The Filth Bird and the Eye of Judgment were eternal nemeses.
As an ally of the Eye of Judgment, the Mother of Ten Thousand Serpents naturally drew the other party's resistance and hostility — that was perfectly normal.
Leilin Farell had exploited precisely this fact to win the Filth Bird's support, using the power of chaos to conceal himself.
Now, seeing Leilin draw one step closer to success, the Filth Bird doubled down on its investment. That much was understandable.
Unfortunately, Leilin had never placed his hopes on the other party.
The Filth Bird, to him, was likewise a powerful extraworldly overlord with hidden designs — Leilin always kept one hand raised in defense against it.
This expedition to the Infernal Realm — his most critical trump cards and core secrets — Leilin had guarded jealously all along, never revealing even a sliver.
"Chip! Begin the plan!" Leilin's consciousness silently linked with the Chip.
[Ding! Mission established! Secondary Magical Array activated!]
At the Chip's voice, a ring of dim runes emerged across the walls and partitions, then quickly blended with the power of chaos before vanishing together.
These were all part of Leilin's earlier preparations — beyond concealment, they were designed specifically for use in this very place.
[Ding! Hybrid Magical Array formed! Operating at 100%! No rejection reactions detected!] the Chip reported faithfully.
"Excellent!" Leilin nodded.
After this secondary procedure, even if the Filth Bird had made any hidden arrangements, they would all be exposed now.
It could be said that only now did this apartment truly belong to Leilin.
"
Leilin sighed, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked over to the small flower bed. It seemed something had once been planted here, but the previous tenant had stripped it clean. Only a few remaining Dragon Serpent Orchids still exhaled pale yellow pistils.
A ring of yellowish-green withered grass grew thickly around the Dragon Serpent Orchids, appearing strikingly full of vitality.
"All things in this world are but illusions and empty blossoms — nothing can endure the wash of time. That is precisely why I pursue eternity!"
Leilin's eyes held a look of intoxication, as though mesmerized by the plant's beauty, but that was quickly replaced by sharp, calculating light.
Then Leilin produced a small gardening hoe and began turning over the flower bed. The numerous weeds and Dragon Serpent Orchids were cleared out, and he erected a ring of wooden fencing around the perimeter.
The flower bed was small — a semicircle, less than a square meter in area. After all, this was not the luxurious villa Leilin had before.
Still, compared to the surrounding inns where a dozen people crammed together in squalor, it was considerably more spacious — not the best, but far from the worst.
The dark soil looked rich enough to wring oil from, obviously packed with nutrients — even the most ordinary soil, having absorbed terrifying levels of radiation throughout the
But Leilin still considered it insufficient, producing several grey crystals from inside his coat.
Crack! Crack! Under the pressure of his palm, the crystals crumbled to ash, which he scattered evenly over the flower bed before covering it all with a fresh layer of soil.
Once all preparations were complete, Leilin's expression turned deeply solemn.
A silver light flickered.
Through its exquisite outer shell, a point of green luminescence was visible at its core.
"The Seed of Wisdom! A gift from the Elder — the time has finally come to use you!"
Leilin's eyes clouded with reminiscence. Back when he was only a Fourth-level Warlock, he had encountered the
Thanks to its guidance, Leilin had learned the path to breaking through his bloodline shackles.
And in the end, he had even received its parting gift — this green Seed of Wisdom!
"In legend, the Ancient Wisdom Tree is the collective embodiment of all intelligence across every universe, dimension, demi-plane, and world! A primordial being of immense power who awakened the minds of countless creatures! It gave many wizards inspiration on their paths! And its offspring carry all manner of extraordinary power…"
"Unseal! O Root of All Wisdom!"
At Leilin's command, the Chip issued its cold announcement: [Ding! Infinite Crystal Seal opened!]
The semi-transparent crystal shattered, dissolving into a cloud of white powder that drifted away on the wind. Meanwhile, a ring of green radiance flared ever brighter around Leilin's hand.
A mote of green light plunged into the uprooted Dragon Serpent Orchid still lying on the ground, causing it to tremble and quiver as if in rapture.
Merely being bathed in a fraction of that glow was enough to push the plant toward the threshold of becoming a sentient being!
"Annihilate!" Leilin blew a soft breath, and every Dragon Serpent Orchid on the ground instantly turned to ash.
"If I hadn't set up the Magical Array beforehand, who knows what kind of chaos would have erupted!"
Leilin looked down at the Seed of Wisdom in his hand — its brown husk bore intricate patterns, and at its tip, a core gleamed like an emerald.
"If this Seed of Wisdom were given enough time, could it grow into another Ancient Wisdom Tree?"
Leilin mused for a moment, then shook his head and buried the seed deep in the flower bed, packing thick soil over it.
After that, Leilin resembled a diligent old farmer, meticulously tending the entire bed — not even noticing the flecks of dirt clinging to his magnificent robes.
"The seeds of hope have been planted! Now it's about watering and fertilizing constantly, waiting for them to take root and sprout, and finally grow into something great!"
Leilin held a watering can, his eyes shining with hope…
……
Much happened that night. Compared to it all, a Holy City resident planting a seed in his own flower bed was an insignificantly trivial affair.
While Leilin was hunched over his flower bed, elsewhere in the Holy City, a pair of guards stared grimly at the scene before them.
"What do you see?"
Agnes ran her fingers along the scratches on the ground, sensing the will left behind by whatever creature had passed through — especially its overwhelming desire for food. That hunger was so intense it sent a chill even through her.
"Very clean! Extremely clean!"
Behind her, a black-haired young man removed his helmet and held a pinch of soil to his nose.
"Get to the point!" Agnes snapped.
"What I mean is, judging by the traces at the scene, two enormous creatures clearly met here. I'd put the probability of them being giant serpents at over seventy percent! And the outcome is obvious — the victor claimed everything from the loser!"
The young man produced something resembling a magnifying lens and examined the tiny purple crystals scattered in the soil, his expression reverent and focused.
"When I say 'clean,' I mean the victor's behavior! It ate everything so thoroughly that it didn't even leave the blood staining the soil. This kind of craving for food seems to go beyond the boundaries of any living creature…"
"Beyond the boundaries of living creatures?" Agnes frowned.
"Yes. In nature, even when giant serpents devour each other, there are always traces left behind — bloodstains, scales, even remains. But here? Nothing! Not a thing! The only explanation is that the victorious serpent has been controlled by some powerful, malevolent entity — driven not by instinct, but by something else entirely!"
"Contamination from an anomalous energy? Which overlord dares extend its hand onto the Plains of Ten Thousand Serpents? Do they not know this is our Holy Mother's forbidden ground?"
Agnes was seething, clearly不满 at having been dragged out on a mission.
The black-haired young man knew better than to invite trouble and adopted a purely professional demeanor. "Based on these traces, I recommend linking this case with the Frenzy Incident in the Central Region…"
"You mean the contamination from over there has already spread this far? At that speed!"
Agnes's pupils contracted. The Plains of Ten Thousand Serpents were vast — even Fourth- or Fifth-level powerhouses like Leilin and
"If this continues, it's only a matter of time before it reaches the Holy City's boundaries!"
Agnes's face turned grave.
"Indeed! This individual specimen has already broken through to here. I'd like to call it an isolated incident, but we absolutely cannot let our guard down!"
The black-haired young man set down his tools, a flicker of fear visible in his eyes.
"This contamination not only spreads at incredible speed, but it can even affect Fourth- and Fifth-level intelligent snake-kin, posing a serious threat to many wild giant serpent populations! I recommend we report to the Mother of Dominators immediately!"
"Are you joking? For this — a few gluttonous giant serpents? You want to disturb the great Supreme Ruler?"
Agnes could barely believe what she was hearing.
While she acknowledged the situation was serious, she had never imagined it warranted reporting to the Mother of Dominators.
The Steward family, guardians of the Holy City, would never allow such an embarrassing breach to occur on their watch!
"Press deeper! Find the damned specimen! I want to cut open its stomach and see what's inside!"
Agnes issued her orders. She had a premonition that this incident was going to consume a great deal of her time.
"What a shame… Belinda, and little
Agnes howled inwardly, though her face remained the cold mask of a commanding officer. The squad pushed ever deeper into the plains.
Then, a distinctive serpent's hiss reached Agnes's ears.
"Excellent — after it!" Agnes charged forward in pursuit. What followed became a nightmare she would carry for the rest of her life…
That night, in the annals of the Holy City, was recorded as the beginning of the Calamity of Gluttony!