The World of Fine Cuisine was also an otherworld.
According to ancient legends, even a small stream or a mere rock within it could contain the most exquisite delicacies.
That ultimate culinary enjoyment was something most Wizards could not resist.
And as far as Leilin knew, the entire Warlock Alliance had no record of successfully conquering any otherworld, making these treasures all the more precious.
Watching the delicacies before Leilin continuously vanish, even
Although his true body wasn't present, the enjoyment experienced through his Soul Power was naturally shared with his true body.
Just when Paul was about to lose his patience, Leilin looked up with perfect composure: "Lord Paul! I believe we can now discuss the matter of exchanging spoils..."
Seeing Paul's aggrieved expression, Leilin laughed inwardly, but his face grew even more solemn, nearly making Paul vomit blood.
...
After leaving Paul's presence, Leilin carried a faint smile on his face the entire time.
Though he had only taken a cursory glance before, the Chip had already memorized every price in the trading market, compiling a price list of items above the Dawn Star tier for Leilin.
With this price list as leverage, Paul's earlier scheme to fleece Leilin while he was still unfamiliar with market conditions naturally fell apart completely, and Paul even lost a large quantity of treasures from the World of Fine Cuisine in the process.
Thinking of that final expression on Paul's face—practically vomiting blood—Leilin couldn't help but want to laugh.
Of course, the Psionic Circle was still an ally of the Circle of the Ouroboros. Leilin hadn't gone too far—at the very least, when he ate the meat, he still tossed a few bones to the other party.
After selling some relics from the
But from now on, the other party would certainly never dare to deceive him again.
Boom!
The yellow earth erupted as a massive black shadow strode forward, each step causing the surroundings to tremble as if an earthquake had struck.
"As expected! A puppet is indeed more useful than raw Soul Power!"
Leilin controlled the enormous black steel puppet with great satisfaction.
Before, his Soul Power had been merely an intangible form—there were many things it simply couldn't do, and the consumption was immense. Now, with the puppet, it was like giving his Soul Power a physical shell. Not only could it perform many physical tasks, but even the energy consumption was drastically reduced.
This puppet was, of course, not Paul's—Leilin had teleported it over himself.
After finalizing their deal, the two had immediately used the Astral Gate for a physical transfer, completing the transaction in an instant. Though the teleportation fees were minor, Paul had covered all of them, and Leilin had slipped in a puppet for himself as well, earning him an eye-roll from Paul.
"Things I make myself are always better to use. Besides, I wouldn't dare use anything belonging to that giant octopus. Who knows what kind of psychic probes or traps it might have installed inside..."
Leilin was still wary of the most enigmatic branch among Bloodline Warlocks—the Psionic Warlocks.
"Hmm?!" At that moment, Leilin's eyes flashed as he spotted something.
Whoosh! His figure instantly transformed into a black shadow, slamming into a small hill like a primordial beast.
Crack! The hill exploded, stones flying in all directions, and through the cloud of dust a figure was sent tumbling outward.
The figure appeared extremely frail and small, its body half-transparent, with the landscape behind it faintly visible through its form.
"A wraith born from the world's malice?" Leilin laughed, forming his Soul Power into a great hand that seized the figure.
When it was brought before him, Leilin saw that the wraith appeared to be a boy of about thirteen or fourteen, with delicate features and fear clearly visible in his eyes.
"The environment here is quite favorable—the wraiths generated here would rank among the finest on the entire Central Continent. Should I claim a piece of territory and build a soul experiment ground or something of the sort..."
Leilin stroked his chin while gazing at the boy's phantom in his grip.
The wraith was completely paralyzed by the terrifying pressure emanating from Leilin, shivering and curling into itself.
"Hmm? This power—is this the world's malice?"
While holding the boy, Leilin sensed a peculiar force emanating from the wraith, one that was even attempting to infiltrate his Soul Power.
This was a power similar to the force of destiny, carrying a will reminiscent of Gaia's collective consciousness. Had Leilin not possessed deep research into both of these, he might not have detected it at all.
"If this were a powerful and complete otherworld, even a Dawn Star would be unable to withstand its malice. Unfortunately..."
Leilin sighed. This was merely a plane, and a broken one at that. Even the Gaia will of this world had likely been defeated by a Radiant Moon Warlock, shattered beyond recognition. Otherwise, the force and influence would have been far more than this.
The Gaia will of a world was, in essence, the collective consciousness of all living beings, inanimate objects, the land, the oceans, and everything else combined.
But now, every intelligent creature in this plane had been eliminated, leaving only wraiths and similar entities, while the Warlocks were gradually taking over.
Perhaps... after tens of thousands of years, once humans had spread throughout this place and a new Gaia will—one that wholly served human and Warlock interests—had formed, it would thoroughly replace the original will and drive it into oblivion.
"This malice is tethered to the entire other plane. As long as a new Gaia hasn't formed or the place hasn't been utterly destroyed, it will never truly disappear. Most troublesome indeed..."
Leilin frowned, and his Soul Power began vibrating at a specific frequency, immediately shaking off the malice.
Pop! The boy's phantom in his hand suddenly twisted into a hideous expression, then quickly exploded, dissolving into streams of black mist that dissipated into nothing.
"When will the mysteries of the soul finally reveal themselves to me!"
Leilin gazed at the desolate landscape with a touch of melancholy, then commanded: "Chip! Display the computation progress of the fifth layer of the Comoin Eye Meditation Method!"
"Ding! Comoin Eye fifth layer Meditation Method progress: 30%!" the Chip reported faithfully. This number had been stuck here for a long time, and without some other breakthrough, it might never advance.
Leilin sighed silently at the figure.
A
Leilin was currently stuck at the stage of soul cultivation.
The Comoin Eye only had four layers, offering no exposition on the realms beyond. He could only feel his way forward.
But the soul was unfathomably mysterious—even the current Chip could not fully digitize it, let alone perform simulations and calculations on it.
"In truth, even many fifth and sixth tier Wizards and Warlocks don't fully comprehend the rules of the soul, nor can they enhance their own Soul Power. What they rely on is simply grinding away through their Meditation Methods and vast amounts of time..."
Leilin couldn't help but think of the Wings of the Sun. Even in this top-tier Meditation Method, the exposition on the soul was not particularly clear. The author had annotated many sections as mere speculation and conjecture, demonstrating that even a terrifying sixth-tier being like the Son of the Sun did not possess adequate understanding of the soul—it simply relied on the innate characteristics of its race to constantly strengthen itself.
"Compared to Wizards, many Warlocks enhance their souls directly through the power of their bloodlines, often knowing the how but not the why. Most Meditation Methods only teach how to awaken bloodline power, so their understanding of the soul is even less than that of Wizards! Perhaps this is one reason why no sixth-tier throne has ever appeared among Bloodline Warlocks..."
Leilin stroked his chin and began to speculate.
"The most urgent priorities are: first, to fully activate the Son of the Sun's bloodline as quickly as possible. Combined with the Wings of the Sun, it might yield new insights. Second, to acquire large quantities of writings on the soul from other Wizards and Warlocks, especially advanced Meditation Methods with five or more layers..."
"These two methods are the most practical, and the second can be resolved right here!" Thinking of the information he had seen in the trading market earlier, Leilin's eyes lit up.
Boom!
Even though it wasn't his first time witnessing it, the sight of countless streams of Soul Power and will intermingling, with innumerable information flows streaking past, still plunged Leilin into a state of profound awe.
On the massive celestial bodies within the Dawn Star
Some wills simply resided here permanently, earning vast quantities of top-tier resources by selling intelligence and information alone.
Leilin keenly noticed that here, the function of Magic Stones had been reduced to a minimum—they were almost never seen in use.
This was perfectly natural. For Dawn Star Warlocks, who among them didn't command several or even dozens of large-scale Magic Stone mines? Such things had long ceased to function as a general medium of exchange.
And Leilin was very familiar with the currency actually used here: Astral Stones!
Countless Astral Stones, sorted into standardized denominations, served as the universal medium of exchange. When Dawn Star Warlocks failed to find something they wanted to trade for, they would often sell their goods and accumulate enough Astral Stones to purchase what they needed.
For Dawn Star Warlocks, Astral Stones were the eternal hard currency—they would never depreciate!
The information within the trading market shifted by the second, immediately reminding Leilin of the stock markets and futures exchanges of his previous world, leaving him quite dazzled.