Over the course of those five days, Leilin had employed every method he had ever learned to probe the stone, and he had finally uncovered some flaws.
Leilin could now confirm that inside this rock, there was indeed a
Judging by its condition, the array had been running for over a hundred years.
The damage might well have had something to do with the earlier escape of the Manxter Giant Serpent.
"A portion of the magical array was destroyed from within by the giant serpent, which is why these traces leaked through. Otherwise, even with the Chip, finding this place wouldn't have been nearly so easy!"
A look of delight surfaced on Leilin's face.
Based on his experience over these past days, he had already formulated a spell with a seventy to eighty percent chance of opening the laboratory door.
However, the flaw in the magical array only appeared at specific times, and Leilin still needed to wait.
The sun gradually sank, and the surroundings were swallowed by shadow.
Although the Withered Forest would slowly recover now that the Manxter Giant Serpent was dead, it would take well over a hundred years. For now, the Withered Forest still appeared utterly lifeless — quiet to the point of suffocation.
Leilin paid it no mind. He found a flat stone on his own and began preparing a potion on its surface.
Moonlight descended, quickly draping the forest in a layer of silver glow. Tonight's moonlight was especially bright — it was a full moon! And within its luminescence, there was even a faint tinge of orange.
Leilin opened the pocket watch he carried with him. "Almost midnight!"
He rose and went to the black rock. The full moon's light fell upon the stone's surface, and the black outer skin suddenly flaked away in pieces, revealing silver veins beneath that pulsed continuously, as if drinking in the moonlight.
"Now!" Leilin's eyes lit up, and he poured the freshly prepared potion onto the surface of the rock.
Ssssss!!! A massive plume of white mist rose up. Corrosion marks appeared on the stone's surface, and the silver veins went into disarray.
"Karamanda..." Leilin began to chant in a low voice, his tone deep and murmuring, like a woman's whisper.
As the incantation continued, the silver veins gradually stabilized, recombining again and again until they formed the shape of a round doorway.
Seeing this, a glint of delight appeared in Leilin's eyes. The incantation shifted — faster, more urgent — and his hands never stopped, tossing various materials into the portal.
Boom! As Leilin's final incantation fell silent, the enormous black rock had completely changed appearance. On the side nearest Leilin, the silver doorway from before had vanished, replaced by a pitch-black opening.
"So it even had a false passage!" Leilin shook his head and shrugged.
Perched on his black robe was a black raven, its eyes gleaming with intelligence.
"By borrowing the effects of the spell, I can use this raven to enter the laboratory for a short time. Everything it sees will be relayed directly into my eyes!"
Leilin closed his right eye and lightly brushed the raven's head. The raven let out a cry and flew straight into the dark opening.
Within Leilin's tightly shut right eye, a cascade of images suddenly appeared before him.
Right now, it was as though he were flying. The scenery below materialized one scene at a time in his mind.
The passage was short, and after only a moment the raven emerged from the far end.
What came next was a small villa-style building that appeared suddenly before him. Wizardly light shimmered along its walls.
Green vines crawled across every surface, dotted with red flower buds.
"Those are..." The raven's eyes filled with shock. "Devil's Creepers, and Bone-eating Flowers? I thought they were long extinct — I never imagined they'd still be here!"
Near the villa's entrance, the wooden door had a circular hole punched through it, roughly the size of Leilin's palm — clearly the spot where the juvenile Manxter had escaped.
Not far from the hole, on steps made of grey stone, lay a skeleton still wearing a black robe!
"Judging by the posture of the bones before death, this was obviously a Wizard Apprentice like me who stumbled upon this place and was killed while trying to enter the villa!"
A chill ran through Leilin's heart. He guided the raven to land beside the skeleton and used its black talons to nudge the bones.
Clatter! A small pile of items tumbled out from beneath the black robe.
A book, several yellowed parchment sheets, a collection of bottles and jars, and a brass ring engraved with a symbol resembling the letter "K."
"Looks like some kind of identification!" Leilin casually nudged the ring, then moved to the book.
Brushing the dust from the book's surface with a feather, a line of ornate script appeared before Leilin's eyes.
"This writing? It looks like ancient Goblin language! I've seen it in the library!"
Leilin froze for a moment, then began deciphering the text. "Gob... Goblins! Goblin Alchemy, by Duolore!"
"It's actually a study material on alchemy!!!"
Leilin's face was wild with joy. "According to the library's records, ancient Goblins were renowned throughout the world for their exquisite alchemy and enchanting craftsmanship! If I can get my hands on this material, I'll be able to start attempting to craft the items described in the Luoyan Scripture..."
Under the Chip's staggering computational power, the Luoyan Scripture Leilin had purchased earlier had been completely decrypted. It contained instructions for crafting Magical Items.
Of course, they were only low-level Magical Items, but for Leilin at this stage, they were no small temptation.
However, most of his energy at the Academy had been devoted to Potionology and Wizard studies. He had no inkling where to begin with alchemy and enchanting, and higher-level knowledge in those areas was strictly controlled — ordinary apprentices rarely had access to it.
Even with the crafting methods, Leilin would have great difficulty producing Magical Items.
But if he added this alchemy reference material and ran it through the Chip's simulation algorithms, Leilin was fully confident he could craft this particular Magical Item after advancing to Third-rank Apprentice.
"I'm taking this book out!" Leilin was already starting to think about retreating.
For him, confirming that there truly was an abandoned Wizard laboratory inside the rock, and that its defenses had developed flaws, made today's exploration an outright success. Moreover, obtaining alchemy reference materials was an unexpected bonus.
The raven struggled to grip the black notebook. As it turned, its wing brushed against the parchment sheets nearby. Clatter! Several sheets of parchment shattered apart like butterflies.
Leilin was startled. "Weathered to this degree?"
Hee hee! Ha ha!
Just as Leilin was about to take flight with the notebook, the sounds of children playing erupted from all around.
"The defense array activated!!! Damn it — I estimated I still had two minutes!"
The black raven flapped its wings, trying to take off!
Crack!!! The grey stone steps split apart, revealing a massive mouth bristling with sharp white teeth.
The mouth snapped shut, tearing the raven to shreds!!!
Pfft!!! Outside the black boulder, Leilin suddenly clutched his head, crouching down and covering his right eye.
Waves of searing pain crashed through him, as though someone had gouged his eyeball out directly.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!! It was a long time before Leilin recovered, gasping for air in great, ragged heaves.
His handsome face was twisted with pain, his right eye shot through with blood vessels, and a thin line of blood trickled down, dripping onto the ground.
"Magical backlash!" Leilin sucked in a breath through his teeth, drew a red potion from the pack at his waist, pulled the stopper, and poured the entire contents into his mouth.
After waiting a little longer, Leilin finally stood up. His complexion looked somewhat better.
"I was careless! I never expected that in addition to Devil's Creepers and Bone-eating Flowers near the laboratory, the ground was hiding a Gnawing Stone Slab!"
Leilin glanced back at the spot where the opening had been. The surface of the black rock was perfectly smooth, as though the entrance he had seen moments ago had been nothing but an illusion.
"Devil's Creepers, Bone-eating Flowers, Gnawing Stone Slabs, plus whatever other defenses they have — this place is beyond my ability to infiltrate for now. What a pity..."
Leilin mentally inventoried the spells he knew and the materials he possessed.
"I'm afraid I'll need to advance to Third-rank before I can attempt to enter this laboratory!"
Leilin reached his conclusion. "In any case, I now know the location and the method to open it, and I've confirmed that there's a precious alchemy reference inside. This trip was absolutely worth it!"
The laboratory was far too dangerous for Leilin right now. He was not the type to be blinded by greed, and he immediately decided to halt his exploration for the time being and return to the estate to cultivate.
Leilin rested a bit longer to recover from the damage caused by the spell's backlash.
Then he went to his tent, packed everything up, and took special care to erase every trace of his presence.
"This defensive magical array has existed for over a hundred years without exposing any major flaws. All I need to do is wipe away the traces of my visit. Any thought of adding extra guardian powers or labyrinth arrays would be completely unnecessary!"
After finishing his cleanup, Leilin cast one last look at the still-standing black rock, then left without a moment's hesitation.
"As long as no one has discovered the laboratory behind my earlier warning,
"As for Polar Night City — Jackson only suffered surface wounds. Under my potion's treatment, he's actually recovered for the most part. He's probably just pretending to be gravely right now, trying to draw the enemy out!"
"Whether it's the City Lord's manor or any other faction, I have no need to involve myself. Once the Hofu Purple Leaf arrives, I'll immediately begin preparing the potion and push for Third-rank!"
For Leilin, the increase of his own power was everything. As for the petty struggles of worldly authority — they were far too draining, and he had no desire whatsoever to get involved, nor the inclination to bother.
If anyone dared set their sights on him, he would simply kill them!
For a Wizard, destroying a few insignificant worldly factions was child's play.