"You dare trespass into the forbidden grounds of our Lias Family!"
The wizards surrounding Leilin and his companion wore blue robes, with sea-blue hair, silver pupils, and pale skin. What surprised Leilin even more was that the aura of bloodline power radiated unmistakably from their bodies—they were clearly a group of warlocks!
"Bloodline warlocks! I never expected that the underground world would have warlock lineages as well!"
A glimmer of light flashed through Leilin's eyes.
"No—this is actually the norm! The underground world is even vaster than the Wizard World, so it would be perfectly normal for ancient warlock lineages to exist here. I just didn't expect that the other side of the Ganges Secret Realm would be guarded by warlocks!"
Leilin surveyed the surroundings. The warlocks encircling them were all quite young in appearance, though thanks to their bloodline enhancements, their actual ages were quite advanced—a stark contrast between their aged auras and their youthful faces.
"At least second-rank or above... and this bloodline?" A faint blue light crept into Leilin's eyes.
The warlocks around him were equally stunned, seemingly unable to believe that Leilin and his companion had managed to emerge from the forbidden grounds.
"Chip! Scan the opponent's bloodline! Cross-reference with the database!"
Leilin issued the silent command.
These warlocks, all below the Morning Star tier, failed to detect Leilin's subtle actions. The Chip quickly obtained the information Leilin wanted.
【Bloodline information collected! Cross-referencing with database! Confirmed: Ancient Thousand-Thorn Thunderbird!】
The Chip then pulled up the relevant files on the Ancient Thousand-Thorn Thunderbird.
【Ding! Ancient Thousand-Thorn Thunderbird — Tier 6 Being! A rumored descendant of the primordial Thunderbird, possessing formidable lightning abilities and sonic attacks. Prefers to inhabit areas rich in metallic elements. Assessment: Incredibly dangerous. A natural nemesis of the ancient Metallic Clan!】
"Bloodline warlocks carrying the blood of a Tier 6 being! No wonder their bloodline gives me a faint sense of suppression!"
Leilin looked at the surrounding warlocks with a trace of regret: "Unfortunately, their bloodlines have degraded considerably—there's no way to purify them back to the original Tier 6 level!"
The warlocks surrounding Leilin, though their bloodline origin traced back to the Tier 6 Ancient Thousand-Thorn Thunderbird, were in practical terms equivalent to the Horal Black Snake warlocks within the Ring of the Ouroboros—their bloodlines had long since degraded, stripped of the might possessed by their ancient ancestors.
"Still, if they're here, the true powerhouses of this warlock family must be capable of pushing their bloodlines to pureblood level..."
Leilin cast a rather malicious glance at the surrounding warlocks, giving them a sudden, inexplicable sense of impending doom.
"This place is the forbidden ground of the Lias clan, and you deliberately let those adventurers inside. There must be some hidden secrets in there..."
With only a moment's thought, Leilin couldn't rule out the possibility that the Lias Family had deliberately leaked information to lure adventurers here as sacrifices or for some other dark purpose.
That would also explain why Joe's group—despite their clearly inferior strength—had been able to enter the ruins without any obstacle.
"What are you waiting for? Wizards who defile the forbidden ground of the Lias clan have only one fate—death!"
Prompted by their apparent leader, the Lias Family warlocks attacked without hesitation. Faint electrostatic fields radiated from their bodies, merging together to form a powerful domain that engulfed both Leilin and Joe. Leilin could even sense their killing intent—they were determined to keep both of them here, no matter the cost.
"This spell?" Leilin watched as blue arcs of electricity crackled across the warlocks' bodies, forming a vast electrostatic field that amplified itself through mutual reinforcement. A hint of interest flickered across his face.
【First-level spell: Electrostatic Field! Identified as the opponent's first-level innate spell. Capable of releasing a wide-area electrostatic field with minimal energy consumption. Features a mutual amplification effect!】
The Chip relayed the spell's specifications to Leilin in real time.
"Kill him!" The leader, clad in a coat of crackling thunder-light armor and bearing two pairs of enormous blue luminous wings unfurled from his back, surged forward with explosive speed, transforming into a streak of blue lightning.
【Thousand-Thorn Thunderbird Warlock — Second-rank bloodline spell: Thunder Armor. Third-rank bloodline spell: Wings of Lightning!】
Through the warlocks' bloodline activity and spellwork, the Chip gathered even more data, displaying vast quantities of information before Leilin's eyes.
"As expected of an ancient Tier 6 bloodline—these innate abilities are all remarkably practical!"
Leilin sighed softly in admiration. The only pity was that no Morning Star warlocks were among them. For him, no matter how impressive a spell might be, as long as it hadn't crossed a certain threshold, it was utterly ineffective.
"Break." Leilin uttered a single, calm syllable. Then terrifying Shadow-type negative energy particles surged outward like a rising tide.
The roaring, churning energy particles transformed into colossal weapons and monstrous beasts, slamming into the opponents' combined electrostatic field.
Zzzt! Blue sparks erupted in brilliant flashes, interwoven with threads of dark energy, followed by a muffled thunderclap that made the very ground tremble.
Screams rose one after another as the first- and second-rank Thunderbird warlocks crumpled to the ground.
"Chirp chirp!!!" The leader, still airborne, let out a piercing cry at the sight. He twisted mid-flight, ready to transform into a bolt of lightning and escape.