"Chip! Begin a comprehensive scan of my body!"
Having escaped the Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes' dream realm, Leilin immediately issued the command.
The Mother of Ten Thousand Snakes was an existence far beyond seventh-rank Wizards — her power even transcended the limits of a world, capable of crossing the dimensional membrane to launch attacks through dreams. This was a level of might that even the current Leilin could scarcely imagine.
Facing such an opponent, no amount of caution could be excessive. A thorough inspection was absolutely necessary.
[Task established! Scanning program initiated! Atomic microscope access granted — examination commencing…]
Accompanied by the Chip's mechanical voice, waves of blue light began sweeping across every part of Leilin's body. Even at the cellular level, an atomic microscope was ceaselessly scanning.
Layer after layer of blue light rippled back and forth through Leilin's body like countless threads.
[Subject's skeletal structure and internal organs normal. Initiating bloodline scan… Consciousness sea probe underway…]
Leilin's expression had been quite composed at first, but moments later, when the Chip's light swept across his blood and then probed directly into his consciousness sea, his entire face changed in an instant.
Countless fine black runes began emerging from beneath the surface of his skin. And the instant these runes appeared, Leilin felt the blood in his entire body surge to ten times its normal flow rate!
The massive rush of blood caused his face to flush crimson almost immediately, and a faint reddish tint even seeped out from the depths of his pores.
Layer after layer of black runes crept up to his forehead, forming the pattern of a small black serpent.
And surrounding the black serpent, a ring of tiny, thorn-like runes coiled around it like chains and a cage, trapping the small black serpent within.
"What's going on?!"
Leilin could feel that the bloodline power within his body had begun to run rampant, pouring energy into the seal on his forehead — which in turn was clamping down on him even harder!
His own bloodline power had started to rebel! Turning around and restraining its master's strength — it sounded like something of a joke, but now that it was actually happening, Leilin felt not a trace of amusement.
"Silence! Dominate!" Leilin barked.
Hsss…
Behind him, the terrifying phantom of the Komoyin Snake Emperor erupted into view.
But at this very moment, outside the colossal phantom of the Komoyin Snake Emperor, an equally imposing ring of black iron chains stretched across the void, binding the entire titanic serpent.
The massive Komoyin Snake Emperor roared and hissed, but none of it had any effect against the restraint of those chains.
What was worse, the chains were lined with vicious barbs that had nearly punctured the Snake Emperor's scales and pierced deep into its flesh. Searing agony surged straight into
"Hsss… hsss…" The Snake Emperor's roars at this point sounded terribly weak, but the will of a Rank 5 Snake Emperor still managed, however barely, to suppress the rioting bloodline force and calm the anomaly on Leylin's body by a fraction.
"What… is this thing?"
Feeling the black serpent seal on his forehead — not only draining his own bloodline force but turning it back against him as a vice — Leylin's expression turned exceedingly grim.
In truth, he had already guessed that this had to be a contingency left behind by the Mother of Snakes. She was, after all, an existence that had transcended Rank 6 and mastered the power of Laws. Even though she had been careless enough to let him escape, that brief window of contact had been more than sufficient for her to lay down such a trap.
As the very source of Leylin's bloodline, manipulating his bloodline force would have been trivially easy for the Mother of Snakes.
"The backlash of bloodline force! Those Warlocks who have always relied on bloodline power will ultimately be shackled by it!"
Without knowing quite how it happened, Leylin suddenly recalled the words that the Crimson Great
「Warning! Host is suffering from an unidentified curse! All data declining!」The alert window that Chip projected at that moment was a vivid, blood-red color — a testament to the severity of the situation.
"Pull up my stats!" Leylin's face was dark as iron, and a wave of weakness washed through his body.
The rioting bloodline force, combined with having a large portion of his power sealed away, left him feeling more feeble than he had ever experienced.
"I was far too careless! This kind of power forcibly boosted through bloodline — no matter how useful it seemed before, in the end there are hidden dangers. If my bloodline hadn't already evolved to the level of the Komoyin Snake Emperor, granting me a degree of autonomy, this sigil alone would have stripped me of every ounce of my power and left me at the Mother of Snakes' mercy!"
Leylin's expression was black beyond measure.
「Leylin Farrell. Rank 5 Warlock. Bloodline: Komoyin Snake Emperor (Full Form). Strength: 45 (76). Agility: 40 (62). Constitution: 100 (176.9). Spirit: … Mana: 1013 (Mana determined by Spiritual Power). Soul Force: 101 (200). Status: Curse debilitation active — all data declining. Currently at early Brilliance Moon stage. Final stage undetermined!」
Leylin's face darkened even further. These stats placed him at barely the threshold of entering Brilliance Moon.
In such a short span, the curse had already suppressed nearly a third of his strength — and there was every possibility it would continue to worsen.
Leylin stared at that last line — "final stage undetermined" — and his voice carried a biting chill: "What do you mean, 'final stage undetermined'?"
「Based on model assessment! This curse possesses the ability to continuously absorb the host's bloodline force and amplify its effect. Projected estimate is that host data will continue to decline. There is a non-negligible possibility of a permanent drop in rank!」
The Chip replied almost immediately, but there was no joy on Leylin's face.
"Decline? How far will it decline?"
「Unknown! The possibility of the bloodline force dissipating entirely cannot be excluded!」 The result from the Chip made Leylin's gaze deepen even further.
"Bloodline shackles? Or backlash? Or perhaps the Mother of Myriad Snakes has placed shackles on all of her descendants?"
A cascade of possibilities flashed through Leylin's mind in an instant.
This power had clearly always been bound together with his bloodline force, its connection far more intimate than he had ever anticipated. And yet, to advance on the path of a warlock, one had no choice but to undergo the transformation of the bloodline force — which meant that, in truth, this power was also part of himself.
But only when the Mother of Myriad Snakes turned hostile did Leylin truly understand just how terrifying the bloodline force could become when its usual docility shattered into a frenzy.
What goes around always comes back around.
Bloodline warlocks, empowered by their bloodline force, far surpassed their peers in both cultivation speed and combat strength. But in exchange, they were bound by the limitation of bloodline shackles — and the moment they encountered the origin of their own bloodline, they possessed not the slightest power to resist.
No! Having already fused their souls with their respective bloodline origins, they would not even harbor the thought of resistance.
Leylin was certain that if any one of
This kind of control transcended the bloodline — it even reached the level of the soul! It was a powerful manipulation rooted in the very soul! Unless one replaced their soul entirely, there was simply no way to rid oneself of its influence.
"So… the moment I defy your will, you strike me down and reduce me to an ordinary person? How utterly tyrannical!"
Leylin rubbed his chin, then suddenly let out a cold laugh.
"But! My free will shall never be controlled by anyone else! The bloodline force? My bloodline may have originated from the Comorin Giant Serpent, but it has also been refined and purified through the Chip's modifications, and even evolved autonomously into the Serpent Emperor — it is not something you can so easily control…"
「Ding! A matching pattern has been discovered through database comparison!」
The Chip reported once again. With the accumulated knowledge reserves from
「Myriad Snake Curse Mark: The Mother of Myriad Snakes of the Shadow World possesses absolute control over her own bloodline. The sigil condensed from bloodline force serves as both a blessing and a curse. Should any descendant harbor thoughts of defying the Mother of Myriad Snakes, the Myriad Snake Sigil will manifest automatically, proactively draining and sealing the descendant's bloodline force, transforming it into the most terrifying of bloodline curses! Effect: Continuously weakens the warlock's power until the target's death!」
Beside the Chip's textual description, a projected image had appeared, and the pattern of the curse mark within it was identical to the one on Leylin's forehead.
"Until death, you say? I like it!"
Leylin sneered, "Chip! At this rate, how much time do I have left?"
「Ding! Based on current conditions, the host will fall from the Radiant Moon rank after 26 hours, lose the Morning Star's power after 267 hours, and completely lose all bloodline force after 312 hours, becoming an ordinary person!」
Complex calculations were completed instantly within the Chip, and it delivered its conclusion.
"Too tight. Is there any way to slow this down?"
「By proactively suppressing your bloodline force and sealing your strength below the Radiant Moon rank, combined with the
After extensive computation, the Chip provided its answer.
The Myriad Snake Curse Mark worked by absorbing Leylin's own bloodline force to curse him, so proactively sealing his own power could temporarily mitigate the curse's effects.
Leylin nodded, then suddenly froze.
"Sealing my Radiant Moon strength would keep me in that state for roughly three years, but the cost is that I can't unleash power above rank five. In that case, if I encounter a formidable enemy..."
Leylin understood all too well that the more he drew upon his own energy now, the closer he moved toward death.
But his enemies certainly wouldn't let him off that easily. The Mother of Myriad Snakes in particular—attacking through dreams, driving him to exhaustion, forcing him to drink poison to quench his thirst, until the Myriad Snake Sigil finally crushed and devoured him entirely—that was most likely her objective.
"In that case, the enemy's attacks will definitely not come just once!"
Leylin's pupils contracted sharply.
"Hiss hiss..."
Almost the very instant that thought arose, his spirit wavered, and once again he found himself in the dreamscape.
A terrifying white serpent flicked its forked tongue, gazing at him as though it were staring at a dead man.