After Leilin left, the fog here gradually dissipated, revealing a grayish-white wizard statue.
This statue was identical to the earlier Bill, except its face still bore an expression of extreme horror!
Crack! Crack!
Countless fine cracks, like a spider's web, continuously spread across the stone statue.
Boom!
Then, with a thunderous crash, the statue shattered into countless fragments...
Leilin was now at the pinnacle of first-level wizards, and with the added boost of his bloodline power, even a standard peak first-level wizard like Bill would not be his match.
However, at this moment, he had no mind for such thoughts. His eyes had instantly been captivated by what lay before him.
This warehouse was quite small — only about a dozen square meters.
Leilin scanned the entire room with a single glance. There were very few wooden shelves for storing resources, and in the very center sat an unusual runic stone platform.
On the surface of the platform, three items sat in solitary display. Though none appeared particularly impressive at first glance, anything so carefully and reverently placed here was surely no simple thing.
Leilin examined the items on the platform carefully.
On the far left was something resembling a cowhide pouch, entirely black, with fine silver patterns running across its surface. Though it looked very ordinary, a faint and peculiar fluctuation emanated from the pouch — so subtle that even the Komoin Giant Serpent bloodline within Leilin's body stirred with a strange resonance.
"This feeling... it seems this pouch must have been crafted from the hide of some ancient creature..."
Leilin stroked his chin, his mind racing. "Made from ancient creature hide, and it doesn't appear to be any kind of offensive magical item... Could it be..."
In an instant, a faint possibility flashed through Leilin's mind, making his breathing grow heavy.
"Chip! Scan the patterns on the pouch and cross-reference them with the Ancient Creature Database!"
"Ding! Task established. Scan commencing..."
"Cross-reference results: Ancient Creature — Void White-Eyed Snake hide similarity: 92.6%. Tailless Ring-Swallowing Snake hide similarity: 46.9%. Void Raven hide similarity: 12.3%..."
"It really is the Void White-Eyed Snake!" Joy surfaced on Leilin's face.
This ancient creature, even in the primordial era, had been an extremely rare species. Moreover, the Void White-Eyed Snake's innate ability was related to space itself! For this reason, its hide was frequently used to craft certain storage items.
"Chip! Pull up all data on the Void White-Eyed Snake!" Leilin immediately ordered.
"Void White-Eyed Snake! Ancient creature, favored of the Void. Upon reaching adulthood, it can awaken space-related abilities, mastering powerful innate talents such as spatial transit! Its hide, naturally inscribed with Void Runes, is commonly processed into storage tools capable of holding items thousands or even tens of thousands of times its own volume. However, due to overhunting by ancient wizards, this species was declared completely extinct by the mid-era of antiquity... Data source: Ancient Creature Compendium,
"So it really is the legendary space-type magical item!"
Leilin stared intently at the black pouch on the stone platform, his eyes blazing with fervor.
For a major power like
If Leilin had possessed this pouch just moments ago, he never would have left the contents of the secondary warehouse for the other Dark Wizards. He would have claimed everything for himself!
And especially now, as Leilin prepared to flee at any moment, owning this would greatly enhance his mobility and flexibility.
It could be said that if forced to choose only one thing from this entire treasury, Leilin would choose this without hesitation!
But the more tempted he was, the more Leilin could suppress his desires.
He forced down the impulse to act immediately and instead looked at the other two items beside the black pouch.
In the center of the platform sat an enormously thick black tome, resembling a dictionary, with obvious signs of damage along its edges.
"This must be the book that Four Seasons Garden obtained from the Ganges Secret Realm. Since it was left by the wizard who constructed this secret realm, it's all the more precious..."
Such an item would only be useful to major factions. For a lone wolf like Leilin, acquiring it would only invite disaster.
To the right of the black tome was a coal-ball-like object resembling a dark honeycomb. Embedded in its pitted, uneven surface were tiny dark-green pearls set into the holes, giving it a very peculiar appearance.
"Of these three items, the book in the center may be the most valuable, but for me, obtaining the pouch takes priority!"
Leilin's expression grew solemn as he walked quietly to the stone platform.
Anything stored in a wizard's warehouse would not only have defensive magical arrays set up around the perimeter, but would also have formations inscribed directly on the items themselves.
Moreover, most of these formations were designed with self-destruction built in. If opened incorrectly, the items would destroy themselves, leaving intruders with nothing.
However, Leilin and the other Dark Wizards of the Hand of Thousand Leaves were experienced in this sort of thing, and all possessed special talents and techniques for unlocking such protections.
Earlier in the secondary warehouse, Leilin had used Dark Wizard unlocking techniques to successfully obtain several of the rarest items.
But the magical array set up here was clearly far more intricate and complex than the one in the secondary warehouse. The three items on the stone platform in particular had certainly been fitted with additional seals.
Taking into account the runes on the stone platform, the difficulty was such that even Leilin, with the Chip's assistance, found it headache-inducing!
"What a pity! This is the main warehouse — even that dead man Bill's token and permissions are useless here!"
Leilin sighed, then carefully spread a small pouch of purple powder onto his hands.
Whoosh whoosh!
Suddenly, a wind arose from within the chamber. Wisps of fine purple airflow continuously emanated from Leilin's hands, clinging to the surface of the stone platform.
This was an unlocking technique that Leilin had obtained from the Hand of Thousand Leaves, specifically designed to deal with self-destructing seals. After being optimized and improved by the Chip, its power had increased dramatically!
However, the improved version of this technique was over ten times more difficult to execute than the original, requiring extremely precise manipulation and zero-error execution down to the millisecond!
Therefore, on the South Coast, Leilin might be the only wizard capable of employing this current method.
The purple airflow spread like liquid, gradually creeping across the entire stone platform.
The runes on the platform flickered briefly, then fell silent again, as if unaware of the activity outside.
Once the purple had completely covered the stone platform, Leilin's eyes flashed with resolve.
"Now! Magify!"
He suddenly chanted several guttural syllables, and rings of bizarre ripples flickered into existence across the stone platform.
Buzz buzz!
The purple airflow covering the stone platform's surface solidified in an instant, transforming into a ring of black tarry liquid that encased the entire platform.
The runes on the platform finally reacted, launching their fiercest counterattack. A barrage of light bursts flashed, almost enough to break through the black tarry encirclement.
"Envelop!" Under Leilin's command, the black tar-like substance enveloped the entire stone platform like crude oil, suppressing the various rune lights beneath its surface.
"Now!"
Fine blue threads shot from Leilin's right hand, wrapping around the black cowhide pouch like strands of silkworm silk.
The delicate blue threads seemed to come alive, burrowing deep into the pouch along its surface. A series of tiny popping sounds emanated from within.
Leilin devoted most of his concentration to this unlocking technique, to the point where fine beads of sweat trickled down his forehead.
At last, the silkworm-like blue threads had thoroughly enveloped the cowhide pouch, forming what looked like a blue cocoon.
Leilin reached out and grasped it, and the blue cocoon detached from the stone platform and flew into his hand.
"Good! Success!" Leilin rejoiced inwardly. By now, the black tar could no longer contain the stone platform's runes, and faint glimmers of light were beginning to leak through.
"Hurry! Again!"
Leilin pointed once more, and fine blue threads began wrapping toward the honeycomb coal-ball beside the black book.
For Leilin, the central tome — presumably the notes of an ancient wizard from the Ganges Secret Realm — would only bring trouble into his hands. Rather than fight for that, he'd rather take a gamble!
Delicate yet resolute blue threads crept toward the honeycomb coal-ball.
Suddenly, the stone platform trembled, shaking off much of the black tar in an instant.
A string of yellow runic light leaked out.
Buzz buzz!!! The yellow runes immediately flew into the air, hurtling toward the two remaining items on the stone platform.
"Go!" Leilin steeled his expression. The black tar that had been surrounding the platform immediately boiled, forming a small black shield that positioned itself in front of the honeycomb coal-ball.
Crack!
The yellow runes struck the small shield and, meeting what seemed like an impenetrable barrier, were deflected away.
But on the other side, unimpeded, the yellow runes struck the black book directly.
Rustle!
A flash of light swept across the book's surface, and it began cracking inch by inch. In just a few short seconds, the entire tome disintegrated into ash before Leilin's eyes.
Snap!
At that very moment, the blue threads finally encased the entire honeycomb coal-ball, flying it into Leilin's hand.
BOOM!
Then, the entire stone platform shattered before Leilin, crumbling into endless dust and powder.