"Squeak squeak!"
The massive Ice Jade Scorpion that had been foraging spotted Leilin and immediately raised both its enormous claws, its tail stinger swaying back and forth ceaselessly as it adopted an attack posture.
"Perfect!" Leilin smiled faintly, and with a flash of fire, he appeared on the Ice Jade Scorpion's back in an instant.
"Squeak squeak!" The enormous Ice Jade Scorpion had barely begun to struggle when a hand carrying terrifying energy and will slammed down onto its head.
The horrifying will contained within that palm instantly shattered all of its resistance, forcing the massive Ice Jade Scorpion to its knees.
It even sensed a familiar and comforting imperial aura emanating from the newcomer.
"Move!" Leilin commanded, and the Ice Jade Scorpion immediately stood up, carrying Leilin on its back at a rapid pace.
In the frost-white world of ice and snow, a green shadow bearing a single black dot on its back raced forward at tremendous speed.
It had to be said that in this subterranean ice world, the Ice Jade Scorpion was truly an exceptionally useful mode of transportation. Not only was it highly resistant to ice radiation, but its hook-like lower limbs drilled holes into the steel-hard ice surface with every step, with not the slightest slip. The intimidation radiating from the massive creature could also eliminate many minor troubles — at the very least, ordinary ice creatures would not dare provoke it.
"This is the end of the map
Crack! A massive green figure leaped out powerfully, crashing down to the ground. Its giant claws swept sideways, carving a hole in the wall and revealing a deep passage behind it, clearly weathered over time.
Leilin gazed at the place, a flicker of nostalgia in his eyes. It was here that he had once captured Ice Jade Scorpions in great numbers to treat the emotional disease caused by his bloodline.
"Ice radiation has intensified, and the Ice Jade Scorpions have undergone mutations. I wonder whether the higher-ranked Scorpion Emperors still have a therapeutic effect on Morning Star-level emotional instability?"
Leilin stroked his chin. Back then, the extracted ice energy from a mere peak first-rank Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor had been enough to suppress his emotional disease, though it had lost its effectiveness after he reached the Morning Star level.
Now that ordinary Ice Jade Scorpions already possessed second-rank strength, the ice breath of a third-rank Ice Jade Scorpion elite or even a Scorpion Emperor would presumably have an excellent therapeutic effect on the bloodline disease of a Morning Star-level Komoin Giant Snake Warlock.
For Leilin especially, the Chip's calculations from last time had shown that the Ice Jade Scorpion's breath was perfectly suited to his warlock constitution, so there should be no problems this time either.
"Once I've extracted the Bronze Giantess's bloodline, the ice radiation will disappear. This entire subterranean ice world will probably collapse, so capturing an Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor is absolutely necessary..."
"Of course, perhaps it won't be that troublesome! The Scorpion Emperors' bloodlines all descended from the Scorpion Man himself. If I can obtain his remains, the effect would certainly be better than that of an ordinary Scorpion Emperor — perhaps everything would be resolved..."
"Let's go!"
The dilapidated laboratory was completely empty. Leilin had already taken everything during his last visit; the only reason he had come back now was to confirm the coordinates.
After a brief moment of reminiscence, Leilin patted the head of the Ice Jade Scorpion beneath him.
"Squeak squeak..." The massive Ice Jade Scorpion let out a shriek and carried Leilin into the even deeper subterranean ice.
This area had not been marked on any previous map. It was the end of many routes, filled with the unknown and the mysterious, and of course, danger!
Whoosh... The cold wind howled as the Ice Jade Scorpion ventured deeper, the surrounding temperature dropping further still. The fierce ice radiation grew increasingly violent. Even the Ice Jade Scorpion's icy carapace began to emit a layer of greenish luminescence, as if even it could no longer withstand these frigid temperatures.
The vast darkness had completely enveloped this entire area. Only the green glow emanating from the Ice Jade Scorpion could illuminate the path ahead.
Pairs of enormous, greedy eyes, brimming with bloodlust, materialized around Leilin like ghostly flames in the night.
"Squeak squeak..." The massive Ice Jade Scorpion hesitated, nearly grinding to a halt. It was only second-rank — a formidable existence in the Dark Poles, but in this deep subterranean ice world, it was nothing at all! Any ice creature shrouded in the darkness here could easily kill it. Under normal circumstances, this Ice Jade Scorpion would have retreated long ago, but now it had confidence, because it was not alone. A far more terrifying master sat upon its back!
"Second-rank, third-rank creatures?" Leilin, seated on the Ice Jade Scorpion's back, chuckled.
While he dismissed these creatures as beneath his notice, if they ever escaped from the ice cavern, they would undoubtedly cause a catastrophic disaster in the Dark Poles! In the Dark Poles, a second-rank
"Even Celine probably didn't know that the depths of the ice cavern could be this dangerous, did she?"
Leilin shook his head. The void behind him rippled, and accompanied by terrifying pressure, a phantom of a colossal serpent tens of thousands of meters long materialized with a thunderous roar: "Hsss..."
The surging shockwave, carrying the majesty of a supreme predator from the ancient food chain, rapidly expanded outward in all directions.
The many watching eyes instantly filled with terror. Crashing sounds and footsteps echoed ceaselessly as the creatures retreated at breakneck speed. Some even engaged in bloody battles over escape routes, and the air filled with explosions and panicked screams.
But no matter how fierce the fighting became, none of those terrifying ice creatures dared so much as glance toward Leilin again.
"Useless thing!" Leilin kicked the Ice Jade Scorpion beneath him in frustration. The creature had flopped to the ground the instant the Komoin Giant Snake phantom appeared, and no amount of coaxing could get it moving again.
"Hsss..."
The enormous Komoin phantom lowered its head abruptly, regarding the green speck barely large enough to serve as a toothpick, and opened its maw in a display of dominance, revealing its crimson tongue and fangs each the size of a small mountain.
"Squeak!! Squeak!!" The Ice Jade Scorpion that had been flattened on the ground sprang to its feet and bolted at full speed.
Wind screamed past Leilin's ears, leaving him with a wry, half-amused expression: "This scorpion, honestly..."
...
BOOM! A tremendous explosion erupted as chunks of ice rock flew in every direction. A massive hole cracked open in the icy ceiling, and a giant scorpion carrying a black figure on its back burst through, landing steadily on the ground.
"Phew... here we are!"
Leilin drove the Ice Jade Scorpion to a high vantage point, surveying the surrounding scenery.
It was a world of ice and snow! Everywhere lay ice and snowflakes, forming crystalline plains, hills, and even frozen rivers! And plants, their exteriors entirely covered in white frost, dotted the landscape, bearing blossoms and fruit that radiated a bone-piercing cold.
Ribbon-like tendrils hung from enormous trees, each studded with massive eyeballs shaped like dragon eyes that emitted a blue phosphorescent glow.
"This scene is remarkably similar to the ice world in the Scorpion Man's ancient memories!"
Leilin stroked his chin as a powerful wave of soul force surged outward, sweeping across a vast area.
Every creature within several hundred kilometers — whether a frost behemoth as tall as a mountain or the tiniest snowflake insect — prostrated on the ground, trembling uncontrollably.
After a long while, Leilin finally opened his eyes.
"Judging purely by the range I've probed, this area is already no smaller than one-tenth of the entire Dark Poles. Could this be the second subterranean layer?"
The underground of the Wizard World certainly consisted of more than one layer. It was rumored that the ancient Wizards had conquered as many as seven — the deeper one went, the more dangerous it became. Even entities like the Abyssal Mother awaited below. Naturally, the resources were also far more abundant, a place where danger and opportunity coexisted.
The Dark Poles was merely the most ordinary first layer, and even then, only an isolated portion of it!
"No! That's not right! Judging by the distances, this shouldn't be the second subterranean layer. It must be the blank zone between the first and second layers..."
Leilin stroked his chin.
"Back then, the Scorpion Man was caught in the spatial rift from an ancient battle and transported here, where he perished. The blood of the Bronze Giantess on his back, through continuous radiation, transformed this area into an ice-world zone and even spawned a massive population of ice creatures!"
Leilin's expression grew solemn. Beings that had crossed the Wizard's second great threshold and entered the seventh-tier domain — those who had grasped the Rules — were the most troublesome of all.
The fact that a single drop of blood from such a being's true body could cause such massive effects — just what kind of power did the original possess?
"With such an expansive area, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Morning Star-level ice creatures existed here..."
Leilin sighed. The Morning Star realm was a threshold. If Morning Star-level ice creatures dwelled here, the difficulty of exploration would increase exponentially.
To be blunt, had the third-rank Leilin of old ventured here, death would have been a certainty. Even at the moment of his first breakthrough to the Morning Star level, he might not have been able to fully uncover the secrets of the ice world.
Of course, the Leilin of today was no longer the person he had once been. Having undergone his rebirth in the Magma World and accumulated the experiences of
Therefore, upon entering the ice world, he could deploy his soul force freely without any hesitation, unafraid of alerting anyone.
Power. Absolute power that could crush all conspiracies!
"Judging from the soul force reaction just now, the life signatures over there are the strongest!"
Leilin patted the Ice Jade Scorpion beneath him. The massive scorpion immediately began to move, its enormous green limbs swaying rhythmically as each stride carried it great distances, crawling in the direction Leilin indicated.