Perhaps it was precisely because of this that the Land of Forgotten had never been razed by wizards.
Otherwise, not even the barrier between worlds could have stopped the greed of wizards!
Of course, it was also possible that some particularly rare species had voluntarily entered the Land of Forgotten to escape wizard pursuit, though such cases were few and far between.
Wizards were scarce here as well—Leilin had only caught sight of one from a great distance, and only with the Chip's assistance had he managed to make out its approximate appearance.
It had taken the form of an adult male, though strange scales dotted its face, suggesting it had undergone some degree of mutation.
The moment it noticed Leilin's party, it had fled at breakneck speed, so quickly that even
As time passed, Leilin and his companions ventured deeper into the Land of Forgotten. The concentration of energy particles in the air plummeted as if falling off a cliff, and days could go by without a single other living creature in sight.
Whenever they did encounter another being, it was invariably some rare species or a wizard exile who could no longer survive on the Central Continent.
That usually meant a fight.
Although Robin and the others held back repeatedly to conserve their strength, letting many creatures go, some attacked them of their own accord.
The most dangerous encounter had been with a Kluu Beast the size of a small hill—a creature at the very peak of the third tier—which had pursued them relentlessly.
With no other choice, Robin, Kasha, and Leilin, the three main combatants, had attacked together, supported by the surrounding warlocks. They had finally managed to kill the Kluu Beast and claim a large haul of rare materials, but the battle had cost the life of one Horall Black Snake warlock, marking the first casualty in Robin's party.
Flutter! Flutter!
A snow-white bird flapped its wings and alighted, perching on Kasha's shoulder. It was her magical pet, one with no combat capability whatsoever. Leilin could never understand why someone would cultivate a creature with nothing but scouting ability as their contract companion.
"Everyone, ahead of us is a massive kobold tribe—over a thousand strong. We'll need to detour!"
After opening her eyes, Kasha delivered this report.
"Kobolds?"
Leilin immediately consulted the Chip for records on this creature.
"Kobold: an oviparous species, rumored to be a subspecies of dragon. Adults stand three feet tall (nearly one meter), with scaled skin ranging from deep rust to pale black, and fiery red eyes. Two small brownish horns crown the head. They possess infrared vision. Through bloodline awakening, they can obtain magical abilities, becoming practitioners similar to bloodline warlocks!"
"Dragons?!" In an instant, Leilin thought of the terrifying creatures described in his high-grade meditation method, Dragon King's Divine Might, but no matter how he tried, he could not connect them to the image of kobolds the Chip had displayed.
Of course, ancient dragons had been notorious for their prolific breeding and the sheer number of subspecies they produced. Rumor held that they could sire offspring with virtually any race, so the existence of kobolds was hardly surprising.
What caught Leilin's attention even more, however, was the bloodline within them!
On the Central Continent, third-tier creatures were still quite rare, but not unheard of. And since his own strength had reached that of a third-tier warlock, he could now afford to pursue such things.
Other warlocks did not have the Chip. They could not purify ancient bloodlines from the blood of third-tier creatures.
But Leilin was different! As long as the source was sufficient, he could purify as much ancient bloodline as he wanted.
"Ancient dragon bloodline?" Leilin rubbed his chin. "The question is whether there are any third-tier kobold warlocks among them… With a large tribe numbering over a thousand, it's entirely possible…"
At that moment, Kasha's voice reached him again: "Among them, I've detected several second-tier kobold warlocks. And since the tribe hasn't splintered, there must be an even more powerful warlock pulling the strings. There's definitely a third-tier presence…"
"A third-tier kobold warlock, plus a large number of kobold warriors and low-level bloodline bearers—that's enough to pose a serious threat. We go around!"
Robin made the decision quickly. The third-tier warlock who had died earlier had been under his command, and he was stinging from the loss. After all, every one of them had been painstakingly cultivated.
Leilin opened his mouth, but seeing everyone's evident agreement, he said nothing.
Convincing Robin to fight head-on against a massive kobold tribe was clearly unrealistic. Moreover, kobolds were notoriously thin-blooded creatures, their relation to dragons stretched beyond all meaning. Even a Morning Star
Robin and the others were all bloodline warlocks—they would certainly grow suspicious of Leilin's bloodline collection.
"I'll just have to mark this place and come back later!"
Leilin quietly made a notation on the Chip's map.
…
Despite the many surprises along the way, Leilin and his companions finally reached their destination.
Orange campfires crackled and danced, the roasting meat atop them giving off an enticing aroma, with occasional droplets of golden fat sizzling as they fell.
Around the fires, a small cluster of white tents had been erected.
"How are things? Are the perimeter early-warning and concealment arrays all set up?" A tent flap lifted, and Kasha emerged, wisps of steam still rising from her body. She wore only a loose bathrobe, dabbing at her hair with a towel.
She had clearly just enjoyed a bath. Where she had found a water source was anyone's guess, though for high-level wizards and warlocks, such things were never a problem—merely extravagant and wasteful.
"Everything's in place. No one outside will spot us!" Robin eyed Kasha with a frown. "I recall reminding you repeatedly—no using magic here!"
"Relax! It's just the water supply built into my spatial item!" Kasha looked thoroughly displeased, and she even shot Roya a flirtatious glance, turning the young man's face crimson.
Watching this, Robin's expression darkened like the bottom of a pot: "Kasha, you're old enough to be Roya's grandmother! Besides, our families have extensive bloodline ties—he could very well call you Aunt!"
"Don't worry! I have no interest in children. On the contrary, I only have eyes for mature, charming male warlocks—isn't that right, Leilin?"
Kasha glanced sideways at Leilin.
"I'll go check the arrays again!" Leilin had no intention of being drawn into this pointless conversation. He quickly found an excuse to walk a distance away, inspecting the deployed magical formations.
From his vantage point, a thin veil of white mist shrouded the entire campsite, with the campfires and tents within flickering in and out of visibility.
Leilin knew well that from outside the perimeter, one would notice nothing amiss—only a perfectly ordinary stretch of desert.
The concealment array, assembled by the personnel Robin and Kasha had brought along, was remarkably thorough. Even the Chip could find barely a handful of spots that might be improved.
Leilin wandered aimlessly, and faint sounds of an argument drifted over, making him shake his head.
To preserve the purity of their bloodlines and maintain ties of interest, the numerous Komoin warlock families regularly intermarried. Strictly speaking, every family within the Ouroboros Ring could trace connections to every other, all the way back to a common ancestor. As a result, trying to sort out who was related to whom was an impenetrable tangle.
The sordid affairs of noble circles—Leilin had heard and seen far too many of them already, and warlock nobility were only worse.
Better to spend this time running through the spell templates and other data stored in the Chip.
Leilin's eyes lost focus for a moment as his consciousness plunged entirely into the Chip…
By evening, when Leilin returned to the campfire, Robin and Kasha had made up, clearly recognizing that now was not the time for such matters.
Beside the fire, Robin gathered all the warlocks together and, with a grave expression, outlined the final points of caution.
"This secret realm was first discovered by a Bear Barbarian tribe within the Land of Forgotten. The news wasn't kept secret—it spread throughout the Land of Forgotten, and two other factions, led by wizard fugitives and the Earth Barbarians respectively, have set their sights on it as well. They've reached a standoff with the Bear Barbarians…"
"The main forces we'll be dealing with are these three. The scattered intelligent creatures and such can be ignored entirely…"
Robin explained in careful detail.
"As for the entrance to the secret realm, it lies midway along an underground river, guarded jointly by all three factions. We must infiltrate at maximum speed, then use a Boundary-Breaking Talisman or force our way back out through the entrance…"
The expressions on Leilin and the others' faces were uniformly grim.
Due to the despairingly low concentration of energy particles in the Land of Forgotten, usable resources were scarce.
This secret realm was therefore of tremendous importance to every faction in the Land of Forgotten, especially the major powers. If Leilin and his group wanted a piece of it, they would inevitably face fierce resistance.
Although they had the Ouroboros Ring backing them and had nothing to fear on that score, the Ring would not launch an assault on the Land of Forgotten on their behalf—it simply wasn't worth the cost.
And the Land of Forgotten was teeming with ruthless, unscrupulous wizards and dangerous creatures.
During the escape back out of the Land of Forgotten, Leilin and his companions would have to protect themselves, or their deaths would be for nothing.
The Boundary-Breaking Talisman was essentially an escape mechanism designed specifically for exiting secret realms. Its effectiveness varied depending on the realm—it might work perfectly, partially, or not at all—but on the whole, it was still reliable.
Of course, if one's strength were truly overwhelming, one could tear open the secret realm by force. But if Leilin and his group had that kind of power, they would have charged straight in already—there would be no need for all this careful planning.