Leilin Farell had never forgotten his primary goal — to break through the shackles of his bloodline and free himself from the Curse of Myriad Serpents!
And now, having smuggled himself into the Purgatory World and lying low in silence, that was the first step toward success. As for his plans going forward, he had a tentative outline in mind, but it still required constant adjustment and adaptation.
"Now that I've entered the Purgatory World, with the Chip's assistance, my aura and fluctuations have already been calibrated toward the natives. I even have the Mask of the Dreamless to conceal my bloodline, and the Substitute Puppet to create confusion in targeting. Even the Mother of Myriad Serpents, powerful as she is, won't be able to discover my existence in any short period of time — unless she's already reached the ninth rank, omnipotent and omniscient..."
The ninth rank of
In Leilin's view, this was power that surpassed even gods. But these were merely descriptions found in ancient texts, and who knew whether they were true or false.
Even in the most glorious and brilliant ancient era of the Wizard World, the highest rank of Wizard ever clearly documented was only the eighth rank. A genuine, verifiably recorded ninth-rank Grand Wizard had never appeared.
Perhaps the ninth rank was nothing more than the ultimate fantasy for a Wizard.
And Leilin could be certain that the Mother of Myriad Serpents was at most equivalent to a rank-eight Wizard — she had absolutely not reached the ninth rank.
The Purgatory World was vast and boundless, with numerous Rule Existences presiding over it. Even if the Mother of Myriad Serpents wanted to search the continents one by one, it would be impossible.
Therefore, based on Leilin's deduction, the most the enemy could do was covertly pursue him through bloodline tracing or issue a bounty.
And the most prudent, as well as the most probable, course of action for the Mother of Myriad Serpents was simply to wait patiently. Because for Leilin to break through the shackles of his bloodline, there was no way around her. And in such a short time, there was no possibility of Leilin breaking through several ranks in succession to reach the same level as the Mother of Myriad Serpents.
"The top priority is to integrate into the Purgatory World as quickly as possible, find the natives, and understand the division of forces..."
Leilin thought silently, closing his eyes.
Under the moonlight, his entire body seemed to be cloaked in a hazy glow, casting brilliant, shimmering reflections across the surface of the sea.
...
The night passed. An orange-red radiance soon rose from the horizon, its light rippling across the waves. At the far edge of the orange glow hung a dark crimson sun.
Faint golden light cascaded downward, gradually dispersing the white mist that blanketed the surrounding sea.
"Hm?" Leilin, who had been lying on the surface of the sea recovering from his injuries, twitched his fingers. In this situation where he could only rely on his body's natural recovery, his boredom drove his attention toward other matters.
"The outline of the Purgatory World's sun seems considerably smaller than that of the Wizard World. And based on my calculations from last night, the length of night here is at least twenty hours. Judging by the rate at which this star is rising..."
Leilin gazed at the Dawn Sun, which had now fully cleared the horizon, and his mind raced through rapid computations.
Though still far short of the Chip's processing power, after several rounds of enhancement and nourishment of his spiritual power and soul force, his brain's computational ability and speed were now in no way inferior to some of the top-tier thinking machines from his previous life.
"Four hours and fifteen minutes! Perhaps even less, and this sun will complete its entire cycle from rise to set!"
Leilin was highly confident in his calculation. "And the Purgatory World isn't like a planet — it's nothing but endless continents and oceans, all existing on roughly the same plane. Therefore, the timing of sunrise and sunset is nearly identical no matter where you are..."
"The days are so short, and dark-element energy particles are so abundant — now I understand why. Creatures deprived of sunlight and solar energy had no choice but to look toward other sources of power. That's why fire element is so widely utilized..."
From a macro perspective, Leilin had nearly deciphered the entire evolutionary trajectory of the Purgatory World. This far-reaching vision was the crystallization of his previous life's scientific spirit combined with his present life's magical abilities, surpassing even many Rule Existences in breadth of insight.
"The illumination level of the Purgatory World is on the low side compared to many worlds — only that Shadow World, where sunlight never reaches, ranks below it. No wonder after the Mother of Myriad Serpents failed in her bid for control of the Shadow World, she led her clan to migrate here. It truly is well-suited... if you set aside the chaotic will of Purgatory."
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Leilin's lips. "The chaotic will of Purgatory has both advantages and disadvantages. Precisely because it is chaotic, it gave the Mother of Myriad Serpents an opening to exploit. But at the same time, the other offspring of the myriad serpents are not Rule Existences and cannot resist the invasion of the chaotic will. That's what gave rise to the berserk bloodline disease among the myriad serpent bloodline — one that can only be cured by the primal force of the Frozen World..."
"Perhaps, in this plan, I could seek the aid of the Purgatory World's native powerhouses..."
A sharp glint flashed in Leilin's eyes.
"Caw! Caw!" Just then, several enormous white birds — resembling seagulls but a dozen times their size — circled in the air overhead, catching Leilin's attention.
"These are..." Leilin's pupils narrowed slightly.
[Ding! Large vessel traces detected! Based on their heading, probability of encountering the host: 99.999%! Abnormal heat and radiation fluctuations detected — supernatural entities are present aboard the ship!]
The Chip faithfully reported at that moment.
"Nearly two days, and I've already run into natives. In such a vast ocean, that's not bad luck at all!"
Leilin tilted his head slightly. "Is it because my landing point happened to be close to some continent?"
In the direction Leilin turned, at the meeting of sea and sky, a dark speck slowly materialized, growing ever larger until it loomed like a small mountain, sailing steadily toward him.
"Caw~ caw~!" The cries of the massive birds circling above Leilin grew increasingly shrill, carrying what sounded like the joy of seeing a loved one.
"Domestically raised pets? It seems I was spotted long ago!" Leilin's injuries had not yet fully healed, and he could only make slight movements. He remained lying where he was.
An enormous shadow blotted out the sky before finally revealing its true form — an incredibly massive sailing ship. Three colossal white sails spread like a canopy against the heavens, and a hull dozens of meters tall cast its shadow over Leilin almost the instant it came within range.
[Ding! Gigantic creature life-force field fluctuation detected! Position: 1,200 meters directly beneath the host!]
The Chip's voice followed immediately after.
Two enormous eyes, like deep-sea searchlights, suddenly blazed to life from the dark ocean depths beneath Leilin.
"Some kind of creature similar to the South Coast's giant dragon whales, it seems. Looks like it serves as this ship's main power source — a tamed beast!"
Leilin made his judgment. When the vessel drew close enough, a sudden burst of exclamations erupted from the deck.
Keen eyesight allowed Leilin to spot several human-like heads poking above the deck railing, shouting and gesticulating in his direction.
The enormous wake carved by the hull pushed outward on both sides, setting Leilin's body adrift on the current.
When the shouting apparently proved ineffective, a horn sounded from the deck — a low, resonant note with a faint edge of clarity, as though blown from a bull's horn or a conch shell.
At the sound of the horn, Leilin could feel more life-force fluctuations erupting from the deep sea and converging around him.
"Fishmen? Sea dwellers?"
Leilin examined the figures surrounding him, a clear note of surprise in his eyes.
Drawn by the horn's call was a group of beings with human upper bodies and enormous fish tails below the waist — half-fish, half-human. Their bodies were adorned with shells, coral, and seaweed. Their appearance bore a strong resemblance to one of the sea-dwelling tribes of the South Coast, yet differed in certain ways.
Scales covered their faces, and fish-like gills lined their cheeks. Some even carried harpoons and other weapons. The most powerfully built among them approached Leilin and issued a string of sounds.
"Somewhat like the Byron Language, but different!" Leilin was nearly accustomed by now to the recurring problem of linguistic barriers.
"Fortunately! After this period of recovery, I can still mobilize a portion of my soul force!"
A cold, crystalline spiritual power seeped from Leilin's eyes, sweeping swiftly across the fishmen before him — especially their leader. At half-moon level, Leilin's spiritual power slipped undetected into the leader's consciousness sea, extracting a wealth of mental fluctuations.
The Chip processed at blistering speed,很快就organizing an entire language and uploading it into Leilin's memory bank.
"It seems developing some kind of 'Language and Script Comprehension' wizard spell is absolutely necessary going forward! Otherwise, this tedious process will have to be repeated every single time!"
Just then, clearly seeing that Leilin had remained silent for some time, the fishman leader spoke again. "Who are you? Why are you here?"
Shipwreck survivors were nothing unusual to them, but someone like Leilin — eerily floating on the sea's surface — was truly rare.
The atmosphere turned tense for a moment, and several fishmen nearby gripped their iron harpoons tighter.
"Oh! My apologies! I was a bit too lost in thought just now!"
Leilin spoke at last, in the same language as theirs.
His gentle tone seemed to carry an unusual power, easing the tension in every fishman around him.
"I am a traveler who suffered a shipwreck. The ordeal left me severely injured, forcing me to recuperate in this form for the time being..."
Leilin offered his explanation in a calm voice.
As he spoke, he rose from his reclining position.
Standing upright upon the surface of the water — that posture alone made the fishman leader's pupils contract sharply.