Leilin shifted his attention to the battlefield.
By now, the Ice Emerald Scorpion had achieved a resounding victory, and the numerous blue ants, upon letting out a shrill cry, began to scatter and flee in all directions.
The Ice Emerald Scorpion did not bother pursuing these defeated stragglers. Instead, it crawled atop a mound of earth, dug into it with its massive pincers, and revealed a nest riddled with small, dense holes — much like a honeycomb.
Inside, large quantities of white insect eggs were neatly arranged in rows.
"Squeak! Squeak!" The Ice Emerald Scorpion let out a jubilant cry and promptly began to feast.
"Sorry to interrupt!"
However, its meal was quickly cut short by another creature. The Ice Emerald Scorpion's small red eyes locked onto the humanoid figure standing before it, its two massive pincers waving frantically while the venomous stinger on its back extended and retracted restlessly.
"Squeak! Squeak!" Enraged at Leilin for disturbing its feeding, the Ice Emerald Scorpion immediately flew into a fury. Vast swathes of icy mist spewed from its maw, surging toward Leilin.
Crack! Crack!
The temperature inside the cavern plummeted in an instant. Wherever the chill swept across, the rocks on the surface cracked and shattered into countless fragments.
"Extreme Yin Frost Breath! The Ice Emerald Scorpion's signature breath attack — rumored to carry the unique power of the Frozen World…"
Leilin murmured to himself as his entire figure became enveloped within the dense blue mist.
Then, large quantities of the blue gas fought to be the first to burrow through the skin covering Leilin's body.
"Ding! Detected the host absorbing a massive amount of frost-type energy. It possesses a significant suppressive effect on bloodline emotions. Energy stored!"
The Chip's feedback arrived almost immediately.
"Not enough! This level of cold is still far from sufficient!"
Leilin shook his head with a trace of disappointment. He then extended his right hand, and the surrounding icy mist converged, forming a small vortex in the air.
This sight caused the Ice Emerald Scorpion across from him to abruptly cease its breath attack.
Crack! Crack!
The blue ice mist condensed continuously in Leilin's hand. As it concentrated, its faint blue luster faded away, revealing its originally pure, colorless state.
After a few seconds, the Ice Emerald Scorpion's breath attack had completely vanished from Leilin's hand. In the center of his palm lay only a thin, white, flake-like object, identical in appearance to what Xiling had once traded, only much smaller.
"The crystallization of an Ice Emerald Scorpion's breath!" Leilin looked at the white flake in his hand and suddenly sighed. A flash of silver light passed, and the crystalline flake disappeared without a trace from his grasp.
"This Ice Emerald Scorpion's strength is still too low. The crystallization it produces only has a slight suppressive effect on me. To eradicate the problem completely, I must find a more powerful Ice Emerald Scorpion to experiment on..."
Leilin looked at the Ice Emerald Scorpion before him. Having expelled a great deal of cold air, the giant scorpion's surface color had become more transparent, and it had moved further away from Leilin, seemingly planning to flee.
"It possesses a certain level of intelligence!" Seeing this behavior, Leilin became even more interested.
"I must capture a complete specimen for experiment, to record data and collect materials!"
Leilin looked at the giant scorpion opposite him, which seemed to be composed entirely of green ice blocks, and a smile appeared on his face...
Several hours later, inside a massive ice cave that had been temporarily excavated.
The cave's entrance had been sealed by Leilin, and some camouflage had been applied. Ordinary creatures would never discover this place.
In the center of the cave, on a large ice platform, several dozen black iron pillars stood upright, forming the shape of a cage. The Ice Emerald Scorpion from earlier was imprisoned within, letting out low, guttural hisses from time to time.
Leilin was on the other side, holding a petri dish containing a piece of green chitin, something from the Ice Emerald Scorpion earlier.
Drip!
A drop of red ** was dripped by Leilin onto the icy chitin plate. Instantly, the entire plate began to boil, emitting large amounts of white steam. The plate melted continuously until only a small, black remnant remained.
Seeing this, a flash of delight entered Leilin's eyes. He used small tweezers to place the remnant into a test tube for storage.
"The basic biological samples and data have been mostly collected. Next is the experiment to gather the breath crystallization..."
Leilin looked at the Ice Emerald Scorpion in the cage and suddenly clapped his hands.
Snap! Snap! From the top of the black iron cage, a shower of sparks erupted. Blue electrical currents surged along the iron bars, instantly reaching the Ice Emerald Scorpion's body.
"Ssssss!" The Ice Emerald Scorpion let out an angry roar, opening its mouth to spew out a massive amount of cold air.
This cold air formed a thick layer of white frost on the cage, but even more of it drifted automatically towards Leilin, forming the same white crystalline flakes as before.
"Electrical stimulation results: excellent! Next, I should test the flames..."
Lei Lin snapped his fingers, and a plume of black flame instantly rose. From beneath the black iron cage, tongues of vivid red fire extended outward...
After conducting extensive experiments, Lei Lin finally gathered sufficient data on harvesting the breath crystallizations of the Ice Emerald Scorpion.
"This adult scorpion can likely spray its extreme yin cold energy attack about 5 to 6 times per day. Each burst produces enough to form a crystallization roughly one-tenth the size of the one Xiling had before..."
Lei Lin glanced at the Ice Emerald Scorpion inside the cage.
The creature now dragged both of its large pincers on the ground, appearing utterly listless. The green hue in its body had nearly vanished, transforming it almost into a transparent crystal scorpion.
Because of this characteristic, Lei Lin had briefly considered whether to keep some Ice Emerald Scorpions in captivity. However, he quickly dismissed the idea.
According to information from both Xiling and Siegfried, this species of Ice Emerald Scorpion could only survive within ice caves. If taken outside, they would die quickly. Even their offspring would gradually degenerate.
Only within the environment of an ice cave could the Ice Emerald Scorpions retain their original traits.
Moreover, although this creature possessed a degree of intelligence, its mindset was extremely stubborn. No! Perhaps it should be called interesting! Because Lei Lin had discovered an external command within its sea of consciousness.
*Guard this place. Protect the Empress!* This will seemed to be inherited through the bloodline, constantly existing within the Ice Emerald Scorpion's mind. If Lei Lin wanted to erase this imprint, he would have to destroy the entire sea of consciousness. By that point, the Ice Emerald Scorpion would be long dead, and his efforts would be futile.
"Such strong collectivism?" This bizarre method of control made Lei Lin feel somewhat incredulous.
Even within a wolf pack, there were cases of fallen wolf kings expelled after failing to compete for power. Yet this Ice Emerald Scorpion colony reminded Lei Lin of queen bees and queen ants. Only in species with relatively simple neural structures could such absolute control by a superior being occur.
"It seems it's absolutely necessary to make a trip to the Ice Emerald Scorpion's lair!"
Lei Lin murmured to himself, looking at the Ice Emerald Scorpion imprisoned within the cage.
Although he could continue coming here periodically to harvest the breath crystallizations to help alleviate and suppress his own bloodline-induced emotional surges, it was merely treating the symptoms, not the root cause.
What he truly desired was to completely eradicate this negative emotion from his body!
Setting aside the question of convenience, continually harboring this vulnerability was essentially leaving an exploitable weakness for others. Lei Lin considered himself not so foolish.
Obviously, mere Ice Emerald Scorpion breath crystallizations were insufficient for that task. Therefore, Lei Lin had no choice but to set his sights on the higher-tier Ice Emerald Scorpions, the elites, or even the Ice Emerald Scorpion Queen...
...
The moment the idea struck him, Lei Lin sprang into action.
Drawing on the information he had gathered from his previous Ice Emerald Scorpion specimens, he used the various materials stored in his spatial pouch to concoct a batch of powder specifically tailored to attract Ice Emerald Scorpions.
When burned, this powder produced a unique scent that was an irresistible lure for the creatures — a pull they simply could not resist.
Using this powder, Lei Lin launched raids across the Ice Emerald Scorpions' territory over the following days. He had already captured more than a dozen ordinary Ice Emerald Scorpions, and even one elite had been mixed in among them.
The elite Ice Emerald Scorpion was nearly half again larger than the ordinary ones. Its body, jade-green in appearance, was covered with strange, intricate patterns.
These markings bore characteristics resembling runic sigils, yet appeared incomplete and fragmented. They were densely concentrated along the elite's back, leaving Lei Lin somewhat unsettled.
However, he merely had the Chip record the patterns for future study.
This elite Ice Emerald Scorpion possessed strength comparable to a half-elementalized
Yet all of it crumbled like snow exposed to sunlight before Lei Lin, who had already recovered to peak Rank One strength. If anything, the creature simply added to his collection of excellent test subjects.
The elite Ice Emerald Scorpion's breath crystallizations were naturally far superior in quality to ordinary ones. They could suppress the negative bloodline emotions within Lei Lin for a full ten years, and even more importantly, they gave him a glimmer of hope for permanently eliminating the threat!
Right now, Lei Lin was hiding beside an icy plain, watching the silhouettes of a migrating Ice Emerald Scorpion colony.
The total number of Ice Emerald Scorpions that had settled here had never exceeded a few dozen in the first place. Now, after Lei Lin's disruption, the population had been reduced by nearly half — and every single one taken was an adult.
The entire colony had rampaged for a time, sweeping through their territory repeatedly, but they had been unable to locate Lei Lin's trail.
Left with no choice, the Ice Emerald Scorpion Queen could only opt for a mass migration.
And that was precisely what Lei Lin had been hoping for.
Previously, the Ice Emerald Scorpion Queen had hidden within her lair, guarded by numerous elite Ice Emerald Scorpions. The defenses were practically airtight, and the slightest disturbance would have brought the full wrath of the entire colony down on Lei Lin.
The Ice Emerald Scorpion Queen was a existence comparable to a peak Rank One Wizard. Coupled with dozens of Ice Emerald Scorpions wielding the strength of formal Wizards, even a peak Rank One human Wizard would have been lucky to survive with his life! Even for Lei Lin, as long as he could not wield Rank Two Warlock power, confronting them would have been extremely troublesome.
But now, the situation had changed entirely!