The entire Lava World was vast beyond imagination—even several hundred years might not suffice to cross it.
According to the intelligence obtained from Jike, the continent where Leilin currently found himself was the largest landmass within the Lava World, known as the "Crown of Flames."
Surrounding the Crown of Flames was a vast ocean of molten rock, home to all manner of terrifying high-energy creatures—far more dangerous than the seas of the Wizard World.
For this reason, contact between the Crown of Flames and the other continents was exceedingly rare. Even Transcendents who wielded the greatest power seldom left this land.
In Jike's understanding, the Crown of Flames was the center of the entire Lava World, while the other continents were nothing more than slightly larger islands.
"What a fascinating world! An ocean made entirely of magma? I imagine those fire-element Wizards, if they learned of such a place, would go bankrupt just to emigrate here."
Leilin stroked his chin and continued browsing through the intelligence files he had obtained from Jike.
Though the information from the other side was incredibly complex, the Chip—which had recorded everything—could rapidly sift through vast quantities of valuable data, even proactively filtering out erroneous intelligence and merging the most closely related files.
Before long, the true face of the Lava World gradually unfolded before Leilin's eyes.
This was a world of fire. Fire elemental creatures and lava creatures occupied over eighty percent of the territory, while species like the One-Horn Tribe and the Ant Tribe—such as the Walkers—could only eke out a miserable existence at the very fringes of the continent.
On the continent map that the Chip had refined, there was no trace of One-Horn City to be found. As for Wojin City, it was merely a tiny black dot on the periphery—a thoroughly backward and desolate place.
Across the entire Crown of Flames continent, only three major powers existed.
The Fire-Worshipping Empire, composed entirely of fire elemental creatures; the Atalan Federation, formed by a humanoid species known as the Firefeather Tribe; and the United Kingdom, a coalition of various other species—these were the largest organizational forces.
Among them, the Fire-Worshipping Empire was by far the most formidable. The Atalan Federation and the United Kingdom sometimes had to join forces just to withstand the Empire's aggression.
In order to compete with the lava and fire elemental beings for habitable land, constant wars erupted, with enmity deepening on all sides. A major battle broke out nearly every few years.
As for the hierarchy among the powerful, it followed the same structure Leilin already knew—from lowest to highest: Transcendent, Earth, Sky, and Star.
As for anything above the Star rank—the level of a Fifth-rank Grand Wizard in the Wizard World—Leilin had heard of nothing of the sort. He couldn't tell whether Jike's network simply couldn't reach that level of intelligence, or whether such beings truly didn't exist.
Even so, with Leilin's current strength, he was more than capable of going wherever he pleased in the Lava World—provided he didn't attract the attention of other species' Star-rank powerhouses or the Thunder of Jupiter.
"If I were Gilbert and the others, I would either find a place to hide myself completely, or secretly build up my forces while sending out a clear external signal for outside rescue…"
A gleam flashed through Leilin's eyes, and the Chip immediately began searching again.
Soon, a particular headline caught his attention: "Riots Erupt in Eastern Atalan Cities! The rebel organization 'Three Serpent Cult' claims responsibility—believed to be retaliation following the Federation's recent large-scale crackdown…"
"Three Serpent Cult?" The term, rich with implications, immediately sparked a chain of associations in Leilin's mind.
"Filter out all information related to the Three Serpent Cult!" Leilin commanded. With the keyword now in hand, the Chip's search grew even more rapid, projecting every file related to the Three Serpent Cult before Leilin in virtually an instant.
Through reading these materials, Leilin's understanding of the organization deepened steadily.
The Three Serpent Cult—also known as the Three Serpent Rebellion—was a rising force that had only emerged in recent years, yet its growth had been remarkably swift. With the ultimate goal of overthrowing the Atalan Federation's rule, they operated with elusive unpredictability and had won the support of many lower-class citizens.
The Cult was rumored to have three leaders, each an immensely powerful figure of terrifying strength, who had caused numerous Atalan Federation crackdowns to end in failure.
However, just a few days prior, the Atalan Federation had suddenly announced an unprecedented victory in its campaign against the Three Serpent Cult—not only destroying many of the Cult's branches, but directly killing one of its leaders.
The riot news that Leilin had seen earlier was the retaliatory strike launched by the Three Serpent Cult.
"Three Serpent Cult, hmm? Interesting! Are they truly three Grand Dukes, or just decoys?" Leilin stroked his chin. But one thing was very clear: somewhere within the Atalan Federation, there were clues to the whereabouts of two of the Grand Dukes!
Regardless of everything else, Leilin would have to go.
"I can't shake the feeling that this Atalan Federation is very suspicious." Leilin stroked his chin in thought.
The three Grand Dukes and the Atalan Empire had no prior enmity whatsoever—why would they suddenly attack? It defied all logic, unless… they had made some extraordinary discovery within the Atalan Empire!
"Now that I think about it, the Thunder of Jupiter was the first to discover this world. It would be strange if they hadn't been meticulously cultivating it behind the scenes. So if the mastermind behind the Atalan Empire turns out to be the Thunder of Jupiter… then everything suddenly makes sense."