Wizards wielded knowledge to grasp the rules of the world, using Spiritual Power as a lever to manipulate elemental particles into various forms of sorcery — this was their path of power.
And as they learned more about the rules and power systems of other planes, they integrated techniques from those systems into their own sorcery, forging the glory of the ancient era.
From the Scorpion Man's memories, Leilin had learned that creatures of the Ice World excelled in physique and raw strength, and Alvin clearly inherited these traits.
Although Leilin was a Bloodline Sorcerer, comparing himself head-on with a true ancient creature still left him at a disadvantage.
The proper course of action for a wizard was to drag the opponent into a domain where he held the advantage.
To put it in terms from Leilin's previous life — attack the enemy's weakness with your own strength!
After creating distance and using his domain to restrict the enemy, Alvin's terrifying speed, brute force, and stinger thrusts were削弱ed to a fraction of their power.
Meanwhile, Leilin could bombard him with an endless variety of spells, achieving maximum results at minimum cost — the power of intellect!
"A Morning Star creature from the Ice World — I've seen one before. Now it's your turn to experience the terror of a Bloodline Sorcerer…"
A colossal phantom of the Komoin Giant Serpent materialized behind Leilin, its two eyes blazing like twin stars as they fired petrification rays. The massive serpentine body coiled forward and ensnared Alvin within its coils…
BOOM!
Deafening explosions and terrifying waves of energy radiated outward from the sky, bringing instant devastation to the Ice Clan.
The shockwave obliterated the entire fortress beyond recognition, plunging the compound into a scene that looked like the end of the world.
The Ice Clan members, who had been momentarily stunned by their leader's death, were now screaming and fleeing the fortress, desperate to put distance between themselves and the destruction.
Without exaggeration, the place had been completely destroyed.
Explosions rang out one after another. The clash between two Morning Stars even rippled into the void — massive fragments of the void detonated in cascading chains.
"What's going on? How is this intruding Morning Star so powerful?"
Alvin grew increasingly astonished. He possessed a bloodline inheritance and had received guidance from a mysterious entity — he considered himself a formidable existence among Morning Stars.
But the unfamiliar Morning Star that the Empress had ordered him to capture was even stronger. That dizzying array of spells and bizarre bloodline abilities had given him enormous trouble.
CRACK — the void shattered, and both Alvin and Leilin tumbled into the gaps between worlds.
"Capturing this target — it is the Empress's command!" Alvin stared at Leilin before him, and a look of grim determination crossed his face.
Streams of dark green energy erupted across his body, forming eerie patterns that spread over every inch of his skin.
SPLAT! The skin along his back split open, and a colossal figure surged out from within.
It was a scorpion of mountainous proportions, its entire body a vivid jade green, with a clearly defined woman's face emblazoned on its back.
Alvin's human form hung in the void like a discarded shell, drifting limply.
"Ice Jade Scorpion!" Leilin blurted out. Alvin's true form was actually a massive Ice Jade Scorpion! Its size likely surpassed even the Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor.
"SREEEE!"
The enormous scorpion roared, its massive pincers hurtling toward Leilin like falling meteors, carrying devastating kinetic force.
The sheer power behind the attack made the void itself tremble.
"Heh… I really do have a strange fate with your Ice Jade Scorpion clan. And a Morning Star-level Ice Jade Scorpion's breath would be invaluable for treating my bloodline disorder. I'll have to adjust my plans…"
A gleam of light flashed through Leilin's eyes.
Though his combat power rivaled that of a fifth-level Grand
As for his true strength — subduing a fifth-star Morning Star was certainly within his capabilities, but it would require a prolonged battle, and the opponent might very well escape.
Now that Alvin had revealed his true Ice Jade Scorpion form, Leilin's desire to capture him alive only intensified.
If he used the Bloodline Imprint to unleash "Scorching Sun Extinction," Alvin would be obliterated beyond recognition — but Leilin was counting on harvesting the creature's breath to attempt a cure for the Morning Star Sorcerer's emotional instability disorder.
"Alvin! I acknowledge that you are useful! You have value — you won't be casually destroyed!"
Leilin spoke calmly. Four blood-red halos blazed to life behind him, merging together into a terrifying spell!
"First-rank Bloodline Talent — Komoin Scales and Petrifying Gaze! Second-rank Talent Spell — Venomous Gall! Third-rank Talent Spell — Terror Suppression! Fourth-rank Talent Spell — Bloodline Metamorphosis! Combined Ancient Morning Star Killer Move — Komoin Serpent Transformation!!!"
Driven by Leilin's sixth-star quality point power, the Komoin Serpent Transformation reached a level of potency that every Komoin Giant Serpent Sorcerer had dreamed of achieving.
BOOM!
A terrifying giant serpent nearly a hundred thousand meters long materialized, its body adorned with flame-like stripes, its vertical pupils gleaming like stars.
The previously colossal Ice Jade Scorpion now looked like a toy before the serpent.
Its massive pincers scraped across the serpent's scales, sending up tiny sparks, but failed to force the creature back even an inch.
"How is this possible? You're not a bloodline creature — how can you perform Ancestral Regression?"
A disbelieving voice echoed from within the Ice Jade Scorpion. Before the terrifying Komoin Giant Serpent, all of Alvin's determination and pride crumbled to nothing.
The secret art possessed only by Morning Star-level wizards — the Morning Star Killer Move: Komoin Serpent Transformation! It had once again revealed its savage supremacy before the denizens of other worlds!
The ancient Morning Star wizards, despite mastering a vast arsenal of spells, had nothing to boast about when facing powerful Morning Star beings from other planes. Among the myriad alien Morning Stars, many possessed abilities that surpassed those of wizard Morning Stars.
But the ancient wizards' greatest strength lay in their ability to learn.
By imitating their enemies, the ancient wizards acquired a wide range of formidable abilities, and they pioneered the technique of solidifying talent spells through Meditation Methods — creating the very concept of Morning Star Killer Moves!
Before these devastating Killer Moves, the champions of countless alien worlds were crushed in defeat. Even the world of the gods had suffered a grievous loss.
Alvin was merely a later-generation powerhouse who had never even left the Ice World in his entire life. He naturally had no understanding of any of this, and his shock was profound.
"Hsss…" Leilin had no intention of explaining anything to Alvin. The colossal Komoin Giant Serpent surged forward and wrapped itself tightly around the Ice Jade Scorpion's form.
At the same time, a layer of petrifying light flickered ceaselessly across the scorpion's body.
For a time, the enormous Ice Jade Scorpion wailed without ceasing…
POP — an invisible distortion converged, and the space tore open into a pitch-black passage. Leilin, clad in black robes, stepped through with one hand carrying the now-petrified Alvin.
Alvin had returned to his human form, but his entire body was encased in a layer of stone skin, like a sculpture carved from rock.
Only the expression on his face — frozen in undisguised terror — betrayed what he had witnessed in the moments before petrification, as though he had seen something truly nightmarish.
"Too easy! Far too easy!"
Leilin sighed. "Morning Star wizards and Morning Star powerhouses from other worlds aren't fundamentally different — their energy levels are comparable. But the moment you deploy a Morning Star Killer Move, it becomes absolute domination over creatures from alien worlds!"
Just like this battle. Both he and Alvin were Morning Stars — one fifth-star, one sixth-star. Under normal circumstances, if he had faced another wizard of the same rank within the Wizard World, Leilin could certainly have defeated him, but without using the Son of the Sun's Bloodline Imprint, killing the opponent would have been extremely difficult. The enemy would very likely have escaped, since they too possessed a Morning Star Killer Move.
Alvin was different. Against Leilin's Morning Star Killer Move, he had been utterly suppressed with virtually no power to resist.
"No wonder the ancient wizards were able to crush so many alien worlds in the end!"
Leilin found himself filled with admiration for the ancient wizards who had first developed high-level Meditation Methods. Through meticulous calculation, they had used quality points to drive the fusion of talent spells into devastating Killer Moves. Even for Leilin now, reverse-engineering such a technique from scratch would require an enormous amount of time, and success wasn't guaranteed. Yet the ancient wizards had accomplished it, laying the foundation for the Wizard World's supremacy!
"This time's harvest is excellent. With his Morning Star-level breath, it should be enough to completely cure the Purgatory World's chaotic will!"
Leilin studied the petrified Alvin and stroked his chin.
The emotional instability disorder of Komoin Giant Serpent sorcerers originally stemmed from the Purgatory World. The Mother of All Serpents, after her defeat in the Shadow World conflict, had migrated her entire clan to the Purgatory World. But her descendants, originally aligned with the Dark element, had all been tainted by the Purgatory World's chaotic will, developing the trait of berserk episodes. In order to eradicate this problem, the Mother of All Serpents had set her sights on the Ice World — the ancient battle that Leilin had witnessed.
According to the Chip's calculations, the Ice Jade Scorpion clan here held exceptional therapeutic value for Leilin's own bloodline disorder. Last time, using just a single first-rank peak Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor had been enough to suppress his emotional instability all the way until he reached the Morning Star level.
Now, with an actual Morning Star-level Ice Jade Scorpion, Leilin felt confident he could eradicate his condition entirely!
The Chip had also refined its soul database in the interim, and its operations regarding the soul gave Leilin a preliminary framework to work with — a welcome bonus.
Leilin tilted his head in thought for a moment, then grabbed the stone statue of Alvin and transformed into a streak of black light that vanished over the horizon.
Only then did the Ice Giants and Snow Elves who hadn't managed to flee in time cautiously poke their heads out from various hiding places, staring in the direction Leilin had departed, their eyes filled with disbelief.
What had they just witnessed? The Ice Snow Empress's chief enforcer — the Butcher Alvin — had been defeated just like that by an outsider?
Their fear of Alvin had actually surpassed even their fear of the Ice Snow Empress. After all, though the territory was nominally ruled in her name, she rarely appeared, and everything was handled by Alvin personally.
The shock of his defeat was therefore immeasurable.