"It's all your fault, Nashasisi! Didn't you say that using world coordinates to set a trap would completely annihilate them in the gaps between worlds, with no possibility of leakage?"
The moon rune on Jessia's forehead gradually began to dim, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"How was I to know that three Dawn Star Warlocks working together could actually rival a fifth-level Radiant Moon!" The mysterious female voice rang out, carrying a hint of a little girl's petulance.
"Are you saying I'm useless?"
Veins were already bulging on Jessia's forehead.
"Heh heh... how could I? After all, you are a student I personally trained!" The little girl's voice suddenly matured considerably.
"We're merely exchanging interests!" Jessia gasped for breath as he reiterated.
"Fine! Fine! Fine! I understand. Wade fighting you for the Magma World, and Leilin challenging your authority in the Central Continent — those are all small matters. As long as our plan succeeds, you could even advance to Daybreak and raise the Throne! At that point, even destroying the entire Warlock Alliance would be nothing!" The woman's voice was exquisitely soft, impossible not to be drawn into.
Under the woman's soothing words, Jessia quickly composed himself and made his way to his Wizard Tower, to a dark, secret chamber.
After passing through layer upon layer of protective formations outside, the chamber within was completely empty — except for a single circular pool at its very center. Within it, masses of black air currents rolled and churned like waves, and occasionally a few blank, pale human faces floated to the surface.
"Wooo wooo!"
Faint white waves of air rose up, condensing into several slender human figures that circled around Jessia.
"How is it? For this, I've invested all my treasured collections, and even..." Jessia's voice gradually trailed off.
"Excellent! The Pool of Sighs has been successfully prepared — just a few final steps remain..." The woman's voice took on an eerie, chilling quality.
...
[Ding! Son of the Sun bloodline mark stored energy increased!]
[Ding! Host's fire elemental resistance increased!]
The Chip's mechanical prompts sounded at just the right moment. Leilin gazed at the sun runes on the backs of both his hands, momentarily lost in thought.
"This was something specifically prepared for Jessia, but I never expected him not to show up!"
He had to admit, the other party's response was somewhat beyond Leilin's expectations. Jessia was inherently a petty, narrow-minded man, and the fact that he could restrain himself this time — maintaining his composure even in the face of provocation — was rather surprising.
"Perhaps... someone talked him out of it." Leilin stroked his chin. "If that's the case, that person holds a fairly high position in Jupiter's Thunder. Who could it be?"
"But this is even better — all territory reclaimed, and neither bloodline mark was consumed..." A bloodline mark equivalent to a single strike from a sixth-level powerhouse was absolutely Leilin's greatest trump card at this point. The fewer he used, the better. Being able to continue concealing it was a good thing.
Moreover, Leilin could sense that the bloodline mark branded upon his skin and the modified Fire Plume Technique within his body had formed a strange resonance, each benefiting the other.
And as time passed, this phenomenon would only become more pronounced.
"Could it be... that the ancient Sons of the Sun had some connection to phoenixes as well?" Leilin mused with an amused smile, though he didn't give the matter much further thought.
"Teacher! Here are all the Ouroboros Ring's records related to body refinement!"
The study door opened, and Slubi walked in carrying a huge stack of black books along with crystal balls and other knowledge-recording devices.
The numerous books formed a small mountain on Leilin's desk.
"Mm. Well done." For this student he'd casually taken in years ago, Leilin gave a slight nod of encouragement before sending him away, then turned his attention to the desk.
The vessels for preserving knowledge in the Wizard world came in all manner of strange forms. Even among those shaped like books, there were many different materials.
Truly paper-made books were still quite rare. Leilin even spotted an entire metal book with a bronze cover, as well as a tome of bones forged from actual skeletal remains.
The Ouroboros Ring was, after all, one of the Central Continent's major powers, with considerable accumulation over the years. Leilin's first priority was to search through these materials for methods that could enhance his physique.
The aftereffects of his spiritual power surge still hadn't been resolved.
Furthermore, given his current physical constitution, body-refinement secret techniques and magical arrays that could still have any effect on him were exceedingly rare.
Leilin casually flipped open a thick, black dictionary-shaped book.
On its pale yellow title page was a vivid rose, its leaves and petals seeming to tremble ever so slightly.