wise Ancient Tree, it is merely one of the myths of the ancient era. In itself, it can be considered an eighth- or ninth-tier wizard, and right now it is focused on self-preservation. Asking it would be futile. I must ask the question most relevant to myself…"
With this realization, the fog that had been coiling around Leilin's mind finally dispersed completely.
"I want to know the method for breaking through the bloodline shackles of a warlock!" Leilin drew a deep breath, clenched his fist, and posed the question to the Wise Ancient Tree.
For him, nothing in the world was more important than finding the answer to this question.
"That…" The Wise Ancient Tree lifted one of its roots to support the spot beneath its bark — a gesture remarkably akin to a human resting chin on hand in thought. "You may…"
……
The thick fog dissipated, and Leilin snapped back to full consciousness.
He rubbed his aching forehead and looked at the gray stone slabs beneath his feet, the fog around him gradually thinning, and the buildings that were steadily coming into view. The dazed look in his eyes quickly faded, replaced by a wave of confusion.
"Was that scene just now real, or was it an illusion?"
Leinlin stared at his own hands. "I'm already at the Dawn Star rank — any illusion should have been exposed under a sweep of my soul power… Besides…"
He touched his chest, over his heart. "The answer the Wise Ancient Tree gave me just now is still firmly engraved in my mind. It's highly plausible…"
This situation left Leilin utterly perplexed.
"Perhaps the Path of Bewilderment uses this kind of extraordinarily sophisticated illusion to force the intruder to seek an answer while drowning in self-doubt. The answer was actually buried deep within the intruder's heart all along — it's simply being dredged up again. Of course, if they fail to find it, they'll remain lost forever…"
Drawing on his past experience and knowledge, Leilin offered a speculative explanation that was plausible on the surface but far from certain.
Yet deep down, he felt that everything he had just experienced was probably real.