"Success!"
Watching the golden lion phantom not far away, still roaring ceaselessly as it remained trapped within the blood-red wizard formation, Lei Lin clenched his fist hard.
Since he had dared to set up the substitution plan, he naturally had a way to extricate himself as well.
On the captured notebook, many important locations had been marked, and this energy hub was naturally among the most critical few. Lei Lin was confident that once this place was discovered, the hidden defensive program would likely activate immediately!
And that was exactly his opportunity!
After all, along the way he had deliberately avoided many wizard formations and refrained from using any Dawn Star killing moves, making himself seem relatively harmless. With that terrifying fifth-level warlock right beside him, there was no need to even guess which one the defensive program would target first.
Fifth-level Radiant Moon Warlocks were not to be trifled with — even in the ancient era, they were powerhouses who dominated entire regions.
The clash between these two forces immediately began to ravage the surrounding landscape, turning the already chaotic area into even greater ruin.
Even if there had been any troublesome traces or clues left behind before, they would be quickly obliterated under this kind of sweeping destruction.
Lei Lin glanced at the roaring golden lion phantom, let out a cold laugh, and allowed his body to vanish completely into the void.
The ruins now held no more attraction for him — if anything, the danger had increased enormously. There was no benefit in staying, and Lei Lin immediately decided to withdraw.
……
Half a month later, at the Phosphor Fire Swamp — the headquarters of the Ouroboros Ring, inside Lei Lin's massive castle.
"How are things with the Crimson Arc Moon ruins?"
Lei Lin sat in a loose robe, looking leisurely relaxed as he conversed through the screen before him.
Paul's figure materialized on the display, but his expression was visibly gloomy, his tentacles drooping listlessly — clearly, he had not brought back any good news.
"It's been confirmed. The Crimson Arc Moon ruins have completely shut down, and all coordinates have gone dead. It appears they've executed a spatial jump!"
Paul's face was grim.
Back then, Lei Lin — guided by the notebook — had followed a pre-established spatial corridor and made it out without incident, which was how he had missed the massive upheaval that subsequently took place inside the ruins. Naturally, he had also avoided the danger.
It wasn't until Paul and the others emerged in a sorry state that Lei Lin learned what had happened inside afterward.
As it turned out, the ancient Crimson Arc Moon wizards had left behind an alchemical golem to serve as the control hub.
This alchemical golem had already achieved fully humanized intelligence — it could think just like a normal person, though it still retained programming that compelled it to obey commands.
Moreover, this alchemical golem had not only mastered all the ancient wizard formations within the ruins, but could also recharge by devouring the quality points of Dawn Star wizards!
During the earlier battle, when it realized it couldn't handle the fifth-level Radiant Moon Wizard Wade, the alchemical golem immediately turned on the other Dawn Star wizards still inside the ruins.
A massive number of ancient wizard formations surfaced, immediately catching Paul and his group off guard.
The wizard formations meticulously arranged by ancient Wizards were enough to bring down even Dawn Star-level powerhouses. Blake of the Spirit Ring and another Dawn Star Wizard were instantly killed. The same occurred at the Wind Wolf Nest—Philip was severely wounded, Bellis was killed outright, and even the strongest among them, Hebrew, was gravely injured, rumored to be on the verge of falling from the Dawn Star rank.
Of course, Thunder of Jupiter on the other side fared no better—they lost at least half their manpower, and every survivor was wounded.
After absorbing the numerous quality points for energy, the alchemical golem unleashed devastating power. With the assistance of the many ancient wizard formations, it even managed to injure Wade and drove him out of the ruins.
The remaining Dawn Star Wizards could only fight their way out one by one. Paul was considered lucky—he stumbled directly into a spatial rift and was teleported to the edge of the Wizard World, barely escaping with his life.
Since that day, the entire Scarlet Arc Moon Ruins had vanished from the Crystal Mountain Range. No matter how many Wizards came afterward to investigate, none could find any trace of it.
According to some authoritative experts, the alchemical golem must have activated a spatial jump once it absorbed sufficient energy, teleporting the entire ruins away.
With that, the remaining Wizards had no choice but to give up in frustration, abandoning any hopes of squeezing out more profit.
As for Leylin himself? He simply fabricated a plausible lie, claiming he had gained very little after entering the secret realm, and upon discovering the fifth-level battle, had immediately withdrawn.
This naturally aroused suspicion from Hebrew and the others, but it was only suspicion—and with their strength severely depleted, they no longer had the confidence to confront Leylin.
Moreover, the appearance of yet another figure immediately drew most of the attention away.