Outside the Ice Fortress, in the central ice plains.
A dazzling blue pillar of light radiated brilliant luminescence, serving as the most conspicuous landmark imaginable.
Wave after wave of Ice Clan creatures—even beasts and monsters of all kinds—were drawn toward the blue radiance. Those that stood in their path were treated as enemies and attacked without hesitation.
In Leylin's eyes, that pillar of light was nothing less than a terrifying giant summoning formation. Every creature that carried Ice Bloodline and had grown up here was inevitably affected by its pull.
What appeared before Leylin was a rather strange assembly—fierce Ice Clan beasts mingled together with intelligent races like the Ice Elves, all united by the same fervent obsession burning in their eyes.
They trekked across mountains and through rivers, heading straight toward the Ice Fortress as though performing the most sacred of rites.
This was something Leylin had already witnessed many times.
After the last illusion battle at the Ice Fortress, the Ice Empress had not come to pursue him. There was clearly some kind of restriction holding her back, and the formation's summoning range had grown even more vast, spreading across the entire Ice World.
Every day, all manner of Ice Clan creatures were lured in and consumed as nourishment for the Ice Empress.
Leylin naturally would not simply stand by and watch. His expression cold and indifferent, he slammed his right hand downward.
Rumble! A colossal palm print erupted onto the hard, ice-like ground, and the Ice Elves, Ice Jaguars, and all the other Ice Clan creatures that had been there were reduced to a pile of fragments.
After dealing with this group, Leylin furrowed his brow and headed off in another direction, where an even larger procession was on its way.
How many creatures were there across the entire Ice World? No matter how many Leylin intercepted, there were still far too many Ice Clan creatures that broke through and reached the Ice Fortress, only to be ground into dust beneath it.
"This kind of absolute dominion… it's the tragedy of an entire species!"
Leylin watched the scene with a trace of sighing. It was clear enough—the bloodline of every race in the Ice World had originally flowed from the Ice Empress. So when she decided to reclaim it, they had no power to resist whatsoever.
This situation could also be extended to the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes.
Given her tremendous strength and her mastery over bloodlines, if one day she commanded Leylin to die, he probably wouldn't be able to mount any effective resistance either.
And that was precisely what Leylin was desperately trying to avoid.
"It seems the Ice Empress is bound by some kind of restriction, which is why she had to cultivate Alvin and even let the Ice World's races roam free—periodically conducting blood sacrifices to harvest power and vitality…"
A flash of light gleamed in Leylin's eyes. "And after last time, she's clearly gone mad, summoning the entire Ice World's population for a blood sacrifice! Her aura grows stronger with each passing day!"
With that thought, Leylin produced several test tubes, flicking his fingers in rapid succession.
Streams of violet light shot out and sank into the backs of several third-tier Ice Giants, forming strange, arcane symbols.
"ROAR ROAR!" Seeing that Leylin was no longer blocking their path, the Ice Giants charged onward toward the Ice Fortress with undiminished ferocity.
This was something Leylin did every day, though how effective it truly was remained anyone's guess.
Leylin furrowed his brows and headed into a temporary dwelling that had been hastily set up.
"Chip! How's the Mental Defense spell formula simulation coming along?"
"Ding! Mental Defense spell formula — simulation progress: 97.6%!" Chip reported faithfully, and in its projection, an ethereal, ghostly spell template had been filled in right down to the final stage.
"Tier 4 Spell — Mental Defense! A defensive spell developed by integrating the Mind Warlock bloodline template and the illusion database, specifically designed to counter mental intrusions. Reference materials: 'The Path of the Mind,' 'An Introduction to Spell Templates'…"
Beneath this model, there was Chip's detailed explanation, and the reference materials in particular were listed in a long column stretching far down.
For Leylin, the Ice Snow Empress's mental intrusion was a problem that absolutely had to be solved.
The Ice Snow Empress's mental intrusion was capable of breaking through a Morning Star Wizard's quality point and dragging one's True Spirit into an illusion — an utterly terrifying ability.
Once the protection of the quality point was lost, a Morning Star Wizard's True Spirit was still extremely fragile.
Last time, he had been lucky enough to barely escape. Otherwise, given the opponent's ability to link her illusion to reality, if Leylin had perished within the illusion, his true body in the real world would have died as well.
Therefore, ordering Chip to simulate the corresponding spell had become an urgent priority.
Moreover, the opponent happened to be unable to move freely at the moment, giving Leylin a significant window of opportunity.
However, as the terrifying summoning progressed, the range over which the opponent drew upon life force was growing ever wider, and Leylin could no longer afford to delay making his move.
As for using his Morning Star killing technique to destroy the entire Ice Fortress — while Leylin had considered it, firstly, the most important bloodline and the Scorpion Man's remains still hadn't been located, and secondly, even as the Corroding Giant Snake, if he couldn't destroy the opponent's true body in a single strike, he would still end up under her control.
Furthermore, the soul force utilization of ancient bloodline creatures was even inferior to that of Morning Star Wizards, making their defense against this kind of attack particularly weak.
"But at this rate, it'll be completely finished by tomorrow!"
A sharp gleam flashed through Leylin's eyes. For an ordinary Morning Star Wizard, simulating a Tier 4 spell from nothing would probably consume decades or even centuries of effort — especially something as enigmatic and unfathomable as a mental spell, which would require even more time.
But with Chip, it was merely a matter of computational expenditure. Once the template was complete, it could even be directly transmitted into Leylin's memory area, skipping the familiarization process entirely and saving a tremendous amount of time.