After Geoffrey left Leilin's castle, the sunny smile on Leilin's face slowly crumbled, replaced by a contemplative expression.
"A Sorcerer who inherited a sixth-rank bloodline? Interesting! Very interesting!"
So far, the only high-ranking bloodlines Leilin had encountered were the sixth-rank Son of the Sun and the seventh-rank bloodline of the Bronze Giantess that transcended rules.
As for the Fire Phoenix and the like — perhaps they weren't bloodline creatures at all. Even holding their eggs in hand, Leilin had no way whatsoever to extract their bloodlines.
The Son of the Sun's bloodline had already been consumed when Leilin crafted two Bloodline Imprints, while the Bronze Giantess's bloodline had served as the driving force behind his bloodline evolution. Both of these bloodlines were not only exceedingly rare in quantity, but also lacked a physical source — once used up, they were gone for good.
A Sorcerer who had inherited the bloodline of a sixth-rank creature was a different matter entirely. They possessed a complete body, and even after losing some of their bloodline, it could presumably be replenished through their own hematopoietic functions.
"According to Geoffrey, the other party has currently reached the rank of fifth-rank Radiant Moon Sorcerer, and the bloodline within them is barely usable. But for the best results, I should wait until they advance to Dawn Sun — the moment when their bloodline power is fully developed — to harvest the most perfect fruit…"
Leilin stroked his chin, a slight curve forming at the corner of his mouth.
Although Sorcerers had the ability to generate their own blood, bloodlines were not such a simple matter. In Leilin's view, the ancient bloodline inherited by a Sorcerer could not be drawn upon without limit — it was intimately tied to the bearer's very essence.
Extracting small amounts of bloodline was fine, but if one were to treat the person as a blood bank, it wouldn't be long before their own bloodline dried up entirely.
This held true even for ancient creatures.
But regardless, the bloodline of a fifth-rank Sorcerer — especially one who had inherited the bloodline of an ancient Dawn Sun creature — was a moving treasure trove for Leilin!
Setting aside the purification of bloodlines and the crafting of Bloodline Imprints, merely observing the operation of the sixth-rank bloodline within the other party's body would bring considerable gains to Leilin's current bloodline experiments.
Of course, the other party would certainly not be willing to serve as his test subject.
"This can wait — I'll see how they respond first! What I need to consider right now is the matter of the Flame Throne!"
Leilin rose to his feet and walked into the Astral Laboratory.
Last time, Melinda had tried to recruit him to jointly deal with the Flame Throne, claiming to have uncovered its weakness. To earn Leilin's trust, she had even released a portion of the data, which had passed the Chip's verification.
But the most critical content always remained in her hands, leaving Leilin somewhat helpless.
He knew full well that she would never reveal such crucial information until the time for action arrived — there was simply nothing he could do about it.
But since nothing new was forthcoming from her side, Leilin could only try to find ways to strengthen himself from his own end.
No matter what, this direction was never wrong.
"Actually, the best strategy would be to lie low and only make my move against the Flame Throne after I advance to Dawn Sun!"
This was Leilin's most honest thought, but unfortunately, after being attacked by the Flame Throne before, he knew that was simply impossible.
From that entity, he had sensed the most overt malice — even an inclination to destroy him at any cost.
The current lull was merely because the other party needed to consolidate its energy, and once it had fully recovered, what awaited Leilin would be a devastating strike!
"Damn it! When did I ever provoke them? Even the previous incident — they were the ones who sent Wizards to attack me first!"
Leilin felt quite innocent, even somewhat bewildered.
The Flame Throne's hatred toward him seemed to have absolutely no basis whatsoever.
Of course, the other party's temperament had always been extremely eccentric. Back then, it had even led the charge in the great purge against the Sorcerers of the Central Continent. If several fifth-rank Radiant Moon Sorcerers from Arcane hadn't stepped forward in time, Sorcerers might very well no longer exist on the Central Continent today.
After cursing under his breath a few times, Leilin still found himself with no recourse.
【Ding! Main body has entered the Astral Laboratory perimeter. Automatic decontamination and sterilization commencing!】
As Leilin walked and thought, once he crossed the laboratory threshold, the Chip's mechanical voice sounded automatically.
With the Chip's announcement, a layer of black luminescent membrane appeared on Leilin's body, while copious amounts of crimson light washed back and forth across him.
This was a mandatory procedure before conducting Astral experiments. For Leilin, this thorough precaution and the clever application of magical techniques were already no worse than the most advanced laboratories of his previous life — and in some respects, even surpassed them.