A sweep of his soul power and everything about Farry was laid bare before Leilin.
"Your physical injuries have mostly healed, but your consciousness sea still needs nourishment. I recommend the Giant Serpent Spirit Potion! Crystallized Warlocks like you are becoming quite rare in our Ouroboros Ring..."
Leilin sighed.
After the great battle, the number of Crystallized Warlocks had plummeted from over a dozen to a miserable seven or eight. Even Leilin's senior, Luci, had tragically fallen at the hands of the Man-eating Flower Legion.
With so few left, for Leilin—now that he held power—every Crystallized
"Thank you, My Lord!" Farry bowed, looking rather subdued.
"Oh! Right! There's one more thing! For my Morning Star Ceremony, I'd like the
Morning Star Wizards held an exalted status on the Central Continent, and their ascension was exceedingly rare. Each new one was cause for great celebration, worthy of inviting friends far and wide—even a grand event for the entire continent.
By convention, each newly ascended Morning Star had to hold such a ceremony, which also served to declare one's strength. This was especially important for the current Ouroboros Ring.
The Bloodline Warlocks, still reeling in confusion, desperately needed a shot in the arm.
"It would be our family's honor!" Entrusting the celebration to her family was naturally a sign of his regard for her. Regardless, it would greatly benefit the Blood Serpent Family, and as its matriarch, Farry could not refuse—nor did she have any reason to.
"At the ceremony, I also plan to make an announcement!" Looking down at Farry, who was biting her lip with a peculiar expression, Leilin's lips curled into a mischievous smile.
"What news?"
"After the ceremony, I will hold a grand wedding—you will marry into my family!" The moment the words left Leilin's mouth, they struck like thunder, leaving Farry completely stunned.
"Marry into... the family?" Farry murmured the words, a trace of confusion crossing her girlish face. Leilin was a newly joined warlock with no bloodline family backing him.
"Yes, the Farell Family! Right now, I'm the only one on the Central Continent! But I believe it will eventually become the foremost family of the entire Ouroboros Ring—even the foremost among all Bloodline Warlocks!"
Leilin rubbed his nose.
Though the family currently had only him as its sole warlock and looked rather shabby, Leilin didn't care at all.
After all, how could a family possessing a Morning Star Warlock be ordinary? With his pure bloodline, his descendants would have a far greater probability of advancing than other warlocks'. It wouldn't take long before it became the greatest family in the Ouroboros Ring!
The Central Continent was simply too vast. Though Leilin controlled the entire Ouroboros Ring, he still needed to cultivate a force that was entirely his own. And what could compare to a family he built himself? Compared to outsiders, it had the added bond of bloodline—at least that was an extra layer of insurance.
Besides, now that he had ascended to Morning Star, he no longer worried about the secret of his pure bloodline leaking out. He now had more than enough strength to protect himself.
Since he needed a female warlock to bear his bloodline, Leilin naturally chose Farry. First, she had been sufficiently chaste. Second, she treated him well. And she was good-looking too—so what was there to hesitate about?
"What if... I refuse?" Farry bit her lip, still somewhat unwilling in her heart. Though she liked Leilin, she didn't want it to be this way.
"Refusal is not an option, because I am the master of the entire Ouroboros Ring!" Leilin's voice brooked no argument.
Farry's eyes reddened, and then Leilin gently took her hand.
"I know you're somewhat reluctant, because you wished you could take me as your husband, rather than the other way around. Isn't that right?" Though Leilin's words were somewhat convoluted, they cut straight to the heart of Farry's feelings.
Deep down, Farry had still hoped to bring Leilin into the Blood Serpent Family as a matrilocal husband, but that was clearly impossible now.
Never mind that the current Leilin would never agree to such a thing. Even before his ascension to Morning Star, he had always been the one giving orders—no one had ever been in a position to make demands of him.
One had to admit that deep down, Leilin was quite the chauvinist. He would only take Farry as his wife—on his own terms, giving freely rather than receiving out of gratitude, and certainly not marrying into her family.
"You knew all along, so why did you still..." Farry's face was streaked with tears as she looked up and pouted.
Seeing her like this, Leilin knew the knot in her heart had largely untied itself. He burst into hearty laughter: "Because I'm stronger than you! That is fate!"
In the world of Wizards, the strong prevailed—this was an inviolable truth.
Seeing that Farry had fully resigned herself, Leilin gently comforted her: "Don't worry! I'll naturally look after your family. In fact, when we have children in the future, I can even send one of our offspring to the Blood Serpent Family..."
This was meant to soothe her. After all, Farry had given much to Leilin, and he could not fail to reciprocate.
But that was simply Leilin's nature—it had to be his gift freely given, not something demanded of him.
Hearing this assurance, Farry finally nodded, completely putting her mind at ease.
At that moment, Leilin felt Farry give a slight nod, knowing she had agreed, and burst into hearty laughter.
...
The great battle that had erupted in the Phosphorus Fire Marsh swept across the Central Continent like a whirlwind.
Leilin's dramatic emergence—his overwhelming display of power as he slew Hunter Ganliel and caused the latter's fall—pushed the fervor to a fever pitch.
Hunter Ganliel was no unknown figure even among Morning Star circles; on the contrary, his extraordinary combat power was universally recognized. For Leilin, as a newly ascended Morning Star Wizard, to have directly caused his fall—such strength immediately put every Morning Star Wizard on guard.
The visible result was that the allied forces attacking the Ouroboros Ring not only completely withdrew from the Phosphorus Fire Marsh and other core territories but even established a buffer zone, adopting an air of avoiding further conflict.
After Ganliel's Morning Star main body fell, the City of Sin immediately plunged into chaos. The wizards there had never been good sorts—most were vicious thugs and capital criminals. Without Ganliel's iron-fisted suppression, a massive riot erupted at once.
Especially after Ganliel's avatars were discovered dead one after another not far from the City of Sin, confirming his complete demise, things spiraled into utter frenzy.
In an instant, spells flew wild across the City of Sin, and numerous buildings were directly destroyed in seas of flame.
Just as the horde of demonic wizards, brimming with hope, breached Ganliel's wizard tower and prepared to pillage at will, a massive force of elite wizard legions suddenly descended upon them.
Under the suppression of organized wizard legions—and with a Morning Star Wizard overseeing them at that—the chaos in the City of Sin was swiftly quelled.
With Ganliel's deterrent gone, the undefended City of Sin instantly became a massive prize, drawing the covetous eyes of numerous Morning Stars.
Those few Morning Star Wizards from the original allied forces, acting under the pretext of a colleague's interests, dispatched troops to seize the City of Sin outright, recouping their own losses.
After the turmoil of the City of Sin subsided, an even more explosive piece of news spread across the entire continent.
The Morning Star Wizard who single-handedly caused Ganliel's fall and saved the Ouroboros Ring—Leilin Farell—invited numerous friendly organizations to attend his Morning Star Ceremony.
In response to this invitation, many major organizations that had previously been pessimistic about the Ouroboros Ring and deliberately kept their distance saw hope of mending relations, and one after another sent representatives to attend.
Other powers also viewed this ceremony as an excellent opportunity to probe the Ouroboros Ring's true strength and even ascertain Leilin's capabilities, similarly dispatching spies or official envoys.
In no time, wizards of all kinds were converging on the Phosphorus Fire Marsh, transforming the once desolate swamp into a bustling hub.
...
Inside the headquarters city, Leilin lounged leisurely on a sofa, listening to the female warlock at his side deliver her report.
"Most of the messengers we dispatched have received affirmative replies. Representatives from those organizations are already on their way. Lately, security in the Phosphorus Fire Marsh has been quite unsettled. Although the ceremony preparations are complete, I think we need to prepare several contingency plans..."
Farry leaned against the sofa, clutching a thick stack of documents and wearing a pair of rimless glasses, looking very busy.
"Do whatever you think is best!"
"Also, the Bloodline Warlocks from the Psychic Circle and the Wind Wolf Den will be arriving at headquarters. You'll need to make time to meet with them tomorrow..."
After finishing her report, Farry gave a cheerful laugh, slipped off the sofa, and scurried away.
After Farry left, Leilin's expression turned serious. He pulled on a pair of white gloves and took out a broken sword. The blade was imbued with an ancient forging style—cold, hard, and sharp—its sturdiness undiminished even by the passage of time. Golden traces of blood still marked the blade.
"The bloodline of the Son of the Sun and the Wings of the Sun... I never expected they'd end up in my hands after all..."
Sensing the powerful bloodline force emanating from the sword's hilt, a smile crept across Leilin's lips.
This broken sword was none other than one of the treasures from the Blue Mountain Auction—purchased through Ganliel's shameless use of intimidation.
Leilin had certainly wanted to acquire it at the time, but first, he lacked sufficient Magic Stones, and second, he didn't dare oppose Ganliel. Now, of course, neither was an issue.
With Ganliel's main body having fallen at Leilin's hands, his personal storage items had naturally been claimed by Leilin with a grin. Among the many rare materials and countless Magic Stones, this was the item Leilin valued most.
"Ding! Top-tier Meditation Method, Wings of the Sun, has been recorded!" The Chip's voice rang out at that moment.
"I hope it will be useful for the Eyes of Comoin..." Leilin sighed, putting the greatsword away.
The Eyes of Comoin was merely an advanced-tier Meditation Method—four layers was its absolute limit, with no further room for advancement. For Leilin, this was something he simply could not accept.