The phantom of the Komodo Serpent Emperor — massive and elegant, carrying the noble bearing of a sovereign — materialized behind Leilin. Vast quantities of blood-red energy enveloped his entire body.
"Hsss..."
The Serpent Emperor roared, and before it, a black hole seemed to be born that swallowed everything around it — the icy water, soil, rocks, even debris and the void itself.
After a massive amount of material disappeared into the serpent's maw, Leilin felt a tremendous surge of life force begin to circulate through his body.
First the bones, then the organs and flesh, and finally the skin — under the aid of this colossal life force, the injuries on his body began to heal at an astonishing speed.
"Is this... the devouring ability of the Komodo Serpent Emperor?" A thought flashed through Leilin's mind.
Immediately after, his arm went numb as the previously severed limb began to regenerate. In barely a dozen seconds, his severe injuries had completely healed.
This speed left even Leilin somewhat astonished. "At this rate of recovery, I could probably heal quickly even in a battle against Radiant Moon-level opponents. I could even tank a Morning Star-level killing blow with my body alone and recover immediately!"
"If the devouring ability is this terrifying, then what about the dominion ability from before?"
Leilin pondered. Information about the Komodo Serpent Emperor existed only from ancient times, and much of what the Chip had obtained was self-derived along with bloodline memories — making it quite sparse.
But even just from the surface meaning, he could tell that its dominion over all Komodo warlocks would likely mean that even ordering a Morning Star-level Komodo warlock to die, the other party would have no ability to resist.
"Hsss..."
Although Leilin had fully recovered, the phantom of the Komodo Giant Serpent behind him was not satisfied. It burst through the soil layer and soared into midair.
A terrifying suction force manifested. Everything around — living and non-living alike — was pulled toward the black hole in the serpent's maw.
Moreover, the range of this pulling force instantly surpassed the Frozen Castle and began radiating outward in all directions.
Leilin watched as several powerful creatures at the Third Level Crystalization stage were directly dragged out of the void by the suction force, before vanishing into the black hole.
Nearly every creature in the Frozen World, upon sensing the pressure of the Komodo Serpent Emperor, involuntarily lowered their heads in reverence. Their bodies trembled, not daring to move.
The massive life energy continued to accumulate, eventually forming a cocoon of light that enclosed Leilin within.
Behind Leilin, the phantom of the Komodo Serpent Emperor roared ceaselessly. Only after devouring nearly the entire central ice field did it contentedly shrink back into the cocoon of light.
And within the cocoon, Leilin was undergoing a wondrous transformation.
The immense bloodline power, together with the life energy, drove Leilin to assault the threshold of the Fifth Level!
Fifth Level Warlock — also known as a Radiant Moon Warlock! In the entire Central Continent, there might not even be twenty of them, making their status second only to the Radiant Sun Throne.
In fact, it was precisely because several Radiant Moon Warlocks existed that the heritage of bloodline warlocks had been preserved!
For Leilin, this held even greater significance — for he had finally broken through the shackles of the Komodo Giant Serpent and possessed the capital and ability to challenge the Fifth Level!
"My soul strength had already reached the peak of Morning Star after fusing the Fire Feather Technique, which is the threshold for advancement. What was actually limiting my breakthrough to the Fifth Level Radiant Moon was the Meditation Method and the bloodline issue. But now..."
Leilin smiled faintly. Under the combined assault of the Fifth Level Komodo Serpent Emperor bloodline, his advancement this time was incredibly smooth.
The fifth layer of the Komodo Eye Meditation Method, which the Chip had just finished deducing, began to circulate slowly.
Buzz!
Within the sea of consciousness, the singularity spun rapidly, its density surging as the surrounding nebulae began a new round of frenzied expansion.
Upon the singularity, a layer of fine black runes slowly materialized.
Through the Chip's soul detection, Leilin could see that the true spirit at the center of the singularity had also begun its own evolution.
The soul, which had already reached the limit of Morning Star, suddenly expanded. It formed the shape of a full moon, resplendent and flawless throughout, radiating a sense of perfection.
A continuous stream of soul force poured in, causing a cool, clear radiance to ripple across the surface of the full moon.
After the transformation ended, Leilin's soul — even larger than that of an ordinary Radiant Moon-level wizard — was covered with fine soul force that, like a crescent moon, emitted a brilliant glow.
"The soul force I have now is far from enough to fill a Radiant Moon-level true spirit. It can occupy less than half its volume, so from the outside it still looks like a crescent moon!"
Leilin suddenly gained some understanding of the cultivation of Radiant Moon wizards.
During the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Levels, wizards were all engaged in the training of soul force. The Fourth Level Morning Star was still an exploratory stage, but the Fifth Level Radiant Moon was where one truly entered the fold.
A soul like a bright moon actually represented completeness, and the remaining task for Fifth Level wizards was to use their own soul force to completely fill the true spirit.
During this stage, a Radiant Moon wizard's soul would emanate different levels of brightness — displaying the luminosity of a crescent moon, half moon, or full moon. The Chip had also used this to categorize the specific ranks within Radiant Moon wizards.
"Ding! Host's soul force has increased. Chip upgrade initiated.
After the soul's advancement, the Chip, which was fused with Leilin's soul, immediately responded. Perhaps because it had already accumulated sufficient data from the last time in the
The Chip's voice rang out again.
「Ding! Host's Komodo Eye Meditation Method has entered the fifth layer! Entering Fifth Level Warlock!」
「Ding! Host has advanced to Radiant Moon Warlock! Various parameters dramatically enhanced. Re-collecting and recalculating...」
The same mechanical voice, but the interface had changed. The light screen projected onto Leilin's memory area appeared much more solid.
"It seems the Chip has undergone some significant changes!" Leilin rubbed his chin.
「Data collection complete. Display now?」
The Chip popped up another prompt window. "Display!" Leilin nodded.
「Leilin Farell · Warlock Level Five · Bloodline: Komodo Serpent Emperor (Complete Form) · Strength: 75 · Agility: 61 · Constitution: 137.5 · Spirit: 1326.7 · Mana: 1326 (Mana is synchronously determined by Spiritual Power) · Soul Force: 133 (Crescent Moon)」
The Chip immediately projected the refreshed data before Leilin's eyes.
"As expected of the Komodo sovereign bloodline — it increased so many parameters in a single breakthrough!"
Leilin's face was filled with joy. Not only had his Spiritual Power broken through 1,000, but even his Strength and Agility — which hadn't improved in ages — had seen significant growth. His Constitution had jumped by over 30 points in one go. Truly terrifying!
"Who would have thought that the enhancement from the Komodo bloodline would become even more terrifying at higher levels!"
Leilin looked at his data panel and couldn't help but sigh.
Feeling the cool, water-like soul energy within his body — this was the soul force of the Fifth Level Radiant Moon stage, far higher in quality and more effective than the Morning Star phase — but Leilin's face held little joy.
"The bloodline shackles haven't actually been solved — they've merely been pushed back one level. And this time, there won't be another miracle of the bloodline rank increasing further!"
Leilin looked at a notification box at the end of his data panel, and his expression turned somewhat dark.
「Host's Komodo bloodline has reached its genetic limit. Cannot be further enhanced!」
The Chip told Leilin in no uncertain terms that after the Komodo Giant Serpent had been upgraded to the Komodo Serpent Emperor, it had already reached the bloodline's inherent limit. At least within the Komodo race, it could no longer advance to any higher realm.
A foreboding sense of a dead end surfaced abruptly in Leilin's heart.
Boom! The Frozen World's cocoon of light exploded, revealing Leilin's figure.
"Regardless, the objectives for coming to the Underground World have been completely accomplished. It's just a pity that the Scorpion Man's remains were burned along with him, and I didn't obtain the coordinates for the Frozen World..."
Leilin sighed, and his entire form dissolved into a black shadow that dispersed into the void.
...
The Astral River flowed grandly across the heavens. Countless alien worlds were arranged like stars in the Milky Way, shimmering with different lusters.
Among them, in one world star wreathed in flame and shadow, infinite darkness composed dense fog that shrouded an entire continent.
Upon this continent, numerous ancient and terrifying serpents bred and multiplied. Everywhere, auras surpassing the Morning Star level radiated outward.
And at the very center of the continent — the holy land of all serpents — Morning Star-level giant serpents were a common sight. The deeper one went, the more terrifying the serpents became. Occasionally, the enormous silhouettes of Fifth or even Sixth Level giants flashed past.
Within a colossal void rift, a sphere of serpents that blazed like a star suddenly split open, revealing within it the figure of the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents, bewitching beyond measure.
At the very moment Leilin advanced to the Fifth Level, the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents opened her eyes. Her water-like gaze shimmered with a hint of mesmerized wonder.
"I never imagined that even today, after the ancient era had come to its end, a sovereign bloodline of the Komodo race would still awaken!"
The Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents' eyes seemed to pierce through the barriers between worlds and the Astral River, casting her gaze upon the
For an existence like the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents, Morning Star combatants were merely basic soldiers, but Fifth and Sixth Level beings warranted attention. And the Komodo Serpent Emperor — one who could command the entire Komodo Giant Serpent race — would draw even greater notice.
"The power of fate shall guide you here..."
In the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents' beautiful eyes, the birth and death of countless worlds seemed to play out. One bright and one dark mandala flower bloomed within her pupils before rapidly fading away.
Fate itself lay within the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents' eyes!