A few days later, vague rumors began circulating throughout the Eastern Dark Extremity Domain.
The leader of Misty Forest Academy had coveted the resource nodes of
Though the attempt ultimately failed, rumors spread that both Xiling, the leader of Nature's Alliance, and a newly appointed honorary professor had been seriously wounded!
At first, these rumors only circulated within a small, fixed circle, but they spread wider and wider. More troubling still, Misty Forest Academy made no effort to dispel them, which only intensified the uproar.
Installing puppet leaders, seizing control of resources — while even some mid-tier and large academies engaged in such practices, Misty Forest's brazen, shameless approach was genuinely rare.
In an instant, every small faction in the Eastern Dark Extremity Domain was gripped by fear.
Deep within the canyon behind the Great Waterfall — the headquarters of Nature's Alliance.
Xiling gazed at the laboratory inside an ice mountain not far away and let out a long sigh.
Ever since returning to Nature's Alliance, Leilin had thrown himself headlong into the laboratory.
"I need time to heal! Do not disturb me for anything — remember, anything!"
Those had been Leilin's words, and the cold glint in his eyes had made even Xiling shrink back in fear.
The news leaking into the Dark Extremity Domain had, naturally, been orchestrated by Xiling — hoping to make Misty Forest Academy hesitate before acting.
But their unexpectedly silent response weighed heavily on Xiling's heart.
This kind of silence was clearly the calm before the storm.
"I hope Leilin recovers soon!"
Worry filled Xiling's eyes.
Leilin was now her only hope.
Meanwhile, inside the laboratory that had been transformed into an ice mountain, Leilin was leisurely examining his own palm.
A faint white luminescence emanated from the jade-pale skin.
"Frost!" Leilin softly uttered a word in the ancient Byron language.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Cold wind howled as numerous hexagonal ice crystals swirled at the center of his palm, forming a tiny frost whirlwind.
"Who would have thought — after the Ice Transformation not only completely healed the damage to my Sea of Consciousness, but also awakened a frost-related ability in my body!"
Leilin casually toyed with the frost whirlwind, his eyes momentarily distant.
Within his mind, the Chip had already collected data on his updated status and presented it in numerical form.
"Leilin Farell, Second-rank Bloodline Warlock. Serpent Bloodline: Komoan Giant Serpent. Strength: 21.1. Agility: 14.4. Constitution: 27.9. Spirit: 104.3. Mana: 104 (Mana determined synchronously by Spiritual Power)."
"Ding! Detected that the host has activated a new talent. Numerical conversion in progress…"
The Chip quickly responded.
"Host has awakened talent: Frost Manipulation. Generates affinity toward Frost-type energy particles. Host is immune to Frost-type energy attacks below forty degrees of power! Can manipulate various energy forms with frost properties on a small scale!"
This level of ability was roughly equivalent to adding a new talent spell — even if only first-level.
"No — there's more!" Leilin immediately ordered the Chip to display his elemental affinity chart.
In truth, everyone in the
Wizard Apprentices with innate talents, however, showed affinity far exceeding the norm for at least one element — by a factor of fifty or more. This was the generally accepted standard in the Wizard world.
Previously, Leilin's Shadow affinity had been the highest, followed by Fire. Plant affinity came last — so low it could be ignored entirely. As for other miscellaneous affinities, they would need dozens of zeros after the decimal point to even express.
Now, however, the bar graph representing Leilin's personal talents had undergone a subtle change.
The black bar representing the Shadow System remained the longest, even exceeding what it had been before — a result of the multiple bloodline activations that had enhanced his innate abilities. Since he had chosen Shadow particles for his spiritual elemental transformation, he had gained an additional bonus, putting him far ahead. The Shadow bar even surpassed the combined total of all other affinities.
Below that came the fiery red bar representing Fire, which had also grown somewhat — though only by a very small margin.
Beneath Fire was the green bar for the Plant System, extremely short, indicating Leilin's rather poor aptitude in that area.
And below that, there was now a new bar that hadn't existed before.
It was a pale blue color, representing cold and frost.
Previously, this affinity index had been so low that even the Chip hadn't represented it with a bar. But now, the Frost System had clearly received a certain boost.
According to the Chip's readings, Leilin now possessed a minor Frost-type elemental affinity!
"So this is how elemental affinity can be artificially enhanced after the fact…"
Leilin let out a deep sigh. "Unfortunately, it's completely useless to me now!"
Elemental affinity generally determined the path a Wizard chose. Leilin had already selected Shadow energy particles as his primary focus at the first rank, and had even chosen Shadow particles for his spiritual elemental transformation!
It was the correct choice, since his Shadow affinity was the highest, meaning his potential achievements on this path were the greatest.
Therefore, he could neither change his primary focus nor did he want to.
Moreover, the Frost talent he had gained was far too weak — even less than his Plant affinity!
This tiny addition was nothing but a white elephant!
"But still — this is a lead!" Leilin rubbed his chin and fell deep into thought.
If elemental affinity could be influenced and altered after the fact, then what about soul aptitude?
In truth, compared to this newly acquired Frost affinity, what Leilin truly wanted was an enhancement to his soul quality.
His soul aptitude had been tested even before his initial enrollment — it was the most common third-rank aptitude, placing him at a merely average level among all apprentices.
After the several upgrades and enhancements from his Bloodline Warlock inheritance, the Chip's re-testing showed that his soul quality had improved somewhat, making him a solid third-ranker.
But it was still far from enough.
Compared to those fifth-rank prodigies, Leilin knew he was still woefully lacking. If not for the Chip's assistance, copious potions, and the sheer luck of obtaining a Bloodline Warlock inheritance, who knew where on the South Coast he'd still be languishing!
He had therefore been searching for a method to alter soul aptitude.
But such methods were exceedingly rare in the Wizard world.
Methods to add elemental affinity might exist, but soul aptitude touched upon far more intangible and elusive dimensions — extraordinarily difficult to measure or influence.
At most, Wizards who practiced high-level Meditation Methods could marginally boost their soul quality upon each rank-up, and even then the improvement was not particularly significant.
Leilin then chuckled at his own thoughts.
"I'm simply being too greedy. Soul quality involves the soul itself — my previous research hasn't gone deep enough, and my current level may be insufficient. Once I advance to a higher Warlock tier and exchange insights with a few great Wizards who specialize in soul research, perhaps I can find a solution!"
Leilin reflected silently.
"As for the Frost talent!" He glanced at the pale blue bar again. "It'll just have to be set aside!"
Yet deep in his mind, a quiet plan was taking shape — this Frost affinity might prove invaluable when he ventured into the Frost World in the future, or when he sought to root out the emotional instability caused by his Bloodline Warlock inheritance.
After all, this mutation had been produced under the influence of the Frost World's radiation. It probably wasn't as simple as it seemed.
"Either way, gaining an additional ability — even if it can never be improved — is still something!"
Leilin opened his eyes, a smile blossoming across his face.
"And most importantly — it's not just this!"
Threads of silvery Spiritual Power shot from Leilin's eyes, plunging into the frost whirlwind in his palm.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
With a sharp, howling roar, the frost whirlwind expanded several times in size in a single burst. Sharp blades of ice formed around the edge of the vortex.
The surrounding space seemed to freeze solid, and an oppressive aura radiated from Leilin's body.
"At last — at last, I've fully recovered the strength of a Second-rank Warlock!"
The smile on Leilin's lips grew wider. Only now had he completely restored his peak power from the South Coast — and with the emotional instability of his bloodline eliminated, his true combat strength exceeded even that!
In truth, on the very first night after returning to Nature's Alliance headquarters, Leilin had secretly used the Ice Transformation bloodline imprint, crafted from the Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor and the Fear Rune on its back.
Leilin had even slipped out of the Alliance's base to carry out the transformation in a location he had personally deemed safe.
When it came to matters of his own security, Leilin had never liked placing his hopes in others.
By going out to heal on his own, no one could possibly discover him. And during the transformation, the layer of ice that formed around his body was even harder than tempered steel, guaranteeing his safety.
Moreover, under Leilin's deliberate control, the entire Ice Transformation proceeded very quickly — completed in a single night.
With Leilin's meticulous planning, the entire process had been entirely uneventful, and he had smoothly recovered his original strength.
The so-called "treatment" here was nothing more than a deliberate ruse Leilin had put out to lure the enemy in.
"The timing should be about right. I already ordered Xiling to leak information in secret. After several days of interrogation, Shigeli has capitulated and will be sent — along with the Image Crystal — to the Executive Commissioner of the Joint Council!"
A contemplative gleam flickered through Leilin's eyes. While image recordings could be fabricated, with a living witness to corroborate the evidence, even a mid-tier academy like Misty Forest would be in deep trouble.