"Hmm? This time it seems to have gone more smoothly!"
A hint of surprise flashed across Leilin's face, then settled back into calm.
In his perception, his spiritual power seed had caught an eastward current the moment it entered the spatial turbulence. Rather than spinning in circles on the spot, it quickly drifted off into the distance.
And in that direction, the terrifying aura of fire elemental particles was gradually intensifying.
Faintly, through his perception, Leilin seemed to glimpse an immensely vast world, and surrounding it was something like a membrane of separation.
"No way? Am I really this lucky?" Leilin could hardly believe it, but he still directed his spiritual power seed to charge forward.
"Who goes there? This is the domain of the Flame Throne — begone!!!"
A thunderous voice boomed forth, and then Leilin felt a tremendous force surge outward. His spiritual power seed was instantly ground to dust.
Stumble! Stumble!!!
Leilin staggered back several steps, two lines of blood flowing from his nose.
"What happened?"
"I seemed to have discovered a world, but its outer defenses hit me with a counterattack from what claimed to be the Flame Throne's forces!" Leilin waved his hand dismissively.
"Oh! That's the Fire World! It was conquered by the Flame Monarch, the Dawn Star
"Already conquered?" Leilin's eyes widened.
"That's right! The famous Dawn Star Wizards of our Central Continent all have the terrifying achievement of having conquered at least one world. We even suspect that they obtained enormous benefits from those conquered worlds, which is how they advanced to the Dawn Star realm..."
"And after the conquest, the Dawn Star Wizard and the forces behind him actually seal off that world, forbidding us from coveting it again. Not only that, in some unconquered worlds, if there are powerful guardians of Fifth-rank Moonlight Wizard level or above, they will detect the intrusion of foreign spiritual power and proactively destroy our spiritual power seeds!" Robin said with a bitter smile.
"So, how to evade detection by powerful beings, disguise our spiritual power seeds to lie dormant until successful positioning — that's also a subject worth researching!"
"Ah!"
Just then, the Third-rank Crystallization old man on the other side seemed to have provoked something. He threw himself backward: "Watch out — it's coming!"
"Screech! Screech!" An awful sound issued from the mirror interface in front of him.
Then, a mass of tentacles extended from the mirror — some kind of octopus-like creature, but its tentacles were pure black with no suckers, appearing ethereal and phantasmal.
"Terror Suppression! Gall of Deadly Poison!"
The Third-rank Crystallization old man faced the danger without flinching. First he deployed his Intimidation Domain, and under his control, the Gall of Deadly Poison transformed into several three-pronged forks that thrust directly at the black octopus creature, which had already pushed half its body through.
Bam! The spatial mirror shattered. But the black octopus squeezed through anyway, its body covered in eyeballs, looking utterly disgusting and terrifying.
Pfft! Pfft! The black poisonous tridents pierced clean through the octopus's body but caused no damage whatsoever.
"Phasing Talent! That's the most common attribute of spatial creatures!"
Leilin instantly recalled a certain record.
Then a huge mass of pitch-black smoke erupted from the octopus's mouth, accompanied by a terrifying infrasonic assault. Leilin and the others immediately retreated a distance.
The old man tore a crystal cross from beneath his neck and held it up as a shield before himself.
"Pop!" Under the octopus's black tentacles, the crystal cross's defensive barrier proved utterly ineffective and was pierced clean through.
The entire octopus lunged at the old man's face, and at its underside, a massive maw composed of countless fangs appeared.
"What a fine creature!"
But before the octopus could touch the old man's face, another hand seized it firmly.
Crack! Crack!
Numerous sharp teeth bit and gnawed at the hand, producing sounds that set one's teeth on edge, but to no avail whatsoever.
"A spatial creature! And a species never seen before! This experiment has more than paid for itself!"
After the flames subsided, all that remained on Gilbert's hand was a small blue crystal sphere, with the black octopus swimming inside — appearing quite miniature.
"And these too!" Gilbert opened his mouth and inhaled.
Massive whirlwinds formed, sucking all the black smoke the octopus had sprayed earlier into Gilbert's stomach.
In an instant, the black smoke that had given Leilin and the others such a hard time vanished without a trace.
"As expected of a Dawn Star Wizard!" Leilin's pupils contracted.
"Good! This experiment owes much to Lucy — I'll remember your contribution. Everyone else gets ten thousand Contribution Points!"
Gilbert then announced the experiment's suspension. Judging by the expression on his face, Leilin knew he was itching to go study the otherworld creature they had just captured.
"The Star Gate is dangerous, but the rewards are plentiful!"
Leilin thought to himself.
After leaving the lab, Robin smiled and introduced Leilin: "This is Lucy, and this is Kasha — they're both Master's students!"
Lucy was the Third-rank Crystallization old man, while Kasha was only at Third-rank Vaporization. Leilin greeted each of them politely.
As for this newly arrived junior, Lucy and Kasha offered their welcomes before immediately departing — their spiritual power was nearly depleted and needed replenishing urgently. Especially Lucy, who had nearly been seriously injured today, was in no mood for pleasantries.
Leilin understood completely. However, when he was finally leaving, the appearance of the otherworld creature meant the purification procedures he had to undergo increased to nine steps, leaving Leilin somewhat speechless.
In the Ouroboros Ring's trading hall, a massive screen flickered with light, with fixed tasks and resource exchange requests appearing on it from time to time.
Leilin specifically checked the post selling Life Seeds from last time. To his surprise, there were many comments below — it seemed to be selling quite well, which left him somewhat speechless.
But his gaze lingered on the message only briefly before moving on.
After several promotions, his brain's processing power had been greatly enhanced — now it could nearly match an ordinary computer. With just a few glances, he located what he needed from the vast display of data.
"Third-rank Vaporization Wizard Array: Essential Wizard Array for assisting Third-rank Wizards in achieving spiritual power vaporization. Price: 100,000 Contribution Points!"
This was exactly what Leilin needed right now.
A Third-rank Wizard's cultivation involved performing deeper levels of condensation and compression on spiritual particles that had already been materialized into the finest possible form in reality.
First from the most basic bright silver luminescent state to vaporization, then to liquefaction, and finally reaching the realm of crystallization.
Only crystallized spiritual power compressed to its absolute limit was the essential material needed to form the terrifying "mass points" inside a Dawn Star Wizard's body!
And Leilin was currently still stuck at the initial stages of Third-rank, having not even reached vaporization yet.
"With this Wizard Array, combined with the right potions and meditation, after a period of time I'll be able to elevate my spiritual power to the vaporization level!"
Leilin contemplated to himself.
Every stage within Third-rank was a threshold, and once he reached the Third-rank Liquefaction stage, he would be able to independently attempt the preliminary experiments of the Star Gate with the assistance of a Wizard Tower.
Of course, this did not mean directly constructing a Star Gate, but rather conducting subsidiary research in preparation for future extraplanar exploration.
"I can ask Teacher Gilbert to exchange the blueprints for the Star Gate — he'll give me the best price! But the Star Gate Stone is going to be a real problem..."
According to the information he had received from his teacher, Star Gate Stones were essential materials for constructing a Star Gate. Their origin was unknown, and they had always been hoarded by Dawn Star Wizards, rarely flowing out into the open.
Conducting extraplanar exploration experiments also consumed the energy of Star Gate Stones, and once their energy was depleted, they had to be replaced and replenished.
Therefore, those Dawn Star Wizards would only ever complain about not having enough Star Gate Stones — they would never sell them.
Even if Gilbert had a small supply, setting aside whether he would be willing to sell, the price alone was something Leilin certainly could not afford.
Leilin rapidly scanned the screen for anything related to the Star Gate, but unfortunately, such advanced cutting-edge knowledge and research materials were not sold here at all. The few fragmentary mentions that did appear had all been sold for astronomical prices!
"Judging from this, extraplanar exploration is still something only the higher-ups of the Central Continent do. Those below may know a bit of information, but overall it's still kept secret!"
Leilin rubbed his chin, thinking to himself.
"Star Gate Stones aren't realistic, and the Vaporization Wizard Array is too expensive. I'll slowly build up my spiritual power first and save up Contribution Points for the exchange!"
Leilin thought of the ten thousand Contribution Points Gilbert had given him today and couldn't help but sigh inwardly — as expected of a Dawn Star Wizard, truly wealthy and generous. If he could do a few more jobs like this, he might be able to save enough for the price of a Wizard Array set.
But unfortunately, most Wizards adhered to the principle of equivalent exchange.
Today's income came from working for his own mentor, and only because the experiment had yielded results. Otherwise, Gilbert would not have given him so many Contribution Points without good reason.
"Save up Contribution Points, and acquire spiritual power potions useful for Third-rank Wizards!" These were the two short-term goals Leilin had set for himself.
"And the approach that suits me best, as well as being the safest, is probably through potions!"
Leilin looked at the task board on the screen, where many Wizards had posted high prices, inviting Apothecaries to brew specific potions for them, along with long-standing requests to purchase potions.