"I'd really love to test my strength against an enemy of this caliber…"
A fierce glint of battle intent blazed in Lei Lin's eyes, but it quickly subsided.
Though he was eager to reach the Radiant Moon realm, he was no fool. The power of the fifth tier far exceeded what he currently possessed, and until he himself advanced to the fifth-tier Warlock rank, he had no intention of engaging any Radiant Moon
"Everyone! We've received the latest directive — an extermination order issued by the President himself! The task force will lead the charge, with garrison forces across all regions providing support. We are to root out every last Three Serpent Cult stronghold scattered across the Atlantean Federation!"
Lei Lin stood with his hands clasped behind his back. After inspecting his squad, he raised his voice and declared.
"Long live the Federation!" the assembled members roared in unison, flushed with excitement on their faces.
Compared to the true mortal armies, most of them had joined the organization partway through. They hadn't undergone much indoctrination, so why would they harbor unrealistic delusions? What thrilled them was that this time the Federation was clearly getting serious — and with the order coming directly from the President, that meant a flood of opportunities to earn merit!
And once merit was earned — advanced techniques from the upper echelons, abundant resources, even titles of nobility and glory — all of it seemed within easy reach. How could they not be excited?
"Excellent!" Lei Lin was perfectly aware of what these people were truly thinking, but he was no saint himself — arguably even less virtuous — so he had no intention of bursting their bubble at a time like this.
"The eastern district contains a total of fifteen Three Serpent Cult strongholds. I'll now assign our targets…"
In truth, Lei Lin hadn't even explained how they would select their objectives. In his view, the only members of the squad who were marginally useful were himself and the other three Earth-tier Fire Feather Clan members. The rest of the squad could only serve as outrunners, messengers, or morale boosters.
After all, the Three Serpent Cult branches they were tasked with eliminating were just that — branches. They had no top-tier combat forces; Sky Tier power was the strongest they could field.
…
A vast desert stretched to the horizon. The scorching temperature warped the air into faint, shimmering distortions, and rolling waves of heat blurred the landscape not far away.
"One of the Three Serpent Cult's branches is right here! General Gilfa, your task is to establish a complete cordon around this area and ensure that not a single suspicious individual escapes. Any questions?"
Inside a hastily erected tent, Lei Lin pointed to a large map spread across the table and addressed a white-haired Fire Feather Clan member beside him.
This Fire Feather Clan elder was clearly well advanced in age — even the red feathers on his body had grown patchy and were falling out in places. Yet an aura of iron-hard, battle-forged resolve continuously radiated from him. What drew Lei Lin's attention even more was that this old man was unmistakably a Sky Tier powerhouse as well.
"No issues at all!" Gilfa nodded calmly. "I'll order the army to close the encirclement. Not even a single insect will slip out of this desert!"
This general named Gilfa was the person in charge of this region, and it was Misis who had made contact with him.
Although Lei Lin already held military authority, the Chancellor's orders, combined with the formidable strength he had demonstrated, earned him the general's enthusiastic cooperation.
"I hope you can destroy this lair in one strike. Many of the disappearance cases under my jurisdiction are connected to it," the general remarked casually.
"Understood! Move out!" Lei Lin nodded, strode out of the command tent, and abruptly swept his arm forward.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
His entire figure transformed into a cyclone, and together with several other equally dazzling pillars of light, he shot straight into the depths of the desert.
"This Three Serpents Cult hideout is remarkably well hidden. If not for the Federation's entire intelligence network, I'm afraid I'd never have found this place..."
Flickering light danced continuously in Lei Lin's eyes.
The Atlantic Federation was simply too vast. Even if he went city by city with the bloodline and soul fire crystals, scouring even the wilderness, it would take decades at the very least — and there would be no guarantee of actually finding any trace of the Three Serpents Cult.
The organization had long been wanted by the entire Federation and had always operated in extreme secrecy. Lei Lin had no confidence in stumbling upon them by chance.
But now, with the map, the entire Three Serpents Cult branch was completely laid bare before Lei Lin's eyes, with not the slightest hint of difficulty in locating it.
"Still... was the Three Serpents Cult really founded by three Grand Dukes?"
A vast, blazing-red lake had already faintly appeared before Lei Lin's eyes, with wisps of flame rising from its center. According to the intelligence, the Three Serpents Cult branch was situated beneath this lava lake.
His soul force pierced through the lava and desert with ease, sweeping down to the structures below, and a complicated expression flickered across Lei Lin's face.
"This is..."
Through his soul force, Lei Lin could clearly see the extensive experiments being conducted in the Three Serpents Cult branch laboratories, along with modified Fire Feather Clan subjects and others.
"Bloodline modification experiments?" As a Warlock, Lei Lin was naturally no stranger to such things — if anything, he could be called a grandmaster in this field.
One glance was enough for him to identify, from the types and methods of modification on display, a great many hallmarks commonly used in the Wizard world, and even traces characteristic of the Ouroboros Ring.
"Could it be... that the Three Serpents Cult here really is a power established by three Grand Dukes?"
A sharp gleam flashed through Lei Lin's eyes, and a blood-red crystal had already materialized in his hand, within which two pale threads of soul fire were intertwined around each other.
"No reaction! The two Grand Dukes aren't here!" Lei Lin shook his head.
Although the range of his bloodline and soul sensing was already quite extensive, it was still far too small when measured against the entire Atlantean Empire — let alone the entire Lava World.
"Attack!"
His thoughts raced in a hundred directions, but Lei Lin issued the command without a moment's hesitation. An enormous phantom of a Fire Phoenix materialized behind him, its body bathed in torrents of crimson-gold flame, as though a primordial Fire Phoenix had truly been reborn!
This was the ultimate manifestation of the eighth layer of the Fire Feather Technique! Based on this phenomenon alone, even if Lei Lin were to claim he was not of the Fire Feather Clan, no one would believe him.
The singularity of a Star Dawn Wizard was infinitesimally small, capable of containing vast quantities of power within a single point without causing any conflicting reactions with other energies.
Moreover, with the Chip analyzing and running projections for him, Lei Lin had long since secretly cultivated the Fire Feather Technique to the peak of the ninth layer — the absolute limit of the third tier!
However, the lack of specific cultivation methods for the tenth layer had stalled his progress. Even though the Chip could theoretically deduce them, the time required was far too long, and Lei Lin had lost all patience for waiting.
And so, he had turned his attention to Shi Ke. Given the other party's status, it was highly likely that he could gain access to the tenth layer of the Fire Feather Technique!
As far as Lei Lin knew, the Fire Feather Technique comprised a total of ten layers. The first three were at the level of ordinary mortals, but the fourth and fifth began to involve supernatural power. The sixth and seventh were equivalent to first-tier and second-tier Wizards, and the eighth and ninth could rival a third-tier Wizard! Furthermore, upon reaching the tenth layer, one would instantly attain the Stellar Rank — a Star Dawn Wizard of the Wizard World!
Lei Lin had little interest in the first nine layers of the Fire Feather Technique; it was exclusively the tenth layer that held a special fascination for him.
Ascending to Star Dawn meant that one had already chosen their own path. While Lei Lin had no intention of abandoning his progress halfway, drawing on the experience of other power paths was an absolute necessity!
The Fire Feather Technique was one of the most brilliant cultivation methods he had encountered in other worlds — it could directly fuse physical and spiritual power, a concept that felt utterly refreshing to him.
If he could obtain the tenth layer and gain clarity on the Fire Feather Clan's true path and system of power, it would surely bring him enormous benefits!
"Come out!"
Lei Lin let out a thunderous shout. A sharp sonic boom erupted behind him, resembling a soaring phoenix cry, filled with scorching heat and excitement.
Amid the cry of the phoenix, Lei Lin struck.
A sky full of fire erupted like the magnificent, resplendent wings of a phoenix, sweeping across the ground and tearing up a massive layer of earth.
Rumble! The ground trembled continuously as soil and rock were flung aside. Even the lava lake seemed to experience a waterspout, with vast quantities of magma swept upward. The lake's surface dried up, exposing a colossal secret base beneath.
"It's Atlantean's task force! Those black-skinned dogs have caught up!"
A great number of Three Serpents Cult members looked up to see the dazzling phoenix phantom and immediately cried out in terror.
Most members of the task force were ruthless in their methods and possessed formidable strength, and their uniforms were typically black leather. It didn't take long for them to earn that particular nickname.
"Aren't you wearing black robes yourselves? What does that make you?"
Hovering in midair, Raylin looked down at the cultists clad in voluminous black robes bearing the interlocking pattern of three black serpents, his expression one of undisguised exasperation.
Just as he was muttering his complaint, several powerful waves of aura surged upward. Two elaborately dressed black-clad figures, clearly leaders, moved to block his path, while numerous Three Serpents Cult members swarmed out from the base with war cries.
"All nothing but small fry! Take them out quickly!"
Raylin's brow furrowed. From the two black-clad figures before him, he sensed nothing particularly noteworthy.
If they were high-ranking members of the Three Serpents Cult who had been in contact with the Morning Star, there should have been some residual radiation lingering on their bodies. Yet these two leaders bore no such traces whatsoever, which left Raylin somewhat disappointed.
"As ordered, Captain!" Several streaks of crimson fire shot forth as Raylin's Earth-level team members charged into the fray, tearing through the ordinary cultists.
Blazing crimson light flashed violently, setting the entire area ablaze in a vast sea of fire.
Facing Earth-level attacks, those ordinary cultists fell like grass being scythed. With the amplification of supernatural power, individual might was pushed to its absolute limit, and no amount of fighting spirit could make a difference. This was precisely why Raylin dared to charge headlong into a major enemy base with a squad of barely over a dozen people.