"Hello! My name is Leilin. I'd like to see the head of the Traille Family!"
Leilin repeated his purpose once more.
"Leilin? Leilin!" The middle-aged man mouthed the name several times, and his expression suddenly shifted. With even greater deference, he asked, "Might I ask — are you the Leilin from Black Bone Forest Academy?"
"That's right." Leilin gave a firm confirmation.
The middle-aged man's face broke into a radiant smile as he tried his best to look as amiable as possible. "Welcome to the Traille Family! I'll go announce you at once…"
Once he learned of Leilin's identity, this man's attitude changed yet again.
He had heard Leilin's name many times before — not only was he Biji's junior, but also Professor Guofate's prized disciple and a genius apprentice of Black Bone Forest Academy. Rumor had it that he possessed astonishing talent in Potionology, and was even a potential wizard seed who had broken through to the Third Rank before the age of twenty!
Most importantly, this person had sent a letter beforehand, promising compensation for the losses Biji had caused!
At the thought of this, although he remained outwardly respectful, a flicker of unease mingled with greed surfaced in the depths of the man's eyes.
"I'm terribly sorry about what happened with Miss Biji…"
The man squeezed out a few tears. "Miss Biji used to be so well-behaved. Who could have known…"
"I'm already aware of all that. Take me to see your family head!"
Leilin's expression turned cold, and the middle-aged man suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, as though he had been locked onto by some extremely dangerous creature.
"I'll go right away! Right away!"
He promptly scooped up his little daughter and vanished behind the door in an instant.
A dozen minutes later, Leilin had been led into the castle's grand hall and was now face-to-face with the head of the Traille Family.
"Distinguished guest! I am the head of the Traille Family — Yorsena Traille! Welcome to the Traille ancestral castle. I hope you'll have a pleasant stay!"
The Traille Family head named Yorsena was an old man dressed in a pure black formal suit. The silver hair on his head gleamed with a crystalline luster, combed immaculately, but his eyes were clouded over with a turbid whiteness.
"Yorsena Traille — Strength: 1.9, Agility: 2.5, Constitution: 2.0, Spirit: 13. Power assessment: Third Rank Apprentice. Based on the magical items on his body, estimated capacity of three attacks exceeding twenty degrees of power!"
An invisible flash of blue light passed through Leilin's eyes as the Chip scanned and recorded this Traille Family head's complete data.
Moreover, with a slight twitch of his nose, Leilin caught a scent of decay and senility emanating from Yorsena.
Judging from the deep wrinkles on this family head's face, he didn't have much life left.
Far too weak! This level of strength was nothing before Leilin — like an ant that could be crushed at any moment!
Leilin's gaze swept briefly over the old man. The only thing on his entire body that was even remotely passable was that single magical item.
A magical item that could allow a Third Rank Apprentice to pay a price in advance and unleash an attack on par with a formal
But in Leilin's eyes, it simply meant expending a bit more effort, turning one attack into two. That was all.
The gap in strength was so vast that Leilin could barely be bothered to exchange pleasantries.
"My purpose has already been stated in my previous letter. I will pay sufficient compensation for the
Leilin ignored the flicker of anger on the Traille family head's face and directly took a seat.
Seeing Leilin's rude behavior, a flash of fury crossed Yorsena's features before being quickly suppressed.
In his heart, however, sorrow pressed down like a boulder. When had it come to this — even a mere Third Rank Apprentice could act brazenly inside the Traille ancestral castle?
But Yorsena had weathered far too much in his lifetime and possessed extraordinary life experience. Besides, he always sensed something deeply dangerous about Leilin.
Years of training kept a smile plastered on Yorsena's face, as though he were not the least bit bothered by Leilin's conduct.
"The Rainbow Potion is an ancient and rare potion. Many of its ingredients are nearly impossible to find these days…"
"I'll offer a portion of Green's Water!"
"Wh… what…" Yorsena's words were cut off mid-sentence, his face frozen in an expression of utter disbelief.
"I said I'll offer a portion of Green's Water! That should be more than enough to cover the Rainbow Potion, wouldn't you agree? After all, the Rainbow Potion merely improves the chances of success for Green's Water. When it comes to rarity, Green's Water is a cut above!"
Leilin interlaced his fingers, a smile playing at the corner of his lips as he laid down a price Yorsena could not refuse.
The composition and effects of Green's Water had long since been thoroughly simulated by the Chip over this extended period of time.
The problem was that the preparation process required a large quantity of finished product for reverse-engineering, and Leilin simply didn't have enough finished potions on hand, so he had been forced to let it go.
According to the Chip's calculations, the effect of Green's Water was to dramatically burn away an apprentice's lifespan in order to break through the spiritual power bottleneck.
This method clearly carried enormous hidden dangers and shortcomings.
When Leilin had advanced, he had burned a small portion of his lifespan at first, but it was quickly replenished by the vitality within the blood of the Giant Demonic Python.
Leilin surmised that the colossal life force contained in the Giant Demonic Python's blood had substituted for his own lifespan during the burning process.
Therefore, after his advancement, according to the Chip's estimates, Leilin now had at least five or six hundred years of lifespan remaining.
An ordinary First-rank Wizard, even after using numerous methods to extend their life, could at most live two or three hundred years.
Furthermore, after Leilin advanced to First-rank Warlock, this Green's Water — which only had an effect on apprentices — had become useless to him.
He had originally planned to trade it for some resources, but now it seemed it would serve just as well as compensation.
Sure enough, the moment he heard "Green's Water," the Traille family head's breathing became involuntarily heavier.
The Traille Family had not produced a formal Wizard in three hundred years!
Moreover, due to the deterioration of their bloodline and the decline in their aptitude, very few members of the Traille Family even possessed wizard qualification. Not a single Third-rank Apprentice among them had caught the eye of an Academy or signed a contract, so they naturally had no means of obtaining Green's Water.
The other families were more than happy to watch the Traille Family continue to wither away so they could absorb its assets later — no benevolent soul would come to their aid.
The Rainbow Potion was fine, but it still paled in comparison to Green's Water.
After all, the probability increase that the Rainbow Potion claimed to offer was something exceedingly difficult to pin down, and even the finest Rainbow Potion could improve success rates by no more than twenty percent.
Green's Water was different. With it in hand — if they could just cultivate another outstanding apprentice — the Traille Family could attempt to produce a Wizard entirely their own! Unbound by any external contracts!!!
But Yorsena was an old fox. Despite his heart agreeing a thousand times over, he still put on a conflicted expression.
"When Biji stole the Rainbow Potion, she also destroyed several secret treasures…"
Leilin shook his head. He had anticipated this scenario long before he had advanced.
Even if he was willing to compensate, they would still try to bleed him dry.
After all, he was merely a Third-rank Apprentice, and the other party was a Wizard Family. Even a declining one still possessed a foundation that no ordinary apprentice could shake.
If he had shown up back then without being squeezed for everything he was worth, Yorsena would have lived his years for nothing.
"Enough!" Leilin's face darkened.
At the same instant, a powerful wave of spiritual force erupted from his body.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!! Like a gale tearing through, the tablecloths and curtains in the grand hall were sent flying, producing a tremendous clatter.
The massive spiritual force unique to a formal Wizard swept across the castle without mercy, drawing out terrified screams from every direction.
Many of the younger members of the Traille Family collapsed unconscious on the spot without so much as a whimper.
They were all ordinary people, utterly defenseless against the methods of a Wizard.
Even the First-rank and Second-rank apprentices were not faring well — their faces flushed red as they struggled to stay upright and avoid toppling to the ground.
"A f-formal Wizard?!"
Yorsena's jaw dropped open wide enough to swallow several duck eggs, as though he were looking at a ghost.
Then, terror flooded his features and he dropped directly to his knees. "Esteemed Wizard! Please quell your wrath! Spare my clansmen!"
Watching Yorsena — who moments ago had been scheming to extract every last advantage — now kneel on the ground like a startled rabbit, Leilin let out a cold snort but withdrew his spiritual force all the same.
That had only been a brief test, and Leilin had still been holding back. Otherwise, every ordinary member inside the castle would have perished from the radiation alone.
Yorsena knelt on the ground, trembling uncontrollably, screaming frantically inside his mind: "That spiritual force! He's definitely a formal Wizard! There's no mistake! He… he can't be more than eighteen years old!"
The thought that he might have offended this genius of a young Wizard left Yorsena wanting to weep — he even wished he could die.
"Biji! Right! He and Biji are close!!!" The realization struck Yorsena like lightning, and his eyes lit up.
"Quick! Bring Biji here! No — maids! Take her to bathe first…"
After obtaining Leilin's permission, Yorsena scrambled out of the hall and roared at a collapsed apprentice on the floor.
Then, Yorsena adopted an obsequious smile and bowed to Leilin. "Is there anything else the Master desires?"
Seeing this shameless display, Leilin actually found himself at a loss for words.
After all, this was Biji's family. He couldn't go too far.
After Yorsena spent a dozen minutes accompanying Leilin in terrified deference, Leilin finally saw Biji.
Biji had clearly been tidied up — her hair still bore droplets of water that hadn't dried, and she wore a white dress. She looked rather unwell, with deep bags and dark circles beneath her eyes.
"Y-you're… Leilin?!"
Biji stared at Leilin, who stood proudly in the seat of honor looking utterly transformed, then glanced at the family head beside him who hadn't stopped smiling ingratiatingly. Her mind struggled to catch up…