A tremendous temptation lay right before him, yet not the slightest change crossed Leilin's face.
"False eternity? Hmph!"
A cold sneer surfaced on Leilin's lips.
What he pursued was the realm of eternity beyond Ninth-level Wizards — an immortality that transcended the Astral Plane!
The shortcut on offer here meant binding his life to the entire Shadow World, forever forfeiting any chance of true transcendence. Perhaps many Wizards who had abandoned all hope of advancement would choose this path, but Leilin certainly would not be among them!
That said, once he saw Leilin appropriate
She drew closer, unmistakable desire burning in her eyes.
After all, once she obtained the World Fruit — a crystallized World
Leilin knew perfectly well that no matter what terms he named, the Mother of Myriad Snakes would have no choice but to agree. Unfortunately, he simply refused to speak.
Because, as long as both the Mother of Myriad Snakes and Shar were still Eighth-level, they remained relatively controllable. But the moment either one broke through to the peak of Eighth-level, she would kick Leilin aside without a second thought.
He had risked his life and laid plans all the way to this point — not for a trickle of World Force and a bit of good will.
"The Shadow World is a Great World after all. It would be best kept in my hands!"
That was Leilin's true intention, and besides, controlling a Great World did not necessarily require fusing with it.
"Neither of these two women is simple. I can't just install one of them as a puppet — I have to keep them both together. If one stays, both stay. If one goes, both go!"
Leilin made his decision with grim finality.
And now was the perfect opportunity!
The Mother of Myriad Snakes had been gravely wounded by Shar. Shar had lost the Shadow
Boom!
At that moment, the already ethereal Shar could hold on no longer — her figure scattered abruptly.
"Where did she go?"
The Mother of Myriad Snakes frowned.
"Back to her true body, naturally. After taking that kind of devastating blow, whether she can even remain conscious is an open question."
Leilin shook his head. With the World Fruit in his grasp, the entire Shadow World lay bare to him like an open book.
"I need to go somewhere."
Leilin's figure vanished in an instant, leaving the Mother of Myriad Snakes staring after his departing silhouette with infinite resentment.
……
In the Sea of Primordial Force.
The ocean had thinned considerably, and the light of civilization was all but spent; through its haze, the colossal Primordial Stone Palace was faintly visible.
Leilin materialized here in a flash, the Primordial Force on either side parting meekly to clear his path.
He advanced unimpeded to the palace's interior, where he beheld the enormous crystal seal — and the Shar contained within it.
"World Crystal! Is this the backlash from attempting to control the World Will earlier?"
Leilin studied the massive crystal and nodded.
Within the seal, the girl seemed to sense his arrival and slowly moved her eyes.
A mass of shadow materialized outside the crystal seal and coalesced into the form of Shar, one Leilin knew well — though her aura had dwindled to almost nothing.
"So you've finally come… To destroy me, I suppose?"
A bitter smile played across the girl's face.
"Hardly! You've misunderstood me!"
Leilin waved his hand. Although he had chosen not to devour the World Fruit, the authority was in his hands — getting things done was still remarkably easy.
Crack, crack, crack— The World Crystal sealing Shar's true body, already riddled with fractures, now shattered apart entirely, dissolving into a cascade of glittering shards.
"Your Grace's actions…"
Shar recalled her projection, opened her eyes, and gazed at Leilin.
Though the face was the same, Shar's true body was noticeably paler — like a girl long confined to a sickbed, suffused with an air of fragility. Compared to the clever, mischievous spirit Leilin had known before, this version held an entirely different, almost magnetic allure.
"If I wanted to destroy you, I wouldn't need to lift a finger. The schism between Wizards and the
Leilin stood with his hands clasped behind his back, a faint smile on his lips.
"It would seem we need to have a 'long talk'…"
Shar's shrewd eyes gleamed as she smiled, stepped forward, took Leilin's hand, and led him deeper into the palace.
It had to be said — after her defeat, Shar's mentality shifted with remarkable speed.
……
Several years later, Leilin's figure emerged from the Shadow World.
He glanced back over his shoulder, as though he could still make out the silhouettes of Shar and the Mother of Myriad Snakes, and a faintly enigmatic smile curved the corner of his mouth.
The strongest hold the truth! Leilin was currently the most powerful being in the Shadow World, and naturally he held the right to carve up the cake.
What he had done was redistribute control over the Shadow World once more.
Since he could never remain in the Shadow World permanently, he selected the Mother of Myriad Snakes and the Night Lady, Shar, as his proxies.
He apportioned 40% of the world's authority between them — exactly 20% each — ensuring that their strength remained at the same level and that even combined they could not match Leilin.
The Mother of Myriad Snakes was unwilling, but without Leilin she would not have obtained even this much, so she had nothing to say.
As the defeated party, Shar was in even less of a position to make demands.
Moreover, with 20% of the authority, while vaulting straight to the peak of Eighth-level was utterly impossible, she at least had access to the Shadow World's Primordial Force to recover and strengthen herself. The two beings swallowed their grievances and accepted their new superior.
In the struggle to curry Leilin's favor and undermine their rival, both pulled out every trick in the book — yet the one who profited most was Leilin himself.
The Mother of Myriad Snakes honored her earlier promise and ceded a portion of her bloodline essence, even granting Leilin a degree of control over the rest of her serpent descendants.
Not to be outdone, Shar — a veteran Intermediate Deity — provided Leilin with a wealth of secrets concerning the world of the Gods, intelligence on various deities, and critical notes on the prerequisites for ascending to true godhood.
As for whether any other "transactions" took place between them… well… ahem, ahem.
Leilin stroked his chin as though savoring the memory, then glanced at his status panel.
[Leilin Farell · Sorcerer · Level 7 Bloodline: Targaryen Winged Serpent (Level 7) Strength: 275.11 Agility: 229.88 Constitution: 400.97 Spirit: 653.19 Soul State: Rule Spirit Rule Comprehension: Devour (100%), Slaughter (58%), Calamity (27%), Decay (15%), Curse (1%), Shadow (33%) Main body has saturated World Force!]
"Already reached the limit of what I can absorb?"
The Shadow World's Primordial Force lacked the flaws inherent in the Dream World's force, so Leilin could of course draw upon and use it freely.
The Mother of Myriad Snakes and Shar had both previously tried to use this as leverage over Leilin — only for it to backfire, resulting in a situation where Leilin was the master and they the subordinates. Even the most cunning Shar could not have anticipated that.
In possession of half the world's authority, Leilin helped himself without the slightest restraint, supplementing his reserves until his data saturated and no further advancement was possible.
"After all, I'm still only a Seventh-level Sorcerer. Only after reaching Eighth-level can I do this again…"
A trace of a smile tugged at the corner of Leilin's mouth.
The
With the Shadow World's support, he could still advance by leaps and bounds.
The feeling of commanding a Great World, of being its lord — it was, to put it mildly, supremely satisfying.
"The only thing is… Shar and the Mother of Myriad Snakes pushed things too far before, so the Shadow World still needs time to recover gradually. Otherwise, the benefits it could provide me would be even greater…"
In the Shadow World now, Leilin stood as sovereign and arbiter, while the Mother of Myriad Snakes and Shar had been firmly ordered to get the world back on its feet, striving to restore the Shadow World to its former glory as quickly as possible.
"The Millennium Covenant is resolved as well!"
Leilin linger no longer and set off directly on his return journey, sharp light still flickering in his eyes.
"In the Wizard World, there are only a handful of matters left to settle…"
"First, I need to have a frank discussion with the Heart of the Earth Mother and the other powers. After all, the World of the Gods isn't something I can devour alone…"
Leilin had no illusions about his own capabilities. This time, merely attempting to control the Shadow World had nearly cost him everything. If not for the fact that he happened to possess the right arcane arts to counter the situation, the outcome could have been entirely rewritten.
And the World of the Gods was no Shadow World — its enemies were tens of thousands of times more powerful, not to mention cunning old巫师 wills like the Shadow of
So Leilin's strategy was to bring in reinforcements — to drag the entire Wizard World into the fray and crush everything with overwhelming force!
As long as he dangled the World of the Gods as bait, there was no need to worry about those Wizards refusing the hook.
"The other matter… is those Calamity Lords and Dream World evil gods… the Nightmare Energy-Absorbing Body…"
Leilin sighed deeply.
The Nightmare Energy-Absorbing Body was a gift from the Dream World — or rather… its blade and enforcer, born with the sole purpose of annihilating those locust-like Calamity Lords and evil gods!
Yet Leilin's perspective was not so simple.
There was an old saying: "When the hares are gone, the hounds are cooked." He feared no such thing, but it never hurt to be prepared.
The Nightmare Energy-Absorbing Body existed to counter the Calamity Lords — but if he performed too brilliantly and exterminated every last one of them, what would the Dream World do next? Would it continue granting him such extensive authority?
From this standpoint, Leilin felt he had to leave the Calamity Lords a way out. It served his own interests.
"Perhaps… my model from the Shadow World would work here — playing the role of arbiter. Keeping the Calamity Lords in check while meting out punishment on behalf of the world…"
Leilin had no desire to be a blade. Blades seldom met good ends. He preferred the role of supervisor and constrainer.
Since the Dream World's decline was caused by the Calamity Lords extracting too much of the world's power, he would simply set quotas and oversee enforcement! This way he pleased both sides — the true path to self-preservation!