"
Nuonuofu offered a word of praise, then continued: "After the ruins appeared, the seal here has been slowly unsealing at a gradual pace. No matter how many methods we tried, we couldn't stop the process..."
"So you had no choice, and only then did you think of me!"
Leylin gave a cold snort, causing both Nuonuofu and An Yan to break into a cold sweat.
Ignoring these two wizards, Leylin stroked his chin and sank into deep thought.
Although the underworld was rich in resources, the violent invasion of the ancient wizards had left most subterranean races with no goodwill toward humanity. Even some underground humans still remained, but after so many years, whether they would still acknowledge themselves as part of the human race or had fully integrated into the underworld was questionable. The latter was probably far more likely.
The underworld was vast and boundless. Even on the first layer, Morning Star powerhouses were not scarce, and there should even be fifth-level existences.
The previous Dark Polar Domain had been only a very small portion of this first layer—much like the South Coast relative to the surface wizard world—and had been isolated for ages, yet it still contained numerous terrifying alien races.
It was therefore not hard to understand why Nuonuofu and An Yan had panicked upon seeing the seal crumbling.
"Chip, estimate how much longer the seal can hold at its current rate of decay!"
A blue light flickered in Leylin's eyes.
[Ding! Based on the seal's decay rate, estimated time to complete collapse: 28,572 hours, 34 minutes, 12 seconds!]
After a series of calculations, the Chip produced an answer precise down to the second.
For the Chip, which had been updated multiple times, this level of calculation was the simplest of tasks.
"You invited me here—for what exactly? If it's to reinforce the seal, I'm afraid I can only delay the collapse by a hundred years at most..."
After finishing the calculation, Leylin stroked his chin and addressed Nuonuofu and An Yan.
"How… how is that possible? My lord is a Morning Star wizard!"
This result left both Nuonuofu and An Yan in disbelief.
"Hmph! If it were merely a matter of reinforcing this seal, it would be difficult, but not beyond my capabilities. However, this Ganges Secret Realm has been fully explored for several centuries now, and most of the ruins here have already been destroyed by you…"
Leylin snorted coldly, regarding Nuonuofu and An Yan with a decidedly unfriendly tone. "In truth, the entire Ganges Secret Realm is part of this seal. The wizard who established this secret realm had already predetermined the timing of its appearance—and he even exploited your greed to artificially accelerate the process…"
"Now, the complete unsealing of the entire seal is already inevitable!"
"It's over! Is our South Coast truly going to be completely destroyed?" Nuonuofu's eyes went somewhat vacant. If the underworld truly connected through, then aside from relocating the Nine-Ring White Tower overseas and migrating en masse, there was no better option.
On the other side, An Yan's expression was equally grim. Having historical records as reference, he understood all too well the brutality of the subterranean races and their hatred toward humanity.
Once they conquered this place, it wouldn't just be wizards—even ordinary humans would face extinction.
Watching these two wizards struggling in their distress, Leylin's gaze remained perfectly calm.
In truth, with Radiant Moon-level strength and the Chip's assistance, if he went all out and spared no rare materials, completely sealing this secret realm wasn't impossible. But the key question was: what benefit would it bring him?
Nuonuofu and An Yan were both third-level wizards, as helpless as ants before the subterranean races. Naturally they didn't want the underground dwellers seeping to the surface and threatening their positions.
But Leylin was different! He was already a fifth-level warlock with extraordinary combat power, and the first layer of the underworld was the weakest subterranean layer—he had every basis to interact with underworld powerhouses as an equal!
The underworld's rich mineral resources, along with its magical system inherited from antiquity and completely different from the surface, could bring Leylin enormous profits.
He believed that not just himself—even other Morning Star existences from the Central Continent, upon learning of this passage, would not choose to seal it.
"Well? Have you made your decision? If you're willing, I can reinforce the seal and buy you a hundred years…"
After waiting a few minutes, Leylin spoke calmly.
"Then… we'll have to trouble you, my lord!" Nuonuofu and An Yan exchanged a glance and ultimately gritted their teeth in request.
Regardless, if they could gain an extra hundred years—whether for discussing countermeasures or direct evacuation—it would give them far more leeway.
"Very well. Then spread the word—seal off this area. I need to set up a reinforcement array…"
Hearing their agreement, Leylin nodded, but sent both wizards away despite their offers to stay and help.
Hummmm! A curtain of starlight enveloped the entire central hall, emanating blue light and isolating it from the outside world.
"Ancient composite sealing formulas…" Blue light flickered in Leylin's eyes as he casually drew numerous materials from his spatial equipment.
His original intention, naturally, was to unseal the passage as quickly as possible to claim its benefits. But in his current condition, with the Ten Thousand Serpent Curse Mark hanging over his head like a blade, he needed to wrap things up here quickly and head to the Infernal World to resolve his bloodline shackles.
Therefore, postponing the seal's collapse for a period of time also served Leylin's interests.
"Perhaps someday I'll even need to relocate the entire Ouroboros Ring here and take control of the trade with the underworld…"
In Leylin's mind, a blueprint for the Ouroboros Ring's development was already taking shape. The Ring's expansion across the Central Continent had reached its limits—even without the Flame Throne's emergence, it would eventually face resistance from other wizards.
While the South Coast's elemental particle environment wasn't ideal, for warlocks who primarily relied on bloodline power, this influence was far less significant than for wizards.
Moreover, no passage connecting to the underworld currently existed on the entire Central Continent. The few that had been discovered were small, sealed-off subterranean spaces like the Dark Polar Domain.
Once a passage to the entire underworld was opened, even simply controlling the trade between the two sides would yield benefits vast enough to give the Ouroboros Ring tremendous growth.
"Right now, the top priority is to confirm whether the underworld connected here is the complete ancient first layer, or just another small sealed space like the Dark Polar Domain…"
Leylin stroked his chin, his eyes glinting with sharp light. "If this truly connects to the ancient first layer of the underworld, just by holding this passage alone, the profits the Ouroboros Ring gains won't be a fraction less than the Sky Throne's control over the entire Central Continent's airship network…"
"Chip! Display the magical array layout!"
[Ding! Task established, beginning assisted operations…] The Chip's voice was, as always, mechanical and devoid of any emotion.
A complex and precise array diagram was rapidly retrieved from the database and projected onto the hall's floor by fluorescent light.
The array patterns displayed by the fluorescent light merged seamlessly with the original patterns on the ground, forming an entirely new grand array.
[Ding! Remote Black Hole Magical Array deployment complete. Estimated success rate: 98.99%!]
"Excellent!" A piece of mithril flecked with black spots was melted into liquid before Leylin, then spread evenly across the positions previously illuminated by the fluorescent light on the floor.
With Leylin's current mastery as an alchemy grandmaster and the Chip's microscopic assistance, the entire array's deployment went remarkably smoothly—completed within roughly half an hour.
However, during the deployment, Leylin naturally didn't follow Nuonuofu and An Yan's requirements to the letter, but instead added quite a few modifications of his own.
Hummmm! The entire array resonated continuously, waves of silver light rippling across the floor.
[Ding! Array energy operation normal! Junction compatibility rate: 91.673%!]
Streams of data floated past Leylin's eyes, and he quietly nodded. "After all, it's a retroactively linked formula—having a compatibility rate above ninety percent is already quite good!"
"Then…" Leylin took a deep breath. "Chip!"
[Connection operation initiated. Attempting to establish spatial link. Coordinates searching…] As the Chip's voice sounded, the patterns on the floor suddenly shifted, their flow rate accelerating. A faint silver light emerged, rippling through the air and gradually forming a semi-circular archway.
On the other side of the archway was dense darkness, with mirror-like reflections continuously refracting outward.
This was Leylin's hidden backdoor. Along with reinforcing the seal, he had built himself a way through—able to cross to the other side via the array's gaps without destroying the original seal.
"You two stand guard here. Anyone who approaches—kill them without exception!"
With a wave of his hand, four semi-transparent Void Assassins materialized. After a few calm instructions, the four assassins immediately vanished into the void.
With third-level peak strength plus their ability to traverse the void, Void Assassins were virtually invincible on the South Coast.
Four Void Assassins, combined with the magical array Leylin had set up outside, meant that even if the Light and Dark wizards joined forces, they absolutely wouldn't be able to break in.
Although Leylin was fairly confident about Nuonuofu and An Yan and knew they wouldn't dare attempt anything, he would not pin his hopes on their reverence for him.
Countless historical examples proved this to be an exceedingly foolish thing to do, and Leylin certainly wasn't going to make that mistake.