Leilin's laboratory had been transformed into a vast labyrinth.
The space had been infinitely enlarged. Several furnaces from the Plane of Fire burned with unquenchable Origin Fire.
The terrifying Origin Fire was restrained by numerous Rule Chains, constantly being channeled into the colossal magical array at the center.
At the heart of the array stood an enormous pool, where Origin Force from the Plane of Dreams had condensed into liquid form—every single drop was enough to drive any rule-level existence into a frenzy.
At the center of the pool, a dark silhouette could be faintly seen, ravenously absorbing the surrounding energy and Origin Force. A lethal, razor-sharp aura was already beginning to emanate from it, as though some prehistoric beast slumbered within.
"Centuries of forging, and the weapon vessel is finally complete. Next comes the carving..."
Leilin stood at the edge of the pool in his black robe, a look of satisfaction in his eyes.
"Leilin... Leilin..."
But at that moment, his expression changed. A calling transmitted faintly from within his bloodline, carrying a bewitching power.
"The Mother of Myriad Serpents! So the thousand-year appointment has arrived?"
Leilin sighed, took a single step forward, and when he looked around again, the environment had changed dramatically.
In a shift of time and space, Leilin had arrived directly at the boundary of the
Beneath the infinite starry sky, a woman draped in black gauze was already waiting.
"We meet again... Mother of Myriad Serpents!"
Leilin spoke softly. Now, he had a clear estimation of her strength—an eighth-level Wizard! She still lacked the most crucial Tempering power, which meant she couldn't forge her own "Path." In terms of combat ability, she might be slightly inferior to the Calamity Lord, but she was an ancient monster who had lived for untold millennia and certainly harbored no few trump cards.
"Lord Leilin! Every time we meet, you always bring me such wonderful surprises..."
The Mother of Myriad Serpents' face was covered by a layer of black gauze, revealing only a pair of eyes brilliant as starlight, rippling with waves of infinite tenderness and charm, suffused with a feeling of gentle warmth.
In her eyes, one could see a deep attachment to the beauty of life, and anyone looking into them would find their own ideal image of the perfect woman.
One had to admit—her comprehension of the Laws of Allurement had likely reached a profound depth.
"The current you... even among all seventh-level beings across all worlds, you would rank among the forefront. That puts my mind at ease..."
The Mother of Myriad Serpents stepped forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Leilin. She no longer had her star-like sphere of serpents beneath her, but Leilin sensed this was her true body, not an avatar.
The faint fragrance of a young woman drifted over, along with the gentle sway of silky hair—and more importantly, that innate closeness born from their shared bloodline, which gave any blood descendant an instinctive affinity.
Unfortunately, for the current Leilin, no matter how beautiful she was, she was merely a business partner.
"The thousand-year appointment regarding the Shadow World—I haven't forgotten! And did you only come to me?"
Leilin furrowed his brow.
Contesting a great world, and one on the same level as the Purgatory World at that—the Shadow World—was no simple matter.
In such a great world, rule-level beings would certainly not be scarce. Moreover, the Shadow World had once driven out the Mother of Myriad Serpents herself!
The Mother of Myriad Serpents had originally been a rule-level being within the Shadow World, reaching the eighth-level Wizard tier at one point. Unfortunately, when she attempted to seize control of the world and temper her own Path using the power of Shadow, she failed, forcing her to flee with a large number of her blood descendants to the Purgatory World.
From then on, a portion of her bloodline had spread outward, carrying the chaotic properties of Purgatory, reaching various worlds. Strictly speaking, Leilin, the former Komoin Giant Snake Warlock, had also benefited from her legacy.
What followed—the separate paths of bloodline and the conflicts that arose—could not be helped.
It was precisely for this reason, and his intention to settle old debts, that Leilin had agreed to help her this once. As for the additional conditions and treasures? Frankly, they were not worth a rule-level being's involvement.
"Is this also a matter of fate and karma?"
A light flickered in Leilin's eyes, as though severing something in an instant. The aura around his true form suddenly stilled.
Upon seeing this, the Mother of Myriad Serpents' eyes flickered with extraordinary interest—clearly, this junior had given her a great surprise.
"Of course not. I have an agreement with the Eye of Judgment, and there are other Supreme beings as well, all of whom will lend their strength at the appropriate time..."
The Mother of Myriad Serpents' voice carried a heavy nasal tone and a sweet, glutinous quality that could involuntarily draw one's soul into a reverie.
"Lord Leilin, is your preparation complete?"
"It's done. We can depart at any time!"
Leilin replied. The Origin Force weapon was now more than half complete—what remained was the infusion of rules and the refinement of time, which could not be rushed.
With his current combat power, even if he couldn't defeat an ordinary eighth-level being, escape was well within his grasp.
Moreover, if he could drag his opponent into the Dream World, Leilin was certain he could teach them a lesson they would never forget!
It was precisely with this strength as his foundation that Leilin dared to appear before the Mother of Myriad Serpents in his true form—after all, this time's enemy would not be limited to the rule-level beings within the Shadow World. Deep down, Leilin had never truly trusted the Mother of Myriad Serpents, not even after signing a Bloodline Contract with the Dream World as witness.
"Excellent! Then let us set out now! From here to the Shadow World, we must pass through five world coordinates and traverse a stretch of the World's Spine..."
Amid those honeyed words, an enormous black serpent materialized out of thin air. The Mother of Myriad Serpents settled upon its head and stepped into the infinite river of stars.
Such long-distance world-to-world traversal, carrying a rule-level being like Leilin, was too much for even a Star Gate to bear—they had to travel by the most primitive means.
Leilin shrugged and stepped onto the road formed of starlight, walking side by side with the Mother of Myriad Serpents through the river of stars in the Star Realm, heading toward the Shadow World...
The Star Realm—this was the concept that the ancient Wizards had defined for the multiverse, representing infinite space with no discernible end. The exploration and development of the Star Realm had always been the favorite pursuit of the ancient Wizards.
Countless worlds of varying sizes, planes, demiplanes, and even special spaces formed from the remains of dead ancient Wizards all filled the Star Realm, forming numerous points of light across the void. Among all known worlds, the Wizards and the
The Star Realm was fraught with danger. Random spatial storms were difficult for even fifth- or sixth-level Wizards to withstand, let alone the bizarre and ferocious creatures of the Star Realm.
In the ancient era of the Wizard World, Wizards below the seventh level had to use Star Gates to explore the Star Realm, and even then there was considerable risk.
But for the man and woman strolling along the starry river, all of this—including crises large enough to annihilate a major Wizard army—was nothing more than idle decoration.
The wild spatial storms could not so much as stir a corner of their garments, and all other Star Realm creatures gave the pair a wide berth—that surging, violent aura of bloodline origin forced every creature below the rule level to retreat!
However, the Mother of Myriad Serpents kept a very low profile during the journey. Whenever they encountered the aura of a rule-level being along the way, it was Leilin who stepped forward to make contact.
Clearly, she still wished to preserve the element of surprise for their assault, though in Leilin's view, it didn't seem to make much difference.
Of course, Leilin was not one to make no preparations. He had previously researched everything he could find about the Shadow World, but unfortunately, that world was simply too distant from the Wizard World, and the gap left by the Final War meant very little useful information remained.
Leilin only knew that the Mother of Myriad Serpents had been expelled after failing to seize control of the Shadow World—he couldn't even determine who her opponent had been.
The Mother herself was deeply secretive about the matter. Leilin estimated that she would only reveal everything once they actually arrived at the Shadow World.
"Raaawr! Raaawr!"
Standing on the starlight road, Leilin watched with interest as a massive creature walked past, dragging a long tail behind it.
Its size was beyond anything that could be described in numbers—at least comparable to the Mother of Myriad Serpents' stellar body. Its surface was covered in a dark brown integument, with the faint outlines of scales showing through. Beneath its bloated body stretched thousands of enormous legs of various shapes, and sixteen pairs of tattered flesh-wings hung from its back. Two pale yellow eyes bulged outward, their light green pupils greedily scanning everything around them.
Occasionally, floating debris from the Star Realm would be swept up by its colossal tongue, and even some Star Realm creatures could not escape.
Upon spotting Leilin and his companion, the enormous beast snorted, sending two pillars of destructive smoke erupting from its nostrils, then flicked its tail and vanished deeper into the Star Realm.
"That is a Merksienamye—the 'scavenger' of the Star Realm, feeding on decaying Star Realm refuse. Quite docile in temperament..."
The Mother of Myriad Serpents explained from beside him.
"I've read descriptions of them in Star Realm texts before, but this is my first time seeing one in person..."
Leilin gazed at the Merksienamye's colossal body, a faint sense of wonder in his eyes.
The creature was roughly the size of an entire plane—clearly, only the Star Realm could provide enough food for it to survive.
"Moreover... it possesses the ability to create Star Realm wormholes... If we follow it, we might save some time..."
The Mother of Myriad Serpents shared a piece of arcane lore. Ancient beings like her typically knew far more secrets than others—including the locations of treasures hidden by ancient Wizards, each one enough to drive a person mad.