"Let me tell you instead!"
Leilin looked at the old woman in this state and suddenly felt a twinge of pity for her, all desire to keep toying with her evaporating.
He waved his hand at a few Guardian Wizards. "You are dismissed!"
"Yes, My Lord!" The Guardian Wizards bowed deeply to Leilin, expressions of immense relief immediately spreading across their faces as they quickly withdrew from the reception hall.
"Wait! What did they call you? My Lord? Aren't you just some ordinary Alchemy Team wizard? A marginalized one at that?"
The old woman shrieked, a vague feeling creeping up from the depths of her heart that something had spiraled beyond her control, sending her spirits plunging straight downward.
"It seems you've done quite a thorough investigation on me! But I'm afraid I've climbed a bit faster than you anticipated..."
Leilin spread his hands apart, a mischievous grin forming on his face.
In truth, his rise here had been far more than fast — it had been nothing short of meteoric. First, through the massive elimination of Dark Wizards, he had secured the position of Deputy Head of the Hunting Team. Then, riding the achievement of killing Marb, he had been appointed Headquarters Inspector, holding a status theoretically on par with Xishan, the Head of the Hunting Team.
And after the Dark
Such authority was practically equivalent to half an Elder's! And all the old woman had was a Level One Contribution Token — it couldn't even affect someone at the Team Leader level, let alone Leilin.
Then, the mischievous grin on Leilin's face faded away, replaced by a stern expression.
"Array Spirit! Record this! This person before me... ahem! A ruling authority of the Portley family. For illegally deploying a Level One Contribution Token to attack me, I hereby revoke all authorization on the token in her possession!"
Buzz! A pulse of magical luminescence flared to life in the center of the reception hall. Fluorescent runes materialized along the walls, circulating in a complete ring.
"Recorded! Authorization verified! Verification passed! Level One Contribution Token — nullified!"
A mechanical female voice rang out, and the surrounding magical radiance erupted violently.
The old woman appeared to have been struck dumb by the powerful energy fluctuations. If all these surrounding magical arrays were to detonate at once, it would absolutely obliterate her without leaving a single trace!
Yet the multicolored magical light did not attack her. Instead, it coalesced into a palm the size of an adult's hand and seized the Level One Contribution Token from her grasp!
Then, the palm's five fingers clamped down with crushing force!
Crack! Crack!
The sound of something shattering rang out as dense cracks spread across the entire token. Then, before the old woman's desperate gaze, it crumbled into specks of ash and drifted down.
Hiss! The spell light immediately retracted after destroying the token, and even the witchcraft arrays on the walls faded away.
At this moment, the old woman was like a duck with its neck wrung — completely speechless.
She naturally knew what kind of authority could command the array spirit to destroy a Level One Contribution Token. That was power reserved for Elders! Could this young man before her have already advanced to a Level Two Wizard and become an Elder of the Four Seasons Garden?
This world had gone mad. The old woman clutched her head, almost believing she was dreaming!
"Well? Do you have any more trump cards? Feel free to try!" Lin Lei stood with his arms folded, staring coldly at the old woman.
The old woman's heart sank. Her clan had already fallen into decline, and even this token had been passed down from their ancestors — a life-saving trump card meant to protect future generations. And now, it had been rendered useless before it could even serve its purpose! Even she would face censure upon returning to the clan!
"What do you want?"
The old woman's voice was extremely hoarse. She seemed to have aged ten years, her back bent deeply. After the last shred of her pride had been broken, she had completely lost her spirit.
"What do *you* want?" Lin Lei's voice was full of feigned innocence.
"Your granddaughter came storming in first, declaring me the root cause of the war and threatening to purify me. I was forced to fight back, and even when I had the chance to kill them, I let them go — that was already exceedingly merciful! And yet, you still dare to threaten me!"
Lin Lei had every right to play innocent. In this matter, he truly was the victim — he had simply retaliated a bit too forcefully.
"Jenna is the Guide of our generation. Her prophecy cannot be wrong!" the old woman insisted.
"You..." Lin Lei was exasperated, but he ultimately calmed himself. Arguing over such meaningless matters was pointless.
"Enough. Now it's my turn to name my price. My demand is simple — I'm very interested in that prophetic ability of Jenna's. Tell me how to obtain that ability, and I will lift the curse on her!"
"Oh! Mother of Peace! You irredeemable sinner — not only are you blackmailing us, but you actually dare to covet our clan's Meditation Method..."
The old woman clutched her chest, looking as though she was about to have an episode.
"Is it because of the Meditation Method? Could it be a high-level Meditation Method?" Lin Lei's interest was instantly piqued.
"You wish, you demon! You devil! You will never get your hands on our Bottelli clan's Meditation Method!" The old woman flatly refused, though a poorly concealed glint of coldness flickered in the depths of her eyes.
"Hehe… Perhaps you don't yet understand. The curse I placed on Jenna can only be lifted by yours truly. Otherwise, unless you find a Morningstar Wizard, you might as well prepare to collect your granddaughter's body…"
"I'm only giving you one day! Think it over carefully!"
Lin Lei clapped his hands. Two guard wizards immediately stepped in.
"Take this madam below to rest, and be sure not to be remiss!" Lin Lei's tone carried a strange edge, and the two guard wizards, who caught the true meaning, promptly approached the old woman with an air of custody.
Lin Lei nodded and promptly left the room.
The old woman had concealed herself well enough, but the cold glint in the depths of her eyes had not escaped Lin Lei's notice. Still, whatever schemes she was turning over in her mind, Lin Lei had already seen through them completely.
"Trying to fool me with a fake Meditation Method? No! Wizards are shrewd people! If she handed me a fake, I'd definitely catch on sooner or later — or at worst, I could just have a few apprentices test it first… Unless… she gives me a real high-level Meditation Method, but one with an obvious flaw! Only in that way would a wizard who lacks a high-level Meditation Method be unable to resist the temptation to practice it…"
"What a pity!" A grin split Lin Lei's lips.
If he truly were a wizard without a high-level Meditation Method, he would have been unable to resist the temptation to take it up. After all, a high-level Meditation Method represented greater chances of advancement and a brighter future.
But unfortunately, he already possessed a high-level Meditation Method of his own — the Comosian Eye! No matter how excellent the Bottelli clan's Meditation Method might be, it would serve him only as a reference. He would never do something as foolish as switching his Meditation Method.
With a smile still on his lips, Lin Lei arrived at a secret chamber.
The chamber was surrounded by thick stone walls, covered in runes designed to insulate against energy.
In the center of the chamber sat a peculiarly shaped small stone platform. Three stone pillars stood in a triangular arrangement, and thick green vines crawled ceaselessly over them.
"Spirit of the Array! Activate the Communication Wizard Array for me!" Lin Lei spoke calmly.
"Authorization confirmed! Communication Wizard Array activated!" The array spirit's voice rang out, and a burst of hazy gray light shot forth from the stone platform. Every rune in the chamber began to flicker.
Lin Lei watched the scene and nodded. Communication between a secret realm and the outside world was almost entirely severed — it could only be achieved through a specialized communication wizard array.
Such custom-built wizard arrays capable of penetrating secret realm barriers were extremely expensive. The Four Seasons Garden possessed only this single one in the entire Ganges Secret Realm.
Previously, Vade's communication access had been jointly sealed by Lin Lei and Xishan. It was precisely because of that, cut off from any outside aid, that Vade had been forced to flee.
Lin Lei produced his Arcane Mark record booklet and flipped to the most recent pages. Near the very end sat a distinctive mark resembling a blue sea tower.
Lin Lei gently reached out and tapped it with his finger.
Boom! The blue sea tower abruptly enlarged, and then wave after wave of runes lit up in succession.
A red thread shot out from the stone platform and connected to the arcane mark of the blue sea tower.
"Lord Haital? How have you been feeling lately?" Lin Lei asked with a smile.
"It's... you!!! Quick! Give me the antidote!"
From behind the blue arcane mark came a hoarse, elderly voice, broken and halting, as though its owner had suffered some grievous injury or was being tormented by a severe illness.
The owner of this voice was none other than Haital — the Wizard who had close ties with the Portly family and had been summoned by the old matriarch to provide treatment!
Previously, when his treatment had failed, not only had he been poisoned by a toxin Lin Lei had painstakingly brewed, but a communication mark had been secretly attached to him as well.
It was precisely because of this that Lin Lei had obtained a great deal of detailed information about the Portly family.
The smile on Lin Lei's face deepened further. "Lord Haital, I have some unfortunate news for you! The one in charge of the Portly family came to see me just a moment ago. She begged me to lift the curse on Jenna, but she didn't mention a single thing about you..."
After hearing his words, the voice behind the mark fell silent for a moment. Then came the sound of something being smashed and thrown about: "That bitch... that lunatic! And here I've been working myself to the bone for them all this time... cough, cough..."
After those two sentences, Haital immediately broke into violent coughing fits.
The smile on Lin Lei's face grew even broader. "Lord Haital! How are you finding the effects of my 'Shadow Erosion'? I poured a great deal of effort into perfecting it! You are a distinguished healing Wizard yourself, and I'd very much like to hear your evaluation of it!"
A long while passed before Lin Lei finally heard Haital's voice coming from behind the arcane mark: "You win! This toxin's composition is far too complex, with each component interlocking with the others — I truly have no way to neutralize it... Give me the antidote! Not that temporary suppressant from before, the real cure, and I'll tell you everything I know!!!"
"Done! I want to know everything... especially anything related to the Meditation Method..." (……)